AN: This is an older story of mine written waaaaaayyyyyy back in 1987. It appeared in the fanzine "Shadowstar 30." I had the idea for it after watching TESB and wondered about the Rebellion's "little guys."
The Forgotten
Prologue
The demonstration slowly wound its way through the city streets. Its participants were young, eager, and - so many would say - foolish to the point of insanity. These were not the times for such a show of discontent; these were not the times to find fault with the government. The older citizens watched with curious dismay as the procession moved on, the protesters shouting out demands to free political prisoners, to reinstate the senate, to end the military rule. Many of the insurrectionists carried crude hand-made banners telling of the horrors of Imperial interrogation, others carrying names of those who had been arrested and had subsequently disappeared. There were hundreds of protesters, perhaps thousands, each feeling safety in numbers. Alas for many, this belief proved to be a fallacy.
Silence gripped the crowd as the avenue ahead was cordoned off by line after line of white armoured soldiers. The procession stopped. Before those in the rear could voice their questions concerning the sudden halt to their progress, their ears were assaulted by the footsteps of running soldiers. When they turned, they, too, saw the street behind them blocked. There was a pause, a long instant, a delayed minute; then, the stormtroopers opened fire.
The crowd broke and ran. Banners were dropped to lie beside still bodies. Screams of terror and outrage saturated the air as panic invaded the masses. The protesters no longer cared about making their views known; they pushed and shoved at their neighbours as they tried to escape the massacre. But there was nowhere to which they could flee.
Abruptly, the shooting ceased. Surprise stopped many in their frantic attempts to escape, and again, a pregnant pause hung about them. The injured cried out in their pain; the frightened sobbed out their prayers. The dead lay silent, their presence shouting the loudest of all.
The stormtroopers holstered their weapons to draw out long, lethal batons. They then began to advance.
TBC...