Objective: Advance from the river to the Cultural Centre
Enemies: [member="Sarge Potteiger"] and his blatant disregard of GW’s intellectual property
Allies: Half of Aquatic Assault Force, [member="Anesia Jy'Vun"] advancing from the other side
Raziel slunk through the shadow cast by a large domed building as he advanced over some open space. His Nightsrike armour shifted through patterns as it adapted to his conditions. The Spymaster had been focussing on concealing his presence in the Force, but could only offer limited shrouding around the four man exfiltration team that accompanied him. For that reason he worked ahead of them, scouting out their route. There was no reason to take a hit from a Mortar guided by a Force user unnecessarily, Raziel had never been one for self-sacrifice.
Sensing consciousness up ahead, he paused. He waited and watched. Eventually he saw them. A small fire-team holding a position in a window three stories up. The main Omega forces were guarding the boundaries of the city, but they weren’t foolish. In an urban setting it made perfect sense to set up multiple firing positions further back to provide cover fire. The lines of combat never stayed still after all.
Deciding to risk a burst of EM signals, he had his suit relay a still image back to his fire team. He didn’t get an electronic “ack” back, but he sensed they had received it. He felt them set up their own position behind him.
Tentatively, he loaded a cryoban grenade into his B230 and sighted on the window. He locked the distance in, and it provided him with elevation for the shot. With a few clicks, he adjusted the mode of fire to airburst two metres beyond the target. The grenade in the barrel was programmed instantly.
A red bolt arced across the sky above him, several more followed. The enemy position was partially obscured as dust erupted from the building were bolts missed their targets. A stream of fire returned back from a repeater, pinning down Raziel’s team. Letting the Force guide him, Raziel steadied his aim and carefully depressed the trigger. With a “womp” the grenade was fired. The shot was good, the grenade going through the opening in the window and airbursting within.
The repeater fire immediately ceased. Two of Raziel’s team advanced across the open ground whilst the other two provided covering fire. Watching the window, Raziel saw blue flashes as stun shots were fired. Then one of his team appeared and signalled for them to advance.
The Naboo Center of Cultural Arts, Sciences, and History was slightly more heavily defended than expected. Raziel had no care for the artefacts it contained. He was simply interested in some of the advantageous firing positions it offered. The complex was around
two kilometres across, covering a large swathe of land in the city centre.
Devoting such a large section of prime estate to this kind of endeavour alluded to a great ego that had decided to show off the planet’s opulence. They were stalled as they reached the complex, finding it more heavily guarded that expected. It seemed the complex had its own defences designed to keep intruders aware from any precious artefacts. However, they were not designed to keep out serious invades and the droid forces soon had a foothold in the eastern corner.
Raziel found a firing position that looked over the rest of the complex from a tall building in the medical complex. He’d passed a large number of signs urging people to keep out, as biological research was taking place. He hoped the dangerous chemicals had been moved, but such a process might have been too laborious to undertake before the ASA arrived. At the least, he hoped the Protectorate might think twice about bombing this series of buildings. He loaded a sonic smart mine, ready to use it to block off an approach route if necessary.
“Droids have found a network of tunnels under the complex,”
“That’s potentially a problem. Post guards as we move and send some to scout them out. We don’t want to find a Battalion hiding down there!”
The surprise attack had been made, but from now on it would be brutal building-by-building fighting. At the very least, the Protectorate were now fighting a messy urban brawl, rather than on a limited front.
