This is the second installment in my "Tales From the Quarbec Galaxy" series. The characters and locales are of my own invention (although, many of their names are stolen from other sources), but the tech and backdrop are certainly Star Wars. The series takes place more than 70 years after the Battle of Endor. The New Republic fell to rival Imperial factions, propelling the galaxy into another bloody civil war. Upon the discovery of a wormhole that led to another galaxy ripe for the picking, the lesser of the forces fled in hopes of starting anew. In a galaxy technologically inferior to the Imperial war machine, their expansion was swift.

And the World Turns

Chapter 1: Arrival

Eldanna, Four years after crossing through the wormhole…

Riarri walked alongside her brother down the narrow streets towards the bustling market. Their father was a vendor of fruit his uncle grew in the countryside. It was a meager business, dieing slowly in the wake of the burgeoning industry that consumed Eldanna. Still, it kept them fed and clothed, even if it was only barely. Pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders as though it were a piece of armor, Riarri struggled to keep up with her brother as he plowed through the bustling crowd. "Wait for me, Aedin, you oaf!"

He merely glanced over his shoulder and called back to her, "Watch your language, little sister. Mother wouldn't approve of such talk. Besides, Mother told us to hurry and tell Father the good news." Riarri scowled and doubled her pace. She knew her father would not be please at all by Aedin's "good news".

They finally broke out into the open square at the center of the city where merchants of all things shouted enticing offers to potential buyers and customers returned with their own loud retorts. Riarri's father had a booth in a far corner, hidden in the shadow of a tall building. As they approached, they saw he was arguing with a man holding a damaged piece of produce. Riarri only got close enough in time to hear the end of the spat.

"You're a villain if you think I'm paying that much for such a measly melon!" shouted the enraged man.

Riarri's father growled back in a deep voice that belied his small stature. "I charge 10 sterlings for each melon, regardless of size. They're all good produce. You dropped it, you buy it."

Rather than responding, the man simply dropped the melon and turned to walk away. He barely took a step before bumping into a considerably larger man standing in his path. In a voice even deeper than Riarri's father, he said to the smaller man, "You're paying Kolan for the fruit."

Startled and intimidated, he glanced down at the melon and said to Kolan, "Six sterlings."

Outraged, Kolan slammed a fist down. "Ten sterlings! That's the price of the melon!"

Now visibly shaking, the small man glanced up at the towering menace blocking his escape. "Eight sterlings. That's as high as I'll go."

"I said ten sterlings!"

The large man spoke up. "Take the eight sterlings, Kolan."

Startled by the interruption, Kolan stopped to think. Finally, he stretched an open hand out towards the man. "Eight sterlings." The man quickly pulled the coins from a pouch on his belt and dropped them in Kolan's hand before dashing around his former impediment. Staring at the money in his palm, Kolan slowly spoke to the large man. "You shouldn't have gotten involved, Jed. I had it under control."

"Of course you did. That's why he was walking away when I showed up." Leaning on one hand against the table, Jed looked intently at his friend. "You must learn to loosen up a little. Your stubbornness will be your undoing."

"Perhaps." The merchant finally looked up and noticed his children watching from a safe distance. "Aedin, Riarri; what are you doing out here? The market is dangerous for the young and inexperienced."

Aedin stepped forward, followed closely by his sister. "Mother sent me to tell you the good news," he explained nervously. "She said I shouldn't wait until supper to tell you."

Kolan glanced at his friend then turned back to his son with a curious expression. "Well, go on and tell me. What good news?"

Glancing down and shuffling his feet for a moment, Aedin finally spoke up. "Mother says she spoke with Mr. Geyji this morning. He offered to give me a job." He looked away, not wishing to meet his father's gaze.

His fear was well founded, as even Jed glanced away as the scowl tore at Kolan's mouth. Speaking through clenched teeth, he managed to quietly ask, "Mr. Geyji runs a factory, does he not? A metal-working factory, if I'm not mistaken."

Staring at his feet as though he could find the words he sought on them, Aedin barely squeaked out a response. "Yes, father. I've heard he pays well, and Mother says he would find a safe job for me to do."

The merchant snorted in disgust. "A safe job in a factory only costs you your arm. There is no way I'm letting my son wager his life on some old miser's supposed generosity. You're too young to put yourself in that kind of danger."

Aedin finally met his father's glare. "Father, we need the money. Your sales have been getting worse and worse—"

Kolan slammed his fist on the table, knocking several pieces of fruit over the sides. "I said no! You will not work in any factory until I say you are old enough!" The children stared at their feet again, realizing Aedin's defeat. "I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense. It's getting late. Go home and help your mother prepare supper." Across the square, a crarkus beast bellowed, as if to punctuate Kolan's decree.

Jed watched as Riarri and Aedin slowly plodded back down the path home before turning back to his friend. "You shouldn't have been so harsh on the boy. He only wants to help."

Kolan grunted and began picking up his spilled merchandise. "He's misguided, like the rest of his generation. Someone has to knock some sense into him." He looked at the larger man as he stood up. "Believe me, I hate yelling at him, but he needs a firm hand to guide him along the right path."

A small breeze cooled the square for a moment before dieing again. Jed tapped his fingertips lightly on the table and took a deep breath before responding. "Kolan, times are changing. When we were young lads, families grew up and died on their father's farm, tending it until their last breath. Now that these factories have taken over, they're just about the only jobs our young folk can find. It's not misguided; it's the future. It won't be long until the next big event sweeps the world off its feet."

The Dominator dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the Eldanna system. The triangular vessel cut through the black of space like a vibroblade through cloth. Tanik Olum was one of the few enlisted men lucky enough to get quarters with a view. Through the small viewport in his quarters, he saw the first of the system's four planets pass by. The world they were to land on was the second from the sun and had a budding civilization already wasting valuable resources. The Empire was in dire need of raw materials for its expansion. Warships had to be built to protect Imperial acquisitions and weapons to arm the troops occupying the myriad worlds under their care.

Tanik looked at the datapad in his hand. It displayed the mission briefing for his battalion, including all available information on the native inhabitants. They were strangely human-like in appearance, with the only real distinctions being their slightly smaller size and dark splotches running around the backs of their necks and up to their cheekbones. The Eldannans were fairly primitive, using simple weapons based on explosive powder throwing slugs at their foe. Even their "heavy weaponry" was designed around this concept. They still used beasts of burden for transportation and labor too intensive to accomplish by hand.

However, they seemed at a crossroads in their development. Factories dotted Eldanna, sending billowing clouds of smoke into the once pristine skies. Urban centers were few and far enough apart so that the pollution did not decimate the entire world, only a few kilometers around each city. The countryside in between was lush and beautiful, sprawling with farms and meadows. Most of the population appeared to reside in the cities, presumably working in the factories. Under these circumstances, it would not be difficult to contain resistance.

The operation outlined was like all the others Tanik had participated in. An envoy with stormtrooper escort would shuttle down to the planet, demand immediate capitulation, and an occupation force would descend to begin assimilating the world's assets. Any resistance would be duly crushed and curfews would be enforced.

Tossing the datapad aside, Tanik dropped back onto his bed and shut his eyes. He grew tired of these routine invasions. Barely a moment later, the door to his quarters slid open and his bunk mate walked in. "Rise and shine, sleepy head," teased Kit as he sat heavily beside Tanik. "It's almost time to embark on another glorious adventure in the name of the Empire. You wouldn't want to sleep through that, would you?"

Fighting the urge to kick his friend across the small room, Tanik merely groaned and sat up. "Yes, another exciting five months of patrols and babysitting," he said dryly. "I can't wait." He glanced out the viewport in time to see the second planet in their path vanish from sight. They would arrive at Eldanna and assume a high orbit in a matter of minutes.

"Your sarcasm is greatly appreciated, but it won't get you out of it. Besides, I bet there will be some real action this time." Kit nudged Tanik, trying to evoke some sort of positive response, but only got a roll of the eyes. "Oh come on, surely they're going to put up some sort of fight," he pleaded. "They're not as primitive as those people on Hamunaptra were, so they probably won't throw down their weapons at the first sight of a flying machine. Even those lizards on Horus put up a nasty fight, from what I heard, and they weren't even out of the Stone Age!"

Placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, Tanik mockingly responded, "Kit, your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated, but I think it's misplaced. Do you really want a fight? It wouldn't even be a fight, it would be a slaughter. If we're going to see some action, I'd like it to be a real challenge." He paused long enough to sigh and glance out the viewport again. Eldanna was now growing visibly larger. "We have these people out gunned and out matched. The only advantages they have are home turf and numbers. I'd rather they just give in early and spare us all the trouble of killing them."

Between their bunks, the chrono blared a harsh alarm, eliciting a violent slap at the off switch from Tanik. Kit energetically jumped off the bed and bounced to the door. "Looks like you're done with philosophy for now. Come one, there's supposed to be some big announcement before we go landside."

Lethargically, Tanik heaved himself up and followed his friend into the corridor. As they walked, he began to worry. Not so much for himself or his comrades, but for the Eldannans; they had so much more to lose. If they surrendered without fighting, they could peaceably endure the transition, but Tanik feared his friend was correct. To defy the Empire was to sign one's own death warrant. No person, no planet, no race could withstand its fury.

Riarri woke to the muffled sound of voices in the next room. Blinking her eyes a few times, what shapes she could make out in the darkness came into focus. Her brother slept soundly, unaware of their parents quarrelling. Riarri listened intently for a few minutes, but became frustrated at not being able to make anything out. She slowly crept out of her bed and stalked to her door as quietly as possible. With her ear pressed against the door, she could hear most of what her parents said.

"Are you trying to kill our son?" Riarri could hear the constrained anger in her father's voice. Kolan was struggling to control the volume of his voice and barely succeeding.

"I'm trying to keep all of us fed!" Her mother's voice was much softer, yet still had an edge to it.

"So send Aedin into a deathtrap? Why don't we just feed him to a pack of hungry beasts?"

"How would you know how dangerous it is? You've never stepped foot in a factory."

"I don't have to; I have enough friends with dead or maimed children to know."

"Fine. Aedin will find some other way to help out."

Kolan's voice changed to a more pleading tone. "I've spent the last twelve years raising that boy. I can't risk his life to make our lives easier."

For almost a minute, Riarri's mother said nothing in return. When she did speak, it was low and harsh. "Do you think I don't worry about him working in a factory? I'm his mother; all I do is worry about him, but we can't let that fear paralyze us. Aedin is old enough to work on his own and help us endure these hard times. More importantly, he wants to help."

After taking a moment to think, Kolan asked, "What about you? What if something happens to you while he's away?"

"What about it? If I get hurt, Riarri can fetch help."

"She's too young to be on the streets alone."

"She's almost nine years old, Kolan. My mother was sending me on errands throughout the city when I was seven."

"That was different. People were more honest when we were young. Too much has changed for the worst."

"Times haven't changed as much as you say they have. The only thing that has really changed is your perception."

After another long pause, Riarri's father finally responded. "I'll think about it." Her mother said something too low to make out and she heard them walk away. Riarri waited to see if they would return, but pulled her ear away from the wood of the door after several minutes of silence.