When the first A-Wing closed to just under three klicks away, Phoenix switched his weapons over to concussion missiles. The astromech began beeping as  the computer negotiated a target lock. Head to head, the targeting solution didn't take long, and the astromechs beeps became a constant wail as the targeting rectile turned red.

Depressing the trigger, Phoenix sent two bright red projectiles at the A-Wing. He immediately switched back to lasers and switched them to cycle one by one.

Side-slipping the craft port , Phoenix opened fire on the A-wing.

While the single rife lasers were not enough to take down the A-Wing, they served their purpose. Each bolt that splashed across the A-Wing's shields temporarily blinded the doomed ship. The pilot, distracted by the bolts, was unable to see the two missiles headed straight for him.

The small craft exploded into a brilliant orange ball, which promptly died after burning its small amount of oxygen.

Three pairs of blue bolts slashed past Phoenix's view screen, smashing into the second A-wing. Blue lightning cascaded over the tiny starfighter as its electronic systems overloaded and died. the twin orange glows of its sublight engines extinguished, and the craft hung dead in space.

Opening a channel to the Kodoma Phoenix raised the Army Prefect. "Ion cannons General?"

"Just doing a little shopping Sergeant." Came  Fury's reply.

Phoenix smiles and chuckled to himself...until he looked at his targeting computer.

The last A-Wing had split off prior to the engagement and was now vectoring in on the Platoon's dropship. Cursing his carelessness, Phoenix poured energy from his shield generators to his engines and dialed his throttle all the way up.

Brining up the threat indicator on the A-Wing, Phoenix saw it was negotiating a missile lock on the Sentinel shuttle.

"Wildcard shuttle, this is Phoenix, you have an A-wing on your tail!"

The channel burst with static. Emperor's black bones! They're jamming our transmissions. Phoenix switched back over to missiles, trying desparately to close into firing range on the A-Wing.

His targeting rectile turned yellow...then red. Squeezing the trigger, Phoenix sent one pair, then another at the A-Wing...only to watch in horror as it launched a twin pair of proton torpedos at the shuttle.

The platoon transport had just entered the atmosphere when the torpedos caught it.

The first torpedo took down most of the shields, the second took them all the way down, the shockwave ripping through the side of the shuttle. Phoenix saw bodies and equipment fly out of the hole in shuttle.

Bile rose in the Dark Jedi's throat. I've failed again....

Lost in lamenting, it didnt even register with Phoenix wihen the A-Wing exploded, not having been able to dodge four missiles at once. Nor did it register when laserfire splashed over his aft shields.

He just sat there, staring at the shuttle as it fell towards the icy planet...
 
-----------------------
Dark Jedi Knight Gunnery Sergeant Phoenix
Cult Member (CM) - Sith Knight - Eagle Sect -
Squad Leader (SL) - Demolitions - Raider Squad -
VEA Recruiting Staff
CM/DJK Phoenix/Eagle 1-4/Sith/VEDJ/VE/Lopen
AS-2/SL/GSG Phoenix/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [RoM] [BC] [CDS] [BoA]

"Phoenix break to port!"

Why must I fail?

"Phoenix do you read!?!"

Is it my destiny to let down the ones that depend on me

"FA, BREAK NOW!"

The name of his former self rang in his ears, rousing Phoenix from his despair. Shaking his head, the Dark Jedi took one look at his scope and swore.

Two X-wings had angled in on him, and directly in front of the X-wings, rocketing towards him...

A pair of torpedos.

Phoenix throttled up his fighter and immediately sent it into a dive towards the planet's surface. As soon as he hit the upper atmosphere he pulled up hard on the flight yoke, and slammed his left foot on the etheric rudder.

The X-wing shuddered as it struggled to pull out of its dive through the atmosphere. Black spots began to form in the corner's of Phoenix's vision. Just when the G forces were about to overwhelm him, he hit free space again.

Pulling out of his climb, Phoenix rolled the ship on its belly and brought up the torpedo's on his targeting computer. Switching his weapons to lasers, he quadded them up and banked hard to port.

The lead torpedo came into his sights, and Phoenix held down the trigger. Quad blast after quad blast of pure scarlet energy lanced out and engulfed the torpedo.

Not waiting around, Phoenix immediatlely killed thurst, dove, and reversed his thrust.

The second torpedo flashed past his canopy, the throttle hop throwing off its targeting package. Swinging around on its tail, Phoenix poured more laser fire into the torpedo, shredding it to pieces.

The despair that had almost consumed him before now turned into pure, unadulterated rage. The dark presence of the Force in his mind expanded. Reaching out with his senses, letting the darkness wash over him, Phoenix gave into the Force and let it guide his hands.

The X-wings never knew what hit them.

It was all over in a matter of seconds. With the Force guiding him, Phoenix knew what the pilot was going to do before he ever did it.  The first X-wing fell prey to Phoenix's last two missiles, while the second was ripped apart piece by piece by quad laser blasts.

Every one Phoenix fired hit with deadly accuracy.

The darkness ebbed, then receded back to its normal place in his mind. Phoenix regained control of his body, only to find himself dripping in sweat, his breathing deep and greedy.

"Phoenix, this is the Kodoma," Fury's voice echoed through the ships comm. "The skies are clear. We lost four of our TIEs, but took out all of their ships. Orders are to go groundside and link up with the survivors...if there are any."

A sharp pang his Phoenix's chest.  Giving himself fully to the Force had taken away the pain of his faillure, but now it was back.

A lump rose in Phoenix's throat."Affirmative General." He managed to choke out. Swinging the nose of the snubfighter around, Phoenix called up the IFF transponder of the platoon's transport. Using the foot rudder to adjust his trajectory, he made a beeline for the transport, hoping what he felt in his gut was wrong...
 
-----------------------
Dark Jedi Knight Gunnery Sergeant Phoenix
Cult Member (CM) - Sith Knight - Eagle Sect -
Squad Leader (SL) - Demolitions - Raider Squad -
VEA Recruiting Staff
CM/DJK Phoenix/Eagle 1-4/Sith/VEDJ/VE/Lopen
AS-2/SL/GSG Phoenix/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [RoM] [BC] [CDS] [BoA]

Phoenix slipped the small craft into the atmosphere as fast as his engines could manage.  The X-wing shuddered slightly as it entered the denser  portion of the lower atmosphere.

"R-5, plot me a descent that brings me along the Sentinel's final flight path." Phoenix said, turning  control of the craft over to the able astromech.

Closing his eyes, Phoenix found his internal resevoir of Force energy. Tapping into it, he extended his mind out in front of him. He flattened his sphere of influence into a plane that cut across the landscape, searching for any signs of life. Very little came out of the frozen wasteland, and so far none of it familiar.

The R-5 droid bleeted at Phoenix, indicating it had picked something up on sensors. Scanning the landscape, Phoenix found what the droid was going on about.

A single flight chair stood out as the single black spot on an entire field of white. As he drew closer, he could see debris from the shuttle laying scattered around it.

Switching his sensors over to scan for biological signatures, Phoenix was dismayed to not find any.

"Well if there WERE survivors, they are long gone." He said to no one in particular.

R-5 bleeted again, and the translation popped up on Phoenix's computer.

Unidentified craft headed this way. Ground craft of type unknown. Seven signatures.

Cursing yet again, Phoenix powered up his shields and armed his lasers. Switching his sensors back over to pick up mechanical readings, Phoenix kicked in the throttle and streaked off towards the approaching craft.

Seven dots appeared on the horizon. They apparently spotted him, as the sight of an X-Wing bearing down on them caused the seven to scatter in all different directions.

Picking the one coming right for him, Phoenix brought it up on his targeting computer...and felt the greatest moment of relief in his life.

It was one of Wildcard's sleds. Pulling up sharply, Phoenix stretched out with the Force and quickly located Cyanus.

Its me Cy, tell Rizzit to have everyone stand down.

The seven sleds each turned, then reformed together. Staring his landing cycle, Phoenix set the X-Wing down just outside their formation...
 
-----------------------
Dark Jedi Knight Gunnery Sergeant Phoenix
Cult Member (CM) - Sith Knight - Eagle Sect -
Squad Leader (SL) - Demolitions - Raider Squad -
VEA Recruiting Staff
CM/DJK Phoenix/Eagle 1-4/Sith/VEDJ/VE/Lopen
AS-2/SL/GSG Phoenix/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [RoM] [BC] [CDS] [BoA]

    "What took you so long?" asked Cyanus as he folded up the stock on his rifle and holstered the weapon. "We were about to blast you right out of the sky."
    Phoenix jumped straight out of the cockpit, ignoring the side ladders. Catching the spare blaster rifle Squall tossed him, the Sith nodded. "Did you play bumper sleds while I was gone? Sure looks like it, 'cause what I can see, those sleds are trashed. Where is Rizzit?"
    "Right here, Phoenix."
    Trudging across the difficult snow terrain, even though it was only a few meters, Phoenix met up with the major.
   
    "I suppose we hold here," Cyanus told the rest of his crew. He noticed several of them shivering despite the high-tech armor they had donned prior to the drop. Wrapping his stark white cloak about himself, the Krath knight scanned the area with his handy macrobinoculars. There was really nothing much to see, except for the flurry of white blowing past the screen.
    Some ground assault this turned out to be, the trooper muttered to himself. Memories swirled in his head about a similar planet. Could this be the Alzoc III mentioned in the briefing earlier? Cyanus wondered, but couldn't recall a damn thing.

    Sniping101 muttered various curses to himself as he shivered the precious minutes away in the assault sled. His mask kept his face warm, but he couldn't help feeling the windy snowflakes whipping against his face. Suddenly, he saw through the snowy curtains a huge bottle of...ale.
    JR kept his hands tensed even while gripping the makeshift gun turret. The cold has a way of doing that, he admitted to himself. He raised his eyebrows at Snipes, who seemed to lean over the edge looking at something on the horizon, if there was ever a horizon in this frigid hell.
    Lukas checked his weapon over and over again, having absolutely nothing else to do. As a former Wraith, he wondered where his ex-squad was. They weren't with the assault group, to be sure, but he couldn't help thinking that they were stranded out here in this weather.
    The rest of the Raiders seemed bored and stared over at the Dragoons' sleds. Their three sleds were a mechanic's nightmare: mishmashes of spare parts and damaged gear. This was an assault force? Where were their numerous reinforcements?
   
    "I saw the shuttle drop toward the snow. It was all my fault," Phoenix lowered his head in frustration and shame.
    "You were doing all you can. I guess we have to go look for the Wraiths, before they die in this frosty wasteland. Go to the Raiders, and try to forget about it. This is war, there'll always be replacements."

    My thoughts exactly, thought Cyanus as he overheard Rizzit's last sentence. Everyone was expendable...an asset to be used and disposed of. The only thing to do was survive.
    

 
-----------------------
ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Knight of the Krath
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

    Sam grabbed a grenade and some glue. With a crazed look in his eye, he stood ready for the rebels next pass. The rebel speeders began to turn around for their next pass. Sam steadied himself as he put glue on one side of the grenade.
    The speeders were coming at the Dragoons. Blaster fire was on all sides. As one of the speeders got close to Sam, he jumped on the back of it.
    "HAHAHA!!!" Sam laughed insanely, "Happy Life Day you Rebel scum!!"
    Sam slapped the grenade on to the back of the Rebel piloting the speeder and shoved him off. Sam speed forward as he took the controls and turned just in time to see his work of art burst into flames. Sam speed back to wards the Dragoons.
    Sam stopped the speeder next to the Dragoons. Zafo had his rifle pointed at him.
    "Would you put that down?" Sam asked Zafo, "Or at least point it at a rebel?"
    "Geez, Sam I thought that you were the one that fell off of that speeder," Zafo replied.
    "Pssh, me, fall off a speeder?" Sam laughed, "Heck no. If anyone wants to take this speeder and go into vehicle to vehicle battle go right ahead. I prefer to shoot them."
    Sam hopped off of the speeder and grabbed his rifle. He lay in the prone position, ready to blast away at the remaining Rebel scouts.
  -----------------------
TRP/CPL Sandwich Sam 2SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR]
*DarkDragoons*

"Over there!"  Afyon pointed towards a speeder and two bikes racing towards the sleds.  The Raiders were pounding it with fire from the weak rear guns of the sleds and Tk and Rema were in the Dragoons' operational sleds firing.  "Get the launcher ready."  Afyon shouted to Zafo who was fight along side of him.  A burst of fire from the land speeder liquidated the snow only ten meters from Afyon.  The burst was followed up by spurratic fire from the rebels in the speeder.  "Gunners concentrate on the bikes!"  Afyon ordered over the commlink.  Rema and Tk adjusted their aim and began to fire towards the bikes with little luck.  The bikes were evading very effectively as they bombarded the imperial positions.  When the speeder was less than a hundred meters away, Afyon popped up and fired a burst, sending two rebels flying off the speeder.  "Fire!"  he shouted.  Zafo stood up and fired a missile before diving for cover.  He was rewarded with a shower of laser fire that would have hit him had moved a split second later.

The missile struck the speeder as it turned away at high speed to avoid it.  The speeder leaned over onto its left side as just as it looked like it was going to roll over, the underside of it was struck by a second missile, sending it bouncing over a snow covered area of rocky terrain where it crashed down on its top a second later.  The explosion was deafening as the fire onboard from the missiles ignited the gas tank.  "Nice shot!"  Afyon praised Zafo before turning his concentration to the two speeder bikes that had broke off and were racing away perpendicular to their positions.  "Bring them down!"  Afyon shouted as he fired a burst at the bike closest to him.  Several of his shots hit the bottom of the bike causing it to jolt slightly each time.

Rema veered around quickly and fired a heavy burst from the rotating gun.  His first shots were behind the bike but as he pulled on the gun harder, they quickly found their mark and severed the bike in half.  Both pieces came crashing down a second later and the flying debris from the explosion severed the head of the injured rebel pilot.  Almost simultaneously, Tk's fire sent the other bike crashing down to the surface.  Afyon looked around for more enemies but quickly got the all clear from Rizzit.

"Alright, someone take a sled and pick up Giovanni."  Afyon ordered.

"Sergeant, we just found Fish taking cover in a snow drift."  Sandwich Sam reported over the commlink.

"Excellent, bring him here in your speeder at once."  Afyon replied.  He quickly informed Rizzit and RIzzit ordered half of the force to explore the immediate area for other Wraith survivors.
 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SFC_Afyon/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR][IH][CoH(2)][SoA]

"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

Giovanni's makeshift rebel armor-plate sled skidded to a stop at the bottom of the incline. His stormtrooper helmet was flooded with white noise, it was Art. "I read you Gio, sit tight for pickup." "Copy that", beeped Gio.

He sat down on his "sled" and took in the sights. Down by the horizon he could see numerous trails of black smoke and the ocassional flash of an exploding enemy craft. The red laser bolts lit up in contrast against the vast, open tundra that laid before him. No doubt the Dragoons were putting up one hell of a fight. He reached for a flask, and screwed off the cap.

He took a whiff of its ice cold contents and took a sip.

Nothing warms you up better than a slug of whiskey, he thought.

He checked and rechecked his Pistol and Rifle and he waited for whoever was assigned to come and give him a lift. The whiskey he drank settle slowly in the pit of his stomach and sent a warm sensation down to his toes and his fingertips.

"I better put this down for now or I wont be able to tell a Rebel Sled from mound of dirt." he told himself.

Giovanni settled into a light sleep.

 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

*Lance Corporal Giovanni A. Bryden*

TRP/LCPL Giovanni Bryden/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR]

"How can we be so sure something Is worth Living, If we are not Willing to Die for it?"

"Sarge I find him."  Sam said over the commlink.  "He was asleep and lying in the snow bank."  He continued.  Afyon frowned for a moment.

"Ok bring him in fast, they found four more of the Wraiths, all of them are injured but should be ok to carry on in some capacity.  Good thing you stole that speeder, we'll need it."  Afyon replied.  "Get Gio here now, I have a few words for him."  He continued angrily.

A few minutes later, the rebel speeder arrived at the site of the Imperial convoy.  "Alright, get the gear on the speeder and pull the fuel tank out of our damaged one.  Give one of the sleds to Wraiths and you can share the other one with Fish."  Afyon ordered.  He walked over to Giovanni who had hopped down from the speeder and was walking over to him.  "I thought I said you were getting picked up shortly."  Afyon said angrily.

"Yes sarge."  Gio replied.

"Then why the hell were you sleeping.  At temperatures like this, sleeping in a snow bank at any timeof the day isn't the wisest move.  Also, sleeping kills your adrenaline which are you are going to need for the upcoming battle and come nightfall if we are still on this frozen spit of land."  Afyon rebuked.  "I know are new to my squad but you should know better.  If not you certainly know now right?"  Afyon demanded.

"Yes sarge!"  Gio replied and snapped to attention.

"Good now get on a sled and get ready to move."  Afyon ordered.

"Afyon are your men ready?"  Rizzit demanded a second later over the comm.

"All set Major, where to now?"  Afyon asked.

"Head north to the facility, we'll try and keep a look out for the other Wraiths.  FIsh said he was heading for the smoking wreck, hopefully others will also do so and we can pick them up later."  Rizzit said.  "We are going to punch our way in once we get to the facility so be prepared for a hard fight."  Rizzit warned.

"Yes sir."  Afyon replied.  He hopped onto the speeder and Rema gunned the engine.  The squads raced away from the scene of combat and quickly turned north towards their objective.  At the speeds they managed they would arrive relatively shortly if all went according to plan.  The only problems were terrain and the enemy, but at least they could eliminate the enemy.
 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SFC_Afyon/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR][IH][CoH(2)][SoA]

"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

Giovanni trotted over to the sled and gathered his thoughts on what had happened. Sure, he was tired, but fall asleep in a snow bank? If it werent for Sam's keen eye he might have blended into his surroundings and decended into a deep sleep. One he would not awaken from.

Sure, he was tired. He wasnt exactly having a good amount of rest the past few days, and he mistaked the adrenaline rush of going into battle as a sign that he was well rested. He obviously wasnt.

"Well, I guess my story about the scout'll have to wait. I doubt Afyon's in the mood." He spoke to himself, but loud enough that the man behind him could hear. He wasnt absolutely sure there was someone there, but he could feel his presence. Gio looked down at his flask and emptied its amber contents onto the clean snow below.

"Seems to me like a perfectly good waste," said the man behind him. It was Frenzee. "Youre Probably right," Gio responded after a deep sigh. "But it wont do me any good now."

"How are you liking the Dragoons?" said Giovanni as he turned in his seat to face the new trooper. He was gone.

Hmmm, he thought. Nice fella.

He pondered once again about falling asleep. What a dumb thing to do, and not exactly a good way to start your first mission. Get it together Gio, He lectured to himself. He had always been his own worst critic.

The sled took off temporarily startling him. He looked on at the road that lay in front of him as he got his semi-numb hands on the sled's gun.

Time to Redeem myself, He joked with himself. With a sneer on his face, and a gun in his hands, Giovanni sped off towards the Dragoons' next objective.


 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

*Lance Corporal Giovanni A. Bryden*

TRP/LCPL Giovanni Bryden/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR]

"How can we be so sure something Is worth Living, If we are not Willing to Die for it?"

The RAIDERS listened in disbelief as Pheonix gave them the mission plan.

"You've got to be kidding me," Snipes exclaimed, "So I've got to obey Afyon."

"Looks that way for now," replied Pheonix. "Don't worry though," he continued, "You'll be my bitch again soon enough."  With that the Pheonix, Cyanus and JR headed towards their sled laughing all the way.

Rizzit, Giovanni, Sam and Frenzee boarded the speeder, while Rema, Zafo, and LW took the remaining sled.  Rizzit's voice came over the inter-com, "Everybody ready?"

"Roger," came the reply from the RAIDERS and DD's sleds.

Pheonix and Cyanus manned the turrets while JR took control of the sled.  Starting it up, followed Rizzit's speeder as they headed towards the base.  They were unchallenged until they were about halfway to the base, when as they had hoped Rebels began streaming out of the base. 

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

Afyon saw the three machines approach the base.  Come on Rebels, where are you? he thought to himself.  As the ships were 400 metres from the base the Rebels began streaming out to defend against the uncoming attack. 

Rizzit's voice came through Afyon's comlink, "We're going to try to get a few shots in before we split."  He said, "Don't fire until we get away."

"Roger that," came Afyon's reply.

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

"JR, go full throtle," came the order from Pheonix.  JR pushed the sled to it's limit, as it careened along the frozen tundra.  When it was about 300 metres from the base Cyanus and Pheonix let loose.  Using the force as their guide they we're wiping out Rebel after Rebel.  JR watched as the other two ships followed suit.  By the time they were about 100 metres from the base they had taken out around half of the Rebels and Rizzit decided that that was enough for now.

"Alright boys," his voice said over the com, "Time to head back."

JR turned the sled and urged it on as the rebels began firing.  The ships were shaking from the hits, but the pilots were able to keep them steady as the headed back towards the others.

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

Afyon watched as the ships began to open fire upon the Rebels.  He knew they would be leaving soon, and gave the order for everyone to prepare to fire.  He saw the ships turn and start to head back towards them.

"Alright boys, thats are que," he said to the troopers that were with him, "Let 'em have it."

Fortunately, the Rebels were chasing after the ships attempting to take them down.  A barrage of rockets and blaster shots errupted from the troopers weapons.  The landed among the Rebels blowing bunches of them to pieces at a time, while the snipers were picking them off one by one.  Realizing what was happening, the Rebels gave up their chase on the ships and began retreating towards the base.  Not bad Afyon thought as the ships pulled to a stop alongside him Not bad at all.
 
-----------------------
Senior Seargent JR
- Raider Squad -

TRP/SSGT JR/3SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE[LoR]

"Before you judge someone you should walk a mile in their shoes cuz then ur a mile away from them and you have their shoes."

Three tank shells flew past very close to Afyon's head, the explosions behind their firing positions was deafening.  "Bring down that damn tank!"  Afyon ordered as he fired at a group of approaching rebel troopers.  The five tanks had been reinforced by another five plus several speeders loaded with troops who were beginning to climb the embankment.  They had managed to significantly damage two tanks and those without missiles were pounding the rebels as they tried to climb up the ridge.  Another blast made the entire ridge shudder but the blast after that was deadly.  Three of tanks had managed to hit the middle part of their defensive line.  Afyon saw ammunition crates and guns sail through the air along with what appeared to be bodies.  THe top of the ridge crashed down the embankment onto a group of approaching rebels.  "Check on those wounded and get them into sleds, prepare to fall back!"  Afyon ordered as he threw a grenade down the embarkment.  It exploded a second later sending three rebels flying. 

The tanks had now reached the bottom of the embankment and were pounding their lines.  Accuracy was no longer an issue for the rebels, they were too close to miss.  "Get the wounded out first."  Afyon ordered.  "Take only what you can run to the speeders with."  He continued.  Fortunately, he had ordered that much of their ammunition and heavy gear stay in the sleds, they had missile launchers and a limited amount of ammunition.  Since they weren't staying dug in long, Afyon didn't want to risk losing their gear as they fled the ridge.  Two more missiles were launched from the line and struck the lead tank in the gun.  The tank exploded a second later as its shell exploded in the damaged barrel.  Afyon, Sandwich Sam, and Cloud continued to pour fire down on the approaching rebels.  They were being helped by the fact that the rebel tanks were causing several tiny avalanches as they peppered the ridge with shells.

"Sergeant, the wounded are in the sleds."  Giovanni reported.  Giovanni and Frenzee and run off to help get the wounded and some of the gear into the sleds they had.

"Alright everyone, fall back to the sleds.  Man the rear guns and make for the LZ as fast as you can."  Afyon ordered.  "Freenze and Giovanni, roll that extra fuel tank in our sled over here as fast as you can, the rest of you make for the sleds."  Afyon ordered the Dragoons.  "You two stay here with me for a minute."  Afyon ordered to Sam and Cloud.  GIovanni and Freenze arrived a moment later with the barrel.  "Ok put it in the trench there.  Freenze and Sam, wire that thing to explode in ninety seconds."  Afyon ordered.  The two troops pulled out explosives from their packs and Afyon handed them a timer.  "Ok kick some snow over that and run for the sled."  He ordered.  The five Dragoons raced towards the sled with their heads down, laser fire flying all over the place.  Afyon saw that the Jedi had arrived at the sleds as well, the number of smoking speeders on the left side of the ridge showed they had earned their money for the day.  About fifty meters from the fled, Afyon was thrown off his feet and came crashing down beside the sled as a shell exploded right beside him.  He lay there stunned for a second until the pain in his lower right leg reaquainted him with reality.  "Sithpit!"  he shouted.

Afyon looked over at the area where the shell just exploded and saw a bloodied stormtrooper lying there.  "Someone get Cloud into a sled!"  Afyon ordered.  Afyon grabbed the side of the sled and dragged himself in, landing in the middle of it.  His lower right leg was bloody and the shinguard that was supposed to be there was blown apart.  "Thank God for the armour."  He winced as he tried to examine the wound.  A second later, he was jolted back as the sled accelerated.  The five sleds raced away from the ridge just as the first tanks crashed over top of the ridge.  A few seconds later, the fuel tank exploded, creating a brilliant orange and yellow fireball and sending a large cloud of the smoke into the air.  Afyon looked back to see the effects of the explosion.  His leg protested as he tried to swing it around.  Three rebel tanks and a speeder were significantly damaged or destroyed and the area was covered by several dead bodies.  The sleds quickly raced away towards the LZ with the rebel speeders and tanks in pursuit.
 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SFC_Afyon/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR][IH][CoH(2)][SoA]

"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

Kami came up slowly over the snow mound, taking in the sight of the four speeders at the entrance of the Ion Cannon. All were empty, but three Rebel troopers lounged at the side of one, relaxed expressions on their faces.
Dropping back down the mound, Kami turned to Virius, "Four speeders Vee, so I'm guessing two squads of Rebs. There are only three guards out front...though they're looking an awful lot more relaxed than they should be considering the circumstances."
Virius crawled up the mound to take a look, "They're reactivating the cannon..." He murmured, irritation evident in his voice, "Bloody Rebels..."
Turning to his squad, he raised his shoulders in a shrug, "Looks like we've gotta take the cannon for a second time."
Kami grimaced beneath her helmet at her Squad Leader "You should have let me flatten it the first time around."
Raziel chuckled at her side, "The chances are that you would've ended up taking us out in the resulting explosion as well Kam. You're a maniac when it comes to demolitions."
She threw a half hearted punch at Raziel, who allowed the blow to land lightly on his armored shoulder. "You've just set yourself up for target practice Raz."

A loud whine from the Cannon interrupted Raz's reply, followed by a defeaning hiss as the lights activated around the perimeter. A few of the horses swore aloud as the cannon came to life, swiveling about to track the path of the star destroyer.
Virius's visored gaze flickered to his squad, "Take it out."

As one, they moved over the mound, three precisely aimed shots dropping the guards who managed one glance of confusion before they fell lifeless to the snow.
They paused briefly at the doorway to make way for Mara's grenade, which flew bouncing down the steps. A shout of warning sounded before the grenade fragmented, taking a sizable chuck out of the stairs as it did so.
Without a word, the Horses filed in through the smoke, their fingers gliding to their triggers as blinded Rebels stumbled into their sights.
For a minute, all that could be heard in the cannon was the ringing of blaster shots, and the high pitched screams of those caught in the crossfire. A second later, the noise died, replaced by an eerie silence.

Kami glanced up from the Rebel she had run through with her knives, leaving him hanging from where he was pinned to the wall.
"Vee?" She asked Varron, who stood helmet less at her side, blood red eyes glowing.
"At the control room," He answered, sniffing the stench of the room, "No casualties for us Sergeant."
Turning away from her kill, Kami attempted to see through the engulfing smog at the base of the stairs where Virius had disappeared to no avail.
She just hoped he'd reached it before it had the chance to fire...


 
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Iron Horse Squad
-=silly caucasian girl likes to play with samurai swords=-
-=pretty...what do we blow up first?=-
ASL/SGT kaMi/1SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR] [CoR] [IG] [GCA]

Pheonix swung his gun around and took aim at the first speeder.  Firing, he hit the speeder's engine causing it to exploded in a barrage of metal and body parts.  JR winced as the head of the driver smacked against his window leaving a bloody face print on the glass.  Thanks Pheonix he thought to himself as he took aim one of the two remaining speeders, while Snipes aimed at the other.  They both fired at the same time, JR only managing to take out the driver, while Snipes could only manage to damage the steering of his.  Luckily for the two RAIDERS the when the driver fell off JR's speeder he had nudged it flying in the direction of the other speeder.  Seeing a speeder flying towards him and the driver of the other speeder could only jump off before the two speeders collided sending sharp shrapnel ripping through the drivers body.

"That's one way of doing it," JR heard Snipes say through the intercom.  "I like the explosions better anyway," he continued, "They're much nicer to look at."

"Well I'm glad you're happy," Pheonix said, "Unfortunately there are still a few tanks for us to take care of.  Otto takes us towards the closest one.  It's time for us to play with the big boys."

"Roger that," came the reply from Otto, as he angled the tank towards the nearest tank.  As they approached the tank, the three Dark Jedi's channeled into the force and connected with the rebels in the doomed vessel.  Taking their minds off the fact that they had a tank coming straight at them, the RAIDERS took the oppurtunity to unleash their arsenal.  Cyanus fired the torpedos while JR, Snipes and Pheonix fired shot after shot.  The tank didn't stand a chance and eventually exploded sending the pieces flying.

"Well that's one down," Cyanus said, "Just a few more to go."
 
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Senior Seargent JR
- Raider Squad -

TRP/SSGT JR/3SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE[LoR]

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it." Jack Handey

"Cowards do not count in battle; they are there, but not in it." Euripides

    The Northern Ion Cannon was on slightly higher ground than the rest of the base, so Raziel took to opportunity to try and work out exactly what had gone wrong with the plan. He stood calmly at the entrance to the Ion cannon staring out to the south through his binoculars. It was quite a site. The base had launched all offensive weapons at the imperials and seemed to have swatted them aside. It was looking bad for the imperials, from his perspective they had been forced into a defensive and beaten, he couldn't tell where they were retreating to.
    Then Raziel saw trails of smoke coming from over the ridge. A few moments later a republic tank careened over the ridge and started heading back to the base erratically. The southern most outpost was lightly manned and the tank raced past it. Raziel refocused on a figure racing ahead of the tank on foot. He couldn't imaging how the Jedi was running that fast across deep snow, he guessed that the ground in the direction was more icy.
    Behind him there were shouts as Kami cursed about some faulty detonator or other. Raziel took a few more steps away from the Ion cannon. He brought the binoc's back up to his visor and looked down to the tank, he caught a glimpse of two figures abandoning it as it raced towards the wall. Raz quickly scanned across to the south wall. He was expecting a small crunch as the tank dented to wall, instead a blinding flare of light singed his eyes and he dropped the binoculars. After a moment of blinking his eyes, he looked down to see a fair portion of the hundred metre long wall was blown to smithereens. Sunspots still marred Raziel's vision, but he could make out three figures standing in the gap, lightsabers raised.
    Dear god what are they doing he thought. "Saviour" had enough men and weaponry left to beat off three Jedi. Then something caught his eye, he looked back up to the ridge to see figures in grey scuttling back down the ridge. Speeders mingled amongst the ranks, as well as many white snow troopers. Raziel had to refrain from cheering, the platoon must have been retreating to a landing zone, Fury had send down reinforcements. But they would not reach the wall in time to help.
    "Guys get out here! Now!" he shouted. Iron Horse quickly filed out of the ion cannon, to be surprised by the troops advancing from the distance and smoke pouring from the installation. "Some of Raiders made an entrepreneurial attack on the wall, they're going to need help."
    "Kami, you done?" Virius asked. Kami just grinned and nodded. "Lets go then,"

    The three republic speeders shot away from the Ion cannon, a burst of flames shot out from one side of the weapon behind them. Varron and Kami in one speeder, Virius with Mara and Trike in the second, Raziel with Telfaris and Niko in the last.
    "I had planned on taking the southern outpost while the Republic troopers were busy outside of the base, but this'll be more fun anyhow," Virius said into his comm unit. The speeders rocketed across the empty space between themselves and the southern wall, they skirted along the edge of the west wall, but no one their took notice of three Republic speeder. They all assumed they were more troops rushing to the explosion.
    "Message from Jester, they are on their way on foot." Kami said.

    The speeders rounded the corner and glided into the breach, smoke filled the gap where the wall had been. The sound of blaster fire and shouting drowned out Virius' next command, so the squad acted on impulse. Raziel spotted three blurs of light in the smoke and steered the speeder towards the Jedi. The speeder pulled round one side of the trio and Telfaris opened up with the mounted repeater, scything through a group of soldiers. Raziel handed the controls to Niko and leapt down towards the Jedi.
    Iron Horse here, Jester on their way. Reinforcements are on their way. We need to hold the breach. A nod from Pheonix was all the reply he got before they went back to their stand off with a couple of squads who were trying to keep the Jedi pinned down. Raziel turned back to his squad, Virius and Niko kept their speeders stationary along side the raiders keeping their right side covered.
    Kami and Varron however raced to the nearest ramp up to the wall. Kami parked the speeder on the edge of the ramp and turned off the repulsors, dropping the speeder onto the ramp. They jumped out and raced up onto the wall. Varron raced up the wall first, bowling over the first soldier and throwing the second off the wall before they could react. Kami side stepped out from behind him and opened fire on more soldiers.
    Raziel stood behind Virius' speeder and started firing short bursts from his carbine at the Republic counter attack. Disorganised squads of soldiers simply piled out of the base and launched themselves at the Imperials. It quickly became apparent that the few imperials lacked the fire power to hold them off. The three Raiders Jedi were forced to back up the speeders with Iron Horse. A rocket flew through the smoke to strike Niko's speeder in the side, the two Horse' were flung from the speeder as it dropped to the ground. Raziel jumped back onto the damaged speeder and took over the repeater, cutting down the rocket trooper where he stood.
    Then there was a "Whoop" behind them and Jester raced into the breach as well, adding their firepower to the outnumbered imperials. The first line of Republic soldiers was cut down as Jester unleashed their first volley. Instead of attacking as a mob, the next wave of soldiers decided to try and set up a new defensive line.

    "Time for some fun," Raziel said. He dropped his back pack to the ground and pulled his lightsabers from it. He took off his outer gloves, as he would lack any real control with them on. He activated his two burgundy blades and chased after Otto, Phoenix and Cyanus to the left. Jest and Iron Horse held the breach, whilst Kami and Varron were enjoying themselves on the wall.




    It had all been going so well for Vic'tahr Buschelle, his lightening strike had sent the Imperials reeling. Now, to his utter disbelief, a small band of Imperials had slipped through and blown the south wall. He decided that this was Boyd's fault, all he had charged the commander with doing was chasing down the Snowtroopers who had taken out the Ion cannons. Obviously the man was incompetent. After all he was the Saviour. And now he received word that his attack force was broken, a group of Imperial soldiers had already landed and were waiting for them. Now a strong imperial force was marching their way, and with the south wall breached and stubborn Imperials caused trouble he had now way to plan an effective defence. Once again the incompetence of others had failed him.
    Commander Boyd, however, was still wandering if the Imperials would go away if he handed over the bald headed loony who had taken control of his forces. The "Saviour" was over confident and have over reached, but instead of doing something useful Buschelle spent his time cursing at Boyd and blaming him for his own failures.
    "Sir, perhaps we could move forward some portable barriers and wall in this small force? We could squeeze them out and have time to prepare some form of defence against the major force. The small group poses no real threat, they are simply a precursor to a greater attack, it is the platoon of imperials who are almost at the outposts who pose the real threat."
    "No these men will pay for interrupting my plans! Full attack!" Vic'tahr was sweating profusely. Memories of last year were haunting him. Boyd scoffed at the man, he took everything personally and was blinded by his overconfidence. They could just contain the two squads who had breached the wall, but Buschelle seemed to have taken it as a personal insult. Is he actually going to ignore the oncoming platoon? he thought to himself. He considered trying to override 'Saviour's" orders, but he knew that Buschelle's men followed him fanatically. He sighed and decided to let events play themselves out.

 
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+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
PL:A/SGMRaziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/{EW1} (WoS1) (VP) {IG} {CDS} {BoA} {PoC}
Assistant Squad Leader - Squad4 Wraiths
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.
CM/DJK Raziel/lion 1-5/Krath/VEDJ/VE

Afyon fired a burst from his A-280, hitting the gunner on one of the speeders as it sped by the sled, straffing it with fire.  Several shots struck home but none hit anything vital in the speeder.  The sled veered around and the rear gunner fired at another two speeders.  The remaining six rebel tanks that had left the base to engage the imperials had regrouped and were moving south past the sleds.

"Major, tanks incoming your position.  Looks like the rebs want to find out what we were retreating to."  Afyon said over the commlink.  He fired a burst at a group of rebel troopers who were advancing.  From his estimate there were six tanks, a dozen speeders and almost a hundred rebel troopers still out there.  The three speeders that had been persuing the abandonned sled suddenly broke off and raced towards the last remaining raiders sled.  Those in the sled never saw the speeders break off from their decoy attack and flank them, the sled was struck by heavy fire sending it crashing to the ground.


Up ahead, Afyon's sled began to weave erratically as it moved within range of the guns of the rebel troopers.  The sled veered away but not before eating a burst from one of the rebel speeders.  The sled's engine spurrtered several times before final shutting down.  A second later, the sled slammed down hard against the cold ground sending those inside flying out onto the icy terrain.

Afyon waved Giovanni and Zafo, who had been with him in the sled.  They took cover under the wrecked sled as two rebel speeders blew past straffing the downed sleds with fire.  When they had broken off, the three Dragoons came out from their cover and open fire on a group of four rebel troopers.  THe rebels quickly dove for cover.

"Hold fire."  Afyon ordered.  If the reinforcements didn't make it, they would have limited ammunition, they couldn't afford to waste it on targets that were hard to hit.  Suddenly, two explosions piereced the icy air, one on each side of the downed Dragoons sled.  Afyon looked out with his binoculars towards the south and saw that some imperial transports were coming into the area but one was on the ground burning.  The rebel tanks were approaching the landing zone and one had managed to hit the first imperial transport as it was landing.

"Sarge they got the other sled!"  Zafo shouted.  Afyon wheeled around and looked around their wrecked sled to see the Dragoons scampering for cover after their sled went down.  Now only one good sled remained, the one carrying Cloud and Frenzee.  They were still heading towards the LZ, Afyon had ordered them to avoid contact in order to get Cloud medical attention as soon as possible.  At least the rebel tanks are more interrested in the reinforcements than one sled.  Afyon thought.
 
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*DarkDragoons*

SL/SFC_Afyon/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR][IH][CoH(2)][SoA]

"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu