Skye Legacy Ep. 12 | "In the name of Peace"

An even longer time ago, in a galaxy just as far away...

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The mission controller looks up from the console the mission team is gathered around as they hear the doors open to the operations room, snapping off a salute as they see the rank of the person entering.

"Group Captain."

"As you were, status report."

"Right away Group Captain, the Squadron is on route to the target, should be dropping off hyperspace ETA now, they will maintain radio silence until they have begun the attack. Strike teams on the ground are standing by to move in behind their attack and have already taken out the early warning systems so we will catch the installation unaware."

"Good work...now we wait and trust in the abilities of our people."

The mission controller nods before they turn back to the console, waiting for the first transmission back from the Squadron or strike team with a status update. While the Group Captain moves to their position to watch over the operation without getting in the way. The rest of the room would be filled with the mission control personnel operating their stations, waiting for the first transmission from the Squadron or the strike team once either break radio silence.

Light years away, the Squadron is dropping out of hyperspace above an alpine world, with towering mountain ranges and deep canyons and crevices perfect for bases. The Squadron maintains radio silence while they form up in their flights behind the Squadron leader while the descend towards the planet. The area they are approaching is covered by dark clouds that cover the majority of the planet. From the mission briefing, the pilots know that they are going to be flying into one of the planets seasonal storms that dominate regions of the planet for half a Galatic standard year. They punch through the storm clouds into the dark of the planets night below, with only their engines and the lightning providing any light. Quickly the Squadron leader locks onto the ground teams marker signal they are broadcasting on a tight band on the approach vector to help guide the Squadron in. With the guidance signal, the Squadron can follow it through the crevices towards the base, keeping low to make sure they avoid detection.

When they are passing the final bend in the canyon before the target, part of the Strike team sends the signal to confirm they are passing the last marker. With the marker signal from the guidance team received and the base insight, the Squadron activates the lights under their cockpits to illuminate the rocky surface below while they begin their attack run.

"Squadron lead to Squadron, stay with your flights. We caught them napping, so let's do some damage."

With the Squadron acknowledging her orders, they break into their flights while opening fire with their lasers and a couple proton torpedoes. The first volley rips apart the landing platform that extends from the front of base where there was a couple of shuttles, and X-Wings sat on, blowing them up or sending them into the depths. Some of the lead flights torpedoes find the Rebel hanger and detonate inside, causing a chain reaction with the stores and craft inside as the entire hanger erupts in an explosion. With the damage inflicted in their first pass Shadow Squadron turns around and begins their second attack run just as the turbolaser defence tower comes online and a couple X-Wings and A-Wings start launching from the other hanger. While the chaos of the sudden attack from the TIE Avengers the Storm Commandoes begin their attack with a serious of preset explosive charges around the base, one of these explosions taking out the turbolaser.

With the suddenness and ferocity of the attack, the Rebel defences are all but destroyed in the first two attack runs from Shadow Squadron. With the Storm Commandoes entering the compound, the Rebels start launching their transports, a few of them painted with a large red cross on a white background on the side. Unfortunately for the transports, it was not just Shadow Sqn they had to worry about any more, as the Malachor and its group drops out of hyperspace above the planet and start launching more TIEs and Imperial Transports with Stormtroopers and walkers. While the GR-75's are still taking off Shadow Sqn has moved to engage, with Cecilia scoring the first kill as she takes out the engines of the first one to launch, without its engines it starts to fall back to the ground. Unforuently for the Rebels, due to the terrain all their transports had a narrow space they had to ascend past before they could evacuate. And with the first one coming back down the transports were trapped as their escape turned into their death with GR-75's crashing into each other, the side and eventually the ground before exploding. The few that escaped that fate did not last much longer with Shadow Sqn pouncing down on them from the storm and bursting their hulls.

With the Rebel surface defences taken out, and their squadrons destroyed and air superiority being taken up by the TIE Fighters, Shadow Squadron proceeds to land near to the landing platform they destroyed while landing ships start unloading Stormtroopers and a couple AT-STs. Cecilia slowly pops the hatch of her Avenger, grabbing her E-11 blaster before she jumps climbs out, extending the small ladder and climbing down it. The rest of Shadow Squadron is doing the same, forming up with their flights before they start moving towards the Rebel base and the Stormtroopers that have already taken up a position at where the Storm Commandoes went in.

"Right Alexis, stay close by me and watch my flank for me."

"Of course, Commander."

Alexis nods, her face hidden behind the black pilots' helmet that they are wearing. One of the Stormtroopers nods as they reach them.

"Lieutenant Commander Skye, we were told to join with you to provide an escort."

"Acknowledged Sergeant. Form up with us, we are heading for the main control room."

"Yes, Commander!"

The Stormtroopers quickly fall in around the pilots, with two of them on point while they move through the still slightly burning hallways from where the battle has exposed sections of the wall. After a short walk, they move away from the route the main group of Storm Commandoes take, and end up walking past what could only have been the barracks area. They have had to pass a few bodies by this point already, mainly Rebel fighters or the occasional Storm Commando, but more importantly, they had all been killed ready to fight or while fighting. But even a few steps into the barracks they are starting to pass bodies of people who are clearly not soldiers, or in a fighting condition. They have almost left the barracks area, Cecilia has been trying to not look at the bodies as she knows that the Storm Commandoes never did this due to the damage the area has taken, it was clearly done by one of her squadrons. Just as they reach the door to leave and be a short walk to the command centre, they hear a slight noise almost like a human cry of pain that someone tried to muffle, the Stormtrooper Sgt holds his hand up in a fist while the rest of the people stop apart from Cecilia. Who has moved to the door the sound came from, and she presses the open button, the door slides open slowly before she steps in with her blaster readied at the hip. It takes her a moment to see the people huddled in the corner, a woman, a young teenager and a child, all of them injured and just trying to hide when they see an Imperial in black armour step through the door. Cecilia and the civilians stare at each other for a moment before two Stormtroopers step in behind her with their blasters trained on the civilians while Cecilia's has started to drop. The woman looks between the Stormtroopers, who are ready to fire and the blaster pistol on the floor and in that moment she starts diving towards it, Cecilia's shout dying on her lips as the Stormtroopers open fire.

"No!"

And in that moment and short blaster burst, the three civilians are dead, and the Stormtroopers have left the room, to be replaced by Alexis who places her hand on Cecilia's shoulder.

"She went for a weapon."

"I know...but they didn't have to die like that...they weren't a threat."

"We do what we must in the name of peace."

Cecilia just nods slightly, happy for the helmet as she didn't think she would be able to meet Alexis's eyes at that moment.

"Aye...in the name of peace."

Alexis heads back into the corridor while Cecilia looks at the dead civilians, their wounds still smoking slightly from the blaster hits before she heads back out to continue their mission. Part of her knows that the Stormtroopers did what they had to do as the woman went for a weapon. But at the same time, she is unable to justify it to herself as the situation could have been defused.

A couple of days later, Falcon and Cyclone squadron are gathered for a mission a briefing aboard the MacAlpine.

"Ok then people, a couple days ago the Empire attacked one of our hidden installations in the sector, we don't know how they found it only that there the few people that survived the attack are now prisoners. So it is the aim of this command to show the Empire if they strike us, we will strike back."

There are murmurs of agreement from the pilots while Nicole stays silent, her eyes focused on the holo image of the Imperial base when it appears.

"So the mission is this, you are going to support a Commando mission to this Imperial base. Due to the nature of this mission and the almost disaster that was the Rhen Var mission was, we are just sending your two Squadrons. So you will be on your own down there bar from with the commandoes."

The pilots nod along with the briefing while they study the holo map of the base.

"We do have intel that the base may be being used as a medical facility for badly injured troops, so watch your fire where possible. We are not terrorists despite them painting us as so."

Nicole leans back slightly in her seat, her hand resting on Nalans shoulders while she mumbles under her breath with a darker look in her eye.

"What must be done in the name of peace."