Saga BAND OF SISTERS - THE LOST STORMTROOPER COMPANY

Title: BAND OF SISTERS - THE LOST STORMTROOPER COMPANY
Period: SAGA
Characters: Imperial centric. Mainly OC Stormtroopers. Cameo for Bail Organa.
Genre: Drama, Tragedy, Action
Summary: Unbeknown to most, there was one stormtrooper company in the Palpatine era that was made up exclusively of women. The company was wiped-out on the destruction of Alderaan. This is the story of its founding and annihilation.

Other notes: The story is told in reverse chronological order. In other words, it starts at the end and moves back in time.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STARWARS. THIS IS JUST FOR FUN.

CHAPTER 1 – THE WILL OF THE EMPEROR

ALDERAAN HIGH COUNCIL BUILDING – ZERO HOUR MINUS 14 MINUTES

Lieutenant Gloria Corianna looked out from the devastated entrance hall of the High Council building to the barricades outside. All around, the walls of the once previous grand reception area were pot-marked and scarred from blaster fire. On the floor, a number of civilians, High Council guards and imperial stormtroopers lay dead where they had been cut down during the recent fighting.

Although she was covered from head to toe in full stormtrooper armour, Corianna looked cautiously around the side of the damaged archway of the building entrance. The enemy blaster fire had proved to be accurate in the most recent engagements. However, she did not expect an attack from the Alderaan forces outside. Not with their leader, Bail Organa, as hostage.

Corianna glanced over at the four stormtroopers nearby who were also watching out for any sign of attack. Like her, each of them was wearing standard stormtrooper armour and was armed with an E-11 blaster. Each one of them was also female. They were members of the first and only all-female stormtrooper company to be founded in imperial galactic history. And the way things were going, it would almost certainly be the last.

A few hours before, two platoons of female stormtroopers had stormed the High Council building under orders from stormtrooper high command, slaughtering guards, civilians and councillors alike. They had successfully cleared the building and captured the rebel leader, Bail Organa. But they had suffered heavy casualties, losing over seventy stormtroopers in the operation.

Only six troopers were now able to fight. Corianna herself, the four troopers in the reception area and one trooper guarding Bail Organa in a side office. The current commander of the operation, Captain Victoria Rodano, was gravely injured. For a world that was supposedly pacifist, the Aldaraan guards had put up heavy resistance and caused them casualties. Not that any of it would matter soon. In a few minutes time, Corianna knew that everyone would be dead.

"Lieutenant!" Corianna heard the voice of Captain Rodano calling to her. Dutifully, Corianna left her post and crouched down beside her commanding officer who was lying slumped against a pillar. She was badly wounded with blaster wounds in her stomach and left thigh.

"Yes, captain."

The Captain took off her stormtrooper helmet revealing her short brown regulation hair and her brown eyes. Corianna also took of her helmet. The two young women looked at each other for a moment. Both were only in their twenties. Both in the prime of their lives.

Rodano coughed weakly, a trickle of blood rolling from her lips.

"It's over for me, Lieutenant." The captain spoke haltingly, weak from her wounds. "You must finish this."

"Yes, Captain." Corianna answered dutifully.

"You must shoot me now, Lieutenant. We are not permitted to be taken prisoner." Rodano smiled weakly as she spoke, obviously thinking of how ridiculous her words sounded. Her pale face reflected the rays of the afternoon sunlight that was streaming through the ruined entrance of the High Council building.

"Yes, Captain."

"You will have to complete the mission, Lieutenant. They have sent the signal. You know what to do."

"Yes, Captain."

The Lieutenant put on her helmet and stood up in front of her wounded Captain. The Lieutenant lifted her blaster and aimed at Rodano's heart.

"Aim true, Lieutenant." Rodano said, invoking the universal phrase used by stormtroopers when they were duty bound to shoot at a target they didn't really want to. "And serve the Emperor well."

Corianna waited until Rodano had put her helmet back on. Rodano wanted to die with honour. On the battle field and in full armour. She would die an imperial stormtrooper. A loyal servant of the Emperor.

"Yes, Lieutenant. I will."

Corianna fired and pierced Rodano's heart with one well placed blaster bolt. Corianna contemplated her dead captain for a few seconds. Then she turned briskly away and spoke to one of the troopers.

"Trooper! Go and bring out the prisoner. It's time to finish this." Like all stormtroopers, both male and female, Corianna spoke with a generic synthesised male voice generated by her helmet.

"Yes, sir." Replied the female trooper in the same voice.

The trooper walked through a doorway into a small office. A few seconds later, Bail Organa appeared accompanied by two stormtroopers; the one who went to fetch him and another who had been guarding him in the office. Although he was in his elegant official robes, Bail Organa did not look very statesmanlike at that moment. He was covered in dust and grime and his clothes were dishevelled. He was also bound by the hands, gagged and blind-folded. However, apart from receiving a few bruises from being roughly pushed around by the troopers, he was otherwise unharmed.

The two stormtroopers roughly grabbed Bail Organa by his arms and brought him before Corianna. Corianna grabbed Organa and shoved him towards the front entrance of the senate building. The other five stormtroopers followed behind them.

They all exited the building into the sunlight and clear skies announcing a beautiful sunny afternoon in Alderaan. As they walked into the open, they heard the sound of blasters being readied as the Alderaan security forces outside prepared to fire. Corianna guided Organa down the steps in front of her. The other five troopers fanned out to her flanks and readied their weapons. None of the stormtroopers made any attempt to take any sort of cover.

For a moment, there was complete silence as the stormtroopers faced the Alderaan troopers crouching behind their barricades and vehicles on the esplanade below. Then after a few seconds, Corianna removed Organa's bonds, blindfold and gag.

"Go!" Corianna ordered Organa in her synthesised male voice. She pushed Bail Organa towards his own forces. He hesitated for a moment and looked back, fearful that Corianna or one of the other stormtroopers would shoot him in the back. But he saw that Corianna was holding her blaster in one hand, deliberately pointing it towards the sky. Realising she was standing in a non-threatening stance, Bail Organa turned and walked briskly towards his own men. Then after a brief moment, he disappeared behind the safety of the barricades.

Lieutenant Corriana waited until she was sure he was gone.

"Drop your weapons and surrender!" A male voice shouted from the barricades.

Lieutenant Corianna observed the barricades bristling with guns before her. She had no intention of surrendering. Corianna had released Bail Organa for one simple reason. She had been ordered to hold him only until the signal from high command was received. Now that she had received the signal, there was no need to detain him further.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands on your heads now! Or we will use deadly force."

Corianna ignored the threat. She was not afraid of the Alderaan guns. After all, they would all soon be dead anyway. But her mission was not completely over. There was one last order she still had to fulfil. One last order she would carry out in the name of the Galactic Empire and Emperor Palpatine. She had been ordered to fight to the last man; the last woman. She and her troopers would obey that order and fulfil the will of the Emperor.

"This is your last chance to surrender. Or we will open fire."

Corianna didn't give the Alderann troopers an opportunity to fire first. With a movement of her hand, she gave the attack order to her sister troopers. She and all five of her remaining troopers began advancing down the steps. Then all at once, they opened fire on the men hidden behind the barricades in front of them.

At first there was a hesitation from the Alderaan security forces, as if they were in shock that the stoormtroopers had opened fire on them. For a few seconds, the stormtrooper blaster bolts rained down on the barricades without provoking a response. But the Alderaan troopers did not hesitate long. Soon they returned fire from behind their barricades, putting the advancing stormtroopers immediately under a hail of heavy blaster bolts. Caught out in the open, the stormtroopers stood no chance.

To the left and right of her, Corianna's troopers fell as they came under withering blaster fire from the Alderaan forces. She heard the impacts of multiple blaster shots hitting her fellow troopers and the loud crash as their armoured bodies fell clattering down the steps in front of the High Council building.

Almost immediately, Corianna was also hit as several blaster bolts slammed into her body or deflected off her armour. One bolt hit her in the right thigh. She continued advancing and firing. But then she received three bolts in succession. The bolt to her stomach made her stumble. The bolt to her right shoulder caused her blaster to fly out of her hand. The bolt to the right side of the chest propelled her back onto the hard marble steps. Gravely wounded, Corianna lay on her back as blaster fire continued to fill the air. After a few short seconds, all six stormtroopers were lying still on the ground.

Someone ordered the Alderaan troopers to cease fire. Corianna lay on the marble steps in pain and found herself breathing with great difficulty. Still barely conscious, Corianna heard footsteps approach her. She managed to raise her head to see a number of men standing around her. She recognised Bail Organa flanked by a handful of Alderaan guards.

Wanting to see the sun and the clear sky one last time with her own eyes, Corianna removed her helmet and laid it on the steps beside her. Bail Organa and his guards gasped in surprise. It wasn't so much the fact that she was a young female woman that surprised them. Female stormtroopers were uncommon, but they were not unheard of. What really surprised them was that a stormtrooper wearing the insignia of a Lieutenant was female. That was hitherto unheard of in Palpatine's Galactic Empire.

Corianna laughed to herself at their surprise. She wondered how shocked they would be if they realised that every single armoured stormtrooper who had fought in the High Council building and in the private spaceport for the last few hours was female. Not only that, but the Company Captain was also female. Not that anyone would live long enough to realise that of course.

"Why?" Bail Organa asked Corianna, crouching in front of her. "Why did you attack us?"

Corianna coughed weakly. "Because it was the will of the Emperor."

For the second time, Bail Organa and his guards looked shocked as they heard Corianna speak in the well-spoken accent of the Alderaan middle class. Bail Organa looked back at his guards who had raised their eye-brows. Then he turned back to Corianna again.

"Who are you?" Asked Bail Organa.

With an expression of determination, Corianna looked up at Bail Organa and spoke from her heart. It was not the answer Bail Organa expected or wanted to hear. Corianna gave the only answer that made sense to her existence. The only answer that gave sense to the actions she had committed that day. She repeated her solemn vow the Emperor.

"My name is Gloria Leyton-Corianna of Alderaan. I am, and always will be, a loyal soldier of the Galactic Empire. There is only rule: Obedience to the Emperor. There is only one punishment for failure: Death."

Bail Organa looked at her with a perplexed expression on her face. "Why did you attack us, Lieutenant Corianna?"

"You have failed the Emperor. Alderaan has failed the Emperor." Was all that Corianna said in response.

"Alderaan has failed the Emperor? I don't understand." Bail Organa almost cried out. "Why did you attack us?"

"To make sure that you could not escape." The end was coming for them all. Corianna did not see any sense in holding back information now.

"You mean me? To ensure that I could not escape. But I would never abandon my people."

"No. Not just you. All of Alderaan."

Corianna's eyes drifted to a point in the sky behind Bail Organa's shoulder. It looked like a dimly lit star shining in the Alderaan afternoon sky. But the star she looked at was not just any celestial body. It was not of natural formation. It was man-made. The size of a small sized moon.

Bail Organa turned his eyes to where Corianna was looking. Then in a moment of lucidity and understanding, it dawned on him what she was looking at. He realised she was looking at the Death Star.

"No!" Cried Bail Organa in despair. He looked back at Corianna. She smiled at him. But it was not a malicious or gloating smile. It was a smile reflecting the deepest sadness. The deepest pity. The deepest sorrow. It was a melancholic smile filled with compassion and regret.

"That's why you attacked the High Council and the spaceports." The terrible truth dawned on Bail Organa. You wanted to keep us from escaping. To ensure we are here when it came for us."

Her eyes watering heavily and her young female features as pale as death, Corianna's gaze drifted back to the beautiful colours of the Alderaan sky. She was happy to have taken off her helmet so that she could look on her homeworld one final time before it would be no more. A final farewell from a daughter of Alderaan to her mother planet.

Corianna looked at the Death Star as it hovered in the sky. She wondered if Yalasa and Harmony, the only two female troopers to refuse Lieutenant Denlin's offer to serve on Alderaan, were looking down on them at this moment. Safe in the Death Star. Ready to fight one more day for the Emperor. She hoped so.

In desperation, Bail Organa turned back to look at Corianna?

"But why?" He asked in vain desperation, putting his hands to his head. "Why kill two billion innocent people? Why kill a planet? Why?"

Corianna did not meet his gaze, but continued gazing at the Death Star. There was only one possible answer to that question. The only answer that ever mattered.

"Because it is the will of the Emperor." She said softly. A solitary tear roled down her cheek.

"No you can't do this!" Pleaded Bail Organa. But his words would fall on deaf ears. His fate, and that of his homeworld, were already sealed.

Corianna continued looking past Bail Organa at the Death Star glowing dimly in the Alderaan sky. Then suddenly, there was a bright flash and Lieutenant Gloria Leyton-Corianna of Alderaan found herself bathed in a blinding white light.

Corianna always wondered what she would experience at the point of her death. She knew there was no paradise after death. She understood that the only true paradise was to serve the Emperor in life. But she still wondered if she would be bathed in the Emperor's light and wisdom. She wondered if she would meet her fellow fallen troopers to serve the Emperor beyond death. She wondered if she would have visions of her family.

But Corianna experienced none of that. When death came to collect her, all she found was darkness.

Then there was nothing. And the planet of Alderaan was no more.

 

Interesting concept - an all-female squadron! It would be just like the Empire to trap as many people in the scene of the catastrophe as they could. And Bail, loyal to his world to the end.

Very cool story.

 

This story is going in reverse chronological order. However, for obvious reasons the first three chapters will take place at about the same time.

CHAPTER 2 – DECEPTION

ABOUT 20 MINUTES BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION OF ALDERAAN

ALDERAAN CAPITAL CITY – COMMERCIL SPACEPORT

Lieutenant Silvia Loreno couldn't help scratching the skin of her wrist underneath the cuff of her shirt. She was wearing the distinctive livery of the Alderaan arme forces. The uniform was brand new and she found the material irritable. It was very different to the uniform of she was normally used to wearing.

She looked around the control room of the commercial spaceport in the Alderaan capital city. Everything was calm. Six female guards from Loreno's platoon equipped with A280 blaster rifles and wearing Alderaan military uniforms were also in the control room, watching over the handful of civilian employees who were quietly working at their monitors and work stations. A couple of Loreno's troopers were also manning work-stations, monitoring radar and flight traffic in the area. Like Loreno, all her guards were also wearing the black helmet, blue shirt, black combat vest and black calf-length boots of the Alderaan armed forces. Each one of them wore the emblem of the First Company of the Royal Leia Organa Battalion. The first all-female Alderaan military unit to be raised in honour of the deceased Princess Leia Organa.

Loreno walked casually around the control room observing the civilians going calmly about their work. As she past one of her guards, she couldn't help herself looking at the unit emblem emblazoned on the shoulder of the trooper's uniform. The emblem really caught the eye. It showed a white image of Alderaan surrounded by two white rings. Loreno found herself wondering who had come up with such a ridiculous unimaginative symbol.

But of course, the design of military emblems were not of any concern, nor importance, for Lieutenant Silvia Loreno. She was only concerned with ensuring that she and her fellow female troopers carried out their duty as ordered by their commanding officers.

So far the operation had gone very well. In fact, it had gone much more smoothly than she had anticipated. She knew a famous leader had once said that any battle plan never survives contact with the enemy. So far, everything had gone completely to plan. Probably due to the fact that there was no enemy in sight.

With imperial stormtroopers launching violent attacks on the High Council building and the private spaceport normally used by VIPs and government officials, Loreno's unit had been dispatched to evacuate, lock-down and defend the primary commercial spaceport. So far, all had gone smoothly. The civilian director had cooperated with them without hesitation and had followed all her advice and instructions. Now, the installation was in full lock-down with all traffic suspended and all non-essential personnel evacuated from the facility.

As expected, the law-abiding and conscientious Alderaan civilians and employees had evacuated the spaceport in an orderly fashion. All recognised that they had to leave for their own safety in case the imperials stormtroopers attacked the spaceport. Only the spaceport Director, a few senior employees and some security personnel were required to stay behind to ensure that the facility was kept secure and maintained a minimum level of operation.

Loreno was pleased to note that the civilian employees who stayed behind had remained calm and professional. Although they were clearly concerned about the news of heavy fighting in the High Council building and the private spaceport, they appeared relieved that the female troopers of the Organa 1st were there to protect them.

Of course, Loreno understood that she was not there to protect the civilians. She was there to defend the spaceport against any hostile attack. A mission she and her troopers would carry out, even if it meant fighting to the last woman. However, at the moment all the enemy's focus seemed to be on the High Council Building and the Private Spaceport. They obviously did not believe that the commercial spaceport was a priority.

Loreno's reflections were interrupted abruptly when the door of the control room sished open and Sergeant-Major Suzie Samson briskly entered the room. Loreno sensed immediately that there was something wrong.

"May I speak to you for a moment, Lieutenant?" Asked Samson politely in her Alderaan accent.

"Yes, of course, Sergeant-Major." Loreno was already heading for the exit. She addressed a trooper before leaving. "Take over the control room, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir."

As soon as they were outside and walking down the corridor, Loreno addressed Samson.

"Status report, Sergeant-Major!"

Samson hesitated a moment, before answering. Loreno gave her a side-ways glance waiting for her response.

"It is the Director, Lieutenant?"

"Yes?"

"He is on the roof."

"What!" Loreno stopped in her tracks. Samsan had to stop herself abruptly. "How did he get away from his guards?"

"He gave them the slip, sir." Samson answered cautiously.

Loreno sighed with frustration. The Director had asked to leave the control room under pretext to pick up some documents from his office. Loreno had let him go, but insisted that two of her troopers accompanied to him as protection. She realised now that he had planned to escape. Although, it occurred to her that going to a heavily monitored location like the spaceport roof seemed the worst place to hide. Unless of course he was trying to get a message to hostile forces.

"What is he doing up there?" Asked Loreno.

"He is observing the sky with a pair of macro-binoculars, sir."

Loreno frowned. "Has there been any indication of incoming ships?"

"No, sir." Samson's reply was confident. "No. All military traffic is heading towards the combat zones in the centre of the city. Nothing is heading here."

"What can he be doing?" Loreno asked herself.

"Shall I take a squad up to the roof and detain him, sir?"

Loreno stood thinking to herself for a few seconds.

"No, I'll do it. Send me two troopers. You take my post in the control room. I want to see for myself what our Director is up to."

A few minutes later, Lorena and an escort of two troopers stepped out of the turbo-lift and walked out into the open air on the spaceport roof. Not far, they could see the spaceport Director still looking up towards the clear afternoon Alderaan sky through a pair of macro-binoculars.

The three female troopers advanced towards him for a few yards. Then Loreno ordered a halt and turned to address the two troopers.

"Hold position here. Only take action if you receive a direct order from me. If he attacks me, you are ordered to open fire and shoot to kill. Do not be concerned for my safety."

"Yes, sir." The two young women said in unison.

Lorena left the troopers and walked up to the Director who was still gazing at the sky through his macro-binoculars.

"What are you doing Director Corianna?" Asked Loreno dryly.

The unarmed man standing before Lorena continued to look at the sky for a moment. Loreno waited patiently for an answer, her right hand caressing the butt of the holstered DH-17 blaster pistol, the side-arm of preference in the Alderaan military. Director Hubert Corianna was still gazing at the sky when he started talking.

"It is a beautiful day, isn't it Lieutenant?" Corianna lowered the binoculars and looked at Loreno. "You can see the magnificent beauty of Alderaan from here. Isn't it wonderful. The lush vibrant forests. The rolling green hills. The majestic mountains on the horizon. Yes, the beauty of nature is truly spectacular."

Loreno didn't look at the beauty of the Alderaan wilderness. But she did notice the sound of blaster fire coming from centre of the city where the hastily organised Alderaan defence forces were frantically battling the imperial stormtroopers in the centre of the capital city. Loreno knew that many of her fellow troopers were involved in the most important battle of their lives.

"You know, when I heard of the imperial attack." Corianna looked over at the pall of smoke rising over the magnificent buildings of the city in the distance. I assumed at first that there would be an invasion? I thought the Empire had come chastise Alderaan at the point of a blaster."

Loreno pondered the man's words for a moment. As a commanding officer, she had speculated on the purpose of the imperial attacks. A precursor to a planetary invasion did seem the most logical conclusion.

"So I was happy when you turned up with your unit, Lieutenant. I realised that I had an opportunity to save lives and keep my people safe."

"Why have you come up here, Director Corianna?" Asked Loreno again, this time more insistently.

"I have been monitoring military chatter while in the control room as you instructed us to, Lieutenant. I heard rumours concerning the attack on Alderaan. So I arranged to leave the control room. I wanted to come up here and see if the rumours were true."

Loreno knew that she should detain Corianna immediately and put him in a detention cell. She also took note to reprimand the guards assigned to him. But before she could take action, Corianna spoke again. He seemed to have read her mind.

"Oh please don't blame your guards for letting me slip away. I am sure they were under orders to observe me from a discrete distance. You must admit that I would not be a good Director if I could not slip away from a couple of bodyguards in my own spaceport."

Loreno had to admit that he had a point. She had assigned the guards ostensibly for his protection. She had told them to hold back and refrain from being too forceful. Loreno wondered if her own inexperience as a rookie lieutenant had allowed this troublesome situation to happen. She inwardly cursed herself for her ignorance and inexperience.

"Of course, I realise they would be instructed to ensure that I do not contact the enemy. Do not worry, Lieutenant. I have not contacted anyone on the outside and I have no intention of doing so. It is all too late anyway, I fear."

Loreno pondered again if she should detain Corianna. But she decided against it. He was unarmed and there was no reason to believe he was trying to contact the enemy. After all, she was the mission commander now. She had the discretion to conduct the operation in the most expedient and effective way possible. She decided that it may be worthwhile to listen to what Corianna had to say. On the roof-top, he would likely speak openly. He could give her information that could contribute to the successful completion of her mission.

"So, Director Corianna? What are these rumours?" Asked Loreno.

"I heard the Death Star is here."

Lorena considered that suggestion a feasible possibility. After all, it would be logical for the imperials to use the Death Star as a base for the invasion of Alderaan.

"But that is not why I came up here, Lieutenant."

"Oh? And why did you come up here then, Director Corianna?" Loreno wondered if she had been wise to assume that Corianna was not in contact with the enemy. It could all be a charade. A deception.

"I just came up to see my world for one last time." Corianna turned to look at the wilderness in the distance. "While it is still beautiful. While it is still free. While it still exists."

Loreno stayed silent and looked at the man standing in front of her. For a moment, she wondered what he meant. Especially the part about Alderaan 'still existing'. Again, Loreno was tempted to end this conversation right away and march Corianna off to the detention cell. But she had the impression he was being sincere. She decided that as the commanding officer of this mission, she was duty bound to find out what Corianna knew or suspected. It could be critical to the success of her mission.

"What do you mean, Director Corianna?"

Corianna looked at Loreno intently for a moment.

"Why are you here, Lieutenant? Why have they sent you to guard this facility?"

"I just follow my orders, Director Corianna. I do not need to know what is happening." Answered Loreno dryly. "And neither do you."

"Yes. I guess I should have expected you to say that, Lieutenant." Corianna chuckled. But it was a chuckle void of any joy. Loreno just looked at him coldly. She began to suspect that Corianna knew a lot more than he had let on.

"You know, you almost had me fooled, Lieutenant." Corianna smiled and looked to the sky again. "It was an inspired idea to disguise yourselves as female Alderaan military".

Loreno's blood froze. She glared at Corianna, her hand moving slowly to the holster of her blaster pistol.

"What are you insinuating, Director Corianna?" Loreno's voice had a menacing tone to it.

"After all, who would suspect that a group of female soldiers could be imperial stormtroopers in disguise." Corianna spoke in a friendly and sincere tone. "And you even used officers and NCOs with Alderaan accents. Just brilliant!"

Loreno's felt her grip on the handle of her blaster pistol tighten. She was tempted to draw her weapon. But she stopped herself. She had to find out what he knew while he was willing to speak freely. And while he was out of ear-shot of the others.

"The 1st Leia Organa Company." Corianna smiled thoughtfully. "Now that was a true stroke of genius. It makes me wonder if there is really is such a unit in existence. You know, there is a rumour that the Princess put herself through a Stormtrooper training course here on Alderaan. It just makes your ruse all the more plausible."

Corianna saw Loreno's hand on her blaster. He smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant. I am not going to flee. Or contact the Alderaan military. Or attack you. It's too late for that now, I fear. "

Loreno was still seriously considering drawing her blaster and detaining or even shooting him. But she stopped herself. She realised that Corianna was right. There was no reason to perceive him as a threat. Thus there was no reason to detain him, at least for now. There was no sign of any enemy activity and all was calm. She had time to listen. Besides from that, she was curious as to what he had to say.

"And please don't take action against the rest of my people. They still believe you are there to protect them. They are obeying your instructions. And they will continue to do so. You have my word on that."

Loreno believed he spoke the truth. The civilians in the facility had all wilingly cooperated and obeyed instructions given to them. They still seemed to believe her troopers were from the Alderaan military.

"I doubt any of the others suspect the truth. Most will believe you are Alderaan military because they want to. Others because they genuinely feel protected by your presence. So please don't take any rash action from my words."

"I have no orders to kill or detain anyone, Director Corianna." Responded Loreno flatly. "I am only required to secure and lock-down the facility."

"I am pleased to hear that, Lieutenant. You know, at first I thought you might be ISB. But the ISB do not employ females in combat roles and would never act with such restraint. Nor would they attack unless backed up by considerable support. Besides, I suspect any ISB agent would be long gone if they had any suspicion of what is about to happen here."

Loreno didn't say anything. But she couldn't help agreeing with him about the ISB. She regarded the ISB as a bunch of arrogant self-righteous cowards. She had even said it a couple of times and it had gotten her into trouble.

"I also dismissed the possibility that you were from the imperial army straight away." Mused Corianna. "They too do not deploy females in combat roles. So that only leaves one possibility. Imperial Stormtroopers."

"Have you ever seen a female stormtrooper Lieutenant, Director Corianna?" Countered Loreno.

"No." Admitted Corianna."Not until today. You must have really risen up the ranks in the last couple of weeks. What were you before, Lieutenant? A corporal? A regular trooper?"

Loreno reflected that she was indeed a regular trooper only a few days ago. She had received a direct promotion from trooper to Lieutenant. One of the fastest rises in rank in the history of the stormtrooper corps. Despite her conditioning, Loreno felt herself flinch at what Corianna said. Corianna seemed to notice.

"Oh, don't blame yourself, Lieutenant. I know a lot about stormtroopers. I almost became one."

Loreno looked at the man in front of her, only barely hiding her surprise. She could not imagine the man in front of her going through the rigorous training and conditioning of an imperial stormtrooper.

"Yes, I know it's hard to believe it looking at me now." Said Corianna. "I joined up with my sister, Gloria. But I soon realised I was not cut out for war. I could not stomach the violence and brutality. In fact, after I left I became a pacifist. That is why I came back here and took on a civilian role."

At last, Loreno was beginning to understand the motivations of the Director. He was a pacifist. He did not want his people to be caught up in a battle. That is why he had accepted the aid of Loreno's unit so easily. Not because he was fooled. Not because he was a coward. But because he wanted to save the lives of those around him.

"That is how I recognised you. You are far too disciplined to be trainees in an Alderaan military unit. You need more than a pretty uniform to pretend to be a rookie. The way you stand. The way you walk. The way you hold your rifles. The empty look in your eyes. The way you speak. The way you never smile ..."

Loreno and her commanding officers knew that there was always a risk that someone may notice that did not look or act like typical Alderaan troopers. After all you cannot undo years of intense conditioning in a couple of days. However, they expected that most people would accept and indeed welcome the 'protection' of a disciplined force of troopers in Alderaan livery. Especially with fully armoured imperial stormtroopers openly attacking other parts of the city.

"But it was not just that. There were other signs. The way your troopers say 'sir' to their female commanders. An Alderaan trooper would never act like that. But I have seen it all before when I was a trainee officer on Carida."

Loreno admitted to herself that Corianna's reasoning made sense. And it just demonstrated to her how much she had lost touch with her home-world.

"...and the time it took your reinforcements to leave the shuttle. I bet that shuttle is full of stormtrooper armour and E-11 Blaster rifles. It takes time to change out of stormtrooper armour in an enclosed space. Believe me, I know."

Despite herself, Loreno began to feel a large amount of respect for the man in front of her. She had always believed that pacifists were weak and deluded. In fact, she still believed it. But she did recognise that Corianna did have a lot of courage and conviction.

"And I must thank you, Lieutenant."

"Thank me, Director?" For just moment, Loreno's eyes widened with surprise.

"You could have caused a blood-bath here today. But you didn't. You let everyone believe that they are safe. At least they will not end their days in the terror, pain and violence of a stormtrooper assault. Believe me, I appreciate that. You all showed remarkable self-restraint. And you demonstrated remarkable leadership, Lieutenant. And I say that with true sincerity."

Despite herself, Loreno couldn't help feeling flattered by the complement. Of course, she had only spared the civilians because it was in the parameters of her mission objectives. If she had been ordered to gun down innocent civilians, she would have done so without hesitation. And she would still do it now if ordered or required to do so.

"Of course, I realise that there is no generosity on your part. You are only following orders. And I understand that your ruse here only works because your comrades are slaughtering people in other parts of the city. Indeed, your comrades are acting in the way that everyone expects of stormtroopers."

Corianna chuckled and shook his head. "But no one expects stormtroopers to walk in the front door and ask politely to enter like you did, Lieutenant."

"Except you, Director Corianna." Loreno could not help feeling a hint of admiration for the man. She considered it a great pity that Corianna did not served the Empire as he had originally planned.

"Yes, except me, Lieutenant."

"So what do you think will happen now, Director Corianna." Although Loreno spoke in a slightly mocking tone, she was interested to hear what he had to say.

Corianna didn't answer immediately. Instead he offered Loreno his macro-binoculars. Corianna took them and used them to looked up at the sky. In the distance, she could clearly make out the shape and features of the Death Star.

"In Carida, we were told about the Death Star. They say that the Death Star can destroy a planet." Said Corianna as Loreno continued looking up at the sky.

"Now ask yourself this, Lieutenant. If the attacks were the precursor to an invasion, why did the imperials attack with such little force? Why attack only the spaceports and the High Council? But the biggest question is this. Why did they not attack the facilities that generate the planetary shield? Surely that would be the first target if there was to be an invasion. Do you not think so, lieutenant?"

Lorano gave Corianna back his macrobinoculars.

"So what do you believe the imperials will do now, Director Corianna?" Said Loreno, as if still keeping up the charade.

"Oh, surely that is obvious even to you, Lieutenant. They intend to destroy the whole planet."

Loreno continued looking up at the tiny dimly lit point of light in the sky. She did not say a word. In her heart, she knew that Corianna was probably right. She recognised that Corianna's reasoning made sense.

"So is my sister, Gloria, with you?" Asked the Director. "Of course she is not on this spaceport otherwise my people and I would already be dead. I suspect she is in the private spaceport or perhaps the High Council building."

Corianna stopped talking for a moment as if awaiting a response. Loreno looked at him. She realised that nothing she said now would make any difference. Nothing she said now would cause her to fail her mission. Her mission to hold the spaceport against enemy attack at all costs. To defend it from attacks launched by the rebel military."

"Lieutenant Corianna is in the High Council building." Loreno confirmed flatly.

"Yes, I suspected she would be there." The Director's voice almost seemed choked with pride. "She would always want to be in the thick of the action. In the eye of the storm."

Loreno's gaze drifted across the beautiful landscape of her home planet. For the first time in years, she was almost overcome by a wave of nostalgia for the beautiful world from which she came. She just stood there staring at her lost home. Corianna looked at Loreno and recognised the sorrow in her eyes.

"You really did not know that this would happen, did you?" He said softly. "You truly did not know what they planned to do."

"No."

"Then you were deceived, Lieutenant Loreno." For the first time, Loreno heard a bitter tone in Corianna's voice. "We were all deceived today. One way or another."

"No. I was not deceived." Loreno shook her head and spoke with conviction. "My mission was to hold this facility until relieved by imperial forces. It does not matter what form that relief may take. I achieved the mission assigned to me. I fulfilled the will of the Emperor. And if the Emperor wills it that I die this day, then I die with honour."

Loreno turned to face Corianna and laid her hand on the butt of her blaster pistol.

"I will die facing my enemy with my hand on my blaster. That is all I can ask."

Corianna shook his head with sadness and looked deeply into Loreno's eyes. He contemplated the young woman before her.

"I am not your enemy, Lieutenant."

Just at that moment, the deadly blast from the death star struck Alderaan. Lieutenant Silvia Loreno and her platoon of female troopers were blown to atoms along with everyone else on the planet.

In securing the public spaceport on Alderaan without a single casualty on either side, Lieutenant Silvia Loreno had led one of the most successful and bloodless operations in the history of the imperial stormtrooper corps. With the destruction of Alderaan, Loreno's achievement was consigned to oblivion.