momslilassassin | Caverns of the Hidden One, Dorin [Galaxy Far, Far Away, Friday Fandom Time] (Reply)

They gathered in the Hidden One's throne chamber, four dozen Kel Dors and three humans. As the last of the Kel Dors, servants who operated the foundries, arrived, conversation dropped off and all the Kel Dors turned toward the Hidden One on his throne.

He gestured to the Skywalkers and Ender, motioning them to approach with a benevolent smile. "It's with a whole heart that I greet you. I understand that you have determined to choose new names, the better to make your way among us."

Ben barely restrained a snort. Despite his astral suggestions of names (his father was definitely a Grand Master Whango Mittphool in his heart), that was not really why the three humans were here.

"I'm sorry, great one," Luke replied, looking surprised. "There has been some misunderstanding. I did ask for a naming ceremony, but I didn't mean it would we will be renaming ourselves. It's my hope that we will be renaming some--or all--of you."

Exclamations of surprise and disapproval filled the room. Ben kept his face impassive but he was grinning on the inside. Much as he liked causing trouble, it was just as much fun watching his father do it. And the Hidden One had been asking for this.

"You have wasted my time," the Hidden One said darkly.

Luke shrugged. "What do the dead have except time? And admit it, as annoying as you find my words, this is going to be the most interesting event you're going to experience all day."

"Why are you doing this?" the Hidden One asked.

Luke turned serious. "Because you're wrong. And if you were only wronging yourself, that would not be so bad. But you are wronging every one of them as well." He gestured at the assembled Kel Dors. "You are a group who study and utilize the Force, yes?"

The Kel Dors looked between Luke and the Hidden One. "Yes," one replied.

"And the Force is the energy of life."

Another Kel Dor said, "Yes."

Luke gave the Hidden One an admonishing look. "Life is risk. Life is energy, vitality. But you've rejected those things, and in rejecting them, reject the Force. In rejecting the Force, you deprive yourself of the right to teach its ways to the living. You have brought nothing to these caverns but your own bodies, and even then you don't have the decency to start moldering like ordinary corpses."

Ben hoped that his father knew what he was doing as the Kel Dors began muttering angrily to themselves.

Ender	Survival first, and then happiness as we can manage it-- that had been Mazer's words. Life is just a biological oddity, the stubborn cooperation of organs that keeps us up and ambulatory, Ender thought. What you're talking about is passion. Unlike what he'd heard and seen about Jedi politics on Coruscant, this was not an issue of priests trying to make decisions for an atheist mob; it was a schism of teachings, mandated by culture and one man's arguably warranted paranoia. For Luke's sake, Ender hoped it wouldn't go the way of the Catholics and the Protestants in their early days. Islam and Christianity. What would happen if one day, Luke pushed like this, and the other side just pushed back? And elaborating on that point, what was the history between Sith and Jedi besides wrought with strife? Ender said nothing, but he listened, and shot Ben an inscrutable look.
Ben	Ben gave him a barely perceptible shrug as Luke addressed Chamrae Saal and the female Kel Dor standing next to him. "Here is a female who used to beat you consistently in combat, Chamrae Saal. Now she is no longer your match. Has she grown feeble with age?" "Of course not," Chamrae Saal replied. "There is less need to train down here." "Thinking you're dead, knowing you have no future, leaches all of your energy and hope from you, and diminishes you in the Force." Ben frowned. He could see where his father was trying to go in this argument, but they were kind of living in a hole. There wasn't a lot of need for combat down here. There was no one to fight. There needed to be a different example. He spoke up. "There's no chance for anyone to learn something new," he offered. "Is it because growth is only for living things?"
Ender	Sometimes, Ender wondered if Ben realised how much cleverer he was than his father in some areas. He didn't get sucked into that brief, mild feeling of approval, though. Did he care about this argument in and of itself? Not very. He didn't think this was necessarily the best choice for Luke to make, and the attitude behind it worried him, but he also wasn't interested in arguing for the Kel Dor's right to lock themselves up wherever they damn well pleased. If they wanted to change, they would. If they didn't, they would eventually, though probably not in the way Luke would have liked. What he cared about was the Jedi currently in his care, and Luke by proxy-- and making sure this didn't turn into a bloodbath. He slipped back a little, drawing away from the spotlight so he could keep better tabs on the hostility of the crowd.
Luke	"We have debated that," one of the Kel Dors told Ben. "Good for you!" Luke said. "How did the vote turn out?" "We did not vote," the Kel Dor mumbled in reply. "Because your lord of the dead decides everything," Luke concluded, turning to the Hidden One. "You want to save the Baran Do teachings, which is a noble goal. You want to be prepared in case another purge comes. A good thing to do as well. Do you know how the Jedi survived the last purge?" The Hidden One scowled. "By luck, two Jedi survived. Your Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda." "No," Luke said, shaking his head. "Of course, they did survive those event. But there were other Jedi and former Jedi out in the galaxy as well resources like the Jedi Holocron. The Jedi survived because they were scattered, their knowledge disseminated across the galaxy. You Baran Do plan to survive by concentrating: few of you leave Dorin to begin with and one good earthquake would take out your backup plan." He shrugged. "And that's still a faster, cleaner way to go than withering away like you are now. Who's your best fighter?" They muttered among themselves, some putting forth the name of an older Baran Do sage who had chosen death many years ago before agreeing on Charsae Saal. Luke nodded. "Even so, he's been fading for years even before coming here. My bet is that my son, his junior in experience by many, many years, can take him."
Ben	Ben froze, wondering if his father was trying to get him killed.
Ender	Pulling this gambit again, Luke? Ender's sarcastic side might have wondered if there was some kind of preachy Jedi rant about not cheating in battle, too. Ender didn't visibly react - a break with his normal-teenage persona, but not a problem considering the attention wasn't on him. But he did yank up all his calm and focused on Ben, hoping that would have some impact despite his obvious lack of Force sensitivity. Just be quick, if it comes to that. Use your sharper reflexes. Hit him hard somewhere sensitive and don't wait him out unless you're forced to. We know how this guy fights. Really, telepathy would've been handy at this point.
Ben	If only the Baran Do Sages hadn't been totally making up the telepathy thing. Alas. Ben gave Ender a tight smile in return, then turned to his father. "You're doing it to me again," he said. "What if I lose?"
Luke	"You'll still demonstrate to all of these people what it's like to be alive." Luke smiled. "Besides, you won't lose. Unlike them, you have something to fight for."
Ben	Ben didn't look that convinced, but he handed his father his lightsaber. "I'm not going to convince anybody of the value of life if I slice him in half," he said. "Win or lose, I'm doing it without my lightsaber."
Ender	'What it's like to be alive'. Ender schooled his face to stay perfectly blank. That was the stupidest rationale for violence that he'd ever heard, but he didn't want to judge too obviously in case Luke turned out to have another ace up his sleeve. Either way, he wasn't ready to pin all of his hopes for escape and survival on the Skywalkers. He ran through a few more potential plans in his head, and glanced at the face of the nearest Kel Dor. He was starting to consider intervening, but only if the time was right, and it was needed.
Ben	Ben had been training with Charsae Saal with staffs for more than a month now and had learned to compensate for fighting with the breath mask. His attack was quick and to the point, but Charsae's reaction was even faster than he'd learned to anticipate. He barely dodged out of the way of the shot aimed at his groin, catching the blow against his staff and not moving fast enough to avoid the butt of the staff clipping his ankle. He somersaulted backward and bounced to his feet, testing his weight on his bruised ankle and getting frustrated. He took a deep breath from his oxygen tank, focused himself, then attacked again. He managed to clip Charsae Saal across the bicep before the more experienced fighter used the Force to toss Ben into a pillar. "Chara!" one of the Baran Do cried, raising her fist. If they weren't cheering for him to get concussed, Ben would have been more excited to see the enthusiasm.
Ender	Enthusiasm. Passion. What Luke wanted, he'd probably get out of this, but temporarily. It still wasn't the same thing Luke claimed it was. Ender took a few steps along the room, figuring he couldn't do anything physically to help Ben unless he wanted to make a point independent of Luke's. He kept moving instead, being just a minor irritant of movement while he sorted it all out.
Ben	Ben tucked up over Charsae Saal's head and smacked him hard in the crown of the head as he dropped back down to the ground. Charsae Saal toppled over but stood back up quickly, even if he was obviously woozy. The fight continued at lightning speed now: blocks and blows, feints and ploys. Ben's focus was entirely on his opponent and it only passed through his mind as the slightest of distractions when a female Kel Dor, obeying some murmured order of the Hidden One, left through the blast doors. The crowd was roaring now: Ben took a blow to the left knee and countered with a smack to Charsae Saal's ribs. The Kel Dor's counterattack pinned him against a pillar and he got himself clear with a kick to the male's chest that made an audible crack.
Ender	Ender glanced at Ben one more time, then slipped out of the crowd. And after the female, just in case he could keep on her trail.
Ben	Ben noticed when Ender was no longer in the room, but only vaguely. He let Chamrae Saal get inside his guard and lock up his staff. It was not, as it looked, a mistake of inexperience. Chamrae Saal yanked hard and Ben offered no resistance, sending the Baran Do sage stumbling backward. Ben followed, hammering him in the stomach and chest with a barrage of blows, then struck Chamrae Saal's staff and snapped it in two before his hand continued to crack into Chamrae Saal's chest. The Kel Dor tumbled over and didn't get up. "You win," the Hidden One declared flatly. "Your father may continue his tedious complaints so long as he has breath in his body. But he's still wrong about what we're doing." Ben was kind of sorry Ender had missed hearing that.
Ender	Ender wasn't. His little trip upstairs had told him enough that he would have been uncomfortably aware of the Hidden One's real meaning. Instead, he came back down shortly afterwards, a detached part of his mind wondering how he should play this one. The rest of him was a little paler, and dedicated to racing through a whole different set of possible tactical choices. "So I have two questions," he said, stepping back into the room. His presence had gone distinctively off both 'don't notice me' and 'I'm just an annoying teenager', and he spoke with authority. "One, if you wish to preserve knowledge so badly, why are you trying to asphyxiate us? And two, pray tell, could you show us the way to the shaft that supplied us with oxygen tanks to begin with, because we've had a devil of a time finding it." He was taking a risk saying this out loud. But then again, Luke's actions had already driven this situation to a critical point.
Ben	Ben gaped at him, then at the Hidden One. "He's what?" The Hidden One gazed back. "I've told those on the surface that the three of you were killed in a tragic cave collapse. They will not be sending any more oxygen tanks." His eyes narrowed as he looked at Luke. "This is no experiment. It is our way, and will continue to be our way, and it is time for you to be silent and obey." "Like the dead," Chamrae Saal said, for once not in the blithely accepting tone used by the Kel Dors down in the caverns, and that seemed to snap something inside the Hidden One. "I cannot let these humans remain among us even for the time it will take for them to suffocate," he declared, raising his hands. White crackles of electricity flickered between them. "I will show you life," he said. "I will show you the Force." "Ben--" Luke began but Ben was already moving. He leaped onto Ender to protect him from the lightning, just in case Luke's lightsaber couldn't intercept it in time.
Ender	No clever observations for Ender this time, as his body hit the floor with a thud. A minor flash of pain shot up through his shoulder, and seconds later reflexes screamed at him loudly to throw off the weight on his back. He grabbed his control with both hands and yanked on it just to keep himself from blacking Ben's eye with his elbow for that maneuver, and kept still.
Ben	"It's okay," Ben murmured near his ear, though the scene before them rather spoke otherwise: Luke had slammed hard into a pillar from the strength of the Hidden One's attack, but he had managed to keep the lightning at bay with the blade. The Hidden One tossed his head and Ben felt the motion as a ripple in the Force just before all the air in the room turned into a whirling tornado, whipping at the robes of the Kel Dors before hurtling itself at Luke.
Ender	Right. Options. With Force attacks being flung over their heads, getting up wouldn't be a good idea. But right now they were stationary targets. If the Hidden One got done with Luke... "Need to move as soon as we have a window," he hissed. "This needs to end fast." Or this really would turn into a bloodbath, between Luke's stubbornness and the Hidden One's paranoia.
Ben	"Dad!" Ben cried out as the Hidden One directed a pillar to rip from its spot to land on Luke. His father reached his left hand out and stopped the pillar in midfall, then redirected it to crash safely to the ground. He took another step forward, and the Hidden One howled in outrage. His throne rocked off of the platform and shot at Luke. "Out the door now," Ben replied in an undertone. "Take as many of the Kel Dors with you as you can."
Ender	It was times like this that a military education came in handy. Ender was up and moving without as much as acknowledging Ben's instructions, tapping Kel Dors on the arm left and right. A good chunk of them followed, partly out of fear, partly out of gratitude for some kind of guidance. He was out the door a moment later.
Ben	Ben was focused on stopping another pillar from landing on his father while Luke kicked the Baran Do master squarely in the gut. The Hidden One smashed into the throne platform's front, crushing the wooden panel and falling onto his face. The wind died. Chamrae Saal peered in from the blast doors, then approached the Hidden One. "He is exhausted, but will recover," he said after a moment. "I will allow servants to learn," the Hidden One said in a voice barely above a whisper. "I will tell those above that the previous message was a mistake. And in a year or two, we can review their situation with new eyes." "A year or two?" Ben's voice was pure outrage. "Don't you get that you lost? You don't get to make any more decisions."
Ender	Martial justice. Ender peered out from the blast doors next, choosing not to enter the room. Choosing to wait, watch, and make the executive mental decision not to let the Skywalkers handle it on their own next time. His eyes were set on Ben.
Ben	Ben gave him a slightly wry look before concentrating on the ceiling. There was an ominous thump, then the sound of a few tons of rocks falling further down the tunnels. "There," he said with a satisfied nod. "Now you have to tell us where the other exit Ender mentioned is." He pointed a finger at the Hidden One. "And don't lie about it," he added, voice steely. "We've already figured out that you don't have enough hydroponics to be self-sustaining and there's no way the blast doors came down in a coffin like the rest of us did."
Ender	"Whatever your exit strategy is," Ender added, his own voice wry, "It looks like an excellent time to share it. For your people's sake." He looked at the Kel Dor, looking vaguely regretful. Sympathetic.
Ben	"I will not give up the secrets of this place," the Hidden One declared stubbornly. "Nor will anyone else." Ben pursed his lips. "So your pride is more important than your mission," he concluded. "The fact that rule here and would be just another Master on the surface means that nearly fifty of your followers have to die." There was a very long pause as Ben and the Hidden One stared each other down. Finally another Baran Do sage, one almost as old as the Hidden One, came forward. "The tunnel out is just above the garment storeroom," he said as the Hidden One stared at him, looking betrayed. "The ceiling is synthstone. A few blows will reveal a sliding hatch and a turbolift chamber. Its generator will need maintenance before you can use it."
Ender	Ben could be angry, and Luke in fighting form, if they wanted to be. Ender just nodded at the Baran Do, a gentle smile on his face, and gave him a genuine, "Thank you."
Ben	As they waited for the turbolift to be fixed, Luke took Ben a little aside from the sages. "You acted unilaterally," he said quietly. "He wasn't going to change, Dad. The only other choice I could see was getting the others to turn on him and getting the information that way. Would that have been better?" He looked at Ender, seeking approval for his actions as well.
Ender	Ender didn't look at either of them. "You made it about violence," he said. "So you could either spend the next few weeks beating on the Hidden One, hoping he'd finally change his mind, or do something drastic and put an end to the war before it got worse."
Ben	"He didn't exactly leave us a lot of time for negotiating when he told them to stop sending oxygen," Ben replied.
Ender	"Mutual escalation of hostilities," Ender said, quietly. "Against that backdrop, you saved lives."
Ben	"The Hidden One will recover, and so will Charsae Saal," Ben said, "and I don't think I'm that concussed." He gave his father a wry smile. "I don't think they'll be sending a Baran Do sage to visit Coruscant soon, though."
Ender	"Considering that we just forced our way into their sacred place, attacked them unprovoked because we didn't like the looks of the organisation, and caused large amounts of property damage," Ender said, his tone conversational even if he was serious, "I'd think so too."
Luke	Luke gazed back steadily at Ender, not overly concerned about getting judged by a teenager from a different galaxy. "I can see how it could seem that way," he said evenly.
Ender	Ender, who had had what felt like a dozen admirals look at him in exactly that way, simply smiled back just as evenly. He didn't raise his voice in challenge. "Good," he said, "because if we're unlucky, that's what they're going to say."
Ben	"Given how hard it was for us to find the Baran Do Sages to begin with," Ben said, stepping into the now-fixed turbolift, "I don't think their first foray into the wider universe is going to be whining about how a couple of exiled Jedi were mean to them."
Ender	"That just depends on who's going to be the first one out," Ender said, switching to banter because he knew pushing at Luke wouldn't help anyone any further. He followed Ben into the lift. "I mean, if it's the Baran Do equivalent of you, we might as well run to the store for earplugs and ice cream right now."
Ben	Ben reached out to cuff Ender in the head. "Hey."
Ender	Ender's hand snapped up to grab him by the wrist. "Deal with it, oomay."
Ben	Ben's arm went rigid for a moment before he relaxed again. "I'll be glad to see a sun for a little bit before getting back into the ship," he said.
Ender	Ender's eyes flickered to Ben's arm for a brief second. He made a mental note, then dropped the wrist in question. "You and me both," he said, lightly. He'd spent quite enough of his life away from the sky as it was.
Ben	"And not having to breathe through a mask," Ben added as the lift doors opened and they could step out onto the surface of the planet.
Ender	"Might have to pick a different planet for that one, kreetle," Ender remarked, stepping outside. He did take a moment to look straight up, though. Familiarize himself with the sight of the sky again.
Ben	Ben grinned over at him, then took his mask off and took a deep breath of the helium atmosphere. And began to sing: "Where fields once grew, a road runs through, and buildings hide the sun. Where grass of green could once be seen, are only gray and brown. My childhood home, while I did roam, became a place of sadness. Now I return, my heart does yearn for times of light and gladness." It was high-pitched and squeaky and Luke was facepalming behind him.
Ender	Ender was staring at him in a way that seemed about five seconds off from mirroring Luke's massive, massive facepalming. And then he started laughing. Hard. Sorry, Luke.
Ben	Ben grinned again at Ender--his reaction was really the one that had been important--before putting his mask back on. "Let's get to the ship. I want to break the record for the galaxy's longest sanisteam."