The Xenenite Rebellion
The Xenenite Rebellion, that horrible conflict that cost the lives of thousands of men and women, both civilian and Imperial, was led by New Republic officer Michael Bullian, a commander with the Rebel Squadrons. The fighters of the Xenenite Rebellion never knew this until long after their leader's apparent death by torture at Pormyst. The last battle was at this same city and the forces were led by LCM Troy Nexus, a friend of Bullian. Bullian was "survived" by his wife, Indiana, and his children.
Mike frowned as he looked down at his cards. It was a 3 of Sabers, 2 of Flasks, and a 8 of Staves, not a good hand at all. He looked up at DM whose face told him the same story. Mike could read anyone's bluff, it came from years of doing it through the Force. He used to sense whether they were sincere or not and associate slight movements or facial ticks or expressions. DM had a slight twitch in his left eyebrow when he bluffed, and ritght now his eyebrow wasn't moving. It had gone like this for hours, DM and Mike losing every hand to the San Insia Imperial commander. Right then, he realized that he had no credits left, and DM had just lost their speeder.
The man with a Major's pips checked his equipment one last time.
Mike hopped in the speeder after a somewhat heated exchange with Indy. It wasn't as if he hadn't expected it but it still gets to him. It seems that more often than not she was angry with him, he tacked it up to the fact that trouble followed him like a homing missile combined with the stresses of command. It didn't much matter, she would forgive him and he'd go off to get in more trouble, such was the way of life.
Tarcras frowned as he tied a young woman to a flagpole in the center of San Insia. The woman had killed a stormtrooper that was trying to have his way with her with his own blaster rifle.
Mike looked on the scene from the speeder and shook his head. Tarcras agreed to leave the city, and yet he didn't. Mike's impression of him as an honorable man couldn't have been farther off, in truth the man was a monster, no man at all. Tarcras could not be left in power over San Insia, or any other city on Xenen.
Later that night as the people who had helped to rid the city of the Imperials were celebrating inside the garrison, a group of people from a small town adjacent to San Insia approached. The leader called out to those who were posted as guard and one of them went to get Mike.
Troy walked up to Indy, who was overseeing the construction of the new base.
DM rode up to Mike's encampment outside San Istil on a speeder bike he'd appropriated from an imperial scout. Mike walked toward him and looked at him.
Two men approached Mike, it was an hour until they were to depart for Osiris. DM called out to Mike.
Mernee and Lakin talked among themselves, about their upcoming negotiation. They brought the army more for show, they really intended to bargain a better position for themselves. Not long later their scout approached on a speeder bike.
The imperial messenger cleared his throat and read from a datapad.
Mike Bullian rides his speeder across from the Imperial messengers. Mike pressed a button on the slave controls as it throttled away. A priest came out to say a few prayers before the fight started.
Mike looked up from the scout's report, he had just come back from Osiris, where he'd been knighted. There was an Imperial army massing from Pormyst and it was getting ready to move on his position. Mike walked out of the tent that served as his quarters and command post, and approached the fire around which most of his army was gathered.
He had been there, the night before, seemingly to say good-bye.
"Well, you already know most of the team, but there are a few who recently joined up after our mettle was proven."
Mike stood at the front rank of his army, it was dawn and the bait he'd sent out to draw the imperials to the battlefield had just returned. The night before his army had set the battlefield in their odds, spreading oil and gunpowder over the other end of the field near the Imperials end toward Pormyst. He looked over at Linda who nodded as to her readiness. She'd volunteered for this just an hour before, telling Mike of her plan. The imperial army took the field a moment later, led by its infantry units and followed by cavalry and tanks. Mike looked back at Linda.
"Mike Bullian, you've been found guilty of war crimes against the Empire and as such must be punished, however, the Empire is merciful, all you need to do is fall to your knees and swear loyalty to the Empire. Ask for mercy and it will be granted." Mike remained silent and motionless. "Very well, guards, string him up." The stormtroopers beside him attached the ropes dangling from the scaffold to his wrists and ankles. The stormtroopers went to a pair of winches and turned them, stretching Mike farther than a human body should be stretched. "It can end, all you have to do is ask for mercy." Mike remained silent, gritting his teeth through the pain. The Imperial commander signaled for the guards to take him down, which they did, letting him fall to the ground before they tied him to a large metal cross, which was scarred by the impact of other metal devices. he was bound at the wrists, shoulders, thighs, and ankles with thick leather straps.
Al was on the ground next to his lieutenant and their 10 men. Each had a Imperial-issued sniper rifle, and Al had an explosive attachment. He aimed at the Imperial Commander's head, and was shocked as a scream of "Freedom!" went out. Mike's head was chopped off, and Al squeezed the trigger. His 11 men followed, and took out quite a few of the Imperials in the room. They reloaded, fired again, abandoned their guns, and ran in. Al went over to the decapitated corpse, and knelt. He took Indy's lightsaber, and shook his head. He heard a blaster shot, and a man fell on his back. An Imp had grabbed the Axe, but his man had shot him down. Al began to cry. "For Mike..." They then went to join the others with Troy.
Troy sat on his speeder bike at the head of Mike's army. He had ridden from Quis to take command, at DM's suggestion, for just long enough to deliver the official surrender to the imperial commander at Pormyst. He reached to his belt and brought Indy's lightsaber to his hand, Surge had retrieved it when it had fallen from Mike's dead fingers. He stared at it a moment, looking from it to the imperial army, then to Mike's army he thought to himself that Mike died for these people, this planet, it can't end like this. DM looked up at him, understanding what was going through his head. DM reached for his own belt, on which was clipped Mike's lightsaber. He ignited it, and with a great heave three it toward the imperial army, it flew through the air as if it were in slow motion, flipping slowly, and landing with the butt sticking into the ground, the blade standing straight up. (Mike's voice)
The Xenenite Rebellion was written by COM Michael Bullian,
RA Mon Remona, MAJ Deadmeet, LCM Troy Nexus, MAJ Aragorn Blight, COM Alex Foley, and LCM Indiana Bridger.
Editor's Note: The Xenenite Rebellion is based on the film Braveheart, dir. Mel Gibson, which was the story of Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace.
[ Back to the Battle Ops Center ] [ Kartuiin ] [ Xenen ] [ Vormari III ] [ Norvid V ] [ Conceli VIII ] [ Conceli IX ] [ Izra Dargan ] [ Tegan Dargan ] [ Winston Kiel ] [ Lavrin Millard ] [ Kingston Taylor ] [ Marie Dargan Taylor ] [ Torvin Taylor ] [ Tiras Variner ] [ Ashal Vidind ] [ Quis Briefing ] [ Xenenite Rebellion ] [Novis Briefing ]
Mike looked at Stone, then at Troy. He smiled politely and stood up.
"Well, it's been nice but I really must be going. DM was expecting me ten minutes ago." Stone looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out where he knew him from.
"Commander, before you go I'd like to have a word with you in private." Mike motioned to the hall and walked out as Stone followed. "I know I met you before, but I can't place it." Stone trailed off as Mike grinned lopsidedly.
"You're a busy man, you meet a lot of people, especially with what's been going on." Stome's jaw dropped as he realized who he was talking to.
"Drake Morgan..." Mike nodded and smiled as he turned to walk away. Stone shook his head and went back to dinner.
"Well Commander, we're out of credits, and assets...all but one." Mike grinned lopsidedly. "So how about this: One hand, everything on the table plus the city of San Insia, against our ship." The commander raised an eyebrow, he wasn't one to be fooled easily.
"What kind of ship is it?" Mike pulled out the datadisk containing the title and access codes, the imperials would've spotted a forgery in an instant so Mike came prepared with the real documents.
"Imperial class Star Destroyer, mark 2" The commander smiled, anticipating how it would feel to command his own star destroyer. The commander, Tarcras by name, was an honorable man, but he was also an extremely good sabacc player.
"Old Republic rules?" Mike and DM nodded in agreement and the dealer droid passed out the cards for the hand, to DM, Tarcras, then Mike in the rotating clockwise sequence. The bets were on the table and the cards were dealt. The hand was played and cards were exchanged, then it came time to show. DM was first, and he revealed a 22, Ace of Staves, 5 of Sabers, and 2 of Coins. Tarcras smiled as he laid down the Idiot's array, chuckling as he pulled the pot toward himself, licking his lips at the thought of his new ISD2. Mike held up his hand.
"Not so fast there." Mike set down his cards one at a time. First the 7 of Sabers, then the Jedi Knight. A hush fell over the room as Tarcras stared at the cards. Finally, Mike laid down the last card, the Jedi Master. It was the Jedi's Array, the one hand in Old Republic rules that'll beat the Idiot's array, aside from pure Sabacc.
Tarcras let out a grunt and a sigh, and stormed out of the room. DM looked over at Mike.
"Well that was easy." Mike laughed nearly to the point of convulsion at that. "What?"
"DM, that was FAR from easy getting the skifter past Tarcras. I don't think that the 4 of Coins would have helped much." Mike grinned as he held up the actual card that had been dealt to him. DM chuckled as he slid the winnings into his pouch.
"So what are we gonna do with the extra ten million credits?" Mike laughed.
"Buy me a house, cause Indy is definitely gonna kick me out when she finds out I gambled the Dashan."
Vibroblade--check.
Supply pack with extra gear--check.
Stuff-sack with my clothes--check.
Crates of my personal effects--check.
Standard-issue sidearm--check.
Datacards and datapad--double check.
Code-slicing gear--check.
Holotapes--triple check.
Editing gear--check.
Holocams--double check.
Orders? He had to pat his pockets down to find the datapad. He came up with it and smiled. "Check."
"Major Dargan? Sir, we're setting down at Quis."
The man nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll need a hand with this gear when we set down."
"Understood, sir. I'll send someone down." The lieutenant disappeared. He took from his pocket a locket his sister had given him for a birthday years before. The holo inside was of his two nieces, one sixteen, one ten. Nine years since the picture had been taken. Almost a quarter of his life ago. His thumb brushed against the locket's clasp, but he didn't open it. The shuttle shivered as it set down at Quis's spaceport.
The man tucked the locket back into his pocket and hefted what gear he could. Another officer appeared for the rest as the Major emerged into the midday sun. There were still some Imperial markings on the walls, despite the change in the city's allegiance; the Major wrinkled his nose at these markings. He'd grown up in an Imperial family but his idealogy was diametrically opposite from those of his Imperial siblings. He was an officer of the New Republic, proud and salwart, and had been such for long years.
He heard a voice shouting nearby, a woman's voice. "I STILL can't believe you bet the Dashan. MY flagship. I should have you court-martialed!" There was a pause, a woman appearing from outside the landing bay. She turned a moment to respond to the man she'd been shouting at, a man taller than her by a few centimeters and larger in build. "I don't CARE if you won, it's the principle of the thing! Bet your own ships next time!" The major hid a smile. A husband and wife, if he was any judge, and the wife most likely had NOT been the husband's CO at the time of the marriage. That came from some inference on his part; the way the woman spoke of the ship being "her flagship" led him to beleieve he was dealing with the commander of the Aurora Force, Indiana Bridger. He came forward, hand extended, and met her halfway. "Commander Bridger, I presume?"
"Major Dargan. It's good to meet you, but I somehow expected you to be...well, more mobile."
"You didn't expect me to be in a repulsorchair."
"No, I didn't," she admitted.
"I get that a lot." Izra "Wheels" Dargan grinned at her, running a hand through his short-cropped hair. "So, Commander, where do I stow this gear and change my clothes? I've got a lot to cover and not a lot of time to spin it."
This wasn't the time to think about it, Mike had just acquired the port city of San Insia and it needed to be checked on. That was where Mike was going in the speeder. The ride was short seeing as how San Insia was only a few hundred kilometers away from Quis.
"Citizens of San Insia. Have I not been a good leader? I've been lenient in the application of Imperial law here and as such I thought we'd found a way to coexist in relative peace and harmony. Haven't we? Today's lawlessness proves to me that we haven't. For the last time you have tested my patience. Attacking an Imperial soidier is no different as if you had attacked the Emperor himself, may his soul rest." Tarcras turned to the woman at the pole and slit her throat with a vibrodagger. "This incident will not repeat itself." He wiped the dagger on the woman's dress and walked away toward the small garrison there, leaving the woman tied lifelessly to the flagpole.
Mike looked at a pair of men who were looking straight at the woman tied to the flagpole, their faces betraying no emotion. It was then that he knew something must be done. The men looked up and met his gaze and seemed to convey a thousand words in a single look. The conversation of eyes was two sided as the men nodded, knowing what was to be done. Mike turned a bit to reveal the rifle strapped to his back to these men, and they nodded once more. A plan was forming in their minds and it would happen.
Tarcras looked back to see Mike apporaching slowly, hands out to the side in a gesture of peace. He waved a pair of guards to go arrest him. Mike raised his hands to his head as the guards approached him, and as soon as they closed to about ten feet he acted, whipping the rifle out from behind him and firing, hitting one in the forehead and the other in the chest. A squad from the garrison ran at him only to be picked off by the two men that had shared the visual conversation. The imperials emptied out of the garrison as Tarcras ran inside, all the while screaming for snipers on the wall. The whole city converged on the Imperials, tearing them apart with their bare hands as Mike climbed the walls of the garrison and took out the snipers. Tarcras was waiting there, unarmed as Mike kicked him back through the garrison's gate. Mike pushed him against the same flagpile upon which he had executed the woman. Mike stared him in the eyes for a moment, before slitting his throat with his own vibrodagger. Tarcras fell to the ground as Mike walked away.
"We heard what happened here, we want to help." Just as the pair of guards were about to welcome them Mike walked up.
"Go home." The leader of the newcoming group looked at him in confusion. "Some of us are already in this, we can't change that. Go back to your homes and your families." The new group's leader looked into his eyes.
"We won't have any homes left when the Imperials come from Novis to counterstrike and burn us out." The leader paused. "And they will." Mike nodded.
"All right then." Mike grinned and shook the leader's hand, welcoming them to the impromptu celebration.
"Indy?" She turned to look at him. "A rebellion's started in San Insia, local resistance that seems to be well organized. I've sent DM to help it along." Indy frowned slightly.
"Under whom, no wait, I should be able to guess this one." Troy grinned as Indy opened her mouth to speak, and they both said it. "Mike." Indy looked at Troy. "Why is he always doing this, why does he always have to be the hero?" Troy just shook his head.
"Some people are born to be farmers, some are born to be commanders, some are born to be grunts... Mike, well he's a born hero." Indy frowned at that.
"Like his ego needs to be bigger by being a hero." Troy chuckled.
"I doubt it gets any bigger." Troy patted Indy on the arm. "You should know him better than I do, but love can blind you sometimes... From what I can see of him, he doesn't try to be a hero, doesn't care whether he's a hero, he just does what he thinks is right... and more often than not, it just happens to be the right thing."
"He could jeopardize everything we've worked on with this." Indy shook her head and looked at the ground.
"True, true, but with this rebellion he gives us just what we need, support from the people. They follow him because he promises them freedom from Imperial rule, and he seems to keep his promises. From the reports I'm getting San Insia and Yist are already under his control, and his actions have inspired similar uprisings in Berenebor and Osiris." Indy smiled.
"He may be misguided, but he is a good leader. I wonder why he doesn't use it as much for us?" Troy just shook his head, not having an answer.
"Well, what news?" DM took a few breaths, he'd been practically pushing the bike himself with the Force to speed his travel.
"The Imperials are moving on Osiris, the locals have gathered an army but they're outnumbered four to one." By then a crowd was gathering.
"Good work DM, gwt a little rest... we're moving in two hours." Mike turned around to look around the encampment, and yelled out "ARE YOU READY FOR A WAR!" A loud cheer rose up around him and he laughed.
"Mike, we've got some recruits!" Mike looked them over, one was vaguely familiar, but the other he'd never seen before. It was the unfamiliar one that approached first.
"Mike Bullian, my name is Ferdin, and my blaster is yours." He paused a moment and then reached into his jacket for something. Two of the nearby soldiers moved to grab him but DM stopped them.
"They've been checked for weapons." The guards let him go and he pulled a handkerchief out and handed it to Mike.
"My wife made this for you." Mike took the handkerchief and the man went to join the rest of the troops. The other man walked past Mike and went to a table on which were arrayed various foods, from which he sampled while laughing. He looked up into the air and then talked a bit.
"Yes father, I'll ask him." The man turned to Mike. "If i join you, will I get a chance to kill the Imperials?" DM gave him a strange look.
"Is your father a spirit, or to you speak to a god?" The man turned to DM.
"In order to find my equal I'm forced to converse with the almighty." DM laughed and turned to Mike.
"He's a madman" At that the man spun quickly, drawing a hidden vibrodagger and holding it to DM's throat.
"Smart enough to get a dagger past your guards." Mike stepped up.
"That's my friend, and the answer to your question is yes, if you join me you'll get a chance to kill the imperials." The man put his dagger away and laughed.
"Excellent! Surge is my name, and i'm the most wanted man on my island, except i'm not on my island of course." DM looked at him.
"Island, you mean Uriv?" The man chuckled.
"Yes, my island." DM shook his head.
"You're insane." The man laughed again.
"I've come to the right place then." Mike walked away, shaking his head and laughing, leaving DM and the newcomer to have fun with each other, he was off to have a bit of fun before he left.
Mike crouched, his prey in sight before his blaster, and he heard a footstep to his left. He turned to see Surge coming at him with a vibrodagger in hand. He raised his blaster to fire on Surge, and Surge threw the dagger past Mike. It hit Ferdin in the throat and he fell over, dead. Surge walked up to get his dagger back.
"Are you sure the almighty didn't put me here to watch your back." Surge stated more than asked. "I didn't like him anyway, he wasn't right in the head." At that Surge tooh his dagger and walked away, leaving Mike alone. Mike glanced upward, wondering...
"What of the Imperials?" Mernee asked of the scout.
"They outnumber us at least four to one, with at least 50 heavy assault speeders." Lakin coughed.
"We must negotiate, nobody's stood up to that many assault speeders and won in decades." Just then a hush fell over the ranks as the hum of repulsorlifts approached from behind. Whispers could be heard throughout the assembled army, whispers of "Mike Bullian" echoed on everyone's tongue. As he approached he could see that they were starting to break up and retreat. He rode his speeder bike up to the leaders, Mernee and Lakin. Lakin looked at him.
"Where is your salute?" Mike looked at him.
"I thank you for presenting yourself on this battlefield."
"This is our army, and if you wish to join it you must give homage." Mike turned away.
"I give homage to Xenen, and if this is your army, then why does it go?" A shout came from one of the soldiers.
"The Imperials are too many!" Mike rode his speeder bike back and forth in front of the assembled army, who had gathered once more if only to hear what he had to say.
"Children of Xenen, I am Mike Bullian." Another shout came from another voice in the crowd.
"But Mike Bullian is ten feet tall!"
"I've heard, he kills stormtroopers by the thousand, and igf he were here he'd consume the imperials with bolts of lightning from his eyes and fireballs from his arse." A slight chuckle rose in the ranks. "I am Mike Bullian. You know what I see here, I see a ragtag bunch of untrained soldiers that are poorly equipped and rushing into battle without much of a plan. Yes, that's what you are, but you know what, seven years ago another small group, poorly equipped and lacking a solid strategy fought, and won that day. Four years after that, some of those same group of people, better equipped, but still outnumbered and outmatched as you are fought again against a larger enemy. Those people were the Rebel Alliance, and on both those days, they defeated an enemy so great that it could rip a planet to shreds. They were not unlike yourselves, they knew the odds they faced, but they did not care. They knew without a doubt in mind that if they did not fight then, the entire galaxy would be crushed under the fist of the Empire for centuries. Will you fight as they did?" The army yelled out almost in unison a reverberating chorus of "No", while one stepped forward.
"Against that? No, we'll run, and we will live." Mike nodded.
"If you fight, you may die. If you run, you'll live, at least for a while. And when you're dying in your beds many years from now, can you honestly say that wouldn't give all the days from this day to then for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell the Imperials that you will not live under their thumb, that you will not be oppressed by their unjust law, that you are free!" Mike rode his speeder down the line and yelled "FREEDOM FOR ALL!" Mike rode over to DM and Surge, who he'd appointed as his captains. Surge looked at him.
"Fine speech, what do we do now?" Mike looked up at Mernee and Lakin,
who were riding out for a parlay with the Imperial command.
"Just be yourselves." Mike turned toward the center of the battlefield. DM called out to him.
"Where are you going?" Mike eased up the throttle a bit.
"I'm going to pick a fight." Mike sped off toward the already beginning parlay.
"Here are the Empire's terms: You are to lead this army off the field and swear allegience to the Imperial governor in Novis, and you will each be given lands on Calder and a hereditary title from which you will pay an annual..." Mike rode up and interrupted.
"Here are Xenen's terms." Mernee looked at the messenger.
"This is Mike Bullian." Mike cleared his throat
"These are Xenen's terms: You will lower your flags and march your army back to Novis, stopping at each city and home along the way to beg forgiveness for years of theft, rape, and murder." The Imperial messenger scoffed. "I'm not finished... Before you leave, your commander is to walk across this field, present himself to this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse." The messenger turned away and rode back to report to his commander. Mernee looked at Mike and sighed.
"That was a bit less friendly than he expected I'm sure." Mike looked at Mernee and Lakin.
"Listen to me. I want you to do exactly as I say, take our assault speeders, ride around begind their position and flank them." Mernee donned an angry look.
"We cannot divide our forces!" Mike looked at him.
"Do it, and let the imperials see you do it." Lakin nodded.
"They'll think we've run" Mike nodded and rode back to the ranks of the army to settled in to wait for the charge.
"Insolent bastard! I want this Mike Bullian's heart on a plate! Bowcasters!" said the commanding officer of the Imperial force. His second in command made a gesture and a line officer came with a flag. The officer rode across the ground on his speeder with the flag as the bowcasters lined up. The bowcasters aimed towards the rebelling force. The rebels put up there shields, waiting for the oncoming barrage. The rebels yelled out a battle cry and flanked and then mooned the Imperials. The rebels shields held against most of the barrage, but there were a few hit down by the bowcasters blast. "The lord tells me he's pretty sure that he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure you're screwed." Surge said then adding a weak laugh. The rebels opened a war cry at the Imperials. They mooned them again And another volley from the bowcasters came. A few weren't able to fend off multiple blasts with their shields. And then the Rebels send the Uulshos LAVr QH-7 Chariot Light Assault Vehicles heading away from them. "Drive!" Mike shouted. The Uulshos LAVr QH-7 Chariot Light Assault Vehicles headed away from the battle. "See. Their heavy cavalry is fleeing. Our cavalry will mow them down like grass." The Imperial said and then motioned the bowcasters aside. And his own Uulshos LAVr QH-7 Chariot Light Assault Vehicles came through. The reels hid their E-Webs behind the front line. They waited for the Imperials to come. "Steady.." Mike said. "Hold...Hold..Hold!" Mike blurted. "Hold!" Mike yelled again. "NOW!" Mike blurted at the front line went down to the ground and the E-Webs went firing. The rebels yelled a war cry as the Uulshos LAVr QH-7 Chariot Light Assault Vehicles fell. They stabbed at the drivers with their vibroblades. "Send the infantry.." said the Imperial commander."My lord.." blurted teh 2nd in command. "You lead them!" said the commander. The rebels came through the burning Uulshos LAVr QH-7 Chariot Light Assault Vehicles and yelled out again with vibroblades and lightsabers in hand. The rebels ran at them as the Imperials did the same with vibroblades in hand as well as lightsabers. As the first lines hit the moment seemed to stop as a sizzling of lasers on lasers came to be. Mike stabbed a man through and blocked. Surge grabbed a man from the back and slit his throat. Surge then went to stabbing a man through with this lightsaber. Surge eyes seemed to light up and open wide as the bottom of his teeth showed in a devilish grin. Surge slashed another guy through the gut and blocked a lightsaber strike. Mike meanwhile used his vibroblade and stabbed a guy through and cut sidewards through. The Uulshos LAVr QH-7 Chariot Light Assault Vehicles came in and took out the bowcasters. "Retreat!" yelled a officer. Surge kept fighting every Imperial near him. Stabbing through. The Imperial 2nd in command came running at Mike. Mike yelled a battle cry and chopped the mans head off. Surge spliced at another guy as what looked like a piece of debris was hit against a Imperials head. Mike yelled out as the rest of the Imperials seemed to fall quickly. The relaying rebels cheered. Mike held his vibroblade high and yelled to the others. People started cheering "Bullian!" as he throw a large blade into the ground.
"I knight thee, Sir Mike Bullian."said Craig touching a ancient swords blade to each of Mike's shoulders.
"Listen up! I just got word that the Imperials were moving from Pormyst to try attacking us. From my scout's report they're mobilizing at noon tomorrow. They've got four hundred assault tanks and six infantry regiments, not to mention assault speeders and conscriptions. There's enough there to completely wipe us out." Surge turned to Mike and laughed.
"I wouldn't worry about the conscriptions, it's my island." Mike shook his head.
"I can't expect you to fight against those odds, if we wait for them to strike we will almost certainly die." Mike paused a moment looking at each of the faces in his army. They were good people, farmers mostly that were tired of living under the Imperial heel. They were as the first men and women of the Rebellion were. "If we wait, then we will die. If we wait, it's certain doom for us, for the rebellion. The Imperials will have won! Everything we've worked for this far will have been for nothing! Why are we waiting?!" Mike paused a moment as his army cheered. "We go now. We will fight for Xenen, and we will win! Xenen will be free!" The army cheered, Mike turned back to his tent to get ready.
Mike strapped on his makeshift battle armor, wondering how he gets himself into this kind of thing. His armor was made of pitch black plasteel scales sewn onto a kevlar vest designed to deflect lighter weaponry. He grinned as he saw how it showed off his physique, vanity and ego still hadn't left him. On top he wore a kilt made of tightly woven local fibers, nearly waterproof and patterned in the fashion of a local family. Family structure was important to the people of Xenen, at least the common people. Each family had a distinct pattern weave of multicolored plaid that could identify that family in their everyday dress. At the beginning of the war Mike was accepted into the family of the girl that he'd seen murdered, MacAulish.
The time passes quickly as the army mobilized, they were on the move in less than fifteen minutes, one of the benefits of their disorganization was that they didn't need to wait for the red tape and formation. It would take them less than an hour to reach their destination and then about an hour to set up for battle. Mike looked around the transport he was rifing in with his captains, DM sat there silently looking out the window. Al stared at the battle plans while Surge stared at Mike. He had faith in these men, that they could lead this army onto the field of battle and bring them back alive and victorious. Linda, however he didn't see leading them, she'd arrived a few minutes before they left. She gripped his shoulder from beside him in the transport.
"What's wrong Mike, and don't feed me that bullshit about nothing, I can tell." Mike shook his head.
"I promised Indy I wouldn't leave like this again, and yet I did." Linda turned his head to look at her.
"So you broke a promise, big fat hairy deal, you also won freedom for a lot of people that wouldn't have it." Mike shook his head.
"I didn't do anything, they fought, they died for it." Linda smacked him across the face.
"Look out there!" Linda pointed to the army arrayed in transit behind them. "There's not a man or woman out there that doesn't love you." Mike got a confused look on his face. "They fight for YOU, not for Xenen, without you they would never have fought." Mike sat back as it sank in, he was the heart of the rebellion. he didn't like it, there was too much riding on him, when he charged off into battle he could die and the rebellion would be crushed, but maybe they fought for him because he wasn't afraid to fight alongside them...
It had been hard, to watch him leave her one more time, one last time. She knew the day would be long, hard. She hadn't wanted to let him go, she hungered to make him remain, but she could not. She could not force him to remain, even though she could see it in his eyes that he didn't want to leave her. In the end, they had kissed each other and said good-bye.
Now she stood alone, a jacket held tight around her shoulders, outside their tent. Within, the children slept, peaceful, blissfully ignorant of what was happening elsewhere.
There was so much killing, so much death, it ate away at her painfully, bringing stinging tears to her eyes. So terrible, such things, and yet she was the one who often ordered such things to happen...she knew that this slaughter was for a cause, a cause as dear to her heart as any--it was for the destruction of the Empire.
Slowly, slowly, she turned and walked back into the tent. Outside, a single star fell from the skies, like the single crystal tear that traced down her cheek as she hugged the blankets around her and slept that night in the cold cot, alone.
Michael Pakitzwan introduced Jason Briggs to the 5 or 6 people added to Mike's commando team.
"And the guy piloting is Edward Trappasso, a local resident who worked at the garage."
Jason looked over, then stepped off to his cabin.
They were on the Dark Moon, Mike's heavily modified YT-1400. Jason smiled as he moved his arm around, the treatment had worked fairly well, even without bacta. He turned his neck from side to side, there was still pain, but he was doing much better. He wasn't cleared for battle yet, so he was helping Mike on board the ship.
The ship was heading off to group with Mike Bullian's army, now ready to march to another city. The ship had trouble lifting off, nothing Jason couldn't fix, but it was a significant delay. He grinned,
this ship has more problems than the Millennium Falcon.
Mike opened the door to Jason's room, "Jason, we're coming up, need you in the cockpit, we're coming up."
"Right."
When they got to the cockpit, Mike sat right in front, Jason at his side, while Trappasso, unwilling to quite leave, watched.
The first thing in sight was not a pleasant one, surrounding a platform, were hundreds of people, most likely the army Mike had gathered. They were surrounding a body.
Jason immediately knew something was wrong, "Oh sith..."
Mike, his face intense, landed the Dark Moon, as the ship got lower, it became painfully clear who had died, especially to Mike, who had worked with Bullian throughout the Xenen mission.
Jason took the controls and finished the landing manuever. This wasn't going to be good.
"It's time." Linda nodded and rode her speeder bike forward at a slow pace, waving a white flag of truce to signal for a parlay. The imperial army matched, sending the second in command and a detachment of stormtroopers to the center of the battlefield. The imperial spoke first.
"Why does Bullian send you, girl, to speak for him." Linda glared into his eyes.
"General Bullian deems you unworthy of hearing his words, swine." No sooner did the words come from her mouth than she flicked a switch on her bike's control panel, setting off the bomb hidden inside. The fuel tanks ruptured and the explosion spread out, consuming the stormtrooper detachment. Mike's army cheered while the imperial commander ordered a heavy cavalry charge, all his tanks. Mike watched the tanks move into a charge formation, waiting for the perfect moment. Mike looked at DM, who handed him a long range rifle with explosive projectiles powerful enough to blow out a man's chest. Mike aimed a moment at the ground in front of the tanks, now speeding toward them. he fired as the tanks neared a large patch of black on the ground, the projectile hit and exploded, setting off the oil and gunpowder, consuming the tanks in a mass explosion that destroyed nearly all of them, the others foundering with ruptutred repulsorcoils and collisions with the buned out husks of the other tanks.
The imperial commander ordered the conscriptions to charge, and they did, screaming at the top of their lungs. Mike turned to Surge who just smiled at him.
"CHAAAAAAARGE!" Mike yelled and started running with his army. Seconds later both forces stopped within feet of each other, and greeted each other as friends. Surge turned to Mike.
"I told you it was my island." Mike laughed and pointed at the Imperial commander as if to say "you're mine". The imperial commander ordered the stormtroopers to charge, only to be matched by Mike's army now strengthened by the imperial army's own conscriptions. The armies met with a deafening crash as blaster bolts flew from both sides. They waded into each other, using thir rifles as clubs and drawing daggers or lightsabers to slash at their enemies. Blood flew and the clash of metal to metal, lightsaber to lighsaber could be heard for miles. Mike slashed through Stormtrooper after stormtrooper, removing body parts with reckless abandon. DM matched Mike's action, twirling with his double bladed saber through the mass of stormtroopers. Mike impaled a stormtrooper with his lightsabe and another smashed his wrist with the butt od his rifle, causing Mike to drop his saber. Mike fired his blaster pistol into the stormtrooper's throat and grabbed his rifle, firing it into the stormie behind him.
It was then that Mernee and Lakin turned their cavalry from the field, just as the imperial light cavalry charged. Mike's army was forced to retreat, those that could. Mike and a few others were trapped in the middle. Mike looked at DM and Surge as they turned, and gave them a look that said "go, get out of here" as the butt of a blaster hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Ask for mercy and it shall be yours." Mike remained silent. The commander raised a large metal pole, and brought it down on Mike's stomach. Mike clenched his teeth and partially doubled over, unable to move further. The crowd rushed the platform only to be beaten back by the stormtroopers, but in the process one of the people was able to slip Indy's lightsaber into Mike's hand, unfortunately, though it was intended to help him escape, he was too weak and tied too tightly to use it. The commander raised the pole again, and brought it into Mike's stomach harder this time. Mike clenched his teeth and grasped the lightsaber with all his strength. He let out a half choked gasp barely audible through the crowd's murmur.
"Silence, silence! The prisoner wishes to say a word!" Mike choked a few times, stuttering to get his breath. The commander and most of the crowd stared silently, anticipating him to ask mercy. Mike coughed once more and took a deep breath, and held it for a moment.
"FREEDOM!" He screamed with all his heart. The commander signaled to a nearby stormtrooper, who raised an axe, and brought it down on Mike's neck. Mike's body tensed for a second, then went limp as the life drained from him, Indy's lightsaber rolled from his fingertips as the crowd, waiting to cheer his death, remained silent.
Troy looked at DM, then at Indy's lightsaber. He ignited the lightsaber, pointed it straight up, then swept it toward the Imperial army screaming "FOR MIKE!!!"
On that day some five hundred men and women under the command of Troy Nexus fought outnumbered against a better equipped foe, and won their freedom. They fought with all their hearts, they fought like warrior-poets, they fought, like
Xenenites.