I'm back with another chapter, and sooner than you expected, I'll warrant. I'm going to try to keep posting pretty regularly from here on out. So let's jump in and hold on. Enjoy, my loyal readers!
"Pride of Humbarine to ah…unknown spaceport." Ekks hailed through the ship's comms array. "I am reading tower as seven-niner-five-five-niner-eight-one-zero, this correct?"
"It is, Pride of Humbarine. What is your cargo and destination?" A voice returned across the net. Ekks grinned at Tharcourt.
"Tower, I am transporting nine persons to mining claim on Bakura, along with mining and surveying equipment. Need a space down there to land for refuel. Can you open me a vector?"
"Roger that. Please proceed to landing pad one-niner. Beacon is lit." The tower controller affirmed.
"Assuming landing protocols now." Ekks stated. Tharcourt watched the clouds part to reveal the small port below. It grew larger as they neared, and the commander mentally made note of the placement of the buildings and ships in the facility. The large passenger shuttle touched down, and Drakken hurried to the back, stepping onto the ramp as it was still lowering. A ground crewman stood nearby, along with a man in a tan jacket and pants. Drakken strode over to them.
"Evening." He greeted. "We need a refuel and…you people have a place where we can grab a bite to eat?" He shook his head. "Tinned meat for three days."
"You're the mining crew." Tan jacket man stated.
"Yessir. Blayberry Rathsbone, I'm the head of this operation." Drakken said, wasting no time getting into the ruse. "We're heading to Bakura. Hope to strike it rich there."
"On Bakura…" The man said dryly. Tharcourt was nearly sure now that this man was a rebel, with the sole job of questioning newcomers for security purposes. He glanced about the spaceport, and spied a few men dressed similarly walking about.
"I know, but with all the tariffs placed on non-guild operations, how else are we going to make it?" Drakken groused. "I owned two mines in the Mid-Rim up until a few months ago. I had to all but shut down when the Empire made it too expensive for me to manage my operations. Bakura's far enough out that I think we can avoid Imperial red tape, at least for a while."
"Yeah…the Empire has made it hard on a lot of decent folks." The man agreed. He motioned toward the buildings. "There's a small mess hall in Building Two there. They usually serve around the clock. You people need shower facilities, they're in Building Two as well. Two's got droid charging stations and a shop too if you need it." Drakken laughed.
"Well, what's Building One got?" He asked. There, he could see it, a slight twitch of the man's head.
"Building One is off-limits to guests." The rebel operative stated. "That's just…you know, storage, field operations stuff, that kind of thing."
"I figured. I was only kidding." Drakken said with a smile. "I'll tell my people to go get some real food and shower. You guys can start filling her up. We have credits." He turned, and the smile dropped from his face. Tharcourt walked onto the ship, through the passenger compartment, and into the cockpit.
"Boss?" Ekks said as the commander barged in and dropped into the copilot's chair.
"Regular vaudeville troupe down here…" Drakken muttered. "Send the packet. We hit paydirt." The Corellian grinned.
"Well, we are miners, boss." He noticed his commander's stern face, and pressed a few buttons on the console. "Sent." Drakken took a deep breath, centering himself as he always did before a battle. He lit a cigarra.
"Well that's it…" He sighed. "Biggest job yet. This is going to be one Hell of a clambake, corporal."
"Isn't that what we live for?" The team's pilot returned. He drew his blaster pistol, checked it, and returned it to its holster. "Another day in the Empire."
"Nah…another day trying to stop a war by destroying everything in our path…" Tharcourt mused. "Well…no time like the present. Ready to go earn your meager pay?" Ekks laughed lightly.
"Boss, you crack me up." He said. "Yeah, I'm ready to go break heads."
"Good, now come on. We have fifteen tops, then this place is going thermal." He looked down at Glitch. "You coming, tin-can?"
"Murnurnurnuurrr womomonahanur." The droid replied.
"He asked if he has to." Ekks translated.
"No, but there's a decent chance this ship's gonna be in a whirlwind of destruction when Veers attacks." Drakken said. "You don't want to get blown up again, do you?"
"Nurnur-nurnur." Glitch answered, and hurried out of the cockpit, speaking hurriedly. Tharcourt looked to Ekks.
"He said at least he finally gets to fight."
"He can fight?" Tharcourt returned. The rogue shrugged.
"He has the processing core of a security patrol and probe unit…and I sort of downloaded some stuff." He explained. Tharcourt held up a hand.
"Better I don't know." He stated. The commander strode into the passenger bay. "Alright everyone, we're getting ready to disembark. The guys in tan jackets are very helpful…very knowledgeable." He nodded to the troopers, who picked up on his hidden meaning. "Also, I was told that they have civilian chow and shower facilities in Building Two. They also have a shop and other guest accommodations…in Building Two. Building One is off-limits to civilians. Everyone understand?" The team all nodded or grinned. "Very well. In about ten minutes, we're going to head over there and go into that building." He looked at them all. "You know what to do." With that, he walked to the rear of the ship where he sat on the loading ramp, smoking his cigarra. The man in tan appeared and walked over.
"Your people coming?" He asked. Drakken waved his hand.
"Yeah, just slower than all-Hell." He replied, and looked out at the spaceport. "Always this busy out here?"
"Sometimes." The rebel said. "It comes and it goes."
"Didn't think there'd be this many people out here in the middle of nowhere." Tharcourt yawned. "Is that a damned Gozanti? Didn't know there was enough cargo on this side of the Eriadu route to fill a barge." The man made a small laugh.
"A few operations in the area, I guess." He said vaguely. "People like you mainly…trying to stay off the Empire's radar." Drakken nodded, took a final drag from his cigarra and crushed it out under his boot heel. "Where are you from again?"
"Eh…Axxila originally." Tharcourt lied, inwardly amused at what Firmus would have to say about him giving his homeworld's name. "I've had mining and shipping operations on a few worlds though."
"How long you had the ship?" The rebel asked. Drakken raised an eyebrow.
"Damn…nosy bunch, aren't you?" He shot.
"Just trying to make conversation."
"Eh…a couple of months. Used up most of the credits I had on this thing and this operation." Drakken growled. "Damned Empire…"
"Don't I know it." The man sighed. His commlink beeped and he held up a finger to Drakken as he answered the device. "Yeah?"
"We may have a problem." Tharcourt heard a female voice say over the commlink.
"What do you mean a problem?" The rebel demanded.
"Imperial destroyer, moving into orbit."
"Inspection?"
"I…I don't know…several large ships have launched from the destroyer, heading this way."
"Is there a problem?" Drakken asked, feigning concern as he stood. The man in tan looked up at the sky.
"Empire…" He said tersely. "What they're doing here, I don't know."
"Whatever it is…" Tharcourt said grimly, "…it can't be good." An alarm began blaring somewhere in the compound, and the rebel in the tan uniform yelled into his commlink.
"Control?! Status! What's going on?!" The answer came as what Tharcourt recognized as a message to all of the rebels in the clandestine base.
"Imperial dropships have landed…four kilometers out…forward observers report walkers deploying. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. All personnel…evacuate civilians and man your posts."
"Oh damn…oh damn…" The man muttered, looking about as other rebels hurried people into their ships. Several vessels that were sitting at idle on the ground began to lift off.
"What can we do?" Drakken asked intensely.
"You people'd better get out of here while you can." The rebel advised.
"Can't." Drakken returned. "We don't have enough fuel to make it a parsec. We have blasters. We can fight."
"Right." The man said, obviously in a state of shock and panic. "Get to the buildings and help protect the other civilians that can't evacuate." With that, the man took off running. "Go now if you're going!" Tharcourt jogged into the ship.
"Let's move!" The commander called. "Everyone to the nearest target building. Building Two. We regroup once inside! Stay together! Go...go…go!" He gave each of his troopers a slap on the back as they grabbed their blaster rifles from the rack by the ramp door and hurried out of the ship. Freya came up last, following Glitch, and Drakken took up the rear. The team ran to the first building, the one the rebel had described to Tharcourt as a shop and diner. Rushing inside, some of them acted as though they were gazing out of the large windows for the approaching Imperials.
"Hold…" Drakken ordered. Inside the atrium of the moderately-sized structure, the team could see dozens of people of several different species in various manner of dress. Some looked like they were more confused than frightened. Others, obviously civilian pilots and crews, looked scared of some unknown thing, and clutched their belongings tightly. The team saw that there were only a handful of probable rebels in the building. About a dozen men and women in tan uniforms and padded hats, and a couple of men in orange flight suits were in the process of securing the building and trying to calm the civilians. All of them carried blasters.
"Walkers, approaching the perimeter!" A rebel officer, complete with white helmet and blaster pistol, opened the door and called into the building. "Protect the civilians! We're gonna try and get the transports away!" He spied Drakken's group. "If you're gonna help, fall in with those men!" With that, he turned and ran off. One of the rebels on the second-floor walkway came down the stairs and approached the group.
"Sergeant Xandrath…" He greeted, panting. "Who's the leader here?"
"I guess I am." Drakken answered. "I'm the head of this bunch of miners…why is the Empire coming?"
"We're Rebel Alliance." Xandrath stated. "They must've found us somehow. We're going to try to hold them off long enough to get some of our forces out. You serious about helping the Alliance?"
"I'm serious about not getting killed by those Imps." Drakken returned. "We're not fighters…"
"Your people want to help us guard these civilians?" The sergeant asked.
"We can do that." Tharcourt said with a nod. "We'll hold them off best we can. You try and save us a seat on one of those transports though."
"I'll see what I can do." Xandrath replied. He turned to the other rebels. "You pilots get to your ships…double time!" The men in flight suits bolted out the door as the first of the blaster bolts from Veers' walkers began to land in the compound. The rebel sergeant spoke again to Drakken. "We have our troops manning what placements we have prepared here. There's an anti-vehicle cannon to the side of this building. We should be able to keep the Imperials back for a little while at least." Drakken nodded to the group. More rounds from the walkers' heavy blaster cannons began to impact the ground, and a few huge rounds of energy buzzed from the side of their building as the rebels began to return fire.
"Sergeant…Xandrath was it?" Tharcourt said. The rebel looked away from the window, to the mining boss.
"Yes, yes, what is it…" He froze as Drakken pointed his DL-44 blaster pistol at his chest.
"Do not move." Drakken advised. He nodded, and his team turned their weapons on the ten remaining rebels in the building. "Nobody make a move. Lower your weapons, and nobody will be hurt." The enemy soldiers seemed frozen in place, some of them pointing their blasters at Tharcourt and his troopers, some unsure of whether to raise their weapons or not. Drakken pressed the muzzle of his blaster into Xandrath's chest.
"I said lower your weapons!" Drakken yelled. "We are Imperial agents, and you will comply!" There was a tense silence for a few seconds as the Imperial and Rebel soldiers faced off, their blasters trained on one another. The civilians in the room had clustered in a knot in the corner of the room, save for one man who was curled up under a table.
"Blast 'em!" Xandrath yelled. Drakken pulled the trigger of his heavy blaster pistol, and before the rebel sergeant's body had fell to the floor, he had already stared firing into the enemy fighters on the stairs. He downed a rebel with a DH-17 as Daraay and Felian both shot a woman wielding an A280. Mets was grazed by a bolt in the left arm, and Dall shot the rebel who had fired on his comrade, the man falling over the railing to the floor below.
One of the rebels leapt down to the counter of the small restaurant, and started to raise his blaster. A spindly metal arm thrust out and with a powerful crackle of electricity, the man fell dead and smoking onto a tray of food. Glitch made a low laughing sound as he rolled away. Two more rebels had been killed in the opening of the fight, and as Gallen blasted two more on the walkway above with his long-barreled cycler rifle, the remaining two rebels threw their weapons down to the floor below and lay on their stomachs.
"Felian, Coleth, secure the prisoners!" Drakken ordered. "Thorne, Daraay, Lago…search upstairs!" The team responded immediately, and as the troopers moved upstairs to arrest the rebels who had surrendered, Tharcourt faced the civilians with Dall and Ekks behind him. "Please remain calm!" He called to the frightened mass of humans and aliens. "We are not here to harm you. These people are at war with the Galactic Empire. You have to stay here for a while, but if you are not with these rebels, you will be able to go free soon. Please stay where you are and don't make any sudden movements." Not a single one of them moved an inch. "Thank you."
"C'mander, we 'ave the prisoners…" Freya called down. "Nothin' else up here but a couple a' scared Rodians."
"Leave 'em." Drakken ordered. "Lock the prisoners in this closet down here, and form up."
Having secured the two prisoners, Commander Tharcourt led his team outside. None of the rebels engaged with the cluster of AT-ATs outside of their perimeter thought anything of the armed civilians running across the space between the two structures. As they passed behind the large FD-P tower two rebels were manning in their attempt to stop the encroaching walkers, Daraay tossed a thermal detonator into the shallow pit the two enemy fighters were standing in. As the team moved on, the device exploded, killing the two rebels and destroying the cannon.
The team burst into Building One, and in a flurry of blaster fire, killed the two rebels in the first room. Daraay kicked open a door and fired a burst into an adjoining room, killing another fighter with a blaster pistol. Drakken led Felian, Ekks and Gallen up a flight of metal stairs as the rest of the team continued to methodically clear the first floor. They found themselves in a short corridor, and the commander downed a rebel exiting a room with two rounds to the chest. They came to a hatch marked 'Control Room'. Ekks hacked into the keypad next to the door, overrode the electronic lock, and the hatch slid open. Drakken swung into the room, sliding along the left side of the wall, his blaster firing again and again as he killed any rebel fighter who was trying to reach for a weapon, or looked to be attempting to destroy the computer terminals in the room. Gallen fired his cycler rifle, and a rebel officer was flung backwards, landing on a workstation. They quickly explored the room, finding only comms equipment and a couple of suspect terminals that Ekks began downloading the contents of onto a data disc. Gallen ran his hand over a control panel near a window overlooking the battle outside and grinned.
"Hey sir…" He called. "This looks like the public address system for the whole kriffing base."
"So what, trooper?" Tharcourt replied, hastily going through some files on a tabletop.
"You want to see some psychological warfare, Selucemai style?" Drakken looked up. He shrugged.
"Go for it, Gallen." He answered, and continued thumbing through the papers. The sniper sat his rifle down and took out his music player. He plugged his aux wire into the input jack on the PA control panel, downloaded a file, and dialed up the volume. With a touch of the PA system's screen, a loud, fast riff began to play over the speakers throughout the rebel compound.
And if your heart stops beating, I'll be here wondering
Did you get what you deserve?
The ending of your life
And if you get to Heaven, I'll be here waiting, babe
Did you get what you deserve?
The end, and if your life won't wait
Then your heart can't take this…
"Yeah…that'll do it." Drakken grumbled as he stuffed some of the papers into his pocket. Gallen grinned as the chorus began.
Downstairs, Freya and Daraay were moving from room to room. In one, they found two rebels. Daraay and Lago hit them with stun bolts and cuffed them on the floor. In another room, several blaster bolts met them at the door until Sergeant Daraay lobbed a stun grenade into the room. They rushed in, and the lone rebel in the small office was thrown against the far wall by a barrage of blaster fire from the stormtroopers, the death trooper and Thorne. They were making a quick search of the office, with Glitch searching the terminal in the office with his scomp link, when the squad heard music start to play. Freya cocked her head to better hear the words and she chuckled when she heard the chorus:
Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say, I think they never liked you anyway
Oh, take me from the hospital bed
Wouldn't it be grand? It ain't exactly what you planned, and wouldn't it be great if we were dead?
"I think we are trying to tell the rebels something." Daraay stated.
"Aye…" Freya answered, grabbing a pile of files and cramming them into a bag. "Either that we're comin' t' wreck the shop…or that we're a pack a' angsty teenagers."
"Sounds more like the latter." Dall commented. The song continued as they moved back into the first room and Drakken came down the stairs with his contingent.
Tongue-tied and oh, so squeamish, you never fell in love
Did you get what you deserve?
The ending of your life…
"Got two pris'ners and some files." Thorne reported. Commander Tharcourt nodded.
"The main objective is done then." He stated. He grabbed his commlink. "General Veers, Delta-7 Actual. We've secured the buildings. Moving to attack the rear of enemy positions."
"Very good, commander…" Veers answered in his always calm tone. "…redirecting fire to the front of their emplacements. You may assault when ready."
Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say, I think they never liked you anyway…
They started for the door when a small group of six rebels rushed in from outside, trying to ascertain why the control room was broadcasting such a song. They paused, momentarily confused by the armed civilians in their building. The two groups had nearly collided with one another, and were practically bunched together. The leader swung his DH-17 up toward Felian, but Daraay shot him. The rebel fighter nearest the tall woman lunged at her and jammed the barrel of his small blaster pistol toward her head. Daraay knocked his right arm downward with her blaster rifle, and he fired, the bolt hitting Daraay in the thigh. She grabbed the man and shoved him forcefully against the wall.
Drakken spun out of the way as a woman with another DH-17 fired at him, missing the commander by millimeters. He discharged his blaster twice into her head. Meanwhile, Thorne had her weapon knocked out of her grasp by a tall man with an A-300. Her right hand went immediately to her belt. Before the rebel had recovered his heavy blaster from his parry, her staff impacted the left side of his head. He stumbled backwards in time to have the metal rod connect with his right temple a split second before the lieutenant drew her hideout blaster and shot him three times.
Daraay received a headbutt from the rebel she was tousling with. The death trooper seized him by the throat and the belt buckle and hefted him into the air over her head. As Mets shot the last of the enemy combatants in the group, one more rebel entered the door. He paused, mouth agape at the scene, just before Daraay launched her opponent into him, sending both men landing in an injured heap on the floor. Drakken shot both of the prone men as the team rushed outside as the song ended.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la!
If life ain't just a joke, then why am I dead?
Dead!
Drakken paused for a moment as he beheld the sight of the battle before him. Rebels were fighting from shallow trenches and sandbagged emplacements as heavy bolts from Imperial walkers sent dirt and rock fragments high into the air. Red, green and blue blaster bolts seemed to fly in every direction, and the screams of officers, squad leaders and those of the wounded and dying came from all around the team. For a brief moment, Tharcourt could have sworn he saw Mimban again. Not as a memory, but right in front of his eyes as if he'd been somehow transported back in time to that hellish battleground. A shiver worked its way down his spine. He took a deep breath.
"Take the trenches!" He ordered. "Eliminate all resistance and press the objective!" With that, Drakken ran forward, drawing a vibroknife and activating the blade as he dove into a rebel emplacement, blaster in one hand, blade in the other. He slashed at the throat of a rebel officer as he fell into the trench. Landing on his back, Drakken fired into one rebel, then another.
Felian lobbed a thermal detonator into a nearby foxhole, where two rebels were operating a heavy blaster rifle. He and the others were already rushing the dugouts before the explosion killed the gunners. As Commander Tharcourt blazed away down the waist-deep ditch at rebel fighters, Felian, Mets, Coleth, Dall and Gallen dove in behind him, covering the opposite direction. Drakken got to his feet and charged down the battle-line as Daraay, Thorne, Ekks, and Lago joined him. They vaulted out of the trench when they reached the end, and a rebel hopped out of the next hole with a blaster already firing. Drakken was already too close for the young soldier to deal with, and the commander placed a bolt into his chest before making a complete spin, raking his vibroblade across the fighter's throat.
Ekks turned to see a rebel sprinting full-throttle across the tarmac toward them. He fired a burst into the figure, then turned as another of the enemy soldiers emerged from behind crate only a meter to his left. The Corellian smacked the rebel in the head with his blaster, gave him a solid punch to the face, and then fired thrice into him as he fell. He pointed to the crate, and gestured for their droid to get behind it. Glitch made an argumentative noise, but a blaster bolt striking the ground in front of his right wheeled leg made him rethink his position.
Two rebels in white helmets appeared around the corner of the building, and Freya managed to get two shots off at them before she and Lago had to dive behind an abandoned sandbag emplacement as the pair of rebels opened fire on them. Daraay had her blaster rifle broken in two by a hit from an enemy weapon, and she rolled into the nearby trench her commander had entered, and seized an A280 belonging to a fallen foe. She rose up and fired at the two helmeted soldiers pinning down Thorne and Lago, killing one before having to turn her attention to the fire they were taking from a nearby position.
Felian and his group had cleared the trench to its terminus, and now found themselves in a duel with another enemy position 30 meters to their front. Fortunately, the rebels hadn't designed their fighting positions to protect from the rear, and the scouts and Dall provided grazing fire while Gallen methodically picked off the enemy combatants one by one.
"Gallen…to the left!" Felian called. The sniper looked down the line. In the distance, he saw the rest of the team pinned by automatic blaster fire. He slammed a round into his cycler rifle, cocked the hammer and threw it to his shoulder. He placed the crosshairs on a rebel in tan operating an E-Web. Gallen squeezed the trigger and the slugthrower boomed, sending a soft lead projectile into the heavy gunner's head. Gallen reloaded as a rebel in an orange flight suit rolled over to the E-Web and drew himself up into position. His thumb had barely touched the trigger when the Imperial marksman put a round through his chest.
Drakken continued to move forward down the trench, unaware that the rest of his team had stalled out ten meters back. He shot a rebel woman who was still focused on firing at the approaching walkers and Imperial soldiers. A man in a tan coat and pants turned and pounced toward him. For a moment, they wrestled, the rebel trying to disarm the commander. Drakken kneed the man in the gut, slammed his forehead against the rebel's nose, and pushed him against the wall of the ditch. A red bolt of energy flew past his face, and Tharcourt spun his opponent around and used the rebel to absorb three hits meant for him instead.
Freya and Lago were alone. Under fire, they had been forced to dart around the entire building in hopes of linking up with Tharcourt and Daraay. A rebel swung out around the building with a huge RT-97C heavy blaster rifle. He cut loose with a volley, and Thorne leaned back into a feet-first slide. Lago tripped over his lieutenant and landed on top of her. Fortunately, he rolled off in time to fire his E-11 from prone, hitting the rebel once out of six shots. Thorne had recovered enough to fire her pistol while laying on her back, hitting the man once more. They both got to their feet and continued on, Thorne picking up the dead man's weapon.
Daraay and Ekks looked down at what was laying on top of the dead man in the foxhole. She stooped down and picked up the large heavy tube and verified that the weapon was loaded before handing a large quiver of two more rounds of ammunition to the Corellian. She looked up and watched the X-Wing arc across the sky, preparing to take out its second walker. The veteran death trooper narrowed her amber eyes, and threw the rocket launcher onto her shoulder like it was made of air. She looked through the reticle and placed the red dot in the center on the enemy fighter.
"Can you get him?" Ekks asked, and fired at a rebel nearby. A press of the lock button, and the launcher made a sequence of fast beeps as the weapon locked onto the X-Wing.
"Clear backblast!" Daraay called. Ekks threw himself to her left side in the foxhole. She led the snubfighter as she depressed the fire-control pad, and a single laser-guided missile issued forth. The rebel pilot wasn't expecting an attack from his own side, and only noticed the incoming rocket when his onboard sensors screamed out danger. He tried to pull up, just short of his attack on the AT-AT. The pilot's scream was cut off as the X-Wing detonated mid-air. Ekks nodded in approval.
"Not bad…" He remarked, and pointed toward a guard tower near the perimeter. "Wanna see if you can go two-for-two?" She looked at him blankly and held out a hand for another rocket.
Freya and Lago sprinted toward the enemy trench. From the rear of Building Two, a pair of rebels fired on them, forcing them to seek shelter behind a speeder. Thorne fired over the top of the vehicle with her blaster pistol, and Lago around the side. Thorne holstered her small pistol and slammed the long barrel of the RT-97C onto the hood of the landspeeder. She could see both of the rebel troopers in the circle of glass on the weapon's low-powered scope. Thorne pulled the trigger, and the heavy blaster began belching out a stream of red bolts. She kept the trigger depressed, and watched the two rebels get thrown into the wall of the building, their clothing eventually catching fire. She stopped firing, dropped the nearly-depleted blaster to the ground, and motioned to Lago.
"Let's go." She said.
"This is insane!" The young trooper exclaimed. "This is kriffing insane!"
"You're pure feckin' right it is, an' we're in the thick o' the crazy, so let's move!" She grabbed him by the collar. "On yer feet, Lago! That's a good lad now!" She ran toward the trench with Lago close behind.
Drakken had just killed the last rebel in the ditch, and he climbed out, huffing and panting. He knelt behind a large crate and reloaded his blaster. Looking to his right, he could see Daraay thirty yards back, firing a rocket launcher at a rebel tower. The top of the structure exploded, and three burning bodies plummeted to the ground. Drakken's eyes stung with sweat and he clamped them shut for a moment then opened them. Further away, he could discern Felian and his squad fighting their way to another enemy position. Where was Freya? He looked to his left, toward the next rebel emplacement. The enemy fighters there were still trying to hold off the Imperial advance. Suddenly, he saw Thorne and Lago emerge from behind Building Two, heading for the trench. They would be outnumbered and outgunned whether they made it, or if the rebels spotted them coming.
"Not a kriffing chance!" He shouted, and made a mad dash for the position. The rebel at the far right of the ditch spotted him, and turned about with a strange-looking blaster rifle. He fired as Drakken dove to the ground. Tharcourt heard a loud crump from behind him, and threw himself up and forward, firing his blaster as fast as he could pull the trigger. The rebel fired again but missed, and Drakken scored three hits on him a second later. Before the rebel had toppled over, Drakken was on top of him, and plunged his vibroknife into the man's face. The next rebel in line looked over in terror just before the commander's DL-44 ended his life.
Thorne knew they were in trouble. The trench was full of rebels. Tharcourt, Daraay and Ekks hadn't gotten this far yet. She slid to a halt, and grabbed Lago by the shoulder, pushing the young trooper to the ground as a few rebels began firing at them. She looked about for somewhere to go, but there was no cover for several meters around. They were effectively stuck out in the open, taking fire from the rebel trench. Thorne gritted her teeth. There was no way she was about to let it all end this way, especially after making an idiotic blunder like this.
"Lago…" She called, firing at the enemy position fifteen meters away.
"Y…yes ma'am?!" He shouted back, doing the same.
"Run for the trench, me mate."
"What?!" He exclaimed.
"Got a better idea? We're runnin' fer the feckin' trench. Keep shootin', keep yer head down an' try not t' shuffle. Lago?"
"Yes ma'am?" The young stormtrooper replied, his voice shaking.
"See ye on the other side a' that parapet, trooper."
"Don't say other side…." He whined. Freya leapt up, and Lago bounded to his feet behind her. The two ran straight at the enemy, firing away as Thorne drew her staff and deployed the weapon.
Drakken seized the weapon the rebel had fired at him with and brought it to his shoulder. One of the men in the trench was aiming his blaster at Freya, who was sprinting toward the dugout with her staff at the ready, Lago slightly behind her, strafing the trench with blaster fire as they made a desperate run for the safety of the depression. The commander immediately recognized the rebel trooper a few meters away.
"Hey!" He called. The rebel glanced over, and his eyes widened as he recognized the face of the mining boss he'd met on the landing pad only half an hour before. "Any more questions?" He fired the blaster, and the rebel in the tan uniform disintegrated before his eyes. Tharcourt fumbled with the rifle, and found a charging lever. He racked it, and shouldered the blaster again. He took aim on another rebel who was firing at his two teammates, and squeezed the trigger. The rebel trooper exploded, his white helmet flying ten feet into the air as his body turned to dust.
Freya slid into the trench and rolled onto her stomach. She felt a weight drop on her back and let out a cry. Lago rolled off of her, and Thorne got to her feet. A rebel lunged at her, but with her staff, she parried his blaster, struck him in the jaw, then swept his legs from under him. She brought the Breohan weapon down on his forehead, and turned to Lago. The young trooper was trying to stand, but seemed to be having trouble getting to his feet.
"Lago! Ye alright?!" She called.
"Took one to the leg…ugh…" He groaned.
"Stay down, Lago!" She ordered. It was then that she noticed Drakken standing in the trench, only a stone's throw away. "Drakken!" She cried out.
"Freya, watch it!" He yelled, and Thorne felt a weight impact her, knocking her to the ground. A rebel had tackled her, and now had her pinned to the floor of the trench. He held a knife in his right hand, and she braced her forearm against his as the enemy warrior tried to plunge it into her chest.
Tharcourt felt something almost alien. It wasn't just the survival instinct of being in a mortal contest with an enemy combatant. It wasn't the guiding force of training and experience that often moves a soldier's hands automatically in the heat of battle. No, this was almost like a boiling, white hot wave of something dark and primal issuing forth from the darkest places of the human mind. He ran at the man who had Freya pinned to the ground, throwing his blaster to the floor of the trench. He hopped over Lago, who lay wounded on the dirt, and Drakken threw himself into Thorne's attacker with an animalistic roar.
He bowled the rebel over, and found himself atop the enemy fighter. Drakken's right fist connected with the man's jaw. Then his left impacted the rebel's right eye. Again and again, he punched the insurgent in the face with every ounce of strength he could muster. To Drakken, it felt like everything was happening in slow motion, like his strikes were being softened somehow, and he couldn't hit the rebel hard enough to do any damage. He struck the man again and again. He pulled back for another blow, but something caught his hand. Drakken turned to see Freya standing behind him, holding his arm. Her face was a mask of pure shock.
"D…Drakken?" She shook. "Drakken, stop. He's feckin' doon. He's doon, me'love…" Tharcourt felt the rage and desperation he'd been feeling slowly subside, and looked back to the rebel below him. The man's face was unrecognizable, a mass of red pulp, and he was only now aware of the throbbing pain in his hands.
"Freya…" He gasped. "Are you alright?" She started to speak, but her eyes shot past them to down the trench, and she pulled Drakken to the ground and fired her hideout blaster into a rebel preparing to shoot.
"I'm alright, me'love…" She said. "Keep th' head, darlin'. I'm okay." He nodded, and stood. Drakken retrieved the mysterious blaster, and tossed Freya a DH-17.
"I'm good…" He breathed. Daraay and Ekks hopped down into the trench. "Sergeant, report."
"Commander, we have eliminated most of the enemy positions on this side of the base. Elements of the 501st have linked up with Sergeant Felian and his squad." A blue bolt flew past, and Ekks turned toward the source with an RT-97C and emptied half of a cartridge into the rebel. Drakken frowned and looked at his watch.
"Time. Thirty-nine minutes." He remarked. His right hand twitched. "Mission complete."
Well...if that wasn't a display of martial ability, what is? I know some of you like the drama and psychological side of this story, and others amongst you prefer the action sequences. To the latter, I hope you really enjoyed this one. Let me know what you thought in comments and PM's. As you all should know at this point, I love hearing from my readers, and it's for you that I am writing this. I will return soon with another chapter. Until then my loyal readers, Cheerio!
