Chapter XII – Phoenix: The Army of Seven
When we inquired of Ash exactly how she planned to rescue fifty stormtroopers from an Imperial governor with hundreds of men and an entire planet's resources at his disposal, she kept her beak firmly closed. Instead, she gave us mysterious orders over the course of the next two weeks, sending us on errands during breaks in planning and rehearsing our now-nightly performances. Some of her requests were clear enough, but others were… odd.
"Tuck," she ordered one day, "when you get the chance, slip into the barracks and locate the shoulder pauldron of a sergeant, then bring it here."
"Um… the barracks are heavily guarded," he pointed out.
"They allow stormtroopers in and out, don't they?" she inquired gently. "We still have your armor packed away…"
An hour later, Tuck tossed the item at Ash's clawed feet. "There you go."
"Very good. Conceal it in our packs for the time being. Now Jessa, I want you to go through the kitchens and garages of Laman's palace and scrape together all the flammable materials you can find – grease, cooking oil, lubricant, fuel wastes… Fett, go with her, and while you're at it secure some cooking-spice powder, as much as you can filch without being caught. Vader, I want you to pay a series of visits to the nearest town. Find where the local resistance cells are and provide them with whatever supplies they need. Tuck, help him secure weaponry if needed. Luke, three days before the wedding, I will need you to contact the Alliance."
"What!" he protested.
"Please, this is important. Don't give them any details, just tell them the Imperial governor of Kruvex is seeking civil war with his people, and they need help."
"He's not seeking civil war," Fett pointed out.
"Just tell them," Ash said shortly. "But be careful, Luke, and the moment they start prying for information regarding our quest, cut the connection."
To say Luke was unhappy with his assignment was an understatement. I knew that he missed his friends and comrades among the Rebellion and wanted to go back to them, yet he had no desire to abandon our fellowship either. And to be absent while they continued to fight the Empire had to be difficult. But he agreed to send the message at the appropriate time.
"What do I do?" asked Nightwind.
"The others will conveniently forget to latch your door," Ash told him. "During the night, go to the lowest levels of the palace and locate a blue-insulated power cable as thick around as a man's leg. Then find a way to sever it."
"You mean bite through it?" he asked.
"That'll kill him!" protested Luke.
"No it won't," Nightwind replied. "I'm tough. I can chew bones apart. Cable won't be a problem."
"Besides, acklays can withstand immense electric shocks," Ash pointed out. "He will be in no danger."
Fett rolled his eyes. "This has to be the craziest thing I've ever done."
"And knowing you, pal, that's really saying something," Jessa quipped. "C'mon, let's go to the kitchens."
"And one more thing," Ash ordered. "Do not let Tyra know of either her father's plot or our counterplot. She is liable to panic."
The days slipped past, with our company's time equally divided between choreographing new performances and going about the errands Ash gave us. It was just as well that, thanks to the governor's fondness for our party, we had almost complete freedom within the walls of his mansion. It was an easy matter for us to go about our business relatively unnoticed.
The leader of the resistance on Kruvex, a matronly Ithorian who treated her supporters like her own children, informed us that the rebel faction here was surprisingly large but greatly undersupplied. Mostly youth and young adults and almost equally divided between humans and aliens, most of them had had only rudimentary training with blasters, and much of their weaponry was outdated by several years and in sad condition. Some were armed only with vibroblades, projectile weapons, or even crude pikes and swords. After a few words with her, Tuck and I began making discreet visits to her headquarters under the guise of searching for fresh talent for our show, bringing blasters, detonators, body armor, comm units, holodisplays, and two or three portable cannons. It was a wonder that we were never caught… but then, perhaps the ring's power played a part.
Jessa and Fett had considerable luck with their portion of Ash's mysterious plan, and stacks of sealed buckets now occupied one corner of the garage that was our temporary quarters. The reek of stale frying oils and engine grease filled the room with a noxious miasma, and passerby often remarked on the smell, wondering aloud if it was a by-product of the acklay. Within the week a bag of rust-colored powder also joined the stack, giving off a strong sweet-spicy fragrance that helped counter the stench.
Nightwind was having difficulty in his assignment, however. Twice he had been discovered by patrols, and stormtroopers had roused us and ordered us to recapture him. The cable he was sent to cut also proved obstinate, refusing to part.
Once in the early hours of morning he came scuttling back into the garage, whimpering in terror.
"What is it?" I asked, standing and going to the door to meet him. "Were you electrocuted?"
"I'm falling apart!" he squealed in horror. "Look, part of my mouth fell out!"
I made him open his mouth and examined carefully. "You lost a tooth, Nightwind. That is all."
"What do you mean, 'all?'" he shrilled. "I'm losing teeth! How am I supposed to eat!"
"What's his problem?" groaned Fett, rolling over on his pallet to glare at the creature.
"He lost a tooth while chewing on the cable," I replied.
"Hey, it's all right, boy," Luke told Nightwind in a comforting tone. "You're just losing your baby teeth. Soon more teeth will grow to replace them – bigger and stronger teeth. Don't worry, it's perfectly normal, even humans do it."
Nightwind relaxed. "Sorry to wake you up. I'll go back…"
"That would not be wise," Ash replied. "Wait until the evening before going back. If you make a second trip down there tonight, you'll increase your chances of getting caught."
Three days before the wedding, Luke went before the governor and requested permission to use his comm line to send a message – "to our mother, to let her know we're doing all right," was his explanation. Laman obliged, even setting guards at his office door to keep him from being disturbed. Luke emerged about half an hour later and flashed Ash and me a smile. It had gone perfectly.
"Now what?" I asked the phoenix.
"We wait," she replied. "The day after tomorrow, we act."
"The day after tomorrow, Blade is due to arrive," I replied. "And the governor will see his ship reduced to scrap the moment it attempts to land."
"Have patience," she urged, pecking the side of my helmet. "We cannot act until the time is right. It is not enough to simply rescue the stormtroopers. We must also ensure that the governor never again has a chance to harm another innocent. Now if you will excuse me, there are a few things I must see to before we can begin…"
Break…
The last time the phoenix had concocted a plan, it had failed miserably, so it was only natural that I was rather apprehensive regarding this strategy. But even I could not have predicted what occurred the day before the wedding, before the sun had risen.
"Get up," barked the officer who had just entered, kicking Fett's prone form to emphasize his point.
Fett yelped in pain and sat bolt upright. The pain in his bones had been getting slowly but steadily worse over the past few weeks. That concerned me, but at the moment it was the least of our worries.
"Did Nightwind get out again?" mumbled Tuck, rising and combing his fingers through his unruly black hair.
"No," groaned Luke, getting to his feet. "He's still in. What's the problem?"
"The governor wants to see you right now," the officer said, his voice dripping with contempt. "All of you. Bird and droid included. The acklay can stay here, but under strict guard… and your possessions will be searched."
"Searched?" I repeated. "What is going on?"
"Silence!" the officer snapped. "Up and march, unless you want your bird or your droid or one of your sons shot right now!"
Bewildered, we followed, surrounded by guards, Ash perched on my arm and Jessa slinking behind with an ion blaster pointed at her back in case she made a run for it. I could not begin to fathom why the governor would want to see us at this hour… unless he had somehow discovered our plan. Ash's plan, I amended. I intended to hold her fully responsible for the consequences if the plan failed and we somehow made it out alive.
Governor Laman wore an expression of outrage, glaring at us as we were brusquely hustled into his office. Tyra, still in a pale blue night robe, sat in a chair in one corner of the office, looking every bit as startled as I felt at the moment.
Laman wasted no breath but got right to the heart of the matter. "My daughter reports that her jewels are missing," he snarled. "She was last wearing them in your presence two weeks ago, Mr. Skywalker."
"Daddy, I'm sure I just misplaced them," Tyra protested.
"Silence," he ordered sternly. He turned his attention back to us. "So is this how you repay me? I give you employment, I offer you recommendation, and you see fit to steal from my daughter?"
"We don't even know what necklace you're talking about…" began Luke.
Laman slapped a button on his desk, and a holo flickered above his hand, picturing the string of emeralds Tyra had worn the day we met her. Small wonder her father was so upset – such a collection of genuine, nearly flawless stones could buy a small star system.
"We would not touch your daughter's possessions," I told Laman. "And you have no proof otherwise…"
"Oh really?" Laman said gloatingly, and he jerked open a desk drawer, withdrew an object, and flung it down on the desk before me as if throwing down a gauntlet. "The string and clasp from the necklace, found among your possessions last night during your performance!"
Tyra's mouth fell open.
I stared, stunned, at the governor. How could he make such a ridiculous claim? But a sickening thought hit me – had he planned this all along? Was his offer to reimburse us and give a letter of recommendation a ruse to lure us into his service for a week or two? And had he planted this evidence in order to have an excuse to imprison or execute us… and thus avoid actually paying us for our services?
There was a metallic clink as Ash pecked my helmet again. "Relax, Vader, and be prepared to move on my signal," she advised, her words audible only to me. "The game isn't over yet."
How could she be so calm about this?
"Take the men to the cell block," Laman snarled. Then a gleam of greed flickered in his eyes. "Their droid, acklay, and bird are hereby confiscated. Get a restraining bolt on the droid and cage the bird, then take both to my quarters."
"Daddy, that's not fair!" Tyra exclaimed. "They should at least get a trial…"
"Stay out of this!" Laman barked.
Ash half-spread her wings, and for the first time I noticed that her feathers were coated with a reddish dust. "On the count of five, grab Tyra and get out of the room. One… two…"
A guard grabbed my free arm and forced it behind my back. A second soldier reached for Ash.
"Threefourfive!" she shouted in all our minds, and beat her wings furiously, her feathers bristling and making her appear much larger than usual. Rust-colored dust filled the air, and the guards released us and immediately began coughing and gagging. I jerked my arm free, grabbed a corner of my cloak, and slapped it over my air intake vent to keep from inhaling the spice as Ash launched herself into the air, circling the room, releasing more of the irritating powder into the faces and lungs of our captors.
"Get Tyra out of the room!" she ordered.
I pushed past a startled, coughing Laman, grabbed the girl by her arm, and dragged her outside, followed closely by the others, all sneezing and wiping their eyes furiously.
"What was that all about?" demanded Luke, stifling an enormous sneeze.
"Shut the door!" Ash ordered, landing on the floor nearby, the spice she had liberally bathed herself in still falling from her plumage. "And jam it!"
Before the guards could force their way through, Tuck slammed his fist against the controls, and the doors clanged shut. Fett blasted the controls, making the door virtually unopenable from either side.
"Good, the governor won't be getting out for awhile," Ash replied. "Get Tyra out of here. I'll go begin phase two of the plan."
"Phase two?" I repeated, suddenly realizing what Ash must have done. "You stole Tyra's necklace!"
"Part of the plan," Ash replied with a wink, and she took to the air again. "Concentrate on getting out of the palace in one piece. And take Tyra with you."
"What is going ON here?" Tyra demanded in a half-hysterical voice, a question that even I did not know the entire answer to.
"Come on!" Luke told her. "Your father had a plot to kill Blade!"
"WHAT!" She wrenched free of my grip. "How am I supposed to believe you? How do I know you don't just want to kidnap me?"
"Tyra, trust us!" Jessa urged.
"I'm not going with you!" she said stubbornly. "Not until you can prove…"
At that moment, the ring's power flashed through my blood, and I sensed the illusion that had disguised me for so long falling away. Tyra's eyes widened as she saw who I truly was for the first time. Her mouth opened as if to scream…
And she slumped into a startled Tuck's arms.
"Good, now get her out," Ash said quickly. "I'll give the signal for the resistance to attack."
"Tuck, Fett, get Tyra out," I ordered. "Luke, Jessa, let's go get Nightwind."
"Roger roger," Jessa said in an exaggerated monotone, saluting.
We had only traveled a few dozen paces before a keening alarm pierced the morning air. Fire! What was she up to now?
Jessa pointed out the nearest window. "Look!"
The phoenix was visible, a starburst of brown-gold circling the western tower of the palace. Even as we watched a tentacle of dark oily smoke coiled out of a window as if seeking to snatch Ash out of the air. Seconds later, a wave of brilliant orange flame engulfed the top story of the tower as if it were a massive torch. A signal torch, I realized, as a great battle cry sounded and the noise of combat began filling the hallways of the palace.
"That explains why we needed the oil and grease," Jessa noted. "Fuel for the fire."
"A wide-scale distraction," I replied. "Between the fires, the resistance, and being locked in his own office, Laman will be too occupied to worry about destroying Blade."
"That's not the only thing," Luke added, pointing skyward.
X-wings… A-wings… the Alliance had arrived to liberate Kruvex IV.
"I think it is time we made ourselves scarce," I told the others.
Luke gave the approaching Rebel Fleet a last, longing glance, then followed us down the hall.
Nightwind was frantic with panic when we reached the garage. Smoke had already filtered into the makeshift stall, and blaster fire and shouts of battle were all too audible through the walls. I grabbed his lead and urged him to hold still as Jessa and Luke hastily flung our supplies onto his back.
"Freeze!"
I whirled. Five stormtroopers had entered the room, Veers at their head. There was no fear on the general's face, no sign of terror.
"Lord Darth Vader," he sneered. "We meet again. So did you engineer all this?" He laughed mockingly. "Quite clever. Though I'm afraid you won't be getting away with it as you got away with destroying the Emperor…"
I lifted my arm, ready to block if the troops fired. Luke pulled a blaster. Our lightsabers were still in our packs, out of reach. We would have to fight with what we had…
"HHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!"
The troopers started in surprise as a terrible form leaped from Nightwind's back, brandishing dual blades of green and blue light, brown eyes flashing dangerously and claws gleaming wickedly. Veers raised his blaster to fire at the apparition, but a gesture on my part sent the weapon skittering across the room. The stormtroopers, panicked beyond recovery at the sight of the terrible beast of metal, scattered and bolted for the exit, and Veers followed them out, cursing.
Jessa, meanwhile, landed neatly on her feet, dropped our lightsabers, and doubled over with laughter. "That look… on his face… so priceless…"
"Glad to know you enjoyed it," I replied dryly. "Out now!"
Outside the palace, total bedlam reigned. Stormtroopers and resistance fighters met and mixed in pitched combat, bolts of fire streaking across the battlefield and explosions of detonators and cannons filling the air with smoke and debris. Overhead, the Rebel Fleet engaged the hastily organized Imperial defense. Governor Laman's palace, once an impressive structure, was blackened with blaster fire and flames, oozing smoke as if bleeding black ichor. The palace's anti-aircraft cannon was swiveling to track the Rebel ships, but strangely enough, it was not firing. Apparently Nightwind had finished severing the cannon's power cable.
A glint of silver caught my attention. An Imperial shuttle was gliding through the bedlam, angling to land some fifty meters from the heart of the fighting. The Rebel Fleet had not sighted it yet, fortunately… and if the ring, pulsing and burning madly, was to be believed, it was the second vehicle, the vessel that would take us on our second quest.
"To the shuttle!" I ordered.
Halfway there we met up with Fett and Tuck, as well as a now-conscious Tyra. By now, it seemed, the governor's daughter had decided our bizarre group was the lesser of the two evils.
At last we reached the ship just as it touched down. Ash swooped down, grabbed something off of the acklay's back, and dropped it near Tuck.
"Change into your armor!" she commanded. "Quickly!"
With the speed and skill of one who could probably perform this task in his sleep, he complied.
"And put on the shoulder pauldron! Then you and Vader go into the ship and take command!"
"I'm not a commander!" Tuck protested.
"That says you are!" she shot back, indicating the pauldron. "Go!"
The landing ramp hissed downward, but before any of the troops could disembark, all of us were charging aboard.
"What the stang?" was the general reaction, repeated a hundred times by the stunned stormtroopers as we wrestled our way aboard the ship.
"I am taking command of this vessel," I announced. I gestured toward Tuck. "You will answer to my associate here until I say otherwise."
"What's going on?" demanded a soldier in the back. "If there's a war going on out there, we should be out there fighting…"
"Stuff it, white-britches!" Jessa snapped. "Shove aside, make room for the acklay…"
I let the others stay in the passenger hold and restore some semblance of order as I retreated to the cockpit. The pilots gave me a look of pure terror and vacated, allowing me complete control of the ship. Perfect.
Luke flung himself into the co-pilot's seat. "X-wings on their way, moving to intercept."
"I see them." I strapped in and powered the engines. "We will have to maneuver our way past them. I don't dare shoot down Rebel fighters."
"Thanks," Luke said with great relief. I wondered just how many of his friends were in those ships, seeking to shoot us down, not knowing their greatest hero was aboard.
Our last view of Kruvex IV was of a great rending explosion and a blossom of fire as the flames reached the palace's power core. Governor Laman would be hosting no more galas.
Break…
By all outward appearances, Blade was no different from any other stormtrooper, save a thin, straight scar from his right eye to the corner of his jaw. But just as the Force defined Tuck from his brethren, so was there an aura of… something that surrounded Blade and made him stand out. It was not the Force, I knew that much, but something else, something about the way he carried himself, in his smile and speech, in his dark eyes and features.
"Love has marked him," Ash said with a cock of her head that signified a smile for her. "Love has made him realize that he can be more than he is now. Love is a powerful force, the most powerful in the galaxy."
The stormtroopers we had rescued from Governor Laman's treachery had rejoined the Imperial Fleet at Anijj – which had not been our intentions, but it was their choice, and we could do nothing to persuade them otherwise. They had their beliefs, their causes to fight and die for, and we had no right to force them away from those beliefs if they did not wish to change their minds. They were grateful to us, however, for saving their lives, and had sworn a pact to never betray us to the remnant of the Empire.
Tyra and Blade, meanwhile, left us at Almania, ready to begin their own future together.
"We owe you so much," Blade told us. "We only wish we could do something for you in return."
"Your silence will be payment enough," I told them.
Ash, perched regally on my shoulder, suddenly bristled her feathers again and shook vigorously, and a fistful of emeralds fell from her plumage and to the ground.
"These rightfully belong to you," she told Tyra. "Use them to buy yourselves a house and whatever essentials you need… then use the rest to aid another in need. That will be your repayment."
Tyra scooped up the gems. "I will. I promise." She hesitated, then reached out and pressed a stone into my hand. "But take one with you. In case you need it."
I studied the gem – the deepest green of the wildest forest, flawless, as clear as Tyra's eyes…
"And now, we part company," Ash told the young lovers. "Our stories have different endings, but I have a feeling both will end well."
Blade's mouth gave a lopsided smile. "I'd be very interested in hearing your company's story in its entirety someday. Anything involving a talking bird and Darth Vader has to be interesting."
Ash cocked her head. "Perhaps we will meet again, young man. But for now, we really must be going."
Jessa had a wistful look in her eyes as we boarded the Imperial shuttle. "I'm gonna miss her. She wasn't half bad."
"As Ash said, theirs is another story," I replied, programming the coordinates for the second leg of our journey into the navicomputer and preparing to make the jump into hyperspace.
"What was that about meeting Blade again?" demanded Fett of Ash. "I was under the impression that, after all this was over, you were killing yourself."
Ash shrugged her wings. "Perhaps, hunter. Perhaps."
"Are all our quests going to be as crazy as this one?" asked Tuck.
We could only hope otherwise.
