Allies: Galactic Alliance/Allied Forces, [member="Lyra Sunfell"] | [member="Kip Hollaran"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Mathieu Bahreiko"] | [member="Taeli Raaf"] | [member="Rekha Kaarde"] | [member="Taheera Sollo"]
Enemies: First Order, [member="Rexus Wenck"] | [member="Luther Ando"] | [member="FN-6767"] | [member="FN-2826"] (indirect) | [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] (indirect)
Objective: Coordinate Teams of Mortar Spotters
First Platoon // Surface LevelCamp Twilight // Concealed Artillery Outpost
Several Klicks From First Order Position
Anti-aircraft guns continued to boom on either side of Sol's position, only visible while firing and otherwise covered in scavenged foliage, camo wiring, and antireflec paint to minimize their signature on enemy sensors. Still, between the AA and mortar fire it was only a matter of time before the First Order discovered their location. Then again, from the admittedly scattered reports he was getting on Alliance battlenet, their initial assault was having a difficult go of it so far.
First Imperial model LAATs were raining down in pieces into the swamps and bogs of Dagobah. Lieutenant Stazi couldn't see them, he couldn't see much of anything without the help of sensors or thermal optics built into his helmet. But every once in a while, he could hear them, as an assault ship impacted close enough to their position for the duros officer to feel it like rolling thunder. One was even close enough that he felt the vibrations in his feet, and loud too.
"Dusk One-Four, status report," he activated his comlink in sync with his heads up display's chronometer, "What do you see?"
Not long after Captain Sunfell had ordered their mortar teams to begin shelling reported First Order landing zones, Lieutenant Stazi had dispatched teams of scouts to serve as spotters for more precise barrages. One team had already dropped out of contact, impossible to say whether it was mere equipment trouble or one of the myriad hazards of these contested swamps. But the others hadn't turned up much of anything so far, slow going as it was if they wished to avoid detection and also friendly fire from their own mortars. He expected this time it would be the same.
"Dusk One, contact," a hushed voice filled with urgency finally reported back after an unusual delay, "I repeat, we have a target. Not much left of them, but they're only a few klicks out from your position. Tightbeaming the coordinates to you now."
After a nod from one of his gunners, Sol gave a wicked grin, "We have them. Good hunting One-Four, might want to clear out of there. Find me something else to kill."
Directly behind the heavy repeater's nest he was squatting in, Jairdain heavy mortars added to the crescendo of artillery. A few sustained volleys could very well have been enough to finish them off completely, but one was enough to make the bucketheads bleed, and keeping his spotters mobile would keep them alive and in the fight. Meanwhile, the entire time he coordinated his men over battlecomms, Sol kept his eyes peeled for movement outside their perimeter. Attack from the lake was unlikely, but there were still several vulnerable spots to their position, and his heavy repeater crew was set up in a bunker overlooking one of them.
So far, there had been no sign of any stormtroopers, but then a light caught Sol's eye that somehow pierced the fog, and yet he could not imagine what could be bright enough to do that. Less than a second later, a deafening noise forced his helmet to mute outside audio for a few moments to prevent damage to his ears, and then he and the rest of his men slowly felt the rumble. It would take some time for word to come down to his level that a First Order capital ship had crashed into the swamps, but when flecks of ember began to rain down through the fog Stazi knew that something big had gone down.
