Chapter Three

Nell awoke to a steady beeping sound, unsure of where she was. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to place the cold, clinical room she was in as she slowly regained consciousness. Suddenly, her memories rushed back to her, along with the realisation of what she had seen just before she passed out. Nell gasped as a sharp pain lanced through her chest, stealing her breath. Her mother. Her father. Everyone she had ever known and loved, gone in one streak of scarlet light.

A droid rolled in to the room, noticed she was awake and promptly sped away out of sight, beeping frantically. Nell heard soft footfalls in the corridor outside the room, and was greeted by the sight of a kindly woman in a white uniform, followed by General Organa.

"Thank you, Dala. You can leave us now." The General said, smiling sadly at the other woman, and taking a seat at Nell's bedside.

"Wh...what happened?" Nell swallowed heavily, noticing how dry her mouth was.

"You fainted, my dear. I'm so sorry..." the General's eyes were pained, and Nell looked away, unable to hold the older woman's gaze.

"The First Order. It was them, wasn't it?" Nell whispered, hardly daring to speak the words.

The General nodded.

" It seems they have created a weapon more powerful even than the two Death Stars combined. We have established that the weapon has harnessed the power of a sun, giving them the ability to exterminate whole planets. It may be of little comfort to you at the moment, but as we speak our X-wing squadrons are leading an attack on their base. We've obtained information which will enable us to disable this terrible weapon. Commander Dameron is leading the charge. I have every faith that they will be successful."

Nell nodded, unable to formulate a response, still numb with shock, save for the pain in her chest.

"Thank you General."

"Call me Leia, my dear." The General's comm beeped "Excuse me, Nell – it seems we've received word of the mission's status. Nurse Dala will be in shortly to check your vitals and then you will be shown to your bunk."

The diminutive woman left, heading for the control room.