TALINN DISTRICT, TARIS
ONE WEEK LATER
Chapter Four
It had been a week since Renee's promotion to Captain of Delta Company, and so far she had managed the job considerably well. Although they were still present, the nightmares and the self-doubt had largely faded, most likely because she had been so engrossed in her new duties. Going from a planetside, obscure garrison to a Captain in the 105th Legion was a big jump, an honor usually not given to some Mid Rim yokel. Yet Renee had distinguished herself, at least in the eyes of Moff Taejon, and so here she was.
Being a Captain was by no means some sort of elevated position. In her first week she had met the troops in her company and gotten used to the inner workings of the chain of command. She had been apart of her first briefing as a member of the Legion, but it hadn't been very eventful; just an announcement that new checkpoints across several districts with large Blood Angel activity and a new requirement that citizens must be carrying ID cards at all times.
Now, Renee was in charge of one of those checkpoints, this one in particular manned by ten or so troops, along with several tech and maintenance officers. A large energy gate prevented easy travel through the checkpoint while a building off to the left served as a home and miniature garrison for the troops stationed at the checkpoint. A tight-beam transmissions array and heavy blaster cannon were the stars of the small base, and Renee's main duty was to ensure that her and her stormtroopers stationed there were able to protect the base and enforce the numerous laws enacted for Talinn District. And that meant station duty.
At this particular time, a line of citizens slowly shuffled forward to a smaller entrance at the side of the energy gate, a smaller gate meant for pedestrian use. Renee stood, blaster at her side, along with another stormtrooper manning the gate. As the line slowly moved, each citizen passing through the gate was patted down, scanned for any weapons or residue that could indicate illegal activity, and finally their identification cards were scanned before they were allowed to proceed through the gate. A stormtrooper stood ominously in the tower above, peering down at the line through the optics of the heavy blaster cannon.
To surmise, a direct assault on the gate would be suicide. Any attackers would have to contend with not only Renee and her fellow stormtrooper, but the blaster cannon and the other eight stormtroopers inside the station. Not only that, but any attempt would result immediately in every garrison on the planet being notified, along with Moff Taejon's personal office. Things like this made Renee glad she was an Imperial soldier, not some rebel miscreant.
As the line shuffled forward, a sudden shout got Renee's attention. Two men - a Rodian and a Devaronian - had broken into a fight, and although no weapons were drawn Renee knew that one of her prominent duties were to resolve any breakage of the peace. This, she assumed, counted as breaking the peace.
She gave a nod to her subordinate stormtrooper, and automatically he raised his blaster and walked over to the brawling men, trying to break them apart as he kept his blaster pointed at them. No one heard whether or not the stormtrooper had switched his gun from kill to stun.
The men continued brawling, and the stormtrooper became more irate, grabbing one of the Rodian's shoulders and roughly pulling him back as he pointed his blaster rifle at the other. "Break it up, you two," he warned them, the tone of his voice making it clear that the consequence for this continued disturbance wouldn't be friendly.
The Rodian tried to again lunge at his opponent, but the stormtrooper shoved him backwards into the muddy ground, sending the man off balance as mud flew everywhere. The Devaronian in turn growled, baring his sharp teeth as he turned to face off with the Stormtrooper. The bystanders instinctively backed away from the impending fight as the stormtrooper raised his blaster at the Devaronian.
Renee drew her own blaster, but she didn't raise it in some sort of offensive posture. The situation was quickly devolving into a showdown, and unless it was solved right now she could have a full out firefight on her hands. She silently pushed a button on her commlink for reinforcements, and thankfully two more stormtroopers hustled out of the tower, blasters raised and shouting for the two non-humans to get on the ground. Bolstered by the arrival of reinforcements, the stormtrooper already on the scene advanced towards the Devaronian, motioning with his blaster for the brawler to get on the ground.
The red-skinned alien eyed the incoming stormtroopers, and with a snarl he grudgingly obliged, putting his hands up as he got onto his knees in the mud. As soon as he was down, the stormtrooper rushed him and pressed him down onto his front, holding his wrists together by his back; a similar scene was being played out with the Rodian as they were both cuffed and dragged to their feet.
The third stormtrooper approached Renee, nodding his head backwards to the two now-arrested non-humans. "Your orders, ma'am?"
Renee surveyed the handcuffed Rodian and Devaronian briefly before tipping her head toward the guard tower. "Lock them up and notify command that we'll need a secured transport vehicle to take them to the detention center. Meanwhile, process their ID Chips so we can identify them and put them in the register."
"Yes, ma'am." The stormtrooper gave a brief salute before beckoning to the other two stormtroopers, who began hauling the prisoners back to the guard tower. Renee breathed a sigh of relief - that hadn't escalated into something that would've been tough to handle - and turned back to her station. The crowd, still recovering from the temporary scare of the brawl, began to shuffle back into line, and soon the checkpoint was proceeding as usual but with a considerable tension in the air, as if the remaining citizens were waiting for something to happen.
The next low-life to shuffle forward was an older man, probably somewhere in his late fifties, wearing a thick woven robe over his clothes. Renee paid little attention to him, frisking him with the scanner before extending her hand wearily. "Identification, please."
The man gave a long sigh before producing a tiny chip from his robes, dropping it in Renee's palms rather reluctantly. "You know, before the Empire there was none of this identification business, and Taris was just as safe then as it was now," he said as Renee plugged the ID chip into the computer. She gave a snort of derision, but decided not to say anything and let the man continue in his delusional thoughts.
After a few seconds, the ID chip cleared and she waved the man on through, motioning for the next in line to step up. This time it was a younger man who wore a lighter brown cloak, with wider sleeves that gave a monastic sort of appearance. Under her helmet, Renee raised and eyebrow but remained silent as she held out her hand for his ID chip.
She waited for the chip to be put in his hand, but after a few seconds she turned impatiently to the man. "Identification? I don't have all day."
The man coughed before raising a hand, waving it past Renee's face. "You do not need to see my identification."
Renee felt a warm feeling wash over her, and a part of her mind wanted to agree with the man. She felt like complying, like the only thing she wanted to do was say that this man didn't need to show her his identification. But as soon as it happened, another part of her mind butted in; of course she needed to see this man's identification, it was apart of her job. To wave this man through the checkpoint without seeing his ID chip would be a gross neglect of duty.
As the trance washed away, Renee narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Why did this man not want to give her his ID in the first place. A hand closed around her blaster, and she silently pressed her comm for another trooper to join her. It hadn't even been an hour since the fight, and she was already making another arrest. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to detain you to ask you a few questions."
The man tilted his head, almost quizzically as if he couldn't understand why Renee was unpersuaded. He tried again, waving his hand the other way and repeating his statement. Renee felt the same urge, but it was lesser and didn't have the same swaying effects as it had before. The hand motion and mystic aura of the man was starting to irritate Renee, and she raised her blaster higher in a threatening manner. "Sir, you're going to have to come with me."
The man cleared his throat, obviously realizing that whatever he was trying to do wasn't working, and his hand jumped towards his waist. Renee was faster though - it was like some sort of adrenaline was kicking through her body - and she caught his wrist in her offhand, all the while keeping her blaster trained at his chest. The man's eyes narrowed, and he looked almost apologetically at Renee before he extended his other palm towards Renee.
Suddenly, almost in a fluid transition from his outstretched hand, an invisible force picked up Renee and sent her flying across the length of the gate to the other side, smashing against the walls of the guard tower. As if in concert action, several people broke off of the main line and Renee from her slumped position in the mud could make out blaster rifles and pistols. Rebels.
The stormtrooper at the blaster cannon gave a shout of alarm, and the man - who was now holding a blaster pistol as well - raised it and fired, sending two plasma bolts clean through the plastoid armor. The accuracy and speed of the man's reaction shocked Renee and she fumbled for her own blaster, but realized that it lay on the ground a few meters away. If she tried to make an attempt to grab it, the insurgents would shoot her before she could stand up.
Fortunately, whatever sort of surprise the attackers had hoped to gain had vanished and the other nine stormtroopers were on full alert. Four of them ran out of the garrison, blasters raised and already firing as red bolts streaked across the muddy road. The insurgents took cover, sending return fire as the scene quickly became a classic firefight. Two rebels went down, but they took a stormtrooper with them. The arrival of the four squadmates gave Renee an opportunity to leap for her blaster, and she sprang from the mud, almost immediately diving and sliding in the slick gooey substance.
Her fingers closed around the grip of the blaster rifle, and they tightened around the trigger as she lifted it and fired a few pot shots at the insurgents. Her aim was wild and her shots missed completely, and now the rebels knew that Renee too was fighting. The rest of the stormtroopers ran outside of the garrison, blasters firing as Renee crouched in the mud, trying to get a target on one of the soldiers. For a second it seemed like the Imperial soldiers had an advantage, but the rebels were good, too. They hid in the crowd of fleeing civilians, and it was soon before three more stormtroopers were down with scorched holes in their armor.
Non-combatants fled from the scene, disappearing into alleyways or hiding behind whatever they could while the rebels slowly advanced. A red plasma charge dug itself into the mud besides Renee, and she shakily stood up looking for any sort of cover. Another stormtrooper fell with an anguished cry, and she watched him fall with shock. These rebels had an incredible aim, but if she got to the tower's blaster cannon she might gain the advantage. Hopefully, the tech crew inside of the tower had already alerted nearby garrisons and reinforcements were on their way, but for now it was Renee and her squadron of now four other stormtroopers. "Keep them from entering the station!" She yelled as she ran to the blast doors of the tower, sending mud flying as her boots sloshed through the thick substance.
She managed to scramble inside, only just as thuds on the closing blast doors signaled the presence of several blaster bolts aimed her way. She took a moment to breath before shaking her head into concentration. She had a job to do.
She ran to the stairs of the guard tower, the tech officers peering out to see what was the commotion pistols in hand. "Get back to your stations and alert the garrison," she barked as she stormed past them. Her feet pounded as she climbed the flight of stairs, her helmet amplifying her heavy breathing. By the stars, she inwardly swore as she tore off her helmet - a serious violation of regulation, but the fall had most likely broken her cooling systems, and she needed to breath. She made it to the top, her thighs aching and her breathing coming in short, ragged gasps but the blaster cannon was there, and that was all she needed.
The fallen trooper stationed there was still slumped over the rampart, and with a silent apology she roughly dragged his corpse off of the blaster cannon and quickly primed it, waiting as it warmed up. It's red targeting screen came to life, and she flicked off the safety as she peered down at the sights at the rebels fighting below. From this height she had a much better vantage point, and her finger closed around the trigger as she aimed towards a cluster of three rebels hiding behind a cooling vat.
She could feel the blaster cannon warming up, and she swung it around to face the cluster. One of them noticed the movement and shouted in alarm, but she smiled almost vindictively. It was too late for them. All she needed was to pull on the trigger, and her finger closed around the firing mechanism when a sudden blow came to her head, knocking her to the ground. Without a helmet to cushion the blow, the strike and subsequent fall was easily enough to immobilize her. Renee's vision swam, and when she looked to see the face of her attacker she saw the man who had started the fight. He gave another apologetic smile, as if he was sorry for the mayhem he was caused, before waving his hand a third time over Renee's face. Then her vision blacked out, and she thought no more.