Chapter Text
Part 1
The Countdown can not be stopped or delayed. When it reaches zero, you can only hope for the best. Hope will be all that you will have.
4 BBY, Aboard the Moonwalker
28 days until…
Sitting at a Sensor Station panel aboard the Moonwalker, Lilith Erbin saw a red blinking light on the dash. The light blinked with no noise, but in a rhythmic pattern. Lilith checked the panel board; multiple ships were coming in the Moonwalker’s direction. Odd. Nothing was authorized to come near.
The Moonwalker was a cargo ship, but it was originally built to be a Star Destroyer. The droids building it must have run out of parts or have been programmed wrong, because the Moonwalker was half the size of a normal Star Destroyer. Nonetheless, it served its purpose: transporting valuable materials for the Empire.
Lilith immediately picked up her comm, “Lieutenant Awnzal, this is Junior Lieutenant Lilith Erbin speaking, I have a situation.”
Lilith waited for a moment, tapping her finger on the dashboard. Lieutenant Awnzal was assigned to the Moonwalker a few months ago, same as her. She had never personally spoken to him; she’d only communicated with him via comm.
Lilith had heard rumors that he was a non-human, which was rare in the Empire. After the Clone Wars, non-humans and humans blamed each other for the war.
Lilith really didn’t care if people were non-human or not. If they were loyal to the Empire, that was good enough for her.
A short beep sound came from the comm and Lilith heard Lieutenant Rylthr Awnzal’s voice, “Yes, Junior Lieutenant Erbin, what is the situation?”
“There are unknown ships heading our way, sir,” Lilith said, keeping a steady voice. “How should I proceed?”
“How many minutes until the ships come out of hyperspace?” Lieutenant Awnzal asked.
“About fifty minutes, sir,” she replied.
“What side of the ship will it be approaching?”
“The South East side, near the hull.”
“Report it immediately to Vice Admiral Erorri.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lilith turned off the comm and stood up from her chair, straightening her uniform. She walked over to Briony Alsa’Na, who was sitting a few meters away from her. Briony was an old friend of hers, and wouldn’t mind managing her panel for a few minutes.
Approaching the station, Lilith went over to Briony and tapped her on the shoulder. Briony, taken aback, swung around in her chair, clearly annoyed and startled. She then realized it was just Lilith and calmed down.
“Kriff, I thought you were Wongi reminding me about the Inquisitor,” Briony said, relieved to see her friend. She lowered her voice a little, “those guys are so creepy.”
Lilith rolled her eyes. Briony did always have her opinions, whether they were right or not was a different matter.
“I need you to watch my panel for a minute,” Lilith said.
“Ok? Why?” Briony asked.
“There is an unknown ship in the vicinity,” she said calmly.
“There’s a what?” Briony asked, clearly shocked by her words. “Who would be idiotic enough to try and go near a Star Destroyer unauthorized?”
“I need to report it immediately,” Lilith explained. “I’ll be right back, just watch my station for a minute.”
Lilith walked away from Briony and started up the stairs to the
***
A few minutes later, Lilith came to Vice Admiral Atlas Erorri’s office door. There were Stormtroopers stationed on both sides of the door. Vice Admiral Erorri’s office was where he handled ongoing incidents.
Vice Admiral Erorri was pretty full of himself and his nonexistent leadership skills. Lilith did, however, give him credit for surviving this long in the Imperial Navy. He was cocky, but what Imperial Officer wasn’t? Nevertheless, Lilith had always had a strange feeling towards him.
The Stormtroopers shifted rather uncomfortably. Lilith looked to her left side and saw an Inquisitor standing at the side of the hall. She seemed to be a human, dressed in dark armor and robes, with her face hidden by a mask.
Inquisitors weren’t a particularly rare sight in the Empire, but a strange one nonetheless. If you were to look at their training alone they most likely invoked fear. Not to mention one of an Inquisitor's sole purposes was to hunt and kill any and all Jedi.
Down to an Inquisitor’s very definition they were terrifying to most: a Force-sensitive, most likely a former Padawan, trained by Lord Vader, one of the most relentless people in the Empire. It made sense that both Stormtroopers and Officers alike would have some sort of fear or dread towards them, well that is, if they had something to hide.
Inquisitors had many jobs and one of them was detecting spies. If you had something to hide, they would most likely find it out in a matter of hours. It was effective, but invoked senseless fear.
Lilith had almost nothing to hide and therefore shouldn’t and won't fear Inquisitors. There were so much worse things to face than a washed up Jedi Padawan, who was only taught so much.
Lilith stared at the Inquisitor for a moment or two. The Inquisitor stared back. Perhaps she was confused by the fact Lilith had no fear.
Lilith noticed that she was about the same height and dimensions as her: six feet tall with lengthy arms and legs, not too much muscle, she could very well be her clone.
Lilith heard the sliding doors opening and she looked towards the doors that revealed Vice Admiral Erorri’s office. She walked through it; two officers walked out as she entered. The Vice Admiral looked at her. He was definitely annoyed. He looked down at his datapad, trying to look busy maybe.
“What is it, Junior Lieutenant Erbin?” he asked Lilith, not looking up from his datapad.
“Sir, there are unknown spacecraft heading in our direction. They come out of hyperspace in,” Lilith looked down at her datapad, "forty minutes.”
“Are they currently in hyperspace, Junior Lieutenant?” he asked.
“Yes, they are,” Lilith said.
“Then it is not an ongoing incident.”
“Sir?”
“If they are not posing an immediate threat, then it isn’t our problem.”
"But they're headed in our direction.”
“They might be lost commercial ships or it might be undocumented Imperial ships.”
“Undocumented ships,” Lilith repeated in disbelief. “Sir, with all due respect, it is very unlikely that any commercial ships would have enough fuel to make it here and back to any destination, and undocumented Imperial ships are just unrealistic.”
“Are you questioning my authority?”
Lilith stopped for a second to clear her thoughts for what she was about to say, “Yes, sir. You could very much be putting all the people on this ship in danger. The unknown ships could be rebels, pirates, anything! This ship being smaller than an average Star Destroyer already makes us a target.”
“It is none of our concern,” the Vice Admiral said, “now go back to your little station and tell no one about this. There’s no need for anyone finding out about this.”
“But, sir-” Lilith started, but the Vice Admiral cut her off.
“Enough!” he yelled. “Go back to your station, Junior Lieutenant, now! That is an order!”
Lilith was surprised by his words, but reluctantly walked out the door.
Why won't he listen?Lilith thought, Is it that bad of an idea?
Lilith had a gut feeling she was right, but she couldn’t just go off of a feeling alone.
As she walked back to her station, she saw a shadow behind her. It was either one or two meters behind her.
As Lilith walked, she studied the vibrations of the footsteps, they were completely in-sync with hers. No Stormtrooper could do that.
Lilith pushed the thoughts back. While doing so she took a couple of turns into storage corridors. A Stormtrooper wouldn't follow her if she went on a little detour.
She felt a sense of dread creep in on her as she continued to walk down the gray, cold hallway. The shadow followed her. Its footsteps were the same, stopping when she did and continuing when she continued.
Lilith pushed all thoughts out of her head.
The less it knows about me the better, she thought.
Lilith wasn’t scared, just curious.
What did it want? she thought, Do I have information that might be valuable to it?
Lilith turned to the mess hall, where all of the crew ate. As soon as the Officers and Stormtroopers saw Lilith and whatever was behind her, they grabbed their plates and left.
Lilith continued to act and think clueless. Walking around the Mess Hall, she made her way to the sleeping quarters. She then stopped by her designated locker. Everyone was gone except for her and the shadow.
Lilith looked like she was searching for something in her locker, the shadow didn't move. She didn't think about it.
“It seems like a poor use of Imperial resources to stalk a Junior Lieutenant,” Lilith stated calmly, turning around to face the shadow.
Just as I predicted, she thought, an Inquisitor.
End of Chapter I