It had long been known to the members of the Rebel Alliance that the Bothan
SpyNet was a double-edged sword. On one hand, the Bothans provided an
invaluable service in aiding the Rebels in their fight against the Empire
by acquiring all kinds of secret and vital information. On the other hand,
Bothans were unpredictable. It was not a rare occurrence that a Bothan spy
would switch allegiances in the heat of a mission if approached by a
benefactor who offered a significant raise in credits for some simple
information. In fact, the short creatures were known to attempt to work for
both sides of a conflict as long as possible, for their own monetary gain.
At the first sight of an Imperial Stormtrooper aboard the Alderaan, Baaka knew he had underestimated the extent of Fenn's treason.
"What in the-?"
General Amyrran, with Captain Mal'lar at his side and two Rebel troopers close behind, had noticed an Imperial-issue blaster rifle protruding from a ventilation shaft along the side of a corridor leading to the main deck. The group of Rebels froze in place as the metal grating that covered the shaft was flung open and slammed onto the white floor with a loud clang. When the familiar white-and-black metallic armor emerged from the hole, even the General was dumbstruck with fear. Two Stormtroopers writhed out of the shaft before standing to face the group of Rebels several meters away.
The two Rebel guards had pushed their way in front of their commanding officers, and now kneeled with a clear shot at the enemy troopers. Amyrran drew his blaster and aimed it over their heads, targeting the menacing helmets that now stared straight at him. All five armed soldiers seemed to pull their triggers simultaneously, producing a loud blast that echoed throughout the ship.
The trooper kneeling in front of Baaka fell to the ground, his face seared and unrecognizable from the enemy shot. The Stormtrooper who had delivered the blast, however, yelled in agony as he clenched his right arm, his disabled blaster lying on the floor. His comrade lay dead.
General Amyrran and the surviving Rebel guard walked cautiously, blasters drawn, towards the injured Stormtrooper. Baaka remained behind, still frozen in place. He had just witnessed two men die within a single instant... Death was not something with which he was unfamiliar; in fact, he knew it all too well. However, the bloody second had jogged some pungent memory that made his hair stand on end. He realized that he couldn't let things happen like that again. He needed to take control.
"General, I need to go back," the old Bothan called ahead.
Amyrran continued advancing towards the Imperial soldier, not turning his head to respond. "You must stay with me, Baaka. The ship isn't safe." He glanced back ever so slightly. "You don't even have a blaster!"
Baaka wrinkled his face as if the General's comment were an insult, knowing that blasters were unreliable weapons and could be used by even the most amateur of warriors, and villainous scum alike. He pointed to the obsidian sheath that hung from the belt around his light gray coat. "I have all the weapons I need," he said defiantly. "I must go back... for my children." The old Bothan stormed off in the direction he came from.
"Captain Mal'lar! Baaka!" the General called futilely, before returning his focus to the incapacitated Stormtrooper that lay panting, sobbing, and attempting to remove the seared armor plate that covered his wounded arm. The Rebel guard knelt beside him, pointing his rifle at the Imperial's head. General Amyrran stood towering over the squirming soldier, utilizing his intense voice to intimidate the enemy for means of interrogation. "How many more of there are you, and where can I find them?"
The Stormtrooper continued writhing in pain on the floor, unable to produce any sound except muffled cries. He stared through the dark of his visor up at the General's merciless face, seeing the man who had shot him through blurring tears. He interrupted his erratic breathing with a single, sustained hoarse note as if he was trying to say something, but the attempt came as his last breath. The Stormtrooper's head fell to the floor, hitting it with a metallic, almost hollow-sounding bang that sent shivers down the General's spine.
Amyrran eyed the length of the corridor ahead of him. There were several other ventilation shafts lining its wall; one, he could see, was being opened from inside. The General gulped, fingered his blaster anxiously, and spoke to the kneeling trooper without looking down at him. "Teg," he said, his stern voice wavering slightly.
"Yes, sir?" the guard asked, looking up at the General, then remarking where his eyes were fixed.
"Keep close."
It didn't take long before the corridors of the Alderaan were crawling with Imperial troops. A few squads of Stormtroopers and a handful of commanding officers had been smuggled into the lower cargo bay, possibly wearing Rebel disguises. Utilizing the ventilation shafts, enemy soldiers had now occupied a good deal of the ship's area, and were in strong enough numbers to overpower the Rebel fleet's relatively small crew. The invading Imperials had targeted the flight deck, the main hangar, and the medical bay.
It was there that Terr and Sorcha now moved furtively to evade detection. Neither of them knew exactly what was going on inside the Alderaan, but the rampant sounds of laserfire were enough to make them cautious. Terr's black sheath remained on his blaster belt; his ancient weapon was now drawn and in offensive position. His holster was also vacant; he had handed his blaster over to Sorcha, whose own weapon had been left in the cockpit of her A-wing. The two of them stepped quietly, careful not to make any loud noises that could bring trouble their way. Neither of them had experience in ground combat, and thus felt highly unprepared for any possible conflict while armed solely with a blaster and a sword. They focused their intention simply on reaching the main deck, where they knew Baaka and General Amyrran had gone.
Coming to a turn in the corridor, the two young pilots stopped. Terr leaned against the wall and signaled to Sorcha to stay still. Keeping his sword parallel to his body, he slowly turned his head and extended his neck around the corner of the wall, just enough to provide a single-eye view of the hall ahead.
At first, he saw nothing. He squinted to shield his eyes from the effects of the beaming overhead lights and reflective walls, then focused on a pair of transparent doors at the far end of the interminable hall. He noticed a figure or two approaching, but could not make out who they were through the glass. As soon as the doors shifted open, he jerked his head back around the corner and tried to calm himself.
Sorcha gave Terr a questioning look, eager to know what he saw. Terr let out a silent breath and simply motioned with his sword to move back in the direction they had come. The two of them walked as fast as they could without letting their boots fall heavily on the tile floor. They passed several medical chambers, including the one in which Sorcha had been recovering, and reached another hall similar to the one they were just at, on the other side of the ship. This time, Terr gave a rather cursory glance around the corner before swiftly moving around it and leaning against the adjacent wall, sitting on his haunches.
"What was it?" Sorcha whispered.
Terr looked up at her, his eyes glinting with a sort of concentrated fear. "Stormtroopers," he said evenly, keeping his voice low. He could see the fear strike in Sorcha's eyes at his response.
"Well we can't sit around and do nothing," she protested, partially trying to cover up her evident unease. "They'll catch us!"
Terr sighed lightly, before looking down the length of the corridor to a pair of transparent doors identical to those on the other side of the ship. "I don't think we have much of a choice..." he said.
Sorcha sighed at Terr's defeatist tone. She gripped her blaster nervously with two hands, looking about as if in search of some tool that could get them out of this predicament. "There must be some-"
The two young Rebels jumped at the sound of a voice emanating from the Alderaan's internal comm. system. A concealed speaker was located in the wall directly above Terr's head. Terr had jumped upright and was now in attack stance, sweat starting to trickle from his forehead. Sorcha laid a calming hand on his shoulder and pointed to the speaker.
"Attention- attention, this is Lieutenant Kyrjill speaking. Imperial troops have boarded the ship. I repeat, enemy troops are on board!"
"Thanks for the advance warning, Lieutenant Kyrjill," Terr quipped almost inaudibly, lowering his sword.
The urgent message continued, "All troopers hold your positions; officers to the main-"The voice cut away to an abrupt static, before the comm. system reset to a silence that disquieted every living Rebel on the ship. After standing still uneasily for a moment, Sorcha broke the silence with a careful whisper that wouldn't make Terr jump into sword fighting position again.
"What are we going to do?"
Before Terr had time to answer, he perceived the sound of footsteps approaching steadily from the corridor of the medical bay around the corner. It must be the ones I saw, he thought to himself. The young pilot looked to Sorcha, and the two of them immediately stood against the wall, Terr's sword parallel to his body and ready to strike down the first Stormtrooper that passed around the corner. Sorcha leaned forward to get a look around Terr, but quickly realized that the enemy soldiers were approaching rapidly, and leaned back against the wall. Her blaster pointing to the ceiling, she closed her eyes and readied herself.
Sorcha was not ready, however, for the sound of the transparent doors on the other end of the hall opening. She and Terr gave a panicked glance at the shifting entrance, which revealed two Imperial Stormtroopers, rifles in hand. The two Rebels looked at each other, hoping to sense some plan of confidence in their comrade's eyes, but instead saw only confusion and panic. Sorcha bit her lips and shot around to face the enemy troopers, who had taken notice of the young Rebel pilots and aimed their blasters accordingly.
Before they could fire, however, Sorcha gripped her blaster with two hands and released a volley of three shots that struck one of the Stormtroopers and sent him tumbling helplessly to the floor. The other, attempting to avoid a ricochet, retreated behind the doors, which began to seal shut until the accompanying sensor device picked up on the armored corpse lying between the two shifting halves. Sorcha fired a confident blast into the open pathway, but the laser struck the wall opposite the one that the remaining trooper hugged, fizzling into an iota of red particles.
Meanwhile, Terr remained braced against the wall, partially to avoid any shots that might come Sorcha's way, but mainly to be ready for the Stormtroopers he could sense were a mere meter away. As soon as the white- and-black-armored soldiers marched into the turn in the corridor, Terr spun towards it and let his sword fall strongly, slicing the rifle of the nearest Stormtrooper in half. The alarmed soldier stumbled, pushing his comrade against the wall and dropping the stub of his blaster. The other soldier pushed his seemingly inept partner off of him, but soon took notice of the armed swordsman and, thinking nothing of the ancient weapon's ability, took his time in aiming his blaster.
Terr kept his feet fixed on the floor and swiped his saber against the armed trooper, the honed blade slashing through the dark fabric covering the Stormtrooper's left elbow. The Imperial recoiled at the sharp pain penetrating his skin, fell to the floor and lost control of his blaster, firing a stray shot that bounced harmlessly off the wall of the corridor.
"Argh!" the wounded trooper groaned, clenching his teeth. He gripped his cut arm and looked up at Terr, fury in his concealed eyes. He lifted a leg and delivered a forceful kick at the young Rebel, who was sent falling backwards on the white floor. Terr managed to keep a solid grip on his sword as he rolled sideways a bit, before lifting his blade and intercepting a punch from the uninjured Stormtrooper. The sword struck the Imperial's arm awkwardly and bounced off the metallic armor, setting the soldier slightly off-balance. Terr picked up his legs and pushed them against the Imperial, forcing him to the floor.
Sorcha glanced down at her struggling friend but was forced with a wince to return her focus to her shootout with the Stormtrooper as a laser blast struck the wall next to her head. With one nervous hand gripping the wall, she fired a barrage in the direction of the enemy soldier, but could not blast down the cover of the halfway-closed door. She let off the trigger for a moment, but did not duck down and instead kept her sights fixed on the edge of the door. When the Stormtrooper's head protruded from around it, Sorcha unleashed a merciless series of laser blasts that struck the enemy's metallic helmet, causing him to drop dead to the shimmering, white floor.
With a sigh of relief, Sorcha turned around to see Terr locked in hand-to- hand combat with the Stormtrooper who had first turned their corner. The two soldiers grappled and wrestled furiously, Terr's sword inutile as his wrists were being clenched relentlessly. Sorcha raised her blaster, but could not get a clear shot at the Imperial trooper. She stood helplessly, fearing for her best friend's life. The Stormtrooper pushed Terr's right hand away, sending his saber clattering to the floor.
The wounded soldier who remained on the floor took sight of the gleaming metal in front of him, and reached for the hilt. He suddenly collapsed short of the sword as a searing red laser struck into his armor from Sorcha's blaster.
Terr used his free hand to deliver a forceful punch at the Stormtrooper's unarmored neck, sending the weakened soldier to his knees before collapsing on the floor, his helmet askew so as to reveal a bruised lower jaw.
Terr stood up straight and brushed off his drab undershirt, breathing heavily. He turned to Sorcha and hugged her tightly, before picking up his sword off the stained floor and making sure that the blade had not been dulled. Sorcha let her muscles relax and looked back at the passageway between the transparent doors that now housed two armored corpses.
"Sorcha," Terr said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning her head.
"Thanks," he replied, indicating with a nod the corpse behind him with a bloody elbow and a hole in its helmet.
At the first sight of an Imperial Stormtrooper aboard the Alderaan, Baaka knew he had underestimated the extent of Fenn's treason.
"What in the-?"
General Amyrran, with Captain Mal'lar at his side and two Rebel troopers close behind, had noticed an Imperial-issue blaster rifle protruding from a ventilation shaft along the side of a corridor leading to the main deck. The group of Rebels froze in place as the metal grating that covered the shaft was flung open and slammed onto the white floor with a loud clang. When the familiar white-and-black metallic armor emerged from the hole, even the General was dumbstruck with fear. Two Stormtroopers writhed out of the shaft before standing to face the group of Rebels several meters away.
The two Rebel guards had pushed their way in front of their commanding officers, and now kneeled with a clear shot at the enemy troopers. Amyrran drew his blaster and aimed it over their heads, targeting the menacing helmets that now stared straight at him. All five armed soldiers seemed to pull their triggers simultaneously, producing a loud blast that echoed throughout the ship.
The trooper kneeling in front of Baaka fell to the ground, his face seared and unrecognizable from the enemy shot. The Stormtrooper who had delivered the blast, however, yelled in agony as he clenched his right arm, his disabled blaster lying on the floor. His comrade lay dead.
General Amyrran and the surviving Rebel guard walked cautiously, blasters drawn, towards the injured Stormtrooper. Baaka remained behind, still frozen in place. He had just witnessed two men die within a single instant... Death was not something with which he was unfamiliar; in fact, he knew it all too well. However, the bloody second had jogged some pungent memory that made his hair stand on end. He realized that he couldn't let things happen like that again. He needed to take control.
"General, I need to go back," the old Bothan called ahead.
Amyrran continued advancing towards the Imperial soldier, not turning his head to respond. "You must stay with me, Baaka. The ship isn't safe." He glanced back ever so slightly. "You don't even have a blaster!"
Baaka wrinkled his face as if the General's comment were an insult, knowing that blasters were unreliable weapons and could be used by even the most amateur of warriors, and villainous scum alike. He pointed to the obsidian sheath that hung from the belt around his light gray coat. "I have all the weapons I need," he said defiantly. "I must go back... for my children." The old Bothan stormed off in the direction he came from.
"Captain Mal'lar! Baaka!" the General called futilely, before returning his focus to the incapacitated Stormtrooper that lay panting, sobbing, and attempting to remove the seared armor plate that covered his wounded arm. The Rebel guard knelt beside him, pointing his rifle at the Imperial's head. General Amyrran stood towering over the squirming soldier, utilizing his intense voice to intimidate the enemy for means of interrogation. "How many more of there are you, and where can I find them?"
The Stormtrooper continued writhing in pain on the floor, unable to produce any sound except muffled cries. He stared through the dark of his visor up at the General's merciless face, seeing the man who had shot him through blurring tears. He interrupted his erratic breathing with a single, sustained hoarse note as if he was trying to say something, but the attempt came as his last breath. The Stormtrooper's head fell to the floor, hitting it with a metallic, almost hollow-sounding bang that sent shivers down the General's spine.
Amyrran eyed the length of the corridor ahead of him. There were several other ventilation shafts lining its wall; one, he could see, was being opened from inside. The General gulped, fingered his blaster anxiously, and spoke to the kneeling trooper without looking down at him. "Teg," he said, his stern voice wavering slightly.
"Yes, sir?" the guard asked, looking up at the General, then remarking where his eyes were fixed.
"Keep close."
It didn't take long before the corridors of the Alderaan were crawling with Imperial troops. A few squads of Stormtroopers and a handful of commanding officers had been smuggled into the lower cargo bay, possibly wearing Rebel disguises. Utilizing the ventilation shafts, enemy soldiers had now occupied a good deal of the ship's area, and were in strong enough numbers to overpower the Rebel fleet's relatively small crew. The invading Imperials had targeted the flight deck, the main hangar, and the medical bay.
It was there that Terr and Sorcha now moved furtively to evade detection. Neither of them knew exactly what was going on inside the Alderaan, but the rampant sounds of laserfire were enough to make them cautious. Terr's black sheath remained on his blaster belt; his ancient weapon was now drawn and in offensive position. His holster was also vacant; he had handed his blaster over to Sorcha, whose own weapon had been left in the cockpit of her A-wing. The two of them stepped quietly, careful not to make any loud noises that could bring trouble their way. Neither of them had experience in ground combat, and thus felt highly unprepared for any possible conflict while armed solely with a blaster and a sword. They focused their intention simply on reaching the main deck, where they knew Baaka and General Amyrran had gone.
Coming to a turn in the corridor, the two young pilots stopped. Terr leaned against the wall and signaled to Sorcha to stay still. Keeping his sword parallel to his body, he slowly turned his head and extended his neck around the corner of the wall, just enough to provide a single-eye view of the hall ahead.
At first, he saw nothing. He squinted to shield his eyes from the effects of the beaming overhead lights and reflective walls, then focused on a pair of transparent doors at the far end of the interminable hall. He noticed a figure or two approaching, but could not make out who they were through the glass. As soon as the doors shifted open, he jerked his head back around the corner and tried to calm himself.
Sorcha gave Terr a questioning look, eager to know what he saw. Terr let out a silent breath and simply motioned with his sword to move back in the direction they had come. The two of them walked as fast as they could without letting their boots fall heavily on the tile floor. They passed several medical chambers, including the one in which Sorcha had been recovering, and reached another hall similar to the one they were just at, on the other side of the ship. This time, Terr gave a rather cursory glance around the corner before swiftly moving around it and leaning against the adjacent wall, sitting on his haunches.
"What was it?" Sorcha whispered.
Terr looked up at her, his eyes glinting with a sort of concentrated fear. "Stormtroopers," he said evenly, keeping his voice low. He could see the fear strike in Sorcha's eyes at his response.
"Well we can't sit around and do nothing," she protested, partially trying to cover up her evident unease. "They'll catch us!"
Terr sighed lightly, before looking down the length of the corridor to a pair of transparent doors identical to those on the other side of the ship. "I don't think we have much of a choice..." he said.
Sorcha sighed at Terr's defeatist tone. She gripped her blaster nervously with two hands, looking about as if in search of some tool that could get them out of this predicament. "There must be some-"
The two young Rebels jumped at the sound of a voice emanating from the Alderaan's internal comm. system. A concealed speaker was located in the wall directly above Terr's head. Terr had jumped upright and was now in attack stance, sweat starting to trickle from his forehead. Sorcha laid a calming hand on his shoulder and pointed to the speaker.
"Attention- attention, this is Lieutenant Kyrjill speaking. Imperial troops have boarded the ship. I repeat, enemy troops are on board!"
"Thanks for the advance warning, Lieutenant Kyrjill," Terr quipped almost inaudibly, lowering his sword.
The urgent message continued, "All troopers hold your positions; officers to the main-"The voice cut away to an abrupt static, before the comm. system reset to a silence that disquieted every living Rebel on the ship. After standing still uneasily for a moment, Sorcha broke the silence with a careful whisper that wouldn't make Terr jump into sword fighting position again.
"What are we going to do?"
Before Terr had time to answer, he perceived the sound of footsteps approaching steadily from the corridor of the medical bay around the corner. It must be the ones I saw, he thought to himself. The young pilot looked to Sorcha, and the two of them immediately stood against the wall, Terr's sword parallel to his body and ready to strike down the first Stormtrooper that passed around the corner. Sorcha leaned forward to get a look around Terr, but quickly realized that the enemy soldiers were approaching rapidly, and leaned back against the wall. Her blaster pointing to the ceiling, she closed her eyes and readied herself.
Sorcha was not ready, however, for the sound of the transparent doors on the other end of the hall opening. She and Terr gave a panicked glance at the shifting entrance, which revealed two Imperial Stormtroopers, rifles in hand. The two Rebels looked at each other, hoping to sense some plan of confidence in their comrade's eyes, but instead saw only confusion and panic. Sorcha bit her lips and shot around to face the enemy troopers, who had taken notice of the young Rebel pilots and aimed their blasters accordingly.
Before they could fire, however, Sorcha gripped her blaster with two hands and released a volley of three shots that struck one of the Stormtroopers and sent him tumbling helplessly to the floor. The other, attempting to avoid a ricochet, retreated behind the doors, which began to seal shut until the accompanying sensor device picked up on the armored corpse lying between the two shifting halves. Sorcha fired a confident blast into the open pathway, but the laser struck the wall opposite the one that the remaining trooper hugged, fizzling into an iota of red particles.
Meanwhile, Terr remained braced against the wall, partially to avoid any shots that might come Sorcha's way, but mainly to be ready for the Stormtroopers he could sense were a mere meter away. As soon as the white- and-black-armored soldiers marched into the turn in the corridor, Terr spun towards it and let his sword fall strongly, slicing the rifle of the nearest Stormtrooper in half. The alarmed soldier stumbled, pushing his comrade against the wall and dropping the stub of his blaster. The other soldier pushed his seemingly inept partner off of him, but soon took notice of the armed swordsman and, thinking nothing of the ancient weapon's ability, took his time in aiming his blaster.
Terr kept his feet fixed on the floor and swiped his saber against the armed trooper, the honed blade slashing through the dark fabric covering the Stormtrooper's left elbow. The Imperial recoiled at the sharp pain penetrating his skin, fell to the floor and lost control of his blaster, firing a stray shot that bounced harmlessly off the wall of the corridor.
"Argh!" the wounded trooper groaned, clenching his teeth. He gripped his cut arm and looked up at Terr, fury in his concealed eyes. He lifted a leg and delivered a forceful kick at the young Rebel, who was sent falling backwards on the white floor. Terr managed to keep a solid grip on his sword as he rolled sideways a bit, before lifting his blade and intercepting a punch from the uninjured Stormtrooper. The sword struck the Imperial's arm awkwardly and bounced off the metallic armor, setting the soldier slightly off-balance. Terr picked up his legs and pushed them against the Imperial, forcing him to the floor.
Sorcha glanced down at her struggling friend but was forced with a wince to return her focus to her shootout with the Stormtrooper as a laser blast struck the wall next to her head. With one nervous hand gripping the wall, she fired a barrage in the direction of the enemy soldier, but could not blast down the cover of the halfway-closed door. She let off the trigger for a moment, but did not duck down and instead kept her sights fixed on the edge of the door. When the Stormtrooper's head protruded from around it, Sorcha unleashed a merciless series of laser blasts that struck the enemy's metallic helmet, causing him to drop dead to the shimmering, white floor.
With a sigh of relief, Sorcha turned around to see Terr locked in hand-to- hand combat with the Stormtrooper who had first turned their corner. The two soldiers grappled and wrestled furiously, Terr's sword inutile as his wrists were being clenched relentlessly. Sorcha raised her blaster, but could not get a clear shot at the Imperial trooper. She stood helplessly, fearing for her best friend's life. The Stormtrooper pushed Terr's right hand away, sending his saber clattering to the floor.
The wounded soldier who remained on the floor took sight of the gleaming metal in front of him, and reached for the hilt. He suddenly collapsed short of the sword as a searing red laser struck into his armor from Sorcha's blaster.
Terr used his free hand to deliver a forceful punch at the Stormtrooper's unarmored neck, sending the weakened soldier to his knees before collapsing on the floor, his helmet askew so as to reveal a bruised lower jaw.
Terr stood up straight and brushed off his drab undershirt, breathing heavily. He turned to Sorcha and hugged her tightly, before picking up his sword off the stained floor and making sure that the blade had not been dulled. Sorcha let her muscles relax and looked back at the passageway between the transparent doors that now housed two armored corpses.
"Sorcha," Terr said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning her head.
"Thanks," he replied, indicating with a nod the corpse behind him with a bloody elbow and a hole in its helmet.