Chapter 16: Aftermath
The Great Valley was eerily silent, and had been so since the TIE fighters had withdrawn. The Ebon Hawk, the starship that Markus had found himself on the day he'd arrived, had been reclaimed by Markus and his dinosaur friends, along with the unlikely droid pair and four unknown men that had been seen in the vehicle the group had commandeered to get to the ship, and had risen up out of the forests and attacked and destroyed all but one TIE fighter, which it had pursued into Canyon Pass, an age-old entrance to the Great Valley that had been used by the farwalkers for centuries.
It had been almost three hours, and there was still no sign of the ship.
The adults had found refuge in the trees during the fighter attack, and no one seemed to have been hurt. Other than the scorch marks in the earth and the numerous small pieces of burnt metal that littered the ground, there was very little evidence that the attack had ever occurred. When it was apparent the attack was over, the dinosaurs had cautiously moved back out into the open. With little else to do, they waited for Markus and their children to return.
Mr. Threehorn paced nervously, hiding his anxiety with anger as he kicked away a piece of TIE debris in his path. "Where are they?" he grunted. "What could they possibly be doing out there?"
"I don't know, but something tells me they're fine." Bron, sitting with the other adults, turned to look at the threehorn. "They seemed to know what they were doing when we last saw them."
"But it's been hours!" Threehorn retorted angrily, momentarily stopping to glare at the longneck.
"Who knows what could've happened?" Ducky's mother added worriedly. "They must have found something. Something important. For all we know they could have been found by the Empire! They could be in serious danger!"
"Everyone, please!" Grandma Longneck said in a firm manner. "Let's not get carried away. I'm sure the children are fine, especially with Markus. Perhaps they found the Empire and are busy working on a plan at this very moment."
"He does seem capable." Petrie's mother agreed. "I don't think he'd allow our children to get hurt."
"I still don't like it." Threehorn growled. "And besides, who were those strange humans with them in that floating thing? Where did they come from?"
"I'd assume they came from inside the base." Bron answered, looking back at the semi-circle wall of previously cloaked towers and buildings that now nearly encircled the entire Valley, with the canyon pass acting as a break. Threehorn snorted and looked at the structures with contempt.
"How?" he muttered. "They must've built them right under our noses."
"I've been wondering that myself." Grandpa Longneck said, gazing at the structures more in awe and curiosity than anything else. "Perhaps the humans built it before we came to the Valley. It seems reasonable enough, since according to Markus it should've been built over forty-three years ago, back when our herds wandered the Mysterious Beyond. Then again, Markus did speculate that the Emperor came and oversaw the construction himself, as it was one of is secret facilities."
"But how was it not seen?" Petrie's mother wondered. "It must've taken awhile to build the place. Somebody would've seen it, and sooner or later we would've known about it."
"The Emperor was a Sith Master." Bron answered. "For all we know, he could've manipulated everyone into thinking that nothing was there, and no one would be the wiser."
"It's incredible." Ducky's mother chimed in. "To think that something that big could be right here in the Valley without anyone knowing for all this time. And there's supposed to be people in there, too. It's a wonder how anyone could accomplish all that."
"It's a curse." Threehorn retorted. "Without these things, the Empire would have no reason to invade us."
"We are fortunate to have it here." Grandma Longneck replied, looking at Mr. Threehorn a bit scornfully. "Without it's weaponry and technology, we most certainly wouldn't survive this. And don't tell me the Empire wouldn't have someday invaded us; this facility just sped up the process. Someday they would have come, or someone else would have, and our future generations would be doomed."
"Look!" Ducky's mother suddenly shouted, pointing at the sky. They all gasped as they saw two silhouettes rapidly approaching. One they instantly recognized as the Ebon Hawk, but the other was smaller, and seemed to be leading the ship. It's silver hull gleamed in the midday sun. Cheers from the parents erupted at the sight of the familiar vessel.
"I think they made it back!" Bron said, the tension of the past few hours draining out of him as he watched the approach.
Inside the speeder, HK was already landing the Ebon Hawk, while Markus was piloting the speeder and preparing to set it down. "Looks like everyone's waiting for us." he noted, angling the speeder so it was facing the crowd of dinosaurs ahead. The Hawk set down a few dozen yards away from them, but the crowd's attention remained fixed on the speeder.
"I see Grandma and Grandpa!" Littlefoot exclaimed. "And Dad, too! It's like the whole Valley is waiting for us."
"Those are your grandparents?" Scorch said incredulously, leaning out of the gunner's seat and pointing at the large Brontosaurs on the ground.
"Well, yeah." Littlefoot replied, a little taken aback. "What's wrong?"
"They're just...bigger than what I expected."
Boss chuckled a little at Scorch's worried behavior. "Don't worry, Scorch. I don't think they're hostile. Besides, how bad can it be if we're saving them?"
"The Hawk has landed." HK announced.
"Alright, I'm starting the landing cycle." Markus replied. "Engaging repulsorlifts."
The speeder remained on it's course, with no sign of slowing down.
Markus flicked the switch again and again, but the braking thrusters refused to fire. "Damn!"
"What?" Everone in the speeder shouted.
"We've got no brakes! One of the control fuses must've given out!" He slammed his fist onto the panel in exasperation.
"You mean we can't stop?!" Shorty gasped, the realization of their predicament hitting him like a brick wall. If they couldn't stop, they couldn't land, and instead they would crash.
"We'd better eject!" Fixer cried. Markus flipped up the cover on a bright red control key.
"Eject?" Littlefoot cried, confused. "What do you mean, 'eject'?"
"Hang onto your seats, guys! Don't let go!" Markus warned quickly. He punched the button.
The transparisteel canopy and the gun turret were blasted off the speeder by their explosive charges. Air whooshed into the open speeder as it shuddered from the drag. Then, the seats in the cockpit, along with their screaming occupants, were launched into the air, where their fall was slowed by repulsor generators in the seats that would guide them slowly to the ground. In other words, the ejection went perfectly, except for one problem.
The pilot's seat had failed to blast away from the speeder, leaving Markus trapped in the airspeeder that was screaming towards the ground, swerving erratically through the air.
The air whirled around Markus, pulling at him as he frantically pulled on the steering controls, trying to get any response out of the rapidly-failing vehicle. "Stop, goddamnit, STOP!" He screamed frantically, yanking up one last time.
The plastic control stick snapped off in his hand, the severed wires at the base sending sparks showering everywhere. Markus stared in horror at it for the longest second of his life. "Son of a bitch." He muttered as he looked at the rapidly approaching ground rushing to meet him. The speeder glided through the air as it fell, and Markus, in his stupor at his seemingly imminent death, cracked a small smile at his misfortune. He began to count down as the ground came closer and closer. "Three...two...one..."
The ejection seats slowly sailed downwards close together, with everyone but the clones and droids frantically clining to the seats for dear life. The soft impact in the grass was barely registered by the dinosaurs, who were still clamped to their respective flight couches. One by one, they realized they had hit the ground, and, releasing their death grips on the chairs, collasped on the ground in a heap.
The clones, however, were practically unfazed, and simply stood up and walked away as soon as they landed. HK similarly helped R3 out of his seat restraints, and they too came over to see what was wrong with the group. Cera was the first to get to her feet, then plunge back down as a dizzy spell overtook her. "Never...EVER...do that again!" she managed to say.
"C'mon!" Scorch admonished comically as he arrived. "It wasn't that bad!" Cera glared at him but remained on the ground, the dizzy spell still keeping her from movement. Littlefoot looked around wearily at his surroundings, and saw that the elders, including his grandparents and father, were already rushing over to help. He glanced at the group, saw that no one was hurt, and was about to attempt to walk when he realized something.
"Where's Markus?" he cried out. A loud crash reverberated throughout the Valley as the airspeeder slammed into the ground, digging up dirt and grass and crumpling armor plates, its repulsorlift engines bursting into flames. It skidded about 30 meters through the meadow, burning a deep trench behind it before it finally screeched to a halt. Littlefoot could hear the gasps of horror as realization dawned upon the group. All eyes were locked on the burning vehicle, smoke pouring from inside it, flashes of light echoing throgh the shattered hull.
The elders had the same moment of horrific clarity as well, as every dinosaur stopped dead in their tracks, gasping in fear or simply shocked speechless. "Oh, no..." Grandpa Longneck whispered forlornly, the look on his face the epitome of dismay.
"NO!" Forgetting all sense of the vertigo that had possessed him, Littlefoot dashed over towards the crash site, his fear for the life of his friend givig him an unnatural speed that allow him to fly by the Valley dinosaurs that stood gawking at the craft that had just fallen out of the sky. He can't be dead! his mind screamed. He can't be!
There was still no sign of him by the time Littlefoot had reached the speeder. He pushed away the broken entry hatch with all his strength and leapt inside. The air was filled with smoke inside the cabin, and showers of sparks were the only light. Littlefoot coughed and sputtered as he blindly felt his way through the cabin. "Markus?" he called out, hoping that, somehow, he might be alive.
Then, he saw him. Markus was slumped over the burned-out control panel, his stolen stormtrooper armor scorched by flames, bruised and unconscious but, as Littlefoot got closer and saw his chest slowly rising and falling, very much alive. Littlefoot let out a cry of joy as he dragged Markus out of the speeder, taking his arm in his mouth and maneuvering him to the egress hatch. Once he had reached the grass outside, Littlefoot released his grip on Markus' armored hand and proceeded to awaken him as the Valley dinosaurs quickly surrounded the pair, intent on seeing the human. Their friends and Delta Squad had reached the scene as well, and were at Littlefoot's side by the time he had dragged Markus to safety.
Markus, after taking a breath of the Green Meadow's fresh air, began to stir. "Markus?" Littlefoot called to him hopefully. "Can you hear me?"
"Oh, God..." he mumbled slowly, his eyes opening and closing rapidly. "What the hell happened? I feel like my head's stuck in a vice."
A collective sigh of relief washed over everyone, and grins spread quickly throughout the group.
"You're alright!" Cera said, amazement filling her voice.
"We didn't think you made it." Shorty added.
Petrie chimed in. "Me still can't believe you make it."
"You're incredibly lucky, I'll give you that." Boss said as he helped a still-dazed Markus to his feet. "With all the sparks in there, you're lucky you didn't catch on fire." Suddenly, at the end of Boss' sentence, Markus' eyes abruptly widened. He started to flail him arms wildly and ran with the speed only given by intense fear into the grass, all the while screaming, "Oh my God! I'm on fire! Gahhhh! God, I'm on fire!" Everyone stared on in utter confusion.
"What the hell-" Scorch started, when suddenly he knew the answer. "Uh, Boss." he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I don't think you should've mentioned the possibility of him bursting into flame, especially seeing how he just survived a speeder crash and is probably not completely understanding."
"Wait," Ducky started, her confusion slowly leaving her. "You mean Markus thinks Boss said he was on fire?"
"That would explain it." Ali said, stifling a giggle at Markus' attempts to remove the nonexistent fire.
HK looked on studiously at the display of craziness. "You see R3." he said to the astromech. "This is what organics might call a 'panic attack'." R3 warbled an amused-sounding reply in binary
"How'd you know?" Shorty asked. Scorch shrugged.
"I've had my own bad experiences with fire. It happens."
"Well," Littlefoot said, unable to completely smother a grin at Markus' frantic cries of "Stop drop and roll!", "I guess we gotta go get him." He and the rest of the group ran out into the field after Markus, who was in the middle of rolling on the ground and shouting,
'Help me Jesus! I don't wanna die by fire!"
The Valley dinosaurs looked on, still slightly confused, although their expressions had now mostly changed to amusement. "What was that about?" Threehorn commented, still baffled.
"Markus got confused and thoght he was being told he was on fire, I guess." Bron replied, smirking. Threehorn just grunted and rolled his eyes.
"And this is the guy who's going to save us..." he muttered.
Moff Thalus walked as fast as he could without looking desperate. He had nearly arrived at the medcal bay, but he did not slow. He bore a grim look on his face as he glided swiftly down the corridors, a look borne of possible defeat. He had just recieved the news of Darth Malak's stunning defeat at the hands of the unknown Jedi, the one the Sith Lord had been so obsesseed about just minutes earlier. A moment later, the ship was rocked by a huge explosion, immediately followed by a hull breach in an Observation blister, out of which a stolen Imperial Stinger airspeeder hurtled.
Another surprise delivered itself when an unidentified freighter blasted its way out of a cave in the canyon face only a few hundred meters ahead of the Star Destroyer itself. Naturally, he had ordered a tractor beam lock on both craft, but with the subsidiary reactor damaged in the explosion, any way of immediately tracking down the saboteurs had disappeared. Thalus reached the bay, knowing that the being currently in surgery was the Empire's best hope to acheive its former glory.
The blast door slid open to the Cybernetic Reconstruction chamber, a dark room filled with all sorts of ghastly metal devices and equally menacing droid surgeons. Thalus had arrived just in time to see Malak lying on an operating table, a prosthetic vocabulator being bolted into his upper jaw. A steely, bulky excuse for a mouth, the prosthetic did not move on its own like a normal jaw, but rather emitted a voice using a computer processor inside it.
The medic droids backed away from the red-robed Dark Lord as he slowly moved off of the table and onto his feet, seemingly immune to the obvious pain he was bound to be in. He rose to his full height, then, in the blink of an eye, shot out his hand and caught Thalus in the throat. His voice still had the hiss and baritone it had before the injury, but now it was combined with a reverberating, mechanical sound that made him sound more like a menacing droid than a man.
"They escaped." were the only words he said. Thalus struggled and tried to break the unyielding grip from his throat. The moff immediatly wished he hadn't removed the Force-blocking ysalimiri from the ship. Now, with his powers fully in his command, there would be nothing to stop him from destroying him.
"I-I couldn't s-stop them!" he choked out frantically. "They...blew up the...subsidiary generator!"
Malak relaxed his grip slightly. "Is the Star Destroyer still functional?"
"Y-yes. The main generator st-still functions."
"Good." The Sith Lord furrowed his brow for a moment. "Are our ground forces ready?"
"It will take serveral hours to-"
Malak tightened his grip once again. "Get them ready. I want that entire Valley in flames. Leave no one alive."
"But what about-"
"The facility will not be harmed." The Sith hissed. "We will have our army."
Once Malak finally released his grip, Thalus backed away, then scurried out as fast as his legs would carry him. Malak rubbed the bulky mechanical vocalizer with a hand. He had enjoyed the use of his jaw, but this had happened to him before, and he knew he could live with it again.
The only odd thing about the whole occurance was it happened in exactly the same way last time.
