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After around forty hours of class time, it was time for the test. Sachem had spent much of his time at the academy learning the ins and outs of Imperial communication systems. Today would be the day to put it all to the test. The previous day in the classroom, he received a message from his instructor. The message only said a ‘Course Exam. Report promptly to room 342 at 1500 tomorrow.’
Opening a hatch and walking into a well-illuminated room, Sachem O’Neill got shivers from the cold. Although the cold was fitting, as the room was completely empty. Instead, the room was filled with computerized systems, and displays. In addition, in the room was a small desk. The desk appeared from a distance to be covered in portable equipment.
“Head inside, up to the desk to pick up your equipment. You will then receive further instructions.” An officer of the STC Academy instructed, after which he turned and walked back where he and Rawr had come from.
He did as he was told and walked over to the desk. There was a data chip on the top of the pile. Figuring it to be his “further instructions”, he plugged it into his data-pad. The data chip was filled with instruction manuals for the equipment, but nothing regarding orders. Page upon page of words, though nothing related to what he was to do here.
“Ah good, you have your reading material. Grab the equipment, and we will head out.” A man said, “I am Sergeant Abogado by the way. Meet me by the hatch when you’re ready.” The man said, and then slowly wondered over to a sealed hatch on the bulkhead.
As he examined the equipment on the table, he found a DH107 HeadComm, a PAC20 Wrist Comm, a Multinode Communication Link, and small electronic toolkit - comparable for electronic systems, and cable infrastructure maintenance. A strange layout, but it would be all that he needed. With the HeadComm headset placed on his head, and the PAC20 WristComm on his left wrist, he clipped the Multinode CommLink to his belt, grabbed the toolkit, and wandered to the bulkhead.
“Well you sure took enough time.” Abogado began, “Outside this door you will meet some of your Academy colleagues that will be joining you on this training operation. You will be the Squad’s communication technician; you will be their ears as they traverse the conditions and terrain that you will be thrown into.” Abogado said, as he pressed a button on the door’s panel - opening the bulkhead door. “The squad is here to certify their ability to work in a difficult situation. To make things harder for them, we are throwing you in the mix. They do not know you and they do not trust you, it should be fun. Good luck on your exam, Trooper.”
The door slid open, and a small hallway was beyond. Equipped with his communications equipment, a Blast Vest & Helmet, a Sonic Screwdriver - a personal tool he always carried with him - a FSK-7 Combat Knife, and a DH-17 Blaster Pistol, he walked down the hallway to his “squad.” The hallway was dark, dreary, and rusting around the edges. Even the bulkhead door was not up to par with the previous room, with its welded-on hinges, dead-covered view-port, and escape wheel door handle. Grabbing the handle and spinning the wheel, he opened the door to the outside; with a push once it was unlocked, the door opened. Four Troopers, also in Blast Helmets and Vests, stood next to an old Republic Troop Transport - waiting to board. Sachem walked over to them, ready for the mission.
“You the geek Command is sending us?” A Female Trooper, the Squad’s Leader, said jokingly. Sachem, who had learned not to take those kinds of jokes negatively, chuckled.
“Aye, Ma’am. Sachem O’Neill, reporting for duty.” He said.
“Good to have you, the name is Sarith Brahnx.” The Squad Leader began. “Now that the introductions are done let’s get started. Squad, into the transport!” She yelled.
Everyone, including Sachem, complied and headed into the transport. Small on the inside, and showing obvious age, it would not be the most comfortable ride any of them had ever been. As he boarded, he could see the LAAT/C that had dropped the Troop Transport into this boarding zone. It had taken off - presumably headed back to its holding area.
“Alright, strap yourselves in and listen up - this is a simple mission.” Brahnx began, “We are headed to conduct our routine training exercise, time to re-certify ourselves in our tools. This transport will take us to the drop off location, from that point on the five of us will be on foot. I do not know much more, beyond the standard 'we have live weapons, the droids have stun weapons' line - except this one last bit. Communication will likely be an issue; as such they have sent us a Communications nerd.” She jokes, looking over to Sachem.
The transport jumbled its way across the terrain, for its two-hour ride to get to the drop off point.
****
The transport arrived right on schedule. It came to a sudden stop, jolting the bored Troopers inside. Brahnx stood first, and wandered over to the pilot. All that could be heard from here, to the Troopers at least, was “...Okay I guess. That will have to do.” Sarith said as she wandered over to the Squad. As she walked over, the Transport’s boarding ramp dropped. “Everyone out!” She shouted.
The terrain was dry and dusty. It appeared to be a small urban setting. The city in their view had obviously signs of use. “O’Neill, you’re our ears. Monitor all radio frequencies, and keep alert for any satellite communications. Relay anything you get, immediately.” She said to Sachem, he replied “Aye, Ma’am.”
“Ma’am,” A trooper interrupted, “won’t we all get communication feeds?”
“Not in this mission, only the techie will get the battlefield updates.” She said, obviously annoyed by that fact.
Sachem went right to work, configuring the Multinode device for all open and encrypted - but authorized - Imperial frequencies, as well as a few satellite channels. He did not want to miss any battlefield information. He established a wireless link between his HeadComm headset with his WristComm device, for optimal performance and sound quality. Finally, he configured his WristComm to display real time information as it arrived, and to display ID tags and his current distance to and selected target. He was as ready as he could be, as the information began pouring in.
“O’Neill! Our Squad’s name for this operation is ‘Eaglet’, keep alert for it.”
“Affirmative, Ma’am” He said, sorting through the information he was hearing and reviving.
[[Browning Squad, relocate to Grid Code X-Ray Nine, battle readiness advised. Eaglet Squad, relocate to Grid Code Tango Three, and await further orders. Gauntlet Squad, relocate to...]] Sachem heard over the radio channels. He looked over to Brahnx, who had just finished going over a map of the area.
“Ma’am, orders over the radio! They want us to relocate to Tango, Three.” He reported, so far the job was simple.
“Move out Eaglet.” She ordered, as the Squad slowly progressed into the ravaged city. It was not evident if anyone had ever lived there before, but if it did, the inhabitants emptied the city fully of anything worthwhile.
As they began their entrance into the city, the other two troopers introduced themselves as Johnson and Clarke. The three of them, the fourth being Sachem, were a Fire-Team from a Trooper Squad - they were here for a combat re-certification.
As they walked towards the Grid Code, Sachem continued to monitor the channels - the entire way of their thirty-minute walk.
****
When they arrived at the coordinates, something seemed off. It was an empty courtyard.
[[Eaglet Squad, Begin.]] Sachem heard. “Ma’am, they called out for us and just said ‘begin’. What does that mean?”
“No idea. Keep alert.” Brahnx said.
They wandered to the middle of the courtyard, and were completely confused. There was nothing - no orders, no people, no data-chips - it was empty. Clarke began to scope out the area, looking for a good vantage point, when he saw something. A shiny object was moving towards them, he grabbed his rifle. “Ma’am, target sighted to the Northwest!”
Just then, blaster fire began to reign down upon them, they were under attack from all sides by a large number of training droids. “Cover!” She yelled, as they all dove for some type of cover.
Sachem had a few blasts graze the size of him; he had narrowly escaped injury. He grabbed his blaster pistol, and awaited orders. As the rest of Eaglet began to return fire, he did the same. He took the most precise shots he could, without making himself open to the droids. They were able to take out a good number of the droids, but they just kept coming. There was no chance for them, but they would continue to try. Brahnx took a hit to the shoulder, and fell to the ground.
“Sarith!” Clarke yelled as he ran over to her.
“I’m okay,” She said, “this is not going to work. We can’t take them all out.”
“I estimate over one hundred in this courtyard. You’re right, we can’t get them all.”
“Damnit.” Pinned down, and outmatched, they needed support. “O’Neill, Radio for artillery, danger close!” Brahnx yelled over as she crouched in cover.
“Yes Ma’am!” He yelled, as he fiddled with his WristComm to get on the proper channel. All he could hear was static, the radio frequencies were being jammed, - and they were cut off from everything but short range Com-Links.
Then it hit him, the Multinode device had surface to orbital ability and he could use it to get the message out to command. He grabbed it off his belt, and saw a horrible truth. When he thought that blaster fire came close to him - it did. The stun charges from the droids had damaged the Multinode device, they had likely fried it the entire device - it would be of no use to them.
“Ma’am, the radios are jammed and the satellite device is damaged!”
“Frak!” She said to herself as she looked around. However, she had an idea - a plan "B.” “What about that shuttle-port here? Would it have what we need to get a call out?”
“Maybe? ....” Sachem thought, “I can try!” He proclaimed.
“Good enough for me, Clarke and I will provide cover! Johnson, go with him!”
Brahnx and Clarke began to provide cover for Sachem, he some of his grabbed his gear and headed for the nearby spaceport. It was a quick and dangerous run across the road to get to the doors. He got there, only to find that the doors were sealed shut. Johnson took his E-11 and shot the door’s lock off; it was no longer an issue. Johnson then took cover behind a crate near the door.
“I will provide cover from here, you get that damn uplink!” Johnson yelled.
“Copy.” Sachem said as he went for the Communications room.
The door to the room slid open; this room was the exact opposite of the room back at the Academy. This room, however, was outdated, cold, and dark. It was nothing like the rooms that he had visited previously. It did not appear to be a classroom, a testing room, or even a lecture hall. He grabbed two flares, ignited them, and tossed them into the room. The illumination gave him the ability to see what he had to work with, very old technology. The first problem was that the systems had no power source connected to them.
He walked over to what he saw as the main power relay, and saw where a cell should be. However, there was no power cell in sight. “Damn it!” He yelled, smacking the Multinode off the casing to the main relay. “Wait. That’s it!” Sachem said, as he broke the Multinode open and removed its power cell. “Hopefully it’s enough!” He said, as he inserted the cell and flipped the power switch. Nothing happened immediately, though that was because it was outdated and took time to boot.
[[O’Neill, how are we looking? We are getting short on ammunition!]] Brahnx questioned.
“Ma’am, Systems are booting up, I’ll report on it in two minutes.”
[[Excellent!]]
Sachem hoped for success, she was counting on it. The system booted, it was so outdated that the encryption keys used on standard Imperial communication nodes were not on it. He began to type in to the terminal to get an up-link established. After less than a minute, he had found the built in utility to communicate with the satellites nearby. Searching for a one bearing VE IFF tags was not difficult either. He chose the first Military satellite with the best signal, and attempted to connect to it.
[[O’Neil, give me a sit-rep!]] Brahnx yelled.
“Connecting now...” he began, as the connection as the system attempted to connect - without success. Connection refused. Ma’am, the station’s ID has been deactivated - it cannot connect.”
[[Damnit! Okay. We are pulling back to the spaceport. We cannot afford to stay out here anymore. Do anything you can to get a channel open.]]
“Ma’am, if I can try to use this equipment to change the ID...”
[[I do not care what you do! Just get a message out!]]
“Yes, Ma’am!” He said, as he went to work.
The main frequencies were being jammed, and the encrypted ones were simplex - he could only listen. He needed to change the Security ID code of the Spaceport’s systems, and make it identical to his handheld equipment - then it would be able to communicate. It would be impossible to transfer the SID code from one device to another; even older devices had them burned into the main circuitry.
“Wait.” Sachem thought to himself, as he had that idea. “If I can wire the satellite system as the transmitter for the WristComm... this might work,” He said, as he broke open a panel on the Satellite main board. He then opened the casing to his WristComm. There was a section inside for attaching an external antenna, which would be the ticket. He would wire the WristComm, to the Satellite system as an antenna - as far as the WristComm knew - and the Satellite system would transmit it as regular data.
He needed something to attach the wires. Looking for his equipment, he realized that had no tools. He had forgotten them outside when the squad was ambushed. Thinking quickly, he grabbed his Sonic Screwdriver and put the charge on full - he overloaded the power levels. With a single usage, he forced a wire down to the board of the WristComm. The Sonic Screwdriver sparked, and powered down - it was no longer any use. “God I love these things.” He said, as he attempted to Transmit.
He began “This is Eaglet, location Tango Three. We are pinned down and need immediate support!”
There was silence on the line, and then a voice came on, [[Eaglet, this is not an approved channel.]]
“Our equipment was damaged; this is the only channel we have.”
[[Alright, I will need to conduct ID Challenge. Code-in: Sparrow.]]
“What?”
[[Your response?]] The voice said, waiting for an answer.
Using his HeadComm only, he called to Brahnx. “Ma’am, I got through to someone; but they are doing an ID challenge and I do not kn...” He began, as she walked in.
“Excellent work, I will talk to them.” She said, as she walked over to the comm device.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Sachem said, taking a step back.
“Response: Hawkeye.” Sarith said into the comm unit.
[[Code approved. What is the situation, Eaglet?]]
“I am requesting fire support at Tango Three, Danger Close. We are held up in the abandoned spaceport.”
The man went silent, presumably seeking approval. [[Request approved. Fire support is on its way. Ordnance impact eta in two minutes, if possible clear the area.]]
She jumped on her com-link to the Squad. “Seal the main door and get away, fire-support inbound!”
****
Artillery rained down upon the field of droids, now they saw firsthand the city's use. The city was designed for a difficult scenario, where the Squad would have to make do with what they were provided and find a solution. The mission was harder for them than intended, the solution was supposed to be that the Communication Technician uses a Surface to Orbital device to call for an Orbital Strike on the droids.
After the blasts had ended, Eaglet squad exited the Spaceport. They could hear the sounds of an engine headed towards them, it made them nervous - they did not know what it is.
[[Eaglet, this is Phantom. Extraction LAAT is inbound, touchdown at Tango-Three in one minute.]] He heard, over his HeadComm.
“Ma’am! Extraction craft inbound.”
“Good,” She started, “It’s time to call it a day.”
The LAAT touched down in the rubble pile of droids, Eaglet boarded, and they were off. It was a slightly shorted trip back then it was getting there. The entire way Sachem ran it all through his head, trying to find out how he could have better handled the situation - how he could have resolved the technical issues better.
“O’Neill.” Brahnx said.
“Ma’am!” She replied.
“Good work today, you held your own - even as a rookie. You should work out fine.” She said.
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- Edited. 2,939 Words
