Skywalker Rises

Hunting Party

The Knight of Ren had trailed a path of blood in his wake through Coruscant to find Ben. Seventeen were dead. Rey felt sick.

Ben pulled her against him, and she rested her forehead against his chest. The chignon Rose had wrangled her hair into earlier had come loose, and he ran gentle fingers through it. The appearance of the Knight had shaken her badly. She knew Ben wouldn't cast aside the residue of Kylo Ren easily, but this murderous reminder was more than she was ready for.

"How many more of them are there?"

"Five. Snoke gifted them to me."

"And they're coming for you?"

"Not for me, exactly. To me. They're pledged to me. They aren't like stormtroopers or Palpatine's guard. They don't operate on mindless directives. It makes them dangerous."

"What did he mean about shadows?"

Ben didn't respond for a long time. "The Knights of Ren use the dark side. They, we, can sense it in others. That sense is called a shadow."

"What does that mean?" She shivered. The Knight had said it of both Ben and Little Yoda.

"That he sensed the shadow in me?"

"Mhm."

"Think of the Force like a table covered in different dishes of food. I have many options. But I don't have to eat everything. Some of it I leave alone. I don't have to use the dark side. But it is available to me. The shadow means the person has a propensity for it. Not that they will use it."

"What about me?"

He tipped her chin up and studied her. Then he placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I have never sensed it in you. Not even when you stood among Sith and faced Palpatine, a situation where it would have helped you."

Rey took a shaky breath. "Little Yoda?"

"He's not as stupid as I was when I was young. Palpatine exploited my rage and loneliness. Yoda has an invested father who loves him and a teacher who wants the best for him. He won't use the dark side. He won't need to."

"And you?"

"I won't go back, if that's what you mean." 

She was still worried about both of them, no matter what Ben said. 

"I need to find them. I need to hunt them down and deal with them before they find me and wreak havoc in the process."

Someone had taken the body away while Ben had been talking to her. Poe and Finn were having one of their hushed arguments. The Mandalorian stood nearby, waiting.

"Care for a hunt, Mando?" said Ben. 

"I'm old," said the Mandalorian, "but I still have some hunt left in me. We're tracking those?" He motioned to the blood stain on the marble floor.

"Sending Ben back to Ahch-To with you and releasing him to search the galaxy are two very different things," said Poe. 

Rey nodded, and rubbed her temples. Her head hurt. "I know. What would you suggest, General? You told me there were still threats out there. One showed up on our doorstep today and provided a costly lesson."

"Are more here?" asked Finn. "On Coruscant?"

Ben closed his eyes and held up a finger. Wait. Rey hadn't learned how to search for people using the Force over such a great distance. That would be a helpful skill.

"No," said Ben. "The others aren't here. But if one figured out where I am, the others won't be far behind. Remember that they think I've been off the grid for months. I need to leave."

"Let's get off of this planet," said the Mandalorian. "Before another one shows up. We can plan later. Master Jedi, I offer the services of the Razor Crest."

He motioned for Little Yoda to follow, and they walked off toward their rooms. 

"I can't leave Coruscant," said Poe. 

"Neither of you should," said Rey. "Let us deal with this. Finn, you and Rose should enjoy your new marriage. Between three Force users and a Mandalorian, we should be able to handle these Knights."

Poe hesitated, and offered Ben his hand. It took Ben a moment to respond, but he finally shook Poe's hand. 

"I consider this a great service to our fledgling galaxy cooperative," said Poe. "I won't forget it."

"I'm not doing it for your government," said Ben. "But if it benefits us all, that's fine."

"Poe will bring us to Ahch-To when Rose is ready," said Finn. "Be careful, Master Rey."

Rey hugged him. "Take care of Rose. I'm glad you're married."

"Me, too," said Finn.

Rey returned to her rooms and packed up her things. Ben had found some better fitting clothing. There were two suitcases on the bed. Puzzled, Rey lifted a few items out of the one that obviously contained women's clothing. 

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

"Rose helped me get you a new wardrobe," said Ben. "We both needed it." 

"Oh," said Rey. "Thank you."

"Thank my mother. She left quite a bit of money behind in an account on Coruscant, and authorized me to access it."

"She was a good planner. She loved you very much."

"I know."

"Let me change really quick. This dress is not suited for much."

He grabbed her arm to stop her. "Please leave it on." At her frown, he continued. "Is the Razor Crest large?"

"Yes?"

He kissed her neck, and wrapped his hands around her hips. "This is not the kind of dress you just change out of. This is the kind of dress you allow someone to remove. Slowly."

"That sounds..." She was interrupted by a long, sweet kiss. "Fine. And loud, on a ship with other people close by."

"You'll have to be quiet, then." 

She arched into him, grabbing his face in both hands and kissing him fiercely. 

"My volume has little to do with me."

"Is that so? Well, we'll experiment."

He released her and closed the suitcases. They found the Razor Crest prepped and ready to go. Ben stowed the suitcases, and conferred with the Mandalorian. They decided to head to the Outer Rim and plan from there. The Mandalorian showed them a guest cabin, and left them on their own to pilot the ship. 

The guest cabin was directly above the engine room, and it turned out noise from their cabin wasn't a problem after all.