By Zygmunt
“It is guarded by an entire legion of my worst troops.” Said Emperor Palpatine with a sneer of his wrinkled mouth. Admiral Mellis maintained his military beraring for fear of his life. Under other circumstances, he might have considered the situation to be humorous.
“Yes, sir. Your worst troops. Their number is composed of those rated in the lowest percentile for every conceivable skill. I would recommend using better, if not your best troops to hold this position.” Admiral Mellis then felt a light grip on his throat.
“I do not need recommendations. Follow my orders well or I will make my dissatisfaction known.” With this, Mellis felt the pressure on his throat grow tighter for a moment and then cease. He left the chamber glad to be alive, but he’d been through enough of these life and death meetings with higher management to be as used to them as anyone could get.
The Emperor had ordered the inconceivable. Was there a deeper plan? Surely soldiers of this caliber ought to be used as a sacrifice only. Why were they stationed at the research facility on Borimuth II?
***
Soldiers of the 23rd Special Legion rushed from the shuttles as soon as they landed in a huge disorganized crowd. None bothered to wear full storm trooper armor, if any at all. Weapons were stuffed all around in the soldiers’ clothing and didn’t at all look in good repair. Commanding Captain Versh of the Borimuth research station recoiled in shock at these new arrivals. He’d heard of this crew before, but he thought that it had all been dark rumors. There were so many of them, all behaving in a similar, unprofessional manner. An assault by a team of rebel commandos was expected any day now, according to the latest intelligence wire. Perhaps this base was a lower priority than anyone thought, but no it was impossible. An entire year’s work had been spent designing rubber flaps to cover open exhaust ports on a hypothetical second death star. That was another problem for when the Rebels came. If they learned a hypothesis, they could come to a conclusion. And this is what he was sent as reinforcements!
Versh stood with his black-gloved hands clasped behind his back and his thin mouth set in a firm line. From the very first sight, he couldn’t help but be disappointed with Infantry Captain Rosko. The man wore his helmet and utility belt, but no other storm trooper attire. Strange. It made his head seem a bit out of proportion. He was the only one in all the legion to wear a helmet at all. The faces of the others were very much apparent as they joked and socialized. Versh was thinking he ought to have this Rosko shot in order to make an example. Maybe he should do something to that effect this instant to make a quick impression. But something told him that this man was well liked. The legion could not have fallen into such a wretched state unless their superior allowed it. And, as base as they were, they most likely admired him for his lack of military discipline. These men seemed quite harmless, but a mutiny would be undesirable to say the least. Versh had only a few dozen naval guards under his direct command. There was an entire legion of these…these soldiers.
Already, they were making themselves at home within the station perimeter. Unthinkable! How could they do this in a Gamma Beta Sigma classified area? This would require immediate contact with his superiors. He would have Admiral Mellis send in another legion to wipe this one out! Now they were setting up barbecue grills to cook up nerf steaks. No doubt they would be delicious, but NO ONE cooked nerf steaks in an area designated Gamma Beta Sigma. Captain Versh clasped his hands behind his back ever harder until his knuckles cracked.
“I’m sorry.” Said Admiral Mellis. “The 23rd Special Legion has been dispatched to your command post under direct orders from the Emperor himself.”
“The Emperor!?” Captain Versh went pale. If he had made an example of Captain Rosko… “Yes, sir.” He replied. “I will supply all needs of this force. But if there is any way that—”
“No.” Said Mellis with finality. Versh gulped as he saw the Admiral’s hand stray to his throat. There would be no help here. Everything was against him. He felt like weeping when the console turned off. Blank screens were so empty of answers! He did some paper work for a few hours in deliberate procrastination. What would he do next? Paperwork. What now? Paperwork. The Emperor?! Paperwork. This Rosko! He—
Enough! Versh
stopped filling in the latest garbage compactor inspection sheet. So what if there were
dangerous aliens living in the raw sewage in his
station? He would have them any time
over this new scum. Oh no!
The 23rd Special would improvise
latrines, all within the base perimeter.
“Why can’t you just take your troops
outside as is dictated by imperial
procedure?
They barely fit in here as it is.”
“Because it’s a
cold desert wasteland out there.” Replied
Captain Rosko.
“Then use your
imperial pup tents! Have your
quartermaster issue them at once.”
“I would still be
really cold. It’s so warm inside your
base. Besides, our quartermaster lost
most of them.”
“You mean sold them
for his own purposes? Graft of imperial
funds and resources is a serious offense.”
“He lost them as honest
people lose things.”
“How do you lose imperial pup tents?
They
aren’t small items that you can just forget. Not
that there’s any excuse for a quartermaster to forget
anything!”
“We didn’t lose our
imperial inflatable trampoline and not a one of our imperial bean bag
chairs is
missing.”
Versh
was getting irritated by this
exchange. This officer gestured
excitedly with his hands when he spoke and yet his face remained
ridiculously
concealed. Versh heard a crunch crunch inside the helmet and
realized to his dismay that Rosko was eating
something. The interior of the helmet
had clearly been modified to deposit snacks into the mouth of the
wearer. So perfectly foolish, and yet
there was a
stupid genius to it.
“Well,” He began,
“We’ll order some new imperial
pup tents. But they won’t get here for
some time. Until then, Captain, I suggest
you
improvise. Scout for caves, rock
hollows, crevices. Be creative.”
Crunch crunch. “The best shelter on the whole planet is right
here.”
“You will have to
remove your unauthorized presence or be subject to disciplinary action.”
“You don’t quite
seem to understand.” Replied Rosko with a dismissive gesture. “We’re the 23rd Special Legion. Special Legions have
special privileges.” Even with his
voice filtered through the helmet’s speakers, Rosko still sounded
condescending.
“But this entire
area is classified.
There are important state secrets here.”
“Like those giant
rubber sheets?”
“Yes, exactly.
I mean no! No!
They’re all hidden away in
an underground vault.”
“Then why do we
have to leave? Your facility is a nice
place. My men already love it. This planet isn’t so wonderful, but it’s
better than that tin can of a space station we usually—”
“Captain
Rosko! Let’s reason here, alright.”
“Alright.”
“You have your
troops in here. I’d really like you to
send them out there. You could say that
these are orders, a personal request, whatever you like.”
Crunch crunch. “Our instructions from the
Emperor stationed us at your station. I don’t remember
anything about being outside.”
Versh considered pulling out the
Standard Manual of Imperial Procedure, but he realized that there was
nothing
he could do.
“You are free to
leave.” Versh could have sworn the eyes
on the infantry captain’s helmet gleamed in a mocking manner as he got
up and
hurriedly left the room.
Versh ordered the black clad naval
guards under his command to stand motionless in the hallways as usual. They complied, but with some difficulty as
the new troops poked at and laughed at them.
If only the rebels would get here faster!
What if they didn’t come? This
thought was horrifying. After all, this
legion didn’t seem as though it wished to
leave. Versh came across yet another
expressionless
guard who was stoically enduring torment. One
soldier was tapping on his black helmet repeatedly, asking
“Anybody
home? Anybody home?” All
his comrades were collapsed on the
ground in laughter. “Who are you?” Asked Captain Versh in a rage.
“What’s your identification number?” The
miscreant stopped his tapping and turned
towards Versh with a silly expression on his face.
“My name is Sprekko.” He
replied in a slow, deliberately stupid voice. “And
I like Staaaar Wars.”
“I like Star Wars
too, since I haven’t stuck a blaster in my mouth yet.
Now what is your
identification number?”
“I forgooot.”
“Why did you forget your identification number?”
“Because I looost
it.”
“Does anyone here
know their identification number?”
“FJ-7734,
sir.” Replied the naval guard
quickly. Everyone else was silent and
staring at him. Versh stormed down the
metal corridor and found around the next turn a sight that disturbed
him even
more. One of his own men was sitting down with these troops and eating
nerf steaks.
“Burkand!”
The naval guard turned his helmeted head and
an expression of horror appeared on his face. Versh
was on him in an instant and he lead the man away to his
office
with a firm grip on the outside edge of his big black blast helmet. He all but threw Burkand into a seat and
stood over him.
“Do you know what
you were doing? You were fraternizing with the Emperor’s worst legion! I
would never have
expected such lowly conduct from a member of your esteemed corps. If this happens again, I will mark it on
your record and personally send a notice to your family.
Now you go right back out into that hall and
stand at attention. The rebels will be
here any day now! You must be ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
Burkand left as quickly as his tight black
jumpsuit would allow.
Captain Versh sat in a melancholy mood as he watched the Borimuthian sunset atop the roof of the facility. He looked down on the open area below, which was overrun by screaming revelers. At least here he could escape this disaster for a short while. Clang! The hatch to the roof level opened up and soldiers of the 23rd Special came streaming through. There were people everywhere within minutes. Versh could do nothing but walk around trying to look busy. He was a bit embarrassed to be caught up here and angry that his refuge had been violated. Then he saw a familiar helmeted head and anger took the greater hold. He approached Rosko and screamed, “Why?! Why are you content with being the worst legion? Why don’t you even try?” Rosko raised his hand and all his men were silent. There was a melodramatic pause as the last rays of daylight shined nobly on the eyepieces of his helmet. “The Emperor had a sad thought, one day.” He began. “He realized that if there are a thousand people running a race, someone must always be last, no matter how hard everyone tries. This disturbed him deeply and for days he tossed and turned in his robes. He finally solved his quandary by creating the 23rd Special Legion. Our mission is to ensure all other legions can be better than at least one. The Emperor determined that it is much better if the loser doesn’t care so everyone else can be a winner.” Versh was too stunned to comment on the stupidity of this and in fact he let out a strangled cry and fled as fast as he could down the ladder to the level below.
Once again, his escape from chaos and flawed logic was in vain. His face all but swelled as he now saw men pressing random buttons on control panels throughout the station. The buttons were already flashing on and off and going completely out of control. “Noo!” Screamed Versh. “You’ll blow our system!” He tried desperately to push them away, but they were everywhere. Versh found the main panel and made one last effort to prevent a disaster. The override didn’t work because there already were dozens of conflicting override commands. What else? No! Sparks rained from the ceiling and fried wires flickered with electricity as they melted and came loose from the wall. Burst tubes swung about wildly and sprayed clouds of boiling steam throughout the room. There were screams as the troops fled. Some just didn’t make it before being electrocuted or scalded. Versh regretted that he would have to fill out a casualty report over something this stupid. The panels were still going berserk and all the colored buttons flashed on and off. Further attempts at gaining control were useless. Versh finally ran away and barely made it out alive himself. He quickly called together all his naval guards and they put out all the electrical fires as quickly as possible. When the area was no longer lethal, they began efforts at making repairs. All was going as smoothly as anything could in this terrible situation when the men on the roof began to come down. Captain Rosko seemed amazed upon his descent down the ladder. “I heard a lot of noise up there what was— What did you people do to this place?”
“You’re lucky we still have electricity!” Shouted Versh. “Your men sabotaged the computer system of a secret research lab. I’m not entirely sure the Rebels could do better than that!”
“Look at this place! You should be ashamed.” Yelled Rosko with a wild wave of his hands. “This area does not meet OSHA standards!”
“Well, if your men hadn’t been touched equipment they were not authorized to use, none of this would have happened. The command consoles aren’t designed to be handled without proper procedure.”
“My men didn’t know they were designed to blow up, though!”
“Enough! Count your casualties and get out! My men and I have plenty of work to do.”
“Why are
you contacting me with a self-powered emergency beacon?”
Asked Admiral Mellis. “We are
suffering acute communications
difficulties.” Replied Versh.
“Men from the Emperor’s relief force
inadvertently crippled most of our systems. The
scientists’ logs and schematics have yet to be recovered.
Fortunately, power is still online to supply
basic needs, but even this has proved erratic at best.
We are, in fact, suffering a blackout right
now.” Static static static.
“Captain Versh, I’m losing your signal. Are you still there.”
“Yes, sir. These beacons are unreliable at best. You may tell the Emperor that events at the Borimuth research station are proceeding perfectly well. I am confident that we will achieve success and that all will be as his highness has foreseen.” Booooom!
“Captain. Did I just hear an explosion?”
“No, sir. It must have been a bit of interference. We had some severe complications, but everything is now proceeding normally. My report is complete, sir. Ending communication.”
“Wait!” Shouted Admiral Mellis, but it was
too late. He closed his eyes and thought
for a
moment. What motivated a man with the
greatest military in the galaxy to deploy his worst troops to a
strategic location? Surely the Emperor
wasn’t just amusing himself. It was
known he had an original sense of humor, but he only ever seemed to
laugh when
he was in the process of killing or maiming political opponents. He also once mentioned enjoying an activity
that involved seduction as well as torture. Mellis had no desire to be
‘seduced by the dark side.’ The admiral
decided he would sooner be force strangled than subjected to the
Emperor’s
affections. He just would never have
suspected that his supreme leader went that way.
“What just happened?!” Versh
asked one of his guards. No reply. He ran down metal staircases and catwalks
until he reached the
main
entrance to the facility. The door
wasn’t working with the power off, so he climbed out of a broken
transparasteel
window. Wait? How
did this window get broken? Versh climbed through and to his surprise
landed in the middle of a smoking miniature crater.
“What happened here?!” He
screamed. “I want a full report!” Versh was horrified as he looked
around. Several wounded men crawled and
squirmed on the ground. It looked like
a war zone. Could this have been an act
of Rebel saboteurs? One man with
confusion on his face approached the Captain. “This
wasn’t supposed to happen. He was just
lighting the propane tank on our barbecue…lighting
the
propane tank…lighting.” The man’s face
fell and he began to wander off in a state of unthinking shock.
Upon
further inspection of the explosion area, there were some charred
pieces of scrap metal that had once been a barbecue grill.
The wounded men had been farther away. The
man who had been close up… No reason
putting more thought into that. Two
casualty reports in one day. At least
he’d have some paperwork to distract him from the next inevitable
occurrence.
“Captain Rosko. This is
completely unacceptable. Someone needs to
give your men basic safety
instructions.”
“That wouldn’t
help, and besides, we always have a high turnover rate in our legion. Our ranks our always replenished, though.”
“Don’t these
recurring ‘incidents’ affect your standing as an officer?”
“Not really.”
There was a plaintive whirring sound as
Rosko triggered his helmet’s mechanism. This
time there was no food left. “Just a
second.” He said as he
took a cartridge out of his utility belt. To
Versh’s surprise he ejected a similar cartridge from his
helmet and
inserted the new one. Crunch
crunch. “Mmm. Much
better.”
“Look, Rosko, to be
completely truthful, I don’t care if your worthless men get themselves
killed,
but I can’t have them taking down my facility with them!”
“Since our legion
doesn’t seem to be important to you, why should we listen to you?”
Tension between the
two officers culminated right here. Rosko
defiantly crossed his arms and Versh was staring in a
livid
rage. But then something occurred to
the naval captain. Maybe his superiors
would finally be moved to action if insubordination was on the list of
‘severe
complications.’ But then again, the
Rebels would be here any day now. There
had to be unity. Versh eased up and sat
back in his seat. “We aren’t the best
of friends, Rosko, but there are still state secrets here and you’re going to help
me defend this place. Just try not to
destroy the entire station.”
“The entire
station? Huh huh. Very
funny. Some people really exaggerate
things these days.” Captain Versh didn’t
seem entertained by
this commentary. In fact, he seemed to
be restraining himself to the best of his ability.
“Very well.
You may leave now.”
All alone in his office, Versh
wished he could be calling up trash compactor alien exterminators,
cleaning up
for the next inspection, looking over the scientists’ shoulders and
pretending
to understand what they were doing, conducting maintenance on the
droids. All that was over now. All Versh really wanted in life was his own
station. A corner of the galaxy that
was all his own. He looked out his
window at the scene below. There were
men swarming everywhere and there was a constant line going out the now
perpetually open gate and to the latrines outside.
Looking for anything to take his mind off today’s events,
Versh
continued to watch. Something about the
latrine line bothered him. Ah,
yes. None of the people that left were
coming back. Maybe they were all
falling in. He wouldn’t be surprised at
all if that were the case, but he suspected something more. As this continued, Versh became more and
more alarmed. Finally, when all of the
men who had left came back all at once, he was filled with panic. He tried to keep track of them, but within
less than a minute they had mixed into the main crowd.
He let his head drop in his hands. Now
his skills as an officer were truly on
trial.
Rebel
assault team red crouched behind some windswept boulders just
outside of the station gates. It did
not take them long to notice the crude and completely unguarded latrine
holes
and red leader quickly came up with a plan. As
each soldier came out to relieve himself, he would be
knocked
unconscious and his uniform stolen for the purposes of infiltration. This plan worked brilliantly and soon, every
one of the rebels could pass as the enemy. “This
was too easy.” Commented
one of the commandos.
“They’ve just grown
careless.” Replied red leader. “They have no reason to expect us.”
“But they’re not
even wearing combat armor or following standard procedure.
They’re so incompetent it’s suspicious. We’re not even main characters and look how easy it was.”
“Well, we’re in
disguise now and here to do a mission. We’re
going in now.”
Rebel
assault team red entered into the Borimuth II research station
looking rather nervous but none of the soldiers seemed to take any
notice. Every one of the Rebels had their
hands
under their clothing in case they needed to pull out their weapons, but
it
wasn’t necessary. Red leader ordered
his troops to split up into the crowd and reconvene upon a command from
his
comlink. He then devoted himself to
scouting the area. What?
Something was not quite right. Why
was there a black inflatable trampoline
with the imperial insignia on it? And
why were there gleeful soldiers jumping on it and shrieking loudly? Storm Troopers never had fun. Not to mention that
there was a charred area
and hole in the facility itself. Red
leader inspected the blast site but couldn’t come to a definite
conclusion. The base may have been under
attack from an
outside source. Were there alien
hostiles on this planet? None had been
mentioned in his briefing and these soldiers didn’t appear to be battle
ready. Red leader decided to have a look
within the
base and he found the main entrance held permanently open with a
well-placed
piece of scrap metal. Could this really
be an important research station? Red
leader was beginning to doubt his intelligence information.
The
first place he came to was an infirmary on the ground level. Every bed was filled and a few naval medics
bustled around in obvious distress. This
place must be in the middle of a war. With
whom? He traveled
throughout rooms until he came to a chamber with large rubber flaps
hanging
from the ceiling. They were arrayed in
a precise manner and were obviously meant to serve some purpose. There were even a few grim naval guards
keeping watch over them. These men for
a change were the anal Buckingham Palace guards that he was accustomed
to. Red leader managed to get a look at
the
flaps before one of the guards shouted something at him about Beta
Gamma Sigma,
whatever that was. Each one the rubber
sheets had an imperial symbol, of course, and a label that said
“Torpedo
Stopper” Perhaps a look at the station’s computers would give some
further
clues. Red leader found the command
consoles in terrible condition up on the top floor.
Obviously, a hostile party had pushed the imperial troops all
the
way back to this room and had been stopped in a blaster battle at this
point. Yes. He
had it figured out now. An enemy had used
a detonator to breach the facility, advanced
all the
way to the top floor without encountering resistance, and was finally
ambushed
within the command room. The damage was
recent. Very recent. The
soldiers outside must be celebrating
their victory. Imperial forces never celebrated, but this was a distant
outpost. The only problem was, there was
an entire legion here. How would this many troops fit on the top
level? Aha! Answers
answers. He
encountered a ladder leading to the rooftop and the hatch had been left
open. Maybe the garrison had cleverly
anticipated the attack and somehow squeezed an entire legion up onto the
roof level. Could it have been
done? Anyhow, when the time came, the
enemy was caught in quite an unfavorable situation.
They would have been forced to come through the command room a
few at a time and the defenders could have reinforcements come down the
ladder
indefinitely. Brilliant!
Red leader would never have figured it out
but for his advanced tactics training. He
would have to take extreme caution in this mission.
He and his commandos were obviously up
against a formidable opponent. Not
everything here was as it had first seemed. Red
leader pulled out his comlink and instructed his assault
team to
meet him in the command room.
“Inspect
the data on these computers. We need any
information we can get. Let’s put our
retrieval unit together.” Each member of
red team carried a component of an R2 droid and
everyone
produced their portion. The robot was
ready within minutes and it blinked and bleeped a few times before
plugging
into the nearest control panel. The
droid flicked through blank screen after blank screen.
All databases were either incapacitated or
lost. The members of the red assault
team were grim and disappointed. What
next? The R2 droid was mercilessly
ripped apart despite its cries and everyone took back their respective
piece. They then dispersed throughout the
station.
Red
leader had been scouting every corner of the research facility all
through the long Borimuthian night and found no further evidence. He was up against a clever foe indeed. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was
covered in stubble. He was a desperate
man. Since he was in disguise as a
storm trooper of sorts, he needed to find his commander and somehow
trick him
into revealing some crucial knowledge. The
naval personnel most likely knew the details, but they
would be
inaccessible unless he could arrange a kidnapping and interrogation. That wasn’t
likely just now.
The
man he was looking for wore no badge of office, but he had a
natural authority about him. He
gestured wildly with his hands as he spoke to his troops and they
gathered
around him eagerly. He was the only
storm trooper here who wore a helmet and his voice was filtered through
a
speaker of lower quality than the worst telephone.
Red leader approached this man as soon as he began to leave
his
soldiers for a meeting with “give me a full report” Versh.
“Captain.” Said red leader. This
man should be a captain. “Have you noticed anything strange about those
naval men?” The helmeted man quickly
turned toward red leader and the eyes of his faceplate glinted with
suspicion as
he saw this soldier who had just spoken to him. “Call
me Rosko. No one
calls me ‘captain’ except for “proper procedure” Versh.
You’re not speaking with him, are you?”
“No, Rosko.”
Replied the Rebel leader. “My
mistake. There’s just been some strange
things going on in this base.”
“What are you
talking about? Well. There’s supposed
to be an underground vault in the basement. Someone
told me there were state secrets down there.”
“Thank you,
sir—Rosko. You’re right.
There’s probably nothing here.”
Red
leader couldn’t believe how easy it had been. He
left as quickly and inconspicuously as
possible. He used his comlink to
contact his commandos. All went
smoothly except for his brief conversation with Kreian Renno. Upon mentioning the meeting in the basement,
the topic had changed to planning for a possible confrontation with
enemy
troops, Kreian Renno had said “There’s too many of them!” and all
contact with
him had been immediately lost. No one
would ever bother to find out exactly how the commando had died. And that he had died was certain. Renno had
uttered the line.
Captain Versh paced up and down through row after row of official Death Star II torpedo stoppers. He and every single one of his men had now been gathered in this area. The Rebels would not outsmart him quite so easily as they thought. They had all been waiting down here for hours…hours…hours. But, oh, he was patient. Clank clank clank. He reached the end of another aisle, pivoted with practiced smoothness and began his way down the next. They would have to come here to take the Emperor’s secrets from him. Why were they waiting? Were they devising a diversion? A desperate attack? Ah, yes. Rosko was late as usual. “Have you seen anything of the Rebels?” asked Versh.
“What are you talking about?” Rosko threw his hands in the air with exasperation.
“They’re here among your men. I require that you conduct a full inspection of your troops so you can weed out all infiltrators.”
“Maybe later. Anyway, why do you have all your guards here? You should have them all downstairs.”
“Why should I engage in such an imbecilic action?”
“Isn’t
there a secret underground vault?”
Versh
was taken aback. Suddenly it all came
together. No doubt this was the answer. There were rebel infiltrators among the
storm troopers. Add that with an
officer who talked constantly and you got… “Let’s
go! Cried Captain Versh
to his naval guards. There’s no time to
lose. We’ll trap the Rebel scum like
rats.” But wait! He thought.
This could just be a clever diversion. Versh
changed his mind and ordered some of
his guards to stay behind. Then he ran
out of the chamber with the rest. The
Rebels would be down in the basement. He
knew he would not be disappointed.
The members of assault team red had probed every square inch
of the
basement. There were no secret buttons,
hidden elevator shafts, or combination locks. Every
crate of old imperial rations had been meticulously
searched to no
avail. Perhaps there was nothing here. But Rebel intelligence had been certain that
there was important information here and red leader didn’t intend to
leave
until he found it. There was a problem,
though. What happened when the legion’s
victory celebrations ended? His commandos
would still have only partial uniforms to wear on duty.
What about the soldiers they had knocked
unconscious? Surely they had woken up
by now. Time was limited. They had to find it now. Every
other
part of the station had been thoroughly explored. They
had been down there for nearly two hours when red leader
ordered his men to disperse until the next time. Just
when they had all reached the ground floor again, Captain
Versh backed with naval guards rushed into the room.
There was a click of weaponry as the imperial troops took
aim. “We’ve been expecting you. Freeze, Rebel scum. You
are all under arrest in the name of the
Emperor himself.” Versh stood tall and
haughty with both hands held behind his back as he glared at the
startled
commandos from underneath the brim of his olive green officer’s cap. For a moment the Rebels stood in stunned
silence and then they burst into action. They
dove behind the numerous pieces of plush furniture
brought in by
the 23rd Special Legion and fired from behind this shelter. The naval guards followed suit and within
seconds, the air was full of smoke and feathers as imperial cushions
burst open
and imperial stuffed sofas burst into flame. Versh
and his men coughed and hacked uncontrollably. Vision
was completely obscured in the chaos. By
the time it cleared away, every one of
the Rebels had gone, presumably through the huge, broken out
transparasteel
window.
“They’ve made their escape and we didn’t catch a single one
of them!”
Raged Captain Versh. “At least they
left empty handed.” Now that he thought
of it, the Rebels had failed in their mission. The
Empire had won. Still, it
would look bad that he didn’t have a single prisoner.
Wait! The rebels had
gone. There was no longer any need for
the 23rd Special Legion to stay. It
was over.
“What have you done?! Shouted Rosko as he burst into the room. “Our
imperial furniture! Destroyed!” Behind Rosko was a
crowd of his soldiers who all looked very angry.
“I
expect you shall be leaving soon and I
wished to relieve your hard working quartermaster of some of his duties. And, we had to fight the Rebels.”
“What
are you talking about? If there were Rebels here, where exactly did
they go?”
“Out
the window, you imbecile.”
“Oh,
you expect me to believe that one. Well,
I’m going to give a report to the
Emperor about our furniture, you know. You
haven’t heard the last of this! And
speaking of Rebels, we already captured them.”
“When?”
“I
heard about it from one of my men just
before we heard all this noise coming from our sitting room.”
“When
were they captured?”
“Yesterday,
I think. They were trying to walk in the
front gate,
so my men arrested them although they tried to claim they were on our
side. As if we were going to take that one seriously.”
Aha! Captain Versh knew exactly what had happened
and saw an
excellent
opportunity for himself. “Allow me to
inspect the prisoners.”
Versh
saw instantly that these men were not the rebels he had fought. It was just as he had suspected.
The soldiers that had been replaced by the
infiltrators had been clothed in cast off Rebel uniforms as they lay
unconscious. When they tried to come
back into the base, they had been seized immediately.
How strange that no one had recognized their fellow members of
the 23rd Special Legion. Perhaps
the turnover rate was really
high. Whatever the reason, Versh was
certainly going to turn this to
his
advantage. He would have these ‘Rebels’
turned in to off-planet imperial authorities at once.
Versh
actually felt happy as he watched the Emperor’s worst legion move out. All the junk that defined their
pointlessness was loaded onto shuttles. Their
presence receded until the remnants of the Borimuth II
research station were once again fully his. Versh looked out into the
hallway to see if
anyone was around, shut the door to his office, locked it, and began to
weep
profusely. He wept for joy.
It was all his now from the roof to the
basement to the garbage compactors. And
what more? The completed torpedo
stoppers had escaped unharmed under his careful leadership. They would be sent out to the hypothetical
second death star in only a week.
***
Emperor Palpatine finished reviewing the mission report and
slapped it
down on the armrest of his throne. “Sir.”
Said Admiral Mellis. “The
23rd Special performed beyond all expectations.
In conjunction with the garrison commander,
they successfully thwarted the Rebel intelligence operation.”
“How you lack in vision.” The
Emperor sneered bitterly. “They have
failed me yet again. I deployed them so
the Rebels could discover our plans. That
way, they would come to me unsuspectingly with their entire fleet. Add
another failed
mission to their record.”
“Yes,
sir.”
“They
are truly my worst legion.”
Admiral
Mellis wasn’t ever sure with the
Emperor, but he thought he had detected a sort of pride in his supreme
commander’s voice. Just then, the
URGENT panel on his highness’s throne started flashing red. His shriveled hand pressed a button and the
message came through. “Sir, plans for
our second Death Star Battle Station have been stolen by rebel spies. We killed a large number of bothans in the
attempt, but at least one human escaped with the information.” The Emperor terminated the communication and
reclined in his throne with a satisfied grimace on his face. “You may leave, Admiral Mellis.”
When Emperor Palpatine was left alone to gaze at the stars,
he couldn’t
help but wonder. Everything had
happened as he had wanted it, but why was it a base guarded by
perfectly
competent and well-trained personnel that had surrendered its deadly
secret to
the Rebel Alliance? He might muse some
more over it later. His diabolical mind
was already concocting an unbeatable defense against the Rebel fleet. They would no doubt try to gain an advantage
by destroying the power generators on Endor. Of
course. What forces would he
send to defend this highly strategic location?