Star Wars Tales of the Old Republic
Gank Massacres
The Hyporian cliff sides stood out against mass of black smoke that surrounded the remnants of a Republic cruiser and a small emergency command station that stood on top of a cliff. The Republic fleet's attempts to stop the Gank offensive by attacking them over an unpopulated world had failed. 3 days ago the Republic blockade had engaged the Gank. Within a day the Republic forces had to retreat to the planet itself.
"Sir two Gank squads have broken off from the main assault and are scaling the cliff" an office told his Commander.
"Send a squad to deal with them" he ordered.
"Really? A squad won't be able to do anything to them. Let me go with them" Sullustan Jedi Master Ettal Vulen offered.
Commander Thaneo shook his head and chuckled "You're the boss here. You can do whatever you want".
Master Ettal and a squad of troops approached the Cliffside where the Gank's were spotted. They could not see much of the battle below, only the light of blaster fire and explosions.
The troops clutched their blasters. Their armor would not be strong enough to take much from the Ganks so they needed to be sure they got the first shot in.
"Sir I have visual" A trooper shouted.
One squad of Gank Killers was standing at the edge while the others climbed up.
Before Ettal could even open her mouth to order her troops to get close enough for a good shot; a blaster bolt hit one of her troopers in the chest. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Ettal raised her lightsaber and ignited it. The hum of the battery pack that powered it began.
Another shot came and hit another trooper. "Get to cover!" Ettal yelled.
She called out with the force and sensed the sniper's presence. Before she could approach his perch the other Ganks opened fire. The Jedi Master rushed them, deflecting blaster fire as she ran. The sniper had her in his sights. He put his finger on the trigger and fired. The red blaster left the gun's barrel and within a moment hurtled back at its origin point. The sniper fell dead.
The Repubic troops began to give Ettal cover fire. She swiftly navigated their shots while blocking those of the enemy. Ettal paused for a moment and put her hand out. The Ganks by the ledge had no time to react before they were sent flying over the ledge.
Ettal - an Ataru specialist – leaped into the air and as she came down over a Gank Killer, thrust her blade through his head. Once her feet hit the ground she already had pulled the blade out of the enemy's skull and deflected a shot that was fire at her back.
The Republic troops began to approach. Some pulled out vibrospears and charged. Six of the eleven remaining Gank fell back and opened fire while the other 5 pulled out vibroblades and met the Republic troops head to head.
The Republic troops with spears thrust them forward. The Gank Killers just knocked the spears aside. One or two hit Ganks with indirect hits but deflected off the armor.
Ettal engaged the Gank captain in a duel. She would have been able to beat him moderately easily had it not been for the fact that the Gank gunmen were still firing.
Ettal sensed a clear shot coming for her back and leaped into the air. The blaster bolt made contact with the Gank captain's chest. He fell back revealing a new hole in his armor. He struggled to get up for a second but as Ettal knocked two more shots from the gunmen aside; she saw the Gank captain pull out a pistol. He only got one shot off before she cut his hand off and kicked him in the face.
The Republic troops still engaged the Gank swordsmen but now only two Republic troopers were standing. One Republic officer picked up one of his fallen allies spears' and lunged forward. The Gank deflected one blow, setting off sparks that would have blinded the Gank had his people not worn helmets at all times.
The brave Republic trooper thrust the other spear directly into the Gank's chest. The Gank fell over. Before the trooper could gather his bearings he was shot by one of the enemy gunmen.
The remaining Republic trooper with a spear ran for cover but was also cut down. They did provide enough of a distraction for the three Republic troopers left to pop up from their cover and take down two Gank Killers. The Republic forces got up and charged forward. One of them quickly clung to another area for cover that was closer to the enemy. The others fired upon the remaining four Gank swordsmen.
Two of the Gank swordsmen fell back and engaged Master Ettal in combat. The other two dodged blaster fire and changed the Republic gunmen. The Gank's only killed one before they both were gunned down.
Seeing that now only two Republic troops remained, the last six Gank fought even harder knowing they had the advantage. The Republic trooper who had gunned down the approaching Gank swordsmen, rushed to cover. The two last Republic troops hid behind a rock waiting for a moment to fire. The Gank gunmen came out from their cover and three of them opened fire on Ettal.
The Jedi master saw her advantage and leaped into the air. The Republic troopers opened fire on the Gank's. They managed to kill one of the Gank swordsmen and a gunman before the remaining enemy forced fired on them.
The last two Gank gunmens' precisely aimed shots killed the last Republic troops. Ettal charged the Gank gunmen. Shockingly they did not fire on her. She went in to cut their hands off or disarm them but felt a sudden tremor in the force. Suddenly a blaster bolt whizzed by her face. Now the Gank gunmen opened fire. Ettal could not turn around but she suspected that swordsman had grabbed a blaster.
Once again she was taken by surprise. The Gank swordsmen swung his blade at her side. Ettal was exhausted but managed to dodge. She turned around to strike and found that her blade did not cut the enemy. She looked at her unignited hilt and then saw the Gank captain holding his pistol with his one hand.
He had severed the wire connecting the hilt to the battery pack. It all suddenly fit in place. That had been the Gank plan all along. Rather than using their far superior aim and strength they had drawn in the republic troops and now had a Jedi with no lightsaber and no reinforcements.
Ettal sensed the Gank gunmen about to fire and turned around to force push them. As the Gank gunmen smashed into a rock, the Swordsman lunged at Ettal. She spun to the side but still got clipped by the blade.
Ettal clutched her now bleeding side. "So, looks like you are done Master Jedi" the Gank captain said with a sneering voice.
"So why risk us ignoring your scouts or sending enough troops to deal with you?" Ettal asked while trying to gather her energies.
"You really want an answer? We knew you don't have enough troops to deal with every stray squad or two of Gank grunts. Yet a Jedi always will help even if their services would be better used elsewhere. Attacking with two squads on the Cliffside would be a bad plan but getting a Jedi to abandon her defenseless command post to skilled Gank Killers, that is a good plan"
"NO!" Ettal realized now what was happening. She turned her head and saw the command post overwhelmed by heavily armored and superior trained Gank Killers. The Gank had sent standard grunt to distract from the real threat.
Ettal knew she had to act. She went to force push the swordsman and captain over the ledge but was slammed into with incredible force. A Gank elite was standing over her. He must have been waiting there the whole time in case the plan failed. He put his blaster to her head and moment later a flash of red light lit up the cliff side.