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***This is a short story I wrote after a discussion in Mumble. Just a quick write-up to shine a light on my squad. Let me know what you think!***
Axial Park Ruins, Corellia – 1330 local time
Sergeant Ashren held up his fist, giving the non-verbal command to halt. Branching off to his left and right in diagonal lines were the other seven members of Squad 2-2. The squad paused in their tracks and began to visually scan the ruins around them. Corporal Guyannins crouched slightly, letting the barrel of his assault cannon rest some weight on the ground.
“What is it, Sarge?” The corporal asked.
“We're about to head past the shelled out buildings where those Imp snipers shot at our boys yesterday,” Ashren replied.
“Didn't they level the entire building front yesterday, too?” Trooper Masin asked, hefting his rifle onto his shoulder.
“Doesn't mean they're all dead, trooper,” Ashren answered. “Alright, let's keep moving.” The squad resumed their patrol, stepping carefully over chunks of permacrete blasted out of the large towering structures around them. None of the buildings had escaped harm in the recent battles. Entire sides of buildings had been blown open, like giant smoking architectural crossections. Sporadic fires still burned, giving the windless air a dark foggy appearance.
The Empire had resorted to hit and run tactics to delay and sabotage Republic security efforts in the area. No construction crews would be allowed in to assess the damage until Republic military forces could guarantee the civilians' safety. That's where Alpha Company of the 203rd Republic Expeditionary Legion came into the picture. Called in to assist the security effort while awaiting new deployment orders, its personnel were charged with security sweeps and patrol duties.
“Hey, how come CorSec isn't handling security here?” Trooper Isiah asked to no one in particular. “I mean, we're practically in the capital, you know?”
“I heard CorSec lost a lot of people in the initial attack,” Trooper Tresk added.
“I heard the Empire bombed the local security stations as part of the first strike. Killed the poor bastards while they were drinking caf at their desks,” Trooper Vay said with pity in his voice.
“What kind of scum bags kill unarmed local peace officers in their own station?” Trooper Verda'den asked out loud with disgust.
“They're called the Sith Empire. Black armor, silly capes. Perhaps you've heard of 'em?” Trooper Raken chimed in sarcastically.
“Cut the chatter and keep your eyes open,” Guyannins said forcefully. The squad approached the corner of a thick permacrete wall dividing a pedestrian traffic lane and a commercial loading dock. Sergeant Ashren signaled for Masin and Isiah, the troopers farthest out on the left, to swing out wide. The two soldiers nodded in unison and ran across the street in a crouch and took cover behind a charred landspeeder shell. From their new vantage point, they could see around the wall corner and down the subsequent alleyway that sat perpendicular to the roadway they had been traveling on.
“Report,” Ashren prompted.
“Loading dock and alleyway look clear,” Masin replied.
“Looks like the alleyway leads through the block to the side road,” Isiah added. Ashren lifted his hand again, and indicated to the remainder of the squad to line up against the wall. Once they were in place, he tightened his grip on his rifle and moved around the corner in a crouch. One by one the remainder of the squad followed around the corner, firearms up at the ready and scanning the loading dock and immediate area. Identifying no threats, the squad spaced out and took positions along the loading dock platform. The large metal door was open almost halfway and jammed slightly diagonal in its track.
“That's not explosive damage, that door was forced open,” Guyannins pointed out.
“Looters, you think?” Raken suggested.
“Can't take the chance,” Ashren answered and turned to Guyannins. “Corporal, take Isiah, Tresk, and Vay. Head through the loading dock.” The sergeant pointed to Masin, Verda'den, and Raken then said, “You, you, and you, with me through the alleyway. Go.” Guyannins nodded stiffly and his fireteam took position against the wall next to the loading dock entry. Masin and Isiah abandoned their cover and jogged toward the remainder of the squad. In position, all eight soldiers stood still for a long moment.
“Ok, move in,” Ashren ordered, and the squad split in two. With his rifle pointed down the alley corridor, Verda'den took point and stepped cautiously over trash and chunks of debris. Ashren followed closely behind him, leading Masin. Raken kept his focus on the path behind them, his assault cannon making the tight squeeze through wreckage difficult while walking backward. The alleyway was longer than it had initially appeared, taking several minutes to reach the end. With his back against the left wall Verda'den bent his knees and peered around the corner across from him.
The street was cluttered with burned out speeders and large segments of a nearby destroyed storefront, but clear of hostiles. Verda'den turned back to his sergeant and nodded once, indicating the coast was clear. Sergeant Ashren slid past him on the opposing wall, and prepared to look around the alleyway corner in the opposite direction. Suddenly he heard the low hum of a speeder engine. He froze in his tracks and held his left hand out, palm side down, and gestured for his fireteam to get low. They crouched down in the alleyway and listened.
The hum held its low pitch, but was getting louder. The sound was coming from nearby, but he could not determine its direction.
“Look sharp,” Ashren spoke quietly, “We've got a speeder in the vicinity.”
“Civvies?” Raken asked.
“This is an evacuation zone,” Masin answered, “No one is supposed to be here but Republic military and CorSec.”
“And we know for a fact there's no friendlies within 6 city blocks of our patrol route,” Ashren added. All four soldiers tightened their jaws. The sergeant leaned toward the road, peering around the alleyway corner opposite him, but saw no movement. He gestured to Verda'den, who nodded and ducked out of the alleyway and into the road. He crouched behind a large segment of permacrete with a metallic skeleton that had fallen from the side of a building several stories up. Scanning the intersection half a block down, he detected no movement and flashed a thumbs up toward the alleyway.
“Masin, on me,” Ashren ordered as he stepped out of the alley and rushed for cover behind an overturned cargo hauler. The low pitch humming was getting louder. The noise was coming from the intersection ahead of them on the road, but they couldn't tell which side of the road the noise was originating from. Raken made his way to the end of the alleyway and leaned out to see the intersection for himself.
“You know, that sounds an awful lot like an L-66 repulsor,” Raken said thoughtfully.
“That mean something to you, trooper?” Sergeant Ashren inquired.
“They used to have those near where I grew up. They're cargo loaders, sarge. The ones with the flat beds on the back,” Raken explained.
“Alright, we could be dealing with locals here, then. No itchy trigger fingers,” Ashren spoke as he lifted his head above his cover to view the intersection once more. “If these are just a group of civilians look for...” A shot rang out and sparks exploded from the right side of the sergeant's helmet, tossing him onto his back.
“Sniper!” Masin shouted as he dropped to his knees, reaching for Ashren. Verda'den peered over the permacrete debris and tried to spot the sniper. A flash from a second story window across the intersection to the right caught his eye a moment before a blaster bolt tore a fist sized chunk out of his cover less than a foot from his head. Verda'den immediately ducked down again and checked his blaster rifle cartridge.
“Second floor, corner window, right side of the intersection on the opposite side,” Verda'den stated. Masin leaned over Ashren but jerked back startled when the sergeant's body began to move.
“Son of a Hutt!” Ashren cursed loudly as he tore his damaged helmet off and spiked it against the disabled speeder husk in front of him. He smelled like burned hair.
“Thought we lost you there, sarge,” Raken said, sounding relieved as he activated the charging chamber on his assault cannon and inched toward the end of the alley.
“Raken! Give that womprat bastard a face full of fireworks on my mark!” Sergeant Ashren swore again as he shouldered up to the speeder. He reached down and pulled his comlink from his damaged helmet and pushed it into his right ear. He could feel a trickle of blood coming down the side of his face, but he paid it no attention. He was absolutely furious.
Ashren forcefully slapped his palm against the charging bolt on his Republic-issued E-313 heavy repeating disruptor before glancing left, then right, making eye contact with his fireteam and nodding.
“Three, two, one, FUN!” Ashren shouted and the four troopers leaned out of cover and opened fire. Masin's, Verda'den's, and Ashren's rifles spat blue bolts in rapid succession down the street. Raken leaned out of the cover of the alleyway and delivered a heavy stream of automatic fire on the sniper's position. The quick rhythmic barking of the massive assault cannon sounded and behaved like a jackhammer as it utterly devastated the building side surrounding the sniper's vantage point. A few seconds later, the fireteam retreated behind cover once more.
“Did we get him?” Ashren asked. Masin poked his helmet over the speeder wreckage and observed the target building.
“Him, the wall, the windows, the furniture. Yeah Sarge, I'd say he's history,” Masin declared with a smirk. His mirth ended abruptly as a speeder slid through the intersection into view. Masin had to hand it to Raken, it was indeed an L-66 cargo loader. It had quite a few miles on it too, evidenced by the extensive grime and body damage, but more distressing was the large stationary gun bolted onto its flatbed. Flanking the speeder were almost a dozen Imperial troopers, jogging along to match its speed.
“Incoming hostiles!” Masin shouted as he retreated behind his cover. “Sarge, its the speeder. Imperial infantry and a bolted-on anti-infantry cannon. A moment later, the gunner opened up on the debris covered street, kicking up chunks of permacrete, metals, and anything else the stream of cannon fire touched. The infantry began moving down the street toward their position, weaving through cover.
“Ah shab, not good!” Verda'den added, trying to crouch a bit lower as the cannon cut away at their improvised cover. Ashren opened his mouth to give orders but paused when he heard the familiar sound of Republic mortar volley. The percussive pounding of the overloaded mortar shells launching out their barrels brought a reflexive smile to his face.
“You always start the fun without me, Sarge,” Corporal Guyannins teased over the squad communication channel. On the second story of the warehouse behind them, the other fireteam had made use of an open delivery bay to launch their explosive attack on the Imperials. Two groupings of mortar fire caught the speeder head on and tore the vehicle to pieces. The repulsorlift motor gave off a shrill whine before detonating and scattering shrapnel all across the intersection. Half of the Imperial infantry were caught in the subsequent explosion and flopped lifelessly to the ground.
“Remind me to buy the first round when we get back,” Ashren said, flashing a grin up to his Corporal. “Now let's clear the street. Open fire!” Masin, Verda'den, and Ashren popped up out of cover and fired controlled bursts at any Imperial troopers in sight. Raken laid down heavy streams of suppressive fire while Isiah, Tresk, Vay, and Corporal Guyannins slid down a demolished wall segment to the ground floor. They rushed past the first row of cover and took position farther up the road than Ashren's fireteam.
The firefight didn't last long. With no covered path to retreat along, the few remaining Imperial soldiers were forced to make an ill-fated last stand. The squad advanced between points of cover checking each Imperial casualty for signs of life. When the intersection was declared cleared of hostiles, Ashren pulled Guyannins aside.
“Put in a call to command. Notify them we eliminated the guerrilla presence in this sector. They're clear to bring in the civilian damage assessment team with an escort,” Ashren said while dabbing at the trickle of blood drying to the side of his face. “And get us a ride out of here, I need another helmet.”
“You sure its safe to call in the engineers, Sarge? I mean, won't there be more guerillas?” The Corporal asked as he readied the long range frequency transmission to command.
“There's always going to be more, that's why we get paid the big creds, and why the engineers get an armed escort,” Ashren replied, patting his Corporal on the shoulder and turning back toward the rest of the squad. Guyannins opened the long range communications channel and began the call.
“Alpha charlie actual, alpha two two,” Guyannins said.
“Alpha two two, go ahead,” came the reply.
“Alpha two two has secured assigned sector, requesting pick-up at extraction point bravo,” Guyannins continued.
“Copy that, alpha two two, pick-up inbound.”
“Roger that, alpha two two out.” Guyannins closed the comm channel and moved to rejoin the squad on their way to the extraction point. He chuckled to himself, “Yeah, the big creds. Check's in the mail.” His smile held as he rounded the corner, out of sight from the burning speeder and scattered dead Imperials.
Axial Park Ruins, Corellia – 1330 local time
Sergeant Ashren held up his fist, giving the non-verbal command to halt. Branching off to his left and right in diagonal lines were the other seven members of Squad 2-2. The squad paused in their tracks and began to visually scan the ruins around them. Corporal Guyannins crouched slightly, letting the barrel of his assault cannon rest some weight on the ground.
“What is it, Sarge?” The corporal asked.
“We're about to head past the shelled out buildings where those Imp snipers shot at our boys yesterday,” Ashren replied.
“Didn't they level the entire building front yesterday, too?” Trooper Masin asked, hefting his rifle onto his shoulder.
“Doesn't mean they're all dead, trooper,” Ashren answered. “Alright, let's keep moving.” The squad resumed their patrol, stepping carefully over chunks of permacrete blasted out of the large towering structures around them. None of the buildings had escaped harm in the recent battles. Entire sides of buildings had been blown open, like giant smoking architectural crossections. Sporadic fires still burned, giving the windless air a dark foggy appearance.
The Empire had resorted to hit and run tactics to delay and sabotage Republic security efforts in the area. No construction crews would be allowed in to assess the damage until Republic military forces could guarantee the civilians' safety. That's where Alpha Company of the 203rd Republic Expeditionary Legion came into the picture. Called in to assist the security effort while awaiting new deployment orders, its personnel were charged with security sweeps and patrol duties.
“Hey, how come CorSec isn't handling security here?” Trooper Isiah asked to no one in particular. “I mean, we're practically in the capital, you know?”
“I heard CorSec lost a lot of people in the initial attack,” Trooper Tresk added.
“I heard the Empire bombed the local security stations as part of the first strike. Killed the poor bastards while they were drinking caf at their desks,” Trooper Vay said with pity in his voice.
“What kind of scum bags kill unarmed local peace officers in their own station?” Trooper Verda'den asked out loud with disgust.
“They're called the Sith Empire. Black armor, silly capes. Perhaps you've heard of 'em?” Trooper Raken chimed in sarcastically.
“Cut the chatter and keep your eyes open,” Guyannins said forcefully. The squad approached the corner of a thick permacrete wall dividing a pedestrian traffic lane and a commercial loading dock. Sergeant Ashren signaled for Masin and Isiah, the troopers farthest out on the left, to swing out wide. The two soldiers nodded in unison and ran across the street in a crouch and took cover behind a charred landspeeder shell. From their new vantage point, they could see around the wall corner and down the subsequent alleyway that sat perpendicular to the roadway they had been traveling on.
“Report,” Ashren prompted.
“Loading dock and alleyway look clear,” Masin replied.
“Looks like the alleyway leads through the block to the side road,” Isiah added. Ashren lifted his hand again, and indicated to the remainder of the squad to line up against the wall. Once they were in place, he tightened his grip on his rifle and moved around the corner in a crouch. One by one the remainder of the squad followed around the corner, firearms up at the ready and scanning the loading dock and immediate area. Identifying no threats, the squad spaced out and took positions along the loading dock platform. The large metal door was open almost halfway and jammed slightly diagonal in its track.
“That's not explosive damage, that door was forced open,” Guyannins pointed out.
“Looters, you think?” Raken suggested.
“Can't take the chance,” Ashren answered and turned to Guyannins. “Corporal, take Isiah, Tresk, and Vay. Head through the loading dock.” The sergeant pointed to Masin, Verda'den, and Raken then said, “You, you, and you, with me through the alleyway. Go.” Guyannins nodded stiffly and his fireteam took position against the wall next to the loading dock entry. Masin and Isiah abandoned their cover and jogged toward the remainder of the squad. In position, all eight soldiers stood still for a long moment.
“Ok, move in,” Ashren ordered, and the squad split in two. With his rifle pointed down the alley corridor, Verda'den took point and stepped cautiously over trash and chunks of debris. Ashren followed closely behind him, leading Masin. Raken kept his focus on the path behind them, his assault cannon making the tight squeeze through wreckage difficult while walking backward. The alleyway was longer than it had initially appeared, taking several minutes to reach the end. With his back against the left wall Verda'den bent his knees and peered around the corner across from him.
The street was cluttered with burned out speeders and large segments of a nearby destroyed storefront, but clear of hostiles. Verda'den turned back to his sergeant and nodded once, indicating the coast was clear. Sergeant Ashren slid past him on the opposing wall, and prepared to look around the alleyway corner in the opposite direction. Suddenly he heard the low hum of a speeder engine. He froze in his tracks and held his left hand out, palm side down, and gestured for his fireteam to get low. They crouched down in the alleyway and listened.
The hum held its low pitch, but was getting louder. The sound was coming from nearby, but he could not determine its direction.
“Look sharp,” Ashren spoke quietly, “We've got a speeder in the vicinity.”
“Civvies?” Raken asked.
“This is an evacuation zone,” Masin answered, “No one is supposed to be here but Republic military and CorSec.”
“And we know for a fact there's no friendlies within 6 city blocks of our patrol route,” Ashren added. All four soldiers tightened their jaws. The sergeant leaned toward the road, peering around the alleyway corner opposite him, but saw no movement. He gestured to Verda'den, who nodded and ducked out of the alleyway and into the road. He crouched behind a large segment of permacrete with a metallic skeleton that had fallen from the side of a building several stories up. Scanning the intersection half a block down, he detected no movement and flashed a thumbs up toward the alleyway.
“Masin, on me,” Ashren ordered as he stepped out of the alley and rushed for cover behind an overturned cargo hauler. The low pitch humming was getting louder. The noise was coming from the intersection ahead of them on the road, but they couldn't tell which side of the road the noise was originating from. Raken made his way to the end of the alleyway and leaned out to see the intersection for himself.
“You know, that sounds an awful lot like an L-66 repulsor,” Raken said thoughtfully.
“That mean something to you, trooper?” Sergeant Ashren inquired.
“They used to have those near where I grew up. They're cargo loaders, sarge. The ones with the flat beds on the back,” Raken explained.
“Alright, we could be dealing with locals here, then. No itchy trigger fingers,” Ashren spoke as he lifted his head above his cover to view the intersection once more. “If these are just a group of civilians look for...” A shot rang out and sparks exploded from the right side of the sergeant's helmet, tossing him onto his back.
“Sniper!” Masin shouted as he dropped to his knees, reaching for Ashren. Verda'den peered over the permacrete debris and tried to spot the sniper. A flash from a second story window across the intersection to the right caught his eye a moment before a blaster bolt tore a fist sized chunk out of his cover less than a foot from his head. Verda'den immediately ducked down again and checked his blaster rifle cartridge.
“Second floor, corner window, right side of the intersection on the opposite side,” Verda'den stated. Masin leaned over Ashren but jerked back startled when the sergeant's body began to move.
“Son of a Hutt!” Ashren cursed loudly as he tore his damaged helmet off and spiked it against the disabled speeder husk in front of him. He smelled like burned hair.
“Thought we lost you there, sarge,” Raken said, sounding relieved as he activated the charging chamber on his assault cannon and inched toward the end of the alley.
“Raken! Give that womprat bastard a face full of fireworks on my mark!” Sergeant Ashren swore again as he shouldered up to the speeder. He reached down and pulled his comlink from his damaged helmet and pushed it into his right ear. He could feel a trickle of blood coming down the side of his face, but he paid it no attention. He was absolutely furious.
Ashren forcefully slapped his palm against the charging bolt on his Republic-issued E-313 heavy repeating disruptor before glancing left, then right, making eye contact with his fireteam and nodding.
“Three, two, one, FUN!” Ashren shouted and the four troopers leaned out of cover and opened fire. Masin's, Verda'den's, and Ashren's rifles spat blue bolts in rapid succession down the street. Raken leaned out of the cover of the alleyway and delivered a heavy stream of automatic fire on the sniper's position. The quick rhythmic barking of the massive assault cannon sounded and behaved like a jackhammer as it utterly devastated the building side surrounding the sniper's vantage point. A few seconds later, the fireteam retreated behind cover once more.
“Did we get him?” Ashren asked. Masin poked his helmet over the speeder wreckage and observed the target building.
“Him, the wall, the windows, the furniture. Yeah Sarge, I'd say he's history,” Masin declared with a smirk. His mirth ended abruptly as a speeder slid through the intersection into view. Masin had to hand it to Raken, it was indeed an L-66 cargo loader. It had quite a few miles on it too, evidenced by the extensive grime and body damage, but more distressing was the large stationary gun bolted onto its flatbed. Flanking the speeder were almost a dozen Imperial troopers, jogging along to match its speed.
“Incoming hostiles!” Masin shouted as he retreated behind his cover. “Sarge, its the speeder. Imperial infantry and a bolted-on anti-infantry cannon. A moment later, the gunner opened up on the debris covered street, kicking up chunks of permacrete, metals, and anything else the stream of cannon fire touched. The infantry began moving down the street toward their position, weaving through cover.
“Ah shab, not good!” Verda'den added, trying to crouch a bit lower as the cannon cut away at their improvised cover. Ashren opened his mouth to give orders but paused when he heard the familiar sound of Republic mortar volley. The percussive pounding of the overloaded mortar shells launching out their barrels brought a reflexive smile to his face.
“You always start the fun without me, Sarge,” Corporal Guyannins teased over the squad communication channel. On the second story of the warehouse behind them, the other fireteam had made use of an open delivery bay to launch their explosive attack on the Imperials. Two groupings of mortar fire caught the speeder head on and tore the vehicle to pieces. The repulsorlift motor gave off a shrill whine before detonating and scattering shrapnel all across the intersection. Half of the Imperial infantry were caught in the subsequent explosion and flopped lifelessly to the ground.
“Remind me to buy the first round when we get back,” Ashren said, flashing a grin up to his Corporal. “Now let's clear the street. Open fire!” Masin, Verda'den, and Ashren popped up out of cover and fired controlled bursts at any Imperial troopers in sight. Raken laid down heavy streams of suppressive fire while Isiah, Tresk, Vay, and Corporal Guyannins slid down a demolished wall segment to the ground floor. They rushed past the first row of cover and took position farther up the road than Ashren's fireteam.
The firefight didn't last long. With no covered path to retreat along, the few remaining Imperial soldiers were forced to make an ill-fated last stand. The squad advanced between points of cover checking each Imperial casualty for signs of life. When the intersection was declared cleared of hostiles, Ashren pulled Guyannins aside.
“Put in a call to command. Notify them we eliminated the guerrilla presence in this sector. They're clear to bring in the civilian damage assessment team with an escort,” Ashren said while dabbing at the trickle of blood drying to the side of his face. “And get us a ride out of here, I need another helmet.”
“You sure its safe to call in the engineers, Sarge? I mean, won't there be more guerillas?” The Corporal asked as he readied the long range frequency transmission to command.
“There's always going to be more, that's why we get paid the big creds, and why the engineers get an armed escort,” Ashren replied, patting his Corporal on the shoulder and turning back toward the rest of the squad. Guyannins opened the long range communications channel and began the call.
“Alpha charlie actual, alpha two two,” Guyannins said.
“Alpha two two, go ahead,” came the reply.
“Alpha two two has secured assigned sector, requesting pick-up at extraction point bravo,” Guyannins continued.
“Copy that, alpha two two, pick-up inbound.”
“Roger that, alpha two two out.” Guyannins closed the comm channel and moved to rejoin the squad on their way to the extraction point. He chuckled to himself, “Yeah, the big creds. Check's in the mail.” His smile held as he rounded the corner, out of sight from the burning speeder and scattered dead Imperials.
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