OOC:

Blackjack

Garryll Gates raised his head from his hands and sat straight. He’d been resting, eyes closed and back bent as the Phoenix barracks had thrummed with activity. Only ten minutes ago, the Raiders had started moving with purpose, their new squad leader throwing orders around and moving his squad out of the barracks. Gates had watched as they’d shrugged into some jetpacks and jogged from the building, before resuming his position.

Now, though, Phoenix support personnel were moving, not just Stormtroopers.  Captain Havock entered the main assembly area, radio in hand, an aide wearing a heavy radio set keeping after her to keep the primitive cord from going taut. Lower ranked soldiers, mechanics and various others they’d picked up along the way saluted and got out of her way. She stopped in front of Gates and looked down at him.

Garryll stood and saluted slowly. He towered over his superior, but she was unfazed by the difference in height. “Orders?”

“The Republic is making a move, and the Bastion’s garrison is moving out to intercept them. They’d like some air cover.”

“Sorry, Havock. This planet has taught me much, but not yet how to defy gravity,” Garryll said dryly.

“You’ve been too long in the East,” she replied. “We’ve managed to scrounge up enough spare parts and a high-grade power cell to get Chief Isen’s LAAT back in the air.”

“Munitions?” Gates asked, leaning to pick up the battered slug rifle that served as his main armament. “Air cover is pointless if we’re just going to be shooting at them with rifles.”

“We’ve got a full rack of missiles and enough tibanna for an extended battle for the dropship,” Havock said. “I’ll be deploying you and Eclipse to assist.”

Gates nodded. “Blackjack! Eclipse! Form it up, boys and girls!”

Armor and boots clattered as the Stormtroopers readied themselves. Gates waved over his ASL and the Eclipse officers, Skarr and Njall as Havock withdrew a small, hand-held hologram projector from her pocket.

“This is the plain that the Republic forces are travelling at us on; here’s the Imperial garrison coming to meet them,” Havock said, pointing at small, grainy images of light tanks, buggies, jeeps and infantry approaching one another. Gates observed that the image was live and marvelled that they had been able to get live satellite feed from somewhere. “The LAAT will take you from our location, loop east, fly south, and cut back and take them from the rear, hopefully sowing destruction in its wake. After a couple of passes, they’ll drop you off on the extreme edge of the battle. The plan is to flank the enemy and crush them from three directions; from the garrison’s forces, Blackjack-Eclipse wing, and the air power. Good luck.”

“Load up, we’ve got to get this show on the road soon,” Gates barked, turning his attention to the troopers. “We’re skids-up in two, move!”

The activity level exploded as troopers finished shrugging into armor, picked up their rifles and stuffed new power cells or clips into them and wedged backups into belts and bandoleers. Outside the barracks, the whine of engines kicking in turned into a throaty roar as the LAAT, finally repaired, did final preps for launch and war. Flight personnel loaded missiles and did final checks on lasers and old laser damage.

Gates stepped outside into a crisp spring day, and tasted the humidity on the wind. Havock had been right; they had been too long in the East. He slipped on his shooter’s glasses and did his own final check; rifle was loaded, tiny yellow numbers showing 60/60; pull the slide halfway down, far enough to see the dull bronze shell - one in the chamber, weapon on safety. Revolver, combat knife, ammo, short-range radio, check.

His boots clicked on the pavement as he marched over to the dropship and hopped in, the long step assisted by the right-hand door-gunner grabbing his hand and pulling him in. The ship hovered a foot off the ground as its repulsorlifts hummed, in preparation for the final launch. Blackjacks and Eclipses hurried from the barracks, and jumped or climbed into the dropship’s passenger compartment, weapons slung. All arrived before Gates’ two-minute countdown concluded.

The intercomm crackled, and the pilot’s joyful voice piped through to them. “I’m glad to tell you that the Phoenix Air show has officially resumed operations and will be delivering you to the combat zone in several minutes. As we will definitely be experiencing some turbulence, I would advise holding on tight and getting ready to go!”

Gates reached up at the advice and gripped the drop-bar; thick, heavy rope was tied around it at the back end of the passenger compartment. The door-gunners climbed into the gunner-bubbles and the doors slammed shut, letting only a small amount of light in through the window-slats.

The roar of the engines grew more intense, and the floor shook underneath them as the dropship lifted into the air. Gates rode the shaking of the ship, his feet still through experience. Again, the pilot’s voice crackled, but this time it was in Gates’ earbud.

“Test, test. This is Chief Isen. Our ETA for the battle will be five minutes. I’d advise making final preps while we get there. Our strafing-run shouldn’t take more than forty-five seconds, then I’ll open the doors and we’ll drop you. We’ll be in constant radio contact, so you’ll be my eyes on the ground. Spot for my runs, and this’ll go real well.”

“Roger, Chief,” Gates said. “You’ll be on channel one; Blackjack-Eclipse will be Channel Null for inter-squad comms. Any questions? No? Good. Prepare yourselves, then.”

OOC:

Eclipse

Paperwork, who would figure that on the battlefield that there was still time for it; a small mix-up in his deployment paperwork led to Rawr being placed in a temporary squad as they determined where he was to go. Kristof O’Neill was a recent Academy graduate, deployed to Thyveck just before the Company was left on their own. The squad he was temporarily placed in had no official name, or duty. They did the work assigned to them on a daily basis, and operated with whoever was involved. It was disorganized, but they got their assignments done. Many recent Academy graduates in the company were placed there for a time, Kristof got out when his placement orders were located; he was to go with Eclipse squad. He had only been there for a very there for a short time, before he was jammed on a transport for a deployment.

The flight in the LAAT was nerve racking, this was Kristof’s first time in one. The technology utilized by the Stormtrooper Corps was very different than what he was used to on Selke. Four years in the Selke System Guard taught him much of what the Corps had built upon in the Academy; though nothing could have prepared him for this. Private First Class Kristof “Rawr” O’Neill, one of the latest green members of Eclipse; hopefully he would live long enough to eliminate that status. Though he was not alone, he could see a colleague of his, Private Second Class Ion, standing nearby. The two of them had been in the same Academy class, and went through the conflict at the Blackgate prison together. It made Kristof feel slightly better about the entire deployment situation to see someone he knew.

Ion looked over to him, “You seem nervous”

Kristof let off a small chuckle, “Yeah a bit, it’s either just being on this transport or the mission in general.”

“What, are you afraid of heights?”

“Would you believe me if I said I was?” Kristof replied.

“You have to be kidding me. You’re afraid of heights; how the hell did you make it this far?”

“Wow…” Kristof said with a grin, “The better question is how the hell they got me on this transport. I used to have panic attacks from the thought of heights.”

“Bull! You’ve gone across star systems; you had to go past the upper atmosphere of planets! You can be afraid of heights.” Ion yelled over, trying to prove Kristof’s statement wrong.

“It’s amazing what medication can do.”

It wasn’t a lie though, as Kristof had lived his life with a horrible fear of heights. He couldn’t even glance out the viewports of the LAAT sometimes.  To think, at one point in his early life he considered the Imperial Navy – back in the days before the Galactic Civil War, a dream of his youth.

He heard a voice louder than the rest, he thought it to be Skarr, his squad leader, which meant it was important. “ETA two minutes!”

Kristof looked over to Skarr when he heard his voice, and then back to Ion. “This must be where the fun part starts.” He said sarcastically.

OOC:

I came up with the idea of the lost paperwork to explain how I got here, seeing as the company has been on their own for such a long time. Anyone else is free to use that if they're looking for a way in.

OOC:

Eclipse

The dropship shook as it neared their destination, AA fire, perfect. Private Rawr stared strait ahead practically shaking, poor guy.

"Alright! Were near our LZ, let's lock and load!" Skarr yelled over the shaking of the LAAT.

As the doors dropped the first soldiers out checked the immediate area for threats, rifles sweeping over the area.

"Clear!"

"Clear."

"Move out!"

Jogging forward Ion checked his ammo. Full. Checked his body. A little fatigue in his arms from his morning workout. Checked his mind. Ready to roll. Glancing up he saw the LAAT fly overhead to provide air support. They were going to need it.

Cresting the small hill in front of them the first troops took light cover as they battered their turned backs with blaster fire showering over their heavier armor. Ion and the rest of the troops took cover with the first soldiers as the Rebels turned to provide counter-fire. Cursing as heavy guns battered at his position Ion tossed a grenade over his shoulder and broke from cover. Smiling as his grenade blew a chunk into the enemy he fired his DC17 rifle into the crowd from his hip. Like shooting gorgs in a barrel.

"Move up!" He cried as lighter arms splashed and ricocheted off his armor.

A grenade landed near him as he jumped to the side out of its range. Turning in the explosions he took aim and shot the thrower and two other near him. Then, taking cover, he reloaded his rifle.
Turning from cover he looked as a group of soldiers attempted to rush their position. He mowed them down swiftly and turned to shoot an exposed man in the turret of a jeep. Turning take aim at the driver of the next nearest jeep.

The vehicle exploded in fire before he could take his shot. Turning to his training mate Rawr he called, "Now ya' got it!"

The New Republic forces cleared out of the area retreating back toward their target in the city. The squads took up chase dodging fire from the retreating forces. The LAAT flew overhead again beam turrets cutting into their back lines. As the last of Republic forces moved over the next small hill the Stormtroopers surged ahead Sergeant Gates barked to the squad.

"Let's kick some ass!"

Ion, one of the first to make it over the tiny mound on the vast plain ducked as a tank fired into the black space that used to be his head. Some of the light tanks had fallen further behind in the wake of the LAAT fly-by and had formed a line covering the rest of the army.

Shit! Ion thought to himself, Now what are we gonna' do?

OOC:

Eclipse

The vast field lay before them. Dust was kicked up by the retreating forces and anti-personnel tanks. But rather than retreating all the way into the city, they were merely regrouping. Skarr observed all this from the small rise that Blackjack and Eclipse had assembled on. The first strike had stunned the New Republic forces and caused their temporary retreat. They had not expected an active LAAT to enter the field.

The element of surprise was a powerful thing on the battlefield. Expectations were always useful when proven wrong. A soldier expects something to happen and their expectations are turned inside out when the unexpected occurs. The LAAT was exactly that. The ace in the hole. But now the unexpected was expected and Skarr could see that many weapons were trained to the sky now. No SAMs, that was a good sign.

Garryll looked over at Skarr, “Any suggestions on how to continue?”

Skarr shrugged, “You?” A slight shake of the head. A grimace crossed Skarr’s face. Perhaps another LAAT run would do well, but not while the enemy was expecting it. Plans ran through the young man’s mind. Nothing jumped out as clever or devastating. It angered him that they were given the job of meat cans. RAIDERS had been given the opportunity to infiltrate the city and have a little fun. Blackjack and Eclipse had been dealt the dangerous job.

An almost small army sat outside the city, waiting for such an attack. Skarr knew that both squads could handle the situation, but you did not go through such a mission unscathed. There were bound to be injuries, or worse casualties. Skarr’s side was still tender from his last injury. He would have blaster scars all down his left side. But that did not matter to him. His squad was his first concern, not his own well-being.

The Sergeant cracked his neck and looked back to his squad, a grin sketched on his face. They all looked at him expectantly. “Well, guys it looks like we might be screwed.” A chuckle escaped from Garryll and he took his squad aside for their own pep talk. His squad also forced a few laughs.

“But to be more serious, which is a bit hard to do given the ridiculousness of the situation, we are probably going to get our asses kicked. That should definitely be fun. We’re going to go down there and have ourselves a fun shootout and I want everyone to come back alive. No chances are to be taken and communication stays open. Conserve as much ammo as possible, so still pick your shots.”

Eclipse gave a small salute and formed around Skarr as they waited for Garryll to finish his own speech.

OOC:

And so, we are about to do battle.

OOC:

Blackjack

“ETA two minutes!” a voice rang out over the rising din of the troopers’ movements.

Skarr. Glad to see he’s still in command of Eclipse.

Almost ready, Valthir gazed at his gun, grimacing at the barrel of the rifle where the bayonet had snapped off. Resolving to fix it later, he ran through a check of it one last time before striding towards the landing pad where the running LAAT rested. It was a relatively old gun, though not old enough to be obsolete. It had been broken and battered when he had found it, and had actually misfired the first time he had used it. Since then, he had kept it in tip-top condition, cleaning it regularly, with whatever he could get his hands on. He thought back to the stash of gun cleaning supplies that he kept in his pack.

Allowing himself a small grin, he carried the gun in the crook of his arm as he approached the LAAT. Spotting another Stormtrooper moving in the same direction, he drifted over. The armor wasn’t of Blackjack, meaning it was an Eclipse trooper. This armor was different though. It had markings along the right side of the helmet and the right shoulder.

“Skarr?” Valthir asked tentatively.

The being looked at him for a moment before answering, “Val?”

Reaching up, he removed his helmet to reveal that he was indeed Skarr. Mimicking his action, Valthir grinned and stepped forward, clasping hands with Skarr.

“How ya been? Last I remember, you were in Wraith.” Skarr asked, grinning as well.

“So-so. As good as you could expect on this hellhole. And Wraith was . . . disbanded.”

Skarr noticed his pained expression and frowned, “I’m sorry, Val. Well, at least you made it into Blackjack. I’ve heard they’re brilliant.”

Valthir nodded, his heart a little lighter than a few moments before, “Yeah. That was an upside at least.”

As they had spoken, most of the other troopers had finished up their preparations and made their way towards the LAAT. Skarr and Valthir were actually some of the last ones left. Noticing this, Valthir gestured towards the roaring machine and the pair boarded.



Blackjack raced towards the light artillery machine, keeping as low to the ground as they could. Their efforts to conceal their approach worked in their favor, allowing them to close the distance considerably without being seen. Unfortunately, at about twenty meters away, they were spotted. A lone guard on their side of the artillery machine just happened to turn and look in their direction. Recognizing them for who they were, he let out a cry, only to be interrupted by two bullets from Garryll’s rifle. It was too late, though. The cry had been loosed and his comrades had been alerted. Two more rounded the back of the machine and instantly jumped back behind it as they saw the approaching troopers. As they set up position, they began to pour fire towards the oncoming Blackjack, who broke up and scattered to avoid presenting a large target.

One of the guards got the bright idea of operating the artillery machine. After all, sitting exposed for about ten seconds while he started up the machine’s artillery components and then another twenty seconds for it to turn enough to attack Blackjack was totally safe and would leave him unharmed. Not even bothering to let him companion know what he was about to do, the guard leaped up on the artillery machine. He was at least bright enough to stay behind it as much as he could. That helped little, however.

If anything could be said about Blackjack, it was that they were precise in most of what they did. The second guard had barely gotten his head up before a hole was neatly put between his eyes. As he slumped backwards, Corvin let out a whoop.

He must have taken the shot.

Valthir started to grin when the only remaining guard stood up slightly and let off a shot directly towards Corvin. In mid whoop, Corvin collapsed as the shot hit him on the lower side of his right cheek. Judging from the angle of the shot, Valthir quickly guessed that his jaw had been shattered. Even with his basic medical knowledge, he knew that the man didn’t have long before he would bleed out.

The guard who had taken the shot looked at his handiwork with a smug smile. The guard lying next to him had been like a brother to him. Sweet revenge was the last thought that went through the man’s head as bullet entered and exited his cranial cavity as his carelessness in revealing himself cost him.

“Garryll! GARRYLL!” Valthir shouted out, catching his squad leader’s attention and gesturing in Corvin’s direction.

Then, multiple things happened at once. Swearing, Garryll began to move in his second-in-command’s position. Valthir looked back at the now abandoned artillery machine, only to see beyond it at another artillery machine that was swivelling in their position. The rest of the squad took note of Corvin’s status and began to move to help him.

Seeing the immediate danger, Valthir yelled and began to sprint. As he drew near the solitary artillery machine, he jumped on to it and used his momentum to vault it with his free hand. Landing awkwardly, he stumbled slightly, which saved his life as a guard began to open fire. He had ducked below the spray of bullets as he stumbled and managed to get a look at the moving artillery machine. It was manned by one guard while the only other one stood slightly to the side of it as he frantically reloaded his gun.

I’m only going to get one chance at this.

He was drawing nearer remarkably fast. The artillery machine was almost perfectly positioned to take out Blackjack. Knowing he wouldn’t have enough time to properly aim his rifle to take out both guards, he dropped it and grabbed his knife from its sheath. The standing guard had almost finished his reloading.

It was then that Valthir realized he had a decision to make. Either he could take out the guard that was directly threatening him and most likely live through the next few seconds, while the artillery machine may take out his entire squad, or he could kill the guard operating the artillery, which would definitely save the rest of Blackjack, but would give the standing guard enough time to finish his reloading and get off a few shots. The decision was made almost before Valthir realized he even had a decision to make.



Garryll slowly rounded the first artillery machine, his rifle raised in case any hostiles presented themselves. Seeing none standing near the second machine, he jogged over, keeping his rifle raised. Three bodies were in sight, two on the ground with the third slumped in the seat of the artillery machine. He almost abandoned all caution when he saw that one of the bodies was a fully armored Stormtrooper lying face down on the ground, but checked himself as he approached.

Checking the other two bodies for signs of life and finding none, he flipped Valthir over. A groan from the downed Stormtrooper was accompanied by an audible sigh of relief from Garryll.

“I thought you were dead.” Garryll said, examining the man’s armor.

Garryll winced when he saw three bullet holes in in the plastoid. The two in the left shoulder area were clean shots, while there was a graze on his helmet.

“You’ll be fine. C’mon, let’s get you to your feet. I’ve called the LAAT back. Corvin is hurt badly. Aether and Lightray are going to carry him to a spot nearby and set out flares for the LAAT. I’m sending THX to go along with them in case they run into any patrols. You don’t seem to be hurt too badly, so you’re going to stay here. Can you use your left arm? Good.”

OOC:

Right, so Corvin now has an IC excuse for his leave.

The three men - Garryll, Valthir and a new man who went by Fear - had gone to work as soon  as the rest of the squad took the injured ASL out of combat.

“Let’s get this gun swivelling and aimed at the enemy, shall we?” Gates said. Valthir jumped into the gunner’s seat, throwing its previous occupant’s bloody, cooling corpse into the dust. It only took him a moment to figure out the highly-simplified controls, designed with the ability to keep basic function going in the event that trained gunners weren’t present.

He tapped a few controls, and the gun’s treads swivelled, turning the long barrel of the weapon forwards. Fear checked to see if the weapon was loaded, and gave Valthir the all-clear for firing. Gates moved to the side of the gun, and brought a battered pair of binoculars to his eyes.

He sighted down range, and quickly picked out three good targets for them, hoping to help the garrison forces push the Republic troops back with a few good shots in crucial parts of the Republican line. “Tank, distance 150 meters. Angle, straight ahead. Fire!”

Valthir stabbed at a few more buttons. The cannon’s barrel cranked down a few degrees, then boomed. A shell whistled down range, crossing the distance in a moment, and smashed against the tank’s hull. It crumpled like a paper bag, the shell punching a hole right through the lightly-armored vehicle and exploding it. The light artillery piece’s cannon barrel slammed back and the spent artillery casing was ejected.

“Reload!” Gates said. Fear pulled open the slide and dropped a heavy shell in, then slammed it shut. “Infantry squad! 188 meters! Angle, 20 degrees off straight ahead! Fire now!”

Valthir slammed in the commands, and again the machine rotated on its treads, raised its barrel a few inches, and then spat another round down range. The infantry squad disappeared in the explosion, never seeing what wiped them from existence. Gates winced at their demise; no foot soldier deserved it, but war was war. Fight and kill, or die.

The LAAT roared behind them, and flying from its position. The pilot opened up a channel to Gates. “Good news - my crew chief says the flight medic has you guy stabilized. We won’t have to withdraw to get him to a proper medbay until we’re outta fuel or bullets.”

Garryll was glad that his long-time comrade wasn’t too badly damaged, but the wound was serious and he wouldn’t be able to assist them for a while. His mind shot from that in moments, though. “Good; we’re going to try and finish these rear-emplacement artillery and whittle them down. We’ll start from our position and work our way east; you take the far east and waste them from there.”

“Roger,” the pilot said, severing the link. The throaty roar of the LAAT’s engines buzzed over the battlefield, and splatterings of small-arms spat up at it. The gunship responded with a missile and chattering laser cannons that chewed up the men firing at it.

Fireballs followed it as it destroyed the artillery pieces in its path, side-lasers playing across the positions and incinerating them, others blasted apart by hundreds of rapid-fire chain-laser rounds.

Behind them, the three troopers returned. Gates nodded at them, and pointed them at the next position, a group of three mortars. The mortars had become aware of the threat that the Stormtroopers posed, but they were too close to drop a mortar shell on, and the guarding Republic troopers began to dig in in anticipation.

“We’re taking them out next,” he said. “Valthir, take Aether and THX and sweep left. I’ll take the other two and sweep right, crush them in between.”

Valthir nodded and dropped from the gun, and started off, leading his fireteam. Gates pulled a grenade from his belt and dropped it down the barrel of the artillery piece. The explosion, contained, still suitably messed up the weapon, and Gates nodded in satisfaction. “Let’s get moving to the next position.”

OOC:

So we’re going after the next artillery position, a group of three mortars in light cover. 9 mortar operators plus a half-squad (5 or 6 men) of front-line soldiers. Fireteams are Val, THX and Aether; Garryll, Fear and Lightray. PM me with any questions or find me on IRC.

OOC:

Blackjack

" Alright. We're sweeping right and striking at the Mortar Pit hard while Valthir and his fire team hit them from the left. Move now and keep a steady stream of fire on that position! " Garryll commanded before motioning for them to advance. Jo'ron dropped his Blaster Rifle next to the body of a dead New Republic soldier, grabbing his Slugthrower Rifle and examining it. He'd seen them frequently while on Nal Hutta and had the basic knowledge on how to operate them. Shrugging whatever confusion left off, Jo'ron removed the clips from the soldier's body and placed them in slots on his belt.

The fireteam came under heavy fire as the New Republic squad fired on them from their cover. " Seems as if these fracking insects like to hide instead of fight! " Jo'ron taunted as he let loose a burst of rounds that pelted an exposed soldier. From the distance he could see Valthir and his team slowly gaining ground as each of the fireteam's put pressure on the Mortar pit.

Garryll opened a channel between the Blackjacks, crouching down amidst the firefight. " Valthir, have your team lob some grenades towards that pit. We'll handle it from there. "

Several grenades were seen flying through the air, each of them landing near the mortar pit. The defending soldiers reacted on instinct, ducking behind their makeshift cove or jumping towards the ground for safety. All the pieces were falling in place, now it was time for the Blackjacks to do what they did best. Garryll sprinted directly at the pit as soon as the explosions subsided.

" Storm the Pit! " He ordered, the two troopers behind him following closely. Valthir and his team soon followed after but it was too late for them to do anything. Garryll, Fear, and Lightray ( as he was being codenamed) sprayed the pit with enough rounds to take out an entire platoon. They dropped down into the pit and surveyed the area.

The squad gathered together in the middle of the pit, kickings bodies out of the way as they walked. " Alright, Blackjacks. The garrison won't have to worry about any more artillery strikes on there position for now. Now it's ti--" He stopped midsentence as a large explosion struck the ground near them. " Incoming! We've got company, Blackjacks! " He yelled as the entire squad scrambled around the pit for cover. Several squads of New Republic soldiers had been sent to eliminate the SCOPE troopers who had finally lost the element of suprise.

" The fun begins! " Jo'ron laughed, jamming a clip into his rifle and shooting a soldier right in his neck.

OOC:

Mortar Pit cleared but now there's several squads ( 2-3 ) turning back to engage us. Have fun.

OOC:

Blackjack

" Aye, they can't even throw a grenade right! Ragtag group of imbeciles! " Jo'ron shouted from behind cover towards the rest of the Blackjacks. He moved his right hand off the barrel of his assault rifle, strafing it along his belt to see how many clips he had left and how many grenades were left. " One grenade, One clip. " He muttered. Jo'ron shrugged it off; he was a Blackjack now. Regardless if he had no ammo left he'd make due and still take down as many New Republic soldiers that possible.

He loaded his last clip into his rifle, raising out of cover long enough to gun down two more soldiers. He counted nearly three squads of soldiers during the beginning of the firefight but the number he now counted was significantly less. No more than seven were left alive, scared, fighting to save their lives from the death that they knew was imminent. The SCOPE troopers would show no mercy. War was war no matter how you looked at it. The New Republic soldiers could only cling to whatever hopes they had left of surviving no matter how futile it was. 

Jo'ron eye was fixated down his sight, suppresive fire being blanketed over the soldiers until his clip was empty. The familiar 'chink' was heard and his rifle was tossed to the side. He crouched down while the rest of his squad worked on picking off what was left their enemy. Jo'ron couldn't help but admire his squad leader. He commanded one of the deadliest squads the Empire had to offer and never broke a sweat, ever. He wasn't here for the past six months like the majority of the Blackjacks. Jo'ron had alot to prove, just like in the academy. 

But this wasn't the academy...this was war. Proving yourself during battle was a guaranteed method of getting a bullet between your eyes. Jo'ron would have to learn this the hard way eventually. He was young,a natural battlefield tactician and prone to making irrational, yet tactical decisions. Being a Blackjack would mature him up quickly.

" Private Lightray, snap out of it! "

Garryll waved a hand infront of Jo'rons face. The trooper just sat there in a trance, staring at the opposite side of the pit. When he finally snapped out of it the squad was on their feet, ready to move out. The familiar sound of the LAAT buzzing overhead helped to bring him back to reality. He got to his feet and scanned the field infront of him, the last squad was terminated.

Good...now to find another gun.

Jo'ron holstered his blaster pistol only to feel the weight of something hitting his chest. On instinct he held his hands out and grasped on it only to find out that it was a rifle. Removing the clip and checking it for ammo he smiled. " Back to the action. "He mumbled.

" Get ready to move out. " Garryll commanded, tossing him a clip. After all, the battle wasn't over yet.

Blackjack had gone to work on the mortar teams, leaving Eclipse to find their own set of objectives. Skarr had his eye on the tanks and vehicles. If those could be disabled there would be quite an edge. It could also be helpful to commandeer one as well. The fighting on the field was intense. The Republic and Empire were neck and neck. And with the mortars beginning to fall silent, the Empire was gaining the edge.

Eclipse had taken cover in one of the craters caused by a mortar. The wreckage of the tank it had eradicated remained behind to provide bits of protection for the squad. His troopers provided the necessary cover while Skarr surveyed the battlefield with his binoculars. Orders kept springing up on his comm from the Blackjack side and he had turned it down, while he thought. The battlefield was full of infantry and lasers crisscrossing in deadly arcs. In addition to the infantry, several light vehicles, mainly tracked and wheeled, roamed the battlefield shooting back and forth. There were not so many tanks, but they were still there. It was these that Skarr was going to place a high priority on. The tanks were chewing up the battlefield almost as much as the mortars. There were seven in total. All creating chaos and soaking up whatever ammo was thrown their way.

The Sergeant First Class tagged the targets in his visor, making them visible to his team mates. The battle raged around them and Skarr had to give the order to go. His squad was ready, each of them had checked their equipment and weapons multiple times. Thankfully, he had had them outfitted with three det packs each. They carried enough explosives to destroy the tanks. He only carried on det pack, but on his back was the PLX missile launcher. It held two missiles on its own. The first tank was perhaps 20 meters away with infantry blocking the way.

“Eclipse! The tanks are our targets, let’s move!” His squad moved over the crest of the crater’s edge, firing along the way. Skarr had enabled the full auto setting for all the squad’s blasters. Single fire could spell certain death for the squad. The first volley of fire took the Republic soldiers by surprise. Several troopers died as Eclipse rushed the first tank. Skarr’s back hit the first set of cover he had spotted along the way. The Rebels had begun to fire back.

The squad continued to provide the needed cover fire as Skarr vaulted over the cover. He readied his det pack, punching in numbers as he ran. The tank had spotted him as Skarr grew closer and began firing. Clods of dirt and dust were thrown up into the air as Skarr pelted quicker into the throng of infantry. He went into a controlled slide, aware of his squad behind him taking care of the soldiers around him. The slide brought him right up to the side of the tank. And the det pack was swiftly stuck to the treads. Eclipse had cleared a path for him and he took advantage of it, ducking under the fire of the tank.

Skarr followed his squad to cover, shooting as they ran. The det pack exploded, throwing several soldiers to the ground, but also displaying a pretty light show.

“Damn, those are some great fireworks!” Balac exclaimed.

OOC:

One tank down, six to go. Continue on, boys.

OOC:

Eclipse

 
  Bits and pieces of red-hot tank armor flew about into the air, along with smoke and what was left of the tank's occupants. It seemed as though the Republic had cut some corners with the defensive aspects of their heavy regiment. Generally, a standard issue explosive charge to the treads of a tank did nothing but immobilize it, yet left the main gun unscathed and operational, so long as the shock wave and heat from the explosion didn't kill the operators inside. Perhaps this offensive is more desperate than what appeared to be, however it did not mean it was not turning into an effective one. Whatever reason behind the cause, all that matters what the effect. Skarr certainly seemed to be energized with trying to find that very effect. It had been a while since Taran had seen his old friend so... outgoing with his tactics.

  It was not clear what exactly was in the air about this particular battle, but it had the stench of yearning and righteous indignation. Maybe all the factors that had led into today's battle made it all the sweeter. Eclipse stayed rather quiet throughout the ordeal, all of its members focused on the objective. Of course there was the occasional bloodthirsty roar or grunt from someone, but that was just war, through and through. Taran could remember thinking days like this would never happen; days that dragged on in red tape or regulations from Command. Now it seemed he could not even go off into his natural tangent way of thinking, there was no time for it. If he had barely even thought about the past or future, something even more ridiculous or serious would present itself in the present. Army life was all about dealing with sudden issues. Although this could be stressing, tedious, and not to mention dangerous, a soldier never works an assembly line. Injuries were, most predictably, a common side effect from exposure to battle. Taran was still recovering from his own.

  Skarr had barely just hit the detonator before two of the other tanks had noticed Eclipse moving through their ranks. Shells already punctured the smoke lofting from the wreckage of the point tank, leaving circles in the blanket of darkness.

  "Looks like that pissed them off." Skarr grunted, digging into another recently created crater not far from the blackened hole he made himself.

  Taran fell on his back inside the same crater as Skarr, punctuating it with a loud exclamation. His ribs were slowly starting to deteriorate without any medical attention within the past few hours. The two alerted tanks advanced upon their fallen squad-mate, blasting shells into the ground around where the wreckage as located, hoping to kill the people responsible. Dirt and sand fell into the hole, creating a fine layer of soil on both of the troopers.

  "This position won't last long." Taran raised his voice to reply over the booming sounds of the oncoming vehicles, but Skarr looked as though he already knew that fact. He glanced around the rim of the crater, possibly searching for a new place to defend or launch an ambush. Balac and Njall squatted behind a large panel of the former tank's underbelly, and were well out of sight for the moment. Jamasis, Rawr, Ion, and Anival were all grouped together in a section of the wreckage that appeared to be the main hull, most likely where the crew were held. They seemed to be out of the line of fire, nearly five meters, but one stray shot could either take them or their cover out quite easily.

  Skarr raised his hand to his ear, which is the universal sign for some kind of involvement with his communication gear. Sure enough, the entirety of Eclipse heard the channel open with his confident voice.

  "We have two tanks coming up on our position, each one most likely going to pass on our side." Skarr informed the squad. "I need a base of fire on them now or we will be spotted. We'll take care of the rest."

  "Make it quick, Skarr." Balac replied. "I don't want to get shelled."

  "Noted." Skarr answered back, then flipped off his coms. Within an instant, a wave of fire came over the crater holding Skarr and Taran. Orders are orders. Skarr took out a bag containing a few more det packs and held out one to Taran.

  "Ever used one of these?" Skarr asked lightly.

  Taran looked at the rectangular device with a bit of anxiety. "Only in basic."

  "Well, now it's time to apply what you've learned." Skarr calmly replied while punching in the numbers on the keypad. Blaster fire still whizzed overhead while the tanks came upon the rim of the crater.

  Taran tried his best to remember what his instructor had taught him what seemed like ages ago. Numbers, confirm, stick to target, run. Couldn't be that hard. However, Taran fumbled the pack in his shaking hands and took several seconds longer than Skarr, who already had his charge planted to the tank on his side of the crater. Taran had realized he took too long staying in place when the pack in his hands started beeping.

  "Go! Go! GO!" Skarr shouted, making a shooing motion with his arm. The display on Taran's charge read ten seconds while his tank sped away, still shooting at the remainder of Eclipse's general direction.

  Taran burst out of the crater, almost falling onto his face trying to outrun himself. Dirt kicked up behind him as he sprinted to the back of the tank, ignoring his sharply paining ribs. Seven seconds. The charge beeped faster. (What Taran had managed to forget while he stuck his charge to the back of his tank... was that Skarr's charge was now three seconds away from detonating, and the resulting explosion from said charge would certainly end his life. However, in times of war, people tend to not remember these kinds of things.)

  There was a moment of silence that orchestrated the running of Taran from the two ill-fated tanks that was inevitably followed by a tremendous and unexpected (on Taran's behalf) explosion from Skarr's victim. Taran had barely managed to run far enough away to survive the blast, but the sheer energy from the blow threw Taran off his kicking feet and flung him horizontally into a piece of metal from the first tank. Taran's body spun and flipped from the impact, but eventually come to rest in a sliding heap close to where Njall and Balac were based.

  Both of the troopers instantly vaulted over their cover and went over to his motionless body once the second tank had erupted in flames. Skarr had watched the ordeal from the crater, which was far enough away to shield him from harm. I swear he's going to get himself killed. he thought, then quickly trotted over to where the rest of Eclipse now huddled over the blackened body of their fellow squad member on one knee. Taran still remained without any sign of movement, but groaned lightly.

  "You alright, soldier?" Skarr asked with heavy concern.

  Taran managed to move his arm slightly and raised only his index finger in the air. His voice was muffled and cracking, as his face was in the ground, but still was intelligible.

  "That's why I don't do explosives." Taran groaned out, then dropped his arm down to the ground with a loud grunt.

 

OOC:

First tank was taken out, but the explosion alerted two other tanks. Skarr and Taran planted explosives on them while the rest of Eclipse put down some covering fire. Taran, who had troubles with his charge, was nearly killed in the blast, but no further injuries to him were made. Continue on.

OOC:

Eclipse

The explosion rocked the battleground, though it appeared to barely phase the tanks. They just kept trudging onwards towards Eclipse; they appeared to be making haste. Rawr looked down to the ground, and was shocked; scared even at what he saw. A detonation charge was lying at his feet, just lying there useless.

Frak, is it live? He thought to himself, as he quickly examined it. After noting that it was not a live charge, he picked it up – intending to use it at a coming time. He took cover near some of the debris, and watched as those tanks grew closer. He knew the plan, distract the tank while someone attaches a detonation charge onto it – simple. It was all about getting close enough to do it, without the tank crew noticing. Though, after multiple tanks had been blown up this way, it was likely they knew what was going on. However, Rawr had a charge, he could do it; he might be able to do it on his own. As a tank grew closer to him, he gripped the charge; he hoped that they did not know he was there. His intent was to jump out and attach a charge, followed by running for cover, though it would not happen.

He heard a sound from the other side of the debris pile, but thought nothing of it – there were all kinds of sounds on a battlefield. He crouched to the edge of the debris, and got ready to jump out for the tank. As he stood, he never saw it coming. A Republic trooper, presumably a survivor of one of the tank explosions, jumped out and dove into him; tossing him backwards, and knocking the charge out of his hand. Rawr flew backwards, he had not braced for it as he was by no means ready for that particular event.

They wrestled on the ground for a short bit, though it had a swift ending. Rawr gave the trooper a strong kick to the stomach, which tossed his off. The republic trooper fell to the ground a short distance from him. The trooper was searching for his sidearm, he intended to kill Rawr. Seeing this, Rawr got up and staggered over towards the trooper – this only hurried his attempts to find a sidearm. Rawr picked up his rifle, and tossed it up to grab at the barrel. As he got closer, the trooper found his sidearm and went to aim it at Rawr, he intended to kill him. Rawr swung his rifle butt, smacking the man in the head – particularly in the jaw. The man fell to the ground, and did not move.

“Fraker. Stay down.” Rawr yelled out, as the man laid there.

The man did not move because the man was dead; Rawr was too disoriented to notice. He walked over to the charge that he dropped, and picked it up. The electronics of the charge were damaged, the charge was worthless to him at its current state – it was useless to him; just like how he found it.

Garryll had shot three men who had surrendered. Therex understood some of the reasoning, but it still seemed pointless. They could have been tied up and left for the people of the planet to take care of, or the vultures.

  Therex quickly scanned the area and stuffed his bag with what he could find from simple medical supplies, picked from the corpses, to a combat knife that he slid into the inner pocket on his armor. They quickly moved out and left behind the three bodies.

  Always on the move. Gotta get out of the service and into a hospital.

  Turning he realized the squad was a little ways ahead of him. They wouldn't have noticed though. No one there even knew his name. He was just the supposed new guy with the scary eyes. His species was always considered to secretive. It wasn't his fault. There wasn't anyone in the squad he really could talk too.

  The commander Garryll was one of the strange sorts. He was quiet and very strict but Therex could feel he wasn't always like this. Therex may have been half-blind but he could still read people. His commander seemed to be a blow it up and move on kind of guy. Why these Army types loved explosions, Therex would never understand. They never ended well.

  Therex had cured explosion patients before. They were never pretty. Not a lot is left to work with. He really hope that Garryll never expected to blow up his own men to win a fight. It was hard to tell. Garryll usually thought that his men were expendable it seemed. They would rush a line when the odds were against them. However they usually won.

  Probably shouldn't complain to much then.

  Let's see if I can keep these idiots alive long enough to either get out or get to know them.

OOC:

Eclipse

Anival gazed at the destroyed tank; a piece of sheared metal hit another tank, revealing a hole on its side. Anival got an idea.

“Skarr, I can take the tank!” he yelled.

“What?”

“I can take the tank, I just need a distraction.”

“You better be sure.”

Skarr signaled for Jamasis and Rawr to attack the tanks flank. Anival crouched low so as to not be seen, the tanks turret swiveled. Anival fell into a full sprint, reached the tank without incident, and calculated the holes size. He would fit; Anival peered inside and saw one man in the turret, clearly focused on the squad, and the driver, who was in turn steering towards the squad.

After scouting as much as he could he figured he would have to take the turret operator  first, then move with the driver, who was strapped onto his seat, he had fallowed every last letter of the manual, that would be his downfall. Anival smiled and snuck into the tank, he took out a combat knife and readied himself, before he took the man’s life, he studied the interior once again, it would take but two strides to get to the pilot, it would work.

Anival covered the man’s mouth and plunged his blade at the base of the neck, the man twitched one, and lay limp, without making so much as a thud, Anival strode the pilots’ chair, and did the same with the man, who had just braced the tank for the turrets fire. He had only succeeded in making it easier to take the tank. Anival sent a comm message to his Squad leader, he needed a turret operator. Soon Rawr was there, Anival was just laying the dead pilots body on the floor.

“You take that one, place them one over another beside the hole, that way our fate won’t be the same as theirs.”

Rawr nodded and place the bodies near the hole. Anival got in the pilot seat and started to move the tank to the left, that way they would have a clear shot at taking out the other tank, and be far enough away from the third that they could destroy it before they themselves were targeted.  Once they were in range, Anival offered Rawr advice on fine-tuning the turret so the shot could hit were it did most damage, and that was, at least to Anival perspective, the turret.

“Skarr, we have a clear line of sight, should we engage?”

There was static.

“Yeah, fire at will or whatever.” The humor his Squad Leader was trying to produce was admirable, but Anival wasn’t comforted by it.

“Alright, Rawr, it’s all up to you.”

Anival waited, and sure enough he heard the whine of the turrets servos, it was a beautiful noise. With amusement, Anival recalled, the last time he had stolen a tank on a campaign, he had been a green recruit, and had barely succeeded in destroying a tent. This time, hopefully, they could do much more than that.

“Well, the rest is up to you.”

OOC:

So we took one tank, that leaves two?, I didn't destroy the other two in my post. You guys can decide how the last two go.

OOC:

Blackjack

With several laughs and the emptying of his last clip into the wounded New Republic troopers sprawled out before him, Lightray had finally broken out of his shell. " You know...Assault Rifles are really starting to piss me off. " He tossed the spent clip to the ground. The familiar chink of a slugthrower when it was empty really was starting to annoy him. " But I like them. Gotta love the impact of a slug punching through your target's chest. " Lightray couldn't help but let out another chuckle.

Seeing Garryll mercilessly slaughter the surrending troopers didn't have that much of an impact on him. War was war, a concept that many people failed to comprehend. Although this was the first major conflict he'd been in, Lightray had been involved in many of a firefight where plenty of people had been killed during his time as a smuggler. Residing on Nal Hutta had taken away any remorse he had for those that tried to kill him. It was either him, them or one of his squadmates. His enemy was expendable, not anybody from Blackjack Squadron.

Now their objective was to find the commander of the Republic assault force and detain him. Easy, right? Thought Lightray until he realized that they had to fight through the remaining troopers to get to him. But wielding a blaster pistol and several combat knives could only go so far when dealing with a contingent of well-armed troopers hell bent on killing you. He'd have to resort to doing what he'd been doing; looting the dead bodies of the troopers.

Lightray wasted no time opening up pouches and searching the pockets of the dead. Useful enough, most of the gear the soldiers had on them seemed to be Imperial made. The fact that New Republic soldiers were using weapons and gear utilized by their enemy irked Lightray. He expected the troopers to atleast be supplied by their glorious Republic. Little did he know that the situation on Thyveck had made both sides desperate to destroy the other.

He attached a couple grenades to his belt along with spare clips of ammunition. Finding a full clip was the equivalent of finding fresh water in the deserts of Tadath; near to none. He jammed one full clip into his rifle and slid two that were half spent into slots on his belt. Even though he graduated at the top of his class, conserving ammunition wasn't something that he excelled in. Eventually he'd learn to conserve his ammo instead of keeping his rifle on fully automatic.

" Alright Blackjacks, the troopers are definately aware of our presence and most likely know that they're screwed. " Garryll started, gathering his squad around him. " They've dug-in while we eliminated their artillery and auxillary squads. Expect alot of resistance. Our Air support should make quick work of them while we assault them from the ground. Once that's done, we extract the colonel. Move out!" Garryll ordered crisply at the end.

They advanced forwards in a full sprint until they came under heavy fire from Republic troopers throwing everything they had at the Blackjacks. They split up into fireteams like before with Garryl, Lightray and THX crouched behind barricades, firing at them as Valthir and the rest of the Blackjack's advanced from barricade to barricade. Their advance was halted almost entirely as the entire squad was pelted by a heavy machine gun emplacement several dozen yards infront of them. They could risk their lives and assault it until it was over with or utilize the resources they had at hand.

Garryll opened up a channel to the LAAT's commander while the squad was busy being pinned down by overwhelming firepower. It didn't take no more than a few minutes for the LAAT to show up and take the heat off the squad. The direction of the fire turned from Blackjacks onto the LAAT, who in turn destroyed everything in its path. Several of the troopers were incinerated by the lasers while other's chose to flee. Unfortunately for the troopers manning the machine gun, the LAAT lit them up with everything they had. Those that weren't killed by the LAAT met their death's at the hands of the Blackjack troopers.

" Move! " Garryll ordered, pointing towards the barricades infront of them. Blackjack entered a full sprint, ducking into cover as soon as they reached their objective.

" You've got to be fraking kidding me. " Lightray brought his helmet into his palm momentarily before grabbing a grenade off his belt and lobbing it over his head. An explosion was followed by several screams. " More troopers. " With that, the firefight began once again.

All hell was letting loose around him. Lieutenant Gearald Santos barked orders at his crew.

“Fifteen degrees left! One high-explosive! Fire when ready!”

His gunner traversed the barrel and stabbed at a button. To his right, the auto-loader slammed another shell into the breach. The tank leveled off for a moment as the ringing sound tipped the driver off of an imminent firing, and he slowed and steadied the tank to make the shot easier, doing so out of good teamwork and experience.

The gunner jammed the bright red button - a tiny, black skull engraved on it by some mechanic - and the light tank shook as it sent the shell on its way. Immediately, the driver juked the tank back into full speed and into cruising speed.

The shell exploded on a Republic halftrack’s back and flipped it over. Brutal tank fighting was slamming through the hilly plains as the Bastion garrison forces clashed with the Republic strike force. A dozen light tanks dueled, and other light armor like the burned halftrack and heavy jeeps exchanged gunfire. Around the vehicles, hundreds of Imperial army soldiers and Republic guerrillas and soldiers fought, sometimes hand-to-hand, sometimes dug-in exchanges.

Santos had his driver slide them behind a hill, only the top of their turret and barrel showing. The gunner hunted for targets as he co-ordinated the battle. A tiny holographic appeared on his blast-helmets HUD. His tanks and light vehicles, marked by green arrows, were pressing hard against the red arrows of the Republic forces. Similarly, green circles marked infantry positions as they began to stretch the battle line further and further. For some reason, the sattelites were telling him that a goodly portion of the Republic’s vehicles and infantry weren’t pressing against him; at most, his forces were facing seventy or eighty percent of the enemy. Either way, it actually put them at a numerical disadvantage.

“That’s too odd, it’s almost like they’ve got bigger problems than us,” he muttered. His tanks comlink crackled, and he tapped the button to pipe it into his headset. “Captain?”

“You may have noticed the odd enemy disposition,” Captain Garda’s voice crackled over the link. “That’s the support I promised.”

“What was it?”

“I suppose you can’t hear them; Phoenix and an LAAT.”

“Phoenix? They’re drawing that much opposition?” Santos said, surprised.

“Intel looks like one of the groups is booking it for the CO of this op, while the other is picking off tanks and generally making a mess. And their air cover is ripping the Reps a new arse. But you can count; if the Reps deploy that many forces against them, even those Ghosts won’t be able to get out of this one.”

“If they can win this, I’ll do whatever I can, sir.”

“Good man. You have to press them enough to get them confused and hasty.”

“Wilco, sir. Santos out.”

The tank commander opened up a new channel to his subordinates and issued his orders; new, aggressive formations that pressed on the Republicans’ necks and had to keep them alert.

*** *** *** *** ***

Across the Republican staging area, Gates could see the battle intensify. More explosions shook the ground and cannon spoke more frequently. The grinding of treads and the screams of men were tinny this far away, but when the wind blew the right way, it was audible.

Another hastily-built bunker for the Republic soldiers exploded as an LAAT missile smashed into it. No survivors limped out. The Blackjacks hustled up that last hill. They peaked over as the LAAT buzzed further over the Republics’ zone. Small-arms hissed up at it, but its armor was too tough to break so easily.

Gates could see an extensive trench network that surrounded a dug-in command center. The Colonel was undoubtedly there. The Blackjack SL pointed at the nearest dugout and then issued his orders.

“We’re going to get into that command center via the trenches. It’ll be slow, but we’ll get slaughtered if we just try to sprint this one. We’ll break into two fireteams and go down either way; both ways down the trench eventually lead to a main ‘highway’ that is a direct route to the hub,” Gates said.

“Shouldn’t we stick together?” asked Ligtray.

“No; I’ve fought in trenches before. Numbers are your enemy. There’s not enough space or cover for more than five men in your average trench. So same fireteams; I’ll take mine left, Val, you go right. We’ll link up on this main drag and then take down the colonel.”

The Blackjacks nodded and pysched themselves up for the assault. They could feel the end; it was near. They’d rarely failed, and they’d capture this colonel and end this battle.

Gates rose first, and tore down the hill, feet flying under him, rifle tight across his chest. Behind him, the rest of Blackjack stormed down after him. The ground leveled out, and his dead sprint carried him to the edge of the bunker. With only five meters to spare, he slowed his pace and at the bunker’s lip, dropped in. Adrenaline pounded his pulse through his ears like a large brass bell. The sound of gunfire slicing through the air came back to him and he realized that some Republican forces had been shooting at him and his squad.

Garryll started moving down the trench, gun at his shoulder. Behind him, other Blackjacks dropped, rolled, or dove into the trench and started following the Blackjack SL or his assistant down one way or the other.

“Watch the corners, and keep your eyes open,” Gates hissed to his troopers, and they began to make their way towards the Colonel - their goal.

OOC:

So we’re in a series of trenches. I’m imagining a relatively circular formation, all around a command center dug-out; the colonel, his staff, aides, guards, etc and gear are all there. There’s a major trench that goes directly to the center, but we have to go through several outer trenches to get there. There’s scattered NR troops in the trenches, too. I’ll wrap this part up at around 12 to 2 EST tomorrow, so post until then; fireteams are same as they’ve been. PM me with questions, or see if I’m on IRC.