In a Galaxy, Far, Far, away…

Blam! A bright light suddenly blinded Desmond Balincore, a young man who had just graduated from Harvard. Dez was not expecting this bright light; the surprise it gave him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Then, without warning, a loud sound, louder than a freight train, filled his ears. His sight and vision were now both being overstimulated. He couldn’t hear, and he couldn’t see. 

After a few more moments, the light faded, and the sounds stopped. His emerald green eyes began to adjust and give Dez his vision back. He was shocked when he rubbed his eyes as if cleaning one of his historical relics. It wasn’t what he saw that shocked him; it was just a normal forest. It was what he didn’t see that caused him uneasiness. 

“Where the hell is the street?” He said, in great surprise.

There was no street, only a forest that was not there before. 

“Where… is everyone?”

There was no one, the crowded city street, with people crossing the road on their way to work, was nowhere to be seen. There was only this forest.

He could not believe his eyes. One second, he was walking to his part-time job at a local Restaurant, and now, he was in a forest.

“This isn’t good. I’m going to be late for work!” he panicked. “My boss is going to fire me!”

As he panicked about his current situation, he began to hear another noise. It wasn’t as loud as the one he had heard before, but he recognized the sound. The noise was unmistakable, definitely, something he was well acquainted with. Dez’s assumption became more obvious as the sound grew larger. It got louder and louder, then he saw it. A Tie Fighter, its beautiful muted blue color races over the tree cover.

Instincts took over, and he ran after the flying death machine. He became more and more excited about what he was chasing after, even though he knew this wasn’t possible. How could it be a Tie Fighter? He thought it might have been a plane dressed in a cardboard costume, or maybe it was a real Tie. He wasn’t sure at first, but after a moment of his brain putting two and two together, he realized he could be in Star Wars. 

As he ran through the woods, the sound got quieter and quieter. Then it completely disappeared, and he stopped to catch his breath.

“I… cough… I don't think I’ve run like this since High School!” He was out of breath. Sweat or moisture, he didn’t know which was running down his face. The forest was very humid but also cool. 

He sat down on the forest floor. “Ahh, maybe I should come up with a plan.” He took out his cell phone, but there was no service. “That's just great!” He said, not in the best of moods. “Where the hell am I!!” He yelled, not knowing anything about his situation, which is something that annoys him greatly.

He sat up, “That tie or plane… whatever, was headed in that direction.” He pointed in the direction he last heard the monstrous roar of the Tie Fighter. He started walking in that direction, going at a pace he knew would get him the furthest. 

He walked and walked—it seemed like he walked for miles. The humid and heavy air of the forest did not help Dez as he hiked up and down hills or around gigantic rotting trees that had fallen to the floor. 

“This place is… massive,” he said tiredly. It might get dark soon. What am I going to do?” 

He continued his hike til the sun began to set. When it finally did get dark he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t make a fire, so he found a tree and sat under it. The night was brutal, the temperature dropped and he experienced a pain and misery he had not ever hoped he would. The cold seemed to lurk deep into his body, the humid air and periodic rain only made this worse.

He wasn’t sure if he would survive the night. 

Eventually, the morning came and he stood up. He did not get any sleep, now, he was more of a walking husk of the man he was yesterday. He mindlessly walked, the temperature did not improve even when the sun came up. He shivered while wildlife he had never seen before thrived. Birds with huge red gulls swooped around him happily and without worry. Somehow they knew Desmod was barely alive, and would be unable to catch them. Those birds seemed to mock him, laughing at his weakness and misery. The birds soon abandoned him after losing interest in bullying him. Desmond walked further and further, he did not stop.

Soon, it began to get dark again. He just stopped walking and fell to the floor, once he could no longer see. No moon lit the night sky. As the sun rose once again, Desmond did not get up. He couldn’t, he was barely alive. The cold had returned that night and seemed to be harsher than the one before. 

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“... why,” he whispered, “why is this happening to… me… what did I… ever do… cough, to deserve this?”

He then lost consciousness.

…

Desmond's eyes began to open slowly. His senses also began to reawaken as he did. 

“Ah, Good Morning Patient. I am SM-32, a medical droid tasked with resuscitating you. How do you feel?” Asked a droid standing in front of the bed Dez was now lying in. 

As a heart monitor beeped, Desmond responded, weakly, but clearly.

“I… am alright. Where… am I?”

The droid responded, “You are in the Medical Bay of Imperial Outpost OR54. Can you please tell me your name?” 

Desmond sat up, slowly. “My name is Desmond Balincore, what do you mean… Imperial?”

“Ah, I see your memory must be incomplete. Allow me to rephrase. I am a part of the Galactic Empire, founded by The Great Emperor Palpatine 60 years ago.”

Desmond was confused. His current condition didn’t help. What did the droid mean 60 years ago? The Empire only lasted 30 years in the movies, not 60 years. 

The droid spoke again, “Since your condition has improved, I will contact my commanding officer. Please stay here until I return.”

The droid set its datapad down on Desmond's bed and left the room. 

“What did he mean by 60 years? Did the rebellion not win?” He sat up more and leaned over to pick up the data pad. “How… Do I read this?” Desmond could not read the information on the pad. He sat the pad down and laid his head on his pillow. 

He sat there, about to fall back asleep. It had felt like a while since he had experienced any warmth. 

“Shhhk,” the door suddenly opened. The medical droid and an old man dressed in an Imperial Uniform entered the room and the door shut behind them. The Imperial Officer marched closer to the bed and leaned over to pick up the data pad.

“So, you’re alive.” He said, reading the data pad. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it when one of my scouts brought you in.”

“Um, where am I?” Asked Dez, he sat up again, leaving the warmth and entering a cool air mass above him.

“You’re in Imperial Outpost OR54… on the planet Frallo, in the outer rim.” The Officer clarified.

“Oh, um, who… are you?” Asked Dez.

“I believe I’m supposed to ask you that.” Replied the Officer, setting down the data pad and folding his hands behind his back. 

“I’m not sure. I know my name, but, any more than that and it's kind of fuzzy.” Said Desmond, trying to hide his true story. 

“I see.” He looked to the Medical Droid, “Droid, is memory loss possible, given his condition?”

The droid thought for a moment, little lights in his head turned on and off as the Droid searched through billions of files on memory loss caused by freezing temperatures. “Yes, it is highly likely that the bellow freezing temperatures of Frallo and malnutrition caused this man to lose his memories. I’m not sure if the damage is treatable or not.”  

“Alright,” He looks over to me. “We will assume that you’ve lost your memories… for now… My name is Litentiut Commander Alamon. Since you don’t have any identification on you, why don’t you join the Empire?” He asked.

“Join the Empire?” Asked Desmond, both confusion and thankfulness filled his head. Maybe the Empire wasn’t as evil as the movies made them out to be.

“Of course, if you don’t want to join the Empire, you are free to leave. Just know that the nearest sign of civilization is 100 klicks from us. I doubt you’d survive another night.” Replied the Officer. “If you do decide to join, I’ll train you myself, you see, we need a new Flame Trooper, our last one was killed in a speeder accident.” He said.

The droid spoke up, “Leitunent Commander? It was not a speeder accident, the fuel system on his pack leaked, and-” The commander stopped the droid with a death stare that even an emotionless droid could perceive.

“It was an accident nonetheless,” the Commander said, “Well, Desmond Balincore, want to join the Empire or do you want to freeze to death?”

“Um, I’ll join The Empire, I’m not stupid, and I guess the Empire did save me, so how could I refuse your request,” Desmond replied, a small smile forming on his mouth.

“Good, do you have any questions about the Empire?” Asked The Officer.

Desmond spoke up, “What's the pay like?”

“At first it's terrible, but as you rise in the ranks, it gets better. If you have the skill, anyone can become high-ranking in the Empire.”

“I see… is Healthcare covered?”

“Only at Imperial Medical Facilities, so yes.”

“How about time off?”

“Depends, here we mostly just sit around and play Sabak.”

“How about retirement?”

“The Empire has one of the best retirement plans in the history of the Galaxy.”

“After careful consideration, I’ve decided to accept your invitation to the Empire.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” He turned to the Droid, “Get him registered, and make him a new ID, we don’t want him getting arrested at any naval ports.”

The droid replied, “Yes Commander, I will enlist him into the Stormtroopre Core.” 

“Good,” The Commander looked to me, “Training starts tomorrow morning, please recover until then.”

“Alright, thank you for the opportunity!” Dez replied happily.

“Yes, you’re welcome." The Commander smiled.