Family
Prologue
Draft
Hiigar was one of the more unusual Imperial Governors in the outer rim, holding a vast vault of diverse treasures on his world of Cordon, yet being an alien too – a Bothan.
The Bothan's grey-green fur rippled slightly purple as he pondered his riches and his position. He knew that the Galactic Empire hated non-humans, and although that feeling mellowed the further from the Galactic Core you reached, it still was rife within the ranks of Imperial politics, and Cordon was at the very edge of the eastern outer rim.
So, then, it must have been pure talent that Hiigar was as powerful as to be a governor of an entire world. Not only was he governor, but he was in charge of a very special project for Palpatine himself. He knew of no other non-humans to attain such a position within the Empire, and – he thought with a shrewd smile, taking another gulp of the tarisian wine – what with the rebellion causing so much trouble for the Imperial Navy, the simmering hate for non-humans had only intensified.
Hiigar walked around his office, swirling his wine as he did so. He eyed the ancestral portraits that were attached on his wall, all of family members long dead and buried. "If only you could see me now," he said, sneering at each portrait in turn. "I've done things you could only ever dream of!"
"Such as?"
For a moment, he thought one of his family members must have replied, but he dismissed this impossibility. Family, no matter how important for his status, would never find him. Never again.
He turned to the source of the interruption, his dark eyes clasping on a slender human male wearing imperial uniform. "Doesn't your species ever knock?" Hiigar spat at the newcomer, ushering the man into his office.
"Don't forget why you're actually here, Bothan." The human retorted in the same distain that Hiigar had greeted him with. The human – Jensen, as Hiigar understood it – was young. He envied that; no family to tie him down, no aging bones to stop him from achieving the very best. Not like Hiigar.
"How could I forget?" Hiigar said, downing his wine in one massive gulp, slapping the glass on the highly-polished table furniture in his office. "Is it ready?"
Jensen nodded, the silence only being penetrated by distant screams of the subjects.
"Good."
Hiigar wasn't accustomed to the damp, dark dungeon that he often frequented through the course of the project. Ahead of him were Jensen and the stark white silhouette of a storm trooper, with another of the elite soldiers bringing up the rear.
They descended the stairs, dripping moisture and sudden whimpers kept the general chat to a minimum. It unnerved Hiigar, but the others didn't seem effected by it.
Meandering through a maze of dank tunnels, Hiigar suddenly found that he had the time to think; think of the fright when he thought one of his family members had found him, and he even let out a chuckle. He couldn't be found on Cordon! The idea of family then turned his thoughts towards the project and what they were doing. It was all justified for the glory of the Empire!
The Bothan turned a corner with the entourage, entering a massive cavern that could fit an entire Imperial Star Destroyer and still have room left over. Then, he saw it. It was magnificent, even more so than the previous times he had visited. "Spectacular!" He called, his eyes widening in awe.
"Isn't it?" Jensen agreed, ushering Hiigar to look away and towards a line of beings, alien and otherwise. Women, children and men were all walking half-heartedly around the cavern, as if in some sort of trance. Some of them had unhealthy growths on their skin, and others even had slabs of skin missing, showing the red glisten of fresh blood underneath.
"Are these the subjects?" Hiigar asked.
"Indeed," came the reply.
Hiigar knew that their project was well underway, and not even the growing rebellion could stop them.