Crossfire - A Short Star Wars Story

Chapter 1

Ugh. My day shift with Menis was over and it had only earned me 1 credit and a half portion. I hate working as a scavenger for Menis because one day a part is worth 2 credits and the next day it is only worth a half portion. Nonetheless, he keeps my family running, barely.

I placed my day's earnings in my mom's old satchel bag. My mom gave the bag for my 14th birthday last moon rotation. After I made sure that everything was stored securely in my bag, I ran. Fast enough that I could get away from Menis but not too fast that the imperial troops would notice me. The troops have been here for more than 3 moon rotations and the people on our level still don't quite understand why. The number of troopers have doubled in the past few weeks compared to before, when there were only a couple of them stationed around to keep order.

I decided to stop at the market before going home. I grabbed some Thala-Siren Milk for my mom and two pieces of Meiloorun Fruit. The market wasn't that crowded but you never know when an imperial spy is around. Satisfied purchases, I headed home to find my brother and Mama.

Turning into an alley, I pressed the 3 digit code into the paddock that opened my door. 4-5-2. The door opened and I walked down the steps.

Our house was big for the average family on our level, but at one point we had 7 people living in the cramped area. When you first walk down the steps, to your left is Noah's sleeping pod.

A sleeping pod is a little hole in the wall that has a bed in it. Like a bedroom but it only fits the bed.

On your right is our kitchen. We have a small running faucet that we made when we found a leak in our wall. Next to that is a pot and wood under fire. Behind our kitchen is a little hole in the wall where we keep our credits and our portions. If you walk straight down the hallway, you will find my mama's room. Her room is the only "real" bedroom in the house. There are a couple more sleeping pods in our house but other than that, our house is basically empty.

At one point in my life, all of the sleeping pods belonged to someone. The two next to my mama's room belonged to Julian, my older brother, and Remy, my older sister. The other 3 pods belong to me, Cole and noah.

I walked into the kitchen and looked at the pod that used to belong Remy. A sinking feeling pulled at my chest as my eyes fell on my sister's old pod. Many years ago, my mom sent Remy to train to be a Jedi with Luke Skywalker. I was very young when she left but I do remember my mother being so proud that she saved up enough money to buy her a cyber crystal necklace so that she could build a lightsaber. Remy promised me I could be a Jedi like her one day and that she would come back to show me what her lightsaber looked like. She never came back.

The worst day of my life was when Menis came to tell us what happened. I was playing with my favorite rag doll when Julian went to open the door. When he came back, his eyes were flooded with tears and that is how I knew something terrible had happened. The only emotion Julian ever showed to me was anger and his sadness scared me. When he knelt down and handed me her necklace, I knew that she would never return.

The other empty pod belonged to Cole, one of my older brothers. He joined the first order when he was 17 years old and Menis has informed me he somehow climbed ranks. Now, he is in charge of his own unit and is one of Snokes assistants.

I walked down the stairs and placed down all of my earnings in the kitchen. I set a fire and then kicked the door of Noah's sleeping pod.

Noah is a year older than me but was born on the same day. His work shift is right after mine so it works out perfectly.

"Whatghisit" he yells while yawning at the same time.

"Wake up! It is time for your shift" I responded, not caring to look up.

I can hear the sound of the pod door opening as Noah says. " Is he in a good mood and how much did you get?"

I hate it when Noah asks me whether "he" is in a good mood because Menis is never in a good mood. ''He is the same as always. I got one credit and a half portion." Noah and I alway try to out earn the other so we have a motivation to work.

"Ha! That is so lame I can't wait to see the look on Julians face when he finds out that you only got that much!"

Julian is sometimes not much better than Cole. "Oh ya, you better not be talking because I can't wait to see what he will do to you when he finds out that you are still here."

"Fine, I will get mom's spice on my way back and I will tell Julian to leave you some food." He shouts as he walks out the door.

"Good luck and stop calling it spice!" I hate it when He calls it spice because our dad Lorenzo is a Spice runner. Spice as in drugs. My mom needs them because of her sickness but not spice, meds.