[USER ACCESS: TK-3301]
[SUBJECT: DOMINION OF MINNTOOINE]
[EMERGENCY OBJECTIVE: RESCUE COMMANDANT STRAUSS]
[ACCESS CODE: N9TT-9G0A-B7FQ-RANC]
[PROCESSING...]
[PROCESSING...]
[ACCESS GRANTED!]
[BEGIN REPORT...]
"Ronhar Tane of the Mahpoorem forces, this is Major Sieliel Dimegor serving under the command of Grand Moff, Selrik Lorcas. "I am triangulating the position of Commandant Strauss to you now. He just suffered a direct hit and his vessel has crashed in an enemy hotzone. This is priority one. Redirect your advance towards this location and save Imperial forces found there from the enemy before all is lost.
The message had come in shortly after the capture of the final Ion Cannon, as Ronhar and his men attempted to consolidate their newly acquired gains for use against Minntooine's remaining defenders. As lucrative a capture as their prizes were, the rescue of an Imperial Commandant certainly took priority, and Ronhar prepared to sortie out with a small contingent of Storm Commandos. He had called in a
Stork to drop off a number of
74-Z speeder bikes at his location, which he and his squadmates would use to reach the hapless Commandant. Though he would had preferred an aerial insertion, anti-air defenses had already downed one dropship, and he wasn't about to add himself to that particular number.
"Lieutenant Gorbel!", Ronhar called out as he mounted his speeder bike. "What is the status of Admiral Zonill's landing operation?"
"Sir, our latest reports indicate that the admiral began landing his fleet approximately one hour ago. The strike teams are already en route to their designated targets, as you have requested."
"Very good, Lieutenant. As for
your orders, you and your men are to defend this installation at all costs. It is likely that the enemy will attempt to retake this Ion Cannon: you are to make sure that this does not happen. You are to use any and all resources at your disposal to ensure Imperial control over this anti-air battery. Am I understood, Lieutenant?"
"Of course sir, we'll get the job done."
"Right. We're expecting reinforcements over the next couple of hours, but remain vigilant. While we've taken out most of the enemy's anti-capital ship batteries, there's still a host of smaller anti-air installations spread across this planet. No telling when the dropships will get here, if at all."
"Not a problem sir, we'll make do with what we have."
"I certainly hope so, Lieutenant. Good luck, and may the Empire guide you."
"Likewise, Captain Tane."
With the end of that exchange, Ronhar and a contingent of his Storm Commandos sped off toward
Augustus Von Strauss
's last known position.
The trip had taken Ronhar all of 30 minutes before he had arrived at his destination: some sort of ruined Comms Array building. As he and his men dismounted their speeder bikes, he couldn't help but notice that the area around him was strewn with dead bodies. Most of them belonged to the enemy defenders, but a few were clearly stormtroopers. Not wanting to take any chances, Ronhar and his men remained hidden in the rubble around the building. He couldn't
see any defenders out in the open, but he knew better than to expose himself.
"What should we do, sir?", Feralw whispered to him over his comms.
Ronhar sighed to himself. He turned up the volume on his helmet's voicecoder, and decided to announce his presence:
"This is TK-3301 of the Mahporeem Imperial Remnant, Captain Ronhar Tane. I've been sent by Major
Sieliel Dimegor
and Grand Moff
Selrik Lorcas
to extract you and your men."
For a few moments, the world around him continued onward in total silence. Then, without warning, a voice rang out:
"Stardust!"
Ronhar considered the challenge for a moment before replying:
"Death Star."
He could detect movement from the inside of the building as a number of Stormtroopers slowly streamed out, followed by Ronhar's target: the Commandant himself.
Ronhar immediately broke cover as he headed over to the Commandant, with the rest of his man forming a defensive perimeter around the old Comms Array.
"Glad to see you're still with us, Commandant", Ronhar remarked as he shook hands with Augustus. He turned his head over his shoulder and shouted:
"Tacdunk, on me!"
Tacdunk, an Imperial
Medic Trooper, immediately ran over toward Ronhar and the Commandant, Bacta Pouch in hand. She began applying first aid to the Commandant as Ronhar gave him his options:
"Allow me to explain the current situation to you, sir. At the moment, most of our Capital Ships are currently engaged in naval combat above the planet or are actively landing forces on the planet itself. Our smaller aerial assets, like the Stork you came in on, have been receiving tremendous amounts of anti-air fire, hence our current predicament. The way I see it, we have two options, though neither of them are very appealing:
- Option A: We fortify this position and dig in, as we wait for the strike teams from Admiral Zonill's fleet to eliminate the remaining anti-air batteries around this area. Once that's been done, we can call for an aerial extraction. Obviously, if we choose to do this, we'll be sitting porgs out here until the extraction is completed. The good news is that we can use the Stork and the building for cover, along with some of the E-Web Repeating Blasters as defensive emplacements.
- Option B: We take the speeder bikes my men and I have come in on and get the hell out of here. If we double up on the speeder bikes, we'll be able to take everyone still alive with us. Of course, this will leave us vulnerable to pursuing spacecraft and repulsorlift based ground forces, as we'll most likely be devoid of any meaningful cover until we reach friendly lines. On the bright side, we'll at least be mobile.
"What about proceeding on foot, sir?", Feralw cut in. Ronhar thought about his suggestion for a moment before shaking his head.
"Not a bad idea", he conceded to Feralw, "but too risky. There's simply too much wilderness between us and friendly lines, and who knows how long it'll take to pacify all the resistance on this planet. I'd rather
not be stuck in the middle of nowhere for the next couple of days if I can help it: after all, I don't know what kind of wildlife or local sentients might be lurking around out here.
"Fair point sir", Feralw replied, "but I still think we should leave that option on the table".
"Noted. Now, Commandant Strauss, those are our available options at the moment. What are your orders, sir? What do you want to do?"
No matter what the Commandant choose, it was
not going to be an easy decision...
Onrai
Velcarin
Taregh Garon
