Chapter Fourteen: The Battle of Takodanna
Almost helplessly, I watched as Rey ran away, leaving both Maz and myself behind. As she fled, I leant back against the stone wall, still unsteady from the vision, letting out a sigh as I considered how much better that situation could have gone.
I didn't blame Rey for running, I probably would have done the same in her position. How terrifying must it be for her, to go from believing you were a nobody, your place solely on a dead-end planet, only to discover that the lightsaber of the most powerful force user was calling to you. Only hours before did she discover that Luke Skywalker was not a myth, now for some reason the myths she didn't truly understand were calling her to them. I'd never known what it was to not have the force in my life, but I at least understood that to go from one extreme to the other was enough to make the strongest person break.
"The first experience in the force is always hard," Maz noted, her eyes still trained on the spot Rey had ran away from.
"I remember," I nodded, glancing down at the floor to the lightsaber I had dropped, my heart aching at the sight of it. "Not from personal experience. Uncle Luke always made sure we understood that the force was a part of us, something to learn and refine, but my classmates... Well, until they met Luke some of them hadn't even heard of the force, or they thought it was just some stupid religion. Some of them had visions too, and nightmares,"
Ironic that Uncle Luke had taught us think of the force as something that was always with us, but he hadn't taught us about our Grandfather's true legacy, something else that was always with us that led to the downfall of everything I loved. The legacy that Ben and I had foolishly chased, thinking we would be heroes just like our grandfather as we sought out that lightsaber lying on the floor before me, not knowing just who our grandfather became whilst he still held that weapon. We wanted to be like him, but we didn't even know who he really was.
"Is it true?" Ben had roared at our parents furiously, his face bright red, his eye bloodshot, desperate not to cry in front of our parents.
"We were trying to protect you," our mother had calmly tried to explain, looking to both my father and Uncle, as if she was asking them for help, something that scared me, because Leia Organa never asked for help, too independent and headstrong even for her brother and husband.
"You told us our grandfather was a hero, but he can't be, not if he's that... that monster," I stumbled out, more hurt than angry, noticing the way Ben flinched at my choice of words, though I was quickly distracted by how he threw a punch at the wall, screaming in anguish at all of the lies.
I flinched at the memories, shaking my head to clear my thoughts, but my gaze still settled on the saber at my feet. Carefully, I bent down and picked it up, remembering how victorious Ben and I had felt when we found it, how clever we felt when we decided to hide it, keeping it for ourselves for when we were fully trained Jedis and could go out and be heroes, just like our grandfather. It was only a month after we found it that we discovered the truth, and I'd told Ben to get rid of it, that we should have nothing more to do with Anakin Skywalker. I thought he'd listened to me, but yet he'd kept it, hidden away in his chest. His chest of belongings that I thought had burnt down with the rest of the Academy. Clearly not though, not as it sat there in Maz's basement gathering dust.
"How'd you get Ben's chest?" I asked Maz, turning to her with a serious look in my eye, feeling cheated out of the last few remnants of Ben Solo that remained in the galaxy.
"I found it," she said simply, and as I realised what she was implying she continued, "I went to see the ruins, out of respect, and found it in a pile of rubble. It was marked with his initials, and I thought... You'd disappeared, but I knew one day you'd come back, and you'd want your brother's things. Not to mention, you Solo children were terrible liars and I knew the lightsaber was in there, and I knew one day someone would come to claim it,"
"We thought it was our blood right," I whispered, looking at the sleek metal, thinking of everything this weapon had been used for with a pained grimace. "I don't want it anymore. I don't want to be a Skywalker anymore,"
I never was a Skywalker to begin with, too much Solo in me, but for a long time I'd wanted to be a Jedi, carry on the family legacy. Yet that was before I understood what that all meant, before I knew just what the Skywalker legacy was and how badly it was marred with tragedy. I was no longer that same optimistic child, not now I was scarred by my own tragedy. I had accepted my unwavering connection to the force, the Jedi code engrained into how I lived my life, but I couldn't bare to idolise my family connection, not anymore.
"But yet it formed a connection to you, it showed you the past, and the future," Maz insisted, clearly seeing the look of conflict in my eyes. "You cannot deny the truth that is your family,"
"Rey's not a Skywalker," I pointed out, narrowing my eyes as I threw the saber back into the case, shutting the wooden lid using the force, unable to look anymore. "She's not a Skywalker, so why did it make a connection to her?"
I never got an answer to my question. Maybe Maz did respond, but I was unable to hear her as my focus was torn away, a searing pain running through my entire body. It felt as though a burning had rushed through me, my head feeling like it was splitting open as I doubled over from the intense pain, practically falling to the floor. My chest constricted tightly, the way it ad done countless times before in panic attacks, and I pushed my head to the cold stoned floor as I tried to get a hold of myself. My whole body ached, my joints seized up with pins and needles, except I was rather happy with the pain compared to the screams that echoed around my mind, so many souls screaming out in horror, before immediately being silenced. The screams stopped and so did the pain, but I remained on the floor, my chest still feeling tight as I tried to comprehend what had just happened.
It didn't take long to figure out what had happened. The screams I'd heard had projected me off to somewhere not so far away in the galaxy, the Hosnian system where the republic was based. The republic, something my mother had dedicated so much of her life to only to stand down to form the Resistance after her true parentage was revealed. I'd spent a lot of time there with her, often speaking to the senate on behalf of the New Jedi Order, and it was there that the First Order had decided I was one to watch. Not that any of it mattered now, not now the whole system had been brutally destroyed, wiped out in one cruel blow.
"The Republic," I groaned, sitting up as Maz put her hand on my shoulder. My eyes stung so I closed them, resting my hands on my temples as I fought to ignore the ringing in my ears from the shock of it all.
"You felt it," Maz stated, watching my expression carefully, though when I dared to glance at her I saw the same agonised pain in her eyes.
"They have a death star," I assumed, remembering all the stories I'd been told about the Empire's super weapon. "They've destroyed the whole system, it's like... it's like..."
"I wish you could have seen Alderaan, Lucinda, you would have loved it," My mother breathed out to me one night as we sat outside the resistance base looking up to the stars, her hand resting on my knee, my hand on top of hers, squeezing it gently as she mentioned her home planet. "I try not to think about it too much, too painful, but sometimes I remember just how beautiful it was,"
"It's unfair," I whispered lowly, my eyes darting over to my mother, watching her carefully in case she grew sad from mentioning her home. "It should still be here. No one should have the right to wage that much destruction,"
"No, they shouldn't," she nodded in agreement, an odd look of admiration crossing her face as she glanced over to me, a small, sad smile growing on hers. "Which is why our place is here, with the resistance, to make sure nothing like it ever happens again,"
I closed my eyes, shivering as I thought of Alderaan. What happened there had been cruel and barbaric, and I'd always understood that. My mother had been a sole survivor, the only Organa of Alderaan left, and after the rebellion ended it was like she could breathe once more, knowing justice had been served for her lost planet, knowing that peace had been settled. The First Order complicated things, and I watched as a teenager as my other slowly lost faith in the peace she had fought so hard for, slowly seeing history repeat itself enough for her to know it was time to fight again. I always assumed she thought that Alderaan could never rest while ever tyranny existed in the galaxy, and I'd made it my personal mission to forever fight for what my mother believed in, fight for the justice of those who'd been killed in an act of sheer cruelty.
That hadn't gone to plan though, not as the First Order ruled over the galaxy, and not as they destroyed a whole system. It was madness, it was unnecessary barbarism, and I knew in my instinct that the First Order would come for this planet next. Maz knew it too, I could tell as I glanced up to her and saw the look of hatred and fear crossing her face.
"Stay here!" she ordered me, and not wanting to move too much due to the pain still coursing through me, I nodded. "The droid went with the girl. They're in danger and we must find them, but first..."
She drifted off, turning away from me and running back down the corridor to the main cantina. I watched as she left, staring off in her general direction until my mind turned to the vision that I had just seen. The thought of the family lightsabre reminded me of my own, and without realising it I had unclipped it from my belt, holding it in my left hand. The saber helped me connect to the force, and I instantly felt calmer, even with the shooting pain that ran up my arm, the wound given to me by my brother still causing me pain after so many years. I winced, remembering how his cross-barred lightsabre went right through my shoulder.
I could feel a pull in the force in my stomach, one different to the pain I was just in. This was so different. This was one I used to feel as a kid, coming home from the academy for summer. One I used to feel every time we'd go to Tatooine. One I felt every time I was close to my brother. I knew what this pull meant; Ben was close.
He must be with the First Order, come to find BB-8. I thought of seeing him, and sighed. He tried to kill me the last time I saw him, so why did I want to see him so badly? I knew the answer to that; he was my brother. I loved him so much, and I wanted him back. I wanted my family back together.
"Hey kid!" I heard a shout from down the corridor. I saw dad emerge from the shadows, and he was running to me. Once he got close, he pulled me into a tight hug, his hands squeezing my back. Pulling away slightly, he rested his hand on the back of my neck. "You alright? Maz said you reacted bad to what just happened,"
"It's the force, it does that," I explained, as he hugged me again. "Dad, why are you..."
"I worry about you," He pulled away from me. "I know how much being force sensitive can hurt you, and he's here now too, and I know how badly you reacted the last time you saw him,"
"Dad of the year," I grinned, hitting his arm, ignoring his mention of Ben. "You're a sentimental, caring old nerf herder, Han Solo,"
That was when I noticed who was stood behind him; Finn.
"Hey, Bud!" I cried, hugging the ex-stormtrooper. "I knew you couldn't stay away!"
"Rey's in danger," he said simply.
"The First Order is here, and you aren't fearing for yourself?" I asked, smiling slightly. "You're a good man, Finn, especially when you put someone else's safety over your own,"
"As sweet as this all is," Maz interrupted. "We need to get out of here. First though, you need this. I've had it for a long time," As she spoke up, she picked up Uncle Luke's old light saber, and I watched as my dad's eyes went wide as he recognised it.
"Where'd you get that?"
"A good question, for another time," I rolled my eyes at her words as she offered the saber to Finn, who was weaponless. Maz looked to the ceiling as the roaring of a TIE fighter flew overhead. "Those beasts are already here!"
"Let's go," I nodded, gesturing to the corridor.
I took off at a run, my blaster in one hand, light saber in the other, running alongside Chewie and Finn, Dad in the lead. We reached a trap door, just as a TIE fighter's blast caught the outside of the castle, rubble caving in. I leaped back, grabbing Finn's arm before any could fall on us. Chewie turned to me, handing me his bowcaster, as he began to lift away rubble, trying to make an exit. I passed my weapons and Chewie's bowcaster to Finn, before helping Chewie, using the force to lift away mounds of stone.
"Careful, kid," dad warned, still not liking me using the force, especially after our moment.
"I'm fine, trust me," I said, just as the wookiee and I made a gap for us all to get out. I took my weapons back from Finn, tossing Chewie his bowcaster back, before all of us climbed out.
Watching as my father shot stormtroopers down without even looking, I ignited my lightsaber to deflect away their blasts, shooting the stormtrooper's myself with my other hand. In the corner of my eye, I caught Finn looking a little awkward, looking down at the saber in his hands.
"I need a weapon!" he called to me finally, but before I could respond to him, Maz grabbed his hand which was holding the metal tube.
"You have one!" she shouted at him, stepping away. Taking a step back, Finn gripped the saber with two hands, igniting it. When I saw the bright blue beam, I felt a shiver go down my spine, my breath catching in my throat. This was it; the thing of legends and stories. I had to stop myself from squealling, and then stop myself from thinking of Izzy and Erika, who would have loved to see it.
"The thing of legends, take good care of it," I called to him, as a storm trooper ran close to me. I shot him without looking.
I knew I needed to find Rey and Beebee-Ate, so I tapped into my feelings to the force, feeling them in the forest. I shot a look to my father, who seemed too busy to notice if I left, so I took off at a run towards the forest, until I ran straight into a pack of stormtroopers. They pointed their blasters at me, simultaneously telling me to freeze, but instead, I stabbed one of them through the gut with my lightsaber. The others seemed taken back by my actions, taking a few steps back, before pulling the trigger on their blasters. Deflecting each of their blasts back at them, I finished them off, only for another pack of them to surround me.
"Drop your weapons!" One ordered. Looking around, I noticed I was outnumbered. Not even a master Jedi could get out of a situation like this unharmed, except maybe Yoda. Sighing, I dropped my blaster and my lightsaber, standing up straighter to maintain my dignity, despite being disarmed.
Glancing over to my father, I noticed he had dropped his blaster too, and was looking at me. I offered him a small smile, but he either didn't notice or he chose to ignore it.
"Take the girl with the rest, it may be the one Ren wants," one of the troopers noted. I glared at him, and if my hands weren't on my head and I was being forced to move along my blasters being shoved into my back, I would have kicked the one talking.
"I'm not an it, I'm a human being, and I have a name too," I spat angrily at him, ignoring the fact Ben wanted me.
I was shoved back with the rest of the group, my clumsiness causing me to trip slightly, meaning Finn caught me. Shooting him a grin, I patted his arm as a thanks, before we were lead along towards the First Order's ship. I felt dad try to nudge me, so I turned to face him, my hands pressed against the back of my neck.
"Whatever hapens, kid," he said, almost gruffly. "Stick with me," I nodded once.
"Solo's stick together," I muttered, under my breath, tring to make sure the troopers didn't hear me.
Looking up to the sky, I watched as TIE fighters roared in their flight, and I felt a sense of desperation rising up in my chest, like I knew we were at our end, but I was deserately seeking a solution. I imagined an X-Wing in the sky, battling with the TIE fighters, with Poe as the pilot. I wanted that to be real so badly. I wanted Poe so badly. Maybe I'd be with him soon, if they killed me.
I was so caught up in imagining it happen, I almost didn't believe my eyes when I saw one of the TIE fighters explode, crashing down into the lake, taken down by a black and orange X-Wing, not until I heard Dad say:
"It's the resistance,"
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