Published: 10 hours ago
Literature Text
Prologue

Prisoners

        Hoth.

        The name of that planet will forever conjure memories of a devastating defeat for the Rebel Alliance, when the Empire descended upon the hidden base like a large lion to a small rodent. It was a humiliating and devastating defeat, one that could've spelled doom for the Alliance if it wasn't for a certain Imperial Admiral making a huge mistake, one that cost him his life. And while a vast majority of the Rebels were able to escape, others weren't so lucky. 

        And the Empire do not treat Rebel prisoners well.

        The distant sounds of AT-AT cannon fire could be heard in the distance, taking out cells that were still fighting. Fighting, and falling. As the main battle had settled down, individual groups were still fighting for their lives out in the frozen wastes, captured Rebel forces were taken to the Imperial landing zone outside of what was the shield perimeter. Dozens of Gozanti's, Sentinel Shuttles, and Imperial-grade Star Galleons rested on the ground, waiting for the troops and walkers to return.

        In the center of the landing zone was a temporary camp, walled by laser gates that was set up for the captured and surviving Rebels. The wounded were being cared for by Imperial medics; they can't interrogate dead Rebs. There were close to 2000 Rebel personnel on Hoth, with 300 of them in the trenches or flying snowspeeders when the Imps came. So far, only 26 have been taken captive. 

        Now 29 as a Nautolin and a pair of Sullestans were shoved in. The Nautolin growled and threw a punch at the trooper that pushed him, but the trooper was nimble; he dodged the punch then hit the alien in the face with the butt of his rifle, sending him into the snow. "Stay down, Alien..." The trooper sneered. "But do try again, i want to test out the new stock." He then laughed as he walked out. The Nautolin got up to punch again, but the laser gate activated before he even got close.

        The Nautolin tried to grab the lasers, but that was a bad idea, but anger sorta removes the 'common sense' function. "I wouldn't do that if i were you." He heard a woman say. He turned to see a woman in her early 20's and wearing a pilots uniform sitting on a crate. "These Imps are all fired up from their victory, after all."

        His anger simmering, the Nautolin took a deep breath and calmed himself. "I'm just so mad." He growled.

        The woman chuckled. "Who isn't." The Alien walked towards her. "But right now, we can't do anything, not surrounded by all  these troops and in the middle of their camp."

        "I guess..." He huffed, crossing his arms as he leaned on another crate opposite of her. "By the looks of your uniform, you were a pilot. You fly one of those speeders?"

        "I did. But a lucky shot took us down and killed my tow-gunner. I was one of the first captured." She gestured to the rest of the prisoners. "Most everyone else here were captured in the trenches. You?"

        "Outpost Zeta, over the East Ridge. I thought we were well hidden enough to avoid detection. Clearly, i was wrong." The woman nodded, understanding his pain. That's when the Nautolin noticed the medics and wondered: why? "Why are they bothering with healing us?"

        "Can you interrogate a dead prisoner?" No, no you cannot. "Standard Imperial prisoner doctrine is to stabilize any wounded then interrogate before execution or labor camps. The doctrine is less kind to turncoats and traitors, so my odds of going to a camp are in the pits.."

        "You were a Imp?"

        Before she could answer him, the gate deactivated and an Imperial officer strode on in like he owned the place. He had a dossier in his hands, one with her picture on it. "Which one of you is Corporal Neth?"

        The woman got up. "It's Karie Neth. And i'm not a Corporal." 

        "Once a Corporal in the Imperial navy, ALWAYS a Corporal in the Imperial navy." The Imp officer smugly spat. "Though why they don't exclude traitors is beyond me." She angrily growled, wanting to get a good crack at him, but all the Snowtroopers would put her down before she got a step, and it made the Nautolin more curious as to who she was. 

        Speaking of whom, the Imp turned to him. "And that must mean you are the senior officer here, Captain Jree Fisto of Twilight Company." The younger crowd recognized the name Twilight Company, while the older ones recognized Fisto. "Heard what happened to your company; brutal stuff... so if you are expecting a  rescue attempt by them, Don't. They're all either dead or left the planet. Either way, nobody is coming to your rescue."

        With a enraged snort, Jree got up in his face... "Who says i need rescuing, you little twerp?" ... only to be hit in the side by the butt of a rifle, sending him down.

        "Temper temper, Nautolin. I wouldn't take it all out on me, if i were you. I'm just the clerk here." More like pig. "You'll need that temper where you are going." He turned to his companion guard. "Contact Star Galleon 44-G. It's got prisoners to haul off." 

        As if on perfect cue, the Galleon in question rose up from the snow, then took off towards the battlefront.... rather speedily, too. Too speedily, by imperial standards. It caused some confusion among the lot of them, moreso the imp officer. "Un... maybe they had to make an emergency pickup for their units?" His guard theorized. 

        He was wrong. They would learn several hours later that the ship had been stolen by a Rebel company that barely survived the fighting by the skin of their teeth: Spirit Company. But that's another story. Until then... 

        "It matters not." The officer said. "Just contact another Galleon." The guard nodded and left to go do that once he and his superior left the cage.

        "That ship leaving was unexpected." Neth said as he crossed his arms.

        "Indeed it was." Jree responded. He looked down at the snow for a moment. "So what do we do now?"

        "Nothing we can do, but wait for us to be shipped off to whatever prison they deem worthy for us." She looked back to the other prisoners. "Besides, it's most of them i'm concerned about. Some of them look too old to be fighting on the front lines... and the kids look like they should be in school."

        "It'll be up to us to look out for them, doesn't it?"

        "Yeah. We're the only senior officers here, so the imps will be coming to talk to us anyways." After some time, she glanced over to him. "So... Fisto, eh? Wasn't there a Jedi with that name?"

        Jree groaned as he slouched forward and hung his head back. "uuuuugh, not this again." He rubbed and pinched his eyes. "I'm gonna get this out of the way fast: yes, i'm related to Kip Fisto- he was my second cousin, and no, i don't have magic powers like he did. If i did, i'd be leaping out of here, tout suite." 

        "That's a shame..." the whining sound of a descending ship made them look to the gate- a Sentinal had landed just on the other side, with the ramp descending. This was going to be their transport to prison. "...cause we sure could use a Jedi right now...."

Star Wars

Prisoners of Twilight