Our family’s close calls with the First Order
As I mentioned in my last post, we reluctantly found ourselves standing face to face with the Supreme Leader of the First Order. And I wasn’t too happy that Kylo Ren invited Mihret to join him and the First Order. I mean, we’d already almost lost Aiden to the Dark Side once.
https://www.instagram.com/p/llC8d_FwxM/
I wasn’t about to let this happen again. Kylo Ren even asked her to help him keep an eye out for any Resistance spies.*
He also asked her to report any spies directly to him. She refused.
I don’t think I could have been more proud.
We were quickly ushered out of Kylo’s presence and found ourselves hiding with BB-8. He was much more friendly and asked us if we’d seen any signs of the First Order since we’d been there. Mihret was quick to tell BB-8 that she had just seen Kylo Ren. She also told him we’d also encountered some First Order Stormtroopers shortly after arriving at Hollywood Studios.
BB-8 thanked Mihret for the tips and we slipped out the back way, trying to avoid any other encounters with any more Stormtroopers. We were able to stay safe. For a while. Then we almost ran right into them.
Our run-in with the First Order
We found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a parade of Stormtroopers, displaying the might of the First Order for the entire galaxy to see.
Mihret thought we should high-tail it out of there before they figured out that we’d seen BB-8 and were sympathetic to the Resistance. We decided that was a pretty good idea. It was doubtful that they would believe that BB-8 wasn’t the droid they were looking for. And they might try to get us to tell them about any spies in the area. Even worse, they might accuse US of intercepting transmissions or being spies for the Resistance.
While she was insistent that we leave right away, Aiden wasn’t quite so convinced. He paused for a photo.
That’s where the “fun” began
Aiden and I got separated from the girls. In our efforts to find them, we found ourselves in a tiny control room. Safe. Or so we thought. Suddenly, we heard a knock and the door. The door flew open.
I thought we were done-for. Out of desperation, we ran away. And the Stormtroopers made chase.
We outran them. Or so we thought. Everything that had transpired had done so according to the Emperor’s design. We did it. We walked right into a trap.
Only a Dark Lord of the Sith could be so bold as to perform this ambush in broad daylight with so many witnesses. But here we were. And there he was. He invited us to stay for dinner. But we know what happens when people stay for dinner. And they don’t even ask any questions.
That’s right. We were face to face with Darth Vader himself.
I wasn’t entirely sure what to do. Han wasn’t too successful when he tried shooting the Dark Lord. He just blocked the blaster bolts with his hand. Besides, I didn’t have a blaster with me. And a lightsaber duel was out of the question because…well…have you heard about my ax-ident? Imagine what damage I’d do to myself with such an elegant, deadly, ancient weapon.
So we backed away. Slowly. I guess he didn’t think we were too much of a threat because he didn’t follow us. Our escape from Lord Vader was much simpler than you’d think.
Reunited again
After a few moments on the run, Aiden and I were reunited with the rest of our family. We grabbed a bite to eat in a small, hidden cafe that happened to be on the outskirts of an Imperial bunker. A small crowd started to gather outside. I told the rest of the family to stay inside while I looked to see what was going on. You won’t believe what I saw.
That’s right. Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. They weren’t looking for us – were they? They couldn’t possibly have found us. Unless…
they were tracking us.
There was no time to waste. It was time to avoid any more Imperial First Order entanglements. We couldn’t find any smugglers and there was no wretched hive of scum and villainy to be found (although I hear one’s under construction just over the wall – Galaxy’s Edge – have you heard of it?**). We did, however, happen upon a StarSpeeder 1000. We didn’t know where it was heading. And we really didn’t care. We just needed to teleport off that rock. So we hopped aboard.
I will say it wasn’t the most…uh…calm flight I’ve ever taken. In spite of our best hopes, our Star Tours flight wound up encountering Imperial ships. Not just the local bulk cruisers, mind you: the big Corellian ships. And TIE Fighters. And other surprising obstacles.
Safe (for now)
Fortunately, our pilot, although rather clueless and inept, somehow managed to evade all of the obstacles and delivered us safely to a planet far from all of the action. Although we were safe at the moment, Mihret wasn’t about to take any more chances. She decided it was time to have her own lightsaber.
She continues to practice with her custom-made lightsaber. I hope she never has to use it to protect herself from agents of the Dark Side. But if she does, she’ll be ready.
I think I have a pretty good idea what such a confrontation would look like…
*This post contains several quotes from the Star Wars films. But I’ve made a few special modifications myself, so I’m curious how many you will find.
**The correct answer is, “Should I have?” but that’s irrelevant to this story, really.
Latest posts by Matt Todd (see all)
- Recapping the NASA Social Europa Clipper launch event - October 18, 2024
- Greetings from (partly) sunny Space Coast, Florida - October 12, 2024
- I’m going to Kennedy Space Center to watch the Europa Clipper launch (hopefully) - October 5, 2024
