Chapter 18: Gates of Hell
"Commander, you're clear to start the descent." the voice of the Grand Admiral reported.
"Copy that, sir. We are commencing 'Gatecrash'." Iden replied
She then turned toward the pilot and signaled to depart. Soon, from the hangar of the stealth carrier came out a swarm of gunships that flew straight toward the ring.
As guaranteed, the cannons had already been deactivated by the infiltrators, and also a minor shuttle bay where Inferno's dropship and other three landed. Iden yelled everyone to get out and the first wave of Special Forces thus landed on the shipyard ring of Ringo Vinda. In front of them, holding back a swarm of rebel soldiers at the door were Starkiller and the Astarte twins. Bolts that didn't hit them flew toward the soldiers.
"Move! Get to the door!" Iden ordered to the other teams.
The troopers sprinted and it was only a matter of seconds before they reached the door and joined the fray. The rebel soldiers were caught by surprise, but there was still a lot of them and they fired back, causing casualties among the imperials. Eventually, though, the Special Forces had better weapons for rate of fire and a much better aim, so the rebels were forced to retreat after leaving many dead on the floor.
"Keep pressing. Rytel Squad, secure the landing zone!" she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" the leader of said team replied.
"I'll lead." Starkiller replied with his cold tone and quickly stepped forward. Iden already expected him to do that and didn't complain.
They chased the retreating rebels, finding some squads that had halted in order to cover the retreat of their companions and inflict some casualties to the imperials. All the way until they reached one of the major hangars, and there, the rebels had prepared fortified turrets and precise lines of fire, including grenade launchers. As soon as the imperials barged in, they were invested by a rain of bolts and explosions on the sides, some of which took out more agents.
"Droid. Shield!" Iden ordered and her seeker droid immediately activated her personal shield. The agents that happened to have the same devices did the same and they advanced a little deeper, coming atop a line of riflemen and engaging in a furious melee with the help of Starkiller.
Other teams that had disembarked back at the landing zone joined the fray. The SpecOps still possessed enough firepower to break through the defense line. With the rebels being in an entrenched position, they suffered heavy casualties, but they still kept going.
Iden broke the neck of the soldier in front of her with a blow of her baton, then grabbed her TL-50 back and loaded a concussion shot against a nest. The ball of energy was thrown precisely inside the circle of sandbags, breaking the turret and blowing away the soldier. As the adrenaline kept rushing, Iden jumped behind what was left of a few barricades to take cover when a bolt flew just a few inches from her nose.
A moment later, Meeko did the same and landed next to her.
"You okay, Agent?" Iden asked.
"I'm freaking out, ma'am." Meeko replied in a serious tone, but also loaded his medium-ranged rifle. "Do you need some cover?"
Under the helmet, Iden smirked. Both the unsustainable pressure and Del's sincerity seemed incredibly funny at that moment, but that didn't deter her from keeping their professionalism on point.
On her other side, Hask took another bit of wreckage as cover, but the team quickly communicated with just their hands. Around them, the rookies were pushing forward, with Starkiller and the Astartes drawing most of the fire. But there was still a heavy weapons squad that was forcing even the three top warriors to stay back.
Just a glance to Meeko was all she needed for him to nod and prepare to jump out to shoot. She turned again toward Hask, and while the deafening sounds happened all around them, Iden gestured a countdown from three, then her and Hask sprinted out. The latter yelled at the other commandos to lay down suppressive fire while Iden prepared a concussion shot and then fired it toward the gangplank.
It didn't take them out, but it did convince them to fire toward her and that gave Meeko an opening to peek out and shoot a machine gunner in the helmet, then a soldier with a grenade launcher, and soon enough the weapons team was overwhelmed by the fire of the imperials, so they decided to retreat and seal the doors of the corridors, the only section they could retreat to, given the fact that the commandos had already taken the control cabin.
"Great work, people." Iden said loudly. "Secure the hangar and clear it for the transports."
"You got it, Commander." Hask replied and started to coordinate the efforts of the commandos.
She was then approached by the Astartes and Starkiller.
"Commander Versio," Morit asked with respect. "shouldn't we chase the enemy?"
"Our orders were to secure the major hangar, and that's what we will do. The Grand Admiral was very clear about it, and that's what we're doing."
"So we are just giving them the time to dig in?" Starkiller asked a little coldly, but in a tone that was clearly in disagreement.
"We already lost too many men." Iden commented bleakly. "And there will be an army behind that door. We need to wait for reinforcements…" she looked around for a moment. "That said, there might be a way to flank them and take them by surprise once we resume the attack. If you guys are still so eager, why don't you look for it?" she invited.
"I guess it's better than sitting around. Come on, boys." Aiolin replied and turned around, quickly followed by the two men.
After they left, Iden called the Admonitor and informed Iulius that they took a major hangar, thus allowing at least two Gozanti cruisers to land the first squads of stormtroopers.
But before that, she realized that she had a moment to look around, and she saw just how much this first, brief assault, had cost them.
The hangar had bolt burns everywhere, and there were several bodies and wounded laying around from both sides. Only then she started hearing the grunts or yells of these people. Among the commandos there were a few medics of the Stormtrooper Corp that were now rushing left and right to help their comrades and, sometimes, even the rebels.
A sight that had her reflect for a moment: until a year ago, the Imperial Army only recognized the Federation as a legitimate foe, worthy of having its prisoners and wounded treated in a less harsh way. Now, after seeing the rebels fighting with uniforms, standardized weapons, and continually referring to this 'New Republic', even the staunchest imperials like Hask had started whispering that perhaps things were changing.
They were still like the evil Separatists of old, who wanted to divide the galaxy and had thus to be put down, yet the soldiers of this Republic fought with a conviction that made many imperials in the Mid Rim to silently wonder if there was even a real chance for a complete and utter victory against these guys.
She fought those thoughts off her mind. Right now, she needed to stay focus. Especially when the first transports arrived, bringing in the first loads of stormtroopers of the 212th and the first batch of Dark Troopers.
July 3, 2227.
Jaral walked inside the command bridge of the ship. This MTC was really impressive and the fact that it was a ship captured by her husband personally made her a little bit proud, also safe in the knowledge that the Republic had studied it and had already started the production of this model to even the odds.
"Took your sweet time." Ezra joked. His humor had been extremely merry ever since they left Lothal.
"Bathroom break." she quipped back as she stepped around the holo-table with the other Jedi, Tristan and also Captain Darklighter, who led a small squad of veterans of Red Squadron in support to this mission.
However, the centerpiece of the room was the hologram of Galen Erso on the holo-table.
"Nice to see you again, Doctor Erso." she said cordially.
The old man smiled. "The pleasure is mine, Miss Bridger."
"You arrived just in time." Darvos said to his wife. "Doctor Erso was just about to tell us something more about our objective."
"Marvelous. So what's news?"
"I looked into my notes from back when I was working on the first Death Star, and I found the name of the facility on Chamble: it's called 'Silent Fear' and it was part of the Experimental Weapons Division. I don't have concrete proof, but this is a major facility. I wouldn't be surprised if they were working on the Death Star's superlaser."
"All the more reason to shut it down." Darvos replied. "We have taken a few images from here and have a schematic of the building. Do you think you can guess where the main database will be?"
He sent the projections and Erso immediately got to work. The others could see him spinning the design around, zooming in and out as he pondered. Eventually, after confronting the structure with his notes and with what he remembered about imperial architecture, he gave his opinion. "Since it's build on a mountain, it will surely be underground. I'd say around here." he lit up a point inside the mountain, not too deep beneath the visible part of the facility.
"All right, thank you, Doctor."
Darvos thus proceeded to explain his plan: Ezra, Jaral and Tristan would lead the first shock team, dropping right into the imperial landing zone and securing it for Rex and two platoons of the 501st led by Kyle and Cal. Meanwhile, Biggs and his pilots would anticipate this attack with a quick strike of their own against the communication dish, which would prevent the base to call for reinforcements.
That would give them a massive advantage, since the planet had no warships to defend it, probably in order to keep the secret better, but it was still a system near Kashyyyk, so at least a Star Destroyer would be half-an-hour away.
After the briefing was over, everyone went to prepare, except the siblings, who were asked by Darvos to wait a moment.
"Something wrong, guys? You looked a little distracted." he asked.
The siblings were genuinely impressed by the fact that he was able to tell that. But after all, perhaps it was better to be honest.
"Kinda. We have been feeling a presence in the Force, down there." Jaral confessed. "We were wondering if they have a Force sensitive."
"A Sith?" Darvos asked.
"No, this is just somebody with a strong connection to the Force. Point is, we don't know if it's a prisoner, or perhaps one of the staff has some untapped potential." Ezra explained.
Darvos hummed as he finished delivering orders with his datapad, then turned toward the siblings.
"Look, I'm not going to tell you how to behave with your own business. Just remember what we are here for, all right?" he asked calmly.
"Don't worry, we are focused on that." Jaral reassured, then the Jedi headed for the hangar.
There they mounted on the Silver Bullet, where Tristan, Din and the mandalorians were already seated on the rack, ready for the drop. The X-Wings outside were firing up the engines and the troopers were mounting on the Pelicans. As soon as the control room gave green light, the Gauntlet and the fighters lifted from the ground and sped outside, toward the planet's surface. With Jinx scrambling the imperial radar, the X-Wings had an easy time using a strata of clouds to take the defenses by surprise and destroy the dish with two loads of torpedoes and strafing runs on the barracks.
"I think we got their attention." Ezra commented as him and Jaral went on the edge of the main access ramp.
"Then let's keep at it." Jaral replied. She lowered the ramp as the Gauntlet was slowing down to allow the mandalorians to jump, and the siblings went first.
They dropped for several meters, but they didn't use their jetpacks: when they were close enough, they used a massive Force push to create a counter-force that stopped them midair so that they could made the last part of the jump without problems. They then ignited their lightsabers in front of dozens of surprised stormtroopers that were coming out of the buildings.
As soon as the troopers realized they were facing the Jedi, they opened fire all together on them. Ezra and Jaral stayed close to each other and repelled the bolts, not trying to go on the offensive. The squad leader gestured his men to encircle the Jedi, which they did even as they suffered some casualties.
But when they had just made that maneuver, the mandalorians descended close enough to open fire on the troopers.
Half of the stormtroopers turned to fire on the mandos, but that gave the Jedi an opportunity to sprint forward and cut down many of them while their allies gunned down the imperials, whose weapons barely managed to hurt those armors.
In a few minutes, everything was over. The stormtroopers were wiped out and the allies had lost only a warrior, and just before the Pelican landed.
"Come on, let's break in." Ezra instructed.
They quickly found the largest door, which was exactly built on the rocky side of the mountain, and with the siblings quickly finding the mechanism through the Force, they opened it. They looked around and found a terminal that Jinx quickly hacked in order to get the intel they needed.
"Seems like Erso was right." Tristan commented as he noticed the holomap. "The mainframe is just two levels down."
"Indeed. We better hurry." Jaral replied, then looked at her brother, who was instead staring somewhere else.
Soon enough, she felt once again a tingle in the Force.
"That again." she said.
"Yeah. I think we should investigate." Ezra replied and turned his head toward his sister. "You go and find out what they are researching in this place, I'll take a look at this feeling."
"What's happening?" Tristan asked.
"There is a Force sensitive in this place." Jaral replied. "We can't overlook this, so Ezra will take a detour."
"Then I'm coming with." Din said, stepping forward.
"Me, too." Kyle added.
Ezra nodded, promised his sister to regroup at the landing zone and rushed away with his two comrades. Instead of the elevator, which would be used by the main attack force, they took the stairs. After all, the presence was just below them, in what appeared to be an infirmary.
And as soon as the door at the end of the stairs opened, the trio quickly spotted a squad of Death Troopers already on high alert.
The imperials immediately fired, but Ezra was quick enough to raise his directional shield and give his comrades the time to react. Kyle ignited his lightsaber, Din pulled out his blaster and took down a trooper with a clean shot. The others quickly withdrew inside a room with some bacta tanks, and from where Ezra could feel the presence in the Force.
"Keep them busy, I'll flank them." Ezra instructed and used the Force to jump on the gangplank above them. While Din kept firing and Kyle protected him from the bolts.
Meanwhile, Ezra found a large window on the upper floor that he broke with a slash of his lightsaber and he quickly went in, cutting down the two troopers that were defending the door.
On his left there were three more, plus a figure with no armor. Ezra quickly deflected a series of bolts directed at him then used a Force push to slam the troopers with huge force against the wall, putting them out of commission.
"Don't shoot! I surrender!" a female voice yelled.
Ezra quickly realized that it was the figure taking cover behind the troopers, and after a few moments more, he realized that she was the presence he had felt.
The woman had red hair, and since she was hiding her face behind her extended hands, at first Ezra thought it could be Mara Jade.
"Hands in the air." he intimated as Din and Kyle also entered and aimed their weapons.
The woman complied and rose her arms, revealing her face. Even her eyes were green, but of a lighter tone, and her lineaments were not the same as Mara. This woman was somebody else.
"What's your name?" Ezra asked in a calmer voice.
"I'm Shira Brie. And I'm the reason you found this place."
"What does that mean?" Din asked confused.
"I assume we learned about this place because somebody ratted it." Kyle replied.
"That is true." Ezra added in a composed manner. He deactivated his lightsaber and his companions rose their weapons, too. "All right. I guess you can't stay here, anymore. You want a lift?"
"Yes. That would be appreciated." Brie replied, still a bit shocked.
Ezra hummed, then turned to Kyle. "Cuff her, just to be sure."
"Yes, Master."
While the Padawan complied with the order, Ezra rose Jaral through the bond.
"Sis, I found our sensitive. An imperial agent who claims to be the one to have passed us the intel on this place."
"You think we can trust her?"
"I'll wait before judging. For now, we're taking her back on one of the Pelicans. How's it going over there?"
"Only minor resistance. We are already inside the mainframe."
"Don't take too long, we have ten minutes before a Star Destroyer could show up."
"Don't worry. We'll be in and out."
July 4, 2227.
The stimulus became too strong and Sabine finally threw up inside the sink. After coughing a little, she washed her mouth and sighed. She had been warned by Mira that the pregnancy wasn't going to be easy, and she resented just how easy Jaral had it instead. But then all she needed to do was to remember why she was feeling like that and any negativity would just disappear.
She breathed a little, then headed to the kitchen in order to prepare a juice that Mira recommended to alleviate the symptoms, but while she was halfway, she heard the doorbell and went to check who was it.
It turned out to be Moreena.
Sabine opened up. "Mo. What a surprise. What are you doing here?" she greeted cheerfully.
"The detective smiled. "Mira asked me to check on you on the way home." and showed a small pack clearly taken from a shop in town. "Also, I thought it was the best time to bring you a little gift and say congratulations."
"Aw, you shouldn't have." Sabine said gratefully as she took the bag. "Come on in."
Moreena obliged and the two entered the living room. Sabine put down the gift and opened it, revealing it to be a particular suit studied to assist a pregnant woman through small mass effect fields and an IV that could provide a constant scanning of the fetus' status, suggest a diet, physical exercise and even make massages.
"Now this is what you call a useful gift." Sabine commented amused.
"I know you enough to understand that you dislike frivolous things." Moreena replied.
"That I do."
Sabine put the suit back into the bag and headed back into the kitchen, but not before inviting her friend to sit down and offering her something to drink, an invite that Moreena politely declined. The mandalorian finished mixing up her juice and headed back inside the living room. After chugging the juice, Sabine sighed and took out her tongue in disgust.
"It's so bitter."
"Medicines are rarely tasty." Moreena quipped.
"Unfortunately...so, how was your day?"
Moreena didn't reply at first. Or at least, Sabine noticed that she barely moved her mouth, as if she was about to start but then remembered something she didn't want to talk about.
"Oh...you know...nothing major, for now. Although we are having a few problems with criminal gangs trying to link with the Milky Way."
"Uh-uh." Sabine hummed, still bothered by the strange air around her friend. "I hope everything's okay."
"Yeah, it's ok...it's ok…" Moreena replied meekly, then, even if her face remained stern, her eyes became watery.
Sabine was caught off-guard. Clearly there was something worrying Moreena, but now it started to look much worse.
"Mo?" she asked cautiously.
Moreena realized that she was showing too much emotion and lowered her head, but apparently she also thought that it was too late to feign ignorance. She inhaled with her nose, looked around a little, then replied in a low tone.
"I received news this morning...Farrol has been killed."
Sabine was startled to the core. She remembered Farrol: the pilot with whom Moreena had a relationship since the days on Yavin.
"How?" she eventually asked.
Moreena needed a moment to find the strength to talk. "Over Ringo Vinda, two days ago. His squadron was sent out to try a counterattack. That's all I know."
Sabine rose up and went to sit right next to Moreena, who was on the sofa next to the one she was sitting on. "Mo, I'm so sorry." she said as she rubbed her shoulder.
Moreena nodded slightly a few times. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn't burst out in a loud cry. "It's ok." she muttered. "I know I'm not the first to lose a beloved one in this war."
Sabine sighed. Indeed, she herself had lost her mother and many dear friends to this war, but she couldn't conceive how she would feel if anything was to happen to her husband. She sighed and asked "Does anyone else know?"
Moreena slightly shook her head. "No. I hid it from anyone. I guess I'll have to tell my parents when I go back to the farm, though. They really liked him…"
Now she started to sulk and hid her face into the palm of her hand, tears became more copious, so Sabine quickly hugged her from the side and kept her close for a few minutes.
John just couldn't get Balak out of his head. After all these decades, that damn psychopath was still convinced that the Humans were the root cause for nonexistent problems of the Batarian and was determined to spark a galactic war to 'free' his people.
Free from what? The Batarian would've gone extinct during the Reaper War if the Federation had not sheltered their refugees and given them all the help they needed to rebuild their home world, repopulate it and return to a high enough population in the span of just 40 years. Sure, compared to the other species, they were a minority in demographic terms, but they were steadily recovering, and there wasn't a single Batarian on Khar'Shan that would even think of the Federation as a curse.
Yet, him and his old band of nationalists had been so poisoned by their ideology that they would not see how much the Batarian had been helped by the Humans.
Now more than ever, John regretted sparing that guy twice, but by the stars, this time he was going to obliterate that son of a bitch.
Of course, they needed to find him first, and the best guess was that Balak was hiding on Doisac, where he was agitating the Tambaran and their leader Atriox into fighting to the death.
The good thing was that, since Jane had uncovered that a crazy Batarian was instigating this war, many of the Terminus systems that were sending volunteers and materiel to the Tambaran had reconsidered their support, realizing that perhaps it was time to hear the calls from the Emperor to solve this conflict diplomatically.
As he stared outside the viewport on the bridge of the Amerigo, he was suddenly woke by the voice of Captain Riccardi.
"Admiral, the Normandy is entering the system. I already authorized their landing here."
"Thank you, Captain." he replied formally, then, after seeing the frigate entering the radars, he reached the hatch where her main door would be docked, and from there he saw his daughter again.
"Got any luck?" he asked.
"Maybe. We should discuss this in private, though." Jane replied.
John didn't waste more time and invited her to follow him into his office, an empty room with just a chair and a desk.
"So. Any luck on tracking Balak?" John said as he sat on the chair laterally and leaned the left arm on the desk.
"We scoured the Traverse for a few days, and yes, I think I found something. He has put up a contraband network which all seems to converge onto a system in the Ismar Frontier, at the very edge of the galaxy." she replied.
"Contraband of what?"
"Judging from the messages we intercepted, it's all about energy cores, armor plates and other materials to build military-grade ships. This could be the main base of Balak and his terrorists."
"Any visual confirmation?"
Jane lit up her omni-tool and sent a tape to John's.
"They are using a massive asteroid as a base. They have repair yards, barracks. And most of the people aboard are non-Humans, though I can't say where they come from, if from the Terminus, or are citizens of the Federation."
John listened while he looked at the recording. Indeed, there were several freighters going in and out. Fighters and corvettes anchored at this base, a cruiser or two patrolling around with a few frigates. Balak seemed to have put together a lot of people.
Still, something bothered him: up until now, some of the mercenaries they had fought were Human, as well. Perhaps they didn't know they were helping a guy that was hellbent on genociding them, but still, could it be that Balak was recruiting people in the Terminus with the promise of destroying just the Federation, which was seen as an imperial power that deprived many people of their freedom?
It was necessary to found undeniable evidence that Balak was still fighting exclusively for his vengeance. Weaken his public image to make his capture, or killing, much easier to carry out.
"I'll assemble a fleet. You keep an eye on that base and find out when Balak's going to be around."
Jane made the salute. "Yes, sir." and left the office.
July 6, 2227.
"We're landing at Point Korzin, my Lord." the co-pilot announced.
"Thanks. Everyone, let's be quick, there's a lot of traffic down there." Iulius said as he wore his armor and prepared to put his helmet on.
His two Death Troopers nodded, Qathora seemed still unhappy. "You sure it's a good idea for you to be here?"
"I need to see what I'm putting my men through." was Iulius' reply before he covered his face.
Point Korzin was the name given to the large hangar captured by the Special Forces at the beginning of the week, and from which the Army forces had been steadily fighting and gaining control of the ring. But after all these days, the losses reported were already higher than anticipated. The Dark Troopers were useful in overcoming some obstacles, but since they had to be deployed for small engagements in order not to risk losing the few of them, the larger barriers had to be taken by storm with infantry waves.
And a first taste of that came in front of Iulius' eyes when the ramp of the shuttle opened and he immediately spotted at least five wounded on stretchers who were waiting to be taken by the medical crew that was bringing another of their comrades inside another shuttle: a Sentinel-class repurposed exclusively to carry away the patients.
Those were all Army troopers and only a stormtrooper who had lost his right arm and eye, and had his undersuit left on.
Iulius headed toward the elevator, and as he reached it the door opened only to reveal two stretcher-bearers carrying another victim.
"Oh, sorry, sir." the one in the lead apologized.
Iulius shook his head and stepped aside. "No, no. Please." and gestured for them to go.
"Thanks." the man replied before signaling his partner with a nod and they walked out, laying the wounded in the queue.
The Lord-Protector then took his turn inside the elevator with his collaborators and once they were in, he pushed the button. It took around ten seconds to reach the upper level, where the troopers had put up a storage depot.
When they stepped in, they were welcomed by a much different scene.
There were supplies stacked around a bit, sure, but the floor was mostly covered by dozens of medical beds and stretchers, all with screaming and groaning men of ten different species. The smell of different bloods, rotting flesh and aseptic immediately assaulted the nostrils and Iulius switched the filters of his helmet on.
At the sight of that horrific show, Iulius almost froze in place. A feeling of uncontrollable rage, shame and impotence assailed him at the same time.
Struggling to find a path through the endless stretchers and bodies on the ground, Iulius and his companions reached a medical trooper that was carrying in another wounded.
"Medic." the Lord-Protector said. "What's happening?" he asked as he saw more bearers coming inside the room.
"The rebels are counterattacking in Section 9. We're pushing them back, but they are also hitting hard." the trooper replied quickly.
"Thanks. Carry on."
"Sir."
Iulius forced his team to get past the bodies and the few decent medical beds that were being used for the most serious cases and headed toward the door to reach the first section conquered by the Empire, where he hoped to find some command staff that would explain the situation better, perhaps contact Cody.
But just as he was about to reach the blast door, his eyes glimpsed on his right. He stopped to look better, and was shocked to see that his first impression was correct: there were dozens of full body bags. Presumably all the dead in the last hour.
Iulius didn't want to count them. The sole thought made him feel nauseous. He lifted his helmet's shield and stared speechless.
This was the reason why he never wanted to take Ringo Vinda by storm: every meter would be paid with the lives of thousands of soldiers, for a result that was all but guaranteed.
If he failed, then all those bodies would have been for absolutely nothing.
Qathora quickly understood the situation and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault." she said sternly.
"Yeah, sure." Iulius muttered.
He may not have wanted this operation, but he was still the one who had given the order and thrust his men inside a living hell.
And that was why he wasn't just going to sit idly and comfortably on the Admonitor while his trusted soldiers bled away in there. He closed the shield, took the E-22 on his back and headed again toward the blast door.
"Let's get moving."