“CChh...Anybody Out There?...Cchh” (Static)

It is late, very dark at night. I am alone. The Rebellion forces have forced the majority of us to surrender. Yet, me and several others, who were at Research Center Number Eight, were far away from the action, and night fell before we could be taken as prisoners. The grids have been shut down. We’re trapped outside in the darkness: the doors won’t open. I envy those who were lucky enough to be inside. I, however, was on patrol. Allow me to introduce myself: I am “SniperKaiser19,” and I am trying to survive a night on Endor.

We received a message from the captain of the patrol that sounded something like this: “There are an unidentified number of untrained furry creatures moving in on our position. Don’t be fooled by their appearance - just stay alive. Shouldn’t be too difficult.” And with a crackle, he was off the intercom. I always thought that my Imperial training would prepare my nerves for such an incident. Now, I realized that I was terrified.

I had to focus. I had wandered back to the outermost entrance of a very, very small outpost storage building, right in the middle of the dark forest. It was locked, of course. “Calm down,” I thought to myself. “You’re a stormtrooper, the most elite, feared soldier in the Galactic Empire. You survived battles before, you can survive until extraction.” How long did the captain say it was until the rescue shuttle arrived? Regardless, it feels like an eternity.

“Who’s that,” I whisper, as I spot someone in the distance. I walk toward them, the only way I can see being with the aid of a flashlight on the front of my short rifle. That little circle of white light is all I can see. Nothing outside of it, and certainly nothing when the light turns off. Just a little circle that turns off every now and then to recharge for a few seconds. “Thank goodness,” I think, as I see another stormtrooper. “Mmm cup of tea,” is his name. We gather around the top of a short hill and pin our backs against a tree. We have the high ground, relative to our near surroundings, and they can’t sneak up behind us. Those Ewoks are small, and easy to kill, but boy, are they rumored to gang up on people.

Back before this whole nightmare began, when the Death Star was still in the sky and the base had not yet fallen, I would hear stories from the “old soldiers” about how the Ewoks would isolate scouts and swarm them, prodding them with primitive spears and knives and eating them alive. I brushed them off as simple stories, of course. I was from Coruscant, so I had never heard such things. But very soon, I saw the evidence for myself. I would spot, empty, bloody Imperial armor when on patrol, and scattered weapons laying about. But that was different. Then, it was not so dark that I could not see.

Me and “mmm cup of tea” held our ground silently, shining our flashlights into the darkness every so often. We did not leave them on, because to do so would basically be waving a red flag and shouting where we were. Most of the time, we were drenched in total and utter darkness. Occasionally, the captain, who was somehow still alive, would try and convince us to move around and to find each other: there’s strength in numbers. Yeah, not me and my buddy here. Our legs were practically glued to the ground with fear. We would hold our ground.

“Shuttle’s almost here, don’t die on me now,” the intercom urges desperately. Even the captain seems nervous. The intercom crackles, indicating that the other line has nothing more to say for the moment. Occasionally, we hear shooting in the distance, and panicked shouts, and screaming. The rest of the company is out there, God knows for how long. Me and my pal hold our ground, not talking, out of fear.

Finally, our hearts racing, we receive a notification on our scanners. The rendezvous point is only half a mile away. The shuttle will land, stay for just under a minute or so, and then leave. We have to make it to the extraction point before it leaves. Without word, me and “mmm cup of tea” turn on our flashlights and run, following our virtual map. Our breathing is heavy, and my heart thumps in my chest. “I’m not going to die on stupid Endor!” I think. I will see the light of day again. I will see my family on Coruscant again.

“Nub nub.” A high, innocent-sounding voice breaks the stillness, and instantly, me and my companion totally lost it. We fired incessantly in every direction until our weapons overheated, nearly killing each other. In the red strobe light of the lasers, I catch glimpses of hollow-eyed, furry creatures equipped with spears. When my weapon overheated, I frantically started hitting and kicking everything around me. When I broke free of the swarm, by some miracle, I just ran. I ran without the flashlight, crashing through thin branches and underbrush.

I didn’t even know if my companion was behind me. I didn’t care - I was in full panic mode. I saw the lights from the shuttle landing. Such a wonderful sight! I ran with all my strength, and watched as the spotlight under the shuttle grow as it landed. It touched down. The platform landed. My heart raced! I began to laugh hysterically! I was actually going to live! I was just ten short paces away! Then, into the light, swarmed dozens of Ewoks. I felt a sharp jab somewhere in my lower back, and then another one in my stomach. I gripped the railing of the platform weakly, and then lost strength and fell. Then these words came up on the screen: “SniperKaiser19 WAS LOST TO THE FOREST.”