Goodbye High Governor Mors
Cham gritted his teeth as the explosions rained debris from destroyed airships all around him. He saw the Twi'lek villagers flee in fear and terror towards the edge of a nearby valley while Vader stood almost a half mile in front of them. Cham was surprised at how calm Vader barely saw the Emperor amongst the group of Twi'lek villagers. The irony wasn't lost on Cham. To these villagers his Free Ryloth Movement weren't freedom fighters but terrorists and Vader was their protector. Yet...Cham continued to push forward despite the chaos which had become all too familiar to him.
Cham realized Vader was able to somehow detect when debris would fall near where the Free Ryloth Movement began their charge towards him and his companions. Just like Jedi Master Windu all those years ago Vader used the Force to move the debris towards the charging Free Ryloth Movement operatives. Without Captain America's flight capabilities Cham's forces had to slow their charge. They used boulders lining the edges of the village as cover from the debris and fired their weapons at Vader. Cham understood very quickly this is exactly what Vader wanted. The boulders were arranged in a haphazard way but in a roughly semi circular pattern which allowed Vader to angle his red lightsaber in ways to block the barrage of blaster bolts from the Free Ryloth Movement operatives weapons. Vader was defending himself the same way Jedi did against Separatist battle droids.
Cham's hopes were truly dashed when he saw Winter Soldier and Yelena caught up in the path of an exploding airship that Vader casually Force pushed towards their direction. Cham thought the additions of former Avengers to his ragtag army would push the chances of his mission to kill Vader and the Emperor from unlikely towards success. Cham's estimations were proven wrong in the most critical of moments. Nomad was nowhere to be found and Captain America was busy dealing with High Governor Mors. Cham took a deep breath as he saw Vader redirect the blaster fire from his comrade's weapons killing them one by one and motioned for the remaining members of the Free Ryloth Movement to charge forward. If he was going to die fighting the most hated figure of the Empire to save his people because he didn't order a surprise attack on an innocent village...so be it.
"Not a terrorist but a freedom fighter!" Cham screamed at the top of his lungs before beginning his suicidal charge
****
Belkor sat in his pilot seat with the corpse of Captain Torres munching on a bag of crackers and water from the emergency med kit in the back of the rescue airship. He was smiling from ear to ear enjoying the chaos and destruction in the sky and near the Twi'lek village. He used his rescue airship's equipment to monitor the flight path of High Governor Mors preferred command airship an Imperial light cruiser. He witnessed Captain America perform a somersault tuck maneuver above Mors's airship. This move caused Captain America to crash into the ground due to the defense shielding of Mors's ship. His Vibranium wings took the brunt of the fall so he wasn't dead but he was unconscious.
Belkor didn't care because the true payoff from this move was about to begin. His top pilot from his secret V Wing squadron used Captain America's maneuver as a distraction to fire his proton torpedoes at an unshielded part of Mors's light cruiser. Belkor drunk the last of his water in satisfaction once the airship exploded. He applauded as if what he witnessed was a theatrical performance.
"Wasn't that a fantastic show Captain Torres? I'll be sure to rule Ryloth/Algeria as High Governor in your honor Joaquin." Belkor said to Torres's corpse
"You disgust me Belkor. Sitting in that pilot seat watching chaos as if it was a Holo Net entertainment program! I gave you a chance to surrender and own up to everything you've done. Yet this is the path you chose
...killing your fellow Imperials just to steal my job! Was all of this death that's happening all around us worth it Belkor!" Mors said to Belkor through the Imperial wide audio communication network via her airship
Belkor knew he was a dead man but he didn't care. Rage overtook his fractured mind that was oscillating between guilt, despair, desperation and hope. Mors managed to trick him and actually use her strategic skills to her advantage. She was in a V Wing and a low grade V Wing at that which cadets normally operated. Mors was trying to create an image of cameraderie with her troops Belkor noted with cynical bitterness.
"You dare lecture me! You lost someone alright. It wasn't your wife Victoria though! You lost yourself! You lost your skills and talents! I would have followed the High Governor Mors that landed in Ryloth/Algeria 3 years ago anywhere. Torres would have died for the old version of yourself without hesitation. But you grew fat and lazy and entitled. You failed the men and women under your command including me!
Why do you think nearly a third of your forces secretly sided with me in the first place? You treated me like a mix of an administrative assistant and a butler. I'm a decorated Colonel in the Imperial military Dank Ferrik! You don't deserve to wear your High Governor uniform! You'll never be worthy of wearing that uniform even if you kill me!" Belkor shouted at the top of his lungs finally saying what he always wanted to say to Mors
There was a long silence but Belkor didn't care. He felt freer than he ever felt the last two years. It moved him to tears that he didn't tell Mors the truth and simply resigned from his post 2 years ago. Instead he assumed Mors had declined to the point that stealing her position would be easy. Belkor could see he was wrong as he looked at the corpse of Captain Torres which began to decay with the green blood on his chest dry and caked up.
"You're right Belkor. You're right about me. It'll be a miracle if I'm not removed from this post of High Governor. If I manage to keep my rank it won't change the fact that the surviving members of this division of the Imperial military will dislike me. It's my fault all of this happened because I didn't take responsibility. I'm the reason you committed treason Belkor and I'm the reason men and women dedicated to serving the Empire with distinction died senseless deaths. I made you the way you are and to unmake you I'm going to have to kill you. Then I'll have to do my part in fixing the damage I caused." Mors said solemnly
Belkor hung his head in defeat. He could hear the firing sequence for the energy beam on Mors's V Wing start up. Belkor couldn't defend himself because his rescue airship was a specialized model with no weapons systems or accelerated flight capabilities. It was designed for extra maneuverability to navigate debris fields or disaster zones filled with fallen trees or scrap metal with tight spaces. In less than 30 seconds he would be ashes alongside Torres and his rescue airship would be scrap metal.
"Goodbye Captain Torres. It was an honor serving with you. Goodbye High Governor Mors. It's sad it had to end like this." Belkor said with finality
"Yes Belkor. It is sad this is how it ends. Long live the Empire." Mors replied
The fully charged proton energy beam destroyed Belkor's rescue airship killing him and putting his schemes to an end. Mors sunk deep into her pilot seat and started weeping seeing all the dead Imperial airships lining the edges of the rustic Twi'lek village. After a few minutes she pulled out a small towel to blow her nose and stoically started issuing commands to rescue and repair crews.