Ben's ejection seat crashed to the ground, jarring every bone in his body. Moaning in delirium, he unbuckled his chute harness and crawled toward the east. He halted as stormtroopers approached his burning fighter. Shaking with fear, he searched for a safe place to hide. He hoped that his uncle would reach him soon.

Ben clambered over rocky wilderness to a large boulder fifty meters away and hid behind it. He stripped off his orange flight suit to reveal his steel gray uniform beneath it. Wincing in pain every time he moved his back, first he shrugged off one sleeve then the other before kicking the trousers off. That landing sure did a number on me. Ahhh. He stifled another groan. Blood dripped from his forehead and arm, but he had no med kit to do anything about it. He reattached his lightsaber to his belt and scuttled across the wilderness, laboring to move as far away from the burning wreck as possible.

Ben froze when he heard footsteps and voices not far from him. He crawled between two boulders hoping they would not find him. "The pilot punched out. He's got to be around here somewhere," a filtered voice said.

"He's hiding," another voice said, this one filtered by a more ominous voice modifier.

Ben's heart raced with fear when he saw them. Four stormtroopers accompanied a man in black with a black mask and voice modulator.

"He's here. I can sense him. Check those rocks over there."

The stormtroopers hustled toward the rocks and yanked Ben by the collar.

"Hey, easy," Ben said.

The squad leader rammed the butt of his Deece into Ben's stomach, bringing him to his knees. "Speak when you're spoken to, scum." Two others grabbed him by the arms and dragged him across the field.

The man in black cautioned, "Careful with him. The Supreme Leader needs him in one piece." The stormtroopers stopped immediately. "He's injured. Pick him up and carry him."

Ben asked, "Who are you?"

Luke wandered the steppes for hours. A few hours before dawn, he collapsed behind a rocky outcropping. During his last few minutes of consciousness, he second-guessed the decision of bringing Ben on this mission. Was he ready? What was I thinking bringing a sixteen-year-old into this? But, he has been doing so well this last year ... Luke slipped into unconsciousness.

I wish Paploo would stop poking me with his spear. Doesn't he realize were tribal members now, not the main—Luke sat up and looked around him. He was surrounded.

One short alien with long, black hair and two tentacles hanging from his chin like a beard said something to an older alien with five tentacles.

Luke could not understand their speech, but it was obvious they were talking about him as they poked their spears at him.

Ben shrank back in fear as he was brought inside a hangar with TIE Fighters in a row ready for launch. Stormtroopers maneuvered around the area in squad formation, and TIE pilots checked their ships.

His captors led him to a chamber deep within the hangar. Composed of white concrete walls, it contained only a hard bunk. A bucket stood in the corner for his refresher facilities. His escort carefully lowered him onto the bed and exited the cell. Ben moaned as his back spasmed in painful stabs.

The hatch opened, revealing the Knight of Ren and a First Order officer with a medical scanner in his hands. "Spinal compression. Abrasion on the left temple. Concussion. Laceration on the anterior left arm. I can give you something for the spinal compression, but we need your wounds to be realistic at your release."

The doctor turned Ben onto his stomach and injected his spine with a drug that took away the pain.

Tyrell Ren asked, "How soon until he can stand? The Supreme Leader will be here soon."

"Give him a day to recover," the doctor said. "Feed him and provide him some blankets. He's not a prisoner."

The Apathaskans dragged Luke to a small hut, octagonal in shape with one door that faced east, one window, and one stove pipe sticking up through the roof. His captors propped him up on the bench on the right side of the dwelling.

Luke rubbed his friction-burned legs, picking the gravel out of his abrasions. His uniform hung in shreds on his body. The cold of the dwelling bit into his stiff limbs.

The men sat on the right, the women on the left, and the elderly as close to the fire as possible. A bitter chill filled the air, even though the sun was high in the sky.

One of the women handed him a bowl of stew with big chunks of meat. The spices heated him as much as the temperature of the meal.

Luke smiled after taking a bite. He wondered how long he would be held here. All he could think about was Ben—injured, captured, and scared.

He took a stick from the kindling pile and drew his X-wing in the hard-packed dirt floor. Then he drew another X-wing with flames around it.

Using sign language he indicated himself and his ship. He then drew a stick figure of Ben with a parachute on near Luke's X-wing. Luke pointed to him. He tried putting the thoughts in their minds, as well.

"I need to find my partner," Luke said in Galactic Basic. "Did you see him come down?"

Two Tentacles stood up and dragged him out of the hut. He pointed to the smoke from the crashed X-wing and pantomimed a trooper with a blaster. Luke understood.

A few days passed, Luke struggling to communicate the need to rescue Ben with the locals. The language gap prevented most comprehension between them both, and Luke was not even sure if they would allow him to leave on his own.

"Look, I have to find my partner. I know he's still alive," Luke said to Five Tentacles. "What weapons do you have?" Luke asked as he drew his blaster and pantomimed. After an hour of attempting to get his point across, he gave up and ate the stew one of the women brought him.

Ben awoke on his seventh day. He had been expecting his release for days, but something had delayed it. The second day the doctor returned and cleaned his flesh wounds. The doctor said, "There has been a change of plans. You will be with us a bit longer than first anticipated."

While the doctor attended him, six Knights of Ren appeared at his open hatch. Tyreel Ren entered and said, "Enough of that. Our master is arriving soon."

Ben followed the Knights of Ren to the hangar. Stormtroopers and officers stood at attention. Ben formed up in line with the knights, looking a little out of place in his Padawan uniform. As he straightened to attention, Ben wished the doctor had given another analgesic injection before the Knights of Ren had interrupted them.

After what seemed like hours, an Upsilon-class command shuttle entered the hangar slowly. The enormous, black shuttle with two thirty-meter wings rising to landing position floated to the deck.

Once the ramp had fully extended, a tall creature in a black robe strode down the ramp. In unison, the Knights of Ren bowed on one knee. Ben followed their example a second later.

Supreme Leader Snoke passed the legions of stormtroopers and officers until he reached his knights. He stood in front of Ben and said, "Rise, Kylo Ren, and walk with me."

Ben obeyed and fell in step with his new master.

"Welcome to the First Order. Together, we will bring order to the galaxy."

"Yes, my master," Ben said, his adrenaline rushing. The many communications Ben had previously held with the Supreme Leader had hardly prepared him for the overwhelming presence of his master nor for the evil that wafted from him, permeating into every one of Ben's cells.

Did you know ...

● This is a very important mission for Ben. I had a difficult time writing it. Thanks again to  MichaelHoliday for his advice on some of the narrative.

Tell me what you think ...

● Why do you think Luke hasn't blasted himself out of his situation with the Force?