Chapter 15: Retreat

                                    

                                          


                          
After what seemed like hours of running through the jungle, General Tandin finally ordered them all to stop.
                          
"My legs..." he said, "I haven't run like this in over three standard decades..."
                          
Tandin was an aging man, and while he was certainly still a tactical genius, his physical form had begun to wear out.
                          
He collapsed to the floor.
                          
"General!" A soldier yelled, coming to his aid.
                          
"I'm... fine," Tandin said. "I just... it's just my legs. It's only my legs."
                          
"Did you order us to stop to take a break?" Lux asked. "The Imps are probably hot on our tail. And by hot, I mean center-of-a-giant-star type hot."
                          
"Nonsense," Tandin said. "Had I wanted to take a break... well, I would've already done so. Multiple times, in fact."
                          
"So you're saying this is where we should be?" Lux continued.
                          
"Yes," Tandin said. "You see that hill over there? There is a mine in that hill from four centuries ago. A good amount of our cities were made from materials brought up from that mine, as well as several others. The Empire doesn't care for old establishments like this, but some of our scouts already completely mapped the caves and stashed supplies in there a few months ago for a scenario like this."
                          
"Just take us to the entrance," said Lux. "I don't want that Inquisitor to know where we are."
                          
"Unfortunately, the Empire probably will find the mine and try to fight us in there. The idea is that we'll have the advantage, or at least as much as we can against that Inquisitor. It's our only option, however, so unless any of you have any better ideas, we're going with it."
                          
Lux felt uneasy.
                          
"Now, the entrance should be right through these shrubs..."
                          
Tandin managed to get back up on his feet and push aside some shrubbery, and pointed to a large metal door in the wall, half of which had fallen off. He then proceeded to fall back onto his knees.
                          
"General, can I carry you?" A soldier asked.
                          
"That sounds wierd, but I like that Idea," Tandin replied. "Ugh... I think there's some painkillers in the stash. Let's head in."
                          
The rebels walked into the mine. The upper portion of it almost resembled a metal room, but with the stony walls of the hill surrounding them visible in some parts of the walls. There was a turbolift there that went down.
                          
"You want us to blow the door?" Asked a soldier.
                          
"I don't want to risk a cave-in," Tandin said. "Besides, the Empire might not think we're here if they see the open door. Shut off the turbolift once we reach the bottom instead."
                          
"Got it," the soldier replied.
                          
The rebels got onto the Turbolift and headed down.
                          
"I got a bad feeling about this," Lux said.