Part 2: Echo of the Past Chapter 11: The Defector
(Flashback ~16 BBY)
TK-274 walks with purpose through the halls of Fortress Inquisitorious, the headquarters of the Inquisition, on the ocean moon of Nur. The aggressive black spire juts out of the waters like the end of a great spear. There are days that the sun shines bright upon the waters, making the line between water and sky almost indistinguishable in the radiant blue but not today. Today both the ocean and sky are a rolling force of violence and darkness. The waves slam against the outer wall and the winds rush through smallest gaps, sending ominous whispers and shudders through the tower.
Deep inside, however, is silence.
The only sounds are the thudding of her boots through the metal corridors and the hushed voices of imperial officers that instantly cease as she approaches. The reputation of Purge Troopers being especially vicious and quick to anger is well known throughout the fortress and even though she has not yet completed her training that reputation is imposed on her as well. Another pair of officers give her a wide berth as they exit a lift and she steps on after them. The lift plummets through the tower for longer than feels possible, deep below the surface to the ocean floor.
When it finally stops, the doors slide open to reveal the darkest chambers of the fortress lit only by scant artificial lights and a menacing orange glow rising up from molten rock, churning below grated walkways. A few twists and turns farther brings her out into the dojo where Purge Trooper candidates train every day.
The dojo is a wide, open, two story tall metal chamber mostly unadorned but for the harsh, formidable lines characteristic of the darkest Imperial facilities. Red banners displaying the Imperial emblem hang from the walls near the two large primary entrances at either end of the room. One door leads out into the sprawling reaches of submerged tunnels while the other leads deeper into the spire to the detention and interrogation chambers. Projecting above the inner door is a holodisplay that cycles through red security images, maps of the facility and the Imperial Emblem.
In addition to these two entrances, there are four more, much smaller, side entryways near each corner of the room. It is one of those near the detention center that TK-274 steps out of now. She walks out to the center of the room to join TK-387, another Purge Trooper in training who is waiting at attention. Trainees are required to always present themselves to their trainers and the Inquisitors at the very center of the room in part to show their readiness but also because this area is not composed of solid structure; but rather movable panels metal grating that cause one to feel as if they are hovering over the lava that flows below. Standing there, one does not forget their place in this machine since at any moment those panels could move, dropping the person to a fiery end.
As she reaches the center of the dojo and comes to attention next to the other trooper, another side door opens and a third trainee enters. Just like her, he also walks to the center of the room and falls in line with the others. All three had received the same summons and now stand unmoving, unspeaking; waiting for further orders.
The Inquisitors enjoyed making the troopers wait almost as much as they enjoyed the brutal training they put them through. It was another chance to drive home that they, the Inquisitors, are the ones with power and the troopers only carry out their bidding.
Heat rises from the fissure beneath them and permeates their armor. If not for the protective suit worn beneath the mixed plastoid and beskar alloy armor, the heat would scald any flesh the armor touched. Once, shortly after TK-274 had begun her training, she had been made to watch as a rebel insurgent who had failed to break under days of standard torture had been chained to those gratings. His light green skin had darkened, blistered, and eventually blackened after hours over the pit. Finally, the Inquisitor decided he would never break and released him from the chains but as he lay prone on the floor she had given the order to open the grating, sending him into the fires below.
Beads of sweat dripped down their faces when the doors to the detention center finally opened with a loud metallic whoosh. Two Inquisitors stepped through and approached the troopers, stopping just short of the grating.
"Remove your helmets," one of the Inquisitors ordered, the light of the fires below glinting off her greenish skin, turning it to a sickening shade of yellow and causing the red tattoos that speckle her face to glow. All three trainees complied.
"You are the best of your class," Seventh Sister continues, the characteristic trill of her voice echoing out as if two people speak in unison. "You have shown the utmost dedication and ferocity in your training," she pauses and scans all three of them. "For this reason you have been chosen for a unique opportunity: To hunt one of your own."
The other Inquisitor steps forward, his face completely hidden behind a black helmet with only a series of slits as the opening. In all the time she has been training with them, TK-274 has never once seen Eighth Brother's face. Though she may not know what he looks like, she knows his tendency toward quick, rash decisions and inclination to surrender to his unbridled temper at the expense of others. Now he raises his hand and activates a holoprojector. For once he seems calm, almost stoic in the soft blue glow but there must be a well of fury beneath the surface ready to explode for projected before him is the face of their instructor.
"PT-101," Seventh Sister continues, "abandoned his post late last night, stole a transport shuttle and fled, like a coward. The shuttle was scanned passing a checkpoint near Jakku. It is believed he is either hiding there or looking for alternate transportation." She pauses for effect and takes the chance to review the reaction on each of the troopers' faces. "He is a traitor!" she spits the words. "You will pursue him and you will either capture him and return him here or you will kill him. Now, go. Get your weapons and report to my shuttle immediately."
"Yes, Inquisitor," the three troopers respond in unison, then replace their helmets and exit the dojo.
On the lift to the armory, TK-476 cannot hold back any longer and speaks up. "How could he do it? Why? He was the most dedicated trooper I have ever met."
"He is a traitor. That's all that matters." answers TK-387.
"It could be a test," TK-274 says, "To see if any of us are sympathetic."
All three exchange suspicious glances.
"A test?" asks TK-476.
"Why do you think Seventh Sister asked us to remove our helmets?"
TK-387 gunts in agreement.
"Do not hesitate to take him down," she continues, coldly.
The Inquisitor's ship does not land at the port but instead sets down in the center of the town's market. Carts,stalls, and supply crates are blown over by the thrust of the ship as it descends and the people are forced to scatter. The method is heavy-handed and theatrical but leaves no room for doubt that the Empire has arrived and demands their attention.
Stormtroopers disembark first, rushing off the ship with their weapons drawn on the residents. The two Inquisitors exit close behind with the three Purge Troopers trainees in tow. Seventh Sister watches the terrified residents for a moment, drinking in their fear, then gives the order for the stormtroopers to begin searching the entire city, one building at a time.
Eighth Brother, however, does not follow her. Instead, he stops and turns to the trainees. "Find him," he sneers at them and the three set out to search in different directions.
TK-274 walks confidently down one street then the next watching as stormtroopers pull people out of their homes and toss them into the street. Occasionally someone would try to fight back and be fired on but she kept walking.
This does not seem like a very effective way of finding someone. She thinks, disgusted at the show the Inquisitors are putting on. They know we're here, their guard is up and they're already running. TK-274, stops in the middle of an intersection to consider her next move. The Inquisitors are good at bringing terror but they know nothing of subtlety. They're not hunters.
TK-274 closes her eyes and takes slow deep breaths, trying to focus through the madness. Then she feels it, a presence that has become all too familiar since she began training. She opens her eyes and heads down the street to her left. Turning down a side street and cutting through alleys, she moves ever closer to that presence until finally she turns down an alley far from the searching stormtroopers and sees a figure duck out of sight at the far end. She rushes after them.
"Lanue!" TK-274 calls out as she turns the corner at the far end of the alley, her rifle raised. The figure comes to an abrupt halt and slowly raises their hands.
"Of course, you would be the one to find me," The figure says, turning to her and throwing back his hood.
"What are you doing? Where are you going?"she demands.
"I can't stay anymore. I can't continue to train soldiers that bring nothing but death and terror into the galaxy. I have a chance to get out, to join the Rebellion."
"The Rebellion! The Rebellion can't win. You'll die for nothing."
"No! I'll die for something worth dying for! Not them!" he shouts, gesturing towards the commotion coming from the direction of the market. "Not for their lies."
"What lies?" she asks, slowly lowers her rifle.
"It's all a lie! Everything they told us is a lie. We are expected to hunt down and kill Jedi but they're afraid of us. Afraid that we might become strong enough to be a threat to them so they've held us back. No student I have ever trained has been able to win a fight against an Inquisitor and if we can't defeat them how can we ever defeat a Jedi? We have been set up to fail."
Lanue extends his hand to her, "Come with me. They will use you too if you stay, chew you up and leave your body to rot when you die. Come with me and die for something worth dying for."
She relaxes her grip on her rifle and steps forward, ready to follow him but just then his gaze shifts past her and his eyes widen. He reaches for the blaster at his side but before he can draw it a blaster bolt flies past her head and hits him in the chest while she brings her rifle up and swings around to face the attacker.
"You said not to hesitate to take him down," says TK-476, his rifle aimed at her. "Why were you talking?"
"I thought there might be a chance to get some information out of him first," she answers, lowering her rifle and walking casually over to Lanue's body, hoping to make the other feel more at ease.
"What kind of information?" he asks, keeping his rifle trained on her..
"Well," TK-274 began, throwing her rifle over her back as she kneels down next to Lanue. She tries not to look at him but fails and a sharp pain shoots through her chest at the surprised look still etched on his face. For the first time, she is thankful to be wearing a helmet, hiding the tear that runs down her face. She forces herself to look away and begins checking his pockets. There is something bulky in one of the coat pockets, only a few inches away from the blaster wound. She reaches inside and pulls out a communicator that she then holds up for TK-476 to see.
"Perhaps he was working with someone." It was not much but the communicator was enough to get him to drop his guard and the rifle. So when she stands back up she slips Lanue's blaster out of its holster, covering it with her body as she hands the communicator to TK-476. Purge Troopers have the strengths and weaknesses of all of their weapons and armor drilled into them, which allowed her, as he reached for the communicator, to fire a shot right on a weak spot at the neck. He falls to the ground choking and grasping at his throat.
She arranges the blaster in Lanue's hand then walks over to TK-476's now still body to survey the scene. She raises her rifle and fires a shot at the wall behind Lanue's body. Her former master's blaster would be matched to TK-476's wound and both rifles now show they were fired.
"Target is down," she reports.
TK-274 once again stands on the grating over the river of molten rock below, but this time the rest of her class is present. It has been several weeks since their instructor defected and the Inquisitors were forced to complete their training. Once again, the trainees are left waiting in the heat of the lava until the doors to the detention center finally open.
This time Seventh Sister is accompanied by both Eighth Brother and Fifth Brother. Tall and muscular with green-gray skin, Fifth Brother is the most physically imposing of all the Inquisitors TK-274 has met.
"Congratulations," Seventh Sister says, a hint of sarcasm and disdain in her voice at being forced to carry out such a meaningless task. "You have completed your training and are ready to purge the Empire of the remaining traitorous Jedi who seek to destroy it."
"Your loyalty will be first and foremost to the Emperor," Eighth Brother interjects, "and you will devote yourselves to destroying his enemies."
"Give them their assignments," Seventh Sister says offhand to Fifth Brother.
Fifth Brother steps forward and reads their new designations and assignments off a datapad in his deep and deliberate voice. Some are assigned to the Inquisitor security teams and some to fortress security till Fifth Brother finally comes to TK-274.
"TK-274," he says, "your new designation is PT-152. Due to your outstanding work neutralizing the traitor PT-101, you are assigned to the Seekers. Report to the intelligence office for your leads and requisition a shuttle."
PT-152 smiles beneath her helmet.