A noble spirit embiggens the smallest being
The Cathar Militia was quick to adapt to the needs of the situation, loading up Oz with fresh missiles which were dropped in as
Minerva Fhirdiad
kept the oncoming Commandos and Basilisk droids busy. The waves of lesser Mandalorian troops - poor, deluded bastards that they are - were quickly getting pressed by D Squad and the Militia, and the East Square was becoming an untenable position for them to continue to assault without heavy reinforcements. Reinforcements they'd expected in the form of the Commando escorts and the Basilisk droids.
Oz's missiles were powerful and accurate, designed to take down heavy air support, but Basilisk Droids were built out of Beskar Steel, which would require a much greater firepower than Oz could really provide. What it did, however, was keep the skies clear of other kinds of fighters, permitting more Galactic Alliance X-Wings to swoop through and not only escort evacuation vessels, but to turn about and fire upon the Basilisks in coordination with the gunship.
The hard part was going to be the armored speeders and the repulsor tank. D-Squad was deployed to take down heavy infantry and Oz was focused on keeping the skies clear, but they were largely wanting for heavy ordnance against fellow ground targets. They were going to have to get creative.
The advantage they had was that they were in an urban area, with lots of streets and buildings to offer them cover. If they got a bead on Oz, they could cancel their anti-aircraft capabilities. But once in the streets, both the speeders and the tanks would be restricted in their speed and movement, and they could control that just by moving debris around that the vehicles wouldn't be able to push or hover - speeders, rocks, junk, whatever. At best, they could bring the repulsor tank in to clear it out, but that would take shells and time the Mandalorians didn't have.
Anchat kept Oz where he was, with enough troopers to keep him covered if any infantry managed to sneak by. The rest of the Militia, however, and the rest of D-Squad, mobilized to deal with the armored column. The Cathar Militia and civilian volunteers started cutting off roads, creating a maze that the Mandalorians would either have to blast through or follow according to Anchat's design.
There were three armored speeders in front, then the tank, and then the fourth was bringing up the rear. They were expecting to have to deal with urban armored combat. Some buildings might be flimsy enough for the tank to simply drive through, but not its speeder escorts. Remaining Mandalorian troops were called back to provide infantry cover for them, as well. They had their work cut out for them, but D-Squad would be ready. Repulsorcraft were particularly vulnerable to their undersides - mines and well-lobbed grenades were favorite tactics. Anchat didn't have any mines - he hated mines, too much risk of civilians getting hurt - but the Militia had plenty of grenades and satchel explosives.
Anchat knew his prototype combat Droid would likely be able to drill through the armored speeders' armor, but they would be able to return the favor easily. So he kept in reserve, waiting for the first ambush. The Mandalorians bought the first few cut off roads as legitimate debris, but they quickly noticed the pattern. Unwilling to let the tank go out on its own, the front two escorts pushed ahead in a staggered formation, to prevent both of the craft from being destroyed all at once. Smart move for those craft, but it didn't save the third one from a satchel bomb on the side of the road. The building it was beside, four stories tall, had support walls deliberately weakened, so while the explosion did, in fact, disable the armored speeder, it was the falling building that destroyed it, and taking out a few infantrymen.
Cathar militia appeared from their hiding places, firing on the infantrymen and distracting the armored vehicles by spreading their fire thin. This was when Anchat stepped in, emerging from cover and keeping his weapon trained on the weaker visor ports of the vehicle. He ducked and weaved with his Droid, trying to be enough of a threat for the vehicles to notice him, but not take too much damage in the return fire. One of the turrets pointed its gun at him, and he just barely managed to dodge behind a wall, a portion of which was taken out by the heavy blaster. Anchat felt rocks in his gizzard at that one.
He activated his Droid's thrusters, hopping onto the roof and firing back at an unexpected angle. The turret of the first one had expected him to pop out of his cover, while the second realized how much of a threat the first one was dealing with. Anchat, however, was a distraction - the real threat were the sapper teams, the poor, brave Cathars who ran up, under enemy fire, and chucked explosives under the armored vehicles. When they went off, at least two of the Militia hadn't gotten far away enough from the blast, but their sacrifice was not in vain. The frontmost armored vehicle had started pulling ahead, and so it caught the explosion in the rear. This meant it wasn't outright destroyed like the other one, but its rear started to drag behind.
Survivors from the second armored vehicle managed to push their way out of their burning vehicle. One of them had their hands up, but the Cathar Militia either didn't notice or didn't care; none of the crew were spared. The first was literally dragging its rear as it tried to move ahead into a better position, but Anchat was above it now and able to lay down fire onto much less armored parts of the craft. After a few moments of sustained blaster fire, the armored vehicle stopped moving. The turret attempted to move, but a Cathar warrior got up onto the vehicle, opened the hatch, and dropped in a grenade before booking it away. The explosion ripped the armored vehicle apart.
With the majority of its escort destroyed, and much of the infantry taken out, the Repulsor Tank decided that it was too valuable to press into a heavily defended urban area, and started to back out as Militia started throwing grenades, trying to disable the hovercraft from beneath. The road was too wide, however, for any reliable throws, and both the tank and its remaining armored speeder managed to slip out the way it came, trying to keep close to the buildings and clearly under fellow Mandalorian air support - which was already thin as it was.
"I think we've got ourselves a secure square, Minerva," Anchat declared, "How are things looking on your end?"
Minerva Fhirdiad
kept the oncoming Commandos and Basilisk droids busy. The waves of lesser Mandalorian troops - poor, deluded bastards that they are - were quickly getting pressed by D Squad and the Militia, and the East Square was becoming an untenable position for them to continue to assault without heavy reinforcements. Reinforcements they'd expected in the form of the Commando escorts and the Basilisk droids.Oz's missiles were powerful and accurate, designed to take down heavy air support, but Basilisk Droids were built out of Beskar Steel, which would require a much greater firepower than Oz could really provide. What it did, however, was keep the skies clear of other kinds of fighters, permitting more Galactic Alliance X-Wings to swoop through and not only escort evacuation vessels, but to turn about and fire upon the Basilisks in coordination with the gunship.
The hard part was going to be the armored speeders and the repulsor tank. D-Squad was deployed to take down heavy infantry and Oz was focused on keeping the skies clear, but they were largely wanting for heavy ordnance against fellow ground targets. They were going to have to get creative.
The advantage they had was that they were in an urban area, with lots of streets and buildings to offer them cover. If they got a bead on Oz, they could cancel their anti-aircraft capabilities. But once in the streets, both the speeders and the tanks would be restricted in their speed and movement, and they could control that just by moving debris around that the vehicles wouldn't be able to push or hover - speeders, rocks, junk, whatever. At best, they could bring the repulsor tank in to clear it out, but that would take shells and time the Mandalorians didn't have.
Anchat kept Oz where he was, with enough troopers to keep him covered if any infantry managed to sneak by. The rest of the Militia, however, and the rest of D-Squad, mobilized to deal with the armored column. The Cathar Militia and civilian volunteers started cutting off roads, creating a maze that the Mandalorians would either have to blast through or follow according to Anchat's design.
There were three armored speeders in front, then the tank, and then the fourth was bringing up the rear. They were expecting to have to deal with urban armored combat. Some buildings might be flimsy enough for the tank to simply drive through, but not its speeder escorts. Remaining Mandalorian troops were called back to provide infantry cover for them, as well. They had their work cut out for them, but D-Squad would be ready. Repulsorcraft were particularly vulnerable to their undersides - mines and well-lobbed grenades were favorite tactics. Anchat didn't have any mines - he hated mines, too much risk of civilians getting hurt - but the Militia had plenty of grenades and satchel explosives.
Anchat knew his prototype combat Droid would likely be able to drill through the armored speeders' armor, but they would be able to return the favor easily. So he kept in reserve, waiting for the first ambush. The Mandalorians bought the first few cut off roads as legitimate debris, but they quickly noticed the pattern. Unwilling to let the tank go out on its own, the front two escorts pushed ahead in a staggered formation, to prevent both of the craft from being destroyed all at once. Smart move for those craft, but it didn't save the third one from a satchel bomb on the side of the road. The building it was beside, four stories tall, had support walls deliberately weakened, so while the explosion did, in fact, disable the armored speeder, it was the falling building that destroyed it, and taking out a few infantrymen.
Cathar militia appeared from their hiding places, firing on the infantrymen and distracting the armored vehicles by spreading their fire thin. This was when Anchat stepped in, emerging from cover and keeping his weapon trained on the weaker visor ports of the vehicle. He ducked and weaved with his Droid, trying to be enough of a threat for the vehicles to notice him, but not take too much damage in the return fire. One of the turrets pointed its gun at him, and he just barely managed to dodge behind a wall, a portion of which was taken out by the heavy blaster. Anchat felt rocks in his gizzard at that one.
He activated his Droid's thrusters, hopping onto the roof and firing back at an unexpected angle. The turret of the first one had expected him to pop out of his cover, while the second realized how much of a threat the first one was dealing with. Anchat, however, was a distraction - the real threat were the sapper teams, the poor, brave Cathars who ran up, under enemy fire, and chucked explosives under the armored vehicles. When they went off, at least two of the Militia hadn't gotten far away enough from the blast, but their sacrifice was not in vain. The frontmost armored vehicle had started pulling ahead, and so it caught the explosion in the rear. This meant it wasn't outright destroyed like the other one, but its rear started to drag behind.
Survivors from the second armored vehicle managed to push their way out of their burning vehicle. One of them had their hands up, but the Cathar Militia either didn't notice or didn't care; none of the crew were spared. The first was literally dragging its rear as it tried to move ahead into a better position, but Anchat was above it now and able to lay down fire onto much less armored parts of the craft. After a few moments of sustained blaster fire, the armored vehicle stopped moving. The turret attempted to move, but a Cathar warrior got up onto the vehicle, opened the hatch, and dropped in a grenade before booking it away. The explosion ripped the armored vehicle apart.
With the majority of its escort destroyed, and much of the infantry taken out, the Repulsor Tank decided that it was too valuable to press into a heavily defended urban area, and started to back out as Militia started throwing grenades, trying to disable the hovercraft from beneath. The road was too wide, however, for any reliable throws, and both the tank and its remaining armored speeder managed to slip out the way it came, trying to keep close to the buildings and clearly under fellow Mandalorian air support - which was already thin as it was.
"I think we've got ourselves a secure square, Minerva," Anchat declared, "How are things looking on your end?"
