Star Wars: I Am a Slave ✓

Chapter 75 - Funeral for a General

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

Luke sat in the pilot's seat, missing his old friend Han who should be here, missing Leia, missing Rey. His heart ached for them all, and a darkness grew inside of him, a hatred for Snoke—the creature that had caused so much pain and hurt to his family. Only through Force meditation was Luke able to bring himself back to his sense of calm, the peace that a Jedi Master was known for.

His nephew Ben was sedated, but restless. Luke could feel the visions he was having—visions of things Ben had done in the past, visions of Rey, visions of the Purge. At times it battered against Luke's well-structured shields, eating in at him. He was not sure if sedating Ben was such a good idea, but he was unsure how to control him otherwise. As much as the boy was his nephew, his only family left him, he was also a violent criminal who needed to stand trial for his atrocities. The Resistance would not let him off scot-free, and neither would Luke. It was not revenge but justice that must be served. And then he would still need Ben's help if the galaxy would ever be rid of Snoke—he would need both Ben and Rey's help. He only wished Rey had resisted and had not done anything truly awful yet.

Luke returned his attention to the exit from hyperspace. He was barely functioning himself, but Ben was not allowed to know the location of this new base. In fact, none of the team had been told the location. Only Luke knew it and Artoo. He figured Chewbacca would figure out where they were eventually, but this was a proscribed planet. No one else should be able to figure it out.

As the Falcon exited hyperspace into the Wild Space region, Luke pulled the ship around the blue and green planet below him. The freighter skimmed the top of the tcholoowaer trees and ran through the canyon. He passed over the remains of a building, which he had blasted to bits long ago, pulling the freighter to the other side of the planet, the side he knew Ben had never seen. The snow was thick in the upper elevations, but in the foothills it was just a light dusting. The Falcon disturbed the light powder as Luke landed it in a snowy field surrounded by hundreds of other ships.

Temporary shelters were already being built. The High Command was operating from a deep cavern in the mountain, not too far from the landing field. The deciduous tsiein trees were sprinkled all throughout the rolling hills, leafless in the bitter chill wind. As Finn lowered the Falcon's ramp, he asked Luke, "What is this place?"

____________________________________

Luke had made his way from the cockpit to the ramp as Chewbacca shut down the engines. "That's on a need-to-know basis, and right not—"

"I don't need to know," mentioned Finn. "Got it."

"Send out some of your men to go cut down two of three tsieein trees into logs about a half meter in length. I'll be out in a few to assist with the pyre," indicated Luke, sounding more relaxed and stronger than he had in the last few hours.

"What are you going to do?"

"It's time to wake-up Lord Ren back there," indicated Luke.

"What about the General?" asked Finn.

"I'll take care of her myself. Leave her where she is for now until the pyre is built," mentioned Luke.

"The High Command is not going to like it," mentioned Finn.

"They don't have to. I'm her next-of-kin. We will do it my way," stated Luke more fiercely than he had intended.

____________________________________

Luke headed back to the med bay. Ben struggled under the restraints and the drugs. Luke briefly touched his mind and saw the Purge yet again. Luke could not take it anymore. He had put those memories into his past, and if he dwelt on them any longer, he knew he would slip past all sanity himself. The goal is Plagueis. Nothing else, he reminded himself.