Prologue: Alpha and Omega
I'M BACK BITCHES!
As a testament to the new Star Wars: Battlefront (FINALLY), I decided to write this book.
NOTE: The prologue is gonna be a bit on the short side. But it'll be action-packed.
Forest Moon of Endor. 5 ABY.
The two crosshairs and the dot in the center were her entire world as she hid in the trees. From her hideout, she watched the Imperial Remnant officers discussing strategy around a holotable, which showed a map of the forest moon. The New Republic was coming, and she had to find out what the Remnant was planning.
One year ago to the day, the New Republic, then called the Rebel Alliance, had struck a final blow against the Galactic Empire by destroying the second Death Star above the forest moon. The leaders of that battle: Generals Skywalker, Solo, and Calrissian, Leia Organa, and their companions were revered as the saviors and liberators of the galaxy, the ones who ended the tyranny of the Empire, and Lieutenant Sila Dredger intended to do her part today to flush out the Imperial Remnant.
As a trained sniper and wetwork operative for the New Republic, Sila was deadly at both long and short ranges, adept with any weapon at the Republic's arsenal. She could just as easily bull's-eye a womp rat at a hundred meters as she could a thousand. Some of her peers called her skills unnatural, but she always cast them aside as useless gossip.
"Omega Three, this is Omega Lead." Her team leader hailed, "Lieutenant, are you in position?"
"In position and ready to fire, sir." She whispered.
"Stay put and hold fire. Keep a watch for us. Do not fire unless I tell you to."
"Yes, sir." She swiveled her sniper rifle around so that she could see the rest of her team, Omega Team, advance on the Remnant command center. Omega was a good bunch, but it was probably for the better that they didn't know about the wetwork part of her training. She had been put into Omega three years ago, just after the Battle of Hoth. Her entire unit had been wiped out by an Imperial walker; Sila had only escaped because she had been on a ridge a hundred meters away.
She shook those thoughts from her head and refocused on the Remnant officers. The entire facility was defended by a contingent of Stormtroopers, soldiers from the 501st, judging from their armor. These were some of the last officers of the Remnant, so Sila had expected them to be well-defended. She put Omega back into her sights and saw that Omega Six, Lance, was missing. Lance was the heavy-weapons specialist on the team. They would need him for the fight against the 501st.
"Omega Lead, this is Omega Three." She radioed. "Where's Omega Six?"
"Omega Six, do you read? Over." No response. Omega Lead hailed Lance again, but still no response. "Lieutenant, keep an eye out for him. We'll proceed with the mission as planned."
"Yes, sir." Her rifle traversed the entire visible area, but Lance was nowhere to be found. "Omega Six, this is Omega Three, do you copy?" She hailed. She got the same response as her squad leader: dead silence. "Omega Six, this is Omega Three, do you read?" Still nothing. "Fierfek." She cursed. "Where is he?" She switched her scope to thermal imaging and scanned the area again. She saw several distinct shapes moving through the forest, most likely the native Ewoks, but no sign of any humanoid heat signatures except those of the rest of Omega Team.
The Stormtroopers started to move. As did the officers.
"Omega Lead, HVT's are mobile. Repeat: HVT's are mobile."
"How many guards?"
"Full contingent; 501st. I spotted an AT-ST when I came in. It wasn't manned yet."
"Take the shots, Lieutenant. Now."
Sila grabbed the grip on her rifle and planted the sights on the lead officer. He may have been six hundred meters away and protected by a half-meter of synthetic looking-glass, but Sila knew her rifle could punch through. She took a deep breath, steadied her aim, and pulled the trigger.
Inside the weapon, a microscopic section of supercooled ionized plasma was subjected to an electrical current, which heated it up enough to turn it to its plasma phase. It was then combined with an amplified light diode and irradiated as it shot out of the barrel at one and a half times the speed of light. In just under a quarter of a picosecond, the plasma-laser bolt vaporized the glass and the officer's head.
And best of all, the rifle made so little noise that the 501st guards had no idea where the shot had come from. "HVT Alpha terminated." She reported as she pushed the bolt on her rifle back into place.
"Krife, Lieutenant. Where'd you get that rifle?" Omega Four, Reldor, asked.
"From a Remnant vault. I stole it." While she technically wasn't lying, she also wasn't telling the whole truth. The idea of plasma-laser combinations had come from the Empire and the Death Star, but the rifle itself was a New Republic make. Designated the Prototype Mark One Directed Energy Sniper Rifle, the X-M1 DESR, which Sila affectionately called the Deserter because of its tendency to make enemies desert their comrades, was the single most powerful, and hazardous, weapon in the New Republic's arsenal. Sila had been chosen from among a hundred candidates to field-test the only working prototype of the weapon. It had been a humbling sight to see the rifle put into her hands that day five months ago.
"Well, remind me never to torque you off." Reldor said.
"Yeah, you do that." She put her sights on HVT Bravo. She had to wait at least four seconds for the rifle to build up the electrical charge necessary to heat the plasma in the pack. If she fired it early, the plasma would only get to the gas or liquid, or worse solid, stage and either not pack enough punch to be lethal, or explode inside the rifle.
A light on the side of the rifle turned green, indicating that the charge was built to the minimum effective level and the weapon was ready to fire. Sila gave it another second, not only for the rifle but also for her to recenter her sights on the target. She put the crosshairs on the center of the officer's chest and pulled the trigger. The officer was vaporized on the spot and the 501's guards were still clueless.
"Bravo terminated. Charlie is yours, sir." She told her squad leader.
"Negative, Lieutenant. Take the shot. Command wants them all terminated."
"Sir, you said-"
"I know what I said. Our orders have changed. Take the shot."
"Yes, sir." Sila hesitantly put the rifle's sights on the third officer and waited for the rifle to charge.
Why would Command want them all dead? She wondered. Why not leave one for interrogation?
But orders were orders. And she had to follow them.
The light came on, Sila took a breath, and the last officer was vaporized where she stood. "Charlie terminated, sir."
"Good work, Lieutenant. We'll handle the guards. Provide fire support as necessary."
"Yes, sir." She emptied her mind and took pot shots at the frightened Imperial guards.
"Omega Squadron, this is Gray Four, on approach to primary target." A Y-Wing pilot commed.
"Gray Four, this is Omega Lead. Our point-man is Omega Three. Lieutenant Dredger is providing sniper and overwatch support."
Copy, Omega Lead. Omega Three, mark the target."
"Copy, Gray Four." Sila pulled a small box from her side pouch and pointed an indented side at the command center. "Target marked and ready for payload. Have a nice day."
"Solution received, Lieutenant. Commencing Operation Firestorm. Clear the area, please."
"You even said please. I feel so honored." She stood up and started to climb down the trees.
"It's a forgotten courtesy."
"We'll remember that when you buy drinks, Gray Four." Omega Lead commed. The distinct whine of the Y-Wing Starfighter's twin ion engines thundered overhead just before a series of explosions made the ground beneath Sila's feet tremble.
"Command, this is Gray Squad. Operation Firestorm is a go."
"Copy, Gray Lead. All units, push into the main complex. Fighter wings are directed to destroy any Imperial craft on approach. This operation cannot be compromised."
Sila slung her rifle over her back and drew her sidearm as she raced to regroup with Omega Squad. She knew that she was several hundred meters behind her team, but she also knew that they would encounter resistance. Already, she could hear the fighting ahead of her. It was fiercer than she had anticipated. She broke into a brisk run, and in just a few seconds, she crested a ridge and got a view of the fighting in its full scale.
It was everywhere. The New Republic and the Remnant were trading laser bolts over an entire swathe of the forest moon. A few AT-STs lumbered about, and as Sila watched, one went up in flames as a rocket broadsided it. The Remnant was on the defensive. Sila dropped to the ground, grabbed her rifle, and set up for a few choice shots. She scanned the battlefront, searching for her team, but she couldn't see them at all. "Omega Lead, this is Omega Three. Where are you guys?" She hailed.
"We're in the thick of it, Lieutenant! Stormtroopers on the left! Omega Four, Omega Five, hit that flank! Omega Two, I need that drop shield up now!" As she watched, a blue bubble sprang up almost in the center of the battlefield. Sila steadied her breathing and snapped off a single shot that tore through two Stormtroopers, but more were coming after Omega.
"All units, we have reports of a shield bunker protecting the main complex. Any available units are ordered to divert and neutralize the bunker." Command said.
"Lieutenant, that's you. Get going. We'll be fine." Omega Lead added.
"Sir, I-"
"You heard the Commander. It was an order, and you're an available unit. Get a move on."
"Yes, sir." She begrudgingly got up, slung her rifle over her shoulder and headed to the waypoint that appeared on the HUD of her helmet. She got about three hundred meters out from the base when the ground started to rumble under her feet. She scanned the trees, and froze.
"WALKER INBOUND!" A New Republic trooper shouted just before a huge bang signaled his death.
"Alpha Squad is down! Command, we need strike bombers ASAP!"
"Bravo-Six, this is Gold Leader. Mark the targets."
"Gold Leader, Omega Three. Marking target now!" Sila caught sight of the lumbering walker and pulled out her laser designator, waiting for the laser to transmit coordinates to the Y-Wings. "Target marked. Have a nice day."
"We will when that walker goes down, Lieutenant."
"I hear that."
"ETA: ten seconds. Bombing run initiated." Sure enough, a few seconds later, the whine of the twin ion engines screamed overhead and several proton bombs slammed into the hull of the walker. A rocket slammed into the connector piece between the main body and the 'head' of the walker, and another rocket hit the cockpit. With all of the damage sustained, the walker was still coming at them. It fired its dual turbolasers once and decimated a squad of New Republic troops.
"Gold Lead, that walker is still coming. Can you make another run?" Sila reported.
"Affirmative, Omega Three. Gold Squadron inbound. ETA: twenty seconds."
"Got it."
"That shield bunker is still operational. Gold Squadron, mark the bunker as primary target." Command ordered.
"That's a negative, Ghost Rider. We're dealing with an Imperial walker at the moment."
"An Imperial walker? Affirmative, Gold Lead. Continue on current course."
"Roger, Command." A turbolaser round smacked the ground only a few meters away from Sila, throwing her to the ground and destroying the designator. "Omega Three, we've lost the uplink. What's going on?"
"The walker found me! Designator has been destroyed. You'll have to manually hit the walker."
"That's a tall order, Omega. These bombers do not handle well."
"I thought you were the experts?"
"Now that hurts, Lieutenant. Gold Squadron, form up on me. We're going in the old-fashioned way." The Y-Wings screeched in overhead once again and dropped a second payload on the walker. Several bombs missed the walker, but the majority hit it, and punctured the hull. The head went up in flames, as did the main body.
"Good shot, Gold Squadron!" Sila commed. "Target destroyed!"
"Have a nice day. Command, walker destroyed. Proceeding to primary target."
"Negative, Gold Squadron! Anti-aircraft defenses have been sighted! Break off and return to Home One."
"Affirmative."
"Omega Three, this is Bravo-Six. Are you on your own here?"
"Yes."
"Join up with us for the final push. We could use a good sniper like you."
"Got it."
