The sergeant looked up from his duty post outside the temporary holding cell. The electric corral herded the gauze-wrapped nomads to the center of the enclosure. Still twitching, one Tusken lay dead by the fence where he had strayed too close.
Pulling himself to attention, the sergeant drew his rifle from across his chest to the left shoulder position. He watched with curiosity as his superior approached.
His grim visage obscured by his helmet, the stormtrooper captain marched over to the Sand People detention area. His armored limbs swooshed through the deep sand.
The sergeant supervising the captives asked, "Yes, Captain?"
"Termination orders." The captain handed a code cylinder to the sergeant.
The sergeant rolled the cylinder in his glove. "All of them?"
"You heard me, Sergeant. And make it quick. Lord Vader's shuttle has arrived."
The sergeant glanced at the spaceport, noticing the tips of the Lambda-class shuttle protruding above the rest of the craft. He transmitted the order to his squad. "Terminate."
The sergeant turned back to the fifty Tusken Raiders that now cowered against the back wall as his troopers swarmed the enclosure. He was grateful that their native dress obscured which were women and which were men. However, he hated killing the children.
There was no firing squad this time. The troopers simply fired at point-blank range to each head, killing each Tusken Raider in the compound. Their gargled death screams would haunt the sergeant for the rest of his life.
As the last raider fell, a large figure armored in a black life-support suit marched into the compound. His black cape trailed, stirring up the sand as he moved.
The sergeant said, "Attention. Squad, fall in."
The troops abandoned their task, leaving the corpses of the Sand People strewed in a line with a few piled on top of each other. They came to attention in a straight line while the captain stepped to the Sith Lord.
"My lord, welcome to Tatooine."
"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Captain. Report."
"As you can see, they are all terminated, Lord Vader." The captain pointed to the pile behind the row of stormtroopers. "Even the children. Just as you ordered."
Vader moved his mask in the direction of the jumbled bodies. His visual scanner analyzed the creatures, counting them. "Fifty? You think there are only fifty Sand People on this Force-forsaken planet? There are children, yes. But the rest of these are the aged and infirm."
The Sith Lord pivoted and pointed at the captain's face, causing the man to shrink back in fear. "Captain, send your men into the area and take care of this infestation once and for all. If I have to deal with this myself, you will join their fate. Am I making myself clear, Captain?"
"Yes, my lord. Vesk Squadron, head out toward the Dune Sea. The rest of you, range out between Anchorhead—"
A large crash cut him off, followed by screams outside the precinct. Chaos broke out as citizens swarmed the area.
Lord Vader turned his head to the source of commotion.
The captain said, "Sergeant, check out the disturbance. Regain control immediately."
The sergeant hefted his rifle blaster in front of his chest and led his squad in double-time to the courtyard. "Secure the courtyard."
The troops spread out across the area, pushing the civilians back with the barrel of their still-hot blasters.
YOU ARE READING
Empire Day ✓
Fanfiction1st place: Star Wars Fanfiction Awards Luke Skywalker is turning 8 in just a few days on Empire Day. Unfortunately, the Empire has ordered a galaxy-wide census on Empire Day. Instead of heading to the pod races, like his Uncle Owen had promised him...
