The Apprentice

Chapter 18

Buzz! My computer finally turned on.
"HA! Told you I'd fix it!"
"Bwop beep beep beep!"
"No-YOW!" BB-14 zapped my leg.
"BWOP!"
"Maybe I shouldn't get you that new upgrade."
"Bwop bwop bwop."
I stuck at my tongue at her. My finger flew over the key board as I skimmed through each document name. Many were Starkiller plans and architectural information of different First Order bases. One file caught my eye. It was named, "Lost Imperial Artifacts."
"Darksaber?" I read hoarsely. "Kyber Saber? Clone army?"
The more I read, the more I was confused. Why would Snoke care about these things? The First Order isn't considering a clone army just yet, the Darksaber was lost from the Mandalorians, and the Kyber Saber was destroyed.
"Mia, what are you doing?" Father's presence startled me.
"N-Nothing...."
"I sent a droid to summon you. Why didn't you come?"
"Droid?" I looked at BB-14 then at the door. "What droid?"
"A droid did not come and send you to see the council?"
"See the council?! But I just got here!"
"Mia, it's been quite a long time."
I checked my watch. It's been about 5 hours since I got back. Time flies quick...
"Alright father, I'm coming." With a glance back to my computer and nod to BB-14, I followed father to the council meeting room.
"Mia, Kylo Ren is expecting you. In the room meeting. Mia, Ren Kylo is expecting you-" A humanoid droid kept saying.
"Father, I think this droid is broken." I said as it ran straight into him. Father angrily Force pushed it into the wall. "Ever since the Resistance attacked us, much of droids and ships have been damaged."
"Stupid Resistance..."
"Which is why your gained knowledge is important. Apparently, some of our plans were stolen during the attack."
"Let's hope I have all the information they have on us."
"Indeed."
We walked inside. Instead of bickering, the council was sitting quietly. It was odd to hear such an absence of sound, other than the heavy breaths and heartbeats. Everyone seemed anxious, awaiting whatever information I had. The attack left the entire base damaged and almost completely vulnerable. The destruction of our most powerful weapon was a big failure to the First Order.
The Resistance will pay. They act as if they are completely pure hearted, but they aren't. They've destroyed cities, torn apart families, and lie.
I took a deep breath, and pulled out my flash drive.
"Hello everyone," I greeted. "As you already know, I was on a mission to find out what the Resistance knew about us and any other key information we could find, because a traitor gave them critical information about the First Order. This isn't the first time this has happened, because a Stormtrooper had previously shown the Resistance our vulnerabilities. If we ever want to be as powerful as the Empire once was, we must strike back soon."
I clicked on a button to display a file named Starkiller number 2 plans.
"I'm not aware of how many people know about this, but a second Starkiller base is being built. During the attack, the Resistance somehow stole these plans while we were busy defending ourselves-"
"You ran away!!" A councilman shouted. I turned toward him and glared.
"I'm the one who spotted the Resistance. I'm the one found the traitor. I'm the one who shot down some of the bigger ships. And I didn't run away, I was sent on a mission. You, however, couldn't get off your butt and hid." He immediately shut up.
"Now, if anyone else wants to interrupt, please do so now." Silence. "Good. So, continuing on, while I was on that mission, I was able to take the information they had on us. It's a big list, but the plans are the most important. Apparently, they were able find the Starkiller's weaknesses, which are quite a lot."
"What weaknesses? Supreme Leader Snoke and I was told it would be flawless!" Father said angrily. I raised an eyebrow at him and clicked a button to displays the next Starkiller base.
"Then you've been lied to," I pressed another button that highlighted the weaknesses in bright red. "I count at least 17, not including the minor ones on the inside of the base," I glared at Hux and Phasma.
The council started throwing questions that were surprisingly aimed at me.
"What can we do about this?"
"What are those weaknesses?"
"Should we attack them?! Before they attack us!"
"Silence!" Father shouted. "Mia, what do you think?"
I looked at him and everyone else wide eyed, because they seemed to expect me to have answers. "M-Me? But shouldn't you or Hux or someone else in this room have an idea?"
"Well... if anyone did, they would have proposed one."
"But Father, perhaps you'd have some sort of plan."
"Mia, if I did, you would have heard it by now. Clearly I- no the First Order- needs a fresh perspective and that should come from you. You're younger but have much knowledge about the Empire and other governments."
The council members nodded slowly, and they weren't agreeing from fear, they were agreeing because they somehow believed that Father was right, and that the great Kylo Ren needs guidance from someone new, but knowledgeable.
I was completely dumbfounded, but I somehow understood.
I sighed. "Okay. Well", I thought back to how the Empire had found out that there was a flaw in the Deathstar, but didn't do anything to fix it. "Why don't we start by fixing those flaws? This would catch the Resistance off guard when the Starkiller doesn't look like what they had seen. This could cause chaos as well."
There were murmurs of agreement. "Like look at these places," I zoomed in on the canons. "They can easily be disabled because of the joints that allow the canons to move." More murmurs. "Here too, the shields are easily disabled if hit only one specific area. We need to ensure that extra security is placed. The list continues, shall I continue?"
With frustrated nods from everyone I kept listing every major flaw, as well as possible solutions. Soon, some of the council members began stifling their yawns. I finished listing the flaws and father ended the meeting with a stern order to begin fixing the flaws quickly.
I ran back to my room, ignoring the puzzled stares of each passerby. I have to keep looking for answers to what happened to my mother. What is my father not telling me? Or does he not know either? My fingers slammed against the keyboard as my eyes darted to each file.
Suddenly I froze on one file. My heart was racing. My hands trembled.
"Hera."
I clicked on it. I read word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph. It was as if my eyes were eating each little detail.
I somehow managed to ring for my father.
"Mia what is the meaning of- are you alright? What's going on- "
"M-mom." I was able to say. I pointed at the screen, my finger shaking so hard, as if an electric shock was passing through.
Father slowly set down his mask and looked at the screen.
"Where did you get this?" He softly asked.
"This came from Snoke's Computer. You tell me."
"How could this- wait when did you go through Snoke's computer?"
"Father, I demand to know."
"Wait... this file was updated recently... the last known whereabouts of your mother was years ago!"
"Then why does it said 3 months ago?"
"I don't... Snoke told me that she disappeared years ago, and that he would tell me if they ever found her again."
"Father, please, tell me the whole story."
"Well you know Kuro had poisoned her mind and that she was a Jedi, correct?"
"Yes."
"Well... she betrayed Luke by not only taking my side, but also for exposing of how bad the Jedi code is. Well, at least she tried. She wanted to show everyone that being a Jedi means to give up the light that makes life. Give up emotion and passion, among other things, was something Hers never understood. She felt that the Jedi should feel emotion and passion, which helps them become more tuned toward the light. She tried to change all of that, but ultimately failed. That why I fell in love with her..." his eyes became slightly watery, with a sad half smile on his mouth. "She saw things differently. She followed me, even though I chose the Dark side of the force from rage. She was the only the person who listened."
"She sounds amazing... I wish that I got to see that side of her."
"I wish so too, my child. But why would supreme leader keep this from me?"
"Is it because she was a Jedi?"
"It can't possibly be that.. she betrayed them, as did I."
"Wait..." I scrolled down farther. "Kuro... Kuro is still chasing her."
"What?!" He couldn't believe it. "She was tortured and brainwashed enough, why would he need to go after her?"
I suddenly had a weird idea. The present that mother had left for me.
"Father, what if," I grabbed the kyber crystal, "what if this has to do with anything?"
"She set it aside for you when you were a baby, and said it was a powerful object. I merely thought it was because it could power an light saber."
"I think it's something more, father."
"How? I should speak to-"
I whipped my head around and looked at father with desperation. I grabbed his shoulder tightly, so that he would look at me seriously.
"No."
"What-"
"No. Snoke cannot know about this."
"Why not?"
"Father! You lead the First Order! You should know why! He's the one who sent Kuro! He might have some other, dark reason to have mother brainwashed in such a way."
"You are right, but what could that reason be?"
Author's note.
Hey guys!! Sorry for the weird updates, somehow half the chapter didn't get uploaded. Anyway, thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon, and I CANT WAIT FOR LAST JEDI!