FLYING SOLO ➳ luke skywalker

THREE! THE FORCE

ANALIA spent most of the flight time sat in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon with Han. Once the pain in her leg receded and she could walk while feeling only discomfort, she stood up and retreated to the main of the ship.

Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 were dotted around the dejarik board. Luke was stood in the centre of the room, holding a glowing blue sword as Ben studied his movements with said sword. Analia frowned at the unusual scene before her. Somewhat hazy memories of a remarkably familiar flashing of blue attempted to inch their way into her mind, and then, like an explosion, everything came rushing back to her with such rapidity that her head spun.

Suddenly, she realised exactly why Ben seemed so familiar. She had the notion to rush back to the cockpit and shut herself inside until they reached Alderaan. It had been how many years? Eleven? Twelve? Definitely a decade, at least. But if she recognised Ben, he could surely recall her face, even if it had matured greatly.

Luke glanced over his shoulder. Great, Analia had been spotted. There was no use in fleeing back to the cockpit now. When he spotted her, Luke moved to help Analia walk but she promptly waved him down, telling him that she was fine. She sat herself down and swung her injured leg up on the bench.

"How's your leg?" Luke asked.

"Fine," she grunted. "It only hurts a little. I've had worse happen to me."

She peeled back the bandage on her leg to examine the wound, only to grimace in disgust. It was lathered in a pungent and congealed layer of greenish-yellow pus-like substance.

"Should've cleaned the wound first," she muttered, then she looked at Luke and grinned. He laughed gently, shaking his head. "So, what's with the blue blade?"

She knew exactly what the blue blade was, but if by any small chance Ben had not yet realised who she was, she was willing to do everything in her power to make sure he didn't figure it out. Playing dumb was her strategy.

"It's called a lightsaber," Ben answered. "They were the weapons of the Jedi."

Being spoken to directly by Ben sent a shiver racing down Analia's spine. As she spoke, she refused to meet his eyes.

"Jedi?" Analia repeated. "That old sorcerer clan?"

"The Jedi were keepers of the peace," Ben explained calmly. "Luke's father was a Jedi."

Analia had heard stories about the Jedi, but she didn't know much about them. She had only ever had one run-in with one; all she knew was that they had some sort of weird power that allowed them to move things with their mind, and that they were wiped out completely when the Empire first rose to power. They were deemed as traitors, and the Empire had spent a great deal of time hunting any Jedi survivors of the Purge.

"Are you a Jedi?" Analia questioned Ben despite the fact that she already knew the answer. Playing dumb. 

Ben, however, was too distracted with other matters to respond or even register the fact that he had been addressed. The man clutched his chest and stumbled backwards, collapsing into a seat. At once, Luke turned off his lightsaber and hurried over to aid Ben.

"Are you alright?" he asked apprehensively. "What's wrong?"

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force," Ben said, his voice heavy. His breathing was short and quick. "As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I feel something terrible has happened."

Analia felt her blood run cold. She had no idea what the Force was—as far as she was concerned, Old Ben was just a tiny bit delusional—but millions of people suddenly screaming before being silenced? That sounded like a cause for concern to her.