Ghost
FN-2187 was dead. A traitor who murdered his fellow troopers before getting killed alongside a rebel in a stolen fighter. The official story, anyway.
Though FN-2187 has been replaced in the duty rosters already and no one speaks his designation, Captain Phasma's temper is quicker than ever and the bunk where he slept still bears his designation. He is dead, but not erased.
And maybe that's why the whispers start.
He was a traitor. That much is not disputed. No designation given, but every trooper on the ship knows who 'he' is these days. He betrayed the Order for Chaos. Freedom. He did what so many troopers have dreamed of.
He escaped.
He died free.
FN-2091 was from the same batch as FN-2187. They slept in the same room full of 200 children as '187 as they grew up in the safety of the Order and sometimes they can even remember what that childhood was like. They remember '187 giving others food and smiles and kindness. It was luck they were still in the same troop after all this time.
But FN-2187 is dead. Gone. A traitor.
FN-2091 stares at his bunk and wonders what freedom tasted like.
Was that fleeting moment of freedom worth the oblivion that came after?
And in their heart, FN-2091 knows they will be a traitor one day too.
If they live that long.
The rumors grow.
Oh, they don't name the trooper by designation but every trooper knows. FN-2187 didn't die trying to escape in a stolen fighter. Instead he survived the crash and died on planet in another stolen ship, with a young woman and a droid.
There are hallways bearing the marks of what happens when flaring anger is backed with the Force. FG-9263 is on repair duty and she hears what the officers mutter in fear.
A former trooper is a dead trooper. Every stormtrooper learns that early. Learns that well. Except... dead troopers are supposed to be heroes. Martyrs for the cause. But FN-2187 is a traitor. His designation to be forbidden, not revered.
She remembers, though... she struggled sometimes. To read. The letters mixed up sometimes. '187 would read the rosters aloud for her. She doesn't know who to ask to read the rosters now.
Kindness is rare in the Order. And if kindness is forbidden, then she will revere it anyway.
FN-2187 did get off planet. He left Jakku behind in style. In the lost ship, the Millennium Falcon. He met legends and he died in battle, protecting two rebels who had once participated in the destruction the Death Star. Truly a disgrace to Stormtroopers everywhere.
But holos captured from the battle speak otherwise. FN-2187 is seen fighting an elite trooper.
He is seen winning.
Glowing blue light sprouts from his hands.
And just as FN-2187 escaped the planet of Jakku alive, the rumors of his exploits spread beyond the ship to which he'd once been assigned. Sectors away, GB-3649 views illicit contraband. Stills from holos of the battle at Takodana.
GB-3649 does not dare say the word lightsaber out loud, but he recognizes the look of it in the hands of the trooper turned traitor. He has seen Kylo Ren's red saber and it's a crude thing compared to what FN-2187 holds in his hands.
Something quiet sparks in FB-3649's chest. But whether it's hope or fear, he isn't yet sure.
Reports of FN-2187's death change every time DF-0022 hears them.
The trooper is becoming a legend. Or a ghost. And neither of them can be killed.
This time FN-2187 was on Starkiller Base before it's destruction. He humiliated Captain Phasma, took down the shields, and fought Kylo Ren himself, matching lightsaber with lightsaber. Kylo Ren claims he killed the defective trooper.
But legends don't die. They grow. And ghosts are already dead, but refuse to let that stop them.
Whichever FN-2187 is, the rumors spread. And no one believes that FN-2187 is dead anymore.
"My name," the man says, "is Finn. But I used to wear the same armor you wear. I had a designation instead of a name. FN-2187. The First Order took me from my home as a child. They took the name my family gave me. They took my freedom and my choices and my individuality. I took them back. I have a name now. I have family that I choose for myself. And it includes every one of you.
"But I am not special. Each and every stormtrooper out there... you are just like me. And each of you can take back what the First Order stole from you." He smiled. "You don't even have to be brave to do it. You just have to be willing to take the chance that, just maybe, the futility of fighting the Order is just another lie. I won. So can each and every one of you."
The vidcast is everywhere and comes from nowhere. A ghost transmission.
And the effects start small. A trooper who'd known FN-2187... known Finn as a child put down their blaster. A technician from the ship where he'd once served begins sabotaging repairs. Troopers desert their posts and throw away their armor. Even the briefest taste of freedom is worth the risk of death that comes with it, hand in hand.
The reports of troopers who died in disgrace become more common. But so too do the stories of ghosts seen on the battlefield, fighting against the First Order. Lightsabers beautiful in the hands of the free.
Legends, every one of them.
Finn was wrong about one thing. He was special. They all were.
Notes: I will forever feel cheated that Finn was shoved into the back seat after the first sequel movie. There was a story there to tell about Finn leading an uprising of stormtroopers. And it could have been beautiful and meaningful. It could have been a fulfillment of the child Anakin Skywalker's greatest wish. A Jedi stepping up to free all the slaves.
