The sensors sent a warning the moment the rebels entered the dockyard of the station. Finally after more than a week of waiting they had arrived. While they –careful not to attract attention by the occasional passerby– made their way into the restricted section. The security droids provided by the station did nothing to stop them despite their direct orders to let no one through. That was odd.
Ace sent out the silent alarm to the technicians working on the hull of the hydra to fix the one dorsal turbolaser that was still out of order. All group leaders confirmed the alarm and retreated their teams to the back where they would enter the ship through a hatch and lock themselves away until the danger had passed.
Ace checked his weapon one last time and it was still completely operational.
Don't I trust myself anymore? Twenty years ago I would have had to check it once and be done with it. Maybe I'm getting too old for this after all.
See, that's what happens if you leave a soldier waiting for someone or something for too long. He has time to think. A worse prospect than fighting the enemy unarmed.
Ace looked behind him at the forty Stormtroopers they had smuggled into the station. Using the damaged freighter as cover, by landing it on the dock right next to the Hydra, they would be in the perfect position to strike at the enemy.
The rebels cleared the automated checkpoint to enter the dock proper without triggering any alarms from the droids on duty there. All imperial staff had been evacuated into the Hydra so they wouldn't be in the line of fire.
Ace looked down to check his weapon again but stopped himself at the last moment. Not again. Instead, he looked at the Stormtrooper standing next to him.
"Are you alright kid?"
"I'm not your kid, old man, and if it were up to me I wouldn't be under the command of a clone."
"Then let's pray you will never be in charge of anything. There are not many of us left. We're not getting any younger. But I have fought for the last twenty-five years, longer than some of you are even alive. First against the droids and then against rebels, fighting nonetheless. I would trade all of you for a good squad of clones, even just regulars. We would clean up this mess in no time."
"Well, news for you: you are the last of your kind. All your brothers have been discharged long ago."
"Then I will have to show you what a clone can still do." Despite his aching back, the armour that was sitting more loosely every day and the increasing amount of medicine he needed to stay on his feet, he would show them. He would prove to everyone that he still belonged here.
The rebels approached the seemingly defenceless Hydra with their weapons drawn. Ace frowned. None of them had any heavy weaponry with them. It was a testament to how lax the imperial controls were that they managed to smuggle so many weapons aboard. But most of them were small handblasters, how did they intend to crack the door of the airlock?
Patience.
The rebels pushed through the last automated checkpoint –still, no alarm. What was up with these droids? They entered the dock proper, a massive durasteel construction big enough to fit a light cruiser with room to spare and wrapped in a magnetic shield to keep in the atmosphere it was the perfect environment to work on the outside of hulls without the annoyance of bulky EVA suits.
"Why don't we engage?" the annoying Stormtrooper asked.
"Why don't we engage, Sir?" Ac corrected. "And we don't engage because I want to see how they plan to enter the Hydra."
"But we were supposed to attack before that happened to prevent damage on the Hydra, Sir."
"Yes, but I am in command here and I order you to stay put."
A handful of rebels stayed at the checkpoint to cover their retreat while the main body –more than twenty– continued to the airlock of the Hydra.
"Charge when the crew aboard the Hydra returns fire," Ace said.
The apparent rebel leader –a young Rodian– approached the door and pressed a code cylinder –every Imperial officer had one to enter restricted areas– into the slot at the door and it slit open without protest.
"It seems we have a traitor in our midst somewhere," Ace mumbled and set his feet so he could charge. His blaster in one hand and a blast shield in the other, he waited. The moment the rebel leader entered the Hydra, he was greeted by red blaster fire and stumbled back with several holes in his chest.
Ace rushed out of the derelict freighter on the other side of the platform with his Stormtroopers right behind him. His blaster carved through the clustered group of rebels who desperately tried to find cover. But since they were out in the open and were shot at from two sides, they had no chance and the first already turned to flee.
Ace's orders were to make an example, they had enough captives from the raid on the mining colony. So he charged forward. The rebels reached the checkpoint and used its cover to return fire. Several of his men were hit but Ace pressed on. They were called Stormtroopers for a reason.
Every shot that hit his blast shield reverberated through his entire arm, making him numb. Ace pushed on and focussed solely on running instead of returning fire.
He barged through the barrier slamming right into one of the insurgents. The shield impacted with his face in a satisfying crunch and he pushed them both further on. Ace whirled around and pointed the shield back at the checkpoint where the insurgents were firing at him now. Drawing most of their fire, it should allow the rest of his squad to close the distance.
"Hound, why don't I hear your cover fire? Trey and Skip, close the distance. And Skip, no explosives."
No answer on the comms. Maybe their communication was disrupted. Through his HUD he saw the regulars pushing up, so Ace levelled his blaster and returned fire.
His blast shield was already punctured in several spots and his personal shield was flaring up. Despite the barrage on his shield, he got to his feet. "For the Republic!"
Suddenly a spike of pain rushed through his knee and it buckled under the pressure. Ace whirled around but his back complained at the sudden movement.
The insurgent who had been knocked back by him was less knocked out than he had looked and rammed a knife through Ace's struggling shield, right into the weak point at the knee.
Ace snarled, dropped his shield and grabbed the man's arm trying to dislodge the knife wedged between his armour plates, right in his knee. The pain vanished as his armour automatically dispensed medicine.
Ace pulled the man close and rammed the vibro blade attached to his gauntlet into his face, once, twice, three times before he dropped the body and sank next to him on the ground.
Blaster fire around him had lessened and a regular appeared in his field of view. But his helmet and armour looked odd. It was neither the more comfortable Phase Two armour nor the old Phase One.
"I don't know who Hound, Trey and Skip are but I would give a lot of money to see you four in action if you can pull off such tactics. Oh and a friendly reminder, the Republic is gone for twenty years by now. It's called the Empire now," the annoying Regular – no, Stormtrooper said.
Ace's mind rearranged slowly as the pieces fell back into their respective spots. The Clone Wars were over, Trey, Hound and Skip –his squad, his responsibility– were dead, slaughtered by a Jedi and the Empire had taken over. He was still fighting because it was the only thing he knew.