Star Wars Rebels - Gleam of Hope (English Version)

A risky job

Just as Darth Drisae arrived in her quarters, her communicator piped up. Damn it! Couldn't these incompetent commanders finally get something done themselves? No, they gave her orders instead! Her! Of course, she was just fourteen years old, but that didn't change the fact that she was their superior and not the other way around! Besides, she was incredibly powerful. If it wasn't a matter of unbelievable importance, they could soon experience a nasty surprise!
"What is so important that you dare to disturb me?", she yelled into the communicator. They should start begging, if not the right answer would come.
"E-Excuse me Darth Drisae! But Darth Vader has summoned you! ", the frightened commander answered at the other end of the line. She could feel his fear.
Without giving him an answer, Drisae ended the conversation. If she let her master waiting for too long, it could cost her her head!
~
A little while later, she was at the holo communicator and went into a submissive position.
The hologram of her master appeared. "I have a very important mission for you. You've probably already heard of the failure of the Grand Inquisitor", Darth Vader began in his surprisingly pleasant voice.
Of course Drisae already knew about the failure of the Grand Inquisitor! If she was honest, she'd felt quite statisfied when she heard about it. He had finally been punished for what he had done to her! She had been taught by him for a few years in the past, but the hatred had not disappeared even after the training with him came to an end. On the contrary, time had only nurtured it. Even after his death Drisae still felt this hatred, if she only thought of his ugly face!
"Lothal has a rebel cell and its leader is a jedi. Apparently he even has a padawan", Vader continued.
Drisae was surprised. It was a brave step for her Master, given the few incidents that had occured over the span of her apprenticeship. Besides, Lothal was her old home planet and she would never have returned there on account of her own. She missed this place too much. The grass that reached almost to infinity, the familiar warmth that was not too hot but pleasant. The smell that reminded her of home.
But there were also memories there. Memories that infuriated her and made her lose her temper. Some of them were so awfully beautiful that the mere thought made her eyes get wet.
"Go there and do what the incompetent Grand Inquisitor couldn't do. Agent Kallus will familiarize you with all the information we have about these rebels", her master explained.
Agent Callus! Well, it could have been worse. At least she didn't associate too bad memories with him. Somehow, however, she had her doubts about whether this mission should really be for her, because ... she doubted that she would succeed. But she couldn't contray her master!
"There will also be two inquisitors to teach you in lightsaber combat and stand by your side", Darth Vader added, and the hologram faded.
Great. Drisae wasn't bad at handling the lightsaber! At least, as long as it had only one blade! With two she admitted to having some problems, moreover she couldn't stand these inquisitors! They were jealous of her because she was in a better position than normal apprentices. And she won't let them oppress her, which made the conflict even worse.
If they were to help her now, that meant that they would get in her way! Or at least they would watch her every step and hope she made a mistake. At the slightest misstep, they wouldn't hesitate to push her into the abyss ...
Annoyed, she went to the captain of her ship. "What are you doing here, lady ...", he started in surprise.
"We have a change of course! Direct course to Lothal! ", she interrupted him immediately in a commanding voice.
He was obviously not amused that she had undermined his authority on the bridge, but he took care of the course change without resistance. At the same time Darth Drisae felt a touch of fear attached to him. But she ignored it.
The starry sky had gained control of her thoughts. She didn't know why, but the infinite vastness of the galaxy had always fascinated her. All the little shining stars out there, looking for a place between all the darkness and defending their light as if they themselves were a small hope.
Darth Drisae felt something growing inside her. An intoxicating feeling that she hadn't felt for a long time: excitement paired with anticipation.
At last she would return home. Back to her past. It would only took about an hour.
She walked down the corridors, trying not to meet anyone. Joy was rare here and would only arouse wonder and distrust ...
On the outside she looked cold and disinterested, even when she had already reached her quarters. On the inside, however, she looked completely different. She fidgeted like the little child who had once lived on Lothal. Back when she could hardly wait to taste her mother's delicious cake.
She winced at the thought. A few tears rose to her eyes, as on that day ...
Sighing, she sat down on her bed. Something else, even better known, suppressed the joy: sadness.
She missed her parents so much! And who was to blame for them leaving her forever? Everything went the usual way. The mourning became rage and the rage became hate. An irrepressible hate. With clenched fists Drisae tried to suppress it.
Distraction! She needed a distraction! Quickly she looked around her quarters.
Everything was so sterile, gray and ... and ... boring! How she hated that monotony!
The few loose objects in the room flew into the air, everything else wobbled suspiciously. There it was again, one of those tantrums! Nothing special ...
She forced herself to rest and lay there for an eternity, while her Star Destroyer made it's way through the galaxy's expanse. Direction home.
~
Agent Callus and the Inquisitors hadn't arrived yet. They should have arrived half an hour ago and there was still no sign of them. Slowly Darth Drisae lost her patience! Much to her annoyance, in the meantime, she was only allowed to stay in this building and everything here was just as boring as on the ship. Boring and colorless! How much she hated it! No doubt she had to leave this place as quickly as possible!
"Darth Drisae! Forgive me for the disruption, but we have just been told that we have to wait for Agent Kallus and the Inquisitors just a little longer, because of some complications!", an officer spoke meekly.
How dare they!? She forced herself to stay calm ... calm ...
"What kind of complications?", she asked. One could hear the anger clearly in her voice.
The man in the gray suit just muttered: "We weren't told, my lady."
It was just hard to believe! Wasn't she important enough? As soon as her valued guests finally arrived, they would owe her an explanation!
"When are they coming?", Drisae asked brusquely, all present realizing that she was getting very upset.
Nobody dared to confront her and give her an answer. Just when she was about to get really angry and clenched her teeth, one of the gray-bearers, as she called these officers, stepped forward.
"At the earliest in two hours!", he stated, holding his breath in fear.
Somehow, Drisae almost felt sorry for him, which was probably his salvation. She forced herself to get a better grip on her anger.
Hold on! Why did she feel sorry for this terrible man? No! His suffering amused her!
Without a word, she started off and hurried through a metallic corridor filled with stormtroopers. Somehow, despite the imperial structure, everything seemed incredibly chaotic. It was no wonder that the rebels were able to get in and out undisturbed, as they liked!
She just kept going. Their quarters were in the fifth level, sector two. Drisae quickly found the room, as it wasn't her first time being here after beeing installed as an inquisitor apprentice at this station some time ago.
"What are you doing here, tenth sister?", asked a voice that suddenly came from the hallway.
The Grand Officer! And how did he just call her? Tenth sister? She hasn't been a dumb inquisitor for a long time!
"First, it is now Darth Drisae! And for quite some time, only that you know! I am now a Sith! ", she corrected him provocatively.
"I have taken note of that, but for me you always remain the tenth sister", he replied, just as provocatively, with a touch of sarcasm in his voice and a victorious smile on his face.
"Then you have to call me Darth Drisae even more so! And let me finish! Moreover, I do not owe YOU an explanation because I can move freely anywhere in this building! Is that clear? ", she yelled at her counterpart.
She didn't care that they were in the middle of the corridor and held everyone else up. The Grand Officer turned red with anger, because this time she was the boss and he stood clearly in rank below her.
"Okay", she finally said, after no further response from him was expected.
"Ah, and if anyone should ask where I am, tell them that I want to rest and they have to wait. I do not want to be disturbed by anyone! ", she added, before she made the rest of the way to her quarters.
Fortunately, there were no further incidents on the way. Without hesitation Drisae marched into her quarters and closed the door behind her.
The lodging was just like everywhere else she had been before. Luckily, she didn't mean to waste her time there anyway. The situation was insane. They didn't want to let her, a sith, into the city, because the rebel danger was so high! Rebels only killed when there was no other way out and as a sith, she could take good care of herself!
Well, it wouldn't stop her! She took her wrench out of her pocket and walked over to the ventilation system. With a few simple steps, the matter was already done. Quickly she took a few credits and put them in her black bag. Actually, everything she was wearing was black ...
Carefully Drisae climbed into the shaft. With the help of the force, she closed the flap behind her. When she was younger, she had always explored such systems and knew them by heart. It was therefore easy for her to find her way there and thus unnoticed to sneak out and go into the city.
~
Everything seemed like she had never left this place. Well, except from the amount of stormtroopers who were lurking around every corner.
But the stalls where fresh fruit could be bought were still there, and from the city she could see the familiar wide meadows. Her beloved meadows! And the smell!
It wouldn't have seemed exaggerated to say she was floating on Cloud Seven. The stormtroopers didn't recognize her luckily as she had just arrived. Next time, she might have to put on a disguise before sneaking into the city, but she didn't want to worry about that at this moment.
After a short walk between the well-known roads, Drisae passed by a stall selling joganberries. She would just have gone on, but she discovered a little rodian, who stared sadly at the berries. She had a blue skin tone with small cute dots and wore poor peasant clothes. She looked hungry and reminded Drisae a little of herself when she was starving in the inquisitor's school. Some candidates already died during that test and there were several following, which were much worse. Her teachers had said that it would harden them. In her opinion, it was pure nonsense. But she probably had no say in that, even in her current position.
Without much thought, Drisae went to the vendor.
"Ten of your best joganberries, please!", she demanded, handing over the appropriate amount of credits to the vendor.
Then she went to the little rodian and bent down. Astonished, the little girl looked at her as she handed the bag to her.
"I can't accept that!", she replied in disbelief and with a squeaky voice.
"They are for you. I have more of them than I can eat", Drisae said, holding the bag, still smiling.
Reluctantly the girl took it from her and ran away. But she quickly came back. In company. Probably her mother, because the rodian looked very similar to the little one.
"Mom, mom! The girl gave me the whole bag!", screamed the little girl happily.
It was only a few berries...
"Thank you! Thank ypu so much! We could never afford this much!", the mother said thankfully, shaking hands with Drisae. So much thanks was actually uncomfortable for her.
"That was really nothing special!", she replied sheepishly.
"Oh but not for us! ", the woman said, smiling.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!", said the little girl, clutching Drisae's legs.
She patted the girl's back so she would let go of her. Tears of joy actually rolled over the mother's cheeks.
"I wish you a nice day!", Drisae shouted and fled her way again.
How could she make someone happy with such a small, almost meaningless act? If one of the inquisitors only saw that!
Smiling, she continued walking, even grinning.
Just as she was buying some clothes at a booth she could wear next time to hide her identity, she heard someone yelling through the street: "Isn't that little Salya!?"
Quickly Drisae looked around and recognized a woman who looked directly at her.