Chapter 5
The backup was a double-edged sword. Our original plan exploited the fact that they were hunting us, and not expecting an attack. Well, now it was quite obvious that they were under attack, and the droid defenses were on full alert. So, that shattered our old plan and we STILL had to figure out a way to infiltrate the Confederate base unnoticed. To add to the already war-enhanced stress levels, the explosions we had been hearing for 40-plus days (I had lost track of standard time after the tank incident) were now MUCH closer and MUCH louder. Concentrating was a thing of the past. But we still needed a plan. After a few hours in the Republic command center that was set up outside the battle, we decided on one that we thought might just do the trick and get us all off the planet alive.
The six of us set up a small sniping formation a ways off on the West side of the Confederate base. We chose this location because one, the battle was going on towards the North-Eastern side of the building and two, towards the South there was nothing but a sheer, icy cliff. So, the west side was pretty much our only option. From our location, we could see that the base was about four stories high. On the ground-level, there was a wide two-story high hanger door lined with hundreds of inactive SBDs, or Super Battle Droids, waiting for someone to activate them for the impending battle. The last thing we wanted to do was to attract attention to ourselves and have someone activate that army of metal for the only purpose of demolishing six Scouts. That would probably be bad.
Above this hanger door, was a small walkway protruding from the third story with doors on each side. There were a few SBDs patrolling the walkway, but other than that it was completely clear. We decided that walkway would be the easiest point of access. Duh. Now the only problem was getting up there. On Zan's command, Manny, Alex, and I scoped up and took out the three SBDs at once. Three clear shots went clean through the metallic heads: pure poetry. Our only task left was getting six snipers (four of them half-clad in heavy Commando armor) up an icy, metal wall.
Rex came up with the idea. All of us except for Matt had basic swordplay training, so we had vibroswords with us. We crept up to the side of the wall, trying VERY hard to avoid detection by whoever might be holding the button to activate those droids. The plan was to slam each of the five swords into the wall, and use them as handholds and footholds to reach the walkway. Of course it was Rex, the swordplay wizard, who came up with this idea, as he was the most proficient with handling blades. There was a slight problem, however. The force required to thrust each blade into the wall would cause A LOT of noise, and it might attract unwanted attention to our location and plan. Again, that would probably be bad. So we waited. Any loud, noisy distraction would work for all intents and purposes. Fortunately for us, we were literally half a mile away from a battlefield, the center of loud and noisy distractions.
As one of many explosions shook the ground, Rex slammed the first blade into the side of the wall all the way to the hilt. Not a sound. We waited. The droids were still inactive. We all let out a sigh of relief. Rex hoisted himself up and perched on the sword hilt. The next explosion came. Rex slammed the next sword into the wall. He almost lost his balance, but managed to use the wall as support. The droids were still inactive as Rex climbed up to the next sword. Third explosion. Third sword successfully in the wall. Rex climbed a little more. By the fourth sword, it looked like he got the hang of things. Finally, all five swords were in the wall and Rex hopped up onto the walkway.
Now it was our turn. Manny went up first, followed by Alex, Zan, and Matt. I went up last. My job was to retrieve the swords as I went up. We didn't know if we would need them, but it never hurt to have them just in case. I had secured a rope around my waist and Matt had taken it up with him and tied it to the railing on the walkway. Now Manny, Matt, and Alex were helping support my weight as I made my way to the top while Zan and Rex were keeping watch, just in case. I had all five vibrosword sheaths attached to my back, so I didn't have to hold the swords when I pulled them out of the wall, but it hindered my flexibility a bit. I climbed up to the second sword hilt and turned around cautiously. The first sword was about half a body length away, so I could reach it fairly easily if I leaned into the tension of the rope, but getting it out was going to be a challenge. There was really no easy way to get a vibrosword out of a wall in the first place, let alone suspended from a rope along a slippery wall of the enemy base. This was going to be interesting.
I managed to yank the first sword out of the wall with as little noise as possible (though I nearly lost my balance doing so) and I sheathed it without a second thought as I climbed to the next hilt. A couple hilts and a few close calls later, I had made it to the top hilt and was ready to pull out the fourth. Unfortunately, as I yanked it out, an explosion much bigger than its predecessors shook the entire building. I slipped off my footing and the others lost their grip on the rope. I plummeted. Free-fall is not the most fun experience. Luckily, Manny managed to grab hold of the rope. As the sudden tension reached my gut, I placed my hand on the wall, to stop my body from slamming into it and possibly activating those droids, now only about four feet away from me. After mumbling a few choice words, I regained my composure, sheathed the fourth sword and Manny, Matt, and Alex were pulled me. I grabbed the fifth and final sword on my way up, and handed them back out after I had both feet on the walkway. It felt SO good to have both my feet securely on a floor. I rolled up the rope and attached it to my equipment belt as Manny hacked the door's control panel to get us inside.
As the door slid open, a wave of heat descended upon us. After being stranded on an ice planet for 60 days, the heat felt almost unbearable, even though it was probably the same heat as a Coruscant summer. It was too dark inside to see much, but there was a soft glow, almost like a fire, coming from inside. We quickly checked our gear, made sure our guns were ready for action, and quietly crept into the unknown Hell.