PART FOUR
Sherlock and Moriarty pulled up to a low concrete bunker in the outskirts of London after a harrowing escape from the city. Dozens of Moriarty’s henchmen were waiting outside.
“I wish I had an elegant solution planned,” Moriarty said wistfully. “I really do. I wanted to make you jealous, but unfortunately, I just run out of time. Life’s like that, I suppose.”
As he climbed out the car, Sherlock saw that the snipers were all holding rather large guns. Even in the faint light of dawn, he recognized the weapons they carried.
He’d first seen one aboard the Citadel, and he’d watched himself fire one at a strip club full of trolls, even though it had been Moriarty who pulled the trigger. The name came back to him instantly: Cain.
“As I said, the military doesn’t have any weapon that can stand up to the firepower of the Empire,” Moriarty said. “Luckily for them, I took the liberty of purchasing every single one of them that Cerberus had to offer, and stashed them in secret caches in cities around the world. As we speak, the militaries of every invaded country are receiving the coordinates of those caches, and instructions on how to deploy the weapons. They should be more than enough to turn the tide against the Empire’s ground forces.”
“What about their air forces, those fighters and those massive warships?” Sherlock asked. “How do you propose we stop them?”
“I’m working on that,” Moriarty replied. “Like I said, I ran out of time.”
Central Park was a war zone. Elisa had met up with her partner, Matt Bluestone, and the two of them were currently crouched behind the police barricades at Columbus Circle. In the park and the nearby streets, chaos reigned. The NYPD had been able to evacuate everyone from the vicinity, so there was almost no one around to witness the battle, but she and Matt had front row seats. Elisa was able to follow the action with a pair of binoculars.
The gargoyles and the Steel Clan were busy bringing down the fighter ships, and the Pack and Macbeth were taking on the white-armored soldiers that had swarmed the streets. The battle was fierce, but the troopers didn’t appear to anticipate resistance and seemed to lack a cohesive strategy. When Bronx leaped from the shadows and began tearing into them, an entire squad scattered and ran.
Elisa was astonished to see that Anthony Dracon, the mob boss, had shown up with his lackeys and that they were laying down cover fire with their stolen laser weapons. It was also incredible to see Macbeth take blaster shot after blaster shot to the chest, drawing fire away from the others. Demona was obviously far enough away not to feel the effects through their bond of immortality.
Brooklyn, Lexington, and Broadway were taking turns smashing through the cockpits of the Imperial walkers and tossing their drivers to the streets below. Thailog and Coldstone had joined up with several of the Steel Clan robots for an assault on the massive warship. Hudson and Demona swooped in, carrying Jackal and Hyena, and the lot of them landed on the ship’s command tower. Demona tossed an explosive charge at an access hatch, and in seconds they were inside. Elisa shuddered to think of the carnage they would unleash against the command crew.
Before long, the massive ship began to list sideways and drift out over the river. In moments it crashed into the water, smoke trailing from the gash in the command tower. Elisa watched Hudson and the others fly off, one by one, as the spacecraft sunk into the water. The remaining fighter craft quickly gave up and began to fly off into the night.
Matt got her attention. He was holding the radio, listening intently to the broadcast. “We’re getting reports from the other cities… Rome, Jerusalem, Mecca… Apparently they’ve discovered some kind of weapon that is very effective against those walkers. They’ve even been able to bring down some of the fighters.”
“I just hope it’s not too late,” Elisa said as she watched the gargoyles round up the last of the surrendering enemy soldiers. “Not every city is as tough as New York.”
Darth Vader stared down at the smoking hole in his chest-piece, directly through where his heart once was.
“The code,” Xanatos said simply as Vader started to sway, unsteady on his feet. He could almost feel the systems that kept him alive shutting down, one by by.
“The code,” Xanatos repeated. The Stormtroopers behind Vader seemed stunned, unsure of what to do. Vader wanted to order them to attack, to destroy Xanatos and Goliath at all costs, to avenge him, but he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t raise his arms. He slumped to his knees.
Goliath towered over him. Blood dripped from his palm were he’d caught Thrawn’s blade, but he seemed unfazed.
“It is over,” the gargoyle’s voice boomed through his helmet. “You are finished.”
Vader’s final thoughts as he died on the deck of Death Star’s hangar bay were of a woman he knew long ago, and the two children she carried.
Captain Pellaeon cleared his throat, attracting Goliath’s attention.
“It, ah, seems things haven’t gone exactly as we planned,” he said. “I would share the code with you, but I’m afraid Lord Vader didn’t trust anyone with it.”
“You are Thrawn’s direct subordinate,” Goliath said. “Can you command the fleet in his absence?”
“I can. What would you have me do?”
“Order every ship to leave the Solar System,” Xanatos said. “Once they have, we’ll allow you and your men to leave on your shuttle.”
“What’s to stop us from coming back?” Pellaeon asked. “You’re still defenseless without that code.”
“Actually, sir, we broke the code several minutes ago,” Owen Burnett said, appearing at Xanatos’s side. “It was rather simple, as a matter of fact. We’ve targeted your flagship and are prepared to fire.”
Pellaeon glanced at his lieutenant, who had his ear to his comm unit. The lieutenant nodded, and Pellaeon’s heart sank.
“Ah, Owen,” Xanatos said. “Impeccable timing, as always. I trust things are going well planetside? Is my city safe?”
“It appears to be,” Owen said. “I’d say the city has gained some unlikely heroes.”
“Excellent,” Xanatos said. “I believe you were saying, Captain?”
Pelleon swallowed hard. “I was just about to surrender.” He motioned in a downwards gesture, and the Stormtroopers behind him laid their guns at their feet.
EPILOGUE
From the top of the Eyrie Building, Manhattan appeared to by quite peaceful. Most of the fires were out, and Elisa and the rest of the city’s defenders were aiding in the clean-up effort near Central Park.
Golaith, Xanatos, Sherlock, and Moriarty stood on the tallest tower of the castle, looking east as the first pink light of dawn began to lighten the horizon. Xanatos and Goliath had stopped by London to pick up Sherlock and Moriarty on their way down from the station. The Imperial fleet had left the Solar System, and Pellaeon had promised never to return. Xanatos had told that if he did, they’d be waiting.
Thanks to the Cain weapon, the initial defense of the six invaded cities had been successful. It had bought enough time to evacuate those cities before the Empire could inflict heavy casualties in a counter-attack. By the time the Imperial forces had regrouped, Pellaeon had broadcast his surrender order and the battle was over.
“I just received word that the other Imperial attacks on Coruscant and Minuteman Station were unsuccessful. Two ships, the Normandy and something called the Millennium Falcon, arrived at the last moment and turned the tide of battle,” Moriarty said. “The Empire is scattered and on the run.”
“I doubt we’ve seen the last of them,” Goliath said. “Still, we’ve won an important victory. They’ll think long and hard before they considering invading Earth again.”
“And it appears that we’ve finally managed to put aside our differences and work together,” Xanatos said.
“Indeed,” Sherlock said. “I have to give Moriarty some credit, though. It was his foresight that likely saved us.”
“My foresight, Sherlock? It was you who let me go free after we returned from Dagobah. If you hadn’t found it in your heart to let me go, I never would have been able to set my plan in motion. Your compassion - and my ruthlessness - combined to save the day.”
“And my cunning and Goliath’s valor,” Xanatos observed. “We could never have defeated Thrawn and Vader alone.”
“So, where does that leave us?” Goliath asked. “Friends… or enemies?”
“Something else,” Sherlock said. “A team.”
“A team,” Goliath repeated. He hopped up onto the parapet and stretched out his wings. Striking a fearsome pose, he turned to stone as the first rays of sunlight washed across the castle.
“Magnificent,” Xanatos and Moriarty said in unison.
THE END
