Dear Stranger,
Scenes at home have turned me into a confused cross between a teen and an adult. My brother is acting the way he used to about ten years ago. We have fights. Big ones. And have already put up LOCs. Dad is behaving like, well, dad. Ordering, questioning and giving advice that no one acts on. Mom has started picking my food habits and criticizing the way I look, dress, eat, in short, everything about me. Basically, we have regressed about ten years.
Am I a booze-starved teenager or a sex-starved adult?
And then there are the real fights outside the safe confines of home. Stuff that I cannot tell anyone about.
Life can be hard. Bosses can be harder but superbosses? You don’t want to know.
Lord Snoke was not ruthless to your face, but he could read faces. I had to make efforts to compose my expression every time he asked a question that required me to run a fact check. Lie or garnish a truth? I didn’t want to unintentionally give away details. Luke Skywalker had already been mentioned once. For all I know, my letters are being intercepted.
“How many Inhumans do you have in your team, right now, RG1?” he asked me while we whizzed past the red zones or the ones affected the most by the virus.
“None till now, my Lord.” I mentioned truthfully.
He turned to look at me. “May I know why?” His eyes were green, a piercing green that made me look away.
“My Lord,” I cleared my throat hastily. “I haven’t yet begun the process of dehumanization. As per my analysis of the new recruits, some of them are not worth the transformation. I do not want the ones afflicted by the virus to enter my team. I aim to create a strong, dedicated team of soldiers who are aligned to the goals of the Death Star. Only a team of conscious Inhumans can help us achieve what we desire above all. Dominion over the earth.”
I think I had last made such a long speech when I was an obedient student in school.
Lord Snoke grunted as my hands shivered under the protective gloves. Did I reason things out properly? Or had I given myself away? The most important thing in this line of business was to have the right reasoning ready. Without it, you were as good as dead.
“You know, RG1, the Death Star still is a remote force on earth. Action is truth. And truth is action. If I don’t see it, it is not happening. And if it is not happening, you have to understand it is NOT happening. The whys and wherefores are the subjects of philosophers’ and warlocks’ debates and discussions. We are stormers and troopers. Not reporters of happenings.”
“Yes, my Lord.” I agreed quietly.
“Has Darth Vader accompanied you to the crucial weapon sites?”
“Err…yes, my Lord, he has.”
My troops were assembling the crates nearby under the merciless sun. I had arranged for Snoke’s visit to the farthest area possible so that we would spend the maximum time traveling and he would have precious little time for probing.
“Has Vader attempted to contact Luke?”
The question came so offhandedly that I was taken aback. He should have been named Lord Sneak, the way he was asking stuff about the Dark Lord behind his back. I think I started stammering a bit.
“I…I do not think, my Lord. I heard Luke Skywalker has not been seen for many many years.”
The Resistance have been trying to contact him for ages. Who better than I knew about it?
“You have to learn to keep your ears and eyes open, Regent Gina One.”
I gulped. Why was he taking my full name?
And then he said something that put me on my guard.
“He trusts that Kylo Ren a little too much.”
I turned my head so fast I might cricked my neck. What did he mean by that? Kylo was arguably The Dark Lord’s favorite commander. Why wasn’t he to be trusted? Kylo was all in for the Inhuman Project. He was my sworn enemy. What did Snoke mean?
“You are an intelligent girl, Gina. I am sure you will keep your eyes peeled for Kylo, Luke and the likes of them.” He looked me steadily in the eye. “And when you do get some information, you will come directly to me.” His voice was unwavering, sure and sharp. Something unusual was afoot and I felt completely out of it.
Why would Vader try to contact Luke? And why would Snoke not trust Kylo? And how on earth were Kylo and Luke related? Nothing really made sense.
Raining questions now,
The Rogue Stormtrooper
