Before we begin, I'll shout out answers to a few sundry questions and comments from my readers!
1) A couple of you are curious as to whether or not my characters change canon at all, and if this story follows the original timeline. Yes, it does! Delta-7 has no bearing on the original timeline of Star Wars, so they are merely reactive; in effect being guided by the Fates known as Lucas, Disney and Filoni.
2) dankuser: a little hint at some of the crew's names: Daraay-Darkness; Felian-Catlike; Gallen-Relaxed; Coleth-Common cloth; Freya-Goddess of love and war; Lago-Lake; Dall-(From Irish) Literally between the light and dark; Drakken-Dragon; Ekks-Named after a famous Star Wars Youtuber
3) PM'er: Yes the photo in the title is me cosplaying as Commander Tharcourt, who is pretty much me in every way. And no I don't look good. A Hutt in a prom dress would look better than me in that uniform.
Now with all that covered, let's get to the story.
"Troopers!" Tharcourt called, entering the team staging area. "Prepare for ground assault! Twenty-four-hour ration kits, and as much ammo as you can carry." He threw open the weapons room, and grabbed a holster for his left leg. He strapped it into place and holstered an SE-14r blaster pistol matching the one on his other leg. "We arrive on Yavin-4 in half an hour." He advised. "We get prepped and head to The Huntsman. Good name for her today. We're going hunting."
"Quarry." Felian stated, holstering his own pistol and retrieving an EE-4 carbine.
"Unknown quantity of rebels in their base planet-side." Tharcourt answered, snapping a knife onto his belt. "Base mostly abandoned. Likely. Anyone we find, we kill or capture."
"Size of base." Daraay prompted, sliding the power pack to her massive blaster cannon onto her back.
"Unknown." He answered. The door slid open, and Tharcourt turned in time to see Freya running in, tears streaming down her face.
"I just heard…I just heard…" She whimpered, and threw her arms around Drakken. He could feel her body shaking as she sobbed. "I was in me bunk…I was in me bunk an' Raliss came an' told me, an' I saw it on the net an' I had to come here…" She was speaking a kilometer a minute and shaking. He put his arms around her as she mourned the awful tragedy. "All those people, Drakken…how could they?!" He looked to his troopers, expecting them to be making fun in some way, but they just nodded in understanding or ignored the scene in favor of gearing up. "How could they…."
"It's going to be okay, Freya…" Drakken whispered.
"No…not fer those poor people on that ship…and their families…oh by the void." She sobbed a couple of times. "It's not even war no moor…it's murder! Murder, Drakken! What if it was us? What if they attacked us like that…"
"I know…I know." He whispered back. "We can only do our duty, Freya. We're going there now. Maybe we can catch some of the ones that did this." She squeezed him tighter.
"They kriffin' deserve it…they deserve ev'rything they feckin' get!" Freya cried. "The monsters!"
"Calm down, Freya. I'm going in. Me and my team." The commander spoke. "We can't get those men back. I'd die to undo this…but at least we can do justice on 'em." She pulled away and sniffed.
"Yer goin'…yer gonna hit 'em, aren't you?" He nodded. She grabbed him in a hug again, this one tighter than ever. "You come back, Drakken Tharcourt. You wipe them rebels out, and ye be careful, and ye come back, you understand me?!" He was shocked by her statement. Drakken's heart fluttered a little at her protectiveness. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that.
"I will. I promise." He stated. She gave him a little squeeze and let go. Now he could see a little fire in her eyes as she stared into his.
"I'd go with ye if I could." She said bitterly. "An' I want to. I have to go back to my post now. You let me know when you're in safe an' sound, Drakken." She scoffed, and placed a hand on his arm. "Get 'em."
"Yes, ma'am." He replied stoically. She managed a small smile, and looked at the troopers of Delta-7.
"And you hooligans better get back safe too. Someone's gotta watch over the commander."
"Yes ma'am." Gallen and Lago snapped back.
"I'll let you know when I'm back." Tharcourt said. She nodded and left the room. He hesitated a moment. Thorne had basically ordered him to come back safe. Nobody had ever cared about him that much, not even his parents.
When he'd left home to fight against the invading separatists, his parents had yelled at him, told him that he was going to get himself killed for nothing. They had threatened to disown him. When he was preparing to leave for academy, he found that some of the friends he had made in the resistance not only didn't support him, but considered him a traitor. Years later, Kiffa had left him because he was about to ship of to a distant warzone. He had long since concluded that this was the nature of being a professional warrior; to be alone. That is, until Freya Thorne had told him to come back alive with tears in her eyes. He scoffed. Another promise to her that he would have to keep…
"Alright troopers," He called. "Let's move out."
Delta-7 piled into The Huntsman, and with Ekks at the controls, they waited petulantly for their destroyer to reach the rebel-held moon of Yavin 4. Captain Piett finally advised Commander Tharcourt over the ship's comms that they would be arriving at their destination in three minutes, and that General Veers was already on the ground, preparing an assault force. Tharcourt and his unit were to meet up with the Imperial Army commander at the staging area as soon as they arrived.
A short time later, The Accuser dropped out of hyperspace into the middle of the largest consolidated fleet that any of the team members had ever seen. There were easily a dozen star destroyers, and twice that number of frigates and corvettes in very high orbit. Six cruisers and a pair of Interdictor-Class Cruisers seemed to be patrolling in low-orbit around the moon, no doubt in case any rebel ships attempted to make their escape. Countless TIE fighters sped about in formation, and landing craft shuttled back and forth between the star destroyers and Yavin 4. The irony of the situation was not lost on Commander Tharcourt. These ignorant seditionists had just declared open war on the Empire, justifying their atrocities by claiming they were overthrowing a militant, invading force. In their treachery, they had just brought down upon themselves the largest military invasion since the Clone Wars. You weave the fabric of your own fate.
"Commander, take your team to the surface at once." Captain Piett's voice ordered over the comms array on the control panel.
"Huntsman en route." Tharcourt answered.
"Good luck. Happy hunting." The captain added. Ekks sped the shuttle from the docking bay, and flew toward the spot where it seemed that the landing craft were headed. They entered the moon's atmosphere, where Ekks and Tharcourt could begin to make out the staging site for the combined assault force, a clearing in the canopied jungle terrain. They sat down near what looked like an air-dropped command building, and Commander Tharcourt hopped off of the ramp before it had finished lowering. He jogged to the command unit, and stepped inside to find several officers clustered around a table, a holomap showing the surrounding area, as well as a pyramidal structure to the west. A couple of the officers looked up as the commander entered and made his way to the table.
"Gentlemen." Tharcourt greeted.
"You are Commander Tharcourt." A middle-aged man in an officer's breastplate bearing a general's insignia stated.
"Yes sir." He returned, studying the map. He tried to commit as much as he could to memory; terrain features…areas of high elevation…places that would be fatal funnels…
"Good. I was apprised that you would be joining the attack." The general said. "I remember you now, from the little advisory board on guerilla warfare some years ago. Yes…"
"And I remember you, sir." Tharcourt commented. "I've since put my theory to the test." Tharcourt did not mean to sound so abrupt. In truth, he had respected Veers during the think-tank. The general had been a strong proponent of Tharcourt's ideas on using specialized small units against the rebels.
"Viable, commander?"
"It's been a very worthwhile endeavor to the Empire, general." The commander answered. Veers nodded in approval.
"Well, as I was saying gentlemen, this structure is apparently the base in which the rebels operated from during the…recent catastrophe. There are a few smaller outlaying edifices of unknown purpose. The main objective is to take the larger stone temple at the north of the complex." He pointed his finger in a circle around the ancient building. "There is dense jungle surrounding the area. Heavy vegetation. It will take some time to clear a path with the AT-ATs for the STs and GAVs. This means assaulting on foot through this mess. Any ideas?"
"I have a company of one-hundred army troopers, sir." A major that Tharcourt didn't recognize began. "I will take them in from this direction…" He pointed to a ravine on the map. "…and attack the rebel base en force. TIE fighters can cover my advance from the other side of the compound, keeping the rebels from retreating into the jungle."
"And you'll lose the element of surprise immediately…if you even manage to get there in one piece, major." Tharcourt remarked. The major turned and stared the commander from boot to eye a few times.
"I do not think you understand the nature of this mission, commander." The major said dismissively. Tharcourt raised an eyebrow. "We must be gratuitous in our show of force."
"I believe I do understand this mission, major. Capture any rebels and information we can find. A full-frontal assault would just buy them time to destroy anything of value, not to mention cost a lot more lives…all unnecessarily. Gratuitously too." The major was fuming.
"You forget your place, commander. This is an army operation. Not to mention that I outrank you."
"No sir." The commander held his ground. "With all due respect, it is a joint operation. And I am Imperial Navy Special Forces. I answer to…well to be honest, it was Grand Moff Tarkin until earlier today. Now I am under the direct command of Lord Vader." Several of the officers looked startled for reasons Tharcourt didn't understand. "I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes here." He continued. "I'm just saying that maybe we should try a more…clandestine assault on the rebel compound, try to capture a portion of it, maybe some critical intel. Once we can infiltrate the temple here, we can set up a defensive position from inside their lines if there are any rebels left." He looked to the one man in the room who might hopefully agree with him. "Then send in the main forces to mop them up." General Veers nodded, staring at the map.
"What are you thinking, commander?" He asked curiously.
"This jungle is uncharted, aerial or droid mapping is impossible." Tharcourt began. "Delta-7 can go in, and leave a trail of beacons for our forces to follow. Once we get to the rebel base, we'll go in as stealthily as we can, and try to locate anything that looks important. Meanwhile, the infantry can be following our trail, and the ATAT's can begin advancing through the jungle. When the time is right, I'll send the word, and a platoon of scout riders can come in to set up a perimeter around the site. If they can hold until the main body of our force arrives, we'll have any rebels in the base…trapped, with my unit inside their house." General Veers nodded, staring at the holographic display.
"That plan is sound, commander." He agreed. "You really think your unit can blaze a trail through that jungle?"
"We will. And we can hold the base…if your walkers can back us up once we're there." Tharcourt returned dutifully.
"Very well. I think this is our best gambit." Veers said. "If there are rebels still there, then they know we're planning an attack. As commander Tharcourt here stated, catching them by surprise may allow us to salvage any intel they may have at their base." He looked around at the other five officers in the small room. "Anyone have anything else to add?"
"I have a two platoons of scout troopers who can go in after Delta-7 to surround the rebel base." An officer in a black captain's uniform remarked. He turned to Tharcourt. "They're good men, commander." Tharcourt nodded.
"Well if that's all, then let's begin." Veers declared. "Commander Tharcourt, take Delta-7 in at once. Captain Kresta, have your scout troopers on standby to follow at a moment's notice. Major Gieraaldi, ready your walkers. I will accompany you in the lead AT-AT." He turned to the officer who had opposed Tharcourt earlier in the briefing. "Major Richsten, form up your troopers behind the walkers and use them as cover for the advance, and to protect their undersides from rebel ground attacks. Commander Zenneth, set up a defensive line around this base in case of any rebel assault." All of the officers gave salutes, and Veers returned the gesture. "We move at once."
The jungle was unlike anything most of the members of Delta-7 had ever seen. Line of sight in the high-canopy tropical forest was limited to about thirty meters, and even the active scanner on Daraay's helmet was blocked by the heavy vegetation after only forty meters. Still, the team forged ahead, led by Sergeant Felian and Commander Tharcourt himself. The expert tracker cross-checked their position against a holomap after every few hundred meters, after which Tharcourt would check his readings, and either agree, or they would work out a different bearing. They would then place a tracking beacon near a tree or rock and move on. Going was slow, and they constantly scanned their surroundings for rebel fighters in the woods. Once they had made it to within one kilometer of the base, they had their first contact.
Because they were moving silently and paying attention to their surroundings, the three rebel pickets failed to notice them right away. They were just ahead, standing by what looked like a pathway that had been worn into the jungle. Daraay's scanner detected the fighters, and she motioned for the team to halt. She twirled a finger mid-air, and the members of Delta-7 silently moved in on her position. She spoke lowly through her helmet's microphone.
"Three contacts. All armed with carbines." She whispered.
"How do we do this?" Felian queried in a whisper.
"We light this place up, and they'll either hear it at the base, or the pickets will be able to send up the alarm. Then we'll be shooting our way in." Tharcourt stated. He thought for a moment. "Alright. Felian, take Coleth and go in from their right. Daraay, take Gallen to their left. Take them out, and make it quick and clean."
"Yes sir." The two sergeants returned. They motioned for their assigned escorts and disappeared into the foliage. Tharcourt waited alongside the rest of the team, confident that his troopers could handle the job. Indeed, just three minutes later, he heard a choked gasp, followed by another, and then a suppressed blaster shot, all in rapid succession.
"Clear." Daraay's voice came through the speaker in the commander's helmet. He motioned the team forward. They advanced to where the three rebels lay dead. Felian and Coleth were rifling through the clothing of the rebels for anything of strategic importance. Daraay and Gallen were on either side of the trail, standing guard. Finding nothing but some ration bars, power cells and a couple commlinks, the two scout troopers stood and rejoined the team. They dropped a tracking beacon, and slinked into the dense vegetation. The unit proceeded to move through the jungle, paralleling the trail, to avoid any more rebel sentries who might be on guard.
Tharcourt's team finally came to the edge of the jungle. They halted inside the brush and looked out around the space before them. There was a huge temple, almost as large as a civic building on some industrialized world. The stone pyramid was obviously some ancient temple to some deity or another. Tharcourt imagined that it probably had something to do with those Jedi people. He'd heard that the strange religious sect was long ago spread throughout the galaxy, and even had once built a monumental temple on Coruscant itself. They had eventually attempted a revolt against the senate, and had tried to assassinate Emperor Palpatine himself, part of what had necessitated the creation of the Empire.
"Religious hegemonism at it's best…" The commander muttered, staring at the temple, towering over the jungle around it like some arrogant lord sitting on his litter amongst the rabble.
"Sir?" Felian asked quietly.
"Nothing…" Tharcourt answered. "Any sign of rebel activity?"
"My scanners are not picking up any lifeforms nearby." Daraay replied.
"Same here, commander." Felian added, "If there's any more rebels, they have to be inside."
"Alright…" Tharcourt said. "…we make our move. That grotto in the wall there, that's our first objective. Once we get there, we find an entrance or breach in the wall…"
"And then?" Gallen asked, peering through the telescopic sight of his blaster rifle.
"We'll figure it out when we get there." The commander shrugged. Several of the soldiers turned their heads slowly toward him. "What? I have about as much intel on that place as you. We've done more with less."
"You mean like that time you made me ride that blurrg…and it bit me on the ass?" Gallen quipped. "Like that, sir?" Mets and Ekks chuckled quietly.
"Yes…just like that." Tharcourt returned. "Except this time, there's no carnivorous beats." He motioned, and the unit broke through the wall of foliage, and quickly made their way to a hollow in the façade of the building. From there, the team swiftly and silently rounded the corner of the pyramid. To their surprise, there were no rebel sentries by the steps leading up to an arched doorway nearby. Daraay took the lead, Tharcourt close behind, and they climbed the stone steps to the entrance of the old temple.
Once inside the rebel base, Tharcourt's team found themselves in a wide, stone hallway. They moved slowly, letting their eyes adjust to the much dimmer light, and disregarding their weapons' lights to minimize their risk of being spotted. As they walked, it donned on Commander Tharcourt that they were literally in the belly of the beast. This temple was the very epicenter of the rebel plot that had destroyed the battle station. The insidious attack had begun here, and the rebels who remained in this base were all implicated in the massacre of three-quarters of a million Imperial soldiers and citizens. People with families, men and women who were doing their duty, killed by these zealots.
The feeling was chilling. This temple was no doubt chosen not just as a convenient place for a rebel base, no…there were better places to hide. This temple was chosen for some deeper reason, a meaning only the terrorists knew, and held dear. Whatever spiritual foundation this place was built upon millennia ago was now corrupt. This was a temple of death. Its denizens were now a cult of extremists who murdered and stole their way to whatever damnation was about to befall them. Tharcourt was angry. For one of the few times in his professional life as a soldier, he felt pure wrath and a need for revenge worm its way into his mind. He drew his second blaster pistol.
Up ahead, they heard voices, and drew closer to the sound, keeping close to the walls of the corridor. A room opened up off to the left just around a bend, and Tharcourt moved up beside Sergeant Daraay, and gave the death trooper a nod. She nodded back in affirmation, the two readied their weapons; Daraay raising her huge blaster cannon and the commander holding high his twin pistols. They shot into the room before the six rebels inside knew they were in danger. The insurgents had been studying a holomap on a metal table, and they all looked to see the Imperial soldiers entering the room. One drew a blaster pistol, but was cut down by Daraay's cannon.
"Stop! Stop, don't shoot!" Another yelled, throwing up his hands. Tharcourt in his anger fired twice into the man and twice into the rebel officer standing next to him. As Felian and Coleth entered the room behind them, six more rebel soldiers came running in from the other side of the room, opening fire with their blasters. Tharcourt fired his left-hand pistol, spun three-sixty, and fired his right, taking down two of the insurgents. Felain, Coleth and Daraay let fly a fusillade into the ranks of the rebels, compounded by Mets and Ekks, who were now using either side of the room's doorway as cover. The dozen enemy combatants were quickly mowed down, and the shooting stopped.
Tharcourt walked into the mass of slain foes, through the fog from the blaster fire. One of the rebels rolled to his stomach, and tried to crawl toward a blaster on the floor. The commander slowly walked over and delivered a powerful kick to the man's stomach just as he was reaching for the weapon, sending the wounded man sprawling onto his back with a pained grunt. Tharcourt holstered one of his blasters, knelt bestrode the rebel, and seized him by the shirt collar with his left hand. He stared into the man's hazel eyes a moment.
"That's far enough, you rebel scum." The commander growled. "You people have killed enough men and women for a lifetime, don't you think?" The injured rebel coughed.
"Never." He muttered. "I wish we'd got all of you…at least we stopped your death star."
"Proud of yourself?" Tharcourt asked angrily. "Atomizing almost a million people, you murdering bastard…"
"Small price…to rid the galaxy…of despots like you." The man returned. Tharcourt pulled him closer and planted the muzzle of his blaster against the man's temple.
"Tell me where your leaders are, and I'll get rid of the despots for you." Drakken snarled.
"You won't win this." The man answered. "Most of us made it off-world before you Imperials came. Scattered…to the winds."
"Your leaders! Where are they?!" Tharcourt demanded. "You already lost. Scariff…now here. Your miserable kriffing fleet is broken. Scattered. The DS-1 was the last great hurrah of your morally bereft little movement. It's over."
"Maybe so." The rebel mused. "But at least we would've died for something. Not living for nothing, like you." He sneered. "Coward. You going to kill me now?" Drakken cocked his head.
"Thought about it." He said calmly, jammed the barrel of the blaster pistol into the man's mouth and pulled the trigger. He carelessly dropped the dead rebel to the floor and stood, motioning with his blaster in the direction the fighters had came from. "Moving along." He said grimly, walking in that direction. A few of his troopers looked at each other and nodded.
They had never seen the commander unleash such wrath on the enemy. In a way, it was frightening. The old man was generally a laid-back, even genial kind of officer. They all knew from the start however, that he was a soldier first. Some of them had even heard some inkling of his combat record and experience. Still, it was uncanny to see him ruthlessly slay an unarmed enemy. On the other hand, it made them proud to be part of this unit, where they not only could forego so much of the rote and discipline of Imperial service, but do so much good for the Empire, all while serving under an officer who wasn't afraid of a fight, who didn't object to getting his own hands dirty.
"Why didn't they all get out when they could?" Ekks asked through the team's comms system as they made their way up a flight of stairs. The steps opened into another hall.
"I was wondering the same thing, sir." Felian whispered. "They could've beat it out of here with the rest."
"Do not know." Tharcourt answered. "Could've stayed behind to destroy sensitive material…" He paused, hearing a sound, and pointed his blasters down the hall a moment. Nothing. He led his team onward. "…could be that they didn't have room. The rebels lost many ships over Scariff." He held up his right hand and the chat was ended as the troopers stopped.
"Voices…up ahead…" Daraay said. "Ships won't be finished for another two or three hours…" She was silent a few moments. "They don't think they can shoot their way out of the Imperial blockade." Another pause. "Scrammed the comms and the personnel files, put up a fight until the computers are fried…"
"Move." The commander ordered. Weapons ready, they crept down the hall until they reached the entrance to what looked to be a large communications room. Inside were a dozen rebels, all focusing on various terminal screens and holomaps. Tharcourt nodded to Daraay and Felian, who each activated a stun grenade each, and tossed them into the room. The commandoes ducked behind the doorway as the small bombs detonated. Then like lightning, the team burst into the room, shooting at anything that moved.
The rebels, like their compatriots earlier, were caught off-guard, not expecting a small team of Imperials to be inside their base. Tharcourt and his troopers made short work of the rebels, taking care not to destroy the terminals as they gunned them down. Some of the insurgents weren't even armed, but Tharcourt reasoned that since most of the people aboard the DS-1 weren't as well, he would be just as fair and equitable to the surrendering enemy. Once the room was clear, he pointed to the terminals. Ekks and Daraay got to work immediately, copying the contents of the base's computers onto hard drives while the rest of the team pulled security.
After downloading the contents of the computer terminals, the team scoured the rest of the base for more rebels or at the least, more information that could be useful in tracking down the fled terrorists. They found nothing but empty bunkrooms and vaults, ransacked equipment rooms, and a large room with several crates of rations and water still remaining, which they blew in place with thermal detonators. It was only when the team had made it up another four levels, and found a fully-functional hangar inside of the temple that they met with more of their enemy.
Two rebel officers and four pilots in their orange jumpsuits were inside the hangar. As Delta-7 rushed in, the two officers and one of the pilots drew blaster pistols, and a firefight ensued. Tharcourt downed one of the officers immediately, and Daraay used her portable blaster cannon to pin down the armed pilot as the two scout troopers focused their fire on the remaining officer, who was hiding behind an X-Wing fighter. A shot to the head from Gallen finally silenced the fire from the rebel lieutenant, and Daraay's distraction of the pilot led to Felian and Lago getting the drop on him from the left. The three remaining pilots backed into a tight group; their hands held high in surrender.
"Don't shoot!" One of them called. "We're unarmed." The commander stepped forward, his twin blasters trained on the three pilots, two men and a woman.
"As was most of the people on that battle station you destroyed." He growled. "And you still killed them. From the Admiral to the midshipmen to the man cleaning the heads, you showed no discrimination, did you?"
"We had to blow that thing!" The female rebel exclaimed. "It was them or us! What were we supposed to kriffin' do?!"
"How about not rebelling against your government for one?!" The commander shot back.
"It's not rebellion…" One of the pilots argued. "…it's doing the right thing against…"
"Spare me your damned insane, brainwashed drivel!" Tharcourt yelled, his voice echoing off of the walls of the hangar. "You people are like a broken holorecording!" He holstered his left-hand blaster. "I want to know one thing, and one thing only…how did you do it?" The three rebels were silent. "How did you blow the DS-1?!" The pilots looked at each other nervously.
"They never talk." Coleth said disappointedly. Tharcourt charged toward the rebels and seized the young woman with blue hair from the group, dragging her back several yards.
"They will." He said coldly. "You want to know how the separatists made my people talk during the clone wars?!" He put his left arm over the pilot's throat, and pressed his blaster against the side of her head. "Answer me, or I will paint the walls of this room with her kriffing brain matter!"
"No!" The woman yelped. "Don't tell 'em! Don't do it!"
"How did you blow the station?! How damn it?!" The commander demanded. His troopers watched the scene with fearful awe. "You! Pilot!" He jammed the muzzle of his blaster harder against the woman's head. "What is your name?!"
"Lieutenant Grayska." She answered through gritted teeth.
"How many kills you have, you chuff-sucking rocket-jock?!"
"Twenty-eight, you black-boot nerf-herder."
"An ace huh? I bet you blew up the battle station and killed all those people. Maybe I flip your switch right now, schutta."
"Go crink yourself."
"Grease her, sir." Ekks commented.
"Who did it, and how?" Tharcourt asked again. "You have to the count of three."
"We'll never tell…you." Grayska choked.
"One." The pilots were visibly shaken, but remained silent. Tharcourt removed the blaster from the lieutenant's head and shot her in the right foot, tightening his hold on her to strangle out her cry of pain.
"Two!" He placed the blaster against her head again. "Three!"
"I don't know his name!" One of the pilots cried out. "Some new kid. Blew the death star with a single torp. He burnt sky with the rest of the fleet!"
"One pilot?!" Tharcourt exclaimed. "One pilot took that thing out?! You expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth." The other pilot maintained. "We all heard about it." Tharcourt thought for a moment. One rebel pilot had destroyed a moon-sized ship. It was a hard pill to swallow. He lowered the blaster.
Alright…" He said calmly. "That's one mystery solved." He paused a moment. "Take 'em." There was a volley of fire from behind him, and the two rebel pilots were sent into oblivion as Tharcourt stood grimly, still holding the struggling lieutenant, who cried out at seeing her comrades killed so callously. He let her drop to the floor.
"Bastard!" She growled, holding herself up on her hands and knees shakily. "Frinking bastard!"
"Yeah…you see how I feel right now." The commander muttered. He raised his blaster, and hesitated. Something about this felt wrong. No, everything did, and it took this long for it to sink in. Until today, Drakken had never killed anyone outside of a clambake. Now he realized, he had outright executed several unarmed people. It had started as a need for revenge, but then what? This wasn't the professional soldier Drakken Tharcourt. He felt almost ashamed, but he knew he was past the point of no return, in a situation he had to see through. His hand shook, and he closed his eyes as his finger squeezed the trigger.
"Shoot straight for once, you lousy Imp mudjumper." He heard the pilot hiss, then his blaster discharged. He sighed and turned away, looking at the huge opening in the wall. He calmly walked to the entrance to the hangar, and was met with a blaster bolt flying by, two feet to the right of him. He calmly looked in that direction, as if some annoying insect had buzzed past. Another bolt hummed a foot from his head. He turned and walked a short distance away, unclipping the commlink from his belt. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and raised the device.
"Delta-7. Temple secured, General Veers…at least for the time being." Tharcourt stated over the commlink. "Still hostiles in the area. We are taking fire from near the jungle. We are in a large hangar on the west side of the structure."
"Understood." Veers simply said. "Sending in close air support. Give me a target."
"Anything that's not the big stone pyramid…tell them to light it up." The commander returned. There was a moment of silence
"I have relayed the target to wing commander. Seek shelter, Delta-7." General Veers advised.
"You heard the general!" Tharcourt called. "Take cover, we have incoming!" The troopers dove behind and underneath fighters and crates as the familiar screaming of TIE fighters approached from the north. The shriek of the fighters was drowned out by a torrent of fire from their blasters, and the thud of dozens of ion torpedoes exploding on the ground, rattling the temple. The sound of the fighters receded, only to be replaced six seconds later by another squadron coming in, to repeat the same strafing run of the first. Then ten seconds after that, the first squadron returned to complete a second attack on the perimeter of the temple. The sound of the TIEs faded away, and an eerie silence fell over the area. Tharcourt picked himself up off of the stone floor and cautiously made his way to the large hangar opening. Spread out below was a spectacular avenue of destruction spanning from the temple building to the jungle, and at least three hundred meters long.
"Delta-7, are you still alive there?" Veers called over the communication device. Commander Tharcourt scoffed and held it to his mouth.
"Affirmative General." He answered. "And the fighter run was effective."
"Very good, commander." The general said back. "Ground forces should be arriving at your position shortly." Indeed, the mechanical sound of the approaching AT-ATs could be heard now in the hangar. A moment later, the hum of dozens of speeder bikes sounded from below.
"Secure all the data." Tharcourt ordered. He sat down on the hangar floor, his legs dangling off of the edge. He watched with a blank expression as scout riders fired into what few rebels remined below. It had been a victory, but it still felt so hollow. They had captured an unknown but certainly substantial quantity of information from the rebel computers, and had removed probably dozens of the dangerous terrorists from the galaxy before they could strike again. But the damage had been done. The rebels had killed so many, and Tharcourt hadn't been able to stop it. No one had.
If any rebel agents had been captured here, would the ISB manage to get any information out of them? Find out where the main body of the rebel fleet had disappeared to? Learn the name of the pilot who had somehow done the impossible? Probably not. The rebels never talked. When they did, it was always the same monologue in a hundred different voices; Empire evil, rebels good…we'll fight to the bitter end for our freedoms, all that tired cliché. They believed in their cause, and in the maliciousness of their foe wholeheartedly, he had to give them that much.
Drakken knew there were no angels in war. He had learned that years ago, back when he was a teenager. War makes villains out of us all. It had of him today, and he hated that, but knew he had to accept it as a cost. It happened. The Empire had done some bad things in Tharcourt's eyes. Some of them were necessary, some were just cruel, and showed a poor taste in the bureaucracy's choice of officers and governors in those places. Crackdowns and martial law were necessary when a revolt threatens life and property. Living in a city under military lockdown is rotten, but shooting up an Imperial convoy is worse, and only justifies that lockdown in the first place. But that in its essence is the entire root of guerilla war. It made no sense, but it all made perfect sense. Especially to someone who had been on the other side once. At least he never murdered unarmed people back then though…
"Damn it…" The commander muttered, then sighed. He saw someone sit down next to him. It was Felian, and the scout trooper said nothing for a few seconds.
"You good…sir?" He finally asked.
"Yeah." Tharcourt grunted. "Just an old soldier, sergeant." Felian nodded.
"Well…at least you've lived long enough to be an old one, sir."
"Yep." The commander grumbled. "Must count for something, eh?" He kicked his legs like a bored teenager. "Or it's just luck and stubbornness…and being a devil." He heard Felian scoff a small laugh.
"Sure you just aren't thinking too much, sir?" He asked, and took off his helmet. "I mean, you're an officer. They pay you to think so we don't have to, but I'd imagine that a man in your position has a few things they shouldn't dwell on too much."
"You're um…you're too right about that one, Felian." Tharcourt sighed. "Guess it comes with the job. Nothing that affects the team…just thinking about the rebels."
"Nothing you could've done, sir." Felian stated. Tharcourt looked at him. "Figured…I mean, we've all thought about it. At least we took this base…and there was Scariff." Tharcourt nodded. "We keep making dents in 'em like this…"
"Won't be anything left to dent after a while." The commander finished.
"We should go, commander?" The sergeant said in a tone that was more of a question. "They'll be wanting your report."
"Yep." Tharcourt repeated, still staring at the scene below tiredly. "They will want that…" He stretched his legs and stood. "Alright, gather up everything we captured. Blow the fighters in place. Then let's go home."
Well, the commander kind of lost himself in battle there, eh? That was a savage fight for sure. What will happen now? I will try to get the next chapter up tomorrow, but I have to drive two and a half hours to pick up a new truck, then drive back and work on it. The day will tell, I suppose. Until our next installment, leave me your beautiful reviews, loyal readers. Till then, Cheerio! -Drake