CHAPTER 26 - PENANCE AND DESPAYRE
The next day, I expected that we would be assigned to routine guard and patrol duties in our area of operation. But I was wrong, The whole squad was given new orders.
Mandala, Harmony, Bloor and Davos were ordered to report to the medical area where they would be subject to a psychological review. The examination would last two days. Psychological officers would question them and carry out tests to assess their psychological and mental condition. I had no idea why the psychological review had been called so suddenly. Nor did I know why Yalasa, Sergeant Klaus and I had been excluded.
Sergeant Klaus and Yalasa were assigned to VIP escort duty for the next two days. They would guard and protect a civilian who had been assigned stormtrooper protection. The person in question must have been important. High command do not assign stormtroopers as guards to just anyone; especially civilians.
With the others assigned to other duties or indisposed, I should have been temporarily reassigned to another squad in our platoon until the others returned. Normally, I should have carried out routine guard and patrol duty with one of the other three squads. However, sergeant Klaus had other ideas. He put me on a penance order.
Sergeant Klaus informed me that I would serve an act of penance for executing Straven during the Organa escort duty. He was not obliged to do so. Many NCOs and officers never employ penance orders. Out of my previous commanding NCO's and officers, neither Noremac nor Denlin ever imposed a penance order on any troopers under their command.
Penance orders are an unofficial form of punishment. In reality, a penance order is not a punishment at all, as the trooper has not breached any regulations. It is more an unofficial reminder that the killing of a loyal soldier of the Emperor should never be taken lightly, even if that killing was necessary to achieve a mission objective.
Usually, a penance detail consists of standing guard and patrolling alone in the most isolated and least frequented part of the ship or installation. It is similar to the minor punishment detail that stormtroopers receive for infringing minor regulations. Often we don't guard anything specific. We just stand in an empty corridor or stand by a door with no security importance. Although it doesn't really cause us hardship or discomfort, we do not consider such duty as an agreeable activity. All stormtroopers would rather serve the Emperor in the most meaningful way possible by combatting the enemies of the Empire or guarding important people or locations. The duty carried out during a penance or minor punishment detail is regarded as unworthy of stormtroopers. It is the sort of duty that inferior military personnel like navy troopers and imperial army are best suited for.
Many civilians and personnel from other arms of the imperial military often ask each other why a lone stormtrooper is standing guard in an empty corridor or beside a door that appears to have no security importance. Most of the time, the stormtrooper is carrying out a punishment detail or a penance order.
There is an official justification for issuing minor punishment details and penance orders. In sending stormtroopers to obscure locations, it gives the impression that stormtroopers are constantly present in every area of the ship or installation. That only reinforces the opinion that the power of the Empire is everywhere, ensuring obedience to the will of the Emperor.
As a loyal soldier of the Emperor who is obedient to his commanding NCO, I did not flinch in carrying out the duty assigned to me. I equipped myself in the armoury and went to the location assigned for my guard and patrol duty. I found myself in an area of dimly lit narrow corridors in the vicinity of the superlaser. The corridors were all uniform and there were no doorways nearby. From what I could see there was nothing worth guarding. Very typical of a penance order.
I was allocated four specific locations where I should stand guard in the area assigned to me. I would stand guard for four hours in each location and then I would move onto the next one. I was under routine guard and patrol order 1100F. My responsibility was to stand at my guard location, react to any orders issued by stormtrooper command, report any security related incidents that may occur and react to any acts of aggression against myself, imperial property or other imperial personnel.
Nothing happened during the first half of the day. Every so often, some tech crew and officers passed my location. Most times they did not even seem to realise I was there. Often they talked about their work. But I did not hear anything of interest, either because they passed by too quickly or the conversation was too technical for me to understand. Otherwise, the place was very noisy. A few times I could hear heavy vibrations and rumbling through the bulkheads. At the time, I did not know what these were. But I found out what they were later that day
Towards the end of the day, I overheard two officer speaking about the superlaser as they slowly passed by my position. From the conversation, I learned that the Death Star had destroyed the prison planet of Despayre. It had taken three shots from the superlaser to destroy the planet. I realised that the deployment of the superlaser had caused the rumblings and vibrations which I heard earlier that day.
Apart from that conversation, I heard nothing of interest and nothing of significance happened. When my guard shift finished, I returned to the armoury to drop off my equipment.
When I returned to my quarters after my first day of penance duty, Yalasa was sleeping in her bunk and the others were absent, still undergoing their psychological review. So I went to the mess and ate with a couple of troopers from another squad in my platoon. They confirmed to me that the prison planet Despayre had indeed been destroyed by the Death Star's superlaser.
After eating my rations, I returned to my bunk and read up on the planet of Despayre on my data pad. I learned nothing new. I already knew it was a prison planet populated by traitors, rebels, aliens, criminals and ferocious beasts.
I then switched on a commercial movie on my data pad called 'Escape from Despayre' which is approved by imperial authorities. It was originally made as a holo-vid, but was adapted for flat screened datapads such as the one stormtroopers use in their quarters.
The movie tells the story of two young recruits in the imperial military who crash land on Despayre after their ship is sabotaged by rebel traitors. On Despayre, the two young men have to fight a desperate battle for survival against the rebels, traitors, criminals and the ferocious creatures on the planet. In staying true to the doctrines and teachings of the Emperor, the two young men manage to escape the planet, rescuing two gentle imperial ladies from the clutches of their barbaric alien captors. The two young men receive commissions in their respective military arms for their courageous actions, before marrying the two young ladies in a grand official joint wedding. During the movie, numerous traitors, rebels, aliens, incompetent comrades and criminals suffer painful horrific deaths at the hands of the two heros, the vicious beasts and each other.
The movie is compulsory viewing for children of school age in the Empire. It teaches us that if we follow the teachings of the Emperor, then we shall be rewarded. While those who turn away from the wisdom of the Emperor are destined to suffer pain and death.
The planet Despayre is a strong symbol in the imperial subconscious. When parents wish to discipline their children for disobendience, they often threaten to send them to Despayre. I often remember how I used to cry at night when my mother threatened to send me to Despayre when I failed to obey her instructions in my infantile ignorance.
With the destruction of Despayre, I could see that the Emperor was sending the Galaxy a powerful message. He was telling us that with the destruction of Despayre, we had reached the dawn of a new age where order and strength would rule supreme. With the Emperor imposing his infallible will through the irresistible power of the Death Star, good imperial citizens in the galaxy would no longer have to fear the ravages of traitors, criminals, barbaric aliens and rebels. We were soon to enter a golden age of peace and enlightenment in which a prison planet like Despayre would no longer be necessary.
The next day, I went to the armoury alone and equipped myself for my second and final day of penance order duty. As expected, I was issued with standard guard and patrol order 1100F. I was also issued with a standard 8063C surveillance order.
A 8063C surveillance order is not commonly issued. The order requires us to report conversations we overhear that contain key words. I assume it is to identify possible plots against the Empire or leaks of confidential information. In this case, we were to report any conversation that contained both the words 'Alderaan' and 'Despayre'. I assumed it was related to the destruction of the planet Despayre from the previous day.
Normally, we are not required to report conversations to central command, even if the content could be regarded as treasonous. If we reported every comment that we regarded as disloyal or critical of the Empire, most of the personnel from the civil administration and inferior military arms of the Empire would be in a detention cell. The Empire does not employ us as spies or require us to judge what is treasonous or not. That is not our role.
Surveillance order 8063C was not just issued to me. I knew that it would also be issued to other stormtroopers carrying out guard or patrol duty in other specified areas of the Death Star. All over the station, stormtroopers would report any conversation they overheard containing these two key words to stormtrooper command. Stormtrooper command would then forward our reports to the relevant security authorities. ISB personnel would then access the relevant video and audio logs from cameras and listening devices in that area of the station.
We as stormtroopers were well aware that there were security cameras and listening devices in all areas of imperial installations. There are so many of them that it is impossible for ISB personnel to monitor them all, even with the aid of specialised droids and computers. So sometimes we are required to listen for them since we are deployed throughout the Death Star and Star Destroyers. We are such a common sight that imperial personnel often forget we are there and speak openly.
I returned to the same location as the day before and started my day of guard and patrol duty. The first half of the day was uneventful. Again, there were occasions when imperial officers or navy troopers wearing tech uniforms passed in front of or near my location. Some spoke about the destruction of Despayre. But since they did not mention Alderaan, I did not report the conversation.
However, near the end of my period of guard duty, I overheard a conversation with the two key words in it. I had something to report.
About three hours before my duty was to end, I moved to my fourth and final location. It was in an alcove in an dim narrow corridor. For the first twenty minutes, I heard and saw no one. Then I heard the footsteps of two people walking slowly in a corridor nearby. I could not see them, but I could hear them. Although they spoke in a whispered tone, I could make out what they were saying.
"I tell you, they are going to do it." Said the first man with a Corellian accent.
"Are you sure?" Replied a man who I assumed to be from Alderaan. His accent was very similar to that of Leia Organa.
Both men stopped abruptly in the corridor. They continued talking in their whispered tone.
"Yes, I was briefly present at a meeting of the High command." Whispered the Corellian. "Tarkin, Motti and Tagge were all there. I heard Tarkin say it."
"What exactly did he say?" Asked the Alderaaner.
"I can't remember the exact words. But he said that after Despayre, Alderaan would definitely be next."
"Are you completely sure?" Asked the Aderaaner. "You didn't mishear? Or misunderstand the context?
"I am completely sure. I have no doubt?"
"Damn it!" Sighed the Alderaaner.
"What shall we do?"
"We'll have to warn them."
"But how? Movement and communication off the station is restricted. And we'll never get a message out."
The Alderaaner sighed again. "We have to do something."
The two men walked off. I heard their footsteps and voices disappear into the distance.
In theory, the men had not said anything treasonous or overtly disloyal. They had not criticised the Empire or the Emperor. Nor had their conversation suggested they would carry out any disloyal act. However, since the conversation included the words Despayre and Alderaan, I had to report the conversation. So I immediately contacted stormtrooper command and informed them what I overheard and confirmed the location where the conversation took place.
Stormtrooper command acknowledged my report and told me to continue with my guard duty under original order 1100F. I knew that they would pass the information to the ISB who would take the appropriate action.
Nothing of significance happened for the rest of my shift. After my guard duty was over, I returned to the stormtrooper area of the station where I was based. After reporting to the armoury to hand in my armour and equipment, I immediately went to the mess.
I was pleased to see Yalasa was there. I picked up my tray and went over to her table. As I walked over, she smiled at me. She appeared to be in a good mood. And so was I.
PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW
REVIEW OF JOURNAL - TROOPER LC-9087
The other troopers in the subject's squad are being assessed via psychological review to establish suitability for escort duty with Leia Organa.
Trooper LC-9087 (The subject) and trooper RC-5342 (aka Yalasa) have demonstrated resistance to Lei Organa's influence. Thus a psychological review will not be necessary at this time.
Since clones have shown to be vulnerable to Leia Organa's destructive influence, trooper KM-0965 (aka sergeant Klaus) will not be assigned to any escort mission with Leia Organa. In consequence, it is not necessary for trooper KM-0965 to undergo a psychological review.
ISB - INTELLIGENCE REPORT
After investigation of the report provided by trooper LC-9087 under surveillance order 8063C, we have uncovered a conspiracy led by a Lieutenant Chandra of the imperial navy to inform the Alderaan government of the planet's imminent destruction.
In accordance with tradition, the squad of trooper LC-9087 will have the honour of detaining the traitor and summarily executing his co-conspirators. The squad's commanding officers will be informed of the upcoming operation with immediate effect.