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

Chapter 8: "You have other duties to fulfil, Lady Jish."

When they passed through the gates to the camp, Pina saw that Admiral Karion had brought his forces to the edge of the trees. The Sentient Fences had been redeployed, two of them now flanking the Imperial position to prevent any attacks from would be enemies. One more remained behind them, to prevent any attack from the rear.

In a peculiar way, Pina realised that Karion was as trapped as the refugees in the camp facing them. It annoyed him that they should take such obvious precautions in the face of unarmed beings. It was a testament to the Empire's own underlying fear, and thus a symptom of their guilt. For the first time, he felt a sense of shame in the uniform he wore.

Jish stopped the speeder some distance from Admiral Karion and King Garrand.

"I don't want you to leave," she said to Valsum. "I want to come with you."

"You have other duties to fulfil, Lady Jish. The galaxy will need you, and people like you, in the near future. The weight of countless worlds will not be an easy strain to bear." The wookie looked at Pina. "But you might have help, I think. From unexpected sources. Now, let us not keep the admiral waiting."

Jish guided the speeder over to the waiting group.

A squad of stormtroopers took Valsum from his seat and marched him, without care for his frail age, to a waiting post that had been hammered into the ground. They watched as the wookie was chained, his arms held above his head. From the camp, a group of refugees had emerged to watch, thousands strong.

"So that is your rebel?" Admiral Karion said. "Do you know him, King Garrand?"

"His name is Valsum," Garrand answered quietly. "Everyone on Farsalt knows him."

Karion turned to Pina. "You have proof he is as important as he claims?"

"He knows about Endor," he answered. "Probably more than we do."

Karion smiled. "Endor. Yes. Perhaps we could ask for an update. Confirmation of the rebel defeat would be a good reminder for any harbouring hope. But first let us announce judgement on this wookie."

Ten stormtroopers formed a firing squad, thirty yards from the post. The charges were read out by a stormtrooper captain. As the words were spoken, Pina saw how Jish reacted to them with an almost physical violence, as though they were blows.

Queen Myr moved to the young woman's side.

"It has to be this way, Jish," she said. "Be calm. Especially you."

Suddenly the charges were broken off. A warning cry went out from a stormtrooper nearby.

Pina saw a small shape run out to Valsum from the speeder, a distance of only a hundred metres.

It was the child who had played on the elder's bed. The wookie infant.

A dozen stormtrooper blasters went up.

"Hold fire!" Pina shouted. "Hold fire!"

The infant wookie embraced Valsum's leg with both arms. It screamed in a language that all sentient beings couldn't fail to recognise.

"How the hell did he sneak onto the speeder?" Pina cried. "Get him away from there at once."

"No!" Jish ran forward. "I'll do it. I don't want one of your filthy stormtroopers to touch him."

Without regard for Karion or the stormtroopers, Jish ran across the firing line and reached Valsum without incident. She stooped and picked the young wookie up in her arms. Pina saw how she and Valsum exchanged words.

"Hurry it up, Captain Pina," Karion ordered. "It doesn't do our Imperial authority any credit to be delayed by screaming women and children."

He bowed. "Very good sir."

Pina started to walk forward, but took his time doing so. He didn't want to interrupt the last few moments between Jish and Valsum.

As he walked, he heard the growing discontent of the massed ranks of refugees, and was alarmed at how close and numerous they were. He turned back to the admiral.

"Admiral Karion, would it not be advisable to cordon us off from the refugees with the Sentient Fence? There is one available that is too far back."

"No need, Captain. They are unarmed. We are armed. The rebel mindset is not a brave or daring one. Carry on."

He nodded in acknowledgement but felt the wrong decision had been made. When he turned back, he saw Jish was walking toward him, the wookie infant in her arms. She was whispering to it quietly, and the child had calmed.

The charges were continued, followed by the judgement and the announcement of the death sentence by firing squad. When they ceased, Admiral Karion signalled the Imperial Technician and when he spoke again, his voice was broadcast throughout every speaker in the camp.

"Before this rebel's execution, and to make sure you understand how futile resistance is, know this: There was a battle today at a place called Endor. The Imperial fleet lured the rebel scum into a trap. To demonstrate my faith in the Empire, I offer you the latest missive from the battle."

Karion turned to the technician. "Signal the Reaver. Tell them to patch the battle report through to me here, so that all can hear it."

Silence, whilst the technician obeyed.

"Is that wise, Admiral?" Pina asked. "We don't know what happened."

Karion's look didn't need words to express his disgust at Pina's doubt. He knew they would come later.

The seconds passed. A crackle on the speaker. Pina imagined several million refugee faces turning upward to listen.

"Battle report coming through now, sir," the technician said.

Another crackle on the speakers. Then, a dislocated voice of an unknown Imperial official:

"Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader are captured or dead. Star Destroyer Executor is lost with all hands. The Death Star is destroyed. All Imperial forces are making a strategic withdrawal under the directions of Admiral Sloane. New orders will be relayed to you shortly."

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This has to be one of the most satisfying endings to a chapter I have ever written. In a single instant the entire dynamic of the book is changed. The arrogance of Admiral Karion and his Empire have been brutally exposed and demolished in his moment of victory. The inhumanity of this system, seen against the actions of the infant wookie and its unconditional love for Valsum, proves how bankrupt an ideology it has become.