Tanus got up from the briefing room and walked into the hall. It was time to really bust out all he had, because if he didn’t, he would surely end up dead on that hellhole of a planet. He took looked left and right and was about to step forward when he felt someone bump into his shoulder. As he was about turn around and tell the person off, Tanus realized that it was Alhzen. Alhzen’s eyes widened immediately.

“Sorry Tanus didn’t realize it was you. Are you alright?”

Tanus just started to laugh. He brushed his shoulder off and gave Alhzen a firm slap on the shoulder.

“I’m perfectly fine, Alhzen. It looks like we’ll be working together again on the surface. I expect nothing less than the best from you. Understand?”

Alhzen gave a rigid salute and Tanus just waved his hand aside; he didn’t really feel like being formal right now, not with the weight of so many lives on his shoulders. Tanus soon snapped back to reality when he saw Alhzen staring very intently at him.

“I think the others have headed down to the armory to get our gear. I think we should join them. I want to get in my armor and get out of here.”

Tanus nodded, but he didn’t exactly feel them same way; the simulation he was in showed him the effects of extreme radiation, and if he slipped up just a little, he was done for. Even while Tanus had been with the ARCs, he didn’t even think he questioned his own mortality this much. Now they were fighting an enemy more ferocious than they could imagine, and the Corps was doing it on their terms. And given how much trouble his weapons had given him in the simulation, he doubted highly that two carbines would be enough. Regardless of how good he was, Tanus really did not want to get in close-quarters with hulking radioactive cavemen.

They made it down to the armory via turbolift, and the others were waiting outside. Tanus nodded to each of them, and gestured toward the door. It slid open with a hydraulic hiss and a man stood in the center. He was about two meters tall and had an incredibly neat dress uniform.

“Well, this must be Dorn squad. I’m Corporal Hugke, and I’ll be your arms supplier for this mission. Grab your gear; changing rooms are on the left and right. When you come back out, we’ll get you briefed on the weapons.”

Tanus went to the wall and grabbed a suit of Rad Trooper armor, its silver and black lead polymer coating reflecting brightly off of the lights in the room. He went into the changing room and started pulling on the pieces of armor. Given what the armor consisted of, it was remarkably light. When Tanus was finished, he grabbed his helmet and held it under his arm as he walked out of the changing room. The quartermaster was checking their weapons two or three times until everyone showed up again.

“Alright, now that everybody is here, let me give you the information on the weapons you’ll be taking along. You’ll each have two Stormtrooper Two carbine rifles; they each have a one hundred shot magazine, and you’ll have three spare magazines for each, for a total of eight hundred shots per trooper. Also, just in case both should fail and you need to get in to melee combat, we have supplied you all with a Treppus-2 vibroblade; hopefully you won’t need it. Also, we are supplying you with two E-WEB cannons for heavy fire support. Now, grab your gear, but leave the cannons; we’ll move those to the shuttle bay for you. Meet there in one standard hour for debark to the surface. Ladies and gentlemen, good luck.”

And with that, Tanus sheathed his vibroblade, grabbed his two carbines and ammo, and walked out the door towards the shuttle bay.

May God be with us all.

Mug sat on a seat, both guns slinged over a shoulder,he observed the vibro blade deep in thought.

The ship started up everyone had been seated, he felt the lift and acceleration, after the first few seconds it wore off and they were flying smoothly, Mug shut his eyes half sleeping, he dreamt of his childhood,  he never expected to be here, that was his problem, he never thought to far ahead, but now was different, he had been trained to think a head, he was a storm trooper, he was ready for anything, even to die protecting the empire they had built, he had been born to.

"Isn't it obvious? Riqimo is the senior member here" Kanderin smiled back at Alhzen "Unless he felt like letting me lead"

"If I felt like getting killed Kand, I might have considered it" Riqimo patted Kanderin on the shoulder as he made his way down the line, checking everyones equipment.

"The mining site is roughly due east, but I think its best we head a little bit more north easternly to a small hideaway. From there we can scope this place out and see what we're dealing with"

There was a lot of murmuring at Riqimo pointed out the 'hideaway.' It looked just like a trench, stretching for quite a distance in both directions. Kanderin couldn't help biting his lip upon Riqimo considering wandering into it. These 'humanoids' lived in tunnels similar to that one, and if it was populated, it'd be unlikely that they'll show any sort of compassion to a squad of heavily armed imperials. And even less likely if they had saw the manoeuvres and figured something was up.

Even with the protective suits on, the air around them still felt strange. Chemically, it would be difficult to tell the difference between a planet with an atmosphere and one without while wearing a radioactive suit. But something just felt different, aura of danger seemed to seep through the fabric. Looking around, Kanderin figured he wasn't the only one with the claustrophobia. Everyone seemed to be suddenly relieved that they were wearing the suit that just a few hours ago they were complaining about.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Someone near the back pointed out.

"Preferably a starting pistol, but I guess it's not coming" Kanderin shrugged again. He was happy to be working with people other than the usual Wraiths, that would be less accustomed to Kanderin's defence mechanisms. If he suddenly became witty, or sarcastic, he was worried. He shook his head vigorously. "Ok then, can all our heavy weapon specialists find their way to me? I want to see what options we have on the demolitions side of things"

Riqimo chuckled, and waved a hand for the squad to follow him to the west.

Tanus took the lead, with Doc following close behind and the others carrying pieces if the two E-WEB cannons. Tanus cradled his Stormtrooper Two carbine in his arms, its stock fully extended and sticking out a little past his torso. Tanus looked around, making sure that they weren’t being watched by any of the Cloeggi. When they reached the base of the module, tanus pressed his back against the door, with Alhzen and Doc taking up firing positions behind some rocks; the others had fallen back to a safe position to keep the E-WEBs safe. Tanus turned on his thermal scan with a tightening of his jaw, bringing the imagery to life. He turned his head slightly into the gaping hole in the wall and looked left to right in a large sweep. When he saw nothing, he waved Alhzen and Doc forward, who waited for the others to bring the cannon parts with them. They stood at the hole, waiting for them to file in while Tanus stood inside with his rifle raised towards the ceiling, waiting for anything to come at him. He jerked his head back several times to make sure that nothing was going to surprise him. When everyone was in, Doc broke the silence by comm.

“OK guys, we’re going to have to split up to cover any ground in here and clear out any hostiles. Tanus, Alhzen, TX-47 and Valmet will take the East Wing, while the others, including myself, will take the West Wing. If you encounter any hostiles, keep it short and swift. I don’t feel like being over-run today. We’ll meet back here in two standard hours. Move out.”

Tanus turned and nodded to the three troopers that were assigned to him.

“You heard Doc. Let’s get moving.”

Tanus took the lead and walked up a flight of eroded duracrete stairs, with sections of it entirely missing. Tanus hopped across gaps, taking two steps at a time when he was able; he wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible. When they eventually got to the top, Tanus looked across to see Doc on the other side; he waved before turning and heading down the long dark hallway. Tanus turned and saw the others coming to the top of the steps.

“Turn on your head lamps. I don’t want you stumbling around in the dark and ending up dead. I don’t feel like cleaning up the mess.”

Tanus then flicked a switch inside his helmet with his tongue and raised his rifle to his shoulder, walking carefully and quietly down the hallway. Tanus started making half-circle sweeps with his rifle, every so often looking back up and down the hallway, which seemed to go on forever, the darkness swallowing all that it could. Tanus chanced a look back for Doc’s group, but all he saw was total and complete darkness on the west side of the building. Tanus let out a deep breath and continued forward. Tanus slid his hand back and brought out his vibroblade and held it firmly, blade out and pointed forward. They came to the first door, and Tanus motioned Valmet forward and towards the door. She kicked it down and Tanus turned on his thermal scan; all he found were two bodies and some debris, just as in the cave. They continued further on, taking down doors and rushing in, half-expecting to find something to try and kill them.

They reached the end of the module, and found themselves in a large square room, which must have been the lounge given the bar and tables everywhere. Tanus looked around, his rifle and knife still at the ready. Alhzen’s voice broke the silence.

“I’m half tempted to reach back there and see if there’s any good liquor back there. I might be needing it before the day is over.”

Tanus just shook his head. “Cut the chatter, Alhzen, and fan out. Search the room to see if there is anything of use. If anything moves, run and shoot, and don’t look back.”

Tanus walked towards the bar and looked over it to make sure there was nothing behind it, save some broken bottles and glasses. If there was any liquor left, it had either been spent or destroyed. He turned around and saw the others searching through piles of rubble, moving skeletal remains and generally looking around. Tanus started to move forward a little, walking towards some rubble and remains, but Tanus eyes widened when he saw the remains: they weren’t skeletons, but bodies with chunks missing. Tanus commed the others.

“Guys, keep alert. We aren’t alone in here.”

Tanus fell back to the center pillar, and just as he did, a hulking mass of fur and rage rose out of the rubble and charged. Tanus let off a short burst from his rifle, sending the Cloeggi reeling. A second burst from the others dropped the creature to the ground. Tanus walked forward and examined the creature. It looked roughly human, with some small alterations such as full body hair and small horns. Tanus looked up and back to the group.

“We’ve spent enough time here. Let’s head back to the rally-.”

The movement of shadows in the back left hand corner cut off Tanus. Just as Tanus raised his rifle, two more Cloeggi charged the group. Tanus didn’t have time to issue orders; he dodged out of the way and rolled across the ground, pumping off shots into the creatures hide, injuring him but not outright killing him. Alhzen unleashed another small volley, hitting the creature’s side. It turned to look at Tanus, and stared him right in the eyes. Then it charged again with blinding speed. Tanus didn’t have time to react and was pinned flat by the creature. His rifle was knocked out of his hand, but his blade was wrapped tightly around his knuckles. Tanus mustered all of the energy he could and slammed the blade into the creature’s face, piercing the cheek and into the mouth. The Cloeggi jumped off clutching its face in pain. As it was about to move forward again, Alhzen dropped with a withering barrage from his rifle. Tanus turned to see the others finishing off the other Cloeggi. When it was down, he gathered his rifle and held it tightly in his hands and turned to the rest of the group.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.”

And with that, Tanus and the others sprinted down the hall and into the darkness, hoping for no more surprises.

Tank didn't mind leaving his ancestral vibrosword & force-pike behind; their age may make them more vulnerable to the hard radiation frying either their circuitry or power cells.  And considering that the Radtrooper Force-pike is more poweerful than the average, he will definately speak with a quatermaster about getting one.  Or buy one if the ICS has them.

A muffled buzz was all the sound his armor transmitted to his ears as the Force-Pike delivered fatal energy into the torso of the Cloeggi pummeling Alzhen's back "that's another one you owe me!" Tank said as the brute fell dead.

"Who's counting?" Al yells on the comm as he finishes clubing the face of one beast with his spent E-11 rifle.  Valmet slams a new clip into her Stormtrooper Two Carbine in time to had another stream of deadly fire into the charging Cloeggi that Tanus was shooting, slaying that beast.

"Al, we'll have a talk later about bringing that E-11." Tank said as he unslung one of the pair of heavy carbines from Al's back, handing the loaded weapon to his friend.

"I think that's the last of them, but be careful" Tanus calls over the fire team's comm "Stay alert and move out!"

I hope Muglug & Fenris are having better luck Tank muses as the stormtroopers set up one of the E-web cannons at a second floor window; Tanus & Valmet keeping watch as Al & Tank finish the assembly.

In the West Wing, Kanderin & Muglug finish setting up their E-web at a third floor window; Doc, Draco & Fenris keeping the area secure.

"Sgt. Tanus, report."

"East Wing secured Lt.; Tank is connecting the E-web's power now."

"Good, it's almost sunrise.  Get ready!" Doc orders.  "Here they come!" he yells as a dense mass of natives flood the streets in the pre-dawn light!

"Steady men!  Wait for them to enter Range!" Tanus cautions.

Cautiously the primitive Cloeggi advance on the residential modules...

"FIRE!" Riqimo yells the moment the Cloeggi are in range of both artillery-positions.  Silently the twin streams of death rain down of the savages! The bodies are dropping & piling up, forming a barrier of the dead, layer by layer...

Tank on the East E-WEB & Kanderin on the West E-WEB exacting vengeance for those the Cloeggi had slain & eaten, making every shot count!

"We're gonna have some company!" Kanderin calls out as he sees some Cloeggi split off from the main group; one groups heads west using the uneven topography for cover, the other heads east around some minor outlying buildings.

When Al sees Cloeggi gather at the bottom of the stairs he drops one of the two grenades he was issued; the blast only slows them for a moment so he drops the second one on them.  Whoa, killed all five of them Al ponders at the more satisfactory results.

His elation is short-lived as another posse of cavemen surge up the stairs armed with clubs, bones & debris.  "Oh hell.." he mutters aiming his carbine as Tanus & Valmet open fire.

The two Cloeggi in the lead drop dead; their brethren trample their corpses as they continue to charge!  One of the hideous creatures catches a blaster-bolt in the face from Alhzen with enough force to make the corpse fall back into the Cloeggi below him; while the next two are halted by the body that hit them, Tanus & Valmet take advantage to drill the hostiles with deadly fire from their carbines!

Seeing no more brutes for the moment, Valmet changes blaster packs, then Tanus, then Al.  Ready for the next wave they aim their carbines at the base of the stairs...

Muglug was viciously stomping to death one Cloeggi that had gotten too close for comfort, while Doc was busy giving his vibrosword a streneous workout!

As Draco finishes pummeling a Cloeggi with the Radtrooper Forcepike he was issued, he calls to Muglug "I think you got 'im." as Muglug's armored boot turns the savage's head to pulp.

*huff*puff*"Good. I really hate these monkeys!"

"Yeah.  I can tell."


Kanderin & Tank stop firing, searching the streets below for any signs of movement.  "See anything, Tank?"

"Negative, Sgt. Draken.  Nothing, but my cannon's fusion generator is good for plenty more action.  Yours?"

"Still good. Lieutenant, shall we moblize the guns?"

"Not yet Kanderin!  There's more of them out there!  So stay sharp!  Both of you!"

A double "Yessir!" was Kanderin's & Tank's answer.

This is gonna be a long four hours... Tank thinks as he & Kanderin focus on scanning the streets with their armor's MFTASs.  Kanderin & Riqimo are alright guys & capable soldiers, no question.  But the battlefield is no place to butt-egos.  Hopefully they'll can it before it compromises us or the mission.

Tanus's thoughts ran along a similar line; until his MFTAS detected movement at the base of the stairs "Incoming!" he called as he started firing!  Without hesitation Valmet & Al joined him in pouring blasterfire down the east stairwell.

At the west stairwell, Doc's fire team needed a little more respite from brawling & melee, so Doc allowed the troopers to chuck one grenade each, killing the latest mob of Cloeggi at the bottom of the stairs; the pile of broken bodies making the stairwell almost inaccessable from the ground floor & basement.

That left each of his troops, himself included, one grenade left each.  Tank & Kanderin still had two each.  And from Tanus' report a short while ago, Alhzen used both of his, but Valmet & Tanus each still had both of their grenades.

As long as no-one gets stupid we should all come out of this crazy mission alive Riqimo thinks as slides a new power cell into his carbine.  Good thing these haven't shorted out yet.  Maybe the building is enough protection from the sun.

It was frustrating that one couldn't simply look out a window then back inside the building.  The intensity of the sunlight was such that it took nearly a half-minute for the viewplate to compensate; during which time it would totally opaque.  And seeing nothing but black for 30 seconds can get one [or more] killed too easily.

Riqimo wasn't sure, but it felt like it took slightly longer for the viewplate to change back after looking away from the window.  At least with Kanderin & Tank keeping their focus outside, they don't have to deal with that constantly.

Tanus & Riqimo made sure their respective fire teams stayed ready for the next charge...

A few more shots found their targets and a couple of Cloeggi fell to the ground a few metres below the windows of Kanderin and Tank.

"It's no good Tank, there's too many of them!" Kanderin shouted, shortly before being tackled by one of the seemingly thousands of Cloeggi charging them. The rate of their arrival had slowed down for quite some time, until suddenly it was as if the valve broke.

Kanderin rolled to his side as the one on top went to take a chunk out of him. He placed both hand son its shoulders and pushed as hard as he could, but nothing happened. It was far heavier than he originally thought. However, if there was one thing Kanderin could do it was street fight, and one rule, among all others, could always be relied on if you were in trouble. He put all his strength into another push, and managed to lift the thing about an inch off of him. Just enough. He directed a swift knee inbetween its legs, and it shrieked in pain and fell off. Kanderin yanked the vibroblade from his waist and quickly brought it crashing down into where he presumed its heart was, and it stopped thrashing.

"Kanderin, come in, is everything okay?" Doc's voice crackled over his comlink.

"Yeah, fine. Had an intimate moment with one of them" Kanderin  replied, pulling his vibroblade out of the corpse while downing another Cloeggi that got too close to Tank's window. "We're being overhwelmed out here Riq."

"Just keep the fire up, they have to thin their numbers soon, we're not exactly comfortable ourselves"

Mug Charged under the swing of the Collgies arm, taking his vibro sword up ripping its left arm off, it turned to find the blade cutting through its neck, one came up behind but was cut off by by a round of bullets pummeled into its head, the beast fell on mug, he kicked it off while sheathing his sword then proceeding to ready his carbine.

They where everywhere, there where so many, he pulled a grenade and through it into a mass of 7 collgies, most fell or where left with scars the size of the vibro sword, he turned to see the rest of the squad head in battle mostly close combat, Awaiting orders he picked another fight with a bigger one, making sure to squish its brain in.

After the better part of an hour, every Cloeggi in the mining facility was dead.  Almost no shine was left on the troopers' armor, caked with dried blood as they are.

After securing all entry-points to the complex & verifying the massive rooftop  hangar doors were operational, the squad held the facility without incident for over two hours, when finally reinforcements arrived.

Three Kappa-class troop shuttles landed & disgorged fresh troops.  Doc directed the three platoons of troops & two engineering teams to get the facility fully operational.

"Additional squads are being deployed around the perimeter. The General wants this facility secure at all costs.  Once we're firmly entrenched, a push will be made to eliminate any remaining resistance in the Area.  Excellant work Lieutenant Pershaw; your Squad should be commended." the Major stated, before returning to his men.

The Squad was treated to a much needed rest on one of the Kappa-class troop shuttles; most took a four-hour power nap.  Tanus hoped that when new orders came, they'd be leaving this infested rock far behind.

For now though, he was glad they could finally rest....

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

Refreshed & fed, the squad waited for sunset.  Orders came in; they will hell pacify a cave nearby.  The Radev Roughnecks Squad went in but all contact has been lost.

"Man, am I ever glad we don't have to carry the E-webs on this one" Al says with obvious relief.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Corporal" Doc corects him, "we are taking the E-webs!  Tank & Kanderin will man the cannons; Yourself & Fenris shall cover them.  Tanus will be taking Valmet, Muglug & DracoKorr into the cave.  Anything comes out that's not a Trooper; Kill. It."

You have your orders; Move Out!" Tanus barks out.

Muglug helps Al with his Fusion generator "Don't worry Al, it'll get better!" Mug says enthusiastically.  "Besides, you did kick a lot of stupid cavemen-butt!"

"Yea, i did didn't i?  At least we topped-off our ammo & got some extra grenades!"

"That's the spirit, buddy!" Muglug says as he pats Al on th back; Al sumbles but recovers quickly.

Five minutes later the squad had reached the cave.  Four minutes after that the E-webs were set up & aimed into the mouth of the cave.  Tanus lead his team in.

For the first couple of minutes there was nothing; no movement save for the other troopers with him.

"At three-o-clock!" Valmlet yells on the comm; the next moment all four troopers turn & fire!  One by one, cloeggi fall dead, never getting close enought to use their primitive weapons.

After making their way across a pile of broken bodies, it is clear a massive horde of cloeggi had been here but a devastating explosion had killed them & buried the main tunnel going deeper.  Clearly heavier demolitions gear than what Dorn Squad was issued; that meant the Roughnecks!

Valmet headed to the left side of the cavern, "Sergent!  Looks like a secondary explosion created a new, small tunnel."  With that Valmet & Muglug haul a couple of cloeggi corpses out of the way, Tanus walks over, Draco covering him.

Tanus leads the way into the new tunnel, his troops close behind.  As his MFTAS registers movement in the chamber ahead, he makes a single hand-sign; the troopers stop immediately.

Tanus watches as a cloeggi; no, two; try getting up from the cave floor clumsily.  As Tanus is about to open fire, the pair fall to opposite sides atop other dead cloeggi; a lone trooper rising from the gore, a vibroblade in each hand.

"I'm Sgt. Solvona, Dorn Squad.  What happened, trooper?"

"Sgt. Radev.  Glad you could join the party.  There were a lot more brutes in here than Intel thought."  Sheathing his vibroblades, he starts pulling dead cloeggi from a crevice in the cave wall; Tanus & Muglug help him. 

Packed in behind the dead, two Roughneck troopers were still alive!  "Help me get my men out.  After we regrouop we can make another surge with more troops.  A cave-in killed most of them."

"I saw your handiwork; good job!"

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

Outside, attacks of one to three cloeggi were random, but decreaseing in frequency.  Leaving all the shooting to Doc, Al & Draco was making Tank a little nervous; Doc gave strict orders that Tank & Kanderin keep the cannons aimed into the cave at all costs.

At least so far, those three were capable of holding their own, so Kanderin & Tank can stay focused.

A mob of several cloeggi surged from the cave and the E-webs started blazing!  At short range, bodies were ripped open, fried gore flying everywhere!

A lone Cloeggi made it past the cannons, only to be fatally skewered on Doc's vibroblade!

A few minutes later Tanus & company returned with the survivors.