Part 3: Imperials, Rebels, and Planet fall
(I want to apologize for this being rather long. I felt I needed to get this last part out of the way so that I can move on with current events. EnjoyJ).
I do not know how long I wept by that door. All I could think was that my whole family, my life, gone in a single blinding flash. I was still in a state of shock, for I did not hear the person approach. The first I knew he was there was when he tapped on my shoulder. I slowly looked up into the face of one of the uniformed people I had seen earlier in the corridor during the battle. “ma’am?� he asked, “Are you ok, hurt?� I had no idea; I was still in a state of shock. He helped me to my feet, and led me away from the door and towards the corridor. In a voice that carried genuine concern, he said, “we need to get you off of this ship, it’s not safe. It could nova at anytime�. I helplessly allowed myself to be led by this man through the damaged corridors of the ship. We eventually came to an undamaged airlock, and told to go in; what lay before me was a large ship with many seats, most filled with passengers and crewmembers from the transport, many in need of medical attention, from the battle that took place previously. The uniformed man that had brought me here said he had to go, that he was needed elsewhere, but stated as he left “someone would be along shortly to take you and other survivors across to an Imperial star destroyer�.
“Imperial star destroyer? survivors?� Could my family have survived after all? I anxiously searched the shuttle passenger area hoping that I would see my mother, father and brothers waving me on to join them, but they were not amongst the many passengers and crew that came here from the all but destroyed transport, and brought to this shuttle. I made my way back to the air lock and waited, hoping that my parents and brothers would come around the bend in the corridor, happy that they and I had not come to any harm. I waited until the shuttle was full, I made up my mind that I would go back into the ship and search every deck if need be to find my family, but just as I started to leave, I was stopped by another of the uniformed men, an Imperial crewmember. He told me “don’t even try to go back in there miss, it’s not safe. You are going to have to take a seat, as we are sealing up right now, and heading to the ship�.
I tried to explain to him about my family, that they were not on board the shuttle, and that they may still be on the transport, that I had to find them. He would not listen to my pleas, and turned a deaf ear. I tried to force my way past, but I was no match against him, and was dully escorted to a seat and strapped in non-too gently. I was struggling with the straps trying to get them undone, when with a hiss, the airlock door to the shuttle closed and we launched. My heart sickened, became like a dark cloud, enshrouding my soul, I knew at that moment I would never see my family again. I started to weep uncontrollably, again.
The trip over to the star destroyer was not very long, but it was long enough for me to hear a couple of the crewmembers from the transport talking about what happened.
“I told the first officer it wasn’t a smart idea to bring those rebel supplies on board, I hadn’t a doubt they would bring trouble�. “Shush� said the second to the first, “you want these Imp goons to over hear you?� “I really don’t give a bantha butt if they do! All I know now is that we are in deep picket poo with the Imperial forces because of what our captain did�. “Well, at least they (rebels) were able to remove most of their supplies, and get their supply ship away before the Imp navy boarded�. "Yeah, well the Rebs did not have to blow their other ship next to ours, as they did. That is what tore that gaping hole in the passenger area, and left us stranded�.
“Oh My God�, I thought to my self, this was all about the Imperials and the rebels, and the conflict that was going on, because of them. I now knew the reason for what happened to the transport, and it was all because of the Rebels placing their supplies on a supposedly neutral transport. They not only placed themselves at risk, but all the innocent passengers as well. I thought back to when I was hiding in the cargo hold and the tall scruffy man came in. He was not a pirate as I thought, but a Rebel! Moreover, because of him and his cohorts, my parents were gone!
My thoughts were interrupted, when a violent explosion buffeted the shuttle, nearly all of the passengers and most of the transport crew started shouting and carrying on. I heard one of the previous crewmembers say, “there she goes, didn’t think she would last as long as she did�. With that, I swore a silent vow, to do whatever possible to help stem the aggression of the Rebel forces, and keep them from doing more harm against innocents.
We docked with the Imperial star destroyer; all the passengers and I were taken aboard and then separated from the transport crew. Crew from the star destroyer led us through a maze of corridors and down many decks of the ship. We finally arrived at what looked like a hastily converted storage hold, filled with berthing bunks and small lockers. One of the imperial crewmembers told us to find a spot, and to make ourselves comfortable, that an Imperial transport would be meeting us shortly to take us to a planet, a planet called Tatooine.
I settled onto a bunk in a far corner of the room. I wanted to be alone, to suffer in my personal tragedy by my self. I had no clue what I was going to do; I was alone, with out family, on a strange ship, amongst strange people, going to a strange place. I lay on the bunk grieving for my loss, and started crying one more time. I must have fallen asleep, for I was woke by a fellow refugee, and told that the Imperial transport had arrived. I had nothing much of personal belongings on me, so I gathered what little I had and followed the rest of the passengers to the docking station. Onboard the transport I was taken to a dorm style room by a nice enough crewmember, where I settled into another bunk to wait out our trip to this new planet.
For the most part our passage was uneventful. On the last day of the trip when I was being shown how to operated the banking terminal, and other necessities of living on a new world and preparing to go planet side, a commotion broke out in one of the corridors. One of the crew from the destroyed transport, had some how freed himself, and had gotten a hold of a weapon. He had barricaded himself in one of the cargo holds. I only wanted to get my stuff and leave, but he was keeping everyone from getting down to the planet bound shuttle. I approached one of the Imperial crewmembers that was holding back all of us, and told him I wanted to leave. He told me it was not safe as long as that person was down there. I became irate at this man, thinking what a scrawny coward he is. I told him let me pass, I’ll take care of him, I could talk him out of what he was doing and we all could then leave and get on with our lives.
I looked at him, and I noticed he was visibly shaking. I rethought my assessment of him, knowing that he was not a coward, but was scared. He had just joined the Imperial Navy and had no combat training yet. Again, I offered my help, after a moment, he told me it was my life, and offered me a pistol, just in case. I slowly headed up the corridor, listening for trouble. I rounded a bend, and then saw what I was going to face. A haggled man, standing in the center of the room holding a pistol, yelling at the top of his lungs, “You’ll never take me alive; I’ll kill anyone that comes to close. I have a pistol and some grenades. I swear I’ll use them if you don’t give me what I want�. I startled him when I spoke, and when he turned he immediately started shooting in my direction. I dived for cover, thinking that this was not good. I returned fire, aiming for his legs to bring him down so that others may take him and help him. He was quick, and all I could manage was to graze him. He reached into his coat and pulled out a grenade. He was about to throw it when the darn thing went off prematurely, killing him instantaneously. All I could do was shake my head, sadly thinking what a waste, and left him where he lie. I found an exit on the other side of the hold and let myself into the next area. I was greeted as some sort of hero, by members of the transport crew, and offered a reward. They told me that because I was told because of my heroics I would be able to get a job as soon as I landed planet side, and that they would also put me in touch with an Imperial recruiter for demonstrating my abilities and coolness under pressure. “wow� I thought, a job and the chance to serve in the galactic conflict, just what I needed right then and there to take my mind off of the loss of my family.
I was shown to an office where there was a very strange looking sentient, asked what I would like to do. He…I think he was a he… offered many different occupations to choose from, ranging from entertainment to the medical profession. What I choose is what had already been taught to me by my father and brothers, I choose to enter the scouting profession, with the hope of finally obtaining my life goal to be a Ranger. I boarded a shuttle that was to take me down to the planet Tatooine, and land us in a city called Mos Eisly. Here I was told I would find everything I would need to get by with, and earn a living, supporting the economy, and serving the Empire if I so choose.
The ride down to the planet in the shuttle was a bit bumpy, but not all that uncomfortable I checked what I had on me in preparations for landing in Mos Eisly, and discovered I really didn’t have all that much. I had a pistol (given to me by the scared imperial), 1 melon, 2 sets of traps that I made, 1 small camp, 250 credits (given to me to start my new life with) and the clothes on my back. That was it, not much, but I knew I could live off the land of this new place once I got there. The shuttled landed with a small bounce and the door immediately opened. A crewmember started barking orders to everyone, to get out now, they did not have time to baby sit a bunch of refugees when they had a war to fight. As I exited the shuttle, the first thing to hit me was how hot it was here. This was nothing like the lush mountainous cool Aleen I had grown up on, this place was unbelievably dry, and dusty.
I made my way into and out of the star port. I saw a wide variety of different sentient beings going about their business. Once outside, in the actual city people of all species hawking wares and goods of all makes and functions bombarded me. I gathered myself together and took one more look at what I owned and headed off towards the outskirts of town. I looked up to the sky and saw twin suns slowly heading towards the horizon. I thought of my mom, dad, brothers and of all the wonderful delightful experiences, they gave me. I said a silent prayer for them, and for me, cinched up my pack, and headed towards the same horizon as the suns were aiming for.
(Dear reader, at this point I will be writing more on Ebe’s Present. I will still write about her past, but it will come when I have the time to write about it. I hope you have enjoyed Ebe’s story so farJ.)
I do not know how long I wept by that door. All I could think was that my whole family, my life, gone in a single blinding flash. I was still in a state of shock, for I did not hear the person approach. The first I knew he was there was when he tapped on my shoulder. I slowly looked up into the face of one of the uniformed people I had seen earlier in the corridor during the battle. “ma’am?� he asked, “Are you ok, hurt?� I had no idea; I was still in a state of shock. He helped me to my feet, and led me away from the door and towards the corridor. In a voice that carried genuine concern, he said, “we need to get you off of this ship, it’s not safe. It could nova at anytime�. I helplessly allowed myself to be led by this man through the damaged corridors of the ship. We eventually came to an undamaged airlock, and told to go in; what lay before me was a large ship with many seats, most filled with passengers and crewmembers from the transport, many in need of medical attention, from the battle that took place previously. The uniformed man that had brought me here said he had to go, that he was needed elsewhere, but stated as he left “someone would be along shortly to take you and other survivors across to an Imperial star destroyer�.
“Imperial star destroyer? survivors?� Could my family have survived after all? I anxiously searched the shuttle passenger area hoping that I would see my mother, father and brothers waving me on to join them, but they were not amongst the many passengers and crew that came here from the all but destroyed transport, and brought to this shuttle. I made my way back to the air lock and waited, hoping that my parents and brothers would come around the bend in the corridor, happy that they and I had not come to any harm. I waited until the shuttle was full, I made up my mind that I would go back into the ship and search every deck if need be to find my family, but just as I started to leave, I was stopped by another of the uniformed men, an Imperial crewmember. He told me “don’t even try to go back in there miss, it’s not safe. You are going to have to take a seat, as we are sealing up right now, and heading to the ship�.
I tried to explain to him about my family, that they were not on board the shuttle, and that they may still be on the transport, that I had to find them. He would not listen to my pleas, and turned a deaf ear. I tried to force my way past, but I was no match against him, and was dully escorted to a seat and strapped in non-too gently. I was struggling with the straps trying to get them undone, when with a hiss, the airlock door to the shuttle closed and we launched. My heart sickened, became like a dark cloud, enshrouding my soul, I knew at that moment I would never see my family again. I started to weep uncontrollably, again.
The trip over to the star destroyer was not very long, but it was long enough for me to hear a couple of the crewmembers from the transport talking about what happened.
“I told the first officer it wasn’t a smart idea to bring those rebel supplies on board, I hadn’t a doubt they would bring trouble�. “Shush� said the second to the first, “you want these Imp goons to over hear you?� “I really don’t give a bantha butt if they do! All I know now is that we are in deep picket poo with the Imperial forces because of what our captain did�. “Well, at least they (rebels) were able to remove most of their supplies, and get their supply ship away before the Imp navy boarded�. "Yeah, well the Rebs did not have to blow their other ship next to ours, as they did. That is what tore that gaping hole in the passenger area, and left us stranded�.
“Oh My God�, I thought to my self, this was all about the Imperials and the rebels, and the conflict that was going on, because of them. I now knew the reason for what happened to the transport, and it was all because of the Rebels placing their supplies on a supposedly neutral transport. They not only placed themselves at risk, but all the innocent passengers as well. I thought back to when I was hiding in the cargo hold and the tall scruffy man came in. He was not a pirate as I thought, but a Rebel! Moreover, because of him and his cohorts, my parents were gone!
My thoughts were interrupted, when a violent explosion buffeted the shuttle, nearly all of the passengers and most of the transport crew started shouting and carrying on. I heard one of the previous crewmembers say, “there she goes, didn’t think she would last as long as she did�. With that, I swore a silent vow, to do whatever possible to help stem the aggression of the Rebel forces, and keep them from doing more harm against innocents.
We docked with the Imperial star destroyer; all the passengers and I were taken aboard and then separated from the transport crew. Crew from the star destroyer led us through a maze of corridors and down many decks of the ship. We finally arrived at what looked like a hastily converted storage hold, filled with berthing bunks and small lockers. One of the imperial crewmembers told us to find a spot, and to make ourselves comfortable, that an Imperial transport would be meeting us shortly to take us to a planet, a planet called Tatooine.
I settled onto a bunk in a far corner of the room. I wanted to be alone, to suffer in my personal tragedy by my self. I had no clue what I was going to do; I was alone, with out family, on a strange ship, amongst strange people, going to a strange place. I lay on the bunk grieving for my loss, and started crying one more time. I must have fallen asleep, for I was woke by a fellow refugee, and told that the Imperial transport had arrived. I had nothing much of personal belongings on me, so I gathered what little I had and followed the rest of the passengers to the docking station. Onboard the transport I was taken to a dorm style room by a nice enough crewmember, where I settled into another bunk to wait out our trip to this new planet.
For the most part our passage was uneventful. On the last day of the trip when I was being shown how to operated the banking terminal, and other necessities of living on a new world and preparing to go planet side, a commotion broke out in one of the corridors. One of the crew from the destroyed transport, had some how freed himself, and had gotten a hold of a weapon. He had barricaded himself in one of the cargo holds. I only wanted to get my stuff and leave, but he was keeping everyone from getting down to the planet bound shuttle. I approached one of the Imperial crewmembers that was holding back all of us, and told him I wanted to leave. He told me it was not safe as long as that person was down there. I became irate at this man, thinking what a scrawny coward he is. I told him let me pass, I’ll take care of him, I could talk him out of what he was doing and we all could then leave and get on with our lives.
I looked at him, and I noticed he was visibly shaking. I rethought my assessment of him, knowing that he was not a coward, but was scared. He had just joined the Imperial Navy and had no combat training yet. Again, I offered my help, after a moment, he told me it was my life, and offered me a pistol, just in case. I slowly headed up the corridor, listening for trouble. I rounded a bend, and then saw what I was going to face. A haggled man, standing in the center of the room holding a pistol, yelling at the top of his lungs, “You’ll never take me alive; I’ll kill anyone that comes to close. I have a pistol and some grenades. I swear I’ll use them if you don’t give me what I want�. I startled him when I spoke, and when he turned he immediately started shooting in my direction. I dived for cover, thinking that this was not good. I returned fire, aiming for his legs to bring him down so that others may take him and help him. He was quick, and all I could manage was to graze him. He reached into his coat and pulled out a grenade. He was about to throw it when the darn thing went off prematurely, killing him instantaneously. All I could do was shake my head, sadly thinking what a waste, and left him where he lie. I found an exit on the other side of the hold and let myself into the next area. I was greeted as some sort of hero, by members of the transport crew, and offered a reward. They told me that because I was told because of my heroics I would be able to get a job as soon as I landed planet side, and that they would also put me in touch with an Imperial recruiter for demonstrating my abilities and coolness under pressure. “wow� I thought, a job and the chance to serve in the galactic conflict, just what I needed right then and there to take my mind off of the loss of my family.
I was shown to an office where there was a very strange looking sentient, asked what I would like to do. He…I think he was a he… offered many different occupations to choose from, ranging from entertainment to the medical profession. What I choose is what had already been taught to me by my father and brothers, I choose to enter the scouting profession, with the hope of finally obtaining my life goal to be a Ranger. I boarded a shuttle that was to take me down to the planet Tatooine, and land us in a city called Mos Eisly. Here I was told I would find everything I would need to get by with, and earn a living, supporting the economy, and serving the Empire if I so choose.
The ride down to the planet in the shuttle was a bit bumpy, but not all that uncomfortable I checked what I had on me in preparations for landing in Mos Eisly, and discovered I really didn’t have all that much. I had a pistol (given to me by the scared imperial), 1 melon, 2 sets of traps that I made, 1 small camp, 250 credits (given to me to start my new life with) and the clothes on my back. That was it, not much, but I knew I could live off the land of this new place once I got there. The shuttled landed with a small bounce and the door immediately opened. A crewmember started barking orders to everyone, to get out now, they did not have time to baby sit a bunch of refugees when they had a war to fight. As I exited the shuttle, the first thing to hit me was how hot it was here. This was nothing like the lush mountainous cool Aleen I had grown up on, this place was unbelievably dry, and dusty.
I made my way into and out of the star port. I saw a wide variety of different sentient beings going about their business. Once outside, in the actual city people of all species hawking wares and goods of all makes and functions bombarded me. I gathered myself together and took one more look at what I owned and headed off towards the outskirts of town. I looked up to the sky and saw twin suns slowly heading towards the horizon. I thought of my mom, dad, brothers and of all the wonderful delightful experiences, they gave me. I said a silent prayer for them, and for me, cinched up my pack, and headed towards the same horizon as the suns were aiming for.
(Dear reader, at this point I will be writing more on Ebe’s Present. I will still write about her past, but it will come when I have the time to write about it. I hope you have enjoyed Ebe’s story so farJ.)
posted by Ebe Lightcloud at 11:10 AM
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