The First Contact War Chapter 32
Another Man's Terrorist
"Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot people remember is the one that gets past you." Paul Wilkenson.
2623 1st December Earth Standard Calendar, Lt Luke Sparrow, Onderon
"Carriage is leaving the palace." Walter reported. He was looking through the binoculars towards where the IEDs had been placed. A small speeder had been parked by one of the rebels on the opposite side of the street from the large sculpted gate that lead to the palace. The rebels had then entered the store next to the speeder and exited from the back out of sight of the guards. Luke, Walter and Jones were a block away in a bell tower lying prone observing the gate.
"Two escort speeders, one leading, one following." Walter called out.
"Wait for the carriage to get close the speeder. That's our target." Luke informed. He was looking through his own binoculars. He counted a dozen human guards backed up by two dozen droids. He watched as the carriage and its escort approached the gate. The Royal Carriage was just as one would expect it to be. Golden and covered in precious jewels and stones. Every inch screamed extravagance and wealth. The gate guards lowered the shield allowing the convoy to pass through.
"Walter, detonate when ready." Luke ordered.
"Yes sir."
The lead speeder pulled out and turned left towards the parked speeder IED as the carriage and rear escort followed suit. The carriage had just begun to finish its turn when Walter pressed the detonator. An ear-piercing explosion rocked the junction a block away. Smoke and debris filled the air reaching higher than the surrounding buildings. The carriage was completely obscured by the blast and was strewn all over the area. The lead and rear speeders were caught in the blast and sent flying into nearby buildings and the palace fence. Some of the guards were caught in the explosion or struck by the debris. Through their binoculars the operators could see the chaos and destruction they had caused. Guards were running around, panicked or trying to aid an injured comrade. Droids rushed the area to secure it from further attack. Civilians were running and screaming in fear, even a block away where they were. The store next to the speeder was missing the entire front half of itself and exposed the inside of the building which was blacked and covered in dust and debris.
"Fuck'in A." Jones commented with a grin on his face.
"You said it," Walter responded as the two fist bumped, "Hey, LT. You think their king will like this early Christmas present?"
"I doubt these people even know what Christmas is, let alone celebrate it. Though maybe we should send him something?" Luke said as they stood up and began to head back to base.
"Oh, I know. How about a high-velocity round to the head. Or an IED." Jones said.
"Yeah, we could wrap it up in Christmas themed wrapping paper and send a card as well." Walter said.
"But how would we get it to him? I'm sure the guards would check to make sure there isn't anything explody being sent to their king."
"That's easy. We go down the chimney and leave it in his bedside stocking!" Jones said without missing a beat.
"In that case, I'll find the Santa costume, Jones'll get the present and you Walter can find the reindeer and sleigh." Luke spoke, humouring the two.
"Yes, Operation Christmas Demolition is a go!" Jones yelled. Luke could only smirk at Jones's boyish enthusiasm for their fake assassination plan.
"Lieutenant, get back to the safe house. We're having a meeting to discuss further action. Meet with the rebel contact near the old temple and he'll lead you to the new safe house." Luke heard through his ear pierced from General Skywalker.
"Change of plans boys, we're heading somewhere new. General Skywalker's orders."
25031 Galactic Standard Calendar, Ahsoka Tano, Onderon
Ahsoka walked into the meeting room that had been agreed upon following behind Lux, Steela and Gerrera but in front of her master and Obi-Wan. The small darkened room had two sofas in the centre with a few rebels already in the room waiting. She noticed that Luke and the two operators were standing to one side in the shadows with their arms folded across their chests chatting to themselves. Luke turned his head and nodded in recognition to her. He had apologised for the manner in which he had spoken to her a few days ago but still had insisted his point stood. Taking a seat next to her master and opposite the three rebel leaders. She and her fellow Jedi all removed their dark brown robes hoods. One rebel offered Obi-Wan a drink but he declined with a gesture of his hand.
"Your success will not go unnoticed." Her master spoke eliciting cheers from all the rebels gathered which brought a smile to her face to see them all so excited.
"I agree, but we need to be mindful of public perception," Obi-Wan mindfully reminded them, "What was your Observation Padawan." He continued as everyone turned to look at her.
"The people were fearful master." She replied.
"Indeed. Judging from the reactions I saw today I'm afraid they'll mistake your intentions." Obi-Wan said as he stroked his beard like he did when he was thinking.
"We need to do more damage. A few dozen broken down droids will do little to free Onderon." Saw passionately said as he smacked his fist into his hand. She felt, more than saw Luke's eyes roll.
"The people need to believe we can succeed. Without their support our efforts are meaningless." Steela more helpfully suggested.
"If they are afraid they won't support us. We need to assure them of our intentions." Lux put. As a senator he understood the importance of public relations and image.
"I don't understand, why are they afraid." Saw asked confused.
"They're afraid we're not strong enough to win. We need to earn their trust." Steela answered.
"You need to convince them your not terrorists." Luke interjected.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Saw asked through narrowed eyes as everyone turned to look at where Luke and the Orionians were standing.
"Oh, was it not obvious or are you a bit deaf. I said you need to convince them your not terrorists. Congrats, you've attacked patrols and checkpoints, set of a few IEDs and you've done…. What exactly to show the people your fighting for freedom? You've shown them your fighters but there's little difference between a fighter and a terrorist." Luke snapped back, from the looks on the other two Orionians faces they seemed to agree with him. Their history wasn't pleasant when it came to 'freedom fighters' or terrorists if she remembered correctly.
"But we're fighting for Onderon's peoples' freedom." Lux spoke a little defensively.
"A terrorist can also fight for freedom. It's a matter of perspective really."
"You'll have plenty of time to earn their trust and change people's perspective of yourselves. All of you are going to be very busy." Her master interrupted before the situation could dissolve further.
"The last week or so has only been a test. You'll get your chance." Rex added.
"I the meantime, make the most of your victories. Welcome and learn from them." Obi-Wan suggested.
"Perhaps if we hit something big, show them our strength, maybe they would overcome their fear and join us." Lux said standing up between the two sofas.
"do you have something in mind?" Ahsoka asked.
"I have the perfect target." Lux supplied, "There's an energy generator in the west district, it feeds al the other sub-generators in the city. It's lightly defended but has thick high walls that we will either need to go over, under or through. But if we succeed, the power throughout the city falls."
"That's not an easy target you understand, it will wake a lot of planning and recon." Luke spoke again.
"I know, but we don't have to hit it immediately." Lux responded.
"How exactly will that help? Droids aren't linked to a central command anymore." Steela asked.
"Yes, but they still need power to recharge. If we knock out the power grid, it will only be a matter of time until the droid army is brought to a standstill, literally." Lux answered, evidently, he had put a lot of thought into this move.
"If you carry the plan out at nightfall, you'll maximise your strike capability." Ahsoka advised.
"Okay, so we just need to figure out how to destroy the power station." Steel said. Anakin and Obi-Wan had remained silent, opting to allow the rebels to work out their strategy for themselves.
"We need to do some surveillance." Lux said taking Luke's words into advisement.
"Those droids should have all the intel we need held up in those tin cans of theirs right." Saw asked.
"They should." Ahsoka responded.
"Then I'll get us one." Saw spoke as he stood up and walked to the door.
2623 2nd December Earth Standard Calendar, Lt Luke Sparrow, Onderon
Luke once again found himself on a rooftop, sniper rifle in hand. This time he was providing overwatch for the rebels as they attacked the power station. He, Walter and Jones had decided to not comment on some of the potential effects of destroying the cities power grid when the rebels had mentioned the plan. The Onderonians were stupid for building a power grid where the main power station went down the rest would go down. The rebels also hadn't thought through the ramifications of attacking the facility an succeeding. With no power, the droids would lack the capabilities to recharge and power their army true. But that was only if they didn't bring a charging device with them or have a back up generator. The rebels had elected to ignore or more worrignly had not thought about what else would happen, hospitals would be without power, the streets would not be lit at night which would cause all sorts o problems, the police and fire departments would be stretched trying to deal with it all. Heavy industry would grind to a halt leaving people without jobs. There was a reason why the O.A.A.F. had taken to dropping EMP bombs on Separatist cities, modern life shut down without a power source.
His eyes scanned the dimly lit plaza outside of the Power Station's high walls. A few droid patrols where walking about but civilians had completely abandoned the square as a result of the curfew that was now in effect. He continued to watch as a patrol of B1s passed five storeys below him.
"Eagle one in position awaiting operation start." Luke reported the others letting them know he was ready. Generals Kenobi and Skywalker had probably nearly reached the rendezvous point back in the jungle where the republic shuttle was to take them back to Coruscant to report to the Jedi order. He hoped for the galaxy's sake they told the Jedi Council that while insurgencies are effective, they do cause more harm than they didn't.
"Eagle two, also in position."
"Eagle three in position."
Luke's eyes where on the street where a speeder now pulled up in a hurry right in the centre and a rebel quickly hopped out. He watched the rebel scurry into the alley opposite to where Ahsoka, Steela, Saw, Lux and a few other rebels were. Shifting his rifles aim up the street he carefully followed the approach of the droid patrol. One commander droid, ten B1s and eight Supers. He felt the trigger of the sniper rifle, gently tapping it, the reticule hovering over the head of an unsuspecting battle droid. One Super droid started to push the speeder out of the way as the patrol parted to go around it. Blue electricity danced on the speeder and spread to the Super pushing the speeder and the surrounding droids as their systems were fried.
The lone rebels down the alley way ran out and started to fire at the droids, he downed one before being shot like Luke expected the rebel to be. Pulling the trigger, the droids head went flying off and two other shots rang out from eagle two and three. The rebels, mainly Saw, sprang out from their cover and started to shoot up the droids. Saw ran and slide under the front droids leaving them a droid popper for their trouble. Saw stood up a blasted the remaining droids.
Luke watched as the commander droid hobbled away calling for hopefully reinforcements. As it approached a bend Steela blasted its head off.
He watched as Ahsoka and the rebels congregated in the street. A strange noise reached his ears, like metal rolling along the cobbled streets. He saw Ahsoka tense up and turn towards the rebels behind her. Two Droidekias rolled up and activated their shields as they started to fire at the insurgents. Ahsoka activated her two lightsabres as she deflected the blaster bolts while the rebels took cover behind the speeder, walls or even fallen droids. Luke didn't even bother to fire, Destroyers had a shield that couldn't be penetrated by small arms so he was forced to sit on the roof and merely watch helplessly the battle panned out. He saw Lux and Saw come out an alley behind the Destroyers. Saw rolled a droid popper through the shield of one of them and it detonated right underneath the destroyer. Lux then tried to do the same but put to much force behind the roll and the grenade did nothing. Saw pushed Lux out of the way to avoid being shot and then jumped and rolled behind the now deactivated Destroyer to avoid being hit himself as the Destroyer shifted its attention to them instead of Ahsoka and Steela. Steela then ran at the droid and sliding the last few feet placing the grenade through the shield at the Destroyer's feet.
With the Destroyer down, Lux and Saw helped Steel to her feet. Once again, they all stood up in the middle of the street talking to one another. In Luke's opinion they could have done the same thing but only in cover and cot have the risk of having to find some under fire and exposed.
"All forces be advised, I've spotted a tank support by six supers approaching from the Western end of the street." Eagle three informed them all as a tank could be heard approaching before it came round the corner. Luke had taken his first shot by the time the rebels had scattered for cover. Eagles two and thee followed suit. The front left most droid fired a rocket at Luke's position. The missile impacted below him, destroying the wall supporting his section of the roof. Before he could react the roof gave way and he fell down a storey into the room below. The fall itself didn't hurt that much. Landing of the debris of the wall and roof, that hurt. He felt his torso hit the rubble and bricks, leaving him with some definite bruises. He wheezed and coughed from the mixture of feeling a little winded and inhaling the dust. He started to feel around for his gun as the sounds of combat continued to reach him from outside. He felt around blindly for a few seconds before his hand found the barrel of the weapon. Picking both it and himself up he strode up to the hole in the wall in time to see Steela shoot the last tow super droids.
"Eagle one, you okay?" Luke heard Walter ask.
"Just peachy." He responded.
"Overwatch move to secondary positions and prepare for phase two." Luke heard Ahsoka order. Placing his hand on the wall he inspected it to see if it would hold up. Deciding that it would he started to pull himself back up onto the roof. Placing the gun on the roof above him, he hoisted himself p onto his elbows and swung his leg on top. Once again on the roof he hurried over in the direction of the power station. Leaping over a low wall on the next roof he continued to make his way to his next position. Vaulting up to the next roof which was higher up by a meter and a half or so the roofs evened out a little and he was able to make it quickly to the last building on the street which overlooked the power station at a slightly lower level than the walls of the power station. Lying down he set up his position as he poked the barrel of the gun through the many gaps created by the railing which used many small white columns to hold itself up.
"We're almost in position. Ready when you are Steela." Saw said through the comm. Steela opened fire at a B1 and Luke and the others followed suite. Shots rang out as three more snipers opened fire and Steel fired again. Switching his aim from the droids bellow Luke instead focused on the ones behind the parapets on the walls. Eagles two and three kept the pressure on the droids at the gate while Ahsoka and Steela dealt with the droids who had flanked them. Luke made sure any droid that stuck its head out on the wall regretted it. The tank piloted by Lux and Saw made its way round. The droids didn't attack it thinking it was one of theirs. Saw opened the hatch stupidly exposing himself to fire and Lux had to blast a droid that would have otherwise hit Saw. The tank began to run over the droids at the gate until it stopped. Aiming it's barrel at the gate the rebel AAT fired. It took two shots for the gate to be opened. One for the front gate, one for the rear gate. Commando droids rushed through the gap but the generator was now exposed.
Steela ran forwards and began to use the tank as cover while all the rebels were shooting at the approaching commando droids. Three commando droids made it through the fire to the tank. Lux was thrown against the side by one of them as Luke scored a lucky shot on the second from his vantage point. Steela shot one in the head, downing it put the own that had thrown Lux against the tank kicked her pistol from her had. Luke spotted Lux lift his blaster at the droids head, it looking down at him and fired. The droid fell. Saw fired two shots at the generator. The generator released a luminescent blue field that expanded outwards, Lux and Steel taking cover behind the tank. The Generator started to exude blue arcs of electricity as it started to explode. A large explosion rocked the central node and a small EMP blast discharged from it s wake, frying any inadequately protected electronics as the nearest few blocks fell into total darkness. The rest of the city followed, plunging into darkness. Luke could already hear a few shouts and worried screams from any awake citizens.
Switching from his prone position to crouching Luke reached for his comm, "All eagles, our work is done. Make back to the safe house and rest up. Our work is done for today."
2623 2nd December Earth Standard Calendar, Lt Luke Sparrow, Onderon
"We must celebrate." Steela commented. The safe house was full of excited giddy rebels. Luke supposed the only ones weren't smiling were the Orionians, himself included, and the Jedi on the holo-call. Ahsoka was smiling with the rebels. While Luke and the other s had been making their way back, rebels cells had launched dozens of attacks on blind patrols and convoys throughout the city, even some of the local populace had joined in. the brave ones anyway, many had hidden in their homes, just wanting to be left alone and untouched by the strife that plagued their streets.
"With pleasure." Saw said picking up Steel and swinging her around once before setting her down. The rebels continued to excitedly chatter.
"Come here you handsome senator." Steela said to Lux as she walked up to and hugged him. Luke caught the brief frown on Ahsoka's face. Though he was unsure why it was there, she had placed great faith in the skills of the insurgents and Lux and lacked the misgivings he and the Orionians had so he didn't see why should would frown.
"Steela is a born leader" Rex commented over the hologram.
"And quite courageous I hear." Kenobi commented, his hologram being left to Rex's and Anakin's to his right was Anakin's holographic image. Steela, Lux and Saw were in their own little world talking about something.
"Ahsoka, remember what I said about staying focused." Her master commented.
"I can't help it master."
"I understand."
"You do?"
"I do, but try to remember. Always put purpose ahead of your feelings." Her master told her. In Luke's opinion those were wise words, though he assumed Tracinya would have something to say about that. Too machine like she would have likely told him.
"This latest development will surely get count Dooku's attention. He will respond hard. They will stop at nothing to find you, you must adapt and continue to confront them in order to liberate Onderon." Kenobi informed the rebels.
"We will." Saw said.
"And we shall win." Steela finished.
"In that I have no doubt." Kenobi commented.
"Now you must rally the people, you will need their support. Your ability to influence them will also effect your capacity to represent them. Not only on the battlefield but off of it against your enemies and even in your own ranks. Your commitment will inspire others, your conviction will lead to victory." Anakin spoke, many rebels nodded in agreement.
"After todays events the people will be ready to follow. You will need a leader for them to rally behind." Kenobi once again pointed out.
"We need to build on our momentum and continue our attacks to keep them off balance." Saw spoke.
"We have to assure the people first, if we keep disrupting their lives we risk alienating them. We have to gain their trust." Lux reminded them all.
"And with both of you, we can balance both, we also need to recruit others to join us. Onderon is ours. We will remind everyone, and keep reminding them. Until we get it back." Steela finished as cries of 'Onderon is ours' and 'free Onderon' filled the room.
"All in favour of Steela as our leader, raise your hand" A female rebel stood up and said. Immediately every rebels in the room raised their hand.
"Okay, looks like its been decided, you're the leader." Saw said putting his hand on Steela's shoulder before walking out he room, finishing his beverage.
"let him go, he just needs to blow off some steam. He'll be back." Lux said diplomatically.
Steela sighed, "I can't," she said before chasing off after Saw.
"Why?" Asked Ahsoka.
"He's my brother." Steela said before going outside after Saw.
2623 3rd December Earth Standard Calendar, Lt Luke Sparrow, Onderon
"This Mother Bird to Eagle One, repeat. Mother Bird to Eagle One." Luke was resting upstairs when his comm went off. Mother Bird was the JSOC handler for the Op on Onderon. They were supposed to remain strict long range radio silence unless an emergency.
"This is Eagle One, I read you."
"Eagle One, you have new orders. Intelligence has learnt about a subterranean Separatist base in the industrial district of Izis. Intelligence believes there to be a weapons programme being secretly conducted there. Your team is to infiltrate the base. Steal the data and blow up base if possible. You will then immediately had to the extraction zone where you will be taken off world. Sending relevant data now. Good luck Eagle, Mother Bird out."
Luke brought out his tac-pad and saw that the information had been received. Immediately he started to scroll through it all. Schematics, research believed to be into chemical weapons, staff, estimated defences and defenders and possible routes into the base to the target locations. The main lab at the centre of the facility and the generator at the base. From the timescale he had one week to be ready and execute the mission. Luckily the rebels had diverted the Separatists attention and spread their forces. That made his job a little easier.
"Eagle Four, come in Eagle Four." Luke said into his headset trying to raise Hartman.
"This is Eagle Four."
"Eagle Four, Eagle team is meeting at rally point Delta. Bring all gear and as many high explosive and breaching charges as you can. More details will be available once Eagle Team has regrouped at rally point Delta. How Copy?"
"Solid Copy Eagle One, we'll be Oscar Mike in five."
Luke strode out of his room to find Jones and Walter. Going down the stairs he found them in the rec room teaching cards to some of the rebels.
"Jones, Walter. Pack your gear and prepare to move. We're heading to rally point Delta."
"Why sir? Are we compromised."
"Negative, we've got a mission. Be ready to leave by 2000 hours."
"Sir." They both said. They both stood up and hurried up the stairs and Luke followed. The rebels downstairs were left a little confused as to what had gotten the Orionians so worked up.
2623 5th December Earth Standard Calendar, Lt Luke Sparrow, Onderon
"So why have you gathered us all here?" Hartman asked as Luke and the four other Berets stood around a table.
"JSOC command has given us an Op. We need to break into a underground Sepi base, steal research data, then blow the base up. Then we are going to exfill to LZ alpha ten clicks from the east gate of the city."
"Okay then, how are we getting in?" Hartman asked.
"We'll entering the southern ventilation system which will take us right above the corridor to the main lab. Though for the last bit we'll be crawling through the air vents due to how narrow they become. There's an air duct opposite the door we want. Team One lead by Hartman have the choice of either blowing the door down or hacking it open. Once you're inside you'll download the information. Team Two led by myself will make for the generator. We'll place explosives if we can't overload it. We'll rendezvous outside this maintenance shaft. It will lead right next to the sewage system. A charge here will rupture both pipes. We'll cross into the sewer pipe which will lead outside the city. After that it's a matter of reaching the extraction point." Luke explained to the assembled men.
"What resistance are we likely to face?" Williams asked.
"Mainly B1s. There are suspected to be about three dozen commando droids and about fifteen destroyers. There are hidden turrets outside and ray shields inside. Nothing we can't handle." Luke read off his tac-pad.
"We'll be back in time for Christmas." Jones commented.
"You know whenever that's been said the conflict never does end in time." Luke deadpanned.
"Yeah, but it's us this time." Jones said with a smirk.
"I've forwarded the information to you all so make sure to read and reread the material."
"What about our rebel and Jedi friends?" Hartman asked.
"I'll think of something to tell them." Luke replied. Just then his comm started beeping.
"Speak of the devil. Hartman, Williams and Brown will go with you. Jones and Walter are still stuck with me. Dismissed." The berets started to exit the room as Luke answered his comm.
"Eagle One here."
"Lieutenant. Where are you. You're needed in an operation the rebels have planned." Ahsoka voice came over.
"I'm sorry but events have transpired beyond my control that will mean that unless this operation takes place within four days I can't help."
"It happens in five. What's happened"
We could use that actually. Launch our attack just after the rebels do theirs and the Sepi's will be distracted.
"Classified. But our operation can take place as a diversion for yours."
"Thanks Lieutenant. I can always count on you. Good luck with your mission."
2623 10th December Earth Standard Calendar, Lt Luke Sparrow, Onderon
"God it's cramped in here." Jones complained in a whisper as they all crawled through the last hundred meters of vent
"Not much further to go." Luke said as he approached a bend in the ventilation. Going around the corner he saw some light coming through the panel that they needed to go through to gain access to the corridor. Getting so far hadn't been a problem. There was little droid presence on the surface curtesy of the rebels who were planning on freeing the true king of Onderon from execution. An ample distraction for an operation like theirs.
Crawling up to the ventilation panel, Luke peered through the grills and spotted no droids patrolling or standing guard. He nudged it to see if it would come loose. The panel shook but didn't come loose. He shuffled forward so his legs were facing the vent. He then kicked the vent as hard as he could and the panel shot off the wall and made a metallic clang when it hit the adjacent corridor wall. Luke pushed himself out of the ventilation system and landed in the corridor after a slight drop. He scanned both ends of the corridor for hostiles as the rest of the team clambered out after him.
"sergeant you know your objective, good luck. Walter, Jones on me." Luke ordered.
Luke, Jones and Walter hurried to the end of the corridor as Hartman and his team began to try and jack the main lab door open. As Luke's team approached the end of the corridor, he and jones approached from the left side of the corridor and Jones from the right. Both he and jones kept their DC-15 carbines trained on the opposite side of the corridor junction from them. when they reached the end both Luke and Jones simultaneously turned round their corner and scanned the new corridor they were facing. Luke and Walter moved forward to where the elevator shaft was located, their eyes constantly scanning the corridor. Jones brought up the rear making sure they wouldn't be jumped. At the end of the corridor Luke could see the elevator door at the end of another junction leading to two new corridors. Repeating what they did at the last corridor Luke and Jones came round the next to the elevator junction.
"Walter, get that door open." Luke ordered. Walter then hurried over to the elevator door panel. Opening the small button panel next to the door Walter plugged in his Tac-pad and began to hack the door open. Luke could hear Walter tapping away on his Tac-pad. Luke had taken cover behind a protrusion from the corridor wall as he kept his carbine ready and pointed at the end of the metallic well-lit corridor. He could hear them low and gentle hum of the lights and the methodical clanking of the base's droids moving around. So far none had been seen, only heard.
"Walter, what's taking so long." Luke whispered.
"Nearly there sir, just one moment." He responded.
"We may not have a moment." Luke snapped back in a hushed whisper.
"Nearly there, almost, one second," Walter said while tapping on the Tac-pad, the elevator doors opened and revealed the darken elevator shaft.
"Doors open." Walter said.
"Good, attach cables." Luke said as he walked to the door. Looking over the edge he saw down the shaft where they would have to go in a moment. He could just about make out the elevator at the bottom of the shaft, not moving.
"Be careful of that elevator at the bottom. We don't want to be hit by it." Luke reminded.
"No worries, I override the system and now it won't move without my permission." Walter said while smirking.
"Good thinking." Luke attached the cable to his belt and gave it a few tugs to see if it would hold. Feeling satisfied he leant over the edge of the shaft with Jones and Walter. He pushed of the edge and began to abseil down. Reaching the door to the generator room. Walter stopped above it while Luke and jones stopped just above as well, just on opposite sides.
"Walter, open the door then me and Jones will go in first." Nodding in affirmation Walter set got out his Tac-pad. Luke and Jones both tensed their legs ready t push of when the door opened. Walter held up his hand and held up his fingers and thumb and began to countdown. When his last digit went down, Luke and Jones pushed off and the doors slipped open. As Luke and Jones swung into the generator room, none of the two dozen droids looked up, as they had expected the elevator to open and either more droids or staff to come out, not two Orionain Special Forces operators to come out guns blazing.
Luke aimed at the two droids on the elevated walkway first. Pulling the carbine's trigger, the blue blaster bolts shot out and smacked into both droids centre mass. Jones also gunned down a droid next to the door. The reaming twenty one droids in the room and the three staff turned to see what was going on. Luke and Jones wasted no time as Walter joined them on the elevated walkways. Luke aimed his rifle to his left and steadily shifted his carbine left as he aimed and shot each droid in his crosshairs one by one. A few droids managed to send of a few shots but they had been caught unaware and their reaction speed left much to be desired. One staff member went for what Luke assumed was an alarm button but a quick shot from his carbine sent that one to the ground, the other two staff shared a similar fate. Far less cruel than being exposed to a generator/reactor overload, or allowing them to stop it.
"Okay, Walter start attempting to overload the generator's reactor core. Jones and I will start setting charges for if overload fails." Walter walked over to the control console and moved the dead engineer's body off the top and sat down as he got to work. Luke walked over to the right elevated walkway that circled the generator. He took out the charges and began to set them in out of sight places or places that were hard to reach.
"Walter, how's it coming along?" Luke asked setting one of the last charges.
"Done, I've set a time to twenty minutes but I've synced it to my Tac-pad so I can remotely detonate it if necessary. Failing that we've got the explosive charges."
"Good. Hartman you got that data yet." Luke asked into the comm.
"We've got the data and wiping it from the system now. We experienced minor resistance, no casualties."
"Good. We're done down here. We'll meet you at the maintenance shaft."
25031 Galactic Standard Calendar, Ahsoka Tano, Onderon
Ahsoka Tano was running with Lux, Saw, Steela, some rebels and the Onderon Guard and their general Steela was escorting the King of Onderon who was surrounded by the Onderon Guard. Thye were currently making for the South Gate of the city. They needed to get the King out of the city.
"Come on, the gate's just up ahead!" Saw yelled leading the charge.
Ahsoka was bringing up the rear when she and the others felt a rush of air suddenly. Then an ear shattering explosion rocked the entire city. Ahsoka realised that the rush of air was the shockwave from the explosion. Her ears were still ringing and she rolled over onto her back and look back at the massive smoke cloud forming itself into a mushroom as it exceeded the height of the Royal palace. Looking around she saw the others lying on the ground or those that were able to stand stumbling around disorientated. She saw that one of the rebels who was in front of her clutching his ears as blood seeped out of them. The sound having shattered his eardrums.
She felt something land on her. Looking top the side in the direction it bounced off her she saw that it was a small piece of rock. She felt another one land, then another, and another. The last one was slightly larger than the other two.
"Everyone, into the buildings before the debris hits you!" She yelled as she stumbled to her feet and wobbly ran inside the nearest building. Watching the others stumble after her made them look like a crowd of armed drunkards.
"What the force was that?" Lux asked.
"An explosion of some kind." Ahsoka answered.
"What do you think caused it." Saw asked, holding one ear.
"I don't know, there's nothing in that area that should cause an explosion of that magnitude. It's a old industrial area that was being turned into a residential area. If anyone was there or near there they are probably dead now." The general answered. Ahsoka looked outside and watched the debris continued to fall in their various shapes and sizes. She hoped Luke and the other Orionians were alright and weren't caught in the blast. She had no doubt the Separatists would blame the rebels, or the attack and the rebels would blame the Separatists. Making the rebels look even more like a dictatorship but the rebels as terrorists. She realised this had the potential to split Onderon society and possibly start a civil war. The situation was starting to get out of hand, she needed to contact masters Obi-wan and Anakin.
2623 13th December Earth Standard Calendar, Keith Richards, Earth Senate Station.
"So what are our options?" Keith asked his surrounding advisers.
"We have a few open to us. Currently a handful of people know about those explorers, we can keep this covered up. That would leave the fate of the crew. Either execution or imprisonment. This seems like our best option out of all of them. Option two is we let them go and allow the knowledge of our location to become common galactic knowledge. This is the worst option in my opinion. We could alternatively let them stay and live in the Orion Arm. Lastly, we offer them anything that will keep them silent and send them back, another bad option." Explained Eric Raymond, the Secretary of Defence.
"We can't let the galaxy know of our nation's location when it's in the middle of a bloody civil war. We'd leave ourselves open to attack with two thirds of our military forces fighting on the other side of the galaxy! We should imprison or execute them." exclaimed the Secretary of State, Martha Williams.
"True, but we can't execute them or imprison them just because they stumbled upon us. They've broken no laws and an execution would blemish our democracy and justice system." Countered Keith. State executions made him feel uncomfortable and if it ever leaked would be disastrous for the Conservative Party, likely giving the Democrats the upper hand in the upcoming mid-terms. Keith rubbed his temples as he thought about what to do next.
"We can't let them go back to the Republic as then we would be compromised, but we can't imprison them or execute. What else would option three entails." Keith asked.
"We'd set them up with a new life on the colony world of Babel. New identities, jobs in some space faring profession. They'd never be allowed to leave Orion Arm space or contact any friends or relatives in the Republic. They'd also have tracking beacons placed on them, so we could always know where they are." Raymond explained.
"As invasive of their privacy as it seems, it appears the only way for you to keep a clear conscience by not killing or imprisoning them and it doesn't let them go be able to reveal our location either." Martha said.
"Raymond, I want your analysists to draw up a detailed report on how option three would be implemented. Now if you excuse me, I have a meeting with the Chief Whip." Keith said as he walked away.
25031 Galactic Standard Calendar, Darth Sidious, Coruscant
Sheeve sat back in his Chancellor chair in his office overlooking the cityscape of Coruscant and the many speeder lanes. He placed his holo-pad down on his desk. Another exploration ship had gone missing, all hands assumed to be lost. He had taped into some Republic funds he had siphoned off for his own personal use. Using the money he had hired explorers to traverse the Unknown Regions to find the O.A.G.'s location. Its military capability was becoming worrisome. The Grand Army of the Republic was no match for the forces of the O.A.D.F. that were known about. His Grand Army of clones numbered just under one billion, while the Orionains had swelled to over two billion fighting on three separate fronts. The Orionians had managed to single handily hold off the CIS onslaught for two years with large success. He doubted even the Jedi could survive a concerted effort of the O.A.D.F. if they chose to attack the Jedi order.
That was when the thought struck him. He didn't need to invade and control the O.A.G. through force. He just needed them as an ally. If he could get them to side with him when his plan to eliminate the Jedi came to fruition, he could get them to help or if not, maybe they could report Jedi that escaped his initial move or act as a safe haven for Jedi then actually hand them over to him.
Yes, if he couldn't control the O.A.G. through ruling them, then he could limit what they did through an alliance. Then if he needed to, he could control them through force when he had established himself as Supreme Emperor with a larger and more powerful army than anything the galaxy had seen before.
He picked up his Holo-pad once more and started looking over the other reports he had been sent by his vast spy network, but not before he sent out the order for the construction of new, hidden and larger cloning facilities. The reports on the recent Orion Arm Defence Force build-up on the Eastern Front and the false build-up on the Northern Front peaked his interest the most. As did another on a massive terrorist attack on Onderon, the freeing of the old King and the massive following explosion afterwards that had killed hundreds and injured hundreds more of innocent people. He recognised unlike the Republic and Separatist people that the explosion originated from the subterranean research centre, where one of his new chemical weapons designed to cause horrific burns from an inextinguishable fire that was based on Dioxygen Fluoride that would react with anything it touched and the special containment units necessary to carry and utilise the chemical as a weapon which had now gone up in flames itself. Why couldn't trying to wipe out an ancient order of monks, playing two opposing sides off each other into fighting, dealing with an unknown powerhouse civilisation and trying to take over the galaxy be so hard.
25031 Galactic Standard Calendar, Rena Shan, aboard the Republic Star Destroyer Tranquillity
Rena sat in her chambers, her legs crossed and lightsabre by her side while she meditated. Her old master had often told her the importance for a Jedi to meditate and reflect upon the Force. She felt in her mind the force in all her men aboard the Tranquillity and her sister ships, the Dawn Breaker and Solstice. She felt the force tugging at her mind, as if it were trying to guide her. Rena let her mind relax and allowed the Force to carry it wherever the Force wished to. She saw what looked like a jungle world, rich in vegetation and life. She then could make out the distinctive sounds of combat and death as the vision moved on. And also on that world, there was a temple that exuded the Light side. Then she felt a colder, darker presence. It began to cover the world then slowly encroached upon the temple until it smothered it. The vision seemed to turn to black, as though it were the end. She was about to break her meditation when one last image appeared in her head. The image of a Jedi Temple burning, its inhabitants dead, and the light side being snuffed out by the dark.
She came to with a jolt. She felt some sweat drip down her face and her hair felt a little damp. She clutched her head as she tried to process what the force had shown her. She needed to talk to a master. She then needed to start planning for the rendezvous with the Orionian personnel sent to be the liaisons between herself and her forces and the Orionian forces for the upcoming offensive.
A/N: Merry Christmas