"You wanted to see me General?"
General Garza took a moment to examine the woman in front of her. Slightly on the short side, with slightly tanned skin, red hair and bright green eyes, a half smile tugging at her lips, on the face of things you would not see a soldier. You might see a doctor, or perhaps a model, the looks were certainly there.
But then the other things made themselves known. The large tattoo in the shape of the Havoc squad insignia over one eye was a big give away that the person in front of you was a soldier. Those who were not in the military with such tattoos either had retired, left, or found themselves facing 'suggestions' that the tattoo be removed. Especially that tattoo. It had to earned.
What gave away that the red haired woman was a soldier was her eyes. In them was a quiet calm that combined perfectly with an unrelenting, burning fury and will stronger than Beskar, the near legendary metal of the Mandalorions, to create one of the finest soldiers that the galaxy had seen.
The heavy powered armour and assault cannon, both either one of a kind or verging on illegal, slung over one shoulder may also have given the game away.
"Major Blackstone, thank you for being prompt." Garza gestured to a nearby seat in the small briefing room within the Senate Tower. "Have a seat."
The major sat, her armour humming and whirring slightly as servo's and electro-fibre muscle flexed, her assault cannon placed on the floor beside her. A few button presses later and an image appeared over the holo-projector. "Two days ago one of our science teams were investigating an abandoned Ratakan facility when they stumbled across the co-ordinates to this space station, located deep within the galactic core. If what we understand from the logs that went with the co-ordinates is true, this was where they conducted some of their most advanced and high tech testing and research, as well as morally dubious and out right morally wrong experiments and tests." Garza watched as the major's eyes flickered over the space station with a practised ease, noting possible entrance points and defence turrets. "Currently there is a fleet in orbit of the station with one of our top research teams on board. I want you to take Havoc squad there and secure the station so our science teams can investigate it in safety, then provide security for them."
"All due respect General, are you sure this is a Havoc squad mission?" The major asked, a frown on her face. "Havoc is far better at destroying things than keeping them intact."
"In most cases yes, this would not be a mission for your squad," Garza agreed with a nod, "however if our information is right, there are artefacts there that we really don't want the Empire to get their hands on. You will only be there until the Jedi can get together a security team of their own. Once they arrive you will be free to return to Coruscant. I took the liberty of ordering your ship stocked with supplies."
The major was still frowning, so the old General threw a small bribe in the ring. "Do this mission major, and I'll pull some strings in R&D, get them working on that prototype assault cannon series you've been bugging them about."
The major's eyes went from frowning and slightly irritated, to sparkling with an almost giddy joy. "We'll be gone by sundown General."
Garza nodded, then dismissed the major. She didn't miss the spring in the younger woman's step as she left. The old woman shook her head, a small smile on her face. What was it with that woman and big guns?
Major Kythelea Blackstone walked from the Senate Tower, veering between giddy happiness and irritation. Irritation at having to watch over a bunch of scientists, giddy happiness that she was finally, finally, going to have the design she submitted to R&D worked on. It was the result of all the combat that she had seen as CO of Havoc squad, and could make a hell of a difference if made available to other units. She was no engineer, but years of having to repair weapons and armour in the field made her a damn good when it came to knowing the flaws and strengths of her gear.
Yanking her mind from its happy place, she sighed, then sent a message out to her squad, telling them they had a mission and calling them back to the ship. She checked the time as she walked, before frowning and walking slightly faster. It was closer to sundown than she would have liked. They would have to be quick getting back.
She was the first back to the Thunderclap, better known to most of the Republic military as the 'Corellian Comet' after its CO's homeworld, to the Imperial Navy as 'that pesky ship', and pirates knew it as the bane of their existence. To the members of Havoc squad, it was alternatively known as home, if the major was not flying, or the 'Vomit Comet' if Kythelea was flying it. It had actually been Dorne, regulation spouting, model soldier Elara Dorne, who had, in a moment of unexpected unprofessionalism questioned just who in the name of every being holy and unholy had qualified the CO of Havoc Squad as a pilot. The rest of the squad had stared at her, mouths agape, except for Jorgan, who had simply held out a hand to Vik, who finally registered the extended hand, and grumbled before handing over a credit chit. That had admittedly been while in hyperspace after the ship was ambushed by fighters over Hoth, and Kythelea had had to pull off some downright insane manoeuvres in order to escape.
It was Dorne who was also the first to make back to the ship after Kythelea, apart from Forex, who had not actually left the ship in the first place. She had finally stopped saluting every time that she saw her CO, something that had made Kythelea feel twice as old as she actually was.
She restrained herself to a polite nod, then settled into one of the chairs in the on-board briefing room. The boys arrived next, having all gone to a cantina together for a few drinks before dinner. Vik and Yuun were arguing over the pros and cons of techstaves and techblades, again, continuing to do so in low voices even as they took their seats. Jorgan just gave their CO a smile and a nod, before taking his own seat. Forex scuttled in and the door slid shut behind him.
"Good to see you all here so fast." Kythelea said, causing the squad to focus in on her, Vik and Yuun ceasing their argument. "We've got a new mission, as I told you in the message earlier." She keyed up the holo projector, quickly explaining the situation, including Garza's reasoning as to why this mission warranted Havoc squad. "We're going to be there about a week. That's how long it should take for the Jedi to get their team together. Questions?"
There were none. She dismissed them, telling them to check the ship and its supplies for take-off. She was about to leave herself when she noticed Jorgan hadn't left. He was looking at her with a single raised eyebrow.
"What?" She asked.
"What did Garza say she'd do for you to get us on this mission?" He asked, his eyebrow still raised. "I know this isn't the kind of mission of Havoc, you know it, yet you look like you are about to take off."
Kythelea looked at the floor and mumbled a response. She glanced up, noted Jorgan's still raised her eyebrow, then sighed.
"She said that she'd pull strings with R&D for my assault cannon design alright?" Her voice sounded somewhat petulant. Jorgan just chuckled and shook his head.
"Y'know, when you finally get a boyfriend, I'm going to tell him the best way to your heart is with really big guns." He walked out the room, missing the red flush that cover his CO's face.
"You should have got me some then," she whispered under her breath, leaning back on the holotable. She had liked fallen for the gruff and brooding Cathar some time ago, but had never worked up the courage to tell him. It was always a point of private contention. She could walk into an enemy firestorm no problem, but couldn't tell a guy that she liked, no, loved him. It was only her iron self-control that stopped her from turning into a stammering fool when they were talking alone, quietly discussing weapons late at night while the rest of the ship slept.
She sighed, resigned herself to a lost cause, then headed to the cockpit.
The 'Corellian Comet' slid smoothly into the hanger of the Rakatan station. It was the only place on the station that had been secured by the small complement of Republic marines aboard one of the cruisers that floated outside the station, as they had been given specific orders to wait for Havoc squad. The marine lieutenant there, a big man, was at first irritated that he had to wait for a SpecForce squad before securing the station, but his irritation turned to awe when he spotted the squad striding down the ramp of the Thunderclap. While she had never intended for it to happen, the dark blue and black armour and massive assault cannon that she wore made Kythelea instantly recognisable to those within the military. This lead to both awe, as she faced now, and envy, with some questioning how a woman, and such as small one, could ever be the leader of such an elite squad as Havoc. No-one did so within earshot of her however, partly because of a video that had gained a degree of notoriety in both sides of the wall. It involved Kythelea single handedly wiping the floor with two fellow SpecForce soldiers, both of whom had ridiculed her, before one had tried to grab at her. Some of their insults had been caught in on the video, which was probably why she had only got a slap on the wrist for putting two fellow soldiers in hospital.
"Major Blackstone! It's an honour! Someone on the brass likes us," the lieutenant exclaimed. He snapped up into a salute, which Kythelea returned.
"At ease lieutenant. What's the situation?"
"We've only secured this hanger, as per orders, put I had some men check the exit with probes. There is a breathable atmosphere beyond, and no life signs, organic or droid."
"Would've thought there would be something," Kythelea said, half to herself, then returned her attention to the man in front of her, having crane her neck slightly to look him in the eye. "Any trouble securing the hanger?"
"No sir-"
"Ma'am."
"What?" The lieutenant looked confused.
"Ma'am, not sir. I have tits, not a prick." The lieutenant flushed slightly at that, while Dorne made a slightly aggravated sound at her CO's unprofessionalism. Kythelea ignored her.
"Sorry si- ma'am," he said, catching himself this time. "We had no trouble securing the hanger. Nothing attacked us."
The major raised an eyebrow. "No droids or defence turrets?"
"No ma'am."
Kythelea glanced away, her eyes going distant. "Odd..." she mused quietly to herself. Her eyes flicked back to the lieutenant. "You did a good job soldier. Get your squad ready to unseal the doors."
"Yes ma'am." The man spun on his heel and re-joined his squad, snapping out orders.
"Can't we just blow them open?" Vik said, in a tone that was just short of a whine.
"These are doors we can actually open. I'd rather not blow them apart." The response was deadpan. At the Weequay's pout, Kythelea sighed, and promised that if there were any doors that could not be opened, he could blow them off if it was safe to do so. Unsurprisingly, Vik perked up.
"He's going to blow up something really, really important one day, you do realise that?" Jorgan commented as they headed to the hanger doors, drawing weapons and checking them over.
"Of course I do," Kythelea replied, "I'm just going to make sure that whatever he blows up is also really, really Imperial." She hefted her Commander pattern assault cannon, activating the spinning bolt accelerator, causing it to glow azure as it began spinning slowly, the rest of the weapon's power core also beginning to glow. She set it on the floor for a moment, before putting on her helmet. It hissed as it slid into place, the eye pieces flickering into life and glowing slightly as the HUD booted up. "Come on Aric, time to get back to work."
"Yes ma'am," the Cathar replied with a grin, before slipping on his own helmet. Havoc squad took up positions in front of the door. With a nod at the lieutenant, it hissed open, revealing the empty corridor. Kythelea gazed down the corridor, then closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, releasing it slowly. When they opened, it was Major Blackstone of the Republic Special Forces who gazing down the corridor.
"Havoc squad, move out!"
The station was too quiet.
That was the main thought running through the mind of the whole squad, whether that mind was organic or synthetic. They had passed through many rooms, all of which long abandoned. They didn't relax however. They were Havoc squad. There was no such thing as an easy day at work. There was a tension in the air as well, something that was quietly whispering in the back of their minds that something was going to go horribly wrong.
'If someone jinxes this I will have them cleaning the Comet with a toothbrush', thought Kythelea.
The door in front of them hissed open, and Havoc stepped through warily. It seemed like some sort of reactor room, judging by the massive tubes and cables that snaked around the room. Glancing around, the major opened a comm channel to the lead cruiser of the fleet in orbit around the station, while motioning a halt.
"Havoc Lead to Valiant Actual, do you copy?"
Pause.
"Havoc Lead this is Valiant Actual, we copy."
"Actual we seem to be in the main rector room. I'm going to order my tech specialist to power it. I want to you align your sensors and see where the largest concentrations are apart from at my current location."
"Copy that Havoc Lead, give us a minute to align our sensor arrays, then carry on at your discretion."
"Roger that, Havoc Lead out." Closing the channel, the major turned to the squad's tech genius. "Yuun, on my go I want to you to get this reactor restarted. Work your magic."
Yuun nodded, then stepped towards what looked to be the main control panel. Holstering his blaster pistol, he pulled his data pad from his belt, linking it to the console in front of him.
On his CO's signal, he set to work, slowly but surely bringing the systems back online. The room began to hum as the ancient reactor restarted, switching over form backup to primary power.
"Havoc Lead, this is Valiant Actual, we picked up a massive power spike from the room directly above the reactor. It seems to be on par with the reactor itself, but the readings are different."
"Copy that Actual, will investigate." She turned to her squad. "The Valiant picked up a massive power spike from the room directly above this one. We'll double back to that lift and investigate."
"Any idea what caused it?" Jorgan asked, sounding both wary and worried.
"What? You scared of a little power surge kitty-kat?" Vik teased.
"This is Rakatan tech we are talking about Vik," Jorgan snarled, only slightly riled by the insult towards his race. "Who knows what this sith damned power surge could have been caused by."
Vik shut up at that. Jorgan was right. Rakatan tech was highly advanced, and not much was known about it outside science divisions.
"Can it both of you," the snapped order from Kythelea brought both of them up sharp, reminding them they were in the field. "We move to the lift, then to the origin of the surge. Forex, on point."
"Yes ma'am! For the Republic!" The zealously patriotic war droid scuttled forward. The rest of the squad jogged after them, moving slightly less warily as they were going through familiar territory. Once they left the life however, everyone was on full alert, weapons scanning left and right. Jorgan's sniper jumped between far corners, while Elara had her pistol in one hand and a kolto injector mounted onto the back of her other gauntlet. Vik was tossing an explosive of some sort up and down in his left hand, his right holding his techblade. Yuun had his tech staff clutched in both hands, eyes scanning left and right. Kythelea tracked her cannon back and forth, keeping it sweeping in line with her eyes. Forex had his weapons pointed firmly forward.
The door at the end of the corridor slid open with a small grinding of gears. Havoc squad stepped through cautiously. About ten metres in front of them was a round platform, fifteen metres wide, with a shallow pit, about waist deep, in the middle. Above the platform were a series a rods, aligned with the edges of the pit. A humming filled the room.
"What is that?"
It was Vik who finally put voice to the question in everyone's mind.
"Not a clue." Kythelea finally said. She opened a comm channel to the Valiant once more. "Valiant Actual this is Havoc Lead. You seeing this?" She was referring to the armour mounted camera's on her squad's armour. There was a murmur of indistinct voices over the channel before she got a proper response.
"Havoc Lead this is Professor Kardin, we can see the device. I'm afraid we have no idea what it might be, nothing like this has been seen before. I'm about to head over to join you with my science team, as well as a second team of marines. Secure the area for us, and don't touch anything."
"Copy that professor. ETA?" She holstered her assault cannon.
"The equipment has already been loaded into shuttle, we should- Hang on." The professor vanished from the line, leaving Kythelea nervous. When a someone from the science team told you to hang on while you were standing in front of an unknown device, it was rarely good. "Major get o-"
Kythelea hissed in pain as the comm channel squealed, nearly deafening her, then vanished into static.
"Major!"
The shout from Jorgan, caused her head to snap around at him, then seeing that he was not looking at her, she followed his gaze, then quickly drew her blaster pistol. From the ceiling above the centre of the pit something was descending. It looked an eye mounted onto an antenna. It squawked something at Havoc squad.
"What in the nine hells of Corellia is that?" Dorne demanded out loud, so unnerved that she actually swore.
"Language identified. Sentients detected. Scanning for match." The machine voice echoed around the room again, this time in Galactic Basic.
"How is it now speaking Basic?" Vik demanded, glancing at Yuun, who just shrugged.
"No one move, not unless it out attacks you," Kythelea barked, trying to cover her own nerves.
The machine hovered in front of Dorne first, who tensed, ready to spring aside it turned hostile. A blue-green washed over her, but otherwise nothing else happened.
"Match not found."
"What sort of match?" Dorne demanded.
"Maybe it's a soul mate finder, and you don't have one," Vik teased once more, but his nerves slipped into his voice as he saw the machine swing toward him.
Again, not match. "Looks like someone else lacks a soul mate." Vik glared at Jorgan as the Cathar tossed the Weequay's own words right back at him. Kythelea almost snapped at them to be quiet, but the words died in her throat as the machine swung to her. The light washed over her.
"Match found."
Kythelea jerked back.
"A match to what?" She demanded. The machine seemed to gaze at her as if weighing up whether it should tell everything or not. A moment later it seemed to make the decision.
"You match the requirements for the Jump." You could almost hear the capital J on jump.
"Jump, wha-" she began to demand, before an invisible force yanked her forward. It tossed her into the pit, but she managed to stay upright. Barely. The rods dropped from the ceiling, dropping into hole around her, and flickering yellow-green energy fields appeared between them. The entire room began to hum louder and louder, energy building up.
"Major!" Jorgan roared. He ran towards her, only for a second barrier to appear on the edge of the circular platform. It reached the ceiling, and completely encased the platform. He stopped before he hit, ripping off his helmet, a helpless look in his green eyes.
"Get out of here Aric!" Kythelea ordered. She knew she was trapped the humming was becoming a roar too fast. Whatever was going to happen, it would be soon, and they would not be able to stop it.
"Like hell I will Kythelea!" the Cathar yelled back.
"There is nothing you can do lieutenant, now go! That's an order!"
"Then court martial me! I'm not losing you!"
It hit her then. It should have been plain. It certainly was in his voice now. The rest of the crew, except Dorne knowing her, probably had a running betting pool if she knew soldiers.
Aric Jorgan loved her. Probably just as fiercely as she loved him. Only his sniper's patience had probably stopped him saying anything, that and a possible wariness that his feelings were not returned, of being rejected. She had never given him any signs she was interested. What a fool she was.
She did the only thing that she could then. She removed her helmet, clasped it to her belt, then looked him square in the eye. She knew, somehow, she would not get another chance.
"I should have said this long ago Aric. I… I love you."
"….I know," was all Jorgan could say, tender, unexpressed love pouring from his eyes, as if it could somehow save her from whatever fate she was going to.
"Havoc is yours Captain. Do well by them." The tears were blurring her sight. She took a breath, then blew Aric a kiss, a blown kiss for all the ones they could have had. The energies went silent, and for a moment, there was silence, as if the very universe was holding it's breath. Into that silence, the last words of Major Kythelea Blackstone, of Infantry Squad 326, Havoc Squad, seemed to carry to all of them.
"Make me proud Aric."
Drawing on the last of her will power, she pulled herself into a salute. She just had time to see her squad rise from their shock long enough to return it, before the world vanished in green light.
Long after the light had cleared, the members of Havoc squad sat in shock at the loss of their CO, ignoring the frantic hails from the Valiant. All except one, who stood at the edge of the platform, eyes fixed on the point where his CO, his friend, his love had last stood, unbowed, refusing to meet her fate on her knees, a broken wreck.
A hand placed itself on his shoulder.
"Captain?"
Jorgan turned at the hand on his shoulder, at the soft voice. Dorne looked at him, concern in her eyes. She nodded at the holo terminal on his belt, which was flashing furiously. He slowly, agonizingly, removed it from his belt, flicked it on. Garza appeared, looking furious. She opened her mouth to shout at Jorgan, then noticed the Cathar's desolate expression.
"Lieutenant? What happened?" For once, her voice was soft, concerned, uncharacteristically so.
Jorgan took a shuddering breath. "It's captain, general." His voice was cracking. Garza raised an eyebrow.
"Who promoted you?"
Jorgan's eyes filled with pain. "She did. She gave me Havoc." He took another, shuddering breath, before uttering the words he did not want to say, if only to deny that they were true. "Major Kythelea Blackstone is MIA, presumed KIA."
Hours later, on board the 'Corellian Comet', Jorgan sat on his former CO's bed. Technically it was his now, as CO of Havoc, but he couldn't take it. Not now. His mind would not let him sleep, constantly replay the scene that had happened hours ago. He had had to be helped by Dorne back to the ship, where she had simply sat him on the very same bed he now sat on, placed a bottle of strong alcohol on the bedside table, and left. She had given the report to Garza, then asked the general not to disturb them for a while. The general had quietly agreed.
As his mind replayed the fateful scene in his head, one thing jumped out at him suddenly. The Rakatan machine had called the process a Jump. Rising to his feet, taking the bottle with him, Jorgan walked into the cockpit. He sat himself in the pilot's chair, then spun it to face the map of the galaxy. A jump….
"But where to?" He asked the stars in a small, small voice.
The stars did not reply.
AN: Welcome to Causing Havoc in Two Dimensions.
This is by first attempt at a story with real depth and length. If you have read the tags, you can probably guess some of whats going to happen.
I have no idea if I will be able to keep up this chapter length, but I'm going to try and get 3,000 words in a chapter minimum.
Hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and that it's not too full of cliché and bad writing. Rate, review, and I'll see ya next time!
EDIT 30/11/16: Dorne is now the first to get scanned instead of Jorgan