Star Wars: Heir to the Sith (Part 1) (#Wattys2018 shortlist)

Chapter 1: "Endor? I've never heard of it."

From the bridge of the Star Destroyer, the planet Farsalt appeared so vulnerable. The light of its yellow sun refracted through its atmosphere, offering a startling view of oceans and forested continents. Two bald ice caps, one on each pole, sparkled in brilliant contrast to the void behind. Above the planet, two of its three small moons were visible.

To Captain Pina, the view provoked mixed feelings. He hadn't been planetside for some weeks, but he wasn't looking forward to it either. Not with the orders they had been given. And certainly not under the attention of Admiral Karion. 

"Is the landing team prepared?" the admiral said, not deigning to face him.

"Yes Admiral. With the TIE fighter escort you requested."

"And stormtroopers?"

"Two hundred of them are waiting to embark in three Sentinel landing craft. I have also included the Sentient Fences. They might be useful to control the camps should Governor Mazier be unable to cope."

The admiral's frame seemed to shudder in a display of contempt.

"It is because of men like Mazier that the rebellion is gaining ground," he muttered. "It will be interesting to know what the security bureau's agents have discovered about his doings on Farsalt, now their investigation is complete. Ah, Pina, where are the likes of Tarkin? Men like that, who brought order to the collapsing Republic, are what we need."

The admiral signed out of the custom command console he had ordered placed just below the view ports of the bridge and then turned to face him.

Captain Pina forced himself to look him in the eyes. It was something he had to muster his nerve to carry out convincingly.

The admiral's face was entirely scarred. Not a single hair was visible on his scalp. Where once he had stared with human eyes, he now gazed through optic prosthetics of pure black. The man was a stark reminder of what exposure to the vacuum of deep space could do to you, if only for a very short time.

Pina felt his stare, but kept his nerve and stared back.

"Are you such a man, Captain Pina?"

"I intend to be, sir. But . . . men like Tarkin . . . and Alderaan."

The admiral opened his mouth in a sneer. Where his gums should have been were simple steel braces, with his teeth filed down to needle points.

"It was a necessary evil, Captain. That planet had become the centre of unrest in the galaxy. Destroying it was an amputation of a diseased limb. Its destruction saved trillions of lives. It would have saved many more had Tarkin not perished at Yavin." He turned once more to the planet before them. "Within a few days from now, the rebellion will be over. The Emperor and Lord Vader have seen to that. And then no system in the galaxy will dare oppose us."

Pina heard quick footsteps approach from behind. He felt the frisson of excitement on his second-in-command, commander Bauhaus.

"Admiral Karion, Captain Pina. We have received a signal from Executor. The rebel fleet has been brought to battle."

Pina's fist clenched in excitement.

"At Sullust?"he asked.

"No sir. It's a place called Endor."

"Endor? I've never heard of it."

Admiral Karion stepped away from the viewing port and stared over the animated faces of the bridge crew. Pina saw how the excitement had spread into the pits below the walkway.

"You will Captain Pina." The admiral said. "Within a few short hours, the name of Endor will be famous from the Core to the Unknown Regions. As a great man once said, 'this will be a day long remembered.'"

The commander smiled. Even to Pina, he looked ludicrously young. He wondered if that was how he seemed in the admiral's artificial stare.

"Are we to join them Admiral?" The executive officer garbled. "I have already given the orders to compute the fastest jump trajectory–"

"Terminate that order, Commander Bauhaus," the admiral commanded. "We will not be joining the fleet."

The atmosphere on the bridge died. For a time, no one made a sound. Admiral Karion remained stationary on the walkway, his silent resolution drawing every gaze.

"We will observe all procedures whilst in orbit," he said. "Our guns will be manned. Our sensors watched. We are still on a war footing. I will not tolerate the slightest deviation from my orders. Do you all understand?"

Pina saw heads nod in the pits.

"Commander Bauhaus, you will do me the honour of holding the bridge whilst Captain Pina and I are planetside. Do not disappoint me. The Reaver is a fine vessel."

"Yes sir. And I shall keep you informed of any news from Endor–"

"No. You will not." Admiral Karion pinned him with his unblinking black gaze. "The Emperor planned all this. The rebel scum have jumped into a trap. Their destruction is already guaranteed. Now Captain Pina, let us go and enforce Imperial discipline as an example to this Governor Mazier. It will be your first experience of being blooded, Captain."

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Of course, as readers, the vast majority of us know what will happen at Endor. We know the uncertainty that will be created when the rebellion destroys the Death Star. But how do you think that will alter your perception of the characters' in the coming chapters? It's an interesting tool, to give the reader better insight into the wider world than the characters, for them to know something the characters only suspect or can't be sure of, and it allows us to examine their motivations from a privileged perspective. In a story about the Second World War, for example, readers would know the outcome of Operation Barbarossa and Overlord, yet the characters they are reading about wouldn't. Do you think this helps build empathy with their situation as it allows you to predict what is to come, and perhaps forecast how they might act? I believe it does, and I would be interested to hear your thoughts too. Thanks. Tom.