Conflicting Forces

Starkiller Base

For the second time today, assuming it was still today, I awoke with a jolt. My clothing was heavy with sweat and I could feel my heart finally beginning to slow down. The pang in my head continued, though, pounding with every breath I sucked in.

My mind scrambled to make sense of where I was, absorbing every sliver of detail of the room I was being held; the dark metal walls, all black furniture and heavily bolted doors. For minutes I lay there on the bed, trying to grasp onto a memory of how I got here. Right as I was beginning to lose hope and give up, it all came back to me. The attack on Coruscant, my slaughter of the stormtroopers, and finally my dual with Kylo Ren which I was doomed to fail. I was on the Starkiller Base.

I could feel my heartrate speed up, as did the thumping in my head. Something was nearing me, something dark. I could sense it in my head like a cloud. It was the same feeling I got earlier today. The one that told me of Kylo Ren's presence.

As the seconds ticked by, the cloud in my head grew along with my senses. I could feel my sight grow sharper, and my hearing intensify. I swore I could almost hear the stomping of boots clatter down the hallway towards the room. And then it all stopped. The door swung open. There stood Kylo Ren.

A shiver runs down my spine, almost as if to tell me to run for it, but I knew better than that. I wouldn't even get one foot out the door before Kylo would stop me. As if reading my mind (which I wouldn't put past him), Kylo steps in and locks the door behind him, using the Force. I instinctively grope around the nightstand, looking for my lightsaber before stopping when I remember that I wasn't in my bed or my room. I felt intimidated and scared, but especially vulnerable without anything to defend myself with. My stomach was queasy just thinking about being locked in a room with this sociopath who would clearly feel no remorse for killing me.

"I'm not going to kill you," Kylo finally spoke, confirming my suspicions about the mind reading. "At least not unless you provoke me." Great.

"Who are you? And why the hell am I here?" I ask, clearing my throat afterwards. I try my best to look intimidating, but I am certain that he was not at all scared of me.

"You know who I am," he says with impatience laced in his voice. "You will find out why you are here soon enough. All you need to know right now is that you will be training with me beginning tomorrow."

Despite trying my best to not show my disgust, I could feel my face screw up and my eyes narrow at the guy in front of me. "E-excuse me?" I stutter and cross my arms. I could feel my fear dissipating with every passing second. "You think you can just march in here and just order me around like you're... like you are some kind o-of..." I trail off, trying to think of the right word.

"Leader?" he finishes, obviously taken back by my sudden outburst and clearly feeling disrespected. "Maybe that's because I am a leader! Your leader, actually!" He shouts and I notice his fists balling into fists. "If I order you to do something, you will do it! This is not negotiable!"

"What makes you think that I will willingly abandon my years of Jedi training to join you to fight for the First Order?" I challenge, my voice raising slightly as well.

Instead of answering, Kylo ignores me and leaves the room, slamming the door behind him and neglecting to lock it. My mind races, trying to think about if he intentionally left the door unlocked or if he forgot. I wasn't sure if I should try and escape or not. What if it was a test? Maybe he was just going to use it as a way to say, "I dare you. Try and escape and see what I do." Before I could decide which I thought it was, though, the door opens again. This time three stormtroopers walk in, one holding a pair of handcuffs. I curse under my breath and hop off the bed, determined not to go down without a fight.

"Don't even try it," one of them says, gripping his blaster and aiming it at my chest. Deciding that today wasn't the right day to get blasted through the chest, I give up, raising my hands above my head in surrender. The armed trooper keeps his blaster trained on me while the other two restrain me and bind my hands together.

I am led down the hall to another room. This one was not furnished and was even more unwelcoming than the previous one, which I didn't think was possible. Maybe it was the chair with arm restraints that really gave me that impression, though. Other than that fun piece of furniture, the room was bare. The door was also heavily bolted like the other room, but that was no surprise. The stormtroopers sat me in the chair and carefully removed my handcuffs and replaced them with the restraints. And with that I was left there, alone, with just me and my thoughts.