The Emperor
Chapter 5: Questions
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Star wars, never have, most likely never will.
A/N: I know a bit about the military, but I have NEVER been apart of it, nor have I ever actually witnessed a court marhsal, so please don't be offended if I mess up any of Han's court marshal. Oh and let me know what you think of Han's full name.
"The board finds First Lieutenant Hansen Leonard Solo guilty of assaulting a superior officer, disobeying direct orders and allowing rebel operatives to escape justice" The slightly short, balding, mildly large Imperial Colonel said, actually it was more like he was spitting it out, as he stood up before the room that the court marshal was being held in.
Han was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, wearing his spotless, decorated Dress Blacks, the Imperial Navy's dress uniform. He had expected this day since he had pulled out of his attack run. And he had concreted that expectation into destiny when he had punched Commander Nyklas.
"First Lieutenant Solo will be demoted to Second Lieutenant with all awards, medals and recognition removed. He will be dishonorably discharged and he will be confined to the planet of Scialosti VI for thirteen years of hard labor and an additional seven years of confinement at the Vawix Prison there" The colonel said before ending the court marshal. Solo was escorted out by two uniformed IMP troopers, ironically it was the acronym for the Imperial Military Police.
Han was left in a cell for the night, his shuttle to Scialosti VI would leave sometime tomorrow night, which left him with his thoughts. He didn't regret what he had done. It had been a simple mission, deploy from the Raging Cyque and engage the rebel operatives fleeing from the city of Ur on the planet of Troisk. However civilian and military personal had been too close to fire the lasers and he had aborted the practically perfect shot at the fleeing scum.
When he had landed his Tie back aboard the Cyque, his commanding officer, Commander Nyklas, had arrived with four stormtroopers and sent them to arrest Solo for disobeying direct orders. Han hadn't fought back...that much, but then Nyklas had slapped Han before allowing him to be escorted off. The man had still been grinning when Han had pushed out of the trooper's grasps and socked the Commander a good two or three feet off the ground before he crashed into the wall, out cold before he even hit the steel deck.
Han smirked at the memory before he heard the cell door slide open. He stood up as a short figure walked into his cell. He tried to keep the confusion off his face as he eyed the man, more of a young boy really, before him.
He couldn't be more then maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. He had golden blond hair, with a slight brown color mixing in. He also had light blue eyes and a build to him that suggested that despite his youth, he could easily beat Han in a fight. However the strangest thing about the boy was the fact he had on Dress Blacks, but there was no rank, nor was there any ribbons or medals pinned on. The only things on the uniform were his code cylinders and his station pin. His station pin. That part actually scared him...
The pin showed he was stationed on Coruscant, apart of the Third Imperial Intelligence Division.
He was really screwed now...
A
Han woke up from the dream as a loud banging began to come from his door. Sliding out of bed he pulled on a shirt and opened the door to find Master Ashoka Tano standing before him in her customary robes. Noting her arms were crossed, he could guess only one thing that might cause her to visit him at this hour of the night. "Where do you think he went?" Han asked as he followed her out of his apartment, grabbing his blaster, footwear and a jacket as he exited the door.
B
Luke had no idea what unholy hour of the morning they pulled themselves into the temple at, but he knew that the hangovers they had made it so much harder to sneak past the security patrols and into the large building. He vaguely remembered slipping into his room, Mara still supporting him and vise versa. He remembered the two of them collapsing on his bed and then he remembered nothing.
And now he was laying in his bed, still fully clothed thank the force, with a unconscious Mara Jade while someone hammered on his door. Luke was about to jump up and get the door, however he was still slightly tipsy and he instead slammed into the ground as the door flung itself inwards. Luke knew only a few people in the world with enough guts to come into his room unannounced, and only two of those three people were planet side at the moment, and one of them was currently asleep in his bed.
Han Solo, one of the closest friends Luke had, stood halfway in the door, ready to yell at his charge, only to stare in shock at the sight of the two young Knights, obviously recently drunk, laying in the same bed. Well technically Luke was halfway in the bed, but he could put two and two together...
Sure he had always liked Mara and had hoped that she would end up with Luke, but he had never wanted this to happen while he was responsible for High Lord Skywalker's son while he was away.
"Han it's not-"
"Shut up!" Han barked as he closed the door shut, hoping no one was around to investigate his sudden outburst. Offhandedly he was glad that Asohka was still scouring the city for the pair. "Do you have any idea how much trouble your gonna be in, how much trouble I'm gonna be in for this?" He demanded as Luke tried to explain, however Mara moaned loudly from the raised voices she was subconsciously hearing and Luke moved to cover her mouth gently with one of his hands, taking care to leave room for her to breath through her nose.
"What" Han continued, although much quieter this time. "Where you thinking?" He demanded as he moved closer, checking the pair for any marks or smells that might indicate they had done anything other then drink the night away. How they had gotten the alcohol was beyond him. Actually it was more of how they had gotten it and gotten back into the temple that astounded him. They had obviously gotten smashed the previous night.
"We just went out to relieve some stress" Luke said, quickly trying to diverge Han from thinking they had done anything close to what he thought they had done. "And we might have had a bit too much to drink" He admitted. "But we did NOT do anything like what your thinking! We passed out here immediately, nothing, nothing at all, happened" Luke assured Han, who had relaxed slightly.
"Jeez kid Ashoka is ticked with you right now" Han said as he ran a hand through his hair while he sat down in the chair at Luke's desk.
"How bad am I in for?" Luke asked as he sat on the edge of his bed, moving his hand off of Mara's mouth once he was sure she would stay quiet.
"Pretty bad" Han admitted. "She has about half the temple searching the air ducks and gardens for you, and she's got the entire temple air squadron patrolling the city."
"Great..." Luke said and fell backwards, laying himself next to Mara, who was currently the reason he would most likely die in a few hours. He wasn't sure if last night was worth it or not. Last night...
He still thought he could feel Mara dancing against him. The heat of the room, the roar of the music, the feeling of her lips on his...wait, her lips? Luke tried to remember when they had kissed, but no image came to his mind. Now his mind was even more confused then before, and more worried.
"I'll try and clear the waters kid" Han said at last, trying to ignore the way the two youths were laying so close together in the black silk bed, looking for all the world perfectly calm; however he did catch the slight unease in Luke's relaxed form, something only he could do since he had known Luke for so long.
Luke, in his own thoughts, nodded softly as he continued to ponder the previous night's events.
C
"General I don't know if my men can secure this area" Lieutenant Colonel Stryok said over the static filled holo meeting with General Frall. "Even with the 58th and 94th assisting me, we are hitting major resistance" The Lieutenant Colonel reported as he transmitted the casualty reports of all three Imperial Army Battalions.
On the other end, Frall read the reports and grimaced, it was worse then he had thought. "Don't worry Colonel" Frall said to the veteran officer. "I'm sending in the 23rd Stormtrooper Division to assist" Frall assured him. "That should help you out."
D
"Man they really got hammered" Corporal Trace Aleei said as Squad 3, more commonly called Trixiion Squad, of A company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Stormtrooper Division, marched with the rest of their unit into the hastily set up Imperial Army camp.
There was little love between the Imperial Army and the Stormtrooper Corps, both considering the other an 'Unnecessary Waste of Resources.' However seeing the dead Army troops still rotting in the mud and blood as their buddies dug their graves was sickening, and they averted their gazes as they entered outpost A, or as the Army troops around them referred to it, Camp Frall.
The outpost was set up in the woods, right where the beach ended and the grass and trees took over. Tents had been erected everywhere and several slightly larger ones, such as the Communications Tent, Medical Tent and Mess Tent. There were also several areas where vehicles and other equipment were being grouped up to be repaired and maintained.
"Yeah, i'd say" Private Riley Fween said from beside Aleei as he surveyed the camp and it's grim occupants as the rest of A company moved through Camp Frall and out into the woods. After a short march the company stopped near a river as Captain Hollon briefed them about their mission, which they hadn't gotten before their drop planet side, which was odd in itself, since the elite troopers were generally prepared for their ops before they had even left the ships. Being briefed in the combat zone was odd indeed.
"Alright boys and girls" Hollon said. "The rebs are dug in deep, they got the firepower and they got the determination to hold out against his Majesties Army for the next thousand years" He said, a slow, lazy grin forming around his mouth as he spoke. "But they are not prepared to face the men and women of His Majesties STORMTROOPER CORPS!" He hollered, to the screams of agreement from his troops. "Now we have to go secure a hill a few clicks away" He continued. "And I trust each and everyone of you will prove your worth to wear my white armor and do the Empire proud by killing each and every one of those miserable stinking scum bags of bantha filth!" He added before the company, and the rest of the battalion behind them, began to move out.
Hours later and they began to approach the rebel held hill. It was one of the highest elevations one could reach on the island and it currently was keeping the Imperials from landing troops in the woodlands in the Island's interior.
The distant sounds of laser fire from some skirmish on some other part of the island could be heard as the white armored soldiers of A company began to move up the slope.
Almost immediately laser fire began to rain from the heights above them.
"Force those guys really are jumpy!" Trace shouted as the laser fire missed him by miles. Apparently the rebels were firing at anything that moved.
"Move up and keep your heads down" Sergeant Yuyuzzi said as she flipped her rifle's safety off before moving up with Trixiion Squad. The rebels continued to fire, but most of the shots were way off, a few however managed to nail an Imperial here or there.
The entire push up the hill became short bursts of rapid laser fire between the two sides as the rebels tried to shoot the Stormtroopers, who were also equally trying to shoot the rebels; however between the thick brush of the woods and the smoke from the discharge of laser rifles and mortar shells hitting the sides of the hill, it made shooting each other into an art.
After half an hour they crested the hill and began engaging the rebels in the open. The first dozen or so troopers to come out of the brush and out onto the flat top of the hill were cut down by laser fire. The next wave however began to return fire as more troopers fell in behind them. The rebels would be overrun soon. It just depended on the amount of bodies it took to capture the hill...
E
"Sir the situation is deteriorating" CFM Lieutenant Rex Frost said as he approached his CO, Commander Flanders, who was in charge of the defense of Piia, their main supplier of armor and fuel for the resistance cell on the planet.
"I know" Flanders said as he ran a hand through his fur. The Cakkiiwian could feel the battle for the island, and the planet itself, was about to fall by the wayside. The Imperials would just keep pouring troops at them, and his superiors wouldn't send him any more troops, they too probably saw Piia as a lost cause. Maybe that's why they hadn't responded to his hails.
"Dyio's platoon is reporting Hill 58 lost to Imperial Stormtroopers" One of Flander's communication officers reported.
"Stormtroopers?" Flanders said, his fur drooping and his face paling as he heard the news. If shock troops were being deployed then all hope was almost certainly lost.
"Yes sir, we received reports that the 23rd Imperial Stormtrooper Division landed earlier today" The soldier reported.
"Armaments?" Flanders said, still in a slight daze.
"The 2nd Stormtrooper Shock Battalion, The 14th Stormtrooper Shock Battalion, the 22nd Stormtrooper Armored Brigade and the 66th Jumper Regiment" The soldier replied. "Whether or not all of their personal has landed is not available yet, so we'll have to wait until our sources can bring in more data"
"That's assuming we're alive to receive the data" Flanders muttered as Imperial bombers continued to hammer the island with their glowing bombs, causing the stone roof of their underground bunker to shake. Flanders returned to his holo map, hoping they could win the fight, but finding his heart wasn't as into it as it had been a few hours ago.
F
"We need to talk...about last night..." Mara said as she sat on Luke's desk, her legs hanging idly off the edge while he sat in the chair diagonally across from her. They had been shifting between awkward silences and random chit chat for nearly an hour before one of them could finally bring the topic up.
"Ok" Luke said, his heart clenching as his stomach began to churn. He was uneasy and hopefully the red haired knight sitting on his desk couldn't read him well enough to realize this.
"I-I..."Mara started, but found the words caught in her throat. Luke however, ironically, found himself finally able to speak more then a single word.
"Last night...we...I felt energized, I felt intoxicated" Luke said as he moved closer, if only by a few inches. "I...don't regret last night" Luke said, still a bit uneasy, if he messed this up he could lose Mara, but if he didn't mess it up...
Luke was broken from his thoughts as Mara made a split section decision and leaned forward, grabbing the blond haired knight by the back of his head and kissing him.
Luke wasted no time in returning the suddenly heated kiss. Mara slid off the desk and onto Luke's lap as his hands rested around her back. They had barely begun to deepen the kiss before they were interrupted by a loud knocking against Luke's door.
Pulling apart, Luke rose up to answer the door while Mara tried to hide. It was no use. Han opened the door and walked in, Asohka hot on his heels, a glare on her face as she tried to melt the two Imperial Knights with her eyeballs.
"Tell me everything, Right now" The Master demanded as she used the force to shut the door, not caring about the loud screech and bang that the metal door made as it was slammed shut, nearly breaking it's shutting mechanisms.
G
Dress Blacks: Imperial Navies standard dress uniform. Picture the U.S. Marine Corps Officer's Dress Blues, but all black with slight gray lining.
The Stormtrooper Corps is a seperate branch of the Imperial Military, like the Navy and Army, it actually serves under the direct command of the Emperor, it is not, as some have believed, apart of the Army or Navy.
This felt like a good stopping point for now. Let me know if the new linebreakers are any good, I hope FF doesn't get rid of them. Review please. Also OC char's are still being accepted.