Thrawn and the Rebellion Chapter 12

The Battle of Mount Tantiss is well underway and the tide favours the Galactic Empire for the moment. Captain Pellaeon is uneasy with the Empire's use of flamethrowers against the Waylanders. On the snowy summit on Mount Tantiss, Kanan struggles against Master C'baoth's machinations. Meanwhile, on the ground, Zeb and Sabine hatch a plan to stop General Verwoerd. Hera and Chopper are saved from a fiery death in the nick of time. All recognisable Thrawn Trilogy and Star Wars Rebels characters belong to Timothy Zahn, Lucasfilm, and Disney. As always, feel free to read and review.

Gilad Pellaeon: Hellfire

The Chimaera hung about one thousand metres above the battle raging outside Mount Tantiss. Captain Pellaeon along with Commodore Thrawn and Lieutenant Daala surveyed the battlefield from the bridge of the Chimaera. Life holofeeds of the ensuing battle were transmitted from the Mount Tantiss Imperial Base directed to the Chimaera's command centre. Commodore Thrawn had ordered the deployed of hovering camera droids to captured life footage of the battle.

General Hermann Verwoerd was commanding the ground defence of Mount Tantiss base. A ruthless and ambitious Imperial Army officer, General Verwoerd had drawn notoriety for his role in the extermination of the Ranat population on Aralia. The Ranats were a species of rat-like rodents with long tusk-like incisors who had originated on Rydar II but had since spread out to colonize different worlds across the galaxy. Ranats were one of the most downtrodden species in the Galaxy and occupied the lowest rungs of many planetary civilizations. The ambitious entrepreneur Hazyo Trebor's efforts to turn Aralia into a giant planetary amusement park had encroached on the warrens and natural habitat of the Ranat species. This had provoked a planet-wide uprising.

In response, the Empire had sent the recently promoted General Verwoerd, a veteran of the Outer Rim Sieges, to deal with the Ranat problem on Rydar II. Armed with Jaeger Combat 18 flame throwers, Verwoerd's Stormtroopers unleashed a fiery inferno of death and hellfire on the Ranant rebels; killing thousands within days. No quarter was shown and entire warrens and clans were extinguished under a torrent of flammable liquid. Within three months, the entire Ranat population save a lucky few individuals had been exterminated. The Imperial Army had tried to suppress all details of the brutal pacification.

However, a guilt-ridden Stormtrooper named Private 1st Class Eric Remarque (MS-1918) had leaked details of the pacification to HoloNet News. Verwoerd's pacification methods were so brutal and repugnant that even the most ardent Imperial propagandists like Alton Kastle could find no way of whitewashing the stench of burning flesh, the agonizing death throes of thousands of Ranats, and the heart-rendering wails of orphaned Ranat children. In a rare display of unity, the Imperial Senate had unanimously endorsed a resolution condemning General Verwoerd and placing a moratorium on the use of flamethrowers. Even Emperor Palpatine had been forced to issue an official apology to the surviving Ranats, who were "kindly" resettled on the Deep Core world of Byss.

Against strenuous protests, General Verwoerd was allowed to keep his commission but was "exiled" to the backwater world of Wayland to serve as the base commander of a supposedly unimportant Imperial base. Now, here was the same General unleashing his savage method of warfare on the Wayland rebels. The Wayland rebels would attempt to storm Mount Tantiss were repelled by a volley of flaming liquid. Several of the rebels were burning. Footage of burning flesh and agonizing death throes were transmitted by the hover camera droids to holovision screens on the Chimaera's command bridge.

General Verwoed's flamethrower troops were indiscriminate when selecting their targets. They targeted combatants and civilians alike. They also were careless enough to set several of the thatched civilian squatter huts aflame, perhaps deliberately. General Verwoerd oversaw the battle from the turret of an LAV QH-7 Chariot command vehicle. He wore a grey Imperial Army helmet which covered his forehead, ears, and the back of his neck but left his face exposed. Captain Pellaeon was disturbed to see that the General's face had been contorted into a wicked grin of satisfaction.

The Wayland rebels were caught between a line of flamethrower-wielding Stormtroopers and an entire phalanx of tanks and walkers. The Empire exercised total air supremacy over the battlefield. TIE fighters and Skipray Blastboats launched strafing runs on the Wayland rebels, adding to their misery and death. They also bombed many of the shacks in C'baoth Town, killing many civilians.

The Empire was winning. Captain Pellaeon knew that he and his Imperial comrades ought to be cheering. But there was no joy or satisfaction in using barbaric methods to defeat one's foes, especially methods that led to agonizing death or left survivors with traumatic scars. Pellaeon saw the uneasy looks on Commodore Thrawn and Lieutenant Daala's faces. Even Daala, a patriotic supporter of the Empire, was aghast and shocked by the burning bodies and the agonizing death cries.

Unable to suppress his revulsion anymore, Captain Pellaeon opened his mouth and spoke into the intercom.

"General Verwoerd, we are winning but are such savage methods necessary," asked Pelleaon in a calm but solemn voice.

"Captain, I know it may be difficult for you guys on your comfie Star Destroyer to watch," replied the General "But war is hell and we have to defend the Empire at all cost."

"I beg to differ General," interjected Commodore Thrawn "I agree that we need a strong military deterrence to protect the Empire and to smash those who seek to overthrow our New Order. But would such brutal methods backfire and drive the masses into the arms of the rebels."

"They are already rebels," barked General Verwoerd, his face had turned a deep red "I'm just teaching them about the consequences of their actions. Better to kill a thousand rebels and to make them examples for the entire population than to burn the whole planet down to the ground. If you have any issues with my methods, I suggest that you take it up with my boss, Grand Moff Tarkin."

At that point, the holovideo screen televising General Verwoerd buzzed and flicked off. Obviously, the General was unwilling to listen to reason. Rather than have people criticize his methods, he had decided to flick the holovideo off.

"It's no point arguing with fools, Commodore Thrawn and Captain Pellaeon," said Lieutenant Daala "They will only drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."

"I agree," said Pellaeon softly "The most we can do is file a complaint with the Imperial Army's Criminal Investigation Command. All that they'll do is just reassign him to another posting."

"That's the trouble with this Empire," sighed Thrawn "There is no place for honour or integrity in this Imperial Military. Not since the Jedi left."

"Careful what you say," warned Daala "The ISB might be listening to us."

Pellaeon bowed his head and nodded in agreement. Unlike the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire had little tolerance for dissent even in the highest echelons of the Imperial Military. The Sith were remoulding the Imperial Military in their image. True to their twisted, nihilistic philosophy, the Sith encouraged brutality and cruelty. Thus, men like General Verwoerd were useful assets. Thankfully, they only had to contend with two Sith whereas their predecessors during the various Sith Wars had to contend with multitudes of Sith.

Kanan Jarrus: Fighting Clones

"You are no Jedi," taunted Ashooka Tano, the Dark Jedi clone of Ashoka Tano "I shall end your life and take my place at my Master's side."

"You are not Ashoka," shouted Kanan "Ashoka is dead."

"Lies, I am Ashoka," screamed the Dark Jedi clone "You will not get in the way of my master's destiny."

Kanan parried with Ashooka; his blue lightsaber clashing with her red lightsaber. Sparks flew across the snow summit. Like her genetic template, the cloned Ashoka was proficient in Form V lightsaber combat – the Way of the Krayt Dragon. Ashooka was using Djem So, the variant of Form V which had been developed for blade-to-blade combat. Djem So involved meeting an opponent's attack with a counter-attack; using the force of the opponent's blow against them in order to tip the scales in one's favour.

As a Padawan during the outbreak of the Great Jedi Purge, Kanan had not yet mastered the subtleties of lightsaber combat. With the death of his Master Deepa Billaba, he had no one to teach him how to master a particularly style of lightsaber combat. Kanan tried to counter Ashooka's lightsaber blows but found that he was being pushed towards the edge of a precipice. She was intending to push down a cliff to his death hundreds of metres below.

Suddenly, something halted Ashooka's attack. From a rocky pillar behind, someone had begun firing blaster bolts at the Dark Jedi clone. The bolts missed but Ashooka was forced to used her lightsaber to deflect them. Screaming in rage, Ashooka turned to face her foe. She stretched out her hand and Kanan quickly heard a choking, gurgling sound. He recognized that voice. It was Zare Leonis, the former Imperial cadet.

Kanan quickly realized that the Dark Jedi clone was Force choking Zare, the Imperial defector. Seeing his chance, Kanan lunged forward and plunged his lightsaber deep into Ashooka's body. The ligtsaber penetrated her back like a hot butter knife and pierced into her heart. The Dark Jedi clone's triumphant look was replaced by one of agony and shock. She gurgled and then fell face first onto the snowy ice floor.

Kanan could feel the Dark Jedi's death throes through the Force. She had been a Dark Side spawn of Master C'baoth. However, she was still a living, sentient being even if she was a twisted, carbon copy of the late Jedi Knight Ashoka Tano. He removed his lightsaber from her body and then covered it with her dark cloaks. Even though she was an enemy, he would not desecrate her corpse.

Kanan then rushed over to Zare Leonis, who was very much alive but was still reeling from the Force Choke attack on his trachea. Kanan patted the youth on the back.

"It's okay, Zare," said Kanan "One down, two to go."

"We're got to find Ezra," coughed Zare "He was fighting the other male clone… the Dark Ezra."

"Come, let's go help Ezra," said Kanan "And then we'll deal with that Master C'baoth."

Zeb: Taking Out General Verwoerd

Following their disastrous attempt to storm Mount Tantiss, the Wayland rebels had retreated into an improvised redoubt to tend to their wounded. The air rang with the agonizing cries of wounded and dying sentient beings and blaster bolts. Zeb could smell the stench of burnt and rotting flesh, smoke, and various chemicals. Many of the survivors of that unlucky charge on Mount Tantiss had sustained serious burns. Many would carry scars for the rest of their lives. Right now, some of the Waylanders were putting their comrades out of their misery with a blaster shot to the head or a sharp stab in the heart.

Those were difficult decisions but given the lack of medical equipment and tools, it was preferable to give these unfortunate souls a quick death rather than let them die a long, agonizing one. With the enemy forming a tight ring around, none of the Waylanders were willing to abandon their wounded to the tender mercies of the Imperials, who were known to be trigger happy due to a shoot first mentality endemic within the Imperial military bureaucracy. Better to die in combat than to be taken captive by such enemies. As a warrior, Zeb could understand the reasoning of his Wayland allies who until recently had been primitive warring tribes.

During the battle, Zeb recalled a strong sense of fear and defeat in the atmosphere. It was if the Wayland rebel army had been gripped by a spirit of fear and terror. Unlike previous encounters, the Imperials on this occasion displayed an unusually fierce fighting spirit. They had fought and advanced like one collective unit. Zeb then recalled that the Imperials had a mad Dark Jedi Master called C'baoth, who was reputed to be good in battle meditation.

Growing up, Zeb had only read tales of the ancient Jedi in dusty old history books. However, he could not help noticing similarities between these old battles and the present debacle they had gotten themselves stuck into. So this was how battle meditation felt like. For a moment, Zeb felt like screaming and punching Ezra for landing them into this mess. However, he then recalled the terror and destruction that the Empire had inflicted on his homeworld of Lasan. The Empire had almost succeeded in wiping out his people and would do the same on Wayland if they were not stopped.

Suddenly, Zeb's thoughts were disrupted by a cacophony of shouts and screams. An Imperial AAT hover tank was approaching them. Zeb was familiar with AAT tanks. They had been utilized by the Trade Federation's droid armies during the last decades of the Galactic Republic. In the wake of the Clone Wars, the Empire had taken over much of the military arsenal of the former Confederacy of Independent Systems to meet the growing demands of the Empire's military expansion. Zeb recognised the Imperial markings on the tank.

Several Myneyrshi, Psadans, and Humans hurled rocks and arrows at the tank. Zeb and Sabine had decided to raise their hands. The game was up. Better to live and then fight another day. They could always find their way out of an Imperial prison. Zeb could hear the top hatch of the AAT open. To Zeb and Sabine's relief, a Psadan head popped out.

"Lupec, you're alive," screamed Sabine in a voice mixed with relief and joy. Zeb recalled that Lupec was the friendly Psadan tour guide who had given them a tour of his village.

"Just barely, we managed to take out one of those Imperial walkers," joked Lupec "We narrowly escaped being bombed by a marauding TIE bomber. How's the situation?"

"Not very good," sighed Zeb "General Verwoerd has flamethrowers, similar to those used on Aralia. Dozens of men died trying to storm Mount Tantiss."

Lupec was followed by Jayce Whiti, the Human Waylander Tribesmen.

"The Imps are forming a tight ring around C'baoth town," said Jayce "They have stopped firing but they are letting no one out."

"What does this mean," asked Sabine

To answer her question, there came a deep, booming Imperial voice.

"People and Rebels of Wayland, this is General Verwoerd speaking."

Zeb and the others looked around for the source of the voice. They saw no Imperial around. But then, Sabine spotted the source of the voice.

"Look, an Imperial hover droid."

A small, grey hexagonal droid floated over the air. It was fitted with a visual sensor and a loudspeaker unit.

"You have fought valiantly but now the time for fighting is over. You are surrounded on all sides by tanks, troops, and walkers. There are bombers, fighters, and starships in the air with enough power to bomb you into ashes. However, the Empire is merciful enough to grant mercy to its foes who wisely choose to end the fighting and make peace. Surrender and your lives will be spared. Hand over the foreign rebels among you. You have one hour to consider our very generous offer. Accept it and live. Reject it and perish."

After the droid departed, the assembled Waylanders broke out into a murmur of discontent. Some wanted to throw down their arms and make peace with the Empire. Others wanted to fight to the bitter end. The C'baoth Town civilians, who at first had been eager to be liberated, were among the former camp. Many of their homes and business had been destroyed. Many innocent civilians including children and the elderly had been caught in the crossfire.

Zeb, Sabine and a small group of Wayland leaders, representing the three tribes of Wayland moved into a nearby shed to discuss General Verwoerd's offer.

"We can't give up now," said Lupec "And we can never trust these Imperials to keep their word."

"I've got a wife and children," protested Jayce "Haven't we had enough bloodshed already?"

"The Imperials killed my wife and kids," barked a hulking Myneyrsh named Roax "I will fight them to the end."

Immediately, the meeting descended into a cacophony of insults, curses, and taunts. Zeb groaned. The battle had given him an aching headache and their quarrels were only making it worse. Just then, an idea flickered in Zeb's head. The AAT hover tank was a godsent. They may not be able to match the firepower of the Imperials but there was another way out which did not involve having to kowtow before the Imps. And this was where Sabine, the crew's explosives expert, would be of great help.

"I have a plan that does not involving surrendering," whispered Zeb into Sabine's ear

"What is it," whispered back Sabine, taking care not to be drowned out by the arguing Waylanders.

"It involves some deception and that tank," said Zeb "And that's where you also come into the picture."

Hera: Saved in the Nick of Time

Hera and Chopper were being pursued by a Skipray Blastboats, a large fighter-bomber equipped with two forward-swept stabilizer wings that branched out from a rear rotating assembly. Each of its stabilizer wings were equipped with an ion cannon. In addition, the Blastboat was equipped with a dorsal twin laser cannon turret, a forward ion cannon, and two missile tubes: one proton and the other concussion missiles. Right now, the Blastboat was unloading its arsenal on their Nubian H-type yacht.

The Patronus' advanced Nubian Sossen-3 ion engines were among the fastest in the galaxy. The yacht's sleek, narrow dagger-shaped profile provided a slim target for the enemy fighter-bomber. However, the yacht was unarmed and it was only a matter of time before the pursuing Blastboat either disabled it or shot it out of the sky.

"I know. We're under attack," shouted Hera "I'm going as fast as we can."

Chopper whistled a suggestion that they make a jump into hyperspace to shake off their pursuer.

"We're not leaving the others behind," replied Hera "Plus, getting back in would be difficult."

At that moment, something hard hit one of the rear dorsal fins of the Patronus. One of the ship's monitors then buzzed, indicating that the rear dorsal fin was ablaze.

"Let's dive down that cloud," said Hera, pointing to a thick rain cloud below. "Perhaps, we can lose that Blastboat there and put out our fire."

Chopper whistled back in agreement.

Suddenly, both of them heard a massive explosion. Oh gods, thought Hera, they must have gotten us this time. She waited for the ship's monitors to indicate that they had been hit or for a fiery conflagration to envelope her and Chopper. Strangely, nothing happened. Seconds later, Hera heard a familiar voice on the intercom.

"Hi there, Hera and company," said a cheerful Talon Karrde "Great to see you again in one piece and thanks for saving my back the last time in Boz Pity. Always happy to return the favour."

"Karrde, its' a pleasure to see you again," replied Hera "We were beginning to think that you did not receive our signal. How did you get pass the Imperial fleet."

"I just got it two days ago," responded Karrde "And I've brought some reinforcements as well including Captain Akbar."

Akbar. That name brought back a flurry of memories. Captain Akbar was a Mon Calamari officer who had fought for the Republic during the Clone Wars. Following the creation of the Galactic Empire, he had become a leader of the growing Mon Calamari and Quarren resistance against Imperial rule on Dac. A military commander like Akbar would be an invaluable asset in the struggle against the Empire.

Hera and Chopper saw a pair of ARC-170 starfighters and a large orange freighter fly past them. Hera recognized the orange freighter; it was the Wild Karrde, Talon Karrde's flagship. The Wild Karrde was a heavily modified Corellian Action IV Transport that was equipped with three retractable turbolasers and reinforced with heavy durasteel plates. The Karrde was more than a match for any pirate and would prove a formidable opponent for most Imperial starships. The tide of the battle was turning in their favour.

Shortly later, Hera and Chopper saw a familiar sight. It was their modified VCX-100 light freighter Ghost, their regular transport and their home for the past several years. Chopper whistled in delight and Hera could not wink a smile. She desperately wanted to swap this luxury yacht back for her old ship. The Patronus was fast and sleek but was unarmed.

"Can we have back the Ghost," asked Hera

"Certainly, you' be pleased to hear that I made some adjustments to the armaments and hyperdrive," replied Karrde.

"Thanks, happy to join the fight against the Empire," said Hera with a smile beaming across her green face.

Endnotes

Glad to say that I have resumed my interest in completing the story. Hermann Verwoerd is a stock character who provides an amoral counterpoint to Thrawn and Pellaeon. His name is a reference to the former Nazi military leader Hermann Goering and the South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of Apartheid. The Ranats are a rodent-like species whose backstory has been developed in the old Star Wars Expanded Universe. For more details, visit Wookieepedia.

The conscientious Stormtrooper Eric Remarque is a reference to Erich Maria Remarque, the author of the German anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The planet Byss is also a location from the old EU that first appeared in Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy's 1990s Dark Empire comics. The LAV Chariot, Skipray Blastboat, and the Wild Karrde also come from Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. My idea for the Flamethrower Stormtroopers comes from details of the upcoming Force Awakens movie.

Best regards,

Andrew Lim