Chapter 6: Politics and War
March 1, 2227.
"Cham is ready to receive you." Gobi announced to Jordan, who was waiting in one of the rooms of the new Ryloth's Consular Palace.
"Thanks." the Legionnaire replied, making his best to sound cordial to him, who wasn't the reason for his frustration.
Nor was Cham, to be honest, rather the rest of the Commonwealth's politicians. And when he entered the modest room, with a few decorations and a desk on the opposite side behind which Cham was sitting, the Twi'lek stood up and waited for his friend to arrive in front of him.
"Hi, Jordan." he said calmly.
"Good to see you, Consul Cham." Jordan replied, trying to quip.
The two shook hands accompanied by an attempt of smiling. Jordan sat down and Cham reached a lower drawer of his desk, from which he pulled out a bottle of Rosch'em, a renowned liquor of the Twi'lek, and two small glasses.
"Here. Before we start ripping our hair, or lekkus, from each other, we better drink something."
"Couldn't agree more." Jordan said.
The Legionnaire gave a look at the strip of green cloth that Cham wore across his body, signaling that he was one of the two Consuls of the Commonwealth, with Iblis being the co-ruler.
That was apparently the type of government that these people had decided to adopt: the planets elected a number of deputies, who gathered on Christophsis to elect two Consuls with a two-year mandate, a form of government that vaguely reminded Jordan of the ancient Roman Republic. Another peculiarity was that the Commonwealth didn't allow the existence of political parties: each deputy had to think with their own head, and discuss the intentions of the Consuls without anybody telling them how to vote on the matter at hand.
"For all that matters, I have no intention of losing my cool." Cham hoped.
"Same here." Jordan said, then raised the glass a bit. "Cheers."
Cham repeated the gesture then they both drank. In a matter of minutes they were both finished. The liquor tasted like some berry that Jordan couldn't point out precisely, but it was indeed a pleasure to taste. After finishing it, it was time to put out the burning question at hand.
"Let me start by saying that I did everything I could to oppose that decree." Cham started.
"After everything my kids have done for Ryloth, I would hope so." Jordan said, immediately realizing that he sounded slightly hostile, and not caring at all. "I mean, what the hell? If it wasn't for Ezra's actions last year, you guys would still be under the thumb of the Empire, and now you come out with a decree that expels all the Jedi?!"
"Yes, yes. That's why I called you here. As I said, I opposed it, and many others did so. In fact, it was passed with a two percent majority."
"And what do these people have against the Jedi? What does Iblis have?" Jordan insisted.
"Better leave Garm aside. The way I see it, he's becoming a lunatic, obsessed that the New Republic will only bring back the worst vices of the Old, so he doesn't want anything associated with it."
"The Jedi have clearly stated that they intend to remain neutral in international politics."
"You can try and explain it to him, if you want." Cham replied in a tired tone. He clearly had that discussion with Iblis before.
"And the deputies? They must see how ridiculous this is. Right after the law passed, the imperials conquered the orbit of Llanic, and now is just a matter of time before the planet falls."
"That's the reason why I called you here. Because I know for sure that at least a third of the deputies is actually in the hands of Tyber Zann."
"A full third?!" Jordan said with wide eyes. He knew that the Consortium had a certain influence inside the Commonwealth (they controlled those worlds right before the state was created, after all), but to think that such a large part of the governing body was corrupt.
"Yes. The ones who agreed with Garm were actually few. All the others most likely voted because they were told to do so."
Jordan thought that this made perfect sense: he had been informed about Ezra and Jaral's most recent adventure, where they whisked away a powerful Force-sensitive child and fought against Zann's forces. This decree was most likely a way for the crime lord to retaliate.
Jordan snorted. "Did you call me here just to inform me, or you want my help?"
Cham crossed his hands on the table. "Good think you're a smart man. Yes, I have a plan to at least diminish the influence of the Consortium on our politics."
"A way to hit their operations?"
"That would be the idea."
"And you think it will be enough?"
"Not at all. But you see, the problem here is another: everybody believes that the Consortium is untouchable. That any attempt at fighting them will only bring those brave enough to try into a Sarlacc pit. So, just like we did with the Empire, we just need a big enough victory to start convincing the people that there is a chance at taking the Consortium down."
Suddenly, Jordan realized that this was much more than political maneuvering: Cham was requesting his help, being the agent of an external power, to take down a criminal organization that was deeply rooted in that area of the galaxy.
"Well...as a Spectre, taking out criminals is an important part of my job. So count me in." he concluded.
Cham made a little smile. "Never doubted it." he then took a datapad from another drawer and left it on the table for Jordan to take. "Go to Pantora. Riyo will give you more details."
"Got it." the Legionnaire replied, and dematerialized the datapad inside his omni-tool. "Thanks for the drink." he concluded before standing up.
"Hey, uh…" Cham said with a slight hesitation. Jordan stood around and waited for the question to arrive. "Have you had any contact with Hera, recently? She hasn't been answering for weeks. I'm getting nervous." he said with a sincere worry in his voice.
Jordan knew that he couldn't reveal the whole truth, especially since Cham just admitted that the Commonwealth was full of eyes and ears working for the Consortium. Still, he didn't want to leave the old Twi'lek in that state.
"Yes. I can't tell you the details, but the Republic is preparing something big. I guess Hera is too busy, maybe she can't risk sending a long-range message."
Cham made a faint nod and smiled. "Of course." he said, deciding that he would allow that explanation to be enough. "If you see her, remind her that I'm still waiting to meet my grandson." he added in a joking tone.
Jordan facepalmed his forehead in a sudden realization. "Blimey, mate, I completely forgot about it! Yes, of course! I'll tell you: next time I come here, I bring both Jacen and my granddaughter for a ride on the ship."
Cham chuckled. "Why would I care about your granddaughter? She's yours!"
"Just you wait until you meet her, Jacen is cute, but he can't hold up."
Cham laughed and waved a hand. "Get lost before I banish you, too."
With both of them laughing, Jordan closed the door, regained a bit of seriousness and then walked away.
March 3, 2227.
"But Minister, if we push now, we can destroy the rebels of the Commonwealth once and for all. It's now or never!" Iulius almost yelled to the members of the personal Cabinet of Palpatine.
"The Emperor has personally requested that attention must be given to the Northern Fringe. The loss of Mygeeto in unacceptable." the Minister of War, Roland Gerwick, explained with a plain tone.
Iulius wondered for a moment if this was a trick, but he knew for experience that men like those only cared for the opinion of their Emperor. They only acted according to his wish, without particular malice toward the others, since they saw everybody else as inferior to them.
"I understand the importance of Mygeeto, but our resources are stretched thin. If you send the reserves to the Fringe, there is a chance we will be stuck on Llanic for more weeks." he insisted.
The Ministers looked at each other or mumbled something with their mics muted, and all the Grand Admiral could do was wait while those breathing puppets would decide if he would get enough resources to make a decisive push against the Commonwealth or not.
Gerwick then finally delivered the answer. "We hear your reasoning, Lord-Protector. Very well, you will be given another division to secure Llanic, but everything else will be destined to the counteroffensive."
Iulius sighed lightly. He would've preferred more, but he could work with it.
"Thanks, Ministers." he concluded.
Gerwick made a nod of acknowledgment and then the robed figures disappeared.
The Grand Admiral leaned his head backward and groaned in frustration. Once again, the politicians were taking decisions for him, and he had no chance but to obey. And he knew well that the task of retaking the territory in the Northern Fringe would be handed out to Rax. This was clearly an attempt of the Emperor to have one of his most loyal servants gain some glory and prestige.
All of this meant that the offensive against the Commonwealth had to be brought to a halt after only taking Llanic. This would give the rebels the time to consolidate their positions and even to receive more weapons from their allies.
Honestly though, his men had been fighting for almost two months without rest. Taking this atoll planet was being much more difficult than anticipated. Iulius intended to give his army some rest and use that time to analyze this battle: he needed to figure out the strategies and tactics that the Commonwealth intended to use. Their fleet was still nowhere to be seen, and it would likely be bolstered as this new pause got in the way.
Still, the work on Llanic wasn't over yet. He headed for the bridge and called for an immediate meeting with his General Staff. Shortly after, around the holo-table appeared the projections of Veers, Cody and Versio.
"Gentlemen, I have good news and bad news. The good one: they are sending us another division…" he started.
"The bad one: that is all they are giving us for the time being." Veers concluded with a resigned tone.
"Yes." Iulius dryly said.
Cody let out a huff of tiredness while Versio, having served since the times of the Old Republic, had grown numb to things like these.
"Well, I guess we can still finish the battle here with just one more division." Cody said. "We're almost done securing the last island before the fortress."
"Right, give me the projections, STEVE." the Grand Admiral said.
The holo-table showed the two remaining islands: one on the south-east of the quadrant, Tantria, which was also the only one close enough to allow the artillery to start bombarding the localized energy shield on the main one, Llanica, which was on the north-west.
"The rebels are putting up a stiff resistance on this ridge of Tantria, but it's just a matter of time before they run out of food and ammo." Veers explained, pointing a finger on the minor island. "A new division of fresh troops will certainly be useful to follow up with an attack to Llanica."
"We have to take down the shield, first, General. Even if it's not that advanced, the artillery might take a week or two." Cody pointed out.
Iulius hummed, and came up with an idea. A risky one, but perhaps…
"Let me handle this, Cody. Keep your men in shape, because your battalion will take part in the assault of that fortress." Iulius calmly instructed.
"As you wish, sir." the clone replied before getting away.
"May I know what you're planning, sir?" Veers asked, getting clearly worried that Iulius was going to try something crazy.
And Iulius understood that thought very much as he leaned forward to go past the hologram of the General. "Nash, would you run some simulations with STEVE to understand how long would it take for a Procursator to approach the shield?"
Nash, who was going on with his duties on the keyboard, still heard the proposal of the Grand Admiral and froze in place for a moment before shaking his head and turning toward him. "You want to bombard the shield with the ion cannons?"
"If the cruiser uses them at full power, they will certainly be much more useful than your usual artillery pounding." the Grand Admiral nonchalantly replied.
"The rebels still have some starfighters down here, sir. They won't just stand down and wait." Veers alerted.
"That's the other point, General." Iulius replied with a confident smirk. "Right now, those rebels are likely reasoning that all they can hope to accomplish is to tie our forces on this planet for as long as they could. Meaning that, aside from the will to survive, they will have to attempt a sortie to destroy our cruiser."
"So we lure them in, and the fighter escort will destroy any air support they have left." Nash said in an excited understanding.
"Indeed. Do you have any suggestion on who should lead this effort, Commander?" Iulius asked a bit amused.
Nash feigned to think about it. "I would dare to suggest Captain Kyrell and his 'Night Wings'."
Iulius chuckled. "Are playing favorites, Commander?"
Nash made an exaggerated aspiration with his mouth. "Sir. This vile slandering offends me. I would never suggest somebody just because he's my friend." he replied in the most theatrical way possible.
In the midst of all this, Veers was looking dumbfounded at the two officers. That conversation was definitely not following any basic protocol.
Iulius laughed another time, then casually waved a hand. "All right, go ahead and inform Captain Kyrell."
March 8, 2227.
Ahsoka's shuttle landed on one of the pads outside the Academy and the expedition that had been kicked out of Llanic descended from the main ramp, tired, bitter or, in the case of Dhara, sorry.
"Welcome home, my friends." Ezra greeted them all. "You might see some new faces around, but don't worry, we'll explain everything. Now lay back and rest a bit."
Most of the group went and did exactly that. Only Kota and Ahsoka stuck around to talk with Dhara together with the siblings.
"I'm sorry, Masters." she said with tears in her eyes. "I…"
Jaral promptly went and took her hands in a gentle manner. "If what you did is to be considered wrong, Dhara, then it's the galaxy that has a problem. Not you."
"Come on, let's go home." Zare said tenderly to her. "I'm sure mum and dad are waiting for us."
"Take a skycar. You can send it back with the homing beacon." Ezra offered.
"Thanks, guys." Zare replied, and took his sister away.
Kota and Ahsoka remained to talk with the two Masters. "She doesn't deserve this." Kota said with pity.
"I still can't get around this." Ahsoka added. "Do the people in the Commonwealth hate the Empire to that point?"
"To that, our father already provided an answer." Ezra said, and then proceeded to explain the facts of the last few weeks. About the retrieval of Grogu and the tribe and how that led to the decision of the Commonwealth, along with the revelations of Cham.
"So it all comes down to Zann, uh?" the old Master commented.
Jaral nodded. "Pretty much."
"I take it you don't intend to step down?" Ahsoka asked.
"You're right. We're waiting for a call from Mon Mothma, in fact. We want…" Ezra started, but was interrupted as he received a notification on his omni-tool that the President was calling. "Oh, right on cue. Come on, sis."
"Sorry, guys." Jaral apologized with a smile, then the two jogged back into Ezra's house, heading into a dark room where they could project her hologram.
"President Mothma, thank you for granting us some of your time." Ezra started.
"Don't even mention it, Master Bridger. I wouldn't be President if it wasn't for you." Mothma started. "I heard about the decision of the Commonwealth. Let me say that it is deeply wrong, and extremely ungrateful of them." she added with her composed tone, though she didn't try to hide her sincere disdain.
"Good that you already know, because the matter of our call is in regard to that." Jaral replied.
"I'm listening."
"What Dhara Leonis has done is not just her being a person worthy of admiration, but is also the proof of what the Jedi Order is striving to become."
"We already stated that the Order does not want to align itself with any nation." Ezra followed up to his sister. "We want to be officially acknowledged as a third party that strives to mediate conflicts, help the victims of catastrophes and abuses. And in order to do that, we need your support. If the New Republic will acknowledge this, the other nations will follow suit."
Mothma hummed in thought and pondered for a moment. Yet, the siblings were not just asking this in the hope that she would accept out of good will: it wasn't a mystery that the other nations of the UACT in Andromeda were still suspicious of the Republic. It was assumed by most that the Order would sooner or later follow the footsteps of their predecessors and become a fully integrated institution of the Republic alone, which would have guaranteed the supremacy of the larger state.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea. I will try to convince the Senate. Though, I have to warn you, Mordys has not backed down from his intention of forcing you to become part of the Republic." she eventually explained.
"Then he's in for a rough awake." Ezra simply replied. "We would like to inform all the nations of the UACT at the same time. Would you be willing to organize a summit?"
"The war takes up most of our time, but I'll try to find you a spot by the end of this month."
"Excellent. Thank you very much." Jaral concluded.
After working out a few more details, the Jedi left the house and were a bit surprised to find Jai Kell seemingly waiting for them.
"Hey, Jai. What's up?" Ezra greeted.
Jai pushed himself away from the fence in order to stand up. "Ezra. Jaral. I wanted to tell you that I don't want to stay in the militia."
The Masters were left surprised for a moment. Ezra then stuttered. "Oh...you don't feel at ease, here?"
Jai put his hands forward in a reassuring gesture. "No, no. Absolutely not. What you're doing here is commendable. It's just...I think I can help you guys in another way."
"Another way?" Jaral asked with curiosity.
Jai nodded, then he proclaimed his intentions without hesitations. "You know that Lothal will participate in the upcoming elections for the Imperial Parliament of the Federation?"
"Uh-uh." Ezra hummed, suddenly starting to think that he knew where this was going.
"Well, I want to present myself as a candidate for Lothal."
"That's amazing!" Jaral exclaimed. "Though, I didn't know you were interested in politics."
"As long as the Empire was around, I was just another nobody with no saying in these matters. But since the Federation came around here, I have been thinking about this for a while. And after seeing how the politicians treated Dhara, I just can't stand aside. I want to go to the halls of power and see if I can steer it to help the Order, even if just a tiny bit."
"I'm sure you will make yourself honor." Ezra started. "But getting elected is not easy. Have you contacted Ryder?"
"I did. Not just that, he proposed my candidacy to Governor Shweera, and she said she would be willing to support me."
"She did?!" Ezra asked pleasantly surprised.
"Yes. And as you know, she is a total friend of the Order. Being the birthplace of the new Jedi has become a major point in Lothal's identity, and since I have been working with you for a while, she is willing to sponsor me. With her and Ryder, I think I stand a good chance."
The siblings looked at each other. There was no doubt in their minds: they had already won Mon Mothma to their cause, now there was a chance to put a personal friend of them in the Imperial Parliament, who would go live on the Citadel and have direct contact with the Emperor and the highest figures of the Federation. Their dream of earning the international recognition for the Jedi Order was taking traction and they weren't going to stop it.
Ezra stepped forward and extended a hand. "Then all I have to say is: give your best, Jai."
The young man smiled and shook Ezra's hand vigorously, a sign of their friendship. He then turned to Jaral and did the same. "Thank you, my friends. I swear, I will make sure the Council will hear about your project."
"I'm sure you will. Now go, Jai. And good luck." the woman concluded.
March 10, 2227.
The Grand Admiral's maneuver had worked and it had allowed the landing of troops of Llanica. But overcoming the insane resistance of the rebels had proven to be a vastly different thing.
Mickey washed his face one last time in the makeshift refreshers of the trench. He gave a look into the mirror, looking at his tired face. He had hardly slept the last three days.
So far, the imperials had gone up the hill two times, but just couldn't break through the rebel lines. The 212th had been kept in reserve as the fresh recruits of the newly arrived 620th Division had launched the first attacks to probe the enemy defenses.
By now, such defenses had been confirmed to be at least four E-webs placed into reinforced bunkers that were also partially underground, making them a hard target even for the TIE Defenders.
One could argue that the Procursator that had come down a few rotations before could have also used her turbolasers to wipe out this island, but as Commander Cody had pointed out, this island was the biggest on the planet, and the Empire needed it as intact as possible to set up its own base that would allow to stock supplies and men for the next phase of the campaign.
That meant the fortress had to be taken by storm, and a couple of AA turrets prevented the stormtroopers to simply drop on their heads and massacre them.
Sergeant Major Mickey put on his gloves and then his helmet before heading for his platoon. The trench was filled with recruits from the 4th Battalion of the 620th, along with the survivors of the first three, who had been reassigned since most of their comrades were rotting on the hillside.
This time, the 212th Battalion was also going up the hill with the main mass of Army troopers. Their task was to break through the enemy lines and secure a passage to the main fortress, which would have to be taken by another battalion of stormtroopers waiting behind the lines.
Unfortunately, the geography of the terrain would force the imperials to a frontal charge. There was simply no other option.
Mickey reached the larger square where his platoon had assembled alongside a company of the fresh recruits.
"Sarge." Corporal YR-326, nickname 'Mulb', greeted.
"Everyone ready?" Mickey asked.
"Aye!" his stormtroopers replied together.
Mickey then turned and looked at the other side of the square, where the regulars were looking at him, waiting for orders. "Any of you is a Corporal?" he asked.
A Nikto stepped forward. "I am, sir. Corporal Nimiz."
Mickey nodded and extended a hand to shake it. "You with the 4th Battalion?"
"Yes, sir. Along with what's left of the other three." Nimiz replied stoically.
The stormtrooper nodded, then he heard the clanging of an armor like his own from the access trench and turned around, noticing none other than the Lord-Protector himself, followed by Cody and two Death Troopers.
"Ten-hut!" he pronounced, and the men immediately stood at attention.
"At ease." the Grand Admiral said, going straight for Mickey, but then speaking loud enough that everybody else could hear him. "Sergeant, our technicians developed a new telemeter." he said, handing over a tiny binocular to Mickey. "If you find any difficulty, mark it with this and STEVE will transmit the precise coordinates to our pilots. The bombers will take care of it."
Mickey felt intrigued. If there was a thing that was too recurrent in combined operations, was that the TIE pilots were skilled, but when the targets were surrounded by many obstacles, their aim would of course be reduced. But if an accurate AI like STEVE would coordinate the bombing run, perhaps they were going to do much more damage.
"Got it. Thank you, sir."
"Don't mention it. You know the orders: open a path through those trenches. I will lead the attack on the fortress once you've done it." the Lord-Protector said seemingly not considering the idea that this attack might fail once again.
Most people might have taken that as condescension, but Mickey knew that Iulius, clad in his black armor and ready to go over the top, simply trusted his personal stormtrooper battalion.
"We'll get you there, sir." Mickey exclaimed.
Iulius made a nod and put his helmet back on. Then turned around and started walking away while loudly proclaiming that the artillery barrage was about to begin.
Indeed, the usual bombardment that preceded the assault rocked the terrain a couple of minutes later. And, to the surprise of the regulars, Mickey climbed out over the top, with his stormtroopers following him.
"What are you waiting for?" he asked the regulars.
"Sir...the barrage is not over." Nimiz said stunned.
"That's why they don't expect us to move yet, Corporal. Now move it." the Sergeant replied sternly.
Still, seeing that the stormtroopers were going so confidently, the regulars were convinced that this must have been a sound tactic. The point, though, was that they were simply getting a little forward, using the cover of the forest terrain to get at the edge of the area targeted by the barrage, which ended five minutes later.
Mickey counted to three in his mind, making sure that there were no whistles anticipating the landing of proton shells, then, with his heart pumping blood madly, he came out of his cover and raised an arm.
"Attack!" he yelled through the microphone.
The stormtroopers sprinted forward, firing toward the trench. As the rebels started firing back, the regulars also took courage and charged yelling.
The fact that the imperials were already this close had taken the rebels by surprise, ensuring that they were still coming out of their bunkers when Mickey and his men were basically at the walls. And so, the first line was breached without too many losses for the imperials.
However, they still had to clear out the rest of the trench. The regulars were still charging and being mowed down by the turrets. Immediately, Mickey took a squad and went to clear out one of the defensive bunkers, removing the gunner while the rest of his platoon proceeded on the opposite side of the trench.
Also, the Sergeant could also see part of the second line of defense. It was a much bigger trench, with barbed wire covering the approach and terrain used as a cover.
Finding a better spot, Mickey whipped out the new telemeter and signaled the bigger bunker. Shortly later, a squadron of TIE Defenders screamed on the skies above and released a barrage of missiles and proton bombs.
However, when the smoke cleared, the bunker was only partially damaged. Meanwhile, the rebels in the second line had taken their posts and were firing at the imperials occupying the trench. A firefight ensued between the two sides.
"Orel-3 to Tanis." Mickey said loudly, trying to overcome the deafening sound of blasters all around him. "The Defenders did almost nothing on the target."
"Hang on, Orel-3." Iulius replied. "General Veers is on his way with something far more powerful."
Mickey had to duck in order to avoid a bolt coming straight at his face, then returned fire mostly out of rage, since he could barely see the muzzles of the enemy weapons.
Next to him, a gunner of the 212th was firing with a DLT-19. A strafe of bolts from the enemy trench eventually took him straight in the helmet and the man fell on the ground.
"Son of a…" Mickey grunted, then turned around toward a regular. "You! Get on it!" he yelled, gesturing at the heavy repeater. The soldier promptly obeyed and took the place of the fallen stormtrooper, resuming the fire against the trench.
"Sergeant, we got the explosive tubes!" Nimiz suddenly said and pointed at a demolition team that was waiting with them.
"All right! Get there and blow the wire!" Mickey yelled, then turned toward his men. "Buster! Yochak! Go with them, we'll cover you!"
"Yes, sir!" the troopers promptly replied.
The improvised team gathered and crouched near the exit of the metal trench.
"Lay some smoke!" the Sergeant ordered. A grenadier promptly obliged with two smoke grenades shot through a launcher. The smoke screen ended up right between the barbed wire and the enemy trench, meaning that it would at least cover the approach of the demolition team.
"Cover fire!" Mickey still ordered. As a coordinated fire from the imperials covered the battlefield, the saboteurs sprinted out, moving into a crater on the no-mans-land. The imperials had to reload after wasting their cells for the suppressive fire, and the rebels used that moment to lay down their own barrage, especially the turrets.
Other men were hit and fell on the ground. Then suddenly the rebels turned out to have mortars, which pounded the nearby area and almost wiped out the saboteurs.
"Orel-3 to Command! The enemy has artillery support! Can you confirm?!"
Iulius replied a few moments later. "Affirmative, Orel. But they're inside the base, air support cannot intervene."
"Well, they'll blow us to pieces if they keep firing like this!" Mickey protested.
"Stay in position. Blizzard-1 is on top of the hill."
Mickey turned around, from where they had started the assault. Indeed, he saw Veer's AT-AT walk in from past the horizon of the hill, earning a position from where it could fire on the second line.
"Orel-3, this is Blizzard-1. The enemy is likely using the bunkers as observation posts. Signal them and we will destroy them."
Mickey looked around. He saw Cody rushing toward the trench with the reinforcements. Once the Commander was inside, Mickey reported the situation.
"I can signal the bunkers. Just cover me!" he said.
Cody nodded and immediately prepared a barrage, which Mickey promptly used to reach the first crater. There he found that one of the saboteurs had been shot in the face and was laying there lifeless. From the crater, he could see the forward bunker, spewing out a rain of blaster bolts, and the smoke screen had mostly subsided. The rest of the saboteurs were cuddling into another crater, desperately trying to stay out of the firing line.
Mickey took the telemeter and brought it to his eyes. "Blizzard-1, this is Orel-3, marking enemy bunker! Confirm, over!"
The telemeter marked.
"Signal confirmed, Orel-3." Veers replied. "Stand down. Firing at maximum power."
Even from that distance, the sound of the AT-AT cannons firing overcame everything else, echoing through the air.
The bunker this time was hit right into the window and exploded with absurd violence, likely because the energy cells had blown as well.
"Forward!" Cody yelled from behind, and the second wave launched the attack.
Mickey immediately sprinted to reach the saboteurs, his breath was ragged, and his suit was sweaty, but he needed to stay focus. The saboteurs sprinted forward again. Mickey took their place, halting to take a look and decided where to go next.
Next to him was another soldier. At first he thought he was dead, as well, so he was about to sprint out again, but then he noticed that the man was still in one piece and holding his rifle to his chest, his face contorted in pure fear.
"Come on! You gotta keep moving!" Mickey strongly suggested.
"Sarge I can't, I'm wounded!" the man cried.
"There's nothing wrong with you." Mickey said calmly as he touched the man around just to make sure.
A thermal detonator rolled inside their crater. The regular squirmed away, but Mickey kept calm. He quickly grabbed the detonator with a hand and threw it over. "Hang on, kid." he said before diving over the soldier to cover him. The detonator violently exploded outside the crater, but didn't hurt the two.
Mickey then stood up, dragging a man through his arm. "Move! A sitting mynock is a dead one!" he yelled, and this time the trooper snapped out of it and ran to reach his comrades.
The saboteurs were already placing the explosives to blow up the wire, while the rest of the mass of was advancing and firing, taking losses in the process.
Mickey then marked another bunker, and Veers blew it up, too, as requested. It was terribly close to the imperials, but none of them was taken by the explosion. So, after the wires were breached, the imperials swarmed in, engaging a furious close fight with the rebels who were still alive. The fight degenerated into a furious melee, with men screaming, firing, knifing each other or throwing grenades.
In the midst of that absolute chaos, Mickey reached the trench, found two rebels in front of him and quickly gunned them down with two precise shots at their heads. He then jumped into the fortification and was attacked by another rebel who threw himself at him. Mickey promptly hit him with the stock of his E-22 and the rebel stumbled back, dropping an ignited thermal detonator.
Realizing that the guy was trying to go to hell with some imperial taken along the way, Mickey dropped his rifle, grabbed the guy's shirt while punching him to make him lose consciousness, then threw him on top of the grenade.
Mickey fell with him, and realizing he had no time to go back, he made sure to be completely on top of the rebel and braced for impact.
The detonator exploded, pulverizing the rebel but sending Mickey flying with huge force against the side of the trench. His head smashed against it, but the helmet luckily held.
Mickey didn't know how long he had laid there half-unconscious. All he knew was that, when he regained the orientation, Lord Tanis was charging through the breach, waving his Darksaber and followed by Starkiller, Qathora, Death Troopers and all the soldiers who had just participated in the breakthrough, yet were galvanized by the presence of the Lord-Protector.
He tried to move, but his right arm hurt like hell. He removed his pauldron and noticed that his bone was sticking out. Nothing major, but it still hurt.
Then a young medic dived into the trench and went straight for him.
"Nothing too big, Sarge. Hang on, we'll patch you up."
"Yeah, sure." he grumbled.
Barely twenty minutes later, the imperial flag was waving on top of the rebel base.