The Anakin Solo [Galaxy far, far away]
Ship had been remarkably effective at pinpointing Jacen's--what had it called it?--wake, even with him being completely shut down in the Force, and it wasn't very long at all before Ben found himself ten thousand klicks in front of the Jacen's Star Destroyer, the Anakin Solo.
Riding in an ancient, sentient, Sith meditation sphere. This was going to take some explaining. "Anakin Solo, this is Ben Skywalker of the Galactic Alliance Guard. Hold your fire...please," he transmitted.
There was a brief pause before the voice of his cousin replied to him. "You're alone, Skywalker?" Jacen asked. "No passengers?"
For a moment, Ben saw the little girl who had accompanied him in his trek across Ziost in his mind's eye. Her father had been killed during Ben's mission to find a Sith amulet for Jacen, to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. He still wasn't sure the prize had been worth the price. "Only the ship...sir," he replied.
"Permission to dock," Jacen said shortly and ended the transmission. Ben blew out a slow breath and tried to knock some of the grime off of his civilian clothes, but it was pretty much a lost cause. He picked up the amulet and walked down the ramp towards his cousin.
Jacen reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance, Ben. Where did you get this?"
"Hi, Jacen," Ben said, holding out the amulet. It exuded dark energy--the sooner he could get rid of the thing, the cleaner he'd feel. "You asked me to get this, and I did."
"You did well, Ben," Jacen replied.
"I found it on Ziost, in case you wanted to know. And that's where I got the ship, too. Someone tried to kill me, and I grabbed the first thing I could to escape," Ben said. It had been one hell of a birthday trip, for sure. Not everyone got to travel to the Sith homeworld. His father would be thrilled. Really.
"It was a dangerous mission," Jacen said, "but I knew you could handle it. Who tried to kill you?"
"A Bothan set me up. Dyur. He paid a courier to take the amulet to Ziost, framed him as a thief, and the guy ended up dead." Leaving a little girl behind. Ben didn't think too much about that part. "I got even with the Bothan, though--I blew up the ship that was targeting me. I hope it was Dyur's."
"How?"
He gestured to the ship with his thumb. "It's armed. It seems to have whatever weapons you want."
"Well done," Jacen praised. "Ben, treat this as top secret. The ship is now classified, like your mission. Not a word to anyone."
Ben barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Like I was going to write to Mom and Dad about it...what I did on my vacation, by Ben Skywalker, age fourteen and four weeks."
Jacen turned his attention to the ship. "How did you fly this? I've never seen anything like it."
Ben shrugged and folded his arms tightly across his chest. "You think what you want it to do, and it does it. You can even talk to it. But it doesn't have any proper controls. It talks to you through your thoughts. And it doesn't have a high opinion of me." Not that he had really wanted it to. Creepy Sith ship.
"You need to go back home," Jacen told him. "I told your parents I didn't know where you were, and hinted they might have made you run off by being overprotective."
Oh, that was hugely helpful. "Thanks," Ben said a little sullenly.
"It's true, though," Jacen said. "You know it is." There was a slight pause. "Ben, I'm proud of you."
Ben glowed a little bit in satisfaction. It was never easy to please Jacen. "I'll file a report if you want," he said.
"As soon as you can." Jacen steered him towards the exit. "Probably better you don't arrive home in this ship. We'll shuttle you to the nearest safe planet and you can get a more conventional ride on a passenger flight."
Ben nodded, then said a little pointedly, "I need some credits for the fare. I'm fed up with stealing to get by." That had been part of the mission to retrieve the amulet--to stay below the radar and not to have any credits with him. Ben had hated it.
"Of course." Jacen reached into his pocket for a mix of credcoins. "Here you go."
Giving one last look to the ship, Ben gave Jacen a casual salute and headed off towards the turbolift. He was heading home.
He had a bad feeling about this.
{Dialogue from Sacrifice by Karen Traviss]
Riding in an ancient, sentient, Sith meditation sphere. This was going to take some explaining. "Anakin Solo, this is Ben Skywalker of the Galactic Alliance Guard. Hold your fire...please," he transmitted.
There was a brief pause before the voice of his cousin replied to him. "You're alone, Skywalker?" Jacen asked. "No passengers?"
For a moment, Ben saw the little girl who had accompanied him in his trek across Ziost in his mind's eye. Her father had been killed during Ben's mission to find a Sith amulet for Jacen, to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. He still wasn't sure the prize had been worth the price. "Only the ship...sir," he replied.
"Permission to dock," Jacen said shortly and ended the transmission. Ben blew out a slow breath and tried to knock some of the grime off of his civilian clothes, but it was pretty much a lost cause. He picked up the amulet and walked down the ramp towards his cousin.
Jacen reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance, Ben. Where did you get this?"
"Hi, Jacen," Ben said, holding out the amulet. It exuded dark energy--the sooner he could get rid of the thing, the cleaner he'd feel. "You asked me to get this, and I did."
"You did well, Ben," Jacen replied.
"I found it on Ziost, in case you wanted to know. And that's where I got the ship, too. Someone tried to kill me, and I grabbed the first thing I could to escape," Ben said. It had been one hell of a birthday trip, for sure. Not everyone got to travel to the Sith homeworld. His father would be thrilled. Really.
"It was a dangerous mission," Jacen said, "but I knew you could handle it. Who tried to kill you?"
"A Bothan set me up. Dyur. He paid a courier to take the amulet to Ziost, framed him as a thief, and the guy ended up dead." Leaving a little girl behind. Ben didn't think too much about that part. "I got even with the Bothan, though--I blew up the ship that was targeting me. I hope it was Dyur's."
"How?"
He gestured to the ship with his thumb. "It's armed. It seems to have whatever weapons you want."
"Well done," Jacen praised. "Ben, treat this as top secret. The ship is now classified, like your mission. Not a word to anyone."
Ben barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Like I was going to write to Mom and Dad about it...what I did on my vacation, by Ben Skywalker, age fourteen and four weeks."
Jacen turned his attention to the ship. "How did you fly this? I've never seen anything like it."
Ben shrugged and folded his arms tightly across his chest. "You think what you want it to do, and it does it. You can even talk to it. But it doesn't have any proper controls. It talks to you through your thoughts. And it doesn't have a high opinion of me." Not that he had really wanted it to. Creepy Sith ship.
"You need to go back home," Jacen told him. "I told your parents I didn't know where you were, and hinted they might have made you run off by being overprotective."
Oh, that was hugely helpful. "Thanks," Ben said a little sullenly.
"It's true, though," Jacen said. "You know it is." There was a slight pause. "Ben, I'm proud of you."
Ben glowed a little bit in satisfaction. It was never easy to please Jacen. "I'll file a report if you want," he said.
"As soon as you can." Jacen steered him towards the exit. "Probably better you don't arrive home in this ship. We'll shuttle you to the nearest safe planet and you can get a more conventional ride on a passenger flight."
Ben nodded, then said a little pointedly, "I need some credits for the fare. I'm fed up with stealing to get by." That had been part of the mission to retrieve the amulet--to stay below the radar and not to have any credits with him. Ben had hated it.
"Of course." Jacen reached into his pocket for a mix of credcoins. "Here you go."
Giving one last look to the ship, Ben gave Jacen a casual salute and headed off towards the turbolift. He was heading home.
He had a bad feeling about this.
{Dialogue from Sacrifice by Karen Traviss]