Alternate Life ~ A Star Wars Story

15: Ben?

I continue to run and bump into a giant figure that knocks me down. I hear the familiar growl. I shake off the dizziness and see Chewie.

I stand up and hug him, my emotions finally taking over.

"What's wrong?" Finn asks, as he stands next to Chewie.

"Take me away from this place," I bawl.

"Let's go back to Poe."

I latch onto Chewie as he carries me. I cry into his fur, and close my eyes as tight as I can. I feel used. I feel betrayed. I should have known better, but it's as if my emotions got the best of me. That's what he wanted all along. For all I know he could be lying about everything that he said.

I open my eyes and feel relief as Chewie sits me down at the sabacc table. He sits next to me, and tells me that they were able to translate the dagger. I lean my head on his fuzzy arm. My emotions clouding my mind, making me unable to think clearly.

"I miss how things used to be," I admit.

He pats me on the head and goes to find me something to cheer me up, just how he used to when I was little. I have to admit that sometimes it did work. He would give me little trinkets that captured my attention for hours and made me forget about the reason I was crying, but I'm afraid it's a different time now.

I feel the ship rumble, and then quickly stabilize.

"Hold on!" I hear Poe yell. I carefully stumble to the cockpit.

"Where are we going?"

"Kef Bir," Poe answers. "Our wayfinder is in the wreckage of the Death Star that lies there."

"Wow," I yawn. "You guys really got it done."

"With 9 hours left too," Finn adds.

I turn to leave when a hand grabs my wrist. It's Finn.

"I feel your pain, Commander. Are you okay?"

I snatch my hand away from him, puzzled.

"I'm sorry? Are you Force sensitive?"

"I guess so," he shrugs. "But are you alright, genuinely?"

"I will be," I smile, my smile fading as I walk back to the table. I sit down and fold my arms across my chest, thoughts consume my brain. The death of Han randomly begins to replay in my mind. Reliving the moment sickens me to my stomach. As I think about Han, I also visualize Leia standing next to him. But she isn't gone yet. The thought of her leaving, depresses me severely.

I try to reach out to her, through the Force, but I receive no touch back. She's still there, just not giving back the feeling.

"Commander! Get ready to jump onto the wreckage, the Falcon is unstable and going down!"

"What?!"

"30 seconds!" Poe screams. "Jump now!"

I run to the door and slam down the button to open it. It opens, water misting the air, and I instantly hear the crashing of waves. I jump and begin to fall. It's like time stands still when I fall, like I'm in slow motion. I try to direct my fall to a giant metal slab that is almost orangish brown because of rust. I fall hard onto my knees and curse to myself.

I sit on my butt and examine my leg, my pants are now split at my knee and I'm gushing blood. I wipe the blood on my hands on my pants and stand, shifting my weight to my opposite leg. I begin to adventure through the abandoned wreckage, climbing up structures that I believe will lead me to the wayfinder.

I try to look out to the distance, but see nothing besides fog and mist. I crawl until I make it to the old metal room that Palpatine used to spend on the Death Star. A door opens and I walk through it, and hear whispers in a language I have never heard. I imagine it is the language of the Sith, the same language that Threepio was forbidden to translate.