Prologue

The door busted open and the walls crumbled from the open fire of heavy blaster rifles. Troops wearing white armor stormed inside the thick walls of an adobe house as they shot every movement that came into their sights. The woman screamed as she saw them. She raised both of her hands up in surrender. She was a young woman in her mid-twenties. Beautiful. Her dark hair contrasted her dark chocolate skin.

"P-please! Don't kill me!" Her eyes were closed; frightened as if opening them might trigger her own death. She moved backwards until she pressed against the clay wall. The Stormtroopers pointed their guns at her. Only the gust of wind was keeping them at bay.

"Search the other rooms." One said, his bolster still in position towards her. Two of the Stormtroopers left the living room briskly as they entered separate rooms.

A little boy watched them intently under a hole hidden by an earthy jute rug. The rug haphazardly covered his vision but he could still see their glossy white shoes tapping on the floor. His breaths were fast and unsteady as he watched his mother being held captive by a Stormtrooper.

The woman sobbed. She wondered where his son might be. Is he safe? Did he hide? Was he taken already? She was filled with worry, there was a Stormtrooper guarding her and the last time she had a conversation with her son, both of them were angry at each other.

He looked for a hiding place. Panicking, he moved the crates into stacks to hide himself behind it. It was the only rational thing he could think of. There were no safe hiding places aside from here. He wished that there was something he could do to help his mother. He must be a coward, he thought to himself. What would you expect a ten year old to do? This room was filled with wood stacks and crates, but nothing more.

"Where's the boy?" the static voice of the Stormtrooper said. The two Stormtroopers who searched the rooms told him that there were no signs of the humanoid.

The woman gulped in fear, and shook her head at him.

"If you won't tell me," He pointed the bolster at her chin which made the woman tip her head back. "You know what I'll do."

The boy heard the mumbles of two people talking. Then he peeped through the carpet again and found that the Stormtrooper was interrogating his mother.

"Where's the boy?" He repeated.

"I don't know!" She exclaimed. The Stormtrooper slowly pulled the bolster's tab as the woman closed her eyes yet again with deep ragged breaths, waiting.

The boy could not take it any longer. He grabbed the ankle of the nearest Stormtrooper and slipped him to the ground. He climbed up hastily and bolted toward the Stormtrooper who already pulled the trigger at his mother.

"Fire!" red lasers danced around him and he was nearly hit by one on the knee. He pushed the Stormtrooper with all his might and kneeled down to help his mother. He looked at her warily, then at her blood stained dress in the middle of her chest. He started and screamed for help but what more could he do? The town had gone AWOL.

She touched his shoulders, eyes slightly open and blurry.

"Run," she managed to croak. "Run as fast as you can." She had tears balling up in both of her eyes. She cupped his cheek and he leaned on it.

"No! I can't leave you here, Mom!" Before he could say more, a pair of hands yanked him upward.

"Get up, Mutt." The Stormtrooper said between gritted teeth. The boy fought back as he tried to slip away from his grasp, but it was no use. They had guns and he was there all alone in his house. His mother just lay there on the floor, life gradually faded on her face as her eyes began to close and her hands bunched in her dress dropped to the floor. He shouted for her, but she didn't wake up. The Stormtroopers carried him outside his house and waited for orders that came up with static.

The boy looked around him. His house was all bricks and cracks. He was surprised that the roof didn't blow off in half. The large pale moon glowered at him, mocking him with its red glow. They say that the moon was occupied by the Imperial, and it was still taken by the First Order.

"Send him to the ship with the others." One said. The two Stormtroopers dragged him off to a large ship not far from where his house stood. It was bigger than all of the ships he had seen. They were surely not race ships, but this ship had a large hull that must be able to fit half of the town. The bottom had blasters on them and the sides emitted invisible fumes of gasoline.

Everyone's house and farmland in Galju was either on fire or already in heaps of ashes. People ran, fired blasters, and hid. They were running and looking for a place to cover. A rumbling noise could be heard from the distance. It was like a car running out of gas, but then it suddenly stopped.

Boom!

The Center Storage exploded into pieces. Raging smoke filled the night and the smell of burned crops wafted in the air. Fire served as their source of light. Green and red lasers danced through the heavy smoke as the battle got even more heated.

In his home town, there were not enough soldiers to protect them. They were all sent to the royal family of Kessel to guard the heirs and the living seal.

The battle did not last long; it was no surprise to the locals who were living there, but they had no choice but to fight.

But the screaming never stopped.

The boy realized that it belonged to his mother. Then, he pictured her again with blood draining onto her white dress. Face filled with sadness as the last thing she saw was her own son mourning for her.

Run. Run as fast as you can, she breathed.

It was too late to run, he thought.