7
Luke Skywalker tightened the straps in his seat. He sat bolt upright as the starlines faded. He looked to gaze upon his home planet, but instead saw the hulk of a Star Destroyer. Two TIE Interceptors had already seen him and were already heading for him. Luke grabbed the stick and threw the A-Wing into a hard bank to avoid laser bolts. The TIE Interceptors roared after him and Luke could see transports heading for the planet.
Invasion! Luke thought and then armed his concussion missiles. He sighted the first transport and fired as he passed underneath the Star Destroyer with the two TIEs on his tail. Isel looked around him as alarms sounded.
“Sir! Rebel fighter passing underneath us! TIE units are dealing with it, but one AT-AT transport has been destroyed,” Bysal reported crisply. Isel slammed his fist on a console. Rebels always had to try and foul things up!
“Vector in all TIE units on the intruder. I want him pulverized at all costs,” Isel said with as much restraint as he could manage. He continued to stare out the window and hoped that most of the transports could make it.
Blous felt the transport jolt and hoped that they would reach ground soon. This is what he hated most, being so vulnerable in the transport. He was thrown in his seat on the AT-AT and cursed the fools on the bridge of the Star Destroyer and the incompetent pilot of the transport. He replaced his helmet and lowered his goggles over his eyes and hoped that the ride would end soon.
Luke twisted the A-Wing back under the Star Destroyer and then snap-shot a transport with a blast of lasers. The transport spun briefly but then continued its plunge to the ground. Luke knew that he couldn’t stop the landing, but if he hurried then he could get the smugglers safely away. He turned on his radio and quickly dodged a laser bolt.
“New Republic Command, this is Luke Skywalker! An Imperial Star Destroyer is attacking Tatooine! Send help!” Luke plunged the A-Wing towards the atmosphere and fired his last missiles into a transport. The two TIE Interceptors were still on his tail, but Luke managed to avoid their shots. Three TIE Fighters swooped in on the
One of the TIE Interceptors fired and two laser shots hit Luke’s shields. Luke knew that it was time to go and put the A-Wing in a dive. The fighter sped through the desert world’s atmosphere and Luke took a second to get his bearings before he turned for an area he had flown through as a kid.
Beggar’s Canyon loomed large before Luke as he dove into it and looked behind him and saw that the TIE Interceptors were still following him. Luke smiled as he put the throttles to full and zoomed around the first bend. The speedy interceptors were barely able to keep up, one scraped the canyon wall but kept flying. Luke twisted and turned through the canyon and then smiled as the end was in sight. Luke had the advantage of knowing the canyon, the TIE pilots did not.
At the last minute Luke pulled the stick up as hard as he could and the A-Wing shot out of the canyon. One of the Imperial pilots was too busy watching Luke to pull up and smashed into the canyon wall, drilling a hole in the wall. Luke grinned and then did a loop and headed back into a canyon. The remaining TIE Interceptor followed Luke back through the canyon and Luke knew that the same trick wouldn’t work with this more experienced pilot.
Instead Luke took the TIE on a merry chase through the canyon. He kept jinking hard left and right, all the while draining power from his shields to his engines. He feinted pulling up and the overzealous pilot pulled up, sure that Luke would pull up and try and shoot him down. Luke casually pulled up and was pointed right at the interceptor. He squeezed the trigger and fired four shots. All four hit and the interceptor was torn apart, debris smashing onto the desert ground.
Luke climbed out of the canyon and headed towards the city of
Luke closed the canopy and raced through the streets of the city, still in his flightsuit. He ran into a bar and heard a ruckus in a back room. He dashed through the bar, hoping that he could find Mara before it was too late. He burst into the back room and saw that a huge brawl had broken out. But then, sitting on a platform, was Mara Jade all cool and collected. Luke almost laughed, she looked bored with the fighting. For a moment he stared at her, at her long red-gold hair and the sleek body in the green jumpsuit. She was talking to a man sitting next to her and all of a sudden Luke felt as if he had intruded on something.
A body hit the ground in front of Luke but then the smuggler was grabbed and propelled back into the brawl. Luke snatched his lightsaber and lit it. He lifted it over his head. “Mara!” He called over the noise. Mara looked away from Aves and stood, nearly breathless. Standing in the doorway stood Luke Skywalker with his green lightsaber raised over his head and a terrified look in his eyes.
A computer operator at the
The operator saw that the file contained a complex code for something. Taking a risk the operator copied down the code and loaded the other mysterious file. To his surprise the file opened and the operator read the message. He called his superior over and his superior grabbed a comlink.
“Princess Leia? There’s a message for you here from a Mara Jade,” the superior said and the comlink went dead instantly. Leia hurried to the room and rushed into the computer center. She read the message and tried to control her anger. How could Mara do this? How could she go behind her back like this? But Luke had been right after all.
It was about then that Luke’s hasty message was received in the War Room. Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma were called and were soon on the scene. Leia was just leaving the computer room when Mon Mothma was going to the War Room. “There’s been some trouble...on Tatooine,” the head of the
“We’ve got a grave problem. That Star Destroyer attacking Tatooine is too far from most of our units. None will be able to get to Tatooine in enough time to stop the attack. Except for one ship. Here,” Ackbar put another hologram into the air showing a single modified frigate hovering over Coruscant. “If we hurry we can get the frigate there in a day. I should have seen this coming. I’m sorry Leia.”
“Don’t be Admiral. We’re all doing the best we can. But we’ve got another problem. A smuggler meeting is being held on Tatooine. I’m not sure they can hold out for a day,” Leia said, trying to hide her saddness.
“I’ve already ordered Rogue Squadron to the frigate and they’ll be ready as soon as we give them the go order. I can have a shuttle put you on the frigate if you wish.” Ackbar swiveled his large eyes in dismay.
“If you want to, you can go Leia,” Mon Mothma offered.
“I...I don’t want to hold that frigate up,” Leia was on the verge of tears as she thought of Luke trapped on a planet swarming with Imperials.
“Then we’ll take the Falcon!” Han called from the doorway. Chewie roared his agreement and they pushed their way into the War Room. “We’ve got to try and help them.” Leia nodded and wrapped her arms around Han.
“Frigate Ranger, you are cleared to launch,” Ackbar’s gravelly voice called out on a comlink. The frigate disappeared into hyperspace and Han led Leia out of the room with Chewie in tow. They strode quickly to their quarters to gather some supplies and inform Winter of their plans.
“All right Princess. I will care for the children while you’re away. Good luck on finding your brother,” Winter smiled and said as Leia and Han left with the droids and Chewbacca. Leia smiled back at her.
“You always take good care of them. Thank-you again, Winter. For everything.” Leia left the room and hurried to the Falcon. The freighter was in the hangar, waiting to once again leap into space. Han and Chewie started the engines and controls. Leia secured Artoo in the lounge and she and Threepio strapped in to the rear seats of the cockpit. Han started moving the ship and then looked back at Leia as he put it in a climb and then into space. Chewie’s paw was on the hyperdrive levers and Han looked over to him. Chewie growled and then pulled back the levers and the spacefield faded into lines.
The brawl continued but Luke turned off his lightsaber and dove into the crowd. A few blows landed near him and Luke ducked under them and made his way through the fight and up to the platform. “What are you doing here?” Mara asked over the noise.
“The Imperials are coming, I came to rescue you. We’ve got to hurry out of here!” Luke shouted. It was then that a sound was heard over the noise. Speeder bikes were approaching! Seconds later Imperials appeared in the doorway. Luke grabbed his lightsaber and the smugglers began to grab their blasters. The first wave of stormtroopers were cut down in a fulliside of blaster shots. Then the smugglers took cover and Luke raced to the door and into the bar. More Imperials were coming and Luke ignited his lightsaber. The Jedi weapon flashed green and Luke blocked three incoming shots and another hit the wall. Luke charged ahead and swung the lightsaber at the stormtroopers. The troopers screamed and Luke stepped over them. The bartender was slumped over the bar with a blaster in his hand. He looked back and saw Mara in the doorway.
“Hurry!” Luke shouted to her.
“I can’t leave them here!” She called back. “Everyone to your ships! You’ve got to get out of here!” Mara then rushed over to Luke.
“I don’t see the rest of the Imperials, they probably surrounded the area,” Luke looked around and then saw one of the huge AT-AT walkers on the perimeter of the city.
Chaos! Absolute chaos, Blous thought to himself. His walker was on the edge of the city. Nothing had been going right. The AT-ST transports had been wounded or destroyed by that blasted A-Wing, two of his speeder units weren’t reporting in and one of the AT-AT transports had been destroyed. Blous looked over at the driver of the AT-AT.
“Head for the hangars. I want to deploy guards around the hangar. Units Three and Four take up posistions outside of the city. Speeder groups Alpha and Gamma you’re needed at sector five. Be cautious, we’ve already lost two groups there,” Blous ordered through his headseat. The driver moved the lumbering vehicle towards the hangars and Blous looked at the data pad in his hand.
The two speeder groups and the two other units moved to take up their posistions. Blous sighed as the AT-AT reached its position. Blous could see the other two AT-ATs, Units Three and Four, at the edge of the city. Blous tried to relax and hoped that the two speeder groups could end the trouble at that bar. Blous wondered where that A-Wing had gone. As long as it was around there could be more trouble.
Luke took the brief break in the action to take off his flight suit, the bright orange suit would make him too conspicuous. His black outfit underneath helped to hide him in the shadows of the bar. He looked around again and thought about how he could sneak past those walkers.
“See anyhting?” Mara asked from behind him.
“Three walkers are taking positions around the city. We’ll have to try and get to the hangars,” Luke said quietly. “If I can get my A-Wing then I can distract those troops so that the rest of you can get to your ships.”
“Let’s go,” Mara nudged Luke forward and he eased into the street, followed by Mara and the other smugglers. As Luke neared the hangar he saw that Imperial troops had taken up station around the hangars.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” Luke mumbled to himself as he moved forward. He reached out with his Jedi senses and tried to find out how many guards there were. He could feel at least twenty out there. Too many to use his mind control skills on. They would have to do it the hard way.
That was when the two speeder patrols showed up at the bar. Finding no one they spread up and looked around. Vnus grabbed his blaster and fired at one of the speeder bikes. “Fool!” Mazzic hissed. They had fought against each other in the brawl and both bore the black eyes and bruises to prove it. The shot missed but drew the enemy patrols and the hangar guards.
In an instant blaster bolts were blazing around Luke and the others. Luke ignited his lightsaber to block some of the bolts. The Imperials on speeder bikes rode towards Luke and he separated from the others to take on the vehicles. Mara lit up her saber and followed Luke. Luke swung at one bike and the blade slashed the front of the bike off. The trooper riding the bike fell off and the bike slammed into the ground. There were still ten more of the bikes, they buzzed around Luke like a swarm of angry bees. He deflected their shots but knew that he couldn’t hold out much longer. That was when another bike exploded and Luke saw the blue blade held by Mara slice towards another one of the bikes.
Luke knew that she couldn’t hold out forever either as he blocked another shot. He saw a bike coming close and then leaped into the air. He came down on the back of the bike and cut the trooper on the bike. The stormtrooper fell to the ground dead and Luke made sure that the bike’s guns were charged. He turned towards where Mara was and then stuck out his hand. She reached out and he swung her up onto the bike.
“What now?” Mara asked over the noise.
“We’ve got one chance! If we can get out of the city and into the higher elevations then we can try and hold out until help arrives,” Luke sped away from the city.
“What about the smugglers!”
“They’ll have to try and find a way out!” Luke looked back at her and saw her pained expression. “I don’t want to leave them either, but if we try and go back then those speeder bikes will eat us alive!” Luke turned away and put his lightsaber on his belt. Mara had shut her saber down and was holding on to him with both arms. The remaining Imperial bikes were in pursuit and Luke looked forward to see an AT-AT ahead of him. He jinked the bike just as the AT-AT fired. He remembered fighting the huge machines on Hoth and knew that their guns couldn’t shoot straight down. He pushed the bike to its maximum speed and shot the tiny bike between the AT-AT’s legs. The AT-AT ceased fire and Luke saw that they were racing under the mighty walker. They finally made it past the walker and ahead lay the flat deserts of Tatooine.
The speeder bikes were still behind them and Luke knew that he had to lose them. He climbed and felt Mara’s fingers press harder against him. The wind whipped at him as Luke pulled hard to the right. He glanced down and wished for the safety of a cockpit. A blaster shot just missed the bike and Luke saw the brown ridges ahead. He streaked over the crest of one of the ridges. Then the ridge faded and Luke dropped the bike down into a valley. He cut the throttle to nothing and the speeder bikes passed overhead. Luke looked around and saw a cave in one of the ridges. He steered the speeder bike towards it and then parked the bike inside. Mara jumped off and Luke looked around the dark cave. He lit up his lightsaber and searched the speeder bike. He found some survival gear in a compartment.
Luke spread out the gear and took stock of it. There was a small light, some purification tablets, and some food rations. Not very much, Luke thought to himself. He pushed the speeder bike farther into the cave and looked around. The cave was small but long enough to hide him and Mara. Luke sat down next to the bike to think about what his next move would be. He knew that he couldn’t try and get back to Mos Eisley yet, the Imperials would seal the city off. He hoped that the smugglers trapped in the city could avoid the Imperials long enough for
Vnus gripped his blaster and fired from around the corner. The stormtrooper hit the ground and the Imperial behind him fired his rifle. Vnus backed around the corner of the already damaged wall. Two other smugglers were with him. They were trying to get into the hangar to get to their ships and to get off of Tatooine. Mazzic had led most of the smugglers away from the hangar and back to the bar. Vnus was not one to wait around though. He took a deep breath and leaned back around the corner and fired off several shots.
Two of the smugglers behind Vnus came out from around the corner and fired their shots. One of the stormtroopers fired and caught a smuggler full in the chest. Vnus grimaced and the smugglers scurried back into the shadows.
“What now?” A smuggler panted. Vnus looked around, wishing that he knew.
“We need the others,” another moaned.
“No, we can do it, if we have a distraction,” Vnus looked over at some of the buildings. You two see if you can get over to those buildings and draw their fire. I’ll get to a ship and blast those Imperials to dust.” In the dark shadows he smiled but then thought of the massive AT-ATs patrolling the city. Not even the more heavily armed ships could destroy one of the AT-ATs. But they had to try and get out of here, or else they would be hunted down and captured by the Empire. And Vnus knew what they did to captured smugglers. The other two nodded and scurried across the dusty street. Stormtroopers hurriedly fired their weapons, but the smugglers were able to avoid the blaster shots and get behind cover.
Vnus waited, breathing deeply and trying to keep the sweat out of his eyes. Blaster fire erupted from the buildings the smugglers were using for cover and Vnus grinned with satisfaction as the stormtroopers charged at the smugglers. Vnus quickly snuck around the corner and into the hangar. The hangar was dark and cavernous and Vnus looked around for his ship, a modified frieghter that he had been able to scrunge together parts for.
He found the ungainly craft towards the back of the hangar and clambered up to the hatch and climbed in. He rushed to the cockpit and began starting the ship up. The engines wound up and Imperial troops came running. Vnus had keyed up the weapons systems as the stormtroopers aimed to fire at the ship.
“Not so easy, boys,” Vnus said as he aimed a laser turrets at the enemy soldiers. He pulled the trigger and waited for the red beam to annhialate the oncoming stormtroopers. Nothing happened. He pounded the console in front of him and then hit full throttle. The repulsorlifts lifted the ship and then it leapt from the hangar, several harmless shots glancing off of its hull. The ship hovered over the street and the two smugglers jumped onto the hull and climbed in through a hatch. The AT-AT near the hangar saw the freighter in the street and began firing. Shots pounded the shields and Vnus hurriedly dumped all of the power from his weapons into the shields. The other two smugglers climbed into seats in the cockpit and Vnus knew that he was in trouble if he didn’t get out of the area soon.
He pointed the freighter’s nose upwards and hit full throttle. The ship quickly rose and the bulky walker was unable to keep up with the freighter’s maneuvers. Vnus hooted and vanished into the desert horizion. A rumble rocked the cave that Luke and Mara were sitting in. Luke looked up and hoped that the Empire had not found them yet. The rumble passed and he tried to relax.
Still trapped in the city, Aves and Mazzic were trying to think of a way out. But there seemed to be no hope and it was only a matter of time before the Imperials arrived. Mara and Luke were still missing and Vnus and his followers couldn’t be reached either. Most of the smugglers were armed, but not well enough to take on a whole company of stormtroopers. Aves sighed, there would be no smuggler alliance now. They would all be rounded up and tortured until they were killed. That much Aves knew. Whether or not Mara and Luke Skywalker could avoid capture was another matter.
He sighed and sat down in one of the remaining chairs. Some of the smugglers were keeping a lookout, others were drinking the last of the licquor in the bar, and still others were having nervous conversations, sure that it would be their last time to talk in freedom. He looked at the map on the wobbly table and could see no back entrance to the hangars. And the front entrance was guarded by several stormtroopers and the ever-present AT-AT walkers.
Aves was about to lean back in his chair and try and get some sleep when the room began to shake. He ducked under the table and raised his blaster, but this action was futile. Five AT-ST walkers, eighty heavily armed soldiers, and ten speeder bikes were waiting outside. Aves’ hand shook so badly that he dropped his pistol. After years of smuggling and narrow escapes it was finally over. The other smugglers were similarly surprised and their blasters fell to the floor and the enemy troops rushed in and disarmed them. As Aves was yanked to his feet, he could only hope that Mara and Luke could rescue them.
Isel was pacing the bridge when Bysal walked up to him with a broad grin on his face. Isel knew that that could only mean good news. He could use good news, with the landing having turned into a debacle and the smugglers eluding him, good news was in very short supply on the bridge of the Star Destroyer. Add to that the fact that the engineers working on repairing the weak spots in the ship’s armor were set back during the attack and things were looking pretty grim.
“Sir! We’ve captured the smugglers! General Blous is detaining them on the planet until we can assure him that the Rebel threat is over,” Bysal reported excitedly.
“Tell him that I will sent a transport and a heavy TIE escort to retrieve the prisoners at 0500 hours. And tell the good general that he may now level the city and take no prisoners of the remaining civilian population. I want him to keep the hangar and all the ships inside intact so that we may impound them once the operation is over. Keep me appraised and I want a report from engineering every hour until this campaign is over,” Isel looked away from Bysal and the younger man knew that the conversation was over. Then he scurried off to carry out his orders.
Isel slumped down in his command chair and looked out over the bridge. He smiled at the thought of the captured smugglers sitting in shackles with stormtroopers standing guard. The thought of Mos Eisley in flames reminded of his own homeworld being destroyed by his hand. More traitors would be crushed and the Empire that had been lost would soon be captured again. If he could get the smugglers aboard his ship and then get to the Core Systems to unite the remnants of the Imperial fleet.
His scheme could work. Once the
Leia leaned back in the chair behind the pilot’s seat, refusing to rest in the lounge with the droids or in the sleeping quarters with Han, anxious to get to Tatooine to help her brother. Han and Chewie had been taking shifts in the cockpit and right now Chewie was at the controls. In the past day and a half in hyperspace, Leia had caught two very brief naps. Each time she closed her eyes another horrible fate for Luke would appear in her mind. She felt horrible for allowing him to go off alone to the planet to warn Mara of whatever he had sensed.
Leia looked at the data pad in her hand, looking over the readouts of the meager forces the
Ever since she had joined the Rebellion she had always been fighting overwhelming odds. On Yavin they had fought the Death Star with only a few fighters, on Hoth they had had to dodge an entire armada, and on Endor they had had to take on nearly the entire Imperial fleet. She hadn’t expected it to be easy, but couldn’t they ever get a break? Her own brother was at stake and they had to take on a Star Destroyer with only a frigate and a small force of X-Wings, A-Wings, and B-Wings. A lack of sleep combined with the stress and these distubing thoughts caused unwanted tears to form and run down her cheeks. Chewie heard her and casually walked back to where Han was sleeping. He moaned to his partner as quietly as he could and then shook Han awake.
“What is it?” Han asked and Chewie groaned and then shrugged his broad, furry shoulders. “I’ll take over, you get some sleep.” Han hurried up to the cockpit and found Leia stifling her tears.
“Hi,” she said, trying to hide her saddness. Han wasn’t that easily fooled though. He sat in the pilot’s seat and briefly scanned the instruments, once he had made sure that they were safe he swiveled the seat and faced her.
“You can’t fool me. Come on tell me what’s wrong,” he said soothingly and she finally spoke after a minute of heartbreaking indescion.
“It’s just that I’m not sure that we can save him...Luke I mean. I’m just getting really tired of having to fight against such large odds,” she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He reached out for her and pulled her close, knowing that she was going through a very difficult time with her brother in danger, the twins left alone with Winter, and with her job of trying to keep the
“Don’t tell me the odds, remember? We’ve done it before, we can do it again.”
“But what if we don’t? What if even if we do stop the Star Destroyer in orbit they still kill Luke? I...I don’t think I could live with that, especially since I let him go!” She began to cry again, thinking of all of the horrible things that could happen to him on Tatooine. Han could only hold her again and wait for the moment to pass. Just then a voice was heard from the cockpit entrance.
“Oh dear! Is something wrong with Mistress Leia?” Threepio asked with obvious concern. Han shot him a fierce look, but the droid didn’t comprehend its meaning.
“It’s nothing Goldenrod. We need a moment alone if you please,” Han’s voice was laced with enough saracasm that Threepio realized he was being scolded. He turned and scuffled away. When he looked back down at Leia she was smiling.
“Thank-you,” she said and then everything was all right again. He nodded but was unwilling to let go. Finally he did and scanned the controls again. They were still on course and on schedule. Only twelve hours until they reached Tatooine.
The battered freighter set down on a remote area that was far from Mos Eisley. Vnus sighed with relief and his two passengers did also. He shut down the engines and then the rest of the ship’s systems. He unstrapped and walked back to the hatch and then jumped to the dusty ground. Instantly sand was whipped at his face and he shut his eyes to keep grains of dust from getting in them. A sandstorm was brewing and fierce winds howled through the desert and obscured everything around Vnus. He fumbled to find his ship and then was able to pull himself up to the hatch and crawl back in. He closed the hatch and sat there on the deck for a few minutes to brush himself off and to take some deep breaths.
Until the storm let up he and the other two smugglers would be trapped in the ship. He finally got up and saw the two smugglers waiting for him. He looked each man over to inventory his resources. The taller of the two was named Starm. He was from the planet Ingra, though he did not know that his world had been devestated through Isel’s treachery, but he was different from the rest of his fellow Ingranians because his parents had broken through the prejudice. Because of that he had the purple eyes native to the west continent and the black hair native to the east continent. He had been kicked off of Ingra because his differences could have caused a “social upheaval” and had turned to smuggling to make a living.
The other humanoid was a former Imperial cargo shuttle pilot from Coruscant named Bilhok Jibuv who had narrowly survived a Rebel attack on the space station he had been on. After waiting two weeks for an Imperial rescue force Jibuv had decided to escape from the dead station on his own. After a week of tinkering he had been able to get a Lambda-class shuttle working again. Instead of going back to the Empire that had left him stranded, he had chosen instead to find someone who would take him on as a pilot. He had run into a small smuggling group who had trusted him enough to let him fly for them. He had proven his loyalty to the smugglers when his shuttle, which had been reapaired, modified, and had had all markings stripped from it, had destroyed two TIE Fighters trying to stop one of the group’s freighters.
Vnus smiled at them, with a little luck and a few spare parts, they could get the freighter’s weapons systems working again so that they could return to Mos Eisley and rescue the rest of the smugglers. “After the storm we can begin to work on this thing,” Vnus told the Jibuv and Starm.
“What are we going to do to this...this crate,” Starm searched for a word that could reflect his feelings of the ship and not offend Vnus at the same time.
“We’ve got to get the weapons working again if we want to get out of here!” Vnus reminded the others. Jibuv nodded and Vnus led them to what he used as his dining/rec area. They sat around a small table and pulled their unmatching chairs closer. “We’ve got to take stock of what we’ve got here so that we can see what we can do about fixing the weapons systems.”
“What kind of ship is this?” Jibuv asked with curiosity. “I installed the weapons on the shuttle by myself, but I’m not familiar with this class of ship.”
“It’s...it’s kind of like my own design. I built this whole thing from different parts I found,” Vnus answered. There was more to it then that, of course. Vnus had grown up on a world hard hit by the Empire’s war against first the
He had been hiking through a desert when he found it. The outside was black and battered, but on closer inspection Vnus realized that the freighter lying amongst the sand could be rebuilt. The ship was an old Rebel transport that had been trapped by Imperial forces in orbit and brought down. The crew had escaped and the ship, running on autopilot, crash landed in the desert. The ship’s hull had been scorched and most of it was nothing more than blackened scrap. Neither the Imperials or the Rebels had searched for the vessel, both thinking that it had burnt up in the atmosphere, and the crew was never seen again by either side.
The ship’s hold had ruptured and the supplies it had once contained were destroyed. However, the cockpit of the ship was a different story. The autopilot had still been on and one of the repulsorlifts was still operational. Vnus had decided that the ship was what he needed to make his dream come true so he had used the single repulsorlift to move the ship into a deserted cave in the desert. Vnus ran through the ship’s systems and checked to see what still worked. Then he had deactivated it and made a list of the componets he would need to get the ship working again.
Over the next few months Vnus had searched the desert whenever he could, scavenging parts off of other ships. He hauled the parts to the cave and soon began mating the parts to the ship. After another few months the ship was completed. When he had finally looked at it, Vnus had grimaced and began to wonder if the thing would even be able to fly.
The three Corvette engines mounted on the rear of the ship formed a rough triangle, in the middle of which stuck out a single small blaster cannon from a speeder bike. The plating from various ships gave the freighter a strange shape, a cigar-like frame with a bulky patchwork of armor plates covering it. Vnus had gone into the cockpit and started up the ship. Slowly the ship’s systems came on until everything was ready. Crossing his fingers, he had keyed up the engine start sequence. To his relief all three engines came on line and then he activated the three repulsorlifts on the bottom of the ship. The ship moved forward ever so slightly as it rose into the air. Then Vnus put the throttle to full and the repulsolifts gave way to the rebuilt engines. For the rest of the day Vnus had flown the ship through the desert, finally be as bold as to navigate it through a long canyon. The ship worked beautifully and Vnus landed it back in the cave. He used a camouflage net to cover it up and spent the night in the cave.
During the night he had stared at the ship and tried to come up with a name for it. It had to be something that matched both his and the ship’s personalities. Finally it came to him and the next day he painted the name on the front of the ship, the
Vnus had worked for a few weeks in small-time smuggling, making enough money to finish arming his vessel. He took his ship to smuggler specializing in weapontry and was able to buy two proton torpedo/concussion missile launchers, three heavy and two light laser cannons, and two deadly turbolasers. He had installed the weapons on the ship and now the already weird-looking freighter had cannons protruding from it and four flattened tubes recessed against the belly of the ship. But although it was ugly, and many of his smuggler buddies had joked with him about how ugly it actually was, it was his ship and it had made his dreams come true.
Vnus took another look at Starm and Jibuv and a look of determination came across his face. He had to get his ship working again, or else he would be stranded on the planet. “I’ve got about five days worth of survival rations loaded in here. I also have some tools and a few spare parts, but last time I checked I was running low, so we might not have all that we need to get the weapons fully on line. But we have to get enough weapons working that we can rescue everyone and break past that Star Destroyer in orbit. Have either of you two got any parts on you? Wire or anything?” Vnus sighed as both men shook their heads negatively.
“We’d better go and check out the cockpit systems and make sure that it isn’t some faulty wiring,” Jibuv broke the silence and then got out of his chair. Vnus nodded and went over to a cabinet to retrieve his tools. Starm took a coil of wire from him and they went to the cockpit to work.
Blous smiled to himself as the orders came in. They would level the pathetic desert city and then he could return to the Ravage with his men and the smugglers. It would be an operation successful enough to not only topple a government but put his name in the history books. That was when another report came in.
“Sir! None of our patrols have located the two escaped smugglers yet! They are not in the local vecinity and we believe that they may have met up with that ship that was able to disappear,” a lieutenant reported. Blous wanted to crush the quarter-sized holographic picture of the man, but he held back.
“Keep looking you incompetent fool! I’ll have the Ravage scan the area and some TIEs help you look, but you will find them Lieutenant!” Blous ended the transmission and then looked at the crew of the AT-AT. “Ready heavy cannons and target the nearest civilian establishments. Then feed me the coordinates.” Blous took command of the walker’s weapons systems and waited for the coordinates. Once he had them he gripped the trigger and smiled once again. Then he pulled the trigger and both heavy cannons fired, eradicating the bar where the smugglers had been hiding.
“Sir, the rest of the walkers are requesting firing orders,” a crew officer announced.
“Tell them to fire upon all buildings except for the hangars and building where we are detaining the smugglers. They may fire when ready,” Blous once again pulled the trigger and the cannons slung underneath the walker’s head fired two bolts. What remained of the civilian populance was taking to the streets as the city was unmercilessly annhialated. The smaller AT-ST walkers pulled back and allowed their bigger brothers to oversee the destruction of Mos Eisley. Fire spread through the city but was not quick enough to beat the Imperial’s weapons in taking out structure after structure. Blous grabbed the scope and looked around. The city was a mere memory now and nothing remained except for the large holding area for the smugglers and the hangars.
“Order all walkers to move in. I want to make sure that no one escapes,” Blous looked out as the AT-AT stomped forward. The six AT-ATs moved through the city, crushing rubble and people alike. When it was over there was nothing left and only the screams of the wounded civilians could be heard. “Have all speeder bike patrols sweep the city and eliminate those civilians that remain.”
“Sir?” The crewman asked for confirmation of the brutal order.
“Our orders are not to let any of the noncombatants survive. Carry them lieutenant.” That was all the crewman needed and he was soon calling each patrol to inform them of their new orders. Blous put the scope away and relaxed in his seat. The AT-AT once again took up station near the hangars, Blous confident that their mission would be successful.
“Sir! General Blous reports that Mos Eisley has been completely destroyed. The hangars are still intact and all captured smugglers are accounted for,” Bysal reported to his commander, who was on his way back to his quarters to get some sleep.
“Very good Lieutenant. I want transports with a heavy fighter escort to be dispatched by the end of the hour. Load the transports with extra pilots to ferry down to the impounded ships. We’ll load the ships into the hangar bay and depart shortly. Notify me when we are ready for hyperspace,” Isel walked faster and left Bysal behind. Bysal turned and headed back to the bridge to begin carrying out the orders.
So far everything had worked out beautifully. Isel estimated that it would take about ten hours to get everything loaded back onto the Star Destroyer. As long as the Rebels stayed away that long then Isel would easily be able to escape. He entered his quarters and the lights came on. His quarters were spartan, to say the least, with no reminders of his homeworld or his childhood. He climbed into bed and concentrated on sleeping, but whenever he closed his eyes the nightmare began again.
He could see thousands of faces, smiling and happy, amongst the green countryside of Ingra. And then a ship appeared, his ship, and began blasting the faces one by one. The happy faces began to scream and blood was everywhere. And then Isel saw the faces of his own parents. Green turbolaser bolts lanced down and the faces of his parents were destroyed. Then Isel awoke, sweat dripping down his face.
He hadn’t ever thought of himself as possessing a conscience, but the recurring nightmare told him that something was wrong. He shook his head and lay on the bed, staring at the barren metal ceiling. It was too late now though. The population of Ingra had been wiped out, almost. And from what the computers had told him those people living on the islands would be subjected to years of natural disaster from the afteraffects of the turbolaser barrages. The air, land, and water were poisoned and the planet was dying very slowly. For that, Isel couldn’t help feeling a little guilty, because it had been his home. He finally closed his eyes again and was determined to fight off the nightmare.
Meanwhile, Bysal was sitting in the captain’s chair, savoring the moment. All of the orders had been given and there was nothing left to do but wait for them to be carried out. Scores of TIE Fighters, Interceptors, and Bombers poured out of the hangars as the transports were prepared for launch. In less than two hours the transports and their escorts would be fully ready to go.
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