A New Order

Chapter 1: Ben, Not Quite Ren

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In Ben Solo's early years, he lived in the Jedi Temple founded by his uncle, Luke Skywalker, with a number of other younglings of varying ages. His uncle had "acquired" all of them when he personally traveled to confirm they had control over the Force - some more so than others. Ben, of course, was close to if not his uncle's top student considering his mother and father were Force sensitive (Han refused to ever admit it, but his stunts seemed to rely not so much on skill as they did on sheer, dumb luck that only the Force could be behind).

As Luke had learned from the copies of the Jedi texts, it was key to remove children from their family settings at a very young age to begin their training. This was to ensure that attachments, forbidden by the Jedi Code, would not threaten the impartiality of these future Jedi. Since members of the order are judge, jury, and executioner to maintain balance and peace, they must be impartial towards those who are in question for disturbing either. Any attachments to a particular person or group (other than the Jedi Order itself) would then cloud their judgement.

Many of the younglings did not mind this. They were happy under Luke's guidance and flourished. Luke taught them the Jedi texts in stages as they grew.

There was quiet dissidence however. It began with none other than Ben Solo.

Seeing as his parents tried to continue their careers after his birth, Ben felt a bit betrayed and abandoned by them. When they handed him off to his Uncle Luke, his feelings were only solidified (but this did not stop him from silently crying into his sleeping mat for the first year of his training). Ben could handle not forming strong attachments. Instead, he preferred to keep his distance and form alliances with those who he found were useful and mostly in agreement with his personal ideology.

This ideology was not in agreement with many parts of the Jedi Code his uncle was teaching. Ben loathed the idea of suppressing and letting go of his emotions. He used emotions to guide his decisions and fuel his drive. He saw the Jedi as cold and calculating with their end always justifying their means, forever working to save the "greater good." They would let one, no matter their importance, die in order to save many. Ben wasn't sure that he was all that dedicated to their cause.

It was a bit cult-like in his mind. Taking children from their parents and brainwashing them into believing in a code that would have them sacrifice ones they once admired or even loved for the sake of many.

And the way Uncle Luke taught held him back from his full potential. He knew he could do so much more if his uncle would just let him. He could be better than his best. But he was told, "No. You will learn all of it in good time when you have the knowledge you need to comprehend why it is done the way it is."

The Jedi teachings evidently had a vendetta against the curiosity of the student, stifling all intelligent thought. More and more like a cult it seemed. Some of the younglings close to Ben's age agreed.

Luke had seen and felt how his nephew reacted to his instruction. He sensed how Ben used his emotions and wanted a taste of power. It was not the way to the Light. He wanted to protect Ben as he promised Leia. He could not let her down. Not after she trusted him like this.

Then the whispers began.

"Ben, there is another way to live. The Jedi Code is not all there is."

"You could freely feel every emotion. You could act on them. They could guide you without you receiving ridicule. You could save whoever you wanted whenever you wanted."

"You could learn so much, Ben. You have potential. So much raw power. You have no real training, and yet you could pose a great threat to any master of the Force. With guidance, you could become more powerful than you could ever imagine."

They were enticing promises. It seemed like everything he ever wanted. Someone had finally listened to him and attempted to grant him his requests. He just needed to prove himself to this mysterious voice and he would be free to live as he had always wanted.

Ben deemed it too dangerous to tell his uncle about this voice. Luke would snuff out all possibility of learning what the whispers meant. Ben told his peers. He could not call them friends. He did not have friends - only potential allies. Nonetheless, they were intrigued. Ben was unsure if he wanted to answer the voice yet.

A few nights later, Ben was soundly asleep in his hut. He was having a vivid dream, which was not the first of its kind nor would it be the last. In this dream, he saw himself grown. He was a Jedi Master, a member of a new council dedicated to passing on the teachings given to them and preserving the Jedi in order to preserve the galaxy as they knew it. His peers, the other younglings, and Luke had helped the Resistance under the control of the New Republic to finish off any trace of the Galactic Empire. Ben now taught younglings and went on missions. But it wasn't enough. He could feel a burning desire to live free of certain parts of the code and a pang of regret for not taking up the offer of the voice. A hum sounded in the distance and it grew closer as he woke up.

Ben's eyes snapped open. He turned to look at the source of the noise. It was his uncle with his lightsaber drawn. In a split second, Ben had his own lightsaber out and parried the attack. To save himself, he used the Force to pull the hut down on his uncle. Ben crawled out of the rubble and decided that he would take the voice up on whatever it had to offer. It had to be better than the betrayal that just happened a few moments ago and the slew that had occurred before that.