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Magnus Iscander

The man in the black tunic watched as Chief Folen went down with an expressionless face, then aimed down the sites and shot at Kennex, hitting him square in the forehead. Even from here, he could see their leader go flying backward, but his head did not pop with the sudden energy influx, and Magnus breathed. Stun shot. And thank the stars Kennex was also using stun. He glared at the second stormtrooper, who had run to his fallen comrade now that he saw Kennex was subdued. But he shot to kill, the little fool. Don't you people know how to do anything right?

Vash ran forward, holding both his hands in the air and standing between the strange newcomer who had shot Kennex, and the others. "ENOUGH!" he shouted. "Enough! Everyone, come out here, now."

There was little else to do. Magnus pulled an unwilling Gallis to his feet, then nudged Lysander forward. The other didn't seem to want to move, but instead allowed himself to be pushed along.

Cecilia and Adelia were dragging Kennex over as well, who had a giant lump on his forehead. Vash looked at them, his eyes blazing with a fire Magnus had never seen, which somehow filled with respect for the Commander.

"What were you all doing down here," he said quietly as they all came forward. No one said anything; they were all too frightened to. They had never seen a blaster fight before, never. Not even Magnus, who had only watched holos.

To his surprise, however, Lysander spoke first. "Is my father gonna be alright?" he said in a sort of stunned tone.

"Your father?" The man in the black tunic looked at him curiously. "Yes, I see the resemblance of the eyes-"

"Your dad's gonna be okay, Cody. It was only a stun shot to the arm, he'll be up in a minute." Vash sounded surprisingly controlled, but in a flash that was over. "Now tell me what you were doing down here with these KIDS!"

Lysander drew himself up, though he looked close to tears. "We came to see the ship that was down here," he said defensively. "The orphans want off this miserable rock, and I wanted to help-"

"You wanted to help." Vash actually laughed. "You wanted to help. To help. So you broke past my garrison perimeter and into the mine despite the strict orders not to? You disobeyed me, your father, your government-"

Lysander held his head up high. "It was the right thing to do-"

Vash struck him hard across the face, and Adelia gasped. The newcomer watched intensely while the other in the highly decorated uniform watched, looking bored. He looked a lot like Governor-General Rellius from the old propaganda posters…

"You idiot boy. Did I not tell you to come down here? Did none of you heed my warnings? And how the devil did Kennex get armed? Did he even know how to properly use that pistol? Did he know it would be on stun, or did he only guess and shoot a standing soldier? You children are all coming with me Chief Folen's station for a briefing, and consequences will be-"

"I think not."

Vash's face, if possible, went redder with anger. "Excuse me?"

"I mean to say I do not think these children are at fault." The strange man looked at Vash with intelligent eyes; Magnus found himself curiously drawn to him. He held himself like the Commander, but with an undefinable aura of command. We don't want to mess with this guy. "If anything, you are responsible for this debacle, Commander Vash."

"C-come now, Jabor!" said the man who looked like Rellius, finally speaking. "These stupid children are obviously at fault-"

"Are they?" the man called Jabor said curiously. "Are they really? Shouldn't Commander Vash's security been good enough to keep them out? How were six children able to penetrate an entire Imperial garrison? There seems to be quite a number of flaws in your garrison commander, here, Rellius…"

Vash's face color changed to the color of rusted iron. "Are you doubting my ability to lead the Imperial Garrison here, Representative Jabor?"

"I am," the other said with a shocking smile. Magnus stole a look down the line: Cecilia and Adelia were watching with baited breath, Kennex slack in their grasp. Gallis even seemed to be listening more attentively now. Lysander had eyes only for his father, who was beginning to stir.

"What's more troubling to me, however, is not even your ineptitude as a commander," Jabor said loftily. "Why, the entire reason we are down here- why these children are down here, as well- does not even seem to be present." He turned to Rellius. "Tell me, Governor-General, do you see any sort of spaceship down here?"

"I do not," he said in a confused tone. "Vash? What is this, where is the ship?"

Vash was silent for a long time. "There is no ship in the South Tip Mine, Governor-General."

Cecilia moaned softly and Magnus felt his heart stop beating for a moment. Jabor's eyes glinted in the light of the walker's searchlights. "Is that right? No ship? You mean to say you lied to us, Commander?"

Vash sighed. "I crafted the idea of a ship having crashed in the mine to deter the miner's from investigating."

"What?" Chief Folen had gotten up, rubbing his shoulder. "Vash-"

"Chief Pacem had no part in the deception; I duped him as I did the stormtroopers under my command, as well as the townspeople of Cindra." He turned to the Governor, and Magnus had the impression that under his own disbelief at the situation, Vash was looking very afraid. "The reason I did so, Governor-General was…" He seemed to choke a moment, and Magnus thought his eyes went to Folen for a moment. "I- I was- keeping a special gift for the Governor, to properly present it Governor Rellius." He bowed low before his leader, armor clanking as he did so. "But it seems things have gotten out of hand. So, allow me to present it to you firsthand, Your Excellency, that I have discovered in the mines of South Tip an abundant supply of plastoid ore."

Rellius eyes practically glowed. He looked from Vash, to Folen's dumbstruck expression, to Jabor's frozen smile, even to the faces of the caught orphans. He seemed to be thinking it was some sort of joke, but when no one broke this belief, his face broke into an exhilarated smile. "Plastoid, you say?" he said in wonder. "My word, Vash- you must be pulling a fast one-"

"Plastoid ore?" The triumphant feeling was absent from Jabor now. A deadly seriousness had taken over his voice. "That's what you were concealing?"

And Magnus could hardly blame his reaction. The other's didn't seem to understand; Adelia and Cecilia were looking relieved, in fact, that the adult's attention had gone elsewhere.

He supposed he alone knew what it was. Looking at Jabor, he said, "You want it for the stormtrooper armor, don't you, sir? It's become a pretty rare material, I've heard."

Jabor seemed to remember his presence. He stared at Magnus for a moment. "You're right, boy," he said slowly, regaining some authority. "Plastoid is the key component in what makes stormtrooper gear able to spread energy throughout the armor. And you're right, it's become rather rare since the days of Endor, what with the New Republic shutting down all previous mines for it…"

"We must begin excavation at once!" Rellius said, clapping his hands together like a child obtaining chocolate. "This can be the beginning of a rejuvenated stormtrooper corps!"

Magnus thought that both Vash and a now standing Folen looked a little sick at the words, but Jabor had an almost amused smile on his face again. "Indeed?" he said, looking to the remaining stormtrooper, who had helped his friend to his feet. "We will need to discuss this in length, Governor-General. These children, however, ought to be excused now."

"Excused?" Vash echoed, finding his voice again. "They've just been caught inside a high-security zone, shooting at Imperial troops-"

"A zone that should never have existed, since it seems to have only been made as a way to ensure a promotion from the Governor," Jabor said scathingly. "It was your lie, in fact, that duped the children into coming down here in the first place." Jabor turned to Lysander, seemingly taking him as their leader. "Take the elevator up with your friends, boy. Have this stormtrooper escort you-"

Lysander looked disconcerted, and Magnus easily saw why. "Lysander, you stay here," Chief Folen said gratingly. "The rest of you kids get out, just… out."

They left in a rush, not giving Lysander any look for fear of staying any longer might antagonize Jabor. But nobody stopped them as they got in the lift. The stormtrooper and his friend came in last and they hit the switch. Kennex and Gallis slowly awoke from the jarring rise; Magnus had his eyes trained on the four adults still in the beams of the walkers, talking animatedly.

"I can't believe we got out of there," Gallis whispered to him, not sounding at all bothered by his arm. "That Jabor guy actually managed to talk down Vash. I can't believe it."

"Neither can I."

"What's gonna happen now?"

Magnus looked at the others. Kennex was in a peaceful rest, though the lump on his forehead seemed to pulse unpleasantly. Adelia gently dabbed it with more herbs, trying to reduce the swelling. Cecilia stood still as a statue, uncommonly pale and her blueberry hair almost lifeless. No doubt she was still taking in Vash's lie, that the great journey to the stars would not be happening yet.

If ever. If anything, we're more stuck here than we ever have before. He looked down at his thin younger brother. "I don't know," he said simply. "But we'll figure something out. We always do."

"Then why do I feel like this time it's different? I feel like… something more happened here."

He felt it to. It was like a wet blanket had been placed over him, a lot like those strange feelings he had, or when he and Gallis somehow seemed to read each other's mind. It worried him.

But he wouldn't let Gallis know he was worried. "Don't worry about it," he said quietly. "Nothing will change, we'll continue on like before. Nothing is set in stone. Nothing."

XXX

Well this is what would be considered the season midway point if this was like a sh. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, there is much more to come, leave a review or follow or whatever you bloody like so I know you're liking it. I won't be uploading until June because my finals are this week and, y'know, kinda gotta succeed in life somehow.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you around.