Beyond - Legends The Ben Skywalker Chronicles *Viggie #5~Winner of the Ben Skywalker Challenge 10/19*

Title: Learning to Understand: The Ben Skywalker Chronicles
Summary: A series of vignettes chronicling the life and times of Ben Skywalker.


Disclaimer: George Lucas created Star Wars. Star Wars, LucasFilm Ltd. and all its content are currently owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.


Vignette One: Learning to Understand


Log Entry One:

Hi, my name is Ben Skywalker. My dad is Luke Skywalker and my mom is Mara Jade-Skywalker. Dad says she absolutely refused to drop her own last name when they got married. He says it had something to do with not losing her identity. I’m only ten years old so I don’t really know what that means. Mom says it means that she wanted to be together with dad, but separate. Well, like I said, I don’t know what that means. Dad says it means that Mom is stubborn. I understand that one. Dad also says that Mom is rebellious. I’m not sure I understand that one either. Mom says that Dad is naïve. She also calls him idealistic. I understand the meaning of those words, but I don’t understand how they apply to my father. End log.

******************************************************

“Ben, get in here right now. I don’t want you out there,” my mom said to me. I could see the New Republic Security Police outside of our apartment and wondered what was happening.

“Mom, where’s Dad?,” was my first question. We’d been on Coruscant for three weeks and Dad had been gone for two of those weeks. Seeing the NR Security Police had me scared that something had happened to him. Something bad. I wasn’t so young that I didn’t understand that even Jedi don’t live forever.

“Your father is fine, Ben. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Mom said to me. It made me feel better, but I still stretched out with my senses, searching for my father’s brilliant Force signature. I found it immediately. He wasn’t on the planet yet, but he was close.

“Will you tell me why the Security Police are here?,” I asked quietly as I moved further into our apartment. I wanted to know what was going on and I didn’t want to watch it on the HoloNet evening newscast.

“Alright, come here,” Mom said. I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t looking forward to telling me whatever it was she had to tell me. Her shields were tightly in place so I couldn’t really sense anything through the Force.

I sat down next to my mother and waited patiently. I was beginning to think that whatever she was going to tell me would have a life-altering impact on my existence.

“Ben, this morning after you left for school there was a robbery,” Mom told me, her face finally betraying her true feelings. She was upset. Angry even. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her that way.

“Someone broke into our apartment? Why would someone do that? Who was it, Mom?,” I asked her, firing my questions in rapid succession. I knew it was bad because of the deep breaths she started taking. She was trying to control her emotions.

“Ben…it was Daelin Viggo,” were the words she said to me, but I was sure I’d heard wrong. It couldn’t have been Daelin. He was my friend. He would never do this, never. I knew Daelin. He was a good person. I wiped away the tears that had made their way from my eyes onto my cheeks. Then I jumped up from the couch and ran into my room. With one fierce Force-push the door slammed shut behind me.

******************************************************

Log Entry Two:

Hi, my name is Ben Skywalker and I’m ten years old. Mom says that my dad is naïve and idealistic. Until five days ago, I didn’t understand how she could apply those terms to him. But now I understand. Five days ago, a sixteen year-old Jedi student named Daelin Viggo broke into our apartment and used his Force skills, and his lightsaber to steal from us and destroy lots of things in our home. Daelin was my friend and I trusted him. He was like my big brother. My dad trusted him too. Daelin was from Tatooine, like Dad. Maybe that’s why we trusted Daelin. Between Dad and Aunt Tahiri and Camie, our family had pretty good luck with people from the dustball. Now I know why Mom called Dad those names. I also understand that they apply to me as well. I was naïve. I believed in Daelin because of where he was from. I trusted him because he looked like he could be trusted. That’s what being naïve means. Now I understand. Idealism is a little harder to understand. I don’t know if believing that the galaxy is basically a good place with good people that have good intentions means that I’m idealistic like my father or not. But if it does, that’s okay with me. I still don’t understand everything, but I’m learning. That’s what Mom and Dad tell me life is all about, learning to understand. End log.

 

Title: Growing Up Skywalker: The Ben Skywalker Chronicles
Summary: A series of vignettes chronicling the life and times of Ben Skywalker


Disclaimer: George Lucas created Star Wars. Star Wars, LucasFilm Ltd. and all its content are currently owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.



Vignette Two: Growing Up Skywalker

Log Entry One:

I’m Ben Skywalker. I’m fourteen years old and I think talking into a holo-recorder is a pretty childish thing to be doing. But I don’t have a choice. My father’s name is Luke Skywalker. He’s a Jedi Master, but I’m sure you didn’t need to listen to this recording to know that. Anyway, my father says that these recording may end up in the Skywalker Holocron. For some reason he thinks that I want snippets of my life to be heard hundreds, maybe thousands of years from now. Maybe when I was child I thought it would be neat, but now I think it’s just my father trying to turn me into a younger version of himself. Don’t get me wrong, I love my father deeply and I admire him greatly. Luke Skywalker is a great man, both personally and professionally. He’s always been there when Mom and I have needed him and he’s always been there when the galaxy and the Jedi have needed him. He’s been a galactic hero since he wasn’t much older than I am right now. He wants me to be the same as him. To a point, I want that as well. I do want to be a Jedi. I care about people and I want to help them. But I just feel like I have to do that on my own, in my own way. I’m just not sure that growing up with the name Skywalker is going to allow me much of a choice. End log.

******************************************************

“Ben, are you coming with me today?,” my dad asked me as he was getting ready to leave our quarters to go teach his first class of the morning. I had to work very hard to stifle my groan of protest.

“Yeah Dad, I’ll be right there,” I said in the most even tone of voice I could manage. I was still lying on the couch. My reddish-blonde hair was tousled, adorably so my mother told me. My blue eyes still showed the signs of not long ago sleep, and I wasn’t really in the mood for another day of life according to Luke. But I got up and went to get dressed anyway.

Walking down the stone pathway that led from the Temple to the river was a peaceful journey for me. It was basically the only time I got to myself during the day. If only it could have been that way on this day.

“Hey Skywalker, where’s your famous father?,” I heard one of the non Force-sensitive employees of the Temple ask me in a rude manner. He was a particularly vile human male called Niko Emeryss.

“He’s teaching a class, Niko,” I stated in a calm voice. Well, as calm as I could manage around a guy I couldn’t stand to be near. Niko was as unpleasant a person as I had ever met.

“Good, then he won’t notice when I…,” Niko began, then suddenly stopped. I noticed that his eyes were focused on something behind me. I turned around and had to use every ounce of control I had to keep from grinning at the sight of my cousin, Jacen Solo. Niko was afraid of Jacen.

“Is there a problem here boys?,” Jacen asked Niko and I. He had the same stern look on his face that he used with his philosophy students.

“No, Master Solo, everything is just fine. Niko and I were just talking,” I told Jacen in my most innocent tone of voice. I knew right away that he didn’t believe me. Jacen could see right through a lie, especially when the person lying was a family member. Nothing got past Jacen, and he liked it that way.

“Alright. Both of you have things to do. Niko, get back to work. Ben, you’re free this hour and you should find something constructive to do with your time,” Jacen told us. Niko and I didn’t waste any time in leaving the area.

******************************************************

“Son of Skywalker. It must be nice being Luke Skywalker’s son,” came Niko’s voice. I turned around to look at the older boy and noticed how scared he looked. His eyes were clouded with fear and he seemed…nervous. It didn’t seem right that the biggest bully I knew could be afraid of anything.

“Niko, what’s wrong?,” I asked him, not really knowing why I care. He wouldn’t be asking me this question if our position’s were reversed.

“It’s none of your business, Skywalker,” Niko sneered. He was angry, I could feel it rolling off of him. I wanted to help, but I didn’t know how. So I walked away.

******************************************************

Log Entry Two:

I’m Ben Skywalker and I’m fourteen years old. When I was little I wanted to be like my mother. She always seemed to have the answer for every question I had when I was a child. But it was always my father that read me bedtime stories. My dad always hugged me when I cried. My dad always knew what to say to help people, how to comfort them. Up until two days ago, I still wanted to be like my mother. When Niko was scared of something a few days ago, I didn’t know what to say to help him. I didn’t know how to get him to tell me what was wrong. My dad would have known if he’d been there. He’s Luke Skywalker and he always knows what to do. I want to be that way. I want to know what to do. I guess someday I will know how to handle those situations. I’m his son, so maybe it’s genetic. Until the day I do know how to help, I’ll just keep growing up Skywalker. End log.

 

Good job JediMaster_Jen.

I really love those Log entries lol.

(Your Vignette for the Challenge is great too btw)

 

Thank you Mike. I really enjoyed Departing. I thought your characterization of Ben was great.

 

Title: Not As Easy As I Thought: The Ben Skywalker Chronicles
Summary: A series of vignettes chronicling the life and times of Ben Skywalker

Disclaimer: George Lucas created Star Wars. Star Wars, LucasFilm Ltd. and all its content are currently owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.


Vignette Three: Not As Easy As I Thought


Log Entry One:

My name is Ben Skywalker and today is quite possibly the greatest day of my life. Today I am sixteen years old. Today I get my speeder license. Today I am a man. Well, according to my mother I’m still just her little boy. But at least I’m her little boy with his speeder license. I remember a time when I was a small boy, maybe two or three years old, and my father let me sit on his lap as he guided our speeder through the streets of Theed. I cherish that memory. It almost makes me sad to take the controls of a speeder myself, without my father to guide my movements. I think I’ll adjust. After all, it can’t be that hard to drive a speeder. End log.

******************************************************

“Well, how does it feel to be in possession of your very own speeder license?,” asked my mother. I could sense that she was happy for me. Having this license means that she and Dad won’t have to pilot me everywhere, I can go by myself.

“It feels great, Mom,” I told her, my smile threatening to split my face in half. She knew I’d been waiting on this day for most of my life.

“I’m taking over Kyp’s classes this evening so that he and Kariya can go out for their anniversary. Your father won’t be home for another few hours and I don’t want you going anywhere until he gets here. He’s going with your first few times so we can both be sure you know what you’re doing,” she sternly informed me, her tone of voice leaving no room for arguing.

“Yes, Mom,” I told her in my best “good son” voice, knowing full well that she wouldn’t believe me. To my surprise, she just nodded her head and left. My smile didn’t leave my face for hours. But when it did, boy was it instantaneous.

******************************************************

“I can’t understand why you would do this. I told you to wait for your father,” my mother said for the millionth time.

“I’m sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to disobey, I just…,” I stopped, realizing that I was further incriminating myself with every word I uttered in defense of my actions.

“Don’t lie to me Ben Skywalker,” Mom told me. The glare that accompanied her words made me shiver. Dad used to tell me that she could freeze him with her stare. It works on me too. “I cannot believe that you would do something so stupid. You could have hurt someone, or yourself,” she continued. I hadn’t gotten a tongue-lashing of this nature since I was a little kid.

“Mom, I didn’t think I was being stupid. I know how to drive a speeder. It’s just that…,” again I stopped, wondering if I should finish my explanation of how I managed to smash my father’s speeder into a restaurant in the busy capital city of Theed.

“It’s just that what?,” she asked, her impatience showing through. “What took your attention away from piloting the speeder?.”

“He was watching Elaina Vieurami instead of the watching the road,” my father stated as he stepped into our home. I hadn’t even sensed his presence. He was probably concealing his presence from me just so he could ambush me with his words. It worked.

“A girl? You destroyed a speeder and a restaurant because you were watching a girl?,” came Mom’s incredulous question. Now that she knew, I had no choice but to admit my error.

“Yes, I was watching Elaina. I saw her out of the corner of my eye and my attention waved for just a second or two. The next thing I knew…well, the speeder was in the restaurant,” I told my parents sheepishly. My face was bright red. Pale skin, a curse from my mother.

I watched as my parents just looked at one another. I knew they were communicating through the Force. No doubt they were deciding my punishment.

******************************************************

Log Entry Two:

I’m Ben Skywalker. I’m sixteen years old and three days ago should have been the best day of my life. I had just gotten my speeder license. Everything went down hill from there. For the next two months all I have are my Jedi arts to study and this holo-recorder to speak into. See, I took my father’s speeder for a little ride and ended up crashed into a restaurant in Theed. Not a very good beginning to my speeder piloting days. Anyway, Mom and Dad found out because it just so happened that Jedi Master Kyp Durron and his wife Kariya were having dinner at the very restaurant where I crashed. If only I hadn’t decided to watch Elaina. She’s so pretty I just couldn’t help myself. I guess piloting a speeder wasn’t as easy as I thought. End long.

 

Thanx for reading Mike. Glad you enjoyed this and my other Ben viggie. Look out for more.


The next viggie in the series will be posted Wednesday, September 22nd.

 

I understand the informal dialogue of the log entries, fits pretty well for a 10 year (except the very first part where he keeps dwelling on not knowing what Luke means, I don't know that a 10 year old would think that much about something they don't understand, especially dealin with human personalities.) But the regular format writing seems a bit slack, try tightening it up with words that a 10 year old wouldn't know and more sophisticated sentence structures. I do mostly first person, and I look at it as thought the main character is telling the story, but a writer is actually putting the words on paper for him. Just eases the readers trip a bit.

 

Great Viggies Jedi_Jen and thanks. .

 

Wonderful job! It's been a riches of Ben viggies around here, and this was a great example! Lovely!

 

Very nice! It's been amazing to see how differently Ben can be interpreted, and yet all of them seem plausible. Good work.

 

Title: Ben Skywalker, Jedi Knight: The Ben Skywalker Chronicles
Summary: A series of vignettes chronicling the life and times of Ben Skywalker

Disclaimer: George Lucas created Star Wars. Star Wars, LucasFilm Ltd. and all its content are currently owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.


Vignette Four: Ben Skywalker, Jedi Knight


Log Entry One:

My name is Ben Skywalker. I’m twenty years of age and three days ago I became a Jedi Knight. I stood before a Temple full of Jedi; Knights and Masters alike and I was confirmed into their ranks. My Master bestowed the new title upon me, and I will swear on the twin suns of Tatooine that he has never had a moment in his life when he was more proud. In turn, I have never been more proud, not of myself in general, but proud of the fact that I am his apprentice. I am a good man, and it is due in part to his guidance and his encouragement. I am a Jedi Knight and I will strive to uphold the lessons my mentors have slaved to teach me, the values my parents instilled in me, and the faith the galaxy has placed on my shoulders and in my hands. End log.

******************************************************

“Are you nervous?,” Master Kyp asked me in a quiet voice.

“Not at all, Master,” I told him merrily, my words running contrary to my obvious fidgeting. I knew Kyp could see right through me, he always could. Aside from my parents, Kyp knew me better than anyone in the galaxy.

Kyp laughed loudly, his booming voice ringing in my ears as I stood next to him. “You lie rather badly, my young apprentice. You’ll need to work on…,” he stopped abruptly, prompting me to lightly touch his shoulder in concern.

“Is something wrong, Master?,” I asked, sensing the sadness that had suddenly gripped my mentor.

He shook his head slightly and cleared his voice. “I just realized that I was about to give you another lesson,” he said so softly I had to strain to hear his words. “Here you are, moments away from becoming a Knight and I’m still trying to teach you. You must think me a foolish old man,” he said to me. He had no idea how I truly felt about him.

“Master, you’re neither old nor foolish,” I admonished him firmly. “Learning never stops, even when a being moves from one stage in life to the next. You told me that, Master,” I continued my lecture. “If learning continues, I imagine that teaching does as well,” were my parting words as I moved out of the room. I desperately hoped I’d been able to make him understand that I would value his lessons as I stepped not so confidently into Knighthood. After all, knowledge is the path to enlightenment.

******************************************************

Log Entry Two:

Being Ben Skywalker has never been easy for me, and it is particularly difficult now. For now, I am a Jedi Knight. I am following in the footsteps of my Master, my father and my grandfather. All three were Jedi Knights. All three fell to the Dark Side. All three were redeemed. Since my knighting I have been dwelling on these three facts; rise, fall, and redemption. My feelings tell me I will walk in their footsteps to the end. My feelings tell me that I will one day confront a horrible choice, as they did. I will make the wrong choice, as they did. I will stand face to face with my chance for redemption, as they did. I will turn my back, as they did not. I am a Jedi Knight, and I know that it is not meant to be.

 

I meant to do this before I posted the 4th viggie but...well, I'm doing it now.

Jaerstein~Thank you for the insightful comments. I'll take them into consideration.

Mike_Sunrider~Glad you enjoyed them.

VaderLVR64~Thanks a bunch. Yep, there's a ton of them.

LukesTheMan~Yep, that's why I like writing the character of Ben. Since he's so young in the books, he's like a blank canvas as far as fan fic goes. We can do anything with him. Thanks for reading and I'm glad you liked it.

 

Title: My Name Is Ben Skywalker: The Ben Skywalker Chronicles
Summary: A series of vignettes chronicling the life and times of Ben Skywalker


Disclaimer: George Lucas created Star Wars. Star Wars, LucasFilm Ltd. and all its content are currently owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company.

This vig was moved to this thread from another. It is entered in the Ben Skywalker challenge.

Vignette Five: My Name Is Ben Skywalker~~Winner of the Ben Skywalker Challenge


Log Entry One:

My name is Ben Skywalker and I am twenty-five years old. I am the only son of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master. I am the only living grandchild of Anakin Skywalker, Chosen One. I used to be a good person. I used to be a Jedi Knight. I used to feel sorrow and compassion for people trapped in the position I am now. I used to care…about everything. Now, I care about…nothing at all. End log.

******************************************************

“Hey Skywalker, you’ve got a visitor!,” came the loud words from the guard.

“Tell him to go away!,” I yelled back to the guard.

“No way, buddy boy. You want him to go away, you come tell him yourself,” the guard informed me, rather rudely if you ask me.

I sighed deeply before pocketing my holo-recorder. I stood slowly and moved from my cell into the long corridor that would take me to my visitor. I knew who it was that wanted to see me. He was the only one that still came to see me. He was the only one left.

******************************************************

I stepped into the room where I would meet my visitor and looked around. He was sitting in the corner. He had his chair tilted up onto two legs and he was leaning back against the wall behind him. He was perhaps the only person alive that understood why I had done what I did. He’d done it to, murdered untold millions with a single action. He’d believed what he was doing was right, even though it was wrong. So had I. We were alike in that way. That was why I let him see me. That was why he was the only I let see me at all.

“Hey kid,” were his easy words to me. I wondered why he never seemed angry when he saw me. I would have been angry if I was him. After all, his wife was one of the untold millions. I remembered her, she had been very beautiful. Long blonde hair and blue eyes were what I remembered. Kariya was her name. Kariya Veylas.

“Hey yourself,” I said. This was how we started every conversation we’ve had since I’ve been here. That’s three years worth of ‘hey kid’ and ‘hey yourself’. It seemed kind of silly to the guards, but to us it’s normal. It’s just what we do.

“You’re looking pretty well since I saw you last,” he told me. If he was referring to my physical state of being, I’d have to agree with him. When last we met I was sick as a gundark. I hadn’t wanted to be bothered by a visitor then either, but he’d insisted. Like now, I’d had no choice but to see him and let him see me.

I shrugged my broad shoulders. “What do you want?,” I decided to ask. He never told me, he just stared. I used to think he was trying to see the child I was somewhere inside the man I am. Now I think he doesn’t answer the question because he doesn’t know what he wants. This time was no exception, he’s just looking at me.

“Well, I know what I’d want,” I tell him. “I’d want to kill me. That’s all. I’d want me to be gone. Untold millions, that’s the phrase the HoloNet reporters used to describe the number of fatalities I caused,” I said, my voice starting to rise. “I used my powers for an evil purpose in pursuit of justice. I murdered millions of people with just a thought. I deserve to die for that crime. I deserve nothing less than all of the pain I inflicted on this galaxy!,” I yelled at him. All of the prisoners and visitors and guards in the area heard my shout, I know they did. They always did.

“I want you to live,” he said, his words so quiet that I wasn’t sure he’d said anything at all. I looked into his dark green eyes and for the first time in three years I saw…something. His eyes were always empty. They held no emotion at all. Now I saw it all, the anger, the hate, the rage. Now I got what I wanted, I made him react to me. I made him tell me why. Why he came here, why he cared, why he didn’t just kill me. Now I knew.

******************************************************

Log Entry Two:

My name is Ben Skywalker and I am twenty-five years old. I am the only living being to carry that surname now. I murdered the men that murdered my family. My father, my mother, my aunt and uncle, my cousins were all gone. They were hunted by predators. In the end, they begged for death. Their Jedi skills could not protect them. I used my thoughts to eradicate an evil from the galaxy. That was my power, that was my curse. I could kill with my thoughts, and I did. Untold millions were my victims. I wasn’t satisfied with killing only those that took my family, but also those that didn’t protect them. Mothers were dead. Fathers were dead. Siblings were dead. Senators were dead. Criminals were dead. Jedi were dead. I spared no one. As always happens in a catastrophe, there were survivors. Why they were spared, I have no idea. I didn’t want for anyone to be spared. I certainly didn’t want him to be spared, but he was. Kyp lived when so many others died that day. I used to think that my punishment was being locked in this prison, my Force powers taken from me by this damn collar around my neck. But now I understand, my punishment is two-fold. First, I’m just like my grandfather, Darth Vader. He murdered untold millions in his day. Second, I’m alive. I live with my shame every day. That’s why Kyp wants me to live, because I regret my actions on that day. Until today I didn’t want to live. I thought I deserved to die for my crime. Now I understand. I deserve to live for my crime. Shame, guilt, remorse, those are the things I live with. I live with the screams and cries of my victims echoing in my mind, my heart, my very soul. My name is Ben Skywalker and I am haunted by my past, and tormented by my future. But I will live, that is all I can do. End log.

 

Just as wonderful as the first ones! I hope you will write at LEAST one more. Great job!

 

You must write another viggie for this.

Great work, Jen.

 

These were great! Good job, I really liked how you showed us Ben Skywalker growing older. My Name is Ben Skywalker was my favorite, and the last log he posted at the end of that story was really dramatic and I loved it. Great story, and I hope you write the one you mentioned!

 

VaderLVR~Thanks for reading.

At least one more.

You want more than that? I don't know. Maybe.

Angel~Thank you. One more is in the works right now, but I don't know when it'll be posted.

Briman~Thanks.

 

Please forgive me for up-ing my own story, but I'm excited. The fifth viggie in this series, My Name Is Ben Skywalker won 1st place in the Ben Skywalker Challenge.

I've never won a writing contest before, at least not a fanfic writing contest.

Thank you to the people that read these viggies, especially the last one. Thank you again.

 

Congrats, Jen. You should be proud.

 

Thank you, Angel.

Keep your eyes open for that next viggie to fit in with these others.