Star Wars: Heir to the Sith (Part 1) (#Wattys2018 shortlist)

Chapter 25: She would become a murderer so that others could live free.

Ella brought her speeder to a halt a metre above Old Moss's back and gave a deep sigh. Her mind was in a blur, and her body felt exhausted to the core. She fought to remember her battle with the skarn, and when she did recollect flying into the swarm of them she gave a sudden shudder of fear: that had been the most stupid thing she had ever done. What could she have been thinking to have risked that?

She stepped down off the speeder and onto Old Moss's back. Her boots sunk ankle deep into the strands of algae that grew upon his immense frame.

Her bike's communications interface called her back. A hologram of King Garrand made a threatening gesture, but Ella turned it off with a dismissive sigh. They had sneaked out of the palace again, against orders to remain inside. So what? This time, they would have a story worth telling Lady Jish.

She stretched and waited as Tayre made her appearance. Her friend's speeder buckled as she slowed, and gave a discharge of black smoke followed by a loud bang.

Tayre halted alongside her and took a breath of her own.

"Power trouble?" Ella observed. "Should be okay if you don't push it. Besides, if you reboot the system it might reconfigure the distribution to compensate for the damage."

Tayre said nothing. Ella felt her stare from inside the goggles.

"Oh don't be angry, Tayre!" She smiled, confident her nature could win the princess over. "We have a hell of a story to tell, haven't we? When was the last time two wardens beat of a swarm of skarn without any sensors? We're probably amongst the best pilots in the system - even if you include those Imperial TIE pilots up there," she pointed in the general direction of space and let her smile spread across her face. Tayre would either laugh or give a burst of angry defiance before eventually coming around.

This time the princess just removed her goggles and Ella noticed her tears. Tayre shook her head.

"Have you been hurt?" Ella asked. "Did a skarn sting you?"

Tayre shook her head again.

"Well?" Was her friend in shock now the thrill of the adventure was over? "What's the matter then? We've won! Just imagine Valsum's laugh when we tell him about it! He'll laugh so much his hair will fall out!"

Her words provoked a sob from Tayre.

"Ella . . ." the princess shook her head. "Oh Ella. Valsum . . . the Empire."

The warmth of the battle victory left Ella's body cold. She perceived the real power in Tayre's voice - words yet to be spoken that would forever change her life.

"What?" she whispered. "What's happened?"

Tayre stepped off the speeder and put her hands on Ella's shoulders. "They killed him Ella. The Empire executed Valsum." Tears flowed from Tayre's eyes as she spoke, and Ella felt her own join them. "And Lady Jish was nearly killed in an accident. She's back at the palace in a coma. My father is sending a security team to bring us back now."

Valsum dead? And Lady Jish critically injured?

Ella broke away from Tayre and stumbled back to her speeder. She couldn't imagine why anyone would harm the ancient wookie.

But they had. The Empire had done this! Ella thumped the chassis of her bike and stared fixedly into the setting sun.

"Ella?" Tayre whispered. "Come on. We should return to the palace. So much has happened today. My father says he has important news too but doesn't want to tell us whilst the Reaver is still in orbit. I think something more has happened, but the HoloNet isn't broadcasting. If that battle was fought today then it could mean the end of the Alliance. The resistance to Palpatine might have been destroyed."

Ella climbed aboard her speeder. She turned her tearful gaze to Tayre.

"No," she whispered. "If the alliance lost today, they still have a galaxy to call on. We will go on Tayre. I will go with them too. Valsam's murder has convinced me. There can be no more waiting for someone else to sort out the galaxy's problems."

She reached down and checked her blaster was holstered. For some reason, the metal of the gun felt different than it had before. It was no longer a passive weapon used for defence. In future, it would become an extension of her will, to drive a political change. She would kill. She would become a murderer, a terrorist even, all so that others could live free from the dominion of Empire. The next time she pulled that trigger, she had to accept that there would be a being on the receiving end that would perish, with her face the last thing they would see. She would have to live with that guilt.

The Empire had forced this upon her. She would not be blamed.

"Ella, let's just go back. We need to see my father and Jish. Remember her words too: "'Decisions made in anger and hate are rarely wise ones.'"

Ella started her bike. "I will come home soon, Tayre. Just give me some space to think. Only an hour or two."

She made sure her communications interface was turned off, and made a point of making sure Tayre noticed it too.

"Just two hours. Then I'll come home. I promise."

Ella accelerated away, leaving Tayre's protests far behind.

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The horror of dictatorship and civil war now breaks upon the happiness of these two young lives. Ella thinks immediately that it's her time to sign up to help the fight, telling herself she must become a murderer to do the right thing, ignoring Lady Jish's words quoted by Tayre about "decisions made in anger are rarely the right ones." But is she justified in making that choice, or would there be better ways to resist?