The grey jedi

Chapter 3- New arrivals

After a couple of hours of working, he went away to find an isolated area to have some peace and quiet. He looked around to confirm that no one was nearby and took a giant swig from his flask.

"Agh! The nectar of the gods!" He groaned with delight.

This drink was his necessity for survival. The slight sweet taste combined with the unique bitterness danced around his tongue. As it drained down his throat he felt the small embers spreading and an addicting experience he could never get over. Every time, he tasted the fiery elixir a weight was released, it dulled his physical pain until it faded away becoming a distant dream. His favourite aspect was the fog within his mind. The fog was a fickle beast, sometimes it worked with him providing him routes to manipulate his thoughts in seeing the humorous side to life, as well as providing barriers to his most haunted memories. But on the other side, it can provide him routes to his inner demons where they can quickly consume what is left of him. These days it was unpredictable on which side of the coin he would land. After years of drinking, he knew if he drank just enough at regular intervals life would become smoother.

"One more sip won't hurt anyone," he thought.

"All workers report at the assembly hall, an important announcement needs to be made," boomed the speakerphone.

He ignored the announcement and took another big gulp. As he was going for his 'final' third sip, Tom with his dirty orange coat popped out of the corner.

"Travalax you can't keep drinking on the job! If the guards find out, you know they are going to send you to a detention centre and you don't want to be there. There will be nothing left of you if you go there." Said Tom.

As he tried to put the cap back on, his fingers kept fumbling around the cap unable to keep his hand steady until it eventually fell on the floor. Begrudgingly, he tried to pick up the cap suddenly his head became heavy and he couldn't help but fall on the floor.

"For the gods above, man I don't know what to do with you anymore. Just give me your hand and we will walk over there together till we reach into the main mines. C'mon let's not be late," Tom said as he reached his hand out.

Tom's hand was engulfed by Travalax and with great effort he brought Travalax's body off the ground. He wrapped Travalax's hulking arm on top of his shoulders and his entire body almost covered him. He buckled under his weight but somehow managed to steady himself.

"Lose a bit of weight man, you're breaking my back here, my spine feels like it's about to snap in half. I almost don't want to give you this bread but you need to sober up," he said as he gave him a piece of bread from his pocket.

"Thanks, maaaaan." Travalax replied.

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They just managed to reach the entrance of the hall just in time. Another layer of sweat formed on their faces which had dissolved some of the soot on his face giving them a slightly lighter complexion. Their supervisors had them lined up in a single file like children in the assembly line and one by one each line they entered the hall.

The hall was the only room that was somewhat maintained and cleaned in this entire facility. As soon as they entered a wave of warmth smothered them, even though they had been sweating mere moments ago in these conditions most species would quickly cool down and become frozen within mere moments, so the heat was a welcome experience. The hall was a vast open space, plastered across the floor were numerous black and white spherical symbols that struck terror to every species in the galaxy, the galactic empire. At the end of the hall, was an elevated stage a few feet high and in the centre there was a simple concrete podium with small cracks along its edges, but a fresh new layer of paint was laid on in an attempt to cover up its tattered shape. At the sides, were two new vertical galactic empire banners further imposing their dominance to others.