ORD MANTEL

Kamthar Mantell hunkered down as Imperial blaster fire tore chunks out of the top of the trench he was in. Ord Mantell was nearly a freed world from the Empire's grasp, but there was still fighting, pockets on the planet where they had yet to be pushed out completely. The Republic had called in Havoc Squadron to take care of one such place before it became a beachhead for a larger invasion.

Manett Point had once been a supply depot for the Republic. That had been until a daring midnight raid long ago by separatists had set the stage for the place changing hands over and over. The Republic had managed to defeat and force out the separatists, only to lose it to the Imperials. They in turn had lost it to the Republic, and they had traded it back and forth numerous times as the war raged on.

The only way into the small city was a bridge. It had been barricaded, blown up, rebuilt, and demolitioned again and again to the point a natural bridge could have spanned the pass just on the rubble of all the old bridges. The Imperial forces, what remained of them, held the city now and were dug in stubbornly.

"I love the smell of blaster fire in the morning." Aric Jorgan joked, waiting for a slight lull in fire before peering up over the edge of the trench and then ducking back down.

Kamthar laughed and slapped the back of a hand lightly into the cathar's heavily plated chest. They had found the Imperials barricaded well in place. They had trenched the bridge head, placed armaments along its length, and then kept their heavily armed forces for within the city. Shield generators were operational, protecting them from air strikes.

They had been exchanging fire for two days, and at this point things were at a standstill. At least morale isn't a problem, Kamthar thought. The Republic had gotten as close as they could and dug in themselves. They were still outgunned however, and waiting on heavy artillery to arrive and be set up. Until then, all they could do was keep the Imperials where they were and try and grind them down in a siege.

"We lost two of the wounded, sir." A soft voice said as Elara Dorne slid down into the trench beside the two men. "Four more were taken out in that last round of rocket attacks."

Kamthar glanced over and nodded to the woman. She had joined up and proven herself time and again, and he had to admit she made a damn good field medic. She was handy in a fight, and he knew she was a whole lot better to look at than always staring at Aric's furry face. The cathar, it seemed, had developed a bit of a crush on the woman too. Kamthar knew better than to comment on such though, with the cathar getting rather uppity if such was even hinted at.

"Keep your head down, girl." Aric growled. "And get that helmet strap done up. That comes off your brains are going to decorate the ground right quick."

"Yes, sir, fuzz ball sir!" Elara snapped back with a smirk and Kamthar had to stifle a laugh.

Aric just growled back to the woman and huffed. He would have given her a tongue lashing on speaking so to a superior, but his attention turned to checking over the large heavy assault cannon he carried and used. The cathar was almost obsessive about checking his weapon, Kamthar had noted. Still, at least they all knew his gun would never jam up when they needed him.

"Alright, we hold the line no matter what for now." Kamthar said solemnly. "We wait for Yuun and Tanno to get back and report in before we do anything more."

"I hate this waiting around." Aric complained. "And where the hell is command and our heavy guns?"

Kamthar laughed and shrugged at his friend, "Better than being foolish and winding up dead."

For the moment Kamthar let the comment about command slide. He had been wondering the same thing. They wanted the Imperials out of the city, but were dragging their feet at getting him the resources and manpower needed to do the job. We're just still grunts in the end, he reminded himself, only good for the dying. If command did not get off their asses soon however, he was not sure what he would do.

Night had fallen, the darkness broken by the red and yellow and green of weapons fire, the glare of flash grenades and brighter larger explosions. Black smoke hung in tendrils blown by the winds over the battlefield. Yells echoed in the dark, mingling with the cries of the wounded and dying. This was the battlefront that faced the Republic as they engaged the Imperials.

Kamthar Mantell kept low, macro binoculars scanning over the line of the Imperial fortifications. He was not too worried about being targeted by the standard troops across the way. He would see them easy enough. The worry in popping his head up was a sniper. They're out there, he knew, just waiting and watching for an easy kill.

Dusk had seen the Imperials lob heavy ordinance at the Republic line once again. It had been followed by a feint to test their resolve and ability to defend against their right flank. Yuun had taken command of a small group that had circled about the Imperial forces and by the time the light was fading they had taken twenty prisoners of war. Twenty less I have to worry about or end up killing, Kamthar thought with a small smile.

"Looks like they are moving up their heavy artillery again." Aric commented through the commlink, making Kamthar scan more closely, looking back of the front line.

"Looks like it." He agreed, spotting the tops of the heavy gun platforms over the city walls moving up and being put into position. There were three batteries he knew, only one visible in the wide main entrance to the city. The others were just visible over the wall that ringed about Manett Point.

"This could be a long night." Aric growled, and Kamthar could tell the cathar was annoyed at the prospect of enduring more shelling. Kamthar knew he was rather in agreement, and was not looking forward to such prospects.

It did not take long at all for the Imperial forces to open fire, ordinance falling to create smoking craters all about the front line of republic trenches. Kamthar hunkered down and muttered a curse under his breath as an explosion close by sent a shower of fine rock and dirt raining down on him. He could hear the high pitched whine that came before the loud explosions with each shot. There was also the squealing sound that came with rockets fired before they too detonated and shook the ground, sending bits into the air to rain down over the republic troops. All they could do was hunker down and try and not get hit and killed, Kamthar knew.

"We're taking a fucking beating here." Aric growled over the comm link.

"I know. I know." Kamthar grumbled back. "Yuun, recommendations for a counter strike?"

There was a moment of silence before he heard Yuun answer back. The man had proven quite good at being the unit's tactician. Kamthar preferred to have options instead of just wasting men and resources rushing into the teeth of the enemy. Yuun had a very similar way of looking at things. Kamthar guessed however, the pause was due to the sudden desire to fight instead of trying to just weather the storm.

"We need to get behind their lines, take out their heavy guns before any assault could be mounted on the city proper."

Kamthar mulled that over, chancing a glance up and over the top of the trench to scan over the lines of the Imperial forces once more. His scanning moved towards the left, the far end of the line where a rock formation rose up. Beyond it, a sheer cliff face dropped down to water, and beyond that the small city, such as it was could be accessed.

"Aric, Tanno, you boys care for a nice swim?"

Tanno Vik swore under his breath, clinging to the rope and dangling halfway down the sheer face of a cliff. Below he could hear the surf and roll of the tides crashing into the land. Just my damn luck, he thought, casting a glance downwards. Hang around long enough he was bound to either fall, or wind up sniped right off the rope, he knew. Kamthar, and his damnable plans.

Kamthar was standing on a rock below having climbed down first. The mirialan stood with the surf spray flying up as the waves crashed in, one after another endlessly. Aric was just about down on the rope below him. It would not be long at all, and so far they had not been spotted. At least he hoped they hadn't. Nobody had taken a shot at them, after all.

"Next time you get an idea, remind me to say no!" Tanno muttered bringing a laugh from both Kamthar and Aric.

Once down it was a short swim over to the sand and rock where the city was, ringed by the metal ten foot walls. The place was designed to keep out bad storms, but it had also made the place one hell of a fortress. Once the Imperials had settled in and built defenses, they were almost impossible to get out. As Aric had put it, they were dug in like a sand tick on a bantha's backside.

Aric fired the grappling hook, which their luck held and caught on the first attempt. It was more noise than Kamthar would have liked but when no alarms went off he figured they might have gotten lucky. Glancing at the other two men, Kamthar nodded and pointed for them to make the ascent. Aric went first, followed by Tanno, with Kamthar bringing up the rear. Sure enough there were no signs of Imperials at all in the back part of the city. Everyone was likely at the only entry and exit into the city holding the Republic forces out.

"We should have just kept them under siege." Aric muttered, and Kamthar was hard pressed to argue that point.

Republic command had made the call, wanting the Imperials off the planet once and for all. They had been adamant in not allowing them any beach head or foothold they could exploit. Ord Mantell had suffered enough, from fractured forces, Imperial occupation, and an endless stream of fighting. Still, the decision to try and take a fortified position from heavily armed forces seemed foolish to Kamthar, especially since they had not provided the proper manpower or firepower. When they had called upon Havoc Squad to put the nail in the Imperial coffin, he really had wanted to refuse the assignment even though he couldn't. Once there he had simply been stymied by command ignoring his requests for addition forces to get the job done. In the end, much as he wanted to wait, the longer he did the more of those under his command would pay the price with their lives.

"Lets just get this done!" Kamthar said, patting the cathar on the shoulder.

Kamthar had carried the large satchel for all of them. No heavy weapons, no heavy armour, it was all speed and stealth. They all wore just light plastisteel armour chest gear, and from the bag Kamthar passed out the blaster rifles as well as a belt of thermite grenades. A vibroknife was handed out as well.

"So we're in, now what?" Tanno asked, glancing about.

"Now we take down every last one of these sons of bitches." Kamthar growled, switching on his comm link to a secure Republic channel. "Yuun, we're in. Stand by. First sign of explosions commence the attack."

"I'm fine." He finally stated as Elara kept chiding him.

"I'm the medic, I decide if you are fine you big oaf!" She answered back, giving him a stern glare as if to emphasize such. "How's it feel?"

Kamthar looked down at the clean white bandaging and smiled slightly. It hurt, but with the kolto salve all over it, the pain had really subsided into a rather pleasant numbness.

"It'll do." He remarked before giving her a look. "And that's big oaf… Sir!"

Elara wanted to just punch the man. He never complained, and never took being injured seriously. Maybe it was why he stayed alive on missions most would not have come back from, but it really grated on her nerves. She'd come to like and respect the man. She would have preferred if he remained breathing and not in need of her expertise all the time.

"Yes sir, commander, sir!" She shot back snapping off a salute to him before gritting her teeth.

She was about to give him yet another lecture on allowing time for his injury to heal before he waded back into another battle, but her words never got the chance to be heard. Not that he was going to listen, she knew. Aric Jorgen and Yuun came rushing up, the cathar clutching a data pad. Both of them were out of breath.

"Sir, you need to read this!" Aric managed to get out between gasps of breath, falling into the familiar structured chain of command.

Kamthar arched an eyebrow before taking the data pad, reading over it slowly. He glanced at Yuun, then at Aric before reading it once again. His name, amongst others, stood out. Oddly there were a number of Imperial and Sith names as well.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was on some scumbag Imperial commando." Aric explained. "We found it while clearing out what looks like their operations center."

Kamthar frowned and then read over the data pad again. Whatever was going on, someone was after him and wanted him dead. Frowning he tapped open his comm link.

"Command this is Havoc Squad. Be advised we have Imperial intelligence you need to see. I'm coming in."

Kamthar glanced at the three other members of his squad before glancing once again at the data pad before tucking it away in a pocket.

"Guess this means no shore leave?" Aric cracked and made Kamthar smile lightly.

"No, we're going to go hunting."