024. A LITTLE HELP FROM FULCRUM

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"Is no one going to explain?"

Leia's question broke the silence that had been ongoing for the past half hour. Evangeline looked around the room. Poe seemed to understand that he was on thin ice with the general and didn't wish to take the risk. Finn was in a similar situation. BB-8 was a droid. Rey didn't fully understand what was going on. And Ben refused to look up from the ground much less speak to his mother. The dead people certainly didn't plan to speak up either.

Evangeline sighed, "It's a long story if you're willing to listen."

Leia looked at her as if she had just noticed her for the first time, "Out of everyone in the room, you're the only one that I don't know."

"I'm Evangeline," she simplified things by introducing herself.

"And how did you get dragged into all of this?"

"Your son dropped a building on me ten years ago," she replied, "Should I continue?"

Leia looked at her son appalled before nodding her head, "Someone might as well."

Evangeline proceeded to explain her side of the story. She didn't fully understand everything pertaining to the resistance, but she did her best to include what she did know. When she mentioned that Finn and Poe just about managed to blow up The Supremacy from the inside while still aboard, Leia shot them a strong look that needed no explanation. They immediately flinched but remained quiet as Evangeline continued without a second thought. Once she had finished, Leia sat quietly, deep in thought.

"How are you holding up?" Luke asked softly.

Evangeline flinched as he spoke, but did her best to act as if nothing had happened. She had tried her best to ignore her former master; however, his constant presence and attempted apologies certainly didn't help. She didn't want an apology because she didn't want to forgive him. She wanted nothing to do with the man in fact.

"It's a lot to process," Leia responded.

"Well take all the time that you need, General," Poe said as he stood to exit the room.

"Now wait just a minute, Dameron," Leia ordered, "I'm extending your suspension, flyboy."

Poe sighed but didn't argue. Finn followed him from the room and kept his eyes trained on the ground to try and avoid a punishment as well. Evangeline had temporarily stopped listening, but she knew that he hadn't escaped the inevitable either. She slowly became lost in her own thoughts as she tried to figure out where to go with the information that she knew. She needed to do research... a whisper reached her ears. It was familiar, but she quickly realized that the whisper belonged to the chorus of voices that had messed with her mind on Florrum. They overwhelmed her suddenly and she was unable to sort her thoughts from theirs. She started to panic.

"Are you alright?"

Evangeline snapped out out her thoughts and realized that she had curled into a ball in the corner of the room. She looked up and accepted the hand that was extended out to her. Leia stood there with a concerned expression on her face.

"I think so," Evangeline said cautiously before realizing that she hadn't experienced any pain, but the panic had all been real.

"Do you plan on staying awhile?"

"No... I don't know," she shook her head, "I hadn't exactly planned on joining the resistance."

"Sometimes the force guides you to a place that you do not expect to be, but it is where you should be."

"That sounds like something the jedi would say," Evangeline wrinkled her nose.

"I suppose that's an effect when one's father, brother, and son were all at one point involved with the Jedi order."

Evangeline nodded her head, "I guess."

"Do you need anything else or will you be alright?"

"I think I'm alright—Actually," she posed a question, "Do you have an archive?"

"An archive?" Leia thought about the question for a minute before responding with a nod of her head, "It's small, but we do have some access to an archive."

"Could you maybe point me in that direction?"

Leia nodded her head, "Certainly."

Evangeline followed the instructions given to her carefully, but found the base was a maze to sort through. Every corridor seemed to look the same. She shuddered with chills and for the first time noticed the steam that clung to the air every time she breathed.The environment was much colder than what she was used to. She pulled her cloak closer around herself and crossed her arms to preserve her warmth. As she focused on trying to make a decision between a series of passages, she didn't notice the droid rolling toward her feet. Without hesitance, the droid proceeded to roll over her frozen toes.

"Dank Farrik!" She bit her tongue as she quickly released a few other choice words, "You stupid dust bucket of rusted bolts!"

The droid released a series of furious beeps and shocked her with a spark of electricity before quickly trying to roll away; however, before the droid got far, she stuck out her hand and called him back. Both she and the droid seemed equally confused that he was now standing in front of her again. She hadn't expected the force pull to work, but ever since she'd been hooked up to that machine her connection had been stronger than ever before. She was still inexperienced, but she wasn't as fatigued when she tried to perform the few maneuvers that she remembered from her training. She was brought back to the present as the droid beeped again and became aggressive.

"Chopper!" a voice called from down the hall, "What trouble have you gotten yourself into now?"

An older man entered the corridor and stopped to raise an eyebrow as he tried to analyze the scene before him. Evangeline took a second to look at it herself. She and the droid were inches from one another. Chopper, as he had been called, had once again brought out the arm that had electrocuted her while she held him in the air with both her hands. She gently lowered him to the ground and added a small nudge that sent him backward a few feet.

"I should probably apologize for his behavior," the man stated, "I'd say he's not normally like this, but then I'd be lying."

Evangeline cast a look at the droid before addressing him, "Yeah, well tell him to watch whose toes he's running over or he might end up in the trash compactor."

"You're new around here."

"Excellent observation," Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Well not many people wander into this area by mistake."

"This area doesn't happen to be the archives, does it?"

"Force no," he shook his head with a chuckle, "That's practically on the other side of the base. Follow me."

She hadn't asked him to guide her, but he had taken the liberty to do so anyway. Chopper pushed passed her, practically running her over in the process, and proceeded alongside the man.

"Did you plan on introducing yourself?" she asked as she followed, feigning minor annoyance to mask her curiosity.

"Only once you asked," he replied, "Alexsandr Kallus."

"Evangeline Plutarch."

"What brings you to Crait, Evangeline?"

"Oh, so that's where we are?"

"I take you didn't arrive of your own accord then."

She shrugged, "Didn't entirely mind as long as I got the chance to leave the NaJedha system."

"Plan on staying long?"

"Everyone keeps asking that," she muttered before speaking up, "Depends on if I find what I need."

"I see."

The rest of the walk was silent, but it didn't feel very long as Kallus opened the door that led to what the resistance considered their archive. Evangeline quickly approached one of the computers and booted the system up.

"This thing is ancient."

"It's all that we could get our hands on."

"Hopefully it will do the job then," she said as she began to search the records on file.

Jacen Plutarch. It was the first thing that she searched. There wasn't much information available, but she was unable to learn anything at all since the file had been blocked for some reason. She frowned. Corrine Plutarch. The file was also blocked. Alderaan. Endless information filed onto the screen. She'd learn nothing that she didn't already know about the planet before its demise. Plutarch. Again all the files were classified. She groaned in frustration.

"Something wrong?"

She sighed and turned to face Kallus, "Where's this Fulcrum?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Why are you asking?"

"Because the files I need are blocked and only they have access."

Kallus quickly looked past her and muttered under his breath, "I don't remember blocking any of these files..."

"You're Fulcrum?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," he answered, but he was focused on looking at what else she had searched.

"Then you can unblock them."

He shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I was just one of the few that took on the Fulcrum mantel," he explained, "One of the others must have sealed off the information."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I don't have the codes to clear the information."

"Well then let's just find someone who does," Evangeline turned to leave.

Kallus stopped her in her tracks, "There aren't any others—not anymore."

"Then I've hit a dead end?!" she asked more to herself than him.

"Not necessarily," he shook his head, "There's always the chance that someone knows something by word of mouth. What were you looking for anyway?"

She was hesitant but answered the question, "Anything that I could find on Jacen Plutarch."

"A relative of yours?"

"I think so."

Kallus nodded his head, "The name sounds familiar... I think he may have been involved in the rebel efforts back in the day."

"Did you know him?"

Kallus shook his head, "But I think he was part of the team that founded the squadron that I later joined."

"Which was?" she asked impatiently.

"Phoenix Squadron," he answered before adding, "There's a chance that someone else from the squad may have known him."

"Well take me to them then," Evangeline stated.

Kallus shook his head, "I can't at the moment. There's too much going on here that I'm needed for."

"For a minute I thought you were going to say that you were the only survivor."

"Almost," Kallus's expression darkened for an instant.

"Well then just tell me where they are and I can go find them myself."

"Despite your independence," Kallus stated, "You'll need a ship and the only way you'll get one is clearance from the general."

Evangeline crossed her arms and looked him over, "Which I doubt I'll get from you... You're ancient and you're still not a general?"

Kallus's expression immediately changed into a frown and Chopper seemed to laugh in response. Chopper also added a series of beeps which Kallus was also not pleased about.

"You will not be sneaking her clearance codes, Chopper!" he insisted before smoothing out his suit, a habit no doubt, "Besides, I never gave you my rank so don't rush to assume anything."

"Well..." she looked at him expectantly.

"Well what?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you a general?"

"I can indeed get you the codes since I am a general, but I'll need to discuss your departure with General Organa. I'm not going to leave her in the dark."

"Alright, then we'll talk with Ben's mom and then I'm out of here."

Kallus gave her a curious look, probably due to her informal reference of the general. However, she walked past him again and out into the corridors. She stopped once she realized that she had no idea where she was supposed to go.

"Lost again?" Kallus asked with a smug expression as he passed her.

"Shut up," she muttered as she followed at his heels.

Chopper beeped a few times as he rolled up beside her.

"How long have you known him?" she asked the droid, "Don't tell me you're just as prehistoric."

Chopper responded with a beep.

She pursed her lips, "Is now a bad time to mention that I don't speak droid?"

"You pick it up over the years," Kallus added his input as he had been eavesdropping, "Just assume that anything he says is sarcastic—and I'm not that old!"

"If you have to defend yourself then it's probably true," she retorted smugly.

Chopper seemed to agree, or at least that's how she decided to interpret his response.
She was starting to make progress, even if it was small. She'd have her answers soon enough and maybe then she'd have some clue as to where she belonged in the vast universe. Perhaps she'd even locate some relatives that she didn't know existed. She didn't expect everything to necessarily fall into place once she knew, but it'd definitely be nice to not be kept in the dark all the time. She'd soon be out of the resistance's hair, so she wouldn't need to worry so much about Ben Solo, Master Skywalker or any other figures from her past. That is if everything went smoothly from this point out.