Chapter X

Bodies of Imperial troopers were scattered throughout the battlefield. Some cyborgs and Hyberians also laid there amongst their fallen enemy. The Imperial shuttles were reduced to smoking piles of wreckage with two of the Iron Gauntlet's attack shuttles resting nearby. Many of the area lights were destroyed so it was hard to see the full extent of the carnage. The wounded were triaged in place and then carried off when they were stable enough. One hulking cyborg lay on the ground with several people, both cyborg and Hyberian, gathered around him. He was dying.

"Commander!" Satiyra cried out as she was let down next to him. "Commander! Can you speak?!" The only sound he made was a mechanical rattling sound as his body struggled to breathe. His armored body bore numerous carbon-scored scars from blaster fire. His photoreceptors now dimly glowed, flickering like smoldering embers left by an extinguished flame.

"'Tis not lookin' too good, Miss 'Borg," Sam from the restaurant said with a slow shake of his head. "He's so fulla mech'nics that the Imps' grenades shut 'im down. 'Tis amazin' he's still wit' us at all."

"Rell!" Kirin cried out as she pushed her way through the crowd surrounding The Commander. Murmurs of confusion swept through the group. She dropped down next to him and uneasily placed a hand on his forehead, avoiding any of the outwardly mechanical constructs. "Stay with me, big brotheh!" The Commander labored a slight smile, indicating he heard her voice. It was the only outward sign of life from him.

"Big brother?" Rann incredulously whispered to Satiyra.

"Mmm hmm," she knowingly replied. "She's The Commander's little sister. I'm the only one he confided that detail to." A tear streaked down her cheek, the first sign of vulnerability Rann ever saw in her.

Den slightly nodded. The story he didn't want to tell, he thought.

"Out of the way," a voice quickly called out. "Out of the way!" Doctor Aram forced his way through the crowd and crouched down next to The Commander with a small case in his hand. He looked over the cyborg and ran his hands up and down the outsized durasteel torso. "Not good, not good," he murmured. He opened his case and retrieved a couple of tools.

"How bad is it, Doc?" Satiyra asked.

The old cyberneticist ignored her question as he connected a small diagnostic device and watched as it ran through its tests.

"Aram!" Satiyra barked.

Without looking away from the device, Aram shot a raised index finger her way. "Hrmm!" he urgently grunted to silence her. After a few seconds, the device emitted urgent-sounding beeps. Aram reacted by producing a compact console from his case. He plugged it into The Commander's cranium and hurriedly poked at the keypad. After a few moments, the large cyborg suddenly twitched, startling those around him. The Commander let out an unpleasant metallic groan that sounded nothing remotely human. His photoreceptors were still dim, but at least the red glow was steady.

Aram disconnected the devices and packed them back into his case. He shook his head. "Unfortunate, unfortunate."

"What's unfortunate?" Den asked.

"That I couldn't get to him sooner," Aram said as he stood up. "There isn't much left of him when you take away the circuitry and servos. What systems I was able to restore will only delay the inevitable."

Kirin sobbed loudly. "No!" she cried.

"Do not…cry…Sister…" The Commander's voice came out as a barely-audible whisper without the benefit of his vocabulator. "It was…an honor…to fight along…side your…people." His lips were all that moved.

"But what will we do now?" Kirin asked with tears falling.

"The Rebel…lion… Be their…eyes…and ears."

"The Alliance could use some help with monitoring this sector," Den added. He turned to Kirin. "It looks like you already have the capabilities." He pointed back towards the sensor array in the center of town.

"We've been monit'ring the Empire for some time, but only for muh people's safety. We don' want any atten'tion brought upon us."

Rann reached her hand to Kirin. "You'll just be a listening post and provide valuable support to the cause. As long as you don't go out to fight the Imps like The Iron Gauntlet, they won't take notice of you."

"Sati…" The Commander gasped. His voice sounded even more ghostly and distant, as though his connection to this existence was weakening.

"Yes, Commander," she solemnly responded.

"Remember…what we…talked about…on…the way here…"

Satiyra nodded. "I understand, Sir."

"Kirin…" The Commander whispered back to his sister as she leaned over him. "…I have…always been proud…of you…" He labored a shaky, subtle smile. "…Remember…thaaaaa…" His final word sounded like an air valve had been opened to relieve excess pressure. The dim glow of his photoreceptors faded to black.

Kirin's sobbing increased and her tears splashed her brother's armored chest, displacing the dirt where they landed. Everyone around them stood in silent reverence.

"Ow!" Rann loudly yelped as her cybernetic leg suddenly jerked back to life, startling those around her in the Hyberians' central meeting hall.

"Like I told you," Doctor Aram said matter-of-factly, "you have too many unnecessary connections."

She carefully stood up on her newly-revived leg. "And you have too many unnecessary comments."

He shook his head. "Typical, typical." The old cyberneticist then walked off to his next patient, muttering to himself. Most of his efforts focused on replacing spent power cells and repairing burned-out circuits and broken servos. Where needed, the Hyberians helped as they could with injuries to the organic parts of their new allies.

Rann walked over to Den, who was talking with Satiyra. "So just what did The Commander mean with 'what you talked about before the battle'?" Rann asked.

Satiyra sat down to adjust one of her digitigrade mech legs with a hydrospanner in hand. "He designated me as his successor should he not survive."

Den raised an eyebrow. "It almost sounds like he expected to die here."

"The survival of Kirin and the other Hyberians was higher priority than his own."

"So you're 'The Commander' now."

Satiyra slightly shook her head. "I'm not changing my name if that's what you mean. I was his lieutenant, so it was natural for me to be next in line."

Rann crossed her arms. "So the others will follow you?"

"In spite of your meaningless opinion of me, I carry a lot of respect with my comrades," Satiyra replied with a scowl.

"Don't you worry, Satiyra. My meaningless opinion of you has gone up slightly since we first met."

Satiyra smirked. "Hmmf, same to you." She finished the adjustments on her leg and set the hydrospanner down. "He also said that he wanted The Iron Gauntlet to join the Rebel Alliance after all. Even though you two did some pretty stupid things, The Commander saw past them and admired you and the Alliance as worthwhile allies. Besides, we relish every opportunity to crush Imperial scum under our feet."

"Oh, you'll have plenty of opportunities alright," Den quipped with a smile.

"Rannie! Dennie!" a small voice squeaked from across the large hall. Rann looked up to see Yanii zip through the maze of people towards them. Mertin followed behind, letting his daughter go ahead of him.

Rann crouched down with her arms wide open, and the little girl flew into them. "Hey there, sweetheart," Rann said as she hugged Yanii tightly. She looked the girl over; other than some dirt and scrapes she was none the worse for wear. "We were worried about you."

"I din' need no worry. I weren't taken by da bucket-heads like yeh."

Den chuckled. "Whaddya know. The Squirt was more worried about us!" He readied himself for another strike from a little fist, but none came. All he got was the cutest angry face in the galaxy.

Mertin stepped up and immediately took Den's hand. "I thank yeh fer protectin' muh girl through dis whole mess."

"We almost didn't," Den nervously said. "We let ourselves be captured by Stormtroopers."

"Nonsense," Mertin said with a shake of the head. "Yeh din' let 'em do a damn thing. Yeh did yeh best an' that's all I could ask of yeh."

"I'm glad you see it that way, Mertin." They shook hands again.

Rann reached out to shake Mertin's mechanical hand, though still a little hesitant. He accepted her hand with a smile. "I'm glad to see your arms are working again," she said.

"Theh Doc is very good at his work." He looked down at Yanii. "C'mon, let's go see yeh Muh."

"Yay!" Yanii said with a clap of her hands. She looked back at Rann and Den. "See yeh 'round!" Mertin and Yanii turned and walked away.

"You too," Rann said with a smile.

Den lightly grabbed Rann's shoulder. "We'd better get back to the Skimmer and report to Alliance Command."

"Yeah, let's," she replied.

"Hey," Satiyra called out. "You'd better keep me informed."

Den turned to her. "Don't worry, we won't leave you behind."

"Hmm, we'd catch you anyway."

All three of them laughed as Rann and Den walked away.

After a quick speeder ride out of the town, Rann and Den reached the Skimmer. The ship stood unmolested where they left it the evening before. Straggling raindrops rolled off the hull in the morning sun. Once on board, the pair was greeted by an incessant beeping alert coming from the cockpit console. Den sat down in the pilot's chair and surveyed the status.

"We've got a recorded message from the Alliance on an encoded channel," he said. He activated the playback as Rann walked up behind him and rested her hand on his shoulder.

A bluish holographic image of a woman in an Alliance uniform materialized above the console. "Captain Berikko, this is Alliance Command. We need you to return to the fleet immediately. If your mission to Hyber was successful, be sure to bring The Iron Gauntlet with you. Respond when you receive this message for further mission instructions. We need every able body and starship right now. Alliance Command out." The glowing form then dissolved.

Den leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. "Well, they'll be happy to hear that we have our new allies with us." He sat up and donned his comlink headset. "Gotta tell Satiyra that it's time to burn sky!"

THE END

Author's Note: Thank you for reading yet another one of my stories in the ever expanding saga of my group of original characters in the Star Wars universe. This was Rann and Denn's side adventure, but can also serve as a sequel to Darkness in the Light. Next up is the next story in the "main" storyline. Fortunately, I've already written most of it during my time away from FFN. So the first submissions should start soon…