Haunting Memories

Chapter II

Your POV:
For the first time since I became a soldier of the First Order, I disobeyed my commanders. Instead of going to lunch with the rest of my squadron, I remained in the training room so that I could train a bit on my own.

I locked the door of the room then sat down in the center, removing my stormtrooper helmet. Unsure what I was doing, I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing. Despite not having a clue why I was doing this, it felt right to do so. I felt at peace with the world. I could feel something- a powerful force that seemed to surround my body.

Curiously, I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by the blasters and staffs that we used during training. But for some reason they were floating in the air, inches above the ground. I stuck my arm out and called a blaster to me, the weapon immediately responding to my wishes.

"What is this?" I asked myself in curiosity, not quite believing what was before my eyes. It seemed like some form of magic, something that shouldn't be possible.

I felt a presence approach the training room, breaking my trance and causing all of the weapons to fall to the floor with a loud clatter. I called my helmet to me and secured it, hoping that I could find the strength to worm my way out of the situation.

I held my breath, waiting for someone to come in and find me, but no one ever did. After a few moments, I realized that I was safe and I chose to leave the room before I could be put into another similar situation. I picked up the fallen weapons and reorganized the room before leaving and catching the tail end of lunch.

The rest of training went by as it normally did, we marched to our assigned training room and began working the minute everyone had arrived. Our squadron only patrolled the halls once a month because we were thought of as not trained enough for any more work than that.

But today Captain Phasma had decided to oversee our training. It was a bit intimidating to have her watching us try not to screw up but I found that I worked well under pressure. No one said a word to one another, too scared to even breathe while under Phasma's scrutinizing eye.

The training was actually going surprisingly well, for our squadron at least, though of course we were only working on aim and precision. But that streak of only missing a few shots quickly ended when someone shot at a pole, the bullet ricocheting off the metal due to its angle, and nearly hitting Captain Phasma.

"JL-7622! Your target is on that wall, not halfway across the room! If you were in a battle you could have just killed one of your squadron members!" Captain Phasma shouted, her blaster pointed at the mentioned trooper. "We cannot have mishaps like that in a battle! You are now relieved of your duties!"

"No!" I cried out, a strange urge not to want her to kill my fellow trooper flooding through my veins. I had seen others get punished similarly, but for some reason I wanted to save this man's life. I couldn't bare to watch another innocent life be taken.

To my dismay, Captain Phasma ignored my cry and began to pull back on the trigger. As though it was a normal reflex, I used my strange power to summon the blaster from her hand, preventing her from firing. For one tense second, the room all looked at me and down at Phasma's weapon, now placed between my palm and fingers.

The silence was broken by the quiet sound of footsteps as a black cloaked man walked into the center of the room, his face pointed towards me. I could only assume that he was staring at me as the mask concealed his eyes, but it did seem quite obvious that that's where he would be looking.

"Lord Ren," Phasma spoke, giving a slight bow. My heart stopped as I realized that the man approaching me was the highest commander of the base. "I was just going to eliminate one of those less skilled troopers when this one- when this one stole my blaster."

"I saw," Lord Ren responded, his voice deep and robotic. He did not turn to acknowledge the Captain as he spoke, but instead remain fixed on me.

"I-I am sorry, Lord Ren," I spoke, my voice barely a whisper. I knew what was next, I was going to die as punishment.

"You, come with me," he spoke to me, turning on his heal and leaving the room quickly, leaving me no time to process what was happening before having to follow him out of the door.

"Sir, if you are going to kill me, you might as well do it now," I said as I tried to keep up with his fast pace.

Lord Ren stopped and turned to me, tilting his head slightly, "I am not going to kill you, JL-0819."

Without an explanation, he then continued to lead me through the base. He stopped at a large door to a room that I had not been in before. Opening the door, he signaled for me to go in before closing it behind us.

"Take off your helmet," he ordered as soon as the door was shut.

Why do I have to take off my helmet, but your mask gets to stay on? I thought, a little annoyed by his order. Besides, you could at least tell me what the hell I'm doing here. Despite my sarcastic thoughts, I did as he wished, having to brush pieces of my (h/c) hair out of my face.

"Watch your thoughts," Lord Ren snapped at me, causing me to look at him in shock. Did he just read my mind?

"Yes, I can read your thoughts, so be mindful of what you think," he explained, coming closer. "Now tell me, when did you discover that you could use the force?"

"The-the what?" I stuttered, off-put by the knowledge of him being able to read my mind. I could practically hear him roll his eyes at my oblivion. Well sorry, Mr. I-Know-Everything, being a stormtrooper doesn't give you many opportunities to learn anything save how to serve the First Order faithfully.

"What did I say about watching your thoughts?!" He yelled at me, causing me to flinch.

"I-I'm sorry," I mumbled, not meeting his eyes. Noticing my refusal to look at him, his gloved fingers rested beneath my chin, lifting it upwards so that I had no choice but to gaze directly at his mask. He came closer, until there were only a few centimeters separating our bodies, causing my heart to quicken in anticipation.

Lord Ren lifted his other hand to my forehead, his fingers lightly touching the skin and a sharp pain ran throughout my head. All I could think of in that moment was my newfound splitting headache as I desperately tried to resist it.

"The force is an energy field created by all living things," Lord Ren began to explain, but I found it hard to focus on his words. "It surrounds us and penetrates us and binds the galaxy together. It is where I get my power, it is what's allowing me to search your thoughts right now." He paused for a second, doing what I could only assume as delving deep into my mind, "You want to be more than just an average stormtrooper, you want to be meaningful. You don't want to be a jumble of letters and numbers, you strive to be something more." Lord Ren pulled his hand away from me and spoke, "I can make you become something more, I can make everyone in the galaxy know your name."

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I'm so exhausted and sick 😭😭 but at the same time I don't want my musical to end... The struggle is real

Anywho, here's chapter 2, I hope y'all like it and please comment any feedback you have!!!