Rose watched as one of the ex-stormtroopers, still in full armor, helped himself to some stew that was bubbling in a clay pot over their campfire. With his bowl full, he left the campsite, heading back towards his fellow full-armored comrades. Those who were still hesitant of completely freeing themselves had formed their own support group. The group tended to keep their distance from the others who in return respected their wishes. They reminded Rose of the Mandalorians, though they at least took their helmets off around one another. As Jannah said, it would take time for everyone to readjust in their own way.
Rose, Finn, Jannah, Zin, and a few others were sitting on some rough logs that surrounded the campfire while Finn was telling stories of his adventures. The children were enthralled by Finn's tales, but no one was more captivated than Zin. She was like a child who never grew up, leaning close towards Finn so she wouldn't miss a single word. One shy little girl had strayed away from the other children and was pressed up against Rose's side. Rose had never heard the girl speak but was flattered that she had taken a liking to her, whatever the reason might be.
"I'm standing on the ramp of the Falcon, and I see Kylo Ren reaching a hand out towards Rey, and Rey's just staring at him, as if considering of taking it. I immediately call out to her, and she turns away without a second thought and runs towards me. Ren looks stupefied as she jumps on the ramp and we scramble aboard the Falcon. As quickly as we can, we take off before he can react to what had just happened."
"Oooooo!" responded Zin. "Then what happens?"
"I think we should give Finn a break," said Jannah. "He's been telling stories since he got here." The children pleaded, but Jannah shook her head. "That won't work. You can hear more tomorrow. Now off with you!" They groaned in disappointment as they left the campfire and headed towards bed. The little girl next to Rose gave her a quiet hug before accompanying the others. Jannah grinned as she turned towards Finn, her face lighting up in the firelight. "I'll get you some stew."
"Oh, I can get it for him, Jannah." As Rose was about to get up, Jannah stood in front of her blocking the way.
"Don't worry, Rose, I don't mind. You've had a long day, too."
"Thanks, Jannah," said Finn.
"But Finn's stories are soo sooo soooooo good!," exclaimed Zin, who hadn't budged. "I want to hear more!"
"How about you get some sleep, too?" Jannah suggested, as she put some stew in a bowl.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Zin said reluctantly, as she stood up and stretched. "You'll tell us the rest tomorrow, right, Finn?"
"You got it."
"Good! Well, then, good night everybody!" Zin's mood did a 180 as she skipped off.
"I still can't believe they never killed her off," said one of the ex-stormtroopers to another.
"She was in my squadron," replied the other. "If you told her to do something, she'd do it, no questions asked. Her shots were perfect and she rarely missed. There was a rumor that she might have been using the Force unknowingly, but whether that was true or not didn't matter. She was loyal to the First Order. It wasn't until Supreme Leader Snoke was killed did she start questioning the First Order's motives, but by then everything was getting crazy and I lost contact with her."
"Ah, that makes more sense. She reminds me a lot of TZ-1702. He was in our squadron."
"I heard about him. If he was in your squadron, did you actually witness it?"
"Yeah, Jannah and I both did. It obviously didn't work since a bunch of us were still able to resist the First Order and escape. He still haunts my dreams, though. I'll never get his face out of my mind."
"What happened to TZ…." Rose started, suddenly realizing she couldn't remember his numbers. Judging by the expressions on their faces, they didn't know she had been listening and she felt overcome with embarrassment for eavesdropping.
"1702."
"Right. Sorry, I didn't mean to overhear. It's just that…there's very little I know about the First Order from a stormtrooper's perspective. Finn doesn't like to talk about it, so I can only put together bits and pieces."
"You're Rose, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Taz," said the ex-stormtrooper from Jannah's squadron.
"And I'm Thirty," said the other. "As you probably gathered, the First Order had a very strict regime. Stormtroopers had to fit the mold or we would jeopardize their missions and everyone involved. You did as you were told because the consequences were unthinkable." He glanced up at Taz. "You know more about TZ-1702 than I did. Do you want to tell her?"
"I can tell her." Taz stared at the fire as he struggled to compose himself with reviving a very disturbing memory. He cleared his throat, "TZ-1702 was a rebellious boy in our squadron. He was always pulling pranks, showing off, disobeying orders. Punishments did nothing to him. Sometimes we wondered if he actually enjoyed them with how often he'd get into trouble.
"Then one day, while we're having breakfast, we notice 1702 isn't there. It wasn't anything that unusual if he was being punished and was forced to skip a meal or two. However, for some reason it made us anxious, like we knew something was different. Something was off. That's when Captain Phasma came in. It was the first time we had met her as she rarely got involved with the young stormtroopers-in-training. Out of respect, talking abruptly ended as we all stood up from our seats. I can still hear every word that she said.
'"As you may have noticed, TZ-1702 isn't here with you today. That is because you are in for a very special treat. TZ-1702 has agreed to put on a… show for you. You will follow me now."'
"We all left the mess hall as we marched behind her. There were some whispers of excitement about getting to see a show and what it would be about, while others were whispering concerns of what this all meant and why someone of Captain Phasma's rank was involved. I was with the latter.
"Captain Phasma lead us into a room that had raised seating in front of a stage below. A glass wall separated the audience from the stage. Only part of the stage was lit up, the back and sides were all in darkness. As soon as we were all seated, 1702 came into the light, wearing a top out and holding a wooden hoop. I knew something was up, so I can't really remember what the show was about. He did some tricks, and some of us would ooo and aaah. The whole thing felt so out of place from our training. Why were they letting him do this?
"Then, while he's in the middle of some 'daring' act, we see a bunch of stormtroopers who had been hiding in the dark areas of the stage step forward; there's about twenty of them. 1702 doesn't seem to hear them and continues with his performance. We watch in horror as they raise their blasters, all pointed directly at him. He must not have been able to hear us either, because he smiled as if he thought we were excited about whatever trick he was about to perform. I still remember that goofy grin on his face right before he fell to the ground, his body smoking from the twenty blasts that struck him.
"Some of us gasped in horror and a couple screamed. Captain Phasma marched in front of us while the stormtroopers dragged TZ-1702's body into the darkness behind her.
'"Let this be a lesson. There is no room in the First Order for insubordination. You follow orders, or you will end up like your little friend. Is that understood?"'
"We all silently agreed. I don't think any of us were very close with TZ-1702, but it shook us to the core. After that, we stayed more focused on our trainings than ever before, being extra cautious not to step an inch out of line so we wouldn't have a similar fate like TZ-1702."
"That's horrible," said Rose.
"That's the First Order," replied Thirty. "If Zin wasn't a good shooter or didn't follow instructions, there is no way she would still be alive."
Rose glanced up from their conversation and noticed that Finn and Jannah were both gone.
"Where did Finn go?"
Thirty shrugged, "Probably to bed. It is getting late. Taz, can you help me put out the fire?"
"Sure," Taz responded, shaking his head as if that would re-block the memory of TZ-1702. "It was nice meeting you, Rose."
"Likewise."
Rose was more tired than she realized. The story of TZ-1702 was disturbing but unsurprising. What kind of horrors did Finn witness? Was he trying to block them out? If so, was he successful? He didn't talk about it, so it was hard to tell. She couldn't imagine what his life was like growing up in the First Order.
As she was making her way back to the Corellian corvette, she and Finn agreeing to stay there until they were better acquainted with the new residents of Kef Bir, some noises in the darkness nearby caught her attention. She turned to see two figures happily embraced with one another, the sounds of pleasure subtle but evident. Love was certainly in the air for someone! Pushing TZ-1702's story aside and letting curiosity get the better of her, she moved closer to see that the figures were Finn and Jannah.
Rose slowly stepped back and turned away. She felt hurt. Crushed. Angry. Devastated. Enraged. But why? She had no reason to feel this way. The tears came in a flood as she quickly wiped her face with her sleeve. She and Finn had agreed that it was better to be just friends… so why was she so upset? Why did she want to tackle Jannah to the ground and scream at her?
Amongst the dizziness in her head, a thought came to her. A cruel thought. She knew it was wrong, but it kept nagging at her. Urging her to get revenge. To make Jannah pay. Rose would probably regret it, but she didn't care. Feeling like she was floating out of her body and had no control over her actions, she made her way back to the campsite.
