Star Wars: Blue Quartz/ Chapter 4: The Death Watch

Chapter 4: The Death Watch

"As far as stupid ideas go, this is by far the most stupid."

"Watch your tone, Timin," snapped back Carg.

"Tone? I'm shivering so much I didn't even realize I said that out loud," Timin clapped back. To be sure, the huddled canvas team was shuddering inside their armor as they trudged through the harsh snow.

"My orders are not to be questioned but rather to be seen through," Carg responded. Almost instinctually, every member of the party paused in their step.

"Spoken like a true tyrant," Gold Leader quipped, then turned his head to Carg. Carg nodded, then added "A good point. Let's not lose sight of our objective, and let's all get through this alive. Together."

The party, made up of Carg, Timin, Gold Leader, Leland, and Fil, all regarded one another in their dire circumstance. Truly it was not the time for internal fighting but rather brotherhood. Silently the men all came to the same realization.

"Keep it to coms, men. And keep it quiet. Our scanners are useless out here," Carg reminded his men.

"Almost like the traitor manning them," Timin replied. Carg rushed immediately to the soldier and rousted him firmly by the shoulder.

"You stow that talk right now, soldier! Do you want to get every man in this regiment killed because you don't know what damned day of the week it is?"

"With all due respect, sir, we don't know where the opening in our line lies, but we can't ignore that something got through and I think that affects me far more than it does you. And now that you've got us out here, in the wild, without our indigenous guide, by the way, I'm thinking someone who does want to dismantle us is doing a mighty fine job."

There seemed to be no doubt or insecurity in Timin's eyes as he bored into those of his Commander Carg. He truly believed in everything he'd said.

"And I suppose you imagine that Ponds is monitoring us, listening to this devious interplay, and having the laugh of the New Empire, right?"

"It had crossed my mind; Yes, sir."

The men squared off in the snow with such apparent tension that it seemed a scuffle was imminent. Sensing the rising chaos, Fil chimed in.

"Weapons are at the ready, sir, but with our scanners being so ineffective in this snowblind, it's impossible to track the movement of any hostiles."

Without taking his eyes from Timin, Carg regarded his Master-at-Arms. "True, but the Death Watch have no scanners, either. Like us, they'd have to rely only on their--"

"Instincts," rose a loud voice over the muffled whispers of the Rebellion team's coms. As the five men awoke from their squabbling they realized that they'd been completely surrounded by several shrouded members of the Death Watch in the snowy valley they'd chosen for their impromptu tribunal.

"Your technology has made you weak, and your lack of foresight has made you stupid," proclaimed the warrior directly before them, his blood-crusted spearhead held precariously at Carg's neckline. "State your business or perish."

Carg holstered his weapons, and turned to his party and gestured for them to do the same.

"One of my men has succumbed to the Winter Terror, and we need your help to drive it out."

At this, the outspoken warrior withdrew his spear, but leaned uncomfortably close to the Commander. "Is he dead?" he asked. "Have you killed him with fire?"

Carg's puzzled expression was all the warrior needed to see.

"Come inside," he beseeched.

"Wherever you've come from is gone, now."