The shapeshifter

The Imperials and The Rebels

'Why are the Imperials impounding my ship?'

A swarm of thoughts invade Nax's mind, her throat dries up, her head spins and her stomach turns, the noises around her slowly get more and more muffled. She looks at her hands, they were trembling like jelly. She feels her breath getting heavy, her body stumbles back of a few steps and it gets cold despite having a group of people around her. Her skin start changing on its own, white patches start spreading on her crystal blue skin. The Imperials surround her ship, the only things she sees as home, her heart grows heavy as the Imperials put a tri-lock on the Silent Andromeda. She wants to step forward to save her ship but she feels a sense of familiar terror splashing on her like a wave.

"TO WHOM DOES THIS SHIP BELONG?"

The roars of one of the Imperial soldier makes Nax snap out of her thoughts by making her have new ones.

'What will they do to me? Do they already know that it was me? Maybe they don't yet, but what If they do? Sooner or later they will know, they are quick to find solutions'

The whispers of questions of the people around her are only making it worse for her to keep herself lucid.

"I've never seen a ship like that before.. could it be a Rebel?" "That is certainly a Rebel symbol but I thought they were all gone"

She feels eyes staring at her despite no one was actually looking at her.

"It's my ship and I can prove it to you with this"

Nax stops breathing for a moment. She looks towards the voice that just spoke. It's a man, an old man to be more precise, he looks up at the Imperials with a kind smile as he rolls up his sleeve showing the Rebel's symbol on his arm. The imperial stare at the symbol for a moment and looks at the ship and nods. He moves his head towards the other soldiers who waste no time on arresting the old man.

'no... why..why an old man is protecting my ship? Why does an innocent has to protect me?'

She was on the brink of tears when she feels someone touching her shoulder, she jumps startled and looks. It was a young man dressed in blacksmith's clothes. Without saying a word the young man grabs her hand pulling her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they walk off. Nax looks back at the Silent Andromeda one last time before it disappears from her sight when she turns a corner. After walking some minutes they arrive at a small apartment complex. She looks around confused but she still follows this man. He walks up 2 stairs then open a door of a small apartment and slightly pushes Nax in. She smells a strong scent of a particular spice used in food for give it texture and taste. The apartment wasn't anything complex, it lacked of furniture but it was adorned with various drapes and carpets. In front of her were sitting on the ground an old woman, a younger woman and a small child. The young man smiles and walks in front of Nax as he rolls up his sleeve showing the Rebel's symbol. As he does everyone in the room, except of the child, they all roll up their sleeve also showing the Rebel's symbol. The man starts signing with his hands.

<don't worry you are safe here, we are all Rebels, my father spoke up to protect you and your ship, we know you have a mission but you seemed lost and in trouble so I brought you here>

Nax blinks surprised, not only she could understand his sign language, but she's surrounded by other Rebels.

<it won't take long for the Imperials to find you, so please follow us, we have a safe place to stay until we find a way to get rid of the locks on your ship>

Nax nods and signs a 'thank you' to the man, then she signs why was he and his family helping her. The man smiles kindly and signs

< We have heard many times of your story, of what happened to you and how many people you have saved and helped, you inspired me to take action and help others. Maybe this won't be much but we want to help>