Dominion Separatists, Separatists Everywhere! | First Order Dominion of Samovar

[Resurgent Narrative]

MEANWHILE, ON SAMOVAR...​

The planet had been lost to time, its resource of ore and minerals torn from it by aggressive strip-mining, so its usefulness had ended and interested parties moved on. Still, before Samovar had been mined to exhaustion, battles had raged above its surface between forces long-since-gone. A Separatist droid ship, heavily damaged, had been dealt a final blow that caused it to crash land in the Northern hemisphere of the planet. It had remained, dormant and believed destroyed. The systems of the vessel unresponsive, in a low-power state, and what remained of the droid army were little more than antiquated metallic statues.

Decades later, Samovar would be sought by an Empire, who wanted the valuable doonium and dolovite minerals for a certain battle station, the Death Star. When the planet had given as much as the Empire could take, they moved on, leaving their equipment to facilitate urgency in completion of the galaxy-changing project. What the Imperial technicians didn't realize, was that the mining vibrations, signal traffic and utter disregard for anything else on the planet, had triggered a response in the desolated Separatist droid ship - it had been reactivated, an alert to the malfunctioning system from nearby hostile activity. Engaged in war-time mode, the droid ship began to power up. It began to restart fabrication facilities deep within. It started to produce B1 Battle Droids, slowly, one at a time, as resources allowed.

After a time, the droid ship started to power down once more, because of lack of hostile response. However, more recent activity on Samovar from another privatized mining company has set off those malfunctioning sensors all over again; and now, armed with a considerably larger battle droid army, the droid ship begins to take plans to enact war protocols and defeat its enemy once and for all...

A half-destroyed Separatist starship, which contained a droid brain for manufacturing duties, has since started to malfunction. Reports indicate the droid brain has continued to fabricate a larger number of old design B1 Battle Droids, in an attempt to fulfill a quota still on its systems, which are mistakenly still registering war-time resupply requirements.

Thankfully the droid brain started to run out of resources to use in construction of the battle droids in recent years, but has since rerouted subroutines to have the droid army spread across the region to secure more materials. Those materials are doonium and dolovite, both considered desirable resources, and if gathered in large enough quantities by the renegade droid brain, could result in a dangerously large self-sufficient droid army that seeks to continually grow itself.

The droid brain must be destroyed. This will not be an easy task, as it involves getting inside a Separatist warship, either engaging or avoiding a considerable droid army host, and then shutting down the ship systems and relays that keep the droids functioning… before rapid exfiltration to avoid the subsequent warship destruction blast.

The droid brain had its B1’s activate a mega-drilling structure on the far southern continent of the planet. The drill platform is miles wide and long, and boasts numerous boring machines, high-power lasers and drilling pipes. The droids aren’t capable of operating the mega-drill, which has resulted in the platform digging a seemingly endless path deep beneath the surface of the planet, on a trajectory that has a high chance of hitting the core.

Needless to say, a core leak would devastate the planet. Because of the sheer size of the drilling tunnels, the First Order Navy will be charged with sending a squadron of pilots into the subterranean system. Their objective is to locate the mega-drilling platform, attempt to stop it, to secure a valuable resource; or failing that, permission is granted to destroy the platform, to avoid a catastrophic core leak up through to the planet's surface.

Be warned, due to the compressed oxygen and volatile gas build-up below ground, there is a very high possibility of chain reaction of explosions in the tunnels. Do not delay in getting out of there, if the last resort to blow the platform is used...

Because of the harsh strip-mining performed by the Empire many years gone, and the efforts of the droid brain to continue collecting material, the planet has been broken down to a near irreversible state. Thankfully, First Order tech is much more robust than centuries old damage, and there remains the possibility to correct the ion charges and stormfronts that plague the atmosphere.

By using terra-forming equipment, the specialist teams are tasked with performing basic weather corrections, to reduce or stop the storms. This will allow the First Order the chance to continue mining operations, especially as they can proceed to scan the planet correctly, to determine if there are ore deposits that remain undetected until now.

Be warned, the storms are strong, irregular and could prove a difficult task. All safety precautions are suggested to be followed, do not get struck down in your terra-forming efforts...

A substantial amount of the Separatist remnants have already left the factory ship. The droids are moving on ancient programming and perceive any other presence on the planet as a threat to be eliminated. Currently that consists of numerous ramshackle mining settlements set up by opportunistic prospectors and scavengers.

Not willing to stand by and watch a massacre, the First Order is making an emergency deployment to evacuate those miners trapped in the droids’ path. Shuttles are landing to rescue civilians while military forces defend settlements directly in their path. Tough decisions are going to be made as the First Order can’t get to everyone…

Help evacuate civilians, fly bombing runs against the droid columns, or fight hut to hut in the mining settlements to buy time for others to escape.

Bring your own objective, and help the First Order secure the planet...

 

[Kimiko Taiyou]

"B-102562, I believe I see a Jedi rapidly advancing on your position, over."

"Where, B-08573? I don't -" the droid's response was cut short as Ki brought one of her blades through it's neck.

The rest of her accompanying forces counter-attacked into the line of advancing advancing droids, trying as they might to buy as much time as possible. Stalling actions had been the name of the game as non-combatants were hurriedly ferried to awaiting transports and sped away to safety.

A lull allowed her to take a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. They had joined battle with these mindless automatons what seemed to be hours ago at this point, and they just kept coming. Ki moved to wipe sweat from her brow when the sound of footsteps caused her to look up. It was Commander Matsuura, who quickly passed her guards and stopped, and began speaking,"Grace, it won't be long until the next wave of droids is upon us. Are we holding here to form a new line or continuing our advance?" the woman asked, though Ki sensed something else bothered her.

Engines screamed overhead as a new flight of bombers began a new run on the advancing droid lines. Explosions sounded and Ki's ears flicked in their direction,"Hold here. We have put plenty of distance between ourselves and evacuation LZ. Just keep our air cover coming and get a gunboat or two to join us. We'll hold them as long as we can."

The orders rang loud and clear as those nearby began seeking cover and preparing defenses. Kanan Matsuura stepped closer to Ki,"I hope you know what you signed up for, throwing your lot in with the First Order." she shot daggers as she ran back to the line.

Ki knew it wouldn't be a popular decision, but one she had made, and had her council vote on, for the good of her people and the former citizens of the Alliance.

Her thoughts would have too wait as the bomber flight flew back over, probably to rearm. Ki sighed heavily, Here we go again. She readied her sabers as the heads of the first droids crested the small rise.

@Anyone? ​

 

[Alois Hammer]

​

"Boot 'em, son, don't piss on 'em."

The startled trooper turned around to see Colonel Alois Hammer to his rear, grenade launcher raised to his shoulder. There was a muted thump as the projectile launched itself from the stubby weapon's barrel. A moment later, a crackling explosion of actinic fire raced through the ranks of the clankers, shorting their vitals out with a surge of concentrated ionic energy. The Colonel reloaded his weapon with a sort of languid rapidity; no one motion was terribly swift, but all were as buttery smooth as anything the droids could have managed. The cumulative effect was that the second grenade dropped before the last one's surge had finished arcing through the air. What few droids managed to survive the initial onslaught were wiped out by the second blast, their bodies twitching as random spasms shot through what was left of their destroyed circuitry.

"Colonel Hammer, sir!" the boy shouted. And he was a boy, barely 18 years old, his face still pocked by teenage acne. "I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it, son," Alois said. He meant for his words to be soothing, but he knew they were probably as cold and mechanical as the enemy they were fighting. "Your eyes were towards the bad guys, just like they should have been."

That last part was directed to his XO and aide de camp, Major Joachim Steuben, as it was to the soldier. The slim man sniffed indignantly. They both knew he could be... exuberant when it came to matters of protocol regarding his boss. Major Steuben was possibly one of the deadliest warriors not wearing beskar'gam or swinging a lightsaber in the galaxy, but he was also stuffy and punctilious to a fault. In the early days of the First Friesland Regiment, when iron discipline was a matter of survival, shooting at the first sign of mutinous thought was a necessity, and there were precious few quicker on the draw than the Major. Now though, especially since they'd join the first order, Alois found the need to keep his subordinate on a tight leash equally as important as letting him run free had been all those years ago.

The two were such a sharp contrast, it was hard to believe, for outsiders, at any rate, that they were able to work together. Hammer was huge, thick with muscle, and often as unkempt as the grunts in their foxholes. Steuben was short, slender, and immaculately groomed. Mud and dirt seemed to avoid him out of sheer terror. Those who were familiar with the pair knew that they were about as close as any two people could be. Rumor had it that they were lovers, though no one dared suggest it to either of their faces. Alois didn't see what why the idea was so amusing. That level of fraternization was harmful to unit cohesion, and thus, would never dream of it. Joachim simply replied to the news with a sad smile.

"Am I to take it that this position is secure?" Major Steuben asked, glancing up at his boss, his words as crisp and precise as his uniform.

"Looks that way to me, for now at least" the Colonel replied. "See about getting some more grenade launchers like this up to the front. Damned handy to have."

He passed the launcher off to the stunned trooper, along with the satchel of grenades he'd been carrying. That had been their morning, for the most part. When the standard blaster rifles and slugthrowers issued to the troops had proved less than ideal when dealing with certain pockets of enemies, he made his way to the front and evaluated the situation with his own eyes. At least some of the droids were upgraded beyond the historical capabilities of the infamous B1 Battle Droid. Most could be hole punched by a well placed bolt or bullet, but there were some who simply couldn't be brought down with small arms. Either they were intentionally armored, or something in their metallurgy had made them tougher than their compatriots. Whatever the case, ion grenades seemed to do the trick.

This whole mission was karked from the word go. It was impossible to defend all the villages until they could be evacuated. A planet was a lot of territory to cover, and there were enough droids that the whole of the First Order Army could have dropped in and they'd still be outnumbered. 1FR managed to hold its line fairly well, but not without a few close calls. Other units had not been so lucky. Their saving grace was that only about one in every ten battle droids was properly armed. Most of the rest either carried incomplete blasters, usually just unbarrelled receivers, or no weapon at all. If they all had weapons, they'd drown them in sheer volume of incoming fire.

This particular defensive line was situated in the mouth of a broad valley, close to ten kilometers across at the spot where they'd anchored the line. Imposing mountain ranges flanked to either side, preventing attempts by the clumsy droids to catch them in the rear. The middle of the valley was dominated by a river some twenty meters across, but only two or three deep at the center. It was impassable to the mechanical bastards, but it forced Alois to split his forces to cover both sides of it, and would make coordinating both sides of the regiment difficult. There was no time to land tanks and artillery, and there'd be no time to get them back out again. Until the transports were loaded, the only thing standing between the ten thousand or so residents of the valley were the First Friesland Regiment, and the mountains they mined for a living. He hoped for their sake that they didn't have any tunnels that went all the way through.

"How long?" he asked.

"Another two hours until the bulk of the evacuees are loaded," Major Steuben reported. "From there, another two hours for us to make a fighting retreat back to the LZ, and perhaps a further hour to get all but the rearguard loaded."

It went without saying that the rearguard was getting the short end of the stick. They'd have all the covering fire they could handle for the sprint back to the transports, but any who were too slow were apt to be left behind. Risking the whole regiment for the sake a few stragglers simply wasn't an option. It was fortunate, then, that the rearguard unit, Alpha Co, 1st Battalion, were the best in the regiment. Assignment to Alpha Co, or the Alphas, as they called themselves, wasn't an accident of paperwork. They were, in essence, a combination of shock troops, special forces, and military police. Alphas were on average stronger, faster, smarter, and more adaptable than anyone else in the regiment's two infantry battalions, and were a focal point for fear, envy, and pride. Everyone wanted to be an Alpha, but no one wanted to be around them when they got called into action.

Colonel Hammer nodded, his brain whirring.

"Have the frontline start pushing back in an hour, if the situation holds," he said. "If the outer villages have been cleared, I want to condense us down to something that gives us some depth."

The valley gradually narrowed the closer you got to the LZ, situated at the far end. The reason their line was so spread out was due to the villages situated at the mouth. They were the first to be evacuated, but civilian refugees tended to be slow to get moving. Anyone who wasn't gone within the next hour was shet out of luck. As it stood, the lines were too spread out, too exposed, and it was only a matter of time before the enemy started pushing. Every ten meters they could shorten the line was one more trooper they could use to add depth to it. The more depth they had when the push came, the easier it would be to repel it.

"Of course, Sir," Major Steuben replied.

The smaller man turned his attention to his datapad as he began drafting up movement orders. No matter how you cut it, they were going to take losses in the push and withdrawal. They were probably safe for the next hour, but after that, the longer they stood shoulder to shoulder like this, the greater the chance of a breakthrough. They couldn't risk a breakthrough, not even to save a whole village.

 

[Caio]

The pilot had dropped through the atmosphere so quick that Caio was sure his stomach was still up in orbit somewhere. There'd been unconfirmed reports of interdiction fire so they'd taken plenty of preemptive evasive action on the way down. Caio held onto his dignity but others weren't so lucky, vomit was sloshing across the floor of the shuttle, he'd given up trying to keep his boots out of it.

He stumbled down the shuttle ramp on rubbery legs, just glad to be back on terra firma. Somhairle lurched past him and dropped onto his knees, voiding his stomach for the third time. Even Lt. Kaza looked a bit haggard after it but it wasn't long before she was snapping out orders.

The bulk of the battalion had been dropped into the valley to assist with the evacuation. They were securing the main LZ while other units did their best to hold a perimeter. He'd not gotten much in the briefings but the 1st Friesland and other auxiliary forces were out there right now engaging the gearheads. There were a half dozen battles like this going on within a hundred kilometre radius. The numbers didn't add up though. Why chuck so many troops into one valley when there was only something like ten thousand inhabitants to bring out? He'd have got it if he'd seen the map. Planners were predicting some of the evac zones to crumble quicker than others. It might save lives ferrying them on a short ground hop to a large more defensible LZ than waiting for the shuttles to come back after the long climb up to space.

Caio's company had something altogether different. They were being dropped in penny packets all along the range surrounding the valley. The mineral deposits in the planet's surface were playing havoc with orbital imaging which meant the FOA were forced to use the old Mark I eyeball along with binocs and other handheld gear. There'd been complaints about missing the scrap but Kaza had been blunt. They might be saving lives if they could provide on the nose recce for the ones fighting below.

He jogged along with his section, ignoring the chill of the wind, strong up this high. The drop to the valley below was enough to give him vertigo. Even from up here you could see the criss crossing streams of blaster fire though the sound didn't carry. Caio wormed his way into a crack between two rocks, glad to get some shelter from the breeze. He set up his viewfinder and trained it on his assigned sector.

It was a lot scarier up close. The outer forces were holding the perimeter but the droids seemed relentless. It go worse the further he looked back, the constant stream of metal advancing relentlessly towards the combat. Most of them weren't moving in formation but more like swarms of ants attracted to their prey. The atmosphere played havoc with his gear the further he looked out but he judged he'd a view for at least five kilometres before the haze and atmospherics started to obscure it.

Big grey blotches of movement, all heading towards the valley. His stomach turned and he looked away from the viewfinder for a second. "Four here, set up and with eyes on sector 7" he confirmed to Kaza. The only saving grace seemed to be that the majority of them so far were foot mobiles.

Kimiko Taiyou Alois Hammer

 

[Aktur Seii]

​

ABOVE SAMOVAR
INSIDE TIE/VN STARFIGHTER COCKPIT​

Systems checked out, it was green across the board.

All pre-flight prep was done.

Skash looked down to his feet through the helmet he wore, as he tested the flight rudders, pumping each one several times. He could feel the resistance in the pedals, as the ship flaps responded appropriately depending on pressure used. The flight panel was really clean, the layout was topnotch, and the visibility through the square forward viewport was much better than the usual rounded TIE design.

Can't believe I'm getting a chance to fly one of these bad boys, Skash thought to himself as he grinned inside his helmet. Guess we need some shielding for the crazy that's about to come our way.

With a roll of his neck, the young pilot who was basically fresh out the Academy, couldn't help but peer around. He watched the hangar outside the starfighter, as First Order deck crew rushed about and prepared for launch. The comlink activated, as flight command gave the go for Black Squadron to begin its mission. And it was a damned crazy mission, too, which involved flying into a planet to reach some runaway drilling platform that was going to hit the core.

It sounded too good to be true.

The squadron began to check in, and when it was his turn, Skash flicked the comm and spoke clearly:

"Black Five, standing by. Pre-flight all green."

The placement in Black Squadron had been a dream come true, really. Skash had expected a patrol squad, maybe, something low risk until he had the chance to prove himself outside of the Academy. But, apparently, whoever made the decisions had seen his results and planted his behind in one of the most renown and skilled flight groups in the First Order. And he wasn't about to complain, not at all. In fact, as far as Skash was concerned, he had already earned the spot because of how well his scoring and aptitudes had been during testing...

"Clear for launch, Black Five, good hunting."

"Copy that, flight control, heading out!"

With a twist of the engine throttle, the hangar clasps disengaged and the TIE/vn fighter was set free. Skash started to accelerate as he pumped the repulsors and kept his alignment on point, before he exited through the hazy shielding of the hangar and took off into the void of space. No matter how many times he did that, the young pilot couldn't get over how amazing the stars looked. But, with a shake of the head, and a turn of the yoke, Skash angled his fighter toward Black Leader.

"Forming up, Black Leader," Skash said through the squadron comm. He paused, then added. "So we're really flying inside a planet, right? I didn't dream that briefing? This is gonna be keffin' crazy - can't wait!"

The TIE/vn swooped in and formed up on the squad leader, in formation to one side, as Skash adjusted his throttle to match speed...

______________________________

Kim Dae-Hyun | Iasos Kontarr | Jaida Tess​

 

[Kim Dae-Hyun]

​

​

These people had gone entirely out of their minds. He didn't know who 'these people' were, nor did he ever think he would find out, since they were all likely to die on this mission. Because these people had gone entirely out of their minds. But his was not to reason why, his was but to do and die. And try to avoid killing the rest of his squadron. It seemed... unlikely. Because these people had gone entirely out of their minds. He cruised through space, checking in on his readings and verifying that the ship was ready for what he was about to do with and to it.

The Vendetta was a fascinating ship. It just felt different: more -- luxurious wasn't the word. Premium, perhaps. This wasn't a ship designed to be disposed of. The First Order had more or less phased out the idea that pilots were expendable and so their craft needed to be deadly and cheap but mostly cheap. Still, this was a step up from what he routinely flew. It felt good. It felt substantial.

He was about to comment on it when he realized that he should probably say something to them. He was about to address the team when the youngster -- Black Five -- piped up on the coms channel. DK had to admire the kid's enthusiasm. He glanced out his viewport and cleared his throat, then chimed in. "Yes, Black Five," he said. "The briefing told it right. Listen up, Black Squadron. This is new for us, so let's play it smart, play it cool, and play it safe. Let's stay loose. Staying alive is going to be more important than staying in formation. Keep an eye on each other and on your surroundings and be careful."

Not the most inspiring of interactions, he had to confess, but it was what he had. "Set vector to point six three and complete post-launch checklists. Report status."

______________________________

Aktur Seii | Iasos Kontarr | Jaida Tess | Resurgent Narrative​

 

[Resurgent Narrative]

​

Niance listened to Bee whirl in the back, "calm down Bee, I'm sure it'll be fine."​

​

After all, they were only going to be flying through the core of a planet. Just another day at the office, still, it was hard not to smirk at the idea of it definitely an exhilarating feeling. "Black-3, pre-flight check in - we are green across the dash." She took a moment to check-in with one of the newer pilots. "Black-11, Black-8, this is Black-3, how are you feeling?" Niance would ask Black-5 but well, it was quite evident to know how he felt - and enthused was certainly an understatement.​

​

Once she had been given the clearance for launch, Niance guided her TIE out of the hangar and set the coordinates. Bee chirped complaining of the tight space this particular TIE afforded the mech. "Hey Bee, I just work here, I don't design these things."​

​

"No I can't ask my sister, she's Alliance anyway."​

​

Bee chirped again.​

​

"No, I will not, ask my aunt the Grand Moff for a larger budget for the Star- do you hear yourself?"​

​

Aunt. The woman wasn't that much older than Niance and yet one of them was running the nation and the other sat in a cockpit of a TIE Fighter waiting to go through the core of a planet to stop some runaway drill. Niance figured out of the two of them she had it better, no one would really give two flying banthas about a little ol' pilot. "Black Lead, this is Black-3, vectors set to point six three, ready on your mark."​

​

Of course, this was to say that while Black Squadron had the 'fun job' of making sure no one got dead on the way into and out of the core, there were other squadrons in the AO. ​

​

Kim Dae-Hyun | Aktur Seii | Jaida Tess | Iasos Kontarr | Vernon Hectis | Drexel Quinn ​

 

[Jaida Tess]

​

"Black-3, pre-flight check in - we are green across the dash." She took a moment to check-in with one of the newer pilots. "Black-11, Black-8, this is Black-3, how are you feeling?" Niance would ask Black-5 but well, it was quite evident to know how he felt - and enthused was certainly an understatement.​

​

< "Three. Double One here... Feeling? Well, I'm rather ecstatic about our new birds actually. Can't wait to give them a proper shakedown. About the mission... Piece of cake, right?" > Jaida answered with a heavy dose of sarcasm laced in her mechanized voice over the ship-to-ship comms.

:: Black Squadron. This is Flight Control. The squadron is cleared for launch. You may commence the launch sequence. ::​

She gave a double-click, then flicked the last set of switches and was rewarded with another battery of solid green status lights that illuminated her cockpit console.

< "Black Eleven green to go, Control." >

Gloved hands reached forward and grasped the dual-stick controls of the TIE fighter with nervous anticipation of what was to come next. This was the hardest part - the process to get released from the rack and flung out of the hangar bay into the void of space. 'Jaybird' took a couple of deep breaths and let them out slowly as she awaited her fighter's launch in the sequence.

A few moments later, the young Tess was pressed back hard into her pilot seat when the tractor beam took hold of the Dosuun-born's ship and the fighter catapulted forward, to be a half-second later propelled even faster by an additional kick of the Interceptor's afterburner by her guidance. The hangar bay wall rushed past the blonde's front, circular-viewport with rapidly increasing speed, then there was that familiar crackle of the containment field and the noise of displaced air ceased as the blackness of space embraced her craft.

Easing back on the Vendetta's throttle, the flight officer leaned her newly assigned TIE/vn space superiority fighter into a long, sloping turn to fall into squadron formation with her wingmate behind Black One.

"Forming up, Black Leader," Skash said through the squadron comm. He paused, then added. "So we're really flying inside a planet, right? I didn't dream that briefing? This is gonna be keffin' crazy - can't wait!"

Jaida just shook her helmeted-head at Five's cocky response. The 'fresh out of the academy' was so full of himself... Nope, not going there, not touching it, nada. Hopefully, the hotshot cutie in a boyish way wasn't overcompensating for something lacking otherwise it would be nice knowing Skash. Only time would tell...

"Yes, Black Five," he said. "The briefing told it right. Listen up, Black Squadron. This is new for us, so let's play it smart, play it cool, and play it safe. Let's stay loose. Staying alive is going to be more important than staying in formation. Keep an eye on each other and on your surroundings and be careful. Set vector to point six three and complete post-launch checklists. Report status."

Jaida dialed in the new vector and doubled checked all systems before keying the comm unit. < "Roger that, Black Leader... Eleven set and ready to engage." >

Aktur Seii | Kim Dae-Hyun | Resurgent Narrative (Niance) | Iasos Kontarr | Vernon Hectis | Drexel Quinn​

 

[Alois Hammer]

​

The next hour was frantic, to be sure, but not to the extent that Alois was ever really worried.

The droids just kept coming. Already he and Major Steuben, along with a small army of other couriers, had had to make the trip to and from the front lines with as much ammo as he could fit in his little two man speeder. In some spots on the line, were geography tended to funnel the clankers to a particular point, the troopers were practically wading in shell casings. The MWS Mk1 rifles were an excellent bit of kit, but they were hungry beasts. Most everyone had swapped to blaster configuration by now, the heavy bolts making short work of all but the rare outbreak of armored droids. That made his life easier, since he didn't have to worry about making sure he had enough of the right type of ammo.

The saving grace in all of this was that, in those places where the droids were thickest, their mechanical corpses were piling up into mounds that the following droids had to climb to get over. That shortened everyone's sightlines, to be sure, but it also meant that the troopers had the advantage of being able to pop curious heads as soon as they appeared. The little bastards were moronically suicidal without a control ship to guide them, and they just kept climbing up, getting shot, ad adding another body to the pile.

The Colonel was almost tempted to revise his previous order to withdraw in order to shorten the lines, since they seemed to be holding well enough, but he quashed the thought. Just because things were comfortable now, didn't mean they'd stay that way.

"How's the evac going?" he asked his XO.

"The outer villages are mostly empty," Major Steuben reported. "There are some stragglers who don't want to leave. They seem to think we're doing a good job holding back the droids, and thus, aren't willing to give up their homes."

Alois nodded. That was to be expected. He'd read a study, some years ago, that suggested that a certain percentage of any given population would simply refuse to get out of harms way if they weren't forced. Well, the First Order wasn't in the business of forcing people to leave their homes, and besides, the First Friesland didn't have the manpower to spare. They were stretched paper thing as it was. Hell, half the line was made up of artillerymen and engineers.

"Give the order to begin the withdrawal," he said.

"Understood."

From overhead, the process looked orderly and well rehearsed. Approximately half the line, in this case odd numbered squads, simply stopped shooting, turned up, and sprinted some hundred meters to the rear. Once they were set, the even numbered squads did the same, while their comrades shot past them, covering their retreat. This procedure, known as bounding, had the twin advantages of being secure and relatively rapid. The downside was, it require a great deal of training and professionalism to pull off. That, and it was bloody exhausting.

The line covered about a kilometer in that fashion, leapfrogging backwards, away from the forward line of the engagement, in about ten minutes, and then had to halt. Even the most fit of troopers was sucking wind by now, and trying to push any harder would almost certainly lead to decreased combat efficiency. They would be allowed to rest for another five minutes, and then the process would repeat.

They managed to cover four kilometers in roughly an hour. By now, they were a little over halfway back to the LZ, and the distance the line had to stretch across was shortened by a little over a third. The defensive line now had something like depth to it, which allowed for the rearward squads to take up more advantageous positions, mostly on the rolling hilltops, on top of houses, and other elevated positions that gave them the ability to safely shoot over the heads of the squads at the front. This condensation effectively doubled the amount of effective fire that could be brought to bear on the enemy. They went from being badly overstretched to in a decent position to withstand a concentrated push.

That had come at a cost, of course. The clankers were poor shots, but they had their choice of targets, and over thirty troopers had taken hits. About a dozen were immediately fatal, and another five or six would be dead before evac could get there and were given mercy. The walking wounded were allowed to take their chances, but only a handful had been able to keep up with the advance. Where possible, brave speeder pilots dove ahead of the lines on rescue missions, with mixed results. Each valuable speeder put more men at risk, but the Colonel new better than to forbid the attempts.

"The lines are in position, Sir," Major Steuben said. "No sign of the main push yet, but my best guess is that the sudden lack of pressure at the mouth of the valley will suck them in."

"You're probably right," Alois said. "But, nothing we can do about it now. We can't withdraw further until the evacuation is complete."

"So we wait," Major Steuben said, sighing.

"So we wait."

 

[Sun-Shin Tae]

Kimiko Taiyou | Alois Hammer
​

Captain Sun-Shin knew what was at stake, and with both Black and Shrike Squadron deployed on another objective. "Get the 201st and 588th ready," she remarked to her first officer. "Dispatch the 332nd as well." Red Squadron. The 332nd was one of the top squadrons, typically competed with the 303rd or Black Squadron as they preferred. "Their job is to intercept the enemy before the 201st sees them." The 201st would be tasked with an escort job while the 332nd would be set to intercept. The Concordia remained in orbit of Samovar keeping track of the activity on the ground.​

​

The hums of the Concordia's bridge reminded Sun-Shin that every second passed was another life lost. "Double time it, Commander." She addressed her first officer who busied themselves with carrying out her orders. Sun-Shin walked from her command chair toward the tactical display and watched as the small blips were tracked on the display. TIEs having been dispatched were now well on their way toward aiding those on the ground with evacuating the civilian population. ​

​

​

 

[Aktur Seii]

"BLACK-FIVE"​

TIE/vn Starfighter​

SHIELDS (100%)​	HULL (100%)​
██████████​	██████████​

STARFIGHTER SYSTEMS: ■■ Adv Sensor Array ■■ Stealth Generator MISSILES: ​

OBJECTIVE 2
Go Deep, Go Hard​

The rookie pilot took a moment to test out the responsiveness of the new TIE/vn he flew, as he juked the yoke several times. The starfighter responded instantly, perfectly, as his eyes widened with delight and excitement. From what Skash had heard, the nimble vessel could prove to be difficult for pilots below a certain skill level, as they struggled to compensate for the rapid and razor sharp response the controls offered; but the rookie had no doubt all of Black Squadron were more than capable with the starfighter, since they were elite and that title wasn't easily handed out, no among pilots who flew metal coffins with engines and laser cannons attached in the void of space.

Black Leader sounded through the comms, once the squadron had checked in. He seemed happy for the formation to be loose, the focus on situational awareness and mutual cover for one another. Skash could get right behind that, as he grinned and let out a "Whoop!" before he threw the TIE/vn into a barrel roll and peeled out of the formation. "Copy that, Black Lead, staying loose and keeping an eye on the sensors."

The displays along the flight panel showed distant friendly starfighter squadrons launching as well, namely Red Squadron. The rival squadron. Skash had almost been assigned to that one, but luckily his test results had proved him suitable to the better squadron. At least in his opinion, who could say for others? As far as he was concerned, Black Squadron was the best of the best, and it would be up to him - and his fellow squadron members - to prove it, time and again.

Still, the rookie brought up his displays as he reached forward and began tapping a number of buttons. The dash lit up, as his advanced sensors angled toward the planet itself, triangulating the location of the supposed drilling platforms entry point into the surface of the ground. It looked to be south of the planet, as his systems began to calculate a trajectory to maximize arrival time. Skash activated the comms again, as he forwarded the flight data to Black Leader:

"Black Five here. Sorted the flight telemetry, Black Lead," Skash said as he eased back into the comfortable flight chair and grinned. "Found a trajectory that shaves off a parsec, if we skim the surface... ready to follow your exhaust, if you're up for it, sir."

Kim Dae-Hyun | Iasos Kontarr | Jaida Tess | Niance Kinniak | Vernon Hectis | Drexel Quinn
​

 

[Alois Hammer]

​

When the push came, it was less a thrust, and more of a wave. It built slowly but steadily until the pressure seemed inexorable.

"Ammunition is going to be a problem if this keeps up," Alois remarked to his XO.

Major Steuben spared a quick glance at his boss to see if he was joking or not. He wasn't.

The pair were practically pinned down by the sheer weight of blaster fire coming over the scrap heap in front of the line. The droids made it to the top, fired a few quick bursts before being taken out, and another one rushed in to fill to gap. Only, there were so many of them now that it was impossible to shoot all of them. The mounds were nearly twenty meters high in places, and the bastards just kept coming. They were even starting to push past the mounds, in places where terrain and buildings limited the fields of fire.

Speaking of fire, the villages that dotted the valley on the wrong side were well and truly involved, adding their smoke to the fog of war. Between the conflagrations, the smoking remains of the droids, and the discharge from thousands of rifles and blasters, visibility was reduced to next to nothing. Nearly everyone had their helmet visors down and their mouth and nose filters in place, relying on mechanical senses to augment their befuddled natural ones. Those who didn't, either from stubbornness or mechanical failure, were blind and at risk of slowly choking to death on smoke and ozone.

In short, it was hard to imagine a more perfect vision of hell.

For the first time in many years, Colonel Hammer was afraid. This wasn't the usual sort of battlefield fear, that lent itself to heightened senses and reflexes. That was a sharp, silvery thing that left his nerves singing as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He was used to that sort of fear, and welcomed it as an old friend. No, this was a heavy, pulsing, leaden weight that settled in the pit of his belly and made him want to vomit, or curl up in a ball and cry. Only, that would be a death sentence. So, he did what he had always done when things looked bleakest: he locked his feelings in a vault, deep within his mind, and focused on the problem at hand.

"Highball, this is Maul 6. Are you in position?"

It took several long moments for the reply to come.

"Roger Maul 6. We're laid in and awaiting coordinates."

"My position, plus three-zero meters northeast, how copy?"

"I copy your position, plus three zero meters east," the voice said. "That's danger close."

"I'm wildly aware. Do it, and spread the sheaf across the whole valley at this point. Keep firing until I tell you to stop or you run out of shells."

"Wilco. Highball out."

Now the look Major Steuben shot his boss was one of alarm. The little man wasn't one to startle easily, but he knew what the implications were.

"If they miss a decimal, we're all dead," he remarked.

"We're dead anyway, if we don't give them a chance to scratch our backs. As soon as barrage starts, signal a fighting retreat. The plan hasn't changed."

The Major turned towards his datapad and began furiously inputting orders as the shells began to fall.

 

[Caio]

The high ground drew the clouds in first and light rain hit the observation posts atop the heights. It made life miserable for them and reduced visibility more. Caio spread his cape over himself but it didn't do much. He just had to sit there in the rain and take it, eyes glued to the viewfinders and watching the swarms of robotic monstrosities advance on the First Order.

"Gods...they're getting hammered" Somhairle murmured. Caio couldn't resist training his gaze on the valley behind them. It was some lightshow. The defensive lines had contracted but streams of blaster fire were flickering between the advancing droids and First Order soldiers. The ground rumbled and more light flashed nearer the LZ.

"Feth". They could just about hear the shells from here, rumbling like thunder. Caio swivelled his gaze to the droids, the artillery was hitting uncomfortably close to the First Order lines. The smoke and debris thrown up obscured his gaze and lowered the viewfinder. "Good luck to them" he said grimly, going back to his assigned task. He couldn't do much from them up here but keep eyes on whatever else was going to come at them.

"Watcher Four to Maul Six. Confirmed hits on your target but it looks like they're moving to pincer around the barrage zone". They were like insects, two swarms moving to avoid the cloud of smoke where the artillery had torn into them. They marched relentlessly to the left and right of it, avoiding the area where their brethren lay sparked and broken like it was cursed.

It didn't spare them when thirty seconds later the shells resumed falling, cutting a line across the valley.

Alois Hammer

 

[Sun-Shin Tae]

​

Word to the ground was given, the Concordia would provide support where it could as it lumbered high above the planet within Samovar's system. The beauty of the void in the silence surrounding the Resurgent-class battlecruiser. Captain Sun-Shin stood at-ease, hands behind her back as she looked across the bridge. Officers in their standard red uniform scurried about the bridge, information appeared on the consoles in front of them. Buttons, codes, commands all to help regulate the ship's systems - the ship's current status all green across the board.​

​

TIE Fighter Squadrons dispatched and well on their way. All the Captain could do now was sit, wait, and watch. She watched as others in the fleet emerged from hyperspace. Everyone had a part to play, Samovar would be welcomed into the First Order's family. Captain Sun-Shin recognized the cruiser marked Sondheimer. An engineering ship, its purpose is to aid the First Order's Corps of Imperial Engineers with large projects, daunting tasks even. Members of the fleet, including the Sondheimer reported in and Sun-Shin acknowledged them all and watched as they moved across the void.​

​

Glinting their greying tones within the deep black of the void itself. ​

​

Alois Hammer | Kimiko Taiyou | Caio ​

 

[Kim Dae-Hyun]

"BLACK LEADER"​

TIE/vn Starfighter​

SHIELDS (100%)​	HULL (100%)​
██████████​	██████████​

STARFIGHTER SYSTEMS: ■■ Adv Sensor Array ■■ Stealth Generator MISSILES: ​

OBJECTIVE 2
Go Deep, Go Hard​

Dae-Hyun adjusted his flight trajectory to account for minor turbulence as they raced for the planet. His fighter responded beautifully; the design was truly artisan. Each touch of a switch, each twist of a knob had an immediate response. It was beautiful. His comms crackled and the brash voice of their baby pilot, Aktur Seii . He couldn't help but smirk. This kid was surely cocky -- not an uncommon trait among fighter pilots. Something about the skill required and the danger inherent in their jobs gave them a unique outlook on life.

And on death.

"Got it," DK said flatly as his data screen lit up with the data Skash provided. "Stand by."

He scanned the data, zeroing in on the vectors and speeds. The math painted a picture, and truth be told, DK was pretty impressed with the kid's initiative. Not that he'd tell Skash that just now; an overconfident pilot was just a pilot that didn't know he was dead yet. He touched his commlink control again. "Looks plausible," he said dubiously. He flicked the data over to the rest of the squadron. "Adjust vectors on my mark. Let's see if Black Five is as clever as he thinks he is, hm?"

The route took them across the surface of the planet, which was ordinarily potentially dangerous, and there was no need for it most of the time. But in this case, they were about to go into the planet, so being over the planet didn't seem like a prohibitively dangerous course of action. "Watch out for trees," he quipped into the comms channel.

"Black Eleven, Black Three, take up the rear and keep an eye out for bogies," DK said over comms. "Stay low and keep it tight."

Aktur Seii | Iasos Kontarr | Jaida Tess | Niance Kinniak | Vernon Hectis | Drexel Quinn
​

 

[Niance Kinniak]

"BLACK THREE"​

TIE/vn Starfighter​

SHIELDS (100%)​	HULL (100%)​
██████████​	██████████​

STARFIGHTER SYSTEMS: ■■ Adv Sensor Array ■■ Stealth Generator MISSILES: ​

OBJECTIVE 2
Go Deep, Go Hard​

​

Cocky. Niance thought and wondered if the kid had ever seen action. Her guess? Probably not. Still, couldn't fault him for being excited, thankfully their lead was the open-minded sort. Bee chirped in response but Niance only shook her head, "hey, any pilot worth their weight in salt is cocky, Bee." It was to be expected in their line of work. When DK replied with the whole of going with Black-Five's plan? Niance just hoped this kid was getting them all dead. "Copy that Black-Lead."​

​

Let's hope we don't end up with our names in marble. The pilot trusted her commanding officer, the two had seen quite a lot in their tenure together - so Niance had faith that DK had faith in this kid. Because to be honest? She didn't know this greenhorn from manners. Niance got eyes on the data and yeah, it shaved parsecs but she had to wonder what the cost was going to be. There was a saying if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't good. "Mountains, trees, is just another day at the office, vectors inputted Black-Lead." She turned channels to check on the other pilots, "black-eight, black eleven, you guys good back there?"​

​

Over the surface, flying low and tight - it meant everything was going to feel like it was racing at them at high rates of speed. Suddenly, Niance wished she had the easier assignments - the kind that meant all you had to do was escort or bomb. Niance sat in her seat and watched the other squadrons unfurl from the Concordia's hangar and descend toward the surface of Samovar. "Affirmative moving to the rear, we've got your six." She maneuvered her TIE toward the rear of the formation, twelve pilots ready to go - eleven pilots putting their faith and lives in the hands of two pilots. Black-Five who put the data up and Black-Lead who approved it.​

​

Readied up, she would follow the formation as they began their descent and hoped to the Enlightened Balance she didn't end up in an early grave today.​

Aktur Seii | Iasos Kontarr | Jaida Tess || Vernon Hectis | Drexel Quinn | Kim Dae-Hyun
​

 

[Kyon Su-Ji]

[ M A L F U N K T ]
Virel'lyra'surus

---

​

This wasn't the kind of outing Su-Ji had been expecting. After spending all of her time training among her peers of the Imperial Knights and working with them nearly exclusively, she had now been thrust into a different role altogether. She was to support the men and women of the army. Their task consisted of getting into a derelict warship, taking out a droid brain, and getting out before the inevitable destruction of the entire ship. An unorthodox assignment, to be certain.

A base of operations had been set up not too far from the warship, where the final preparations were just about made. Su-Ji was seated on a crate, looking around as people walked back and forth doing whatever it was they were doing. The briefing was already behind them and the Seoularian's preparation had been little more than a quick weapons check. Both her blaster and lightsaber were functioning the way they should've, and so all she had to do now was wait. She would've been more than happy to help anyone out with whatever they needed help with, but it felt strange to ask. And so, she sat and waited until it was time to move.

Su-Ji mused as she let her eyes go over various men and women, from a human male, to an echani female, to the echani male she conversed with. When a chiss woman entered her sight, however, Su-Ji instinctively looked her way. She was just a little younger than most, but just around her own age, or at least she assumed. Guessing age was a tricky thing, sometimes.

 

[Vernon Hectis]

​

MAJ Hectis, Vernon
FO/SS-84 Shrike Squadron


It seemed with every mission, the galaxy either got a bit brighter or a bit darker. An unending cycle that continued to keep Vernon excited to do his duty as a pilot. The mission briefing had just concluded and he was making his way towards the hangar bay of the carrier. The rest of Shrike Squadron were at the ready in their starfighters, awaiting further orders from their commanding officer.

Vernon approached his interceptor and climbed into the cockpit. As he put his helmet on, he tuned into the Shrikes comm channel. "Shrikes, listen up. We're on mission to Samovar. A mega-drilling structure has been unleashed upon the planet, tearing a massive hole through it. We are to stop it by any means necessary before it is too late. We will be flying alongside Black Squadron this mission. Form up and fly out."

Vernon knew this mission was out of the ordinary for the Shrikes, who were known for their defensive missions, but knew his squadron were up for anything command threw at them. Vernon was settled into the cockpit and his interceptor's engine growled as he activated it. Vernon pulled back upon the throttle, bringing his starfighter off the hangar ground. His squadron followed suit, right behind him in formation as they departed the hangar bay. Samovar was not too far off from the carrier. Vernon could see the other squadrons pulled up on his HUD. Black squadron was marked with a special tint to make it easier for the Shrikes to spot.

"Shrikes to Black squadron. This is Major Hectis, reporting in. We are prepared to follow your lead on this one. Take us for a walk in the park and we'll get you to a picnic on the beach, copy?"

Kim Dae-Hyun | Aktur Seii | @| Jaida Tess | Niance Kinniak ​

 

[Aktur Seii]

"BLACK FIVE"​

TIE/vn Starfighter​

SHIELDS (100%)​	HULL (100%)​
██████████​	██████████​

STARFIGHTER SYSTEMS: ■■ Adv Sensor Array ■■ Stealth Generator MISSILES: ​

OBJECTIVE 2
Go Deep, Go Hard​

Turned out the proposal for flight path met Black Leader's considerations, and Skash grinned as he watched the telemetry data upload across the squadron. He really wanted to prove he was suited to the group, that despite being a rookie right out of the Academy, he wasn't just outstanding test scores with little else to show for it. The starfighter shuttered a little as the atmosphere of the planet took over, forcing the gravity in the vessel to shift, but otherwise it remained smooth and controlled. The flight vector was being followed, as Black Lead added a warning over the comms to watch out for trees, to which Skash smirked and responded.

"Copy that, Black Lead. Trees, bad."

Rocks and outcroppings, too, but hey.

Movement on Skash's sensor panel showed Three and Eleven as they moved into the rear formation, to guard the flank, which would allow the rest of the squadron to focus on getting to the objective and handling whatever came toward them. Whether it was anything viable, beyond terrain, who could say? Either way, Skash rolled to the left and missed several tall trees, as his wing tips sliced between the overgrown green masses, his face a perpetual grin under the helmet, though his eyes were intensely fixated. Below, the ground passed by in a blur, the TIE/vn starfighter very fast compared to other TIE models, and when the trees started to become more sparse, a ravine was visible ahead - with a river at the base, and trees lining both sides.

It would be a tight fit, but there was one advantage - albeit very dangerous - to using the ravine:

"Black Three here, that telemetry data I sent didn't include the ravine," Skash began, as he checked his sensors again and reached out to tap several buttons on the terrain mapping function. He double-checked, saw a thin connection between the tunnel and the ravine wall. "But it looks like the drilling platform skimmed by it... so we could punch through that thin bit of rock, it's several meters thick by the look of it, and get right into the tunnels."

The rookie pilot was down, he was absolutely fine with popping a few missiles into the ravine wall and slicing through. But whether the others wanted to risk it, remained to be seen...

"Just sayin', a few torpedoes to that part of ravine wall and we'd be through in even less time."

Kim Dae-Hyun | Iasos Kontarr | Jaida Tess | Niance Kinniak | Vernon Hectis | Drexel Quinn​

 

[Alois Hammer]

​

As it turned out, not even the uparmored battle droids were immune to 155mm of good news delivered directly to the face.

The rounds fell close. Very close. Any that fell short, and there were a few, couldn't help but maim and kill friendly troopers. There was a reason they called this kind of supporting fire "danger close": even the most precise of artillery systems occasionally shot short, and at this range, there was no buffer between the enemy and friendly lines to soak up the shells. Shrapnel spilled blood and claimed lives. The barrage was costly for the First Friesland Regiment, but not nearly as costly as it was for the droids.

Great gouts of earth and fire shot skyward, laced with shattered automatons. The thunder continued for several long moments as the first stonk rained down. There was a brief pause as corrections were made, and then the sky began to scream once more.

"FALL BACK!" Colonel Hammer shouted into his mic. He wasn't normally the sort to shout, but it was impossible to be heard over the rumble of the shells. The noise was absolute, a solid wall that simply was, with no end or beginning. It was a fact of the universe, as surely as gravity or entropy. No mortal ears could possibly hear anything else, and no mortal minds could possibly conceive of the idea that there was anything else to be heard. Fortunately, Alois wasn't talking to a mortal.

At all times, the command net was monitored by an program designed to pick out certain words and phrases and translate them into battlefield commands. It wasn't quite AI; true artificial intelligence was entirely too temperamental for Alois's taste. Dedicated, nonsapient but still brilliant programs didn't have time for introspection. They performed a specific task, without complaint and with little error. In this case, the program was designed to pick up on the ambient noise level, interpret that it was entirely too loud for anyone to hear verbal commands, and accept that it was time to kick in. If an officer gave a command into the mic, it could filter out the ambient noise and interpret said command, generating battlefield orders for the troops under said officer's command. In this case, with Colonel Hammer on the field, it was locked out to either him or Major Steuben.

Colonel Hammer's command to fall back was picked up, interpreted, and translated into a movement order, with different squads bounding back while others were instructed to shift fire to cover the gap. The information was transmitted visually, through the HUD. They were functionally identical to the ones sent manually through Major Steuben's datapad: they gave a WARNO, or Warning Order, with a timer. Squad leaders would be given a point on a map to send their squads, while their subordinates would key onto their location. When the timer expired, the EXO, or Execution Order, would be given, and they would make their designated movement. For those staying put for the moment, sectors of fire would be highlighted.

The whole process, from ideation to execution, took less than a minute. The command program had a lot of data to parse in short order, but the Samuel B. Roberts, the RO/RO dropship that the 1FR was operating out of for this mission, had plenty of spare processing capacity to crunch the numbers. Exactly 53 seconds after Colonel Alois gave his shouted order, the first elements began their rearward sprint.

Meanwhile, the shells just kept falling, in a steady rain at this point. The Highball battery attached to this mission was one of the best in the 1FR, and it was able to maintain a blistering rate of fire for as long as the barrels maintained their integrity and as long as the ammo held. As long as they kept shooting, the 1FR would have cover, and as long as they had cover, they could retreat steadily towards the LZ. According to a timer on Colonel Hammer's HUD, they had about ten minutes.

That wasn't a lot of time at all, really, but the hogs weren't just working the line. They were spreading the good news all up and down the occupied portion of the valley. There probably would be survivors; they simply didn't have enough guns for complete saturation. But the pressure would be relieved to the point were the 1FR could run for much longer than ten minutes. Why, they might make it all the way to the LZ before the next push came.