Chapter Text
Far be it from Luke to tell the Rebel High Command that one of their decisions was a bad idea, not just once, but twice.
It shouldn’t have even been necessary to begin with because it seemed like just straight up common sense. After all, in the Desert, when some off-world idiot came along and said that there was an abandoned Sarlacc pit out in the Dune Sea, the people of Tatooine could confidently reply back that there was no such thing as an abandoned Sarlacc pit. And if, in that very rare, almost nonexistent scenario, the Sarlacc was indeed gone… then that only meant that something a whole lot bigger and meaner had come along and made itself at home.
Luke thought it was safe and reasonable to apply that general idea to any other abandoned something he came across.
Like an Imperial weapons factory.
There was no logical reason in the galaxy that the Empire would just straight up abandon an incredibly successful weapons factory overnight, leaving everything inside of it behind for anyone to take.
If the Empire had vacated the premises, then the Tatooine golden rule probably applied, and something else had moved in.
While some of the council had agreed that Luke’s theory bore strong consideration… the truth was that the Rebellion was a rag-tag group of thrown together militia and revolutionaries that were usually in sore need of supplies. And any supplies that happened to come in the form of free high grade military weapons was a prize not usually worth passing up.
It was an opportunity.
One that could have the potential to save a lot of lives in battle if all went well.
The assignment itself was simple:
Just check the damn place out. Scout the area for a lingering Imperial presence, pirates, mercenaries, or other hostile sentients. Find out why it was abandoned and what was left for the taking and then report back.
Simple.
Straightforward.
Easy.
Right. Except that nothing was ever that easy and Luke had been on a personal bad luck streak recently that seemed determined to continue. He had plenty of other things that he wanted and needed to be doing but after what happened at Bespin… it felt like he was treading in deep water with some of the leaders of the Rebellion. Nothing had outwardly changed. He wasn’t being kept on an extended leave or being restricted to homebase for psych evals. Despite the fact that while he was recovering from the loss of his hand, command of Rogue Squadron had been handed over to Wedge – he also hadn’t suffered a demotion. It was only at his own personal request, on account that he planned to leave and eventually to return to Dagobah and finish his Jedi training for however long that took, that Wedge had taken command permanently.
But something felt different.
Like… they were wary of him. Or more, that they were wary of what he knew. Wary of why he’d survived Bespin in the first place and wary of what he might have learned while he was there.
After a week or two following the incident, Luke had come to the uneasy conclusion that some of the leaders of the Rebellion knew.
They knew who he was.
They knew who Vader was to him.
And they were deeply afraid that after Bespin that Luke knew too.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, everyone else had lied to him. His aunt and uncle, Ben, Yoda… really, it only made sense that these people would be lying as well.
It hurt. Luke hadn’t said anything on the off chance that his feelings were wrong… but it hurt to think that he really was just the weapon needed to win the war. That he was being used in some fashion by everyone around him. It didn’t change the fact that the Empire was wrong and that the war was still one that needed to be fought – it just hurt. Plain and simple. He would still do what needed to be done; Luke didn’t think he had it in him to run away from a fight. The vast majority of sentients in the galaxy had nothing to do with Luke being used or lied to by the people he trusted. They shouldn’t have to suffer because of it.
But maybe by doing this mission, however much of a bad idea it seemed, it might go a little ways to show that he was still loyal to the Rebellion. That he wasn’t a liability that they needed to worry about.
Maybe he could eventually walk by High Command again and not feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise up in quiet warning, telling him to watch his back.
The planet they were on had a long, ridiculously complicated name that Luke had no chance of ever pronouncing. It was located close to a red star and had a thicker atmosphere than Luke was used to, but the air was breathable and hospitable to life. The effect of the star, in combination with the atmosphere, made the sky appear red instead of blue and the plant life appeared blue and white rather than green. It was fun in a way that Luke hadn’t expected, if a little odd to adjust to. It was the sort of thing he’d always imagined encountering one day as a child desperate to escape Tatooine and explore other worlds.
But that was as far as his fondness for the planet went.
The section of the continent they were on was largely barren. It was an industrial site, so the Imperials had cut the trees down ages ago and most of the accompanying wildlife and foliage had disappeared with them. Large vehicles passing by had made visible dirt roads and massive tire tracks leading on and off the main production site. It was an eye-sore, even if it was probably necessary. Reports he’d read prior to arriving revealed that the planet had a massive doonium deposit in this area and a massive underground mining facility had been constructed as a result. The weapons factory that he and some other volunteers from Rogue Squadron were assigned to investigate was adjunct to the mines and it likewise had a metal processing plant on location so that the doonium could be hot-worked, shaped, cut, and cooled before then being transferred directly off-site to whoever or wherever it was needed.
However, none of that was really why he currently had a problem with this planet.
They had hidden their X-wings under the shelter of trees in a glade about two miles away and had hiked their way to the factory. His problem came from the fact that the second they stepped through the twelve foot tall electrified chain link gates, complete with curly barbed wire adorning the top, Luke had been smacked in the face with the strong impression that they were all being watched.
Searching in the Force for the source had yielded him nothing. Both the mines and the factory had been abandoned. It was just him and the other Rogues as far as he could tell but since the feeling persisted without any evidence to the contrary, it made him feel as though he was just being paranoid.
More than anything, Luke did not want to have to add ‘paranoid’ to his growing list of problems.
On top of his possible paranoia, the factory gave off an unhappy vibe and neither Luke or anyone else hadn’t even gone inside yet. It was as though there was a residual sense of suffering lingering in the air that was tricking his brain into thinking he was struggling to breathe.
And if Luke took a moment to be still… he swore that he could hear a faint, lingering echo that sounded a lot like screaming coming from inside.
“Still brooding then, Skywalker?”
Closing his eyes, Luke took a slow, calming breath and counted to three. Turning around, he offered a somewhat insincere smile at Cesi.
“Who said I was brooding?” He asked with a pleasant tone of voice.
“No one.” Cesi shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. Beyond him, Luke could see Wedge and Zach talking quietly and gesturing every so often at the massive double doors with a sign over them that read Cimiento Imperial Industries which marked the entrance to the weapons factory. They’d been left ajar when the Imperials had fled and it was pitch dark inside. They’d figured out that the main power source for the factory had been cut and Caleb was tinkering with the outside power control system trying to see if he could get it turned back on. “You’ve just been staring at this brick wall for the last five minutes. I don’t see anything that makes it look real interesting.”
Luke barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Cesi had been dogging his steps this entire trip. Luke didn’t know most of the current squadron members aside from Wes, Hobbie, and Tycho. But Wes and Hobbie had been given another assignment and beyond pleasantries, he didn’t know Tycho that well either. A lot of the newest members had been assigned while he’d been on Dagobah and while the majority of them seemed cool, Cesi in particular seemed to have it out for him.
“I was listening.”
“To a wall?” Cesi snorted and gave him a mock pitying look. “That’s a little sad, man. Are you really sure you should be out here? I mean, everyone knows you didn’t want to come in the first place. But then again, it’s normal to be a little delicate in the mind after – “
“Lieutenant.” Luke interrupted smoothly, breathing through his nose to calm the cold flash of anger that immediately leapt through him. “Why don’t you quit while you’re ahead?”
Cesi smirked. “Can’t handle a little criticism there, Luke?”
“It’s commander to you.” He said with forced politeness.
“Funny, I didn’t realize you were in charge out here, Commander. Captain Antilles is… unless you forgot, of course. But again… fragile state of mind and all.”
Diplomacy would never be his strong point in life and the only thing that kept Luke from smacking Cesi entirely was the quiet mantra of ‘there is no emotion, there is peace’ playing on repeat in the back of his mind. It wasn’t his favorite Jedi teaching and sat uncomfortably with his Tatooine heritage. But being impulsive or hotheaded in this instance wouldn’t fix anything and like he’d learned even before the start of his official Jedi training, could make him blind to what was right in front of him.
“I don’t have to be in command to rank higher than you.” Luke bit out as calmly as he could. “Now, is there a reason you came to talk to me?”
It irked all the more when the Force rang with Cesi's satisfaction as he took the topic change as a victory.
“Caleb says the power can be turned back on in the factory. He wants you to ask your droid to splice a few wires for him.”
“Why don’t you ask, Artoo?” Luke suggested, with a raised eyebrow. “I left him with you guys for a reason. And as you pointed out, I’m already busy listening to a wall.”
It was Cesi’s turn to scowl. “The little bastard shocked me and said not to touch or talk to him. Caleb doesn’t want to ask now.”
Some of the glee Luke felt at hearing those words obviously appeared on his face despite his valiant efforts to hide it because Cesi’s emotions went from smug to spiking with renewed irritation, all of it directed at Luke. Briefly touching the other man’s signature, Luke’s mind flooded with a quick flash of smug bastard-wasn’t funny-damn it still hurts before he pulled away again.
Artoo was going to get some serious pampering when they returned to base.
“Yeah, sure.” He agreed, trying hard not to laugh.
His mood lightened further after he stayed to watch Artoo fix the wires for a few minutes, listening all the while as the little droid beeped out a steady stream of insults and swear words to describe Cesi and his attitude, completely unprompted. Cesi was the only Rogue aside from Luke who understood binary and he tolerated the abuse for only a minute or two before walking away to find better company in Zach, who had moved to hide in the shade of the factory, throwing small rocks at nothing.
Artoo was without a shadow of a doubt, the best purchase that the Lars homestead had ever made, Luke thought in amazement, shaking his head.
But his amusement didn’t last long.
With a sigh, Luke turned away from the proceedings, quietly reminding Artoo not to be a pain in the ass, and glanced back up at the factory they were assigned to explore. Cimiento had been abandoned about ten or twelve weeks ago but the exterior was already so overgrown and unkept that it looked as though it could have been months. The building itself was massive and built from red-brown bricks. It had tall, arching windows all along the outer exterior walls and four larger smoke chutes and numerous shorter ones which stretched taller than the building. Only one of them, the one near the back side of the building, perhaps a quarter of a mile away, was currently billowing out any smoke.
This place felt wrong.
Not… dark. It wasn’t like Dagobah, so deeply entrenched in the Dark Side of the Force that it felt like a thick layer of fog in the mind.
It was more that the people who had been here had been unhappy.
And something else… something alive? or maybe just something about this place in general felt…. Luke bit his lip, closing his eyes and trying to pinpoint the feeling.
It felt… malicious….
That was the word.
It felt very malicious. But… wobbly. The maliciousness flickered into view in the Force every now and then before disappearing like it had never existed in the first place. It was like nothing he had ever felt or experienced before.
Luke opened his eyes again, a strong sense of unease and the feeling of being watched intensifying.
There was a damn good reason why this place had been abandoned. Going inside wouldn’t end well for any of them.
But it was hard to make a suggestion when your only point of evidence was a bad feeling. It hadn’t worked out so well for him in recent days, with his comments being more frowned at then taken seriously. High Command hadn’t put him on any kind of psychiatric leave pending the loss of his hand… but that didn’t mean there weren’t people in the Rebellion who thought that that is what they should have done. Handing command over to someone else hadn’t done him any favors in that regard either.
Despite having the best intentions in mind, it had made him look weak.
Strangers and soldiers who constantly relied on others to watch their back in battle did not look kindly on weakness.
The quiet crunching of rocks under boots caused him to turn his head, pulling him away from his thoughts. Wedge was approaching, a friendly smile on his face.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
“Oh yeah.” Luke said instantly, with false enthusiasm. “Definitely. I lost my hand two months ago, my best friend is still missing and might be dead for all I know, and this place is… just all sorts of wrong. But I can’t tell anyone that because most of the current squad thinks I’m crazy and what the hell do I know anyway? I’m just an outer rim desert brat in way over his head. Everything is just great.”
Wedge looked a little taken aback for a moment, long enough that Luke was already mentally chiding himself for letting go of his emotions so easily. It wasn’t fair to Wedge and his friend certainly didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of Luke’s complicated mess of feelings.
“Sorry.” Luke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. There is no emotion, there is peace. “I’m stressed. And I really do have a bad feeling about this place but I don’t know why.”
His friend blew out a quiet sigh and offered Luke a sympathetic expression. “Anything I can do to help?” Wedge asked gently, graciously accepting Luke’s apology.
Scrubbing his jaw, Luke slowly shook his head.
No one could help him.
That was the problem.
How could they, when Luke didn’t even dare tell anyone what was actually wrong? There was no one that he was willing to sit down with and explain in full detail the events that had happened at Bespin. There was no one that could possibly understand or fix the fact that his entire sense of self had effectively been destroyed that day on the gantry.
He had been lost the moment Vader had said “Search your feelings.”
In the following weeks, he’d only grown more and more confused as he struggled to fit pieces together to make sense of his life as he’d known it and the knowledge he now had. At the same time, Luke was trying to reconcile a new, strange sense of attachment and connection that he felt for a man who had been his enemy only two months ago.
“I know we have to be here, Wedge.” He said after a long moment. “And I don’t want to cause any problems for you. But I’m asking as a friend – when we go in there, when Caleb gets the power back on… if it looks bad or if anyone sees or hears anything… let’s just leave. Get the hell out of here. There’s no point in grabbing weapons that we need in order to save lives if we lose lives in the process of getting them.”
Given that Luke had only recently relinquished command of the squadron and seeing as how it was their first mission out since then, it was out of line for him to even ask. Wedge remained quiet, considering and Luke could only hope he hadn’t crossed a line. Cesi would have a field day if he heard that Luke Skywalker was trying to run away from a problem.
“I think that’s reasonable. And you have my word… first sign of trouble, we ship out.” Wedge finally agreed, clapping Luke gently on the shoulder.
“You mean it?” Luke asked, surprised by the easy acquiesce.
Wedge shrugged. “I’m not these other guys, Luke. You forget too easily – I flew alongside you when you destroyed the Death Star. You fired that shot blind, going off of nothing but your feelings. And you’ve accomplished some pretty crazy shit since then too. I don’t have any reasons to think you might be wrong now. So, if I’m going to trust anyone, it’s going to be you.”
It was heartening to hear and part of him was relieved that he hadn’t lost everyone’s trust. But even as heartening as it was to hear someone express confidence in him again, Luke couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it fully. He wasn’t certain that he deserved that level of trust and confidence from anyone anymore.
Would anyone trust him if they knew who he was? If they knew who his father was? Would anything that he’d done for the Rebellion or for his friends even matter in light of that damning knowledge? Or would it have all been for nothing? Would he bear the weight and punishment of his father’s sins because of blood alone?
Would anyone ever be able to forgive him for not knowing where he was supposed to stand anymore? If they knew, in light of the revelation at Bespin… that Luke could no longer bring himself to completely view Vader as his enemy?
He was almost completely certain that the answer would be ‘no’. He was also entirely certain that he never wanted to find out.
“But,” Wedge said quickly, continuing on without any knowledge of Luke’s inner thoughts. His eyes were dancing with good humor. “For the sake of impressing both of our superiors… let’s give this mission our best effort first though, alright?”
Luke ducked his head, unable to hide his own responding half-smile.
“Sounds like a deal.” He chuckled lightly. Inwardly, his instincts were screaming bad idea, bad idea, very bad idea Skywalker. “I can do that.”
“I don’t know if I’ve said it yet – but I appreciate the recommendation to High Command.” Wedge continued after a moment.
“You earned it, with or without my recommendation. There isn’t anyone else I’d have given it to.” Luke said distractedly. There were alarm bells ringing in his head again, loud and insistent. He turned to face the direction of the mines, where the Force was pulling him. There was a run-down looking entrance built into a small hill about one hundred yards from the factory and it felt… like… nothing.
Luke tilted his head, stretching out further into the Force and as he stretched closer, it suddenly felt as if he hit a wall.
It was a… void? That was the only word he could think of to describe it. It was just emptiness, as if there were no Force there at all.
“What the…?” Luke took a step towards it, confused by how that could be possible.
“Luke?”
Luke glanced back at Wedge, opening his mouth to try and explain but just then, Caleb jumped up with a victorious whoop.
Wedge looked away.
“Gentlemen,” Caleb announced with a loud voice, grabbing everyone’s attention. Artoo began beeping proudly beside him and Luke watched with something like dismay as the other Rogues began to circle round him. “Thanks to yours truly, this building… officially… has… power.” With a quick dramatic flip of a switch, the power system began to hum with energy and after a few seconds, the lights in the factory began to flicker on.
There were a few cheers and a light applause. Caleb offered them all an elaborate bow, a pleased smile on his youthful face. “You are all so welcome.”
“Well done, my man.” Zach stepped forward, enthusiastically grabbing Caleb’s outstretched hand and bumping shoulders with him, pounding him on the back. Tycho and Cesi both did the same and Luke heard Wedge offer thanks for Caleb’s help and effort. “Let’s get this show on the road!”
The alarm bells were still ringing.
Luke stood still, glancing back and forth between the Rogues and the factory now, feeling like an outsider for the first time. Force, he missed Han. He missed Leia and Chewie and Biggs -
“Everyone get your shit and let’s do this thing.” Wedge hollered in agreement, clapping his hands together. They spread out, each of them snatching their packs off the ground from wherever they had dropped them. With his promise to Wedge in mind, Luke reluctantly stepped forward and did the same.
It can’t be worse than Bespin. Luke thought desperately, trying to convince himself. It’s just an in and out mission. We can do this. We can do this.
Whether or not that was true, there was no turning back now.
Gear in hand, they approached the large double doors as one. As they drew closer, Wedge took point and with a light push, the exterior doors swung inwards with a loud groan.
“Alright everyone.” Wedge said as they stepped inside at last. Luke felt everyone’s mood grow more somber as the smell of rotting flesh assaulted them almost instantly. They paused to take in their surroundings, which were not encouraging. “Remember, the Empire ditched this place for a reason so stay on your toes and don’t hesitate to report anything that looks funky.”
“You mean like Zach’s new haircut?”
There were a few nervous chuckles.
“Especially Zach’s hair.” Wedge confirmed.
“Ha ha,” Zach turned and extended his arms out in a wide gesture, sticking his tongue out at Cesi. It was only a little effective in lightening the mood. “Very funny. Asshole.”
“That hair style is ten years out of date. Get with the times.”
“Good things never actually go out of style.”
Luke shook his head, tuning out the chatter. The interior was a disaster. It looked as if there had been a massive firefight inside. Scorch marks adorned the walls and whatever equipment was out. The floor was littered with dirt, trash, upturned furniture, and debris. Rusty brown streaks and boot prints covered sections of the linoleum floor. Some of them ended at or near a decaying corpse. Some of the ones he could see had been torn apart.
Luke looked away from one that was little more than a skeleton now, pressing his nose into his sleeve to hide from the smell. It reminded him of Beru and Owen.
“Where to?” He asked, voice strained.
“The armory.” Zach said quietly, pointing across the main floor to another set of doors behind a large desk. “Schematics placed it on the second floor. There should be a hallway through there.”
Great.
Luke spread his awareness wide as they moved further inside, searching for anything that seemed out of place besides the obvious.
They didn’t get more than halfway before dust suddenly began to sprinkle down from the rafters far above them. They all froze as the roar of engines sounded from somewhere outside, growing louder and louder with each passing second.
“Is this what you meant when you said that you had a bad feeling?” Wedge whispered, turning to give Luke a wide eyed stare.
“Yeah, no.” Luke shook his head. “It definitely wasn’t this.”
“Those are TIE-fighters,” Tycho said nervously. He edged towards a window, trying to get a better look. “How could the Empire possibly know we’re here?”
“We don’t know that they do know.” Wedge replied quietly, stepping behind Tycho’s shoulder and peeking outwards as well. “Abandoned or not, this is still Imperial property. It could be a fly-by.”
A fly-by for an abandoned property? That didn’t sound right.
Cimiento wasn’t owned by the military either. Only contracted by them. There shouldn’t be a military presence here and there had been no sign of one when they'd arrived on the planet. What were the odds that Imperials just showed up right as they had arrived?
Was it… could they be looking for… him?
Swallowing thickly at the idea, Luke quickly turned inwards to check the bond tying him to Vader but it was still quiet. Following Wedge, Luke stepped forward until he could also see out the window.
There were four TIE-fighters flying in a welded wing formation approaching from the far west side of the building. None of them were a TIE-Advanced. Wherever Vader was, it wasn’t here.
Luke didn’t have time to feel relief because the two TIE’s leading the formation instantly began firing green laser shots at the building. They impacted hard , shaking the factory down to the foundation. Explosions were heard and blaring alarms, flashing lights, and sirens instantly went off inside. Grabbing Luke and Tycho, Wedge yanked them away from the window, diving out of sight as the first TIE's flew by and the last two TIE’s in formation began firing.
The impacts shattered glass this time and a massive chunk of the ceiling was knocked loose, falling down with a thunderous crash which had them all diving for safety.
“They’re knocking down the building!”
“Everyone get out!” Cesi roared.
They bolted for the double doors, immediately taking refuge behind the large outer pillars and listening as the TIE-fighters circled around and began firing a second time. The shots were focused more on the opposite side from where they were this time.
“We can’t make it to the ships!” Zach shouted above the deafening noise.
Running for the ships would be suicide. They were too far away and there was nowhere for them to hide between here and there.
The building began to groan even louder as more sections began to collapse. Chunks of red brick were flying in the air with deadly speed, being scattered around the exterior.
“The mines!” Wedge shouted, pointing to the rundown entrance Luke had seen earlier. Luke covered his ears as the last TIE in formation came through again, firing shots closer to the base of the building now. It was so loud.
As soon as it passed by and pulled up to enter a wide arch in preparation for another go around, Wedge was shouting again, “Quick, into the mines!” and then they were all sprinting across the yard.
Wedge had always been fast and he made the distance first, skidding to a halt just outside the entrance to the mines, turning and shouting at everyone to move move move, staring up at the sky with wide horrified eyes as the Imperial TIE-fighters got closer with every second. This time, they flew by without firing – which could only mean that they had all officially been spotted.
Luke was halfway there when he heard a shrill scream coming from behind him. He skidded to a stop, lifting his right arm to shield his face from the dust and dirt that blew up from the powerful residual tailwind of the last TIE in formation. Dropping his arm again, Luke watched as the Imperial pilots pulled up into a wide arch to circle back around again and then glanced back to where he could see Artoo hiding behind one of the outer pillars of the factory, trying to judge the distance between them.
“Damn it,” he whispered, before making a split second decision and bolting back the way he’d come. He could hear Wedge shouting at him to come back and to hurry, hurry just leave him! but he ignored it, pumping his arms and pushing his body as fast as it would go.
It only took seconds but it felt much longer and then Luke was ducking for cover just as the TIE came through again, shooting towards the mines. If they were originally knocking the building down, now they were definitely targeting Luke and the others.
“Artoo!” Luke shouted, feeling the sharp pain of tiny rocks hitting his face as laser bolts sent debris flying into the air again. He could hear more of the windows of the factory shattering after taking hits and falling to the concrete below in massive, jagged shards. Artoo shrieked in alarm, rolling backwards to avoid getting struck. Luke knelt down and placed a hand on his dome, his chest heaving. “Artoo, when the fighters are gone, you need to go back to the ships! Erase the base coordinates and all recent flight entries from the logs and then initiate emergency shut down protocols! Don’t answer for anyone who doesn’t have your primary activation codes, you got it?”
The little droid beeped a quick confirmation and then made a low, mournful whirling sound.
Luke shook his head, swallowing thickly. “I’ll be fine.” He swore fervently. “And I’ll come back for you. Just – stay safe!” He begged, gathering the Force around him as he stood up again. There was no time for a goodbye and Luke refused to believe that a long-term one would be necessary. Without a backwards glance, he bolted back the way he came. The roar of the TIE-fighters grew louder and louder behind him – Luke swore he could feel the ground vibrating under his feet as the powerful spacecraft dropped closer to the earth.
“Luke! Luke, hurry!”
He was so close – twenty yards – a sharp warning from the Force had him dodging to the left as a laser cannon was fired at him from behind and the resulting collision with the ground almost knocked him off his feet. He stumbled but managed not to go flying.
Ten yards.
Six.
Wedge was standing in the entrance, urging him on, shouting, “ RUN! Run, Luke – HURRY!”
One of the spacecraft began firing again just as Luke dived through the small entryway – Wedge practically dragging him in by collar and other hands too, yanking him to safety – there was no time to feel relief as the support beams above them instantly began to shudder and split as the laser cannon shots made impact into the old mining structure. Dirt started raining down on their faces and a horrible groan sounded around them.
“It’s caving in!” Someone shouted.
“Run!”
“Go! Go, go go! ”
They ran down the tunnel, only getting a few more feet when rocks and large sounding rubble began to smash to the ground. The small window of light from the outside world grew dark until they couldn’t see the way ahead and then a sound like roaring thunder exploded behind them.