Max walked their area, making sure his men stayed alert. He came to where Splint was kneeling over a trooper, one of the recent "kids". Max walked up behind Splint and looked over his shoulder. The trooper's armor had taken a direct hit to the chest. Max himself had taken a hit during the firefight, but it was a glancing shot that bounced off instead of piercing through, yet another reason he liked the Phase II armor.
Max nudged Splint with his rifle, "He going to be okay?"
The medic replied without looking up, "That all depends on if I shoot him for his whining."
"Venting stress aside, Splint, is he going to live."
Splint nodded, "Yeah, he'll live. He'll just have a nasty scar to brag about later on."
Max turned away and was about to go back to the others when his private comm buzzed. He held up his wrist and looked at the incoming frequency. It was Cody. Odd that he was calling on a secured line instead of the command frequency. Max hit the button and Cody's hologram materialized on his arm.
"Lieutenant, orders have come down from highest command. Execute Order 66." The hologram winked out. Max heard an AT-TE main cannon go off in the distance, sounding like thunder accentuating the grave news. This was the moment he'd been dreading for over a year now. Ever since he'd been briefed on Order 66, he had hoped he would never have to carry it out. Order 66 labeled all Jedi as traitors to the Republic and placed a "shoot-to-kill" order on all of them. Max's face went blank behind his helmet. It was the ordered massacre of the Jedi. Even though he didn't want to, Max knew his orders, and knew that he had to carry them out. He walked back to the rest of the platoon. Stec had disappeared and his troopers maintained an alert status.
He opened his comm, "Gammas, let's move. We have new orders. Regroup and follow me." The platoon uprooted from their present position and all took formation behind Max. He hiked them along several hundred meters until they came to a small plaza with a bunch of droids still infesting it. There was a lone Jedi attacking the droids very effectively. Max stopped and silently pointed at the Jedi.
Deuce pushed his way up through the rest to speak with his CO, "Lead, that's a Jedi." Max nodded grimly.
"The Jedi is our target?"
"Yes." Max loaded a fresh power pack into his rifle, "We have orders to shoot to kill."
Deuce stepped in front of Max, "Sir, with all due respect, we can't…"
Max put his rifle to his shoulder and took aim on Deuce's face, "We can't what, trooper? What can't we do?" Everyone took a step back. No one had ever seen the lieutenant and the XO disagree about anything before.
Max lowered his rifle, realizing he was very edgy right now, "We have our orders, soldier. You can either follow them or I can put you down where you stand, but we have our orders." Deuce stood there for a long minute. Even though they were wearing helmets, Max could feel Deuce's gaze piercing into his eyes. Max gave him a solemn nod that conveyed that he didn't like it any more that Deuce did.
Deuce continued to stand for a long moment before responding, "Yes, sir." He stepped aside and took his place in formation. By now, the Jedi had taken out all the droids and was walking up to the platoon to see what was going on. Max raised his rifle again. He heard the soft click of rifles butting against plasteel, normally almost inaudible, but seeming deafeningly loud this time as the rest of the Gammas took aim on the Jedi. The Jedi stopped in his tracks and looked at the soldiers with a shocked expression. Forcing himself to do what he really didn't want to do, Max squeezed the trigger. The Jedi raised his lightsaber to deflect shots away. Max's gun was joined by his unit's guns. The Jedi blocked a lot of bolts, but eventually it became too much for him. One shot hit him and distracted him, allowing each subsequent blaster bolt a way through his guard. He fell to the ground under the Gammas' barrage of fire. When they stopped, the Jedi laid there motionless, smoke pouring from numerous blaster wounds.
Max forced himself to unclench his jaw so he could speak, "Deploy defensive! Secure the area!" He snapped out the orders more agitated then usual. Max walked up to the Jedi's body to make sure they were successful. He could see the burned and blackened skin through the holes in his robes. Yet for all the burned flesh, his face hadn't been touched. It showed the Jedi's surprise at being turned on, his stunned features frozen in time. Max noticed the Jedi had a long thin braid of hair from behind his right ear. He didn't know much about the Jedi, but he had only seen this braid on their younger ones, the apprentices. Max gritted his teeth as he felt the unblinking gaze of the Jedi burning into his very being, boring into his soul.
He turned away and addressed the unit, "Gammas, regroup! We're moving back to our post." The unit complied with his angrily barked orders. The Gammas returned to their position in the hanger and stayed there. Max just sat on a cargo crate away from everyone else, thinking. It was their orders. Orders had to be carried out. The Jedi had been deemed a threat to the Republic and needed to be eliminated. That was the part that Max thought made no sense. As far as he knew, the Jedi had done nothing to deserve being called traitors. In fact, everything he'd seen about them while working with them had shown him that treason was the last thing on their minds. They upheld the ideals of the Republic and championed justice and peace. He even went so far as to say that they were the very heart of the Republic itself. Not the Supreme Chancellor, not the Senate, but the Jedi were the thread that held the fabric of the Republic together. Kill the Jedi, and you kill the Republic's soul.
Max stood up and started walking toward the mouth of the hanger. The problem he faced was that it was his orders to kill the Jedi. Order 66 was very clear in stating that no Jedi is allowed to live should the order be given. Well, the order had been given, but following it just simply could not have felt more wrong. Whether he liked it or not, though, Max was bound to his orders by his duty as a soldier.
Out of the corner of his visor, Max noticed some movement on a landing platform far below. It was the platform where it had been confirmed that Gen. Kenobi had killed Grievous and where Grievous' personal starfighter was still located. Max pulled his electrobinoculars from his belt and focused in on the platform. He saw Kenobi, who Cody thought he had eliminated earlier, running toward the fighter. Max stowed his binoculars and rotated the scope on his rifle around to the top. He knelt down and took aim on the Jedi. He was standing still while he waited for the fighter's cockpit to open. Max had the perfect shot. Orders had to be carried out.
Max's finger twitched on the trigger, but he just could not bring himself to pull it. He took aim again and sighted Kenobi again as he slipped into the cockpit. He tried, but he just could not bring himself to do it. Max lowered his rifle as the starfighter rose from the platform and headed away from the city. He stood and started slowly walking back toward his platoon. He had never disobeyed orders before. He could never get himself to defy the will of the Republic. Why did he find it so easy now? More strangely, why did he feel so good about it? He felt rotten that he'd killed that Jedi, and he felt that somehow he'd made up for it in letting Kenobi go. Max shook his head. He didn't know what to think anymore.
Max approached his unit to find that Stec had rejoined them. He was leaning against the gantry, looking very grim. Max was looking to get his mind off of recent events, so he walked up to the ARC.
Max sat down on the crate next to Stec and set his rifle down, "So where'd you disappear to earlier?"
Stec's answer was a long time coming, "Order 66. I had to put down a Jedi Padawan."
Max grimaced. More of the same thing, and apparently Stec felt just as bad about it. That thought led Max to a question.
"Can I ask you something, Stec?"
The clone shrugged, "Sure. Shoot."
Max rubbed his chest plate about where his charm of moment hung, "How have you felt about your orders before, in the past I mean?"
The question brought Stec's head around to look at him, "I really didn't feel much of anything about orders before. Orders had to be carried out. I, like every other clone trooper, was doing my part to preserve the Republic from the Separatist threat."
Max nodded, "What about now?"
"You want my honest answer or what I'd tell an officer?"
Max raised his eyebrows, "How about what you'd tell an officer first."
"My duty binds me to my orders and I will carry them out without question."
Max nodded at the textbook answer, "And the honest answer?"
Stec scoffed, "Lousy. I've never felt worse about killing someone in my life."
Max's eyes widened. It made him feel better to know that he wasn't alone in how he felt about this mess. He noticed Cody walking up to the unit and stood along with everyone else.
Cody jerked his thumb behind him, "We've found the last Jedi that came with us. I need backup taking him out. Let's go." He turned and started walking, expecting his order to be followed. Thus was the moment of decision. Max now had a choice to make. Was he going to follow his orders despite his conscience, or would he make a bold move?
Max reached out and put his hand in Deuce's chest as he tried to walk by, "We're not doing this."
Deuce looked at Max's hand on his chest, then at Max, "Sir?"
The lieutenant shook his head, "We're not doing this. We're not going to follow this order."
Deuce looked back at the others before leaning in closer, "But, sir, why?"
"Because it's wrong. That's why." He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, "You've got a thing for questioning my orders lately, Deuce."
Stec stood up and put a hand on Max's shoulder, "You do realize what you're doing, right?"
Max nodded solemnly. He may very well have been condemning himself to death, but he probably would have killed himself anyway if he continued to murder Jedi. The Gammas were all looking at him, wondering what he would do. He looked to all of them and slowly shook his head, telling them that they would not be carrying out this order. They all started looking between each other and shifting around nervously. They had every right to kill him where he stood, but Max began to see that his troopers' loyalty wasn't as much to the Republic as it was to him.
Cody turned around mid-stride, "Hey, you guys hear me? I need backup. Let's go."
Max shook his head, "We're not going with you, Cody."
The commander's head jerked back in a startled movement. He slowly looked across the ranks of Gamma platoon until his gaze came back to Max.
"Did I hear you correctly, soldier?"
Max nodded, "Yes, Cody, you heard me. We're not following this order."
Cody shook his head as though he were trying to clear it. He obviously couldn't believe what he was hearing. Max could hardly believe he was saying it. Four years ago, he would have shot himself for even thinking these thoughts. He would have, but that was back when the Republic stood for justice and what was right…
…back when the Republic stood for what the Jedi stand for.
Cody pointed an accusing finger at Max, "You had better explain yourself, soldier. Now!"
"Nothing to explain, sir. For the record, Gamma unit refuses to carry out Order 66."
Cody stormed up to Max and got in his face, "You will carry out this command, trooper. We have our orders."
Max took a step forward, putting Cody on the defensive, "Our orders are wrong, Cody."
"The Jedi are traitors to the Republic. That must be eliminated."
"What proof says they're traitors?" Max let the silence linger before continuing, "The Jedi have done nothing to deserve that title. All of the Jedi you and I have served with have done nothing but help the Republic time and time again. They have led us into battle, fought beside us, died beside us because they believe in the Republic. They believe in everything the Republic once stood for. It's the government-sanctioned slaughter of the Jedi, nothing more. Our orders are wrong," Max poked his finger into Cody's chest, "And you know it, Cody."
Cody stood there fuming, not really knowing how to come back to Max's arguments. He leaned in toward Max and his tone dropped to something akin to a low snarl.
"If you're going through with this, I had better not catch you on that Star Destroyer, mister."
Max nodded to him gruffly, "You won't."
Cody took a step back, "By all rights, I should gun you down where you stand, Max."
Max leaned into Cody's face and mimicked his tone, "Then you'd better be ready to shoot a fellow soldier in the back." Max turned away from Cody and started walking toward the mouth of the hanger, the rest of the Gammas following suit. Cody raised his rifle and took aim at center of mass between Max's shoulder blades.
Stec walked over and wrenched the rifle out of Cody's hands, "We've sold enough of our honor down the black hole already, commander. We're not going to sell any more by killing our brothers in cold blood." Cody looked at him, then watched Max and his unit walk away. He shook his head. Orders had to be carried out.
Max keyed his comm, "Flip, you copy?"
"Loud and clear, Lead."
"Lock onto my coordinates for immediate evac. We're getting out of here."
There was a long pause on the line, "Sir, the evac signal hasn't been called yet."
Max nodded, "I know. Just come and get us. I'll explain in person." By the time the platoon had arrived at the mouth of the hanger, the gunships were setting down. Flip left control of his gunship to his copilot while Max took him aside to explain the situation. Though unsure of what to do next, Flip and the other three pilots fully supported Max's decision. The Gammas all piled into the gunships and took off away from the city.
Flip leaned back from the cockpit, "Where are we headed, sir?"
Max thought for a long moment. They couldn't go back to any of the Star Destroyers. They would be shot on sight for deserting if any of them showed their faces there. He had to think of some place they could stay while they looked for a way off this planet.
"Are there any other Utapauan cities nearby?"
Flip looked at his console and made some adjustments, "There's a small settlement about a hundred twenty clicks north northwest of here."
Max nodded, "Good as anything at this point. Hopefully, we can stay there until we find a way off this planet." Flip nodded and turned the gunship toward the proper heading with the second gunship following. Max thought while they were in flight. He had a lot to worry about now. Before, the Republic had provided everything they needed. Food, shelter, ammo, weapons, ships, parts, all of it Max had to find a way to acquire without the aid of the Republic now. At the moment, his concern was finding them a safe place to land. They had slept out in the open before, and the gunships had some basic survival supplies they could break into for meals for a couple of days. Right now, he had to find a place to set down and make plans for their new lives apart from the Republic.
"We're coming up on the settlement, Lead." Max made his way to the door and opened it. He leaned out and looked forward. The settlement wasn't entirely built into a sinkhole like Pau City had been. It consisted of a smattering of buildings set up within the eastern wall of the sinkhole, mostly collected around a large tower on the edge. Max stood up and leaned over Flip's shoulder.
He pointed toward the base of the tower, "Put down on that pad there." Flip did as he was ordered and maneuvered toward the landing pad. He swung the gunship in low and brought it to hover over the pad. After gently setting down, Max stepped out the door. Their presence there hadn't seemed to have stirred any attention yet.
Max turned back toward his men who were peeking out of the gunship, "You two, you're with me. The rest of you, hop out and look around. See if you can find the guy in charge around here." The two soldiers Max pointed out joined him and flanked him as he walked. The rest of the unit spread out and started looking around. Max followed a thin path downward toward the base of the tower. When he reached the bottom, he was greeted by several Pau'ans in formal dress, very possibly the people he was looking for.
The lead Pau'an stepped forward and bowed to him, "I am Sarok Rovak, governor of the Tangris Spaceport. How may we be of assistance to you, soldier?"
Max removed his helmet and returned the bow, "Greetings. I'm…" he choked over his next words. He wasn't with the Republic anymore, so using his designator number would have little meaning now. Thankfully to the Jedi, he had another name he could go by.
"…Max. My men and I are in need of a place to stay for a while. Do you have any empty warehouses or abandoned homes we could use for a few days? It would just be until we find passage off world."
The governor looked to one of his aids briefly, then back at Max, "I was unaware that the Republic was quartering its soldiers in civilian homes now."
Max winced, "Well…My men and I…We're not with the Republic anymore."
The Pau'an took a step back, "Unthinkable. Clone soldiers who have left the Republic? I've never heard of such a thing."
Max nodded grimly, "Yes. We were forced to desert. Long story. But back to my question. Do you have any place we can stay?" Max thought for a moment and remembered something he had forgotten earlier, "We don't have any money, but we will repay you for use of your facilities…somehow."
The governor looked like he was thinking for a minute. He smiled when it looked like he came up with an idea.
"You are independent soldiers now, yes?"
Max shrugged, "Well, yeah, I guess that's what you could call us."
Governor Rovak motioned for Max to walk with him. Max looked to his men and jerked his head back toward the gunships. As they left to join the others, Max began walking with the governor.
"There is a small matter that perhaps you can help us with. You see, we are a small establishment, barely four hundred citizens, and our security forces are minimal at best."
Max nodded, "What are you getting at?"
The Pau'an smiled, "Straight to the point, just like a soldier. I like that. My point, there is a small pirate base nearby that has been causing no end of trouble for our incoming and outgoing ships. We don't have enough soldiers of our own to deal with the problem and we're too far away from any other settlements to easily request their help."
Max nodded slowly as the pieces came together, "And you want us to deal with them for you. Is that right?"
The Pau'an official stopped walking and turned to face him, "You would be giving us such a great service. We will pay you handsomely for your efforts, not just in housing, but credits, as well. And more should you accomplish something else for us."
Max raised his eyebrows, "And that being?"
"We lost an extremely valuable shipment of hyperdrive motivators in the last raid. If you can get those back for us, we'll gladly pay you double what the shipment is worth."
Max's eyes widened and he saw credit signs. He didn't know much about starship parts, but he did know that hyperdrive components were usually on the higher end of the price range.
Max nodded to Governor Rovak, "We'll get underway immediately."
The governor bowed to Max, "Your haste in dealing with this matter would be most appreciated." Max returned the bow and turned to head back to the landing platform. He donned his helmet and keyed his comm to Deuce's frequency.
"Deuce, this is Lead. Come back."
"Deuce here. What's up, Lead?"
"Gather everyone into the gunships and be ready to dust off by the time I get there."
"So we're pulling out of here?"
Max smiled, "Better. We have a mission. I'll explain when I get there. Lead out."
Max got to the landing pad to find Deuce waiting for him at the top of the path and all of his men packed into the gunships. When Max explained the situation to Deuce, he really didn't know what to make of it.
Deuce scratched the top of his helmet, "I still don't get it. These are orders that we don't have to follow if we don't want to?" Obviously, the concept of a paid job was as foreign to him as it was to Max.
Max nodded, "We're not doing this out of duty anymore, Deuce. I think those days are gone. If we do this, we'll be rewarded with a sum of money, and more." Max put a hand on Deuce's shoulder, "We really are on our own now, Deuce. No one has command over us now, not even the Republic. Now, we have a choice of whether or not we take a mission. If we help these people out, they'll help us out in return." Deuce shook his head, still not quite grasping it, "I know it's a lot to take in, but just trust me for now. Let's go." The two climbed into their respective gunships and dusted off. Max personally contacted the spaceport communication center to get the location of the pirate base. He sent the coordinates to Flip and he vectored them toward the area. A five-minute flight later, a small facility came into view.
Max leaned over Flip's shoulder, "That it there?"
Flip looked over his console, "It's not in any Republic registry, so I'd say we found it." Max moved to the door and leaned out to get a good look at the target area. He pulled out his electrobinoculars and panned them across the base. There were some basic defenses, a couple of turrets scattered around the perimeter and a large AA turret on the roof of the larger building. Max could see pirates all around the base, apparently unaware of a pair of ex-Republic gunships inbound to ruin their day.
Max lowered his binoculars and opened his unit-wide channel, "Listen up, Gammas. We are rapidly closing on our objective, a pirate base that's been harassing the local spaceport. If we take it out, the spaceport will reward our efforts. We're going to knock down the pirates and search the base. Stand by for hot drop. Lead out." He went back to leaning over Flip's shoulder, "Smoke that turret and pull the rest of the base's teeth."
Flip nodded, "Roger that." He opened a channel to the other pilots, "AA turret up ahead. Wild Mynock attack pattern. Go." Flip pushed the throttle and accelerated the gunship toward the turret, letting the other gunship fall behind. As they closed on the base, it suddenly came alive with activity. The pirates started running every which direction and the base's turrets started to come online. The AA turret turned to track the gunship and opened up with a burst of heavy laser fire. Flip jerked the yoke and threw the gunship sideways through the air. The laser blasts missing by several meters. He vectored straight toward the turret and began an evasive pattern of maneuvers to avoid its fire. Within about four hundred meters, he pulled back and the stick and away from the turret. As they flew over it, Max heard a pair of explosions and looked out the door to see that the second gunship had successfully eliminated the turret with precision rocket fire. The Wild Mynock attack pattern was when one gunship drew the AA fire from the target while the other hung back and took out the source.
Max leaned over toward Flip, "Be sparing with the rockets. We can't replace them that easily anymore."
Flip pulled the gunship around in a tight turn and came at the base with a pair of ground turrets at an angle. The ball turret gunner on that side unleashed a series of beam shots that carved one turret to pieces and heavily damaged the other. Flip vectored toward another turret and fired the forward cannons. They were anti-personnel guns, but they were powerful, and sustained fire could knock out light vehicles. The green laser fire spackled against the base of the turret and sparks shot from different points before it exploded. Flip turned aside and let a ball turret finish it off.
Max looked around over the base as they shot by. All but one ground turret was gone, and Deuce's gunship was in the process of remedying that. He identified a good landing spot and pointed it out to Flip. He silently nodded and vectored around toward it. He brought the gunship to hover over the area and started a slow spin as they descended. The spin allowed the ball turret gunners to knock out threats and clear the LZ for the troops. They came within a meter of the pavement and Max jumped out with rifle ready, quickly followed by the rapid deployment of the rest of his group. He crouched to one knee and took aim on a group of pirates with rifles who were running their way. He squeezed off a three round burst and landed it squarely in the lead pirate's chest, dropping him dead on the ground. As two more fell to the other Gammas' fire, the group stopped and looked at their fallen comrades. They hesitated before moving to a large crate for cover. Max had to remind himself that these pirates were living targets. They could be cunning and adaptive, but that also means they were subject to other things such as fear and panic. Droids wouldn't break under fire, but these pirates might.
He looked back at 89, "Con, give me a thermal behind that position." The demo expert pulled the grenade and tossed it, landing it with practiced accuracy less then a meter behind the pirates' position. The explosive went off and took out the rest of the group. The remainder of the platoon had landed by now and the gunships were providing close air support. They secured the landing area and moved across the tarmac to clear out the rest of the pirates who hadn't taken shelter in one of the buildings. As they progressed across the tarmac, Max looked toward the ships on the pads. There were six fighters on the landing pads, probably waiting to attack the next luckless freighter. One of the fighters had a pirate in the cockpit and was powering up.
Max looked to Snipes and pointed at the fighter, "Snipes, put him down." The sniper knelt down and put his rifle to his shoulder. He zeroed his aim on the pirate's head as the canopy was closing. Several laser blasts flew within centimeters of Snipes' head as he took aim, but he didn't flinch. He squeezed the trigger and slid the bright beam through the six centimeter gap between the canopy and the seal. The pirate slumped down in the seat, a precise hole shot through his neck.
Max looked at the rest of the unit, "Second squad, secure this area. Third and fourth squads, clean out those buildings. First squad, with me." He took off toward a cargo loading area. If that shipment of hyperdrive motivators was anywhere on this base, this would be the first place to start looking. Unfortunately, the two segmented rows of stacked crates made the area rife for an ambush. Max and first squad proceeded down the lane at a cautious pace. They checked every direction at the intersections and moved in a backs-in circle to cover their six. As they came to one intersection, suddenly a pair of grenades was tossed into the middle from both left and right.
"Fall back!" Max turned and dove as the grenades exploded where he'd just been. He rolled over onto his back with rifle ready to see about a dozen pirates coming from the left and right lanes. He raised his rifle and snapshot one in the face before rolling to one side as a series of blaster bolts speckled the ground where he was just laying. Hype helped Max to his feet while the others provided cover. With concentrated fire, first squad took out all twelve pirates without serious casualty. They investigated the rest of the area and made sure it was secure before Max had them start searching crates.
Max looked at his arm console, "The crate's serial number is 114432785687. Find me that crate on the double." Max's comm buzzed with Deuce's frequency and he answered it.
"Lead, we've secured the structures. All pirates confirmed eliminated."
Max nodded, "Any casualties?"
"52 lost a bicep cuff off his armor to blaster fire, but no injury. Other than that, nothing."
"Copy that. Have the crypts start scouring all the computers for anything useful. If they have anything that will be of use in the future, I want it. And have them check the supply logs, too. I want to get all the weapons and ammo we can fit into the gunships."
"Yes, sir."
"Uh, sir? I think you want to see this." Hype got Max's attention from behind him.
Max turned and walked to the crate Hype was looking in. He checked the number on the side and found that it matched the serial number he'd been given.
"Well, what is it, Hype?" Max answered his own question when he looked into the crate. The shipment of hyperdrive motivators wasn't just any shipment. These units were brand spanking new and looked high end.
Max pointed into the crate and looked at his chief crypt, "You know how much these are worth by chance?"
Hype just stared into the crate, "I don't know numbers, but I can tell these are Class 1's. Very pricey."
Max smiled, "Well, it looks like we just netted ourselves a fairly large sum of credits."
Hype finally looked at Max, "Sir, this is only one crate."
Max furrowed his brow, "What do you mean 'one crate'?"
Hype motioned to the row of crates, "I've checked this whole row, sir. This is one of ten crates. That's a shipment number, not a crate number."
Max's jaw dropped. They just found ten crates of hyperdrive motivators, all of them top of the line with a price tag to match, and the Tangris governor was paying them twice what the shipment was worth. Max felt light-headed and staggered as the thought of all that money swirled around in his head. Not to mention, the Gammas had just killed off the owners of this entire base. Anything they wanted, ships, weapons, parts, ammo, was theirs for the taking. He leaned on the crate to regain his balance. The thought of going from dirt-floor broke to king's-ransom rich was a lot to take in at once.
Max choked on his words for a minute before he could speak, "Call Flip. Get him over here right away." After Hype made the call, Flip brought the gunship to hover over the lane where the motivators were and lowered the winch. The gunships and first squad started the slow but worthwhile process of loading and transporting the crates of motivators back to the spaceport. Max walked out of the cargo loading area shaking his head. He liked the idea of all the money, but it was just too easy. These pirates were barely trained and posed almost no threat or challenge. Half the time, they panicked when they saw a few men die. Max almost felt sorry for the poor sods they'd just sent to meet their makers. Almost.
When Max noticed Deuce walking toward him, he met him in the middle and returned his salute. Even though Max couldn't see his face, he could hear through the speakers that Deuce was smiling.
"Sir, I have some very good new for you."
"Well, spit it out, soldier. I'm all ears for good news."
Deuce started walking and Max fell in step, "I think I could explain best if I showed you. This way." He brought Max to the landing pads and pointed out the ships that were sitting there.
"These pirates may have been lousy at fighting, but they had some darn good engineers. This was their primary ship. She's a Gozanti Cruiser, but she's anything but stock. They've removed about fifty tons of cargo space to make room for a spacious hanger, which allows those Cutlass-9's to operate from her as well as other ships. From what Sparks has seen, he thinks they wired the whole thing up from stem to stern with a specialized automation system that reduces the minimum crew to about three. To sweeten the deal, they've added nine pairs of heavy laser cannons across the ship, three turbolaser batteries located fore, starboard, and port, three quad cannon turrets dorsal and ventral, and a proton torpedo launcher in the bow. Not to mention they moved the sensor array into the bow, added a high-rate military grade shield system, reinforced the hull with armor and internal supports, and completely replaced the engines with salvaged Acclamator engines." Deuce crossed his arms as he looked at the ship, "She's a beast."
Max nodded at the litany of upgrades the vessel had undergone. No doubt, they were highly illegal, but then so were the Gammas themselves, so that really didn't matter.
"What did they call her?"
Max heard a suppressed snicker in Deuce's reply, "The Lady's Nerf Herder."
Max lifted his helmet slightly and bit his knuckle to keep from laughing. It was no small wonder they needed all that firepower, because the name certainly wasn't threatening.
"Well, that'll be the first thing to go." He pointed to the fighters, "What about them?"
Deuce turned to face the fighters, "Six Cutlass-9 patrol fighters, also highly modified. The two stock cannons have been replaced with four more powerful cannons. The shields have been rewired to include low-output power boosters. To top it all off, the proton torpedo launchers have been…'fiddled with' to increase their capacity by two torpedoes each. They're a little slower than your average Cutlass-9, but that's due to the extra mass. Fairly impressive for a bunch of thugs, I'd say."
Max nodded at the notable engineering and looked at his XO, "And it's all ours for the taking."
Max could tell there was a big beaming grin behind Deuce's faceplate, "Yes, sir."
He looked at the cargo ship turned assault cruiser. As he thought about any possible use for the vessel, plans for their new lives began to take shape in his mind.
"Got a question for you, Deuce."
Deuce shrugged, "Shoot."
Max looked at him, "How do you feel about the title 'mercenary'?"
Deuce looked at his CO quizzically, "I don't quite follow, sir."
Max turned to face him, "Think about it, Deuce. The governor of Tangris is about to drop a healthy chunk of change in our laps. We don't have the support of the Republic to give us what we need anymore, so we need to fend for ourselves and find some means of livelihood. The only thing we know is how to be soldiers, so why not put that to good use. I know for a fact that there's a market for professional soldiers out there. Who better than us?"
Deuce crossed his arms and cocked his head, "So instead of fighting for the Republic, we fight for money? That's a little low, don't you think?"
Max shrugged, "It worked for Fett."
Deuce lowered his gaze and thought for a minute. After what felt like a long time, he looked up at Max.
"We'll need a name."
Max furrowed his brow, "I think we'll have to use our old one until we can think of something better."
"The Gammas." Deuce rolled it all around in his head, "It'll work."
Max clapped Deuce on the shoulder, "The galaxy will never know what hit it. Get Flip back here. I have a meeting with a very rich governor."
Max hitched a ride on the next gunship that was headed to the spaceport with another crate of hyperdrive motivators. When he met the governor, he thanked Max up and down for removing the threat of the pirates. Since the Gammas didn't have their own spending account, the Pau'ans paid them with a large box loaded full of credit chips. Max thanked them for the reward and made a mental note to get a spending account to stash it all in. In the meantime, he had plans for this money. He would need to buy food to feed his soldiers for several months, additional rockets for the gunships, ammo for their weapons, along with a myriad of other things. The Gammas could stay at the former pirate base until they were ready to take their new ship and leave the system. He knew he would have to put some thought into a new permanent home base, somewhere preferably where the Republic, or the Empire as it was now, couldn't find them. Max loaded the box of credit chips onto the gunship and sat down in the seat next to it. He opened the box and picked up one of the chips, working it around in his fingers. For their new lives as mercenaries and soldiers for hire, they were off to a good start.
Max hopped off the gunship when he arrived and went into the ship. He stepped up the boarding ramp to find his engineers, pilots, and several soldiers hard at work prepping the ship to leave. He stepped in and brought the box to the bridge. When he arrived at the bridge, Max found Sparks, his lead engineer, running around like his hair was on fire. Max set the box down and leaned over Sparks' shoulder when he was sitting still.
"So, will she fly?"
Sparks looked up at Max with a start and went back to what he was doing, "Oh, she'll fly. Only problem is figuring out how. These pirates have a specialized remote automation system that cuts down crew requirements, but it means I have to figure out what systems are wired to do what." A spark shot from the panel he was working on and he cursed, "Right now, I just need to figure out how to get the main start up sequence going."
Max shifted his weight and leaned on a bulkhead behind him. His back slid down on the metal until it hit something. Max looked behind him to see that he was hitting buttons. He turned and looked at a large green button that looked out of place. He pressed the button, which depressed with a loud snap. The panel he was looking at started to light up. Max looked around the bridge as consoles activated and lights came on.
Sparks looked around as everything started up, then to Max, "Hey, what'd you do?"
Max motioned to the panel behind him, "I just pressed this button on this console."
Sparks stood up and walked over to the console, "There's a whole other panel back here? That's why I couldn't start it up." He moved and checked several other panels, "We're good to go whenever you are, sir."
Max nodded, "Excellent." He keyed in Deuce's frequency, "Deuce, come back."
"You got me, Lead. What's up?"
"Have everyone start loading whatever the hold can carry into the ship. Whatever we can't use, we can sell. We're going to be ready to go soon." Max and Deuce spent the next several hours monitoring everything that was being loaded into the ship's hold. Max made sure the fighters and gunships were brought to the hanger while Deuce determined what cargo they could and couldn't use. It was well into the night by the time everything was loaded up and the Gammas were all exhausted from a day of fighting and working.
Deuce came up beside Max as the Gammas piled into their new ship, "You got a new name for her yet, sir?"
Max thought for a moment. He hadn't really been putting much thought into it. A name did come to his mind, and Max liked it for how applicable it was.
"The Renegade."
Deuce nodded, "Renegade, huh? I like it. Has a nice ring to it."
Max walked into the bridge to find a pair of pilots and several engineers manning all the stations. Max removed his helmet and set it on a nearby console before moving to the seat in the center of the bridge. He took the seat and looked down at Flip in one of the pilot's seats.
"You think you can handle this bucket?"
Flip regarded Max over his shoulder, "It's not quite as maneuverable as what I'm used to, but I'll adjust."
Max took a deep breath and let it out, "Then give her some power and lift off."
Flip powered up the engines and pushed the throttle bars forward. A low rumble could be felt throughout the ship as it began to rise into the air. Once the landing gear was retracted, Flip gave it some more throttle and picked up speed. They circled the pirate base and prepared to angle out of the area when Max got an idea.
"Prep the weapon systems."
The trooper at the weapons console flipped some switches before responding, "Weapons online, sir."
Max nodded toward the pirate base, "Fire on those buildings. We need to finish the job of removing this base, and I want to see how sharp her teeth are."
Max's order was rewarded with seeing the fore turbolaser battery open up on the closest building. The powerful blast slammed into the base of the structure and collapse one corner. The quad cannons joined the turbolaser and started knocking off chunks of the building. Within moments, the building was reduced to rubble. The process was repeated on the other structure with more efficiency as the trooper got the hang of the weapon system. They leveled both buildings, leaving a smoking pile of debris and rubble in their places.
Max nodded, very satisfied at what he'd seen, "I like her. All right, Flip. Get us out of here." Flip nodded and broke their circle around what was left of the base. He vectored the cruiser away and gently angled her up toward space. Within a short time, the atmosphere disappeared and the stars shone brightly in the forward viewports. Max looked around at his men. This time yesterday, they were faithful soldiers of the Republic, willing to lay down their lives for a cause they had no stake in. Today, they were soldiers of fortune, dogs of war who would fight for whoever could provide them payment in return. It wasn't much, but it was something, and it was a far shot better than serving an Empire that boasted the destruction of the Jedi as its crowning achievement. Max sat back in his seat, satisfied with the decision he'd made and proud of his men for the stance they'd taken with him, but it still wasn't quite enough. Max stood from the chair and left the bridge to make preparations for something that would finalize this choice they had made.