An old friend

"Any idea how we're gonna get past the security?" Alysia asked.

When we closed in on Walor, there were authority vessels everywhere. Large cruisers and small fighters, they were everywhere we turned. It didn't take long before we were pulled over.

"Unidentified vessel, we have you on our radar. Prepare to be boarded for a security check. If you resist, you will be shot down." If sounded over the radio.

We looked each other in the eyes, we were all trying to figure out how to handle this. Thomas stopped the ship and we waited for the security vessel to line up and board us. The airlock opened and three armed officers walked in.

"State your name and business." One of them said.

"I'm Derrick Gulf. This here is Ally Cabo and that is Tommy Ruddock. We're here to visit a friend of ours." Thomas and Alysia kept quiet and followed my lead.

One of the men radioed our information through so they could verify it.

"Who is this friend?"

"Oliver Teller." I replied. I had a hard time coming up with alternative names.

"Please wait until we've verified this information.

"Why the heavy security?" Thomas asked.

"In case you haven't noticed there's a war going on. A lot of important people live on Walor. We can't risk an attack."

The officer received a communication through his earpiece and pointed his gun at us, the other two followed him.

"I need you to put your hands above you head and stand against the wall. We're having trouble identifying you."

A small ship flew by us at high speed. The officers were called to pursue the ship. They quickly left us while we just stood there, surprised as frightened about what just happy and how lucky we were that they had somewhere else to be. We continued our approach of Walor before they could come back. Olivia used to live in New Greenfall, a small town on Walor just a few kilometres away from the capital. We had no further trouble and were able to land in Walor's space port. Once on the ground we decided to take a shuttle to New Greenfall. We argued about walking there at first but we all agreed that it was a bit to far for that.

"5136 Felner road. This is it." Alysia paid the shuttle pilot and we got out. We stood in front of a massive villa. 

"Looks like people still live here." Thomas said. The house and garden were well maintained.

"Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean that miss Taylor lives here."

"So.. do we just knock or.." We were all a bit insecure about what to do. What were we supposed to say? Hi, this here is the heir to the imperial throne. Everyone thinks she's dead, but she's not. Surprise! That wouldn't work. Eventually we worked up a story about how we were doing a documentary about life on Walor. It was the best we could come up with.

We knocked on the front door and a woman opened up.

"Hello, I'm Ally. Me and my friends are making a documentary about how it is to live on such a Pristine world as Walor. Do you have a few moments to answer some of our questions."

"Sure," the woman said, "come in. I'll have my butler make us some refreshments."

We walked in to the living room and sat down on the couch. Their were lots of paintings and other art in the room. Everything was really clean and tidy. It felt more like a museum than a house to be honest. The woman was old, at least 120. I kinda hoped that this woman wasn't Olivia Teller because she was just too old to be helpful.

"So, what would you like to know?" The woman asked.

"How long have you lived here?"

"My entire life. You see, my father used to be a consultant to emperor Astor Bellèc. My parents were already living here when I was born."

"And what was your job?"

"I followed in my father's footsteps and I've worked for both emperor Astor Bellèc as emperor Peter Bellrose. May I ask which school your from?"

"The institute for media on Gaross." I said.

"Gaross? I've never heard of it."

"It is a border system, pretty far out. Tell me, miss uh?" Thomas quickly said.

"Petrolia."

"How is the war effecting everyday life here on Walor?" I looked at him and saw that he realised that wasn't a smart question. The people of Walor would rather ignore the war. We just hit a nerve.

"The war does not effect the Empire negatively, if that's what you mean. Unity is necessary and war is the only way to achieve it. We only grow stronger because of it. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on my butler."

She walked out the room and I turned to Thomas. "That was not smart." I said.

"I know. At least we know that were not talking to Olivia."

Miss Petrolia walked back in, carrying some glasses of water and biscuits on a tray.

"Are there any more questions you'd like to ask me?" She asked.

"You said you've lived on Walor your entire life, always in this house? Or have you lived in different cities as well?"

"I moved here from the capital five years ago. I found this town to be far more peaceful and quiet. At my age, those are some important criteria." She laughed.

We talked for another ten minutes trying to find out any information regarding Olivia. But we didn't really know how to bring her up. Everytime we brought up the 'previous owner' miss Petrolia quickly changed the subject.

All of the sudden I felt a sense of unease, like we were being watched. 

"Excuse me miss Petrolia, may I use your lavatory?" I asked.

"Of course. Through the hallway, second door on your right."

I walked into the hallway but didn't take the second door on the right. Behind the first door on the left was a small bedroom. First door on the right, a home theatre. Second door on the left, a room with a pool table and bar. As miss Petrolia said, behind the second door on the right was a toilet. There was one more door in the hallway. I opened it and walked into a beautiful room. It was an indoor garden, beautiful flora everywhere. The backwall was made of glass, I overlooked a large fountain in the middle of a square. It was at this point that I saw them, dozens of imperial soldiers were right outside. Omicron type tanks and vulture type gunships in support. We'd been made. I quickly ran back to the others. "We have a problem!" I shouted.

"Do you honestly believe that you can effectively rule an empire? Do you think think the people would follow you because of your name? You're just a little brat seeking a luxurious life. There is no place for you here. You never should have come here. That awful woman that lived here before I did, is dead. Just give up, no one's going to help you." Petrolia said. It was now clear that she alerted the authorities of our location.

"Attention all trespassers! Step outside with your hands above your head. You are surrounded. Try anything and we respond with lethal force."

In his anger Thomas took a swing at miss Petrolia and she went down. Alysia calmed him down. "What do we do?" I asked. But neither of them knew. 

"Attention! This is your last warning! Step outside with your hands above your head."

We did as they commanded. We stood besides each other on the front porch. I was blinded by the bright lights pointing at us. Then I heard the swooshing sounds of fighter ships. Gunfire. Explosions. Screaming. "Flames!" I heard them shout. "Multiple bogeys!" "Where's it coming from!" There was complete chaos. The fight didn't last long. Before we even knew what happened, a soldier dressed in red showed up in front of us. A woman, slim, short blonde hair and big brown eyes. "You know, the three of you suck at blending in. Showing up at my old house." She said. "Come on, we need to get out of here before their reinforcements show up." 

"Who are you?" Thomas asked, still stunned by what just happened.

"I believe you already know. I'm Olivia Taylor, commander of the flames of Thalassa. There have always been rumours about your survival, Alysia. But frankly, I did not believe them. Until a crazy old man on Echelon started shouting your name. It's good you're back, we'll need you."

"We've got legionaries inbound, ma'am." A soldier stated.

"So soon? We weren't counting on this. We'll need to improvise."

"Commander Jameson! Get these three out of here. I'll stay behind and by you some time."

"Ma'am, we need you!"

"No! You need the princess. Now go!"

Alysia and Thomas went with Jameson. But I stayed behind.

"You two go and end this war. I'm gonna stay here with Olivia and buy you some time." I said.

"Are you a soldier?" Olivia asked.

"I'm something better. I'm a Prime."

"Nice!"

The red flames took off. In the distance I could see several dropships closing in fast, I was ready for a fight.

They opened fire, I quickly threw up a barrier. Olivia returned fire and managed to shoot down the pilot of the first fighter. Two dropships got close and at least 40 legionaries were deployed. "Cover me!" I shouted. I leaped forward and threw myself at the ground with all the power I had in me. I knocked down half of them and Olivia shot another 5. Her aim was true. Together we finished off the remaining legionaries. We still had two fighters circling above.

"Come on, we need to scramble their communications if the princess is to have any chance of getting away."

"How do we do that?" I asked.

"I used to live here, remember? This house has got some tricks up it's sleeves. There's a signal magnifier on the roof."

We made our way upstairs, to the attic. Once there, Olivia pulled a hidden lever and a control panel appeared. She pressed a few buttons. I heard a loud high peep. "It's working!" Olivia said. "Now we need to get out of here."

"What did you just do?" I asked confused.

"I scrambled their communications. They're flying blind right now, it should be easy for Jameson to get out of here."

Still a bit confused by everything that had just happened, I followed Olivia out the house again. Alysia got out but we were still here and it wouldn't take the imperials long to get their comms back up. So we agreed to make our way back to the capital where the Vigilant, Thomas' baby, should still be waiting for us. Thomas would be heartbroken if I left her behind.

This time I did have to walk, since travelling with public transportation was no longer an option due to a large increase of imperial patrols.

"So, while we have the time, would you care to explain how'd you end up with the princess?" Olivia asked.

"Short version? I was on one of the first planets to get hit. I saw a man there, an imperial. He lead me to Alysia, her identity had been compromised and she was now the target of assassins. I helped her escape together with Thomas. Then we learned about you through a message left by Alysia's father and we decided to look for you."

"How did a Prime end up fighting for, instead of against, 'regulars'?"

"I've been asking myself that for a while now. Truth is, Alysia made me see that not everyone is rotten on the inside. There are some that are worth saving. And I'm the who can do just that."

"So expecting you to shoot me in the back is unnecessary?" She mocked.

"Unless you piss me off, it is." I said dead serious. She looked at me and saw very clearly that I was not kidding.

We got back to the spaceport without much trouble. We occasionally had to wait for a patrol to pass, but we managed to get back unnoticed. There was only one problem, I forgot where we had docked the Vigilance.

"How could you forget?!" Olivia shouted at me.

"I just did! This is a big place and I've just been in a firefight, give me a minute to focus." My mind was empty, I was clueless. It was like I had never seen the place before. Then I saw a vague red light hoovering in the distance and I somehow felt attracted to it.

"It's that way." I said as I was pointing towards the light.

"You figured out a cure for amnesia all of a sudden?"

"Quit your jokes and head for the light." I said annoyed.

And there she was, right where we'd left her. 

"Nothing special, but it'll do. I'll take us out of here." Olivia said, assuming that I didn't know how to fly a ship. Of course I didn't want to tell her she assumed right. Olivia flew us out with ease. Imperial communications were still scrambled, we had no trouble whatsoever to leave Walor's orbit. 

"I'll take us back to the princess. You should get some shut eye, you look pretty tired." She was right, I hadn't slept in quite a while. I lay down and fell asleep almost immediately.

Author's Note

Please ignore any grammarspelling mistakes, English is not my native language.