#mostly just focusing on rendering the face and some subtle color shifts here

[kirnet]

had to go back and touch up on some fundamentals :3 used the captain for studying

[hazel-writes]

Summary: Strike three.

Word Count: 2,600

Warnings: canon-typical violence

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I begged of a star to throw me a beam or two

Wished on a star and asked for a dream or two

I looked for ev'ry loveliness, it all came true

I wished on the moon for you

• I Wished on the Moon - Frank Sinatra •

The five of you had split up the new assignment, each person responsible for a different part of the poster-making process. The poster itself consisted of the words: “Maintain Order - Join Us Today” written in dramatic red lettering, accompanied by a rendering of a caped stormtrooper. Akilah and Soren started by creating the outline. Takoda and Rilea focused on distribution strategies. You, as the only “experienced” artist, were put in charge of the colors and details.

“This looks good,” said Takoda, checking over the finished poster.

Rilea rolled her eyes. “Especially having finished this under the given time constraints.”

Soren piped up. “I still think the colors could’ve been a bit more accurate.”

You winced at the pointed jab towards your work.

“Sor…” Akilah gave him a pleading look.

He held up his hands defensively. “What, Kila? I’m just stating facts!”

She sighed and shook her head before you finally spoke up.

“I think we did the best we could with the time we had.” Taking a deep breath, you continued. “Now, I’m not sure about you all, but I could really use some sleep.”

Soren stood and began walking to the door. “Fine, go sleep… while you can, at least. We meet with Hux at 9. Don’t be late,” he said with a final glare.

You tried not to take his words to heart, after all, it was his angst-filled duty to speak in such a way. However, you also knew the importance of tomorrow’s meeting with Hux, and the consequences you were sure to face if anything went wrong.

The door shut, bringing you back to the present.

“Don’t mind him,” said Akilah, comfortingly. “He’s all bark and no bite.”

“Yeah, I know,” you replied. “I’m just a bit on edge. I’ll be fine.”

After saying goodnight to the rest of the crew, you headed back to your room. You realized you had forgotten to eat dinner, but your tired limbs didn’t have enough strength to walk to the cafeteria.

Lying in bed, you thought of Lothal, like you so often did. You remembered how your mom would always make you eat three balanced meals a day, even if you were feeling sick, tired, or sad. Though you may not have appreciated it at the time, you now missed her constant pestering and worried compulsions.

Here, no one knew you, not really. Even your new coworkers would probably only mourn for a day or two before moving on if anything ever happened to you.

You curled in on yourself, thinking that maybe physical comfort would eventually lead to mental comfort. It was one of those nights where you didn’t want to sleep because you knew that when you did, you would wake up and be forced to face the day. Despite your best efforts, your exhaustion from the day’s activities overpowered you, and your eyes began to feel heavy. Giving into sleep, you internally recited a lullaby your mother used to sing to you and your brother:

When the moon’s beneath, the sun you will meet

Who warms the ground beneath your feet

But starry skies will meet your eyes

Only in darkness before you rise.

Always with one, you need the other

Just as a sister is to a brother.

So lay your head in peaceful sleep

With the moon above and sun beneath…

As you lulled yourself into a dreamless sleep as your mother’s echo continued to meander through your troubled mind.

——————————————

You opened your eyes slowly, taking in the ceiling above your head. You flailed one arm around, attempting to shut off your alarm, only to realize you hadn’t been woken by one.

Kriff. Kriff, kriffity, kriffing, kriff.

You overslept. Of course you had. As if the universe felt it hadn’t screwed you over enough this week.

After another moment of staring at your ceiling with a sense of complete and utter dread, you brought yourself to look at the clock to see how much damage had been done. 8:57. It could be worse, you thought, but it also could be a whole lot better.

You raced to get dressed, brushed your teeth, and collected the materials you needed for your meeting with Hux. You grabbed your datapad to discover 15 unread messages. You opened the first few:

Sor: Where are you?!!

Koda: The meeting is about to start!

Kila: Are you okay??

Rilea: Please hurry...

You didn’t stop to read the rest and ran out the door, sprinting to Hux’s office.

———————————————

When you finally arrived, you didn’t know what time it was, but you knew you were late. Hux’s door was closed, but you could almost sense the anxiety emitting from the room. You stood there, unable to bring yourself to open the door, before feeling a dark presence behind you.

“Late, are we?” spoke a distorted voice.

You didn’t need to turn around to figure out who it was.

“No, Commander Ren. I mean- yes! Yes, I am. Sorry,” you rambled, terrified.

Despite this admittance, you still didn’t move.

Strange, you thought. But you didn’t. That wasn’t your own mind speaking — at least you didn’t think it was… Maybe you were going crazy. And as if you hadn’t embarrassed yourself enough, you found yourself speaking:

“Do you- do you know if we have to knock?” you squeaked.

The Commander merely stared at you through his mask, head tilted slightly to the side, before he waved his hand. The door slammed open, an invisible force pushing you through unceremoniously. The Commander followed behind, cape billowing, invisibly shutting the door as he did.

You looked up to see your four coworkers huddled in one corner of the room, and Hux’s flushed face seething in the other.

“I’m- I’m sorry I’m late, General. I thought I set my alarm, but because of all the work we did yesterday I was just so, so tired and- I guess I completely forgot.” You stared at your feet.

Silence ensued.

Akilah spoke up from the back of the room, attempting to distract Hux from your tardiness. “General, we completed the assignment as instructed.” She pulled out the finalized posters and hesitantly set them on the desk in front of her.

“Do you expect me to walk all the way across the room to retrieve those?!” he forced through clenched teeth. “Bring them to me, now!”

Akilah stood, frozen in terror, much like you had been just moments ago. To your surprise, Soren stepped forward, glancing at Akilah briefly, before grabbing the papers and handing them to Hux. Hux snatched the papers out of his hand and Soren silently turned to walk back towards the rest of the group. Akilah caught his glance, giving him a grateful smile, which he returned with a small nod before turning back to you, Hux, and the Commander.

Hux flipped through the papers violently. You didn’t know whether to move towards your friends or stay where you were. You had almost forgotten about the Commander’s presence behind you; he seemed calm compared to Hux's violent demeanor.

You decided to try and take a few subtle steps towards your coworkers while Hux was distracted, but he immediately saw your movement and stood, knocking over his chair in the process. You stopped in your tracks. He slowly walked towards you, knowing his pace was only escalating the terror you felt. You stood your ground, wanting more than anything to disappear.

Hux eyed you like he did in the hallway the other day. You saw Akilah tense up, as if preparing to come to your defence, but Rilea put an arm in front of her, holding her back. You were grateful — you didn’t want anyone else to get hurt because of your repeated trivial mistakes.

Hux reached his hand towards your face, making you flinch. He cupped your cheek roughly before grabbing your hair. You hadn’t remembered to put it up into a bun before you left your room, defying direct orders, again.

“I thought I told you to take care of this, ” he said, referencing your hair.

“Yes sir- General. I was going to, but then the alarm- and the running…” You could barely explain yourself through your chattering teeth. “I usually wear it like this on Lothal - I just wasn’t thinking…”

“You are not on Lothal anymore,” he spat, releasing his hold on your hair. “You may, however, come in handy when it comes to communicating with the scum there.”

You tensed at the reference of your friends and family as scum. Hux didn’t know anything about you or your planet. You knew he was just trying to get a rise out of you, and you hated yourself for letting him succeed.

“They’re not scum,” you replied, as calmly as you could. “They’re people with hard-earned jobs and families. They fought admirably to protect their planet; all they desire is peace.”

“Those sound like Resistance sentiments,” said Hux, threateningly.

More like basic human empathy, you thought.

The Commander, still hovering by the door, shifted slightly on his feet.

“No, no…” You attempted to tread more carefully. “I just think that maybe there is a way to unite the galaxy without using so much… violence,” you nervously suggested.

Hux eyed you intently. The room was silent except for the sound of your labored breathing.

“On Lothal,” he started, seemingly happy with what he was about to ask. “Who did you stay with?”

You were taken aback by the question. You didn’t want to give him too much information about your parents — you knew he had the power to eliminate them right then and there.

“Just my parents,” you replied, staring at the floor.

Hux smirked devilishly. “What are their names?”

“You wouldn’t know them. We were just common farmers. And my father is an artist — though he mostly focuses on abstract painting.”

“What. Are. Their. Names,” Hux asked again, impatiently, pausing after each word.

“Why do you need to know?” You began to panic. “I’m telling the truth. They didn’t do anything wrong!”

“That is for me to decide,” he continued. “Are they Resistance sympathizers?”

“No!” You were frantic at this point. “No, they’re good people, innocent! I swear to the stars!”

He crossed his arms. “I don’t believe you.”

“Please!” you begged. “I’m telling the truth!”

“We’ll see about that,” Hux said, pulling out a datapad.

“No, wait, please! What are you doing?” you pleaded. “They aren’t Resistance!”

“Why should I believe you?!” he growled, stepping towards you until your noses almost touched.

“Because the resistance killed my little brother!” you cried, losing your temper. Emotion flooded from you and you ran your hands through your hair, frustrated. “He was ten. He was only ten.”

Your voice faltered as angry tears began to fall from your face.

Hux was not sympathetic to your pain. “Stop your sob story, I’ve heard too many of those lately. Your brother should’ve known better than to have involved himself in matters that he couldn’t handle.”

And that was all you needed to explode.

“How dare you talk about him like that! You know don't know anything about me, or my family!” You brought your fist down on the table next to you, pain shooting up your arm.

Next thing you know, Hux was flying across the room, hitting the wall next to your coworkers with a thud, before crumpling to the ground. A few glasses of water and a nearby vase shattered into pieces. You searched the room, looking for an explanation, but somewhere, deep inside, you knew that you were the culprit.

You looked down at your hand, flexing and unflexing the muscles, confused. Nothing like this had ever happened to you before. You locked eyes with your coworkers, who stared back at you with open mouths. You were visibly shocked, shaking violently. How did I do that? you thought. Am I dreaming? Please, stars, let me be dreaming.

But your questions were crushed as Hux regained his composure, rubbing the back of his head, before turning his attention back on you. Fury burned in his eyes as you thought to yourself:

This is it.

He reached towards the back of his belt, withdrawing a blaster. You closed your eyes, knowing what was coming…

But nothing came.

You hesitantly opened one of your eyes, then the other, only to see a wall of black in front of you.

Am I dead?

No, a voice replied.

You looked up, confused, only to see none other than Commander Ren standing between you and Hux. His back was to you, leaving his cape and silver helmet to occupy your vision.

“Stop,” he ordered Hux, who still had his blaster pointed at you.

“Excuse me?!” Hux scowled. “And why exactly would I do that?”

The Commander waved a hand in front of Hux’s face.

“You will leave this room with the posters and forget this ever happened,” he spoke.

“I will leave this room with the posters and forget this ever happened,” Hux repeated.

The Commander turned towards your coworkers before telling them, “And you will do the same.”

“And we will do the same,” they mimicked, before leaving the room behind Hux. For a moment, you swore you saw Akilah glance at you with concerned eyes as she walked past. You shivered before turning around to face Commander Ren.

“You are strong with the Force,” he spoke, his low voice vibrating through his helmet.

“No, no, I’m normal!” You cringed at your choice of words. You basically insinuated that the Commander was not normal, which, he wasn’t, but-

“Being ‘normal’ has nothing to do with being one with the Force,” he stated, stalking towards you. “Who else knows of your abilities?”

“No one. I didn’t even know about my abilities until a few moments ago…” You stared at your hands, still in a state of disbelief.

“Don’t attempt to lie to me. It will not work,” he replied.

“I’m not lying,” you stated as firmly as your could.

“Let’s test that, shall we?”

You didn’t like where this was headed. He moved one of his hands towards your head and you flinched, backing into the wall behind you. His hand paused for a moment. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” he said. You weren’t sure, but you swore you heard the smallest hint of regret in his voice.

And with that, you squeezed your eyes shut as you felt a foreign presence in your mind. It poked and prodded, winding its way through your thoughts and memories. You did your best to block the paths, seal the gateways, and close the doors he attempted to infiltrate, and luckily, you could tell that you were somewhat successful. The Commander was straining, his gloved hand shaking in concentration. Gaining confidence in your mental capabilities, you pushed harder, forcing out every invisible tendril of his mind until nothing remained.

You opened your eyes as the Commander stumbled backwards slightly, a distorted panting emanating from his visor. You took a few steps back, unsure of what his reaction would be to your blatant disobedience.

In two large strides he made his way back to you. You tripped over your own feet, landing on the shards of broken glass from the vase you broke moments earlier. You winced, continuing to stare directly into the abyss of black and silver that hid the face of Kylo Ren.

Without a word, he waved his hand in front of your face. You briefly heard the word sleep enter your mind, before closing your eyes and succumbing to the Force-induced darkness.

———————————

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