Chapter 10: Truth and Lies
Riley was having another nightmare, he was stuck in the med bay on the Ghost. He saw Anne half dead on the bed, she had two holes in her. One of the holes was on the chest and another on her stomach, he already knew what this was about. Riley tried to escape but couldn't because everyone else was stood in the door way, pushing him into the far right corner. He saw that they all had black eyes, he turned to look at Anne who was now face to face. She kept saying "You did this" over and over again. Eventually he woke up, he saw Anne with a worried face.
"Are you ok?" Anne asked with a wavering voice, like she was crying.
"Yeah, why?" Riley looked around to see it was early in the morning.
"You wouldn't wake up and you were shaking violently" Anne helped Riley sit up.
"Sorry if I worried you" Riley stood up slowly, his head hurt. "I haven't been completely honest with you"
"What do you mean?" Anne was helping Riley stand.
"We need to talk" he walked over to the bedroom door. "In the cafeteria?"
"Um...Sure" Anne walked over to Riley, she was worried about what Riley was going to say.
The two walked down to the cafeteria, they got their breakfast and walked to their table. No one talked the whole time and Anne was getting scared, they sat down and Anne broke the silence.
"What do you want to talk about?" Anne almost stuttered with fear.
"Remember when we first met and you got shot?" Riley regretted asking.
"Yes?" Anne calmed down a little but was still scared.
"You only got shot in the chest by that trooper" Riley's voice died down. "After I tell you, I'll understand if you don't want me anymore"
"Riley?" Anne knew he was confessing something that could change her veiw of him.
"When I carried you into the med bay and everyone left, I heard these voices telling me to shoot you" Riley put his head in his hands. "And I did, in the stomach. That nightmare I had was of that moment"
"You shot me?!" Anne didn't know how to feel.
"I heard these voices, they were like commands" Riley didn't want to look at Anne. "Do you want to know anything else?"
"The bounty hunter" Anne was still shocked and niw crying. "He was the one who shot you wasn't he"
"Yeah, I'm sorry Anne" Riley stood up. "I'll leave if you want"
"Please" Anne said without missing a beat.
"I'll see you soon" Riley walked off down a random hallway, he didn't care where it led.
Anne was crying hard and loud into her arms, she didn't know how to react. Anne didn't feel angry, she only felt alone like the day Sabine left her. Anne stopped crying after a couple of minutes and jumped when a sweet voice spoke behind her.
"Anne?" Snow sat next to her. "What's wrong? Where's Riley?"
"I don't know and I don't care" Anne started to cry again.
"What happened?" Sabine asked sitting next to her.
"Riley just told me I got shot twice" Anne looked at her best friend. "He shot me the second time"
"Why would he shoot you?" Moon said with a little disbelief.
"He said he heard voices, commanding him to" Anne almost shouted.
"Looks like you were right Ezra" Snow said with a dying voice.
"What are we going to do about him?" Ezra asked angrily.
"Nothimg yet, I need to think about it" Anne messed with her necklace. "He still cares"
"But he shot you!" Ezra shouted.
"She's right Ezra" Snow took a drink before continuing. "When did he shoot you?"
"Right after Hera left when I got shot by that bucket head" Anne whispered.
"So he could have let you die" Moon said with joy. "But he didn't and worked hard to make sure you lived. So nothing changes"
"Wrong, I this is right then we have a serious problem" Snow started. "When I was held up in a prison, they experimented on me. They called it project Exodus, I was unfit for sugery but Riley would be strong enough to survive"
"Project Exodus?" Anne asked, she hoped that she could forgive Riley.
"It was inspired by Order 66, it was made so rebels would turn against their friends" Snow looked at Anne. "You have to make up with him, then we need to remove that chip in his head"
"Wait, chip?" Anne asked, she might know how to fix Riley's dizziness problem.
"Yeah, do you forgive him?" Sabine asked hugging her friend.
"I don't know" Anne thought heavily about it. "He did save me, try to run away to protect me and kept me save ever since. Yes, I forgive him, I love him and just want him back"
"Wow, it really is strong" Moon said with wide eyes.
"He won't forgive himself" Anne stood up and walked down the hallway Riley disappeared to.
"I fell sorry for him" Moon watched Anne leave.
"He grown up too fast and had a hard life" Sabine saw Ezra's distressed look.
"I'm glad he has Anne" Snow walked after Anne. "But you guys better get that planning done"
"Ok, so we need to get him something before his birthday" Ezra said feeling the same bad feeling from before.
"He needs something for the things he gave us" Moon moved over to look at the book.
With Anne
Anne walked with Snow for about twenty minutes before they had to go to class, Anne didn't want to but Snow said he would be there. When they arrived they found Riley sitting with Moon and Sabine while Ezra explained what was happening.
"He said he thinks you hate him" Ezra looked over to Riley. "And that he was going to leave"
"Thanks Ezra" Anne watched Ezra walk over to their table.
"You forgave him pretty fast" Snow stated.
"Riley taught me we only make ourselves worse if we don't" Anne looked at Snow. "You know he had a nightmare last night, it was bad and caused this"
"Well, he did shoot you" Snow walked over to the table. "He regrets it even though he wasn't in control"
"I know" Anne walked over to the table and sat down next to Riley. "Have you ever heard of Project Exodus?"
"Yeah I was part of it" Riley said lowly. "Why?"
"Because it wasn't your fault" Anne hugged Riley tightly. "You have a chip in your head"
"But I still shot you" Riley complained.
"And I still love you" Anne kissed Riley.
"How can you forgive me so easily?" Riley smiled.
"I learnt it from you" Anne laughed. "When we get back, we'll get that chip out of your head"
"Ok, but remember your promise" Riley kissed Anne lightly. "If things get too bad, run"
"Things won't get too bad" Sabine said nudging her brother. "We won't let it happen"
"Of course you won't" Riley laughed. "But it'll happen anyway"
"Alright class" a strict feminine voice shouted. "Quite down, we have a guest here today"
A large man with a grey officers uniform walked into the room, he looked quited old and stood high.
"I am Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, I was on my way to Lothal when I got reports of some rebels that matched the description nearby." Tarkin looked at Riley. "Do you know where these rebels come from?"
"No sir" He replied, he never thought he would call Tarkin 'sir'.
"They come from Lothal and wish to destroy our way of life" Tarkin walked towards the door. "You will recieve a lesson on rebels soon"
"Thank you Grand Moff Tarkin" the teacher said as Tarkin exited the classroom.
"He isn't wrong" Snow joked.
"He isn't right either" Sabine looked out the window. "They'll have security increased throughout the city"
"Leave that to me" Riley saw some of the class looking their way. "We might have to leave early"
"But wouldn't that raise suspicions?" Moon asked a little scared.
"We'll get caught if we stay here" Riley started to get frantic. "And besides, we'll be gone"
"I'm scared" Moon started to shake. "What's if we get caught?"
"We won't" Ezra chuckled. "Have a little faith"
After the first two lessons, the group were able to calm down Moon. At lunch everyone was eating while Riley was speaking to Kanan. He returned not long later.
"So what's the plan?" Sabine asked while Riley sat down.
"Kanan can't get everyone's gear hidden" Riley looked at everyone. "So all of you go to the outter market where the Ghost will pick you up"
"What about you?" Moon stood up to ask.
"I might lose my mind again so I'll cause as much mayhem as possible so you can escape" Riley jumped when Anne hugged him.
"I'm not leaving you behind" Anne started to cry. "I don't want to leave you when you wouldn't leave me"
"We might not find you again" Sabine almost shouted.
"You will" Riley's voice lowered.
"And if we don't?" Ezra asked.
"Then he'll find us" Snow and Riley knew what thay meant, they didn't want it to happen though.
"It'll be fine" Riley took Anne's hand. "I'll stay in the tower until you return if you hear a signal from the communicator i gave you on the first day"
"Just be safe" Moon hugged Riley from across the table.
"We leave tomorrow morning so start packing" Riley left the table and headed for the apartment.
"Is he crazy?" Ezra said frustrated.
"He needs to do it" Anne said through her crying. "He's doing it for us, to keep us safe"
"He could die" Moon said worried.
"You have not seen my brother in battle" Sabine faked a smile, trying to convince her self Riley would be alright. "When we were younger, he was caught in an explosion by Death Watch"
"How bad was it?" Anne asked very concerned.
"Bad, he had a ton of scorch marks and broken bones" Sabine laughed when she remembered Riley trying to walk it off. "He refused to stay in that bed"
"He's lucky" Snow said lowly. "I just hope he doesn't get himself killed"
"We'll find out soon" Ezra said as the bell went.
The rest of the day was tense, nobody spoke to Riley that often since he was planningthe distraction. Anne was quite and hardly left the sofa, everyone knew she was going through it worse. Sabine was helping Riley with how her bombs worked, she tired to convince him he could do it another way but nothing worked. Snow and Moon felt guilty because Riley's always helped them, and now they can't help him. Ezra tried to get everyone to calm down and convince them they would see him again, but he was worried if the Inquisitor would be there. Everyone went to sleep silently, Anne kept her arms around Riley and didn't want to let him go. Riley knew tomorrow would be difficult and he knew he couldn't escape it without being captured by the Empire.