Galen Erso
At the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Scarif Satellite Dwarf Galaxy.
News of the Death Star superlaser's successful firing arrived in the afternoon on Scarif.
The Planetary Shield, active year-round, cast a pale blue veil over the sky, bathing the entire Imperial base in cold light.
A duty officer at the communications center was the first to see the encrypted message.
He shot to his feet, staring fixedly at the screen. "The Death Star... fired successfully."
His voice was not loud, but it was crystal clear in the quiet communications center. Everyone stopped working at once and turned to look at him.
Some rose from their seats, some removed their headsets, and some held their breath. The entire communications center fell into an eerie silence, like the stillness before a storm.
"The Death Star's main cannon fired! Chardaan Planet!" The duty officer's voice brimmed with near-fanatical excitement. "It has been completely destroyed... one shot! It only took one shot!"
Silence. Long, suffocating silence.
Then the cheers erupted.
The roar of voices nearly blew the roof off the communications center.
"It worked! Hahahaha! It worked!!"
"One shot, total destruction! This is incredible!!"
"All those years of effort weren't wasted! Hahahahaha!!"
"Oh, I need a vacation! I need a bonus! I can practically feel it! Hahaha!"
The Imperial officers who were usually stern and expressionless embraced one another, slapped each other's backs, and some even climbed onto desks, waving their data pads in the air.
A technical engineer in his fifties dropped to his knees, covering his face with both hands as his shoulders shook violently.
"We did it..." His voice leaked through his fingers, choked with tears. "We really did it..."
The news spread through the Imperial base like wildfire.
Engineers flooded out of their laboratories. Their