Ben Skywalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
momslilassassin) wrote2008-11-02 12:33 pm
momslilassassin) wrote2008-11-02 12:33 pm
Hapes Cluster [Sunday morning]
The ship's presence grew stronger the closer Ben flew to the Hapes Cluster, even though Ben couldn't figure out what Lumiya could possibly want in that part of space. He couldn't feel Jacen--hardly unusual--but he could feel a trace of his mother.
Don't tell me we're both following Lumiya.
Ben made a mental map of where the Sith sphere was and got a good sense of where it was in space--near Hapes itself. And so was Mara. She'd beaten him to the target. As far as he could tell, the sphere was holding its position, but when it moved, he'd go for the kill. At that point his mom would know he was there anyway: the GAG shuttle was a stealthy as a brick. Being grounded would so be worth it.
And he waited. And waited.
He felt his mother's icy rage just before she fired, but it wasn't on the Sith sphere. It was on--Ben reached into the Force to be sure--Jacen.
The sphere rocketed towards the Stealth-Xes to assist Jacen, fired, and then his mother's ship looped towards one of the planets--the sensors labeled it as Kavan--venting atmosphere.
Jacen fired on her as she fell, and Ben felt her disappear. But she wasn't dead, he could feel it: she was just hiding like he'd taught her.
And then Jacen shot at the Sith sphere for good measure before following after Mara. Ben could suddenly hear the ship in his head again, and it was pissed.
He has tried to cause us irreparable damage.
"Ship, shut up," Lumiya demanded. Ben heard that too, like the ship's thought processes were an open circuit.
The rules of ages is that I must not be targeted.
The sphere had clearly decided enough was enough, and looped back in the direction it had just come. Ben could see it in his forward screens and on his sensors, but he could also see it in his head. The impression he had was it was rolling up its sleeves and going back to knock the hell out of whoever had just fired on it.
"Ship, break off," Lumiya commanded.
I do what I must.
"Ship!"
Ben's drives were screaming as he tried to keep up with the sphere. "Ship, my mom's down there," he pleaded. "She didn't fire on you."
Masters may use the their ships to fight but most not involve apprentices.
"Ship, Jacen made an error. Please--don't fire."
The sphere decelerated dramatically. Who is the enemy? the ship asked. Unless I know, I can do nothing except evade and protect.
"That's right," Ben said. "Ship, what's your task?"
Once I fought. Now I educate and protect apprentices.
"What do you believe I am?"
Apprentice.
"Who's with you now?" Ben asked.
Apprentice also.
Ben stalled for time as he tried to catch up with the sphere. "Ship, what do you mean--educate?"
I teach apprentices to fight. Ben could sense Lumiya trying to urge the ship to fire on him, to ram his shuttle, to kill him as the sphere continued speaking. Yes. I am now for apprentices, so they learn and come to no harm. I used to be for Masters at war.
"You're a Sith training vessel!" It made sense that he'd be seen as an apprentice--he was one--but Lumiya confused him. "Why do you think the woman in you now is an apprentice?"
Because she knows so little of me. Like you.
Ben guessed the ship didn't realize it'd been buried on Ziost for millennia. No one had heard of it.
"The woman in you had us shot at when we left Ziost," he tried.
We shot back.
The ship recognized him, and decided both he and Lumiya were apprentices who needed its advice and care. Ben wondered how many chances it gave before it decided they were weaklings who deserved what they got. Regardless, there was no way he was going to talk it into killing Lumiya, and she was having no luck getting it to attack him. He and Lumiya were in a stalemate, but someone still wanted to kill his mother. He dropped towards the planet where his mother had crashed down, and the Sith sphere escorted him with Lumiya stuck inside.
He had no idea how to use that to his advantage, and at the moment didn't care. As his feet hit the ground of the planet, he could feel his mother's desperation, her focus, her anger...and suddenly her voice blocked out the sound of the Sith sphere. His own name--Ben, Ben, Ben--drowned out every other sound, even though deep in his head it was quieter than a whisper, a summons and a goodbye to him alone. He forgot about Lumiya and stumbled towards the voice, blinded by tears.
"Mom!" he yelled. "Mom!"
But she was gone.
***
He kept running anyway, straight to her side through unknown terrain until he found her. At first he deluded himself that she was deep in a healing trance, even though the Force never lied, and the void that had opened in it would be felt and understood by every Jedi.
He wondered if even the Jedi back at Fandom had felt it: it was that cataclysmic an event to him.
He wanted to think that she wasn't dead because she was still there, still like he'd seen her the day before except for the blood and scrapes of a new fight.
So sat with her, waiting, in the tunnel where he found her, and that was the start of his investigation. He wanted to make her clean and beautiful again, but his GAG training said not to remove evidence, not to tamper with a crime scene.
Ben the fourteen-year-old son, lost and grief-stricken, willed his mother to be in a deep trance. Ben the lieutenant knew better, and was careful to note everything around him: smells, sounds, and other data, and began to form a logical sequence that would tell him how his mother had died.
He was still sitting there seconds-minutes-hours-lifetimes later, taking in every pore of her skin and every speck of brick dust on her jacket, when he heard someone picking his way over debris toward him.
He couldn't feel the person in the Force.
"Hello, Jacen," he said softly.
Jacen's mouth opened slightly while he stared first at Mara--a long, baffled stare--and then at Ben. He reached out a hand to him.
"It's okay, Ben," he said soothingly. "It's okay. We'll get whoever did this, I swear we will."
Ben was still shut down, hiding his Force presence, but Jacen had found him. Maybe the killing of his mother had left a mark in the Force that Jacen had followed. Ben considered the possibility that he was too upset to notice it himself.
It didn't mean he believed that was how Jacen had found them.
[OOC: NFI or B due to distance. Dialogue snurched with love from Karen Traviss' Sacrifice. And we have gotten to the "sacrifice" part of the book now. Ye be warned for character death and general woe. Comments are love.
Don't tell me we're both following Lumiya.
Ben made a mental map of where the Sith sphere was and got a good sense of where it was in space--near Hapes itself. And so was Mara. She'd beaten him to the target. As far as he could tell, the sphere was holding its position, but when it moved, he'd go for the kill. At that point his mom would know he was there anyway: the GAG shuttle was a stealthy as a brick. Being grounded would so be worth it.
And he waited. And waited.
He felt his mother's icy rage just before she fired, but it wasn't on the Sith sphere. It was on--Ben reached into the Force to be sure--Jacen.
The sphere rocketed towards the Stealth-Xes to assist Jacen, fired, and then his mother's ship looped towards one of the planets--the sensors labeled it as Kavan--venting atmosphere.
Jacen fired on her as she fell, and Ben felt her disappear. But she wasn't dead, he could feel it: she was just hiding like he'd taught her.
And then Jacen shot at the Sith sphere for good measure before following after Mara. Ben could suddenly hear the ship in his head again, and it was pissed.
He has tried to cause us irreparable damage.
"Ship, shut up," Lumiya demanded. Ben heard that too, like the ship's thought processes were an open circuit.
The rules of ages is that I must not be targeted.
The sphere had clearly decided enough was enough, and looped back in the direction it had just come. Ben could see it in his forward screens and on his sensors, but he could also see it in his head. The impression he had was it was rolling up its sleeves and going back to knock the hell out of whoever had just fired on it.
"Ship, break off," Lumiya commanded.
I do what I must.
"Ship!"
Ben's drives were screaming as he tried to keep up with the sphere. "Ship, my mom's down there," he pleaded. "She didn't fire on you."
Masters may use the their ships to fight but most not involve apprentices.
"Ship, Jacen made an error. Please--don't fire."
The sphere decelerated dramatically. Who is the enemy? the ship asked. Unless I know, I can do nothing except evade and protect.
"That's right," Ben said. "Ship, what's your task?"
Once I fought. Now I educate and protect apprentices.
"What do you believe I am?"
Apprentice.
"Who's with you now?" Ben asked.
Apprentice also.
Ben stalled for time as he tried to catch up with the sphere. "Ship, what do you mean--educate?"
I teach apprentices to fight. Ben could sense Lumiya trying to urge the ship to fire on him, to ram his shuttle, to kill him as the sphere continued speaking. Yes. I am now for apprentices, so they learn and come to no harm. I used to be for Masters at war.
"You're a Sith training vessel!" It made sense that he'd be seen as an apprentice--he was one--but Lumiya confused him. "Why do you think the woman in you now is an apprentice?"
Because she knows so little of me. Like you.
Ben guessed the ship didn't realize it'd been buried on Ziost for millennia. No one had heard of it.
"The woman in you had us shot at when we left Ziost," he tried.
We shot back.
The ship recognized him, and decided both he and Lumiya were apprentices who needed its advice and care. Ben wondered how many chances it gave before it decided they were weaklings who deserved what they got. Regardless, there was no way he was going to talk it into killing Lumiya, and she was having no luck getting it to attack him. He and Lumiya were in a stalemate, but someone still wanted to kill his mother. He dropped towards the planet where his mother had crashed down, and the Sith sphere escorted him with Lumiya stuck inside.
He had no idea how to use that to his advantage, and at the moment didn't care. As his feet hit the ground of the planet, he could feel his mother's desperation, her focus, her anger...and suddenly her voice blocked out the sound of the Sith sphere. His own name--Ben, Ben, Ben--drowned out every other sound, even though deep in his head it was quieter than a whisper, a summons and a goodbye to him alone. He forgot about Lumiya and stumbled towards the voice, blinded by tears.
"Mom!" he yelled. "Mom!"
But she was gone.
He kept running anyway, straight to her side through unknown terrain until he found her. At first he deluded himself that she was deep in a healing trance, even though the Force never lied, and the void that had opened in it would be felt and understood by every Jedi.
He wondered if even the Jedi back at Fandom had felt it: it was that cataclysmic an event to him.
He wanted to think that she wasn't dead because she was still there, still like he'd seen her the day before except for the blood and scrapes of a new fight.
So sat with her, waiting, in the tunnel where he found her, and that was the start of his investigation. He wanted to make her clean and beautiful again, but his GAG training said not to remove evidence, not to tamper with a crime scene.
Ben the fourteen-year-old son, lost and grief-stricken, willed his mother to be in a deep trance. Ben the lieutenant knew better, and was careful to note everything around him: smells, sounds, and other data, and began to form a logical sequence that would tell him how his mother had died.
He was still sitting there seconds-minutes-hours-lifetimes later, taking in every pore of her skin and every speck of brick dust on her jacket, when he heard someone picking his way over debris toward him.
He couldn't feel the person in the Force.
"Hello, Jacen," he said softly.
Jacen's mouth opened slightly while he stared first at Mara--a long, baffled stare--and then at Ben. He reached out a hand to him.
"It's okay, Ben," he said soothingly. "It's okay. We'll get whoever did this, I swear we will."
Ben was still shut down, hiding his Force presence, but Jacen had found him. Maybe the killing of his mother had left a mark in the Force that Jacen had followed. Ben considered the possibility that he was too upset to notice it himself.
It didn't mean he believed that was how Jacen had found them.
[OOC: NFI or B due to distance. Dialogue snurched with love from Karen Traviss' Sacrifice. And we have gotten to the "sacrifice" part of the book now. Ye be warned for character death and general woe. Comments are love.
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