No Love Lost (Reylo, Star Wars)

Chapter 11

Ben's POV

God, I was just having a grand time flying the X-Wing when suddenly I hear a voice in my head. At first, I thought it was the usual voice. Instead, it was Rey. At the sound of her voice, I almost lost control of the jet and veered out of hyperspace. Luckily I got it under control, but not before having a partial heart attack. I listened to Rey's voice, and after it started to fade away, it echoed back again. And again. I pushed back my hair for the third time. I stared down at my hands, sighing.

'Ben, wherever you are now, just know that I hate you because you hurt your parents and you hurt me.'

I wiped away a tear. Damn it, I'm getting so emotional these days.

'And Ben, wherever you are now, if you come back, you will be forgiven.'

I couldn't help but smile grimly, but for now, I had to get rid of the old and start anew.

I looked up from my hands. Squinting, I make out a large planet in the distance.

'Whaaaaaat? ' I ask.

I had no idea there was anything out here. Well, at least not in the middle of the Unknown Regions. 

'Of course there's something here. We hide in the shadows, waiting to strike. Welcome to Starkiller Base, Ben ', the voice told me, sounding not very welcoming.

I gulped. Starkiller Base. Sounded promising.

I wrinkled my brows wondering why I would ever think like that. I soon shrugged that thought off in anticipation at arriving at the base.

It was a lot bigger than it seemed from farther away. Now that we were closer, the base wasn't actually entirely man-made. My best guess was that it used to be a planet. In the middle of the base, a large strip of the planet had a sort of superweapon in its first stages of construction.

The X-Wing veered away from the strip and headed behind the planet where it was even darker, probably toward a landing station. I couldn't help but to clench and unclench my fists repeatedly. I squinted and saw a couple of stormtroopers marching over as the Wing was landing. Thoughts whirled through my head.

'How do they know I'm here? What are they going to do to me?  Are they going to kill me? Why did I even come here in the first place? This place is creepy. It's so dark. I'm scared. Can I go home? '

Before I noticed, a gun tapped at the window of the X-Wing. I was stricken with fear and wanted to pretend no one was even in the jet, but that was stupid. At least I managed to get up and get out of the jet. The troopers surrounded me. I shivered and blinked in the strangely bright white light of the hangar. A stormtrooper dressed in chrome gear approached me, gun in hand. His head moved up and down, examining me, before he walked away. A trooper pushed me in the back with his weapon.

"Move it!", he ordered, his gun hard at my back. I followed after the chrometrooper.

After a while, we came to a stop at a set of large metal doors. The silver trooper stopped and turned around, stationing himself at the door. Someone prodded me in the back. Oh no. I involuntarily stepped forward. The doors opened. It was pitch black inside except for a stream of white light in the center of the room. I stepped inside. The doors closed behind me. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized it wasn't as dark as I thought. I looked around, sweat dripping down my face.

"Come closer", a voice told me. I turned around. A large figure of a person sitting in a chair looked at me through the darkness. His face was shrouded in the only light in the large echoing room. His voice sounded familiar but I couldn't really tell where it was from.

As I approached the figure, I realized he was a hologram. I instinctively bent my head down.

"Ben", he said, "Look at me."

When he said my name, it dawned on me that this was the person who talked to me in my mind all that time. I thought it was just a figment of my imagination, not a real person.

"Of course not!", the figure exclaimed, "I was always there for you. Helping you, Ben. You would not be here without me." He relaxed in his chair a little.

"You may probably not know who I am other than the voice in your mind. I am-", he paused, probably for effect. "Supreme Leader Snoke!"

His loud voice echoed through the room. I nodded in confusion. Snoke sighed, maybe from my lack of enthusiasm.

"I told the stormtroopers to bring you here. You will now be training with the Imperial Order, under Captain Phasma. She will tell you everything as you start to progress in your training." Snoke waved lazily at the door, a dismissal.

I nodded again and turned away. My steps seemed loudly than they were. I walked faster until I had reached the door. When I glanced back, the holographic figure was still staring at me before it disappeared. Someone coughed as the doors closed. The stormtrooper in chrome was gone.

"We're to bring you to Captain Phasma's quarters, sir", someone told me. He gestured toward a corridor.

'Sir? Why would he call me sir? He didn't prod me again like last time with his gun. Is this Snoke's doing? ' I questioned as we headed away.

"Turn right and then make a left at the third door", the trooper told me from behind.

I followed his directions and down the hall, there were two more soldiers stationed another set of doors. We stopped. No one said anything. Then one of the troopers nodded his head and opened the door.

I stepped in hesitantly. When the door whirred shut behind me with a clang, I suddenly felt very, very trapped.

I didn't move.

I heard breathing and too late, a gun was cocked and pointed at my head.

"Hello. I'm Captain Phasma."

'He's a woman?? ', was my last thought before everything faded to black.