A.H A Star Wars story (English version)©

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝒆𝓻 𝟏

The news had just arrived , the Emperor's battle space station was destroyed. Throughout the galaxy, imperial citizens were concerned that rebels scum were a real threat.

Yet the Empire seemed all-powerful and safe from these attacks, that was what the propaganda led the citizens to believe; the officers themselves were convinced of it. And tonight would be forever marked by the sacrifice and blood shed by the millions of victims on the Space Station.

Facing his desk, the commander of the Imperial Academy of Arkanis, Brendol Hux had his face down and his eyes reddened, his two imposing hands resting on the steel of his black desk. He and millions of others in the galaxy had been informed of the imperial defeat and death of the Great Moff Tarkin, the most respected and influential leader of the Empire. Within him he knew that one day the rebels would pay for this humiliation and for the millions of deaths. Hatred crept into his heart as quickly as a Kouhun's venom infiltrated the veins of his targets. As director of the Imperial Academy he could and had every interest in contributing to the Empire. To do so, he would train the soldiers more, until they became war machines, killing machines.

These terrorists were not to take this ephemeral victory for granted, they were not as numerous and organized as the Galactic Empire. They could not compete with the power of the Emperor Palpatine and this was reassuring for all the imperials. That's what Brendol had been saying to himself since he heard the bad news. In those dark hours it was the only thing he could do, continue to have faith in the Emperor and have a thought for the missing tonight. Indeed, he had to try to keep a cool head and not let himself be overwhelmed by the events, but as the minutes passed, the list of victims grew longer. He decided to stop the cadets' training for tonight to let them reflect. He announced it by holovideo, broadcast live in all the strategic points of the place.

- Recruits and teachers, we all know what happened above Yavin IV tonight. I have no doubt that many of you had friends, relatives on the Death Star. Therefore I have made the decision to suspend your training for the evening in order to let you gather. Keep faith in the Emperor and our Empire... end of transmission.

A long sigh was heard in the officer's office as the transmission was ending. The blue light that illuminated his face had disappeared as he plunged the desk into the semi-darkness.

Now the day was declining on the horizon. Behind the sumptuous mountains of the planet Arkanis, the last orange rays are projected onto the Commander's dark furniture. On the screen the list of victims seemed to have no end...he would occasionally recognize familiar names, old comrades he had lost sight of...the galaxy was so huge.

There was no point in staying in this office and moping around, so he decided to leave this place and take refuge in his apartments with his wife Eeren. In the corridors that led him to his destination he met several people sobbing in a corner, some of them had lost a husband, a brother, a father, a wife or children... He preferred not to see anything. He turned his head and continued without paying attention to the sorry sight.

His eyes were firmly fixed on his objective. The end of the corridor and his apartments located there. That was not to mention the disruptive element of the evening. Suddenly a hand had just landed on his shoulder. When he turned around, he frowned as he recognized one of the many people who worked in the kitchen. He chased this unwelcome hand away with a backhand and looked at it with a severe look. She seemed panicked; her breathing was erratic, she had to run to get here. Brendol was more and more intrigued, forgetting for a moment his objective, he encouraged the young woman to talk to him.

- Sir, I'm really sorry to bother you... I wouldn't have come if it wasn't urgent; it's about Miss Dana!

So it was tonight. This very evening, precisely when the child decided to be born, when a disaster struck the Empire with full force. Brendol had no time for these frivolities, and as the servant was about to speak again he silenced her with a wave of his hand and said.

- Let her manage! Women are naturally programmed to give birth, she will not be the first to give birth to a child or the last. All you have to do is help him or call a medical droïd, what the hell do I know? And after all, it could still be a false alarm. Leave me alone tonight, the whole Empire is in mourning.

- Sir...

- Do you have anything to add? asked Brendol in a tone that seemed anything but friendly.

- I'm sorry to have bothered you, sir.

So she walked away in the opposite direction with a hurried step, head down, while Hux continued on her way as if nothing had happened. The child that was to be born that night was the result of a passionate night between Hux and Dana, a young cook employed by the Academy, and by the greatest of all chance that was enough for the young woman to become pregnant. The young mother had carried the baby for almost eight months, warm in her belly, but probably the little one had decided to discover the world tonight.

In an annex building of the Academy were the servants' rooms and in one of them the young Dana struggled as best she could against the pain. Clung on to the mattress to give herself courage. No one had warned her that she would suffer so much, no one had taught her how to manage this hell... since her colleague had gone to seek help she kept repeating to herself in a low voice "I couldn't do it...".

Suddenly she was cut off in her sentence as her muscles contracted, she screamed and lay completely on the mattress, her eyes closed as if it could ease her pain.

The door opened slowly as her friend entered the room with her head down... She sighed deeply before declaring in a trembling voice:

- Miss...I'm sorry he...Mr. Hux didn't want to attend the baby's birth.

It was easy to guess that she had just cried, her voice was still interspersed with small uncontrollable tears. She approached Dana slowly and put her hand on her round belly to reassure her friend. But she was inconsolable, the announcement of this rejection on the part of Brendol had made her feel like a dagger in the back. Her breath was taken away and her throat tied... no sound wanted to cross the barrier of her lips, she was mortified and terrified to face this situation without his help. She knew that he had not wanted to know anything about her pregnancy but she naively hoped that, at least for the birth of their child, he would be present.

- We need to call a medical droid

- Too late... I think he's coming. Whispered the young mother sobbing.

After thirty minutes of intense effort, Dana had been able to pull her child out of between her legs and hold him in her arms. He had not immediately cried and because of this he had lacked oxygen during birth, his body was slightly bluish... Her mother didn't immediately realize it, her colleague reacted faster and was quick to give her air back through her mouth and luckily it worked! The boy was now howling with his lungs full, and for so much he seemed so small and fragile....

His mother tenderly touched his cheek with her cold fingertips and at the same time the infant crawled along his chest to grab one of his breasts to feed himself. Once in the mouth, it would not let go for long minutes.

- He's handsome... my boy, my little boy...

- Have you thought of a name?

- Yes... it will be Armitage.

The child seemed to be in relatively good health but her mother was not, she had lost a lot of blood during birth and now her face looked pale. While her baby was feeding, she caressed his back tirelessly, whispering to him words full of love. Her friend gently approached her hand to hers and grabbed it between her fingers, it was freezing. She put her other hand on her forehead, cold... her friend fell asleep slowly, her eyelids closing on the last image she would see as she left this world, her child.