SIDEWINDER

"Without sacrifice, there is no victory."

Exactly 3 years after the declaration of war on The Imperial Empire- Orbit of Yavin II, the second moon of the planet Yavin.

Yavin II was the forgotten moon. The smallest of Yavin's four moons, nobody gave it much attention, not compared to its more famous cousin, Yavin IV. Although it was the smallest of the four moons, it was certainly one of the brightest, the atmosphere a luminous green hue, mainly due to the abundance of toxic Nitroxy gas emanating from its many volcanic regions. It was virtually uninhabitable for humans, a wasteland lost to the obscurity of deep space. That made it the perfect place to house an Imperial base.

Not anymore.

As Captain Miller put on his H-Suit, a suit specifically designed for uninhabitable environments, he couldn't help but think that this could be the mission that turns the war back in favour of the Republic. He looked around the landing craft to the other three soldiers there, also waiting for the fight. Between the four of them, they were going to take down an entire Imperial compound. Sergeant Reza Misovic, Gunner Marcos Ko and Private Indo Allura, the only non-human in the team, a Rezilian reptiloid from the swamps of Dagobah. If the war was going to shift back in the Republic's favour, they were going to be the heroes.
"We're gonna make history today, eh captain?" Reza said through comms as the carrier entered Yavin atmosphere.
"That's the plan" Replied Miller, "If our intel is right, there's a massive experimental Imperial base down here."
"Experimental, sir?"
"Cyborgs. We believe they're trying to create cyborgs on this planet."
"Wonder where they get the templates?" Asked Ko rhetorically, but Miller answered anyway.
"They don't have a template, they just have people. We've been tracking disappearances over the past few months and tracked it here."
"Woah, that's creepy"
"Keep your head Ko, don't want you freaking out before we even get there."
The team were suddenly brought back to reality, the craft slowing and turning as it neared the surface.
"Here we go" Said Miller, "Everyone ready to jump!"
The cargo door slowly lowered, revealing the planet to the team for the first time. One by one, they all crowded round the opening, jump packs in hand. And then they were gone.

The air was thick, but they walked though it none the less, determined to find their target.
"It's gotta be here somewhere, right?" Ko asked, as they entered a small passageway carved through the middle of two short mountains.
"It will be" Miller said, "But this gas is blinding, I can barely see a thing. Allura, get out the sonic reflector device. We're gonna find this thing once and for all."
Allura nodded, and then reached into his backpack, bringing out a small silver device, shaped like an egg but with two whirring antennae protruding from the top. Being the technician, he had all the equipment on him.
"We're gonna need to get out of this passageway for the sonic waves to become fully functional" Allura said, holding up the device.
"Alright" Miller said, "But keep your eyes open. We have no idea what could be hiding in the shadows."

They made it through the passage without any problems, the planet so far looking devoid of any type of life form.
"OK Indo, let's get a reading" Miller said, impatiently. The sonic device beeped and clicked as it checked for any large structures. Eventually, it stopped.
"Well?" Said Ko
"There's a large interference pattern bearing 076 degrees, magnetic, 4 minutes away. Could well be an Imperial base."
"OK" Said Miller, "Let's move it. Once we ascertain contact with the base perimeter we'll figure out a way to get inside. For now, let's just find the bloody thing."
"Amen to that" Said Ko, and the group moved off. Now that they had passed through the mountains, they were surrounded by trees. They walked on, following the path dictated to them by the Sonic reflector. They kept going for about 3 minutes, but then suddenly stopped.
"What the hell was that noise?!" Said Ko, crouching behind a tree.
"I have no idea" Replied Reza. "I don't like this one bit."
They stood, surveying the area. The green fog was impairing their judgement massively, creating shadows out of nothingness. They were all getting paranoid…

Miller almost saw it too late.

He dived to the floor just as the first blaster bolts ripped through the trees, dragging Allura down with him into the undergrowth. Ko, already positioned behind a tree was shielded from the hail of bullets. Reza wasn't so lucky. Caught unaware, he was cut down mercilessly by the relentless rate of fire. He didn't stand a chance.
"What the hell was that?" Miller yelled, still in the undergrowth as the bolts continued to rain down.
"They're automatic sentry guns Captain!" Ko said, the only person with a good enough vantage point to see. "They're attached to a giant wall. The entrance to the compound."
"Somehow we've got to get past that sentry gun." Allura said, echoing Miller's thoughts.
The hail of bullets continued to rain down, until, suddenly they stopped. Out of nowhere, the sentry guns ceased fire.
"The fuck is going on here?" Ko said.
"I think I know. I think I know exactly what's going on." Miller said back to Ko.
"What?"
"Those Sentries- they're automatic. So how would they know when to fire?"
"Movement."
"Exactly. We're not moving, so they're not firing. And this has given me an idea of how we can get past those sentries and into the complex.

Ten minutes had passed. They had to make sure the sentries weren't going to detect what slight movements they were going to make. Eventually, though, everything had been set up.
"You ready to rock and roll with this?" Miller asked to his remaining two comrades, and they nodded in agreement.
"On the count of 3. 1….. 2… 3!"
They all bolted from their positions, leaping up and running straight for the complex ahead of them. The sentries suddenly sprang into life, but the team had planned for that to happen; Allura, the tech man, had a trigger ready in his hand. As soon as he saw the sentries, he hit the trigger. Behind them, back in the undergrowth, several flares shot out of the ground and high into the air. The sentry guns immediately picked up their movement and opened fire. It gave Miller and his men just enough time to sprint up to the wall and out of the sentries sight, before the flares were destroyed, and the protection was gone. Once they were sure the turrets weren't going to pick them up again, they turned a corner into a large passageway. They walked down it, watching every corner for Imperials. Soon, the passageway split off into a T-Junction.
"STOP!" Miller Hissed, bringing his team to a halt. Just as they stopped, a platoon of 5 Stormtroopers walked straight past them, searching for the intruders that set off the sentries but oblivious to their presence. Miller peered around the corner, but the Stormtroopers were still there. The only thing they could do was fight their way through them.
"Allura" Miller said, "Grab a stun grenade. We're gonna have to blast our way through them."
The Rezilian nodded, and pulled one of the cylindrical objects off of his belt. Miller held up his hand, palm facing. The Stormtroopers shifted slightly, edging back towards the junction, and so Miller dropped his hand, and the stun grenade left Allura's grasp, rolling straight into the crowd of Stormtroopers. There was a bang, and a bright flash of white light. Ko immediately dived out into the middle of the junction, automatic blaster rifle in his hands. The Stormtroopers, stunned, didn't have time to react; They were all down before they even had time to see who had shot them.
"Good Work" Said Miller, "Now let's move on. The main complex has to be around here somewhere."
The three advanced down the corridor in the direction of the now fallen Stormtroopers, until they reached a door. Slowly, Miller pushed the door open… But nobody had seen, behind them, one of the Stormtroopers was still alive. Using the last of his strength, he reached over to one of the buttons on the side of his suit, and pushed it down hard.

And the entire alarm system screeched into life.

Nobody even had to tell them what to do; As soon as they alarms went off, they were gone. Miller smashed through the door, catching the two Imperial Guards behind it by surprise. One of them took a swing at Miller, but he ducked it and came back with a sharp right hand which hit the guard square in the jaw, breaking it. Allura then grabbed the guard and threw him down. The second guard went for his gun, but Ko, alert, grabbed the gun as it was in his hand and yanked backwards, snapping the guard's arm at his elbow and tearing the gun out of his hand. He could only stand there, a look of extreme agony on his face as Ko put 3 blaster bolts in his chest, finishing the other guard as well.
"We've got to move. We've got to move NOW!" Yelled Miller, and the team picked up a sprint. They could hear voices behind them as guards started to pick up on the location of the intruders, the indescant alarms still wailing as loudly as possible.
"There's no way we're going to be able to get out of this" Said Ko, "The entire place is going to be on alert now."
"I know. We'll just have to take this whole place down with us" Said Miller, and they continued forward. They had no idea where they were, but it looked like a storage warehouse, empty of any activity.
Miller looked round. Sitting in the corner was a box, filled with planks of wood. "Ko, Allura" He said, "Barricade the door. Use the wooden planks to trap the bars, it'll buy us some time."
They did exactly that, and, once finished, sat down to discuss their next move.
"Well," Said Allura, "Aside from the fact we have absolutely no idea where we actually are, I'd say it's going well."
"Well we didn't even know if there actually was a compound here remember" Miller said. "But I'd say we're in a good position. Whatever this part of the complex is, it seems to be in the main hub, so we must be close to wherever they've got the kidnapped people."
"I dread to know what they've done with them." Ko said, a shiver going down his spine at the very thought.
"Whatever they've done, we'll put a stop to it. We're gonna do this for the Republic. We're gonna do this for Reza."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and the whole room shook.
"They know we're here" Miller said. "Let's move out."
They headed across the warehouse, the noise from the door getting louder all the time as the Imperials tried to smash their way through. They approached another identical door on the other side, and tentatively opened it. Allura had grabbed one of the pieces of wood to lock this door too, and as soon as they were through he pushed it through the door railings. They then took in their surroundings- this warehouse was almost identical to the first, but this time, up on a gantry above, were two Imperial officers. Fortunately they hadn't seen the team, but they were an obstacle…

"We've got to take out those two officers before we go any further. They're blocking our path and I really don't want us to be stuck here incase they notice us." Miller said to Ko and Allura, hidden in the shadows.
"I just want the bloody alarm to stop; it's doing my head in" Ko replied.
"Well" Miller said, "You're the one with the electro-stick, you can be the one to do the honours and take these two out."
"Roger that Captain, it'll be my pleasure."
With that, Ko set off, creeping slowly towards the metal staircase that would take him up to the platform the two guards stood on. If he did it right, he'd be able to take them out without making too much noise, and they could continue. He clicked the small switch on the electro-stick, and it quietly hummed into life. Much like a MagnaGuard's staff, and electro-stick was designed to electrocute the enemy on contact- it was just more compact and less powerful. He had now reached the stairs, and started to ascend as slowly as possible. The shadow cast by the set of instruments on the platform shielded him from view, but he had to be careful not to make any noise, or it could be the end of the road for them all. He waited- waited until they were both facing the wrong way. It took a while, but eventually they both turned to face away from him, looking out to the other side in a rather bored alertness.

It was his time to strike.

He leapt out of the shadows faster than either guard could react. Almost with an eerie silence he grabbed hold of the nearest guard and threw him over the platform's railings, his body hitting the floor with an audible crack. The second guard went for his gun, but Ko kicked it straight out of his hand and swung at him with the electro-stick, catching him in the neck and sending thousands of volts of pure electricity straight through his body. Instantly he flew backwards from the shock, landing on top of one of the many instrumentation panels scattered around, the entire console bursting into a blaze of sparks as soon as he made contact with it. It was over as fast as it had started.
"Well" Said Allura, stepping out of the shadows, "You got your wish. I don't know how you did it, but the alarms have turned off!"
Ko gave a theatrical bow and jumped off the platform, landing with a dramatic roll to break his fall.
"OK you two," Said Miller, "That's enough. We've got to press on and find this cyborgs hub."
"If it exists" Ko reminded him, but Miller seemed convinced enough.
"Enough of that. Fix the gas dispenser, then we can move on." Allura reached into his backpack and pulled out a hemispherical object, carefully placing it on the ground. He gave it a quick kick and suddenly it started leaking a cloudy white gas at an alarming rate, so the 3 headed away from it and towards the next room.

They walked to the end of the warehouse, through the double doors, armed and ready. But when they burst through, the room they found themselves in was nothing like the ones they'd seen before. It was massive, but it was also completely white and clean, almost like a scientific lab. There were rows upon rows of glass containers lined up- and in each one was a person in cryo-stasis, locked in time, although it was hard to see them as humans; They were more metal than they were skin and bone. Allura calmly closed the doors to stop any gas leaking in, and then they all drew their attention back to the glass boxes
"So this is it" Miller said silently to himself, walking up to one of the containers and peering into the glass. "Ko. Allura. Fix the charges. We're going to blow this place sky high and stop this Imperial project once and for all."
"Amen to that Captain" Said Ko, pulling the charges from his belt and handing some to Allura. They went round the room, fixing the explosive devices to the structures that held up the very room they stood in. When it was done, the 3 regrouped, ready to move out. Suddenly, however, there was a loud banging noise and the sound of splintering wood as the Imperial officers and Stormtroopers finally smashed their way into the warehouse, followed instantly by a concerted set of coughing as the gas took its effect.
"They're beautiful" Miller said, mesmerised as he looked up and down one of the containers. "It's such a shame they're a project of the enemy."
"You ready to move Captain" Ko asked, having fixed the last charge.
"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here"
"This place is going to go up with some bang" Allura said, "Check those gas pipes running through the ceiling. If we're lucky it might flashback to it's source and blow that up too."
"That'd be a bonus certainly" Said Miller. "Now how the hell so we get out of here?"
"I think I saw a service door on the side." Allura said. The three of them set off towards the door, but as Miller turned his foot caught on the floor and he fell forward. Attempting to keep his balance he thrust one of his arms out, his hand landing on one of the cyborgs containers.

The room plunged into darkness. A siren screamed into life. The cyborgs started to emerge from their cells…
"KILL THEM ALL!" Screamed Miller. "KILL THEM ALL NOW!"

They ran, row my row, the bright blue shots of energy from their blaster rifles illuminating the dark room as they mercilessly executed the experimental cyborgs in their startup. Fortunately the process of the cyborgs emerging was a slow one, but nowhere near slow enough for Miller. He knew well enough they wouldn't be able to kill them all.
"Ko! Allura!" He shouted. "We're not going to be able to finish them off. Let's get out of here and blow the charges."
"Roger that captain" Ko replied, and the three of them ceased firing and bundled through the service door they has seen beforehand. When they got inside, however, they were in for a shock. The room led straight to a dead end.
"Bollocks, this was supposed to be our way out" Said Ko, and Miller signalled for them to turn back, but as Allura turned he came face to face with one of the cyborgs. Clumsily the cyborgs swung at him, narrowly missing his head but none the less determined to get at him. He swung again, but this time it was well off target and Allura managed to whip out his gun and shot him dead on the spot.
"It's not good!" Allura said, looking out. "They're all fully mobile now. We can't get out."
"Dammit" Said Miller. He walked over and shut the door, then , after signalling Ko, they pulled a large metal container down from the wall and placed it against the door.
"That should hold them for now" Miller said, stopping to take a breath. Now he could fully see what was in the room. Though only small, it contained miles worth of piping running down the walls and across the ceiling- all gas piping too. One wayward shot and the whole place would go up. There were also several large metal containers, and between the three of them they eventually managed to make a solid barricade out of them.
"What do we do now?" Asked Ko.
"We wait. Eventually they'll tear through the barricade, and then we just hope that we can fight our way out."
"Let's be honest captain, we don't have much of a chance, do we?"
Miller looked at his two squadmates, then sighed.
"No, there isn't. I don't know how many of them there are left out there, but I doubt we'll even have enough ammo to get through half of them." Miller then turned back to his colleagues. "I vote we initiate project Lazarus. We don't have to die in vain."
Ko and Allura both looked at each other, the resignation evident in their facial expressions. They knew it was the only way they were going to be successful here, even if it meant they had to die.
"It's settled then." Said Miller. "As soon as we're overrun, we'll detonate the charges attached to the wall and take this whole place down with us."

They could hear it. The drilling, sawing and grinding as the cyborgs tried to smash their way through their barricade. Miller was impressed with how well it was standing up to the punishment it was getting- it had been half an hour since they had been locked in the room- but it was also frustrating. Despair was starting to kick in as everyone truly realised what was going to happen. Five more minutes of waiting and he could swear someone was going to go mad and just shoot everyone on the spot.
"I can't stand this anymore" Ko said, standing up and throwing away his gun.
"Wait!" Miller said in an instantaneous reply. The pitch of the drilling had increased. They were close to getting through. "They're close. Get back behind the cover."
As soon as he said that, there was a loud splintering sound as a hand thrust through the door. Miller, Ko and Allura all jumped back in shock, and brought their guns right up to attention, but the hand just stayed there.
"The hell?"
Miller, carefully, walked up to it. To him it just looked like an ordinary metal hand. He shrugged and turned back, but as he did a small cylindrical appliance started to emerge from its wrist, small enough that Miller couldn't see it.

But Ko saw it. He screamed for them to get down as the rocket erupted from the cyborg's wrist. In a flash, it shot straight past the three startled Republic soldiers and buried itself into one of the protruding gas pipes so very close to them.

One second they were there. The next they were gone.

Miller was only out for a few seconds, but in that time the whole place had erupted into chaos. He staggered to his feet, vision blurry and his head banging. He could see a swarm of cyborgs, but for some reason they weren't firing at him. No, they were firing at someone else. Miller could see him, standing in the epicentre, fighting off the brainless clones. He looked like a cyborgs too, but not fully. Only half his body was robotic, and the parts looked crude. It took less than five minutes for the cyborgs to be killed off, the few of them that were left. Once he was finished, the half cyborg saw Miller in the corner of the room, looking over the bodies of his two fallen comrades. Miller could sense him approaching.
"You know" Miller said, though not directed entirely at the half-cyborg, "You never know what you have until it's gone. I came to this planet with a team of four under my command, and now it's just me. I failed them."
"You didn't fail them" The cyborgs said, the first time Miller had heard him speak. He sounded human enough. "You came here with a mission, same as I did. We all have to make sacrifices. Without sacrifice there is no victory. I mean, just look at me."
Miller turned around to fully face him. He extended a cold metal hand, and Miller took it.
"Name's Adam. But you can call me Sidewinder."
"Sidewinder?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you more when we get out of here. No doubt more Imperial guards will be trying to get through that door any second."
"I hate to break up the party" Miller said, "But my H-Suit is completely ruined. I won't survive long outside this complex."
"It's a good thing we don't have to leave then." Sidewinder smiled.

Miller may not have known the layout of the base, but even if he did he wouldn't have expected a hangar right next to the cyborg lab. Sitting in the Imperial craft hovering over the complex let Miller see it fully for the first time. It was a lot more expansive than he first thought it was.
"You ready for this?" Sidewinder asked over the radio. Without even waiting for a reply, he continued. "I've been waiting a long time for this moment." He tilted the craft at a downwards angle, and then unleashed an entire salvo of rockets towards the compound. They stuck the ground beneath them, sending a shockwave searing through the ruins of the cyborgs lab, in turn igniting the charges Miller and the boys had placed there. The whole thing went up in a fireball, but, more than that, the gas pipes that weren't already destroyed flashbacked down the entire pipeline. Miller watched as the gas storage warehouse went up as well. Then the rest of the complex, one building at a time, started to go into meltdown. It was the most satisfying chain reaction Miller had ever seen.

It was for Reza. It was for Allura. It was for Ko. They were heroes, and they had made history.

It was a long journey back to Coruscant, but it was one they were going to enjoy. Sidewinder was piloting the Imperial ship, whilst Miller was on the comms, and had already radioed back to base that they were coming home. Now, they just had to endure the long journey. Miller, through all this time, couldn't help but notice the mechanics of Sidewinder. And Sidewinder couldn't help but notice him noticing.
"I bet you're wondering what happened to me?" He said, putting the ship into autopilot.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't" Miller replied.
"I don't blame you. I'm quite a sight. Took me a while to get over it myself, but now I am it's not too bad. Got its benefits."
"How did you break free? All the others acted like robots but you're thinking for yourself."
"That's because I was the first. The beginning of the program. It was the battle of Kashyyyk actually. I was a Republic pilot, but we were so heavily outnumbered that it just became ridiculous. The only way, I thought, to have any chance of winning, was to take down the Imperial mothership. So I went aboard with a team and started to wreak havoc. Of course, it didn't work, and I got captured. What I didn't know at the time was that Count Dooku was personally on the ship to oversee the invasion."
"Bet that took you by surprise."
"Not half. He's a weird person, but not as weird as half the ideas he had. I was never told why, but for some reason he was intent on creating his own droid army, but from real people so that they weren't mindless droids like the kind General Grievous has. So he decided to start the experiments on me. Unfortunately for him it was his first time of trying and, whilst the attachments were fine, the Mental Aversion Device (MAD) he uses to turn them into his own drones was, to say the least, crap, so I was able to override it and escape. Ever since that moment I'd been hiding out in the compound, looking for a way to escape. That's when you came along with your team. It was perfect. And so now, here we are."
"Wow, that's almost poetic"
"Yeah, well I'd be so much happier if I'd remembered to bring my tool kit!"

Count Dooku knew that the Emperor was angry. Only when he was angry would he face to turn him, and now he was staring full face into the darkness of the Empire's heart.
"My Lord" He began, but The Emperor cut him off straight away.
"You have failed me Dooku"
"But my Lord—"
"Quiet! I trusted you with the cyborg program on Yavin II. You promised me an army and now all we have is in ruins! I may not have foreseen this happening, but that is no excuse for your pitiful excuse of a failure."
"I understand, my Lord"
"This is your mess Dooku, so you must make it right. Right now that creation of yours is on it's way to Coruscant, and then it'll be heading to the planet of Kamino. I don't care how you do it, but I cannot have the power of the Empire undermined by your mistakes."
"It will be done my Lord" Dooku said, and then disappeared. As soon as he was gone, General Grievous appeared from the shadows.
"General" Said The Emperor, "I have a mission for you."
"What is your bidding, my master?"
"It seems we have a traitor within our midst, and she's teamed up with those two favourite pilots of yours to derail our plans. I want you to find her and finish her off."
"And the pilots?"
"They are not of concern to me, so you can do what you like with them. All I want is for Juno Eclipse to be dead by this time tomorrow."
"It is understood my Lord. It will be done."