Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Also, for those wondering why they're just trying to assassinate Zsinj, it's rather simple. They have to keep most of their forces focused on the main Imperial faction, because it's so much stronger, and they know if Zsinj is taken out, his faction will tear itself apart and weaken itself through infighting.
Let's get to it.
Starpottergeek: Eventually, yes. It'll just be brief. They'll be major characters in an EU story though.
Guest: I won't be doing a chapter like that, because I'm going to be doing an entire EU story on that premise.
pervy sage: Yes, he taught vaapad
Guest: That is actually a brilliant idea for the symbol.
Chapter 73- Taking Out a Warlord
(March 2, 2018, Dathomir)
Loginov watches as Dathomir appears out of the viewport as they drop out of hyperspace. Terran intelligence had been trying for months to pin down Warlord Zsinj's location. It wasn't easy, as Zsinj was cautious, as he seemed to have caught on to the fact that the Terrans were hunting him. However, they had finally tracked him to Dathomir, where, apparently, Zsinj had come to oversee construction of new warships for his fleet and discuss expansion plans with his chiefs. Adams had decided it was time to strike, and ordered Loginov and his team to launch the attack.
Loginov and his team had travelled to Dathomir aboard a brand new shuttle. The shuttle, the MC-58 Wraith, was designed by Boeing, and was designed as a stealth shuttle for use by special ops teams. It had only entered service 6 months earlier. The shuttle was incredibly stealthy, and there was nothing the Empire had that could detect it, and it was painted in a dark color designed to camouflage it against space. It also carried a pair of laser cannons for self defense.
Loginov watches as the MC-58 closes in on the Iron Fist, Zsinj's Super Star Destroyer. The plan was a very risky one. Because Zsinj was aboard a ship, their only option to take him out was to board the ship, sneak through the ship, and kill him in his own quarters. It was for that reason that the most skilled Zulu Force operators had been assigned to this mission, as well as Tech, and they had been equipped with the most sophisticated equipment and weapons available.
Tech is flying the shuttle. Loginov looks over at him and says, "Time to target?"
"Three minutes," Tech responds.
Loginov watches as they approach the Super Star Destroyer, one of a few ships in orbit over Dathomir. Tech guides them in carefully, aiming for a known emergency airlock on the ship's port stern. As they approach, Tech pulls back carefully on the throttles, slowing the Wraith down to almost nothing. Tech carefully guides the shuttle down and attaches the docking clamp to the emergency airlock.
"They can't see us?" Loginov asks.
"No. No chance," Tech says.
"Good," Loginov says. He stands up and walks back into the passenger bay.
The rest of the team is sitting quietly on the benches along the side of the passenger bay. Everyone knows the magnitude of their mission. It is crucial to take out Zsinj. The Alliance knew well from what had been happening ever since Endor that if Zsinj was killed, his faction of the Empire would be fractured by infighting, and would increase the overall conflict between parts of the Empire.
"Alright, men. This is it. Remember your training, and let's get this done," Loginov says. The twelve Zulus all nod.
"Alright. Gear up. Let's move," Loginov says. The twelve Zulus slide their helmets onto their heads and quickly gather up all their gear not already strapped to them.
Loginov walks over to the hatch in the floor and opens it. Loginov then reaches through the hatch and starts working to get the door of the emergency airlock open. After a minute, Loginov finally manages to get the door open.
Loginov drops down through the opening, landing in a passage. Loginov immediately raises his HK416 assault blaster, scanning the hallway. Each member of the team has an HK416 as their primary weapon. After a moment, he calls out, "Clear."
He takes a few steps away. Behind him, one by one, the twelve Zulus drop down into the hall, all raising their own HK416s. Tech follows last of all, closing the door into the shuttle as he goes.
Loginov scans his team to make sure everyone is there. Then, without speaking, he raises his hand and waves it down the hallway. He starts moving slowly down the corridor, assault blaster raised and at the ready. Tech and the Zulus follow close behind, moving in pairs, with the rear most pair keeping an eye out behind them.
Reaching a corner, Loginov holds up a hand for the team to stop. He motions forward, and his second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence, moves forward. Lawrence sticks his left foot in between Loginov's feet. Loginov looks back at Lawrence and nods once. Then, as one, they pivot on their left feet around the corner, Loginov standing up straight and Lawrence going low. They scan the hallway ahead, and seeing no enemies, Loginov whispers loud enough for the team to hear, "Clear."
Lawrence stands up and shuffles out into the hallway. Loginov starts moving down the hallway, the rest of the team following close behind. The team moves as silently as possible, every nerve on alert.
As the team comes up on an intersection, Loginov again raises his hand for the team to halt. A moment later, Lawrence asks, "Permission to take point, sir?"
"Granted," Loginov whispers back.
Lawrence gestures to one of the other Zulus and motions him forward. Together, the two move closer to the intersection before, at a signal from Lawrence, they race into the intersection, each of them facing down one of the other hallways. Seeing that both ways are clear, they motion the rest of the team forward.
Loginov leads the team forward, taking the right turn at the intersection. Loginov speeds up a bit as he goes. He knows it won't be long before they're detected.
As they near another hallway branching off the one they're in, Loginov suddenly hears something. He thrusts his hand to signal them to stop immediately. He then turns to Lawrence and makes a few hand motions. Lawrence nods.
The two move to the corner. Again, Lawrence puts his foot forward in between Loginov's, and at Loginov's signal, they whip around the corner, assault rifles ready. Immediately, they see two stormtroopers heading towards them. Before the stormtroopers can even realize that there are enemies, Loginov and Lawrence squeeze the triggers and fire a brief burst. Both stormtroopers are killed before they have the chance to react.
"Move!" Loginov orders. He knows now that someone had to have heard those shots, and that it won't be long before the entire crew knows that the team is on board.
The team moves swiftly down the corridor, praying the Zsinj is where they believe him to be. Several Zulus ready smoke grenades, just in case they run into a large group of stormtroopers.
Loginov finally reaches a lift that will take them up closer to Zsinj's quarters. Loginov presses the button to summon the lift as the rest of the team forms a defensive circle around the lift, weapons at the ready.
It doesn't take more than a few moments before the lift arrives and the door opens. The team quickly crowds into the lift, which is thankfully big enough for all of them, and the doors close behind them.
It takes about 20 seconds before the lift comes to a halt. The doors slide open, revealing a squad of about 8 stormtroopers on the other side of the doors
Both sides just look at each other for a moment before Loginov says, "Hi." He and four of the Zulus quickly raise their assault blasters and squeeze the triggers, letting out a spray of blaster fire that kills all of the stormtroopers before they can raise their weapons.
"Move!" Loginov orders, and the team races out of the lift.
"Pick up the pace, boys. They're gonna be onto us now," Loginov says.
The team picks up the pace a bit, still going slow enough as to not risk running too quickly into a dangerous situation, but moving much quicker than their usual careful pace.
Reaching another intersection, Loginov starts moving through it, but quickly sees a squad of at least 10 stormtroopers coming from the right. Loginov raises his assault blaster and fires, killing two stormtroopers.
Two Zulus race forward to take covering positions and fire on the stormtroopers as the troopers start to return fire. Loginov leads the rest of the team through the intersection as the two Zulus continue to return fire against the stormtroopers. Laser fire is flying everywhere. However, the Zulus' fire is much more accurate, and in a matter of moments, all of the stormtroopers are dead.
However, as the last stormtrooper falls, alarms begin to sound, and they hear the sound of thudding bootsteps.
"Lawrence! Take Mizrahi, Alsakan, and Nielsen and hold them off!" Loginov orders. Lawrence nods once in response. He and the other three Zulus designated hurry to set up a defensive position as Loginov and the rest of the team hurry off down the hallway in the direction of Zsinj's quarters.
As the rest of the team hurries off, Lawrence and the other three set up around one of the corners of the intersection, ready to engage enemies coming from any direction. They can still hear the sound of the approaching stormtroopers. They keep looking between the three hallways when finally, from the right, they stormtroopers pouring down the hallway. At least several dozen of them racing right towards them.
"Light 'em up, boys," Lawrence says.
Mizrahi, Alsakan, and Nielsen fire their assault blasters at the incoming stormtroopers, cutting down seven in a matter of seconds. Some of the stormtroopers scatter to either side of the hallway, while others charge ahead. Seeing this, Lawrence loads a grenade into the grenade launcher attached to his HK416 and snaps the launcher closed. He then raises the weapon and fires. The grenade hits in the middle of the stormtroopers, killing five outright and wounding four more.
"Smoke 'em!" Lawrence orders. Together, all four of them pull out a smoke grenade, pull the pins, and chuck them down the hallway. The grenades burst seconds later, filling the end of the hall with smoke.
The stormtrooper formation descends into chaos, as each trooper tries to find their way through the smoke and find their targets again. However, the four Zulus quickly switch their helmets over to infrared vision, enabling them to easily see through the smoke, and they quickly resume firing.
As Lawrence's fireteam continues to hold off the stormtroopers, Loginov leads the rest of the strike team towards Zsinj's quarters. As they move through the corridors, they run across occasional fireteams of 2 to 4 stormtroopers, taking each team out with ease.
Finally, they climb up a set of stairs, finally arriving on the level where Zsinj's quarters are located. As they make their way around a corner, they suddenly find themselves face to face with Zsinj's guard, comprised of ten stormtroopers, eight death troopers, and one former Imperial Royal Guard.
Loginov looks at the assembled enemies as they turn to face the team. Then, he orders, "Tech, stay out of the way and wait until we clear the way. The rest of you, handle the troopers. I've got Mr. Red." Loginov stows his assault blaster on his back and draws his lightsaber, igniting its blue blade.
Tech ducks out of the way as the rest of the Zulus spread out, attacking the stormtroopers and death troopers. They fire their assault blasters as the troopers return fire. One of the Zulus is hit and retreats as the others move forward to engage the troopers at close range.
As this happens, Loginov twirls his lightsaber before charging at the Red Guard. The Guard swings his Force pike at Loginov, but Loginov blocks it with his lightsaber and forces it aside. He slashes at the Guard's shoulder, but the Guard just manages to dodge aside. The Guard stabs his pike towards Loginov's chest, but Loginov easily deflects it with his lightsaber.
Loginov swings his lightsaber at the Guard's neck, but the Guard manages to block it. As Loginov struggles against the Guard, he glances around. He sees one of the Zulus, Major Sorensen, exchanging blows with a death trooper. Just beyond Sorensen, he sees Captain Khan whip around from killing a stormtrooper and roast another stormtrooper with one of his flamethrowers.
Loginov quickly refocuses on his fight, leaping back a bit to gain room to strike before slashing at the Guard's neck. The Guard blocks the lightsaber with ease and strikes at Loginov's leg. Loginov just manages to leap over the pike. As he lands, he swings his saber up and tries to bring it down on the Guard's head, but the Guard manages to block it.
The two exchange a flurry of blows, saber on Force pike, Then, they clash their weapons at chest level. Struggling against the guard, Loginov quickly forms a plan. He lets go of his saber with one hand, reaching up to grab the shaft of the Force pike. He then deactivates his saber, before turning around, putting his back to the Guard, and pulling on the Force pike as he goes. This move pulls the Guard off balance, and before the Guard can do anything, he switches his saber around his hand and ignites it, the blade springing to life right into the Guard's lower chest. Loginov holds the saber there for a moment before letting go of the Force pike and yanking the saber out, letting the Guard's body drop to the floor.
Loginov quickly turns around, ready to engage the rest of the guards. However, he quickly realizes he doesn't need to. The team have already taken care of almost all of them. As he watches, Sorensen kills the last death trooper by driving his knife into the trooper's neck.
"Tech, get the door open," Loginov orders. Tech hurries to the door, his fingers dancing as he tries to get the door open. It takes him only a second before the doors slide open.
Sorensen and another Zulu, 1st Lieutenant Nagata, lead the way through the doors. Inside, they find Zsinj standing beside a computer console, with another death trooper guard standing between him and the two Zulus. Nagata quickly dispatches the death trooper with three quick shots. As the death trooper falls, Zsinj turns to face them, and sees Sorensen aiming his HK416 right at him. Sorensen stares at Zsinj down the barrel of his weapon.
During the planning for the operation, TSOC had considered capturing Zsinj for intelligence. However, they also recognized during the planning that trying to get Zsinj from his quarters to the Wraith would put the team in great danger. After some consideration, they decided it was too risky. And because of that, this operation had been classified as shoot on sight kill mission. All this rushes through Sorensen's head before he squeezes the trigger, firing four shots from his HK416. Three of the bolts hit Zsinj in the chest, and the fourth hits him in the face. Zsinj collapses to the ground, dead before he hits the floor.
Loginov enters the room just in time to see Sorensen kill Zsinj. Taking a moment to take this in, he then quickly orders, "Tech, get to work." Tech hurries towards the console Zsinj was standing beside. He plugs in a device meant to hack the Imperial systems and download any useful intelligence.
As Tech hurries to download every useful piece of intelligence he can, the rest of the team stands guard near the entrance, and Loginov takes some pictures of Zsinj's face so they can confirm the kill.
After just a minute, Tech pulls the device out of the console and calls out, "Alright. Ready to go."
As the team moves out of Zsinj's quarters, Loginov activates his commlink and calls over it, "Loginov to Lawrence. Target is eliminated. We're on our way back. What's your status?"
Down several floors below, Lawrence ducks backwards to avoid a blaster bolt before shouting back over his commlink, "Taking a lot of heat! We could use some help ASAP!" He then leans back into view and fires a burst from his HK416, gunning down a stormtrooper.
Two stormtroopers fire at Lawrence, but Lawrence quickly ducks back to avoid getting hit. A second later, Alsakan darts across the intersection to the opposite wall, shooting fire from his flamethrowers as he goes, killing the two stormtroopers that just fired at Lawrence. He quickly hides behind the corner to avoid getting hit before pulling out a grenade, ripping out the pin, and tossing it down the other hall towards the stormtroopers. The grenade kills five stormtroopers and wounds two more.
As Lawrence loads another grenade into his grenade launcher, a blaster bolt hits him in the shoulder. Whipping around, he sees a squad of stormtroopers coming up from behind. Lawrence quickly raises his HK416 and fires the attached grenade launcher. The grenade explodes a second later, taking out half of the squad quickly. Lawrence then fires his assault blaster, gunning down three more. The last two try to fire at Lawrence, but Nielsen quickly sees them coming and dispatches them with a few quick shots.
"We need to slow them down. Mizrahi, block the way!" Lawrence orders.
Mizrahi taps a screen on his vambrace a few times, then leans around the corner and fires the rocket from his jetpack. The rocket flies down the hallway and hits the ceiling. The explosion tears huge chunks out of the ceiling, sending them crashing down onto the stormtroopers, killing a number of them and blocking the hallway, making it much more difficult for reinforcements to reach them.
Alsakan and Nielsen quickly lean out into view, firing their assault blasters, killing most of the remaining stomrtroopers. The remaining troopers quickly take cover behind some of the rubble and continue firing at the Zulus.
Lawrence hears more bootsteps from behind him. He turns around and sees another platoon of stormtroopers approaching from behind.
"Nielsen!" he shouts. Nielsen turns around, and he and Lawrence quickly open fire on the stormtroopers. They kill five in a matter of seconds as the others scatter, trying to find cover.
Both sides exchange fire. The stormtrooper's bolts fly all around them, while Lawrence's and Nielsen's bolts hit home again and again. One bolt gets lucky and hits Nielsen in the arm, but doesn't hurt him that much.
Finally, there are just two stormtroopers from the squad left. They decide rushing their enemies is the best option. However, right as they start to rush towards the two Zulus, a blue lightsaber blade cuts off their heads from behind.
Lawrence grins as Loginov and the rest of the team race into view. Loginov rushes over to Lawrence and asks, "Are you alright?"
"Just peachy, sir," Lawrence says.
Loginov grins, then looks around and shouts, "Alright! Let's get back to the Wraith!"
Nielsen and Alsakan each throw their last grenades down the hallway. As the grenades explode, the team dashes through the intersection.
The team moves as quickly as they can back to the lift. Reaching the lift, they all crowd into the lift.
After the 20 second lift ride, they emerge and start sprinting through the halls, heading back towards the emergency airlock. They encounter several squads of stormtroopers, but wipe them all out with relative ease.
Finally, they reach the emergency airlock. Tech unlocks it, and the team hurries back aboard the MC-58. Once they're all back aboard, Loginov closes the hatch, and Tech releases the docking clamp. Tech then pulls the MC-58 away from the Iron Fist and starts heading away from Dathomir.
Loginov makes his way into the cockpit. "Are we in the clear?" he asks.
"Yes. And I'm picking up on some New Republic transmissions. It seems their negotiations with the Hapes Consortium have paid off. They're sending a task force here to Dathomir. Hopefully they'll be able to finish off the ships that are here. I think the confusion from our attack will keep Zsinj's forces occupied long enough for the Consortium to attack," Tech says.
"Good," Loginov says.
Tech finishes programming the navicomputer, then pushes the hyperspace throttles forward, and the MC-58 jumps to hyperspace.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked it.
I incorporated a number of tactics I've learned in ROTC for urban warfare and clearing buildings in this chapter. Hope you liked those inclusions.
Since so many people have been asking me to include the Hapes Consortium, I decided to at least give them a mention. I may feature them again at some point.
Next chapter will cover a major battle of the Galactic Civil War. It should be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review and stay tuned.