STAR WARS: HERALD OF FURY

Chapter 30

Fortunately, one of the mine’s shafts had been built over, and was located underneath Building E where Krul’s hostages were located. Shafts were narrow vertical columns dug into mines to provide ventilation. This meant that their drilling would go faster under Building E, but they’d have to bore into Building B completely through solid rock.

* * *

Obi-Wan

Given that they had some time, Commander Kenobi decided to check-in on Gamma Fireteam. These men and women would be guarding his back as they hunted Krul te Rosin. “Gamma team, status report.” Ben asked.

“Gamma team has this zone locked down, sir.” Sergeant Icol responded coolly, tapping her pistol. Ben smiled to himself. Calm professionalism, that’s what he wanted to see in a sniper.

“Thank you Sergeant. What about you, Specialist Era?” Ben pried. Based on her personnel file, Ben knew that Era was born into the underclass of Eriadu, a heavily industrialized world on the Outer Rim. He was curious how she might be registering the circumstances of this mission.

“Can’t wait to shoot some greenies, sir.” Specialist Era said curtly. Ben tried to reach out with the force to sense her feelings, beneath the veneer of words. Then he remembered that while the sim could approximate force manipulation of physical objects, it handicapped the ability to sense emotion. He moved on.

“Specialist Kharn?” Ben queried.

“Those muties pop up and I’ll be ready. Hoo-Rah, Commander.”

“And you, Specialist Graff?

“Watching the paint dry, sir.” Graff answered.

A sound crackled through the cavern’s silence. “Cave in!” yelled Sergeant Fett over the comm. Obi-Wan glanced in the direction of the cave-in and saw Specialist Teel activating the repulsor lift, and Beta team began to frantically push the laser borer out of the way for added thrust as the repulsors came on line.

At first only a trickle of pebbles fell, but then an avalanche of rocks roared from the ceiling onto the ground. I could stop it, thought Ben, but Jedi powers don’t make up for sloppiness. A falling rock nailed Specialist Flanor in the leg, pinning him to the floor, while another smacked Sergeant Fett’s helmet, stunning him. Soon the cave in engulfed Beta team, destroying the laser borer and trapping them under piles of rock.

Da Phelu poured into the cavern in search of the source of the disturbance. Alpha and Gamma team went weapons free, stunning tens of da phelu at a time, as the mutants surged forwards. Ben quickly sent a command on the tactical network to move Alpha and Gamma teams closer together, in order to better organize a defense. In the meantime, Ben’s lightsaber leapt into his hands, and he began to cut down any mutants that made it into melee distance.

 

As his lightsaber hummed its terrible work, Ben registered that the laser borer wasn’t just damaged, it was destroyed. Even if they managed to fight off the da phelu hordes and free Beta team from the rubble, this was mission fail. Ben paused the sim, returning Alpha, Beta and Gamma teams to the mission briefing room.

“Do you know how to use the geo-scanner Sergeant Fett? I’ve heard it helps to squeeze the ON button before using it,” Sergeant Chalmers chided.

 

“Oh that’s cute, Sergeant. Using a geo-scanner isn’t like pulling a trigger on an assault rifle. I can deep scan the shaft in Building E for the rock formations, but I can’t do that for Building B. Now, I can quick drill a narrow section before drilling out the larger section of the rock. That way I can get a glimpse into the rock without causing a cave in. That slows us down though. I figured this round I would see if Commander Kenobi could prevent a cave in with the Force if we got unlucky. But I guess I shouldn’t count on that.”

 

“Affirmative, Sergeant Fett.” Ben said as he scanned the room. “Let me remind all of you that this is what a simulation is for. We make mistakes in sim so that we are perfection in action. Now, let’s start again.”

 

“Commander Kenobi,” Specialist Wenzlow cut in, “to Sergeant Fett’s point, couldn’t you have stopped the cave in with the Force? Why did you let it come down?”

 

“That’s a good question Specialist,” Ben replied. “In your operational experience, how do you know a mission is going well?”

 

“It tends to go according to plan sir. And what doesn’t, the team quickly adapts to.”

 

“What would happen if we relied on my Force powers to bail us out of every bad turn?” Ben continued.

 

“We’d be relying on you a whole lot sir.”

 

“Correct, Specialist Wenzlow.” Ben turned his attention to the entire group. “A Jedi’s powers are awesome to behold. Yet, a Jedi is as powerful as he is vulnerable. The same is true for this group of soldiers. Tell me Specialist Ronk, where do we derive our greatest strength in this mission?”

 

“From our training, sir.”

 

“Not quite, Specialist. Our training is very important, but it’s not the most important thing.”

 

“From surprise,” Specialist Aro added.

 

“Surprise is critical for mission success, but in actuality, it is not our most important strength.” Ben replied. He decided to wait for a few moments more.

 

“From each other,” Specialist Ayalla said.

 

“That is correct Specialist Ayalla,” Ben answered. “We are each other’s greatest strength. If we rely on an individual - even a Jedi - to make up for every mistake this team will make, at some point that individual will snap under the pressure, be overwhelmed by several crises at once, or simply make a mistake. And at that point, our mission will fail. On the other hand, if we rely on each other, when an individual team member slips up - even a Jedi - this team will prevail.”

 

“I have no doubt that my Force powers will be on display during this mission,” Ben continued. “But no less essential to this mission’s success are your ingenuity, your commitment, and your teamwork.”

 

Ben’s gaze met each of his soldier’s eyes. When he saw Specialist Kharn, Ben asked, “What was that cheer you said earlier?”

 

“Hoo-Rah, Commander?” Kharn responded quizzically.

 

“No soldier - I believe it was...Hoo-Rah!” Commander Kenobi set aside his typically studious demeanor, and channelled his emotion, his intensity, his commitment, into those two words. “Care to lead us?”

 

“I’d be honored.” Specialist Kharn strode to the center of the room, standing next to Commander Kenobi.

 

“Attention.” Commander Kenobi said, and the soldiers quickly stood to attention.

 

“Hoo-Rah!” Specialist Kharn yelled, placing all the force of his breath behind his cheer.

 

“Hoo-Rah!” Commander Kenobi and his fireteams cried in unison, holding nothing back, yelling from their inner souls.