Sergeant Nyra fiddled with her blaster rifle. She had just arrived on Ord Mantell was on her way to Fort Garnik to help restore peace between the Separatists and the Republic. And kick ass while doing so.
"Ah, there's not a feeling in this galaxy like riding a hundred-ton Walker straight through the middle of a combat zone, right, kid?" came a voice to her right.
Nyra jumped about a foot in the air and turned to see who had spoken. It was a heavily armored guy who looked to be in his 30s.
He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet ya, Sergeant. The name's Bex Kolos, although most folks call me Gearbox. I'm the technician of Havoc Squad. And what might your name be?"
"Uh, my name's Nyra." She said timidly, staring at her military-issued boots. She wished she had something interesting to say.
"Nyra, eh? Good name. Short and to the point. I hate soldiers with long names, makes 'em harder to remember. If I had a credit for every time a soldier was killed or wounded because I couldn't remember his name to warn him in time, I'd be able to afford transportation off this rock." Gearbox said good-naturedly.
Nyra hid a smile. She decided she liked Gearbox.
A speaker blared to life just above their heads. "Approaching Drelliad Village, sir. Scope shows small ops fire and enemy movement in all quarters. Separatists are definitely moving on the objective."
Gearbox spoke again. "Seems like another beautiful day on Ord Mantell. You excited, kid? Nervous? You know you're the first new entry to Havoc Squad in some time. That's a hell of an accomplishment."
"I'll give it all I got, Gearbox. Always have, always will." She said truthfully.
"Sounds good, kid, but you better not be makin' empty promises. You don't know how many half-assed soldiers have been killed on the battlefield since they didn't put in all they had. That's how it works on backwater planets like Ord Mantell. You slack off, you die. No excuses. Oh, and another thing: you're gonna want to be careful how you throw around names around here. Most of the big guys who run the place throw a fit if they aren't addressed as 'sir'."
"I'm sorry, sir. I'll try harder," she said blushing furiously.
Gearbox laughed. "I never said that's true for me, too. When we're off the field, we can lose the formality. Havoc Squad, we're a tight union. You'll like it here." Then his expression turned darker, and he lowered his voice so that Nyra had to lean in to hear it. "I'll tell you why we're here. The Separatists nabbed a bomb. One of those orbital strike numbers, so it's pretty important. We have no idea where those scoundrels have hidden the thing. They have popular support and a hell of a lot of hideouts. Finding the bomb… eh, we'll just say it's not going to be an easy task. "
"Tell me more about the bomb." She replied, still embarrassed at her early slip-up.
"That bomb… It was designed for mass destruction, like the complete annihilation of a city. In the hands of the Separatists, it could blow this little island straight off the map. We'll get a full briefing once we reach Fort Garnik, so for now just sit back and enjoy th-"
A gigantic explosion interrupted Gearbox mid-sentence. Nyra, Gearbox, and the other passengers on the walker were thrown from their seats.
An alarm blared loudly, accompanied by a lucid red light and the sound of a soldier shouting "Code Red! Code Red! We've been hit by an AP missile from somewhere in the village! Everyone hold your-"
Another explosion cut off the sound of his yells. This time, the damage to the walker was evident. It definitely wasn't going to be in working order any time soon.
Gearbox knelt by the driver of the walker. "Driver! Driver! Blast it, no pulse. He's down," He got up and turned to Nyra, his face bathed in red light. "Those backwater Separatists aren't supposed to have armor piercing missiles. Any convoy that passes through here won't have a chance." He frowned.
"What should we do, Gearbox? We can't just let soldiers walk right into a deathtrap!" She stamped her foot, frustrated.
"Calm down, kid. Since I don't have the fighting skill you do, I'll stay behind and try to repair the walker. Fixing things is my specialty. Earned me a place in Havoc Squad, and the nickname Gearbox. Your objective is to disable the Separatist missile launchers. We clear?" Nyra nodded.
Gearbox continued. "The missile launchers will probably be grouped together, in a cache of some sort, somewhere in the village. It'll be heavily guarded with the Separatists' best fighters, so there's no room for excuses. Disable the missile launchers, and get your ass back here in without dying."
"Will do, Gearbox. Those Separatists won't even know what hit 'em." Nyra gave a forced laugh.
The dented door of the walker slid open. Sergeant Nyra stepped outside, cool air brushing past her face.
"One last thing, Sergeant," Gearbox said from behind her, putting a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Good luck."
Then he pushed her from behind, and the walker door slid open behind her.
"Time to go kick some Separatist ass." She said under her breath.
Hoisting her blaster rifle over her shoulder, she made her way to the entrance of Drelliad Village.