''Attention, the Imperial Security Bureau is seeking the rogue Academy cadet Eva Young for arrest for home invasion, hostage taking, death by misconduct, possible rebellion, and unauthorised leave. Eva Young is considered armed and mentally unstable and thus dangerous.''
The colorful rendition of the Civil Watch Alert plays out on his datapad as Kirbley holds it in his hand, gazing away from the catwalk. Over the months, it has become a place he frequently goes back to when he's stuck with something or something he's thinking of is too big to fit in his office room. Standing high above The Well gives him more space to think in peace, and seeing cadets rising up the pit comforts him, seeing the Night Force cadets handling the extra pressure. He sees two cadets climbing up the top simultaneously. A shared first place or photo finish.
''Citizens with any information regarding Eva Young, please contact the Imperial Security Bureau or the Military Police without delay. The Imperial Civil Watch Alert, keeping the streets safe.''
He shifts his eyes to the screen of his grey datapad and they land on the colorful face of one of his own cadets. Eva Young, searched by the ISB for home invasion, hostage taking, death by misconduct, possible Rebellion, and unauthorised leave. He never thought a cadet was capable of doing these crimes, and having heard from one of her squad members that Eva is searching for the Rebel Spy concerns him. The Spy has been identified by the ISB as one of the most dangerous Rebel insurgent who's active on Vaulent 6. He's been linked to 3 bombings, 24 assassinations, 9 sabotages, and the murder of Kirbley's father. The Spy is a killing machine, an unstoppable force, an inextinguishable flame, and the fact that Eva is looking for him concerns him all the more. Even when she's done some horrible crimes, she still is a teenager and his cadet, one he created through Night Force. She's a child without a properly functioning Prefrontal Cortex. Eva Young has so far been using her Amygdala, the center of emotion, as her steering wheel. It's a vulnerability as it limits the long-term consequential decision-making of the teenager. It was his plan to train the teenagers to think about the long-term consequences, but it was planned to take place later in the program once they're a bit older. Eva Young hasn't trained for this yet. That was planned to take place later, but he had no idea Eva would go AWOL.
Eva Young fell into the trap of her brain's weakness. The inability to keep the long-term consequences of her decisions in mind got her, and she fell in its claws before she had the chance to train how not to, and it wasn't just her who fell in it. Eva's squadmembers, Ashara and Peyton fell in the same trap. They helped Eva from a distance, slicing into the city's sewage system and defrauding a sickness report. They covered up Eva's absence, and that led to her murders, the hostages she took, and the Civil Watch Alert. The decisions the three of them made has led to one killing and murdering and the other two breaking down at the interrogation desks of the ISB. Their military career might very well be over at this point, and it concerns him.
Suddenly, he feels his datapad vibrating and shifting his eyes, he sees it's a call from Carter. Previously the second-in-command officer of his father and now the Admiral of the Eagleclaw Fleet. It's his task to maintain it, and thus he's now at Fondor to inspect the upgraded Eagleclaw, the first Imperial II-class Star Destroyer of the fleet. It was an upgrade that was almost four years overdue because of Kirbley's Night Force project, one that had its home base on the Eagleclaw, making it hard for the fleet to temporarily decommission it from service. It had to stay in active service to keep Night Force in development. Since the Rebel airstrike that drenched Vaulent Capital in flames, the Academy was assigned as the home base of Night Force, thus making the flagship of the Eagleclaw Fleet to be decommissioned and dispatched to the Fondor Shipyards for the long-awaited upgrade. It was long, long overdue.
Kirbley taps on his screen and the holoprojector of his datapad flashes.
''Greetings, Carter,'' says Kirbley, the blue figure rendered by the projector.
''Greetings,'' says Carter, his figure moving a little on his datapad.
''How's the new Eagleclaw looking?'' Kirbley asks.
Carter chuckles. ''We really waited too long for this,'' he responds. ''It's far better than before the upgrade. Two heavy turbolasers were removed and replaced by three heavy ion cannons which drastically increase our firepower against Rebel capital ships. And, we got an improved radar scope system, better shielding, more capacity, and I could go on for hours summing up everything that has changed.''
''So, a true improvement,'' says Kirbley. ''Good to hear. Sadly, I can't say the same about Night Force.''
''Yeah, I've heard what happened,'' Carter replies. ''Is the ISB onto her?''
''Yes, but that's not my main concern,'' Kirbley replies. ''Night Force allowed this to happen. We taught them the a quarter of the skills of ISB veterans, but we haven't taught them the story of the Prefrontal Cortex and the Amygdala and what impact they have on their vision on the long-term consequences of their actions. Eva Young lacked it, just like any other cadet. We-, I allowed it to happen. She's gone crazy. She's been involved in bombings, murder cases, hostage-taking, and much more. It's insane how much she has done because she has the basic skills of a Stormtrooper but lacks the adulthood. Long-term consequences are something her mind doesn't think about. It's Night Force that allowed this to happen. She's 13 and has already gone off the rails.''
''Then it's good that the ISB is after her,'' says Carter, ''but that doesn't mean there's no chance to improve. You've been keeping Night Force in tone for years.''
Kirbley sighs. ''I'm not so sure. If we don't catch her before she does more harm, Imperial High Command will shut us down. Sector Command already knows about this matter and they're concerned about the Imperial integrity of Vaulent 6 Eva Young has threatened to break so far.''
''I understand,'' says Carter, ''but in case you want to shut it down before they do, know that it was the work of your father.''
It floods back again, the memories of his father taking his last, shallow breath in front of him with his hand in his. The sorrow comes back as he remembers all of it.
''Your father lived for Night Force, even when you were the driving factor,'' says Carter. ''He lived for it, woke up for it, and died for it. Would you really want to shut down something he gave his life for?''
What Carter is telling him makes him think.
He was concerned enough that Kirbley considered ending the Night Force Recruitment Program and giving the cadets the option to integrate into the standard training program at the Academy or leave the military life and become a civilian again. It was a path he had been considering ever since the interrogation of Peyton and Ashara of yesterday. The program is responsible for Eva going AWOL. It was probably far too demanding for the 13-year-old orphans. The program is thus responsible for the murders and the killing of Eva Young. However, on the other hand, Kirbley knows his passed father would not be happy with him if he ends the program. It's something he indeed, came out of bed for, worked for, lived for, and died for. His father wouldn't be proud of it, and Kirbley knows that he'd disappoint him. Can he end a piece of work his father died for?
He lets out a sigh, unable to decide the path he wants to take.
Meanwhile, the floor sinks into the pit again. The light sensation in her stomach makes Peyton a bit dizzy as she and her squad descend down The Well. She looks up and each time she does that, she gets a feeling they go further into the depths, but her conscious mind knows they don't. But there's a new thing that's stuck in her mind, the dread that flooded her when The Well stopped, she looked up and saw the two ISB officers on the edge, peering down at her. As they made eye contact with Peyton, they knew they were looking into the eyes of a possible Rebel associate when she was brought in for interrogation. Remembering the sharp voice of the ISB's head-investigator, Peyton can still feel her hands trembling and her lungs aching with anxiety.
Thinking back to yesterday, Peyton can still feel the pain, the regret, and the guilt. She still regrets having cursed at Eva for causing her datapad to be seized by the Rebel Alliance. She feels guilty that it was she who pushed Eva too far The painful realisation that she took over the abusive traits of her parents still remains within her, gnawing on her sanity.
''Hey, Peyton!''
She's pulled out of her thoughts by a voice behind her. Peyton turns around and sees it was Roslin who called out, having already formed a circle with Ashara and Ecklund for a group huddle to instill the fighting spirit.
Still a bit distracted, Peyton steps towards them and closes the circle. Her commander looks at her as the visors of all of the girls are open, showing their faces.
''Peyton, Ashara, forget what happened yesterday,'' says Roslin. ''I want you both to focus on this training.''
''Yes sir,'' say Peyton and Ashara.
''I want this squad to remain as one of the best at the Academy, even when the ISB has a love interest with you,'' says Roslin with a smile.
''Oh shut up,'' Peyton chuckles.
''Alright, alright,'' says Roslin. ''It's almost time to climb.''
Roslin reaches out with her hand to the center of the circle, and the rest of the squad puts their hands on that of their commander for a group huddle. Feeling her heart pounding with courage to win, Peyton can feel her heart is also missing something. It's Eva she misses. She misses her snarky tone, her cold blood, and the tight friendship they had before it all fell. It makes her feel deep sorrow as she misses her, and knowing it's her fault that she misses her makes the sorrow feel more burning. Peyton still feels her mind drifting off. Now, her pounding heart feels differently, a bit off, and it feels different, almost wrong to wear her training suit. The regret, the guilt, and the pain keeps distracting her and she's unable to shake them off.
''For the Empire!'' Roslin cries.
''FOR THE EMPIRE!''
Roslin, Ashara, and Ecklund instantly retract their hands, ready to climb up. Peyton's hand however, remains floating, her mind drifting off, and a second later, she retracts it and turns around.
Okay. The Well. Top three wins. Everyone else lifts the datacards of an office block.
Peyton tries to get her mind ready for the match, but she realises she can't. Peyton still thinks back to when she burned Eva down with her curses and her anger, and how similar it is to how her parents handled her. Suddenly, standing at the bottom of The Well feels much differently. Rather than courage, she feels the claws of her inner pain enclaving her. The constant weight of regret and guilt squeezes her lungs with agony, and Peyton almost feels like giving up. It feels as if it's not worth anymore to strive for the top three, knowing how much her integrity is cracked. They saw her being taken away by ISB officers, the cadets who trained with her yesterday, and Peyton can feel the heat of the news that is spreading like wildfire.
Suddenly, a high-pitched tone pulls her out of her thoughts. It's the go-sign, and Peyton sees her squadmembers storming towards the platforms that have already come out of the walls of the pit. Again, her mind drifted off and she feels not good. Letting out a sigh and seeing her squadmembers already making their way up, Peyton storms off too, but the discomfort keeps distracting her. Making her way up, Peyton is far too slow, much slower than her previous games in The Well, but she doesn't notice it. Her mind keeps drifting off and the bad feelings slow her constantly down, and as she finally reaches the top, Peyton then notices how slow she performed. Reaching the top, she holds her hands on the floor and hangs with the rest of her body down, she notices she's the last of all the cadets to finish The Well. Not just one of the last but the absolute last. Never was she the last to cross the finish line. It was always Eva or someone from the other squad, but this is a first for Peyton, and seeing everyone already standing in line, Peyton feels shame building up, ashamed that she performed so bad, but it's quickly diminished by the feelings she has for Eva.
Climbing over the edge and gasping for air, Peyton doesn't even think of the straight posture she's supposed to have. She stands as if she just witnessed the most horrible scene. A Wampa tearing apart a man in two, a murderer drinking the blood of the person he killed, the incineration of children, and a girl taking the behavior of her parents and almost verbally abusing another girl. What Peyton did ranks among them, and it stays reminiscent in her mind, so much that she forgets the protocols.
''Hey, cadet!'' says the taskmaster with a sharp voice.
Gasping for air, Peyton shifts her eyes to the officer and startles as she sees him in front of her.
''You breathe as if you just came back from Hoth,'' he says.
Her lungs ache as Peyton tries to calm them down, and she hears the cadets next to her trying to hold in the laughter.
''Cadet, this was your worst performance so far,'' says the taskmaster, his eyes locked on her. ''If I were you, I'd be worried about the quarterly evaluation of next week.''
''Yes-, yes sir,'' Peyton stammers, her lungs racing.
''I'd worry about your manners too,'' he says, downtrodden, and he then turns to the rest. ''Cadets Lexa, Roslin, and Ecklund, congratulations with your victory. For the others, report to your ACY droid for your tasks. Squads, dismissed!''
''Sir yes sir!'' The cadets chant.
While the rest walk away towards the barracks or their squad droids, Peyton remains at The Well. Her heart is still pounding with discomfort, and even when she finished at last place, it doesn't reach her mind as it is clouded with pain and guilt. Taking off her helmet, Peyton doesn't know what to do now, and Ashara sees the discomfort in the girl's eyes. Worried, she reaches out to her.
''Hey, Peyton,'' she says, ''don't let it reach you. It's just a game.''
Peyton shifts her eyes to Ashara and lets out a shivering sigh. ''Ashara, it's not the game. It's-, it's-,'' but she can't get herself to say it. The inner pain is too much, and she feels the tears forming in her eyes.
''You can tell me,'' says Ashara softly, and she steps towards her. ''Is it the ISB?''
''No, it's-, it's-,'' but Peyton can't, feeling too ashamed of the traits she took over from her parents and too sorrow of how she handled Eva. She can't get herself to express what's wrong.
''I-, I just need a moment to be alone,'' Peyton stammers, almost sobbing, and she turns around, away from Ashara.
Ashara understands it. As the squad's medic, she feels responsible for the wellbeing of her squadmembers. Giving Peyton a moment to be alone is helping out as well, and Ashara leaves her alone and walks away.
Peyton shifts around to The Well, the bottom dazzingly far down, and Peyton drops herself to the floor and sits at the edge. She puts her helmet next to her on the floor and her feet dangle down as she gazes at the abyss. The facility becomes almost silent. All she can hear are machinery hidden in the walls, vehicles outside, and some droids cleaning the floor.
The sorrow deepens, and Peyton sheds a tear. The anger she aimed at Eva echoes through her mind, knowing how much it resembled the behavior of her parents. Unknowingly, she became the type of person who tortured her, and tortured someone else. Even if it isn't exactly torture, it feels like it, and Peyton feels ashamed to have done it. Her eyes water as she knows she has to do something. The sorrow feels suffocating, torturing. She can't feel it forever. Peyton has to do something, to continue helping Eva, but she doesn't know how. She reaches out for the datapad hanging from the belt around her waist, but she doesn't feel it. Her datapad isn't there, and she's reminded that the ISB took it away from her. Ever since they found out she used it to slice into the computer system of the city sewage, the ISB eliminated the chance of ever happening again. They locked her dear datapad up. How she wasn't locked up puzzles her. She committed deeds against the Academy's protocols. How it didn't result in the slammer surprises her, but she suspects it was an order from higher-up.
Now, she remains free, but her mind isn't. The pain, the guilt, the sorrow, and the shame remains within her, unable to wash away, but she can't do something about it. Without a datapad, she's powerless, and Peyton fears she'll remain that way for a long time, and recognises she can't help out Eva. She wants to help so much, but she simply can't, and the deep sorrow remains.
I guess I'll never forget how kriffin' ugly this concrete block is.
Eva stands in front of the ugliest building in the whole city. It's just a massive block of concrete with gaps for windows and ventilation outlets. It's also the building that gave shelter to countless Rebels, and she remembers the thermal detonator that blasted the door open, and her boots pounding on the tarmac. She remembers the nervousness and the joy once she saw their fear when she raided the hide-out. It was a time Peyton still trusted her and Roslin gave her a last chance to prove herself. This is the place where it all went downhill when she pulled the trigger and shot the Rebel officer and Peyton got-, nevermind. I don't have to constantly think back to it.
Standing in front of it with her hair tied in a bun tightly, Eva hopes it's the right place. She remembers that the Twi'lek told her she followed the wrong passage, and having figured out Dead Hyperspace might have a forbidden version, the Rebels might have used it to make the trail they use to evacuate from and to their secret base. If this forbidden version of Dead Hyperspace exists, she might find it here at the Rebel hide-out.
Eva stands in front of its entrance. It's barricaded with metal sheets welded to the doorframe, and considering the building housed Rebels in the past, an alarm at the ISB might ring when she breaks the barricade open. Feeling the autumn breeze crashing into her face, Eva looks for another way in. She shivers a little from the cold temperature, feeling it through her coat covering her borrowed school uniform. Glancing around, Eva notices there's an alley next to the building and sees a sign telling her there's a fire escape. She walks towards the alley and sees there's an external staircase going up, and Eva notices it can give her access to the concrete block. She approaches the fire staircase and climbs it. The metal bars squeeze a little under her boots as she climbs up, and reaching the second floor, she sees a glass window that isn't barricaded. Fortunately, there's still a way in.
High above the street, the wind feels stronger and whistles faintly. Climbing on the little platform of the fire staircase, Eva approaches the window and sees she can break it. She reaches out for her backpack and takes the blaster out of it. She had to cram it in with much force since it was already stuffed with her training suit and her helmet. Her helmet almost pops out of it as she zips her suitcase shut and holds her E-10 blaster. She rotates her blaster and aims with the butt at the window. She slams it and it shatters in thousands of shards. They tingle on the metal platform as Eva clears the window frame from glass shards with the butt of her blaster. It scrapes over the metal frame as the shards fall out, and Eva puts her hands on the frame and climbs over it. Stepping into the hide-out, she's met with darkness and a penetrant fragrance. She can hardly describe it in her mind since she hasn't smelled it before. The fragrance makes her nose ache, it stings in her eyes and she can taste the individual, sour particles on her tongue. Considering the reactions of her body, Eva figures it must be the leftover particles of teargas, used to draw people like Rebel scum out of their cover, stunned and distracted so they can easily be controlled or gunned down by Imperial forces. Smelling the stinging fragrance of teargas sends a shiver down her spine, but despite the burning nerves, she goes in nonetheless, and Eva disappears in the dark as she starts searching for the supposed, forbidden version of Dead Hyperspace. With her blaster drawn, she scouts the rooms, still following what was taught her in the SimArena.
Eva scouts the rooms with her blaster, and as she shines through the dark, the heated conversation she had yesterday with Lu remains reminiscent. She remembers how she broke in tears when she had to tell Lu she fears sleeping in the darkness of the night, outside on the streets of Vaulent Capital, fearing a man's hand around her crotch and raping her with her blaster on her head. The conversation remains within her, but the flashbacks subside quickly as the stench of teargas slowly increases. The remaining particles sting in her eyes, and Eva hopes the search is worth the discomfort. Hopefully, the forbidden version of Dead Hyperspace is here.
Unbeknownst to her, a civilian who happened to pass by saw her breaking the window and climbing through it as he heard the shards tingling on the metal platform.
The Civil Watch Alert has done its job.
Eva, you got me nearly- LOOK AT ME!
If there's one thing I hate, it's people not listening to me for a SECOND!
Dank ferrik Eva! All of this happened because of you!
The silence in the corridor, occasionally interrupted by a humming overhead light she passes, allows the anger that boiled within her to flood back. Knowing what the outbursts of her anger led to, Peyton feels horrible as if the silent atmosphere of the Academy's corridor is trying to suffocate her in its grip of deep sorrow. Her mind keeps circling around, constantly repeating the outcomes of her actions that ruptured her with guilt, pain, and shame. She feels broken and helpless, having created the broken person Eva is now: hunting an out of reach Rebel mastermind while being hunted herself by the Empire's secret service. Peyton feels guilty for Eva's trouble, fearing that after the ISB catches her, she's deported to the youth labor camps for an indefinite time.
Peyton fears what she has set in motion.
She arrives at her barracks. Peyton has nothing planned for the rest of the day since it's 12 hundred and she isn't planning to show up for lunch in the canteen. The pain fills her stomach enough that she doesn't feel like eating. Aside from that, Peyton can already see from afar that the usual lunch at Stelorday will taste so much differently with the discomfort brewing within her.
Peyton taps the button on the wall. The blast door slides into the ceiling and she steps into the barracks. It's quiet and cold, and the beds are empty. Peyton lets out a sigh of discomfort and walks towards her bed at the front. She drops herself on the bed. She doesn't feel like taking off her training suit to lie more comfortably. It just feels off doing it. Peyton moves herself and lies down on her bed, dropping her head on the grey pillow and gazes up. The overhead fluorescent light stings in her eyes but she doesn't mind. It relieves her of some of the inner pain, having to deal with a bit of physical pain.
But Peyton knows she can't stare at it forever. If she wants the pain, the guilt and the shame to wash away, she has to help Eva to find the Spy. He's unreachable for now, but if she helps her out, Eva could actually find him. It's something that can be changed and Peyton wants it to change so much, but for that to happen, she has to help. Helping out is the only way she sees, but Peyton has no idea how. Her datapad is locked up and without it, she can't help Eva remotely.
Suddenly, she sees something twinkling or shimmering in the corner of her eye and Peyton shifts her head and sees Ecklund sitting upright on her bed next to Peyton's bed, gazing at her. She had no idea Ecklund was in the room, skipping lunch as well. Stepping into the barracks, Peyton must've not noticed her. The quiet girl must've been so quiet she became invisible to her.
Staring back, Peyton sees a hint of worry in Ecklund's blue eyes covered by her round glasses, and the quiet girl speaks up, the first time in 2 days.
''You don't seem at ease,'' says Ecklund, her voice softly.
Peyton puts her hands on her chest and sighs, shifting her head to gaze at the ceiling again. ''As if it's not obvious enough.''
''I've never seen you this unhappy though,'' says Ecklund.
''Ecklund,'' says Peyton, feeling the discomfort bubbling up. ''It's just nothing.''
She keeps gazing at the ceiling, feeling too uncomfortable, too ashamed to express what she feels and why.
Ecklund tilts her head a little, shifting her twinkling eyes to the floor.
''I had a father who-, who had problems,'' she stammers, her voice shivering a little. ''He was addicted to gambling, sometimes came back from Cantobight with bags of Credits or with empty pockets for most of the time.''
Peyton shifts her head to her as she hears Ecklund's father had a gambling addiction, and she starts assuming he was a type of father just like hers, abusive and shouting in the ears constantly.
''He never told us what he came back with, not even my mother,'' Ecklund continues, making eye contact with her. ''The Taxation Bureau came by and revealed to us he was half a million Credits in debt, lost to his gambling addiction.''
Peyton's eyebrows rise with intrigue, getting to know Ecklund better. ''Did you know he was addicted?''
Ecklund shakes her head. ''Never knew it. He lost so much in a single rotation that he was too ashamed to tell anyone of us. He thought he could gamble his debt back, but it grew until the tax collectors came and emptied our house. We lost our BD-3000, and,-''
''A BD-3000?'' Peyton asks with disbelief.
No ordinary civilian has such a droid. BD-3000s were the high-end class of protocol droids. They were the most prestigious, most glamorous model of protocol droid the market had ever seen. So expensive that no normal citizen is able to afford one, and suddenly, Peyton starts realising Ecklund is not from an ordinary family of the working class. No, Ecklund must have lived with wealth and parents with assets the price of an entire naval fleet, at least wealthy enough to own a BD-3000 protocol droid.
A thin smile forms on Ecklund's face, seeing Peyton realising her wealthy background before the Academy. ''Yeah, one of those, but-, but we lost it and the tax collectors took it. We lost many other things too to pay off my father's debt, and-, it could've been prevented. If dad told us about it, or at least someone, the Taxation Bureau wouldn't have come to empty our home. Only if he just talked,'' and she lets out a trembling sigh.
Peyton faintly nods, feeling bad for the problems Ecklund's father brought her family in.
''I'm sorry,'' says Peyton.
Ecklund nods, her eyes twinkling in the light.
Only if he just talked. Peyton starts understanding how important it is to talk about problems. Some, like Ecklund's father, feel too ashamed to admit they have problems, whether it is financially or mentally. They remain quiet and try to build a cover to hide their true situation, another kind of identity the person wishes to actually have, and Peyton recognises she's doing the same, telling Ecklund that nothing is wrong while in fact, a lot is wrong. She feels too ashamed to tell her problems, and Peyton realises she can better express her feelings to someone else rather than keeping them for herself, even when the pain, guilt, and shame are crushing her.
Peyton shifts her head and gazes at the ceiling. She feels her nerves glowing and she takes a deep breath.
''I feel like-, everything that got Eva into trouble is my fault,'' Peyton stammers, her voice cracking. ''I yelled at Eva like how my parents yelled at me. It just hurts me so much to think that-, that I've been the problem all along. The behaviour I copied from my parents caused Eva to go insane. I got her into trouble.''
Ecklund nods, feeling sorry for her, and the silence in the room feels suffocating.
''I want to make up with her,'' says Peyton, shifting her head to Ecklund, and she moves herself to sit up straight and gazes at the girl. ''I want to help her, but-,'' and she sighs, ''they took away my datapad. I don't know how to help her but I want to so badly.''
Ecklund nods, understanding her inner turmoil.
''I don't want you to feel worse, but you're underestimating her,'' she says, her eyes twinkling. ''Eva is quite good at working alone even when some elements turn against her.''
''How do you know?'' Peyton asks, tilting her head. ''She's hunted by the ISB and she's gone radio silent ever since.''
Peyton has no idea Ecklund went out and observed Eva doing her stuff, and the squad's quiet girl doesn't intend to tell it.
''Sometimes you have to accept that you can't help,'' says Ecklund. ''I'm sure that Eva can sort things out alone, and when she needs us, she'll call in when she needs help.''
''Are you sure?'' Peyton asks. She doesn't feel like waiting until she's called.
Ecklund nods. ''Good timing is part of the help too.''
Even when Peyton feels like she should help Eva, she understands that waiting until she needs her is better. She has her channel. She can call her up anytime, and Peyton understands she can better wait for it, and though the pain, the shame, and the guilt remains within her, she can put them to rest, knowing she'll get a chance to dissolve them at the best timing possible. With the ISB hunting her, it's better to handle Eva's search like a delicacy with care and patience. Rushing in just to feel better is not what could benefit Eva in the long run. Handling because of emotions is how Peyton got Eva to go AWOL in the first place. Peyton learns she can better be patient before she rushes in with her emotions steering her.
Her boots echo through the hallway as Eva shines with the flashlight of her blaster. It's dark and cold, and the remains of teargas still prickle in her eyes. She's been searching for over an hour, shining into ventilation inlets, opening cabinets, and scouting every corner of the former Rebel hide-out. It feels like an eternity, and as she enters a room, she notices it's one she searched in an hour ago. It's the control room where Eva shot the Rebel officer. The seats and the computers still remain, and recognising them, Eva feels frustration rising in her chest. She's been searching for an eternity for this supposedly forbidden version of Dead Hyperspace, hoping it would give her an alternate version of the trail, but she hasn't found anything, and she realises she arrived at the place she was before, having looped around the entire building. More than an hour of constantly having teargas stinging in her eyes, and she found nothing.
Walking around the control room, Eva can feel the anger starting to boil. She recognises the exact place where she shot the Rebel officer. It was on the opposing wall from their computers. He sat crouched on the floor with his hands tied together. She remembers the screech her blaster made when his body fell on the floor, his head smoking. Eva looks at her right and recognises the wall where she pushes her head against when the Spy held his vibroknife below her chin. She can still feel the vibrations of the blade through the air, and she remembers the blue flash when the Spy stunned her. Eva can still feel the impact her head made when she fell to the floor and she remembers the last moments before her mind shut down with the Spy holding the datapad of Peyton. This is the room where the Spy ran her off. This is where she lost it, and there's no step further towards catching him. The ISB that rolled in after the raid has taken everything into their custody. They only left behind the useless furniture and computers from which they downloaded its files, and none of those that have remained give her any clues.
I-, I just can't take it. Nothing whatsoever, and I've been busting my ass off for what? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Eva feels the rage rising, angry that in the past hour, she hasn't made any progress. She found not a single trace of that forbidden version of Dead Hyperspace. Nothing. Her heart pounds with anger and frustration, remembering everything that happened here crystal clear. It's the room that got her to search for this Spy and attempt at catching him and bringing him to his knees, and Eva feels like she's losing herself to the rage that's boiling violently within her. She lets go of her blaster and puts it on the computer. She puts her hand on the table of the computer. Eva tries to calm down, but the anger and the frustration keeps rising. The fire starts burning in her eyes, burning so hot that it can melt the metal casing of the computer. She has to vent her anger and she clenches her teeth. The inner fury slowly starts to show itself after having been contained for so long, burning through its containment, and suddenly, Eva pounds with her boot against the computer. Her rage spills out like a flood and she kicks the metal casing and yells at it with rage, her voice dripping with flames. A sheet of the metal casing falls out with a massive dent from her boot. She hasn't found anything at a place that seemed so promising to her. This is the only place where she could find a new clue, but she's wrong, and it feels insulting to have stumbled into a dead end.
Eva walks away from the computer as the flames continue to spill out of her. She steps out of the light and enters the dark as her nerves burn with rage and she gazes away. Eva breathes heavily and tries to slow herself down. Her heart pounds with rage. She puts her hands on her cheeks, trying to control her breathing, and she slowly calms herself down, finally managing to contain her inner fury.
Okay okay. It's fine, it's fine , and talking herself into believing the dead end is excellent, Eva finally calms down. The fire in her eyes extinguish and her pounding heart calms down.
I can't just kick stuff out of anger. I have to come up with a solution .
Eva turns around to grab her blaster. If she wants to turn around from the dead end, she has to find a different way, and maybe she has to search elsewhere.
As she wants to pick up her blaster to leave, she suddenly notices something. The metal sheet of the computer she pounded on fell out and revealed a space within the computer casing. She notices cables and dark-green motherboards but also something else that doesn't seem to belong there. Her eyes land on a circular object, flat and white, that seems to have been stuffed between the cables. It seems out of place. Curiosity replaces her anger and frustration and she approaches the computer and lowers herself to the floor. Eva drops to her knees and sits with her legs on the floor as she grabs the object out of the web of cables. It feels heavy, and as she pulls it out of the space within the computer cabinet, Eva sees it's a holoprojector. To her joy, she found something that was hidden away, something the ISB didn't find.
Eva inspects it closer and sees it has a datacard inserted in it as well. She taps the button of the device and the top flashes blue and it starts rendering lines in blue. The datacard contains some text it seems, a manuscript or mission details maybe, but looking closer, she sees it isn't either of those. It's a passage, and to her shock, Eva recognises the first few sentences instantly.
''Lursa loved her invention so much that she protected it with her life,'' Eva whispers, her voice faintly echoing through the dark.
Eva recognises the first lines of the passage of Dead Hyperspace. The Rebels have the novel too, or at least the passage, and reading further, she recognises the other lines too, talking about Lursa Maris losing her Hyperdrive legacy. But then, she notices it's longer than she remembers. There are more lines, the passage is about more, and her whispers continue to echo as she reads the unfamiliar sentences.
''Though her body rested, her spirit endured. While corporations continued to follow their lies of serving the customers with heart, Lursa's flame continued to burn amidst the darkness,'' Eva whispers.
Her heart starts to pound with excitement and intrigue as her eyes follow the letters, reading the lines carefully, word by word.
''Shining like a beacon for those who stand for freedom and innovation,'' Eva whispers. ''Her flame became a symbol of hope in the void. Amidst the corporate greed and oppression, Lursa Maris became the rallying cry for those who dared to dream of a better future, and as long as her flame burned, Lursa Maris lit the way to a better world. Long live the flame!''
Reading the last line, Eva realises the passage ends with a rallying cry, and she recognises the flame. Not from another piece of text, but from the eyes of the Rebel insurgents she looked into. The Rebel officer had it and the Twi'lek too. She realises the flame refers to the Rebel Alliance and their fight against the Empire, a flame that lights the way to a galaxy with freedom and democracy, two disgusting ideals they stand for. Now Eva understands why the Empire censored this version of Dead Hyperspace. Now she knows why it's forbidden. It's a novel directly referring to the Rebel Alliance. Dead Hyperspace is a Rebel war cry. It's a piece of literature that goes against the principles of the New Order, a piece of Rebel propaganda.
Eva wonders whether this is the original version of Dead Hyperspace since she got quite interested in the novel, but she shoves this rather trivial thought aside. What matters is that she found the forbidden version, and hopefully the passage will now lead her to the right direction instead of the other one that led her to a trap, but holding the holoprojector in her hand, Eva feels convinced that it is the clue she's been looking for. It may be the last piece of the puzzle, and looking at it, Eva feels excitement rushing through her and a smile forms on her face. After an hour of intense searching, she finally found it and even by accident too.
But a question arises. Where should she start? This passage should form a trail as well, but Eva has no idea where to start. Standing up, Eva pulls one of the office chairs towards her, one the Rebel officer sat on before she shot him. She sits down and Eva tries to figure where she should start. Hoping that maybe she can find something in her memories, she starts digging in her mind. She recalls the sewer's service tunnels, the alleys, the snoring Loth-cat, the warehouses, the Steergard Naval Yard, the Capital Police Department, but she can't find anything in her memories that points her to the right direction.
Then, a memory flashes before her eyes. It's a memory Eva she never thought she had. She remembers seeing something sprayed on the wall in an alley when she chased the Spy from the Rebel father's home. Eva remembers that when she ran through an alley, she saw a sentence sprayed on the wall, but because she was in a hurry to catch the Spy, she didn't take the time to read it. She has to go back. Perhaps it's part of the trail. Eva reaches out for her backpack, zips it open and stuffs the holoprojector in it. She zips it shut and grabs her blaster to shine her way out of the building.
Making her way to the broken window she climbed through, Eva feels her heart pounding with excitement, having finally made progress. In her anger, she thought she crashed into a dead end, but now she can go on, and Eva starts walking quicker through the former Rebel hide-out. She doesn't feel the remains of teargas stinging in her eyes and she feels more at ease now, so much so that Eva wants to contact Oliva about it, wanting so much to tell her what she has found. The shimmer of hope starts shining more brightly amidst the dark clouds of Vaulent's autumn.
Suddenly, as she makes her way through the hallway, Eva hears the blast of an explosion. She startles and jumps from the floor, her heart sinking in her chest as she hears the metal ceiling plates shaking and feels a shockwave shaking the floor. The blast echoes through the hallway and is quickly swallowed by the darkness, subsiding as Eva's hands tremble. She holds her blaster tightly and shines with its flashlight through the hallway. She notices dust falling off the ceiling, something she hasn't seen before in this building. The blast has subsided as all Eva can hear is her pounding heart and her chaotic breathing. Anxiety runs through her spine as Eva wonders what the hell that was.
She shines in the direction of the blast and Eva slowly walks towards it, wondering what that sound was. Her boots echo through the silent hallway as Eva stumbles upon a staircase, one she and Peyton climbed when they were going up. She shines down as sweat forms on her forehead and her nerves burn. Looking down, her eyes dart around, deducting whether it came from below, and she suddenly sees another source of light, coming closer to the staircase a floor below her.
''Switch your blasters to shoot to stun!'' she hears a sharp voice.
Pounding boots echo up, and Eva instantly fears the worst. Her lungs hyperventilate. Her blaster shakes, knowing fate is closing in on her. The ISB is raiding the building. They've discovered her.
Fear runs through her bones as Eva gazes down, her eyes darting around as she suddenly sees a light shining in her face from below. The light aches her eyes as she squeezes them, and down the stairs, she notices a Stormtrooper shining his flashlight at her.
''There she is!''
Blast it, they're here.
Eva jumps away from the staircase and adrenaline starts pumping through her veins. She can't get herself arrested. She's so close to finding the Spy. She can't let this search, the murders, the pain, and Oliva's help go for nothing.
As she hears the pounds on the stairs grow louder, Eva speeds away, her heart pounding with adrenaljne as she darts through the hallway. She knows that if she wants to escape, she can take only a few routes, the fire staircase or the roof access door. Eva recognises a doorway on the left of the hallway as a strong light from behind her lights up the hallway, far stronger than her flashlight.
''She's escaping,'' she hears. ''Blast her!''
Approaching the doorway, Eva instantly turns around the corner and runs into another hallway. She hears the high-pitch sound of the stun rounds darting behind her as they miss her, and Eva runs on. She runs towards the broken window she used to enter the building and jumps through it like a Loth-cat. She pounds on the metal platform of the fire staircase as her eyes land on Stormtroopers outside the alley it ends at.
Blast it, the street is blocked.
Then the only way is up.
Eva climbs the stairs as she hears the Stormtroopers in the street noticing her.
''She's going up the fire emergency staircase!''
Eva runs on, and below her, she hears the Stormtroopers emerge from the broken window. They flood out as Eva runs up, the sweat of her body sticking to her school uniform as the strong breeze tries to blow her hair away. Eva climbs up and goes higher up the building as the Stormtroopers below her chase her up. She feels her legs ache as she arrives at the roof. The steel roof seems endless as Eva runs over it. Her boots pound on the metal as she speeds away towards another apartment block. It's one storey higher than the concrete block, and Eva knows that in that direction, she'll end up at a busy avenue. As Eva storms over the roof, the Stormtroopers behind her emerge from the fire stairs. They raise their E-11s and aim at her.
Eva runs on and nears the wall of the other building. She steps onto a whirring AC unit and jumps to the top of the wall. She hits her chest on the edge and clings onto the corrugations of the roof. Eva climbs over the edge, stands up and runs away. The Stormtroopers fire their stun rounds on her but she runs away from the edge and dodges them in time. Her chest aches, having crashed into the edge of the roof, but Eva runs on without even thinking about the pain. Behind her, the shiny Stormtroopers climb up and aim at her again. Eva looks over her shoulder and sees the Stormtroopers climbing up the roof one by one, and seeing the blasters ready to fire. She knows she has to take cover. If she gets stunned, she loses instantly, and she remembers how it feels to have her mind shut down.
In the corner of her eye, Eva notices a bulky AC unit, big enough to cover her. She jumps towards it and hears the high-pitched stun rounds hurtling towards her. She pounds with her stomach on the roof and gets up and crouches to keep herself covered. Eva squeezes the handgrips of her E-10, but looking at the trigger, she knows she can't shoot them down. Eva can't convince herself it's necessary to kill the Stormtroopers. They are soldiers like her, fighting for the same side. Eva can't allow herself to fight them. Instead, she has to fight to lose them from her tail. She has to. She can't kill her own troopers.
As the ISB forces close in on her, Eva eyes dart over the building's roof, searching for a way to get off of it, but she sees no way of escape. The only way was that fire stair, now blocked by the ISB. The only way that could be her escape is the edge of the roof and hoping for a soft landing. It's the only way she sees. It's better than letting herself get slammed on the floor by the ISB and having to face the repercussions.
She stuffs her blaster back into her backpack, forgetting to turn off its flashlight, and with her heart pounding in her chest, Eva runs away from her cover. Stormtroopers help their own men get on the roof until they notice her running away. They chase her as Eva approaches the edge of the roof and stops in her tracks. Her eyes dart down as she sees a side-street, then a pavement with trees and parked speeders, and then the busy avenue. The speeders and swoopbikes dash over the tarmac as the traffic light turns green as Eva looks down. She tries to look for a spot to land softly, but all she sees is tarmac, trees with red leaves and parked speeders. There's nothing to land softly on, and as the wind whistles past her, Eva's eyes dart around, searching desperately for a way off this forsaken roof, but she slowly realises that she's stuck. The drop is far too high. She would break a bone when she hits the engine hood of a speeder or the hard tarmac, and breathing heavily, Eva feels a shiver down her spine as she gazes down.
The Stormtroopers behind her run towards her. She can hear their boots pounding on the metal roof as Eva turns around with her heart pounding in her chest. She sees they've closed her in and encircled her. She's surrounded by 6, shiny Stormtroopers and the edge of the apartment block.
''Kid, easy there,'' says one trooper.
His mouth is covered by his bucket, but Eva can see by the hand gestures who's talking, and her eyes land on the Stormtrooper. She notices two blue rings imprinted on his white chestplate and Eva instantly recognises the symbol. It's the battalion of Kyraan, her former elementary school teacher, called up for conscription and the person who saved her and her father from the Spy at the BlasTech Facility. She can still remember the hit he took when the Spy pointed his blaster at him when he lied on the floor. She still wonders how he's doing at the military hospital.
''We don't want you to jump to your death,'' says the trooper. ''Put your blaster down.''
Putting my blaster down? After all that hard work?
Eva hesitates to comply as the skirt of her school uniform sways in the breeze. She refuses to lower her blaster and keeps holding onto it. She put in so much effort, so much pain into her mission. Eva risked her life to find out who the Spy is and where he resides, and now she has to lower her blaster and give everything up.
''We'll lower our blasters too,'' says the Stormtrooper, and he gestures to the rest of his men.
The others seem to hesitate, but comply to their order and lower their blasters.
''Kid, you've really done enough and it's time to go home,'' says the trooper.
Go home and stare Roslin and Peyton in the eyes with nothing to apologize? Eva sees a future ahead in which Roslin slams her fist in her stomach because of her crimes. There would be no trust at all if what the Stormtrooper said is true. If the ISB would truly let her go home, she'd still have a major problem with Roslin and Peyton if she returns with empty hands. Though she has no idea Peyton has already forgiven her, Eva still thinks she hasn't, and it still strikes pain in her heart to have left the tech goddess down.
So, giving herself in and return home? No, Eva feels she risked too much and endured too much pain to give up.
''Kid, it's really time to rest,'' says the trooper. ''We got you surrounded and there's no way for you to escape us, so put that blaster down and you won't have to worry about the ISB anymore.''
No. No, I can't.
Eva knows she can't do that. She has to get off of this roof. She looks over her shoulder and her eyes land on the red leaves on the branches of a tree on the street. It's tall and its branches are full of leaves, and she estimates the height of her drop to be at least 20 meters. That tree could soften such a fall, even when it's so little. It feels like suicide to her, having to jump towards a tree and hope she'll survive. She'll have to trust her life to a one in a million celestial event, but she has to bet on it. That tree is the best chance she got.
The Stormtrooper sees Eva looking over her shoulder and notices what she's thinking.
''No, kid. Don't do that,'' he says.
Eva shifts her head back to the Stormtrooper and hears genuine worry in his voice, fearing that she's going to take her life, and to her, it feels like it is, but she has already made a decision and she prepares herself to make it. She takes a deep, shivering breath and closes her eyes, and then opens them to look at the Stormtrooper
''Give your commander, Kyraan E'tad, my regards,'' says Eva, her voice shivering and her heart pounding. ''Tell him that I've become the soldier he wants me to become, and tell him I've never lost my allegiance to the throne.''
Then, Eva turns around, sets her foot on the roof's edge and jumps towards the tree, off the building. She makes the daring leap as Eva falls down. She screams as she sees the trees and the street growing quickly. The branches close in on her and she crashes through them. The branches at the top of the tree snap easily just like the walls of her old house that snapped when the Rebel B-Wing stormed through it. Eva crashes into the branches with her stomach. She falls through a web of red leaves as she hears the branches break, and she then crashes into a thick branch that instantly breaks her fall with much pain. Eva topples over the big branch and falls down and crashes into the engine hood of a parked speeder. She leaves a dent in the speeder behind as Eva feels her back aching as if it's on fire, and as she quickly glances around, Eva realises she made it to the ground. The tree stopped her fall and she survived the drop from the building. She made it. She escaped the forsaken roof and survived the fall through the branches and the leaves. Looking through the red leaves, she sees the shiny Stormtroopers looking at her, the dark clouds behind them cascading over the city. Though she made it, it isn't over yet.
As Eva quickly climbs off the engine hood with pain in her stomach and back from the fall, she sees civilians around her gazing at her. She can tell from the fear in their wide eyes that they recognise her from the Civil Watch Alert. They all see her as a threat, an enemy to the Empire, a status she doesn't deserve at all. She has risked her life to find a Rebel mastermind and now she gets the eyes of those who see her as an enemy. While the speeders and swoopbikes behind her shriek over the road, Eva is nailed to the ground as she gazes around, the civilians looking with shock at her. Then, she breaks out of her freeze as she notices an ITT troop transporter driving out of the street at which the former Rebel hide-out is located. Its doors are open as the Stormtroopers hold onto the exterior handle grips and jump off the transporter and run towards her.
Eva instantly turns away and runs around the speeder. She speeds towards the avenue as the speeders and swoopbikes dash past her like quick ghosts. If she gets hit by one of them, her life is finished, either in pieces or her body flung six clicks away. She'll have to trust her luck again, and the competence of the drivers traversing the road, but if she makes it, she can easily shake off the ISB.
So, with her heart pounding, Eva runs up the avenue. She feels the whirlwinds the speeders leave behind as she runs over the tarmac. Eva runs according to the traffic, slowing down when she thinks she won't make it to the end of the lane or speeding up when she thinks she can. Eva runs past the second lane as the Stormtroopers behind her chase her.
''Hold it!'' cries a Stormtrooper, but Eva goes on with her life-endangering escape plan.
Eva runs past the third lane as the speeders blare their horns and pound on their brakes. One fails to do so and crashes into his forerunner. The speeder ahead of him explodes forward by the impact, spins around, and Eva sees it happening in the corner of her eye, runs faster and dodges the mirror of the spinning speeder by a millimeter. Then, another speeder crashes into the other, and a massive road accident is building up. The speeder comes to a halt in the middle of the road, standing across. The Stormtroopers make their way carefully through the crashed speeders as their occupants don't dare step out. The leading Stormtrooper closes in on Eva as she steps onto the other side of the avenue where the traffic comes from the right side.
''Hey!'' yells the leading Stormtrooper. ''Stop right there-,'' and suddenly, a speeder crashes into him. His legs get pinned between two speeders and his voice turns into agony as his legs get crushed. He screams as he cripples to the ground. His fellow troopers traverse through the crashed speeders towards him.
''My legs! My legs!'' he screams. ''I can't feel them!''
Eva doesn't look over her shoulder as she continues to cross the avenue. She dodges the oncoming traffic that is slowing down because of the accident, and Eva easily crosses the lanes until she runs up the sidewalk. The crash has lured away the attention of the bystanders and Eva vanishes in the crowd of people. She speeds away from the avenue into an alley between some apartment buildings and vanishes from the sight of the ISB.
As she's convinced she's far enough, Eva stops in her tracks to catch her breath. Her lungs ache and her legs feel like they're burning. Her heart is pounding relentlessly as she stumbles with her back against the wall of the alley. Her back still hurts from her impact on the speeder's engine hood.
Eva leans with her back against the wall, trying to calm down her racing heart. It steadily slows down as Eva puts her fist on her chest and the effects of her adrenaline wear down. Finally, her aching heart calms down and she's able to catch her breath.
Eva slowly processes what just happened. She jumped off a building and survived it thanks to a thick branch and a parked speeder, and as the ISB continued to close in on her, she ran over the avenue, dodged the shrieking traffic, and while one Stormtrooper lost his legs, she survived and made it out of the speeder pile-up on the road. She can't yet fully understand how her luck hasn't run out already. A celestial event she had to trust happened twice, but Eva shakes of the thought. Now, the questions on how she made out are trivial thoughts. What matters now is the next step.
She remembers a sentence sprayed on the wall elsewhere in the city, near the home of that Rebel insurgent whose son she held hostage. From there, she can follow the trail the new, forbidden version of Dead Hyperspace she has found. If that passage is legitimate and the sentence near the Rebel's home is part of it, the trail will lead her to the base of operations, and there, Eva bets she'll find the Spy there, the person who brought so much trouble to her life. The finish line is near. She can feel it.
It's almost zero hour