IE XII: A TWI'LEK FROM THE SHADOWS

Eva crashes into the side of the trench wall and drops herself to the bottom next to Peyton. It's another training day at Malstrom base, but things seem to go differently this time. They no longer start at the front of the battlefield, but at the far back in the trenches of an artillery gun site.

"What's up for today?" Eva asks.

Peyton looks at her as she inspects the blaster on her lap. "We have to hold position and defend this place. So, we're the defense team now."

"Astral," Eva responds.

She checks her battery cells. One in the blaster, two more on her waist belt. It should be enough to face whatever challenge it will be.

"By the way, Eva," says Peyton. "I couldn't find you yesterday evening. Where were you?"

Eva shrugs. "Gone."

Peyton hums. "Obviously… I wanted to see you because of our conversation of the morning."

"Why? I don't feel like bringing it up again."

"Well, uh, I'm sorry." Peyton squeezes her blaster against her chest with regret reflecting in her eyes. "I'm really sorry for what I did-, or how I did it. I didn't mean to shame you. I wanted to make a point, a case for myself, but I recognise it was the wrong way. I didn't intend on hurting you."

Eva's eyebrows rise with surprise, caught off guard after hearing an apology from her. It's especially surprising because of how heated Peyton was during that argument. She expected Peyton to take her victory and leave it at that aside from taking command, but no. She returned.

Eva's eyes drift away. "Well, it did feel like a punch in the guts. It hurt."

"Yeah, I understand. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you like that."

Eva nods with pressed lips. "It's fine. You're a good soldier. I'm sure you're gonna be a good LC too."

Peyton smiles a little and nods.

A squad of boys jump down the trench. Eva recognises one of them as Kuma, the boy from The Well who distracted her with his flirting attempts. She clenches her jaws with sharpening eyes. Ugh, you?

Kuma glances at her for a fraction of a second and looks away, seemingly feeling awkward about their first interaction. Eva scans the faces of the other boys and recognises another as Daxan with his thick winter hat. She shares a glance with him until one boy stops near her.

"Where's your commander?" he asks.

Peyton looks up at him and pushes herself off the ground. "Well, I am the commander."

"You? Where's the tall one?"

"Wounded. I'm replacing commander Roslin, for now," Peyton responds.

"That sucks. Well, I'm Kirthin, commander of VSRC012." He extends his arm and shakes Peyton's hand. "I'm evaluating our defense. You know the Captain's instructions?"

Peyton falls silent. "Captain?" She stammers and looks back at Eva with confusion.

Captain? Yeah, no clue either, and Eva shrugs. The only instructions she heard were from Peyton which, in turn, came directly from Lieutenant Amitash. Who could this captain be?

"Captain Amitash, former lieutenant," the boy responds. "He got promoted yesterday."

Eva raises her eyebrows. He got promoted? Dang. Good for him.

"Really?" Peyton asks, tilting her head, bewildered.

"Yeah. Took his new rank with some fine dining, I heard. Anyway, you got your instructions?"

Peyton nods. "Yes. Every detail."

The boy nods, and after some exchanges of words more, he walks off towards the other squads waiting and boring out further into the trench. Tracking him, Eva gets the impression that this boy has taken the task on himself to take care of the entire team, almost like a second Amitash taking command of everything. There is definitely a hint of ambition to climb the ranks in his voice.

They prepare for their tasks. While Eva peers over the trench, she recites her instructions countless times. There is not much to recite anyway. In the last couple of training days, Eva's squad has taken part in the offensive team, attacking another through Flanking and Breakthrough strategies. Today, she's on the defense team, defending their little stronghold of trenches and artillery gun sites. It sparks her interest, curious of how this side of a battle will turn out to be.

As Eva peers over the trench, overlooking the strolling hills, Peyton joins her, putting her elbows on the soil.

Eva looks over her shoulder. "How's it going?"

"Everyone's in position," Peyton responds. She taps with her hands on the soil, seemingly nervous.

"Then there's not much that could go wrong," Eva responds, trying to comfort her.

Peyton hums. Then, her datapad beeps and she quickly grasps it from her waistbelt and looks at it. "I let my datapad do some calculations. I'm trying to predict the A-team's next moves based on our offensive trainings."

"Really?" Eva asks, leaning towards her to look at the screen. "What does it say?"

"Northern flank has the highest chance of being attacked," Peyton responds. "Mostly because we attacked it the most when we were on the A-team. It is the easiest direction for them to take. So that should make it easier for us to prepare."

Eva hums. "That sounds unfair. I like it."

Peyton chuckles. "Rebels don't play fair either. Anyway, things should get started soon. Get ready for the wave."

Eva nods. She gets up and glances over the edge of the trench, looking over the foxholes and the hills which the A-team will cross. "You make it sound like a game as if it's all Rebel Lair."

Peyton hums and looks over the edge of the trench as well. "How much charge do you have left?"

Eva checks the indicator on her blaster and taps on the battery cells hanging from her waist belt. "Got three."

Peyton nods. "Good. You'll need it, we're going to mow down some Rebel zombies today."

They both chuckle.

The voice of another squad's commander erupts from her wristlink. The assault has finally commenced. Eva tightens her grip on the trigger as blasterfire erupts and the attackers of the A-team appear over the hills on their northern flank.

"Northern flank," says Peyton, looking at her. "Exactly as I predicted. Eva, you're with me."

"Copy."

Eva follows Peyton towards the northern flank through the trench and positions there. She puts her blaster on the ground and sees soldiers of the A-team running over the plains towards them. She barrages the A-team with fire as they hurdle towards cover. While she repels the A-team, Peyton shouts through the comm channels to the rest of the squad, ensuring everyone is in the right position.

Eva looks over at Peyton sitting crouched on the bottom of the trench, shouting through her wristlink. Her voice sounds a bit jumpy and she stammers a lot, asking for status updates constantly.

"Hey, Peyt-, lieutenant, I can't keep them all at bay on my own," Eva shouts over the screeching blasterfire.

Peyton glances up at her. "Got it. Sorry," and she gets up and fires back.

Then, in the middle of the heat, Ecklund's voice echoes through the comm channels. "Enemy in the east!"

Peyton pulls back her blaster with growing pupils. "What? That's the frontal flank. No, they can't!"

Eva can hear the turmoil growing like wildfire in her voice as she continues to repel the enemy from the northern flank, listening with one ear.

"How many are there?" Peyton asks.

"Stand by," Ecklund responds. "Five."

Peyton looks up at Eva. "Just five. That's a single squad. That doesn't make sense. Could be a distraction. Remain where you are, don't reposition."

Don't reposition? Peyton's order nearly makes her stomach turn. The fact that the A-team is sending five soldiers to be massacred feels wrong. That can't be their plan for just five unlucky boys. That seems too stupid. It makes her believe there's something more to it and that they should react before they can be taken by surprise, but she remains where she is. She follows her orders.

However, as the attack on the northern flank continues, the frontal assault on the D-team intensifies with each passing second. From five men, the frontal assault grows to countless of soldiers, barraging the D-team with continuous blasterfire.

"Lieutenant, we can't hold out here!" Ashara's voice erupts from her wristlink.

Eva ducks as blaster bolts nearly hit her and she looks at Peyton, moving her wristlink to her chin.

"I'm busy here too!" Peyton shouts. "Hold the line. Keep defending!"

"But-, but we can't!" Ashara stammers.

"Orders, Ashara!"

Ashara remains silent until a sigh erupts from her side. "Copy, lieutenant."

Eva lowers her blaster and gets down to Peyton. With her heart racing in her chest, Eva sees the panic engulfing Peyton like flames. Her eye movements are frantic and she doesn't respond to anything in her vicinity, not even when Eva gets so close to her that she breathes into her face.

"Lieutenant!" she shouts. "Shouldn't we help Ashara and Ecklund?"

Peyton's eyes dart to her. "What?"

"Shouldn't we help Ashara and Ecklund?" Eva repeats.

"I-, I don't know," Peyton stammers. "Eastern flank is quite the run. If we leave here, they might force a way through this flank or shoot us in the back."

"We got the other squads defending it, We're doing fine here while Ashara and Ecklund are starving out there!"

"It-, no, no, we can't," but Peyton stops. She clasps her forehead with her hands, no longer able to get her mind to work. The girl is shutting down and Eva's heart sinks in her chest at the sight of it.

"Peyt!" Eva shouts, and she grasps Peyton's shoulders and pushes her against the wall of the trench.

At last, Peyton looks up with watery eyes, the panic brewing like flames.

"We have to do something!" Eva shouts.

Peyton starts curling up, reaching for her legs. "Okay, okay, I can-"

Suddenly, a shouting voice breaks out from the blasterfire beyond the trench, screaming the enemy has breached the eastern flank. Eva shouts at Peyton to take action as the Lieutenant Commander, but nothing reaches her. In her sheer anxiety, she's gone deaf and Eva pulls onto her arm, trying to wake her up. They have to pull back now that the eastern flank has fallen.

"Peyt, we have to retreat!" Eva shouts.

At last, Peyton reacts and shakes off Eva's hand. "Okay, okay, got it," and she moves her wristlink to her chin. "Ashara, Ecklund, fall back to Delta."

With that, Eva chases Peyton through the trenches towards Delta Point, a position further back in the D-team's hold-out. It's a position that's easier to defend, and as they arrive there, Eva sees most other squads have retreated as well, with some carrying their fellow comrades who have been hit by stun rounds.

D-team regroups and barely manages to turn the tide as the last attackers of the A-team are defeated. As the smoke of the battle clears, Eva stomps towards Peyton with frustration. This battle has made clear that Peyton is not the right person to command. Roslin held her composure. She acted whenever it was necessary and kept acting when the heat scorched her. Roslin went on despite the anxiety. Peyton did not. She closed down when the heat became too much, curled up and cried in the corner like a young girl. Peyton failed and did not act when she should have. It infuriates her that Peyton didn't act accordingly. She had all the information laid out in front of her as bare as it could. She knew the northern flank was under attack and that it was intensifying, yet, Peyton didn't act. It makes her blood boil.

Eva gives her a stomp on the shoulder. "Peyt, what the hell happened back there?"

Peyton looks at her, gasping with red, swollen cheeks. "I-, I don't know."

"We almost lost!" Eva shouts.

Peyton drops herself to the ground and splashes in the mud, sitting with disbelief in her eyes. She clasps her forehead and buries her eyes in her hands.

Eva drops to the ground next to her. "I told you we should've done something. We should've reinforced the northern flank when they were still building up their forces there. Why didn't you?"

Peyton gazes into oblivion. "I don't know. I locked down. I just-, didn't expect this to be so hard." and she shifts her head to Eva. "I will do better, I promise."

Better candidate for Lieutenant Commander, huh? The conversation between her, Peyton and Roslin flashes through her mind. Yeah, right.

Eva presses her lips, feeling it's hard to swallow the apology, but she accepts it with a nod and looks away into oblivion. Even when she failed, Eva recognises Peyton might need time to get used to commanding a whole squad. It's not easy, but acting accordingly is definitely not.

As midnight draws closer, Eva swallows her Conergin pills and drops down on bed with just her tank top. Further at the back, Peyton is talking with Roslin about how she performed, seemingly discussing her shortcomings and excellences. But from afar, Eva can tell Peyton is not telling everything. She seems to be smiling, and from the words she picks up, Eva hears she's sugarcoating her dramatic performances.

Eva can't believe Peyton got the rank of Lieutenant Commander instead of her. The training of today was a clear display of how unable she is to command. She might need more time to adjust, but she couldn't even act when it became heated. She closed down, a bad habit of any soldier fighting in battles. It leads to inaction and confusion. That caused the eastern flank to fall into enemy hands. It still infuriates her, but as her blood begins to boil, Eva closes her eyes and inhales deeply through her nose multiple times. She can't get angry now for a few mistakes, especially when it's her own friend. Let her adjust. Just… let her.

Later that night, the lights go off and Eva dozes off as the exhaustion sets in, sleeping towards the next training day.

Out of nowhere, a hand grasps her throat. Eva wakes up, wheezing and clenching her throat. Through the darkness, she sees the silhouette of two lekkus hanging down. Two eyes glow yellow and stare at her so cold and fierce like they are possessed by a vengeful spirit. Fear and anxiety flash through her like lightning as Eva realises it's her, the Twi'lek from the woods. Eva's legs flounder, kicking the blanket off her bed and trying to free herself with agony.

Without thought, Eva clasps the Twi'lek's shoulder, forces her feet against the wall, and pushes the Twi'lek off of her bed with a scream. They topple over and Eva smacks into the floor with her chin. Instantly, she gets up, but to her shock, the Twi'lek is not there.

Bedazzled, her mind spins around in chaos, still adjusting to the sudden fall from her bed. As Eva stabilises herself, she turns to her squadmates with panic growing.

"Guys!" She stammers, loudly, but her heart sinks in her chest as she sees the barrack is completely empty. The beds show no signs of having ever been used. The blankets are tidy and devoid of wrinkles, her squad gone. Where are they?

Slowly, Eva realises she's not awake. This must be a nightmare. How is that possible? Eva squeezes in her arm but she quickly feels pain. Something isn't right.

Then, she hears something outside the barracks, barely audible, the faint howling of something. With the adrenaline pumping through her veins, Eva walks towards the door and steps outside. She's met with a bright flare before her, burning through her eyes and scorching her skin. Eva covers her eyes with her hands until they adjust, and sees flames taller than buildings erupting from the debris. Everywhere is fire, burning away what once Malmstrom Training Ground was.

The howling flames hypnotise her as Eva stumbles forward. What. The hell. Is going on.

This can't be a nightmare. The heat on her skin feels so real. Did she overdose herself with Conergin? No, she couldn't have. She only took two, the usual dosage.

Then, as she stumbles further, Eva's heart sinks in her chest. There, silhouettes of four Deathtroopers, bearing the insignia of the ISB, bow over a figure. Looking better, Eva sees Eline with her long, blond hair and her cybernetic arm. Eva freezes. Her heart stops.

Eline, sitting with her knees in the mud, glances at her. The flames dance in her eyes with tears, sobbing with agony.

"Eva."

She jolts around. Behind her, she sees the Twi'lek standing in front of her, holding her yellow lightsaber, ready to slash. Her white robes whirl in a strong breeze and her pink pupils reflect the flames.

"I can save her," the tailhead whispers.

Eva's eyes water as she turns back and glances at Eline. "What is this?" she whispers.

The Twi'lek snaps. "I can save her, but only if you give me the Artifact."

Eva looks back at the Twi'lek. "Which Artifact?"

The Twi'lek approaches her until she stands beside her. "The stone."

"The-, what?"

"Hand it to me," the Twi'lek snaps. "Only then can I save your sister."

The Deathtroopers stand back and raise their blasters. Eline gasps and looks at Eva one last time.

"Tell me where it is, now!"

Instantly, Eva is thrown onto the floor with a bang. Her lungs gasp and her throat burns with pain. Her stomach turns as Eva lies upside down on her head, hanging from her bed, balancing over the edge. Her skin is covered in cold sweat. Her heart is racing like a madman's, as if she ran all the way to Kuat and back with hungry Lurca's chasing her through the galaxy.

Getting herself on her bed, Eva buries herself in her blankets and sobs, shivering and trembling. That nightmare… it felt horrible. She can still feel the fingers burning in her throat when the Twi'lek strangled her in her bed. It sends shivers down her spine as the tears roll over her cheeks, until her mind replays the flames that danced in Eline's watery eyes. She sees every second of it happening again until the Deathtrooper's blaster clicks and everything ends. Every bit of safety crumbles away as Eva curls up.

That Twi'lek appeared out of nowhere, strangled her for no reason, here in this barrack, on this army base. Why? How did she get here? Why did she see Eline? What was the Artifact? What were the Deathtroopers doing there? What does the ISB have to do with any of this? Lying down, Eva can't keep the questions quiet. All night long, she wonders but can't conclude as long hours pass by until light finally shines through the windows and the alarm clocks buzz.

Next training day… ugh.

The exact strategy of yesterday is rehearsed. A-team attacks from whatever flank they choose. Eva and the D-team repel them from their stronghold.

As the wind howls above her, Eva lies low in a foxhole-a deep hole in the ground, still thinking back to yesterday night. She tries to unlock whatever secrets her hellish nightmare might hold. Why did the ISB hold her sister at gunpoint? What did she do? The Twi'lek said she could only be saved if she handed her the Artifact, a stone. What stone? Did she mean the stone Mr Dane gave her when she apprehended the robber at Steelcrane Plaza? Is that what she seeks for? Why? Why would she need it? It makes no sense at all. Things start connecting, but Eva can't feel for certain.

However, it is clear to her that things are escalating. Even after Eva left her to rest, that Twi'lek is still haunting her sleep, and as her gaze is stuck to the horizon, she loses it. She cannot take it anymore. Her night rest has been plagued for long enough. She cannot stand aside when Eline is pushed to her knees in front of an ISB firing squad. It has to end. No one gets to touch her little sister and her night rest. No one. Not the Padawan, not the ISB.

Forget capturing that Twi'lek for answers. All she desires now is killing that Padawan. These nightmares end with her.

Then, Eva hears muffled footsteps behind her. She looks over her shoulder and sees Daxan jumping down her foxhole with his blaster held across his chest.

"Daxan, you here too?"

He glances at her with a nod. His winter hat is mostly covered by his durasteel helmet. It makes his head seem much bigger than it really is, almost as if his brains is popping out of it. "Yeah, as per instructions. There are no fox holes left so I figured hopping into yours. Hope you don't mind."

Rather you than Kuma. Kriffin' fierfek. Eva still feels pissed for losing the game in The Well because of him.

"Welcome," Eva responds, and stares through her gunsight.

The battle can start any minute now. The A-team will flood the low hills ahead of her and advance towards her like ants. Which flank they are going to choose is a mystery though. There's really no way of telling. It's a waiting game for now, and being encapsulated in this small fox hole with little space to move makes Eva feel a bit anxious. Simultaneously, the waiting game bores her out.

"How's your nightrest?" Daxan asks. "Is the Conergin working?"

Daxan's follow-up catches her off guard. "Yeah," she stammers, leaving out last night. "For the first time in weeks, I'm sleeping like a brick. Thanks."

Daxan nods with a hum. "Happy to hear that."

Then, Eva hears shouting erupting from her right. It's the voice of the foremost scout of the D-team, shouting from his foxhole that the enemy is coming.

"Blast it, they're flanking us," Eva curses, retracting her blaster.

"It's about time they did," Daxan responds.

Eva and Daxan reposition in the fox hole to defend their flank. As Eva puts her blaster on the ground, she sees the first soldiers of the A-team straggling over the hills with drawn blasters. Blasterfire erupts as the D-team defends its flanks. The A-team tries to come closer, but the D-team's continuous hellfire keeps them at bay.

Some try to enforce a breakthrough, but doing that makes them vulnerable and easy to pick for Eva. It almost becomes a snooze fest.

"Daxan, how's your squad?" Eva asks, curious. "Is it any good?"

"It's alright," he responds. He puts his blaster on the soil next to her and fires too. "Sternheiser is a good guy. Laid back, has some status and is sometimes a bit too proud of it, but he's a good shot. Might be a good competitor for your hotshot."

"Ecklund."

"Yeah, her. Then there's Kuma. No idea why he got a place here."

Eva nods. "Him. I've met him before. He tried to hit on me in The Well and I lost it because of him."

Daxan hums. "Uh-huh. Didn't expect anything else from him."

Eva glances at him. "He's done it before?"

"Unfortunately, yeah," he responds. "He can't think of anything else but girls. He once asked me in The Well a great philosophical question-"

Blasterfire cuts him off as they fly barely above them. Eva and Daxan pull back their blasters and duck in the foxhole.

"What did he ask you?" Eva shouts at him as the blaster bolts screech overhead.

"Ass or boobs."

Eva chuckles, rolling her eyes. "Seriously?"

Daxan nods. The blasterfire passes and they both put their blasters back on the soil, continuing to repel the enemy from their stronghold.

"And he has the endurance of a Hutt," Daxan adds. "Yet, we're the seventh best of the boys' section I believe, so we're magically floating."

Eva hums. "Not bad."

"Yeah. We're not nearly as good as yours, of course. Your squad is like, what, on top? King of the hill?"

"Pretty much, if we're talking about prestige. Your commander sounds pretty ambitious, taking all of the squads for himself to lead as a whole like a second Amitash."

"Kirthin? Yeah, but arrogant too, thinks he's better than the rest of the squad. In some way he is, I mean he's the most ambitious of all of us, but he's so focused on climbing that he's overpowering."

"That's why you're seventh?" Eva asks.

Daxan shrugs. "Not sure if I can shove it all onto him. I mean, we're all a bit lazy with protocols and duty, but he definitely has a role in our low ranking."

"What do you mean lazy? As in, unwilling to follow or search the edges of what the taskmasters and such allow?"

"A bit of both."

"And you?"

"Me too, a little bit. I own an arrowhead, a speederbike," and he gets interrupted by blaster bolts hitting the ground barely away from him.

They both duck until the rain of blasterfire passes them. They put their blasters back on the soil and continue to repel the enemy.

"A speederbike, huh?" Eva asks with her heart pounding in her chest. It reminds her of Ashara and her time spending on the speederbike of her boyfriend.

"Sometimes, when I feel sick or need some time on my own, I go out and shriek through the roads at 150 an hour. Truly refreshing."

Eva's eyebrows rise. It surprises her that a young boy like Daxan already owns a speederbike. Until the age of eighteen, teenagers are not allowed to drive anywhere on Vaulent 6. Driving schools train soon-to-be drivers. Their driver's test will indicate whether the person can drive their speeder- or speederbike safely through the roads. Eva doubts Daxan has already gone through all of that, and even if it was possible, it would still be illegal. It would still be joyriding, and Eva wonders who Daxan really, really, is.

After the rehearsals end with errors on Peyton's part, Eva follows her squad back to the barracks. Undressing her armour suit there, Eva's thoughts linger to her nightmare of last night. If she wants to save her nightrest, she'll have to act. If she wants to act, she'll have to ask Peyton first. The last time she did something without notifying anyone caused her to miss her promotion, and Eva won't let it happen again.

Eva finds Peyton at the refreshing building throwing her wet towel into the laundromat in her tank top. The moist clings to the ceiling as steam rises from one of the enclosed showers.

"Peyt, can I speak with you?" she asks

Peyton hums as she keeps her eyes on the laundromat and presses some buttons. Her dark, wet hair reflects the ceiling lights a little. "Sure."

Eva takes a deep breath. "You and Roslin convinced me to let go of that tailhead."

The laundromat rumbles and shakes a little until Peyton slams it with her fist.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't," Eva continues, stammering.

Peyton makes eyecontact with her. "Eva, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is that I can't stay here and do nothing. The problem I have with her is much bigger than you realise."

Peyton crosses her arms. "Really? You-, you understand why we told you, almost ordered you, to forget that alien?"

"I do, but she-"

"-got too much on your nerves," Peyton snaps. "It's not something you should focus on. It's a dangerous fugitive, nothing more. How is her problem that much bigger?"

Eva steps away with the discomfort brewing in her chest. She'll have to tell Peyton about the toll it takes on her sanity. It might be a valid argument, but it's not one Eva likes to bring up either. She's a top soldier who keeps having nightmares. It makes her feel like she's a little child.

"I'm not sure how I should explain it in the best way," she stammers, "but I've been having nightmares for a week and can't sleep because of her. My sanity just can't take it any longer."

Peyton glances away with discomfort hinting in her eyes. "Have you visited the doctor?"

"I did, told me I had nothing."

"Are you sure? No PTSD, no traumas, no-"

"I have nothing," Eva snaps, clenching her fists, "but I keep having these nightmares and dreams about that Twi'lek and it's getting harder to cope with them. Last night's hell, I saw flames burning away this place. You convinced me to let go of it, but I can't. I have to do something."

Peyton lets out a long sigh. "I get why you want to do something, but you have to accept that sometimes, you simply can't," she says, her voice soft. "The squad is already with one less. I can't afford to lose one more. We are the strongest when we're together, we're the weakest when we're on our own. We'll fail the training and I can't afford that in front of Captain Amitash. Besides, the Army and the ISB are cracking down on her. She's not ours to eliminate."

"But-, Peyton," Eva nearly shouts at her. "I can't act as if there's nothing wrong! I can't sleep. I'm not going to make the same mistake as you. You knew the northern flank was under attack, but you did nothing. That caused us to lose. I'm not going to do the same thing, doing nothing but watching while everything burns away."

"Eva, it was my first time as commander."

"Doesn't matter. If there's a problem, you should respond and try to fix it."

"But this is something so different!" Peyton snaps. "You are proposing to go AWOL. Again. And I can't work with a squad of just three of us."

"Peyton, if your life depended on you going against the rules, what would you do?"

Peyton falls silent.

"Emergency breaks law. Even if you tell me not to go, I'm still going. I just-, want to sleep on my own again."

Peyton exhales sharply and gazes away. "Fine. I get it," she whispers, calmly. "Make it worth it."

"Will do," and Eva turns away.

"Oh and," says Peyton.

Eva turns back.

"I know you're more of a solo player, but if you need help," says Peyton, "the squad's always standing by."

Eva nods with a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Tell them I'm sick."

"Got it. Me and Ashara will work on that. Best of luck."

Eva nods and leaves Peyton in the refreshing building. She sprints to her barracks and grabs her stuff. She stuffs her backpack with a first-aid kit, two batteries, and inserts her E-10 in her holster.

With all the stuff she needs—not much to begin with, Eva steps out of her barracks, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. Now that she's gotten permission to go, she has to arrange a ride to the Capital. She's gotten an idea of how to start. Since these nightmares have started with Mr Dane's slab of stone he gifted her. And apparently, the stone holds some value for the Twi'lek since she told her she needed it. At least, that's what she thinks. She may have said it in her dreams, but not to her face. She can't be for certain whether it really holds value to her at all. However, it might be a good idea to start there. All she needs is a ride.

Eva remembers that Daxan owns an arrowhead. Perhaps he is able to help her out. She doesn't like asking a boy for help ever since that fierfek tried to hit on her in The Well. The last thing she needs right now is distraction and this mission requires the least of that. However, she has few options to pick.

After having been pointed in a direction by one of his squadmembers, Eva finds Daxan just outside the main entrance gate of the base, lighting a cig with some others. His dark eyes shift to her as she approaches the group.

"Hi, Daxan," Eva stammers.

"Good evening, Ms Eva," Daxan greets with a nod. "Joining our tea party?"

Some chuckle.

"Do you have time?" Eva asks, unbothered. "I need to speak with you."

A boy leans forward. "Oh man, you got some trouble with the Rebel scum killer. Watch out."

Daxan smirks. "Shut up, Sternheiser." He turns to Eva. "Like, now?"

Eva hums with a nod. "Now."

"Well, alright." He drops his cig and squashes it with his boots.

Eva walks away as Daxan catches up. "You seem in a hurry."

Eva stops in the middle of the parking lot. "Yeah. Quite the hurry. I'm on a mission and I need a ride to the Academy."

Daxan smiles. "A mission? Well, then you're at the right place. I offer everything you need, my arrowhead included."

Eva nods. "Great."

"So I'm on the mission too?" Daxan asks, excitedly.

Eva hums. "You're hired."

"That-, that's astral," he remarks, smiling. "It's an hon-"

"Where's your speeder?" Eva cuts him off.

"Right," Daxan responds and he points at a speederbike at the end of the parking lot. "It's right there."

They walk towards it and Eva sees it's a well-maintained speeder. Not as well-maintained as her dad's speeder once was though. That speeder was sparkling and shining every day as if it just rolled out of the factory. Daxan's arrowhead seems lightly weathered, fighting the outside elements every day, but it's in good condition.

"Step aboard, Ms Eva," says Daxan as he steps onto the forward driver seat.

Eva hops onto the bike behind him, holding onto the cold frame of his speeder as she tilts her head over his shoulder to speak. "Just call me Eva, okay?"

Daxan flips the switch and the engine starts to howl like a monster. "What? Can't hear you."

Eva rolls her eyes. Sleemo.

Daxan pushes the accelerator pedal. He turns the speeder and they shriek away towards a new adventure full of danger.