Chapter 27: Everything Not Black And White
A bolt of color shrieked overhead, the bolt slammed into the ground to his rear, exploding. The five or so soldiers standing in the immediate vicinity were either blown apart or thrown many yards, their lifeless bodies landing with a thud.
Lieutenant Devitt Barlow was terrified. He did not know where he was, and he doubted the commanders of the Semian Forces for Unity knew either. The SFU army in this sector of Semia numbered around 100,000 men and women. They were facing off against the 101,000 troops of the Semian Forces for Equality. The SFU generals had underestimated the speed of the SFE troops. They planned for a campaign to outflank the SFE army in the sector, attack it on its flank, destroy it, and capture major cities and other strategic locations. They thought this would end the bloody war. They were wrong. Instead, the SFE army checked their movement, and within a day, both armies, with a combined 201,000 soldiers, faced off against one another.
Barlow knew this was perhaps the worst combat terrain imaginable.
All around him were dense woods, so dense that he could not see more than ten yards in any direction. The only way he knew where the enemy was located was by tracing the blaster bolts as they cut through the trees. The two armies were caught in what was known as "The Canopies," one hundred square kilometers of forest, a place where no armies should fight.
Yet they did.
And now here he stood, disoriented in the woods, with artillery pounding his position. The company under his command made up part of a larger regiment of SFU soldiers, which made up and even larger division of the SFU army. The SFU army was spread out over a four kilometer line, facing off against an SFE nearly as widespread. Barlow and his regiment found themselves in dense woods with a small open farmer's field to their front. The small field surrounded on all sides by green woods. This field was one of the only clearings in "The Canopies," a farmer who had risked trying and making a living in such an environment. In scouting the edge of the field, SFU soldiers had reported to the regimental commander, a colonel, that the hill's topography put the SFU at a disadvantage.
The field was hilly, sloping up towards the SFE positions. The SFE soldiers were reported to be entrenching, in addition to their advantage of controlling the high ground. Just to the rear of the hill was the dense forest.
Barlow asked if it were possible to outflank the line on the ridge and collapse it, but he was told the line was far too strong, it's flank anchored on a river; a natural defense.
Now Barlow received the order from the colonel, he and his men were to advance across the open field, up the hill, and attack the SFE positions.
It was madness, but Barlow knew it had to be done.
Barlow did not condone or agree with the discrimination allowed by the pre-war Semian government. However, he felt that the change towards total equality for all being championed by the Equality Radicals, as they were known, was too fast and too extreme. Barlow felt that such a transformation should occur gradually over a period of time, to allow the social, economic, and political institutions time to adapt. So when the population of Semia was split, those joining the SFE, and others joining the SFU; Devitt Barlow knew where he would go. And so he joined the Semian Forces for Unity.
Now here he was, in this forsaken wilderness.
"Step up!" The colonel shouted, and nearly 1,000 men and women dressed in brown uniforms stood up and advanced to the edge of the woods.
Men and women began falling instantly. The SFE soldiers were taking potshots downhill at the SFU soldiers as they stood in a line at the edge of the woods.
"Fix bayonets!" The colonel ordered, Barlow parroted the order to his soldiers, and they promptly obeyed.
With bayonets fixed and gleaming in the morning sun, the final order was given.
"Charge!"
The nearly 1,000 soldiers dressed in brown gave a shout and began charging across the field. As they did so, the SFE artillery began to open up on the advancing troops in the field. The ground exploded all around Barlow, bodies going airborne as the artillery impacted the line. Despite the pounding, the line of brown continued charging, beginning to go uphill. As they did so, the SFE blaster rifles volleyed into the line.
Barlow guessed around one hundred men and women fell in the initial volley. But the firing continued to come just as intense. By the time the regiment finally reached the crest of the hill, the SFE soldiers were prepared.
After cresting the hill, the SFU line penetrated the dense woods, rushing towards the SFE trenches. As soon as the brown line entered the woods, all semblance of organization broke down. As Barlow and his troops rushed into the woods, the orderly line in the field collapsed, soldiers were forced to fight individually or in small groups.
Lieutenant Devitt Barlow found himself in a small group of two other soldiers. He was completely disoriented. He saw some troops dressed in gray in front of him. Knowing those to be the enemy, he fired into the soldiers. But suddenly he was being fired on from seemingly every side, and from point blank range. He could not see the soldiers shooting at him, but he saw the bolts flying at him through the trees.
After only fifteen minutes of heavy fighting, the SFU forces had taken severe casualties. The general commanding the SFU forces ordered reinforcements sent to the trenches, he also ordered artillery into the field.
The reinforcements charged into the field and up the hill, like Barlow and the soldiers before, they sustained heavy casualties from artillery as the advanced, eventually they threw their bodies into the melee in the woods just past the crest of the hill.
The SFU artillery fired uphill towards the trenches, but in the confusion of the chaos, they were not just hitting the enemy, they were hitting their own men.
Barlow ducked as an artillery round screamed overhead and caught an SFE soldier clad in gray. The bolt went completely through him and struck a tree, the bark exploding like a twig. Shards of wood and splinters went all over the place. The man next to Barlow fell, a splinter embedded deep in his now lifeless right eye.
Barlow had seen enough, and thankfully the regimental colonel had as well. He ordered a general withdraw. Soon Barlow and the other brown clad soldiers were in full retreat, running down the hill, through the field and back to their own lines.
As Barlow was running downhill, the SFU artillery was still shooting uphill. A bolt struck the ground next to him, throwing him in the air. He landed hard and he heard a loud crack. Suddenly a shooting pain rocketed up his left leg. He tried to stand, but he could not.
He tried screaming for help, but the fighting still raged in the field where he had fallen. Blaster and artillery bolts screaming past him every second. Humans, dressed in brown or gray, falling at an unprecedented rate.
Then he smelled something burning.
His nose led his eyes down the hill towards the position of the SFU guns. The guns and their barrage had set the field on fire. The fire was spreading quickly, the flames catching on the dry grass and shrubs.
Barlow knew he could not move, he knew he would not escape these flames.
He made a decision.
He could either burn to death, or he could end it quickly.
He chose the latter option. He put his pistol to his chin and prepared to pull the trigger.
Suddenly, a loud scream rent the air to his rear. Soon the SFU reinforcements sent to aide Barlow and his regiment were fleeing across the field in terror. He tried to reach out to grab his fellow soldiers, he cried out for them to save him. But they were too terrified to do anything but run back to their own lines.
Barlow thought he was done for.
Until the gray clad men of the SFE came storming on the heels of the SFU soldiers in a vicious counterattack that had driven the SFU out of the woods and down the hill.
As the men clad in gray ran past, one of them slowed down and eventually stopped.
He was dressed in a gray uniform, wearing a black wide brimmed hat, a belt, and a red Semian officers sash. Barlow squinted through the sun and smoke to stare at the man's collar. He noticed that there were three bars pinned onto the uniform collar. This man was an SFE captain.
"Help me." Barlow's dry and pained voice cracked out.
He and the SFE officer turned their heads as screams of agony broke through the field, the cries of men and women as they were consumed by flames.
"Let's get you out of here." The officer said, bending down, wrapping his arm around Barlow and hefting him up.
Barlow stood on his one good leg.
With the flames approaching ever closer, the SFE had called off their counterattack and returned to their trenches, as did the SFU forces down the hill, despite the end of fighting in this sector, men were still dying.
The gray clad captain, with Barlow on his shoulder went and recovered two additional SFU soldiers and returned, with his new prisoners, to his lines.
After Barlow had been set down the SFE officer sat beside him. The young man took off his hat exposing his brownish hair. He looked very young, perhaps no more than twenty years of age.
"Do I get to know the name of my savior?" Barlow asked.
"Only if you tell me your name." The young man replied with a smile.
"Devitt Barlow." Then almost as an afterthought, "Lieutenant Devitt Barlow."
He extended his hand towards the officer.
The young SFE officer clasped it in a tight grip. "Captain William Anders."
Barlow shook his mind out of the memory. While such a detailed recount occurred in his mind, he only told a fraction of it to those gathered around him. There were memories that he could not utter, for they haunted him.
He had not moved from the position he had occupied, it was as if his feet were rooted to the earth.
"It was a chance meeting between two enemies, one that saved my life." Devitt spoke aloud, his voice suddenly turning solemn. "The same cannot be said of the 5,742 men and women who were killed, wounded, or missing in that small clearing." He turned to look at William, and noticed that the young man's eyes were unfocused, as if he too were reliving that horrible day.
Devitt Barlow now turned his eyes to face Hagg, the man's eyes alight with hate as he glared at Anders.
"Major, while this man may be an enemy to the First Order, he has honor." Barlow then extended his gloved index finger and pointed it at Hagg in a scolding that seemed fit for a toddler. "Never forget that."
With that he began walking back towards the transport.
"What about the prisioners!?" Hagg yelled after him.
"Prisoners?" Barlow laughed, turning around, "I see no prisoners, just soldiers wanting to go home."
Hagg's mouth was agape. "But sir, these are enemy combatants! They are actively fighting against us!"
Barlow smiled. " Major, tell me, does it appear to you that Colonel Anders and his men have tried to engage us in combat since our arrival?"
Hagg was silent.
"No, they have not." Barlow said, squaring his shoulders. "We will no doubt fight each other again, on some other distant battlefield," Barlow said as if to appease his mind at letting these enemy combatants go, " and perhaps then we can kill each other without remorse." His eyes scanned over the assortment of soldiers, "but in this moment, you have done the unthinkable, you have reached across divisions and united to survive. And that is perhaps the most honorable and selfless thing this galaxy has seen in many years."
Barlow turned to one of his black clad lieutenants. "Prepare for departure."
Some of the stormtroopers were having a very difficult time following this order. Their minds screaming out at them to capture these enemy soldiers, yet, also telling them to obey a superior's order without question. Barlow noticed this, and made a mental note to himself to have a long discussion with his soldiers once they reached their frigate.
Despite misgivings, the lieutenant carried out the order."Yes sir!" The man cried, giving out orders. Soon the mass of white armor began marching slowly up the transport ramps.
Phasma and her group were the last to board. As they began marching by Will and his soldiers, Will was quite solemn. He had grown closer with some of the enemy troopers, and it pained him to a certain extent to realize that he would be fighting against them once more.
Perhaps that was his biggest weakness, his compassion. But he would reflect on that later.
As Phasma and her soldiers began to pass Will, Will gave an order to his soldiers to stand at attention.
They did not hesitate, and snapped to attention just as their enemy companions of the past couple of days began to pass by.
Will himself snapped to attention, and he, Rogers, and Dowdall raised their right hands to their foreheads in a salute.
As the troopers past by, some of them acknowledged the gesture, returning it with a brief snap to attention themselves, officers, like Nines, returned the salute.
The last one in line was Phasma. She walked a few paces behind her men. When she reached Will, who still held the salute, she stopped in front of him.
Slowly, she raised her right arm, and her gauntleted hand nearly touched her helmet as she returned the salute.
"Colonel Anders, this has been a unique experience." She told him.
"Indeed it has, Captain Phasma." Will said honestly.
"Until we meet again." Phasma broke the salute and turned on her heel, marching up the ramp of a transport just as the engines ignited.
Will and his soldiers watched as the five transports lifted off the ground and shot up through the atmosphere. They were left all by themselves.
"I hope the Resistance gets here soon." Private Dryse said.
Will was lost in reflection.
Until we meet again. Phasma's parting words to Will no doubt indicated that their next meeting would occur as they shot at each other across the battlefield.
The Resistance ships arrived just an hour after the First Order transports had left. Will was surprised. After he boarded the transport, he walked to the cockpit.
"How did you get past the First Order blockade around this planet?" He asked the pilot.
"Blockade?" The man replied in confusion, "The only First Order ships we saw were jumping into hyperspace just as we arrived. It looks like they have given up on trying to control this sector of space." A victorious smile adorned his face.
The copilot turned to Will with a look of curiosity. "Say, how did you survive all this time?"
Will gave a smile as he prepared to leave the cockpit. "You would not believe me."
Will sat himself down in the small cabin and strapped himself into the seat. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Devitt Barlow stood in the transport cabin, looking at his stormtroopers as they stood in two lines facing the ramp. Barlow stood at the end of the two lines, closest to the cockpit.
He racked his mind about what had just happened.
He realized that his superiors in the First Order would be outraged at his decisions. But, Barlow had a feeling that he would receive a slap on the wrist, nothing more.
He knew he was being foolish with such assumptions, the First Order, especially Supreme Leader Snoke, General Hux, and Kylo Ren, were known for being merciless. Yet, he felt comfortable in his assumption, this time at least, because he had done his mission perfectly. He had been tasked with capturing Yavin 4, and he had done so. While he had let Anders and the others go, and seemingly ordered the First Order ships to retreat through hyperspace, that is not the end of his plan. If his plan goes accordingly, once the Resistance fleet has left the sector, the First Order ships will return, troops will be sent down to the surface of Yavin 4, and the moon will finally be under their control.
While Barlow was honest in his words to Anders about honor, he too was just as sneaky and cunning.
And that was the reason the First Order would not severely punish or kill him for letting these enemy soldiers go. Because he had won the First Order victories before, and it seems like he will continue to do so. Barlow knew that he was more useful to the First Order alive, despite his compassion, than dead and useless.
Compassion. The word seemed somewhat alien to him. He knew he was compassionate, if the event that had just happened was anything to go by. It was something he had in common with William Anders. But it also made him an outcast in the First Order. While he knew he could be merciless at points, he remembers ordering the killing of an entire village to ensure Resistance guerillas no longer harassed his troops; he also knew that compassion was a part of him. It was that compassion that alienated him from the other officers, and even troopers, of the First Order. Whereas the overwhelming majority of them were cold and emotionless, he showed a ray of emotion. Most of the fellow colonels and generals refused to acknowledge him; those that served under him did so because they were forced; and his superiors looked upon him as a vermin, a victorious and useful vermin, but a vermin nonetheless.
It was tough. But he knew he had to do it. Devitt Barlow could not bring himself to join the Resistance.
In his mind the Resistance was an organization that he believed existed to cause disorder in the galaxy, disorder that would lead to chaos and chaos which would leave to an untold number of deaths. However, the First Order would in his mind promote order throughout the galaxy, and order meant saving lives. He wanted to save lives because he was compassionate, and the only way to save lives was through promoting order. The First Order was the embodiment of order.
The ship touched down with a thud, soon the doors opened and the stormtroopers marched out of the cabin and down the ramp, Barlow followed right behind.
William Anders was shaken out of his slumber when the transport set down inside the Resistance frigate. He and his soldiers stood up and began to walk out of the transport all looking forward to a well needed rest.
He had just stepped onto the hanger floor when he was greeted by a group of Resistance soldiers he did not recognize.
"Colonel Anders?" The man, a lieutenant, asked.
"Yes." Will replied.
" I am to inform you that we are on our way to D'Qar, once there you are to meet with the high command council."
"Okay." Will said and walked away. This was the meeting he was dreading.
The trip to D'Qar took nearly nine hours. In those nine hours Will slept, his body fatigued from the strenuous activity of the past couple of days.
Eventually he was awoken by a knock on the door of the small quarters he had occupied.
Rising, he answered it.
It was Rogers.
"We have landed." She said.
"Great." Will said sarcastically.
The two stalked off the frigate and Will immediately went into the large command center.
He was quickly ushered into a large conference room by an unknown captain, and he quickly found himself staring at the entire high command of the Resistance.
As he looked around at their faces, he noticed that most of them did not seem pleased to see him.
"Colonel Anders," Leia said, "Welcome back."
"Many thanks, general." Will replied with a small smile.
"Enough with the pleasantries, let's get down to business." General Donhue said.
"Your ship was shot down by First Order fighters, a crash in which everyone escaped without major harm?" Leia asked.
"That is correct, General Organa." Will replied.
" We have gotten reports that you and your soldiers were attacked on Yavin 4 by a marauding gang, is that correct?" Major Ematt asked.
Will felt his ire rise towards the man was he recalled Whip's story. "Yes." He nearly ground out.
"Some of your soldiers were taken hostage?" An unknown general asked.
"Yes, that is correct." Will replied, growing tired of the constant questions and answers.
" Is it true that the First Order had sent down a contingent of soldiers as well?" Donhue asked.
Will smirked, "Well, I guess, although I would imagine you would know more about that than I would." He simply did not care if he sounded like an ass. He was still dead tired, and every more hungry.
Donhue's face reddened, but he did not speak.
"Did you come into contact with these enemy soldiers?" An unknown female general asked him.
"Yes, we very nearly had a firefight, but I intervened and stopped such bloodshed."
"Why did you intervene?" Leia asked.
"Because we were stuck on the planet by ourselves, our comms were destroyed, and we were surrounded by hostile gangs. I realized that the only way to survive was to cooperate."
"Did you?" Leia followed up.
"Yes, Captain Phasma and I came to a mutual understanding of the situation."
A laugh echoed throughout the room. It was Ematt. "Captain Phasma? Why, Colonel Anders, you and the dear captain seem to have an awful lot of run ins. Are you sure your mind is clear on the matter of your loyalty to the cause?"
"Why do you question my loyalty, major?" Will said tersely, he did not care what others thought about him in their private minds, but he would not have his loyalty called into question in front of the entire command of the Resistance armed forces. A military he and his soldiers had fought and bled for.
Ematt gave a smile. "Simply because you and Captain Phasma always encounter each other in situations that end up with you not killing the captain. Such as your incident on Jakku, where you let the stormtroopers go but killed one of your lieutenants. So forgive me if I think your loyalty is questionable."
"I second that." Donhue said. "If it was up to me, I would have had you thrown into the cells long ago."
"Silence." Leia said in a raised voice. She turned to Ematt.
"Major, it is apparent that you have let your personal dislike of Colonel Anders to cloud your judgement."
"No ma'am I was jus…." Ematt tried to speak.
Leia cut him off, "You are dismissed from this meeting." She gave the major a wave of her hand, indicating the conversation was over.
Ematt stood in silence for a few seconds before walking down the long conference table, glaring at Will as he passed by, and finally out the doors.
Once the doors had shut, the questioning continued.
Leia warned Donhue. "General Donhue, while you may not like Colonel Anders, he has proven his loyalty to the cause and to me. And if you question his loyalty, I can always assign you a frontline command."
Donhue's confident expression turned sour. It made Will smile.
" After this agreement, what did you and Phasma plan to do? Get off world?" Leia asked.
"Well, yes. We planned to rescue our captured troops, and eventually get off world." Will replied to the generals question.
"Did you succeed?" Asked the same female general.
"We did. In fact, I would say it was a stunning victory. We took no soldiers killed and only five wounded. We inflicted over one hundred combined casualties on the enemy gang."
"A victory? You call that a victory? That is nothing more than a mere skirmish on some insignificant backwater." Donhue said, finally letting his resentment out.
"SILENECE!" Leia roared, slamming her fist down on the table. She turned to General Donhue. "Donhue, it is apparent that you cannot stand any more of this meeting. You are dismissed."
Donhue tried to argue but Leia sent the old man a look of utter anger. The general got up, and like Ematt, glared at Will as he walked by him, before exiting through the double doors.
"I would say that is a commendable victory." A old and small general told Will with a smile that showed his worn teeth.
Will smiled back.
"This meeting is adjourned." Leia said.
The generals got up and left. Leia ordered Will to stay, and he did.
She walked around until she stood in front of Will. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
" I apologize for your ordeal." She said sincerely.
"It is of no importance. It was all part of my job." Will said with a small smile.
"Only you would say such a thing, William." Leia said, her face bright with happiness.
"General, I have a question if I may ask." Will said respectfully.
"Granted." Leia said gently.
"Why did the Resistance abandon Yavin 4 after recovering us? When we left there was only one other Resistance ship surrounding the moon."
Leia sighed. "To tell you the truth William, Yavin 4 was never thought of as a strategic location. The opinion of the council was that if Yavin 4 could be controlled, and by extension, the entire Yavin system, than we could use it as a staging point for future operations. However, there were other far more suitable planets which we can use."
"Then why send us?" Will asked.
"Politics." Leia said, "The Senate has been pushing for the armed forces to show progress in the fight against the First Order. Progress means winning battles. Up until your little expedition, the Resistance really had not done much fighting recently. We needed a victory to appease the Senators."
Will was pretty upset and Leia could see. "Will, I apologize, it is disgusting, but that is the way militaries work. It is how they always worked, a marriage of politics and strategy. Sometimes it works for the better and other times it does not.
Will was not having any of it. "Excuse me, general." He said before turning on his heel and marching out of the room.
Phasma had finally returned onboard the frigate. She knew she and her men needed rest. She had ordered them to not be disturbed for twelve hours. She had also ordered that the frigate travel back to Starkiller Base. Phasma had just stepped foot in her quarters when her comm beeped. Sighing, walked over to the table and activated it. It was Hux.
"Captain Phasma, I expect a full report as soon as you reach Starkiller Base."
"Yes, sir." She replied.
With that the hologram faded, and the call ended.
But Phasma had a lightbulb go off in her head. She instantly reached down to her belt, found the correct pouch, and opened it. Her gloved fingers danced along the vial she had put there, it had seemed like eons ago. She removed the vial and inspected it. Remarkably, it had survived the rigors of combat unscathed. The blood inside was now dry, but it would still yield the DNA results that Phasma wanted.
She stalked out of the room and down the hall towards the med bay. After ordering everyone to leave the area, she walked over to the DNA scanner and inserted the test tube.
When she got the results, disappointment and frustration spread through her body.
Name: William Anders
Parents:
Father- Unknown
Mother- Unknown
She very much wanted to blast the machine to oblivion right then and there. But then something came over her as she recalled her times with Colonel William Anders.
They shared a lot in common. The same planet, the same hometown, a loss in their lives, for Phasma it was her padawan husband all those years ago, for Anders it was virtually his entire family. Anders was only twenty one years old, Phasma only thirty seven. She knew her child would be around his age if that child had lived.
It was almost laughable at the thought. Imagine that, her, a First Order stormtrooper captain, and he, a colonel in the Resistance. They were enemies for force's sake!
On a whim, she removed the glove on her right hand. Her white skin exposed to the cool air of the med bay. She pricked her index finger with a small needle, and swabbed the drop of blood forming on her finger. After putting the swab into the machine she commenced the process, comparing his DNA to her DNA.
When the results finally came back Phasma was shocked.
Her legs gave out and she stumbled and nearly fell, her hands shot out and barely gripped a table behind her. Eventually Phasma hobbled on shaky legs towards the wall behind her. Facing the wall, she dipped her helmet until it leaned against the cool durasteel surface, and her shoulders began to shake.
They shook for the years of blasted hopes and a lost future, a future that she and he should have had, but did not. Now they were reduced to shooting at each other on a battlefield.
The imposing and intimidating commander of the First Order's Stormtrooper Corps was reduced to leaning against a wall an emotional wreck.
The screen on the DNA scanner read a singular word.
MATCH.
The big reveal in finally here! But what will happen? Are Phasma and Will destined to remain enemies? Does Will know? I know for many of you readers, this was obvious from very early on in the story. Perhaps I made a mistake earlier by giving so much detail about these two main characters, perhaps in future stories, I may withhold such detail until later. However, despite that, I am still pleased with this work, and I hope you are as well! If you have any suggestions for future use, I would gladly accept any private messages. Sit back and enjoy!
-LittleP
