Angels are calling your name
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Task 8 for Aaric
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156 ABY
Distant battlefield
Jabiim
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Jabiim. A planet once full of sentients and valuable ores. Then became the site of costly battles during the Clone wars. Now... a dead planet devoid of life ever since Darth Vader decide to glass the planet with plasma fire.
As the Imperial Lambda-class shuttle touched down near where the signal flare had been sighted, Aaric wondered what in the galaxy was his master up to now? Why send him to this planet of endless torrential rains that did little to wash away the remnants of battle droids, clone troopers, rebels and stormtroopers that plagued the land?
The scion of House Mecetti shook his head. There was no use in speculating other than of what may lay before him. On Hapes, he had told his master that he would bring war to the galaxy, with House Pelagia being the first to feel his fury. Thus, he was most likely sent here to experience the consequences of war with his own eyes.
The shuttle's ramp lowered and Aaric stepped off the ship, throwing the hood of his Mabari Armorweave cape over his head to protect himself from the rain. He looked out in the distance... the flashes of lightning and roar of thunder assuming the role of artillery and laser fire that blanketed the wet and muddy landscape dotted with craters and trenches. One could only imagine what hell the troopers had to go through only to let the planet fall.
It was just before dawn. Heavy clouds loomed in the sky, sparse flashes of sheeted lightning illuminating the long gone battlefield. The sight of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Clone wars. Desolate and muddy. Ridden with craters dug by artillery rounds and trenches carved through the dirt, tall enough for someone to uncomfortably crouch in to prevent their head from poking over the top.
Carcasses of droid and trooper alike littered the field; a stark reminder of the reality of war.
The signal flare was lit to guide the apprentice down to a small transportable bunker. Within there was a company of 25 men: mercenaries. All gathered from various questionable establishments from around Coronet City, Corellia. At the centre of the room was a holo table, though it appeared as if it hadn’t been used in quite some time. The chatter of the men would fall silent as Aaric entered the room. One of the mercs, a tall man with greasy brown hair and a gaunt face looked the apprentice up and down. His eye caught the lightsabers hanging from Aarics belt.
“So, you’re the... one who hired us then, aeh? The Sith.”
Hmm... twenty five men. He mused.
That's about four squads or five men each.
Aaric's expression remained neutral. His master didn't tell him what he was going to do on the planet and who he would meet. Right now, he would have to extract the answers from the merc. He strode up to the group of mercenaries, letting his tall figure tower over most of them and gave them a narrowed glare.
"All I can tell you is that, yes, I am '
a' Sith." Aaric replied. "But whether I'm '
the' Sith who hired you all, I am definitely not. I can only assume my master was the one who hired you."
"He has neither told me what I am here for nor who I was to meet." His gaze rested on the man merc who addressed him first. "Now that I know about the latter, I think its about time you told me about the former so we can get this done as quickly as possible and you can get your pay."
Bakkas, the greasy merc eye balled the Sith apprentice that stood just a few inches taller than he. “Seems your master likes to be a but vague then, huh?” His voice portraying his tobbac habit, gruff and strained.
“I’ve got no idea why we’re here. I definitely didn’t know we’d have company...” Bakkas reached behind his back to his belt and revealed a beskar dagger. “All I know is we got assurances of our pay to come.” He said tossing the highly valuable blade onto the holo table. “Collateral. All I were told was we had to retrieve something.” The mercenary glared. “And if half the stories of you lot are true, I’d say it’s probably your head your master wants.”
A wicked grin pulled the mercs lips across his stubbled face as his counterparts chuckled.
Suddenly the holo table burst to life. A life size image of Metus hovered in the air. The hologram projectors sputtered and the images distorted before he started to speak.
“If I wanted his head I’d take it myself.” Said the knight. “Look out the bunker view port. The asset should be landing any moment now.
If they looked out the window as Metus instructed they would see a bright flash from above the clouds followed by the sight of a container of sorts falling down through the air. Debris was sent flying high into the air followed by the boom of the canister impacting the ground. “I suspect it’s approximately 1000 meters from you position. Aaric, you’re in command of these men, go and get it.”
The holo Sith turned to Bakkas. “As was agreed. Your pay is secured safely with the asset. I’ll be taking that dagger back when you’re finished”
Metus turned his attention back to the apprentice. “Oh and Aaric; keep them alive.” He smirked just before the hologram fizzled out.
When his master's hologram finally fizzled out, Aaric sighed and rolled his eyes. Even after going through so much, his master seemed to never tire of trying to push his apprentice to the edge and keep him on his toes. He turned to the mercenaries and addressed Bakkas.
"First off, I would like to apologise to everyone here for bringing you all into this wild womp-rat chase. As you probably know by now, my master likes to put me in all manners of scenarios to teach me a lesson. This is one of them... and I hardly need tell you, if I know my master the way he is, most of us may be getting out of here with more than just a scratch. And you all aren't Mandalorians."
"Well we ain't Mandalorians, that's for sure young'un." Bakkas replied. "But you don't get to be my age without some skill and experience under my belt. I'm sure whatever yer master has planned for ya, my men and I can take it. Losing a man or two's just part of the job."
"Then I'll be in your care." The apprentice nodded and extended a hand. "My master has said I'm in command of your men, but I know you're the most experienced and most well-versed about your men's weapons and tactics. I'll be relying on you as the second-in-command. Aye?"
The head merc eyed the young man's hand warily then, nodded and extended his own hand. The men clasped arms as a sign of agreement and respect.
"Bakkas." The merc grunted.
"Aaric." The apprentice replied.
"All right men. Time's a wastin'!" Bakkas barked. "Move out!"
-
Oddly enough by the time the entire company had left the bunker, the rain had lightened up a little. Though there was no sun to be had, especially for a planet that had only five dry days each standard year.
Aaric had himself and the men in a high-kneel position; organised with five men per fire-team with two teams on each side of the flanks with himself and Bakkas' team making up the center in a Vee-shaped formation. The old merc nodded in silent approval since the formation afforded good security, speed, command, and control of the entire group. This was especially since they were currently out in the open and were expecting contact.
"Alright young'un." Bakkas muttered while looking out across the war-torn landscape with his macrobinoculars. "We're in position. What do you want us to do?"
"Hold position. A little recon seems to be in order." Aaric replied as he took out his holocommunicator. "Oddball, this is Aaric. Do you copy?"
The hologram of the Imperial shuttle's pilot fizzled into view. "Copy, lord Aaric. What do you need?"
"Take the shuttle and do a recon scan of the area between us and the asset." Aaric instructed. "Said asset being the large container that just dropped from the heavens about a kilometer from our position. Mark our positions and the position of the asset in the data stream and keep your distance from the ground. We don't know what's out there and I don't want my only ride out getting shot down. If we get pinned, we'll need you to do a strafing run. But we'll try to avoid that if possible."
"As you command, milord." Oddball nodded. "Passing overhead in a few moments. Standby your holomap for data stream upload..."
"Alright men." Bakkas addressed his men through his com-link. "Stay in formation and hold position. The client's got a ship coming over to do some recon. Once it's done, we push forward nice and slow until we reach the first trench then we'll change tactics as we see fit."
“...Keep your distance from the ground...”
“Sir, there’s a shuttle moving down below. It appears to be surveying the area.” Came the report to Metus.
“Is it in range if the flaks?” He replied.
“Yes, sir...” a momentary pause filled the air with tension. “Take it down.” Metus ordered.
As the shuttle completed its recon circuit it would see nothing on the ground, nothing alive or functional anyway. Skeletal remains of troops, rusted shells of droids, walkers and troop transports. The pilot may have gotten a report back to Aaric before the faint distant sound of guns permeated the clouds.
Five flak canon rounds screamed down from the darkest mass of cloud, two exploding in a hail of shrapnel that tore the dorsal sail off entirely. Another made direct contact with the right wing sending fire and smoke into the air. The last two rounds detonating point blank in front of the cockpit, white hot shards of metal eviscerating the pilot before the shuttle went into a deadly spin; crashing in a ball of flame half way across the field.
“Direct hit sir!”
“Good.” Said Metus. “Bring us down. Give them a taste of the light 8’s”
The clouds parted in the most peculiar way. Lightning flashed and streaked across the sky followed by a crash of thunder. The nose of a cruiser tipped down from the clouds, flashes of green light illuminating the sky before a volley of light turbo laser bolts rained down on the group. Four men on the left wing of the V formation fell. One by debris flying through the air from the blast. Anothers leg was ripped violently from his body as the laser found the dirt. Another two were hit centre mass sending scorched organs and blood through the air.
Metus stood at the bridge of the
Apocalyptica, his smile one of extreme satisfaction. “Pull around to starboard and bank down. Get an angle on the port side turrets!
At one moment, everything was just starting out fine. The next moment, all hell had broken loose. When the shuttle passed over them, Oddball had jist routed the realtime data to Aaric's holomap on the ground.
"The scans have been routed." The Imperial pilot exclaimed. "Coming back round to... What the hell?"
The apprentice looked up just in time to see streaks of yellow shoot through the clouds and strike the Lambda-class shuttle right in the dorsal sail.
"KRIFF! I'M HIT! I'M GOING D-" Oddball didn't get a chance as the trailing rounds followed through, striking the the right wing then the cockpit twice in quick succession.
Aaric and the mercs could only watch in horror as the shuttle spun and disintegrated into hunks of flaming durasteel before crashing into the ground not far from their position. Before they could even try to comprehend what happened, the ground shook and the air reverberated as lightning streaked across the sky and illuminated a gigantic silhouette hiding within the clouds.
The clouds parted to reveal the nose of what could only be a large cruiser when suddenly streak of green plasma shot down from the sky and barreled down on the still-shocked group.
"Aw, ye have got to be kriffin' kidding me." Ballad cursed and yelled. "INCOMING!"
The entire group ducked and threw themselves to the ground as the turbolaser bolts struck true and completely obliterated four men on edge of their left flank before they could react.
"They got us zeroed!" Ballad hollered through his comlink. "Spread it out! Spread it out!"
Aaric resisted the urge to slap his face with his palm as he recognised the ship that was assaulting their position. He had heard rumors that his master had acquired a personal command ship of his own. But he didn't expect him to use it to bring down a friendly imperial craft no less!
Damn it, master! What the bloody hell are you trying to do?! Aaric thought furiously as he observed the carnage all around him. He shook his head... This wasn't the time to be ranting about his master. He needed to get command and control of the group fast if he wanted to get as many of them to the asset intact.
Seeing the cruiser begin to turn around for another pass at them, Aaric grabbed Bakkas as pulled him along together as he willed the Force to strengthen his leg muscles and propel them towards the direction of the nearest section of the trench system.
"The ship's turning round for another broadside." He yelled through his comlink to the rest of the company. "Get to the nearest trench before it can train it's guns on you! Don't stop until you find cover! Go! Go! Go!"
-
“They’re fanning out sir!” One of the bridge officers shouted to Metus who stared intently down at the ground. The ship was banking down and the turbo laser turrets coming closer to finding an opportune angle. Within moments the Apocalyptica was in position and holding steady.
“Sir all turbo lasers primed and ready.” Called the weapons officer.
“Light turrets, spread a line of fire behind the trenches, don’t let them retreat!” Metus snarled, his nose almost pressed to the glass; the reflection of his burning golden eye shining back at him. “Turn the heavy’s across the front, 30 metres ahead of Aarics position.” The Sith grimaced into the glass.
Acid green hell fire littered the space behind the group, the laser bolts sending chunks of dirt high into the air. The barrage lasted some 15 seconds or so, edging slightly forward in an attempt to force the party to advance. Metus gave the order to hold the light lasers where they were, ten metres behind the trench, and fire the heavies.
Two quadruple heavy turbo laser turrets hammered the sodden ground in front of the mercs and apprentice. Metus hoped he’d frighten at least a few of the men to jump the trenches and run just to be hit by the heavy assault. The searing plasma rocked the battlefield, slag and debris flying and falling into the trenches. Several skeletal corpses were thrown through the air, one landing far to the left side of Aarics position, landing on top of one of the mercs. The second corpse landing just beside the apprentice himself. The bones clearly showing this wasn’t a fresh body, not one of the crew. But the glowing orange holes where plasma spray had found its mark in the dead troopers armour would he more than enough to give Aaric pause.
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There was nothing else they could do except run as green energy bolts continued to streak past the men and hit the ground, spewing mud and corpses, droid and sentient, into the air.
One bolt in particular managed to hit the ground near Aaric and blow chunks of matter all over him and Bakkas as they neared the trench, causing the apprentice to lose his balance and trip. Luckily, he had the sense to throw Bakkas forward so that he landed just before the edge of the trench and rolled down into its relative safety.
A clone corpse landed on top of a merc and knocked him out cold while another slammed into the mud right next to Aaric. The apprentice recognized the armor it was wearing as one of the clones from the old republic. The helmet was gone; exposing the skull of the long dead trooper as its body armor glowed yellow from the holes that plasma spray had found itself embedded in.
Time seemed to slow down for that very moment as Aaric stared into the black, empty eye-sockets of the long-dead clone. As if sending a message to him through death and time. The words that the mirror on Hapes had spoke to him ringing through his mind.
War. Death. Destruction. These were the only constants in the universe. As long as there was life, there would always be death. It did not matter in which form it took. Aaric closed his eyes. One could not be Sith and not have been anointed by blood and fire. This was the lesson Metus was trying to convey.
"Aaric!" Bakkas yelled, snapping Aaric out of his momentary pause. "Get the hell in here!"
The apprentice quickly got into a starting position and sprinted the last remaining distance before dropping and rolling into the trench just as Bakkas did moments earlier just as another hail of turbolaser fire soared over their position. Getting up, he leant next to the merc leader panting and locking gazes with him.
"How many left?" Aaric questioned.
"Twenty plus you. Four dead. One knocked out right over there." Bakkas replied as he checked his holomap. "At least the rest had the decency to seek cover in the trenches than try to jump over it and get shot like sitting Gizkas. What the hell are we going to do now? We cant fight a cruiser. We ain't got that firepower."
Aaric kept silent and surveilled the immediate area. He surmised that the trenches were most likely from the clone wars era.
"Bakkas." Aaric exclaimed. "What are the chances there are any vehicles and weapons emplacements that we can power up and use?"
"It's a stretch, boy." The merc growled. "Even if we found any that are functional they'd need power to work."
"We don't have much time." Aaric ordered. "Get your men to scour the immediate areas for anything large enough for us to return fire and any large enough power source like a power droid to hook up to. In the meantime we should check our holomap and see if this trench system can route us towards the asset."
Bakkas growled. It was a stupid plan, in his opinion, but having one was better than waiting for the ship to go over their heads and blast them from point blank range.
"Alright I'm in." Bakkas nodded. "Let's do this."
As the Merc leader barked orders to his scattered men, Aaric surveiled the holomap praying that Oddball's death would not have been in vain.
The recon scans from the shuttle manifest in in Aarics holomap would reveal nothing but baron and desolate trenches that snaked two thirds of the way across the plain; the remaining distance contained only downed transport ships, walkers and hundreds of decayed corpses. The asset sat nestled among a pile of concrete rubble.
Empty craters and long dead equipment. Anything that was once powered is rusted beyond recognition, let alone repair. The only life on that stretch of land are the company of mercs and the young Sith apprentice. But for how long?
As the mercs fanned out and up the trenches in the vain search for more substantial fire power, a heavy laser bolt struck true in the right hand side, annihilating three of the mercs in one terrible strike. The light lasers behind them began moving forward, Metus had had enough playing now, they would have to advance. For a brief moment the heavy bombardment would seem to stop. The apprentice and the mercs might not have enough time to fully comprehend, a snap decision stood between certain death now and the possibility of survival later.
As Aaric desperately searched the holomap for anything that could be useful, another laser bolt found its way directly into the trench and took out another three men.
"We can't find anything, Captain!" An anxious Merc reported through the comlink. "This place is a graveyard! We got another three guys down and we're getting torn up here!"
"The plan's a bust, boy!" Bakkas grabbed Aaric's shoulder. "We gotta do something or this'll turn into a womp rat shootout in no time!"
The apprentice shook his head in frustration. His master had put him in a position where he was at a total disadvantage with nothing that he could use to retaliate with. Aaric schooled his features. They would have to go back to basics: Use every trick in the book to extend their survivability and reduce casualties.
"Bakkas. You all are mercs. I'm assuming you all have basic soldiering drilled into you?" Aaric questioned.
Bakkas simply looked at the white-haired Sith like as if he was crazy for asking something like that in their current situation.
"I'll take that as a yes." Aaric nodded. The Mecrosa Order had long since trained Aaric to not just ba a killer, but to lead men into battle as well. He wasn't trained to be one of their spies or Assassins. His place was to be in the public eye as his High Lord's right hand man. Though that plan may changes in the future to suit his own needs. At the moment, however, experience was something he always lacked. At the very least, he had to thank his Master for this opportunity.
"Keep your men in the trenches. The cruiser can't accurately fire into it from their height and distance. Stick close to the walls towards the cruiser's direction so there's maximum amount of coverage and minimum visibility."
Cover from aerial fire was the most basic protection. As long as the men stayed in the trenches and kept to the near side of the walls they were less likely to be hit.
"All of us will cover ourselves in mud, head to toe. They may track us, but they can't zero on us if we blend in to the environment. If they got infrared scanners the mud will hide us."
Concealment and disguise was the next step to complement cover. This would reduce their chances of being hit of they had to step out into the open part of the trench system.
"Abandon our heavy weapons. They'll just slow us down. Set the repeater blasters to automatically fire in short bursts towards the ship. We got corpses all around. Put up one behind each gun so they think we're trying to fire back like idiots. Hopefully they'll target those first and buy us some time. Keep two fire teams here to run around this section of the trench and blindly return fire too keep up appearances that we haven't moved. The rest of us will move to the next section of the trench from inside the system. We can't afford to get out of the trench now even with the rain helping us."
Deception was the next step. The cruiser literally had the high ground. They had every reason to feel safe and fire on anything with impunity. He would have to play against his opponent's sense of arrogance and security.
This was all they could do against overwhelming firepower. He wasn't trying to save the mercs out of some false sense of concern, any that survived by the time they reached the asset would simply be a preliminary results for the next time he had to command men in future battles.
"No time for questions." Aaric barked as he started dumping mud on himself to mask his horribly out of place white hair. "Just tell your men to do as I say. Go!"
-
“Sir, heat signatures are sketchy. They’re cloaking themselves.” The Sensors officer informed the Sith Knight. “And they’re returning fire! What’s going on in their heads?” He laughed at the comparatively pitiful laser bolts barely making a ripple in the Apocalypticas twin shields.
“Something smart.” Metus replied to his sensors operator, his face stern. “Just like I expected. Ignore the ground fire, straighten up and bring us down. Ready the proximity rounds for the flak guns.” The bridge crew got to work in a flurry of commands shouted down comms.
The cruiser ceased fire and banked back to the right until it was level. The nose started to swing around to point down range of the field as the ship began to descend. Inside, the weapons officer would relay that the flaks were set to proximity detonation, within three metres. The Apocalyptica settled at a height of 100m above the ground. On the bridge the Corellian sent the order down, “Fire at will.”
Four flak guns situated on the outer edge of the ship swivelled and rained down shell after shell down into the trenches... More than 800m/s, that’s the muzzle velocity of those guns. Less than an eighth of a second; each round would explode three metres above the ground sending a hail of hot shrapnel bouncing through the trenches before they would even hear the boom of the canon fire. Screams echoed through the concrete walls as five more mercs fell victim to the wrath of the Metus’s capital ship.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and the heavens opened up to dump torrential rain on the field. The ship would appear to be uninterested in the dummy guns, instead focusing on forcing anyone in the trenches out into the open.
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As the mercs followed Bakkas' orders, Aaric, Bakkas and the remaining fireteams hurried through the trench system to get towards the asset as quickly as they could. All of a sudden, the thrums of turbolaser fire stopped altogether. The silence of the guns made the whole company stop and look as well.
Aaric cursed. If the ship had continued firing then it would mean their tactics had worked. But the fact that it stopped meant that Metus either suspected something, or worse, he was on to them. Not a good sign.
"FRONTLINE FIRETEAMS CONTINUE FIRING FOR KRIFF'S SAKE!" Aaric roared through the comlink, with the men present with him cringing and trying to find the dials on their communication equipment to turn down the volume.
"Come on, men! We need to get as much distance as possible before the ship starts firing again." The apprentice ordered as he sped off towards the direction of the asset with the remaining men hot on his heels while the ship turned and lowered it's altitude.
Soon enough the ship stopped with its nose pointing towards them. The cacophony of returning laser fire now joined by sudden bursts in the air directly above and around the trenches as hot shrapnel rained on top of the men who were left behind. Screams of pain echoes through the air and the comms as Aaric's group dove for cover a distance away from their starting position.
"What the hell's going on?" Bakkas growled. "Fireteams one and two report!"
"This is team one." A gruff voice coughed. "I got three men down and slugs bursting shrapnel all over my head! Dagget and I are taking cover under some crates. But we're pinned down and can't move!"
"Team two, reporting!" A distinctly female voice followed. "Same here and I got two men down before they could get to safety!"
"Slugs exploding in mid-air? And exactly around the area of the trench?" Aaric hissed. "Damn it... They're trying to flush us out into the open then cut us down with laser fire if we tried. We just have to keep our heads down and keep moving. Teams one and two will hunker down and hold position. If they move from cover, they're dead! We'll have to leave them behind. Everyone else: Staggered column! Space yourselves and follow me! Move, move!"
As the advancing party made haste once again, Aaric checked his holomap to see how much further before they reached the end of the trench system.
As Aaric and the others pushed further along the trenches the dummy guns ceased to fire, flak rounds finding them one by one and taking them out of play. The men they’d left behind cried out as a round exploded above them sending shards of metal down through their heads into their bodies; the screams didn’t last long.
Aaric would see the end of the trench in sight through his holo map. They were there, the end of the trench system. In front of them was a 300 metre expanse of muddy ground that dipped with waist high craters, metal remnants sparsely could be seen in the area. The asset could just be seem in the distance, the Apocalyptica hovering directly over it. The flaks fell silent and the barrels hissed. There was one way from the trenches to the asset; straight forward.
Screams cried out through their comms as the exploding flak rounds hit their mark and put what remained of the two fireteams out of their misery. Bakkas and the remaining men could only look forward and follow their supposed Sith leader.
Once Aaric saw the end of the trench system in front of him, he signalled the men to go prone and hold their position. The air was quiet. Neither the flak rounds nor their own repeaters were firing anymore. It was foreboding to say the least.
The apprentice, still covered in mud, crawled up towards the slope and poked his head out to take a peek. There it was. The asset was right there approximately three hundred metres from their position, if the holomap was right.
Between them and the asset: Nothing but a flat plateau dotted with craters and pieces of large metal sticking from the ground. The ship stationed directly above the asset. Perfect for the ship's gunners to do some target practice.
"Aw, hell." Bakkas cursed as he scooched up to Aaric's position. "No way we're going to survive that. It's too exposed. Even with the craters they'll just pummel us with the exploding slugs if we stay inside them for too long."
"Well," Aaric turned towards the merc captain. "We'll just have to take that chance, don't we? Whoever makes it to the asset alive will reap the larger share of the pay, is it not?"
"Not when death's almost a certainty!" Bakkas hissed. "We can all die and this would all be for nothing!"
"If we stay here we would all die for nothing anyway." Aaric fired back. "A single exploding slug above our heads and we'll all die. We're sitting gizkas here just staying put. We'll all have a better chance reaching the asset alive if we fan out and sprint that last distance together. They can't target all of us at once. Only when we reach the asset are we sure to be alive because the ship's not going to destroy it."
"Oh, and you can't abandon the contract anyway because if you try to escape the ship'll blow you all to smithereens."
Bakkas growled. The Sith made sense. They were in deep now. The only way was to push forward and pray that the force was on their side. Reluctantly, he nodded and the pair crawled back to the mercs.
Aaric addressed the battle-weary men. "On my signal, everyone spread yourselves out and make a run for the asset. Use whatever cover you can find, but only stay in it for a few seconds or else the exploding rounds'll get you eventually. Whoever reaches it will be alive and earn their pay. Bakkas, you stick behind me. There's no way out of this alive other than forward, men. May the force be with you."
After giving them a minute to psyche themselves up, Aaric got into a ready position with Bakkas right behind him.
"GO!"
At that moment, every single man burst forward towards the asset. Their lives depended on it. While most would attempt to zig-zag their way between cover. Aaric took the most direct route and dashed straight towards the asset while speeding himself up with the force just a little bit so that Bakkas could keep up.
At the same time, he activated his personal shield generator. Hopefully the diatium power cells could last long enough and protect both himself and Bakkas behind him until they reached the asset.
Forward the group dashed across the field, darting in and out of the shallow craters. Metus could see his apprentice running straight ahead. Bold indeed. The Apocalyptica began to descend further toward the ground, the flak guns firing mercilessly down range. The shells imbedding in the mud before unleashing deadly shards of metal into the air.
Only the asset stood within Aaric's vision. He sprinted as fast as he could without letting Bakkas fall behind as the rounds exploded all around him. Mud, shrapnel, blood and bones splattering all over himself and sending ripples off of the shield encompassing him in a shimmering blue hue.
One of the mercs swerved toward Aaric, the hired guns face turning into a boney, red mess as hot shrapnel caught hold. Another shell exploded just to Aarics left sending hundreds of ripples through this shield. The hellish sound of artillery fire and anguished screams of men and women being torn apart by weapons of war. One by one they fell in unceremonious horror to lay in the mud, some silent as the grave they landed in and others writhing and wailing as their muscles burned from the inside out, blood mixing with the mud.
The horrific scene made the apprentice stumble but he quickly recovered and continued speeding towards the asset. His brief mercernary comrades, however, were quickly cut down in a hail of slugs.
Fresh blood once again graced the mudflats of Jabiim.
Hope welled up inside the apprentice as he neared the hulking object, but he consciously quashed it. Anything could happen from here until himself and Bakkas reached their objective. The sounds of mud-plodding steps behind him being the only evidence that Bakkas was still alive.
Soon it was only Aaric and Bakkas, closing in the last 80 metres. 70 metres. The ramp of the Apocalyptica opened, the cruiser sitting 20 metres above the ground. A black figure emerged haloed by the interior light. It jumped down from the ramp and just as the two survivors were 10 metres away from the asset, what they now recognised to be an escape pod, Metus landed on the ground; dampening his landing with a powerful telekinetic burst that sent mud flying.
The guns were silent. The sound of the ships engines above them a low rumble.
“You survived.” The Knight said eyeing off the mercenary and the apprentice.
Aaric switched off his shield generator. His left palm raised and facing towards the Synnister Knight, ready to bring a telekinetic push to bear. His right hand remaining close to the lightsaber hanging off his belt and taking a guarded stance just in case his master tried to do anything funny. They technically hadn't reached the asset yet so their objective wasn't complete. For all he knew, his master was there to ensure they didn't reach it without shedding some blood or losing a limb.
Serving as an apprentice to a master with a sadistic streak would make anyone cautious after a while.
"Surprised?" Aaric replied, giving his master a smirk.
“Not at all.” Metus replied dryly, his lips also pulling into a smirk.
“WHAT IN THE KRIFFING HELL IS IN YOUR HEAD?!” Bakkas broke the tension between them, howling like a mad man at the Sith. “You- you’re insane!” His hands clutching at his head staring down at the ground. The merc paced back and forth, his mind only just now fully taking in what had just transpired. “You killed them all! You- you’re not human, you’re an animal!”
“Are you done yet?” Metus’s voice was cold as he turned his focus to Bakksa.
“My pay.” Bakkas growled back, his hand shaking. “Give me my pay and let me go...”
Metus sighed “Very well.” He turned and moved toward the pod. With a wave of his hand the seal of the pod broke with a hiss and slid open. Metus reached in and pulled from the dark a sword, the one he’d taken. He turned and threw it to Aaric. “You did well my apprentice. You earned this back.”
Aaric caught his sword by the handle, giving it a few twirls to see if it felt any different. To see if his master had done anything to it. Finding none, he sheathed his sword into its formerly empty scabbard.
Metus looked back to Bakkas and nodded toward the pod. The marc walked slowly toward the capsule, peering inside he would see nothing, total emptiness. “What is thi-” his words cut short with a grunt as a beskar blade slipped between his ribs. Metus had slid the dagger from Bakkas belt as he looked in disbelief at the empty shell.
The merc fell forward into the pod, lifeless. Metus turned back to face his apprentice. “Boots on the ground, that’s the dirty reality of war. Fighting for nothing. Dying for nothing. This is the fate most who fight are condemned to. The perseverance to fight on in the face of terrible odds. That’s what you need to have in this Empire. Endurance. You need to be a survivor, Aaric. And you have shown me once again that you are just that.”
Aaric could only close his eyes and sigh.
What a waste. "Thank you, master." Aaric bowed. "I am relieved to have passed your task."
The Apocalyptica lowered, the ramp edge sitting just a metre off the ground. Metus jumped up onto the ramp. “Don’t just stand there, I’m not going to maroon you here. What do you take me for?”
The apprentice turned back to look at the war-torn landscape once more. It had become no more blasted than it was all those years ago. A testament to his master's words. So many clone troopers died only to let the planet fall to the confederacy. Many more stormtroopers fell only for Darth Vader to decide that glassing the planet in a storm of plasma was the best option in the end.
A quick silent prayer was all he could give to the fallen men and women before he turned towards the Apocalyptica and jumped onto the ramp alongside his master.
"If I may be so bold, master." Aaric replied with knowing grin. "I hope you'll forgive me if I'd thought otherwise. You did maroon me in the bottom of the dread fortress after all."