THE BEGINNING OF A PLAN
STAR WARS - INTERLUDE SEVENTEEN
"The Beginning of a Plan," written by Scott Bower and edited by Mark L. Stinson
(This story takes place before, during, and after INTERLUDE 15...they are intertwined.)
They say, "What a difference a day makes." Well, sometimes an hour can make all the difference. Just
an hour ago I left the chamber of fire where over a hundred Rebels were being treated for wounds. Some were recovering
from a poison slipped into their food by a trusted friend enslaved by the power of the Dark Side. So many of our
strongest allies had been "cleansed" by the 8 legion's that have suddenly arrived on Milos. We had lost
a friend and leader in Ton-Kimble, who sacrificed himself to save countless lives, but left a great void in leadership
and wisdom within the rebellion. I had counted and relied on him so much in these last months. Though the food
stores at The Gutter had been poisoned, the rebels had stored away plenty of food in the years prior to the rebellion.
No, it would not be starvation that would end the rebellion. It would be hounds...and Shades...guns and fire...the
puppets of the Dark Lord might be the death of us all.
I had to leave the chamber and be alone in the tunnels to keep others from seeing the hopeless mood that had come
over me. It was there that I met an informant. A most unusual informant. Would I be able to trust one such as he?
Only time would tell. he had much to say...and I listened to every word. Now I returned to the chamber, mulling
over so many pieces of a puzzle...if just one was put together incorrectly...the whole picture would be ruined...the
rebellion will fail. But if the pieces were put in place carefully...and with proper planning...perhaps we could
pull this off. My mind was swimming. I called together the leaders healthy enough to move and plan into a separate
chamber. Quinn, Morgan, Ranar, Father Tradeau, the Fire Mages that were present, Naben Leeds and his chief engineer
Ohmnar joined me so I could share the information my informant had passed onto me. A few fight club managers, and
rebel cell leaders were also in attendence. Vette's condition was still touch and go in the main room and I had
asked Zengral to help Wala with the wounded to keep him busy.
"I have some information that you all need to know." The room became still. "The Hindar Clan has
plans to set up camps to separate out any rebel sympathizers with the help of the Shades' ability to read minds.
Once the rebel sympathizers are gathered...they will exterminate them." A few people in the room gasped, but
then became very quiet again.
"They will then sell the remaining slaves and scatter them throughout the reach of the Fendora-Bengala Trade
Corporation. Then the experiment will begin again. Whatever they did before to start this genetic strain of Force
talented humans...they will do again. Fresh meat for a fresh batch...a fresh breeding supply. And the Dark Lord
will have more Force-strong children to build his armies." The room was deathly silent.
Then Naben Leeds spoke. "Why would he need more? All these years of breeding and child-farming...he must have
an army large enough to take and control Sector 42 as his own!"
Jacob the Fire Mage answered amost immediately. "But how many of our stolen youth will die taking Sector 42?
Clearly he has plans to expand beyond this Sector. Can one as dark as he have goals any less than to rule all of
occupied space? No, my friends. Darth Vile seeks dominion over our Sector only as a stepping stone. A stepping
stone from which he can reach up and pull down the Republic itself!"
There was an outburst of chattering and whispering, and the room struggled to take in the whole import of what
was said. Once again though, silence seemed to drape across the room like a blanket, and all was still.
I had more to say...and though I was hesitant to reveal what I knew...it had to be done. "I also know the
identity of the traitor who poisoned our food! I have a plan that will turn this knowledge to our advantage. We
now have a tool by which we can feed false information to the Hindar Clan!" A loud murmer swept across the
room. "Please, let me finish!" It grew quiet once again. "The power will be coming back on-line
soon and we need to address stopping this or using it to our advantage. There is much we need to plan. How do we
neutralize the 8 legions of Corportate Troopers, the forces of the Hindar Clan, as well as Darth Vile's Shades
and hounds? How do we evacuate the people off this planet? How can we render the planet itself useless for future
use as a baby-farm? The Mick-Ricks are the only race I can think of with the forces to help us accomplish this!"
Morgan exclaimed, "We have the transmitting frequency the Mick-Ricks gave us, all we have to do is get to
a communication station on the Star Port levels...above the factories. If we can just make contact long enough
to convince them to come to our aid."
I thought for a moment and stated, "We need more ideas like that. We need to have a strategy that will possibly
give you the freedom you seek...the freedom you deserve."
The room went into a load roar of ideas being discussed with a new air of hope. I was glad no one had pressed me
for who my informant had been. I had sworn an oath not to reveal it...and I would have held true to that oath.
Quinn detailed his plan to sabotage the power-modulator, and make the power core release its full stored potential
all at once. I suggested we could leak information to the Hindar Clan that we were going to strike the factories.
This would draw their forces into the line of fire when the power core went critical. "If this succeeds, the
Trade Corporation will send twice the number of forces they have already sent. In a matter of days they will surely
execute each and every last slave on Milos. They will need to make an example of these upstart slaves. We need
to coordinate an evacuation to prevent the wholesale slaughter..."
Ohmnar (who normally sits very quietly at Naben Leeds' side) interrupted me. "Perhaps Naben Leeds was not
clear enough. If you destroy or incapacitate the power core modulator, as well as all of its back ups...100,000
hours of captured, converted, and stored secondary fusion energy will course upwards without retraint towards the
power couplings. It will tear through them in fractions of a second...it is clearly an Armaggedon scenario."
Ohmnar looked very nervous, and his gaze turned to Naben.
Naben took his cue, and repeated his earlier assessment. "I would have to do some calculations...but I think
this scenario might rend the planet into two halves. At the very least it would obliterate the Twilight Ring, and
deeply fracture and destabilize the planet's crust. Allow me to stress that if that amount of power is released
unrestrained, I have not doubt it would leave Milos completely uninhabitable. No one will survive...whether they
are in a factory...in a tunnel...or even in an orbital craft over the Twilight Ring...they will die. If an evacuation
is to be accomplished, it must be before the power modulator is disabled. If not, there will not be one single
soul to rescue."
Quinn and Ranar had already left the room. Everyone seemed to be looking around...looking face to face, seeing
if everyone in the room understood what this plan meant. Finally Jacob spoke. "But, it will all be worth it.
In the words of the Prince, 'No more baby-farming.' As for the Mages role in all of this...we will do all we can
to hope. I expect they will have protected the system from us. Putting safeguards in place to prevent us from turning
off the power again...or even really tampering with it. I fear that our main role will be leading rebel troops
into combat...perhaps final combat."
Morgan suddenly spoke up. "I know some of you have been whispering that Tevin and Lorza...the children that
Ranar and I rescued from Jahammer...have special powers. I have even heard some people suggest we use these children
for the good of the rebellion. I am here as a defacto guardian to say once and for all, that these two children
have been through enough. They will not be a pawn for the Dark Side, and they will not be a pawn for the Light.
They are 8 and 12 years old, for Kib's sake, and they are under my direct protection. They will not be used."
Such was the fire in Morgan's eyes that no one spoke either to disagree or agree. It was as if there was a collective
decision to let the matter rest, at least for now.
It was time to make plans. "First we need to contact the Mick-Ricks or none of this will do anybody any good.
We must keep our spy completely ignorant of our true plans. In that way we can feed false plans to the Hindar Clan
through this traitor. May the Force be with us and Milas smile upon us...we must prevail."
Oh Ton, how I miss your guidance and wisdom....