Ben soundly declines when Hux asks him to be on Starkiller during its inaugural speech. He has made it clear time and time again that he wants nothing to do with Starkiller, but Hux still hasn't gotten the message. Rather, he's trying to rewrite the message in his favor, Anakin hums quietly. He squeezes Ben's shoulders as he stands on the Finalizer's observation deck. They've spent the morning working on sensory exercises, and only time will tell if they actually work. All that Obi-Wan and Anakin have to work with is the destruction of Alderaan - devastating in its own right and sending Ben into a panic attack, but with Starkiller's beams trained on the Hosnian system, such pain was going to be magnified tenfold. Truth be told, Ben wasn't ready. But he was going to suffer through it. He had to.
The main viewport has held far too many memories of Hux, but this is where he finds himself gravitating towards anyways. The screen, upon which he used to watch the colors of Arkanis's moon dance, comes down slowly. Hux's speech will be broadcast throughout the galaxy - from First Order territory to Starkiller's own targets. It pains Ben to know that Hux's crazed gloating will be the last thing they ever see on a holoscreen.
"Lovely day, sir," says Mitaka, stepping beside him. Ben wonders what duties the officer has shirked to commiserate with him.
"For some," Kylo replies. Mitaka jumps, surprised that the Knight is being so talkative. "Not for many."
"Yes, I suppose that's so."
The screen flickers to life, the first shot sweeping over the assembly area on Starkiller. The camera comes close on Hux, his posture proud and self-righteous. Ben's heart aches at the cold, triumphant expression on his face. Oh, how he loves this man - this bright, witty, snappy, courageous, selfless man. And oh, how this man has turned so cruel, become the evil that Ben must eradicate.
"Today, is the end of the Republic. The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder!"
Mitaka straightens, shuffling on his feet. Ben wants to turn off the auditory input, but this is as much Kylo Ren's victory as it is the First Order's, so he can't, not without arousing suspicion. In spite of his protests, by the decree of Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren agrees with the assault. He clenches his jaw and watches.
"At this very moment, in a system far from here the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the loathsome Resistance," bellows Hux. "This fierce machine which you have built, upon which we stand, will bring an end to the Senate! To their cherished fleet! All remaining systems will bow to the First Order!"
Ben lowers his head, then catches Mitaka watching him. Kylo tips his head up, making the movement look more like an aborted nod rather than one of disheartened pain.
"And will remember this... as the last day of the Republic!"
In the wake of Hux's silence, thousands of Stormtroopers raise their fists in salute. Ben can sense the absorption of the system's sun before he sees it, the tendrils of warmth and vicious heat drawn into the super-weapon's core. The bright orange reminds him of the copper of Hux's hair under his quarters' maximum lighting. Mitaka inhales sharply at the sight - beauty, the harbinger of destruction. The illumination of the Hosnian system lasts for a brief second, before the sun is sucked into nothingness. Space is an eternal night, but now it is even more so.
There is a pause. Nothing happens, but Ben is assaulted from system-wide confusion - five planets worth of doubt questioning the validity of the First Order's audacious claims.
Then Starkiller fires. An angry beam erupts from the base, spearing the sky with rage and fury.
All at once, the confusion and uncertainty morphs into fear. It threatens to cave Ben's chest in. His palms grow sweaty in his gloves, his heart thunders in his ears. His legs tremble, impelling doom all to evident as crimson acrimony streaks across the viewport.
(as if trillions of voices suddenly cried out in terror)
The beam hits. He sees a mother's stricken fear - an older brother shields him with his body, but it's not enough, the flames burst through him and heat races up his arms - a spouse struggles to hold on as they crumble to dust - oh, gods, oh, gods where is his baby?! - please, gods, don't let him die like this; he was going to get married - the ground splits apart beneath him, sending him hurtling into the darkness below. He is empty, lifeless, floating in the void. The planet he once stood on is a new star, bright, mocking. The family he once loved is gone, nothing but particles drifting in open, vast space.
"Sir? Sir!"
(and were suddenly silenced)
Ben comes to on the floor of the observation deck. Mitaka cradles him gently, and he realizes that he is helmetless. Ben pants, never able to get enough air. His chest hurts, his limbs still remember the blaze. He rolls over to heave, nearly vomiting on Mitaka's immaculately ironed pants.
"Oh, Maker," Mitaka gasps, rubbing circles on Ben's back soothingly. Any earlier traces of fear he felt towards Kylo Ren are dissipated by an overwhelmingly good-natured desire to comfort him. "If I may ask, what happened, sir?"
Ben spits the taste of bile from his tongue and grunts, sitting up. He shrugs Mitaka's arm off. "The Force... I felt. I felt all of it. Everyone in the system, they..." He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to blot out the screams. Starkiller had wrought destruction far more than either Anakin or Obi-Wan had anticipated. It had to have been at least ten minutes since it fired, and Ben was still reeling in secondhand agony.
Once he's able to rise without his legs buckling, Kylo leaps to his feet and paces around the room, punching his gut. The concentration of pain will keep him grounded. A Sith technique learned from Snoke, but it serves better than Obi-Wan's demand that he clear his mind.
Mitaka clears his throat, still kneeling near the puddle of Ben's innards. "Sir, we've received news of the droid's location." While you were having your fit, Mitaka thinks but doesn't say. "It and the Millennium Falcon are on Takodana."
In Maz Kanata's castle, no doubt. Ben scoops his helmet up, already moving toward the door.
Wait. Wait! Anakin insists. Are you all right? Ben, you can't push yourself -
I have to. What has to be done must be done.
Ben almost falls to his knees planetside, but Anakin's Force-hold keeps him upright. Obi-Wan channels strength into him, and Ben feels his limbs get lighter already. Mind cleared, Rey's presence slaps him clear in the face. She's here.
And it's so strong. Something she touched has awoken her, removed Ben's mental block. But it wasn't a job well done. It was torn out of her head, releasing both her Force sensitivity and her memories. The latter is incomplete, a flood of images and feelings tinging the Force. She's conflicted, confused, and hasn't seen the full picture. Ben has to get to her.
He moves through the forest as quietly as he can, choking Stormtroopers along the way. He can't have any witnesses of his interaction with Rey. She leaves a thick trail behind, her power oozing from every pore. Ben hopes that she'll follow the trail of dead Stormtroopers back to him.
But he's closer to her than she is to him. When he rounds the tree, he senses the Stormtrooper approaching her and ignites his saber. He freezes mid-step when he finally lays his eyes on her.
She's gotten so big, nearly doubling in size in the last ten years. She clutches his father's blaster in her hand, BB-8 nowhere to be seen. At the sound of his saber, however, she whirls and fires.
Kylo instinctively raises his saber to block the bolt, an action that only invites her to fire some more. Suffice to say, this encounter is not going as planned. He pins her down with the Force. "The girl I've heard so much about," Ben breathes. "Rey, I -"
She's afraid. Rey is struggling not to cry and only now does he realize that it is him who is causing her distress and fear. "Rey," he murmurs, "let me explain." He dips into her mind, seeking to be gentle, but he comes to find a durasteel wall. Rey's blocking him out.
He panics. Searching through the exposed memories drifting through the Force, he realizes some are missing. Their first goodbye on Jakku, when he'd first left her there, their reunion four years later. There is nothing of her childhood on the Jedi Praxeum. She doesn't know who he is. "No," he says quietly.
X-Wings soar overhead, firing at the battle at Maz's castle. He doesn't have much time - the troopers will soon be outnumbered. "You know me," he pleads, voice groaning and low through the vocoder. "Rey, search your feelings. You know it to be true."
She's not listening, continuing to strain. Her fight-or-flight instincts are running wild, drowning out any words that come out of his mouth. He touches her face, and her eyes squeeze shut. Rey recognizes nothing but the agony in her head of him forcing memories into her mind. He wedges them in there, but in her anguish, they slip right back out.
"Sir, the Resistance fighters! We need more troops!" Kylo Ren flings the Stormtrooper aside, his neck snapping as he slams into a nearby tree. He reaches up to comm Datoo.
"Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need."
Ben flicks his wrist and Rey falls into his arms. He refuses to let go of her unconscious body even as he climbs into his command shuttle. He one-handedly activates the autopilot, and sits in the co-pilot's chair for the rest of the ascent to the Finalizer.
There is extreme and obvious incredulity and anger from the Force ghosts, but he chooses to ignore them. He has the excuse that she's seen the map, glimpsing it when he tried to restore her missing memories. He commands that they put her in his quarters, refusing to take his eyes off the stretcher First Order personnel wheel her away on.
He barely registers Hux beside him, hand squeezing his upper arm. "We finally have the map?" he says breathlessly. He's taken aback by the victories granted to them that day. Even though they'd lost the Battle of Takodana, they'd destroyed the Republic and retrieved the map to Skywalker in one fell swoop. "I'm impressed."
Hux clearly goes for a kiss, but Ben sidesteps him, offering a cheek instead of his lips. He forsakes Hux's warmth for the cold of his antechamber. He squats in front of Rey's chair, watching her sleep. She looks as peaceful in her rest as she had when she was nine, despite the circumstances that brought her here. The serenity in her expression is a dissonance Ben can force himself to accept.
He's letting his dreams run wild, he knows. The scions of Skywalker joined together to destroy the Supreme Leader. But he has been waning in loyalty, and here Rey is - the key to overpowering Snoke and a display of fealty all at once. He can 'drag' the information out of her, but knowing where Luke is won't help the First Order when both Rey and Ben appear at his side, ready to take on the Order as Anakin's legacy. Then it will be over. Now that Starkiller has destroyed the Hosnian system, bargaining for amnesty on Hux's behalf will be incredibly difficult, almost impossible. But if he can convince Poe to help, he's sure he can swing his mother around. His heart races in anticipation, never once considering the fact his dream might actually fail.
FILL - Ben/Poe, Hux/Kylo - Kylo Ren is a double agent for the Resistance - (3e/?)
The main viewport has held far too many memories of Hux, but this is where he finds himself gravitating towards anyways. The screen, upon which he used to watch the colors of Arkanis's moon dance, comes down slowly. Hux's speech will be broadcast throughout the galaxy - from First Order territory to Starkiller's own targets. It pains Ben to know that Hux's crazed gloating will be the last thing they ever see on a holoscreen.
"Lovely day, sir," says Mitaka, stepping beside him. Ben wonders what duties the officer has shirked to commiserate with him.
"For some," Kylo replies. Mitaka jumps, surprised that the Knight is being so talkative. "Not for many."
"Yes, I suppose that's so."
The screen flickers to life, the first shot sweeping over the assembly area on Starkiller. The camera comes close on Hux, his posture proud and self-righteous. Ben's heart aches at the cold, triumphant expression on his face. Oh, how he loves this man - this bright, witty, snappy, courageous, selfless man. And oh, how this man has turned so cruel, become the evil that Ben must eradicate.
"Today, is the end of the Republic. The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder!"
Mitaka straightens, shuffling on his feet. Ben wants to turn off the auditory input, but this is as much Kylo Ren's victory as it is the First Order's, so he can't, not without arousing suspicion. In spite of his protests, by the decree of Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren agrees with the assault. He clenches his jaw and watches.
"At this very moment, in a system far from here the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the loathsome Resistance," bellows Hux. "This fierce machine which you have built, upon which we stand, will bring an end to the Senate! To their cherished fleet! All remaining systems will bow to the First Order!"
Ben lowers his head, then catches Mitaka watching him. Kylo tips his head up, making the movement look more like an aborted nod rather than one of disheartened pain.
"And will remember this... as the last day of the Republic!"
In the wake of Hux's silence, thousands of Stormtroopers raise their fists in salute. Ben can sense the absorption of the system's sun before he sees it, the tendrils of warmth and vicious heat drawn into the super-weapon's core. The bright orange reminds him of the copper of Hux's hair under his quarters' maximum lighting. Mitaka inhales sharply at the sight - beauty, the harbinger of destruction. The illumination of the Hosnian system lasts for a brief second, before the sun is sucked into nothingness. Space is an eternal night, but now it is even more so.
There is a pause. Nothing happens, but Ben is assaulted from system-wide confusion - five planets worth of doubt questioning the validity of the First Order's audacious claims.
Then Starkiller fires. An angry beam erupts from the base, spearing the sky with rage and fury.
All at once, the confusion and uncertainty morphs into fear. It threatens to cave Ben's chest in. His palms grow sweaty in his gloves, his heart thunders in his ears. His legs tremble, impelling doom all to evident as crimson acrimony streaks across the viewport.
(as if trillions of voices suddenly cried out in terror)
The beam hits. He sees a mother's stricken fear - an older brother shields him with his body, but it's not enough, the flames burst through him and heat races up his arms - a spouse struggles to hold on as they crumble to dust - oh, gods, oh, gods where is his baby?! - please, gods, don't let him die like this; he was going to get married - the ground splits apart beneath him, sending him hurtling into the darkness below. He is empty, lifeless, floating in the void. The planet he once stood on is a new star, bright, mocking. The family he once loved is gone, nothing but particles drifting in open, vast space.
"Sir? Sir!"
(and were suddenly silenced)
Ben comes to on the floor of the observation deck. Mitaka cradles him gently, and he realizes that he is helmetless. Ben pants, never able to get enough air. His chest hurts, his limbs still remember the blaze. He rolls over to heave, nearly vomiting on Mitaka's immaculately ironed pants.
"Oh, Maker," Mitaka gasps, rubbing circles on Ben's back soothingly. Any earlier traces of fear he felt towards Kylo Ren are dissipated by an overwhelmingly good-natured desire to comfort him. "If I may ask, what happened, sir?"
Ben spits the taste of bile from his tongue and grunts, sitting up. He shrugs Mitaka's arm off. "The Force... I felt. I felt all of it. Everyone in the system, they..." He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to blot out the screams. Starkiller had wrought destruction far more than either Anakin or Obi-Wan had anticipated. It had to have been at least ten minutes since it fired, and Ben was still reeling in secondhand agony.
Once he's able to rise without his legs buckling, Kylo leaps to his feet and paces around the room, punching his gut. The concentration of pain will keep him grounded. A Sith technique learned from Snoke, but it serves better than Obi-Wan's demand that he clear his mind.
Mitaka clears his throat, still kneeling near the puddle of Ben's innards. "Sir, we've received news of the droid's location." While you were having your fit, Mitaka thinks but doesn't say. "It and the Millennium Falcon are on Takodana."
In Maz Kanata's castle, no doubt. Ben scoops his helmet up, already moving toward the door.
Wait. Wait! Anakin insists. Are you all right? Ben, you can't push yourself -
I have to. What has to be done must be done.
Ben almost falls to his knees planetside, but Anakin's Force-hold keeps him upright. Obi-Wan channels strength into him, and Ben feels his limbs get lighter already. Mind cleared, Rey's presence slaps him clear in the face. She's here.
And it's so strong. Something she touched has awoken her, removed Ben's mental block. But it wasn't a job well done. It was torn out of her head, releasing both her Force sensitivity and her memories. The latter is incomplete, a flood of images and feelings tinging the Force. She's conflicted, confused, and hasn't seen the full picture. Ben has to get to her.
He moves through the forest as quietly as he can, choking Stormtroopers along the way. He can't have any witnesses of his interaction with Rey. She leaves a thick trail behind, her power oozing from every pore. Ben hopes that she'll follow the trail of dead Stormtroopers back to him.
But he's closer to her than she is to him. When he rounds the tree, he senses the Stormtrooper approaching her and ignites his saber. He freezes mid-step when he finally lays his eyes on her.
She's gotten so big, nearly doubling in size in the last ten years. She clutches his father's blaster in her hand, BB-8 nowhere to be seen. At the sound of his saber, however, she whirls and fires.
Kylo instinctively raises his saber to block the bolt, an action that only invites her to fire some more. Suffice to say, this encounter is not going as planned. He pins her down with the Force. "The girl I've heard so much about," Ben breathes. "Rey, I -"
She's afraid. Rey is struggling not to cry and only now does he realize that it is him who is causing her distress and fear. "Rey," he murmurs, "let me explain." He dips into her mind, seeking to be gentle, but he comes to find a durasteel wall. Rey's blocking him out.
He panics. Searching through the exposed memories drifting through the Force, he realizes some are missing. Their first goodbye on Jakku, when he'd first left her there, their reunion four years later. There is nothing of her childhood on the Jedi Praxeum. She doesn't know who he is. "No," he says quietly.
X-Wings soar overhead, firing at the battle at Maz's castle. He doesn't have much time - the troopers will soon be outnumbered. "You know me," he pleads, voice groaning and low through the vocoder. "Rey, search your feelings. You know it to be true."
She's not listening, continuing to strain. Her fight-or-flight instincts are running wild, drowning out any words that come out of his mouth. He touches her face, and her eyes squeeze shut. Rey recognizes nothing but the agony in her head of him forcing memories into her mind. He wedges them in there, but in her anguish, they slip right back out.
"Sir, the Resistance fighters! We need more troops!" Kylo Ren flings the Stormtrooper aside, his neck snapping as he slams into a nearby tree. He reaches up to comm Datoo.
"Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need."
Ben flicks his wrist and Rey falls into his arms. He refuses to let go of her unconscious body even as he climbs into his command shuttle. He one-handedly activates the autopilot, and sits in the co-pilot's chair for the rest of the ascent to the Finalizer.
There is extreme and obvious incredulity and anger from the Force ghosts, but he chooses to ignore them. He has the excuse that she's seen the map, glimpsing it when he tried to restore her missing memories. He commands that they put her in his quarters, refusing to take his eyes off the stretcher First Order personnel wheel her away on.
He barely registers Hux beside him, hand squeezing his upper arm. "We finally have the map?" he says breathlessly. He's taken aback by the victories granted to them that day. Even though they'd lost the Battle of Takodana, they'd destroyed the Republic and retrieved the map to Skywalker in one fell swoop. "I'm impressed."
Hux clearly goes for a kiss, but Ben sidesteps him, offering a cheek instead of his lips. He forsakes Hux's warmth for the cold of his antechamber. He squats in front of Rey's chair, watching her sleep. She looks as peaceful in her rest as she had when she was nine, despite the circumstances that brought her here. The serenity in her expression is a dissonance Ben can force himself to accept.
He's letting his dreams run wild, he knows. The scions of Skywalker joined together to destroy the Supreme Leader. But he has been waning in loyalty, and here Rey is - the key to overpowering Snoke and a display of fealty all at once. He can 'drag' the information out of her, but knowing where Luke is won't help the First Order when both Rey and Ben appear at his side, ready to take on the Order as Anakin's legacy. Then it will be over. Now that Starkiller has destroyed the Hosnian system, bargaining for amnesty on Hux's behalf will be incredibly difficult, almost impossible. But if he can convince Poe to help, he's sure he can swing his mother around. His heart races in anticipation, never once considering the fact his dream might actually fail.
How long are you planning to wait? Anakin asks.
Ben puts his helmet on. As long as I have to.