Chapter 16. Waste

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.

Bite my shiny metal Tie Fighter!