OOC:

ECLIPSE

Anival looked to the ground, thinking, trying to formulate a counter-plan to the hit and run tactics. It was obvious they were at a disadvantage, and it was also, obvious that the enemy knew were they were. Anival kept low to the floor, and looked onto the field, at a safe distance, engineers were placing medical tents, not big one, and they could probably hold ten wounded soldiers, if that.

Men at an even greater distance were digging holes. Graves; to be more specific, mass graves. Anival fumed, they were already planning to lose. With that mindset they would surely die. What caught his attention was the speed the engineers were building the tents. A light went off in Anivals head. He excused himself and jogged to the engineers.

“Excuse me, who’s the senior engineer?”

A muscular man walked up to Anival, he seemed world-weary.


“I am. How can I help?”

“I’m in a bit of a problem, we need to set up counter-sniper stations, but the places we have are obvious.”

“And what do you expect me to do?”

“I need…….siege towers.”

“What?”

“Siege towers.”

“What in the seven hells is that?”

Anival sighed, of course they wouldn’t know what it was, the method was incredibly outdated, even more so by the technology of the era. Maybe warfare history wasn’t a good idea.

“Okay, I need you to build about seven boxes, about two meters high, and enough room for two snipers and some ammo. The towers need to be camouflaged, but not by our technology, by old method, don’t know if you know how to do it, but you-“

“Yeah, I think I know what you’re saying.”

“Can you do it?”

“There’s nothing we can’t do.”

“How long will it take?”

“Give us forty minutes.”

Anival nodded and ran off to tell the men his plan, but first he commed Skarr.


“Skarr, this is Anival.”

“…..go ahead….”

“I have an idea, I think we can counter the hit and run.”

“How?”

“We put fake snipers on the roof, and have our real snipers on the field.”

“Explain.”

“Ok, have you heard of siege towers?”


“Yes, but what use do they have here?”

“We can use them as sniper towers, they should attract a bit of attention, but the enemy will probably think we are trying to grab their attention from the snipers.”

“I see what you’re getting at.”

“Do I have the go ahead then?”

“Yes, but if it fails, and we loose our snipers it’s on your head.”

“Understood sir.”

Anival ended the conversation and ran to talk with the snipers. Anival explained, and re-explained his plan; he wanted to make sure it would be understood. It was, he hoped, going to work, after all, no one had used a siege tower since the time of the projectile gun. Anival took time to get to know each one of the snipers, it might be wasted time, but it would bring out more performance from the men.

Afterwards Anival talked to Thengil, the young soldier was eager for battle, and by the end of the day, he would remember it all, they dead bodies, the strong smell of copper, the overwhelming noise of comm. Traffic. Anival smiled, they would make it out of this battle. There were things he needed to do, people he needed to see, and one individual he needed to thank.

OOC:

This post carries on what me and Thengil were doing.

Bright was not about to have any arguing. Her people were falling apart at the seams. Many of them she didn't even know beyond having just met them not to long ago. Karash, and Grahim were currently the only ones besides Joamer that she knew at all. Living and bleeding with not withstanding, Bright did not know her squad.

She stood up and waded into the middle of Cayla and Mox going at each other simply to be arguing. She knelt on one knee and put a strong hand on each of their shoulders. She thought hard about knocking their heads together. It would certainly make them shut up, but Bright didn't want to be that kind of person. She simply pushed them apart and looked at both of them.

"I don't care who either of you is. Back on that mountain Joamer gave you both a clean slate." She said her voice quiet enough that they had to stop yelling to hear. "As of right now, I'm putting my life in your hands. I'm trusting you to keep me alive like I'm trusting you to keep every other person in this squad alive." The ASL let go of their shoulders and stood back up. Her eyes, when she looked down at them spoke in volumes she'd never before conveyed. "Don't throw that trust away. It doesn't come cheap."

Reaching onto the table they were sitting by, Bright picked up a data pad. The room was full of them and she was certain that at this particular room had at one time been used for information processing. Making sure the thing worked she shoved it into Mox's hands, "Now make yourself useful and get me a readout of this damned building." To his credit the young man did exactly as he was told and went right to work.

Hearing the raised voices of Heliwer and Grahim, Bright once again put herself between the two. This time she forcefully pushed the two apart. She kept one hand physically on the Gungan. If he was going to grab anyone it was going to be her and she knew how to put him down hard.

Hel sneered at Grahim. "Yeah go ahead you creepy one eared freak, hide behind the red head."

The reaction was just as Bright had expected, and as much as she wanted to let Grahim go at the man, she grabbed her friend hard and sent him to the ground. "ENOUGH!" She yelled, glaring not at Grahim but at Heliwer. "I had half a mind to let him teach you what it was like to provoke him," Bright said getting up in Heliwer's face. "And next time I will. Now is neither the time nor the place and if you do it again that’s less baggage for us to carry." Bright took a step forward and forced Heliwer back. "I could care less if you like him or not, but you WILL fight and bleed beside him and you WILL save his ass if it comes down to it. Because that is what being a RAIDER is about. Is that clear soldier?"

The lance corporal ground his teeth and clenched his fists. His stare was just as hard as Bright's and full of righteous anger. "Yes, Ma'am."

Bright smacked him hard on the back of the head her anger with him still burning with in. "Then keep it that way." She stepped back and let the taller man stand straighter. "How many explosive you have?" She asked once again all business.

Heliwer looked like he had just suffered from whiplash. "Six or seven." He said shaking the dumbfounded look off his face.

"Good." She said simply before turning and helping Grahim off the floor. She really hadn't meant to hit the guy so hard. Normally just a tap was enough to calm him at the right moments. "Sorry Buddy," She said, "Do me favor and fly into a rage when we need you too and not when it could mean the killing one of our own."

Grahim looked at her steadily then nodded with a slight salute. He went off to stand next to Joamer, completely ignoring Heliwer.

"Gunney!" Mox called from the other side of the room. "I have what you asked for."

Bright crossed to the man's side and took the data pad from him. Sure enough on it was a perfect blueprint for the building they had been blundering through. She allowed a small smile to show itself and patted Mox on the shoulder. “Nice work.” She said walking back over to Joa.

Gathering everyone around the data pad she pointed out the route they had been on, following the most recognized path to the top, where the generators were located. Scrolling to their position she pointed out another route. “A service corridor?” Tviana asked looking up at Brightstar.

Bright nodded and traced the route the would be taking. “It goes up about four floors before you have to converge onto the obvious route here.” She pointed.

“How do we know they haven't already reached that floor?” Sciuridae asked. The girl looked almost worried. She kept glancing at the others in the squad.

“Have you noticed the traps have gotten a little more complicated lately?” The others nodded. “Traps like those take time, time and confidence you aren't going to be caught off guard by your pursuers. The lack of them could mean they believe we are dead or dying.” Bright sat back and watched the faces of her squad.

No she was not the SL, but this was her squad none the less.  And she was proud to be a Raider.  Anybody who brought shame to that name would have her to deal with, but for  now she was aware of the very real emotions playing across those half dead faces. She looked over at Joa and nodded. She was ready to do what needed to be done if the worst should happen. She wouldn't be happy about it but she was certain now she could pull it off. For a moment he looked reassured.

“Well what are we waiting for.” Joamer said quietly. “Raiders, move out. Grahim you take point Heliwer you have the rear guard.” With that order they were moving onward again. This time they were playing by their rules

The Zelosian's gaze lingered on Cayla for a second. There's something about that girl... I'm picking up emotions I've never felt before. How strange. She grabbed her rifle and fell back into formation beside the woman. She glanced around at the walls as they moved along. There should've been another trap by now... if they actually thought we were dead, they would've left someone behind to check.

"Keep your eyes open... I think we're walking into another trap."

Heliwer snorted. "Leave the trap-springing to the experts, recruit."

She continued looking around. "I don't know... There's just something not right here..."

"Keep moving, people, the service corridor is just ahead," Brightstar called out.

Finally, she spotted it. A loose wire, sticking out of a crease in the ceiling, which was leading to both a motion sensor and...

"Everyone get down!" She yelled, already pulling Cayla down. Brightstar and Karash immediately grabbed Joamer, and Grahim dove behind a crate. Heliwer and Mox just stood there confused for a moment... which was all it took to trigger the sensor. A loud blast sounded almost directly above them, and large chunks of the ceiling began crashing down around them. The air was filled with dust, and the resounding crashes from the impacts of the debris drowned out all attempts at communication. A small piece slammed into her head, knocking her completely flat and sending what little of the world she could see spinning.

Finally the noise began to die down, and the dust slowly cleared. The ASL's voice rang out. "Everybody okay?"

Tviana answered first. "I am intact."

Cayla rolled over and groaned. "I'm alive, mostly."

As the rest of the squad voiced confirmation that they were at least alive, Cayla turned to Tviana.

"Thanks."

The Zelosian merely nodded, then turned to inspect the damage. The entire section of corridor in front of them and a good chunk of the surrounding area was completely caved in. Everyone but Joamer had sustained some kind of minor injury, although Mox and Heli took the worst of it.

"Well, I guess we won't be taking the service corridor right now. Any ideas?"

Cayla raised her hand. "We could try climbing up the outside of the building. I think there's enough ledges to get us to the top."

Brightstar thought about the suggestion for a second before shaking her head. "Most of us aren't physically capable of doing a climb like that right now."

There was silence for a few seconds, but then Heli spoke up. "I think if I can get an explosive or two up near the roof, I can widen the opening enough for us to climb through."

"Hmm... Do it. We can't afford to waste any time."

The soldier pulled two explosives out, set them properly, and threw them up at the wall of debris. Everyone collectively held their breaths for a moment. If those things go off at the wrong angle, not only will the roof stay closed... but we'll have shrapnel to deal with.

The two smaller charges went off, creating another, smaller, cloud of dust and debris. However, the light shining down from the floor above immediately verified the success of the demolition.

"Great work, Heli... just one problem."

"Yeah?"

"How are we supposed to climb up that?"

"Well, you... oh, right."

Suddenly one of the larger objects at the top of the pile shifted and came flying down towards them. Tviana sidestepped it, and as soon as it came to a stop she examined it.

"A... bouncer?"

She climbed up on top of it and jumped. The somewhat primitive weaved mesh sank and then rebounded, sending her higher than a normal leap. This... is actually kind of fun. But now's not the time for that... She took as big of a jump as she could, and the bouncer knocked her all the way up to the gap in the ceiling. She grasped it as tight as she could, and, ignoring the pain in her arms and back, she pulled herself up.

"Tviana... that's brilliant. Everyone, we're going to bounce our way up there." Up came Cayla, and Tviana caught her hand when the woman nearly missed. She hauled her up, and they both waited for the rest of the squad. Last came Joamer, who needed a bit of help jumping straight up.

"Well, now they know we're still alive... so let's get going."

OOC:

Thought I'd do something a little silly to make up for the CD. Obviously, bouncer = trampoline.

OOC:

Reinforcement squad sent to assist BlackJack Squad

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking.  We are currently 1 minute out from our destinat..." was all Kilroy heard before his own thoughts drowned out whatever the LAAT pilot was saying.  Currently, he was in the middle of a Pre-Combat Check (PCC) on his equipment, ensuring that each part was mission capable.  Rifle, check.  Armor, check.  Explosives, check.  Witty comment to say to Tanner and quite possibly the guys on the ground.  Check and double check.  Kilroy thought, placing a power cell into his E-11 to finish off his routine.  Looking over to Tanner, his combat buddy from basic, as well as one of the few that survived Drill Sergeant Dirge’s extensive training regime, he noticed that she too, was finishing with a PCC as well.
   
“Shame Pixy or Voodoo aren’t with us.”  He said, motioning towards the other members of Galm squad, the remnants of the 12 man, Blue squad that went in together back in their first sim-mission; the rest were either killed or wounded in the ensuing months afterwards.  “They would have loved to be with us on this mission, not cooped up in some hospital.”  In response, Tanner quietly nodded ahead, and with one hand, stuck up 3 fingers to show him that they were 30 seconds from the LZ.  Quietly putting his helmet on, Kilroy said a quick prayer for safety in battle, as well as that they all made it out alive.  Then nothingness was not, nor existence. There was no air then, nor heavens beyond it. Who covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?  Hey…I know just what to call the CO.

----------------------

“Fifteen seconds!”  Valthir heard over the ComNet, much to his relief and joy.  Ever since his call went out to Isen, Republic troops have slowly crawled closer to where his team was located.  For every foot that their enemy gained, Valthir and the others made sure that they paid dearly, often in blood or oil.  However, the Republic forces were both ruthless and relentless in their attacks, whittling down the three troopers cover as well as their ammo supplies.  “Hold steady boys, just 10 more seconds and the cavalry will be here!”  He yelled, grimacing at the fact that he was now down to his last power cell.    Come on Isen! We’re dying out here!

As if the universe itself answered to Valthir’s own private plea, the nearest Republic forces disappeared into large explosion as a gunship passed overhead, guns blazing the entire time.  With a sharp turn that reoriented the gunship back into the battered lines, Isen began to hound the Republic troops that escaped the initial onslaught with nearly everything that could fire from his ship before relenting.  Letting out a sigh of relief, Valthir waved over to the area where the LAAT that was about to land.  “You sure know how to make an entrance Isen!”  Within seconds, one six man squad hopped out from the transport, securing the recently cleared LZ while Val, Beta, and THX rushed onboard.  Sliding his back down on the comfortable insides of Isen’s craft, he noticed that two of the troopers, after restocking both THX and Beta’s supplies, motioned towards him.  “Yes? What do you want?”  “Galm squad reporting for duty and ready to serve, sir.  We’ve been assigned to assist you in any way possible.  Does that mean you are our new daddy now?” “Wha….No no I’m the ASL, You’ll meet him the SL soon enough.”  “I see, so you’re our new mommy?”  “Is he always such a wise-ass?”

The ceramic plates made a loud cracking noise, making Major Vaughn look up from a map of the complex. A veteran commando, he learned a lot of experience from his commanding officer, Colonel Darash Thraak, before the latter was dishonorably discharged for being too ruthless. Now, however, as the tide of the war was slowly turning towards the Vast Empire, Thraak was reinstated as a Colonel and put in charge of the Thyveck operation.

Everything had been taken into account for, even the previous defeats by the remainders of the Raiders, Blackjack, and Eclipse squads had been planned. This current assault would hopefully crush the last Imperial resistance on the planet, leaving the New Republic with a base to operate from, and a healthy stockpile of equipment that could be hidden in the smuggler hideouts all over the planet.

Vaughn was assigned to Sergeant Tobias Blixtskog’s squad as the veteran demolitions expert and as the squad’s radio man. Only he knew the codes that would send in reinforcements, or request extra supplies for the squad. He wasn’t really in charge until there was a fight. Then he would take command and using his unorthodox tactics would win the day.

As he looked up from the map to noticed that he had stepped on a plate, his fellow commandos stopped. They then saw the plates and very soon readied their weapons.

+===+

It had only been about five minutes since the plates were placed there to warn the Raiders about the commandos, and barricades were just now finishing up top. Joamer and Bright took the left side of the corridor, their position fairly well covered by a thick column and some boxes. Grahim, Karash, and Tviana took the right hand side, once again protected by a column and boxes. This left Heliwer, Mox, and Cayla in the middle, protected by what was left, which was not a lot. The Lance Corporal had his helmet knocked away by the blast from the motion sensor mine and couldn’t be bothered with finding it again. This only increased his resolve to make himself a big target, having gotten several explosives and wired them as grenades and managed to work his M-590 Assault Rifle into a mounted M-590; just the same as the rifle, just with a bipod mount that could be folded up.

+===+

It seemed like hours before the commandos cautiously up the stairs. Vaughn turned to Tobias and gave him a guttural growl. The Sergeant backed off immediately, intimidated by the Major’s ferocity. Vaughn then pulled out two M3 revolvers and gave a low whistle. The commandos all knew the signal and what it meant. Smoke grenades followed by a mad rush to get in close and personal, where hopefully they would achieve the upper hand. The Major turned to his men and took a deep breath. “Just so you know,” He said aloud. “My name’s Adjucous Vaughn. Major, Adjucous Vaughn.”

With that, the first smoke grenades went flying.

+===+

Brightstar felt Joamer’s hand on her shoulder as the grenades deployed their thick, black smoke. “Hold on everyone!” She yelled. “Don’t shoot till you hear them come up the stairs!”

Heliwer was in a mixed state. He had overheard Major Vaughn, hell, the entire squad did. There was something about the name that made him pause. I’ve heard that name before… He thought. But… It can’t be… Can it?

He got his answer as Vaught uttered forth a loud whooping howl from the exhausted but still deadly commandos, his own low and threatening howl permeating through the fog. The trooper snarled as the realization hit him. He let out his own cry that made even Joamer and Brightstar jump, as they had not expected it. “VAUGHN! YOU BASTARD! PREPARE TO DIE, CHUBA DOOMPA, DOPA-MASKEY KUNG!” He yelled back, making the mentioned commando smirk with perverted glee.

The battle had begun in the noise of wild animals. It would continue with more animalistic sounds as the commandos easily over ran the cover, turning the fight into a brawl. Heliwer’s kind of fight.

Mox, closest to the right hand side, fought alongside the Gungan, the two wounded managing to barely hold off a pair of commandos. Karash was toe to toe with one commando who appeared to be about intimidation, with a big knife in one hand and a blood red bandana around his head, his mouth making a sort of smile you would find on a rancor.

Joamer and Bright had the challenge of Sergeant Blixtskog, who was lightning fast, making several attacks on the pair before pulling back to dodge punches and jabs. The Raiders squad leader lost his magnum to the ground during the struggle, and started to feel his condition really hurting him. It only got worse when three more commandos, looking fresh, came up. The Republic squad had ten men total to the Raider’s eight, not really bad odds, but with the latter suffering injuries that hampered their fighting ability.

Heliwer and Cayla went after Major Vaughn and two other commandos. The Lance Corporal hand landed several punches on the Major before being knocked over by a haymaker. Cayla, on the other hand, had some help as Tviana came out of nowhere and took on one commando, leaving the odds hopefully in Cayla’s favor.

Minutes came and went, and the battle seemed to be in the Raider’s favor. Mox and Grahim turned out ok, having dealt with their pair before teaming with Karash to take care of the new three, while Joamer managed to get his magnum when the sergeant knocked him to the ground. The squad leader took careful aim and blew a hole in the Republic commando’s torso, his lifeless body falling over. He then collapsed as he felt very faint and was about to pass out. Brightstar helped him sit down and made sure that no one came close to them while he rested for a little bit. Cayla and Tviana were a long way from winning their duels, but they were close. This left only the major and the lance corporal.

“Nagoola, kark.” Adjucous laughed as his next blow hit Heliwer in his solar plexus. The big man took the punch hard, his ribs already bruised from the motion sensor mine, but he didn’t fall over.

“You have a lot to learn, coo ya maya stupa.” He spat in return, crimson blood dripping from his mouth where he had been punched and kicked repeatedly. The coppery taste was familiar and welcomed. As Vaughn lined up a punch,  Heliwer cut loose. He went and grabbed the punch out of mid-air, and then twisted the arm, popping it out of the shoulder socket.

“Yes, Yes! More!” Came the perverse cries of the major. Heliwer was all too happy to oblige, stomping the poor man’s knee and making his leg bow outward emitting a cry of pain from him. This was followed by Heliwer’s hands twisting him around and ready to snap his neck.

“Come on, Heliwer.” Came the faint voice of the soon to be dead man. “Finish me off.”

Gates rolled over a fallen tree trunk, the two troopers beside him also hurdling over the short obstacle. The Republic forces were still pursuing, but they’d gained a little ground on them. Gates was glad this mission hadn’t been assigned within hours of the battle on the plains - those three days of rest had done the squad worlds of good, and he was sure they’d have collapsed from exhaustion if they’d been forced to fight with no rest.

The comm crackled in his ear as he activated it again, taunting him with its lack of ability to summon air cover and crush the enemies that stood against them, and finish this fight. Gates closed the link again, and peeked over the edge of the log that was serving as their cover for the moment.

A tank was edging its way around the corner, but it hadn’t seen them yet. Infantry guarded its flanks, and their heads swiveled constantly, searching for the Blackjacks that had hurt them so badly.

“Fall back,” Gates whispered into the comlink again. As they stood, this wasn’t a good place for fighting right now. Each of the Stormtroopers crawled back a few feet, staying out of sight for as long as possible, then scrambled back to their feet and jogged deeper into the valley. As they ran, Gates brought up the valley’s map, and tracked their current location.

About a kilometer up the valley, there was an interesting labyrinth of underpasses, walls, and a confusing mess of streams and paths. It was perfect for guerrilla attacks. All that was needed was a way to convince the enemy commander that his best option was to split up. It wouldn’t be difficult, with the man’s apparent haste justifying wasting precious ammunition on clearing yet another blockage.

The rumbling, clanking sound of tank treads cruising over dirt and rocks became fainter as they moved away at speed, but never disappeared. Gates was glad that the Republic forces were so wary of another explosives attack or general blaster fire from the Blackjacks.

They moved down the valley again, guns tight across their chest. The comm crackled in his ear, and Gates found a reason to be optimistic about his situation even more.

“Gates? Isen here!” the pilot’s voice crackled. “I’ve picked up your troopers, and am en route to your position right now!”

“Good!” Gates responded. “Hurry it up! We’re almost out of bombs, and I don’t like my chances going fisticuffs with a fifty-ton tank.”

“Roger that. We’re moving towards your position right now,” Isen said. The thudding of an LAAT’s engines could be heard over the link.

“Negative. Pull to co-ordinates fifteen points north of my current position. We’ll be there very soon, and I’ve got an idea for sinking the rest of the Republic formation, one bit at a time,” Gates responded.

*** *** *** *** ***

Sergeant Daan wasn’t going to be surprised again, he was sure of it. The dismounted infantry made the column travel slowly, but he figured, it was better to get to the objective a little later than hoped than never get there at all.

“Do you hear that, sir?” asked one of the troopers who was walking next to his slowly-moving APC.

“What?” Daan asked, pulling one large headphone off of his ear. The commander’s radio gear was awkward and made it very hard to hear anything that wasn’t chatter on the comm channels. “What is it?”

“It sounds like...a dropship?” the trooper, a mere PFC, said, confused. “There’s no dropships in this area.”

“No, but there is a gunship-!” Daan said, his heart jumping into his throat. He still had a couple hundred men, but they were strung out and vulnerable and didn’t have any AA guns left. Daan brought up the poor-quality maps that had been left after Lieutenant Birch’s command tank had exploded, taking all of their good hard copies with it

His maps were of incredibly poor quality, barely better than hand-drawn copies of the area by civilians sympathetic to the Republic cause. However poor, it still seemed to indicate that there was some sort of formation only a kilometer and a half in front of them.

“Load up!” he yelled into his comlink, to all friendly channels. “Load up! We’ve got to get moving!”

*** *** *** *** ***

They were crouched in the open area leading into the labyrinth, eyes and rifles aimed down the valley towards the turn in the valley where the Republic forces ground closer. As they sat anxiously, the sounds of the advancing formation increased, as they got closer to the Blackjacks’ position.

At least they could also hear the sounds of the LAAT incoming, and it promised relief, backup, and superior firepower. They only had to hope it got to them before the Republic formation did.

OOC:

ECLIPSE

The squad leader of Eclipse could not help but let his jaw drop. The orders had just come down. The Vast Empire was sabotaging Bastion. Thyveck was being let go. It stunned Skarr down to his core. He did not think they would be running. The Vast Empire was so strong. And Thyveck was a hyper lane away from the Vast Empire’s front lines. It was not smart. Skarr thumbed the comm back on.

“Orders, sir?” Skarr sighed into the comm.

Raziel answered, “Hold the wall like you’ve been doing. If you have to retreat, do so. But only a level at a time. I’m going to be honest with you, you’re only there to stall them.” Skarr nodded despite the fact that Raziel could not see it. The comm snapped off. The squad leader looked around.

The siege towers were still being constructed. The infiltrators were still attacking. And the Republic force had not arrived yet. That still left time for Skarr to prepare. His mind worked at plans. The infiltrators would have to be dealt with. Anival and Thengil had a good plan for that. After that, the combat engineers still in the garrison would work on what defenses they could. Skarr would have to go old school like the siege towers. Bulwarks, trenches, spikes. Quite frankly, Skarr knew they could do it. They could hold the line long enough.

He shifted his grip on his blaster and looked to the rest of his squad. They did not know the orders that he had just received. He would tell them as soon as he could. But the infiltrators would be dealt with first. Let the squad keep their mind on the task at hand. As he stood there, the snipers were gathering in their positions to ambush the infiltrators. Anival had given them places to wait. The Senior Sergeant had been doing very well for himself. His experience was much needed. Much of Eclipse was newer troops, but that did not stop them from being excellent soldiers.

All that could be done was wait for the siege towers to be finished. And hope that the infiltrators would soon leave, or die. It was killing him to wait. Skarr studied the siege towers and grimaced.

“Anival!” Skarr called.

“Yes, sir?”  the Senior Sergeant answered.

“Do these towers have to be too tall? Is that an acceptable height?” Skarr asked, waving to the unfinished siege towers.

“I think we can put the finishing touches on them.” With the last statement, Anival began ordering the engineers to finish the towers. Skarr turned back to the rest of Eclipse.

“Treble! Taran!” Form up on me. We’re taking these frakking infiltrators out!” Skarr ordered. The two soldiers rose from their positions to stand by Skarr. He knew his squad could handle what was to come. They would kill the infiltrators and hold the army coming their way. Despite odds, Skarr had survived situations like this before. And his squad could too. He would ensure that.

Anival stalked up to Skarr, “A few minutes and the towers will be complete.”

“Good, good.” Skarr answered, “Now let’s hope this plan works.”

OOC:

Plans are simple. Get rid of the infiltrators, wait for the huge army to come to us, hold them off as best as we can. Let's hop to it guys!

Blackjack climbed into the LAAT, their armor’s boots stained as red as the paint that was their mark of the Elite of Phoenix.

An entire formation of Republic forces - they were all dead. Hundreds of men, dozens of tanks. All were now burning or bleeding wrecks, strung out along the valley, their blood and oil watering the soil of this death-filled landmark.

Gates looked out of the door of the gunship as its engines spun up. The last bits of the enemy formation were sitting there - shattered tanks, slaughtered men; a smashed army. Blackjack had killed the entire formation.

The gunship lifted off. The Blackjacks eyed their backup squad warily. Gates ran an eye over the six men - armor polished white, SCOPE, but without the already-acquired dings, scrapes and stains of the Blackjacks’ armor.

The comm in Gates’ ear crackled. Gates blinked at it as it pulsed at the side of his HUD, and the frequency opened. “Gates here.”

“Garryll. Have you achieved your objective?” Havock’s voice crackled in his ear.

“Yeah, Hav. We got ‘em. The entire goddamn formation is dusted,” Gates said, the hit of pride at his squad’s achievement barely distinguishable.

“Good, good. We need you back at Bastion Defense ASAP,” the Company Commander’s voice crackled over the link. “We still have a commando or two in the Bastion and there’s heavy fighting going on on the outer walls. Fortunately, the shields are still holding at the moment, and if you’ve taken care of the flanking force, we’re in good shape still.”

“So should we deploy to help with the commando-hunting?” Gates asked. He didn’t relish going against some of the Republic’s hard-bitten soldiers.

“No need - I’m sure Raiders squad has the situation under control, and they’re deep within the base right now. You wouldn’t be able to arrive in time to help, anyway,” Havock replied.

Gates shrugged. “Roger. We’ll be deploying to the walls, then?”

“Yeah. The wall’s defenses need more veteran soldiers to hold the line, and you and your squad fit the bill.”

“Got it. We’ll be there in five minutes, tops. Gates out.”

Gates added the backup squad’s tac-tags to his HUD. “We’re going to be deployed immediately upon landing, so get ready. This is going to be a major battle we’re walking into, but we must help hold the walls at all cost. Our ETA is five minutes. Make sure you’re ready by then.”

*** *** *** *** ***

Bastion Defense appeared in view as the LAAT soared towards the massive fort. Gates stared at it with distaste. He’d read the After-Action reports on the initial assaults on this world; this massive city-fort was the only reason Imperial forces still held this world, and its commanders had caused Phoenix Company massive headaches.

And now, they were the ones who would be entrusted with its defense against the Republic’s massive attack forces.

Only its shield deflectors were holding off the Republic assault , but the Republic commanders had attempted to solve that with their trusted soldiers of choice - their elite commandos. Raiders were hunting - or being hunted, Gates had no idea - the commandos whose mission it was. If they could prevent the Republic commandos from completing their mission, then the Bastion could hold out until more reinforcements showed up to saved the day.

If they couldn’t, though, this battle would get ugly. Massive Republic forces were lined up, waiting for their orders to attack. Gates knew that there were only a few dozen of the Imperial’s elite - fewer than one hundred Stormtroopers, backing up Imperial army forces serving as the Bastion’s garrison. The numbers were not in favor of the Imperial army, in other words.

The LAAT hovered at the apex of the shield, several hundred feet in the air. The Bastion Defense shield generator was an intricate deflector shield that bubbled over the entire fort, and was sophisticated enough to be lowered in certain areas.

“Phoenix LAAT Alpha-1 requesting location Omega shield deflector be lowered for five seconds. Clearance Dog, Harrier, Nine-Five Vent,” Isen’s voice crackled over the comlink.

“Clearance accepted. Lowering Shield Omega for ten seconds.”

Below the gunship, the shield flickered out of existence in a fifty-square foot area. Isen dropped the LAAT down like a rock. Gates’ stomach rose into his throat, but he simply gripped the drop-bar tighter and gritted his teeth.

The shield materialized again a few seconds later, but by then, Isen was already dropping the LAAT into a dive towards the outer walls. A minute of flight had them idling by the edge of the outer wall, the open door and LAAT passenger bay only a few inches away from it.

“Good flying, Isen,” Gates said. “Out! Go, go go!”

The Blackjacks and the squad that was to back them up piled out of the ship, ready to rumble.

“Blackjack has arrived. Who here is in command?” Gates barked into the command channel.

“Eclipse squad has been holding the walls several hundred meters to your east,” said a man in response. “They’re taking out a group of infiltrators at the moment.”

“Do they need support?” Gates asked.

“Uh, no sir. They’ve got a plan to finish them up. Our forces are weak right where you are. Can you hold your position there?” asked the man.

“Roger. Blackjack digging in.”

OOC:

Eclipse

"You ever get scared in these kinds of situations?" Taran asked lightly to Skarr, who planted his back to the nearest wall.

  "I've learned to avoid those kinds of feelings, Taran." Skarr answered with a nonchalant tone. "What it comes down to out here... is how much better you are than your enemy. As you can see, I'm still alive."

  Taran half-chuckled under his breath and slammed a fresh magazine into his sniper rifle. Eclipse had been ordered to hold the base until impracticality would force them into the inner layers of Bastion, but first and foremost came the ever-present problem with the infiltrators. Anival had positioned plenty of snipers along the wall, evenly spaced to avoid any isolation or suppressing fire. The fake snipers on the roof would sure to attract some fire as well. Of course, there was still the issue of the numbers yet to be found out, but at this point, it didn't really matter anymore. Anything that kept the infiltrators from weakening their hold on the current layer was beneficial. Skarr took up what one could call the middle of the wall with Treble and Taran on each side.

  A crackle of the comms came in throughout the entire squad's channel. It was Anival.

  "Siege towers are up and completed." He quickly stated.

  "Good. Now activate the false snipers in ten." Skarr coordinated, looking upon the hastily made structures. He then turned to the three troopers to his sides.

  "Remember, as soon as you pop your head out, you may be fired upon." Skarr warned the two troopers, who nodded in unison. "Hopefully our sniper teams Anival has placed will get a fix on their position and take them out. Don't try to take any shots yourself, understand?"

  Both Taran and Treble acknowledged the order and fidgeted behind their respective cover. The tension could be felt in the ground, which shook slightly to everyone's attention. Skarr knew what it was.

  "Over!" Skarr shouted to the air and the three Eclipse troopers quickly stood for a moment then fell back down while the whiz of blaster fire went over their heads into the siege tower placements.

  Skarr gathered his composure for a nonexistent moment and checked the snipers who were positioned along the wall. Their sights were trained but didn't seem to be firing in response.

  "C'mon, tell me we have a lock on them, guys!!" Skarr yelled, irritated. As soon as he muttered the last word, each sniper let loose a volley of fire across the terrain in a deafening combination of righteous fury. Skarr paused for a moment to let the shockwaves and cacophony settle. Much to his delight, none of them made another shot. It seemed as if every bullet had hit a target.

  "Clear!" The ranking sniper sounded, followed by the echo of the remaining team, who had already began to pat themselves on the back. It was to be a short celebration.

  "Well, that was quick." Taran added in disbelief, patting the dust and dirt off of his legs.

  Skarr stood up slowly and surveyed the sprawling land before Bastion. A few streams of smoke rose from the ground, most likely where the bullets had hit their target. The all-clear must have been true as well, for he was completely open for a bullet, but none came. He squinted slightly at the horizon, and scowled in disgust. Taran noticed his gaze and stood next to him, trying to follow his line of sight.

  "What is it, sir?" Taran asked curiously.

  "We've got incoming." Skarr replied angrily and trotted off to warn the other soldiers. Taran looked out into the battlefield, where the sun had begun to lower over the smoking remains of Bastion's surrounding flatlands. A flood of Republic soldiers came bounding over the dead bodies of their own, pouring into plain view. There had to be thousands, if not more.

  "Oh."

OOC:

BlackJack/Galm Squads...Also realized that Galm squad needed a little character to them instead of just being a standard squad....So I made them, eccentric

It took less than half an hour after Isen’s LAAT dropped them at the outer walls before BlackJack and its newfound support unit, Galm squad, found a position that overlooked several chokepoints along the wall and gave them the advantage of having multiple overlaying fields of fire.  Motioning towards it, Gates began to give orders to the men and women under his command when he realized that he was missing something. I don’t know whether these are FNGs fresh out or these guys have actually have some under their belt.  This could change things big time. He thought to himself as both squads began to look to him for orders.

“Valthir, take the rest of BlackJack and begin to secure the area.  I want to have the Reppies cringe with fear at the mere thought of taking this wall.  Galm squad, I need you to create a secondary and tertiary defense line in case this position, Emperor forbid it, gets overrun and we have to fallback.  Also, I need to see your sergeant or the current SL right now.  Everybody got that? Good, now move out.”  Garryll ordered, smiling as the two squads went to work without any questions asked.  Less then a minute later, he was horrified at the thought that Galm squad had no current squad leader or any ranking, due to the fact that all of them walked away before one returned back to him.  Greenhorns, just my luck, I get stuck with a squad of greenhorns.


-----

Corporal Bi “Benny” Han was not having a good day.  In the time it took to realize that he was Galm squad’s CO and not the old man, Benny also realized that his first impressions on BlackJack’s Lieutenant were not going to be of the good kind.  Grimacing, he quickly introduced himself and hoped that Lt. Garryll Gates was in a forgiving mood once the mission was done and over with.

“Corporal, I noticed that it took you a while before you got here.  Forgot your own chain of command?”

“Yes sir I did, this is our first mission without our sergeant and I forgot that I was the senior corporal out of the three we have.  No excuses.”  So gonna regret this later on.  He thought, before he noticed that the Lt was motioning towards him.  Letting out a sigh of relief, Benny walked over to him and was about to ask a question but was just as quickly cut off by Gates himself. 

“First order of business is this, for the duration of this mission, you and your squad are under my command, no questions asked.  Second, I need to know who makes it up as well as their roles.  You think you can do that?”

Nodding his head, Bi Han began to list those that were in his own fireteam, knowing full well that he knew more about them than anyone else.  Pointing towards a small enclave on the wall, he provided a brief description of the three stormtroopers that were working upon it.  Let’s see, might as well start with Nagase, and hope she doesn’t mind.

“Ok, you see that the small one with the backpack?  That’s PV2 Reiko Nagase, our current radio operator.  She used to be our grenadier before switching out when our former operator was crippled in a blast that took out our old man.  Nagase is quick to follow orders and is decent in any firefight; just don’t expect her to talk much right now.  She’s still torn up over seeing her friend, the former radioman, get med-evaced missing his lower legs.  Other than that, I found out that she LOVES and will eat cookie bread like there’s no tomorrow. Why just the other day…. ”

-----

Quietly taking mental notes down, Garryll was soaking up any and all information that the corporal gave him.  It wasn’t long before he determined the fact that while Galm squad was inexperienced in the command area, it made up with the fact that it consisted of soldiers that were flexible, dependable, and quite completely crazy as well.  I don’t know what’s worse, that these guys are not greenhorns, or that this squad is made of actual vets.  He thought, shaking his head the entire time as he imagined just what their old lieutenant had to put up with.  Noticing two troopers that were together, apparently already finished with their work and beginning to help the others, Gates pointed to them and hoped for some relatively good news.

“Those two over there, the ones going to help Nagase and Preacher, you forgot to mention them.  Who are they?”

“You see the one with the T-21 and her battery pack slung across her back?  We call her Tanner.  She’s Galm's other auto rifleman, and quite handy to have around too.  She and her combat buddy are pretty much inseparable and are on real good terms with each other, despite the fact that they are auto rifleman and designated marksman respectively.  It is the opinion of Galm squad that, despite their insistences that they are not blood related in any way shape or form, that they are evil twins.” 

“I see…..And the other one?”

“Oh him?  If I remember correctly, on his profile it says that he served 4 years with a security force known as the Armored Fists before joining the military.  I’ll give you a hint to what we call him, his name starts with Kil.”  What an ironic name…He doesn’t look the type.

-----

Stretching his arms, Kilroy began to realize that sooner or later he was going to have to cut with the joking around and focus on the fact that by the end of the day, Republic forces will be on their doorstep and lots of men were going to die.  Looking over to Nagase who was still probably mourning over Voodoo, her longtime combat buddy and childhood friend, he couldn’t help but feel pity for her.  Voodoo would throttle me if he saw her like this….better think of something fast.  “”Hey Nagase, I think I have some leftover cookie bre….Did you just ninja my cookie bread out of my hand?”

“Uh umf…Shanks, ish dewischoush….Soooo happaahhh”

Dumbstruck, Kilroy could never get over the fact that she always pulled that trick, even when he was looking straight at her the entire time.  It wasn’t long before he thought the BlackJacks Lt also had the same skills as Nagase, when he appeared out of nowhere and was standing right besides him.

“Nagase, when you’re finished eating, go get Preacher and tell him to report to Sergeant Valthir.  After that you are under my command as I am in need of a good radioman.”  Ninjas! Everywhere!  “Corporal Bi Han, I want you to go find Corporal Cipher Manos, tell him he’s going to be the medic for both squads now.”  Puzzled at the fact that both he and Tanner weren’t given any tasks, Kilroy was beginning to think that the Lieutenant forgot about them when all of a sudden a string of unforgettable words were spoken.  “Oh yeah Tanner and Killjoy, you two, come with me.”

“Sure thing bo….Hey I am not a killjoy!”

Tviana glanced around at the other members of the squad, feeling both very proud and very stupid. They all knew what they were getting into, and they all expected to die defending a world that they'd spent over six months of combat in just to lose it to the NR. The sad yet heroic sensation accompanying that knowledge was almost physically palpable to the Zelosian. As they double-checked their gear, Tviana slipped in beside Cayla under the pretense of loading her blaster. She leaned in closer, to keep the conversation at least somewhat private.

She just could not understand it. "Why would you throw away your life like this?"

Cayla retightened her boot and checked the sights on her rifle.  "Because..." she said, powering the weapon up.  "It's who I am."

"Someone who always follows a lost cause?"

"No... Someone who will fight and die beside people worthy of such a sacrifice."

The non-human pondered that for a moment.

"And you consider Heliwer, Grahim, even Karash worthy of that?"

"I consider Joamer, Bright, and yourself worthy of such an honor." Did... did she just say she'd die for Joamer and I?

"Thanks, I guess." She pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Sorry, all the emotion in here is affecting me..."

Cayla placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.  "You are most welcome, Tviana.  I'd be honored to fight and die by your side."

"I'm not entirely sure how much of this emotion is mine and how much is a reflection of RAIDERS, but... I believe I am willing to die for you and the rest of the squad, as well."

The Onderonian smiled and gave Tviana a hug.

"Thanks, Cayla... I now have a reason to survive this."

"As do I," Cayla said, hugging the Zelosian tight.

Tviana hugged back, then popped a fresh power pack into her rifle. "I may be emotionally unstable, but I'm ready. Let's finish this."

The two of them turned and began moving back down the damaged, bloodstained corridors. Tviana began mentally laying out the situation. So, we're losing Thyveck to the New Republic... that's going to cause a few problems down the line, but it's not our immediate problem and can't really be helped. RAIDERS is heading down to help cover the engineers while they sabotage the entire fort's foundations, which means when this place gets shelled we're going to be trapped right in the middle of it with no easy way out. Hopefully, none of the beams we damage will actually collapse... because at that point, there's no way we'll make it out alive. If by a miracle the place holds together, and we can hold off the troops long enough, we might be able to find an exit or make our own.

"First real mission with you guys, and I'm already heading off to most likely explode and die... You know, I think I might even like it here."

Joamer chuckled softly. "Welcome to RAIDERS. Hope you enjoy your stay, although it looks like it's going to be cut a bit short."

Gates was cautiously optimistic about their chances in this battle. While the battle-chatter on the Command Link spoke of a massive host with a ton of support, they were still held back by Bastion’s State-of-the-Art shield deflectors. As long as they were up, only a small portion of the Republic attack force could get at them, and artillery and long-range shelling were impossible. It wasn’t like the Republic wasn’t trying to put their big guns to use though, as every few seconds, a heavy shell splashed against the shield.

When he combined that fact with his improved personnel situation, Gates was a lot more pleased. Galm squad could ably watch Blackjack’s backs, if their corporal spoke correctly about their abilities, and he had always trusted his own squad to hold any line or take any objective.

As long as the shields held, the numbers would be manageable. As long as the shields held, they could hold the line indefinitely. As long as the shields held.

Gates opened a link up the ladder, pinging Havock for an update. “Hav, Blackjack’s in position and deployed. We’re ready for anything.”

Fate mocked him. The shields went down.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered. “Why are the shields down? What’s gone wrong?”

Havock made a shushing sound and then could be heard speaking into a different comlink; Gates could hear the words ‘Joamer,’ ‘shields’ and ‘denial.’ From that, Gates pieced together that Command wanted Raiders squad to somehow deny the Republic access to Bastion. They had been responsible for the shield deflectors.

Havock returned to Gates’ link. “Raiders squad is going to escort a squad of engineers to the structural supports of Bastion. We have to deny the Republic access to this fort. Garryll, you’ll have to help hold the line  for as long as possible.”

“Shit. Roger that,” Gates replied. He severed the link and turned to the two men of Galm squad he’d picked up. “Alright, play time’s over. War is about to come smashing down.”

The two squads under his command moved around. To either side of them, army squads rushed to and fro at the yelled commands of their officers. A few feet back, dug in deeper in the battlements, men set up mortars.

“ARTILLERY INCOMING. ARTILLERY INCOMING,” a nearby klaxon roared, and then began wailing out an artillery warning.

The soldiers on the wall covered their heads and prayed that a shell wouldn’t land anywhere near them. Gates edged to the short wall that separated the lowest-level battlements from the meters-thick Bastion walls, and peaked over. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Republic soldiers were moving forwards, supported by tanks, armored vehicles and artillery pieces. The artillery was close enough to be visible, barrels pointed into the air, and flashing as they fired every few seconds. The wall-guns weren’t firing back, despite the tantalizing bevy of targets.

“Everything on this base is broken!” Gates lamented quietly to himself. “Guns, shields! How are we expected to hold?”

Onto his squad link, though, such thoughts weren’t his place, duty, or orders. Gates stood and walked back to the center of the Blackjack/Galm position, then opened his link and raised his voice to be heard over the already screaming shells of the Republic, the yells of pain and command from soldiers to either flank, and the drumbeat of explosions as shells slammed into the wall or ground.

“Blackjack! Galm!” Garryll began, his voice powerful, confident, and holding within it the strong note of command he’d gained over years of combat. “Our mission is to hold this fort. We will not falter in this mission! We will not be driven back without making them bleed for every meter, every centimeter, every millimeter. They’ll spend a life for every foot they place on this base, I promise you! They will know why we are the Empire’s Elite! They will remember us, us Stormtroopers, and tell their comrades, their children, their people, who we are - and how we hurt them so.”

Blackjack had not heard him speak with such passion in months; he and they had grown jaded with war on Thyveck, but this was something that resonated with all of them. Galm, on the other hand, did not know him. They had not grown as weary of constant, battering war that Blackjack had experienced, and yelled in agreement. He could give them encouragement, and the hope of victory, even against such numbers.

“Stand fast, Stormtroopers!” Gates barked. “Assume positions and ready weapons! Fire when the enemy is within range.”

Stormtroopers moved to their positions, mostly along the wall except for the specialists like the radioman and the medic. Gates took up his own position, and braced his E-45 along the chest- high wall that separated the battlements from the steep drop of the outer defense walls. Already, the walls were pockmarked by shrapnel, explosion craters, and carbon scoring, but such minor damage wouldn’t topple the wall. Only an infantry assault to drive the Imperial forces out could do so.

The numbers on his HUD’s rangefinder ticked down as the Republic forces moved in. Gates’ finger rested on his rifle’s trigger, waiting until they got within range. The rest of Blackjack and Galm stood at their positions, their rifles at their shoulders, scopes raised to their T-visors.
Green light pulsed as the rangefinder identified maximum effective range for their weapons. None of the Stormtroopers asked for confirmation, and opened fire. Battle was truly joined by the Imperial defenders and the assaulting Republic adversaries.

“I have to do this. Someone does, might as well be me. Catch?” Heliwer’s words seemed to strike Karash.

‘One more toy soldier wanting to be the hero and pretending to run off into the wide blue yonder. Why is it there is always some pompous, usually ex-criminal, trash that thinks they are the be all and end all?’ Karash was tired and his usual bad temper had suddenly become an uncontrollable anger that was about to spill over one way or another.

“Enough of this look on the Brightside, nonsense.” The Senior Sergeant blurted out.

“What?” Heliwer looked at Karash and blew another puff of smoke into the air.

“I’ll tell you what; you all seem to think this is some gallant mission we are going on. That the RAIDERS are the only ones for the job because we are the best, that we shall be bathed in glory for doing our duty to the utmost.” Karash turned and looked at Heliwer, “That you can pretend to play the big hero, well its nothing but rubbish!” The medic shouted clenching his fists.

“Karash...” Joamer tried to intervene but was ignored.

“We have been sent because we are the only ones stupid enough to enough to do it and even that is looking on the Brightside; it’s more likely because we are the dispensable ones.” Karash had not finished his rant but paused as he tried to steady his breathing, “And you, the brave Heliwer, typical brute-boy nonsense!”

“And what do you mean by that?” Heliwer moved himself closer to the ranting medic.

“What a surprise it needs explaining.” Karash spoke with a deep sense of superiority. “Do you know what it will be like to die down here; if you are lucky you’ll be shot or go instantly with the explosion. The less lucky will be crushed much as our counterparts on the mountain were.”

Again Joamer tried to intervene but this time with more authority, “Enough Karash...”

The Senior Sergeant continued, “The least lucky of you all will survive all that and be left to endure your final moments buried in this flaming hell hole and then it will come the end. But there will be no glory, no resounding trumpets, no heavenly light, there will be nothing. What will you be remembered for?” Karash paused whilst trying to compose himself, “If you are lucky enough to be remembered at all, it will be as fools. Just like Ghost squad, eh Joamer.” 

‘What are you doing?’ Were his thoughts as the realisation of what he just said hit him. As he looked around he could see the whole squad had stopped and were looking at him in various states of bemusement.

“Senior Sergeant Norgath your conduct is far below what it should be, if you are not capable or willing to fulfil your duties you are free to go.” Joamer spoke with the full authority of a Squad Leader.

“Go? And be called a coward and let you fools be responsible for everything. I have no intention of going anywhere.” He was regaining some of his composure, “I will do my duty to the full but I will not do it knowing that you all think it’s going to be ok or that we are heroes.” Karash tried to give the impression he had just been cruel to be kind, rather than losing it.

“Then let’s keep moving.” Joamer ordered and squad was once again heading towards its possible doom.

They were not far off of their destination now, the engineers frantic work could be heard echoing through the tunnels. The rest of their journey was not as optimistic as the first part had been, the medic’s outburst had made sure of that but Karash was oddly contented by recent events. In fact he had an odd smirk on his face.   

“Are you sure you are alright?” Brightstar was asking the exact same question she had previously.

“I told you that I am fine, in fact that little... reaction may have stopped me from going completely insane... again.” Karash said half-seriously.

“I really could deal without having to deal with you going mad as well as everything else.” She spoke still quite seriously.

“I said I was fine, in fact I think death will be a nice change of pace. Oh look we appear to have arrived at our destination.” He was now trying to get the ASL of his case but their arrival signalled more important things for Bright to do.

OOC:

Eclipse

The chaos was all around her, but she didn’t mind it. She had a way of dealing with her surroundings and letting it bounce off for the most part. The infiltrators were becoming annoying, and there was not much she could do about it. It was then that she took notice of the engineers running around and building some sort of tower.

“Treble! Taran! Form up on me. We’re taking these frakking infiltrators out!” Skarr’s voice called out. Treble immediately turned and headed back over to her SL. She noticed one of her squadmates walk up to him.

“A few minutes and the towers will be complete.”

“Good, good. Now let’s hope this plan works.”

Treble, Taran, and Skarr headed up to take their positions along the wall. She tuned out the conversation going on between her SL and Taran. The Republic troops out around the city’s shields seemed massive. She began speaking to herself as she always did when she was in the midst of any sort of battle.

“At least the shields are holding for now, but we still have infiltrators. Those damn Reshies will not win this fight. I will make sure of it. No matter the odds, we’re still here and fighting. Though it sounds like these guys have been here for more than just a short while. That once squad I saw earlier… they seemed very torn up. I wonder what their story is…” Treble’s whispered thoughts were cut off as Skarr began talking again.

“Remember, as soon as you pop your head out, you may be fired upon,” She nodded her head as Skarr continued, “Hopefully our sniper teams Anival has placed will get a fix on their position and take them out. Don't try to take any shots yourself, understand?" She acknowledged though she desperately wanted to do something. Sitting and waiting was not something she was so keen on. Her body kept telling her to move, and she had to keep herself from doing just that. Consequently she began to fidget which would make anyone watching her think she was actually afraid of what was going on. She wasn’t. At least, she liked to think she wasn’t. Planet hopping and stealing with NR soldiers chasing you was much different than all of this.

"Over!" Treble stood up then dropped back down as another infiltrator shot at the towers. At first the snipers didn’t respond, but soon they were firing back until they eventually all fell silent. Skarr stood up and looked around.

"What is it, sir?"

"We've got incoming." He suddenly turned and left. Treble stood to look. The Republic soldiers were moving forward. She looked up at the city’s shields but they weren’t there anymore. The only thing that had been keeping them safe was gone.

She quickly checked her rifle to make sure it was still functioning. The battle was about to turn on them. In minutes Skarr was back by them. “We’re still holding the wall, but we’re sabotaging Thyveck.”

Treble blinked in surprise. It seemed like only moments ago she had just arrived, and now things were going to be over in quick procession. Taran stared at Skarr in amazement, but he didn’t seem to make much more of a comment beyond that.

“Regardless, we will still fight back just as hard.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, sir.” Treble spoke up. A spark lit in her eyes behind her helmet. She would take care of the threat one way or another. There was no giving up even if the Bastion was to be destroyed.

The three Eclipse members turned their attention to the oncoming soldiers. It wasn’t long before shells began heading their way. Treble watched constantly, ducking when one fell anywhere near her. She heard a cry ring out over the explosion as yet another man was caught in the deadly fire. Treble breathed a sigh of relief. The going was going to be tough.

As they began coming into range Skarr spoke up again, “Strike first. Fast, exact, secure.” Taran immediately recognized Eclipse’s motto and suddenly both Treble and Taran were fingering their rifles’ trigger as the New Republic came into their range.

Almost as one, the squads holding the walls began firing upon the masses. Treble tried to take as little time to aim as possible, finding the best possible targets to take down easily. Skarr and Taran to her right were doing an excellent job as well. She admired their accuracy as they focused on the task at hand. All the while, Treble fell into her usual chatter.

“Ready, aim, fire. One down and several hundreds more to go. They seem to grow exponentially.” Treble heard the artillery warning come in again. She looked up and silently cursed to herself.