Chapter II

"You are currently in Medical Ward 6 of the Supremacy." Hux continued, pacing back and forth. "We are expecting by tomorrow your internal injuries will be cleared, and you will be able to walk with the assistance of a crutch for the remainder of the week." He stopped in his tracks as he finished, facing me. Noticing my blank expression, he asked if I was all right.

I scrambled through my thoughts to mumble an affirmative. The First Order. The title had struck a cord of fear, agitation in me, without a reason why. It was as if my hands were reaching out to seize the words, but they were just far enough that only my fingertips could graze them.

"God, uh, this is embarrassing for me," I began. Hux had made such a dramatic introduction, as if I should have already known whom he was.

I didn't.

"Would you be so kind as to, um, remind me what The First Order...does." Grimacing more from the awkwardness than the pain, I drew my eyes to the ceiling. Hoping to forget this encounter as soon as it's over.

Hux didn't seem to mind. In fact, he grinned and placed his hands on his sides. He spoke as if The First Order was his only pride and joy.

"In the words of our Commander, it is the undertaking of The First Order to remove disorder from our existence to promote the stability and progression of civilization. For reasons unbeknownst to us, the Resistance has made it their mission to deter and destroy any efforts we make to attain this goal. We have been in battle with the Resistance for nearly a year. Fortunately, we lay one step ahead." Hux crossed his arms. Satisfied. "And no need to feel embarrassed," he added, "your thinking isn't as sharp as it normally would be. As I said, those issues should resolve themselves by morning."

Hux opened the door with a push of a button. The nurse hurried back in, a small cut on her cheek. She saluted him, visibly shaking.

"General, did you feel that? Is there a problem with the ship? A shelf in the infirmary lobby crashed from the turbulence. All our files are in disarray, glass specimen tubes crashed everywhere..." She touched her cheek, frowning at the blood that came off on her fingers. "Oh, no."

"No need to worry, Jaina, the Supremacy is in stable condition. I'll be making my leave now for the night. If you need me, I will be in main hangar with the Commander to finalize a course of action for this week." Hux sighed, seemingly agitated at his evening plans. "Take good care of Orrin. She has quite a day planned for tomorrow." He nodded at me, an expression of quiet contentment spreading across his face. As Hux went to exit, he stopped in the doorway to address us a final time.

"And Jaina, that was not turbulence."

General Hux closed the door, and Jaina prepared me for my first night aboard the Supremacy.

I wondered if it would be my last.

---

The heat radiating off the red beam was strong enough to burn my skin without touching. Tiny waves of electricity leaped up, down, and around it, hovering slightly, like solar flares. Sweat trickled down my back.

"Take it." A robotic voice ordered.

Before I had time to react, the lightsaber was shoved into my hands. The two protruding beams at the helm nearly sliced through my sleeve. The blade illuminated the masked figure in front of me. The weapon felt awfully unfamiliar in my grip.

"Upon your completion of this trial, you will be appointed as a Knight of Ren. If you fail, you will be executed." The figure warned. Despite being unable to see his features, an innate sense told me was a human. He was tall, cloaked in robe upon robe of black, intimidating. He was not a man who goes back on his word.

He stepped to the side, and with a wave of his hand opened a door leading out towards a field. Smoke came pouring through the open doorway, filling my lungs and suffocating. In the distance stood a marble temple.

Rather, the remains of a temple.

Fires ravaged the structure's frames. A thick wall of ash saturating the atmosphere underscored the darkness of the night.

Children were running out of the burning temple in all directions.

"They are the last of the remaining Jedi apprentices." The figure gestured to the younglings. The computerized voice caused by the mask removed all emotion from his speech, dehumanized him. A chill coursed through my bloodstream. "Kill them."

Looking up at the man, my eyes shifted from one side of the mask's slit where his eyes should have been to the other. My lips parted to dissent, but no sound came out.

"Do not waste my time." He threatened.

"They're children! Can't we take them in? We can show them the right path, we can –" My pleas were cut off just as sharply as my oxygen.

I was lifted into the air until I was at the same height as the man. He lifted a finger as if he was beckoning me to come further. My eyes started to roll and my vision dimmed.

"I see you have made your decision."

He released his grip, and with the same powers, threw me outside. I landed on my hands and knees, my left wrist contorted by the fall. The Force kept me locked in place.

Cape flowing behind, smoke intertwining between his legs and rising up to encase him, the man resembled the devil incarnate as he crossed the field.

"Watch."

With minimal, effortless swings of the lightsaber, he eliminated the young students one by one.

As he pulled his sword out of his last victim, the man shut the beams off. In two long strides, he was standing over my frozen body.

"You are nothing. You are an embarrassment to The First Order, to Supreme Leader Snoke, and to me."

He kneeled down, reached under my arms, and pressed the inactive lightsaber between my ribs. His face was mere inches away from mine.

"If you see my father, tell him Kylo Ren says hello."

The red beam was switched on and tore through my chest.

---

Beeps and hisses permeated the otherwise eerie silence. I hadn't left the medical ward, and I was very much alive. Jaina was gone for the night.

It was just a dream.

Or was it more?

A warning, a premonition?

Despite my failing memory, I knew of Commander Kylo Ren well, as did the rest of the galaxy. He acted more machine than man, and tales of his cruelty were whispered amongst the sects of Coruscant. Information began to fall into place.

I thought back to my initial reaction to realizing I was on board with The First Order. There was fear, anger, hurt. But then, the Resistance was the reason why I was here in the first place. They made an attempt on my life, and succeeded in their attempts on others. The First Order could have left me for dead just as easily. But with someone as terrifying as Kylo Ren as its leader...

In times of war, you could make friends on either side, my mother had said, but enemies are everywhere.

Trust no one.

Pushing myself up on my forearms, I examined my leg.

I could probably make a break with this.

The intravenous tubes were no longer sticking my hands. Aside from the somewhat bulky cast, I was free. Escaping the Supremacy was essentially the same as crawling out my window for a night at Uscru, only now with more security cameras, guards, and maybe the chance of risking an imminent death. Nothing wrong with an element of surprise. 

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A/N: I wrote this chapter in a day help ?? Don't worry guys, Kylo's going to (actually) be in the next chapter! We just needed some of that good ol exposition ya feel me