A Soldier's Secret

Part 12

"Yes?" She admitted

"Okay" I shrugged

"You're fine with this?" She exclaimed

"I break the rules all the time. I deliberately disobeyed orders on the first day with the 501st" I smiled

"When you refused to come down from the tree?" She asked

"Yep" I nodded "I was still trying to cope with the loss. People ask questions, and I clam up. Better to establish myself as a private kind of person early on"

"Smart" Ahsoka nodded 

"General Skywalker is going to freak when he finds out we ditched" I added

"He assigned me this mission, but I don't think he expected me to go so soon" Ahsoka grimaced

"Eh" I shrugged "If we succeed, then he can't reprimand us, can he?" Ahsoka nodded, and then we jumped into hyperspace.

Genirgen had a long invisible line down the middle, with a large boreal forest that coated the northern half of the planet, and grasslands that coated the south. The majority of the population lived in the grasslands, and Minister Frentino lived there as well.

The biggest city, the capital, had two landing zones. Ahsoka had called ahead to the Minister, and he had authorized us to use one. He met us at the administrative building.

"Is this the entire party?" He wondered

"The smaller the party, the faster we can travel" Ahsoka smiled "We are only here to present facts, Minister"

I glanced at him. He was about fifty, with greying hair and was going bald. But he held himself with quiet authority, and the three guards around him were silent and strong. He knew his job and was good at it. 

"Shall we move this meeting to a more formal place?" He suggested, then started walking, Ahsoka in tow.

I stood behind her as she laid out facts for Minister Frentino. How allying might bring danger to the planet. How the Republic and he could benefit from an alliance. She lay everything on the table and answered any questions he had. All the while, his guards and I shared a long, intensive game of staring. The one on the far right was fidgety, and his fingers tapped strange patterns on the wooden handle of his weapon. The other guards remained...Cautiously ignorant. This place reeked with fear, bravery, and jealousy. I knew. The guard who was tapping flinched, and his wrist tightened as he started lowering his weapon. 

Everything worked in slow motion

His weapon lowered toward the Minister as I leapt over the table

I crashed into him as the others readied their weapons

Ahsoka leapt out and cut the other guard's weapons

The Minister shot toward the wall as I tore the weapon away from the guard

Things returned to normal

I was hardly breathing heavily, even though I had just vaulted over a five-foot-wide table and taken down a highly-trained guard. The Minister was watching the guards, and he scanned the room before he composed himself with a deep breath.

"So" he sighed "The vagrants try again. I suppose I should explain" He said

"I know. Your power, based in the grasslands here, doesn't extend into the forests to the north. The people who live there oppose your way of governing and want change. They tried with previous Ministers and failed, and have concluded that removing you is the only way. By picking now, when you might have allied with the Republic, they had a chance to stain the Republic's view of Genirgen and you." I said

"You came to that conclusion? With no information?" He asked

"The fact that the planet has two vastly different regions was a clue. The fact that the base of government power is in one region was another, and when you said vagrants, I knew" I said

"Thank you for meeting with us, Minister Frentino," Ahsoka said "We hope to hear from you in the future" We bowed, and made our exit

"Well, that was a flop" I sighed as hyperspace opened up in front of us

"What do you mean? You proved that the Republic has intelligent and strong soldiers. I expect that he'll contact us in a few days" She smiled

"Well, good to know I didn't screw up" I sighed a breath of relief

She laughed "That was exactly why I insisted you come! No other trooper in the unit would have seen and reacted like you did when you saw the guard try to hurt the Minister-" The power flickered, then died, along with the controls. We spiralled out of hyperspace, the ship tossing and twisting, turning upside-down and going in every direction. The temperature plunged suddenly, making me shudder

"What the heck is going on?" I asked. A loud hiss echoed from the hall deeper into the ship

"I don't know. Did someone sabotage the ship?" Ahsoka asked

"Let's go see" I scowled, and drew my blaster as she drew her lightsaber. We slinked down the hall and watched for anything in the darkness, but our vigilance was met with nothing. "Okay, our eyes are doing nothing here. It's too dark" I shut my eyes and listened, waiting for something. A skittering sound was trailing through the vents and the walls "It's in the walls" I whispered

"A bug of some sort?" She asked

"Must be" I grimaced "It makes it much harder to root out" I felt around for a panel, and my hands met metal. My fingers dug into it, and I ripped the panel from the wall

"What the-" Something hit me, a small, hard thing that scurred away "It bit me!" Ahsoka said

"Let's go back to the cockpit" I suggested "At least there's light there"