STAR WARS
REBEL TWILIGHT
It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Months have passed since their victory at Yavin IV, and the Alliance has set up a hidden base on the ice world of Hoth.
The Empire's relentless search for the Rebels, compounded by Darth Vader's uncompromising obsession with finding the Death Star's destroyer, has led the Empire to the ice planet.
Now, the Rebels who have lived and worked on Hoth scramble to evacuate. Some are captured, and some are killed. The rest are scattered to the astral winds. . .
Breath hung like fog in the subterranean ice tunnels as officers, soldiers, pilots, and technicians hurried along the way. The announcement that the Empire had found Echo Base had certainly not gone unnoticed. Like a well-oiled machine, the Alliance to Restore the Republic's most dedicated and hardened soldiers sprang into action to defend their base long enough to escape.
They had had enough practice doing so in the past few years that they were experts. The Empire hunted them incessantly. And so they had been forced to inhabit the icy caverns of Hoth.
It wouldn't be so bad if we could have heaters, thought Ginovae Damarcus as she jogged down one of the long corridors towards the command center. It might be nice to get warm without melting the place.
She came to a rest outside the command center and doubled over, panting. She had run half a kilometer from her barracks, barely having time to slip into a white and pale-blue uniform. She had hastily braided her long black hair and had jammed a cap over her head before leaving. Presently, she straightened and pressed the door activation button. The heavy door slid aside, admitting her to the command center.
General Carlist Rieekan stood at the center of what looked like mayhem. Ginovae knew it was organized chaos, however. He saw her enter, gave her a curt nod, and turned to converse with another woman – Princess Leia Organa. Ginovae nodded as well and went to a seat at a coordination system.
"Report, this is control," she said into voice pickup after pulling a headset on.
"Anti-infantry cannon one reporting online," came the gruff voice of a trooper. Three more similar reports followed.
"Stand by," Ginovae said.
Several moments later, there seemed to be a collective gasp on all channels. Then, an astounded voice said, "Walkers."
"General," Ginovae called over her shoulder. "Will the anti-infantry cannons be effective against the AT-ATs?" She thought, I don't like our odds. Gritting her teeth, she murmured for the cannons under her control to target the All-Terrain Armored Transports.
"We don't know," said Rieekan, his voice grave. "We haven't tested them against the walkers yet. But it's better than blaster rifles. Fire at will." The noise level in the command center was raised by several decibels as battle chatter was tossed back and forth.
Ginovae designated a target on her screen and said into her voice pickup, "Open fire. Concentrate on the cockpit if you can." It seemed the logical choice to her. Always aim for the moving parts, Ginovae thought wryly as her blood began to race. Even better if that's where the weapons are.
A static-tainted message was broadcast throughout the entire base. "The first transport is away." There was a cheer in the command center, but Ginovae did not take part. She moved her stylus over the reports from her gunners. The anti-infantry cannons were not doing well against the AT-ATs. Galloping gundarks, she thought, then opened a channel to her gunners. "Try the joints on the legs," she ordered.
Several moments passed as she waited for a reply. A transmission from Rogue Leader sounded through the command center: "Echo station five-seven. We're on our way."
There was a loud explosion somewhere in the distance. Powdery snow sifted down from the ceiling, and the glass displays trembled ominously. Tense silence filled the command center. A gunner reported, "It's not working."
"General, the anti-infantry cannons aren't working on the walkers," Ginovae called over her shoulder. Rieekan looked at her, his forehead creased. Suddenly, a cheer went up, and Ginovae turned to look at the main display. The smoldering wreckage of an AT-AT lay on a snow bank while two rebel snowspeeders soared triumphantly over it. "Well done, Rogue flight," Ginovae said to herself.
There was another explosion, this one closer, and large chunks of the ice ceiling tumbled onto the computer equipment. Ginovae barely had time to throw herself out of her chair before the ceiling crushed her workstation. She picked herself up off the ground and looked around. Several of her colleagues were doing the same.
"I don't think we can protect two transports at a time," Rieekan was saying to Princess Leia.
The Princess looked thoughtful, then replied, "It's risky, but we can't hold out much longer."
They shared a look of concern for several long moments before Rieekan lifted a comlink to his mouth and ordered, "Launch patrols."
Leia turned to address an aide, her face paling as another explosion rocked the command center. "Evacuate remaining ground staff." Before the aide could order Ginovae to the hangar, though, Ginovae sank into a chair of a workstation that hadn't been crushed and began to coordinate the shield controls alongside the ion cannon controller.
There was a grinding sound, and Ginovae turned briefly to see the door grinding open. A dark-haired man that she recognized as Han Solo burst into the command center and walked directly over to Princess Leia. "You all right?" he demanded.
Ginovae couldn't see the Princess' face, but she could certainly hear the malice in her voice. "Why are you still here?"
"I heard the command center'd been hit."
"You've got your clearance to leave," the Princess thundered, as if she hadn't heard his explanation.
Solo took her elbow and said, "Don't worry, I'll leave. First I'm going to get you to your ship."
The golden protocol droid that followed the Princess around inclined its head. "Your Highness, we must take this last transport. It's our only hope."
Leia turned to Ginovae and ordered, "Send all troops in sector twelve to the south slop to protect the fighters." She was interrupted when a blast shook the command center. The droid tumbled into Solo's arms, and the Princess gripped the side of a display for balance.
A voice on the loudspeaker called, "Imperial troops have entered the base. Imperial troops have entered the base."
Until then, the battle had been far away. Others had been fighting it, out on the plains of Hoth. Now, Ginovae realized with a shudder colder than any snowdrift. As she hurried to carry out her orders, she heard Solo mutter, "Come on, that's it."
"Give the evacuation code signal," Leia ordered grimly. "And get to your transports!"
A voice behind Ginovae said, "K-one-zero, all troops disengage."
Ginovae got up from her station just in time to see the golden protocol droid to shuffle out of the command center. The head controller turned to Ginovae. "What are you waiting for? Go!"
"Sir, I can still…"
"There's nothing more you can do, Damarcus. Get to your transport."
He's probably right, Ginovae thought as she picked her way through the debris that was the command center. She muscled the door aside enough to slip through and began sprinting down the corridor. A few hundred meters down the way, the cave was blocked. "Great. Just what I need," she said to no one in particular.