3RD PLATOON BARRACKS,COMBAT OUTPOST BYHILL, ORHLEAN ARCHIPELAGO, FARRACKGE, QIILURA SYSTEM -
DAY 191, 21,410 YEARS AFTER THE FOUNDING, 0056 HOURS LOCAL TIME
Kat was rudely awakened by the first blast's shockwave. She was violently thrown onto the hooch's deck. Even in the pitch black darkness, she knew where to fumble around for her rifle and gear. The explosive barrage rattled her entire body as she hastily put on her helmet and plate carrier, grabbed her rifle and ran out the squad hooch. It was too dangerous to stay in, so they only had one place to go to - the nearest bunker.
She was greeted with a veil of smoke as she exited outdoors. She was halfway towards the nearest bunker when she realised one of the hooches took a hit.
"2nd platoon… Dammit!" Her heart started pounding even harder than she thought ever could. She took a sharp turn left and towards the damaged building. Kat saw that they were carrying casualties out on stretchers. The forwardmost stretcher bearer was LCPL Foutha Raedi, and she tapped on her. Raedi nodded to her before he went back into the hooch. Kat took the stretcher handles and started towards the aid station.
As she moved, she recognized a Marine running in the opposite direction of hers - Vaten Ferhal. The stocky, silver-haired man was running a full dash with his medical pack. Kat took a glance at him before she looked around. The explosions were still going off, but it was further away, on the outer defenses.
Her integrated eye protection (eyepro) allowed her to see through the smoke and fire, but the additional chaos around her was enough to slow her run.
Her breath slightly choked and lungs warmed from the smoke, arms sore from bearing the stretcher and legs wombled from loose rocks and small debris, but she couldn't find herself stopping.
Kat almost threw herself through the doorway of the aid station and put the casualty down. She looked around the small aid station. Typically, it could fit a small platoon. Thankfully, the casualties weren't enough to overload them… Yet. Casualties on medical tables or beds while being treated as best they could.
Blood trickled into small pools on the floor. The room smelt of kolto, medical alcohol and various chemicals. There were four wounded, and one dead, fully covered up in a body bag off to the side. Morbid curiosity took over, and she slightly opened it.
Kat recognized her as Gunnery Sergeant Qarkghuyl Fere, from 2nd Platoon. The Togruta was usually with a big smile, sharp wit, and bold brown eyes that were expressive, now replaced with closed eyes and an eerily calm face for someone who just got killed in combat. She didn't know much of her..
"... and not enough. Wrong place, wrong time, most likely. Wasn't she and her partner planning to adopt a child after this deployment? What a damn waste." She sighed solemnly as she closed the bag.
She continued to glance around the busy aid station. One more casualty had come in, this time, it was from Headquarters Platoon - a Shistavanen named Rooclie Melkh, who was one of the company's few organic vehicle mechanics. The rest were from the battered 2nd Platoon.
Fere. Char'cen. Breigo. Melkh. A couple more I can't remember. Damm!
A loud, long burst jolted her back into the grim reality. Her helmet commlink burst with a distorted voice of her platoon sergeant, "3rd Platoon, where in the galaxy are you? South side defenses now - we're taking small arms fire!" "Copy all! Moving!" she screamed as she vaulted and ran through the base. Bullets pinged and richocheted all around her.
Yet she couldn't find herself stopping.
AID STATION, COMBAT OUTPOST BYHILL, 0511 HOURS LOCAL TIME
Kat collapsed beside the aid station's doorway against a wall. Her vision is blackened - only faint outlines of dark red was how she managed to find her way across the base. They had just finished driving off the enemy forces that came shooting after the artillery barrage. Aireasknapt offered to carry her, but she refused.
"Kat? Are you alright? Do you need help?" The voice was distant, as if they were underwater. "I think I'm blacking out," she hazily mumbled out. "We'll get you soon, hang on," Soon after, she was the outlines of humanoids moving around her. She felt being lifted and laid down onto a stretcher. Then, she felt a short, sharp pain in her right forearm.
The slight airconditioning in the aid station was pleasing to her overheating, sweating body, and she let herself loose.
2 HOURS LATER
She woke up feeling much, much better. The first thing she noticed was the catheter in her right forearm. "These blasted things are never pleasant, aren't they?" It was hooked up into an IV that hanged above her. She sat up on the stretcher.
The six casualties have now two new additions - she saw the male Abednedo on a medical bed, hit in the torso, and a red Duros, hit in the face. Both wore Army uniforms and were unconscious.
"This is the worst we've been hit since we arrived." The voice startled her, and she quickly turned around. It was SPC Ourgrei Coohass, the platoon corpsman. The indigo-coloured Lasat was checking her monitor readings. "You tell me, doc. Didn't expect their fire to be that accurate. Lot of Marines got put out of action. How are you holding up, Doc?" she eyed back towards the casualties. He sat down near her stretcher.
"Nothing properly prepares you for your first mass-cas event… But we're alright. It's our job to do, when we're needed most." "I can't believe I escaped that." "You're not entirely unscathed, you have a catheter inflicted 'wound' and some dehydration," he snickered. "Didn't your squad combat lifesaver check on you while the shooting was on?" "Ferhal and I are not exactly the best of buddies, doc," "Why?" he stroked his pointed chin. "Oh, trust me doc, it's not a story you want to hear. Plus, you need to get back to checking ev-" "Calm down, Merrick, you're the last one in my rotation shift. I've got nothing to do for the next half an hour. Entertain me."
She leaned back and sighed. "Well…"
"It was on the second day I arrived to the squad."
FOX COMPANY (605TH MARINE REGIMENT) MOTOR POOL, MCB VALTO, NABOO -DAY 299, Year 21,409 ATF, 0911 HOURS LOCAL TIME
Kat walked the company motor pool. Everyone was lounging around waiting for the spare parts to be delivered. "Hey boot!" called out SPC Luna Thule, one leg on a storage crate. "Your squad is over here, for Force's sake!" Kat moved towards them.
"You're Cathria Merrick, right? The one that didn't get promoted?" said the male human next to her. "Yeah, what of it… Lance Corporal?" "Don't bring your dungbaggery into this squad, Merrick. I saw your records." "Who are you to be able to say such bantha crik, Lance Corporal?" "Typical Brentaalan garyan! Haze yourself, boot!"
She recognized the word - a Corellian slur for Brentaalians. She had heard once before in the worst way possible, and hearing it again sent her into overdrive. "What did you just call me, you kriffing Corellian a'staya'ird?" Kat charged towards him, ready to take him down, consequences be damned. She saw him reading himself for a fight. "I'm ready to take you Brentaalan softies any time, anywhere!"
Then, both were held back by members of their platoon and pinned onto the ground. "Damn you, Ferhal, you Corellian wampa!" "Merrick, stop, now!" As her head was being pressed onto the deck, Kat could hear, "Someone get a damn officer here, now!"
"Why in the hundred God and Goddesses am I having to drag you into my office?" 1LT Fletcher was fuming. He pointed a strong finger at Kat. "And you, Private, I expected you to have better behavior after what happened at the academy!" "Sir, he called me a planetarial slur,"
The company executive officer clamped his jaw tight. Discriminating against other servicemembers for multiple reasons is forbidden, and planetary origin was one of them. "He called me a garyan, sir." "And she called me a a'staya'ird," "Do not act like younglings. You are Marines, in an active fleet unit. Act like it." Both of them shut up and stood at attention even stiffer. "I'm especially disappointed in you, Merrick. I know you already have a fight on your record." He paced around his desk momentarily, before stopping.
"Do you deny the statements that the other has said about you?" "No, sir." both replied curtly.
Fletcher went over a datapad. "The way I see it, since you both didn't deny calling each other offensive, discriminatory slurs, you have two choices - either we keep this down, and you both will be punished immediately and at my discretion, or we escalate this into a court martial. We all know what would happen then."
Hearing the words "court martial" sent shivers of uncontrollable fear down her spine. "I suggest we keep it local, sir." suggested Kat quickly. She heard an almost silent scoff from Ferhal. "I, for once, agree with this Marine."
The tension in the air could be cut with a fingernail as Fletcher pondered. " You both will have a reprimand on your record, made to follow a cultural sensitivities class, docked two weeks worth of pay, and extra 10 duty sessions. Had any of you made bodily contact, I would've sent you straight to court martial. Next time I hear of anything, anything at all from the both of you, it will be exactly that. Now fly away out of my sight." The two enlisted Marines saluted him, then left.
As the two traveled out of the company offices, she could hear him say, "Damn Brentaalans are always cowards."
"So he just hates Brentaalians? That doesn't make sense," said Coohass. "I thought so, then I found out he was robbed during a trip here. He chased down the robber for a while, during which an enforcer ran into him. The enforcer didn't fire for fear of collateral damage, so the robber got away. Then, when he went to report, the local authorities brushed him off and asked for "things" to "help things along. Add the fact that Corellians and Brentaalians have a rivalry, well…" "Blast me, that's quite a rough one. You find out from him yourself?"
"No, I found it out from Luna Thule. We've been trying to avoid each other as much as possible since I got into Fox Company." Kat waved her hand. "You know what they say, it's always a good thing to be friends with the medics," "Not going to happen with this one, doc. At least I have you in the platoon," "Hah! You're lucky Fletcher was handling the damn thing. Would still be a Private otherwise." "Luck indeed! He should work that issue out. Not good to have such.. biases affect you, especially in this kind of place."
She deeply inhaled. "But a behavioral health specialist is quite a way's away, doc," She stared at the catheter in her forearm before continuing, " And he's a Corellian. They're always rebellious hotheads. How did he end up being in the Marines, I have no idea…" "You can't think of them all in that way," Doc Coohass replied.
"And he could still think of me the same way back? Blast that! Having one person not liking me is nothing to worry about, as long as he does his job and allows me to do mine."
OUTPOST DELTA, OFF ROUTE "KRANEG", KDARSAC - DAY 195, 1311 HOURS LOCAL TIME
This was their first dismounted patrol, and everyone was tired as they set themselves down, but to call the place they're resting at an 'observation post' would be a stretch. The abandoned building had no good cover nor good defenses. But such places was all they had. Kat took out her second, smaller bottle, filled with an energy mix. It does not have what is considered to be a consumable or edible taste, but it was better than lugging around ration packs, especially when they didn't have a vehicle to store everything in.
"Sometimes I wonder if getting hit by a metal projectile or a blaster bolt is worst…" trailed off Lee. "With bolts it's more painful. Your insides basically burn or boil when it hits," Kat grimaced.
"Yeah, but aren't bullets pretty hot from the explosive when they fire too?" "I don't think bullets are that hot by the time they fly through all the air." interjected Xand. "So does blaster bolts, but the energy is too great, so it's still superheated, even after miles! Didn't you pay attention during physics during secondary education?"
"With bolts, if it doesn't penetrate your armor, the pain would be scalding at worst. With projectiles, you'd get broken bones, bruises and internal bleeding if the same happens! I think you need to learn to take xenobiology classes again!" Xand pointed a clawed finger at him.
Kat buried her face in her gloved hand. Why are they talking about this? Marines could talk anything from speeders to homeplanets to favorite holostars to physical encounters, but arguing about which was worse to die to isn't high on her preferred conversation topics.
She wasn't in the mood, so she put on the hearing filters on her helmet, shaded her eyes with some eye protection, and leaned against the wall for a short nap.
ROUTE "OPRAONA" 25 MINUTES LATER
The pack weighed on her shoulders as they moved on foot throughout the neighborhood. The neighborhood loomed large around them, with dwellings and buildings built into the thick, tall trees, with heptagonal architectural design.
The street had two levels, with speeders cruising about 30 meters above the first street, which was mostly for foot traffic. There were sidewalks lining both street levels, and Kat's thoughts as they patrolled through the streets were, "Don't get ambushed, don't get ambushed, don't get ambushed… This is a kriffing damn bad spot! Why are we not in vehicles?"
As if on cue, the explosion vibrated the ground around them. The Marines looked around. "Where did that come from?" asked Xand. "Falcon Actual, Falcon 3-Concord - We have an explosion in the city - requesting advice, over," called in 2LT Cavell. He knelt as the captain gave his orders. "The explosion is two streets away on Route Freyd, at the Grand Market. Let's move! Double time!"
The platoon moved at breakneck speed, with one squad with their eyes up, one on street level and one on the ground, watching for planted explosive devices, and one ready to engage targets in any direction.
Thankfully, none appeared. The sounds began to filter in as they got closer to the marketplace. There were screams and cries of pain and anguish. When they reached the marketplace, they fanned out throughout the ridden marketplace. Blackened and burning stalls lined the marketplace. Pieces of debris and goods were scattered on the ground. More sounds entered the scape, with moans and groans of pain and struggle, and quieter sobs as some found their loved ones gone forever.
And worse of all, were the bodies. Of various species, sizes, colors and ages, some stood, and some crawled, and some didn't move at all. Smoke made it difficult to see. Kat switched to thermal vision on her multi-vision eyepro and saw the whites of the flames and those still living, the grays of the warm surroundings and recent dead, and the blacks of those who died the moment the blast went off.
"1st and 2nd Squads, get these people out of the market - back the way we came! Set up a casualty collection point!" 2LT Cavell started wildly gesturing. "3rd and Weapons Squads, security cordon around this place! 3rd squad, north and west, Weapons, south and east! Move it! I'll call the local enforcers!"
The platoon carried out their orders, weapons trained and eyes wide open for anything out of the ordinary. Kat took cover near a vendor that had one half blown away. She noticed a leg sticking out about ten feet away. Curiosity overcame her and she moved over towards it.
It was a green female Gand laying unconscious. Yellow hymolyphic fluid pooled under her. Kat checked for wounds. There were two large shrapnel holes in the Gand's torso, and smaller wounds marked both of her arms. Kat checked for anything that could be used as a tourniquet, as she deduced that it wouldn't be wise to use the one on her kit, just in case.
Thankfully, there was a shred of cloth nearby. Kat ripped it in half and tied it tight on the Gand's upper arms. Next, she took out her kolto spray and sprayed on the torso wounds, careful not to apply too much, since it would be difficult to remove any shrapnel inside the body if the green liquid healed too much.
While she was finishing up, shots started ringing out. She heard a scream from a familiar voice, but didn't catch whom did it belong to. "East-northeast, upper levels!" someone screamed. The Marines returned fire. Their blaster bolts were met with even more fire, this time from multiple directions. "Ambush!" yelled out Argyll harshly. "Tell us something that isn't obvious, genius!" yelled out Rhyss.
The shockwave of a nearby explosion knocked her down, and she was roughly helped out by Ferhal who yelled, "Get up, Merrick! Don't cower down on us now!" She aimed at the rooftops, then the top floors of the buildings. She took care not to stay in the same spot for too long as the exchange of bolts and bullets continued. The muzzle flashes were too sudden for her to pinpoint and respond quickly
"Why can't these people use particle weapons like everyone else in the galaxy?"
1st and 2nd squads pushed their efforts further - the faster they managed to get non-combatants out, the better they could beat back the enemy. Kat squeezed off more shots, but they seemed to duck and cover at every moment she pulled the trigger. Damn, these guys are good!
The screams of Marines calling out threats and barking orders now filled the entire marketplace.
"Bearing 300, second street level, top floor!"
"Reloading!"
"Get him out of the killzone! Move!"
"Covering! Go!"
"Rocket!" someone yelled. An explosion went off near the Weapons Squad. Thankfully by then, most of the casualties were whisked off to the collection point or hid away in good cover.. "OK, 2nd and 3rd Squads, get in close! Clear 'em out, team by team, room by room! The rest - I want fire superiority, dammit! Cover them!" The Marines complied with intensifying their fire even more. The cannoneers fired in full automatic instead of the long bursts they usually do. "Go! Go! Go!" yelled Wolverton. Kat ran through the hail of bullets, west towards a building.
They lined up on both sides of the closed door. SGT Lovell pressed the nearby controls "Bewt, it's locked! Merrick!" then whipped his head towards the door. Kat saw that it was made of transparisteel, then knelt against the wall as she made calculations, took out her a small breaching charge, and shaped them as flatly as she can in 3 seconds, and stuck it on the door.
"Clear out! Fire in the hole!" The explosion shook the building and shattered the door into shards. "Merrick! Give every fireteam door breaching charges." barked Lovell. "Aye, Sarge!" she gave one to each fireteam before they entered the building. "Check if the door opens first. If it doesn't, then use the charges. Don't waste my gear!"
They intend to clear every room and take out every enemy they find. On the lower levels, it was all filled with scared civilians, cowering and hulking to avoid being hit. The younglings were either crying or sobbing as quietly as possibly, hoping that their tears wouldn't attract any misfortune upon them.
As soon as they reached the fifth floor, the squad heard an unmistakable sound - muffled gunfire. "They're here. Alright, let's finish this." Every team took a room, readying themselves. They put the charges, and Lovell signalled for them to be detonated simultaneously.
"Go!"
The charges went off on the metal doors, and they went in. Kat went in after Specialist Cenlabeag, followed by Xand and Lee Gavenairgd. They cleared the three-room dwelling in twos. Kat saw a figure aiming their rifle from the far side of the dwelling. "Beag, down!" and rammed into him.
Shots flew over them both, and Beag managed to bring his rifle to bear and shot the figure four times. "Get up, Kat!" he yelled. They headed for the third room as shots were exchanged by the 2nd pair. Xand yelled, " I think it's a good idea to throw in a det or something!" Lee flinched as a bullet penetrated the wall too close to him. "Let's do that!"
She primed a electro-detonator and threw it in. The room brightened with a blue glow, then returned into darkness as everything was short-circuited.
Kat and Beag entered the final room, sweeping for threats. There were none. "Clear!" "No, Kat. I smell that someone's still in this room." "What, literally?" "Just check everything!"
The duo decided to turn over everything in the room - Storage drawers and cabinets were opened, every space was checked. Still, there were none. "Ah, of course," Beag muttered as he suddenly spun in the direction of the bed and fired half of his remaining magazine.
He jumped on the bed and fired three more shots before he started stamping out the fires the superheated bolts have caused. "Ceanlabeag, what in the galaxy…?"
He jumped down and reached under the bed and pulled out a smoky female Klatoonian corpse. Kat counted six shots all over his body. "That. Anything else?" Kat, embarrassed, clamped her mouth shut.
Beag searched the corpse, rifling through her pouches and pockets. He pulled out something and stared at it for a moment, before he swore.
"What is it, Beag?" He held up a comlink. "It's just a comlink. Never seen one?" Kat scoffed. "If your sight and perception were as good as the feet of your mouth, Cathria…" he flipped the comlink over, "you would've noticed that this was hastily scribbled underneath it!"
It was a sloppy, hastily stamped logo of black crosshairs on a red hexagonal background. She recognized it immediately. It's impossible not to after seeing it in countless pre-deployment and pre-mission briefings. The other platoons had told of it, but to see it for herself made her entire body contract and tremble.
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Damn it!
Both of them said it at almost the same time…
"It's the Imperii."
40 MINUTES LATER
3rd Platoon had just finished doing battle damage assessment. It was their first time checking out the damage they had done. They scanned the rooms and buildings from which their enemies fired from, carried and collected the dead bodies and gear and weapons in piles, and treated the wounded - it was their first time with prisoners. None of them were awake, but the combat lifesavers and platoon medic - Vaten Ferhal, Micke Padeiro, Leows Melnuyd and Doc Coohass - were all trying hard to keep their patients alive, enemy status be damned. The civillian casualties were already carried off to the nearest medical center, but the signs of carnage remained. Blood and bodily fluids have started to dry out. The ocassional body part or flesh were now covered by debris, dust and falling leaves.
"I don't understand why these people use projectile weapons. It's heavy as skug!" complained Gavenairgd as he carried one of the enemy rifles. "Energy weapons haven't caught on. You ask me, I think it works for them," Beag stoically explained, chest rig in hand. "It's the damage done, isn't it?" said Rhyss. "Yes. Even on my homeworld, we use projectile weapons for hunting. Less pure damage, but it bleeds out the target better... If it doesn't die from the impact, it dies from blood or fluid loss." "Sounds more effective... so why aren't we still using these things, then?" asked Kat.
The trio dispatched their gear and then stopped at a weapon pile. "Because," Rhyss kneeled down and took a full rifle magazine and threw it to Kat, "Compare this..." Kat quickly caught it with a single hand. "To our weapons." It was much, much heavier than the Marines' liquified gas ammunition. She looked down into it, and saw that the bullets were smaller than most blaster bolts. "I can't imagine carrying fifteen of this into battle!" Kat was shocked. "Exactly. That magazine only holds thirty. Ours hold fifty on the highest power setting. That's why we moved on from these things, even before the Republic... mostly, that is." said Rhyss.
"And it's harder to shoot. From my experience, these things are more affected by the planet they're on. There's flight drop, as well as planetary rotation and gravity to consider when you aim down sights." chimed in Beag. "You two seem to know a lot about projectile weapons," wondered Kat. "Don't look at me, Beag's the one with actual experience. I only read about them," smirked Beag.
."Alright, Marines! Let's load this up! The Intel freaks are going to have a field day with all this," yelled 2LT Cavell as the Marines started their task. The whine of engines heralded the arrival of their casualty evacuation vehicles for the prisoners. It was time for them to leave.
AUTHOR'S NOTES : This took quite a while. I had to rewrite some of the parts entirely...
