Welcome Back Everyone!
Sorry again for the long wait!
The thing is, I'm changing career to go in a domain I wished to work in for a long time! But, until I totally transfer in my new job, I'm doing both works at the same time -_-' That plus baby, I assume you can understand why my updates are taking that long to come, but, please, bear with it, it's not for a long time and I intend to write those stories through their end :3
Thank you for your understanding!
Special mention!
- Rebels-lover = Haha, I know there's two or three stories right now that have a name similar to this one XD I'm just happy you found mine again :3 And thanks for sharing part of your past with me! I was so thrilled to realize my story had made you remember this souvenir :D
-Magic = Whoa, just Wow! I know I said it to you in Pm, but I really love the Quotes you wrote in your last review! it moved me :3
-HiddenJade = Haha, yes you're right. Never trust a Dark Side User! But they sure know how to trouble a weakened mind :3 Them... and some others. Can you guess who? ;)
-Another Guest = Not enough people show when they are grateful. I just wished to thank you properly for taking my side on that one :3 And, yes he should! Will Kanan come up with a better plan to help Ezra in time?! What can he do?
-Chitsukee = Fanfiction really does hate links XD Yours, even with the space, didn't work, but thanks for having tried. Maybe if you copy/paste the name of the song rather thanks the url? I could look for it in the search bar :3 Anyway, glad you liked the chapter again! :D
-CodenameSpectre7 = Thanks for taking the time to write to me! I'm always so happy to read new reader's name in the review! What you said was so sweet to me! Welcome aboard :3
And, just saying, this chapter is for my favorite Imp' lover. He'll recognize himself :3
Have a nice reading time! :3
P.s. I own Nothing!
Chapter 11
-"During an emergency evacuation, every soldier must support their direct officers until duty is done and escort them to safety afterward."
Kallus smiled. -"Alright, 20 right out of 20 questions. Now, that's some progress!"
He hoped it would cheer up Ezra, but the boy's mood didn't change at all. He was sitting in his chair while his upper body was bent over the table, his cheek leaning on the metal, his forearms hanging toward the floor and his expressionless eyes looking vaguely toward the Agent. He could almost have passed for dead if he wasn't answering...
And Ezra was half-dead from the inside. He didn't know what to think anymore. Didn't know what was right and what was wrong. Should he trust the Grand Inquisitor? He had tried before and was deceived... Should he believe in Kanan? But what could he do against the Inquisitor's hold over him. Was it wrong to have taken him away from his home planet to lock him in a Star Destroyer? Or was it right to wish for him to learn things he could not have known about in the streets...
All those questions were melting his brain to the point his mind seemed to become blank. So he focused on his study. Focused on filling his head with everything he had in arms' reach to keep him from thinking anymore.
And, now, he was kinda drained from all those informations running in his troubled thoughts, leaving him without this energy that seemed to always make him move forward...
Normally, no officer would have allowed such crude display... but Kallus was no fool. Despite the Grand Inquisitor insisting that the boy was a 'special cadet', the Agent had long realized the kid was more of a prisoner than anything else. And, somehow, it troubled him. So much wasted potential...
-"When was the last time you walked out of this room?" Suddenly asked Kallus out of nowhere.
If Ezra was surprised by the question, he didn't let it show on his face. He answered almost automatically. -"I took a shower from 7am through 7:20am as scheduled."
-"No, I meant a real walk. Out of obligation." Insisted the man, approaching slowly the 'talking corpse'.
Ezra didn't answer, as if he didn't remember the last time that occurred...
-"That won't do." Frowned Kallus, leaning a hand on the table to stoop at the kid's eye level. "On your feet, Cadet, you're coming with me."
Ezra didn't move and looked at him unbelieving, as if he hadn't understood.
-"That's an order." Insisted the man with an authoritarian voice, rising to emphatize his words.
Now looking incredulous, Ezra stood up slowly, unsure... wearily. What did this Imperial Officer had in mind? He couldn't... Was he tired of being nice to him? He clearly stated, last time, how suspicious he was of him. Could he want to question him more? Maybe... to interrogate him like the Grand Inquisitor did the first time! How far could he go before going too far? Before realizing Ezra knew nothing of the Rebels!?
Kallus grabbed the boy's elbow to help him on his feet faster and clenched his grip when he felt the kid stiffen and cringe. He saw the fear in his eyes, the same you can witness in the ones of a cornered prey.
-"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to show you something." The look of distrust hurted Kallus a little, but it also strengthened his resolve. He dragged the boy to the doorframe and released his arm there before continuing his walk in the corridor.
-"Follow me." He commanded one last time, fearing for a second, but soon relieved by the sound of light, shy footsteps behind him.
Why did Ezra follow him? He couldn't answer that himself, but the curiosity won over his uncertainties. He wanted to understand a little more this Imperial Agent who was always shifting between being severe to soft. He thought he had understood the Inquisitor's motives, but what could motivate this man to be kind toward the boy?
Kallus marched for a long time, turning here and there, either ignoring or brushing away the Stormtroopers saluting him. He led the kid before a locked door that needed a scan of the Imperial Agent's hand to open. Inside, there was an Audio Video files storing room. A big room. Ezra had never seen so many Holopads and computers at the same place in his entire life! Sure, he did go to school, but even the library didn't have that much!
Kallus got amused by the kid's amazed face.
-"I know, it's stunning at first. But, you'll get used to it." He said softly.
Ezra frowned. He never asked to be here and didn't wish to get access to that kind of information, or, for all that mattered, getting used to this new life. All he wanted was to find a way out of this mess...
The boy's reaction was saddening, but Kallus was expecting it after all the previous display of distrust. He leaned a hand on Ezra's back and led him further into the room, more convinced by this plan of his than ever.
-"I wanted to show you this." The man continued before tipping on a computer board.
A projection appeared on the screen, showing some kind of Imperial recording. Ezra turned his back, not interested in the least by those.
Kallus spoke again. -"I don't know exactly why you hate the Empire that much, but I guess I can understand a little. With the Grand Inquisitor as your mentor and all..."
Ezra looked away, angry that this man thought he could imagine what he had gone through, what he had to endure, and rolled his eyes when he heard Kallus sigh. If only he knew everything that made him not hate, but despise the Empire!
-"Anyway," Continued the man. "you needed to see that before getting your final decision. Maybe it will make you change your mind... It sure made me change mine."
And, somewhat curious again to see what could be that important to this man, Ezra turned to watch the screen. After only a few second, his eyes became wide opened.
He saw the celebration of a new spaceship being released and the workers cheering for a job well done and well paid, and, in the crowd, a man embracing his wife, surrounded by their children, while showing the credits that would feed them for weeks. Then, the video changed and he looked at a group of insurgent shooting aimlessly and Stormtroopers forming a human shield in front of the people caught in the crossfire. Another video followed with a Trooper exiting a building in flame with an infant in his arms. One more where they were giving food and blankets to citizens after a flood...
And this continued on for a few minutes, until Ezra turned away, looking destabilized and posing his hand on the desk to stay steady. Was it real? Could the Empire have really done all those nice things?
He jolted when he felt the man's hand on his shoulder.
-"At first, I wasn't sure about this new Empire either." Kallus said gently, understandingly. "But, with time, I saw all the good it was doing and I decided to enroll and help make the galaxy a better place with them. A place where a child could become a cadet not out of obligation or because he is forced, but because he wish, too, to make this galaxy a safer place to grow in."
Kallus felt reassured when he saw the kid thinking hard about this new possibility. He was already a fast learner, but something was pulling him back. To make him learn faster, he had to see himself as a student, not a prisoner. Maybe this was not what the boy had first wanted, but, since the Inquisitor wasn't showing any intent to release him, it sure was the best way to make his stay here easier.
Every child had the potential to become something more, something important, and the man assumed this boy had simply not been given the right motivation to accept his new status.
After a short while, Ezra finally seemed to recover his voice. He spoke hardly, like he had a ball stuck in his throat. -"Even so, how..." He turned to face the man, his voice now shouting angrily. "How could I ever forget the people who took away my parents and made me live in the streets alone for years!?"
Kallus seemed surprised for a second. So that's why the kid hated them so much. No wonder then...
The man quickly got himself together. -"And you're sure they never did anything to deserve it?"
Ezra calmed down a little, dazed by the question. -"T-they..."
-"Yes?"
-"They were broadcasting against the Empire..." He finally admitted, lowering his head.
-"Then, they were insurgents. Any Authority in charge would have done the same." Kallus leaned both hands on the kid's shoulder. "Your parents must have hid you or the Troopers would have taken you to safety. To be raised in an Imperial academy, not on the streets."
Ezra raised to lock his eyes with the Agent's, fighting to not let his tears show. -"W-why are you saying, showing, all this to me?"
Kallus gently clenched his fingers in a comforting way. -"You're part of the Imperial army now, so I helped you get back on your feet. That's what soldiers do. They shoulder each other to go through hardship, mission after mission."
Somehow, Kallus' words soothed the turmoil inside Ezra and, for the first time in his young life, the kid was happy to have crossed the path of an Imperial Agent. He swiftly dried his unshed tears, now calmer for the first time in days.
-"Let's go back." Said the man while standing up, proud that his idea worked. "I wasn't supposed to meet you again after the other day. The Inquisitor might be pissed if he discovers us together."
Ezra nodded and they walked back to his room, realizing too late that the Grand Inquisitor was already there. The displeased look on his face gave the effect of a cold shower...
-"Haven't you caused enough trouble, Agent?" He said while hissing the last word, obviously still angry that the man stepped over his limit twice. "What were you doing again with my Apprentice?"
-"Making up for the last time." Simply answered the Imperial Agent, tending a Holopad and saluting before departing without a look back.
The Pau'an raised an eyebrow, showing for a short moment his surprise, then simply huffed and turned his attention to the Holopad. His expression slightly softened before he raised his sight toward the boy.
-"A perfect score?"
Ezra nodded, somewhat happy with the reaction of the Inquisitor. Was he proud of his success?
-"Good. The Agent's initiative will save me time, finally." He tended another Holopad. -"Take it, you've earned it."
Ezra eagerly grabbed the device, his incomfort suddenly vanishing as he knew it was the one with the answer he was looking for since so many days. After only a few moments, he lowered it, incredulously looking at the Inquisitor who had silently watched him.
-"What does it mean?!" Asked angrily Ezra, fearing it would be some kind of sick joke.
-"What did you find?" Replied the Inquisitor, unmoved by the furious display.
-"It says that only someone with a high rank in the army can order the release of an Imperial prisoner. I can't free them without the approval of an Officer!"
-"An officer, or someone of equivalent authority." Precised the Pau'an.
-"If you could free them, then why didn't you use it to blackmail me?" Retorted Ezra, his anger brushing away his fears.
-"And, once again, you misinterpreted my intents. I have never threatened you to follow me. I merely offered you an opportunity - that, sadly, you rejected - and, as a result, bound you to me. It's the same for your parents. I never intended to use them against you, neither would I have menaced their lives. I only wanted to give you the possibility to recover what the Empire had once taken away from you."
-"That's only a sadistic joke. I can't free them myself! To do that, I would have to become highly ranked and it would take years to accomplish that!"
-"And, if I was to tell you I can offer a shorter path. An easier path."
Ezra instantly calmed down, interested.
-"An Inquisitor's authority bypass almost every other rank in the Empire... and his Apprentice's comes not far behind."
Normally, Ezra would have thrown a tantrum and strongly objected the idea! But, not now... not after what Kallus showed him in the AV room... He always thought everything related to the Empire was evil and despicable, but now he knew otherwise... maybe, he could trust the Inquisitor a little... trust he really wished for his wellbeing and had no other choice than to force him to stay beside him...
-"You're a smart kid. I assume you know what you'll need to do." The Grand Inquisitor walked to the door and stopped beside Ezra, leaning a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go prepare a transmission, you should look under your bed. I left you a gift to reward your successful study." And went away...
...
The Grand Inquisitor opened a channel. The blue Hologram showed Ephraim and Mira Briger, holding each other's arm, watched over by two guards.
-"You were given permission to receive this transmission. I think you'll be... pleased to see from whom it's coming."
Ezra walked to the computer from behind the tall Pau'an, raising his head as he entered the light. He was wearing something similar to a cadet uniform... but it was all dyed in black...
-" Mom, Dad... don't worry, everything will be alright." He paused for a second, pulling together the courage to continue. "I work for the Empire, now."
The Grand Inquisitor grinned, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders.
'I'll get you out of there.' Ezra continued in thought, his eyes shining with confidence. 'No matter what the cost.'
Inside his Inner-self, two more blue chains wrapped themselves around him...
...
There! I hope it was worth the wait! :D :3
A little something before parting;
Whoa! I can't believe this story was quoted in one of my favorite writer's story! Thank you Rebel Spectre 6! (I should definitely find time to review again. And I Will! Sooner than later :3 Promise :3)
If you haven't read her work, you should! She wrote many stories that are all linked together to form a big universe of its own! Even though they can be read separately, it's better to start from the beginning so, If you're searching something good to read until my next update, I encourage you to try it :3
Take Care Everyone! :D