The 71st
Chapter Three
The Imperial Star Destroyer Sentinel continued to near the Death Star. Then, it stopped. Scout Trooper TK-117 could feel it as the ship jolted slightly. He and the rest of his team, the 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit, were standing in the Destroyer's main hangar, about to board a shuttle, which was one of two meant to escort their recently-captured GR-75 transport to the battle station. The team boarded the shuttle, the doors closing. An Imperial team was on the GR-75, searching it and commandeering it as well. The shuttle took off, and so did the other two ships. 117, sitting in the shuttle's passenger bay, looked over at his friend, TB-497. "So," he began, "Death Star, huh? Big leagues." Before 497 could say anything, KE-111 interjected, "Please, don't listen to the rookie, 497. This guy doesn't know anything about the Death Star. It's nothing more than some big sphere that some scientist who had way too much time on his hands designed." 117 was starting to not like 111. Well, of course on his 1st day in the unit, (25 days ago) he'd been introduced to everyone, and he even remembered 497 saying,
That's KE-111. Real ego on that guy. Don't know what his deal is. Do not listen to anything he says.
That's when the shuttle began nearing the Death Star. He could overhear the two pilots in the cockpit. "Death Star, this is a Lambda-class shuttle, designation TS-5516. Permission to dock in Hangar Bay 8209?" A muffled voice came over the ship's computer. "Access codes granted. Hangar Bay 8209 shields lowering..."
Then, the ship entered the Death Star, along with its two counterparts. The hangar was bustling with activity. The ship landed, and the boarding ramp opened up. 117, and the rest of his unit, stepped out, onto the Death Star. 117 looked directly ahead of him, into space. The Sentinel was flying away from the Death Star. At this point, 117 also noticed Agent Vancer walking ahead of him. "Um..." said 117, before being interrupted. "Don't worry. You'll be safe here." called out a voice from behind him. 117 turned around. It was an officer with brown hair and a naturally condescending look on his face. The man continued. "There's nothing that can penetrate this station." he said, then saying, "My name is Conan Motti. You'll be serving under me temporarily, understood?" 117 looked behind Motti, noticing the other troops. "Yes, sir." they all said, 117 also continuing. Motti turned around, walking. "Follow me," he said, "You six will be stationed around this area of the Death Star." Motti turned back around to face the unit, stopping. "You," he said, pointing at 111, "You'll be in the command sector." "Yes, sir." said 111, walking away. "You," pointing at 117 and 497 this time, "You two will be in the power sector. We're transporting some new generators in, and we need a safety overwatch crew. General Tagge's men are... inadequate, to say the least. Especially after he took the best of them to Dantooine. Now, go." The two troopers nodded, walking away. Motti turned his attention last to 1225, 1337, and 228. All of the standard troopers. "You three will be in the defense sector." All of them walked away.
117 and 497 exited the hangar, and into the power sector. The Scout looked around the corridor. It was much busier than the Sentinel. There were officers and Stormtrooper battalions walking around everywhere. "Really wish we could've done something more exciting than guard some power generators." said 497. "Yeah," replied 117, "But if it's for the greater good of the Empire, then I'll do it." Then, the two stopped at a doorway that opened up in front of them. Inside was a chunk of the power sector. Several men wearing black uniforms and large, black open-faced helmets were carrying metal objects of some kind. The room was blue, lit by a fluorescent light, along with the red glow of the generators themselves. 497 walked off to the side, looking out of a set of viewports, showing the sight of space. "Wow," he said, "Look at that view." "Yeah," said 117, walking over to him, "Y'don't get that everywhere." Then, they were interrupted by one of the large-helmeted men tapping 117 on the shoulder. "What is it?" the Scout asked. "We need two more men to transport another generator power source. Get on it." "Yes, sir." the two said, walking away.
KE-111 had entered the command sector of this section of the Death Star. The command sector, of all places. Yet more proof that he was destined for great things. The Shadow Trooper walked down the corridor. The place that he was meant to be stationed at was right past a large blast door. He walked through it. And there it was. The room had great resemblance to a Star Destroyer bridge, but the differences were notable. Technicians officers sat in pits on either side of the main walkway, and regular officers filtered in and out of the area. 111 stopped walking, right as he entered. An officer who was at the other end of the walkway turned around, and stopped talking to the man he was before. "Ah," the man said, "You're finally here." he said. "My name is Senixus Ryff. I'll be your staff officer for the time being." "Got it." said 111 as Ryff walked away. The trooper stood guard.
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The GR-75 transport made its landing at the Great Temple of the Massassi. It smoothly touched the ground, with some Rebel soldiers walking out to see it. The boarding ramp lowered onto the ground. Demas and Lansor were the first to step out, along with a few others. "I can't believe we're here." said Demas. Lansor looked over to him as they were walking to the temple. "Well," he said, "You can't believe that you're here. I was already stationed at this old place before Scarif." The two continued walking, and, along with a few more Rebel soldiers, entered the main area. Demas stopped and looked around, sighing, then walking again.
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1337, 1225, and 228 walked down one of the hundreds- maybe thousands- of corridors of the Death Star. That's when 1225 saw it. A Rebel soldier. It was impossible, by all means. Unless some of them escaped the GR-75. "Look, there's one!" 1225 yelled, "Blast them!" 1337 and 228 raised their blasters, firing, but no hit. A comm call came over to 1225. "TK-1225, what's wrong?" asked the man on the other end of the signal. "We've sighted Rebel forces. They've infiltrated this sector of the battle station!" 1225 replied. "Impossible," the man on the signal's end said, "That's the second time this day." He sighed. "I'm sending reinforcements to lock down this sector." The trio of soldiers raised their blasters.
117 and 497 were moving some of the generator power sources when another Navy Trooper entered the area. "You two need to get your weapons ready. Rebels escaped the GR-75, and we need all the help we can get." The two troopers dropped the power source on the ground, running out of the room.
117 and 497 ran down a corridor, where they found a weapons' supply area. 117 grabbed a heavy blaster off of a crate. A TL-50. 497 grabbed an SE-14c. As soon as 117 got his blaster ready, firing came from the corridor outside of them. "Woah!" said 117, diving behind a shelving unit, "Look out!" 497 did the same, getting behind a different one. 117 raised his TL-50, peeking out from behind the corner. That's when a human Rebel attempted to enter the room. 117 got up, and pulled the trigger. It began to rapid-fire. The weapon knocked the Rebel down, dropping him on the floor. 117 was panting. "You alright?" asked 497. "Yeah, just a little jumpy," said the Scout, "I mean, Rebels infiltrated our own base." "Yeah," said 497, "Stay on the alert. There could be more." The two continued off.
111 was still standing guard, along with another trooper beside him. 111 looked at the regular soldier, with his E-11, then looked back in front of him. He saw an officer walk into a large room in front of him. Then, the officer went down on the floor, the chest area of his uniform smoking. The two troopers raised their guns, and some other officers grabbed SE-14cs off of control panels and counters. The two soldiers moved forward. "Go in front of me." said 111, and the other trooper complied. They walked in.
117 and 497 continued walking, when two Rebels ran by, down another corridor. 497 sighed as the two Imperials began running. "I swear," he said, "We're going to get lost in here." 117 stopped in the hallway. The two Rebels were too far away from him to get hit. 117 pulled down on the trigger. A blue light emanated from the TL-50. 117 let go of the trigger. It fired an ion shot, and it went projectile across the hallway, killing the two. Then, a voice came over the Death Star's intercom system. 117 and 497 looked up. The voice said, "Attention, all personnel, the Death Star is approaching the planet Yavin."
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Demas and Lansor sat in their chairs. The room that they were in was slightly more advanced than the main base, but not by too much. Demas looked around. The majority of people in the room were in orange uniforms. X-Wing, or maybe Y-Wing pilots. The two sat at Demas' left, at the far side of the room. The Rodian looked around again. On the far right side was Gold Leader, a man called Jon Vander, if the Rodian wasn't mistaken. Demas also noticed a young woman in white. Princess Leia. he thought. He'd seen her in holos before, speaking out to the Imperial Senate, but he'd never seen her in person. "Attention, all soldiers, the briefing begins now!" announced General Jan Dodonna. Demas and Lansor turned their attention to the front of the room, where there was a large black screen. The General began speaking. "The battle station is heavily shielded, and carries a firepower greater than half the starfleet." Demas widened his eyes at this prospect. Dodonna continued, "Its defenses are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense." Demas and Lansor stared at the plans for the weapon that were outlined on the screen. Then, on the far-right side of the room, a voice spoke out. Demas looked over. It was Gold Leader. "Pardon me for asking, sir," he said, "But what good are snub fighters going to be against that?" he said, pointing. Dodonna said again, "Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small, one-man fighter to be any threat. Or, they'd have a tighter defense." Lansor whispered, "Idiots, those Imps are." However, the loud voice of the General made Lansor's voice unhearable. "An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia," continued the man, "Has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station." Demas leaned forward in his chair, now captivated. "The approach will not be easy. You're required to maneuver straight down this trench, and skim the surface to this point." said Dodonna, closely looking at the projection of the plans. "The target area is only two meters wide." When the General said that, the room erupted into quiet conversation. "It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port." Dodonna said, unfazed by the talking, "The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station." The schematics on the plan began to blink and flash. "Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes." he said while pointing at the screen. Dodonna was speaking again, but all Demas could hear was a voice on the other end of the room. "That's impossible, even for a computer!" yelled the voice. Someone else began whispering to him, but Demas couldn't make it out. Then, Dodonna said his final statement. "Then man your ships, and may the Force be with you." Demas, Lansor, and the rest of the room got up, leaving.
Demas and Lansor were now in the dark, main hangar area of the temple. Lansor was moving crates onto a shipping lift. Demas walked over to him. "So," he said, "Do you think this crazy plan of ours'll work?" Lansor sighed. "Demas, my friend," he said, "There have been many instances of smaller forces overtaking larger opponents. Case in point: The Ghostfinder fleet versus the Sith armada." Demas had no idea what a Sith was, nor did he care to know. All he wanted right now was to survive. Demas assisted Lansor in loading another white crate. "Sure hope we can do it." said Demas.
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111 was searching the room for anything that he could find. Then, he heard something. They were footsteps coming from behind him. Multiple ones, of multiple beings. 111 turned back towards his teammates. "C'mon, with me!" he said, moving forward, his blaster raised. He entered the corridor where he heard the footsteps. One of his teammates turned to him. "C'mon," he said, looking at 111, "There's nothing here, why don't we-" The generic trooper was cut off by getting shot in the head by a blaster rifle. 111 ran down the hallway, firing his Nightsniper along the way. Then, a Rebel peeked his head out. The shot that 111 let off hit the alien being right there, killing it. But, 111 knew there had to be more. And there were. There was another Rebel in the next room over, which was a pitch-black, circular room with a table in it. 111 shot at the Rebel, killing him. The Shadow Trooper stood proudly. "All in a day's work." he said.
A group of about 3 to 4 Rebel soldiers were on the offensive with 117 and 497. The Scout peeked out from his cover once more, rapid-firing his blaster. He heard a pained grunt as someone fell over onto the floor. Another Rebel down.
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Demas and Lansor stood in the opened entrance of the base. There was barely anyone in this area, as most ground crew had retreated into the control room. Lansor looked on as many X-Wings and Y-Wings left the base. "There they go," he said, "Here we stay." Then, they heard footsteps behind them. It was a technician. "Hey, you two are supposed to be in the control room." he said, and the two walked there.
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The Rebels in the hallway had been wiped out entirely. 117 and 497 looked upon their bodies. 117 sighed, and 497 pulled out a comlink, attempting to contact one of the 71st Unit members. He opened the channel. "1337, report in. Any Rebels in your sector?" 497's call was received with the noise of blaster fire on the other end. It was 1337's voice. "We're under attack by Rebel forces," he yelled into it, "Get here immediately!" 497 put his comlink away, and the two troopers began to run towards the defense sector.
1225, 1337, and 228 were being pinned down by Rebel blaster fire. Then, 228 pulled a grenade out of his utility belt. He hit a button, throwing it. It beeped, detonating at the other end of the hallway. It didn't hit any Rebels. "Damn," said 1337, taking cover once again. Then, the Rebels' suppressive fire ended. 1337 peeked his head out. He saw the sight of 117 and 497 at the other end, all other Rebels dead on the floor.
117 and 497 ran over to the trio of troopers. "Hey," said 117, looking at the group, "You guys holding up okay?" 1337 got up, saying, "Yeah, we're fine." Then, they heard footsteps behind them. It was an officer. "What is it?" asked 117 as the man came to a stop. The officer, a man in his mid-20s, said, "You people need to get to defensive positions. The Rebels have launched an attack against the Death Star." "What?!" said 497, stepping towards the man, "That's impossible. Admiral Motti told us that-" "Admiral Motti is arrogant." interrupted the officer, "Now get to your positions!" The man began running towards the corridor's other end.
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Demas was sitting at one of the many thin-glass computer monitors located in the temple's command area. Just to the right of the Rodian was the command table, which had a hologram of Yavin, along with the Death Star. More voices came over his headset. Demas listened in.
Red Two standing by...
Red Eleven standing by...
Red Five standing by...
"Lock s-foils in attack position!" exclaimed Red Leader. Demas turned to one of his fellow crewmates. "800 meters to the Death Star." the Rodian said.
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The five-man team of 117, 497, 1337, 1225, and 228 sped through the corridors of the battle station. Another Rebel emerged from a corner. 228 blasted her with his E-11 before anyone could have a second thought about the situation. The troopers continued to speed-walk. "Where exactly are we going?" asked 1337. 117 looked at him, then back in front of him. "That officer said we need to take defensive positions. I think there are turbolaser emplacements over here." the Scout said as he pointed toward an offshoot corridor. 117 rushed in.
The Scout Trooper entered the room. It was small and square, with a ladder going up to the turbolaser operation systems. 117 climbed up, then sitting in a chair positioned in front of some buttons on a control panel. "Okay, let's get this thing started." he said, and pressed a button. It turned the turbolaser. He selected a control stick in front of him, test-firing the weapon. 117 laughed. "Alright. Let's do this." he said. All of a sudden, two enemy ships were sighted on his radar. 117 pulled on the stick, rotating the weapon to his left, firing as he did it. Two X-Wing fighters had passed him by. "Damn it." he said. Then, another ship came through. It was a Y-Wing. 117 rotated the turbolaser back around, firing. "This one's for Chimera Force." he said while flashes of green lit up his armor. Then: Success. The Y-Wing was hit. It began flaming from the back, then crashing into the Death Star surface. "No more ships here." he said to himself, then he climbed out of the turbolaser tower.
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"Heavy fire zone, 23 degrees." "I see it, stay low!" Demas flipped a few more switches on his computer console. "Red Five's heading off." said the Rodian.
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117 and the others walked out into another corridor. There weren't any Rebels left; in fact, it seemed that the scum were all gone. But instead of Rebels, there were just Imperial Officers, other troopers, and mouse droids speeding down the hall in either direction. 117 grunted. "The whole damn station's in disarray!" he said. 497 walked close to him. "Well, it can't be that bad. This station is the ultimate power in the universe, nothing could destroy it." "Unless... no. It can't be..." said 117, running off. "Hey, wait!" yelled 1337, as the other troopers followed behind him.
Imperial Data Archive C23
TK-117 entered one of the battle station's data archive rooms. There were plain gray shelves adorned with datatapes and holoprojectors. 117 checked the frontmost shelf, which had information that was most recent, while the back shelves had the oldest information regarding the Empire, starting with the Emperor's grand speech on Coruscant almost 20 years ago. 117 grabbed a holoprojector off of the shelf. It read in Aurebesh:
Classified Footage, Officer Eyes Only
117 hesitated opening the footage, but if he was to understand the full situation, he had to.
The Scout Trooper clicked a small black button. Blue holographic footage started up. It showed a series of beaches, with occasional shots of Imperial ships and facilities. Then, it turned violent. Brief security-holo footage of Rebel soldiers fighting Stormtroopers on the beach played by. Then, it cut to an Imperial Security Droid being blasted to pieces by Stormtroopers. Finally, a cold, monotonous narrator began speaking. "Just hours ago, an Imperial facility on a classified world was openly attacked by Rebel Alliance forces. The most recent information states that vital pieces of data were stolen. The Empire, as of this recording, is attempting to retrieve them. Rumor has it that a defected Imperial cargo pilot was implicated in these attacks, as you can see here." The frame of the holo freezed, showing the inside of a shuttle blowing up. The footage was blurry, then cleared up, and proceeded to zoom. The Scout had all the info he needed. From what he could tell, the plans to the Death Star were stolen at this classified world. Suddenly, 117 heard muffled footsteps. Someone heard the recording. Probably an officer. He was right. "Who's down here?" yelled an accented voice. 117 got up from the table, and rushed to put the projector back on its spot on the shelf. He stuffed the thing onto a random frontmost shelf and went to hide. Then, the blast doors into the room opened. 117 peeked out. It was a General who walked in. Ah, kriff me, thought 117, I shouldn't have come down here. First I'll get caught, then I'll be tried for treason. He still heard the officer rummaging around. "I know you're in here!" he yelled. 117 began to breathe harder. Then, he heard a beep coming from the officer's direction. A comlink. The officer began talking into it. "What is it?" The voice on the other end said, "General, there's been a situation on the outside of the station. Alliance Y-Wings are heading into the trench."
117 opened his comlink while sneaking to a more well-hidden area. "This is 117. 497, do you copy." "I copy." said 497 on the other end, "What is it?" "Seems that the Rebels are causing more problems outside the Death Star than in." "Well, yeah," said 497, "Early reports are saying that we've only got three TIEs out there. And one of them belongs to Lord Vader." "Look," continued 117, "I don't have time for this. I've got to get back to the corridors." 117 put his comlink away, looking around the room. The officer who had been hunting him down seemed to have left. 117 walked out, past the singular lit-up table and towards the exit.
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A short while later...
Demas spoke into his mic. "We've lost most of Gold Squadron. Repeat, we've lost most of Gold Squadron." The Rodian couldn't believe what he was saying. The team of Y-Wings had assisted him and his fellow soldiers just a few hours ago at Tatooine. Those hours felt like days now. The tech next to him said, "Hold tight, we've got Red Squadron heading in."
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Later again...
Alarms were blaring all over the battle station. There was no escaping them. 117, who had since regrouped with his unit, were trying to find any method of escape. Suddenly, the team of 5 emerged into another corridor, with this one having one turbolift in the wall. "C'mon." said 117, rushing in. The door to the lift opened, and the unit squeezed in. 117 pressed a button, and the lift started down. He could see that they were zooming past many floors. Then, it stopped. The door opened, revealing a large hangar bay. "Look!" yelled 117, "Those TIEs can get us out of here!" 117 began running towards one. "Three to a ship!" he yelled. 497 and 1337 followed the Scout, while the remaining three headed to the other TIE.
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Demas sat at the computer, his stomach churning. This was the last chance at destroying the battle station, and it wasn't looking good. "Three TIEs pursuing Red Five." said Demas to his crewmate next to him. Then, there were only two TIEs marked on the monitor. "Wait." said Demas. He flipped a few switches, then said to his crewmate, "Unidentified Corellian freighter inbound, sir." "Leave it, if it's destroying TIEs." said the human.
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"Alright," said 117, with 1337 and 497 sitting on either side of him in the TIE cockpit, "Let's get this thing started up." 1337 looked at him. "How do you even know how to fly a TIE?" he asked. After flipping a few switches, 117 said, "Every student received flight training at Royal Imperial back on Coruscant." "Oh." said 1337. 117 pressed a button, speaking into the built-in mic. "TIE 2, do you copy?" he asked. "We copy, TIE Leader." It was 111 at the other end of the speaker. "Okay," said 117, let's get out of here!" The Scout pulled on the control stick, and the TIE lurched up. "I'm heading out," he said into the mic again, "Follow my lead!" He had to yell over the TIE's screeching. The two Imperial fighters took off, out of the hangar.
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"We have confirmed torpedo entry!" yelled someone among the tense, silent Yavin IV control room. Demas looked back at his monitor. This was the deciding moment. Then, boom. Demas could hear the explosion occurring all the way up there in space. "Wha-" he said, "We... we did it!" As he said that, the whole room erupted into applause. Except for Demas. He folded his arms and put his head down on his desk. "Hey, Demas, I'd told you we'd do it!" yelled someone tapping him on the shoulder. Demas looked up. "Hey, Lansor!"
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The explosion rattled the TIE that 117 was in. It was massive. The Scout could have sworn that he had gone deaf for a few seconds. They had been flying away from the planet of Yavin, and he had presumed that that was the explosion. 117 tapped into the mic. "This is TK-117 reporting in. Congratulations, Death Star, the Rebels have been-" Suddenly, the radio signal was intercepted by 111's TIE. "Hey..." the Shadow Trooper said over static, "No Yavin explosio.... Death Star gon...." 117 tapped a few buttons, trying to receive the signal, but no luck. "It's not working, I can't get them online." Then, the TIE shook even more. A piece of debris had impacted the fighter. "Ah!" yelled virtually everyone in the ship. The TIE was spinning slightly. In the chaos, 1337 yelled. "Damn it, 117...." he tried to say while keeping himself composed, "Readjust the ship!" "I'm trying!" yelled the Scout Trooper. After a few minutes, the TIE was better, although still a little tilted. "We've gotta contact the Empire." said 497 after a few more minutes of silence. "How?" said 117, "Comms are jammed, the Death Star is gone." He shook his head. "We might as well have died back there and it would've made no difference." "Look, just try to contact an Imperial base, anywhere you can." "Sure." said 117. The TIE continued on, flying further and further from Yavin every second.
"Wait a second," said 111, "Comm signals are getting better..." The computer monitor went to static for a few seconds before clearing up. "I have contact with the Sentinel!" said 111. He turned a knob, then, a voice came through. "This is the Imperial Star Destroyer Sentinel. What is your operating number, TIE pilot?" "Uh, I'm not a TIE pilot. This is KE-111 of the 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit. Admiral Stryker Perox commands us. If you could just put him on the call-" "Admiral Perox is busy." said the officer on the other end, "Where are you arriving from?" "The Death Star. It was destroyed." said 111. "What- Okay, fine. Use these coordinates. We'll be awaiting your arrival." "Thank you, sir." said 111.
117 flipped another switch. More static. Then, it started to clear up. "This is Imperial Security Bureau black site 22-1A. Who is this?" 117 gasped quietly. "Uh, uh, this is Scout Trooper TK-117 of the 71st Mobile Reconnaissance Unit. You might've heard of-" "What is your current location, TK-117?" "Um, I'm in a TIE Fighter with two other troopers. We just escaped the Death Star. It's been blown to pieces by the Rebels." "Alright," said the voice on the other end of the line, "Considering that you just escaped this, we'll let you here. We're on Geonosis. We'll send you precise coordinates to the site. You never speak of anything you see here. Understood, TK-117?" "Understood, sir. Thank you." 117 pressed a button, shutting the comm off, continuing to fly. "They're going to shoot us." said 1337 suddenly. 497 looked to him. "What makes you say that?" 1337 glanced at him as if the answer was obvious. "We're entering a black site of the ISB. And we should all know what ISB means: Paranoia, fear, and uptightness. They can't possibly risk people of our type seeing whatever they're holding in there." "Well, I guess we'll find out soon."
"Where's contact with my unit?!" yelled Admiral Perox as he entered the bridge. He stopped, looking around. The whole place was in disarray. He looked to his right, at a computer console. "We've lost contact with Agent Vancer, too." said one of the techs, Perox walked over to them. "Would one of you care to explain what is going on here?" One of the techs turned around in his chair. "Sir," he said, "We lost contact with all Sentinel crew who boarded the Death Star about 5 minutes ago." "Well, where's the Death Star?" asked Perox. "That's the question everyone is asking. Even all the way to Coruscant." Perox sighed. "No one has contact with the station?" "No, sir. We contacted a few other Destroyers. They said that they haven't been able to contact their personnel either." "Look," the Admiral said, "It appears this crisis won't be ending soon. I'll be in my office if needed."
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1 Day Later
111, 1225, and 228's TIE Fighter neared the Sentinel. 111 pressed a switch on the TIE's computer system. "Sentinel, this is KE-111. Do I have permission to dock?" He lifted his finger from the switch. A tech's voice came over the other end. "Permission granted." The TIE continued on, landing in the Destroyer's hangar.
The TIE touched down on the pristine floor. A number of crew in simple grey uniforms came running toward the ship. The cockpit's hatch opened, and 111 climbed out. He jumped down, and 228, with 1225 followed out. 111 looked toward the control tower, then towards the door that led there. Admiral Perox walked out of that doorway. "Where are the other 3?" he asked as he stopped walking. "We don't know." said 1225, "They were in a separate TIE. We split off from them." "Great," said Perox, putting two of his fingers around the bridge of his nose. Then, he yelled. "Just great!" Several of the other officers and cadets in the hangar turned to look at him, then went back to business. "First," continued Perox, "The Empire's ultimate weapon is destroyed, and now I've lost half of my own Stormtrooper unit! They could be on the other side of the galaxy for all I know!"
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Demas and Lansor stood in the crowd of dozens- maybe hundreds- of other Rebellion soldiers. It was the morning after the destruction of the Death Star, and optimism was high in the Rebel Alliance. Most of the Empire's key players were killed aboard the battle station, though Darth Vader, the Emperor's top enforcer, was only marked as "Missing". Whatever. We'll get him. thought Demas. Now was a time for celebration. Then, Demas could hear the sound of two large doors opening. They had walked out into the large room. The heroes of the Rebel Alliance: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca were their names. Apparently, Solo and Chewbacca were the ones who'd piloted the Corellian freighter that Demas identified back in the control room. Demas, standing in the back, tried to see them. Then, the three of them began to ascend the stairs at the end of the room. Demas and Lansor, and everyone else in the two large crowds, then turned, facing the trio. Princess Leia Organa was up there as well, and Demas could see her smile at the yellow-jacketed Skywalker. General Dodonna handed Organa a medal, which she bestowed upon Solo. The General handed the Princess another, which she gave Skywalker. Demas could hear a series of beeps and whistles from the small blue and grey astromech up front. Solo and Skywalker turned around, and the whole room began clapping, including Demas and Lansor. Demas looked to his left. Lansor was whistling using his fingers. In the hopefulness and cheerfulness of it all, Chewbacca roared.
----- End of Chapter Three -----
----- Chapter Four -----