C. 12/30/15
Chapter Two – The Rebel Girl
The ship zoomed out of the open hanger of the Destroyer. There was limited vision of the outside, me being in the middle of three rows of troops I could see a little bit of Hoth through the pilot's window when I turned around. It was blue and white, like a marble I use to have. The ship sped closer and closer to the planet, that's when we started getting hit with flak and enemy fire. At first it was light, then it picked up till it rocked the ship by the force of it hitting us. A few men fell over or crashed into someone else from the flak's force. Anya slammed into my side after some flak hit the side of the ship. We both recovered only for Zety to basically headbutt the back of a trooper named Danny's helmet. The whole trip took about 4 minutes.
"Contact light" One of the pilots said as we touched down on the planet's surface. The ship settled on the ground as enemy fire really picked up. Hayter yelled for the pilots to open the hatch and then get out of there. The large metal hatch went down slowly, when it hit the ground Hayter yelled for us to get moving and find cover. Everyone scrambled off the ship. One guy who I would later find out to be Mox, me and Zety's friend, was the first to be shot when he ran out of the ship and got a blaster shot to the middle of the chest. He fell dead on the ground and people just stepped over him, me, Anya, and Zety included. Once I got my feet onto the ground I waved for Anya to fallow me as I sprinted for a snow covered hill that got us out of blaster fire. The two times I looked behind me to see if she was following she was right on my heels. We reached to hill base and I hit the deck and aimed my baster for the hill's top. A rebel, dressed in white clothes with a strange thing on his head appeared, running down the hill right for us. I aimed for his chest and let three shots off. The shots connected and he threw his blaster into the air and tumbled to the ground. His body rolled down the hill and stopped next to me and Anya. I looked around for other troopers. I saw some also at the base of our hill and some others near a ridge further up. The little ship we arrived on was heading for the sky, I saw some other in the sky, one was on fire and it picked up speed till it nose dived right into the ground and exploded. The explosion flew bits of dirt, metal and snow up into the air and it rained back down.
I looked back up the hill and saw that it was where most of the fire aimed at us and the ships was coming from. I heard Hayter yell for us to sound off. Me and Anya yelled our names. I heard Zety, Danny, Tania, Rachel, Hanson, Murdoc, Emily, Zoey and Vassili yell out too.
"Alright everyone, we need to take this hill alright?" Yelled Hayter. "Up the hill! Up the hill!" Hayter yelled as he got up and and waved for everyone to go. Me and Anya stood up and started running up and hill along with everyone else, I saw Hanson ahead of us slip and tumble down the hill only to punch the ground when he stopped and sprint after us. The top of the hill had trenches dug into it with a uplink in the middle. Two anti - air guns also sat up there. Three rebels opened fire on our little group when we reached the top, two guys and a girl. Two shots landed on a trooper and they fell forward into the trench. I un holstered my scout pistol and shot it into the chest of the middle rebel, he flew back and slammed into the trench wall behind him. Anya fired three shots at the girl, one connected with her forehead and she crumpled into a heap. The last rebel fired a shot and went into a troopers leg, the trooper let out a feminine scream and tumbled to the deck. I saw Hayter kick the rebel in the head. The rebel fell down and Hayter stood on his chest. Hayter was not a small man, or a weakling. Hayter brought the butt of his blaster down onto the rebels head five times, leaving it as a mess of blood and skull fragments. After he did he turned to me, he didn't wear a helmet like the rest of us, it was so we could identify him. His eyes were fiery as he yelled for me to pull the injured trooper into the trench and help them.
"Aye, Sir!" I yelled and ran over to the trooper laying on the ground, holding their leg. I stuck my blaster into its holster on my belt and pulled them into the trench. When we were in I removed their helmet. It was a trooper named Tania, her face was twisted in pain. He blue eyes were tearing up slightly, from the pain I assumed. Her red hair blowing slightly in the breeze that went through the trench.
"Tania! It's me Myron, look at me!" I said looking into her eyes. "Look at me, you're gonna be fine, alright? You're gonna be great okay?" I said trying to calm her down.
"How's she doing, Myron?!" Hayter asked me. "She'll be fine, sir" I said looking up. Hayter looked over the trench and put a hand to the side of his mouth. "Medic! I need a medic over here!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. A medic jumped in a few seconds later.
"Where's she hit?" He asked fast. "Her leg" I said. The medic ripped the leg armor off her and threw it over the side of the trench, it had a clean hole through it. "Talk to her, keep her calm" He told me as he went to work on her leg. I looked down to her and put a hand on her cheek.
"Look at me, Tania, you're gonna be fine, docs gonna patch you up. Keep your eyes on me you're alright okay?" I said looking down at her. "Am I gonna die? I don't wanna die" She said, her face showing she's in a lot of pain. My heart felt like it had just died a little, I think it did when she asked me if she was going to die. "No, hun your not gonna die. Don't give up on me here, hun! Stay with me here!" I said, still looking at her nodding while the medic worked away. "Alright get her outta here, she'll live. Go!" The medic shouted. I nodded and looked over the trench, a ship was just about to land. "Alright, Tania. I'm gonna get you up and we're gonna get to the ships, you just lean on me." I said hoisting her up and getting her out of the trench.
I put her arm around my shoulders and I put my arm around her back. "Walk with me, just lean on me" I said as we made our way to the landing ships. She limped and put her weight on me. We walked over to one of the landing ships. It unloaded some troopers, one saw me and rushed to help. Together we walked her to the ship. The pilots told us to load her up and quick. Me and the other trooper put her in a seat, I crouched eye level with her. "You're outta here, Tania, I'll see you again okay?" I said, trying to reassure her. "Thanks, Myron" She said putting a hand on my shoulder. "We gotta get outta here!" A pilot said. I took her hand a squeezed it. The let go and walked off the ship. I saw it pull the hatch up and fly away. Tania was out of the fight, she might even be going home but she was out of the battle. Gone the first day.
I turned and ran back to the hill. When I got to the top I jumped into the trench and took my Scout Pistol out and searched around for my team. I ended up finding them turning the uplink station off and holding the rebels off. I put the Scout Pistol away and took my E-11 out. I started looking around for Zety or Anya. I found Zety first he was the one turning the uplink off.
"Where are those AT-ATs?!" He asked when I tapped him on the shoulder. "I don't know!" I yelled back. I looked over the trench and saw rebels on the other side. I took my blaster and shot at them. One of them fell into a heap, I guessed I had killed him instantly. Anya found me holding off the group and threw one of her Thermal Detonators into their trench. I heard commotion and a large explosion. When I peeked back over to where the rebels were there was a big black smudge all over the area. An arm was lying on the ground about fifty feet away from a girl rebel lying motionless in the snow on her chest. Her back was blown apart, you could see her spine and bits of what I could only guess was her flesh were all around the area. Her right foot was also missing, and her short, bleach white hair blew in the wind. Her blaster was about five feet in front of her. The scene almost made me throw my helmet off and vomit all over the ground.
I snapped out of it and looked over to Anya. She was just staring at the corpse. I put my hand on her shoulder and shook her out of her trance. Hayter yelled for everyone to go forward and clear the hill's trenches.
"Anya, follow me" I said when Hayter was done, Anya nodded and I took my Scout Pistol out. I started walking through the trenches. A few rebel bodies were strew about the trench. I turned a corner and found a rebel crouched, waiting for me. I pointed the pistol and him and fired. He fell back but fired before he did. The shot caught me in the chest but glanced off and and went into the trench wall. The power of the hit made me fall back and into Anya. She and I both fell over and onto the ground. We scrambled to get back up. When we found ourselves on our feet again I turned around. A girl rebel turned a corner and saw us standing there. Neither me or Anya had our blaster. The rebel, probably thinking she could capture us sprinted toward us. I dived for my Scout Pistol. I picked it up and fired. The shot hit the girl in the thigh. She dropped her blaster and fell forward with a scream. Since I had dived she landed on top on me. I put my hands on her chest and pushed her off before I grabbed my blaster. In the commotion my helmet must have fallen off. I aimed the blaster for the girl's head. She put her hands up. Her face was a mix of pain and fright. She looked to be my age, her hair was red and her eyes were blue, like Tania.
"What are we doing with her?" Anya asked. Her blaster now aimed at the girl now too. "Get on your knees, rebel" I said. "Get on your knees!" I yelled now.
I grabbed her collar and pulled her up to her knees. She screamed as I did. Now she was on her knees and her hands were up.
"Anya, hand me the pistol" I said.
Anya grabbed the pistol and gave it to me. I pointed at the girl's head. It would be so easy to kill her. "Please, don't" She whimpered. "Give me a good reason not to!" I yelled.
She recoiled a bit. My face grew a little long from it. I had killed today but, I didn't like it. "Because you're not a killer, you really don't want to be here, trust me. We've killed your friends but you've killed ours too!" She said. She was right too. This girl doesn't deserve to die.
"I'll show you mercy, rebel. Where can you go where you can be evacuated?" I said. She pointed over the hill and to a cliff where a hanger was cut out of the ice and rock.
"Over there" She said weakly. I picked her up by her collar and twisted her around I pushed her to the end of the trench. She hit it and it went up to her belt. I pressed myself on her, my crotch pressed into her butt.
"Please, no" She said, her hands still it the air and her voice small. Her face was a same shade of red as her hair. "I better not see you again, your lucky I'm showing mercy to you, girl. I could kill you or do worse. You do something good with your life, you hear me?" I said, my tone menacing and harsh. She nodded. I let up on her and jumped out of the trench. I took her hand and helped her out of the trench, the pistol still aimed at her. "Keep your hands up and walk into that little base, you hear me?" She nodded. I gave her a slap on the ass, she jumped and she started limping toward the cliff. I jumped back into the trench and walked toward Anya.
"Lets meet up with Hayter and rest of the team." I said. We started walking back to the uplink. We walked through the trench were Anya had thrown the Thermal Detonator. There were four dead rebels counting the girl topside without a back. There was one guy with a blown out chest and one arm, one where the detonator blew his legs off. The last on was a guy that must have been killed by the concussion, his body was in almost perfect condition, but he was dead. We found Hayter and the rest of the group at the uplink. When he saw us he said that Hux told him to hold his team here and that the valley below them was captured by some of our company. The hanger would have to wait till tomorrow and to find a buddy to bunk with that night. Anya and I decided to bunk with each other that night. Emily was with Murdoc. Zety was with Zoey. Rachel and Vassili were together. When the sky grew dark that night me and Anya decided to talk with some other people. We walked over to Zety and Zoey first.
"Hey Zety, how did you fare?" I asked when we reached him. "Fine" He said. "Who did we lose today?" I asked.
"Hanson, Danny, Tania and Mox" Said Zoey. Her helmet was gone too, her blue eyes a brown hair lit up by a lamp in the middle of them. She was sad, I could tell. "We lost Mox? Shit, man" That was a punch to my heart, Mox, Anya, Zety and I were all friends. Mox was always the one to take challenges and try new things. Zety nodded, Zety was probably the closest to Mox. I patted him on the shoulder and sat down. Anya sat next to me.
"Myron saved a Rebel today" Anya said when she sat down. "Saved?" Zoey asked.
"Showed mercy to, I shot her in the thigh and let her go, shes probably be taken out of combat already." I said, defending myself. "Why would you ever spare a Rebel?" Zoey asked. "Not every Rebel is horrid and needs to die Zoey" I said. After a long, heavy silence I said "Sleep well, guys" before walking away. I could feel Zoey's eyes burning into my skull. I heard Anya sigh as I walked back to our spot. I sat down and stared up at the sky. Rachel and Vassili joined me. Vassili was probably the most philological of all of us. Me right behind him if you ask some people. Vassili had blue eyes and short brown hair. Rachel has blond hair and hazel eyes. Me and Rachel had a history. Like a lot of people in the company, we knew each other from the Academy. Close to graduation day everyone went out to a little bar and got drinks. We'll I got drunk and was hitting on all the girls according to Mox. Well I found out later I was just hitting on Rachel and Tania that night. Tania didn't fall for me that night but let's just say Rachel did. Tania and I would get hooked another night but that's something we swore to each other not to talk about, since I like Tania and the fact she was injured today I won't talk about that but let's finish this story with saying me and Rachel screwed that night. And it was awesome. Since then me and her and drifted off and don't talk much. Rachel sat next to me and Vassili sat across from us.
"So Myron, I heard you spared a Rebel today." Said Vassili. "Yeah, I shot her in the thigh and decided to show mercy. She was our age." I said back. "Not all rebels need to die, I'm glad you see that, Myron." Vassili said smiling at me. We sat there for a while, just enjoying each other and the silence. When Rachel and Vassili left Rachel offered that if me and her lived through tomorrow she would bunk with me and we could relive a night from the Academy. I gave her a maybe. A few moments after they left Anya joined me. She sat next to me and put her head on my shoulder.
"Why did you let her go" Anya asked. "Let who go?" I asked. "The Rebel girl" She said flatly. I sighed
"Because she didn't deserve to die, she wasn't a bad person. She was fighting for what she believed in." I said back, staring into the darkness. "Some people think you're a turncoat" She said.
"Let them think what they will. Anya, I think if I did join the rebels Vassili would probably follow me. Rachel might, Zety most likely would. Mox would have, as with Tania. Emily and Zoey would not. Murdoc maybe or maybe not. Hayter is in that group of maybe maybe not." I said. Anya looked up at me. "What about me?" She asked. "I don't, Anya, would you?" I asked, still staring off into the middle distance.
"I don't know." She said, joining my stare into the middle distance. I put my arm around her and brought her closer to me. "I hope you would" I said. It was true, If I ever left the Empire I hoped she would follow. I was recruited by the Empire, I didn't join up. If I hadn't been recruited I might have joined the rebels by myself. Anya was one of my best friends, her, Zety and Mox. Now Mox was dead, along with Danny and Hanson. Tania was injured and is on the Destroyer. We were probably going to get replacements tomorrow.
"Let's get some sleep" I said, my mind and body needed rest. "You be big spoon, I be little spoon." Anya said as she lay down on her side and in the fetal position on the floor of the trench. I lay down next to her and put my arm around her. It was awkward with the armor but it was nice to lay down with her and have my arm around her. Just you be next to her and have someone I knew next to me was nice, after the shit I saw that day, it was better than nice. We both fell asleep shortly after that.
End Of Chapter Two