The Revival of The Force

14 the new rival

14 the new rival

A knock sounds in the door, Finn immediately knows who it is.
"Hey," Rose says in a sigh.
"Hello," he smiles.
"Wow, you did that?" Rose asks. Few pillows are spread on the ground, like a comfortable big bed.
"It's not hard, you know."
"Yeah, but I mean, you prepared something. You could've just opened the door to a whole mess."
"Nah, I wouldn't do that," Finn answers.
"I wasn't saying you were this type of person."
At first, there is more silence than words, but very soon, more life fills the space.
"Can we not talk about politics?" Rose asks.
"Of course. What do you want to talk about?"
"About ourselves and how we feel. Debate about things, share our opinion," she proposes.
"Sounds cool," Finn answers. "So, how do you feel?"
"Well actually, all right. There's much to discuss, but it's less stressful. I mean with the Empire, there always was something –"
"Sh," he shushes and puts a finger in her lips. "That's politics."
She laughs a little. "And you?"
"Well, I don't know. I have stress. I have to deal with Yugantar, who doesn't trust me yet. And this training is also new to me. I wonder when Rey will be back...," he says lost in his thoughts.
Rose always feels a pinch of jealousy when he talks about Rey. "No, I saw you today, and you did great. Really. You had a lot of patience and always checked if Yugi was okay."
Finn laughs loud. "What? Yugi?"
"I'm too lazy to say his entire name, it's so long!"
"But thanks though," Finn says after laughing. "There'll be things to improve for sure, but that's good."
"Do you think there will always be bad in the galaxy?" Rose questions.
"Yeah, it's every single living being's nature. There's bad in all of us."
"Well, I think we could come to peace all together."
"How?" Finn asks. "That's not possible! People will be getting killed no matter what and there will always be suffering and hate no matter what we do! Even without the Dark Side of the Force. And it will keep living too."
"No, I don't agree. Look, if we do the right thing and get to satisfy everyone, we could have peace."
"Look, let me do something clear. Slavery. If someone has a slave and we want and get to free him, the man wouldn't be able to live without a slave. So he'll not be satisfied by our way of working. What would you do?"
"Well we could – I don't know, give him food?"
"Food doesn't always help, Rose," Finn laughs.
"Shut up, I believe in peace and if you don't, shut up!"
"You're just way too optimistic!"
"And you are way too pessimistic," she replies. They both start to laugh and dive closer to each other. When the sleep is taking over, their bodies are entwined like one.

The morning is filled with yawning. Finn and Yugantar didn't have a normal night. But they stand ready for the lesson. And that is how every morning, they meet at the same place behind the base. Finn reads something in the morning and decides what to do. Nonchalantly, Yugantar arrives each day, too tired but still wanting to learn new things. They have a midday break and keep going afterwards. The day is often split in two halves: physical and mental training. Sometimes Finn gets jealous because he's better at the mental training, but Finn is stronger. Handstands are a perfect mix of physical and mental training. They must feel the Force, lift objects, stay on one hand, all together. That balance makes both of them equal. Finn often wonders if that is even something for him. Nevertheless, he will keep that up until Rey comes back. The glass wall that first protected Yugantar's mind has opened a door. Still, all the memories, thoughts and feelings are hidden from Finn, who understands it. He's unsure what Yugantar can feel from him, but he follows what Ahsoka told him this one day. If Finn trusts him, Yugantar will be able to do so too. Finn waits for the evening, because then he will spend some time with Poe, drinking and discussing politics or heart matters. A little abounded hut was found during an exploration of the woods. It sort of became their little spot, where the would drink and have a good laugh. There are some days where Rose knocks at Finn's door and they talk for few hours before falling asleep in their arms.
A month has passed since Rey left in the middle of the night. No one really wonders when she'll come back, persuaded that she will. Many new actions have been taken, immigration has started. The most polluted planets were evacuated and the populations found new homes. New ships are getting build. Maybe there will be one equivalent to the Falcon. Because Finn wants to go back to space. He could take Yugantar, Rose and Poe; they could visit some places. But no ship is available. Lando and Jannah had taken another ship, it needed some conviction.
Yugantar starts to get used to his new life, he still doesn't trust Finn entirely. He ignores the reason of this mistrust, it's just like that. He hasn't spoken a lot more with Poe, around once a week they had a longer and deeper discussion. Yugantar starts to feel like Poe is actually his friend. He met a droid, Q-12, he doesn't know where it comes from, but it's really intelligent. He can speak in his languag. He was rotting in one room when Yugantar found him, covered in dust. With four tires, it can move to any direction with an incredible speed. A cuboid of metal on top, plus a camera on his head, the droid understands many languages, including R2-D2. When Yugantar took him in his room to proceed with some repairs, the droid woke up from his years of sleep. It didn't take long until they were friends.

A conference again, Finn is sick of them.
"What about the speech, Poe?" Rose asks in the round.
"I don't know, no one told me anything about it," Poe defends himself.
"No, it's okay, but we all feel the rebellion against us. We have to stop them before they attack. There are many ships and many Stormtroopers with their commanders."
"They are based on Florrum. We could send a spy," one proposes.
"We are not killing them," Finn declares. "I'm the best example that they can be good. The brainwashing and propaganda must stop."
"Then all the commanders get killed. They aren't any good and responsible for many crimes," another man says.
"Why do you want to kill?" Finn snaps. "That is like the Empire! We have to minimise deaths as much as we can!"
"Well, we all know it's the best way," the man answers.
"Excuse me, what is your name?"
"Carl Flair," he declares proud.
"Well, Carl, let's kill you, what about that?" Finn frowns.
"Didn't you just say that we shouldn't kill?" Flair responds outraged.
"Yeah I did. I am just following your way of thinking."
"I won't kill people from the Resistance! Only the Empire! They deserve it! They have killed many people!" he yells.
Some people in the round shout and agree. The other part stays calm.
"Our plan was," Rose raises her voice to gain attention, "that we propose them jobs that are similar to theirs. I mean, there are other Stormtroopers than patrols, like radar technicians. They could do that on another planet where they help people."
The crowd is silent. Everyone looks at Carl who is the centre of the attention now. He's really taking a lot of power... Finn notices. Poe nudges Finn's elbow. They look at each other with the same eyes. They will have to make a plan...
"We're going to send a spy first, I think everyone is okay with that," Rose decides. "He will update us and we'll decide what we do later."

"What do we do?" Poe asks when they get out of the conference.
"I say we go to Florrum and check how it is there. I've been before but not in the inside, the base and the weapons, the control room, security measures, all that stuff," Finn explains.
"Yeah, that's good. We take Chewie. And Yugantar?" Poe questions.
"Let's ask him," Finn answers.
They search for him a while, but find him in the canteen, sitting at a table, empty seats next to him.
"You want to get out of this place for some time?" Finn says without greeting him.
He lifts his eyes in a frown.
"We're going on Florrum, see how the Order is working," Poe describes.
"What are we going to do there?" Yugantar questions with his little accent.
"I guess the old fashioned way," Poe smiles. "Dress as stormtroopers and see. We might forge a plan there to stop the Empire. And avoid Carl Flair from killing all the stormtroopers."
"And three persons are supposed to stop the entire Empire?"
"Yeah," Poe and Finn look at each other with a smile. Poe adds: "That's how we always did it."
"But if we do get it, they will be mad," Finn realises.
"They're not going to kick us out, if we accomplish so much," Poe thinks. "So, you want to come with us?"
"Who's keeping me here anyway? I do whatever yo do, so..."
"That's a yes" Finn smiles already.
Yugantar nods in return. "But for how long?"
"We'll see, you can take a few things with you. If we don't get arrested or locked down, we'll be able to go back to the ship," Finn answers.
"When do we leave?" Yugantar adds.
Finn and Poe look at each other. "Tonight," Poe says while Finn answers: "Tomorrow morning."
"Well that is basically the same," Yugantar notices.
"Okay, so at two, we meet at the parking. I'll find us a ship," Poe decides.
"Great, and remember, this stays between us," Finn adds.
They part and Yugantar still stays on his chair. He's going on a adventure like he always dreamed of. He couldn't help but smile. Maybe he'll be able to use his skills and he'll discover another planet, a different way of life. His smile widens...