The Novel
From Jalassociatecomics
The "Novel"-- a literary adaptation of the comic. There will be slight plot differences which we might put into the comic later. This is meant to be a "novel", so you shouldn't be daunted by the length. Enjoy!
Contents |
STAR WARS: GRAND MARSHAL TRILOGY EPISODE α THE REMNANT THREAT
Prologue
It is several years after the
rousing victory on and in
the skies of Endor that
ended the reign of
the evil Empire.
However, fragments of the
Empire still remain, scattered
throughout the Galaxy, a
shattered ruin of the once-
mighty dictatorship.
From this has risen a rouge
battalion, headed by a
mysterious self-appointed
Grand Marshal with vengeance
on his mind…
Chapter 1: Tense Beginnings
The winds were blowing, but not very quickly. It was almost as if they had been frozen to a halt. Sweeping white snow covered any and all. Yet, this was very good weather for Hoth.
Over the horizon, a Rebel Snowspeeder came into sight, back from its latest patrol. Still but a speck, it cruised along with no hurry. The sun, which burned brightly with no heat, cast a rough shadow of the craft onto the uneven snowy banks.
“Ok Dack, bring her in.” Rouge 2 declared. The voice was familiar to all, the man it belonged to often hailed as a hero. Yet his humility was as such that he would consent to routine scouting duty.
He brought the craft down gently, taking care not to dent it. The craft rested in the snow-covered service bay. After a passing moment, the sound of quickly seeping air was barely audible. Then, the windscreen rose, revealing the Snowspeeder’s crew.
The pilot rose first, followed by the gunner. The gunner quickly dashed to the rack to grab a drill, while the pilot slowly stepped out of the speeder, to greet the technician.
“Any news, soldier?” Commander Luke Skywalker, of Galactic Civil War fame, enquired.
The technician responded, “None, sir. Nothing much since -” At that instant, a rebel trooper rushed in, panting and wheezing. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and then reported, “Sir, Commander Skywalker, sir! General Vanden is waiting for you – 21B87AA – in his office!”
The commander, an epitome of calm, replied, “Ok, soldier. Take me to him.”
Twenty-four sectors past, they arrived at the office, dismissing two cadets in the room. General Vanden wasted no time: a mysterious moon had appeared near Yavin Base.
He flashed a picture of the suspicious satellite, and informed Luke to check with Han Solo on Yavin Base.
Luke replied at once, “Ok, I’ll take my X-wing.”
A moment later, the craft, sitting on Airstrip One, was ready. Luke’s astromech unit, the feisty R2-D2, beeped in concern. “Don’t worry R2; I’m sure it won’t amount to anything.”
As Luke’s customized T-65 fighter-bomber rose from the icy ground of Hoth, a thousand thoughts traversed through his mind, the Jedi carefully using the Force to sift through them.
He had not wanted to alert General Vanden, for fear of causing panic, that reports of a rouge Imperial group had surfaced recently, and the moon meant they were up to something – something that could spell doom to the New Order. His thoughts and what he had told the droid earlier were not in accord.
Chapter 2: The Face of the Enemy
At a rogue Imperial encampment, a cold, unfriendly place of metal and steel, a figure emerged from a shuttle, carrying a self-important and evil air about his immaculately uniformed self, flanked by two Imperial stormtrooper bodyguards. A commander stood ready to greet him, seeming ever so slightly nervous.
“T…This is an honour, Grand Mar –”
“Yes, yes, all very nice,” the dark figure interjected, rudely and abruptly, reflecting his impatient nature, which seemed to increase the fear factor commonly associated with him. “But I want to know, how goes the plan?”
All that the commander had feared entered this single instant. The Marshal hated failure more any of his predecessors did, but it had to be reported. “Ss-sir, the rebels might b-be getting wise to us. They’re – acting – s-suspiciously…”
The Grand Marshal’s reply was short, and curt. All that he thought of the commander, and the progress of his latest pet project, and the state of the Remnant as it was, compressed into one word.
“Idiot.”
The commander’s face, thankfully behind a helmet that hid all his emotions, contorted into a state of shock and fear.
A bolt of pure energy thudded into his back and split his armor into shards. He gasped, and struck the cold metal floor with a solid thud.
“Take his body away –” the mysterious Marshal ordered, “he won’t be needing it anymore!” As the corpse was carted off, the leader of the rouge Imperials laughed a deep and cold laugh, which echoed through the hangar, shaking the metal supports of the catwalk, and vibrating the cables holding it up.
Chapter 3: That's no Moon...
As far away as the two worlds were in distance, they were in terms of weather. Yavin 4 was misty, a year-round tropical, heavily forested moon, orbiting a gas giant of quite awesome proportions. Two re-cloned troopers, on the side of the Rebels, followed Luke into the main base building. “You might want to be careful, General Solo is in one of his moods today,” one of the clone troopers warned.
Luke smiled, happy that Han was still himself. The one-time space pirate was now a forefront figure in the New Republic and the boyfriend of Skywalker’s twin sister, Leia.
Han greeted the commander, but a sigh followed. “Sorry kid, things just haven’t been the same since the crisis.” What followed, Luke was not prepared for, something that was rare, to say the least. Death Star. Two words which would always mean doom, no matter who said them and in what context.
Luke replied, “Oh dear! Are you sure?”
Han replied, “Yes. Intelligence tells us that a rouge Imperial leader is in charge. Here’s his mug shot. Not at all a nice fellow, kid.” He said this as he gestured towards a large hologram of the Grand Marshal.
Han told the commander to break into the giant battle station and shut down its power system, this would make it easier for the rebels to take over. “Break in, power down. Got it.” Luke replied in affirmation to Solo.
On board the battle station that the pair was just discussing, an important meeting was drawing to a close. The room was dimly lit, due to power outages that were caused by sabotaged power units, their control intercepted from Yavin. Unfortunately, the system could not be fully shut down from the ground, which was why Luke was going to be sent up shortly afterwards.
The Grand Marshal was a decisive military strategist, habitually holding long meetings to get his point across to his men. Nothing would stand in his way, definitely not a minor mechanical fault. Nobody dared object. The Marshal always asked if anybody had questions, though he knew nobody would have the guts to ask. He was happy about that.
Today, however, was different. “Sir, what about the news that the Rebels have detected the location of your pet project, in other words this very base?”
The stormtrooper asking that question did not notice two All-Terrain Walkers positioned at both sides of the Marshal’s table. The menacing turrets of the ground vehicles quickly swiveled in the direction of the soldier, obviously at the command of the Grand Marshal. A bolt of pure energy appeared, projected from the cannon. In an instant, the stormtrooper it was aimed at was split into bits. However, the other soldiers did not even flinch. They knew better.
The still-helmeted head of the stormtrooper, severed from the body, landed in front of the Marshal, on his table. He picked up the gory object, holding high it for the platoons to see. “And let this be a lesson in discipline for all of you!”
Chapter 4: Captured!
An Imperial shuttle, like the one the Marshal arrived in, sat awkwardly among the other Rebel ships in the Yavin Base hangar. An Imperial officer appeared as well; or rather Luke Skywalker dressed as one.
“Must I wear this? It is so itchy and tacky!” Luke objected.
“Cheer up bro. I know what’s best for you.” The reply came from Luke’s sister, Leia. Sending the commander off as well was Han, who wished Skywalker the best. Reassuringly, Leia added that they’d be there if anything happened.
The ship, piloted by Luke himself, whooshed off into the distance, carried by its powerful engines, expensive Imperial military technology. This ship was, like the shuttle Tyridium which was utilized during the battle for Endor, stolen by the Rebels. Luke would be masquerading as an Imperial technician coming to fix the power outages but instead disconnecting them further. In the back of the shuttle was R2, giving another nervous whistle.
The droid was planned to pass off as an important mechanics-trained astromech droid, instrumental in the revival of the failed electronics. All was carefully thought out, and, in the event that Luke’s efforts were somehow hampered, (the chances of which were very small indeed), platoons would come to his aid, at the same time taking the opportunity to capture the battle station. Either way, all would go well for the Rebels.
“Code accepted. Land in Bay 327,” an Imperial technician said in response to Luke’s request for permission to land. An unassuming maintenance man, he, like the other technicians who might have seen him on radar, thought. R2-D2 whistled from the back of the ship. A translation flashed on Luke’s screen. “We can’t say it’s too easy yet, R2. We haven’t even started the mission, as far as Han is concerned.” The droid gave an agreeing beep.
Mechanic that he was, the figure emerging from the shuttle cockpit was still higher in rank than the stormtrooper technician supervising Bay 327, so as part of protocol, he gave an Imperial salute.
“We have heard about the recent power outages. This astromech unit has information which will help fix the power grid,” Luke told the stormtrooper, pointing to R2 who stood by his side. The stormtrooper acknowledged him, and, together with another soldier, led him to the main power control room.
“We’ll take it from here, troops,” the two stormtroopers were told. After they left, Luke took out some tools, a mechanical arm appeared out of R2’s main body and the duo got to work, disconnecting the system.
An hour or so later, the pair was wrapping up work. “What the…” Luke suddenly seemed stunned. Out of nowhere, an Imperial Red Guard had appeared, swooping down seemingly out of nowhere and onto an unexpecting Luke, throwing a similarly shocked R2 into the corner of the room. His hand was just able to close in on the distress beacon on his belt before a single jab from a force pike put the Rebel commander out of his consciousness.
It took a while for a dazed Luke to orientate himself. He did not know how long he had been unconscious nor did he know where he was. The unfamiliar surroundings did not give the slightest indication either. “Ow…where am I” the Jedi wondered aloud.
“In detention cell AA-23, Master,” came the incredulous reply. The Grand Marshal was standing outside the cell, looking at Luke in a mocking manner. A stormtrooper was threatening R2 with a blaster nearby.
“Now that you have me, what are you going to do?”
“Nothing.” The Marshal was almost certainly smiling under his helmet. An evil, twisted smile.
Chapter 5: Scramble Call
The Rebel security agent sipped at his warm, caffeinated drink, with his usual bored look, eyes half closed. Nothing usually happened during his shift. A sharp, unexpected siren had caused him to grow fully awake, eyes now wide with alarm. A distress signal had been activated and a few taps on the keyboard revealed it belonged to Luke.
“Emergency! Emergency! Master Luke has been captured! Now is the time to capture the battle station! Squadrons red to grey get ready for immediate takeoff!” The urgent announcement over the intercom sent the various pilots of different Rebel craft scrambling.
Han readied his personal ship, the Millennium Falcon. His best friend and co-pilot the Wookiee Chewbacca hurried over from the Jedi Strike Fighter he was helping to fix. Leia and the protocol droid C-3PO were boarding the impressive craft, one of the fastest in the Galaxy. “We’re doomed, doomed for sure! I do hope Master Luke is alright, oh dear, oh dear and R2 as well…” the worrywart droid went on. He had his fair share of space travel in the Falcon at the reckless hands of Solo, and knew flying just wasn’t for him. Leia rolled her eyes and continued up the ramp. Chewie gave an emphatic growl and followed.
The ship, among the many others, rose out of the hangar and into the afternoon sky, quickly progressing through the various levels of Yavin’s atmosphere. The entire fleet of X-wings opened their S-foils to attack position in unison, a truly amazing sight. They were quickly joined by the prototype Jedi Strike Fighters piloted by trainee Jedi pilots, recruited from various worlds by Master Luke himself. All the crafts were flying towards their one common target: the domineering battle station.
However, like all space battles the pilots of the Rebellion had prior fought, this one was not going to be cake. The remnant fleets had taken absolutely no time in retaliating. Scores of TIE Advanced fighters swarmed like angry insects, rushing forward to face the onslaught of Rebel craft. To call the TIE Advanced powerful was an understatement; this ship was once the signature flagship of Lord Darth Vader himself. It seemed that the Grand Marshal had this planned long ago. Following close behind were TIE Interceptors, vicious crafts they were. And more vicious still, at the hands of bloodthirsty, near-suicidal pilots. A demonstration of their might was immediately given; a Y-Wing not far from the fighters disintegrated in that instant.
The Rebels were not about to be defeated, and displayed power as well as agility. The ships were joined by more still, united in taking command of the Death Star and rescuing the captive Master Luke.
“Here’s the fleet from Hoth requested, over.” A fleet of snowspeeders modified to withstand the rigors of deep space arrived at the scene, joined by A-Wings from the Rebel base on Tatooine. The A-Wing had proved instrumental in the fight against the Emperor’s fleets just a few years back and were back in action, showing sure signs that they would emerge victorious once again.
Leia sat in the gunner’s seat of her boyfriend’s battle-scarred ship, putting her newfound Jedi skills to good use. Under the tutelage of her brother, Leia’s sense of the Force had grown keener and she was now able to aim at targets precisely. The powerful dual lasers atop the ship sent out a mighty blast, a TIE Interceptor in the distance being the victim.
Still going strong, the remnant sent out a new, far smaller, more agile and in many ways more effective weapon. Stormtrooper Commandos fired their jetpacks, traveling through the masses of ships effortlessly, placing small but powerful mines, almost casually, on the hulls of incoming Rebel ships. It must have been demoralizing for some of the pilots, seeing allied ships so easily defeated by such insignificant forces. These specially trained soldiers were indeed a threat to be reckoned with.
The heartlessness of these commandos was further displayed: a group of three of them swooped down on an X-Wing starfighter, catching its pilot unawares. Their suits gave these soldiers immense strength, strength enough to rip off the cockpit of the ship and pull its pilot out. One of the other commandos put a blaster laser through the unexpecting Rebel, killing him mercilessly in cold blood.
Such evil does not usually go unpunished, the incident was no exception. A modified Snowspeeder whooshed down, the commando literally hooking onto the ion cannon of the small but capable craft. Needless to say, the cruel soldier was blown into oblivion, the fuel from his jetpack creating a small explosion.
An A-Wing was caught in an impossible situation: a rapidly firing TIE Interceptor was approaching on one end and a similarly blasting TIE Advanced on the other. Unable to withstand such firepower, the A-Wing would have been destroyed before the two fighters met, allowing them to split up and continue the battle. The quick-thinking pilot shot his ship upwards. The last thing the two remnant pilots saw was each other; the two ships collided into each other, resulting in a massive explosion. The pilot snickered to himself, coming away from the encounter safely.
A couple of the commandos or space troopers landed on the hull of the Millennium Falcon. Taking down the renowned ship would be an honour. The first soldier, with his knowledge of electronics and circuitry, set to work, carrying out expert sabotage. A little tampering later, the plates making up the hull rose out, in the middle of space! A stunned (as always) C-3PO stood momentarily paralyzed. The commandos begun to open fire, thankfully not doing any significant damage. This incident registered on the instrument panel of the Falcon’s cockpit, pointed out to Solo by a similarly alarmed Chewbacca.
“Threepio! What’s going on there?!” Solo shouted over the craft’s internal intercom system. The protocol droid bumped clumsily about in the interior, his rear suddenly activating a small button. There was a slight mechanical buzzing, followed by the closing inwards of the panels. This was something which most certainly had not crossed the mind of the space trooper. The panels continued closing, regardless of the presence of the soldiers. They made haste in activating their jetpacks, but thankfully, they were too late. Squeezed in between the plates, the soldiers blew up, displaying, yet again, the disadvantages of fuel.
“You mean I just did all that? Oh my!” C-3P0 said to himself in slight disbelief.
Not far away, a Y-Wing pilot radioed his men. “I’m out of missiles and running low on fuel.” A short, contemplative pause. “It’s been an honour.” With that, a TIE fighter was obliterated… along with the pilot and his craft.
“Gold Leader, we salute you.” Han Solo was rarely ever solemn, but when faced with a worthy situation, he would make exceptions. Chewbacca growled in agreement.
Meanwhile, the fight to capture the Death Star raged on. Though the Rebels were closing in on their target, it was difficult to say who was on the winning end at that moment.
The first of the ships skidded into the landing bays. The Jedi within them jumped out, drawing their lightsabers and in quick, clean cuts, eliminating the stormtroopers surrounding them. Though the Jedi laws strictly prohibited aggression, when pushed to their limits the Jedi were well aware that violence at this moment was more than appropriate. They were joined by Rebel soldiers and sharpshooters, as well as the re-cloned clone troopers, all drawing their blasters and shooting in quick succession. The soldiers ran about, progressing inwards, replacing Imperial emblems with those of the New Republic. As they reached the main control chamber, victory seemed eminent. The Rebels were winning!
Chapter 6: Rescue
Elsewhere in the battle station, troops were quickly spreading the word of the Rebel invasion. Two stormtroopers ran hurriedly through the corridors, eventually stopping in front of Luke Skywalker’s cell.
“Units TK-138 and TK-124 reporting. All units proceed to Hangar 52,” one of the stormtroopers told the stormtrooper guarding Luke’s cell.
“Where is your identification? We need to see it to let you proceed. Marshal’s orders,” one of the two stormtroopers keeping vigil outside the Jedi’s cell told the visiting soldiers. At that instant, although one too long, he realised -
“Here’s all the bloody identification we need!” The other stormtrooper swiftly produced his standard issue blaster and put two lasers through the heads of the unexpecting guards. The other stormtrooper then reached down, grabbed a key from the dead guard and pressed it against a surface on the wall next to the detention cell.
As the door rose with a mechanical hiss, the Jedi noticed something amiss in the Force. “Who are you? Why are you helping me?” he carefully questioned.
The first stormtrooper removed the helmet, revealing long, flowing locks. “Didn’t I look a little busty [for kids: “busty” means intelligent. Carry on] for a stormtrooper?” The figure asked cheekily. The other stormtrooper’s face turned out to be a familiar one as well.
“Come on kid, let’s get us out of here; put one of these on.” Before Luke could get into the stormtrooper amour, the group was met with resistance. Not bothering to say a word, the Imperial soldiers opened fire, but the experienced trio made quick work of them and the other stormtroopers encountered on the way.
Not wasting much time, they were joined by R2 and hastily proceeded back to the Falcon where Chewbacca and C-3PO were waiting.
In the corridor leading to the landing bay where the ship was, the three were stopped cold in their tracks. Red Guards, like the one who captured Luke some hours ago, were preventing escape from all sides. R2 beeped in alarm. Solo, using the stormtrooper blaster he stole, attempted firing at them, but beneath the flowing red robes was laser-proof amour. The menacing figures drew out their force pikes; Luke ignited his lightsaber in reaction to that. The swift, lethal moves of the more sophisticated Red Guards (as compared to the stormtroopers) could more than match the actions of a skilled master of the Force. Luke was up for a challenge. Outnumbered but powerful, the attention of the Red Guards was focused entirely on the Jedi master, causing them to forget, for a while at least, Han and Leia, who watched tensely in the background.
Luke jumped, narrowly avoiding the force pike thrust in his direction. A Red Guard delivered a roundhouse kick, momentarily stunning Luke. As lightsaber crashed against force pike after force pike, it was not long before it became clear who would be the victor of this round. The opponents were still refusing to let down their guard, though. The last remaining Red Guard swung his force pike round and round, calculating the exact trajectories of where he would plant his weapon. He lurched forward suddenly…right into the Jedi’s protruding lightsaber. It impacted the weak spot of his neck and put the guard forever out of action. Racing out the door and towards the ship, Han, Luke, Leia and R2 knew they had to hurry.
The Grand Marshal spotted them. “Stop them! KILL them!” he hollered. The stormtroopers opened fire in response to their superior’s command, but all the slugs missed their intended target. In fact, one of these soldiers was hit by R2’s laser bolt. The Grand Marshal, frustrated and impatient, drew out his own blaster. However, he gunned down his soldiers instead of the expected trio.
“Sir, the Rebels are taking over the battle station!” a worried Imperial officer reported.
“I can see that, you idiot! Go stop them!” the Grand Marshal harshly replied. “Bunch of fools…” he mumbled impatiently to himself.
The group clambered quickly up the Falcon’s landing ramp. “R2 am I glad to see you’re okay,” C-3PO breathed a sigh of relief.
Han entered the cockpit and was greeted by a grunt from an irritated Chewbacca, whom at that point was still shooting down approaching stormtroopers using the spacecraft’s belly gunner, one of many useful modifications. “I know Chewie; we were delayed by those Red Guards. Now start her up, will you?” the Wookie growled once again in response to Solo’s retort and revved up the massively powerful hyperdrive engine, preparing for immediate takeoff.
The Grand Marshal ran forward once he saw the belly gunner station being retracted, accompanied by a close aid. He was too late; the Millennium Falcon whooshed overhead. “Aargh! Duck!” he growled as the ship skimmed barely inches above him. In an instant, the craft disappeared far into the distance. “I’ll see you on Yavin!” he shouted after it, kneeling in hopelessness on the ground.
Onboard the ship, conversation was ongoing. “How did it happen, R2?” a concerned 3PO asked. The astromech droid gave a couple of beeps and whistles in response. “Oh my, how dreadful! I, for one, am glad that you and Master Luke are okay.”
“I don’t know; it was like I was suddenly ambushed. Some guy had his hand over my mouth; most probably a Red Guard. R2 was thrown in the corner of the control room and I was jabbed in my side, by a force pike or a similar weapon. Next thing I knew, I woke up in this strange room which the Grand Marshal,who'd come to taunt me,told me was...”
“...A detention cell. AA23, I presume.” Leia completed her brother’s answer to the question she had asked; the same one C-3PO had asked R2 earlier on. “Anyway, how ‘bout some holochess?"
“I’m a little rusty, but that’s fine with me,” Luke shrugged, as they headed for the holochess table at the front of the ship.
Chapter 7: Reprisal
The smuggling craft swiftly entered the outer atmosphere of the misty planet and set itself gently down on the foliage. The landing ramp rolled down and Luke and company proceeded quickly down it, leaving Chewbacca behind to sort out some minor technical problems.
“Sure glad that was over,” Han commented offhandedly, with the others nodding in agreement. As if on cue, an Imperial Shuttle landed right next to the Falcon, accompanied by many more, including a number of heavy transport ships.
“Spoken too soon, I’m afraid!” C-3P0 said. “C’mon R2, let’s get back into the ship!” The droids proceeded hurriedly up the Falcon’s ramp. The craft’s belly gun was firing away. As it lifted off under Chewbacca’s command, it shot a few powerful blasts, but that would be far from sufficient.
“Take her somewhere safe, I’ll settle this.” Han told his Wookiee co-pilot over the comlink, to which he growled in acknowledgement, though with a slight reluctance as he could not help his friend. The ship headed off towards Hoth, leaving the Rebels to fend for themselves.
