Clone Wars: Underground - Chapter 7

     The pain had dulled to an ache that shook her body now and again. The new Empire had no qualms about painful means of extracting data. Whatever stuff that interrogation droid used, it left her nerves raw and twitching.  Ellia looked around her cell. She tried to stand, but her muscles wouldn’t obey. She crawled to the raised shelf that served as a bed and laid down. She took slow measured breaths trying to calm her nerves. 

Her cell door zipped open. Ellia mind cried in dismay. Were they back with the droid already? She’d have no rest. Tarkin was there with his guards. They came in the room without a word, pulling her off the bed and propping her up before the Moff. She still couldn’t stand on her own. 

Tarkin delighted in his own tactics. They were straight-forward and effective. He motioned to the guard at the door. Two more soldiers angled into the room carrying a heavy burden. Tarkin tried to keep the smirk off his face for as long as possible. He watched Ellia with anticipation. 

Ellia squinted towards the bright light of the hallway. She could make out the two guards laboring to carry in something heavy. A new torture device? A body bag meant to scare her? They moved into the room and under the dim light Ellia saw the large form move slightly. The guards pulled on it and Ellia saw clearly. It was Tiptoe. Her heart raced. He was cut and bruised. His breath was shallow and his head lulled from side to side. What had they done to him? 

Tarkin watched the defiant traitor fall apart. Tears streamed down her dirty face and her lips pressed into a tight line. Her nostrils flared as she tried to control herself.

“Now.” He said calmly, nodding to the soldiers. They pulled Tiptoe to his knees and secured his hands. Another soldier pointed a blaster to the back of his head. “The remaining documents.”

“No! Don’t hurt him!” Ellia shouted.

“The research.” Tarkin reiterated and held out the data pad.

Ellia looked at Tiptoe and back at Tarkin. She wasn’t a soldier. She couldn’t be strong under torture. She couldn’t give up Tip’s life for this. She reached up and keyed in the passcode on the datapad. Tarkin smiled in triumph as all the files unlocked on the screen. 

“Kill him.” He ordered and the blaster went off almost before he finished the command.

“No!” Ellia screamed. There was a thud as Tiptoe’s lifeless body hit the cell floor. Ellia lost all control. She jerked wildly. She wanted to claw the Moff’s head off and throw it at the durasteel wall. She screamed again and kicked. The clone troopers struggled to hold her down. “You lying scum!”

“Lie? Did I ever say I’d spare anyone? Traitors deserve death.” He sneered. “You will make the perfect example, doctor. Your execution will be public. This Empire will have order. You should be proud that your death will help cement that order.” He chided and turned to leave. “Clean up this mess.” He ordered to the guards before leaving. Then he turned and strode purposefully out of the room.

“Please.” Ellia turned to the red-armored clone troopers restraining her. “Please let me say goodbye.” The guards’ helmets turned to one another, a conversation on their private comm channel that Ellia couldn’t hear. “He’s one of you! He’s your brother!” She shouted in frustration. “Just give me a minute.” They let her go and she ran to Tiptoe’s body, cradling his head in her arms. “Thank you, Tip. You were there for me when I needed a friend and a teacher. I won’t ever forget you. I love you.” The three remaining troopers in the room shuffled uneasily. Some orders left a nasty aftertaste, this was one of those situations. A moment later the guard nearest her knelt down. He didn’t sound as cold when he spoke. 

“It’s time.” He said. Ellia reached down and took the tally ID tag from off of Tip’s armor. No one stopped her. The other two lifted Tiptoe’s body. They carried him out with more care and respect than when they’d brough him in. At least they could treat one of their own with respect in death. Even if he was a traitor. They left Ellia in her cell. She was truly alone now. She scoffed at herself through her tears. She had always wanted to be left alone but now that was the last thing she wanted. 

 

The Defender Squad stood in a circle in front of the Ladalum’s ramp. 

“We go in, extract the prisoners. Brix.” Fives turned his attention to his left.

“Detailing on the armor is finished. We should fit right in, boss.” Brix grinned, handing white and red trooper armor to Fives and Burnout.

“Brenni.” Fives turned his attention on the Alderaanian. “I’m sorry, but they will ID your ship.”

“I know. We get Elli and Tip then burn sky.”

“Goodbye Coruscant.” Kisha mock saluted with a grin.

“And you will need to man the turbos.” Fives tried to be serious, but when he looked at Kisha, she reminded him of the hotshot, energetic commander from the 501^st. There was also something about Kisha that reminded him even more about Commander Tano. He could quite put his finger on it, but there was something. She was a great shot and a promising pilot and had enough energy to power her own blaster packs. He cracked a smile as she continued her over-dramatic salute.

“Yes sir!” She shouted.

“Then we burn sky until we see lines. We find out what happened to the rest of the 501^st. They never reported back.” His expression softened. “And we save as many as we can. Coruscant is too hot a location to help anyone anyway.”  

With a nod, everyone prepped and boarded The Ladalum. 

 

            Gresh frowned at the research. It was there, all codes had been sent to him via the military. In theory he could understand Doctor Tian’s work, but it didn’t meet the demands of the Emperor. He could replicate her results, but he wasn’t sure where to go from there. He’d recently replaced the last directing scientist, Doctor Sionver Boll. She had been soft and unwilling to take experimentation to the levels needed. Still, Gresh got the impression that despite her expertise on genetics, she’d been let go because she wasn’t human. He’d jumped at the promotion but quickly realized the demands of the position required more understanding than he had. The Emperor was counting on him to further the cloning and life-regeneration research. Gresh was smart enough to know that one didn’t disappoint Emperor Palpatine without severe consequences. He shuttered as his comm chimed.             

            “Director Gresh. I believe you have been given time to review the cellular research?”

            Gresh swallowed hard. The new Emperor was well informed and impatient. Did he not realize that new scientific procedure takes time? “Y-yes, my Emperor. It has only been taken to a specific stage, and only with clones.”

            “It sounds as if you are having difficulties.” 

            “I can do it.” Gresh promised. “It would speed things along if I had the doctor back. The over-zealous Moff has taken her.”

            “You are doing important work, Director. You will have what you need.” The Emperor soothed. The director knew the Emperor could be lenient if he understood the issues to be practical, but there were also times he could be ruthless when developments took too long. He’d have to make sure results came quickly. Gresh pressed his lips together. He felt a twitch in one eye. If results didn’t come quick enough, he would need to fall back on his back up plan. The higher you climbed the ladder of success, the further you had to fall. This was different. This was the new Empire. You didn’t fall when you failed, you disappeared. 

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