I woke up tied to a tree in the middle of a wide field overgrown with sparse vegetation. My hands were tied together at the wrists and tied to a rock in the tree. I scrabbled around trying to free myself, but to no avail. I felt a sharp pain as someone grabbed my hair and jerked me away from the ground. I started to scream and kicked, but the person holding my hair just yanked me upward until I was face to face with him. I looked up into the face of a bulky, pale grey aliens face. His eyes were as dark as those of the Storm Bolter, but his skin was almost translucent. His strange wrinkled face only made him look older. He looked like a distant relative of the Storm Bolter. I don't know how I knew, but I just did.
As I looked into his face I saw a flash of red. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of motion. The Storm Bolter had a knife in his hand and the aliens face was suddenly covered in blood. The alien let go of my hair and grabbed at his nose, screaming in pain. The Storm Bolter darted in to finish him off, but was intercepted by one of the other aliens storm troopers. The alien dragged the Storm Bolter out of sight and the two collided with trees. I heard one of them scream as they were thrown. They both hit the ground hard, the knife skittered away. I only had a second to wonder at the fate of my brother when the remaining storm troopers were on me. I grappled with one of them, and I was trying to break his arm when something hard hit the back of my head. I felt my vision tunnel and I was unconscious.
I woke up and immediately knew that I was in a cell. I was tied to a wall and when I tried to move, I realized that they had tied my feet as well. I was cold. I was wearing only my shirt and pants, and the cell was dank and dreary and empty. I didn't know how long I laid there. I fell in and out of consciousness for what felt like days before I saw something move. I was about to call out when I was interrupted.
"Don't say a word," came a voice from the door. "Look around you and you will see the cameras, hear the microphones, and realize that this is a waste of time."
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"You're a clever one, aren't you?" came the voice. "We're here to make sure that the colonists don't become a problem. We're here to keep them in line."
"Why?" I asked. "What do they mean to your people? Why would you care?"
"They mean nothing to our people," said the voice. "Our people have no interest in you. We were sent by the Confederacy to watch. To monitor. To protect."
"You don't care about us?" I asked.
"Well asking our captors if we care about you is a lost cause. They don't care if they have any potential converts. They just want to make sure that you keep your humanity."
"Don't worry about that, then," I said.
"Why is that?"
"You're all prisoners too."
"Are you sure about that?" he asked.
"Are you?" I asked.
"True." I heard a deft motion and then the cell door slid open. "Can you walk?"
"I'll try," I said. "I don't know if I will move very fast, though."
"Do your best," he said. I shook the rope loose and stood. I collapsed, and waved my arms to get out of my rope. I rolled over and grabbed the rope, and watched my rescuer set to work on me with a small knife. When he was done, I stood and he grabbed my arm and helped me down the hall.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked. "How far away is the North Star?"
"As to your first question," said the Storm Bolter, "I have no idea. I have, however, been listening to the guards talk and this is definitely the detention facility. They tend to gather the undesirables and keep them here until they can be returned to their colonies. If they're lucky they get executed before they get sent back."
"My brother did all this work," I said.
"How did he become so important?" asked the Storm Bolter.
"I don't know," he said. "I have no idea what he's been doing for all of this time. He was alright when he came back, but something changed."
"He'll be here," said the Storm Bolter. "And he won't let you down, I can promise you."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"He will do something spectacular so that you will feel better."
"That isn't necessary," I said.
"You'd be surprised."
"What about you?" I asked.
"What about me?"
"How did you get here?"
"I found a broken piece of the ship and I looked for the rest of it. I got my hands on a Storm Bolter and he took me to the detention area. I owe him immensely; I owe my life to him."
"My brother is a wonderful man," I said. "He is very clever."
"I wouldn't say that," said the Storm Bolter. "He's a real warrior. He makes things happen that no one sees coming."
We passed a Storm Bolter as we made our way through the facility. The Storm Bolter came closer to us, and he and the Storm Bolter shook hands. They seemed to be celebrating something. The Storm Bolter nodded in our direction and the Storm Bolter returned to where he came from.
