Марта Уэллс - From a Certain Point of View

Jailyn widened her eyes in shock. “They’ve found the princess.”

Dresh quickly grabbed her hand. “Follow me.”

—

They raced through the upper levels. Citizens and visitors scrambled in the halls, loud voices of fear mixed with confusion from the baron administrator’s announcement. Dresh pushed through the chaotic crowds, keeping Jailyn’s hand tight within his grip.

“Where are we going?” Jailyn yelled at the pilot.

“To your father’s ship!”

Bespin Guards sped around corners from all directions, blasters released from their holsters. They sliced through the crowd, sprinting to an unknown destination. The guards weren’t helping anyone to safety.

“That’s not good,” Jailyn said as she followed Dresh toward the platform bay where the Velker was docked. He slowed down as blasterfire and commotion erupted from the next hall. A woman wearing a white jumpsuit darted through an archway. She carried a blaster rifle and was quickly followed by a Wookiee who was firing at an unseen enemy.

“That’s the princess! She’s trying to get away.” Jailyn broke free of Dresh’s grip and sprinted down the hall.

“Come back here!” he yelled.

Jailyn hovered and hid behind a charred corner as several stormtroopers chased after the princess and the Wookiee. In the crossfire, Dresh pulled her closer to the wall for better cover, holding her tight in his arms.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“We have to help them!” Jailyn pleaded. “They’re trapped!”

“Listen to me. This place is swarming with stormtroopers and I only got one blaster.” Dresh pulled his weapon from his belt.

The rebels defended their ground outside Platform 327’s door. Jailyn winced as bolts dug gaping holes in the pristine walls above her, leaving little fires smoldering bright. Her cloak was now ripped and ruined, but she no longer cared. Jailyn didn’t need the fragile façade anymore. She was fully in her own skin, breathing the acrid air of combat. Princess Leia Organa was fighting tyranny right in front of her. A woman who had defied the expectations of her royal position. The Empire wanted to silence her and the Rebellion, chasing them across the galaxy to the Outer Rim. Now Imperial forces were close to capturing the princess, and Jailyn couldn’t let that happen. She suddenly grabbed Dresh’s blaster and aimed it at one of the stormtroopers gaining ground on the rebels. After she fired, he fell down in a slump.

“Where did you learn to shoot?” Dresh’s face was full of astonishment.

“I’m full of surprises.” She aimed to fire again but then the bay door opened and the princess and the Wookiee moved outside where a battered Corellian freighter was waiting. The stormtroopers pursued them, taking the battle onto the platform.

“Let’s move.” Dresh grabbed Jailyn’s hand but she held firm.

“We need to help them!”

“We can’t help them if we’re dead.”

Jailyn hesitated but then ran with Dresh past the ongoing skirmish, dodging bolts as they hit and marred the walls. Racing down to Platform 325, they found the doors wide open. The Velker was a looming presence in the approaching dusk. Over on the next platform, an aged freighter revved to life and took off in the midst of blasterfire.

“Looks like your princess got away,” Dresh said.

In the darkening sky, the ship disappeared into the clouds. Princess Leia Organa had once again escaped the clutches of the Empire.

Jailyn followed Dresh up the entry ramp and into the heart of the Velker. In the pilot’s seat, Dresh riffled through system maps.

“This place is gonna be crawling with even more Imperial scum. We need to get offworld now.”

“But…” Jailyn paused to look at the sky. The sunset was almost over. It was at its darkest pink; the clouds covered early stars.

Dresh turned to look deep into her eyes. This time it was her seeing through him. The truth of what he wanted was laid bare. Dresh had the same yearning for her. Maybe it had been there all along underneath his own pretending.

“Jailyn, it’s time to pick a side. This is now and this is real.”

Cloud City was now overrun with Imperial stormtroopers. The Empire would put Bespin under its control. The old days of the Outer Rim were done. It was time for her to choose who she wanted to be.

“You’re right, I do need to pick a side,” Jailyn finally said. “And I’m choosing the side that doesn’t shoot at princesses.”

THE WITNESSAdam Christopher

Enough. It was that simple, really.

Deena Lorn—TK-27342—she’d had… enough.

She didn’t even really know where they were, although that wasn’t unusual. They’d been summoned by their section leader, received their orders, and traveled down to the city in the shuttle with Lord Vader himself.

The orders were simple. Escort duty. Nothing more. Her and FS-451.

Deena hated FS-451.

She was tight with the rest of her squad—as she’d discovered early in her career, once you’re dropped into a battlefield with a bunch of fellow new recruits, the bonds that form among the survivors can be legendary. Her fireteam—Tig, Xander, Ella, Riccarn—she’d die for them. That they’d stuck together since the beginning was remarkable, but perhaps Deena should have given her commanders a little more credit. The officers see a squad work well together, makes sense to keep them as a unit. They’d been through the wringer, and they were all still alive. That alone put them ahead of the curve. They were all good—good enough to get better assignments, ending up on the Executor. It wasn’t exactly a safe detail, but it did at least keep them off the front lines.

Because good stormtroopers were hard to find. Deena knew that only too well. Stormtroopers like her…and FS-451. He wasn’t in her fireteam—thank pfassk —but he’d been in the squad for longer than she had. And this was, what, the fourth or fifth time they’d been assigned as a pair to aid Lord Vader. Each time the order came down, it caused a bit of gossip back in the mess, a mix of lighthearted ribbing and jealousy, like serving as the Emperor’s own personal enforcer was somehow an easy assignment. She laughed along with the others, of course—but she wasn’t sure they were right. True, she’d rather be trying not to step on that long, flowing cloak as she trailed after him than being dumped on some mudhole planet and left to shoot as many rebels as possible before trying to reach a pickup that only had a fifty-fifty chance of showing up.

But Lord Vader was not someone you wanted to…disappoint. And while escort duty for a being that required no escort was an easy assignment, Deena had seen what happened when you provoked his ire.

Sometimes, while trying to keep a respectful—and safe—distance from Lord Vader, Deena daydreamed that one day it would be FS-451 who stood there choking in his armor after taking one microsecond too long to carrying out their master’s orders.

She hated her fellow trooper. The feeling was deep, almost primal. It wasn’t that he was just a jerk. There were plenty of those among the rank and file. He was worse. Far worse.

FS-451 was a believer.

It wasn’t just that he was dedicated and loyal. Those were admirable qualities that any good trooper should have been proud of. No, FS-451’s devotion to duty went beyond that. He didn’t just live to serve the Empire—he believed in it, believed in the right of the Emperor to rule, believed in the desire for total supremacy across the galaxy. Believed in the iron fist needed to wield such power.

Believed there was no cost too great, no price too high, to achieve total domination. And it was only through such domination that there could really be peace in the galaxy.