Purge (Star Wars)

Part 3: Battlefields: Something Worth Dying For (Flashback)

A beeping breaks through the fog, sporadic and distant at first but slowly becoming clearer and more steady. The beeps and whirs of monitors and machinery slowly grow louder as PT-152 regains consciousness. She forces open her heavy eyelids and, though the room is dim, squints at the light but cannot move her limbs. A medical droid is standing over her, monitoring her condition. When it sees that she is awake, it walks away without a word then returns followed by an officer in Purge Trooper armor. The droid presses a series of buttons on a nearby control panel to raise the bed to a seated position. The movement sets off all the nerves in her wound, a giant gash in her stomach, just below her ribs and the memory comes rushing back of TK-387 plunging the knife into her abdomen then forcing it upward. Despite the extreme pain, she refuses to allow it to show and instead focuses an intense gaze on the officer.

"Is there anything else you require, sir?" the droid asks who now stands at the foot of the bed.

"Leave us," the officer responds.

"Yes, sir," says the droid and departs.

The officer waits for the droid to leave. Once the door closes and they are alone in the room the officer reaches up and removes his helmet. Lanue, the lead instructor for the Purge Trooper Division stands at the end of the bed, staring down at her coldly.

The sedation has not yet fully worn off but the clouding in her mind slowly begins to clear.

"How are your wounds?"

"I will recover," she replies, mechanically, while adjusting her position. This was it. I lost when it counted most. He's here to remove me from training and send me back to the stormtrooper corps. I'll never get out now. I'll never find the answers.

"You are the best fighter we have," he says, "The only reason you lost is that TK-387 fights as if he has nothing to lose. He is fully dedicated, devoted to the Empire and would be more than willing to die for it; to destroy any threat to it."

She looks up at him, unsure where he is going with this.

"You, on the other hand, have something else in mind."

Her heart skips a beat and she instinctively averts her eyes, hoping to not give anything away. He's not here to re-assign her. He knows!

"You have a goal," he continues while walking around to the side of the bed. He leans on the railing and stares at her with such intensity that she cannot avoid looking back at him. They lock eyes and at that moment her fear is realized and he sees that becoming a Purge Trooper is only a stepping stone to her. She holds her breath and waits for him to call the guards; to turn her in as a traitor.

"Use that," he says, his voice softer but more intense. "Don't let your goal hold you back, instead let it make you more powerful. Whatever you do, do not die here. Only die for something worth dying for." Lanue releases the railing, steps back and replaces his helmet.

"I expect to see better in the future," he says, his voice cold again and distorted by the helmet as he leaves the med bay.