Star Wars: Wanderers

Chapter Three

Imperial prison camp, Sullust
5 days after the Battle of Yavin

Word from outside usually took a long time to reach the ears of one of the Empire's slaves. But once it did, it spread through the camp like wildfire. Within hours of the news coming down, there was no one who didn't know that the Death Star had been destroyed.

"Can you believe it- ?"

"... one in a million, that shot... !"

"... did it! We'll be free soon, you just wait!"

"Don't talk like that, they'll make us work twice as hard now..."

"... a pessimist, can't you just celebrate for once?"

"... just facing facts, they'll be pissed as hell at the rebels now and want..."

Jasper remained silent and listened to the chatter as he thrust his pickax at the wall again. He'd learned by now that talk like this would be punished, and his goal was to escape as much punishment as possible while looking for his wife.

He'd been fingerprinted upon arrival at the camp, so he assumed they knew who he was. If they had Eliza somewhere else, would they move him to be with her, or vice versa? Imperials was heartless, but along with that came a disregard for the doings of people they considered to be beneath them. That meant Jasper was just as likely to be reunited with his wife as not. He didn't even dare to hope she might have escaped; that left nothing but the wait.

"That's enough talk down there!" the overseer barked. "Back to work!"

A stormtrooper came up behind him and whispered in his ear. He listened for a moment, then nodded, looking back out over the slaves hard at work.

"You!" he hollered, pointing at Jasper. "You're to come with them." He gestured at the stormtrooper, who had been joined by five of his fellows.

Jasper hesitantly put down his pickax and walked over. They might be taking him to Eliza, but they could just as easily be taking him for more punishment for some minor transgression. There was no way to-

"FASTER!"

He picked up speed and came to a halt in front of the stormtroopers. They cuffed him and led him away, toward the hangar.

Jasper dared to ask a question. "Where are you taking me?"

"Quiet, rebel scum." One of the stormtroopers hit him hard in the back with the butt of his blaster. They continued to march him along at a faster pace.

Suddenly a massive explosion reverberated through the corridor, causing all of them to stumble and lose their footing. As they got up, the walls continued to shake, and they could hear yelling coming from the camp they had just left behind.

"What's going on?" Jasper asked. They ignored him.

"You, go see what that is," one of the troopers said, gesturing to another, who saluted and made his way back down the corridor.

"Continue to the hangar," the first trooper said, marshaling everyone to their feet. "If we stay here the ceiling might cave in on us."

No sooner had they reached the relative safety of the hangar than the other trooper came back, running and waving his arms wildly. "The rebels are attacking!" he yelled. "They've got infantry everywhere! We have to-!"

He stopped mid-sentence. He stood there for a moment longer, then fell forward onto his face, a blaster bolt hole in the back of his helmet clearly visible.

Rebels poured through the tunnel opening, shooting stormtroopers left and right. The ensuing firefight gave Jasper the distraction he was looking for. He slipped from his troopers' grasp and darted toward a little scout ship on the far side of the hangar.

Imperials and Rebels alike were too busy shooting at each other to notice the small, unobtrusive ship come to life, the hum of its engine too quiet to be heard over the noise of battle. It soared away into the night sky unobserved and unmarked by either slaves or soldiers.