Chapter VIII - Standoff

Colonel Veers crouched behind a gnarled dead tree and peered below the trunk through a crevasse that was dug into the earth by some burrowing creature that wanted to get past the trunk but couldn't climb over and was too stupid to go around. It also gave him a good view of the rebel shuttlecraft and that of the downed vessel half buried in the earth from the high-velocity impact.

He was badly outnumbered five to one and outgunned ten to one. Still, that didn't persuade him from giving up and getting off of the rotting planet. He had faced greater numbers than the ones he was presented with now and still came out on top as the victor. Except, he also had support during those battles and resources to rely on.

Here, all he had was his own ingenuity and a blaster.

Veers had two choices currently presentable to him. He could use the protection of the rotting trunk and the small hole beneath to fire from and pick them off one by one all the while leaving himself vulnerable to flank attacks. Or he could fire off one or two shots then move deeper into the forest and flank the rebels and come up from behind the wreckage allowing the rebels to run for cover inside the shuttle.

Or he could act like the Corellians and charge into battle blindly with no plan except for a blaster blazing wildly. Veers snorted at that idea. He knew how that would end, with him dead. Veers recalled watching security footage of a rebel terrorist getting separated from the others and chasing after two stormtroopers. A Wookiee had followed behind him and was lucky to not have been with his human companion. The charging rebel had quickly retreated as he had bravely chased the stormtroopers when he found out a legion of troopers was waiting around the corner.

That moment made Veers smile broadly.

He had several plans formulated in his mind. None of them insured flawless victory and most of them were too much of a risk to his life.

"How hard can it be to take on five rebels when you just took out three earlier?" Veers chastised himself quietly for his reluctance. Except all three were humans while these five are a mixed sort. The two rebel humans inspecting the wreckage had a Wookiee tugging at the plastisteel that Veers had hours ago peeled away at to get to Lieutenant Pliskin.

A Twi'lek and a species Veers couldn't identify were guarding the shuttle ramp and talking away idly with each other as if it was only another drill and nothing serious. Colonel Veers decided he would take out the two at the shuttle and make a break for it before the remaining three could react to him.

But that idea was washed away with a new development.

A sixth rebel walked down the ramp to the two aliens and spoke to them in hushed tones. Veers could only guess as to what was being said, but he had a good idea they were talking about him. The Twi'lek lekkus twitched in agitation while the second seemed to stiffen in response to whatever the human was telling them.

The three rebels at the wreckage came back, the Wookiee wrinkling its nose in disgust at the smell it had to endure, to listen in on what the sixth rebel was telling. Then, to Veers alarm, they unholstered their blaster rifles while the two aliens and the sixth rebel walked back into the shuttle.

What are they doing? Veers inquired, troubled. His worries rocketed toward the sky when the Wookiee began to sniff the air and moaned something to the humans. Veers knew what had happened; the giant furball had smelled the Colonel's scent.

"Where?" The shorter rebel to the Wookiee's right inquired further. The Wookiee howled lowly and pointed in the general direction of the Imperial and to prove that something was hiding, the alien un-slung the giant bowcaster from his back and fired a green energy bolt.

The blast was short and dug into the dirt in front of the gnarled tree trunk. It splattered dirt down upon Colonel Veers who refused to flinch to the provoked attack. Another blast hit the tree trunk itself and splinters flew everywhere.

"There's nothing there." The short rebel argued and the Wookiee howled in disagreement, shaking its chocolate furry head.

Colonel Veers pressed himself against the tree trunk and listened to the movements of the rebels. They weren't moving due to whatever the Wookiee had been telling them. Veers concluded they were hoping he would come out and reveal himself. He wasn't that big of a fool as they thought he was.

Then the sound of the shuttle starting up alarmed him. His chance of escaping the planet was leaving the area. He had to somehow stop it from going anywhere.

But how? He questioned to himself. A mere blaster can not bring down a shuttle that is designed to resist hand and rifle blaster fire. He didn't know if the owners had closed the ramp yet. There was only one way he could find out.

He was about to peek underneath the log when another blast from the bowcaster kept him positioned up against the decaying organism. The Wookiee was certainly persistent about someone hiding behind it.

The high pitched whine of the shuttle drowned out any other noise as it began to lift off from the ground. Veers pounded his fist into the earth beneath him in anger as his ride left rapidly over the tree tops back in the direction it had came. He only had one choice left to take now.

He would have to venture toward the temples.

But first, he had to get away from the party that the shuttle no doubt left behind to deal with him. That meant, getting out of sight if the rebels had moved since the shuttle took off.

Veers began to shift his weight to stand up and run for the forest when a ruby blaster bolt whizzed past his temple narrowly missing by millimeters. The close proximity of the shot was near enough for him to feel the heat and singe the bandage he had wrapped around his skull.

The closeness of the shot would have been enough to freeze any normal being into place. But Veers was not a normal being, his training did not allow for Imperial soldiers to freeze in place when under attack. It enforced spontaneous reaction into its trainees and veterans. Instantaneous, Veers leaped to his feet and began running.

As soon as he revealed himself, blaster fire chased him and tried to trace his path ahead of him. But his training again enforced his path into a zigzag and unpredictable. It also made him return fire knowing that he had the slimmest chance of hitting any of the hostile force.

Veers dived into the trench the wrecked shuttle had created upon crashing, just as a salvo of blaster and bowcaster fire whizzed overhead. Breathing heavily, he raised his hand blaster over the edge and sent a reply without exposing himself. It was only meant to force the enemy to keep their heads down and not really do any damage. One out of a hundredth chance does that tactic ever actually hit a hostile.

Oh how Veers wished he had some grenades to throw at the rebels. He even wished he had an entire legion of stormtroopers, Imperial walkers and Scout walkers, and a squadron of TIE bombers strafing the ground from overhead. He missed having all those resources and realized how much he took them for granted.

He had always thought he would have the Imperial war machine right behind him when he went into battle. He had never considered the idea of being stranded on a hostile world with only a blaster and himself to fight with. He never had realized how much he relied on the stormtroopers he led to keep him unharmed and breathing. How many of those stormtroopers relied on him to keep them alive long enough so they could live and fight another day.

"Funny how life can enlighten you of things you took for granted, at the strangest and most dangerous moments." Veers laughed sardonically.

"Surrender, Imperial dog!" Yelled one of the rebels as soon as the blaster fire had died down long enough for the message to be clearly given. "You are surrounded and outnumbered!"

No kriff. Colonel Veers' thoughts dripped with sarcasm. His dirt covered back pressed up against one side of the shoved dirt of the man-made gorge. His hands danced over the blaster as they switched the cartridge from empty to a full one. His blue eyes took in the remaining cartridge and he knew he wouldn't last for very much longer once he ran out of ammunition. Sooner or later the rebels will realize he was out of ammo and begin making their way toward his position.

"Surrender now and the Alliance will promise that no harm shall come to you!" The rebel pleaded, his words marinated with deception and falsehood. Although Veers had no idea how the rebels would treat him, he did know that once they found out his rank and how much authority he had they would press for whatever information his mind kept locked away. Even if that meant using torture, both physical and mental, to break him.

He didn't want to find that out. He'd rather suffer on the planet than having to live with the guilt of betraying his Emperor and the New Order through an interrogation. His loyalty to the Empire came first over his own self-being. The Academy at Carida had taught and drilled that into him relentlessly until he either understood it or it became programmed into him.

He also did not want to have to go through the steps of an interrogation. He knew what it was like to witness an Imperial questioning session, Veers did not want to imagine what rebel interrogations, with crude instruments and methods were like. Anything they did would be a lot rougher than what the Imperials could ever do. He had heard stories that the rebels made Imperial interrogations look gentle in comparison.

Veers shuddered at the idea of savage and uncivilized criminals torturing his body and mind only for the knowledge he possessed and perhaps for their own sadistic twisted pleasure. He remembered seeing footage of rebel insurgents uprising on some backwater world in the Outer Rim. Imperial officers and stormtroopers unfortunate enough to be in the path of the angry mob were either trampled to death, shot, or beaten to a pulp (sometimes resulting in death later).

"Come out! We know you can't last forever on just one blaster!" The same rebel hollered. Much as Veers loathes admitting it, the rebel was right.

"Never!" He replied back and added three random and blind shots. He had no intentions of leaving his hiding spot. Veers let his gaze wander along his surroundings to see if there was anything useful in helping him against the rebels. There was nothing except a few pieces of shrapnel the size of a door or smaller.

His intense blue eyes stared at the pieces of wreckage, then with the determination of an Imperial soldier bent on staying alive and defeating the enemy, he began digging away at a piece of metal with his blaster and hands until he had it unburied. The piece was only about two feet long and a foot and a half wide. And despite all the dirt and smoke stains, it still shone with a metallic sheen.

Perfect for a personal shield.

Blaster fire rang overhead as Veers pulled his jacket off and then his issued uniform shirt. He replaced the jacket back on his person and gripped the shield tightly with one hand and with his blaster-equipped hand he raised his shirt over the edge, careful to keep his shield out of sight, and began swinging it back and forth. The fabric of his shirt hid his blaster from sight.

"I'm coming out!" He hollered and tossed an empty clip a couple feet ahead of him in hopes to fool the rebels in thinking that he had thrown away his blaster. "Hold your fire!"

"A wise choice Imperial!" The rebel replied and Veers could hear them moving, most likely to accept their prisoner. Someone needed to teach them a little bit more about wisdom and warfare. Veers intended on being that person to give that lesson.

The Colonel took a deep breath, tucked his shirt partly into his belt, and leapt over the edge of the trench with shield raised and blaster blazing. He caught the two human rebels by surprise, one went down with a blast to his shoulder while the other ducked and rolled behind a tree. The Wookiee could not be seen anywhere but Veers did not pause to find out where the alien furball was.

The Imperial ran for the forest, his makeshift shield protecting him from the returning blaster fire. He could feel the impact of each shot and the metal was beginning to emit heat that it was absorbing. Then a shot from the bowcaster knocked him sideways. Veers staggered on his feet but kept himself upright and protected by the shield by miracle.

Once he was within the relative safety of the forest, he dumped the shield and began running harder. He didn't pause to look over his shoulder and fire back or to see if the Rebels were coming after him. The only thing that told him of the rebels' status was the occasional shot of a blaster and a Wookiee howl as the alien took up the chase.

Veers dodged and ran around tree trunks and prickly bushes. Branches scrapped and tore at him as he fled from the crash site for the third time that day. The first time was to escape the piranha beetles, the second time was out of fear and the stench that reeked the area, and now he ran from it again to get away from the rebels.

It just was not his day with that site.

A frustrated howl told Veers that the Wookiee was giving up the chase. He didn't understand why but he really didn't care. He wanted to get away from the rebels. Another howl, this Veers understood, echoed behind him. Something, he realized, he must have done to get such a threat from the creature.

"I hope it never comes about." Veers muttered as he pushed his way past several vines hanging from a limp tree. He never stopped running, not even after the rebels had momentarily given up the chase. Not at least until night fell and the temperature began to drop did he stop to rest.

Colonel Veers walked another kilometer in the dimming light of dusk to find a suitable place to spend the night. He found a toppled tree that leaned up against a larger one. It was an ideal place to sleep. The massive trunk of the dead tree was just large enough to be a roof and dead vines from that tree drooped downward to about two feet above the ground, partially hiding anything inside from view.

Veers didn't dare light a fire for fear of the rebels discovering it from overhead. Instead, he curled up into a ball beneath a pile of fallen leaves and dead vines and scrunched his jacket closer around him and tried to sleep the night away.