The air was...thick. It felt heavier than usual, felt...alive.
TK-9990 was quiet, he was following his training and he was doing well. During the academy, he had heard stories of the B1s, the feared battle droids of the Republics enemy.
He had heard of the terror and the difficulty of fighting them but frankly, they didn't seem so stuff. His platoon was making quick work of them. They neither took cover or seemed to show even a shred of intelligence.
They were nearly through with them until those things came, armoured and utterly terrifying.
He watched a single unit marched through a hale of fire, its husk littered with burn marks and it actively smoked with each round.
They weren't equipped for mechanical warfare, their blasters were geared more towards organics and were doing bad against those droids.
He took cover, finding it difficult to return fire amidst the hale of red heat.
Then he saw it.
Within the fire fight, as they pushed into their ranks. He saw a single battle droid walk up to a group of storm troopers. No more than two, teamed against a tree and fighting at the foremost front.
They panicked, releasing quick fire into the droids. It paid no heed to it.
Within seconds, its arm blasters tore through their plastic armour. Their screams were brief as their skin and blood boiled in a sizzling mess.
Then it turned....and kept walking.
***
The situation was turning from bad to worse, they were quickly being pushed back and taking heavy losses.
This platoon was mostly equipped with rifles, no heavy armaments since they didn't expect any heavy fighting.
He turned to survey the situation once more, his eyes darting quickly from place to place and soon it rested upon two soldiers.
One was kneeling, the other stood behind him as they fired from the tree beyond them. A b2 battle droid pushed towards them, its armour eating their rounds with little more than a stumble in return.
Then it fired its weapon once close enough, killing the white armoured soldiers before it resumed its march.
But something snapped within him.
Not wishing to let it get far, he fired two shots at it, grabbing its attention. He lowered his figure as he rushed towards the droid, hoping that none of the cross fire would kill him.
Just as the b2 faced him, he fired straight into its red eyes. Dropping it permanently upon the floor.
Without stopping, he moved towards the fallen soldiers, hoping that at least one of them survived. The sizzling sounds within their armour was proving to say otherwise but he didn't let that stop him.
He reached down on one, reaching for his helmet and pulling it away to reveal a matured face. A bit scarred but seemingly war proven in an odd way. His brown eyes stared briefly into his lens as he struggled to say something.
"...B..r...o...e " the unknown word rolled down his lips before his body turned silent.
Without waiting to stay on that loss, he moved to the next body. Pulling off his mask but...it was already too late.
The trooper had bled out as evident from his reddened mouth and the lack of movement from his body. Oddly enough, certainly dots began to connect as the last words of the former dead trooper repeated in his mind.
Both of these guys looked the same, practically identical twins. Perhaps, they were brothers?
He knew not but he did know now that at this rate, he'd lose the entire 3rd platoon and possibly...himself as well.
He took cover behind the tree, calibrating his coms to switch out the receiver. He made the call.
[< Admiral, this TK-1552. Commander of 2nd company deployed upon the planet. We've located droid forces and request an area wide orbital bombardment. >]
He said.
Once he receives his reply, he would pull back from here and mark the area before watching it all burn to the ground from orbital fire.
1st platoon was gathered just before the forest, they were armed with heavy weaponry and armoured walkers. They would support their retreat and keep the droid forces within the forest.
It was unfortunate that this situation turned for the worse, he had wished to allow his men some good experience but this just turned into their graves.
At least the Admiral gets to show off his might as he initially wanted.
[< lieutenants, this is your company commander. Pull your squads back, we are moving beyond the forest range and into the sights of 1st platoon.
This area is about to be covered in orbital fire so make it double time. >]
He ordered as he turned and fired his weapon at a few droids. Downing a b1 and staggering another b2 which just continued to move regardless.
[< DELAY THAT ORDER!!! >]
A voice screamed in rage over the inter coms, stopping many troopers in their tracks.
[< Commander, your orders were to locate and mark the droid base on this planet for orbital targeting. You have yet to complete your mission. >]
The Admiral stated with clear distaste in his voice, he had just essentially denied the request for orbital bombardment.
[< Sir, we've encountered heavy resistance with the forest. We are undertaking heavy - >]
The company commander began in an attempt to reason but he was cut off within seconds.
[< YOU had your orders commander, you will not retreat or I will have you court martialed for cowardice. You and your men represent the might of the Empire and I will not have you bring shame to it by retreating from mere droids.
Advance your men, take that forest and locate that base in the name of the Empire soldier. Die if you must but there will be no retreat. Do I make myself clear?! >]
[<...>]
[<...>]
[< Sir yes Sir.....For the Empir->]
The coms cut short as silence ensued, if not for the active fire from the incoming droids - perhaps TK-1552 would have taken his time to contemplate what had just happened.
But at last, he didn't have time for that. Right now, he had a direct situation to deal with.
" Dammit! "
________________________________________
Notes
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The relationship between the navy elements of the Empire and the Army element, especially that of the Storm Trooper corps was tricky and tense.
The empire worked with competition, using it to not just maintain control but grow exponentially.
The issue with the nature of this was the lack of regulation, plan to switch out and the self destructiveness of it. Doctrines are temporary, not permanent and are meant for specific situations.
A squad = 10 troopers
5 Squads = 1 Platoon