Author note: Rest in peace Kenny Baker and Carrie Fisher. You'll always have a special place in the Star Wars universe.
'Killing is No Art'
Day 42-05:33:21
PFC Ion
Joint operation: Free Ryloth Movement/Phoenix Squadron
Imperial labour camp, Germany
Under the cover of night Numa and I, along with a squad of marines including Ethan, landed on Germany to assault the imperial foundry near Hamburg. Right now the team's marksmen are observing the foundry at the edge of the jungle, while the rest of us cleaned up traces of our presence.
"By now they should be loading the first shipments. We've got the green light." The marine commander announced quietly through comms. "Numa, let's go." I said.
It wasn't easy to step through the snow, certainly not with 10 kilos of survival gear and weapons. But we managed to get the hang of it anyway. "Word got out that several students were caught trying to leave Earth to join the rebels, caught by the 501st." Said the commander as we marched in the snow towards the foundry which just appeared in our sights.
"Shit. We should do something. Where are they held?" Numa asked anxiously. "Don't bother. They were executed last night, by a Chiss admiral." The commander sighed. I nearly vomited beneath my mask. I know Thrawn as a master psychologist, but I never knew he was capable of such terrorism. "Executed?...and...no, he's not getting away from this!" I exclaimed, my brain and heart consumed by anger and vengeance.
I felt a pat on my shoulder right after I finished my sentence. "I'm with you, bro." She nodded confidently. I guess I was glad to hear that, but it didn't help me with my sour mood. I'll kill that bastard myself if I get a chance. But if anyone did it before me, I don't think I'll really mind.
"Juggernaut inbound, hit the deck!" Ordered the commander. Immediately I found myself choking on the freezing white flakes piled on the ground. Fortunately I was already numb to the temperature after almost getting cooked on Ryloth, so me and the team stayed in cover just fine.
The Juggernaut tank rumbled past us, sending vibrations towards our direction. I could feel the snowflakes collapsing on my back, but I had to stay prone, until the tank is out of sight.
Moments later we cautiously got back on our feet and paced towards the foundry. I pointed my rifle upright and scanned the entrance for stormtroopers. I had to do it twice, since stormtroopers were extra hard to spot in the snowy land.
"There's the front entrance. Coast is clear. Go!" Numa whispered. "Move it!" Added the commander as the strike team of six sprinted towards the sliding doors of the back entrance, afraid of being spotted by stormtroopers patrolling the area.
But before we could reach the door a squad of stormtroopers appeared out of nowhere and jumped on us. "Shit. Contact!" I exclaimed and returned fire, while the rest of the team dispersed and ducked for cover behind the snow.
I managed to keep my cool and aimed down my sights. I noticed a stormtrooper firing at the marines near the door, but before I could take my shot, a blue laser beam flew past me, and punched a hole in the stormtrooper's helmet.
"Man down, man down!" A marine yelled desperately. I looked up and tried to locate the source of the shouting, while being careful not to be picked off by the imps. "Hold on, I'm coming!" I returned. With no time to waste, I got up on my feet and ran onto the tread of the Juggernaut tank, dodging and lowering my body to keep myself from taking hits.
On the other side of the tread was a stormtrooper crouching behind a lamp, firing single shots at us and forcing the marines to move constantly. I opened up on him, but unfortunately I couldn't do anything but force him to pace sideways and put his focus on me.
After firing several bursts I finally managed to score a hit in his chest. The blast sent him dropping his rifle and flying backwards, and eventually landing on his back. I vaulted over the snow on my left and landed next to the wounded soldier, after picking off another stormtrooper who tried to push forward to us.
"How is he?" I asked, while keeping my attention at the four remaining stormtroopers defending the blast doors. "Extra dent on his helm, he's fine." Reported the marine beside him. I renewed my aim and shot yet another distracted stormtrooper, cutting their numbers to just two men.
We resumed our advance, and gunned down the last of the stormtroopers with overwhelming force. "Plant charges at the door, here and here." The explosive specialist that accompanied us pointed at several weak spots on the doors. "Fire in the hole." He announced after I planted the last detonator I received from Phoenix Squadron on the door.
The edge of the door fizzed and sparkled, and eventually flew back after the charges detonated. The iron sheets landed on the snow, sending it flowing in the air. "Go, go, go!" I shouted as I sprinted around the corner and into the facility. Inside sat an empty juggernaut tank, and crates of miniguns behind it.
My jaws dropped upon the sights of the heavy weapons. This mission was only meant for the electrostaff materials, but now we've got entire tanks to worry about. I couldn't care less about it though, since it wasn't for the Movement but for Phoenix Squadron.
"Commander Sato. There's a Juggernaut tank and some heavy weapons in the foundry. With your permission we'd like to extract it." The commander reported after he caught up with us in the hangar. "Solid copy. New objective. Rescue the slaves. We'll send the liberator and Raptor flight to provide air support. Over." Replied commander Sato.
The sight of molten lava and slave workers pushing carts of batons and staffs appeared in front of me as I sprinted down the ramp behind the tank. I rapidly checked my sectors and headed down the ramp leading to the lower levels of the foundry, where we could find a route with less resistance towards our objective.
"Contact. Weapons free! Go loud!" My adrenaline kicked in as he finished his sentence. Less than 3 meters next to me stood a stormtrooper who only realised our presence after the commander shouted out. I spinned and jabbed him heavily, sending him slamming into the rock wall next to him and falling to his death into the lava ten storeys below.
We might've as well as started a chain reaction. The slaves who were still dragging crates and operating the machines a second ago were now beating up stormtroopers and running for the tank with the help of two fellow marines who went to the lower levels to assist them.
I looked to my left and fired at the riot stormtroopers below me, but not before tuning my DC15S to single-fire to keep myself from killing civilians. Everyone was pretty much on a killing spree at that point, with some mowing down the stormtroopers armed with nothing but electrostaffs, and some like me swiftly moving and shooting our way to the other side of the foundry to intercept the shipment.
We've already covered a quarter of the foundry by the time the imps started using guns against us, and it's giving us a very hard time to get across. I had to switch to full-auto to give the team a chance to stand against the well-trained legion, and it resulted in me accidentally hitting several workers.
"Push forward! We're halfway there!" The commander shouted as I gunned down a fifth stormtrooper firing a floor below me. But when I was about to check the lower levels for more stormtroopers, I felt a sudden scorch on my shoulder. "Target hit...ahh!" My attacker was shot dead before he could fire at me further, by a teal figure with a grey hoodie.
"Thanks Numa. I owe you one." I thanked. "Anytime. I gotta get across. Cover me!" She requested. I glanced ahead and noticed another squad of 501st moving in from the upper levels. "You got it!" I replied and reloaded my DC15, as facing just dozens of 501st has already drained a whole clip. "Firing!" I stated and unloaded on the two squads of stormtroopers jogging towards us.
With the help of the marines, a third of the squad was mowed down by the crossfire. The rest hastily took cover behind the regular bulges on the walls and fired back, forcing me to perform a somersault and slam my back against the wall. "Move move move!" Ethan exclaimed and gunned down another stormtrooper. I tilted my gun and poked it out of my cover, enabling me to cover his movement.
But when I tried to advance I was forced back by an overwhelming barrage of red laser bolts, and I had no choice to stay where I was. I was interrupted when my comlink started beeping. "Phoenix 2, hostile infantry and walkers inbound, AT-ATs and DPs. Recommend you pick up the pace." Advised commander Sato.
"Copy that." I replied as I tossed a thermal detonator behind me, rendering the stormtroopers holing out behind their cover panicking and trampling backwards. But none of which was able to save them from being blown off the platform by the blast.
I ended up making a gap in the middle of the platform where I have to make a left to reach the transport. The commander scanned for an alternative route, after noticing the destruction I caused. "Damn it. There's no way other than rappelling down into that bloody stove. Use your grapple." He ordered. "Numa, cover me. I'm going downstairs!" I stopped firing and attached my grapple to the railing, while Numa fired bursts to the stormtroopers on the same floor to keep them at bay.
I barely made it down to the casting levels without falling into one of the many lava containers. And as I did groans and shouts of fistfights rang behind me, along with bodies of defeated stormtroopers flying past me. "Your turn, Numa! Come on!" I said as I fired a volley of blue laser rounds towards a cart of abandoned minerals, where a stormtrooper was crouching behind it.
"Shit. It's a full house down here! Need a little help!" I shouted after counting the stormtrooper helmets I can see from my position. The foundry was on full alert, and a whole garrison of 501st soldiers were dispatched to stop us. As usual a blue piercing round from a DC15A soared from behind me and took down another stormtrooper, but there were still dozens of them to deal with.
The rest of the assault team touched down and advanced to my position. An unlucky marine went too far, and was shot in his chest, dead. The hell with saving ammo. I thought. Keeping ourselves alive was now the first priority. And with that taking over my head, I fired almost mindlessly into anywhere that had white on it.
I don't think I actually killed anybody, but the enemy fire sure grew thinner, allowing me and Ethan to creep forward and behind another lava container without getting shot at. And as I moved forward behind the container, I spotted a stormtrooper firing at Numa and the surviving marines just around the corner. My instincts finally kicked in, and I stabbed the stormtrooper's heart before he could spot me right next to him.
With an portable cover to use, I put away my carbine rifle and used my sidearm to help me cover more ground. Ethan managed to score a lucky hit on another stormtrooper, and crawled behind me after seeing me holding a body as a shield. "The ship is just up there! Come on!" Numa yelled through her comms, after she fired a salvo to a squad of stormtroopers trying to cut me down, forcing them to duck for cover.
The corpse was filled with black scorches and steaming holes, but it held up no problem. I was killing way faster than before, and so was Ethan. "Good work! Let's get topside! Numa, Calfor, lay down cover fire! Keep them separated!" The commander barked and lead Ethan and the rest of the marines to a cargo lift that goes to the hangar where the Gozanti transport is waiting, while Numa and I hanged back and suppressed the stormtroopers down below.
By the time the commander raised us a quarter of the stormtroopers were cut down by my burst fire and Numa's sniping. It was less efficient that our past mission, but in my defense, those legion troopers weren't even close to a standard stormtrooper's aim, and that alone has cost Sato's squadron a marine's life.
"Get your asses on the lift! Come on!" The commander shouted, while signalling Ethan and Calfor to cover our escape. As the lift went up the foundry we acquired the higher ground, allowing us to move further away from the stormtroopers until we reached the shaft below the transport.
"Phoenix 2, Liberator on station and ready for fire support. Warning, danger close." A gunner on board the CR90 corvette announced as the lift approached the surface, revealing the fuelled and ready Gozanti-class transport parked in the hangar. The guards above noticed our presence, but was ambushed when we fired upon them, killing several stormtroopers and forcing the rest to hide behind crates or anything suitable for cover.
The walkers outside the hangar fired at us, mortally wounding another marine. Its guns trained on me and Numa as we sprinted for the transport's elevator, but before it could fire, a series of sabot rounds landed on its hatch, piercing through its steel armour and transforming it into a fireball.
"Good kill, good kill. Raptor flight, clear the air so we can touch down. Over." Stated the gunner. By then we were already inside the transport, safe from the 501st putting holes on the ship. But as I headed for the cockpit to heat up the engines, a deafening radio interference rang inside my headset and the others' comms, rendering us lying flat on the ground and screaming for help.
After a desperate struggle I finally managed to grab my headset and throw it to the other side of the corridor leading to the pilot seats, and the rest switched off their comlinks before they became deaf. I glanced at the hologram at the bridge's dashboard and noticed a Chiss figure projected from the hologram.
"We meet again, boy." The figure broadcasted in a familiar voice. The same one I heard in the Geonosis factory. "Thrawn. You son of a bitch." I held my fists, ready to smash the hologram if I need to. Thrawn chuckled, in the most evil laugh I've heard. "Rebels. I knew you won't last long in the Movement. And neither will you here." He taunted.
"I thought of what you said to me on Geonosis. And you may be right, but your planet is no place for a naive child like you, or your precious twi'lek friend." At that point my logical sense was consumed by my anger, and without hesitating, I cursed in front of the hologram and shot it with my sidearm.
"Watch your language, soldier." The commander reminded as he returned my headset, now clear of interference from the Empire. Ethan and the commander plopped down on the pilot seats and took the transport to safety, while Numa helped the wounded marine at the back of the ship.
I simply stood behind Ethan, wondering when I could return to my hometown to face Thrawn.