Abel nodded. He wasnt much for words.

Quickly he followed Rell back down  the stairs where they had come from. It was getting dark, and going down the stairs, with the lights all blown out, the only light inside the towere was the moonlight pouring though the shattered windows. It almost gave it a kind of ghostly feel. Abel was sure that after this battle, the local townspeople would consider this towere to be haunted. In a way they were kind of right. There had been many deaths in this tower. If this tower does end up being haunted, it will probably Pace's ghost that resides over this place... Shaking his head he silently scolded himself for even believing such a thing.

His train of though was inturupted when he reached the floor where the rest of Banshee squad was. Here everything was filled with the blue glow of the computer terminal Zeff was working at. Aside from this, there was the moonlight coming from the gaping hole in the wall that he had seen Rell blown out.

"Sir," Abel addressed Kartov. Kartov turned towards him and Rell.

"Permission to speak freely?" Abel asked.

"Just ask."

Clearing his throat, he said, "Seeing as they have our APC and we are up here, and they could just easily blow us out of here, shouldnt we call in some reinforcements and take them in from behind? That we we still will stand a chance against them."

Kartov, turning back to face the monitor over Zeffs shoulder, replied, "Yes, I have already thought of this in fact. However, there are two problems to this. If you havnt already noticed, our communications are down as well as theirs."

"Oh, well... I hadnt thought about that," Abel admitted.

Nodding, Kartov continued,"Mhmm...the second thing is that even if we did open up our communications and called in back up, they would also do the same. The only difference would be that we would be fighting on two fronts: us up here in the tower against the tank, and then the two reinforcements would pitted against each other." Abel nodded in understandment.

Kartov looked back at him and gave him a small smile. "Although that doesnt mean i have dismissed that plan of action. We still have a chance up here, and we will try to hold them off as long as possible. However, if worse comes to worse, we can call in back up. And if our reinforcments do take out their back up, then we can take our extra men to take out the tank from behind."

Rubbing his tired eyes, Kartov sighed. Abel had simpathy for the man. It had been a long battle that had lasted through the day and now lingered on into the night.

"But for now," Kartov reassured him,"...we wait and see how this battle fairs."

Matthial was manning the E-web of the APC when the ground started to rumble; quickly making a prayer to any god that might be listening, the NR trooper swivelled around. The treads of the tank crushed the body of a fallen Imperial trooper and for the first time since this mission began Matt felt safe. Eight troopers were jogging alongside the tank finally the tank stopped just short of the APC, the hatch popped open and a man’s head emerged. “Sergeant Tank?” He asked.

The Chimera’s squad leader stepped forward signalling that he was in fact the man in charge. “Who am I speaking to?”

“Doesn’t even know the man who is coming to save his hide. I’m Sergeant Crick Mason of Strill squad, and I’m here to make sure those damn Imperials do not get that Communications Tower!” The man nearly roared.

Strill squad rang a bell in Matthial’s mind then he remembered where he had heard Strill being mentioned. Crick Mason was well known around the VE’s many barracks as the biggest bitch in the corps, meaning that he complains about every little detail and does not stop complaining hell one PA had sent him back to basic to learn a lesson but it had obviously gone over his head.

Shortly after introductions were made it was quickly concluded that the New Republic officially had seventeen active men; five in the APC, four in the tank, and eight standing around. The two sergeants were arguing over whom would be the commanding officer of this mission, while the two men stood bickering Matthial looked over the comm. Tower. There was some blaster bolt scars on the first two floors of the tower, a rather large section of wall missing off the top, and an exploded office halfway up the building. Matthial continued staring at the building when a slight glint of sunshine caught his eye, pulling out his pair of macrobinoculars the PFC was able to get a closer inspection on what that glint was. The barrel of a wicked looking E-web stared out back at the assembled troops, Matt called out at the same time that the blaster opened fire.

The NR ground troops quickly took cover, using buildings, rubble, and one man used the tank for cover, however one man was hit, the crumpled form of the trooper with his hands over his abdomen crying out for a medic that would not come until the threat had been neutralized.

“Hmm, never mind on sending anyone on a retrieval mission. That would only give the New Republic fools a hint as to our intents. We are going to manually arm the devices. Zeff can you get any readings on minor radio signals? If so, those are our devices.”

“One moment sir.” Zeff began to flip switches and mash buttons on the console. Beeps and murmurs could be heard bouncing off of the console.

A minute later, Zeff spun around in the chair to face his sergeant, “Found them.” He pointed to the screen. There were three blips on the western side, and four on the eastern side. Kartov turned to face the four others.

“You four take the eastern four. Set the timer for seven and a half minutes. Zeff and I shall take care of the western four. After you set your timers, do not, I repeat, do not wait for us. Get out immediately! Now, get to it.”

The four saluted and headed out the door to their personal objectives. Kartov turned to Zeff. No words were spoken. Just a simple nod was all that was needed for the two to convey their regards. They replaced their helmets on their heads. They marched out of the command post for the final time.

The two parted ways when they entered the hallway. Zeff rushed off to his objective, still just as focused as ever even when faced with the potential of being caught inside of a falling building. Kartov was undaunted by looking straight into the face of death.

The others were wondering if Kartov was crazed into suicide. Rell had reached his device first. He kneeled down and looked at the box. He popped the side open, which revealed a small entry pad and digital screen. He plugged in his desired time and paused to make sure he had done it properly. The timer ticked from five minutes down. He closed the casing and rushed to help the others.

A voice crackled over the com-link, “I don’t want anyone coming back to this side of the tower to give us a hand.” It was Kartov. Rell stopped dead in his tracks when he heard this. “That’s an order.”

With that he retreated to the eastern exit. The other three were there when he arrived.

“What now?”

“We are supposed to get away, but I personally am going to hang around for a few minutes for the sergeant and Zeff to get here.” The other three nodded and stood their ground. They could not do anything if their squad mates did not come out.

Rell had waited. He had waited as long as he safely could and then waited some more. He had felt his gut wrench as he had left the collapsing building without Kartov or Zeff. He knew he should have done something, but he didn't.

Now he stood on the roof of the building near the now collapsed building and looked at the rubble. He whipped out his binoculars and gazed at the now covered APC of the New Republic.

"Damn." he said, noticing that several of the troopers were still alive. However, he also noticed that several of the troopers were missing.

At least we got a few of the bastards. Rell thought, his mind returning to his squad leader. He was a good leader, even if he was sometimes an ass.

One of the other troopers brought Rell back to the present.

"Uh, Rell? Take a look at the Republic troopers again and tell me what you see." Rell, somewhat confused, brought up his binoculars again to look at the troopers.

His eyes were first drawn to the APC, still covered in rubble, but after a few seconds he noticed something else. The tank was coming around the corner of the building, unharmed by the fallen tower. Rell felt his blood run cold.

"We need to get out of here." Rell said finally, looking at the other troopers. They nodded, eager to get away from the destruction of the tower. They quickly gathered up their equipment and proceeded to the streets, keeping to the shadows.

They bobbed and weaved in and out of alleys like they had done when they had first approached the tower. The only difference now was that their movements were more erratic and they were jumpy now. The possibility of the tank coming up behind them had made sure they were all on edge.

As they approached the city limits, Rell looked back at the skyline, now slightly more empty with the absence of the communication tower. He paused, slightly wishing there was more he could have done for Kartov and Zeff. Then, he disappeared with the rest of the squad out of the city.

Sergeant Tank exhaled, breathing out a cloud of acrid smoke into the already clouded air. Despite the airborne particles of duracrete and melted metal, the slowness of his next breath suggested that he was enjoying it as much as he could. Someone nearby coughed twice, then sniffed loudly. Turning, Tank wasn't surprised to see fellow Squad Leader Crick "Old Lady" Mason.

Their rank and position were the only two things the two men had in common: Crick Mason had been unanimously voted "Officer most likely to flee the battlefield" by his fellow Squad Leaders in training and Strill Squad was a joke throughout the Republic ground forces. Tank stood almost a head taller than the diminutive human, and had once broken the man's nose back in basic training. With that in mind, he smiled broadly, showing stained teeth.

"Yes, Mason?"

The omission of rank was conspicuous, and the Strill Squad Leader bristled.

"Look here, Sergeant," he spluttered. "My Strills just saved your collective asses, so how about you get off your rear, stop smoking that bloody cigar and do something useful? If it wasn't for you Chimeras, we'd still have that tower."

Tank didn't even bother dignifying the rant with a reply. Instead, he grabbed the short little man by the front of his fatigues and slammed him, none too gently, into the metal side of the APC. The nearby troopers, a mix of Trills and Tank's men, half-turned, but didn't intervene. Crick began to splutter, outraged, until Tank looked him in the eyes. Deliberately, he spoke, his face less than an inch away from Mason's darting, widened eyes.

"Listen to me, Mason, and listen well. Your Strills did not 'save our collective asses'. Your Strills would have saved our collective asses if they had arrived a unit ago when the Imps sent in their heavy support. Because your Strills 'failed to save our collective asses'," he paused for effect, letting the bitter irony in his words sink into the quivering sack of flesh he was shoving against the carrier. "five of my troopers are dead. When you can give me my troopers back, Mason, then you can moan about doing something useful."

Tank let the man drop, then took a half step back. He almost turned away, then turned around again.

"As for the tower, our orders stated that it was to be destroyed if we were unable to hold it. All the Imps did was fulfill our objective for us and destroy the only stronghold they had. We have numbers and vehicle support, Mason. Despite your best efforts, we can still win this."

With that parting shot delivered, Tank turned and stormed off to the other side of the APC. Despite his calm exterior, the Squad Leader was consumed by a turmoil of emotion. Mason might be a snivelling, useless coward, but his remarks had stung. The possiblity that he might have done more for his squad, been more careful, given his orders a little faster haunted him. He had known this day might one day come, but he had never expected it to actually happen. Over half of his Chimeras were gone, because of his failures. The Sergeant tapped the side of his helmet twice, shaking his head as he did so. He could dwell on his failures later. For now, he had to focus on keeping the rest of his men alive.

Tank saw two black suited figures sitting on the ground with their hands held together behind their heads and surrounded by four Republic troopers. His scowl widened. One, his armour decorated with the insignia of a Sergeant, looked up as the Chimera leader approached. Tank looked into the man's thin, half-closed eyes, noticed the thick jaw and the scars etched into the sallow skin. Somehow, he knew this man, helpless though he was, was the one who had killed so many of his men.

It all made a kind of perverse, deep sense in his mind. This man had murdered his troopers, and now there would be a reckoning. Finally, one of the guards noticed Tank, perhaps also seeing the grim expression and the open holster.

"Yeah, Sarge, what can we do.."

In one fluid gesture, Sergeant Tank drew his sidearm, deactivated the safety and emptied the clip into the Imperial officer's head. Clouds of vaporized blood drifted up into the air as the executed trooper fell like a discarded puppet. The other prisoner, who couldn't have been older than Tank's own son, screamed and desperately tried to wriggle out of his bonds. Dispassionately, Tank pulled the trigger twice more, and the pleas abruptly stopped. He let the gun drop.

"Sergeant!"

Tank turned his head, and there was pain in his eyes.

"The bastard killed my men. There was no way I could allow him to live. They'd have been a liability. Survival comes ahead of the rules."

The nearest of the quartet of guards hesitated, then nodded. The youngest looked like he was going to be sick, and his eyes kept on moving to the pair of bodies lying in a comingled pool of blood.

The Sergeant stopped for a moment, then pressed on.

"We're going to wipe out the rest of these vermin, so check your weapons and come round to the other side."

The troopers stared, then began to move. One of the four began to speak, and the others couldn't help but agree.

"Man, some days I really hate this job, you know?"

The Corporal in charge of the group nodded, then gestured at the carrier. No words were needed.

Abel was sitting in an akward position in the tree, making the branch he was sitting on an uncomfortable place to be. He prayed for the APC to pass through quickly so he wouldnt have to undure this any longer.

Finally after what seemed like forever, Rell called, "OK. I think their gone. But we have to keep moving."

Abel cleared his throat. Rell turned back to look at him. "Something wrong?"

"Well, i was just thinking that we have been at this almost a full day now since we first got here. I think we should set up a base camp. From here we can send out a short range signal on a secure Imperial channel. Hopefully the Imperial ship will pick up on it."

Abel could see that Rell was mulling over the two options. Rell didn't want to stop because of the constant threat of NR troopers patrolling the forest. They had already come close to the captured APC, and the last thing they needed was to be mowed down by a giant tank in their sleep. But Rell also was tempted by the offer of much needed rest.

"Besides," Abel added,"we wouldnt be much of a fight against the rebels if we were dozing off inside our helmets. And the nights on this planet are pretty long..."

Rell nodded, and from inside his helmet, Abel smilled. "OK," Rell gave in. We will just continue up this slope and set up a base there. That way it will be harder for NR troopers to sneak up on us, and even harder for an APC to roll up there."

No one tried to hide their pleasure at the prospect of some shut eye. With that they started to trek their way up the hill. Moonlight poured through the trees and from hidden places all around them they could hear the activity of night life creatures.

When they reached the top of the hill, Abel was pleased to see a nice little ditch. This will be perfect. Abel thought to himself. Pulling out a long sheet of camo net that he carried with him, Abel set himself to work, building a makeshift tent that would be able to pack four people in a tight squeeze. Well its better than sleeping comfortable out in the open.

Abel had one of the troopers set up the small portable communication box that would send out their distress signal. The other trooper busied himself digging up little barriers around their camp. Sharpening some of the branches that were scattered around the campsite, the trooper also set these make-shift spears that pointed outward, to ward off any unwanted predators. Rell was sitting on a big rock, preparing two of the ration packs, which they would have to split between the four of them, seeing as they didnt know when the Imperial ship would get to them.

After a quick dinner consisting of ome kind of dry pasta, Abel looked around at the camp they had created within a short hour. Standing up, Rell said to the rest of the troopers,"Get some rest. Ill take watch first."

Knowing that Rell would probably stand guard all night if no one else switched out with him, Abel added curtly,"I'll take the next shift in two hours."

Rell nodded, and went to the edge of the camp, laying in a prone position facing down hill. While the other stormtroopers immediately went to sleep under the camo net, Abel set an alarm inside his helmet to wake him up in two hours. Then Abel promptly fell into the blissful embrace of Sleep...

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Blinking, Abel woke to the sound of his helmets alarm. Groaning, he raised himself up and looked around. Everything was quite. Just as he suspected, Rell hadn't waken him up.

Standing up, Abel waked over to where Rell was still lying down, watching any movement that he would rustle the bushes and stir up the leaves.

"I see you forgot to wake me up."

Rell, still not turning to face, simply replied, "Well there was no sort of disturbance, so i figured i could go on for another hour or so." Despite him being farely new, Abel had noticed that Rell was trying a little to hard to fill in the seargents boots. Still, he knew that this was his way to cope with the loss of Kartov and Zeff.

In the silence that followed, both Abel and Rell turned to face a distant humming sound. A few seconds later, a black scouting droid floated out from behind a small bush. It took only a split second for the two of them to realize it, but before the droid could turn around to retreat into the bush, Abel had drawn his blaster and shot it right in the middle of his round little head.

"That must have been one of the NR scout droids. No doubt the NR troopers know where we are now. We have to get out of here now." Rell got up and went over to the tent and woke up the other two troopers. Meanwhile, Abel pulled out one of his flares and stuck it in the ground.

"Come on, Abel. We're leaving." Rell said impatiently.

"Coming." Before he left, Abel pulled the string on the little tube, and he could see a small glow of light coming from beneath the dirt.

Jogging back to where the others where waiting for him, Abel explained. "The APC tanks they have dont have a window for them to see out of. They depend on thermal vision to see their targets. Hopfully, if they simply decide to blow up the camp, it will seem as if we are still their." Rell nodded and then together, the four of them continued on deeper into the forest.

A few minutes into their jog, they heard a loud explosion, and when the looked back they, could see a fading flash. Abel had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He though how hard his men had worked to build their little base. And all in vane...

They solemly turned around again and continued to jog, when they heard a low rumbling. Looking up, they saw a large transport ship slowly descend on them, silloueted by the moonlight. By the time it came down close enough to make out the markings on the ships hull, they instantly recognized the symbol.

It was an Imperial drop ship.