by [lt amadeo]

"Drowning here - someone will always say yes..."

One

Amadeo stared.

The room was in near darkness, the only light an eerie green glow from the one operational viewscreen in the corner, throwing dim shadows about the sparse pilot's quarters. Silhouetted against this illumination was the hunched figure of Lieutenant Gascutone Amadeo, a flight leader in Kappa Squadron, of the Emperor's Hammer Elite Strike fleet. For some moments now he had been sitting motionless, his eyes locked open, their gaze held fast by the contents of the screen, unable to tear away from the revelations contained therein.

Slowly, he began to chew on his bottom lip. Was this what he expected? Was this what he wanted? Had he already known? Did it matter... Did it change anything? The questions raced through his mind. If only he knew the answers. What did it make of him? What did it make of his squadron? By what cruel twist of fate had the two became entwined?

He shrugged. After a gruelling night he could not face a harrowing inquisition of the self. The answers did not matter, which made the questions pure rhetoric. What mattered now was that he continued to fight.

With nothing else to do, and no desire to sleep, he turned to the viewscreen, to confirm again what he now knew to be true.

How convenient. Four years ago, the whole of Kappa Squadron's first flight deliberately failed their own mission, prevented another from completing theirs, and then fled like cowards, never to be caught. To this day they were still eluding Imperial justice, and no-one had discovered the reason for their betrayal. It had been presumed to be financially motivated. Amadeo sighed, and wished that were true.

Another misconception at the time had been that the only loss from this incident to the Emperor's Hammer was that of four craft and pilots, along with a transport carrying some classified information.

This, however, was more quickly and brutally dispelled.

Amadeo only gave this piece of hastily crafted propaganda the most cursory of glances. He had only obtained the article to discover what the Imperial public had believed about this incident, and why there had been no civil unrest. Upon discovering the poorly written report had been confined to page 17 in the state-controlled newsreel, he had merely nodded. Now he turned to the final piece of evidence he had gathered. It had cost him dearly in terms of hours, credits, and unpaid favours in high places, but he had finally obtained one official communication relating to this second "incident".

He looked on, stony faced. There was the truth, now laid bare to see. Four years ago, the whole of kappa's first flight had dishonoured themselves and their squadron, by directly leading to the brutal deaths of 200 Imperial Civilians, not to mention the pilots who gave their lives in destroying the captured platform and assault frigate. Treachery to the memory of Emperor Palpatine was unforgivable, however treachery on this grand scale was a permenant unmistakable stain on the honour of kappa squadron. A stain which must be erased.

It wasn't that simple though.

Two

Amadeo remembered. He, Vortigern and Illuvatur stood outside the bar, listening to the sounds of drinking coming from within. He was slightly unnerved by the dark figures of the other two men, but he resisted the urge to shudder, in spite of the bitterly cold night. He wasn't Amadeo then. Or was he? Or had he been all along? The past was a blur, a fog in which he was only beginning to find his way.

Suddenly, from a side door, a lone figure departed. The man they needed.

"Remember Amadeo" That was right. He had been Amadeo then. "Unnerve him with your knowledge, before you bring him to us." growled Illuvatur. It was an unnatural voice, which could have cut ice.

Amadeo nodded, before hurrying off after the figure, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow.

"General Kast. The leader of Flight Two of Kappa Squadron in the Top Secret Emperor's Hammer Strike Fleet. You wish to be Commander. You are now. Comander Nelnab is dead, and you have been promoted to fill his shoes, along with an increase in rank to Brigadier General, which you feel is long overdue...

Believe me?"

"What?"

"If you need proof, return to your quarters and find it to be true for yourself. You have power. We can give you more. More than you can imagine. If you need proof, go get it, and return to here. If you believe me now, follow me" he concluded.

Kast stopped in his tracks, at the speed and scope of this delivery.

"Sorry - what?  Hey... Excuse me?" he began.

But Amadeo had already turned away, walking back towards the imposing figures of his mentors.

General Kast stood blankly for a moment, before shaking his head and heading back towards the Imperial barracks.

He was back in under an hour. Amadeo and his companions had not moved.

"Dammit, how did you know that was going to..." he began

"Because we saw it" replied Illuvatur

That was a variation on the truth. They saw it happen because they made it happen.

"Forget that. Like I said before... You have power. We can give you more. All we ask in return is for you to complete a small task." Announced Amadeo.

"A task? What - "

Vortigern silenced him with a raise of his gloved hand.

"Do we have your attention?" asked Illuvatur

"I.." Kast interrupted

"Do we have your attention?"

A pause, then "Yes".

"Good". A swift clubbing blow from Vortigern laid Kast unconscious.

Three

Bryl blinked himself awake. He attempted to raise his hands to rub the sleep from his eyes, but discovered they were clamped fast to the angled table on which he lay. Craning his neck, he could make out the form of his fellow member of Kappa Squadron, General Kresswel, and two other suspended forms, obscured by the body of his fellow Flight Member, which he guessed to be BG Kast and GN Larck. They were the names which had been mentioned to him earlier.

Looking around their spartan makeshift cell, he saw no guard, and so decided to inquire as to the status of his squadron mates.

"Kress? Are you awake?" he hissed.

No reply. Then, from one of the other two prone figures came a voice.

"Bryl?". It was Kast.

They exchanged similar stories, as Generals Larck and Kresswel regained consciousness. Presently, the door swung open and in marched the giant figures of Illuvatur and Vortigern. Illuvatur began to pace, giving the prisoners a brief inspection to ensure they were unharmed by their kidnap.

"Before we brought you here, we offered you all power, on the condtion that you complete a small task. You all accepted. Now let me fill you in on the other side of the deal." He paused. "The deal is this. We will give you power beyond your wildest dreams. Power equal to that of the Jedi, in return for your completion of the task. This task involves your betrayal of the Emperor's Hammer. Do you accept? Before you do, let me warn you that thisis is your last chance. You leave now, you walk away with no more than that bruise on the side of your head. You leave later, and we kill you. I dont want to sound cold, but it's important you see this how it is."

He left another pause, to allow time for what he had said to sink in, before turning to Vortigern. The other man gave one nod.

"I see you all accepet then." he grinned, and looked at the astonished faces of the Imperial captives.

Kast opened his mouth to speak. Illuvatur waved him away.

"Did I not say - powers equal to that of the Jedi?"

Amadeo, the novice stood outside the small transport craft, trying to mask his feelings. Snow had began to fall around him but he did not shiver. He no longer needed to. He began to walk, his footprints tracing a shallow line through the woods towards the town where earlier in the evening he had helped in the capture of the four Imperial pilots.

those men - they had honour. Is it because of me that they will lose it? Could Illuvatur and Vortigern have taken them without my human tongue? Vortigern can read minds, but I've never seen him control them. Illuvatur can demonstrate his power, but would they follow him?
Does it matter? No. What would happen, what might have been does not matter. What matters is the present. What matters is that I did it.

and i did it for the same reason they will. I betrayed them, that they may betray the Empire, for power. But this is not power! It is not my power! Illuvatur brands it as power like that of the Jedi - but that is not true! This is a fallacy! And I will not be part of it!
(but what about the promises?)
the promises - i made promises...
No. I made those promises to demons - to spirits! To things as insubstantial as the wind running through these trees.
(but what about the magic?)
the magic...

no.

he realised he had spoken that last word, and startled himself. He continued

"Screw the magic. I will be a traitor no more. A traitor to myself and a traitor to the empire. I can fight."

Slowly his hand went to his neck. He fingered the chain which hung there. Not his chain. Not anymore. He pulled it over his head, and tossed it into the undergrowth.

And felt very cold, and very alone.

And knew they were after him.

He ran.

Four

He arrived, breathless in the town. It was well into the early hours of the morning, and the snowfall had eased off, although a thick blanket had built up lying over the ground. Where was the spaceport? Where were the Imperials? He had no idea - and no time to think. Illuvatur was far faster than him, meaning his hedstart counted for very little. Almost immediately he picked up to a run again, searching for a Stormtrooper - an off duty pilot on Shore Leave - anyone who could get him to safety. He rounded a corner, and there stood Illuvatur.

Gasping for breath, Amadeo drew a short sword - almost totally unheard of in this age of blasters and lightsabres - but it had saved his life once, and had never left his side since.

"You have failed badly this time, Novice. First you betray the Empire, then you betray the Order! Do you hold nothing sacred? You knew the deal - as we offered it to you. And you knew the punishment for faliure" announced Illuvatur. Amadeo found himself shuddering at the sound of that voice in spite of the heat he had generated during his run.

And with that, Illuvatur was upon him. Amadeo took a wild swing with the sword, but to no avail. He was upon the ground, the breath knocked out of him, with the giant man standing above, ready to deliver a killing blow.

(die like this?)
no.

Amadeo found a second wind, and leaped to his feet, taking a wild swing with his sword. It caught Illuvatur deep in the forearm, much to the surprise of both men. Amadeo somehow managed to react first, delivering another scything blow to the same arm. It connected, but Illuvatur was already moving to strike, oblivious to the pain, catching Amadeo with a vicious punch to the chest, making a sickening cracking noise.

The smaller man slumped against the street wall, trying desparately to draw breath, but only producing a damp wheezing noise. Illuvatur's vast hand clamped around his face, pinning it to the brickwork, grinding it slowly.

"Those men have sold their honour for power. Let them hope they were more suited to it than you were, weak one. I was foolish to even consider you as a member of the Order."

Amadeo could only stare blankly.

Then flashes of light, voices, running footsteps, and Illuvatur's hand leaving his face. He could smell burning. He tried to make sense of what was happening, but even as he tried to reason, he could feel the life ebbing out of him. He slumped into the snow, not noticing the already dead body of Illuvatur next to him, with several large laser wounds in the chest, from which no demon could save him.

Five - Epilogue

And he had been saved by the Stormtroopers, and joined the Emperor's Hammer, and left, and went over the edge, and forgot everything, and returned once again. And here he sat. Reminded of the past. Reminded of the pasts.

Kappa squadron were a squadron with a dark past. No amount of current glory could erase the fact that four years ago four of its members had sold their honour, sold their very souls for glory. That four of its members had been been immediately responsible for the brutal deaths of all those civilians. Like the cloud which hung over his own honour, it could not be absolved by fancy flying and shooting.

Now he had found this out about himself, about his squadron, they would fight. They would fight until the four traitors had been found, and destroyed. Destroyed, not killed - by now they would be fully given over to the Order which Amadeo had once himself became initiated into. They were no longer human - but they could still be brought to justice. It would not be easy, but Amadeo would ensure that no member of Kappa squadron could rest until it was done. What mattered now was that they continued to fight.

[ Page ] created and maintained by [ Amadeo ] // Kappa Squadron Commander is [ CM Hawkins ]