-1Ty and Ian boarded the shuttle waiting for them. As he boarded, Ty took one look at the inside of the Star Destroyer he had been assigned to and was now betraying it as well as the Empire. Deep down, he knew Ian was right about how evil the Empire was. Not that he wanted the galaxy to return to how corrupt the Republic had become before Palpatine declared himself emperor, but the Empire was just as corrupt now. Captain Vuroan motioned for him to hurry and board it so it could take off. Ty sighed and continued onto the shuttle.
"Hurry, we need to leave as soon as possible," Ian said. He noticed Ty obviously wondering about the pilot. "Relax, he's working for the Alliance too."
"Let's just get out of here," Ty said as he sat down. The pilot activated the shuttle and flew it out of the Star Destroyer's hangar.
Ty watched the blackness of space from his viewpoint in the shuttle and couldn't help but to think. He knew he was quite possibly leaving his life behind forever. The Empire would kill him on sight if nothing more than abandoning his post, much less for being a rebel. But, he knew he couldn't go on serving the Empire and helping its evil reign on the galaxy.
Then his thoughts went to his family. He felt an obvious heaviness in his heart as he knew he could never return home. Even if some sort of miracle happened and the Rebel Alliance won the civil war, his family still might not accept him home. His parents had been so proud of him upon his graduation a few months before. He had thought being a Stormtrooper would have been so different. He just never really realized that the Empire was nothing but evil. Not even after the destruction of Aldeeraan because of Grand Moff Tarkin's eagerness to show off Emperor Palpatine's toy.
An even heavier burden of sadness came over him as Jacen came into his mind. They had become best friends so quickly. Ty always knew he could count on Jacen no matter what. Ty knew if Jacen found out he had defected, he didn't want to know how Jacen would react. Maybe Jacen would even end up hating him. Either way, Ty hoped he would cross paths with him one day again.
The shuttle entered hyperspace.
"Here we go," Ian said. "It won't be long now until we're in rebel hands."
"Yeah, I guess so," Ty said. "Never thought things would turn out like this for me."
"Tell me about it," Ian said. "But, it had to be done."
"Yeah," Ty said. "Where's this rebel base we're going to anyway?"
"It's in the Hoth system," the pilot said. "Hope you like cold weather."
Ty sighed. For what he was getting himself into, he hoped he did too.