WotH-2 Chpt 4

==War on the Horizon - Chapter 4 / Book 2==
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===Picking up the pieces===
Date: April 12, 3017Location: Beloria, Independent world
"Fuck, this is heavier than it should be," I picked up one of the Battle Droid's blasters and hefted it. "Hell, my Carbine's better than this. This piece of junk might be smaller, but it's not that much lighter than it and my Carbine has more features."
 
"It might be heavy and cheap, but the internals are good," a tech nearby tossed another blaster into a nearby crate. "We can rebuild them into small arms for our use, and it's cheaper than starting from scratch."
 
"We'll have to make them lighter," I weighed my carbine in one hand and the E-5 in the other. "Because this is shit."
 
"Droids don't care about weight," he reminded me. 
 
"Which is why we're salvaging them," I agreed.
 
I turned and looked at Major Naomi Brown as she stood on top of a (mostly) intact ATT.
 
"What's the verdict?" I asked as she dropped down and brushed some dirt off, her sunglasses dark in the cloudy sky.
 
"Well, they're not junk," she slapped the side. "For cheap tanks, they're actually better than a Scorpion. They've got decent armor, speed, and armaments. As many as we can grab for salvage, we'll take and rebuild into something that we can use."
 
"Match them up with the rebuilt droids the techs are working on…" I trailed off.
 
"They'll be a disposable but effective force," she agreed, leaning on the tank until a short hum was heard and the damaged AAT began hovering again. 
 
"Got it working!" a head poked out of the tank. 
 
"Nice!" Naomi grinned at her husband. 
 
"I'll go ahead and load it onto the trailer." he replied. 
 
"So, we should probably finish this up. It's about to rain." I glanced up at the dark clouds that were heavy with rain. 
 
"That cloud cover is the reason this area isn't crawling with droids yet," she replied. "If we have to work in the rain to get the salvage, so be it."
 
"Fair enough," I glanced at the other half-dozen tanks that her crews were working on getting running again. The other salvage teams used cables to tow the tanks onto the large flatbed trucks.
 
"Let's hurry it up, people!" Naomi yelled out. "Cloud cover will only last so long!" 
 
The next hour was wet and windy as we loaded up all the scraps of the battlefield onto the recovery vehicles, our ponchos only doing so much to prevent the heavy rain from soaking our uniforms. 
 
"Alright," I nodded at Naomi as she climbed into her Manticore. "Let's head back to base before this gets any worse."
 
"Be careful," she glanced at the ladder running down the side of my 'Mech and floating every which way in the wind. 
 
"If this job were safe, none of us would have taken it," I grinned as I grabbed onto the ladder and began climbing up, the wind pushing it less now that my weight was on it. 
 
I made my way up the ladder and crawled into my cockpit, sealing the door behind me and pulling my soaked working uniform off, leaving me in my (Somehow) dry underwear.
 
I tucked the wet clothes into a storage compartment before retrieving a dry set and climbing into the chair. 
 
I plugged my cooling vest in and began powering up the 'Mech. Bitchin' Betty's voice was a comfort as the storm continued rolling in. 
 
"Colonel!" A voice called out as my comms board lit up. 
 
"Go ahead," I replied, seating the microphone and helmet onto my head. 
 
>>"The Federation decided to use the monsoons as cover,"<< Sheppard's voice came over the channel reserved for the command staff. >>"They're pushing into the main city. The Governor, planetary reps, and Local Law Enforcement are all that's left in the city. Peterson's moving infantry in, but he's only going to be able to get a company or so there in time to actually do anything."<<
 
>>"I'll send the salvage teams and their escorts on ahead. Naomi, what can you detach to come with?"<<
 
"Pair of Hunters and four Jaguars," she stated. "I'll run escort on the recovery teams."
 
>>"Copy that,"<< the channels shifted as the Major barked orders, and a fireteam of vehicles peeled off to support me, the Jaguars moving ahead to screen the slower-moving Hunters and my own 'Mech.
 
"Peterson, armor and 'Mech support is en route, ETA Thirty Mikes."
 
<("Copy that. We'll dig in around the generators.")>
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===Bolstering Courage===
Lightning illuminated the dark skies around the city, revealing clusters of Battle droids crossing the shields and into the city. Tanks and Hailfire droids alternately floated and rolled closer to the shields, a handful of larger silver droids intermixed with the shorter Tan B-1s used by the Trade Federation for years. 
 
"Losk, you must ensure the shields fall, and the government is secured. We are supposed to eliminate the mercenaries. They do not own the planet, and as such, if we can secure the government, they can revoke any legal status that these mercenaries have to occupy this world."
 
A robed Neimoidian glared at his underling through the Comlink.
 
Losk Shigro looked at the holographic pedestal inside of his armored tank. 
 
"I will see that it is done," he replied as the tank shuddered under the wind. "But the local weather is impeding our progress."
 
"This monsoon has been projected for weeks, according to all local weather monitoring stations. Nep Valva crossed his arms. "This is the perfect time to strike."
 
"I agree," Shigro accepted. "But I believe you underestimated the power of this storm; the droids can barely stand in these winds."
 
As they continued to speak, lightning streaked across the skies and struck a lightning rod embedded into the ground near the outskirts of the capital city. The thunder shook Shigro's command AAT, throwing the hover tank askew for a brief moment. 
 
The comlink shut off as the storm continued to roll in, the hologram distorting before finally shutting off.
 
Finally, the Trade Federation crossed into the city, and the storm intensified.
 
More lightning streaked across the sky, and thunder broke the sound barrier louder than ever. 
 
But it wasn't thunder… And the storm hid more than the Trade Federation ever expected.
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Chapter 2-4