Commander Jerek drew in a breath of fresh air and smiled at the sight of the massive Facilitator cutting its way through the cloud banks dotting the yellowish skies of Maruun III. A flight group of TIEs soared in the airspace surrounding the First Order star destroyer like wingless dragons searching for prey.
It is coming together rather nicely, he thought. My promotion will soon follow in the footsteps of empowering the galaxy through the entities beyond the dimensional gates. The Supreme Leader will be well pleased with my contributions…
Jerek turned his brilliant green eyes towards the citizens of the city of Nerina, huddling in fear within the stone amphitheater. A blended line of First Order stormtroopers and mercenaries in tan military fatigues kept the terrified civilians under blaster point. A chime suddenly broke Jerek's concentration. He pulled a circular holoprojector from his pocket.
"What is it, Lieutenant Vess?" Jerek asked with a sneer.
The hologram of a bald young man dressed in tan military fatigues grinned as he stared up at Jerek. "Sir, we neutralized the runner before he could leave the planet. Shall we search his vessel for intelligence?"
Jerek shook his head. "Yes, and then destroy both the craft and his body. Report to me when you have completed your tasks."
A slender and tall First Order officer approached Jerek and stood at attention. "Sir, Captain Hollins reports that the shuttle you sent to Endor has emerged from hyperspace in this system."
"Thank you for informing me, Lieutenant Korda," Jerek replied. "Are the five TIEs in position?"
Korda nodded. "Yes, sir. Shall I give the order?"
"Of course," Jerek said. Korda stepped away to issue the commands through a handheld comlink while Jerek placed the circular holoprojector on a stone railing before him.
With the press of a button, the grey-silver projector elongated. A larger holoscreen appeared, displaying five First Order TIEs approaching the metallic bird-like shuttle. Jerek smiled at the sight of them closing the distance in attack formation. The crew of the shuttle continued as if their approach was welcomed.
The TIEs suddenly made a defensive break allowing the shuttle to pass by. They turned sharply towards the shuttle and slammed it with several bursts of green blaster fire. The shuttle rocked violently underneath the vicious assault shedding pieces of its outer skin off like shingles in a windstorm. It rolled on its starboard side and accelerated before performing a sharp turn.
An evasive maneuver under duress. You never cease to amaze me, Lieutenant Commander Lorrs, Jerek thought. However, your vain efforts won't be enough to save the pathetic lives of you and your worthless crew.
The TIEs closed in on the crippled shuttle. Another salvo of blaster fire ripped through space and collided with the crumbling vessel. A fiery eruption tore outward from the hull, separating the cockpit from the passenger/troop compartment. The fire spread like a roaring tide towards the cockpit, fracturing it like the shell of a dewback egg.
A secondary explosion filled the holoscreen like a blazing sun peeking over the horizon. Jerek chuckled and nodded in satisfaction as he thought, Another objective met for Supreme Leader Snoke. The team sent to Endor has been neutralized and silenced.
Movement within the hologram caught his eye. Utilizing the implants within his mind, he connected with the internal circuitry of the holoprojector. He pursed his lips and stared at the moving object. It was small and white, like a snowflake sailing across a darkened sky.
Augment screen grid fourteen, Jerek ordered silently while studying the object intently.
A blue square appeared around the holoscreen cell. Instantly the cell filled the entire holographic projection. The white object grew in size until it became the recognizable shape of a First Order Stormtrooper. The helpless trooper tumbled through space while desperately grasping its throat.
Jerek smiled and thought to himself. How interesting. He's struggling to breathe in the vacuum of space. The figure's body began to convulse as if an electric current ran through every muscle and ligament. Jerek chuckled at the sight and thought, Ah, now he realizes the hopelessness of his situation. He knows there is no more air for him to breathe. His body quakes as it tries to find any source of oxygen. What a breathtaking image the death of a soul trapped in a vacuum is to the beholder. It is a peculiar magnificence. A beautiful sight...
"Sir, the men are bringing Administrator Teruina through the corridor," Lieutenant Korda announced, drawing Jerek's attention away from the dying stormtrooper.
"Lead him out into the arena," Jerek replied dryly before returning to the image of the doomed stormtrooper. He laughed applauded at the sight of the stormtrooper's body suddenly going limp. He turned and walked towards the hard-packed beige sand of the amphitheater's performance floor. He gazed up at the dozens of terrified spectators and grinned. You fools should have learned long ago that you are the company you keep. And now you will realize there the consequences of your actions.
"Sir, everything is prepared to your specifications," a young First Order officer said, pulling Jerek out of his thoughts.
Jerek turned quickly and stared at a slender man in torn clothing kneeling before a pair of stormtroopers. His fair-skinned face, haloed with messy blonde hair, was streaked with sweat and blood. His breaths came in labored draws. He turned his pale blue eyes up at Jerek.
"Ah, Administrator Larkin Terunia, it's a pity it took the sight of your precious wife falling from hundreds of meters in the sky to convince you that I was serious about your surrender," Jerek said with a smile stretching across his face. "Tell me, what was it like to watch her body burst open upon impact with the ground? Did it break you as I had hoped? For me, it was exhilarating."
Terunia cursed and lunged for Jerek. "You bastard!"
A stormtrooper stepped forward and slammed his blaster into the side of Terunia's head. The man slumped to the ground and groaned. The stormtrooper raised his blaster to strike again but paused when Jerek gestured.
"Enough," Jerek growled. He turned his attention to the whimpering administrator. "Your wife's execution wasn't sufficient in completely breaking you. I'm afraid the stakes need to be raised significantly."
The doors leading to the backstage dressing areas opened with a loud swoosh allowing a pair of stormtroopers to lead a young woman with long auburn hair out into the arena. Her hands were unbound. Jerek studied her athletic form as she moved closer. The tears streaming down her face brought joy to his heart.
Another individual emotionally broken. Another lesson learned, he thought before turning his attention back to the disgraced Administrator. "Behold your daughter, Arlena," he said, stepping behind her and caressing her shoulders and hair. He pulled her closer to him and pressed his cheek against hers. "I promise you, Administrator, if you do not completely surrender, I will make sure she suffers horribly before she is executed for sedition and treason."
Between labored breaths, Terunia glanced at his daughter and Jerek. I want to resist. I have to resist; he thought as a tremble rumbled through his exhausted body. But I also have to consider her well-being. No title or seat of power is worth seeing her suffer.
Jerek stepped closer to Terunia and glared down at him. "Well, Administrator? Have you made your decision?"
Terunia exhaled before turning his attention to Jerek. "If I do this, will you keep your promise to spare her from harm? Tell me! I must know!"
Ah, his spirit has broken. The fool has played into my hands, Jerek thought while a sheepish grin stretched across his face. "Of course I will," he replied. "All you have to do is surrender everything to me, and I will spare her from suffering the cruelest fate."
"Father, please!" Arlena Terunia muttered. "He will hurt me if you don't do this!"
Terunia's lip quivered as a tear rolled down his battered face. He nodded and cowered before Jerek. "It's yours, Commander. All of it. Please take it and spare her from suffering. She's all I have left."
"Wise choice, Administrator," Jerek said. He turned towards the young woman, drew his blaster, and pulled the trigger. A bolt flew through the air, striking her in the forehead. The back of her head exploded and rained gore upon the white armor of the stormtroopers behind her. Terunia screamed as he watched his daughter's corpse fall to the ground. Jerek chuckled and turned towards the weeping former Administrator. "I kept my promise. She didn't suffer."
He gestured towards the pair of stormtroopers splattered with blood. They raised their blasters in unison and fired a couple of shots into Terunia's back. He convulsed as his chest cavity burst open with exit wounds. Jerek smiled while watching the man's dead form crumple to the ground.
Lieutenant Korda stepped up to Jerek and motioned toward the audience. "What are we to do with them, sir?"
Jerek drew in a breath and glared at the terrified spectators filling the stone seats of the amphitheater. "They are all friends and supporters of the former administrator. Any friend or supporter of his is an enemy of mine. Kill them all. And stack their bodies on the performance floor to be burned."
"As you wish, sir," Korda replied before gesturing towards the stormtroopers and conscripts lining the upper edge of the amphitheater.
A sense of pleasure filled Jerek's soul as the screams of the spectators falling beneath blaster fire filtered into his ears. He chuckled and thought, Death is a beautiful sight, indeed…
The bluish hue of the hyperspace vortex twisted like a cyclone as Phasma stared out of the forward viewport of the Finalizer. Flashes of light reflected off of her armor, filling the bridge with speckles of a blue shimmer dancing like fireflies in the night.
She relaxed her posture when the memories began to filter through her mind. The vortex quickly subsided as the yellowish-brown sphere of Jakku raced into view. Instantly, a pair of Imperial II-Class Star Destroyers slipped out of hyperspace and entered a standard orbit around the desert planet.
Phasma smiled while she stared at the Apollyon. She closed her eyes, letting her mind drift years back into the past. As darkness enveloped her, she felt the soft kiss of raindrops falling gently on the fair skin of her youthful complexion. A flash of lightning cut through the onyx skies like an energized blade. The momentary illumination revealed glistening rocks soaked by the downpour.
A crash of thunder rumbled in the night, sending a vibration through the ground. She shifted her stance as the shaking reached through her crude handmade leather boots. The lightning's gleaming subsided while she scanned the heavens for the gods that often visited her. The racing wind blew through her drenched veil of golden air, lifting it like a kite into the air.
She kept watching the skies, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. Abyssal darkness surrounded her as the storm raged above the cliffs. She listened above the winds and detected a rhythmic noise emanating from the cliff's edge. She smiled, knowing the gods were out there even though she could not see them.
She trotted towards the cliff edge, struggling to keep her balance on the slippery rocks. The wind pressed against her like an invisible barrier as she continued forward. She slowed her pace before dropping down to crawl toward the edge. The gods awaited her just over the precipice. She had to contact them as they were her only hope for leaving this forsaken and devastated world.
Her fingers slipped as she tried to pull herself closer to the cliff edge. She exhaled and reached out to find a flat rock with just enough of an angled edge to obtain a handhold. With a sharp tug, she pulled herself further along. She continued pulling herself towards the edge as she lay prone on the wet rocks. She lost her grasp several times before finding another stone to pull herself forward. She reached out one last time, grasping her hand at empty air.
She pushed with her feet and eased forward to peek over the side. Another blast of forked lightning ripped through the darkness. The light revealed a large piece of barnacle-covered debris slapping against the cliff edge dropping off into the raging seas below.
She sighed as a frown stretched across her young face. Suddenly, she was lifted into the air. A pair of hands grasped her and turned her away from the cliffs. The soft glow of a crude torch with a flame protected by a clear housing illuminated the angry features of her father.
"What were you thinking, Phasma?" He demanded, narrowing his eyes. "Sneaking out into this storm! The rest of us were worried sick about you when we found your hammock empty! We risked our lives to come out here and find you!"
"I was looking for the gods!" the young Phasma replied. "They're here, father!"
He tightly grasped her arm and began to lead her back to the cave, known as the Nautilus, to their small clan. "They won't come out during this storm, Phasma!" She looked back into the darkness as the rain continued pelting her and her father. Her father grunted when he felt her pause. "Move it, girl! This storm is dangerous!"
The young Phasma gave in and allowed her father to lead her toward the opening of the sacred cave. When they reached the entrance, she paused again and looked back. A flash of lightning sliced through a thick cloud bank. For a few seconds, the silhouette of a wedge-shaped object appeared. Phasma smiled as she took in the sight of the gods she knew were gazing down at her.
Perhaps tonight will be the moment they'll come to rescue me from this ruined planet and from the weak and pathetic clan I call a family, Phasma thought while keeping her gaze locked on the dark clouds.
"I said move!" her father blasted. He swatted her buttocks with his open hand and shoved her into the cave. She walked along the passageway until she entered the large gathering area. Her father followed her inside and raised his hand a second time. "I ought to give you the beating of your life!"
He moved towards the girl, who was only seven years old but already as tall and strong as children twice her age. Her wet golden hair glistened in the fire burning in the pit in the center of the room. She watched her father move towards her without flinching. Her father drew his hand back to strike her again. Before his hand could deliver the blow, a pair of smaller hands grasped his slender but muscular arm.
Phasma's father turned and looked into the widened eyes of his wife. "Why did you stop me?"
"Look at her," Phasma's mother said softly, nodding at her daughter. "She has never been phased by physical punishment. Look at the way she stares at you in contempt. There is nothing but chilling darkness in her gaze. Beating her is creating a monster."
Phasma's father turned to look at her. His facial features eased when he gazed at the beautiful blue eyes cutting into him with a sinister glare. His wife was right. Something dark was hiding behind the mask of beauty worn by his young daughter. And something was holding back the evil that projected in her stare. It was like a vicious beast peered out from behind the young girl's features. And her father dared not break the chains restraining the entity within her.
Phasma's brother, Keldo, stepped beside his mother and glared at his sister. He had long noticed the same darkness within her, but unlike his parents, he had suffered the consequences of unleashing the monster living within her on more than one occasion. His back and chest bore the marks of intentional cuts suffered at Phasma's doing when they trained in hand-to-hand combat.
Phasma's face stretched into a wicked smile as she stared at her parents and brother. If they could have read her thoughts, they would have agreed to neutralize her before she could strike.
Someday, I will become the leader of this clan, Phasma thought to herself. And I will slaughter every single one of you if you stand in my way…
"Captain, do I need to remind you of your orders?" General Hux said, bringing Phasma out of her memories. He cast a sideways glance at her. "Well, Captain?"
Phasma leaned close to Hux and whispered, "Do I need to remind you of the dangers of crossing me?"
Hux shook his head with a blank expression on his face. "No, that won't be necessary."
"I didn't think so, General," Phasma replied before stepping away. She paused a few meters from Hux and glanced over her shoulder. "Let's make sure it stays that way...sir."
With that, she turned and rapidly walked off the bridge, leaving Hux watching her with narrowed eyes. Don't think for a moment that I haven't figured you out, Phasma, Hux thought. You're not the only one skilled in the arts of betrayal…