Force Destiny

War Crimes

Rose rounded the corner of detention block D, finding Finn and Poe standing with two guards in front of cell 1138. A blue energy shield secured the only entrance to the cell—most likely a particle shield—on the off chance the thick transparasteel doors were breached. A red hue emanated from the inside the cell, and Rose surmised that the prisoner was also contained by a Force-suppressive ray shield. She had seen them once in a Force-sensitive cell at the base on D'Qar. The two heavily weaponized guards were merely a formality; escape was futile.

This was how they treated the man who saved them all?

Poe and Finn stood before the cell, heads bowed as they talked quietly. It must have been a heated discussion, because Poe was enunciating his words aggressively with his hands, and Finn was jabbing his finger into his friend's chest. Rose stepped up cheerfully, as though they weren't about to tear out each other's throats. "Well, I've got the clothes, but apparently the entire galaxy fell apart when I left. He's awake? Why is he in here? What did you two do?"

Her smile faded when Finn turned to look at her. His eyes were blood-shot and glassy. In her growing dread, she began to wonder why. If they had to lock the former Supreme Leader away in a cell, he had to have become a danger to everyone else. She could only think of one reason why he would have become violent. "What happened?" she asked, fear tightening in her voice. "Where's Rey?"

Finn was still silent, staring into her eyes as if searching for the strength to speak. Poe seemed to understand her line of thinking and jumped in to assure her. "Rey is awake. She's fine." Finn turned to glare at him and Poe amended, "Well, there's nothing physically wrong with her. She'll be fine, once we figure out how to fix this."

"You could start fixing this by calling it off," Finn snapped angrily. Evidently, everything had fallen apart in the short time Rose had been gone.

"Call what off?"

"Tell her," Finn demanded. "Tell her the promise you broke."

"It's not that easy!" Poe said in exasperation before turning to reason with Rose. "Kylo...Ben...that guy in there has been arrested for war crimes against the New Republic. I told Finn I would help him escape before they arrested him, but he wouldn't cooperate. Now I have to convince the other council members to amend the sentence, even though Ben is adamant he won't fight the obligatory punishment."

Finn continued to prod Poe into telling her the truth, rather than saying it himself. "Tell her why."

"We talked to Ben when he woke up and..." Poe turned to Finn for assistance but was met with an icy stare. "He asked about his parents, so I told him he killed his father. He freaked out, and now he can't remember anything."

Rose narrowed her eyes. This was why she had insisted they not be left alone with the former Supreme Leader. "What do you mean 'can't remember anything?'"

Finn finally turned back to meet her imploring gaze. "He lost everything, Rose. He doesn't remember any of it. Not who he is, or his family, or us, or the war, or...Rey. All he knows is he was a war criminal who killed his father. Now he is refusing to fight his sentence."

Rose couldn't bear looking at them, let alone speaking with them after how royally they screwed up. There was not a chance that she would allow the man her best friend nearly died to save to accept his sentence without a fight. She would fix it, with or without their help. "Open the doors, I'm going in there."

"Rose, it could be dangerous—"

She ignored her fiancé, focusing instead on the two men standing between her and the cell. "Let me in." The guards looked to Poe, who waved his hand in acquiescence. One moved to a control panel, and the transparasteel door opened as the particle shield blinked away. Rose stepped through the entryway to see the man who had singlehandedly affected all of their lives, for better and for worse.