A Heroic Sacrifice

Ventralla Residential Zone, Sector J-9

“Go! Get him out of here!” Lieutenant Ros snarled. “I’ll cover you, go!” A blaster bolt flew past his horn and exploded in a shower of sparks behind him. He ducked behind the makeshift barricade and glanced at the two remaining men across from him.

It had been an uneventful past two days for Ros’ squad. Ventralla had a relatively low-density population, mostly middle-class civilians, and as a result the zone was evacuated in less than a day. The rest of the downtime was spent watching. Waiting.

But now, on the third day, chaos reigned. His squad had been taken by surprise, just after dawn, by a platoon of stormtroopers. Now, with his men wounded and the regional command unaware of the flank, Ros had a difficult decision to make.

“Get him to regional command. Tell them the Imperials are flanking through the city, and we were overwhelmed.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll hold them until you can get reinforcements. Now go!”

He fumbled around in his belt, pulled out the last remaining thermal detonator, and primed it. Without looking, he lobbed it over his shoulder. The bridge shook and, as the smoke rose, he stood up and fired. He emptied clip after clip into the smoke, and even as it cleared, continued to fire into the mass of white plates and black eyes.

He glanced back once, to see his soldiers disappear down an alley, and smiled grimly. He hadn’t told them, but his precognition had told him he wouldn’t last that long. But that wasn’t important. As long as the Navy was informed, and the planet would survive, that was what mattered. His sacrifice would be well worth it.

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