Rose Squadron: the Inkari Gambit

Datenshi screamed at Annie, “YOU BITCH! You deliberately set this whole thing up!”
“I sure did, Datenshi,” Annie answered, cackling softly at his breakdown. “And I couldn’t have done it without the help of our dearly beloved Chief of Security, Haston Uttaka. He saw fit to plant the seeds of your downfall soon after you murdered Mina, and now, here we are!”
“I’ll find him after I execute you for treason and make him pay!” Datenshi snarled. “You are both traitors to the galaxy!”
“And you are a traitor to the Inkarin, along with the rest of your soldiers. It takes a traitor to know a traitor, Moff.”
“You’re dead, Leonhardt!”
The Moff and his men pointed their blasters at her, but Annie felt no fear. At last, she could lay down her arms and fulfill her deepest wish.
“I’m coming, Mina.”
Before anybody of her opponents could pull their triggers, blaster fire erupted from the leftmost alleyway, and a two of Datenshi’s Stormtroopers fell to the ground, screaming in agony. A horde of angry, armed Inkarin civilians flanked by uniformed Officers and even a few Stormtroopers flooded into the plaza, shooting viciously at the Moff and his entourage.
“WHAT?!” Datenshi shouted in alarm, as he and his troops desperately fired back into the crowd, striking down a few, but not enough to stop them from advancing.
“FOR MINA!” The enraged revolters shouted in unison as they pushed forward, surrounding the Moff’s entourage and preventing any of them from shooting at Annie.
“Protect Officer Leonhardt at all cost!” she heard somebody bellow, and Annie’s heart leapt within her.
“They all now know what Mina meant to me, don’t they? And now, they certainly must understand what I had to do to unveil the truth. We’re in this battle together, and it’s time to topple Datenshi’s undeserved rule!”
One of Datenshi’s Stormtroopers screamed “Traitors!” as he fired at the revolting Stormtroopers surrounding the armed citizens. In response, Annie heard one of the revolting Stormtroopers scream “MURDERERS!” as he returned the blaster fire. It was Stormtrooper against Stormtrooper, Officer against Officer.
Annie whipped out her own blaster and joined in the fray, landing cunning shots on a couple of Datenshi’s Stormtroopers who were preoccupied with the horde surrounding them. She could see Datenshi desperately looking for a way out of the area, and she kept her gaze focused on him, calculating the most convenient way to gun him down.
Out of the middle alleyway came a massive group of Imperial Loyalist reinforcements, snarling as they fired into the crowd of revolters. But no matter how many civilians, Officers or Stormtroopers that they killed, the crowd kept pushing forward, constantly refilled by even more furious Inkarin pouring into the plaza. The battle was clearly in Inkari’s favor.
In the chaos, Annie saw Datenshi bolt for the rightmost alleyway, attempting to abandon his troops and flee for his life. Annie sneered as she aimed her blaster and fired, landing a well-timed shot on his shoulder, wounding him and eliciting a shriek of pain as he limped away out of sight. She pushed through the crowd, shooting down whatever enemy she could to protect her people as she made her way towards the alleyway, determined to hunt the Moff down and get revenge at last.
“Annie!”
She paused and turned around, seeing her fellow Officer Marcel Galliard, the eldest of the Galliard brothers running towards her through the throng, panting and desperate to speak with her. Annie glanced at him with impatience but pity, knowing that her well-meaning comrade only wanted to keep her safe in the raging battle surrounding them.
“What happened to you, Annie?!” Marcel asked, ducking with her as blaster bolts sailed overhead. “We all were told by Commander Magath that you had been given unauthorized permission to leave Inkari for ‘personal reasons’, and now, you suddenly have the proof to show that it was Moff Datenshi who killed Mina! Where did you go?!”
“So you aren’t surprised, huh?” Annie mused dryly. “I suppose it was a bit obvious from the beginning that the bastard knew more than he was letting on. But I can’t talk, Marcel. I’m not finished here yet, and it’s my duty to ensure that Datenshi dies today.”
Marcel reached out and gripped her arm, as he pleaded, “Please, Annie, be careful! You could die if you chase after him right now!”
“Oh, Marcel…” she answered pitily, “you’ve always had such a big heart. But this is exactly what I want. And...I’m sorry, but this is goodbye. Stay safe, Marcel.”
With that, she ripped her arm out of his grip, and bolted down the empty alleyway, hearing Marcel wail her name as the battle disappeared behind her.
Annie saw drops of Datenshi’s blood dotting the tight path, and knew that he had to be close. She gripped her blaster, focused on hunting down the Moff before he could escape the planet.
“This is it, the moment I’ve been craving since Connie showed me the footage. It’s time to avenge everybody who he’s harmed!”
She flew around the next corner of the alleyway, and the instant she turned the corner, a blaster bolt flew and hit her square in her abdomen. Annie collapsed to the ground in pain, the shock and agony leaving her reeling.
Datenshi stood a foot away, cackling and gloating over his successful surprise attack. He had evidently been betting on Annie chasing after him, choosing to lie in wait to ambush her. There was nobody else around to intervene, and Annie Leonhardt was now at the cruel Moff’s mercy.
“So much for your grand plan to overthrow me, Leonhardt!” he said gleefully, as Annie scowled up at him. “You’ve been aching to kill me, but now, you’ll die alone and in vain, just as your precious friend Mina died last year.”
Annie paused, and to his confusion, let out a harsh, cold laugh in response. The Moff had only scraped the surface of her plan, and was completely unaware of what was about to happen to him and the Imperial rule over Inkari. She raised her face and did her best to focus on him through the pain, her vision starting to blur.
“‘In vain’? Datenshi, you really know nothing after all. You honestly believe that Mina and I will have died in vain? Look around you and admit the reality before you! My people have unanimously rejected your supposed ownership of our world, and we all know now, thanks to your arrogant blunder, that Emperor Palpatine himself betrayed us! Our people no longer have any reason to give loyalty to the Empire, and after the dust settles here, I foresee them attacking Coruscant itself in revenge! Oh, and that reminds me…”
She chortled darkly and told him, “It’s all thanks to my new friends that I was able to pull any of this off, Datenshi. When I went off world, I encountered some lovely individuals who helped me understand the full extent of your treachery, and at this very moment, they’re here in Gintomi, helping the revolt unfold.”
Datenshi glared at her, and then gasped in horror, “You brought rebels to Inkari?!”
“I certainly did, Datenshi, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He snarled at her and shouted, “You’re telling me this just to spite me, aren’t you?!”
“Obviously, you idiot,” she answered, sneering and amused, even in pain. “Consider it my last act of defiance against you and your rule over my homeworld. I owe neither you nor the Emperor any loyalty whatsoever, and I couldn’t care less if other Imperials remember me as a traitor. You scum showed my father no loyalty when Alderaan’s destruction broke him, and I blame you and the other top brass for his death! My loyalty is to Mina and Inkari alone; you’re undeserving of any fealty from me.”
“Silence, brat! You’re still going to die, and when I report your treachery to the Emperor, I’ll ensure myself that every last one of your people gets the proper punishment for abating the Rebel cause!”
Annie gawked at him with mock alarm, and softly asked him, “Moff...do you really think you’re going to live another day?”
“W-what?” he answered, shuddering at the soft malice in her voice.
“You really are blind after all. Yes, I’m going to die here, of that, there is no question. But you? You, Datenshi, will die here as well. You’ve allowed your arrogance to blind you to the wrath stored against you, and the many people besides me now out for your blood.”
He went rigid with terror as the sound of an Inkarin air transport zooming towards them echoed nearby, and Annie leered up at him, knowing full well what was about to happen.
“Your fatal mistake here, Datenshi, was assuming that I’m the only Inkarin capable of killing you. Have you seriously forgotten your other most despised enemy?”
Before he could retaliate, Datenshi fell to the ground, gasping in pain as somebody shot a blaster bolt into his back, followed by numerous bolts to his limbs, rendering him immobile. He fell on his back, looking up in horror at the transport approaching them. Annie breathed hard, struggling to stay conscious, hearing the transport land behind Datenshi and two newcomers walking slowly towards them.
“Now, Senator,” she heard Ymir whisper sadistically, the captain’s breaths going ragged with bloodlust, “let-him-BURN!”
Sure enough, there stood Senator Hedasta Carolina, clothed in her Senatorial robe, and wielding what could only be a Malastare Flamethrower, looking like a frightening angel of death ready to reap Datenshi’s soul. Hedasta pointed the barrel of the weapon directly at Datenshi’s chest, standing away so that the flames wouldn’t catch her, but close enough to instantly incinerate him. The Moff squirmed helplessly on the ground, and tried to make one last plea for his life.
“W-wait! I can explain-”
But Hedasta had no mercy to offer him, because he had showed her daughter none.
She pulled the trigger, and at once, flames erupted out of the barrel and consumed Datenshi, wrapping around his body like an infernal coffin. He shrieked in agony as Hedasta glared down at him with a look of sheer rage, tears still streaming down her face after what she had learned. The fire lit up her face and Ymir’s, contorting the captain’s malicious grin into a demonic expression.
A grueling minute passed of Hedasta continuously pouring flames over Datenshi, before the wretched Moff ceased moving. He had become a morbidly perfect doppelganger of the incinerated factory worker that he had used to lure Mina to her death. The irony was lost on none of the three women sneering at his corpse.
It was finished, after all of the plotting Annie had done with the members of Rose Squadron and Zeke Yeager. The man who had caused Inkari so much pain was now dead, no longer able to harm any more innocents. Mina Carolina and every other victim of his cruelty was now avenged, by the hand of none other than the Senator herself.
Hedasta turned her head towards Annie, and when she saw the Officer collapsed on the ground, a pool of blood forming around her from her abdominal wound, she placed the flamethrower in Ymir’s arms and bolted towards her in a panic. Ymir’s face fell when she realized what had happened to Annie; the look on her face transformed from malice to a vacant, stunned image of denial.
“Annie, what happened to you?!” Hedasta wailed, lifting her head off the ground and holding her hand, more sobs shaking her weary body.
“He got me, Hedasta,” Annie softly admitted, wincing as the pain worsened. “He predicted that I’d try to chase him down, and was lying in wait here, ready to gun me down. I walked right into it.”
“Oh, Annie…” Hedasta whispered heartbreakingly as she cradled the Officer’s broken body. Ymir could only stand and shudder, looking more and more ill as the seconds ticked by.
Annie grimaced and asked Hedasta, “Did...it work?”
“Annie,” Hedasta assured her, managing to beam at her through her tears, “you were wonderful. Thanks to you, we all know now that the Emperor was ultimately behind the tragedies that happened here. Now, we know that we can no longer act as loyal servants of the Empire, when we were never shown true loyalty. You set us free, Annie, and there’s no amount of gratitude sufficient to give you for what you’ve done here.”
“I had to, Hedasta,” Annie whispered. “After seeing that horrific video footage, I had to make that bastard pay. What he did was disgusting, and I still can’t forget the sound of Mina screaming my name as her last word. It was my duty to make justice happen, but I couldn’t have done it without you, and all the other allies I garnered.”
“Allies…” Hedasta murmured, and raised her head sharply, looking behind Annie as they heard two pairs of footsteps rapidly approaching.
Hedasta then bit her lip knowingly, and asked Annie, “Annie...these boys are your allies too, aren’t they?”
“W-what?”
“Oh, no…” she heard Connie wail, and then, Eren saw her laying in her blood.
“ANNIE!”
Her head snapped back as his horror and grief coursed through her, causing a fresh wave of sobbing to wrack her body. Eren’s empathetic bond with Annie threatened to overwhelm her.
“What happened?!” Eren screamed at them as he collapsed to his knees next to Annie, grief-stricken and broken at the sight before him.
“Child,” Hedasta answered him sadly, “the Moff ambushed her, before either me or Ymir arrived here. I’m so sorry.”
Eren snarled, and was about to attack Datenshi’s corpse when Annie softly told him, “He’s dead, Eren. Hedasta took care of him.”
Ymir shuddered, and bolted for the transport, provoking a furious look from Eren. Annie watched her sadly, knowing why the captain was choosing to flee the scene. The faintest memory of Ymir’s breakdown onboard the Vindictive Empress came to her mind as Eren yelled at her.
“Ymir, where are you going?!”
She whirled around, and Eren gasped as he saw the panic attack overwhelming her, her body heaving with the intensity of her grief. Instead of Annie lying motionless on the ground, all she could see was her lover Christa in her place.
“I...I can’t!” Ymir screamed, and Annie nodded at her painfully, signaling her approval.
The transport zoomed towards the center of the city and the main area of the battle, leaving the others to kneel around Annie. She was surrounded only by those who loved her, with even Datenshi’s cruelest remarks fading out of mind. Despite her pain and knowing that her time was short, the victorious Officer was at peace.
“This is it for me,” Annie said quietly, glancing at her comrades with love. “But not the end for Inkari, nor for any of you. My mission is complete, but yours have only begun.”
“Hedasta,” Annie said to her Senator, “lead our people to victory. Our battle against the Emperor’s treachery has only begun. Now that the Moff is out of your way, you are the leader of our people now, and I highly doubt that Commander Magath is even interested in contesting that. You know what to do. Use our power to inspire the other Core Worlds to rebel likewise, and the Empire will crumble.”
“Yes, Annie,” Hedasta said, bowing her head solemnly. “It will be my pleasure to punish the Emperor for what he’s done to my people…and to my daughter.”
Annie nodded gratefully, and then turned to Connie, giving her surrogate little brother a sad, gentle smile. Connie bit his lip hard, trying in vain to stop his tears from flowing.
“Connie, I don’t ever want you to blame yourself for what happened to me. For whatever incomprehensible reasons there are, you were meant to show me that footage, to ignite the fire of rebellion in my heart. It’s not your fault that seeing Mina die broke my heart; please don’t ever forget that. Remember that you refused to leave my side when you saw how broken I was; your compassion for others would make you a wonderful diplomat, and I want you to use this gift of yours to the fullest in the battles to come.”
Connie sniffled and mumbled, “I will.”
Annie then turned to Eren, who was now sobbing his eyes out at the knowledge that they were about to part ways. They locked eyes for a long moment before Annie spoke.
“Eren. Our meeting the way we did was no mere coincidence. You and I were meant to cross over into each other’s lives, to lead each other towards a vital truth. By finally seeing you face to face after that dream, you led me to the truth about Mina’s death. And now, it’s time for me to lead you towards your truth.”
She nodded at Connie, and he bent forward, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing the hologram recorder that Zeke Yeager had left them. Connie gave it to Eren, who took it warily, giving them all a questioning look.
“Our Chief of Security, Haston Uttaka, turned out to be even more mysterious than my people believed,” Annie explained. “Before he fled Inkari, he left me with this disc, with a message meant specifically for you. Haston knows vital information about your father, and wants to help you find him, if your father is still alive.”
“H-how?” Eren shakily asked her. “How could he know about my Dad?!”
“All will be clear after you’ve played the message, I assure you.”
Annie shuddered violently as the harshest wave of pain washed over her, and she knew that her time was imminent. The others bent over her worriedly, and she did her best to comfort them in her last moments.
“This is what I wanted, everyone,” she said to them all. “I...can be with her again. I…”
Her vision went foggy, and Annie’s surroundings faded away, Hedasta, Connie and Eren gradually disappearing from sight. Annie gazed upwards, undeniably anxious as she waited for the unknown to come.
At the end of her vision, a speck of golden light appeared, rushing towards her and rapidly growing in size. As it approached, Annie felt a final spark of life in her body The wall of light filled her entire sight, and Annie gasped in recognition of the newcomer waiting in its midst.
Mina floated towards her, once again robed in white and beaming endlessly. Annie wept again, but this time, out of the sheer joy of seeing her best friend again. A genuine, wide grin lit up the Officer’s face as she reached out desperately with her hand, aching to clasp hands with Mina at last.
“Mina!” Annie joyfully exclaimed, feeling the last traces of her pain and despair fading away as Mina drew close, her golden aura filling Annie’s sight.
“Come, Annie,” Mina gently said to her, grasping her hand firmly and pulling upwards. Annie felt herself leave her broken body behind as Mina led her away.
They left together, hand in hand, the two martyrs of Inkari departing for the otherside, no longer burdened by any agony and eager to see what awaited them beyond.