| abstract
| - The sun was just beginning to set in the Chandrilan sky. The normal chatter of the birds and animals had drawn quiet. Their seeming sixth sense told them that something was about to happen. This was just the silence before the storm. The rebel resistance was doing final planning for their most important strike on the Empire yet. Jailbreak. A bloody jailbreak to show the Empire that these weren't just street punks. These were men forced to fight against the odds. A lone birdcall heralds the arrival of the street-hardened resistance. Ridge looks around the cab of the truck he was riding passenger in. Ridge nods to Fenn, the driver and Infiltration Unit leader, sweat dripping down his brow from the heavy Stormtrooper helmet he was wearing. Complete silence. There seemed to be an unusual calm in their surroundings. No movement. No birdsong. No chatter of the squirrels. Not even wind. Suppressing a small shudder, he looked forward out the windshield as the Chandrilan Prison loomed closer. Everything was set. He had 38 men in the back of the truck, ready to fight. His distraction was ready to deploy at the right signal, and his air strike was ready to back the escape. He even had a special surprise strapped under the truck. As the truck pulls in front of the blast doors, Ridge waits for them to open, muttering a small prayer for himself and his comrades. The Imperial prison was eerily quiet. Perhaps too quiet? Several guards could be seen from the outside walking along the prison walls, and the main gate leading into the prison courtyard still had its usual group of guards. But that was about it. No massive groups of stormtroopers patrolling the area, no bustle of activity as one might expect from an Imperial-run installation. Despite the fact that there have been a lot of terrorist activities taking place on Chandrila, with an attack on Chandrila just yesterday, the Imperials were strangely unoccupied with the prison - or so it seemed from the outside. Who knows what was going on in the inside? Most people would rather not guess. As the truck pulled up to the check point in front of the main gate, the stormtrooper officer approached the driver's side and asked for ID, and, when all was verified and approved, the officer raised his hand to signal the opening of the gate. The blast doors slowly slid open, revealing the courtyard and motor pool to the Imperial prison. Ridge's nod was returned by a slight bow of Fenn's helmed-head, as he brought the vehicle to a halt at the Imperial checkpoint. Offering the approaching stormtrooper naught but a swift glance, he casually brought up his ID, and drove the truck through the blast doors and to its appropriate position. The truck rolls to a stop. In the back, the troopers exchange glances with one another, team members quietly making sure each of the others around him is ready for what's about to take place. With a loud, metallic sound, the door unseals and rises, casting the day's fading light into the cargo area and onto the staring, black eyespots of the soldiers. Automatically, each of them snaps to attention, then begin their structured march from the truck and into formation behind it. (Enb'Zik) Prudence Barry sits in her jail cell, reading a book. She is a fair skined woman, with short brown hair, and brown eyes. She has a few freckles on her face, and she wears a standard Empire POW uniform. Just another day in this dirty, Imperial POW prison. Prudence really needs to get out of here, so she can get more of a life, maybe join the NR military. She might like that, much like working for her former boss, Senator Vala. While technically an Assault Armor does not qualify as a Heavy Weapon, like say the E-webs on the back of the hover trucks, most people who ever faced a seasoned soldier wearing an assault armor would agree, if they were still alive, that they should indeed qualify as one.. and now the Imperial garrison will have the unique opportunity to learn why.. Crouching on the back of the third truck retired Gunnery Sergeant, NR Commandoes, Vik Rannis' command, Fael Ramsis closes down his helmet's visor, sealing up the armor, the armor that could also double as a space-suit and just smiles as his LCD populates, displaying various bits of information on the inside of his visor. His gloved hands tighten around his weapons, an A280 rifle and a ZCF autoloader, plus like another 5 weapons strapped to various parts of his armor.. he's ready to go.. once the signal is give.. And while he's waiting.. he once more gives warm thanks to the Princess Leia and her generous gift.. he never expected to find an Assault Armor in the weapon cash she brought in.. but since he did.. he might as well make full use of it.. it's not quite an Enhanced Armor, but those are hard to come by these days.. and besides, an Assault one should be enough for this mission anyway.. then seeing the time-stamp in the upper left corner of his HUD after some hesitation he switches over to low-light vision as the sun's gonna be setting soon.. then growing still he once more just relaxes in place, something he practiced a lot while he was still an NR Commando, waiting for the fun to start, chewing his mint-flavored gum under his helmet, ready to show to these Imps that not every Chandrilans sold out to the Empire for the cure.. that some are, and always will be loyal to the New Republic.. and are willing to fight to the very end to regain their freedom.. (Naota) Fennthe leans against one of the trebuchets, fabricated from scratch by a number of the resistance's finest craftsmen, and glances to one of his 'officers.' "Hey," he says casually. "Get those E-webs charging. I want 'em working when we go. Catapults... pah!" (Mora) Private Eoin of the Republic's Marine Corp stands behind one of the trebuchets, peering out nervously. The Corellian was used to running headlong into the battle, but this just seemed like suicide! Irregardless, he wields the skills that pay the perverbeal bills, so he loiters around with the rest of them, remembering a time that volunteering to purposely attract the attention of the Imperials, and then run away, seemed like a good idea. Colonel Solon Halwinder is, as he is becoming infamous for, is inspecting some guards in a passegeway by the Prison Guards's barracks. He is very picky about uniforms, though he himself does not wear an Imperial uniform...nor does he wear Imperial armor or wield an Imperial gun. He simply strolls, quips, and doles out punishments. Dibar stands out in the middle of the compound's courtyard, leaning up against a battered speeder, and looking down at his droid L3-ET. Looking tired, the big man runs a hand through his short hair in an annoyed fashion, ending by scratching at the back of his next briefly. "We've been over this before, Leet. I do -not- want a contract with the Varduna colony. That place is a cesspool. Even if the Zara want it, they can have it!", Dibar tells his droid in a stern manner. The arrival of the trucks catches Dibar's attention enough to draw him away from his conversation with the droid. He rubs at his chin a bit, and snorts out an annoyed grunt as he watches the 'imperial' soldiers impassively. Why am I here? A question Cantrell has been asking himself for the past few days. Eh, it's something to do, nad plus, it can get him some brownie points with some important people. Sitting inside one of the offices in the compound, he quietly keeps himself reading a datapad on some new tactics the Stormtrooper legions are implementing. "Eh...bunch of wusses." It was a pretty day today with singing birds and a nice breeze. Pretty. Unfortunately, the day ended and it was evening and that means work. Taking his position on the walls of the prison, Gunter squares his broad shoulders and checks his rifle. He holds it before him in the proscribed manner appropriate for up and coming StormTroopers. Marching smartly from one end of the wall to the other, he focuses on being vigilant. Nothing will get by him. Nothing, do you hear? Sev is doing his own part for the coming distraction. Moving as only a Sluissi can, the serpentine creature is sliding along his belly, his body painted to match the landscape, as well as wearing camouflage clothing, a demolitions kit sliding along next to him. The sluissi plants explosives here and there between where the distraction is suppose to take place and the prison. Who ever comes to investigate is going to be in for one heck of a bang. Stepping from the truck, Ridge looks up through the helmet at the slowly lowering sun. He looks over towards the back end of the truck as his 'soldiers' file out in two long rows of twenty. Gesturing to Fenn to take the front of the column, Ridge walks towards the lines, making sure all were believable. Belief was a key here. Without it, they were screwed. Stopping part way down, he nods to one of the soldiers, signalling him to begin walking the perimeter with his group of four others. He leans slightly towards him. He gives a barely audible whisper of "Good luck" and turns back towards the front. Walking up towards the front of the line, he took an empty spot in front, leaving room for Fenn to lead them towards the main building. He licks his lips as a drop of sweat trickles down past his mouth. It was quite safe to say he was nervous. Quite safe indeed. As he exited the vehicle, Fenn quickly slid his hand over his rifle, as if to assure himself that it was still there -- there and ready. Glancing backwards, he waited for all of the faux-stormtroopers to step out of the truck before hastily striding to their head. Another nod was aimed at Ridge, and he proceeded towards the prison entrance through the motor pool. Brandishing his ID once again, he faced the guards and saluted the Colonel, expecting the former to open the doors without trouble for both him and his Republic contingent. And, of course, the Imperial guards did. As the doors to the prison opened, Fenn regained his position at Ridge's side, and entered the prison. Everything seemed to be going smoothly thus far. The trooper spoken to by Ridge hears the other man's words clearly, the audio pick-ups on his helmet passing them to an amplifier inside the armored frame and through a speaker near his ear. However, he gives no indication, remaining at attention as he obediently falls into step and moves out with the four others. The group makes their way toward the stairs leading to the tops of the walls, blasters held across their chests. "Good luck, indeed," Taron Dervwiler thinks to himself, glancing up at the guard towers as he reaches the steps. Prudence Barry looks out to the passing Imperial people and storm troopers. She goes back to her book, she's learned her lesson well enough, don't make trouble for the Imperial overlords. No, she will stay nice and good so she doesn't get beaten again. (Jenya) As the entrance to the prison opened up, leading into the security hallway, the twenty-yard walk, the atmosphere around the area seemed to change instantly. Everything seemed to stay the change - but, the mood was certainly different. As the thirty-five 'troops' entered the prison itself, everything turned different. As the troops filed into the security hall, a lone figure appeared on the other end of the hallway. Walking slowly forward, Danik Kreldin held his Kylan-3 blaster pistol in his right hand. The pistol span quickly around his index finger, in a show of some gunslingling. "I've been waiting for this...All units, we're good to go." Immediately the panels against the wall slid open, revealing the E-webs placed behind them, the barrels sticking out through the new slots in the wall. The door that which the rebels came through opened up once more, this time brandishing several stormtroopers; the door behind Kreldin too slid open, revealing more whom quickly surrounding Kreldin and got into position. Meanwhile, outside, a familiar noise could be heard within the night sky. A squadron of Imperial TIE Interceptors flew over the prison, flying escort for another squadron of TIE Bombers which stuck to the rear. "This is Wing Commander Trell, we're approaching the site." That site was the rebel artillery site; the trebuchets and catapults. They had a clear location, due to information received from the informant and from local agents who saw the site in the city. Now much more had changed than just the atmosphere. Danik halted his approach, and ended the spinning of his pistol; instead, with just a grin on his face, he gave his ultimatum. "Surrender and throw down your weapons. We know your every move. Do you think you just got in here all by yourself? Surrender, and we will show mercy." Nothing to do but wait.. and while some green-behind-the-ears soldiers always complain how they hate waiting, how the waiting is the worse parts Gunny Ramsis knows better.. he knows that the worse part is when people are shooting at him, and so he will take all the waiting he can before hell breaks loose.. not that he's not ready, but one does not retire, with full honors, from a Commando unit without knowing how to survive on the battlefield.. so for now he just mumbles a quick prayer to all the powers that be, and just keeps chewing his gum, wishing for the impossible, a cigarette.. cursing the non-smoker who designed his armor.. but then with a final grunt he grows still once more, just waiting for the signal.. Which comes, in the form of TIEs, an unmistakable sound for any NR soldiers.. so jumping off the back of the truck, which then raises at least 3 inches up now that the heavy-set, armored figured is gone, ex-Gunny Ramsis quickly looks up and around to take in the scene unfolding, hmm.. an ambush.. how quaint.. he hadn't fought his way out of one of those in a while "Get those E-webs up and start shooting at the TIE Bombers!" he bellows out, then without any hesitation his left arm comes up, the one holding the ZCF, and not even really aiming.. almost like shooting form the hips.. he sends an HE grenade toward the Prison compound, nailing one of the small guard shacks on the wall, now this is fun.. Then without looking back he starts moving toward the Prison, his right arm, the one with the A280, is swinging left and right, taking potshots at any Imps he can see, though from this distance, and since he's on the move, the retired soldier's not really expecting to hit anyone.. nevertheless, suppression fire is priceless and for every Imp he forces to stay down that means one less enemy shooting at his comrades.. A metallic 'glomp' indicating that his ZCF just reloaded itself and indeed on his HUD the red icon switches to green, so Ramsis pauses for a second to take aim and lets another HE grenade loose toward the Prison, this one impacting low against the reinforced walls.. and he can only hope that the rest of his resistance friends are going to join him or this will be one heroic, but rather short lived attack.. (Naota) Marching... marching... Gunter begins to grow uneasy as a sound rises on the wind. Glancing up, he is proud to see the rush of TIE fighters and bombers swoop like birds of prey on the hapless rebels in the prison. His heart swells in his breast and he marches with more aplomb than before. Yes, it was good to be in the Empire... The comm device on Dibar's left wrist beeps twice, indicating that the ambush has been sprung. "About damned time.", Dibar mutters, and kicks open the door to his speeder. He pulls a one-shot rocket launcher from the driver's seat, and sets it on his shoulder. Taking aim for the front of the rebel's hover truck, he pauses as he sees a large moving...thing exit the back of the truck. "Oh frag me.", Dibar curses, as he recognizes the shape and weapons associated with a man in assault armor. As the armored-man begins unloading on the imperials, Dibar twists slightly and trains the rocket on the new threat, taking aim through the rocket's sights. A grenade explosion nearby jars Dibar just as he presses the fire button, sending his aim just slightly off course. A rockets jets away in a brief 'hisss', and detonates at the feet of the armored beast. Behind Dibar, L3-ET is knocked down and backwards by the back-blast of the rocket, sending out an electronic squeel as he goes flying. Stared in stunned silence for a moment, eyes wide and unseen underneat the helmet. Someone had betrayed them. Looking between the gun now pointed at him, and the men around him, he gasped for breath, unsure of what to do. He hadn't been trained for ground combat, he was a pilot. He couldn't dodge a pat on the back if his life depended on it. In frozen panic, all he could do was mutter audibly, "But... who..?" Hearing explosions and gunfire behind him, he realized there was no way they could talk their way out of this. Recovering slightly, he muttered in a tone none could hear into his com, tight-beamed to his patrollers. "We need that extra firepower raining down on the compound, NOW" Looking into the eyes of the man in front of him, he felt the blood course through his veins violently. Stars exploding in front of him, he asks again, this time the anger pouring forth through a single word. "/Who/?" Instinctively, Fenn equips his blaster rifle and aims it at Danik, albeit his finger strays from the trigger. And soon enough, as the evident ambush is sprung and the legion of prepared Imperial troops reveal themselves, his hands lower in obvious hesitation. It is an hesitation which imbues itself within his otherwise adamant bass, tainting his vocal strength with what would seem to be audible hopelessness. "Men, either guns up and find some cover, or throw 'em down. This isn't going to be an easy one." Chaos erupted as the ambush was sprung. The Imperial bombers and fighters flew over the prison at high speeds (though slower than one would think, considering the speed of TIE craft is drastically decreased in atmosphere) towards the location of the rebel artillery position. The bomb-bay doors to the Bombers opened up as the pilots pressed the bombs-away switch. Immediately bombs appeared from underneath the bombers, dropping almost peacefully down to the ground below where it would explode on the hill where the artillery was stationed. Explosions rang out through the prison as well, as the Imperial stormtroopers and hired hands (namely the one man army, Dibar) took the golden opportunity and launched their attack on the rebels-in-disguise. But a lot more action was occuring within the prison itself; the Imperial troops and Danik Kreldin had thirty-five of the rebels cornered in the security corridor. Danik, his pistol still in hand, slowly approached the group of rebels, his stormtroopers closing in on them from both sides. "This is your last chance, scum. There's no hope for you if you fight," he said, his eyes gazing over the E-web emplacements. "Don't throw your lives away unneedlessly," he said, his pace not slowing down despite one of the rebels aiming at him. Smiling, Kreldin merely chuckled. Incoming! Short range rocket.. and with that Gunny Ramsis tries to get out of the way, but he doesn't quite make it.. though thank the Force he didn't eat the missile head on.. still.. with a frown under his helmet he notes that his ZCF's autoloader is damaged, half the feeding mechanism is gone.. but at least the internal magazine didn't cook off.. which is always a bonus when it comes to HE grenades.. so with a slight shrug he drops the now useless weapon and jettisons the leftover grenades, seeing no reason to carry such a dangerous cargo on his back, especially since he has no real means of utilizing them anymore.. So now he just grabs his rifle with both hands, which gives him more accuracy anyway, and continues charging toward the prison in his now somewhat pockmarked Assault Armor.. hoping that the others are right behind him.. he ducks and rolls as some of the Imps are starting to engage him from the top of the wall, coming up behind some cover, taking quick aim and nailing an enemy soldier right in the chest, cooking the man's lungs with a simple blast from his powerful A280.. one more down, plenty more left to kill.. including the one who fired that rocket at him.. (Naota) Marine Sergeant Jimmy "Grizzly" Hoolihan had been standing by, idly waiting for the signal to commence bombing the compound. He snapped to attention when he heard explosions and gunfire from the Prison, and the familiar sound of TIEs above. He watched the bombs drop slowly, as if in a dream. The explosions rocked the ground like an earthquake. Falling to his knees, the Sergeant watched as the 'Distracto-Unit' commander dissapeared in a ball of fire. Poor accountant. Taking it upon himself to begin leading, he began shouting orders about. Grabbing the young private Eoin by the collar, he orders him to stay close, struggling to be heard over the explosions rocking the landscape. "Private! Man that E-web! Commence firing at anything that moves!" Just before pushing the Private towards the one E-web left standing, he holds back for just a second, quickly whispering to him. "Don't die, either." Shoving the Private towards the gun, Hoolihan pulled out his vibro-knife, and began cutting the rope to launch the ammuniton from the remaining seige-weapons. (Ridge) The heartbeat of Private Eoin thuds in his ears as he looks up to see the TIEs floating in, announcing his impending doom with subtle courtesy. Choking back the panic with a thick gulp, Private Eoin staggers, before the Sarge grabs his shoulder. The young man blinks, before nodding, and with that order, his steel resolve returns...but not before a single tear finds its way out of his facade, trailing down his stubbled cheek. Fine! He always expected to die on the field of battle, but he never expected to die so soon. Irregardless, he's convinced himself that if today is his day to die, than he shall guarantee there are plenty of Imperials to escort his path to Hell. The teenage Corellian grabs the trigger of the E-Web, and starts firing, giving the TIEs a heavy lead with the fire in order to get them to run into his own plasma fire. "For the Glory of the Republic! Ahhhhhh!" With a clatter, the spent rocket launcher is dropped to the ground. Dibar takes a moment to look behind him, noting the black scorch mark on the front of his droid. "Frag. Sorry, Leet." "I'm okay...I'm fine...no problem.", Leet keeps repeating, obviously dazed. Dibar looks back, expecting to see the armored soldier out of commission, but this is not the case. "Frag.", Dibar says as he quickly takes aim with his sub-machine gun. He fires a burst at the assault armor and then sidesteps, taking cover behind the open door of the speeder. Dibar kneels, and then fires two additional bursts at his target, aimed at center mass. Realizing that he's not facing a normal suit of combat armor, Dibar aims upwards a bit, firing again at his target's faceplate. Hearing the glatter and crash of glorious battle engaged, Gunter fairly flies from where he was patrolling to a vantage point. He aims his rifle down into the pit where all the noise is but... from here it is difficult to say exactly which stormtroopers are the good guys. Well, if they are rebels, they deserve their fate. If they are not, they will die for the glory of the Emperor. So, with somewhat reckless abandon, he begins selecting targets and picking them off. Ridge was grinding his teeth now, uncertain of what to do. He couldn't risk the lives of the rebels any more than he already had, but he couldn't just give them up to the Empire either. Eying the E-webs carefully, he was just about to make his decision when option C came to him. They were only barely inside the corridor. It would take all but 6 seconds for the rebels to pull themselves out of this death trap into the one outside. Whispering softly into his helmet radio, he quickly but sternly tells them to rush out the door they just came in, and to do it fast. Feeling them stir uncomfortably, he helps make up their mind. "DO IT NOW!!" As the scream rips from his throat, he sends a few parting shots towards the figure in front of them, a small plan forging in his mind. Turning around, he watches as his 'troops' rush into the Imperial Stormtroopers. His face red with anger under his helmet, he screeches into the radio. "SHOOT PAST THEM! IT'S THE ONLY WAY!" Opening fire himself, he watches as an Imperial ST in front of him is cut down before his blaster bolts. Turning around, he shoots backwards through the melee, making sure they aren't shot from behind without his knowledge. And in six seconds, with the number of blasters and E-webs aimed at the group, a good six-hundred or more shots could be easily fired at the group. If Fenn expressed hesitation before, it now drips from him and radiates as an aura. "Ridge, this is damn suicide!" he exclaims, as his helmed-head bleakly descends to his chest. Dropping his rifle, he continues, tone rife with a certain despair: "Live to fight another day, men. God damned tricky bastards have us. Better to get out of this mess as one piece later than a couple-blaster-cooked pieces now." A number of his fellows seem to agree, as a symphony of metallic clinks resounds as weapons fall to the ground. "Commander, we're receiving incoming enemy fire from below!" exclaimed one of the bomber pilots. But it was over for that poor pilot; his craft erupted into a bright and firey explosion, as the debris and the bulk of the craft exploded into a city street. Two more bombers fell victim to the heroic efforts of the gunner, Private Eoin, down below; the bombers and fighters spread out to avoid getting clunked together. One Imperial interceptor dived in towards the hill, its cannons sending linked laser blasts down to the hill below. Fortunately for Eoin, however, he was a small target, and a lucky one; the TIE missed its marked and instead was hitby Eoin's E-web fire. The Interceptor spun madly out of control, flew over the private's head by a few meters, and slammed into the hill behind the artillery. Meanwhile, a hole in the courtyard perimeter was formed as the wily Sluissi and his explosives, sending several unlucky stormtroopers flying into the air and down on the pavement, their armor charred and ruined. In the courtyard itself, some of the stormtroopers found themselves getting shot by one of their own - Gunter. Some of the stormtroopers quickly reacted to this, fearing Gunter was another rebel in disguise. Immediately blaster fire was opened up on Gunter's position along the perimeter wall. Meanwhile, back inside the corridor, Ridge and the rebels decided on a rather daring move; the stormtroopers behind the group of thirty-five men are quick to respond. One falls victim immediately, but the others pull back to the end and open fire with their blasters as the group of thirty-five men comes at them. However, the stormtroopers did have one advantage; due to the size of the corridor, everyone was fairly packed in. The stormtroopers could only hope that the rebels, running in such a tight space, would trip over each other. However, the troopers on the other side of the group sees this happening and they open fire as the E-webs open up on the group of men as they attempt to make their escape. However, the rebels that did thrown down their arms, realizing the suicidal nature of the move, were spared from the Imperial onslaught as the troops made a conscience effort to avoid hitting them. Nearing the prison's main outer wall Ramsis keeps moving, dodging side to side, trying to avoid the majority of the return fire from the Imperial troops.. noting with a wry grin that most of them still hasn't learned how to properly aim.. they might wear a different uniform now.. but nevertheless they should still go back to basic and spend some time on the range.. then as something clatters against his breastplate he frowns under his helmet.. projectile weapons.. who still uses those? Then as his eyes scan the battlefield he suddenly spots Dibar hiding behind the swoop just as the.. a merc?! raises his weapons and triggers another burst at the ex-Commando's head.. and Ramsis barely manages to get out of the way.. for while most of his armor could handle Dibar's submachinegun.. the faceplate is indeed a weak point.. and even though he did manage to spin away just in time he still got most of the round right in the back of his helmet, impacting against the reinforced dura-steel plates, momentarily stunning the retired Commando as he sails through the air, landing rather ungracefully with an almost belly-flop and then just keep sliding on the ground due to his momentum.. coming to stop behind a large tree with a -thud- where he remains motionless for a few seconds before slowly coming around and trying to reorient himself and assess the situation to determine what to do next.. (Naota) Watching as the last of the rubble went flying overhead towards the compound, more explosions rent the plant around him. One of them rocking a trebuchet so violently that it began falling towards the Sergeant. Diving out of the way just in time, he looks up to see the brave little Private manning the E-web, taking out more fighters than some Starfighter pilots could do. Laughing slightly to himself, he mutters, "We need more like him. We really do." Moving up to a crouching position, he watches as the TIEs above began concentrating their aim more towards their last remaining weapon. Noticing that it was still attatched to the truck, he muttered a quick "Huzzah" and ran towards the man-gun-truck system. Urging the 9 or 10 remaining rebels towards the fight below, he calls out loudly, "Go give 'em hell, troops! That's why we're here!!" Watching as they ran recklessly down the hill towards the new-born hole in the wall, sends a few shots from his assault rifle towards the compound. After reaching the Private, he gives another order to the young man. "Alright kid. You're doing good. Time to check your balance. We're going in there. With that E-web. Sit tight." Turning swiftly, he takes the distance to the door in 3 long strides. Getting in the driver seat, he starts the vehicle, turning it in a wide semi-circle, now aiming downhill towards the compound. Steering with his right hand, he held his gun out the window with his left, trigger down, bolts flying, aiming for anything that moved that looked unfriendly. Private Eoin's mind is a swirl of panic and bloodlust. As the Sarge barks orders, the teen is barely cognizant that he's being spoken to, except when Sarge starts to drive, the private lets out a whoop....but its cut short. A stray blast from the recently destroyed Interceptor strikes nearby the Private, sending him flying through the air from the shockwave. The world is dark, soundless and abyssmal. Slowly color fades in, then takes shape, as the dull sound becomes a steady roar of shouts and chaos. Private Eoin shakes it off, and climbs back onto the E-Web. Its not until he reaches for the trigger that he discovers his left arm is no longer there. Private Eoin plops down, as the blood seeps out from the wound. Shock keeps him calm, and the lack of blood drowsy, but he accepts his fate with those same steel nerves. With his final thought, an image of a beatiful raven-haired woman appears, and Eoin Dunn expends his final breath in a choking sob. "I-i'm sorry I can't come home, M-mom..." Eoin sleeps, and awakens no more. With the downing of the assault armor, Dibar judges the biggest threat to be neutralized. Dibar ejects a magazine from his weapon and slams another one back into place, and charging the weapon. He moves carefully, but purposefully towards the hover truck's cab, keeping his weapon trained on the vehicle. Reaching the vehicle, Dibar keeps watch for someone to appear in the cab, as he fishes for something inside his combat harness. Finally pulling a grenade out, Dibar kneels down, pulls the pin from the exposive, and tosses it underneath the truck. He takes off in a run, and manages to find cover before the explosion goes off. The grenade detonates, spewing flame and smoke out from underneath the vehicle, and a moment later the cab and forward section of the truck explode upwards in a fireball, sending bits of shrapnel into the air. Feeling reckless in his haste, Sev covers his head as his explosives go off. The explosion is close enough to throw Sev off his feet, if he'd had feet to be thrown off of, and the shower him with dirt. Now there's a distraction for you. The blast blows a chunk out of the courtyard wall, sending the splintered and twisted remains of said wall into the courtyard as a couple tons of shrapnel. If there were any power lines or anything else running though that section they would now be severed. Like a vengeful serpent zombie, Sev raises out of the loose earth covering him. Swinging his blaster rifle free he opens fire into on the top of the wall, wild shots mostly to encourage anyone up there to keep they're head down. What's this? What's this? Debris falls to strike the walk around Gunter. He startles, stepping backwards. His rifle lifts and a shot is fired into the air where so many TIE fighters dip and dance. Where is the debris coming from? He looks about in dismay, then shakes the confusion off. These rebel scum are 'sploding things all over the place... But, he will stop them, oh yes indeed. Ducking his head a bit to present a smaller target, Gunter brings his rifle to bear once more. Alas for the good trooper, the detonations and wild mayhem have shaken the wall near where he stands. One more explosion and the wall gives way. With a cry like one of teh damned reclaimed, he tumbles into the breach beneath rubble and stone. As Ridge keeps stepping backward with a quick pace and a long stride, he notices some of his men not following. Well that was their choice, he though to himself. If they wanted to stay behind, that was /their/ ticket to hell. Suddenly, the corridor forms into the outside world. They were out of the corridor! Shutting the blast door as more shots came his way, he turned, examining the chaos around him. Through his helmet-com, he ordered all his men to take off their helmets. They needed a way to tell friend from foe. Yelling out orders and firing shots at random groups of Imperials, he notices the large gap where the motorpool used to be. Well sithspit. Now they had to leave on foot. Ordering his men to seek cover behind the large chunks of debri, Ridge racks his brains, wondering if there was still a possibility of saving any prisoners. With the ringing still in his ears and half his HUD flickering on and off Ramsis slowly gets back on his feet, then even more slowly reaches up this head, checking the back of the helmet for fist size holes, cause that's how it feels.. but no breech.. just a few dents.. making him wonder, briefly, just what sort of ammunition the merc was using.. but he can't afford to worry about that right now, though later on he is planning to find this man again, then with that he frown and just shakes his head, immediately regretting that decision as it sets off waves and waves of pain inside his skull and all the way down to his neck.. But at least the pain helped to clear his head.. so with that he snaps his visor up, figuring that the flickering LCD just makes it harder to assess the situation.. which is apparently not good, not good at all.. their attack has failed.. and as a veteran soldier he knows when heroism turns into stupidity and he also knows how to avoid going down that road.. which is why he's still alive today.. and with his rifle gone.. he just pulls his Kylan-3 form its holster and turning around starts making his way back toward the city, hoping to avoid any Imp patrols in the area.. and probably he should also find a good place to ditch his armor, for now at least, so he'd be a little less conspicuous moving through the residential areas of Chandrila.. (Naota) Hands raised in the air, Fenn and the accompanying men that surrendered simply glance back at their escaping fellows -- and the trail of Imperial blaster fire following their efforts. Affixing his gaze upon Danik, then, he remains utterly wordless. The faint beginnings of a smirk arise underneath his stormtrooper helm, invisible to all his trapped 'comrades.' The power in the prison turned down as Sev's explosion ripped through the power lines and generator. Blackness engulfed the area as the lights in the courtyard turned off as well. The explosion of the truck, coupled with the explosives already set on it, created a massive explosion which sent men flying and other vehicles already in the court yard into a massive fireball which was seen throughout Hanna City. As the twenty remaining rebels escaped from the corridor, the E-webs powered down and stopped firing; the five troops who surrendered were quickly apprehended by a few of the Imperial troops. Danik wasn't sure which one was Fenn, and he didn't have the time to do a search. Instead, he followed the surviving troops out of the hall, walking over the dead bodies of the rebels. As Kreldin and his stormtroopers exited the hall and out into the courtyard, in persuit of Ridge and his men, the backup generator kicked in and provided some illumination to the courtyard. The fight against the other troops in the courtyard had mostly died out, giving the remaining stormtroopers a chance to regroup and regain a semblence of order. But that was about to change once more as Ridge and his group made their escape from the hall. The stormtroopers quickly aimed their blasters at the group and opened fire. Having lost his E-weber, 'Grizzly' drove even more recklessly through the hole in the wall and the debri around him. Seeing a lack of fighters on his side, he swears to himself. "This won't do. This won't do at all." Noticing a Stormtrooper sprinting after the freshly escaped Infiltration unit, he accelerates the truck into the man, and steers towards a hunk of degree, ending the Strooper's days on Chandrila. Stopping the vehicle where it was, the Stormtrooper still wedged beneath the craft and the debris, the Sergeant climbed out of the vehicle and climbed onto the back where the E-web was still in one piece. Grabbing hold of the trigger, he started shooting towards the men who had just come out of the building, shooting at Ridge and his men. The stormtroopers assaulting Ridge and his nineteen continue to fire, that is until Hoolihan arrives with his E-web. Five of the stormtroopers are killed instantly, while the others quickly disperse to find some cover. Meanwhile, Danik and his men arrive from behind Ridge, their blasters opening fire on the group of rebel escapees. High above the sky, the Imperial bombers once again arrive over the prison; bombs are released from their hatch towards Hoolihan's truck as the interceptors fly in low to provide some close air-support to the troops, their cannons opening up on Ridge's group of men. Deprived of his precious explosives Sev can only give what support he can with the blaster rifle. He snaps off shots up at the top of the wall and at any group of storm troopers he can find. The roar of approaching tie fighters changes his plan though. Eyeing the low flying fighters he brings out his remote detonator again. If they keep low enough and fly over his explosives line he'll trigger the whole group right under them. Turning around to witness five of the Imperials following them dissapear, Ridge felt a slight hope. A hope that soon died as he saw the rest of the Imperials chasing after them. One of the men next to him was cut down by a laser blast. Reaching for the man's gun, Ridge pulled it up, and opened fire on the oncoming horde of Imperials, not caring who he hit. Urging his men towards another chunk of debris, he began firing on the Imperials chasing them, as well as the Imperials on the remaining walltops. Taking a grenade, he stood up to throw it. Diving as he did so, a not-so-stray blaster bolt took a chunk out of his shin, making the pilot scream in pain. He watched as the grenade exploded near the group, but not with an explosion large enough or near enough to cause any significant damage. Watching as his 19, no, 18.. 17.. 16 men crouched behind the debris, shooting at the Imperials, he felt a small sense of pride towards his men as he slowly slipped into unconscience-ness. Reaching for his com-link, he uttered a final order to Hoolihan, the marine manning the E-web, before the blackness overtook him. "If you care for your planet, or for yourselves, family, or your comrades, order them to put their weapons down. Today is not our day. But it is coming. Remember that." Danik stopped short as Ridge and the remaining rebels opened fire on them; two stormtroopers fell dead. The other stormtroopers who had took cover now were using their cover to take shots at the rebels who were thinning in number. The starfighters continued to fly low over the area, unknown to them that explosives were rigged below them. The starfighters continued to take shots at the rebels below, hoping to end this before any more Imperial lives were lost. Still on the back of the E-web, shooting at random groups of Imperials, Sergeant Hoolihan hears Ridge over the comlink. Swearing to himself, he realized that they would not win this battle. Shooting a few last shots over the compound, he bellows so that all can hear him. "STAND DOWN REBELS! THIS IS AN ORDER FROM YOUR COMMANDER! NO MORE LIVES LOST THIS DAY!" Keeping his rifle close, he jumps off the back of the truck, and dives into the cab through the still-open door. Watching as they put their guns down and their hands up, he nodded grimly, hating how this had ended. Accelerating quickly, he backs straight out through the torn-apart wall like a cork from a bottle. Spinning the wheel, he manuevers the car back to Rebel HQ. Ridge's last words had stuck with him. "Find Luke. For the love of God, find Luke. He can rescue us." Sev sets off his explosives line mere seconds before the fighters roar over them, hopping to catch the group in the concussion wave. Before this debacle they were suppose to be just a distraction for when they pulled out, dam, what now? With imperials coming down on them like ant's to a picnic the Sluissi lets of a resigned sigh before throwing his rifle down and raises his hands. "I sssssurender. Pleassssse, let me ssssssee to the wounded, I am a medic." The massive explosion caught a few low-flying fighters and engulfed them entirely; the TIEs fell to the ground as heaps of metal. A few other TIEs were thrown off course from the concussion wave and sent spiraling into the prison complex. And now, after many lives were lost, the battle had finally ended, but at a huge cost. The prison court was nothing but fire, dead bodies and heaps of debris. The prison complex was in shambles, and the dead numbered close to the triple digits. But Kreldin had survived, again. The few remaining stormtroopers saw to the surrendering troops, placing cuffs on them and consficating their weaponry, as Kreldin supervised. "Keep these men alive..we shall use them as bait, for Skywalker...it's unfortunate he wasn't here this time, but he'll come...he'll come." A few other stormtroopers brought the Slussi in upon his surrender; figuring they needed a medic too, they let the Slussi tend to the wounded Imperials first, while whatever wounded rebels would have to wait. All in all, over fifty stormtroopers had been lost throughout the fight, as well as numerous fighters and bombers. The prison and its surroundings suffered heavy property damage, with fires spreading throughout the prison. All in all, it was a heavy price to pay for victory, but they had achieved it..with the help of a certain Fenn, of course. Danik looked up into the night sky, his mind racing with ideas as to where Skywalker could be. He suposed to come... kicking some dirt, Kreldin turned around and returned to the prison to deal with the cleaning up process. From SW1ki, a Wikia wiki.
- The sun was just beginning to set in the Chandrilan sky. The normal chatter of the birds and animals had drawn quiet. Their seeming sixth sense told them that something was about to happen. This was just the silence before the storm. The rebel resistance was doing final planning for their most important strike on the Empire yet. Jailbreak. A bloody jailbreak to show the Empire that these weren't just street punks. These were men forced to fight against the odds. A lone birdcall heralds the arrival of the street-hardened resistance. Ridge looks around the cab of the truck he was riding passenger in. Ridge nods to Fenn, the driver and Infiltration Unit leader, sweat dripping down his brow from the heavy Stormtrooper helmet he was wearing. Complete silence. There seemed to be an unusual calm in their surroundings. No movement. No birdsong. No chatter of the squirrels. Not even wind. Suppressing a small shudder, he looked forward out the windshield as the Chandrilan Prison loomed closer. Everything was set. He had 38 men in the back of the truck, ready to fight. His distraction was ready to deploy at the right signal, and his air strike was ready to back the escape. He even had a special surprise strapped under the truck. As the truck pulls in front of the blast doors, Ridge waits for them to open, muttering a small prayer for himself and his comrades. The Imperial prison was eerily quiet. Perhaps too quiet? Several guards could be seen from the outside walking along the prison walls, and the main gate leading into the prison courtyard still had its usual group of guards. But that was about it. No massive groups of stormtroopers patrolling the area, no bustle of activity as one might expect from an Imperial-run installation. Despite the fact that there have been a lot of terrorist activities taking place on Chandrila, with an attack on Chandrila just yesterday, the Imperials were strangely unoccupied with the prison - or so it seemed from the outside. Who knows what was going on in the inside? Most people would rather not guess. As the truck pulled up to the check point in front of the main gate, the stormtrooper officer approached the driver's side and asked for ID, and, when all was verified and approved, the officer raised his hand to signal the opening of the gate. The blast doors slowly slid open, revealing the courtyard and motor pool to the Imperial prison. Ridge's nod was returned by a slight bow of Fenn's helmed-head, as he brought the vehicle to a halt at the Imperial checkpoint. Offering the approaching stormtrooper naught but a swift glance, he casually brought up his ID, and drove the truck through the blast doors and to its appropriate position. The truck rolls to a stop. In the back, the troopers exchange glances with one another, team members quietly making sure each of the others around him is ready for what's about to take place. With a loud, metallic sound, the door unseals and rises, casting the day's fading light into the cargo area and onto the staring, black eyespots of the soldiers. Automatically, each of them snaps to attention, then begin their structured march from the truck and into formation behind it. (Enb'Zik) Prudence Barry sits in her jail cell, reading a book. She is a fair skined woman, with short brown hair, and brown eyes. She has a few freckles on her face, and she wears a standard Empire POW uniform. Just another day in this dirty, Imperial POW prison. Prudence really needs to get out of here, so she can get more of a life, maybe join the NR military. She might like that, much like working for her former boss, Senator Vala. While technically an Assault Armor does not qualify as a Heavy Weapon, like say the E-webs on the back of the hover trucks, most people who ever faced a seasoned soldier wearing an assault armor would agree, if they were still alive, that they should indeed qualify as one.. and now the Imperial garrison will have the unique opportunity to learn why.. Crouching on the back of the third truck retired Gunnery Sergeant, NR Commandoes, Vik Rannis' command, Fael Ramsis closes down his helmet's visor, sealing up the armor, the armor that could also double as a space-suit and just smiles as his LCD populates, displaying various bits of information on the inside of his visor. His gloved hands tighten around his weapons, an A280 rifle and a ZCF autoloader, plus like another 5 weapons strapped to various parts of his armor.. he's ready to go.. once the signal is give.. And while he's waiting.. he once more gives warm thanks to the Princess Leia and her generous gift.. he never expected to find an Assault Armor in the weapon cash she brought in.. but since he did.. he might as well make full use of it.. it's not quite an Enhanced Armor, but those are hard to come by these days.. and besides, an Assault one should be enough for this mission anyway.. then seeing the time-stamp in the upper left corner of his HUD after some hesitation he switches over to low-light vision as the sun's gonna be setting soon.. then growing still he once more just relaxes in place, something he practiced a lot while he was still an NR Commando, waiting for the fun to start, chewing his mint-flavored gum under his helmet, ready to show to these Imps that not every Chandrilans sold out to the Empire for the cure.. that some are, and always will be loyal to the New Republic.. and are willing to fight to the very end to regain their freedom.. (Naota) Fennthe leans against one of the trebuchets, fabricated from scratch by a number of the resistance's finest craftsmen, and glances to one of his 'officers.' "Hey," he says casually. "Get those E-webs charging. I want 'em working when we go. Catapults... pah!" (Mora) Private Eoin of the Republic's Marine Corp stands behind one of the trebuchets, peering out nervously. The Corellian was used to running headlong into the battle, but this just seemed like suicide! Irregardless, he wields the skills that pay the perverbeal bills, so he loiters around with the rest of them, remembering a time that volunteering to purposely attract the attention of the Imperials, and then run away, seemed like a good idea. Colonel Solon Halwinder is, as he is becoming infamous for, is inspecting some guards in a passegeway by the Prison Guards's barracks. He is very picky about uniforms, though he himself does not wear an Imperial uniform...nor does he wear Imperial armor or wield an Imperial gun. He simply strolls, quips, and doles out punishments. Dibar stands out in the middle of the compound's courtyard, leaning up against a battered speeder, and looking down at his droid L3-ET. Looking tired, the big man runs a hand through his short hair in an annoyed fashion, ending by scratching at the back of his next briefly. "We've been over this before, Leet. I do -not- want a contract with the Varduna colony. That place is a cesspool. Even if the Zara want it, they can have it!", Dibar tells his droid in a stern manner. The arrival of the trucks catches Dibar's attention enough to draw him away from his conversation with the droid. He rubs at his chin a bit, and snorts out an annoyed grunt as he watches the 'imperial' soldiers impassively. Why am I here? A question Cantrell has been asking himself for the past few days. Eh, it's something to do, nad plus, it can get him some brownie points with some important people. Sitting inside one of the offices in the compound, he quietly keeps himself reading a datapad on some new tactics the Stormtrooper legions are implementing. "Eh...bunch of wusses." It was a pretty day today with singing birds and a nice breeze. Pretty. Unfortunately, the day ended and it was evening and that means work. Taking his position on the walls of the prison, Gunter squares his broad shoulders and checks his rifle. He holds it before him in the proscribed manner appropriate for up and coming StormTroopers. Marching smartly from one end of the wall to the other, he focuses on being vigilant. Nothing will get by him. Nothing, do you hear? Sev is doing his own part for the coming distraction. Moving as only a Sluissi can, the serpentine creature is sliding along his belly, his body painted to match the landscape, as well as wearing camouflage clothing, a demolitions kit sliding along next to him. The sluissi plants explosives here and there between where the distraction is suppose to take place and the prison. Who ever comes to investigate is going to be in for one heck of a bang. Stepping from the truck, Ridge looks up through the helmet at the slowly lowering sun. He looks over towards the back end of the truck as his 'soldiers' file out in two long rows of twenty. Gesturing to Fenn to take the front of the column, Ridge walks towards the lines, making sure all were believable. Belief was a key here. Without it, they were screwed. Stopping part way down, he nods to one of the soldiers, signalling him to begin walking the perimeter with his group of four others. He leans slightly towards him. He gives a barely audible whisper of "Good luck" and turns back towards the front. Walking up towards the front of the line, he took an empty spot in front, leaving room for Fenn to lead them towards the main building. He licks his lips as a drop of sweat trickles down past his mouth. It was quite safe to say he was nervous. Quite safe indeed. As he exited the vehicle, Fenn quickly slid his hand over his rifle, as if to assure himself that it was still there -- there and ready. Glancing backwards, he waited for all of the faux-stormtroopers to step out of the truck before hastily striding to their head. Another nod was aimed at Ridge, and he proceeded towards the prison entrance through the motor pool. Brandishing his ID once again, he faced the guards and saluted the Colonel, expecting the former to open the doors without trouble for both him and his Republic contingent. And, of course, the Imperial guards did. As the doors to the prison opened, Fenn regained his position at Ridge's side, and entered the prison. Everything seemed to be going smoothly thus far. The trooper spoken to by Ridge hears the other man's words clearly, the audio pick-ups on his helmet passing them to an amplifier inside the armored frame and through a speaker near his ear. However, he gives no indication, remaining at attention as he obediently falls into step and moves out with the four others. The group makes their way toward the stairs leading to the tops of the walls, blasters held across their chests. "Good luck, indeed," Taron Dervwiler thinks to himself, glancing up at the guard towers as he reaches the steps. Prudence Barry looks out to the passing Imperial people and storm troopers. She goes back to her book, she's learned her lesson well enough, don't make trouble for the Imperial overlords. No, she will stay nice and good so she doesn't get beaten again. (Jenya) As the entrance to the prison opened up, leading into the security hallway, the twenty-yard walk, the atmosphere around the area seemed to change instantly. Everything seemed to stay the change - but, the mood was certainly different. As the thirty-five 'troops' entered the prison itself, everything turned different. As the troops filed into the security hall, a lone figure appeared on the other end of the hallway. Walking slowly forward, Danik Kreldin held his Kylan-3 blaster pistol in his right hand. The pistol span quickly around his index finger, in a show of some gunslingling. "I've been waiting for this...All units, we're good to go." Immediately the panels against the wall slid open, revealing the E-webs placed behind them, the barrels sticking out through the new slots in the wall. The door that which the rebels came through opened up once more, this time brandishing several stormtroopers; the door behind Kreldin too slid open, revealing more whom quickly surrounding Kreldin and got into position. Meanwhile, outside, a familiar noise could be heard within the night sky. A squadron of Imperial TIE Interceptors flew over the prison, flying escort for another squadron of TIE Bombers which stuck to the rear. "This is Wing Commander Trell, we're approaching the site." That site was the rebel artillery site; the trebuchets and catapults. They had a clear location, due to information received from the informant and from local agents who saw the site in the city. Now much more had changed than just the atmosphere. Danik halted his approach, and ended the spinning of his pistol; instead, with just a grin on his face, he gave his ultimatum. "Surrender and throw down your weapons. We know your every move. Do you think you just got in here all by yourself? Surrender, and we will show mercy." Nothing to do but wait.. and while some green-behind-the-ears soldiers always complain how they hate waiting, how the waiting is the worse parts Gunny Ramsis knows better.. he knows that the worse part is when people are shooting at him, and so he will take all the waiting he can before hell breaks loose.. not that he's not ready, but one does not retire, with full honors, from a Commando unit without knowing how to survive on the battlefield.. so for now he just mumbles a quick prayer to all the powers that be, and just keeps chewing his gum, wishing for the impossible, a cigarette.. cursing the non-smoker who designed his armor.. but then with a final grunt he grows still once more, just waiting for the signal.. Which comes, in the form of TIEs, an unmistakable sound for any NR soldiers.. so jumping off the back of the truck, which then raises at least 3 inches up now that the heavy-set, armored figured is gone, ex-Gunny Ramsis quickly looks up and around to take in the scene unfolding, hmm.. an ambush.. how quaint.. he hadn't fought his way out of one of those in a while "Get those E-webs up and start shooting at the TIE Bombers!" he bellows out, then without any hesitation his left arm comes up, the one holding the ZCF, and not even really aiming.. almost like shooting form the hips.. he sends an HE grenade toward the Prison compound, nailing one of the small guard shacks on the wall, now this is fun.. Then without looking back he starts moving toward the Prison, his right arm, the one with the A280, is swinging left and right, taking potshots at any Imps he can see, though from this distance, and since he's on the move, the retired soldier's not really expecting to hit anyone.. nevertheless, suppression fire is priceless and for every Imp he forces to stay down that means one less enemy shooting at his comrades.. A metallic 'glomp' indicating that his ZCF just reloaded itself and indeed on his HUD the red icon switches to green, so Ramsis pauses for a second to take aim and lets another HE grenade loose toward the Prison, this one impacting low against the reinforced walls.. and he can only hope that the rest of his resistance friends are going to join him or this will be one heroic, but rather short lived attack.. (Naota) Marching... marching... Gunter begins to grow uneasy as a sound rises on the wind. Glancing up, he is proud to see the rush of TIE fighters and bombers swoop like birds of prey on the hapless rebels in the prison. His heart swells in his breast and he marches with more aplomb than before. Yes, it was good to be in the Empire... The comm device on Dibar's left wrist beeps twice, indicating that the ambush has been sprung. "About damned time.", Dibar mutters, and kicks open the door to his speeder. He pulls a one-shot rocket launcher from the driver's seat, and sets it on his shoulder. Taking aim for the front of the rebel's hover truck, he pauses as he sees a large moving...thing exit the back of the truck. "Oh frag me.", Dibar curses, as he recognizes the shape and weapons associated with a man in assault armor. As the armored-man begins unloading on the imperials, Dibar twists slightly and trains the rocket on the new threat, taking aim through the rocket's sights. A grenade explosion nearby jars Dibar just as he presses the fire button, sending his aim just slightly off course. A rockets jets away in a brief 'hisss', and detonates at the feet of the armored beast. Behind Dibar, L3-ET is knocked down and backwards by the back-blast of the rocket, sending out an electronic squeel as he goes flying. Stared in stunned silence for a moment, eyes wide and unseen underneat the helmet. Someone had betrayed them. Looking between the gun now pointed at him, and the men around him, he gasped for breath, unsure of what to do. He hadn't been trained for ground combat, he was a pilot. He couldn't dodge a pat on the back if his life depended on it. In frozen panic, all he could do was mutter audibly, "But... who..?" Hearing explosions and gunfire behind him, he realized there was no way they could talk their way out of this. Recovering slightly, he muttered in a tone none could hear into his com, tight-beamed to his patrollers. "We need that extra firepower raining down on the compound, NOW" Looking into the eyes of the man in front of him, he felt the blood course through his veins violently. Stars exploding in front of him, he asks again, this time the anger pouring forth through a single word. "/Who/?" Instinctively, Fenn equips his blaster rifle and aims it at Danik, albeit his finger strays from the trigger. And soon enough, as the evident ambush is sprung and the legion of prepared Imperial troops reveal themselves, his hands lower in obvious hesitation. It is an hesitation which imbues itself within his otherwise adamant bass, tainting his vocal strength with what would seem to be audible hopelessness. "Men, either guns up and find some cover, or throw 'em down. This isn't going to be an easy one." Chaos erupted as the ambush was sprung. The Imperial bombers and fighters flew over the prison at high speeds (though slower than one would think, considering the speed of TIE craft is drastically decreased in atmosphere) towards the location of the rebel artillery position. The bomb-bay doors to the Bombers opened up as the pilots pressed the bombs-away switch. Immediately bombs appeared from underneath the bombers, dropping almost peacefully down to the ground below where it would explode on the hill where the artillery was stationed. Explosions rang out through the prison as well, as the Imperial stormtroopers and hired hands (namely the one man army, Dibar) took the golden opportunity and launched their attack on the rebels-in-disguise. But a lot more action was occuring within the prison itself; the Imperial troops and Danik Kreldin had thirty-five of the rebels cornered in the security corridor. Danik, his pistol still in hand, slowly approached the group of rebels, his stormtroopers closing in on them from both sides. "This is your last chance, scum. There's no hope for you if you fight," he said, his eyes gazing over the E-web emplacements. "Don't throw your lives away unneedlessly," he said, his pace not slowing down despite one of the rebels aiming at him. Smiling, Kreldin merely chuckled. Incoming! Short range rocket.. and with that Gunny Ramsis tries to get out of the way, but he doesn't quite make it.. though thank the Force he didn't eat the missile head on.. still.. with a frown under his helmet he notes that his ZCF's autoloader is damaged, half the feeding mechanism is gone.. but at least the internal magazine didn't cook off.. which is always a bonus when it comes to HE grenades.. so with a slight shrug he drops the now useless weapon and jettisons the leftover grenades, seeing no reason to carry such a dangerous cargo on his back, especially since he has no real means of utilizing them anymore.. So now he just grabs his rifle with both hands, which gives him more accuracy anyway, and continues charging toward the prison in his now somewhat pockmarked Assault Armor.. hoping that the others are right behind him.. he ducks and rolls as some of the Imps are starting to engage him from the top of the wall, coming up behind some cover, taking quick aim and nailing an enemy soldier right in the chest, cooking the man's lungs with a simple blast from his powerful A280.. one more down, plenty more left to kill.. including the one who fired that rocket at him.. (Naota) Marine Sergeant Jimmy "Grizzly" Hoolihan had been standing by, idly waiting for the signal to commence bombing the compound. He snapped to attention when he heard explosions and gunfire from the Prison, and the familiar sound of TIEs above. He watched the bombs drop slowly, as if in a dream. The explosions rocked the ground like an earthquake. Falling to his knees, the Sergeant watched as the 'Distracto-Unit' commander dissapeared in a ball of fire. Poor accountant. Taking it upon himself to begin leading, he began shouting orders about. Grabbing the young private Eoin by the collar, he orders him to stay close, struggling to be heard over the explosions rocking the landscape. "Private! Man that E-web! Commence firing at anything that moves!" Just before pushing the Private towards the one E-web left standing, he holds back for just a second, quickly whispering to him. "Don't die, either." Shoving the Private towards the gun, Hoolihan pulled out his vibro-knife, and began cutting the rope to launch the ammuniton from the remaining seige-weapons. (Ridge) The heartbeat of Private Eoin thuds in his ears as he looks up to see the TIEs floating in, announcing his impending doom with subtle courtesy. Choking back the panic with a thick gulp, Private Eoin staggers, before the Sarge grabs his shoulder. The young man blinks, before nodding, and with that order, his steel resolve returns...but not before a single tear finds its way out of his facade, trailing down his stubbled cheek. Fine! He always expected to die on the field of battle, but he never expected to die so soon. Irregardless, he's convinced himself that if today is his day to die, than he shall guarantee there are plenty of Imperials to escort his path to Hell. The teenage Corellian grabs the trigger of the E-Web, and starts firing, giving the TIEs a heavy lead with the fire in order to get them to run into his own plasma fire. "For the Glory of the Republic! Ahhhhhh!" With a clatter, the spent rocket launcher is dropped to the ground. Dibar takes a moment to look behind him, noting the black scorch mark on the front of his droid. "Frag. Sorry, Leet." "I'm okay...I'm fine...no problem.", Leet keeps repeating, obviously dazed. Dibar looks back, expecting to see the armored soldier out of commission, but this is not the case. "Frag.", Dibar says as he quickly takes aim with his sub-machine gun. He fires a burst at the assault armor and then sidesteps, taking cover behind the open door of the speeder. Dibar kneels, and then fires two additional bursts at his target, aimed at center mass. Realizing that he's not facing a normal suit of combat armor, Dibar aims upwards a bit, firing again at his target's faceplate. Hearing the glatter and crash of glorious battle engaged, Gunter fairly flies from where he was patrolling to a vantage point. He aims his rifle down into the pit where all the noise is but... from here it is difficult to say exactly which stormtroopers are the good guys. Well, if they are rebels, they deserve their fate. If they are not, they will die for the glory of the Emperor. So, with somewhat reckless abandon, he begins selecting targets and picking them off. Ridge was grinding his teeth now, uncertain of what to do. He couldn't risk the lives of the rebels any more than he already had, but he couldn't just give them up to the Empire either. Eying the E-webs carefully, he was just about to make his decision when option C came to him. They were only barely inside the corridor. It would take all but 6 seconds for the rebels to pull themselves out of this death trap into the one outside. Whispering softly into his helmet radio, he quickly but sternly tells them to rush out the door they just came in, and to do it fast. Feeling them stir uncomfortably, he helps make up their mind. "DO IT NOW!!" As the scream rips from his throat, he sends a few parting shots towards the figure in front of them, a small plan forging in his mind. Turning around, he watches as his 'troops' rush into the Imperial Stormtroopers. His face red with anger under his helmet, he screeches into the radio. "SHOOT PAST THEM! IT'S THE ONLY WAY!" Opening fire himself, he watches as an Imperial ST in front of him is cut down before his blaster bolts. Turning around, he shoots backwards through the melee, making sure they aren't shot from behind without his knowledge. And in six seconds, with the number of blasters and E-webs aimed at the group, a good six-hundred or more shots could be easily fired at the group. If Fenn expressed hesitation before, it now drips from him and radiates as an aura. "Ridge, this is damn suicide!" he exclaims, as his helmed-head bleakly descends to his chest. Dropping his rifle, he continues, tone rife with a certain despair: "Live to fight another day, men. God damned tricky bastards have us. Better to get out of this mess as one piece later than a couple-blaster-cooked pieces now." A number of his fellows seem to agree, as a symphony of metallic clinks resounds as weapons fall to the ground. "Commander, we're receiving incoming enemy fire from below!" exclaimed one of the bomber pilots. But it was over for that poor pilot; his craft erupted into a bright and firey explosion, as the debris and the bulk of the craft exploded into a city street. Two more bombers fell victim to the heroic efforts of the gunner, Private Eoin, down below; the bombers and fighters spread out to avoid getting clunked together. One Imperial interceptor dived in towards the hill, its cannons sending linked laser blasts down to the hill below. Fortunately for Eoin, however, he was a small target, and a lucky one; the TIE missed its marked and instead was hitby Eoin's E-web fire. The Interceptor spun madly out of control, flew over the private's head by a few meters, and slammed into the hill behind the artillery. Meanwhile, a hole in the courtyard perimeter was formed as the wily Sluissi and his explosives, sending several unlucky stormtroopers flying into the air and down on the pavement, their armor charred and ruined. In the courtyard itself, some of the stormtroopers found themselves getting shot by one of their own - Gunter. Some of the stormtroopers quickly reacted to this, fearing Gunter was another rebel in disguise. Immediately blaster fire was opened up on Gunter's position along the perimeter wall. Meanwhile, back inside the corridor, Ridge and the rebels decided on a rather daring move; the stormtroopers behind the group of thirty-five men are quick to respond. One falls victim immediately, but the others pull back to the end and open fire with their blasters as the group of thirty-five men comes at them. However, the stormtroopers did have one advantage; due to the size of the corridor, everyone was fairly packed in. The stormtroopers could only hope that the rebels, running in such a tight space, would trip over each other. However, the troopers on the other side of the group sees this happening and they open fire as the E-webs open up on the group of men as they attempt to make their escape. However, the rebels that did thrown down their arms, realizing the suicidal nature of the move, were spared from the Imperial onslaught as the troops made a conscience effort to avoid hitting them. Nearing the prison's main outer wall Ramsis keeps moving, dodging side to side, trying to avoid the majority of the return fire from the Imperial troops.. noting with a wry grin that most of them still hasn't learned how to properly aim.. they might wear a different uniform now.. but nevertheless they should still go back to basic and spend some time on the range.. then as something clatters against his breastplate he frowns under his helmet.. projectile weapons.. who still uses those? Then as his eyes scan the battlefield he suddenly spots Dibar hiding behind the swoop just as the.. a merc?! raises his weapons and triggers another burst at the ex-Commando's head.. and Ramsis barely manages to get out of the way.. for while most of his armor could handle Dibar's submachinegun.. the faceplate is indeed a weak point.. and even though he did manage to spin away just in time he still got most of the round right in the back of his helmet, impacting against the reinforced dura-steel plates, momentarily stunning the retired Commando as he sails through the air, landing rather ungracefully with an almost belly-flop and then just keep sliding on the ground due to his momentum.. coming to stop behind a large tree with a -thud- where he remains motionless for a few seconds before slowly coming around and trying to reorient himself and assess the situation to determine what to do next.. (Naota) Watching as the last of the rubble went flying overhead towards the compound, more explosions rent the plant around him. One of them rocking a trebuchet so violently that it began falling towards the Sergeant. Diving out of the way just in time, he looks up to see the brave little Private manning the E-web, taking out more fighters than some Starfighter pilots could do. Laughing slightly to himself, he mutters, "We need more like him. We really do." Moving up to a crouching position, he watches as the TIEs above began concentrating their aim more towards their last remaining weapon. Noticing that it was still attatched to the truck, he muttered a quick "Huzzah" and ran towards the man-gun-truck system. Urging the 9 or 10 remaining rebels towards the fight below, he calls out loudly, "Go give 'em hell, troops! That's why we're here!!" Watching as they ran recklessly down the hill towards the new-born hole in the wall, sends a few shots from his assault rifle towards the compound. After reaching the Private, he gives another order to the young man. "Alright kid. You're doing good. Time to check your balance. We're going in there. With that E-web. Sit tight." Turning swiftly, he takes the distance to the door in 3 long strides. Getting in the driver seat, he starts the vehicle, turning it in a wide semi-circle, now aiming downhill towards the compound. Steering with his right hand, he held his gun out the window with his left, trigger down, bolts flying, aiming for anything that moved that looked unfriendly. Private Eoin's mind is a swirl of panic and bloodlust. As the Sarge barks orders, the teen is barely cognizant that he's being spoken to, except when Sarge starts to drive, the private lets out a whoop....but its cut short. A stray blast from the recently destroyed Interceptor strikes nearby the Private, sending him flying through the air from the shockwave. The world is dark, soundless and abyssmal. Slowly color fades in, then takes shape, as the dull sound becomes a steady roar of shouts and chaos. Private Eoin shakes it off, and climbs back onto the E-Web. Its not until he reaches for the trigger that he discovers his left arm is no longer there. Private Eoin plops down, as the blood seeps out from the wound. Shock keeps him calm, and the lack of blood drowsy, but he accepts his fate with those same steel nerves. With his final thought, an image of a beatiful raven-haired woman appears, and Eoin Dunn expends his final breath in a choking sob. "I-i'm sorry I can't come home, M-mom..." Eoin sleeps, and awakens no more. With the downing of the assault armor, Dibar judges the biggest threat to be neutralized. Dibar ejects a magazine from his weapon and slams another one back into place, and charging the weapon. He moves carefully, but purposefully towards the hover truck's cab, keeping his weapon trained on the vehicle. Reaching the vehicle, Dibar keeps watch for someone to appear in the cab, as he fishes for something inside his combat harness. Finally pulling a grenade out, Dibar kneels down, pulls the pin from the exposive, and tosses it underneath the truck. He takes off in a run, and manages to find cover before the explosion goes off. The grenade detonates, spewing flame and smoke out from underneath the vehicle, and a moment later the cab and forward section of the truck explode upwards in a fireball, sending bits of shrapnel into the air. Feeling reckless in his haste, Sev covers his head as his explosives go off. The explosion is close enough to throw Sev off his feet, if he'd had feet to be thrown off of, and the shower him with dirt. Now there's a distraction for you. The blast blows a chunk out of the courtyard wall, sending the splintered and twisted remains of said wall into the courtyard as a couple tons of shrapnel. If there were any power lines or anything else running though that section they would now be severed. Like a vengeful serpent zombie, Sev raises out of the loose earth covering him. Swinging his blaster rifle free he opens fire into on the top of the wall, wild shots mostly to encourage anyone up there to keep they're head down. What's this? What's this? Debris falls to strike the walk around Gunter. He startles, stepping backwards. His rifle lifts and a shot is fired into the air where so many TIE fighters dip and dance. Where is the debris coming from? He looks about in dismay, then shakes the confusion off. These rebel scum are 'sploding things all over the place... But, he will stop them, oh yes indeed. Ducking his head a bit to present a smaller target, Gunter brings his rifle to bear once more. Alas for the good trooper, the detonations and wild mayhem have shaken the wall near where he stands. One more explosion and the wall gives way. With a cry like one of teh damned reclaimed, he tumbles into the breach beneath rubble and stone. As Ridge keeps stepping backward with a quick pace and a long stride, he notices some of his men not following. Well that was their choice, he though to himself. If they wanted to stay behind, that was /their/ ticket to hell. Suddenly, the corridor forms into the outside world. They were out of the corridor! Shutting the blast door as more shots came his way, he turned, examining the chaos around him. Through his helmet-com, he ordered all his men to take off their helmets. They needed a way to tell friend from foe. Yelling out orders and firing shots at random groups of Imperials, he notices the large gap where the motorpool used to be. Well sithspit. Now they had to leave on foot. Ordering his men to seek cover behind the large chunks of debri, Ridge racks his brains, wondering if there was still a possibility of saving any prisoners. With the ringing still in his ears and half his HUD flickering on and off Ramsis slowly gets back on his feet, then even more slowly reaches up this head, checking the back of the helmet for fist size holes, cause that's how it feels.. but no breech.. just a few dents.. making him wonder, briefly, just what sort of ammunition the merc was using.. but he can't afford to worry about that right now, though later on he is planning to find this man again, then with that he frown and just shakes his head, immediately regretting that decision as it sets off waves and waves of pain inside his skull and all the way down to his neck.. But at least the pain helped to clear his head.. so with that he snaps his visor up, figuring that the flickering LCD just makes it harder to assess the situation.. which is apparently not good, not good at all.. their attack has failed.. and as a veteran soldier he knows when heroism turns into stupidity and he also knows how to avoid going down that road.. which is why he's still alive today.. and with his rifle gone.. he just pulls his Kylan-3 form its holster and turning around starts making his way back toward the city, hoping to avoid any Imp patrols in the area.. and probably he should also find a good place to ditch his armor, for now at least, so he'd be a little less conspicuous moving through the residential areas of Chandrila.. (Naota) Hands raised in the air, Fenn and the accompanying men that surrendered simply glance back at their escaping fellows -- and the trail of Imperial blaster fire following their efforts. Affixing his gaze upon Danik, then, he remains utterly wordless. The faint beginnings of a smirk arise underneath his stormtrooper helm, invisible to all his trapped 'comrades.' The power in the prison turned down as Sev's explosion ripped through the power lines and generator. Blackness engulfed the area as the lights in the courtyard turned off as well. The explosion of the truck, coupled with the explosives already set on it, created a massive explosion which sent men flying and other vehicles already in the court yard into a massive fireball which was seen throughout Hanna City. As the twenty remaining rebels escaped from the corridor, the E-webs powered down and stopped firing; the five troops who surrendered were quickly apprehended by a few of the Imperial troops. Danik wasn't sure which one was Fenn, and he didn't have the time to do a search. Instead, he followed the surviving troops out of the hall, walking over the dead bodies of the rebels. As Kreldin and his stormtroopers exited the hall and out into the courtyard, in persuit of Ridge and his men, the backup generator kicked in and provided some illumination to the courtyard. The fight against the other troops in the courtyard had mostly died out, giving the remaining stormtroopers a chance to regroup and regain a semblence of order. But that was about to change once more as Ridge and his group made their escape from the hall. The stormtroopers quickly aimed their blasters at the group and opened fire. Having lost his E-weber, 'Grizzly' drove even more recklessly through the hole in the wall and the debri around him. Seeing a lack of fighters on his side, he swears to himself. "This won't do. This won't do at all." Noticing a Stormtrooper sprinting after the freshly escaped Infiltration unit, he accelerates the truck into the man, and steers towards a hunk of degree, ending the Strooper's days on Chandrila. Stopping the vehicle where it was, the Stormtrooper still wedged beneath the craft and the debris, the Sergeant climbed out of the vehicle and climbed onto the back where the E-web was still in one piece. Grabbing hold of the trigger, he started shooting towards the men who had just come out of the building, shooting at Ridge and his men. The stormtroopers assaulting Ridge and his nineteen continue to fire, that is until Hoolihan arrives with his E-web. Five of the stormtroopers are killed instantly, while the others quickly disperse to find some cover. Meanwhile, Danik and his men arrive from behind Ridge, their blasters opening fire on the group of rebel escapees. High above the sky, the Imperial bombers once again arrive over the prison; bombs are released from their hatch towards Hoolihan's truck as the interceptors fly in low to provide some close air-support to the troops, their cannons opening up on Ridge's group of men. Deprived of his precious explosives Sev can only give what support he can with the blaster rifle. He snaps off shots up at the top of the wall and at any group of storm troopers he can find. The roar of approaching tie fighters changes his plan though. Eyeing the low flying fighters he brings out his remote detonator again. If they keep low enough and fly over his explosives line he'll trigger the whole group right under them. Turning around to witness five of the Imperials following them dissapear, Ridge felt a slight hope. A hope that soon died as he saw the rest of the Imperials chasing after them. One of the men next to him was cut down by a laser blast. Reaching for the man's gun, Ridge pulled it up, and opened fire on the oncoming horde of Imperials, not caring who he hit. Urging his men towards another chunk of debris, he began firing on the Imperials chasing them, as well as the Imperials on the remaining walltops. Taking a grenade, he stood up to throw it. Diving as he did so, a not-so-stray blaster bolt took a chunk out of his shin, making the pilot scream in pain. He watched as the grenade exploded near the group, but not with an explosion large enough or near enough to cause any significant damage. Watching as his 19, no, 18.. 17.. 16 men crouched behind the debris, shooting at the Imperials, he felt a small sense of pride towards his men as he slowly slipped into unconscience-ness. Reaching for his com-link, he uttered a final order to Hoolihan, the marine manning the E-web, before the blackness overtook him. "If you care for your planet, or for yourselves, family, or your comrades, order them to put their weapons down. Today is not our day. But it is coming. Remember that." Danik stopped short as Ridge and the remaining rebels opened fire on them; two stormtroopers fell dead. The other stormtroopers who had took cover now were using their cover to take shots at the rebels who were thinning in number. The starfighters continued to fly low over the area, unknown to them that explosives were rigged below them. The starfighters continued to take shots at the rebels below, hoping to end this before any more Imperial lives were lost. Still on the back of the E-web, shooting at random groups of Imperials, Sergeant Hoolihan hears Ridge over the comlink. Swearing to himself, he realized that they would not win this battle. Shooting a few last shots over the compound, he bellows so that all can hear him. "STAND DOWN REBELS! THIS IS AN ORDER FROM YOUR COMMANDER! NO MORE LIVES LOST THIS DAY!" Keeping his rifle close, he jumps off the back of the truck, and dives into the cab through the still-open door. Watching as they put their guns down and their hands up, he nodded grimly, hating how this had ended. Accelerating quickly, he backs straight out through the torn-apart wall like a cork from a bottle. Spinning the wheel, he manuevers the car back to Rebel HQ. Ridge's last words had stuck with him. "Find Luke. For the love of God, find Luke. He can rescue us." Sev sets off his explosives line mere seconds before the fighters roar over them, hopping to catch the group in the concussion wave. Before this debacle they were suppose to be just a distraction for when they pulled out, dam, what now? With imperials coming down on them like ant's to a picnic the Sluissi lets of a resigned sigh before throwing his rifle down and raises his hands. "I sssssurender. Pleassssse, let me ssssssee to the wounded, I am a medic." The massive explosion caught a few low-flying fighters and engulfed them entirely; the TIEs fell to the ground as heaps of metal. A few other TIEs were thrown off course from the concussion wave and sent spiraling into the prison complex. And now, after many lives were lost, the battle had finally ended, but at a huge cost. The prison court was nothing but fire, dead bodies and heaps of debris. The prison complex was in shambles, and the dead numbered close to the triple digits. But Kreldin had survived, again. The few remaining stormtroopers saw to the surrendering troops, placing cuffs on them and consficating their weaponry, as Kreldin supervised. "Keep these men alive..we shall use them as bait, for Skywalker...it's unfortunate he wasn't here this time, but he'll come...he'll come." A few other stormtroopers brought the Slussi in upon his surrender; figuring they needed a medic too, they let the Slussi tend to the wounded Imperials first, while whatever wounded rebels would have to wait. All in all, over fifty stormtroopers had been lost throughout the fight, as well as numerous fighters and bombers. The prison and its surroundings suffered heavy property damage, with fires spreading throughout the prison. All in all, it was a heavy price to pay for victory, but they had achieved it..with the help of a certain Fenn, of course. Danik looked up into the night sky, his mind racing with ideas as to where Skywalker could be. He suposed to come... kicking some dirt, Kreldin turned around and returned to the prison to deal with the cleaning up process.
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