On the Light and the Dark ...

[twelve_not_fourteen]

“Ben --”

In a such a large structure with conditioners for the volume of systems and subsystems that run the Starkiller Base, it seems like there should have been more ambient noise then there was. Instead, the voice of his father cuts through the air like freshly sharpened vibroblade. It’s in the echo, however, that you can really hear the desperation.

“Han Solo, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.” That voice, cold and mechanical with the face Han longed to see so badly hidden behind a helmet. The Millennium Falcon’s captain has to struggle to hold back the tears that seem to want to spill from his eyes.

How you could have been so close, as he stalked behind you and still you didn’t seem to feel him or acknowledge that he was there, the old pilot will always wonder. Han’s first footfall onto the durasteel catwalk not the usual confident step, but a shaky one. He has a bad feeling about what’s about to happen and yet, it’s a feeling he has to ignore for many reasons.

For, perhaps, the most important reasons that any man could ever hope to have.

Han sets his jaw and summons the same courage that allowed for him to skim a little too close to black holes and run hollering into crowded barracks full of Stormtroopers. It shouldn’t take that kind of bravery to face your own son, should it? He supposes not, and for a second or two while he approaches, he tries to pinpoint where it all went wrong. As if it was only one wrong choice that sent them through this hellish cascade and not a series of them made by multiple people.

“Take off that mask.” Han says, a bit of an edge in his voice again. “You don’t need it.”

“What do you think you’ll see if I do?” A pointed response, not quite as glib as the ones his father spouts off, but sort of philosophical. It reminds him of a Skywalker response.

“The face of my son.”

When Kylo Ren disengages the mechanisms that keep his helm in place, and he reveals himself, his father’s eyes seem to soften. The sad truth is that he can recognize you, but the light that he used to see in you - a brilliance that could have dwarfed any star that Han had ever seen, seems so far away.

“Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish like his father. So I destroyed him.”

“That’s what Snoke wants you to believe. When he gets what he wants, he’ll crush you.” Han pauses to look at his son, who seems to recoil at the words. “You know it’s true.”

“It’s too late.” Kylo protests, but he’s struggling with something and Han can see it in his eyes.

“No it’s not.” He says, doubling down on Leia’s insistence that their boy can still be saved, even though in the moment he’s not really sure. The Solo patriarch says it with all the hope in the galaxy though. “Leave here with me. Come home.”

Then, when it seemed like Han was so close to getting his son back, A blaster bolt flies past Han’s arm. It comes so close to hitting him that it singes the leather of his jacket and the smell of burning touches the air.

Han turns, snarling and withdraws his blaster. His hand speed still impressive for a non-force user and he fires three shots in the direction that the bolt seemed to come from. Then more blaster fire starts coming from all directions – from Chewie, Finn and Rey as well as the troopers of the first order who had filtered into the room.

At this point, the only sensible thing that Captain Solo can think to do is to sprint back toward his friends, snap off a few more shots and hope that his son had chosen to follow. He doesn’t hear the pounding of another set of feet behind him, though. The observation makes his heart sink.

Han turns to look back at his son, in the middle of the chaos, only to see the young man pulling the helmet on again.

What Han doesn’t see, in that moment, is the way a bolt threatening to hit him right in the back, changes mid trajectory and flies impotently into the emptiness below him. Did Ben Solo use the force to save his father? Did Kylo Ren only intervene because he still wanted to end his father’s life himself?

The Knight, clad all in black, ignites a scarlet saber that glows angrily amid the trickle of blaster fire in the air.

“Fall back.” He yells to Rey and Fin.

Chewie, doesn’t need orders from Han to know what he wants. The old partners know each other well enough that many things don’t need to be said. Get to the Falcon. Someone has to raise the ramp and ignite the engines.

Still, his Wookiee best friend will lay down some cover fire in the space between father and son, to give the senior member of this band of heroes some time to reconvene with Rey and Finn. Only then will Chewbacca hit the trigger for the detonators and sprint off to the ship. If Solo wants to be mad about that, his copilot thinks to himself, they can argue about it later.

Soon Finn, Rey and Han are scrambling though the snow and trying to lose their pursuers in the dark forest. Considering that he’s more than twice their age, Han thinks he’s doing a serviceable job of keeping up, but a look he’s catching in the female of their party’s eyes tells him someone is nearby. 

Comments

[forcefullyunstable]

Ben listened. A far cry from the day before, he actually sat there, absorbed in every word his father had to say. His expressions proved he was telling the truth - he really didn't remember, but some of the stories helped him find a few of the pieces.

"...I didn't like all the people." He replied quietly. "The way they'd stare at me, like there was something wrong with me."

Whether that was something Snoke put into his head, he wasn't sure. He knew he was different. He knew he could feel different things than other people long before he was able to explain why.

"I could hear it in my head. That I was different. Powerful. Dangerous. And that I was the reason why you always fought and why you were sending me away. It hurt." By which he meant both his parents' reactions and his inability to stop the monster in his head from getting to him. "I think, maybe, that was Snoke, even then. It went away for a little bit after you sent me away to Luke. You must have been so proud... But then it came back, stronger than ever. And when I learned who my grandfather was... It just all made sense... And the Supreme Leader had answers..."

This was vulneability at its corr. Ben truly didn't know his own thoughts. He couldn't trust his own memories, much less the intentions of other people. And he still desperately wanted to believe in these supposed early days repairing ships where he actually held tools in his hands instead of with his mind.

It also suggested something far more frightening - if Snoke wanted to, he could reach Ben again. There wasn't any safe place he could truly hide.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han feels like it's more the influence of Snoke on him than people legitimately looking at his kid like there was something wrong with him. He would have been throwing a lot more punches, he thinks, if that was the case. Some of the fine details of family relationships aren't intuitive to him, but he does try protect his own. Always.

"Your hair." He says with the faintest of smiles. "They'd often say something about your hair when they would see you for the first time. How dark it was or how much you had at a young age. It always grew fast and thick."

In his mind, it was undeniably Solo hair. Or like his in the way it laid on his head and grew out, anyway.

"Or that you seemed very serious."

His memories about arguing may have skewed a little closer to the truth. Yes. There was a time when Han and Leia were both worried about Ben and that was why some of those arguments began, but he's giving himself far too much credit if he thinks he was somehow 'the problem'. The two of them were having arguments before they brought their son into this universe and clearly, having the boy gone to be with Luke didn't allow them to suddenly live in bliss.

If anything, that decision had made it worse.

The status of his marriage was not something he was going to be able to explain to his son with a few clarifying words. "Things with your mother and I are ... difficult to explain. We do love each other though and we love you." The storm of feelings in him that his son might not be able to help but feel will confirm that his feelings are complicated.

"You do know that you being a jedi matters very little to me, don't you?" He points out. "I'm proud when you work hard for something and when you act like a good man. If that comes in the form of a master of the force, then fine, but I could care less if it was some other interest you had."

... Han might blame a preoccupation with that mystical energy field for why his family is so messed up right now. While he can't deny the existence of the the force any longer, it's not as if doesn't have his reservations. Life without it seems simpler ...

[forcefullyunstable]

"My hair." That, he found impossible to believe. All those disapproving stares were about his hair? Were they even there at all, or had Snoke added them in? The fights, though, he knew he didn't imagine. Those were real.

From what he could sense, however, they troubled Han just as deeply. He wasn't torn between two sides of the Force, but he was still torn. Ben latched onto that feeling, as it was something he could identify with.

He was quiet for a long time before he whispered, "I'll try to make you proud of me, then... At least once."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"It doesn't dawn on you till you have one, I think, but people say dumb things about babies." The funny thing is that they don't tend seem all that dumb when you're an proud parent until you think about it in hindsight. Perhaps Ben will realize as much if he ever takes up the grand adventure of fatherhood.

All the reminiscing makes Han remember, though, how happy he was for those first couple of years after Endor. He misses those days. Hands down the best time of his life.

"You can do incredible things." He says after a brief reflection on pride. "I have no doubt that if making me proud of you is what you want, you'll succeed." As he mentioned already, it wouldn't take much to do it apart from being a decent person. That's all he ever really hoped for.

... that and, perhaps, making a pilot out of you, Ben Solo. Which he's gonna ask about because he's been thinking about that for a while at this point.

"Do you know much about flying?"

[forcefullyunstable]

Unfortunately, Han was about to hear an answer that would definitely not make him proud of his son.

"Not really. No."

When he traveled with Luke, Luke was the pilot on nearly every occasion. In the First Order, there were people to do that kind of thing for him. He didn't even fly his own command shuttle.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

It really only bothers him in the sense that he thinks Luke should have taught him at least some of the basics. Han spent a lot of time with Luke (particularly after Yavin and before he left for Dagobah) trying to broaden the knowledge that the kid had about piloting and mechanic work, so, it seemed kind of fitting that he should do the same for Ben.

But The Force.

Takes precedent over everything, doesn't it?

He'll express a little bit of good-natured discontent with his brother-in-law over that if he should ever see him again. After addressing the more pressing concerns, of course.

On the other hand, it means that nobody has taught his son anything stupid that he would have to unlearn under his guidance. So in some respects, it's actually nice. If he does, in fact, want to learn.

"I think you should learn some." For the obvious and selfish reason that he wants to bond with his son over something, mainly. It happens to be a practical thing to know, however. Far more reasonable than him trying to teach a force sensitive the fine art of the blaster.

"You're going to be on the run." Forever, maybe, unless he turns himself over to The Resistance or the First Order. And Han sure wouldn't fault the kid for wanting to do neither. "It's kind of a good thing for a man on the run to know."

[forcefullyunstable]

Ben couldn't argue with his father's logic. It would be something he would need to know, lest he plan on using Jedi mind tricks to con his way aboard freighters until the end of time. Clearly, Snoke didn't consider it a valuable skill - not when it might lead to escaping under one's own power.

"The Force should make it easier to learn." He hoped out loud, and then backtracked to avoid a potentially condescending stare. "...Or make it easier once I do learn."

He had far more confidence that he could clench his fists and pull a ship out of the sky than he could fly it out there in the first place.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

For Ben's father, flying was his means of escape - literally and figuratively more times that he could have ever bothered to keep track of. He could definitely see how someone who wanted to keep control of his son would omit the skill from his curriculum. All the more reason the kid should learn it now, he figures.

That will be an easy thing for him to fix.

"The Force can ... do that?" Much as he'd love to really take his time showing Ben the ropes, the time to do that was years ago. Now, how fast he could learn was more important that his father's derisive attitude toward force-talents.

"I think it gives you an advantage over the rest of us in terms of reflexes and reactions too. That's only one part of being a pilot though and not the part you'll use most often."

[forcefullyunstable]

"Oh..." It was pretty obvious now that was the part he meant, and was a little embarrassed to realize that there was a lot more that he hadn't even considered. Still, he tried to claim, "...I'm sure I'll be a natural at it."

He paused for a moment.

"What's the part I'll use most often then?"

Oh, he had no clue.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

You have so much to learn, youngest Solo, if you think it's all about dodging blaster fire and lining up the enemies between your sights. Okay this might take a little bit longer than he thought, but on the plus side ... it's more time to get to know his son better.

"There are several different kinds of pilots and they all have their different concerns." He murmurs. That can't be too shocking to the kid. "What I do? There's only so much dogfighting. I spend a lot more time planning effient routes and trying to make sure I don't have to try to out gun anybody in the first place."

What Han did as a teenager in his free time? Study math and science through simulations. Yes, he wanted to be a pilot so badly that he took the time to self study. You wouldn't necessarily expect that out of him, but it's true. It was all the rest of the subjects that he needed prodding to actually work on.

"Physics and geometry, kid. Why else to you think me and Chewie spend so much time in the cockpit talking about calculations ..."

[forcefullyunstable]

"I wouldn't know." He muttered. He also wasn't all that skilled with the mathematics. He knew the basics - Leia made certain of that. But most of his education was in the ways of the Jedi. That, and the more physical aspects of the Force.

Without even trying, he got the feeling he would turn out to be a terrible pilot. So he changed the subject with a somewhat curt, "Speaking of efficient routes, are we there yet?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

To be fair, Han probably would have had a very lopsided education too if he had been completely left to his own devices. It was his own mother figure that made sure he studied liberal arts and history. And it proved to be a damn good thing that she had.

That Wookiee had been right about so many things ...

It should come as no surprise that a child of two smartasses would have that streak in him as well. It kind of reminds him of the sorts of insinuations a young princess would make to him. 'Can't this ship go any faster?' 'Would it help if I got out and pushed?' He has to force himself not to smile at the observation.

"A thousand pardons, most honorable disciple of 'The Force'." He doesn't really know how to address his kid anymore, but that seemed sufficiently sarcastic to him. "I didn't realize you were on such a tight schedule. We should be landing in about an hour or two."

[forcefullyunstable]

"Then my time would be better spent meditating." He huffed. There may have been a little fear in his voice - wondering what he might do if Han insisted he pilot them toward the crash site. "Fetch me when we drop out of hyperspace."

And with that, he up and left. (Definitely his parents' son...)

When they did get closer to Han's previous ship, Ben was as ready as he would ever be. He'd shredded part of his cape and, with his hood, used it as a mask to obscure his face. He'd torn the sleeves off his shirt and made it into a vest. It was the best disguise he could cobble together with dark Jedi robes.

He also had answers, or at least insights.

"If you're looking for survivors, there aren't any." He reported. "Rathtars are probably be dead too. I can't find anything..."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han might be the Captain of this ship, but he hardly feels in charge. Definitely not comfortable enough with the terrain of his Son's thoughts and emotions enough to feel like navigate through them. He'd feel far more comfortable trying to skirt through The Maw.

The one and only encounter he'd ever had with a Sith practitioner had been horrifying. Solo became very keenly aware on that day exactly how defenseless he was against someone who wanted to use the force to hurt him. He survived the experience only because he was durable and improbably lucky. That and ... well, he had friends who cared about him.

Burning skies what he wouldn't give to be at the side of Luke and Leia. The three of them together? It just seemed like nothing could stop them when they were all working toward the same goal.

Anyway, he wasn't keen to repeat having the dark side used on him again. There was something tragic in the fact that he had to worry about it coming from his own son. Time. Distance. They were both factors that tended to make everything better. He could only hope that a little of both away from the First Order would change Ben Solo for the better.

So no. He won't have to worry about his Father insisting he do anything. Not right now, anyway.

It's also far trickier to land in the hangar of a freighter than it is to land on a planet. Not a good idea for that to be anyone's first attempt. He only just got his ship back and he wants it to stay in one piece, okay?

While his son is meditating, Han's time is spent in the cockpit of his old YT-1300 with Chewbacca at. They have to figure out safe approach speeds. Proper trajectories for landing. There's the possibility they may even have to figure out a way to open the hangar door first if someone closed it after they left.

Han puts the headset on and tries to hail any survivors as the Falcon approaches the much larger freighter. Nothing but static on all the open short range comm signals. Something in Han's gut tells him that nobody survived before his son even confirmed as much.

They land cleanly. There's a whole mess of blood and ichor in multiple colors painted on the deck, but no bodies that the Captain can see.

"Chewie will you see if you can get access to the Eravana's control's remotely?" He says with a thoughtful frown on his face. Closing the bay door and repressurizing the other ship before they tried to walk into it was going to work out much better for the three of them. Obviously.

Having to do it manually in a space suit would be a huge pain in the ass.

When the voice of Ben Solo is heard again, Han's frown softens just a bit. Even though he's essentially told him that everything on board is likely to be dead. He finds himself thinking the vest look is good on the kid too, briefly.

"I want to sweep through the ship when we get on board. If everything is dead, we're just looking for things that we can still use. Weapons, supplies and valuables. If it's possible to land the Eravana and liquidate it on the nearest planet, we will. If we can't, we leave it behind."

It's a straightforward enough plan.

[forcefullyunstable]

"All right." Ben waited until his father gave a clear signal that the ship had been properly repressurized. Once it had, he was the first one to descend into the empty docking bay.

He had the Force to guide him and his lightsaber well within his reach. He was confident that any dangers he faced would be swiftly dealt with. What he didn't know was the layout of the large vessel, so he simply started exploring.

It wasn't long before he came across what was left of the previous gangs his father had run afoul of. No, not bodies. The rathars got to them first. But there were a few discarded weapons, a boot with a foot and ankle still in it, some gold. He threw everything except the boot in a knapsack and continued on.

A few minutes later, he froze again. He faintly sensed something moving... Something non-sentient but definitely alive.

He activated his comlink as quickly as he could, still scanning the long corridors with the Force.

He gulped, "...I was wrong about the rathtars. There's at least one."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Let them each sweep through a third of the ship on their own. That was Han's thought. The Eravana is a huge ship when it's compared to the Millenium Falcon and everything on board was so likely to be dead at this point that they could save time splitting up. It made sense at the time.

Right around the time that Ben opens the comm channels Han gets that feeling in his guts that he always does just before things are about to go sideways. His son's voice heralds the bad news - a rathtar (or rathtars depending on how unlucky they were) were still alive and likely hungry in not eating for the last week or so. Han hits the trigger on his commlink to get Ben and Chewie. In his familiar roughness he says simply, "head towards me."

While Rathars might be ornery and lethal ... they are at least, pretty stupid. Captain Solo intends to take advantage.

The first sound, which may or may not be loud enough throughout the expanse of the ship to be heard, would be the sound of Han's DL-44 taking a shot at something. He's put a hole in the grated floor that would be easy enough for him to slip down into for a quick evade. With one hand up to shield his eyes, Han tosses a small device down the corridor vaguely in the direction of Ben's zone. The following noise happens to be unmistakably high-pitched and loud.

A sonic detonator.

With any luck, Han's little trick would draw them out and while the slobbering beast(s) are focused on him, either his son or his partner can pick them off more easily.

[forcefullyunstable]

If the first sound didn't carry, the second one certainly did. Ben hurried through the corridors of the ship toward his father. He was obviously using the sonic detonator to lure the creature toward him and out into the open. It was a good plan, at least until Ben turned a corner.

The remaining rathar was heading that way, and now he was between it and the bait.

"It's not gonna' make it that far!"

Over that open channel, Ben's voice was followed by the sound of a lightsaber igniting. It wasn't a call for backup, not outright. Ben wasn't one to do that. But it should probably be considered one, just in case.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Another prefectly good plan gone wrong. Or is that two of his plans going wrong at the same time? Either way, it's characteristic of Solo luck and now he's got to wonder if maybe Ben inherited that from his father too.

Rathar(s) coming. No advantageous positioning. And now, a screeching detonator going off that's likely to give them all a pounding headache by the time it deactivates.

Great.

Normally, Han would take a second and try to figure out what plan B is. Quickly, of course, but he'd take a moment and try to think it through. A non-force wielder type has to do what he can to hedge the odds in his favor. But ... this isn't the typical situation that he finds himself in because it's Ben between him and a pissed off life threatening monster.

His son. Doesn't matter that the kid is far more likely to have a handle on this that he ever could. That's his son. He can't even bring himself to think straight because he's worried, feet already moving to close the distance.

[forcefullyunstable]

He probably did inherit the Solo luck, but with the Force, had at least some ability to offset it. The lightsaber definitely helped.

What was coming through the comm was a cacophonous mix of a shrieking rathtar, a crackling lightsaber, large thumping noises and Ben's yelling. There weren't any real words to make out, just grunts and shouts as he fought it off.

The creature's tendrils had a longer reach than his lightsaber, and there were more of them. Ben got snagged a couple of times, tugged up in the air only to fall back down when he cut the appendage off. Still, it kept coming at him with its mouth open, desperate for a meal.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han runs. It's not the fastest he's ever run in his life, that honor no doubt went to a much younger version of him. It might be most desperately he's ever ran, though. He's got no idea what to expect from the garbled sounds of battle he can faintly hear beneath the sounds of the detonator. He only knows that his son is combat.

There's far greater concern for Ben, right now, than the elder Solo's ever had for his own well-being. Which ... is why Han wanted to draw the any Rathars toward him in the first place.

He turns down the hall and catches a glimpse of his kid fighting the creature. In a split second what is burned into his mind is worth years of knowledge the old scoundrel hadn't acquired about Ben Solo before. The determination in the way he holds his head. The posture of someone ready to take on all threats. Whatever they might be. He certainly has courage.

That makes him far more proud than anything he son could do with the force.

And then, Captain Solo has his DL-44 raised and is firing bolts of scarlet at the creature that threatens his son. A man who had been in so many firefights at this point, he could find targets without even looking at them.

[forcefullyunstable]

There was a flicker of surprise when the first blaster bolt whizzed past. But Ben immediately took advantage of the creature's pain, hacking and slashing its body with his saber. More blaster shots followed and he just kept pressing in. Hell, he didn't atop until he'd practically gone through the damn thing!

By the time Ben was certain it was dead, he was standing thigh-deep in the beast's entrails and glowing with angry, violent Force energy. But there was at least some kind of unspoken trust between father and son - those shots were fired into close combat, and Ben didn't get hit with any of them. Han Solo was an incredible shot...

"Well, so much for selling off that one!" He shouted over the shrill whine of the sonic detonator. "Unless you can eat it."

He kicked his way free of its carcass, slashing through a little more of its flesh for good measure before he resheathed his weapon.

"...can you eat it?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han Solo has the kind of marksman skills that make you wonder how a man who can't manipulate the force can be that good. He's no Jedi, it's true, but to dismiss him as ordinardy would be a mistake. No ordinary man has any right to do the things that he can or beat the odds as many time as he has ...

First thing is first. He's gonna turn off the detonator.

Then Captain Solo looks over at his son. Hard to say what he's seeing when he looks at Ben in the aftermath of slicing that rathar to bits. The look on Han's face is slightly concerned. Or maybe it's continued concern that began the moment he heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting over the comlink. Concern that isn't yet resolved even though the beast is clearly dead.

And then the kids asks if you can eat it, which breaks the tension somewhat. The elder Solo takes a few steps closer and toes some of the splattered remains with the toe of his boot.

"Haven't seen it severed anywhere." Though part of the reason might be because it's a pain in the ass to kill them. "Got the feeling they'd be slimy even after cooking the meat for hours."

[forcefullyunstable]

In the short time they'd been reunited, Han Solo had now seen his son bruised and bloodied more than once. The surrounding gore couldn't have painted a good picture - not unless you were a heartless bastard. (In the back of his mind, Ben couldn't help thinking how pleased the Supreme Leader would be with his fight. It was angry, passionate, so very destructive!)

"Unless you've come upon any extra rations, it's better than nothing."

He took a moment to close his eyes, reaching out once again. This time, he was more certain of his observations. "And that was the last one. There are only three living things left aboard this ship."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Ben's father is not a heartless bastard. Every time he has the chance to really prove that he is, he ends up doing the opposite - although admittedly he'll probably be complaining the entire time. He's not a bad man, just ... rough around the edges. Not all that good letting people in, either.

"Did you leave enough left of it in one piece to even try?" That sounds like a sarcastic thing to say, but this time Han's not trying to be glib. He's seeing a lot of splatter and not a lot pieces suitable for roasting. "They'll be some food left on this ship in the galley too."

Han opens up the commlink and lets Chewie know the two Solo men are alright. No need to have him trying to rush over anymore. They engage in a short discussion about what the Wookiee is seeing on the far side of the ship in terms of the condition. It's clear that the ship isn't in the greatest of shape, but on one this big, even if they sell it to a salvage yard or a clan of Jawas they'll still get a several thousand credits.

[forcefullyunstable]

"There might be some over there." He gestured with his foot. There probably wasn't, though. He took out a lot of aggression on the beast.

"I didn't get too far, but I grabbed what was salvageable from the corpses of your old crew. Or what was left of them, really." He reported with very little empathy in his tone. "Rathtar got most of it. And them."