DEATH OF TRIUMPH
The battle raged on outside as the Rebels continued their relentless attack on the Death
Star. Deep within the station, Chief Moradmin Bast remained at his post by Grand Moff
Tarkin’s side, having just warned him of the impending danger. He had already herded
the other officers onto Tarkin’s command shuttle, telling them that he would get the
Governor and be right back. But Tarkin hadn’t taken the always overprotective Bast
seriously, caught up in what he believed to be his "moment of triumph" over the
Rebellion.
Tarkin gave the command to fire on the Rebel base, but instead of the rising hum of the
charging superlaser, they heard a loud and deep rumbling that seemed emanate from
the central core of the battle station. "We have to move, now," Bast insisted, forcibly
grabbing Tarkin about the shoulders and pulling him away from the viewscreen.
They could hear explosion after explosion advancing quickly in their direction. Now
Tarkin knew the danger was real, and stayed immediately one pace behind Bast, as his
security people had trained him to do. As they ran into the corridor leading to the hanger
bay where the shuttle was waiting, a gun turret charging unit exploded, bombarding
them with shrapnel. Bast instinctively turned and jumped in front of Tarkin, but they had
both been hit. The blast threw first Tarkin into the far wall and then Bast into him. They
had only a second to recover, and without another to spare, Bast grabbed hold of Tarkin
as they stumbled toward the open-grid metal stairs leading down into the hanger bay.
Just as they reached the stairs, another component exploded, and Bast reflexively
pushed Tarkin out of the way, inadvertently sending him tumbling down the open-grate
stairway. He slipped through the railing about halfway down, and fell to the deck below,
landing hard on his side, as more shrapnel and exploding components rained down on
him. He heard the bones snapping before he felt them. With the wind knocked out of
him, he tried to get up, but then another blast hurled a scrap of machinery at him that
struck him hard in the head and chest, pinning him to the deck and rendering him nearly
unconscious.
Bast, on the other hand, had been thrown completely over the top railing by the
explosion, taking much more of the hit from it than Tarkin had, falling much further, and
crashing into the deck. Still conscious, though, and driven by duty and loyalty, he
scrambled to Tarkin, heaved the debris off of him, and half-dragged, half-carried him to
the base of the shuttle ramp, where Admiral Motti and Commander Romodi quickly
pulled him aboard.
Bast started to follow, but turned his head as he heard someone shouting at him from a
nearby ship. “We have to pilots, Chief!“ Bast made for the other ship as the pilots on
Tarkin’s shuttle closed the ramp. Both shuttles accelerated away from the exploding
station at the last possible second.
Inside Tarkin’s shuttle, Motti and Romodi worked to stabilize the now unconscious
Grand Moff.
"What course?" someone shouted from the cockpit.
Motti had to think fast about where they were. "Tallaan! And fast!" he ordered, then
turned back to Tarkin.
General Cassio Tagge had already pulled the emergency kit. With their military training
coming to bear, they worked quickly to tear through the thick fabric of Tarkin’s uniform
and apply emergency medpacks to the worst wounds, but they knew there was no way
to stem all of the blood flow. They would instead have to take measures to try to keep
him from going into shock. Motti grabbed a thermal blanket from the emergency kit and
they wrapped him tightly in it, then lifted him into one of the seats as the pilots alerted
them that they were about to make the jump to light speed. For Motti, thoughts of his
closest cousin flashed through his mind as he fought to save her husband. He knew too
well what such a loss might do to her.
Motti stood over Tarkin, and began to pull the seat straps tight to hold the thermal
blanket in place. Tarkin started to come around at that point, and began to struggle
against the straps. It was then that they realized he wasn’t getting enough air. He had
been bludgeoned in the chest, they knew, and Motti and Tagge speculated, correctly,
that broken ribs may be causing his lungs to collapse. Romodi pulled the emergency
oxygen system from its compartment, and they strapped the mask securely in place as
the Governor fell unconscious again.
When the shuttle exited hyperspace just outside of the Tallaan system, the hull
breached, and the atmosphere in the cabin quickly leaked out. As everyone began to
suffocate, base self-preservation reflexes began to kick in, and Tagge scrambled for the
oxygen. Motti overtook him, though, pulling him off of Tarkin, and they fell to the shuttle
deck at his feet--dead.
With its navicomputer damaged and landing gear sheared off by the exploding Death
Star, the shuttle careened out of control toward the landing pads at the Tallaan
Shipyards.
The battle raged on outside as the Rebels continued their relentless attack on the Death
Star. Deep within the station, Chief Moradmin Bast remained at his post by Grand Moff
Tarkin’s side, having just warned him of the impending danger. He had already herded
the other officers onto Tarkin’s command shuttle, telling them that he would get the
Governor and be right back. But Tarkin hadn’t taken the always overprotective Bast
seriously, caught up in what he believed to be his "moment of triumph" over the
Rebellion.
Tarkin gave the command to fire on the Rebel base, but instead of the rising hum of the
charging superlaser, they heard a loud and deep rumbling that seemed emanate from
the central core of the battle station. "We have to move, now," Bast insisted, forcibly
grabbing Tarkin about the shoulders and pulling him away from the viewscreen.
They could hear explosion after explosion advancing quickly in their direction. Now
Tarkin knew the danger was real, and stayed immediately one pace behind Bast, as his
security people had trained him to do. As they ran into the corridor leading to the hanger
bay where the shuttle was waiting, a gun turret charging unit exploded, bombarding
them with shrapnel. Bast instinctively turned and jumped in front of Tarkin, but they had
both been hit. The blast threw first Tarkin into the far wall and then Bast into him. They
had only a second to recover, and without another to spare, Bast grabbed hold of Tarkin
as they stumbled toward the open-grid metal stairs leading down into the hanger bay.
Just as they reached the stairs, another component exploded, and Bast reflexively
pushed Tarkin out of the way, inadvertently sending him tumbling down the open-grate
stairway. He slipped through the railing about halfway down, and fell to the deck below,
landing hard on his side, as more shrapnel and exploding components rained down on
him. He heard the bones snapping before he felt them. With the wind knocked out of
him, he tried to get up, but then another blast hurled a scrap of machinery at him that
struck him hard in the head and chest, pinning him to the deck and rendering him nearly
unconscious.
Bast, on the other hand, had been thrown completely over the top railing by the
explosion, taking much more of the hit from it than Tarkin had, falling much further, and
crashing into the deck. Still conscious, though, and driven by duty and loyalty, he
scrambled to Tarkin, heaved the debris off of him, and half-dragged, half-carried him to
the base of the shuttle ramp, where Admiral Motti and Commander Romodi quickly
pulled him aboard.
Bast started to follow, but turned his head as he heard someone shouting at him from a
nearby ship. “We have to pilots, Chief!“ Bast made for the other ship as the pilots on
Tarkin’s shuttle closed the ramp. Both shuttles accelerated away from the exploding
station at the last possible second.
Inside Tarkin’s shuttle, Motti and Romodi worked to stabilize the now unconscious
Grand Moff.
"What course?" someone shouted from the cockpit.
Motti had to think fast about where they were. "Tallaan! And fast!" he ordered, then
turned back to Tarkin.
General Cassio Tagge had already pulled the emergency kit. With their military training
coming to bear, they worked quickly to tear through the thick fabric of Tarkin’s uniform
and apply emergency medpacks to the worst wounds, but they knew there was no way
to stem all of the blood flow. They would instead have to take measures to try to keep
him from going into shock. Motti grabbed a thermal blanket from the emergency kit and
they wrapped him tightly in it, then lifted him into one of the seats as the pilots alerted
them that they were about to make the jump to light speed. For Motti, thoughts of his
closest cousin flashed through his mind as he fought to save her husband. He knew too
well what such a loss might do to her.
Motti stood over Tarkin, and began to pull the seat straps tight to hold the thermal
blanket in place. Tarkin started to come around at that point, and began to struggle
against the straps. It was then that they realized he wasn’t getting enough air. He had
been bludgeoned in the chest, they knew, and Motti and Tagge speculated, correctly,
that broken ribs may be causing his lungs to collapse. Romodi pulled the emergency
oxygen system from its compartment, and they strapped the mask securely in place as
the Governor fell unconscious again.
When the shuttle exited hyperspace just outside of the Tallaan system, the hull
breached, and the atmosphere in the cabin quickly leaked out. As everyone began to
suffocate, base self-preservation reflexes began to kick in, and Tagge scrambled for the
oxygen. Motti overtook him, though, pulling him off of Tarkin, and they fell to the shuttle
deck at his feet--dead.
With its navicomputer damaged and landing gear sheared off by the exploding Death
Star, the shuttle careened out of control toward the landing pads at the Tallaan
Shipyards.
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