Chapter 16: Recovering the Plans

Galactic Empire Journal Entry 33 – Location: The Tantive IV

"With the information gathered on Polis Massa, we have concluded that the stolen plans had been given to Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. We weren't surprised. For all their talk of being a peaceful planet, Alderaan had been thumbing its nose at the Empire for years. After a brief and pointless battle, we boarded the ship, the Tantive IV, over Tatooine, began looking for the plans, and waited for Lord Vader's arrival."

The men of the 501st stood in silence in their Star Destroyers hanger bay. The ships whole crew was also present, including Sigan who was standing in front of the other clones alongside the Orion Squad.

They were all patiently waiting for Darth Vader’s shuttle to arrive, before tracking down and attacking the councillor ship known as the Tantive IV. Vader wanted to be there to recover the plans personally from Senator Bail Organa’s daughter. Why this is they have no idea.

Ghost and his brothers figured that with Lord Vader himself leading the mission, there’s no chance in hell they’ll fail. They’ve all witnesses Vader’s wrath in the past. Ghost remembers the battle on Mustafar when Vader unleashed his rage on the Ultra Droid, destroying it like it was nothing. These Rebels will be sorry they ever messed with the Empire.

“ATTENTION!”

The 501st all stood at attention instantly without even looking at Sigan, or the Imperial Shuttle entering the hanger in front of them. The dark lord of the Sith has arrived.

The shuttle doors open, steam venting from its sides releasing the air. They then see Darth Vader exit his shuttle and approach his men. His iconic breathing sending shivers down the spines of the recruit officers.

“Welcome Lord Vader. It is an honour to have you aboard our ship again.” Sigan greeted his master.

“You may spare me the pleasantries and give me a full report of what you’ve discovered on the stolen Death Star plans.” Vader interrupted him. He was in no mood for small talk. He was sent by the Emperor to retrieve the plans and kill the Rebels who stole it, not chat.

“My apologies, my lord.” Sigan gulped nervously. “The 501st were successful in raiding the Rebels base on Polis Massa, and-

“I would prefer to hear this from the men themselves, rather than their observer.” Vader interrupted him again. He then turns to Ghost expecting him to answer instead of Sigan. “Report Commander?”

“Yes sir. The information we’d gathered on Polis Massa has told us that the plans are in the hands of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. My men and I are ready to intercept their ship and stop them at your command.”

“Very good.” Vader then turns to Sigan and his crew again. “Let’s not waste any more time. Set course for Tatooine.”

Sigan and his crew obey their orders and make their way back to the bridge. The 501st went back to their barracks. After the raid on Polis Massa, recovering the plans on a councillor ship will be a walk in the park.

But if that last mission taught them anything, it’s that these Rebels are not to be underestimated.

Miles above the dessert planet Tatooine, orbiting around its two suns. The Tantive IV was flying peacefully through space. Or at least it was.

Out of nowhere, the Conqueror came out of hyperspace behind it and wasted no time opening fire upon it. The Tantive IV having little time to react to the sudden attack, decided to make a run away from it, firing its small cannons at it.

Its tiny red lasers doing so little as scratching the Star Destroyers paint job. While their green lasers are doing massive damage to it.

But Vader’s orders were not to destroy the ship, but weaken it enough to enable capture. They need to recapture the plans as well as take Princess Leia into custody, for the slight chance that she’d sent the plans elsewhere.

Now that the ships main reactor was shut down, there was no escaping the Conquerors tractor beam that was pulling it in to its docking bay.

The 501st were all standing in the docking area waiting to board the ship as soon as it was in position, with Orion Squad leading the charge as usual.

Daxter was readying his backpacks plasma cutting arm to cut into the ships entrance once it was in range. Ghost had no reason to use his lightsaber for this mission. Their only objective was to storm the but leave the Princess and any other passengers alive to be questioned, find the plans and leave.

Ghost honestly wondered why he and his brothers were even needed for such a simple mission. Even the new non-clone recruits could easily pull off this mission without breaking a sweat.

But Vader didn’t wanna take any chances. As the Tantive IV was nearing the docking bay, Ghost turned and faced his men, reminding them of their instructions.

“Remember men, our order are to find the princess and bring her to Lord Vader alive. Kill any Rebels that get in your way, but find her and those plans no matter what.”

“Yes sir!” They all said in unison followed by a salute.

Once the ship had docked and was held in place by the Conquerors crane arms, Daxter and two other troopers immediately began using plasma cutters to cut their way in.

“What do you wanna bet there will be a bunch of Rebels on the other side of this door pointing their blasters at us?” Apex asked Thunder.

“After fighting them for some time, I know they’ll keep trying to surprise us. But we’ll be ready for them this time.” Thunder replied.

The Stormtroopers all readied their blasters as soon as Daxter was close to finishing the cutting.

Daxter places a small detpack on the door and signals the others to back away before he detonates it. Once they were clear, he wasted no time blasting the door down.

“Now!” Ghost ordered.

A couple Stormtroopers threw a bunch of smoke grenades through the door, blinding the rebel soldiers waiting for them on the other side.

Orion Squad stayed back with the Stormtroopers of the 501st stormed the ship and blasted the rebels in the ship, clearing a path for the rest of them. Orion Squad then boarded the ship and looked down at the dead rebels laying at their feet.

“Rebel scum!” Boomstick muttered to himself as he kicked the helmet off of one of them.

“Stay focused boys. First things first, let’s capture the Rebels barracks. It will serve as a central location for our raid of the ship. Move out!” Ghost instructed.

The members of Orion Squad followed their commanders lead as they joined the rest of the men in storming the ship.

The Rebels may’ve given them a hard time on Polis Massa, but now the odds are in favour of the 501st. The Tantive IV is a small ship compared to the Polis Massa base or the Death Star. There was no place for them to hide this time.

They also couldn’t afford to play out any more ambushes, not without risking the lives of the princess and the other passengers. So it won’t be long before the 501st wiped them out and stolen back the plans.

As the members of Orion Squad were exchanging blaster fire between the rebels at thew other end of a hallway, they couldn’t help but notice a strange sight unfolding in front of them.

Two droids came out of nowhere and attempted to get to the other end of the hallway without getting caught in the crossfire. One of them was a golden protocol droid, and the other was a small white and blue astromech.

Ghost normally wouldn’t care about droids getting damaged or not. (After all, he did spend two years fighting them) But he knew these droids. He and his squad have met them before during the Clone Wars era.

“Those Droids.” He thought to himself. “They belonged to Lord Vader back when he was Anakin Skywalker. C-3PO, I remember how annoying he was to be around. And R2-D2, I remember Anakin ordered my men and I to track him down when he was captured by General Grievous.”

By some miracle, the two droids managed to make it to the other side of the hallway without getting so much as a scratch from the blaster fire. Ghost can’t help but wonder why Anakin’s old droids were stationed aboard this ship. Were they Leia’s droids now?

“Hey Ghost.” X-Ray spoke up, snapping him back into reality. “Those droids used to belong to Lord Vader. Should we stop them?”

Ghost thought long about that question. Their only orders were to retrieve the plans and take Leia Organa prisoner. Vader never said anything about recapturing his old droids. Would he even remember them? It’s been years since he’d last seen them. He remembers Anakin telling him that he built C-3PO himself when he was only a 10 year old boy, and R2 was given to him by his late wife. No, he doubts he’d care enough to have droids again.

“Forget the droids. Focus on finding the plans and the princess. Lord Vader will be joining us soon.” He ordered.

With that said, Ghost rushed down the hallway blasting the rebels up ahead, allowing the rest of his men to get out of cover and press on forwards.

Daxter catches a glimpse of C-3PO and R2D2 wondering through the ships escape pod bay. But he didn’t have time to wonder what they were up to as he was starting to fall behind. Picking up the pace he joined his brothers.

The members of Orion Squad enter the ships tech room. If the Death Star plans were on this ship, the tech room would be the most likely place they’ve hidden it. Thunder fires his ARC Castor at the rebels waiting for them inside, clearing a path for the rest of the squad.

“Daxter, get on that computer and try and locate the plans. We’ll hold of the Rebels.” Ghost instructed.

Daxter gave him a thumbs up and began using his rotating droid arm to hack into the ships main computer. Ghost and the others formed a circle around Daxter and fired their blasters at the Rebels from all directions.

They may be out numbered, but these Rebels ain’t got nothing on the power behind Vader’s Fist. So it makes sense that the members of Orion Squad made short work of them in what felt like seconds.

“Ha, that was too easy.” Boomstick boasted. “That was like what, two seconds?”

“These rebels are starting to lose their touch.” Thunder added.

“What did I tell you about staying focused?!” Ghost asked in annoyance.

He used to love listening to his brothers banter and mocking of the enemy. But after all he’s been through recently, he’s learned that the Rebellion is far worse than the CIS or any other threat they fought in the past. What they lacked in power and numbers, they more than made up for with intelligence and hope. He hates them for that, because its somehow giving them the edge they need to beat them almost every time.

“We are focused Ghost. We’ve always been focused since we got on this ship.” Thunder replied. “We’re just reminding ourselves of who we are and that they are the bad guys here, not us.”

“He’s right Ghost.” Apex started speaking up. “We hate these Rebels as much as you do. But unlike you we’re not letting their actions get into our heads.”

Those words were enough to get Ghost to break his concentration and look back at Apex. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, your taking this whole thing personally, more so then the rest of us. Yes they killed out men and stole from us, but we’re not giving them the satisfaction that they got under our skin like you are. I can’t help but notice that you’ve been acting different ever since the prison break on the Death Star. I can’t help but think you let Quinlan Vos get inside your head.”

The visor on Ghosts helmet changed to red upon hearing that argument coming from one of his brothers. He will admit that he had been more focussed on trying to stop the rebels. But he will not tolerate the thought of letting Vos’s dying words clouding his judgment.

“I’d choose my next words very carefully if I were you, Apex. We already have enough enemies to fight in the galaxy. The last thing I will allow is fighting amongst ourselves. So as your Commander I order you to keep your thoughts to yourself. Do I make myself clear, soldier!” He said in a tone of a commander and not as a brother.

“Sir, yes sir.” Apex replied begrudgingly. The rest of the clones all look amongst each other, worrying for both of them.

Daxter then quickly changes the subject by announcing what he’s found on the main computer. “Ghost, I’ve searched the computer for the Death Star plans.”

“And?” Ghost asked.

“…Nothing.” Daxter replied regrettably. “But, I can confirm that they have not been transmitted anywhere else. The ships logs say that they have not contacted anyone before our during our arrival.”

“So that means that they are still on the ship somewhere.” X-Ray added.

“Then we have no reason to stick around here any longer.” Ghost started. “Let’s go inform Lord Vader of this news at once.”

The members of Orion Squad leave the tech room now that they’ve wiped out the last of the remaining Rebels on the ship. The Tantive IV is now officially under Imperial control, making thing much easier for 501st to locate the plans.

After the brief battle was over, the men of the 501st begin escorting the passengers and any Rebels that surrendered to them off the ship and into the cell block on the Conqueror. More prisoners to send to the Death Star once their mission here was done.

Darth Vader was already on the ship for quite some time, interrogating the ship’s captain on the whereabouts on of the Death Star plans.

Ghost and his squad enter the room Vader was in and see him choking the Rebel Captain with his robotic hands. But instead of choking him with the force, he for some reason decided to get up close and personal with him. Using his enhanced physical strength to lift him off the floor.

Ghost was slightly afraid to interrupt him, but he needed to inform his master of what they’ve discovered so far (which was nothing)

“My men and I have searched their database. The Death Star plans are not in the main computer.” He informed him.

Instead of replying to him, Vader instead kept his focus on choking the hell out of the rebel in his grasp. “Where are those transmissions you’ve intercepted? What have you done with those plans?!” He demanded to know.

Captain Antilles struggles to get his words out upon having his neck forcibly squeezed by the Sith Apprentice, with his grip only getting tighter and tighter with ever second that passes. “We’ve intercepted no transmissions… This is a councillor ship… We’re on a diplomatic mission.” He finally said while trying to his hardest to pry himself free from Vader’s grip.

“If this is a councillor ship, where is the ambassador?!” Vader said in a fit of anger, as he was growing impatient with this rebel scum. His grip increased so much that he ended up crushing the captains windpipe. The sound of his neckbones breaking caused some of the Stormtroopers to flinch slightly.

Vader then threw the dead rebels body across the room, letting it hit the floor with loud thud. He then wasted no time turning his attention to Ghost and his squad.

“Commander tear this ship apart until you found those plans. And bring me the passengers, I want them alive!” He ordered before taking his leave in a different direction, not even bothering to hear a yes sir from his men this time.

“Well you heard him, move out!” Ghost ordered, causing his men to begin heading off in different directions of the ship. He then turns his attention to his Orion Squad. “Let’s all split up and take a group of men with us, it’ll make finding the plans happen a lot quicker.”

The members of Orion Squad nod in agreement and each take their own squad of Stormtroopers to check the remaining areas of the ship.

Ghost and X-Ray ended up converging in the escape pod area in their search for Princess Leia and the remaining passengers. They and their group of Stormtroopers decide to search the area together. If Leia was here, then there’s no way out.

“If the princess really is here, how do we know she hasn’t ejected into space in one of the escape pods?” X-Ray asked.

“Because Daxter is monitoring the escape pods from the tech room.” Ghost answered. “She wouldn’t dare attempt to leave if she values her life. If she really is innocent as she proclaims herself to be, then she has nothing to fear. Remember that Vader wants her alive, so set all your blasters to stun.”

The Stormtroopers obeyed their commander and started fiddling with the settings on their blasters, unbeknownst to them that Princess Leia was spying on them from behind cover.

X-Ray was the first to spot a glimpse of her just as she ducked back out of cover. He signals this to Ghost and the Stormtroopers using hand motions as to not alert the princess of them knowing where she was.

The clones slowly closed in on her current location and readied their blasters. Leia however suspected that they were trying to trap her and comes out of cover quick, blasting the nearest Stormtrooper and then making a run for the exit.

Ghost then takes aim with his rifle and fires a blue ring at Leia which upon contact, causes her to pass out and collapse to the floor. X-Ray goes over to her body and checks for a pulse, confirming that she is stunned and still breathing.

“She’ll be alright. But it doesn’t look like she has the plans on her.”

“I figured as much. But she does know where they are.” Ghost then turns to the Stormtroopers. “You there, inform Lord Vader we’ve captured the princess. The rest of you get off the floor.” He ordered them.

One Stormtrooper leaves the area while the other two approach Leia and pick her unconscious body off the floor. Ghost then pulls out some handcuffs and places them on her wrists. This is probably the first time he’s ever actually had to use them. Every other enemy he faced he had to kill. He rarely was instructed to bring in anyone alive nowadays.

He then hears a feminine grunt causing him to look up at the princess who was now beginning to regain consciousness. She was still held down on her knees by the two Stormtroopers. She slowly opens her eyes and the first thing she sees is the menacing and intimidating Purge Trooper Ghost, staring down at her with his colour changing visor.

Leia however was not intimidated by him. She knows about Orion Squad all too well. Heard stories of the things they’ve done during the Clone Wars and then later for the Empire. Part of her can understand why many worlds would be afraid to oppose the Empire with them leading their main enforcers. But she kept her cool and gave him a gloated look.

“Aren’t you a little edgy to be a Stormtrooper?” She asked sarcastically.

Ghost was not amused by her snarky remark. “Looks like we have another talker.” He told his men before looking back at her. “It usually doesn’t end well for talkers. So as I was telling one of my men earlier, I’d choose my next words very carefully, princess.”

Ghost then hand signals the two Stormtroopers to lift her to her feet and point their blasters at her back.

“You’re gonna regret this.” Leia threatened them.

“Lord Vader instructed us to bring you to him alive, so I’m only going to tell you this once. Come along quietly and there won’t be any more problems.” He then places a hand on his lightsaber in an attempt to scare the princess into cooperation.

From the look on her face, it seemed to have worked. Assuming she knows what a lightsaber is, she also knows just how deadly a weapon it can be. Ghost and X-Ray then lead the princess out of the escape pod area to Darth Vader.

Ghost and X-Ray meet up with Darth Vader and the rest of Orion Squad, apart from Daxter who was still in the tech room. Sigan was also present, standing next to the dark lord. This was unusual to Ghost as he and his men have grown used to seeing him always on the bridge of their Star Destroyer. Ghost soon stepped out the way and stood by Vader’s left side, allowing him to speak face to face with Princess Leia. But like before, Leia was not intimidated by the dark lords presence.

Ghost and his brothers wondered if they will be getting a repeat performance of the intense strangulation Vader inflicted on the Rebel with her. They all saw what Vader was capable of many times before in the past, that they know that hurting women wasn’t beneath him.

But instead, Vader chose to actually have a proper chat with the princess. Hopefully she took Ghost’s advice and prepared her next words carefully. If she says the wrong thing or anything Vader didn’t like, then she can kiss her windpipe goodbye.

“Darth Vader, only you can be so bold” She started. “The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this. When they hear you’ve attached a diplomatic-

She was then suddenly interrupted by Vader, who was in no mood for excuses. They both know that she is with the Rebel Alliance, so there was no point in lying to him. “Don’t act so surprised, your highness. You weren’t on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said in an attempt to make excuses again. “I am a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan.”

Ghost was so annoyed by her failed attempts to play innocent that he ended up shaking his head in disappointment. Something Leia caught a glimpse off. That did it. She is certain to die now.

“You are part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor. Take her away!” He ordered the two Stormtroopers behind her.

Or maybe not. Ghost was indeed surprised by this. He was honestly expecting Vader to just straight up kill the princess after all the excuses she hurled at him. But instead they’re taking her prisoner. Maybe it’s so they could interrogate her on the whereabouts of the Death Star plans, and if not, torture her until she does.

As Ghost watched the troops escort Leia to the Conquerors detention centre, he, Sigan and Vader began walking down the ships halls to make sure every prisoner was accounted for.

“Holding her aboard my ship is dangerous.” Sigan spoke up, addressing Vader directly. “If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy towards the Rebellion and the Senate.”

“We have traced the Rebel spies to her. Now she is our only link to finding their secret base.” Vader replied without even looking at him.

Secret Base? This is the first time Ghost heard of this. But it makes sense, otherwise it wouldn’t have been a secret. When Quinlan Vos told him of many worlds joining forces to form the Rebel Alliance, it makes sense they would set up a base of operations on some remote planet. The Empire may rule the galaxy, but even they don’t have knowledge of every known planet in the universe. The Rebels could be anywhere.

“She’ll die before she tells us anything.” Sigan told Vader. He’s dealt with ambassadors like her before. But Leia was not like the rest of them. She seemed like the type who was strong willed, determined, the kind who isn’t easily broken. There was only one other he knew who was like her. That being his former ruler Duchess Satine. Almost as if Leia was the reincarnation of her.

“Leave that to me.” Vader replied. “Send a distress signal, and then inform the Senate that all aboard were killed.” He ordered.

Sigan bowed and took his leave. Once he was gone Ghost attempted to speak up again. But he was interrupted by Daxter who stood before him and Vader.

“Lord Vader, the Death Star plans are nowhere aboard this ship, and no transmissions were made. However, we detected an escape pod that jettisoned during the fighting, but there were no life forms aboard it.” He informed him.

“She must’ve hidden the plans in the escape pod.” Vader then turned to Ghost. “Send a detachment down to the planet to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander, that they’ll be no one to stop us this time.”

“Yes sir.” Ghost obeyed.

As soon as Vader left, he, Daxter and the rest of Orion Squad meet up near the entrance they came in from.

“Lord Vader believes that the stolen plans were in an escape pod that was sent down to the planet. He wants us to be the ones to go down there to retrieve them.”

“By down there, do you mean the desert planet?” Boomstick asked rhetorically.

“Ugh, I don’t wanna get sand in my jetpack.” Thunder mentally complained.

“What if the plans aren’t even down there?” Apex questioned. “How do we know this isn’t another trap or wild Womp Rat chase? For all we know the pod could be empty, or worse, full of explosives.”

“If it’s a trap, then we’ll deal with it together. If not, then we return with the plans in tow and finally catch our breathes. Either way doesn’t matter, orders are orders. Now gear up, we’ll need as much supplies as we can carry. We may be down there quite a long while.”

Now the members of Orion Squad were starting to feel worried. They’ve never been to Tatooine before, but they know for a fact that its one of the hottest places in the galaxy. But if they could handle the intense heat of Mustafar, they’ll survive the planets twin suns.

The only issue they have is the sand they know they’ll get in their armour. They almost hate it as much as Anakin does.

“Wait.” Daxter mentally spoke in realisation. “How can someone who lived on a desert planet almost their whole life hate sand?” He questioned.

After the 501st cleared out the Tantive IV of its Rebels and passengers, Vader escorted Princess Leia to his shuttle and plotted a course to the Death Star in hopes of properly interrogating her on the location of the Rebels base.

The ship itself ended up getting blown to bits by the Conquerors cannons, blaming it on pirates.

As for Orion Squad, they were all sent down to the remote desert planet of Tatooine to locate the escape pod that possibly had the Death Star plans inside.

The never suffered to the planets two suns as their armours came equipped with a cooling system. But that didn’t stop the sand from blowing in their faces ever no and then. (Good thing they’re wearing helmets)

Out of all of them, Ghost was the only one truly determined to find the Death Star plans and stop the Rebellion. Occasionally looking back at his brothers and telling them to quicken their pace. He didn’t wanna show any form of weakness for the Rebels to exploit, not again.

The rest of Orion Squad were starting to grow worried for their leaders actions and change in attitude lately. Some of them even starting to question his leadership skills.

“This is all a waste of time.”

Some of them look back to address Apex who suddenly spoke up, disrupting the sounds of wind and silence.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned about these Rebels, it’s that they’re not stupid. How do we know that the escape pod that landed here was just another attempt to distract us from where they really hidden them? Like what happened last time with Quinlan Vos.” Apex pointed out.

“Did you really mean what you said on the ship?” Thunder asked. That what Vos said had affected Ghost’s mental state?”

“Yeah, every word.” Apex replied not even sugar-coating his thoughts on the matter. “Ever since the start of the Galactic Civil War, Ghost has been too focused on stopping them. So much so that he’s become this cold calculating shell of a man he used to be. I don’t even recognise him as our brother anymore, just the Empires dog.”

Hearing this causes Ghost to stop dead in his tracks and turn to face Apex in an instant. The visor on his helmet turning red showing that those words have angered him. “I’m sorry Apex, but what part of this job isn’t living up to your expectations? Did you expect us to just laze about on the Death Star, doing inspection drills, and guard duty the rest of our lives?”

“We all made a pact the day we discovered the Inhibiter Chips. That we would serve the Empire and maintain order and peace throughout the galaxy. We all agreed that we would continue being soldiers for them until the day we retire.” Ghost explained, reminding them all of the promise they made to each other. “I thought you knew what you signed up for.”

“Yeah… I thought I did too.” Apex replied callously. He then slowly approaches him, continuing to voice his complaints at him. “I just thought after all this time, after all we’ve been through together, that you’d learn what it truly means to be a great leader. I honestly thought Fang taught you better than this.”

Daxter then tries to intervene before this exchange turned into something ugly, but he was held back by Boomstick. Fearing that his involvement will only worsen the situation rather than fix it.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to be leader?! Do you think I wanted to take command?!” Ghost began raising his voice at him. “I never asked to be a leader. But in a desperate moment I had no choice but to assume command. Fang trusted me to look after the 501st after his passing. I am only doing what is necessary to protect what’s left of our men and ensure no more of them have to die!”

“Well you’re doing a terrible job at it!” Apex shouted back. “Making you leader was Fangs biggest mistake. You’re nothing like him! Your just like Vader, nothing but emotionless shell of who you used to be!”

That was the last straw. Ghost didn’t think as he ran up to Apex and landed a strong punch on the side of his helmet, knocking it off of his head and him to the ground. Apex wiped his nose and was slightly surprised to see that he actually drew blood from that punch.

“Hahaha, some leader you turned out to be.” Apex spoke up as he wiped the blood off his face. “Too bad Vader isn’t here to back you up this time, ey.”

“I don’t need him around to show me how to discipline any troops who show signs of insubordination.” Ghost replied as he picked up Apex’s helmet. He the tosses it to him instead of going in for another punch.

“You are right about one thing though. I have changed since we grew up together on Kamino. War has a way of changing soldiers. I just choose to embrace it rather than let it consume me and make me question my purpose in life.” Ghost explained. As leader of the 501st I will use any means necessary to end this Rebellion and prevent many more men from dying, even if said men end up hating me for it.”

The rest of Orion Squad look amongst each other, taking in all of Ghosts words. It seems that all this time they have completely misunderstood his true feelings. If this was truly how he felt, then maybe they were partially wrong about Ghost not caring about his men. It is true that war can ruin a man’s fragile mind, to the point they actually become the very evil they’ve sworn to destroy. They’ve seen it before with Anakin Skywalker who became Darth Vader. Hopefully they won’t see it happen again with Ghost.

“Now if you are done questioning your loyalty to the squad and the Empire, I suggest you put your helmet back on and we continue our search for the escape pod.” Ghost told him.

Ghost then turned around was hoping that would be the end of it. But Apex sadly was nowhere near done. He pulls out his blaster pistol and actually fire it at Ghost’s helmet. Fortunately for Ghost, his Purge Trooper was made of beskar so the bolt simply blasted off. But he could still feel it. Ghost once again stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face Apex again.

Apex quickly closed the distance and smacked Ghost across the face with the but end of his sniper rifle. Now it was Ghost who ends up having his helmet knocked off. But before Apex could land anymore hits on him, Ghost dodged and managed to pin him down into the sand.

“You just can’t let it go, can you?” Ghost spoke up as he continued to restrain Apex. “I can understand if you hate me because of my recent actions. But you will never understand the magnitude of responsibility I carry on my shoulders… I will ask you again Apex. Stand down and put those thoughts behind you. I don’t want to fight you.”

“Why?! Apex said in a mocking tone. “Afraid I’ll beat you?”

“No.” Ghost then raises Apex off of the ground and then proceeds to punch him again, and again, and again. “Because it wouldn’t be a fair fight if I did.”

Ghost really didn’t want to do this. But Apex wouldn’t listen to him. He’d given him plenty of chances to let this go, but he forced his hand. Sometimes the best way to force your men to listen to reason, is to beat them into submission.

Daxter couldn’t take this anymore. He manages to find the strength within him to break free of Boomstick’s grasp and pull Ghost off of Apex and stop the fight.

“Stop it, both of you!” He shouted, getting both their attention. “This is NOT who we are! We are soldiers of the 501st. We fight our enemies, not each other! This is exactly what the Rebels want. Us at each other’s throats!”

Ghost and Apex lower their fists upon hearing this. Daxter did have a point. What if their little spat was all part of the Rebels elaborate plan to divide and weaken the bonds of Orion Squad, thereby weakening the 501st legion.

“What would Fang say if he saw what you two were doing now? Do you think he’d be happy with seeing his brothers trying to kill each other? No! He’d be disappointed. He trained us to be better than this.” Daxter scolded them.

Ghost and Apex look at each other for a moment, both of them processing Daxters words. Deep down they know that he is right, Fang had trained them to be better than this. Ghost got up off the ground first and extended his hand to Apex. Apex however slapped his hand away, refusing his help and got up on his own.

“Guys.” Thunder spoke up, all eyes now focussing on him. He was hoping that would happen as he needed to change the subject and fast. “I found the pod.”

He points west of their position. In the distance they could partially see something shinning. No doubt it was the pod. Thunder probably went looking for it as a way of avoiding the little skirmish they witnessed earlier. And at this point, none of them can blame him for it.

The members of Orion Squad were not surprised to find that the escape pod was empty, the plans were nowhere to be found. What did surprise them however was the fact that there were tracks leading away from the pod and out into the desert. One was human shaped footprints, while the other looked more like tire tracks, too small to be a vehicle of some kind.

“Someone was in the pod.” Ghost spoke up as he followed the tracks. “The tracks go off in this direction.”

“The droids!”

Ghost looked back at Daxter who sounded like realisation had struck him hard. “On the ship there were two droids. A protocol droid and an astromech. The same ones that used to belong to Anakin Skywalker. The princess must’ve given the plans to them and they escaped to this planet during the attack.”

“Then we better find those droids before they deliver the plans to any Rebel spies on this planet.” Ghost spoke up.

“If they’re droids, then they were probably picked up by a bunch of Jawa’s by now.” Boomstick pointed out.

“Then we find the Jawa’s and force them to give up the droids willingly.” Ghost then raises his rifle to his chest. “If not, then we’ll have to take them back the hard way.”

For once the members of Orion Squad actually agreed to the plan of killing Jawa’s. They remember a brief encounter they had with them during the Clone Wars where a group of them stole from their dropship. They’ve always hated the little scavengers who enjoyed making the lives of those they steal from miserable. It would be so nice to get some payback.

The next day. Across Tatooine’s sandy/rocky terrain, a massive box shaped, tank like vehicle known as a Sand Crawler, was slowly traveling across the sandy plain. The Jawa’s inside were simply minding their own business, hoping to find more droids they can sell or parts they can scavenge.

But their scavenging days were soon about to be brough to an end. From a distance, several small missiles were fired, and precisely hit specific points in the sand crawlers treads, causing it to swerve out of control and crash into a cliffside.

The Jawa’s begin to panic as they exit their massive box-shaped vehicle and attempted to make repairs. Suddenly, more blaster bolts come out of nowhere and kill two of them, causing the Jawa’s to look in the direction of where the blasts came from.

Heading in their direction were the clones of Orion Squad, armed with their many weapons. The Jawa’s then retaliate and pull out their own rifles to fight back against them.

They all open fire on the clones, but they were all protected by their forcefields. Thunder then fires his ARC Castor at the rifle wielding Jawa’s electrocuting them to death. The remaining Jawa’s begin to panic more than usual and attempt to make a run for it. None of them have the strength and weapons to defeat this group of ruthless Imperial Stormtroopers.

Orion Squad cut off their escape and manage to force the Jawa’s to retreat back into their badly damaged sand crawler. They were trapped, and now at Orion Squads mercy.

Ghost approaches the remaining Jawa’s and began speaking to them. “Which one of you is leader?” He asked them.

The Jawa’s all speak in their own language, trying their best to answer his question without panicking again. Had it not been for their helmets translators, they’d have been clueless on what these tiny orange eyed creatures were saying.

“A democracy you say. Well isn’t that interesting.” Ghost replied, translating what they said. “And here I thought you scrap scavenging creatures didn’t know the meaning of working together as one.”

Daxter then approaches them and brings up a hologram image of R2D2 and C-EPO in front of them. “We’re looking for these two droids. We know you picked them up at some point. Where are they?” He asked in a less terrifying tone compared to the one Ghost was delivering.

The Jawa’s immediately answer them honestly, telling them that they did have the droids, but they ended up selling them to a family of farmers yesterday.

“Where are these farmers located?” Ghost asked them. He then bring up a hologram of a map of Tatooine. The location their currently on showing as a bunch of red dots. “You point to where it is on the map.” He then grabs the Jawa in front of him, pulling him closer. “And it better be the exact same location your buddies point to, otherwise things are gonna end horribly for you.” Ghost threatened.

The Jawa was scared of him. But he did do as he was told. He made a mark on the holomap a few miles north east of their current position. Ghost then grabs the other Jawa’s, having them point on the map as well, one by one.

Once they were done, he and his men checked the map and confirmed that all the Jawa’s had pointed in the exact same spot.

“We got the location. Now let’s get out of here.”

“What about them?” X-Ray asked hesitantly.

Ghost looked back at the Jawa’s who were all hiding in the corner, physically shaking with terror in the presence of these clones.

“We have what we need. There’s no reason to entertain them any longer. Now let’s get moving.” He instructed.

Ghost was the first one to leave the sand crawler. He could no longer tolerate the foul stench in the air these Jawa’s thrived in. It made him sick. The sooner he was out of there and breathing fresh air again, the better.

As Orion Squad were exiting the sand crawler, one of the Jawa’s reached for one of their rifles laying on the ground next to them and attempted to kill the clones.

Thunder quickly reacted by doing a quick 180 and unleashing his flamethrower on them, burning them alive. Orion Squad ignored their cries of pain and anguish as they finally left the stinking sand crawler.

“No second chances.” Thunder muttered to the Jawa’s as he was the last one to exit their sand crawler.

Using the information they acquired from the now dead Jawa’s, Orion Squad have discovered that the Jawa’s sold the droids to a couple farmers named Owen and Beru Lars. They doubt that they’re with the Rebellion. They probably bough the droids to help make their work a lot easier.

Ghost thought about how to deal with this. If they really were Rebels, then the simplest thing to do would be just to kill them and find the droids when they ransack their house. But if they were just regular citizens, they the only course of action was to ask questions, convince them to hand over the droids, or face charges of holding important information against the Empire.

He turns to his teammates and fills them in on what their next move should be. “Be on your guard once we address these people. There might be a slim chance that they’re harbouring Rebel spies to ambush us. We’ll ask them some questions about the droids and see where things go from there.”

“And what if they are with the Rebellion?” Daxter interrupted his briefing. “What if they resist and try to fight us? Do we kill them too?”

“If they are with the Rebellion and pose a threat to the Empire… then yes.” Ghost replied bluntly. Whether they kill these farmers or let them live, he doesn’t really care. All he cares about is destroying the Rebellion and saving his men. If these farmers get in the way of that, then he will bring Vader’s Fist down on them.

Ghost was the first to approach the sand igloo looking house and knocked on its door, patiently waiting for the owners to answer. On the other side of the door he could hear the sound of a faint old man’s voice calling out the name of someone who Ghost would assume would be his son or nephew or something.

The door opens and the old man’s sentence was cut off as he looked upon the black sleek, yellow patterned armoured Purge Trooper. He was so shaken up open this unexpected visit that he even ended up dropping his glass of what looked like blue milk. He then notices the other troopers behind him, each one wearing their own unique set of Imperial armour.

He then begun to panic as he knew instantly who these men were. He was then soon joined by his wife Beru who came upstairs to see what all the noise was. As soon as she saw Orion Squad she knew immediately what it was that got her husband spooked.

“We apologise for disturbing you Mister and Misses Lars. My name is Commander Ghost, leader of the Imperial 501st legion. My squad and I have come to ask you some questions.”

“We don’t want any trouble with the Empire.” Owen started; all fear suddenly replaced with assertiveness. “We have nothing to say to you killers. So I ask that you and your boys get off our property!”

Ghost was not even remotely impressed with this old farmers threats. Already they’re off to a bad start with them. Deciding that mere words weren’t gonna cut it, he instead brings up a hologram image of R2D2 and C-3PO.

“We’re looking for these two droids, who are carrying vital information stolen from us by Rebels. The Jawa’s we intercepted told us they sold them to you. Do you deny it?” Ghost questioned.

Owen and Beru shake their heads confirming that they did indeed purchase those droids. “We did buy those droids. But they’re not here. Our nephew Luke has taken them.” Beru told them.

“Where did he take them?” Ghost asked.

“We don’t know.” Owen replied quickly. He really didn’t like these Stormtroopers overstaying their welcome. So he tried everything he could to give them what they wanted so they could leave him and his family alone. “All we know is that he’s taken the land speeder. So he probably went somewhere far from here.”

“I see.” Ghost replied. Though their story does sound like it could be true, a part of him feels like they might be hiding something. There was only one way to be sure. “My men and I will be searching your house for the droids just to be sure. If you’re telling the truth-

“We are!” Owen interrupted.

“Then you have nothing to fear, do you?”

Owen had nothing to say in response to that. He didn’t want to admit it, but Ghost did have a point. In order to prove that they don’t have their droids, they have no choice but to let them search their home. He and his wife stepped aside, allowing the rest of Orion Squad to enter the house and begin searching the place, while Ghost remained outside to keep an eye on the couple, in case they try anything.

It didn’t take long for Orion Squad to search the whole house, turning its furniture upside down just to see if the house had any trap doors or hidden rooms. But their thermal scanners revealed no life forms in the house apart from Owen and Beru. It would seem their hunch about them harbouring rebel spies was debunked.

After leaving the house, they report to Ghost that the droids were indeed not in the house and there were no Rebels inside. They really were just ordinary moisture farmers.

“Now that you know that we have nothing to hide, will you please leave us alone.” Beru asked them.

“You’re lucky we didn’t find anything.” Ghost replied. “Unfortunately, we must place you two under house arrest as we report this back to our superiors. Once that is done and you are truly declared innocent, we will leave you in peace.”

“But we are innocent!” Owen shouted at him. Ghost however ignored his outburst and had Boomstick and Thunder force the old couple down on their knees

Ghost then began contacting Admiral Sigan on the Conquerors bridge sing his portable hologram device as the connection out in the desert was too weak for helmet communication. But to his surprise it wasn’t Sigan that answered his call. But Darth Vader himself. Owen and Beru were terrified to see the holographic image of the dark lord appear in Ghost’s hand.

“Lord Vader.” Ghost started speaking, adjusting a knob on the side of the hologram device so that only Vader could hear his voice, as well as being out of earshot of Owen and Beru. “We’ve tracked the droids to a bunch of Jawa’s. But they ended up selling the droids to a couple of moisture farmers.”

“Did you find the droids?” Vader asked him.

“No my lord, we’ve searched their home and found nothing.” Ghost told them.

“The farmers names?” Vader asked him as he examined the two of them, knelt down in the sand with their hands on their heads.

“Owen and Beru Lars.” Ghost answered him honestly. “They say they don’t know where the droids are. But it looks like their land speeder is missing from their garage. My only estimate is that their child had taken it and the droids to Mos Eisley.”

There was a bit of a long pause on Vader’s end upon hearing the name Lars. Ghost wondered why that name specifically caused him to temporarily freeze up. Does he know these people? He did know that Anakin was born on Tatooine. Maybe they were old friends or acquaintances of his.

“We will travel to Mos Eisley and recover the droids for you at once, lord Vader.” Ghost spoke up first.

“No.” Vader replied, causing Ghost to slightly shudder upon hearing his robotic voice in a serious tone. Even now it still give him chills despite hearing it many times. “You and Orion Squad are to return to your Star Destroyer immediately. I have already alerted the Mos Eisley patrol squad of this news. If the droids are there, they will pick up where you have left off, setting up checkpoints all over Mos Eisley or Mos Esper space ports. You and your squad are needed back on the Death Star.”

“Understood my lord.” Ghost replied. But before he was about to hang up, Vader had more to say to him.

“As for those farmers… I want you to extend to them the same courtesy you showed the Jawa’s before returning to base.”

Ghost was slightly taken aback from what he just heard. Normally he would comply to an order like that no problem if the people were enemies of the Empire. But these farmers were innocent. Why would Vader ask for their execution when they did nothing wrong.

“But Lord Vader.” Ghost started questioning the dark lord, causing the rest of his squad to feel worried. “These people are not with the Rebellion, and they had no idea that the droids they purchased were carrying the Death Star plans.”

“That may be true. But I’ve been monitoring your squad since you’ve arrived. Speaking out agianst my main enforcers is a sign of treason. Therefore these people are traitors to the Empire and must be made examples off. And you will not stop transmitting this broadcast until I break the connection. I want to bear witness to seeing them die.” Vader calmly but insidiously explained to him.

Ghost however was still not convinced that he should do this. He can’t help but wonder if this order to kill them is because of a personal grudge Vader might hold against these people. It makes sense considering that he actually wants to watch him and his squad massacre them. Vader normally doesn’t care to watch his troops murder people, unless they were Jedi or someone Vader wanted to pleasure of seeing suffer.

“With all due respect, Lord Vader. We Clones were not created to murder the innocent.” Ghost explained in a failed attempt to try and talk Vader out of this.

“But you were created to follow orders.” Vader quickly replied. “And good soldiers always follow orders.”

Ghost was even more taken aback after hearing those words. Those were the words that he hated hearing more than anything else. Despite this, he does indeed follow the Empires orders, not because he agreed to them all the time, but because if he didn’t, he and his brothers would pay the price.

With no choice Ghost complied with the order and turned to his squad and the two farmers who were all staring at him and the hologram of Darth Vader in his hand.

“What did Lord Vader say, Ghost?” Daxter asked.

Ghost looked over at Owen and Beru for a moment, then he turned back to his men, slightly hesitant in telling them their new orders. But Vader was watching him, patiently waiting for his orders to be carried out. But that patience is limited, so he swallowed his nerves and spoke up.

“Vader’s orders are to kill the farmers and burn down their house immediately.”

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this, mostly Owen and Beru. They attempt to make a run for it, but Boomstick and Thunder smack them in the back of their heads with the but end of their blasters, knocking them to the floor. They then proceed to aim their blasters at them to carry out the order. They had no choice. Refusing an direct order from Darth Vader or the Emperor was a death sentence.

“No.” Vader spoke up, stopping them from carrying out the very order he issued. Vader then looks over at Daxter and X-Ray, making them start to shiver as they could feel his gaze on them despite being lightyears away of their position. “I want Daxter and X-Ray to be the ones to end them.”

“Sir?” Ghost spoke up, but was interrupted once again by the Sith Lord.

“You rely too much on Thunder, Boomstick and Apex for assassinations. The 501st has no room for those who cannot stomach the act of killing a citizen. If you wish for them to remain in your squad, you’ll do it. And if they hesitate… I expect you to kill them along with the farmers yourself, Commander.”

Ghost was now even more shocked then before after hearing that. He’s basically being forced to make his medic and engineer to kill innocent people while he watched. If they refuse then he has to kill them as well. Ghost could never do that, even if it was an order from Vader himself. These clones were his family, the only one he’s got left after killing the Kaminoans and destroying Tipoca on Kamino.

Ghost looks over at Daxter and X-Ray who were still hesitant in doing as they were told. This will not do at all. If they don’t comply with the order then he’ll have to kill them…He had no choice. He needed to persuade them to do this. Doing so however will prove to them that Apex was right all along about putting his loyalty to Vader and the Empire before his own brothers… But in order to protect his brothers from death, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. Even if it’ll cost him his humanity.

“Do it.”

X-Ray attempted to speak up. “But Ghost-

“I’M GIVING YOU AN ORDER, SOLDIER!” Ghost shouted with authority. As much as he didn’t want to do this, he had to scare them into submission. “You would be wise and obey the orders Lord Vader has given you like the good soldiers you are. Take out your blasters and kill these traitors, NOW!”

With no other choice or say in the matter, Daxter pulls out his shotgun and X-Ray his blaster pistol. They open fire on Owen and Beru, unloading several shots into their dead bodies to satisfy Vader who was enjoying the show (They assume so anyway)

This was then followed by Thunder using his flamethrower to set their house ablaze. The flames grew large enough to consume it entirely in only a matter of seconds. The flames then begin to consume Owen and Beru’s bodies, burning away at their clothes, skin, hair and then finally muscle mass until the only parts of them that remained were their charred skeletons.

Vader stood there and watched as his step brother and his wife’s bodies burned in the flames. Orion Squad had no idea why Vader wanted this. Why he would want to watch them die and then burn. Maybe it was a form of irony for him, watching someone else burn to death as he once did on Mustafar.

But for Vader, the true reason for this was because he was envious of them. Years ago when he met them as Anakin Skywalker and learned that Owen’s father married his mother and had another son, he was fuelled with jealousy – though he didn’t show it as he was more concerned on finding his mother – He hated that Owen ended up having a family of his own with his wife and growing old together. A life that Vader could never have. He blamed them for Shmi Skywalkers death. Had they not bought her when she was still a slave, the Tusken Raiders never would’ve captured her and tortured her to death. But now he can watch in satisfaction at seeing his step brothers family be destroyed by his Orion Squad.

Once the show was over, Vader cut the connection and went back to his duties on the Death Star. He still needed to question Princess Leia on the whereabouts of the Rebels hidden base.

With the order fulfilled, there was no reason for Orion Squad to stick around. It was time for them to head back to the Conqueror and set course for the Death Star.

Ghost looks back at X-Ray and Daxter, wondering how they felt after murdering the innocent farmers. Judging from the fact that X-Ray had removed his helmet in order to properly throw up in the sand, he wasn’t able to fully stomach his actions. Daxter places his hand on his back to help comfort him. This was the one thing that X-Ray’s specialised Bacta can’t heal no matter how much of it he drinks.

“I... can’t believe Vader made us do this. That was…Inhuman!” X-Ray said after wiping his mouth of any remaining vomit stuck to his mouth.

“You had no choice.” Ghost tried to reassure him. “You weren’t in a position to refuse him.”

“But you were.” Apex spoke up, drawing all eyes on him again. “You could’ve refused the order and done it yourself, or get me to do it. It shouldn’t have been Dax and X-Ray!”

“As I said. We weren’t in any position to refuse him. Refusing an order from Vader or the Emperor is a sign of treason. Had we refused it wouldn’t be us who suffer the consequences, but all of the 501st as well.” Ghost told him.

Apex really wanted to lash out again and tell him how wrong he was. But that was impossible as he knew that he was right. He knew that Ghost didn’t want this as much as he and the others did. But he cannot contain the rage that is building up inside him. He needed to take it out on someone, and since he knew he could never attack Vader, he had to focus it on Ghost. Deep down he feels that had Fang survived, things might’ve been different.

Apex then started approaching Ghost in a anger induced way. Ghost readied himself expecting him to punch him again. But to his surprise, Apex only nudged his shoulder as he walked past him, heading in the direction of his shuttle.

“Well, what are you all waiting for?!” Apex said as he turned around to face his brothers. “Let’s return to the Conqueror like the good little soldiers we are. After all.” He then focuses his attention mainly on Ghost. “Following order is all we’re good for, right Commander.”

Ghost said nothing in response, choosing instead to lower his head. He’d let Apex have this one. He considered it a punishment for what he made Daxter and X-Ray do.

Boomstick and Thunder soon join Apex and begin making their way back to the shuttle. Ghost decided to help X-Ray and Daxter first before joining them, removing his helmet to properly look them in the eyes. Ghost attempted to help X-Ray up off the ground, but X-Ray pushed him away. Ghost can understand that he probably hates him now after what just happened.

“Apex was right about you.” X-Ray started speaking up as he looked up at Ghost. “We should’ve defected from the Empire like some of the other clones did after the Jedi Purge. At least then we wouldn’t have been forced to kill people who did nothing wrong.” Tears began to form in his eyes as he continued to verbally lash out at his brother. “I wanted to leave since we discovered the truth behind Palpatine’s plan. But you talked me out of it! Made us all join the Empire and become villains in this conflict.”

“I told you before that-

Ghost however was interrupted by X-Ray who pointed his blaster at his chest. “I don’t wanna hear it! And I am aware that it’s too late to defect now. I became a medic because I wanted to save lives without destroying them. But ever since I joined the Empire I’ve done nothing BUT destroy lives. Yes the Rebels are our enemies, but a lot of them probably had families, and I ended up killing them for the Empire. An Empire that cares nothing for us, going so far as to make us kill innocent people just because they got involved with the wrong droids!”

X-Ray took a couple of deep breaths after he finished shouting at the top of his lungs. His throat started to hurt upon all the yelling he did. Once he said what he wanted to say he took his leave also. But not before looking back at Ghost one last time.

“When we get back to the Death Star, I’m transferring the stations hospital and staying there. I don’t want to get involved in missions like this ever again.”

“I understand how you must feel, X-Ray. But you can’t abandon us like this. We’re your family.” Ghost told him.

“My family is dead!” He replied, trying to hold back more yelling at risk of losing his voice. “All I see in front of me now are a bunch of brainwashed slaves.”

He then left them and ran over to the others trying to catch up to them. Daxter then approached Ghost but in a more calmer way then Apex.

“It’s ok, Ghost. I know you had no other choice in this. The others know this too. Give them time, they’ll come around.” He reassured him.

“Why don’t you hate me like the others do?” Ghost asked.

“Because your my brother… But it’s also because I can understand the heavy burden you carry for all of us.” Daxter replied. He then places his arm around Ghost’s shoulder comforting him. “Ever since the attack on Kamino, you’ve been self-inflicting the guilt and pain we all felt onto yourself. All so we didn’t have to. As Commander you’ve been taking responsibilities for all of our actions, even ones we deemed evil. But as a result of all that pain, you started pushing us away. Believing that if you portrayed yourself to be the ruthless killer who always follows orders without question, the Rebels will be more focused on you then us. Am I right?”

Ghost was surprised at how accurate Daxter was on describing how he’s been throughout the Galactic Civil War. Ever since he’d been made Commander of the 501st legion, he felt responsible for the lives of every single clone within it. And every time he saw a clone die at the hands of the Rebels, he’d felt anger. An anger that had been consuming him for so long that he almost lost all care he had for his men in the first place.

But the harsh words from Apex were what finally made him come to the realisation of what he was doing. If only he’d realised it sooner, maybe then X-Ray wouldn’t have grown to hate him so much.

“Everything will be alright, Ghost. Once we return to the Death Star you can apologise to Apex and X-Ray and make Orion Squad whole again.” Daxter reassured him.

“How do you know they’d even want anything to do with me after this?” Ghost asked.

“You are their brother. Everybody fights every now and then, especially siblings. Give them time and they’ll accept you once again.”

Ghost gave Daxter a little smile in response to those encouraging words. Probably the first time in a long time he let out a genuine smile.

Daxter then began heading towards the same direction the others went in. Ghost decided to take one last look back at the now smouldering remains of Owen and Beru, as well as their destroyed house. He remembered hearing them saying on how they had a nephew living with them. It’s a good thing he wasn’t here at the time. Though he suspects that he may come home soon, and probably be traumatised over the brutal deaths of his aunt and uncle.

“I’m sorry you folks were dragged into this. This could’ve been avoided had we found the plans sooner… Forgive me.” He said to them. He then turned around and took his leave, trying to catch up with the others.

As Ghost was nearing the shuttle, he noticed a land speeder heading in the direction of Owen and Beru’s house. No doubt it was the farmers missing nephew.

He could’ve told his men about this or reported it to Vader. But he feels he’d done enough damage to their psyche for one day. He pulls out his binoculars as he got on the shuttle and can see a faint image of a young boy exiting his speeder and looking upon the remains of his dead aunt and uncle. He didn’t see what happened next though as the shuttle doors closed and began to take off, leaving the desert planet behind them.

Galactic Empire Journal Entry 34 – Location: Tatooine

"After Lord Vader took custody of Princess Leia, we all figured it was just a matter of time before she coughed up the location of the Rebel base. Many of us had been unwilling witnesses to Vader's powers of persuasion in the past. The thought of a pampered little princess resisting his terrible will was inconceivable."

To Be Continued