𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 ── ᴄ.ᴋᴇꜱᴛɪꜱ

PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE.
the mission

✧ ✧ ✧

Silence.

It was such an alluring and beautiful thing. The way the tranquility of air settled inside a room made everything so exciting.. or rather, addicting.

I brushed my fingers across my lips, hiding a smirk behind my hand. The stormtroopers stared at their cards intently as I glanced at all of them, waiting for the final reveal.

We were playing a simple game of Sabacc, a very popular game with the goal of getting an absolute value closest to 23 but no higher.

The dealer, another stormtrooper, took a card from the center pile and organized it with the cards in his hands.

".. So, what are we waiting for?" I asked with a sly smile. All the troopers looked at me nervously. "Let's see who wins."

One by one, the stormtroopers revealed their final hand's total. So far, no one had a perfect hand that totaled up to 23 or -23 -- a 'Pure Sabacc'.

As if on cue, the stormtrooper next to me laughed, slamming his cards onto the table. He stood up from his chair and revealed his hand.

"A Pure Sabacc!" He chuckled. All the stormtroopers groaned in frustration as I rolled my eyes.

'Guess I spoke too soon.'

The lucky stormtrooper took a credit from the Sabacc pot, a pool stacked with money, and turned to look at me, "All these credits are mine. Too bad, little lady, better luck next time--"

"You done?" I asked, leaning forward on my chair. He just stared at me as I smirked. "As much as I love the excitement, I still haven't shown you my hand yet."

All the stormtroopers looked at each other in confusion. The lucky stormtrooper waited for my reveal, clutching onto the credit in his hand.

"Well, boys," I started, tossing my cards onto the table with grace. The stormtroopers looked down at my cards, then back up at me. "Surprise! An Idiot's Array, the winning hand."

They all sounded exasperated as they began shouting at one another. With a small grin, I gathered up all the credits in the Sabacc pot and placed them inside my bag. The not-so-lucky-anymore stormtrooper grabbed my arm.

"Hold on," He leaned in closer to my face. "How in the world did you get an Idiot's Array? That's the rarest hand you can get."

"Oh, it's simple.. I never lose." I whispered to him, shoving his hand off my arm as I closed my bag. I stabbed his chest-plate with a finger, glancing at the credit in his hand. He looked down at the credit and sighed in defeat, holding it out for me to take it. I chuckled, "Keep it; consider it a gift from me."

I gave him a small wink before walking away from the lounge and into the Imperial ship's hallway. Before I could take another step forward, I noticed a stormtrooper with an orange pauldron walking past me.

"Commander," I called out to him with an oddly cheery voice, causing him to turn around and face me. "Any news regarding the planet, Kashyyyk?"