Episode Summary: When her life is threatened, Lucia Caltrel pledges herself to the First Order, a choice that will leave her never the same. Meanwhile, her mysterious superior spirals into a dark and destructive obsession. Set one year before Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

Started: January 13, 2016.


Episode 1: Never the Same

33 ABY

As I sat facing the snouted, horned, blue-skinned alien before me, I decided it definitely wasn't my people skills that got me chosen for this mission. The awkward silence was filled with occasional snorts and my own desperate throat clearing. Eventually, my host excused himself to go check on the crew and left me alone on the observation deck of the small space cruiser.

I was born to a nomadic civilization of humans called the Andromeda Fleet. We used our scientific skills to study and catalog intergalactic phenomena for anyone wealthy enough to hire us, ranging from private citizens to the New Republic itself. Since we stopped at nothing to fulfill our obligations, we had earned ourselves a reputation for dependability. My family was born into the diplomat caste, so I've been trained my whole life to know what to say and when to say it. At least, that's what was expected of me.

Meanwhile, there was something of a civil war going on in the Galaxy. The sitting government, the corrupt New Republic, was waging war on its opposition, the power-hungry First Order, via a proxy force called the Resistance. For ordinary people like me, it was best to steer clear of the conflict. As for the Fleet, they needed a planet to fall back to just in case...

I smiled, feeling more butterflies in my stomach with each parsec we put between us and the Fleet. Just the thought of being so far from home made me shiver with excitement. My longing for adventure would be satisfied for a long time after this particular day trip.

"Representative Caltrel, we will soon enter the planet's atmosphere," Javvik informed me with a friendly snort. I thanked him while I gathered my tools—canisters for air, water, and dirt samples—and my datapad.

A small team of Javvik's crew accompanied us as we departed the landing zone in a small freight speeder. The crew members, who hailed from various species across the Galaxy, held short-range blasters that made me a little nervous. A warm breeze swept in some cloud cover as my host explained a few preliminaries about the planet. The sun-facing side enjoyed four varied seasons while the opposite side lay in permanent, devastating winter. He explained that it would be necessary to live on this side of the planet—for humans, that is.

Soon enough, we reached the perfect spot for some vegetation samples. Trees were scattered around a large lake that seemed to have swallowed up part of the forest. Though the clouds made me feel slightly claustrophobic, it was beautiful.

I started an air analysis on my datapad while I gathered some other samples from around the lake. Javvik stood nearby impatiently, and I could tell that his clients weren't usually this thorough.

My eye caught sight of the crew members when they began to stir and raise their weapons. Javvik shouted something in a language that was not Basic, and the crew began to quiet. I continued my work.

Then, a few minutes later, I felt the entire ground shake beneath my feet. I caught my balance and whipped my head toward Javvik, whose jaw had gone completely slack. Following his line of vision, I looked across the lake—something was rising from the disturbed water. My eyes narrowed. Is that...a missile?

I heard the boom of a loud voice over a speaker a few seconds later. "This is the First Order. Your presence on this planet is not authorized. Surrender yourselves immediately."

I nearly tripped over myself as I sprinted towards Javvik. He was barking something to his crew, who appeared equally panicked. "W—We have to go," I breathed, my lungs heaving.

"There's been a misunderstanding," Javvik rumbled, panic in his yellow eyes. He turned toward the origin of the announcement and shouted, "I—I—I own the deed to this p—planet!"

Another order echoed from the direction of a forest, closer this time. "This is your final warning. Put down your weapons and surrender immediately."

"Mr. Javvik." My knuckles were white on the strap of my shoulder bag. "We have to go."

He looked conflicted. I glanced around at the restless crew as they awaited his next order. Should I...?

A blast of red suddenly shot out from the trees and struck a crew member. The alien squealed in pain and dropped his blaster, clutching his burnt and bleeding arm. My heart leaped into my throat, and I tore off in the direction of the speeder. I saw Javvik in my peripheral vision, hobbling after me.

The exchange of fire began immediately, filling the air with the sounds of high-pitched discharges and scorching impacts. A patch of grass ahead of me caught ablaze, and I heard myself scream a curse. After what felt like forever, I finally dove into the speeder.

No sooner after I realized I had no idea how to operate the complex controls, I felt a searing bolt of electricity hit my back. My body convulsed painfully, and then I dropped face-down to the metal floor of the speeder. Directly in my line of vision, I saw Javvik hit the floor, too. His eyes were full of fear. I wanted to scream, or cry, but I couldn't move a muscle.

Voices drew near us, speaking through the static of respirators.

"These are the last, sir," said the first.

"Good job," the second voice said. I felt the floor dip to the side as two sets of white boots entered my line of vision. "We have to take one of them for interrogation."

"Which one?"

I heard a dry laugh. "Isn't it obvious?"

I watched as the barrel of a blaster was placed against Javvik's head. If I had been able to, I would have screamed with all my might before I blacked out.


A/N (March 15, 2024): Hello and welcome. I'm in the process of finishing Episode 3 and polishing off this trilogy, but I wanted to start consolidating it into a single story. I started this 8 years ago, so these characters have been in my head for a hot minute now. I'd say it's time to send them off with a happy ending. If you're new, I hope you enjoy this fic as much as I do. If you're returning, I hope you like the edited version. Thank you for reading! -Scarlet

Major divergences from canon: the First Order does not blow up an entire system of planets, the Supremacy is not destroyed by hyperspace jump, Palpatine does not "somehow return," Hux is not a spy, and Ben Solo lives.