Rishi Moon Outpost
... The most boring detail in the Grand Army of the Republic had to be service on the Rishi Moon Observation Outpost. A bland, dark, crater-filled moon in the middle of nowhere that acted as an Early Warning System for the Cloning World of Kamino. Many Clones would normally find the prospect of defending the only home they've ever known very much an honor. Being an EWS meant exactly that.
It still didn't stop it from being frustratingly dull. Having to stare out at the rocky, chasm and crater-filled moon's surface and only seeing the faint traces of an atmosphere that could potentially support carbon-based life on a 24-hour basis meant that any and every trooper stationed here waited to be rotated out of the place, guns, gear and all. It was a starting position, so to speak. Assigned to the post was the newly-deployed 'Domino Squad'. A group of five Clones.
CT-782, named 'Hevy' by his brothers in blood and arms due to his propensity for the Z-6 Rotary Cannon, arm-wrestled his fellow tough guy clone, CT-4040, designated Cutup, as they all sat on guard duty next to the central sensor console. In the background, cantina songs played as several four other clones, three of which belonged to the Dominoes, went about thier business as usual.
"Did you guys hear?" Asked CT-5555, Fives, as he looked over a report regarding the station's sensor suite having gotten refurbished a couple of days ago. As the group, sans Hevy and Cutup(being caught in their little arm wrestling match), turned to face him. He spoke, "The new group who joined up with our troops near Christophsis apparently had a talk with the Republic. They're sending a small garrison."
"Here?" CT-00-210, Droidbait, snorted, his light accent hitting, "They're sendin' the refuse, probably. Darn Basics don't know this place is a dead end job..."
"Keep your eyes on your side of the outpost, trooper," The base's Sergeant replied as he walked in. The men all turned toward him and snapped salutes. He saluted back and ordered, "At ease. I want you all on your best behavior when our new allies get here. They probably know how important this quadrant alone is to the Outer Rim and our operations here."
"Sir, yessir!" The five clones answered.
The Sergeant, CT-19-7409, or O'Niner, sighed and took his helmet off as he approached Hevy and Cutup, watching the two keeping tabs on the sensors of the base. He told them, "I know you boys don't really like Basics intruding on our jobs, but take it with the thought of seeing some new faces after cycles stuck on this rock. Any extra pair of eyes is bound to help us keep this hellscape safe, meaning Kamino's safe."
Cutup looked to him, scratching his five o'clock shadow facial hair and asked, "Sir, wouldn't it be better ta just deploy a new platoon of Clones? We ain't exactly got the most space in the Galaxy on our little rock as is. If they'd let us build an expansion to the place, maybe, but as it is?" and he looked around as his brothers nodded in agreement. The Rishi moon had a decent barracks.
The Sergeant nodded, "They'll only be deploying a fireteam. Five, maybe six people at most. We have the space to house'em."
Sighing, Cutup said, "Alright. If you say so, Sarge," then leaned over to the com station and pulled up a local channel. He radioed, "Hey, Wide-Eye, you there?" over the com-link. Meanwhile, Hevy looked at the camera surveying the landing pad, a long strip of metal built just over the chasm the damn outpost was set up on. It was filled with random tarp-covered boxes and containers from old supply runs and the station-borne trash.
"Here and waiting," The Clone with macrobinoculars attached to his helmet replied calmly, "You guys picking up anything on sensors over there as a sign for when our new arrivals are set to drop by?"
Hevy was about to reply, but Echo's console echoed(heh) with the ring of a radar warning. The man straightened up and looked at it, then said, "Affirm. Friendlies en-route and transmitting identification codes as we speak. Looks like a single dropship. They appeared out of their FTL," before pulling up the data and sending it to Cutup's side of the terminal.
The man snorted and switched channels, calling out, "Dropship Oh-Niner-Niner Heavy, welcome to Rishi. Hope you folks came with some fresh food and good news, eh?"
A female voice replied, "Rishi Outpost, this is Dropship Oh-Ninety-Nine Heavy, copy that. Good news first is we wiped the floor with a Seppie ship. As for the Food, we've packed some extra MREs as greeting," With a certain degree of joviality. The boys looked to one-another, noting the pilot was a woman. They looked over to the wall beside the holo-transmitter displaying news segments and saw their pin-ups of Twi'leks and Humans alike.
Cutup and Hevy bumped fists with a grin, while the Sergeant sighed and replied over the radio, "Oh-Ninety-Nine Heavy, this is Sergeant O'Niner, CO of Rishi Outpost. You're clear for landing. Watch your drop, we have one of our boys on overwatch out there..." before he put on his helmet. He told them, "Keep your eyes on the job, Rookies. I'm gonna go say hello to the Basics..."
"Man, no fair," Another clone, Nub, murmured as he sat in the corner, playing with Sabacc cards by himself. He said, "Boss gets to go see the Basics and we're stuck in here. What if they're all hot chicks?"
"Doubtful," Echo shot back, "You wouldn't wanna stick a fireteam of girls out here, alone, with a bunch of guys. Plus, they're not Twi'leks. You know the rumors about their women," and he took a sip from a brew. He set the mug aside and continued looking over the sensors, then stated as the alarm blared, "Seems like we've got a meteor shower set for the next couple hours."
"Joy," Hevy called out as he looked over the cameras, "Means the pilot won't be able to take off for a bit," and he continued watching the cams, leaning his head on his hand as he did so. The man watched the Sergeant walk out onto the landing pad as the 'Basic' Aircraft swung in low, powering its four engines to slow its touchdown, kicking up the dust on the massive landing pad.
Outside, the Sergeant and Wide-Eye watched the squad of four infantry dismount. O'Niner, arms crossed, saw two women and two men grabbing their gear from the back of the armed dropship. Two blondes, one with purple eyes and one with blue, followed by two men with black hair, one with green eyes and a few scars, while the other bore a couple of prosthetics.
The four stopped in front of the Sergeant, who saluted them and said, "Welcome to Rishi... Not the nicest place for a family vacation. You must be Gunnery and Staff Sergeants Toma, as well as Corporals Nemeth and Zielinska. I'm Sergeant O'Niner and this is my deck officer, Wide-Eye," only to receive salutes and nods back from them. He told them, "I didn't think they'd put a husband and wife in the same unit."
"Little incentive to fight harder, sir," The male, Victor, spoke. He looked around and stated, "Christ, even Luna was less barren than this..."
"Listening posts ain't usually that beautiful, Sarge," Wide-Eye commented. He put his hand up to his helmet's side and nodded, then told O'Niner, "We've got a meteor shower coming in, sir. Scheduled to last a couple of hours," which caused the man to sigh. He was about to turn and say to them that maybe their pilot should lay low for the time being, but it seemed one of them was ahead of him.
The female Staff Sergeant, the blue-eyed Vesna, turned about and called to the pilot, "Keep the bird down, Clara! Meteor shower!" to which the Pilot let out a short tirade of swears and gave a thumbs up. She sighed, then turned to the Sergeant and asked, "Mind if we help unload some of the foodstuffs we brought with us?" as she jabbed a thumb back the way of the pilot.
The Sergeant shook his head and said, "Wide, let's move. Best get the stuff inside just in case," before he, Victor and Paul, the Nemeth man, took the lead. Helping the pilot lift and push some boxes out of the back, the group carried them over to the entrance bulkhead of the outpost. Above, the sky flashed with the lights of meteors passing through the thin atmosphere.
Entering the Outpost with all the food and supplies, the group got the Pilot and Co-Pilot of the Gunship in as well, to ensure their safety and all. Inside, the four soldiers fully introduced themselves. Vic started with a salute and said, "Gents. Gunnery Sergeant Victor Toma, at your workin' service. I'm guessing we'll be stuck together 'till the next rotation for us comes in like two months..."
Up next, Vesna slung her MA40 on her back and greeted with a salute and a soft smile, "Troopers. Staff Sergeant Vesna Toma. Hope we get to work well together..."
The Marines heard one of the men murmur a 'Damn' under his breath about Ves being married. They snorted.
Paul came next, giving a nod to the men as he leaned his sniper on his shoulder and stated, "Corporal Paul Nemeth. Don't worry, I shoot straight," then cracked a smirk. Beside him, the other three let out short laughs. He continued, "For real, though, yeah. I've got your backs if you got mine, same as everyone else here, so don't worry," and looked over to the last member.
The Polish woman came last, speaking, "Corporal Katja Zielinska. Call me Kat," as she smirked, hefting what looked to be A Battle Rifle of some kind. She had scars herself, though not as many as her Hungarian counterpart. She gave a gentle elbow in the gut to Paul and said, "Me and this dumbass are basically glued together, same as Ves and her Hubby, but I'm hoping we get to work together well, too. Fancy armors, by the way."
O'Niner nodded to his boys. It was their turn. Seeing that, Echo sighed, turned about on his chair and said, "Trooper Fourteen-oh-Niner, acting sensor operator. Call me Echo, ladies and gentlemen. I and the four other dummies you see here are from Domino squad, so I guess I'll go around introducing us. That on the optical sensors is Hevy. He's our heavy-duty gunner."
Hevy grinned and cracked his knuckles, saying, "Wouldn't mind trying an arm-wrestlin' match with Corporal Nemeth, considering the man's Augs. Kriff, could make for a fun test!" and he saw Paul grinning, too. Seemed like a challenge accepted to the heavy weapons specialist of the Dominoes, he thought to himself as he prepped. He let Echo continue, first.
Echo rolled his eyes, jabbed a thumb behind him at the man sat at a table playing Sabacc and said, "That playing Sabacc over there is Nub. Not part of the Dominoes, but he's stuck on this assignment with us," only to get a wave of the hand from the man. Echo went on to point at the guy next to Hevy and say, "That's Droidbait over there. He gets shot first."
"Kriff you, Echo," Droidbait smirked, while the others laughed.
"Heh," Echo chuckled, then pointed at the man sat beside him and said, "This is Fives. He's making sure the Station diagnostics are all in the green."
"Five-by-Five's the saying," The man joked, leaning against the console, "Don't worry. I do my job mostly well."
Echo then pointed at the next clone and said, "And that's Cutup. If it isn't Wide-Eye with his eyes peeled outside, it's usually him going around on the patrol. Some times, he gets joined by Nub when everyone else is off-duty. You already met Sarge and Wide-Eye, speaking of," and he stood to his feet, "That's pretty much it for us. Like you said, let's hope we work well together."
The Gunny and Staff Sergeant nodded, while the Corporals grinned. Vic said, "I'm sure we'll do just fine and dandy together, lads. Now, mind telling us where the Armory is? We need to dump some of our gear in there and this freaking SAW," and he lifted a light machinegun with a bipod and a box and belt that fed its large-caliber ammo, as well as a scope with a three-digit digital ammo counter mounted onto the gun's top rail.
"Heh. Here, I'll show ya, Sarge," Hevy jumped off his seat and told Droidbait, "Take my seat. I'll be back in two," before he patted the Sergeant on the chest. Vic and Ves exchanged looks, smiled, then nodded to each-other and Kat and Paul. Vic followed Hevy while the others got to talking and settled into their new positions. Hevy commented, "Know something about heavy weapons, I see, Sarge."
The man grinned, "I'm our Platoon's heavy weapon specialist. You put me and this baby in any decent fighting position and no enemy, tin can or otherwise, gets past me."
"Heh. I think you and I are gonna get along just fine, sir," Hevy smirked. Vic noted the tattoo on his right cheek, nodding in approval. The man approached a bulkhead door and hit the button on the side, stating, "Here's the place where the fun happens," as he walked into the room. Dozens of blaster rifles, carbines and a couple of rotary cannons sat off to the side, alongside a workbench for repair and maintenance, spare ammo cells and other tidbits, as well as a gonk droid.
Kneeling and hefting up a Z6, Hevy looked to the Sergeant as he set his guns down and activated the barrel rotation, stating, "This is my baby. Nobody's touching her but me," before he deactivated the rotation and set it down gently. Vic nodded in approval and the two men started walking out to haul the supplies from the hall, where the Pilot and Co-Pilot of the Condor they'd arrived in sat, arms crossed and chatting. Hevy asked, "So... Why did you Basics even join us?" a bit surprised.
"Here, or in general?" Vic asked as he picked up a large ammo box containing linked belts. "If it's the latter, the tin cans and their masters shot at us first. Former? Well, I, Ves, Kat and Paul wanted a little time away from the Infinity and heard the Republic wanted volunteers from our unit for an interoperability test here at the Rishi outpost. Said why not and volunteered."
"Damn, so enemy of my enemy, huh?" The gunner asked, hefting a box of grenades and bringing it toward the armory. Vic nodded, the two setting the items down to the side. Hevy stated, "Heard your ships did a number on their dreadnought. Don't wanna sound rude, but how, considering you folks are using kinetic batteries and even infantry weapons?"
"Simply put, every round and missile we fire has a lot of ass behind it," He quipped. Noting the confused look of the heavy gunner, he explained, "That means it's got a lot of momentum going in. Our missiles also pack a punch in the form of High-Ex warheads and nuclear charges in the tens to maybe hundreds of megatons. We don't go easy on our kinetics, so..."
"W-Wait a kriffing minute, you lot use nukes?!" Hevy... To his credit, it seemed the man grinned at the thought of utilizing megaton-strength warheads. Vic nodded, to which Hevy's grin grew wider. He said, "Oh, yeah, if I ever get off this rock, I'm tagging along with you lot for a job at some point. Kriff, might drag the rest of the boys over with me, if they feel like tagging along."
Vic snorted, then nodded. After transferring a few more boxes into the armory and locking it behind them, the Marine and Clone returned to the room where everyone else was. They saw Paul and Katja had already set up on the catwalk above, peering through the reinforced windows at the meteor shower falling all around them. Vic himself sat down next to his wife, whom he covertly hugged, causing her to giggle. Hevy had been the only one to notice this, but he said nothing as he sat down with a grin.
A familiar tune played over a radio brought over by the Marines, with Vic smirking as he murmured, "Strength and Muscle and Jungle Work..." only to be joined by his wife and the other two up top, "Strength and Muscle and Jungle Work! Strength and Muscle and Jungle Work! Strength and Muscle and Jungle Work!" and, during the last one, Hevy tagged in as well.
"Nice tunes," O'Niner quipped, crossing his arms and watching his boys go about their business. Maybe this wasn't gonna be so bad after all. He hummed the instrumental track as he went up onto the catwalk as well and watched the outside with the others. Still, something felt like it was wrong to the Sergeant. Like bad news was coming pretty soon. Hm.
Best to tell everyone...
Ossus
The Arbiter and his Commandos moved fast toward their designated objective, firing bursts of plasma fire back toward the advancing locals of Ossus. Travelling through the strangely nightmarish landscape of the bombarded planet, the Elites kept moving, dodging kinetic projectiles that hit with the force of railguns against their shields, damaging them. Jumping into a small ditch, a crack in the stone and soil that split the road ahead in twain, the Arbiter popped up and fired a burst from his rifle.
Their Phantom's pilot warned from above, "The humanoid aliens approach fast, Arbiter. Shall we support you?"
"I believe we may be able to handle the situation, Dokan. Keep the ship ready in case we require evacuation," Thel replied. He dipped back into cover, activating his weapon's cooling mechanism as Usze beside him fired his own plasma rifle. The rookie farther ahead of Usze fired a plasma repeater in short bursts, ducking as a round impacted his shields, causing them to flare.
Usze scoffed, glaring at the targets as they attempted to advance on them, then said, "This situation is becoming untenable, Arbiter. If our Motion Trackers are correct, there must be a Legion of these warriors..." only to duck as a shot struck right next to his head. He stood up and fired his plasma weaponry at the advancing enemy. Hearing a groan as the sign he'd hit his mark, he nodded and murmured, "Perhaps we can get lucky like that 200 more times..."
"Agreed," The Arbiter replied, then called, "Dokan, do you spot any structures or caves nearby where we may take shelter from the enemy?" before listening. A rustle in the bushes to the left of them echoed once, then twice. He drew his energy sword and powered it on the third, slashing sideways only to see two halves of a familiar species fall into the bottom of the trench.
A human. The Arbiter blinked, then spoke, "Humans..." only to feel the weight of a train throw him against the wall. Another human, clad in tribal clothes with the bones of dead animals acting as his armor, lifted a kinetic rifle and squeezed the trigger. There was no standard pop like that of a bullet being fired out of a UNSC rifle, nor was there any form of familiar whirr and snap like that of their railguns.
No. He felt a minor, yet pressing weight on his psyche as the bullet zipped right into the ground next to his head. They were utilizing the force to propel their projectiles. These were all Force-sensitive humans. He lifted his plasma rifle and fired a burst into the assailant that had fired at him first, watching his body turn to scarlet mist. That seemed to stagger the assaulting force just as Dokan called out, "Scans indicate a structure embedded within the walls farther behind your defensive position, Arbiter! It also seems to be the source of the Reliquary's activation!"
"Sweep in, low and fast! Everyone else, follow me... We move for the Structure!" The Sangheili war leader ordered. The Elites nodded their approval as the dropship swept low, firing its concussion cannons. Their jump-pack toting marksman fired as he took off from the trees. A needle shot pierced one of the humans clean through her skull armor and own skull, causing her to drop dead. Behind her, the needle detonated. Another of the Elites drew his own needler pistol and fired a burst. Five needles connected with another and exploded.
Behind them lay jagged wall of rock, resembling a pillar that arose from the ground during the planet's scouring. However, it, too, contained secrets buried within, it seemed. As the Elites rushed toward the area, firing their weapons to try and keep the feral human assailants pinned, the Arbiter caught sight of their target with the corner of his eye. An ornate building, seemingly made out of stone, poked out from amidst the unpolished rocks of the rock pillar. He dropped behind and marked it with a navigational point while covering his men.
Another pair of shots struck them, one of which managed to pierce shields and skim off of the Arbiter's armor, luckily only marginally damaging the ornate plates of the old armor that they'd so thoroughly upgraded to match the times. The Arbiter stowed his weapons on his magnetic locks and ordered, "Dokan, get to orbit and await the Shadow of Intent and Infinity's arrival! Guide them to land near us, for I fear we will lose contact within the structure ahead."
"Your will be done, Arbiter. As the humans say, good luck," The Pilot replied. The distant whine of the antigrav engines echoed all the way to them as the manta-like craft barreled into the upper atmosphere, then out of it. That left them with only one way to go, that being the structure itself, the Arbiter thought. He heard the cries of the humans at the rear. The Force-powered gunfire slowly drew down, going completely silent when the Elites had reached the door.
His motion tracker showed no enemy troops chasing them as they burst through the massive, ornate metal doors of the structure, with two of the Elites stopping by the door and pushing it closed. The Arbiter breathed a sigh, then looked back at the grand lobby awaiting them up ahead. Dust and cobwebs had settled onto the pillars and much of the structure seemed damaged, collapsed pillars of beautiful design laying on the floor. The walls to the left and right, almost completely concealed by darkness and stirred dust, were lined with ancient wooden book-shelves that, in turn, were filled with what seemed to be ancient knowledge in the form of tomes.
Usze hummed as he swept the place with his gaze. He activated his Energy Sword to provide a light source, then paused as he felt his hooves touch a different material than stone. Looking below, he spoke, "Arbiter. Gaze upon what lies below our very feet..." which took the Arbiter's attention toward him. The man lit the ground below with his sword, showing a familiar emblem encased in a white circle and embroidered upon a red carpet.
Two wings spread, surrounding a shimmering star. The symbol was weaved with reflective golden fleece that shined back the azure of Usze's blade at him and the Elites. He spoke, "... An emblem belonging to the Order of the Jedi. We have seen similar emblems on General Surik's old armor set. Perhaps..." and he'd wanted to suggest something, but he knew the Arbiter knew.
"This must be one of their ancient sites," The Arbiter supposed himself, "... It would certainly explain the presence of Force-sensitive humans on this world."
"Indeed," Usze nodded. He knelt and pressed his three long fingers against the fleece, murmuring, "Odd... Perhaps we can ask the General when she is to arrive."
"Yes... Until then, let us proceed deeper," The Arbiter replied. He pulled data up onto his personal Heads-Up Display and linked with the other Elites, marking the location that the Reliquary had pointed to. It was deeper within the confines of this place, an Ancient Jedi Library, from the looks. They all gazed up, to see the vaulted ceilings were almost invisible to the naked eye, their height causing them to be shrouded in darkness.
Still, they could make out an emblem on the back wall of the lobby. The same emblem as on the dusty carpet below. Usze looked back at the door and approached it, shining his blade's light onto it as well. Murals made of metal depicted great battles between lightsaber-wielding Jedi and their supposed, rumored dark counterpart, the Sith, all emblazoned in a chromed metal frame that held together the thick wood doors.
"Usze," The Arbiter called. His Elite compatriot turned, huffed in affirmation, then followed. The Arbiter powered his own Energy Sword to provide extra light as they walked. Entering deeper into the place while listening to their own footsteps reverberate in the great stone halls, Thel made the observation, "The Humans haven't followed us in..." with little to no surprise in his voice.
"Perhaps they see the place as Holy," The New Blood of their group suggested, holding close the Plasma Repeater. The Arbiter and the others agreed, nodding to the young man. Their hooves struck the stone floor below, steps audibly echoing many miles around them. Each door was a tall arch bearing the symbols of the Jedi, each wall was lined with bookshelves and each room showed signs of damage. Yet, one noticeable fact was that there were no corpses. No Skeletons. Perhaps, before they'd turned feral, the humanoids outside had buried their dead... Who knew but they who waited outside for the Sangheili?
Those that could be asked the history of this place had died centuries ago...