Chapter Five:
"I don't see why this is so difficult," I say. "We just do nothing. Simple as that."
"Not that simple, no," President Coy sighs. "We're the good guys, don't you remember?"
"Right," I say, "I'm new at that."
I was summoned to President Coy's office just after Trentiss's Imperial PSA aired. I don't think she's looked at me once. Her fingers fly across a datapad.
"They aren't serious though, are they?" I ask. "I mean, they wouldn't just pointlessly waste a bunch of taxpayers or potential laborers. It's got to be a bluff."
"Watch this," Coy activates a holo-pad on her desk top. A shimmering, blue tinted image of a city square in the desert appears. It certainly looks like Tatooine. "This is a live feed." On the holo a dozen captives kneel, blindfolded, with stormtroopers behind them pointing rifles at their heads. An Imperial officer drops his hand and barks an order (I would assume, the feed is silent). Each prisoner falls to the dirt. Sandtroopers (basically stormtroopers with larger canteens and orange highlights on their armor) escort another group of civilians forward to take their place, as the bodies are dragged aside and tossed on a pile. It's already a pretty big pile.
"If it's a fake it's a good one," I admit. "They must be more annoyed than I thought."
"We cannot and will not let this stand," Coy says.
"Are you going to head in with all guns blazing? Because that's just what they want," I say. "It's a trap. I'm sure the whole Imperial Navy is out there waiting for us."
"I'm sure they are, but I'm not sure we have much of a choice. We need to show the people of the Empire that we can protect them from their government."
"So. Show them next time. You'll get us all killed."
"Sometimes being a hero means doing the right thing."
"Being a hero is stupid."
"You're not very good at this whole Chosen One thing, are you?"
"I'm a model Jedi," I say quickly. "Let's go save all those guys immediately."
"Your family is down there," Coy gives me an odd look. "Don't you want to help them?"
"Yes," I say, "I'm a Jedi."
"Before you were lying though?"
I bite my lip. "Yes. I've got to go help them."
"Are you still lying?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"No," Coy admits, "We've been wasting enough time already. You're going to Tatooine."
"Won't I get killed though?"
Coy ignores this. "This is a great opportunity. We'll get footage of you in action, being the hero the people need you to be. Don't give me a silly excuse; I know you've seen more intense combat than most of my soldiers. You'll be fine."
"So what's the plan of attack?" I ask. "You've got a large fleet, but I'd assume you have nowhere near the firepower to take on the Empire."
"You'd be surprised." Coy sets down the datapad for the first time. "If you must know, this will short and sweet. Reports indicate there are three cities on the surface where they are currently rounding up and executing the inhabitants. We'll touch down, grab as many citizens as we can, destroy the Imperial's operation, and get away."
"That's it?"
"Well, no. But that's all you need to know. "
"They'll just keep killing more people as soon as we leave."
"War is about the little things," says President Coy, "It's the thought that counts. If we save your parents and hand the footage over to Menissa, she'll swing it like a public relations hammer and every man, woman and child in the galaxy is going to feel like shanking the first stormtrooper they see, because the almighty force and its pretty little herald are on their side."
Coy presses a button and the door slides open. Lyle Doggs enters, nods at me.
"Mr. Doggs," says Coy. "You will lead your strike to the surface of Tatooine to the Victors mansion on the outskirts of Mos Espa. There you will retrieve the Chosen One's mother and sister. You will then return to the fleet. Kara will go with you. The boy Edwin will also accompany you, to take holo-footage of Kara's endeavors. This will be a very dangerous mission. I am putting our new hope in your hands."
"It wouldn't be the first time, Madame President," Doggs grins. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
"This ship is already en route to Tatooine," President Coy says. "Take Kara and prepare for your mission. I've sent all the details to your datapad, and the datapads of your men."
"Yes Ma'am."
"So do I get some body armor?" I ask. "Maybe a swoop bike."
"Not quite," says Coy. "You're a Jedi. You'll have to dress accordingly."
…
We go to a locker room that I'd never been to before. It is part refresher and part armory, filled with tough Republic soldiers getting ready for battle. They're wearing dark jackets and blue shirts over body armor. They also put on wide white helmets, and buckle holsters to their sides.
"Here's this," Edwin greets us, holding a bundle of clothing out to me. It's all tans and browns. I step around the corner and get changed alongside the female members of Doggs' squad (all three of them). They ignore me. If anything the Jedi-like clothing chafes even more this time. Perhaps since I'm imagining running, dodging and killing in it. I wonder if Menissa will even want to bother getting the bloodstains out when I turn it in.
"Over here," Doggs calls me as I'm doing up my belt. "Don't have any laser swords around these parts, unfortunately. However, you've got the pick of this weapons rack." He waves at a shelf hung with all kinds of blasters: small ones, long ones, even a few grenade launchers that look like they'd send me flying for yards from their recoil.
"The force is my weapon," I say.
"Cool," says Doggs. "In that case I think we're ready to move out." He begins to slide the rack back into the recess it came from.
"Wait a second, I'll take some stuff," I say quickly. I put a knife in my boot and stuff two pistols through my belt. I swing an assault rifle over my shoulder, and hold it with both hands to examine it. I've never used a blaster this big before. Looks like it'll be effective.
"Mine's bigger," says Edwin looking at my gun appreciatively.
"Yeah," I say, glancing at the metal apparatus in his hands. "Wait, isn't that a holo-recorder?"
"Of course," he says, "That's my job. It's a very specialized task too, these are very fragile instruments." There's a thunderous noise, and he almost drops it as the room shakes. "What the-"
"Looks like we've dropped out of hyperspace and into enemy fire," Doggs shouted. "It is on. To the shuttle, doubleplusquick!" He exits through a doorway opposite the one we entered through, and I follow the squad into hanger. It's a wide area filled with bustle, equipment, and fighters coming and going. Only a large force field set into the far wall protects us from the vacuum of space. Outside I can see blackness, stars, and the curvature of a sand-colored orb. Little orange explosions flare in space.
The Rebel squad forms ranks, and marches rapidly toward a nearby troop transport, with Doggs in the lead, chanting some marching song about shooting white armored faces. Edwin and I stroll along behind them.
"So did you get a blaster too?" I ask him.
"Yep," the pistol he shows me is far smaller than mine.
"Correction: did you get a real blaster."
"It takes both hands to get the best possible holo," he pouts.
The ramp in the rear of the ship begins to retract before we're halfway up it. The wide doors clamp shut behind us. We take our seats at the back of the compartment, furthest from the door. The Rebel soldiers glower silently as the ship takes off.
"You've all read the briefing," Doggs calls, standing at the rear of the compartment. "We are landing on the grounds of a mansion at the outskirts of Mos Espa, while the rest of our troops will be landing elsewhere in the city and on the planet. Our goal is retrieval of a woman and her daughter, the Chosen One's family.
"Sensors indicate Imperial forces are spread pretty thin. On top of us they've already got a rebellion on their hands. There's hardly a landowner or card hustler on the planet that's not ready to pick up a blaster and defend themselves and their ilk. We are however landing at a primary target, so expect resistance."
The ship shudders, the seat vibrating beneath me. We're entering the atmosphere. "We do have a Jedi with us, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. She doesn't owe you anything. It is your responsibility to guard her with your lives. It would also be nice if the boy survived as well. The fewer casualties the better."
The ship shakes again; I picture us taking enemy fire. I wish I could see what was going on outside.
"Squad three will set up a perimeter," Doggs announces. "Squad two will enter the house and search downward, while I will lead squad one and pan the upstairs perimeter. Oh, and I call the Jedi. Team leaders will keep comlink contact with me and each other at all times. If they're killed this duty will pass to the next member of the team, you know how this works."
Doggs cleared his throat, as the team readies their weapons. "Today, we strike back at the Empire. Today we have our revenge. We will show them that we are strong, and that we will fight for the memories every man, woman and child they ever took from us! We will not-" he touches the side of his helmet, "Oh; I guess we're actually in position now. Get set!"
The soldiers stand and form ranks, as the floor shifts and pitches. We're coming in for a landing. I think I hear an explosion in the distance. I hope it's not on our ship. Edwin starts his holorecorder and points it at me, "Say something cool, before we get started."
"Our enemies underestimate the true powers of the force," I say deeply, "But they will not be able to deny the strength of our passion for freedom."
"That was great," Edwin says happily. I'd thought it was one of the stupidest things I'd ever said, but to each their own.
The door at the rear of the troop transport began to open, filling the room with bright light. "Game on," I whisper quietly.
"Ooh, a force games reference," says Edwin happily, "This is gold. Menissa's going to love this." And then were running with the squad, jumping off the ramp, our boots sinking into the sand. Energy bolts sizzle through the air.
We've landed in the courtyard of the victor's mansion; the heat of the suns warms my cheeks. We're outnumbered by almost twice as many stormtroopers. Some of them charge toward us, while others fire from the sides. Some troopers have taken cover behind crates and boxes they've heaped together, though it does them little good. White armored bodies are falling left and right.
I hop over a Rebel soldier, his face blasted away by a laser. Two large cannons have been set up, one on either side of the wall of the courtyard. One discharges and geyser of sand blasts into the air, along with the detached head and spinal column of a Rebel soldier. The other gun fires at the troop transport as it arches back into the air, melting a crater in its hull. I hope the ship is going to arch back around toward us. I don't fancy just getting left behind. The ship's cannon reduce portions of the stone wall to rubble, and its exhaust burns the creamy stone of my mansion's walls to black.
The blaster is warm in my hand, and doesn't kick nearly as strongly as I expect it to. My first shot takes a stormtrooper in the top of the head. He falls. I fire at another, but he successfully takes cover behind one of the metal crates.
A Rebel has made it to the top of the wall; he jumps up behind the stormtrooper controlling one of the cannons and clubs him out. He brings the cannon around and fires into the other gun, which explodes spectacularly, taking another large chunk out of the wall below it.
A Rebel beside me hurls a grenade before taking a blaster shot in the leg. It flies through and blasts a metal crate into the air, sending one stormtrooper flying and blasting the arm off another.
We've cleared a path to the armored door, and half of the Rebels head its way. A blast from the cannon we now control takes it off its hinges. At least three rebels lay dead in the sand, joined by many more stormtroopers. But heavy fire from the commandeered cannon is forcing the Imperials back. We leave squad three to mop things up and enter the mansion.
Four troopers are within, jogging toward the door, but we take them by surprise and riddle them with holes before they can even squeeze off a shot. At least one of them goes down by my hand.
My mansion is just as I remember it, all ostentatious and aristocratic. Lots of pretty stone and abstract art. Makes interesting contrast to the violence outside. It's less visceral, less real.
"Can you maybe force push somebody, throw some lightning?" Edwin asks me. He's trying to sound professional, but he can't stop shaking.
"Shut up," I tell him.
"This is where we split," says Doggs to one of his men. "Good luck." They bump fists, and five of the men head deeper into the house, while Doggs peeks through the door to a wide staircase. He makes some motion with his hands, and Edwin and I follow Doggs and four of his soldiers up the stairs. Edwin trips on the third step, and hurries after us. No one stops to help him.
"We go to the top, work our way down," Doggs orders when we reach a landing. It seems as though he wasn't the only one with that thought. We're halfway up the next flight when six stormtroopers come around the corner. Seeing us, they open fire. I hop backward as blaster fire burns the wall, and fight to keep my balance on the stairs.
Doggs reaches into his vest, and hurls a grenade down onto the stairs. Instead of flames and shrapnel, the stairwell fills with gray smoke with so much grey smoke I can barely see a few feet in front of my face. I hear blasterfire nonetheless, someone screams loudly, and Rebel soldier nearby grunts in pain.
A stormtrooper appears out of the smoke directly in front of me. I bring the stock of my rifle up, forcing his barrel toward the roof so he fires over my head. I shove him back, and Doggs grabs him by the neck, shooting him point blank through the head.
I back into Edwin, who swings his holorecorder like a club, knocking a stormtrooper back towards the wall. I spin and fire over Edwin's shoulder, taking the Imperial out.
As the smoke clears, the Rebels fire into the bodies of the Stormtroopers sprawled on the stairs, making sure they're dead. One of our men had been grazed by a blaster bolt; his skin is raw and scorched black beneath a hole on his sleeve. He slaps a few bacta patches on the wound, and shoulders his weapon as if nothing happened. Tough guy.
We come across no more resistance as we ascend the stairs and begin searching the top floor. We quickly scan several bedrooms and storage spaces. "Next time we find a trooper, we should interrogate it before killing it," Edwin says, "Find out where they are."
"That's actually a good plan," Doggs says, "Still, shut up."
We're looking at the pool area when Doggs gets a call on his radio. He taps the side of his helmet. "Uh-huh. Yes. Thanks. Over," to us he says, "Squad two just found them on the security feeds. We're close. They're just down the hall, but there are a lot of troopers." His face grows ashen.
"What is it, sir?" asks one of his men.
"No time," Doggs grunts, as we deploy back into the hall.
We turn the corner and head down a wide hallway lined by alcoves filled with sculptures my mother had made. If you paid attention they really documented her learning curve. We near the door at the end, and I feel a twinge in the back of my mind, almost like a physical wedge driven between my thoughts. Something behind us.
The man with the bacta patches sprawls forward, a hole in the back of his head. We dash to sides of the hall as stormtroopers sprint up behind us. We return fire, and the troopers take cover. Edwin knocks over the sculpture in his alcove, firing his pistol at the troopers. If there were any stormtroopers on the ceiling, he would have killed them.
Blaster bolts make black marks on the walls, but neither side is daring to risk our cover enough to get shot.
"I'll hold them off, sir," the soldier beside me tells Doggs, "So you can get the Jedi inside and retrieve the packages."
"We'll need at least two men to hold out," Doggs says.
"Edwin will stay," I say. His recording has started to make me uncomfortable, as if Coy was following me, always looking over my shoulder.
"I will?" Edwin asked shrilly.
"Good," says Doggs, "See you in a few." He throws two grenades down the hall, filling the air with flames and little pieces of metal, Doggs, two of his men and I take the opportunity to reach the door at the end of the hall and slip through. We're fortunate that it's unlocked, less fortunate that we find four number of stormtroopers beyond, pointing their weapons at us. We return the favor.
A door at the other side of the room leads to a balcony. Aside from the Imperial soldiers, the room is empty save for some sloppy paintings on the wall (each bearing my mother's signature) and three other occupants. Primith and my mother are cuffed to a pair of chairs, looking rattled, even frightened, but unharmed. A human imperial officer with a long thin face stands between them, a small blaster pistol in his hands. He looks familiar; I think I shook his hand when I was last on Tatooine for the Victory Tour.
"Drop you weapons," he says, "Or I shoot them."
"Drop yours, or I shoot you," says Doggs.
"My men are prepared to shoot to woman and child before you can take them out," says the officer.
"And my Jedi will stop the bolts in midair with her brain."
"Oh really," a single zap issues from the officer's pistol. Primith screams in pain and bursts into tears, the bolt had gone right through the meat of her calve.
Brute force wasn't going to win this battle, no matter how much I'd like it too. "Drop your weapons," I order Doggs and his men.
"No, I won't-" Doggs begin, but I turn on him, pointing my rifle at his face. Slowly, resignedly, he and his two soldiers lay their weapons on the floor. I follow suit, dropping my rifle, and laying my two pistols down beside it. I put my hands up, and loudly say "I surrender."
"Isn't it a little late for that?" the officer asks. "Rebel." Good, he doesn't just shoot me now that I'm unarmed. I read him right. Stupid.
"It was the only way," I say. "I couldn't have just surrendered to the Alliance. They would have killed me. It was all I could do to join the attack, hoping…praying…that I would be able to see my family again. That someone could keep me safe." I sniffle and squeeze a few tears from my eyes.
"What the hell…" Doggs stares at me.
"Don't Kara," my mother mouths at me.
I move toward the officer, my arms out almost as if to embrace him. "I just want to be safe."
"I…" he gapes. He also misses his last chance to shoot me. As soon as I'm close enough, I strike. I grab his arm, ripping the pistol from his hand and throwing it aside, breaking a finger or two in the process. I yank his arm behind his back. He stops struggling as soon as I press my knife into his throat.
The stormtroopers look lost, pointing their weapons everywhere, at me, at the Rebels, at my family. "Drop your weapons," I order them. "Drop them all, or I kill him."
I feel the officer's blood trickle down my fingers as the edge of my knife breaks his skin. "Do it," he sputters. "Do it now."
They obey. The Rebel takes their weapons, and aim blasters at each stormtrooper. Doggs free my mother and Primith. Primith is still crying, Doggs helps my mother put a few bacta patches on her wound.
"What more do you want?" the officer is hysterical. "Money? Supplies?"
"I think that's everything," I say and press my knife deep into his throat. His limp body collapses against me and I let it drop to the floor. "Kill them," I order, and triggers are pulled. White helmets clank against the floor.
Doggs gives me a withering look, biting his lip. "You're full of surprises Miss Evenstern."
"I could wish for better circumstances, but it's good to see you," says my mother, picking up an Imperial blaster.
"I know you'd come," Primith says weakly, and tries to stand, but her leg gives way beneath her. I move to support her, but one of Doggs' men beats me to it, lifting her onto his pack as if she were weightless. I pat her arm awkwardly, and grab my weapons.
"Package retrieved," says the other soldier, "let's move out," as he moves to the door. It flies open as Edwin dives through, firing wildly behind him as it slams shut behind him, locking it with a fist to the door pad.
"That other guy you left with me is dead," he shouts, "The Imps got reinforcements."
"The team from downstairs," Doggs curses.
"What?" I ask.
"They just killed squad two," he says, "Wiped them out, I heard it all over the radio."
"That's sad," says Primith airily, she's half unconscious from the pain.
"What's our way out? You know the house better than me," Doggs asks my mother.
"There's a balcony out there," she moves to the opposite door, even as the other one begins to hiss and smoke, the Stormtroopers forcing their way in.
"That'll have to do," Doggs says.
Half of us are out the door to the balcony by the time stormtroopers blast their way inside. The Rebel soldier without a wounded little girl on his back spins at the doorway, firing at the stormtroopers, shooting one fatally in the chest. I peer over the railing to the ground. Too far to jump.
Doggs takes a small canister from his belt fires a grappling hook into the stone of the deck, before hooking it to the belt of the soldier with Primith. "It holds about three people," he orders, shoving my mother at the soldier. "Go!" My family and the soldier disappear over the side.
Edwin and I join the soldier in firing into the room, but it seems as though for every trooper we kill, another steps over its corpse. I'd fought one stormtrooper hand to hand before. He'd been, a capable opponent, but it is only now that I understand the true Imperial military strategy: to overwhelm through sheer numbers.
My family has landed in the sand below, the detached grappling cord whips right back up, just as the Rebel soldier shoves Edwin back toward the railing, saving him from an energy bolt that the soldier takes in the gut. He falls to his knees.
I refuse to share his fate. I dive for the cord, snatching it out of Edwin's waiting hands. He wraps his arms around my waist, as I clamber over the railing.
Doggs fires into the Stormtroopers, even as his dying man waves him at to leave. "Save the Jedi, save the galaxy."
"Damn this," Doggs shouts, and dives at Edwin and I, catching hold of my shoulders as we go over the edge.
The seconds we spend in freefall seem to stretch out into minutes. I am aware of it all, the wind, the sun, the sand. If find myself wishing meditation was more like this.
"Say hello to your Emperor!" The dying soldier above us shouts, detonating every grenade in his belt. A plume of flame and black smoke bursts from above, the balcony shakes, pieces of masonry and mortar hit the sand around us as we land.
The courtyard is clear, save for the remnants of Dogg's squad, who are helping my family to cover. A few of them rush over to help us up, and at least one of them is felled by a blaster bolt.
A few stormtroopers survived the blast, and are firing down at us from the flaming art gallery above. I run for cover, Doggs pulling Edwin behind me, Edwin trying to point the holorecorder my way. Blaster fire strafes the sand.
"We need immediate evac!" Doggs shouts into his radio.
"Looks like they're coming as fast as they can," my mother points to a dot on the horizon, the troop transport coming back this way.
"Should have called them earlier," I scold Doggs.
Cannon fire extinguishes the Imperials above, as the cannon we commandeered on the wall turns on them, reducing the ruined wall into smaller pieces of rubble which rain down on the sand.
"Yeah, buddy!" The Rebel operating the cannon shakes his fist skyward, "That's the way to do-" He never finishes. A rocket sails out of the sky and the cannon disappears one of the flashiest explosions I've seen today.
Primith screams, as six big green monsters stampede into the courtyard.
Each dewback is ridden by a sandtrooper who promptly opens fire, felling Rebels left and right within instants. Their dewbacks might not be monsters, not technically, but they're mad as hell. One swings its tail and a Rebel goes flying, back broken. Another chomps down, sinking its teeth into a rebel soldier, almost tearing the man in half. I retreat from their powerful stomping feet, firing as I go, but the blaster bolts do little against their tough hide.
At least one sandtrooper flies off his mount, shot in the head. A grenade rips open a dewback's side; bloody intestines spill out into to the sand.
I manage to nail a dewback in the eye. Moaning, it runs into the wall, knocking the sandtrooper from its back. The sandtrooper scrabbles at the sand, looking for the dropped blaster rifle his mount just stomped to bits. He has to dive away quickly to avoid the same fate, as the manic, pained dewback rams into one of its brothers. Doggs tosses a grenade into the dewbacks open mouth, but it's only the flash-bang variety. The Dewback belches a cloud of smoke, and collapses to the sand.
Two more dewbacks are blown apart by cannon fire as the troop transport finally arrives. It comes to as stop hovering in the courtyard, bay doors open, blaster bolts pinging off its armored hull. Edwin is the first to vault aboard, closely followed by the soldier carrying Primith on his back.
I sprint for the ship, and go down hard in the sand. The sandtrooper I unseated a moment ago tripped me up. I struggle as his white armored hands clamp around my leg. I try and bring my rifle around, but he knocks the barrel away. Finally, he takes three blaster bolts in the back. My mother stands over him, Imperial blaster in her hand.
She reaches to me, pulls me to my feet, opens her mouth to speak. It's a tender moment, at least for her. I'm almost surprised when a blaster bolt goes right through her chest, vaporizing her heart.
The sounds of the battle seem to dull in my ears as I turn away. My mother's body falls on its face. I run, kicking up sand.
I leap into the bay just behind Doggs. He grabs me as I lose my balance. I was almost going to fall right out the back of the ship as we soar into the air. The doors shut behind us and somebody in the pilot's seat punches the accelerator. I catch the first deep breath I've had in a while.
Primith's soldier has set her down on a bench and taken a med kit to her leg. Her face is red and sweaty. "Where's mom?" she asks, over and over.
"I'm sure your mother is going to be fine, just like you," the soldier insists, "Now hold still." I figure he might not have seen what I saw.
I look to Doggs, who is staring wide-eyes at Edwin. "How come you survived when practically my entire team didn't make it?"
"Um, healthy living," Edwin flushed.
The whole compartment shakes, I grab Doggs arm to keep my footing. Edwin's not so lucky and hits his knees on the bench. Another shake follows; I think I can smell something burning.
"I'll be in the cockpit," Doggs says, heading toward the front of the ship. I follow him, Edwin just behind me, hands on the walls to brace him up as we encounter turbulence.
I find the woman in the pilot's seat to be surprisingly petite. It's a wonder she can reach the pedals. The surface of Tatooine whips away before us, buildings of yellow and reddish clay and stone: Mos Espa. "Why haven't we broken orbit?" Doggs demands.
"It's all I can do to keep our fuselage intact, sir!" the pilot chirps. She points at her sensor display, "There's a pair of eyeballs on our tail."
If I look out the corner of the window as our ship curves in a slow arc over the city I can just glimpse a TIE fighter. The buildings below us are riddled with blaster fire. I feel the impact as a few more bolts hit our hull.
"Well I suggest you lose the bastards before I finally get around to growing that mustache," Doggs orders gruffly. Edwin giggles, and Doggs aims a kick at his shin.
"Hold onto your helmets," the pilot says happily, "Let's see if they can play rough." She yanks back on a pair of levers. I almost go flying forward into the windshield as the ship lurches to a stop, starting to fall toward the ground.
Not expecting our sudden deceleration, the TIE fighters zip right past us. The pilot kicks the thrusters back into gear and lets loose with the cannons before the imperials can arc around.
The blaster cannons hit one TIE fighter head on, swallowing it in a ball of flame. Unfortunately, it smoldering severed wing arcs toward us from the wreckage, spinning like a saw.
"And my day was going so well," Doggs sighs, as the wing goes past the cockpit and cuts right into our engines. I grab the wall with both hands, and Edwin grabs a handful of my arm, as we tip backward and drop.