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affcgato-archived · 3 years ago

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Ben Solo / main verse (heavily, heavily divergent)

The heir to the Skywalker bloodline, Solo possessed raw strength in the Force & had the potential for limitless power. He was born at the end of the Galactic Civil War in 5 ABY, when the Galactic Empire surrendered to the New Republic. His parents, General Han Solo & Princess Leia Organa, were considered great heroes of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

During the New Republic Era, Solo was part of a new generation of Jedi apprentices trained by his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. However, Solo was seduced by the dark side through the machinations of the phantom Sith Lord Darth Sidious & his creation, Supreme Leader Snoke.

Under the thrall of Snoke, Solo destroyed his master's training temple & killed his fellow students - acts which earned him the moniker "Jedi Killer" along with the new identity of Kylo Ren.

early life

Ben Solo was born in 5 ABY in Hanna City, Chandrila on the day that the Galactic Concordance was signed between the New Republic & the Galactic Empire, formally ending the Galactic Civil War - which had already resulted in the deaths of the late emperor palpatine, & ben's maternal grandfather anakin skywalker, redeemed in his dying moments from his sith persona darth vader.

Ben almost never stood a chance. Even before he was born, his mother could feel the light & the dark at war within him - likening her unborn son to a living band of light that occasionally dimmed & was sometimes thrust through with a vein of darkness.

In his youth, Solo's parents had active lives in their respective professions. Han, a smuggler before joining the Rebellion, was unable to stay in one place for long, while Organa became occupied with routine senatorial duties. Ben, who aspired to become a pilot like his father since childhood, inherited amazing piloting skills from him. Organa, meanwhile, became a respected senator in the New Republic. The busy lives of Organa & Han often kept them away from their son, causing Solo to develop a sense of loneliness.

Jedi Training

As the Force awakened in young Solo, his parents grew to believe that he needed guidance despite their efforts to build a normal life for him. In 15 ABY, Ben began his Jedi training as part of Skywalker's initiative to restore the Jedi Order. He became Skywalker's apprentice prior to his tenth birthday, & was already his uncle's "most prized student." Even then, it was clear to Skywalker that his nephew was inherently powerful with the Force despite his lack of training in the Jedi arts, a testament to the raw power of his family's bloodline.

Through Skywalker's training, Ben developed a strong sense of devotion to the ways of the Jedi. He kept a calligraphy set filled with Jedi insights in his quarters during his time with Skywalker. As master & apprentice, they traveled across the galaxy accumulating artifacts and learning more about the Jedi Order's ancient history in the hope of fully restoring it.

beginning of divergence

It was during this period in Solo's life that he came into contact with Snoke, an enigmatic Force user who was strong with the dark side. While Snoke's intention was to cultivate a friendship with the young jedi that he could use to coax him down the path to the dark side of the Force, that plan would never fully materialize.

Ben had heard a voice throughout his young life, & long believed it to be Snoke's. He told no one about this voice at first, as he had long felt isolated & lonely with his parents' erratic schedule. it was under Skywalker's training, & his own personal study into the recovered archives from the jedi temple, that he would begin to recognize the dangers that might accompany the voice if left alone & unchecked. It would eventually come to head when the conflicting emotions arising from the emotional manipullation caused Ben to lash out during training, injuring himself & his training partner enough for Luke to notice.

Taking his apprentice aside, Luke would finally talk to him about the Skywalker bloodline, & the legacy it carried with it - easing the sense of isolation Ben had long felt while acknowledging his own doubts & concerns. Knowing his apprentice was being targeted by something sinister, but not knowing the source of the malignancy, Luke began teaching him advance techniques to help him shield himself, & his mind, as well as how to distance himself from the Force as a last resort defense should something arise from this presence.

first confrontation with the knights of ren

During the early years of Solo's apprenticeship, Lor San Tekka, a traveler noted for his expertise on the Jedi Order, informed Skywalker about the discovery of an ancient Jedi outpost on the planet Elphrona. Embarking on a mission to investigate San Tekka's findings, Skywalker brought Ben with him, knowing that, like himself, Solo was interested in discovering Jedi artifacts. Along the way, Solo was contacted by Snoke. While he kept up the ruse of allowing this dark presence into his mind, he later informed his Master as to what has transpired, causing further concern as Luke recognized the tactics.

The outpost that they discovered was well preserved and the entrance intact. Both master & apprentice were impressed by it, though Skywalker warned that they should exercise caution while exploring the outpost, recounting a similar situation that nearly ended with his death in years past. The outpost was a repository of holocrons & other artifacts that Skywalker likened to a treasure trove.

A group of marauders, dressed in black, entered the outpost after the two Jedi & their explorer companion. A warrior calling himself "Ren" spoke on the group's behalf, declaring that the outpost and its contents were claimed by the Knights of Ren. Rejecting the Knights' claim, Skywalker drew his lightsaber & introduced himself as the last Jedi. Ben also activated his weapon, but remained out of the ensuing fight, as Skywalker instructed him to protect San Tekka.

Ren conceded the battle after his Knights were defeated by Skywalker. During the confrontation, however, he sensed that the dark side was strong with Ben. He invited Ven to seek out the Knights in the future, offering to teach the young apprentice about aspects of the Force contrary to Jedi teachings.

During this trip, Luke would take Ben traveling to the edge between the known galaxy & unexplored space, as he had many times before to test the seemingly limitless capacity of his apprentice & nephew.

a new generation of jedi

It was not long before the Order expanded to include more than Skywalker & Solo, as the former took it upon himself to train multiple apprentices at the same time. In addition to several new recruits, Hennix, Tai, & Voe were apprenticed to Skywalker, * as such, they became acquainted with his first & strongest pupil. As children, they would sit on the temple grounds learning about the Force through Skywalker's lectures, while, at the same time, honing their skills by levitating rocks.

Solo's natural affinity with the Force did not go unnoticed by his peers, particularly Voe, who struggled to hone her skills despite training just as hard as Skywalker's nephew. While training on the temple grounds, Voe watched as Solo levitated a large rock with ease, & wondered why he was far stronger than her. According to Skywalker, however, strength had nothing to do with how the Force worked. He likened using the Force to opening a door, explaining that the Force flowed more easily through those who were open to its energy.

Notwithstanding Skywalker's view on the Force, Solo surpassed his peers in every aspect of their training, including lightsaber combat & meditation. At one point, he defeated Voe in a sparring match. As their training progressed, Solo suspected that Voe resented him for his power.

His relationships with the other students were different. Hennix could make Solo laugh, & Tai tried to help him cope with the pressures of being a Skywalker. Solo assured his fellow Jedi student that he held nothing back, but through the Force Tai perceived a side to Solo that he hid from the others, including himself. Solo listened, but said nothing while Tai expressed his belief that everyone should be themselves.

further diversion from canon

While undergoing further training during this time period, Ben began to feel the ramped up pressure of the dark presence in his mind, & as such, he began spending more & more time deep in study even apart from his own Master as his sense of foreboding began to set him on edge. His anxiety was realized when, twenty-four years after the Battle of Endor, the truth about the parentage of Solo's mother was revealed by Organa's political enemies in the New Republic Senate.

It was a small mercy that Luke had prepared for this moment, having given Ben the truth of his bloodline & legacy against his sister's wishes many years before, & the fallout was largely contained. Ben would take advantage of the chaos this revelation created, though, letting the voice that had long dipped into his nightmares believe its plans were well underway so that he & his master might finally get ahead of whatever lurked in the shadows.

The revelation would come with a fanfare of fire; one night when Skywalker went to his nephew's bedroom one evening, he found the young man asleep. Standing over his sleeping student, Skywalker reached out through the Force & saw a vision of what would come to pass if this dark presence was allowed to fully sink its claws into his apprentice, & claim him as its own; he saw the death & destruction Solo would someday bring to everything Skywalker loved.

When Ben awakened hours later, it was to Luke offering him his hand, & telling him it was time they talked about the moment they had once realized may come to pass. it was time. in the early, pre-dawn hours, there was an explosion that brought down the entire hut, ostensibly resulting in the death of the once-prodigy. twenty-three year old Ben Organa-Solo would be buried, & mourned, his presence lost in the Force to all because of a tragic accident.

or at least - that would be the official story, with the truth only known to the Master that packed his apprentice into a t-65B X-wing with coordinates known only to the the young boy piloting, the droid R2-D2, & Lor San Tekka.

ahch-to, & study in exile

Ben had learned of the location of the remote aquatic planet Ahch-To during his early tears as Skywalker's apprentice, having read about it & studied it in the ancient relics & holocrons they had come across in their many travels. On fleeing in the pre-dawn hours, the remote planet in a largely unknown part of the galaxy was Ben's logical first choice, & upon landing there, he tamped down hard on his connection to the Force - all but fully severing himself from it bar the bar minimum that would allow him to continue guidance & training from those who came before him - obi-wan kenobi, & yoda, among others.

It was his intent to live out his life in exile, keeping himself far from the reaches of whatever dark force sought to turn him into a weapon against his family & other loved ones. Once his Master had rooted out this evil, R2-D2 would relay his location. What was supposed to take months, howeverm turned into years. Eventually, Ben felt the suffocating loneliness start to close in on him. Six years after he fled to ahch-to, he would find another landing on the planet.

another, searching for him.

#long post #→ ben solo // his defiance will shake the stars (v.)#→ ben solo // verse introduction

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ariainstars · 4 years ago

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The Greatest Teacher...

…is failure, isn’t it?

In Star Wars, we often see people fail; but often they do not learn from their mistakes. Logically, this is telling us that failure alone is not sufficient.

Prequels

The Jedi Order was stagnant because they did not learn from their mistakes. They practiced a discipline of detachment and indoctrination, remaining aloof and convinced of their world view. In itself, that may not seem so wrong; after all, the Jedi were well-meaning and they did not purposely hurt others.

But like every living being, the Jedi were flawed. Their great weakness was that they clung to their flaws never seeing them as such even when their house (the galaxy) was burning down around them.

I have repeatedly wondered what Darth Maul meant by “revenge”. What did the Sith want revenge for? After all, they are Force-sensitive beings the way the Jedi are. Both sides are convinced of being right in their way; this eventually leads to disaster because they never communicate with one another. (Perhaps one of the reasons why we hardly hear Darth Maul speak during the whole of The Phantom Menace.)

It was Anakin in the end who took the revenge in his own hands, and when we see how the Jedi behaved towards him, it does not wonder that he wanted revenge for very personal reasons. The Jedi never took him seriously; the ignored his criticism; they stifled his emotions and played down his intelligence; they sent him on dangerous missions unnumbered and in the end even denied him the rank of Master. Obi-Wan ignored Anakin’s nightmares about his mother and Yoda the ones he had about Padmé, pretending that he was wrong when he cared about others. Again, this goes to show how much they rejected and despised any form of true communication.

Anakin could not stand the idea of being isolated, without anyone to love; the idea literally drove him mad. But the conviction of being right was downright obsessive with the Jedi, to the point where we saw Obi-Wan maim and leave to burn the man he had raised like a younger brother and who had repeatedly saved his life.

Classics

When we first meet Luke in A New Hope, he is naïve and hotheaded; he is slowly learning about the Force but far from mastering it. And yet he is our hero.

Luke has one great strength throughout the classics which may be overlooked because we usually expect coolness from a hero: he is excellent at communication, always at his strongest when he reaches out to others. It is he who befriends everybody founding his legendary “family”. Luke always gives everyone a chance, as varied as the people he meets are. He would have died in the trench run had Han not rescued him; Han didn’t even believe in the Force, but Luke had given him an opportunity to join the Rebellion, and his offer of companionship won over the scoundrel’s heart.

Obi-Wan, the hermit who still thinks of a world long past, is the exact contrary. He spends twenty years on Tatooine waiting for the son to grow up so he can kill the father; a terrible thing to do when you think about it. Neither he nor Yoda lift a finger for the populations of the galaxy through the Empire’s tyranny and the Rebellions’ struggles and sacrifices.

In The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke finally finds out the truth about Vader, he is appalled not only at the fact itself but at his master’s betrayal, blaming him for not having communicated with him: “Ben, why didn’t you tell me?” Good Jedi that he is, Obi-Wan remains silent, although he had formerly appeared to him in ghostly form more than once.

Still after death, Obi-Wan shows that he does not understand the reasons for his failure; it does not occur to him that there might have been some error in his convictions. He says to Luke that “The truth is merely a point of view”, but he does not live by this wisdom. We never saw him accept anyone else’s point of view, at least not to my knowledge.

Vader traumatized Luke on Bespine, but his friends gave him comfort, helping him overcome his terror and become stronger and wiser. Luke learned from his mistakes, one of the reasons why he was not only the last Jedi but also the strongest. His connection with others made him strong.

Sequels

The Last Jedi is all about communication (one of the reasons, I think, why it is mostly loved by females 😊). Luke is shaken from his isolation by Rey; Kylo and Rey share a Force Bond; Luke finally speaks to his nephew again; Poe gets in conflict with both Leia and Holdo; Finn and Rose quickly realize that they can communicate very well.

The conflict between Holdo and Poe is a masterly lesson when it comes to communication. Poe does not trust her; he angrily demands she displays his intentions to him instead of obeying her, although she was chosen by Leia herself as her substitute. Headstrong, Holdo refuses to communicate with Poe altogether, which seems unnecessarily stubborn from her side but is her right, since she is his superior. And the outcome, as well as her final sacrifice, prove that Holdo was right all along. Poe failed because he did not listen, and because he did not accept that not saying something can also mean much.

Kylo / Ben is a person who is literally starved for communication. It must feel like a miracle to him when Rey finally listens to him, and it pushes him to do the right thing: getting rid of Snoke after he had heard him in his head his entire life.

Yet without their Force Bond, when they are communicating from face to face instead of between their souls, Rey and Ben miscommunicate. He tries to possess her, he expects her to need him; she expects him to become the way she is, i.e. someone who deflects and projects the Dark Side, which he can’t do because he is the deflection.

Feelings and connections with others are often painful and complicated, yes. But they are the only thing that can make us learn from our failures and mistakes.

Luke’s actual mistake had not been his moment of terror about his nephew, but his self-imposed isolation. We do not learn why he took Ben and his other students away to study on some distant planet of unknown name, apparently without any contact to the outside world; but that loneliness obviously did no one good. And even more importantly, after the damage was done, Luke did not go after Ben to get him out of the mess he had inadvertently caused. He shut himself off from the Force, his family and his friends, ashamed of himself and refusing any kind of contact.

Rey finding him on Ahch-To was necessary because Luke urgently needed someone to communicate with again: Rey listened to him, but she also called him to account. After she left, he searched for his sister again, was visited by Yoda, apologized to Leia and Ben. The connection with the people he cared about infused him with new strength and resolve.

Failure alone is not enough if all it makes you do is retire in some distant spot where no one can find you so that you won’t do any more harm. If there’s something the ST also tells us, it’s that in order to learn from your failings, you need communication with others.

Though set up as the heroine, Rey is not a satisfying one. Why? Because she is more or less thrown into action, makes mistakes, and hardly learns from them. She does communicate sometimes but is mostly a loner (probably due to her upbringing).

The stagnancy of the old Jedi Order came from their utter refusal towards new impulses. Luke himself said in The Last Jedi that the ways of the Jedi have to end. They do, because in order to remain strong, the new Jedi urgently need to learn communication. And I believe that only a Skywalker can teach them how to do it, because Force or not, ultimately this was always their greatest strength: the desire to love and be loved.

Which is why I still am not accepting that the last of the Skywalker blood is supposed to be gone for good. Ben Solo has a quality that I have never noticed in any other character in the saga, at least not in this intensity: he is a good listener, introspective and emphatic.

His grandfather Anakin also was the central character in six films; he was left for dead, but he wasn’t, he came back with another name and in another role. So let’s keep our heads up. We’ve been salty enough since TRoS came out. 😉

...Although, to be honest... If Rian’s trilogy doesn’t bring Ben Solo back, I myself might be tempted to give up on the saga for good...

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shenanigans-and-imagines · 5 years ago

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We’re the Bad Guys: Part 6

Masterlist

Poe Dameron x Reader (eventually), First Order!Reader

Summary: From the day you were born, you were taught the rebels and their New Republic were the bad guys. But, after you crash land on a remote moon with only the Resistance’s poster boy for company, things begin the change.

Based off of this drabble and headcanon

A/N: Hey! Guess who finally got around to the next chapter. Sorry to say no Poe. He won’t be back until Part 8, but I promise he’s coming. And always remember; REBLOG AND COMMENT IF YOU LIKE THIS! I NEED VALIDATION TO SURVIVE!!!

Word Count: 3.0

The next three weeks were the longest of your life. You hadn’t realized just how integral your ship was to your daily routine until you couldn’t fly anymore. What you would have given just to look at the inside of a Tie-Fighter engine. What you would have given just to sit in the cockpit. But, orders were orders.

You were all but confined to quarters, spending your days approving shipments, scheduling repairs and staring at the ceiling. Hux hadn’t ordered any new attacks or changes in patrol. You almost wished the Resistance would attack. At least it would be a change of pace.

Even the Stormtrooper assigned to assist you had become a near constant reminder of your utter boredom. You knew it was standard for an officer of your rank to have an aid, but you had gone so many years without one, you didn’t know what to do with him. All he really could do was stand there and occasionally help you to and from the hanger bay. You would have thought Hux would take advantage of the situation and give you a new up and coming officer to train, but he had insisted one of his Stormtroopers was enough for your needs.

“There is nothing in your assignment which would warrant wasting integral personal”, as he had eloquently put it.

You couldn’t completely dismiss the general’s reasoning. But at least with an officer you might have been able to talk flight tactics or even just the daily grind. The trooper gave you nothing to work with. All you had managed to get out of him was “yes”, “no”, and “sorry”, usually in that order.

The one relief you could find was in the computer archives. You poured what hours you could into researching and understanding the Resistance pilots attached to Black Squadron led by Commander Poe Dameron.

For obvious reasons his history after graduating and joining the Resistance were sparse and relied on reports from First Order officers and informants. His life before then, however, was all but public knowledge.

He hadn’t lied to you when he said his parents were soldiers for the Rebellion. In fact, it may have been considered an understatement. Both were awarded for their bravery, his mother receiving special commendation from General Organa herself. It explained his devotion and the burden the ring placed around his neck carried.

You had to wonder why. Why did he so willingly carry it with him? And the only conclusion you could come to was he chose to carry it. He chose to join the Republic academy. He chose legacy over glory and joined the Resistance where the only reward would be the ensuring the victory his parents fought to achieve. It was his decision; plain and simple.

And where did that leave you?

You didn’t choose to fight. Your parents were the ones to place you in the academy. They placed their legacy on you, not as a token you could take on or off, but an invisible force pressing you into submission. And what was your reward? The hope of victory in the face of your parents' defeat? There had to be more. You had to have dedicated your life to something more.

But like so many of your questions, you only had yourself to answer to. It was a slow moving circle, spiraling down to a conclusion you weren’t sure you were ready to face.

A knock on the door came as a relief as your trooper stepped into the room.

“General Hux wishes to see you in his office, Commander,” he said. His tone was nervous as if he weren’t sure he was allowed to give you any kind of order, regardless of where it came from.

Your lip pressed into a line of annoyance. You couldn’t imagine what General Hux would want with you, but it couldn’t be anything good. Regardless, you reached for your cane and started making the arduous trek to his office with your trooper in tow.

You finally reached the door, a little uncomfortable, but not in serious pain. Your trooper had offered his arm more than once. You had been tempted to take it, but you weren’t on a remote moon anymore. Any such assistance would be seen as a weakness. Maybe that was why Hux had assigned him to you. A test of your resolve.

“You best wait outside,” you said. “I wouldn’t want you caught in the middle of whatever firestorm is coming.”

The trooper’s shoulders relaxed in instant relief. “Yes, Commander.”

You nodded in approval and walked inside.

The General’s office was impressive, but not in the way one would expect. There were no elaborate paintings, statues or anything of note decorating the walls save for the occasional star map. The room was large with a high ceiling allowing one’s footsteps to echo in the empty space. The furniture was sparse, but strategically placed to focus one’s eyeline to the desk at the very center of the room and the man behind it.

General Hux sat up straight with his hand folded carefully on the desk. The back of his chair rose high above him, given the illusion to the throne he so clearly wanted. The edges were elaborately decorated with silver and gold flaked carvings, glistening what light they could in the dimly lit room. If there was ever a doubt in one’s mind to his ambition, the chair was all they needed to silence them.

But for all his strategy, his face was not what captured your attention. Standing just to his left was the towering figure of Commander Kylo Ren.

Your back involuntarily stiffened, but you did not faluter your steps as you approached the desk.

You had only been in the same room as Kylo Ren a handful of times, and talked to him even less, but it was all you needed. You knew his reputation as leader of the Knights of Ren. You understood his standing with Supreme Leader Snoke. And more importantly, you knew exactly what he was capable of.

Your eyes trailed down, landing on the hilt of his lightsaber.

Taking a small breath, you let it out slowly, willing your mind to calm. You just needed to remain calm.

“General Hux,” you greeted, formally. “Commander Ren. I was told you wished to speak with me.”

“Yes,” Hux said. “Please, have a seat.”

You glanced down at the seat in front of his desk. It was sturdy, simple and more importantly sat at least three inches below the General’s own chair.

“I’d rather stand, sir,” you said, placing just enough apology in your voice to prevent him from formally reprimanding you. “I’ve been sitting so long; I need what opportunities I can get to stretch my legs.”

Hux’s lips pressed into a fine line. “As you will, Commander.”

He looked away from you then, making a show of going through the notes on his data pad as he did so.

“You seem to be recovering rather well. I understand you will be fit for command within a week.”

“That is what the droids have told me, sir.”

“And you have taken no leave since your injury?”

“No, sir. From what I understand, an injury does not relieve me of my duties.”

“But, you have had time to look into a certain Resistance pilot,” Hux said, turning his head upward to look into your eyes as he said it. “Is that correct?”

You felt your jaw tighten. So, there it was. “Yes, sir.”

He opened his hands upward, giving you an almost innocent expression. “May I ask why?”

Your eyes flickered to Kylo Ren. He made no move one way or the other, but you could feel his eyes on you. Once again, you allowed yourself a moment to clear your mind.

You had been trained for this exact moment. After the fall of the Emperor at the hands of Luke Skywalker, many formal Imperials grew fearful at the potential onslaught of Jedi. Training against force users became part of your daily study. Teräs Käsi was integrated into your combat training as well as other techniques developed by Sith and Mandalorian alike. But more importantly, exercises to strengthen your mind from attack and influence were prioritized above all else.

Kylo Ren was not about to get inside your mind unless he was willing to kick down the door.

“I don’t get shot down that often,” you answered, simply. “I was curious as to the identity of the pilot who managed it.”

“And your findings?” Hux asked.

“I understand him to be Commander Poe Dameron, former Captain of the New Republic Fleet. A brilliant pilot according to his academy records, and a regular thorn in my squadron’s side for some time.”

“Indeed,” Hux said. “Which begs the question, why now?”

He was staring at you intently and you could feel just the slightest throb of pressure inside your skull. Now was the moment.

“I made the mistake of underestimating my enemy once,” you said, smoothly. “I will not do so again.”

Hux’s eyes never left you, but the pressure dissipated. You didn’t take look in Kylo Ren’s direction, but the fact he hadn’t reached for his lightsaber spoke volumes.

“Is there a point to this interrogation, sir,” you asked, bluntly.

The General raised an eyebrow. “Who said it was an interrogation?”

“Pardon me, sir, but I wasn’t addressing you.” You then straightened, and purposefully drew your eye directly to Kylo Ren. “Is there a purpose to this?”

If the Commander was surprised, he didn’t show it. But then again, he couldn't show much with his mask on.

“General Hux was discontent with your report,” he said, simply but with just enough annoyance to make his disdain clear.

“Were there inconsistencies I need to account for?” you asked.

“None,” Ren answered.

You felt some relief at that. You hadn’t been dishonest. Rather, you had left out certain things, such as Dameron pulling you from the ship, sharing his food, and basically anything else regarding his involvement. According to your report, you were unconscious for the first day and only came to after Poe had been taken off world. The rest was entirely accurate.

“Then it’s the truth the General takes issues with,” you said, dryly.

“Watch your tone Commander,” Hux spat. “You forget who your superiors are.”

“Show me a superior and I’ll remember,” you countered.

Hux rose from his chair then, red faced and fuming.

Your lip twitched upward in satisfaction. Finally, something honest.

“I do not appreciate games, sir,” you continued. “Unlike you, I face my enemies in the open. Did you hope to catch me in a lie? To pin me as a spy or incompetent to justify you leaving me behind to rot? You will have satisfaction in neither. You made a mistake and now you must deal with the consequences.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong,” he said, stepping toward you until you stood practically foot to foot. “You are a Tie-Fighter Commander. I could replace you with any officer of your rank within a week. Officers with much more important names than your own. The only reason I haven’t is that there are those who deem your skills as a pilot above average, but do not think for a moment you are secure.”

“Well, if I’m so easily replaceable, then what was the point of all this?” you said, barely able to control the growl between your teeth.

“Call it a test of loyalty,” Hux said, smoothly. “One which you have failed. If you were truly loyal to the First Order you would not have questioned why you were not rescued. Instead you gave a report questioning my actions and possess a bitterness I personally find distasteful. I hope for your sake you strive to correct such actions in the future.”

And there it was; pettiness. You had made him look bad by living and now he was going to give you hell. All you had done; all the blood, sweat and tears you had given to the First Order, swept away because one man couldn’t admit a mistake.

You wanted to scream, but held it in. Hux was just looking for an excuse to demote you. You would not give him the satisfaction. So, you took a breath and let it out slowly.

“Yes, sir.”

Hux twitched upward in a smug smile. “You are dismissed, Commander.”

You straightened then, giving him a quick salute and turned to leave.

“One more thing, Commander,” he called. “I thought you ought to know, your squadron has been sent to reconditioning.”

You spun back around, unable to hide your surprise. “Sir?”

“They had reported you dead,” he clarified. “I would not wish pilots like that under my command. Would you?”

Your hand tightened around the top of your cane. It wouldn’t take much effort. Just a few steps and a quick wave of the arm and his head could turn into a mess of red slop. But once again, you kept still.

“No,” you managed. “Thank you, sir.”

You did not wait for a dismissal, before turning once again and walking out the door.

Your trooper didn’t say anything as the pair of you made your way back to your quarters, to which you were thankful.

Hux had to have been bluffing. There was no way you were as replaceable as he implied, but it nagged at you even worse than the first night you returned to the Finalizer. Again the question you had been avoiding came back begging to be answered; what were you fighting for?

It occurred to you then you weren’t even that affected by your squadron being sent away. Yes, you were angry, but more at Hux’s clear manipulation of the system to place blame away from himself. The men and women you had fought alongside weren’t people. They were numbers. A line of identical helmets with nothing behind the eyes. They were like you; replaceable.

The door to your quarters opened. It was only when you stepped inside did you realize just how badly your leg was aching.

“Trooper,” you said. “Could you assist me to the chair, please.”

The Stormtrooper stiffened in surprise, but was quick to help you; placing a hand on your waist and supporting you to the chair. For a brief moment you thought of a different hand on your waist and the smell of clear forest air. But, it didn’t last as he placed you in your seat.

“What’s your name, trooper?” you asked, suddenly.

The Stormtrooper once again stiffened. “Sir?”

“You’ve been by my side for three weeks,” you clarified. “It just occurred to me, I don’t remember your name.”

“Oh,” he said, awkwardly. “I’m FN-2187.”

You nodded. “Alright, FN-2187, may I ask you a question?”

“Of course, Commander.”

“Are you afraid of me?”

There was a long awkward pause. You couldn’t get much with his helmet on, but his body language was enough to scream just how much he did not want to answer the question.

“I won’t be offended by your answer,” you said, giving what you hoped was an assuring smile.

He looked at you carefully, his weight shifting from side to side in deliberation.

“Yes,” he said. “Well, you did, but no. Not so much now.”

“And what do you think of me now?”

Again he paused.

“I don’t know, sir.”

Again, you nodded. “And your other commanding officers. Are you afraid of them?”

His head tilted from side to side. “Yes and no.”

“Meaning some you’re afraid of some and others you respect?”

“No,” he said, carefully. “I’m not sure if respect is the right word.”

“Meaning you’re afraid of some more than others.”

There was a silence. It was answer enough.

“And of your fellow troopers,” you continued. “Are there any you respect or would call a friend?”

“None that come to mind, Commander.” His toned was rather matter-of-fact, and that somehow made it worse.

“Not even the ones you trained with?”

He shook his head. “No sir, I don’t know where they are. We were separated after our initial conditioning was complete. It’s protocol.”

“Protocol?” you repeated. Yes, you suppose that makes sense. Less chance to rebel against the programming and isolate those that do. Incredibly efficient and utterly inhuman.

“So, if you have no commanding officer you admire or comrades in arms, what is it that you fight for?”

“The First Order, sir.” It was said quickly, automatically, and well practiced.

“Of course,” you said, unable to say anything else. What else were you fighting for, but the First Order. Whatever that was. “Thank you for your honesty, FN-2187. You’re dismissed.”

He gave the standard salute, but made no move to leave, once again shifting his weight uneasily from side to side.

“Uh, Commander?” he asked, tentatively. “Is there...is there something I can do for you?”

You stared at him. A sudden feeling came over you, something warm and comforting right in your chest. It was pleasant, if not a little alien and left a small smile on your lips. And in that moment, you made your choice.

“No. Thank you,” you said, gently. “You’ve given me a good deal to think about. Although, you might need to find a new assignment. I will be taking the next few days off.”

“You’re taking leave, Commander?” he questioned.

You shrugged. “Might as well. There isn’t much else going on, and I doubt I’ll be given another opportunity short of death after this. Not to mention you’ll finally be allowed a more interesting assignment.”

“It’s not so bad, sir,” FN-2187 said, sheepishly. “Better than sanitation duty, anyway.”

You gave a small chuckle at that. “Fair enough. You’re dismissed Trooper. And thank you.”

He nodded in acknowledgement and left.

The moment the door closed, you opened your computer and pulled an empty data stick from the drawer. You had a lot of work to do.

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron #poe x reader #poe #star wars imagine #star wars #general hux #kylo ren #the force awakens #the last jedi #the rise of skywalker

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unprofessionalart · 4 years ago

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Star Wars / Onward Crossover: Redemption is a second chance at love

JJB and Anakin meet - as Anakin matures he becomes aware of his romantic feelings towards JJB but because of his internalized homophobia he pretends to be heterosexual by marrying Padmè - in the end he'll be overcome by the darkness that grew from his hatred towards his very own being and thus, becomes Darth Vader

Before Anakin turns to the dark side he gives JJB a necklace (symbol?), he tries to be casual about it but JJB can sense his crush's true intentions

JJB is grieving his lost chance at love and hopes that there may be left some of Anakin's true self in what now has become of the man he loved

Meanwhile, because of JJB's sympathy towards their former friend and current enemy OWK suspects him to be a spy of the dark side and decides to secretly murder the innocent JJB - no one ever knew

Years after that coldblooded murder and Darth Vader's death Ben Solo is born, a new hope, but what he doesn't know is that he is in fact Anakin Skywalker as greater forces decided it was rightful to give Anakin Skywalker's soul a second chance at love - true love

So then following the original storyline, Ben Solo becomes Kylo Ren - a tragical act caused by the damage of his soul but there is hope for redemption

As Kylo feels a strong connection to the life of Anakin Skywalker he studies him thoroughly and finds they resemble each other in far too many ways - which amazes him as Kylo has never met anyone who felt the same as him

He learns of a dangerous but sacred ritual that allows the caster to resurrect the deceased for 24 h - on his journey he finds himself in more than enough deadly situations but he is determined that this is the right and only thing for him to do

When he finally finishes all the preparations he starts the ritual but finds that he only manages to resurrect half of Anakin's body as his torso has yet to be summoned but he only has 24 hours left to do so - he starts into yet another adventure to complete the ritual only to come to the conclusion that he hadn't resurrected the sith lord but rather a strangely familiar creature named JJB

He immediately feels a strong bond form between the two of them and is sorry when JJB loses his physical form once the 24 hours are over but his new friend decides to remain by his side although he can only appear in a rather ghostly form

They grow to love each other platonically but both sense that there is more to it - furthermore, JJB helps Kylo out of his dark hole and convinces him to side with the Jedi Rey

JJB guides Kylo through those difficult times and Kylo learns to accept himself and piece by piece he's able to heal his damaged soul - becuase of his internalized homophobia the darkness he felt inside of himself is cast away almost entirely when he learns how accepting the Resistance acts towards same sex couples as shown by the former stormtrooper Finn and the pilot Poe, which is a great influence on Kylo's further development

Final fight: with the help of Rey and the Resistance, Kylo is almost able to kill the maleficent imperator Palpatine but is defeated by him with only a small advantage - with Rey and Kylo knocked out cold and on the verge of death JJB finds it in himself to step out of his spirit form and fight Palpatine himself

After easily defeating the enemy JJB hurries to heal Kylo and by sharing their energy the two grow closer than ever, not only that but Kylo suddenly remembers a life he only read about so far: Anakin Skywalker's life - piecing together what has happened it becomes clear that Kylo is indeed the reincarnation of Anakin Skywalker

With a glance to JJB's neck he begins to cry tears of joy when he finds that his love still wears the same necklace he gave to him all those years ago; he also notices how JJB has been blessed with a solid physical form and being overwhelmed with all those positive feelings he kisses JJB eagerly who returns the kiss overjoyed

After that exhausting fight JJB and Kylo decide to finally find their peace seeing as the balance has been restored and they were given a second chance so they retire to the island where Luke Skywalker lives

There they open their own small business called "SOLO SOLO BINKS - MAY THE SPA BE WITH YOU"

Scene ends with a customer coming up to the counter and JJB greeting them

credit: me and @boreoz

#star wars #jar jar binks #anakin skywalker #darth vader #fanfiction #I'm sorry #finpoe #onward #this is a fever dream

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elmidol · 4 years ago

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You Are My Fate (NSFW)

Three Blind Tooke Part Three Death Is An Art

Read on AO3

Three Blind Tooke

Part Three: Death is an Art

Chapter Sixty-Three: You Are My Fate

As you drifted off to a lullaby,

I held you tight in a warm embrace.

As you played in your dreams at night,

I waited, knowing the future you would chase.

The value of an individual depended upon their deeds, or so you had been taught by your parents. It did not matter how many people fawned over the fallen Emperor. Popularity was rarely an accurate indicator of someone’s value, yet in the case of Leia Organa, you could not help but notice that it did reveal proof of her character. Her funeral was attended by the Resistance and the Order of Ren. Had it not been a risk to all others, the funeral would have been transmitted for others to witness. It was recorded by multiple droids for the future. Once the war ended, once the First Order was defeated, the galaxy would mourn again. In the meantime, you were left standing there beside Kylo Ren recalling the lessons that your mother and father had taught you. Leia and Palpatine had both been flawed, had made mistakes, had worked to gain versions of power. The difference was that Leia had not wanted to claim the power for herself. Palpatine, on the other hand, had lied and manipulated people for his own gain.

According to Kylo, Palpatine had been a Force user, a Sith. It was not just Darth Vader whose shadow had been cast upon Kylo as a child, but Palpatine’s as well. His parents had feared the Dark side of the Force, ignoring the Light because they had become blinded by that fear.

This mistake that Leia had continuously made had not eliminated Kylo Ren’s ability to love her. In private he had cried. While his eyes were moistened as the crowd wept for his mother, Kylo did not weep again. You, on the other hand, felt tears trickling down your cheeks. There were less now than there had been earlier. Leia Organa had meant many things to you, and how she had touched your life had shaped who you now were for, in your opinion, the better. Feelings of surrealism toyed at the edges of your mind, shifting your focus and preventing you from breaking down as perhaps you would otherwise would have. You swayed in place, felt your hand twitch towards his, and jerked your arms around yourself when images of holding your father’s hand when you had died sprang to the forefront of your focus.

War almost constantly had you surrounded by death with few funerals to observe. You felt out of place, leaned towards Kylo to aid in regathering your bearings. So many others had perished in the same battle that had claimed Leia’s life; not only on the same day either, but since then from injuries sustained. Vicrul and Ap’lek were absent from the funeral. Had they been there, it would have been in support of Kylo rather than any feelings of fondness for Leia, who had remained a stranger to them. A mere ghost of Kylo’s past when he had been Ben Solo before becoming the spectre that had prevented the Resistance and Order of Ren from banding together with Kylo as leader.

Hours later the crowd had not broken away, though you had left the area. As had Kylo Ren, the Knights of Ren, and Order of Ren and Resistance superior officers. You had been offered a chance to take part in the meeting to discuss the upcoming battle with Hux and the First Order, however you had opted to remain behind. Ap’lek decided to accompany you in favor of participating in the meeting in which he likely would have simply remained a silent member. Kuruk, Trudgen, and Vicrul had gone, however, and you were thankful that Kylo had them with him. Rey would not permit other Resistance members a chance to harm Kylo--any who did try would be foolish--however that would not still the tongues of those who despised the man.

It was unclear whether or not your mother would linger by Leia’s body for the remainder of the cycle or not. The two of you had barely spoken a sentence since reuniting. She was emotionally distant. The loss of Naboo followed by your departure had aged her. Exhaustion crept into her expressions as well as her movements. She had also become rather skittish in areas namely those regarding you--it did not take a genius to guess that she was waiting for you to disappear from her presence once more. Giving her space was wise, as there was much that she needed to process. There was a tempest of emotions she combatted in regards to Kylo. That she did not know the full history between you and Kylo was what would allow her to eventually accept the alliance just as she had, in her own way, accepted your marriage.

You sat in the quarters that had been assigned to Ap’lek, and together you observed Millicent in a silence that clung to the walls of the room. Two names ran through your mind in a repetition that one might refer to as obsessive. Cardo and Ushar. They had not perished, at least not permanently. Like you and Kylo, Cardo had lost his life only to be brought back. Once Kylo had mourned for his mother, as soon as he had learned of Cardo’s current state, he had gone to Medbay along with an old Jedi artifact and the power that he had taken from Not-Rey. You did not know if it was power from the Light, the Dark, or both sides of the Force that had returned Cardo to life. What you did know was that many in the Resistance considered it unnatural. As for Ushar, Rey and Finn had used Force healing to aid the medics. The Resistance said nothing negative in regards to this aside from the unsurprising jabs that their energy should have been devoted to Resistance members.

Millicent spun in circles in an attempt to catch her own tail after spotting it twitching. She rolled onto her back once she did manage to secure it between her paws. “Is Ushar still resting?” you asked as you stretched out an arm and twitched your fingers to summon the small cat closer. Ap’lek gave a nod, which you spotted out of the corner of your eye. It was a simpler matter for one to discuss Ushar rather than Cardo. There was gray area with the latter. Unproven suspicions that Kylo Ren had siphoned the life force out of beings unknown to revive the Knight of Ren. The death had been fresh, unlike Leia’s. Had Kylo not been engaged with Not-Rey, it was entirely possible that he would have sacrificed the entire battlefield to attempt to restore her.

Ushar would likely remain out of the battle with the First Order if possible just as Ap’lek had with this previous one. You were unsure when it came to Cardo. Kylo had revealed nothing, and you had not pushed. He had had other things to focus on, namely the upcoming funeral and meeting. Speaking with the Knight himself had not been an option. That had changed since the end of the funeral, and eventually that was where life would lead. You needed to decompress before that occurred. Ap’lek was one of the few individuals with whom you could accomplish this.

Skimming fingers along your scalp, you tilted back your head to look up at the ceiling. Millicent had stared at you for a short handful of seconds before turning back to her tail. She released random yowls, which were signs that she missed a specific familiar presence. You pressed the hand that had run along your head over your mouth as she let out such a sound. She wanted him back, and you wanted him dead.

Ap’lek drummed four fingers against his shin. “Ushar will be able to guide the newer Force sensitives. A position of command would prevent him from being removed entirely. Kylo will address this in the meeting regarding the battle.” The chains of command shifting into a single order would be chaotic. That was precisely the part of the meeting that you wanted to avoid. You were tired of politics, exhausted whenever you felt as though someone would question your loyalties; it was a single entity now, yet there would be people who strongly opposed this as a permanent alliance. It was a waste of time, which was a valuable resource that the galaxy was quite limited on.

Ushar working as a guide for those less familiar with the Force would assist individuals who had been aligned with the Order of Ren since the beginning alongside those who had joined the Resistance. The young woman named Jannah, for instance, knew only basic techniques. The Knights of Ren had been around for years, were familiar enough with the First Order and Hux that there was wisdom in listening to what Ushar would have to say to anyone he assisted. If someone in the Resistance worked to object to this, they were a fool.

You pushed yourself up off the floor and began to pace. Restlessness was creeping through your limbs as well as your mind. Whenever you paused or stopped movement, that was when thoughts of Leia and potential future losses crept inside. Bacta had healed your minor injuries. Rest had assisted in reducing fatigue. Those both might have been easier to confront than whatever demons wanted to catch you. Millicent crouched down to observe you, the small cat ready to dive into a hiding spot if you spooked her. You walked past her, back and forth, three times before she relaxed.

“Would you like to train?” You stopped, twisting around to peer into the masked face with narrowed eyes. Due to the injuries he had since healed from, you were less likely to gain as many bruises sparring with him as you would have in the past. Regardless, any new ache could inhibit you in battle with the First Order. Ap’lek was not foolish enough to suggest anything that would lead to that. You worked through the other options that remained. The shooting range, which you doubted since Ap’lek had a different weapon of choice. You were not Force sensitive, so there was another option ruled out. What some people took for granted was that education and studying were forms of training.

With his familiarity of First Order weaponry--admittedly, he was not as well-versed in the technology as were the former stormtroopers and officers--he would be capable of guiding you in how to best assist the Order of Ren. There would be dogfighting. There would be one Star Destroyer battling another. You had run missions with the Resistance, however you were aware that in the end you were no match for their best pilots, not when the fleet would be so large. More than that, you were aware of the fact that there would be certain Order of Ren vessels that required more protection than others. Those that housed civilians such as your mother would be at a disadvantage. Whichever ship Ushar resided in during the battle, that too would need protection so that he could help others be successful in taking down the enemy.

The First Order was often in possession of new weaponry and technology that caused you pause. Even when you had been hunting Kylo Ren and other officers of importance, this had been so. You nodded in agreement, accepting Ap’lek’s suggestion. He stood as a result, poured a bit of food into Millicent’s bowl, and then preceded you out of his quarters. You smiled to yourself as the two of you walked. It was sweet, to you, that Ap’lek had appeared to have adopted Millicent as his own. It showed that she had helped him when he had been unable to go into battle. You had been able to find hope in her, and so had he. These seemingly small victories were everything in the world to you.

Together the pair of you headed in the direction of an archive that had been initially created by two superior officers that had thought to bring along spare datajournals housing information the Order of Ren could utilize. Since then it had been added to by Kylo Ren and others when they returned from missions. In the past day, Rose and Finn had included more materials after it had been agreed upon by Poe and Rey as well. It was thus unsurprising to you that the archive was not empty when you and Ap’lek walked inside. You gave a general greeting, a small wave of your hand, whenever you passed by a familiar face, but did not stop to chat. Ap’lek, on the other hand, ignored all others in favor of maintaining a disciplined focus to arrive at the exact spot he had selected when proposing the idea.

His hands were in constant motion, fingers seeking out a specific text at a rapid enough pace that it offered the impression such actions were unnatural. You blinked to help shake away some of that strangeness, and doing so allowed you to realize that part of the issue had been that your vision blurred due to how you had been attempting to fixate on both the words of each text’s spine and the fingers at the same time. It would have been beneficial to have the ability to execute both tasks with no issues. As it was, your mind was already crowded with all the information you had worked to digest in the past forty-eight hours. Names of people and weapons alike vied for your attention. You shoved all of them away as Ap’lek located the text, pulled it out, and began to scroll through its contents.

“He won’t trust the ysalamir to keep him safe.” You nodded, thinking that even if Kylo had proven that they could be rendered ineffective during ground battle, Armitage Hux was most likely aware that the ship containing him being destroyed would result in his death. Due to this, no one was certain if he would be on whatever ships he sent in pursuit of the Order of Ren and Resistance. “He will be relying on science.”

“Ancient or new?” you asked, though a part of you already knew the answer: it was both. This combination was what had helped the man to successfully steal the mantle of Supreme Leader and keep the galaxy under the First Order’s thumb. Starkiller Base itself had been an improvement on the old plans of the Death Stars that the Rebellion had brought down. The experiment that had yielded Rey and given Not-Rey her abilities, that might yet have had more benefits for Hux that had not been unveiled to the public eye.

In answer to your question, Ap’lek had merely spared a quick glance before returning his attention to the text. “The others will focus on any Force-related obstacles.” It was just as well; though you were frustrated at the prospect of this robbing you the chance to meet Hux face-to-face and possibly end his life yourself, you knew that it would do you no good to push for a role in those tasks. “Ground support will need to be ready.” Again did he turn to consider you. Heart thumping in your chest, you recognized this as confirmation to your suspicions: Kylo also suspected that Hux would not remain on the ship. Former allies as enemies meant that weaknesses would be known. Armitage Hux was not a fool. This was a battle he had been preparing for ever since the First Order had split into two. “You will need to be prepared for close combat as well as long distance.”

You chewed on your lip, tilted your head partway to the side, and read over the line of text that Ap’lek’s finger was pointing to. The First Order had Walkers that would not fall as easily as the ones of the Empire had. These would be used for both offensive and defensive purposes. Even with the Force, it would take great effort for either Kylo or Rey to down one of these behemoths. That expended energy could cost them their lives. Thus, while they focused on the Force, you and others who could not wield this mystical power would work to bring down these giants and other weaponry that the First Order was in possession of.

The text, thankfully, contained the specs on the technological behemoth that aided you in learning what weaponry it housed. This might have changed since the division, however you doubted it would be by much if it had. “Does the Order of Ren have any of these?”

“Only a few. It was simpler to grab starships.” That made sense, you conceded. “Others sacrificed themselves to blow up entire Star Destroyers. A way to cripple the First Order as well as conceal their defection save from those who bore witness. Their families are being watched by both the First Order and Order of Ren.” The former for signs of betrayal, the latter as protection.

It amazed you the feats that people were capable of achieving when the time came for them to make a choice. Some failed to act at all. They flickered out of existence or cowered before potential death. Others, like Leia and the First Order defectors that had not lived to see the true birth of the Order of Ren, they did the one thing they could to help others before they perished. The galaxy had known Leia and so mourned. It did now know these unsung heroes, who were mourned by only those close to them. You spent a moment of silence to pay your respects, to silently swear that their sacrifices would not be in vain.

“Aerial support will focus on the Walkers as much as they can, correct?” Ap’lek held up a hand in a one armed shrug. You puffed up your cheeks and rolled your eyes, annoyed that there were too many lingering questions in regards to the upcoming battle. It was no one’s fault. Until Supreme Leader Hux’s location was pinpointed, there could be no definitive plans of attack. “Hypothetically?” This time Ap’lek admitted that he suspected as much, although it could not be said for certain unless the Resistance and Order of Ren came to an agreement as well as managed to deploy enough ships that they could take on enemy starfighters and the Walkers both.

The Rebellion won with horrible odds, you mused. And with less Force users on their side.

The Knight of Ren passed the text to you so that you were able to scroll through the file on the Walker at your leisure. There were logs of repairs that some of the Walkers in the First Order’s possession had undergone. You were no mechanic, however you knew enough to identify areas of weakness that you could use to your advantage. The odds in this were also slim in terms of your success. Ultimately, it was not as though you had much of a choice. The First Order had to be defeated. Supreme Leader Armitage Hux had to meet with Death, whose name was Kylo Ren.

That thought caused you pause. The shower wherein he had shown you his mind via the Force slipped forward. That was not the kind of Death that he was. He was an artist of death, one capable of correcting some of its flaws if given a chance. That was why you remained alive. It was how your mother had not perished along with those on Hosnian Prime. It was how Cardo had been revived. And it was how Kylo Ren himself had returned from death. You released a shaky breath.

“I’m not as afraid as I used to be. I trust him.” These words received no response. Not that they had been uttered for a reaction of any sort. You felt Ap’lek watching you from behind his mask, and you lifted your chin in order to meet his gaze. “I want to be by his side when he succeeds. Before the next step has to be taken, I want to be there and have that chance to just breathe with him.”

Even with the periods of silence where you could pretend that the war was over, the truth never failed to come forward like a tidal wave set to crush you. The steps to take after the war ended were numerous. What would be left once Armitage Hux was dead, that would take years. It would close a chapter in history and in your life. The Destroyer of Worlds gone from the galaxy he had sought to enslave. Once this occurred, you would be able to breathe. This would have always been true for Kylo as well, however now he would be killing the man that had murdered his mother. It was more important than ever that Kylo Ren be the one to kill Hux, to gain some semblance of retribution in a world where justice was a mere concept. Flawed and rarely obtained.

“The mission that almost killed me, it was worth it.” You snorted at that then groaned. You did not enjoy recalling him in the bacta tank, unsure whether or not he would survive. “There’s another file from it. We’ll read through it next.”

Hours for the day cycle dwindled as the pair of you studied in the archive then in Ap’lek’s quarters. The file that had been added as a result of the mission that had nearly killed the Knight had been placed inside an encrypted box to ensure that none of the younglings being taught to wield the Force would attempt to foolishly utilize the information contained within. That sort of behavior was something that would not have surprised you even before Aris had lost her life, though now it hammered at you in a way that it otherwise would not have. The First Order under Supreme Leader Armitage’s command had chosen to utilize discarded and old projects that the Imperials had abandoned or else never completed. Palpatine and those under him had given blueprints for their successors. They had hidden away resources that were currently at the First Order’s disposal as well. Hence the amount--along with the variety--of Walkers that the Order of Ren would face. That both the Order of Ren and the Resistance had already faced during previous skirmishes.

Before encountering Not-Rey, you had discarded the notion that Hux would use weapons or individuals that wielded the Force’s powers, the exception being ysalamiri that deadened it. The file that Ap’lek showed you shoved such preconceptions of the man’s tactics off to the side. Armitage Hux had been using research on what the Empire had dubbed Terror Troopers in order to modify Force sensitives that had come from Rey’s birth planet. That was, you assumed, why he had been there. It had not only been for Not-Rey and to lure Leia to her death. It had been to create these super soldiers that were cyborgs with enhanced strength, agility, and speed. These characteristics would be further amplified in Force sensitives. All of this coupled with the terror troopers’s ability to continue fighting after the loss of one or more limbs meant that Armitage would have the mindless soldiers he had tried to create with his stormtrooper program. The combination of technology and the Force had you sliding down to the ground so that you could sit while you processed the information.

Ap’lek had been correct in stating that the mission had yielded results. It offered the Order of Ren a chance to prepare for an encounter with these soldiers when it worked to kill Armitage and the rest of his army. You set a hand over your mouth, stared with wide eyes at the text, and tried to not think about how many lives might be lost in the upcoming battle. You felt that, in the end, the First Order would be defeated. There would be more losses before that would happen. This reality made you yearn for your mother. You recalled what it was like to be a child who reached out for her whenever she was setting off to travel for work.

“They will be untrained, which will give us an advantage.” You heard the Knight of Ren’s words without processing them until several more seconds had transpired. Only then did you slide your limb away from your mouth and give a nod. “Along with these and the SuperLaser Star Destroyers that we took the kyber crystals from, we may also face a torpedo sphere.” A curse slipped off your tongue.

Only when fatigue creeped in and your concentration was poor did you and Ap’lek agree to set aside any further studying. You both had your wits about you enough so that if an attack came, you would each be ready to assist. For the time being, while things were quiet, Ap’lek decided to meditate with Millicent as company. You chose to head to your shared quarters with Kylo. You paused in the doorway when you immediately noticed the new additions.

Kylo Ren had previously ensured that his quarters contained various ancient texts and artifacts, most of which you had considered with your eyes while refraining from touching them, unsure what they were capable of. Weaponry was stashed away in a locked cabinet to which you had been given the code after you had sworn allegiance to him. A new collection of ashes stood in a section that your eye often skipped over. Your growing assortment of digital pets had their own place. Medications in case either of you required swift treatment; it was more for you than him, however he had done what he could to not cause you to be overly prideful by stating what the materials were primarily there for. There was--what had not been there when you had left at the beginning of the day cycle in order to be present for Leia’s funeral--a two-tier shelf that contained four potted plants that were native to Naboo. Your heart leapt in your chest at the sight of them, your eye instantly drawn to the ryoo.

Littered on the floor were flowers that had been used in the funeral. Some were crushed, trampled by Kylo, who was seated on the edge of his bed. His helmet was in his hands, staring up at him. You walked into the room in full to allow the door to close so that there would be more privacy. Due to uncertainties with Resistance members, stormtroopers made rounds to guard the quarters. They knew to allow Rey close without hassle. All others were subject to searches for weapons. You stopped when your legs hit against his knees. You had maneuvered your way past the flowers without squishing a single one.

“Do you want to talk?” His eyes lifted from the helmet. There was a chance they would never fully return to their original color. You waited, held your breath, exhaled in a sigh. Arms crossed, you lifted your shirt above your head then let it fall to the ground. The helmet joined it, rolling forward so that you had to step out of the way. Had you not, you imagined that he would have used the Force to prevent it from rolling over your feet. You stripped down to your underwear and socks. Kylo shrugged out of his cape, lifted his hips to fully remove it, and then laid back. Toying with the hem of his tunic, you shifted onto the bed and straddled his hips. “Hey.”

“I returned to the Falcon after the discussions ended.” You worked open his belt then started on his tunic. His hands started to move. Together you bared his torso. Your fingers skimmed the faint scars that decorated his flesh. His did the same to your body. Memorizing one another. “The Resistance is no more.”

“It’s officially joined the Order of Ren.” His head bobbed. You crawled your fingers down towards his pants to open them. “Now they are working to locate what strongholds he might crawl into, correct?” A repetition of the nod. You wanted to speak more of his time on the Millennium Falcon, however you were aware that it was sentimental. He had gone there to remember his parents. Perhaps to remember his childhood. If he wanted to speak about it, you were there; you could not and would not pressure him. “Where did you find the plants?”

“Your…” His lips formed around the word mother though he failed to give it any sound. Pursing your lips a little, you shushed him in a soothing, gentle manner while cupping his face between your hands. You leaned down and kissed his mouth. Kylo placed one hand on the back of your head, the other on your lower back just above your ass. “Mm.” This groan subsequent to the pair of you parting for air and him taking in a deep breath. His eyes seemed to spark, to dark closer to their natural color as hunger gripped him.

Kylo reached between your legs and tugged aside your panties simultaneous to the moment you withdrew his cock from his pants and began to stroke him. He twisted his wrist, plunged two fingers into your wet entrance. You clenched around the digits. “I feel more complete when you’re in me,” you whispered. You lifted yourself up, groaning at the fact that this made his fingers slip out of you, and worked to position his cock in line with your cunt. You lowered yourself. His hands were on your hip, plunging you downwards, impaling you and splitting you open.

He rolled you over so that he was on top, shoved you forward, off of his cock. You obediently moved up onto your hands and knees. Felt one hand on your waist, the other finding your throat. He tugged you backwards, reentered you. His mouth on your ear, teeth clamping down, pulling, making you clench. You whimpered his name. Met his thrusts, which were shallow, quick. He controlled you with the grip he had on your neck. His mouth was no longer on your ear but instead on your shoulder. His teeth clamped down once more. He was leaving marks, leaving bruises on your body. The hand on your hip found your breast, squeezed. Pinched.

Swearing, Kylo Ren withdrew and twisted you around so that he could nibble then bite down on your breasts. First one then the other. Your mouth dropped open. Shakily breathing, you felt your cunt clenching around nothing, and you whined for him to fill that emptiness with his cock. Instead he skimmed his teeth on your sensitive flesh, his tongue laving over one of the bite marks. The two fingers that had been inside of you slid along your slit, growing wet with your juices, your slick smeared up towards your belly. Kylo moved his fingers in reverse, back and forth, toying with your clit on each pass. Your hips jerked into his touch, your body screaming for him. You felt as though you were on fire. Your nipples hardened. Kylo rolled one of the buds around with his tongue counter clockwise in unison with tracing his middle finger around in a circle on your clit.

“Mm...please.” You reached down, pumping him, feeling his cock twitch in your hand. His nose kept contact with your skin as Kylo shifted upwards until he could pin you to the bed, your wrists in just one of his hands and set against your sternum. You squirmed as best you could, toes clutching at the blankets underneath your feet. “Kylo.” You were a panting mess, feeling him unravelling you bit by bit, layer by layer. You could not recall him having ever marked you like this, not this many times, with his mouth.

The next bite on your shoulder broke skin, made you gasp and furrow your brow. You felt the light sting, the throbbing. Turning your head, you met his gaze then looked down at his lips, which were reddened by traces of blood. With a sigh of understanding, you bucked your hips and worked to throw him off. Twisted your wrists, working your fingers towards his exposed arm until your nails dug into his skin. You raked them along his limb. Kylo yanked back to free your wrists now that you were delivering pain along with the pleasure.

This dance of despair was one that you had executed in the past. Both with Kylo and with Hux. Use me. I am nothing. Hurt me. Destroy me. All because you had been in pain that you had not wanted to articulate nor accept. This period between his mother’s death and eliminating her murderer was one of utter agony for him. You scratched his flesh, made rivulets on his back. Threw back your head as he thrust his cock into your wet cunt and began to fuck you hard, his length pounding into you as you seized his bottom lip between your teeth and tugged, earning a growl that you returned. You entwined your fingers in his hair and yanked his head backwards, tackled his throat. Heard your name in that voice, the one that meant everything to you. Your eyelashes fluttered.

Tasting his abused skin on your tongue, you pinched his cheeks so that his mouth opened and forced your tongue inside. His met yours in a battle for dominance, working to pin yours. Flattening your hands, you led them down the entire length of his torso. The muscles jumped under your touch. Kylo Ren gripped your inner thighs in a bruising grasp, spreading them apart so that he could better watch his cock moving in and out of you. You shifted one hand off of him and onto your cunt, parting your lips and toying with your clit.

Your vision blurred at the edges as you spilled on his cock, your walls pulsing around his cock, which throbbed inside of you. Kylo pulled out of you before he could cum, and you expected him to jerk his cock, to cum on your stomach. Instead he slipped his arms around your thighs and tugged you so that you fell backwards and he could engulf your cunt with his mouth. Your hands entangled in his hair, tugging at his head as you rolled your hips to meet the thrusting of his tongue.

An invisible hand of Force energy pressed on your throat, shoving you back onto the mattress before spiderwebbing, nonexistent nails threatening to break layers of skin as they explored. Despite the threat, there was little pain. Kylo Ren was more in control of his powers than you had remembered. The sensations were intensified compared to what he had been able to deliver in the past. Clawed limbs drew your hands out of his hair mere seconds before Kylo shifted, his tongue trailing along your flesh the entire time as he pushed upwards until he could kiss you. His tongue delved into your mouth and he placed one hand at your throat, pinning you more firmly. The mattress dipped under his weight and yours. You could breathe; he was careful to not crush your windpipe

You moaned into the kiss, your eyes snapping open as he thrust himself inside of you. His eyes were open as well, watching you the entire time, the way you submitted to his will. A snap of his hips and you were panting more desperately than before as he pulled back from the kiss. Saliva connected your mouth with his. Kylo flicked his tongue along his lips, causing that trail to break. It was tinged red from the blood that you had each drawn. His kisses had tasted of you, of blood. You wound your arms around the back of his neck, drawing him nearer, which ultimately increased the amount of pressure that was on your throat. You wondered if it, too, would bruise, or if he would instruct you to use bacta to hide the evidence so as to not upset anyone else. You could, you mused, simply wear a collared shirt. A smile crept onto your lips at that thought. The way you could hide the marks that he left. The way his clothes would conceal those that you were leaving on him.

“We’re so close to the end of this chapter.” You had to whisper in order to get the words out. Kylo Ren removed his hand from your neck as you spoke, using it to knead your breast.You trailed your hands along his back, uncrossing your arms as you did so. Running your fingertips along his collarbone, your hands joined together briefly at his throat then split away to trace his chest. You toyed with his nipples as he pinched one of yours.

He tilted his head back, his hips never stilling, and you panted, rolling yours to meet every one of his thrusts. Kylo cupped your face. You leaned into his touch, felt the pad of his thumb pressing down on your lip. There was a request in his gaze, one that you understood. It was the same as it had been this entire time. Use me. Complete me. Make me feel something. I might be a mere machine of death. You bared your teeth, snarling as his agony became yours. His turmoil woke within you, accompanied by anger. Your hands shot towards his throat, wrapping around it. Kylo pressed into your touch, his mouth on yours in a kiss of gratitude. His hand dropped down to your neck. Neither of you fully pushing on the other’s windpipe. Merely applying enough pressure that the threat existed. That the realization that you were one another’s source of air, that you controlled the other’s ability to breathe, remained in focus.

His hand left you simultaneous to the moment yours left him. Speaking was not a necessity. You understood one another as though you were a single being. You moved onto your hands and knees for a second time. His body enveloped yours, his hands on your hips tugging you backwards onto his cock, which stretched you inch by inch as he moved so slowly. Kylo groped your other breast that he had previously been neglecting. With his other hand, he cupped your pussy. His teeth found your shoulder. This time he did not draw blood though you knew that layers of skin had been sawed through. The Force nails ghosted over your stomach. Your cunt throbbed, your jaw dropping open in a silent moan.

Licking where he had bitten, Kylo pressed his lips on the flesh in a kiss that made shivers run along your spine. You felt close to another orgasm. Felt the dam ready to break as his cock hit against your cervix. He angled himself differently. Grabbed your hand in his, guiding it so that you could feel the bulge from within. “Do you feel it?”

“Yes,” you cried out, losing yourself in that moment. He fucked you through your orgasm, which was a cacophony of sensations. You felt as though you were floating. In your body and outside of it. Your walls clenching him. Your blood pulsing so loudly in your ears while sound faded. Kylo’s breathing suddenly all you could focus on as you clenched and unclenched in time with his panting.

You vaguely felt Kylo Ren pull out of you, felt him pinning your wrists on either side of your head while you were laid out on your back. The Force hands grabbed your ankles and wrapped your legs around his waist. As you recovered, you used one hand to support your weight and the other to pull him down into a kiss as he fucked you, seeking his own release. His tongue fought yours, pushing it down into submission.

There was wetness on your face, and you did not know who was crying. Did not care. It was the same, in the end. Pleasure and pain coursed through your body, more the former than the latter. Even the mental anguish that had been filtering through your bond lessened. Kylo nuzzled your cheek, nipped, kissed you again. You felt the heat of his cum fill your body, rocked into his thrusts as he kept moving. His hands raked down your body from your neck towards your breasts, down your sides, fingertips biting into your hips, your thighs.

His fists met the mattress mere inches from your head. You did not flinch. Cupping his face as you had before this had started, you searched his face for any flicker of emotion that you could find. “Soon,” you promised him.

Kylo’s lips parted, his breath washing over your face. “Yes.” That single word was what allowed you to relax underneath him in full. He was calming. The pain was not gone; that was impossible at that point. It took so much time to process death, to fully understand the loss as you were allowed to mourn the dead. It took time to realize what futures there might have been. The end of the war might have marked a reunion for him that now would never be. He pounded one fist this time, and it was not as harsh a blow as the first had been. “You’ll bruise.”

“I know,” you said, feeling your lips twitch towards one side in amusement. Kylo nodded, his eyes half-lidded. You stared at one another, both of you breathing heavily though you were each regathering yourselves bit by bit. You stretched your legs, running your feet along the backs of his legs. One of your socks had fallen off during your activities. The other remained on, which caused an interesting contrast of sensations.

Tilting your head to the side, you forward and kissed him again. Kylo wound one arm around your waist, holding onto you as your tongues met. The two of you were so entwined, neither wanting to pull away. If there was a break in contact, a different part of you first entangled or touched. You tucked your face into the crook of his neck, your chest rising and falling at a more evened rate.

He was less spent than you were. This in itself was not new, however the rate at which he recovered was drastically quicker than before. You observed him for other signs of how absorbing Not-Rey’s life force had changed him. Noticing that you were watching him, Kylo pressed one finger into your mouth. You sealed your lips around it, sucking until he pulled it out and popped it into his own mouth. His seed was slipping out of you, creating a sticky mess between your thighs.

“In some ways none of this feels real.” Kylo made an exaggerated show of running his tongue along his teeth. You groaned. The bite marks that he had already left were tingling around the edges. The tips of his nails drew lines down your fingers and along your palm. You shivered. “I want to keep living. I want to win. I want to stand there with you at the end. I don’t ever want to feel incomplete again.”

“I’m always with you, tooke.” As he spoke, his brow furrowed in what appeared to you as confusion. As though he could not comprehend how you wouldn’t know this. At the same time, you knew that he understood the very thing you feared. It was what he refused to accept; it had been the first time he had defied death--reviving you.

This brought you to a new train of thought. “Kylo…” A grunt of acknowledgment was all the prompting you needed to continue. “How did you revive Cardo?”

“A combination of Sith and Jedi techniques.” You nodded in the hope that he would elaborate. There was a pregnant pause before he entertained your silent request. “There were crystals of fire that were mentioned in old Jedi texts.” You remembered the way he had healed you, nodded, and listened as he finished. “After absorbing her life force to augment my own powers, I drained the last of such an artifact’s power to bring him back from death.”

“You poured some of her life force into him, right?” The question tumbled off your tongue subsequent to another lapse in conversation. His answer was one of affirmation. You suspected, but would not ask for confirmation, that Kylo Ren had noticed Vicrul drawing nearer and made the plan to use his blade to kill Not-Rey well before the Knight had caught onto what was expected. “Have his abilities in the Force increased?” This time Kylo admitted that he was unsure. Death could awaken one’s latent abilities. So could the use of a Force-imbued artifact. Sith techniques as well. Yet there could be no change. Only time would tell.

Recovered more from the physical exertion of sex, you rolled out of bed and relieved yourself in the refresher before dressing in one of his shirts. You kicked off the other sock, stretched, and walked to the Naboo plants. Your eyes raked along the petals of the ryoo then lowered to the flowers upon the ground. Kneeling allowed you to scoop up the nearest flower, which you cupped against your chest while inhaling its strong aroma. It was relaxing. A scent that was utilized in many candles intended to calm an individual. That explained why Kylo Ren had brought so many to these quarters.

Footsteps informed you that Kylo had left the bed and was drawing nearer. You closed your eyes. Felt his strong thighs on either side of you, his arms wrapping around your body and chin resting on your head. “Are you afraid to see inside my head?”

“No.” It surprised you that this was not a lie, though the shock was fleeting. Your previous experience with the blood-soaked walls and the ash in the shower made you sad more than afraid. You reopened your eyes to see what he had to show you. Tears began to spill from your eyes as petals fluttered around you similar to how rain would. Similar to how the ashes had. The petals caressed your flesh, offered warmth. The warmth of an embrace--of a mother’s embrace. The flowers smelled like her, like Leia, you realized. That was another reason they so calmed you when you had picked up the one bloom.

You twisted around in his arms, your nose running along his. “Kylo…” His hands were on your shoulders, steadying you as you swayed. “She loved you.”

“I know.”

You pressed forward, kissing him. Felt him melt against you; it was not so common that he would relax to this extent, that he would allow himself to be so vulnerable. You murmured words of praise between kisses. Said things that Leia had. Asked him to peer into your mind to the moment that Leia had worked to console you when you had been in mourning for him. After a pause, you felt the tendrils begin to slither into your mind. These were not barbed as the others had been. You were open to him, willing. In so many ways, you were one; your mind was his, and his was yours.

“They are always a part of us,” she said. “Even before I knew that Darth Vader was my father…” There was a momentary pause in her words during which time she cupped the side of your face and tilted back your head so that the two of you were staring into one another’s eyes. “He tortured me. I don’t know all that my son did to you, but I do know that pain. Learning that I was related to him, it made things worse but it also changed nothing.

“I couldn’t understand how Luke saw any good in him.” Your own pain, in some ways, could never equate to the losses that this woman had faced. Her entire planet. Her family. Her world. Her everything gone in an instant. She had been forced to watch as the Death Star destroyed Alderaan. Darth Vader--her biological father--had held her in place. “I empathize with Poe.” She smiled in a bittersweet way. “I know the things that Ben has done...that Kylo has done.” It was visibly painful for her to speak that name; to admit to the crimes that her son had committed. “You never want to stop hoping that they can come back.”

Kylo frustrations, hurt, love, longing, poured through you as he observed this woman from your perspective. The simultaneous acceptance and rejection of who he was from her hit anew. As though he could understand in some ways that she worked to differentiate between Kylo and Ben because of Darth Vader. She had let that override the truth, had allowed it to prevent her from working with him. She had given way to fear.

You trembled in her embrace. “I… When he would seem human instead of being a monster… After I realized who he was, I blamed myself sometimes. Thinking that I pushed him further into the darkness. That if I had done something different then he would have returned to you. Then I didn’t care. I wanted to kill him. I tried several times. He said… When he was lying there dying… He told me…” You choked. Actually choked on a sob and broke down into a coughing fit. Leia did not relinquish her hold on you. Her hand rubbed soothingly along your back until you regained your breath. “He said ‘You won, tooke.’”

“There was never any winning.” You nodded at her words, at the truth they contained. She more than anyone else understood. When it came to Darth Vader, her decision to forgive him or not, her position had been the same as yours was with Kylo Ren. “You did nothing wrong.” Your yes was met with a shh.

“You mourned me together.” He sounded utterly baffled, not unlike a lost child, at the way his mother had been conflicted. Fighting against herself when it came to Vader, when it came to him. “That time you learned I was alive...those were her words you spoke.”

“It’s what made me start to realize that I wanted to live. That I missed you. I… I tried to ignore that, my feelings for you.” You wiped at your eyes. “Your mother might have messed up… She did mess up. She failed you in areas, and I can’t argue against that. She never stopped loving you. And because of her, I didn’t feel guilty that I loved you. Because Luke and Leia could still feel something for Vader no matter what he did...no matter how the galaxy judged them… That’s what helped me to stop caring about that. Because they aren’t me, they aren’t you, they aren’t us. They were just voices drowning out my own, telling me that my feelings and thoughts were both insignificant compared to their views. I wish she had been able to do that for you, Kylo. She should have done that for you.”

“Another tried.” You blinked, eyelids descending then slow to rise. You searched his face, the expression on which had become guarded. “Tai.” His eyelashes fluttered. “‘Just be.’ I had a connection with him.” You did not know the full story there, and you might never know--you did hope that he would tell you more in the future. Kylo said your name, and your heart stuttered. “You were the first to keep returning to me. Not always by choice.”

You loosely threaded your fingers in his. You had not been searching for a Ben Solo in him during your captivity as a way to change him so much as a means to escape your position. Yet even then you would return to Kylo Ren, to reality. It was him that you learned. First you had blindly hated him. Glimpsing who he was underneath the mask, you had become more complicated. You had seen endless possibilities for him, in part because of who his parents were, and yet also because of how he spoke to you. You had considered his actions. His choices. Whoever this Tai was, you imagined that he had been much the same; he had worked to understand the man himself instead of some name or fantasy.

You lifted one hand to tuck strands of his hair behind his ear. Kylo sat there perfectly still, allowing you to do so. It reminded you a bit of when you had slipped the tooke hair clip into his hair. You smiled at the memory, though it was one of darker times. A long journey to this point. All that mattered to you was that you were here. You were with him. You did not feel so torn apart.

“I am so proud of you.” His throat bobbed when he swallowed. “You did it. We played pretend that you would defeat Snoke, and you did. You make these things reality. You are amazing. Creating your own fate.” It was your turn to swallow. “You said that you used to have a secret name for me...that you would call me Fate since I was your alternative fate in some other life. But, Kylo, I don’t know if that’s true. I think in every life we would possibly live, we would share the same fate. I think we are one another’s fate. No matter how long it took, I would come back to the same choice… I chose myself and my path, and that always led to you. In choosing me, I choose you.”

Kylo cupped your chin with forefinger and thumb. He tilted back your head, kissed directly over your pulse so that he could feel it on his lips. Though he did not say them aloud, you could feel the emotions, the words that went through him: yes, tooke.

You felt as though all you had to do with him was be yourself. He knew now for certain that this was true for him as well. He was enough. He would always be enough with you. The wounds on your body that you had believed robbed you of your future were nothing. He was your future. Your present. Everything. You had come to love the flawed being he was, and he loved the flawed person that you were. Even when you clashed or argued, those were minor skirmishes. They meant nothing. Always, always, you came back together.

And together you felt as though you could accomplish anything. That included locating and killing Supreme Leader Armitage Hux.

#kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo ren smut #three blind tooke #death is an art #kylo ren imagine #kylo ren fanfic

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pulpwriterx · 4 years ago

Text

A SHEEP AS BLACK AS MIDNIGHT IN SPACE

It is a dark time for the Galaxy. General Enric Pryde and Supreme Leader Snoke have unleashed a reign of terror, dealing the New Republic a terrible blow with the Hosnian Cataclysm. But all is not lost. General Organa has discovered a New Hope from the desert of Jakku, who will become the Last Jedi. After Rey, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Poe Dameron and Finn, the former FN2187 undertook a daring raid that led to the destruction of Starkiller Base, Rey has gone to Ahch-To, to study under the reclusive Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. And he will tell her a secret. There is another.

I: THERE IS ANOTHER.

Luke Skywalker sighed, heavily.

“Master Luke, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“I destroyed my own family, Rey. And the Galaxy is paying the price. Did you ever wonder why Han and Leia don’t live together? Why I’m in exile, here? There is another. Or at least, there was. My nephew. My paduan. The best and worst student at the Jedi Temple. Ben Solo.”

“Ben Solo! Didn’t he die at the Jedi Temple?”

“In a way, he did. He doesn’t use that name, anymore.”

“Then he’s alive? Do you know what happened to him?”

“A great many things. First? There were his mother's expectations. She had his whole life planned out. His Royal Highness, Prince Benjamin Skywalker Organa-Solo. He was going to be the perfect Jedi, the perfect young leader, the perfect fair-haired son of the New Republic. He wasn’t supposed to be a giant behemoth of a man, who was too much like his father and his grandfather to fit in any mold. Han and I pretty much figured that Big Ben was going his own way by the time he was six. His hair was down to his waist, and he’d scream and break the scissors with the Force if you came near him to cut his hair. He wouldn’t wear clothes. Just a pair of underwear, if you took him out. He wanted to be a Wookiee. He wouldn’t speak Basic. Just Shriiyywook. We worked it out. But Ben never really changed.”

Luke sighed.

“As he grew to manhood, I started seeing my nephew as a monster. His obsession with his own duality, and that of his grandfather. His heretical leanings toward the Grey Path. And his vows? Forget vows. Not my nephew, the king of taboo. Jedi are supposed to take vows of chastity, and honesty. To have control over their emotions. Ben sold cigarillos, wine, and rubbers from his father’s smuggling operation out of my father’s TIE Fighter, his personal vehicle. He lost his virginity when he was 14 to his best friend, Talia who was 13. As usual? Han was the best worst father, ever. He took her to get an implant, and kept Ben supplied with rubbers. Which he needed, because any of my female students who were curious about their resident Rebel Angel? Let’s just say, Ben never failed to satisfy their curiosity. He didn’t listen to me when I tried to stop him. He really thought he meant something to these girls. After all, they meant something to him. It took Talia telling him she was going to rent him by the hour out of her Wookiee foster father’s garage in Mos Eisley, because he laid more pipe to more satisfied customers than any spaceport gigolo. I mean, how do you teach a six and a half foot tall Force of nature who has been using the Force since he was a toddler in a crib to open the cupboard and get the cookies?”

“He likes cookies?”

“Ben? He eats like a Wookiee. Literally. Chewie taught him to cook.”

“But he likes cookies?”

“Eats them by the box."

Master Luke laughed.

“Now I see that all of it was so very minor. I used to get so angry with him about the TIE Fighter, and the smuggling, and Talia, and the other girls. He didn’t trust me to tell me how the Dark Side, how Snoke was stalking him. It had been a terrible day, for Ben. I disciplined his little group of girls, and all four of them blamed everything on him. Not Talia, though. She spoke up for Ben. But the other three girls? They didn’t take his side. They gave him up. He sat in his hut and cried, all day. He really cared. He did. The poor kid cried himself to sleep. I went to check on him, that night and I felt the Dark Side all around him. While he was sleeping. I thought he had given himself over to it. I attacked. I almost cut off his head, but Ben defended himself. He blocked my lightsaber with his and punched me in the face as hard as he could. If I wasn’t a Jedi Master who can anticipate my opponent's movements. It would have broken my neck. But he didn't mean to kill me. Ben was just scared. As it was, I was unconscious until the morning. By then? It was all over."

Rey couldn’t believe the enormity of the act that he had just admitted to.

Trying to murder his own paduan, his own nephew!

“What happened to your nephew after he brought the building down on you? Did he join the Dark Side.”

“No. He packed up his gear and walked ten miles to the spaceport, and made it there by morning. He left Yavin 4 on a Mandalorian freighter with a business associate of his father’s, Din Saxon, under an assumed name that he had identity papers for. Now he’s partners with Rotta the Hutt, Jabba’s son, Din Saxon, the Mandalorian, and Han Solo. They revived the old Galactic Black Market, and now there’s a war on, not only are they making a fortune? They’re the only game in town for a lot of little things that people find it hard to live without. They do sell arms and coaxium to both sides, but they only sell the low-grade junk to the First Order and at three times the price they sell to the Resistance. I hear that Ben’s doing well. He hasn’t realized his ambition to meet the girl the Force has bound him to, but he still has his friend, Talia. I trained her as a Jedi Healer, and she's since gone to the Republic Medical School. She's Ben's personal doctor. As reckless as he is? He needs to travel with a farkling doctor. Pardon my language. The point is, my nephew renounced the Jedi and the Sith, the Dark and the Light, that day. He wants no part of it. He follows the Grey Path. As it was laid out by Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He also wants no part of this war. His name is Ben Solo, but the name he does business under, the name you’ll have heard of is his alias. Kylo Skywalker. The Arkanian.”

“Ben Solo is Kylo Skywalker, the Arkanian?”

“Yes. And he and Han are looking to add a good scavenger to their operation, because Kylo just bought the salvage rights to the site of the Battle of Yavin-4. And he’s the new owner of the ruins of the Second Death Star. You were the best scavenger at Niima Outpost. I’m sure you're the woman for the job.”

***

Kylo Skywalker was truly a man larger than life.

He wore a black oilskin duster, caped and hooded, festooned with grommets, pockets, and epaulets over a black pair of pilot’s coveralls, tucked into tall black jackboots.

He also wore a huge pair of brown leather and Beskar chrome goggles, with shatterproof mirrored lenses.

And he was the tallest, burliest man that Rey had ever seen.

He sat down across from her at the table she had picked out at the Niima Cantina.

The man had a quiet air of undeniable menace about him.

It put Rey on edge.

“You should try to hide that you have that much strength in the Force. The Sith are real, and the First Order take who they want.”

“Not if I work for you, Jedi Temple dropout, right?"

“I picked a good time to leave. I hear you're the best scavenger at Niima Outpost.”

“I am. Can you take those goggles off? I feel like I’m talking to a man with no eyes.”

He lowered his hood, and took off the goggles.

Time stopped.

And it wasn’t just because Kylo Skywalker the man had grown up to be a black swan with dark, saturnine good looks out of the ugly duckling of a boy that Master Luke had described to her.

It was because Rey was fairly sure it was him.

The man with whom she had shared a bond in the Force, for as long as she could remember.

She never knew his face, or his name, but now that she saw him, she somehow recognized him.

“It’s OK. I feel it, too. The Force brings people together for all kinds of reasons. Look at it this way? Now you’re sure to get the job. You’re hired, Rey…”

Rey shrugged.

“Just Rey. My parents left me when I was a little girl. I never got a last name. I don’t have identity papers, either.”

“That’s OK. I can get you some, if you need them.”

The doors opened.

Rey was excited to see Han and Chewie, again.

Kylo laughed.

He had a beautiful smile.

“My father. And my godfather. But you knew that, because my Uncle sent you here to recruit me. But I get the feeling you might decide to stick with me and the Old Man, instead. Keep that quiet, though.”

Han and Chewbacca sat down.

“She really is a scavenger. A friend of Poe’s. He got her into this mess. I got her out of it. So, you hired her, right, junior?”

“I hired her.”

“How you been, princess? You don’t look so good.” Han asked.

“You can tell us. I used to be you, after all. The Galaxy’s only hope.” Kylo joked.

“It was awful, mostly. Really awful. Master Luke was nothing like I thought he would be. Sometimes, he was very kind. But sad. As if he forgot that he was supposed to be terrible. But some of the things he taught me just confused me. Or scared me. I’m afraid of myself, now. What I might do.” Rey admitted.

“Forget it. Forget everything he taught you. It’s meaningless. The Force has no Dark Side, and no light. That dualistic nerfshit thinking? People made that up. As an excuse to control each other. And make war. You shouldn’t be afraid of what you’ll do, like it’s not up to you. You make your own destiny, Rey. Look at me. I made mine. I’m no Jedi. And I’m no Sith. There is another way. The Grey Path. I can teach it to you, if you want. Think it over. But as for all that poison Uncle Luke poured into your ears? Look what it did to him. Forget it.” Kylo advised her.

“Sounds like Luke is in bad shape, junior.” Han mentioned.

Casually.

“When Rey reports back to him? We’ll send him some supplies.” Kylo said.

“Rey, do you really want to be a Jedi?” Han asked her.

Nobody had asked her that, yet.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, try working with us for awhile. If you don’t want to go back? I won’t send you. I learned my lesson on that. With junior, here. Even after that Snoke bastard burned the Temple, Luke tried to get me to send my kid back to him, one more time. I said no. Since then, I get to visit my wife, but we don’t live together. And the kid and her aren’t on good terms. But Ben’s alive, and doing good, and the Sith and the First Order didn’t get him. It’s worth it. Don’t go back if you don’t want to. Let ‘em have their farkling war, without you. Fuck ‘m.” Han told her.

Kylo raised his pitcher.

“Dark side? Light side? Fuck it. My side.” He said.

He motioned to the Rodian barman.

“Rey works for me and Solo, now. If there’s trouble with her? You’ve got trouble with all of us.”

“I never had trouble with Rey. You made a good choice, Rey. These guys are the real deal. Order what you want, kiddo. The Arkanian has deep pockets. The deepest in the Galaxy.”

Rey was very hungry.

She ordered a lot of food, and a cheap half bottle of red wine.

“Don’t bring her the cheap stuff.” Kylo told the Rodian.

“Why are you so rich, Kylo?” Rey asked.

“He gets dressed up like another Darth Vader. Red lightsaber and all. And we raid First Order ships with full cargo holds. Or Crimson Dawn freighters. Sometimes First Order warehouses and depots. All he has to do is show up and…say it, Vader junior. Say your thing.” Han suggested.

“I am Kylo Skywalker, Lord Vader. All of this belongs to me. Surrender to me all that I ask for. Or you will die. Quickly! I find your lack of haste disturbing.”

Rey shivered.

But, much to her shame, not entirely in fear.

“That’s why I call him junior. Because I ain’t calling him Kylo. I didn’t name him Kylo. You should see these assholes give up. They usually just kneel and grovel. Sometimes, we have to get tough? But most of the time? It’s all money, it’s all for the taking, and it’s all ours.” Han explained.

“I also liberate Stormtroopers. Snoke takes them from their families, when they are children. And he brainwashed, humiliates, tortures, and enslaves them. The First Order takes their faces and their names, and makes them kill. For Snoke. It’s what he did to me. It’s what he meant for me. I didn’t deserve to live that way. No one does.” Kylo added.

“What happens to them?”

“If they have a home to go to? I help them return to it. Or find a job. Some of them work for me. They are my people, I am their Chieftain. No one else cares about them. Not my mother. Not the Resistance. Not the New Republic. I care.” Kylo told her.

Rey nodded.

The idea that Darth Vader’s grandson, the Galaxy’s only Grey Jedi Master, a ruthless pirate with unlimited money, was the self-styled Arkanian-style Clan Chieftain of a small army of loyalists with military training was a little unsettling.

And that’s why the General wants him. She wants not just her son, but his people, and the influence he has over not just them, but potentially the First Order.

When Rey thought that, Kylo turned to her.

“The Old Man and I are dangerous, ruthless men. But compared to my mother? We’re baby Ewoks.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Han agreed.

And just like that, Rey was working for the Outer Rim Cartel.

Her food and wine showed up.

“So, junior, I talked to the guy? The guy about identity papers for Rey. You object to her being a Solo?”

Kylo smiled at Rey in a way that let her know she wasn’t the only one thinking what she was thinking.

“As long as she isn’t supposed to be my sister? It’s fine by me.” Kylo replied.

"Nah. It says I'm her legal guardian until she's 21. So, that way, nobody can steal you, from me, Rey. I also put you down as Junior's common law wife. Then, after you're 21? Nobody can steal you from him. Considering the way you two keep looking at each other? I figure you don't mind."

"So, this is my wedding night?" Kylo asked

"Watch it, kid. They're just papers. It's not like I bought her from Unkar Plutt and I'm giving her to you."

"Yes, Kylo. This is our wedding night." Rey told him.

Chewbacca made a comment.

"It was not fast, Chewie. Rey is her. The girl of Ben's dreams. It's the Thunderbolt. Didn't you know, when you first met Mala, that she was the one for you?"

Chewie said something about how he wasn't talking about that kind of knowing.

"Yeah, well, it's none of our business. They're probably just kidding around. Come on, old pal. Let's not be the extra dicks at the wedding."

Han got up.

Chewie said something, sternly, to Ben that Rey didn't understand, and Ben replied earnestly.

Rey decided she was going to have to learn better Shriyyywook.

After Han and Chewie left, Ben opened the bottle of wine.

"Since we've suddenly found ourselves married? I should make you some kind of vow. Think about the loneliness you felt on this desert, Rey. The longing for someone, something to come for you. Think about it, and let it go. Because you'll never be that alone, again." He told her.

"You have nothing to worry about, Ben. You're every bit as strong as Darth Vader. And just as much a man as Han Solo. You may think you're the ugly duckling. But you've transformed into a beautiful black swan. What happens, now?"

"We'll eat our dinner, and drink this bottle of vintage Corellian red. And then? We'll start doing whatever the fuck we want. And we'll keep doing whatever the fuck we want, until death comes for us. And the son of a bitch is going to have to sneak up on me."

Kylo poured two glasses of wine.

Rey began to think this might really be where she was meant to be, after all.

Happy fanfiction day!

#reylo #ben solo lives #ben solo smuggler #reylo au #reylo romance #tros fix it #han solo lives #rey x kylo ren #reylo fanfic

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hrh-selene-r · 5 years ago

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Who is the protagonist in the new Star Wars trilogy, Kylo/Ben or Rey?

It’s something I’ve noticed after re-watching the movies finishing off with the rise of Skywalker. We start the series with Poe getting a map to Luke and being intercepted by Kylo Ren, our “antagonist”. Over the course of the movie we find out that he was Ben Solo, son of General/Princess Leia Organa and smuggler/war hero Han Solo, and that he has a personal stake in finding the map to Luke. In his attempts to get the map he meets Rey, a scavenger who’s recruited(?) into the resistance and he finds out that she’s strong with the force because of.....reasons (plot?) and tries to convince her to join his cause. We learn his backstory of how he was born to an absentee father and a workaholic mother, making him a child of neglect, and how he was strong with the force (both light and dark) since his gestation. His parents fear that he could be a new Vader and so they fear him and what he can be capable of, so they send him to boarding school with his uncle, effectively cutting off any parental affection during a delicate age, instead of...I don’t know having Leia train him and console him or Han reassure him....Like a normal parent would do. (I mean Kylo wasn’t Damien in the Omen. He didn’t kill anyone.)

So Ben is in Jedi boarding school and we learn that his uncle/teacher/parental figure grows to fear his potential and in a very unjedi move he contemplates and attempt to kill Ben, but before the blow could land, Ben wakes up, catches his uncle in his murder attempt and is able to block/retaliate in order to run away. He’s chased by the other students when Ben joined a sith like gang “The knights of Ren”. At the end Ben kills out of necessity and finds a sith master; Snoke, who teaches him the ways of the sith and helps him move on from his past to forge his own path. This is when he expresses his lack of agency and how even his name doesn’t feel like his own and takes up the name KYLO REN. Dun dun dun 🎵

During the course of the trilogy Kylo learns that he’s just being used by Snoke and his ambitions to gain agency grow, making him want Rey to join him in an alliance that could truly powerful, she rejects his proposal but he still murders his master to save her, bumping him up to Supreme Leader. This isn’t a result of Kylo’s love for Rey, but more of his own emancipation from all his toxic parental figures; Han, Luke and Snoke. I don’t include Leia here because he still has a relationship with her, albeit an strained one. This type of relationship usually happens when your mom is the head of an opposing faction in a civil war. So Kylo ends up alone and is now the Supreme Leader of the self proclaimed first Order....

Now Kylo’s his own man, free from the influence of others; they can’t tell him what to do, now he’s free. His first order of business?? Track down oppositions in his own ranks and destroy anything that could challenge his position. Basically he wants to consolidate his power as the new Supreme leader. This brings him to search for Palpatine on Exegol to kill him and cement himself as his own authority. During this time Kylo learns that he was nothing more than a puppet to his master, who was, in turn a puppet for Palpatine, who’s been influencing and nudging Kylos path since he was a child, revealing that the character who is desperately looking to gain agency throughout the whole trilogy never had it. Palpatine offers him candy (I mean a naval fleet of star destroyers) and basically unchallenged control of the galaxy (ultimate POWA!!!!) The weird thing is that instead of killing Palpatine, even though he was aware his offers bullshit, he looks for Rey.....okaaay? Keep in mind that at this point Kylo is compelled towards Rey because of his natural curiosity of Rey’s potential while not having a single class in force usage and because he feels a kindred spirit in Rey’s loneliness and good nature. Is there some sexual tension there.....maybe? Then he tells her that they’re a dyad in the force as a way to explain their connection, which feels utterly forced (if you pardon the pun).

So Rey and Kylo meet in the water planet while Rey looks for a mcguffin and they fight, ending with Rey giving Kylo a cheap stab to the belly. Now Kylo’s being the superior fighter would’ve and should’ve won hands down by he senses/sees his mother through force Skype and he gets distracted enough to leave an opening. Rey heals his mortal wound, saving his life before leaving him presumably stranded there to die. Now, we’re expected to believe that because of her selfless intentions saving him, Kylo decides to forgive himself for his acts, including killing his biological father. He throws his awesome lightsaber into the ocean showing him abandoning of the sith or at least the dark side of the force and HE’S A GOOD GUY NOW!!! yay!! Whooo!! 😒

So he goes to Exegol, fights the knights of Ren and joins Rey in fighting Palpatine, gets his life force sucked, gets thrown down a pit, comes back out and then gives his life up to save Rey....okaaay? You can kind of see it from the whole, she saved her enemy and now her enemy is grateful and will repay his debt, hence Kylo sacrifices his life to save her; redeeming his character while having honor...so that angle works and when you look at it that way this is one of the few choices that Kylo makes that are truly his. It’s a waste of one of our most complex characters but sure...

Now, after that whole rollercoaster, let’s talk about Rey. What do we know about Rey??

She’s a scavenger

She’s friendly and nice....so yay altruism.

She makes the best of what she has.

She was abandoned by her parents on Jakku and waits for them in vain...she knows this subconsciously.

She’s strong with the force because of....reasons

She looks to Han and Leia as parental figures because....reasons. Granted Leia started to train Rey, but it wasn’t that long so they barely know each other still.

Luke was her first master and he started to teach her about the force....for a bit.

Palpatine’s her grandfather via cloning.....Although this sounds like a really contrived way to explain her affinity with the force, and it sounds like they made it up on the spot. Plus, that’s not how cloning works!

She an amazing pilot and can fly anything, despite never having flown before the first movie because....reasons.

She’s a great mechanic who can fix anything, despite not being a mechanic but a scavenger....I mean I can take apart a computer, it doesn’t make me an IT genius/engineer.

She can fight with a lightsaber and has beaten Kylo Ren in combat twice, despite having no formal training and having never used a lightsaber before as opposed to her enemy who’s had decades of training and combat experience and studies, because......being strong with the force is like the matrix, so she automatically has the theory, reflexes and muscle memory needed for combat?

She joins the resistance not because she has an emotional stake in this, believes in the resistance’s cause, or has a grudge against the first order; it’s because....she had nothing better to do that day? The gave her free food?

And she’s a dayd in the force with Kylo Ren because.....Reasons. They never explain that it just is because Rey is the rarest thing in the whole universe apparently.

She spends a short amount of time training and reads the Jedi texts, and now she’s a full fledged Jedi at the end of the trilogy...because she’s Jesus? Like remember when Jedism and the ways of the force was a way of life and people spent lifetimes learning and training in the force? Remember how anakin was to old to train as a LITTLE BOY? Or how her enemy in combat has been trained/did studies in the force since he was a child, decades ago?

See how short that was compared to Kylo Ren/Ben Solo? Now, do any of these characteristics help you know Rey? They do a bit, but this is what we know about her, not of her. The problem with Rey as a protagonist is that she’s too bland; she has no negative aspects and, as a consequence, has no character arc to overcome. Kylo searches for emancipation from peoples expectations and to have agency, to be his own person under his freedom. Rey doesn’t change in the whole trilogy.

The only reason she’s even invested in the rebel cause or the people is because of the plot, because other characters (and hence the author) tell her she has to. As opposed to Luke who goes with Obi-Wan because he knew he was destined for something bigger, wanted to get out of Tatooine, and found out his father was a Jedi killed by our main antagonist, motivating him to be like the father he idealized but never met.

Thats’s 3 different motivations to help out Obi-Wan and the rebellion, right there. Rey was just bored, I guess.

So I started to think: “What if our main character is a tragic one like anakin? What if our protagonist is Kylo Ren and Rey is just a proxy for the audience?” I mean, it’s no secret that Kylo got his comic book series (that sold out) apart from becoming one of the most popular characters in the franchise. When you look at it that way, it does make sense; Kylo has a relationship with almost all of the main cast in the movie in one way or another and he’s the most compelling one; the one that changes and goes through a character arc. The most interesting thing about Rey is whether or not she’ll join the dark side. So as much as I hate to say this; Rey is obviously a Mary Sue

The problem here is that the creators didn’t know on who to focus, she so special and flawless that it’s makes her uncompelling and boring. And to add insult to injury they kill of our protagonist, not in the service of a greater cause or to save what he has left, but to bring back this bland sack of Jedi abilities. This isn’t to insult Daisy Ridley, if anything Disney and the writers did them a disservice. Kylo’s story was supposed to be the reversal of Vader, but in the end it was the same story, down to sacrificing himself to save the Jedi fighting Palpatine.

Now, am I anti-Reylo? Kind of, if we go by the movies. My problem is that Rey isn’t a compelling character, so I fail to get invested in her or to even care about her at all, and the sexual tension/kinship that she has with Kylo isn’t a Romance make. You could say “oh they’re a dyad.” That’s not romance, it’s just a bond; you can have a strong connection and not have romantic feelings. Their relationship is about as well executed as Anakin and Padme...and even THEY had conversations in their trilogy. The whole reason Kylo (I refuse to call him Ben at this point) turns good is love, selfless love. From who? The negligent parents that abandoned him, or the scavenger he barely know? Adam said in the documentary that he chose Rey because no one has shown kindness to him, so the moment she shows that kindness and performs a selfless act (which is really not selfless at all, considering she stabbed him while his guard was down) makes him turn good and choose her, he know that if he’s with her he’ll be alright....How is he gonna be alright? Is it because of her Mary Sue powers....If the writers took their time to develop their relationship, maybe we could have something here, but as it’s stands Kylo and Rey have as much romance as Edward and Bella; they have little in common, but god damn they can’t run away from one another! 😒 And that’s not even addressing the troubles of falling in love with someone actively trying to kill you/trying to win a war. So even IF they do have a well developed romance to ship, Rey (being the good guy she is) has drank the Jedi cool-aid so much that it boarders on fanatism and she won’t even consider Kylo’s side or choose an alternative path. If anything Rey could’ve died saving the galaxy, making her a martyr and having Kylo left to forge his own path; not as sith or as a Jedi, but something in between.

So what do you think? I know this has been discussed to death but still...How would you improve the new trilogy? Let me know.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk 😘

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smirkingsolo · 5 years ago

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Orpheus: A Reylo Story (Chapter 1: Ash and Memory)

The World Between Worlds Reylo Fix it fic you’ve been craving since TROS ripped out your still beating heart and crushed it to death.

Canon-compliant, universe-plausible, multi-chapter

Please read the Prologue first; it will literally not make any sense if you don’t!

Prologue can be found here or over on my AO3 (Rinnagirl) at https://archiveofourown.org/works/21984730/chapters/52460923

Your comments, likes, reblogs, kudos, etc. mean the absolute world to me!

Chapter 1: Ash and Memory

For what feels like the hundredth time, Rey ignites Leia’s saber. Its blue beam casts the surrounding woods in an unearthly glow. The effect is immediate. A sound like a distant scream of frustration echoes in her mind, pounding against the walls of her skull like some caged creature desperate to break free. She drops the saber, hands shooting to clutch at her throbbing head, clamping down over her ringing ears. When the saber hits the ground, de-igniting, the silence is just as immediate.

Two months.

It has been two months since Exegol. Two months since she has been able to use the saber, either saber. Though it had meant the triumphant return of her staff, the inability to use the only sabers she had was becoming incredibly inconvenient. She could tell she was already losing some of her skill and coordination with single-bladed weapons after two full months of being unable to even ignite the sabers, let alone train with them, without the horrible screams. Some days she vowed to ignore it and train anyway.

That never lasted long.

Even when there was no screaming, the alternative was not much better. It was either a desperate, trapped scream or a chorus of voices so loud they drowned out her every thought with their incessant chatter.

She glares at the saber resting oh so innocently on the forest floor. They are on Takodana at the moment, a place Rey would normally have enjoyed visiting. Poe and Finn were meeting with Maz to discuss what Rey usually referred to as “CC (co-comander) business.” In the months after the Battle of Exegol, the group of former Resistance fighters had kept busy. More than enough small pockets of First Order loyalists and even the odd scattered Sith cultist groups still stirred up enough trouble here and there to keep them on the alert.

Rey, honestly, hasn’t a clue what Maz and her friends are meeting about this time. She’s sure Finn told her, maybe no more than two hours ago on the ship, but like so much in the last two months, it just slips right off as soon as she hears it. She is distracted, and now, thanks to her lovely situation with the sabers, incredibly frustrated.

She picks up the saber, turning it over in her hands like she used to do with the scrap parts she looted from the ships crashed in the Jakku desert. Leia’s saber, like Luke’s, was a marvel. She never grew tired of the schhwizz that accompanied an igniting lightsaber. But the Skywalker sabers still feel distant in many ways, like they are still being borrowed even though they had both technically been left to her. You need to make one of your own, she thinks, not for the first time. But how?

She sighs, tucking Leia’s saber into her belt and settling into her meditative position. The Force hums around her, coming alive in her new attentiveness. She feels the grass growing and the brush of the wind across her skin as it stirs fly-aways loose from her buns. The solid earth presses upwards towards her and she can feel herself lifting up off it, her diving off point into a sea of feeling. A sense of pure calm washes her bones in sunset warmth. She concentrates. Be with me. Be with me. Be with me.

She reaches out, stretching towards the memories and souls of the past Jedi, their experiences hovering at the edge of her consciousness like her own forgotten thoughts. There is a sense of understanding, of surety, and she chases after it, the fingered tendrils of her mind reaching further, tracking the feeling. She catches up to the memory, brushing against it like one might brush the hair from a lover’s eyes.

She sucks in a breath. It’s him.

In her mind’s eye is a young Ben Solo, white padawan robes and all, eyes closed in focused meditation. Before him float the pieces of an unfinished lightsaber, twisting and hovering, held in place only by his concentration. She feels an understanding of what he is doing seeping into her own mind. Then the scene begins to flicker, the once defined shape of Ben Solo blinking in and out of form, alternating with another, smaller figure. It’s her. Her vision leaps rapidly between the two of them, both somehow occupying the same space and position. As she watches, the two begin to blur together before settling on the image of Ben once more, his eyes snapping suddenly open, wide and dark.

He is looking at her.

She feels a jolt; a once familiar tug in her gut overtakes her. It’s been two months since she last felt this feeling. The feeling of him. The feeling of connecting to him across lightyears of space rocks and stardust. The feeling of their Force bond comes alive inside her and she aches. She knows it is impossible to connect with a memory, for it to acknowledge her in return, but Ben’s eyes are focused, looking past the hovering lightsaber pieces and trained on her.

“REY,” Finn's voice collides with her like a blaster bolt, ripping through her vision of Ben and snapping her meditative state in half, dropping her unceremoniously to the dirt. She is breathless and disgruntled when Finn reaches her and she has half a mind to smack him with her staff.

Times like this almost make her wish for the solitude of Jakku again. They’ve been hovering over her these past two months, Finn and Poe. Moments of peace and quiet are rare. She knows they mean well, appreciates what they are trying to do for her. But it has been difficult to grieve with them around. There is something more personal about her grief over the loss of Ben Solo, something they would not understand. It wasn’t like losing Leia. It was like losing part of her own soul. He still felt close to her in some strange way that she couldn’t quite identify, but still, it wasn’t the same.

She hadn’t known what he was to her when she lost him, hadn’t had the time to even try to work it out. Their relationship up until that point had been complicated to say the least. So much so that she hadn’t even known how to explain herself when she returned from Exegol a shell shocked mess. They had attributed it to her encounter with Palpatine, to the revelation of her bloodline, to the loss of Leia. She had told them what she could in the simplest of terms. Told them that Ben Solo had had a change of heart after all, had come to help her fight Palpatine, had saved her life. Finn had pressed her about it, about the life saving bit in particular, almost as if he knew that she had died completely. She waved it off, claiming that he took a blow meant for her and died of the wound. She still wasn’t entirely sure why she lied to him, but something about the intimacy of that memory felt too precious to share with someone who still only knew him as the hated Kylo Ren.

There was only one person with whom she had shared the full account of the events on Exegol. She hadn’t expected the conversation, hadn’t expected to share so much, but Lando Calrissian was quite charming. There was an ease about him that seeped into her and knocked loose her secrets.

So few were the people left who had known Ben Solo before he was Kylo Ren. She had asked him with as much nonchalance as she could manage what Ben had been like as a child. Lando had studied her for a few moments before answering. But then he had launched into a tale of the time he’d presented young Ben Solo with a blaster with which he’d accidentally blown a hole through the wall of a visiting diplomat’s chambers.

Lando had caught her not long after that conversation in the back of the Falcon, tears in her eyes and a small lockbox open in her lap that contained a plain black shirt with a hole burned through it and a familiar blaster. He asked her how she had come to acquire Ben Solo’s blaster and from there the truth had tumbled forth.

He had listened patiently, placing a comforting hand on top of hers on the blaster when it came to the difficult parts. A gesture that reminded her of Leia. She had even told him about the kiss. He didn’t press or ask her to explain, he only nodded, a knowing look in his eye.

“Some people are never really gone, Rey. Especially the ones we love.”

*****************************************************************************************************

When they reach the ship Rey gathers Finn and Poe to her.

“There’s somewhere I need to go.”

Both Finn and Poe nod, but she can tell they aren’t really hearing her. Both are eyeing a precariously placed BB-8 on the roof of the Falcon, his tiny blowtorch ignited in an attempt to reseal a crack that Poe had undoubtably caused.

She gives them each a light tap on the head with the end of her staff and they refocus their attention on her.

“I need to go to Dagobah. Alone.”

*****************************************************************************************************

“Ben, are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Ben rolls his eyes, shooting his mother a look of thinly veiled annoyance.

“Yes, mother. I’ve flown plenty of interdimensional ghost crafts before.”

Leia presses her lips together; a tiny, wry smile threatens to slip through.

Ben wonders if she can tell he is doing none of the steering. It isn’t that he couldn’t fly the Falcon if he wanted to, but this Falcon has a mind of its own and a clear destination that Ben cannot discern. He can’t even see through the front windows for the blue blur of lightspeed until they land, as if the ship has shifted from lightspeed to landed without need for transition. Then it’s nothing but sand.

Kriffing, World Between Worlds rules.

Before Ben can push the release on the door, Leia clears her throat. He only half turns.

“Yes?”

“I don’t quite know how this world works, but I wonder if perhaps we ought to dress a little more inconspicuously. We still don’t know if or how we will appear to others.”

He notes now that she has already changed into a spare set of clothes, ones she stored in a compartment long ago, still right where she left them, even in this strange dimension. Ben glances down at himself. All black. Perhaps she is right, it is a bit dark side for what appears to be a hot desert planet.

She offers a bundle to him and he heads off to change. He snorts derisively when he opens the bundle. It is clear that these were once his father’s clothes. They practically scream “scoundrel smuggler,” but there is no sense in disagreeing with an insistent Leia Organa, even in an alternate dimension. She turns away from him quickly when he emerges, concealing a small smile and a few tears, and he knows he must look exactly like Han. Though he elects to keep his own black pants and boots, the loose white shirt and lightweight vest are better suited for the environment, necessary even. At least, that’s what he tells himself. He knows the low slung blaster belt and holster are nowhere near as necessary, but he straps them on anyway. May as well.

The nearest village is eerily familiar, at least to Ben. The longer they linger, the more he remembers, and he truly wishes he didn’t. They are on Jakku in the village of Tuanul. The village is largely empty with the exception of a few marauding scavengers who seem entirely unable to see them. Leia calls out to one, even moving to touch the man’s shoulder, but there is no response. Her hand passes through him, a blurry mirage-trail of her movement following behind it. They are smoke and ash here, a match to the ruins of the settlement.

Ben is staring at one of the burned out structures when Leia returns to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Ben?”

“I did this.” His voice is no more than a choked whisper.

The air around them begins to stir, a sluggish tornado of trailing ash forming images as the remaining scavengers move off into the desert, unaware of anything more than a light breeze.

The images solidify, Ben’s memory set around them now in a frozen rendition of the past. The villagers cower in a huddled mass in the center of the village. Ben can see himself, as Kylo Ren, strike down Lor San Tekka. No mercy, no pause, no regret. They watch as he gives the stormtroopers the order to execute the remaining villagers, and he looks away, unable to bear witness to the terror in their expressions. The terror you caused, murderer.

He feels sick, an overwhelming urge to vomit pits his gut. What does it matter if you could live again? Do you even deserve to? More than any one of these innocent people you sentenced to death?

He stumbles away from the scene, finally collapsing to his knees in front of the memory-figure of Kylo Ren. His tears fall, mingling with the ash. Black raindrops in the sand. He’d thrown away his saber, but knows he can’t throw away his past actions so easily. He’d told the memory of Han Solo that he wasn’t sure if he had the strength to do what he needed to; Han had assured him that he did. So he had. He had thrown away his prized saber. He had given his life for another. But this? What more of himself had he to offer? He was a ghost in the world now, not even a body or soul to give. Was there even anything he could offer that could atone for these sins if he returned to life?

Leia’s hand is on his shoulder again, warm and firm, offering a light squeeze of reassurance. He turns towards her, arms wrapping around her legs, his face pressing into her stomach like he is a little boy again, ashamed and afraid.

She strokes his hair, bringing her other arm around as she bends to hold him.

“Mother...” His voice breaks. “I don’t know how to undo the past. I don’t deserve to live again, not after all of this.”

“Ben.” He never understood how his mother managed to sound both gentle and stern all at once, but there it is, the tone she would use on him when he was a child. He holds her tighter.

“Ben, there is so much you must unlearn if you are to live in the world again.” She cups his chin in her hand, tilting his face up to look at her. “But you have taken the hardest step. The first step is always the most difficult, but it matters. It means something that you made the choice to walk away from this life. I won’t lie to you, my son, you have done many things that are worth regretting. I know you did so much out of anger, out of fear, loneliness, sorrow...”

Leia’s voice shakes; she tightens her hold on him.

“So much done out of the pain that we... that I was supposed to protect you from.” Her tears flow freely now. “And I am so sorry, Ben. I am sorry we ever made you feel like you were less important to us, like you were unloved or unwanted or abandoned. Your father and I loved you and still do. And I want nothing more than to see you live a life of happiness and belonging. Oh Ben, what you have done doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you will do. If you return to life, you need only live a life of deliberate, intentional love. Choose to take care of others. Choose to be compassionate, protective, kind. You earn the life you live by making the lives of others worth living. There is still time, Ben. It is never too late to love others, to care for them.”

She slides to the ground, kneeling before her son, placing both hands on his face.

“I sense great love in you, Ben. I always have, but now more than ever.”

With that he folds into her, clinging to her with abandon, a lost child found again. They stay like that for a time, the years of emotions ebbing away gently, leaving them both peaceful and renewed.

When they stand again, the memory-figure of Kylo Ren has dissolved into ash once more, scattered in the desert wind.

The pair once again move about the frozen memory, observing as parts of it begin to dissolve. Ben pauses in front of a lone Stormtrooper. A bloody handprint stains the trooper’s mask.

“What happened to the stormtrooper? FN-2187. The one who defected...is he...is he happy?”

Leia smiles, nodding. “Yes, he’s quite happy now. He’s found a home. It is my understanding that he is now co-general with Poe Dameron who you might recognize.” She gestures towards a memory-figure frozen in the act of being dragged towards the First Order ship by two half-dissolved Stormtroopers.

She smiles at him affectionately. “Yes, Finn is in good hands.”

Ben nods, extending a hand towards FN-2187...Finn, resting it on his shoulder.

“I am glad.”

*****************************************************************************************************

Lightyears away Finn jolts in his seat, a vision passing before his eyes, the mug in his hand splattering caf onto Poe who lets out an indignant shriek.

“Kriff, Finn! What was that about?!”

But Finn barely hears him. His hand resting on his shoulder where he had just felt the presence of a hand, not quite touching but close enough to sense. Not just any hand. The hand of Kylo Ren. Through new to his Force-sensitivity Finn recognized the Force signature immediately.

“Finn, Finn? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Poe is standing now, hovering near Finn, wide eyes creased with lines of concern.

“I...I think I did.”

Poe cocks one eyebrow at him, but doesn’t scoff.

“What did you see?”

“Leia and Kylo Ren. They’re somewhere. Not quite alive, but definitely not dead. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like he almost touched me.” He gestures to his shoulder. “Dead people can’t do that, Poe, not even through the Force! Look, I know it sounds crazy but—” Poe slides his hand to cover the spot on Finn’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze, effectively cutting off Finn’s babbling. He looks Finn straight in the eye.

“I believe you.”

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hero-with-fear · 5 years ago

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TROS Thoughts (((SPOILERS)))

Last chance! Go no further if you haven’t seen it.

Ben Solo: I’ve seen a lot of outrage on the internet about Ben’s fate and I have to say...it’s the best outcome that he could have had. Let’s look at his story logically--he’s responsible for the murder of thousands, he’s the last of his family, he personally destroyed the place Jedi have called home ever since his grandfather destroyed the place the Jedi called home......and then he redeemed himself by coming to his senses and realizing what he had to do. He stepped up, became the boy we all knew he had it in him to be, and died giving life to the last of the Jedi. I loved it. And let’s stop and be real for a second: there was no other fate for him. Ever since he started his murder spree, there could be no other outcome. It’s the same with Anakin: if Anakin had come to his senses after purging the Temple and found the light again, he STILL would have had to answer for the deaths of thousands. Ben would have been either locked away or executed because he would have to accept his part in the crimes of the First Order. No amount of troubled past would ultimately justify the terrible choices he’d made. It had to be that way. I leaned over to my sister after his turn to the light and said: “Okay...my idiot sandwich grandson isn’t an idiot sandwich anymore. I officially claim him.”

Rey: My girl. She did it. I’m so proud. And that’s coming from someone who spends a lot of time in Anakin’s brain. She isn’t The Chosen One...and the movie conveys that fact. If anything, she’s a representation of The Daughter from the Mortis Arc of the Clone Wars. Rey is a balm. Her destiny was to heal the wound the Skywalker family left in the galaxy and boy did she! And she didn’t do it alone! She had the legacy of centuries of Jedi behind her and Anakin Skywalker’s grandson to act as a balance (arguably, the embodiment of The Son). Rey is the embodiment of faith. She doesn’t give herself to her fears, wants and desires; she does what she feels the Force is guiding her to do. She is not OP because her lineage provided her with a strong connection to the Force. But even without that, Rey is still Rey Nobody. She didn’t need Palpatine’s revelation to get to the place she was at the end of the film. She got there herself. She chose to not be afraid and gave her life to end the last remnant of real darkness in the immediate timeline. She is someone that young Jedi in the Prequels era would have read about in their studies at the Temple...someone that gave themselves to the Force to end evil. I loved her role in the film and I love her. Baby girl.

Finn & Poe: Thank goodness for screen time. John and Oscar actually had a dynamic in this film to play off of and the screen time to do it. They both performed stunts of heroism and had individual characteristics that didn’t just make them secondary characters to Rey...something TLJ suffered from. They got to be people in their own right. The complaints that I keep seeing about them seems to be focused on shipping, the trio aspect, and representation arguments. Once again, they felt like people living their lives in the Star Wars universe. I have no issue with anything they got to do. (But John Boyega needs a franchise that puts him on the poster for a change.)

The Force: Another aspect that keeps getting battled around is the Force use in the movie. I’m not gonna lie, when she and (at the time) Kylo were playing tug-of-war with a shuttle I was like UMMMMMMM EXCUSE ME. But then I gave it some thought and forgave it because a few things dawned on me. First of all, the duality of Rey and Kylo’s connection made some of the mad Force connection plausible. But what really made sense to me was that Rey and Ben are using their common skills in a galaxy where balance has been brought to the Force. It further solidified Anakin’s place in the universe and spoke to the time that has passed since the other films happened. Something @another-happy-landing pointed out to me: The Force was out of balance in the prequels, was seeking to be used in the original trilogy, and was simply with the protagonists in the sequels. It’s excellent narrative gold because it makes the Force exactly what we’ve always been told it is: all life bound together. It’s something that grows and changes with those it interacts with. It adapts with the life put into the galaxy. And now that a bunch of big names have become one with it, it’s incredibly accessible and powerful. Loved it.

Clone Palpatine & The Chosen One Argument: The thing calling itself Palpatine was the Force ghost entity left by the original Palpatine and a clone engineered by Sith followers and adherents. It’s something from Star Wars deep lore and was part of the EU until Disney killed the EU. It wasn’t a plot device conjured up by J.J. It’s something that’s existed for years, some old school SW nonsense. I was instantly on board because of that. Something people need to realize: the Sith was broken in this movie. It was trying to return, but the Rule of Two had been broken by Anakin Skywalker. The remnant of Palpatine was devoid of strength until he claimed the life Force of Ben and Rey. So Rey putting an end to him and the remaining Sith remnants wasn’t her bringing balance to the Force, it was her doing what Ben couldn’t do: finishing what Anakin started. She was, in essence, scrubbing the ash and soot from the scene of the fire Anakin started and subsequently put out. It honestly made me feel like what Anakin did was respected and solidified. All Rey did was put an end to the dying tendrils of the dark trying to rise. It’s beautiful...and adding Anakin asking her to bring balance as he did was icing on the cake.

All in all, I loved this movie. It hit all the notes I was hoping for and I left at peace. I don’t understand the vitriol, but I welcome discussion. There ya have it.

#TROS #TROS Spoilers #TROS Review #TROS Thoughts #Star Wars #Star Wars Spoilers #Ben Solo #Kylo Ren #Rey #Finn #Poe Dameron #Anakin Skywalker #The Force #Sheev Palpatine #Palpatine #The Sith #The Jedi #Sith #Jedi

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wearesuchstuff1 · 5 years ago

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Star Crossed

What happens when you take a Star Wars obsessed nerd who is getting a graduate degree in Shakespeare Studies and you put her in quarantine with three essays to write for almost two months?

A Star Wars/Shakespeare AU for every one of Shakespeare's plays!

Read on AO3.

All's Well That Ends Well

Kylo as the King and Rey as Helena. Kylo has been stabbed by a lightsaber. Who stabbed him? Totally not Rey, what are you talking about?? Rey offers to heal Kylo with the Force (because that’s apparently a thing you can do?). Kylo doubts she can do it, but Rey offers to make him a deal - either she fails, in which case Kylo can kill her, or she succeeds, in which case she gets to choose her husband. Kylo agrees to this, secretly hoping that if she does manage to cure him that she will choose him as husband and not that annoying Rebel pilot or that ex- Storm Trooper. Rey does manage to heal Kylo, but instead of throwing herself at Kylo, Poe, or Finn, Rey decides she’s a strong independent woman who doesn’t need a man and this way none of them can push the issue because she gets to be the one who ultimately chooses who, or if, she marries. Sorry Shakespeare, this play’s super annoying and I am not inflicting most of this plot on my Star Wars babies.

Antony and Cleopatra

Leia as Mark Anthony, Han as Cleopatra. Leia is a very busy, powerful, accomplished leader of the Resistance. Everyone looks up to her and she has lots to do as her Rebel forces battle the Empire. If only Han Solo weren't so damn sexy and distracting…

As You Like It

Ray as Rosiland and Finn as Orlando. After escaping from Jakku, Ray must seek her family in the Forest of D'Qar. Finn, in love with Ray and fleeing the wrath of the new, hostile government, also ends up in the Forest. There, Ray finds her family, learning that family does not begin or end with blood, and learns to find “tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones and good in everything.”

Comedy of Errors

Anakin managed to avoid the temptations of Palpatine but when Palpatine discovers that Padme is pregnant they, with Obi Wan’s help, agree that the children must be kept safe from the Sith Lord. In the wake of Order 66 Padme takes Leia and C-3PO on one ship and Anakin takes Luke and R2-D2 on another. The twins are raised apart but when Luke comes of age, he sets out with R2-D2 to find his twin. Hijinks and hilarity ensue, but in the end Luke and Leia, R2 and 3PO, and Anakin and Padme are all reunited.

Coriolanus

Obi Wan as Ophidius, Palpatine as Menennius, and Anakin as Coriolanus. Palpatine is intent on shaping the warrior Anakin in his political image. Anakin would much rather stab things with his lightsaber and rail against the establishment than put up with politics. Obi Wan and Anakin are gay for eachother.

Cymbeline

Leia is Imogen, Anakin is Cymbeline, Palpatine is Anakin’s evil lover, Palpatine's clone son is Cloten, Han is Posthumus. Leia married Han but Anakin doesn’t approve because Anakin and Palpatine want Leia to marry Palpatine’s clone son. After Han has been kicked out he goes to Jabba’s palace and sends Jabba the Hutt to try to seduce Leia because Jabba tricks Han into betting that Leia won’t betray him. Jabba brings “proof” to Han of Leia’s supposed infidelity and Han sends Chewie as Pisonio to lead Leia to the deserted deserts of Tatooine to kill her. However instead Chewie brings a disguise for Leia to dress up as a boy to keep her safe from Han. Dressed as a boy, Leia gets separated from Chewie and meets Obi Wan (as Belarius) and Luke (as Guiderius/Arviragus). Leia doesn’t know that Luke is her brother and after she falls ill she takes a potion given to Chewie by Palpatine that ends up making her fall into a dead sleep. I can’t be bothered to explain why. Thinking her dead, Obi Wan and Luke plan to bury her until Palpatine’s clone son, dressed as Han and looking for Leia, arrives and, because he is rude, gets his head cut off by Luke, who lays him (headless) next to Leia. When Leia wakes up she thinks that Han is dead and, in great despair, Leia goes off and pledges herself as a page to Tarkin, who is leading the Empire’s fleet against the Hutts. There is a big battle where Luke, Obi Wan, and Han kick ass, and at the end all mistaken identities are revealed, Palpatine dies and confesses his sins (not in that order), Han and Leia discover they were only tricked into thinking they didn’t love each other, and Leia still gets to strangle Jabba. In conclusion, this is a batshit play. Thanks Shakespeare.

Hamlet

Well it’s not Anakin because he doesn’t take any time to ponder anything before killing the people who killed his parent. He just kills them. And not just the men, but the women, and the children too…

Ben Kenobi tells Luke that Vader killed his father. Horrified by this information, Luke sets out across to Galaxy to confront Vader. By act five Luke has stabbed the Emperor through a curtain (thinking him to be Vader), Vader and Luke have both been stabbed with a poisoned lightsaber, General Tarkin has drunk poison intended for Luke, and Princess Leia is knocking on the doors of the death star. With his dying breath Luke tells his school friend Biggs (who Luke is not-so-secretly gay for) that he gives his vote for Leia to run the Galexy after he is dead. At this point Ben Kenobi is beginning to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have lied to Luke about his father after all. Also, R2 and 3PO are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Henry IV, Parts I and II

Han as Hal and Jabba the Hutt as Falstaff. Hanging out with Jabba and his other lowlife friends has given Han a bad reputation. Despite Jabba's insistence that they be partners in petty crime and enjoy all the entertainment and Corilian Rum the credits from their crimes can buy, Han must grow to realize that his friend is holding him back from his true place in the Galaxy and that he ultimately must turn away from his old (large) friend in order to become a General in the Rebel Alliance and to stand by its Princess's side.

Henry V

Jyn and Cassian know, as their small band of brothers lands on the beaches of Scarif, that they are outnumbered ten to one. Nevertheless, as they prepare to head once more unto the breach they are determined to make ten men feel like a hundred. They know that if they are mark’d to die, they are enough to do the Rebellion loss; and if to live, the fewer men, the greater share of honour. They fight valiantly and are able to bring the Rebellion hope by sending the plans for the Death Star to Princess Leia, but in the end none of them outlive that day, nor come safe home.

Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III

Despite the threats posed by the Clone Wars, the Jedi look above all else to their religion, leaving the path open for their enemies to take from them their power and, ultimately, their lives.

Henry VIII

Obi Wan is Anakin’s first wife and Padme is Ann Bolyn. Anakin cheats on Obi Wan and the Jedi Order with Padem. When the world finds out (youngings’) heads will roll.

Julius Caesar

Snoke, Kylo, and Hux as Caesar, Brutus, and Mark Anthony. Despite his pledged allegiance to Emperor Snok, Kylo turns against his master and stabs him with his lightsaber, inciting a power struggle between Kylo and Hux and some impassioned speeches to the gathered Storm Troopers.

King John

Palpatine as King John, Mace Windu as the Pope, and Anakin as the archbishop (and Hubert). Palpatine, in order to assert his influence over the Jedi and to continue to bring Anakin under his power, insists that Anakin be appointed to the Jedi Council. Mace Windu is furious that Palpatine would interfere in this way and attempts to “excommunicate” him from the Republic. Anakin turns on Mace Windu and the Jedi Order, and Palpatine sends him to the Jedi Temple to kill the younglings (specifically a youngling named Arthur). However, when actually faced with the task Anakin is unable to do so. Instead he lies to Palpatine and tells him the younglings have been killed.

King Lear

Lear/Cordelia as Vader/Luke. Vader is slightly (maybe a lot) crazy and angry and he tries to give his son, Luke, part of the Galaxy, providing Luke pledges his allegiance to Vader and the Dark Side of the Force. Luke is not having it so Vader cuts Luke’s hand off. In the end, after some battles, Vader realizes Luke is in the right just in time to die.

Love's Labour's Lost

By swearing off attachments and secluding themselves in their Temple, the Jedi believe they will better be able to learn from and serve the Force. But then Qui-Gon Jinn meets Shmi Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi meets Satine Kryze, Ahsoka Tano meets Lux Bonteri, and Anakin Skywalker meets Padme Amidala. Together they learn that attachments are not so easily avoided.

Macbeth

The Nightsisters, led by Mother Talzin, predict greatness for Darth Maul. In fact, when he is apprenticed to Sidious, Talzin predicts that Maul will become the most powerful Sith Lord and that he will soon become the master, no longer the apprentice. Fueled by this promised power, Maul, encouraged by his wife Lady Ventress, plans to kill Sidious. However, he is disturbed by Talzin's predictions that while he may become more powerful than even Sidious, it is Sidious's future apprentice, Darth Vader, who’s children will defeat the power of the Dark Side. Thinking himself invincible thanks to Mother Talzin's predictions he sees no reason to fear the two Jedi who arrive at the Naboo palace of Dunsinane in a ship called the Birnam Wood.

Measure for Measure

With the Empire not giving a fuck about the Outer Rims, Jabba is left to his own devices on Tatooine. When Jabba captures Luke and tries to feed him to his pet Rancor, Jabba proposes a deal with Leia that if she stays with him he will let Luke go. Already feeling that she is married to the Rebellion, Leia is torn between her love for the Alliance and her love for Luke. Ultimately Leia decides she’s better off strangling Jabba while Luke blows up his ship. Even though this isn’t what Mariana actuall does in the script it’s what she should do becasue fuck the patriarchy.

Merchant of Venice

In a last-ditch attempt to save the Republic she loves, Padme comes before the senate and reminds them that 'the quality of mercy is not strained'. She advises them that mercy 'is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes the throned Emperor better than his robe: his lightsaber shows the force of temporal power, but mercy is above the lightsaber's sway". Her impassioned speech reminds the senate to see past the blood lust fueled by Palpatine and the Clone Wars and Padme single handedly manages to avoid the death of democracy to thunderous applause.

Merry Wives of Windsor

Jabba the Hutt is Falstaff. That’s all.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Finn and Poe, both thinking they are in love with Ray, follow Ray to a forest planet. Rose, in love with Poe, follows him. In the forest R2-D2 and his young companion BB8 use trickery and (Force) magic to help the humans sort out this love triangle mess (yes, this does make C-3PO Titania). Finn and Poe realize that they are actually in love with each other and Ray reaffirms that she is a strong independent woman who doesn’t need a man. Rose gets left in the woods because J.J. Abrams forgets about her.

Much Ado about Nothing

Leia/Han as Beatrice/Benedict. Despite the seemingly daily war of words between Princess Leia and Han Solo in the hallways of Hoth’s Echo Base, it seems every Alliance member except the Princess and the smuggler knows that the two are in love. While the verbal battles continue (some more sophisticated than others - Han’s only available comeback to Leia’s rather weak “scruffy looking nerf herder” jab being “who’s scruffy looking?”) Chewbacca, Luke, R2-D2 and a relatively confused and unwilling C-3PO ‘undertake one of Hercules' labours; which is, to bring Han and the Princess Leia into a mountain of affection the one with the other’. By the end both Han and Leia are separately convinced the other is madly in love with them and relent (purely out of the goodness of their own hearts and not at all because of any feelings they might have) to save the other from their suffering and agree to marry them. Also Jar Jar Binks is Dogberry - do not question it.

Othello

In order to serve his own purposes, Palpatine manages to turn the righteous and lauded warrior Anakin Skywalker against his wife, Padmé Amidala, with whispered lies and deceits, resulting in Anakin choking and, ultimately, killing the woman he loves. That’s it. That’s the film.

Pericles

Anakin as Pericles, Padme as Thaisa, and Leia as Marina. After fleeing from Mustafar with Padme, Obi Wan and Bail Organa watch helplessly as Padme gives birth to twins then, seemingly, dies. Afraid to bring more attention on themselves from Sidious and his new apprentice, the men place Padme’s body in an escape pod and eject it near Jedha. What they don’t know is that Padme is only mostly dead (which means she is a little bit alive). When her escape pod is found by a young local force user named Chirrut Imwe he brings Padme back from the brink. Knowing that her husband is dead to her and with no way to contact her children, Padme decides to dedicate herself to the Force at the ancient Jedi temple Chirrut and his husband Baze Malbus brought her to. Meanwhile, Leia is raised by Bail and, when she is old enough, dedicates herself to the Rebellion (sorry guys, I just can’t bring myself to have Bail try to kill Leia). However, when Leia is captured by the Empire she is brought before Vader. They talk and compare stories, and through their connection in the Force they realize that they are father and daughter. At the descovery of his daughter Vader decides ‘you know what, fuck the Emperer’ and casually destroies the Empire. Then the Force leads Anakin and Leia to Jedha (which hasn’t been destroyed because of reasons). There they discover Padme living in the temple of the Jedi. After a tearful family reunion with Anakin, Padme, and Leia, the three eventually decide they had better go save Luke from spending the rest of his life as a moisture farmer on Tatooine.

Richard II

Ben Solo as Bolingbrooke and Luke as Richard II. Luke, hoping to raise Ben Solo in his image, is heartbroken when he senses the dark side in his nephew. In a sudden and desperate attempt to keep the dark side from the world Luke banishes Ben (with his lightsaber). Furious at Luke’s betrayal Ben turns to the dark side and destroys everything Luke has sought to build.

Richard III

Turning against his own family, Kylo Ren murders and betrays in order to obtain the position in the First Order he believes his lineage affords him. Hux is Ann.

Romeo and Juliet

Finn has been raised to be a Storm Trooper since before he can remember. All his life he has been taught to hate the Resistance. Poe’s parents were Alliance members during the time of the Empire. They raised him to stand against the First Order. Finn and Poe thought they knew their beliefs, until the two meet and, despite all they have been taught to believe, fall desperately in love. They are, quite literally, star crossed. BB8 gets drunk off fermented oil and delivers a Queen Mab speech in exclusively beeps and whistles.

Taming of the Shrew

The Alderaanian Princess is a bit of a firecracker and has no time for anything in her life but the Rebellion. So when a smuggler shows up and decides to try to win her over Anakin, who did not turn to the Dark Side, laughs and says he’s welcome to try. Meanwhile, Bodhi Rook, Wedge Antilles, and Biggs Darklighter (yes, this IS his last name…) are all vying for Luke Skywalker’s attention. When Luke goes to Anakin and wines ‘but daddy, I want to get married’ Anakin makes a new rule: “YOU’RE NOT GETTING MARRIED UNTIL LEIA GETS MARRIED!”. In order to have a chance at marriage Luke must team up with Chewbacca to help Han tame Leia. It doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone except Han that it is actually Leia who ends up doing the timing.

Tempest

In (self-imposed) exile a grumpy, gray haired Luke hangs out on an island strong with the magic of the Force. Ariel is a Porg.

Timon of Athens

Despite the Clone Wars, Obi Wan Kenobi is glad to be well liked and surrounded by friends he trusts. Then one day his friends (specifically his best friend and a bunch of clones) betray his ass. So what does he do? He runs off to the Outer Rim to the sandiest fucking planet he can find (because his ex-best friend hates sand) and spends the next 19 years being poor and grumpy.

Titus Andronicus

Seriously, the only story I know with more severed limbs that Titus Andronicus is Star Wars…

Troilus and Cressida

When Padme married Anakin Skywalker they exchanged vows, of course, but they also exchanged pieces of clothing. It’s an old Naboo tradition that Padme’s mother loved and Anakin found cute, so why not? It was a silly thing, but the sleeve Anakin gives her stays with Padme, folded neatly in a small box, as Anakin fights the Clone Wars throughout the Galaxy and Padme fights them in the Senate. But then Anakin falls to Darth Sidious’s powers and when Padme confronts him he almost chokes her to death. Almost. After giving birth to two healthy children Padme, Obi Wan, and Yoda agree that it will be safest for the twins to be raised apart in order to better hide them from the Dark Side. Obi Wan takes the boy to Tatooien and Padme’s friend Bail Organa takes the girl to be his adopted daughter. Padme, seperated from her children, spends the next several years traveling the Galaxy, doing good where she can and keeping herself away from her children, afraid that her presence will endanger them. But Darth Vader finally catches up with her. She is captured by the Sith Lord and taken prisoner and her already shattered heart breaks once again when she is brought before him. Her captor demands that she be his, insisting that she love him and give up her foolish affection for the foolish boy she met on Tatooine all those standard years ago. To prove her new supposed devotion to Vader, the Empire, and the Dark Side of the Force, Vader demands Padme supply him with a token of her affection. From her small pack Padme draws out a box with an old but neatly folded sleeve within. She hands it to the Sith Lord, a token of her love, in the hopes that it might remind Vader of the love Padme bears for another man.

Twelfth Night

After escaping Darth Vader with the plans to the Death Star, Luke and Leia, twins raised together as royals on Alderaan, crash in their escape pod on Tatooine. Believing her twin brother to be dead, Leia dresses as a man to better hide from the Empire. She is hired by a handsome smuggler named Han Solo, who sends her as an envoy to the palace of Jabba the Hutt, hoping Leia can gain information about Han’s lost love Qi’ra. Han is intrigued by his new hire and his apparent aversion to the Empire while under her disguise Leia finds she is falling in love with Han. Jabba is confused about why this petite boy Solo keeps sending wants to know about someone named Obi Wan Kanobi, Chewie is considering changing up his single munitions belt style with some fancy cross-gartering, and somehow Luke ends up at Jabba’s in a slave bikini.

Two Gentlemen of Verona

Lance and Crab - Ray and BB8 on Jakku. Ray, having no family to speak of, designates her left shoe to be her mother, her right shoe to be her father, her staff to be her sister, her hat to be their maid and she is the droid. No, the droid is herself, and she is the droid - O, the droid is her, and she is herself. Ay, so, so. She plays out her imagined family life with shoes and staff, bringing herself to lonely tears. Now the droid all this while sheds not a tear nor speaks a word; but see how she lays Jakku’s dust with her tears.

Winter's Tale

Abandoned after his family exited pursued by a (space) bear, Baby Yoda finds a new protector and adopted father in Din Djarin, the Mandalorian.

Cardenio and Love’s Labour’s Won

These two are the 6 hour uncut Phantom Menace because they are lost and I would give my first born child to see them.

Sir Thomas More, The Spanish Tragedy, and Edward III

All the books/legends - not because of the plot, but because although George Lucas had very little to do with them they are really only known, by those who know them, in association with him and his works. There is a large debate by ‘scholars’ as to whether they should be accepted as canon or not.

Bonus

Chewbacca is ecstatic when he hears that an Alderaanian princess has taken up residence in the detention block of a nearby moon space station. He hopes that this princess might be the perfect match for his handsome yet headstrong smuggler friend. After all, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Alderaanian princess in possession of a good fortune of Credits, must be in want of a husband.

I must give a huge thank you to my friends who put up with me while I did this and contributed fabulous ideas! Vaxildamn, Dazingparadise, Kaethe, and Eric, I couldn't have done this without you!

#star wars #Shakespeare #AO3 #cross overs #@actualvaxildan #@dazingparadise #@kaethe-nicole

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healingpast-a · 5 years ago

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AEQUUSJEDI CANON DIVERGENCE / PLEASE DO NOT REBLOG MY REY IS NOT A PALPATINE !! SHE IS NOBODY !!

THE FORCE AWAKENS

By all accounts, Rey was abandoned by her family on the desert planet of Jakku at a very young age, no more than five - though she can’t quite remember exactly how old she was. While she began under the employ of other scavengers, they treated her like property and eventually she realised she was talented enough as a scavenger on her own and decided it would be better to find for herself. Unkar Plutt himself told the other scavengers not to bother her, knowing she was the best chance he had of rare parts. Rey got by remarkably well for a child left to handle things on her own, managing to find fairly valuable parts in the crashed starships and trading them for food. An agile climber and athlete, she taught herself how to fight with a quarterstaff to fend off attackers and made her home in a crashed Imperial Transport where she counted the days she’d been stranded, waiting for the return of her family.

During her life she came across many traders and learned many things - including mechanics, piloting and a number of languages. She learned to understand binary and some of the droids she met became the few friends she had until they eventually failed due to the sand. She always knew there was something about her that made her faster and move more freely than others. She felt things and languages felt more like instinct than anything. It was only later in life did she realise this was the Force manifesting itself in her.

Rey’s life changed (for the better) when she came across BB-8 and Finn and they escaped off the planet in order to return the droid to the Resistance. While Rey still wanted to return to Jakku in order to wait for her family, she was suddenly thrust into a battle she had only ever heard about between the First Order and the Resistance. The Force was no longer a legend and nor was Luke Skywalker. Suddenly, a lot more of her childhood had made sense. Visions of a boy who she would later discover to be Ben Solo, had plagued her dreams, but she didn’t recognise him under the guise of Kylo Ren. Accompanying Han Solo and Chewbacca to Takodana, Rey made the decision not to return to Jakku. She finally realised that her family were not returning, and decided to put her scavenging to use on the Falcon after Han’s offer of employment. When the legacy lightsaber called her, Rey found it and realised that there was even more to the Force than she had expected, hearing the voice from her visions more clearly telling her he would come back for her. It was strange and dangerous and Rey was suddenly afraid. She fled with the intention of heading back to Jakku where everything had been normal, but was stopped by BB-8. Before she had time to consider her options, Rey was captured by Kylo Ren and taken aboard the Starkiller Base for interrogation.

Though Ren attempted to use the Force to break through the barriers on Rey’s mind, she fought back and saw more of his fears than she had anticipated. When they met, face-to-face, and she recognised the boy from her visions, she was startled but still kept fighting back. Ren, sensing their connection, freed her from her bonds and she managed to use the Force to manipulate the Storm Troopers into allowing her to go free. There she found Finn, Han and Chewbacca. During their attempted escape, Han was killed (verse dependent) and Rey was given the legacy saber by Finn.

In the forest, Rey was plagued by the sense that they were being followed and Kylo Ren offered to teach her, wanting to give her the opportunity to learn to use her abilities. Too distraught by the loss of Han, she chose instead to fight him. Though she was clumsy and untrained, she found herself adept at the use of a lightsaber, managing to translate some of her previous knowledge of fighting to gain the advantage. Finn was shot and the base was destroyed, leaving Kylo Ren behind as they escaped on the Millennium Falcon with Chewie.

On their return, Rey met Leia at the Resistance HQ and they spoke extensively of Han and of Ben, giving Rey the realisation that Kylo Ren was Leia and Han’s son and also the boy from her visions. Her abilities with the Force were strong and she was suffering from worse and worse visions. With the map to Luke now available to them and R2D2 now awake, Leia encouraged Rey to seek out her brother and learn to control her abilities from him - also wanting to give Luke a chance to come home.

THE LAST JEDI

Rey, Chewie & Artoo headed for Ahch-To, where she gave Luke his saber. While at first he rejected it and her request to teach him, Luke saw Rey’s draw to the sacred Jedi places and decided he would teach her. He wanted to atone for the fact that Snoke had corrupted him, causing him to lash out at Ben and making him turn to the Dark Side, and so he taught Rey many of the basics she had yet to learn.

While she was on the island, she was plagued with visions of Ben and they began to talk more and more, learning of each other’s pasts and of what Ben believed had happened with Luke. She tried to implore him that it wasn’t the case, and that she could show him but he was corrupted and maintained his position with Snoke. Rey, seeking answers about her parents and her visions, delved down into the Darkness where the Force spoke to her, though still in vague imagery. It did not tell her who her family was, only made her confused by the visions of two who were one.

Luke was horrified when he saw Rey and Ben communicating via their Force bond, afraid he’d lost another student to the Dark Side, and Rey told him she was going to return Ben to the light, he had to trust her. And so she left, asking Chewie to send her in a pod. Once aboard Snoke’s ship, Rey was captured by Kylo Ren. She pleaded with him to turn, that she would help him and bring him home, but he rejected her offer.

Taking her in front of the Supreme Leader, Snoke told her he had stoked their bond and had given her the visions of Ben’s turning, but Rey knew there was more to them. She pleaded silently with Kylo Ren as he was about to kill her and witnessed Ben instead use the legacy saber to kill the Supreme Leader. They fought together, taking out the Praetorial Guard and Ben offered her to take his hand and change the galaxy together. He told her he had seen who her family was and that they were nobody, that they were junk traders who’d sold her.

Rey knew that she couldn’t follow him like this, and so they fought over the saber, eventually destroying it and knocking them both unconscious. She was the first to recover and though it killed her to leave him, Rey took the shattered pieces of the saber and launched herself in Snoke’s escape pod. Her injuries proved too much and once again she blacked out.

Visions of that same voice and the same imagery of two who were one haunted her and forced her to awake, adrift in the escape vessel. She was able to contact Chewie, who docked with her and she boarded the Falcon, intent to help the Resistance who were now in fierce battle with the First Order.

She and Chewbacca saved what was left of the Resistance and they headed for Anoat. While they travelled, Rey spoke with Leia about Ben, trying to learn more about the reasons he would continue to choose the Dark Side. Leia could see that Rey had come to care about him and that there was more to it than met the eye. Rey recounted the offer Ben had given her and Leia decided she would teach Rey everything she knew about the Force, as Luke had once done for her before she had chosen love instead of the Jedi path.

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

On Ajan Kloss, Rey resumed Jedi training under Leia this time while the First Order searched for them. Her visions of Ben became more and more frequent, though she tried desperately to shut him out. She took a mission to aid in recruitment for the Resistance on an Outer Rim planet, and Ben, now the Supreme Leader, sought her out. They battled and he pried for the new base’s location but Rey succeeded in keeping the information from him and told him that the Resistance was growing and that they would win. Eventually she gained the upper hand and fled, throwing herself back into training on Ajan Kloss with Leia who was beginning to worry.

Rey’s presence in the Resistance was drawing more recruits, knowing that the Last Jedi was fighting against the First Order. This put a large amount of pressure on her and she stopped going on missions, trying desperately to become the Hero the Resistance needed her to be and to be worthy of Luke’s now rebuilt lightsaber. She ran a gauntlet that Luke had once prepared for Leia herself, utilising all of his old training gear in order to build her abilities with the Force.

A year after the Battle of Crait, an ominous message alerting the galaxy of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious’ return was broadcast and a message stating that Kylo Ren had sought him out from an unknown source within the First Order alerted Rey to what she would have to do. She would have to destroy a Sith, one who had faced death and won. She would have to find him in order to be the hero they needed.

Word reached the Resistance that Ren had found Exegol and Sidious, so Rey, realising that some of his writings showed that Luke had been seeking the same planet, studied the Jedi texts and learned of the Sith Wayfinders. Though she had intended to travel to find these wayfinders alone, her friends insisted on accompanying her and they travelled to Pasaana, the last place on Luke’s list that he had searched for one of the Wayfinders, belonging to Ochi, a Sith Assassin.

The planet proved homelike to Rey and she found it teeming with life, a stark difference from Jakku. Celebrating the Festival of the Ancestors, she was gifted a necklace of welcoming. The Force was strong in the Festival, activating the bond between Rey and Kylo Ren. He seized the necklace she’d been given, realising their location and sending the First Order troops to search for them. Now under high risk, Rey and the others attempted to avoid detection by the troops and were aided by Lando Calrissian, whom Leia had asked for help. Rey and the others were directed to the abandoned ship that had belonged to the Sith out in the desert by Lando, who had also helped Luke find it once before.

Ambushed by troopers, the team managed to escape only to be trapped in sinking sand where they found themselves lost in tunnels created by a sand snake. Though doom had seemed imminent, Rey realised that the creature was wounded and healed it using the Force, something she had only tried on minor injuries before then. An old dagger with Sith texts alerted them that they’d found what they’d been searching for and C3-PO explained that whilst he could translate what the dagger said, his programming forbade him from speaking the Sith language and so they would have to extract the data from his memory banks somehow.

Free of the tunnels, Rey sensed the presence of Kylo Ren and the First Order. She told the others to leave using Ochi’s ship, sensing that the Falcon had been taken. She stayed, ready to fight Ren. Whilst they fought, Chewbacca and the dagger were captured by the First Order and Rey attempted to use the Force to bring down the transport that was taking them. Fighting against Ren’s pull, she released a sudden burst of power and exploded the ship.

Rey, thinking that she had killed Chewbacca, became more determined to stop the First Order. Miserable and even more certain she couldn’t be the hero they needed, she and the others travelled to Kijimi in order to have C3-PO’s memory extrapolated to give them the data they required.

On Kijimi they were stopped by an old acquaintance of Poe’s who had felt abandoned by his leaving their group for the Resistance and was now working as a local spice runner. She and Rey fought, though Rey won and Zorii agreed to take them to Babu Frik who successfully managed to extract the data from Threepio’s memory bank, giving them the information they needed but unfortunately deleting the rest of his memory bank at the same time. As the data was extracted, Rey sensed the First Order and Kylo Ren approaching. She realised then that Chewbacca was alive, sensing him in the Force and realising she had to rescue him.

The group boarded the First Order destroyer to seek the captive Chewie, Rey utilising the Jedi ability to change minds in order to gain access to the ship. Once he’d been found, the Force reached out to her and she realised that the dagger meant more to them than just the information that they’d got from it. She sent the others to steal back the ship, knowing she would join them, and followed the call from the Dagger into Ben’s personal quarters. Visions of Kylo Ren, of Darth Vader and of Darth Sidious plagued her immediately, a jumble of darkness that called out to her to join them. She ignored them as best she could and took hold of the dagger.

Immediately, the Force showed her that Darth Sidious had sent Ochi to Jakku after her parents. Her birth had caused a disturbance in the Force and they’d been running since, desperately trying to avoid those who wished to take their child from them. Rey, though born to simple junk traders, had not been sold. She had been left in the care of Unkar Platt as a way to protect her from being found, and Ochi had killed her parents trying to gain knowledge of her whereabouts.

Realising that Sidious had orchestrated the deaths of her parents, she was briefly enraged and filled with power, causing a connection with Ben who, when they duelled, realised where she was and began his return to his ship. Rey, grabbing the dagger and Chewie’s bandolier headed for the hanger where she thought they would be. Surrounded by Storm Troopers as Ben landed on his ship, he explained to her that the Emperor wanted her dead and that he wouldn’t let that happen. Ben explained that they were a Dyad in the Force, a rare occurrence created by the Force to create a perfect balance. Equal parts darkness and light, and that if she took his hand, they could kill Sidious together. She considered it, but realised that Finn and the others were coming for her on the Falcon and she jumped to them, escaping.

Using the data they’d gained, they flew the falcon to Kef Bir where they met a group of ex-Storm Troopers who’d made their home on the planet. The remains of the Death Star loomed in the distance and Rey realised she needed to get there, to get the Wayfinder and kill Darth Sidious. Sensing the connection between the Dagger and the Death Star, Rey lifted it to her eyes and realised that it pointed to the location of the Wayfinder inside of the ruin. She asked how long it would take to get there and they told her they would have to wait. Corrupted with anger and the need to succeed, to be the Hero the Resistance needed, Rey ignored Jannah’s warnings that the ocean was too dangerous and snuck away, stealing a skimmer and using the Force, made her way across the waves to the ruins of the Death Star.

She was horrified by the dark energy she felt there, haunted by visions of what atrocities it had performed as she climbed through the ruins. So plagued by visions, Rey didn’t notice the approach of Kylo Ren, who knew where she would go. Finally finding the Throne Room, Rey used the Force to break into a chamber containing the Wayfinder. In it, she battled with a vision of herself corrupted by darkness and anger. She was nearly bested by the vision, almost giving in to it when she lashed out and killed the image of herself in a single swipe of Luke’s blade, dropping the Wayfinder. When she blinked, she was looking directly at Ben, whom had flown his ship to her in an attempt to reach out once again.

Too caught up in what she’d just seen, she didn’t notice the missing Wayfinder until Ben destroyed it, telling her that if she was going to Exegol it was with him. Enraged and seething, Rey began to duel with Ben, who had begun to question Sidious’ influence. While it seemed she had the upper hand, the more she fought the more Ben fought back and bested her but before he could kill her he stopped. In moments later, Leia reached out to him using the Force and he realised what he was doing, dropping his saber. Still corrupted by rage, Rey stabbed him with it.

Immediately realising what she’d done and snapping out of the the corruption, Rey fell to her knees beside Ben, using as much power as she could muster to heal him. Though she told him she’d wanted to take his hand, Rey was terrified of the darkness that had overwhelmed him and fled using his ship, leaving him behind and travelling back to Ahch-To alone. Not wanting to become the vision of darkness she’d seen of herself, Rey burned Ren’s ship and went to toss the Legacy Lightsaber into the flames, only to be stopped by Luke’s ghost who explained to her that overcoming that fear and that darkness was what would make her strong.

She explained she had no Wayfinder and no way to escape, but Luke guided her to his sunken X-Wing, aiding her to raise it from the water and showing her the Wayfinder in Ren’s ship. He gave her back his saber as well as Leia’s, offering his belief in her as his student. He told her then that Ben had been restored to the Light thanks to her, and that only she could do what needed to be done but that the aid of her friends would give her the strength and courage she would require.

Taking the X-Wing, Rey input the details to Exegol and sent out a beacon for the Resistance to follow. Whilst the Resistance engaged in battle with the Sith fleet, Rey landed on the planet’s surface to hunt for Darth Sidious. When she found him, she realised that he had been waiting for her and poised herself for a fight. He told her that should she kill him, he will be reborn in her of her rage and corruption and that she would be the one to destroy her friends.

Rey sheathed her saber and said she wouldn’t do that, and that he would have to kill her, thinking that her sacrifice might mean that the Resistance would live another day. It was at that moment that she realised that Ben had arrived on the planet and was coming to her aid. Rey finally realised what all her visions had meant and that was their combined power two who were one, the dyad in the force, and the last of the Jedi.

Using their bond, she gave Ben his mother’s lightsaber so he could defend himself against the Knights of Ren, whom Palpatine had promised a new life amongst the Sith. Though it killed him to fight the group whom were once his friends, Ben managed to break through and get to her where they together defended and fought against Darth Sidious.

His Force lightning was defended against by the both of their lightsabers and the strength of their dyadic bond. Their power combined deflected his and they worked together to destroy him so that he could capture neither of them wholly and their combined ability kept them protected by the Light and the strength of all the Jedi who had come before them standing with them and aiding them through the Force.

The impact of the destruction caused Rey and Ben to be thrown away from one another. Rey’s head impacted against the ground and her arm broke where she’d hit a rock, but Ben was thrown down a nearby cavern. Above, the Resistance forces were joined by thousands of civilians, come to aid in the fight against the Final Order and the remnants of the Sith Fleet were destroyed.

Ben pulled himself out of the pit, realising that Rey was on the verge of death due to her injuries. Using the Force to heal her, she recovered and they had the chance to really look at each other and realise the strength of their bond for the first time. WITH BEN’S DEATH / The toll from returning Rey from near death caused Ben’s disappearance into the Force, leaving her confused and alone. She fled the planet on Luke’s ship and returned to Ajan Kloss, where the Resistance were celebrating. Though she joined them in mourning the loss of Leia and celebrating their success, she could not remain with them for very long as she realised she still had to find out more about Ben, still feeling his presence in the Force.

She left, seeking answers on the World Between Worlds. Taking the legacy sabers and finding a new Kyber crystal for herself, Rey began work on a new Jedi Order whilst searching for a way to restore Ben Solo.

WITH BEN’S SURVIVAL / The toll from saving Rey caused Ben to collapse and she carried them both back to Luke’s ship as the planet collapsed around them.

Though Rey herself was struggling, she managed to return them to the Resistance Base where they were both rushed to Bacta tanks where they spent days in recovery. Rey was the first to wake, greeted by Leia and her friends. They celebrated quietly, waiting for Ben to wake too.

Once he had recovered and had reunited with his mother, Rey and Ben made the decision to leave Ajan Kloss together and seek answers about their dyadic bond. Leaving Leia with her own and Luke’s lightsabers, they sought new kyber crystals, making their own sabers and discussing the future of the Jedi Order and what would need to change.

#ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ᴠᴏʟᴄᴀɴᴏ��ꜱ * headcanons #ᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ * main #long post cw

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veggieheist · 5 years ago

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Chapter 29 is Up!!

Summary:

Kylo Ren was supposed to go to Jakku to find information on Luke’s whereabouts, but the Force-sensitive girl in the slaver’s auction was too interesting to leave behind. Rey has only ever known the life of a slave on Jakku, bought and sold from master to master, but the mysterious and terrifying creature who now owns her is like no master she’s ever had before.

Chapter 29: Haunted Whispers (excerpt below)

The Knights left as soon as the ship was fueled up. Kylo saw them off from the hangar, and when they slipped into hyperspace he headed for the Archives room. He needed to continue his study of the Sith texts and holochrons. He needed to find information and guidance.

The Sith had been an incredibly strong and prevalent force in the galaxy before they’d become too bloodthirsty, turned against each other clamoring for power, and almost wiped themselves out. It was from that self-sabotaging time that the Rule of Two came to be, which made sure there was only ever two Sith at one time—one Master, and one Apprentice. It allowed them to remain hidden, growing in power without detection.

Darth Vader and his master Darth Sidious had been the last true Rule of Two Sith—and a more powerful duo there had never been and might never be again. They’d ruled the galaxy together as Emperor Master and Lord Apprentice, and the Sith would have continued ruling and growing in power had the treacherous Luke Skywalker not betrayed his own father.

Oh yes, Kylo had heard many stories growing up. Stories of how Darth Vader had turned on his master and sacrificed himself to save his son, and thus obtaining redemption. But Kylo knew it was a lie, a trick—Propaganda against the Dark Side and against the Sith.

Especially after what Luke tried to do to him at the Jedi Temple, Kylo knew that in reality the Jedi master had most likely killed his own father to ‘save the galaxy’ from the Dark Side, and then fabricated the story of redemption to weaken the idea of the Sith.

Kylo would not be so easily fooled. (continue reading on AO3)

Chapter 1: The Auction ＊／＊ Chapter 2: Stolen Goods ＊／＊ Chapter 3: Consequences ＊／＊ Chapter 4: Introductions ＊／＊ Chapter 5: Introductions Part 2 ＊／＊ Chapter 6: Luxury and Consequence ＊／＊ Chapter 7: The First Rule ＊／＊ Chapter 8: The Question and The Lie ＊／＊ Chapter 9: Picking Up the Pieces ＊／＊ Chapter 10: The Rumor and the Solution ＊／＊ Chapter 11: Bolt by Bolt ＊／＊ Chapter 12: Refocusing ＊／＊ Chapter 13: The Tower ＊／＊ Chapter 14: The Archives Room ＊／＊ Chapter 15: Cracks in the Lies ＊／＊ Chapter 16: It Pulls Me Under ＊／＊ Chapter 17: The Silence and the Scream ＊／＊ Chapter 18: The Corridor ＊／＊ Chapter 19: Speak ＊／＊ Chapter 20: To Witness a Dying Sun ＊／＊ Chapter 21: Flickering Light ＊／＊ Chapter 22: The Whiplash ＊／＊ Chapter 23: Break and Fix ＊／＊ Chapter 24: Soresu ＊／＊ Chapter 25: Undertow ＊／＊ Chapter 26: The Junk ＊／＊ Chapter 27: Claiming KR02 ＊／＊ Chapter 28: Blood from a Stone

#Chains #reylo #slave au #fanfic #fanfiction #master kylo #slave rey #star wars #chapter 29 #haunted whispers #kylo ren #rey #kylo x rey #veggieheist #sith #kylo is a nerd #the dark side #slow burn #Master/Slave

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sobiwanfan · 5 years ago

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Somebody

The air whipped around the pair as Rey held the lightsaber out to its former owner. The uncomfortable silence weighed heavily between them until the Jedi Master finally approached. Rey watched as he carefully examined the saber in her hand. Inevitably, the cool metal slipped from her grasp into his. The momentary recognition in his face shifted from her to the blade. Rey felt, passively, that the old Jedi had recognized her, that he might have a clue as to who her family was, but the feeling was about the lightsaber and not about her. She tried not to be disappointed. After all, General Organa had told her to find Luke in the hopes of training with him to help bring her son home. It would be no easy task to convince the Jedi Master to help her, let alone learn the ways of the Force to defeat Kylo Ren and his master, the delusional Sith Master Snoke.

“Where did you get this?” Luke asked the mysterious young girl. He senses she was strong in the Force but yet untrained.

“I found it in a box amongst a bunch of junk on Takodana. Maz Kanata was holding on to it.”

After studying the old lightsaber for awhile, Luke clipped it next to his current lightsaber on his belt. Without another word, he walked past Rey, down several flights of rocky steps to the cave he called home.

Rey wasn’t sure what to do, so she followed him. She vaguely remembered stories of the formidable Jedi who had defeated the Emperor. Even as a young child, she could remember her mother speaking of the old times, the Republic, the Jedi, all of it. It seemed like something from a storybook, a dream, yet here she was following the Jedi, who was nothing more than a human male in his golden years. She didn’t know what she had expected, but the inside of the cave was definitely not what she had anticipated.

The interior was clean and orderly, certainly more well-kept than her own on Jakku. It was almost as though he had been expecting company. She wondered why else he would have bothered folding blankets or picking up after himself if he was living in solitude.

Instead of speaking, he went out the makeshift kitchen and poured two cups of tea

She looked around for a moment before her eyes settled on a cushion on the floor where she had a seat. Rey attempted to remain calm, but the long trek up the mountainside and lack of conversation left her feeling weary and frustrated. “Everyone has been looking for you. Your sister, General Organa, and her son Kylo Ren.”

Rather than answer her, the Jedi Master observed, “You’ve already faced a great darkness.”

With her irritation growing, she retorted, “Yes, but that’s why I’m here. I want you to teach me.”

Luke’s expression darkened. “If you’ve spoken with my sister, then you know that I cannot do that. That’s what lead to this problem in the galaxy in the first place. That’s why there aren’t any more Jedi.”

Rey shook her head, unwilling to take no for an answer. Unknowingly, she channeled the light side as she spoke. “It’s not your fault when people make bad choices. I want you to train me, so that together we can face the darkness and defeat it once and for all.”

Feeling that ripple in the Force only led to more questions about her parentage. There was something there, elusive, something familiar, but Luke couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Who were your parents?”

Shoving the question aside, she declared, “We don’t have time for this. The more time we waste, the stronger Ren grows and the Republic will lose more ground to the First Order. They’ve already destroyed The Hosnian System with their superweapon.”

“I’ve failed as my master failed to prevent Vader from falling to the dark side. I can’t do this again.”

“You must,” Rey insisted. “You may have failed in killing Kylo Ren, but I will succeed. I just need your help. We must put an end to him and his master.”

“You have no idea how many Jedi they killed—how many children—“

“I saw it.”

“You were here?” Luke asked, blinking his eyes as if trying to recall her. Was that how he recognized her?

She shook her head. “I’m not sure how, but when I picked up that weapon, the saber, I saw it. It felt as though I was there. It was like a vivid dream—just as I have dreamt of this place, the lake—and I’ve never been here either.”

Luke’s eyes widened at this as he took another sip of tea. “They will be coming for me, won’t they? The Resistance?”

“No,” Rey replied, “I asked General Organa to let me come and I’m the only one with the map. I brought your R2 unit with me. Chewbacca is with the Falcon.”

“And Han?” He didn’t even need to ask. He knew. He had felt it: Ben’s final descent into the dark side and Han’s untimely death. Luke knew that even untrained his sister could have sought him out whenever she wanted to, but had respected his need to deal with everything in his solitude. She respected, though disagreed, with his desire to remain away from the frontlines.

“A Jedi’s place is to keep the peace.”

“And sometimes in order to keep the peace, that means going to war.”

Luke couldn’t help smiling at this. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had smiled. Truly, this was the Will of the Force. “Why do I feel that I will be learning from you, just as you will be learning from me?”

Rey’s eyes lit up. “Does this mean I can stay here with you?”

Luke nodded.

***

Rey awoke in the wee hours of the morning, her stomach still full from a large meal the night before. She was so grateful to General Organa and the Resistance for providing her with free food, even though it had been hard to eat after Han Solo’s passing. She hadn’t slept so well in a long time that waking up was a little rough. It took her a moment to realize that she was in fact in Jedi Master Luke Skywalker’s bed. She pulled the blanket tightly to her chin and exhaled slowly, finding it difficult to get out of bed. In a sleepy haze, she pieced together what happened the day before and how he had reluctantly allowed her to become his student.

Looking around, she found her boots and figured that he must have carried her to the bed the night before. She couldn’t remember falling asleep, but it had been a trying day. She slipped on her boots, the only item of clothing the Jedi had removed the night before. She then stretched and yawned before looking through the rest of the small cave home. She eventually found the Jedi outside meditating on a cliff overlooking the stormy sea below. She turned to leave.

“Stay.”

Unsure if it was a command or a request, Rey did as he instructed. She sat down in front of him, crossing her legs and studying him carefully.

“To begin, I want to help you access your memories. Close your eyes and open up to the light side. Feel its warmth washing over you.”

When she close her eyes, Rey felt the warmth on her forehead. It felt like her mother’s hand. She smiled.

“I sense you’re looking for your parents. You’ve been waiting for them to return to you. But you know the truth now, even without seeing it, that they have perished.”

Rey couldn’t help the tears that escaped her lids. Even though her eyes remained closed, she knew the elder Jedi was watching her and feeling it too.

“Who were your parents?” he prompted. “Focus on that warmth. Recall their faces, Recall their names. Remember…”

Rey opened her eyes and she was there in her childhood home before they went to Jakku. She remembered! Her mother was singing softly to her as she protested. “I want to watch the holovid!”

“It’s time to sleep. We have a long journey ahead, Rey.” Her mother continued her song until Rey interrupted her again.

“Can I have a story?” Rey asked.

Her mother’s smile brightened and she acquiesced. “Of course, Rey. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there lived a queen—”

“Queen of Maboo?” Rey asked.

Her mother nodded. “Yes, the Queen of Naboo and she had several trusty handmaidens that were her loyal bodyguards.”

“They protected her and stopped the bad guys.”

“Yes, Rey, they saved her life many times, just as the queen saved theirs.”

As though she were an adult in her childhood body, Rey recalled everything now in full detail. The stories flew to the forefront of Rey’s memories. She could remember all the details as if she had heard the story a million times. The Republic, the Jedi, the Queen of Naboo, all of it.

***

In the next moment, Rey was jolted to the desert planet of Jakku in the middle of a firefight. She huddled with her parents in the home of an old man Rey barely remembered. Her father’s voice broke through the haze, concerned and insistent. “Kira, we have to go. She’ll be safe here. Sorcha and Danren promised to look out for her.”

“I don’t want to leave her, Soren.”

“I will stay with her as long as I can, but you’re a wanted woman. He can sense you. You know this to be true.”

Her mother held Rey tightly, kissing her forehead for the last time. “I’ll come back. I promise. I love you, Rey.”

That was the last time she ever saw her mother.

Rey then recalled the blasters and what she now knew to be the Knights of Ren. She had pushed the memories deep into the recesses of her brain, trying to forget the horror: her father shot down as she screamed and ran for cover. The old man, Danren pulled her away by the hand, forcing her to leave the corpse of her father, seeking to protect her from the onslaught, the massacre that awaited the people of Jakku in their fight against the First Order.

Her memories leapt again to the Danren’s elderly wife Sorcha who wanted to keep Rey, but was inevitably too weak to take care of her. Danren’s injuries from the battle prevented him from providing food. Even at the tender age of five, Rey felt the weight of responsibility and began scavenging for them until the couple passed away.

Rousing from her meditation, Rey’s eyes glanced across the boundless sea. How long had she dreamt of this sea in those years on Jakku, never knowing if it were real. She didn’t notice the tears staining her cheeks until she smoothed a hair behind her ear.

She knew.

She remembered.

Luke patiently waited for the young woman to speak. When she did, her words surprised him.

“Kira and Soren Maberri, Those are the names of my parents.”

“And your mother? I sense there’s something else you’re not telling me.”

She furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to remember everything as it rushed from her consciousness. “Those stories she told me—they were real, weren’t they? They were about my grandmother.”

“And your grandfather,” Luke assessed. He paused momentarily and his voice was like a whisper. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Who?”

“Ben—Ben Kenobi,” Luke replied.

Rey wasn’t sure why that name should mean anything to her. “I don’t understand.”

“He was your grandfather.”

“You mean the Jedi Master from the legends… The one who trained Anakin Skywalker—” It was almost too amazing to be real. She recalled the stories, remembered the holofilms. Even in the outer reaches of the galaxy there wasn’t a being that didn’t at the very least know the names of Skywalker and Kenobi.

After a moment of pondering this idea, Rey’s eyes widened, feeling that this was an ultimate truth. He was my mother’s father. My grandmother knew your mother—”

Luke nodded. “I have felt it. It has been a long time since my master spoke with me, but I feel that he has spoken to you.”

“He wanted me to take it,” Rey said, gesturing to the lightsaber. “I heard his voice in my dreams--in the vision. He spoke to me.”

Luke unhooked the lightsaber from his belt and returned the blade to its rightful master. “It’s yours.”

Rey hesitated, glancing at the saber that she felt she had no rightful claim to. “I was scared before,” she admitted. “I tried to run away, but somehow it kept ending up in my hands.”

Rey, these are your first steps.

Rey could hear the voice of her grandfather again, calling out to her as she held the blade in her hands once more.

It was then that the bluish hue materialized in front of her. The man with white hair and a white beard, smiling softly at her. She wanted to run over and embrace him; the kinship pulled her so strongly.

“Hello Rey,” Obi-Wan said, smiling at her with a slight tear in his eyes.

“Grandfather!”

“I sent you the visions of the lake to help you find Luke so he would train you. You will become a great Jedi, just like my former apprentice.”

Rey looked over at Luke, but he was deep in a meditation of his own. It seemed that this visitation was meant only for her. “He’s afraid. He doesn’t have faith that we can defeat Kylo Ren and his master Snoke. He said the Jedi must come to an end.”

“You will be the light that will lead the way, Rey. Have faith in yourself and everything else will fall into place.”

A knot caught in her throat as she struggled to ask, “My mother—“

Obi-Wan’s compassionate smile, though warm also told her the truth without even needing to say it: “Your parents are one with the Force, dear one.”

“Can I see them?” she asked, unable now to stop her tears from flowing.

Obi-Wan’s expression fell. “I’m sorry. I never trained your mother in the ways of the Force. I was too much of a coward. That’s why I felt obligated to train Anakin’s son,” he said, gesturing to the currently meditating Luke Skywalker. “Your grandmother was a member of the Rebellion and frequently ran secret missions from Tatooine. It was on one of those occasions, when your mother was old enough, that they were unable to return home. I never saw them again. After my passing, I knew they were still alive and were safe. From afar I was able to watch her grow up.”

Bowing her head, she replied, “Thank you.” It felt good to have closure. Even if it meant that she would never see her parents again, she at least knew that she didn’t have to keep looking. She could move on. Hopefully in doing so, she would also be able to stop the darkness from overtaking the galaxy.

Obi-Wan reached out as though to caress her face. She felt a coolness touch her cheek before she wiped her own tears and put on a brave face.

“The Force will be with you always,” she heard him say before his shape wavered and disappeared from sight.

She sighed a shaky, heavy exhale, feeling as though a weight had been removed from her shoulders. The mystery of her birth and her place in the world was so much more than she could have ever imagined. She was not in fact a nobody after all, but a very important and special somebody.

#rey kenobi #rey is a kenobi #obi-wan kenobi #sobiwan #sabé #star wars fic

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