Running the Gauntlet

[Trucu]

Trucu had been pulled off of Ziost, called back into service by the Imperial Navy. He didn’t mind one bit. From the few weeks he’d spent on the planet, he’d only encounter a few sane individuals. Luckily, one of those individuals had also received a call back into service by the Imperial Army. It would be nice to be paired with real people again. Trucu made a mental note to find Alexander once planet side. The two, as well as several other members of the Empire had been named Squad Leaders for this mission. It was a huge honor Trucu knew, considering his short time in the service, but he was glad others saw potential in him. Despite his intriguing past.

Private Alexander Ross
Commander Benjamin Gal
Leuitenant Mark Bions
Crewman Romaar Sancolt
Crewman Trucu Taylor

Trucu stopped when he reached his name on the list of Squad leaders. Some of them would be on the ground and some in the air. He had met Ben and Alexander as they were the three on the ground, but the only thing he knew about Mark and Romaar is that they would be in the air for support. They’d all been in the same meeting hours earlier and had gone into the mission in great detail. The head of the entire operation was Rear Admiral Pierre Laughton, Commander Benjamin was in charge of the ground assault, and Leuitenant Mark Bions was overseeing the fighter division.

Trucu calmed himself for the coming battle. He could feel the dropship coming out of hyperspace. He couldn’t see it from the cargo bay of his the Birikad-class Imperial Shuttle, but he knew from their mission briefing they’d be coming out of hyperspace behind a large asteroid in the K-2 Belt, after fighters were scrambled they’d move from their hidden position and assault the base.

100,101,102,103… Trucu counted in his head. In seventeen seconds the fighters would all be launched and they’d be moving again. The shuttle lurched, and they were moving again. In second they’d be under fire. Hopefully the TIE’s and the Birikad’s escort would do a good job of keeping the fire off of them.

“Alright!” Trucu shouted to the twenty-four troopers in front of him. They were all armored and heavily armed. There was a wide array of loadouts, they had heavy gunners, sharpshooters, medics, technicians, and the most important men on this mission, the explosives experts.

“We’re going to be landing in,” Trucu checked his chrono. “About four minutes. Hold on to your butts and hope we don’t explode. When we get groundside, clear and secure the landing pad. Then we’ll link up with Private Ross and Commander Ben and go from there. All Clear?”

“All Clear.” Rang out around him in response. The ship rocked violently from enemy fire. Just hold on a couple more minutes…

 

[Alexander Roth]

An assault on a pirate mining operation in the back end of Imperium territory, a good enough mission as any to get back into the swing of IAF operations. It had been a little over four years since Alexander graduated as a Stormtrooper Commando, and since he had started his training as an Acolyte. It was a good thing that Alexander stayed up to date with protocol and his regular examinations or some of his old training squadmates might’ve thought he’d gone soft on them. Not that it’s easy to imagine the life of a Sith Acolyte as “soft”. What Alex didn’t expect was that he’d get a personal request from the Rear Admiral overseeing the operation, Pierre Laughton, to join on as a squad leader for the ground offensive, though he was certain that his father probably had something to do with it.

The plan was simple but effective. Blitz their small fleet of freighters and mining ships. Break through with a few drop ships. Seal the pirates inside the mine. Plant explosives. Gather what resources we can. Pull out. Blow the mine. Of course such missions rarely play out as simply as they sound in briefings. Personally Alexander would be leading his squadron of Stormtroopers alongside two others. Commander Benjamin Gal, the man on point for the ground operation as a whole, would lead one and fellow Acolyte Crewman Trucu Taylor the other. Even if it had been a while since Alexander donned his matte black Commando Armor in the name of the IAF he felt just as comfortable as he did while in Stormtrooper academy. A little notification in his helmet’s HUD, accompanied by a lurch in the ship, signaled that they had dropped from hyperspace and the assault was about to commence.

With the start of the assault underway it was about time for a brief speech to the men and women under his command. ”Eyes forward!” Alexander called the attention of his squadmates, his voice wirelessly transmitting through their synced helmets as he turned back to face them. ”You’ve all been briefed on our mission objectives. Once we hit the ground we’re to link up with with Commander Gal’s and Crewman Taylor’s squadron. First priority is securing the LZ. Commandos, you’re with me on point.” A handful of fellow Commandos donning their signature black Centurion armor gathered just in front of Alex. ”I want Heavies front and flanking, lay down suppressive fire the moment you see a hostile, and I want a couple Rockets behind them. If the enemy is in a fortified position use their suppressive fire to line up a clear shot.”

As the appropriately outfitted Stormtroopers assembled according to Alex’s instruction a timer popped up in the HUDs of Alexander’s squad, a notice from the pilot with their estimated arrival time. ”The rest of you protect our Engineers and assist the forward team. When in doubt look to Black and support their efforts. If they’re laying down fire to buy an Engineer time to work you do the same. If they’re pulling a wounded comrade from the enemy’s line of sight you cover them. Are we clear!” Black being Stormtrooper Commandos, which should be obvious enough. ”Yes Sir!” ”Good! We’re wings down in two. Once we hit the O-thirty mark it’s weapons ready.” With Alex’s speech done all that was left was for them to actually land.

 

[Dunbar Snackbar]

Word passed quickly throughout the Enforcer-class Heavy Cruiser. The word this time was that they would be exiting hyperspace soon. Fortunately, Romaar was close to his QIE fighter so he wasn’t rushing to his fighter like some of his collogues. With the black helmet in hands he looked down into it, took a deep breath and placed it on his head.

He forced a fake smile onto his face directed at the crewman who was assigned to prepare the fighter. It was a useless gesture now that he had his mask on.

Romaar’s hands clasped the ladder and started to get into the fighter. Per tradition, albeit an unofficial tradition, Romaar made some comment about how he needed to lose weight as he slid into the cockpit. It was small but Romaar always wondered how many lives would have been lost if they made the fighter even a little larger for the sake of the pilot’s comfort. In combat, the difference life and death can literally be measured in inches.

As he ran through the preflight checks, fear started to creep into Crewman Sancolt. He was used to the training simulators but the phrase “nothing can really train you for combat” popped into his head. Death wasn’t a stranger to Romaar either. As the illegitimate son of an Imperial Governor on Pavillion Romaar was sheltered from the starvation, death and punishment of the Sith Imperium but he wasn’t completely sheltered.

As part of Scythe squadron the plan was simple, nothing elaborate that required the timing to be just right or anything that could complicate the mission. As he ran through the briefing in his head he recalled that the first objective was to escort the transports in, then it was to engage any targets of opportunity. Intel believed that their target would be lightly guarded but no one can really be sure the intelligence is accurate and that caused Romaar to worry more.

He felt the ship exit hyperspace with a feeling that he doubt he would ever get used to. One, two, thee fighters exited the hanger soon after they exited hyperspace. It was now his turn to exit the hangar.

“Scythe 4 you are cleared to engage” a female voice said in his earpiece. Out of instinct Romaar threw the throttle of the QIE fighter forward and quickly saw the environment around him change from the grey metallic feel of the hangar to the cold black of space.

The Enforcer class heavy cruisers were beginning to open fire on various targets in front of him and more fighters were beginning to join in the fray. It appeared that the task force had caught their prey by surprise but Romaar was still concerned with what lay before him. He needed to clear the way for the transports would be on their way to their target.

A quick analysis showed only 6 enemy fighters were currently operating in the open with most engaged with some of the other QIEs. Two were guarding the base itself which would be enough to stop his squadron with the point defense laser cannons of the base.

His wingman Scythe three called in “Scythe Four, accelerate to attack speed, we are going to try and pull those fighters away and make room for the transports. The bombers are tasked with destroying those laser cannons. Understood?” Romaar replied with a general “Understood” and accelerated further heading right for the enemy fighters.

It didn’t take long for them to realize that the two Scythe squadron fighters were headed right for them and they in return headed for them. “Good” Romaar thought. “Those over confident bastards.” Romaar spoke into his headset and a rebuke followed back to him about the chatter. Maybe it was he was being too confident.

The space aspect of the battle was unfolding well in the short time since it began. Romaar now saw an opening to the objective for the transports. With the fighters now heading towards Romaar Sancolt and his wingman and the bombers now formed up on their way to the base with their escort of QIE fighters along side them, a window was now open for the transports to move in.

“Transports, this is Scythe Three, your pathway is clear. Be advised, you will need to punch it. I can’t guarantee how long we can guarantee this opening.”

With the message out, Romaar was now worried about the two fighters coming their way. His dogfighting skills would now be put to the test.

 

[Richie B.]

Triton was overseeing the newly forming rebels in the mining station having shown up as the leader had heard of the Matukai now that they were taking a massive role in the war now joining the Jedi and rebels in fighting off the Imperium, though the warrior just sat on the revolving chair looking at boring screens wishing to be able to crush some Imperium skulls having lost his arm with a fight against a Sith just a while before. The man had taken to doing deep meditative stances every day to keep himself in check, he hated this duty but knew better than to just go off running and fighting, even if it would help with his sore mood.

Looking around at the screens the warrior had gotten used to some of the tech here but being raised as a warrior of the light, he never really got any really practice with it. He watched as everything seemed normal until the worse yet best thing that happened did happen, the Imperium started attacking at of nowhere yet thankfully it seems now the warrior could finally let loose. Triton began to read the reports trying to figure out the best way of attack thankfully the warrior was able to think of a plan quickly an got a hold of the intercom thankfully there was one in almost all the tunnels in case of a emergency just like this.

"Now here this Imperium forces are attacking all able man grab the closet weapon I wan three checkpoints form up we will hold them back if they think we are just going to roll over and fall they will learn that we the people will no longer stand for there evil." The people with the tunnels will grab there cheap guns, or the weapons the rebel alliance had lent them the DLT-995 blaster rifle and PBR-2a pistols, the Matukai put on his helmet for the WarSkin and grabbing his Wan-Shen , which was shaped like a black staff going about to his shoulder but with a simple twist it turned into a spear able to piece armor and deflect lightsaber strikes.

Grabbing a communicator to allow him to talk to his soldiers even if they were not the most well trained if the Imperium think they will have a easy time they are going to have to think again. Since all the rebels had to do was dig themselves in an the Stormtroopers will be finding themselves a lack for better word a kiffing time, with the only one tuneel that went the entire station the stormtroopers will run down and face hundreds of rebels firing down on them with little room for escape or taking cover the rebels just had to put some empty boxes and other unimportant objects in the middle of the hallway as cover and they will be good.

"Everyone listen up this is going to go as we have planned, if any of you fools even listened to the briefing because I sure as hell didn't want to, start putting up defenses and making cover an when the idiots in white start to charge on through we blow them to smothering's. I know many of you are worried about them just blowing us up from space, well forget about that we cant really help them out so just focus at the task at hand which you can do something about and lets kick these stupid Imperium soldiers back to where they came from." Triton said with a commanding and stern voice he wasn't about to let these man die on his watch, he began to run using the force to aid him the warrior would make it to the front and first check point where about 50 rebels were already there building up the cover he was sure about 50 were at each check point with the rest still trying to figure out whats happening and those few maintance crew keeping this hunk of junk station afloat.

Triton would wait for the enemy to show themselves but it might take a while. So Triton helped with the building of the cover.

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The commander listened to Triton give orders like a general though it hurt the old man's pride he knew they needed the young man too take command of the fight within the station while he commanded the space forces against the Imperium. Looking at the Imperium forces he almost laughed there were so many Dominator class fighters that it almost covered the whole screen yet thankfully the commander was a smart man. Most of his ships were still in the asteroid field during there job the cargo shuttles were still in the hangers and most of the Y-8s were mining, yet now they awaited orders knowing that they were about to jump into action the commander looked at the screen only hoping he could pull off one last victory for them.

"All fighters use the asteroid field to your advantage, there heavy ships will have to shot down the asteroids to get a hit plus, they have to worry about not getting hit by them but with all the commotion I'm sure at least one of there bigger ships won't be so lucky." The commander said his gut making it hard for him to stand up but some how he was able to stand up straight.

Knowing that the enemy had brought the heavy crusiers which lacked speed those ships would have to shot down asteroids or they would be destroyed, the same T.I.E fighters sadly would be able to work around the asteroid field yet they lacked the fire power to just O.K a Y-8 with a single shot.

"I want three cargo ships full of explosives an once they are send them off deep into the asteroid field there fighters wont be good in there, an that's how we are going to get them. Y-8's your main job is to drag the enemy into the asteroid field they will lose the support of the bigger ships and it would only take one unlucky turn and they would be out of commission. YT's try and do the same." There was 6 YT's near the base at the moment which was good but sadly they would be over run quickly, most of the Y-8's which number around 35 were all in the asteroid field, while the rest of the YT's which number 24 were also in the asteroid field.

The Asteroid field was a dangerous place so the base had about 15 mining lasers, 5 near each of the hangers; the other 5 were on the top of the asteroid all of which were aimed at any Imperium unlucky enough to get close to it. Yet the greatest of the defenses of the station wasn't even the mining lasers but rather a massive tractor beam meant to throw away medium size asteroids away from there own, though it would take time for them to actually use it the commander began thinking of a way to use that in the fight.

"I want someone to use the Tractor beam to throw some of the asteroids at the heavy crusiers. An send out the rest of the cargo ships if we can hopefully the addition 10 ships would help, tell the pilots the same thing use the asteroids to our advantage." The commander watch on his screen the battle play out the mining lasers firing on the shuttles trying to land while the YT's fired on the T.I.E.'s thankfully the YT's harder plating should allow them to take a few hits unlike the Imperium's fighters.

 

[Dunbar Snackbar]

“The hell?” Sythe three said over the comm. Not long after the two fighters started on an intercept course towards Romaar and his wingman, they quickly changed course. As Romaar quickly analyzed the direction of the fighters he noticed that they were heading deeper into the asteroid field using the asteroids as cover.

“They are trying to bait us in.” Romaar replied. As they looked closer they could see freighters and other vessels were heading in the same direction as well. The primary objective of this mission called for the destruction or capture of the mining facility itself and not for the destruction of the mining vessels and freighters. However, if an opportunity came up or if there was a need to destroy them they were cleared to do so. Romaar understood why. Mining vessels, frigates, and freighters were so common and easy to acquire. They and their contents were of little tactical value.

“Which is why we won’t engage them. Stay focused on the mining base.” Scythe three replied. “This is where discipline matters”.

The Imperium saw the window of opportunity and orders were promptly relayed to really press the attack on the base after the enemy forces started moving deeper into the asteroid field. The Imperium did however keep one squadron of fighters in reserve. This squadron was to push back any enemy counter attack, engage any threats to the larger ships or be prepared to any target that command directed them to attack.

The Enfocer-class heavy cruisers had been bombarding the asteroid base will all of their fire power. The focused all of their fire power at a point close to five of the mining lasers and the hangar closest to them. It took some time but finally the firepower was enough to punch a hole through the shields of the mining base.

One squadron of QIE fighters was escorting the bombers into their targets. The attack group had plotted a course towards the mining facility which allowed them to avoid being hit by the mining lasers at the top of the asteroid. Each bomber had their assigned primary target and a secondary target which was in place in the event one bomber missed it’s target. Since the enemy fighters were now on a course for the asteroids, the QIE fighter escorts, seeing no immediate threat to the bombers also joined in on the attack towards one of the hangars.

The bombers had concussion missile launchers which allowed them to engage their targets at a farther distance than the QIE fighters and certainly at a much larger range than the mining lasers. Almost at once, all of the bombers which were heading in the direction of the hangar opened fire and Romaar watched the warheads travel towards their targets. He also caught a glimpse of one QIE fighter try to follow the concussion missiles in while firing his laser cannons behind them. Whether it was a desire for medals, glory or cockiness, this pilot made a fatal mistake. The targeting system of mining lasers wasn’t equal to normal defense turrets and while they opened fire on the QIE fighter and missed a number of times, one turret managed to hit the QIE fighter on one of the wings slicing it off. The fighter began to turn end over end until the fighter and the pilot inside crashed into the base.

“Idiot” Romaar thought to himself. Though he was a rookie, he was experienced enough to know that was a foolish move. There existed a fine line between bravery and foolishness and the pilot found that line in the hardest of ways.

Upon confirmation of the destruction of the 5 mining lasers, the bomber element and its escort would soon change their attack vector and head for the mining lasers on the top of the asteroid base. On this next bombing run, the bombers would be engage their targets with the proton bombs loacted in their ordinance bay. This would prove to be a more difficult and hazardous assault as the proton bombs would have to be dropped down onto their targets as opposed to being launched horizontally as the concussions missiles were.

Romaar’s interest in the bomer’s attack run was quickly broken as he was heard Scythe three again over the communicator. “Command reports that they are using their tractor beam diverting some asteroids at the heavy cruisers”.

The fact that the mining facility had only one tractor beam said quite a bit about the state of the asteroid field itself. While the position of asteroids were in a constant state of flux, the asteroid field would have to be rather static for the mining base to need only one tractor beam. One tractor beam alone couldn’t cover the whole space around the station unless the whole base shifted to get the tractor beam into position.

Rommar noticed that the asteroids coming in towards the cruisers caused one of the Haranov class gunships to redeploy towards the incoming asteroids. The Enforcer-class cruisers themselves had no tractor beams to speak of but the Haranov class vessels were equipped with two tractor beams a ship.

Though the laser cannons or proton torpedo tubes of the Enforcer-class cruisers were enough to destroy an asteroid, the safest thing for the fleet to do was to deflect the asteroid harmlessly away from the fleet. There was no need to stop an asteroid or attempt to deflect it back. To accomplish this, all that would be required would be a gentle “nudge” from a tractor beam of the Haranov-class gunship. Since the enemy was only able to direct only one asteroid at a time towards the larger ships, only one Haranov-class would be needed for defense. If an asteroid was able to get past the gunship, the Enforcer-class vessels would open fire.

“We should take that tractor beam out” Romaar said. He knew the lasers on his fighter could get the job done but it would take some skill and a few passes. “I think I know how we can do it.” Romaar said. "Follow me!” Romaar hit the throttle on his fighter, starting to follow the direction in which he asteroids were originating. Though Romaar wasn’t in a position to give orders to Scythe Three his wingman followed his subordinate’s lead nonetheless. They were a team after all.

Romaar then saw the tractor beam on the mining facility. As he was attempting to visually identify the origin of the tractor beam, he thought about how he was going to destroy this nuisance. He couldn’t identify a possible solution without getting to close to the base himself. That was until he recalled there was another gunship on standby.

Romaar got on the comms. “Sycthe Four to command, requesting missile strike on the following coordinates.” He then forwarded the coordinates of the location of the tractor beam on the same channel. The message was relayed and after some time, he heard “Strike Inbound” in reply.

The second Haranov gunship roared to life coming around, joining and being protected by his quadron. Once in range, the second Haranov gunship fired off three disruptor torpedoes in quick succession. The torpedos passed overhead and uncomfortably close to Romaar’s ship. Despite being shocked by how close they came. the distinct purple hue of the torpedoes made it easy to Romaar to see that the warheads were on track towards their target.

The transports were now getting close to the hangars that were near where the bombers had just attacked. When the transports set down, Scythe Squadron’s primary mission would be complete. Romaar was still concerned about how things were going. It appeared that the enemy really wasn’t opposing the transports and it couldn’t be this easy to get them into the enemy’s hangar.

Romaar saw something shine up and to his left. As soon as he recognized what he saw, he yelled. “Three from above. Three-one-oh degrees.” These fighters had been hiding behind one of the nearby asteroids. Perhaps the fighters didn’t go as deep into the asteroid Romaar thought thought.

A female voice came in over the comms in reply. Romaar recognized the voice from the briefing which brought him some comfort .” Scythe two through six, this is Scythe one. Follow me in.” Half the squadron now turned to engage the incoming fighters. The other half, Scythe seven through 12 remained with the transports as they came ever closer to their objective.

The two groups of fighters came close and closer. Romaar three the throttle forward as hard as he could as he neared weapons range. Of the six Imperium fighters, Romaar was the first to open fire. Soon, all fighters began firing their lasers as they passed each other. Romaar was on the far left of the formation, to avoid running into any friendlies he pulled back on the throttle and also pulled his joy stick to the left and then back to bring him through a hard left turn.

There were some hits scored from both sides but the shields prevented any serious damage. Romaar himself wasn’t hit but he realized how close he came. He quickly came to the realization that the enemy might be just as scared as he was.

Having completed the turn, Romaar now found himself on the right of the formation. The enemy fighters were still proceeding towards the transports. Romaar again threw the throttle forward to catch up. The space superiority fighter was fast and he recognized that he and the rest his comrades were catching up.

Scythe Three was ahead of Romaar and when he was in in range of the enemy, Scythe Three opened fire. One, two and then three laser blasts hit the nearest enemy fighter causing it to explode. “That’s one!” Scythe three exclaimed. All who heard the message could hear his smile.

Scythe One again came over the comm. “Two, Five and Six. We will engage the fighter to the left and make sure they don’t get back into the asteroid field. Three and four, engage the other.”

With the destruction of the first enemy fighter, the two remaining enemies tried to break off their attack now that they were outnumbered three to one in addition to the six still escorting the transports.

As Romaar and his wingman got closer to the enemy, they began to see the pilot’s skill. Again, Rommar’s wingman fired at the enemy but this pilot dodged every shot. The enemy rocked back and forth, performed barrell rolls and all manners of evasive maneuvers to prevent his craft from being destroyed. The enemy would also stick close to the asteroids near their location. He wasn’t headed towards the other fighters but he could still get lost and that couldn’t be allowed.

“Let me take a shot” Romaar requested anxiously. “Negative Scythe Three. I have him.” Scythe Three said with firing and missing again. The two Imperium pilots and their prey came closer to a moderately sized asteroid. Romaar knew that the enemy was again going to use the asteroid to his advantage and duck behind it. Instinctively, Romaar pressed on the red button on his joystick causing lasers to fill the space in front of him. His lasers hit their target precisely where he wanted them to hit. It wasn’t the craft that he was aiming for but the surface of the asteroid ahead of the enemy.

Quickly, debris from the asteroid filled the space in front of the enemy fighter. While the enemy was able to dodge the laser fire coming from the Q.I.E. fighters. He wasn’t able to dodge all of the debris now in front of him. The shards of rock tore through his fighter causing it to tear to pieces and also explode killing but not before a piece of rock flew into the enemy cockpit and killing the pilot. "There goes another!" Rommar yelled after seeing the kill.

Scythe three had to dodge the debris as well. He pulled back on his joystick and managed to barely escape the same fate as his enemy. “DAMN IT SANCOLT! Discipline!” Scythe Three said over the comm. “When we get back to the ship I will have you killed for that!”

Soon after, Scythe One announced not only the destruction of the last enemy fighter, but also the loss of Scythe Six and most importantly the transports had started their landing in the hangar of the enemy asteroid.

While the space battle seemed to be in full swing and going the way of the Imperium, the battle inside the station would now begin. Only the men and women in those transports could decide that fight. “Good Hunting.” Romaar thought as their element now joined up and joined with the rest of the squadron of fighters near the hangar bay.

 

[Alexander Roth]

Even if it was only a few minutes between the time they launched their attack and the projected landing time for their transports it was those few minutes that always seemed to drag on the longest. On the ground a soldier can act and react, and if they were doomed they might at least get the chance to see it coming, but within a transport all they could do is wait in silence, staring at the opaque walls and praying that the pilots would be able to carry them through alive. Sporadic shifts in momentum were the only markers that combat had fully commenced, there were no explosions to be heard in space, no stifled roar of missiles being launched or other aircraft soaring by their craft, only the maddening silent suspense before it was time for them to take up the fight on the ground; or in an asteroid in this case.

The timer in Alexander's helmet's H.U.D. ticked down past the thirty second mark, thirty more seconds until they could finally get to work. "Weapons ready!" Alexander said firmly, pulling his E-75A1 blaster rifle from it's magnetic holster at the small of his back, toggling the safety off, and switching it to burst-fire mode; the rest of his squadron following suit with their own weapons at his order. With less than half a minute left before they land Alexander was going through his H.U.D.'s interface, making sure it was syncing properly with his rifle and his ammo reserves. Targeting was on spot; all eight reserve ammo cells were registering, as well as the one in his K938 pistol; he was ready to go, as was the rest of his squad.

As time neared the drop deadline the pilot sent a message through their encrypted channel. "L.Z. is clear, prep for drop." Clear eh? That meant the pirates were likely fortifying themselves down the tunnel so they could funnel them into scope, a sound strategy given their position. A stifled clunk and the immediate lowering of their transport's door signaled that they could finally start their portion of the operation. As it was a rather large mining facility two of the three drop-ships could land simultaneously, unloading their soldiers on either side of the primary tunnel leading into the asteroid. Alexander's was one of the first two to land, alongside the transport carrying Commander Gal and his squadron. "Sweep the area for hostile explosives and set ours up over there for now." Alexander nodded towards the corner nearest them as he made his way off the shuttle, marking the area via his H.U.D. for his squad to see.

The blast doors between the hanger and the tunnel were closed, they'd have to gain control of them before they could move on. "I need a slicer at that door, make sure to check the panel for explosives first." While most of his squad-mates followed Alexander from the drop ship the select specialists set to work following his orders. The "Demo's" began a quick sweep of the hangar, a couple of the heavies started moving their explosives, and a few techies made their way to the doors control panel. If they could gain full control of the door then they could crack it a foot and use it as cover to see what they were up against, however if Alexander's intuition was right and their targets were fortifying themselves down the tunnel then it was going to take some effort to break their first line of defense.

Looking around the hangar Alexander started to formulate a plan to push through the hall without sacrificing much cover, but he needed some hover skids and some stable material to pile on top for cover. Luckily this was a mining facility, and he doubted their targets would have been able to gather much from the hanger before falling back to defend. "Alright listen up. The enemy is likely well fortified by now. If we're going to push into their ranks we're going to need some mobile cover." "Sounds like you have a plan Grey, I've got us patched in." Commander Gal's voice came over the in-helmet comms as his squadron emptied out of their transport.

"Yes. If we gather as many hover sleds we can, line them up side by side in front of the door facing away, pile on some makeshift cover, then set them to hover just a few inches from the floor we'll have cover until we reach their first line of defense. We should station some Heavies on the sleds behind the cover to lay down fire and have a few Rockets ready to take out any stubborn fortifications. Then when it comes time to storm their barricade stagger the sleds so our soldiers can move between them." As Alex explained his plan he began to scan the hanger and "paint" any sleds or suitable cover he could see for them to gather. "If we do it quick enough we should keep them from digging in much further."

"You heard the man, I want every spare trooper setting up this barricade. Let's move it soldiers!" Commander Gal issued the order to follow Alexander's plan, which he couldn't help but feel a bit proud for, before moving to visually paint useful items around his side of the hanger. It was around this time that the last of their transports should have been finishing with their drop off and heading to rendezvous with the other two and await notification to pick them on on the other side. The plan was coming together rather quickly. The slicers were already into the door controls and awaiting orders, the makeshift mobile barricade was mostly complete, and all of their troops were ready to begin the assault.

Only a few more minutes would pass before they were ready to start and with everyone in position Commander Gal gave the order to open the door a few feet to see what they were up against. After a quick glance to make sure there weren't explosives right behind the door two heavies began to lay down near-blind suppressive fire while a scout peaked over the makeshift cover behind them to gauge the enemy. The only visible fortification was a short ways back, after that the tunnel took a turn meaning how many barricades they set up was a mystery. With another command from Gal the door sealed shut again, though only briefly for everyone to take their positions without leaving the enemy a small but open line of fire, then a few moments later they would open once more.

This time they would open completely, revealing a line of low-set hover sleds filled with nonvolatile crates, canisters, and machinery that spanned almost the entire tunnel width. Alexander himself was on the rightmost sled, peaking through the debris as the sleds set into motion. They were only advancing at a crawl, or walking speed rather, and as soon as they entered the hall the Heavies on the sleds would start laying down fire, with the occasional light rocket aimed at the strong point in their central fortifications, avoiding those closer to the walls in the hopes of avoiding a collapse. Behind these sleds troopers stood in line, ready to funnel ammunition to those on the barricade or take their place should one get shot down. Alexander was simply doing his small part from his position, peaking out of cover occasionally to lay down a triple shot burst or two at presumably high value targets while painting anyone he could see.

 

[Richie B.]

The commander watched as all his ships made it safely to the end of the asteroids around them, smirking it seemed the Imperium wasn't as smart as they seemed, opening up the comms to the pilots the Imperium were focusing there fire power on top of them.

"Making a horse shoe around the base, the opening will be made up of the mining ships, and surround the Imperium's bigger ships. They will be caught in a cross fire with little to no cover so let a rip." As the Imperium ships got closer to the Asteroid base they will soon realize their mistake as there were lit up by the YT freighters firing on them with little to no cover, they would be getting several successful hits with the pilot focusing solely on driving and the gunner firing not having to worry about getting his by asteroids like the Imperiums fighters.

The enemy will have a hard time with no where to go as in all directions but there own ships were they getting shot at, the enemy will without a doubt be in disarray, the bombers would soon find there route filled with explosions and would either have to retreat or be wasted by the fire. Even with the Imperiums standby forces they would still get hit by the fire and will have to decide either to defend the larger ships or the fighters, either way there will be some hesitation and the bombers will be the ones to suffer for that. With the turrets now focusing on the bombers now that the bombers escort will be light up by the YT's, they will soon join the dead if they continue to stay out in the open.

They will realize using a gunship to move a large asteroid was a lot harder than they thought, the mining station has a tractor to move asteroids that would cause the stations destruction meaning the larger asteroids would be of concern. So it goes without saying that the asteroid would be a bit difficult for a lone gunship to move out of the way but it would undoubtable be destroyed by the heavy cruisers when it get closer, though the smaller bits would need to be moved or blow away or risk hitting the ships. The smaller mining ships would be using the asteroids for cover as they were just to the sides of the heavy cruisers, and gunships an while using there onboard tractor beams throw some of the smaller asteroids at the enemies ships, though they will barely do any damage. It was meant to distract and cause the Imperium to focus on everything but the mining station, an if they got a clear shot the mining ships will open fire on the enemy though there small mining laser would most likely only be able to damage the gunships shield.

If the gunship tried to move near the space station it will also come under fire though it would most likely handle it far better than the smaller fighters, though it would have a hard time getting any hits on the YT frieghters as the gunship would have a hard time to maneuver though the asteroid field. If it tired to follow them, which did allow them some breathing room.

(OOC: Sorry not that in depth)

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Triton watched as the rebels begin to build up there barracks opening up a comm, asking for a status report the barrack behind them seemed clear but who knows if they will get hit from the back, but it seemed the Imperium were trying to bull rush them from the front. Taking a moment to consider his position would be tough to defend in one of the sides were to fall, so taking a risk he looked around him and began his counter offensive.

"Alright everyone going to need about 20 of you, we will be running to our friends to give them some backup, grab some explosives I have a idea." As soon as they began to ran, the Sith would feel a strong presence in the force charging to them.

The rebels that Imperium would be facing wasn't foolish but did lack the training they did, and only fired when they saw a stormtrooper sticking his head out, the hover sleds wouldn't normally reach to the enemies head, but without a doubt they remained in cover. They will roll grenades so when they went under the sled it would send there cover flying and the men behind it would be a surprise as they were fired upon, without mercy. Though the rebels were quickly running out of men and grenades as some didn't explode underneath the sleds.

Triton will be in the lead of the pack an will be the first to arrive, looking around he show how the Imperium were using the crates as cover and pushing forward, smirking he told 3 man to grab a hover sled. Once they had a hover sled he would pill the explosives he had into it and told the rebels to fire everything they had at that moment to give them cover.

"Alright everyone get ready and get down." Triton said activating the sled and pushing it with all his might which is nothing to laugh at, with the force as his ally he can easily bend metals with his single hand.

Getting to cover he watch as the sled will fly into the enemies shield and explode sending several of the hover sleds flying and in pieces damaging much of the Imperium's cover. Triton grinning picked up his head and grabbed a fallen soldiers pistol and began firing at Imperium stormtroopers that found themselves without any protection.

"Everyone open up fire send these fools packing." The rest of the rebels will give a loud war cry and begin firing even without real training the numbers made up for it as the Imperium's soldiers will be recovering from a large explosion and lack of cover.

(OOC: Any questions please ask me)

 

[Dunbar Snackbar]

"All ships, fall back to point bravo" Romaar heard over the comm system. He questioned why command would execute such a move but as he looked at the location of the enemy ships, he saw why. The enemy began returning from deeper in the asteroid belt. Now, they seem emboldened by the fact they weren't pursued by the imperium. Point Bravo was the location of the heavies.

It wouldn't take long to make the 20km trip back towards the heavies. The fighters were faster than the enemy vessels and smaller too. It wouldn't be difficult for them to make it back. Even the bombers wouldn't have a problem making it back either. Scythe squadron was grouped together missing one fighter from earlier, they passed the gunship that had been diverting asteroids. It along with the larger ships maneuvering out of the way had prevented any damage from the asteroid base.

He checked his screens again and saw a horseshoe formation starting to take shape which started at the asteroid base and started working its way towards the Imperium's ships. The missiles from the gunships roared over the fighters on their way back. Now they fleet were no longer focused on the base but instead was focused on the asteroids near the incoming ships. The sheer explosive power of the missiles caused asteroid and after asteroid in front of them to explode sending fragments of asteroids in all directions like shrapnel from a grenade. Freighters, transports and mining ships weren't designed to be maneuverable by any stretch of the imagination causing them to evade such fragments difficult.

As the horseshoe started to come into shape, the engines of the mighty enforcer-class vessels became brighter and they, along with the other vessels of the fleet moved to the left. They were to move 1 km in that direction. Rather than taking on the enemy all at once, the imperium was going to take them out piece by piece. By moving to the left they would stretch the enemy out allowing the Imperium to destroy their foes easier, or it could cause their formation to break.

The enforcer class vessels had a distance that was significantly larger which have them a distinct advantage over the other vessels at range. They too opened fire. The training of the naval forces really came into play at this moment of the engagement. The batteries that couldn't find a target also attacked the asteroids near enemy vessels. As soon as an enemy ship was in the open, it was engaged almost immediately.

"What do we donow?" Roomer asked. "We escort the heavies. Anything coming towards us within 1.5 km is a target for us to attack." He heard Scythe One respond.

The enemy's horseshoe formation was nearly complete and the overall ship density of the enemy was very small. With the enemy ships that appeared on sensors and the 20 km distance they were attempting to cover, it put the density at nearly 3 ships every km. That would be very easy pickings for the heavies and the fighters as well. "Here we go, lets start pushing forward" Romaar's squadron leader ordered. The Imperium's formation grew more tight and every turbo laser kept firing at the enemy. It would take some time but the formation could make it with ease.

 

[Alexander Roth]

This was the very reason Force Sight was so high on Alexander's list of necessary techniques. It pays immensely to be able to see around obstacles, especially when one of those obstacles happens to be hostile suppressive fire and the occasional rolled grenade. The suppressive fire was relatively easy to deal with by taking advantage of their HUD's weapon sync and visual feed sharing capabilities. Those on the front lines could effectively overlay their feeds to allow for more accurate 'blind fire' as those who weren't taking fire could provide a brief visual feed for others to use then as they came under fire someone else would do the same, limiting their casualties for the time being.

However, the grenades were a little trickier to deal with, and it was mostly up to Alexander to do so. Using Force Sight in conjunction with Telekinesis he could stop or slow down most of the grenades before they could get close enough to deal damage to their moving front when they popped, all without having to drop cover. He couldn't stop all of them however. "Grenade, far left!" A visual warning from Alexander's neural sync would reach the endangered individuals before he could finish his verbal one, who would immediately shut off the closest two sleds and fall back.

The explosion would send the makeshift cover atop the nearby sleds flying and the sleds themselves back a few meters but everyone that would have been in the area fell in line behind the still moving sleds. It was about the time of the explosion that Alexander felt the presence of another force user, one fairly stronger than his own and attuned to the light. A Jedi? Perhaps a rogue? "They've got a force user, possibly a Jedi." "Wonderful, prep for ASC."

Straining his ability to see through Force Sight Alexander pushed his vision further towards their enemy as the presence he felt arrived behind the enemy line. He, it looked like a he at least but the armor made it difficult to tell, appeared to be ordering a few people to do something, who came back with a hover sled moments later. "They're prepping for something." Alexander winced from the mental strain, causing his Force Sight to drastically reduce in distance with the last image being that of explosives being loaded onto the sled. "We'll have a sled fit with explosives on us soon, we need a shield!"

On that note Alexander marked an area in the ceiling between them and their targets and between structural reinforcements. "Demos!" That was all that needed to be said to get the general idea across, knock out a portion of the ceiling to stop them from destroying their offensive line but sacrificing how far they can move forward under cover in return. It only took a few seconds for the demos with loaded launchers to lock on to the coordinates and fire from behind cover, as their target was fully visible without sticking their heads up too high.

Hopefully their dislodging attempt and the explosion from the enemy's sled wouldn't do so much damage as to seal the tunnel entirely, but if it did they could simply saddle back up and assault from the other entrance. Regardless there would undoubtedly be raining debris and a likely cloud of pulverized rock dust to contend with after both explosions went off, for both sides. If the tunnel was sealed then they would fall back; if not and the sled of explosives wasn't set off they would throw a few incendiary's over the pile of debris in an attempt to do so; if the sled did go off on the fallen ceiling debris the foremost heavies would begin to set up behind the debris and continue firing upon the target pirates while those behind watched for potential structural failure.