The New Empire

Chapter 16 - Within the Box

The hours seemed to fly by and a new morning soon dawned upon the silent pair of lovers. Liv moved first, sitting up and letting out a long sigh. Then Plato lifted up his head. No matter what happened last night, it was still soothing to spend a whole night beside Liv.

“Good morning.” Liv spoke in a neutral voice.

Plato frowned. This wasn’t what he was expecting to be her first thing to say. “Good morning. So, uh, about last night, I-”

“Hush, now.” Liv put a finger on his lips. “We don’t want to speak about such things like that.” She stated with a kind expression. 

“I don’t think that’s the best way to handle matters like these-”

“Shhh. As I’ve told you before.” And she cracked a gentle smile.

Plato narrowed his eyes in confusion, which he tried to solve by reading out Liv’s thoughts, but that didn’t help the least bit. Her face was smooth, the tears have dried up. Her dark eyes weren’t red anymore, as now they were glinting with her iconic curiosity. She seemed calm and maybe even a bit happy.

“We should ask Rey if there’s any progression with the Academy.” Yes, she was definitely happy.

“Yeah, sure.” How... How can she act as if nothing has happened here, on this bed last night? The question kept repeating itself in Plato’s mind. How?
_____

“No. And that is my final answer.” Came the rock hard statement from Ben.
Rey’s been trying to convince him for an hour or maybe more by now. She started off well, purring various ideas into Ben’s ears until she started to steer the conversation towards the topic of schools. And then the minute Ben had figured out what she truly wants Rey lost all of her previous advantage. Ben grew cold and kept repeating a ‘no’ like a broken record.

“Yes, you’ve said that before.” Rey’s patience was growing thin as she kept pacing around the sitting Ben, whose expression screamed boredom. “But tell me why!”

“You know what will eventually happen already. The loop will repeat itself. Someone will give in to the Dark Side sooner or later.”

“Or never.”

“You can’t prevent such an inevitable thing from happening.”

“Oh yes, I can!”

“How?”

“We won’t teach like Luke. We won’t be like him. This is going to be a fresh and promising start.”

Rey would have gladly continued to list her reasons if a low thrum coming from seemingly everywhere hadn’t captured her attention. Then the thrum grew louder and Rey felt a massive force tugging on her. And the next thing she knew was that she was sitting in Ben’s lap. Then the ship started moving at a painfully slow speed.
She stared at Ben, whose face was just as surprised as hers.

“A mere ‘thank you’ is enough.” He said with a poorly masked smile.

“Yes, uh, thanks.” She slowly recollected herself and stood up. “For catching me.”
Rey glanced out of the vast window. The beautiful nebula was slowly creeping out of her view. She loved to adore its beauty and over the weeks has started to take it for granted.

“So where were we?” Ben interrupted with a mocking tone. “You were talking about a fresh beginning, I believe.”

“You know what?” Rey turned to look straight into his eyes. “Just leave it off. Liv is going to build her school, no matter what you say or do, she has every right to.” She was heading towards the exit. “Now I’m going to leave and socialize with my friends while you stop acting so stubborn.” The door opened and she stepped out with an annoyed look.

“Wait, Rey!” But she was already gone.

Ben liked her presence, he liked being around her, no matter what she was doing or talking about. He didn’t even mind when she was giving a free way to her rage, he let her do as she desired, just to stay close. And now she left him, as everyone else did.
_____

Plato couldn’t take his eyes off of Liv. She was just too peaceful. Too balanced, with that kind smile spread across her lips.

Then a massive quake knocked them on the ground. The lights flickered above them, the walls were trembling and the whole ship seemed to loose its very balance.

“What the hell just happened?!” Liv cried in a panicked voice, struggling to get onto her feet.

“Onto the bridge.” Plato grabbed Liv’s hand and despite the constantly swaying floor they stormed down the corridors with defying speed.

All hell broke loose on the main bridge of the Luxe. Yelling officers running from one control desk to the other, flashing lights and the sharp wailing of at least a dozen alarms. Everyone was barking orders, yet nothing seemed to change. Then another blow hit the ship and all the little control that remained crumbled to pieces. It was pure chaos. Probably just what the attackers intended to achieve.
Then Plato spotted an unexpected figure standing beside Ceresa and pointing on a map while making arguing gestures. It was none other than Poe Dameron.