TTO Episode 9.2

9.2

I stood there watching the troopers deployed into the valley. They have got intelligence that the Resistance held a base there and had the escapees there. I looked at the terrain before me. It looked like a spot for any ambush if you are setting it and having corralled them there. That day, we were ones doing the corralling then.

I saw the twenty hover bikers scouting the two hills with the six Stingers; the Captain of the frigate had offered the additional crafts. There were also the additional one hundred troopers armed with the rifles and some had the heavier shoulder fired missile launchers. That made us about nearly three hundred strong. There were also the five Trekkers there. Darth Asoka had the command of the battle then.

“I want us to move in from here.” Darth Asoka had pointed to the entry point at the valley. “We will check every tree and hole to ferret them out to here.”

The other point was the other end of the valley. The slopes on both sides were the tall trees and the shrubs. The trees were spaced out and in some areas there were rocks. The trees have those high branches with the wide canopies of leaves. The ground was soft and hard at some places where the stones were seen. There were some thickets of bushes and the trees spaced out. With the canopy of leaves, the ground level was cool and there was some breeze then. I detected no forest dwellers which was odd then.

“There the hover bikers will take down the ones trying to escape.”

It looked like a good plan when the scouts told us there were like fifty Resistance fighters there and with the additional five escapees, it was a small number. I leaned back on my stand and thought out the fighters. It then crossed my mind that the Grecian may had been pacifists for many generations but they were once formidable fighters. Their declaration for neutrality have stopped them in the wars but their occupiers have learned that the Grecian were not that easily subdued. There were unconfirmed reports that the occupiers have to leave the Grecians for they were unable to be controlled. I recalled in one of the entries, the Monscrat Lord that was stationed there have reported that the Grecian were hampering their works there in a stealth manner. The Monscrat have lost many of their men and equipment and till then never seen again.

“They are a thieving nation.”

I then had a second thought on the ambush. I checked the intelligence updates once more. I then called the trooper leaders. They gave me vague reports on the Resistance fighters.

“The scouts reported in but we did not meet them since. All communications have not been replied.”

I called the Stingers to do a scan on the area.

“Confirmed ten hostiles on the run.” The Stinger confirmed back. “We are reading interferences in the area. Looks like some jammers. Or it could be minerals there. It may distort the sensors.”

I checked the reports. Earlier reports called in on twenty hostiles. I was wondering what happened to those ten in the numbers. I got my answer soon.

“We will do a lower recon on the slope.” The Stinger pilots called in. Two of the six crafts swooped down to above the treelines. The leading Stinger went down in flames. One moment it was flying above the treelines and then it was engulfed in flames.

It happened so fast. I was to call for the other to retreat when it Stinger was hit. It was pushing up for the skies when the missiles hit it. Both the Stingers were hit on the right slope.

“Recalled the force.” I called out but Darth Asoka countered my call. He wants them to move in on the fight.

“Strafe the area.” Darth Asoka gave the new order. The other four Stingers went into V formation with the cannons armed.. The crafts came in low with the cannons firing at the right slope. They did their run and then they were out of the valley. I saw the canopies were in flames from the strafing and the Stingers had taken a wide turn heading for the left slope. During the turn, I saw the streaks of two missiles from the right slopes and hit the Stingers before I could called out the warning.

“Break!” The Stinger pilots called out. Two crafts went down before the last two retreated higher.

“Secure the slope on the right.” Darth Asoka gave his new order. He the hopped on the parked hover bike there and rode for the right slope. Renair followed suit in the other bike. There was one more bike left which the trooper was about to start on. I took over and caught up with them.

“Renair, can you hear me.” I called on the communicator to the one who was my sister. There was no reply after several tries. I then sped up to Renair and tried to keep up. When I was next to her, I looked over but she ignored me. She was focus on the Master in front. I had to swerve off several times to avoid the trees and then we chanced on the advancing troopers. Darth Asoka stopped there and got off the bike. The troopers were all holding their position there and awaiting the Stingers to clear the slope.

“Get the troopers moving.” Darth Asoka was upset. “I want the escapees as prisoners.”

Darth Asoka then reached out with his right hand. His was not of organic but it was a metal construct there from the elbows down.  It had a bracelet design on the wrist and from there the energy dual blade appeared.  The blades were on both sides of the hand; one at the top and the other below the wrists. The blade reached for over two feet.

“Follow me.” I saw from the Darth’s left arm, the same metal construct. Instead of a dual blade, the force field appeared in the form of a round shield. Renair behind him had her ‘sai’ drawn out.

It happened so fast.

The Resistance have laid mines on the slope. The trooper stepped on the one near us and then it exploded. It did not just exploded there but it triggered a series of five explosions around the area. I ducked to avoid the falling branches. I heard the troopers screamed on the wounds inflicted by the explosions.

“Chain mines!” The warning went out. That type of mines was phased out some years ago but it seems the friendly Grecian have their own stockpile. The Grecians were more than what they said.

“Withdraw!” The trooper leader called out to the others but Darth Asoka shut him off. He wanted the troopers to move on. We have lost like ten or more troopers then and Darth Asoka called in more troopers.

“More squads will assist us.” The Darth was ever convincing and took the approach forward. I saw Renair pulled out the piece of wood from her left forearm. She did not cry out nor called for attention. Such was the training of the Dark Order.

It was then the shooting came in.

“Shooters!” The trooper leader called out to the others when three more troopers went down. “Return fire.”

The troopers return fire but they were firing blind. No trooper saw the Resistance shooters. They were hidden and took down some more troopers. They were seen among the trees but when searched, the troopers found no trace of them.

Renair stepped towards the tree and looked up. Her instinct told her no living person could disappear. She looked from the roots and then up the trunk. She saw the barrel of the rifle aimed at her at the height of thirty five trees. The shooter was hanging there upside down. The man was held up by cables. I did not hesitate then.

I turned to retreat for a distance and then turned back. That time I took quicker strides before leaping up with my right leg on the tree trunk and then I was on the second stride. I then jumped forward with the sickle tossed from my left hand at the hanging man. The weapon main shaft stabbed onto the man’s face. He screamed out but by then my hands had held hard on the tree trunk. I used the sickle on my right hand as a climbing stake. My climb was fast and furious. I grabbed the sickle from the wounded man. It was then I saw the others.

“We are spotted.”