TTO Episode 12.1

Episode 12

The Book of Natria

12.1       

“Darth Natria, you failed me once more.” I stood there on the high slope over looking at the valley where the troopers were firing the ground burrowing missiles. The unit was affixed on the missile launchers. The missiles directed upwards will soar to about a hundred feet before it dipped down towards the surface. The front of the missile held a number of mini warheads which will fired on the surface to create a deep narrow hole of twenty feet before the main warhead explode into the ground creating a large crater of over fifty feet in diameter and a depth of a hundred feet. When the explosive exposed a cavern, the troopers will fire the second missile into the cavern and thus creating a major collapse of the ground. The troopers will rappel in and move on into the tunnels there. There will be sporadic shootouts but we then in the control. The troopers have been reinforced with more of their numbers from the cruisers. I saw a trooper mounted the shoulder fired missile and fired it into the tunnel. The explosion rocked the surface then there was silence.

“Move in!” The trooper leader called out for the troopers to move in. “No prisoners!”

That was the war we fought in.

I saw a Resistance fighter was dragged out by the trooper. The fighter was wounded in the chest and dropped on the ground. The trooper leader approached the wounded fighter. He looked at the lying figure and then levelled his rifle to shoot.

“No prisoners!” That command was repeated.

“Darth Natria, do you hear me?” The roar from the voice of Grand Order Illium reached deep into my ears. I looked at the hologram of the other by the fallen tree trunk. “I am truly disappointed by your recurring failures.”

I bowed my head to the Grand Order hologram. It drew a snicker from Darth Asoka who was nearby with his apprentice. 

The Grand Order then looked towards the other two.

“You…” The voice was drowned out by the drone of the Stingers soaring in the pursuit of the fleeing Resistance crafts. I recalled then when we were out on the slopes with the escapee on the ground. Edo Harashi was defeated but we have to argue on the capture. The Resistance had acquired our Stingers and tried to blend in. We knew of the ruse and have the pilot given their codes of identification. Any Stinger pilot which responded with the wrong code will be considered as hostile. During the battle, three Stingers have failed to authenticate and were pursued. The drone of the Resistance Stingers drowned our argument then and before we could react the Stinger fired on us. They were aiming for the troopers there. I jumped aside to avoid the shots behind the fallen trunks. The others also did the same.

“Edo?” I pushed myself up to look for her. I saw her being dragged by the feet. I was surprised at the two smaller frame figures that were doing the full grown man sized effort. I rushed out but the demure half sized on the right pulled a blaster on me. I rolled to the side to avoid the shot. I crouched up and saw Edo Harashi had been dragged away.

“Stingers, I want a scan here.” I called the pilots. I looked to the sky and saw the squadron of Stingers diving to the slopes. Then I heard the call from the frigate.

“Squadron V, I want you to re-join the others. The pursuit of the transporter is more imminent.” It was then I saw the first transporter that soared to the skies. It was pursue by the Stingers. The pilots of ten Stingers roared for the kill. It would have been a fast kill but I have to confess it was a kill then I was not expecting. The transporter displayed its weapon capability. The side of the hull opened up to display the rack of sixteen missiles. The missiles were fired off in series of launch.

I saw the Stingers broke formation but five of them exploded in mid-air. The remaining missiles pursued the other Stingers and another three Stingers dived in flames. It was depressing and I went to the nearby bike. I rode hard to the trooper transporter. I had the pilot took on a fast launch. I saw the transporter soared above the skies. It was not going for the escape but instead it turned towards the frigate. The frigate was cordoned by a squadron of Stingers but that did not deter the transporter to launch the second array of missiles The second array of sixteen missiles were intercepted by the Stingers but the transporter did not planned for the two cruisers at the outer orbit. The cruiser phaser cannons fired by both cruisers hit the transporter. It was then I saw two more transporters on separate tracks to escape. The frigate turned to pursue the second transporter which was headed on the left while the third transporter swerved to the right. It was in a collision with the cruiser in orbit there. I sensed something was wrong then but I could not place it. The third transporter took some shots from the cruiser’s defence cannons before it exploded. The explosion was intense with the release of more missiles in random direction. It was a planned attack with the loaded explosives on the transporter. The cruiser took some hits but it was still operational. It was then I saw the Hawken Predator jumped in light-space during the commotions.

“Darth Natria, do you hear me?” My thoughts were broken by the same roar from the Grand Order. I looked to the hologram and listened to the ramblings. It was the last statement made that sent the shivers up my spine.

“Darth Rain had also failed both in her role and performance. You will punish her, Darth Asoka.”

“No….” I screamed out. It was not part of my training as the Darth but the emotions of mine broke through all the layers of training as one. I grabbed the sickles in my hands and rushed at Darth Asoka.

“Stop!” Darth Rain had stood there with her ‘sai’ blocking my swinging sickles. I looked into the face beneath the hood and saw the teary eyes. It was my sister I saw then. I lowered my sickles and retreated.

“I will not let another figure harm my master.” Darth Rain spoke out. “I have failed and it’s his right to rectify my weakness.” 

I looked at her and then turned my back. I heard the Grand Order’ command but I ignored the hologram. I walked away towards the hover bike. I mounted it and rode off leaving the scene.