William walked into the hangar where the AT-ST and the Repulsor Tank, seeing the two AS-ST pilots and his Red Death standing near the mentioned vehicles. Turning his view towards outside of the hangar, he saw a large number of Imperial ships approaching the surface, the outline of AT-ATs sending a chill down his spine. This was no capture force, this was a whole invasion.
"I suppose I left an impression." He said to himself, walking down to his troops as he watched the Imperials set up for the upcoming battle. Moving his focus from the impending attack, William brings his attention on a group of droids that were close to the base. standing in a phalanx formation, the battle droids were chattering; some were excited to show the strength of the Separatists now that the Republic didn't have any Jedi, others complaining about their servos getting frozen.
Behind every formation was an AAT, each of which were firing artillery down with their heavy laser cannons; constant and methodical blasts flying towards the Imperial landing site. William found the artillery fire the AATs were making strangely calming; a reassurance that there was a possibility to win this impending battle.
William then turned his gaze back to the six soldiers who were now facing William, arms firmly placed against the sides of their bodies standing at attention. "At ease, soldiers." William said as he closed the distance between them, the troopers relaxing after William spoke. "Red Death, go ahead and load up. We'll be driving the tank again." The four troopers nodded, turning away and mounting the 1-H Repulsor tank. William then turned to the two AT-ST pilots, both looking more confident since the last time he had encountered them. "You two get ready, but wait here until I give you the signal."
"What will the signal be sir?" One of the pilots asked.
"You'll know it when you see it." Was all William said before leaving the two pilots to join his Red Death inside the Repulsor tank. He quickly climbed the hull and hopped into the commander's seat, taking his helmet of and brushing his hand through his hair. "Move us up in front of the lines. I will address our troops." There was no verbal reply, only the sound of the tank moving forward. William stood up and poked his head out of the hatch, getting a better view of the battlefield.
The Ex-Army solders were communicating with one another, hiding their upper bodies behind the thick frames of the B2 droids. They were shouting over the constant firing of the ATT cannons. The tank began to slowly crawl in front of the troops, and William pulled himself up so the upper half of his body was visible. The soldiers looked towards him, waiting to see what he would say.
William cleared his throat before activating his comm. "Soldiers, I'll be honest with you: we're against the odds here. The Empire has sent a mighty force to try and eliminate us. We are a liability, a fault in their 'perfect' image. We are the embodiment of their failure to completely manipulate us, and we are proof that any Imperial can fight back against the Empire's lies.
"You all experienced it first hand when the captain of the Star Destroyer decimated your fellow soldiers when they should have accepted you with open arms, being fellow Imperials. Power hungry men will commit atrocities to keep that power, and now they're here because they are threatened by us." William noticed that He was about to reach the end of the formations and finished up his speech. "So let's show the Empire that they are right to fear us!" As William said this, he heard the battle droids cheering, confused on how they even heard his speech. He then nodded, spotting Derez nodding to the soldiers he was with. Feeling that he had done what he aimed to do, William lowered himself back into the tank, closing the hatch.
William looked to his troops operating the tank, seeing that they had taken their helmets off as well. The young man was in the co-pilot's seat, looking back to William with a soft smile. "That was a good speech sir."
"Really? I felt it could have been better, but it seemed to get the job done." William replied, the man's face unchanging. Will turned his attention to the tech, lightly putting his hand on her shoulder. "Bring up Derez. It's time to relay an order." She nodded, manipulating the console. After a few seconds, Derez's voice became audible.
"Captain, what is it?" Derez yelled, the sound of the AAT cannons fighting over dominance of being the loudest.
"Order your men to get those cannons to fire on the AT-AT heads. I'm sure if it doesn't destroy it, it'll at least bother them a bit." William said before the connection was disconnected. William could hear the firing stop momentarily before starting once again, assuming that the turrets were readjusting to aim at one of the three Walkers. "Park us behind the lines and join in the bombardment." The crew gave no reply, but William could feel the tank's movement and could tell that they were moving back. William watched out of the view glass and watched as the tank rotated and stopped, the three AT-ATs becoming imposing shapes in the distance, their full form becoming visible every time a cannon shot approached.
Then, William realized that there were no more ships coming to the surface, and this realization made him tense up.
Because those AT-ATs were ready.
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Commander Garen sighed as the command center shook, another volley striking the head. He wondered if these pests even knew that they were doing nothing but infuriating him. Suddenly, a small holographic form of High Admiral Gideon appeared, making him stand straight.
"Commander, I have received word that the other two Walkers are prepared to begin the assault. You may start when ready." After saying that, Gideon's form vanished, leaving the commander alone with his pilot and gunner. The two looked back to him, and before he could say anything, the head jerked violently, sending the commander into the air momentarily and smacking him against the wall. That one wasn't an AAT shot. This made him scramble up and hold on to the gunner's seat.
"Figure out where that came from. That is our priority target." The two nodded, taking control and the AT-AT coming to life.
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William focused on the AT-AT that they just hit, seeing the head slowly turning towards them. "Good, that got their attention. Hit him again." He then simply said "Derez" and the tech nodded, connecting the captain to the sergeant once more. "Derez, order the ground forces to slowly move forward. I'll grab the attention of the Walkers. Try and avoid getting too close." Disconnecting William focused back on the AT-AT. He felt the tank shake slightly as the Walker began moving, making the ground tremble underneath its might. "Driver, begin backing up. Move away from the base so if it does fire, the base won't be in any real danger." The tank then began to slowly move back, the shape of the AT-AT shrinking ever so slightly as they moved away. William watched as another shot flew from the tank and hit the head of the walker, making it jerk violently once more from the impact.
Recovering from the strike, the head quickly realigned itself, and William saw the two turrets on the side of the head shift, aiming for them. Remaining calm, William watched as the AT-AT fired, the volley soaring through the sky and past them, a tremor caused by the bolts striking the surface. The tank fired once more, this time the shot hitting the body of the Walker. It shuddered, but continued moving. William then saw the other two Walkers coming out of the mist behind the first, the three Walkers slowly making their way towards the base. The AATs began diversifying their fire, each head getting an almost even amount of attention. The three AT-ATs were giving the ground soldiers no heed, however, as each head looed towards William and his tank and began firing volley after volley at his position. The tank shook violently as the ground around it was peppered with laser fire. William held on as the tank shook, putting his helmet on for protection.
"Gunner, keep firing. Keep the attention on us!" William shouted over the fire. He wasn't sure if the shake he felt after saying that was from the tank firing or from the bolts landing around them, but he was more focused on just making sure he didn't fall out of the chair. All he could hope was that the ground forces were doing alright.
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Derez cursed under his breath as he ducked behind his B2. He saw the AT-ATs, he should've known that they would have ground forced escorting the giant things. At least there were no AT-STs or Repulsor tanks. These Storm Troopers were a hassle, however. They had moved ahead and set up some turrets and waited for Derez and the ground troops to move up.
The Sergeant looked to the side, seeing disabled B1 battle droids scattering the battle ground. It disturbed him, for seeing the still frames reminded him of the soldiers under his command before William came to save them. He looked around, seeing that some of the formations had fallen, which meant that some of his troops had fallen as well.
A large explosion brought Derez out of his thoughts, seeing that one of the AATs had been destroyed; the turret flying off of the top and flipping before crushing a few B1 droids. As the tank's levitation deactivated, Derez turned to see where that came from and saw a group of Storm Troopers reloading a HH-12 rocket launcher. He raised his blaster to the troopers and fired, taking one of them out with his stream of bolts. The other dropped the launcher and attempted to fire back before falling.
Derez ran back to the tank behind his group, rushing to the back as incoming fire tried to remove him from combat. Ducking behind the tank, he caught his breath, the crystal mist making it difficult. He banged his hand against the tank and moved back, the door popping open and a droid poking his head out.
"How can I help you?" The droid asked, it's voice seeming too friendly given the current situation. Without response, Derez pulled the droid out, the poor droid screaming as Derez took his place and closed the door.
Derez looked around in the small space, another droid looking up at him. The droid raised his hands, surrendering. "Don't hurt me please! I just got upgraded!"
"Shut Up!" Derez slapped the droid's head, hurting himself more than the bot. "Can you talk to the other AATs?" He asked. The droid he had pulled out began banging on the tank's door, begging to be let back in and how the crystal mist was making his limbs jam.
The droid that Derez was addressing nodded. "Yes, although i should inform you that one of them has been destroyed, so we might want to check up on them to see if their vocal process-"
"Shut Up. Contact the remaining AATs and tell them to focus the turret fire on the AT-ATs and their leg joints. Those are the weak points. We knock out the legs, we'll make it tip."
The droid whined a little, the pleas from outside slowly dying down. "But I do't want to break the giant metal Eopie's knees-"
Derez threw his blaster down and grabbed the droid's thin neck connection, thrashing the droid back and forth. "JUST DO IT!" Derez let go of the droid as it began coughing, grabbing for its terminal and opening the comms.
"All AAT's, fire at the Eopie's knees."
A collection of complaints begin to stream through the feed, and Derez walked out of the tank. He looked to the droid he had pulled out, which was crawling on the floor. "Sir, please. My legs." Derez sighed, grabbing the droid and dragging him back to the tank, setting him on the available seat. He grabbed the blaster he had dropped and left the tank.
He looked past the tank and towards the AT-AT, seeing the knee joint getting assaulted by the remaining AAT turrets. He then silently cheered as the leg joint began to falter and finally separate from the Walker. The air was filled with cheers as the Walker began to tilt, falling in front of another walker. The damaged Walker hit the ground, kicking up a wave of mist. The battlefield's visibility diminished momentarily before the AT-AT exploded, the heat created by the explosion dispersing the mist almost as fast as it had kicked it up.
Derez looked past his tank to where his unit would have been, only to see that all of the droids had fallen and only a handful of his troops remained, using the fallen droids as cover. He was about to move and join his men before a large green blast consumed them. The green flames obscured his vision for a moment, before it subsided and revealed the beast that had taken his soldiers.
The AT-AT's head began shifting, taking aim for Derez and the tank he was currently behind. The sergeant sighed, closing his eyes and prepares himself. He would join his brother soon.
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William focused on the AT-AT that began firing on his troops, anger building up within him as he saw the Walker fire again. "Shoot the leg joint!" He shouts, feeling the tank shift as the turret adjusted its aim. William watched as the Walker's head move, aiming at more of his ground soldiers. The tank fired, and the shot struck the leg joint, demolishing it. The walker fired its own turret, and the instability causing it to fall to the ground, exploding. There was no time to celebrate, however, as the last Walker continued to be a threat. William shifted to see that the Walker was finishing up the ground forces, and that it would soon fire upon them.
"Sir, the cannon only has a few more shots!" The gunner shouted, sweat covering his face. All of the other occupants were the same, but a wet brow was the least of their concerns.
"Then make them count!" William replied, still watching the AT-AT demolish his remaining troops. The tank slowly moved, the levitation rig having taken damage during the bombardment it endured. It was slow, but still operational for the moment. The turret lined up and fired, the shot grazing the command center. The head jerked, unfortunately moving the head in a more favorable position. The head steadied and William could feel the eyes within staring them down. "Again!"
The tank fired at the same time as the AT-AT fired it's laser cannons, the green bolts of light quickly taking up William's vision.