While the radio tower falls into Imperial hands, Eva storms through the corridors of the Rebel stronghold with her blaster raised and her heart racing with adrenaline. She knows where Lu went, the east corridor of the perimeter she recalls. Corridor, not just section. It tells her that the east corridor is a connection between two places, one the Rebels have to protect at all cost. It must be crucial to their survival.
Two Rebel soldiers emerge from another corridor. Eva fires and hits a Rebel in the leg. He crumples to the floor, screaming as he reaches for his knee in pain. The other Rebel startles and raises his blaster. Eva hits him in the chest, and coming closer, she hits the wounded soldier in the back. His screams quickly subside as his head smacks onto the floor. Eva enters a T-intersection of two corridors, and having seen the direction the two soldiers walked in before she gunned them down, Eva estimates where she should go. She turns right with her blaster raised, and scouts the corridors.
Then, her focus shifts to a doorway further into the corridor. She hears the murmurs of some people, their words unintelligible. She approaches the source of the sound, trying to be as silent as possible. Her eyes land on the doorway, the door open and seemingly giving access to a steril-white room, sparkling more than the rest of the dilapidated manufacturing facility. Eva steps towards it and clenches her blaster.
''Hey!''
Eva's heart sinks and darts around. Her gunsight lands on a Rebel soldier behind her, raising his A280 blaster and opening fire. In a split second, Eva smacks herself against the wall of the corridor, dodging the blaster shot and pulling the trigger. She hits him in the chest and he crumples to the floor with a bang. She can hear her heart pounding in her chest as she also hears something behind her, footsteps growing louder. Eva turns around and sees a Rebel emerging from the doorway. She guns him down and he falls to the floor. She knows that they have now discovered her. She has to clear that room while she still has the fractures of the element of surprise.
Eva steps towards the corner of the doorway and peeks into the room with her blaster raised, but before she can aim it, she sees a Rebel soldier on her left. She pulls back and dodges a blaster shot, hitting the wall behind her. Eva raises her blaster and peeks around the corner, her gunsight instantly landing on the Rebel on her left and hitting him in the shoulder. His body falls backwards onto a cabinet, its content rattling as he bumps into it and falls to the floor. Eva turns around the corner, sees a Rebel soldier on her right in the room and shoots, his body crumpling to the floor. Her eyes dart to a person panting relentlessly and she shifts her blaster. Her eyes land on the person and she notices it's Tal, the medic of the Rebel forces. She's sitting on the floor with a metal scissor in her hand, heavily sobbing. Next to her on the bed sits a Rebel soldier, his right arm covered in bandage and his face covered in smudges of ashes.
''Eva,'' says Tal, her voice shivering with fear. ''Please, don't kill us. I'm just a medic!''
Tal instantly raises her hands, shivering as she starts sobbing with panic, begging her life to be spared. Eva keeps her eyes locked on Tal, her blaster raised and slowly stepping towards her and the wounded soldier with caution. They're Rebels, and even when one has been so nice to her, they are still not to be trusted in war time. Eva keeps her fingers on the trigger, ready to pull someone's life out of its body with violence.
''Tal, where's Lu, the captain?'' Eva demands, her eyes narrowed.
Her tears splash on the floor as Tal sobs relentlessly with panic, and though her life is now directly facing Mustafar's Angel of Death, she refuses to let even a single word out of her mouth. She knows that any word puts the common goal of the Rebel Alliance in jeopardy.
''Tal, where is she!'' Eva shouts, her voice echoing through the corridors. ''Tell me, where is she!''
Eva's eyes are locked on Tal, her mind racing with thoughts about killing her off, but she resists the urge to do it. The close memories of how nice and soft Tal treated her when the chains still bit into her hands soar through her mind, convincing her that this woman does not deserve fate like the Rebel soldier sitting on the hospital bed. She can see him slowly grasping for something, and not wanting to take risk, Eva instantly shifts her blaster. Her gunsight lands on his face and she fires. The screech echoes through the room and the wounded soldier flies off of his hospital bed, and lands lifelessly on the floor, his body making a loud, awful thud. Tal almost suffocates in her panic and coughs, having gasped so intense that it hurt her. Her hands tremble even more as Eva aims her blaster back at her.
''Okay okay!'' says Tal, panicked. ''Lu-, she-, she's in the east corridor. The-, the warehouse, that's where she is!''
Okay, east corridor, and a warehouse.
''At the end of the corridor, turn right, then left, and go forward,'' she shakingly instructs. ''Go through the double doors and-, and go forward until you get there!''
Eva nods.
''But please, spare me!'' she sobs.
Tal has given her the information she needs. Eva no longer needs to hold her at gunpoint or get her to pay the full price, and aside from that, she has grown too much respect for Tal, the only person amidst the demons who treated her like a true, thirteen year old girl. Eva gazes at her with narrowed eyes. She knows it's against her code, but Eva jerks her head a little towards the door.
Tal sobs and her tears roll over her cheeks. ''You're-, you're letting me go?''
''I am.''
''W-, why?''
Eva lets out a sigh. Just leave already. I have a night to save.
''Tal, you're the only person among these demons who treated me like a human instead of a one-face-Imp,'' she says. ''You are so much different than all the other Rebels, and-, I can't get myself to shoot you. I'm letting you go because I feel for you.''
Tal wipes the tears from her eyes, and slowly pushes herself up from the floor. Her eyes stare at Eva as she starts walking, her breathing shivering and her eyes red from the tears.
''Thank you,'' she says, her soft, broken voice echoing faintly through the room, and she disappears from the doorway.
As the woman leaves her, running away to escape, Eva hears her footsteps faintly echoing and quickly subsiding, and she lets out a short chuckle. The ISB will get you anyway.
Back to her mission. Now that she knows where Lu exactly is, Eva clenches the grips of her blaster and storms out of the stronghold's medbay. She runs to the end of the corridor, turns right and then left, and in the distance, she can see the double doors in the corridor, wide open. She runs through them, her boots pounding on the concrete floor. Remembering what Tal told her, the east section where Lu is supposed to be is at the end of this corridor. It ends at a wall and a single door in the middle. If what Tal told her is true, the storage room is behind that door. With clenched fists, Eva storms through the door as it slides open into the wall, and she steps with pounding boots into the storage room. The sound of blasterfire has grown louder with each screech becoming more sharp and the shouts of Rebel soldiers defending the east corridor, just outside the storage room. Eva sees empty pallets and forklift speeders standing around. A pair of rusty swoopbikes stand in the middle of the storage room, and further away, just beyond the open garage doors of the storage room, stand Rebel insurgents fighting for their stronghold. They have set up heavy blockades to defend the east corridor, and from behind the thick plates of durasteel, Eva sees their blasters firing at Stormtroopers outside of her view, standing far away from the blockade. They seem to defend a narrow alley leading from the unloading area at the front to the east corridor, and amidst the fighting Rebels, her eyes land on a dark shadow roaming between the blaster shots. She knows it's Lu without a doubt. Then, the dark shadow turns to Eva. Lu's eyes behind her helmet lands on the girl, unable to process how Eva escaped from the two Rebel guards that kept her in custody. Gazing at Lu, Eva feels the anger, the rage, boiling within her, and then, Lu raises her blaster and fires on her. The blaster shots shriek towards her. Eva jumps aside, crashes on the concrete floor with her stomach, and the bolts of fire hit the metal door, the long, glass window shattering in pieces and sparks flying off. Eva holds tightly onto her rifle, clenching its hand grips, the rage boiling violently within her. Eva rises from the stacked pallets and aims her blaster at Lu, moving like a dark shadow towards the open garage door. Eva fires, misses Lu and hits a Rebel in his leg. The Rebels notice her presence, realising they're under attack from two flanks. Some of them switch and focus their fire on Eva. As she fires on her, Lu jumps to a crate and takes cover. The other Rebel soldiers fire back on her, nearly hitting her. They hit the pallet she's hiding behind and she drops herself lower to the ground, dodging the shots as some shriek overhead, hitting the wall instead.
Eva rises from her cover, hits a Rebel soldier in the chest, and runs to a nearby pillar, moving from cover to cover. They are trying to box her in, but changing from positions makes it harder for them to do so. Bumping into the concrete pillar, Eva's heart pounds relentlessly in her chest. If she wants to take down Lu, she first has to clear her Rebel colleagues. When they are down, only then can the real fight begin. Clenching her blaster, Eva peeks around the corner and notices a Rebel taking cover behind a forklift speeder. She opens fire but hits the speeder's metal body and the bright sparks fly off. Another Rebel opens fire on her and hits her pillar. The sparks nearly fly in her eyes as she moves back to her cover, pushing herself against the pillar. After a deep breath, Eva moves away and aims at the other Rebel, hitting him in the shoulder. He falls backwards on the ground and the other Rebel rises from behind the forklift speeder. Eva shifts her blaster, misses him, and hits him in the head after the first try. The Rebels are dead, gunned down by her. Then, in the corner of her eye, she sees a shadow moving into view. Eva shifts her eyes and sees Lu, covered in her dark Clonetrooper armour standing on the other side of the storage room. Before she can react, Lu fires and hits her.
With a scream, Eva flies backwards and crashes into the concrete ground. Her blaster remains in her clenched hands as she feels a terrorising pain whirling in her shoulder like fire. Lying with her back on the ground, Eva quickly glances at it and sees a smoking burnmark on her shoulder, clenching her teeth in pain. It feels like she's on fire, brutally sharp. Her eyes quickly dart to Lu, her helmet masking the face of the Rebel demon, and her heavy boots pound on the ground while the blaster fight outside continues to shriek.
Lu holds her blaster carbine squeezed in her black gloves, and she slowly approaches her. Eva can feel the heat of the flames that burn in her eyes, and it makes her rage boil even more intense. Those flames are what brings trouble to the Empire. Those flames have cost countless civilian casualties, and Eva feels enraged, her eyes narrowing. Her E-10 blaster lies on the ground, still stuck to her hand. She tries to move it but the agonising pain in her shoulder makes her struggle to. Gasping for air, she doesn't care about her precision anymore. Eva moves her finger to the trigger and fires it. It screeches on the ground and a bolt of light hurdles towards Lu, but Eva misses and hits a steel canister on the lower plate of a shelf. In a quick second her eyes land on the canister, she notices tiny rays of gas spewing out of the cracks, and her mind instantly drifts off to the Thorium canisters she found at the warehouse near the Steergard Naval Yard. One shot and it blasts a building off of its foundation.
Eva fires again and hits the gas canister. It breaks and Eva hears a metallic blast as the canister cracks open and a massive ray of gas spews out of it, blasting into Lu. The force of the gas pulls her out of her focus and she stumbles, letting out a scream of shock. Eva rolls herself onto her stomach, pushes herself up, resists the whirling fire in her shoulder, and holds the blaster, running quickly towards cover, a stack of crates. Lu notices it and fires her blaster but she misses Eva. She moves away from her cover and hits another gas canister on the shelf. It cracks and splatters open, blasting rays of gas into Lu, hitting her at needle range. Lu moves away from the clouds of gas. Eva tries to hit her as she runs, but she misses and hits the wall behind her. The gasses cease spewing out of their canisters as clouds swirl on the ground violently.
With her back against the crates, Eva glances at her shoulder. Lu's direct hit has left her with a burn mark on her Academy suit, a black ring, and she can feel it burning hot. Her inner fury burns hotter, wanting Lu to pay for her hit. She then hears Lu's boots pounding on the ground, followed by the high-pitched start-up sound of a speeder engine. Eva moves away from her cover and her eyes land on Lu having jumped onto a swoopbike. She's trying to escape. The U-Wing is ready for take-off, and Eva can't afford to lose the fight. Eva raises her blaster but before she can aim, Lu smashes the accelerator pedal with her feet and blasts off. Her swoopbike shrieks out of the storage room onto the east corridor, a long, open stretch of unpaved space.
Eva clenches her teeth with rage, not allowing herself to let Lu escape. She runs out of the storage room, aims her blaster at her swoopbike and fires. She misses as Lu speeds away, becoming smaller each second. Eva tries to stabilise her blaster but her leaps over the ground makes her struggle, and her blaster shots shriek past Lu. No no no, Lu can't escape!
But Eva quickly notices her attempts are worthless. Her accuracy is lacking and she fails to hit Lu, making her escape easy, and as her swoopbike shrieks further away, Eva curses under her own gasps, becoming more and more enraged by her misses.
Suddenly, a single blaster shot shrieks over her, hitting Lu's swoopbike perfectly. While Eva runs, she sees from afar how her swoopbike flips over with violence, catapulting Lu off of her seat. The shadow flies through the air and crashes into the ground. The swoopbike flips over, smashes into the ground and flips over twice. It crashes through a fence and falls over a ledge, disappearing into the void as if it never existed. While she runs, Eva glances over her shoulder, looking at where the shrieking blaster shot came from, and on top of a factory chimney, Eva sees a dark figure, blocking the orange sunset. The only person with such an accurate hit - it's Ecklund, the squad's quiet girl, and realising that, Eva feels a gush of inward relief, feeling her heart fill with a little warmth. Dank Ferrik, great shot, Ecklund.
As Lu to resist the pain after the Ecklund's hit, Eva storms towards her, the blaster clenched in her hands as she makes big leaps over the gravel area. It's an open space between the Rebel stronghold and somewhere further away, the hangar of the Rebel shuttle. Eva crosses the open stretch, the east corridor, and her boots splash in shallow puddles of rain water. As she runs towards Lu, the woman slowly pushes herself from the ground. Her helmet flew off of her head, lying upside-down in a puddle of water. Lu stands up and her vicious, cold eyes land on Eva as she runs towards. She holds her blaster raised, her gunsight aimed at her head, and she stops meters away from Lu. The cold woman holds her blaster tightly in her hands, aimed at the ground.
Behind Lu is a steel railing, bordering the abyss in which the swoopbike disappeared in. It's a depth that goes far down and ends at the roof of other manufacturing buildings.
The rage boiling in her chest makes Eva's finger tremble on the trigger, desiring to shoot Lu in the face, finally being done with the biggest traitor, the most vile betrayal, but she resists it. She resists her fury from taking her over. She doesn't want to be done with Lu after a single blaster shot. No, Eva wants to fight her, punish her for the knives Lu stabbed her with, let justice serve. With shaking hands, Eva lowers her blaster and she throws it away, disarming herself.
Lu tracks the blaster with her eyes until it clatters on the ground with confusion, and she shifts her cold eyes back to the girl, wondering what's going on inside her head.
Eva pants, feeling her lungs aching as she stares at Lu with the anger burning in her eyes, her fists clenched and her eyes narrowed. Lu raises her eyebrows.
''You really want to do this?'' she asks.
Eva raises her fists, shielding her face, her eyes locked on Lu.
''What do you think?'' she responds.
Lu tilts her head, letting out a sigh. The girl's determination is ruthless, and Lu starts to recognise she first has to put Eva in her place before she can escape. She has to get past Eva to get to the U-Wing anyway, and accepting the fight, Lu sticks her blaster carbine to her metal backpack and clenches her fists.
Almost a thin smile forms on Eva's face, unable to grow larger as her fury rages within her. Her narrowed eyes are locked on Lu and she starts stepping towards her with her fists raised. She feels the adrenaline rushing through her veins, her heart pounding with vengeance. Eva sees the memories of Eline and her parents flashing in front of her, making her remember why her fury wants her to fight, why the distance between Eva and her enemy is so important. It's all for Eline, to fight for her and avenge her mother and her father. This fight is where the lines of Dead Hyperspace led her to.
Feeling the rage scorch her, Eva clenches her teeth and dashes towards Lu. With her right fist clenched, Eva screams with anger, lashes out and aims for the head, but Lu raises her arm and blocks Eva's blow. She hits Lu's wrist armour, as tough as a Star Destroyer, and it makes Eva crunch her teeth with pain, but it doesn't stop her. Lu has to kneel with violence. Eva retracts her hand, burning with pain, and lashes out with her left fist, clenched and enroute, but Lu dashes aside like a sprinting shadow. Eva misses Lu's head, and before she can react, Lu grasps Eva's arm, nearly pulls it out of her shoulder, and as the girl clenches her teeth, Lu punches Eva in the chest. She stumbles backwards, the blast probably having snapped a rib in her chest in half and it makes Eva pant with a shaken voice. Before she can raise her fists to shield her face, Lu dashes forward and pounds her fist into Eva's forehead. Eva jerks backwards onto the ground, splashing into a pool of water and she groans with pain. It feels like the world is spinning, her head heating up. The pain is so agonising that it feels like her head is splitting open after Lu's blast, and as Eva slowly rolls herself around, trying to cool the heating pain in her head with the little bit of water lying in the shallow pool, Lu lowers her fists with the frustration in her narrowed eyes, gazing at Eva struggling to handle the pain.
''Is this what you really want?'' Lu shouts, her voice echoing through the distant blaster fire. ''Rebel blood? Is that what your burning fury desires?''
Eva gasps for air as she tries to suppress the pain, having turned her back to Lu. She can't get herself to answer, but in anger, she clenches her teeth tightly, her eyes narrowing as she sees Lu standing just in the corner of her eye, barely visible.
''For every drop of blood you squeeze out of the Rebellion, the Galactic Empire sheds the blood of millions of innocent people all across the galaxy,'' Lu shouts. ''Blood of civilians just like you, but they don't matter because they're aliens, distant, or not like-minded. The galaxy doesn't work for them, because it doesn't care about them. Yet, you find joy in such a horrible war that costs the lives of thousands. You're blind to what the people of the galaxy are yearning for, freedom and the choice to change their future. Is that why you've pledged allegiance to the Empire? Because you smile at people suffering on back water worlds that don't matter to you?''
Eva's gasps become sharper as the vengeful, burning rage starts entangling her. Her fury threatens to take her over as the memories of Eline and her parents flash by. Her mother preparing her lunch box every morning, her father taking her to the BlasTech facility for an exciting day, and Eline always comforting her, warming up her heart. The memories flood back, but in every one of them, Eline shines the brightest. Her little sister has always been there, supporting her and giving her the power she needs to endure The Well and the pain Eva has gone through. Eline has always been there for her, even when she's sleeping deep in her comatose state. Even when she sleeps, Eline never lets go of her older sister, and Eva feels it in her heart. That's why Eva pledged her allegiance to the Empire. Because of her.
''Is that why you're fighting for the Empire?'' Lu shouts. ''Because you enjoy the bloodshed?''
With the vengeful rage taking her over, Eva pushes herself from the ground, her chest aching from Lu's punch, and she stands up. Her legs tremble a little and she shifts to Lu, her eyes narrowed with rage. She clenches her teeth as Eva nears the point of breaking down, her vengeful fury consuming her.
''I pledged my allegiance to the throne of the Emperor,'' Eva hisses with rage, ''not because of the joy, but because of the two little girls you took away!''
Eva storms towards Lu. The woman clenches her fists, preparing herself for a miserable attempt at a final blow, but as Eva speeds towards her, the girl suddenly lowers herself further through her knees. Eva entangles her arms around Lu's legs and crashes into her, pushing her back. Eva's unexpected blast at her legs makes Lu lose her balance in an instant. Lu stumbles backwards and crashes into the metal railing. The metal bars fail and Lu and Eva crash through them, causing the railing to topple and threaten to take the two into the abyss, and then they both stumble over the edge. Eva's boots slip away from the gravel, trips over the concrete edge, and falls into the abyss. Her heart sinks in her chest, her stomach feeling light as Eva lets out a scream of shock. She twirls in the air and her eyes land on the roof of a building below her, and before she can blink, Eva crashes through a roof window. The glass instantly shatters as Eva breaks through the window, falling into a factory hall. Eva hits with her back a metal object, twists around, and slams her stomach on a triangular platform. The agonising pain explodes into her body, spreading like a wildfire. Eva clenches her teeth and gasps desperately for air, feeling her lungs aching. She clenches her fists and slams them on the floor. Even with so much pain burning like flames in her body, Eva doesn't give up yet. Until Lu is sleeping as deep as Eline, Eva won't stop. Eva pushes herself up from the floor, and as she puts her knee on the platform, her eyes land on Lu. She's struggling to stand up too, the blood dripping down her cheek from a deep cut on her forehead, and some pieces of her dark Clonetrooper armour have been ripped off from her suit. Behind the woman is the abyss of a long factory hall with robotic arms hanging down from the ceiling, ready to fabricate the next war machine of the Empire. Catwalks line the walls, and the glass shards twinkle in the fluorescent light on the floor like a starfield. Eva can hear them crack below her boots as she stands up, her eyes starting to narrow as the fury that fuels her forces her way through the agony of her wounds, and Eva steps forward. Lu stands up but before she can shield herself, Eva pounds her fist into her face. The woman stumbles backwards, almost falling off of the platform, but she takes a big leap back and stabilises herself, her eyes burning with the rebellion falling on the girl. Lu lashes out, but Eva blocks her blow with her hand.
Then, Eva is pushed off of her feet by an invisible force. She loses her balance, trips over her feet, and slams her back into the metal platform. It suddenly starts moving, and it makes Lu stumble over her own feet as well. She hits her knees on the floor, looking around. In the quick second of break-up between them, Eva glances around, her eyes darting from the platform to the robotic arms. They move towards them, their metal claws spinning around and other arms carrying metal parts. Eva then realises what is happening. She and Lu fell through the glass onto the assembly line of an operating manufacturing facility, and looking better, Eva recognises the contours of the triangular platform as a solar collector of a TIE Fighter. They crashed into the assembly line, and now they're in the middle of it, the center of the production line.
As the metal claws approach them, threatening to rebuild them into the Navy's next fighter craft, Eva stands up from the moving platform, clenching her fists as her eyes are locked on Lu. As the woman steps towards her, Eva pounds her fist into her. Lu blocks it with her wrist armour and pounds her other fist into the girl. Eva stumbles backwards, her cheek burning with pain in a flash. Gasping relentlessly, Eva raises her fists and dashes towards Lu. The woman clenches her fist and strikes Eva's chest with her arm. Eva is struck in her ribs, blown back by Lu's strike. She falls and hits the platform with her back. Lu pants with desperation in her eyes. She dashes towards the girl with her fist raised, ready to pound her stomach, but then a metal arm gets between them. Lu smashes into the robotic arm and hits her head, stumbling backwards. Another robotic arm spins a piece of a solar collector around, hitting Lu in her face point blank. As Eva lies on the platform, the robotic arms around her descend, drilling holes into the metal solar collectors and welding parts together. The sparks the welding robotic arms create spread over the platform like fire. The assembly process of the TIE Fighter is starting and they are in the middle of it. At any given moment, Eva can be strangled to the solar collector by a robotic arm and weld her arm to the TIE Fighter, melting half of her body into the Navy's war machine. It's a torturing pain Eva can't imagine, and standing up, her chest aching from Lu's strike, her eyes land on Lu lying on the platform. She's momentarily taken down by the metal arms, and Eva can end the fight here before she's rebuilt into a part of the TIE. But as Eva wants to dash towards her, a robotic arm smashes into her back. Eva flies forward and hits the platform with her hands and knees. Lu is now in arms reach, and as Eva crawls her way towards her, the girl pounds Lu in her face. The blood seeps out of her wounds, sticking to Eva's fist as she pounds the woman with rage. Lu grasps Eva's throat and strikes her head into the girl's face. Eva lets out a scream of pain, feeling her nose burn with pain and she dashes backwards. Then, Lu lifts up her foot and pounds Eva in the shoulder with her boot. Eva falls backwards and Lu crawls up, and then in the corner of her eye, Eva notices the robotic arms are retreating. Lu doesn't care, her burning, blood-drenched eyes locked on Eva. As the girl tries to push herself up, Lu dashes towards her, drops herself with a pound on the TIE's wing and pounds her fist into Eva's face, hitting her cheek. She can taste the fowl blood in her mouth, tasting like metal. Lu bends over her and grasps Eva's throat with her glove, pinching it and strangling her. Eva feels Lu's fingers burning through her throat as it burns with pain. Eva grasps Lu's hand, trying to move it away from her throat. She tries to gasp, but Lu keeps strangling her, suffocating her as Eva's last bit of oxygen is drained. Her vision slowly becomes blurry and her lungs burn, trying to get the tiniest bits of oxygen, but Lu pinches her throat further and Eva gasps for nothing, suffocating on her own breath. Her vengeful flame slowly dies down in agony, wanting to continue burning her with rage. Lu's cold, brown eyes become blurry circles, and Eva starts to lose control. Then, in the corner of her eye, she notices a robotic arm approaching her and lowering its power drill to the platform, drilling through the durasteel beams of the solar collector. Cables hang down from the power drill to the wrists of the robotic arm, controlling its hydraulic wrists and pumps. Desperately, with the few bits of oxygen circulating through her body, Eva lets go of Lu's hand pinching her throat and reaches out for the hydraulic cables, grasps them, and pulls them violently towards her. The cables snap, bursting open and spewing out burning, hydraulic fluid. The fluid spews out of the burst cables and hits Lu's left cheek. The woman screams out of agony, the hot fluid burning on her cheek and she lets go of Eva's throat in an instant. Her lungs gasp for air violently and she lets go of the cables. Some of the hydraulic fluid lands on her stomach and it almost burns through her Academy suit, sending shockwaves of agony through her body. Eva reaches out for her stomach, her teeth clenched with pain, and she tries to wipe off the hot fluid without thinking. It instantly backfires and as Eva's hand wipes shakingly over her stomach, the hot fluid touches her hand and burns her skin. She screams with pain and retracts her hand, instantly regretting her decision. The hydraulic liquid has left red, scorching marks on her hand. Eva almost crushes her teeth with pain, gasping for air with a shaking voice, the agony spreading all over her body.
As the pain soars through her body, Eva's eyes land on Lu, stumbling over the platform as the robotic arms move around. The hydraulic fluids that spewed into her have left horrible burn wounds all over the left side of her head, and Lu trembles with pain, trying to scream the agony out of her body. Her shivering voice echoes through the assembly hall but is quickly overshadowed by the sounds of the machinery around her. Eva's teeth clench with rage as her eyes narrow. Gasping for air, Eva pushes herself from the platform and stumbles towards Lu, the pain making her stagger over the metal. Now that Lu is distracted by the torture the scorching hydraulic liquid has left behind, Eva has a chance to defeat her. The agony can finally end, and with clenched fists, Eva steps towards her with the rage having consumed her in fire. She raises her fists and as Lu notices her in the corner of her eye, Eva pounds her fist into her face. Lu stumbles away, unable to defend herself and bending through her knees as the pain threatens to bring her down. Eva steps towards her, her boots pounding on the metal platform, and she punches Lu in the gut, clenches her other fist, and pounds it into her face, hitting her nose and hearing it crack. Lu stumbles backwards, her cold eyes reflecting the surge of panic that havocs her. She trips over her feet and falls off. She disappears into the abyss, falling off the platform, but before Eva can sigh out of relief, having beaten Lu, she hears a loud whirring sound behind her. She glances over her shoulder, and before she can turn around, Eva feels the platform suddenly tilting. She turns around and Eva sees the robotic arms are rolling the platform over, and her side is sinking towards the abyss. She instantly grasps a steel rod crossing the platform and meeting other steel rods in the middle like an intersection. If she doesn't take hold of something, she'll fall down. Eva will fall down to the abyss and meeting Lu at the bottom, and as she panicky grasps the steel rod, the platform tilts further, and as it becomes vertical, pointing towards the roof, Eva's feet dangle down and it stops moving all together. She peers down and at the bottom is a floor below the assembly line. It's a long way down, and at the bottom, she can see Lu, lying unconscious on the floor with her arms spread and her legs together. Seeing her body from above, Eva knows she has beaten her, but she isn't apprehended yet. Until Lu disappears behind bars at the Wobani prison camps, Eva hasn't won.
Then, Eva feels her hand slipping away. Her hold on the steel rod that keeps her from plummeting into the abyss weakens, and she feels the sweat on her hands from the panic. Eva's eyes widen with panic as she desperately holds onto the steel rods, but the nerves start to burn more as her hands weaken. And then, Eva loses her grip and her hands slip away. She lets out a screech and she falls down from the platform. She hits an object, topples over, and falls onto the floor with her stomach. Eva feels her body burning with pain and she clenches her teeth. Her eyelids feel too heavy to open, and her stomach aches. It feels like she's about to throw up as her stomach pulsates with pain, having fallen from the sky onto the hard floor. Eva's cheek burns as she lies with her head sideways on the floor. Her hands burn with pain as she pushes herself to roll onto her back, relieving the pressure she'd otherwise put on her aching stomach. Feeling the cold floor in her back, Eva's head jerks sideways and her hand falls onto her chest. The cold metal suppresses the burning pain a little and she opens her eyelids. Her eyes land on ground level. It's a floor below the entire assembly line as the TIE Fighter wings above her move into an adjacent factory hall. All the lights around her are blurry and form vague circles on the walls, and in the corner of her eye, she notices a blurry figure. She shifts her eyes and Eva sees Lu lying on the floor. The woman lies with pain on the floor and she groans and moves her arms a little as she returns to conscience. Lu's blaster carbine, inherited from her Clonetrooper father, lies on the floor between her and Eva. Her black backpack is cracked, having broken from the fall Lu made. A small, black detonating device rolls over the floor. Snatching off the red safety pin and pushing its button will burst open the charges, bringing the skyline of the Capital's financial district down as their last act of rebellion against the Empire on Vaulent 6, an attempt at weakening the government by hitting the weak point that has made the moon so powerful. Now that it lies vacant on the floor, no finger can trigger the bombs and is open for Eva to grasp and make Lu unable to strike the Empire. Her eyes shift to Lu waking up, slowly moving some of her limbs, and Eva sees she hasn't beaten her yet. The mission isn't over, but she doesn't feel the power to stand up. She has no strength anymore, she used all of it. Her fury burned through all of its fuel, having drained her from all of her energy, and the pain that is spreading like wildfire makes her unable to move any of her limbs. It just feels too painful to move, and gasping for air, Eva shifts her eyes to the floor, the tears starting to form as the pain tortures her, forcing her to endure far more agony than the electrocution ever has, and also feeling unable to complete her mission, Eva's heart starts to fill with tears. The pain has brought her to her knees, unable to take more, and the tears roll down her cheeks, streaming out of her aching eyes with sorrow. The finish line is within her reach, but she feels so devastated, so horrible, that she's unable to reach out to the finish.
Suddenly, something in the other corner of her eye appears. It shines brightly like a supernova amidst the stars, and as Eva shifts her eyes, they land on a pretty face she hasn't seen in what feels like decades. Her pupils widen, the pain across her body evaporates like water on a stove, and her mind lights up with peace like Vaulent's sunset. It's the face of Eline, her blue eyes locked on her and the long, blond strands of her hair dangling down. Her sister, shining bright like a fairy, stands next to her, looking down with sorrow in her eyes, and Eva's lungs hyperventilate with shock as she sees Eline.
''E-, Eline,'' Eva's voice shivers.
As her heart warms up in the presence of her sister, she's flooded with joy and sorrow. In the most devastating moment, one that brought her to her knees, Eline showed up like a bright star in the night sky. Eva finally sees her after so long, but she knows it's not her. She knows Eline is still sleeping, and it breaks her that Eva is still not able to see her true blue eyes.
''I-, I can't,'' Eva sobs. ''I-, I just-, can't.''
Eline notices the glimpses of Eva's inner turmoil. She steps towards her older sister and reaches out with her hand. She wants her to go on. She wants her older sister to complete her mission, and as Eva's eyes shift from her hand to her face, Eva knows for whom she's doing this. She risked her life, took a boy hostage, killed Rebels on the spot, and fought Lu to the last drop of blood they could shed because of Eline. The entire struggle was for her little sister. Eva fought for her, and she knows she can't give it up. She can't fail Eline. The courage and the energy starts flooding her, and Eva clenches her teeth with determination, forcing her way through the burning pain, and she grasps Eline's warm hand. Her sister pulls her up from the floor and Eva staggers as she stands on both feet on the ground. She starts feeling dizzy from the pain as if the world is spinning and she almost collapses to the floor, but Eline holds her older sister tightly, entangling her arms around her. She's unable to let go, and as Eva manages to stabilise herself, Eva puts her arm around Eline, shifting her weight on her to stand better, and as she gasps for air, both of their eyes land on the blaster carbine lying on the floor, waiting to be picked up. Eline shifts her head to Eva, waiting for her sister's order. Eva glances at her with red eyes, the tears still rolling over her cheeks, and she clenches her teeth with determination. After a quick glance, Eline knows what she wants, and together, they step towards the blaster carbine. Eline holds her arm around Eva's waist, keeping her from falling. Together, they walk towards the weapon lying vacantly on the floor. Eva's heart races with courage instilled by her sister. With Eline under her arms, Eva approaches the blaster carbine, and slowly with agonising pain in her legs, she gets closer and closer with each step. Then, she trips over her feet and Eva stumbles to the floor. She reaches out for the blaster carbine, hits the floor on her stomach, and her hand lands on the weapon, grasping its cold, metal frame. She reached it, the weapon, and now, she can end Lu's command as Rebel Captain, traitor of the Empire and the attacker of her sister, the one who punched her into comatose.
With her heart pounding relentlessly, Eva grasps the blaster and pulls it towards her. She grasps the trigger guard and puts her fists on the floor to push herself up. She takes a deep breath to fight the pain. She stands up and glances over her shoulder. Eline isn't there. She vanished. She turns back and her eyes land on Lu. She's looking at her with eyes drenched with blood. The cut wounds on her forehead seem deep and the blood seeps out, dripping on the floor. She leans with her back against a large, circular tank. Two faint rings of black ash surround her eyes, and the blisters on her left cheek glow red from the hydraulic liquid that inscribed them in her skin. Her cold eyes are narrowed and she faintly clenches her teeth as she looks down the barrel of the blaster carbine Eva holds in her hands, and as she holds Lu at gunsight, Eva feels the anger rising in her aching chest, her fury starting to spit out its flames once more.
''It's over, Lu,'' Eva stammers, her voice shaking with rage.
Lu tilts her head a little and lets out a faint scoff.
''You've lost,'' Eva hisses. ''You Rebel scum will die.''
''Eva,'' Lu stammers, her voice shaking with pain. ''The flame will never die. The Rebellion will never cease to exist as long as the Empire rules the galaxy. Even if we lose, our flame will still go on to burn.''
Her finger crawls closer to the trigger, feeling the urge to pull it as Lu gasps for air and looks down the barrel. The pain is tearing her down as her frail voice shivers with agony, once the voice of a soft and caring middle-school teacher, and now that of a Rebel demon.
''In war, everyone loses. No one wins. We only fight to lose the least,'' Lu hisses with agony.
Eva scoffs. ''No, a war always has a loser and a winner.''
Lu tilts her head forwards, her cold, sharp eyes locked on the girl with the blood dripping down her face.
''War is no game,'' she hisses. ''It's a sprint of who can destroy the other the most without breaking. One side can claim victory, but no one can win without losing. We only fight to lose the least.''
Eva's lips press against each other with anger, but Lu's words don't go unheard. What she has told her echoes through her mind because she knows it's true. In her fight against the Rebel demons, Eva lost so much just to win from them. She knows it's true, but it has never been laid bare before her. It has never been pledged out in words. Facing the harsh reality of war and her role in the military, Eva recognises that victory isn't without sacrifices. No one wins without losing. In war, everyone fights to lose the least.
''It doesn't matter how much I lose,'' Eva stammers. ''The one I can't afford to be taken away is Eline, and you almost took her from me.''
''Eva, your sister was injured by a crashing B-Wing that was taken down by your TIE Fighters,'' says Lu. ''It was an accident like all the other civilian casualties that happened.''
''I don't care!'' Eva shouts, her shaking voice echoing through the factory hall. ''It was an airstrike done by your Alliance. You knew civilians were at stake, you knew there were risks, yet the Alliance went on and killed my father, my mother, and almost took away my sister.''
''There are always civilian lives at risk as long as your Empire keeps the people in line with force and terror,'' Lu stammers. ''Those who oppose the Empire get to face a massacre of their own people, no matter how peacefully they want to negotiate about their own future. The Emperor has formed a galaxy most people don't want to be part of. We fight to get a better future, to lose the least and restore most of what we have lost.''
''Shut up!'' Eva shouts, and she takes a step forwards, her blaster carbine shaking with anger in her hand. ''I don't need your lecture. You nearly took Eline away from me. You're going to pay for what you've done!''
Lu gazes at her, recognising she won't be able to convince the girl. She rolls her eyes and puts her hands in the air.
''Okay then,'' she says. ''Kill me. Kill me now.''
Eva tilts her head. What? You're giving up?
She pants as her finger crawls towards the trigger, the electronic scope of the blaster carbine aiming on the woman's face as her hands tremble in the air.
''Do what you have to do!'' Lu shouts. ''Kill me, now!''
Eva pants as her heart pounds with rage, ready to pull the trigger. The Rebel Alliance she serves, Lu took so much away from Eva. Her parents, her home, her childhood, and almost Eline. No other person in the galaxy could warm up her heart so much as Eline, and she almost died at the hands of the Alliance. Lu is a demon that deserves to be killed. The galaxy has to be cleansed from these demons, and the encouragement of Lu makes her teeth clench with anger all the more.
''But Eva, think about Oliva.''
Suddenly, the flames retreat. Oliva's name, spoken by Lu's voice, breaks through her rage like a sudden, calm breeze in a raging storm.
''I may be a demon,'' says Lu, ''but I have a daughter and you are the best friend she has ever gotten. When I'm gone, how do you think Oliva will look at you? The same way she does now?''
The memories of Oliva flash in front of her eyes, and Eva feels her eyes starting to water. She remembers the first time she met Oliva. She sat in class at elementary, alone and fresh when Oliva, at the time six-years-old, came by and sat next to her. It was the first time Eva and Oliva met each other, and from that point onwards, their relationship became tight and they became friends loyal to each other, never letting the other down in crisis. She remembers Oliva's warm hand on her shoulder when she gazed at the shut eyes of Eline at the hospital. Oliva offered her a bed to sleep in when her own home was in rubble. She offered help when Eva needed it the most, and thanks to her, she has brought down the Spy that killed her parents and put her sister in coma. The Rebel demon Eva faces is no demon, but a mother of a daughter and her best friend she cared about. Lu made Oliva the perfect daughter, caring and empathetic. She made her the best friend Eva has ever gotten, but now that she has revealed the Spy's true identity, Eva now holds her at gunpoint, a mother of her best friend. If Eva lets her fury consume her, Oliva would never look at her the same way as she does now. Eva would be the killer, the cold-blooded murderer, of her best friend's mother. Oliva would never accept it. She'd shout at her to never come back ever again, to drop dead in the middle of the street and never be remembered again. Eva's best friend would be no more, and seeing the Rebel flame in the eyes of Oliva's mother, she can't get herself to pull the trigger, even if the same mother is the one who did so much wrong. The blaster carbine shakes in her hand as the tears start to roll over her cheeks. Even if she looks at the eyes of the enemy, she can't get herself to kill her. She can't kill Lu. If she kills her, she'll kill Oliva too, and Eva can't convince herself it's good, even if it's her duty. As the pain burns in her heart, Eva lowers the blaster carbine with trembling hands and drops it, clattering on the floor. Eva drops to her knees, the tears streaming down, gasping with sorrow in her heart. She can't gun her down.
Eva's knees hit the floor and she starts sobbing with sadness, unable to let her best friend be taken away by her own actions. It feels like a stab in her guts that can't heal, burning through her intestines with violence as her tears splash on the floor. She wipes her tears and glances at Lu with sobbing eyes.
''I-, I'm sorry,'' Eva sobs, her voice shaking with sorrow.
Lu tilts her head, her pupils growing with surprise. She didn't expect Eva to drop the blaster, burst into tears, drop to her knees and let her go. An unexpected twist from an otherwise steadfastly girl allegiant to the most evil throne the galaxy has ever known. The cold-blooded, Rebel scum killer has changed.
''You're-, you're letting me go?'' Lu stammers.
Eva's eyes narrow for a moment, clenching her teeth.
''No,'' Eva replies. ''I'm letting you live.''
Then, Eva hears pounding footsteps growing larger and rays of light cast on her surroundings. Stormtroopers emerge into the factory hall and storm to Eva and Lu with their blasters raised. As she sits with her knees on the floor, Eva sees the Stormtroopers surrounding them and aiming their blasters on Lu.
''Hands on head!'' shouts a trooper.
Lu's eyes dart around with nervousness, seeing the claws of the Empire entangling her, and she puts her shaking hands on her head, following the order of the Stormtrooper.
Eva glances at the troopers around her and she sees they have a double, blue ring on their shiny chest armour, and she shifts her head and looks back at Lu. Her fists clench with a hint of anger rising through her sorrow.
''You almost took my Eline away,'' Eva hisses. ''You're not leaving until you've paid.''
Lu looks at Eva with watery eyes, seeing her fate crawling onto her with its claws entangling her like those of a predator. Eva can see the empathy in Lu's eyes, feeling sorry for the girl to have nearly taken away her sister, but Eva doesn't let the woman's watery eyes change her perspective on her. Mother of a best friend or not, Lu is a terrorist of the Rebel Alliance. She deserves jailtime, and as a pair of Stormtroopers walk in on her and slam her on the floor to handcuff her, Eva watches with sorrow deep in her broken heart.
Lu lets fate creep in on her as she obediently follows the commands of her Imperial captors, and she's taken away without resistance. As Lu disappears, Eva is left with an incurable wound in her gut, the wound of a stab that pierced her heart with sorrow. She feels horrible to have taken away the mother of her best friend. Without a doubt, Lu will stand in front of the ISB, and Eva knows how hostile they are towards traitors. Lu will face the hardest, most brutal time of her life, and Eva feels sorry to be the one who got her, and she feels horrible, absolutely devastated, to have hurt Oliva in this way.
More Stormtroopers enter the factory hall, inspecting the full building for more Rebel insurgents. Eva wipes the tears from her cheeks and clears her eyes. Suddenly, she feels a cold hand on her shoulder. She tilts her head up and sees a Stormtrooper standing next to her. Her eyes land on the orange pauldron and the double, blue ring on his chest plate, and his voice sounds all too familiar to her.
''Eva, are you fine?'' he asks.
Eva's heart leaps with relief in her chest and her eyes grow as she recognises the voice, and a thin smile forms on her face.
''Kyraan,'' Eva sighs with relief. ''You're back.''
''Yeah,'' he responds. ''I recovered.''
She remembers the screech that echoed through the storage room at the BlasTech facility. It was a screech that came out of the blaster that was held by Lu, and Eva's eyes twinkle with happiness, seeing Kyraan back from the hospital.
''Spare me the story,'' he says. ''Let's get you up. Your squad is waiting.''
He reaches out to her and Eva grasps his hand, and he pulls up from the floor. Her legs burn as she stands on both feet on the floor. Her head jerks backwards with dizziness as it feels like the world is spinning, but Kyraan keeps her up right and with the arms of a Stormtrooper supporting her, Eva walks out of the factory hall. The sky is dark blue with faint dots scattered across. The horizon behind her is fiery orange as the sun is about to plummet below the horizon. Grey clouds are scattered across the sky of the late evening, and the strobe lights of TIE Fighters shriek over them. Stormtroopers walk over the factory area having cleared the area and arrested countless Rebel insurgents as they are held at gunpoint, and seeing the forces having flooded the Rebel stronghold, Eva feels a gush of inward relief, happy to see her own people again. For the past 5 days, they've been trying to catch her because of the crimes she had done, unable to see it was all for the Empire's greater good, and now, Eva feels happy they're on her side again after having beaten Vaulent's Rebel mastermind single handedly.
With Kyraan supporting her, Eva steps aboard an ITT and they drive away.
''I've heard about what you've been through,'' says Kyraan, sitting next to her.
Eva shifts her head to her, taking deep breaths to ease the pain of her body.
''I'm happy you didn't hurt yourself all too much, especially with the ISB that was on your heels,'' says Kyraan.
Eva lets out a short chuckle. ''You don't wanna know how much I hurt myself, but-, but I did it for a greater good.''
Kyraan nods. ''You surely did. You caught one of the most wanted Rebels the ISB was looking for. Eva, you did a great job and I'm happy you can still smile after everything that happened.''
Eva nods, but she feels conflicted. Now that Oliva has no mother anymore, Eva doesn't know whether she can smile about it. Even if Lu was a Rebel, she was still a mother, and the sour aftertaste makes her thin smile vanish from her face.
After a short trip, the ITT comes to a halt and Kyraan supports Eva to the door. As she steps out with Kyraan's arms under her armpit, she sees they've arrived at the unloading area from where Eva started her raid. It's basically her front door of the vacant manufacturing facility the Rebels used as their stronghold. Now, it's back in Imperial hands, and Stormtroopers walk around, guarding the place. The wreckage of what seems to be an improvised, Rebel tank is towed away by a tank, a TIE Vulcan, of the Imperial Army, and then, Eva's eyes land on Peyton sitting on the tarmac with Ashara attending a wound on her knee. Peyton shifts her eyes and sees Eva, and her eyes twinkle with happiness as soon as she sees her.
''Eva!'' she shouts.
Peyton pushes Ashara's hand away from her knee and stands up from the ground. She sprints towards her and crashes into her, entangling her arms around her in a tight, warming hug. Eva feels Peyton's heart pounding against her chest as the girl holds her arms around her. A smile forms on Eva's face, happy to see Peyton in person again after so long and the conflict they had between each other.
''Eva,'' Peyton stammers, her voice cracking with joy. ''I'm glad you're back.''
Eva lets out a soft chuckle as she presses Peyton against her. ''Couldn't do it if it wasn't for the help from an amazing tech girl.''
Peyton chuckles and she lets go of her tight hug, and she looks at Eva with watery eyes.
''Peyton,'' Eva stammers. ''I'm sorry for what I've done. You know, that moment at the Rebel hide-out and that malware on your datapad, I'm-,''
''No,'' Peyton interrupts with a shaking voice. ''Eva, I am sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you with so much anger for something we could've solved together.''
Eva tilts her head with surprise. This whole search for the Spy was meant as a gift to Peyton, to better apologise to her for the grave errors she made, but now it seems like Peyton is taking the responsibility, and Eva gets why.
''I became my parents,'' Peyton stammers. ''I should have never allowed myself to become the most vile kind of people, I'm sorry, Eva.''
Eva smiles and nods, keeping her arms entangled around Peyton. They let go and Eva's eyes land on Ashara approaching her with a smile on her face.
''Good to have you back, my Rebel scum killer,'' says Ashara, smiling.
Eva chuckles and she entangles her arms around her as well, pressing her tightly against herself with joy in her heart. The pain in her body subside for a moment like ice in a sudden flood of sunlight. As she holds her arms around her, Eva hears Ashara tearing up a little, sobbing with joy to finally have her good friend back from the depths of Rebel hell.
''I was so worried about you,'' Ashara stammers, and she then lets out a chuckle, ''but I never doubted you and you kriffing did it.''
Eva chuckles a little. Letting go, Ashara's yellow eyes scan Eva's face and she sees the pain her body has endured in her fight.
''They got you pretty badly,'' she says. ''I'll check on you at the medbay and we'll take care of these horrible bruises,'' and she softly wipes her Pantoran finger over one of Eva's bruises on her forehead.
Eva feels a surge of pain and Ashara sees it in her eyes.
''Yeah,'' she smiles. ''We'll take care of them.''
She smiles, happy to have felt Ashara in her arms. The alien Twi'lek who kept her chained up was horrible, and feeling Ashara's soft and gentle personality makes her heart warm up. Ashara retracts her hands and Eva's eyes land on Roslin. The tall girl holds her arms crossed over each other and she has her head slightly tilted, radiating a sense of authority around her, but despite the difference in rank and the heated hatred that was between the two, Eva can't help but smile.
''I told you I came back,'' says Eva.
Roslin smiles and she steps towards her. ''I'm glad you did.''
As she stands in front of her, Eva suddenly senses a bit of sadness in Roslin. She can see there's something brewing behind her eyes, and Roslin's smile fades a bit away from her face as if something suppresses it. Roslin tilts her head down and gazes at her feet, seemingly puzzled on how to begin, and Eva notices there's no gum in her mouth. She remembers Roslin always has gum pasted to her teeth to chew on, every time, every day. She only takes it out when she's dead serious about what she says. Now, the gum is completely absent from Roslin's jaws. Eva notices something is truly brewing inside of Roslin, and noticing her struggle to start, Eva decides to begin.
''Roslin,'' she starts. ''There are many things I did wrong.''
Roslin shifts her eyes, looking at Eva.
''I pushed you off that platform in The Well, I disobeyed orders and nearly killed a squad member because I became distracted, and I made everything worse,'' says Eva. ''I'm sorry, Roslin. I really shouldn't have pushed you off just to win that game.''
Roslin puts her hands on Eva's shoulder. ''I'm sorry too,'' she says. ''I think I've been too harsh on you and I treated you like a piece of Bantha fodder, I really shouldn't have let you down. That punch I gave you was really undeserved, and I shouldn't have excluded you from the squad.''
Eva's smile grows larger. Roslin truly changed her perspective on Eva, and she really apologised to her about the actions she's done. Roslin always looked down on her because of the incompetence and the recklessness she saw in Eva. When both were called up to Academy Command because of the trouble they caused at The Well, Roslin and Eva made apologies that were as empty as a jar of air. Their words of sorry didn't mean anything at all, and Eva remembers the way she looked away when Roslin apologised for her punch and how condescending she was when Eva apologised to her for her push. Now, their words of sorry truly mean something with both of them having poured their heart into their apologies, and with a warm feeling in her heart, Eva bumps into Roslin and entangles her arms around her, hugging her tightly. Roslin puts her hands around her and tilts her head closer to Eva's ear.
''Welcome back to the squad, Eva,'' she says.
''Thank you, commander,'' smiles Eva. ''I told you I came back.''
Eva presses herself against Roslin tightly, feeling happy that she got the trust of her squad commander back. Smiling, she feels happy to be back, and for the first time, Roslin finally feels like a good friend. However, there's one friend she hasn't seen yet, so with intrigue, Eva lets go after the tight hug.
''Where's the quiet girl?'' Eva asks.
''The quiet girl? She's there,'' Roslin responds.
Roslin points at the chimney of a nearby manufacturing facility. Eva is nearly blinded by the fiery sun as it slowly drops below the buildings. She squeezes her eyes and sees a platform at the top of the chimney and the silhouette of a person sitting on it, and seeing the desolation, she can instantly see it's her.
''Ecklund!'' Eva shouts, her voice echoing through the late evening sky.
She waves to her and she sees Ecklund waving back at her. The quiet girl has the blazing orange sun behind her, slowly sinking below the horizon. The shot Ecklund unleashed couldn't have been more perfect. Her accuracy was flawless and her timing was on point. Without the quiet girl's excellent hit, Eva would've lost Lu from her eyesight and would've escaped. Ecklund made sure she didn't, hitting Lu's swoopbike dead on. Eva can't feel more grateful for the silent force Ecklund possesses that drives the squad, and waving at her, it feels more like a 'thank you' than a greeting.
Eva lowers her hand and shifts her head to Roslin. She puts her hand on her shoulder and makes her turn around.
''Alright, our mission here is over,'' she says with a smile and she taps on her wristlink and moves it to her mouth to speak. ''Ecklund, we've been ordered by command to retreat back to base.''
''Copy that,'' Ecklund's voice crackles through the wristlink.
Roslin and Eva start walking, and her eyes land on a row of ITTs standing on the side of the road, ready to carry soldiers back to the Academy and the Stormtrooper garrison. A pair of TIE Fighters shriek overhead, making the ground shiver as they pass by and attracting the attention of some of the guarding Stormtroopers as they look up. Hearing those sounds again makes Eva feel at home after an anxious day in the claws of the Rebel Alliance.
''Hey Eva,'' says Peyton, catching up with her.
''Wait, Peyton,'' says Ashara, ''I still have to clean up your wound.''
The medic grabs her stuff and bolts towards the squad with her medpack clattering on her back, but Peyton is too invested as excitement takes her over, and Eva can see it in her twinkling eyes.
''Do you uh-, know a few things about slicing?'' Peyton asks.
''No? Why are you asking, tech goddess?'' Eva chuckles. ''Isn't that why you're here?''
Peyton chuckles with the excitement shining in her eyes.
''Well, since I did some regrettable things, I figured that maybe you'd like me to learn some tricks,'' Peyton replies.
You want to teach me some of your slicing tricks? Who could say no to that!
''Yeah,'' Eva replies with a smile. ''That would be astral to be taught by you. What things will I get to learn?''
''Just the basics,'' Peyton responds. ''Bypassing firewalls, encryption and things alike.''
Eva nods. ''I'm looking forward to what you will teach me.''
Eva's heart bursts with happiness, smiling with joy. She missed Peyton so much that it felt like a part of her life was lost, but now that their friendship is restored, it feels like a sunburst of joy, shining bright in her heart which it has never done in a long time. It had been drenched in pain as Eva searched for the Spy. It cracked, shattered in a thousand pieces, until Peyton and Roslin came back, putting the missing pieces back together and restoring Eva's broken heart, making it shine as bright as the sun.
However, the sour taste remains, and even though Eva's heart is restored by her returning friends, it is still cracked by what she had to do. It is her duty, her code, but arresting Lu and knowing her daughter was her very best friend stays behind, to chase her and hurt her like a vengeful shadow whenever her mind drifts off, a vengeful spirit on her heels but remaining distant enough to stay in the back of her mind. Stepping aboard the ITT, it feels gut wrenching, even when her friends are around her. It doesn't matter whether she's a Rebel terrorist. Oliva is Lu's daughter, and Eva has no idea how to tell her best friend about it. The sun may have risen, but it no longer shines as brightly as before, and gazing straight ahead without any focus point, Eva keeps thinking back to what Lu told her when she aimed her blaster carbine at her.
When I'm gone, how do you think Oliva will look at you? The same way she does now?
Remembering every word Lu was spitting out with agony in her voice, Eva knows how much the news can shatter Oliva apart, breaking out in tears with no mother left to calm her down, to put her in bed and get her to school each day. Even when her mission is complete and the torture fades away in her mind, the agony remains.