Star Wars Rebels: Servants of the Empire: Rebel in the Ranks
ZareLeonis could tell the moment the Imperial Imperial officer read that Zare's sister had gone missing Sergeant Currahee was a squat powerful-looking woman with a ruddy slab of a face and pale scars that snaked up from her collar and disappeared into her hair which was the same industrial gray as her uniform She was his intake officer at the Imperial Academy on Lothal sitting across a bare metal table from him a datapad in one meaty hand The intake tests show superior reaction time and field of vision for a fifteen-year-old Currahee said in her gravelly voice But you're consistently slow in selecting between targets Leonis you'll need to work on your initiative Currahee pursed her thin lips her small black eyes scanning her datapad and then jumping to Zare's face She put down the datapad
When you imagine yourself in Imperial service what do you think about she asked steepling her fingers fingers and resting them against her chin For a moment Zare let himself imagine what would happen if he told the truth That he knew the Empire had lied about his older sister Dhara's disappearance from this very academy That Zare planned to pose as a model Imperial cadet while searching for Dhara and awaiting a chance to bring down the Empire That he was in fact already an enemy of the Emperor's regime he'd even thrown detonators at an Imperial troop transport He smiled to think of the shocked look that would transform Currahee's face then realized her eyes were fixed on him I just want to serve the Empire ma'am he said forcing himself to sit up straight and adopt a bright determined expression And the issue of target selection Leonis How would you address that Uh I guess I need to learn how to assess tactical alternatives better ma'am Zare said running a hand through his wiry close-cut black hair So maybe the Imperial Army is right for you Whatever my superior officers think best ma'am
Currahee nodded without much interest then picked up her datapad again You were center striker on your school's grav-ball squad she said Yes ma'am Zare said We were league champs You must have some leadership qualities then Zare dropped his eyes modestly then nodded That was what a model cadet would do he hoped There are plenty of boys here with strong leadership leadership abilities though Currahee said Suppose your superior officers determine you can best serve the Empire as a stormtrooper Leonis Would that be beneath you Zare thought back briefly to his neighbor Ames Bunkle who'd entered the Academy with Dhara last year then emerged as an expressionless Imperial drone barely able to do more than recite parts of the stormtrooper stormtrooper manual I just want to do my part ma'am he said stonily Currahee's eyes studied her datapad again then jumped to Zare's face Up and down they went between him and whatever was on her screen Zare knew at once that she had reached the part of his file that mentioned Dhara He wondered if she was reading the same story Commandant Aresko had told
