Sorry. I have managed to lose my responses to the reviews. Whoops.
This chapter will confuse you, but don't worry, I have not gone mental all will be revealed.
I have made up a load of stuff and a tonne of other characters. I don't care if you think it's inaccurate or stupid. It's my story and I'll lie if I want to.
THIS CHAPTER MAY BE DISTRESSING FOR SOME PEOPLE.
I'm back by the way.
Chapter 11
Dantooine, Secret HQ of Galatic Rebellion
"What exactly are you saying Commander?" asked the General, running his hand through his thick black hair.
General Lisle never showed signs of nervousness. It was like the man was born without nerves. His dark eyes bore into the young commander who stood nervously in front of him. Unlike Lisle, Commander Ratchet had none of the coolness of nature which the General possessed. At that very moment, Ratchet was licking perspiration off his top lip and trying to hold the gaze of the formidable Rebellion leader.
"Well... uh... we have performed an in-depth investigation into the deaths of the troops at Toprawa and we found that a few of the troops appear to have been shot in the back" gabbled the Commander, willing himself not to lose his train of thought.
Lisle sighed. He glanced around his spacious office, with its high windows and tasteful colour scheme. He tried to focus his mind, which was swirling with thoughts.
He was a bright and caring man. When the relatives of the dead soldiers had asked for a post mortem of the deaths, he hadn't the heart to say no.
The holo-photography probes, which went with the elite troops on every mission, had been able to take thermal images of each of the dead bodies. It was one of the standard 'peace of mind' things which the Rebellion had turned into a policy. Not because anyone wanted to see the dead bodies of their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives, it was just a way of proving that they had died fighting the heroic fight.
Lisle knew that soldiers don't get shot in the back by troops coming towards them. He didn't want to think about the other possibilities. But now it looked like he was going to have to.
"An enquiry was called into the deaths after one of the troops wives became suspicious, sir" said Ratchet, who had grown more confident in Lisle's silence.
"Why had she become suspicious?" Lisle interrupted.
"Well, this is merely circumstantial, sir. But she said that her husband had clashed previously with someone else on the task force. His wife had heard him say 'That woman will be the death of me'. And then he dies because of an accurate blaster shot in his back that went straight through his heart. She doesn't think that this was a coincidence, sir"
Lisle shut his eyes. He felt pain rise in his chest. It wasn't physical pain; he was very fit for a man in his early sixties. No, it was the kind of mental anguish which never really fades, it just gets blocked out. And then it comes back so quickly that it knocks you off your feet.
He tried to ignore the resemblance of this situation to one that he had found himself in, twenty years earlier during the Clone Wars.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and tuned back in to what the Commander was saying. Twenty years of keeping his stiff upper lip image were not going to come undone now.
"Anyway, it turns out that Carlson, that's her husband, had argued with the Commander just days before, as had a few other members of the task force. All the ones that had argued with her wound up dead sir. Either by the Imperial Forces or… by the friendly fire" said Ratchet diplomatically.
"If you would look at these holos sir, you can see that the exit wounds are on the chests of the victims, rather than through their backs" said Ratchet flipping open a portable holo-projector.
Lisle saw that from the behind the, blaster wounds of each of the victims were small, neat, precise holes in their backs. The pictures of the front of the bodies were more harrowing. Gaping holes and charred flesh were all that was left of torsos, the faces of the troops contorted in agony.
"Turn it off" snapped Lisle suddenly.
The Commander started. He had no idea that the General was so squeamish. He shut the holo off.
"I'm sorry sir" he said.
Lisle looked up at Ratchet. The man was barely more than a boy. He wouldn't know the truth about Lisle's aversion to corpses. For a moment, Lisle considered telling the man, but he thought better of it. Some things needed to remain in the past.
"Its alright, I just don't like seeing my troops... like that." said Lisle, hoping that it was a good enough explanation.
Apparently it was as Ratchet merely nodded.
"Sir, if what Carlson's wife says is true, we can be fairly certain that we have a dangerous person in our midst" said Ratchet.
"That would be true, but the Rebellion has already given the Commander a dishonourable discharge." Said Lisle reading off the holo screen where he had brought up official Rebellion records.
"What?" asked Ratchet incredulously. He was beginning to feel sick.
"Last month, Commander Bria Tharen was told to leave the Rebellion." explained Lisle.
"Then why was she decorated just two days ago at the Ceremony on Yavin IV?" asked Ratchet.The hair on the back of his neck had begun to rise.
The question hung in the air like a boulder on the edge of a cliff. It was only a matter of time before the effect of Ratchet's words would hit both of them at full force.
Lisle was the first to recover. He pressed the intercom on his desk and spoke to his secretary.
'Markus, could you arrange an emergency shuttle for myself, a task force and Commander Ratchet, please? The destination? Yavin IV."
Well? Confused? I hope you are.I am!