Star Wars: Blue Quartz/ Chapter 10: War!

Chapter 10: War!

Leia came through the scanner bank speakers, breaking the silence. Her voice sounded unsteady, unsure; a clear deviation from the confidence the men had come to expect from her.

"Are you--" She coughed and centered herself, knowing her men needed this from her. "Are you sure, Commander Ponds? Could it be a dilution of the signal from their jammers?"

"I wish that were the case, Your Highness, but this equipment uses a separate wavelength, one their scanners can't corrupt. It's evident that Timin is dead." Ponds released the SPEAK button and hung his head. More silence filled the room as the men tightened their jaws and fists.

"We will mourn him only after the rest of our squadron is safe," Leia continued. Take as many men as you can and free our comrades."

"And the Death Watch?" Stone asked expectantly.

The brief second seem like hours before the response came.

"Destroy them."

---

Racing through the snow on AT-RTs, Ponds felt liberated to be back in the saddle of his old Lightning Squadron runner. The wind was harsh and pelted his face with large and small flakes of snow. The smaller ones were the real threat; tiny daggers that stung his face and reddened his skin. Despite that, and the tenuous situation that his new friends found themselves in, he felt truly alive.

"What's that face, soldier?" asked Rex, bouncing aggressively on the strapped back seat of the runner in front of him, piloted by Stone.

"It's the one on the front of his skull. Duh!" retorted Rahr, running alongside the troopers at an inhuman brisk speed.

"Don't make me regret bringing you, fish! Ponds, respond." Rex, it seemed, was in no mood for frivolity.

"Just eager to be of assistance, sir."

"Smile when the day is won."

"Yes sir."

---

Gold Leader leaned into Carg's shoulder again for a private consultation. "We're going to die here, you know."

"Don't be so sure."

"Who are we kidding? The Blue Quartz is as exposed as it's going to be. We can't keep digging, and even if we did, what are we stalling for? If they don't kill us soon the cold will."

Sure enough, the Blue Quartz in question was completely uncovered from snow, and a narrow trench had been dug all the way around it. The men could've thrown their shovels down and announced they were finished some time ago, but they continued to buy time to formulate a plan. Thus far, no plan had materialized.

"Just keep working. Or make it look like you are. Ponds will come to rescue us."

"I'm beginning to think your brain is frozen."

Thon rousted himself from a small nap and sauntered over to the men in the snow. "What could possibly be taking this long? Are you digging with spoons?"

"We're almost done," announced Carg. "We just need to free up the anchoring bit at the bottom."