Yuka, Northern continent
VE base/command center
13:53:28 Mission Clock
3:17:58 local time

Darr gestured and the squads took up positions outside a sealed blast door. As a slicer plugged his datapad into a terminal and began feverishly typing in commands, Dante raised his weapon up to firing height and flipped the fire setting on his DC-17 to automatic.

Although the DC series had long ago gone out of production, the line of blasters had become popular in certain quarters. With a larger clip than the standard issue E-11, and significantly greater stopping power, the Clone Wars-era weapon was both reliable and deadly. Add that to the fact that their mass production during the Clone Wars ensured spare parts would never be short supply, and it would be almost inevitable that they would be favored in certain quarters, such as militias and Imperial Remnant forces.

Dante had "liberated" his DC-17 from a dead Trandoshan merc on the barren planet of Iqar II, a lawless world, where insurgents fought both Republic and the Imperial forces, and where death was an everyday event. The first time he had used the weapon, he had been astonished by its high rate of fire and its accuracy. Since that op, he had used the weapon whenever possible and the worn grip attested to its success.

There was a chime and the heavy blast doors slid open. Curses echoed from the metal walls; an enemy trooper shouted in surprise and was rewarded with concentrated fire to the chest. He fell to the ground with his chest smoking and face vlown away. Several blaster bolts flew from the open doorway and bounced off the wall panels, sending sparks flying in all directions. As an uneasy silence fell over the area, Dante almost ran for the door but caught himself and waited for a signal.

No way to tell how many hostiles are waiting for us...

There was a roar which echoed through the hallway as one of the massive enemy troopers charged out of the room, energy pulse weapon glowing a deep crimson and helmet turning left and right as it searched for targets. It scanned the hallway, not seeing the Raiders and Dragoons, and realized too late that they had gathered behind it. Dozens of blaster bolts flew into the chinks in the Barabel's armour, killing it and sending its corpse flying into a durasteel wall. As it fell to the ground with a ground-shaking thud, the squad advanced into the almost abandoned com room, and greased the luckless technicians gathered in a corner. A cup of stim-caf dropped from a nerveless grip and spilled its contents into a puddle of blood.

Without any further delay, the Raiders began to download the data. As names and diagrams flashed by on the datapad's screen, Dante shut his eyes, the first pause he had taken for what seemed to be an eternity. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if enemy reinforcements arrived.
What if the AT-AT is destroyed or driven off? What if we're cut off from it?

None of his fears came to pass and as he floored the accelerator and the Raiders accelerated their speeder bikes away from the complex, Dante calmed down.

It's almost over.

There was a flash of light and the communications building was surrounded by a halo of light for one brief instant before vanishing in a titanic explosion which sent scrap metal and ferrocrete fragments in all directions. TIE bombers shrieked through the air and finished what the explosives had strted. As the complex began to burn, and secondary explosions sounded through the crisp, cold air, the fighters flew out of sight, bound for the VE Impstar in low orbit. In the distance, Dante could see the AT-AT slowly lumbering towards their position and he grinned.

We can get off this miserable little snowball, away from these damn fanatics, away from the predatory wildlife... The first thing I'm going to do when I'm back on Tadeth is get drunk, filthy drunk and try to persuade myself this was just a bad dream...

Out loud, he only said one thing:

"We're done."