''As the absolute pinnacle of Imperial ground warfare, the TIE Vulcan forms the new backbone of the Army's war effort, combining the might of the Navy's TIE starfighters with the heavy armouring of the AT-AT and the brute engine power of the Juggernaut turbo tank.''
Eva sits on the floor of the living room, watching Imperial Defense Daily as the vidscreen displays cinematic shots of the TIE Vulcan. She sees a tank platoon driving over the muddy battlefield of an undisclosed planet, crossing trenches and impact craters and passing by wreckages of unknown speeders. Her eyes widen in awe as she sees the TIE Vulcans traversing the battlefield. For now, it's the only thing she can watch on the vidscreen, as her father forbids her to switch to Channel Vaulent or any other news broadcast to follow the Galactic Civil War.
''Drawing inspiration from the iconic TIE Fighter, it has a sleek, round cockpit and powerful, twin ion engines. The round cockpit is suspended between two large tank treads with their housing having angular edges and thick armour plating. Its mechanical, Tungstoid steel treads give it exceptional manoeuvrability, allowing it to move swiftly in tight spaces and its powerful engines give it the power it needs to traverse the battlefield with great speed.''
The cinematic shots switch to grainy footage of a group of TIE Vulcans enclosing a bunker in the hands of a rebel insurgency group. Although the planet or system is undisclosed, Eva assumes it's one of the backwater worlds in the Outer Rim, as that part of the galaxy is as of yet not under Imperial control. But they'll bow to the Empire once they see the prosperity, the security, and the peace it brings, Eva thinks. They'll be under Imperial control soon enough, and when they don't, I'll make sure they do.
''Though its compact design, its firepower is not to be messed with. It features three heavy laser cannons, one below the cockpit and two on the outer sides of the treads. On top of the cockpit sits a DLT-19 anti-personnel cannon, capable of mowing down any insurgent on its path as if it's exterminating pesky bugs. The TIE Vulcan makes the Rebels run for their dear lives.''
A close-up shot of the black DLT-19 blaster, sitting on a railing on the circular cockpit makes Eva excited for the Imperial military.
Above the sound of the vidscreen blaring out a funky soundtrack as if a game is being played, Eva hears her father and mother talk to each other about her.
''I thought you didn't allow her?'' she hears her mother ask.
''As long as she doesn't watch those news channels, it's fine,'' she hears her father replying faintly.
Eva shifts her head to her parents, but it seems like their conversation has ended already, so she turns back to the vidscreen as Imperial Defense Daily shows a TIE Vulcan shining in a showroom as if it just came out of the factory. Although Lu tried to convince her she shouldn't feel excited, it's the cinematic shots of this single TIE Vulcan that give Eva goosebumps.
''The robust durasteel armouring allows the TIE Vulcan to survive the most violent weather conditions and the most intense engagements. It takes a planet-killer of a weapon to penetrate the armouring, and even then it's still an unstoppable force as its nearly impossible to come even close to damaging its targeting systems.''
Eva shoves herself a bit closer to the vidscreen screen, trying to see as much as possible of the battlefield as the close-up shots of its armament switch to war footage of tanks using them in engagements, spreading a rain of fire over the ground. She feels her heart speed up in her chest as she sees a TIE Vulcan breaking through the defenses of the undisclosed rebel insurgency group. No matter what Lu told me, Eva thinks, I'll be fighting side by side with the tanks, serving the Emperor and expand the prosperous Imperial civilisation.
''Eva.''
She shifts her head and sees her mother gesturing with her head to the dining table as she puts down a plate of corn. It's dinner time.
After turning off the vidscreen , switching from the colourful footage to a black screen, Eva stands up and walks towards the dining table. Her parents sit at the table, and Eline runs down the stair, taking a seat. Eva sits down too on the large, square table. As she sits down, shoving her seat towards the table, her eyes land on the plate which is stuffed with corn, other vegetables, and a slab of meat with a cloud of white, water vapour rising.
''How nice of Oliva to give us some corn,'' says her mother, picking up her spoon.
Eva looks up. ''Yeah, together we sold the entire stock.''
Mother smiles. ''Nice job, Eva.''
A smile forms on her face, feeling her heart warming up with her mother's compliment.
''Eline and I visited the Scouts today,'' says her mother.
''Oh right,'' says her father. ''Eline, how was that?''
Eline looks up from her plate. ''It was cool,'' she responds with a smile. ''I saw children use bows and arrows made from old starfighters.''
''Old starfighters?'' asks her father, his eyebrows rising. ''That's interesting.''
''Yeah, and they also had tracks where you have to cross little ponds and trees and rocks,'' Eline adds, her smile growing.
It's clear Eline enjoyed her introduction day at the Imperial Scouting Group, and Eva feels happy for her little sister.
''The Scouts will be open for application next quarter of the year,'' says her mother, shifting her head to her father. ''66 credits per month.''
''That's a lot but it's something we can pay if it makes you happy,'' says her father, and he puts a spoon of corn in his mouth.
''Also, honey,'' says her mother, turning her head to Eva. ''How was school today?''
''Fine,'' replies Eva.
''Did anything interesting happen?'' her mother asks.
''I heard a boy was beaten up, but no, nothing interesting,'' replies Eva. ''He was a Rebel sympathizer anyway so I don't really care.''
Eva sees her mother shifting her eyes to her father who chuckles a bit.
''Sanity is always the first casualty of a war,'' says her father, letting out a big sigh as he picks up his spoon.
Eva shifts her eyes to her father. Anyone who even remotely agrees with any Rebel scum deserves to be punched in the face or the liver. Sanity is never the first casualty, it's loyalty that drops dead the first. The boy who lost his loyalty to the Emperor dropped to the floor the second he was delivered a punch in the face. Any Rebel sympathizer deserves this fast delivery of justice.
''Eva?''
She's pulled out of her thoughts and shifts her head to her mother.
''Have you already thought about what to do after school?'' her mother asks, grabbing a cup of water from the table.
Eva shifts her head down to think of an answer and in the corner of her eye, she sees her dad slightly face-palming in a way her mother doesn't see. Eva knows her mother won't like the answer, so Eva shakes her head.
''Maybe it's nice to work in the same factory as your dad, or maybe you like to help me in the fields,'' her mom suggests.
Her mother then continues to suggest some other jobs in the rural and urban areas, and none of them is what Eva is interested in, and as her mother names up every job available in the Capital, the frustration constantly rises. Teacher, biologist, meteorologist, air traffic controller, the director of a company, tourguide - not a single job that Eva likes remotely more than a job in the military. Eva looks up at her mother with the frustration boiling in her chest, and knowing the true answer won't make her happy, she decides to punch a breakthrough.
''Mom,'' interrupts Eva. ''I want to be a Stormtrooper.''
Her mother chokes on her cup of water and coughs hard, putting the cup back on the table. Some water spills out and spreads over the table, but her coughing mother doesn't pay attention in the slightest as her eyes focus on Eva with worry.
''Eva, you still want to go for that?'' her mother asks with a hoarse voice, still coughing. ''Don't you understand how dangerous that job is?''
''But mom, I want to serve the Empire,'' Eva replies.
''What did I tell you this morning, Eva? We won't talk further about this,'' says her father as frustrated as her mother.
Eva lets out a big sigh as she drops her spoon on the plate.
''Mom, dad, why can't you accept what I want to become?'' asks Eva, infuriated, her heart pounding in her chest.
''Because we don't want to lose you, we don't want you to die,'' answers her mother.
''Mom, it's the duty of the Empire to bring prosperity and order to every world it encounters,'' Eva cries, nearly shouting at her parents. ''I want to be part of that. I want to fight for prosperity, security, and peace, and if that means I have to fight on a battlefield, then so be it.''
''You don't need to risk your life to change the galaxy. There are other ways to serve the Empire,'' says Mother. ''Think about civil service or diplomacy.''
''That's a joke,'' scoffs Eva. ''Diplomats just talk, but soldiers are those who directly enforce the will of the Empire. They have a much bigger impact than diplomats or anyone from civil service. It's soldiers who bring prosperity, security, and peace to every world.''
''Isn't the Rebel Alliance trying to do the same thing?'' asks Father.
Eva shifts her eyes to her father. ''The same thing? Don't you dare compare the Rebels to the Empire. They're nothing but a sad band of terrorists who seek to destroy the stability and security of the Empire, and they kill civilians during their terrible acts. The Empire needs soldiers like me to enforce our ideals and crush the Rebels. I can't just stand back and watch the Rebels tear down everything we've built and seek to build to prosper. I want to stand up and fight!''
''Eva, soldiers are exposed to big risks every minute,'' says her mom. ''Have you ever thought about the consequences of becoming a soldier in the long run?''
Eva falls silent. The room feels heavy as she can't think properly anymore, her mind clouded with anger, frustration and confusion. Between the frustration, she understands the dangers her parents worry about, but Eva remains unyielding. Looking down at her plate, she feels the room suffocating her.
''I'll think about that somewhere without two clucking chickens,'' she says.
Eva then abruptly pushes her chair back, scraping against the floor and she storms out of the dining room and runs upstairs, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.
''Eva, come back and eat your food now,'' says her mom strictly from the dining table.
''Let her calm down for a minute,'' hears Eva her father say from upstairs.
She storms to her room and slams the door with the fury within her burning violently.
Why don't they just accept me for who I am, thinks Eva. She walks to her bed in the room, her heart pounding with frustration as she drops herself on the blue bedsheets. Feeling the soft mattress dampening her drop, her eyes land on the orange sun slowly vanishing below the horizon behind her window. The sky is filled with shades of blue and orange, while the olive-green crops sway in the breeze. The calm weather of the evening gives her the rest to think as she gazes out of the window with her eyes watery from the frustration.
Almost everyone at school wants to serve in the military as a Stormtrooper or something else with weapons. Hell, even Oliva is planning to follow the Academy training as soon as she gets the conscription call. The Empire needs people like me to fight for its ideals. Why don't dad and mom accept it? Why don't they want me to serve the Empire the way everyone else does?
And then saying the Rebel Alliance does the same thing as the Empire? Dad, what are you even thinking? What her father said to her echoes through her mind, and it infuriates her that it came out of the mouth of her father. The Rebels are terrorists, monsters, murderers, they represent the worst of the galaxy. They all deserve to die at the hands of the Empire. In no way are they doing the same as us.
Then she hears a knock on the metal door. Eva breaks the stare and shifts her head, seeing the door of her bedroom sliding into the wall swiftly, and she sees her father at the doorstep.
''Eva, are you alright?'' he asks, the worry reflecting in his eyes.
Eva lets out a sigh, frustrated that she sees a hint of Rebel sympathy in her father's eyes. She doesn't say anything and looks away, gazing out of the window again. Just let me alone, dad.
Eva hears the wooden floor squeaking a little as her father approaches her and lowers himself on the bed, sitting next to her. Dad, just let me alone, but before she could say that, she stops herself. I can better confront him and ask the questions, thinks Eva, so she speaks up.
''Dad,'' says Eva, her voice trembling with frustration. ''You know the Rebels kill so many innocent people.''
Her father shifts her head to her and makes eye contact.
''I want to fight them and let them suffer. Why don't you let me?''
Her father lets out a sigh and bends himself a bit towards her. ''Eva, you're a naive, stubborn little girl,'' and he reaches out to her and wipes away the tears.
Feeling her father's fingers wiping away her tears, Eva blushes a little and feels her cheeks warm up a bit. His fingers swipe over her skin as Eva shifts her eyes down to the blue bedsheet, letting her father wipe away her tears.
''You're at such an age that your mind buys into anything that shows up on the vidscreen,'' says father, wiping away the remaining tears below her blue eyes. ''You look with both eyes at the conscription calls, but your mind doesn't consider the glorification, the sugar-coating, and the exaggeration that comes with them. You don't watch with one eye focused on what could be false and with the other on the rest,''
Eva swallows heavily, her tears ceasing to drop and she slowly nods. Her eyes, aching from the tears, are still fixated on her blue bedsheet. Then she feels a finger touching her forehead and Eva shifts her eyes up to her father.
''Your innocent mind doesn't consider what lies below the exaggeration,'' he says and takes his finger from Eva's forehead. ''Teenagers like you are susceptible to glorification and everything else the conscription calls show you. It's not your fault that you can't notice the exaggeration or the things that are false, but it's something that you don't know is even happening. That's why your mother and I are here to guide you. We watch with you with an eye of criticism. We want to be sure that you believe in the truth and not the false things, but we can't do it every time. Sometimes, you watch the vidscreen without me or your mother, leaving you without guidance. This is why I don't want you to watch the news channels when you're alone. We just want to shield you from the false or half-false things that you'd believe without us.''
Eva shifts her eyes down, understanding as she nods. She remembers the conscription call she saw earlier this morning while she was en route to her school. The marching Stormtroopers, the tank gunner looking directly at the camera, the officer walking on the bridge of a Star Destroyer… They all seem to have a filter to make them look more badass.
''Is-, is the Empire b- bad?'' Eva stammers, her voice shivering.
''No,'' replies her father. ''I bet you already know the ideals we stand for, but they have worked for nearly 20 years and did a lot of good. Worlds have flourished, hyperspace lanes have become safer, piracy is non-existent in almost every Imperial sector, slaves are no longer held at Imperial worlds, and finally there's something people can feel proud to be part of. But for every step in the right direction, the Empire takes a step in the wrong direction as well. Some worlds have gone bankrupt, civilizations have been wiped out or go completely unheard of, and there are people who fear the Empire.''
''But-, but fear is what keeps them in line,'' she stutters, looking up. ''It's how we rule the galaxy.''
''But did it work?''
Her father's question makes Eva stammer, not knowing how to respond and she shifts her eyes down.
''Each step the Empire takes, we have to judge its effectiveness,'' says her father. ''For 15 years, fear did work. It brought peace to all of the Imperial worlds, but look where we're now. Now, we're in a full-scale galactic war.''
Eva swallows heavily, looking up at her father. ''How does the Rebel Alliance do the same as us?''
Father lets out a sigh, trying to think about how to answer. ''We and the Rebels both strive for peace for a better place, trying to improve the galaxy and make the lives of others better. We both want peace, but what sets us apart is what we mean by peace. As Imperials, we believe that order, authority and security are what brings peace while the Rebels believe it's freedom and democracy, but at the end of the day, we both want peace and we both want to achieve it with violence.''
''What do you think?'' asks Eva, swallowing heavily.
''Look, I believe in the Empire,'' says her father. ''It's better than the Old Republic the Rebel Alliance is trying to restore, but I don't follow the Empire blindly as you do. I judge our government with criticism and I want to know everything about what I'm dealing with, but I believe in the Empire nonetheless.''
Eva nods understanding what her father has told her and she looks down, thinking of the conversation. The Empire does a lot of good things for us, but maybe there's a bad side. Maybe there's something I haven't seen yet. Still, I don't want the Rebels to win. They're still terrorists. They may be trying to do what's good in their eyes, but their actions badly influence us.
''And I don't want you to join the Army or the Stormtrooper Corps,'' says her father. ''The military will send you down to the places where you're needed the most, which will be the bloodiest battlefields of the galaxy. And if you'd believe in everything the conscription calls shows you, the heroes, the glory, the ease, the joy, you'd be heavily disappointed when you start to fight on those battlefields and face the harsh reality.''
Eva keeps her eyes locked on her bedsheet. I hate to say it, but dad might be right.
''Eva, you're still an innocent child who deserves a good childhood,'' says her father. ''You're vulnerable and innocent, not a tool of war,'' and he bends over to her and strokes her hair. ''But that doesn't mean you can't be proud of the Empire.''
Eva looks up and she starts to smile, the ache in her eyes starting to subside. Feeling her father stroke her blond hair makes her feel more comfortable in a situation that started anything but.
''Glory to the Empire, isn't it?'' her father asks.
Eva chuckles. ''Glory to the Empire.''
She feels happy to hear that her father isn't a Rebel sympathiser. Though he seems critical of what the Empire is doing, he doesn't sound like any Rebel scum does.
''How early do you have to be at school tomorrow?'' asks her father, retracting his hand.
''I don't have school tomorrow. I have a day off,'' replies Eva.
''Lucky you,'' says her father, and Eva smiles. ''Also, there's been a change of policies this month at the BlasTech facility. I'm allowed to invite one person to the facility per year. You want to come with me tomorrow?''
Coming with you to BlasTech?
Suddenly, Eva feels a wave of joy washes over her, washing off the frustration. ''To the BlasTech facility?''
Her father nods. ''So?''
''Of course I want to come,'' chuckles Eva. ''Did you think I'd say no?''
Father smiles. ''Perhaps.''
''Could I test out the blasters?'' asks Eva.
''I can't promise that, I'd have to ask management, but if yes, then yeah, sure,'' says her father. ''With some guidance of course. I'm not going to let you fire a blaster on your own.''
Eva smiles. ''Yeah, I'd be a safety hazard,'' she giggles.
The frustration she previously felt has now melted as ice in the sun. Later that night, her father puts her to bed and Eva eagerly pulls the blanket towards herself. Both her parents wish her a good night and the lights go off, leaving the room in full darkness, but something that shines bright is Eva's excitement. With her heart pounding in her chest, she can't shake off the excitement as she can't wait to visit the BlasTech facility. The corporation is known as the biggest supplier of weapons to the Imperial military, and the manufacturing is a huge operation. She can't wait to see the blasters being manufactured piece by piece, blasters she might have to use later in her life. Eagerly, she closes her eyes and sleeps for the rest of the night.
