4 years ago, 0 BBY.
Pantoran Psychology Academy.
''The Prefrontal Cortex is the rational part of the brain, which adults use to think.''
He took a deep breath before he continued his lecture.
''The Prefrontal Cortex is one of the most essential parts of the brain. Without it, adults would have no awareness of the long-term consequences of their actions.''
Human psychologist Kirbley Forrest was invited by the Pantoran Psychological Academy to talk about the brain. On the stage in a large, circular hall, he pointed with a stick to a hologram, displaying a highlighted part of the human brain.
''Although I'm speaking to you, people of the Pantoran race, in no way is your brain different than mine," he explains. "You too have the Prefrontal Cortex, and it works the same way. As I said before, adults use this part of the brain to think. Teenagers, however, don't think with their Prefrontal Cortex, as this part of the brain is not developed well enough around their age. Instead, teenagers think with the Amygdala.''
Kirbley then took a good look at the audience.
''Ever had the situation in which you spent money on quick food and then realised you don't have enough credits the next day?'' asked Kirbley.
A lot of students pointed out their hands. Some started laughing.
''Well, don't be surprised, the Amygdala is not quite good at warning the decision-making centre of the long-term consequences.''
The audience went quiet again. The hologram then highlighted a small dot, the size of a fist, in the middle of the projected brain.
''This part right here, this is the Amygdala, and it is the emotional part of the brain. The connection between the Amygdala and the Prefrontal Cortex is still developing. This causes the teenager to have no awareness of the long-term consequences whatsoever. When a teenager is overwhelmed with an input of emotion, they can do actions without later explaining what they were thinking. These actions can have a small impact, but sometimes a huge impact on the later life of the teenager.''
Then, the hologram flickered off, and Kirbley walked to a computer device at the front of the stage and leaned on it.
''The Amygdala is your steering wheel until the age of 25 when the Prefrontal Cortex is completely developed.''
Kirbley took a good look at the students sitting in the big room. Most of them were Pantorans, but there were also some humans and other races.
''That is why you don't see teenagers on the frontlines of wars with buckets on their heads and a blaster in their hands. Teenagers are good at decision-making, sure, but not long-term consequential decisions. That is where the teenager's brain stops. It is-''
Then, Kirbley got distracted by something flashing in the corner of his eyes. He tilted his head down and saw something pop up on the screen of the computer he was leaning on. It was a message.
I NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU ASAP. THERE'S NO TIME TO BE WASTED.
Kirbley sighed. ASAP? Seriously, father? You decided to message me at the worst time possible, and I have to respond as soon as possible?
He turned his head up to the audience. ''There's a call I need to make, so if you excuse me.''
He walked away and stepped off stage, leaving behind the audience as they started to talk to each other, wondering what was going on. Kirbley walked to a shelf on which he dumped his backpack and grabbed it. He grabbed his jacket too and put it on. Putting his bag on his back, he walked into the adjacent main corridor and made his way to the main entrance hall of the Pantoran Psychology Academy. Blue-skinned Pantorans walked around him as their golden facial tattoos shimmered in the big lights hanging down from the high ceiling. The lights were shaped into large disks hanging in a large dome-like structure. Kirbley walked outside and felt the freezing temperatures piercing through his jacket as he stepped into the snow on the paved path. White snowflakes swirl from the grey sky as Pantora's sun is mostly blocked by the thick clouds.
Standing outside in the snow, Kirbley reached out for his backpack and zipped it open, searching for his holoprojector. He felt its circular shape and grabbed it out of his bag and turned it on. His holoprojector connected with the servers as the connection was established. A vague, blue figure appeared on the top of the circular holoprojector.
''Greetings father,'' said Kirbley.
''Good day, son,'' greeted his father, his voice crackling as it came out of the holoprojector's little speakers. He saw his father wearing his signature, dark-grey Navy suit.
''Something going on?'' he asked.
''Yeah, something terrible just happened.
Kirbley sighed. ''Let me guess, your favourite pod racer crashed at the Corellian Eve, thus losing his championship to your least favourite racer. Am I right or am I correct?''
His father let out a faint chuckle. ''Well, you're half right. Wude Vass got a blown engine in the 43rd lap, but that's not why I'm calling you.''
''Father, what is it?''
''You remember Grand Moff Tarkin?''
Kirbley stared at the hologram of his father and then looked away to the massive entrance hall of the Academy in the distance. Grand Moff Tarkin. That guy, who was he again?
''Isn't that the person you introduced me to at the Strategic Conference you somehow convinced me to attend?'' Kirbley asked, looking down at the hologram.
Kirbley remembered the awful time he visited the Imperial Strategic Conference with his father. He remembered the guy. Tarkin was a bit charming, but Kirbley sensed the darkness and coldness that resided in him. When he shook his hand, introducing himself to the man, Kirbley felt uneasy to stand in his proximity, feeling the coldness. However, he learnt that Tarkin was the most well-known officer of the Empire, having fought as an admiral in the Clone Wars aboard the Venators. After that, he was the person that oversaw the construction of the Death Star. Though highly classified, his father sometimes told him these things out of curiosity, wanting to share a story with his son.
Besides the fact that the Strategic Conference was pretty boring, having to see admirals, generals, and Moffs talk about the state and the future of the Imperial military, Kirbley found it heart-wrenching that they managed to talk about massacres with a straight face. He remembered one general proposing to re-introduce the Blue Shadow Virus to the armed forces. It spread like a plague and left victims with 48 hours of survival. After that, it's done, as it has a notorious success rate of 96% in killing any carbon-based life form. It was previously introduced for a very short amount of time to the Separatist Alliance during the Clone Wars as it was then weaponized to wage the war. The Blue Shadow Virus was a deadly virus that had been extinct for a long time, and this Imperial general proposed to bring it back from the dead and use it against their enemies. He remembered his jaw being wide open when he heard it, and since then he had always remained neutral in the current Galactic Civil War. Never would he touch an Imperial war machine.
''Yes, that person,'' replied Father. ''I just received the news that he perished.''
Did he perish? Grand Moff Tarkin is dead? The most well-known officer of the Imperial military is dead? Kirbley was astounded to hear Tarkin perished. Though he always kept his distance from anything related to the Imperial military, the news of his father managed to intrigue him.
''Hold up, he died? The Moff?''
''Yes,'' responded his father. ''Tarkin was one of the millions of casualties that fell last rotation in the Gordian Reach. He perished aboard the Death Star when he attempted at eradicating the Rebel Alliance.''
Wow wow, you're going too quick, father.
''Repeat that again?'' asked Kirbley, astounded. ''He perished aboard the Death Star? Was he assassinated? Poisoned? Or was it an accident?''
''The entirety of the Death Star is gone,'' replied Father. ''It was destroyed by the Rebels.''
Kirbley's mouth fell open with shock. Though nobody knew about it, he knew what it was. The Death Star was the absolute solution to the rebellion problem. It was deemed the venom that had the ability to eradicate any pest. Hearing it's gone made Kirbley's heart skip a beat. It was something that came completely out of the blue.
''You're saying the Death Star is gone?'' asked Kirbley. ''I can't believe it. What will happen next?''
''High Command announced a state of emergency hours ago to divert all of the focus to the Death Star explosion, and they will finally see the Rebel Alliance as a serious threat and declare a full-scale war.''
Great. More war.
''That sounds good,'' Kirbley sarcastically replied. ''More PTSD cases to resolve, that's what I've been waiting for.''
''I know you take distance from the war and the military,'' said Father, ''but I could need your assistance for something, son.''
''Well, that's going to be difficult,'' Kirbley replied. ''I'm on Pantora, it will take a lot of time to reach Coruscant.''
''You don't need to go that far. Go to Bothawiu in Bothan Space,'' said Father, ''I'll be sending a shuttle to its capital to pick you up.''
He's in a rush . The fact that his father wanted him this quickly made Kirbley wonder what he'll need his assistance for.
''What's the thing you need me for?'' Kirbley asked.
Father stayed quiet and he seemed to hesitate a bit. ''It's a bit complicated,'' he then responded. ''I'll tell you everything aboard the Eagleclaw in person.''
Kirbley sighed. He rather didn't want to go to his father. He was an admiral of the Navy, in charge of the Eagleclaw fleet that consisted of at least three Star Destroyers. However, he sensed there was some urgency and that no time could be wasted, so he decided to go.
''I'll make my way,'' he said and turned off the holoprojector.
The blue figure of his father disappeared from the circular device and Kirbley put it away in his backpack.
I'll be meeting Father again, thought Kirbley. That's not exactly how I want to spend my time, but he seemed to be in a hurry. I guess it won't be a conversation of catching up after all those years, it seems to be serious business now.
Kirbley walked through the streets of Pantora, the snow sticking under his shoes as he made his way to the Spaceport. Pantorans with blue skins passed him as the snow swirled down from the grey clouds in the sky. He also passed a platoon of white riot control Stormtroopers. They wore their signature white, shiny armour as they passed him with their boots pounding on the pavement. They wielded durasteel shields and electro staffs to control participants of riots. Kirbley noticed the look the Pantorans had when the Stormtroopers passed them, and he saw fear in their eyes. Some children took cover behind their parents. He could sense the Imperial occupation here that suppresses the citizens of Pantora, having authority over them by ruling with an iron fist and imposing fear. It's the ideology of the Empire, and Kirbley understood why it was chosen to rule with fear. The Republic's democratic system made it vulnerable to external dangers such as the rise of the Separatist Alliance. There was no centralised authority, the political system was too slow to act in time, and corruption plagued the Republic within its ranks. The Republic's ideology was inefficient and too free, and thus, it led the Galactic Empire to abolish freedom and democracy and strive for absolute security and safety to maintain galactic peace. All planets within its range bowed for Coruscant, the Imperial Center, and thus, authority was centralised and worked more efficiently. However, Kirbley did not agree with the Imperial ideology, especially how security and safety had to be enforced. Planetary governments had no right to choose their own path, and those who did were laid in ashes by the Imperial military, and all the planets that did follow the path of the Empire were ruled with fear to keep them all in line with the New Order, and his father was a part of it. Having participated in many campaigns throughout the Rims of the galaxy, Kirbley's father was one of the many enforcers who kept every planet in line, so he wasn't fond of meeting him aboard his Star Destroyer.
He boarded the spaceliner at the Spaceport, and as he took off and left Pantora behind, his mind raced with what was going to happen next. The destruction of the Death Star and the death of so many ranked officers such as Tarkin would cause a large gap within the ranks of the military, and the Imperial ideology would be enforced much more violently. The fear in the eyes of the Pantorans he saw in the street was going to grow much more, knowing the Imperial fist would be tightened to keep a grip on the galaxy.
Jumping into Hyperspace, he refrained from meeting his father, an admiral who too, would tighten his fist. However, it was his father, and he needed him urgently, so he had to pay him a visit. An admirer of the Imperial ideology or not, Kirbley had to go, going to the place where it would be enforced from.