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vibrantbirdy · 1 year

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Pursuit: A Ben Solo Star Wars Story - Chapter 3

Title: Pursuit Fandom: Star Wars: Skywalker Saga Genres: Sci-Fi, Action/Adventure, Romance Setting: Post The Rise of Skywalker (Ben Solo lives!) Chapter: 3/? Main Character: Ben Solo (Kylo Ren) Warnings: Canon-typical violence, adventure peril, minor angst; mild sexuality; any further warnings will be specified by chapter Main Pairings: Ben Solo/OC Other Pairings throughout: Poe/Finn; Mentions of Ben Solo (Kylo Ren)/Rey Author's Note: There might be a little hiatus now because I'm a bit busy for the next few days, but I hope to post the next chapter some time next week. :)

Pinned Post: Please find all completed chapters of Pursuit here.

Read: Chapter 1 ; Chapter 2

Summary: Three years after surviving events on the planet Exegol, Ben Solo is carving out a solitary life for himself in the New Republic against the backdrop of reconstruction. His pursuance of quiet redemption is interrupted when a new threat to the Galaxy emerges from an old and terrifying enemy. With the help of new friends and unlikely allies, Ben must set out into Wild Space to defeat the darkness rising and put his own demons to rest once and for all.

Chapter 3 (Word Count: 4780)

The Swift's kitchen was filled with the comforting aroma of hot caf. Ben and Ada were sitting opposite each other at the functional dining table, elbows resting on the glass as they clasped their mugs of steaming liquid. They leant towards each other conspiratorially while Ada told her her story in a low, hushed voice.

Tallah's parents had died a few years before when a terrible flash flood had washed away their farm. Ada said she still couldn't understand how Tallah had survived, and the little girl had never talked about it.

Ada adopted her sister's daughter without hesitation and despite their grief, they had managed to carve out a happy existence together in their small farming village within the fertile crescent on Bakura.

The day the Inquisitor had come, Tallah had fallen into a deep part of the stream by their house while she looking for Baku frogs. Ada had been watching from the kitchen window and saw the whole thing happen. Before she could even react, she saw the river burst violently upwards into twin columns. Through the middle of the spray, Tallah had emerged and scrambled in a whirl of arms and legs up onto the muddy bank.

Ben was certain that's what would have drawn in the Inquisitor. An explosion of elemental Force energy driven by fear – an uncontrolled and unrestrained outburst of emotion. A signal fire to other Force users. It would have been irresistible.

“It was like... pure instinct. She was so scared, poor kid,” Ada shook her head. “Ever since her parents died she's been terrified of deep water.” She let out a wan laugh. “It's just that she loves chasing frogs more.”

Ben smiled gently but said nothing. He could tell that Ada was stalling, not quite ready to continue. He didn't press her, allowing her to take her time.

Finally, she continued. The Inquisitor had arrived in the middle of the night. She awoke to Tallah screaming and she flew out of her bedroom door only to be met with the sight of a hulking hooded figure, weapon alight, illuminating the house in a blood red glow and filling the space with an unbearable thrum. The man already had a wriggling Tallah bundled under one arm.

Ada had charged at him, but he caught her in the temple with the grip of his weapon, and sent her spinning to the floor as if he were merely swatting a fly. Dazed, by the time she'd lurched to her feet and over to the bedroom window, the man was dragging Tallah to a shuttle.

Tallah was fighting all the way, heels dug in, carving tracks in the dirt, kicking, biting. But it made no difference whatsoever. The man did not slow in his advance and Ada watched desperately as they got further and further away.

She'd scrambled to find her blaster which had lain forgotten and unused for years in a locked chest of drawers.

“I couldn't get the damn drawer open,” Ada chuckled humourlessly, even as tears started to well in her eyes.

“Then I jumped out my window and I ran - I just ran.”

She wiped her face angrily with the back of her hand as the first droplets of water started to trickle down her face.

“I shot the bastard twice in the back.” She said, her voice steady again, “I didn't even wait to see him hit the ground, I just grabbed Tallah and we jumped on our speeder and didn't stop until we reached Salis D'aar city. Then we got on the first transport to the Outer Rim and we haven't looked back.”

Ben nodded. He wanted to say something to comfort Ada, but he didn't know which words could possibly mitigate the lingering turmoil she felt in the wake of that night. Instead, he reached out and touched the back of her small hand with his own.

At his touch, she raised her eyes to his, those deep pools of green shining as if they were flecked with shards of sea glass. Captured by her gaze, Ben let his fingertips linger for longer that he'd intended before finally withdrawing his hand.

“It was an Inquisitor,” he stated simply after a pause.

Ada's brows knitted together in confusion.

“A Jedi hunter? I always thought they were just bed time stories old-timers used to tell.”

“So did I...”

It was not entirely true. But memories of sitting around the fire laughing and telling ghost stories with his fellow Padawans on Ossus flickered into his mind. To Ben and his fellow students, the Order of Inquisitors had seemed a relic of the distant past, any danger once posed faded with time into mere memory - stories.

“This...Inquisitor, I shot him. Twice. He's dead.” Ada said this firmly but Ben could feel the fuzzy edges of her doubt through the Force.

Ben chose not to argue, allowing his silence to speak for him. The Inquisitor wasn't dead.

Ada sighed and leaned back against her chair. She shook her head in disbelief and pressed her palms against her eyes. There was a pause. Then...

“Are you Jedi?”

Ben was alarmed by the question. He was irritated with himself for being unprepared for it, but his recent life had been so solitary, so secretive, he'd never had to think about answering it before.

“No,” he replied too quickly, his tone gruffer than he'd intended.

Ada observed him coolly and he felt exposed under her piercing scrutiny. She might not have the Force, but Gods she was perceptive. Ben could tell that she wasn't satisfied with his answer, but he was relieved when she chose to move on.

“But you are like Tallah? You're …gifted? With the Force I mean.”

“Yes.” Then, “People know of the Force in Wild Space?”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ben regretted how clumsy and patronising they sounded.

“It's just space to us,” Ada rebuked with a playful smirk.

“Right,” he acquiesced and held up his hands in a small gesture of surrender.

“Some see it as nothing more than ancient myth. Others recognise its existence but are scared by it.” Ada's expression turned grave. “They let their ignorance and superstition rule them. They see it as witchcraft.”

There was a pause while Ben chose his next words carefully.

“Ada, this Inquisitor is hunting, tracking...that's what he's been doing in Tallah's dreams. He won't stop until...”

He paused abruptly, suddenly sensing a small, uncertain presence in the Force like someone tugging at his sleeve. He turned around in his chair to see Tallah standing shyly in the doorway.

“Hey kid,” he said as gently as possible. Fleetingly, he marvelled at how much he sounded like his father. “You coming in?”

She nodded, and padded across the room silently. She crawled up and on to the chair next to her aunt, all previous exuberance muted. Ben knew then that despite his own reservations, his own jaded perceptions of the Jedi Order, there was only one place in the Galaxy right now that this little girl would be safe and that was at Rey's Temple.

Ben reached across and took Ada's hand again, hoping to get the urgency of his point across without frightening Tallah further. Her palm was warm from cradling the caf.

“I know some people who can help you, but we have to go right now,” he said. “Will you let me take you to them?”

Ada looked down at the top of Tallah's golden head, then across the table at Ben. She squeezed his hand and gave him a single nod.

*****

“This is codename Raven 56214 with a message for General Dameron. Request urgent rendezvous. Running supply and mid-way point is site…”

There was a pause while the speaker consulted his nav computer and gave the corresponding scrambled location.

“...Site Delta 18. Approx two days out. I repeat, I am requesting urgent rendezvous.”

Finn's eyes flicked to Poe Dameron's furious face as the pilot turned war leader turned statesman terminated message playback with an angry flourish.

“Who the hell does he think he is?!” Poe jumped up from his desk and walked to the floor to ceiling panoramic window of his office.

A muscle worked in his chiselled jaw, as it always did when he was angry. He leaned against the glass, resting his forehead against one raised arm and staring out at the sun setting over the endless city of Coruscant.

Finn watched him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation at the typical volatility of his reaction.

“You gave him the means to communicate with us....” Finn started, but he didn't get far.

“Ach, I was just being nice!” came the predictably facetious retort.

“No you weren't, Poe,” Finn admonished firmly, walking over to join his partner and placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

He felt Poe's agitation, his restlessness through the Force. Finn knew that although he would never admit it, Poe was missing the adventure of war time. He hated being cooped up in a stuffy office and, most of all, he missed flying his X-Wing.

“You thought he might be useful,” Finn continued calmly. “You thought you might get intel from him one of these days and here we are.”

“You really think he might have something, huh?” Poe was pointedly refusing to look at Finn, who could tell this meant he was getting through.

“Look, I don't think he likes us any more than we like him. But he's never made contact before...it could be something.”

“Yeah, well I don't trust him.” Poe crossed his arms defiantly and kept his gaze fixed on the lights of the city traffic whizzing by.

Finn sighed and walked over to join him at the window.

“Look,” he said, “We'll go see what he wants. If he tries anything, you can shoot him. And then I'll shoot him. And then you can shoot him again.” He nudged Poe with his shoulder. “At least it'll get us out of the city for a few days.”

“Fine.” Poe finally looked up and into Finn's face, his dark eyes flecked with the gold of Coruscant's setting sun. “OK, fine. I just...I never wanted to hear that son of a bitch's voice ever again.”

Finn smiled, “That makes two of us.”

He gave Poe a gentle kiss on the forehead before grabbing him into a headlock and ruffling his chocolate curls. Poe pushed him off, laughing, and Finn was pleased to feel that his energy was lighter.

“Alright,” Poe sighed once he'd regained some composure, “Let's move then.”

********************************************************************

Ada stood in the kitchen of the Swift making herself another cup of caf. She was feeling nervous. Ben's ship was rather ...well... old. They'd had to drop out of the hyper lanes again to rest the engines. She could almost feel the Inquisitor breathing down their necks.

Tallah had spoken of her nightmares about the Inquisitor before, but Ada had never suspected that they were anything more than bad memories manifesting as dreams.

She'd fled with Tallah because she feared the repercussions of her actions that night for both of them. Now, she was horrified to understand that the threat was even greater than she'd imagined. The Inquisitor lived and he was tracking them, pursing them through Tallah's dreams.

That's what frightened Ada the most - the fact that the Inquisitor had tried to take Tallah away. She knew the old stories. She'd heard how, during the height of Imperial power, Inquisitors serving the Empire would hunt down Jedi in packs and slaughter any that they found without quarter. She hadn't really grasped that to continue their heinous work, the Inquisitors needed to procure a supply of Force sensitive children that they could train, turn to the Dark, and twist into monsters like themselves.

Ada couldn't bear to imagine Tallah being fashioned into a weapon like that.

Then there was Ben. There was something irritatingly fascinating about him. It was a distraction Ada didn't need or want. But she couldn't help but be enraptured by the way he moved, the way he spoke.

Despite his height which would have made some men clumsy and awkward, Ben's whole physicality was assured and certain. His movements were fluid and confident and he never appeared to hesitate before he acted, whether it be pulling manoeuvres with the Swift or pouring a cup of caf.

When he spoke, his tone was low, almost quiet, but it was always firm and steady. And when he looked at Ada, his gaze was so intense it was almost hypnotising and she found it difficult to tear herself away from those searching gold eyes.

But there was something else, something almost elemental about him. Ada had the impression that something inside him was like a pent up like a coiled spring. It was like there was a constant, barely restrained energy thrumming through his entire body just waiting to be unleashed in an explosion of power. She almost wanted to see it.

Ben the enigma. Ben the cargo pilot. Ben the Force wielder. Ben not a Jedi.

Ada hadn't been convinced by his all too-quick denial. And Tallah had confided in her that Ben had been wielding a lightsaber in their shared dream. If Tallah's description of Ben in combat was anything to go by, he seemed like a good ally to have on their side.

Whatever the truth was, he genuinely seemed to want to help them. She didn't see what other choice she had but to trust him. And in any case, he appeared to have an obvious self-interest in avoiding the Inquisitor himself. He had a target on his back too.

Ada was thrust out of her thoughts by a loud bang. The Swift lurched violently to a full stop and she fell hard to the floor, banging her head painfully against the metal work top.

“Kriff!” She hissed, pressing a hand to her head as she used a nearby stool to pull herself upright again. She was bleeding.

She heard heavy footsteps approaching and looked up to see Ben striding through from the cockpit, Tallah in tow, scurrying to keep up with his long gait.

“You ok?” he asked.

He reached out and gently grasped her chin, turning her head so he could examine the small cut on her temple.

“Fine,” she replied, reeling slightly from the forwardness of his touch, “What's going on?”

“Pirates!” Tallah shouted with inappropriate exuberance, although Ada was happy to see she was feeling more like her old self.

Ada raised an eyebrow and looked at Ben who was trying to conceal an almost goofy grin at Tallah's excitement. Strange how he looked much younger when he smiled.

“Pirates,” he confirmed levelly. “They've locked on to us, we're being boarded. Come on.”

He led them over to the middle of the Swift's living area and lifted up one of the floor panels.

“What are you going to do?” Ada asked, climbing down into the hatch.

She received a crooked smirk in reply as Ben passed Tallah down to her.

“Oh I'll think of something. Always do.” Then, suddenly serious, he said, “Don't come out. Whatever happens.”

“Ominous,” Tallah muttered as Ben replaced the panel.

Ada looked down at her, amused.

“Ominous, huh? That's a new one.”

“Well, it's accurate...”

“Yeah,” Ada agreed, “Got me there, kid.”

It wasn't the best hiding place. Each half a metre square panel had a thin perimeter of durasteel grating, so it was actually quite easy to see what was going on above them. They'd have to be silent and motionless and hope none of their uninvited guests thought to look down.

Ada wished she had her blaster with her, but it was locked away safely in a box in her room.

Sighing, she sat down against a support column. She patted the floor next to her and Tallah joined her, burrowing her way under her arm and snuggled in close. A heavy clunk and accompanying hiss told them that the pirate vessel had secured itself onto the Swift's side door.

*********************************************************************

Ben didn't know quite how he was going to play this. He couldn't risk using the Force, not with an Inquisitor on his back and Tallah and Ada on board, and there was no way he was going to start firing off blaster bolts on his ship. He was probably going to have to talk his way out of it.

Skywalker and Solo blood running through his veins, Ben was a skilled pilot and it was rare for pirates to ever actually get as far as boarding the Swift. But the old girl's engines had been running full tilt in the hyper lanes for far longer than he'd usually allow, and there was no way she was ready to make the jump back to light speed.

So now there were six burley pirates making themselves at home on his ship. Ben was pretty sure he might be able to dispatch three, maybe even four in an old fashioned punch-up, but six? Without the Force or a lightsaber? Probably not.

“So,” the pirate leader bit into a Meiloorun fruit that Ben had been saving for Tallah. His many piercing jingled as he chewed. “Where are the other two?”

“Other two what?” Ben kept his tone even.

The pirate, who was apparently named Hansen Draw, was pacing slow circles around him, scuffing his boots along the Swift's common room floor and leaving ugly black marks. Two of his lackeys, one squat and heavily built, the other thin and lanky, and both incredibly dim looking stood either side of Ben.

The three others had lumbered off through the Swift towards the cargo hold on their leader's request and they were probably turning it inside out at that very moment.

They were in for a sore disappointment when they found that all the crates carried were bespoke machinery parts for construction of a new dam on Naboo, Ben thought wryly. Useless for any other purpose unless they wanted to make micro-credits selling it for scrap metal on the black market.

“The other two people on this charming little ship,” Hansen Draw continued, gesturing around at the Swift. “We scanned for life signs...” he held up the only three stubby fingers left on his right hand and wiggled them. “Three.”

He grinned an unpleasant, wolfish smile.

“I'm carrying Pyro-salt,” answered Ben, trying to channel his father's glib confidence.

“Jawas pay premium for it," he continued, "They use it in electrolytes to service their machinery. Messes up life sign reading sometimes but...”

“I just can't help wondering,” Draw cut him off as if he hadn't spoken, “Why would you be hiding people... on a ship that obviously transports people. Are they special people? Worth something, perhaps? A bounty?”

The old Solo charm and misdirection clearly wasn't going to cut it today.

“I don't know what you're...”

Ben stopped abruptly as he moved instinctively just in time to catch Draw's pudgy closed fist as it lashed out towards his face. It was sticky with fruit juice. Ben felt a flash of irritation. This was getting boring now. He took a step toward the pirate, dwarfing the other man as he draw himself up to his full height.

The two cronies were on him in seconds. One punched him in the back, the blow landing painfully in between the kidneys, while the other gave him a hard kick behind the legs, forcing him to the ground and onto his knees. Their heavy hands dug into his shoulders, keeping him there.

Draw backhanded Ben sharply across the face, the rings that bedecked his few remaining fingers connecting painfully with his cheek and drawing blood. The pirate grabbed a fistful of Ben's dark hair, forcing him to look up into his furious face. His long silver beard was flecked with Meiloorun flesh and stray seeds.

“No need to get worked up, lad,” He let go of Ben's hair, pushing his head away roughly. “We're just … curious.”

Draw spread his arms wide in an over the top performance of mock friendliness. The short thug let out a gormless chuckle.

Ben said nothing. Under the pernicious influence of the Dark Side he had been a slave to every excruciating emotion, particularly anger. Nowadays, he had infinitely more mastery over himself but he still was able to recognise that backing down from a fight had never been one of his strong points, even as a Padawan Learner under Luke's tutelage. His dark expression betrayed him, eyes blazing with defiance.

Ben's silence was rewarded with a swift, hard kick to the ribs from the gangly looking pirate. He doubled over, badly winded. He touched his forehead to the cold durasteel floor and curled his fingers tight around the grating until the metal dug into the skin. Eyes squeezed shut, he tried to ground himself in the Force. When he opened them, he saw Ada's and Tallah's faces staring up at him through the gaps in the floor.

Ben felt an ill-timed rush of amusement as he sensed Ada's exasperation at the whole scenario. There was genuine concern for him, yes, but also a prevailing thread of impatience that their predicament was still ongoing.

Despite only knowing her a few days, Ben had no doubt that if Tallah wasn't there, Ada would probably be up here with him and she would likely have thought of something clever to say by now to get them out of this.

His musings on Ada were rudely interrupted as he was hauled roughly back up onto his feet.

Suddenly, there was an almighty boom which rattled the Swift violently as if it were merely a toy ship on a market stall. It was the sound of a vessel, a big one, dropping out of light speed.

Draw looked over to the nearest window and whistled. Before he had a chance to speak, the three pirates who had been rifling through the Swift's cargo hold came bursting into the living area, tripping over each other, and pointing dumbly and breathlessly out into space.

“I see it boys, I see it! Woo!” Draw exclaimed with exuberance, clapping Ben on the back as if they were old friends and steering him towards the window by his elbow.

“You ever see something like that, lad? Now that's a ship.”

Ben couldn't believe his eyes. He had, in fact, seen something like that - in a history holo. It was a first generation Imperial I-class Star Destroyer. A gargantuan grey giant hanging impossibly in the sky. Half the ship looked to be in darkness and it was falling apart. Huge chunks were missing from its enormous frame, whether from battle or disrepair and neglect, Ben couldn't say. He wondered how it was still even flying.

“Well,” Draw quipped conversationally, patting Ben's shoulder “We are outta here. Thank you for your hospitality, young man.”

“Always a bigger fish...” Ben mused out loud, still staring out the window aghast and trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing.

Hansen Draw laughed jovially, “I kinda like you, lad.”

He and his men were already moving to make a quick exit and re-board their own ship.

Without warning, Ben felt a disruption in the Force so acute and so intense that it knocked the breath out of him. He slammed both palms up against the glass, and gasped in several deep lungfuls of air.

The Inquisitor was on that ship. And he wasn't alone.

******************************************************************

Ada heard the loud clanging of metal on metal as the the pirate vessel hurriedly disengaged from the Swift, accompanied by the the thud of Ben's boots above. His face suddenly appeared as he threw the durasteel hatch aside and reached down towards them. His expression was urgent and there was blood trickling from a gash in his right cheek.

Ada passed Tallah up to him and he lifted her out.

“Cockpit,” she heard Ben say gently but firmly, followed by Tallah's quick, little steps on the floor above retreating in that direction.

Then, Ben held out his hands for Ada to grab and she hauled herself up and out of the hole with his help. Not able to get her feet underneath her quick enough, she tripped over the edge of the hatch, falling into Ben who caught her against his solid chest, big hands coming to rest on her hips. Neither of them moved for a moment, staring rather stupidly at one another.

“You're bleeding,” Ada said finally.

She reached up and touched his face, mirroring Ben's actions not half an hour prior. She brushed her thumb lightly across his defined cheekbone just above where he'd been stuck. He looked surprised at her touch, but the deep dimples starting to crease at the edges of his mouth betrayed the ghost of a smile.

Ada felt the pressure of his finger tips on her hips increase almost imperceptively. Ben's golden eyes flickered momentarily down to her lips and she felt a rush of something hot travel up from the pit of her stomach into her cheeks. He gently removed his hands from their resting place and then, as if waking from a daydream, his face turned solemn as he refocused.

“We gotta get out of here, Ada,” he said quietly, “C'mon.”

Then he turned and stalked off towards the Swift's cockpit.

Ada went to follow him but stopped dead in her tracks as she happened to glance out the Swift's living area window as she passed. A behemoth of a ship was hanging in the blackness of space a mere stone's throw away. It was an Imperial ship, a Destroyer probably, like the ones that dominated the skies of countless worlds during her parents' youth during the height of the Empire's power.

The only one she'd ever seen in real life had been rotting away in the Pantoon swamps back home on Bakura. Ada had been a teenager, exploring the wilds with her two friends, Zena and Denni. They had gone much further out than they were meant to and had come across the downed ship. Its elephantine remnants had still been terrifying to behold even as a dead, decaying husk, decades after it had fallen from the sky.

“We gotta get out of here,” she echoed Ben's words quietly to herself as she followed in his wake to the cockpit.

Tallah had already jumped up into the copilot's chair – Ada wasn't sure when they had agreed on that, but now was not the time to discuss seating arrangements – and was attempting to buckle herself in.

She watched with a faint smile as Ben momentarily paused his ritual of deftly flicking switches and pressing buttons on the Swift's flight controls to reach across and secure Tallah's belt for her.

“We're jumping to light speed,” Ben said matter of factly, as he worked quickly to draw up their course on the nav computer.

Ada scowled at the back of his head as she bucked her own safety belt in the passenger seat behind Tallah. Was he trying to blow them all up?

“I thought you said...”

“I know what I said,” Ben cut her off, his delivery sharp.

For only the second time since they'd strapped in, Ben took his eyes of the Swift's flight deck and turned to face her, his expression apologetic but determined.

When he spoke again, his tone was soft but no less pressing.

“We don't have a choice, Ada,” His eyes flicked meaningfully towards Tallah, “We need to go. Now.”

“The man is here,” stated Tallah from the copilot's chair.

Ada's stomach dropped. Of course he was, she thought to herself. Because the absurd appearance of an ancient Imperial Star Destroyer in the Outer Rim wasn't enough of a problem for today.

Ada looked back at Ben and gave him a nod to show she agreed. He was right. They might outrun the ancient colossus at cruising velocity for a time, but the Swift would run out of fuel long before the Destroyer. Jumping to light speed with the Swift's engines in an unstable condition was a risk. But if the Inquisitor was on that ship, staying here would mean a death sentence for them. And perhaps a fate worse than death for Tallah.

Ben punched the final flight commands into the nav computer, and Ada closed her eyes. All her life, she'd never gotten used to the unnatural sensation of her stomach rising up into her throat as a ship catapulted itself into hyper space.

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