Author note: This chapter is inspired by both 13 Hours and The Raid. In other words, violence. Don't try this at home:).

'A Long, Long Night'

Day 82-22:37:49

Cpl. Ion

Free Ryloth Movement

East Rhovari, Ryloth

The Weequay drew his vibroblade and tried to stab me, but I know just how to stop him. I swiftly paced sideways and caught his arm in my iron grip, and jabbed his face with my elbow covered with a piece of clone armour.

He was almost instantly disorientated, allowing me to knock him off his feet and send him landing on his head. The last Weequay struck me with a machete, and barely missed off my shoulder plate, putting another scratch on it.

I bent my leg and hooked his right, throwing him off balance and allowing me to snap his arm. And with all the rage inside me, I elbowed him in the head, as many times as I could until the other Weequay came round and started assaulting me again.

He launched his fist forward and tried to punch me. I had to do a backflip to dodge, and as I got back on my feet I noticed the machete was now in his hands. He sprinted forward, lifting his arms as high as he can and tried to chop me, but I was faster, and managed to draw my knife and alter his course as he swung the sharp blade down at me.

I renewed my grip on my knife, with its blade now facing downwards. The Weequay gangster swung his blade left and right, scarring my vest and keeping me from whipping out my sidearm and finish him off. I tackled him moments later, and pushed him up against the wall with all my strength. He tried his best to get me off, but it's no use. My clone vest was more than enough to take punches, not to mention when the gangster fighting me was particularly weak.

I shouted out, and threw him over my head, leaving him collapsing to the ground. The Weequay made a last ditch attempt to recover, but unfortunately he met his end when I finished him with my DC15.

It was my turn to me on an adrenaline rush. I hurriedly sprinted down the widely spread stairs, in search of the twi'leks they've already taken.

Sgt. Numa Bril

This is probably even worse than the Clone Wars. Weequays are all over the place, and even worse, I think some of them are wearing Black Sun patches. As much as I trust my skills as a sniper, I can only hold them off for so long. They've already tried taking girls away three times, and I'm starting to think that I've got their attention.

Without warning humans and Zabraks joined the battle. Some of them were obviously bounty hunters who were looking for a servant, while others were no more than goons of the Black Sun simply looking for a payday.

I had to roll myself to the other side of the roof to keep myself from getting hit. Once I made it there I saw a Zabrak merc trying to make a run for the buildings. I rotated my rifle, and fired a single laser round at his back, sending him falling over face first.

I shifted my attention back to the main horde gathered at the east entrance and reset my aim. I pulled down the trigger, and immediately a blue energy bolt ejected from the barrel of my rifle, followed by the burst of blood vessel of a human merc. I repeated on a Zabrak, and scored a direct hit, like the last eleven shots I fired minutes ago.

I noticed a pack of mercs pacing backwards, followed by the rest. One by one the gangsters and goons retreated out of sight, under the heat Ion and I lay on them. I spotted Ion on my scope, and decided to raise him through my conlink. "All clear." I declared as Ion stepped into the crosshairs of my scope. "Affirmative. But they'll be back, make no mistake. Time?" He requested.

"23 hundred. Sharp." I replied and stood up cautiously to stretch. "We better call Gobi, or we're not gonna survive the night." He suggested.

I couldn't agree more. I had to shift my position three times just to kill fifteen of those Black Sun operatives, and I'm starting to wonder if I need to find another rooftop to snipe them if this keeps up. Besides, half the town was already startled by the skirmish. "You're right I should. By the way what's the sitrep down there?" I asked.

"20 plus KIA. They're Black Sun all right. They got Empire weaponry. E-11s, 22s, frags. Do you think the imps are behind all this?" I was staring down my scope when he chimed in. "Doesn't matter. We're getting them off our planet anyway." I replied.

Cpl. Ion

Fifteen minutes has passed since the first wave of kidnappers hit the town. While I was trying to talk some sense into the elders that refused to fall back, Numa was scanning the eastern gate for enemy presence. I couldn't understand a word they're saying, since I never got to learn Twi'leki, and I had to switch positions with Numa.

"Spectre 2-3, this is 2-1." An old but pleasant voice piped up as we hardwired the town's defenses with a few armed farmers. "We're approaching from the north west. Check your fire." Gobi demanded. Shortly after a Gozanti-class transport emerged from the skyline, only it wasn't painted in black with a Black Sun logo on it, it was an imperial variant. And as it hovered down the surface its elevator lowered, revealing a most encouraging sight of a squad of eight commando droids.

"BX clankers reporting for duty. How was life down there?" Xira asked through comms. The droids jumped out, and immediately one of them with a white stripe on its head marched towards me. "What are your orders, sir?" He asked with a dull and seemingly cold voice.

"Primary objective: Defend this town." I turned my volume to make sure the teal sniper could hear me. "Numa! You're the big boss here. Where do you want me to put them?"

She turned at me as the villagers she confronted ran off and disappeared in the distance. "They got dark skin, and the mercs have no idea they're here. Keep them here, but out of plain sight. We'll ambush them." She answered and rushed up the rooftops, where she could make the most out of her skills.

"Harris. Send red alert to Chimera. We gotta hit them with the fighters." I ordered. "Yes sir." My classmate replied. "This is Javelin 0-3 to Chimera station. How copy, over?" He asked after changing frequency of his comms, while still allowing me and Numa to listen to their communication.

I've only been to moon of Chimera once, after Numa and I successfully pulled off an assassin job in Lessu. And believe me, the experience was not as pleasant as Gobi and Xira says. I had to engage in a dogfight for the first time in my life(the one when I first came to Ryloth doesn't count to me), and that alone was enough to give me nightmares, not to mention taking a cruiser in zero gravity. Faylin is now in charge of the moon base up there, with half of my classmates there under her command.

"This is Chimera command. I copy. Send traffic." The other end replied seconds later. "Send red alert to Chimera station. Spectre unit is requesting air support. We need your TIEs airborne. Over." Said Harris. "Copy red alert. Interceptors inbound. Ten minutes max. Out." Returned a battle ready Faylin.

"Get to your stations, people! I think they're coming back!" Gobi ordered moments later, and the droid captain headed to his position, but was stopped when I pulled him by his metallic shoulder. "You watch your fire, there're civilians here. Use stun if you have to, don't risk it." I requested.

"Roger roger." The captain simply replied, and continued to his post.

I was hiding at the rooftops of one of the very few well-constructed dwellings in Rhovari, with its residents now gone and at the other side of the city, near the airfield Numa and I raided sometime ago. The imperials have withdrawn from the city, after Gobi and the newbloods conducted a full-scale assault during Christmas.

Numa has found a new sniping position just two buildings away from her original overwatch. Right now she, and my eyes, are scanning the sand dune cautiously for the Black Sun's retaliation. "Damn it. Who the hell are these guys?" She asked all of a sudden. I could only assume she spotted the second wave of attackers headed to us. "Who the hell is what?" I returned, after seeing nothing in front of me but a big pile of sand.

"What is this? Red Mando armour, heavy armoured troopers, and...oh...oh they're really pissed." She stammered. I peeked out of the short concrete wall, just soon enough to see a repulsor tank and a convoy of twenty speeders slowing down just outside the perimeters of the town. "They're super commandos. Under the command of Gar Saxon." I explained briefly and aimed at one of the red Mandalorians. "I got the one in the middle." I reported.

"I'll take the Falleen on the left. Commandos pick your aim. Don't overlap with ours." Ordered Numa. I pulled down the trigger, and so did the others. After that, all hell broke loose. Falleen troopers and Mandos were all over the place, either dead or firing bursts relentlessly at us, with Weequay speeders running into the city every five seconds.

"Droids, do it now!" I yelled, after I missed a sixth speeder flying past just under my nose. I couldn't tell how the droids were holding up, but from the way the Weequays are screaming, I could guess they'll get the job done, for now. A Falleen caught my attention, and without hesitating I aimed my carbine at his head and fired, sending him pacing backwards with blood coming out of his wound.

But apparently a single DC15 round isn't gonna do anything, other than making them angrier. "These guys got some tough armour!" I commented, possibly encouraging one of the droids to advance and cut down another Zabrak Black Sun operative. It even engaged one of the super commandos in a wrestling fight, but I was too busy to watch it. "No shit. And so does the bloody tank!" Replied Numa desperately.

She managed to cut down another super commando before the tank opened up on us, blowing a hole in one of the improvised buildings a few steps above and leaving a commando droid exposed to fire. Another human mobster targeted the droid, but with the combined force of the droid's weapon and mine, she was forced to fall back and eventually wounded by the droids red laser bolt.

Gobi might be in trouble as well. I suddenly realised. And before I knew it I was raising Gobi and Xira with my comms. "Gobi, sir. We're encountering considerable resistance over here. How's it going on your side?" I asked, but not without increasing my volume due to the clashes and blaster fire around me. "I'm having fun over here. This Z-6 shreds!" He replied excitedly.

I couldn't get the same kind of excitement, however. And neither could Numa. She was already having cramps forcing her elbow against the metal sheets, and having to snipe hordes of Shadow Collective reinforcements certainly wasn't helping. "Watch yourself 2-3. I'm seeing rocket guys from here. Engaging." She said, just before a series of single blue laser shot out from my far right, downing several mercenaries just outside the perimeter.

"Still 100% accuracy, huh?" I teased, in hope of making the battle less of a shitfest. "Nah. More than sixty is enough to please me." She replied. But right there and right then, a rocket flew out of nowhere and landed just below her vantage point, followed by a red laser round, only this time it was headed to the compound right under my feet.

I must've passed out for at least a few minutes. I was half conscious now, with a piece of wood at the size of my thumb lodged into my forearm. I had to pull it out to keep fighting, even though the medical procedures taught by the underground society I used to be in would urge me not to. I pieced together a bandage, with whatever I found inside my medkit, and sprinted out into the open and towards Numa's position.

But as I advanced down to the field a commando droid with grenades strapped on its hips stopped me, and gave me one of his silver balls. "That's a smoke. I'll cover your movement. Ready?" It asked, and I nodded quickly in response, not wanting to lose any more time. I counted to three with my fingers, and tossed the ball right into the middle of the frenzy, leaving it spraying white smoke in all directions.

The commando droid stood up, and fired at the mercs dug in just 30 meters away. I somersaulted halfway and sprinted the rest, while firing covering bursts at the incoming mercs in the process. My wound hurts, but so must Numa's.

I made a beeline for the building she was on, and crouched down once I approached her. She lay on the ground, with debris from the explosion all over her brown and yellow light vest. I really didn't have the room for concerning over private parts right now, since I have no idea where her wounds are or what exactly is the right thing to do.

Without warning something wrapped itself around my neck, and the next thing I know, I was pushed onto the ground, with something as heavy as myself crushing on me. The silhouette on top of me raised its fists was ready to strike. But perhaps it was my face that made it stop.

"What are you doing here?" Asked a familiar feminine voice as the figure lowered its fist and helped me up. "I saw you get hit by a rocket." I replied as a third figure ran its way into the alley I was in. This time a hostile human. "Look out!" I instinctively shouted as the male figure raised his fist and barely missed me by the face.

I returned him by unleashing multiple blows in the stomach with my right elbow. He desperately slammed his free hand on my vest, which only urged me to grab his arm and swing him against a metal sheet wall, leaving a large dent on it.

At last he was finished off when I drew my sidearm and fired two shots in his head. I turned to Numa, who was still trying to step forward without collapsing. I didn't speak to her when I helped her, though, and instead I shouted at my comlink for air support that should've arrived five minutes ago.

But as I made my way out of the maze of narrow alleys a yellow blotch emerged in the distance, and disappeared with more yellow fireballs appearing near it. The sound of TIEs accompanied the symphony of explosions, somehow making me pant in relief. Repainted TIE interceptors joined the battle, along with a squadron of three Weequay saucers.

"Spectre 2-2, this is Javelin 0-2. Did we miss the party?" Asked one of the TIE pilots. "On the contrary you're just on time. We'll help you with the saucers, just everything you got on their ground troops! We're getting torn apart down here!" Numa replied. "Ion take care of yourself. I can still fight." She ordered.

I was hesitant at first, but she outranked me, and in the middle of a deadly fight I didn't see any reason not to trust her instincts. "I'll do it the old fashioned way." She assured and pulled out her DC15 carbine. "All right. Watch yourself." I simply replied and headed to the other side of the battlefield, approaching a pack of Weequays returning to their ship with their 'prize'.

My primary was burned out of ammo and there was no time to reload, and with my aim with a pistol even worse than a stormtrooper, it appears that I'm gonna have to fistfight my way out of this.

I drew my knife and tightened my fists. Somebody's gonna have a very bad day.