The Jedi One
Location: Gas Mining Facility - Bespin
With:
Valery Noble
When he closed his eyes, he heard the screams. Every time he blinked, he saw flashes of red.With:
Valery Noble
Bespin had been the boy's home for as long as he could remember. Whilst both of his parents were Corellian's, they had moved to Bespin when Julien had been young. Julien never knew the reason why and it never bothered him enough to ask. He just assumed it was for work, his father working for a mining company, mining gas from the gas giant below. His mother worked in accounts for the same company. As far as Julien was aware, his parents may well of met whilst working.
He was a happy boy, all things considered. The young boy had been allowed to explore the facility that they inhabited from an extremely young age. He had found most of the nooks and crannies to hide in, made friends with most of the crew who worked on the facility and had been educated by both his parents and his parents friends. He had managed to make his own fun onboard what had other been a working, funcitonal gas mining facility in the clouds above Bespin.
Everything had been going great. Until the woman.
Julien didn't know who the woman was. He had been instructed by his mother not to ask questions, nor mention the woman to anyone else. She was gravely unwell though, with wounds the boy had never seen before. He'd seen a few, of course. It came with working on a gas mining station. A few burns, some cuts, a few falling injuries. He'd even learned from his mother how to treat some wounds. The wounds on the woman however, were unlike anything he'd ever seen.
Self cauterising cuts. He'd seen many cuts, father and his friends often came in covered in them from a day at work. Most cuts however tended to bleed. The woman didn't appear to have bled once. Instead, the edges of her wounds had looked almost burnt, crispy. Crispy wasn't a word that he'd ever used to describe a person, it wasn't a usual adjective to describe skin, but it was the only way Julien could describe it. Like someone had taken a gas torch to her.
She had been sleeping in the guest room No-one ever slept in there, it was mostly used to hold tools and junk the family didn't want. Most of the things Julien had confiscated off of him when he was younger (things that apparently young boys shouldn't run around with) were put in there. The room had a lock, which was clever. Years ago, Julien had figured out how to pick the lock and get back the things he wanted. Once he hit about twelve, thirteen or so, he stopped picking the lock and just asked for what he wanted out of there.
The boy hadn't ever heard her speak. He had tried a few times, but she didn't really pay him much interest. She seemed to always be asleep, sat crossed legged whenever Julien tried to talk to her. She spoke privately to his parents on a few occasions, but never to Julien. She'd never taken part in family meals, instead choosing to sit in the guest room. His parents would take food into her. Julien was unsure if it was because of her injuries or her attitude that she never ate with the rest of them.
Whailing. He heard it constantly. The siren would haunt him forever. He knew he would never forget the siren.
He'd been sat in one of the vents, looking to jump down and scare one of his dads collegues. It was one of the positives of being small, one of the smallest on the station. He could hide in the vents and no-one would ever see him until it was too late. He would drop down, scare people and then laugh it off with them. It was one of the ways the boy had found to keep himself entertained on the facility, one of the few things he found truly fun.
The siren had been horrible. Loud, high pitched and annoying. Julien had only ever heard it once, when he was about six or seven. The siren only ever went off when something had gone wrong, normally with the mining equipment. The siren meant all hands on deck, except Julien, who was just intrusted to hide in his room until the entire issue had blown over. There had been drills every now and then, sure, but the siren used for drills was different.
Julien had dropped down, starting to walk towards the quarters he shared with his family, and the woman. He wasn't even half way when he heard screaming. Even during the last emergency, there hadn't been any screaming. Everyone had been super calm and relaxed, working to fix the problem in thirty minutes tops. Why were they screaming this time? They had no reason to scream unless something had gone extremely wrong and they were all going to die.
He saw a flash of red.
Why was everyone else running? It didn't make sense. Everyone on the facility was usually so calm, why were they all sprinting at full speed. Julien saw another flash of red, heard more screaming. He was running now, he didn't even realise that he had started running. He was trying to get back to safety, to his quarters. Whatever was going on would be sorted, surely? Whatever was going on, his father would fix it with his team. Surely.
The young boy turned a corner. Against the wall, pinned, was his mother. A large man had her by the throat. He had something in his hand, a red blade made entirely of light. His mother was kicking, fighting, pleading. The man was demanding something, something Julien couldn't hear over the whaling of siren. His mother turned, his mother saw him. His mother shouted something. Julien didn't know what, he couldn't hear her.
Run. Or at least he assumed it was run.
The power went out. Of course it did.
Julien ran, he ran in the dark. His mind was racing with questions. He wanted to know who the man was, why the man was holding his mother by the throat and what the man was demanding. His mother would be okay, of course. She was a fighter, she'd get out of his grasp. She was better in that situation than Julien was. Julien wasn't a fighter. Sure, he could throw a punch if he needed to but he wasn't a fighter. He'd never been a fighter.
He entered his quarters. The lights were still out, but the room was light. The room was light with a red glow. It took a few moments for the young boys eyes to adjust. He saw two figures at first, and it was only as his eyes adjusted to the light he recognised that one was his father. The other, he wasn't sure. He was a large man, holding another one of those red blades that were made entirely of light. He was kicking at Julien's dad, kicking at Zachariah.
"Where is she? Where are you hiding the girl"
"I... I don't know who you're on about!"
"Where is the girl!"
Julien's dad was near tears. The man again demanded to know where the girl was. Julien could only assume that they were talking about the woman who had been living in the guest bedroom. He debated saying something, but he didn't. He didn't think he had been spotted yet. He knew his parents wouldn't want him to be involved, they'd want him to hide. So he hid, he hid in the only place he could think of. A small gap between cupboards in the little kitchen area.
The second man stormed in. His mother was in his grasp. The man threw his mother besides his father. Elizabeth and Zacariah looked at each other as the two big men shouted again. Elizabeth was crying, Zacariah pulled her close. He looked at the men, reaffirming that neither of them would say anything to them. Both of the large men raised their red blades. Both of them brought their red blades down. The next thing Julien heard was silence.
Silence that was broken by the sounds of a young boy screaming.
Julien remembered shouting. He didn't remember what happened after. He saw a green light join the two red lights out in the living space. He heard noises, screaming. One of the red lights went out, leaving just the green light and the second red light. There was a thunk. Both of the lights moved so quick, it was hard for Julien to keep up. Between the speed and the tears currently flowing from the young boy, he had no idea what was going on. He hadn't got a clue.
The second red light went out. The green light went out seconds later.
"Come out, boy. You're safe now".
It was a woman's voice. Julien didn't move, of course. Instead he curled up tighter in his little hidey-hole. He had no intention of moving until he was one hundred percent certain it was safe. Only once it was safe would he leave, figure out what damage had happened. Only once it was safe would he leave, see what happened to his parents. They were okay, of course they were. They wouldn't just leave him. They were strong, they were fighters. They'd be okay.
"Julien. I know you're in here. I know you're scared. I don't have much time. Come now. Please. I need you"
He looked out, for the first time. He couldn't see much. He would need to leave to see what was going on. The voice was almost pleading with him, begging him to leave his little hidey space. For the first time he was questioning. How did the woman know he was in the room, no-one as far as he was aware had seen him enter.
The lights came on.
His cover was blown anyway, the moment the lights came back on. Julien groaned, covering his eyes until they adjusted. Once they had, he looked out. For the first time, he could see. There were scratches all up the walls, but not scratches, more like burn marks. The two large men were on the floor, one was missing an arm and the other was covered in the same burn marks the woman had been when she arrived into the quarters that he had shared with his parents.
Julien screamed again. He ran out from his hidey-hole the moment he saw it. His parents, both of them. Both were on the floor, neither moving. Julien grabbed his father, shaking him. There was nothing. He did the same with his mother. There was nothing. Neither responded to the pleas of a young boy who was begging for his parents to answer him. Not one of them answered Julien's begs, his desperate begs for an answer.
"Julien"
He looked over. He saw the woman for the first time. She was slouched up against the door, her blonde hair stuck to her face with sweat. Julien didn't realise quite how young she was until he saw her like this. He stood up to help her, but stopped. All of the sadness and hurt he was feeling boiled into anger.
"What happened to them! Tell me now! Tell me before I hurt you! TELL ME!"
The woman only smiled. She moved slightly, flinching. As she moved, it became clear she wasn't okay. There was a large gash across her chest, her clothes in tattered. She was plastered in new cuts, new burn marks. She was barely breathing, her chest hardly rising. Julien took a deep breath.
"They're dead. Aren't they?"
More tears fell. The anger was gone, replaced with all of the hurt and fear once again. He knew the answer to the question before the woman even confirmed it. When she spoke, when she said yes, Julien felt his heart break. He felt his legs give way. He remembered hitting the floor. He felt more pain in those few seconds than he had ever felt in his entire life. He felt more hurt, more anger in those few moments than he had felt in fifteen years.
"Julien. I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I don't have long left. There's a woman coming Julien. Tell her what happened here. There's a flash drive in my room. Give it to her. I'm so sorry I couldn't help them. I'm so sorry".
Towards the end of the sentence, Julien noticed how much she was forcing herself to speak. It took her a while to get the sentence out and Julien knew she was fatalily wounded. He knew there was nothing he could do. Sorry was the last word the woman ever spoke. He heard the thud as she slouched forward, dead. Much like the two men. Much like his parents. Everyone was dead. He was alone. He was alone and he had never been more scared in his life.
He clutched at his parents, and he cried.
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