Part 1 Formation - Chapter 20

Bravo and his friends continued to follow Hergist through the base, running as fast as they could away from the danger. They could hear distant screams and explosions as rebel troops fought desperately against the Imperial soldiers.

"Come" Hergist yelled, "The hangar is not far."

Some rebel soldiers came sprinting past them, "The control center's been captured." One of them yelled.

Kid stopped dead and yelled, "What about the Praetorux?"

The soldier and his buddies skidded to a stop, "There's been no word" he replied.

Kid eyes widened in fear, "No!" He yelled, "I have to go back!" and he began to run back towards the control center.

"No young Nónanae!" Hergist yelled and ran after him.

The others looked at Bravo and he shrugged then followed. They went tracing back the way they'd come. Soldiers still ran about frantically rushing to their evacuation points. The shots grew louder, and louder and the smell of burnt flesh and blood filled the air.

"You must stop, young one!" Hergist yelled, "Tis insanity, your father would want you to escape."

As they reached a four way stop Hergist caught Kids arm and forced him to stop. Kid whirled on him and tried to force himself free, "I can't leave him" He yelled in anguish

"You must see reason! Your father would not want this."

Bravo and the rest caught up and slid to a stop. Kid began to say something else but suddenly Imperial soldiers rounded the corner to their left. Nearby Rebel soldiers stopped running and moved to stop them but one of the Imperials rolled a small silver object towards them.

Hergist' eyes almost bulged out of his skull, "Get down!" He screamed.

Then the world lit up in a sea of fire. Bravo was flung to the side and slammed into a wall. The others were trashed around by the force of the blast. The walls cracked and there was a large crash as part of the roof collapsed.

After a few moments Bravo struggled to his feet and looked around. He could hear someone crying and others screaming. He coughed violently from the dust and debris in the air as he stumbled around searching for his friends. Unfortunately, he soon found the source of the crying. Buck knelt next to Mickey in the corridor, shaking him and begging him to wake up. Nearby Hergist dragged Kid up onto his feet, "Come we must go."

Otto got to his feet and shook his head, "Where's Data?" He yelled. He started walking around searching for his brother but suddenly stopped in his tracks and gasped.

Bravo looked in the same direction and saw Delta lying in a pool of blood, his right arm and leg were missing and the right side of his face was badly burned. Bravo ran over to him and knelt by his side, tears trickling down his face. He could see him breathing, it was ragged and shallow, but he was still breathing, "He's alive!" Bravo yelled.

More rebel soldiers flooded the hallway to help the survivors, one of them stopped kneeling down by Delta. The young blond haired man smiled reassuringly at Bravo, "It'll be ok, I'll take care of this one."

He quickly applied a tourniquet to Delta's arm and leg and bandaged his face as best he could. Once he was done tending to him he lifted Delta onto his back and turned to Hergist "We've got to go sir, Imperials have overrun the base, this area will be swarming with them in a minute or two." As if to add wait to his words they could hear shouting further down the corridor

"Where's my Brother?" Otto yelled frantically.

Hergist's face fell, "He must have been buried under the rubble, there's nothing we can do for him."

Otto's eyes widened in pain, fear, and realization, "No!" He screamed, "We can't leave him"

"Sir." The young man said again, as the shouts and sounds of gunfire grew even louder.

Hergist nodded, "You get these boys out of here, I'll hold them off."

The man nodded and motioned to his men. Two of them grabbed Otto and Buck While another grabbed Kid and forced them all down the hall.

"No Hergist!" Kid yelled as Hergist grabbed a rifle from a fellow soldier.

Hergist smiled sadly, "Go young one, Lead the rebellion against the Empire, avenge your father," then he said almost as a whisper, "Avenge me." He then turned and ran down the corridor, with three other soldiers closely following him.

The Blond young man and his men with Bravo's group in tow sprinted down the corridors until they reached a small hangar with a shuttle in it, and he motioned for them to board quickly. As soon as they were on board and the ramp pulled up the shuttle rose over the floor and blasted out of the hangar.