|1|
Dr. Threecoal spoke at a relentless pace and Caleb struggled
to keep up. From the typing sounds of
the hundreds of other Flight Academy students around the room, he wasn’t the
only one.
“Reflect
to when you were a child. If you’re
anything like me, some of the choices you made were bad.” The tall professor
smiled as a small chuckle rippled around the room. “Your parents were charged with protecting
and guiding you until you learned the right way and, moreover, learned to choose
that right way. ”
“This
is what it means when we say the citizens of the Empire are like children. Distractible, emotional, and all-around
unfocused. The Empire can be as their
parents. For the good of the Galaxy, it
must be, if we are to progress as a society.
They must be made to focus on The Big Thing - The academic
phrase, as you know, is Correct Development.”
Caleb nodded with his peers at the familiar term. “The Republic fell
because it allowed its worlds to make individual choices. These individual choices would sometimes
clash. Those clashes would lead to conflicts
which generated grievances which lengthened those conflicts, which bled, sometimes literally, into the Senate.
Dr. Threecoal stopped pacing and took an audible breath
before continuing. “The Naboo and the Trade Federation never made up after
their initial flare-up and that conflict even bled into the Clone Wars, almost
a decade after the original confrontation!
And what did the Jedi do about that?! His face was now red under the
bright lights at the front of the hall. “Keepers
of the Peace sounds noble, but really they only buried conflict, never solving
them. The grievances remained, and grew.” The professor took a few gasps of breath and
patted his forehead with the handkerchief he kept in his jacket breast pocket. Today it was yellow.
“The
Empire will prevent those tensions from tugging at the Galaxy. This will allow us to build upward. Some say the Senate now is a shell of its
former self because the Emperor can enforce his will on the Senators. I say that is precisely the point. Rather than the Senate representing their
people to the government, the Senate can now represent Correct Development to
their people. Two neighboring systems argue about hyperspace route jurisdiction? That cannot be prevented. However, one is right and one is wrong. Well, sometimes both are wrong. No matter.
It is the duty of the Empire to adjudicate that disagreement before it turns
to violence and spirals out of control.
This does three things.” Turning around, he said, “R1, if you would?”
The golden astromech behind his crystasteel desk whirred to
life and plugged into the screen terminal.
The professor read the text as it appeared on the wall in large white
letters. The furious tapping of datapads
resumed.
“One. It ends the conflict, allowing the parties to
focus again on the Big Thing. They stop
wasting their resources on meaningless endeavors.
“Three. Eventually, existing grievances will fall away as all systems, together, begin to focus on their duty to the Empire. Children seek to find fleeting pleasures. Only their parents can guide them towards growth necessary for adulthood. Similarly, only the Empire can guide the galaxy toward Correct Development.”
The professor paused here and scanned his students, checking their faces for expressions of obvious confusion. Caleb was amazed at how much Dr. Threecoal could spin out in just a few minutes. It all makes so much sense. How could anyone oppose the Empire's goals? He wondered, if the Rebels heard these lectures, would any of them would be swayed. No, he thought, they’re just animals.
Dr. Threecoal pointed to a student
whose hand was raised. “How does the
Empire determine Correct Development?”
“Through its civil servants.” He
answered quickly. “They take into
account all of the needs of the galaxy, determine their resource requirements
and potential side effects of action (or inaction) and present their findings
to the Emperor. Then the Emperor decides
which to prioritize.”
“And what if the civil servants get
something wrong?”
“Then they are publicly executed,
along with their whole families.” He
hardly finished before he started laughing.
“No, no, no. Think of the
parental analogy.” He looked up at all
the students. “Were your parents always
perfect? And yet here you are, at a rare
academy studying how to reach your excellence.
Perfection is not necessary for Correct Development – thank the
stars. Mistakes are expected.”
After class was over, Caleb
shuffled out of the lecture hall, his eyes carelessly passing over the
portraits of past classes. In the
corridor he looked around, but saw no sign of his friends. Probably already outside. He walked out the door with a miniature
Imperial Walker overhead.
Caleb squinted his eyes as he
walked out into the afternoon sun. The
square was busy, with some students unlocking and activating swoop bikes and
others waiting in a cramped bunch at the bus stop, and still others crossing
the road to take the walking path back to the residences. As his eyes scanned the pick-up lane he saw
Baborak’s speeder; It was hard to miss.
Baborak didn’t have this class with
Caleb – he was actually a semester ahead.
However, he had great pride in his speeder and took any opportunity to
show it off. It was bright purple with
rainbow reflectors around the base. The
windvisor, higher than standard, had a gold trim. Baborak had poured all the allowance he could
into it ever since he owned it.
As
Caleb got within reach of the speeder, it pulsed forward. Gritting his teeth, he walked a little
further. The speeder moved again, but
backwards this time. “I’m sorry,”
Baborak said. “This baby has a mind of
her own, you know?” He spoke with a bit of
a purr, and an extra helping of detachment.
A son of Naboo, he was raised with all the privilege that wealthy planet
could offer, though he hated to acknowledge it.
“Come on, Baborak.” Buk said from the back. Buk had been Caleb’s bunkmate first semester
and they had hit it off well. Not like
Vidya, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
She got stuck with a richer.
Baborak was a richer too, of course, but at least he didn’t act like
one. He made a show of shifting the
speeder to park then raised his hands over his head. “Ok, see?
No more tricks."
Caleb got in next to Buk and the speeder zoomed
forward. Baborak let out a high laugh as
he turned up the music, a thumping style popular in the Core. Caleb and the others raised a fist to pump
along with the music, but Baborak had to put his hand back on the steering to
avoid hitting a few students who walked in front of the speeder. Caleb and Vidya shouted a handful of choice
insults at the crowd before they sped off down the mainway.
Baborak said something, but with the wind whipping around
them it was impossible to make it out. “What?!” Caleb shouted from his seat.
Baborak hit a button on the dashboard, and a blue shield quickly
extended from the windvisor, over their heads, to the back of the speeder. The roaring wind suddenly died, and the
speeder’s twin DC-55 motors reduced to a hum.
“I said, what a bunch of morons!”
“Yeah,” Vidya laughed, tucking her brown curls behind her
ear. “And it’s not like this is a
stealth speeder.”
“If I’d hit them, it’d be their fault, really.”
Looking in his rearview Baborak saw Caleb staring at the
shield again. He watched as Caleb put
his fist through the shield, then brought it back down. “Cool,” Caleb whispered to no one.
Baborak let out a laugh and said “Still wowed by a
retractable shield?”
“Don’t have that shit on Carida, do you?” Buk smirked.
“We hardly have Bacta.” Caleb said, rubbing his wrist. “When you get injured they just bind your arm
and tell you to wait.”
“Barbaric,” Baborak chuckled.
“I never saw this kind of design on Mon Calimari,” Vidya
said, “But at least we had medicine.”
“Yeah,” Caleb said, wishing he hadn’t brought it up. Carida
wasn’t a particularly poor system, but it had little sense of luxury. Imperial interest had increased the standing
of the mining guild, but Correct Development demanded the profits be reinvested
to improve the extraction operations.
His older sister had joined the Academy and Caleb grew up thinking he’d
serve in the guild with his father until…
Well, now he couldn’t wait to bleed the Rebels dry for what they’d done.
Baborak upped the volume on the music again and they jammed
the rest of the way, even sitting in the garage after they’d arrived until the
song was finished. “What a banger,”
Baborak said as he turned the speeder off.
The shield made a soft zipping sound as it retracted. “How is a band as perfect as Stony Space Slug
even allowed to exist? I mean, did you
hear that,” and he waved his hands around as if smashing a drumset. “Norfs, I love it.”
“I’m heading to the quad,” Vidya said, pulling her backpack
over her shoulder, “Anyone wanna come with?”
“Sure,” Caleb and Buk said immediately. Baborak ran his hand through his dark hair. “No.
Hear that?” They listened and
heard some pop music faintly playing from the quad into the garage. “All horns and beats. I’ll pass.
Plus, I gotta work on my accent for the party!” Then Baborak’s voice took on a chirpy,
melodic quality. “Weesa willsa see yousa
later, okie-day?” The others chuckled
and said good-bye as they headed out to the quad.
The party, of course, was the Alienfest. Every semester the students came dressed as
an alien native to their system and were expected to speak and act like them,
too. Caleb had learned the hard way that
everyone took the opportunity to mock the lesser beings very, very seriously.
Arriving on the artificial grass Vidya pulled a hologram
projector from her bag. “I’m gonna get a
game of holo going. Wanna?”
“It’s not even a real game,” Caleb said, and Buk suppressed
a laugh.
“I’d probably feel that way, too, if I sucked as bad as you.” She turned around and set the projector up on
the artificial grass. A blue disc
appeared, eerily still, about a meter above.
She shouted to the people around her and some of them came and joined
her.
“So what’s up?” Caleb asked Buk as Vidya pantomimed a push
toward the disc, which shot forward towards a curly-haired boy who had joined.
“Nothing, you?”
“Nothing.” Caleb
replied.
The two sat in pleasant silence for a while on the busy
quad. Caleb picked at the grass as he
watched a group play cards at a blue picnic table. Sabaac, probably. Now that’s a game, he thought. Not only did it include real cards, but it
mattered if you won or lost. He’d heard
of people betting whole starships on games.
Caleb hoped one day to be rich enough to do that.
“You’re doing it again.”
Caleb said.
“What?” Buk said, not moving his head.
“Staring at V.”
“I wasn’t!” Buk
quickly turned to face a different direction.
“I was thinking about class.”
“Well, you were also staring at her.” Caleb said,
picking up the grass he had pulled and putting it on his open palm.
“So, what if I was?”
Caleb took a deep breath and blew the grass away, which
quickly dropped back down. “It can’t happen, Buk.”
“But you did.”
“Yeah, but that’s before we were friends. We’d just met then. It’s different now. We have a good group here. You’re gonna mess it up.”
“You’re just jealous she might like it with me more than
you.”
“Oh yeah?” Caleb said, “And how much experience do you have
to blow her away with?
“Enough,” Buk lied.
“Well, I have double that,” Caleb lied.
“I bet she’ll be a sexy Calimari.”
“Eww, gross.” Caleb
said. “Disgusting squidmen.” But despite himself he got an image of her in
her head, and it was quite tempting.
“But if anyone could, it was her.”
“So you do care!”
Buk cackled.
“Only because,” Caleb stopped himself. He hated this argument, but Buk always baited
him into it. It was the only real
tension between them. They’d both met
Vidya at the same party and for some reason Caleb was the one who scored. But afterwards neither of them knew what to
say and that was the end. Or it would’ve
been but second semester they were in a lot of classes together. The familiarity gave them a certain comfort
with each other. They still hadn’t talked about it, though.
“Only because what?” Buk yelled. “NOW who’s staring?”
“Only because she’s a friend,” he said, which sounded lamer
than he had intended. “Having a girl who’s
a friend gives us a lot of advantages, Buk.
First, girls won’t think we’re like other boys because they know we can
just hang out with them, too. Second, if
we start to get somewhere with another girl and they do something confusing,
we’ve got our own personal girl encyclopedia to help us out.”
“Our own hot-opedia.” Buk snorted.
Caleb winced. He
looked over to see Vidya leap with her dark arms outstretched to hit the holo,
the bottom of her shirt not quite covering her belly. He looked away quickly, suddenly hot and
embarrassed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Oh shit,” Buk exclaimed, suddenly standing, then sitting
down again quickly. “Patrol behind you,”
he said.
“Then stay calm. Keep
moving like that they’ll think you’re an actual rebel. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
Caleb and Buk stood up and faced the paved walkway and
saluted firmly. The realization spread around
the quad, and soon everyone had stopped what they were doing and was standing
at attention. The stormtrooper patrol,
seniors, basked in the attention. They
looked over at Vidya and those with her who were saluting but spread out on the
grass. One of them shouted. “Citizens, we expect an orderly line.” Vidya and the others scrambled to get into
formation. Two of the four troopers
walked toward the group and pulled out stunsticks.
“On the ground!” One
of them shouted, and she fell on her face with the others. The artificial grass was prickly in her
nose. She heard the zap of the stunstick
and the accompanying cries. The
stunstick was only a practice one, of course, but it still gave a shock. When she heard the girl next to her cry out
she steeled herself for the jolt. She
felt the stick press into her shoulder and held her breath. The sting burst went into her shoulder and
quickly coursed through her body.
Despite herself she gave a small yelp and an involuntary gasp. The artificial grass went further up her
nostril. She thought she could feel it
in her eye.
“On your feet!” The
stormtroopers ordered. Getting up she
saw the other two troopers were wandering the quad, practice blasters out,
shouting at other students. She also saw
a blade of grass hanging out of her nose.
She wiggled it, but it stayed stuck.
The stormtroopers shouted “By the glory of his majesty, you live in
peace. Long Live the Emperor.”
“Long Live the E-“ but all of a sudden her body convulsed
into a sneeze. Then another. Then another.
All the stormtroopers stopped what they were doing to look at her, as
did many of the others. She looked at
Caleb and Buk but they only looked at her helplessly. What would they do anyway?
“Citizen?” The two
stormtroopers nearest to her said. “Have
a problem with our Emperor, do you?
Allergic to Correct Development, perhaps?”
“N- no, sirs. I just,
it just happened.” After a moment, she
snapped into a salute and declared “Long Live the Emperor!”
“Where are you from?”
Maintaining her salute she said “Mon Calimari.”
“Mon Calimari,” one repeated slowly. “Well, we’ll be sure to give those fishheads
our finest treatment at Alien.” The
other stormtroopers laughed. One of them
made a show of priming their blaster before aiming at her feet and firing. The students around Vidya flinched but she
held her salute perfectly. She’d been
around enough real blasters to not be scared by fakes. The white light barely singed the ground.
“Think you’re some kind of hotshot, eh?” The stormtrooper turned around and yelled,
“Half rations for everyone in this residency for the week, and expect room
inspections to be more demanding, too.”
Everyone let out a groan and Vidya could feel their eyes on her.
Then, without another word, the stormtroopers regrouped and left
the quad. Everyone remained saluting
until they were out of sight. When they
were gone, one of the holo players huffed “Thanks a lot, fish-for-brains” as he
walked away. There were similar, and
worse, shouts from around the quad.
Vidya picked up her projector, her face feeling hot. She would not make excuses and she
would definitely not cry. She’d
seen how that turned out. She refused to
be one of those students making pathetic pleas for understanding and mercy. The best thing to do was to just leave and
hope it would blow over.
Suddenly Vidya was coming towards them. Not wanting to be associated with her Caleb
picked up her bag and tossed it. “Here
you go, fishhead.” He said loudly enough
for others to hear. However, the bag was
still unzipped from before and its contents spilled onto the grass as it flew,
landing empty at her feet. The quad
erupted in laughter and hoots again.
He hadn’t intended to make things worse, but now he was
stuck. She shouldn’t have sneezed,
he reminded himself. This was her
fault, ultimately. He placed his
hands on his hips as he watched her pick everything up. Discipline was important to the Empire, and
discipline was gained through setting aside the self. To do what the Empire asked, to pursue
Correct Development, was no easy task.
But Caleb bursted with pride as he resolutely refused to help his
friend.
When Vidya had picked everything up she stood up straight
and held her head high. Briefly looking
around, she saw most of the students had turned back to what they had been
doing, apparently bored of watching her suffer.
She hurried back to her residence hall before she could attract their
attention again.
“Maybe I should go to her,” Buk said when she’d gone inside,
bending to pick up his things.
“I think we’re among the last people she wants to see,”
Caleb said.
“Still, shouldn’t we help?”
“Help? Help her
how? You saw, she embarrassed
herself. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Well, her stuff.”
“That was an accident – plus that was me, not you.”
“Are you going to apologize?”
“The Empire makes no apologies. She knows we’re still friends. She knows why I did it. She would
have done the same.”
“Well, still,”
“You just want a crack at her while she’s upset. Come on, Buk.
That’s weak – she won’t respect you at all if you try that.”
“What if she falls head over heels for me? Love makes people do unusual things.”
“Gross,” Caleb spat.
“You should get those fairy tales out of your head. This is the Empire, Buk. Love has nothing to do with it. Think of the Big Thing.”
Buk nodded his head.
He was glad he had Caleb to talk him down sometimes. Buk felt particularly vulnerable to chasing
the next thing. Eye on the prize,
he told himself, though he wasn’t exactly sure what the prize was yet. But it wasn’t Vidya. Probably.
“And anyway,” Caleb drove onward, “She’ll get her comfort
when we’re old enough to do the patrols.
Hell, we’ll punish firsties for so much as blinking too much – or too
little!” Buk cracked a smile at that.
“Or make them wash our armor while we’re wearing it.”
“Sure, Buk. Whatever
you think up they’ll have to do. Come
on, let’s go get something to eat.”
***
For Alienfest, the athletic center had been converted into a
large dance hall. Streamers hung from
the ceiling, reflecting the bright lights while also casting long shadows on
the floor. A fog machine hissed
periodically from the corner.
From patrolling the catwalks to checking IDs at the entrance,
the uniformed seniors were eager to lord it over the others. But the most popular area was the dance
floor, where they took special joy in humiliating the costumed students.
“I had really been looking forward to this,” Vidya
complained in an accent which was grinding and deep. “It’s fun to let loose at a dance, you know,
even if it is under the watchful eye of the Empire,” she said that last part in
mock seriousness. “But they’ll be
looking out for me now. I just hope none
of that patrol recognize me.”
“It’ll be fun,” Buk said encouragingly.
Vidya wasn’t having it as they took a step forward in line.
“Yeah, but your costume doesn’t also make you sweat like a Hutt! What are you anyway again? They’re going to think you forgot to dress
up.”
Buk tapped the antennaepalps that had been taped behind his
ear. “Balosar! Slythmongers of the galaxy and all-around
scum.”
Vidya gave a harupmh and turned aside. Buk’s costume was very much not in the spirit
of the celebration. She hoped one of the
seniors would mistake him for a human and make the night hell for him. She knew when she was a senior she’d single
out anyone who refused to dress up properly.
“Just try not to sneeze again,” Caleb whispered through his
three-eyed mask.
“Yeah, thanks,” Vidya scoffed, adjusting the ridiculously
large mask on her face. But Caleb hadn’t
meant it like that. Alienfest was a bit
of a free-for-all, the seniors all eager to make a lasting impression on the
younger students. He’d heard of students
dying from pranks gone wrong and while he didn’t exactly believe that it
still seemed best to avoid attracting attention. The three took another step forward.
“Heysa!” They heard a high-pitch squeal behind them. “Heysa, scuzie, oh pardon me boyo, oh. Pleasa, yousa movsa? Hero coming through!” They turned to see Baborak in his Gungan
costume, elongated arms flapping around as he shouted at everyone and pushed
his way to the front. Some resisted,
some got out of the way, but everyone was laughing. Gungans were the fools of the galaxy,
everyone knew that. Someone stuck out a
foot and he fell on his face. But he’d
hardly landed when he bounded back up again, turning around. “Ohsa, yousa vewwwwwwwwy naughty. Going to the bossoh with mesa, eh?” Turning around, he sang “Vewwwwwwwwy
naughty,” as he pushed forward. Caleb
raised his hand, “Hey Baborak, over here!”
“Yeesah, weesa have arrived!” He gave an exaggerated bow, his costume ears
nearly touching the floor, and stood again.
Buk smirked at Baborak, but inside he was worried. Next to the Vidya and Caleb’s costume he felt
he could blend in. But next to Baborak’s
elaborate display it was quite clear how little effort he’d put into his. Shouldn’t have put it off for so long.
He looked Vidya up and down again. Even in her costume he found her
attractive. Tonight is the night,
he reminded himself.
Finally, the four friends were at the front of the
line. Vidya stepped forward first, eager
to get the check-in over with.
“Vidya Terry, a Mon Calimari, at the Empire’s service.”
“Aah, our first squidface,” One of the stormtroopers
chuckled. “We’ve been told to keep a
special eye out on your kind tonight.
Tell me, you ever eat shrimp, Vidya?”
Vidya paused, unsure what they wanted to hear. Probably the most embarrassing thing. “Yes, whenever I can get my hands on it. Imagine my shock when I learned I ruined a
family reunion, digesting my cousins.”
The stormtroopers laughed raucously. “Alright, get in fish-for-brains. Next!”
Buk stepped forward.
“Buk Iazzi, a Balosar, at the Empire’s service.” The stormtroopers examined him closely. Suddenly standing one shouted “Looks more
like a human?! What’s this, a reb-”
“No, no,” Caleb stepped to Buk’s side. This is what happened to him last semester. Students who arrived without a costume, or a
clearly last minute one, were considered to have come to the party as Rebels
and treated accordingly. “He’s really a
Balosar. See the antennae?” He pointed.
“Aah,” The stormtrooper said, sitting back down, clearly
disappointed. “From?”
“Corellia.”
“Mmmmm,” the stormtrooper mumbled. “Soon we’ll have the core cleared of all you
vermin. What’s the antennae do, anyway?”
“All the better to hear drug deals going on,” Buk said.
The stormtroopers laughed and one said, “Addicts, each and
every one of ya. What’s your friend?”
“Caleb Suttle, a Gran, at the Empire’s service.” One of the stormtroopers knocked one of his
eyestocks and Caleb gave an exaggerated yelp.
“What’s that third eye do?”
“For catching Rebels, sirs.”
“Put it to good use tonight.
Catch us one and we may give you a morsel from the officer’s table.” Caleb bowed, his eyestocks bouncing with the
motion. “Alright, get in and out of my
sight!” Caleb and Buk joined Vidya
inside.
Baborak was next.
“Awwww, yeesa! Moyo moyo welcome
and thanksee from all Naboo.”
“And thanks to Naboo for our wonderful emperor.” The
Stormtroopers said, barely suppressing their laughter at the performance.
“Yeesa, Palpateeno vewy famous now! My uncle privileged to clean toilet at
Palpatine-ee museum – vewy lucky!”
“And what is your name, swamprat?”
“Baborak Labor, at
the Empire’s servissssssssss”
“Alright, get in.”
Together again, the four looked around the room. On an elevated platform above they saw a
large group of stormtroopers sitting at a table, talking and laughing and
toasting. To their left were tables and
chairs for everyone else. On the far
side of the dance floor was a buffet layout of food from a variety of
planets. Well, not really. The culinary school at the academy made
imitation food from different planets occupied by the Empire. It looked the part, but each was stuffed with
a mix of spices and beans and nuts. The
best one could hope for was something passable.
Occasionally food was so bad it caused vomiting.
“Let’s grab some food and pay our respects,” Vidya said in
her grumbling accent. The four picked up
pieces of Corellian flat cake and turned toward the troopers on the raised platform. When they had their attention they bit in. They each gave cries of disgust but chewed
and swallowed dutifully. One of the stormtroopers
yelled something and then they turned back to their tables.
“OK, let’s find it a place to sit,” Buk said over the music. The first table they came to already had a
Wookie and a Jawa sitting together. “Nice
costume, who’d you rip it off from?” Caleb said to the Jawa.
The Jawa responded unintelligently and the Wookie roared
loudly. They must have some vocal
enhancer in that outfit, Caleb thought.
“No way,” Buk said.
“At least let’s find some who speak basic.”
A white-furred Bothan was at the next table.
“I’m surprised they let you in here,” Vidya said taking a
seat. “I heard all the Bothans had
joined the Rebellion.”
The Bothan let out a deep laugh, then continued in a
growling accent. “They certainly gave me
hell, yes. But not all of us have
abandoned Correct Development.” She dropped her accent, “My mother actually
employs several in our home. Great
servants, except when their fur gets in the food. And when doesn’t it, am I right?”
“Weesa gladly serves the Naboo. We maksa bathrooms shine! We are proud to serve.”
“Well, not all aliens can be as wonderful as a Gungans,” the
Bothan responded. She turned to Caleb,
“And you. How many Gran serve in your
household?”
“Oh, uhhhh, none. We
don’t have servants, and the mines are too valuable to let them work in
them. Gran mostly run the shops.”
“Mines and Gran, mines and Gran,” The Bothan repeated,
looking up to the ceiling. “And you
mentioned shops. You’re Caridan?”
“Yeah!” Caleb
exclaimed. “How did you know?”
“I aced my cosmography classes all through secondary school,
and the one I’m taking this semester.”
The Bothan turned to Vidya.
“You’re from Mon Calimari, obviously.”
And to Buk, “And you’re…. you can’t be a human or they would have
announced Rebel infiltration. Species
identification isn’t my strong suit, you know.”
“I’m a Balosar.”
“Balosar…”
“I’m from Corellia,” Buk offered.
The Bothan lightly hit the table with her fist. “Corellia, one of the major manufacturers of
starships, but besides that a dangerous smuggler’s den. I’m surprised the Empire hasn’t done more to
clear the riff-raff.”
Buk just nodded.
“Oh, forgive me,” The Bothan said. “My name is Ja-Jojinn, from Botawui,
obviously. And all of you are…?”
They all introduced themselves.
“My friends will be here soon, I hope. You will have to leave when they come, of
course.”
“What?” Vidya asked firmly.
“This is my table, I was here first.”
“What if we don’t want to?” Caleb said, his voice
rising. “We got here before them.”
Ja-Jojinn scoffed.
“Don’t make a scene, alright? You
can stay until they come. That’s fa-”
They were interrupted by two Stormtroopers, one of whom
slammed a gloved fist on the table. He
glared at Vidya. “Another fishface, come
to pay their respects to the Empire.
Well, go on, then.” The other had
laid shot glasses out on the table and were filling them from a little glass
vial. “This is topshelf stuff! Well,
topshelf for your kind.” Vidya and the
others picked up their drinks, but Ja-Jojinn just stared at it.
“What’s wrong, furface?
You wouldn’t want us to tell the Emperor of your lack of enthusiasm.”
“But I don’t even know her!
Whatever problem you have with her, I’m not part of it.”
“What’s this?” The other trooper turned to face the Bothan
squarely. “That voice sounds awful
human. You wouldn’t be a hu-”
“Oh, alright,” Ja-Jojinn said, growling again. “If it’s for the Emperor.”
“They are,” The troopers said, now pouring another glass and
pushing it towards her. “Make us a toast, scum.”
She picked up a glass, and the stormtroopers thrust the
other into her other hand. She hesitated
briefly before saying, “To the Emperor, a great man and powerful leader. How fortunate are we to live under his
reign. To the Emperor!”
“To the Emperor!”
Everyone echoed. The yellow
liquid burned as it went down their throats, and Caleb hit his chest a few
times to ease its passing. When he
looked up, the stormtroopers were gone.
“Vile,” Buk groaned.
“Weesa rather drink froma the swampsa!”
Ja-Jojinn was resting her arms on the table, breathing
slowly. “Seems like the right time to
bring this out,” Vidya pulled an arm into her shirt, and when it came out again
she was holding a bottle in it. She
filled up their glasses, then she reached towards Ja-Jojinn and filled up one
of hers. “A bit of a cleanse from that
acid,” she said. Ja-Jojinn slowly looked
up, her narrow, almond-shaped eyes unfocused, and whispered, “Thanks.”
Vidya picked up her glass.
“To the Empire!” The blue liquid
left a cool feeling in their throats.
Vidya filled another round, spilling some of the drink as she began to
feel it in her system. Ja-Jojinn pushed
the second cup away. “Nomore, she
mumbled.
“Bothans, buncha light-weights.” Vidya said.
“No use letting it go to waste,” Buk said, leaning forward
and swiping the cup. As they drained
their glasses, Ja-Jojinn suddenly stood up.
“Gotta go!” She said as she ran
with a hand over her mouth.
A few minutes later the music lowered and the PA system
cracked to life. “Attention, subjects,
attention. Take a seat. We would like to thank you for coming to the 19th
annual celebration of our glorious Empire.
While we are sorry you are born as an inferior breed, that doesn’t mean
you can’t celebrate our Emperor like full citizens. In fact, it’s required! So go on, get up and dance – or else.” A few white bolts of light shot from the
raised table as the stormtroopers waved blasters in the air and descended down
the steps.
“Weesa gonna parrrrrrrteeeeeeee!” Baborak yelled, grabbing Vidya and Caleb and
tearing them out of their seats. Caleb
grabbed Buk by the back of his shirt, hauling him to the dance floor, too. The four friends danced together and whooped
compliments to the Emperor. When the
stormtroopers came by they couldn’t help but laugh at Baborak’s antics, even as
they tried to maintain their strict discipline.
The stormtroopers moved on.
Caleb looked at Vidya and he swore when their eyes met it
meant something. Filled with more than
just confidence Caleb took a few steps toward V, imagining her hips shaking in
the blocky costume.
“Watch it!” A coneheaded alien pushed him back. “Why even have
three eyes if you’re not gonna watch where you’re going.”
Caleb took a moment to steady himself and then said “I guess
tall brains aren’t that good.”
“What? Shut up.” The Cerean walked away. V was still there, but had stopped
dancing. Undeterred, Caleb continued his
advance. But when he got close, she held
out a hand.
“Stop, Caleb. Look,
up there.” She pointed a bulky finger to
a stormtrooper on one of the catwalks.
Caleb gyrated as he responded, “What? Yeah, lots of them are above us.”
“No, no.” She said, dropping her accent. “That’s a real
nerfing blaster he’s got, Cay. I heard
it whine as it primed.”
“You heard it over all this?” Caleb said motioning generally as he danced.
“It’s an important sound to recognize!” She insisted.
“OK, and?”
“And that’s dangerous!
Seriously, chill with your…. Wiggling.”
Caleb stopped moving.
“My-” Caleb didn’t know what to say, so the sentence died before he
finished it.
She turned around, adjusting her mask to see clearly. “I wonder what he’s aiming at.” Looking at the wall she saw a few stacked barrels.
“What? Aren’t you
gonna tell me anything?” Caleb’s irritation leaked into his voice.
Buk suddenly came over and put his hand on their
shoulders. “What’s going on?” Caleb noticed, or thought he noticed, Buk’s
fingers rubbing Vidya’s shoulder.
“We gotta get out of here,” Vidya said, squirming out of his
grip.
“What?” Buk dropped his nasally accent. “We can’t leave. What if we get caught by one of the nighttime
patrols? They’ll kick our ass.”
“Theesa party isn’t over!”
Baborak said as he shuffled over, too.
“Weesa gottsto dance for the Emperorino.”
“Alright, well, let’s go dance on the other side of the
room.” Vidya took a step back, but
stopped. “Hey!” She suddenly shouted.
“Yeah?” Caleb said eagerly.
“Not you,” Vidya groaned and pushed him aside, running towards
the barrels.
“I thought you said we should be going the other way! Hey, wait a minute!” Turning around Caleb saw Vidya beckoning urgently
with her hands. Who was she talking
to? He couldn’t see. But the next thing he knew Vidya was running
by them again with a Bothan in tow.
Then Caleb heard the unmistakable pew, followed by a clank
and a long hiss. Vidya fell to the
ground, pulling the Bothan with her. The
music kept going, but many people stopped dancing to see what the commotion was. A few stormtroopers looked in their direction
and began walking over. Above him, Caleb
heard a whine as the blaster charged again, and he swore he even heard the
click of the trigger. “Get down!” Vidya shouted from the floor before turning her
face toward the durasteel floor and covering the back of her head with her
hands. Caleb dropped, and as his knees
hit the floor there was another pew.
But instead of a clank there was a whirlwind of sound all around him.
When it subsided, Caleb carefully raised his eyes to see a
pile of what looked like cream on the ground.
With the lights still low it was hard to be sure. Getting up with some of the others, Caleb
went over to the pile on the ground. “What
is it?” Caleb asked.
“Engine cream,” Buk said, coming up behind him. He sniffed
loudly through his nose. “Yeah, this
stuff is all over Corellia – all over the galaxy, really, but you can’t smell
it in a starship. It helps keep engines
from overheating. Very heat absorbent,
which makes it very hot, for a moment.
It should be cool now, though.
Buk touched it with his hand. The cream caved under the light pressure, but
retook its form when he took his hand away.
“Yep, engine cream. Harmless now,
but, well, when it’s hot, it’s HOT. It
just doesn’t stay hot for long. Shit,
look over there!” Following Buk’s
finger, Caleb and the others looked at the raised platform, which was now
precariously dangling from its suspensions.
The cream had disintegrated the durasteel chain. There was a pile of chairs and tables on the
floor.
A crash from the stage captured their attention. Turning towards it they saw one of the
speakers had been knocked over and the other looked as if it had been melted a
bit. The warped music was soon drowned
out by a booming voice. “Alright, you
Sarlaac Snacks! I don’t know who did
this, but you’re all gonna pay for it, y’here?”
Craning their necks they saw General Deeus standing at the
entrance. Everyone snapped to a
salute. “Yeah, you nerf-nuzzling
idiots. Up to camp, now! And take those uniforms off – you don’t
deserve to wear the Empire’s finery.
Come on, move it, move it!” The
stormtroopers around them pulled their uniforms off and filed out the door in
their underwear. When the last senior
had left, the General bellowed, “And what are you scum staring at? Clean up this mess you made. We need this room spotless for Imperial
business tomorrow, you hear me?”
“Sir, yes sir!” The
crowd shouted in unison back. The door
slammed behind him.
The lights came on to full brightness and some modified
cleaning droids filed into the room as their closets opened. Modified because they didn’t do any cleaning
– only handed their supplies to the nearest students.
Buk and Caleb both grabbed vacuums and got to work sucking
up the cream, which was beginning to lose its shape and collapse into a puddle.
“That’sa not how to cleansa,” They heard Baborak’s voice
from the stage. They were surprised he
was still using his accent. “On Naboo,
we Gungans privileged to clean. Swamp
vewwy doity, and so we have mastered cleaning.
Get up, meesa show you. Come on,
meesa show you!”
|2|
“Caleb!” Buk nudged me with an armored elbow. I looked over at him. “Stop staring, or he’ll know we’re talking
about him.” Buk said in a harsh whisper.
“Relax, he’s gotta know everyone talks about him,” Vidya said,
also keeping her voice down.
“You’d think someone with that much attention would have
more friends,” Ja-Jojinn said.
“Not that kind of attention,” Buk said, shoveling a spoonful
into his mouth. He looked briefly over
his shoulder at the officers’ table, elevated on a platform above us. Ever since he’d shown up at the start of their
final semester they’d only given him hell.
Better him than us, though.
“Still,” I said, pushing the slop on my plate around with my
fork. “Kinda cool to have a real pilot
on campus, right?”
“Yeah, a reject pilot,” Ja-Jojinn spat. “I heard his engines died as soon as he took
off – didn’t even make it out of atmo.”
“That even wouldn’t be his fault, it'd be the crew's” Vidya said, and slapped Ja-Jojinn
on the back of the head. “Come on, don’t
be dense.”
“Hey, quit it!” Ja-Jojinn
shouted, grabbing her wrist away resting her hand back on her head. Vidya resumed petting.
“Still” Ja-Jojinn said. “Can’t help but be curious. Can you imagine how he feels? Graduating this place only to be sent back? I cannot wait to get out of here.”
“Musta done something real bad for that.” Buk said.
As we were finishing our food, General Issimo came down the
steps from his platform. “You recruits
are all in Section 2C, correct?”
Buk hurriedly stood up and saluted, and put on his
commander’s tone. “Yes, sir, General. We have flight training next, sir.”
“Excellent.” The
General whistled through his lips. “Hey
Rook! C’mere!
The loner ran over to the General and gave a crisp salute.
“At ease, soldier. Time
for your flight training. Or
re-training, should I say?”
“Yes, sir.” He said.
“These fine recruits will escort you.”
“Yes, sir.” He said again.
“Well? Go get your uniform on." Buk motioned to all of us in our
stormtrooper armor. "We don't have all day." Bodhi looked down to
the ground and started to say something.
“I did not say walk with him as peers,” the General
interrupted. “Indeed you are not peers –
Private Bodhi Rook has seen more action than all of you combined, though
apparently he is not better for it. When
I said escort him, I meant as a prisoner.”
He unclipped some bronze binders from his belt. “Get your stuff, then,” He said to Bodhi, who
quickly dashed away. “Here,” He said,
handing the binders to me. “They pinch
wrists if you do it wrong, so don’t worry if you don’t know how to use them,
eh?” He laughed and walked away.
Bodhi returned with his backpack on. “Alright,” he said forcing a smile. “So how shoul-“
“Hands up!” I
screamed. This was my chance to impress
him, and I wouldn’t miss it.
Bodhi let out a shriek but quickly stifled it. “Aah, I see.”
He said blandly as he put his hands over his head. Suddenly I realized that wasn’t actually what
I needed him to do.
“What’s this? Going
to perform for us? I said behind your
back, ingrate!”
Bodhi glared at me – he wasn’t buying it for a second. Not like that mattered. “Ok, ok,” Bodhi
said slowly easing his hands down.
I took the binders and wrapped them around his wrists and
locked them in tight. “Alright,
scum. You’re coming with us.”
Looking up I saw the General and other officers nodding
approvingly, and other people further away were laughing. I turned to Buk. “Commander?”
I saw his eyes quickly dart up to the officer’s tables. His smile disappeared and his voice deepened
again. “Nice job, soldier.” He turned to everyone else, “Alright, grab
your gear and let’s go. Our first prisoner
escort. Let’s make the Emperor proud.”
Unfortunately, it was raining outside so there were few
students to show off our new captive to.
To attract the attention of those who were outside Buk led us in a few
marching song.
People say th’ Empire steals
I just say that’s how it feels
When crooks see justice in the eye
Most of them would rather die
Freedom isn’t really free
It d’pends on folk like you and me.
Left, right, left, right.
We took Bodhi off the paved walkways and made him slop
through the mud with us. Oh, he must
have been really impressed with us. Going
lean on him would only have bred contempt from him, really. Contempt to grievance to ever-lasting
fighting, wasn’t that the theory? The
best way to earn someone’s respect was to treat them like everyone else. Then, after flight training, maybe I could
walk back with him to the residence hall.
He’d tell me what it was like to be fighting the Rebels for real.
Walking by the old quad Vidya and Buk saw three firsties
heading toward the dorm. They were each
carrying a stack of boxes in their arms.
Vidya and Buk broke off our formation to intercept them. Ja-Jojinn and I adjusted to keep a perimeter
around Bodhi.
Vidya and Buk shouted at the first-years, one of whom was so
surprised he dropped all the boxes he was holding, spilling its contents. Vidya and Buk raised their weapons, and
continued berating the group. Behind
Bodhi I whispered through my helmet’s filter, “I bet that takes you back.”
“Ohh, yeah.” He said
flatly. “Really, really missed this
place.”
“How real is this stuff?
Do we really just get to lord it over the Rebels everywhere we go?”
“Couldn’t say, I was a pilot.”
“Was?” I needled him.
“My heart was never in it.”
Teasing’s
boring if he wasn’t going to argue. I
looked back up. Boxes littered the
ground, and the first-years were on the ground, sticking their heads in the
boxes and eating whatever was there. Finally,
when all the boxes were empty, Vidya and Buk holstered their weapons and sent
the firsties on their way.
“Serves them right,” Ja-Jojinn said.
“For what?” Bodhi
asked.
"For having stupid faces, for all I care." She said as Vidya and Buk rejoined us.
“Those firsties stole some cakes from a shipment. The nerve is incredible, we never
would have tried that! We made the three
of them eat them all. They’ll never want
cake again after today, and who knows if their friends will believe we forced
them to do it.” We all laughed as Buk
and Vidya reintegrated into formation.
“Alright, troops, double time or we’ll be late. Bodhi, keep up.”
The entrance to the flight school was a plain steel booth,
with stairs leading directly into a lift tube.
Buk said the passcode and we all relaxed our stances as the tube closed
and slid downward.
“Familiar, Bodhi?” Buk asked.
“Yeah. If someone
could take off these binders though.”
“Not until the captain sees," Buk said.
“Aah, yes. Won’t he
be thrilled to see me again.”
“Not his best student?”
Vidya asked.
“No, THE best.”
“But couldn’t cut it in the real world?” Ja-Jojinn said.
“It’s complicated.” Bodhi said firmly.
The lift tube opened into the training school. Lights and buttons littered the silver walls. Several doorways opened to simulation rooms,
with large chairs on springs and headsets hanging from the ceiling. On either side of the main room were corridors
of lockers.
“Aah, so the legend has returned!” Captain Panlox clapped his hands. “Bodhi Rook!
I didn’t believe it when the report came in, but here you come in cuffs like
a prisoner. Oh-ho, how the mighty have
fallen. How delicious. Commander?”
Buk went over to Captain Panlox. I unlocked Bodhi’s binders, leaning in to say
“Legend, hm?” then went to my locker to change out of my uniform. I shook my head as I took off my helmet,
feeling the sweat and rainwater shake off me.
The uniforms weren’t the most comfortable thing in the first place, and
marching through rain in them always made them much worse.
“Hit the showers,” Panlox yelled as more students entered
the training facility. “You all stink
worse than the inside of a Tauntaun. I
won’t have that on my equipment. And
clean your uniforms. Show some respect
for the Empire.”
“You heard him, Bode,” Buk said, wrapping a towel around
himself. “Clean our uniforms. Don’t forget the girls, too.” Buk snickered and we high-fived. Bodhi dutifully picked up our uniforms and
took them to the cleaning station. It
was strange that he never argued back, like he didn’t care what we thought of
him. I guess real combat shows what’s
really important.
I strapped into the simulator chair as Buk was explaining
the mission through the headset. “Panlox
wants us to fly cover for Sabre squadron bombers as they take out a suspected
Rebel base on Kashyyyk. Expect X-wings
and some turbolaser fire.”
We all let out a groan into our headsets. Bombing escorts were one of the most boring
missions imaginable, and one we’d run several times before, though not in a
while. We’d long since moved on to other
objectives.
“I know, I know,” Buk said.
“So stay sharp. Expect something
funny. Alright wings, check your systems
and report in.”
I looked around my holo-vision, checking lights and flipping
switches in my pre-flight protocol.
Weapons, engines, vision, flight yaw, joystick loose, buttons
working. Everything but the real thing.
“Shadow 3, ready standing by.”
“Alright, let’s get in and get out. Show Panlox we haven’t rusted up.”
Pulling back on my throttle the seat below me began to shake
and twist like it would in a real fighter.
I felt goosebumps on my arms and legs.
I wonder if Bodhi still gets goosebumps. Turning the ship towards the docking bay exit
I followed the others out into the atmosphere.
My ears adjusted to the constant whir of the engines, and my body had
already become numb to the constant vibrations of my seat.
“There they are, quadrant one-point-five,” Buk said over the
headset. “Form up on me and Shadow 2,
Delta pattern.” Vidya and Buk
flew forward as I shifted the power of my own engines to fall in line with
Ja-Jojinn. I saw the three bombers
making their runs, and some red laserfire coming from the ground.
“Shadow 2 and 4, go harass those turrets and draw their fire
while the bombers hit them.” Buk
ordered. “Shadow 3, watch the air with
me for X-wings.”
“Copy that,” Vidya and Ja-Jojijnn said.
I flew over Kashyyyk‘s forests, eyes darting from my
viewport to my sensors and back. As I
reached the edge of the engagement sector I eased up on the engines to tighten
my turn. I heard the others celebrate as
a turret exploded.
My scanner started beeping.
“Commander,” I said. “We have
three enemy ships entering from two-point-six-seven. Looks like two X-wings and an A-wing. Man, those A-wings are fast.”
“Stay focused, soldier.”
Captain Panlox’s voice came over the comms. “Admiration won’t kill the Rebels.”
“Sorry, sir.”
“Shadow 2, how many turrets left?”
“One live. No reading
on any that are quiet.”
“If they aren’t firing by now let’s assume they’re not
there. Alright, keep drawing that fire
from the bombers. Shadow 3, form up on
me and let’s take out one of those X-wings.
Acquire my target. Shadow 4, you
ready to dance with an A?”
“Ready all my life,” Ja-jojinn said. “All power to engines.”
My computer locked onto the X-wing, and I turned until I saw
it in my viewport.”
“Shadow 2 as soon as that last turret is down help Shadow 4
with that A-wing. Looks like we figured
out what Panlox was throwing at us after all.
Bet it’s Bodhi in that A. Stay
sharp.”
Buk and I followed our X-wing over the trees. I fired shots to keep it from turning towards
the bombers, and Buk was firing at the rear whenever he had a good shot. The orange shield flashed at each impact, but
the shield was getting fainter. Suddenly
my alarm went off.
“The other X has got me,” I yelled.
“Draw that fighter away from us.”
I rolled to the right, my ship shaking as it got pounded
with a couple lasers. As I righted I was
surprised to see my alarm still going.
“I can’t shake him!”
I cried. I felt sweat pooling
onto my forehead.
“Be there soon,” Vidya said.
“Last turret is down. Angle low.”
“If I go any lower I’d be safer in a speeder bike.”
“Well it’s that or cook, your choice!” Vidya insisted.
As I tilted my joystick to go towards the treetops, I saw
Vidya’s ship come soaring in. A hail of
green lasers flew over me, and my alarm petered out.
“Did you get him?” I asked.
“No, he broke off.” She said.
“Better than nothing,” I said. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Ja-Jojinn,
let’s get that A-wing.”
“Shadow 3, regroup with me.
My guy’s down some shields. Let’s
take him out.
“On my way,” I said, reacquiring Buk’s target.
“Tail him close. If
he jukes out of your way I’ll give it to him.”
“Affirmative.”
I shifted power to my engines as I followed the X-wing. As my fighter settled up behind, I fired a
few shots to check the shields.
Existing, but dim. “Shadow 1?”
“I’m in position, let’s-”
Vidya’s voice suddenly interrupted and roared into our
headsets. “I’m hit, I’m going down!”
And then it was all static and silence. I felt my heart drop, but just as soon
remembered my mission, and then I remembered this was all training,
anyway. Man, I gotta toughen up!
“Stay on target, everyone,” Buk said, coolheaded as always. “Caleb, fire, fire!” I pushed up my
laserpower and clicked the joystick.
Green bolts broke through the shield and pounded the back of the engine. The X-wing went left and up, I followed quickly pulling back on the
throttle and firing at the underside.
The X-wing exploded and then disappeared from the simulation.
“Scumbag, down!” I cheered, “Scumbag down!”
Panlox came over the radio.
“Don’t waste radio space like that.
Besides, still got two more marks.”
“Nice shot,” Buk said encouragingly, “Ja-Jojinn, how are you
doing with that A-wing?”
“Well, I’m still here.
Got a few hits, but he moves fast.
I’ll need one of you to cut him off.”
“We can do that,” Buk said as I finally turned around to
rejoin the fight. “Hey, where’s that
X-wing?”
I tapped my control panel and looked out my viewport. “Up high.
What’s he doing up there?”
“Who knows?” Buk said.
“Alright, Shadow 4 and I will take out this A-wing. Shadow 3, can you keep an eye on that X?”
“You got it,” I said, shifting power back to engines to
resume the chase. The A-wing was the
priority now. All I had to do was keep
the X-wing from interfering.
“Going to five-point-three-one. Ja-jojinn, keep dancing. Bring him to three-point-two-seven. We should converge there”.
The X-wing turned sharply to the right, going directly to
that sector. “Oh no you don’t,” I said.
“He’s coming for you guys,” I said.
I shifted more power to engines to keep up the chase. The X-wing then turned its nose up and flew
into the sky again. I pulled back on my
stick, but couldn’t find him through the viewport. I couldn’t even find him on my sensors. Unless he was-
My alarm blared and immediately my chair rocked violently
from side to side. My view went black
and everything went silent.
A few minutes later, the black turned to glass and I saw the
simulation room through the headset. I
lifted it off my head until the suspension wire tightened to dangle it above. Reaching down I unbuckled myself from the
chair, then I went into the main room.
Panlox was standing there with his hands behind his
back. When everyone was back, he turned
to Buk.
“Commander – what went wrong?”
“You gave us a diversion!”
Buk unleashed. “You said there
was a bombing run, but instead you put us against a hyped up opponent without so much as a warning. A real mission brief would have
prepared us for that.”
“Oh? Captain Panlox
said politely. “And tell me, how good
pilots are you all?”
“We’re at least rank 2 and you know it. Rank 1 when everything comes together. You did us dirty, sir.”
“And when you attack Rebels, do you announce your rank?”
Buk’s eyes widened, and his stance seemed to shrink.
“The Rebels are not fools, Commander Iazzi. Sometimes you will fight an ace without warning. In the real war, mission briefs are guesses,
at best.”
“Yes, sir,” Buk said, and the rest of us mumbled our
agreement.
“Now, look, I’d love to rub your noses in this more, but
there’s someone else who really deserves that honor.” Panlox walked over to a simulation room and
tapped a button to open the door. Bodhi
Rook stood there, with a focus on his dark face I hadn’t ever seen before. “See?”
He said, turning to Vidya. “The
very best.” So cool.
“Now,” Captain Panlox said, “That was a pretty good session,
defeat notwithstanding. Let’s go over
some maneuvers and then we’ll run some drills.
Bodhi, stay with us? These kids
could learn from you.”
At the end of training Bodhi agreed to join us all for
dinner. Since he still didn’t have a
stormtrooper outfit we had to escort him again, but we didn’t put the binders
on so tightly this time, and we stayed on the paved paths. When we left the first-year part of campus, I
undid the binders entirely.
We sat down in the dining hall, trays full of overcooked
vegetables, hard bread, and steaming slop – blue, this time.
“What’s food like out there?” Ja-Jojinn asked as she put a
spoonful in her mouth. “I heard we only
get this crap because all the good rations are going to the front lines.”
Bodhi shook his head as he piled some vegetables on the
bread. “We get crap because all the good
rations go to the officers. And I’m sure
the officers say they eat crap because all the good rations go to the
Generals. And they say the good
rations go to the Emperor. It’s all
crap!” We all laughed. “You’re all good
pilots, so you deserve to know,” Bodhi said, glancing at the officer’s platform
above before leaning in and lowering his voice.
“They never got rid of Battledroids.
WE’RE the new battledroids – trained to do only one thing. Every day, it’s the same. You just kill and kill and kill and kill
and.” His voice trailed off, and his eyes seemed to be looking right through
us.
“Hard-core,” Vidya whispered.
“But that’s fine, right?” Buk said cautiously. “I mean, you’re an ace pilot. We saw.”
Bodhi looked down at the table. “The controls just make sense to me. But the fighting…. There’s no thrill in a
real fight. It’s just a job. At the end of the day, you’re trying to kill
them before they kill you first.”
“Exactly!” I
shouted. “Fighting’s a tough job, but
somebody’s got to do it. The Rebels attacked
my home planet when I was younger. They
killed my sister and a lot of other recruits, too. That’s why I’m here and not the academy on
Carida. And that’s why I won’t stop
fighting till each and every Rebel is good and dead!"
Bodhi looked down at his food. I think I really impressed him. He took a bite of his meal and winced. “This bread could break teeth! It’s a wonder we don’t use this crap as TIE armor!” We all laughed again.
An officer came down to our table some time later. “Rook?
Your reassignment just came in.” She slapped a scandoc on the
table. “Report to the south landing pad in
2 hours.”
“Two hours?!” Bodhi
exclaimed. “That’s hardly enough time
to…” He turned to us. “Sorry to cut this
short, I got to go.” The officer headed
back to her table.
“What’s the reassignment to?”
“Uhhh,” He plugged the scandoc into his reader. “Cargo pilot.
Sector T10.”
“Cargo?!” I cried.
“T10.” Ja-Jojinn said
thoughtfully, turning her eyes upward.
“Eadu, and Kessel.” She looked
straight ahead again, speaking normally.
“Not exactly the front lines any more.”
“Thankfully.” Bodhi said, pulling his backpack on.
“But cargo?!” I cried again. "What an insult! You’re a great pilot,
Bode. The Empire needs more of you, not
less. You’re a natural born killer!”
He took a step toward me, his brown eyes blazing. “Well, what if I don’t want to be, hm?” He
hissed. “War’s messier than the sims,
you know! Skill isn’t as important as
dumb luck. Take an unlucky shot and
that’s it! I’ve lost too many friends
that way, and I’m sick of it.” And with
that, Bodhi Rook walked out of our lives.
“Whoa,” I said, as the door closed behind him. I turned around to the others. “Bodhi’s legit.” I sat down as the others nodded.
Slowly, the hum of conversation and clanking of dishware
returned to the dining hall.
“Think we’ll get like that when we’re out there, you know,
fighting the good fight?” Buk finally asked.
“Nah,” Vidya chuckled.
“We’re gonna go way darker.”
“I heard of a stormtrooper once,” Ja-Jojinn said, “Guard at
a prisoner camp. Killed a whole wing of
prisoners for looking at him funny.”
“Well,” Buk added, “I heard of a bomber squad – took
out a whole city because a laser turret scratched their lead’s paintjob.”
I let out a laugh.
“That’s nothing. When I’m
out there, I’ll make whole planets burn.”
I consider this story still a draft (This even more than the others). I edit it occasionally. If you have any feedback for me, I'd love to hear it! Email me at armaslow@gmail.com. Please put "Star Wars Stories" in the subject line. Thank you!
