The next day, Eva eagerly boards her father's speeder early in the morning. Today is quite a special day, and Eva can't feel anything but happiness, and she smiles as she steps aboard. The wheat crops surrounding the home sway slightly as the light, cold breeze blows over the fields.
As she boards the speeder, Eva ties her hair up in a bun again so it doesn't fly into her face when the breeze picks up. The speeder she boards is mostly of grey metal and shines a bit in the sunlight. Its engine cap is long, and behind that is the windshield, a row of seats and then the trunk.
As her father turns on the engine, Eva turns around in her seat and waves to Eline. She's standing on the porch waving back to her. Then Eva and her father set off. The speeder has no roof and little to block the noisy sound of the engine.
''I talked with management,'' says her father as they drive from the dirt road onto the paved main road, his wedding necklace glinting in the sunlight.
''They don't allow us to test out the blasters,'' he continues, raising his voice to be heard over the engine.
Eva is sad that she's not allowed to test a blaster gun, but she nods, accepting the bump. As they drive on the road towards the BlasTech facility, a column of Imperial troop transporters pass them with roaring engines.
''Why are there so many Stormtroopers lately?'' Eva asks curiously.
''I don't know, but I heard they raised the safety warning level,'' answers her father.
Eva wonders why, but all she could think of is the Rebel Alliance. They are the only group that forms a threat to the Imperial government here. Piracy is basically non-existent, and so is a local resistance group. The Rebel Alliance is the only reason the Imperial garrison would put more troopers on the roads and the streets.
''Don't you have to work while I'm there?'' Eva asks, trying to just enjoy the day.
''No, management sees this day as a day off,'' her father reassures her.
Eva nods.
Suddenly, her ears pick up another sound. It's just loud enough to be heard over the engine noise, and it's coming from behind. Eva thinks it's another speeder driving behind them, but to be sure she's correct, Eva looks behind. Her eyes land on a desolate road cutting through the fields of crops, but then they shift to a spacecraft piercing descending from the clouds. She squints her eyes and hears it roaring like a beast as she recognises it as a TIE Fighter. Her pupils widen as she tracks it with her eyes, her heart filling with awe as the TIE Fighter comes closer and closer, descending further from the sky. She can feel its twin-ion engines roaring as it aligns with the road and comes closer like an Aetherwing targeting its prey with its claws ready to strike. Eva's heart pounds with exhilaration as she's never seen a TIE Fighter flying from this close. The round cockpit window shimmers in the sun as it comes closer. Eva then raises her hand and waves to the TIE Fighter from her seat, hoping the pilot sees her.
Almost instantly, the TIE Fighter flashes its big, dual fog lights below the cockpit twice, quickly after each other, and a smile forms on her face from ear to ear. The pilot saw her and waved to her by flashing its fog lights. The TIE Fighter approaches them, its shadow casted down upon the crops in the fields, and as Eva lowers her hand, the fighter flies over her like a bullet, shrieking like a bird. Her eyes keep tracking it in awe as it flies away from them, following the road. Eva feels its whirlwind bumping against her, feeling it pulling her hair like a strong gust in the storm. The hair on her arms stand right up as the TIE Fighter pulls up and rejoins the sky, it's shrieking engines slowly subsiding. Eva lets out a chuckle of excitement, being left awestruck. Its roaring engine left her ears aching, but it was terrifyingly beautiful. It sounded like a demon shrieking over the battlefield, hunting for the next Rebel prey to kill. It's a terrifying battle machine instilling terror in everyone it comes across, but to Eva, it instills excitement. She's never seen a TIE Fighter approaching and signaling her, and flying over her from this close. She thought today would just be a trip to the BlasTech facility, but she never thought to ever experience this. The day has become more special, and the shrieking engines echo through her mind relentlessly.
The trip to the BlasTech facility is far. However, it is not really far away from their house as the Convor flies. They cross a busy intersection and then they drive on a road that seems to cut through a large hill, creating two cliffs on both sides of the road.
Then as the road begins to slowly bend downwards due to the dropping elevation, a security checkpoint becomes visible. A grey, metal building is right next to the road with a gate blocking the passage, and there are fences that keep unwanted visitors and wildlife away and go from the gate to the steep cliffs.
As they drive closer, Eva sees Stormtroopers guarding the gate, their white armour shining in the sunlight. They come to a halt in front of the gate and her father reaches out for his workbag and grabs a pair of chaincodes while a Stormtrooper commander walks towards him.
''Good morning,'' greets the Stormtrooper as he takes their chaincodes and puts it in a little device to scan.
''Hello,'' greets Eva with a smile.
''Hey kid.''
''Good morning commander, how's security today?'' asks her father, leaning with his hand on the steering wheel.
''Well, the garrison is quite on edge,'' responds the trooper, ''but I'm not allowed to tell you more.''
''I understand that,'' replies her father.
The Stormtrooper then hands their chainlinks back to her father, after which the gate opens and they pass the checkpoint. As they drive on, they finally arrive at the BlasTech manufacturing facility.
They drive upon a large parking space with many speeders parked in the lots. The parking space almost seems to be endless. Her father drives until they find a spot to park in. Eva and her father step out, and she takes a good look at the facility.
It is located in a large valley with high fences and a couple of watch towers guarding it. The facility itself consists of 9 large, light-grey square buildings with yellow stripes, each differing in length, width and height. Some massive chimneys releasing water vapour into the air stick out from the buildings. Some large water tanks border the parking space. They contain enough to create entire new oceans.
Eva follows her father to the big entrance hall of the facility as she walks over the tarmac, looking at the building. She has never seen the facility so close. She could only see the facility when she stood behind the fences bordering the valley near her home.
Eva follows her father through the entrance hall, its floor stainless and shiny white. A few employees walk through the hall, talking about things Eva can't hear.
At the end of the hall is a counter with a grey protocol droid standing behind it, shining in the fluorescent light. The droid registers Eva and her father, after which they are granted access to the rest of the facility. Eva follows her father through a large door and enters the first factory hall. The floor is as clean as the entrance hall, the ceiling is high and there are numerous conveyor belts moving metal parts.
''This is the first assembly hall,'' says her father. They proceed to walk through the hall. ''This is where the machines put together the main body of E-11 blasters,'' he explains.
They walk alongside the conveyors with robot arms next to them. Eva follows one part at the start of the conveyors. This particular part is for now an unrecognizable piece of clean, grey metal. The piece of metal passes through two machines. 2 glass panels make it possible for Eva to see what happens inside. The machine spray-paints the grey metal to black, and then it passes a couple of heat lamps that dry the paint in no time. As it leaves the paint machine and passes the robot arms, numerous metal things are welded to the mystery part. As the robots are done with welding, Eva sees parts she can recognize: the handle and the gap to insert the power cells. Then the body moves along a second pair of robot arms that weld the barrel. That's where the automated assembly stops. Eva stops following the metal body as it vanishes in a white, metal box.
''Now they assemble the blasters by hand,'' explains her father.
The box is filled with blaster bodies as an employee carries it to a work table with more than 8 other employees. Here, they do the wiring, plug in the trigger, polish sharp metal edges, and insert the scope. At the end of the table is a box filled with E-11 guns, ready for usage. 20 other work tables do the same, each with 8 employees.
''Then they're carried to the storage rooms to wait to be transported to other planets,'' explains her father.
She nods. It is amazing to see pieces of metal become the guns she will later use in the Army.
They walk to the storage hall at the end of the assembly hall. Each assembly hall has a storage space at the end. The storage hall stretches for so long, she might never run to the end without exhausting her endurance. The roof is high as if it touches the clouds. There are some catwalks suspended in the air. On the floor are yellow lines imprinted on which the crates with guns are placed. She walks to a crate. It is filled with guns. For Eva, it's like a treasure with gold.
Eva turns her head around. ''Can I pick one up?'' she asks.
''Sure,'' answers her father.
Eva turns her head around. She picks one and lifts it out of the crate. It is quite heavy. She sees it has no power cell, which is for the best. Without it, the blaster is uncharged and unusable, safe for Eva to pick up without accidentally firing it.
Eva then hears somebody calling her father's name. She turns around and sees it's his co-worker approaching him.
She turns around again with the E-11 still in her hand. What does it look if I look through the scope, she asks herself. She aligns the scope with her eyes without coming close to her head and rotates her entire body to see how much the vision magnifies. The scope has a red indicator in the middle for better accuracy. The stacks of crates that first seemed to be at the end of the storage room, now seem to be so close that she could almost touch them. As she passes one of the catwalks suspended high in the air with her scope, she notices something that catches her eye. She rotates a few degrees back and sees a black figure standing on the catwalks. The apparition of this black figure is ominous as it's standing far away. Eva feels a wave of anxiety washing over her and she almost starts to freak out. The figure is not moving at all and she feels like it's looking at her. She rotates one of the buttons on the right side of the scope to zoom in, but she can't get a good look at the figure. It's too out of focus as the apparition becomes a vague, blurry spot on the lens.
''Eva.''
She turns around with the blaster in her hands.
''In the next assembly hall, they make E-22s,'' says her father.
E-22s, aren't those the blaster rifles with double barrels? Eva puts down the gun in the crate. The E-22 is a model of blaster much heavier in firepower than the standard E-11, issued for Stormtroopers. It was sturdy and had the firepower of six E-11's combined, and feeling the curiosity overtaking her, Eva follows her father, but before she leaves the storage room, Eva turns around one last time. She looks back at the catwalk, wondering whether the ghost-like apparition is still there, but it's gone, vanished into thin air, and she shoves it off. Must've been an inspector or a security guard. Just nothing out of the ordinary.
They walk into the next assembly hall. It is as spotless and huge as the previous hall. The E-22s are assembled in the same way as the E-11. A bland piece of grey metal, spray-painted in black, dried with immense heat, and then welded together with various other parts. Eva looks at the endless lines of conveyor belts and machines, the steam rising towards the roof and escaping through the ventilation shafts as she tracks the little clouds with her eyes.
''How many blasters are made per day here?'' Eva asks, turning around to her father.
''About 2.000,'' he replies.
Eva nods. One of them will be mine when I'm in the army.
Then, an alarm goes off, wailing relentlessly and flooding Eva with anxiety instantly. She turns immediately to her father, wondering what the alarm means.
''What's that alarm for?'' asks Eva.
''I don't know,'' says her father.
He turns around to some employees and asks what is going on, but they are clueless either. Eva gazes at him as he speaks to his co-workers, and suddenly, a robotic, monotone voice speaks through the intercom of the factory hall.
''Warning. Protocol A113 is currently effective.''
Her father turns to Eva in an instant with the worry reflected in his eyes. ''Blast it, that's not good.''
''A113?'' Eva asks, her heart racing in her chest. ''What's that?''
''Eva, follow me now,'' says her father.
''Dad, what's going on?''
''Now,'' he says urgently.
Eva nods and she follows her father, shoving her question aside. Eva's heart is pounding as she hastily looks around and sees that all the employees around her are picking up masks. Something is seriously going wrong. What could it be? Fire? Gas leak?
They quickly walk to a glass-protected cabinet next to the operation room. Her father opens the cabinet quickly with his employee card and picks out an oxygen mask. He lowers himself and puts the mask on Eva's face. The mask covers her mouth and eyes. A thick strip of elastic string heavily pushes the mask on her face. The inhaler covers her mouth and nose. The inhaler is connected to a filter attached to the other side of the inhaler on the outside. It filters the toxic air to provide breathable oxygen. Above the inhaler is a large piece of transparent, stiff plastic that covers the rest of the face to look through. Eva starts to breathe more quickly and her heart starts to pound heavier in her chest. It's getting scary now.
Her father then puts on his own oxygen mask.
''A113 is the leak of a very deadly gas,'' he explains. His voice is mostly muffled.
That explains the masks, thinks Eva. Through her nervousness, Eva notices that her father is unusually calm in this dangerous situation. He probably trained for this when he first got the job at this facility, and though the presence of her father calms her a bit down, the anxiety makes her heart pound relentlessly in her chest and her lungs nearly hyperventilating.
''Dad, I-, I want to leave,'' Eva's voice shivers.
''We'll leave,'' answers her father in a calm tone. ''Follow me.''
Father stands up and she follows him. She can feel her heart beating as if it's in her throat. They walk out of the factory hall and enter a corridor with pipes going horizontal on both walls. As they come closer, Eva notices a sign imprinted on a sign suspended in the air with white, bolt letters.
EMERGENCY AIRLOCK, she reads. Below the text is an arrow pointing to the right.
So that's the exit, thinks Eva, an airlock. They turn around the corner to which the arrow points to, but then they're greeted by a crowd of employees. They're all white-clothed and there are at least 10 of them, but something weird is going on. The crowd isn't going in and the airlock is shut, allowing no one to leave the factory hall. Why are none of them entering the airlock, wonders Eva. Doesn't it work?
Her father approaches a random employee dressed in white clothing and the black logo of BlasTech imprinted on his chest.
''What's wrong with the airlock?'' he asks.
The random employee turns around and through his oxygen mask, Eva sees the nervousness and the confusion brewing in his eyes, taking deep breaths as if he tries to imitate Lord Vader.
''The airlock doesn't open,'' he responds. ''It's jammed.''
Her father tilts his head a little, confused, and he grabs his comlink out of the pocket of his coat and holds it below his chin.
''Management, airlock 2B won't go open,'' he says, and he takes quick glance at Eva, ensuring she's still with him, and turns back to the employee. ''Could you open the doors?''
Even though employees in the crowd are discussing loud enough to be clearly heard, it feels as if an eerie silence falls.
''Negative,'' responds a voice breaking the silence.
What? Why the hell not?
Eva feels the anxiety brewing within her, feeling sweat forming on her forehead as she gazes at her father trying to figure the same question she has.
''Why?'' he asks. ''Something wrong?''
But his question falls on deaf ears as the voice on the other line instantly vanishes, and Eva faintly shakes her head, feeling her heart going insane.
''Management?''
Nothing again. His question isn't answered. Something really wrong is going on. Why dodge a simple question?
Then, Eva notices in the corner of her eye another employee walking towards the crowd and his father. His oxygen mask hobbles a little as he walks and attracts the attention of her father.
''Supervisor,'' he says. ''The airlocks won't open and management isn't responding. What's going on?''
The supervisor stops in his tracks, and Eva feels the nervousness he radiates like a leaking fusion reactor. The nervousness she senses makes her nerves burn hotter than before, and she notices his hands are shaking as he steps towards her father.
''The entire factory is in lockdown,'' he responds. ''The entire perimeter.''
''In lockdown?'' asks her father, confused. ''What's going on?''
The supervisor lets out a shivering sigh.
''The motherblasting ISB is standing outside on the doorstep,'' he stammers.
The ISB? This is really wrong, thinks Eva. More than wrong, it's the kriffin' Imperial Security Bureau, the Empire's internal police force. They always show up the second they suspect you of anything malicious. Theft, black market trade, espionage, sabotage, assassination, high treason, regicide, genocide, Rebel or Sith affiliation, Force sensitivity... Anything that threatens the stability, security, peace and order of the Empire is a reason for the ISB to show up on your doorstep and torture you to gain answers. This situation is far worse than just a gas leak. The ISB wouldn't just show up for some mechanical problem, there is a problem here that is far bigger.
''What?'' he asks.
''Yeah,'' sighs the supervisor. ''With tanks, shuttles, and tons of troopers.''
That's absolutely wrong, thinks Eva. They're with an entire army.
''Why would that be?'' asks her father. ''We've sworn our allegiance to the Empire, not the Rebel Alliance. We fished in a mega deal of the Army this week.''
The supervisor shakes his head. ''I don't know. I really don't know.''
Then, the ominous apparition flashes in Eva's eyes like a black stain. That person she felt like it was watching her from afar from the catwalks-it flashes before her like lightning, and suddenly, Eva feels like her previous conclusions were wrong. She feels like it wasn't the factory's inspector or a security guard, but something so dangerous that the ISB feels threatened to instantly put an entire factory in lockdown. They don't come for anything the ordinary emergency responders can handle. This is something far more dangerous, and Eva realises what it could be, and she steps towards the supervisor and her father, her heart racing in her chest.
''Dad, there's a spy here,'' she says, her voice shivering with anxiety.
Her father and the supervisor turn their heads around.
''Why else would the ISB be here?'' she asks. ''They usually come and capture Rebel insurgents.''
Eva remembers the news item on the TV in which it was told that eleven Rebel insurgents were arrested on Kuat who were responsible for the train bombing. The aerial footage of containers and wrecked train carts having crushed buildings along the railroad flashes in her mind, and her heart starts to pound heavily in her chest. Could there be a bomb here? Eva starts gasping for air as she wants to get out to safety right now.
''Dad? I want to get out,'' her voice shivers.
Father approaches her and embraces Eva in his arms. ''We'll get out of here,'' he ensures. ''Don't worry, we'll get out of here.''
Eva entangles her arms around her father and presses herself into him, feeling her heart calming down. At least there's one spot of safety in this whole factory in lockdown.
Then, Eva's attention is pulled by a hissing sound and she lets go of her father. The yellow ribbons imprinted on the airlock move up as the hydraulics slowly pull its heavy steel door up. Eva lets out a sigh of relief as she sees her escape path opening up, freeing her of her anxiety and the dangers this factory in lockdown holds. Eva quickly glances at her father, wanting to pull his hand to get him to leave as well, but she notices something's up. She notices her father is seeing something, and as Eva shifts her eyes back to the opened airlock, she sees that no one in the crowd is going in.
''Out of the way,'' she hears someone shouting.
Her father gently pushes Eva to the closest wall. As everyone else stands next to the walls, Eva tilts her head around her father to look at what is happening. Although she knew the ISB was outside, she was surprised to see an Imperial Army officer. She instantly recognizes it's an officer because of his grey clothing and cap. Behind him stands an entire squad of Stormtroopers with blasters in their hands.
''Show your chain code for identification,'' says the officer strictly.
Eva looks at her father, wondering why but due to her anxiety, she can't open her mouth to speak. Her father opens his bag and grabs the chain codes of him and Eva. She tilts her head around her father and her eyes dart around, trying to dissect what is going on, and she sees various Stormtroopers holding a device and scanning the chain codes of the employees. One Stormtrooper approaches her and her father with the device in his hand and his E-11 locked in his holster hanging around his waist. His helmet reflects the fluorescent lights hanging down from the ceiling.
''Chain code please,'' he says.
Her father hands over the two chain codes to the Stormtrooper and he inserts the chain codes into his device one by one, scanning their legitimacy. The scanning seems to take forever. The situation makes her too anxious to think clearly, and thoughts start to race in her mind that their chain codes might not work. What could happen if that is true? Could we be arrested for this? Would we be suspected of attempted sabotage?
Then a small green light flickers on his device and the Stormtrooper gives their chain codes back to her father, and he walks to the next person in line. Eva sighs out of relief, relieved that their chain codes are valid, but her heart is still pounding nonetheless, her nerves unable to cool down.
''Eva,'' says her father. ''Everything is going to be alright,'' he says and puts a hand on Eva's right shoulder.
It still doesn't make her less anxious. The leak of dangerous gas, the ISB invading the place, and the probability of a spy among them or a bomb hiding in a compartment. All of this is running in circles in Eva's mind. No thought is right. There might be just a data leak and not an infiltration or sabotage.
Then a blaster shot on a Stormtrooper's shoulder snaps her brutally out of her thoughts. Eva startles as the trooper falls backwards to the ground with a smoking burn mark on his shoulder.
''There's the spy,'' yells the officer. ''Shoot to stun!'
The Stormtroopers start opening fire. Her tension makes everything go in slow motion. Then she feels a cold hand pulling her away. She and her father stumble through a door.
''Eva, run,'' says her father. He pulls onto Eva's hand.
Eva snaps out of her slow thoughts and starts to run behind her father. She's too anxious to comprehend what is happening. She takes a last look over her shoulder and sees Stormtroopers opening fire and falling to the floor. She still can't comprehend and turns her head around. The adrenaline starts kicking in and she begins to think clearly. A gunfight is ensuing. They run through a small storage room with crates stacked on top of each other. Her brain then starts to register the screaming and the blaster shots behind her. It's going wrong, more than wrong.
''Where are we going,'' gasps Eva. She then lets go of her father's hand.
''Far away,'' answers her father.
They run out of the storage room and leave the blaster fight behind. They enter the assembly hall again. As they run, squads of Stormtroopers pass them. Their footsteps sound like the march of a million men army, echoing through the hall.
They approach the end of the assembly hall. The running seemed endless. They run through a door and enter a corridor. At the end of it is a staircase that goes all the way up. As they approach the staircase, Eva sees it's a staircase that is centred so that there is open space between the stairs that go up. The first stairs go up, then it levels straight, makes a left turn, goes straight, makes another left turn, and goes up again.
Then Eva and her father startle and immediately stop in their tracks. They hear somebody screaming in the direction of the staircase. Then blaster shots. Her father wants to pull her back to run in the opposite direction, but then they hear something clattering against the metal railing of the stair.
Then a Stormtrooper hits the floor face-first. His head gets into an unnatural position as if his neck were broken. Eva hears the Stormtrooper gasping for air as he tries to push himself up.
''Eva, stay here,'' says her father sternly.
Eva nods nervously, her heart pounding in her chest and her hands almost shaking.
Eva's father approaches the Stormtrooper to help him, but then a person gently falls through the space of air between the stairs. Her father startles and is nailed to the floor as Eva sees the person covered in black armour, attached to a string that goes all the way up to the ceiling of the staircase. Its black helmet shrouds his head. Suddenly, Eva realizes that this is the person who stood on the catwalk. This is the ominous apparition who seemingly stared at her in the storage room. This is the spy, undoubtedly a Rebel, and Eva is trapped in the clutches of his espionage.
The silent atmosphere feels suffocating as Eva's lungs hyperventilate, unable to catch up with her breath. The spy keeps standing in place as her father slowly backs away, trying to make no sound. Then, the spy reaches out for his holster and lashes out a vibroknife. Amidst the pounds of her beating heart, she can hear the blade vibrating in the air from afar, and as her eyes are fixated on the knife, her father backs away towards her. He turns around and grasps Eva's hand and pulls her away from the spy. He pulls her through a door and enters a storage space. He lets go of Eva and closes the door with a slam, and before she can let it sink in, her father grasps her hand and pulls her to the back of the storage room, and they sit down on the floor and hide behind a stack of crates. Her gasps echo through the room as she feels the cold metal of the crate biting into her back. Her hands tremble in fear as her father wipes away the drops of sweat from his forehead, and notices Eva's anxiety.
''Eva, take a deep breath,'' he says.
Eva glances over his father and nods. She takes deep breaths, making her lungs as big as possible and letting enough oxygen for her racing heart to slow down. With each sigh she breathes out, the stress releases and her lungs ache less. Her panic levels drop, and she starts to think more clearly and become more aware of her surroundings. The storage room is filled with large pallets with crates that completely cover her and her father in the sitting position. They all have tie wraps to keep the crates tightly together. The floor is made from metal, the walls are from concrete, and the ceiling lights are dim, lighting up the room in a white-blue hue. This storage space is smaller than the warehouse where they stored the E-11s.
''I locked the door,'' says her father reassuringly, panting to gain his endurance. ''300 millimeters of pure durasteel. That spy won't get in.''
Right, thinks Eva, and she takes a deep breath. Durasteel is one of the most robust materials in the galaxy, forming the physical armoring of almost all the attack ships of the Imperial Navy.
Then, she hears a deafening screech of a blast. Her heart skips a beat, the floor shakes, and she hears the blast door slam onto the floor. 300 millimeters of Star Destroyer armor plates, blasted open by a thermal detonator in mere seconds, and hearing the choking silence makes Eva realise the spy has entered the room. He knew where they went, and now, he's on their heels, and Eva's lungs hyperventilate, her heart pounding in her chest with panic. Her hands tremble as the stress builds up and her vision starts to blur. She's totally consumed by the panic.
''Eva, It's okay,'' whispers her father in her ear with a hint of slight panic. ''Everything will be alright.''
Eva doesn't answer. Through all of her suffocating panic, she remembers what her father said. She takes a deep breath, and it slows down her racing heart. Then she hears the footsteps of the spy far behind the crates she's leaning against. The footsteps make eerie thuds on the metal floor. The spy is looking for them.
Her father then moves his head slightly above the top of the crate to look. He then immediately retracts his head.
''We have to move,'' whispers her father.
Eva tilts her head slightly. ''To where?'' she whispers.
Her father then points to another crate, just two meters from her left shoulder.
''I'll go first,'' her father says.
He crouches to the crate's corner on Eva's side. He looks around the edge, and he then quickly crouches to the other crate. Now Eva has to do it. Her heart is pounding as she gets into position. Her father signals with his hand that she has to wait. The spy has to turn away. Eva is waiting anxiously with her heart racing. Then, her father gives her the sign to go. Eva pushes herself off with her foot to crouch quickly.
Then her foot gets stuck in the loop of a tie wrap, causing her to lose her balance, fall over and hit the metal floor hard with her chin. The pain in her chin is excruciating, but through all of it, she hears the infamous sound of a blaster gun cycling to firing mode. She quickly pushes herself off the floor and stands up and sees the spy pointing his gun directly at her. Eva starts to panic as she raises her shaking hands in the air with her heart pounding in her chest, knowing she's in big trouble. As she raises her hands, she sees the spy has grey stripes on his black suit, going from the helmet to the chest plate. On its shoulder is a weathered insignia, a grey circle with two wings. As soon as she sees the insignia, her father then quickly steps towards her and covers Eva with his body.
''Don't harm us,'' cries her father. His panic is clearly audible, and his heavy breathing makes Eva so much more anxious. ''We're unarmed.''
Eva slowly lowers her hands, thinking that the spy will lower his gun as he has no reason to keep both of them at gunpoint.
''Up,'' yells the spy.
Eva startles and immediately raises her shaking hands again. The panic makes her hands shake. Then Eva tilts her head to see around her father's back. The spy still has his gun pointed, but he's not pointing it at her father, but rather pointing at her.
''Point that gun at me instead of my daughter,'' says her father, and he starts to become angry. ''If you harm her, you'll get in trouble with me.''
Although his face is masked, Eva can see the very little gestures of his head that the spy is hesitating, but he's nowhere near the decision of lowering his gun.
''You'll get in trouble with me too,'' says another voice in the room.
The spy turns around and he's met by a single Stormtrooper. Eva instantly recognizes his voice, and after seeing the double blue ring on his chest plate and the orange pauldron on his shoulder, she immediately recognizes the Stormtrooper Commander as Kyraan. She feels a wave of relief washing over her, letting out a big sigh.
Kyraan stuns the spy with his E-11. The spy stumbles backwards, drops his gun on the floor and starts gasping for air. He holds one of his hands at his chest. The pain in his lungs because of the stun is probably excruciating.
''You don't point a gun at our children, especially not at Eva,'' says the Kyraan furiously. He comes closer to the spy, his boots pounding on the metal floor, and he holds him at gunpoint. ''You're under arrest.''
Eva's anxiety decreases, and her heart starts to slow down, feeling relieved that the spy is held at gunpoint. There's no need to hide and run anymore. The nightmare is over.
''Kyraan,'' says Eva, letting out a sigh and smiling. ''I'm so glad you're here.''
''Eva, I'm relieved you're OK,'' says Kyraan, shifting his bucket to Eva and then to her father. ''Mr Young, I'm glad you're fine too.''
Then Eva startles as the spy grasps the Kyraan's blaster and pulls it out of his hand. The Stormtrooper then accidentally pulls the trigger. Her father pulls Eva aside as the stun bolt nearly hits her. Father pulls Eva towards the same crate they hid behind, pounding her back against it. Her heart races in her chest as she realizes that it isn't over yet.
Eva raises her head over the crate and sees that Kyraan and the spy are in a heavy fistfight. He hits the spy's torso with his fist, causing him to stumble backwards. Kyraan then grasps the spy's helmet and slams it against the concrete wall. Eva can hear the spy's heavy breathing as he stumbles away from the Stormtrooper to stabilize himself. Come on, Kyraan. Kick his ass. Get that Rebel scum on his knees!
''Get out of here, now!'' cries the Kyraan, gesturing his hand to Eva. ''Get to safety!''
''Eva,'' says her father as Eva shifts her head to him. ''Hold my hand and follow me closely, and don't stray away,'' and he points to the wide open door. However, it is behind Kyraan and the spy who are in a heavy fist fight, blasting their fists into each other like two madmen.
Eva nods. She holds her father's hand, stands up and runs away from the stack of crates. There is only one way towards the door, it is running close to the wall when Kyraan and the spy fight near the opposing wall. Eva follows her father closely and holds his hand tightly.
Kyraan is kicked in the path of them. Her father stops and takes a different route. They run away from the wall and run around stacks of crates. As she follows her father, Eva sees through the stacks of crates that Kyraan is in difficulty, seeing him stumble and grasp for his shoulder. Come on, Kyraan, get him!
They run towards the door and finally make it there. Her father goes on, but Eva stops in her tracks. Something in the back of her mind tells her that she has to see whether Kyraan is okay. I have to make sure he's fine. That Rebel scumbag must be overpowered.
Eva walks back to the door and looks around the edge and sees Kyraan lying on the floor, still breathing, but as numb as a dead body and his arms spread over the floor. Hearing her father quickly running back towards her to get her away from the doorway, Eva keeps looking at Kyraan, and her heart pounds anxiously in her chest.
''Kyraan, get up!'' Eva cries, but he remains lying on the floor.
Eva gasps for air as she sees the spy grabbing his gun and pointing at the Stormtrooper, and the following seconds burn in Eva's mind as she feels the hands of her father pulling her abruptly away from the doorway.
''How did the spy look like?''
An ISB officer, dressed in a thin, white jacket, is sitting across from her with her father sitting beside her. The grey army tent casts a dark shadow over them.
Eva is trying to recall her memories, but the immense anxiety makes her unable to recollect the details of the spy's looks. As her father gives a description of the perpetrator, she gets distracted by a hospital bed being carried by two Imperial medics over the parking lot of the facility. On it lies a Stormtrooper with an orange pauldron and his helmet off of his head, and Eva can see a man struggling to survive his injuries as he holds onto his oxygen mask. The oxygen mask makes Eva unable to recognize the man, but she knows that one of the wounded soldiers the medics carried is Kyraan, and she's worried about his safety.
For many others, they weren't so lucky to even survive. Bodies were counted by the Imperial forces, but she doesn't know how much. The spy escaped into the sewage system below the facility, she heard. Aside from the shoot-out itself, the spy left little trace behind of him ever setting foot on the facility's floor.
That night she sits heavily on her desk, leaning with her elbows on the metal. Her bedroom is lit up by a single, circular ceiling light. Eva tries to make some homework, but the thoughts about the spy and the incursion constantly distract her.
Then she starts to question the military. Many were killed in a hunt that seemed so simple. Many were killed, and all of them were trained for years. She starts to realize that death is easier to happen than she thought. The Imperial incursion left a mark on her mind.
