The squad stopped briefly to check their bearings to the dislike of many. Among those displeased was Chase. His assistant had demanded they stopped and checked where they were going, and most of the squad agreed, giving him pretty much no say in the matter. He had already gone through all the maps, directions, satellite images and every other piece of crap he'd been given on the ship here, he knew exactly what was happening.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure where we're heading is that way" Kortax called, looking up from his map and pointing to Chase's left.

"Then let's move" Chase replied. He didn't wait to check the squad were following him, he just assumed they were.

Absolut squad had been given possibly the worst job out of all the squads, at least in terms of situation. Malastare as a planet had much higher gravity than they were used to on Tadath, which much to Chase's dismay, made them walk far slower than he would of liked. It was necessary though, he didn't want to pile so much strain on their initial pace that they're unable to run for cover if the NR decides to jump them.

And to make things worse, they were in the middle of a forest, which not only made navigation difficult, but also assured everything was damn hot. The high trees were blocking out the sky, creating some sort of shield where heat cant escape, and worse in his opinion, cold air couldn't get in.

He turned his attention back to the mission at hand. The water supply of the area was right on the edge of one the nearby city, roughly two to three miles away. They decided to take the forest around the city, which although it is a substantially longer route, is far safer than risking a trip through the city. Although this was technically an 'invasion', he wasn't keen to bring that much attention down on his squad.

"Guys, be on your guard, rumours are that we have NR squads prowling the area for us" Chase called back, as quietly as possible with the whole squad still hearing.

"I thought this mission was top secret?" Kortax asked, tapping Chase on the shoulder.

"It was" He nodded in response "But I think one of our 'friendlies' got a little bit too chatty"

"Figures, so you expecting an attack?"

"If we don't get one, my luck should be strong enough for me to win the lottery at the same time. Make sure the squad are ready to react quickly"

"Got it sarge" Kortax replied, dropping back to the rest of th squad.

Alema had every confidence to take down the rebels, after all even though her father didn’t do so, she had to, it was all for the family’s honor, although sometimes she’d doubt herself on whether there was really such a thing as honor, it seem to her that honor was the same thing as money and power and all that fake stuff, nothing real to her, only the mission to save the future of the Empire was, it was time to take the fight to the rebels.

She followed the squad through thick vegetations and tall trees that covered the sun and any chance of cold air, for the air to her felt very, very hot and dry, almost hot enough to bake a couple of fried eggs, and the gravity was much higher than what she was used to, at least the rebels have to get used to the same mileage. She had packed all the meals she’d need on the mission in her rucksack, wore the female armor with night and thermal vision that she herself added onto, held the E-11 rifle and vibrobayonet in her hand and on her belt at the ready, equipped with the best medical kit also in her rucksack, for she had learned from her own mother how to be the best medic the galaxy has yet to see. Even though her mother had passed away and left her to inherit the cause, Alema hoped, to the point of making herself believe she was up to it, her name literally meant protector, which meant that she had to protect her fellow squadmates from dying; it was her duty from the day she was born; now it’ll be fulfilled.

Alema heard voices of complaint from Elara to Chase, but she resisted to say anything, for she knew what her mother had said, that whenever someone complained about something, it’s their personality, they have nothing to do but complain, especially in bad weather. She’d say the same thing right now if it wasn’t for the high gravity and the swamps that she occasionally stepped in. Alema saw Kortax calming her, and her asking one more question before going on. It was rare to see Chase try to cheer up the young ones, but still he had to give the squad confidence, a warm feeling to carry on, and a kind of support that can help muster strength. Alema decided it was time she wasn’t so selfish like her father and started making friends, not enemies, like her mother, so she introduced herself and intiative took out her hand to shake:

“Hello there, my name is Lance Corporeal Alema Horrak, I heard you’re having trouble keeping up and I want to help.” Elara seem afraid, both in her expression of ‘I’m fine’ and her staring at the forest beyond, Elara still shook Alema’s hand, but the hand seems to be shaking and cold with fear.

“Alright, I won’t stop you from keeping up with Chase, but here’s the thing. My father has always wanted me to take his place as Senator because he thinks that female Twi’leks can be Senators as well, not just prostitutes, he’s seen my potential as a good Senator and I knew, but still the fire in my heart of being a medic in the imperial army couldn’t be blown out that quick. He had several tasks set out for me, cruel tasks, but my mother thought if I could complete them I could gain his trust and confidence. You want to know how cruel? I convince people to ally with a dictatorship government, that’s how cruel, I torture people, interrogate them, even my friends too, to see if they’re loyal to the Empire. I blackmail and I deceive, I did a lot of things I didn’t want to do, I wanted to quit, to give up, I wanted to ask why I had to do it, I didn’t see the point in doing it either. But still, Elara, I continued as I always have now with confidence, because he trained my stamina, my resistance to being selfish, he knew that the daughter he raised couldn’t be selfish like him, it would smear the family name and ruin his career. Elara, he’s dying with cancer and there’s nothing I can do, my friends tell me to move on, they support when I have ill-used them, such wonders why I fear then for their coming. Elara, no matter how bad the situation may seem, it can’t get worse than the end of the Empire, right? So let’s keep going and going, for whoever is in your heart, let us keep up with Chase for them.”

After that rather nice support speech, Alema saw, for the first time, the invisible fires in Elara’s eyes that firmed the confidence Alema had set in her heart. She knew that one more person had more confidence, the better progress the squad could make. Let the rebels laugh about our dying situation, ‘cause in the end, we’ll be the ones that have the last laugh. Alema thought with scorn at the trees as if they were rebels right now, laughing and mocking at them.

The squad members each placed one of their hands into the circle and smiled to one another. It was a team thing, and for some reason they thought it would bring them good luck and it was thought to be some sort of bonding session between them all. As soon as they nodded they began off to the pipeline.

The walk wasn’t long, but also wasn’t pleasant to say the very least. The air seemed to be filled with a musty smell to begin with, but that rapidly progressed into an awful, deadly stench as the squad grew closer. Elara gazed around to the trooper next to her. It was Davis; his eyes seemed to be closing more and more due to them getting closer. They could obviously tell they weren’t far off track.

The scenery changed as soon as they were beginning to reach their destination. The tall, green trees from earlier seemed to be shrunken and an orangey lime-like mould colour. The squad stopped in their tracks just metres from the actual pipe to realise they were standing in what looked like sloppy mud, which they knew wasn’t it.

“Uh Sarge? Why the hell are we just stood here in this?!” Davis shouted to the front to where Chase was.

“I figured you’d like to just take in the scenery” He paused sarcastically before finishing the reply.

“What the hell do think you’re stood in it for? I thought I heard something okay? And my bad, there’s nothing here, so continue into the pipe before I make you eat it” He joked, he knew this was a serious mission, but he thought he had to add a little humour into it.

The squad moaned and hesitated before stepping in. The yellow, thick liquid came to each trooper’s waist, forcing them to walk through it at a slower pace than they anticipated.

“What the hell is that?!” Elara called out jumping up and down frantically and pointing her finger to a traumatic sight.

“You don’t want to know…” Chase called out, sniggering to himself.

The whole squad laughed at Elara shouting ‘eww’ after every step she took.

“Stupid child” Davis called out.

PVT Liason Travias was wiping some mud and dirt off his rifle's scope when the call came in:

Sgt.Zalga to all Candy Squad members:

Squad Briefing in 10 minutes. Meet in the ready room.

The young PVT's eyes hardened. He'd been working on his A-280 blaster rifle. Usually, it was the staple of New Republic riflemen, having excellent accuracy and a good rate of fire while being powerful.

Travias had never been a fan of 'full auto,' unlike many normal soldiers, generally favoring finesse over blunt strength, and so favored 3- or 5-round bursts and semi-automatic. So he'd taken his rifle into his own hands.

He'd replaced the built in scope with a rail and a securing system. That way, he could change his scope as the event required. If it was night, he'd place a night-vision scope on.

He was an experienced sniper as well as rifleman, and his rifle showed- it could mount a super-range class scope able to zoom a few dozen times the norm, as well as an increased barrel length. This allowed him to shoot even more accurately, but also made the rifle and extra equipment a lot heavier. It also required more cleaning and tune-ups.

The man looped his shoulder harness into the loops of the rifle. Over his fatigues went a light body armor suit.

Travias thought for a moment - the ready room was for spur-of-the-moment briefings like that armed burglary last week, and pointed towards action out-of-base.

He peered out the window, to feel the heat radiating off of the building. He pulled on one of his light camo jackets and a combat helmet, then belted on his sidearm, a combat knife, and a bunch of extra ammo.

He quickly sorted through the half-dozen scopes in his bag. Night vision, extra length, durable, combat, heavy combat; his scopes were his pride and joy. He selected the normal combat scope, then slipped the heavy combat scope in on a whim. Rise polished the scope's tough lens, then picked up his cleaned scope, attached it to the rifle. He then picked up his bi-pod as well, folding that snug with the rifle.

He hung it over his shoulder, and placed a pair of frag grenades and smoke grenades into his belt as well, before quickly walking from his barracks room towards the briefing.

"How far away did you say this complex would be?" Chase called back, trying to avoid showing disgust in his voice.

"Cant be far now, like 15 minute tops" Kortax replied

"I thought out entire journey wouldn't take fifteen minutes"

"It wouldn't, if we were on dry land. In this stuff it would take far longer"

"Typical" Chase muttered.

To his surprise, the waste around him had shrunken from waist level to just below his kneecaps. It made the smell all the more worse, as now his trousers were giving it off and not only the pipe. He presumed there was some sort of mechanism keeping it at a regular place, so that they could monitor it correctly without having it overwhelm them. Possibly a few fans cutting away at it under their feet, but he definitely hoped now. Hadn't heard any whirring, anyway.

The squad behind him were still complaining, much to his amusement. Half of the squad were shouting out in disgust, and the other half were telling that half to be quiet. He wasn't that worried about the noise at the moment, as the equipment he could hear up ahead was making a lot more than they were. Later on he would ask them to pipe down, but not a for a few more minutes.

"Glad I got you all to bring spare clothes huh?" Kortax called, Chase catching a smirk on his face as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Well if you told us what the clothes were for, we wouldn't of come!" Davis growled back.

"Oh you would, Chase would of shoved you in here naked if he had to"

"Sounds like a good idea to me, someone strip him" Chase said.

"Anyone touch me and I'll kill you all" Davis cried "I mean it! Back off!"

"Relax, we're kidding" Kortax patted him on the shoulder after dropping back to his speed "We're leave your boxers intact"

"Not funny"

"No more talking guys, and look sharply"

The squad looked forward to where Chase was pointing. Now, in a a line along the 'water', was a row of bubbles. Not the bubbles they had met for some while now, that would pop at the surface and release a horrible smell, but proper bubbles, caused by impact with the waste. Which meant only one thing, something was hitting at the waste down there, most likely fans.

They were fans up ahead. Even if they were submerged a few feet below them, the noise somehow permeated the barrier. Plus, as the sqaud stood still for a while, they could see the dark brownish colour of the water becoming lighter, almost instantaneously after passing over that area of the tunnel.

"So, what'd we do?" Elara called forward.

"Well, we cant go back, we're too far behind schedule already. There has to be some way through" Chase said, crouching down as low as he could to the surface of the waste.

"And risk being chopped to pieces by the cleaning devices?"

"Any better ideas Kortax?" Chase growled back. Something caught his eye on the surface of the water, and suddenly something came to him "Wait, everyone, go through your packs and pull me out anything that isn't vital"

If the squad didn't think he was mad before, they did now. Stood in the middle of a waste tunnel, stinking to high heaven, he now wanted them to have a clearout. The squad looked to Kortax, who they hoped to be the voice of reason, but he just nodded and did as he was told. No one argued with Chase.

Chase was hoping for some sort of holy grail in the discarded items, but he was nowhere near finding it. A pack of playing cards, a few used water bottles, a half used pack of condoms that Davis was reluctant to give up, and some business cards for a taxi company. He took a second look at the water bottles. They weren't exactly huge, being able to hold no more than a litre, but they'd have to do. Placing one of the bottles in both hands, he submerged them down till he felt them hit the bottom of the tunnel, and began to walk forward, keeping the bottles about two feet ahead of him. He managed to walk far further then he thought he would before he felt one of the bottles break in half from the force of the fan. Checking the bottle, he he had just over half of it left, it was enough so he leaned forward, very carefully, and touched the floor with the bottle on the other side of the fans, and pulled it back towards him until it got cup up again.

"The fans aren't that far across, less than half a metre. We could get across them" He smiled

"How?"

"Well, you could try and step across them...Or we could climb"

"Climb? Sir you've seriously lost it..." Davis shouted.

Chase shot Davis a dirty look, before pulling a pair of knives from his trouser pocket and ramming them through the roof of the pipe. They made it all the way through up to the hilt before jamming. Chase took a deep breath, before placing one hand on each of the knife hilts, and pulling. The knives, to his relief, didn't budge an inch, but instead he managed to pull himself several feet off the ground.

"This tunnel isn't no normal material" Chase smiled quite smugly " They cant have this sort of stuff leaking out, it could do some major damage to the wildlife around here. This material is quite hard to puncture but if it happens, its designed to hold onto to what it is punctured by, keeping the vacuum intact. Its strong enough to hold a human body, we it is possible to clamber over"

"Chase, that's genius" Kortax smiled, pulling out whatever blades he had on him, instructing the squad to do likewise. Between them they managed to create a makeshift ladder consisting of four rungs made up of eight blades. It should be enough. The squad had a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would go first, it was a lame idea but effective. Elena was chosen, so Chase and Kortax lifted her up to the knife hilts. They let her get her grip and become comfortable, before stepping back and watching her lurch her way to the next rung. She lifted her legs as high as she could over the area the fans were in and kept going. Her toes were still submerged in the water, and the squad cringed as they watched them wade through the water, but sighed with relief as they came to no harm.

One by one, the rest of the squad followed, all slowly but steadily making their way across to no harm. Chase went last, being the member of the squad with the most upper-body strength, he spent time trying to pull the knives out behind him. He got two or three loose, but the rest weren't moving.

Up ahead, they could see the platform up into the complex, they'd finally arrived. It wasn't as will lit as he'd expected, nor as busy. There were five or six wires leading out of the water, tying themselves into a bundle and working their way up a stairway to where they assumed the real work happened. The squad visibly picked up their pace, eager to finally get onto dry land.

Chase paused them just before they emerged onto the platform, using the lack of light to check for security. There were no surveillance cameras, there was no need for them in a sewage pipe, and he presumed no one really wanted to risk their health to this smell, no wonder it was quiet. The squad silently made their way out of the water, and huddled in the corner to change their clothes. The men couldn't give the women much privacy apart from turning around, but there wasn't many complaints, everyone couldn't wait to get the stinking clothes off.

"Alright guys" Kortax whispered "We'll going to make our way up those stairs in a while, but because of the open-ness of the situation, we're going to have to take hostages. Once we're public, we're probably going to get into a situation if we don't take control"

"So, threaten to kill anyone that moves, and if they pull a gun or go for a button, put a round through their head" Chase finished the sentence.

There wasn't much more to be said after that, everyone just kind of nodded and got to their feet, waiting for Chase or Kortax to take the lead. Everyone checked their weapons had their safety's off, and a full cartridge, before silently moving up the stairs. They made it up about half way before the room came into sight. One large circular table dominated the room, beeping computers and flashing lights creating that lab feeling. Around the outside there were several more large computers, with various scientists pressing things and taking readings. With one wave of the hand, the squad ran and made their move.

A particularly loud step caused one of the scientists to turn around, he was at the terminals closest to the squad, and took a blaster butt to the face for it, dropping him instantly. This caused the rest to turn around and a cry to break out, but the squad quickly regained control. They spaced out around the room, making sure no corner was left unwatched, shouting orders out. Chase and Davis were among the loudest, noticeably demanding the scientists "Get on their knees before they blow their fucking heads off".

Kortax took his eye off of two scientists in the corner for a split second to throw a hand signal to Chase, but it was enough. Enough time for one of the soldiers to send the pre-written message he had left on his comlink, just in case. It had really paid off, he pressed one button and it disappeared from the screen, once again leaving him innocent.

'Attack by Imperial forces, send help'

Spark sighed heavily, waiting just wasn't in his nature. It just wasn't something he was trained to do, he would rather be here than anywhere else at the moment. Specially considering the un avoidable was coming and very fast.

“So how long do you think it will take for them to get here?” Spark asked out loud, he wanted some action and soon.

“I don't know, but we will know when they get here, that's for sure. I hope they get here fast, I'm hungry for some Candy.” Harem said. Spark just stared at her, the joke was lame, but he knew it was just to try and lighten the situation considering all that had happened.

“Right.. Candy.” Spark just shook his head and went back to waiting.

Harem on the other hand was watching Alema. There was something strange about Harem, every time someone was dieing or hurt she would start shaking and just stand there doing nothing, but that was only if it was someone she cared about. In this occasion she was just watching, as if trying to take in everything that Alena was doing.

“is he going to be alright?” Harem asked.

“He'll be fine, I just need some space.” Alema replied.

Harem quickly obliged and got up, quickly taking a seat next to Spark. Who didn't mind, but was still worried about her.

“Hey are you okay?” Spark asked, waiting for a reply, but only got silence. Spark was truly worried, not only was this one of his squad mates down, but this was his friend.

Yea, I'm fine,  I just can't bear to lose the one's I love again, including you. She couldn't tell him that, It would show that she was weak, and nothing was more important to her than showing her fellow squad mates that she was just as tough as they were. “Yea, I'm fine.”

Spark just left it at that, he didn't want to bother her to much. I hope these Candy people get here soon....

“Alright everyone get ready, we have company, make sure you give them, a warm welcome.” Chase said,a grin spread across his face.

“I hope they like their food burnt.” Spark side standing up. He heard Harem laugh behind him.

Any chance of a well earned rest had gone flying out the window with the leaked message. Chase wanted to be angry at someone, anyone for allowing that slip-up, but when it comes down to it it was no one's fault but his own.

The squad were busy passing ammo between themselves, making sure every weapon they had contained a full cartridge, and that they had all entrances sorted. They weren't going to be caught by surprise a second time.

Claustrophobia snuck in suddenly. They were in one room, that wasn't all that big, with really only one fast escape route. And that was the way Candy squad were coming. This was the NR they were dealing with, the horrifying things they've done spread far and wide quickly. They could just throw a handful of grenades in and have it be done with. So what if they lost a handful of scientists and some computers, both are easily replaced, and they'd dealt a swift blow to the Empire.

"Kortax, take Alema with you and find your way into another room with a good sight on this one, Davis, take Sparks and do the same but on the other side of the doorway. We'll catch them in a pincer and rip them to shreds before they can pull a trigger" Chase shouted, suddenly panicked "Elara, search everyone here and take any sort of electrical devices off them, no more mistakes"

The called people passed words between themselves, before the two pairs snuck out of the room and down the hallway. Kortax wandered around the scientists, helping out Elara while also checking everyone were in the right positions.

Candy Squad, Absolut presumed, were specially trained to deal with such a threat as their own. The fact they were already on the premises was worrying, as if they knew that trouble was brewing. The nervous glances passed between various members of the squad supported Kortax's thought pattern, he hoped the other squads were okay. Some of the others had more dangerous, gunfight filled missions, with far more ability for them to go wrong. Although there route here was by far the least pleasant, at least they had been safe. Until now.

The lift ride down to the water treatment plant was an uncomfortably silent one.

The entire squad fit into the industrial repulsor lift, which was convenient. If they had told Private Jet Pottes to stay behind and wait for the next lift, there was a good chance he'd make a run for it and feign some sudden ailment or injury.

He was nervous as hell. The prospect of going on a wild squid chase through what could be kilometers of dark, dank sewage pipe wasn't exactly helping his mental state either.

A greenhorn, Jet was the typical New Republic recruit. A young man from a relatively poor family, he wanted to leave the boring country life and seek adventure in the armed forces. After just barely graduating from the academy, he was tossed into Candy squad. His experience in the last 2 months had not been as sweet as the name of his group suggested.

He stood all the way in the back, his holster open, his pistol dangling, his helmet on crooked, his blast plates not on tight enough. He was what their squad leader Sergeant Detric Zarga called "a sorry excuse for a soldier." Jet just hoped that if he stayed quiet enough, they'd forget he was even there and leave without him.

And maybe his plan would have worked, if he wasn't scared half to death and his teeth weren't chattering inside of his head.

LCPL Hoffman took notice and moved in for the kill, as was the custom for most lance corporals who thought they were much better, even though in all likeliness he had only been in the new republic a few more months than Jet.

"I bet you're missing the moisture farm now, eh Pottes?"

This got a rise from the other troopers on the lift. It was so damn quiet that they likely heard him a floor above and below.

Jet didn't respond. He tightened the chin strap on his helmet to the point where it secured his jaw firmly to the rest of his head. The shaking stopped.

"you know..." Hoffman leaned in and whispered. "...dianogas have been known to bite a hole straight through the chest of a grown man." His intimidation tactics were too much for Jet. He let out an audible gulp.

The lift came to a jolt, slowed down, and then completely stopped.

Sergeant Zarga and Corporal Hill stepped out and prepared to split into groups.

Meanwhile, Private Pottes prepared for what would most likely be the straw to break the bantha's back. He already wanted out. If he came back alive, he would make sure he didn't spend one more day in Candy squad.

Hendal Luchivik wasn’t in the mood for sewer diving or spelunking or any other euphemism the troopers attached to it. A sewer is a sewer, and any way you look at it, it stinks, both literally and figuratively. He turned on his helmet light and looked around. There were rats the size of his foot running along the ground, and while he was a soldier of the New Republic, the sight of giant sewer rats creeped him out a little. As he tightened his grip on his rifle, the sergeant called the squad around him.

“Okay, listen up. Command wants us down here, and we’re not going to fuss about it. If you want to complain, keep it to yourselves, because I sure as hell don’t want to hear it. So, with that little bit out of the way, we can get down to business. We’re taking two groups into the sewers, and we’re going to meet in the offices in the water treatment plant. From there, we’ll regroup and go further down if command tells us, because they’re the ones that give us food and a bed.”

Zalga took out his datapad and started thumbing through the schematics of the facility; Hendal just wished he would hurry the hell up so he could out of here and eat something hot in the mess hall. Zalga finally looked up at the squad and started calling out names.

“All right. Uzen, you take Luchivik, Vla’ask, Gaines, Travias and Orda. I’ll take the others. As I said, we’ll meet up in offices. Oh, and try not to step in anything. Move out.”

Luchivik grimaced a little bit; he could have shown him at least a little bit of respect by calling him by his first name. With that, Zalga turned on his heel and went off into the dark, dank sewers. Uzen turned to his group and nodded.

“All right. Let’s get this over with. Travias, Orda, you two take point. Vlas’ask and Luchivik, you take the rear. Gaines, you stay near me. If you see anything bigger than a rat and it charges, shoot to kill.”

Uzen turned on his headlamp and pointed down the sewers into a pitch-black tunnel. Hendal sighed. It was going to be a bad day.



After a while, Hendal was starting to get impatient. He needed action, and he highly doubted sewer hunting would give him the thrill of true combat. He had seen all of the old war holos, about the battles of Hoth and Endor. He really would have shined then. But of course he had to be stuck with a bunch of misfits, most of whom barely even knew how to hold a rifle, much less fire one. Hendal looked around in the sewer, watching as his late chased away shadows on the walls, only to give a deeper sense of dread as the shadows grew deeper and deeper. After some time, Uzen stopped them with an abrupt hand to the air. Hendal shook his head in disgust; what could it possibly be now?

“Do you guys hear that?”

Hendal looked at Uzen as if he was crazy. What noise could he possibly be talking about? But then after staring at him, he began to hear it too. Hendal began to wonder if he was going crazy too, but then it became slightly more audible. Was that… clanking? And why was it coming from behind the walls? Uzen seemed to realize it before anyone else.

“We have to move. Now!”

And with that, he jumped over a gap of water and sprinted across the duracrete walkway. The rest of the squad went after him. Hendal had a very strange look on his face. What could that have been about?

Uzen's blood was pumping now.

His squad was having a hard time keeping up with him, whether for fear of some dangerous situation, or just for the mere fact that they were in crappy condition.

By this time, everyone in Uzen's group had arrived at a similar conclusion.

A) Whatever blasted a hole in the side of the sewage pipe wasn't a dianoga.

B) Whatever blasted the hole in the side of the sewage pipe had company, and it was moving outside of the pipes, directly above them.

C) Directly above them was the waste treatment facility.

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, still taking care not to fall in the putrid stream of water and solid waste coursing its way through the sewage pipe on its way to the cleaners.

Uzen fumbled with his communicator, and it almost slipped into the water. He grabbed hold as best as a man who was in a dead sprint could and hailed the sergeant.

"Detric, we have company! They came through the hole and they're in the facility! I repeat! They're in the facility!"

"They? what do you mean they?" Detric was confused. The fact that Uzen was huffing and puffing wasn't helping his comprehend the situation.

Then it hit him.

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

Uzen's group came out of the sewage pipe, guns ready. Before they could take even a whiff of the untainted air, blaster rifle fire scorched the ground in front of them. Uzen, turned back with superhuman speed and grabbed ahold of Gaines and tossed him back into the safety of the sewage tunnel.

"What the hell was that?!" Gaines was flabbergasted.

Uzen didn't want to tell him. The last thing he needed was a handful of terrified soldiers, incapable of fighting back.

"Orda! Hail the sergeant. The rest of you, keep your wits about you. We just might get out of this jam alive."

Gaines clung to his rifle for dear life. As it stood, he was between a sewage tunnel and a hard place. The blaster rifles pinged and panged against everything around him. The best he could force his petrified body to do was to blind fire a few rounds into the air, hoping to hit something.

Instead of deterring the enemy squad, it only made them angrier. They retaliated by intensifying their volly on their position.

"Where the hell is our backup!?" yelled Travias. His voice was almost muffled out by the sounds of blaster fire being exchanged in such cramped quarters.

"They'll be here shortly." Uzen was unusually calm. The adrenaline rush had died down and now he was able to think more clearly, and act more responsibly.

"Conserve your ammo. Wait to get a clear shot."

The blaster fire died down for just a brief amount of time. Uzen crossed his fingers and took advantage of the lull in action.
He peeped around the corner of the sewage pipe and caught a glimpse at their attackers.

IMPERIALS!, he thought to himself. Just an hour before he had dismissed the idea of an imperial attack on their water treatment facility as unrealistic, and now here he was.

He popped back into cover before anyone could notice him and slumped down to the ground, his back against the cold, hard concrete.

He motioned for Orda to come over and snatched the communicator out of his hand in one hostile movement. Orda stepped back and diverted his attention elsewhere.

"Detric... we have a situation here..."

"I know, i know. We're on our way to assi-" Detric sounded off before being interrupted by Uzen. "No, you don't understand. It's the imperials. Everyone in his group heard that ominous word and dropped whatever they were doing.

"Hm..." The sergeant replied. "We'll be right there. Exercise caution, team. I want you all in one piece when i get there."

"Aye, sir."

His group was talking amongst themselves, probably nervous about having to face a trained group of attackers. Most of them hadn't had much experience, or a whole lot of training for that matter.

Uzen didn't care. As long as they had the balls to do what he needed them to do, they'd work out just fine.

"Okay, Luchivik, Vla'ask, Orda. Fire on your three o' clock. The rest of you, come with me. We're sitting ducks in this damn tunnel. We're gonna have to make a run for the control room."

He paused to think the next phase of his plan through.

"When we've cleared the control room, i'll give the signal and Luchivik can bring up the rear. Am i clear?!" He got a somewhat enthusiastic response from his group. They were nervous, but they would fight if he commanded them.

"Alright, on my mark."

"Everyone, back off" Chase ordered "Scientists too"

No one was brave enough to argue, and ever so slowly, everyone inched back against the far wall. A number of times they fell out of their cover, but Candy never fired. There was a man sat in front of them with a thermal detonator, and he was already on edge. Kortax positioned himself next to Chase.

"What do we do? This is bad" He whispered

"Squad, listen up" Chase responded, as if ignoring Kortax completely "Once he throws that detonator, it's probably going to cave in that wall. We might get lucky and it kills them all, but its unlikely. Kill every one of them that is unlucky enough to fall this side and still be alive, then run. Clear?"

Chase had a remarkable knack of being able to talk loudly enough so that everyone he wants to hear him can, and the people he doesn't want hearing cant. And by the looks of it, Candy squad hadn't heard him, they still all had their eyes fixed on the detonator.

A flick of the wrist and the plan changed entirely. The grenade landed just in front of chases feet, but it happened so fast he didn't see who threw it. Acting instinctively, he jumped to his feet and kicked the grenade towards Candy. It followed the perfect path in the air along, Chase thanked his lucky stars for all those months he'd spent in the local soccer team. It only made it halfway though, and exploded somewhere over the middle terminal, sending sparks and pieces of machinery flying everywhere. The scientist panicked and threw the thermal detonator towards Candy, who dived for cover out back towards the sewer. The blast seemed to swallow up the entire squad, but he couldn't be sure of that.

"Is everyone okay!?" Kortax shouted, staggering to his feet. Everyone was moving, that was the first good sign. Some of the scientists seemed to be a little dazed, and some had a few cuts from the debris, but they were fire. Absolut squad, remarkably, were completely unharmed.

"Guys lets move, they could be back any second. Lets get to the roof and signal the base" Chase called, running out of the room.

Private Alexis was crying, every step of the way up the stairwell she was crying, hurting in her heart She told everything to the scientist, Marcus, who had survived the blast and wanted out of this hellhole, and insisted on following them out of this hellhole and into a safe haven, he explained everything to the squad seriously while running after them, handing the box to Alexis:

    “The two had been friends, best friends, and lovers even, Alexis admired Alema’s life of a protector, but Alema sometimes even admired Alexis’ life of a free woman with whatever she wanted to do, when she wanted to do it, and a happy, unsorrowful life. But Alexis never thought so, her brothers were the cruelest relatives in the world, they’d beat her around and make use of her as a heartless joke or a punching bag they can punch around. Soon the brother even become traitors of their own Empire and sold Alema’s mother out for the kill, the reason being that she had protected too much, even people from the Republic, whom she believed to be influential to the cause. A peace deal, she wanted, between the divided factions of the Empire and a ceasefire treaty with the Republic, diplomatic talks, you get my meaning. Alema was the successor for it, the successor for protection and peace, and Private Alexis’ first name, Aola, was the flower for it, these two were the peacekeepers of our time and the greatest sisters that were able to get along and fall in love. Life hit them hard, but life picked them back up. Alexis, I’ll let you take this.”

    “You don’t have to, you don’t. All she wanted was peace before she died peacefully that was her only wish, not peace for her, but peace for the entire galaxy. I don’t know what else I can say, we were as close as Marcus says, sisters, and we gotten through the worst of times with prayer and hope, no wonder my parents gave me the first name that meant flower, flower is the first life that opens its leaves to shine to the sun in Spring, and Spring is the sign of hope, hope for all of the galaxy that wars may end and people may come together in harmony.” Alexis finished, resisting taking the box, for it reminded her of Alema, but under the moving story, the squad helped persuade Alexis to take the box, her tears dripping onto the box.

    Alexis had pats on her shoulders and words of comfort from everyone as she ran up the stairs to the roof, and it was everyone, including Chase, David, Harvey, the people who wouldn’t usually show sympathy and remorse. Alexis looked at the body of Alema that she insisted on taking back to her father, the blaster bolts that hit her and made her die, the bastard who did it with no heart, firmed her stand on peace, for war had cost too much lives, too much hatred, no love, not even in the Republic, where once Alexis had embraced, had met a cold and marblehearted man like that bastard who’d killed Alema, had married him and have a child, what would Alema think of it, what good would it be on her memory. Although at the moment, as if Alema were guiding her, she spoke as if she was still here, an angel, in her mind:

    Alexis, don’t cry now, I forgive for what you’ve done, you don’t have to cry now, I know why you didn’t want to tell me, you thought I’d hate you, well, when I found out about it on my own. They all do this for the success of the mission and the prosperity of their Republic, nothing else, we cannot ultimately change it, but we can try, we can try, we just gotta have faith. For faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

     Alexis then heard that sign of hope from Kortax, who had now started a war cry for them:
   
    “For Alema!

    “FOR ALEMA!” Alexis was the first to respond, for it was the only thing in which she could do to commorate her life sacrifice, to honor that would have to be to live life as if every day is another precious one. The whole squad yelled it all the way as they made their way up the stairwell, encouraging them to fight on for her peaceful cause.

Alexis saw the look of revenge across Chase’s face as they made their way to the top, she never liked the idea of revenge, but it gave the people murdered the sense of peace and happiness in afterlife, so for Alema’s peace and happiness, she would kill that bastard of a sarge. Alexis saw that Harem was being escorted by Spark quite quickly up the stairs with red on her face. Look at that face, you’d think that girl liked him or something, that’s the shiest face I have ever seen in my life. Alexis wondered as she too smiled and brushed away the tears on her face.

“One more flight of stairs, come on, guys, we’re nearly there.” Chase encouraged the squad, hurrying on as the squad made their way to the roof, which looked upon to the city walls and the forests they had come from. People were going about their everyday life, still unaware of what was happening inside the complex, while Alexis rested a bit along with the rest of the squad, sweat running down their faces along with her.

“Candy squad won’t be far behind, I doubt that little explosion would kill them all, maybe only hurt them a bit. Everyone, prepare yourselves and take cover. Davis, keep a watch on the stairs, if there’s any movement, get back here and report to me. I’ll need to call base for supplies and support.” Chase said orderly as Alexis took cover along with the squad, readying their rifles on the only entrance to the roof. Alexis then heard Chase relay to base, sending the coordinates along on his datapad:

“Base, this is Chase. We are under attack from highly-trained NR squad and requesting backup and supplies at the location being sent to you right there. Also, we request evac for a scientist named Marcus who wants safe passage to a location which only he knows.”

“Understood, we will send supplies along ASAP, as for backup, we’ll see. And about that man you have there, well, we have orders to evac him through the Vengence, don’t ask me why, they have connections with Admiral Thrawn, apprenately they saved him from an assassin, and it’s true also, odd...” Alexis felt a sense of familiarity at this response and then it came to her who it was when she saw Chase switch to a private channel when he heard the incoming call and heard that all too familiar voice that belonged to Shakka, who waved and smiled at them from the cockpit of the Vengence, a Modular Taskforce Crusier landed on the roof, replying to Chase’s unbelievable shock at the modified cruiser:

“Hello, Alexis, nice to see you again, hope you can make it out alive, Pampy is very worried about Alema, is that her?” Alexis saw a look of shock, horror and pain on her face as she confirmed Shakka’s fears:

“Tell her Alema died by the squad leader of an NR squad named Candy, I have her body right here to prove it, as you’ve already have seen. She can rest easy, knowing you’ll send her to her family. Marcus, take this to Pampy and tell her she died to save you, she died for a good cause.” With a strong and firm voice, trying hard not to cry, she handed the dead body of Alema, holding her E-11 rifle, to Marcus, who got on the cruiser by the deck that opened for him, which closed quickly. After that the cruiser took off into space with goodbyes and promise of getting back safely, although Alexis wasn’t sure if she was going to with Alema dead.

“Alexis, quite the team you have here, I’m proud.” Chase commented, still looking shocked and confused at what just happened. Yeah, you should be confused, I was even shocked to meet someone that great, and I don’t mean just normal great, I mean the more higher great. Alexis thought, smiling as she continued to wait for Candy squad, rifle ready.