Star Wars: The After Math

Chapter 29: Tales Of A Time Forgotten

"What are you doing boy?" Lor San Tekka asked as he crossed his arms and looked down at the shell shocked Ben Solo standing in front of his light blue eyes. The youth looked up at the old man and considered making a run for it for a second, but then his mother would be sure to know he had lied about coming to see Tekka. He had no choice but to stay and visit the old man; and put on a happy face whilst doing it.

"I- I...wanted to know if you needed any help around here," Ben successfully pulled off another lie.

Lor San Tekka looked down at him in deep thought for a moment before smirking and nodding his head to the inside of his home, "I could use some help clearing out a few boxes, if you're up for the job, that is."

"Yes Sir," Ben replied and followed the old man further into the hut. Tekka picked up a box and asked Ben to grab the other one. He obeyed and picked up the other box. It was heavier than Ben had anticipated, but not too hard for the youth to lift. "Let's go outside, it's very beautiful out today, isn't it boy?" Tekka asked him and opened the hut's door. Ben nodded and followed behind him. When they reached a tree, Lor San Tekka sat his box down and Ben did the same. He opened up the box and it had an assortment of things in it. Pictures, artifacts, lightsaber crystals, a couple blasters, and even an old news paper dated: "21 BBY".

"What's this mean?" Ben asked Lor San Tekka as he pointed to the date on the paper.

"It's the date the paper came out. 21 BBY. . . That was the smack middle of the Clone Wars." Tekka said as he opened his box, it had almost the same contents that the one before it had. Ben ran his finger over the smooth paper. It felt like a worn out piece of junk, torn apart, neglected, and broken down over the years that were nothing but hard times to it. Ben thought that nothing should be like that, yet, still, that's exactly how he felt at times.

"What was it like?" Ben asked curiously. "Living during two different wars, and now maybe even a third one?" Tekka paused for a moment and looked up at the sky, then back down at Ben, who was waiting for an answer from him.

"It was terrible," he had considered lying to the boy at first, but that wouldn't have gotten him anywhere. Instead, he told Ben the truth about the wars, Clone and Empire alike. "After so many years of fighting and rebellion, you'd think people would learn their lesson after a while. But no, they just keep making the same old mistakes over and over again until they destroy themselves all together."

"So you're saying that even if you can bring balance to the Galaxy, a war is too much of a cost?" Ben asked with a curious face. Tekka nodded and looked Ben in the eye. "I'm saying that maybe before we kill each other off, we could think about what good we're doing for the future generation of people or creatures. And as for that balance to the Galaxy, back in my day, there was a man who was thought to be able to bring balance to the force and the Galaxy. We called him 'The Chosen One'. But he didn't do much help at all, in fact, he actually made it worse. Much worse." Once Tekka finished speaking, Ben recognized who that man was. . . his grandfather. . .Darth Vader. They sat in silence for a while whilst sorting through the boxes, Tekka took the time to explain the meaning behind each of the objects and Ben took the time to listen to him. He learned many things about Lor San Tekka's earlier life. For one, he was a member of a thing called The Church of the Force. It was an underground faith made up of loosely affiliated worshipers of the Jedi ideals. Members of the faith believed that the Jedi Order would not only one day return, but that its return was essential in bringing balance to the Force.

"Can you tell me about one of the wars?" Ben asked Tekka and he smiled. "Sure. Which one, boy?" He asked in reply. "The downfall of the Jedi, if you count that as a war." The youth said, eager to know more about his grandfathers decent to the dark side and why he did it.  "Alright. The man I told you about earlier, The Chosen One, it is said he had a dream, a Jedi vision, if you will. The vision he had showed him his wife dying in childbirth, of course, he didn't want this to happen, so he went to stop it. This, unfortunately, led to his fall to the dark side. He had so much anger held in his whole life from losing loved ones that he couldn't take it any longer, he cracked because he believed that the Sith were able to save people from dying and that they held more power than the Jedi."