5

Chapter 5

"The Empire controls everything in the Outer Rim."

Kelwarin frowned deeply. He was used to hearing these sorts of statements from Tallulah. They never failed to make him uncomfortable, and they certainly never failed to put him at ease, although whether those reasons stemmed from one or the other wasn't quite clear to him. But it seemed like something was bothering her more than usual. Usually she would always be confident, even arrogant if she was the one telling the stories, but something was clearly upsetting her today. And judging from how tense she was, she wouldn't be too pleased with whatever it was she was going to tell.

"How did you know that?" He asked finally.

"I overheard some Imperial officers discussing it when I was training." She stated simply.

Kelwarin raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I thought that only the highest ranking Imperial officials got access to those things?"

Tallulah rolled her eyes. "Some higher ranking Imperial officials, yes. But that doesn't mean the rest of us don't learn from the Empire, or even that we don't understand the basics of warfare. We're trained soldiers, after all."

Kelwarin snorted, amused at how she seemed to be acting more and more like Malika every day. "Of course you are. So where does this story go?"

She sighed, "As I mentioned, I overheard some conversation amongst some officers regarding a missing ship, which apparently belonged to the Imperial Navy."

"Which is where they were planning on heading, right?"

"Right. One of the men involved in the discussion claimed that there wasn't really much left of the Empire, so they may as well go scavenge what they could of what remains."

"What did you make of that?"

"I didn't believe him at first. It sounded crazy to me, but the Empire has a certain reputation throughout the galaxy, and rumours are bound to spread fast."

"Was it worth it then?"

Tallulah furrowed her brow slightly, considering what his response would have been. Eventually, however, she let out a sigh and smiled, shaking her head. "No," she admitted softly, "it wasn't. I don't particularly care about those types of rumours though, and frankly, it doesn't seem to bother me anymore."

Kelwarin stared at her with confusion plastered across his face. "Doesn't bother you?"

She gave him an exasperated look, as though it was obvious she was doing him a disservice. "Yes Kel, I find it amusing."

"Do you?"

"Of course. It'