The roar was deafening.

Blaster fire, screaming, and the thundering of an engine reverberated throughout the Coruscant city streets.

Running.

We were running so quickly we didn't have time to think of where we were headed.

Glancing down for a second, I saw one foot trade places in front with the other. Again, I was disconnected to my body, merely watching the scene through my eyes; I wasn't there, and yet, I was entirely there.

Lilea was by my side, her blonde locks whipping back and forth trying to find a way out. Offices, department stores, government buildings melted together in a concrete ocean, their neon signs shut off to deter attention being drawn to them. This was not the Coruscant I knew; something terrible has shut the city down.

Suddenly, Lil gripped my hand and yanked me down a passing alley. Backs pressed against the grey brick, we watched in horror as fleets of Resistance fighters stampeded past us. Their war cries blended into one another, although some phrases struck out repeatedly.

"She's ours! It's over, Ren!"

"THIS IS FOR HAN!"

And scattered throughout, a prayer: "I am one with the Force and the Force is with me."

Silence set in as their shouts grew in distance.

"Let's go." Lil whispered as she stuck her head out around the corner. My limbs had frozen, as if a shot of ice was injected through my veins. An unfamiliar feeling, as I was typically the fearless one dragging inhibited Lilea along.

But this was different.

Somehow, I knew my life was on the line; that this battle was over me.

Noticing I wasn't coming with her, Lil turned and grabbed my shoulders. Hazel met with darkness as her eyes locked with mine.

"We're only a block away from your home. It's going to be okay." Her pained expression hinted that she had her own apprehensions about the raging battle, too. Giving me a small peck on the forehead, Lil sprinted around the corner, and I followed her lead.

The doorway to my apartment's entrance swung open as we approached the building, the open arms of my mother waiting for us eagerly. Upset and worry stained her aged face.

"Oh my god, oh my – hurry!" She shouted through broken syllables.

Lil was the first to reach the safety of the foyer. As I raised a foot to step inside, I felt foreign hands yank my body back. My mother let out a piercing scream, flying out the door after me. Lil screeched my name, horror rapidly taking over all emotion.

Shock delayed my response as a Resistance fighter lifted me off the ground in a chokehold, pressing something cold and metallic behind my ear.

"I GOT HER!" My captor bellowed, inching up on his grip.

"Wha- " My eyes widened as I processed what was happening.

"No! W-who are you looking for? I'll...I'll h-help you find her! This isn't the person you're l-looking for, this is my daughter, I – " My mother pleaded, latching onto the fighter's leather jacket, tears brewing in the corners of her eyes.

The metallic object left the side of my head and rang loudly in my ear as it fired a bullet.

My knees gave out as I was forced to witness the sight before me. I opened my mouth, but only wails emerged. I kicked back to hit the fighter where it would hurt. He stumbled back, but tightened his hold further. The crushing of my windpipes silenced my sobs.

My father rushed out to the sight of his family being destroyed without a thing he could do about it.

"Please..." He stepped forward, despite Lilea's implorations not to. Choked back tears strained his throat. "She's my only child. She's all I have left..."

"You'll stay back now." The Resistance fighter commanded, aiming the blaster between his eyes. "Or both of you will be gone." The gun motioned to Lil before moving back to my head. Leaning in to his bandaged shoulder, the fighter spoke into a small radio.

"General Organa, this is Finn. I have the girl we're looking for."

The remaining four of us stood in a standoff, the tension growing with each breath we took.

A humanoid shadow cast over us, causing my father's eyes to widen and Lil to run inside the apartment. Heavy footsteps and robotic breathing broke the silence.

"FN-2187, the traitor who lives." The unmistakable masked voice of Kylo Ren tore through the tautness like scissors through paper.

The distinctive swoosh of his lightsaber activating caused Finn to twist around to face his enemy, my body a human shield. Shuffling his shoulder, Finn called for backup.

"You have something that belongs to me." The Commander pointed his lightsaber at my chest. Every part of me was shaking in indescribable fear in the presence of the infamous First Order Commander, but adrenaline and grief fueled my resolve.

"NO!" I screamed through tears that poured uncontrollably down my cheeks and onto Finn's arm. "I'm not who you're looking for! You're causing death and destruction over a mistake. And you..." Stretching my neck, I looked up at Finn. "You..." I shut my eyes tight, trying to force the image of my mother out of my head.

Both FN-2187 and Commander Kylo Ren disregarded my cries.

"The Resistance will never be worthy of someone as strong as her. Make the right decision, and I may grant you a painless death."

As his words fell upon our ears, a troop of Resistance fighters dropped from the air, detaching themselves from harnesses. The vibrations of an overhead B/SF-17 resounded through my bones.

Behind Kylo, an army of stormtroopers rounded the corner, blasters at the ready.

The all too familiar tinnitus set in as the cracking of blasters set off from both sides. Finn ducked, shooting at some stormtroopers with one hand while still locking me with the other. A jolt rocked my body as Finn stumbled backwards over mislaid debris. Loosening his grasp, I squirmed my way under his arm, elbowing him in the ribs for good measure.

"Don't you think it'll be that easy." The Resistance fighter shouted, angry and flustered.

A blaster bullet ripped through my leg before I had time to turn around.

I fell, face-first. Pebbles embedded themselves around my eye.

Lilea and my father sprinted out of hiding and grabbed my forearms to lift me up, but more blaster bullets stopped them in their tracks.

With three thoughtless, hasty blasts, everything I had loved in this life was gone.

Commander Kylo Ren's troops descended upon Finn and the other Rebels.

The masked man himself, approaching me. Extended an outstretched hand.

"It's time to go." The words mechanically emitted from his concealment.

The innate fear screaming at me to resist his order faded. Without my parents, without Lilea, there was nothing else left for me on this planet. The Resistance was supposed to represent justice, compassion, the light.

They took all of that away from me tonight.

And here was Commander Kylo Ren, of First Order renown, risking himself to save me from the same fate.

Mindlessly, I felt my fingers slip into his large gloved hand. A handful of stormtroopers came to my aid in helping me regain my footing. A new chapter was unfolding in front of my eyes, and I couldn't do anything to stop the progression.

I didn't want to stop it.

That was when the Resistance enacted their final insult unto injury.

The painful echo of the B/SF-17 reemerged, this time accompanied by hollers and hoots of celebration. The Resistance was reveling in a victory.

Immediately, explosions leveled the city streets. Magna bombs rained down upon us like a ceaseless shower of black. The stormtroopers by my sides were thrown into walls. Unable to hold myself up, my face once again met with the ground. I watched in silent horror as the conflagration consumed the soldiers.

Noticing his missing counterparts, Kylo Ren turned on his heels to witness his army being destroyed. I waved a bleeding arm to catch his eye and helplessly watched as he motioned for more of his troopers to rescue me.

The final bomb detonated before they could reach my limp body, and I was launched into a fiery wall of darkness.

---

I was on my hands and knees when the wind knocked back into my system. My head lifted up automatically as I gasped for air.

The Commander retracted his outstretched hand, and I climbed to my feet, brushing off dust. He retreated to his original spot by General Hux, who gave me a sympathetic tilt of his head.

The Supreme Leader gave no time for reflection.

"I imagine you now fully understand our proposition, young Orrin." He paused before continuing, interlocking his long digits, expectant for me to agree with enthusiasm and pleasure.

My umber eyes locked with his piercingly blue ones. Of course, I was swayed, but the deaths of my family and best friend was still burning in my mind, behind my eyelids with every blink.

"I do," was all I had to say in response. I rang my hands behind my back.

Snoke leaned back in his throne, satisfied with the new development.

"That battle was for you, Orrin, as I am positive you surmised. You possess such a raw, natural strength with the Force. It is a gift, a talent, a curse, whatever you wish to call it, but it is one that we will help you reign in and weaponize to its fullest potential. General Hux, would you be so kind to explain to our apprentice her role in our mission?" Keeping his eyes targeted on mine, Snoke addressed the general. The word apprentice rang through my ears. It made me feel wanted, confident, that there was still a home even after the destruction of my own. It also sent a tiny surge of fear and queasiness down my spine.

Clearing his throat with an audible grunt, Hux eagerly faced me, wiping a bead of sweat from his golden brow. He spoke as if he was reciting a speech he memorized for the occasion.

"For The First Order to complete its goal of procuring the stability and progression of civilization, we must destroy all remnants of the Jedi Order. The Sith and Empire nearly completed this task, aside from one factor. Former Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, who we believe to be the last Jedi, remains in seclusion as he has for the last fifteen years."

Kylo Ren quietly muttered a few words to himself, mostly profanities from what I could decipher. General Hux had paused, eyes rolling in a full rotation before continuing.

"The First Order has been tracking the location of Skywalker for a little over a year without success. We've attempted to obtain his lightsaber, as well as the missing piece of the galactic map that would lead us directly to his whereabouts; however, our missions all ended in nothing but destruction, death, and empty hands."

"Our missions didn't end as badly as he says. He relishes in my failure." Kylo Ren snapped in my head. Sibling rivalry.

"Are you sure about that?" Snoke said out loud, startling Hux, who thought the Supreme Leader was addressing him. "That scavenger girl practically left you for dead. Pathetic." The towering humanoid spat.

The general sighed and scratched his head, awkward and annoyed.

"Anyways...it was agreed upon by the Supreme Leader, Commander Ren, and myself to bring you on board the Supremacy to master your connection with the Force. With your assistance, we will find Skywalker and eliminate the remainders of the Jedi Order, and in turn, The Resistance. Your name will be held in high regard throughout the galaxy for millennia to come."

"Thank you, General. Your response, young Fireith?" Snoke motioned for me to speak.

General Hux stuck out a gloved hand in my direction.

My parents. Lilea. My home.

The Resistance needed to be stopped.

I grabbed and shook his hand without hesitation.

"I'm in." 

---

A/N: and with that, we move on to book II! I'm a senior in college and the semester is starting to pick up (and I haven't really prewritten much whoops), so I'm not sure if I'll be able to stick to the thursday update schedule. I'm hoping to, but we'll see how the semester goes! thanks everyone for your support!