Senior sergeant Faolan Knight aka Virius took a look around the Raider’s barracks as two of the privates; Cursed and Famus were sweeping and mopping the floor after a fun and disastrous prank competition between the squads. We all had our fun and now it was time to get back down to some serious business.

    Virius’s PDA beeped, he reached into his pocket and checked the screen and saw that 2LT Darr-Rann wanted a word with him and Snipes. Virius nodded to himself and screamed at the privates, “You guys wanted to have fun, look what it got you into.”

    “We didn’t start it, top did,” Cursed said as he scrubbed a counter top with his toothbrush.

    “I know but the privates always get stuck with the fun details,” Virius finished grinning as he turned to leave.

    Virius walked out of the Raiders barracks and stopped, stretching he took in a long breath of cool Tadath air and started off towards Wildcard’s HQ building. After walking for about five minutes the assistant squad leader stopped, waiting in front of the HQ building spotting his squad leader coming from the other direction.

    “Morning first sergeant,” Virius said grinning.

    “I told you not to call me first sergeant, it’s either snipes or I’ll allow top, old buddy,” Snipes responded, shaking Virius’s hand.

    “Roger that” Virius said snapping off a two fingered salute, and turning to walk into the HQ building. Snipes caught up and tripped Virius with his foot causing Virius to stumble.

    “Walk much?”  Snipes quipped.

    “Hah, nice one,” Virius said chuckling.

    The two leaders for the infamous Raiders squad joked with each other as they walked into the HQ building towards 2LT Darr-Rann’s office.  The two arrived at their destination and Snipes knocked on the door mocking a local ComNet jingle.

    “Enter!” said a voice from within the office.

    Snipes bust through the door and immediately snapped off a crisp salute with Virius mirroring the same closely behind.

    “Welcome gentlemen, I’ve got some fun stuff planned for your squad.” 2LT Darr-Rann said returning the duo’s salutes, and motioning for the two to have a seat.

    “Awesome, where at?” Virius questioned whilst sitting down in a comfy leather chair.

    “You probably haven’t heard of it much, it’s a little planet in the Naboo system called Erep.” Darr said.

    “I’ve heard of it, kind of a tourist attraction, has some kind of crazy weather patterns. Not sure of anybody who would want to waste their time looking at a planet from space just to see a storm.” Snipes said turning his head to Virius.

    “Not everyone likes to vacation to a local cantina,” Virius grinned after sticking out his tounge at Snipes. “Not that I don’t enjoy a good cantina.”

    “Anyways, we have intelligence that there is some sort of enemy funded weapons research facility located on the planet. The interesting weather storms make it difficult for any ships passing by to detect any structures. We received Intel that states, various freighters every month or so drops out of hyperspace and launches resupply pods down to the planet. If that doesn’t raise a flag then I don’t know what does.” Darr slid a datapad over to Snipes and Virius to look at. “I am tasking Raider Squad to do a recon to see if there is any actual research facility down there and if there is to infiltrate it and gather as much intelligence as you can.”

    “Enemy casualties?” Snipes’s eyebrows rose in question.

    “Yes, kill anybody that you seem to deem is an enemy of the Vast Empire. If possible capture a few researchers, so our interrogators can grill them for what they were researching. Also Virius I want you to use your slicing skills to access their mainframe and download whatever you can on the activity they have been doing down there. We might be able to use something that they created.” Lieutenant Darr-Rann finished by standing up. “All the other details are on the datapads I gave you, if there are any questions contact me or First Sergeant Arnaut. Good luck men.”

    “Yes sir, this sounds like a good one,” Virius said saluting.

    “We’ll be back soon, maybe with a couple of scientists and a datastick full of interesting weapon schematics,” Snipes said saluting as well.

    Lieutenant Darr-Rann returned the two’s salutes and watched as they turned and left his office.

    Snipes and Virius left the wildcard platoon HQ and headed back to the squad barracks. “Send out a message to all the squad boys and round them up back for a briefing.” Snipes said to his assistant squad leader.

    Virius nodded, pulling out his PDA he typed up a message and sent it to all the Raider squad members. Snipes and Virius returned to the barracks and went straight to the briefing/TV room that was used for mission briefings as well as a relaxation area. Soon other members filed in as they returned from their various daily duties.

    Snipes briefed the members on what their mission was going to consist of and then passed off the floor to Virius. “We’ll be hitching a ride with one of the Navy’s carrack light cruisers. They will head in system slingshotting around Ereb’s only moon. We will enter the planet by the use of drop pods, our destination will be around where the supply pods were dropped by the freighter that resupplies whatever is down there. The drop will be in tune with one of the spectacular storms that is happening in the area. Our pods will be undetectable to any sensors that would be watching the skies in that area so we will be relatively undetected. Once we have boots on ground we will recon the area and try to find any facilities that are of interest. If we do find something, which I am sure we will, the squad will split up into and infiltrate the facility as quietly as possible. Once inside find out as much as possible about what is going on there and record it. I will find an access terminal and slice their network, since that is what I do best. Also we need to capture at least one researcher and bring him back to Tadath for further questioning.

    Once our mission is complete, Snipes or I will activate a pick-up beacon and the cruiser will send us a shuttle to ex-filtrate. Any questions?” Virius asked setting down his datapad and looking around the room at the squad.

    Dante raised his hand saying, “What about our armament and armor?”

    “You can use whatever weapons you want, in moderation, also at least one has to be suppressed for our covert infiltration of the facility. For armor, while on the surface, we will all be wearing Radiation trooper armor but when we enter the facility you can don something that is more comfortable and silent. Remember though you have to carry whatever you are going to use because there might be a hike depending on how the drop goes.”

    “Ok awesome,” Dante said enthusiastically.

    “Any other questions?” Virius looked around the room, “No, ok good, our next hard time will be tomorrow at 1145 at the landing bay G-31. The ship we will be using will be there with our mission essential gear, bring your personal stuff with you and I will see you all tomorrow.” Virius finished and the squad got up and headed off to prepare themselves for the mission. Virius nodded to snipes and clapped him on the back and headed off to his quarters to pack for the mission.

OOC:

Start posting your post with you preparing for the mission and stuff. BTW the ship we are using is called ISS Grim Success

Waking up from his alarm clock RB shook his head; he didn’t feel like getting up his dream said he would get a mission today and for some unknown reason he believed it. It’s been two or three days since he returned to active duty and his life already feels like it’s on a loop. Up at seven, mess at seven-thirty, training by eight, lunch at noon, more training, well in all honesty the more training was a matter of personal choice and that was the choice he made.

After buying a small farm on Dantooine and starting it up Rogue realized that a farmer’s life is not his, so he sold the farm and made a small profit and returned back to the only thing that has been a constant in his life; the army. So after having a few quite words with Riqimo who had replaced RB has platoon commander he was once again placed in Raiders.

After getting out of his bunk and using the squad’s showers, Rogue noticed his personal pack was slightly shifting on the floor. Raising his eyebrow RB opened the bag and fished around until he grabbed his datapad.

It was a new mission, something about meeting in a hangar to take a shuttle to an ISS Grim Success where we would be debriefed; weapons and armour were up to the individual as long as they could carry it for an extended trek, and would require one silenced weapon. Since he had heard that Raider’s specialty had changed he found he groaned quite often mainly because he was a heavy weapons specialist and all this stealthy shit really limited his weapon choice to things he was mostly unfamiliar with.

After dressing up and grabbing a bar of Goop! A green paste substance that has all the vitamins a body needs with a disgusting taste, RB had one of these for breakfast every day mainly because he hated eating in the mornings. Rogue headed towards the armoury where he checked out with a BMC-150 and a matching silencer, two fragment grenades, two smoke grenades, one flash bang, a heavy blaster pistol as a secondary, one rad trooper armour, a blast resistant vest with a slim helm that covered the majority of his face except his eyes and had a built in comlink, and heat sensing goggles that could be fit over the helm.

Figuring he would equip himself in the drop pods Rogue just stuck his equipment in an overly large bag that he would leave in the drop pod, as he headed towards the hangar RB could already see the outgoing troopers in full battle gear waiting to go on outgoing missions. Covering a smug smile RB reported to Snipes who was standing outside of a transport ship probably a Lambda, the Raider’s trooper didn’t even look at the outside as he climbed up the ramp.

Snipes sighed, stretched out in the small lounge of the Carrack cruiser. Snipes was filling the room with cigarette smoke, waiting for the RAIDERS to finish their preparations. All their standard equipment had been loaded on. Snipes would make them all wear the shadow suits under whatever the hell they decided on, and the standard weapons would be available, Snipes had insured it. He had a feeling at least one person would bring something impractical. Snipes had all of his crap loaded into a backpack. Some rations, some explosives, a few various tools, including a large hammer. A couple boxes of ammunition, a change of clothes, a few other bits and pieces of equipment that might come in handy.

Snipes armor was hanging in the armory, but the rest of his equipment was with him, the M4 “Bullstopper” was on his him, the accompanying silencer hung from it's own sheath on the same belt. Next to him was a silenced variation of the StA-52 LAR, an effective silenced slugthrower assault rifle, the underslung shotgun was a nice touch.

“RAIDERS have landed, Snipes.” The intercom crackled at him.

“Thanks,” Snipes said, keying the intercom.

It was only a few more minutes before RB wandered in with Virius.

“Drink?”

“No thanks.”

“Sure,” RB said, plopping himself down across from Snipes.

Snipes had three glasses on the table infront of him anyway, one he'd been drinking out of, the others had been untouched by the bottle sitting next to them, Snipes poured another one and pushed it over to RB.

“I want you two to run around and make sure nobody is packing too heavy, we might be down there awhile. Ammo, three or so weapons, rations. I'd advise against anyone carrying an extra set of armor, I expect us to spend most of our time in there in our shadow suits. Also going to need someone to carry the grenade launcher and the sniper rifle. I want some sniper support for our exit, and I whoever with the grenade launcher with us to start creating a distraction as we leave. We'll place explosive charges around whilst inside, bring the facility down behind us. Anyway, I have a few other things that need to be taken care of with the crew.”

Rogueboy took a sip of the proffered liquid and tasted the all to familiar slight bitterness of Corellian whiskey, which was then followed by the much preferable sweet aftertaste. Listening to Snipes’ orders RB grabbed the grenade launcher for himself and slung it over his shoulder. Taking the sniper rifle with his free hand the Raider’s trooper quickly thought about who was going to receive it; of the seven other active Raiders RB was only familiar with three of them which meant that this could be the opportunity to get to know someone then figure out if that person would be worth going above duty to save or not.

Dante’s words had stung RB, yes he had abandoned a few troopers to die the mission objectives had requested it due to bad intelligence and there was nothing he could of done about it. Had he gone down to rescue the troops who knows how many others would have died, no point dwelling on what should have been done, he did what he did and he would have to get used to it that’s all.

Walking into the barracks there was only one trooper laying on his bunk reading from a book of flimsiplast, this made Rogue’s decision on who gets the sniper all the more easier. Setting down the rifle on the side of the trooper’s bed it was obvious the trooper was trying to ignore the former platoon commander. Sighing and feeling that he had already failed RB started to head towards the door.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what the rifle is for?” The trooper asked.

“Well now your interested in learning what could mean the difference between life or death.” RB said.

“Actually I’m reading a service manual on how to add upgrades to an A280 rifle, did you know you can add an under barrel grenade launcher, which would make that eight kilo piece of shit slung over your shoulder extinct.” The trooper said in a smart-ass voice.

“If you look on the back of that book you will see the publisher is the exact same company that builds the under barrel upgrade, ask any trooper that as used both of these weapons and which one they prefer, any seasoned trooper will tell you the launcher is preferable.” Rogueboy said in a voice that bespoke knowing the hard way.

“And what does that tell you?” Trooper Cursed asked.

That caught Rogueboy off guard. “What do you mean?”

“That not everything can be learned by reading, and if the book is so biased why is it considered part of the training regiment?” The curious Raider’s soldier asked.

“Because the courses get political input, chances are that company funds us somehow so we treat them nicely, now as to the sniper rifle; your lugging it around on our mission so I suggest you familiarize yourself with it.” Rogueboy said as he left the room.

Famus sat on the Grim Success going through his equipment. He looked through his the rucksack. Blaster pistols....! one silencer for blaster pistol....check! The young private rummaged through the dusty green rucksack, He almost had a heart attack when he thought he had lost the prized cigarettes. What the hell I would have....Oh here they are! Lungblasters.....check! ESPO Riot Gun....Check! Famus sat up holding his most prized possession: his picture of Cherrla. He sat there smoking and looking at her picture. "Damn..... who's that foxy little thang," said a voice behind the trooper. Famus wheeled around, to see Snipes, his squad leader, standing there with a curious grin on his face.

    "This is my girl," said Famus in a melancholy way,"Her name is Cherrla."

  "Well, hell hold onto her. A little private like you don't deserve a fine piece of ass like that."

  Famus' fists clenched up into a ball. The trooper had to resist the urge to punch his squad leader square in the nose. He turned back around and looked through his rucksack and finished preparing for departure. The private got up, walked around and saw Bacardi staring off into space obviously done preparing for the drop. Famus walked over and sat down next to him.

"Hey, Bacardi," said Famus in an indifferent voice.
 
The corporal looked startled for a second and replied," Oh...hey Fam. Whats up."

"I don't know.. I've just been thinking bout this mission. Sounds too easy. Ya know?" Famus took another puff of his cigarette.

  Corporal Bacardi shrugged,"Yeah..nothings every easy with this damn squad."
 
  "Yea-" Famus was interrupted by the obvious voice of the captain,"RAIDERS, we have arrived at Erep. Deploying drop pods in two minutes."

  Snipes appeared suddenly,"You heard him!! Get your lazy ass up and to the drop pods! NOW!!!!"

  Famus got up walked through the doorseal as it opened with a mechanical hiss. He put on his radiation suit and moved into the cramped drop pod. "Deploying in five...four....three.....two......ONE!!!!!!"
Famus closed his eyes as him and his squad mates were shot into the moon of Erep.

OOC:

Before Famus's post, as I wanted to describe the landing quite badly. No contradictions here, just a more detailed description.

"RAIDERS, we have arrived at Erep. Deploying drop pods in two minutes."

The pod's com system crackled with interference from the ship's systems for three seconds, then closed the channel. Seated inside the one-man reentry vehicle, Dante sat back, taking one last breath of the ship air before sealing his helmet. The air inside the pods would be breathable, but it was singularly unpleasant to do so. His equipment was in the lower section of the bulbous pod, clamped firmly down inside the compartment.

Dante pulled the safety harness from over head, clipping the device to each side of the compartments. It wouldn't help with a catastrophic failure, but would stop him from bouncing all over the passenger compartment on the the way down. The overhead light flickered, then changed from dull red to a blinding white as the pod's control panel gave a loud beep. The pod shook in its launch tube as the Success took a series of direct hits. Even through the reinforced durasteel crash cage and several rooms, Dante could hear the roar of a nearby turbolaser battery as it returned fire.

"Deploying pods, RAIDERS. Good luck."

The transmission ended, and a warning light began to flash on Dante's control panel, indicating an approaching launch. He felt more than heard a dull rumbling from nearby, followed a moment later by a dull boom. On the pod's sensor, the trooper could see Sniping101's pod spinning off towards the now-massive moon below.

The Carrack cruiser shook again, and a siren started to sound in the corridor beyond. It was no longer Dante's problem: all the Success needed to do was be capable of picking the RAIDERS up upon mission completion.

Another warning beep, another shock, and now Virius was gone. Dante was third.

"Right then," the Sergeant First Class muttered to himself, "Let's see if I can still pull this off..."

With that, the overhead light went out, and "Deploy Pod" scrolled across Dante's visor in almost half a dozen different languages. That was one of the things he'd have to talk with the boys in Maintenance after this was over: to say the solid wall of text was distracting was a major understatement.

Dante pulled the detachment lever, and was instantly shoved back into the seat as the pod's engines roared to life, sending the single-person vehicle on a pre-plotted trajectory towards the Erep moon.

The pod shook violently as the engines flared one at a time, sending it spinning on a seemingly arbitrary course designed to confuse automated AA guns. The second set of engines flickered on and off, slowing the ovaloid entry vehicle's descent as the top set continued to maneuver the lander.

The drop pod's sensors showed that the RAIDERS pods as a constantly swerving, v-shaped formation of friendly tags in a rid dominated by the circles of Erep I and the planet itself.

Just "above" him, or what Dante arbitrarily designated up based on where his head was, the Grim Success was exchanging fire with a Dreadnaught and several flights of Republic X-Wings. One of the fighters swooped right into a volley from the Carrack and vanished in a spectacular fireball, even as the rest of the squadron looped around and made another attack run. A volley of proton torpedoes streaked from the Carrack, detonating on impact with the flight leader and continuing to hit the rest of the flight. By the time the clouds of gas had dissipated somewhat, all that remained of the rebel snubfighter squadron was a cluster of wreckage slowly spinning away from the epicenter of the explosion.

Slowly, the Success turned away from Erep, still exchanging fire with the much more massive Dreadnaught. Dante saw its engines glowing a bright white and realized what Vermetel was about to do a moment before it happened. The ship seemed to elongate for a fraction of a second, then vanished. The RAIDERS were alone in the system, at least until they succeeded.

By now, the pod sensors were ringed by a flickering red-orange glow, and the outer skin was beginning to heat from the force of re-entry. The shaking was continuous now, enough to interfere with Dante as he typed commands into his pod's interface. There was a squeal of static, and Dante's HUD identified the speaker as First Sergeant Battlemont.

"RAIDERS, report."

Tapping the side of his helmet with his free hand, Dante activated his own COM and replied.

"Dante here."

"Virius reporting."

"Vox reporting."

"Cursed acknowledging."

"Famus here. Hey, anyone else enjoying the view?" The Private's voice was chipper, not changing even as his pod began shaking violently.

"I think most of us are too busy not being sick,"

A burst of interference cut off part of Cursed's retort.

"...worry about the vie.zzt.."

"Damn..zzzt..." Sniping 101 interjected. "There'...zzt...interfer...zzt...."

"First Sergeant?"

The transmission ended, and Dante was left to take his pod down in silence. The battered lander passed through layers of clouds, and Dante's sensors were coated by a thin layer of mist. The shaking slowed, then stopped, and the descent became more controlled. Dante's pod passed through another layer of clouds, and Erep's surface came into view.

It was an unwelcome sight, to say the least. Jagged rock protrusions were everywhere, with boulders and gravel in between. The outcroppings would tear the pods, and a damaged, still-active engine could and would turn a re-entry pod into an unlucky trooper's funeral pyre. His fingers coated by a layer of sweat, the First Sergeant tried to swerve the vehicle to avoid a  protruding rock formation. He managed to get the base past, but wasn't as successful for the rest of the pod. There was a crunch, and Dante felt the rock tear a jagged line down the drop vehicle's side. Then the base touched the ground, the pod's top slammed heavily into the rock, and the vehicle came to an uneasy stop.

Ignoring the flashing lights and various system failure signals, Dante lay on his back, eyes unfocused and staring at the pod's ceiling. His COM flickered open.

"First Sergeant, what is your status?"

The transmission caused DANTE to struggle upright, pushing the harness off his armour as he did so.

"Landed."

True, at least from a certain point of view.

"Gather whatever equipment you can, then meet up at the RV."

"Yes, sir."

Dante activated the blast door's explosive bolts, then pushed the now detached metal slab off the rest of the pod. It fell with a clatter, and Dante crawled out of the trashed landing vehicle.

Not the most dignified of entries...

First Sergeant Battlemont tapped the side of his helmet twice, and Dante heard the click of the Squad Leader closing his link to the com channel. Dante understood: it was quite likely that the droids were monitoring their communications, using the RAIDERS' chatter to track them down. Himself switching the helmet's audio to external speakers, the heavy weaponeer nodded to Snipes, who pointed at him and Virius before making a cutting gesture at the shimmering structure ahead.

It was easily the largest object in the area, a cluster of squat bunkers with tubes connecting them. The shimmering red-orange energy shield rippled as plasma strikes began to hit it, and the entire area crackled from the discharge. Sniping 101 pointed at what looked like a tower just ahead. Upon magnifying, Dante saw that it was a tower, and that the energy shield seemed to emerging from its peak. Sniping101 was shouting something, barely audible above the howling of the approaching storm.

"Take...tower...down, split up...pairs!"

Virius clicked his com in acknowledgment, then motioned for Dante to follow him. Nodding, the First Sergeant followed Knight, his Z-6 out and just below firing height. The three groups made their way towards each of the power generators, their presence camouflaged by the ion storm and the base unaware of their presence. That would probably change in the next couple of minutes.

Virius took the lead, with Dante following and ready to provide cover fire. Up ahead, the first tower's outline was visible, shrouded by dust clouds thrown up by the storm. The two RAIDERS were half a dozen meters away from the generator when the plan completely fell apart.

There was a loud bang from the other side of the facility, followed by a series of more rapid secondary explosions. It seemed that the others were running into some difficulties.

Hatches set around the nearest tower hissed open, and more sentry droids poured out. Dante flipped the Z-6's safety, and dropped to one knee before pulling the trigger. Droid parts flew in all directions as the cannon emptied 166 rounds per second into the formation, and the tower began to shake under the barrage even as more droids flew out to defend it.

Virius dropped to one knee, left arm stretched out and firing as he brought his right back, then hurled an EMP grenade towards the clumps of sentries. The mag pulse grenade pinged as it flew, then imploded on impact with a red-painted command droid.

Waves of electricity leaped from drone to drone, and they fell with smoke pouring from every opening. Dante emptied the rest of the clip into the droids that had managed to float out of the blast radius in time, and the area was secure. Without any other interruptions, the two RAIDERS ran through the several meter gap between them and the tower and quickly began placing charges. As Dante slapped the last det pack on a pylon and set it for remote detonation, there was an explosion from inside the base, and a siren started. The troopers looked at each other for a moment, then finished up and ran back.

"When we get back, remind me to give the Intel boys a good kick in the..." Dante began.

"What?"

"Never mind."

Dante pushed the activation button on the detonator.

OOC:

Since no one's posting, I'll expand this...
The internal detonation was a generator inside overloading due to the two destroyed shield towers. The shield should be going down now...

Dante closed his helmet transmitter for a moment, went through a few  dozen Mando'a curse words, then reopened the com. The reason for his displeasure was rapidly dropping towards their current position, leaving a trail of debris and flickering light in its wake.

Something had fragmented the Republic Dreadnought into half a dozen pieces, with the frigate’s midsection almost completely vaporized. As he ran away from the base, Dante saw a dozen meter long section of the ship collide with another falling piece of debris, causing both to vanish in a burst of flame and durasteel fragments. If the RAIDERS were anywhere near the base when the other pieces fell, there wouldn’t be enough of them left intact to fill even a single coffin. Dante had no intention of dying either now or in the near future, and that went double for a death by falling debris.

The shattered frigate continued to fall, with smaller chunks landing everywhere for miles. Each impact was announced by a loud clang and a series of tremors, both of which became continuous as the ship’s remains continued to fall. Part of Dante’s mind noticed and filed away this information, but his attention was mostly devoted to running. Virius was just ahead of him, his rifle slung over his back and head down as he ran.

Dante’s Z-6 seemed to grow heavier with each step he took, and the Sergeant First Class found himself falling further and further behind Virius. He could make out a group of black clad figures in the dusts clouds ahead, and his HUD confirmed that they were the other RAIDERS. Using the last of his reserves of strength, the trooper sprinted the last few yards, coming to an unsteady stop near Sniping 101. He let the Z-6 fall from his arms as he fell to his knees

Several hundred meters away, the base was a chaotic blur of activity as environment-suited sentients ran in all directions and clusters of drones futilely tried to repair the shattered shield generators. Overhead, the slowly falling Dreadnought’s emergency repulsorlifts finally failed, and the remaining pieces fell rapidly down. The back half, its engines still running and propelling it down faster than the other pieces, landed half a mile away, sending up a massive dust cloud as it gouged a crater into Erep’s barren surface. The research centre shook from the shock wave, and another shield tower collapsed, coming down into the central building and sending waves of electricity crackling in all directions.

Three seconds later, the frigate’s nose and remaining superstructure came down directly on what was left of the facility. The two blended and warped as plyons, fuel, and ammunition cooked off, detonating in a series of explosions. The blaze spread across the ruins, sending plumes of smoke drifting up as the remains of the battleship continued to smolder. 

Looking through a pair of macrobinoculars, Dante surveyed the epicenter for any signs of survivors or intact facilities. All he saw were scattered durasteel plates and protruding metal ribs from the Dreadnought. The bases were either crushed under the crashed frigate’s weight or had been blown to pieces by its impact. Red and orange uniformed bodies were scattered here and there, but there were no visible survivors.

Clipping the helmet binoculars back to his belt, Dante nodded with satisfaction.

“Looks like the place is completely wrecked; no survivors. I think we’re done here.”

Battlemont, who had been craning his head up with evident interest, shrugged and looked back down.

“You got that right, trooper.”

With his free hand, the Squad Leader gestured at the sky, and the squad looked up. Dante saw a wedge shaped outline and three smaller rectangles in close proximity, recognizing the largest shape as a Venator-class Star Destroyer. As the trooper brought his hand up to block some of the glare, a continuous energy beam lanced from the VenStar to one of the Dreadnaughts, slicing the smaller craft in two as it penetrated from bridge to engines. As the bisected capital ship began to spiral into Erep’s atmosphere, the other two Dreadnoughts flickered and were gone. There were cheers from the RAIDERS, and Dante joined in the general whooping.

“Well, looks like that’s…” Dante began, but was cut off by a long burst of static followed by a prim voice with a distinct Coruscanti accent.
“This is Captain Drommel of the IAS Adjudicator. Any Vast Imperial forces, respond immediately.”

“First Sergeant Battlemont reporting. My squad’s here, at coordinates 23-31.”

“Very well, Sergeant. A dropship will be down momentarily.”

With that, the Captain closed the channel. Setting to work, the RAIDERS began to pull the pins on their remaining signal flares or gathered dropped equipment. As the clouds of multicoloured smoke went up and the lone black and red LAATi gunship drifted down, Dante put one gloved hand to his helmet and wiped a layer grit from the T-visor.

It might not have ended the way I expected it to, but it looks like we’re finished.