Darkness Rises & Light To Meet It

Solo

Ben stood outside of the Falcon leaning against the landing gear staring out into the endless sea of sand that surrounded them. The others were arguing about how and who was going to find the supplies they so desperately needed, his presence being among the greater of the issues to Poe, Finn, and Rose. The little orange and white BB unit had been stuck between Rey and Poe as they discussed beeping wildly his own opinions. He had come outside to get some air to avoid making the situation worse, like he always seemed to do.

Emptiness and loneliness were no longer feelings he had to bear. Instead the guilt, shame, pain, and a deep endless sorrow weighed down on his shoulders. It did Not help that all the pain the people around suffered was either by his hand or by his order and how was he supposed to fix all of this mess? The First Order controlled nearly the entire galaxy besides a few Outer Rim systems and of course the unknown regions.

No they have some grip there as well.

He shook his head then looked down at his boots as he kicked the sand in frustration. Snoke had come from the unknown regions, the order had partial maps to the wildly uncharted space. They may need supplies right now but they truly needed was a to stop the Order. Hux. Quillon. His fists tightened into balls at his side at the thought of the Knights betrayal. They were supposed to listen to him. Obey him. Follow him. No matter the cost and they had failed.

I should have known.

Taking a deep breath he looked back up at the horizon. Chastising himself was not going to solve the problem a plan might though. Disposing of Snoke had been pure luck they needed a solid plan this time something that was just the right amount of crazy.

The odds are against us.

"Never tell me the odds." His father's words escaped his lips so quietly they were barely a whisper.

The weight of his father's memory dropped to the bottom of his stomach making him nauseous. A chill ran down his spine, despite the heat, as visions of his father raced forward in his mind. These repressed emotions and sequences of every time Han had been by his side helping him, calming him, hit him like cannon fire from a TIE Fighter. For so long he had held onto the anger that he could not allow himself to think back on all the little things Han had done for him.

Every sleepless night when darkness infected his mind Han had held him, sat with him, found some way to calm his mind. Snoke's voice plagued him every day Han found ways to distract him and control his anger when his mother was away in the senate. Even on Starkiller Base...Han had seen him, called him by his true name, and hoped beyond hope for his son to come back to him. He should have gone with him. Should have left right there and Han would still be alive. It was his fault he had let fear guide him. Creating a fist with his right hand he punched the landing gear hard causing his knuckles to split blood trickling down his fingers.

Damn it all. It's my fault.

Almost as if on cue Rey came out of the Falcon and stood next to him. "Finn and Rose are the least recognizable out of all of us. They are going to get fuel for the Falcon while we come up with a plan."

He looked down at her eyes softening. For whatever reason her presence calmed his inner storm enough for him to relax. He was about to respond when he noticed her glance at his bloodied hand flashing a worried look up at him. Shrugging he turned to walk back up into the ship. "It's nothing. Just needed to...hit something."

And now I sound like a stupid nerfherder.

"Mmmhmm." Rey walked beside him on the ramp into the ship shaking her head.

"Han!" A familiar but distant voice broke through the quiet sands.

What?

He must be hearing things but a quick glance at Rey told him otherwise.

Great...

Looking around he finally located the source of the screeching and saw two figures in the distance.

"Han!" The creature screamed again this time solidifying who it was.

Shriv?

Ben had not seen the Duros since he was a boy. Long time friend of Lando and his father Shriv had stopped by on occasion to visit their home when he was not on missions throughout the galaxy. Then reality struck. Shriv thought he was Han Solo he did not know about his father's death or the circumstances around it.

Rey looked between the figures and Ben, "Do you know them?"

"Yes and no. The one looking for...he's was a family friend. Served with Lando and my parents during the last days of the Empire. I don't know the person with him." He cringed as Shriv and his companion neared the ship.

Unable to respond before the Duros and the woman got to them she found herself standing in front of Ben shielding him.

"Han! I am so glad to see..." Voice trailing off Shriv stopped in front of the two, large orange eyes blinking as he looked Ben up and down. "Ben?"

The aching pit in his gut grew as he looked Shriv in the eye and nodded sharply. Rey studied the two strangers. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

Coming out of his confusion the Duros looked at Rey apologetically, "I am Shriv and this is Zay." He motioned to the human beside him who gave them all a polite nod. "Inferno squad."

"Inferno squad?" Poe emerged from behind Ben and Rey, drawn out of the ship by the unusual voices and lifeforms BB-8 had picked up. The droid was at his master heels beeping quietly. "First Order schematics Inferno Squad?"

"That's us." Zay replied studying the pilot with interest. "You are?"

Rey interrupted, "Sorry to interrupt but what are you doing here?"

Shriv sighed exasperated, "We crash landed on this giant ball of sand a few weeks ago while on mission to find allies of the Resistance."

"We haven't been able to get off world yet so when we saw the Millennium Falcon we thought we could regroup and make contact with the Resistance." Zay butted in.

Ben remained silent as Shriv met his eyes once again, making him increasingly more uncomfortable.

"Are you here with Han?" Shriv asked mildly excited. "I haven't seen him or the Falcon in years."

Poe looked between everyone the uncomfortable silence eating away at him as the Duros waited for an answer of some kind. Not able to wait any longer he decided to break the deafening quietness. "Should I talk first or should you?"

Ben wanted to shoot the pilot before but now he felt it would be a good time to force choke him instead. A glance at Rey told him he should,unfortunately, restrain himself a quick glare would have to suffice. "My father...he..."

"He killed him." Poe blurted out unsympathetically.

"Poe!" Rey snapped as the white and orange BB unit squealed and beeped wildly at its master.

Shriv's brow furrowed and a sneer curled on his lips taking one step closer to Ben, holding his blaster to his chin.

Rey ignited her lightsaber beside them eyes flashing between boiling anger and concern. "Don't shoot him."

Poe shook his head and crossed his arms. "Unfortunately we aren't allowed to kill Kylo Ren, the last Jedi wants him alive for reasons beyond my understanding."

The girl, Zay, that had come with Shriv stood her ground her own blaster drawn and ready to back up the blue Duros.