Chain Reaction

Chapter 5 - Generals

Paige

The ride to the Resistance base was all but peaceful for Paige, albeit being quiet. The three people that rescued her and Poe took turns watching her despite Poe's reassurances, they wouldn't trust her "without the General's permission" as Tallie told him with a scowl at Paige's direction. Kurtt was okay, for a member of the Resistance. He would often try to converse with Paige during his shift of watching her. She would respond although the conversation would end after three or four exchanges of words. The first time, they had been talking about her past (which ended as soon as it began). The second time around it was Kurtt that talked about his past, he reminisced about his life at his home planet. He was part of their military, he was just starting out, until the First Order came.

Marcus was the difficult one. He kept glaring at Paige from across whichever room she was in, except the loo, which aggravated Marcus because he wanted to accompany her inside still. Paige sought Tallie's help with the issue, and the latter agreed to Paige's terms reluctantly. Paige tried to talk to Marcus, but to no avail. Resorting to mind probing was all she had left, and what she saw, she did not like. During their invasion, they burned everything. Homes, schools, hospitals. Heck, they destroyed the entire planet. And all for what? Their own empire. The Supreme Leader's empire. Paige had not noticed Marcus' glassy eyes staring at her as though with the knowledge that she had been probing his mind, when she did, she stared back at him not knowing what to say or do after witnessing such a tragedy. Marcus straightened his posture even more, conveying a message that seemed to say "Now you know."

If Paige was being honest with herself though, Tallie was even more difficult than Marcus. She would talk. And her condescending tone and words would just rain from her mouth and pour over Paige. She'd learned to tune her out. But, there were some words she couldn't ignore. She wouldn't even dignify with a response or with any sign that she had been listening. There had been an incident where Poe had come to mellow things down, as Paige had merely glared at Tallie which resulted in her screaming to her knees. And ever since she'd shown she could wield the force, all her companions were even more wary of her.

It was the dreams that made the trip horrid. Every night she'd be haunted by the man. The Count. She would be told of stories. Stories of the Jedi, and the Sith, trust, and betrayal. She'd thought he could answer some of her questions, but he did nothing but raise more. Annoyed, she would just sit down and zone off as he blathered on about the Empire. Then one night, when he'd noticed her apathy, led to an agreement between the two. She would listen, but only if he'd answer one question each time he'd appear to her. The first was his name. The second, who he was to her, to which he replied her father. Paige had pushed for more information but he'd witheld for another time. She'd learned of the past Jedi and Sith wars in return. She'd learned of his death. She'd learned of a person called Darth Vader and the emperor named Palpatine.

Their last exchange didn't end very well for both parties. Paige had asked him why he had her frozen for decades instead of just letting her live by him in his time. The Count made it crystal clear his priorities were different. This made Paige outraged which resulted in bouts of yelling about identity crises, and being alone and clueless. The Count never showed again since.

All information she relayed to the General before her. The others refused to leave her alone with Paige, but General Leia insisted it was fine. Paige had promised not to use the force against her or anyone else in the Resistance base, and the general trusted her word despite having only just met when they'd arrived. Whatever Poe had said to her must have been a great tragic story to have made her act softly towards a member of the First Order. When they'd arrived, Paige was handcuffed, and she'd received more than her fair share of scowls and dirty glares as she was taken to the general.