4 BBY, Space
A high pitched scream jolted Eli out of his meditative state, and he glanced outside at the hallway. He saw no one so far, save Alison, a few disturbed Rebel soldiers, and a couple of astromech droids passing by. Alison shot Eli a look before making a circle gesture with her finger to her temple.
"What's going on-?" Eli asked, raising a brow.
"This girl's gone bonkers at the med center," Was Alison's response, pointing down the hall.
"Veronica-?"
"Is that her name? I guess so."
"Veronica Jones, if you do not QUIET DOWN at once and comply, so help me Force, I will stun you...!" Rampart was heard shouting at the girl, whose tantrum only got bigger as she wailed for the entire ship to hear.
"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
"Yes, I can. I'm your commanding officer-"
"YOU'RE NOT MY MASTER!"
"See here-" Rendas was heard trying to reason with her. "it's just a vaccine. It'll go in you, and it'll strengthen your immune system against diseases like the Blue Shadow Virus, the common cold-"
"NO, IT'S POISON, YOU DAMN LIAR!" Veronica screeched, and the sound of something being thrown was heard. "STICK THAT STUPID NEEDLE UP YOUR-"
"THAT'S IT, I'm calling Veris," Rampart huffed. Seconds later, he stormed by the two of them, muttering, "My God, it's like dealing with a baby Zillo Beast... I just can't with that girl..."
"Where's this... Veris to begin with-?" Alison asked.
"Doing Fulcrum work offworld with Ahsoka," Eli replied with a shrug. "Veronica stayed on the ship due to Rai's reasoning that it was a dangerous mission, added to the fact that she's due for her vaccinations today."
"I wonder why she entrusted her in the Lieutenant's care," Alison quipped.
"Well, besides Commander Sato, Ahsoka, and Toni, Rampart is probably the only available babysitter on this ship that she can trust." Eli leaned against the wall. "So naturally the job went to him, as Sato is busy and Toni remains under house arrest on Coruscant."
"Well, what about you-?"
"Ma'am, I just came back from Takath 30 minutes ago; what was I supposed to do?"
"Fair." Alison sighed softly before glancing out at the mess hall. "Well, I'm gonna go grab myself a flatcake, if you wanna come."
"No thanks," Eli replied curtly.
"Your loss." Alison walked off.
Seconds later, Eli's comm beeped, and he picked it up. "Henderson here."
"Eli, I'm so glad you picked up," Roken's voice came through the comm. "I need to ask you a small favor."
"Just say the word."
"So... I'm not sure if you know, but about 13 years ago, we took in a baby boy, Arion."
"Arion-?"
"Yeah, his mother dropped him off at the Coruscant safehouse when he was a baby due to his Force sensitivity. See, the thing is... I was thinking I send him over to you."
"What- why-" Eli stammered, bewildered. "I-I'm not a babysitter-"
"Arion wanted to be trained in the ways of the Jedi," Roken explained with a huff. "He's been pestering me about it for months now, so I caved and decided to find him a master. Thankfully, I heard you got knighted recently, so I figured, why not give him to you?"
YOU ARE READING
Earthlings 3: RISE
Fanfictie"Oppression breeds rebellion." For more than a decade, the Galactic Empire has had the galaxy in its iron fist. Any traces of the past Republic have all but been erased, and all opposition has been suppressed. Or has it...? After the death of Eliez...
