Chapter 52 - Mice For The Kittens (1/2)

Finn dashed towards Phasma at full speed ignoring the warnings from Rey who had not reacted on time to stop him. Seeing the young man approachinga at a very unnatural speed, Lensen raised his hand to give the order to all the stormtroopers around to shoot, but Phasma stopped him from doing so.

- ”Let me deal with him”- she said with a voice which showed a great fighting spirit. The commander showed his disaproval with a harrumph but lowered his hand in a silent acceptance.

She immediately started to run while taking her baton which was made of the best materials just as her battle armor which was a engineering wonder based on the technology of the Mandalorians while improved wth other forging techniques from dark places which made it even stronger, lighter tand would put any mandalotian armor to shame.

- ”Come on, 2187”- shouted Phasma as she made a pistol appear from wh knows where and shot at Finn who also responded by drawing his plasma gun and shooting almost at the same time.

They both shot and even though Finn had shot well placed shots, the armor of Phasma just recieved the blasters like nothing and they rebounced doing no damage. As for phasma's shots, Finn used his lightsaber to deflect some of them and evaded the rest. Seeing that their blasters were of no use, they both put them away and grabbed their meelee weapons tighter as they jumped to meet each other.

- ”Ahhhhhhhhh”

- ”Ahhhhhhh”

CLASH

They meet in the air and both wepons clashed repelling each other since Phasma's baton was made of a material which could not be sliced by lightsabers easily. Phasma kept atacking with a combo of three hit which tested any defesnse due to the strange patterns and angles she used. However, Finn managed to defend and counter attack using his own techniques but after nine exchanges both repelled each other and took distance. Phasma laughed in satisfaction.

- ”It seems you have not lost your edge, 2187”- said Phasma with a tone that showed a little note of pride- ”I always knew you had potential... what a waste you decided to use it in the wrong side.”

- ”You do not have to stand up”- said she before shooting a trooper who could not continue running after being totally exhausted just to look at the rest of them as if telling they wuld be next if they dared to fall.

Finn thought it was a waste of potential. Maybe they were not the best but with time and effort they could become something better. In the eyes of Phasma though, if you had no talent you were useless and it was the same if you died now or later. She sowed seeds of terror in every candidate under her since the moment they entered into her FN Corps and many times Finn, himself was beaten by her in order to make ”his potential bloom.” Even though Finn's results were the best of the class, in her eyes he was passable and what was worse, she used him as a way to pressure and terrify the other members placing his results as if they were the minimum required to achieve which was impossible for the rest to do. This only created an environment of stress and desperation and made Finn the target of hatred and resentment since if it was not for him, they would not have to suffer so much.

- ”They are only jealous!”- had told him his protegee ”Slip,” or FN-2003 when Finn started to feel overwhelmed- ”you're the best FN-2003!”

Of course, others than Slip, there were other candidates who still approached him with worshiping and amazed eyes expecting to befriend him. Most of them were only looking for use him somehow and he learned to differentiate those people and keep his distance. He still managed to lead and earn the trust of the teams he was in charge of. Due to his high performance, he was transferred to an elite team under Phasma's direct command. The change was heavy on him, since he had to say bye to the cemented position he had among his peers and be considered a newcomer who was treated with mock and humiliation by the veterans who were eager to put the ”rookie” in his place. The only thing that was good, was that Slip was also ȧssigned to his platoon and this gave Finn the mental strength to keep on and soon he was gaining reputation until his fall from grace when he refused to obey Phasma to shoot the protesting miners.

- ”I... wanted... to help...”- said with a weak voice before dying in FN-2187 arms.

His only friend had died in Jakku feeling desperation and with the hope of having make something good. However, he saw the reality of the First Order and their ”justice” in both situations when they attacked civilians and killed them in cold blood.

- ”Traitor!”

- ”Kill him!”

- ”For the First Order!”

- ”The point is to never become insensitive to the act of taking a life while not permitting the hatred and violence dominate you”- had told him Master Skywalker when he asked about this topic- ”even Jedi have to take lives to protect the balance but one thing is to do what you must and other different is to relish in the death of others.”

It was very difficult since he had been taught from childhood to use his anger and many other negative emotions to focus and get the upper hand in combat situations, which was of course another thing Phasma reinforced during her training. It was very difficult not to hate an enemy who was trying to kill you and even more difficult to control the sense of elation and joy after defeating said enemy knowing that you were better than him.

- ”Put your hands up”

However, the war did not give him time to put his emotions in order before having to face them directly in the middle of the battle where any dobt or second thoughts could very well cost you dearly.

- ”Go to hell, traitor!”- shouted back the trooper before activating a termal detonator which blowed the place taking many republic soldiers as many other troopers.

Finn had always tried to take stormtroopers alive if possible, but sometimes they were simply too stubborn and prefered to die in battle than being taken as prisoners. This was another result of the First Order and Phasma's training and had cost the lives of many who like him maybe could have seen the light and change. He knew that it was a difficult task, but after the Battle of Startkiller base, he had started a personal campaign to try and convince captured stormtroopers of the real face of the First Order. He would visit prisoners and show them evidence, including the fact that most of them had been abducted and their parents killed and many examples of the terrible masacres and terror acts of the First Order.

- ”It's a lie... you're lying!”- he had heard many times- ”they were rebels... I never killed innocents!”

The results were slow and little to be honest. Many times, the stormtroopers decided to end their own lives after discovering the truth since it was too much for them to take. Others, had isolated into themselves and even lose their sanity. Of course, there were many who had pretended to be convinced, only to betray them and return into the First Order with new information about the Republic.

- ”You're a traitor and I hate you!”

- ”Stop, Finn”- said the voice of Leia- ”this is taking us no where...”

Finn knew she was right, of course. However, the resentment for Phasma was something that he would still need a lot of time to deal with. Even Luke had realized this during his meditation sessions and today he had been proved correct at attacking in anger which was totally against the Jedi code.

- ”Is it over already?”- asked Phasma with dissapointment and Finn could imagine her nasty grin under her helmet- ”at least you still know how to obey orders like a good dog.”

Using every drop of willpower he had, he forced himself to turn his lightsaber off and stepped back to where Leia and the rest of his group was.

- ”Since it seems this is over, Lensen”- said Leia using her most diplomatic tone- ”Shouldn't you at least control your subordinates?”

- ”It was your bodyguard who attacked first”- said Lensen in the same diplomatic tone- ”I ȧssure you I wish no unnecessary bloodshed here.”

- ”In that case you should not be wary since you have the obvious advantage”- said Leia with a respectful tone.

- ”All my years of experience fighting against you, Channcellor had taught me to never understimate you”- said Lensen with a cordial smile- ”Which is why I'll ask you to give all your weapons to the people behind you.”

From the shadows behind the way they had come two figures clad in black robes and mechanical masks appeared and walked to them while having lightsabers ready at their hands.

- ”It's surprising Snoke let the already scarce Knights of Ren bring two of their members”- said Leia with a surprised expression- ”I'm flattered”