Chapter 44
"Come on! Time is running out!"
Gary's words do little to hurry Iona; the tiny communication officer continues working at her console. Nearby, Simz guards the door while Gale crouches by the window.
The lieutenant stares at the Gorax, "You fought that! I mean, really fought it in an arena?"
"Kinda," Gary glances towards the door nervously. "We mostly ran from it. Then the commander threw a grenade in its mouth."
"What?" Gale laughs, enthralled. "I-I can't tell if you're serious."
"He's serious," Simz growls. "Now hurry up!"
Chink! The sound confuses Gale, "What the?"
"I'm done," Iona announces brightly. "Our servers are wiped clean."
"Get back!" Simz warns as the ascension cable whirls. Gale looks out the window. A gigantic rebel peeks in at the exact moment, then swings inside, kicking Gale into Wither's desk. The lieutenant cries out as the impact bends him sharply. Iona turns, drawing her pistol, but the giant slaps it away. He shoves her into Gary, knocking both down. The stormtrooper's blaster discharges, scorching the wall. Sparks fly, causing the lights to flicker.
The rebel bounds over them, and Simz's first shot misses him by a hair. He ducks another blast and slams Simz against the wall. Stunned, Simz can't block the punch to his head. Then an uppercut launches him from his feet. The storm commando collapses to the deck.
The unstoppable brute turns, spotting Gary climbing to his feet. He charges.
"Kurmen!" Gary screams, holding both hands up.
The enormous bodyguard turned rebel pauses, "Gary?"
Iona groans, coughing a bit before she looks back and forth between them. Gale rolls over on the desk, croaking, "You know this rebel, Gary?"
"Yeah, we fought together at the Dulok village," Gary answers. Hera's giant looks at each in turn. "The commander and I saved their lives."
Gale asks weakly, "Did the…commander and Gary really fight the gorax in an arena?"
"What? ….uhh, yes?" The giant human hesitates, then lowers his blaster, "The commander saved our lives. You, Gary, were comedy relief."
"Hey!" Gary complains. "I bandaged your leg and brought you back to consciousness."
"Fair enough, and you backed us up during the battle. Will you surrender? I swear by my house, Gary. I will vouch for you. I'll speak with the judge and take personal responsibility."
"Would you surrender with General Syndulla waiting for you?" Gary asks. The rebel sighs, thinking it over before Gary begs him. "Let us go; just let us walk away."
"I…you know I can't do that," Kurman stutters, then points out the window. "This has to stop! Look at what's happening, Gary! It could just as easily be you out there!"
Gary looks beyond the window, where the AT-ST wobbles wildly. The Gorax rips pieces off while Dulok warriors yank rebels out of the windows. The pilots scream, but the Dulok's bloodlust cannot be sated by words alone. In seconds, the pilots are torn to pieces.
Gary glances at first, then thoughtfully stares into the horror. After a moment, he argues, "It WAS me out there…and the commander. I awoke in a mass grave of my brothers, but unlike the commander, I didn't fight my way free. I slunk away like a Neimoidian. Instead of Duloks, it was Ewoks tearing my people apart. They ate my friends, Kurman!"
He flinches before reflecting, and Gale adds, "We're fighting and dying for leaders that could care less. No one cares about a bunch of foot soldiers on either side. Please let us go."
Kurman deflates, sighing, "I…."
A grenade explodes in the compound's common area, a floor below them. Kurman glances over his shoulder towards the door; instantly, Iona grabs her blaster.
"No!" Gary yells at the same time she fires, searing Kurman's face. In agony, he raises his blaster pistol and fires, narrowly missing Gary. "Stop! Stop!"
Simz jerks awake at the sound, raises his blaster, and nails Kurman in the back. Iona fires twice more, striking his chest. Smoke rising from his wounds, the mighty giant falls.
Gary races to him, the huge rebel gasping his last breath. Gary takes his hand, but Kurman looks away, "Hey! Look at me. Don't close your eyes; we'll get help!"
Kurman looks up, face scarred and blackened, and smiles. Then he passes.
"No!" Iona screams, drawing Gary's gaze. She crouches over Lieutenant Gale. Gary rushes to their side, recognizing the lifeless look in his eyes. "Look what they did to Gale!"
"What they did?" He yells at her in disbelief.
The rooftop
The Grand Commander chops and slashes while the royal guardsman slices and thrusts. The commander lacks Serrano's grace but makes up for it with powerful hacking blows, forcing the witch to retreat into the guardsman's attacks. Her speed is uncanny, dodging and evading, but fear touches her face. She watches the ax with dismay. Her distraction weakens her; Serrano lunges as the commander slashes at her legs. She jumps, somersaulting away.
Predicting it, the commander angles his ax, nicking her leg. Unlike Wither's scalpel, the ax slices straight through her skin, leaving a bloody wound. Charal screams, landing poorly, and limps from her injury. Her terrifying visage weakens while the commander's ax radiates malice.
All her wrath gathers as she concentrates the force into a deadly orb-but suddenly, she floats off the ground. The witch shrieks, searching for the source. Nearby, Serrano holds her with the unique power of a royal guardsman's force pike. It lifts her a pace above the ground.
Panicked and sensing the deadly rage of the commander, Charal gathers the force and blasts it beneath her, launching the witch straight up into the air. Diggs fires at her, but the sheer randomness of her launch causes him to miss. From her height, she hurls another compacted orb of power at them, striking the ground and unleashing an expanding wave of force.
Diggs loses his footing, hurled backward towards the roof's edge. Serrano spots the attack and drops, allowing the wave to pass over harmlessly. Even the Zeta shakes from its sheer potency. Acting instinctually, the Grand Commander holds the ax before him and stands his ground. The wave inches him backward and drives him to a knee but nothing more.
Charal sinks to the ground, screaming, "You think you can fight meeEEEE!"
She reaches out for the shield projector and seizes the dish with her power. Grunting with effort, she tears it free. When it falls, it nearly crushes Diggs, who flinches away as it smashes into the rooftop, then rolls over the side. Instantly, the shield protecting the compound collapses.
"That is," Serrano declares softly as the troopers gather. "Unfortunate."
"That's an understatement," Diggs warns. "We have to go, sir! Right now!"
"We're not done yet," the Grand Commander decides, glaring at the witch.
"The shield is down! The Shield is down!"
The announcement greets General Hera Syndulla upon arrival above the compound. Immediately she orders, "Concentrate your attacks on the Duloks and that giant! Drive them back into the woods!"
X-wings strafe the Dulok. They can't hope to stand against it; dozens die instantly. Trop stands on the defeated AT-ST, roaring defiantly before tearing its leg off and hurling it.
"Evade!" Hera yells as Chopper howls a warning. She dips her X-wing's nose, flying beneath the projectile. The leg clips a ship's wing, causing Hera's wingman to veer off-course and strike another fighter. Both pilots eject as their X-wings crash into the woods with a fiery explosion. Small pockets of rebels and Ewoks shoot or fight the Dulok while Hera examines the battle from above. I haven't seen such devastation since the Clone Wars.
An X-wing blasts Trop. The giant howls in pain before he throws a rock. The fighters disperse before striking the beast in the shoulder. Another shot hits his back as the enormous monster roars but barely holds itself up. As Hera watches, a sad, childlike confusion crosses its face. More blasts hit it, and the massive Gorax sags, collapsing atop the fallen AT-ST.
The Zeta fires its four cannons, hitting two X-wings. The shots wing one but destroy the second. Hera orders, "Rebel fighter, withdraw! Your engines are failing!"
"Yes, ma'am," the pilot replies. "I'm so sorry!"
"General, the Zeta's engines are warm, and I haven't seen anyone loading."
"All X-wings form up on me! We'll hit the compound and-"
Hera chokes. Even in the distance, flying at incredible speeds, she recognizes the witch. A chill squeezes her heart and fills her with dread. In bright crimson and satin black, a royal guard and death trooper fight the witch alongside the Grand Commander. Hera gasps, equally struck by disbelief and admiration. Of course, she's involved, and he'd oppose her.
She calls over the radio, "Command, request backup X-wings in case the Zeta escapes. Everyone, load proton torpedoes and target the compound."
"Delay that order!" An officer from the command center interrupts. "General, our forces surround the compound on your orders. If you fire torpedoes, you'll kill them too!"
Seeing the witch and recalling her dreadful power, the urge to give it is overwhelming. Hera struggles, internally arguing both for and against the devastating attack. Then she hears the Grand Commander telling her, whispering the warning to her. You're the empire now.
Hera closes her eyes for a heartbeat, her chest heaving as her emotions pound her.
"Blast that noble fool!" She curses, then opens her communication channels. Simultaneously, she swings her X-wing around, her two remaining wingmen following in close formation. She fires directly over the spaceship, near enough to graze its shields. "Imperial zeta, shut off your engines and surrender! There is nowhere to go!"
The rooftop
Quickly tiring from the prolonged melee and the fighting before, the commander swings wildly, nearly beheading the witch. Shocked, the witch thrusts her hands, hurling him backward with the force. Diggz fires, missing, before she lifts, chokes him, and slams him into the ground. Serrano lunges, but she's faster. She ducks, grabs his arm, and throws him down. Surprised, he rolls before the witch stamps on his throat but catches a kick to his head instead. Serrano blinks away the spots in his vision as she kicks him again. Then a third time, subduing the royal guard.
Huffing with the effort, the witch stumbles back, clutching her wounded leg. She laughs, all three troopers lying still. Seemingly victorious, the witch watches the X-wings roar overhead, firing warning shots at the Zeta. Time, she realizes, time is up. We must go.
The Grand Commander jerks, startling her. She gathers the force, then slams it down on him with such power that it shakes the rooftop. The whole building rumbles, trembling from the blow. The witch wobbles, heart pounding, breathing heavily as she tries to recover.
Somehow, ax in hand, the Grand Commander rises again. Using the weapon as a crutch, the stormtrooper pushes himself up to a knee, then gets a leg beneath himself. Straining with the effort, he stands. Furious, the witch babbles curses as she closes the gap between them.
"Stop!"
The witch pauses an arm's length from the commander but glares at Gary. The stormtrooper climbs onto the roof, holding up his hands, and stops beside his commander.
"Stop! Please," he pleads with her. "No one else has to die! We can all leave this place!"
Charal weighs it, weary and injured. More imperials wait beyond the stormtrooper, but she disregards them. The commander stands. The shields are down, and the rebel attack will commence any moment. The only way out is the Zeta behind her. Then she locks eyes with the Grand Commander, defiant and unafraid.
In his hands lie Ruin. The Shadow Stone finds him worthy, but NOT ME!
"No," she hisses. After all the Dark Side she has drunk, after all her suffering and indignation. Charal's patience and cunning abandon her. "No! I would rather die. I would rather suffer a thousand more years than to be indebted to you insignificant, wretched PEASANTS!"
Amid the declaration, Dr. Wither creeps up behind Charal and carefully aims her blaster. Although distracted, the paranoid witch senses her and dodges the blast. She reaches out with the Force, seizing the doctor.
Ruin cleaves into her gut.
Charal gags, shuddering violently before falling to her knees. A step away, the commander charges after his thrown ax. He gets his hands around its heft as she blasts him with the Force, hurling him away again…but tearing the weapon free of her stomach.
The pain is crippling; the witch abandons Charal, retreating deep within her mind to escape it. Her vision blurs, and she comes in and out of consciousness from blood loss. In that moment of weakness, the witch and Charal both hold one clear thought.
"I will not die alone!"
Raising her hands, she pools all her power into one blast. Unexpectedly, she rises as Serrano levitates her again. She turns her wrath on the royal guardsman, locking eyes with him, still lying where she kicked him, grasping his force pike.
"Now, Gary!" Serrano yells.
Hands outstretched, Gary pours all his frustration, pain, and grief into banishing the witch. Floating, she can't resist the unnatural shove, flinging her away. Charal howls, her cries drawing the gaze of every faction. They watch the infamous witch expelled to the woods.