"Rogue, kill the guy and make it hasty," muttered Aeos slightly aghast noticing the struggle between the two opponents. The veteran soldier grunted through the Comm-Link as he snapped the losing opponents neck.
"For a sergeant you don't seem much into killing people." muttered Rogue as he squinted his eyes to see if his sight was improving.
Squall chuckled at Rogue's comment.
"Okey, lets move,"
Rogue managed to recognize the silhouette of the generator and hauled it over his shoulder.

"We are not moving fast enough," muttered Aeos slightly worried while Squall's finger triggered the A-280 multiple times around them when another wave of enemy troopers attacked. They were still stuck in the same trench, and more soldiers appeared from the snowy fog targeting them.
Aeos and Rogue simultaneously had the E-Web set up and within what seemed like seconds.

The next actions passed in a haze. Rogue's sprained ankle were something of the past as he ripped loose on the enemy. Within moments the waves stopped. While Aeos and Rogue managed to strap the equipment back on their backs, Squall was meanwhile cautiously inspecting the grounds up ahead. When it was deemed safe, the threesome made another run for what seemed like the last trench.

"Rogue, how's your sight?" asked Aeos swinging the Web into aim.
Rogue grunted again and squinted his eyes.
"Nothing to worry about, seeing shadows in  the shadowy thingies. Now focus up ahead."
He rapped his knuckles across her helmet out of habit earning another chuckle from Squall and an unseen glare from Aeos.

The clear space above their heads served as a small relieve for the three troopers as they set up the E-Web for what they hoped was the last trench. Squall peaked from around the trench, this small action only triggered another round of blaster-bolts and a new wave of stormtroopers.
 
-----------------------
TRP/SGT_Aeos/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][ES2C][CoR]
'Raiders' Wiki Page'

Raiders

CGEMPIRE

Raiders

  Damnit, we could just about use that E-Web now! Thought Leon while popping off a few more rounds at the enemy. Another one of Thrawns attack teams were now inbound on the Raiders position. They could not afford to waste any time, and needed to take that fourth trench now or never. To Leon's relief, Darr-Rann was thinking the same thing.

"Squall, what's the hold up? We need that E-Web now!" Said Darr-Rann with a hint of aggravation in his voice.

"Were trying to reach you sir, but the enemy is spreading too much fire. Do you mind giving us some cover?"

"Not at all. But get over here ASAP, Thrawns forces are growing stronger and we can't afford to waste any more time," Darr said, pausing for a second before continuing. "You guys ready?" He then said looking at the four troopers that remained in the trench. But before any of them could say yes, he stuck his rifle out of the trench, and started firing at the oncoming forces.

The rest of the squad followed suit, adding there own fire to the display of fireworks. Leon ducked, dodged, and returned fire for what seemed a life time. He finally heard foot steps approaching from behind, and new that that was the rest of the squad. Leon couldn't help but notice how smooth Aeos made everything look. She even ran with style, which Leon didn't know could be possible. Rogueboy on the other hand, had a little bit of trouble getting into the trench, and almost got his head blown off. But thanks to a clumsy mistake, he tripped right before the bolt hit him, whizzing harmlessly over head. Squall followed behind, and quickly joined the action, making things less difficult.

Darr-Rann jogged over to the trio, his head held low so that he wouldn't get hit by the oncoming fire. "Get that E-Web hooked up pronto, the faster it's done, the sooner we get out of this frozen dump."

"Already on it Sarge, expect to see this baby up and running in a couple of seconds," replied Rogueboy with a cocky manner.

Yea, easier said then done.

 
-----------------------
Raiders
May god have mercy upon my enemies, for I will show none.
TRP/LCP Leon/3SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA
And so we go.
I am the one...The one who made the 100,000 post.

Jelly and Typex came back with a dirty, but working heat unit.  Typex, said, "They didn't have much of a selection, the sales clerk said this was the best one they had."

Riqimo rolled his eyes iunder his helmet and took it to begin wiring the new system to Phenix's stormtrooper suit.  Meanwhile, the squad had to start defending the trench they were in, as the destruction of the tower had attracted a few Thrawn squads.  Once Riiqmo got the unit working he threw a blanket over Phenix and picked up his carbine.

"Guy with a grenade at three o'clock!" RK shouted over the battle, causing all the Eclipse troopers to concentrate fire on that trooper.  Luckily the grenade was not thrown, nor was the pin even pulled for that matter.
"Why didn't we bring any grenades?" Jelly shouted in fustration.
"We weren't given them," Garet snapped back, "Keep shooting!"

The battle was not going well at all and Phenix was still down, which prevented the squad from giving up the trench and retreating.  Riqimo glanced over to his left, their swoops were parked there about 400 meters out.  The swoops and Jag's "borrowed" military speeder, that would certainly be a help.  Unfortunately there was no way that Riqimo was going to make it without getting seriously injured or worse dur to his snowtrooper armor.

RK came over the com link, "They are in the south section of the trench!"
Jelly pulled out his vibro-blade and called out, "Coming, you guys stop them here."

After what seemed like hours, but was really fifteen minutes, Eclipse had emerged yet again the victor of near impossible odds.

"This has got to stop," Riqimo muttered to himself, but he knew that the assault would not end anytime soon, especially with phase two beginning.

Phenix was starting to wake again, unaware of what the squad just went through.  Jelly left for a little bit to loot the enemy soldiers' equipment.  He came back with two grenades for everyone, "This should hopefully even up the odds, as well, I got three shotguns and a few flashbangs."

Garet decided to assign the shotguns to himself, RK, and Jag.
"But I found them," Jelly pouted.
"But you have a vibro-blade and a blaster pistol, you will be fine in the tight hallways of the base."
 
-----------------------
EclipseSquad


TRP/LCP Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA     Imperial Baronet

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to war we go, we'll find some Rebels or lose our marbles, hi ho, hi ho

Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.

Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.

"Aeos, set?"
"Yes, yes, your eyes?"
Rogue threw a thumb-up in her direction.
"Just a bit blurred,"
Rogue turned to Darr-Rann.
"We are ready, when you are,"
Giving an affirmative nod Darr-Rann turned his head. The fourth and final trench lied ahead of them, barely visible through the hazy fog. Aeos sighed, and took her helmet off. Even though her helmet allowed her easy access to oxygen, she despised it. She took a deep breath, causing her to gasp at the icy air. The few snowflakes that got stuck in her hair disappeared quickly when she slipped her helmet on.

"Anytime now Darr," muttered Squall impatiently. Darr-Rann sighed and dropped his head for a few moments before turning it back to the squad.
"Okay, Leon, you stay here as backup with Aeos and Rogue. You trio will cover our asses while we get that last trench."

A muttering of agreeing grunts sounded through the Comm-Links. For now they could afford time, if only a little bit. While Darr-Rann and the rest of the Raiders with the exception of E-Web handlers readied themselves, Aeos took the time to close her eyes for a second. Even though her amour was heating her body and protecting it, she felt oddly cold and slightly dizzy. Shaking her head she pulled her self together in a crouching stance next to the Web.

"You okey?" asked Rogue as she almost fell to the side. He gently caught her shoulder and pushed her upright.
"Yeah, just need a good dose of adrenaline and I should be good, think the small rest break is a bit much," she muttered grinning. Up front Darr-Rann just left their small haven of security into the blaze to the trench.
Aeos was manning the Web this time, while Rogue scanned the area inch by inch for any sign of enemy life with a microbinocular.
"Aeos, sharp left. Shoot."
Silently Aeos swung the E-Web to the left and peered through the scope. Rogue crawled over to the generator which was about a meter and a half away. With the pull of a trigger the air was alive with battle as blaster-bolts decorated the misty skies. Darr-Rann and his team still remained unseen by the enemy, their focus momentarily distracted by the E-Web. Leon was crouched behind them with one knee on the ground, the other one propped up to support his A-280.

Darr-Rann's work of cleaning the trench seemed to be handled well enough by the E-Web. All seemed well, till a cry from Leon jerked both Rogue and Aeos' attention away from the E-Web.
Three enemy troopers has crept up from behind, and two of them has gotten hold of Leon. He's body were still as they clubbed him with what seemed like vibronets to Aeos. His helmet was loosing its resistance, and it seemed impossible that a person's face would be able to fit in it. The remaining enemy trooper was firing his pistol wildly, as Rogue ducked towards them. No one noticed one of the blasts hitting the generator at the side. Suddenly the pistol landed in perfect aim at Rogue's head rendering him in  a useless and hopeless position.

"Rogue duck!" Yelled Aeos through her Comm-Link. Rogue not hesitating for a second did as ordered and Aeos managed to swing the E-Web around. The three enemies dropped to the ground within seconds, blood splattering from the bodies as the bolts teared through the amour into the flesh.

Aeos lifted the trigger momentarily only to swing the E-Web back to its original focus on the trench.
"Check Leon, I'll manage,"
Rogue turned his attention to the unconscious trooper for further examination.

"It looks bad, I won't be surprised, if he is rendered in a coma," muttered Rogue, as he managed to break parts of the helmet away.

"I need to shut the E-Web down, it will overheat soon, and I lost sight of Darr-Rann," Aeos said worried.
"Darr-Rann, this is Aeos, Leon is down an-"
The two conscious troopers failed to notice the smoke emitting from the generator, each busy and distracted by their own battle. Rogue's focus did not leave Leon's head, and Aeos trying to find Darr-Rann while keeping the enemy at bay.

Aeos, lifted her finger from the trigger and glanced to the side where Rogue and Leon were. Heavy black smoke oozed from the generator, and it didn't take a second to notice this.
"Rogue,  we need to get away....now," Rogue turned his head to her and followed her gaze to the smoke. His eyes widened. He quickly got up and slung the injured teenager with ease over his shoulders. Aeos followed quickly.

Their hasty escape was too late and an explosion soon coursed through the ground with a trembling force while the air was engulfed with fire momentarily. Aeos vaguely remembers Rogue's hand across her back pushing her hard down and sharp pain pounding her head and arms.

-----------------------
TRP/SGT_Aeos/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][ES2C][CoR]
'Raiders' Wiki Page'

Raiders

CGEMPIRE

Raiders

Rogueboy opened his eyes he was lying on something solid but he couldn't tell what it was, suddenly the object let off a soft moan of pain and Rogue realized it was Aeos he rolled off of her and checked her for any major injuries. Thankfully there were none just a scrape on her forehead, and her armour was chipped in various spots. Rogueboy realized that certain parts of his armour had been burned away and part of it had melted leaving burning welts into his back. Rogue felt groggy and on top of his blurry vision he had one massive migraine, all of a sudden he remembered that Leon was on his shoulder before the blast.

Rogue looked around for Leon in the trench but it was hard to find him amongst all the other dead snowtroopers, finally Rogue found a trooper with a cracked helmet, he rolled him over and started pulling off the helmet slowly without trying to cut deeper into Leon's smashed face Rogue than checked his pulse.

"This is Rogue, Leon is hit pretty bad his face is screwed up."

Rogue tore off pieces of a nearby fallen snowtroopers cape and began applying pressure to Leon's face. Darr came over on the comm.

"I'm requesting for a med evac now. This is Sergeant Darr-Rann calling for a med evac for an unconscious trooper, Eagle One I repeat we have a downed trooper."

Rogue dragged Leon to where Aeos was slowly getting her bearings, as Rogue was dragging Leon he heard a responding voice to Darr's request.

"This is Eagle One, sorry Sergeant but we have been ordered not to enter the battle zone, it is simply to hot down there. If you can bring your trooper to this point." A circle formed on Rogue's HUD which read MED EVAC. "We can get him out without risking ourselves."

"Rogue this is your call, do you think you could get Leon there? And be back in time for a picture of us busting Vaynus and his Rodian lapdog?"

Darr's voice crackled over the intercom and Rogue wanted nothing more than to shoot him.

What the hell is wrong with Darr? He shouldn't be putting Leon's life in my hands.

"Uhh....I don't think so Darr, I can lug Leon along with us if needs be, especially since I don't have to carry the generator along with us."

"But that would reduce your effectiveness."

"Well at least I'm extra protected."

Rogue tried to make a joke out of the situation, not because he thought it was funny, but that's how he handles stress, either make a joke or kill someone.

"Oh, Rogue before I forget while you were napping we cleaned out the final trench and are in pursuing any stragglers, their making a run for the research facility so meet us at this location. We're meeting up with Eclipse and Dark Dragoons"

Rogue's HUD flashed signifying the rendezvous point.
 
-----------------------
Raiders
Faithful To The End
He will give them death, and they will love him for it -Gladiator

TRP/CPL_Rogueboy/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR][ES-FirstClass][CDS]

RK looked across the horizon, his mind was racing, the wound that Riqimo had just recently patched up was hurting like hell. He shrugged the pain off, looking over at Phenix he realized what being close to death was really like, his was more of a fight. Then he thought of his family back home, he was growing homesick during these wars, but there was no turning back.

Riqimo was walking towards RK, probably to check out his wounds , and to see if everythin was alright, but instead they chated. "So how ya doing?" RK looked at the recruit, he was never one to welcome new people into a squad, he always wanted to do things his way.

"Fine, other than the fact I am a little shaken up from all that." RK was scared, after he woke up Jelly had made some jokes about his girlfriend, Rachel, come to find out he had said her name a couple time when he was out, after tha experience he realized how much she really meant to him. "So, you thinking aobut opening a hopsital, I hear doctor's make good money now-a-days , we could really use you back at base."

"Nah, I think I will stay here, this place is like family. A second family." Riqi stopped talking for a while, either he didn't take RK's joke to lightly or he was hurting.

"I guess your right, we need more brave people like you, I know I couldn't pick up a sringe witout puking my guts out first." Riqi laughed at that, whatever was wrong must have passed by, but RK knew the hurt was still deep down inside.

"Well, better go check up on the rest of my patients, A doctors work is never done." Riqimo got up and headed over to Phenix, he was breathing stable now, but he was still a little dazed out.

He took a quick look around at all his squad mates, his hotheaded personality always kept him some what distanced from the others, but it never stopped them from interacting with him. He stopped to look at Garet, the leader, he was standing above Phenix while Riqimo looked him over. The SL had always tried to help RK when he needed it the most, but RK just shrugged him off. Now though he understood. This place is like a Family, though we all have are differences.

He reached downo to pull a picture of his family out of his belt, a little torn from the battle, but still noticable, he looked at it, his face turning pale, he missed them he was sure they missed him. His dad had died serving the VE, now it was RK's turn to avenge his father's death, partly why he joined the Ve.
Slipping the picture back in his belt he took one last glance to see his Girlfriend and sister, then slipping it the rest of the way into his belt.

He looked up to see what looked like imperial stormtroopers coming towards them just above the horizon, it looked like they were on foot, snow flying as they hurried along towards the same spot they were at. "Sir, Stormtroopers coming in, fast." RK got up. Your not going to get away this time. with that RK took aim.
 
-----------------------
Jester Squad

TRP/LCPL
RK/1SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [ES] [2nd Class]

" I am the best at what I do. Only what i do isn't very nice." - Wolverine


"I have wept over to many graves." -Magneto, God loves, Man kills.

"Sir, Stormtroopers coming in, fast." RK called out to the squad.

"Wait hold your fire, they aren't shooting," Garet ordered.

"It's Raiders!" Jelly called out, the squad gave a sigh of relief, finally some support.

"Riqimo get over here now! Leon needs some treatment," One of them called out, Riqimo jumped up and counted the snowtroopers motioning for him to hurry, they were missing two...

Riq saw Leon up ahead with another trooper on his knees next to him.

"What happened?" Riq asked.
"He got clunked pretty bad on the head," Darr-Rann responded showing a dented helmet
"Okay, he's been running much?"
"Yeah, we all have."

Riq started pulling out his medkit yet again, and prepared a medium dosage of Enerlorij Stimulant.

"This is gonna sting," Riq told Leon, and then turned to the squad, he'll be fine for the rest of the battle as long as he doesn't jump into blaster fire or something."

Darr asked Leon if he was okay, but Leon just slurred back a response that Riq could not quite hear through his helmet.

"He lost his memory..." Rogue grinned.

Riq quickly realized what he had just done, "Uh, The hit probably did that, although he should rember his name at least... err, I must have given him too high a dosage as well, I think, I didn't know his blood sugar levels and had to guess them.  He'll get his memory back in a few days that the stimulant washed out... but he probably won't remember what ever the hit took out except for some fragments.  Other than that, he should be fine, just watch for what may look like sugar highs."

With that, Riqimo turned back to his squad.

"He alright?" Jelly asked.
"Yeah, just not gonna be thinking for himself.  Anyways, we know what our target is inside the base?"
Garet answered, "Well, no, but Typex thinks we should hit the Communications, he should be able to jam their entire network, even their squad channels.  That will put things in our advantage.  Also they will not be able to coordinate with their fleet overhead to make some sort of orbital bombardment."

-----------------------
EclipseSquad


TRP/LCP Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA     Imperial Baronet

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to war we go, we'll find some Rebels or lose our marbles, hi ho, hi ho

Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.

Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy's fate.

Raiders

Leon took another slow robotic like step. His eyes were pointed forward, and were slightly glazed, giving him the effect as if he were staring off into deep space. But inside his head, everything was spinning wildly and it was hard to keep focus, a black spot obscuring his vision every once and a while. Slowly but surely though, Leon could start to feel the pain dim, and his vision was starting to come into focus. It became easier to walk now, no longer feeling like he was going to topple over. In no time, Leon could walk at a normal pace, and the pain in his head had subsided to a dull ache, nothing more.

Leon turned his gaze onto a man and woman, who were eating some kind of energy bar. The man then looked up, his eyes drifting lazily around until they landed on Leon. A look of surprise shot across his face, and he ran over to Leon.

"Jeez Leon, you're a mess, you took quite the beating there. How you feeling now?"

Leon just stared at the man, his face blank. This man seemed strangely familiar to Leon, but he didn't know from where. Many of the people here looked familiar to Leon, but he couldn't remember from where he had met or seen them. Leon opened his mouth and then spoke.

"I'm o-ok. Just a l-little head ache," stuttered Leon. Leon was surprised at how deep his voice was, and he could barely understand what he was saying himself. His words were slurred, and even though he talked low, his voice could be heard because of the bass in it.

The woman that he was sitting with ran up to him, and pulled him aside.

"Rogue, something's wrong with Leon. We think he's lost his memory, and hopefully, only for a short period of time. I suggest we leave him alone for now, he needs some time to think."

With that, the two of them walked away, returning back to where all the others were stationed. The man cast a longing look at Leon, and then turned away, his head down.
Leon didn't know what to think of this, and didn't really care. No thoughts ran through his head, his mind was dead. He was too tired to think, and his head felt as it weighed a ton. And for the first time that day, Leon realized that he was in the snow. Snow flakes danced all around him, almost making them seem alive. The snow beneath him was powdery, his leg sinking in the knee deep snow.

Leon had the urge all of a sudden to stick out his tongue and let the Snow Flakes fall onto it. He pointed his face up towards the sky, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to stare into the blinding white sky, and stuck his tongue out.

Destroy every enemy and don't die

 
-----------------------
Raiders
May god have mercy upon my enemies, for I will show none.
TRP/LCP Leon/3SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA
And so we go.
I am the one...The one who made the 100,000 post.

"Sir!"

Vaynus glanced up one of his young officers came skidding through the door into the small plush interview room in which he and the mercenary Fro-Ja were seated.

"What is it?" He snapped, not bothering to mask his irritation. Despite his request to be given an hour or so of privacy with the increasingly confused rodian, he was constantly being interrupted to be informed of the details of the battle outside.

"I'm incredibly sorry to interrupt sir," The officer stammered, sweat shining beneath his peak cap, "But the VE forces have broken through the defensive screen and are en-route to base."

"What!" Vaynus's breath hissed through his teeth as he came to his feet, "You informed me earlier that we were substantially prepared for whatever they would throw at us!"

"Well, yes sir," The officer stammered, "But they're fighting like madmen out there." His gaze flicked over to the bug eyed alien opposite the commodore, "Whatever he knows must be important."

"And is not your concern." Vaynus growled, his usually calm composure forgotten in the face of the news, "How far away are they?"

The officer straightened, struggling to maintain the appropriate demeanor, "Two squads have already destroyed the perimeter guard towers, and another two squads, one with mechs, are less than ten minutes away."

Vaynus took a deep breath, and attempted to calm himself. Turning to his guest, who was looking on rather bemusedly, he spoke calmly, "My apologies Fro-Ja, but it seems as though we will have to finish this debriefing on board the Halberd"

The rodian waved out his green skinned hands, letting out a stream of aggravated gibberish in his native language. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes skywards, Vaynus turned to the other person in the room, a diminutive human translator, "What did he say?"

"He said that getting on your ship was not part of the deal," The translator responded, "He says that you insult his intelligence by suggesting such a move, as once he is onboard the Halberd he believes he will become nothing more than a prisoner."

Vaynus clenched his jaw, "Fro-Ja, if we remain here we risk falling into the hands of the Vast Empire, and they will treat you with far less hospitality than I'm offering. I give you my word that no harm shall come to you on board my ship."

The rodian stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then let of a series of high pitched noises, a clear imitation of human laughter.

"I believe Mr Fro-Ja finds the concept of Imperial honor very amusing," The translator offered dourly, his eyes flicking sleepily to the Commodore.

"We don't have time for this," Vaynus snapped, gesturing at the two Stormtrooper's standing on guard near the door. Fro-Ja's laughter halted as they stood forwards and seized each of his arms, preventing him from reaching for any of the various weapons littered over his body.  Spitting out another stream of insults in rodese, Fro-Ja could do nothing but squirm helplessly against the strength of the troopers as they carried him out of the room and towards a containment area.

"Ready my ship," Vaynus commanded briskly, "We're getting off planet now."

"Uh, sir," The officer cleared his throat, "Unfortunately all the ships in the hanger have been neutralized by a VE black ops squad."

Vaynus halted mid step, feeling the color drain from his face, "What?"

"We've already contacted the Halberd," The officer informed him, "They have a shuttle and adequate protection on its way. We can't initiate a ground strike on the VE forces however, as we still have men scattered out there."

The commodore hesitated before answering, immediately discarding the option of ordering the ground strike despite the risk to his men. He was not an officer who would lay down the lives of his loyal troopers just to save his own.  The shuttle on its way was his only option until he reached the safety of the destroyer,

"Contact the Halberd," He told the officer, "Tell them to launch additional air units. The VE might breach the facility, but we're not letting them leave Illum in one piece."

The officer snapped to attention, "Yessir."

*        *        *        *        *        *

"Transmission incoming."

Kami glanced up from where she was crouched over the revived Urakai, "Who from?"

"The Colonel," Sam answered, "It's for you."

Coming to her feet, Kami walked across the metal grated floor of the Dragoons remaining tank and stood before the small screen on the main console as it flickered, then flashed to life.

"Kami," Rizzit's eyebrows were furrowed, "Bad news. The Halberd has launched ties to sweep the system. No matter where we move too, it will only be a short matter of time before they find us."

Kami's eyes narrowed. Vaynus had reacted typically to the threat, offering the VE a choice. Pursue him and risk utter destruction, or return to the shuttles and flee with what remained of their forces.

"We can't leave, not now," Sam interjected, his words echoing Kami's thoughts.

"No, we can't." Rizzit declined his head in agreement, "We've come this far."

And we will take out Vaynus and Fro-Ja even if it kills us... Kami finished the sentence silently.

"This just gives us a tighter frame to work with," Rizzit continued, "Contact the others, designate targets and get to Vaynus and Fro-Ja. Try to take them alive, as both will be extremely helpful in tacking down the informant within the VE network." The Colonel hesitated, "Good luck out there. Hope we see you soon."

The transmission cut off, returning the screen to black.

Kami turned to Sam, her expression resolute, "We're ramming that gate."

Her squad leader didn't bother to object, simply pressing his foot down on the accelerator as they closed on the research facilities position.

**Alright guys, Phase Two is here. Check the Scenario Outline for details**
 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

PA/GSG_Kami/2SQD/1PLT/1XOM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][CoR][IG][GCA][BC]
|| DJK Dark Jedi Order || Krath || Vast Empire ||
-=Surrender to your darkest dreams, and you'll live as you've never lived before=-
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

   



He pushed through the rubble.  Even with the little strength he had left, he managed to get through.  The smoking heap of debris that was once the hanger was visible above ground.  A large block of steel debris suddenly moved, being pushed aside.  A hand rose out, extending into an arm which bent forward.  The hand felt around, grasping loose debris, trying to get a hold of a grounded object.  It was in a black glove, part of it torn off.  Finally, it grasped onto a rock, pulling hard on it.  There was a sound of strain as the hand pulled harder.

    Eventually, the rest of the body got out.  The man stood up, wiping off all the dust from his armor.  His black storm commando armor had lost it's shine, now coated with dust and blood.  His helmet was dented on the right.  The man stumbled around, his legs completely weak.  The back part of his armor was gone, some was torn off, the rest burned.  His naked back was black from soot and ash.  The man stumbled around a few more times, at last falling to his knees.  He took off his helmet, his hair was short and spiked, blonde in color.  He was unusually pale as well.  An exhale came finally, the warm air rushed out of his mouth and met the frigid air of the atmosphere.  His lips were black from the cold, his fingers and limbs were numb.  Blinking several times, he at last kept his eyes open longer, his emerald green pupils roamed around, staring at the debris covered snow on which he had stayed on.

    He paused for a minute then put his helmet on, re-entering a quiet thermo-sensing visional world.  The man switched off the thermo sight on his helmet, returning back to his own vision.  His hands roamed around his belt, retrieving his micro-binoculars.  Placing up, keeping it parallel to his eyes, he gazed out into the distance.  The man scoped around, finally returning back to one spot.  He zoomed in and focused.  They had gotten pretty far already.  He zoomed further, getting a closer look at the squad of storm commandoes.  They were heading for the next underground passage, leading to the command center, he assumed.  Laughing and goofing off on their way there, they didn't seem at all like a military squad.  The man knew better though.  These VE soldiers were the same ones who slayed his entire squad moments before.  He never underestimated the forces of the Vast Empire.  But he loathed them.  He hated every single one of them with a passion.  His soul burned with rage as memories flowed into his brain.

   
    "Sir, you are dismissed!"

    "But!" the young trooper began to complain.  He never got to finish, two big burly men grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out of the office.  He tried to fight back, kicking his feet furiously.  From a distance, he looked like a fish, caught in a net, flailing desperately and hopelessly.  The trooper was thrown into his squad barracks.  He fell onto the ground, looking up a the two men.

    "Pack your bags, you have until tommorow.  There will be a shuttle waiting for you," said one of the men, in a deep tone.  The young adult looked up at the man, as if ready to kill him.  The men chuckled.  "Be glad we're letting you live.  You don't deserve to live after what you did."
    "But!  I was framed!"  The trooper yelled, almost in a whiney tone.  It was hopeless and he knew it.  The men ignored him and left.  The door fell into place eventually, leaving the boy all alone.  It took him several hours to move.  For the first couple of hours, he just stood there, staring at the door.  As if mesmerized, he just stared on, a angry look on his face.  At last, he stood up, his blond hair shook a bit as he did.  He walked to his room with a lack of energy.  He opened the door, retrieving his stuff. 

    Days later, he found himself on the shuttle, being sent back to his home planet for small scale treachery.  He was framed but no one would believe him.  It was just lucky he was still alive.  Had it been for his friends pulling some strings for him, he would've been dead days hours ago.  There was still something left in life, he guessed.  Believing that there was a reason why everyone was born, he would spend the rest of his life, surviving at all costs, trying to find out why he was put in this world.  He joined Thrawn's forces later.  He had been invited to join due to the fact that his brother was already in it.



    The man fixed his helmet.  It was loose and tattered, though the man didn't seem to care.  He started to walk, ignoring the cold.  Unhindered by the snow, he moved quickly towards the Wraith, determined to kill.

    "So anyways, she never heard from me again."  Yillis chuckled as Snipes finished his story.  Talstorin smiled, walking behind them, dead in back of the squad.  The blizzard had subsided, the snow reduced to gentle falling flurries, though they were still plentiful.  When the squad returned above ground, they found most of Thrawn's forces occupied, their turrets and towers destroyed.  Seeing no point in sneaking around, which was especially hard with the frigid weather, the squad had decided to walk all the way to the next underground tunnel.  They were almost there, and from there they would attempt to infiltrate the command center. 

    Arnaut looked at his map, the map updating their current location as the squad moved.  They had just received orders to capture Fro-ja and Vaynus.  He walked along, staying in the very front, Draken right behind him.  Leth and Yoder were talking amongst themselves, the same for Snipes, Yillis and Talstorin. 

    "I love this snow," Talstorin said, smiling inside his helmet.

    "I don't.  It's horrible.  Beaches.  Hot Beaches.  THAT'S my favorite place!" Snipes responded quickly.  He shook his head.  He hated this place, of all places for a mission, it had to be here.  The squad treaded on, finally walking down a slope in the snow.  They wandered inwards until they were beneath the ground.  Another underground tunnel, and this one leading to the mother load of security.  This is going to be a fun finisher. Arnaut thoughts came up with those words as he descended.

__________   

    The officer approached another officer in a small room located in the command center.  The officer that had walked in was shorter and much younger than the other one, making it obvious that he was off a lower rank.  The older one spoke.

    "Has Delta Squad reported back yet?"

    "No, we've lost signal with them.  It is possible they've been killed."

    "How?  They are one of our best trained squads.  They'll be back, I have trust in them."  The younger one responded with a nod. 

    "Are they that good?"

    The old man looked at the younger one, staring down, giving a look that seemed to say, "Are you kidding me?"  He cleared his throat and began his answer.  "They are only below Delta 2 in skills when it comes to their job, special operations.  They are being lead by one of the most talented soldiers we have.  They will take out the VE squad.  I'm sure of it."

    Unconvinced, the younger one went to the back of the room, accessing the database.  He looked up Delta Squad's squad leader background.  The old man continued to stare out the window, not budging an inch.  There was a long silence and when the younger officer finally walked back, his face was twisted in surprise.

    "He's. . .quite a man.  And he's been in the Vast  Empire before?"

    The older officer nodded.  "Discharged, for reasons that were not his fault.  But now he has a hate for them, something that comes to our advantage."  The younger officer chuckled, nodding along in agreement. 

"Shall we wait longer then?" asked the younger officer at last.

    To his surprise, the older officer answered in a different way than was expected.  "No.  Give Delta 2 orders to move out and guard the command center."  The younger officer backed up, confused.

    "I thought you had trust in Delta."

    "I do, but I've been commanding for several years now.  And I know, you can't base moves on trust of assumption.  If something is not certain, don't count on it.  A flawless plan  is part of the art of war."

    The younger officer nodded and ran out of the room, ready to pass on these orders.  The door shut silently and the officer sat down.  He had a bad feeling about this.
_______
    Leth hugged himself, rubbing his shoulders as he tried to stay warm.  The other's were doing the same.  Arnaut was absorbed into the datapad, getting more nervous with each step.  They were almost near the vicinity of the command center.  Arnaut had tried to think of many infiltration plans though so far, all of them were too risky.  He wanted to finish this mission with no casualties, as always.  He stopped suddenly, the rest of the squad stopped behind him. 

    "Tnepres, go back a few turns.  Make sure no one is near or following us.  Yoder, do a small scout forwards, don't go too forward though."  The two nodded at the squad leader's orders, leaving immediately.  Talstorin walked along the icy path, comfortable in the snow.  Surprisingly, he liked the cold and found it refreshing.  Of course the frigid air now was a bit extreme, however, it could still be enjoyed to some extent.  Talstorin walked further, stopping as he heard a sound.  It echoed throughout the tunnel.  He paused, waiting for someone to pop up.  No one came and eventually he bent down to pick up his pistol. 

    The man jumped out, placing a gun to Talstorin's head.  "Cooperate and I won't shoot, for now."  Talstorin stood up rigidly, the man brought his arm around the troopers neck.  The man was obviously stronger, Talstorin had no choice but to agree.  He nodded.  The man grinned.  "Where is the rest of your squad?"

    Talstorin frowned at the question.  He was confused on how to answer.  Quickly, he thought of a response, hoping it would be the right one.  "They are at the end of the tunnel, though I would walk out slowly and let me talk to them first so they don't end up shooting me and you both."

    The man nodded, pushing Talstorin forward.  "Lead.  Take a wrong turn and I'll blast your brains out.  Talstorin nodded and began to walk back, breathing deeply.  He was quite intimidated by the man, he had to admit.  Talstorin thought to himself, wondering about the man.  He must be one of the Deltas.  I guess we didn't kill every single one.  Well, I guess that teaches me a lesson.    He reprimanded himself in his thoughts as he walked.  The man walked close behind, keeping his gun aimed at the back of Talstorin's head.  Soon, they arrived back.

    Arnaut turned to look up.  "Who the h-. . ."  He looked at the storm commando behind his trooper carefully.  "And you would be?"

    Talstorin cut in.  "He's a delta."  The man pressed the point of the gun against Talstorin.  Arnaut didn't take chances.  He yelled quickly, shooting right after.  "DUCK!"  Talstorin ducked down as Arnaut fired at the man's torso.  Unfortunatly, the man ducked as well, the blast hitting the wall behind them.  Quickly, Talstorin hit the man with a left hook, pummeling him to the ground.  He kept his knees on the man's chest, making sure he was properly pinned.  Arnaut walked over, the rest of the squad following, including Yoder, who had gotten back already.  Talstorin jabbed at the man's head again.  His helmet rolled off with the impact, leaving Talstorin opened mouthed.  He instantly recognized the man underneath the helmet.  The face of the man who was responsible for introducing Talstorin to the Vast Empire ages ago. 

  He was about sixteen.  Talstorin wandered the streets, begging for food.  His stomach felt empty, supper had not been enough but he had no money left.  No one would spare food or money however, leaving Talstorin searching the streets, hoping for luck.  He scrounged the sandy floor for credits when he found himself before a stormtrooper.  He looked up, it was a squad.  "Apologies," said Talstorin, out of fright.  He got up to run but was stopped by the leader.  The leader took off his helmet, revealing a youthful man, blond spiky hair with emerald green eyes. 

    "Here, treat yourself to some dinner.  You're no use as a bag of bones."  The man smiled and handed Talstorin a pouch of credits.  Talstorin thanked him endlessly.  He gazed in awe at the trooper's armor.  Desert Troopers.  The man nodded and put his helmet back on, signaling his squad to continue moving.  Talstorin kept their isignia in mind, the Vast Empire insignia.  He promised to himself that he would grow up to be trooper, that way he could help others.  Of course, being still a child at the time, he forgot the promise eventually.  Not even after he joined the VE did he remember where he had heard of them from.  Not until now.



    Talstorin looked at the man, saddened.  "I thought you were. . . part of the Vast Empire."  The man looked back. 

    "Do I know you?"

    Talstorin shook his head.  "If I took off my helmet you still wouldn't recognize me.  You gave me money to buy dinner when I was starving back on Tatooine."

    The man thought to himself.  "Which one?  There were hundreds."

    Talstorin smiled but then frowned again right after.  "So weren't you. . . part of -."

    The man nodded.  "Used to be.  I don't want to talk about it.  We're on opposing sides after all.  I won't shoot.  I'm dead anyways." 

Talstorin didn't let him up.  "Sorry, no can do.  I know you're not the kind to just give up."  The man frowned.

"Got me."  He laid there.  "Alright, how's this.  I won't forgive myself to die a peacefully.  I have honor.  You've won.  Take my weapons, and have me held against the wall.  The only thing I ask of you is a warriors exection."

Talstorin agreed, he owed this man.  The squad grabbed his weapons, taking out the ammo for their own.  The man got up and faced Talstorin.  Suddenly, the man winced, a red hot bullet shot through him, cutting Talstorin by the waist.  The man groaned, falling the floor.  He was dead.  Talstorin groaned as he held his waist, burning with pain.  Behind the fallen body stood another squad of storm commandos. 

The squad leader spoke in a whisper.  "Sorry brother.  Rules are rules.  You betray us, you die."  He looked up, looking at the Wraith squad.  "To die is to lose everything.  Are you prepared?"

Arnaut narrowed his eyes.  The squad, save Talstorin, readied their carbines.  Arnaut took a step forward, his eyes glaring coldly at the leader of the opposing squad.  In a deep and serious tone, he spoke.  "Bring it."

   

 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...
-=Wraith Squad=--=TRP=-
TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]
Memoirs of a Withered Soul- Compendium of Short Stories on Talstorin's Background/Story of Talstorin and Durandal( out now- read it on army story board)
Happy Holidays! Cause Wraith is going to leave you others in the dust for the HSC

Raiders

Rogueboy flipped a dead snowtrooper over and looked at the armour, it was scratched up but it was too small for Leon, but the helmet would fit him perfectly; speaking of which Rogue needed a helmet as well considering he left his in the trench with the broken E-web. Rogue rolled over a few more bodies until he found something he thought would match Leon, Rogue began stripping the soldier out of his armour removing the pieces and putting them aside. The trooper was left in his underwear as Rogue took his cape and put all the armour inside, tying it up he made it into a sack, hoisting it over his shoulder Rogue made his way back to Raider squad.

A lot of people have a problem with robbing the dead but Rogue did not, the way he looked at it is unless they were buried and he was not desecrating anything the dead wouldn't need it anyways. Rogue hurried back to where the Raiders were waiting for him.

"This is Rogue, I'm coming up from the trenches hold your fire."

"Alright, if anyone fires I will rip off their hands force them to fire their blasters with their teeth, got it?"

Rogue chuckled. "Thanks Sarge."

"Anytime trooper."

Rogue closed the last couple of feet towards the squad and gave Leon the armour.

"You know what to do with this, right?"

"Yeah, I do but who are you?"

Rogueboy slapped his face in mock disbelief. "I'm Rogueboy, call me Rogue and I saved your ass on more than one occasion...and you owe me fifty creds."

Darr laughed. "Leon ignore this fool, just remember I'm your Squad Leader, Aphamos." Darr gestured to Aph. "Is your assistant squad leader, listen to us and we will try to see you safely through this. Now we have an issue how do we get through these walls? Any suggestions?"

Five minutes later and Rogue couldn't believe what the hell was going to happen, he was walking with Darr, Squall, and Aeos. Aphamos, Leon, Preditor, and Rayden were to remain near the trenches and to observe the main gates with macrobinoculars. Rogue still coudn't believe that he forgot to get his helmet as they approached the main gate. Darr raised his hand to stop.

"Keep your eyes open, we should be nearing Thrawn's forces."

Rogue sighed this was the part he hated the most. Blaster bolts were fired down at the four Raiders, Rogue dove and looked for a spot of cover but there was nothing nearby. Rogue saw that Darr was down and was wriggling in pain, Aeos and Squall had dropped their rifles and put their hands up, Rogue rushed to Darr throwing his rifle down in the mean time. The shot has hit Darr in the chest and while it didn't go through the armour it had melted a bit of it and was burning Darr's skin, Rogue rolled Darr over and pressed him against the snow. Rogue heard the crunch of snow and turned around, his head had a meeting with the butt of a rifle.
 
-----------------------
Raiders
Faithful To The End
He will give them death, and they will love him for it -Gladiator

TRP/CPL_Rogueboy/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR][ES-FirstClass][CDS]

       


The tunnel filled with groans as the shrapnels were shot out.  The sounds echoed off the walls, reinforcing the volume.  Talstorin sat in his little niche, a hole in the ice that lead to a tiny space, hardly large enough to fit a sitting person.  His eyes were shut, his mind focused on thoughts, on emotions.  The rest of the squad was above ground now, though Talstorin had not noticed.  All that rushed through his mind was the urge to kill.  His mind clouded in a thick blanket of the single though.  The Delta Squad Leader was to be avenged.

    Leth and Yillis drudged through the thick snow, searching for the rest of the squad.  The wind was blowing heavily again, a sign of a new storm.  They took big steps, not moving very quickly through the snow.  Little did they know that they were behind Delta Squad 2, who were chasing after the rest of the Wraiths.  Leth muttered as he walked, his bones cold, his skin itched in pain.  The two walked in silence, like two strangers walking side by side.  They both held their carbines, Yillis held his tucked under his arm, Leth had cradled his.  With a heavy breath, Leth collapsed in the snow, falling to the left.  Yillis caught him and smacked the helmet lightly.  "No slacking off, trooper."  Leth nodded and got up, mustering his strength before continuing to trek forward.

    The Squad leader looked up.  A storm was coming again soon.  He stopped his troops.  Dividing up the squad in half, he sent the other half to continue the pursuit.  The man in the black shining storm commando armor sat down with the rest of his group.  He looked back, reaching for his micro binoculars.  He had to zoom a couple of times to see something.  He found two leftover enemies struggling to walk.  A grin fell on his face.  Perfect targets, slow, unsuspecting and divided.  He ordered his group to take positions, the group of 4 troopers following immediately.  They brought out their whisper sniper rifles, taking aim.

   
_______

    Talstorin got out of the crevice, the tunnel was filled with metal barbs, several stuck in the late Delta Leader body.  Talstorin crouched next to the cadaver, closing it's eyes.  He got up again, his eyes burning with fire.  Taking a deep breath, he walked forward, bloodthirsty.  He ran out of the tunnel quickly, finding himself outside, in the snow.  Heavy winds blew the snow across the floor like dust and powder.  He zoomed with his helmet.  Yillis and Leth were up ahead.  Talstorin ran forward, keeping his eyes open for enemies. 

_______

    The Delta 2 Leader walked along the thickened hardened snow, leaving his squad behind.  They would handle the stragglers in the back.  He was more interested with the boy behind them.  From the damages on the troopers armor, he knew it was the boy that had talked to his brother before the man had shot him.  He didn't want to do it, but laws were laws, and if you didn't follow them, you were punished.  The leader saw his brothers death not as his own fault but as the troopers.  For this reason, he was going to kill him, personally.  The commando walked smoothly and calmly, hands rested on his blaster.  In the forces they called him the winter wolf, named for his quickness of the hunt.  The white wolf headed for the trooper, who had seen him now, blaster ready.  He stopped and sent a well aimed shot straight at the troopers head.

__________

    Talstorin ducked quickly, the shots hitting the snow behind him, turning it to mist quickly.  More shots came, spread out and rapid.  Talstorin maneuvered around, avoiding the shots as he readied his carbine.  He shot back when the mist cleared, missing horribly, his left arm getting hit again, the outer side burned.  He fell to his knees in pain, his waist still hurting.  More shots came, unmercifully.  A great rush of emotion came over him as he dodged the shots.  He remembered his anger, grabbing his carbine with one hand and shot, the power causing him to take a step back.  The shot was well aimed, and would've hit the trooper in the chest. 

    The Wolf sidestepped, using his own blaster as a shield.  The gun fell to the floor, a half melted blaster now.  He grabbed the nearest object, a long metal pole, razor sharp on both sides and charged.  Talstorin had just recovered when he was hit in the face with the pole.  The trooper fell back, blood dripping from inside his helmet.  His cheek hurt so much though the helmet ironically was undented.  The carbine fell out of his hand, buried into the snow.  It was out of reach.  Talstorin cursed as he jumped out of the way of a second swing, searching his belt for weapons.  At last, he found what he was looking for.  He brought out a small metal rod, intricate in decoration.  The man laughed as he swung, expecting an easy fight. 

    Talstorin pressed a button on his customized weapon.  It was designed with a couple of perks, compact and stylish.  However, it's charge was reduced greatly, not having as much chance of killing the enemy as the original.  As the button was pressed, the slender rod extended on both sides, the tips were claw like shards which opened like a hand.  Red electricity ignited from the tips.  His electrostaff blocked the swing, sturdy enough to sustain the blow with no problem at all.  The White Wolf hissed.  "You're going to pay for my brothers death!"  With that, he lunged forward, swing at Talstorin's ribs.

    Talstorin's anger blazed with excitement now, quickly parrying the attack, pivoting to the left, swinging his staff back, catching the man with a slam to the back of the neck.  The man fell, and Talstorin stabbed down.  The Wolf rolled to the side, the electricity turning the ice to mist.  The man emerged from the mist, hacking at Talstorin's feet, tripping the trooper.  He followed up by stabbing down, only to be blocked by the staff.  Talstorin got up quickly with a spin, slashing at the man's guts in the process of the swirl.  The man jumped back, slamming his rod at Talstorin's extended and exposed hands.  Talstorin let go with one hand, his hand hurting a lot.  Ignoring the pain, he backed up then suddenly ducked, swinging the staff at the man's hip, smashing into it.  The man staggered from the blow, leaving Talstorin with enough time to swing another time at him.  The man fell back from the impact.

    The white wolf frowned, looking into the visor of his opponent.  The figure ahead of him was hunched, breathing deeply.  The trooper struck again, quickly hitting the squad leader in the chest, sending a shock down his body as he fell.  The trooper's performance had improved with every attack.  Had he been learning?  Each of his strikes were faster and more smoothly connected than the last.  It was unfortunate the White Wolf was famous for long distance battles, not melee.  The man got up tripping Talstorin and as the trooper fell, the man sent a blow at his ribs.

    Talstorin felt with a sharp pain at his sides.  He could hardly breath but still, he could not feel the pain, swallowed in anger.  He flipped upwards, kicking the man back and landed, immediately stabbing at the man's chest.  The man smacked the staff out of the way with his rod.  Talstorin's hand caused the staff to continue to move in the direction in which it was sent, his body spinning with it.  The other end of the staff ended the spin with the slam at the other side of the man, catching him by surprise.  The man fell, and Talstorin smashed down at him with the staff.  The man rolled around, avoiding each assault.  He at last pushed Talstorin away, getting up and took a breath.  Talstorin waited and grinned.  The White Wolf looked at the trooper confused and was suddenly hit by a spray of snow.  He backed up, clearing the snow off his visor, not soon enough however, to prepare for Talstorin's final attack.  Talstorin turned up the voltage in the staff and lunged.

    The man looked straight as he had his sight again, feeling a sudden violent shock.  He screamed and writhed in pain, falling back, numb.  He looked up for one last second.  His vision was filled with red.  He heard a crack as he felt the staff break through the visor.  The talon like claws stabbed into his eyes.  The White Wolf screamed in pain, he felt the liquid from his eyes drip down his face.  The staff was pushed in deeper, breaking through the skull.  The Squad Leader took one last breath, and died, in the middle of inhaling. 

    Talstorin looked down at the dead body, satisfied.  He shook his staff, wiggling it free, turning off the voltage.  It dripped with blood, the drops fell onto the dead man's armor.  He crossed the man's arm against his chest.  Bending down, he retrieved the man's weapon, the metal rod, and stuck the sharpened end down with force.  The rod went through the body, penetrating the body just above the crossed arms, the end jutted out from the man's back, spraying droplets of blood against the white snow.  Talstorin looked up and thought for moment before leaving.  Behind him, the wind blew again, erasing his footsteps as soon as he made.


 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...
-=Wraith Squad=--=TRP=-
TRP/PFC Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]
Memoirs of a Withered Soul- Compendium of Short Stories on Talstorin's Background/Story of Talstorin and Durandal( out now- read it on army story board)
Happy Holidays! Cause Wraith is going to leave you others in the dust for the HSC

Riqimo slowly went up the stairway to the second floor, keeping his gun high and his head low, he was ready to fire at the first enemy to present his or her self.

A tech was starting to come down, reading a datapad, Riqimo fired at the man's head and was about to pull the pin off a grenade top throw up over the stair rail, but Typex stopped him by grabbing Riq's hand.

"That would destroy the communications equipment.  If you do that I can't fill their entire channels with white noise."
"Oh yeah, sorry," Riqimo said as he stuck his grenade back into his belt and ran up the stairs to find no one in the area.

"All clear guys, they must be all behind some of these doors," Riqimo motioned to them to come up.

"There's loud music behind this one," Jelly called out.  The squad came over to listen.
"Country music..." Garet muttered, "These bastards deserve to die, let's get them."

The squad got ready to rush in and on a count of three, Garet kicked the door down.  Garet and Jelly rushed in first, then Typex and Riqimo blocked the doorway, carefully aiming their shoots to avoid hitting either of their squad mates.  Once the room was cleared, Garet picked up the radio and threw it out a nearby window.

"Ow, what the hell?" a voice came from the ground, Garet stuck his head out the window, "Uh, sorry guys, err, they were playing country music..."

Garet came back in, "I hit one of our own squads, Dragoons I think."
Riq just shrugged, "Well he sounded alright."

The squad quickly finished the rest of the floor, in which only three weaponless techs were still working, unaware of the recent events on their floor due to the loud music playing earlier.

-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw
EclipseSquad


TRP/LCP Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA
Imperial Baronet

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to war we go, we'll find some Rebels or lose our marbles, hi ho, hi ho

Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.

Riqimo heard a small explosion and the tower shook a little.
What the... I hope the others are alright, that was a little too big to be a grenade

"Alright boys, there are three more floors above us, we can do this," Garet said as the squad cautiously move up the stairs.

"If the tower doesn't topple over," Jelly muttered.

Garet gave the hand signal to stop, and peeked over the base of the stairs.  Garet came on the comlink and wispered, "They got five guards there. Riq you get the one on the right, Typex, the one on the left, Jelly you take the middle one, Once you take yours out fire at any other guard you see then the techs."

Holding up three fingers, Garet slowly ticked them off, two... one...

The squad rushed up the stairs and fired at their designated targets, only fifty seconds had passed before the room was cleared of Thrawn troopers.

The commotion must have been heard upstairs as several guards began rushing down the steps.  The squad had the advantage of cover however, and easily picked them off.  Garet, Jelly, and Riqimo hurried up to take the techs before they could send a message out.  Meanwhile Typex pulled a dead tech out of a chair and began his task of blocking Thrawn communications.

"Typex, everything alright down there?" Garet leaned over the guard rail of the floor above.

"Yeah, they were so considerant to leave the security on the computer open for me."

"Great, we're moving up, we'll be back after we take the next level and check the roof."
 
-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw
EclipseSquad


TRP/LCP Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA
Imperial Baronet

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to war we go, we'll find some Rebels or lose our marbles, hi ho, hi ho

Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem.

For once, none of the Dragoons were in immediate danger. Everyone was aboard the only surviving repulsortank, secretly fighting through the pain of their injuries. Zafo stared blankly at the ground, rubbing the huge bruise on his arm caused by the close encounter with the anti-mech units. His mind was not present with his body on the battlefield, but wishing he was back on that relaxing beach on Cepany. Kami's order pulled him out of his semi-comfort zone.

"Huh?" uttered Zafo, pulling his mind back into his body.

"We're ramming that gate down." Kami replied, her voice absolutely confident that the plan was near flawless. It seemed she had completely forgotten the near disaster with the Hovervan and the AT-ST.

"The tank isn't in very good shape..." Zafo's voice had more than a slight hint of a concerned element.

"I don't really see any other way." Replied Sam. His voice lacked the confidence Kami's had, but he remained convinced that it was the best way.

A wave of anxiety swept over Zafo. He knew that there was a good chance that their plan would work, but there was also too big a chance that it wouldn't, and all their lives would be ended then and there, right on the doorstep of the facility. In his panicked state, he raced through his mind in search of some piece of information that might help them. Then it came.

"Slow down!" Zafo shouted, his body becoming slightly more relaxed. The gunnery sergeant got down on his hands and knees and started staring at the floor. He crawled around for a couple of seconds until his fingers tightened around what he was looking for. He pulled up on the small metal ring which opened a compartment beneath the floor. Inside the compartment was a huge steel shovel of sorts.

"I need everyone's help, we gotta attach this to the front of the tank."

"Are you crazy?" Urakai shouted, "We'll be sitting ducks!"

"There is a higher chance that we'll survive sitting here for five minutes, than crashing into that gate in our current state." Zafo replied calmly, looking at Sam and Kami for support.

"He's got a point, hurry up."

By now the blizzard was in full swing. The massive amounts of blowing snow cut visibility down to mere meters. The outside world around them was all just a haze of snow, expect for the occasional flicker of light off in the distance. It took the entire squad to carry the shovel out to the front of the tank. It wasn't long after that Zafo had the shovel secured to the front of the tank, ready for action.
Once the squad was safely back in the tank, Sam floored the accelerator, tossing everyone towards the back on the tank. The view outside the viewport was blank, but a faint brighter spot ahead flagged their destination. Sam relied on the vehicle's sensors to monitor exactly where they were.

"We're under two minutes out," Sam said, give the squad a chance to prep for impact.

"Zaf, any words of advice? Im sure you know this thing almost inside out."

"Here, I'll set it up so you just have to push this button immediately before impact. What it will do is transfer all the energy to the tank's shields and heavy laser." Zafo's hands raced over some controls as he spoke.

"When we are within range, two people should fire the grenade launchers at the gate; one on each side. The immediate temperature change will temporarily make the gate more brittle. The heavy laser should be fired right as we are making contact."

"You all got that?" Kami demanded. The whole squad nodded. "Then get to your positions already!"

Durandal and Sayah both picked up a grenade launcher and made their way to the hatch. Zafo quickly trotted over to the gunman's chair and set up the heavy laser. His fingers were sweating on the inside of his armor as he gripped the firing mechanism.

"Grenades away!" Sam hollered at the top of his lungs. Within seconds, the two green dragoons popped out of the hatch and let loose a pair of grenades. As quickly as they popped out, they sunk back in, getting themselves into a secure position for impact.

"Alright guys, this is it."

"Impact in five, four..."

The lights shut off as Sam hit the switch that had been set up by Zafo. All the power was now diverted to the shields and laser. An electrifying hum sounded as all the extra energy was transferred, supercharging the heavy laser cannon and shield.

"ONE!"

Zafo pulled repeatedly on the firing mechanism, sending massive pockets of energy into the gate. The tank shook violently as it made impact with the gate, tossing Zafo from his seat to the ground. Blinded by the darkness, Zafo scrambled to secure himself, but was crushed by someone else falling. He screamed in agony as his arm was crushed between the floor and a fully clad soldier. When at last the tank stopped shaking, everything was still in the darkness.

"You all okay?" Sam inquired, his voice slightly stuttering.
Each squad member managed to let out some sort of groan.

"Enemy forces are running for the tank!" Kami shouted, staring out the viewport.
"Let's show em' what the Dragoons are made of!"

"As if charging through their gate wasn't enough," Zafo thought with a chuckle.

 
-----------------------
~ZaFo

*DarkDragoons*

TRP/GSG ZaFo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [BC] [EW2]

Live Fast, Ride Faster.