The Light and the Dark - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 4

Kira, Finn, and BB-8 wandered through the desert for a long time. The sun had come out a couple hours ago and they were all starting to get tired of walking. They hadn't come across any settlements yet, not even any wreckage from the Battle of Jakku. Kira did her best to navigate through her home world, but it had been a long time since she step foot on the planet. She didn't exactly remember a lot of the directions.

At last, they came across a familiar setting to Kira. It was the AT-AT walker that she had stayed in for 8 years of her life. She smiled when she saw it and lead Finn and BB-8 to it. She didn't know why she was happy to see this place when it had given her so much anger. Kira shrugged it off as she went inside.

"We can stay here overnight," Kira said. "Then we can head over to Niima Outpost in the morning. We can get a ship there from Unkar Plutt, the head of everyone there. Not looking forward to seeing him again."

"Why not?" Finn asked. "It's okay if you don't answer."

Kira smiled at him and then looked down. "When my parents left me, they left me in the care of him," she told him. "He gave me portions of food because I was 5 years old, but after I turned 6, he no longer gave me food. I instead had to fight for myself and give him parts to trade for food. But he barely gave me anything. When I complained to him, he didn't take it well and... he beat me."

Finn had a horrified expression on his face when he heard this. "I'm so sorry, Kira," he said. "I'm really sorry you had to go through that. I went through the same when I was a Stormtrooper. Even though I was seen as the best, they still punished me a lot. I would be beaten or forced to keep my helmet off. That was seen as the biggest sign of shame when you had your helmet off in battle or on duty."

Kira knew of this treatment of the Stormtroopers. She was against it, given the fact that she had been abused, but didn't say anything to Kylo Ren or Captain Phasma. Sometimes she wish she did, but she took part in killing anyone who failed to obey orders. It made her anger grow stronger, which made her more powerful.

"I'm sorry," Kira ended up saying, pretending to be sympathetic. "But when we go see Unkar Plutt tomorrow, you may have to hold me back when I see him. I would love to slit that thing's throat for what he did to me and the other scavengers."

That was when Finn started to sense something inside of her. Darkness. It was faint, but it was there. Kira could feel his presence getting close to her, so she kept up her mental shields to keep him out. Finn ended up moving on from the darkness and instead touched her Force aura through his. Kira touched back and felt something that she hadn't felt in a long time.

Light.

"You have the Force?" Finn asked her in a soft tone.

Kira nodded in response. "I do," she replied in barely a whisper. "I didn't want to tell anyone. I didn't want anyone to know."

Finn smiled at her and took her hand. "It's okay," he reassured her.

Before Kira could reply, Finn gasped as he felt pain course through him. Kira gave him a concerned look as she grabbed his arms. Finn looked up at the sky outside of the walker, seeing a familiar Star Destroyer in the sky.

"Finn, what's wrong?" Kira asked him.

Finn looked back at her with a look of terror. "Poe..." he whispered.

...

Poe was shoved back into his restraining chair, groaning in pain. Kylo Ren was standing in front of him, holding up his hand as he peered into his mind. Poe felt extreme pain in his head, flinching and gasping as every move the Knight of Ren made. But he tried to resist and keep the location of the device away from him.