Anival kneeled, chewing thoughtfully on a ration bar, spending countless hours attacking and running away wore Anival out.

“Joamer, we should get moving.”

Joamer nodded, “We have sent to much time here, they are bound to notice what we are doing at some point.”

Anival finished his ration bar, and stood, stretching his limbs, hearing faint cracks. Anival followed Joamer, they had been walking for three hours when Joamer shushed him.

Anival looked around, but didn’t see anything.

“Here, this spot will do.” said Joamer laying down his DC-15.

Anival thought about it for a while, then figured out what Joamer meant.

Anival looked at the area next to them, there was a small path, maybe five meters across.

“I’ll go scout ahead.” said Anival.

“Don’t go to far, it’s a risk just going by yourself.”

Anival nodded and left, making his way to a covered area, thick with underbrush. Anival walked for five minutes, he was debating weather to keep going for another couple of minutes, or go back, when he saw smoke, he went back to tell Joamer.

“Joamer, I think there’s company up ahead, maybe a mile and a half.”

Joamer mulled it over, then spoke.

“I have already set up a small ambush here, we will go see their numbers, then come back.”

Anival nodded, and they left, this time however, Anival led the way. When they arrived, Anival motioned towards the smoke coming from a small fire. They crept closer, until they could faintly make out three tents and two large shadows, eight or so NR soldiers huddled around a fire, drinking from mugs and laughing.

“Joamer, what do you think those big shadowed thing are?” asked Anival.

Joamer shrugged and looked at Anival.

“Let’s wait till they go to sleep, then we can go see what that is.”

Anival looked ahead, some of the laughter had died out, and they had started drinking again. Anival felt his eyelids go heavy, tired by the week’s events, Anival was trying not to go to sleep, but to no avail, Joamer noticing this spoke.

“Get some rest, I will wake you when they are gone.”

Anival awoke with a start, Joamer had woken him from his unfruitful slumber.

“Let’s go” were the two simple words Anival heard.

Getting up, and following Joamer as silently as a tusk cat stalking it prey.

Once near the camp, Anival noticed the two shadowy figures, were actually covered in heavy tarps, Anival wondered why they would be covered, walking towards them he recognized their shape instantly, during his studies he had studied and memorized almost all the hover tanks, repulsor craft, or treaded craft created.

Anival silently pulled off the tarp of one of the repulsor tanks. Anival held his breath, running his fingers along the tanks hull, marveling at the thermal grenade launcher, the medium twin lasers, and the main rotating turret, Anival shivered with delight, these were the moments he lived for.

“Stop drooling will you?” came Joamer’s whisper.

Anival gave him a look and stopped exploring the tank.

“These are trouble.” muttered Joamer.

Anival nodded. “We need to get these out of commission.”

Anival nodded and looked around, something near a small crate grabbed his attention, Anival walked towards it, a fusion cutter laid, taunting him. Anival smiled.

“We can rig one, and take one, or rig both, its your choice.” Anival smiled, anticipating what was to come.

Grahim kicked Rogueboy’s shoulder causing the sleeping trooper to slowly stir awake. “Itsa yousa watch.” The Gungan said.

The yawning platoon sergeant began muttering. “You know Grahim.” RB raised his hand to cover his mouth before continuing. “Most people just kick the person’s boot.”

“Mesa notsa remember whicha footsa yousa break.” Grahim quietly explained.

“Figures.” Rogueboy croaked while he raised his mostly empty canteen to take a sip, careful only to take a mouthful as anymore might leave him with no water in the upcoming day.

The majority of the forest had been reduced to charcoal and a strong wind blew ashes all over the squad burying their corpses, not in the literal sense but it seems even the forest knew they were destined for death. Picking up a small piece of charred wood RB used it to paint his armour black, holding the piece of charcoal in his left hand he ran the length of it up and down his scratched, chipped, and ripped armour. While the blackness would add a nice coat of camo the first rainfall would undo Rogue’s hard work, first thing in the morning Rogue will speak to Starfruit about getting the squad properly camouflaged. Upon thinking the idea Star will only agree if the squad’s two other basic needs are met; water and food.

Water will be difficult to find unless it rains, as the squad has to move through a burnt out forest, and then rocky hills, neither of which are notorious to have water. The other alternative would be to loot the army regulars’ corpses, for canteens and ration packs, this way will save the squad precious time hunting and searching for water.

Basic trained a soldier how to sustain ones self without decent civilization however that part of the training was brief and only covered planet’s similar to Tadath. Additionally the incomplete training was most likely never used and most troopers quickly forget it, and with most of the Raiders’ being city raised their woodsmen skills were weak, at best.

Rogueboy glanced at Starfruit’s sleeping form, her chest rising up and down while she slept, he wanted to lie down beside her and drape his arm over shoulder and sleep. On that thought RB could not help but think that some sleeping equipment should have been given to the squad but supplies had been low through out the entire retreat. Currently the squad was sleeping on the floor with no blankets or any meager comfort, SF had the wheelbarrow but after riding in that for a few hours she wanted any position that would relieve the stiffness in her lower back.

Perhaps Rogue will wake her up a few minutes before her watch just to give her a back massage, even with a crippled leg he wanted to show Star that she was special to him. Ever so carefully Rogue snuck over to Star’s motionless figure and pilfered her canteen without waking her, opening both his canteen and hers he ever so carefully gave the majority of his water to SF’s canteen. Quickly he screwed his canteen shut before doing the same to hers and replacing it, this time RB was not so careful as SF started to stir.

“Rogue what are you doing?” Starfruit asked as she blew one of her bangs out of her eyes.

“I heard you complaining about your lower back, want a massage?” Rogueboy asked as he raised both his arms and moved his fingers back and forth.

SF chuckled. “You’re definitely a keeper.”

Blaster bolts fly back and forth up and down the line of the convoy as they attempt to fight their way out of the ambush, BARman brought down one of the attacking barbarians with a concentrated burst of fire from his weapon, yelling to the corporal beside him he says,

"Corporal, we need to push these barbarians back so that the convoy can get moving again."

The Corporal looks around quickly at the men he has available, and motions to three of his men,

"You two, follow the private, and help push the enemy back so that the convoy can get moving again, as soon as we get moving make a tactical withdrawal back to the trucks."

"Yes Corporal"

Hopefully the rest of the convoy gets moving soon... I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold off these barbarians if we are sitting in place...

As he moves off toward the trees with the three other soldiers, BARman takes a quick look up the line of the convoy, and sees that up and down the line the rest of Iron Horse is doing the same, moving out to push back the barbarians who had ambushed them.

Seeing Saphira hanging back and coordinating the combat, he activates his comm unit and contacts her, "Sarge,"

"Go ahead Private,"

"Sarge, we probably should reform the convoy, get trucks with fighting capability at the front and rear of the column, and put those which are carrying mainly wounded near the center of the column, and we should post ourselves around these trucks to either side of the column."

"Good idea Private, we'll make the changes as we move out of here, let's have the forward armed section punch a hole through, and the section you have already organized can bring up the rear of the column."

"Roger that Sarge."

As he begins to move to convey the Sergeant's orders to the rest of those in his section, he hears Saphira ask another question,

"Private, how do you know so much about tactics?"

"Sarge, I've seen a lot of battlefields, both from the air and here on the ground," BARman answers, "and I've led men in combat situations before, you pick things up over time."

"Indeed you do... let's get this show on the road."

"Roger that,"

Anival beamed behind the controls of the Saber-class tank, it was a beauty, and moved well.
Anival powered it up, easy the controls, and manipulating the tank with expertise.

Bringing the tank to a complete stop over the tent, he powered it down, from this height there wouldn’t be much damage to the tank. It made a clanking noise at it hit the ground, pulverizing the NR soldiers underneath.

Anival watched as Joamer pumped bolt after bolt into the other motionless tank. Anival felt a twitch of guilt, he wished they could have taken both the tank’s. It would have been easier, but it required at least two, three to be most efficient. Anival was glad though, it had been a long time since he had been behind the controls of a machine of war.

They were headed north at Joamer’s directions. Anival followed them obediently, after a while Anival broke the silence.

“We could have killed them some other way, maybe launch a thermal detonator in their, they wouldn’t survive it.”

“And waste ammo?”

Anival decided to let the matter rest, instead focusing on piloting the tank. They encountered little resistance, possible scouts, they all died in a matter of seconds.

Anival looked at the readouts, the displays and noticed something odd.

“Joamer.”

“What?” asked Joamer, tension in his voice as he fired another blast from the turret sending yet another to their death.

“There’s a data pad here.”

“Hand it here.” Anival stopped, and picked up the data pad, noticing a small dent on the floor.

Odd, thought Anival, and handed Joamer the data pad. Joamer mumbled something, Anival wanted to ask about what it said, but he decided to talk about something else.

“So what are your plans for after this thing is over?” asked Anival with genuine interested.

“I’m not sure.” said Joamer, Anival could sense he was debating weather or not to tell Anival.

“I was thinking…….it’s time for me to move on.”

Anival swallowed.

“W-what do you mean?” asked Anival trying hard to hold off the emotion in his voice.

“I mean, I think, I should get more experience, maybe, I don’t know go on a vacation or something…”

Anival let himself feel relief for a while but then Joamer continued.

“I was thinking of transferring squads.”

Anival felt an inferno light in his chest, he felt like Joamer was betraying them.

“So, when are you leaving?” asked Anival his voice thick with emotion.

“I didn’t say I was leaving……I just said I was considering…” Joamer rebuked.

Anival didn’t say anything else, instead he focused all his anger, and some other emotion -an emotion he hadn’t felt since leaving his family behind-, into piloting the vehicle.

“And you?” asked Joamer trying to keep the conversation alive.

“Nothing.” was all that Anival said. For the rest of the trip Joamer tried in vain to start a conversation, only to receive small word’s in exchange.

Well I guess we forgot to fry the bugs when we burned everything else.

Havock swatted at another swarm that formed in front of her face, she was very bitter at the moment. The bodies that were strewn about the landscape had attracted a particularly feisty breed of insect, one that was enjoying attacking the city girl who was on point. After their brief rest, the RAIDERS had collected their things and were moving closer to the mountains. The journey had been fairly uneventful, which surprised Havock. She would have expected the barbarians to be hiding in the forest ready to pounce on the retreating squads.

Shaking her head she turned to see the rest of the squad dropped back behind her, but keeping a decent pace. They were doing a good job considering their SL was in a wheelbarrow and Rogueboy could barely walk. His idea to camouflage themselves was brilliant and Havock couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't thought of it before.

Grahim had been on point long enough it was Havock's turn, if she could find a way to get rid of the bugs and the horrid smell she wouldn't be so miserable.

A shape moved just to Havock's right. She immediately motioned for the squad to stop, and take defensive positions. Squinting, Hav tried to make out the shape that moved. Motioning for the squad to stay put, she slowly crept up getting next to a fairly large charred tree truck. Hav's pistols were already pointed at the ready, she swallowed as she prepared herself for whatever was waiting behind that tree.

If it was a barbarian, she would take her best shot then roll out of the way so the rest of the squad could open fire on him. She was tired, they had already walked so far in a state of constant fear. The village being attacked, and the deafening silence of the forest. Havock had trouble looking at the ground, much less sleeping on it. Ever square inch was burned, bloody or covered in death. But up until now none of it breathed, it was as if the forest itself had succumbed to the battle and died along with all these soldiers.

One last look over to make sure everyone was in position, she swallowed then held her breath. Havock spun around the tree trunk and had both of her pistols raised, one for each eye socket in its head.

Havock flinched when she saw the young imperial army soldier, cowering in front of her. He was covered in blood and shaking. She kept her pistols raised, she wasn't going to take any chances at this point. 

“Private, identify yourself.” Havock's voice was soft, but laced with authority.

The young man slowly raised his arms, he shook as he put his palms up towards the Lance Corporal. “I... I'm Declan, umm, Private Declan.”

Havock lowered her pistols but did not put them away just yet. Her eyes flicked over the forest around the private to make sure it wasn't a trap. Satisfied, she knelt down in front of him. “Okay Declan, I'm Lance Corporal Katash, you can call me Havock. Your safe now.” Putting the blasters back in her holsters on her hip, Havock raised a hand to Declan to help him up.

“Follow me, Declan.”

Havock lead him back to where the rest of the RAIDERS were waiting for her. Looking at them she could see the fatigue on their faces. Havock mumbled when she spoke, she apathetically shot her thumb in the direction of the stumbling solider walking towards them.  “Its alright, just a army regular that lost his squad.”

“I didn't loose them, my team...they are...dead. But there should be others, we got separated. They should be just on the other side of the mountains there.” Declan swayed as he spoke, it must have been days since he had rest or provisions.

Havock continued to pace, keeping an eye on the perimeter. She still couldn't shake the idea that this was a trap, that the barbarians were just outside of visual range. Grahim must have had the same idea, Hav could see him walking with his sniper rifle watching vigilantly.

Rogueboy limped over and scoffed at that. “Well what'd ya know. Thats where we're going. You have a way to find them?”

Declan nodded nervously. “I think so.” He started to pat his dirty pockets looking for something.

Jaenna was standing next to her wheelbarrow, with her arms crossed watching the whole scene. “Good lets get what supplies we can from the bodies, we need more water and rations if you can find any. And then we need to keep moving.”

The squad had arrived at the base of the mountains and now had to begin their journey over them as they had done previously. Karash knew that on the other side of them they would either be saved by reinforcements or slaughtered by yet more of the natives. The Raiders had picked up a soldier called Declan that had become separated from his platoon, he said he knew the way through the mountains and could lead them to reinforcements so for now he was in front leading the way.

The squad had stopped for the moment to prepare them to go over the mountain when Karash said “You will never be able to stay in that thing as we go on.”

“Not too long ago you were saying it wasn’t safe for her to walk.” Beta said with a tone of sarcasm.

“That maybe but one out of place rock and she has a very long fall. So a slow injured squad leader is preferable to a dead one.” Karash replied in an equally sarcastic tone.

“SHE can actually hear you and I appreciate your concern but we need to get moving so get ready.” As Jae got up she swayed slightly.

Havock steadied Jae before saying “I’ll stick close to you just in case.”

“Alright Declan will be up front leading the way, then it will be Grahim, Beta, Rogue, Raelene, Karash, Havock and myself. Now let’s get moving.” The orders were given out and the squad began to move.

The squad was managing to crawl up the mountains but things were not too easy with Rogue hopping along and Jae still being a little worse for wear but none the less no one had fallen off the edge yet. As time went on things seemed to slow down ever more and the squad became more and more tired; the squads’ morale also seemed to be lowered and even more worrying was the occasional noise that passed through on the wind.

“Take cover!” a voice from the front rang out and before Karash could gather what was happening a single bolt shot through the air.

“What the hell is happening up there?” the Squad leader was trying to find out what was happening.

The squad was spread thinly on the ground as they were all walking at different speeds but what was obvious was the hulking figure just in front of Declan. The once peaceful atmosphere had been shattered and the barbarian wailed as he ran straight towards the frozen figure of Declan. The barbarian was clearly injured as he bled profusely, he must have been last of his group and seeking revenge.

“Declan get out of the damn way.” Most of the squad shouted in unison but it was to no avail and the beat knocked the little soldier across the ground like a rag doll.

Then a shot rang out and the barbarian fell back and lay lifeless on the ground. He gave the appearance of a fallen tree but this was not what people were thinking about because everyone wondered whether Declan was alive or not. Karash realised that his services were once again needed and he ran up the body of the soldier, hoping he would not be met with a corpse.

“Declan… Declan you are one lucky little soldier.” Karash spoke with a smile on his face. “No more than a few bruises and cuts.”

“It hurts.” Declan whimpered slightly.

“So it should, you have just been knocked several feet across the ground. We still have our guide everyone.” Karash replied.

The entire squad was relieved at the sight that Declan was alive, not because they particularly cared for him but because he was the reason that the reinforcements would listen to them. Karash did not take too many medical supplies in the interest of speed but because of this, being tired and wanting to get moving straight away Karash missed the fact that Declan had a punctured lung that could be fatal. The squad continued to move through the mountains, at a faster speed, not knowing that they clock was running out for their only hope.

“You know you could have hurt me when you slammed me into the cliff wall back there.”

Havock rolled her eyes, she didn't even bother responding given the fact that Jae knew good and well that if Hav didn't get her to safety when that barbarian attacked bad things would have happened. Jae had been complaining the whole way up the mountain, and had managed to think up a few more entertaining nicknames for Havock during the trek.

They had found a decent route through the mountains, which had enabled them to stay to outcroppings rather than forcing them to straight out climb the thing. Havock honestly didn't think Rogueboy could have handled much climbing he was having a hard enough time staying on the narrow cliff walls.

Hav looked over at Jae, who was still shaking and cursing at her comm.

“The long range comm's still out?”

Jae looked over at Hav with a scowl, the pain and fatigue was getting to her. “No gizka-lover, I just like to shake it to hear the rattle.”

Havock just looked at her and smirked. “Shh, not too loud. You'll make the gungan hungry.”

Jae let out and exasperated, Arghhh. Then they both had to pause as Declan apparently lost his bearings and needed to readjust their course, then he started to move again. The guy had taken a pretty solid body slam from that barbarian that came out of nowhere. He had started to hold his chest, and his breathing was becoming ragged and laced with fits of coughing.

Havock was almost glad to see the barbarian in a strange sorta way. Spending the entire trip in the graveyard of a forest, with no signs of life had freaked her out. They were retreating, and she wanted to fight and get this over with. At the very least they could find a few of these barbarians hiding out and annihilate them for embarrassing the platoon in such a way. Seeing the barbarian confirmed the fact that they were out there, and that there would be more of them before this was over.

As they slowly made their way through the mountain, Havock continued to think about the barbarians. Why was that barbarian up here, by himself. Suddenly, something very serious and bad occurred to Havock.

“Stop.”

The squad stopped where they were and turned to look at Havock like she was mad.

“Declan, stay right there. Don't move a damn muscle.” Havock quickly turned to Jae who was raising an eyebrow and hoping her ASL had not lost her mind. “Jae, the barbarian, he was on this ridge line alone.”

Jaenna just blinked and looked more and more worried about Havock.

“Don't look at me like that, just listen. They are not stupid, he wouldn't be up here just to try to take on a squad single handedly. But, think about it, he wouldn't have to.”

Jae's eyebrows came together, she was starting to realize what Havock was getting at. “He wouldn't have to, if he was up here setting traps.” Jae rubbed her temple. “Shit, there are explosives up here.”


Havock started to take stock of the state of the troopers. Declan still looked like hell, he was no use other than a guide. Grahim was too good a shot to lose as a look out, which left Havock with Raelene and Beta.

“Alright, I'm going to take Beta and were going to keep our eyes on the ground for trip wires or damn near anything that looks out of the ordinary. Raelene can keep an eye on you. The rest of you cover us.”

Hav looked at Jae, who looked like she desperately wanted to protest. But Havock didn't give her the chance, with a smirk Beta and she made their way to the front of the group. They walked, deliberately, eyes on the rocky dirt. Havock could hear the rest of the squad and Declan's coughing a few feet behind them.

Anival manipulated the tank with ease, having practiced for months, he had grown adept, his fingers flew over the controls, his eyes skimmed the readouts, he was an artist delicately examining his work.

“Ani, I see hostiles.” Joamer called from his navigation post, he was looking through the lens of the turret. Anival checked the view screen, the army had caught up with them, Anival heard several intakes of breath from the surrounding squad mates.

“Ok time to get of this hunk of metal” ordered Kand, as he, Helena, Jori, RK, and Ananzi got of the tank, only Joamer and Anival stayed in the tank, knowing they would be targeted first.

Joamer shot at a tree nearby it fell with a loud thunderous crack, shaking the ground as it fell. Easing the tank behind the makeshift barricade, Anival scanned readouts again, something seemed off but he couldn’t place what it was. Anival watched as Some of the squad lined next to the tank, they were covered by the tree, and they could run into the forest if the need be.

Anival’s hair stood on end, he didn’t like waiting, he preferred action, he craved to hair the familiar, phweem, that came from the cannons, but he was forced to wait.

“All systems normal, turret all loaded, remember though, we only have twelve thermals in the launcher.”

Anival couldn’t see Joamer, but he knew he had nodded.

“That’s not the main army.” reported Anival, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“That seems to be, scouts or something.”

“Forward party” Joamer filled in.

After an eternity of waiting Anival could see heads, bobbing up and down, with each step coming closer to their deaths.

Anival heard a small whine as the turret rotated, the wind blew outside, sending a leaf floating across the tank. The tank recoiled as Joamer fired a shot, it hit a soldier, instantly decimating the unsuspecting victim, shredding through him, and hitting the floor behind him, the debris that flew from the impact was like shrapnel, tearing into the victims comrades to either side.

Maybe we have a chance, though Anival, maybe we can delay them long enough. Maybe.

Again and again the same thing happened, then Anival noticed a readout start flashing.

“Joamer, slow down on the shots, the damn thing is overheating!”

Joamer stopped firing the main turret, and started firing the two weaker side turrets, alternating between shots, the effect was nearly the same.

“Anti-armor units!” yelled Anival, “to your ten o’clock Kand!”

Kand stopped firing his rifle, and turned, he started ripping away at the anti-armor troops. Anival let go of his breath, he didn’t know he had been holding it, for an instant a tiny instant, he felt they could win this small skirmish, that all vanished when he saw three vehicles approaching them, one was an Anti-trooper mech, the other was a mech-destroyer.

“Oh shit.” Anival cloud feel the stares, he had never cursed, now the squad knew they were in trouble.

“We have two approaching mech, we could probably take on out, not sure about the other one.”

Anival cloud feel Kand go over the possible results.

“Alright do what you can we have our orders, hold back that New Republic scum!!!”

Anival lifted the tank higher, giving Joamer a better shot, firing two thermals grenades, and firing three shots, from both side cannons and the main turret, Anival watched as the smaller A-T mech exploded.
Anival eased the tank back down, narrowly missing a green beam fired from the anti-mech.

“Joamer, can you do that trick again?”

“Yes.” came Joamer determined response.

“Kand, I can take care of the anti-mech, just cover us when if we have to bail.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid.” groaned Kanderin

Anival didn’t reply, he had never even considered doing anything as “stupid” as he was about to do.

“Clear any soldiers near us Joamer, otherwise we are dead, and open the hatch we are going to have to get out quickly.”

Anival raised the tank, and moved it over the tree, once they were clear, he started zigzagging, hitting as many soldiers as he could, noticing Anti-armor grenades being thrown, he started to go up and down, the tank wasn’t made to be that maneuverable, and it started to whine in protest.

“Anival! What are you doing!” asked Joamer through gritted teeth, barely ably to shot at the enemy.

Anival didn’t respond he would need all his concentration, his mouth set in a grim line, eye’s never blinking, Anival looked like a statue.

“Joamer get out!” screamed Anival, Joamer didn’t ask why he just simply climbed the hatch and jumped, Anival confirmed Joamer was out, then set the tank on a straight course, coincidently it was also straight into the anti-mech. Anival cut his straps, and jumped out of the tank.

Anival rolled to a stop, his unarmored shoulder searing with pain, turning into the direction of the tank, he barely saw the anti-mech try to escape, but it was to late, the tank collided with it, sending twisted metal everywhere, rocking the very world with the aftershock of the explosion, the smoke lifting and spreading with the wind.

Anival stood and ran to the rest of his squad, away from danger and towards relative safety. Bolt’s flew passed them, the enemy firing blindly, but too close for comfort. Finally they arrived to the tree where wraith awaited them.

Joamer whooped and rustled Anival’s hair. He radiated joy, joy to be alive. Anival smiled, and looked at the wreckage he had caused, he felt more sorry for the tank, than he did for the NR soldiers that had died.

Day 14
Death Valley, 05.57

Someone had started calling it Death Valley, and the name had caught on like wildfire. They spoke of it in hushed whispers, as if the mere mention would bring back the spirits of those who had died there. And there had been a lot. Nearly half of the army complement, many scouts, and quite a few of the savages besides.

Their stories became broader, grander, more embellished as time wore on.  Blood spatters spelling the names of the dead. Dust taking forms of men locked in a close-combat struggle, doomed to play out their final moments forever.  Distant wails of the damned, mingling with the wind, a tingling shriek that was said to destroy the minds of those unfortunate enough to listen very long.

The reality wasn’t so whimsical, even if it was no less horrific. Instead of names in blood, you got mires of red gore and dismembered parts, bloated in the sun, that made odd sucking noises as the half-tracks pulled through them. Instead of men in the dust, there were bleached skeletons, perfectly intact, that would crumble to ash at the slightest touch. Their skulls grinned whitely as the convoy passed by. Instead of the wails of the damned, the soldiers were more intent on the screams and howls of the barbarian horde nipping at their heels. Many of them hadn’t slept in days.

Thus it was under these circumstances that what remained of the Imperial Dagger Battlion and Complement  straggled tiredly into the valley.

Their line was nowhere near as impressive as it had been upon their first entry into the Valley, when they’d burned it to the ground. They were a quarter strength now. Their vehicles were sooty and blackened, pocked with blaster holes and bristling with crossbow bolts. The men inside were no less beaten. Tired, missing pieces of armor. Arms in slings, wounds bandaged in spare shirts, the cloth stained black and crusty to the touch. Faces unshaven, hair unkempt, teeth unbrushed, an army of misfits, hardly an army at all.

There was a look of desperation in their eyes, a fear that came from knowing one’s impending doom was close. And, deeper, something far worse. A tired resignation, a signal that the fight was no longer in them. They were going to die, and there was nothing they could do about. Why do anything at all?

The mood in the command half-track was drearily quiet. Ever since Antus had run off with the army, Sorin and Arnaut had ridden in the even more cramped interior of a half-track. He felt exposed, naked almost, without the thick armor shell that the tank had. As if to punctuate his point, quite literally, there was a bolt sticking through half-track at chest height. He’d damned near cut himself on it climbing into the vehicle. It certainly hadn’t been there on the way up.

He was morbidly silent, preferring to stare out at the clumps of dust and muck the half-track spat up than look at the other occupant of the cabin. It wasn’t that he was being antisocial, although he usually was by nature, it was just that he’d been tossing a rather odd idea around in his head for a while. It was crazy, nigh suicidal. And yet...

He decided.

“Stop the vehicle,” Sorin commanded. Arnaut looked up, shaken from his drowsy reverie.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly alert.

“Nothing,” Sorin said, hopping out of the vehicle. “In fact, it may just be right.”

“What are you talking about? You’re not making sense.”

“Nope.” Sorin strode off, Arnaut staring oddly at him.

“Levians, off the trucks! Rank and file! Squad Leaders, move your men!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Arnaut demanded, rushing up to Sorin. “We’re not stopping here! We have to keep—” Sorin grabbed him by the arm and pulled him face to face.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what’s going on here. Don’t tell me you don’t know why I’m unloading the Levians and not the Wilcards, or the remains of Dagger.”

Arnaut made to protest, but Sorin cut him off with sharp hiss.

“You know it has to be like this. You know. If we continue at this pace, we’ll be overrun in five hours, maybe less. The only chance the rest of you have is for someone to stay and slow them down.”

Sorin looked into Arnaut’s barely comprehending eyes. The stormtrooper commander was dealing with equal amounts of shock at what Sorin was proposing, and a much more hidden gratefulness that it wasn’t him staying behind. He thought he understood, but he didn’t, not truly, not like Sorin understood.

The fact of the matter was that Sorin was old. His men were weary, he was weary. He could feel it. Given the chance, the Imperial Military Complex would run them until their backs broke, run them into the ground, and then discard them like it did everything else. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He was going to die an honorable, noble death. One that could be admired, even if no one lived to remember it. He wasn’t going to wind up old and decrepit on some backwater planet. He didn’t want that. His men didn’t want that. Alpha Platoon was comprised solely of those without such thoughts. They had little family, and fewer emotional connections. They’d been chosen for just this reason; little to lose, a lot to gain. Given the choice, this was the death that they all would choose.

Arnaut was young. He still had a good military career ahead of him. There was something intagible about him, like something you catch out of the corner of your eye, but can never seem to focus on. A quality for leadership, for taking charge. Sorin knew very well that he could just as well end up getting sniped in his next campaign, or gunned down on one after that, or, even more likely, ripped to shreds on this one. But something told Sorin, deep inside, that if given the right circumstances, Arnaut had the capacity to go far.

Not just him, the whole of Wildcard. They were all young, much like the Levian 7th had been when Sorin had first taken over the battalion. They needed to make it out of this alive. If Sorin and Alpha didn’t stay, they wouldn’t. At least, now, they would have more of a chance.

Sorin offered the ultimatum to his men when they’d assembled. It eerily echoed the ultimatum given by Antus when he’d left with the army. No one left, not even Augun with his heavily bandaged chest wound. He’d protested and fought when they’d tried to put him on one of the medical half-tracks, going so far as to punch an army orderly in the nose. He grinned weakly as Sorin’s gaze fell on him, adjusted his grip on his helmet with his good arm.

Wildcard and the Army left somberly, with little good-byes exchanged. To say that relations between them had been frosty during the mission would’ve been an understatement. Even so, this single act of bravery seemed to have sobered even the harshest critics of Alpha Platoon among the retreating stormtroopers. They stared at the scouts as they became smaller and smaller, until they were just white specks on a white field, half-overjoyed that that wasn’t them, half-wanting to be there themselves.

The scouts, for there part, seemed in better spirits after the rest departed. Their end was coming, and they were going to spit in its face. They joked, and laughed, and remembered old times as they dug their foxholes in the ground and squeezed into sniper perches.

“No one gets to live forever, gents,” Sorin said, walking amongst his men as they toiled.

“That’s not quite true,” one scout commented conspiratorially to his comrade, pitched just enough so that Sorin could hear. “Captain’s so old, he must’ve lived for two forevers already, I’d reckon.” They snickered to themselves as Sorin walked off, feigning deafness. His mouth quivered at the very limits of what could be considered a smile.

About an hour in, it very quickly became quiet. The laughter died down, and the chatting faded away. The scouts reflected on times before the Levians. Simpler times. Better times. The remebered long dead loved ones who they’d probably be reuniting with in a few short hours. They though of distant homelands, and age-old parties. The good old days. It seemed like just yesterday. Their whole lives had led to this moment. This was it, the ultimate event of their short lives, their crowning sacrifice. This was it.

The valley once more became as still as death. Behind them, in the distance, they could see the dots of the convoy, exiting the valley. Dawn arrived, signaled only by the change in hue of the slate-colored clouds above their heads. With a dragged out slowness, a soft rain began to fall.

At the head of the valley, a lone dot appeared. Immediately, thirty-one rifles swung to, locked, and zoomed in. It was a barbarian, a grisly head clasped in one hand as a trophy and a massive bone battleaxe raised in the other. Definitely a leader of some sort. He let out a defiant roar that just barely echoed down to the scouts below.

“Orders cap’n?”

Sorin remained silent for a minute, slowly moving his scope through the scrub around the barbarian. The Sniper was there, somewhere. Waiting. Waiting for him.

“Captain?”

Oh well, what the hell, he finally decided.

“First one to headshot that bloke gets a beer on me,” he grinned and slipped on his helmet.



Day 14
Passes South of Death Valley, 11.34

They came at Wildcard like madmen. Possessed madmen. Possessed madmen wielding guns. And, in one case, a sword.

One minute they were meandering along the pass, escaping the brutality of Death Valley, and the next, Imperial soldiers were rushing around them, firing, stabbing, attacking. Arnaut hopped out of the command half-track, followed quickly by the three squad leaders that had taken up residence after Sorin had moved out.

The first swipe nearly took off Arnaut’s head. The second glanced off his shoulder pauldron and left a deep gash. By the third, Arnaut was expecting it. He went in low, grabbing his attacker by the wrist and pushing them both to the ground. They rolled.

Around them the battle spun by dizzily, a whirl of colors and bodies. Every now and then a blaster bolt would come by quickly, leaving a bluish after-image in Arnaut’s vision. He grappled for control of the sword, trying to keep its humming blade away from his face.

Arnaut had his wrist, he had Arnaut’s arm. Arnaut went in for the throat, the blade almost took off his hand. Arnaut kneed him in the stomach, he hit Arnaut’s head against the ground. There was blood running down Arnaut’s forehead, whose, he couldn’t tell. Arnaut’s hand was pinned against his side, unable to pull his pistol from his holster.

And then, not even a second later, it was over. Arnaut’s attacker shifted his weight ever so slightly and, before he could readjust, Arnaut had drawn his pistol and fired three point-blank shots into his torso. He flopped backwards, sword skittering out of his hand.

Arnaut stood up, trying to keep his balance on his shaky legs. The man was gasping for breath, and blood was beginning to froth at the corners of his mouth. It was Antus.

“Why?” Arnaut asked quietly. “Why!?” Antus looked away. Arnaut let out something akin to a roar and kicked him in the stomach.

“They...they...promised...us....” Antus coughed, spitting up blood, “that...we...wouldn’t...be...killed...if...we...didn't...kill...you.” His breath was coming raggedly now, much more shallow.

“You frigging idiot,” Arnaut shook his head. Antus only smiled his wolfish smile, and died.

The remains of Dagger that had attacked them stood around sullenly. With Antus dead, they saw no more reason to fight. In the end, there were only seven casualties, and Antus was the only death. A few blaster shots through arms, broken collarbones, a broken nose. With Antus dead, they fell back in line with the small army platoon that had stayed behind.

They were less than half the strength that Antus had taken with him. The others were probably still strung up beyond the edge of the village. Many sported new scars or broken limbs that hadn’t been there before. They were in worse spirits than Arnaut’s men, and that was no small feat.

There were caves by the edge of the pass. With the howls of the barabarians already echoing up to them, the horde had already plowed through the Levians and were coming after them. They wouldn’t make it to the edge of the mountains, no matter what Sorin had said. They went into the caves, instead, knowing that they could very well prove to be their graves in a few hours time.

OOC:

Final objectives. We’re going into the caves. These are small, two man-abreast at their largest, tunnels that interwind and interconnect. We need to barricade them as best as possible. The forces we have are about two hundred to three hundred army regulars, along with Wraith and Iron Horse. Barricade the halls, fortify the tunnels, and then the barbarian hordes going to come. You won’t have a lot of time to barricade, as they’re pretty much right behind us.

Raiders, continue searching for help. You should be beyond the mountains by now You’re our last hope, trapped outside the caves and already a far way from the barbarians. Keep moving, and get help. After you’ve secured help, and we’ve held off for a while (IE Thursday-ish) these objectives will end and I’ll write one big ending post.

So this is it! The end of the comp! Have fun!

Joamer with the rest of the Wraith starred at the tunnels, then starred down the hill where they could hear the barbarians coming. They spared a second before springing into action, everyone knew what needed to be done and how long they had to do it.

"Everyone, rip apart the trucks. Use knives, torches, teeth, anything! Rip everything that can be pulled out out, and put it in the cave." Kanderin shouted, he wasted no time before jumping into the cab of one of the trucks and began ripping out the seats and tossing them onto the ground.

Joamer climbed up one of the hoods and unslung his DC-15, propping it on the roof he keyed on the scope and sighted down range. He breathed slowly as he picked out a target and fired, he sighted another one and fired. He compensated for the truck being ripped apart and fired again, he heard the sound of some sort of welder kick on.

"How long?" He heard Kand say. Looking at the range finder for a half second he sighted another target and fired. He watched as the barbarian spun his arms high over his head attempting to not go down, he failed. Four others close behind him tripped and went down. Joamer half smiled as he watched two of them fall over the edge.

"Less then a mile, the path stays about twelve feet across up here. So, maybe six minutes." Joamer said, he squeezed the trigger and watched a leg fly off one of the barbarians. By this time they had spread out a bit, and only one went down this time, he quickly stood back up and began running towards them.

"We need more time. Ten more minutes and we might have a small shot at holding them off." Kand said. Joamer heard him jog away and begin shouting orders further away.

Joamer fingered the trigger slowly and fired again. His brain went into overdrive thinking of the ways to give them ten minutes. He knew his shooting would only buy them seconds, not minutes. He scanned the tall cliff to one side of them, further down looked promising. Swinging the rifle around he set it to full power and long range. He rubbed the stock gently and whispered "I'm sorry."

Firing the rifle at full power caused a noticeable recoil, readjusting he fired at the same spot. He watched the rock face begin to move, sighting the weak point he squeezed the trigger, the rifle took a full four seconds to fire, after the bolt left the muzzle a low hissing noise began emitting from the DC-15. He ignored the hissing for now and watched the rock formation tumble outward and come crashing down in front of the barbarians.

He picked up the rifle and watched as the army reached the rock slide, he nodded slowly as he saw them begin to pick up the rocks and toss them over the edge. He looked down at his rifle as a blueish smoke began emitting from the inside. Two soft thuds and a long wheezing whine escaped the barrel before it went silent.

"What happened?" Anival said as he walked up, his eyes were fixed on the rifle.

"I fired her at full power, she died an honorable death." Joamer said softly, he swung the rifle around his back and jumped off the hood of the truck.

Walking up to Kand he said "I bought us time, at the expensive of a friend."

Kand looked to the rifle muzzle sticking out over Joamer's shoulder, a faint blue smoke was still coming out of the muzzle. He nodded slowly and motioned towards the caves.

The remaining men began filtering into the cave system, many went further in while Wraith set up positions behind the makeshift barricades. They appeared to be pieces of the trucks frame work, most likely the supports holding up the canopy. Crude welds could be seen holding the multitude of pieces together, to Joamer it looked like it would hold maybe a few seconds at best.

Kand noticed his expression and smiled "These are only designed to give us more time, there are more like these further in. The engineers said if they had twenty minutes they could get a defensible location set up. We are to buy them those twenty minutes."

"If we are lucky my little trick bought us another seven, maybe ten." Joamer said, he drew his frontier model B pistol and checked the clip.

What I would not give for a rifle right now. He thought. He looked over to Anival who had propped his A280 on a support and slapped in a fresh clip.

Sensing his friends thoughts Anival smiled and said "If I fall, take her."

Joamer nodded, he doubted he would have to wait long for men to begin to fall. He sighed again and waited, further in the cave system he could hear the sounds of frantic work being done.

Outside he could hear a nearly deafening roar from the approaching barbarian hoard.

Anival picked up part after part, stacking it atop the wall they were building, his shoulder still ablaze with pain, gritting his teeth Anival lifted a heavy peace that used to belong to the halftracks. A part of him felt sorry for the vehicle, another part thanked it, those parts would delay his death, he would cherish the few hour of life left to him.

Anival stared in disbelief as Helena grabbed Joamer, and hauled him off. Silently chuckling Anival looked off into the cave, feeling surrounded by stone wasn’t a comfortable thought, it reassured Anival that he would die here, and the earth would give him a resting place.

“Kand…..” began Anival but was quickly interrupted as a loud explosion sent a cloud of fine dust into the air, clogging Anival’s throat. The wall they had made was partially destroyed, Anival climbed to a small perch in the corner, from there he started picking off one soldier at a time.

Anival jumped towards the ground as he saw several grenades launched at the wall, it blew off another chunk, this time they shot their weapons without having to climb the wall, after only two minutes Anival reloaded his clip.

“Fall back!” Roared Kand, Anival throwing a grenade Anival ran to the second wall, it wasn’t as big as the first wall, but it allowed them to fire while standing, with no risk of being shot. Anival watched as Joamer discharged his pistol, bolt after bolt, Anival noticed  Joamer kept reloading his pistol after only 15 shots.
Anival frowned, and crept closer to Joamer, covering for him while he reloaded.

“Not talking much Ani?” asked RK through gritted teeth, dirt clearly visible from having breathed in the dust in the air.

“Guess I’m to tired to talk.” replied Anival with a grim smile.

Everyone stopped for a second. Anival kept firing, then noticed the squad had too.

“Did we here you right?” asked Joamer through reloads, “you are to tired to talk? Ani are you feeling well?”

Anival ignored them, he didn’t know why it was odd. A part of what looked like a hood flew apart, flying straight towards Anival, RK tackled Anival, instead of loosing his head, he lost his left hand.

Anival screamed in pain, a red veil dropped over his eyes, there was no enemy, no squad, nothing just a blinding pain. RK and Jori, held him down, Kand fired his rifle to heat the barrel, touching the hot end of the rifle to the area were Anival’s arm had been severed.

Smoke lifted from the appendage, cauterizing the wound. Anival smelled burnt meat, and grimaced with pain, he was suddenly aware of the rest of the world, his squad was firing at the incoming enemy, all determined. Joamer had a frown set into his features

Anival felt dizzy, he stood up, nearly toppling over, he couldn’t feel the blind pain that he had earlier, he saw his A280 on the floor he stumbled over to it, and lifted his arm to pick it up, only to see a stump, caked with dry blood.

Anival stood there for what seemed like an eternity, then it hit him, his arm was gone. An overwhelming realization hit Anival, he wasn’t whole, he wasn’t what he used to be. He crouched and started to cry, sobs rattling his body. A medic came close to him, Anival turned away. Not being able to bear what he thought to be a disappointment to his squad.

It had been little while since they had built up the wall, but as soon as it blew and pieces began raining down Jori’s sarcastic side started up.

“Aww man. We just built that and they just had to tear it down. I’m telling Mommy . . .” he said over the comm.

“Can it Jori. We need to focus on the enemy right now, not be making wisecracks.” Someone’s voice rang out loud and clear in response to his joke.

“Well alrighty then . . . they want some explosions, let’s give them explosions.” Jori muttered.

He started to move when he heard a piercing cry from nearby. Swiveling on the balls of his feet, he narrowed his eyes in search of the noise and saw Anival laying down on the ground, writhing in pain while he clutched his bloody stump where most of his forearm and hand used to be.

Oh no. That did not just happen. Frakking idiots. Soon as Ani gets taken care of, those idiots are gonna wish they never messed with us.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he ran over to Ani, joined by RK, and held him down so he wouldn’t hurt himself or get the stump infected. Soon, Kand had joined them and had held the hot barrel against Ani’s stump, burning the skin and cauterizing the wound to prevent infection and blood loss. Kand got up and starting talking to someone, Jori figured it was probably Hel.

“Get down here right away. We need you to tend to Anival. His forearm has been completely torn off and he needs immediate medical attention, oh no. He just blacked out.”

Jori couldn’t hear the reply but it sounded as if they were being overrun where Hel was.

“Ok then. We’ll drag Anival back up into the tunnels so he’ll be out of range of the enemy until you can get to him.” Kand said, glancing down at Ani.

Closing down the comm, he motioned for Jori and RK to move Ani back up into the tunnels. Lifting him up, they stood on either side of Ani and held him on their shoulders to support their injured comrade. Slowly, they made their way up into the tunnels where they laid Ani down.

“RK, you want to watch him?” Jori said.

Nodding, RK sat down besides Ani and just stared at the unconscious man. Jori made his way back out of the tunnels, stopping to pick up Ani’s A280 because he remembered Joamer saying he needed a weapon, and back down to the ruins of the wall.

Unclipping a few concussion grenades that he had picked up earlier, he held them all close to his chest and slowly made his way towards a small hill made up of debris from the now partially torn down wall, steadily firing, albeit without aiming. As soon as he reached it, he set the grenades down on the ground and peeked around the debris pile, scanning for grouping of enemies. He spotted three right off the bat and noted their locations. Sitting back down behind the pile before he was spotted, he thought about what he might need to do.

If I can send a conc grenade their way, it might stun them long enough for us to get the upper hand.

Quickly, he relayed his plan to Kand, who agreed, somewhat halfheartedly.

“It’s the best plan we have right now, except for just plain shooting and getting shot at till one or the other drops. So go ahead.” Wraith’s SL replied slowly.

Mentally calculating the distance and imagining the arc of throw he needed to get the conc grenade to each of the locations, he cocked his arm back and let the grenade fly, noting with satisfaction that each hit their mark dead on, give or take a meter.

“Alright, they’re stunned. Heading in to take them out now. Anybody else want to join me?” Jori said, moving forward while crouching and hearing a few voices, one that sounded distinctly like Joamer.

“Good idea Jori. Since they’re stunned and about to be dead, we can provide covering fire for Helena so she can get to Ani and take care of him.” Joamer said.

“By the way, I’ve got you a gun Joamer. Ani’s A280.” Jori said, still moving towards Joamer.

“You are a nice person. Anybody ever told you that? Joamer said.

Right then, he caught sight of Wraith’s resident sniper and tossed him the A280. Quickly, they made their way up to where the troops were trying to regain their footing. Joamer took care of one group while Jori took the other group. By the time they got to the third group, the troops had already made it to their respective feet and were trying to bring their guns to bear as Joamer and Jori raised their rifles and shot each of them down. Retreating before more of the enemy ambushed them and totally mowed them down, the two Wraiths ran back behind the ruins of the wall where Kand was waiting.

“Good job. Helena was able to reach Anival and is attending to him at the moment. He should be up and running soon.”

Nodding, Jori moved back behind cover and sat down to wait for more troops.

Sam let out an intentionally audible groan as Saphira passed him. He did not know if she was just saving it up or letting it slide. Either way, the situation was bleak and getting worse by the moment. If she had been in a worse situation that this one, being held up in a cave with dwindling supplies, numerous wounded and a barbaric force that could take more blaster fire than a blast door, then Sam would love to hear that story.

Brock came up behind him pulling him straight back to reality, "C'mon give me a hand setting up some fortifications. After all you are the combat engineer here."

"Look, kid, there isn't much we can do. No digging of trenches due to the bed rock here. Can't use explosives to set traps or clear out trenches because we don't have any to spare and would also risk collapse. It is a fine gesture to think you can do something, but it is all for not when you can't do anything," Sam said with a hint of defeat in his voice. This one the first time that he had ever felt like this is something he could not get through. It hurt him deeply. Ego destroyed, but worst of all his confidence that projected his arrogant personality was blown into a billion little specks. He had never been so certain of failure before as he had now. This cave was going to be his coffin.

"What--" Brock started as he looked up at Sam's face. The defeat in the Zabrak's eyes was something that he had never seen before. After the number of missions he had been on with Sam in the past, regardless of how bad things were going, the thought that Sam would ever admit defeat before the final battle had started never occurred to him. This struck a chord in Brock's mind and made him a bit uneasy about it all.

"The jig is up," the Zabrak said slowly walking towards where they had come from. He completely forgot about the battle between himself and Saphira at this point. "I'm, uh, going to go keep an eye out. I'll be back when they are at our front door."

He patted his trusty pistol and kept his rifle slung at his side as he marched slowly down the cavern corridor. To any outsider, it may look as though he was marching to a dirge to his own funeral. In reality, he had simply put himself into autopilot. Effort was something that may come back should the time call for it, but the idea of failure had gotten to him. There was no worry in his mind, simple somber emptiness.

“Okay then, lets not linger too long. Take what we can, then we've got to keep moving.” Jaenna Caldwin said with high authority in her voice as she pushed herself off from the walk and continued to walk behind the rest of her squad. All of this walking was beginning to get to her, but she refused to let her squad see that she was pain. She was a Squad Leader, and needed to act like one. SLs never let their troopers see them in the worst of times. But right now, Jae was wondering just how much more she could take of the constant stings of pain running up her hip and into her chest.

Catching a soft groan from Jaenna, Rogueboy turned his head as he stopped walking. He waited for Jae to catch up and then began walking with her next to him. He reached out slowly, placing a hand on the small of Jae’s back, as if giving her a little bit more balance. “Star. Are you going to be o-“

“I’ll be fine.” She snapped softly. Rogueboy looked a little taken aback by the sudden snap and let his hand drop back to his side. Sighing, Jaenna looked up and over at him, her green eyes bright in the dimmed light of the cave. They stopped walking, RB turned to her fully. That’s when Jaenna just did it. She collapsed into his chest, resting her cheek against his collar bone, letting the tears fall. “Are… Are we going to make it?” She hiccupped softly as she continued to cry into Rogueboy. Her arms were up by her side, elbows bent and her hands trying their best to cover her face. She heard a few of the other RAIDERS stop and start asking if she was okay, but she then felt Rogueboy lift an arm as if telling them to carry on.

“Star, We’ll make it. I… can’t promise anything. But we will make it.” He sighed deeply and wrapped an arm around the small of her back an the other around her shoulder blades. He pulled her closer and leaned down to kiss the top of her head gently. He gripped her shoulder lightly and pulled her back from him, to lean down a little and look her in the eyes. “Now come on. The squad needs you, hun.” The smile that spread across his lips made Jae’s heart jump as she returned the smile with a feeble attempt. RB leaned in and kissed her lips sweetly before pulling back and letting her go. RB tapped her nose lightly with his index finger, causing Jae to chuckle softly, before he turned around and went over towards Karash, beginning to help the medic pick out things they needed.

Sighing, Jaenna walked over to a pill of what seemed to be ammunition. The SL bent down and began to rummage through stuff. Then, the entire cave seemed to shake. A large boom echoed throughout the place, and everybody looked up to see Raelene fly back and slam against the wall of the cave as a small ball of fire erupted from whatever she had been messing with. Everybody rushed over to her to check to see if she was okay. Jaenna though, stood slowly and walked over to Raelene with a calm expression on her face. She gently pushed Grahim aside, and told then told Karash, who was shining a small light in Rae’s eyes to move.

Jaenna knelt in front of Raelene, a cold expression on her face as her eyes flashed with hidden anger and pain. “You’re lucky that thermal det didn’t go off fully.” Raelene back up as much as she could against the wall of the cave, obviously scared of her own SL.  “Next time you start figiting with stuff: Try not to almost die. I’m glad you’re okay.” Jae tried smiling and stood. Karash knelt down then and began checking Rae some more.  Jaenna took a deep breath and shut her eyes before saying, “We can’t afford anymore injuries, RAIDERS! Stop fidgeting with this shit and just grab what you need! I want us moving back down that mountain ten minutes ago!” She growled softly then turned away from her squad, before kneeling again by a pile of guns. She looked around carefully, then grabbed a DE-10 that was lying on the ground.

The SL checked to see if she had the rest of her weapons; her two vibroblades, her DC-15 pistol, and her StarSlasher. She was good. Snarling softly she turned to her troopers and said, “Move out, RAIDERS. We have an army to find.” With that, she turned around and began to make her way out of the cave, only stopping at the entrance to wait for the rest of her troopers to walk by. Jaenna had made it a point during this entire objective to be the back eyes of the Squad.

The squad continued to share a few more chuckles as they went on their way down the mountain. It was needed. All of them were starting to lose their hope of the entire mission.  One could see it in their expressions. They were so dirty and scraggly. Sad and worried. Scared and tired. Some of the worst combinations anyone could have on their shoulders all at one time. But then again, one must sit and think about it. They were all in the Imperial Army. All of these feelings were something to be expected, especially when they were so close to losing against the enemy; failing their objective; not getting of the damn planet. Rogueboy though, contributed to the chuckles that were the much needed help in raising the spirits of the squad. Jaenna knew that everybody was and would always be grateful to RB just for making those few jokes.

RB was walking next to Jaenna as the two were laughing another particularly funny joke that the Platoon Sergeant had said. Karash was near Raelene, obvious worry on his face. Grahim was behind Havock, who was behind Delcan. Havock of course, had her pistol drawn, due to the paranoia that had been getting to her lately. Declan, the poor guy, had a worried expression on his face as the squad made their way down the hill. The closer they got to the bottom of the hill, the more worried Declan started to look. Havock decided to be the first one to question this as she put a hand on his shoulder and jerked him back slightly, making him look at her. The man’s eyes were wide, his lips slightly open.

“What is it, Delcan?” Havock asked, her voice dripping poison.

The man looked at her, a terrified expression crossing his face. He turned his attention to the others in the squad, all of whom had stopped laughing and were now all glaring at the man. Jaenna stepped away from her boyfriend and walked slowly up to Delcan, a vibroblade drawn. She scowled at the man as she reached him. “Declan. I suggest you tell us what’s wrong, or else you’re going to have a squad of angry STs on your ass like flies on shit.”

The man stammered, looking around. He looked down the hill for a moment, before looking back at the SL/ASL team of angry females. “I… I think my camp is down there.” He said, as he pointed down the hill to a clump of rocks that seemed more like a wall than anything.

Jaenna’s eyes narrowed. “So what’s the problem then?” She raised her arm, Vibroblade shinning in the dim light of the setting sun.

“They… Come on. Let’s just go.” Declan said before turning around and beginning to walk down the hill once more. Havock grumbled and kept a hard grip on her DC-15 pistol, read y to use it. Jae turned around and motioned for the rest of the squad to follow. They all looked a bit worried, but scowls were still evident. None of them liked Declan.

As they continued moving down the hill, scraps of metal and of armour became more visible. Pieces of weapons were even visbible as they got closer to the natural wall made of rocks. “Star.” Jaenna turned her head slightly to look behind her as she kept walking. Karash looked worried, he had stopped walking and was pointing to a shinning deep red almost brown stain on one of the rocks.

The SL growled softly. “Old blood…” She then turned back around and rushed by Havock, grabbing Declan by the collar of her armour and turning him around. “What the hell are you getting us into, Declan!” Her eyes were arrowed, green flashing as the sun continued to set.

The poor man looked terrified at this point. “I-I don’t know. I feel like something is wrong.” Declan whimpered and tried to pull away from Jae, who only tightened her grip on his shirt.

“Raelene! Grahim! Go check the camp! It’s probably behind that wall of rocks just down there. Karash, give them cover.” Jaenna ordered. The three troopers nodded and jogged down towards the wall. Karash stayed back a little as Raelene and Grahim disappeared behind the wall. “Declan. I swear to Thrawn, if you get us killed-“

“It’sa abandoned, mamsa!” Jaenna looked up, hearing the yell from Grahim. The Gungan was looking out from behind the wall of rocks. Growling, Jaenna looked back to Declan.

“You’re a dead man, Declan.” She snarled, tightening her grip yet again as the man whimpered.

Then, she heard raelene and Grahim both scream. She looked up, they were gone. “Shit!” She turned around as she heard the other troopers yell softly. As she turned around, she let go of Declan, who fell back to his backside. Rogueboy, Havock and Beta all had men standing behind them, their hand were drawn behind their backs. Then, Jaenna felt it. A tip of cool metal against her throat.

“No, Corporal.  Do believe, you are the one who is dead now.” Jaenna gulped as the man’s voice slid into her ear. “Rybock, get the other guy, the one who pissed himself.” The man said, gesturing toward Declan, who indeed was on the ground, her pants wet between his thighs. Jaenna couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of her making a guy piss himself. “Take the prisoners to the camp. We are going to have a bit of fun now.”

Jaenna looked at her troopers, who were all being pushed and shoved further down the hill now, heading towards a small, almost invisible entrance into the mountain side. Another damn cave. She sighed. She just couldn’t stop her squad from getting into trouble.