Empire's Child

Chapter 30

I wander into a hangar bay, yawning and staring blankly at the horizon. This morning I'd been up at 0500 because of some stupid meeting. It's now 0800 and I literally got out half an hour ago. I take a bite of the bland protein bar and it sticks to the roof of my mouth. Taskmaster Grint leads a squad of eight Imperial cadets up to where Commandant Aresko stands with a datapad in his hand. The cadets walk in sync. It's king of mesmerizing.

"Squad LRC-007 for your inspection, sir!" Taskmaster Grint announces.

Aresko looks up disinterestedly. "Cadets, you entered this facility as children. And in a few short weeks, you will leave as soldiers. By the time you complete your training, you will be prepared to serve your Emperor. Today, we will test your strength and resolve. Are you ready to become stormtroopers?" I scrunch my nose. Half at his terrible speech and half because I'm trying to dislodge the protein bar.

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"At ease," Aresko says. The cadets all relax and some remove their helmets. I almost choke on the protein bar and a stormtrooper gives me a look. I wave him off, regaining my composure. One of the cadets has long blue-black hair and blue eyes. It's unmistakably Ezra. He glances at me. I return his gaze for a second before looking away and acting uninterested. I take another bite of bar and walk a little closer.

Aresko snaps to attention as I walk closer. "Cadets!" They look up from their conversations, then over at me. They whisper to each other.

"That's not a cadet uniform."

"Where's her helmet?"

"Why is she joining our squad?"

I nod to Aresko but give him none of the respect and attention the cadets are required to. "Morning, Commandant. You weren't at the meeting; did you have something else going on?" I watch as Aresko stumbles for an answer that makes it seem like he had something more important going on. "Well, I'm sure you'll be updated. Good morning, cadets. Congratulations on making it this far. From the reports, you're a good bunch." There's some muttered thanks, but they mostly look confused. I smother a chuckle. "Mind if I join the exercise? Don't include me in the scoring, but a time would be nice." Grint and Aresko nod and I join the group of cadets. They quickly forget I'm there and go back to pushing and shoving each other.

"Whoa!" The shout seems to go up from all of the cadets, except me. I easily keep my balance as the floor begins to sink.

"Cadets, you are descending into the Well and must climb out with all deliberate speed," Aresko says. "You will be given the honor of serving as aides in Imperial Headquarters. Those who lose will be serving Taskmaster Grint... and wish they'd stayed at the bottom of that well." I roll my eyes. He's being way too dramatic.

"I'm taking that prize," a red-haired kid says, looking up.

"Not today, Kell," cadet with some green on his helmet sneers, pushing red-haired kid.

"Back off, Oleg," Ezra says, jumping in to defend his friend.

"You too, Morgan," the green kid says. "You're both going down."

"Actually, we're going up," Ezra says cheekily. I laugh at his remark.

"You got something to add?" Oleg asks, whipping around to face me.

"Race you to the top!" Platforms begin moving around the Well. I grin and jump halfway up the Well, using the Force to boost myself. A few of the kids just stare at me for a few moments. Not Ezra and the Kell kid, though. They both start jumping after me, leaping from platform to platform.

Ezra is doing really well but not quite what I'd expected. I keep half an eye on him as I make my way to the top. I mean, he's Force-sensitive as well, just not as trained as I am. Plus he probably doesn't want to blow his cover.