***28 January 2005 – Captured
I opened the door and slowly stepped outside of the little house. I sighed, from the top of the hill I looked at the surroundings but she saw nothing.
I thought back of two days ago, when I had escaped from the Imperials. I looked at the sky and saw the two Star Destroyers hanging in orbit, it felt threatening. Then my comm bleeped.
“Hey Sass it’s Lella, you need anything from town? I’m coming to you now, where are you?”
I smiled.
“About one and a half miles east of Entha, in a little house on top of a hill.”, I replied, “You heard anything from Gou?”
“Negative, see you in a few minutes.”
“Roger.”
After another glance at the Star Destroyers I went back into the house and with a sigh I sat down on the sofa.
I felt better now, I had rest some and put things in my mind in a row. Soon I would be brought to Anchorhead by Gou-geo and from there we would travel back to Talus. I was safe now.
But when I heard some noise outside I felt alarmed anyway. Someone knocked on the door.
“It’s me, Lella.”
Immediately I recognized the voice and opened the door. We hugged each other and took seats.
“Gou will come soon to get you away from here.”, Lella said.
I nodded.
“I guess I’ll need some plastic surgery now.”, I sighed.
Lella nodded at me.
“I know it is the best thing to do, but I don’t want it. I just.. want to stay myself.”, I said to her.
“It’s not what you look like.”, Lella said to me, “It’s who you are.. even if you do this you will still be yourself from the inside.”
I stared at the ground, with my right hand I played a bit with some loose fibers from the carpet.
“How is the baby?”, I turned the subject.
Lella put her right hand on her stomach and smiled at me.
“It is kicking.”, she said softly with a happy face.
”Oh.. let me feel!”
How amazing, that a new person is growing in somebody’s belly!
“Hey you want some tea?”, I asked, “I’m making some.”
“Sure.”
I walked into the back of the house, I felt relaxed. I got the water boiler from the cabinet and emptied a bottle of water into it.
“THIS IS THE EMPIRE, OPEN THE DOOR!”
I gasped and the water boiler fell out of my hands.
O no, how.. how have they found out.. I have to got out of here, escape..
But there were no windows, there wasn’t another door, only walls and one entrance.
“Is there a problem, troopers?”, I heard Lella saying, she must have opened the door.
Had they found out about me? Had they traced some comm signal or something, or were they just checking the houses close to Entha to look for me.. or maybe something else?
“There is nobody else in the house.”, Lella said to them.
I better stayed inside, hide myself under some couch or something. Maybe they would search the house and they wouldn’t find me, or maybe they would leave after a chat with Lella. I really hoped..
Then I heard Lella screaming.
Feeling panicked I locked the door, as silent as possible.
Must buy more time, must warn the others..
I grabbed my commlink and tried to contact the Alliance to send a distress call..
“The Competitor.. bandits, they got Lella and they are about to get me too.. they are at the house.”, I said anxiously. I didn’t hear any reply.
“OPEN THE DOOR!”, I heard one of the Imperials shouting, and somebody started kicking at it.
“Gas the house.”, I then heard a filtered voice outside.
I better made all the time I had left as useful as possible.
“This is Sasseke, the Competitor is playing music for me and Lella.. do you copy me??”
“This is Talln.. stay calm we will find a solution. Over and out.”, I then heard.
As I had a lot of contact with Iara too I sent her a message too.
“Iara the Competitor is about to get me I’ll never tell your name.. goodbye friend.”, I whispered sadly.
Then I heard a hissing sound, my lungs started to burn.
I had to get out, it was over. How did they find out..
With my last efforts I opened the door and now I think maybe it had been better if I had let them gas me, maybe I could better have died in that house.
I saw Lella lying on the ground, screaming in pain. I saw about five stormtroopers, there was no escape possible.
“That’s the rebel.”, I heard one of them saying to me.
I didn’t feel any fear at that moment, I only felt anger. What had they done to Lella..
“My baby!” Lella screamed.
“What have you done to her!” I shouted madly.
“You better worry about yourself rebel.”, one of the troopers said to me.
They put us both into some blinded transport vehicle and departed.
“I’m sorry..” I said to Lella.
I knew that I was about to die, I knew that they would execute me. I was a confirmed rebel, there was enough evidence. I hoped they would let Lella go.
When we arrived in some Imperial base, with a lot of stormtroopers, AT-ST’s etcetera (my brain worked fast, looking for any possibility to escape) me and Lella got separated. They moved her into some big building first, a couple of minutes later I was also brought into it. I saw a couple of big battle droids and I started to feel desperate, how would I ever be able to get out of here.
In the lion’s den.. Imperial flags everywhere, computers, cabinets, lots of people walking around.. It looked a bit like our own rebel base, a bit..
“Where is Lella?” I asked.
“Silence!” The reply was.
In some elevator I was brought downstairs and there I was put into a cell. I peered around in the room and saw a bed, a toilet with a little wall in front of it as some means of privacy, a water tap and the couch I was sitting on. In every corner a the ceiling there was a camera.
It all went so fast, maybe 15 minutes ago I was still in Lovim’s house, chatting with Lella. And now I was in some Imperial prison..
Really I still kinda didn’t realize it, realize this was real.
There was a forcefield in the cell door and a stormtrooper was standing behind it, staring at me. I felt really nervous, but I tried to hide this feeling.
What was I supposed to do now? I didn’t know.. I didn’t have any experience with these kind of things. I had been arrested twice by the cops, then I had complained and for the rest I had kept myself silent. But these weren’t the cops, this was the Empire, the Alliance’s biggest enemy in the Galactic Civil War. And they knew that I was a member of the Alliance.
I remembered.. a few months ago. Then Gou-geo and Mi-na had taken me out of Entha after I had done something dangerous. I heard Gou-geo’s voice repeating: “Do you realize what they will do with you if they capture you? Horrible things! You better be happy that you’re back at Azaki now..”
I saw his face, first angry then a bit sad.
“Aaricia we don’t want to lose you..”
Mi-na was gone, a few months ago. Had the Empire also captured her? Maybe she had spent some time in a cell like this one, just like me now. What was going to happen?
I clenched my fists, anger growing in me.
Xtyx was gone too.. my family was arrested..
And now I was about to be gone too.. what I was afraid of for a long time had happened now, although I didn’t feel very scared. Well not yet..
"Higher command and detachment Epsilon will deal with you.", the man in Imperial officer uniform said. "In the meantime, let's have a little conversation. Troopers, stripsearch her!"
Not my poems, not my stories..
They took everything from me, including my datapad where my poems and stories were stored, until I was only wearing underwear. I felt cold all of a sudden.
"Hands in your neck, behind your head." A stormtrooper said.
Then I had to follow him out of the cell, towards another room. As I entered the room, that was bathing in dim green light, I only saw one chair standing in the middle, and a cabinet against one of the walls. An interrogation room. Behind me the Imperial officer was standing.
"In the chair." He said with a cold voice.
"Eur.. right." I stammered and took place on the chair, my hands still cuffed on my back.Then he asked me my name, age and such. I answered these questions correctly. But the question that followed I wouldn't ever answer correctly.
"Who are you friends? What are the other members names?"
"People, and I'm not going to tell their names." I answered calmly, but from the inside I was trembling of fear. I didn't want him to see how scared I was, I knew that in this war there also was an essentially big psychological factor: acting.
"Names." He repeated calmly. Then he walked towards me again, slowly.
I spat at him. He grabbed me up again and threw me into another direction. I winced in pain.
"Where is the nearest rebel base located?" Again he approached me, the footsteps ticking on the floor.
"Screw you!" I replied."I know about your family. They are in our hands.. if you tell us what we want to know they will be free, and live happy lives."
"That's a lie, you fokking Imperial dog!"
The man stared at me for a while.
"Names, rebel.. names, tell me names.." He repeated, and then grabbed my hair.
I grinned at the man. "No."
He slammed my head on the ground. "Names! You will give me names!" He picked me up again and threw me in a corner, I winced in pain and clenched my teeth. "NAMES.. NOW!" Then I felt something heavy on my hands that were still cuffed on my back.. he was stepping on them!
The man kneeled next to me. "Your parents can be freed. They can live happy lives.. never worry about anything."
"The Empire always speaks the truth." He said with an emotionless voice, and then stepped on my back.
I screamed loudly.
"Names.. locations.."
"NEVER!"
He jumped off me, grabbed me up and threw me against the other wall.
"Aaaargh you are going to kill me!" I screamed in panic as I fell onto the floor again, my body aching like hell.
"Then give me the information that I asked of you!"
Make up names.. make it up.. get more time..
Then I told him names, and the location, all fake, all made up. I really hoped that they would put me back into the cell again, that it would be over, at least for now. Dizzy from the pain I saw the man nodding at me. A stormtrooper grabbed one of my feet and dragged me back over het floor towards the cell. I saw the officer walking towards my bed, taking a white sheet. He put the sheet on me and then they left the cell. With what was left of my hands I tried to pull the sheet over my body. There I lied for a couple of minutes, after which I pulled myself up. When I finally managed to get myself onto the bed I blacked out.