Come it did, nightfall that is. The sun had departed from the cerulean plane, replaced by an array of stars that would occasionally hide behind the dark clouds of the night.
Within the building, we had found a box of black cloaks. Their original purpose? None of us could tell for sure.
Regardless, these cloaks would be useful. Under the cover of night, the black cloaks would help us blend with the shadows and move unnoticed. We already had the dark forest camo on our armor so the black cloak would make it even harder to see us.
After a bit of waiting, it was time to depart. I faced the squad. "Is everyone ready?"
The roles had already been dished out. Khedira, the sniper, Leia, the demolitionist, Tomer, and Santos, the beast handler, would remain at the compound. Khedira would be our eyes in the sky and monitor the surroundings from the roof. Leia would be rigging the compound to blow in case we were compromised and needed a distraction. Tomer would be setting up some traps in case some imperials try to get inside. Lastly, Santos would be patrolling the area surrounding the compound with his hound.
Satele and my dad would try to find where the imperials were keeping hostages. Lastly, the remaining four of us would form two man cells, gathering any and all information we could. Jeremiah and Tomas were one duo, while Galen and myself were another duo. We would collect information on patrol routes, the quantity of enemies, and key locations that could be used for disruption.
Our mission wasn't only to rescue the royals. It was also to prepare the city for liberation. Once the capital was freed, the rest of the planet would follow. In other words, this was a decisive battle.
No one objected to beginning our night so I smiled. "Let's move out. Watch each other's backs and above all else, stay alive."
"Yes, sir."
We then all started moving. Each duo left the compound from a different exit point. Galen and I made our way right into a small forested city block across the street.
It was refreshing to be out and about with Galen again. It reminded me of my first day in the game when Galen and I had first met. We hit it off immediately and got on quite well.
Memories of the various people we had met together. Corsoll, Seila, the Badgers, the CSF officers, we've gone through quite the story thus far. Now, it was time for a new adventure.
Going with our track record, we decided to go deep… balls deep. We were going to go all the way to the otherside of the city. It was going to take all night. And that was if we were lucky. It was all but certain that something would go horribly wrong. However, our spawn points were already set, I think. Not that we were going to die anyways.
We began to make our way across city blocks. Crossing the streets was quite nerve wracking. We were behind enemy lines with no hope for support. In addition, our path would take us right past the royal palace, which was more of a royal skyscraper. Regardless, we would be in a hot zone.
It went surprisingly smooth until we encountered our first patrol. There were three of them and they did not look like the type to dick around on the job.
I signaled for Galen to follow them from this side of the street while I circled around. Fortunately, we met them at an intersection. This allowed me to move in a path that would allow me to avoid any LOS with the patrol.
It took me a few minutes, but I managed to circle around and catch up to the patrol. They hadn't noticed us but I was able to see Galen crossing alleys across the street.
After a few blocks, I decided that it was clear to take them out. I pulled both of the lightsabers from my belt and readied them in my hand. "Galen, ready your blaster but don't shoot unless I miss."
Galen replied. "Got it."
"Three… Two… One…"
I started sprinting out from the alleyway, igniting the lightsaber in my right hand. I pulled my hand back, before launching it forwards, releasing the lightsaber.
It soared through the air, spinning as it approached the targets. At the last second, one of the three men glanced in the direction that the lightsaber was coming from. The last thing he did was widen his eyes in shock.
*BVSHH*
Three bodies and three heads hit the ground quietly. There was no resistance, just instant death.
My lightsaber continued flying before hitting a wall and deactivating. It then clattered to the ground with a metallic sound.
I sighed and shook my head as I stopped sprinting, slowing to a walk. "I really wish I could use the force."
Galen walked out into the street and looked at me cockeyed. "Why are you using the lightsabers then?"
I shrugged. "It just feels right. I don't know how to use the force but I can feel it."
Galen's jaw hung open slightly. "Wow, that's amazing."
I sighed, turning towards the bodies. "Eh, it's nothing that useful yet. Let's loot and move."
Galen nodded and got to work. We found a few credits and stole their communicators. There was nothing else of considerable value on them so we dragged the bodies and heads to a dumpster nearby. We hid the bodies there and then started moving again.
We decided that we wanted to kill as many of them as possible. It would make it easier to move around. At least this would be true until someone noticed that a bunch of patrols were disappearing.
I estimated that it would be several hours before things got spicy. With that expectation, we pushed forth.
Over the next few hours, we took out 47 additional imperials. This amount was just what we encountered on our way to the "palace". Somehow, no one noticed that a whole 50 troopers were missing.
Unfortunately, the fun would have to end for now since we had reached the palace. I was fully confident that the concentration of troopers around the palace would be significantly higher than other areas.
As soon as we encountered the first patrol in this area, we went silent. Only hand signs could be used now.
I led Galen down a back street that was just one city block away from the palace. It was quiet and not a single soul could be seen. We had been quietly running down this street for about a minute now and we hadn't found any patrols.
Suddenly, I began to hear noise around the corner. I stopped on a dime and held my fist up. Galen nearly ran into me with how hard he had to stop. Fortunately, he was able to stop in time.
I waved two fingers to the left. We split up and started checking for an unlocked door. The first one I checked was locked. Second one, locked. Third one, locked.
From around the corner, voices became audible. "Fuck this man, I would rather be getting shot at."
"Come on, dude. This is the easiest job in the Empire."
Fourth door, locked. There were only two more doors on my side. Galen had already exhausted his count of doors so he was standing anxiously behind me.
Fifth door, locked. One left.
"Hold up, do you guys hear that?"
I started to panic as I rushed to the last door. If we were discovered, we would blow this whole operation.
*Click*
It opened. I held the door open and Galen rushed inside. I then followed him in and closed the door as quickly and gently as possible.
As I closed it, I heard the patrolmen speak again. "Nah, don't worry about it. Some kid was probably trying to go play outside again. Just leave it be. These people are already traumatized. I'm not a sicko like those religious freaks."
I heaved a sigh of relief as the door gently latched shut. I rested my back on the door and slid down to sit on the floor. My heart was racing like never before. That wasn't even a life threatening situation.
It must have been the pressure of the operation. The successful liberation of an entire planet with billions of people was riding on this mission. There was a lot of weight on my shoulders.
I closed my eyes and tried to fall into a meditative state. I focused only on my breathing, trying to clear my head and feel the force.
Galen was looking at me weird. "What are you-"
I raised my hand and gestured for him to be quiet. He stopped speaking. It took longer than last time, but I ended up being successful. The tension washed away. The stress faded into the void. The world around me gained a certain air of clarity as the connection formed.
Lot's of nodes were around me, all of them living beings. I felt a cluster of five quite close by. They were actually right above us. I presumed that this was the family that occupied this house. Thankfully they forgot to lock the doors.
I spread my focus and found another cluster of three nodes outside. This was probably the patrol that had nearly found us. From the vague direction I could get, it felt as if they had just passed us.
I opened my eyes and looked at Galen. "Another couple minutes and we should be clear."
Galen nodded, putting full trust in my words. I was glad I had met him. I could already tell that he would be a great companion.