Dear Stranger,
I think I am made of fire sometimes and that fire threatens to consume me as well.
You didn’t think I would wait to find out about Kylo, did you? I hounded my fellow Regents as soon as I got back from Snoke’s mysterious visit.
Alpha: God, you are new. You don’t know who Kylo is?
Me: What do you mean, who Kylo is? He is an asshole and a jerk.
Beta: Yeah, that, of course. But otherwise, his descent.
Me: Gladly, no.
Gamma: Oh, poor dear.
Alpha to Beta: She really is too young. She doesn’t know a lot.
Why were they so exasperating? Why not tell me already?
“Will you tell me or not?”
“Who will take away her youth?” they asked each other.
“Who will tell her the most public secret ever?”
“How come you don’t know?”
“When were you born? Yesterday?”
I grimaced.
“Thanks for the information, guys. You are so helpful. I will be off now.”
I turned my head (because on VC, you can’t really storm out of a room) and pretended to click the “Leave” button when—
“He is Darth Vader’s grandson, Gina.” Gamma spoke up quietly.
I think I choked on my drink. It took me about a few seconds to stop coughing.
“Let me know when you are done with feeling surprised.” Alpha spoke seriously.
I made a face.
“Please don’t tell me he is Luke’s son!” I cried.
“Umm no, it’s worse.” Beta chipped in. “He is Han Solo and Princess Leia’s son.”
I think it took me the better part of an hour to digest this information. Of course, it would be many days before I actually realize the import of this info. But that was for later.
That explained quite a bit, though. That’s why Snoke was asking if Kylo was to be trusted. He had no idea that Kylo was a monster. He was nothing like Luke, Leia or Solo.
*
The Dark Lord had invited me to a meet- just him and me. There was nothing I could have dreaded more.
His face was, of course, masked. And voice colder than the winters of Siberia.
“It seems that the area that Snoke visited was not up to the mark.” His voice floated and rankled me. “I feel you are not able to handle your zones well.”
“WHAT?!”
I know that’s not the best reaction to what your boss says. But I was genuinely rattled. Snoke did not seem to have an issue with me during the entire visit. Else, he would have told me. Or are people that twisted that they say something else and mean something entirely different? Probably my colleagues were right. I was born yesterday.
“I mean…I don’t think the visit went badly. I showed him the operations and he was witness to one successful covert sale as well. I don’t see where this is coming from.”
“Well, his feedback was not too good about you.”
I wanted to say I didn’t believe it. At my core, I felt a little hurt. All that confidence, all those spy things Snoke said to me. Of course, I didn’t expect him to be transparent with me but a person of that stature can lie so blatantly? Or was it Darth Vader who was lying? I have never been good with mind games. There is a reason why my relationships have not been stable.
“I don’t know what to say.” I managed to speak. “I want to see where he has written to you that my performance has been unsatisfactory.”
“Regent Gina One,” The Dark Lord sputtered with clenched teeth. “Aren’t you becoming too cocky for your own good? I am not responsible for narrating my conversations with my superiors to you.”
All parts of me wanted to scream -COW DOWN. STAY SILENT. MUSTN’T SPEAK. AT ALL.
“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO.” I blurted out anyway. “If the issue concerns me.”
I think I am made of fire sometimes and that fire threatens to consume me as well.
“Gina, you have bitten off more than you can chew. But let me inform you. Zone V is no longer yours. It will be handled by Kylo Ren now. Discussion over.”
Even after the screen went blank, I kept staring at it for a few seconds. My being was on fire. Bloodlust was threatening to consume me.
I remembered clearly how Kylo had threatened me to my face, promising to destroy me. I guess he had kept his promise.
*
“My Lady, I don’t want to work for him.”
Troop ET had called me to cry about his woes.
“There is nothing I can do, ET. I am sorry.”
I genuinely liked my team composition. My team was fully human.
“Kylo is a beast. You know that, My Lady.”
“Why then did Troop LTA move?”
That defection still rankled.
“I thought you knew, My Lady.”
“What?”
“He had gone through an experiment when he entered the system. You had not joined the Death Star then, My Lady. He is partly inhuman.”
That explained a lot.
“Well, be that as it may. Let’s try and make the best with what we have.” I said, resignedly.
“My Lady. You should have fought!!! You should have fought for your zone and the efforts you put in there! Now that all the work is done, Kylo will bear the fruits of your hard work.”
He was right. I had been cheated of what was rightfully mine.
Something inside me was burning. And I knew this fire would be on for quite some time.
Intending to keep the fire burning for long.
The Rogue Stormtrooper
