CK-205 stared intensely at the clock in front of him. The orange digital numbers were embedded into the visor of his Storm Commando helmet. As he sat huddled in the confines of the TIE Lander, 205 was relieved that the worry on his face was hidden from the four commandos around him.
“Two minutes.”, CK-111, the squad captain, growled in the familiar echo that vibrates from behind the Empire’s haunting masks. He turned to the other commandos and threw up two fingers before turning back to the open doorway to survey the planet below him. The rivers of Naboo slithered into the horizon like snakes. 205, with his head to the floor, looked up at the other members of his squad. Though he had no way to tell, he knew there was no fear or reluctance aboard the ship but his own. He took a deep breath, seemingly inhaling the courage of the men surrounding him and exhaling his own fear.
205 was no coward. He had served his Emperor for many years as a Stormtrooper before being hand-picked by Crix Madine to join the ranks of the elite Imperial Storm Commandos. CK-205 would gladly give his life in service of his Galaxy. It wasn’t fear of a superior force that scared him, it was fear of the task his squad was ordered to do. 205’s squad was commencing, what seemed to him, a suicide mission: the assassination of Kylantha, the Queen of Naboo. Although, 205 didn’t doubt for one moment that the squad would succeed in their mission, he knew there would be repercussions. The squad was being dispatched to an uprising in Theed. In secrecy they hoped to eliminate the Queen, preventing her from taking true power from the hands of the Empire following the death of the Emperor. Naboo was an important planet. Yet, there lay the problem. The squad was moving into a crowded city in disarray hoping to assassinate a queen. While it looked good on paper, 205 knew Kylantha had to be killed out-of-sight to prevent further anti-Imperial sentiment from the Naboo, as well as preventing Kylantha from becoming a martyr to her people.
As the Lander approached the capitol, the sound of explosions and roaring crowds echoed through the ship. CK-205 swallowed deep. Once again pushing his own fear away from his thoughts to remain focused on the mission. CK-111 motioned to the men, they were at the drop point. The TIE Lander would hover near the Royal Palace at an outdoor tower where the Queen frequently held weddings for distant relatives and friends of the Royal Family. The tower connected to the main palace, where, latest intelligence stated, Kylantha was holed up.
“Let’s go.”, CK-111 growls. The squad was at the tower and it was time to lock-and-load. CK-205 checked his carbine one last time. The fear had gone, the only thought on his mind wasn’t the inevitable suicide his squad was walking into, but the suicide of the Empire.
“Two minutes.”, CK-111, the squad captain, growled in the familiar echo that vibrates from behind the Empire’s haunting masks. He turned to the other commandos and threw up two fingers before turning back to the open doorway to survey the planet below him. The rivers of Naboo slithered into the horizon like snakes. 205, with his head to the floor, looked up at the other members of his squad. Though he had no way to tell, he knew there was no fear or reluctance aboard the ship but his own. He took a deep breath, seemingly inhaling the courage of the men surrounding him and exhaling his own fear.
205 was no coward. He had served his Emperor for many years as a Stormtrooper before being hand-picked by Crix Madine to join the ranks of the elite Imperial Storm Commandos. CK-205 would gladly give his life in service of his Galaxy. It wasn’t fear of a superior force that scared him, it was fear of the task his squad was ordered to do. 205’s squad was commencing, what seemed to him, a suicide mission: the assassination of Kylantha, the Queen of Naboo. Although, 205 didn’t doubt for one moment that the squad would succeed in their mission, he knew there would be repercussions. The squad was being dispatched to an uprising in Theed. In secrecy they hoped to eliminate the Queen, preventing her from taking true power from the hands of the Empire following the death of the Emperor. Naboo was an important planet. Yet, there lay the problem. The squad was moving into a crowded city in disarray hoping to assassinate a queen. While it looked good on paper, 205 knew Kylantha had to be killed out-of-sight to prevent further anti-Imperial sentiment from the Naboo, as well as preventing Kylantha from becoming a martyr to her people.
As the Lander approached the capitol, the sound of explosions and roaring crowds echoed through the ship. CK-205 swallowed deep. Once again pushing his own fear away from his thoughts to remain focused on the mission. CK-111 motioned to the men, they were at the drop point. The TIE Lander would hover near the Royal Palace at an outdoor tower where the Queen frequently held weddings for distant relatives and friends of the Royal Family. The tower connected to the main palace, where, latest intelligence stated, Kylantha was holed up.
“Let’s go.”, CK-111 growls. The squad was at the tower and it was time to lock-and-load. CK-205 checked his carbine one last time. The fear had gone, the only thought on his mind wasn’t the inevitable suicide his squad was walking into, but the suicide of the Empire.
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