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Courtyard, Mars Palace, House of Yos Culter City Residence, Imperial Mars
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The royal courtyard was much too crowded for Jason's liking. If I was the suicidal type this would be the perfect place to blow myself up, he thought, just like those 'being bomb' the drill instructors had briefed us about. Suicide bombers must be giving them hell back on Earth if the Empire is as worried about them as they seem to be. Damn shame I don't have a couple blocks of C4 right now.
Of course, Jason knew he didn't have what it took to blow himself up. He didn't have what his old high school guidance counselors called suicidal tendencies. Though life may be rough at the moment he had every intention of making it back to Earth one day, preferably in one piece. As much as he looked forward to that happy future day, at the moment he just hoped to make it back to the homestead to see his friends, Brakatak and the crew of the Agen's Light, and especially his girlfriend, Ashla.
The thought of the alluring Togruta pushed all thoughts of harming the Empire to the back of his mind and onto much more enjoyable daydreams. The image of her deep brown eyes set in her exotic facial markings made him start to grin.
Someone in the crowd jostled him, returning, his thoughts to the here and now. Today was Ascension Day in the Empire, the day they were finally going to crown Princess Phasma Yos as the Empress of the 1st Martian Empire.
It's about time, he thought. It had been a month since his basic training had been cut short and he had been assigned to the 41st Elite Division, otherwise known as the Home Legion.
If he had been back in Boston his MIT classmates would have been getting ready for the Harpoon Oktober Fest as September came to a close. That was, if the Empire had never come. For all he knew none of his former classmates had survived the annihilation of Boston, and even if they had, from what he'd heard about rumored conditions on Earth, they were more likely to have died in search of refuge than they were to have found it.
"This new paint job is pretty wizard, huh?" The irritating voice of Trooper Quan cut over his helmet's intercom.
A few feet away, amidst the sea of 41st Legion troopers, stood Quan, his arms stretched out in front of him as he admired the new colors on their stormtrooper armor. They had been issued new gray boots, pauldrons and a utility belt, but other than a few gray stripes here and there Jason didn't see a difference.
"It's alright, I guess." He replied.
"You out of your farm boy mind? These markings are going to tell everyone we are elite, that we are the best of the best." Quan beamed. "After we win the war, when everyone comes back, they will all know who the top rancor is."
"What a load of poodoo." Trooper Baobab argued. "All these markings will tell returning stormies is you sat the war out on your shebs while they were risking their lives in the real poodoo."
"Please, if we weren't the best then why hasn't the Grand Admiral allowed the legions on Earth to repaint their old Clone War Legion colors?" Quan asked.
Jason didn't even realize this was an issue. What did unit colors have to do with anything? Luckily Corporal Sotil recognized that Quan was trying to start trouble in the squad again. "Hey, stoopa. It's probably because the boys on Earth have better things to worry about than painting their uniforms to impress a prissy femtrooper like you. No offense Baobab, Roon."
"Quan, you give a bad name to all femtroopers." Trooper Roon joked.
"A femtrooper!" Quan seemed livid. "Females and aliens shouldn't even be in uniform."
"Stow it, Trooper." Sotil warned. Baobab and Roon were already squaring off against the lippy trooper. Jason stepped out of their way. He wished Quan had said that across the company net, considering there were at least a dozen aliens in the company and even a few more femtroopers. In the barracks a boot stomp was inflicted upon troopers who caused their squads trouble, Jason would love to have seen such a punishment inflicted on a jerk like Quan by a mob of angry femtroopers.
"I'll stow it, Corp. But remember this. One day I'll be a real stormtrooper and you army trooper pukes will all be back in the civilian world shoveling ronto poodoo, and then you can all kiss my shebs." Quan said.
What a moron, Jason thought, then reminded himself that even morons could be dangerous. More than a few times Quan had come close to tripping him up and causing him to reveal his secret identity. So far Jason had succeeded in convincing the rest of the squad that he was merely a country bumpkin from the back agricombines of Corellia. One of these days he feared that racist Quan was going to see right through him.
The scuffle died down and Jason turned his attention to the celebration going on around him. He'd never seen anything like it, even though the Empire had just crowned the senior Yos a mere six months ago. Maybe a little more, Jason thought. It was always confusing with Mars' 780 day year and the Empire still tweaking the months in their calendar. Not that the first coronation mattered much to Jason. He had been a prisoner inside Camp 1138, a massive concentration camp for earthling slave labor, at that time and had missed the show.
By all accounts the ascension of the younger Yos was going to dwarf the one held for her father. The Empire's planners had called for three days of celebrations with fireworks, slafcourses, pod races, nightly balls and galas, a regatta on the Yos River between repulsorsail skiffs and hydrocraft, exhibition limmie games, a thranta air rodeo, theater in the park performances, a velocidrome, and to top it all off a grand parade and military review. The latter one was the reason the troopers were gathered here today.
The Imperial Palace was the designated staging area for the parade and as such was crammed with monumentally sized floats that covered almost every meter of the courtyard and park areas that stretched to the nearby Yos River. It was so crowded the troopers couldn't even form ranks until several floats got under way and made room. Unfortunately, the 41st was scheduled to be the last group of marchers.
Jason couldn't wait. They had been promised leave as soon as the parade was over. As soon as he was dismissed he planned to make a beeline straight back to the homestead.
Jason looked up to see a towering creature called a ronto looking down on him. It was one of a herd of seventy-five of the creatures situated to the side of the 41st's staging area. The beasts were at least fifteen feet taller than any giraffe Jason had ever seen. Talk amongst the bored troopers was the animals were all adolescent clones that were created in a lab less than two years ago. If they had been mature the males would have battled each other for dominance and selection of the females. As it was Jason thought they were as docile as cows, though a butcher could have gotten forty times more burgers from a ronto than from any cow.
The creatures were covered with large blankets made of vibrant shimmersilk in various colors. On their backs sat two or three riders of different species dressed in formal robes. The necks of the rontos were either covered in elaborate body paint or fanciful necklaces and gold rings. Their heads were covered with artistic face shields and no two were alike. About half of the rontos carried umbrella-covered howdahs with aurabesh writings on the sides. They reminded him of pictures he had seen of ceremonial elephants in India.
To pass the time and to ignore Quan, Jason translated as much of the aurabesh as he could. It seemed them carried low-level dignitaries for most of the Empire's organizations. Every major corporation on Mars wanted to show their support for the new Empress. Jason was familiar with the majority of them but figured they would have fit in nicely in pre-war Washington, minus the whole riding on the backs of large animals thing, of course.
The writing on one of the howdahs read simply "BOSS", and he wondered which of the three dignitaries under that canopy was in charge.
At the front of the courtyard stood a monumental wooden gate. It reminded him of something a medieval castle would have, though he doubted anything on Earth ever had a gate that big. He figured four MAC trucks driving side by side could fit through with room to spare. On both sides of the gate were two big screen holoimagers that allowed the crowd in the courtyard to watch the activity at the front of the parade. Thus Jason could see the parade while still being crowded by the troopers around him.
As he watched workers rushed about the gateway. Large chains rattled as counterweights were released, causing the gate to split in the middle and swing outwards.
Thousands of fireworks erupted over the city all at once. Every head in the courtyard turned upwards to witness the spectacle then turned back to the gate as millions of cheers came flooding over the palace's walls.
The first float started on its way. It was sponsored by KDY and carried a whale-sized hologram of the super star destroyer they were building. Looking skyward, the hull of the massive ship could be seen in orbit. Jason shuddered. That thing is meant to win the war on Earth when it sails, thought Jason. I hope it's over long before then.
The KDY float was followed by the marching band from the Mars Academy. Jason studied them for a few seconds as they passed through the gate. They were mainly high school-age kids dressed in gray cadet uniforms and playing a variety of woodwind and brass instruments. The song they were playing was the anthem of the 1st Martian Empire, which was the same as the anthem for the 1st Galactic Empire that had preceded it. Jason thought the song had a menacing tone rather than an inspirational one. From what he'd learned about the 1st Galactic Empire he wondered if that was intentional.
More floats exited the assembly area, freeing up some space and opening the view. The Republic Fleet System float carried a fancy new fighter, while the Mining Guild towed a massive new drill-droid they must have been proud of. Jason saw new farm equipment, droids, landspeeders, airspeeders and military weapons of every kind imaginable.
Some of the floats were obviously meant to inspire the populace of the capital. One giant float showed holograms of the Emperors Yos and Palpatine, both nearly the size of the Statue of Liberty, looking down and smiling on a twenty meter high red sandstone statue of the new Empress. It looked as if they were smiling down on her from the great beyond.
Between each of the floats teams of dancers and acrobats dressed in gaudy colors performed their moves for the crowds. Jason gasped as they leapt and spun fifty meters into the air before he realized they must have been propelled by hidden repulsorlifts. Some of them trailed spinning streamers that spiraled outwards, while others released colorful smoke that spread along the parade.
A mounted cavalry unit of sandtroopers went through the gate. They rode large green lizards and carried twenty foot electrolances. Jason thought the lizards looked cool but easily convinced himself they weren't worth joining the stormtroopers. He was leaving the Imperial Army as fast as he could when the war was over leaving the lizard wrangling to idiots like Quan.
Several domesticated Terran animals followed them. Some trainers guided small dogs and cats on leashes, while others carried colorful parrots. Jason figured they must have been pets from areas the Empire had overrun on Earth and thought it was odd that there weren't any wild animals amongst the menagerie.
Jason wondered why the Earth animals were included in the parade until large cells were opened around the courtyard and massive animals were guided out by armored trainers. Jason heard whispers of names across the platoon channel: Hyenax, Kayven Whistlers, Nexu, Vornskr and Gurrcats, among a dozen others. It was then that Jason understood the reason for the Earth animals, as he heard great gales of laughter coming from the crowds outside. They were publically shaming the Earth by presenting the little cats and lap dogs as the most vicious animals on Earth compared to the voracious beasts of the Empire. It wasn't even a close comparison.
"I hope they feed some of those Earth runts to those beasts. It looked they could use a snack." Quan laughed. Jason was more disturbed when he heard several others laughing in agreement with Quan on the squad channel.
It was another hour and a half before the 41st had enough room to form ranks for the six battalions slated to march in the parade. They fell in behind the Legion's Sergeant Major, who waited behind a group of odd stormtroopers Jason had never come across before.
The stormies looked as if their armor didn't quite fit them right, or they weren't used to wearing it very often. Upon closer inspection Jason noticed that each of them carried an exotic instrument of some sort. These musical stormtroopers seemed to be primarily aliens, and as such their helmets ran a gamut of odd shapes and sizes. From the chatter on the platoon net he soon recognized many of them. Weequay stormtroopers rolled two meter high thunder drums forward. A Whipid trooper carried a jangler. There were also Bontormian Klesplongs, Alderaanian Flutes, Screamer Gongs, Dorenian Beshnique, O'tawa Cymbals, and Violion Twitch Bells. Jason felt like he was observing a Doctor Seuss book come to life.
The band was led by a three meter tall Herglic drum major. The officer would have dwarfed Brakatak if he had been here, which was saying a lot. Jason had never seen so much plastoid armor on one individual
"Who are those guys?" He asked.
"41st Legion's Band." Baobab answered. "We are the only Legion in the Fleet that has one."
"The whole lot is a bunch of sandbaggers, if you ask me. The Legion excludes them from combat duty because it claims they provide a special service." Quan complained.
"Can you play an instrument?" Sotil asked.
"No, Corporal."
"Then what's so special about you?" Sotil asked. Jason grinned.
Quan tried changing the subject. "There won't be a lot of beings that will stick around long enough to see us march. Probably half the city has already gone home by now."
"Well, if they won't stick around for us, then they'll certainly stay for her." Roon pointed to a figure making her way forward from the rear of the formation.
Jason studied her for a second. She was beautiful and young and clad in a silver shimmersilk gown that wrapped around her like a minidress and left little to the imagination. She wore large silver circlets over her ears that dangled a multitude of silver strands resembling hair. Jason stared at her blue skin and striking yellow eyes for a full minute, before the term "Pantoran" came to mind.
A dozen of the stormtrooper musicians escorted her to a float that rested between the band's formation and that of 1st Battalion's. The escorts each carried a single, whip-like pole that rose about fifty feet in the air and crackled with electrical energy. The Pantoran girl climbed aboard the float and then turned and waved innocently at the formations behind her.
"Ladye Chuchi? She plays poodoo for younglings." Quan complained. "Besides I hear all her songs have been ripped off from Earthling songs."
"So what? The Sol Covers sing Earth songs and they have almost two dozen number one hits since we landed on Mars." Baobab argued.
"I like her stuff. What do you think, Corp?" Roon asked.
"She's certainly easy on the eyes. Now keep your eyes off her shebs and pay attention to what you're doing. Chaos help you if any of you kriffing fall out of step in front of the Empress." Sotil warned.
"Battalion! Attention!" The Sergeant Major of the 2nd Battalion shouted from the front of the formation. His command was echoed five more times as each battalion was called to order.
Jason instantly snapped to as he had been trained to do. He was once again an anonymous being among thousands of faceless identical troopers.
He peered around the float ahead, no easy feat as Lady Chuchi started to hover above her parade float surrounded by a repulsor tornado of swirling, multicolored tendrils of smoke. Jason tried to ignore the performer and peered through the massive gates at the towering red skyscrapers ahead. The rooftops and sidewalks were crowded with sight seers who had quieted down to see who would emerge from the gate next.
Jason focused on the Sergeant Major, determined not to miss the command to advance.
"Wait till you're announced!" A palace majordomo's voice boomed across the courtyard and then pointed to the Drum Major at the lead of the band, who raised a clenched fist high in the air.
Ladye Chuchi began her song in an ethereal voice that drifted through the packed ranks with promises of sensual delights. Jason swore her soothing voice pierced his armor and bypassed his helmet's audicasters. She's no Ashla, Jason thought, but with that face and that voice she's hard to ignore.
The Drum Major's hand dropped. The first to act were the Weequay troopers on the thunder drums, whose base tones were loud enough to shake the fillings loose from one's teeth.
No one moved for several seconds as the drums pounded out their beat. Then the whip pole musicians snapped their poles, causing arcs of electricity to race up and down the poles resulting in a loud, whip-like snap. The sound was like a hundred thousand people clapping all at once.
Jason didn't know how he knew to do it but the entire Legion stepped forward on the first clap of the poles. Their plastoid boots added to the volume as they stomped on the palace's cobblestones.
At that point every musician in the Legion's band began playing as the hulking Herglic led the way through the gateway. Lady Chuchi never stopped singing as her float emerged from the palace courtyard. Jason wasn't sure if it was the sight of the Pantoran or massed battalions following her but the crowds suddenly erupted in a tumultuous cheer.
They first crossed Tarkin's Square, the site of the infamous assassination attempt on Princess Phasma a month ago. The crowds lined the outskirts, only separating at the Avenue of the Empress Teta's Fields. Their march took them past the Imperial Mercantile Exchange, where the front balcony had been removed and the rubble and bloodstains had been cleared away. The ongoing repairs to its façade had been carefully camouflaged not to distract from the celebration.
Once the battalion entered the shopping district the crowds were especially jubilant, though Jason sensed something was off about them. Without looking an inch out of place he studied the humans and aliens that packed the sidewalks behind neat rows of Culter City Guard troopers maintaining crowd control. It took him several minutes to notice it, but the crowd seemed to be made of two types of people: younglings and their mothers or caretakers, and the elderly. It seemed that anyone of military age in the crowd wore some type of uniform or factory overalls.
How much was the Empire scraping the bottom of the barrel when they had to conscript the likes of him, Jason wondered?
The cheering ended when they approached the Kuat Research Academy. To Jason it was the place where he and Ashla had shared their last date together before he had been conscripted and whisked off to the Imperial Army.
Now the route seemed packed with red armored CCG police armed with stun batons and plastoid riot shields. Giving the police units a wide berth on the sidewalks was a large mob of what appeared to be students from the Academy, who hurled insults at the police troopers. Jason wondered what a Gamorrean was and why that seemed to be the prevalent insult thrown at the police.
As the 41st came into sight the student's jeers turned to protests that threatened to drown out the marching band and Ladye Chucih's music. Jason looked up as the singer faltered in her performance of an old Britney Spears melody she had stolen. She was obviously worried about the sudden threat on what had promised to be a peaceful day. She turned around, frantically looking for some sort of protection. Jason spotted several large men, probably her bodyguards, run forward and place themselves between the CCG riot police and her float as it passed by the crowd..
Fortunately, most of the students seemed content to yell obscenities rather than scuffling with the police. They stood their ground just out of baton reach. As Jason's battalion marched past he tried to read the dozens of signs the students carried. Some of them were written on flimsiplast placards while others were hovering holograms. The aurabesh was hard to make out while maintaining his march but Jason was able to understand the gist..
"Imperial bases are terrorist training camps"
"Refuse to fight"
"Ain't no Earthling ever called me alien scum"
"Stop the war, bring the troops home"
"End the war on Earth now"
"The war is destroying Earth and Mars"
Among the various signs he spotted Jason saw at least twenty of the aurabesh word for Peace, and at least one hologram of the actual Peace symbol. He wondered how they had found out about that one. He couldn't recall ever drawing the thing since he had come to Mars.
"Traitors." Quan's voice cut across his audicasters.
"Just speaking their minds." Jason argued, proud that at least someone here on Mars was against the war. He wished someone else in the squad would back him up but they all stayed eerily quiet as the marched past the protests.
"We ought to round up every one of them right now, slap a blaster in their hands and put them in a punishment unit. Then send them straight to that Las China place or whatever it's called." Quan said.
"Las Vegas. Stoopa." Jason responded. He wanted to say more but the lack of support from his fellow troopers held his tongue. Traitor was a powerful accusation in the Empire.
"Quan. Bogan, shut it." Sotil said. "Leave it to the police. I heard the students were allowed one block along the march to protest as long as they didn't get out of hand and ruin any of the day's celebrations."
"That true?" Quan said incredously. "Why the Empress is . . ."
"Don't finish that sentence, trooper." Sotil said. "Slander against the Empress and the 1st Martian Empire is treason. You don't want to end up like Moff Seco or Admiral Fatso Neptu."
Jason smiled. Moff Seco had died with a large portion of his Fleet, leaving the Empire that much weaker to fight the Earth, and his pet Admiral had been captured on the Earth's moon and arrested. What his punishment would be had been the talk of the barracks for weeks now. Jason shivered when he thought of some of the more imaginative punishments Quan had come up with.
If it was true that the students had agreed to limit their protest to the area of the Academy and they kept to their agreement. The chanting reverted back to cheering as the school fell behind them and the Legion's march turned towards the center of the capital, Tarkin Tower.
It was less imposing than the first time Jason had seen it. The upper stories that had bulged outwards at its peak were greatly diminished and black scars ran forty stories down its face, marking the blaze that had broken out there after the bombing that took the Emperor's life.
As they got closer the red uniforms of the police turned gradually into the blue cloaks of the Imperial Royal Guard. In front of the military headquarters sat a large review stand occupied by dozens of VIPs, flanking a raised central dais. It looked like something out of a Medieval Times restaurant. It was from this center stage that the newly crowned Empress of the 1st Martian Empire watched the parade.
Jason had no trouble identifying the young royal despite the distance that separated them. Phasma Yos was easily the most recognizable figure in the Empire. Thanks to her late father, who had pushed her into the spotlight as the face of the New Empire.
Jason had first seen her almost seven months ago when she had visited Earth and been seized by the American government in San Francisco. If the destruction on Earth had proved anything it was the insanity of that decision made by President Harris and his allies.
Jason fell out of step when he spotted who was standing behind the Empress. His heart nearly leaped into his throat as the figure stared straight at him.
"Bogan, keep step." Sotil warned.
Jason checked himself and quickly fell back into line.
Ashla Ti, the only girl he had ever loved, stood at the Empress's right hand. She was dressed in blue and black armor similar to the Royal Guard's and a calf-length, midnight blue cape. To his surprise she openly wore her lightsaber on her belt. Hadn't she claimed to be hiding from the Empire, he wondered? The question faded as he realized that even from a distance of thirty meters she still looked as beautiful as he remembered.
A teenage girl, who wore tan robes and sported facial tattoos that looked like an animal's claw marks, stood next to Ashla. The girl was looking at him, too, and started to raise her hand to point at him. Ashla slapped the girl's hand down before the Empress noticed.
Jason fought to keep his head facing forward. He fought not to run out of formation. He fought not to throw off his armor and charge the reviewing stand, knowing full well the Royal Guard would cut him down. He fought not to run to Ashla and hold her in his arms once more.
He was struggling against the knowledge that he couldn't do any of those things when he suddenly felt Ashla's presence in his mind. He felt soothed and most of all he felt loved. She was using her mysterious Force powers to calm him and stem his worry for her. He melted back into the formation, just one of thousands of troopers.
"Who is that?' Roon asked.
Jason momentarily thought his fellow trooper had caught him looking at Ashla.
"Who?" Baoban asked.
"The older lady sitting just below the Empress. The one next to Moff Kuat and Lady Niobe."
Jason briefly took his eyes off of Ashla for a second and again had to swallow his surprise. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, maybe he was just homesick, but he swore that was the First Lady of the North American Union. His suspicion was confirmed when he recognized the President's children, Cameron and Griffon, sitting on the other side of their mother.
"That's the dodgy Hutt Lady herself," Sotil said, "Lady Harris of Earth, our greatest enemy's wife. You stoopa should watch the HoloNews more often."
"That's her?" Quan exclaimed. "I figured she'd be whispering in the Empress's ear as we went by. Word in the hyperlane is that her meddling with Phasma is the reason we have a kriffing army surrounded on Earth."
"No, that happened during Seco's little grab for the throne. If anyone is responsible it was that prat Moff, well, except it happened on Emperor Yos's watch. However, I doubt the old man ever let an abo have any influence over him." Sotil argued.
"Fierfek. War is lost anyway. That's a Jedi standing right beside the Empress. Stang! There's two of them getting ready to stab her in the back like they did Palpatine." Quan practically shouted across the squad channel. "What will the Empire become if they get their hooks in it?"
Sotil laughed. "That's the new Sovereign Protector. She is part of, or in charge of, the Royal Guard. I'm not sure which."
"Those mystery troops will never tell you, either." Roon added. "I heard she's the Jedi who saved Phasma's life during the coup. Supposedly, Phasma's letting her rebuild the Jedi Temple."
"It true. Moff Kuat offered up some fat construction contracts out in the Arabia Terra for the job. You troopers need to review the new contingency orders. The Jedi are our allies again." Sotil said.
"Until the Force blows from a different direction or however it works that makes them go traitor." Quan got in the final word because no one argued with him. Jason recalled enough about the so-called Jedi Uprising from what Ashla had told him to know that it would take years, maybe generations, before troopers trusted Jedi again.
Jason had a sudden realization about Ashla's new title. "She's the one that cut us orders to stay on Mars!"
"That's what we were told back in training. That was a lucky thing, too. A lot of good troopers died at the Battle of Luna against Seco's turncoats." Sotil said. "Odd thing, though, I don't see why we were so special to be selected to sit that one out."
"I certainly didn't mind not dying in the Void." Roon added.
She's known where I've been for the past month, Jason realized. She kept me from returning to Earth. I couldn't do my duty to my home world and return with what I know to aide them in the war. Her attempt to keep me safe had probably killed thousands, no, millions of my people, he thought. She took away my choice to help. And for what? So she can see me in my shiny new armor and keep me safe as houses here on Mars?
Jason clenched his fists in a sudden wave of rage. Their ranks were just now passing the Empress and Ashla. Out of his peripheral vision he saw Ashla put her hand to her mouth in shock, never taking her eyes off of him.
As much as he had wanted to see her only moments before, Jason was suddenly thankful to be marching away from her. He desperately wanted to go somewhere and think about what just happened. He wasn't sure if he could face Ashla at this moment. He felt as if he'd been stabbed in the back and the betrayal stung worse than a blaster bolt to the chest.
Jason didn't know how much longer the parade lasted because he was lost in his own thoughts. He heard bits and pieces of the other troopers' conversations but didn't pay it enough attention to piece anything together. As it turned out they were nearly at the end of the route. The column circled to the rear of Tarkin Tower and disappeared into another staging area normally reserved for landspeeder parking.
Ladye Chuchi finished her last song just as her tornado platform came to a halt. The singer waved once more to the troopers and then was quickly escorted away by her personal security guards.
The Sergeant Major of the 2nd Battalion turned to the gathered troopers. Once again Jason vaguely heard the NCO declare that they had liberty in the city and they were to report at their barracks at dawn in two days' time. Soon they were being dismissed by company, which took some time as the stormtrooper units were traditionally dismissed before the regular Army Trooper companies were released.
Jason holstered his blaster. He was tired of carrying it in the present position for so long and his hand had fallen asleep. He shook it out to get some of the feeling back. Sotil came up to him as the rest of the squad began to scatter in every direction. The Corporal took off his helmet and shook his hand through his hair.
"Kriffing buckets itch after a while. Good thing we aren't shipping out to Earth for some time. I hear they've got to wear the stang things at all times the way the abos throw biologics and chemicals everywhere."
"Going to Earth wouldn't be a bad thing, Corp." Jason said.
"Don't tell me you're slobbering for glory like Quan is?"
"No, Corporal. Just wanting to do my part and serve my planet." Jason said truthfully.
Sotil looked at him for a moment as if trying to study Jason's body language. Jason was thankful he was still wearing his helmet to hide anything he may have given away. Hopefully, Sotil would figure he was talking about Mars. Finally, the NCO asked, "Have you got any plans for leave? You said you've got a stripe-head girl in town, right?"
"I did. It's been a while. I don't know how that will go."
"Ah, love is a bishwag sometimes. I'm going to find myself a nice cantina down near the Negs and drink myself stoopa for a few nights. If you have troubles with your girl come find me. I will have the squad channel on my comlink."
"I might do that, Corp. But the truth is I will probably head home. I've got a place with some friends in the Malastare Heights."
"The burbs, huh? Not my idea of a party but to each his own, I guess. Make sure you report on time or it's my boot in your shebs." Sotil smiled.
"Aye, aye, Corporal." Jason saluted. Sotil returned it only half-heartedly and turned away to disappear into the crowd.
Jason didn't waste any time heading away from the military headquarters. He headed downtown and caught an airspeeder taxi a few blocks away from the Long Jump Casino.
The driver was an odd, two-headed alien who kept alternating between heads facing the road and one turned back to chat up Jason. "Where to, General?"
"Malastare Heights, please. Homestead 547 off of the Hydian Expressway." Jason said.
"No problem, General."
"I'm not a general. I'm just a regular trooper."
"Sure, sure. I should have been able to tell by the armor. It's changed a lot since I was a youngling well before the real war back home. Not this bleeding ulcer poodoo we have now." The cabbie said to Jason before hanging one of its heads out the window.
"I guess. I haven't seen much of it yet." Jason tried to push the images of Hawaii's bloody invasion out of his mind.
"So were you in the parade today?"
"Sure was. It was a kriffing boring detail." Jason replied.
"I bet. More of a pod-racing guy myself. So you marched with the 41st then?"
"Yep. Unless there's some other legion on Mars I don't know about."
"So you army or navy? You don't have the look of a stormie. No offense."
"None taken. Those guys are too hardcore as far as I am concerned. What do you mean army or navy? The 41st is all army, except for 1st Battalion, which is stormtroopers." At least that's what Jason had been told over and over.
"Maybe normally, but not today. I heard from my buddy they were landing sailors this morning and dressing them up as you guys. I even heard they dressed a few droids up and had them march alongside you guys to fill out the ranks."
The cab raced through the red canyons of Culter City as the airways slowly became more crowded with airspeeders leaving the parade route. Within minutes they were climbing the sloping walls of the Ares Vallis and heading out into the sea of suburbs beyond its walls.
Jason though about it. Before the parade the troopers from 5th and 6th Battalions mainly kept to themselves. Quan had said they were a bunch of uppity sleemos. "Why would the army do something like that?"
"Numbers, I'm guessing. The Home Legion is responsible for Mars along with providing security at the KDY drive yards, the tibanna factory out by Earth 5, and I saw on the HoloNews last week they shipped a company out to that Twilek colony. You think they shipped all those troopers back for a parade. They sure as chaos didn't get any troops back from Earth. Not after Seco dropped the ball and got an entire army trapped in some hole surrounded by Earth scum. But I've said enough, I gotta watch what I say before I put my foot in my mouths one of these days."
"Maybe you're right. I could report you." He said with a half-hearted smile. It had been drilled into Jason since training that such talk was considered defeatist, and defeatists were the enemy of the Empire. Jason knew he was a bigger threat to the Empire than a thousand disgruntled cabbies. "I'm just kidding, friend. Why don't you tell me what you think about Empire's troop shortage?"
"Ha! No thanks. I am a loyal resident of the Empire. Long live the Empress."
Dammit, Jason thought, I've got to be smarter. My small threat caused the cabbie to button up. He could have dropped some important intel on the mood of the Empire. Intel I could have returned to the Earth with. At least I could have if Ashla hadn't blocked me. She thought she was saving me from danger, but she should have trusted me more.
Any further inquiries were further shot down by the cabbie, who instead started telling stories about a time when he had been a pod-racing announcer for someone who sounded like they were named after Pizza Hut. Jason knew what pod-racing was but not enough to comment on it. He sat in silence for the remainder of the trip.
The cab descended into the neighborhood that Jason considered the next best thing to home after Boston. A few cosmetic changes had taken place since he had left but nothing dramatic. Homesteads had always made Jason think of the pioneers that settled the west in his United States history books. Brakatak had told him that their homestead had once been alone on the ridge above the Culter City, but had quickly been swallowed by onrushing urban sprawl. Now the Malastare Heights were a working class suburb that wouldn't have felt out of place on pre-war Earth.
That was, except for its inhabitants. Jason exited the airspeeder and paid the cabbie. He placed his helmet on his head. After wearing it nonstop through training he had grown comfortable with it. A trio of Gran teenagers rested on the hood of a beat-up landspeeder in front of the homestead that belonged to Brakatak, while half a dozen Ishi Tib younglings played a game of shock-ball in the street.
The game came to a halt as the younglings saw Jason emerge from the cab. The trio of Gran stood and pointed at him. Jason headed for the entrance of the homestead. The trio quickly cut him off. Jason noticed for the first time they were carrying vibroblades. Jason didn't know if he should be worried but he was suddenly glad his blaster rifle was holstered to his side.
"Hey you lost, Mr. Trooper Man?" The biggest and evidently the leader of the trio challenged him.
"No. I'm here to see my friend."
"I don't know of anybody in this 'hood that's friends with a stormtrooper." One of the other Grans said.
"Yeah. I'm thinking you're all alone, Mr. Trooper Man. Where's your walkers and your gunships now?" The leader said.
"I'm just here to see Brakatak, or maybe Frip the Ishi Tib. They live in this homestead." Jason pointed.
"Yo, I know the Kajidii. I haven't ever heard of him hanging out with no short, white hat from the Home Legion before."
Jason had been taught that everyone secretly feared the white armor of the stormtrooper corps. No time like the present to test out if that was true or not. What would Corporal Sotil say right now, he thought? "You know if you were twice as smart, you'd still be stupid."
"What in the core? Oh, you want to go there do you?" The leader smirked. "Didn't I see you get your shebs kicked on an episode of 'Troopers'?"
"It's pointless to make fun of you because it will take you the rest of the day to figure out." Jason said before smiling when the Gran seemed confused. That was all it took.
Jason grabbed for his blaster.
The three Gran reached for their vibroblades.
Within seconds Jason was facing off with the armed thugs.
"Let him by. He's got business with the Kajidii." A voice came from Jason's left side. Without lowering his blaster from the confrontational teenagers he turned to see an older Gran male coming out of another nearby homestead.
"Yes, bull." The leader responded. "Just helping out this lost stormie out is all. Didn't mean any harm."
The trio lowered and then sheathed their weapons. The retreated back to their landspeeder and the leader reached inside to turn up the vehicle's speakers. Suddenly, the song "California Love" by Tupac Shakur spilled into the street only the lyrics had been changed from California to Corellia.
"Jason, is that you?" The older Gran asked.
"Frek Frek? Jesus, it's been a long time." Jason removed his helmet. The Gran, who had led all the Gran from the slave camps on Desparye to settlement here on Mars, smiled a huge toothy grin at him.
"Do not use the Lord's name in vain." Frek Frek said as he came up to Jason. He swooped Jason up into a big bear hug. "My word, boy. What have they been feeding you at the training barracks? You weigh almost as much as a drunken Gamorrean." Frek Frek let out a rumbling barrel laugh that made Jason forget to ask if he had really been familiar with Jesus's name, of all things.
"Brakatak and the rest of his crew will be glad you're back in the herd, even if you are dressed like one of the Empress's plastoid enforcers." Frek Frek put his hand on Jason's shoulder and turned him back towards Brakatak's homestead. "Let's get you inside and we all can catch up over some Eblas."
"Sounds good to me, Frek Frek." Jason said finally holstering his blaster.
"IceCubelek, keep watch on the roadway. Remember to holler out if you see any of Hondo's boyos." Frek Frek told the leader of the Gran teenagers.
"You got it, bull. No way will those Sriluur barves show their faces around here." IceCubelek replied while pounding a fist into his open hand.
Jason stopped Frek Frek at the upper entrance. He walked over to the wall of the hangar pit and looked down into his adopted home. Below him was the familiar top hull of the Agen Light, Ashla's spaceship. His old friends, Erw and Raf had pulled some of the top hatches aside and were busy performing maintenance on a part of the ship Jason was unfamiliar with. Neither of the two Utais noticed his appearance above them.
Jason smiled. The sights and smells of the multi-resident abode triggered dozens of memories all at once. He was surprised at how much he had missed the place.
"Hey, either of you pinkies know anything about a gang of pirates living around here?' Jason called down to them.
Erw and Raf spun around and looked up. Jason laughed as the expressions of shock across their faces turned to joy.
"Jason! Jason! You son of a mynock!" Raf shouted as he jumped up and down.
The two Utais quickly jumped off the sides of the Corellian freighter and sprinted towards the entranceway's staircase, squealing the entire way.
The rest of the homestead's occupants started pouring into the central hanger from every direction to see what the commotion was. Rana, Ashlei and Keatly all screamed when they recognized who was above them. Frip emerged from the greenhouse with a pair of two more Ishi Tibs. Jason wondered why the fishy alien's arm was wrapped in a bacta bandage. The injury didn't hinder Frip from waving his arms in excitement when he saw Jason.
Last to emerge from the kitchen was Brakatak, carrying a sandwich that he promptly dropped on the floor when he saw Jason waving down at him.
"I'll be right down." He called to them all.
He should have known they wouldn't have waited. Erw and Raf practically tackled him at the top of the stairs. And when they helped him to his feet again Ashlei and Keatly were right there to plant a couple of kisses on him. Rana gave him a hug but couldn't get away quick enough before the big Gran swept them both up into a huge hug of his own,
"Looks like they finally put some meat on your bones, boy." Brakatak laughed. "You used to look like something a rancor would use to pick its teeth with."
Everyone laughed. Jason noticed the two Firrerreos wiping away tears from their nictating eyes.
Keatly hugged him again. "I am so, so sorry. If I hadn't spliced you such a wizard new identity the Army would have never scooped you up."
"I don't know. This armor is a trip." Ashlei said pulling on his chest plate. "You look good enough to eat."
"Happy we are now that friend Jason is home. And 41st armor too, meaning you are not to be going to Earth war any time soon." Frip said. Jason noted the other two Ishi Tib that had been with him had retreated back to the greenhouse once they had ascertained Jason wasn't a government intruder.
"Good to find you again, Nemo," Jason told the fishy alien, "What happened to your fin?"
"This sleemo dances with stormtrooper on hovertrain." Frip pointed at Brakatak with his good arm. "Next thing I knowing I blasted and Rana is swinging me across Mars like crazed lightball player."
"I had a near death experience from it all." Brakatak said.
"I thought Frip was the one who was blasted?" Rana inquired.
"Yes, but I was standing near him when it happened so it was near-death for me." The crew all laughed again.
Jason felt the sense of family that he had been missing ever since leaving home for MIT as a freshman. With less than a year on Mars, It was surprising how quickly the pirate crew had grown into his surrogate family. There was only one thing missing.
"Ashla's not here." Keatly said as if reading his thoughts.
Jason's eyes met the floor for a second then he raised them back to study the faces of his friends. They could sense that he missed his love, but didn't realize the hurt he felt at her assumed betrayal.
"She got herself a government gig." Brakatak explained. "Working for the Empress."
"But I thought Jedi and the Empire didn't see eye to eye." Jason said.
"That's one way to put it. You earthlings might say they go together like oil and water." Rana said. "Like matter and anti-matter."
"She saved the Empress's life from the assassins that killed the Emperor. After that it seemed the Empire forgave the Jedi for all their crimes against Old Palps. Feirfek, that poodoo feels like it happened in a completely different universe." Brakatak said.
"It did happen in a different Galaxy, far, far away." Ashlei admonished the Gran. "None of it matters here in the New Empire. But your favorite Jedi's been by a couple of times."
"Got herself a cute sidekick, a real Girl Wonder or something. Ashla's set up to be the Master Yoda of Mars. Moff Kuat is helping her construct a new Jedi Temple way outside the city somewhere, so that's been keeping her busy since the end of the Empire's dust up with Moff Seco." Keatly explained.
"And Brakatak friend is new Kajidii, um, how you say, Hutt of Mars! Sell we do your weed as Skywalker. Black Sun is angry, but we be making cruiser load of credits." Frip hooted.
"I've been gone a couple of months and everyone gets delusions of grandeur." Jason laughed.
"As long as triclops doesn't let it all go to his funny-shaped head." Keatly said. "Ashla is much more grounded than our pirate boss."
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" A familiar voice said from behind Jason.
The pirates were all smiles as Jason spun around to the doorway. Sure enough, standing above him was his Ashla.
His heart leapt into overdrive. She was absolutely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was still dressed in the altered Imperial Guard armor she had been wearing earlier at the parade, but had lost the blue cloak.
His feet moved towards her of their own accord. She sprang down the stairs separating the two of them and slammed into each other with enough force that Jason felt the impact through both sets of armor.
"I'm not a stormtr. . ." he started to say before their lips met. There was a power between the two of them that had nothing to do with Ashla's Force.
There was silence along the stairway for several seconds before Erw, Frip and Brakatak started with the cat calls. Ashlei and Rana's sighs were barely noticed on Jason's peripheral subconscious.
Ashla's body melted into his. He had dreamed of this moment. Ever since they had been separated by the Army against his will. There was only one other thing he had wanted, something he had longed for since his abduction from Hawaii.
A dream that had been deferred.
A return to Earth that Ashla had stolen from him.
A flash of anger surged through him. Ashla gasped and broke the kiss. Ashla looked at him in confusion, as if the source of his anger was written on his face.
"You!" Jason pushed her back and held her at arms' length.
"I came as soon as I could. I felt such anger from you when I sensed you at the parade review."
"Why did you do this to me?"
"What did I do? Where does this anger come from?" She asked him. Jason couldn't believe that she had no idea why he was so angry.
"You kept me from Earth. You kept me from helping my world."
"It is true. I changed your orders and had you assigned to the Home Legion. I did it to keep you safe and here on Mars with me."
"I don't need to be protected like I'm some stoopa abo anymore. I am no longer the boy with a crush that followed you around like a lost puppy dog. I am a man who needs to protect his world. A world that is on the verge of being overrun by those you serve." Jason tugged at her shoulder plate and looked at her armor in disgust.
"The Empress will end the war. The conflict with Earth is not something she wished to happen. It only occurred due to the ruthless ambitions of beings like the Moffs and the politicians of Earth . . ." Her voice trailed off before she could catch herself.
"Earth did not bring the Empire to its doorstep. Earth did not murder billions in the name of the New Empire." He spat.
"The Empire will never murder in such a manner again. The Jedi will prevent that. Once victory is achieved the troops will come home and Earth can rebuild." She said calmly, touching his arm in an effort to comfort him.
"You trust an Empire that committed genocide on your kind to keep its word?" Jason couldn't trust that the Jedi, which at the moment consisted of only Ashla, had that much influence over the murderers that ran the Empire.
"It is not the same Empire. Phasma is not the same as her father or Palpatine. I am close to her. I can be a guiding hand and save millions of lives, much like I've already saved yours." Ashla pleaded with him.
"I did not ask you to keep me safe! You went behind my back. My god, Ashla my family is on Earth. Did you not realize I needed to do everything I could to help them?"
"Ashla, Jason. Let's take a moment to breath." Brakatak implored them. It dawned on Jason that the pirate crew watched the whole altercation from only a few feet away. "I can get you two a couple of Eblas or some Skywalker spice and we can talk about this with cooler heads."
Ashla looked ready to follow the rest of the crew further into the homestead to talk it out. Jason didn't want to calm down yet. There was too much he wanted to get out.
There was an awkward moment of silence as the former lovers stared at each other before Ashla once again broke the silence. "I didn't think of your family. I am sorry, I . . . only thought of us, of me and you, together."
Some part of Jason understood why she had done what she did. But the rest of him still wanted to say something to hurt her, to make her feel as angry as he was.
"That is the attachment you told me your former Master told you to avoid. Didn't you once tell me attachment leads to greed, greed leads to jealousy, jealousy can lead to the Dark Side? In protecting me you have left yourself open to becoming what you most feared, a dark sider. What was the word you used? A Sith."
Ashla gasped. She took a step backward and Jason immediately regretted what he had said. Even though he was angry, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt this girl. He loved her. If only he knew a way to convince her that she was wrong but that he still loved her,. So instead of having a calm discussion, or even a heated debate like trillions of men in the Empire and Earth before him, he said the wrong thing.
"I didn't mean. . . I couldn't." Ashla stuttered as her black eyes went wide in horror starkly contrasting with the large white pigmentation that encircled them. Her shock made her momentarily bare her fangs as if she was under attack from a large predator from her homeworld. "I need to go. I can't be here right now."
She ran to the door and stopped. Every cell in Jason's brain screamed for him to go to her and hold her close, anything to prevent her from leaving. Now that the initial fury had subsided, her leaving was the last thing he wanted. But not a single muscle moved.
Without turning around she spoke softly over her shoulder. "I love you. I wanted you all to myself. I'm sorry." Ashla pushed through the door and left.
Jason turned back to the pirate crew, who were all trying to look as if they hadn't overheard the entire exchange. "What should I do?"
"Go after her you stoopa." Brakatak urged him.
"Catch her before she's gone." Keatly added.
That was all the encouragement he needed. He needed to tell her that he understood why she did what she did. That he didn't really think she was a Sith, he had just been speaking out of anger. That together they could figure everything out.
Jason burst out the door to the homestead to the scene he had just come through with Frek Frek moments ago.
The Ishi Tib younglings in the street stopped their game again at his sudden appearance. The Gran teenagers gave him a curious look.
It was too late, Ashla was gone. He should have known better than to try to catch a Jedi.
Jason looked towards the red city, which was starting to light up as the Sun passed below the western horizon. Ashla was out there somewhere, probably already heading back to the Empress, the great enemy of his world.
"I love you too. I'm sorry." He whispered to the oncoming night.
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Up Next- It's my party and I will blast who I want to