The gunship dipped sharply as it began its descent and decreased speed, its engines diminishing from a roar to a soft hum as its repulson engines took over from the thrusters.
The holomap of their objectives took up the bottom left-hand corner of their HUD feeds, showing the designated exhaust port that would be their entry into the complex's ventilation system.
Grim signalled to his team and the commandos moved silently into formation, activating their weapons systems as the distinctive ascending whirls of blasters powering up echoed throughout the hold.
"Landing in 10.....9.....8," the pilot's voice counted down inside their helmets as they waited for the descending gunship to land and the bay door to slide open. The co-pilot and gunner pods on either side of the ship scanned the area around them for any potential threats, and finding none, signalled the all clear.
The gunship nestled down on the rooftop, hovering a foot off the ground as the bay door emitted a brief series of warning beeps and slid open with a hydraulic hiss.
Grim leapt out of the gunship first, hitting the ground running as he led the way across the rooftop and fell onto one knee, bringing his rifle up in a ready position as the rest of his squad fanned out around him and took up defensive positions. The coast was clear as Grim stood and flicked two fingers towards the rooftop maintenance station where the large ventilation port loomed off to one side, as Captain Ortega re-established contact with them. "Clear that port R-2," Grim ordered, stopping short of the port as he covered the area with his rifle, the others taking up positions around it as Cram acknowledged the order and moved to clear the path into the ventilation shaft.
Removing an arc welder from his utility belt he began working on the grill that encased the vent, the red laser melting the joints as the grill weakened and collapsed, falling at Cram's feet with a metallic clang. "Clear," Cram announced.
"Jet, you're first through, follow him in ascending order," Grim said, as the team moved to obey, the rookie jumping into the shaft first and being quickly followed by the others. A transparent layout of the ventilation system expanded to fill the left side of their HUDs, their route being laid out with a red line through the blue maze of tunnels.
They made their way through the ventilation shaft, crawling on their elbows and knees as they scuttled through the oppressive tunnels, the close confines of the shaft and their armour making it difficult to move at anything greater than a crawl.
Wes shuffled through the shaft, trying to take his mind off the creeping sense of claustrophobia that was building within him. He hated small, enclosed spaces. They always made him feel like he was trapped and couldn't breathe. He tried to think of something, anything to distract himself from it as he inched forwards, placing one elbow in front of the other as he shuffled forwards on his knees, sliding one along after the other as his armour scraped softly on the cold metal of the shaft. He repeated songs to himself in his head, replayed scenes from holos in his mind, and tried to think of anything but where he was and what he was doing. The squad moved along in silence, comm silence being the norm when engaged in infiltration work as they all focused on the task at hand. The silence just made Wes feel more anxious.
Finally, after what had seemed like hours, but was closer to one, they emerged from the ventilation system into a warehouse that stored armoured vehicle parts that had been completed and stood ready for assembly. Revenant Squadron clambered out of the ducts and assembled on the warehouse floor as they began to move out, Cash and Dex taking point while Wes and Jet brought up the rear. They moved almost in silence through the warehouse, on the lookout for any signs of trouble as their armour's scanners also surveyed the area.
"You're all clear Revenants, we're not picking up any targets in the warehouse or adjoining wing you're to pass through," Ortega said. "You'll meet some scattering of resistance when you pass through the vehicular R and D, but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle and eliminate quickly."
"Copy that," Grim replied. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Captain."
Jet was on edge as they moved through towering racks of speeder parts waiting to be moved onto the assembly line. He recalled vividly his first mission with Revenant Squadron where they had been ambushed by an entire platoon of Syndicate rebels when the path was supposedly clear of enemy units. The memory of it as he slunk down the rows of vehicle parts made his nerves twitch as he began to feel anxious. He gave an appreciative whistle, "This place is huge," he commented, as he took in their cavernous surroundings.
Cram snickered. "This is nothing compared to the fighter factories, they're easily twice this size," he said.
"Oh?" Jet asked incredulously, not taking his eyes off the path in front of them. "How? They're not that much bigger than large, armoured speeders."
"True, but unlike here they're built from scratch on assembly lines, and don't have their internal systems installed elsewhere. It begins with just a chassis and comes out the end, combat ready….like magic," Cram explained, with a wry hint of amusement.
Jet whistled once more. "Damn! Now I really want to visit one of those factories."
A double comm click from Grim cut the conversation short and the squad continued their trek in silence.
To their left ranks of hundreds of panes of glass stood aligned down several rows, while on their right the skeletal frames of speeders stood neatly lined in a long row that ran almost from one end of the warehouse to the other. They moved through the warehouse and down a long wing with various smaller storerooms branching off its sides, the maps on their HUDS showing two hostiles just inside the next building at the end of the hall. The commandos moved towards them, Cash and Dex taking up position on either side of the wide doors as Grim and the others fanned out across the hallway.
At a "Go!" from Grim the two commandos threw their weight into the doors, pushing them open with a violent shove as a shower of stun bolts whirled through the air and collided with the two battle droids with a loud zap as they flailed about and collapsed to the ground in two heaps of sparking metal.
The commandos moved into the research and development building, sneaking their way through in two spread out lines of three as they swept their blasters and gazes this way and that, on the lookout for potential hostiles. After the incident at the AAA apartment complex, they were more cautious than they had been previously, the jamming equipment utilised by the Syndicate rebels, and subsequent ambush had almost got them all killed.
A droid on patrol crossed in front of their path and didn't even get time to react before several white-blue bolts ploughed into it, causing brief flashes of electricity to erupt upon its surface as it sparked, and its circuits were overloaded.
Revenant Squadron moved quickly, demolishing another two droids in quick succession, before they could sound any alarm, as the commandos moved past the testing facilities and passed through into the factory beyond. The few sentry droids they had encountered had been taken out with ease, but as the enemy presence amplified things would get increasingly difficult.
They shuffled into the factory and crouched behind a long, low assembly line that attached tracks to tanks and snaked its way around the factory. Several vehicles at the end of the line silently waiting for their turn as another couple at the far end sat complete, the addition of the tracks being the final part of the assembly process.
"We've got a group of four hostiles ahead, with another three in the vicinity," Captain Ortega's voice echoed within their helmets.
Their HUDs showed the targets on the map as they studied it. The four droids stood in pairs on the other side of the tanks, while the other three were stationed to the left side of the factory, near a side door and the beginning of the assembly line, where the tanks were lifted onto the machine by a wide rectangular platform. Grim guessed the tanks engines, operational systems, armour, and weapons were installed elsewhere nearby and they were brought here through the expansive side doors; before being settled onto the assembly line for the final part of the process as the tracks were added.
"We'll have to hit these guys hard and fast to take them out before they get a chance to sound the alarm," the lieutenant said. "We'll split into two teams to take both groups at once. Cram, Jet, and Wes, you take the three by the doors. Cash and Dex, you're with me on the four."
His subordinates acknowledged the order as they moved into position, the former group moving to the far side of the assembly line, taking up position behind the end where the completed tanks sat. Grim's group followed the snaking conveyor belt for a distance before hunkering down behind a tank on the line that provided them with cover. They eased around the sides of the tank, using it for cover as they moved into position and prepared to open fire on the enemy. "We're in position, what's your status?" Grim asked, over the comm.
"Copy R1, we're in position and ready to commence hostilities," Cram replied. "Awaiting your signal, sir," he added.
"Affirmative, signal incoming," Grim said, then opened fire on the battle droids standing guard. The first droid took the bolt of electricity in the head as its circuits were fried instantly and black smoke billowed from its skull. A series of loud zaps sounded throughout the factory as the other commandos opened fire, the air becoming thick and heavy with electrical discharge. Two of the other droids convulsed and fell apart, the remaining droid turning on the commandos and firing a trio of blaster bolts in their direction, before a duo of bolts from Cash and Dex hit it in the stomach and solar plexus, making it fall backwards onto the ground with a crash.
As soon as he heard the buzz of the stun rounds, Cram opened fire, taking his target down with a shot to the centre of its chest.
The other two droids span around and returned fire, their shots sailing past harmlessly overhead before Jet and Wes put them out of commission with a couple of simultaneous blasts. The threat of the droids neutralised, the commandos moved out once more and regrouped as they crossed the factory floor.
"Echo One to R1, do you read?" Ortega asked, over the encrypted channel.
"Reading you Echo One," Grim replied. "What's our status?"
"It seems one of the droids got off a distress call to their command. A platoon of droids is being redeployed from their position guarding the complex and is headed your way. I recommend making your way into the administration complex a top priority."
Grim swore. He had been hoping they would be able to destroy the droids before they could send out a distress signal, but he knew the chance of destroying that many targets before they had a chance to trigger the alert was a slim one. "Alright Revenants, let's move out!" Grim led his squad through the factory as they gathered in a loose formation and followed his lead, out of the factory and through the open archway into another. This one was slimer, yet considerably longer than the previous building they had passed through. A single assembly line wrapped around the circumference of the cavernous hall starting to their right where the chassis of speeders were loaded onto the line and ran around the course of the line before returning at the other end on their left as the finished product. A number of cranes, machines, robots, tools and automations flanked the assembly line from their designated areas in the production line. The line stood empty and silent, which gave the cavernous factory an eerie atmosphere as the commandos moved through it with their weapons raised, scanning the area for signs of trouble. Their scanners detected half a dozen battle droids up the far end of the factory as they began to move to intercept the commando unit.
The Revenants fanned out as they shuffled forwards, taking cover behind outcroppings of machinery and the huge, automated tools that flanked the assembly line. "Hold your positions," Grim ordered. "Switch over to lethal fire and take them out before they can advance on us too far and set themselves up from a defensive position."
A series of comm clicks confirmed they all acknowledged the order as they opened fire on the incoming battle droids. A trio of lethal bolts of blaster fire tore the first droid apart, another blast of superheated energy smashing through the skull of another.
The droids returned fire, a volley of red beams launching down the length of the factory as they missed their intended targets. The commandos, hunkered down behind cover were well protected, opposed to the droids that were out in the open. Two blaster bolts hit another, knocking it to one side, then bowling it over with the force of the impact. The droids moved to take cover, a bolt smashing one in the side of the head as its skull exploded with a burst of flame and shower of shrapnel.
The two remaining droids ducked behind assembly line machinery and returned fire once more. The commandos exchanged volleys of blaster fire with the droids, their shots coming frustratingly close, but not quite hitting their targets.
Grim was about to order a change of tactics when Echo One's cry of alarm echoed in his helmet.
"Shit! Bad news Lieutenant! We've got a whole load of hostiles headed your way! The whole factory is lighting up!" Ortega cried over the comm.
"What…." Grim started to ask, then he saw what she was talking about. Two dozen worker drone droids were descending upon them from either side wielding various tools as weapons.
"Uh, chief, I think we've got a problem here," Dex said, glancing about at the oncoming groups of droids.
"You can say that again," Cram said, gesturing towards the rear of their position. "Look!"
They turned their heads to see what he was pointing at, and a series of curses sounded over the comm. Several of the machines on the assembly line had whirled to life and had turned in their direction as the commandos watched as all along the line the machines were activated, and those that could move began to gesture in their direction. A massive arc welder turned with a whirling buzz as a huge burst of flame erupted from its nozzle, spraying white hot fire at Cash.
The commando leapt aside as the fire scorched the ground by his feet, melting the steel plate of the factory floor. Another gave a whine as it jabbed a long drill the size of a man at Wes who ducked away from it, returning fire with a trio of blaster bolts as the drill whined and span on its axis. The two commandos near it ran to get clear of the drill's deadly reach, the huge, whirling spike would turn them into mince if it hit them.
Cram cocked his rifle, loading a grenade into the launcher as he raised his weapon and took aim at the wildly stabbing and sweeping drill. "Grenade!" he shouted, giving his comrades a moment to take cover before he fired, the grenade leaping from the barrel with a thunk, then hiss of propellant as it hurled itself across the distance between Cram and the machine.
The explosive slammed into the bottom of the drill's long arm with a fiery explosion as the arm buckled and with a groan of protesting metal fell to one side with a crash that shook the factory floor.
The welding arm whirled around, spitting flames of white fire at the commandos, a blast narrowly missing Jet and just grazing his armour as he felt it heat up and sweat broke out on his forehead from the proximity of the blast. He was lucky their combat armour was made to be fireproof, otherwise it would've been melted by the flames. The welder's nozzle moved back and forth as if it was stalking the commandos, like a great mechanical dragon, as it sought a target. They had all wisely moved out of its field of fire, but that didn't mean it still wasn't going to try. It rotated its nozzle back and forth as it sprayed an arch of blue and white flames through the air, the factory warming with the bursts of fire heating the air.
Grim retaliated as he cocked his rifle and rose from the machinery he had been taking cover behind, firing a grenade from the weapon's launcher that rocketed across the factory and drove itself into the head of the welder. The welder's head exploded with a shower of shrapnel and metal debris as its arm flailed with the force of the explosion and careened about, as with a descending whine, it died and came to a halt.
Then the droids were upon them. Ducking under the assembly line they charged the commandos, some of them hefting various tools, parts, and construction material as weapons.
Cram ducked the clumsy swing of a weapon and put a blaster bolt between the droid's eyes, he turned and opened fire on the others as they approached, downing two in quick succession.
Two of them approached Wes, coming at him from both sides as he scurried backwards, turned, and put a bolt into the sternum of each droid. The shots blew gaping holes in their chests that sent them reeling to the ground, lifeless, smoking husks of steel.
Dex and Jet turned to confront the droids approaching from their rear, backing up to put some distance between themselves and their opponents as the droids hurled themselves at the commandos.
Jet poured a trio of bolts into the first one that came at him, then turned and quickly pumped two into the torso of another, pits of molten metal being burned into the robot as it stumbled, shuddered, and collapsed in a heap at his feet.
Dex was far more methodical and precise in his fire. He fired three shots in quick succession, each one blasting a hole in the skull of its target as all three droids fell in a line like clockwork.
"Damn! Nice shootin' lethal!" Jet exclaimed.
"It's what I do," Dex replied, with no small amount of pride.
Four of them leapt at Cash, the commando being closer to them than the rest of the squad as they took him by surprise, having been distracted by the huge, automated tools that had attacked them. He drove a gloved fist into the face of the closest one as he sidestepped a lunging attack at him from a long, jagged offcut of steel the droid used as a sword. The droid, stunned from the blow was rendered momentarily confused, but it was long enough for Cash to shove the nozzle of his blaster into its stomach and fire twice in rapid succession, blowing it to pieces as its torso was almost ripped in half by the close proximity of the blaster fire.
Cash flicked a switch that turned his blaster over to automatic and laced the other three droids with an arch of concentrated, rapid-fire bolts, several smashing into each droid and leaving smoking craters of molten steel in their wake as the droids toppled over.
A trio of the drones lumbered towards Grim, one holding an arc welder that spat a meter long gout of flame at the lieutenant, scorching his armour, but failing to set it alight.
Grim responded by putting a blaster bolt between its eyes, before he turned on the other two and dropped to a crouch, gunning them both down with lethal efficiency.
A mechanical whirl from the other side of the assembly line told them another of the automated tools had come to life, as it turned on them and began swinging its crane arm at the soldiers, a long, thick, heavy chain with huge hooks on them whipping out at the commandos.
"Look out!" Jet warned as ducked under the flailing chain and scurried out of its path. Dex however, wasn't so lucky, being caught off guard he only had time to use his rifle as a shield as the chain slapped him, the force of the blow knocking him from his feet as several of the worker drones leapt at him. The commando flipped his blaster around deftly and fired a volley of bolts at the incoming droids, dropping both as they came to stand over him.
Wes leapt over the flailing chain and fired a volley of bolts at the machine, the red streaks of energy smashing into the crane with little effect, merely blowing several smoking holes in its wide, powerful arm. "Shock!" he cursed.
The heavy steel chain flung through the air, whipping this way and that as it lashed out at the commandos. Cram leapt aside of it as another two drones attacked. One clubbed at him with a heavy tool of some sort that smacked him in the side of the head, the impact rattling his brains inside his helmet. The blow would've split his skull in half if the helmet hadn't been there to protect him. As it was the instrument just dented it as he turned and put bolts into its stomach and chest. It fell away in a heap of smoking, scrap metal. The other lunged at him and he sidestepped its clumsy movements, putting a bolt into its neck that blew its head clean off.
"Cash, keep those droids off my back while I deal with the crane," Grim ordered the sergeant as he cocked his rifle's grenade launcher and turned his attention to the wildly swinging crane.
"Copy that Lieutenant," Cash said, moving closer to his commanding officer as he fired at the droids to keep them at bay. He poured a volley of automatic blaster fire into the chest of one, the barrage of bolts tearing its torso to pieces. He turned and mowed two more down as they rushed at Grim, reducing them to slag.
Grim fired, the grenade erupted from the barrel at warp speed as it flew across the factory, trailing a plume of smoke as it twirled end over end and collided with the joint in the crane's arm with an explosion that made the factory shudder. The crane arm careened to one side, rattled by the force of the explosion as the screeching metal protested and the force of gravity did its work, pulling it down and causing the limb to break at the joint as the rest of it came crashing down with a boom that sent vibrations through the floor.
Cram fell to one knee and took aim, flicking a switch on his rifle and fired a grenade into the air. A loud thunk sounded as the projectile was pitched upwards, span around, and began to fall without the aid of its propellant. It only travelled a throwing distance, but the grenade fell in the middle of a group of the advancing droids, exploding with a mighty fireball that incinerated half a dozen droids in an instant, reducing them to pieces of flaming scrap metal.
A droid armed with some type of electrical tool fired bolts of electricity at Jet and Dex, long crackling beams of electricity shooting out of it, licking at the commandos as they ran for cover.
Jet leapt behind a block of machinery as the beam hit it, sending a shower of sparks spraying into the air as it crackled and hissed with fury.
Dex seized the opportunity while it was distracted and lined it up, putting a trio of bolts into the droid's stomach and chest, as flashes of flame erupted from its chassis, and it collapsed in on itself. Half the droids had been put out of commission without much trouble, which wasn't surprising seeing as they were worker drones and not combat models. But what they were doing was eating up precious time, every second the commandos spent fighting them meant the incoming battle droids got a step closer.
Cash blew the head off another with a perfect shot between the eyes, as one fired at him with a bolt gun of some sort, heavy steel nails peppering his armour, but failing to penetrate as they either bounced off the super tough alloy, or got their tips lodged in the metal. He returned fire, the automatic blaster fire being much more effective as it tore the robot to pieces.
Wes loaded a grenade into the launcher as his rifle made the distinctive chik-chak sound as he cocked it. He dodged and ducked incoming hails of nails being sprayed in his direction and fell onto one knee as he took aim and fired with the launcher. The grenade rocketed out of the barrel as it flew across the factory and hit an incoming droid in the chest. It exploded upon impact, the blast taking out the droid and several next to it as the four of them exploded in a hail of metal and flaming debris. A blast of flashing blue light hit him in the side, catching him unawares as it bowled him over and the commando convulsed as jolts of electricity shot through his body.
"Wes!" Grim shouted in alarm, seeing the commando go down hard.
Grim took out the droid that shot Wes with a bolt to the side of the head, then gunned down two others approaching him just as quickly.
Wes groaned over the comm. "I'm ok," he said, his hand raising to display a thumbs up. "That hurt, but my armour took most of the blast," he said, rolling over with a grunt as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.
"Oh shit," Cram uttered as he saw a huge phaser drill come to life, as it rose its head above the assembly line and jerkily turned about to focus on Revenant Squadron.
"Watch ya domes!" he shouted. "We've got incoming!"
The laser whirled to life with an ascending whine as the barrel began to glow a bright red and emitted a high powered thick, red beam of laser. =
Commandos scattered in all directions as the beam began hunting them, flicking in Cram's direction, as he leapt aside and it kept going, making a beeline for Dex who ducked out of the way, behind the smoking ruins of the drill. It advanced on him, slowly burning through the ruined machinery as it smoked and hissed and the steel that lay before it was vapourised. Sensing more tempting targets it disengaged from chasing Dex and the laser powered down, only to burst forth several heartbeats later as it fired at Jet as he ducked aside, missing the intense beam of heat by an inch. It turned towards Wes and bore down on him, as, thinking quickly, he grabbed a nearby droid he'd been in the process of fending off and hurled it into its path. The droid was reduced to molten slag as the laser tore it apart, then swung back towards Wes as he fled.
"Jynx!" he yelped as he ran, the beam of laser behind him burning deep rents in the factory floor that sparked and hissed black smoke.
Cash cocked his rifle as he loaded a grenade and sent it hurtling towards the laser. The projectile twirled through the air and smacked it in the side of the barrel as a fireball consumed it, and the laser promptly died.
"Fall back and regroup! On me!" Grim barked, taking a knee in the middle of the factory floor as he poured blaster fire at the oncoming droids, dropping two with a trio of shots that tore right through them.
The rest of Revenant Squadron obeyed his order and began to fall back, taking up positions around the lieutenant as the remaining sixteen droids encircled their formation and kept coming. The commandos held their position as the droids advanced on them, waiting for their commander to give the order to open fire.
Grim waited until the droids were almost upon them, surrounding the squad on all sides. "Light em up!" he growled, and started shooting, downing two droids with as many shots. The rest of his squad began firing, droids all around them being riddled with blaster bolts as they fell one after the other, being gunned down with ruthless efficiency.
Dex fired three shots in a row, each one a direct head shot, as the sniper gunned down the drones.
Wes laced three of them with automatic fire, the steady stream of concentrated fire tearing their torsos to pieces like paper through a shredder.
Jet fired off four rounds, two each hitting a target with a classic double tap that knocked them over backwards.
Cram put another two out of commission, as Cash dropped the last trio with some short, sharp blasts of auto fire.
The blaster fire subsided as the last droid collapsed into a useless heap. The air was thick with the burnt smell of blaster discharge as the commandos moved out, heading for the far end of the factory at a jog. The battle had seemed to last forever, but only a few minutes had passed from when they'd stepped foot inside the factory.