Multiverse Part 3: Collision Of Three Worlds

Chapter 2: Attack Of The Conscience

(Author's Note: So far, this is the longest chapter I have ever written in any story of mine without editing anything!)

FN-2187 broke off from his comrades, heading to a trash bin. He took off his helmet and threw up good and hard, but even that wasn't enough to shake his feeling of sickness and horror. What had he just done? What had his comrades just done? The villagers had fought back, sure, but soon the stormtroopers had overwhelmed them. They had no choice but to surrender. But even then, Kylo Ren had ordered Finn and the other troopers to- to- to execute them. And his fellow stormtroopers had done so, lining them up and shooting them. FN-2187 hadn't. He could only watch, paralyzed, as the villagers screamed while the stormtroopers raised their blasters. Then, they never uttered another noise again. The next few moments were a daze. FN-2187 had marched back onto the ship, his head spinning, but he had managed to make it back. Now- "FN-2187." FN-2187 turned around to face Captain Phasma. "Submit your blaster for inspection." FN-2187 mentally kicked himself, but he nodded and saluted her. "Yes, Captain." "And who gave you permission to remove that helmet?" FN-2187 quickly grabbed his helmet and put it back on. "I'm sorry, Captain." "Report to my division at once." Phasma said. Then, she turned around and strode away. 

Yamcha was stuck in a room, all on his own. He was also stuck to a table, although it was more like a simple rectangle made of steel, with his wrists and ankles chained to the metal slab. The door in front of him rose with a hissing noise, and Kylo Ren entered. He stopped in front of Yamcha, then studied him. "Interesting. You aren't with the Resistance." "The what?" "You really have no idea what's happening in the galaxy?" Yamcha scowled. "If I did, then I would be able to answer your questions, wouldn't I?" Kylo Ren seemed to pause, but Yamcha wasn't afraid. If he was going to die, then he could die knowing he had given his best shot at saving someone. 

Kylo Ren held a hand out towards the man's scarred face, and he began to probe the man's mind. After a few moments of exploring the man's memories, Kylo Ren suddenly seemed to hit a mental wall, the likes of which surprised him greatly. He simply couldn't penetrate it, and the mental wall seemed to be made up of nothing but anger, pain, and frustration. These were feelings that Ren knew well. Kylo Ren continued to strike the wall, trying to break it, but the man scowled, his eyes hardening, and Kylo Ren's hand was forced backward. He studied the man again, this time with the slightest hint of grudging admiration, then declared: "You have nothing of value." Then, Kylo Ren turned and marched out of the room.

FN-2187 did not report to Phasma's division. Instead, he quickly walked towards the prison cells, trying to slow down his breathing as to not catch attention. He was about to commit treason of the worst possible kind, and if he was caught, there were two options: either shoot himself or allow himself to be thrown into a cell of his own, then interrogated and finally executed. And FN-2187 had no wish to die. He made it to the cells at last, and listened closely. Once he was 100% sure that Kylo Ren was not inside either cell, he opened the door to the first prisoner's cell and headed inside- only to find that the prisoner had already freed himself and was grabbing his things, which were a curved, rough sword and a couple of small capsules. The man noticed FN-2187 and immediately stood up, but then he noticed the bloody handprint on FN-2187's helmet, and his eyes flashed with recognition. "You're the good one. The one who didn't fire." FN-2187 nodded, then grabbed the man's sword and capsules. "Look, I'll give these back, alright? But if you don't do exactly as I say, we're both dead. Clear?" The man nodded. "Clear." 

FN-2187 put handcuffs on him, then pretended to shove him out. "Play along." he muttered through gritted teeth. The man nodded slightly. FN-2187 headed into the next cell, encountering a bleary-eyed guard who was on shift. "I'm taking the prisoners to Kylo Ren." FN-2187 said. It felt odd- he had never lied before. At the mere mention of Kylo Ren's name, the guard blinked and became as alert as an animal that knew it was being hunted. He quickly undid the second prisoner's bonds and freed him, then placed handcuffs on him and shoved him forward. "Watch it!" the man who had just been freed snapped- Poe Dameron, FN-2187 remembered. His name was Poe Dameron, and he was the most infamous Resistance pilot in the First Order- since he was the best pilot since Luke Skywalker, and could outfly pretty much anyone. FN-2187 led both Poe and the scarred man to a secluded area, where no one was likely to find them, then took his helmet off, breathing so fast he felt like his chest was about to burst. "Listen. If you do exactly as I say, I can get you out of here." Poe blinked several times, and then some life returned to his eyes. "A-are you with the Resistance?" FN-2187 bit back the response he had been trained to reply with- that he was with the First Order. "What? No, no!" FN-2187 whispered, "I'm just trying to get away from here. I'm trying to rescue you two." "Why?" the scarred man asked. FN-2187 gulped, taking a deep breath. "Because-" He took another deep breath. "Because it's the right thing to do." 

Poe did not expect that his savior would be a stormtrooper. Nor did he expect to be brought into one of the hangars of the Finalizer, which was one of the First Order's Star Destroyers. Poe and the scarred man looked around, but the stormtrooper was only looking at one thing- a Special Forces TIE Fighter. "There's our getaway." the stormtrooper declared. The scarred man raised an eyebrow. "Is it a three-seater?" The stormtrooper shook his head. "No. But, I'm pretty sure three people can fit inside." The scarred man sighed. "Alright, let's give it a whirl." 

They made it to the ship and got inside before alarms began to blare. "Not good!" the soldier yelped. "Gee, you think?" Yamcha replied sarcastically. He was cramped inside the relatively small cockpit, but he managed to get a little comfortable. The ship rose off the ground as more soldiers poured out into the hangar and began to shoot at the ship. The soldier who had helped them fumbled with the controls until finally he pressed two buttons with his thumbs, one on either side of his joystick, and green lasers shot out, blasting the enemy soldiers away and sending up several explosions. Meanwhile, the other man who the soldier had rescued worked with the controls as if he had been using them his entire life. The ship escaped the hangar, but Yamcha knew that they weren't out of the woods yet- the giant vessel they had escaped from was bristling with turrets. Turrets which were now targeting their ship. 

Poe maneuvered the ship with expert control, ducking, rising, and weaving through the laser blasts from the turrets of the Finalizer. "Whoa, this thing really moves!" he exclaimed. He glanced back at the stormtrooper, who was shooting back at the turrets. "You got a name?" "FN-2187!" "FN- what?" "That's the only name they ever gave me." The scarred man, who was looking fairly ticked off at being jostled around while cramped in the cockpit, shouted: "Finn!" Both Poe and the stormtrooper looked back in confusion, and the scarred man grinned. "Yeah, I'll call you Finn." The stormtrooper grinned, having taken off his helmet once the trio had entered the TIE Fighter. "Finn. Yeah, I like that!" Poe smiled, but he quickly went back to focusing on dodging. "Alright, we gotta go back to Jakku." "Wait, what?" the stormtrooper asked in shock. "No, no, no, we've gotta get out of this system!" Poe shook his head, and they argued for a bit, until the stormtrooper said "I don't care what its color is! No droid can be that important!" Poe gave a sideways grin. "This one is, pal. He's got a map that leads to Luke Skywalker." The stormtrooper paused, no doubt stunned, then said "I never should've rescued you." Suddenly, their TIE Fighter was rocked by laser fire, and it was sent spiraling towards the desert planet below.