Exposure (Kylo Ren)

Confrontation

Vora's shift was a half day in the medical bay and the other half on call.
When she got to the medical bay in the early hours of the morning (as informed by the Starkiller base time-zone), she saw that the command center worker was getting up to leave. His skin was still pale, but he was no longer in the terrified blood-gurgling state she'd met him in the day before.

"Thank you, MT-3." He spoke solemnly. "I am as surprised to be alive as I was surprised to be flung across the room yesterday."

"I hope you'll be safe out there." Vora said sincerely. She saw his eyes flash with the terror that she had seen the day before. He smiled once more and then left. The look in his eyes haunted Vora for the next few hours as she worked.

The rest of the shift in the medical bay was mainly doing inventory and the occasional baseline check-up (getting data of a worker's generic body capacity so that when they were affected or unwell, diagnosis could be faster). Vora was, to her satisfaction, able to go sit down in the canteen when she finished. She made sure to bring back some food for Boona who was on the long shift.

After lunch, she went for a walk around Starkiller. The base was large so she would only ever walk through certain segments of it. Sometimes Vora would daydream that she was back on a planet, roaming through a beautiful landscape. The Starkiller walls were dark greys and blacks, ironically furthering the feeling of being trapped while the First Order spread itself like a gargantuan cancer amongst the stars.

Vora's thought-brimming walk ceased abruptly when she was shoved into a room that she'd been passing by. Vora fell onto the floor of the room, groaning at the impact. She had not been touched by anyone so she could only think of one person who could push her from afar.

The room she'd fallen into appeared to be empty except for a controller system in the far corner which stood beside the large window that overlooked one of the many busy hangars on Starkiller. The room's blast doors shut behind her and she turned around to see a familiar disruptive dark figure in front of her. She wondered how far away he had been when he had seen her and force pushed her into the room.

Vora scrambled up immediately. "Commander Ren." She nodded to him, not knowing whether to simply apologise for taking away his victim yesterday or wait to hear her potential punishment. She felt the terror building in her blood, intermingling with her mind's fixation on staying strong in the face of the oppressor.

Her mind thought of the command center worker who had been brought to the brink of death for simply disagreeing with the Commander.

Oh no.

Kylo Ren stepped forward. One hand was on his lightsaber which was attached to his utility belt. Vora remembered the bright red illumination flashing before her eyes. She wanted to see it again, or even hold it.
Though, not if it was about to sever or stab her.

"I was impressed yesterday not only to find myself denied by a subordinate, but to also find that this subordinate possessed the power of the force." He began. Vora steadied her breath as best as she could. Commander Ren was recognisably tall. He was at least a foot taller than Vora. She found her head tilting slightly upwards to meet the perceived 'gaze' marked by the eyeglass on his helmet, and Vora's assumption of him having human anatomy.

"You've been here for a while now and I've never felt it." Commander Ren mused. "I don't even feel it now. But yesterday you were able to push my weapon aside and without even dropping the officer's body."

Vora let his words, though perhaps not meant as a compliment, dispel her terror slightly.

"It was unexpected, sir, I felt protective of the patient's life and imagined I was pushing away your weapon." Vora felt like her voice was a whisper. "I've never known myself to be able to do that."

"Do it again." His voice was suggestive.

As Vora was beginning to ask 'what?' she heard the same sound as yesterday. The bright red glow of the lightsaber emerged in front of her. She jumped back in surprise.

"I don't know how!"

This didn't stop Commander Ren. He, like the day before, angled his lightsaber to swing towards her. Vora put both her hands in front of her and pushed forward, shouting, "Stop!"

The Commander had slid back and disengaged his lightsaber.

"Interesting. You can defend yourself, barely."

Vora could feel the Commander watching her. She was grateful her face was somewhat shrouded by the peaked cap that she wore as part of her uniform. She found it bringing her comfort in the tense situation. Her heart was hammering against her chest, hoping that there wasn't another death-threatening test approaching.

Vora breathed in, feeling the Commander's emotion, and dared to speak further. "You're surprised." Then she took another breath, feeling surprised as well. "And amused?".

"Fascinating. I can't feel you reading me, yet I can see you doing it right now."

Commander Ren stepped towards Vora. She began to move backwards, not by her own doing but by Commander Ren's use of the force. Her back met with the cool exterior of the room wall. She winced at the feeling on her back. The strength of the force holding her against the wall was increasingly nauseating.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm MT-3." Vora answered. "Sir."

"Who were you before you were MT-3? What is your name?"

"Vora. I've always been a medical technician."

The hand that was not using the force to keep her in place raised up to Vora's face. She tried not to flinch. His fingers lifted up her cap slightly to expose her face fully. If she had not been nauseated and treading lighting for her life she would have joked 'like what you see?' to fill the silence that followed. His hand returned to his side.

"Did you know you could use the force?"

"Not really... well, yes. Just for what my grandmother taught me which was to help people." Vora chose honesty. "I didn't know I could do what I did yesterday. I've only used the force to treat people. I'm good at what I do." She could hear herself scrambling to defend her position. She winced at her panic.
Commander Ren felt she was telling the truth, Vora could feel what he was feeling. He was mostly intrigued. She hoped that put her in a safe position.

Vora felt the weight of the force manipulation lift off her. She dropped down to the floor and took a deep breath.

"Does anyone else know about this?" The Commander asked. "What about the other Medical Technician you were with?"

"About me using the force? No, not at all." She did her best to stand tall as the soldiers had been trained. Composure was essential.

"Keep it that way." The blast doors opened, and he left the room.

Vora watched him leave. She gave herself a minute longer before getting up. She aimed her walk to take her back to her room. She thought of him telling her to not tell others about the force. Was it out of care? Or because he knew it would look bad?
Vora found herself in a loop of questions with herself.

The conversation with the commanderjust made her want to try harder with seeing what she could do. In the privacyof her room, Vora tried to lift her pillow.

Nothing happened.
She gave in to failure and went to bed.