Commander Reese

In The Beginning

(An old teacher retells the tale of his lifetime journey)

The children gathered around the old man. At their village, he was a wise man and taught children and adult history of the wars, despite them living in peace.

"Master? Do you ever love someone?", asked one of the little one.

"Oh, I have, little one and despite him passing, I love him still", said the teacher.

"Who was he?", asked another.

"He was a decorated general. He was charismatic and honourable", said the teacher.

"Can you tell us how you met him?".

The teacher chuckled and nodded. The children scooted closer, curious to know about the teacher and the man with red hair in the photograph behind him.

"My father once worked for the Empire. He was caught one day, during a run for some supplies and that's when he met my mother. She was a Resistance pilot. He agreed to be their spy in exchange for a safe way out in case he got caught...".

"...They got married eventually and I was born not long after, but my little happy family came to end. My father defected the Empire and he fought with my mother at Scarif. I was at the Academy when I heard the news. They isolated me for being the son of a traitor, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...".

"How do you know you're Force Sensitive?", one interrupted.

"I'm coming to that. I was teased quite a lot and then, one day, I was so angry I accidentally choked one of them as I watched them from a corner. Don't worry, he's alive. At that point, I thought, 'That's impossible! How am I able to use the Force?'. I knew I couldn't go to any of the instructors, in fear I might be killed by the Emperor. So, I silently kept it to myself, although I'm surprised I wasn't made and outed by anyone...".

"I hacked into the archives and learned as much as I can about the Force. I trained and studied hard. I graduated top of my class and I was awarded the rank 'commander'. You see, I met him when I boarded the Finalizer. He was just a commander like me".

The girls all sighed, thinking it sounded like a fairy tale meeting. The teacher smiled and chuckled at their reactions.

"I can assure you, he was a tough cookie to crack, but cracked him I did. He had a horrible past. He had to do horrible things...", the teacher began to look remorse.

"Have you ever done horrible things, Master?".

"Oh, I have. When you're in a war, you don't have much choice. It's either kill or be killed, but..., what I did..., that wasn't for survival. As a young man, I was easily influenced by anger and I was sort of a vigilante. I killed a general who had nothing but been an abuser to my dear Tage. The general was his own father".

The children gasped. "What happened then?".

"After much..., effort, Tage ascended to the rank of general quickly and I became his right hand man and lover. I became his safe haven whenever those..., evil people abused him".

"Why didn't you kill them too?".

"You see, his father was vulnerable and I had the advantage. The others, they are far more powerful than I am and if I was discovered, I wouldn't be here to tell the tale...".

"What happens next?", asked the one in front of him.

"We worked side by side..., until...", the children listened intently as the teacher was about to continue when he made a surprised.

"BOO!", the teacher laughed watching the children jumped, startled at his sudden change.

"I'm kidding. Anyway, I made a few missions success, until I was captured by the Resistance. Particularly, General Organa's squadron. I looked like my father and she recognised it immediately".

"She offered me the same deal they made my father. I thought, if this is one of the way to avenge the deaths of my parents, I'd take it. I agree to be their spy. She was the first person who I told about my Force Sensitivity".

"Did she trained you? Or did Master Luke?".

"At that point, I told her it was dangerous for me to learn just yet. I asked a few of her pilots to beat me up, making it looked like I've been legitimately being tortured. They dropped me off at the next town and I went into recovery back at the Finalizer".

"Then what happened?".

"Well, it went on for a while..., until I decided it was time I switched side. Tage was not happy at first".

"Why?".

"The First Order was his pride and joy. It took me a while to convince him to run away with me".

"Did he?", the children began to wait anxiously for the answer.

"Well..., with a little..., Force you might say...".