The New Order
In which Kylo addresses the galaxy, and things that were lost are found again.
“I am Ben Organa Naberrie Skywalker Solo.”
Ben stared into the banks of holocameras facing him. The name was pretentious, yes, but he needed every bit of influence he had. Two royal houses on his mother’s side and the famed, Force-powerful name of Skywalker gave him substantial heft. And the name of Solo… Well, it had what he’d once heard called street cred. No one would be tempted to think he was some sheltered, naïve princeling.
The table he sat behind was draped with black cloth emblazoned with a white sunburst encircled by a grey halo. Rey, wearing some of her Canto Bight finery hastily sent down on a shuttle, sat beside him. She hadn’t wanted to—she’d wanted to stand behind him with her lightsaber on display.
You aren’t my guard, Rey, he’d told her. You’re my partner and my betrothed. You sit at my right hand.
They’d argued. It was one argument he won.
Ranged behind him were four Nightfolk in their grey robes, Captain Vach, Commander Dare of the Security Bureau, and Magar and Embern Ren.
The last two were a bit of theatre. One black-clad, lightsaber-bearing masked terror looked much like another, and it was convenient for the galaxy to continue to think that Kylo Ren and Ben Organa Solo were two different men.
Ben drew on memories of his mother’s speeches on the Senate floor. It was much easier, he thought with annoyance, to stride into a room and command respect through a combination of physical presence and a general aura of menace. Although his mother had managed menace pretty well even without the physical presence.
He launched into his address to the galaxy. “Today, thousands of Coruscanti died in an unprovoked attack by the star destroyer Scimitar. Millions more would’ve died had the Fury crashed in the Federal District as intended. A leak of highly classified communications shows that this wasn’t the work of command gone rogue. It was done under the direct orders of Armitage Hux, self-styled Supreme Leader of the First Order.”
Ben nodded at the technical crew. A holo of Hux sprang to life on the table in front of him and Rey. The red-and-black banners of the First Order visible behind him on the holo served perfectly to attract attention to the emblem currently on display over the table.
“Today is a grim day for the citizens of the First Order,” the holo of Hux began in studied, solemn tones. “Today, uncounted millions of lives were lost in Coruscant’s Galactic City in an attempt on my life. If I could give my life to restore theirs, I would gladly do so.”
Hux looked down, as if overcome by grief, then resolutely back up.
“Two star destroyers were involved in the attacks. No doubt you’ve seen the holos by now. One was deliberately crashed into the Federal District. The other engaged in indiscriminate orbital bombardment of the city. Once again, the Resistance has claimed credit for the attacks.”
Ben nodded again, and the holo flickered out. “This holo was recorded yesterday. As all of Coruscant is aware, we were able to prevent the crash and resulting massive loss of life. The Resistance, far from the architects of the attack, were instrumental in neutralizing the Scimitar, which was acting under Hux’s orders. We discovered that the destruction three days ago of an unarmed Nabian spaceliner and the murder of all crew and passengers aboard was also ordered by Hux—the man responsible for the development, construction and deployment of Starkiller Base, the weapon used to destroy the Hosnian system and the billions of lives there.”
He paused. “Hux is no longer a danger to the galaxy. His guards took him down to Coruscant’s lower levels in an attempt to escape. He met with one of the dangers there.
“With Hux’s disruptive influence removed, we’re in a position to restore peace and balance to the galaxy. The First Order will reorganize as the New Order under Orlan Vach as High Commander of the military.”
Ben paused again as Vach bowed his head at the introduction.
“Our first task,” he went on, “is to repair the damage done by First Order excesses. First Order personnel forcibly recruited will be repatriated to their home worlds as part of a rebuilding program. Surviving Hosnians will be offered resettlement and reparations.
“Going forward, worlds that choose to join the New Order will enjoy the protection of its military. In return, they will support the Order through taxes and recruits. The galaxy will be free to decide its own governance as individual worlds choose, with certain restrictions.”
Ben leaned forward, fixing the holocameras with a forbidding stare. It wouldn’t be as effective as in person, but it should be effective enough.
“Slavery is outlawed. No sentient being can be allowed to own another. Inhabitants of every world will be fed, housed and educated. Destabilizing aggression will not be tolerated, and the instigator will face the might of the New Order.”
He sat back again. “This is a time of change. Old conflicts will give way to new possibilities.” It’s time to let old things die. The Sith. The Jedi. Let it all die. “Discussion and coordination will be ongoing. In the meantime, High Commander Vach will proceed to implement the program I’ve outlined.” He dipped his chin in the hint of bow. “Thank you. May the Force be with you. Always.”
The holocameras’ lights winked out. The techs behind them stood stunned and silent, blinking at each other.
Ben let out a breath. Saying it was easier than making it so.
He became aware of Rey’s attention on him. Admiration and approval and joy came through the bond. He turned to meet her shining gaze. Under the table, her hand slipped over his and gripped tight. Her light shined out so brilliantly he was amazed it wasn’t visible.
It might not be visible, but everyone in the room felt it. Embern’s and Magar’s masked faces turned toward her like flowers to the sun. Dare blinked rapidly as if blinded, and Ben felt his firmly restrained impulse to embrace both him and Rey.
Even Vach deigned to smile. “Well done, sir.” For once, real emotion slipped into his voice.
The Nightfolk took up her hope and joy and spread it as far as they could reach, a light echo of her brightness pouring into the Force.
The light spread over Coruscant, from the silent city at its basement to the highest penthouse. It rose through the atmosphere, an ether that lapped the occupants of every aircar, climbing until it washed over the ships in orbit. The Force shivered with it, the shockwave of a supernova that swept outward to every corner of the galaxy.
“Look!” one of the techs said. They all crowded at the windows overlooking the city.
Ben, still holding Rey’s hand, stood and drew her after him to the windows. The techs respectfully parted to give them room.
The lines of aircars winked like strings of jewels against the sky as drivers flashed their lights. Flares of light blinked in every window of every building. Bolts of blaster fire shot upward, red sparks of a makeshift fireworks display.
He twined his arm around Rey’s waist and bent to whisper, “That’s you, sweetheart. That’s all from you.”
Leaning into him, she shook her head. “You’re the one who gave them something to celebrate.”
He growled at her stubborn refusal to acknowledge her worth. “Both of us then. Will you accept that?”
She smiled up at him, a blaze of light his darkness couldn’t help but luxuriate in.
“Always,” she said.
* * *
As they left the holorecording suite, Rey slumped. After the thrill of Ben’s speech, after the energy that blazed through her afterwards like an exploding sun, she was suddenly and unexpectedly at the very end of her rope. She’d had been going non-stop since the encounter with Luke on Kes.
Kreet flashed in her mind, netted with purple lighting. His agonized screech. The horror of his little body falling to the ground in a heap of smoking fur. Tears pricked at her eyes. Swallowing hard, she tried to push them back.
Instantly, Ben turned to her, his hand warm at her back. “Rey? What’s—”
“I want to find Kreet,” she blurted out. Her voice came out in a whine, like an overtired child. “He tried to protect me, and I left him. I have to go get him.”
He stopped in the middle of the hallway and gripped her arms. People shot them surprised glances. She glared as forbiddingly as Ben ever could, and they hurried on.
“Rey,” he said, quietly but intensely. “You had no choice. You were fighting for your life.”
“It doesn’t matter! I l-l-left him!” To her horror and complete humiliation, she burst into noisy sobs.
He gathered her to him, stroked her hair and rocked her. “Shhh. We’ll go to Kes. We’ll try to find him.”
She clung to him. It was stupid. She knew it was, bawling in the middle of a hallway where everyone could see, especially after…after everything. It didn’t make sense, when there was so much to be happy about. She struggled for calm, groping for the ruthless steel that had kept her going all her life.
The tears just wouldn’t stop.
* * *
Ben was not looking forward to Kes. He’d promised himself if he ever set foot on that planet again, he’d raze it flat, then break it into its constituent molecules with the Force. He was ready to break that promise now, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t still going to be painful. And Rey—
Kreet would be gone by now, a meal for some scavenger. If she felt guilty about being forced to leave the hassash behind, he didn’t want to think about how she’d feel when they returned to find…nothing. To her, leaving someone behind was the worst crime she could possibly commit.
He’d left her in the shuttle’s cabin, gone forward and made a quiet communication. She’d need all the support she could get.
The shuttle still flew through the Coruscant system at sublight. She didn’t seem to notice, a lapse that spoke volumes. He reached over, tucked her against his side and kissed the crown of her head. She heaved a sigh and sagged against him, but sadness and guilt and distress still churned through the bond.
The intercom pinged. “Sir, we’ve made contact with the ship. Engaging airlock now.”
Rey raised her head. “Airlock?”
Ben stood, drawing her up with him. “We’re transferring to another ship.”
“But why?”
He didn’t answer, just took her aft. The shuttle’s auxiliary hatch slid open onto the connecting tube. He urged her inside. The hatch behind them closed and the one at the other end opened on a minilift.
“Ben, what—”
At that moment, the lift dropped under their feet. It regurgitated them into a very familiar curved corridor, dingy and battered.
Her eyes went wide. Sucking in a startled breath, she looked up at him. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
“Rey, dearest child!” a voice rang out.
Maz came along the corridor from the cockpit, her arms open in welcome. Rey bent and hugged her tight, lifting Maz to tiptoes.
Chewie loomed behind them. “I knew Luke was poisoned,” he said. “If I’d known what poisoned him, I wouldn’t have spent another minute on that rock.” He studied Rey out of keen blue eyes. “We saw what happened. Are you all right?”
She gave a shrug that was all tough scavenger. “I survived.”
“I’m sorry about your little animal.”
Rey’s lips pressed tight, but her chin trembled. Ben could feel the effort she put into holding back tears.
“I left him.” Her voice broke on the last word and the tears escaped again.
Ben reached for her, but Chewie stepped forward, scooped her up and held her to his shoulder like a child.
“Wookies can hunt better than anyone in the galaxy,” he rumbled, patting her back with a huge hand. “We’ll look for him. Don’t worry.”
She threw her arms around his neck, buried her face in his mane and cried. Words mixed in with her sobs. Hovering uneasily, it took a while for Ben to make them out:
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ben, thank you.”
Maz looked shrewdly at him through her lenses. After a moment, her lips curved in a smile and she gave a satisfied nod. When Chewie put Rey down, Maz fussed over her, wiping her face before leading her to the common area.
Rey looked back to make sure Ben followed.
* * *
Kes didn’t need to be leveled flat. Rey had already done it.
At the bottom of the Falcon’s ramp, Ben stared around with a mixture of awe and admiration. Chewie growled an oath in Shyriiwook. Maz took it all in with an appalled expression on her face.
Blast crater. Trees stripped bare if not uprooted. Drifts of torn vegetation everywhere. If he didn’t know where he was, he’d never recognize the place.
Even Rey looked a little daunted. Then that familiar look of grim determination settled on her face and she started off in the direction of the temple.
It was almost impossible to move through the shattered woods. Rey used the Force to send downed trees flying out of the way. They landed with intimidating crashes, sending birds screeching into the air. Ben didn’t like how dark her Force energy had become.
She paused to obliterate another tree. He caught her wrist and did it for her.
She whirled. “Ben—!”
“I have reasons to hate this place, too. Let me have some satisfaction.”
She blinked, startled, then nodded. Chewie came behind, unfazed—he’d seen enough Force tantrums. Maz looked warier.
A burned section of forest stretched away on their right, blackened ground and leaning matchsticks of trees. The acrid stink of smoke still hung in the air. Ben ground his teeth. Sidious had been trying hard to kill her. If she wasn’t so powerful—
Sunlight burned suddenly in his eyes, and the old temple’s clearing opened ahead.
Tension locked his muscles. His heart sped and breathing picked up. The few huts left standing were painfully, hatefully familiar, stamped on his mind again and again each time the nightmare of that night invaded his sleep. The temple itself was nothing but a vine- and weed-grown ruin. That was his only saving grace, the only thing that kept the past from completely overwhelming him and sucking him under.
Rey was suddenly in front of him, gripping his hands tightly. “It’s okay, Ben,” she said quietly.
All her darkness was gone. There was only light lapping gently, soothingly through the bond.
Taking a shuddering breath, he gave a jerky nod.
Still holding his hands, she looked up at him. “Can you help me find Kreet?”
That pulled him out of the past completely. He swallowed once. “Rey—”
“Please. I know—” She lowered her head and resumed in a voice so low it was almost inaudible, “I know he might be gone.” Letting one hand go, she tugged him over the soaked, trampled ground. “It was here, I think. Where Luke—Sidious first attacked me.”
She kept hold of his hand as she scanned the ground, searching. Ben reached out his mind, searching too.
There was a sudden thrashing in the undergrowth. He spun, hand outstretched, ready for whatever might appear.
He caught a glimpse of a small, lithe streak of golden fur trailed by a striped tail. A familiar dark energy met his questing mind as strong limbs launched the creature at him. He had just enough presence of mind not to blast it out of the air before it landed on his shoulder, chittering with excited joy as it circled around and around his neck.
Rey stared open-mouthed. “Kreet?”
It stopped and leapt to her shoulder, circling her neck the way it had his.
Rey looked at him through the blurred brush of its coiling tail. “Is it—?”
The creature stopped, took her face in its little, long-fingered hands and studied her closely. It chirped a question.
“It’s a murlem. Be careful. They’re poisonous.” Ben touched the creature’s mind again. “Yes, it’s Kreet. I guess it isn’t only powerful darkside adepts that can transfer essence.”
“Of course they’re poisonous!” She scooped the murlem off her shoulder and gathered it into her arms. Heedless of the twisting tail with its stinger, she buried her face in its fur. “Kreet. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You tried to save me. I never should’ve left you. I’m so sorry…” She was crying again.
The murlem gave little whines and licked her tear-streaked cheeks with a leaf-shaped tongue. Rey squeaked and pulled back. The creature took the chance to wiggle free and settle on her shoulder, one arm around her neck. It chittered again at Ben.
He eyed the murlem. “He’s cute.”
Rey tilted her head to one side to study the round little face with its tufted ears, the big, purple eyes. “He really is.”
“I can’t carry him now,” Ben said.
Chewie barked a laugh.
“Won’t fit your image as in evil darksider?” Maz said archly.
He gave her a sullen glare.
Rey slid over, slipped an arm around his waist. “Ben’s not an evil darksider, Maz.”
Maz made a thoughtful noise. “Not anymore, no.”
No, he thought. Not anymore
* * *
Kreet disappeared for a while after Rey and Ben returned to the Relentless. When he reappeared, it was to present Rey a gift.
She hissed a breath through her teeth when she saw it lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. Kreet stood over it, his little hands clasped and cheeping anxiously.
It took a long time to work up the nerve to approach Kreet’s offering. Rey was not going to touch it. Grabbing her lightsaber, she ducked into the ‘fresher, grabbed a towel and wrapped the thing up in it.
She headed straight to the cadet deck, holding the thing away from her like the putrefied remains of something long dead. In a way, she guessed it was. Halfway there, she remembered to shut herself off from the bond. If Ben felt the emotions going through her right now, he’d be after her like a guided missile.
The lieutenant in charge of the cadet deck recognized her this time.
“Lady Rey!” the woman said. “What can I do for you?”
Rey tried not to be too obvious about holding her bundle away from her. “I need to talk to Temiri.”
“He’s in class,” the woman said. “Just a moment. I’ll retrieve him.”
“No, that’s okay. I can wait.” Rey found a seat on a curved bench a little distance from the lieutenant’s desk. She dropped her bundle on the floor and sat jittering, her knee bouncing impatiently.
The lieutenant resumed her seat at her desk. Rey was aware of her gaze shifting to her from time to time.
Finally, she said, “Lady Rey, if you’re pressed for time, I can certainly take Temiri from class.”
“No— Yes, okay,” Rey said. “I promise I won’t keep him long.”
“Of course.”
The woman rose and disappeared through a door. She returned a moment later with Temiri in tow. He stopped in front of her, radiating worry.
Rey smiled. “How are you?” she said. She didn’t want him to worry. “Have you been learning a lot?”
“Yes,” the boy said uncertainly. Because why would she get him out of class to ask him something like that? His worry spiked. “But I haven’t been able to open the holocron. I tried—”
“That’s okay,” Rey said quickly. “It’s not your fault. We promised to help you, but we’ve been gone. I’m sorry. But I need to take the holocron for a while. Can we get it?”
Temiri nodded, his worry shifting to curiosity. “Come on.”
She picked up her bundle and followed him to one of the cadets’ quarters, a big room with six small beds and six small desks with chairs. There were lockers at the foot of each bed, and various small treasures or holos on the desks. Temiri pressed his palm to his locker. The lid popped open. He took out the holocron and handed it to her.
Eyeing the towel she held so gingerly, he made a face. “What’s that? It feels…wrong.”
“It is,” she agreed fervently. “I hope it won’t be much longer.” She tucked the holocron under one arm. “Thanks. I’ll bring it back when I’m finished.”
She made sure Temiri got back to class before returning to the officers’ deck, to one of the training rooms. She’d already decided that would be best for her purpose—quiet, private and built to contain violence.
She marked the room as “occupied” and sank cross-legged to the floor. Placing her vile parcel a little distance away, she set the Je’daii holocron in front of her, closed her eyes and concentrated on opening it. She had to work on calming herself before she could manage it.
At last, the holo of Kahil shimmered to life in front of her. The Cathar wrinkled her nose, showing the tips of her canines. “The taint in the Force is very strong. What has happened?”
Rey looked up at her. “I need to know how to destroy a Sith holocron. Can you help me?”
Kahil cocked her head. “Sith?”
“Dark side users,” Rey explained. “They’re the source of the taint. We destroyed one, but…” She reached for the towel, reluctantly pulled it close and folded it open. “There’s still this.”
The obsidian pyramid of the Sith holocron from the hidden base on Jakku gleamed malevolently on the innocuous grey towel.
Kahil lifted her lips in a full snarl. “That is an object of deep darkness, great evil.”
“Yes. Ben opened it. It did something to us. We almost killed each other.”
Kahil hissed. “Trying to destroy your balance, so it might warp the Force to its will.”
Rey nodded once. “That’s why I need to destroy it. Without letting the thing inside out.”
A wave of darkness surged toward her through the Force. She snapped her head around as she realized she’d stopped blocking her end of the bond when she was trying to open the holocron. She cursed.
“Your balance has come,” Kahil said mildly.
The door slid open to reveal Ben. Rey flashed back to that first day on the Finalizer’s flight control deck, after she’d helped the Resistance escape. She saw his eyes take in the room: her on the floor, the Sith holocron by her knee, the image of Kahil shimmering over the floating Je’daii holocron.
His eyes finally locked on hers. “Rey?”
She tipped up her chin. “Kreet brought it to me. I’m going to destroy it.”
She suddenly wished she’d just ejected it out the nearest airlock. But then it would still be floating around, waiting for some unwitting Force-user to stumble across it. She had no doubt one would, eventually.
He stepped into the room. The door whisked shut behind him. “You can’t destroy it. It holds unlimited knowledge of the dark side. We’re going to need teachers—”
“No. No. You said your teachers were all wrong. What’ll you learn from this that isn’t more of the same?”
His eyes narrowed. “You’ll destroy mine, but not yours?”
Rey opened her mouth to agree.
“There is a way,” Kahil put in, “to destroy both.”
Rey looked up at her, shocked. “But—”
“If you open both holocrons together, both will be destroyed.” She must’ve seen or felt Rey’s horror, because she said gently, “Balance.”
“No,” Ben growled.
“’Let the past die,’” Rey threw at him. “’Kill it, if you have to.’”
“Don’t.”
She met his furious stare with one of her own, challenging. She wanted to learn. Desperately. But not if it meant keeping that evil thing around where it could wreck everything.
“Ben, it’s part of the taint in the Force. You know it is. We both felt it, on Jakku. It’s wrong.”
She felt the moment he realized she was right.
“I want you to leave,” he said.
“No.”
“Rey—”
“No. I’m not leaving you alone with your grandfather.”
“She must be present as well,” Kahil said when Ben started to argue. “You’re much too dark to maintain this holocron in her absence.”
“And if its dark essence overcomes us again?” Ben said.
Kahil cocked her head. “Will you allow it?”
Rey looked up and met Ben’s eyes unflinchingly. “No.”
His resolve surged through the bond. “No.”
“Then proceed,” Kahil said.
Ben hesitated a moment, then with an unhappy huff, sank to the floor. He gave Rey one of his speaking looks, then picked up the Sith holocron and spoke the words that opened it.
“Vexok, taral. Ja’ak.”
As before, the holocron began to glow, bright red-orange lines illuminating the glyphs etched on its surface before spreading over the whole device. The holocron rose from his palm. A fan of blue light unfurled from its peak.
Rey bit her lip and held her breath, watching Ben closely for the slightest hint of trouble.
“Yes,” Kahil said “Each must look into the eyes of the other. Do not turn away. It is a measure of your determination.”
Rey couldn’t look away if she tried, pulled into the dark deeps of Ben’s eyes. In the periphery of her vision, Kahil blurred into a beam of brilliant white light that melded with the blue of the Sith holocron. A little pang went through her as the Je’daii disappeared. The Force thrummed with energy Rey felt to her bones until it seemed every cell of her body vibrated in tune with it.
The two holocrons began to rotate, rising and drifting closer to one another. Rey kept her eyes on Ben’s. The bond felt like a live thing between them, a rippling, glowing warmth anchored in the deepest parts of her, dark and light, both and neither, as if she and Ben were two halves of a greater whole. A rising flood belonging, relief, love, completeness swelled over her.
It was frightening; it was deeply fulfilling. Tears suddenly spilled down her cheeks. Ben’s eyes widened as if pouring his whole heart into her.
Blinding, blue-white light swallowed the two holocrons. The thrumming rose to a chime like music stars might make. Through the Force, she felt the holocrons dissolving into light and sound and the Force itself. The light coalesced into a sphere, as if a tiny sun shone between her and Ben. It struck red and blue sparks from his black hair, turned his eyes to molten amber, faded his scar in the intensity of its blaze. Rey caught a glimpse of herself through his eyes—her skin the color of desert sands, her eyes the green of the lushest forest, her hair a dusky river over her shoulders.
The sphere contracted, cooling from the color of newborn stars to gleaming silver, to shimmering pearl. At last, it was no longer light at all, but a solid object. It descended until it hovered exactly between them, a smooth, featureless sphere of no color. Gleams of every color radiated from it.
Rey gasped as if she’d hadn’t been breathing the same moment Ben did. They both broke eye contact at the same instant, fixing on the sphere.
“What is it?” Rey said.
A line appeared between Ben’s brows, then relaxed. Amazement came over the bond. “A holocron.”
“But…what happened to the other ones?”
“They fused to create this one when we opened them together.” His mouth tightened. “How do I know that?”
“You asked a question,” Rey said. “The holocron answered.”
She clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide. Where had that come from? Like the answer just popped into her mind…
His eyes narrowed. “How did this happen?”
“One of the dark and one of the light must work together,” Rey answered. The knowledge simply bubbled up into her mind again. She leaned closer to Ben. “Is it the Force?”
“The completeness of the Force is contained in the holocron,” he answered. He shook his head a little. “Rey, the holocron is answering through us.”
“How?”
by little_miss-phantom
“You and I are complete in the Force,” he answered. He met her eyes a long moment then straightened, put his hands on his knees and gazed at the holocron hovering between them. “How do we balance the Force?”
“You already have,” Rey answered. “Dark and light are in harmony. Neither attempts to overcome the other. Each complements the other. Where one is weak, the other is strong.”
Ben huffed out a breath. His eyes fell to Rey’s again, shining with triumph. Dizzy amazement poured through the bond.
“We did it, Rey,” he breathed.
He surged to his feet, swept her up and spun her around.
“Ben!” Rey squealed in surprise and hung onto his neck. The smile on his face was like nothing she’d ever seen before, pure, shining joy. He threw back his head and laughed.
“It isn’t just words and hope,” he said. “It’s real. Everything was for a reason—there can be peace in the galaxy now. Because of you, Rey. If I hadn’t found you, it never would’ve happened.”
With Rey’s feet still dangling above the floor, Ben folded her against his big, solid body, cupped her head and pulled her in for a kiss.
She threaded her fingers into the black silk of his hair, the new holocron showering sparks of light of every color over them.
Image credit – sunset picture by little_miss_phantom
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