Grim and Cram took point as the rest of the team followed behind them and they made their way through the silent halls and corridors of the building, the place being eerily quiet in the dead of night as they moved past empty offices, conference, and board rooms. They jogged past the elevator and continued along the winding staircase that snaked its way up the building. The commandos had to keep moving to put distance between themselves and the droids pursuing them, stopping to seize control of the elevator's computer systems would cause a delay, and there was the added threat of the insurgents taking control of it while they were still inside. It'd be an easy thing for them to then send it crashing to the ground at warp speed, smashing it to pieces and probably killing the entire commando team.
Revenant Squadron jogged up the staircase, the clomp of their booted feet echoing in the stairwell as they heard the distant clack of the battle droids below entering the building, as they stomped through the lower levels in pursuit of the commandos. They finally made it to the top levels as Dex set to work on gaining access to the secured area, the others standing by, weapons held at the ready in case any droids caught up with them. Dex had a harder time jacking into the system here, the security measures were more sophisticated, and it would take more than a minute to navigate the security protocols. He worked as fast as he could without compromising the quality of his work, but he knew he wouldn't be fast enough.
They head the footsteps of the battle droids trudging up the staircase as the first couple emerged from down around the corner. Upon spotting the commandos they raised their blasters and went to open fire, but they weren't quick enough. Smoking holes were blasted in their chests as they reeled backwards and collapsed on the staircase, as the rest of the platoon of battle droids clambered up the stairs behind them.
Wes stood by the door, guarding Dex while he worked on getting the doors open. Meanwhile the other four commandos took up defensive positions in front of them, facing towards the staircase and opening fire as the droids began to emerge over the top of the steps.
The next two droids steadily advanced up the stairs and opened fire, being gunned down by Grim and Cash an instant later, one taking a bolt in the centre of its chest, the other having its face blown off as it flailed helpless and fell backwards, knocking over several droids behind it.
The droids charged their position. Rampaging up the steps as two, four, then six of them charged up the staircase and into the hallway. A hail of blaster fire met them, and they returned fire as they attacked, ploughing headlong towards the commandos' position.
Jet hunched lower as blaster fire sprayed all around him, he let loose with a volley of auto fire and his target convulsed as it was riddled with holes and went down, a smoking wreck.
Cram hit one with a double tap to the stomach and chest, then another double tap hitting a second target in the same area, the droids stumbling over and crashing to the ground facedown.
Grim winced as a blast grazed his helmet then put three bolts into his attacker, stomach, chest, and head in a perfect vertical line.
Cash gave a pained grunt as he was hit in the shoulder and the blast penetrated his armour scorching the flesh beneath. With a pained hiss he clenched his teeth and returned fire, pulling the trigger again and again as he fired a hail of bolts at their attackers. The first droid's knee was blown to pieces, as it stumbled and fell into a crouch as another bolt blew a hole through its skull.
Then the mass of droids were suddenly upon them, pouring up the staircase en masse as blaster bolts choked the air and it became heavy with the stench of blaster discharge.
The commandos fell back as they returned fire, trying to hold the swarm of droids at bay as Dex worked frantically. With a final flurry of keystrokes, Dex gave a hiss of victory and the doors slid open. The commandos shuffled through the other side as they opened and closed without much of a delay, opening just long enough to let them through before they slid shut once more, a few stray blaster bolts passing harmlessly through the gap before the doors sealed with a grinding click. Dex moved through the doors and changed position without disengaging from the system and began working on locking the doors and ensuring they stayed locked. It'd do them no good to get through and start working their way through the security measures, if the battle droids pursuing them were able to engage them. Trapped and fighting a battle on two fronts wasn't an ideal situation to be in. All the doors had to do was hold long enough for them to get into the control room and shut down the deployed battle droids. "Get started, it'll take me a minute or two," he said over the comm as he worked, not taking his eyes off the display on the inside of his visor.
"Copy that," Grim replied, as he gestured onwards. "Let's go, R4 can catch up with us," he said, the rest of the team following him down the corridor as they made their way towards the control centre. "Where're we Echo One?" Grim asked the mobile command team.
"You're coming up on the central control and main boardroom," Captain Ortega said, "Just follow the main hallway and it'll lead you right to it."
"Affirmative," Grim said, leading the team down the corridor and around a corner as it turned around a central column reserved for the elevator.
The commandos moved onwards to the control room, assessing their armour and weapons as they prepared for the final battle with the compound's defenders as they stormed the heart of the facility. Their final objective was in sight, with only a handful of defenders and some automated weapons standing between them and their goal. They jogged down the hallway, following the corridor around until it came to a wide, open space. The doors to the control room stood at the far end, a wide arching semi-circle of armoured doors flanked by a reception console on one side and a duo of two quad-laser cannon turrets on the other. Two battle droids stood at the console by the doors while another two stood by the cannon turrets, and a final duo stood in front of the doors with a third laser cannon in front of and to the right of the reception console.
Grim motioned them into position as they advanced, Revenant Squad breaking up into two groups of three and taking either side of the corridor.
They had barely got into position before the scanners on the automated turrets noticed their presence and the guns wheeled around towards them. All three gun turrets opened fire with a hail of blaster fire lacing the corridor with bolts of super-heated energy.
The commandos poured out of the hallway and into the room, spreading out and ducking low as they ran and attempted to evade incoming blaster fire. Bolts whined through the air all around them, and with little cover to seek shelter behind it was imperative they took out the gun turrets as quickly as possible.
A grenade leapt from the barrel of Jet's gun as it shot across the room with a plume of grey smoke and smashed into the side of the turret near the reception console. It exploded in a hail of fire that made the turret buck and took its right-side guns out of commission by reducing them to smouldering and melted scrap metal.
The turrets left side cannons retaliated, peppering the commando with fire as he threw himself to the ground and his armour protested numerous hits, alarms wailing inside his helmet.
Another grenade smashed into its other side, obliterating the wildly firing guns as they went silent, and the turret buckled under the grenade's destructive force.
Co-ordinating their attack on the other two turrets Grim, along with Cram, Wes and Dex tried a different strategy, the later two hurling shock grenades at one of the weapon's platforms that exploded with a blinding white flash and sent out tendrils of electricity that connected with the quad lasers and overloaded its circuits, the weapons died with a descending whine before grenades launched by Grim and Cram slammed into it with fiery explosions that sent hails of shrapnel and pieces of metal flying in all directions.
The two droids behind the console poured blaster fire at Cash and Jet as the other four regrouped for a counterattack, spitting bolts at the commandos as they took cover behind a row of pylons that lined the expansive room.
The remaining quad laser turret roared to life with a flurry of bolts that smashed into the pylon Cram hid behind, sending showers of rock falling all over him as the commando huddled behind what little cover it provided.
Wes stood with his back against a pylon, blaster bolts whizzing past, missing him by an inch or less as he collected himself and cradled his rifle in both arms. He forced himself to control his breathing and get his heartrate back under control. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his grip on his blaster and pivoted to his right, turning 180 degrees as he spun around and emerged from behind the cover of the pylon, weapon held at the ready as he opened fire, a spray of blaster bolts being emitted by the weapon as he took aim and riddled one of the droids with holes; before ducking back behind cover.
Across from Wes, Cash slid out from behind his cover and downed the other droid with a double tap of shots to its sternum and solar plexus. The droids behind the console were well protected by its mass, incoming fire either sailing over their heads or being soaked up by the equipment they took shelter behind.
With a snarl, Grim removed his last grenade from his utility belt and shoved it into the grenade launcher on his rifle; cocked it and leapt out from behind his cover. He fired, launching the projectile across the room as it sailed through the air without the aid of its propellant and fell like a mortar behind the console. It exploded a second later as a huge fireball plumed into the air, consuming the battle droids in a wall of flame before they were blown apart, pieces of droid and console being spat in all directions.
The two remaining battle droids poured blaster fire at Dex and Cram as the two commandos tried to hide behind the same pylon, while the turret straffed their position with powerful bursts of quad laser fire.
"I just need a chance to return fire," Dex declared, grimacing as several bolts scotched the pylon, grazing his armour and sending vapourised cement spraying all over them.
"Copy that!" Cram replied. "On three I'll expose myself and try to draw their fire," he said. "Ready?"
Dex nodded.
"One!" Cram tensed his muscles and prepared himself to leap out from behind their cover. "Two!" he said, as he gripped his rifle in both hands and steeled himself. "Three!"
With that Cram sprang out from behind the pylon, ran, turned on the droids and opened fire.
They retaliated with shots of their own as Dex seized his opportunity and ducked out from behind the pylon's cover, firing twice in quick succession as his shots took both droids in the head, dropping them to the floor.
The turret whirled in their direction and belched forth a salvo of bolts as Dex ducked back behind the pylon; and Cram dived for cover.
A grenade rocketed through the air and smashed into the side of it, taking out the left-side guns as it spun to face its attacker. The turret barely had time to retaliate before another grenade flew towards it, smacking into it as it exploded with a hail of fire and debris that obliterated the last of the automated defences.
A scattered cheer went up from the commandos as they celebrated its destruction and moved towards the blast doors that sealed off the control centre.
Dex jacked into the port terminal and set to work on hacking the computer system to command the doors to open. The other five commandos gathered around the doors as he worked, settling into position as they made themselves ready to advance into the control centre, dispose of any defenders, and curb any potential resistance. Dex worked away for a few painfully slow minutes, typing frantically, as he issued commands and navigated his way through security protocols.
"Dex?" Grim prodded gently, adjusting his grip on his blaster rifle.
Dex grunted in response. "I'm almost there," he replied. "The system is arguing with me and doesn't want to give me access, but I'm slowly making progress."
"Ok," Grim said, saying nothing further as he let the commando work.
The room was silent for about a minute more before Dex spoke again. "Ok, we're almost there," he said. "Almost…..Got it!"
At that the armoured doors leading into the control centre slid apart, revealing the room beyond as the commandos wasted no time in gaining entry, leaping into action as they ran through the doorway, blasters held at the ready.
A group of four battle droids stood guard inside the room, two of them guarding the doors to a boardroom that housed about a dozen prisoners, and another two droids that stood on standby, flanking Gray and his five henchmen who stood at the command consoles, conducting various tasks as he looked on. A fourth man stood by Gray's side. The two men turned to face the commandos as they stormed the control room, Gray calm, and impassive while his subordinate looked worried and fearful.
The four droids opened fire as the commandos charged into the room, returning fire as they ran and blaster bolts sung through the air.
A bolt hit Grim in the shoulder, the force of the blast barely slowing him as he led the assault on the command centre. His shoulder pauldron began to spark and smoke as internal machinery was damaged; and he returned fire at the droid that had shot him.
A trio of bolts hit it in the stomach and both sides of its chest as the droid stumbled back under the force of the blasts and fell to the ground in a smoking wreck.
Wes ducked behind a computer terminal as a shower of red bolts of superheated energy slammed into it with jets of fire and sparks, as other bolts sailed past harmlessly to smash into the wall beyond. "Something tells me we're not welcome here," he commented dryly.
Almost simultaneously Dex ducked for cover behind a towering terminal of some sort, narrowly avoiding being hit by several bolts that screeched past him. "Whatever gave you that idea?" he replied. He leant out from behind the terminal's cover on the opposite side and returned fire with several shots from his sidearm.
A bolt screamed past over Jet's head, so close it scorched the paint on his helmet as he ducked reflexively and replied with a barrage of automatic blaster fire that barrelled into the droid's stomach, tearing it to pieces and spraying debris everywhere. Jet snickered. "They've certainly given us a warm welcome," he said.
Several shots from Cash and Cram dropped another droid as it reeled backwards from a blast to its sternum, then its head exploded as Cram's shot finished it off.
The last droid scanned the area ahead of it, taking note of the half a dozen commandos now overwhelming its position as it hesitated momentarily. Battle droids made for good muscle, but they weren't very bright, and their programming didn't allow them the benefits of things such as initiative or inventiveness. They operated along the lines of pretty specific commands regulated by their programming and couldn't think outside the box. Overwhelmed by the targets now swarming around it, the droid only hesitated for a second, but that was all the time Grim needed to put it out of commission before it had a chance to return fire.
It seemed like the battle had happened in slow motion, but it had been over in the space of half a dozen seconds. And now Gray and his handful of henchmen stood alone against the commando squad as the Revenants moved in to apprehend them.
Gray surrendered peacefully, all the fight going out of him like a deflated balloon as he realised all was lost. "So, this is how it all ends? A glorious revolution snuffed out before it had even really begun," he moaned in dismay as his hands were handcuffed roughly behind his back by Cash.
"Can't be all that glorious if it ended so prematurely," Grim commented, as he watched Gray being roughly hauled into custody.
"I'd say someone's experiencing some delusions of grandeur," Cram replied, shoving one of Gray's attendants to his knees as the man began to resist. The Sargent roughly cuffed the man about the ears as he grabbed an arm and yanked it behind the officer's back, drawing a yelp of pain from his lips.
Cram leant down next to his ear and snarled. "This will be a lot less painful if you comply." To illustrate his point he yanked on the man's arm again, almost dislocating it in the process as his prisoner emitted another cry of pain. He was cuffed and roughly hauled to his feet, before being shoved across the room to stand with the other prisoners who were all cuffed and kneeling on their knees before Jet and Wes, who kept a close eye on them.
One of the others put up a struggle briefly; but was subdued when Dex drove a fist into his stomach, before following it with an uppercut to his chin that smashed his jaw together with a crack that dropped him to the floor.
Cash moved to assist Dex and the two of them quickly had the troublemaker handcuffed and were hauling him over to join the others.
Cram got the door to the conference room opened and freed the executives imprisoned there. One by one they shuffled out, muttering their thanks to the commandos and assembling at their direction to one side of the expansive control room.
"Now, what was going on here?" Grim asked, curious as to the motives and intentions behind Gray's attempted coup d'etat of the organisation.
An aging man in the advanced stages of balding stepped forwards. "Mcintosh, CEO of Cinazine Incorporated," he said, introducing himself as he extended a hand by force of habit. Grim didn't release the two-handed grip on his rifle and stared back at him in silence. Mcintosh, seeing his own dishevelled appearance reflected in the visor of the commando's helmet retracted his hand and straightened his tie with a nervous hand, before wiping a sheen of sweat from his forehead. "Well, it's a long story," he said, as he began rambling.
A growl from the lieutenant stopped him in his tracks, and Mcintosh smiled sheepishly. "But to cut it short," he added. ….. "Gray has always been a wild card, something that's served him well, but has also been a hindrance to the company. Which has been more common of late." He looked into the cold, emotionless visor of the commando's helmet, and swallowed, sensing the lieutenant's impatience. "Anyway, he was given notice a few weeks ago that he was going to be dismissed, and unknown to the rest of the company he planned a little insurrection." Mcintosh gestured towards the group of techs and conspirators. "Gathering some assistance he planned a hostile takeover of the company and aligned himself with a loose consortium of allies in the industrial sector. They had planned…..following his lead, to overrun this industrial district and leverage us, and other corporate leaders here as hostages, to establish their own independent city-state, within the Federation."
Grim wasn't fussed on expressive displays of emotion, but now he found himself thankful that his helmet hid his expression from view. "That's quite a scheme," he said, in as measured a tone as possible.
Mcintosh nodded as he attempted to smooth out his suit. "Cinazine has a battalion of 10,000 battle droids currently assembled and ready for deployment in our facilities. They were due to be shipped out in a few days. Gray had planned to take the facility, lock it down and activate the droids, slaved to the facilities command centre. With the support of a small standing army, they would then quickly be joined by the allied factions and seize this entire sector. It was a brilliantly thought-out plan, testimony to his abilities. But he hadn't counted on his plans being leaked and the Federation's swift response. In the form of you and your men here," Mcintosh said, clasping his hands together as he wrang them nervously. Noticing his fidgeting he frowned and composed himself, standing straight and forcing his arms down at his sides. "The whole operation was supposed to take six hours, from the beginning where he and his men stormed the command centre, to the containment and sealing of this industrial sector and declaring their independence. But you and your men foiled that attempt before they could activate the main force of droids and signal their allies for the commencement of the next stage of the coup."
Grim nodded. "Confirming the intel HQ had received."
"Although it appears this might be a bit more of a serious situation than they had originally anticipated," Cram added, coming to stand beside the lieutenant.
At Grim's instruction Dex, with Mcintosh's guidance manned the computer terminal and set to work on locating information on the insurgent co-conspirators. Once the rebellion was in full swing here with the army of battle droids activated and ready for deployment the insurrectionists had planned to signal their allied resistance cells throughout this sector. Hence, it wasn't difficult to locate their allies and prepare the data for transfer to headquarters.
Grim switched over to the internal comm-channel and hailed Captain Ortega. "We've managed to locate the other insurrectionist cells," he informed her, as he gave her an update on their situation. "Beginning the transfer now."
"Excellent, well-done Lieutenant," she replied, the smile evident in her voice. "Dispatch will begin the deployment of police units to hit their bases of operations and apprehend the traitors," she said.
"Copy that," Grim replied. "We'll commence clean-up operations here then call it a day."
"Acknowledged," Ortega said. "Parameter forces are moving in and will arrive shortly to assist in the arrest and transport of the prisoners. Make sure they're ready for transport and the hostages ready for debriefing and questioning."
Grim confirmed the instructions then turned his attention back to his surroundings. He knew the night was far from over. Aside from the fighting that would take place to seize control of the other insurrectionist locations, prisoners would be taken and interrogated, hostages checked over, debriefed, and interviewed, and that was before clean-up operations would begin.
The commandos awaited the arrival of the cops while they swept the area, secured the prisoners for transport, and saw the hostages were taken care of. Apart from being tired, hungry, and frightened they were fine, a bit shaken emotionally, but glad the ordeal was over.
The police arrived and the commandos stood watch as they rounded up the prisoners and marched them away onto a waiting transport shuttle, the former hostages following close behind under police escort, the commando team bringing up the rear of the formation.
Grim's commlink squawked for his attention and he opened the line, "Lieutenant Dazitz reporting."
"Hello again Lieutenant," Ortega's voice said over the comm. "I hope you and your men aren't too comfortable yet, because we've got a situation that needs dealing with if you're still at operational capacity."
"Oh? What's the situation?" he asked.
"While the operations have thus far gone well, one of the insurrectionist cells is putting up more of a fight than expected and has some heavy firepower at their disposal. The forces there are in dire need of reinforcements, or they'll have to pull out and secure the surrounding area while another team is dispatched," she explained.
Grim snorted in indignation. Scrambling, briefing and then deploying another commando team would take several hours at least. A move that would allow the rebels to reground and give them valuable breathing space, possibly a chance to escape.
"Affirmative, reinforcements are on the way!" he replied. Switching back to his team frequency the lieutenant addressed his men. "Revenant Squadron! form up! move out and lock n' load!" he barked as he cocked his rifle, loading a fresh grenade into the chamber. "There's work to be done!" he said with a snarl.
The End.