Beauty in The Eyes Beholder

CHAPTER SIX

Emperor Palpatine looks about the ruins with a slight smirk on his face. It's as if the creatures did him a favor, giving him some much-needed exercise. He then hears a voice of a stormtrooper, riddled with nervousness and a slight studder.

"E-E-Excuse me, m-my lord...y-your cane—". The black cane just leaves the trooper's hands into Palpatine's hand as if someone used invisible string.

"Thank you for looking after it," says Palpatine. He then walks over to where his stormtroopers have collected the dead and wounded. Everyone stops and bows their heads. "What is our status?"

Dzukya responds. "My lord, we have seventy-five are dead, twenty-five missing. Captain Verlund is unconscious due to a detonator blast nearby. The medic said the Captain will be out for a while." Palpatine stands in silence just for a moment, quickly processing what just happened. He then looks around.

"Where's the 1st Sergeant?" Palpatine sees Dzukya with a slight hesitation.

"He's amongst the missing, my lord."

Palpatine's lips get tight, he's a little annoyed. His eyes slowly scan the troops, waving his cane at them like a strict schoolmaster back and forth. "Then who's in charge?" Olyone has come from the group, standing beside Dzukya when Palpatine poses the question.

Both sergeants quickly look at each other. "Both Sgt. Dzukya and I are the only ones left, my lord," answers Olyone. Palpatine slowly raises his cane and places the end of it on Olyone's chest plate. She quickly looks over at Dzukya, then back at the Emperor, nodding her head. He then walks over to where the medics are treating the wounded, Verlund specifically.

Then without warning, the pauldron leaps off Verlund into Palpatine's hand. Olyone watches as Palpatine eyes return back to her, his pale face showing not one hint of emotion. The pauldron leaves his hands, smacks into Olyone's chest plate. He doesn't even stop; he just walks past her.

"I want a report on our status immediately. We have much to discuss."

"Yes, my lord," replies Olyone nervously. She then looks down at the orange pauldron, remembering what their CO said before she and Dzukya left the Pestilence. 'Do I have what it takes?' Olyone looks over her shoulder as the Emperor walks further away from her, surrounded by his Imperial Guard and Death Troopers.

Dzukya watches as she removes her helmet and fastens on the pauldron. She feels the symbolic weight of it, realizing she is now the person that would throw someone like her in the brig.

"What are your orders...ma'am?" asks Dzukya. Olyone can hear the wisecrack tone in his question. She's actually glad to hear it, some glimmer of good news amongst the bad. She puts her helmet back on.

"Don't call me that, I work for a living...and I'm still a Sergeant". Olyone looks at what's around her and gives Dzukya a list of things that she needs. "Dzukya?"

"Yeah?"

"I need this done as of yesterday!"

Dark clouds roll in and open up over the Leviathan crash site. Pvt. Lenck looks up and feels a big rain drop land directly on his forehead. He slowly looks around, seeing the black soil becoming muddy...again. I survived a crash for this. I wish I was still unconscious! The young flametrooper replaces the dressing of an injured trooper at the makeshift field hospital. The hospital lies under the Leviathan, a perfect spot to be shielded from the heavy rain.

As soon as Lenck finishes with the new dressing, he makes his way over to the ship's doctor.

"Pvt. Wiks dressing is replaced, and Sgt. Jalee's head laceration doesn't show any sign of infection, sir."