Chapter 2 – Nightmares

Alek followed Poe through a corridor of the ship. As soon as he had gotten out of the X-Wing's cockpit, Poe had asked him to follow him to meet the Captain of the ship. Although Alek was excited to meet his hero, he tried to be calm and not give the impression of a fanboy.

As they were walking in the corridor, they saw that Kaman was walking towards them, accompanied by two soldiers.

"Is he the boy you told me about?", Kaman asked.

"Yes, sir." was Poe's reply.

Kaman then turned his attention to Alek and said, "You will be taken by those two soldiers to the detention room. Once we have decided what to do with you, we shall inform you."

"You cannot do that!", Alek protested. "I have done nothing wrong, so why should I be held in the detention room? And who are you to give me orders anyway?!"

Instead of replying, Kaman slapped Alek.

"Ouch!", Alek cried out. "How dare you hit me?"

Alek attempted to punch Kaman, but the Captain easily blocked the attack and slapped again Alek, this time harder. Alek's cheek was red due to the slap.

"This is a military ship and I am its Captain. As long as you stay here you will follow my orders and abide by military discipline. This isn't a playground for teens like you. Do you understand that or do you need further 'correction'?"

Alek was biting his lips in anger but knew that he had no other choice but to obey the Captain. "Yes, sir…", Alek said and followed the soldiers to the detention room.

As soon as Alek left, Kaman and Poe began discussing about what to do with Alek. They could not just ignore him and lock him up in the detention room forever.

"We cannot return back to Calderonia, so what are we going to do with him?", Poe asked. "We cannot eject him into outer space just like that."

"I say we leave him to the nearest planet." , Kaman replied. "A battle ship is no place for teens."

"But, sir, leaving him all alone in a random planet would be too much. He is just a teen, it's not like he can survive on his own in a foreign planet."

"So, you say that we should keep him here?"

"Why not? I mean, for an amateur, his piloting skills are really good and he could be of help to us. Not to say that since we lost Peter, we need a new pilot. So why not just recruit him?"

"You can't be serious!", Kaman retorted. "I am not going to recruit a kid as an X-Wing pilot. This is war, not some kind of game."

"But we could use a pilot like him. He has great potential. With experience and training he could become an ace."

Kaman sighed. "Whatever, as long as he follows orders and shows skill in combat, he is welcome in our group."

Alek was sitting in the detention room. He was all alone and frustrated. 'I helped them and instead of thanking me, they locked me here!', he thought. He sighed. 'At the very least, I piloted an X-Wing. That's something. I always wanted to do this. But on the other hand, if I knew what trouble it would bring me, I might not have piloted that X-Wing. '. He then suddenly remembered his mother. 'Oh no, she will be worrying over me. But being locked up here, there is nothing I can do about that.'

Alek heard the sound of footsteps. The door opened and Poe walked into the room. Although Alek was somewhat angry with Kaman, he still respected Poe.

"Are you alright kid?", Poe asked.

"I'm no kid!", Alek shouted back. "I am seventeen years old."

"Whatever….", Poe murmured. "I want to ask you to join our crew and become a pilot."

Alek's face suddenly brightened and he smiled. He forgot all about his home planet and his concerns, something not surprising since becoming an X-Wing pilot was his dream. Not to mention that he would be fighting alongside Poe.

"Great! I always wanted to be a pilot."

"Good, but don't get cocky because you shot down one or two Tie Fighters. And remember; war is not a game. You need to be disciplined, fast-learning and not let your emotions rule your decisions."

"I understand, sir!", Alek replied and saluted Poe in the military manner. He was a soldier now.

"I'm glad that you do so. Follow me to the hangar to meet the rest of the pilots."

Alek followed Poe to the hangar and there he was introduced to the rest of the pilots.

"This is Damian.", Poe said, pointing at a skinny man in his late twenties with short silver hair.

"Hello Alek. Glad to meet you.", Damian said.

Poe then pointed at a fat bearded man with brown hair. "He is Valen."

"Welcome to the crew, kid!", Valen shouted. He seemed genuinely excited to have a new crew member.

"And he is Xinn.", Poe said pointing at a tall and sturdy man in his early thirties with long black hair and a handsome face.

Xinn smiled. "I am always happy to meet new pilots with great potential."

"I'm glad to meet all of you.", Alek replied. "I will do my best not to disappoint your expectations. By the way, where are the other pilots?"

"There are no other pilots.", Poe said.

"What happened to them?"

"They're dead.", Valen answered. "We used to have many more pilots in our crew but we were twice ambushed by the First Order's fleet."

"Thankfully the First Order does not know exactly how many pilots we have, so they think we have many more pilots than we really have.", Xinn added. "It helps the fact that the 'Liberator' has a good reputation as far as spaceships go. So the enemy is less willing to risk an all-out attack against our ship or we would have all been killed."

"Until we reach a Republic military base, we are the only pilots this ship got.", Damian said. "So it is crucial not to take risks. So keep that in mind and do not get distracted in battle by chasing enemy fighters."

"I understand that.", Alek replied.

"Good. Now go get some rest, as all of us will, because you don't know when the next battle will take place."

"Ben!"

Kylo Ren turned around and saw an old man walking towards him. His movement was fast but to Ren it seemed like a lifetime. It was his father, Han Solo, the famous smuggler and rebel leader. He had not seen him for years. He somehow knew that this would happen. He expected it. As soon as the Millennium Falcon landed on Starkiller Base, Ren had sensed his father's presence. He always hoped that he would not have to face this moment, but he knew that this was a futile wish.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time.", he replied.

"Take off that mask. You don't need it!", Han said as he approached his son.

"What do you think you will see if I do so?"

"The face of my son!"

Ren took off the mask. Seeing Han coming close to him, he trembled. He trembled in fear that he would not be able to do what he needed to do. Why did his father have to get himself involved in this? Why couldn't he just stay out of the conflict?

"Your son exists no more. I destroyed him, for he was weak and foolish, like his father."

"My son is alive. Can't you see that Snoke is just using you for your powers? He will kill you when you are of no use to him."

"No! The Supreme Leader is wise!"

"Come back with me. Your mother misses you. I miss you too."

Ren knew what he had to do. If he showed weakness, if he faltered, all for which he had strived for so hard would be lost in an instance. For the shake of the galaxy, for the shake of all people, he had to do it.

"I'm being torn apart!", Ren cried out. "I know what I have to do but I do not know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"

"Of course."

Ren held out his lightsaber and Han grabbed it. He was crying, he was in pain, but he had to do it. Ren suddenly ignited his lightsaber and stabbed his father.

"No!"

Ren shouted and woke up. He was sweating and there were tears on his face. He got up from his bed and went to the bathroom. A hot bath would calm him down and relax him. He undressed and entered the bath. Hot water poured over his body. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

"I need to calm down…", he quietly murmured. "I have been watching this nightmare again and again."

Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"Ben!"

It was his father's voice. His face became pale white.

"Where are you!?", he cried out. "Leave ghost!"

He jumped out of the bath, wet and naked, too panicked to bother to dress, and looked around for his father. His heart beat fast and he was trembling.

"My son…"

"That voice!", Ren shouted. "I heard again that voice… that voice…"

He quickly grabbed his lightsaber, which lay on a desk next to his bed, and ignited it. "I am not afraid of any ghost. My lightsaber will protect me. My lightsaber will protect me!"

"Lightsabers are of no use."

Ren laughed. He laughed like a madman. "This is just an illusion. There are no ghosts. I am just too stressful. If I calm down and relax all of this will be gone. It is all just a trick of my mind."

Ren then heard his father's voice saying, "Death. Death. Death. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness."

Suddenly, he saw a figure looking like his father appearing before him and a second later this figure vanished.

"What was that? Am I being delusional?"

He waved madly his lightsaber left and right but the figure was nowhere to be found. For the first time after many years, he was really afraid.

"Why are you doing this?", Han's voice asked.

"I…I..I.. am sure that in the future you will understand my reasons, father. And that you will forgive me…"

Poe was on the bridge of the 'Liberator' and talking with Kaman about their next steps.

"What are we going to do with the schematics of the superweapon, sir?" , Poe asked.

"I guess we will keep them on the ship until we find a suitable place to hide them.", Kaman replied. "They are the key to the Republic's battle effort. If the schematics fall to the hands of the enemy, the superweapon will be rendered useless. "

"When will the superweapon be ready for use against the First Order?"

"Don't know. But when it is completed, the First Order will be crushed. But until this moment comes, it is vital to keep safe the schematics. We should also try to reach a Republic's base to resupply."

"There is a base in Kamino. It is near so we could go there and resupply."

Kaman thought for a moment. "No. The enemy will be expecting us to make this move and we are in no condition to conduct a large scale space battle. Instead, we shall head straight to Ordellia. There we will resupply.

"But, sir, it is too far. Are you sure that we will reach it before our supplies are depleted?"

"Let's hope so. At least, the enemy will not be expecting this move."