Chapter 23: The Old City
The entrance tunnel to the old city was little more than a continuation of the shape and design of the gate, as if the main opening had been stretched out and pulled into the mountain like some optical illusion. The exhausted survivors walked for over an hour in near darkness with only a handful of torches to light their way before the tunnel came to an abrupt end. The ancient city is a wide, cavernous space filled with complex, ornate structures similar to those on the surface but of a style that assures this is the precursor to the city above yet no less intricate, no less extravagant. There is no indication of artificial light anywhere in the city but it is comfortably, though faintly, lit by the last of the day's light filtering through openings in a ceiling so distant as to seem like stars to those walking below. Despite their exhaustion, the survivors can't help but stare in awe at the sight.
Their wonder, however, is short lived as they are soon ushered away from the entrance so the technicians can once again begin setting charges. Within minutes they have skillfully rigged the archway and called out a warning to take cover. Ilyana and the others duck behind the closest building they can find before the explosives are detonated. A concussive wave echoes through the city as the entrance collapses in on itself, providing another layer of protection between themselves and the Empire and leaving the remains of an ancient master's artistry scattered amongst the stone and rubble.
They continue through the streets past the towering buildings, cracks in the stonework are visible but they have been expertly repaired and repainted. The city may have been uninhabited for generations but it has not been abandoned or allowed to fall into ruin. The Abednedo people have taken great care to protect and preserve as a treasured museum to their past and their ancestors. The windows may be dark and the doors closed tight but the city is so well preserved and cared for that any visitor would be unsurprised if someone were to poke their heads out of a window or step through a nearby door and invite the traveler into their home for rest or food. And right now the survivors were desperate for both.
"We'll rest here," Odoan calls out from up ahead, pointing to a long low stone building nearby. What its original purpose was Ilyana cannot tell but as they step inside, she can see why he had chosen it. The wide open space inside provides ample room for the people to lie out and rest.
The weary fighters file into the building and choose whatever piece of empty floor they first come upon to collapse into a heap and rest. Many fall asleep instantly while others pull out whatever rations they have left and eat.
Ilyana follows Odoan and a few others farther into the structure where they take a seat in a circle together.
"What now?" she asks quietly to keep her voice from echoing and disturbing the others who sleep nearby.
"Now we rest," Odoan answers, "Eat if you have anything. Then we must travel the width of the mountain range to the remaining ships on the far side."
"How long will that take?" she asks.
"Almost a day,"
Another Defender shakes his head wearily, "A day? Some of the people are too tired, too hurt to make that journey."
"The will make it," Odoan insists. "They will persevere. The ships wait at the other side. Escape, hope waits at the other side. The Empire will not crush us here."
Odoan's words remind her of Cal and his seemingly unlimited optimism that masks the crushing weight of responsibility. She smiles a sad smile and wishes she shared that trait too but she never learned how to equip a facade meant to encourage others, only one meant to elicit fear and obedience.
"Go now. All of you," Odoan continues. "With the entrance collapsed we are safe from the Empire for a while. We will begin moving again in a few hours."
Those who had gathered with him nod and shuffle off to find a space to sleep. Ilyana finds a space where she can have a wall to her back and a view of the entire interior of the building. She tells herself that there is no way she could sleep now and leave the others exposed so she does not recline, rather sits leaning against the wall. However, as soon as she rests her head against the wall she drifts immediately into sleep like the others.
A gentle nudge on the arm wakes Ilyana with a start and she looks up into the kindly face of Odoan. "Woah, sorry!" he says, pulling back "I didn't mean to startle you." He stretches out a hand revealing a portion of some dried food from a ration pack, "I saw you didn't eat. I wish I could offer you more but there is none."
"This is fine, thank you," she says, accepting the ration that takes only two bites to finish. Then she rises and helps Odoan wake the others.
The survivors hurry to prepare for the day's journey, many unburdening themselves of as much weight as possible to make the walk easier. Unfortunately, several survivors have not fared well and are unable to walk without help. Ilyana and a few others search the building for any materials they can lash together to help the injured walk or be carried and before long they are on the move.
Odoan had noticed Ilyana's fascination with the old city when they arrived so as they walked he would tell her stories about the city. "That used to be the seat of government there," or "Some of my family lived in this district, generations ago," or "when I was young a friend and I snuck into the city and climbed up into those buildings there. It would have been a wonderful view if we had not almost fallen to our deaths."
They passed shops, homes, a place of learning, even a wide bazaar where festivals were once held nearly every night and, until the Empire showed up, people would revisit for memorials and celebrations.
The once lively and busy place preserved so diligently in all its splendor would have made for a stunning walk if not for the pain and exhaustion the survivors suffered. Even with the makeshift stretchers and everyone taking turns carrying the most severely wounded, their progress has been slower than any of them would have liked. Around mid-day one of the scouts that had been following behind came running up to Odoan and whispered urgently to him. Odoan stops and turns back, the color draining from his face.
Ilyana steps closer and asks, "What is it?"
He looks into her eyes and she knows the answer without him saying a word.
"The Empire has broken through the gateway and is in pursuit," he addresses the survivors hiding the tremor in his voice as best he can. "We had hoped that it would take them longer to get through but all we can do now is proceed with as much haste as possible. This may feel impossible but I know we will reach the other side in time. Come!" He turns from them with determination and forges on at a faster pace.
The survivors pick up speed as well, channeling their leader's perseverance into their weary legs. However, as the hours pass, the sound of approaching forces echoing through the city from behind them steadily grows louder and louder. As much as they may hope and as strongly as they believe they will make it, they all know that the army that pursues them comes in vehicles with troops that are rested and ready for the task while they are hurt and weary.
"You don't have to do this," Cal had said to Ilyana back on the Mantis as she gathered her gear. "This is more than any one person can do."
"You would," she shot back.
"I am not a good example."
Ilyana laughed, "I've seen you, all of you, you care for each other, inspire each other. You give each other hope. I've spent years trampling on the hope of others' but they never gave up. There is always someone somewhere fighting back. This is my chance to fight back, to help bring someone else hope."
Cal shook his head and smiled at her, "Well, don't get yourself killed. I haven't shown you Bogano yet."
"What's that?"
"Someplace… special," he said with a shrug.
"Okay, it's a date," she said with a wink and stepped up to the door.
"There!" one of the Defenders shouts and points up ahead of the group. At first Ilyana is unable to make out what he's pointing at but then she sees it, a soft glow surrounding the buildings ahead of them like a halo. A bright light must be shining in from the far side.
"That's the exit. We're almost there!" Odoan announces and cheers erupt from the survivors.
"How far is that?" Ilyana asks.
"Just a few blocks," Odoan answers. " We loop around these buildings then it's a straight path to the exit."
Ilyana steps off to the side of the group and looks back behind them, listening closely to the sound of the approaching troops. The streets in the Old City rarely run straight or make right turns. Instead they wind and twist their way through the caverns. That and the natural echoes make it almost impossible to tell from which direction a sound is coming or how far away the source is. The group is currently nearing the end of one of the few straight portions of road that had opened up into a wide cobbled courtyard surrounded by residences several stories tall. A cluster of homes from where they had come block their view of the approaching troops as much as the buildings ahead of them block the view of the exit.
Odoan joins her, "What are you thinking?"
She shakes her head. "I think they're closer than they seem, only a couple turns back."
Odoan listens for a moment too. "You're right and we'll be exposed as soon as they round this next corner," he says, lowering his voice so the others cannot hear him. "We won't make it," he says, no longer hiding the dread in his voice.
"Do you have any detonators left?"
"No, we barely had enough to take down the entrance but we do have a few grenades."
Ilyana looks at the buildings between them and the exit. "Those won't be enough to take a building down so we can't block the street," she says. She looks farther up and catches sight of a stone terrace near the top of one of the buildings that offers a direct line of sight across the courtyard to where the Empire will appear. "Give me the grenades," she tells Odoan. "I'll fire at them from up there."
"Just you?" He asks.
"It won't be much but it might buy you enough time to get to the other end."
"We're not going to leave you down here."
"Don't worry. I'll catch up."
Odoan shakes his head, "Okay, if you insist."
The barrel of her DC-15LE rifle rests on the stone railing of the terrace. She stares through the sights across the courtyard to the curve in the road where the troopers will appear. The two grenades lie on the floor next to her.
She had grabbed the grenades from another Defender and rushed off ahead of the group to the buildings. She climbed several floors of ancient, empty residences till she reached the one with the terrace. The sound of the troopers grew steadily louder as she ascended and with it the rhythmic clanking sound that cannot be mistaken for anything other than an AT-ST, scout walker.
Hopefully that one isn't leading this charge. I'd like to create some havoc with the foot soldiers first. She thinks as she reaches the top floor.
Now she stares down her sights, controls her breath and readies herself for the confrontation. Only a moment after the last shadows of the survivors slip from view around the turn the troopers appear at the far end.
Damn! They're even closer than I thought.
Dozens of stormtroopers file through the opening and begin to fill the courtyard.
Definitely more than I can handle alone. Glad I don't have to. I just need to cause some chaos for a few minutes. She pulls the trigger and one large, orangish red bolt releases from the barrel. The modified rifles of the Purge Troopers do not exclusively fire the standard laser bolt like the rifles the stormtroopers use but can also fire larger explosive charges. The only downside is that it takes time to build up the charge so she can only fire one every few shots.
That large bolt hurtles toward the center of a group of troopers and sends six of them flying in all directions. The rifle automatically clicks back over to standard sniper configuration and she continues firing at one trooper after the other.
Chaos does ensue as troopers run for cover but the area is too large, there's nowhere to go. Finally they pinpoint her position and begin firing, but their shots land harmlessly on the stone walls and railing. She fires several more times as the whir of the charge builds and rises higher in pitch till it signals it is ready with a click. She aims at another group of troopers who have clustered together and fires.
"You're getting wise, or is it foolish?" She says out loud as a dozen or so troopers attempt to rush the building. But just before they reach the base of the building she grabs one of the grenades and drops it over the edge stopping their advance.
"I'm almost out of time," she says as the sound of the AT-ST grows significantly louder. She continues to fire at the fleeing stormtroopers but just as the explosive charge clicks ready again, the scout walker steps clear of the building. She has just enough time to fire the charge at the viewport, hoping to obscure the operator's vision but not enough time to stop them from firing on her. She grabs the other grenade from the floor and dives back into the residence just as the AT-ST's fire pummels the terrace, causing it to crumble to the ground below.
"Time to go!" she yells to herself and rushes back down the building. She bursts out of the back of the building just as a half dozen troopers round the corner and she tosses the last grenade at them before dashing off after the survivors.
Ilyana's stall had given the other survivors enough time to advance and are almost at the exit. Unlike the entrance, this one does not have a long tunnel to the outside. Instead it is a single gate several stories high at the end of an open circular space edged by walls as tall as the arch and adorned with carvings. The only way out now is through the exit or back toward the stormtroopers.
The daylight shining through the gate is almost blinding after the dim light that filtered into the Old City causing the survivors to appear only as silhouettes. As she runs she can hear the troopers advance and the footfalls of the scout walker advancing around the last turn. Blaster bolts whiz past her as she runs; the Empire has reached the final stretch as well.
Suddenly the sound of tie fighters comes screaming through the mountains and into the cave, just as the survivors reach the gate. The Empire found the evacuation ships. The fighters open fire on the exit from the outside at the same time that the AT-ST opens fire on it from the inside and the archway comes crumbling down onto the survivors, burying several beneath the rubble and cutting the rest off from the ships.
Ilyana comes to a halt at the sight. There's no way out. From the corner of her eye she notices the stormtroopers moving up along the edges of the walls, circling them.
Why have they stopped firing? But her question is immediately answered.
"PT-152!" Her designation echoes off the walls, spit at her by a harsh and angry voice. She turns back to face the voice as the stormtroopers continue to spill into the open space. They advance on the survivors with their blasters raises but keep close to the walls leaving the center clear. The AT-ST stands still in the gap between buildings; a silent, towering sentinel.
From beneath the feet of the AT-ST, a figure dressed in black armor stalks towards her. The symbols of the Empire in white on their shoulders catch the bits of light streaming through the cracks between the rubble of the archway.
"I have been waiting for this," the figure speaks as they halt in the center of the room, the words drenched in hatred and venom. Ilyana has not seen Eighth Brother since training and her stomach sinks at the sight of him now. Eighth Brother has always been especially vicious and short tempered. More devoted to the Emperor than most and driven to destroy every threat to the Empire.
He ignites both blades of his lightsaber, sending red light flickering off the carved walls. Ilyana looks back at the survivors, now on their knees with blasters trained on them. She locks eyes with Odoan and sees only terror and death reflected back at her.
There's no other choice. She thinks as she drops her rifle to the ground then reaches behind her and detaches her staff from its clasp. Turning back to the Inquisitor she ignites the twin emitters and places her hope in one thing: Eighth Brother is reckless and impatient. Her only chance is if he gives in to those faults.
The panicked breaths of the survivors and excited mutterings of the stormtroopers evaporate as Ilyana's focus narrows in on her opponent. The stormtroopers won't interfere with their fight and there is nothing the survivors can do. It is only the two of them now. She releases a single controlled breath and rushes forward. Eighth Brother follows suit. Their weapons clash together, the blood red beam of a corrupted kyber crystal sending sparks bursting out in every direction when it crashes into the purple arcs of electricity crackling at either end of her electrostaff.
Back and forth the strikes fly. Eighth Brother lashing out, his strikes parried and countered. For a moment they seem equal in skill, neither advancing and neither retreating as Ilyana tries to keep Cal and Cere's teachings in mind: to control your anger, stay focused. And for a time, it worked.
Eighth Brother launches himself into the air and brings his blade screaming down on her. Ilyana raises a hand and uses the Force to shove herself backwards, narrowly escaping the unstable hum and crackle of the blade as it passes so close to her face that she can feel the heat radiating from it. Ilyana attempts to counter before he can recover, but he releases the lock in the disc that orbits his hilt and the blades begin to spin furiously.
Ilyana tries desperately to block the blades, but they are moving with such speed she can barely see them and is pushed back closer and closer to one of the curved walls. Soon she'll have nowhere to go. With each crashing contact between their weapons, doubt rises up in her. Why did she come here? What made her think she could be of any help in place of a Jedi? But the doubt is soon replaced by anger and hate as unexpected thoughts break through, intruding on her focus. Memories of training with the Inquisitors, getting beaten down; her encounter with Lanue in the alley; the destruction of her world, her people, herself.
The darkness rises in her again. A great untamed beast barrelling up out of the depths and driving away all that Cal and Cere had imparted to her and it bursts forth as a great wall of dark power. It throws nearby stormtroopers into the wall, killing several, and knocks Eighth Brother off his feet. Before he can recover his footing Ilyana is already on top of him and bringing her staff down for a killing strike, but he raises his lightsaber just in time to stop it from landing. In the split moment her staff is thrown back by the block, he uses the force to push himself back to his feet just in time to parry another attack. For a moment the Inquisitor fears he might lose but her rage has taken the place of her focus just enough to give him an opening.
Ilyana is uncertain exactly what happened or how but time seemed to slow down for a moment as she realizes she made a mistake. The tip of the Inquisitor's blade makes contact with the middle of the staff, severing it in two, then connects with the base of the wrist on her right hand and travels up her arm to her elbow, splitting her arm open along the way. The destroyed staff drops harmlessly to the rock floor and Ilyana falls to her knees. Her vision closes in on all sides as the blinding pain overwhelms her senses.
The wicked laugh of the Inquisitor breaks through the ringing in her ears but gives way to a voice from years earlier. "Only die for something worth dying for!" Lanue had said.
"No!" She whispers breathlessly, thinking of the survivors held captive near the exit and knowing that only death will come to them if she gives up now. So she reaches for the only weapon left available to her. The lightsaber that belonged to the fallen Jedi. She removes it from her belt and ignites it. The blue blade springs to life but then crackles and goes out then crackles to life again. The broken crystal may still have some life in it still but it is too damaged to maintain a consistent blade.
Eighth Brother laughs, "What do you expect to do with that? That broken saber is worthless, dying just as your friends will soon be dying." The lightsaber flickers on and off as she tries to stand but Eighth Brother kicks her, sending her back to the stone.
"Now," Eight Brother says to a Purge Trooper who had been standing off to the side. The Purge Trooper steps forward and fires, hitting her with the stun setting of their rifle. As she collapses and loses consciousness, the Inquisitor gives the order to execute the Defenders and their screams echo through her ears as if from far away.