Even if I start now I don't think I'd get another story of this length done in time for halloween. Thinking about it though...I'm tempted to write one and post it all up on halloween night. Maybe.

Great read from start to finish. Every time I told myself I'd best make this the last chapter as I've got stuff to do, I kept telling myself, well go on, one more chapter couldn't hurt...

....16 Chapters later...

Really very good, and by far the best work you've done so far Twigs, really good solid characterisation (something I need to work on myself), and a stunning story through and through.

I do advise anyone who has not read it yet to do so as it's a cracking read.

I salute you sir.

Maybe we should make Twigs the Lord of FS Fiction?

Well as long as my fan is happy The little cliff hangar is there so someone else can continue it on somewhere else or it could be tied somehow to a special Null Spectre Station event as has been discussed elsewhere.

I was actually thinking of creating a concept of how the beasts live with no source of life into a story I am planning.

I figured I could try writing something, it keeps me slightly less boring and slightly more imaginative.

Once I have at least the first 4 chapters planned out, I will post it on this thread titled
"The New Rebel Weapon and the Darktrooper Project."

I always loved Darktroopers, mostly the ones from Elite Squadron (the ones you fight, not the ones you can customize as)

Back on topic,
The the creatures live, I was thinking, their cell's mutated and became able to combine random gases and disassemble molecules in the air, then they reformed those molecules into a source of energy.

Sound good?

I hope it is reasonable
~IL

Once again, thank you for the story, it was great.

Took a lot longer than I anticipated to complete, damn real life cropping up! But it's done. May not be up to any professional standard, but it will do.

The ending was great, might be my favorite part of the story. All those lives were wasted, which is what the title meant, I guess. And it looks like it's not over, too.

Krenyo, Benu and the Imperials had struggled to agree on any kind of plan to escape the confines of the control room. The only routes off the roof all led through the hangar. Tarketh was certain the creatures were centralised in that area.

“This controlling hive mind thing, is that housed there?” asked Krenyo, breaking the silence that had settled after the last debate.

“I don’t see how they could have moved it. It was housed in a deeper level below them. Why?” Tarketh replied wearily, he and his men were tired of the same debates they had already had since their confinement in the room.

“If we could destroy the hive mind, wouldn’t the creatures become dumb? Didn’t you say they needed the controlling originator?”

“To begin with yes, they need the central hive mind. Once they have assimilated enough though we believe they are able to randomly produce secondary hives. Almost like insects, in that way they can splinter off and more rapidly spread the disease.”

“So, you think they have reached this point then? Thats why they want the ship?” Krenyo sagged back against a wall. If the creatures were now able to continue even after the destruction of the first host....  The implications were too horrific to contemplate. If they got off planet they would be able to spread easily throughout the galaxy.

“You guys hear something?” One of the Imperials cocked his head as he spoke, straining to catch the noise again. The room suddenly lit up and the men shrank back trying to cover their eyes. Benu raised a hand in front of his face and approached the window, squinting against the blinding light.

“It’s one of the transports!” He shouted excitedly, waving the others forward to the window. The large grey ship outside flashed its landing lights a couple of times then turned away and banked to the side.

“It’s a rescue attempt.” Said Krenyo turning to Tarketh. “They’ll go and turn back then come in at a better angle. You can come with us, I promise we will not take you prisoner. We’ll drop you on a planet somewhere so you may return to your own forces.”

Tarketh studied the strange Rebel leader before answering. “Thank you Sir. I accept your offer, naturally you will wish to secure us once onboard. My men and I will willingly give up our weapons when requested.”

Krenyo nodded and looked back out of the window. The Gallofreewas coming in slowly and had started a slow turn, approaching side on with the jump gate open. He could see a rebel soldier in the doorway waving at them.

“Ok, arm up, we get one chance at this. On the roof, as soon as we can we run and jump on the jumpgate. If he gets too close the repulsor’s will throw the ship off course and those tanks out there don’t give him room to land.” He gave the order quickly, the men around him already powering up weapons. The Imperial troops took up a breaching position by the door. Two men each side with one in the centre. Tarketh gave the command and they executed the move flawlessly, The trooper at the door hit the switch then stepped back, weapon in the aim giving covering fire. The two nearest the door on each side rushed forward and took position again on either side, kneeling down giving more cover fire if needed. Finally, the remaining two rushed forward, stepping forward a few feet then dropping prone.

“CLEAR!” shouted the guy in the doorway, gesturing the remaining men forward.

Tarketh looked at Krenyo and nodded at his men before smiling. “We’d have had you.” He said before running forward on to the roof.

“Cack me, he has a sense of humour.” Krenyo said it out loud to no-one in particular but Benu heard him and just shrugged.

“Come on, lets get off this rock.”

The transport was almost in position, just a few more metres and they would be able to start jumping forward. Krenyo could see Duke in the doorway, he had attached a simple rope ladder to the grab handles, giving them a little more chance of making the leap. The Imperial soldiers had once again shown their professionalism and taken covering positions in a semi circle.

“Get ready to go!” Shouted Krenyo over the noise of the ship and the wind that was being whipped around them as it inched towards them.

All of a sudden there was a burst of sizzling blue light. It arched and buzzed over the hull of the ship, one of the tendrils reached out and stabbed at Duke. His body reacted immediately, limbs were forced rigid and his head was thrown back. A second later he toppled forward through the door and fell to the ground. He never even screamed. The engines on the Gallofree were no longer making any noise and it began to drop. Slowly at first, quickly gathering speed as gravity took hold. More DEMP bolts struck the hull and it hit the ground hard. The men on the roof could hear the metal hull protesting and groaning, followed by heavy blaster fire.

Krenyo ran forward and looked over the edge. The creatues were pouring forward from the hangar, beating on the side of the hull or sinking weapon fire in to it. The ATST was sending bolt after bolt from its chin guns in to the cockpit, metal shone red under the attack before melting in to slag and swallowing the shots.

“Nooooo!” He screamed, smacking his hand down on the edge of the roof. Tarketh dropped down beside him and paled.

“It’s a trap. They knew the ship was coming and we’d leave the room. We have to get back.”

Blaster shots rang out behind them and the men turned. More creatures were emerging from the stairwell in the far corner of the roof level. It led directly to the rear of the hangar and they were starting to act like seasoned soliders. One or two still ran recklessly towards them, but others were using the roofs natural barricades, firing shots towards the exposed men. Others were splintering off to the sides, trying to get round and cut them off from the control room.

“Head back to the room, focus your shots on the flanking group!” called out Tarketh, taking control from Krenyo who was no longer in any condition to lead. The Imperial reached down and picked him up, throwing an arm around him.

“Krenyo, for cacks sake start firing!” he shouted, struggling to support the man and fire his weapon at the same time. Benu and the troopers were working well together, taking it in turns to fire and manoeuvre. They were almost at the doorway now and were beating the creatures back. A sudden heavy crack sounded and the air blew them all to the floor. A smell of ozone hung in the air and for a second all was silent, then the creatures roared again, different this time, somehow angry.

“What the cack was that?” gasped Benu, struggling to get to his feet and raise his weapon.

“Look.” One of the Stormtroopers pointed up at the sky. Another flash and explosion from somewhere in the stations courtyard, the men all looked up at the sky. A familiar shape hung there, illuminated by heavy green flashes.

“Our message got out.” Said Tarketh gently, “I’m so sorry.”

Krenyo stared at the triangular shape of the Star Destroyer as more bolts struck around the station. “They’re not going to rescue you?”

Tarketh shook his head and lay back, closing his eyes. “Have you ever seen a Star Destroyer perform an orbital strike Krenyo? It can be quite beautiful. They were never going to rescue us, just destroy any evidence of the experiment.”

“So we sit and wait to be vaporised?” asked Benu, watching the creatures on the roof break off the attack and run back to the hangar stairway. Another blast struck the huge sensor dish and sent shrapnel in all directions.

“Yeah,” Answered Krenyo, “it’ll be quick.”

They watched as the blasts from the Destroyer increased. A bright pin prick of light grew larger as it fell towards them, it enveloped them like a floodlight, incinerating them immediately and passing easily through the structure of the station.

It took only minutes for the Star Destroyer to destroy any evidence of what had been there before. Everything was destroyed by the ships heavy guns and streams of molten metal ran down cliffs and gully’s. To ensure the completion of their task, the Imperial Navy dispatched a trio of TIE Bombers to over fly the area. Any small structure left standing was knocked flat by proton bombs. Satisfied with their work the small ships returned to the Destroyers hangar before it turned and drifted away from the planets gravitational influence and made the jump to hyperspace.

A wrecked ATST lay amid the ruins of the sensor station on the Plateau. The legs had been torn away and the main body lay holed and dented. The hatch popped open without warning and a grey sickly coloured hand reached out. He knew they would be back. They had done this, they had to be punished. He would wait.

Cheers

Slyfox mounted the T1-B turret gun and sent blast after blast in to the remaining creatures that milled around the Gallofree’s. Duke continued to cackle and chase splinter groups down, tearing them apart under the hover tanks anti-grav field. If didn’t matter if the creatures wore rebel or Imperial uniforms, they were now the enemy and no-one felt any guilt at dispatching them. A distant howl could be heard faintly over the tanks engines, seemingly summoning the creatures back. Those that could were already skulking away from the landing area, sinking silently in to the shadows of the dark landscape.

“So whats next?” called back Duke, gunning the engine forward to catch a straggler, grunting at the satisfying thud against the T1-B’s hull.

“Head for the transports, we need to get airborne and off planet.” Samzi shouted, “We’ll make a break while those things are re-grouping.”

“Ok,” answered Duke, swinging the tank round in a sharp turn that forced everyone hard against their seats, “who goes first? Last time we tried to board they were waiting.”

“Pull up alongside the entrance, I’ll cover you from here.” Slyfox already had the turret sights trained on the jump door on the side of the first transport. The tank came to a stop cautiously alongside the grey hull and Samzi and Duke exited. Duke patted his flechette fondly and looked at Samzi.

“I’ll go first.”

Before the medic could reply Duke ran up and into the jump door, a few flashes and dull thumps indicated that he was firing the flechette ahead of him as he ran. Samzi looked up at the turret towards Slyfox and shook his head, then wearily headed towards the door. The lights inside suddenly illuminated and he jumped back, raising his weapon and dropping to one knee to give Slyfox a better line of sight. Duke appeared at the door and grinned, raising one hand.

“Easy lads! Only me! She’s empty. They been in here alright, plenty of blood and guts around but no bodies are anything now.”

Samzi lowered his weapon and stood back up. “You idiot, you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Meh,” shrugged the reckless soldier, “those things are stupid. I can take em.”

Slyfox left the T1-B and joined them by the ship. “So we good to go then?”

“Well I aint no pilot, but she looks pretty beat up. They ripped the cockpit apart.” Duke sat down and dangled his legs over the foot of the door, looking up at them and taking a cigar from a pocket. “Take a look if you like, bet the other ships are the same though.”

Samzi jumped up and trudged through the ship. Sure enough, the cockpit had been torn to pieces by the creatures. Although they had power there was no way they were going to get this one off the ground. He turned and almost bumped in to the other two rebel soldiers.

“Guess we check out the others then.”

“Think it might be another trap?” asked Slyfox.

“Nah, they’re too dumb for that.” Said Duke, shaking his head and turning back to the exit.

“I think you’re underestimating them.” Replied Samzi, “something tells me they have a bigger plan than we realise.”

It took almost half an hour to check all the ships, clearing them one by one before being able to carry out a proper survey of the damage. They didn’t encounter any more of the creatures, though they could hear them howling somewhere in the darkness. None of the ships were in any state to fly, all of them had been sabotaged in some manner and showed various degrees of damage.

“So glorious leader, whats the next plan?” Duke addressed Samzi while taking a black cigarra from a pocket and lighting it. Samzi waved the cloud of heavy smoke away and backed away a few paces.

“I’m the leader? Great.” Samzi mulled it over for a few seconds. “Any ideas?”

“Can we jury rig any of the panels together?” Slyfox gestured at the ships as he spoke, “We take whatever we need thats in the best condition and just slave it in, as long as we can get off planet we’re safe. Maybe we got some spares in one of the ships, anyone checked that?”

“I break em I don’t fix em.” Said Duke, inhaling deeply before blowing out another thick cloud of smoke.

“There are no spares. We’ll have to patch the panels together as best we can.” Cut in Samzi, “And today Duke you’re going to learn how to fix em.”

They worked together, first deciding which ship stood the best chance of repair then moving through the others, pulling away control panels and whatever tools they could find. By the time they had finished the sky was turning a deep shade of blue, indicating the oncoming sunrise.

“Ok, Duke you man the T1-B, keep her close to the jump door and man the turret. You see anything approach, kill it.” Samzi gave the order and jumped on the Gallofree quickly followed by Slyfox.

“Think they’re likely to attack when the sun comes up?” asked Slyfox.

“Don’t intend to be here to find out.” Answered the medic, “Secure the doors, leave the jump door open, Duke can close it when he jumps on.”

It took the two men less than 15 minutes to get the cockpit back to working order. The damage inflicted by the creatures was not as serious as they had first feared. No major connections had been broken, panels had only been ripped from their housing and not physically destroyed. Slyfox held his breath as Samzi leaned forward and pushed the engine ignition switch. It coughed and whirred for a few seconds then stopped.

“Try again!” Urged Slyfox, balling his fists and pushing them hard against the arms of the co-pilot chair. Samzi reached forward again and pushed the button. The engines whirred and coughed then groaned into life. They rumbled slowly at first then settled in to a gentle hum that could be felt through the deck plates. The instrument panels lit up and Samzi ran easily through the startup checks.

“Go grab Duke and secure the door.”

“Aye aye sir!” said Slyfox getting up and heading rearwards. He stood at the jump door and waved at the T1-B turret but it continued to stare out over the landing zone. Slyfox looked round and spotted a hydrospanner. He picked it up and threw it towards the T1-B, it struck with a heavy clang that echoed slightly from the sides of the ship. The turret continued to look forward and Sly started to feel a rising sensation of panic in his stomach.

“We ready?”

The voice came from behind him and Sly almost fell out of the door, snatching at the grab handles to steady himself.

“Cack me Duke. What you doing there, you scared the life out of me! You were meant to be in the tank.”

Duke extended a hand and pulled him upright before smacking the control panel to drop and secure the door in place. “Had to go wee wee mate, then the engines started while I was on the latrine. No harm done though right?”

Sly looked at him, “Guess not. Lets go check on Samzi and see about getting out of here.”

They made their way forward and settled in to the large cockpit. Duke took the sensor station while Sly took the co-pilot chair again. Samzi had a last check of the instrument panel then reached for the control column.

“We’ll head up past the sensor station first. Maybe some of Krenyo’s lot made it up.”

“You want to carry out a rescue mission for people you’re not even sure are alive?” Slyfox stared at him incredulously.

“Yep. We made it didn’t we?”

The ship throttled up and lifted easily from the landing zone. Another howl echoed from the towering cliff walls but none of the men onboard the rebel transport heard it from the safety of their ship.

The signifcance of the walker will become clear soon.

DUKE is in the story.  Will things fall into place as I imagine????

What confuses me is if these monsters have a radical appetite for flesh, why would they use the AT-ST?

It allows them to direct the "Surviors" into other areas.  They won't risk going where the AT-ST is because of the fear it will open fire.