The air was cold, there was no lighting, and there was rain. The rain had been pouring down for three days now on the small continent of Kinj in the Norval system, and Captain Hilt Bel Iblis was getting sick of it. He was soaked from head to toe with water, and was covered with mud from the exposed earth of the bear ground. All of this just made it that much more cold and uncomfortable for the commandos of the 13th elite guard under Bel Iblis.
They had already been on this mountainous, boring and cold world for two days, and had not seen a single Imperial trooper or Stormtrooper yet. The routines they had to follow in order to get this far had been time consuming and frustrating. It was always the same monotonous procedure: forward scout, edge a little further, forward scout, edge a little further, check out a strange looking rock, forward scout, edge a little further. It was a procedure that would ultimately result in the loss of more innocent lives than there had been already.
They were sent here to help take out a garrisoned imperial station that local imperial troops were basing their terrorist operation.. It was something Hilt Bel Iblis had done on previous occasions, this time would be no different.
Actually, it was surprising how many times he had been in exactly the same situation as this. Crouched behind an old ferrocrete pillar, E-webb repeater rifle clutched in hands, listening anxiously to his radio. It was amazing how many times it had been raining, too.
The battle for the garrison had already started. A group of droptroopers had already been sent in to take it from under the Imps. But there had been come kind of problem and they had hit heavy resistance, consequently loosing half their numbers and being scattered all around the garrisoned area. A classic example of bad intelligence being the alliance's own worst enemy.
However, they had the garrison surrounded, and were holding their own against the Imps. Now they only needed support.
"Capt'," a deep, alien voice whispered over his ear piece.
"Go ahead, Hitman," he gave the go ahead. Hitman, a blue skinned alien that Hilt didn't recognise, although he called himself Chiss, was their forward scout and sniper.
"I've got a clear view of the post, sir. I can see two guards on the main entrance, a patrol of four troops pacing the perimeter," he reported. Good, Hilt nodded to no-one, then this is the right target. Before they reached the garrison they would have to take out a ground to air cannon so they could call in air support.
"Copy. Fall back and form up with us so we can get a plan of action together. Out," the radio clicked as Hitman deactivated his microphone. Hilt switched over to his squad frequency. "Squad, bring it together," he ordered. He stood up, feeling like he weighed three hundred kilograms from the rain and all the equipment he was carrying. With military trained endurance, he hastened forward to their meeting point. Some others were already there.
First there, in a defensive couch and weapon trained on Hilt, was their communications expert, Jade. She was a very promising young private and a formidable enemy in a light battle. Coming up soon behind her was the biggest in their squad, Gunner. Gunner was an ex-Trakian Ranger, a group of elite soldiers formed to help assist the Jedi Knights during the old republic. They, along with some other groups of similar warriors, were unfortunately wiped out when Darth Vader killed the Jedi Knights, but there were some survivors. Gunner hid out in the New Brigia system until the Alliance set up a small shipyard there, after which he enlisted for the commandos. Hilt had never seen his race before, but he called himself a Thakwaash He was an invaluable weapons expert, demolitions specialist and combatant.
The next to arrive was the youngest member of the group, Slicer. Slicer, as his codename suggested, was their code slicer and computer expert. He was the second best in the entire commando division, which was quite an achievement considering he was only seventeen years old. He was a mediocre fighter, but Hilt was willing to carry him for his slicing skill.
Hitman arrived next, followed by their unarmed combat expert, Swift. Swift was very young herself, only nineteen, but was trained by her father in most martial arts and was the best he had ever seen. She was pretty good with a pistol, too. Finally arrived Fly, the squad pilot. He was an all round commando, he could pilot, drive, operate heavy weapons, and was better than competent at assault missions.
All of these elite soldiers formed the 13th elite guard. Hilt had kept this team together for six months now, and wasn't about to change that. Of all the commando teams, only his had remained intact for this long. That was something he was extremely proud of.
"Okay, Hitman, fill us in," he ordered.
"There are two guards at the entrance to the guard post. Four troopers are on constant foot patrol around the perimeter, completely fitted. I think there are two to four controllers inside that operate the gattling gun," he reported.
"I think our best strategy is to take the stormies quietly with Hitman and Swift's sniper rifles. Then we either blow up the nest from the rear or find a way inside and kill the controllers. The problem with both ways is that they could get a message off before we get to them. Any suggestions?" hilt asked. Gunner spoke up, his alien voice hard to keep quiet.
"We don't think we have to go to too much trouble to eliminate this nest, sir. Jade could jam the communications while we blast the gattling gun with the RPCG," He offered. After months of hearing it, Gunner's constant reference to himself as plural registered as normal. Hilt considered, eyeing the special DL-Rocket Propelled Concussion Grenade launcher that gunner had slung over his shoulder. The plan was simple, and effective - a sure fire sign that it was flawed. But, for the lack of further suggestion and his failure to find any particular flaw with it, Hilt accepted the suggestion.
"Jade, can you set that sort of jamming equipment up with your field gear?" he asked. Jade smiled.
"Capt', there's nothing I can't do with this field gear. How wide an area do you want?" she asked.
"Just enough to cover that post, I don't want it to be too obvious to any innocent sensor observers," he faced the rest of the squad. "Okay, we aren't going to be able to contact one another, so we'll go by a visual signal. Swift and Hitman will go knock out the patrol. The second the firing starts, Gunner will blow the nest while fly and me knock out the two guards. Slicer, you keep low with Jade. Swift, wait for my signal before you fire," he ordered. The chorus of 'yes, sir's' followed his orders, and his troops moved out.
It took jade only a half a minute to set the jamming equipment. Hilt signaled Swift and Hitman with a single flash from a laser pointer, and the firing started. Immediately Jade activated the dampening field, and the battle had begun.
Gunner stepped up to half a ferrocrete wall and fired two concussion grenades at the gattling gun, which blew apart spectacularly. Fly had already begun firing with his E-webb by the time hilt brought his own rifle into line. The two unarmored guards dropped without effort. Quickly, Hilt trained his rifle on the stormtrooper patrol, but found the four of them down already. He exhaled a breath he didn't remember taking, and checked his chrono. It had taken a total of five seconds to take out the entire post. But he knew it wasn't totally down yet. He signaled with his hands for Fly and Slicer to follow him, and they jogged forward toward the burning building.
As they got closer, Hilt saw there was no need for caution. There were four smoldering bodies inside that were still visible, and if any others were alive they were buried underneath a few tons of ferrocrete and durasteel. He turned around and gave Jade the cut signal, and suddenly found his comm gear online again.
"Squad, form up at the nest. We'll be moving out immediately," he ordered. A rather large explosion and the failure of a stormtrooper squad to report in would attract a fair amount of attention from anyone close enough to hear.
Quickly, he activated the link to command and relayed their situation. "Command, this is Captain Bel Iblis of the 13th elite commandos. Target one is checked. Proceed to target two, over?" he asked. The response was full of static but understandable.
"Affirmative. Approach in a north-westerly direction from the nest. Be advised, chariot LAV and support troops are moving through area. Additional information when you reach your objective. Command out," the radio clicked off. By now Hilt's troops were converging on the nest. They were all close enough to hear without the comm.
"Command says to move ahead to the objective. Hitman, scout ahead, North-west, double time. Everyone be advised, there is a friendly chariot LAV and support troops in the area, so don't shoot at them. Hitman, go," he ordered. He watched as Hitman broke trail, and followed with the rest of the commandos at a much slower pace.
* * *
They didn't have much time to react when they reached the outer edge of the garrison - a small village that had been demolished - before they found themselves under fire. Bright red laser blasts were raining down on them from two locations, both elevated. The commandos dove for the ground, and each managed to roll behind a ferrocrete foundation or durasteel derelict before they could be hit.
Hilt glanced around to try and determine where the blaster fire was coming from, and managed to pinpoint one of the snipers. Bringing his portable E-webb repeater rifle into line with the window of the old house, he squeezed and held the trigger. The rapid bursts of red laser burned into the walls and further. He waited until he was satisfied nothing could possibly have survived, and then released. It appeared to have paid off, if the gunman were still there he wasn't firing.
Hilt turned just in time to see gunner letting loose on a nearby building's foundations with his special Gyrhil 6-60 heavy Rotolaser. It wasn't long before the entire building crumbled from the bottom down and fell to the street. It seemed that the second gunman was also dead.
"Squad, move in. Secure the gunmen," he ordered. Quickly reloading the gas in his blaster, he approached the window that he had turned into a charred mass and peered inside. There was an imperial inside, alright, lying face down with a Stormtrooper 1 E-11 rifle in his hands. "Gunman one, check," he said down the comm.
"Gunman two, check," Gunners voice answered him a few seconds later. He stared at the trooper a little longer, and then walked over to the rest of the squad.
"Okay, good work. Lets keep it moving, a little tighter this time," he ordered, walking forward with rifle at the ready. He was startled by a loud voice from ahead of him, and brought his rifle into line.
"Alliance troops! 42nd patrol, drop ship division! Don't shoot, we're coming out!" it shouted. Hilt sighed, and was glad he hesitated before going with his gut instinct and blasting everything in sight.
"Affirmative. Squad, hold fire," he responded. A few seconds later, a small group of four soldiers exited a two story building to their left. "Captain Bel Iblis of the 13th elite guard commandos," he explained, gesturing to the rest of his squad.
"Lieutenant Wil Doran," the lead man of the group said.
"Who is in charge of this operation?" Hilt asked quickly.
"That would be the Major. I'd take you to him, but there's a bottleneck up ahead that's an invitation for Imperial snipers."
"Don't worry, we didn't come alone here. We've got a Longprobe bomber team waiting for our signal. They could take out this bottleneck of rubble and clear a wide enough path for some troop carriers."
"I take back every bad thing I've said about commando units. Let's do it," the lieutenant said. Hilt nodded.
"Alright, Jade, order the strike and then tell them to let loose on the garrison. Make sure they don't hit any friendlies while they're in there."
"Yes, cap'," she said, and activated the comm to command. While she was doing it, the rest of the soldiers ran for cover. It was a few anxious moments of waiting before the familiar screaming of starfighter engines was heard. Hilt heard one of the drop soldiers screaming a mighty war cry, and wondered just how long they had been pinned down by that bottleneck.
Over the deafening explosions of torpedoes and the searing crackle of laser fire Hilt yelled "Squad head in! Watch yourselves!" He matched action to words by pulling himself up and over the ferrocrete wall and running into the scorched earth that used to be several thousand tons of debris. Someone had either left their comm on or was breathing directly down Hilt's neck. He ignored it and continued running.
The second they were through the molten pile the whole area felt a whole lot more like a war zone. Red and green laser blasts constantly lit the skies. Explosions were the normal background noise, and shouts of wounded or lost soldiers filled the gaps.
"This way to base camp!" the same lieutenant yelled in Hilt's direction as he began sprinting away from them. He followed him, calling for his squad to do the same. On the way they ran into two imperial troops, both of which were dispatched by Gunner with his rotolaser. Hilt shook his head in dismay when he saw base camp.
It was an old house, half missing, with a makeshift durasteel shield protecting the side facing the garrison. Equipment was set up on wooden crates, and a very untidy and inadequate medical facility was assembled under a plastic sheet to protect from rain. He guessed which officer was the Major, and decided he was the one at the comm station with the tac-visual display next to it. Hilt stepped up beside him and waited for him to stop issuing orders.
"- and take the left wall entrance. Squad six, your mission objectives have changed, the artillery cannon in no longer a threat. Get yourselves over to the left wall entrance and assist the penetration team. Major Cracken out," he said. He seemed to have a half-smile on his face.
"Major Cracken, I am Captain Bel Iblis of the 13th elite guard commandos. We've been sent to aide your operation." He reported. The Major's smile seemed to broaden.
"So you're the ones who brought air support. Thanks to that Y-wing attack we've been able to crack their outer defenses and eliminate the long range weaponry. We owe you a debt of gratitude." He said.
"Not us, Major, the pilots. But maybe we can earn one, too. You are launching an attack on the left wall entrance?" he asked. The Major nodded.
"If we can penetrate it then we will have access to the entire garrison and can bring it down from the inside. Security is pretty tight, and they've got two anti-infantry autocannons in operation. That's been keeping us at bay."
"Will those autocannons stand up to an RPCG?" Gunner butted in. He was obviously in his commanders state of mind. Gunner was funny that way. At any one time he could be one of many minds, and though he had a fair amount of control over the switching between them, it could be annoying when he was in the wrong mind at the wrong time.
"You've got one? Brilliant! Captain, have your team assist the penetration squad. I will give you command over them all if you like," he offered. Hilt nodded.
"That would be very good of you. Okay squad, move out to the left side entrance and prepare to assault the garrison. Major, we'll report in when the objective is complete."
"Of course. Good luck, Captain," he said. Hilt started to respond, but the Major was too busy on the comm to hear. He turned and ran to catch up to his unit.
* * *
Hilt arrived at the left wall entrance to find very little to take command of. The penetration team seemed to consist of only twenty or so troops, and the backup squad six had a total of four men. But still, it was better than nothing. He switched his comm to a general alliance frequency and made an announcement to the rabble of fighters in front of him.
"Alliance troops, this is Captain Bel Iblis of the 13th elite guard commandos. I need everybody to fall back out of range of those autocannons and wait for my signal to re-engage. Move," he ordered. He knew that the troops had gotten the message. From his vantage point he could see the entire battlefield, and the soldiers now withdrawing from it. He looked around and found gunner. Tapping him on the shoulder, he indicated the RPCG.
"How many grenades are left in that?" he shouted over the noise of rifles blazing. Gunner yelled back.
"Three grenades. Plus about seven microgrenades in this blast and smash rifle!" Hilt noticed for the first time the big gun the Thakwaa was clutching in his hands. He hadn't been carrying that originally, it must have belonged to a downed soldier.
"Okay! When I give the signal put a grenade in each of the Autocannons. I'll give you some suppressing fire with this," he explained, taking the blast and smash rifle from Gunner.
"Yes, sir!" he acknowledged, ducking as a stray explosive detonated nearby. Hilt re-activated his comm system to give orders to the rest of the squadron.
"Squad, this is what we're gonna do. I need Slicer, Fly and Jade to go down and assist the alliance soldiers. Hitman and Swift I need up here for the diversion."
"Yes, sir!" The reply came from someone. It wasn't long before Hitman and Swift were by his side, their faces anxious.
"Gunner has the RPCG set up! We just need to cover him and the other troops when the autocannons go down! Watch for reinforcements!" he said. Making sure he had Gunners attention, he gave a thumbs up, and quickly covered his ears.
The two explosions were almost simultaneous, with just enough overlap to cross into the deafening level. There was a brilliant flash from the garrison wall, and Hilt thought he heard a scream over the dying explosion. But he had no time to think about it.
Hauling himself up, he did a quick scan for imperial troops left near the entrance. None there. Moving at a fairly fast pace, he approached to the left side of the opening. It didn't take long for a group of three stormtroopers to emerge. Hilt took them out quickly with a round from the under-slung microgenade launcher. One look inside the wide corridor leading inside confirmed it to be empty, and he raised his arm to signal all the troops. "Clear," he added into his comm system for confirmation.
Making his way inside, Hilt found a very large and mostly empty ground space surrounded by a few elevated walkways. Mostly empty. Heading in their direction at a flat run were a group of blue-clad Imperial Shadowtroopers.
Shadowtroopers were the elite stormtroopers chosen for their expertise at insertion and penetration operations. Storm Commandos, they were known as. They were not particularly excellent in pure combat, but they were a more worthy opponent than the regular stormtrooper.
Hilt raised the blast and smash and let the laser loose in full automatic as he strafed for a durasteel support wide enough to accommodate several people. He thought he caught one of them in the chest, but couldn't be sure and wasn't game to check until their suppressing fire eased up a little. He only hoped no droptroopers got heroic and decided to charge the group of Imps.
His hopes were shattered when he heard a maniacal war cry from the direction of the front door. He turned in time to see a group of five droptroopers charging ahead, weapons blazing blindly into the garrison. Usually, Hilt would not have risked backing up the suicidal group. But his heart skipped a beat when he saw gunner bringing up behind them, unaware of the Shadowtroopers with the advantageous position.
Swallowing hard, he dropped to his stomach and rolled around from behind his pillar, and saw Sift and Hitman doing the same from their positions. Switching to grenades, he emptied the magazine in the Shadowtrooper's general direction. The tactic seemed to throw the enemy off balance and even took out one of the troops, but didn't do enough damage to save the entering groups. He needed to do something fast.
Just as Hilt was considering trying to quickly learn the ways of the force and take them all, he was surprised to see them all scatter and retreat inside the garrison. Standing up, dazed and confused, he turned to the door through which they had come, hoping that would help him understand his enemies sudden retreat. And screaming forward in full battle configuration was the answer to his question. The Chariot LAV and it's supporting forces had arrived at the garrison.
* * *
The remainder of the battle concluded without any further losses of civilian or Alliance fighter lives. Once they had slowly picked off the shock commandos the garrison had transmitted a surrender to command, and the rest of the personnel inside were marched out as prisoners. All that remained to do was a massive cleanup operation of the surrounding areas.
That was something Hilt was glad he didn't have to be a part of. One of the perks of being a commando was you got to make a mess and didn't have to clean up after it. No, for him and his unit it was a ride back to command for re-assignment and many commendations for a job well done.
That was if the transport ever arrived. They had been scanning space now for over thirty minutes with still no sign of the shuttle that was supposedly coming for them. Honestly, pilots were so convinced of their own importance to a point that was beyond annoying. Still, the delay gave him a chance to talk to the Major he had briefly met earlier.
From what he had seen and heard he had a great respect for the man. If he had managed to hold this entire botched operation together for a week until his unit and air support arrived, then he deserved an Alliance Battle Award and a promotion to General. Perhaps he would mention it to his commander back at control.
He was still hard at work now, after the garrison was at their control. There were still pockets of stormtroopers that needed to be exterminated before the planet could be fully liberated. It was the poor Major's job to oversee that. Hilt approached him when he left the radio and tac-visual displays.
"Major? I was wondering if I might speak with you?" he asked. The Major looked up at Hilt, his face showing the days of battle and fatigue he was now beginning to feel.
"Certainly, Captain…Iblis?" he coaxed.
"Hilt Bel Iblis," he informed him, extending his hand.
"Major Airen Cracken, pleased to meet you. You know, I think I'll recommend your unit for the Alliance Battle Award. We had just about lost hope until you and your air support arrived." Hilt smiled and raised both his hands.
"Thank those pilots, not us, Major. In fact, I'll be sure to point out in my report to Command your outstanding success in keeping this entire operation together. Don't be surprised if you're a General this time next week." The Major laughed, probably for the first time in weeks.
"Well, it's not over yet. Tell you what, get them to send someone to relieve me and we'll be even, okay?" Now it was Hilt's turn to laugh. He was so tired and relieved the battle was over he would have laughed at anything right now. The Major seemed to straighten, and brought his thoughts back to the battlefield. "Did you want to speak to me, Captain?" he asked.
"Ah, yes. I was wondering if you had any Idea why a group of Storm Commandos was assigned to this garrison?" The Major squinted as he thought it over.
"I don't see any reason why. Storm commandos are supposed to be used in intrusion and insertion missions, right?" he thought aloud. "Maybe they were just waiting to be transferred to another garrison. I don't know. I could look into it, if you want?" he offered.
"No, that's alright. You've got other things to deal with. Besides, you're probably right." Hilt was stopped by the whine of approaching repulsorlifts. He looked up to see an assault transport preparing to land near the garrison edge. His ride was here.
"Looks like your transport is here. I'll see you around, Captain. Maybe we'll work together in future," he said before turning back around to man the comm unit again.
"I'll look forward to it, sir. Good luck with the cleanup," Hilt also turned and walked away. There was a snort, followed by a sarcastic 'Thanks,'. Hilt smiled again, and made for the transport.
* * *
Four hours later, after the unit had a chance to clean up, write reports and relax, Hilt and his team assembled in the personnel lounge aboard Legion to receive their commendations. Presenting the awards was none other than General Jharvis Darhk, the man who was leading this entire special forces division of the invasion. He had his trademark stern expression, and looked to Hilt like he would prefer to be somewhere far away.
But, he was stuck here, and had medals and the like to hand out. When he began presenting, he sounded like he wanted to make it the fastest ceremony on record.
"Captain Hilt Bel Iblis of the 13th elite guard commandos: your unit has performed exceptionally well over the last week, which is reflected in the awards about to be presented.
"Your mission efficiency was 178 percent, a formidable achievement for any commander. For your efforts, you have been awarded the alliance battle award and a commendation for bravery. Congratulations," he waited for the applause of on-looking officers to die down before he continued.
"Sergeant Vula Nelprin," he stated, referring to Swift. "Your exceptional performance in your last assignment has earned you a commendation for bravery, and a promotion to Master Sergeant. Congratulation Master Sergeant Nelprin." There was more applause.
"First Trooper Johrdann Behkassh," he announced, referring to Gunner. "Your efforts and quick thinking in the last mission have earned you a commendation for bravery and a promotion to Sergeant. Congratulations, Sergeant Behkassh.
"First trooper Iresu Elba…" the award ceremony continued, and all the commandos in his unit were given commendations for bravery. Hitman was promoted to senior lieutenant, which made him second in command of the unit. Hilt was glad to have Hitman as his Co-leader, he deserved it and could certainly handle it.
Slicer was finally promoted from Trooper to First Trooper, after his code slicing earlier to find the exact location of the anti air cannon. He looked extremely proud, as was the rest of the unit. Slicer really was like a little brother to all of them, so everything that happened to him the entire unit felt for him.
It was especially so for Swift, who spent a lot of time with him when they were off duty. She had taken it upon herself to tutor him in martial arts, and said he was a natural. Hilt had been fine with that, as long morale in the unit was high.
"And one final reward for all of you," the intrusive voice of the Supreme General cut into Hilt's thoughts. "You've been granted a three day leave to Vlemoth Port effective immediately. Your transport leaves Legion in approximately two hours. Be ready in hangar bay three. Dismissed, and congratulations once again," he finished. There were cheers of congratulations from the crowd, and cheers of joy from the soldiers.
Vlemoth Port was a beautiful planet, though heavily populated, in the Julevian outer rim sector. It was a fairly good planet for leave, especially with the amount of casinos available in the various cities. Yes, three days on Vlemoth Port was just what hilt needed.