"We're at the target. Other strike groups are in position. Ready?"
"Ready." Sergeant Tak's answer came quickly. The rest of the troopers were seated, weapons in hand and ready.
"Then we're good to go. Start the attack."
From the closed confines of the APC, Kal couldn't see anything but its gray walls, but still feel its movement and hear the varying pitch of its repulsorlifts as it maneuvered along the road.
"We're at the crossing. Continue as planned, APCs across the bridge, carriers get into position."
A moment later, the vehicle jolted, accompanied by a muffled thud. Recognizing the impact for what it was, Kal wasn't surprised when the driver guffawed "Ah! That's one less tramp we won't have to bring back!"
The APC stopped with a final whine of the engines and the troopers filed out, establishing a perimeter around the vehicle. The settlement was as expected, a handful of ramshackle hovels and dusty sheds. A trio had been outside, fiddling with some piece of machinery: one had been run over by the APC, while the other two were in the process of being violently captured by one of the army fireteam, disembarked from the other APC.
"Kal, take your team and sweep the target building."
With a look to check that Deku and Five-Seven were following, Kal moved, reaching and easily smashing the flimsy door, rusted splinters flying in all directions, shouting "First Order! On the floor!"
The interior was of the same stripe as the exterior, a dilapidated room with scavenged furniture, presently empty of people, but hearing movement further in, Kal continued and happened into what would seemed to be a bedroom, where two bedraggled Devaronians were scrambling, one for a blaster, the other to exit the building through a window. In one fluid movement, Kal fired at the would-be escapee, the stun blast leaving him collapsed over the sill, before using his weapon to bash the other Devaronian, throwing her against the wall and causing to fire her weapon, the blast going wide and blowing apart a fresher unit, lukewarm water spreading all over the room. He kicked her a few times to make sure she wasn't moving before turning to the rest of the team.
"Five-Seven, finish the sweep of the building. See anyone, shoot them. Deku, cover me while I secure those two idiots."
While he used his cuffs on the two aliens, Kal was hearing over his commlink that an army fireteam has breached another of the building and got into a firefight with multiple armed hostiles, with blaster shots ringing throughout the settlement. But suddenly a burst of shots sounded much closer, prompting Kal to stand with a last tug on the cuffs to make sure they were secure. "These two can stay here, let's see what drek Five-Seven has managed to trip into. Again."
"Useless tramp couldn't find her arse with two hands and a map." Deku snorted, following Kal across the building, towards where the shots had come from, until they exited to the back of the building in a dusty and weed-strewn potager, where they saw Five-Seven, fallen on her back. Her armor was smoking from where it had stopped blaster fire, even if the impacts had still thrown her to the ground. She still had managed to fire at her attacker, a young Devaronian, also on the ground, unmoving.
Kal roughly helped her sit, admonishing " ' told you to shoot first and ask no questions."
"Just a… fraking kid." Answered Five-Seven, while struggling for breath "Didn't think he'd grab… fraking blaster."
"Kids are sneaky punks like that. Good for your ass that it was a crappy blaster, this close you'd be dead meat if it had any punch. You mobile?"
"Yeah. Just need a breather." She finally said, before standing on shaky legs.
Meanwhile Deku went to check the body, with a blaster shot ringing out an instant later in the potager. Better safe than sorry, stopping unnecessary suffering from deadly wounds or just didn't want to deal with a wounded prisoner? Kal didn't care, instead reporting on his commlink "Two captured, one dead. Five-Seven got hit, but is mobile."
"Good. Make sure the prisoners won't move." ordered the sergeant.