𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝟎𝟐𝟒. 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐦

"Are you alright?"

Evangeline snapped out out her thoughts and realized that she had curled into a ball in the corner of the room. She looked up and accepted the hand that was extended out to her. Leia stood there with a concerned expression on her face.

"I think so," Evangeline said cautiously before realizing that she hadn't experienced any pain, but the panic had all been real.

"Do you plan on staying awhile?"

"No... I don't know," she shook her head, "I hadn't exactly planned on joining the resistance."

"Sometimes the force guides you to a place that you do not expect to be, but it is where you should be."

"That sounds like something the jedi would say," Evangeline wrinkled her nose.

"I suppose that's an effect when one's father, brother, and son were all at one point involved with the Jedi order."

Evangeline nodded her head, "I guess."

"Do you need anything else or will you be alright?"

"I think I'm alright—Actually," she posed a question, "Do you have an archive?"

"An archive?" Leia thought about the question for a minute before responding with a nod of her head, "It's small, but we do have some access to an archive."

"Could you maybe point me in that direction?"

Leia nodded her head, "Certainly."

Evangeline followed the instructions given to her carefully, but found the base was a maze to sort through. Every corridor seemed to look the same. She shuddered with chills and for the first time noticed the steam that clung to the air every time she breathed.The environment was much colder than what she was used to. She pulled her cloak closer around herself and crossed her arms to preserve her warmth. As she focused on trying to make a decision between a series of passages, she didn't notice the droid rolling toward her feet. Without hesitance, the droid proceeded to roll over her frozen toes.

"Dank Farrik!" She bit her tongue as she quickly released a few other choice words, "You stupid dust bucket of rusted bolts!"

The droid released a series of furious beeps and shocked her with a spark of electricity before quickly trying to roll away; however, before the droid got far, she stuck out her hand and called him back. Both she and the droid seemed equally confused that he was now standing in front of her again. She hadn't expected the force pull to work, but ever since she'd been hooked up to that machine her connection had been stronger than ever before. She was still inexperienced, but she wasn't as fatigued when she tried to perform the few maneuvers that she remembered from her training. She was brought back to the present as the droid beeped again and became aggressive.

"Chopper!" a voice called from down the hall, "What trouble have you gotten yourself into now?"

An older man entered the corridor and stopped to raise an eyebrow as he tried to analyze the scene before him. Evangeline took a second to look at it herself. She and the droid were inches from one another. Chopper, as he had been called, had once again brought out the arm that had electrocuted her while she held him in the air with both her hands. She gently lowered him to the ground and added a small nudge that sent him backward a few feet.

"I should probably apologize for his behavior," the man stated, "I'd say he's not normally like this, but then I'd be lying."

Evangeline cast a look at the droid before addressing him, "Yeah, well tell him to watch whose toes he's running over or he might end up in the trash compactor."