S1, 15 Attack on the Communications Outpost (FB) (December 19, 2014)

As this is a Cross-Over event, here is the link to the previous part of the story, made by Toa Jaton.

Ep #14.5

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**6th January 2095: Present Day**

This morning had been hard work. I along with Jakor and his Aurelian squad and Brataan and his Marauders, had reached Rerador and approached the communications post, only to be ambushed by the GI. How they knew we were coming, I don’t know, but it had taken us off guard and many of our men had been killed, including one of Jakor’s friends by the name of Kevin. Jakor seemed to lose it when that happened and it was left to me to snap him back to reality and get him to focus on the task at hand.

We managed to fend off the Imperials but we lost a good amount of men and we haven’t even reached the outpost yet.

We rested for a short time and recomposed ourselves, especially Jakor, who needed time to sort himself out after the death of his friend, but soon we were on the move. I led us towards the main compound and Brataan and a few of his men took out the guards.

Somebody must have spotted us though because a siren began to wail as we passed through the gates and into the main facility.

Soldiers swarmed out of the various buildings and the firefight began in proper. Our team split up; Brataan and most of his men went one way, Jakor and his went another, leaving Tracks and myself together. We all knew the plan though; get into the buildings and plant remote explosives then rendezvous back at the battlefield to blow them.

I shot down a soldier who ran out of the doorway nearest to us and Tracks fired back at a couple taking shelter a little way off. I kicked the door and it swung inwards, banging against the wall. This building seemed to just house a small antenna array and there was only one room inside. A few technicians were cowering in the corner when I entered. They were lucky it was me who’d found them. If anybody else had come in, they would have just shot them where the crouched in the corner.

I pulled the first of my explosives from my pack and planted it on the console. Without looking over at the technicians, I told them,

Tank: “Get out now or go *boom*.”

They didn’t need telling twice and all ran screaming from the room.

I primed the charge and then, Tracks taking point, we left that building.

The compound was made up of numerous scattered buildings around one larger, more substantial control tower. The plan was to get charges inside all of the smaller buildings and then regroup and take the control tower together.

I had to kill another two soldiers as we made our way into our second outpost. Inside, Tracks killed a further two, plus one of the technicians who tried to attack him. I planted the charge, made sure the room was empty and then we made our way back outside again.

Brataan: “Tank!” he called as he and his men jogged over to join us.

Tank: “Are you done?”

Brataan: “Yes, we just finished our last out-building. What about you two?”

Tank: “One left.” I indicated to a slightly larger building.

Brataan: “Then what are we waiting for?” he grinned, showing his yellowed teeth, and together we all headed for the entrance.

It’s lucky that Brataan had showed up when he did because as we neared the door, a small squad of Imperial troops emerged from inside and began firing at us. Everybody ducked for cover but two of the Marauders were downed before they could make it.

There was a short firefight in which another of our company was lost but in the end, the soldiers retreated back into the main watch tower.

We cautiously entered the last outbuilding but, finding it deserted, planted our charges and then left to meet back up with Jakor and the others at the entrance to the tower.

Jakor and his men were waiting at the door when we arrived.

Jakor: “Are you ready?”

Tank: “Let’s go.”

Aurellian: “Smoke out!” one of Jakor’s men called as he tossed a smoke grenade through the door of the tower.

We heard coughing from inside and when we saw the smoke starting to seep outside, Brataan led the way through the door, guns blazing.

Our entire squad filed into the tower and slowly we fought our way up the levels to the Command centre at the top.

Once we got there, Brataan kicked down the door with a single thump and we marched in, guns blazing. There were only a handful of people in the room and all of them were quickly downed. Once we were sure we were alone, we began to spread out and placed the rest of our charges around the room.

I used up all of my charges and stood with Tracks, our backs to the viewing window, watching the rest of the men finish up.

Tracks made a sudden whirring sound and cocked his head slightly, giving me the impression he was listening to something.

Tank: “What is it?”

He made some more grunts in response and looked all around, clearly searching for something.

Tank: “What, can you hear something?” I asked, trying to guess what he was doing. He nodded and then looked outside, focussing on something in the distance that was too far away for me to see.

Brataan: “Well, I think that went better than we could have hoped for!” the big guy said cheerfully as he strode over to us.

But then his eyes widened as he saw something beyond me and at the same time, Tracks whirred in alarm. I spun around to see what was wrong but only had time to glimpse a small, dark mass in the sky, growing closer to us, before Brataan had shoved me with all his might, sending me tumbling across the ground. The second he did so, the glass exploded and a powerful bullet hit him in the chest, blood spurting out and throwing him back through the air. He crashed into another control panel, clearly lifeless.

Tracks was already firing out of the window before I’d had a chance to even get to my feet. Jakor and a few of the others had joined him by the time I made it back over to them and I realised what had happened.

Flying through the air on high-powered metal wings, was a squadron of Imperial airborne troopers, better known as Wasps. They were firing back at us as they grew closer and within seconds had surrounded the 360 degrees viewing window.

Jakor: “HIT THE DECK!” he yelled and everybody did so just in time as the Wasps sent a timed barrage of bullets through the windows, showering everyone in glass. Two men were caught before they could drop though and were nailed with several bullets each, but the rest of us lay wincing on the ground as we were covered in shards of glass.

After a few more seconds, the barrage stopped.

Tank: “NOW!” I yelled and as many people as could leapt to their feet and using the control boards that lined the edges of the room for cover, began firing back at the Wasps who were still hovering outside.

I found myself next to Jakor and together we blasted away. I hit the wing of one of the soldiers who spiraled out of control and vanished from sight and Jakor managed to get another straight in the chest. His wings stopped flapping at the vibratingly fast speed that they did and he plummeted straight down like a rock.

The shootout continued for another couple of minutes and three more of our group, two of Brataan’s and one of Jakor’s, fell and I’m not sure how many of the Wasps we took out, but there were still a great deal more of them than there were of us.

Tank: “We can’t hold out here much longer.” I told Jakor as we both took shelter for a moment, our backs against the control boards.

Jakor: “Agreed, but if we run for it, the Wasps will get us for sure.  How are we going to get away?”

I thought about it for a moment and then came up with a plan.

Tank: “Lure them in here. If we can get them in here after we escape down the stairs, we can blow the charges on them.”

Jakor nodded.

Jakor: “But how will we get them in here?”

Behind me, Tracks made a loud whir and I turned to face him. He shot down another Wasp and then crouched down in shelter, looking over at me.

I understood.

Tank: “Tracks will be the last out. Get everyone down the stairs and then Tracks will hide. Hopefully if they think they’ve finished us all off, they’ll fly in and land. Then Tracks will leap out and blow the charges.”

Jakor: “Will he have time to get out?”

I looked over at him and he nodded before rising again and blasting out of the window.

Tank: “Hopefully.” Jakor nodded again.

Jakor: “Then let’s do it.”

I spun back around and knelt up, shooting back at the Wasps. Behind me I heard Jakor begin to usher men down the stairs. I glanced back and saw them sticking close to the ground, hopefully, with the chaos going on all around, the Wasps wouldn’t see them leaving.

I kept shooting and suddenly noticed a very recognisable helmet on one of them. It was the Commander of the whole Wasps unit: Wing Commander Rocksholme! If he himself was here taking part, then the GI must really want us dead and want this outpost secured!

A minute later, Jakor reappeared next to me.

Jakor: “Okay, we’re the last ones.”

Tank: “Let’s go. Tracks, you ready?”

He nodded.

Tank: “Good luck.” I nodded and then together, Jakor and I scuttled across the floor, past the dead bodies of our fallen comrades including Brataan and ducked down the stairs. As we charged down the stairs, we could hear gunfire continuing above us and when we reached the base of the tower and rushed outside, we could see the remainder of the Wasps hovering high in the air. We raced out of the compound the way we had come in; ahead of us we could see the other survivors, clumped together in the muddy trenches we had fought in earlier on.

Suddenly, from behind us, there came numerous explosions, culminating in one huge one. The air rippled as the shock waves hit us in the back and we stumbled forwards. I spun back around to face the complex and found it crumbling in flames. The control tower explosion had caught virtually all of the Wasps in the blast and I turned just in time to see the last few dropping out of the air. The centre of the tower gave way and the entire building collapsed down on itself in a cloud of dust and ash.

I kept walking backwards, watching the compound for any signs of life, hoping to see Tracks hauling himself past the gates at any second…

But nothing moved.

We reached the rest of the men, who were resting, but my eyes never left the compound.

Tank: “C’mon….. C’mon Tracks, where are you?” I muttered to myself.

But after waiting for a good amount of time, with no word from the droid, I decided to go back and look for him.

Jakor: “You can’t! The whole place is unstable!” He grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving.

Tank: “Stop me.” I growled in reply and wrenched my arm from him grip.

I jogged back across the plain and pulled my bandana up over my face to protect me from the worst part of the smoke and ash.

I began searching through the rubble around the area that had been the tower but could find no trace of Tracks. I spotted a heavily cut and bloodied black arm sticking out from between two boulders, but didn’t have the stomach to retrieve Brataan’s crushed corpse for a proper burial.

Tank: “Tracks!” I called out, looking around for any sign of life.

Tank: ”TRACKS!" I called out again. This time though, I heard some rubble shifting not too far away. I rushed around there to see if it was him but it turned out to be just some more of the tower crumbling.

But then behind me I heard rubble shifting and I spun around only to find one of the Wasps dislodging himself from the bricks. He looked over at me and from his helmet I recognised him as their commander. He went for his gun and I dived away behind a large lump of wall, however I didn’t hear any shots. After a moment I peered out around the wall and saw him flying away into the distance.

As I watched him flying away, I heard a faint *PING*'ing sound. I frowned and followed the noise, searching for the source. The sound led me to another pile of debris, but I still couldn’t see anything.

Tank: “Tracks?” I asked loudly, over the sound of a small explosion from the other side of the site. A second later, there was a faint grunt from under the rocks and I immediately began hauling away the rubble.

A minute or so later, I yanked away a large piece of brickwork and exposed Track’s head. He had a small dent but other than that, it looked okay. He groaned a little and I carried on pulling the debris off of him.

Just a few minutes later and the rest of the rubble had been shifted and I pulled on the droid’s arms, dragging him out from under the last of the bricks. He was blackened and bashed all over but it was only at this point that I realised he was missing a leg. He made a series of loud, mechanical whines and I got him propped up against me.

I helped him hop along and together we made it out of the compound and headed back over to where Jakor was waiting with the others.

**BONUS PICTURES:**

The command center.

The entrance set.

The interior of the command centre.

The Wasps.

The rubble set.

The mini set.

Jakor created by Toa Jaton.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE