Chapter 17
Rydell had gathered what was left of the IPEC group and the other two smugglers in the dinning room at the Artell ranch. Unlike all the others Xan knew what Rydell was going to say. It was going to be the plans for the attack on the Imperial Garrison. Xan eyed the two aliens sitting at the other end of the table; they weren't IPEC material, not because they were nonhuman, but because they didn't have a fraction of the fraction of training that Xan, Rydell and the others had been through. Then on top of that Xan hadn't known them long enough to judge weather they could be trusted or not. Any tip off the Imperials got would wind up killing all of them. Xan took a sip of wine and let it all go away.
Rydell stood, cast a look around at his band of warriors, and paused. He looked just the way the Imperial Officer manual wanted him to, minus of course the uniform. "I suppose you all want to know why we're here?" He paused again. "Do any of you have any ideas?" He looked around the table once more, settling his eyes on Xan for an extra moment, to let Xan know he should be quiet.
"I bet it involves killing." Makazu offered. "Other smugglers even."
"Close, but no. We're going after the people who shut down our place before we got it. The Imperials." No one said anything, possibly to stunned at what Rydell was saying, or possibly realizing that they might not come back from this one. "Why so quiet all of the sudden?"
"I don't know, maybe because you're insane?" Olsaa shot out.
"No, this is the exact type of thing we were trained to do. Listen, the garrison is small, and we have all the capabilities to do it, and this is how. Xan and Mar will set up somewhere that provides a good view of the compound. The guard detail should be at a minimum because the Rebels aren't very active in this system. We setup in teams of two and take out the guards as quietly as we can. Preferably with the wrist blades."
"So you expect us to get close enough to a Stormtrooper so we can jam a vibro blade into his throat? What part of this will you be taking?" The Duros spoke up, at first he had appeared like any other Duros that Xan had seen, but after flying with him for a week Xan had begun to notice some things, namely the scar that tracked along the alien's cranium, and the fact that he was more aggressive than any other Duros.
"I'll be right up front." Rydell answered, focusing on the alien. "Once the guards are dispatched, we'll assemble at the main gate. One team will go to communications bunker, while the other will then neutralize the officers and other in the compound. If we do it right and they don't get off a reply we can play so we can collect the whole garrison's supplies for awhile at least."
That's Murder. The Dug spat out at Rydell.
"Killing Imperials isn't murder!" Noo-gin protested. "Destroying my homeworld was murder, and I plan on getting revenge."
"What do we do if they get off a distress signal?" Vors asked.
"We just blow everything up." Rydell answered with a shrug. "If we do enough damage to the compound they'd either have to setup a new one or they'll leave this place alone."
"I doubt it." Mar fired back.
"I'd also just like to say that this is a strictly volunteer mission, but anybody who takes part in it will get an equal share in the fortune selling the Imperial weaponry will bring. Not to mention a spot in my organization as long as you want one."
•••
Xan and Mar had been waiting for hours for the signal from Rydell. They were at extreme range as a result of there being no buildings near the Imperial compound, or any decent sized hills that would give a good view. Their role for all intents and purposes was as a security blanket incase an Imperial escaped the vibroblades, or stumbled unknowingly onto what was happening.
"Do you think we're even going to get to do anything?" Mar asked. She'd been quiet for neatly two hours.
"No." Xan answered. His snipers weapon sat against the ledge of the buildings roof. "If they do what they're supposed to we won't need to." Xan picked up his macrobinoculars and scanned the compound. There were a few guards, and that was it. He watched them for a while, and noticed that they all seemed partially distracted, not really paying attention to their duty as sentries. A result of having no real action for a long time, they'd become complacent, and too familiar with the surroundings.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Xan asked.
"Yeah, their lazy, and soon to be dead." Mar responded. "They shouldn't have a problem with those fools. Besides we all know the Outer Rim is the first stop for soldiers just out of the Academy."
"No different for us, huh?"
•••
Rydell crouched down behind the perimeter wall, Makazu was with him, both decked out in the IPEC combat uniform. Rydell checked his chrono one more time, then keyed for a transmission to Xan. "Heads up you two we're going in."
As quickly and quietly as they could Rydell and Makazu moved against the first pair of Stormtroopers, yanking their white helmeted heads back and slitting the Stromtrooper's throats. A soft gurgle accompanied the blood spurting from the trooper's necks. A clatter and a thud and the troopers were lifeless on the ground
Rydell and Makazu moved swiftly into the shadows on the other side of the entrance. The other IPEC members had done their jobs also, none had returned fire, and only one had yelled, but his commlinc was off, so there was no alert. When the rest of the team minus Xan and Marnist had gathered inside the compound, Rydell reminded them all of what was going to happen next.
"Alright, you four head to the Communications hut with me, while the others go around and blast the soldiers. Try to avoid damaging any of the equipment, because we'll have to repair it before we resell it. Move out."
The two groups quickly headed in opposite directions, Rydell and Makazu led two others to the communications hut the only part of the compound that would be manned at that hour of the night. Success hear was the most important, if Rydell and his squad moved quickly enough against the comm personnel they wouldn't be able to get off a distress signal, and that would allow the group to raid the compound for anything they could sell to the Rebels or any band of mercenaries or smugglers that could afford the price. Xan and Mar were already on the way their in the Comet, Rydell had ordered them out after the sentries had been disposed of.
The door to the comm hut opened without protest as Rydell slid his rank cylinder into the slot. Rydell was of course the first one into the small room full of communications devices. He moved rapidly to the nearest Imperial, and put a laser bolt through his head. The other didn't move right away, partially startled by the blood splattered on his face, and the sound of a blaster going off so close, he was halfway out of his chair with his blaster in a similar position when Rydell hit him in the bridge of the nose with the stock of his blaster carbine. There was the sudden sputter of blaster fire, as the others opened fire on the Imperials. It only lasted a handful of seconds; the unsuspecting Imperials were easy prey.
•••
"That went better than expected." Rydell offered, taking off his cloak in the lounge of the Comet. "There's an awful lot of supplies here. Do you think they were getting ready to move against smugglers around here?"
"That would be irony wouldn't it, hitting the Imps while they were gearing up to hit our competition." Xan offered with a chuckled. "It's more likely they were getting thing together as a precaution against Rebel activity in the area."
"What Rebel activity?" Rydell asked.
"Well, us and if they have a garrison here the Rebels are more likely to go someplace else than a planet or system where there's already an Imperial Garrison."
"Yeah, well I'm going to get in contact with the Rebels tomorrow morning,"
"Don't you mean today?" Xan asked, tapping the chrono on his wrist datapad.
"Fine, later today I'm getting in contact with the Rebels so we know where we can take this stuff. Is that the last of it Mak?"
"Yeah, thanks for the help." Makazu bit out sarcastically as he put down the last crate.
"Good let's get out of here, Xan." Rydell turned to his companion, who bowed his head slightly and headed for the cockpit.
•••
Xan had always liked the dark better than the daylight. The way it enfolded him, and made him feel safer, and the inexplicable closeness it brought to everything else around him. More importantly he liked the darkness and the nighttime because it made it easier for him to hide. Perhaps there'd been a time when he had like the day time, but all memories of that had been erased when it was no longer safe to be seen in the daytime.
The dark and the night were his domain now, his and the rest of the IPEC outcasts. Maybe the Imperial training had just seeped into his subconscious and made him feel artificially safer. Xan thought about it, but it didn't matter, he realized as a speeder drove by a kilometer away or so. Everything was so still at night, it was calmer.
It was silent when he picked up his sniper blaster, and supported it against the ledge of the roof, providing him cover and a steady arm to shoot with. Mar was hunkered down next to him as she always was. Xan knew there was only one other person he would trust as his spotter or copilot, and that was Rydell, and he was needed elsewhere in both cases. Mar lithely drummed her fingers on the foregrip of her BlasTech E-11. She and Xan shared a certain bond that sprang from all they had been through together; they both trusted the other with their life and knew the other could be counted on in a light fight.
Mar was there as a sort of protection for Xan. He would be trying to concentrate on the target, the kingpin of the second most productive smuggling operation in Kalin. Mar was there to protect Xan from being flanked, or snuck up on. The E-11 she was armed with also allowed for full autofire, unlike any of the sniper weapons that Xan had been issued. Even though Xan had those two blaster pistols. Marnist watched Xan as he took aim through the scope. He squinted his left eye, and went through the ritualistic process of adjusting the sight and ranging. He made one final adjustment and looked back up at Mar.
"You do know you're supposed to be keeping me safe, not watching me." Xan joked with her, both of them knowing that nothing was likely to happen to them. They had cover, they had surprise, and the speeder bike behind the air conditioning unit ensured that they would be a long way away by the time anybody realized that the shot had come from outside.
"Fine, Fine." Mar said and went back to looking around the area.
Xan made one more almost imperceptible adjustment on the scope before he fixed the electronic crosshairs on the target. It was a woman. She stood at the head of a table, drinking a glass of something, most likely alcoholic, and was making motions with her hands between steadying herself on the table. Xan didn't fire. He had the perfect shot, but he didn't fire. That was the problem with sniping; the sniper knew the target in a way that a regular foot soldier could never know his enemy.
"She's pretty." Mar said. Xan looked up and sure enough Mar had her set of macrobinoculars at her face. "Is that why you haven't shot her yet? Come on, it's getting cold out here."
Xan brought the weapon back to his shoulder, and gazed down the sight. He clamped down on the firing stud and closed his eyes at the same time.
"Hit." Mar called out, and the two got up and went back to the speederbike to go home.