Beltran looked out at the assembled forces, a feeling of satisfaction filling him. Before him stood some of the best warriors in the Silver Order, Ranger Command and the Silver Fleet. In addition to his own team, Lieutenant
Thirdas Heavenshield
had opted to join this operation with his own unit known as the
Crows.
"Lieutenant Heavenshield, reporting for duty." The Lieutenant had said, revealing himself.
"Me and my Crows are at your service, sir. Command thought you could use another set of hands on this one."
Beltran nodded.
"Good to have you, Lieutenant." He said.
"We're going to need all the capable operators we can get on this one. The enemy outnumbers us. They know the terrain far better than we do and they've had a lot of time to prepare for our arrival. In basic battle parlance, they hold all the best cards. Our only advantages are our superior experience and training, weaponry and our Jedi friends here." With this, he indicated Leehak,
Cadere
and
Thal Mantis
.
Beltran left his own Force prowess off the table. He didn't need anyone asking any hard to answer questions as to just how he'd been able to learn so much in a relatively small number of years. Some knew that he'd been training with
Laertia Io
, and many had seen him attending a class or two at the Silver's Rest when time allowed. But as far as he knew, his growing association with the one called Darth Solipsis was a secret and would remain so for as long as possible.
Beltran had no intention of betraying the Silver Jedi or the Concord. But he recognized that the Sith had skills and powers that would be necessary if they were to defeat the Bryn'adul. Most Jedi would see his delving into the darkness as a betrayal, regardless of whether it made Beltran a better operator. Their high minded ideals were...unrealistic in the Lorrdian's eyes.
"Thal, it's a pleasure to see you again. You appear well and I am glad for that." Beltran continued. To Cas, Beltran nodded as well.
"And you too Jedi Tynen." All three of the Jedi were wildcards to Beltran. After the operation to rescue Thal Mantis, Beltran hadn't seen much of the young man. The war with the Bryn had gone into full swing and he had lost touch. Cas he knew a little better, but also knew that the Kiffar Jedi had a tendency of running off into danger on his own. If they were to win this, he needed everyone working together. Leehak was the father of a Jedi Padawan that Beltran had encountered in a previous operation. If his daughter was any indication, he would likely be the voice of reason for the Force Users.
"Been behavin', that one?" Lieutenant Heavenshield asked quietly, indicating Thal as he spoke.
"So far so good," Beltran replied, somewhat unsure of what the Lieutenant meant. Prior to his rescue, Thal Mantis had gone on something of a bloody crusade against a group of slavers operating within the highest sections of the Galactic Alliance. Perhaps the violence of that nature was what the Lieutenant was referring to? If so, Beltran hadn't seen that same level of bloodlust from the young man here...yet. If it came out, however, Beltran fully intended to push it in the direction of their enemies.
With the general briefing over, Beltran handed out specific assignments.
"So given the number of operators we have here, I think we're going to divide into two teams. Team one will consist of myself, Team Paladin and Jedi Leehak. Team two will be led by Lieutenant Heavenshield and consist of his Crows and Jedi's Mantis and Tynen. That gives each team a unit of operators and two Force sensitives. We'll enter the sewers using the maintenance access hatch just behind me and proceed down to the top level of the system. From there, Specialist Argo will release our payload of twenty scanning drones. They've been pre-programmed to spread out ahead of us and provide real time mapping and scanning of the sewer system. Once we have an idea of what we're looking at, we'll split up and move down the levels."
"With luck, the drones will be able to give us a heads up on what kind of resistance we can expect, but keep your heads on a swivel. There's a lot of nooks and cranny down there for them to set up ambushes and booby traps. If you are engaged, put the enemy down. This isn't the kind of theatre where we can take and hold prisoners safely. Hopefully when Sounn's followers see that we mean business, some or all of them will flee. If not...well then they've made their choice."
It was cold logic to be sure, but in Beltran's mind it was the best chance for them to obtain victory without taking grievous losses.
***
From there, the operation moved quickly. The two teams entered the maintenance hatch and proceeded to the highest level of the waste extraction and management system. After setting up a secure perimeter, Specialist Argos set about releasing several cases worth of the drones. They would float out ahead of the groups, scanning and mapping the various corridors and tunnels that made up the sewers. The scanners would relay telemetry to anyone wearing a secure HUD system or had a secure datapad using the Silver Concord standard operating system.
From the get-go, the drones alerted the teams to several pathways that appeared to be flooded with radioactive waste.
"They're trying to herd us in a specific direction." Beltran said. To Lieutenant Heavenshield, Beltran said:
"I'll take team one through this pathway. You take team two through that one." The open paths were relatively close to one another. This manner of advance would make it difficult for them to out flank the enemy, but it provided the ability for one team to fall back to another in case they met too much resistance. Beltran doubted that with their limited numbers they would have had much of a chance to out maneuver their enemy anyway. Today, it would about bringing as much concentrated pain as possible as quickly as possible. As he had learned from Master
Caltin Vanagor
, if you can't hop the gate and you can't pick the lock-just
bust the fether down!
As suspected, once both teams had separated and begun to move, it wasn't long before both units came under fire. The fighting would be intense, as groups of Klatoonians came out of makeshift bunkers and various side shafts and crawlways. Some carried blasters, mostly older scavenged models, while others held nasty looking melee weapons. In quarters this close, the tactical value of a vibroblade versus an assault rifle was minimized. What it came down to was skill, speed and ferocity.
In the opening skirmishes, Beltran's Paladins would prove to have the better end of the first two, but the Klatoonians were certainly bringing a lost of gusto to the last. Beltran could feel their rage and pain in the Force, and using what he'd learned from
Darth Solipsis
, he
fed on it. The energy he gained from their hatred only made him stronger and faster. He would fire off shots, hit a target and even before that target had dropped had already reacquired another target and was shooting. His soldiers supported him, while giving Leehak space to work as well.
~"It's Vanagor. If you're in the sewers, I'm above you and see a lot of Nikto. Anyone wanna catch me up on something I might have missed?"~
"Kriff me," Beltran growled, dropping back and taking a knee. He indicated to Jedi Leehak to take the lead position and hold it while he addressed this latest problem. Calling out on the coms, Beltran answered Jedi Vanagor.
"
They must be trying to flank us, Master Vanagor." Beltran said in response over the main channel so everyone could hear.
"We're currently engaged with Klatoonians in the sewers. The Nikto must have waited for us to get bogged down and now they're going to hit us from behind and surround us. Serves me right for not deploying a rear-guard, but we only had small force to begin with. I would much appreciate it if you and yours could neutralize them for us. Once that's done, we'd love to some help down here. I'm sending you the codes to gain access to the drone telemetry. Some of the tunnels down here have been laced with radioactive waste. The drones will tell you what's safe and what areas we've cleared. You getting all this, Lieutenant Heavenshield?"
All of this was delivered on the team's main channel which included all Silver personnel in theatre. So long as the enemy hadn't started to jam their transmissions, Lieutenant Heavenshield and his team should be up to date, but Beltran wanted to be sure.
Beltran Rarr
|
Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri
|
