Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Location: Hyperspace – In Route to Christophsis
Din and his team meticulously checked their armor and weapons. They were twenty minutes from their drop out from hyperspace.
"Okay, we'll do this one by the numbers. The heavy lift shuttles will each land a company sized Stormtrooper element around the perimeter of the compound to secure it. We'll land on top of the structure and use breaching charges to make our entrance", Din said. Once we've breached, we'll split up into pre-designated pairs and start clearing the facility. The Stormtroopers will enter from the sides of the building, so if you get in trouble request backup from them. No heroics on this one."
"That includes you too, Commander", Wedge quipped earning a chuckle from the rest of the squadron.
"Stay sharp and remember that we're here to eliminate resistance. The more munitions and weapons intelligence can get their hands on the better idea we'll have on how much weapons the Slaver Confederacy has at their disposal", Din continued.
His team responded with various acknowledgments.
They shouldered their weapons and made their way to the hanger bay.
They loaded up in a transport craft which was not unlike the Low Altitude Assault Transport crafts that Clone Troopers utilized in the Clone Wars. This variant had space fairing capabilities enabling it to drop from a Star Destroyer or other carrier class starships and proceed directly to the target objective.
The crew chief closed both side doors of the craft and the gunners battened down the hatches on their gun ports. Another transport beside them was outfitted with heavy weapons giving Din's team more fire support capabilities.
Din felt the vibration of the Star Destroyer as it transitioned to normal space and overheard the pilot of the craft, "Okay, dropping in five, four, three, two, one…"
The craft was released from its docking clamps and plunged out of the Destroyer's main hanger and towards the planet. Din looked out the transpirsteal window of the left side door and saw the heavy lift transports dropping out of the other Star Destroyers.
The team was relaxed as they mentally prepared themselves for the adrenaline of combat.
The craft burned through the upper layers of the planet's atmosphere.
"Two minutes until target", the pilot called back. The crew chief opened the side doors of the craft and wind raced into both sides.
The team members helped each other up from a sitting to crouching position as they braced themselves to jump out onto the roof of the facility.
They secured their helmets over their heads and flipped the safeties on their rifles off. Since this was a close quarters operation, they all carried the E-11 blaster rifles in addition to a variety of blaster pistols and had combat knives and grenades secured to vests over their body armor.
"Landing", the pilot told them over their helmet coms.
The squadron leapt out onto the roof. They sprinted to the top entrance of the building and Derek placed a breaching charge while the team stacked up to the side.
Derek looked at Din who nodded and Derek blew the charge causing the door to fly in.
The team ran down the steps, weapons at the ready and began to split off in their pairs to begin their work.
Tycho followed Din as they quickly walked across a catwalk, both scanning for targets to engage.
An armed combative ran up the catwalk from a staircase, blaster at the ready. Din fired two shots, striking the man in the head. He felt nothing for the dead man, he was the enemy and it was either his life or Din's.
The sound of additional blaster fire started to echo throughout the facility as Dagger Squadron began to engage targets.
Tycho and Din carefully maneuvered down the staircase and into isles of large crates.
There was blaster fire to their rear and Tycho turned around and began to engage the enemy while Din covered their front.
Their hearts pounded from adrenaline as they operated in the close quarters.
Tycho eliminated the threat and the pair continued forward when an enemy leapt from a shipping crate and tackled him to the ground.
Din turned to help his teammate when out of the corner of his eye he saw the tip of a large machete as it swung towards his head. He dodged the attack and attempted to bring his rifle up to engage the target, but he was too close.
With his right hand he threw the rifle behind his back on its sling and held his left forearm up to block another swing. The clang of the sharp metal against his armor reverberated in the isle.
Tycho was having a hard time himself as the combatant tried to wrestle Tycho's rifle away from him.
Din landed a blow to his target's head which caused the attacker to be momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered which left Din to blocking swing after swing with his armor.
This guy must be on a stimulant, Din thought as he desperately tried to gain control of the situation.
He managed to shove the attacker away and in the blink of an eye, drew his blaster pistol out of its holster and quickly fired three shots into his target. He spun around and saw Tycho as he continued to wrestle with his opponent.
Din fired two shots into the back of the man and pulled the now lifeless corpse off Tycho and grabbed his hand and yanked him up.
"Thanks, boss. He came out of nowhere", Tycho said out of breath from the fight.
"I know, I had my hands full too. Let's shake it off and keep going, we have a lot of work to do", Din replied as he tried to catch his own breath.
The two brought their rifles up at the ready and continued to clear the warehouse, now extra cautious that a threat could come from above.
They reached the midsection of the warehouse and saw a cluster of combatants attempting to pry open a container.
Din took a smoke grenade and threw it in the center of the gaggle of opponents. It went off and filled the area with a thick cloud of smoke.
Din and Tycho's helmets automatically switched over to thermal vision and the two began to fire into them, their screams muffled by the sound of the blaster rifles as they filed in quick succession.
They moved into the pile of dead men and began to kick their weapons away. The container they were attempting to open was partially open. Din peered inside.
He quickly keyed his coms, "All Dagger units and Stormtroopers, this is Dagger One. Be advised that we have discovered a cache of explosives in the center of the compound that were in the process of being accessed by enemy combatants. Assume that there are additional crates and if you discover any that have been armed, call it out over the coms and get out of the building."
Din and his teammate placed the lid on the container and reengaged the locking mechanism securing the explosives.
They resumed their combat stance and continued to move through the compound.
"All units, this is Dagger Two. I have identified an armed explosive on the south support beam of the structure. It's set on a two-minute timer", Wedge yelled over the sound of the intense firefight inside of the compound.
"Wedge mark your location with a strobe and get the hell out", Din commanded. Din and Tycho raced towards the south side of the facility and encountered a fireteam of Stormtroopers.
"Tycho, link up with this fireteam and get them out of the building", Din commanded.
"What about you, Sir?" Tycho responded.
"I'm going to try and get that fuse disabled", Din yelled back.
"What the hell was that about no heroics, Din", Tycho said. "If this place goes up, all the munitions are going to start cooking off, you need to get out of here too."
"I'm going to assess the situation and respond as it develops, now get out of here", Din said and then sprinted towards the southside of the building. He didn't have any time to argue his intentions.
He killed a combatant that was trying to flee and ran to the strobe that Wedge had placed and quickly looked at the detonation mechanism of the explosive.
Shit, he thought. The detonation mechanism had multiple failsafe wires linked to the explosive. Disarming it would be near impossible in the short amount of time.
"Dammit, Din", he heard over the coms. "Tycho said you're still in the building, I already checked the firing mechanism, you can't disarm it."
"I see that now, Wedge. I'm moving to exfiltrate the building. Get everyone to take cover, this one is going to be big", Din responded. He uncharacteristically started to panic as he realized how illy thought his actions were.
He sprinted as he tried to find an exit. He was running out of time.
Din couldn't locate an exit and swore to himself.
He quickly yanked out a breaching charge from his vest and set the four explosives in a door pattern on the wall. He silently prayed the wall was thin enough for the breaching charge to cut through otherwise he'd be dead in well under a minute.
He backed to the side and detonated the charge. The breaching charge blew a neat rectangle out of the wall.
Din leapt through it and over the debris it caused and began to sprint to the tree line.
Suddenly, the explosive blew which caused a chain reaction throughout the entire facility.
Within seconds a shockwave formed and threw Din to the ground. He could feel the intense heat of the explosion through his armor and pressure suit.
He placed his hands on the back of his neck as he attempted to shield himself from additional explosions that were cooking off from the initial blast.
The roar of explosions and the ensuing fire was deafening, and he began to crawl away to the burning tree line.
Thoughts of Leia raced through his mind. Keep going, he told himself. Survive this.
He reached the tree line and no longer felt the concussions of the secondary explosions but heard them continue to detonate.
He rolled over on his back and sat up as he took inventory of his condition. He felt a burning sensation from areas of his exposed pressure suit and knew his suit was overheating. He stood up and began to limp across the tree line as a roaring fire developed.
"Din, do you copy? You better have made it out of there, you son of a bitch", Wedge called out.
"I'm out… I'm getting a little cooked. What's everyone's status?", Din asked. A landing zone in his field of vision.
"The team is alright, just some minor injuries. The Stormtroopers have four KIA and various injuries. We're setting up a triage point on the westside. No sign of enemy, but security is set", Wedge replied.
"Understood. Continue to secure the area, I'm walking to your location. Once the fires die down, let's get the intelligence crew down here to analyze anything left over", Din said. "I'd say mission success, but we need to try and get whatever we can."
"I've already sent the order out, will see you in a few", Wedge said.
Din continued to limp towards the landing zone. He saw Stormtroopers posted for security. Adrenaline was still pounding in his head from the blast.
"Friendly coming in from the west, do not fire", he called out over the main frequency.
Din saw his team huddled around a fallen tree. He sat down on the trunk near them and took his helmet off. His team glanced at him and resumed their quiet discussion.
Wedge walked up to him. "Din, do we need to have a conversation?" He asked in a deadly quiet tone. He was fed up with Din's risky behavior.
Din shook his head. "I wasn't trying to be an individual on that one Wedge, you know I have bomb disposal training. I was just trying to secure the building."
"Without knowing if there weren't additional explosives set?" Wedge countered.
Din was too exhausted and shook up to have an argument. "You're right, Wedge. I screwed up on that one."
Wedge nodded. "Just remember, you're not by yourself anymore", he said quietly. "The job has risks, but you've got someone back home that isn't going to understand if you make another bad bet."
With that, Wedge walked off to leave Din to his own thoughts.
I'm sorry, Leia. I'll think better next time, he thought. The gravity of the situation set in full as he realized he almost broke the heart of the woman he had secretly begun to love.