Losses
Author's Title : "Rebel Heart - Losses"
Author: Darth En Ghedi
Origin: Portugal
Language: English
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Dust settled... I could see the Falcon...
"Robin," I said."Move out! Flank the ship and secure the area!" I ran down the left corridor of the enormous docking bay. I saw a man emerge from the opening platform of the Corellian Freighter.
"Scout!" Han Solo said as he joined me behind some cargo containers, taking cover, "I'm sorry for the delay..." He had a worried face, "How are you guys?" The question was very typical from the General.
Providing some cover, the upper laser turret on the Falcon was training on the approaching Sandtroopers.
"We ran into some party, guys dressed in white..." I tried to joke, but either the Falcon's whine or the blaster fire made Solo's forehead wrinkle.
"You're always calling me for a pick up, I was surprised it took you so long..." The General made his typical grin. A shot hit the wall at our flank, alerting us both to fire back in response. "What are we waiting for? Let's move out!" General Solo was impatient.
"Robin is running late, she fell back to cover our retreat to the rendezvous. That's when we found out it was trap and called you in."
"Did you accomplish the mission?" He asked firing his blaster.
"We did!" I waved a couple of holodisks containing some blueprints of a new weapon the Empire was building.
The plan was simple. Small task force, two teams, one was the decoy, mine would rapidly infiltrate the base and retrieve the plans while the forces were drawn to the decoy team. Simple. And was working, if we only our rendezvous waypoint wasn't crawling with Sandtroopers and we had to come up with a quick backup plan. Captain Solo and the Falcon was part of it.
More Sandtroopers emerged from the upper balcony on the docking bay. They were mounting heavy repeater blasters.
"You better call her, this party is becoming too crowded for my taste!" Solo turned to his comm, yelling something to Chewbacca, is first mate, inside the Falcon.
"No time..." I said, "Jules!" I shouted to my first officer, "Hit that balcony with the big one!"
Jules tapped another soldier in his back who acknowledged with a nod. The soldier placed a rocket launcher on his shoulder and aimed.
When he was ready, Jules shouted "Clear!".
The finger did press the trigger, but the shot never came. From the other flank a big blaster fire vaporized both men.
Looking underneath the Falcon, I saw the unmistakable feet of a AT-ST vehicle.
"Kark! It's a walker... Looks like you pissed them hard, huh?" Solo jumped out of the shelter provided by the crates and I followed, just before another blast made a hole where we just stood.
"Perfect..." Solo said, "That's it, Scout! Call your children, we're gone!"
"No, wait! Robin will show up, any time now..."
"Well pick her up on the way out," He picked his comm, "Chewie, shields up". Some roaring was heard from the commlink, it was hard to understand Wookiee speech, much less with all this blaster fire around us, but Solo, somehow, found a way to translate the Wookiee's growlings, "I don't care! That Walker will scratch the Falcon!" He turned to me, "Into the ship, or I'll leave you and your kids to play with the whites!"
I had a decision to make. I called all men to retreat.
What was left of our platoon entered the ship, luckily no more soldiers were shot badly, two wounded, nothing serious. I helped the last man in and being the last to enter, I could only look back for a brief moment... "I'm sorry Robin..." I whispered.
Suddenly, all gun fire was diverted to one specific area of the hangar. It looked like a small entrance to the ammo depot.
I tried to look beyond the smoke and flames the AT-ST was causing. Knowing I was risking the men's life inside the Falcon, I went forth, anyway. I had to!
"Scout, get the kark back here!" Solo was already swearing.
I moved between the debris, noticing the AT-ST lost interest in me and was aiming at the small entrance.
"Scout... this is Robin..." Her voice was calm over the radio, "Looks like someone is asking us to be permanent residents..."
"Robin, we'll cover your exit, take your men forth to the Falcon!" I looked behind to the Falcon's cockpit, "Solo! All fire concentrated on that AT-ST!"
"Are you out of your mind? My quads can't penetrate their shielding!" Chewie accompanied Solo's reply with a large growl "Chewie, this is suicide", he shouted at the Wookiee, but a few moments later the quads began firing at the armored vehicle.
It took me a brief moment to assess the situation. I was alone outside the Falcon. In no way I would risk my squadron's life like this. Although I know they would blindly follow my orders. But I wasn't obliged to spare my own life...
"Robin, I'm gonna try something." I tried to sound calm, but I was terrified. The plan was to lure the AT-ST and try to draw its fire. But a single armed man would be enough. I would require something else. Looking beyond the smoke I saw the key to my plan. The rocket launcher.
"Scout, this place is getting too hot. We gotta go!" Solo sounded stressed.
"I am not leaving without Robin." I said.
"Oh, that's great..." Solo sounded bored as if he had heard this over and over.
"Scout, this is Robin, just go, leave me here, I'm a grown girl..." Robin sounded terrified as the AT-ST's fire was dangerously destroying the walls. Beyond those walls were the ammo for all Imperial vessels that operated in that hangar. An explosive situation, to say the least.
Without much thinking, I jumped to the crater where once was the demolition's team and its rocket launcher. I grabbed it and felt surprised I was shaking so much. I aimed and fired.
The blast hit the AT-ST's left leg. Not really damaging it, but one or two more could be a serious hit. Realizing this, the AT-ST's driver aimed at me, as did all other Sandtroopers around it. I jumped to cover.
"Now, Robin, run for it!" I screamed over the radio and could only hope I wasn't too late. I couldn't see it either, since I was under intense fire. The crate that served as my shelter was blowing to pieces under the intensive heavy gunfire of the AT-ST and I could only wait...
"Scout!" Solo shouted, "Get out of there...!"
"I'm pinned down!" I said, "Get everyone out!"
Suddenly, I heard and felt a big blast from behind the crate. That could only be the AT-ST...
"Scout! Go for it, we got the AT-ST! Go!" Robin's voice was somehow weak.
Looking behind the crate, I saw the Imperial vehicle down in flames and a few Sandtroopers still trying to understand what happened. Looking behind them, there was some gun fire at the entrance where Robin stood. To my right, the Falcon was now hovering a few meters off the ground.
I felt confused. My plan had work to some extent, but I also had drawn fire to her again as she saved my life. The Sandtroopers were now assembling heavy repeater blasters aiming at the depot.
"Scout, come on!" Solo was once again screaming.
I tried to think fast. Perhaps the plan would work again. I stood up and ran to the opposite end firing frantically against Robin's attackers. The Falcon's quad-lasers were also training on the Stormies. This would work! The Sandtroopers began opening fire with the heavy repeaters as I aimed my blaster against them. I took two in my desperate attempt to draw their attention.
Suddenly, a big blast destroyed the depot into pieces.
I couldn't say a word as I felt a cold shiver down my back. "Robin..." I whispered...
Time seemed to stood still. I don't know how much time did I just stood there on my knees, defenseless and an easy target. I couldn't believe it.
I never felt the hairy Wookiee taking me to his shoulder under a barrage of blaster fire and entering the Falcon. My men, leaving the relative safety of the Falcon were flanking us.
As the Wookiee had no ceremony dropping me on the cold floor, I snapped out of it when I picked the radio and called Robin.
"Robin, come in..."
Static.
At the upper level, more troopers appeared and they carried anti-armor weapons.
"That's it!" Solo said, "We're saying goodbye..." He turned the Falcon and made a full throttle escape to the atmosphere..
The Millennium Falcon barely had shields when we entered orbit, followed by a few dozen Tie Fighters. This had been a close one. Beyond close... I reached the comm.
"Robin, this is Scout, do you read?"
Static...
"Robin, come in..."
I looked beyond the cargo hold where I stood and into the cockpit. Solo was again looking back at me over his shoulder. His expression was both of relief and I could swear he felt sorry.
The stars became lines and we entered hyperspace.
It was a sour relief. We left all hopes of retrieving Robin behind.
But if we waited much longer we would all be dead.
Robin knew this. She was a soldier.
She knew what to expect from war.
The question was... Did I take it well the loss of a soldier...?
Worse... Did I take it well that I had just lost her?
"She understood the risks..." Solo's words were as hollow as his expression. This was a cliché and he knew it. Loosing someone just wasn't that easy, no matter how much propaganda you fed your mind with.
"She did..." I tried to maintain my composure. I still held the radio. Now, at hyperspace, it was just useless.
"The mission was accomplished, nevertheless," Solo looked over to the other soldiers "We did a great job... considering..."
"We did..." I tried to sound confident "But, it's not over yet..." I looked up to Solo's eyes...
I believe he saw something in my own eyes, madness perhaps? He walked away with a curious expression. I heard about Solo's idea of the whole rebellion being a bunch of lunatics who believed they could take over the empire with a couple of blasters and will.
Solo never understood this. Since he didn't lose his love on the battlefield.
This was what made us all rebels.
This was what the Empire had thrown us...
I would fight every day with all my efforts to make sure Robin was avenged and the Empire paid for her death...
But for now, I had another task to perform.
I picked the holorecorded and began to speak the bitter words that become the worst part of being a Commander...
"Dear Sirs. My name is Corran Antilles and I am the Commander of Task Force 11, where your daughter served bravely. She was an example of courage for us all. I am sorry to report, however..."
Author: Darth En Ghedi
Origin: Portugal
Language: English
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dust settled... I could see the Falcon...
"Robin," I said."Move out! Flank the ship and secure the area!" I ran down the left corridor of the enormous docking bay. I saw a man emerge from the opening platform of the Corellian Freighter.
"Scout!" Han Solo said as he joined me behind some cargo containers, taking cover, "I'm sorry for the delay..." He had a worried face, "How are you guys?" The question was very typical from the General.
Providing some cover, the upper laser turret on the Falcon was training on the approaching Sandtroopers.
"We ran into some party, guys dressed in white..." I tried to joke, but either the Falcon's whine or the blaster fire made Solo's forehead wrinkle.
"You're always calling me for a pick up, I was surprised it took you so long..." The General made his typical grin. A shot hit the wall at our flank, alerting us both to fire back in response. "What are we waiting for? Let's move out!" General Solo was impatient.
"Robin is running late, she fell back to cover our retreat to the rendezvous. That's when we found out it was trap and called you in."
"Did you accomplish the mission?" He asked firing his blaster.
"We did!" I waved a couple of holodisks containing some blueprints of a new weapon the Empire was building.
The plan was simple. Small task force, two teams, one was the decoy, mine would rapidly infiltrate the base and retrieve the plans while the forces were drawn to the decoy team. Simple. And was working, if we only our rendezvous waypoint wasn't crawling with Sandtroopers and we had to come up with a quick backup plan. Captain Solo and the Falcon was part of it.
More Sandtroopers emerged from the upper balcony on the docking bay. They were mounting heavy repeater blasters.
"You better call her, this party is becoming too crowded for my taste!" Solo turned to his comm, yelling something to Chewbacca, is first mate, inside the Falcon.
"No time..." I said, "Jules!" I shouted to my first officer, "Hit that balcony with the big one!"
Jules tapped another soldier in his back who acknowledged with a nod. The soldier placed a rocket launcher on his shoulder and aimed.
When he was ready, Jules shouted "Clear!".
The finger did press the trigger, but the shot never came. From the other flank a big blaster fire vaporized both men.
Looking underneath the Falcon, I saw the unmistakable feet of a AT-ST vehicle.
"Kark! It's a walker... Looks like you pissed them hard, huh?" Solo jumped out of the shelter provided by the crates and I followed, just before another blast made a hole where we just stood.
"Perfect..." Solo said, "That's it, Scout! Call your children, we're gone!"
"No, wait! Robin will show up, any time now..."
"Well pick her up on the way out," He picked his comm, "Chewie, shields up". Some roaring was heard from the commlink, it was hard to understand Wookiee speech, much less with all this blaster fire around us, but Solo, somehow, found a way to translate the Wookiee's growlings, "I don't care! That Walker will scratch the Falcon!" He turned to me, "Into the ship, or I'll leave you and your kids to play with the whites!"
I had a decision to make. I called all men to retreat.
What was left of our platoon entered the ship, luckily no more soldiers were shot badly, two wounded, nothing serious. I helped the last man in and being the last to enter, I could only look back for a brief moment... "I'm sorry Robin..." I whispered.
Suddenly, all gun fire was diverted to one specific area of the hangar. It looked like a small entrance to the ammo depot.
I tried to look beyond the smoke and flames the AT-ST was causing. Knowing I was risking the men's life inside the Falcon, I went forth, anyway. I had to!
"Scout, get the kark back here!" Solo was already swearing.
I moved between the debris, noticing the AT-ST lost interest in me and was aiming at the small entrance.
"Scout... this is Robin..." Her voice was calm over the radio, "Looks like someone is asking us to be permanent residents..."
"Robin, we'll cover your exit, take your men forth to the Falcon!" I looked behind to the Falcon's cockpit, "Solo! All fire concentrated on that AT-ST!"
"Are you out of your mind? My quads can't penetrate their shielding!" Chewie accompanied Solo's reply with a large growl "Chewie, this is suicide", he shouted at the Wookiee, but a few moments later the quads began firing at the armored vehicle.
It took me a brief moment to assess the situation. I was alone outside the Falcon. In no way I would risk my squadron's life like this. Although I know they would blindly follow my orders. But I wasn't obliged to spare my own life...
"Robin, I'm gonna try something." I tried to sound calm, but I was terrified. The plan was to lure the AT-ST and try to draw its fire. But a single armed man would be enough. I would require something else. Looking beyond the smoke I saw the key to my plan. The rocket launcher.
"Scout, this place is getting too hot. We gotta go!" Solo sounded stressed.
"I am not leaving without Robin." I said.
"Oh, that's great..." Solo sounded bored as if he had heard this over and over.
"Scout, this is Robin, just go, leave me here, I'm a grown girl..." Robin sounded terrified as the AT-ST's fire was dangerously destroying the walls. Beyond those walls were the ammo for all Imperial vessels that operated in that hangar. An explosive situation, to say the least.
Without much thinking, I jumped to the crater where once was the demolition's team and its rocket launcher. I grabbed it and felt surprised I was shaking so much. I aimed and fired.
The blast hit the AT-ST's left leg. Not really damaging it, but one or two more could be a serious hit. Realizing this, the AT-ST's driver aimed at me, as did all other Sandtroopers around it. I jumped to cover.
"Now, Robin, run for it!" I screamed over the radio and could only hope I wasn't too late. I couldn't see it either, since I was under intense fire. The crate that served as my shelter was blowing to pieces under the intensive heavy gunfire of the AT-ST and I could only wait...
"Scout!" Solo shouted, "Get out of there...!"
"I'm pinned down!" I said, "Get everyone out!"
Suddenly, I heard and felt a big blast from behind the crate. That could only be the AT-ST...
"Scout! Go for it, we got the AT-ST! Go!" Robin's voice was somehow weak.
Looking behind the crate, I saw the Imperial vehicle down in flames and a few Sandtroopers still trying to understand what happened. Looking behind them, there was some gun fire at the entrance where Robin stood. To my right, the Falcon was now hovering a few meters off the ground.
I felt confused. My plan had work to some extent, but I also had drawn fire to her again as she saved my life. The Sandtroopers were now assembling heavy repeater blasters aiming at the depot.
"Scout, come on!" Solo was once again screaming.
I tried to think fast. Perhaps the plan would work again. I stood up and ran to the opposite end firing frantically against Robin's attackers. The Falcon's quad-lasers were also training on the Stormies. This would work! The Sandtroopers began opening fire with the heavy repeaters as I aimed my blaster against them. I took two in my desperate attempt to draw their attention.
Suddenly, a big blast destroyed the depot into pieces.
I couldn't say a word as I felt a cold shiver down my back. "Robin..." I whispered...
Time seemed to stood still. I don't know how much time did I just stood there on my knees, defenseless and an easy target. I couldn't believe it.
I never felt the hairy Wookiee taking me to his shoulder under a barrage of blaster fire and entering the Falcon. My men, leaving the relative safety of the Falcon were flanking us.
As the Wookiee had no ceremony dropping me on the cold floor, I snapped out of it when I picked the radio and called Robin.
"Robin, come in..."
Static.
At the upper level, more troopers appeared and they carried anti-armor weapons.
"That's it!" Solo said, "We're saying goodbye..." He turned the Falcon and made a full throttle escape to the atmosphere..
The Millennium Falcon barely had shields when we entered orbit, followed by a few dozen Tie Fighters. This had been a close one. Beyond close... I reached the comm.
"Robin, this is Scout, do you read?"
Static...
"Robin, come in..."
I looked beyond the cargo hold where I stood and into the cockpit. Solo was again looking back at me over his shoulder. His expression was both of relief and I could swear he felt sorry.
The stars became lines and we entered hyperspace.
It was a sour relief. We left all hopes of retrieving Robin behind.
But if we waited much longer we would all be dead.
Robin knew this. She was a soldier.
She knew what to expect from war.
The question was... Did I take it well the loss of a soldier...?
Worse... Did I take it well that I had just lost her?
"She understood the risks..." Solo's words were as hollow as his expression. This was a cliché and he knew it. Loosing someone just wasn't that easy, no matter how much propaganda you fed your mind with.
"She did..." I tried to maintain my composure. I still held the radio. Now, at hyperspace, it was just useless.
"The mission was accomplished, nevertheless," Solo looked over to the other soldiers "We did a great job... considering..."
"We did..." I tried to sound confident "But, it's not over yet..." I looked up to Solo's eyes...
I believe he saw something in my own eyes, madness perhaps? He walked away with a curious expression. I heard about Solo's idea of the whole rebellion being a bunch of lunatics who believed they could take over the empire with a couple of blasters and will.
Solo never understood this. Since he didn't lose his love on the battlefield.
This was what made us all rebels.
This was what the Empire had thrown us...
I would fight every day with all my efforts to make sure Robin was avenged and the Empire paid for her death...
But for now, I had another task to perform.
I picked the holorecorded and began to speak the bitter words that become the worst part of being a Commander...
"Dear Sirs. My name is Corran Antilles and I am the Commander of Task Force 11, where your daughter served bravely. She was an example of courage for us all. I am sorry to report, however..."
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