21 BBY
Jaguada
"Hey, Sarge?"
"Yes, Orar?"
"Are you regretting making our squad colours blue digital camouflage yet?"
"What makes you think I would regret it?"
"Well, maybe the fact that we're in the middle of a desert?"
Epsilon squad was in the middle of an operation on Jaguada. True to what Orar said, their armour colour made them stick out from the red dunes and brown boulders. The dark blue patterns on their armour made them highly visible, to say the least.
The four members of Epsilon Squad, Vinegar, Orar, Mal and O-Four, were camped out on a rocky cliff, overlooking an ancient stronghold. Centuries before, someone whose identity had been lost to time had constructed the fortress on the planet, and now the Separatists were using it as a base. That was where Epsilon Squad came in. The Separatist commander who had been stationed there, Valit Stari, was proving challenging for the Republic forces. General Zzivk, a Brizzit Jedi, and Commander Rally of the 155th Legion, had lost a lot of good men. Naturally, Stari had to be dealt with, before he could kill any more troopers. The order had come from Chancellor Palpatine himself, who was reportedly appalled by the casualties.
"He might have a point, Sarge. We're pretty conspicuous," The squad's sharpshooter chimed in. Mal, who had named himself after a sharpshooter commando from the Great Galactic War, lay down on his stomach a short distance away. He was observing the stronghold through his rifle's scope. The windows were ray-shielded, so there was no possibility of sniping there target from there, but the instant he left the building…
Vinegar turned and pointed a finger at him "Don't you start too. We all agreed on the colour and pattern."
"Beginning to think that maybe we didn't think that decision through too well," Mal murmured, not moving at all.
"Unbelievable." Vinegar rolled his eyes.
"You give Cov and Yayax plenty of osik for wearing dazzle camouflage," Orar pointed out.
"A lot of osik," Mal seconded, still focused on the fortress.
"Cov and I may argue sometimes, but he knows I love him," Vinegar said "Besides, dazzle camouflage is gaudy, this," he motioned to his armour "is stylish!"
"It's not supposed to be stylish, it's supposed to be practical." O-Four spoke up for the first time.
"And it is! Remember Irmenu? It was very practical then!"
The squad let out a collective shudder. Irmenu, now that had been unpleasant. The squad had taken to calling it The Planet of Vaus, since not only was it Waylon Vau's homeworld, but the inhabitants were frighteningly likeminded to the man. At one point, they had had to physically restrain and eventually stun an Irmenu Naval officer to stop him from executing a prisoner they had captured. He had been spouting some nonsensical osik about how prisoners were a burden.
"Yeah, but Irmenu was an ocean planet, of course it made sense then!" O-Four said.
Vinegar opened his mouth to say something, but found himself suddenly cut off.
"Got something here," Mal said over his shoulder "Movement inside."
"What have you got, Mal?" Vinegar asked.
"Zeltron male, mid-forties. Judging by the lightsaber on his belt, I'd say he's one of Dooku's." Mal reported.
A chill ran down Vinegar's spine. They had received no warning that a Dark Jedi would be at the Separatist base. The op was already dangerous, but with a Force user in play, things had suddenly got so much more hazardous.
Vinegar turned to O-Four "Check in with Adviser, see if you can find anything on this guy." His attention returned to Mal "What's he doing?"
"Looking for something. He's turning the room upside down. He looks pretty anxious."
Vinegar placed a hand on his chin. This was curious. One of Dooku's acolytes was on-world, something which Intel had not even suggested as a possibility, and he was looking for something within his own base. What was going on here?
"Got something on the Dark Jedi, Sarge. According to Adviser, he's a former Jedi Knight. Birco, defected shortly before Geonosis. Apparently he had some issued with the attachment rule, frequently at odds with the Jedi Council, issues with authority, etcetera. Bad enough to be put on notice, but not bad enough to be kicked out." O-Four reported.
"Bad enough to join the Seppies though," Orar noted.
"I have eyes on Stari," Mal said "He's leaving the fortress now. Orders, Sarge?"
Vinegar paused. Eliminating Stari would put an end to a very dangerous Separatist commander, but it would give away their position and meant that they could no longer monitor the Dark Jedi. And for all they knew, Birco's presence and his search for whatever it was he was looking for could be important. Vinegar bit his lip.
"Sergeant, if I'm going to take him out, it has to be now," Mal said, a note of urgency in his voice.
Vinegar shook his head. Orders were orders, they could pass this on to Intel, and they could send an agent or an ARC to deal with this.
"Do it."
Without a word, Mal pressed down on the trigger. There was no crack as the rifle discharged, the silencer on the barrel saw to that. Not that it really mattered, the blue blaster bolt might not have made a sound, but it was still fairly visible.
"Target is down, and his guards have noticed." Mal stated, finally putting down his rifle. He cracked his neck and stood up.
"Then we'd better bug out before they spot us," Vinegar said.
It was at that moment that a half-dozen Separatist probe droids flew overhead, quickly spotting the commandos. Seconds later, a barrage of blaster bolts came screaming at their position.
"It's the armour, Sarge! Really stands out!" Orar shouted as Epsilon Squad turned tail and ran.
"Not a kriffing word!" Vinegar snarled.