"This isn't going to work," I say, crossing my arms.

"Focus, Ren," Phasma says, wiping sweat off her brow. The four of us in one elevator is making the small space warmer than in the hallways. We stop at the next level and Hux and Caleb quickly step out first, then Phasma and I follow. Caleb's plan is to get the armor and guns from the Stormtroopers, which involves me using my Force influence over them. Then we'll get into Aiden's base and detonate their bombs. I can see a lot of problems with this plan, but Hux isn't listening to anything I have to say.

"And you're sure they won't be at their base when we get there?" Hux says to Caleb as they walk side by side ahead of Phasma and I.

"They're killing all the single players today, those who aren't part of groups," Caleb responds. "They won't be back until sleep time, except for the two that are guarding the doors."

"How are they killing all the single players?" Phasma asks.

Caleb doesn't turn around to acknowledge her, but he answers. "They're surrounding them and beating them to death. Then tomorrow they'll use the bombs on the groups."

"Why can't I just use my Force powers on the two guys guarding the base doors?" I ask. "Instead of on the Stormtroopers."

"We want the armor and guns," Hux says.

Caleb stops walking and I almost run into him. Two Stormtroopers come around the corner at the end of the hall and head towards us. Hux and Caleb move out of the way, making room for me. I hold back a sigh. It's my turn.

"No groups allowed," one of the Stormtroopers says. I stretch out my hand towards them, my heart pounding. This has to work.

"You're tired," I say, "very tired. So tired that you're going to fall asleep." My heart beats faster. "You're going to fall asleep right now and stay asleep for hours." I stop, waiting. No one moves except for Caleb, who fidgets with his fingers. If I get this wrong, I could get us all killed. The Stormtroopers begin to move and for a second I think they're going to shoot us, but their guns drop and they fall to the floor in a clatter of armor.

"Nice!" Hux pats me on the back and I let out a sigh of relief. "Ren, you do lookout on one end of the hall and Phasma you on the other."

Phasma and I exchange a glance but don't argue. I crouch down to the Stormtrooper whose armor Caleb is dissembling, and I take the blaster.

"Hey!" he says. I ignore him and walk down to the end of the hall to keep watch.

* * *

"Why do we keep getting stuck with being back up?" I whisper to Phasma as we stop at the end of the hall. Hux and Caleb march ahead in their full Stormtrooper armor, carrying the blasters. Hux made me give Caleb the one I took.

Phasma sighs. "I don't like this."

"Me neither."

"A weapon isn't always a good thing to display," she says. "It can always get used against you, if it gets into the enemy's hands."

"They won't need to use their weapons," I say. Hux and Caleb will pretend to be Stormtroopers doing security checks of the rooms, for any players who might be hiding. Then they can get into Aiden's team's base, which is being guarded by two other players.

"Won't the guys at the door notice them carrying out the bombs?" Phamsa says.

"They're stormtroopers," I respond. "They can say they're confiscating them."

The sound of blaster shots around the corner fill the halls, along with loud cries. 

"Hux!" I run ahead. I shouldn't have let him out of sight. Phasma is right behind me. 

When we turn the corner, Hux and Caleb are standing by two boys who are motionless on the floor at their feet. Caleb continues to shoot at one, even though he is clearly dead. Hux reaches his hand out and grabs his arm. Caleb stops.

"Why'd you kill them?" I ask, coming up to Hux.

"Why not?" Caleb replies.

"I wasn't talking to you," I say. I turn to Hux. "When the others return, they'll be suspicious. You were just supposed to-"

"Go detonate the bombs," Hux says to Caleb. "And hurry."

Caleb punches the passcode into the door's keypad with a gloved finger and the door opens. He gives Hux a salute then runs in.

Hux removes his helmet and wipes at his face. His cheeks are flushed and he's breathing heavy.

"Hey!" The yell comes from our left and we all turn. Two Stormtroopers raise their blasters and Hux raises his.

"Stop!" I yell at the Stormtroopers, hitting them with a blast of Force energy. They go flying back. I hold them both down and walk over. Hux follows me. "Perfect," Hux says. "You and Phasma can use their armor."

* * *

The heat inside the Stormtrooper suit is irritating. Phasma doesn't complain but I know her suit must be even more uncomfortable than mine, because it has a guy's breastplate not a girl's. Hux leads the way with Caleb ahead of us and I'm not exactly sure what the plan is anymore, other than shooting anyone we see.

The first guy we come across ignores us completely as he strings a wire trap of some sort from an opening in the ceiling above. He thinks we're just stormtroopers doing our security rounds. He doesn't even have a chance to defend himself.

Caleb opens fire on the boy and continues to shoot, even though one shot is all that's needed.

"Stop!" Phasma yells, grabbing his arm.

"Save your gun fire," Hux adds.

A group of guys come running around the corner then stop when they see us. They look confused.

"Jason!" one of them shouts, rushing over to the boy on the ground. Caleb fires at him as he approaches the dead boy and the others looks startled. They turn to run but Hux shoots at them and Caleb joins in. The boys are dead in no time and once again Caleb continues to fire after it's no longer necessary. He just enjoys the killing, apparently. 

I look down at the dead players all around us. If we go around as Stormtroopers, none of the other players stand a chance. We aren't even supposed to use weapons. This isn't the way I imagined we'd win.

"Hux, Phasma, Ren and Caleb." The voice comes into my headset. I turn to Phasma. "This is Commander Klein." We all freeze. "Snoke wants to see you in the gathering space, now!"

I remove my helmet and so do Hux and Phasma. Hux curses and Phasma throws her helmet down. Caleb removes his as well and I see that he's smiling. I resist the urge to punch that smile off his face.

"Where are we sleeping tonight?" he says. "We should store these blasters there, before going to see Snoke."

Is he stupid? "We might not need blasters, after seeing Snoke," I say.

"Why not?"

"We should take them to Snoke," I say to Hux and Phasma. "He'll ask for them."

"Ren's right," Phasma says, starting to remove her Stormtrooper armor. I do the same, pulling the arm pieces off.

"Maybe he won't think to ask," Caleb says.

"Caleb's right, we should store the blasters for later," Hux says.

"He's not right." I stop removing my armor and stand in front of Hux.

Phasma steps between us and gives us a gentle push in opposite directions. "Come on, Snoke's waiting and he doesn't like to wait."

Phasma finishes removing her armor and picks up a blaster. "We can't leave these here for others to take. We'll take them with us."

Hux runs his hand through his hair. I can tell he's worried that we've been caught. We could get disqualified for breaking the rules.

"I'll take the blame," I say to Hux, but his mind seems elsewhere and he's ignoring me, again.