Spectre 7

Escape

You woke from a near sleepless night in the cold air of an Imperial flight academy. Though you had made your final decision to leave The Empire, you were far from confident.

The past night had been spent tossing and turning as millions of thoughts swirled through your mind creating a black hole of pure fear. No matter how you tried to console yourself, you could not escape it. Silent tears had been shed the night before, including tears of many emotions. Excitement, anxiousness, pride, panic, hope, fear.

All your positive emotions seemed to have a perfect counterpart, preventing you from feeling truly confident. The only benefit was that the negative emotions were also cancelled out. Feeling such strong emotions for such an extended period of time made you raw, that rawness was the only reason you managed to get a few, restless hours of sleep.

Eventually, you felt so bad for yourself, you just let go of everything. Shutting your mind off was somewhat of a talent. After a few deep breaths and a meditative-like trance, your mind cleared. It felt like a release of garbage, left drifting through the endless vacuum of space.

Sure, emotions were beneficial. They determined your priorities and your loyalties. But at the same time, you had learned- no, adapted- to live in the cold environment that was The Empire. It hurt too much to form attachments, it hurt to miss your parents, and it hurt to befriend fellow pilots who were expendable resources to The Empire for which they served.

Your hatred for The Empire had never been so strong. But in turn, that hatred fueled your fondness of The Rebellion. It took brave souls and strong hearts to risk everything to fight against an entire empire. But to the fighters of The Rebellion, peace, freedom, justice, and security were worth it. And were worth it to you too.

•••

You and the other cadets stood at attention, in front of a gorgeous Montross sunrise, awaiting an Imperial shuttle that was clearly important. Or at least important enough for the cadets to miss training hours so that they could have a welcoming committee.

"Governor Pryce, Agent Kallus." your instructor said, with a clearly irritated tone. "May I ask the reason for this unscheduled visit?"

The man with blonde hair and side-burns, who you assumed was Agent Kallus replied, also with an irritated tone, "ISB has information that some of your cadets are planning to defect to The Rebels."

You had never been so glad to be wearing a kriffing Imperial bucket, for it masked the horror that consumed your expression. They know. How do they know? Did Sabine betray us? If they knew, why haven't we been arrested yet?

Your silent but overwhelming fear dissipated as, once again, you pushed your thoughts from your mind. You could not allow your turbulent emotions to ruin the intricate process of escaping The Empire. If they knew it was us, we would already be in custody. You assured yourself, as the last of your troubled thoughts drifted from your mind.

"You have traitors in your midst." The woman with the black hair that curled towards her face at a ridiculously short length stated, matter of factly.

"Impossible." The instructor exclaimed, genuinely shocked at the newfound information. "My cadets are unmatched both in their skill and loyalty."

"Nevertheless, I will be conducting a thorough investigation and you are to extend your full cooperation." The woman, who could only be Governor Pryce spoke as if everyone were beneath her. It annoyed you, and clearly your instructor as well, who gave a brisk nod and stormed off.

Pryce's stuck up voice continued, "Agent Kallus, you may begin. My hope is that I may teach you something today." You noticed that Kallus made a face of distaste as the Governor walked away. It seemed she was rude, even to her colleagues. But she meant business.