Endor, GFFA [Wednesday afternoon, Fandom time]
Weeks passed. The Jedi base was packed up, most of the equipment and ships airlifted to their new location, and Luke finally returned from Fondor, walking through the vacant halls with a stony expression. Ben caught rumors of a dogfight with Jacen (and really. Like Jacen had a shot against his dad), Niathal and Jacen turning warships against each other, and Pellaeon being murdered for refusing to keep his ships on Jacen’s losing side. Ben had some deeply uncomfortable suspicions about who might’ve been responsible for that.
And then, because things couldn’t get much darker, really, he got a secure comm from Shevu:
Ben, I’m so very sorry. You’ll hate me if I don’t send you this, and you’ll hate me when you hear it anyway, so better that you have the evidence than not. It’s going to be hard to listen to, my friend, like recorded interviews with suspects so often are. Their reasons for what they do-well, they make sense to them, that’s all I can say. I can tell you that it took everything I had to keep under some sort of control. Here’s the bad news before you play the recording-his factual account of what went on at Kavan matches the physical evidence.-Shevu
It had taken Ben an hour to work up the nerve to watch the recording Shevu had risked his life to get. Some of the words Jacen had said: “she was a complete madwoman…”, “the only way to stop her was to use the poison darts…”, “it wasn’t really personal revenge,” “Sith ascendancy”, and “Darth Caedus” (and what a stupid name that was) would haunt him forever.
And now he had to tell his family. Here’s Jacen, Dad. Here’s Jacen telling my buddy how he killed Mom, and why he did it, and how he’s not a bad guy. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to walk through the dusty, deserted hallways to find his aunt, uncle, and father, and break their hearts.
He got up anyway and walked into the old briefing room, where Jag and Zekk were chatting, boots up on a rough plank table. “You all right?” Jag asked, gesturing to a seat.
“He’s not,” Zekk said. “I could feel him seething two floors up.”
It had to be like ripping off a bandage. Do it fast. “No offense, guys, but could you leave? Please?”
“You sure we can’t help?” Zekk asked, sweeping his hair back over his shoulders.
“Actually, you could go find Dad, Aunt Leia and Uncle Han for me. Tell them I have something to show them, and they all need to see it together.” He thought of Jaina a lot later than he should have. “And Jag-can you get Jaina on the comm?”
Both men shut up right away. There was no gentle ribbing for Ben these days, no attempt to play older brother when he looked so worn down by events. They responded to his “officer voice,” as Jori Lekauf had called it, and behaved accordingly.
Jori didn’t have to die, either, Ben thought as the older men scattered. He didn’t, Jacen. You made me carry out the Gejjen assassination to make me just like you, and Jori was only some detail.
Ben was tired of people dying for him. He wasn’t worth it. He began laying the evidence out on the table, then positioned a comlink stand so that Jaina would be able to see. He just couldn’t face having to repeat this to her. He was hoping rather desperately to be able to hold it together long enough to get through it once.
Han and Leia came in first, Leia stopping in her tracks when she saw what he’d put onto the table. Han nearly plowed right into her. “Hey, sweetheart,” she said. “Whatever it is, we’re all here. And we’re going to listen to you carefully, okay?”
“It’s not me talking,” Ben said, taking a page out of Ender’s book and trying to detach himself completely from the task in front of him. “The evidence can do that.”
Han leaned in and gave him an awkward one-armed hug just as Luke came into the room, hair disheveled like he’d been running.
“Plenty of time, Dad,” Ben said, feeling a little guilty about making his father hustle like that. “I’m waiting for Jag to get a stable connection with Jaina before I start.” It dawned on him that he’d set Jag on that problem without considering what Zekk might think, then he decided he really, really didn’t care about his cousin’s love life even a little bit.
Jag came in a few seconds later with a live comlink connection to Jaina. “Can you see us?” Ben asked, gesturing Jag towards the stand.
“I can see all of you, and the table,” she replied.
Ben took a deep breath as Jag left the room. “Okay. This isn’t easy to hear. I’m going to show you the physical evidence first, then a recorded conversation. I’m going to show you things that link Jacen to Mom’s death, then what he told Captain Shevu about it. Remember that folks sometimes confess to things they didn’t do to look tough or get attention, so compare the physical evidence to what Jacen says so you’re sure what’s true. I’m not going to say what I think. I’ll just show you what I’ve got.”
Now that he had something to occupy his hands, he was feeling a lot less like he was going to get sick. Using the datapads and projecting the images onto the screen they used for small holocharts, he showed them a copy of the StealthX log that proved when Jacen had left Coruscant and when he’d returned the vessel to the hanger. He showed Mara’s flight logs. He showed them charts of Hapan space with Mara’s movements tracked, and Tenel Ka’s note confirming when Jacen had arrived and left the palace. He showed the forensics droid and explained how he and Shevu had retrieved the evidence from Jacen’s ship.
When Ben got to the data about Mara’s blood-contaminated hair, he caught his father’s eye after avoiding it so far, and nearly wavered. He swallowed hard and continued through the forensic evidence from Kavan showing Mara’s body and the surrounding scene, to his own brief, detached statement that Jacen had found him on the planet even though he’d had no beacon, hadn’t called anyone, and had been shut down in the Force.
Then he played the conversation between Jacen and Shevu and sat back in silence, staring into his lap to avoid seeing anyone’s expression. He could hear Uncle Han inhaling every few minutes like he was going to cough, and when he finally chanced a look up, his father and aunt were in the exact same position: right arm across the waist, right hand cupping the right elbow, left hand touching their mouths.
The recording ended. Nobody said anything for a while, then Jaina broke the silence. “Ben, can you transmit the recording to me now, please?” she asked softly. “I need some time to study it.”
Ben jumped. He’d forgotten she was watching along. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Sure.” He stood up, grateful for something to do with his hands. Aunt Leia, always the one with the perfect thing to say, finally walked over to him, turned him around slowly by his shoulders-she had to reach up to do it-and just hugged him in silence.
When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her cry before. “Thank you, Ben,” she said. “You did a good job, and you did it right.”
Ben held it together long enough to send the recording to Jaina, then he fled outside. He scrambled up the nearest tree to a platform that had once been part of an Ewok village and sat there with his legs hanging off the edge, staring into space.
Some time later-minutes, maybe hours-he heard someone else climbing up the vine ladder. Luke sat down next to him, letting his legs hang over the platform too, but less easily, like his legs were giving out on him.
Ben leaned against his shoulder, and they propped each other up as they stared at the sunset. There was nothing left to say.
[OOC: I just keep beating the kid up, don't I? Dialogue tweaked from Revelation by Karen Traviss. NFB, NFI, etc., etc.]
And then, because things couldn’t get much darker, really, he got a secure comm from Shevu:
Ben, I’m so very sorry. You’ll hate me if I don’t send you this, and you’ll hate me when you hear it anyway, so better that you have the evidence than not. It’s going to be hard to listen to, my friend, like recorded interviews with suspects so often are. Their reasons for what they do-well, they make sense to them, that’s all I can say. I can tell you that it took everything I had to keep under some sort of control. Here’s the bad news before you play the recording-his factual account of what went on at Kavan matches the physical evidence.-Shevu
It had taken Ben an hour to work up the nerve to watch the recording Shevu had risked his life to get. Some of the words Jacen had said: “she was a complete madwoman…”, “the only way to stop her was to use the poison darts…”, “it wasn’t really personal revenge,” “Sith ascendancy”, and “Darth Caedus” (and what a stupid name that was) would haunt him forever.
And now he had to tell his family. Here’s Jacen, Dad. Here’s Jacen telling my buddy how he killed Mom, and why he did it, and how he’s not a bad guy. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to walk through the dusty, deserted hallways to find his aunt, uncle, and father, and break their hearts.
He got up anyway and walked into the old briefing room, where Jag and Zekk were chatting, boots up on a rough plank table. “You all right?” Jag asked, gesturing to a seat.
“He’s not,” Zekk said. “I could feel him seething two floors up.”
It had to be like ripping off a bandage. Do it fast. “No offense, guys, but could you leave? Please?”
“You sure we can’t help?” Zekk asked, sweeping his hair back over his shoulders.
“Actually, you could go find Dad, Aunt Leia and Uncle Han for me. Tell them I have something to show them, and they all need to see it together.” He thought of Jaina a lot later than he should have. “And Jag-can you get Jaina on the comm?”
Both men shut up right away. There was no gentle ribbing for Ben these days, no attempt to play older brother when he looked so worn down by events. They responded to his “officer voice,” as Jori Lekauf had called it, and behaved accordingly.
Jori didn’t have to die, either, Ben thought as the older men scattered. He didn’t, Jacen. You made me carry out the Gejjen assassination to make me just like you, and Jori was only some detail.
Ben was tired of people dying for him. He wasn’t worth it. He began laying the evidence out on the table, then positioned a comlink stand so that Jaina would be able to see. He just couldn’t face having to repeat this to her. He was hoping rather desperately to be able to hold it together long enough to get through it once.
Han and Leia came in first, Leia stopping in her tracks when she saw what he’d put onto the table. Han nearly plowed right into her. “Hey, sweetheart,” she said. “Whatever it is, we’re all here. And we’re going to listen to you carefully, okay?”
“It’s not me talking,” Ben said, taking a page out of Ender’s book and trying to detach himself completely from the task in front of him. “The evidence can do that.”
Han leaned in and gave him an awkward one-armed hug just as Luke came into the room, hair disheveled like he’d been running.
“Plenty of time, Dad,” Ben said, feeling a little guilty about making his father hustle like that. “I’m waiting for Jag to get a stable connection with Jaina before I start.” It dawned on him that he’d set Jag on that problem without considering what Zekk might think, then he decided he really, really didn’t care about his cousin’s love life even a little bit.
Jag came in a few seconds later with a live comlink connection to Jaina. “Can you see us?” Ben asked, gesturing Jag towards the stand.
“I can see all of you, and the table,” she replied.
Ben took a deep breath as Jag left the room. “Okay. This isn’t easy to hear. I’m going to show you the physical evidence first, then a recorded conversation. I’m going to show you things that link Jacen to Mom’s death, then what he told Captain Shevu about it. Remember that folks sometimes confess to things they didn’t do to look tough or get attention, so compare the physical evidence to what Jacen says so you’re sure what’s true. I’m not going to say what I think. I’ll just show you what I’ve got.”
Now that he had something to occupy his hands, he was feeling a lot less like he was going to get sick. Using the datapads and projecting the images onto the screen they used for small holocharts, he showed them a copy of the StealthX log that proved when Jacen had left Coruscant and when he’d returned the vessel to the hanger. He showed Mara’s flight logs. He showed them charts of Hapan space with Mara’s movements tracked, and Tenel Ka’s note confirming when Jacen had arrived and left the palace. He showed the forensics droid and explained how he and Shevu had retrieved the evidence from Jacen’s ship.
When Ben got to the data about Mara’s blood-contaminated hair, he caught his father’s eye after avoiding it so far, and nearly wavered. He swallowed hard and continued through the forensic evidence from Kavan showing Mara’s body and the surrounding scene, to his own brief, detached statement that Jacen had found him on the planet even though he’d had no beacon, hadn’t called anyone, and had been shut down in the Force.
Then he played the conversation between Jacen and Shevu and sat back in silence, staring into his lap to avoid seeing anyone’s expression. He could hear Uncle Han inhaling every few minutes like he was going to cough, and when he finally chanced a look up, his father and aunt were in the exact same position: right arm across the waist, right hand cupping the right elbow, left hand touching their mouths.
The recording ended. Nobody said anything for a while, then Jaina broke the silence. “Ben, can you transmit the recording to me now, please?” she asked softly. “I need some time to study it.”
Ben jumped. He’d forgotten she was watching along. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Sure.” He stood up, grateful for something to do with his hands. Aunt Leia, always the one with the perfect thing to say, finally walked over to him, turned him around slowly by his shoulders-she had to reach up to do it-and just hugged him in silence.
When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her cry before. “Thank you, Ben,” she said. “You did a good job, and you did it right.”
Ben held it together long enough to send the recording to Jaina, then he fled outside. He scrambled up the nearest tree to a platform that had once been part of an Ewok village and sat there with his legs hanging off the edge, staring into space.
Some time later-minutes, maybe hours-he heard someone else climbing up the vine ladder. Luke sat down next to him, letting his legs hang over the platform too, but less easily, like his legs were giving out on him.
Ben leaned against his shoulder, and they propped each other up as they stared at the sunset. There was nothing left to say.
[OOC: I just keep beating the kid up, don't I? Dialogue tweaked from Revelation by Karen Traviss. NFB, NFI, etc., etc.]