Pants filled his ears as his muscles screamed in pain. It was his, it was his very own breathe.
The ground under his feet sunk deep with each step, sometimes so steep that he nearly lost footing, slowing him time.
But time, he needed time. He couldn't lose the few he had.
He pushed, watching as the leaves, branches and trees brushed past his armour. His visibility hampered and no less aided by his helmet display.
His heart raced with such speed that he frlt it would pop out any second, beating so hard that it knocked against his inner ribs. Producing bounts of pain that reminded him of....home.
[< pzzz....come in...pzzzt.....intercept.....inter...>]
His coms buzzed to life as his eyes laid upon a location, light cutting through the leaves and revealing a cut off at the edge.
He pushed and threw himself against a tree, taking a moment to catch his breathe. His ears picking up on minor com chatter below the edge, the mechanical tones and wiring of robotic limbs told him all he needed to know.
They marched in sync, proving to their environment that the rhythm of their numbers are enough to threatened the wild animals sheltering nearby.
Their continued unperturbed, unslowing and with no apparent rush against time. They were within schedule....
" Come on Jugle, this is your chance to even those numbers out. " The trooper, Jugle, whispered to himself as he took a peak down. They marched in ranks, 6 rows wide and 10 columns deep.
They had already crossed a significant distance and he could see 3, maybe 4 more segments just like the one before him, far into the distance.
He barely made it.
He took another breathe, wanting to steel himself once more but suddenly there was an explosion in the distance.
Loud enough to echo towards his location, the marching hadn't stopped...yet. But he knew that the choice of when to start was no longer in his hands.
He clicked his tongue then raised his rifle and pushed out, careful not to expose himself too much.
He threw in a thermal grenade and lined his weapon.
" Over there " A droid, quickly sighting him announced and in the next second, as heads turned towards what it was pointing.
He let loose.
Releasing aimed volleys into the column, he watched as droids fell quickly but soon return fire came. He crouched, still maintaining fire and not wanting to lose this position just yet.
But more and more droids focused on his position, making it harder to convince himself to stay yet he did.
His mouth uttering numbers as he noted down the fallen droids, quickly they entered into the double digits.
Then an explosion blew right through the middle of the ranks, taking out an entire squad or more as well as offsetting possibly many more.
He smirked and noted down a rough estimates of the droids taken by his operation.
" That's it for me " He said as he picked his rifle and then...
A stray shot pierced through his armour, knocking him back by the shoulder and then another pierced through his helmet.
He...didn't feel pain...up there. Just his shoulders and then a sense of falling as his body fell upon his rifle. His last thoughts being fleeting as his eyes fell heavy
'They'll.....have it...tough...eve...mor....' then darkness took him.
[
The operation was successful, their goals achieved and now it was time to return, to withdraw so they might fight another day even if for just another hour.
This was their way of doing things, this was the 3rd company's life work even after the brutal purge of their once Jedi Generals. They - the remnants - would continue their fight, they would remain, as they have done for months now, fighting a war they knew will inevitably claim them.
In the words of their company leader, "the clone wars always had them outnumbered and consistently outgunned. Nothing had changed" - Bnar of the 3rd company, Wolfsbane.
But time was running out for them, most of their primary objectives had been accomplished and their new ones had proven...difficult especially with their less than half company strength left.
Worse yet, the local tactical droid had proven far difficult to battle and now, they were launching a last ditch assault on a convoy to secure a key data drive that included the last known locations of multiple fleets.
Acquiring it will change a lot from them and the droid knew it, for weeks they narrowed down the location of this data drive and finally, they found it being transferred to a new location where most of the droid forces lay.
Talk much less of breaching such a place with their low numbers, the droid itself seems to have plans on using that information to rebuild and move on the offensive. Such a thing could not be allowed and so they attacked quickly with haste.
But things will not be so easy.
[
[
[< Commandos sighted, they're heading for the package. Stop them!!>]
[< They are pushing into the forest, don't engage! I repeat, don't engage. Lose them>]
[< Droid forces behind us, they've surrounded us. >]
[< All units, abort, abort. Operations been compromised, initate protocol 024-90. >]
[< Protect that package with your life, the rest of you, scatter. >]
[< May the force be with you brothers...pzzzzt>]
Last confirmed logs within Imperial archives.