A Question of Trust

by Hodgepig

Sequel to Prison Break, set five years later. It's all out war in the city of Lorka Sel. The Empire is on the defensive as the Rebel Alliance attempts to take the city. Something sinister is afoot deep inside the city's Central Government Building; the Rebels decide to send a team to find out what it is.

A Question of Trust

A Star Wars Story

By

Alexander Mark McCaffrey

---

Atop a hill, beneath a Caprya tree, its leaves a deep purple and rustling in the wind, sat a young blue skinned woman. She sat with her head leaning against its smooth bark. Below her were fields of tall brown grass moving in the cooling wind; the brown of the grass continuing into the distant hills that surrounded the area. Farther away, probably half a kilometre from her, there were farms, which provided a reminder that even though this was a beautiful place it was still a busy working agricultural planet. Beyond the farms was the bustling city of 'Lorka Sel'. The woman was glad to be away from all the noise. Being able to sit under the large Caprya tree, even this close to the city, was comforting. Not only did it provide shade from the heat but it also provided a sense of calmness. Listening to its leaves rustle in the wind helped to block out all the other intrusive sounds, from the farms and the city. She was happy.

Sudden alarms and sirens began blaring from the city. Without warning an 'RZ-1 A-wing Interceptor' flew low overhead heading towards the city. It was being rapidly pursued by two 'TIE/LN Starfighters' their engines howling in that characteristic manner that was unmistakable and no one in the galaxy could fail to recognise. The woman stood up abruptly, her tranquillity shattered. She could hear the 'A-wing's' engine making a juttering sound; clearly it had suffered some kind of catastrophic damage. The 'TIEs' chasing after it opened fire as it closed on the city and it was inevitably shot down, spinning uncontrollably as it fell towards the city.

She heard the explosion as the A-wing hit the ground. At first, the immediate rush of adrenaline caused her to jump up from her comfortable nook beneath the tree then, as the realisation that this wasn't an immediate threat to her personally it subsided. She was trying to wrap her head around what was going on. She turned her attention once more towards the city. In the distance she could hear the muted sounds of blaster fire. Without another thought her body simply reacted and she began running towards the city.

As she ran her mind started to work coherently again. She did not care for the Empire. They had started this when they demolished homes to make room for their army. A second much larger explosion erupted from the city causing her to stop, stumbling back in the process. The smoke from the explosion reach high above the tallest skyscraper. She had no idea what had caused that blast. She resumed running towards the city.

---

In the city centre an A-wing exploded in a large fireball as it collided with an abandoned building, it's wall collapsing and the explosion sending three 'Imperial' 'Stormtroopers' and shattered pieces of their armour flying. 'Rebel' Troopers and Imperial forces engaged each other in the centre of the city. Blaster fire flew through the air some shots hitting their targets while others went wide. Rebel soldiers had made makeshift barricades out of the scattered rubble and made use of the abandoned buildings for additional cover, 'Where are our reinforcements?!' a Rebel shouted at his Comlink while taking cover inside one of the empty buildings but there was no reply.

Having no luck with his communications the Rebel joined his men outside and took cover behind a large piece of ragged concrete. He lifted his blaster over the barricade and fired aimlessly, not risking looking over to see if he hit any enemy troopers, his goal more to force them to keep their heads down than with any intention of hitting them. Another soldier shuffled over next to him, 'Any word on the reinforcements?' she asked.

'No.' he replied. Suddenly a blaster bolt burst through the concrete barricade striking him in the head. He collapsed onto the ground, dead, leaving the female Rebel in shock.

Above and behind the Rebels, on the roof of a squat but wide building, stood a Rebel wearing bits of mismatched armour, much of it Stormtrooper - although he could never be mistaken for one given the serious customisation his armour had undergone. The troopers' armour was covered in blue markings with the symbol of the 'Alliance to restore the Republic' in red on the left side of his chest piece. He stretched his arm out forward and pointed at the battle, 'FOR THE ALLIANCE!' he yelled as he jumped off of the roof rapidly followed by dozens of Rebel troops.

This 'Alliance Stormtrooper' landed lightly on his feet and began running towards the conflict. He pulled out from behind his back a 'Relby V-10 Targeting Rifle' and began firing at the Imperial forces beyond the barricades. He only stopped firing as he slid into the cover of one of the barricades. His companions arrived seconds behind him and spread out behind the dubious shield of the concrete. The female Rebel moved over to him, 'Thank you, and your men, for coming to our aid Sergeant.' She nodded towards the unfortunate Rebel who had taken the head shot and added, 'a little too late for Rames though.' She said sadly.

The newcomer leaned out of cover. He scanned quickly and then ducked back behind cover as their position took fire. Then, without waiting for the incoming fire to die down he leaned out again, his rifle firmly pushed into his shoulder and squeezed off five rapid shots. Five shots…five Imperial Troopers down. Without comment he turned back to the female Rebel, 'What's your name,' he paused and looked at her rank insignia, 'Corporal?'

'Teegs Sir.'

'Well Teegs, what exactly is the situation here?'

'Uh, before you showed up we were severely out numbered. They have mortar positions that are stopping our speeders from entering the city. They have deployed TIEs and are shooting down our fighters. 'Second Platoon' spotted four walkers at the Central Government Building over in the East sector, she paused, 'We haven't heard from them in a while.'

'How long?'

She was silent for a moment, 'Five hours sir.'

'Then for the time being I think we may have to assume we've lost them.'

Teegs slumped to the ground, she wasn't doing well. The 'Sergeant' placed his hands on her shoulders, 'Teegs. Teegs!' she looked at him, 'Once this is over we'll find them. No matter what condition they are in…we'll find them. Understood? Let's hope they are dug in somewhere and keeping their heads down.' She nodded at him.

He picked up his rifle and readied himself to fire but stopped, 'Mortars and TIEs huh? He fell silent for a moment, obviously thinking. 'I think we can fix that,' he turned his Com' on, 'This is Sergeant 'Trooper' in Lorka Sel central square. We are taking heavy fire from Imperial mortars and TIEs. Send in 'Theta Squadron'. He looked down at Teegs, 'Don't worry Corporal. Help's on the way and she's one hell of a pilot!'

Once again, seemingly without effort, or concern that he might be hit, Trooper leaned out and fired his rifle. Two more Stormtroopers went down. Teegs also opened fire. She noticed a Stormtrooper arming a Thermal Detonator. She quickly took aim and fired multiple shots. One shot hit the detonator and the Stormtrooper exploded in a small fireball, vaporising in an instant. The blast wave further weakening an already seriously damaged building, causing it to collapse, crushing a handful of Stormtroopers. Trooper turned and looked at her, 'Nice shot!' he exclaimed

Suddenly everyone was thrown to the ground, as if a giant hand had slapped them all down, and a deafening roar filled the air. Teegs grabbed her ears, they were ringing like mad. Trooper picked himself up and risked a look. Near the Central Government Building was a massive smoke cloud billowing upwards reaching above the skyscrapers. Something had exploded violently, 'What the hell was that!' Trooper exclaimed.

Teegs, her ears still ringing barely made out what he had said, 'I don't know,' she paused to cough, the wind knocked out of her, 'I have no idea. Something exploded. I don't know.'

A blaster bolt hit Troopers left wrist, he yelled in pain and pulled his left hand in to examine the damage. The Stormtroopers were beginning pick themselves up, to fight back. Trooper gestured to all of the Rebels, 'Get down, take cover! He flexed the fingers of his wounded hand, 'That kriffing hurts!'

'Are you all right Sergeant?' Teegs called over to him.

'Yeah I'm fine. Wrist's not but I am. Agh, stupid. What's the first thing you learn? Keep an eye on the enemy that's what. Stupid.'

'Don't feel that way Sergeant, we all make mistakes. Like trying that Corellian drink Starshine Surprise.'

'You didn't?'

'Yep. I couldn't move for four hours. I don't recommend it.'

'I'll bet,' Trooper looked at the smoke from the explosion. It had begun to drift downwards and began to settle as a kind of low haze. 'Damn it.'

'What is it?'

'Look,' he gestured towards the smoke, 'It's coming this way. The troops don't have smoke filters and I sorta broke my helmets' ones. They barely work. We're gonna have to fall back. Skrag! That's it then,' he got on his com and patched into all the Rebels in the city centre, 'Cease fire. That smoke cloud is coming in fast and we won't be able to breathe. We're falling back. Retreat.'

Teegs and Trooper, along with the other Rebels moved between cover and made it out of the centre using the alleyways between the closely packed buildings, the thickening smoke providing them with some welcome cover from the sharp eyes of the Stormtroopers. 'Where's the next best place to hold up?' Trooper asked Teegs as he kept an eye out for Imp's. They had taken some cover inside an abandoned office building.

'Well we did have another barricade about a click to the North but it got overrun so we had to move. A few scouts checked it out a few hours ago, said there were no Stormies in sight.'

'I don't know. They could have set a trap-' Trooper stopped talking and listened. He then gestured to everyone to stay quiet. He could hear a dull howling sound. It was getting louder, 'TIEs. TIEs inbound!'

Three TIE Fighters flew over the city centre. Circling the building the Rebels were in, 'Do they know we're here?' Teegs asked.

Suddenly the whole building lit up with blaster fire. The TIEs opened fire. The Rebels scrambled for cover, trying not to get hit, 'HOW DO THEY KNOW WE'RE HERE!' Teegs screamed as she dove behind a metal filing cabinet with Trooper.

A Rebel ran, as his cover was destroyed by the fighter's blasts. A blaster bolt took him in the chest hurling him across the room. He didn't make it. Trooper watched helplessly as the rebels' lifeless body hit the floor, 'Wait. That wasn't a TIE blast; that was smaller ordinance.'

'What?' Teegs asked.

Trooper stuck his head out from behind the cabinet and looked out the window. He lay down and belly crawled to the gaping hole in the wall they had used to gain entry, trying to get a better view. As he looked out, up at the roof of the building opposite to theirs, he saw the familiar visor of an Imperial Scout Trooper. The Scout lifted his rifle and took aim at Trooper. Trooper barely managed to take cover again as the powerful green blaster bolt from the Scout's sniper rifle impacted on the floor next to him, 'Scout Troopers! That's how they knew we were in this building!' he yelled!

'Let me guess. There are probably Scouts on all the buildings surrounding us?' Teegs gestured all around them.

'Yeah. They really don't want us getting ou-' Trooper was cut off as virtually half the building exploded into pieces, rubble flying everywhere.

Trooper gasped for air. He picked himself up dislodging pieces of brick and mortar. He waited for the dust to settle then looked around the room. Teegs was sitting in the corner to the right of him. She seemed pretty dazed. The other Rebels seemed okay. No casualties, except for the ones they had lost earlier. Trooper sighed, pleased that they were okay.

'Woah.' Said Teegs as she pointed behind Trooper.

He turned to find the remains of a TIE Fighter lodged into the rear wall of the building, presumably it was one of the three that had attacked them. 'What the hell?' he said, surprised by this unexpected sight. 'Wait-' Trooper looked out of the now much enlarged hole in the building. He looked to the rooftop where he first saw the Scout but now, the roof where he had been standing moments before had been turned into a gaping hole. Trooper looked up.

In the skies above them were 'X-wings'. They were harrying the two remaining TIE Fighters. Clouds of smoke would occasionally appear whenever one fighter would damage the other. Teegs walked over to Trooper, 'What's going on?' she asked as she watched the fighters fight it out.

'It's help. Theta Squadron's here!' Trooper threw his arms jubilantly into the air!

Trooper and the others made their way out of the building and back onto the streets. He assigned a few Rebels to watch their surroundings, 'Where to now Sergeant?' Teegs asked whilst gesturing all around them.

'Teegs please, just call me Trooper. Right, let's assess. I think we need to accept that we've lost this area. Yeah, we have fighter support but there are still Imp's around. They've won this area', he concluded reluctantly. 'Now,' he looked at Teegs, 'Where is your main base of operations?'

'It's over in the west, near 'Kall Hospital' sir…Trooper.'

'Right then we head back there, re-supply and then I think we head over to the Government Building. See what caused that massive explosion. Didn't you say there were mortars?' he asked as an afterthought.

'Yeah they're stopping us from getting our speeders into the city.'

'Okay, let's move out.' Trooper gestured to the squad, arm out straight, palm flat in the direction of the hospital, the signal to move out. He then connected to Theta Squadrons com channel, 'Theta, this is Sergeant Trooper. Do you read me?'

There was a silence for a moment but a female voice replied, 'Well, hello there ground boy, it's been a while.'

Trooper grinned, it had been some time. 'And hello to you too 'Naya', long time no see…hear.'

'That's Captain Naya to you!'

'Ooh a Captain, never thought they'd promote you after your little, ahem,' he cleared his throat meaningfully, 'stunt you pulled.'

'Saved your butt didn't it!'

'And nearly destroyed a hangar.'

'It was- I was- shut up!'

'Oh man, it's great to have you back Naya. Now if you don't mind me asking, Captain? Have you seen or have you taken out the mortars?'

'Yep, sure did, my pilots are working on taking them out. Got two of them and we'll soon have the rest.'

'Your pilots? Don't tell me you're actually in charge of Theta now?

'Yes I am.'

'Oh c'mon! You destroy a hangar, then get promoted, then get full command of Theta!'

'Hey! That's 'nearly' destroyed…and yes.'

'Mother of Moons!'

'Shut it,' came the indignant reply.

Trooper raised his hand and made it into a fist, signalling for everyone to stop, 'Our fighters are making short work of the TIEs and the mortars so that's good.'

All around the Rebels began chattering amongst themselves happily. Teegs looked over to Trooper and smiled. Getting rid of the mortars was a start. They could get their speeders in the city and start taking it back. Trooper turned in the direction of the hospital. It was still a long journey there, 'All right let's move.' Trooper gestured to head forward.

A short while passed with little interruption. With a mile or so left to go the Rebels were getting tired, 'Trooper, sir. We need to stop.' Teegs tiredly spoke.

'I know,' Trooper stopped and sat down, catching his breath, 'Okay everyone… we'll rest here a bit. But keep an eye out for… well anything.'

He placed his hands on his helmet but quickly moved his left arm away. He had almost forgotten he had been shot. It stung like a 'Gdan's' bite.

He grabbed the underside of his helmet with his right hand and pulled it off. He placed it on the ground next to him, then unclipped his water bottle from his belt. An expression of annoyance formed on his face. He was having some slight difficulty unscrewing the cap with one hand. He finally got it off and took a swig. He sat the bottle down and wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed.

Teegs watched him. She was in shock. She couldn't believe how young he was. When his helmet was on he sounded gruff and… old. Looking at him now, she could see his skin was quite pale and his face was criss-crossed in scars. He was young but he had clearly seen more action than her, or the others, 'How'd you get those scars?' she asked.

'What?' Trooper quickly looked over to her.

'I mean if you don't mind me asking?'

'Oh, well no it's okay. These two,' he gestured to his forehead and his left cheek, 'I got them in my first battle. The damn thing lasted about five months. I have no idea how I got them?'

'How can you not know how you got scars?'

'Well I was running down a trench and the next thing I know is I'm in a tent and two days had passed?'

'Oh.'

'Yeah I'm still betting on I got blown up or something.'

'Really?'

'What? When was the last time you got to say you got blown up and lived?'

'What about the scar above eye?' she asked.

Troopers face saddened, 'Oh… that one. I uh-'

'If it's personal or something you don't have to say.'

'No. It's uh… from a Stormtrooper.'

'Oh. I thought- Never mind.'

'What?'

'No I just thought… it happened another way. You um… didn't seem too happy when I mentioned it.'

'You don't know who I am- Who I was, do you? The Alliance didn't say?'

'Say what?'

'I- I was a Stormtrooper. I served the Empire for years.'

'Oh wow… I didn't… no I didn't know that.'

'Figures… of course they wouldn't say. People wouldn't be too happy if they knew the bad guys were working for the Rebels.'

'You aren't a bad guy.'

'You don't know that. I did some pretty bad stuff when I was with them. Maybe I didn't know it at the time but I still did it.'

Trooper paused for a moment and looked at his helmet. The Stormtrooper helmet, 'I got this scar 'cause I attacked my team. They were gonna kill civvies so I tried to stop 'em. Next thing I know I'm being taken to a 'Prison Barge' and then-'

'Then what?' Teegs said softly.

'Then I meet this guy, a Wookiee, a crazy Twi'lek girl who is up there right now in one of those fighters taking it to the Imps and there was another guy. He didn't make it.'

'Trooper, I'm sorry. That must have been hard, what you went through.'

'Don't be. No. Don't be sorry. If any of that stuff hadn't happened I wouldn't be here. I'd still be a bad guy,' He looked at his helmet a moment before picking it up and standing, 'All right everyone I think we'd better get moving.' Trooper put his helmet on and stepped forward but stopped, 'And Teegs.'

Teegs stopped and looked at him. His head dipped down slightly, 'Thanks for listening.'

She smirked at him, 'No problem sir.'

Trooper turned away and began the final trudge to the hospital. Half an hour passed and they reached their destination, 'Now that's a big hospital.' Trooper gestured to it, 'Where is this 'Operations Centre' of yours?'

Teegs waved for him to follow her and he waved over to the others. They reached the front of the hospital and she pointed down, 'That is sneaky.' Trooper said happily.

Teegs got on her com, 'This is Corporal Teegs with 3rd Platoon and backup. We're here HQ.' A few moments passed and a piece of concrete slid to the side to reveal a small drop and a tunnel.

'Oh that is really sneaky!' Trooper said as he watched Teegs drop down the hole. Shortly after the Rebels had made it down and the hole was re-covered, they walked through a rocky hallway before reaching a checkpoint door. 'Corporal Teegs. 3rd Platoon.' she said to the com device attached to the door.

As they waited for access Trooper looked around at the concrete struts which seemed to have been mishmashed together with metal, 'What is this place?' he asked curiously.

'It's one of a few escape and holdout bunkers built just in case something happened to the hospital. We found it, renovated it a bit and set up HQ here?' Teegs replied.

'Well, it is a good choice. Uh, the roof isn't gonna collapse on us is it? 'Cause it looks like it wants too.'

'It's safe.' Teegs rolled her eyes before looking back at the door.

It soon opened and they were greeted by armed guards. Teegs was the first to walk through, quickly followed by the others. Trooper stepped into the main room. Around him were computer terminals, weapon racks, droids and personnel. These guys are more prepared than I thought. They must have been planning this for a long time.

Teegs walked over to the main planning console where the leader of this particular Rebel Cell was. She stood to attention and saluted. 'It's all right Teegs you can stand down.' An older man with greyish black short hair and a rank insignia of Major spoke, 'Now, report.'

Teegs lowered her arm and relaxed. 'We lost the city centre sir. Even when backup arrived, we lost it. A large explosion erupted over at the Government Building and its smoke cloud caused us to retreat.'

'Damn it. That is not good at all. The explosion, do you know what caused it?'

'No sir. Sergeant Trooper suggested we refresh our supplies, get breathing masks and go check it out.'

'Who?'

'Sergeant Trooper. The uh, leader of our reinforcements. You didn't send him?'

'No. It must have been 'Beta HQ'. This Sergeant of yours isn't wrong. We do need to know what happened. Did the explosion actually destroy the Government Building?'

'We don't know.'

'Well it better not have. Please let it be intact,' the Major said, half to himself, rubbing the back of his head. 'Right you go off and get yourself sorted. Send Sergeant Trooper to me.'

'Yes sir, Major Rejord.' Teegs saluted once more before heading on her way.

Rejord sat down in his chair and looked over the 'Holomap' of the city. It showed many locations where Rebels were positioned and the locations of Imperial outposts. He quickly updated it to show the city centre as lost and the Government Building as unknown. Trooper approached the console. His helmet off and a 'bacta' soaked bandage around his left forearm.

Rejord looked over at him, 'Sergeant Trooper?'

'Yes sir.' He saluted with his good arm.

'Are you injured?'

'Just a scratch sir.'

'Hmm, good. You and your reinforcements were sent by Beta HQ from outside the city?'

'Yes sir, we were.'

'Well I thank you and Beta HQ for aiding my soldiers. Now, the Government Building, you wanted to check it out?'

'Yes I did sir. Something very large detonated there and I want find out what it was. 2nd Platoon went missing there also. I'd like to find them.'

'Good man. All right Sergeant. I'll allow you to take five of my men with you. We need the rest here.'

'Right, okay sir.' Trooper turned and started walking away.

'Sergeant.'

Trooper stopped and turned to face Rejord.

'No matter what happens, you must reach the Government Building. I pray that it is intact and if it is you must get there. You understand, don't you?'

Trooper paused for a moment, 'Yes sir, I do.'

---

An X-wing touched down on a landing strip a few miles outside of Lorka Sel, it was soon followed by five more. Its cockpit opened upward and a young blue skinned female Twi'lek hopped out. The Astromech droid in her X-wing bleeped and sputtered as she began to walk away, 'No just stay put R3, we're leaving again soon.' she said to the droid.

Shortly after she was approached by two crewmen, 'Does your fighter need any fuel Captain?' one of them asked.

'Yeah it could use a fill up.'

'On it Captain.'

'Thanks.'

An older bearded man approached her. He wore an outfit that screamed 'higher up in the chain of command than you', great, what did I do this time, she wondered. The man stopped in front of her, his arms behind his back, 'A Captain now. You are growing up.' He said happily.

The Twi'lek squinted, she knew him, 'Kell? Wait, Kell is that you?'

'Naya.' The man replied, his arms now wide open.

'Kell!' she shouted as she ran towards him and he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet.

He put her down and she stepped back and looked at him, 'Kell, it's been so long, what happened to your face?'

'My face? Oh right, the beard.'

'Yeah I didn't even recognise you.'

'I noticed. So…a Captain. I'm surprised they promoted you after the hangar incide-'

'Shut up!'

Kell grinned at her and she couldn't help but laugh, 'So why are you here?'

'Backup, to help out with the battle. I'm going to be heading into the city with more troops soon.'

'And I thought Trooper was the backup.'

'Trooper's here?'

'Yeah. Actually I had no idea both of you were here…but yeah he's in the city.'

'Hmm. Well you couldn't ask for anyone better in a fight.'

'Hey where's Gaaraddik?'

'Elsewhere, off helping rescue enslaved Wookies.'

'Good. Oh hey, uh, how goes your search for Kai.'

Kell sighed and looked down for a moment before speaking, 'Not good. I- I've almost given up looking.'

'No you can't! He's out there, somewhere.'

'It's been five years Naya. Anything could have happened.'

'I know but don't give up. Not yet.'

'I won't.' he paused for a moment, 'Right, I better get ready. We're about to move out.'

'Okay, see you again soon Kell. Try not to get blasted.'

'You try not to destroy any more hangars.'

'ALMOST DESTROYED! AND…SHUT UP!'

---

Trooper sat on a crate inside Alpha HQ in the city. He was fiddling with his helmet. Scraping off dry bits of dirt...amongst other less savoury things. Teegs rounded a corner and stopped in front of him, waiting for Trooper to acknowledge her. After a moment Trooper sat his helmet down and said, 'Yeah Teegs?'

'We have reinforcements inbound with supplies,' she replied.

'Good. Maybe they'll have some heavy weapons. We could use them if there are Walkers near the Government Building.'

A short while passed before the reinforcements arrived, no more than half an hour. Trooper watched as more Rebels entered the HQ, carrying supply cases and individual weapons. What he didn't expect to see was a familiar face…'Kell?' he exclaimed!

'Trooper! Good to see you,' he replied.

'Wow! What are you doing here?'

'Helping, bringing reinforcements and supplies. Oh, and apparently being unrecognisable.'

'Naya?'

'Yep.'

'Hmm, that's funny. How could anyone not recognise that?' Trooper gestured to Kell's face.

'That, what?'

'That.' Trooper made a sweeping gesture up and down in front of his own face.

'Why has everyone suddenly got a problem with my face?'

'Sorry. The whole beard thing will take some getting used to.'

They both laughed and then hugged each other, slapping one another on the back. After a moment, Kell gripped Trooper by the upper arms and pushed him out to arm's length. Still grinning, Kell stepped back and snapped off a crisp salute. 'Okay, back to work soldier', he said.

'Yes sir,' responded Trooper who returned the salute with a lazy two fingers to the brow.

With a nod to Trooper, Kell set off to speak to the rest of the squad and ensure all was ready for the coming fight. Trooper, shook his head and chuckled, then stepped into the armoury where he found Teegs wielding two 'Smart Rocket' launchers, 'You wanted heavy weapons sir.' She said as she nearly toppled over from the weight. 'These seem to fit the bill…I can hardly lift them!'

'Right', said Trooper, 'I guess I better gather my squad.'

'Trooper sir, I was wondering? Could I take the place of your fifth squad member?'

'Well, yes Teegs, of course you can. Glad to have you, but why do you want to join us?'

'Thank you sir. I just- I want to find Second Platoon. See if they made it.'

'I understand Teegs. Meet us at the exit hatch we came in by in fifteen minutes.' He said as he walked away.

---

Miles upon miles above Lorka Sel an 'Imperial II-class' 'Star Destroyer' was stationed in low orbit. On the destroyer an Imperial Officer stood looking out of one of its nine triangular viewports. Looking down at the surface below, the officer raised her hand to her eyes and rubbed them, 'What is going on down there?' she raspily spoke, turning to one of the communications officers to her right.

'Communications blackout ma'am. Interference from the explosion groundside.' He quickly replied.

'We need coms active. We need to know what the hell detonated down there.'

'Admiral Renn ma'am.' She turned to find an officer standing behind her, his arms behind his back.

'Ah, Cylus, is the team ready?' Renn asked.

'Their 'IDT' is being fuelled as we speak. Admiral Renn, if I may ask, why bother with the ground warfare. Why not bombard the city from orbi-'

'Did it ever occur to you that perhaps there is something down in the city we need?' she rasped, interrupting him. 'Don't ask senseless questions that you know the answers too! If there was nothing of value, that city would be nothing but rubble by now,' Renn returned back to the viewport, 'Cylus, tell the team to leave immediately.'

'I…shall ma'am. Sorry for bothering you with my stupidity,' Cylus turned and headed for the hangar, he turned to look at Renn before the bridge door shut behind him, 'But now I know.' He spoke under his breath with a brief smirk.

Cylus arrived and walked out onto one of the hangar's many catwalks, high above the ground floor. He looked down at the team's 'Imperial Dropship Transport', as its fuelling hose was being removed by the deck crew, 'Leave at once.' Cylus spoke. Looking up at him, the deck crew quickly left.

From within the dropship's troop bay three black armoured Stormtroopers emerged, followed by two pilots. One of the Stormtroopers wore a black pauldron, indicating he was in charge of the group. He crossed his arms and looked up, 'Are you ready troopers?' Cylus asked but received no response.

'Did you hear me troopers?' Cylus barked furiously.

'Why don't you come down here and speak to us face to face.' the one with the pauldron replied.

'How dare you speak to me like that!'

'I could drag you down here if you like.'

Cylus ground his teeth together. He stared intensely at the Stormtrooper for a moment before stepping into an elevator. The elevator reached the ground floor and he stepped out, marching up to the Stormtroopers, 'You have some nerve 'Shadow Trooper', speaking to a superior officer like that!'

'With all due 'respect' sir. Admiral Renn is our superior officer. You are just another one of her errand boys.'

Cylus' fists clenched together, 'Watch your tongue Commander.'

The Shadow Trooper Commander stepped right up to him, his helmet's soulless eyes staring into Cylus', 'Or…what?'

Cylus could feel his nails digging into his hands, he was furious. But he backed down, he stepped away from the trooper and sighed, 'You are to enter the city on the north-west side. You will make your way to the Central Government Building and you shall find out what caused the explosion. Is that understood?'

The Shadow Troopers nodded and returned to their ship, 'And you will take whatever is of value, if it still remains intact to a secure location outside the city.'

The troopers stopped and looked amongst themselves. The Commander stepped away from the ship and back towards Cylus, 'Our orders are to take what's valuable and bring it back here.'

'The orders have changed. These came from Admiral Renn herself.'

'So did mine.'

'The plan…has changed, Commander. I can call the bridge and sort this out for you but the Admiral is in no good mood. And you know it's best to leave her alone, unless it is extremely necessary.'

The Commander stood silent for a moment, then spoke, 'Understood, 'Sir'.'

Cylus watched as the IDT took off out of the hangar, he watched as it escaped his view, and he smiled.

---

A squad of Stormtroopers marched down the empty city streets. Trooper peered out from behind some rubble as the squad marched passed. He watched until they were out of sight then, quickly ran across the street into a nearby alleyway signalling for his squad to follow. Trooper leant against the far end wall of the alley as he waited for his team. He turned to them as they arrived, 'Right, Calsow, how close are we to the Government Building?'

A Rebel soldier stepped forward and activated a holo-map of the city. It showed their location and that of the Government Building, 'We're here,' he indicated on the map, 'So we're about half a mile from it.' Calsow replied.

'Right okay, good. We'll be getting close to where that smoke cloud was so get your breather masks ready just in case it's still there.'

The Rebels nodded and they moved out. Sticking to alleys if they could and only going into the open if they had to. They passed through a partially destroyed building. Trooper raised his arm, made a fist and they all stopped. Teegs made her way over to Trooper, 'What is it?' she asked.

'SHHH!' Trooper waved his hand at her, then he looked up through a hole in the building's roof. An Imperial Dropship Transport flew overhead, 'An IDT.'

'A what?' One of the Rebels asked?

'It's an Imperial troop transport. It just flew overhead. Thought I heard something.'

'Great. So the imps just got reinforcements.' Teegs slumped next to Trooper.

'Well they're heading far away from us so at least there's that.' Trooper gestured to indicate to them that they were moving out again. He stepped outside and stopped, 'Oh skrag.' Towering above Trooper, standing almost 40ft was an Imperial 'AT-DP' Walker.

Surrounding the area groundside were dozens upon dozens of Stormtroopers. They noticed Trooper…and so did the walker! Diving back into the house with the ground outside being blasted at by the walker's powerful cannon, Trooper landed flat on the floor.

'What's going on?' Teegs shouted as the building shook.

'There's a walker out there and to top that off there's at least fifty Stormtroopers.'

'Uh guys,' Calsow called over to the rest of the squad. 'There are Stormtroopers out this end too.' He gestured to the way they came in.

'Oh great. So we're stuck!' Trooper ripped off his helmet and threw it to the ground.

'But we've got the 'launchers'. We can hit the walker.' Teegs said as she hoisted her launcher off her back.

'How though? We have no sight lines. We step outside we get blasted, we break a window we get blasted, we go back out the other way we get blasted.'

There was silence between them for a moment, 'So we call for help.' Teegs suggested.

'Yeah okay. Maybe our help gets the Stormies' and walker's attention long enough for us to launcher it. Then we can all deal with the rest of the Stormtroopers. Okay, I'll make a call.'

Trooper activated his wrist com and spoke, 'This is Sergeant Trooper. We are pinned down. We have an Imperial AT-DP and a lot of Stormtroopers. We have no clean escape route.' Trooper quickly ducked as blaster fire entered the house from their entrance. Teegs and the others quickly returned fire.

'This is Sergeant Trooper does anyone hear me?'

'Yes Trooper I hear you.' A familiar voice replied.

'Kell!'

'Yep. We can actually see your walker from here.'

'You can? Can you help? We really need it!'

'Calm down Trooper. No need to shout.'

'No need to shout? I'll give you a reason to shout if you don't get down here right now!'

'Ha, we're almost there. Beside I still owe you one from back on the prison barge. I'd be stupid not to take this opportunity to become debt free.'

'Wow. That's the only reason you're helping us?'

'Sure, but it would also look pretty bad on my record if I didn't help.'

'You're such a good guy, Kell.' Trooper smirked and unslung his Relby from his shoulder.

Before he could assist his squad the roof above him began to cave. He dashed out of the way barely missing the falling debris. He picked himself up, coughing up dust. He looked around to find he'd ducked into another room, one with a wall missing. He looked behind himself to see he was back on the street they had been on before entering the house.

The dust began to clear and he got a clear view of the Stormtroopers firing into the house, 'Oh...' they got a clear view of him and opened fire. 'SKRAG!' Trooper yelled as he ran down the street as many of them followed.

He ran down an alley but stopped. He turned and looked back from where he'd came and aimed his Relby. A Stormtrooper ran into the alley only to be met with a blaster bolt to the head. Trooper quickly began running again as more followed.

His comlink began bleeping so he answered it, 'Hello?'

'Oh good, you're alive.' A sighing voice spoke.

'Teegs. Good you're okay. Yeah I'm alive. I got stuck outside. Had to run. Lots of Imps. Once Kell's arrived and you've sorted out that damned walker just head to the Government Building. I'll meet you there, IF I EVER LOOSE THESE STORMTROOPERS!' he yelled as he switched off his com, firing blindly behind himself.

He ran around a corner and quickly ducked behind a large amount of rubble. The Stormtroopers chasing him ran past, oblivious to him. He cautiously left his hiding spot and headed back. Okay maybe I can get back sooner than I thought.

He ran through the street and turned a corner into a semi-open area. Unexpectedly, he ran straight into someone. They hit hard and Trooper fell to the ground, 'Uuugh. What?' He growled, rubbing his face.

He looked up from the ground where he had fallen after the collision and found he'd ran into someone who certainly had no business being in the middle of a firefight! He picked himself up and walked over to them, 'Sorry,' he said, extending a hand to help up the equally dazed person.

He had run into a young woman. He looked at her, she was Pantoran. She had light blue skin like all Pantoran's, her hair was light purple but she had no yellow face markings like the most of her race. There was one thing that stood out more than her missing facial markings, she was obviously blind as evidenced by the strip of cloth covering her eyes.

After noticing this he felt uneasy, 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…run into you like that.'

'It's fine.' She replied, 'You're an Alliance soldier, yes?'

'Well yes. Uh, wait…how do you know that?'

'HALT!' two Stormtroopers ran towards them and stopped. Both aiming their blasters at Trooper, 'Put your weapon down Rebel scum.'

Trooper was about to place his weapon on the ground when suddenly both of the Stormtrooper's blasters were ripped from their hands. Trooper stepped back slightly in shock when he noticed the Pantoran's arm was raised and aimed at them and the blasters hovering in mid-air in front of the Stormtroopers.

Thrusting her hand forward, palm out, the blasters hurled back at the Stormtroopers, striking them with considerable force in the heads - knocking them out. The Pantoran lowered her arm and looked at Trooper. Trooper looked in shock at the Stormtroopers and then back to the Pantoran.
He raised his hand and pointed at her, attempting to speak. He lowered his hand,

'You're a Jedi!'

---

An Imperial IDT landed in the centre of the north-west side of the city. The Shadow Trooper Commander stepped out, followed by the other two troopers. He stepped over to the front of the ship, tapping it with his knuckles, 'Head to the rendezvous point outside the city. Await my call.'

'Yes sir.' The two pilots replied before taking off.

The Shadow Trooper carrying a DLT-19x sniper rifle walked up to the Commander, 'I'll just do my usual then?'

'Yes. Get as high as you can…as usual,' the Sniper went on his way and the Commander turned to the other Shadow Trooper,' C'mon, let's move.'

The Sniper was making his way to the tallest building he could see in the area when he turned a corner and was unexpectedly confronted by two Rebels. Dropping his weapon he dove for the nearest cover, the two Rebels attempting to blast him.

One of the Rebels cautiously edged over to where the Sniper had chosen to throw himself after the initial confrontation. He was hoping to surprise but…he was gone! Turning back to his partner, he began to say something only to find him lying dead on the ground. The Rebel, realising the Sniper had got the drop on them, started to panic and was going to make a run for it but he didn't even manage the first step. Suddenly his head was jerked violently to the left with a loud audible snap!

To any onlooker the scene was now devoid of life. But in a shimmering wave of energy, the Sniper 'un-cloaked' from his suit's in-built modulating frequency camouflage system. It had become a standard part of the Shadow Trooper armour in recent years and he was pretty glad to have it right now. Those damned Rebels nearly had him for a second. Retrieving his rifle, which he had dropped in his dive for cover, he continued with his mission and headed as quickly, and as silently as possible, towards his chosen elevated platform.

Running up the stairs he finally reached the roof. Swiftly, with the ease of many years of practice, he swung his rifle into a nominal firing set up – one that afforded him the best field of view over the streets below. Deploying the bi-pod with one quick flick, he settled into a comfortable shooting position. Looking through his scope he quickly found his commander, accompanied by the second Shadow Trooper. The Commander entered an abandoned building and tapped on his wrist pad, 'Are you in position?' he asked.

'Yes. I have a good view.' The Sniper replied through the com.

'And the Central Government Building? Is it intact?'

'Relatively yes. It has some damage to its west side but nothing major.'

'But?'

'You have to see this…the crater from that explosion…there is a gigantic hole to the west of the Government Building!'

'Maybe whatever it is of 'value' we are supposed to grab was destroyed in the explosion? You know what these 'official buildings' are like. All their underground complexes.' The other Shadow Trooper suggested.

'Maybe' the Commander said, whilst shaking his head slightly, 'We'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it. For now 'Jayland' and I will head to the objective. You stay up there and cover us. Blast anything that comes near the Government Building.'

'Copy sir.' The Sniper said as he turned off his com, surveying the city through his sniper scope.

The Commander gestured to the other Shadow Trooper, Jayland, that it was time to move. They exited the building cautiously and went on their way.

---

'You're a Jedi!' Trooper spoke loudly in surprise.

'Not exactly,' the Pantoran woman spoke quietly, 'I was only a youngling. Six years old-'

She was cut off by the sound of Stormtroopers coming their way. Trooper aimed his rifle, readying himself, 'Help me and I will help you.' She spoke.

'What?' Trooper asked.

'You are heading for the Government Building. That is the only reason an Alliance member would be out this far. Help me and I will help you.'

'How can you, um, help?' He gestures to her eyes, even though she could not see it.

'The Force is on my side. It helped you here. It can help you again.'

Trooper thought for a moment, 'Okay.'

'Then follow me. Watch for Imperials.'

Trooper and the Pantoran ran just as the Stormtroopers that had been chasing him arrived. They looked around but could only see the two troopers that the Pantoran knocked out.

With little interruption Trooper and the Pantoran arrived at their destination, 'What is this place?' he asked as he stepped inside.

Closing the door behind them she spoke, 'This is my home.'

'Oh.'

'I appreciate the help…Mister…?'

'Trooper. Sergeant Trooper, ma'am.'

'Odd name. I'm Serah Iosa.'

Trooper looked around her home as she stepped into another room. Not many personal possessions. Though being blind you wouldn't really need anything he surmised. He looked into the room where she was. She seemed to be looking in a trunk for something, 'You were a Jedi?'

She stopped a minute and looked over to him, 'Was…yes. I was six when it happened.'

'Order 66?'

'Is that what they call it?' she moved away from the trunk and sat on her bed, 'A Jedi, which I do not remember much of, helped me escape. I've moved around a lot through the years. Finally settled here.'

'Why don't you have those yellow markings on your face? Like other Pantorans.'

'Those markings are a sign of family. As a Jedi I had no family.'

Trooper paused for a moment, 'How do you know I am an Alliance member?'

'The Force.'

'I didn't know it could do that.'

'I'm somewhat of a special case, you could say.'

'Because you're blind?'

'Yes. I was born blind. The Force has allowed me to see, even though I cannot see. You are over there,' she points directly at Trooper, weirding him out, 'I know you are carrying a Relby Targeting Rifle. I know you are with the Alliance and I know that what you want is in the Government Building. Even though you aren't entirely sure what it is you seek.'

'That…is…creepy.'

'You're not the first to think so.'

'Not in an awful way. Just…yeah,' he now just spots her holding something in her hands, 'Wait, are they-'

Serah walked over to him and held out the two items in her hands, 'Lightsabres? Yes they are.'

'Wow.'

'Indeed. I couldn't go wandering around with these, otherwise I'd be shot dead or captured. I needed you to help me here, watch my back. I may have the Force but it doesn't mean I'm invincible.'

'What about now? If they see you with them they'll shoot.'

'The city is crawling with Stormtroopers and Rebels. If I want what I desire, what better time than now.'

'What do you want?'

'The Empire killed all of my friends all those years ago. I want revenge.'

---

Calsow looked over the burning wreckage of the AT-DP that had blocked the Rebels way. Teegs walked passed him, stepping over the body of a Stormtrooper. Kell saw her coming, 'Are you alright Corporal…?'

'It's Teegs Sir, and yes. Thank you and your men for helping us.'

'Don't mention it. Hey, where's Trooper?'

She gestured to the building behind her, 'The roof collapsed and we got separated from Sergeant Trooper. He radioed in, said he got stuck out side. Had to run 'cause of Stormtroopers. Told me to carry on to the Government Building, that he'd meet us there.'

Kell put his hand to his chin, ruffling his beard, clearly thinking, 'He's a tough man, he'll be fine. If he says he'll meet you at the Government Building then he'll meet you there. And he'll meet me there too.'

'You're coming with us sir?'

'Sir? Just Kell, please. Or Durran if you like. Yes my troops and I will join you. We were supposed to check out suspicions of Imperial activity over near the river but there was nothing. We'll join you.'

'Thank you sir, I mean Kell,' she spoke quietly under her breath, 'Sir.'

---

Trooper and Serah turned a corner to find the Government Building right in sight, 'Okay, it has to be no more than half a mile. Maybe less. Oh dammit!' he exclaimed.

'What is it?' she asked.

'The smoke cloud from the explosion. It was massive. It's been hours but it's still there a bit. I only have one breath mask.'

'The smoke. It's from the explosion?'

'Yes.'

'Will we actually have to go near it?'

'Maybe? We can go around but we might have to go into the crater.'

'Then I shall wait but why would you need to go inside the crater?'

Trooper looked at her but didn't answer.

'Why would you need to go down there?' she asked.

'It's…need to know.'

She frowned at him but let it go and they went on their way.

They walked past the crater, Trooper didn't even consider peering inside and kept away from the smoke. Trooper stopped as he spotted someone, 'Wait?'

Teegs com unit bleeped and she activated it, 'Hello?'

'Teegs is that you?'

'Trooper! Where are you?'

'Look to your left?' Teegs turned and looked. She spotted Trooper and Serah,

'I see you? Who's with you?'

'I'll tell you later. Just glad you and the others are okay.'

'We're fine. Kell's here as well.'

'Kell's with you!'

'Yeah. He said-' she was cut off as a blaster bolt that seemingly came out of nowhere hit one of the Rebels next to her, killing him instantly.

'What? Sniper! Get to cover!' Teegs shouted as Kell and her troops ran towards the crumbling building to their right. They rushed inside just as two shots hit two more Rebels.

'Teegs what's going on?' there was silence for a moment, 'TEEGS!' Trooper yelled in a panic.

'I'm fine. There's a sniper. We ducked into a building. Watch out!'

'I will.'

'What is happening?' Serah asked.

'There's a sniper. He attacked my team.

'Shouldn't we head for cover?' she said, gesturing around them.

'No. He should have shot us by now,' he looked at the dissipating smoke cloud next to them, 'He can't see through the smoke. He doesn't know we're here.'

Teegs com bleeped once more, 'Trooper?'

'Yeah. He doesn't know we're here. I can just see him. Do you still have your rocket launcher?'

'Yeah.'

'If we distract him…blow his building to hell!'

'How are you gonna distract him?'

'Serah says she knows.'

'Who's Serah?'

A blast from the Sniper's rifle dislodged a few bricks from the building. Giving him a clear shot of Teegs. He pulled the trigger. The blast just about hit her but a blue flash out of nowhere stopped it. Serah reached out with her right arm and quickly caught her returning blue bladed Lightsaber. She pulled out her second Saber in her left hand. It emitted a green blade. The Sniper began blasting at her but she easily deflected his blasts. Trooper, equipped with his Relby, began firing at him also.

Teegs stepped out of the building. Unslung her launcher, aimed and fired. The Sniper looked to his left and quickly ran to the other side of the roof and jumped. The building exploded behind him, rubble flying everywhere, some hitting him. He landed on the roof of the building next to his with rubble hitting him as his body rolled across the rooftop. He grunted in pain and weakly tried to pick himself up.

Suddenly he levitated into the air and was brought down to almost ground level, before dropping to the ground. He lay flat on his back looking up at the green and blue Lightsabers that were pointed at him. Trooper, Teegs and Kell walked up beside Serah, looking down at the Shadow Trooper.

'What's so important about the Government Building that they would send Shadow Troopers to it?' Kell asked.

The Sniper was silent. Serah deactivated one of her Sabers and reached her arm out towards him. He then began to rise up above the ground, 'Answer him. Now!' He kept silent, 'Fine.'

Her hand pointed at the Sniper closed into a fist and he began choking. Teegs and Kell stood back a bit. Trooper looked at her, 'Serah…'

The Sniper managed to activate his com and speak, 'I- Agh! I'm sorry Commander.'

Serah's fist tightened and the Sniper's neck snapped. She released him and his body fell to the ground. She deactivated her other Saber and walked away.

There was dead silence for a moment. The silence was broken as the Rebel troops began talking amongst themselves.

Kell walked up to Trooper, 'Trooper. Who is she?'

'That's…uh, Serah. She was a Jedi. Sorta.'

'Clearly.' Teegs joined in.

'Watch her.' Kell said as he put his hand on Trooper's shoulder.

Trooper looked at Kell, 'Yeah. I will.'

---

The Shadow Trooper Commander carefully checked room after room inside the Government Building. Making sure no Rebels had made it inside. He gestured at Jayland and pointed at a computer, 'See if you can find anything.'

Jayland nodded and sat down at the computer. The Commander sifted through drawers on the computer's desk, checking for anything. He found a data pad. He tried to access it but it was locked down, 'Jayland, decryption spike.'

Jayland pulled a small cylindrical object from his belt and handed it over. The commander then proceeded to place it into one of the pad's ports. It soon decoded the pad's password and allowed access to all of its secure files.

He looked through the files, not finding anything interesting. Then he found something that piqued his interest, 'Looks like they were testing some weapons here.'

'I was about to say two things. I found an elevator that'll take us underground. You just said the second one.' He said swivelling round in the char to face him.

The Commander looked at the map to the elevator before leaving the room, Jayland following behind. They kept an eye out for anything, just in case. They reached the elevator and stepped in. Jayland typed in the correct code he had found on the computer and the elevator began its descent.

The Commander's com unit pinged and he activated it. The Sniper's voice came through, 'I- Agh! I'm sorry Commander.'

The Commander was silent for a moment, 'Understood,' the connection shut off and he turned to Jayland, 'He's dead.'

Jayland dipped his head, 'Damn it.'

'He's still with us. Always will be.'

'Yes sir.'

---

'So she was a Jedi?' Kell asked. Folding his arms and glancing over at Serah.

'Yeah. She escaped what had happened, found her way here.' Trooper replied.

'I gotta admit, choking someone to death doesn't seem like a Jedi thing.' Teegs quietly said.

'She's been through a lot. She hates the Empire for what they did.' Trooper said as he glanced at her also.

'Why's she helping us?' Kell asked.

'I ran into her, literally. She asked me to help get her back to her place so she could get her Sabers. Said since we we're fighting them here she might as well get involved.'

'Still, I saw that look on her face when she did what she did to that sniper. It was hate. I meant it when I said watch her.'

'Yeah.' Teegs said as she looked at the Sniper's body.

'I'll, keep a watch on h-' Trooper stopped himself as he heard something, 'What was that?'

'LOOK!' Teegs shouted as she pointed behind Kell and trooper.

Three AT-DP Walkers rounded a corner, followed by dozens of Stormtroopers, 'EVERYONE TO COVER, NOW!' Kell barked as they all fled, some hiding inside the building they had been in when the Sniper had fired on them, and the others anywhere they could. Trooper, Teegs and a handful of Rebels dashed behind a collapsed building while Kell, Calsow and the remainder of the Rebels took shelter in a damaged apartment.

Trooper caught his breath and looked at Teegs, 'You okay?'

She pointed to the far right. Trooper looked and saw what she saw, dozens of dead Rebel troopers, 'It's Second Platoon. Isn't it?'

Teegs nodded, 'Yeah.'

'Teegs, I'm sorry.'

Teegs walked past him and slumped down next to the collapsed building. The other Rebels nearby began to notice the remains of Second Platoon. They felt just as bad as her. Trooper turned and leant against the edge of the building, looking out back at the enemy. The AT-DP's were holding off attacking, letting the Stormtroopers lead the fight. The surviving Rebels were trapped.

Trooper's com unit bleeped, 'Kell?'

'Good, you're okay.'

'Yeah. You?'

'Could be better. It would seem we are in a slight jam.'

'Really, never noticed. Hey where's Serah?'

'She's fine. She hopped into the building next to ours.'

'All right. Any ideas?'

'You got any launchers left?'

'No.'

'Hmm…backup?'

'Backup? What backu- Oh, right,' Trooper ended his call with Kell and tapped on his com unit. 'Hey! Miss hangar destroyer! You there?'

There was silence for a moment, 'Maybe we're too far out?' One of the Rebels suggested.

A voice finally replied, 'You are never going to let that go are you?'

'Naya!' Trooper exclaimed happily, 'It's good to hear your voice. Look, we could use your help. We're pinned down at the Government Building. There are three AT-DP Walkers blocking us. Your ships are the only things right now that could get rid of them!'

'We're just entering the city. Just hang on.' The transmission ended.

Teegs looked up at him, 'Helps coming.' Trooper said as he looked back at her.

Kell quickly leant out of cover and fired is A280C Blaster Rifle, taking down a Stormtrooper.

'Lieutenant, what's that?' Calsow asked Kell, as a rumbling sound could be heard in the distance.

'That's help.' Kell said as he smiled, looking up at the sky.

Six X-wing Starfighters flew overhead, three of them firing their torpedoes. One set of torpedoes impacted on the ground, sending Stormtroopers and bits of rubble flying. Another set missed its target whilst the last impacted against an AT-DP, obliterating it. As the remaining two Walkers focused their attentions on the X-wings, the Rebels took their chance to deal with the remaining Stormtroopers. Trooper dashed out closely followed by the others, surprising the dazed Imperials. One Rebel was knocked down by a Stormtrooper, the trooper aimed his rifle at him, ready to fire. Before he could, Serah's Lightsabers cut through him, killing him. She rushed out into the fight, taking more of them down. One of the AT-DP's had managed to shoot down one of the X-wings. Before it impacted with the ground the pilot managed to turn his burning Starfighter into the path of the AT-DP. The X-wing crashed into the Walker, both of them exploding simultaneously.

Naya turned her fighter to face the last Walker. She fired her last set of torpedoes, the first torpedo completely missed the Walker. However the second hit the Walker's left leg, ripping it in half. As the AT-DP fell it managed to fire of one last shot. It was a lucky shot. Hitting Naya's X-wing, the shot destroyed all four of her engines. The fluke shot passed straight through both pairs of engine couplers causing a catastrophic failure. They couldn't have picked a better spot to hit if they had tried! Naya's Starfighter spiralled towards the ground, 'NAYA!' Both Kell and Trooper yelled in a panic, recognising the ship as hers.

'Tell her to eject!' Serah yelled as she ran past them both, towards Naya's falling fighter.

'Naya you need to eject! Just do it!' Trooper screamed into his com unit.

Trooper and Kell both watched as they saw Naya bail out. Serah, sensing the danger used the force to cushion Naya's fall. She was too close to the ground to properly deploy her bail out gear. As her ship crashed and exploded, Serah brought Naya down to the ground with a none too gentle bump.

Trooper and Kell ran up to Naya and wrapped their arms around her, both of them hugging her. Trooper let go, Naya keeping a hold of Kell, a bit shaken, 'Thank you.' Naya quietly said to Serah.

Trooper turned to Serah, 'I can't thank you enough. Thank you!'

'You helped me, I help you.' Serah said as she walked off, checking to make sure there were no enemies left.

Naya let go of Kell, whilst he kept one hand on her shoulder, 'Who- What is she?'

'She was a Jedi. She's here to help.' Kell replied.

'Well uh, she saved me.'

'Yeah, I'm glad she did.'

'Me too. Oh no!'

'What is it?'

'R3. He didn't make it.'

'Sorry Naya.'

She sighed, 'I'd better tell my squadron that I'm okay. Then you can tell me where she came from.' She said to Kell as they walked off.

Trooper walked over to Teegs, 'You alright?'

'Yeah, I just told the others about Second Platoon. I really thought we'd find them and they'd be fine or at least some of them would be. That's not how it works though, is it?'

Trooper folded his arms and shook his head, 'No…no it's not.'

Trooper's com unit pinged and a voice came through, 'Sergeant Trooper do you read me? Are you there?'

'Major Rejord I here you.' Trooper replied.

'Good to hear from you son. Is Teegs okay?'

'She right here sir.'

'Good, good. Have you reached the Government Building?'

'Yes sir, we are practically just outside it.'

'The explosion, is the building intact?'

'For the most part, yeah. It's damaged a bit on its west side, nothing major. The explosion happened away from the building. We're about to go in and see what we can find.'

'Good, alright. Let me know what you find. Over and out.'

'Yes sir.' His com unit shut off and he looked at Teegs.

'What?' she asked.

'It was Rejord. He asked about you. Wanted to know if you were okay.'

'Oh, well he's my uncle.'

'Oh I didn't know.' He looked at her with an odd expression.

'What is it?'

'Nothing, I just think its sweet he's checking on you.'

'Shut up,' Teegs stopped, realising she just told a Sergeant to shut up, 'Oh! Ah, sorry sir.'

'I know, how could you? You should have said, 'shut up, sir'. I'm ashamed of you.'

Teegs smirked at him, 'Shut up, sir.'

'That's better.'

Kell walked up to the both of them, Naya following behind, 'It's starting to get dark. How about we get in there and get this over with.'

'Yeah, okay,' Trooper turned towards Serah, his and Kell's men, 'Okay time to move. We're heading inside.' He gestured for them to move and headed towards the Government Building's entrance.

---

The elevator doors parted, the Shadow Trooper Commander and Jayland stepped out and searched through the underground complex.

They eventually came to a code pad sealed door. A large sealed door. 'Jayland.' The Commander said, pointing at him and then towards the code pad.

Jayland knelt down and attached his own code pad to the underside of the door control. Within a few minutes the door slowly opened, 'We're in.' He said, looking at the Commander as he stood back up.

'If they have anything of importance for us to retrieve, it'll be down here. I just hope whatever it is better be worth a soldier's life.'

Stepping through the door and into the adjacent room, it was clear that it was some sort of research station. Monitors scattered around the room, desks with data pads on them and multiple computers, 'Get on those computers. Download everything and I mean everything!' The Commander ordered as Jayland got to it.

He walked over towards the second door, the one inside the research station. Looking through the door's window he chuckled, 'Well, I think I just found the site of the explosion.'

'How so?' Jayland asked, turning his head away from the computers.

'Because there is a massive room filled with rubble, fire and smoke,' he knelt down to look up through the door's window, 'and I can see the sky.'

He got up and walked around the room. He spotted three containers, one of them empty. He looked at the containers control pad and took out the same decryption spike that Jayland had passed him earlier. He connected it to the central control pad that was connected to all three containers. The control pad soon bleeped and the one of the locked containers opened. The other one stopped half way, becoming jammed.

'What have we here?' the Commander said as he saw the large green-yellow crystal inside the container, 'What were they doing here?'

The Commander's attention was immediately brought towards the elevator as it was called back up, 'Company's coming,' he looked over to Jayland. 'Have you got the information?'

'Yes sir,' he replied as he stepped away from the computers.

The Commander grabbed the crystal, being weighed down by it, 'Cloak yourself. We're leaving.'

'What about the Rebels sir? That'll be them coming.'

'I'm not losing another man over this.'

Jayland nodded and he soon became invisible. The Commander looked at the crystal as he and it cloaked.

They both stepped aside as the elevator opened and a dozen Rebels stepped out. As soon as it was clear they both stepped into the now vacant elevator and left.

---

The elevator doors parted, Trooper and Naya stepped out first with their blasters raised, 'Okay, looks clear.' Naya said, looking back at the elevator.

As the last Rebel left the elevator its doors closed and it began its journey back, 'Why's it going back up?' Calsow questioned?

'Maybe company's coming?' another Rebel asked.

'Just in case, you two stay here and watch it.' Kell ordered.

'Yes sir!' Calsow and the other Rebel said simultaneously.

They then stepped into the research station and looked around, 'Well they were definitely testing something down here.' Teegs said as she looked at one of the data pads.

'Hey what's this?' one of the Rebels asked as he pointed to the three containers.

Teegs walked over to the containers, 'Well they're containers. One of them seems jammed.'

Kell walked over to the door with the window, 'Hmm.' He murmured to himself as he rummaged through his backpack. Pulling out a control spike and attaching to the door controls.

Trooper looked over to Teegs and the other Rebel who were attempting to open the jammed container, 'Naya…' he said gestured over to them.

'Right.' Naya said as she walked over to them, 'Guys.' She said as Teegs and the Rebel moved out of the way.

Naya grabbed the part of the container that had opened with her cybernetic left hand and pulled upwards. In a few seconds she had lifted the containers hatch up, 'Woah, what is this?'

'It's like a massive gem.' Teegs said looking at the green-yellow crystal.

'I know what it is.' Teegs, Trooper and Naya looked over to Serah, 'It is a 'Kyber Crystal'.

---

The Shadow Trooper Commander and Jayland exited the Government Building, 'Call the IDT.' He said as he scanned the area for Rebels.

'Yes sir,' Jayland replied as he tapped on his com pad, 'IDT do you come in? We request pick up at the north-west side of the city.' There was no response, 'IDT do you read me?' a garbled voice replied before cutting off. He turned to the Commander, 'I couldn't get through. Either we're being jammed or there's interference from the Government Building.'

'Hmph. Okay, we head back to the pickup and take it from there.'

'Copy, sir.'

The Commander and Jayland made their way through the darkened city, watching for anything. They de-cloaked themselves once they saw the IDT at the pickup, 'Maybe I did get through then. They were unable to respond.' He said as he looked at the ship then to the Commander.

The IDT's right side bay door opened and a circular object was thrown out. It landed in-between them and detonated. Jayland and the Commander both grabbed their helmets. Jayland screaming as he collapsed.

The Commander fell to his knees as he watched what looked like a dozen robed figures pile out of the ship. He collapsed onto his side, letting go of the crystal. His vision grew blurry as he watched the crystal roll across the ground and the robed figures approach. He then blacked out.

When he awoke he leapt up, unsheathing his tactical knife, ready for anything. He looked towards the horizon and barely made out the silhouette of the IDT flying away in the distance. His attention was soon brought to Jayland as he rushed over to him. He put his hand to his neck, he was alive. He looked at Jayland's belt, then to where the crystal had rolled off to. They were gone, 'Dammit.' He uttered before activating his com unit, 'Cylus, do you read me. Over.'

There was a short pause, 'Yes Commander. I do. Did you find anything of value, are you at the rendezvous point?

'No sir, we lost it all.'

'WHAT!'

'It appears to have been a Rebel trap, sir. They were waiting at the rendezvous point, killed our pilots and stole our ship. They must have checked the on-board computer, that's the only way it makes sense for them to have known where to land once they arrived in the city. They waited for us to return and stunned us. They took everything of value sir.'

'They just happened to be at the rendezvous point waiting for any unsuspecting Imperials to come by and just assumed that the Troopers who had been dropped off would return with something valuable?'

'I said it appears to have been the Rebels! 'Sir'. I don't know who they actually were. We failed the mission.'

'YES! Yes you did. I will send for a dropship to come pick you up. Then I shall explain all of this to Admiral Renn.'

'What about our attackers sir. Shouldn't we go after them?'

'With what? And by the time the dropship arrives they'll be long gone.'

'But-'

'You need to accept defeat Commander. Now, what of your men.'

'One down.'

'That's a shame but acceptable.'

'ACCEPTABLE!'

'Yes Commander, acceptable!' You embarked on a covert mission and only one of your men perished. That is an acceptable loss. Understood?'

'Yes. Sir.'

Cylus shut off his com unit and grinned. He then pulled out a 'holoprojector' and activated it. On board the IDT one of the robed figures took out their holoprojector which was beeping and activated it. He received through the 'projector, a hologram of Cylus, 'What did you get?'

The robed man with his one free hand threw off his robes to reveal the white armour of an Imperial Stormtrooper and spoke, 'Lots of information on weapons testing and…this crystal.'

Another Stormtrooper, now de-robed held the crystal in front of the holoprojector, 'Ah, I see,' Cylus said happily. 'I had suspected that's what they were doing here. My informants served me well.'

'But what is it?' the Stormtrooper asked.

'Keep sifting through the information you took and you'll find out. I would advise against it though, my eyes only.'

The Stormtrooper turned towards his men, 'Shut the data pad off. Now.'

'Thank you,' he paused for a moment, looking at the trooper. 'Is there something wrong?'

'I don't know how I feel about this. We attacked our own and just stole from the Empire we serve.'

'Don't worry JT-0101. You are serving your Empire. There a things going on, under the surface. Things that I am going to take care of. We do these things for the greater good, for the good of the Empire. Is that understood?'

'Yes sir.'

'Then you know what to do next.'

'Yes. We are heading to the frigate now. We shall be off-world soon.'

'Excellent work Captain.'

'I'm a Sergeant, sir.'

'Not anymore.' Cylus ended the communication. He walked over to the Destroyer's hangar shield, deactivating it. He reached out and dropped his holoprojector and smiled as he watched it fall.

---

'A Kyber Crystal?' Naya asked.

'Yes. A large one at that. They are used in Lighstabers. Usually they are much smaller.' Serah replied.

'Why would the Empire want one of them?'

'Because they're a source of power.' Trooper joined in.

'Power?'

'Yes,' Serah said as she activated one of her Sabers. 'If one small crystal does this. What do you think they could do with one that size?'

'Wow, okay yeah. That's bad.' Naya said as she slowly stepped away from the crystal.

'I think I found and know what caused the explosion.' Kell said as he stood at the now open doorway.

Teegs, Naya and Trooper walked up to and looked inside the open door.

'That's one hell of a hole.' Teegs said as she looked around the massive crater.

'So what-' Naya stopped to cough as she waved smoke out of the way from one of the small burning fires. 'So what happened?'

'The Empire were testing on these Kyber Crystals, seeing what they could do. And like anything you probably shouldn't be messing with, it detonated. Blowing everything beyond this door to Hell.' Kell said as he too wafted smoke out of the way.

'What about the other crystal? There are three containers. One of them blew up, one of them's still here and ones gone.' Teegs asked, gesturing over to the three containers.

'I guess it got destroyed too or was taken away. Leaving the third one because its hatch got stuck.' Kell thought for a moment. 'We can't let the Empire get the third one. It's too dangerous. We can't let anyone have it.'

'Agreed.' Trooper said as he folded his arms.

Kell turned towards the Rebel standing next to Teegs, 'Grab the crystal. Take it into the crater room. I'll see about the detonator.'

'Is this safe?' Naya asked.

'Well no not really. Would you rather it blew up here where it could to damage or rather it blew up where one of them has already blew up and not do really anymore damage?' Trooper said as he pointed at the decimated area.

'Good point.'

'You're just going to destroy it?' Serah said with a concerned look on her face.

'We have to.' Trooper said as he turned to her.

'But it's powerful. It can be used as a weapon. Used to make weapons. You're just going to pass that up?'

'It's too dangerous. Imagine if we were to be attacked and the Empire got it again. Or if it were to fall into other hands. People who would sell it and then they would use it wrong and kill who knows how many.'

'Then sell it to the Hutts or someone and make some credits! Do you know how much you could make?'

'Serah? Calm down.' Kell said with his arms out, 'It's all right.'

'No!' she then pushed her hand forward, throwing Kell back, 'I won't let you destroy it! Some of us need the money. Do you really know how much tha-'

Before she could finish, her body shook violently a stun blast hit her from behind and she collapsed. Calsow stepped forward, blaster in hand, 'Good, uh, job Calsow.' Teegs said quietly.

'You okay Kell?' Naya asked as she and another Rebel helped him up.

'I'm okay, thanks. I knew there was something off about her.' He sighed.

'I don't get it? Jedi aren't supposed to be this way.' Trooper said as he knelt down next to her and slowly picked up her Lightsabers.

'Like you said Trooper, she was a Jedi. She's not anymore.' Kell said as he walked up to him.

Kell walked back into the room where the crystal had detonated and began attaching the detonation pack to the new crystal. Trooper looked down at Serah and sighed before walking over to Naya.

'You knew the Kyber thingy was here didn't you?' she asked.

'What?'

'Yeah, you knew.'

'Well, I knew something was here. Those were my orders: Go to Lorka Sel and aid the Rebels in the city. Then recover any information from the Government Building. Our spies in the Empire knew something was going on so yeah.'

'Well it's good they sent you. Don't know when I'd see you again if they hadn't.'

'Aww.' He said as he grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Kell stepped away from the bomb attached crystal, 'Okay, it's set. Now le-' He stopped himself, 'LOOK OUT!'

Everyone turned but as they did they were all thrown against the research station's walls, knocking them out.

Teegs awoke and slowly picked herself up, grabbing her back and stretching. She looked over and saw Calsow and another Rebel lying on the ground. They had large burn marks across their chests. They were dead. She turned and ran over to Naya and Trooper who were next to each other. 'Hey, you okay. Guys!'

Trooper woke up and sat up. He looked around Calsow dead and clenched his fists, 'Stay with Naya.' He said as he stood up. Grabbing his Relby.

He walked through the doorway to the elevator, he reached out and called it down. He turned back to Teegs to see Naya stirring. He turned and came back into the room and stopped, 'Wait! Where's Kell?' Trooper quickly moved over to the crater room, its door now closed again.

He looked at the door, its door control had clearly been cut by one of her Lightsabers. He looked through the door's window and saw Kell sitting next to the dead body of the Rebel who was helping him with the crystal, 'Kell!' he shouted, happy he was okay.

Kell turned and saw Trooper through the window. He got up and rushed over, 'Trooper you're okay. Is Naya okay?'

'Yeah she's fine. Teegs is too. What happened?'

'Serah. She knocked you all out. The others tried to stop her. She killed them.' He pointed through the window to Calsow and the Rebel in the room with him.

Naya got up and walked over to Trooper. He turned to her, checking on her before back to Kell, 'Why did she do this?'

'For the crystal. I told her that the detonation pack was damaged and if it were to be removed it would detonate.'

'Well it worked, she's gone. So how are we gonna get you out of here?'

'You're not.'

'What?'

'She cut the door controls. It's not opening.'

'There must be some way. Do we have any grenades?' He turned to Naya and Teegs, both of them shaking their heads. 'Uh, Naya. Can your hand pull the door open?'

'No way. I still have to use my own strength, not just its power. Besides it's a reinforced blast door.'

There was silence for a moment, 'That's not the only reason why you're not getting me out.'

'What do you mean, Kell?' Naya asked, clearly concerned.

'I didn't lie when I told her the detonation pack was bust. I can't turn it off. It's going off no matter what.'

'What! Kell, no!' Naya barged passed Trooper and went right up to the door, 'No Kell! We'll get you out. We'll go back and get some rope. We'll get you out! We'll get you something!'

'Naya…you have twelve minutes. Enough time to get away. Not to get me.'

'No!'

Trooper paced around the room, his fists clenched, his face angered, 'Teegs. Take Naya and get her out of here now. Send the elevator back for me.'

Teegs was silent, just looking at Trooper, 'Now Teegs!' he yelled.

She nodded and grabbed Naya's arm and pulled her away, 'No. Stop! Please!' Naya begged, tears streaming down her cheeks.

They entered the elevator and its doors closed. Trooper closed his eyes for a moment before walking back to the door, 'Kell-' he stopped, wiping a tear from his eye, 'I am so sorry.'

'It's okay. It's alright.'

'I am so sorry.'

'Promise me one thing.'

'Yeah?'

'Look after Naya, you know how she can be. With her hangar destroying and whatnot.'

Trooper and Kell both laughed. They were both silent. Trooper looked at the elevator which had just arrived. He stepped back from the door and looked Kell straight in the eyes and saluted. Kell stepped back and returned the salute, 'It was an honour serving with you Commander Kell Durran.' He said as he lowered his arm.

'As it was with you Sergeant Trooper.'

Trooper stepped into the elevator and as its doors closed he slumped down to the ground. Kicking its doors and screaming.

Trooper ran out of the Government Building to find Teegs and Naya waiting, 'No, keep moving! WITH ME!' he yelled as grabbed both of their arms as he ran past.

'What's wrong?' Teegs asked running after Trooper still holding onto Naya.

'Serah! She tripped the Empire's defence system. The Government Building is going to explode!'

A massive green-orange explosion erupted from within the crater. The ground fracturing around it. It was soon followed by the Government Building which practically vaporised when it detonated. Trooper, Naya and Teegs were thrown to the ground by the explosions. Rubble landing all around them.

Trooper rolled over onto his back. Looking up at the massive smoke clouds. Dark clouds formed above the city and it began to rain. He couldn't tell what was cloud and what was smoke. He rolled onto his side and slowly picked himself up, looking for Naya and Teegs.

He spotted them over to his left. Teegs was sitting up while Naya was holding onto her, her face buried into her shoulder. Trooper got up but almost collapsed, he'd hurt his right leg. He managed to stand and limped over to them, 'Here,' he paused to cough, the smoke getting to him. 'Put your breath masks on.'

He strapped on his mask and watched as they did as well, making sure they were okay. He limped forward, looking around. He turned to the explosion from the crystal and then to Naya. She was distraught. He turned to the smoke once again and grabbed his head and screamed!

'You just couldn't die in there could you?'

Trooper immediately turned to the voice and saw Serah, standing in the distance, 'YOU!' he screamed!

Naya turned to see what was going on and saw her. She immediately got up but collapsed down to her knees and stared at her, 'YOU KILLED KELL! WHY?'

'I couldn't let you destroy the Kyber Crystal. You would have tried to stop me or come after me.'

'WHY? WHY DO THIS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?' Trooper screamed at her.

'I need the credits. I knew the Empire was up to something here. Whatever it was would be worth a lot to the right people. But you all just had to destroy it didn't you!' she paused and sighed, 'gotta make a living somehow.'

'You were a Jedi! You killed innocent people! THEY WERE AGAINST THE EMPIRE!'

'Yeah I couldn't believe you bought that. I don't care about the Empire! I'm a Bounty Hunter. I don't hate anyone!'

'A BOUNTY HUNTER? YOU WERE NEVER A JEDI!'

'Oh I was. Like Kell said, that was a long time ago!' she said as she turned to walk away.

'DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME!'

She stopped, turning back to him, 'Yes?'

Trooper unsheathed his combat knife, 'FIGHT ME! LEAVE YOUR SABERS OUT OF THIS! SEE HOW YOU DO WITHOUT THEM!'

Serah stepped forward and dropped her Sabers on the ground and she ran at him. Trooper flipped his knife to point the blade downwards and waited. She ran up to him and swung her arm at him but he dodged and he swung his knife. She dodged too. She grabbed his back and shoulder and kneed him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. As he fell he managed to cut her across her stomach.

She clutched her stomach, stepping back. Trooper picked himself up and ran at her. He swung at her, hitting her in the face. Grabbing his arm she twisted it behind his back and pushed him away. He turned, clutching his arm before charging at her. Just as he swung his knife at her she pushed her arms forward, sending him hurtling back.

He landed on his back and rolled across the ground. He knelt on his knee and looked at her. He stepped up, barely being able to stand. He grabbed his knife by the blade and threw it at her but it stopped just before it hit her and levitated in front of her face. She smirked at Trooper before reaching out with her hand, sending the knife flying at him.

Trooper braced himself but the knife flew past him. He quickly turned as it flew past him and he saw who it was headed for. Naya reached out with her hands, trying to stop the knife. It tore through her cybernetic hand and hit her. She collapsed.

'NO!' Trooper screamed as he ran over to her. Serah stood there, smirking. Suddenly she yelled in pain as a Blaster Bolt hit her in the arm. She grabbed her arm and stepped back as Teegs stepped forward firing her blaster. Serah ran, grabbing her Sabers as she fled.

Trooper slid to his knees next to Naya. He quickly turned to Teegs, 'Teegs, wait! Call for a medivac! Please!'

He looked down at Naya, the knife had lodged itself in her left eye, blood trickling down her face. He looked at the knife, contemplating taking it out. He left it, not knowing if that would be the right move. Naya opened her eye and looked at Trooper then to her left. Her eye widened in shock as she saw the knife, her breath mask fogging up as she began breathing heavily as she started to panic.

She reached up to trooper with her left hand but it was completely torn apart, wires sticking out of it and sparking. Her arm went limp and fell to the ground. Her eye began to close and her breathing slowed, 'No. Naya, stay with me.' Trooper cried out, tears filling his eyes.

'Stay with me Naya, okay. Please! I can't lose you too. Please don't go.'

---

Naya opened her eye. She was in a medical facility, she couldn't see out of her left eye. She reached up to her left eye with her right hand, recalling that something had happened to her cybernetic one. She felt where her left eye was but there was a bandage covering it.

She looked over to her right and saw Trooper, asleep in a chair next to her bed, 'Trooper.' She said weakly.

Trooper opened his eyes and sat forward slowly. He looked over to her, 'Naya!' he exclaimed as he shifted his chair over right next to her.

'Hey.' She said as she closed her eye, reaching her hand out to him.

He grabbed her hand with both of his, 'You're okay. You're outside the city, far away from it.'

'Okay.' She paused looking to her left then back to him. 'Where's Teegs?'

'She's fine. She's at the base.'

'Okay, good.' She said softly, her eye filled up with tears as she looked back over to him. 'Trooper. Kell, he…he-'

'I know, I know.' He cut her off as he leant over her bed and hugged her. She hugged him back with her right arm, holding on tightly. Not letting go.

The End