Chapter 37
Forty-four hours after the commander promised an EVAC
The ID9 seeker droid moves cautiously but steadily as it patrols the air duct. When it comes to an intersection, it switches from visual scanners to thermal. Instantly, it detects the temperature differences and residual warmth of biological beings. Bright blue hand and knee images reveal a trail. The droid follows until it reaches an open hatch; nearby, the grate sits off to the side. The seeker ceases hovering, ending the hum of its repulsors in exchange for the quiet steps as it advances. The seeker is well-programmed and logical, swiftly recognizing the potential for a trap. It scans the room beyond the air duct, detecting trace elements and their passing and thermal readings of the stormtroopers, but not if they're still within it.
Gary huddles behind a console while the commander lingers near the door. Both hold absolutely still. Gary waits for the signal while the commander listens to the droid's hum cease. The sudden cessation reveals its switch to stealth instead of overt pursuit.
The commander holds his comlink up to his lips, whispering, "Report."
"Ready," Dr. Wither responds immediately.
"Beep-boo-boop," Vee replies.
"Uhh, almost…almost there," Major Shin grunts with exertion.
"Hurry!" The commander urges as the droid exits the hatch. As if sensing them, the droid moves slowly. The central red lens scans, hunting them with the cyclopean eye.
"We didn't plan on returning," Shin grumbles. "Ugh! I'm on top. I'll reach it…I'm…in."
The commander signals. Gary emerges from hiding and levels his blaster. The droid's red eyes swivels and instantly sounds an alarm. Gary's first shot grazes its dome and incinerates two of its legs. Panicked and damaged, the droid flies back through the hatch, humming all the way.
The commander yells, "Run! We'll escape before he summons reinforcements!"
Both Gary and the Commander flee from the room towards the main entrance. The ID9 seeker retreats further into the air duct. In moments, its analytical mind processes the last position it recorded the death troopers, their direction and rate of travel, with a schematic of the research station. It predicts the most probable location of the imperials and flies to the nearest hatch. Rapidly, it signals them and transmits the recording.
The commander watches the video on her communicator while the damaged bot climbs on her back. She hears him say, "Run! We'll escape before he summons reinforcements!"
She shuts off the transmission and looks at her men. The first team leader points at it and holds open his hand with his thumb across his palm. Then he closes his fingers over his thumb. Trap, he warns. She nods and looks at the other team leader, who agrees with a thumbs up. She considers it momentarily, her battlestim urging her to charge forth regardless of the risk. Even euphoric and driven by the stim, she resists, forcing her mind to slow down and formulate a plan. She points at the sniper and his spotter, then east. They dart in that direction; next, she points at two more and sends them west. They respond with a sprint, traveling an even greater distance.
She watches her chronometer and then signals her remaining troops to continue forward. When they reach the entrance, she motions for them to halt. Her troops swiftly take cover near the doors. Her sharp mind recalls the central passage immediately, almost with crystal clarity. The ships parked nearby, the burning X-wing and transport, and the bodies of imperials and rebels. Everything seems the same from earlier that day. The larger containers and multitude of boxes provide excellent cover and the potential for snipers. Knowing this, she believes her troops still have a numerical advantage, but she can't take any risk with someone so deadly.
She checks her datapad; neither her sniper nor her westbound pair have reached their position. I must lure them out of hiding or convince them to reveal themselves. She triggers her damaged ID9, sending the robot out, searching for them. Then she checks her datapad. Her troopers continue to their position, winding their way through the research station.
Unwilling to delay any longer, she clicks her radio, "Grand Commander."
Her call on an open channel surprises him. The Grand Commander is genuinely shocked at her bold move. He knows she discovered his ambush, but he'd planned for it. The commander never expected her to break radio silence and call him directly. He also knows both Gary and Doctor Wither don't want him to answer but keep to the plan. He can feel Wither scowling.
Still…he wants to believe something good can come from the remains of the Empire. The factionalism and conflict within can ultimately lead to a better union among the New Order. Even knowing the death troopers MUST kill him, he hopes to convince them otherwise.
"Go ahead," he replies.
"For the good of the Empire, give us the schematics."
"The weapon is worthless, defensive, and they're using it on loyal citizens. This isn't for the good of the Empire; it isn't even good for a sector or executive officer. It's a trinket for them to celebrate their significance, not forward the New Order or the Empire. You know I'm right."
The death trooper commander believes it. She believes him even though the stim clouds her thoughts. But it changes nothing. Good soldiers follow orders, and hers are absolute.
"Regardless, we have our orders," she reminds him.
"Those orders were from the same men who abandoned us, failed the emperor, and even now would rather fight each other than risk losing their privileges and power."
The death trooper commander checks her datapad; another moment, and the two teams will reach their positions. Unfortunately, she has no clue where the Grand Commander and his people hide. Once her sniper is set, she's confident she can pick them off in an open fight, but she can't guarantee it. Worse, she knows some of her troopers agree with him. Also concerning, no matter how the battle ends, the Empire loses.
Is that how the Grand Commander feels?
She brushes the thought aside, knowing she needs a bold stroke. She fears the stim clouds her judgment but hopes to draw him out. Or, at the very least, incite him to reveal his position.
The Death Trooper commander steps out from cover, motioning for her troops to hold. She walks to the center of the blast doors at the entrance to the research station. She's directly in line with the mound of dead imperials a dozen paces away. Her heart pounds, expecting a blast to end her life any second. Instead, she's greeted by a brilliant afternoon and utter silence.
She swiftly analyzes the area, isolating where she would attack from and factoring in what she knows of him. The Grand commander would be equally bold and fearless, using the terrain to optimize his attack and protect from her superior numbers. Her eyes search the high positions, difficult to reach but with a direct line of sight. Still, she can't find them.
"Our orders came from the Emperor," she declares, a dangerous and desperate admission.
"Bantha poodoo," the Grand Commander replies irritably. "The Emperor is dead."
"There were contingencies," she admits. Holding up her remaining arm, revealing her hand is empty. "I'm right here, and I want to resolve this. Let's negotiate."
She twists her raised arm to see the datapad on her wrist. Her sniper has set but can't find the commander's team; the western pair exited the building and approach the corner now. Where is he? She wonders. His team can't hide forever; I only need a little longer.
"Let's hear your offer," he replies calmly. He's lying, too, playing for time. Why?
Her ID9 seeker beeps, and her datapad reveals the location of one enemy, the second stormtrooper. She spots his white armor, medium range, on top of a structure well protected from her sniper. But he's alone…where's the rest?
Her western team round the corner, swiftly moving in a pincer attack, flanking them.
"Obviously, you want to live and off Endor. Our orders forbid rescues, but if we secure some ships and escape together, it isn't technically a rescue-"
"Commander, target acquired," a woman interrupts.
She doesn't quite see the danger as much as she feels it, so she hurls herself sideways. Blaster cannons thunder alongside a burst of autofire; blasts strike where she stood heartbeats ago. She rolls towards and then sprints for a nearby crate. Two more thunderous explosions from a Zeta transport deafen her. Then rapid blasts hit her cover, but she spots their origin.
"He's hiding among the dead, right in front of us! Everyone attack!" She orders.
A shot nearly hits her helmet, fired from a high position. She quickly realizes her cover is limited. She glances at the datapad and discovers the western team is gone, obliterated by the Zeta's laser cannons. Suddenly, she realizes they're swiveling toward her!
She sprints away just as the Zeta's cannons destroy the crate she hid behind. The force of the explosion throws her forward and onto her face. From the mound of corpses, a steady stream of blasterfire pins her team inside the Research Station's entrance. Two of her troopers lay on the ground, one crawling but the other motionless.
"TWUOO! TWUOO!" The unmistakable sound of the AT-AT's main cannons chills her blood. Beyond the wall, the walker fires, and bright crimson bolts soar straight into the entrance. The explosion consumes it, bulkheads failing as the roof collapses, blocking the door—the signals from her team within cease immediately.
"Sniper! Target the commander; he's in the mound of dead!" She screams. She draws her pistol. If I'm going to lose and die, I'm taking him with me!
Unfortunately, the snipers have as much difficulty distinguishing between the dead and the Grand Commander. The marksman asks, "Do you see him?"
Before the spotter can answer, two blasts slay the sniper. The spotter rolls over, carbine in hand, only to discover a viper probe droid hovering above them. He fires and misses, but the viper hits him twice, then twice more.
The death trooper commander charges the corpse pile, unconcerned about her survival. When the snipers fail to shoot, she realizes they must be engaged or dead. Shots from the lone stormtrooper nearly catch her. Heedlessly, she shoots recklessly where the blasterfire erupted. A few bodies shift, even as she bounds across the corpses. She continues firing as she reaches him. The commander rises, holding a dead stormtrooper as a shield, and hurls the body at her.
She dodges, but that gives him enough time to seize her wrist and knock her pistol away. She knees him, breaks free, then retreats into a kick. He blocks it and backhands her. Then the Grand Commander follows it with an uppercut that blasts the air from her lungs and leaves her gasping for breath. A hook connects with her helmet, spinning her around and causing her vision to blur. Desperate, she tries to spin-kick but trips on the corpses at her feet and falls among them.
"Enough of this, commander," he orders. "Your troops are dead or dying. The Empire needs us; it needs EVERYONE. Your death will not prove or accomplish anything."
She looks over her shoulder. Beneath his camouflaged poncho, the commander's sullied stormtrooper armor appears out of place. In their last fight, she handled him, but now he seems indomitable. A viper probe droid hovers nearby, and the Zeta's cannons point at her. She can only assume the other stormtrooper is also aiming at her.
He's right, she admits. Even with her heart pounding in her ears and the battle euphoria clouding her mind, she acknowledges, I can't win. WE can't win, with this weapon or without it. The Empire is crumbling, and its leaders squabble over the remains like vultures. True loyalists like the Grand Commander are few and far between, which means years of service have come to naught. Every sacrifice and every compromise is irrelevant because the Empire has fallen.
"I can't live in that world," the death trooper commander mutters. "I won't."
"What?" The grand commander calls. "Speak up, commander."
Even her euphoria can't save her from the crushing despair that follows. A beep from her datapad distracts her from the reflection. Two of her troops are alive, detected nearby.
An explosion disables the Zeta's cannon, causing it to dip from a power failure. A blaster bolt hits the viper, spinning wildly. It drops, avoiding the next shot before returning fire with the stormtrooper. A second firefight erupts as the ragged pair of death troopers counterattack.
It lasts only a second as an X-Wing roars overhead, strafing their position and forcing them to retreat. The viper pursues them immediately, with the stormtrooper firing from high.
The death trooper snatches the vibroblade from her ankle and rolls over. She kick-flips back to her feet, stabbing downward at him. He swats it aside and sidesteps her next slash.
She shrieks, "For the Empire!"
The Grand Commander remains deathly still, studying her. Then he calmly draws an eerie ax and holds it with both hands. She charges, slashing overhead. He sidesteps, slicing horizontally, cleaving through her abdomen. She stumbles past him, falling onto another corpse. Her body trembles, severely wounded, spewing blood. But this time, there is no hesitation. She rolls away, dragging a corpse on top of her. The ax chops into the body with enough pressure to crush her beneath it. Panicked and horrified, she drops her blade as another slash dismembers the body protecting her. She reaches into her pouch with stims and yanks several free. She stabs three of them into her wounded stomach urgently.
In mid-swing, she explodes free from the corpses and catches his arm. She round-kicks him, and then her front kick knocks the commander back. Instead of reacting to her sudden retaliation, he waits indifferently. Drug-fueled clarity urges her to hurl herself at him, but a quick jab ends her charge. She punches; he blocks. Then she kicks, and he leans in, blocking again. He counters with an uppercut to her wounded gut. Pain causes her to shudder, slumping forward. She drops to her knees as he swings the ax overhead, hacking into her neck near the shoulder. She wheezes, shaking violently with each ragged breath. He kicks her back onto the pile of corpses. Soon, she realizes I'll be another body among those I executed hours ago.
"I d-did this," she whispers as much to herself as to him. He stands over her, still holding the ax, dripping with her blood. "Y-y-you are the best, s-sir. F-for the Empire."
He kneels next to her, dropping the ax and taking her hand in both of his. Relief touches her even as she begins gasping. Overhead, the X-wing returns, but the roar of the engines sounds muted. The viper returns with a woman in pilot armor, soon joined by the stormtrooper. She suffers a final whistling shudder, her vision dims, and her life ends.
"Commander?"
An hour had passed with little notice from the Grand Commander. The death trooper's final moments consume him. He jerks, realizing Major Shin spoke to him. Leaning on a crate, he looks away from her remains. He didn't even realize the Duro had returned from the AT-AT beyond the wall. The X-Wing had landed too. Gary, Wither, and Vee examine one of the Zetas with an occasional look his way. He stands up straight, looking at the rebel.
"What's your plan for this?" Shin holds up the data disks with the schematic.
"Hmm," he grunts. "Keep it. Maybe the rebels can use it for terraforming or colonizing."
"Sir," Dr. Wither calls. "We should leave before the rebels' generosity runs out."
Major Shin holds out his hand, "I really wish you'd surrender or negotiate."
The Grand Commander shakes it, "Negotiating hasn't worked out so well for me."
Shin nods, "Since you gave me the schematic, don't forget your code cylinder."
The Duro hands him the device, much to the stormtrooper's surprise. He chuckles, "You could have caused a lot of trouble with this."
"You could have stolen a ship and left this to us," Shin replies, motioning at the research station. "Instead, you won the battle and brought murderers to justice. Thank you."
"By the way," the commander explains. "Using that unlocked all the computers and Zeta's, but the one furthest away may have been boobytrapped by the death troopers."
"Thank you," he answers sincerely. "May the force be with you."
The commander waves before he jumps aboard the Zeta heavy transport, and it lifts off the ground. In many ways, Major Shin feels as conflicted as the commander.
"Research Station 9, Gold-5, come in," Shin quickly recognizes General Sydulla's voice. Both he and Gold-2 share a look. The pilot hastily dons his helmet to listen.
"Go ahead for Research Station 9," he answers. "Gold-5 is here as well."
"Gold-5, this is Ghost actual. Is the Grand Commander on the Zeta?"
"That's correct."
"Gold-5, pursue and destroy that ship before it can reach the compound. Acknowledge."
Shin and the pilot look at each other in shock.