Ben Skywalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
momslilassassin) wrote2009-03-20 11:51 pm
momslilassassin) wrote2009-03-20 11:51 pm
Entry tags:
Kavan, Hapes Cluster, GFFA [eeeeearly Saturday morning, Fandom time]
I can do this, Ben chanted to himself as the windswept surface of Kavan expanded quickly under the vessel. I can face this.
“You okay, Ben?” Lon Shevu, Captain in the Galactic Alliance Guard and long-time friend asked, glanced over worriedly.
“Fine,” Ben assured him. He hadn’t called in the galaxy’s biggest favor to get Shevu to come with him out to Hapan space without authorization under the noses of both Tenel Ka (who was in a Mood. Kidnapping her daughter would do that.) and Jacen—only to get cold feet now.
“Think cop,” Shevu said. “Just keep thinking cop.”
Kavan was a lot less desolate than Ben remembered. The seasons had moved on and the ground was now covered with different plant life. Shevu set the geo-survey droid to drill some core samples (to prove what planet they were on), then they stood around and took their bearings.
“Jacen must have landed here with his StealthX,” Shevu said. “It was signed out from the GAG hanger in the relevant timeframe, and we know your mother called the Hapans to say she was in the area. So unless he switched vessels, we’re looking for that isotope that only StealthXs emit.”
“Master Cilghal’s team did the sweep,” Ben replied, beginning to walk the scene. “StealthXs kick up so much of it on takeoff that traces were found spread over 500 meters. If Mom landed her ship anywhere near his—which seems likely—then she wiped out his isotope footprint.”
Shevu nodded. “Let’s do the tunnels.”
It was excruciating to walk through them, but Ben “thought cop” as Shevu told him and saw only what was in front of him, rather than the scenarios his brain was trying to offer up as to how things had gotten this way. The sequence of events was clear, though. At least two people had fought their way through the tunnels, causing huge damage. Some of it was blasterfire, and some showed no sign of cause, which Ben guessed was massive Force pushes. It’s you, Jacen, I know it. Give me the hard evidence to prove it.
Shevu was looking more and more frustrated as he rescanned floors and walls. The crime scene was months old, and so far they weren’t getting anything that Ben didn’t already have in his datapad of crime scene holos. Ben shook his head. “That’s all we’re going to get,” he admitted. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not done yet,” Shevu replied.
“You don’t have to—“
“If I just wanted to get Jacen for murder, I’d go another route,” Shevu said. “He got his Vader on and killed Lieutenant Tebut in front of the entire bridge crew. I’m doing this investigation for you. You need to be sure.”
Ben finally nodded. “We keep going.”
They moved back outside. Shevu went off to where he’d decided Jacen must have landed, and Ben concentrated on his datapad again, reviewing the crime scene shots he’d practically memorized. It was hard for him to ignore the image of his mother, especially here, and he finally stopped trying to and zoomed in on her face.
As Ben gazed at the screen, he could’ve sworn it shifted slightly, as if something was wrong with the datapad display. He angled it to see better. And then his mother’s face on the screen really did move, reflecting something behind him.
He spun around, gasping, and Mara was right there, looking at him, only a touch away. She looked just like she had when she’d been alive, only bathed in a blue-white light, like a faulty hologram. She gave him a sad little smile, then wrapped her fingers in her hair and yanked at it. Still smiling, she held out the torn strands as if to drop them into his hands.
Ben couldn’t breathe. He cupped his hands, but nothing was really falling, and suddenly she was walking away from him again. He to yell at her to stop, to wait, to come back, that he loved her so much, but she kept walking and all he could choke out was a broken little, “…love you.”
Then she turned, tugged at a lock of her hair again, and he read her lips. Love you too, Ben.
And she was gone.
“Ben?” Shevu called. “Ben, you okay?”
Not even close. “Did you see anything?” he asked.
“You don’t look so good.”
“Did you see anything?” Ben repeated.
“No, there’s nothing here that I can see that was missed the first time. You look terrible.” He grabbed Ben’s shoulders and steered him towards the shuttle. “Let’s sit down.”
So Shevu hadn’t seen Mom, and Ben wasn’t sure how to find the words to say that he had. Bereaved people saw their loved ones all the time, but for Jedi it could be a little more literal. Mom’d looked at him, she’d spoken to him, she’d made gestures he didn’t understand yet, she’d been there in the way Dad used to describe conversations with Obi-Wan. “I’m fine,” he insisted, sitting down.
The hair. Why had she torn out her hair? “When people fight, they leave all kinds of traces on each other,” he thought aloud, staring off into the distance.
Where Jacen’s ship had landed.
“The StealthX!”
“Stang!” Shevu cried, looking absolutely furious with himself. “In the security forces, we would’ve gone over that with a fine tooth comb as a matter of course—“
Ben held up his hand. “Nobody thought it was Jacen at the time,” he soothed. “Nobody thought there might be anything to look for because we don’t fight like non-Force-users.” Well, he did, but that’s because he sparred in Fandom.
“What would we be looking for?” Shevu asked.
“Hair,” Ben said, putting the pieces together. “Mom’s hair. But he’s had weeks to clean the cockpit.”
“We’ll think of something,” Shevu assured him, leading him into the transport.
A hundred times on the way back to Coruscant, Ben closed his eyes and replayed his mother’s lips moving.
Love you too, Ben.
Too. She’d heard him, sensed him, felt him, whatever—she knew he’d said it. He burst into tears and sobbed until his stomach ached.
“Sorry,” he apologized, wiping his hands across his eyes. “I’m a bit crazy.”
“Your mother was murdered,” Shevu replied. “You’re entitled to be as crazy as you like.”
[OOC: Dialogue taken and tweaked from Karen Traviss' Relevation. NFI, NFB, OOC is loved and fed cookies.]
“You okay, Ben?” Lon Shevu, Captain in the Galactic Alliance Guard and long-time friend asked, glanced over worriedly.
“Fine,” Ben assured him. He hadn’t called in the galaxy’s biggest favor to get Shevu to come with him out to Hapan space without authorization under the noses of both Tenel Ka (who was in a Mood. Kidnapping her daughter would do that.) and Jacen—only to get cold feet now.
“Think cop,” Shevu said. “Just keep thinking cop.”
Kavan was a lot less desolate than Ben remembered. The seasons had moved on and the ground was now covered with different plant life. Shevu set the geo-survey droid to drill some core samples (to prove what planet they were on), then they stood around and took their bearings.
“Jacen must have landed here with his StealthX,” Shevu said. “It was signed out from the GAG hanger in the relevant timeframe, and we know your mother called the Hapans to say she was in the area. So unless he switched vessels, we’re looking for that isotope that only StealthXs emit.”
“Master Cilghal’s team did the sweep,” Ben replied, beginning to walk the scene. “StealthXs kick up so much of it on takeoff that traces were found spread over 500 meters. If Mom landed her ship anywhere near his—which seems likely—then she wiped out his isotope footprint.”
Shevu nodded. “Let’s do the tunnels.”
It was excruciating to walk through them, but Ben “thought cop” as Shevu told him and saw only what was in front of him, rather than the scenarios his brain was trying to offer up as to how things had gotten this way. The sequence of events was clear, though. At least two people had fought their way through the tunnels, causing huge damage. Some of it was blasterfire, and some showed no sign of cause, which Ben guessed was massive Force pushes. It’s you, Jacen, I know it. Give me the hard evidence to prove it.
Shevu was looking more and more frustrated as he rescanned floors and walls. The crime scene was months old, and so far they weren’t getting anything that Ben didn’t already have in his datapad of crime scene holos. Ben shook his head. “That’s all we’re going to get,” he admitted. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not done yet,” Shevu replied.
“You don’t have to—“
“If I just wanted to get Jacen for murder, I’d go another route,” Shevu said. “He got his Vader on and killed Lieutenant Tebut in front of the entire bridge crew. I’m doing this investigation for you. You need to be sure.”
Ben finally nodded. “We keep going.”
They moved back outside. Shevu went off to where he’d decided Jacen must have landed, and Ben concentrated on his datapad again, reviewing the crime scene shots he’d practically memorized. It was hard for him to ignore the image of his mother, especially here, and he finally stopped trying to and zoomed in on her face.
As Ben gazed at the screen, he could’ve sworn it shifted slightly, as if something was wrong with the datapad display. He angled it to see better. And then his mother’s face on the screen really did move, reflecting something behind him.
He spun around, gasping, and Mara was right there, looking at him, only a touch away. She looked just like she had when she’d been alive, only bathed in a blue-white light, like a faulty hologram. She gave him a sad little smile, then wrapped her fingers in her hair and yanked at it. Still smiling, she held out the torn strands as if to drop them into his hands.
Ben couldn’t breathe. He cupped his hands, but nothing was really falling, and suddenly she was walking away from him again. He to yell at her to stop, to wait, to come back, that he loved her so much, but she kept walking and all he could choke out was a broken little, “…love you.”
Then she turned, tugged at a lock of her hair again, and he read her lips. Love you too, Ben.
And she was gone.
“Ben?” Shevu called. “Ben, you okay?”
Not even close. “Did you see anything?” he asked.
“You don’t look so good.”
“Did you see anything?” Ben repeated.
“No, there’s nothing here that I can see that was missed the first time. You look terrible.” He grabbed Ben’s shoulders and steered him towards the shuttle. “Let’s sit down.”
So Shevu hadn’t seen Mom, and Ben wasn’t sure how to find the words to say that he had. Bereaved people saw their loved ones all the time, but for Jedi it could be a little more literal. Mom’d looked at him, she’d spoken to him, she’d made gestures he didn’t understand yet, she’d been there in the way Dad used to describe conversations with Obi-Wan. “I’m fine,” he insisted, sitting down.
The hair. Why had she torn out her hair? “When people fight, they leave all kinds of traces on each other,” he thought aloud, staring off into the distance.
Where Jacen’s ship had landed.
“The StealthX!”
“Stang!” Shevu cried, looking absolutely furious with himself. “In the security forces, we would’ve gone over that with a fine tooth comb as a matter of course—“
Ben held up his hand. “Nobody thought it was Jacen at the time,” he soothed. “Nobody thought there might be anything to look for because we don’t fight like non-Force-users.” Well, he did, but that’s because he sparred in Fandom.
“What would we be looking for?” Shevu asked.
“Hair,” Ben said, putting the pieces together. “Mom’s hair. But he’s had weeks to clean the cockpit.”
“We’ll think of something,” Shevu assured him, leading him into the transport.
A hundred times on the way back to Coruscant, Ben closed his eyes and replayed his mother’s lips moving.
Love you too, Ben.
Too. She’d heard him, sensed him, felt him, whatever—she knew he’d said it. He burst into tears and sobbed until his stomach ached.
“Sorry,” he apologized, wiping his hands across his eyes. “I’m a bit crazy.”
“Your mother was murdered,” Shevu replied. “You’re entitled to be as crazy as you like.”
[OOC: Dialogue taken and tweaked from Karen Traviss' Relevation. NFI, NFB, OOC is loved and fed cookies.]
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