“What do you mean Alderaan’s ‘GONE’ Leanna?” The Chiss looks at the view screen, a frown marring her features as she tries not to panic. Jax and Kriss were there. What would have happened to them?
The human woman on the screen has eyes red-rimmed and puffy from crying. She wipes at them as the tears start flowing again. “The Empire… they have some kind of giant weapon… they destroyed it…” she sniffles her way through the explanation.
“But… we are a peaceful planet… Senator Organa was one of the Emperor’s greatest allies in the old republic. How could he let this happen? It must be a mistake…” The Chiss stands, pacing. “Where did they evacuate to?” She could turn the ship around, go pick up Jax and Kriss. They could rebuild their lives somewhere else. She had enough credits squirreled away.
“No Vree, you don’t understand… They… no one had a chance to evacuate… there wasn’t time…” she sobs. “I’m so sorry but… everyone’s dead…” she looks at the Chiss sadly, tears streaming unchecked down her face.
She stops, staring at the screen. “Dead?” She frowns, mind trying to catch up, to absorb the magnitude of her statement. “That can’t be…” her hand goes to the ring on a chain around her neck, the wedding ring she doesn’t’ wear when she’s working next to the locket with the picture of Jax and Kriss. She sits down hard, gripping them tightly. “They’re gone?”
“Yeah honey. Everyone is. I’m so sorry.”
“I… I gotta go. I’ll call you back.” She clicks the screen off before the other woman can see the tears start or hear the pained scream that escapes her as she clutches the last piece of her husband and daughter. The screams echo inside the small ship, reverberating in the space before being replaced by deep wracking sobs. She cries until there are no more tears left, leaning listlessly on the hull as she sits on the floor, the story her friend told her running through her mind on a loop. Her focus narrows on each pass until it’s just a litany of “The Empire destroyed them.” Sadness is slowly replaced by rage that burns through the last vestiges of the soft wife and mother that was Vree leaving the hardened core of her being that was honed into a machine with one mission. She sits back in her seat, preternaturally calm and opens a line. “I need you to put me in tough with the Rebels you know. We’re going to destroy the Empire.”
“Are you sure you want to do that so soon Vree?”
The Chiss cuts her off. “Not Vree. Cobalt. My name is Cobalt.” A predatory smile creeps across her face. “And I’m very sure I want to make them pay for what they’ve done.”
Misha B 