Chapter Text
12
That was the number of Rebel cells destroyed this week alone. Imperial forces near the border of the Unknown Regions worked hard to ensure the Rebellion didn’t spread here. It just so happened that the Crimson Dawn also showed their ugly faces there, creating a series of three-way battles with the Empire emerging victorious in the end. Despite destroying multiple Rebel warships, Generals Cham Syndulla and Hera Syndulla managed to evade capture, which soured their victories.
Task Force 99 SCAR Squadron was responsible for locating and destroying the large majority of those cells. They were among the Empire’s best, but after a string of failures attempting to catch the ones who destroyed the Death Star, they were booted from Lord Vader’s command. First, they were assigned to the 7th Fleet under Vice Admiral Corf Ferno, then transferred to the 11th Fleet under Vice Admiral Karyn Faro, and then the 11th Fleet was moved to Oversector Outer. They took orders from High Admiral Voss Parck, who had the 11th, 17th, and 23rd Fleets under his command, but they occasionally took missions for Grand Admiral Octavian Grant and Grand Moff Ardus Kaine as well.
Last week, they were sent to accompany Captain Dagon Niriz on the Admonitor and Captain Gilad Pellaeon on the Leveler to scout the edge of the Unknown Regions for unclear reasons. The rumor going around was that Kaine, Grant, Parck, and Faro were searching for the missing Grand Admiral Thrawn. Some believed he was dead, but the survivors of Lothal firmly believe that the Grand Admiral was still alive. Some of their missions were to record Purrgil movements in hopes that the Chimaera would be taken to possibly a Purrgil gathering. For now, the theory was that Thrawn and the Chimaera were taken to the Unknown Regions.
SCAR Squad conducted their boring missions to the letter, but they understood it was important. Eventually, Vice Admiral Faro found Rebels snooping around, and they were redeployed to destroy them. After destroying multiple bases, capital ships, and even assassinating a few Rebel Generals and Admirals, they felt the sector was finally going to be cleansed of the threat.
“All these missions are gonna give me early gray hair. I missed a few weeks of my favorite show because Rebels think coming here was a good idea.”
“Shut it, Zuke. Your show was boring anyway. Bunch of gossiping and fashion trends like that’s going to help us somehow.”
“You’d be surprised with what you can learn from Coruscanti gossip.” The giant of SCAR Squad responded.
The squad was walking down a hallway aboard the Assertor-class Super Star Destroyer Wrath, flagship of the High Admiral. Normally, they would be relaxing as there was an important meeting aboard the Wrath with many important officers. They typically had a security detail of Death Troopers and Nova Troopers, so SCAR Squad’s presence wasn’t necessary. However, they were called to meet with High Admiral Parck himself, which was unusual. He was supposed to be at the meeting with Grand Moff Kaine, Grand Admiral Grant, Fleet Admiral Krieg, Grand Moff Zsinj, and Grand Admiral Teshik.
With the Super Star Destroyers Whelm, Brawl, Reaper, and Wrath present alongside seventy-five Imperial Star Destroyers and Victory-class Star Destroyers, and the one hundred and fifty escort ships of various classes present, it was no secret that an offensive was being planned. Sergeant Kreel noted that a few Secutors, Allegiance-class Battlecruisers, and Interdictors were due to join the fleet soon.
“Coruscanti gossip say anything about what’s happening?” Cav asked Zuke.
“Lots of talk about how Syndulla’s Lothal Command Fleet was on the retreat and frustration about the absence of the Rebel Home Fleet and Bel Iblis’s Peregrine Command,” Zuke explained. “Public isn’t too happy that Grand Admiral Il-Raz and COMPNOR failed to prevent Rebel reinforcements from arriving at Keskin and forced Grand Admiral Tigellinus’ forces to withdraw.”
“Why was this guy a Grand Admiral again?” Aero asked. “He was given the SSD Guardian for that operation and still failed. One wonders why the Emperor would allow this guy to take command.”
“Careful, we don’t want ISB listening in,” Kreel warned. However, his worries were for naught when Mic spoke up.
“Not to worry, I was instructed by Admiral Parck to assist a guy named Agent Cross to locate and disable all ISB listening devices on the Wrath. You’d be surprised how many we found.” Their slicer assured. “Agent Cross celebrated the success by trying to woo Vice Admiral Faro, but she slapped him, so he ended up taking some chick from maintenance to bed with him.”
“Intelligence hotshot?” Shrap asked.
“The best,” Mic responded.
SCAR Squad finally came upon blast doors being guarded by a squad of stoic Death Troopers. Seeing the squad of unique special forces operatives approaching, their commanding officer pressed a button on the door panel and allowed them inside.
There, a trio of officers silently conversed around a holotable depicting a map of the galaxy. To the side was another table full of equipment being looked over by engineers. Admiral Parck looked up from the table, and SCAR Squad stood at full attention.
“Task Force 99 SCAR Squadron ready for tasking, sir. Where do you need us?” Sergeant Kreel announced.
“Ah, SCAR Squad, we were just talking about you.” Parck welcomed them. High Admiral Parck was a respected officer in the Imperial Navy, credited with discovering Thrawn and being the first fleet commander to launch a counter-attack on the Rebels during their Mid-Rim Offensive. He was rumored to be in line to become a Grand Admiral, but his relationship with Thrawn soured any chances. Those in the Imperial Court did their utmost to hinder anyone who was associated with the missing alien Grand Admiral.
Next to him was Vice Admiral Karyn Faro, one of Thrawn’s students who just missed the Battle of Lothal due to a promotion and a transfer. Due to her close relationship with Thrawn, there were a lot of rumors about her having an intimate relationship with the Grand Admiral. It was a topic she avoided at all costs, but she never did deny it.
Finally, the third officer was Captain Gilad Pellaeon, affectionately called “Grandfather” by the rest of the fleet. Fatherly and caring for the personnel under him, he was also sabotaged by members of the Imperial Court, and he was passed over for promotion multiple times. This was corrected once Pellaeon joined Parck’s fleet and was made Senior Captain. Currently, Pellaeon was being considered for another promotion to Commodore.
SCAR Squad typically didn’t like interacting with officers. It took being transferred away from Vader and placed under those scorned by the Imperial Court for them to find those worthy of their respect. Kreel wasn’t afraid to tell the rest of the squad that Coruscanti politics rotted the galaxy, but was thankful that the Emperor remained as a pillar, keeping the galaxy from falling into complete anarchy. Each member of SCAR Squad experienced the failure of the Republic and the Jedi Order. They trained excessively to counter Jedi and studied holoclips of Jedi in action after they failed to bring in Luke Skywalker.
Unfortunately, they never had a chance to test the fruits of their labor, as not a single Jedi was present in any of their following operations.
“High Command wants us to finish off Syndulla’s Lothal Command once and for all,” Parck informed them. He turned on a holoprojector, which showed a terrestrial planet with numerous Rebel warships and space stations in orbit. “This is Fedje. After our recent victories, Syndulla pulled all Rebel forces under his command here. We believe they are planning to withdraw, so we need to strike before they leave.”
“Probe droids failed, sir?” Kreel asked.
“We sent probe droids that only alerted us to Rebel presence before they were destroyed,” Faro spoke up. “What we need is someone to get in, identify each Rebel ship using scanners, and find a weakness in their defenses. We are trying to prevent the Syndullas from escaping. Intelligence has informed us that besides the Ghost, Hera Syndulla frequently uses the MC75 Temperance, the MC80 Cruiser Geist, and the Acclamator Lodestar. Identify them, and then send a signal for the fleet to jump in and target those three ships before they can escape.”
“Expect the presence of elite units,” Captain Pellaeon continued. “Anvil Squadron, Vanguard Squadron, and SpecForce. According to intelligence, there is a strong possibility of a Jedi being present. They were not sure if it was Ahsoka Tano or the traitor Reva Sevander, but they gave a 75% certainty that a Jedi is at Fedje, directing Rebel ground forces.”
Pellaeon then walked to the other table engineers had just finished organizing. “We’ve taken into account your records, including your defeat at Tureen VII. Normally, your squad should be disbanded, but your recent operations away from Lord Vader’s supervision have us believing otherwise. Thanks to Corporal Mic’s assistance, we’ve updated all of your equipment to be better prepared for the future.”
The squad walked up to the table and began inspecting the items labeled with their names. Zuke picked up a modified Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon that had a weak ray shield in the front. It featured a new cooling system to allow it to fire consistently for a longer period before needing to cool down. Next to it was a MiniMag PTL Missile launcher, modified to have multiple firing settings and a Smart Gravity-Activated Mode. Beside it was a cluster of ordinances, including proton torpedoes, HE-FRAG rockets, Incendiary Rockets, and Thermobaric Rockets.
Misty inspected his new sniper rifle, a brand-new 773 Firepuncher Sniper Rifle. He grew up admiring the exploits of the Clone Commando “Crosshair”, despite betraying the Empire. The Empire even made sure Misty studied holotapes of Crosshair extensively so he could replicate him. It wasn’t a secret to SCAR Squadron that the loss of Clone Force 99 was a sore spot for the Imperial Special Forces Community, so SCAR Squadron was created to fill the hole they left. Beside the rifle was a personal cloaking device that Misty quickly attached to his belt and began testing it.
Aero picked up a special helmet very similar to the famed Inferno Squad. It was colored white with a blue visor and a blue version of the Empire’s emblem on it. He also had a new belt filled with new tools and a modified E-11e Blast Cannon with an automatic firing mode.
Cav picked up a pair of knives that he twirled around and swiped at imaginary enemies to test their feel. An engineer explained that the knives were made of refined Cortosis, allowing the CQB expert to fight lightsaber-wielding opponents. The engineer also gave Cav a personal cloaking device to attach to his belt.
Shrap nodded in approval at his new weapon, a modified TL-50 Heavy Repeater with an underbarrel flamethrower. Also on the table was an MPL-57 grenade launcher with various munitions and other equipment.
Mic rubbed his hands in glee as he picked up his new equipment. He had to personally visit Naboo, but he managed to obtain a CR-2 Heavy Blaster Pistol. On the table for him were also new equipment for slicing as well as an ID10 Seeker Droid with blue photoreceptors.
“Deby, you’re ready?” Mic asked.
From the table, the droid floated up and twirled around to show its joy. The Engineers explained how Mic requested to have the droid be given more personality. Partially to boost morale, and partially because it was boring to have a droid with the original configuration. Mic boasted about being the best slicer in the galaxy, but he admitted that having an extra hand would help tremendously. There’s only so much a Human can do.
Kreel would never discard his lightsaber, but he did receive a new E-11D Blaster Carbine with a grenade launcher attachment. The E-11 was a fine blaster, but he needed something better to engage tougher enemies. It was modified with a scope, and the Engineers upgraded it to improve accuracy. Additionally, his SE-14r Light Repeating Blaster Pistol was modified with a noise suppressor.
“We hope you like your new equipment,” Pellaeon smirked. “Because they weren’t cheap. Fortunately for you, that won’t be the only thing your squad will receive.”
SCAR Squad stopped inspecting their weapons and looked at each other. Only Mic knew what Captain Pellaeon was talking about and had a bright smile underneath his helmet.
SSD Wrath Hanger Bay 2
“Feels light. Kinda snug.” Cav told his squad. They were outfitted with new armor made of lighter, but sturdier material for mobility. An enthusiastic Engineer called it the Mk. V Katarn-class Commando Armor, but officially, they didn’t have a name. While they would love to have Beskar, their new armor was made of Stygian-triprismatic polymer instead.
All of them now carried a personal energy shield, which they wore on their belts. Mic was now able to use a portable radar with a range of 500 meters, which could be expanded to 1000 meters if Deby was floating high enough. He could also see anything Deby sees, jam enemy communications within 300 meters, and disable all electronics within 100 meters.
Misty’s visor could switch to thermal and had a built-in blasterfire locator. That meant the new sensor built into his helmet could detect where blasterfire was coming from and the distance.
Kreel’s helmet had an advanced HUD that had different modes. One of them allowed the Sergeant to view the heartbeats of his squad, while another lets him mark a location his squad could see. It was meant to let the Sergeant direct where he wants his squad to go or mark the positions of enemies without voicing it. Originally, the last mode was meant for Misty, but his helmet already had too many components, and any more would make it too bulky. Attached to the top of his helmet were electrobinoculars sent directly from the same manufacturer that built equipment specifically for Death Troopers and the Emperor’s Royal Guards.
“I just never thought we’d finally get better hardware,” Shrap commented. He then looked at Mic. “So was that all they wanted us to see?”
Mic instead turned to Aero.
“Brother, you’re gonna love this one.”
The squad’s slicer jogged ahead and stopped himself before one of the hangar’s elevator shafts. A technician nearby turned on the elevator for the squad. Besides Mic, their jaws dropped when they saw what was brought up to their level.
Before them stood a modified VT-49 Decimator with some mechanics making sure everything was in place. What they noticed that was different was that the glass windows of the Captain’s Office at the bow were replaced with durasteel, along with the addition of four L-s9.3 laser cannons.
“You SCAR Squad?” A short mechanic said, approaching them.
“This is our ride?” Aero asked in disbelief, still staring at the ship.
“One and only. That’s the Red Hare. She’s been in more combat than most Star Destroyers against both Rebels and pirates. Some Hutt really wanted this ship, so some mercenaries were hired to kill the crew and steal her. Got shot down by the boys at the 181st, and the thieves were killed, but the Captain’s Office was completely gone. Mic here, suggested we give Red Hare a little more firepower.” The mechanic turned and pointed at the ship. “Same laser cannons you’ll see on TIEs. While two of you can control the quad laser cannons, the pilot can continue on and shoot whatever’s in front of him. We took the liberty of replacing the Situation Room behind the Captain’s Office with some new hardware to allow you boys to conduct electronic warfare if you wish. Jam coms, listen to enemy coms, briefly short-circuit an X-Wing nearby, whatever you want.
Since it’s just your squad, we also simplified the command bridge. Really, you just need a pilot and a co-pilot there to handle everything, one person at a minimum, and it’s whoever’s holding the yoke. There’s a lot of empty bunk space so your squad can decide what to do, weapons, speeders, and probe droids are already on board, about a month’s worth of consumables, tools for maintaining your weapons, armors, and generally anything.”
“All just for this mission?” Kreel asked.
“That’s the thing,” the mechanic shrugged. “We were told to stock everything up because you’ll be getting a new mission right after this one is completed. You won’t be back on the Wrath. Admiral Parck will contact your squad later.”
“Fine.” He looked at Aero, who immediately darted for the VT-49. They were all excited for this mission. Disregarded by Lord Vader, they were ready to redeem themselves before the Empire they dedicated themselves to.
Fedje, Outer Rim Territories
With widespread forests and a singular, massive ocean, Fedje was a beautiful planet that was once used as a retreat for some members of the Imperial High Command. Compared to some planets that had their native wildlife burned away by the needs of people, it was paradise. Under the Empire’s control, it only maintained a small defense fleet.
Now, its orbit was filled with Rebel warships, the planet becoming the center of their withdrawal from their failed offensive. Fedje had never seen so many warships in its orbit, and it worried the population of reprisals if it became known that they actively helped the Rebels. Around thirty Mon Calamari capital ships hung in orbit with another seventy escort vessels, along with almost one hundred transports. Generals Cham and Hera Syndulla convinced Mon Mothma to gamble on attacking Grand Moff Ardus Kaine’s forces while Imperial forces were busy with Crimson Dawn, but it appeared the Imperials had anticipated this. Fleets led by Grand Moff Zsinj, Fleet Admiral Krieg, Grand Admiral Octavian Grant, and Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik rushed to Kaine’s aid and routed Rebel forces from his territory.
It was a glorious victory for the Empire, but one that wasn’t complete without the heads of the Syndullas. The Rebels knew this and gathered at Fedje to retreat and regroup with Admiral Ackbar’s fleet. Many Rebel transports had already left with the wounded, but the majority of Lothal Command still lingered, the blade of the Imperial Navy inching closer and closer to their throats.
While evacuation was underway, an A-class Bulk Freighter exited hyperspace. Immediately, an X-Wing squadron intercepted the freighter and made contact.
“Bulk Freighter, identify yourself, or we will open fire.”
“This is the Breha, hold your fire! We’re inputting the codes now.”
There was a moment of silence as the freighter’s codes were being run through by the nearest Mon Calamari MC80.
“Welcome back Breha. You were due to arrive two days ago. What happened?”
“You’re Vanguard Squadron, right? We got ambushed by some TIEs with red stripes, likely 181st. Our escorts and another transport got destroyed, so we had to take a detour so we wouldn’t let them track us to here.”
“Roger that Breha. Head on down to Fedje Base. There are supplies and personnel ready to be loaded and evacuated.”
“Breha copies all. Keep the space clear for us.”
The X-Wings continued to escort the unassuming freighter through the Rebel fleet, unaware of what was inside.
“Damn, Intelligence actually hit the mark this time,” Aero said, piloting their ship. Inside the A-Class Bulk Freighter was the Red Hare, cables connecting the VT-49 with the modified freighter so Aero could fly from their actual ship’s bridge. The Breha was a real Rebel freighter that was ambushed. The only thing different from the story was that she was captured, so intelligence took a modified freighter and made it appear as the real Breha.
“That’s what happens when you fail so much that the Emperor is breathing down your neck. They start working their ass off.” Kreel said, patting Aero’s shoulder from behind. He then turned to Mic, who sat in the co-pilot’s seat. “How are the new scanners doing?”
“I’m identifying each Rebel ship in orbit. That’s a whole lot of them, so gimme a sec,” The slicer told his Sergeant. “Alright, I’ve got visual confirmation on the Lodestar, Temperance, and Geist. Marking them as priority targets. Should we call it in?”
Kreel looked at his wrist datapad and shook his head.
“We break cover, we get swarmed immediately. Just get to the base they have on the planet, and we’ll break cover there. There are concerns that the Rebels could have a nasty surprise for our fleet hidden.”
Right before they entered the atmosphere, the X-Wings broke off, leaving them alone to get to base. They were silent the whole flight as they descended through the clouds. Once past the cloud cover, their scanners showed a massive military base bustling with activity. Rebel starfighters were being prepped, transports were being loaded, and there was an area full of wounded on stretchers, waiting to be evacuated.
The base was originally a small Republic outpost, manned by Clones to look out for Separatists. When some high-ranking Imperials chose the planet as a vacation home, the base was expanded to house a full Army Brigade. Yet, when they looked at what the Rebels had done, it looked like it was way above capacity, evident by the many tents outside of the base.
What was most worrying was the single HVs-2 Hypervelocity Gun. It was designed to destroy capital ships and was usually placed on important worlds.
“There’s no way the Rebels built that, right?” Mic asked to no one in particular, staring at a hologram of the weapon.
“Seems like the spooks failed to tell us that,” Aero replied. He looked back at Kreel. “Sarge, we can’t let the Rebels use that gun. It’s going to take out Star Destroyers unless we do something about it.”
Kreel nodded.
“Agreed. Aero, you’ll stay in the air and cause as much destruction to the Rebels as possible. The rest of the team will be inserted,” He then pointed at a large building in the middle of the base. “Here. That’s the command centre where any important Rebels will be, along with the controls to that gun.”
“There are also four Bp.5 turrets in the base, but scans say they’re powered down. Marking them with the HVs-2 as primary targets for you.” Mic informed.
“I copy.” Aero waved them off. “Get to the ramp and raise some hell. I’ll give these Rebels a thrashing.”
Down below, a Rebel mechanic held up two glowsticks to guide the transport to an empty spot. Then, the unthinkable happened. The A-Class Bulk Freighter exploded outwards, its large pieces falling on parked U-Wings. What remained in the smoke made every Rebel soldier pale.
A VT-49 Decimator. Feared among pilots who could ambush Rebels just as they have done to Imperial convoys. Rebels have described them as “the Millennium Falcon’s evil cousins”. It hovered menacingly, and then the ramp opened. There stood specialized Stormtroopers, their glowing blue visors staring down at them with contempt.
“S-SCAR Squad?” A Rebel trooper said. For the Rebels, Task Force 99 SCAR Squadron had disappeared until they attacked Oversector Outer. Their exploits were well-known, and good Rebels fell to their wrath. Now here they stood, ready to pass judgment on them once again.
“RUN!” One Rebel engineer yelled. SCAR Squad jumped down, using their jumpacks to cushion their landing. Many Rebels ran for the HQ building, but only SpecForce held fast. They quickly grabbed their blasters and poured fire towards the Imperials, who ran for cover. All that training and experience was for naught, as the Red Hare turned its attention on the Rebels. With Aero at the controls, he fired a barrage on the defending Rebels, vaporizing or blowing them apart. Quickly, Aero turned on jammers to prevent the Rebel ground forces from calling for help. He then set his attention to the lines of X-Wings, A-Wings, Y-Wings, U-Wings, and B-Wings, where pilots were scrambling to get into the air. Aero never gave them a chance, raking the starfighters with his laser cannons and depriving the Rebellion of many of their precious pilots.
Further away, a CR90 Corvette took off, but the Red Hare had the warship locked on. Two Concussion Missiles blazed away from the VT-49 and slammed into the port side of the unfortunate warship. Fires erupting from the penetrating hits, it lost power, and its engines sputtered. The CR90 dipped down from the air and crashed into a pair of fully loaded GR75 Medium Transports. There was a titanic explosion enveloping the three ships, indicating that at least one of the ships was carrying volatile cargo.
“This is SCAR 7, entrance is clear. I’ll keep them busy up here.”
The rest of SCAR posted up by blast doors as a unit while Aero flew off to create more mayhem.
“Roger that. Call in Admiral Parck,” Kreel radioed back. He then motioned for Mic to open the door. Their slicer then directed their droid, Deby, to hack into the control panel. It only took a moment for the blast doors to slide open. The Sergeant took one peek and pulled back as a hail of blaster fire tried to take off his head.
He hand-signalled Cav at the other side, who prepped a flash grenade while Shrap behind him got his underbarrel flamethrower ready. Their CQB expert tossed the flash grenade inside. There were shouts before they heard a loud bang. Shrap broke cover and entered the entrance, filling it with fire. Rebel troopers screamed and writhed in pain.
As SCAR Squad went by, some of those burning reached out for mercy, but none came. SCAR Squad left them to finish their objectives. Today, there won’t be any mercy.
With Aero
In the sky, Aero continued his rampage on the Rebels. He had just finished the last air defense turret when he scanned the base. Many buildings were burning and in ruins. Rebel starfighters lined up perfectly for him would never fly again. Another two CR90s fell victim to his Concussion Missiles trying to take off. All the Rebels at the ground could do was fire blasters, light cannons, and rocket launchers at him in vain. The sky was his and his only. Unless the Rebel fleet got suspicious, the Rebels here could not evacuate. SCAR Squad’s pilot was about to conduct a strafing run on Rebel troops in the open when the scanners detected five new bogeys.
“What in the blazes?”
Using the shining star the system orbits as cover, a YT-2400 Light Freighter and four grey colored X-Wings dived down on the VT-49. Aero veered off from his attack to avoid them. Surviving Rebels on the ground cheered at the sight of reinforcements.
Aero glanced at the scanners that quickly identified his pursuers. He smirked at their identity.
“Ah, Iron Squadron. Always had to be their heroes.”
His shields held on to around 90%, taking a few hits thanks to his maneuvering. Aero turned on the comms jammers, and it seemed to immediately have an effect on his pursuers. Without communication, he saw that two X-Wings nearly collided trying to bring him down. An idea formed in his head, and he flew nearly straight up through the black smoke from all the fires to gain altitude.
Iron Squadron, thinking he was trying to escape into space, followed suit. The X-Wings were closer to the Red Hare with the Sato’s Hammer lagging behind. He felt the VT-49 shudder as it took several hits, but the shields continued to hold. Higher into the sky he went, until he broke through the smoke with the low-hanging clouds before him.
Red Hare turned and began to dive towards the ground. SCAR Squad’s pilot checked his scanner to see the X-Wings still chasing him, with the Sato’s Hammer way behind. Meanwhile, Aero kept an eye on the altitude indicator. They entered the thick, black smoke above the base, and that’s when Aero decided to use one of the VT-49’s newest features.
Flipping a switch, there was a loud beep, and Aero pulled up at 200 meters. The trailing X-Wings weren’t as lucky. Red Hare’s device short-circuited their starfighters. Their astromechs quickly worked to fix their systems, but by then, it was already too late. Three X-Wings slammed into the ground while the fourth pulled up just in time, but was too low and crashed into a building.
Aero slammed a hand on the monitor in joy.
“YEEEAAAHH! Score one for the eggheads.”
His celebration was cut short when he noticed that the Sato’s Hammer managed to recover and was trailing him from a longer distance.
“Kids just don’t know how to give up!” He angrily muttered.
With the Mic, Cav, and Misty
Back inside the HQ, the squad split up into two teams to hit the Rebel Command Center from both entrances. Kreel, Zuke, and Shrap hunkered behind a corner where a Rebel E-Web was suppressing them. Cav, Misty, and Mic went the other way around. Unfortunately for them, a squad of SpecForce Marines trying to flank them was in their way.
“You’d think a Jedi would show up by now!” Mic said, firing his CR-2 down the hall. He heard a cry of pain where a SpecForce Marine fell backwards after absorbing all of his shots. Other Rebels took the opportunity to rush their position, forcing Mic to back off and into his squadmates.
Misty was already prepared, and his rifle nailed the first Marine right between the eyes as they rounded the corner. One SpecForce used the body as cover and fired at the Stormtroopers, a shot glancing off Misty’s shoulder. The impact knocked the sniper to the floor, while Cav and Mic stepped up to meet the Rebels.
Mic let loose from his blaster, killing the Rebel who shot Misty. Cav rushed past him and tackled a Rebel. With his right arm having a chokehold on the Rebel’s neck, the CQB Expert rolled to use the Rebel’s body as cover while he fires his blaster pistol at two more SpecForce Marines in the hallway. Two shots hit one on the torso, and a third hit the other Rebel right in their visor. Before their bodies could hit the ground, the final member of the Rebel squad peeked from a corner down the hall and aimed their A280.
Out of nowhere, Misty dived into the hall with his rifle aimed. The Rebel SpecForce Marine never had a chance against the Imperial Sniper who domed him while still in the air. Mic peered around the corner with his blaster aimed, but saw all the Rebels were already dead. He looked at the heavily breathing Misty and Cav, the latter used his pistol to execute the Rebel he still had a chokehold on.
All of this occurred in less than fifteen seconds. Fast and quick, like most close-quarters combat.
“You two alright?” Mic asked.
Misty glanced at his shoulder while still aiming down the hall, and rolled his shoulder. There was a scorch mark on his armor’s shoulder, but it did not penetrate.
“I’m solid. Got lucky there. No pen.”
Cav grunted as he got up. He took one look at the dead Rebel and motioned his squadmates forward.
“Let's move. Sarge wouldn’t be happy if we took too long.”
With Kreel, Zuke, and Shrap
The Rebels hiding in the command center were quiet. Their E-Web poured down fire to suppress the Imperials near the entrance. A squad of SpecForce Marines was sent to flank them, but they have gone dark. With comms down, they could only pray that someone would come to the rescue.
Then their E-Web stopped firing. It was red hot from overheating. Their hearts skipped a beat when a flash grenade bounced into the room. Nearly everyone in the room was discombobulated while the aliens with superior hearing screamed due to the very loud bang.
Still reeling from the flashbang, the E-Web gunner never got a chance to defend himself when a giant wearing Stormtrooper armor barreled through him and the E-Web. With his Z-6, Zuke bathed the room with a storm, putting down many Rebels who couldn’t seek cover in time.
From behind the giant, Shrap and Kreel pushed forward. Shrap used his underbarrel flamethrower to horrifying effect. Multiple Rebel troopers and officers were subject to the intense heat, their screams filling the room. Kreel charged with his blaster pistol and lightsaber. He saw an old Rebel officer stand up to shoot the Sergeant, but the Stormtrooper was faster. One shot from his blaster hit the officer right in the chest, and he began hacking nearby Rebels with his lightsaber. Heads falling, limbs flying, bodies dropping. A weapon commonly associated with the legendary Jedi brought destruction to those fighting to restore the Republic.
Zuke and Shrap were busy clearing the room. There were computers everywhere, with a large holoprojector in the middle of the room projecting the planet itself. It showed the locations of the Rebel fleet, but every now and then, it became distorted due to the jammer on the Red Hare.
Kreel noticed that the officer he had shot was still moving, but clearly in pain. The Sergeant holstered his pistol and moved to finish him off. Lightsaber held up, Kreel prepared to bring it down on the old man. He heard footsteps and turned to block a blue lightsaber aimed at his neck. When Kreel realized who the Jedi was, his eyes narrowed, and he gripped his lightsaber even tighter.
“Reva Sevander.”
The two disengaged and kept their distance. Kreel had only seen images of Reva in her Inquisitor’s outfit and their red lightsabers, but now she was wearing the uniform of a Rebel officer and had acquired a new lightsaber somewhere.
“You should not have come here, Stormtrooper.” She told him.
“And you shouldn’t have tried to kill Lord Vader. Returned to being a Jedi I suppose?”
“I’m no Jedi.” Reva had her lightsaber ready to strike down the Stormtrooper.
“Oh really?” Kreel then charged first with an overhead strike. Reva blocked it, but was surprised by his strength, with the force of Kreel’s strike nearly pushing her own lightsaber to her head. He could see more Rebel troopers burst into the room, keeping Zuke and Shrap busy. Looks like he was alone for now. “Then why are you here?”
With a yell, Reva Force Pushed the Stormtrooper. He flew into a computer, his back slamming into the machinery with a grunt. Regaining his senses, the Sergeant rolled away just as Reva sliced through the computer. Standing back up, the two engaged, parrying each other without giving much ground. An ex-Jedi/ex-Inquisitor battling a battle-hardened Imperial operative.
“I just wanted to live.” She snarled.
“Your life was forfeited when you betrayed us!” Kreel shot back before he charged her.
In the sky
Up in the sky, the Red Hare and Sato’s Hammer engaged in a dance over who would decide the fates of everyone below. Mart Mattin was a good pilot who was praised by Hera Syndulla as the Republic’s future.
But Aero was ex-181st. He had flown V-Wings, TIE Fighers, TIE Strikers, and TIE Reapers. Aero had shot down enemy starfighters of all types, and at one point, his TIE had forty kill markings. Then he was thrown into the Stormtrooper Corps after failing to protect a transport carrying an important banker with connections to the Emperor himself. Those five extra kill marks ended up being worthless because he chose to be a gloryhound over his own objectives. From that day, he swore to leave his selfishness behind and become a team player. As a Stormtrooper, he still excelled. Aero returned to glory once again when he killed a Rebel Colonel at Kalaan, which prevented an entire Imperial platoon from being surrounded, and then commandeered an immobilized A9 Juggernaut and destroyed two harassing X-Wings, a U-Wing, five AT-RTs, and three A-A5 Speeder Trucks carrying squads of SpecForce. They had apparently assumed that the Imperials would have been overrun by now, until they discovered that the A9 Juggernaut was beaten up, but could still fire.
He had received medals that day, awarded by Grand Moff Zsinj himself. While he wasn’t offered a return as a TIE pilot, he was invited to join a new special forces unit. It ended up being the best decision of his life, because he got to become a pilot and a kickass elite operative.
The Sato’s Hammer was completely outmatched, and the Red Hare’s shields hovered around 80%.
There was a beeping noise, and he looked at one of the computers, showing blue blips starting to appear over the planet. The cockpit holoprojector started beeping before he turned it on, projecting a small hologram of Vice Admiral Faro.
“SCAR 7, report.”
“SCAR Team has been inserted and is working on capturing their command centre. Enemy has a Hypervelocity Gun on site. Gun seems idle at this time, but we’ll find out its status momentarily. As for me, I’m having a little fun with someone in the bingo book.”
“Finish this as soon as possible, SCAR 7. Alert SCAR 1 to try to use the cannon on the Rebel ships if possible. If not, extract all information as much as possible and return to orbit. Grand Moff Zsinj and Grand Moff Kaine had their fleets delayed due to General Paltr Carvin and Grand Vizier Sate Pestage discussing the need for deploying so many assets for this operation.”
“They allowed it?” Aero asked. Many in the military loathed the members of the Imperial Ruling Council.
“Naturally, both Kaine and Zsinj got tired of waiting and are currently en route. Still, the delay was significant, and they have all of the Interdictors. The combined fleets of myself, Admiral Parck, Fleet Admiral Krieg, and Grand Admirals Teshik and Grant have already started engaging. Thanks to your info, we were able to identify the Rebel flagships and are in the process of disabling them. Finish off down there, and get up here to help finish the fight. Faro out.”
The hologram deactivated. Aero spotted multiple cargo containers with tibanna gas canisters lying around haphazardly. Right away, the targeting computer locked on it, and the Red Hare fired a pair of concussion missiles. Simultaneously, Aero turned on the jammer to hinder the Sato’s Hammer. The Concussion Missiles hit the tibanna gas canisters directly, along with other explosive materials in the containers. There was a massive fiery explosion that caused a few surrounding buildings to collapse from the shockwave. Red Hare flew into the smoke, disappearing from the Sato’s Hammer’s sensors.
Mart Mattin’s hands moved at lightning speed to regain control in the cockpit. He and his friends threw everything at that VT-49, but the Imperial pilot was skilled enough to evade their attacks. At the request of General Syndulla, he temporarily left his post at Home One to reunite with his old friends in the Iron Squadron, which had expanded to include four X-Wings. Their offensive against Grand Moff Ardus Kaine’s forces started off well, but then Grand Moff Zsinj deployed his own forces to assist, and even more Imperial reinforcements arrived. The Imperial Counter-Offensive undid everything they gained. Commander Omega convinced both General Syndullas to evacuate from Oversector Outer and back into friendly space before they get pinned by multiple Imperial fleets.
Their evacuation was going smoothly without hassle. Most of their wounded personnel and damaged warships left first. Then one of their freighters had arrived that was long overdue. Commander Omega had a bad feeling about the freighter and ordered it to be boarded for inspection, but General Cham Syndulla overruled her orders and deemed it a waste of time when time was of the essence. Thus, they let the freighter continue to Fedje Base. Omega at least convinced Syndulla to increase patrols, so Iron Squadron was sent out. When Fedje Base went completely dark, they were deployed to find out the issue.
What they found horrified Iron Squadron. Fedje Base was on fire, and the one responsible was an Imperial VT-49 that snuck through their defenses. Mattin didn’t have time to think about how they got in. They entered the fray with the fury of a thousand suns, but the VT-49 came prepared. Their comms became jammed, and then the VT-49 short-circuited their systems, causing the X-Wings to crash. He heard Terez scream in anger somewhere on the ship after seeing their friends die.
Then he started to chase the VT-49 all over the base’s vicinity. The Imperial pilot was clearly skilled, evading all of their attacks, including their Concussion Missiles. He wondered if the pilot was a member of the feared 181st, and it infuriated him that the pilot was toying with them. He kept taking a few shots and then let him shoot at him in return. The Sato’s Hammer’s shields hovered at 30%, and he was certain that VT-49’s shield strength was at least doubled theirs.
Mattin saw the VT-49 fire its Concussion Missiles at a ground target, where there was a huge explosion, too big for Concussion Missiles that were typically carried. At the same time, the VT-49 short-circuited their systems, forcing him to quickly get everything back online as the Sato’s Hammer flew slowly and straight.
“Where is he? Where is he?” They flew through all the smoke, but the VT-49 had disappeared. Then everything came back online, and the sensors said the bogey was diving on them.
“Oh…”
A hail of lasers completely depleted their shields, followed by another salvo. One struck the Sato’s Hammer directly in the cockpit. Fires belched from the cockpit while the freighter flew with its pilot vaporized. Aero locked on the Sato’s Hammer and fired a pair of Concussion Missiles. Without shields, the Rebel ship stood no chance. The missiles struck the Sato’s Hammer, blowing it up into pieces. The debris fell into the forests, ending the legend of the Sato’s Hammer. One was always going to remain standing, and today it was the Red Hare.
“WOOOOO! I’m gonna be rich!” Aero cheered, referring to the bounty placed on the Sato’s Hammer. He’ll have to report it later to Admiral Parck and send the footage from the VT-49’s gun camera.
Inside the Command Centre
Reva and Kreel were locked in a duel where neither gave the other ground. Kreel continued to lock sabers, and whenever an opportunity arose, he would punch or kick the former Inquisitor. Her face was bloodied, but she remained steadfast. Parts of his body ached from the fight, but he soldiered on. He knew it needed to end soon.
Meanwhile, Reva was frustrated that this Stormtrooper was expertly keeping up with her. Given that she was out of practice, struggling against a Stormtrooper was embarrassing. She remembered reports of Luke Skywalker dueling with a lightsaber-wielding Stormtrooper. Perhaps this is the one? Why would the Empire give a Stormtrooper a lightsaber?
These questions caused her to lose focus when Kreel swung wide. Reva was able to parry it in time, but the blow sent her stumbling back, sparks flying from where their sabers met. Suddenly, she felt new presences and turned to block an incoming strike. Her eyes widened when her lightsaber connected with a cortosis knife, creating a lot of sparks before her lightsaber deactivated on its own. Another Stormtrooper had tried to attack her. He moved to stab her in the stomach with another knife when she grabbed his wrist before it connected.
In response, the Stormtrooper punched her on the face so hard that her whole body turned around and stumbled. Her vision was disoriented, but then, hot, searing pain was felt in her abdomen. Immediately, her vision cleared. She looked down where a green lightsaber was stabbed through her body. When she looked up, it was the lightsaber-wielding Stormtrooper she dueled with, staring her down.
“Thus die all traitors,” Kreel said triumphally.
He pulled out his blaster pistol and provided the coup de grâce by shooting her in the forehead. The Sergeant deactivated his lightsaber, watching as Reva fell backwards onto the floor.
Kreel breathed heavily, his eyes never leaving Reva’s body. They finally killed their first Jedi. The rest of SCAR Squad cleared the room, and that’s when he noticed Mic kneeling over the body of the officer he had shot.
“Blast, that was a General,” Mic said. Their slicer reached for the old man’s face and then closed his eyes. “Admiral Parck is going to ask if we captured any HVTs.”
Then, their comms opened up.
“SCAR 1, this is SCAR 7, do you read me?”
“I read you SCAR 7,” Kreel responded to Aero.
“Fleet has arrived and is engaging the enemy. Kaine’s and Zsinj’s fleets have been delayed, so Faro wants us to use the hypervelocity cannon to take down the Rebel flagships. I’ve deactivated the jammer right now.”
At the central holotable, the hologram of the world fizzled out and then returned. This time, there were red markings showing the positions of Imperial warships. All of the Rebel warships were labeled with their names, most notably, Geist and Lodestar.
“Mic! Misty!” Kreel yelled.
“On it!”
The duo went to work immediately at the computers, with Mic’s droid, Deby, helping out. Both worked in tandem to get the gun online and moving. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad gathered around the holotable to understand the situation. Rebel warships were disappearing from the holotable one by one under the firepower of the combined Imperial fleet. Yet, the missing presence of Kaine’s and Zsinj’s fleets was noticeable.
“Sarge, if Kaine and Zsinj don’t arrive now to cut off their escape, this victory would be incomplete,” Zuke noted.
“Hold up, I’m tapping into their coms,” Mic said.
There was a few moments before they could hear Rebel comms chatter.
“Father! We just can’t leave everyone behind!”
“Better to retreat and fight another day. I’m calling for a general withdrawal. Everyone will retreat, and that includes you. Do you understand, Hera?”
“Understood, Lodestar will be right behind you.”
“You hear that, Mic?” Kreel asked their slicer.
“I heard you. Misty, aim for Lodestar and give them what for. Yeah?”
They could see Rebel warships pulling away from the fight and heading their way to the hyperspace jump point.
“We’ve received word that Imperial ground forces have taken the base command centre. Alert to all units, the hypervelocity gun is hostile.” A Rebel officer could be heard warning the others.
“Any time now, Misty,” Cav said.
“I’ve almost got her lined up. Mic, is it loaded?”
“Ready!”
“On one!”
The ground shook as the Hypervelocity Cannon fired its deadly payload at the Lodestar.
“Hypervelocity Gun has opened fire! Target is the Lodestar!”
“This is Onaconda Farr, preparing for sacrifice.”
“No no no no!” Misty yelled, his eyes on the targeting computer.
At the holotable, a single Dauntless-class Heavy Cruiser broke away from the Rebel ships to pull up alongside the Lodestar. They could see a single dot moving at ultra-high speeds coming from the planet. The end of the Farr was anticlimactic from their standpoint. Their round hit the Heavy Cruiser directly before it disappeared from the hologram.
Right after the destruction of the Farr, four capital ships with some escorts and squadrons jumped into hyperspace. However, right after they jumped, two fleets of Imperial warships exited hyperspace with two Super Star Destroyers and a multitude of Interdictors blocking the Rebel retreat. Instantly, Rebel warships scattered in panic as they got pinned by Imperial forces. Kreel shook his head.
“Who escaped?” He asked.
“Looks like Lodestar, Geist, Temperance, and Silver Coronet, along with some escorts. Rest of the Rebels are finished.” Shrap informed him.
“So our primary targets got away.”
“The media at Coruscant are gonna love this one anyway,” Cav said. “We should leave now before the surviving Rebels at the base converge here.”
At the battle’s conclusion
SCAR Squad evacuated in time before the surviving Rebels retook the command centre. By then, it was already too late. The Rebel command was dead, and all information had been extracted from their computers. Red Hare flew up into space and was far from any retaliation.
What they met was a massacre. The wreckage of Rebel warships and space stations floated aimlessly. They could see shuttles flying around with squads of Zero-G Assault Stormtroopers supporting engineers and medics to extract Rebels trapped in wrecked ships or starfighters. Most Imperial commanders would’ve left the Rebels to their fate, but SCAR Squad learned there were commanders like Parck and Krieg who valued taking Rebels alive for information. Another group of troop transports bypassed the wreckage and flew towards the planet.
The Imperial Fleet didn’t go out unscathed, however. Multiple escort ships no bigger than a Gladiator floated aimlessly, with ISDs pulling up beside them to rescue survivors. They also counted five ISDs destroyed, with one completely blown up in half and another missing its bridge tower. Near their flight path, there was a burning Immobilizer 418 with pieces missing and scorch marks dotting its hull. Fires on board shone brightly, as a few shuttles cautiously flew up to her to evacuate her crew.
“Dang, sucks that the Syndullas got away,” Aero commented while navigating the Red Hare through the wrecks.
“Not a complete victory, but still a victory,” Kreel said, standing behind the chairs both Aero and Mic occupied. “If there’s anyone to blame, it’s Pestage and General Carvin for delaying the deployment of Kaine’s and Zsinj’s fleets.”
Only Kreel, Mic, and Aero were in the VT-49’s bridge. The rest of SCAR were downstairs cleaning their equipment, or taking a shower, which was the case for Shrap.
“We’re receiving a signal from the Wrath,” Mic informed. He pressed a button, and the hologram of Admiral Voss Parck appeared in front of them.
“SCAR Squad. I trust you are all well?” The Admiral asked.
“No casualties among us, sir. We’re sending you all the intelligence we’ve acquired.” Kreel responded, tapping Mic’s shoulder to proceed with the transfer.
Parck looked away offscreen and seemed to be talking to someone else. The Admiral nodded and then turned his attention back to the operatives.
“Package received. Your work has saved many lives today and will save more in the future. Excellent work, SCARs.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Now for your next assignment,” Parck reached for a datapad and started reading from it. “I’m sending you coordinates for a system in the Unknown Regions. Not long ago, we received what appears to be an Imperial SOS signal. We could not identify the sender, and the message was very distorted, but there’s a possibility that it could be from the ISD Chimaera. Your next assignment is to search for the signal in the general location of the coordinates, and then report back your findings. I’m also sending you hyperspace routes myself, and Captain Niriz discovered that should bring you there.”
They heard a beeping sound from Mic’s station.
“Coordinates received, sir,” Mic confirmed.
“Very good. If you were to run into trouble, send out an Alpha-Uniform-Echo-Zero Signal. Help will reach your location.”
Kreel knew that signal from the academy. It was a special kind of SOS signal reserved for members of High Command. Parck permitting them to use it was a sign that they had High Command’s full support and the importance of their mission.
“Sir, I don’t mean to criticize our deployment,” Aero spoke up. “But wouldn’t it be better to send a warship like an Arquitens? Something with more firepower, can carry shuttles, and has longer-ranged sensors.”
The Admiral looked away from them and then leaned forward.
“What I’m about to say is confidential and is not allowed to be shared with anyone else,” Parck quietly responded. “A Jedi was confirmed to be on board Thrawn’s flagship when it disappeared. If that Jedi is indeed alive and it’s confirmed that the Grand Admiral is a hostage, then it is paramount that the Jedi isn’t alerted to your presence. Send the signal, and do what you can to secure the Grand Admiral. Deal with the Jedi how you see fit. After your exploits today, best to ensure that Jedi is dead. Understood?”
“Crystal, sir.” Kreel nodded.
Without another word, Parck disconnected the call. Aero and Mic got to work plotting a course for their mission. Kreel sighed and took a seat by the tactical display to Aero’s left. He felt tired, so he was actually looking forward to this mission. If this Jedi were the only threat, then he could rest a bit and practice before engaging with a remnant of a dead order. Both Aero and Mic were hard at work, but the two kept talking and bantering like an old couple.
Zuke is probably reading a romance novel, Cav liked to spend his downtime sharpening his knives or doing exercises, Misty was very likely playing around with his seven-string hallikset, and Shrap was taking his sweet time in the shower. That would mean Shrap had concluded that nobody had injuries that needed to be tended to. Apparently, their previous Sergeant was also a medic, but when he went down, Shrap took up the slack. Kreel knew enough to treat someone for minor wounds, but Shrap was their resident surgeon on top of being the guy assigned to burn or blow something up.
These were his men, his brothers. He stayed up late at times, wondering why Vader discarded them. They were experienced, battle-hardened, and always came out with something, whether the mission was a success or a failure. He cringed when he remembered his declaration that he would personally kill himself and his squad if they completely failed. What a stupid episode of fanaticism. Wouldn’t have done any good.
They weren’t expendable. Right?
Counseling varies between commands and wasn’t part of the broader system in the Imperial military. While Admiral Parck didn’t have counselors, Grand Moff Kaine’s did. Kreel decided he needed to find somewhere private to talk to one of them. The Sergeant got up from his chair and prepared to leave when Aero was about to jump them into hyperspace.
“Right. Here we go.” The pilot said. He pushed a lever to jump the Red Hare towards its destination.
Fate seemed to have it out for SCAR Squad, however. Right before they jumped, shuttles and nearby warships began peeling away from the burning Interdictor in a panicked fashion close to the Red Hare’s position. The damaged Immobilizer 418 detonated, vaporizing a large portion of the ship and destroying several shuttles. An electromagnetic pulse knocked out the power at several stations of the closest ISD, but the VT-49 did not have the same protections as a capital ship. For a split second, Aero noticed the controls going haywire. They all heard a loud bang, and then the Red Hare entered hyperspace. Something clearly went wrong. The VT-49 shook with the intensity of a quake. Both Aero and Mic were rooted in their seats because they were buckled in, but Sergeant Kreel wasn’t so fortunate. The force of the shake threw the Sergeant off his feet. While Aero kept his hands on the controls, Mic looked behind to check on his Sergeant. He only saw Kreel get thrown off his feet and into the back of the bridge with a loud bang.
“SARGE!” Mic yelled.
Deby, in her little corner, floated up and connected with a computer by Mic. Screens were flashing red and a lot of error signs.
“Come on, baby, don’t fail us,” Aero muttered, trying to see if he could get things working while the VT-49 kept shaking.
“Hyperdrives are overloading,” Mic observed while Deby pulled up the status of various components of their ship. “Backup hyperdrives are unresponsive. Engines are red.”
Aero glanced at a monitor to his left.
“We’re going too fast. Way too fast for a Class 1 hyperdrive.”
“Aero, hyperdrive is going to blow unless we drop out now!” Mic yelled.
“What if we drop out and hit something?” Their pilot said to himself. He looked at a computer and saw that the hyperdrive actually was going to fail. “Frag it.”
He pulled the lever, and the VT-49 violently dropped out of hyperspace. Both were saved by the seatbelts, but Mic felt Kreel’s limp body collide with the back of his seat. Without hesitation, the slicer got out of his seat to check on his Sergeant.
“Buddy, I need you back here because we have a giant piece of rock ahead of us,” Aero told him.
“I’m just checking on Sarge,” Mic said. To his relief, Kreel started moving, bringing his hands to hold the top of his helmet.
“Agh, what the fark happened?” Kreel groaned.
“Don’t talk, Sarge. I need to secure you first.”
“Secure me?”
Their slicer grabbed the Sergeant by the armpits and brought him to a chair where he strapped him to the seat.
“I don’t know what happened, Sarge. Hyperdrive malfunction, and the readings said we were going faster than what a VT-49 and a Class 1 Hyperdrive were designed for. Now don’t leave your seat because we’re going to make sure we don’t join the boys at the Death Star.”
“Aero! Mic! What the fark was that?” They heard Zuke yell on the coms. Mic got to his chair and answered back.
“We don’t know what happened, Zuke. Everything went haywire, but we’re approaching a planet right now. I need all of you to strap in because it might be a hard landing.”
“Roger that. Shrap was in the shower. Cav went to check on him.”
Aero could see a terrestrial planet before them. He glanced at Mic, who was busy at his station.
“Engines barely running. Both hyperdrives are offline. We’re projected to land…” Mic was silent for a moment and then highlighted an island. “On that island. That’s if we decrease the power to the engines to 25%. Any more and any less, we’d be landing at the ocean. How’s it going at your end, Deby?”
Deby turned her head towards Mic and then sent a message to their screens.
“Planet is not recognized in any Imperial maps. Very few stars are identifiable. 95% certain we are in the Unknown Regions.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Mic grumbled. He went to work checking other systems while Aero carefully flew the VT-49 into the planet’s atmosphere.
“Air is breathable. Detecting possible life on the island.”
“Got it, Deby, thank you,” Aero replied to the droid.
Outside, the land was dark, and the sky was only illuminated by the local moon. Breaking through low-hanging clouds, they could see a lot of empty fields, but also scattered lights. Possibly from buildings they could not see. Aero flipped a switch to turn on the ship’s headlights.
“Too low, terrain. Too low, terrain. Pull up! Pull up!” The computer alerted.
“Did those bloody engineers install a civilian warning system?” Mic asked, surprised.
They heard a loud boom, and the Red Hare shuddered. Alarms blared from Mic’s station, and he read aloud what he was seeing.
“Aero, engines just went offline!”
The pilot grabbed a switch and kept flicking it on and off.
“Blast, but we’re still gliding, and I still have control. Retract the bottom quad turret.”
Mic pressed a switc,h and the computer confirmed that the quad turret was safely inside.
“Ever done a crash landing?” Mic asked, gripping his seat. The headlights revealed that they were getting closer and below 1000 meters according to the altimeter.
“In simulators some years ago. Took me several tries to crash land without killing everyone.”
“Well, buddy, I hope you remembered how to do it.”
“Everyone, brace for impact!” Aero said into the squad’s coms.
Paradis Island
Premier Zachary grew wary of his current standing. Commander-In-Chief with the power of all three branches in his hands, but powerless to do anything about the rot that continued to grow in Mitras. Riding inside a carriage, the old man carefully read reports sent by his personal agents. Word of criminal activity orchestrated and funded by nobles, dutiful new members of the Military Police dying mysteriously when they stuck their noses around too much, and successful assassinations of the nobility’s spies.
Yet, he’s still no closer to toppling the current leadership. Zachary set the reports aside, took off his glasses, and tried to rub the drowsiness from his eyes. At the very least, he secured a loyal security detail consisting of some of the best from all three branches. All of them shared his views, understood their duties, and would die for their beliefs. No disrespect to them, but Zachary knew they weren’t capable of doing the things he believed were required.
As much as he wanted to gain Captain Levi’s loyalty and skills, he knew it would only gain his enemies’ attention. Thus, Levi was allowed to do what he did best while he struggled in the shadow war. So he was stuck in square one, without a clear path to victory. Especially with the threat of Titans looming every day.
He just needs an answer, tools that could be utilized to fracture the nobility’s networks.
“SIR!”
Zachary broke out of his thoughts and looked outside. One of his guards on horseback was pointing at something in the sky, so the Commander-In-Chief stuck his head out the window. There, he could see a pair of bright lights falling from the sky. Then, it crashed somewhere up ahead. He couldn’t see where the object crashed, but he was curious to know.
“Head for the fallen unknown, post haste!” Premier Zachary ordered. His driver and security immediately double-timed it. He admitted that there was a sort of childlike curiosity behind his decision to investigate the unknown. Zachary remembered finding a weird rock after seeing a green light fall from space during his childhood. It was small, but he kept it in his bedroom. He wondered what the stars were like, and his father encouraged him to study to find the answers one day. When Humanity was freed from the Titans, they could explore and claim the world. Once that was done, Humanity could look to the stars.
Then his father and mother refused to sell their farm to a noble. The day after, when he was returning from the Training Corps, he found the farm burnt to the ground and his parents' charred corpses in the rubble. His dreams burned down with it, and what came after was a permanent hatred for the nobility. As of today, his former home is now a hunting lodge that was popular among the nobles.
Yet, a part of him still wonders what’s up there. Maybe he could get another rock that replaced the one he lost when the farm went up in flames. Even just a little rock displayed in his office would bring him comfort and ease some stress. A remembrance of happier times.
They kept riding for a few minutes until they found what they were looking for, not far from the dirt road.
“What in the heavens?” Zachary said to himself, seeing a massive object lying not far from the road. It was a large, metal construct. Something he’d describe as the flying chariots drawn in old texts by observers from their past. Behind the object was ruined dirt and grass, leading to the object, a sign of the crash.
They got near, but what shocked him to the core was several beings coming out of it. White in color, and skull-like faces. One of them even appeared to have glowing blue eyes. Then two more came out. The first was a giant who could be mistaken for a small Titan, but the other, who was limping, was Human. In that case, were they all just Humans wearing armor?
“A Human from space?” He asked himself.
His bodyguards dismounted and aimed their muskets at the strange visitors. They responded in kind, aiming different types of objects at his security team. The way they held them, he could only deduce that they were some sort of firearm.
“HALT! Identify yourself!” One of his bodyguards asked.
“Sir, we should not be here.” His driver said. “I suggest we send a runner to get reinforcements.”
Zachary did not listen. He continued observing the visitors from his carriage. The one Human he saw put on a helmet that was white, but looked different from the rest.
“So they’re all wearing helmets,” Zachary said. Ignoring his driver’s protests, Zachary opened the carriage and stepped out. Twelve of his bodyguards glanced at him worryingly, but continued to aim their muskets at the unknowns. He didn’t know what the unknowns were capable of, but he would rather resolve this predicament diplomatically before someone got hurt.
“I am Premier Zachary, Commander-In-Chief of Humanity’s Military. We wish you no harm.” He motioned for his bodyguards to lower their weapons.
The unknowns looked at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. Like his bodyguards, they lowered their firearms. One stepped forward. Their armor made them look intimidating, and the one approaching him had an orange pauldron with a strange symbol on it.
Then the unknown grabbed his helmet and took it off, revealing another Human. He was devoid of hair, scarred, but his eyes showed experience he only saw among the very best Scouts.
“I am Sergeant Kreel. Task Force 99 SCAR Squadron of the Imperial Armed Forces. Servant of his majesty, Emperor Palpatine and the Galactic Empire. We come in peace.”