Star Wars: Before the Awakening Read Online Free PDF

on schedule, and to prevent any further delays.
    Theirs was the second squad to shuttle in, and it was different from their trip to the Star Destroyer. This time FN-2187, Slip, Zeroes, and Nines stood in deployment formation for the entireride, along with another three fire-teams of stormtroopers, some cadets and some more seasoned veterans. All of them were locked and loaded, carrying live ammunition and grenades, and one of the fire-teams, FN-2187 saw, had shock staffs and neurocage nets—weapons designed for crowd control, meant to subdue rather than kill.
    They set down within the main facility, the ramp lowering almost beforethey’d come to a stop. There was a concern they might meet with resistance—rioting or even saboteurs—upon arrival, and for that reason it was a combat exit, all the stormtroopers disembarking in rapid succession, rifles at the ready. They performed the maneuver flawlessly, exactly as FN-2187 and the others had done a hundred times before in the simulators, emerging into a vast loading bay alreadyoccupied by one other First Order transporter. The ceiling rose almost fifty meters above them, cut into the rock and braced with scaffolding that dripped rusty water, creating brackish puddles of red and green across the floor. Ten-meter-long artificial lights hung from the braces, flickering irregularly. Beneath his feet, FN-2187 could feel a dull vibration, what he imagined were the drills workingthe rock far below. Aside from a handful of maintenance droids in the bay, there was no sign of anyone.
    One of the veterans, a sergeant, ordered FN-2187 to take his fire-team up to the entrance of the bay and secure it. FN-2187 put Zeroes on point and followed in second position, with Slip behind him and Nines at their backs. The doors were enormous, rising almost as high as the ceiling, andthey ground as they pulled open. A wall of noise poured into the bay—the sounds of innumerable machines working, what FN-2187 thought must be the refinery itself.
    The bay opened into an enormous cavern, easily a dozen kilometers across and deeper than he could see. Puffs of steam and green-tinged smoke rose from below, billowing up like the breath of some hidden, sleeping beast. More condensationran down the walls. It flowed in steady streams, dripping like a lazy rainfall. Worker droids floated across the vast space on repulsorlifts, bobbing and ducking around giant rickety works of scaffolding. Narrow girder bridges linked different levels, some of them at angles that seemed impossible to negotiate without plummeting to one’s death. Platforms jutted from the cavern’s sides, as unstable-lookingas the bridges and supports, many of them draped with tarps.
    On one of them, almost directly to his right, FN-2187 saw movement and pivoted, bringing his rifle up in time to catch sight of two humanoids peeking out at them. One was a Talz, the other a Gran. He saw them for only a second before they ducked out of view again, but it was long enough. The Talz was emaciated, tall and scrawny, withmissing patches of hair along his arms and shoulders that revealed raw, chalky, peeling skin. The Gran was heavily scarred, what FN-2187 thought was the result of burns, perhaps chemical.
    Now that he had seen them, FN-2187 could see others. Almost all the miners were aliens, as varied a mix as the galaxy could offer. Yet to the last of them they appeared malnourished and sickly, many obviouslyinjured. Most wouldn’t even glance at the stormtroopers, and the few who did just as quickly looked away again. FN-2187 knew why, and he understood that they weren’t just frightened; they were
terrified
.
    He felt something in his stomach tighten, then surge. For an instant, he thought he might be sick in his helmet.

    They’d been holding position at the entrance of the bay for almost three hourswhen FN-2187’s radio clicked on in his ear. The bay behind them had long before emptied of stormtroopers, the sergeant leading the rest of the