Zuud was sitting on a beach, looking at the ocean. She was thinking about how she had woken up on this island when she noticed something metal sticking out of the sand. Zuud stood and walked to it. She saw that it was a cable when she digged it up. She grabbed the cable and saw that the line went into the ocean and jungle.
And Zuud followed the cable line into the jungle.
"Looking for someone, or just admiring the view?" Eli Vanto asked Princess Luna, who was on the beach. Luna looked worried.
"It's been two days since Zuud took off on her own. I keep looking up, thinking I'm going to see her coming back." Luna said.
"She'll come back when she's found what she's looking for-the french transmission," Vanto said.
"I think she actually left because of what happened. For what she did."
Vanto doubted that. He had seen lots of Imperial torturers. And Zuud was like them."Zuud is an Imperial." Vanto told her."She can take care of herself."
Zuud followed the cable line. She stopped when she noticed a tripwire. She carefully stepped over it. Zuud felt her ankles being caught by a rope. She was then hanging upside down.
The Imperial quickly calmed down and looked around to see if anybody was near her. She heard something."Hello? Hello?" Zuud said.
Suddenly, Zuud fell to the ground. She saw someone coming towards her before Zuud saw nothing but darkness.
At the caves, Nurse Redheart was checking on a male human named Sullivan while Vanto heard some people arguing.
"What's going on out there?" Vanto asked Stuhlinger.
"Uh, you know, the usual, people yelling at each other over nothing." He said.
"Nurse, what do you think this is-this-this-this, uh, rash. It's bad, right, like some kind of a tropical disease." Sullivan said.
"It's hives." Redheart said.
"What's that?" Sullivan asked.
"It's a common rash. It's brought on by heat and stress."
Sullivan nodded."Okay."
"Just try to relax. It'll clear up." Redheart assured him.
"Right," Sullivan said.
"Try to keep your mind off it." Redheart said.
Sullivan got up and nodded."Okay."
"Try to keep your mind off it?" Said Stuhlinger."What else has that guy got to do but stress?"
"I think Redheart has enough on her plate without having to treat hypochondriac." Vanto said.
"Yeah, but that's like my point. We're all fried. I mean, have you taken a look at everybody out there? Everybody's way tense. Dude, I'm just saying, It'd be sweet if we could have, I don't know, something to do."
"Were surviving here, Stuhlinger, and that's what my main concern is keeping us alive."
"Surviving," Stuhlinger said."For the last few years of my life, I've done nothing but survive. And how the hell could things be worse?"
"Where is Alex?" Zuud heard a female voice ask as she slowly woke up. Zuud slowly realized she was tied to a bed frame.
"What? Who are you?" Zuud asked, confused.
"Where is Alex?" The female voice repeated.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Zuud said. She then felt pain when she was electrocuted.
"Where is Alex?"
"Please listen-"
"Where is Alex?"
"I don't any Alex." Zuud told the voice. Zuud was electrocuted again."Stop!" She yelled.
Flashback.
On the planet Kalist VI, there was an Imperial base that had a rebel prisoner who was about to be tortured.
"Please! Stop! This isn't necessary!" Jorin Sol yelled as the IT-O Interrogator droid hovered over to him. Sol was on a metal board.
"IT-O, stop." Zuud said calmly.
"Stopping." The droid stopped.
"And what is it, Jorin, that makes you think this is unnecessary?" Zuud asked Sol.
"You don't have to hurt me. I already told Darth, uh, L-Lord Vader everything!" Sol said."I told him all about the Alliance "Scramble code". I gave him the logarithm I developed for the-"
"Oh, Jorin, you silly boy." Zuud smiled."I know all that. But this isn't about what you know...this is about what you'll do for me. IT-O, resume the session."
"Resuming interrogation." The droid said.
"NOOO!" Sol yelled.
After the session, Zuud left. She was walking down the hallway when she noticed two Stormtroopers escorting a human female prisoner. The prisoner had blonde hair and blue eyes.
The prisoner looked...familiar to Zuud.
On the Island.
When it was night, Stuhlinger was sitting on a wooden log, looking at the fire crackle. A bag then dropped near him.
"Hi." Said Ethan. Ethan had also woken up on this Island but that was all Stuhlinger knew of him.
"Hi." Stuhlinger said. He looked at the bag."What's this?"
"They were in the jungle." Said Wilhuff Tarkin."They must have fallen when the Arquitens command cruiser was crashing onto the Island."
"What are you guys doing out in the jungle at night?" Stuhlinger asked.
"Best time to hunt." Ethan smiled.
"Ethan here has some experience. He spotted some tracks, looked like they might be rabbit or some other rodent." Tarkin said.
"Rodent, yum." Stuhlinger said. I wish I could just eat some zombie flesh... He thought.
"I figured people are starting to get tired of eating boar meat." Ethan said.
Stuhlinger nodded."You got that right. Alright, well, I'll take a look at these and see if there's anything useful." Stuhlinger looked at some of the crates from the crashed ship.
"Okay." Said Ethan.
Tarkin sheathed his knife when Applebloom walked over to him."Mr. Tarkin, are you going back out to hunt?" The yellow filly asked.
"For a bit." Tarkin nodded.
"Can I go with you?" Applebloom asked him."I mean, I just want to learn how to do what you do-"
"Applebloom!" Applejack yelled at her sister.
"I was just...I was talking to Mr. Tarkin and-"
"I know what you're doing. It's not going to happen. Get back to bed." Applejack said. Applebloom listened to her sister.
Stuhlinger opened a crate and was surprised at what he saw."Whoa." He smiled.
Zuud was electrocuted again.
"Please, just listen to me!" Zuud yelled."I keep telling you I don't know who Alex is! I woke up on this Island. I found a wire on the beach. I followed it. I thought it might have something to do with the transmission we picked up on our transceiver. A recording, a mayday, with a French woman repeating on a loop for 16 years."
The Imperial Lieutenant saw someone coming out of the shadows."16 years." The woman said."Has it really been that long?"
"You," Zuud said, realizing this was the French woman.
"You just happened to hear my distress call? I know what you are." She then knocked her out with the butt of her rifle.
Zuud slowly opened her eyes and saw the French woman going through her backpack. Zuud looked around the room and saw jacket with a name on it."Rousseau." Zuud said the name on the jacket.
The French woman looked at her."How do you know my name?"
"I read it. There, on the jacket." Rousseau went back to going through her backpack."What is this place?" Zuud asked."Those batteries, they wouldn't be able to produce enough power to transmit your distress call all these years."
"It broadcasts from somewhere else. But they control it now."
"They?" Zuud asked, wondering if there were other people on the Island.
"You. And the others like you."
"I don't know who you think I am. I've already told you, I'm not-"
"What is your name?" Rousseau asked.
"My name is Zuud." She said.
Flashback.
"We cannot tie Hely directly to the bombing, but we know where her sympathies lie. She's a known associate of the Rebel Alliance." The Imperial commander said to Zuud.
"You think she knows who orchestrated the bombing?" Zuud asked.
"That is exactly what you will find out." The commander said.
Zuud nodded and walked into the room. She saw the woman she had seen earlier being escorted by two Stormtroopers. The woman was sitting on a chair."Hely, I'm going to ask you some questions. If you refuse to cooperate, I'm going to hurt you. Do you understand?"
"Hello, Zuud." Hely smiled. Zuud was surprised as she now remembered who this woman was."What? You don't remember me? Am I so different from the little girl in the school yard who used to push you in the mud?"
"It is you." Zuud said, still surprised.
"And your mother would tell my mother, "Why must you pick on little Zuud." And I'd answer because he ignores me."
"You had enough attention with your family's wealth and your charm."
"Such things matter little to children. But then, you always were older than your years, weren't you, Zuud?" Hely asked with a smile.
"Not old enough to understand that being pushed in the mud was a sign of affection. Now you're a traitor to the Empire. Tell me what you know about the bombing on Coruscant. Tell me or I swear I will hurt you." Zuud threatened.
"Oh, I know, Zuud. This is not my first interrogation by the Galactic Empire. This is where they burned me with acid." Hely showed her her chest."They pierced my hands with a drill. Would you like to see the soles of my feet? Where they flayed the skin off? These are the handiworks of your friends. The people you swear allegiance to." Hely said.
"If you were innocent, I am sorry." Zuud said."But this bombing is a different matter, Hely."
"Go on, Zuud, do your work. I'm not going to tell you anything."
"Then I'm going to hurt you."
"I know."
On the Island.
Rousseau noticed a blaster wound on Zuud's leg.
"What kind of wound is that?" She asked.
"A blaster wound. I am a soldier. I shot my leg to save someone that I love."
"Who is she?" Rousseau asked. She was confused about what a blaster was but was more curious about this woman Zuud loved.
"Her name is Hely."
"Tell me more about her. The woman you love."
"Alex. Who is he?" Zuud asked her.
"I'm bored." Said Applebloom."Can I take Winona to the beach?" She asked her sister.
Applejack shook her head. Right now, she just wanted to relax."I'll take you later, sugar cube."
"But there's nothing to do around here."
The element of honesty sighed."Well, you've got to figure out stuff too. You've got to find a way to entertain yourself."
Stuhlinger was searching for something that he hoped would be in the crates."Come on. Come on. I thought I saw it." He said to himself. He then found what he was looking for."Yes."
Vanto walked over to him, confused at what he was doing."Stuhlinger, uh-"
"Hold on. I'm busy." Stuhlinger said. He then found a long stick in the caves.
"Stuhlinger, what are you doing?" Vanto asked.
Stuhlinger only laughed.
"So, you heard my transmission and came looking for me. For answers?" Rousseau asked Zuud.
"I didn't know you were alive." Zuud said.
"Still lying." The French woman said.
"I'm not lying."
"Lies!" Rousseau yelled.
"Nothing-"
"Like you waking up here? Are there others?"
"More than 40, yes." Zuud nodded.
"Then why are you alone?"
"I left them." Zuud said.
"Why?" Rousseau asked.
"I need to find a way to get off this Island. I need Hely." Zuud said.
Rousseau stared at her for a moment."I want to show you something."
"Hey, Vanto." Tucker said. Vanto looked at him."Stuhlinger's all worked up about something. He said we should come see it."
Vanto, Tucker, Redheart, and Applejack went to a plateau on a mountain to see Stuhlinger with a golf club."Welcome, to the first, and hopefully last, Island open."
What?" Said Vanto, confused.
"It's two holes for now, 3 par, no waiting," Stuhlinger said.
"Stuhlinger, you built a golf course?" Vanto asked.
"Rich people fly to tropical Islands all the time to whack balls around." Well, they did in my world before those missiles destroyed the earth. He thought.
"With all the stuff we've got to deal with, this is what you've been wasting your time on?" Asked Applejack.
"Listen. Our lives suck. Everyone's nerves are stretched to the max. I mean, we're lost on an Island, running from boars and monsters and fucking polar bears!" Stuhlinger said.
"Polar bears?" Applejack raised an eyebrow, confused.
"You didn't hear about the polar bear?" Tucker said, surprised.
"Look, all I'm saying is, if we're stuck here, then just surviving's not going to cut it. We need some kind of relief, you know. We need some way that we can have fun. That's right, fun. Or else we're just going to go crazy waiting for the next bad thing to happen."
Vanto and Applejack looked at each other.
Rousseau was holding a music box in her hands."It's a music box, but it's broken. It has been for a long time. It was a gift from my love for our anniversary."
"You mean Alex?" Zuud asked.
"Robert. This was such a comfort to me in the first few years here."
Zuud stared at it for a moment."I could fix it for you. I could take a look at it, if you freed my hands." Zuud said. Rousseau quickly got up from her chair."I'm very good with mechanical things. I need my hands."
Rousseau got a syringe and filled with some medication."What are you doing?" Zuud asked before Rousseau injected him with the medication.
"This is a problem." Applejack said to Vanto.
Vanto nodded."Yeah."
"I mean, I know what I'd do but it's got to be your call."
"Okay, give me a seven iron." Vanto said.
"You got it." Applejack grabbed the golf club using her mouth and gave it to Vanto.
Vanto looked at Stuhlinger and Tucker who were at the other hole."Hey, heads up over there!" He yelled to them.
"You won't get anywhere near us!" Tucker yelled back.
Before Vanto could hit the golf ball, he heard someone."Hey, Nurse?" Said Sullivan to Nurse Redheart, walking over to them."There you are. Somebody said you went this way. Listen, that rash of mine, it's starting to spread. It's like the size of a grape." Sullivan then looked at the golf course."What are you guys doing? Are you playing golf?"
"Yeah." Vanto said.
Sullivan smiled."Can I play?"
Zuud suddenly woke up and saw she was tied to a chair."Sorry about the sedative. It was the only safe way for me to move you." Rousseau said."You offered to fix my music box after all I've done to you. Striking you, shocking you. Why?"
"Do you want me to fix your music box or don't you?"
Rousseau stared at her before she finally nodded."Yes. Yes, please."
"Then I want to know your name. Your first name." Zuud said.
"Danielle." She said."My name is Danielle."
Zuud started working on the music box."And how did you come to be on this Island, Danielle?"
Rousseau sighed."We were part of a science team."
"A science team armed with rifles?" The Imperial Lieutenant looked at Rousseau's rifle. The rifle looked like a primitive slugthrower but It's camo was black with lava like cracks over it. There was another rifle that looked different to Rousseau's rifle but had the same camo."Was Robert on the team?" Zuud asked.
Rousseau nodded."Yes."
"And Alex, was he, too?"
"Our vessel was 3 days out of Tahiti when our instruments malfunctioned. It was night, a storm, the sounds. The ship slammed into rocks, ran aground, the hull breached beyond repair. So, we made camp, dug out this temporary shelter. Temporary. Nearly 2 months we survived here. 2 months before-"
"Your distress signal?" Zuud interrupted her."The message I heard. You said "It killed them all"."
"We were coming back from the Black Rock after we used the machine to upgrade our guns. It was them. They were the carriers." Rousseau said.
"Who were the carriers?" Zuud asked.
"The others."
"What others? What is the Black Rock? What is the machine? Have you seen other people on this Island?" Zuud questioned.
"No, but I hear them. Out there, in the jungle. They whisper." Rousseau said. There was a moment of silence as Zuud stared at her."You think I'm insane."
"I think you've been alone for too long," Zuud said.
Flashback.
"I'm sorry, this is all I could find." Zuud said to Hely as she gave her some bread. It had been nearly a month since Jorin Sol and the Jabiimi had been rescued by the Rebel Alliance."I'll try and bring you some fruit later on. Are you ready to talk?"
"That depends on what you'd like to talk about, Zuud. Books, weather? Since I've seen neither locked in this cell for weeks, I'm afraid my conversation will suffer."
"We have two suspects in custody." Zuud showed her a hologram of two male humans."Have a look at these two. All you need to do is nod. If you prove you are willing to cooperate, I think I can get them to free you."
Hely smiled."Then I won't have these visits to look forward to anymore."
"This isn't a game, Hely." Zuud said seriously.
"Yet, you keep playing it, Zuud. Pretending to be something I know your not." Hely said.
On the Island.
Jaime Lannister ran over to his sister, Cersei. Cersei was just sitting on the beach, looking at the ocean."You're never going to believe this." Jaime said."Someone at the caves built a golf course."
"What is...a golf course?" Cersei asked, confused.
Jaime shrugged."I don't know. But I saw them playing and it looked fun. Vanto is also playing with them."
"Wait, Vanto is golfing?" Said Princess Luna, who overheard them.
"I saw him doing it. I'm going back." Jaime said and Cersei followed him.
Luna noticed Valance was near her and she knew he heard them as well."If you want to come, you should just say." Luna said.
"I think I'll pass on that, moonbutt. I'm not big on crowds. And let's face it, the crowd's not too hot on me, either." Valance said.
"I'd think about making more of an effort." The Alicorn smiled before she left.
Rousseau's smile was big as she saw the music box working."You see, some things can be fixed." Zuud said.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much."
"Danielle, please let me go." Zuud said.
Rousseau's smile was gone and she looked at Zuud."Go?"
"Back to the people I told you about."
She shook her head."You can't. You have to stay. It's not safe."
"Not safe? What's not safe?" Zuud asked.
"You need me! You can't leave!"
"Danielle-"
Something outside interrupted Zuud. Rousseau grabbed her rifle and headed to the hatch of where they were."Where are you going?" Zuud questioned.
"If we're lucky, It's one of the bears."
"If we're lucky? It might be that thing out there. The monster." Zuud said.
Rousseau looked at her."There's no such thing as monsters." She then left.
Flashback.
"You have to execute her." The Imperial commander said. Zuud was in his office.
Zuud's eyes widened in surprise."What?"
"The woman has given us nothing. This will send a message to the others who will not talk." The commander said.
"I just need more time with her."
"You have had more than a month, Zuud. Now, bring her outside and shoot her. Or I will. Is this a problem?" The commander asked.
Zuud was silent for a moment."No, It's not a problem."
"Good." The commander said.
Zuud left and walked to Hely's cell. She opened the door.
Hely smiled."What did you bring me today?"
Zuud threw an execution hood at her. Hely's smile was gone."Put it on." The Imperial Lieutenant said.
"Are you going to hurt me, Zuud?" Hely asked.
On the Island.
Zuud used the screwdriver she had used to fix the music box to get out of her chains. She grabbed Rousseau's maps and her rifle. She looked at the rifle. The rifle had two names's carved on it. One said "Kar98k". On the bottom of the name, the second one said "Armageddon".
Zuud was confused by the names but she quickly left the place where Rousseau had been keeping her.
"Dude, I think he stuck it." Stuhlinger said to Tucker after watching Vanto hit the golf ball.
"Does this thing have a pony team?" Luna asked as she walked over to them.
Vanto smiled at her."Hey, when did you show up?"
"A while ago. I almost didn't recognize you. You're smiling."
"I'll have to watch that." Vanto said.
"So, how did you come up with this?" Luna asked him.
"It wasn't me. It's all Stuhlinger. I've been going crazy trying to make everyone feel safe. I haven't been sleeping because I want everyone to feel safe. And he builds a golf course and everyone feels safe." Vanto said.
Stuhlinger missed hitting the golf ball."Shit. Do over." He said, going to try again.
"Applejack." Said Applebloom, walking to them."You left me alone at the caves." The filly said.
"What? I left you with Jeela." Applejack said.
"She's sleeping."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I just...I just got caught up. I'm really sorry, Applebloom. I messed up. I'll make it up to you. Hey, you want to play?"
Applebloom shook her head."Nah, there's other people waiting."
"Oh no, don't worry about it, they won't mind. You want to take a swing?" Applejack asked.
"Applejack, It's your shot. You're up." Said Tucker.
"Oh, okay." The element of Honesty looked at her littler sister."We'll play later, okay?" She said before she went to play golf.
Zuud ran through the jungle but stopped when she saw Rousseau. She pointed the Armageddon at her."Put the gun down, Danielle. Put it down on the ground."
Rousseau only pointed her rifle at Zuud.
"Don't." Zuud said.
Flashback.
Zuud and two Stormtroopers were walking down a corridor with Hely, who had the hood over her head. She looked at the Stormtroopers."I'll take it from here."
The Stormtroopers nodded and left them. Zuud then took the hood off Hely."What's...what's going on?" Hely asked, scared.
"40 meters outside this door, there's a supply ship that will be leaving shortly. They don't check them on the way out, only coming in. Get inside. Cover yourself any way that you can. They won't reach the planet for 30 minutes. That's enough time for you to jump out and hid yourself." Zuud said.
"Come with me." Said Hely.
Zuud shook her head."I can't. Desertion. They would kill my family. I don't have your courage."
Hely smiled at her."You have more than you know."
Zuud also smiled."Hely, you have to go."
"Zuud. What are you doing?" Asked the Imperial commander. Zuud and Hely looked at him. The commander was reaching for his blaster pistol.
"Don't." Said Zuud.
"Guards!" The commander yelled before Zuud pulled out her own blaster pistol to shoot the commander.
"Zuud, now you have to come with me!" Hely said."They'll kill you!"
Zuud shook her head."No, you escaped, you stole my blaster and you shot him. And then you shot me." Zuud pointed the blaster at her leg and fired. She yelled in pain as the bolt went through. She sat on the ground.
"Zuud!" Hely yelled.
The Imperial Lieutenant then gave Hely the blaster pistol."Take it. Please, Hely. Take it and go."
Hely took the blaster pistol and ran off. But she looked at Zuud one last time.
On the Island.
"Please," Said Zuud."I don't wish to hurt you."
"You already have." Said Rousseau.
"Don't." Zuud said. She then pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"The firing pin has been removed. Robert didn't notice it was missing either when I shot him." Rousseau said.
Zuud was surprised by this."But you loved him."
"He was sick."
"Sick?"
"It took them, one after the other. I had no choice. They were already lost." Rousseau said.
"You killed them?" Zuud questioned.
"What would have happened if we were rescued? I couldn't let that happen. I won't!"
Zuud threw her rifle to the ground."I'm not sick." She said.
Rousseau nodded."I know."
"Then why kill me?" Zuud asked her.
"I can't let you go. Don't you understand, to have someone to talk to, to touch-"
"I know It's what's like to hold on to someone." Zuud interrupted her."I've been holding on for the past 7 years to just a thought, a blind hope that somewhere she's still alive. But the more I hold on, the more I pull away from those around me. The only way out of this, this place, is with their help. Come with me. You don't have to be alone, Danielle."
Rousseau lowered her rifle as she stared at her."Your people, the ones you're determined to get back to, watch them. Watch them closely."
The French woman was about to leave before Zuud asked her something."Danielle, who is Alex?"
Rousseau looked at the Imperial Lieutenant."Alex was my child."
"5 bucks says he sinks it." Said Stuhlinger when it was Vanto's turn to hit the ball.
"Some clothes and some food says he chokes." Said Beilert Valance. Everybody looked at him and there was a moment of silence.
"I agree." Luna smiled.
Vanto then hit the golf ball.
Tarkin threw the metal knife at the tree and stuck it in the bark."Does your sister know your here?" Tarkin asked.
Applebloom appeared and shook her head."Can you teach me how to do that?"
Tarkin stared at her for a moment before he noddded.
As Zuud was walking through the jungle, she heard something. She thought it was the monster.
Then, she heard whispers.