utter brilliant.  Lovely end.

Although I must point out that I could never imagine Twigs discarding alcohol like he did at the end of that chapter!

I know it was an extreme measure that stretches the credibility of the whole saga, but I felt it necessary to convey the gravity of the situation.

Although I must point out that I could never imagine Twigs discarding alcohol like he did at the end of that chapter!

Enjoy.

Mos Espa
First Strike: Episode 6

Pulling out my sensor pack I study the readings, and unsurprisingly the Sergeant's assessment of the situation is spot on, we're about to have very heavy contact. The situation is unattainable even with the advantage of this location. It's time to move out.

"Alright people, listen up! I know that we've got this place nice and cosy and the furniture is arranged just the way we like it, but we've got heavy incoming, which means it's time to fall back. You have two minutes to plant disruptive mines around the area and then we are leaving. Okay, make it happen."

My troops fall out and sort out any last minute tasks that require their attention while I gather my Lieutenants to me. I address them in a low voice.

"Okay guys this is going to get really rough if we don't get out of here quickly. With the numbers showing up here if they overrun us we're screwed. We can't let them outflank us."

Twigs who is already looking a lot better throws a suggestion into the pot, pushing off from the disruptor rifle he was leaning on for support to stand up straight.

"Well there were a couple of towers to the north of the town, should prove a decent vantage point. A good sniper or two up there could really do some damage, and cover our retreat."

I pat Twigs lightly on the back, even at that he winces.

"Good idea Lieutenant, we'll implement that tactic as we approach the northern quarter. Until then we'll use the rear guard I suggested earlier, that should cause just enough disruption to make them cautious and prevent them just  sweeping right up through the town."

I turn back to the rest of my men glancing at my sensor readouts before addressing them, the enemy is almost upon us, definitely time we were leaving.

"Alright people, that's it, move out! Lieutenant Walker, you have Alpha team, form up and cover our withdrawal."

Walker then whips out his T-10 rifle and cocks the weapon ready for battle.

"Roger that Commander. Oddball, Mynock, you're with me."

Ahh, Mynock, so that's the name of the young trooper who saved my neck earlier? A good lad, I remember now signing the papers for his transfer just a week before this mission. Well so far this new addition to the Tribe has performed in an exemplary fashion, I make a mental note to include this fact in my report, and then move out with the troops of Delta. Twigs is about to protest at the fact that he hasn't been included in the roster for Alpha Team's rear guard assignment, but a look from me silences him. He knows he's in no condition to perform that duty, and falls in with Delta.

We reach the ruins in the centre of town before we hear the satisfying sound of multiple detonations coming from the direction of the slave quarters. That should give the advancing Imperial forces something to think about. Anything that slows them down increases our chances of getting out of here alive. I give the order for my men to deploy fresh sensor beacons to cover this area and reach into my satchel and pull out a few proximity mines to place in amongst the rubble and debris. Calling Lieutenant Walker over I update my orders.

"Alright Jim, hold up here and await the advancing enemy, once they arrive do not engage directly, but attempt to disrupt and impede their progress as much as possible, once it looks like you're going to be outflanked or overrun? Pull back to the next point. We'll head to Jabba's abandoned city palace. Once there we'll contact you and instruct you to pull back whether you've engaged the enemy or not. We don't want to end up getting too separated. Once you arrive at Jabba's we'll move on to the speeders stashed on the northern outskirts. Once there we'll call you into full retreat and we'll all get the hell outta here."

My trusted Lieutenant nods and then gives hand signals to his men to get into position.

"Very good Commander, sounds like a plan. Good luck."

I grip my good friend by the shoulder.

"And you. Now don't go being a hero. Do what you can and then pull out."

Turning I gather Delta to me and we move out to our next rally point.
We reach Jabba's City Palace without event, but remain ever vigilant. With a quick hand gesture I order my troops to fan out and scout out the abandoned structure, and in moments I get the all clear from my men. I then quickly head up the ramp to the rooftop ramparts and head to the balcony wall that gives me a view of the sprawling town laid out to the south of me. Picking out distinct landmarks I orientate myself and pull my marcobinoculars out and focus on the ruins at the centre of town, knowing the positions that the men of Delta force had deployed themselves, I wanted to make sure I could provide them with good cover in the case of them being outflanked by the advancing enemy. Twigs is soon with me, his condition slowing him down some, but as I see him level the disruptor rifle next to me, his aim still appears steady as a rock. Corporal Boydie also joins us on the roof, but only momentarily as he passes us and heads up the ladder of the palace's tallest watch tower. I call to him as he disappears up the structure.

"Don't get too comfy up their Corporal, we move out in five."

Then an alert signal sounds from my comlink. Opening the channel I hear a familiar voice.

”Commander Quinn, please respond.”

Instinctively looking up at the sky I reply.

“Afternoon Ensign Peliares, we’d thought you’d forgotten about us. How’s our ship? Still in one piece I trust?”

There is an extended pause and static before a response eventually comes back, a delay resulting from the distance, most likely he’s in high planetary orbit.

“It certainly is sir. I had to bug out when an Imperial Star Destroyer entered the system as you ordered me to Commander, I then brought in reinforcements as requested, which are engaging the enemy up here as we speak. The task force Commander asked me to relay to you this message. The rendezvous point remains the same, but they’ll be sending in the Corvette Providence II to retrieve you. The fighting is just too fierce in orbit above that region, I’d never get through in one piece in the Venture, sir.”

Turning back to the south once again I spot movement and briskly respond.

“No worries Ensign. You just stay safe up there. Commander Quinn signing off.”

I gaze through my macros once again, and then I see the boys in white, making their way cautiously through the ruins. I hear Twigs' breathing change as he readies himself to take the shot, his body relaxed but focused. He's waiting for the chaos down there to begin before he adds to it, and begin it does. A detonation sends dust and debris scattering across the ruins, a proximity mine by my reckoning, a thunder-like rumble reaches our ears followed by the all too familiar sound of blaster fire. Then more explosions, grenades hurled into the fray by Alpha team no doubt, and then the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as crackling energy is discharged into the air with the firing of Twigs' disruptor, super densely packed bolts of energy start to rain down on the Imperial troops from the Lieutenant's weapon, and seconds later another stream of accurate disruptor fire joins his from the tower above us as Boydie joins the party. As effective a job as they are all doing the enemy numbers are just too great, and at the moment that I spot another AT-ST walker approaching their position it is clear they are about to become overrun and routed. I key my comlink to Alpha's frequency.

"Come in Alpha, your situation is about to become unattainable, pull out and withdraw to the next rally point. We'll provide you sniper support."

There is the crackle of an open channel and then the thunderous scream of heavy blaster fire, the walker has moved into range. Then the laboured breathing sound of somebody running, the crack hiss sound of smoke grenades going off. I see the wall of smoke blossom in the ruins effectively obscuring the entire area as I see three figures emerge from the fog, Walker finally gets the chance to get back to me a little out of breath.

"Way ahead of you Commander, we're already on our way out. That place was getting a little too hot."

It is time we were going. I pat Twigs on the shoulder to let him know its time, and then switch channels to Delta's frequency.

"Delta we are leaving. Boydie, hold position for another minute to cover Alpha's withdrawal, and then rendezvous with the rest of us at the speeder cache. Everyone else, with me."

I get an affirmative response from the Corporal just as we hit the dusty streets again followed by the distinctive report of disruptor fire, the Imperial troops must be on the move again. We're on the home stretch now, we might just make it.

Keeping close to the walls of the street we pair up and cautiously advance north, one fire team covering the other as they move up to the next position of cover. As Athlon and I hold position and Sergeant Rabid and Private Tuhl move forward, I whip out my sensor pack again and initiate a sensor ping, not expecting to pick up any contacts, but better to be safe than sorry. To my dismay the pack assaults my ears with a warning alert tone. Enemy contact has been detected. I quickly give my men a hand signal and they all hold their position as I study the readings further. It looks like two enemy contacts, but neither of them are moving. Laying in wait for us to blindly stumble upon them perhaps? Still, it seems strange that there are only two signals, surely an ambush would require a full squad, or at least a fire team? I key my comlink to Rabid’s frequency.

“Sergeant, hold the rest of Delta here, looks like we may have a scout party or something holding up in those buildings up ahead, only two contacts though.  Athlon and I will investigate. Prepare to provide back up should we need it.”

I indicate to Athlon that we’re ready to move out and head across the street to the north side, he brings up his MK 1 light repeating blaster to a ready position and then follows me over muttering under his breath.

“Oh man, I just know I’m gonna buy it on this dustball.”

We make it to the other side of the street and I grab him as he catches up with me and pull him close.

“Listen Private, have I ever let you down before? Just keep your head down and your aim true and I’ll get you out of this yet. Clear your head man.”

The trooper takes a deep breath and readying his weapon turns to respond.

“Sorry sir. I won’t let you down Commander.”

I pat the soldier on the shoulder reassuringly as I monitor my sensor equipment again getting an update on our targets location.

“Good man, I know you won’t. Now listen, looks like our targets are concealed in the next building along in the back room. Still only two contacts. You packing ion grenades?”

The soldier nods an affirmative.

“Good, I’ll blow the door, you lob a couple of those in there, if they’re Stormtroopers the ion nades will scramble their helmets optics. Should make this an easy room clearance. Remember to check your fire though, could possibly be civilians in there that our earlier evacuation efforts missed.”

I nod to Athlon to ensure his readiness and then plant a charge on the door and throw my back against the wall for cover. The blast rips the door out of the entranceway and bounces it around the room within. Athlon then throws in the grenades, their detonation sending tendrils of charged ion energy snaking across the interior of the building, and we charge in after it.

We see two figures crumpled in the darkness within, one with residual ion energy tendrils still crackling over his body. Even in the limited light offered by the small window behind them neither of them appear to be Imperial troopers. Civilians then?  Athlon goes over to the figure that was still smoking from its contact with the ion grenades to see if he can offer assistance.

“Hey pal, are you okay?”

Something strikes me as not being right about that figure, but I can’t quite put my finger on it, still I warn Athlon to back away.

“No Athlon, wait!”

As the words leave my lips it becomes clear that it is too little too late. The dusty robe draped figure swings an arm out with lighting speed catching Athlon across the jaw and throwing him back against the wall with a bone crunching wallop. It is then that I see a lethal looking blaster rifle that the figure must have been hiding under his body on the floor, equally quickly he brings this weapon to bear, it erupts with a burst of deadly blaster fire that I just manage to dive out of the way of. Slamming into a wall I let loose a volley of fire from my bowcaster, the powerful emerald green bolts finding their mark, the first blows my adversaries long rifle clean in half while the subsequent bolts rip into the dark figure’s hand blowing it to pieces. To my shock the stump is revealed in the half light to be a bundle of diodes and circuits rather than flesh and blood. A cyborg? The creature howls in pain and clutches his wounded arm and then leaps out of the window behind him, as I rush forwards to it to finish him off I find that he has somehow vanished into the desert beyond. I key my comlink to Delta’s frequency.

“Be advised, possible enemy contact still loose in the area, be careful this is not an Imperial trooper, but appears to be a being cyborg in nature, possibly a Bounty Hunter, approach with caution. We need medical assistance in here.”

Turning to my fallen soldier I check Athlon for life signs. He’s unconscious, but he’ll live. I then turn my attention cautiously to the other of the two figures we found in the room. This one has yet to move. I turn him over with the muzzle of my weapon and see that the figure is in fact bound and gagged. I remove the gag and slap the guy’s face to try and bring him round. Groggily the man looks up. Could it be? I gruffly ask him for his service number at gun point, after what happened to Athlon I’m not willing to take any chances.

“…1138.”

Comes the man’s weakened response.  I pump him for further information, it is possible that code could have been intercepted from our transmissions.

“And your current mission?”

The man feebly attempts to sit up as he replies, I can’t help myself and give him a hand.

“…Courier mission to the… Hypori system, delivery of classified materials to… fleet Commander, Commodore… Tularan.”

Hmm, his story checks out, this must be Alliance Intelligence’s lost agent. I release him from his bonds and help him to his feet, just as Sergeant Rabid arrives with medical assistance.

“Welcome back to the Alliance Agent Vaile, we’ve secured the intel you were carrying and are heading out of here for extraction. We’re not out of the fire yet, but we’ll get you to safety. Sergeant, treat this man’s wounds and take a look at Private Athlon will ya?”

Rabid nods gruffly as I head out of the building back into the blinding sunlight of the Mos Espa street. I see Lieutenant Twigs heading up towards us with Boydie bringing up the rear.

“Welcome back Lieutenant. Sit Rep?”

The crack sniper catches his breath before responding, he’s getting better, but still hasn’t fully recovered from the trauma he suffered earlier in the battle.

“Yes Commander. Alpha team has successfully reached Jabba’s town house, and are setting up defensive mines before heading out from there. The enemy is still in full advance, but their Walker is having trouble getting through all the debris at the ruins, so that will hopefully buy them a little more time sir. Permission to take Corporal Boydie and myself and head up these towers so we can provide sniper support for Alpha team’s final withdrawal.”

I look the Lieutenant up and down trying to assess his physical condition, but the truth of it is, fit or not he’s still the best sniper I’ve got.

“Go ahead Lieutenant, but don’t you go dying on me. Corporal, you see to it that both of you get back safely to the speeder cache before we’re ready to leave.”

As they head for the towers, Rabid emerges from the building behind us with the wounded agent Vaile followed by Private Tuhl supporting Athlon who’s head is now bandaged up, but at least he is conscious and able to move with assistance. We’re in banged up shape, but not long to go. I can see the garage where we have the speeders stashed up ahead. We’re on the home straight.

We just reach the speeders when the sound of disruptor fire can be heard again cutting through the air. We’re greeted by my faithful Astromech droid Artee who we left guarding these vital assets. He beeps and whistles wildly, clearly happy to see us still alive. I pat his brushed steel dome affectionately, and cast my eyes over the small fleet of speeders in the garage.

“It’s good to see you too Artee. I trust everything is all in order here? Are all the speeders’ engines warmed up and ready to go?”

The squat droid whistles an affirmative as we start loading our gear and injured personnel into the craft.

“Nice job Artee, looks like we might finally be able to say goodbye to this hamsters forsaken town.”

Checking my sensors one last time I make sure we’re in the clear and it all looks good. Seems we’ve just got to wait on Alpha to rendezvous with us here and we can get the hell out. I key my comlink to Alpha’s frequency and check on their progress.

“Alpha, please respond. We are at the speeder cache and standing by for your arrival.  Give me a status report.”

There are suddenly several explosions at the far end of the street that make us instinctively duck for cover, but in reality they are quite distant, another salvo of disruptor fire arcs down into that area, and then from the dust and debris I spot what looks to be Alpha sprinting for dear life. I give Rabid the go ahead and he mounts one of the speeders and rockets off down the street towards their position. With a crackle the com channel comes to life with Jim’s laboured breathing.

“Come in Commander, this is Alpha, we’re on our way to you now. We got pinned down at Jabba’s place for a while back there, but sniper support gave us an opening and we got out of there…and here comes Rabid with a speeder. Oh, Gods bless you Sergeant.”

I see the Sergeant spin the speeder around and come to a stop covering them all with a cloud of sand and dust, but they don’t complain they just throw themselves into the flat bed cargo bay of the speeder as Rabid guns the engines once more and heads back towards us. His timing is impeccable because a mere second later a squad of Sandtroopers round the corner of the street and let loose with a deadly hail of blaster fire. We take cover and leap aboard the remaining speeders as Rabid arcs past us and heads for open desert.

I key my comlink to Twigs’ channel just as a grenade goes off in the midst of the Imperial Sandtrooper squad flinging the clowns in white in all directions, but unrelentlessly more troopers appear, and having zeroed in on our snipers’ position they start to open fire on the tower.

“Lieutenant Twigs, what’s your status? Are you able to withdraw to the north of your position? If you head for the northern town limits we’ll bring a speeder around there to pick you guys up.”

There is a moment of static and then just deafening noise from the audio pick up as Twigs responds, the cacophony of sound from multiple blast impacts all around him almost completely masking his voice.

“No can do Commander, the moment I stop suppressing them with sniper fire and grenades they’ll overrun our position. I’m instructing Corporal Boydie to make a run for it while I cover him. There’s no point in both of us biting the blasterbolt on this rock.”

Damn. I refuse to loose another man on this mission. And then an idea hits me.

“Hold that thought Lieutenant, I’ve just got an idea. Just try to hold out for a few more seconds.”

I key off the comlink and turn to my trusty droid. Removing the data cylinder from my tunic I hand it to him, a panel opens on his body and a mechanical arm takes it from me and draws it within the compartment as the panel door closes.

“Okay Artee, I want you to join up with Lieutenant Walker and let him know that you’re now carrying the data cylinder. I need you all to head at best possible speed for Mos Entha. But before you go, don’t these flatbed speeders use repulsorfields to lessen the weight of the load, and to also aid in holding cargo in position? If that is the case, do you think you can boost the power?”

The twitters and tweets from my droid gives me the impression that he’s unsure, but never the less he pops out his scomp link computer interface arm and slots it into the speeder’s control panel. After it rotates in the receiver for a second Artee bleeps a positive response and retracts the arm. Looking back at the flatbed I see a slight visible shimmering indicating a powerful field has just been activated.

“Nice work Artee, you head over to that speeder and get out of here. We’ll catch up to you soon enough. Corporal Shortie? You’re with me.”

Swiftly Artee deploys his leg mounted thrusters, and with a quick burst hops to the armoured speeder parked next to mine in the garage as Shortie simultaneously leaps across to my speeder and mans the heavy repeating blaster mounted at the rear. He quickly powers up the weapon and asks a question over the revving speeder engine.

“We’re going off to rescue our guys aren’t we sir?”

I look over my shoulder with a devilish grin.

“Damned straight we are!”

Releasing the brake I gun the throttle and both speeders scream out of the garage, one turning north, ours heading straight for the enemy. Shortie opens up with the heavy repeater mowing down any troopers too slow to run for cover, I then see a rocket trail and explosion hit the tower causing a section of balcony to cascade down the cylindrical wall breaking up into rubble and dust by the time it impacts with the floor. I sure hope they haven’t got any more of those or we might be riding into a whole lot of trouble. I yank the speeder into a tight turn spinning the vehicle so it throws up a cloud of dust and sand, Shortie lobs a few grenades in the general direction of the enemy, more to serve as a distraction than to actually take out targets. They detonate throwing yet more dust into the air. I then scream into my comlink.

“Twigs, Boydie, we’re right beneath you, jump for it!!”

Blaster shots start to sizzle through the cloud of dust as the Imperial troopers regroup, Shortie opens up blindly with the repeating blaster again hoping to suppress them just enough. I then hear Twigs response crackling over the comlink.

“You have got to be joking.”

I duck as a bolt whizzes by, a second one impacts on the nose of the speeder just in front of me, we’re fast running out of time.

“Get your arse down here now soldier! Or if you’ve both got so attached to the place we could just head on out and leave you here.”

With that I look up to see two screaming figures leaping from the highest balcony on the tower, just as another missile hits taking out the whole top section of the tower causing it to topple forward. The two men land on the flatbed, the repulsorfield cushioning their landing perfectly. I then engage the speeder’s engines to maximum speed and pull away from the enemy just as the tower debris crashes into the street crushing anything left behind us. It looks like we’re home free.

Shortie sweeps around with the mounted blaster endeavouring to ensure he covers our escape when he suddenly shouts a warning. I look over to see what he’s talking about and see the head of an AT-ST looming over the roofs of some buildings up ahead, it lets loose with a storm of blaster fire and concussion grenades, our only hope is to stay the course and speed through them. A number of blasterbolts strike the speeder’s hull rocking us from side to side, she holds together, but then a grenade goes off under us just catching our tail lifting it into the air, I struggle to compensate and right the speeder to prevent us flipping over. I bring her back down to the ground with a bone jarring jolt throwing everyone in the back across the speeder, I’m approaching the corner that leads to the open desert and freedom just a little too fast and slam the brakes on and attempt to turn the already out of control speeder into the corner. Hearing a yelp behind me I turn to see Shortie careering over the side of the vehicle, Boydie and Twigs leap over the edge just grabbing the falling soldier’s ankles as I bring the speeder around the bend and then gun the engines back up to full throttle as we hit open desert. I look back again and see that all my passengers have managed their way back onto the flatbed and are lying there exhausted. Twigs manages to lift his head up and smiling hollers at me over the high pitched whine of the engines.

“Well Commander, I think I can categorically state, that what you just did was the craziest most hair brained plan that you’ve ever tried to pull off. And that is saying something. I think that warrants a drink. I salute you sir!”

The Lieutenant then pulls out a flask from a hidden pocket in his tunic and takes a deep swig before offering it to the exhausted troops lying at his side. I offer him a salute in return and turn back to the road ahead. Looking into the distance in the failing evening light I can just see the dust trail of our fellow Rogue Tribers headed towards the northern mountain ranges. We will soon catch them up. Once we hit the mountains we’ll follow the canyon trails around to the south which should lead us to Mos Entha if our local guide’s information is correct, and when there we'll finally get extracted off this rock. Turning to look towards the binary sunset I have to admit that it is a beautiful sight to behold, and even my passengers gaze at the spectacle in wonder, but then something else catches Corporal Shortie’s eye.

“What the heck is that?”

We follow his gaze and spot a fiery trail in the evening sky, Twigs gets up and leans on the back of my chair to get a better look.

“Oh, that does not look good, that does not look good at all.”

As the shooting star gets closer more detail can be made out including burning debris that rains down in its wake and it becomes clear that it is in fact a starship coming down a lot quicker and hotter than it should. It arcs over us and disappears beyond the south ridge hitting the ground with such impact that the very mountains quake. I turn to my men.

“I don’t mean to alarm you guys, but I do believe that was our ride outta here.”

Lieutenant Twigs shakes his head and tosses his flask of liquor over the side and hauls his disruptor rifle up and cocks the weapon growling wearily.

“Here we go again.”

I promise.

Mos Espa
First Strike: Episode 5

Imperial Sandtroopers gather along the southern outskirts of Mos Espa, having successfully routed opposition dug in at the junk yard with the assistance of mechanised support from an All Terrain Scout Walker the Imperial infantry was cautiously moving in on the position. The Walker's final assault had been devastating, but with the punishment that was being dealt out by my unit's Alpha Team, it really isn't that surprising that they're advancing with extreme caution, even with the towering imposing form of the Walker covering their backs. This caution worked perfectly for my current plan for our next course of action. With half my team pinned down with possibly several wounded at the junk yard it would take some serious planning and a lot of luck to get them out of there alive. Their caution provided the remainder of my team ample time to get into position. A full on assault was not the answer for us here, but the appearance of one? That might just work to our advantage. A light flashes on my wrist mounted tac monitor, that'll be Sergeant Rabid notifying me that he and his men are in position.  Which means we're only moments from all hell breaking loose again. I hate this part. The calm before the storm. I signal to the men with me to prepare for action, and then send Rabid the execute response.

From some distant sand dunes south east of our position a salvo of disruptor fire streaks across the desert, turning back to the junk yard I see several Sandtroopers go down instantly, then confusion as the troopers break for cover. That'll be Rogue Tribe's other crack sniper Corporal Boydie's handiwork. The Scout Walker turns away from the junk yard wall and heads out across the desert, lances of red hot light searing into the dunes throwing up fountains of sand and flame, but at this range the Walker's targeting isn't proving too effective, under the cover of the smoke and dust I see Corporal Shortie bob up from behind the dune and fire his HH-15 rocket launcher scoring a glancing blow on the side of the Walker's cab before ducking down again to avoid the return salvo of blaster fire, not to worry, after all this assault is but a diversion.

With a hand gesture I signal my men to pop their smoke grenades and in seconds the street leading to the junk yard is thick with blinding white smoke. I open a comm channel to Alpha.

"Go, go, go!!"

We dig in within alcoves and doorways on the street with our weapons trained in the direction of the junk yard and wait.

"Check your fire men, remember we're expecting friendlies to come out of that soup. Keep an eye on your sensor readouts."

And then a shadow stirs in the wispy smoke, and the first members of the Alpha fire team can be seen emerging from cover.

"Come on, move it, gotta go, gotta go people!"

I shout as more of my men fade into view. Looking at my scanner I detect several enemy targets behind them, and the fact that the Scout Walker has changed it's vector, now heading straight for us. I flatten my back against the wall as a burst of blind blaster fire sizzles past through the smoke. They're on to us.

"Return fire, keep your shots clear of our retreating men."

I hear the howl of another HH-15 rocket in the distance, the impact explosion however is very close. If it was on target that puts the Scout Walker right on top of our position. Sure enough a salvo of deadly hot light punches through the smoke from a high vector gouging large burning chunks out of nearby building walls showering us with carbon dust and debris. I snap off a few more shots blindly into the fog. At that moment I see Lieutenants Walker, Twigs and a third man sprinting out from the cover of the smoke firing wildly behind them, and then to my horror I see the Walker emerge right behind them, towering over the artificial fog cloud we'd created. I hear the muffled sound of a concussion grenade being launched, and scream at them to look out, the explosive bounces nearby .

"Take cover!!"

The explosion throws us off of our feet, and we're a lot further away from the blast then they were, I see one figure get flung into a wall by the blast as I go down, my ears still ringing from the blast wave. I see Lt. Walker grab the limp figure and haul him out of the line of fire into the cover of an alcove in a side alley. I scramble to my feet and duck into cover myself as the Imperial war machine continues its destructive advance. The walker turns it's head, sweeping in hope of detecting movement and further prey. Looking across the street I see that Jim is distracted in the alley busily fishing items from his field medic satchel and administering aid to the felled soldier laid out next to him. His detection by the enemy walker is but moments away. I then make the decision to make a rather rash move and dart out from under cover brandishing my bowcaster and let loose a volley of emerald blaster fire directly at the walker's cabin, showering all beneath with sparks as the shots bounce more or less harmlessly off the heavy armour plating. The head stops it's sweep though, it's attention now fully on me. Oh great, but before it can really ruin my day, a young trooper across the street from me breaks cover and opens up with his rifle, once again distracting the walker pilot from his intended target. This time the walker fires, but the trooper deftly sidesteps the explosive carnage diving back under cover. The walker then proceeds up the street to further press its assault only to fall foul of another trap, there is an explosion, but not from the AT-ST's weapons, this blast is directed at the metal menace. The damned thing finally stepped on one of our anti-vehicle mines, and not before time either. The blast doesn't take the walker down, but the smoking damaged servomotors on the right leg, and the prospect of further mines hidden down the street encourage the walker pilot to back off, or at least re-think his tactics, and that gives us the precious time we need to clear out the rest of our retreating men. The young trooper who had saved my neck then heads to Lieutenant Walker's position and aids him in evacuating his patient from the immediate battlefield, when they break out of the shadows into the early evening sunshine it is revealed that it was Twigs who had been blown across the street. He sure has taken a beating today. When they reach the point from which I'm covering their withdrawal I pat the wounded Lieutenant on the shoulder and quiz Lt. Walker as to his condition.

"He'll be alright, a few bumps and bruises and a mild concussion, but a little bacta will fix him right up."

I nod and turn to Twigs, who looks up, face covered in dirt and blood, but still smiling.

"You'll be alright soldier. How does it feel to have taken on the brunt of not one, but two Scout Walker attacks?"

Twigs coughs up a little blood before replying.

"Well y'know how it is Commander, kinda tickles."

With that Lieutenant Walker places the all too valuable data cylinder in my hand before moving off with his patient towards our fall back position. I then order Sergeant Rabid and the remainder of Delta to cover our retreat and fall back to the slave quarters district.

As we arrive at the slave quarters I set about the task of rallying our troops, we're in surprisingly good shape for length and nature of the engagement we'd been involved in today. One casualty and several wounded, but only minor injuries amongst them. And most importantly we'd managed to secure the package. It was time to address the Tribe.

"Well done lads, against superior numbers, not to mention a few dirty walkers, we've managed against all odds to complete our task. The data cylinder has been retrieved. Now all we have to do is fall back to our rendezvous point at the nearby town of Mos Entha where we can expect to be evacuated by Alliance space forces. Our immediate concern is to make sure we are not outflanked by the enemy who now have a foothold in the town. We will retreat in an orderly fashion with a rear guard covering our withdrawal along key points in the town until we reach our hidden cache of speeders in the north. We've come this far lads, but if we screw this up and they surround us we're as good as dead. So lets keep it together for this last push and get home safely."

My troops start to gather their kit preparing to move out when Lt. Walker gestures urgently to his wrist monitor band. I quickly glance at my own and then consult my scanner pack sending out a focused sensor ping, the readings confirm what I can now hear on the wind.

"Imperial Walker incoming lads! Take cover!"

Instantly the soldiers vanish, finding alcoves and open doorways to hide in. I hike up the uneven stairs to a second floor entrance and take cover, watching all possible entrance routes, and correlating that information with the sensor readings. Looks like the walker pilot has decided to circumvent the well mined streets of the southern districts of the town and has chosen a path along the outskirts, this will lead him to approach us from the north. I relay this information to the men, and we all train our weapons on that vector. I raise my hand giving them all the signal to hold fire as the tall bipedal war machine rounds the corner and comes to a halt just short of entering the courtyard. Hmmm, unfortunately the walker pilot isn't foolish enough to just wade right into the middle of us, I guess that would be asking too much. But then as I glance at the sensor display again I suddenly pick up on a factor that my just swing things in our favour. The fool has come in alone. Without that all important infantry support to cover his blind spots this walker should prove easy prey. Still even with a fool at the controls, a walker should not be underestimated, those things are still absolutely lethal to infantry. Still, back up can't be far behind, if we're going take advantage of this situation and take this walker down, we're going to have to be quick. I drop my hand, and my men open fire. The walker takes a step back as it takes the brunt of the blaster weapon assault, bolts bouncing off the hardy armour, and then it pushes forwards and returns fire sending sizzling hot crimson lances of death into the southern slave quarters, and then to follow a salvo of concussion grenades are released in a wide spread in an endeavour to smoke out the enemy, the explosive chaos is deafening, but that is what I was waiting for. Into the unit's comlink I give the order to pop smoke, and instantly my troops send a rain of smoke grenades into the courtyard blanketing it with an impenetrable sea of fog.

I then leap down into the sea of white, hitting the ground running I sprint blindly in a weaving path towards where I knew the walker to be, blaster bolts still sizzling through the air above. Fishing into my pack I bring out a pair of thermal detonators just as a pair of shadows loom ahead of me in the mist, I then slide to a stop on the ground beside them, and activating the maglocks, attach the charges to both legs of the walker. I'm just about to make a run for it when I hear a dull thud next to me. Swiftly spinning and falling to my knees at the same time, I unholster my trusty DL-44 side arm and release two deadly blaster bolts at my target. The trooper disappears as he is thrown back into the fog by the impact. Must have been a walker co-pilot or passenger of something, but the steady beep of the charges I'd just placed remind me that this might not be the best place to muse over such things. I immediately sprint away from the walker and dive for cover over a low wall just as the detonators go off vaporising the lower legs of the walker bringing the Imperial war machine tumbling down like a felled tree, the fuel cells under the command module rupture on impact with the ground creating a secondary explosion totally destroying the enemy vehicle.

The smoke clears, and as the ringing in my ears subsides I can hear the whoops and cheers of my men. I'm about to get to my feet when Lieutenant Walker leans over me to offer a helping hand.

"Nice work Commander, but a tad foolish don't you think?"

I gladly take his offered hand and get to my feet.

"Well I couldn't let you guys have all the fun now could I? Besides, I waited for him to fling his grenades in there first, it takes a few seconds for the launcher to reload, so I knew that I at least wouldn't be sucking down on shrapnel on my approach."

I dust myself off as Jim continues to tell me off for my foolhardy little manoeuvre.

"Well he still could have got you with a lucky shot from his blasters."

We then head back to join the rest of the men as I retort.

"True, but that was a risk I was willing to take, and it paid off. And don't you get me started on risk taking. You had the objective of our mission in your hands and then you decided to stop bang in the middle of the street and play Doctor with a Walker right on top of you. You're lucky I don't court marshal you right here."

We both manage to hold deadly serious faces for a moment and then both burst out laughing as we arrive back in the slave quarters court yard, but as we both look up to see Sgt. Rabid's face his look is grim. Well it is always grim as a mater of fact, but in addition it was deadly serious.

"Well if you ladies have kissed and made up, there's still work to be done here. Sensors are showing a new AT-ST Walker on approach and this one is travelling with company, looks like a full platoon."

Good luck.

Behold Yves Rossy, the Jetpack hamsters!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-oQ--U-WaQ

Question, forgive my ignorance but how do the Imperials deploy AT-ST's and other armour on a planet? Like at the begining of Espa we see a Lambda and an AT-ST. How did the AT-ST get there? ( Research for my story )

The AT-STs are flown in by having specially designed JETPACKS attached to their backs.

In the mean time here is a little more Mos Espa action to keep you going, and of course to inspire. My chapters are a little over the 2000 word limit that you guys have to stick to, but other than that I hope you draw ample inspiration from them, also check out Twigs' tales for excellent examples of the sort of entries we're after, I know there is a lot more creative talent out there in the community, so lets see what you've got.

Good luck!

Now this here is the penultimate chapter of my Mos Espa saga, I hope you enjoy. The final chapter will be posted at the close of the Competition at the end of this month.

Mos Espa

First Strike: Episode 4

This situation could certainly be better. A quick in and out operation was the plan, retrieve the data and high tail it outta there before the Imperial forces even touch sand on Tatooine. Of course even the best laid plans only last up to first contact with the enemy. Then usually all things go straight to hell.

I duck down as a blaster shot whistles close by, an Imperial sniper must have spotted my vantage point. Quickly rolling I find more cover amongst the roofs of the Southern Slave Quarters district of Mos Espa, distant explosions and intense blaster fire can be heard raining down on the town's southern outskirts where the brunt of the fighting is occurring. Amongst the general cacophony of battle I still hear the distinct report of Lieutenant Twigs' disruptor rifle sounding out. I key into his frequency to relay orders and get a report from the front line.

“Twigs those Snipers are zeroing in on my position see what you can do about that will ya? What's Alpha Team's current status?”

There is static and then another powerful disruptor shot can be heard followed by a muffled scream in the distance, then with a crackle over the coms Twigs manages to respond.

“Taking heavy fire down here Commander. Managing to keep their infantry pinned down at dunes at the town limits, but they're bringing the Walkers up now, once they get into range I don't know how long we'll be able to hold out here...”

There's a pause and another shot rings out before he continues.

“Sensor beacons and mines are placed though, sir, so when we do have to retreat into the town streets those scans and vehicle disruption should give us a good advantage.”

I find myself another vantage point and bring up my marcobinoculars to take in the view of the terrain to the south of the town. As he reported the first walker was already entering into effective combat range, clearing the dunes and striding towards the town across the open desert planes opening up with its lethal heavy blasters tearing chunks out of the sandstone walls raining burning debris down on my troops defending the junk yard. I also note that the Imperial infantry have started to advance from the dunes emboldened by the arrival of the Imperial Scout Walker.

“Very good Lieutenant. You're gonna have to try and hold the line a little longer, and watch out you've got incoming infantry. Deploy Oddball and his pack of Walker killers, that should buy you a little more time.”

I sign off and then switch channels to my unit's other Lieutenant.

“Jim, how's it going down there? Any luck locating the data?”

There is a moment of static before the response comes back from Lieutenant Walker.

“Depends on your definition of luck Commander. I've narrowed the search area to the junk yard, but, well it's full of junk Commander. It could take me days to sift through this lot.”

I curse under my breath and then respond.

“Well I'm afraid you've got minutes instead of days Lieutenant. Twigs and the boys will do what they can to defend that area, but you've got Walkers advancing on your position Jim. Find that data cylinder.”

Looking once more down my binoculars I see Oddball and a few more of the lads running low through the streets, finding themselves a suitable flanking spot to launch an attack. Hauling the heavy HH-15 torpedo launcher onto his shoulder he springs from cover and let’s loose a torp slamming cleanly into the side of the Walker's command pod, the hardy Imperial assault vehicle doesn't go down. Oddball retreats behind the wall to reload as his partner swings out to fire a second shot. This time the Walker pilot is wise to the new threat and sends a storm of blaster fire into the wall just as the trooper fires. The torpedo scores a glancing blow causing the Walker to smoke, but the poor trooper is ripped apart by the deadly fire and debris of the wall beside him shattering. The Walker pilot follows this salvo with a cluster of concussion grenades to clear out anyone else hiding back there, but Oddball is already pin wheeling around to the other side of the building and the explosions detonate well clear of him as he swings around and brings his weapon to bear on his target. There is a flare of ignition, and the armour piercing ordnance finds its mark resulting in the enemy walker's head erupting like a beautiful flaming flower raining down burning debris on my forward fire team. I can hear the cheers from here.

Oddball slings his torpedo launcher away and unholsters his blaster pistol and turns to engage the first of the Sandtroopers that had managed to make it to the town outskirts under the cover of the Walker's attack, he scores a glancing blow on the armoured trooper's shoulder and then drops to one knee to avoid the trooper's returning salvo of blaster fire. Then sinking multiple shots into the exposed black body glove between helmet and torso armour the trooper goes down. Unfortunately this move has left Oddball exposed as the trooper's squad mates following him into the edge of town now bring their weapons to bear. The Force however is clearly with him, as Twigs swings his weapon out from his elevated position on the balcony of the junk yard building and scores a salvo of lethal snapshots with his disruptor downing the remaining members of the Imperial probing scout force. I breathe a sigh of relief, it was bad enough losing one man without losing another immediately thereafter. At least for now they are safe. Oddball heads over to his fallen comrade, but checking for vitals shakes his head.

I then receive a crackling signal through my comlink, an incoming message from Lt. Twigs, I see him signalling south east of my position.

"Commander you have incoming, I can't get a shot at them as they've already made it to the town limits just south of your position."

I slip from my post on the roof of the southern slave quarters down to the balcony just beneath me. Looks like I'm finally going to get my own hands dirty in this engagement.

"Roger that Lieutenant, we'll take care of this, you just make sure you hold the Junkyard until Lt. Walker has taken care of business. Quinn out."

With that I look down into the slave quarters courtyard and signal to Sergeant Rabid that we'll be expecting company, he nods and mans the Mk.II heavy repeating blaster we had set up earlier to help defend our position. I chose this location to make a stand as there is a distinct bottleneck within the southern approach. Any attacking forces must pass through a tight archway that can be easily covered. Even if they make it in, the crucible like nature of the structure with windows and doorways looking over the courtyard from both sides mean that any attacking force that comes in here will be in a whole world of hurt. There are other routes in, but these would take considerable time to use as they would have to come around us and flank our position from the north, our sensors will detect them should they attempt that, but it is more likely that they'll try that next, but first they'll go for the direct approach, and for that they're going to get a bloody nose.

Rabid fires up the stolen Imperial portable shield generator and a slightly visible bubble of energy encompasses him, positioned correctly the field protects his heavy gun emplacement with just the tip of the barrel exposed. Perfect, I think we'll be investing in more of these devices. I signal him to hold fire, we don't want to tip our hand too early, and we want to get maximum effectiveness from our first contact at this location as we won't have the element of surprise again. From my vantage point I can see the squad of Sandtroopers cautiously working their way up the tight alleyways just south of us, they approach the archway entrance to the slave quarters. Obviously our first line of defence here are proximity mines placed at the bottleneck locations where the enemy might venture. The archway is a prime example of such a location. The first troopers enter and within seconds a devastating explosion funnels dust, smoke and debris through the archway towards us. Crimson blaster bolts sizzle blindly through the smoke bouncing harmlessly off of Rabid's shield and I signal him to still hold his fire. The second wave of troopers charges through the archway confident now that the way is clear, only to be torn asunder by the second mine I planted. Explosives lesson 101, always plant a secondary charge in the same location to take down any remnants of an attacking force. To my surprise yet another wave heads through, persistent guys these. Now I give Rabid the order and he opens up with the Mk.II mowing down the last of the attacking Sandtroopers in seconds. Bloody nose achieved. They'll think twice before using this approach again, which buys us some valuable time.

I quickly sprint down the uneven stairs from the upper floors of the slave quarters and survey our status, several white armoured figures lie smoking on the ground before the archway. I quickly plant some fresh proximity mines to replace the ones that have already served their purpose, and then check my wrist monitor, with it tied into the squad’s sensor equipment all my troops have access to real time strategic intel across the entire battlefield which is invaluable to say the least, well if my boys have done a good job placing the sensor beacons that is. From the looks of it the slave quarters is clear for now, no contacts appear on my scopes. I then start to bark orders to the rest of my men.

“Private Tuhl, make sure that Mk.II is still juiced up to the max and ready to go, Athlon make a quick eyeball perimeter sweep of the area just to be on the safe side. Sergeant, you’re with me, I want to do a quick scout to the southern town outskirts and see what we’re dealing with now.”

The gruff old Rebel trooper releases his grip on the Mk.II and pulls his trusty A280 blaster rifle off his shoulder, flips the safety off and brings it to the ready position.

“Right you are sir.”

He pauses a moment to pull out a chunky Corellian habanos root cigar from a tunic pocket and deftly lights it with a compact plasma torch. He inhales deeply, clearly deriving much pleasure from the flavoursome smoke, and then turns to the troops we’re leaving behind.

“Oh, and ladies, please remember to switch on your friend or foe transceivers whiles we’re gone, if one of you sets off one of the Commander’s proxi mines it won’t be me cleaning up the mess.”

He then advances through the archway, and I chuckle as I fall in behind him. A good dependable soldier the Sarge, been fighting in one army or another since the Clone Wars, it’ll take more than the Empire can throw at him to ruffle his feathers.

We cautiously reach the outskirts and with Sgt. Rabid covering me I bring up my marcobinoculars and take stock of our situation. Twigs' disruptor is still doing good work from the junkyard, making the lives of the Sandtroopers he’s got pinned down in the dunes a real misery, together with a good wall of suppressive fire from the rest of our guys stationed there. But something is not right here, where are the rest of the Empire’s Walkers? Two Sentinels could carry at least 3 Walkers between them if not more, it doesn’t take this long to get them prepped after off loading, so where…?

My thoughts are interrupted as my comlink squawks into life, it’s Jim.

“Commander, I’ve found it!! Data cylinder secured, preparing to…”

The sound of heavy blaster fire cuts off the Lieutenant’s sentence, and I see a series of explosions rake across the upper floors of the junk yard building. Bringing up my marcobinoculars again I see what’s happening, a sneaky Walker has outflanked their position by coming at them from the west, instead of via a direct frontal assault across the desert, the buildings of the town outskirts kept it under cover just long enough to get it within range of my men. I see Twigs turn to face the new attack vector, but the heavy rain of fire keeps him pinned down, explosions and debris throwing him to the ground. Finally at the outer walls of the junkyard the Imperial war machine finishes off its assault by lobbing in its magazine load of concussion grenades.

“Alpha Team, get outta there!!”

The resulting explosion shakes the ground, and sends a fountain of junk and flame high into the air, the junk debris ripping through nearby buildings like shrapnel. No, this can’t be happening, the Rogue Tribe are untouchable. The sounds of battle gone the air is suddenly eerily silent, save for the sound of falling debris pounding softly into the sand. I turn away with my back flat against the building we are using for cover and call huskily into my comlink. They can’t be gone, they just can’t…

“Lieutenant Walker, come in. Lieutenant Twigs, please respond… Alpha Team, are you reading me? Come in Alpha…”

I listen for a response, but only receive static in return. Damn, that’s half my men down if Alpha have been taken out. Things just went from bad to a good deal worse. Sergeant Rabid takes hold of my shoulder and snaps me out of it. I attempt to steady my breathing.

“Sir, we need a plan of action. If Alpha are indeed down you need to tell the men of Delta what we’re going to do next. Sir…?”

I get up a little shell shocked, but pull it together. I look around the corner and see the Walker circling the junk yard, perhaps searching for survivors amongst the debris? I look south to see a stream of white armour flowing over the dunes towards the town.

“Sergeant, we have to re-secure the junkyard. We can’t afford to allow the Imperial troops to gain a foothold in the town until we have retrieved that data cylinder, even if only to destroy it before it falls into enemy hands. Even at the cost of our own lives. That intel is just too important.”

Rabid chomps down hard on his cigar, the glowing end lighting up his face menacingly.

“Understood sir. I’ll instruct Delta to prepare to move in on the Imperial positions.”

I nod to him as I turn my gaze once again towards the grim smoking spectacle of the junk yard, now turned into a fiery graveyard for some of the finest of my troops. Just as Sgt. Rabid is about to relay my orders, suddenly my comlink bursts into life.

“…lease respond, Commander… Are you receiving me? Please respond...”

I grab Sgt. Rabid, unable to contain my joy. Quickly composing myself I reply.

“Jim? Is that you? Status?”

The comlink crackles into life again.

“Good to hear your voice Commander. We are in possession of the data cylinder, we have wounded, but are prepared to move out. If someone can get this pesky Walker off our backs...”

I respond grinning from ear to ear.

“Hang tight Alpha. Be advised you have infantry moving in on your position too, but not to worry, help is on the way.”

Rabid finishes transmitting orders to Delta to move up to our position and leans over me to view the tactical situation before us chewing pensively on his cigar.

“Hrmph, this is about to get real ugly.”

I smile as I bring my Bowcaster up to aim over the low wall before us.

“Aye, but would you have it any other way?”

....Rogue Tribe will return in Mos Espa: First Strike: Episode 5.

I hope you're well into those tales you want to tell because the next 30 days will absolutely fly by, so you'd better get cracking if you want a chance to win the contest.

Remember the final day for posting entries is Friday the 29th of May. After that date all entry threads will be locked.

Good luck everybody, and dare I say it? Yeah, alright.

May the Force be with you.

You've also got the two very different battles that encompass the Rebels' two pronged attempt to take down the Imperial installation on Rhen Var, perhaps an overview of the Rebel plan in it's entirety? Or what would happen to the Rebel strike team should the Rebel armour column fail to keep the Imperial's heavier armour occupied out in the ice plains?

Fertile ground indeed.