Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 9- Revenge Strike
(May 30, 2025)
On the bridge of the Hood, Admiral Pellaeon is in an urgent meeting with his top leaders and advisors, including Captain Moorhouse, Colonel Ronen, Iden Versio, Major General Strickland, and Colonel Shevchenko. All of them have gathered together to discuss the operation they are about to undertake. The assault against the lizard race known as the Bloodfangs.
"As you know, we have limited information on the geography of the Bloodfangs' home planet. The Callistans have no information on their home planet, and the reconnaissance runs we have done on the planet have not given us as much information as we would like. However, we have a general idea of the geography of the planet," Pellaeon says, continuing the discussion that has been ongoing for the last few minutes.
Pellaeon then pulls up a hologram of the planet created using information gathered by reconnaissance runs by some of the Hood's starfighters. Pellaeon points to a highlighted dot positioned along the planet's equator.
"According to what evidence we have collected, this position here is the location of what we presume to be the capitol city. There are few cities on the planet beside it, with most of the population living in smaller towns and villages. It seems that there are more settlements in the planet's northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere. Reconnaissance photographs also suggest that most of their space-capable ships are kept in a staging area not far from the capitol," Pellaeon continues.
Pellaeon presses another button, and several symbols appear on the hologram. "The Bloodfangs, from what we know, revere their supreme leader. For that reason, the assault will be carried out as follows: Upon our arrival at the planet, the ship will descend into atmosphere and land all troops south of the capitol city before ascending back into orbit. Once back in orbit, the air wing will launch and begin air strikes against military targets in the southern hemisphere while the ship will destroy the enemy ships from orbit and begin an orbital bombardment of the northern hemisphere while the ground troops assault the capitol."
Pellaeon then looks directly at Ronen and Iden Versio. "Colonel Ronen, Commander Versio, you two will lead the other members of Inferno Squad on a special mission into the capitol. Once the main ground assault on the capitol has begun and drawn the Bloodfangs' attention to the south, you will enter the city from the north by stealth. Your goal will be to capture or kill the Supreme Leader of the Bloodfangs."
"Understood, Admiral," Versio responds quickly. Ronen nods in agreement.
"If we strike quickly and with overwhelming force, it should be almost as easy a victory as we experienced over the aliens that attacked Zallin. Stick to your training, and fight until we've accomplished our goals. Understood?" Pellaeon finishes his briefing and speech.
"Yes, sir," voices echo around the holotable.
"Good. Then make it so," Pellaeon says.
(Hours later)
Pellaeon stares intently at the display table, waiting patiently for the offload to finish.
The Hood had arrived at the Bloodfangs' planet just a short time ago, and had descended to the surface to offload the 61st Brigade and 6th Armoured Division. Now, the last personnel of the 6th Armoured is disembarking from the ship.
Right then, he hears Moorhouse say, "Admiral, the last troops have left the ship. All ground troops have disembarked."
"Good. Take the ship back into orbit and alert the air group commander. Tell him to ready his starfighters and bombers for attacks on the surface," Pellaeon orders.
Moorhouse quickly relays Pellaeon's orders. Within a minute, the Hood's engines increase in power as it begins to climb in altitude back towards orbit.
As the Hood ascends back into orbit to prepare for her orbital bombardment of the planet, down on the ground, General Strickland and Colonel Shevchenko are preparing their forces to advance on the capitol. Their plan was simple and straightforward. Shevchenko would lead the 61st in a push towards the capitol from the south and begin a long range artillery bombardment from miles outside the city. Once the Bloodfangs marshalled their forces to attack the 61st, the 61st would pull back slightly and dig in. Then, once the enemy had moved their army out of the capitol to attack the 61st, the 6th Armoured Division would move in at max speed and drive right into their right flank, cutting off the enemy from the capitol and hitting their weaker sides. Once the enemy's army had been destroyed, the two units would move into the city and destroy any opposition and military infrastructure.
In their mobile command center, Shevchenko and Strickland are watching as both units form up to begin their advances. Finally, they look at each other and nod before Strickland gets on the radio and calls out, "All ground units, begin advance on the city."
Immediately, the vehicles of the 61st throttle up and begin advancing out of the staging area. The 6th, being much bigger and with more complicated vehicles, take a few more minutes before they are able to begin advancing. Once they do, they are moving much slower, given their assigned role is to stay hidden until the Bloodfangs begin to sortie from the city.
As the ground forces begin to sortie from the landing site, the Hood's air wing is beginning to take off from the hangar as the ship rises into the upper parts of the planet's atmosphere. On the bridge, Admiral Pellaeon is monitoring all of this from the bridge.
As Pellaeon watches video feed of the fighters and bombers flying out of the Hood's hangar, he turns to Moorhouse. "Captain, status of underside weapons batteries."
"Admiral, all systems are go. Battlestations are manned and ready, all weapons are operational. We're ready for battle," Moorhouse responds.
"Good. Standby for bombardment," Pellaeon orders.
The Hood manuevers into a better position in orbit to begin the bombardment as her air wing flies into the southern hemisphere to begin their air strikes on their targets. At the same time, the 61st is moving into artillery range of the capitol city.
Pellaeon is watching all this, waiting until all three forces are ready. Then, as he sees that the 61st is in position and the air wing has reached its targets, Pellaeon orders, "Execute."
Only a second later, several hundred turbolaser batteries on the bottom of the battlecruiser begin firing, sending thousands of bolts down into the atmosphere. Bolts begin slamming into the planet's surface, destroying landmarks and any military targets below them.
At the same time, in the southern hemisphere, fighters and bombers begin their dives towards the surface and begin firing missiles and dropping bombs on their targets. And only moments later, the 61st Brigade begins firing its long range artillery into the capitol city.
Within minutes, chaos has descended on the Bloodfangs' planet as the Terrans rain fire down on their world. Thousands of Bloodfangs are dying, and with almost no ability to fight back. Especially after the first few minutes, once the Hood had destroyed the race's ships with orbital turbolaser fire.
In the capitol city, however, the Bloodfangs' leaders are unaware of what is happening beyond the capitol. Although the 61st is bombarding the city, the bombardment is relatively light. Their supreme leader orders all of the warriors in the capitol to marshall to the outskirts to meet the 61st.
As the 61st begins to pull back slightly and the Bloodfangs marshall their forces to attack them, to the north and south, the Terrans continue to rain fire down on the Bloodfangs. The fighters and bombers have been targeting their airstrikes very specifically to avoid civilian casualties, focusing their attacks on fortresses, barracks, military camps, and factories.
In the north, the Hood continues her bombardment, slowly circling the northern hemisphere. Although one goal of the bombardment is to destroy more of the Bloodfangs' military capability, it's also meant as a show of force. As such, many of the batteries are simply firing into the land surrounding villages, destroying large landmarks, displaying the power of her weapons to the Bloodfangs.
As the Hood continues her bombardment while moving slowly around the northern hemisphere, one of the officers monitoring the surface calls out, "Admiral, we've got a town on our scopes. It seems to be entirely a military settlement."
"Focus fire on the town. I want it obliterated," Pellaeon orders.
"Yes, Admiral," the officer responds. Within seconds, the Hood was focused a large number of her turbolasers on the town, raining fire down on the town. The various buildings in the town, all fortified for a military purpose, crumble on the punishing impacts of heavy turbolaser fire.
As the Hood is laying waste to the military settlement, the battle of the capitol city is beginning. The warriors have sortied from the city to meet the 61st, which has dug in to defensive positions 8 miles from the city. Now, the 6th Armoured Division is beginning their swing around to strike the Bloodfangs' right flank.
Even as the battle for the capitol city is beginning, the secret mission into the city is underway. Colonel Ronen and Inferno Squad had been dropped just north of the city by an MC-58 Wraith. Now, the five individuals had entered the city and were slowly making their way to the palace where the Bloodfangs' supreme leader lay safe from the battle raging outside the city's limits.
Ronen is leading the team, using the Force to feel out the path ahead and alert the team to any enemies in their path. At the moment, his lightsaber is still on his belt to further add to the team's stealth. At the moment, he is simply relying on his Force powers in the event of encountering enemies.
As Ronen leads the team quickly into an alley to avoid a patrol, one of Inferno Squad, Shriv Suurgav, spots something. "Look. That looks like a sewer," he says, pointing to a grate a little bit down the alley.
"Good. Everyone, we're heading into the sewers. Great way to get to the palace without being noticed," Ronen says. Ronen then uses the Force to pull the grate out of place. One by one, the team drops down into the sewer system.
Thankfully, there are some walkways along the side of the sewer tunnels, meaning they don't have to work through the water and risk walking through some pretty nasty stuff. Ronen motions the team onwards and they move quickly down the tunnel. As they go, one of the other members of Inferno Squad, Del Meeko, uses a navigation device to keep track of their movements and make sure they don't overshoot the palace.
It takes the team about 20 minutes before Meeko says, "Alright, we should be under the palace by now."
Almost immediately, Ronen sees a way up out of the sewer and says, "Follow me." He then Force leaps up to the top of the ladder leading up to the grate. As Inferno Squad follows him to the ladder, he pushes the grate up and out of place, climbing out of the sewer and into the basement of the palace. Inferno Squad follows him seconds later.
As they exit into the basement of the palace, Ronen turns to Inferno Squad. "Alright. Our mission is simple. Find the supreme leader. Kill him. Get out."
"You got it, Colonel," Meeko says, hefting his weapon.
Ronen finally removes his lightsaber from his belt and ignites it, its two blue blades shining brightly in the low light of the room that they're in. "Let's go, squad," he says before leading them out of the chamber.
The team slowly makes their way up through the palace. As they go, they can hear the distant sounds of artillery fire from the battle taking place outside the city. However, they ignore the distant sounds and focus on their mission.
Coming into the main entrance hall, Ronen and Inferno Squad immediately see a handful of palace guards stationed in the entrance hall. The guards quickly notice the sudden arrivals and start to reach for their weapons. However, before they can draw their weapons, Ronen draws back his arm and throws his lightsaber, guiding it like a boomerang with the Force. The saber's blades behead or cut in two eight guards before it returns to his hand. Veriso then raises her blaster rifle and fires two shots at the two remaining guards, killing them both with a single shot.
"They'll know we're here now. Let's move," Ronen says. He leads the squad towards a grand staircase at the back of the entrance hall that Ronen realizes will likely lead up to the throne room or supreme leader's quarters.
The team moves quickly up the staircase, coming to a landing two floors up. As they reach the landing, Ronen spots two more guards standing at the top. Ronen uses the Force to leap the last few stairs. As he comes down on the landing, he swipes his saber through the air, cutting down both guards before they have a chance to react.
Looking up ahead, Ronen sees a massive, intricately built doors up ahead. Ronen guesses that with the size of the doors and the intricate design, they have to be the doors into the throne room.
Inferno Squad forms up around Ronen, all with weapons at the ready. The fourth member of the squad, a former Delta Force operator named Steve Callahan who had been adopted into Inferno Squad after it reformed with the New Republic, says in a soft whisper, "Throne room?"
"Almost certainly," Ronen says as well.
Suddenly, they hear shouting, and more guards come rushing out of various rooms surrounding the landing. Callahan whips around and fires his carbine, killing three guards. Meeko and Suurgav fire their blasters, gunning down a few more.
Iden deploys Dio from her back as she raises her rifle at the guards approaching from the front. Dio flies forward and knocks out two guards with it electro-shock pad. Iden switches the mode on her TL50 and fires concussive blast, knocking down all the guards charging at her. She then switches back to it's normal, heavy repeating mode and fires a storm of laser bolts, killing all of the guards she just knocked down.
"Let's move it," Ronen says. He leads Inferno Squad towards the doors, the squad covering his back. As they approach the doors, Ronen plants his feet firmly and taps into his connection with the Force. Raising his hands, Ronen reaches out with the Force. He manipulates the internal levers to unlock them before releasing a powerful wave of Force energy that throws the door open.
Ronen and the Squad sprint into the room, weapons drawn and ready. They quickly see the Supreme Leader, dressed in a gold robe and a gold war helm, sitting on his throne. There are also almost 20 guards in the room.
"Engage!" Ronen orders before he lunges into the midst of the guards, saber at the ready.
A full 10 guards rush Ronen. However, Iden quickly kills 5 of them with a flurry of blaster bolts from her weapon. Callahan ducks under a thrown spear and fires his carbine, killing two guards. Suurgav throws a stun grenade, which bursts apart in a web of electricity, stunning four guards. Meeko then fires his blaster, killing four more guards.
The last 5 guards try to continue their attack against Ronen. However, the guards are completely unprepared to handle someone trained in the ways of the Jedi. Two try to stab their spears at Ronen, but Ronen spins his saber and cuts the ends of the spears off. Then, with one wide, sweeping slash, he carves open their chests. As their bodies fall to the ground, Ronen leaps up and over the sword of one of the other guards, carving open his head as he goes. As he lands behind them, Ronen cuts off the legs of the last two guards. As they fall to the ground, Ronen dispatches each of them by plunging one of the blades of his saber into their chests.
Rone turns to face the supreme leader. Despite his guards being dead, the supreme leader hisses and bares his fangs. He quickly gets to his feet, and so quick they aren't able to stop him, leaps off his throne towards Ronen, weapons drawn and hissing angrily. However, although they couldn't stop him from jumping at Ronen, Iden Versio quickly reacts and aims her weapon at the supreme leader. Before the supreme leader can get close to Ronen, Iden puts eight blaster bolts into his chest. The supreme leader falls to the ground. Just to be safe, Rone steps up and plunges his saber through his back.
Meeko quickly gets on the commlink back to the Hood. "This is Lieutenant Commander Meeko, Inferno Squad. Target is eliminated. Team is beginning egress."
"Understood," a controller aboard the Hood responds.
Ronen looks back down at the body of the supreme leader. He looks down at the corpse for a moment before muttering, "Good riddance." He then turns and begins to follow Inferno Squad back out of the throne room.
(That night)
On the bridge of the Hood, Pellaeon looks down at the planet below as the ship is preparing to head back to the planet of New Callistan. After a day of combat, the operation is over, and they are ready to head back.
The operation had been a complete success. The Hood's orbital bombardment and air strikes by her air wing had devastated military targets, infrastrucutre, and industry across the planet, the troops had destroyed the capitol's garrison and caused heavy damage to the city, and the Bloodfangs' supreme leader was dead. As this was happening, propaganda leaflets had been made aboard the ship, which were dropped over the planet to show that the Hood had attacked on behalf of the Callistans to show what powerful new allies the Calistans had and discourage the Bloodfangs from ever attacking again.
The Bloodfangs society is in ruins, and with luck, they won't come for the Callistans again. Now, Pellaeon and the Hood can return to New Callistan and hopefully have a new home where they can live in peace for however long they may be here.
And, I'll end the chapter there. I hope you liked this one.
Next chapter will be up today as a double post. Until it's up, please leave a review and stay tuned!