Skywalker Rises

A Second Chance

A piece of debris from the exploded ship lay a dozen metres away. Too close for comfort. Ben collected Rey into his arms and squeezed her until she squeaked. 

"You did well," he said, burying his face in her hair. 

"I had excellent assistance," she said. 

"How did you manage that?" he asked, putting her down and motioning to the smoldering chunk of the Knights' ship.

"Rey was awesome!" said the kid. "She opened up one of those droids, and," he stopped talking, and wiggled his fingers around, "and then it did what she said!" 

Rey pressed her lips together in a failed attempt to prevent a smile. "I wiped its kill command," Rey explained. "And then I reprogrammed it to self-destruct as soon as it entered space." 

"They were killed by their own stupidity, then," said Ben. 

"They were killed by me," she clarified. 

Ben squinted at her, unsure if he had misunderstood. She looked defeated. "You knew we had to kill them," he said quietly. 

She shrugged. "I don't like killing. Not even bad people. I just hoped it would end after the First Order was defeated."

The Mandalorian had joined them. "It is good to dislike bloodshed," he said. "But we don't have the luxury of such high ideals. Not in this galaxy." 

Ben had decided a while ago that the Mandalorian was someone he could like. In time. Ben hadn't liked very many people. He'd developed grudging respect for those who were talented, but he hadn't liked them. The kid though - that might take some work. 

"What about the last one?" said Rey.

"Let's give him a chance," said Ben. 

The words coming out of his mouth felt wrong. The shape of them took effort to push out. A chance? He didn't think he'd ever considered giving anyone a chance in his entire life. Even before he'd fully turned.  

"Why?" asked the Mandalorian.

"He didn't come with the others," said Ben. "It could be unrelated. He may not have been with them at all. The one on Coruscant came alone. But this one, might, just might, have a chance at redemption." 

"We could save him!" said the kid.

"I thought you wanted to kill them all?" said Ben.

"I like killing droids," said the kid. "Things that aren't living."

"If we can avoid killing these droids," said the Mandalorian, "I can think of many uses for reprogrammed K2s." 

"It will take me a while to fix them," said Rey. "I better start." 

Ben looked up at the afternoon sky. Something had pricked his awareness. He focused, and located the man in the ship rapidly approaching the planet.

"Time to deal with number six," said Ben. "Will you all head into the Razor Crest and wait for me? I should face him alone."

He wanted them out of the way and in a safe place. Not that Rey was safe if he was injured, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about both of them. And if he was honest, the kid's statement about Ben not doing any work had rankled. He needed to regain a bit of his lost pride. 

The Mandalorian nodded, motioned for his son to follow, and left without question. Rey glanced at the sky, and then fixed him with a searching stare. What would he do if she refused? He knew he would defer to her. She was the leader now. 

"Be careful," she said. And she turned and walked away. 

Ben exhaled in relief. 

Kuruk, the pilot and unmatched marksman, landed within visual range and disembarked. Each death of the Ren had rippled out through the galaxy. Not as strongly as with Jedi deaths, but Kuruk surely knew of the death of his comrades. This Knight was different from the others. He was a loner. It was right that he came alone now, too.

Ben didn't draw a weapon. He stood and waited for the other man to draw near. Kuruk stopped within speaking distance. His blaster hung on his back. Within the space of a blink he would engage. 

"We did not meet on Exegol," said Ben. "Why?"

For some unknown reason, he had only faced some of the Knights the day Palpatine died. Ben still couldn't figure out how Palpatine had convinced them to turn on him, or why some of them hadn't been there.

The Knight flexed his fingers into a fist and relaxed them. Then he bowed. "I did not wish to fight you."

"Why?" said Ben.

"I pledged myself to protect you," said Kuruk. "And I did not like that wrinkled old demon man."

Ben laughed. His nervousness eased a bit more. 'Wrinkled old demon man' was the most perfect description of Palpatine he had ever heard.

"The Jedi killed him," said Ben.

Kuruk nodded. "I saw."

"Why are you here?"

"I came to you. I came to find out if you still retain the shadow. The demon man said you did not."

"And?"

"He was wrong."

Ben took a steadying breath. "He was."

"My brethren are dead. The shadow in you is weak now."

"It will grow weaker still. If I asked you to lay down your weapon and retire your service to me, would you consider?"

Ben held his breath. Kuruk removed his blaster from his back and held it. The man would know the minute Ben used the Force, even if just to shield himself. And his weapon would be faster. Kuruk had always been sensitive to the Force. Ben had been in too many high risk situations lately for his liking. 

"If you ask it, my lord, I will obey you. Even in this." 

Kuruk knelt down and placed his blaster on the ground. He tugged his helmet off and it joined the weapon. 

"Do no more harm. I don't care where you go. But don't ever let me see you again."

Kuruk's hair was nearly white, and his face careworn. He squinted into the bright sunshine. Ben remembered how hard it had been to adjust to living without the mask.

Then Kuruk returned to his ship and departed.