My first fanfic, so please review. I welcome criticism.
For reference, Knight is "Soap" MacTavish's equivalent, and Gecko is Gary "Roach" Sanderson's equivalent.
Later characters' equivalents will be introduced in following missions.
Mission One: Ashes of the Past
Location: Geonosis
In the distant horizon of Geonosis, partially obscured by the high spires and mountainous range, the sun of Ea was barely beginning to crest the tips of the mountaintops, casting slivers of bright light over the barren red mesas of the planet. The glare, however, was mitigated by great clouds of sand and dust borne by strong gusts of solar wind sweeping across the dunes. A planet once torn by wars, it was not, however, forgotten, despite the isolationist policies of its natives in the recent times.
So reflected Knight as he stood above the ruins of a toppled Geonosian spire, his vantage point to observe the barren mesas of the landscape. The human kneeled behind a broken wall, flipping the eyepiece of his tactical visor down over his face. His vision immediately became filled with holographically-displayed information, detailing everything he saw with his eyes and helmet-mounted optical sensors. His trained, experienced mind reviewed and modified existing plans for his mission, while his body relaxed and unlimbered before tensing for action.
Casually shaking down pre-mission jitters, Knight proceeded to double-check his equipment from head to toe. He wasn't carrying heavy, but he was fairly well-armed. In his hands he currently held an SVD sniper rifle, with an attached x10 telescopic sight and a system-linked laser rangefinder. Slung over his back was a SCAR-H assault rifle with red-dot reflex sights, a sound/flash suppressor and an M203 40mm grenade launcher. His spare ammunition magazines for both weapons were safely secured in his web harness, just underneath his ballistic assault vest, upon which was engraved his trademark insignia, a bare white skull. The heavy Desert Eagle Mark XIX he carried was holstered at the right side of his waist, and his tactical equipment was safely stored in a pouch strapped to the back of his hip. Other gear, like fragmentation grenades and plasma bombs, were stored in belt slots. The rest of his armour, consisting of hardened ballistic plates, was securely strapped to his shoulders, forearms and shins.
He gave a brief smile behind the bandana wrapped around his face, giving the bolt on his sniper rifle a firm pull, chambering a single 7.62x54mm FMJ round. The Task Force 141 soldier nodded affirmatively. He was ready.
"Break's over, Gecko." He growled, "Let's go."
Behind him, a few meters down the ruined spire, was Gecko. The newer member of Task Force 141 was just out of selection, one of the ten out of about seventy candidates put forward by various military groups who were selected to be member of Task Force 141. The young soldier was carrying a captured E-11 blaster rifle with an attached sound suppressor and a scope, and wearing a lightweight suit of self-assembled armour that showed off his athletic build. Though already an established soldier from a hardened militia force on some backwater planet, this was Gecko's first mission with the 141, and while Gecko had no doubt been a soldier of above-average calibre, he had a lot to live up to as a member of Task Force 141.
Task Force 141. Knight reflected for just a moment on the organisation they were currently part of. It was an interplanetary commando force comprised of the best hand-picked warriors the galaxy had to offer, tasked with intervening in potential conflict hotspots and serving as a de facto strike company for the New Republic. Its members were all highly trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened to the core, accepted regardless of background while indoctrinated to be totally loyal to the Task Force's mission: the preservation of galactic peace. Done through the striking down of insurgents, rogue pirate fleets, Imperial remnants and any other destabilizing agent or faction.
Their mission on Geonosis was to investigate the possibility of intelligence regarding plans for a secret prototype battle droid hidden beneath Geonosis' surface, undiscovered by the Empire and the Republic. Intel regarding its whereabouts also included notes on enemy forces rumoured to be guarding this knowledge; a band of pirates and a force of Geonosian mercenaries. Nothing serious; these amateur troops were not expecting any trouble and would have no idea of Knight's and Gecko's approach...until it would be too late.
Without a word, Knight rose from his position, all-temperature cloak billowing in the wind behind him, and advanced down the ruined spire, with Gecko following close behind. Swiftly moving into the hilly dunes of sand and caked dirt, the two Task Force 141 soldiers headed steadily towards their target; a blown-out spire that had once served as a base for the Separatists back in the Clone Wars but now providing shelter to criminals, pirates and raiders. Ordinarily Geonosians rarely put up with this sort of lowlife hiding on their planet...but nowadays they got everywhere, and the insectoid natives of Geonosis must have bigger problems elsewhere.
"We're out in the open here. Watch your points." Knight murmured to Gecko over the squad comlink. "Watch for movement in all directions. We don't want to be caught from the front and back."
Knight nodded affirmatively as Gecko scanned the immediate region for threats with his E-11. The younger soldier was attentive, alert, watchful, but Ren had yet to see how his actual skills in combat were.
As they swept across the desolate badlands, Knight noticed the winds picking up across their backs. A sandstorm was brewing across the plains, which was good, because it would give their approach visual cover. Bad, because some of the sandstorms on Geonosis could tear them to pieces in a maelstrom of high-speed winds, flurries of sand and razor hails of broken rock.
Knight raised one hand in a clenched fist, signalling Gecko to hold position. As the rookie did so, taking a knee and assuming a defensive position, Knight pressed two fingers to the side of his head, keying his helmet comlink to command frequency.
"This is ground team to Swift Justice, do you read?" Knight said, turning his head skywards to look for the LAAT/i gunship that had dropped them off moments before. The pilot's voice crackled back over the comlink, tinny and calm, typical of the 141's fliers.
"This is Swift Justice, what can I do for you, ground team?"
"I need a visual on the sandstorm incoming from our solar east. Can take a look at its size and determine if it's dangerous, over?" Knight asked. A moment later, the gunship pilot replied.
"Roger, I have a visual." Swift Justice responded promptly. "It looks big, but my sensor readings show that the wind speed is within tolerable limits. Judging by its trajectory, it should provide visual cover all the way to your objective." A pause, then, "It'll sting, though. The wind's still pretty fast."
"Roger, Swift Justice. Thanks for the info. Ground team out." Knight said, cutting the feed. He turned to Gecko. The rookie was busy scanning the skies, one eye pressed to the scope of his blaster rifle. Good, Knight thought, he knows to search for airborne threats. Geonosians were capable of flight after all, and an aerial ambush could be just as dangerous as a land-based attack. But the odds were about to shift in their favour.
"Gecko, get your mask on. Sandstorm's coming; we're gonna use it as cover." Knight already had his facial bandana on and his tactical visor down, so he was prepared. Gecko nodded, slinging his E-11 over his back while affixing a breath mask to his face, donning a pair of goggles to protect his eyes.
Knight turned towards their objective, changing the grip on his sniper rifle to a ready position. He keyed his visor to short-ranged vision mode, just in time too; in the next instant, his world was engulfed in a billowing, roaring cloud of rushing winds and sand. He keyed his squad comlink.
"Comms check, Gecko. You read me, rookie?" Knight said.
"Affirmative, sir. Though there's some static on my end." Replied Gecko.
"Must be from the storm. You're not that clear either." Knight shrugged, the motion hidden in the sandstorm. "Alright, rookie, let's get started. Let's see your infiltration skills. But first, power up your helmet cam and link it to mine." Knight told him. A second later, shapes and outlines formed on his visor. Good, the link was established. Knight could effectively see through Gecko's eyes, through the data link between tactical helmets; good old 141 technology.
"Link established, sir. Heading up for tactical infiltration. Wish me luck." Gecko said wryly as he advanced. He soon disappeared into the storm, with only his outline highlighted on Knight's visor display.
"If you're good enough, you won't need it." Replied Knight with a slight chuckle. "Stay frosty, and you'll live to be a veteran yet. You'll be a ghost in the sandstorm, so the guards won't see you until you're very close. "
As Gecko moved towards the spire, keeping out of sight in the sandstorm, Knight ascended a low ridge he had previously marked out as a good sniping position. Nestling down on the ridge, between a pair of large stones, Knight unlimbered his Dragunov, setting his eye to the scope and peering through it for targets. The hostiles would have no idea what would be hitting them; with the sandstorm not only giving them visual cover but also hiding the noise of the SVD's shots, Knight was free to pick his shots at will. Now all that was needed was for Gecko to mark the targets.
Right on cue, the outline of a humanoid shape materialized in red about ten meters above Gecko's position. It looked like a sentry, but Knight waited for more targets to be marked.
Gecko swept his field of vision, and three more sentries were highlighted, two above and one halfway between. The two above looked like they were resting, the one below was providing overwatch. Knight laid the crosshairs of his SVD at the centre of the hostile's chest and rested his finger on the trigger.
"I got this one." He breathed into the radio, and Gecko responded by holding his position and fixing his gaze on the target. Drawing a breath into his lungs and holding it there, Knight steadied his aim and squeezed the trigger.
The sharp crack! of the sniper rifle was effectively muted by the howling gale all around him, and none of the other guards noticed as the target suddenly staggered, crumpled, and fell as the 7.62mm FMJ round took him through the chest. In the next instant, Knight shifted his aim, and fired twice, silencing both of the upper guards with a shot to the cranium each.
Before he could finish off the last guard, however, the target changed stance, pulling out a blaster pistol to take aim at Gecko. Knight shifted his aim, and was about to fire, when Gecko whirled around, firing his E-11 thrice. The three shots were dead on target, and the guard toppled from his post, fading from view in the storm.
"Nice work," Knight remarked, getting up to move closer. He advanced in the cover of the sandstorm, watchful for even the slightest silhouettes in the veil of sand and wind around him. He swapped out his SVD for the SCAR-H on his back, the assault weapon being more reliable at closer ranges. "I'm oscar mike. Watch your sectors, and I'll be with you shortly. Out."
As he advanced, he was careful to cover the flank of the tower opposite Gecko. Raising his SCAR, Knight ducked into a trench dug by the guards, red-dot sight probing for targets in the sandstorm. A moment later, a single guard appeared in his field of vision, a tall and hulking Weequay. The alien was wielding a long pike in one hand and a blaster pistol in the other. It hadn't spotted him in the sandstorm, but with the alien being a native to a desert world, it wouldn't be long. Taking the initiative, Knight immediately pressed the SCAR to his shoulder and fired a silenced burst into the Weequay.
The trio of 7.62mm rounds slammed into the alien's torso and the Weequay fell with a startled grunt. Knight knew how hardy Weequay could be, however, and he rushed forward to deliver another swift burst to the prone alien. Only when the Weequay was still and its blood pooling in the red sands of Geonosis did Knight relax his guard.
He resumed his advance on the spire, and was grateful for an uneventful journey when he finally linked up with Gecko just outside the spire's entrance.
Gecko came hurrying up to Knight, who was just finishing off another guard with his combat knife. As he dropped the lifeless corpse, he remarked to Gecko, "Took the scenic route, eh?" His gaze hardened as he ripped the keycard to the base from the dead body. "Let's go."
Swiping the keycard against the door reader, Knight steadied his aim down the dark corridor that loomed before them. It was lit, though, and Knight advanced into the scarcely-illuminated gloom, danger sense on full alert, with Gecko in tow. He motioned for Gecko to cover their rear; no sense getting caught from behind. No telling if there were more guards out there.
Ahead, a single guard suddenly walked into the corridor from around the corner, oblivious to the approach of a pair of heavily-armed commandos. Without hesitating, Knight charged full on, slamming bodily into the mercenary guard and smashing him into a pair of lockers standing against the wall. As the guard gave a startled cry of alarm, Knight promptly threw him to the floor, pinning him down with one arm and plunging his six-inch combat knife into the base of the guard's neck with his free hand.
Sliding off the dead corpse, Knight idly flicked blood from his knife and sheathed it. Behind him, Gecko remarked, "You do that in all your barroom brawls, sir?"
Smiling slightly, Knight replied, "Cut the chatter, Gecko."
The two entered a large, circular room that looked like it was once a command centre, refurbished by the mercenary inhabitants with prefabricated furniture and a repaired terminal. The lights were still on, however, which meant that there were still guards somewhere inside the spire.
Knight pointed towards the only door leading further into the spire. "Gecko, lock that door."
The rookie nodded, moving towards the door console and ripping open an access panel. Reaching inside, Gecko proceeded to work with the internal wirings until the lights at the top of the door flashed red and began issuing an error tone.
"Here we go." Knight murmured as he accessed the terminal. It wasn't long before he found the target information. Only...it wasn't the target information.
Instead of battle droid schematics, what appeared on the holo-screen was complex genetic coding and chemical profiles. Also included was a series of research notes involving cybernetic implantation and physical augmentation. Knight scanned through them some more, and found the source of these files: a scientist by the name of Damascus Karava.
"Problem, sir?" Gecko asked, leaning over to take a look.
"This isn't battle droid plans...this is cybernetic research. Looks like our intel was off." Knight growled. Still, information was information, one way or another. He downloaded the files to his datapad and wiped the original files. 141's analysts could sort them out once they returned it. He grabbed his SCAR-H and walked for the door.
"Sir! INCOMING!"
Knight whipped around at Gecko's startled shout, and let fly an angry curse as the glass windows shattered into a thousand sparkling shards as a Geonosian crashed through it. The mottled-brown insect-like native of Geonosis let loose a high-pitched screech as it brandished a long, serrated pike at the two soldiers.
Gecko blasted the thing with a quartet of shots to the Geonosian's torso. As it collapsed, orange blood spilling all over the walls, Knight saw no less than two dozen more flying in.
"Gecko! Let's go!" Knight roared, ripping off a long burst at the incoming Geonosians before sprinting towards the exit, knocking two of the winged insects out of the air. Gecko followed, firing blindly behind him with his E-11 on full-auto. Behind them, the screeches of the Geonosians were closing in fast.
Bursting into the daylight, Knight raised his SCAR, ready to fire on any hostile that came into view. Outside, the sandstorm had abated, but there were small pinpricks in the distance that were rapidly closing in. Knight keyed the telescopic zoom function on his helmet cam and got a visual; a patrol of six men on three speeder bikes. He marked them as priority targets; those bikes would be their exit tickets.
"Gecko! Target those bikes! We'll need them to get out of here!" he roared, leaping into a trench for cover. Above them, more Geonosians flocked around the spire, massing their numbers for an aerial assault. The bikes were closing in, but Knight spotted an entire wave of a dozen or more bikes in the opposite direction.
As they came within range, the bikers opened fire with the laser cannons mounted beneath their bikes. Knight ignored their badly aimed shots and drew a bead on the lead bike. Expertly firing off a trio of bursts, he knocked the first pair of mercenaries off the bike in sprays of blood, causing the bike to grind to a halt less than fifty meters from their position.
Gecko fired on the second bike, blaster bolts slamming into the body of the bike itself and setting it ablaze. The burning speeder bike careened off course, where it slammed into another spire and exploded in a fiery conflagration.
The last bike slowed just near them, and the two guards onboard fired blaster pistols from their mounted positions. One bolt came dangerously close to hitting Knight in the face, but Knight returned fire and knocked both riders off the bike. Just as the last rider fell, the bolt locked back on his SCAR. He reloaded, just in time as a full flight of Geonosians leapt from their vantage point atop the spire to swoop down on them.
"Gecko! Get on that speeder bike! MOVE!" Knight shouted as he sprinted for the hovering bike. Leaping on, he keyed the ignition and sped off into the distance. Behind him, Gecko mounted the second bike and followed closely behind.
The rush of a speeder bike moving at full speed would have been enjoyable to Knight, but with a flight of angry Geonosians and a force of bike-mounted mercenaries on their tails, now wasn't the best time to enjoy it. He keyed his comlink again on the command frequency.
"Swift Justice, the primary exfil point is compromised! We're en route to the backup LZ using enemy transport! Meet us there! Over!"
"Ground team, this is Swift Justice. Roger that, out." Replied Swift Justice over the comlink. Knight banked the speeder bike sharply to the right, dodging a massive outcrop of jagged rocks. He yelled into the comlink again, this time to Gecko.
"More hostiles to the rear! Just outrun them!" He jammed the throttle full forward, and the bike whined in response, accelerating even faster. "Go, go!"
The whines of the hostiles' speeders closed in, and soon they were all over the place. Knight swerved to avoid weapons fire from one of the speeders. Behind, Gecko was trying to evade a pair of bikers on his six, firing his E-11 one-handed at the bikers in front of him.
"Don't slow down! Keep moving or you're dead!"
Knight cursed as another bike overtook him, and the rider sitting at the back of the bike fired on him with a blaster. Dodging the red bolts of energy, Knight keyed the bike's laser cannon three times. The first shot went wide, the second shot came close to hitting his mark, and as the bike's pilot swerved to avoid the attack, he ran straight into the third shot. The bike exploded in a roaring fireball, and Knight drove straight onwards.
He leapt a small hill, and nearly slammed into a flying Geonosian. He could see the LZ nearly a full kilometre ahead, but between them and their extraction point he could see a massive downwards slope and a deep crevasse easily a hundred meters across.
The comlink buzzed in his ear. "Ground team, we're getting close to bingo fuel. What's your status, over?"
A laser cannon bolt whizzed over Knight's head as he accelerated over the ridge and down the slope. "Swift Justice, we're taking heavy fire but we're almost there! Standby!"
Gecko leapt the ridge and landed on the slope. They both began dodging rocky outcroppings as they accelerated down the steep slope. "Pin the throttle! Keep going!" Knight shouted as he dodged a tall stone that would have crushed him like an insect if he had hit it.
It was not long before they reached the bottom of the slope. But there was still the matter of the massive crevasse. Fortunately, the slope ended with a slight upwards incline, so they should be able to make the jump. Gritting his teeth, Knight jammed the accelerator as hard as he could, and trusted Gecko to do the same.
"HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"
Gecko's scream was barely audible over the screeching of the speeder bike's engines as they leapt the crevasse, and the pit at the bottom of Knight's stomach emptied as time seemed to move in slow motion. Barely a few seconds but what seemed like an eternity in the air later, both Knight and Gecko's bikes landed on the far side, sliding forwards several dozen meters and throwing them both from their seats.
"Ground team, we have you on visual. Get your ass on board! We're running on fumes here!" yelled Swift Justice over the comlink.
Knight got up, moved over to the prone Gecko, and dragged him up onto his feet. "On your feet, soldier. We-are-leaving!" He half-shouted into the stunned Gecko's face. Pulling him along, Knight staggered over the last ridge, where the LAAT/i gunship had landed, waiting for them. Surrounding it were about six other Task Force 141 soldiers firing M4s at the swarming Geonosians.
"Okay, they got the intel." Shouted one of them as Knight dragged Gecko onboard. "We're outta here."
That was it. How was it?
As I said, reviews are greatly appreciated.