Star Wars_ Rebel Force 05_ Trapped - Alex Wheeler [44]
As day dropped into night, Luke stood on the hill, watching it happen. Watching a city reclaim its soul. The Empire would fight back; it always did. And maybe it would destroy this uprising as it had destroyed the others.
But as the factories burned and the skies glowed with reflected flames, Luke couldn't help hoping—that this time, the fire would last.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Soresh cut off the transmission. So it was over. The garrison was destroyed. X-7 was dead. The ambush was a failure, and the entire city was in upheaval. And Soresh, as the highest-ranking officer on the planet, would be the one held responsible. "No," he said quietly, shaking his head. "No, no, no. No. " He smashed a fist down on the desk, scattering piles of flimsiplast everywhere. This was not the way it was supposed to go. He was a loyal servant of the Empire. The most loyal. Hadn't he sacrificed everything for the cause? Years of his life. His family. Even his own son.
After such devotion and such sacrifice, all for the greater glory of the Empire, surely Palpatine would understand.
Everyone made mistakes.
Still, it couldn't hurt to put as much distance between himself and this disaster as possible. He slipped his private datapad into his pocket and hurried to the door. But when it swung open, a stormtrooper was blocking his path. "I'll need you to prepare the ship,"
he said. "I'm leaving immediately."
The stormtrooper raised his blaster. "I'm sorry, sir, but that's not possible."
"Not possible? What do you mean? Is something wrong with the ship? I'll take another. Surely this planet must have a ship!" Soresh realized he was starting to sound hysterical, and forced himself to take a deep breath. "Let me by," he said in a more commanding voice. "That's an order."
"You're to stay here until he arrives," the stormtrooper said in that flat, toneless voice they all used.
"Until who arrives?" Soresh asked, not sure he wanted the answer.
"Lord Vader."
No.
He assumed a military posture, shoulders back, chest out, head held high. "Listen to me. I don't know who you are, but I am Commander Rezi Soresh, Imperial sub-overseer of strategic and tactical operations, with dominion over the Inner Rim and all planets contained within. You take orders from me, not Lord Vader. And I'm ordering you to let me pass."
The stormtrooper didn't move. Soresh fumed. It was pointless to reason with these stormtroopers. Hiding behind that implacable mask, they had no need to be human.
Sometimes, when he stared into that white plastoid armor, it was hard to believe that there even was a real person beneath it. And who knew what lay behind the mask? It could be a man, could be a woman, could be a cold-blooded monster.
Like Vader. No one knew what was behind that black faceplate, but Soresh was certain that whatever it was contained no shred of humanity. Or mercy.
He stepped back into the office and slammed the door, then locked it. He was running out of time.
Soresh had never considered himself the kind of man who would make a fatal mistake.
But he was the kind of man who planned for every eventuality, even the unlikeliest ones.
Which meant he never went anywhere without a backup plan.
Darth Vader spoke for the Emperor. For Soresh to disobey a direct order would mean violating his sacred oath. By fleeing, he would become an enemy of everything he believed in.
But staying meant certain death. And if he survived, he could atone. He could show the Emperor how loyal he was. How valuable. He could find some way to prove he deserved to live.
If he survived.
Soresh pressed the button that swung back the bookshelf and revealed the hidden turbolift. The secret Rebel escape route was the reason he had selected the office