[Republic Commando] - [Short Stories] - Omega Squad Targets (Karen Traviss)(1), Star Wars

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Star WarsStar Wars InsiderN 81Republic CommandoOmega Squad : Targetsby Karen Traviss###############################################################################Headquarters Special Operations. Coruscant: Arca Company Barracks."Go on," said Fi. "Shoot me. Do your worst."He held his arms away from his sides, presenting a clear snot to his comradeAtin raised the Verpine shatter gun and aimed two handed, his left hand steadying the grip"You're all mouth, FI," he said.Atin squeezed the trigger. Fi's armored breastplate puffed a cloud of coating with a loud crack, and he fell back against the wall of their quarters. Verps were silent except for the impact and the screaming that sometimes followed the blasts. Fi wasn't screaming. But behind his visor, his mouth was open in a silent oh of pain.Atin stood over Fi and checked both the breastplate and the Verp's chamber before hauling him back to his feet. They took off their hetmets and looked around for the spent projectile. Fi picked up a flattened disc of metal whose edges were split and curled back like a flower, and tossed it in the air for Atin to catch,"Okay, the upgrade worked," said Atin. "But you can't blame me for checking. I spent a month in the bacta tank thanks to one of these."Fi didn't trust Procurement any more than Atin did, not when there were more than 10.000 sets of cosily equipment to upgrade. They'd griped about the expense, but now everything - from their armor systems to their DC-17 rifles-was hardened against EMP and Verps. the two weaknesses that had almost got them killed on Qiilura.Fi slipped his helmet back on and rapped his knuckle plate on it 'Well, nothing short of a sustained laser cannon is going to give us a headache now.'The door whispered open. Niner, all grin responsibility, stood in the doorway in his black body suit. Darman was behind him, armored up, helmet tucked under one arm."What was that noise?' Niner said."Testing the new armor. Sarge.""Testing my patience more like." He made an irritated click with his teeth, just like Kal Skirata used to; Fi could see more of their old training sergeant's, habils in Niner with every passing day. He glanced around the room "You fired a weapon in here?""It's okay, Sarge. we were wearing helmets," Atin stood his ground. Sensible precautions often placated Niner. "You can't trust Procurement?"'Well, game over. We've got trade. Armed siege at the GC spaceport.""Don't they have civil police for that son of stuff?" Fi asked. "We'll be directing traffic next,"'Not when there are hostages and one is a Senator." Niner held out his hand to Atin for the Verpine, studied it, and then handed it back. 'They've never dealt with anything like this before, and they heard we were the boys for the job."Fi lifted his backpack from its locker. 'I didn't have anything special planned for this evening anyway." Atin was right: He was all mouth. He became two men again as he always aid when it was lime to roll - the commando who was eager to put his hard-won skills to the test and the scared kid who wasn't sure he'd be alive tomorrow. He found himself worrying whether he'd signed out the Verpine from the armory. How much trouble could an armed siege be, anyway? He had his Katarn armor and he - and his mates - could take on a small army.They all knew what the final score would be, more or less.Atin gave him a shove and tucked The Verpine in his belt. "After you."Maybe Atin was thinking exactly the same thing.Holonews Update, 1530: Senator Meena Tills is believed to be among six hostages seized by an armed gang at Galactic City spaceport. Police have sealed off the area and all city traffic and interplanetary flights are being diverted. Expect long delays. More later.Galactic City. Coruscant. was amazing.Fi leaned out of the police assault ship's bay with his DC-17 clunking against his breastplate at every swerve and lurch of the vessel. Wind whipped into the hold, flattening his hair and peppering grit against his armor and his face. He'd never seen so many brilliantly colored lights: The walkways and skylanes stretched as far above him as they did below. No wonder they called this place the Abyss."Gel your head back in," yelled the pilot. 'What are you, a tourist or something?"Fi leaned a little further out, trusting the safety harness. 'But don't you think it's amaimg?""Yeah, every rotten, stinking shift," said the pilot weanly. "Get him back inboard, will you?"Niner jerked on the line. "Fi, don't frighten the civvies." he said. 'It's not nice. And put your helmet on."Cloud cars filled the airspace. The Coruscant Security Force pilot was trying to edge the custom VAAT/e between crammed civilian traffic packed solid in three directions, cursing under his breath. The pulsing wall of the emergency klaxon and flashing fights were enough to make the dead clear a path. But nothing moved in the gridlock. Speeders almost scraping the bodywork tried to escape into gaps that weren't there: 25 meters of assault ship didn't fit well into the tight skylanes.All that Fi had ever seen of Coruscant was barracks and a compound bounded by security walls. None of the commandos had ever been on a run ashore, a social adventure that Skirata had said they should experience at least once in their lives. From the crew bay, he could see crowds of every species pressed up against barriers, brightly lit shops and bars and apartments, exotic and unimaginable places that beckoned. Yes, he'd have that run ashore some day.Omega Squad chatted on the pnvacy of their helmet comlmk, audible only to each other. Fi dragged his gaze from the outside world and settled into the bitter, sweet cocoon of his helmet, at once botn reassuring and confining."Receive schematics, people." said Niner. "And real-time view."A display of lines and fly-through images filled Fi's HUD. The Image that Niner had transmitted from his data pad was the plan of the spaceport building; long walkways led off vaulted halls and service areas, cubes of offices lined corridors, and power conduits wove through the image in green light. Superimposed on top of the overview, a readme image of the main spaceport arrivals area showed knots of blue-armored Senale Guards and CSF squads in yellow vests crouched behind security barricades, some engaged in animated conversation.A blue hologram figure of a thick-set man in uniform shimmered into life in the hold, a little paunchy but still looking like he could give as good as he got. "Commander Obrim here, Senate Guard, Can you see this. Onega?"Niner spoke for them, "Got it.""They're holed up in a customs clearance corridor, and they've threatened to detonate explosives. Two sets of doors. and we've left them control of one to stop them panicking and doing something stupid.""How many confirmed?""Six passengers, and we're trying to get pictures of them." Obrim might not have played this game before, but he had some common sense. "Witnesses report lour perpetrators armed with blasters and carrying something in backpacks, which we have to assume are explosives. No ID on them yet, but they were all on the same flight.""Any contact with the targets'"A pause. "If you mean the gang, they've issued demands and we have a secure comiink established with them.""And you have primacy?" Are you running the show?" Fi could hear the doubt In Nlner's voice. "I thought the city came under CSF junsdiction.""Not as long as I have a Senator and his aide in danger," said Obrirn. The hologram began to waver again. "Obrim out,"The CSF pilot brought the assault ship to a sudden halt. The undersized black and white marble facade of the spaceport terminal shimmered with ruby under flashing police lights. The front of the building was a crush of speeders and other emergency craft, none of them making a good job or keeping an access corridor open."Can't get in any closer," said the pilot. "You'll have to rope it down the rest of the way.""Don't wan for a tip." said Fi and wondered where he'd picked up the phrase."We are citizens of Haruun Kal. The Republic has fuelled the civil war on our world and now brings a fresh war to us. Remove your presence from our planet now, or your Senator and the passengers die. Now you know we can reach into the heart of the Republic." (Message sent to RHN newsroom by Nuriin-Ar, leader of the group claiming responsibility for the hostage incntent.}Fi braced his legs, placing both hoots on the outside rail of the ship's troop hold. He gave the rappel line one last tug, to check that it was secure before dropping 15 meters to the wafkway, DC-17 ready in one hand, a sea of open-mouthed faces starrig up at him from behind the police cordon.A sudden movement in his peripheral vision made him raise the rifle. A hover-cam with a RHN logo was sitting motionless 5 meters to his right, too far inside the cordon, outlined against the clean, white facade of the port. There was no point being covert ops if you were on the news and your target might be watching. The rest of the squad could see Fi's field of vision via an icon in their helmet links."I don't thlnk that carn's seen a Deece before," said Darman's voice.Fi's boots hit the watkway and he aimed. The hovercam darted left then right in his scope, fast but not fast enough, "It has now."A shout of 'hey!' followed the thwack of exploding hovercam The rest of Omega Squad hit the ground and jogged toward the terminal entrance. "You shot my cam!" yelled a woman from the watching crowd. She was wearing a bright yellow tabard emblazoned with the word MEDIA in large letters. "You shot It!"Fi touched his glove to his helmet in apolo... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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