Trooper

Disappointment

Our fractured squad slowly walks down the ramp of our shuttle to the pristine steel hangar deck. Waiting at the bottom is a uniformed officer I've never met. Not surprising given the sheer number of people on this massive ship. I could meet a hundred people every day and still spend forever meeting new faces of the crew.

"Commander, Lord Vader has requested your squad's immediate presence." the young officer instructs.

"Acknowledged, inform him we are coming, we'll drop off our gear on the way."

"Lord Vader was quite clear Commander, he demands you to report to him immediately." He repeats.

"Ok, in that case, you can deal with all this" my commander instructs, which he accents by dropping his hands full of gear to the deck.
"You heard the man, on me."

The walk through the corridor to the lift is practically silent. I suspect we're all sorting through the outcome of the last mission. Based on my own feelings I can guarantee there's also a certain amount of dread towards being in Lord Vader's presence. While we work for him directly, our actual encounters are extremely limited with orders mostly coming through the standard command systems, never face-to-face. Being summoned like this has placed a boulder of knots directly in my stomach, I have no idea what to expect.

The lift doors open with a swoosh of air on the command deck. Lord Vader can be seen walking swiftly towards us and I can feel my heartbeat rise sharply as my breathing ceases. Is this me? I focus myself and force a single breath which calms my throat and allows me to catch a few more shallow breaths before fully relaxing and allowing me to breathe normally, though still somewhat elevated.

"Commander," Lord Vader speaks with a pause
"I understand you had a rebel prisoner in your possession?"

"There was one wounded from the fighting, though he wasn't providing any useful information so he was termi...." the commander begins

"Commander, it's possible I have other ways to motivate such a prisoner to speak?" Lord Vader interrupts, with the commander now clutching at his throat.

I shift slightly, out of the corner of my vision I can see that the commander's toes are just barely skimming the ground, yet Lord Vader's hands are at his side.

"What precisely did the rebel say, Commander?" Vader demands.

"I... He... Nothing..." he squeaks out, barely.

"Lord Vader, sir" I interject.
"The rebel said 'Skywalker will crush you and your weak Empire' before he was terminated, sir."

Vader turns directly toward me, yet the commander is still floating and clutching desperately at his throat.

"Was there anything else from this rebel?"

"Only that the rebellion will live on, sir" I state, matter-of-factly.

Lord Vader turns his head slightly back towards the commander, whose hands have fallen to his sides but can still be heard wheezing, ever so slowly under his helmet.

"I am disappointed by your lack of discipline Commander" he speaks mechanically.

I hear a slight 'snap' in the air, and then the commander crumbles to the deck in a heap of armor, motionless.

Lord Vader turns back to me, his imperceptible face staring straight to mine.

"You will uncover the origins of this 'Skywalker'." he starts.
"Do not disappoint me, Commander."

He quickly turns and leaves the area, his jet black cape billowing out behind him while I stand motionless with the rest of my squad.

What now? I think to myself, already my brain is working in a thousand different directions.