Well, here goes. The following is a fanfic that tells the story of the 37th Legion. I first wrote the Kamino part (that would be part 1) but added this part 0 because of the timeframe. I hope you enjoy it!
I'll be posting other stories concerning Republic Commandos so take your pick.
Part 0: The Package
Nar Shaddaa – One month after Geonosis
“Lead, this is Ghost Three; I have six targets on my sights.”
“Ghost three this is Ghost Lead; do you have a fix on the package?”
“Negative, that’s a negative Ghost Lead.”
Commander Bard cursed to himself for the umpteenth time. They had yet to locate the package or risk him in the cross-fire upon entry. Furthermore, they had been waiting for two hours to make a move because the major players had not showed up. The more lucky ones, the snipers, were on nearby rooftops tagging the targets. There were also three rapid-entry teams standing by; one of them literally in the gutters and the other two were in places not far behind by quality standards. But that was the battlefield: Nar Shaddaa, or to be more precise while still being vague, a complex of buildings in the lower levels of the city. There was nothing particular about this set of buildings except for the fact it concerned the 37th. The mission was supposed to be easy: extract a single target and kill everyone else. The only problem was that this particular target had run into trouble with a powerful Hutt and hence the target had turned into hard merchandise. Eventually he had been tracked down and captured and this was the site chosen for the exchange. However, their orders still stood: kill everyone else. Commander Bard knew the Hutts would be pretty pissed off when the target disappeared and even more so if one of their own had been killed in the process. He could only hope this Hutt would have the sense to delegate his death to one of his numerous underlings.
This was a job better suited for the RC teams as Commander Bard had stated at the onset of the mission but he had known all along it would not budge. There was a reason to the existence of the 37th Legion and it was closely linked to the fact that it answered to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine alone: the 37th did not exist and never would. The GAR did exist however, and whatever the GAR did the Senate knew and so did the Jedi, for now at least.
“Lead, this is Ghost Seven; the rain’s interfering with my scope again. How much longer are we gonna be here?”
Commander Bard could notice the edge on his voice. Yes, the rain was not helping because it was not actually rain but more like acid and it was not pouring but just bothering.
“Seven this is Lead; deal with it. We’re sitting tight until we get sight of the second party. Orders are to dispose of them as well, remember?” he replied annoyed.
“Roger that Lead, cleaning the deece.”
The RCs may not have been called in for this mission but the 37th was certainly equipped with most of their gear. After all, this was going to be a close-quarter engagement, at least for the rapid-entry teams and that was precisely what the DC-17 blaster rifle had been designed for.
“This is starting to get on my nerves”, muttered Commander Bard under his breath. He grabbed his electrobinoculars and decided to sweep the landing pad once more but to no avail: the airspeeder was still parked there near some crates with a little added weight in case something went wrong; the guards were doing their patrol duty as if they had better things to do with their time; and Team Bravo was hiding inside the crates edging to get out no doubt, perhaps not so much because of the mission but due to the nature of the crates’ contents. Unfortunately that had been the only spot Team Bravo could find to hide for the landing pad was bare beyond the crates and the airspeeder. Nevertheless, since their job would be to blow up things and people while making their way inside the compound there was no issue with their being relatively blind for the moment. Besides, Ghost Seven was stationed nearby ready to take out the guards so that Team Bravo met no opposition on their way in.
“Lead, this is Observer Three; I’ve got movement on my end. I’m counting five, possibly six, thugs near Team Alpha.”
Commander Bard did not like the sound of that. They had not waited all that long just for some thugs to pop up at the last minute and ruin the show. There was always the possibility that either one of the two parties involved had noticed their little operation and wanted to do something about it. He needed to be sure.
“Observer Three this is Lead; what are these guys doing near one of my teams?”
“I don’t think they are after the team sir. They are just standing near entry-point Alpha that’s all.”
“I really don’t like the sound of that. I want video feedback now.”
“Roger that Lead. Enjoy.”
They were thugs all right: two rodians, three weequays, a twi’lek and a human. The human seemed to be the leader; he surely was better dressed and armed than the rest. Plus, he was the only one with a comlink.
“Comlink…interesting”, thought Commander Bard to himself. He had a hunch about it and he had to be quick checking it out.
“Brey this is Bard. You see these thugs here”, he said as he activated the video feed for him to see as well.
“What about them?”
“Run them and see if they pop up in the little database made by our contact. Please be quick about it.”
“Will do.”
Whether or not he was right about them they would have to be dealt with nonetheless. Team Alpha could not risk a rapid-entry with those guys nearby. Ghost Five could not take them down and risk revealing his position no matter how silent the shot. Bard knew that. The only other option was Team Alpha itself.
“Boss, I’ve run them and I think you might want to take a look.”
Commander Bard activated the visual data-link that popped up in the top right corner of his HUD and watched each of the thugs’ profile in turn. They all had a common link.
“I get the feeling this Hutt is not interested in paying”, piped in Sergeant Brey.
Commander Bard could not agree more.
“He could at least have had the sense to hire someone else instead of using his own thugs”, Bard replied.
“Who’s gonna work the trace once the bounty hunters are dead?”
“Fair point.”
Well then, they already knew what the thugs where there for. However, that was only one group and just by itself it had next to none chance of getting rid of the bounty hunters and retrieving their prize. Bard himself had stationed three entry teams, three observers, several snipers, and a backup team to be on the safe side. The Hutt had not even bothered to station a group near the landing pad to block any retreat.
“Probably didn’t plan the op at all. Must’ve hired someone else to do that for him”, thought Commander Bard to himself.
The only way to secure the landing pads without resorting to placing a team there was to literally own the skies. They had not seen any ship activity in the area since they had settled but that situation could change any minute.
“Observers this is Lead; anyone registers any other movement outside the complex?”
“Lead, this is Observer One; that’s a negative for movement sir.”
“Lead, Observer Two here; everything quiet on this end.”
“Lead, Observer Three here; nothing besides the thug team sir.”
“Ok then. I don’t think we’re gonna see more of those”, replied Commander Bard. “Alpha Lead”
“This is Alpha Lead; go ahead sir.”
“I want you to take out those thugs the silent way. On my command only.”
“Roger that Lead.”
“Why not now sir?” inquired Sergeant Brey.
“They have a comlink Brey. Don’t you think the Hutt party will want to check on their thugs before they arrive?”
“Ahh… and if nobody’s home…”
“Exactly so.”
“Lead, this is Observer Three; human thug is speaking on the comlink sir.”
“Roger that Observer Three.”
“Lead, this is Observer Two; I’ve got a HAS incoming.”
“Video feed now.”
Commander Bard could see the speeder carefully approaching the zone through his HUD. A few seconds later it reached a halt near the entrance to the complex. Five heavily armed thugs came out, all human, followed by a twi’lek. Nobody else descended.
“Smart Hutt”, Bard could hear Sergeant Brey mutter through the open channel.
“Alpha Lead”, Commander Bard called, “silence the thug team.”
“With extreme pleasure sir.”
Bard still had the video feed for the thug team activated and he could see Alpha Lead slicing the human’s neck with his vibroblade. The rest of the thug team stood motionless while they watched their leader fell covered in blood and only when his body hit the ground they reacted; a little too late for they were overpowered by the rest of Team Alpha.
“Thug team neutralized sir.”
“Lead, this is Observer Two; both parties are in the building.”
“Observer Two, this is Lead; copy that. Snipers and entry teams stand by.”
“You know that moment you always wait for”, Commander Brad recalled his instructor once telling him, “when all your decisions are about to stand trial? Count to ten, and if it’s still there then take it.” And that was what Commander Brad had always done ever since and he was truly grateful. He had seen a lot happen in that ten-second count that had probably saved his life and that of his men. Every time he started the count it was as if time stood still and he was no longer part of the play but a spectator about to watch it. It was when the count finished that the dice rolled. You could plan something for hours or days but the result of all your actions and decisions to that moment were decided in just a couple of minutes. That was how Commander Bard felt right then. He was about to enter a world where time lost its sense to hard drilled training. He was ready.
Commander Brad advanced with Charlie team to the front door while he monitored the rest of the teams’ progress through the video feedback: Team Bravo had kicked down the doors of the crates and were now stealthily approaching the guards; Team Alpha had already entered the complex and was standing by.
“Braykis”, Commander Brad said addressing one of the men of Charlie team, “I need a demo charge on that HAS ASAP.”
Braykis gave him the thumbs up as he approached the HAS with the blaster in one hand and a demo charge in the other.
Commander Bard turned to the rest of Charlie team extended his left arm, indicating line abreast formation, then lowered it, ordering his men to crouch. He watched Braykis hit the ground and place the charge on the underbelly of the HAS. He had already taken his place with Charlie team when Brad had reached the count.
“Ten”, he muttered. “Go go go!”
Braykis hit the remote and Charlie team watched the HAS blow up in flames. Bravo team had already engaged the guards in what promised to be a short engagement and Alpha team was firing enough plasma bolt rounds to bring down an entire building.
“Keep an eye on the ammo Alpha. Let’s move Charlies.”
They were approaching the front door but instead of knocking the door down Braykis took out his anti-armor attachment and blew it to bits.
“Better safe than sorry Lead”, he argued.
Commander Bard rolled a couple of flashbangs and then hurled himself through the door followed closely by Braykis and two more of Charlie team. Three out of the five thugs of the Hutt party were dead on the ground, the result of charged plasma bolts, and the rest where making a run for cover. Bard shot a couple of rounds at the nearest one piercing his skull and then fired a volley at the second one but he had already reached cover.
“If that’s how you want to play it”, he thought darkly. He continued to fire his rifle with his left hand while he took a thermal detonator from his pouch with his right hand and aimed it at the thug’s hiding spot. The ensuing explosion brought several crates down and while it did not kill the thug, who managed to hurl himself to a side, the plasma bolt rounds that Commander Bard subsequently placed in his body did. He looked around and was almost convinced the room was clear when two more targets appeared behind some crates intent on killing someone. The only ones who got killed were themselves since they received multiple shots from both Alpha and Charlie teams. This time, just to be sure, Bard shot a couple of plasma bolt rounds in several directions and he was about to address the team when he heard a deafening explosion nearby.
“Sorry Lead”, replied Braykis. “I just had to be sure”, he added pointing at the anti-armor attachment.
Bard could not see the man’s face because of the helmet but he was sure he was grinning childishly. Braykis had wanted to test the anti-armor attachment for the deece ever since he had laid eyes on it.
“Don’t do that again”, Bard simply replied.
“Copy that Lead.”
“Charlie team, secure the room.”
“Roger that Lead.”
“Where’s the package?” asked Sergeant Brey once he was able to scan the room fully.
“Ghost teams, anyone has the package?” inquired Commander Bard.
“Alpha here; that’s a negative.”
“Bravo here; no sir, but we have a ship incoming and I don’t think it’s a friendly.”
“Then bring it down Bravo Lead.”
“Err…bring it down, yes sir.”
“Lead this is Delta team on the sewers. We’ve got a visual on the bounty hunters and the package.”
“At least something had come out right”, thought Commander Bard.
“Relieve them of the package Deltas. Alpha team is on its way to help”, replied Commander Bard as he signaled Alpha Lead.
“Twenty-six hostiles down without counting the hunters sir”, informed Sergeant Brey.
“Well that’s…
BOOM
This time the explosion knocked them all to the ground and started collapsing the already unstable structure they were in.
“Braykis!” hissed Commander Bard.
“It wasn’t me Boss!” replied Braykis defensively pointing at the anti-armor attachment’s grenade launcher. It was full.
“Sir, you might want to check Bravo’s video feed”, suggested Sergeant Brey.
Commander Bard did so and he watched burning debris raining from the night sky.
“Sir, this is Bravo Lead; ship’s down but we had to blow up the airspeeder too in the process.”
“No problem Beta.”
“Sir, this is Delta Lead; bounty hunters are down and the package is secure.”
“Good to hear Delta. Ghosts we make for the EVAC site now, we’ll follow Alpha and Delta through the sewers.”
“Bravo Lead here; acknowledged sir.”
“Snipers and observers, I want you in the EVAC site before we get there.”
“Roger that, Ghost Leader.”
“Braykis, rig the place to blow up.”
“Always a pleasure to follow your orders sir”, replied Braykis as he hurried unpacking demo charges.
“Yeah, as long as you get the chance to blow things up”, thought Bard humorously.
“Ok people let’s move it. We’re done here.”
“Lead, this is Charlie Two here. I took the liberty to inspect what used to be the HAS.”
“So?”
“I think the Hutt might have been inside when we blew it up.”
“Well, too bad for the Hutt. Shift it!”
EVAC site
“I never would have thought you could sneak a gunship in this place, let alone two”, muttered Sergeant Brey in surprise as two Republic LAAT/i gunships touched ground, engines still running.
“Just be glad they did so”, replied Commander Bard as he turned to his men and added, “Alpha and Bravo teams take the package and board gunship two; Delta and Charlie teams board gunship one. We’re out of here.”
He started loading his gear onboard gunship one when he was approached by the package they had come to retrieve.
“Are you the leader of this outfit?”
“That’s right. And you are Garrbo V’droz”, calmly replied Commander Bard.
“What...are you familiar with my work?” the package asked surprised.
“No, I’m not but I’m betting someone is.”
“Ohh…I see. I just wanted to thank you and your men for saving me from those culprits. If I had had to stay any longer with them I probably would have died.”
“Don’t thank me yet V’droz”, said Bard as he continued to load gear onboard the gunship.
“Well anyway, until we meet again”, concluded Garrbo V’droz as he made his way to gunship two.
“You’d better hope not to”, thought Bard grimly as he boarded the gunship, “because if we ever do then you’ll probably be dead or worse.”
Oct 26, 2007 3:38 PM | Report Abuse reply
Nice, not only it got posted badly but I can't even edit it. Nice going, beta.
Oct 26, 2007 3:40 PM | Report Abuse reply
The planet Kamino – 5 hours after Order 66
Tipoca City – Prime Minister’s quarters
Two Republic attack cruisers had dropped out of hyperspace and were now in orbit around Kamino. That particular bit of news did not trouble Prime Minister Lama Su. Republic ships had been coming and going to and from Kamino ever since the beginning of the Clone Wars.
What did trouble the Prime Minister was that these cruisers had not bothered to contact Kamino for the past thirty minutes. It had been part of the Republic’s strict security protocols, imposed after the Separatist attack on Kamino, to state all Republic business in the Kamino system so it could be verified with Coruscant. In order to discourage ill-inclined visitors there were three Acclamator-class Republic Assault ships in the far side of Kamino and several contingents of clone troopers were stationed in many of Kamino’s cities, including Tipoca City.
Granted, it was not much of a security system but the Republic was stretched thin from the war and had reason to believe that the Separatists would no longer attack Kamino. The Prime Minister had even heard rumors that General Grievous had been destroyed and the war was over. While the first thing might have been true, the Prime Minister highly doubted the second one. Still, the Republic presence in Kamino had an interesting psychological boost on the Kaminoans that was badly needed.
However, the Prime Minister had learned to be suspicious of the Republic’s intentions for the last couple of months. As a result, he had begun planning for the worst unbeknownst to the Republic or the Kaminoans in general. For his plan to succeed utter discretion was required, especially when dealing with such a dangerous customer as was the Supreme Chancellor.
And now, more Republic forces had entered Kamino space. Prime Minister Lama Su was no great strategist so he had dispatched his entire force to find out the purpose behind this intrusion. That had been thirty minutes ago and he had received no reply from his assault ships. But they were not his, he recalled. They served the Republic after all. There was nothing else he could do but wait. So he waited.
* * * * *
Republic LAAT/i “Wrecker” gunship
Five LAAT/i were fighting Kamino’s stormy weather as they approached Tipoca City. They had not informed Kamino control on their approach and they would not do so. Their orders had been clear: to maintain com silence from the moment they entered the Kamino system. Everything had gone smoothly until the assault ships had come into view demanding that the Republic cruisers identify themselves and stated their business. Commander Bard knew that they knew they did not stand a chance against two Republic attack cruisers but he also knew they would put up a fight nonetheless, and that would not only delay him but alert the Kaminoans as well. It was one thing for them to ignore the purpose of Republic ships in the system; it was a totally different one for them to ignore a full scale space battle. Nevertheless, the situation had been foreseen, planned in advance and consequently dealt with before the LAAT/i vessels took flight. Commander Bard had hoped to encounter no other problems. He had been wrong. Seconds upon entering Kamino’s atmosphere laser shots had been fired to the starboard of the commander’s gunship. Someone had spotted them and had no trouble firing upon them.
“This is CT-6/732 to unidentified vessel. You are entering restricted aerospace. Identify yourself and state your business or you’ll be fired upon.”
“Again?” thought Commander Bard to himself. He had no idea how they had tracked them and he had given strict instructions to the captains of the Kaminoan defense fleet not to interfere. It would seem then that the Kaminoans were better prepared than he had bargained for. He had been stunned by their move with the assault ships because they had been so poorly deployed. Now he was stunned again at how easily they had tracked his gunships and fired upon them. Clearly there was some misunderstanding as to who was in control of the Republic forces stationed in Kamino.
“Pilot”, he said through his helmet comlink as he made his way to the front compartments. It was no easy feat to move about fifty fully armored troopers in a gunship. The speeders bikes had been removed from all the gunships in order to make space for the troopers. A total of two hundred and fifty troopers, five pilots, five platoon leaders, one sergeant and one commander were now heading for Tipoca City. Commander Bard was eager to get them all in one piece.
“Can we keep this guy off our tail?” he continued as he bumped into the front compartments. “Damned weather”, he thought to himself. It had been a bumpy ride all along with the ship groaning as if about to tear itself apart. Add to that the fact that the sidedoors weren’t working properly and consequently they all got splashed in nearly frozen water every once in a while or were hit by strong currents of wind that somehow managed to filter as well. He had enough trouble as it was without adding some @#$%y starfighter pilot as well. He straightened himself up from the soaked deck and awaited the pilot’s reply.
“That’s a negative sir. It’s bad enough trying to get through the storm without having to outmaneuver a bandit. These babies weren’t built for starfighter duty sir.”
That was the bitter truth. Ever since the Battle of Geonosis the LAAT/i Republic gunships had suffered heavy losses in starfighter combat. Clone pilot CL-12/783 recalled the mission to Haruun Kal. General Windu had gone dirtside on Haruun Kal tracking a rogue Jedi when something went wrong and the Halleck and the Glorious were dispatched to extract him. CL-12/783 never got further than the Glorious’ hangar bay; other pilots from the Halleck were chosen for the extraction. Of the five gunships that left the Halleck to extract General Windu none came back. Droid starfighters had been laying in wait, powered down, clampled to drifting asteroids. When the Halleck entered orbit the starfighters attacked and the gunships were ambushed on their way to assist the Halleck. CL-12/783 had lost many brothers that day and had vowed that would never happen to him.
It was not their fault. The LAAT/i Republic gunship was a Low-Altitude Assault Transport/infantry. These tactical craft and their variants were designed to, according to Rothana Heavy Engineering, “cross impassibly rough terrain to swiftly and safely disgorge an entire platoon of clone troopers or haul a slower armored vehicle into position”. They were indeed well armed: three anti-personnel turrets; two mass-driver missile launchers; four composite-beam, pinpoint laser-turrets; eight light air-to-air rockets. All of this ordnance was also intended to aid deployed troops in the battlefield and, occasionally, bring down a starfighter or two but no gunship could perform starfighter duty. The only way out of starfighter combat was not to enter starfighter combat.
“Starboard gunner”, addressed Commander Bard, “do you have a good view on the bandit?”
“I have no view on the bandit sir. I can barely see two meters distance from my bubble sir.”
That much rang true. CT-5/126 had a front seat in a dazzling spectacle were the only things that could be seen was the lightning and the heavy drops of rain engulfing his bubble.
“Port gunner, what about you?” insisted Commander Bard. He did not like the idea of being tailed by someone he could not see. He wanted at least to get a lock on him in case he ran out of options.
“Same here sir”, dutifully replied the port gunner.
“We’ll never see it coming sir”, piped in CL-12/783. “How do you want to play it?”
He did not really have a choice. If he had brought a couple of V-starfighters along with him he might have played things different but the Kaminoan’s stupid move with the assault cruisers had made him confident that there was no need for them. No time to regret that now.
“Link me through to our friend out there lieutenant”, ordered Commander Bard. He had only one card left to play and it relied solely on CT-6/732’s genes.
“This is Commander Bard of the 37th Legion. Execute Imperial Directive 13.”
That was it. No more cards to play now. It was the same card he had played with the captains of the assault ships and it had worked then, but he had been informed that it may not work with unconditioned first generation clone troopers; and Kamino certainly had a stack of those. Just to be on the safe side, Commander Bard switched to an internal link that allowed him to address the different pilots of the gunships.
“All ships initiate countermeasures on my mark”, he informed.
But there was no need.
“This is CT-6/732. Imperial Directive 13 acknowledged. Initiating black curtain.”
Commander Bard breathed free at that and CL-12/783 gave him the thumbs up. The “black curtain” term was embedded in Imperial Directive 13 and implied complete electromagnetic silence. As of that moment CT-6/732 had ceased to exist in the eyes of whoever was monitoring his status. Furthermore, he would not contact the gunships anymore during the entire length of the mission and would only render assistance if requested. And that suited Commander Bard just fine.
“How long to the landing pads?” he inquired.
CL-12/783 brought up the HUDs display in his screen. Due to the violent nature of the particular storm they were riding and the encounter with the starfighter that had thrown them slightly off course the computer had to come up with a new estimation of their position.
“Five minutes give or take a few. I suggest you tell your boys to hang on to something”, he added.
“Why’s that?” carefully inquired Commander Bard.
CL-12/783 chuckled before replying, “These storms never get better sir, if anything they get worse; and our course correction is going to take us through some serious winds and sleet.”
Commander Bard grumbled at that. Fate could be decided in a matter of seconds, he wondered how many times he could elude his in the next five minutes.
“Just get us there lieutenant and let us be done with it”, said Commander Bard as he made his way back to the main compartments.
“Will do sir”, replied CL-12/783. After all he had vowed never to repeat Haruun Kal’s mistake. It was only fair he kept that promise.
* * * * *
Landing pads – Zero hour
“Go go go!” ordered Sergeant Brey as the gunship touched the landing pad and the sidedoors opened. “Secure the landing pad on the double!” With that he himself jumped onto the landing pad scattering water in all directions. He was almost knocked down flat by the strong winds in the landing pad even with the heavier armor they have been issued for this mission, the kind used by the Galactic Marines. They would have to be quick about it. All men were out of the gunship in less than ten seconds and it took them another ten to secure the landing pad. But he knew they would have to take refuge in the city and the sooner the better. He turned about and switched to the gunship channel to inform the pilot when he noticed something was wrong. Unbeknownst to the pilot, his gunship was drifting aside. “Fifty heavy duty troopers less”, thought Sergeant Brev darkly.
“Tar, the gunship is drifting aside!” he called out to the pilot.
He could see CT-10/458, “Tar”, working frantically with the controls and shouting through the comlink “I’m on it! I’m on it!” but whatever he was doing the ship continued drifting aside.
“Whatever are you waiting for?! Get the hell out of here, you’re too light!” countered Brev angrily. He had noticed the ship move a couple of meters more since he had last checked and it was still moving.
“Clear the pad! You @#$%s get on this side of the pad before the gunship hits you!” shouted Brev at his men on the far side. It would seem his men were thinking along those lines too because they were already making their way towards the sergeant.
“The exhaust slats are frozen!” he could hear Tar yelling through the comlink.
“Calm down we’ll train our guns at the spot and take care of it”, Sergeant Brev replied. But he never got the chance to do anything about it. A strong gust of wind hit the pad at that moment, strong enough to knock them all flat and send them tumbling through the landing pad. Several troopers were about to fall from the landing pad and the gunship was teetering on the edge as well.
Getting on his feet Sergeant Brev yelled through the comlink, “The six of you”, he gestured to six troopers that had gotten themselves up as well, “go help the guys about to fall. The rest of the troopers let’s get a hold on that gunship”.
Things seemed to be returning to normal when all the troopers about to fall were yanked up into the landing pad and the gunship had been secured when a second gust of wind sent the gunship into the ocean along with several troopers.
“Men down! We’ve got four men down along with our gunship!” reported Sergeant Brev through his comlink to Commander Bard. He could only hear static in response. He was running short on time, any minute now there could be another gust of wind that would send them all over the landing pad. He had to make a decision.
“Into the city now on the double!” he ordered. Some of his men turned to face him while the others ran against the wind into the city.
“What about our men out there sir?”
“We’ll get some Kaminoans to organize a rescue party. In the meantime I don’t want to lose more men so get inside that city now!” angrily replied Sergeant Brev. Nobody was facing him now, they were all sprinting towards the city. He certainly would ask the Kaminoans to organize a rescue party and hoped they would succeed. But the cold hard truth was that they were all assets to the mission. Expendable assets at that. He took a last long view at the turbulent waters below, turned and made his way towards the city.
Gunship “Wrecker” had just touched its assigned landing pad, the sidedoors opened and all troopers jumped onto the pad one row after the other. Commander Bard was the last one to descend.
“I’m getting strong winds sir, I’d better pull out”, calmly informed CL-12/783.
Commander Bard had long learned to trust the lieutenant on all flight matters and if he said to pull out he was not about to question that.
“Do that but we’re still gonna want that ride home so no bars for you, copy that?” replied the commander jokingly.
“Loud and clear sir. I’ll try to steer clear of those”, said CL-12/783.
Commander Bard watched as the gunship took flight and got lost amidst the clouds. He then turned to his platoon leader.
“Get them inside. We’ve got a job to do.”
“Yes sir”, replied the platoon leader and then switching to another channel, “Come along, I want you inside that city now!”
Commander Bard followed his troops as they entered the city and then switched to all-gunships channel.
“This is Bard, landing pad one is secure. Report.”
“This is platoon leader Wes. Landing pad two is secure sir. Gunship had to leave due to weather conditions.”
“Platoon leader Tras here. Landing pad four is secure sir and we have gunship support.”
He waited for a few seconds before adding, “Gunships three and five what’s your status?”
“Nothing but static sir”, replied platoon leader Tras.
“Can you get a good view on either of their assigned landing pads?”
“Can’t do sir. They’re on your side of the city and flight conditions are pretty nasty out there. Can try if you want me to”, replied the pilot of gunship four.
“Negative on that gunship four. If they can catch up with us they’ll do so. Let’s move out.” Commander Bard cut the link and entered Tipoca City.
* * * * *
Tipoca City – Prime Minister’s quarters
“This is most unusual Commander. May I inquire what your troops are doing in Kamino?” asked Prime Minister Lama Su.
Commander Bard had barely entered the prime minister’s quarters flanked by several of his troopers when he was greeted by this question. He was at first surprised by the Kaminoan’s knowledge of his rank when he then realized it was written all over his armor. He was cold, he was tired, he was angry and he wanted to get this over quickly. He did not have time for the million-questions-contest but unfortunately the Prime Minister had asked the one obvious question he would have to answer.
“Prime Minister, I am Commander Bard of the 37th Legion. I have come to relieve you of certain information at your disposal.” If the Prime Minister was shocked at the answer he was certainly doing a good job at hiding it. Commander Bard took advantage of the Kaminoan’s silence to further scan the room. There were no guards that he could see, hidden or not, nor any kind of defense mechanism what seemed to verify his first scan. The room was literally blank and it only served to put him off further still and contributed to his own uneasiness about the whole thing.
“Forgive me if I seem rude”, slowly replied the Kaminoan Prime Minister, “but I have never before heard of the 37th Legion and I take pride in knowing all units serving under the Grand Army of the Republic.”
Bard could have chuckled when he heard that. Instead he decided to enlighten the Kaminoan Prime Minister buying time for his men to complete their mission.
“You are way off Primer Minister, there is no Republic anymore. You are now dealing with the First Galactic Empire.”
The Prime Minister did not seem at all surprise, if anything he seemed amused by the Commander’s response.
“Am I to assume then”, the Primer Minister replied, “that we cannot count the Jedi Council as a customer anymore?”
“This guy is way too smart for its own good”, thought Commander Bard grimly.
“The Jedi have betrayed the Republic. To this day they are being hunted and destroyed by the Imperial forces.”
“So it was a power struggle”, muttered the Prime Minister to himself.
“I beg your pardon?” asked the commander now totally put off.
“What is it you have come to retrieve?” asked the Prime Minister rapidly changing subject.
“You know what we want. We want Jango’s genetic makeup”, replied Commander Bard. Now they were getting somewhere. He fully expected the Kaminoan Prime Minister to complain which is why he had already ordered his troops to begin the search.
“I am sure you are aware”, slowly began the Prime Minister, “that our deals do not include that kind of information nor our cloning techniques for that matter.”
Commander Bard just nodded. It had not been phrased as a question but as a statement. That meant that the Prime Minister was giving it some thought at least.
“If I give you what you seek, will you call off your troops and withdraw your ships in orbit around Kamino?”
“If you give us what we want then I don’t see why not. My mission is to get Jango’s genetic makeup”, replied the Commander before adding, “at any cost”.
Prime Minister Lama Su walked up to a nearby wall and seemed to lean on it. Almost immediately there was a fissure on the wall and the Prime Minister took something from it. Commander Bard was not at all concerned; if the Prime Minister tried to make a run for it then his forces would overwhelm him. The Prime Minister did have a weapon, of sorts.
“This is what you seek Commander”, said the Kaminoan Prime Minister as he held a long thin tablet in his hand.
Commander Bard nodded one of his men forward. One of the troopers approached the tablet with some gear, studied it for a few seconds and then gave the thumbs up. At another nod from the commander he pocketed the tablet and returned to his side.
“Why?” asked Commander Bard. This was something he had to know.
“Even an Empire needs soldiers”, replied the Prime Minister bemused.
Bard nodded and then opened the link to his troops and the external comlink so the Prime Minister could hear as well.
“Pack it up. Mission’s accomplished.”
“Thank you”, replied the Prime Minister. “I think you’ll be glad to hear we’ve rescued three troopers and a pilot near one of our landing pads. The gunship could not be salvaged unfortunately.”
“That’s ok, the gunship can be replaced”, replied Commander Bard as he turned and left.
* * * * *
Landing pads – Forty-seven minutes after Zero Hour
“All gunships are off. Sergeant Brev and his troops have been relocated between gunships two and four”, informed the platoon leader.
“Good. Time for us to get a move on then”, replied Commander Bard. They were the last to get off Kamino. Commander Bard watched his men board the “Wrecker” when he heard footsteps behind him.
“Commander, one moment if you please”, said the Prime Minister Lama Su as he caught up with them.
Now the commander was genuinely puzzled. What could the Prime Minister want now?
“Is there something I can do for you Prime Minister?” asked Commander Bard as politely as he could manage. After all, the winds had not diminished and he still wanted to get out of there as fast as he could.
“I would like for you and your men to take your helmets off”, was the odd request.
Commander Bard chuckled at that. He turned his back on the Kaminoan Prime Minister and then boarded the gunship. “He’s way too smart for his own good”, thought the commander confirming his earlier assessment. He meditated on the request a few seconds and then gave a single nod to his men. Fifty-one soft hisses could be heard as the troopers took off their helmets. Commander Bard particularly relished the astonished expression on the Prime Minister’s face as he ordered the pilot to take off.
“But…”, stuttered the Kaminoan Prime Minister. “But you are not clones”, he protested.
“Welcome to the new face of war”, shouted Commander Bard amidst the roar of the engines and the sounds of thunder. He put his helmet back on and the sidedoors closed.
* * * * *
Journal entry of Commander Bard – 6 ABY
War is about deception. If you make a lot of noise over there nobody will notice what you do over here. That was exactly the purpose of the Legacy operation. What happened to gunship three during those forty-seven minutes that we had been on Kamino? We didn’t want the Kaminoans asking about that. So we made some noise. Do you know what are the chances of a Republic LAAT/i gunship’s exhaust slats freezing in cold weather? About one in a thousand units. Odds were good enough for the Kaminoans to buy it but gunship five was not the one-in-a-thousand-chances ship; it was clone lieutenant CL-12/783’s choice for the operation. Before leaving the bay of the Starlighter he had rigged gunship five’s exhaust slats on my orders and nobody knew besides him and me.
It was all part of the act meant to trick the Kaminoans into revealing their utmost secrets. What happens if you think you are about to be overrun by enemy forces? You destroy whatever you think they are looking for unless you think there’s no immediate danger or some truce can be negotiated. In our case, we were after some of the Kaminoans’ industrial secrets for the cloning process, secrets our other source needed to complete her project. “The mind can only retain as much.” And apparently the rest was stored in an obscure computer in Tipoca City, its exact location hidden from her as well.
So we played our hand hoping that the Kaminoans’ would lead us to our real objective once they thought their planet was in danger. This particular mission was carried out by members of the 501st, which were traveling with gunship three, because they could naturally blend with the clones in the city, unlike us. And thus it was, that while I distracted the Prime Minister of Kamino, Lama Su himself, the 501st carried out their undercover mission in Tipoca City and managed to track down the computer and retrieve some much priced information.
We left Kamino with the knowledge to wage war having been properly secured. That was only the first stage of a plan I would uncover much later in the game, an experiment of sorts that would ensure the continuity of the First Empire, even after its death.
Mar 4, 2008 6:11 PM | Report Abuse reply
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