Danger Close

[Yusana Fenni]

"You say that like you know her", Elara said nonchalantly as she took the sandwich, a soft chuckle escaping from her as she internalized the joke somewhere in there. "Thank you, sergeant."

The brunette-haired, lithe officer lay her firearm down and unstrapped the duraplast armorweave pads from her fatigues, setting these down to the side as well as she took a deep breath; bending forward to touch the tips of her combat boots. Seconds later she was already halfway through the sandwich, a small dab of dressing hanging from the side of her mouth as she stuffed her mouth. It was clear from her demeanor that it had been a while since she last had a proper meal that wasn't a packaged MRE.

Initially she made no further comment, but after finishing her share of the sandwich in what seemed just a little over a minute, she didn't really have much else to go on. She licked and sicked her index finger and thumb for a bit before saying, "Bah, most people here have probably already accepted that. Call it absurd but the senator's the first planetary governor we've had in recent times who really pushed back against the Mando's and the syndicates, and got the rest of us to push back with her. Most of the men in this company would give their lives for her without hesitation. Scary, really."

[member="Kaiden Rohn"]

 

[Kaiden Rohn]

He'd die for a lot of things. Hadn't met someone in a long time that elicited an emotional attachment like that. Not since the Chancellor himself. He looked over at the range, eyes fixated on the targets beyond. Hard to teach them what it was like to be shot back at. He blinked, finishing up his sandwich. He took his body off of his seated position, and pocketed his hands again.

"I get the feeling you're here for something other than the senator and fear. So what's keeping you on planet and in the uniform, Elara?"He didn't look over at her, and bounced back and forth on his heels."Oh, and hey, if you're not doing anything, we should ---- when all the troops go to sleep."He made it sound too casual. He also wasn't joking.

"Is the general public aware of her deceptive nature, or no?"

[member="Yusana Fenni"]

 

[Yusana Fenni]

The 2nd lieutenant looked up at Kaiden, her boots raised and resting on one of the ammo crates in front of them. The distant sound of other companies training nearby could be faintly heard in the distance, as could the chatter from the 5th as they went through their MRE's and laughed with their battle brothers and their staff sergeants. Under the sun their duraplast blast pads had a dim shine to them, as did their weapons and their combat helmets, most of which were now all resting on the ground beside them, or on their laps.

Elara merely snickered at what seemed like a half-attempt on the sergeant's part, shaking her head in disbelief. "Many men have tried that with me, captain. You're going to have to put up a better battlefront than that." She then signed and looked down now, staring at the ground through the gap in between her raised legs.

"I doubt they do. Talasean's crave strong leadership, but they aren't out of their minds just yet. I am sure her inner circle knows, but I don't think any of them would cause a leak like that. Not with the creative ways the senator seems to come up with for disposing of, redundant assets."

[member="Kaiden Rohn"]

 

[Kaiden Rohn]

"Strangulation or suffocation disguised as a heart attack. I know how that works." He let his hands rest between his legs, sitting on top of a pile of expended ammo boxes. He watched the 5th eat, finishing up the last of his sandwich. He had a quick lunch, the rest of the troops could take their time to eat. They'd earned that today, as far as Kaiden was concerned. He swung his legs, enjoying the movement of his legs.

"How long before she's found out for the warmonger that she is, you think? And more importantly, until she comes to check in on me?"Kaiden tapped his fist on the box, thinking on the best way to kill her and get off the planet alive. And was the big part he wanted to include, but so far, he couldn't come up with a way to do both. "Or she stages another false flag with the Mandalorians on some poor village, or town. Or us."

[member="Yusana Fenni"]

 

[Yusana Fenni]

The lieutenant turned to the sergeant, half-smirking and half outraged. "You sound like you'd make for good employ under her. I'm not worried about her staging anything within the military. For the most part it's the politicians that're on the run. You can't count on being the opposition when you're too worried about one of your guards stabbing you in the back, or one of your retinue being replaced by Echani face-dancer assassins."

She then smiled, shaking her head and chuckling. "I was wrong about you, sergeant. Seems you got your brains about. Maybe I will take you up on that off-"

Just as she was about to finish her sentence, her commlink on her wrist beeped. Elara wasted no time dialing in, activating a muffled holo image of another serviceman in similar uniform as she was. He seemed of older age, and had that seasoned look on his face - heavy set eyes, gruff white facial hair, and a large scar that ran across his left cheek down to his chin.

"Captain Bentus", the 2nd lieutenant said as she rose to her feet and addressed her superior officer. The answer that came back was distorted by electronic interference; muffled to the point of being disturbing.

"Lt. Elara Moria. TacOps says you're away with the Thundering 5th on shooting practice down range. Can you confirm?"

"Yes, captain. We're currently at-"

"I know where you are, lieutenant. But I would rather you not disclose your location over an unsecure channel." Elara looked back at the sergeant, letting him listen in. She had this look of disbelief on her face, or as if she had no idea what was going on.

"Uhm, for what reason did you call in today, captain?"

"Lieutenant. We've recently lost contact with outpost Theta-9. Your company is currently the nearest unit there. I'm sending over two Dropbirds to your location now. I need you to re-establish communications with the outpost. You'll be briefed en route. That is the directive. Bentus out."

The 2nd lieutenant gave a small nod as the holo-image faded away, and then lowered her arm to look at the men who were finishing up their lunches, and then to the sergeant standing beside her. "Theta-9's ten klicks southwest from here." And just as the finished, the two transports hovered into view, descending until they floated just above the ground. 5th company rose to their feet in surprise, not knowing what was going on, after which their two staff sergeants steadied them. Elara quickly grabbed her weapon and turned back to the sergeant, gesturing for him to come with immediately.

"We've just received instructions from base command. Training's ending early today. Staff Sergeant Rawne, you're with me and Sgt. Rohn. Staff Sergeant Kolea, on the other dropbird. Now!"

[member="Kaiden Rohn"]

 

[Kaiden Rohn]

As if on cue. He only had a sidearm on him, not bothering to equip himself besides his armor and the pistol for the range. He grabbed a few power packs from the table, loading up the webbed pouches on his belt. He followed Elara towards the dropbirds, trying to keep a calm exterior. He grabbed her wrist, examining the frequency of which the good Captain relayed in from.

And Kaiden called him.

"This is 5th Actual. Prepare close-air-support for us, please."

No use not having it if they didn't need it. Kaiden loaded up last, shuffling in the 5th. He looked at Elara, making sure she was the last one to load up with him. As per usual, Kaiden was the last to go, but would be first off. No point in not leading from the front. Kaiden directed the flight crew to pass out the ammo to the 5th, then looked over at Elara, harshly. He spoke loudly, to drown out the noise of the birds they were in.

"What's at Theta-9?"

[member="Yusana Fenni"]

 

[Yusana Fenni]

Each dropbird had a flight crew of 4: pilot, co-pilot and two additional guardsmen who worked the holding bays. The latter two quickly rushed to load all the ammunition crates sitting where Elara and Kaiden had just been sitting, while the 5th were quickly shuffled into the birds by their staff sergeants and Sgt. Rohn. Elara left the three to do their job as she quietly but quickly boarded their dropbird. Once she, Kaiden and Platoon 1 with Staff Sergeant Rawne were all on board, the vehicle quickly pushed off from the ground and its afterburners roared to life as it and its counterpart zoomed off into the distance. It took less than a minute for 5th company to be loaded - not a bad running record.

The holding bay of a Talasean dropbird was austere and not without its quirks. The complete lack of creature comforts were typical of a military vessel, but here and there panels and screens along the transport's inner hull would buzz to life, only to die down again seconds after. Each had its own purpose, but the whirlwind of alarms and notification alarms were enough to make the average recruit dizzy or anxious. There were no windows either - probably a safety precaution for those inside. The flight crew of two were busy opening each crate and distributing fresh clips to each recruit, with Sgt. Rawne barking out an SOP checklist for all to keep in mind.

Elara had a brief word with the pilot before she returned to the mouth of the holding bay to answer Kaiden - a small opening that divided the platoon 1 from the flight crew's area. The 2nd lieutenant leaned against the hull opposite Rohn, facing him now as she held a small datapad in her hand. She too had to bark over the sound of the engines as she handed him a datapad to read as well.

"Five months ago, several of our listening posts were attacked by what we presume were Mandalorian raiders. The managed to knock out four and cripple a fifth - that fifth outpost is Theta-9, sergeant. It's one of seventy-two listening posts around the planet whose site also houses a large orbital gun that can target hostiles in low orbit. We weren't able to capture any hostiles alive as the Mandalorians seemed to be using stealth field generators."

The 2nd lieutenant was just about to speak again as her wrist console beeped again, which she then brought up and activated once more, projecting a holo-image of Capt. Bentus from earlier.

"Captain."

"Lieutenant Elara."

The holo-image continued to speak to her, with the volume turned up enough for Rohn to hear.

"As you know, Theta-9 is part of the Theta-series stations - our planetary defense weapons. -9 is one of three Theta's that we have now lost contact with. As we speak several units are being deployed to investigate, but as for Theta-9, our last transmission with its garrison was a declaration that they were suffering from a minor power issue with their generator in the basement of the gun's holding dome. For some reason, they never went back online to report back in."

The older captain then turned around to face Sgt. Rohn. "Sergeant Kaiden Rohn. My apologies for earlier. My name is Captain Anakin Bentus of the Talasean Thunderers. 2nd Lieutenant Elara's commanding officer. I've read your files and I must say I'm impressed. Now as a gesture of goodwill, CAS will be provided to the 5th under your and Elara's command and are en route to your-" The holo cut off abruptly as the captain quickly turned to his right, accompanied by what sounded like a blast before the image muffled and ultimately blinked out.

[member="Kaiden Rohn"]

 

[Kaiden Rohn]

So that's not good.

Kaiden couldn't help but find some humor in the situation. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. But apparently, the devil in this case was in fact, sabotage. Kaiden wanted to buy that it was in fact, Mandalorians that were coming to attack the good people of this backwater planet. But with the good senators help, this backwater planet was going to take the galactic stage. He corrected himself- the senator was, not just the planet. What a better way to make a name for yourself than to successfully crush an insurrection?

And he was probably here to play a pawn in her game. Kaiden looked over at Elara, trying to judge her for any sort of nervousness. He didn't see any. The bird was getting close to the destination. As usual, Kaiden stood up first. He looked back at the recruits, curling his fingers hard around a nearby grip on the bird. As far as the bird was concerned, it was definitely the most utilitarian he'd rode on. Little concern for the comfort- only the effectiveness of the people inside, and the ability to get them there.

He had a sneaking suspicion there may not be too much of the 'going back', however. Kaiden raised his hand to his throat mic, touching it.

"This is fifth actual. All unit leaders, comms check. Standby for off."

The ground was getting closer. The recruits were nervous. Understandably. They were, effectively walking into a killing field- there were only so many places a bird could land, and if these guys were both smart enough to do a coordinated attack on the head shed and this listening post, they were definitely going to see the bird coming. Kaiden grit his teeth and rolled his shoulders, and rubbed the sweat forming on his brow away. He touched his throat mic again, as the crew chief held up two fingers.

"Two minutes."

Two minutes until touchdown. Two minutes until they either walked into a horror show, or a technical error. He didn't want to draw panic yet. Because Mandalorians against a bunch of recruits would be a slaughter. He was even doubtful of the Lieutenant's ability to withstand an ambush conducted by the savages.

[member="Yusana Fenni"]

 

[Yusana Fenni]

Elara hissed as her face soured with the holo flickering out. "Something's going on, and I don't like it."

The lieutenant picked up her weapon again as Rohn held on to one of the handlegrips on the interior of the transport. Thus far the flight had been a smooth one, so smooth that it was almost disturbing. Among the men there were now hushed whispers - theories and smart guesses as to what could be going on. The greenest among them seemed uneasy in how quiet they were - one even threw up, his body bending over and leaning to the side to hurl, only to be pulled back upright by the recruit behind him.

Behind all of them, the crew in the cockpit were busy communicating with the other Dropbird, presumably as they had the outpost in sight.

"Drake 1 now approaching LZ. Visual on hostiles?", the pilot said out loud as everyone on board could feel the ship slowing down and lightly descending. "One minute to touchdown", the co-pilot simultaneously sounded out.

The other transport then answered back, its captain sounding slightly younger. "Drake 1 this is Drake 2. Negative, AO is clear."

A few tense and silent seconds passed before the pilot looked back, shouting to Kaiden and Elara. "You're going to want to see this!" A second later, the last image anyone would have wanted to see was flashed on every little screen inside the transport. Flashed onscreen was the ship's nose-camera view of Theta-9, with columns of smoke rising high into the sky. Here and there orange licks of fire could be seen escaping from its grey, durasteel structure. No one said anything, at least indiscreetly - quietly some of the recruits whispered to each other, only to have the quiet broken again by the flight crew up front.

"What're we looking at, Drake 2?"

"No swoops in sight, captain. Whatever did this they're either gone or hiding."

Elara clenched her teeth and looked at Kaiden. "No power generator malfunction could have damaged the station like that."

"Fifteen seconds!"

Platoon 1's staff sergeant would be the last to shout out before the rear door came down. "Alright boys, be briefed or be sorry!"

"Staff Sergeant!"
"Staff Sergeant!"
"Staff Sergeant!"
"Staff Sergeant!"
"Staff Sergeant!"

"As soon as that door comes down, I want a perimeter around this transport. Guns hot, eyes sharp. Oorah?"

"Oorah!"
"Oorah!"
"Oorah!"
"Oorah!"
"Oorah!"

[member="Kaiden Rohn"]

 

[Kaiden Rohn]

They fanned out as soon as they exited, as expected of any good soldier exiting an aircraft. They were experienced enough to do that, at least. Which is what Kaiden was expecting. The smell of burnt flesh, plasma, carbon scoring, and a waft of other smells greeted Kaiden as he exited- as promised, first. Elara was firm behind him, and the troops set up a perimeter, rifles pointed outward in a 360 degree arc. They were as nervous as anyone would be, coming up on a situation with about as much details as everyone else- meant that something was definitely afoot. Kaiden motioned for Elara to follow, standing calmly in the burning wreckage of Theta-9. What Kaiden saw was professional.

The explosives were definitely military grade. HME was messier. Theta-9 had been deliberately targeted, damaged, and ultimately- wiped off the map. There was no salvageable part of this base. This wasn't a hit and run. This wasn't a diversion. This was a deliberate attack made by an enemy planning a larger invasion. It's how planetary invasions went. Assault element came in and took out as many defenses as they could, then a much larger invasion force at a fixed point. He wondered if they were going to be near Theta-9, or in an area.

"Get comms with as many other stations as you can and put up a planetary wide alert, Elara."

He pointed to the platoon sergeants and made a sweeping motion. They would need to clear out the rest of Theta-9. And check for survivors. Because he didn't even see much signs of a struggle. Which meant that the belligerents were still nearby- and probably looking right at them. Kaiden tightened his grip on the sidearm, glancing to Elara.

[member="Yusana Fenni"]