The Valley of Death

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Don’t stop. Don’t even slow down. Those were the orders from Colonel Kusmanek and Commander Mithon. Forces from across the galaxy had assembled on Ra’un to face the threat of the Scaoth and the Freedom Fighters and Pentastar Alignment had joined together to assault Taroa Pass. Leveraging their strengths, a combined force of Pentastar hovertanks and Volunteer Fleet infantry were to punch an opening through the dangerous corridor to allow the other coalition forces to enter the Bassoet Basin.

Taroa Pass was a narrow, winding valley, guarded by massive towers inlaid into the sun-baked rock. That was all the intelligence briefings had said. What lay in the remaining twelve klicks of the canyon were unknown. Intelligence officers expected heavy resistance throughout – but there was only one way to find out for sure.

The plan was a simple one. The bulk of the Pentastar armored regiment would assault the bastions guarding the entrance to the Pass. The towers would have to fall before the larger, slower troop transports made the passage. Under the cover of this assault, a smaller, nimbler force would attempt to run the canyon, scouting the path to the Basin and hopefully reducing the enemy numbers. Colonel Kusmanek had command of the larger force, with Commander Mithon as his second-in-command. The smaller assault group would be led by Qolla – Lieutenant Aerith – assisted by Lieutenant Jäger. Between the two of them, they led four Imperial Saber-tanks, a pair of Scout Troopers on speeder bikes, a speeder-truck full of veteran Volunteer Fleet commandos, and Qolla’s personal team on STAP’s and an old Republic Infantry Support Platform, or ‘swamp speeder.’ 

Although the Pentastar tankers and scouts had largely seen combat only against pirates and the Red Moon mercenaries, their equipment was top-of-the-line and their training promised good results. On the other hand, her commandos were experienced, hardened veterans, but rode equipment largely dating back to the Clone Wars. Combined, it was an impressive display of force – but would it be enough?

Qolla rode at the front of her troops, scouting for danger among the cliffs and pillars of the canyon on her STAP. At her side rode her Rodian teammate Joklo, astride his own STAP. They had passed the hulking towers, crawling with Scaoth, a few klicks back. Since then, it had been surprisingly… quiet. Qolla’s eyes darted back and forth, searching the shadows for danger. Where are these guys?

Qolla thumbed the comlink in her rebreather. “Stay alert everyone, there’s bound to be more of them around here.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flicker of movement, but after whirling her head around, she saw it was only one of the pair of Pentastar Scout Troopers flanking them. She sighed and tried to relax. Maybe the intelligence pukes were wrong. Maybe we already passed the worst of it. Qolla shook her head – she knew better. She hadn’t survived this long by hoping for the best.

Qolla cracked her neck. She was tense. More so than usual. She was used to the stress of a dangerous mission. She had been on more than she could count. But this time was different. Qolla had command of this group. Oh, she had been placed ‘in charge’ of teams before – as recently as the Battle of Rishi. But she had always seen them as tools. A means to an end. She hadn’t completely overcome that way of thinking, but the aftermath of Rishi had begun to change that. Watching the team’s grief over the loss of Jik-Jik and her conversation with – alright, getting chewed out by – Abi, she had been determined to do better. And she had tried. In the days leading up to the invasion of Ra’un, Qolla had tried to get to know her team, in her own, awkward way. She had even attempted to get to know Lt. Jäger. But only to keep me and my team alive. She still wasn’t sure that all Imperials didn’t deserve a blaster bolt to the back of the head, even if they did serve the ‘not-quite-as-evil’ Pentastar Alignment.

But Qolla was doing her best to really lead now. She had placed herself in the most dangerous position – perhaps not the best tactical decision, but it was a responsibility she felt she had to bear. The rest of her column was strung out behind her and she was determined to discover any danger before she led her people – her people – into harm’s way.

As she peered into the darkness beneath the cliffs and pillars, a prickle on the back of her neck made her search frantically. Something is coming. She had had these feelings before. During her time with the Rebellion, in prison at the Serpent, even during her most recent deployment to Rishi. It always meant the same thing. Danger. As if drawn forcefully upward, her eyes tilted up and saw, on top of one of the rocky columns, silhouetted by the fiery sky, a figure dressed in red robes, its head encased in a grinning, horned skull-like helmet. As she watched, it waved a crimson flag aloft and started to sing a guttural, haunting chant.

“Look out!” she cried into her comlink.

As she went whizzing past, the cliffs began swarming with figures. Blaster fire began to rain down around them as the Scaoth horde descended upon them. Unlike the entrance to the pass, there were no fortifications or entrenched weapons emplacements. Instead, wave after wave of enemies emerged from their hiding places above the cliffs. There was no strategy, no tactics. Simply a wall of foes, bathed in the light of a blood red sky.

There were hundreds of Scaoth of all hues and sizes. The ghastly strandcasts were sent in first, most only armed with crude melee weapons. Behind them, sporting antique blasters and slug-throwers, were the enslaved thralls of the Firefist people – Tof’s, Nagai, and Maccabrees all screaming their war cries as they fired down on the speeding convoy. More dangerous were the Skulled, Makar, and even a Turul of the Scaoth. But most intimidating of all was the ghastly figure of the priest, high above them, his voice louder than it should be. Even over the din of battle, his haunting melody beat against her ears.

The nimble STAPs were ideal for dodging left and right among the hail of blaster fire. The larger Pentastar speeders, faster, but less nimble, quickly succumbed as first one, then the other, were hit and caromed off to impact into the sides of the canyon – the screams of their pilots echoing through the comlink. Return fire from the convoy raked the top of the ridge and scores of Scaoth fell into the acid pits below. But behind them swelled new ranks of the bloodthirsty horde. 

The comm channel buzzed with activity. Lt. Jäger had his Saber-tanks protecting the speeder-truck. Erch and Tinu, aboard their ISP, were rapid-firing into the churning masses of Scaoth. The front shielding had so far protected them, but as Qolla glanced behind, she saw several strandcasts leap from the cliff and charge the swamp speeder. The two twin laser cannons ripped into the charging strands, cutting through them as they fell in droves. One strand managed to survive the onslaught and clutched the front shielding of the speeder. It clambered up, raising its spiked sword to brain the co-pilot. Erch just barely managed to pull out the blaster at his hip and fire square into the grinning face before it could bring its blade down on him. The smoking corpse toppled to the side as the speeder raced down the canyon.

Dropping two more Scaoth with her speeder’s blasters, Qolla yelled into her comlink, “Keep moving forward!” Joklo nodded in obedience and a chorus of ‘aye’s’ came through the comlink as Qolla lurched her STAP around and raced back to help. The tanks and speeder-truck should be fine, they’re well armored. But she knew the gunners were exposed on top of the Saber-tanks – she’d give the horde something more tempting to shoot at. She passed Tinu and Erch, who had survived the worst of the attack, and sped to the back of the convoy. 

The speeder-truck full of Sgt Jelts’ commandos was shielded and surrounded by the even more heavily armored Pentastar tanks. The heavy firepower of Lt. Jäger’s armored platoon blew holes in the horde’s ranks and the top laser beam-turrets cut swathes of the enemy down. I think we’re going to make it, Qolla let herself breathe to herself.

Just then, a concussive force violently rocked her STAP and she struggled to keep it from colliding with the cliff face. After righting her speeder, she turned to see the smoking wreckage of what used to be one of her four tanks. She followed the tell-tale smoke-trail and saw a diminutive Scaoth reloading a rocket launcher.

At the same moment, Lt. Jäger’s voice crackled over the comlink. “Everyone focus fire on the rocket launchers!” Qolla sighted her speeder and got off two quick shots, leaving a smoking corpse behind. But other puffs of smoke were followed by explosions, as a second, and then a third Saber-tank was consumed in flames. Pulling up next to the speeder-truck, Qolla strafed the ridge line. She spotted one last rocket launcher and fired into the chest of the Skulled who carried it – but not before he squeezed the trigger. Time seemed to slow as Qolla watched the warhead soar towards her then slam into the speeder-truck next to her. She felt herself thrown by the expanding fireball, its heat singeing her face. Her brief moment of weightlessness ended abruptly as she smacked against a large rock.

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Qolla opened her eyes. She couldn’t have been unconscious for more than a few seconds. Her head rang and her vision was blurry. She could make out the shape of her last tank, standing in between her and the remaining hordelings. The blue laser of the beam-turrets cut down another Scaoth, but there were still too many. They fired back, hitting the gunner in the arm. Through her mental fog, she heard the woman’s scream. She had failed. She was going to die.

But then… where were those other blaster bolts coming from? Her head still ringing, she struggled to understand what was happening. A blur moved quickly – too quickly for her groggy eyes to track – across the ridge, bright bolts leaping from it into the remaining foes. A larger shape neared her, finally resolving into the swamp speeder. Joklo, Tinu, and Erch – her team – had returned. Against orders. For her.

Members of the Pentastar Alignment along with Team Hope

Strandcasts and Thralls of the Scaoth, driven by the Strandmaster

High-ranking Members of the Scaoth

FF Swamp Speeder

PA Saber-tank

Rockwork Closeups