Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 35

As the ground sped toward Lena, she outstretched a hand and pushed out with the Force. She immediately slowed down, hitting the ground with a roll. Lena popped to her feet and looked around the forest clearing where she was standing. Despite being the last to jump, she was the first to land, choosing to forgo the parachute.

A few minutes later, every member of the strike team had landed in the clearing as well as two long crates. Two men were quick to secure the containers, removing various pieces of weaponry including rocket launchers and mortars.

Lena patiently waited for everyone to remove their parachutes and prepare for battle. The group was all heavily armed with blaster rifles, rocket launchers and pieces of the mortars.

Timber strapped a rocket launcher to his back before moving next to Lena. "The refinery is 12 clicks to the East. Everyone seems ready."

Lena nodded and turned herself toward the East. "Alright team, move out. The space group should be arriving within a few hours. We need to be ready to move when we see the signal."

The group did as Lena instructed, an action that was still difficult for some. Had it not been for a stern talking to from Abie, many of the Cloud Squadron soldiers chosen for the strike team would have refused her orders. Thankfully, their respect for Abie outweighed their disdain for Lena.

They soon began the arduous hike toward the refinery. Approaching on foot from afar was critical to the plan so that their ship was not detected by refinery air defenses. No one was particularly thrilled about the 12 kilometer hike through the dense woods of Serenno, but everyone understood the stakes.

The group walked without words for most of the way except for the occasional curse word from a soldier getting tangled in brush. Overall, it took about two hours until the group neared the edge of the forest. The line of trees abruptly ended, allowing Lena's team a clear line of sight to the volcano that supported the scandium refinery.

Lena was first to reach the tree line. She gestured for the rest of the rebels to join her, everyone soon taking positions behind trees. Lena outstretched the palm of her hand toward Timber who was standing just behind her. She soon felt the clone place a pair of macrobinoculars in her hand. She brought the device to her face and surveyed the volcano.

Lena could barely make out the top of the refinery poking out of the mouth of the volcano. Sprawled out in front of the volcano was a small Imperial airbase complete with a full squad of TIE fighters. The small ships were positioned in two rows of six, lined up on either side of a tower in the middle of the base. Next to the main tower was their first target. The Grand Admiral's modified AT-ST sat still, the back of the walker attached to the tower with a small ramp.

Lena's time with the Empire was paying off. Very few knew about this particular airbase or what was actually stationed there.

Lena squeezed her grip on the macrobinoculars as she stared at the weapon that killed her master. "Mortars ready!" she shouted.

Immediately, three Cloud Squadron soldiers began to assemble the weapons, pieces of which were spread out amongst the team. Lena waited patiently until the weapons were ready to fire.

She took a deep breath and looked back toward the airfield. "Our primary targets are the TIE fighters stationed at that air base. They cannot be allowed to aid the Empire's blockade once Abie executes her plan. The target is 346 meters to the East. We still have some time before we get the signal but be ready to fire on my command."

Lena looked back at the 11 people behind her. Most of them she didn't recognize. She knew they had to be recruited during her time away from Cloud Squadron. The ones that she did know showed a variety of expressions. Timber seemed excited. Rose was calm. Tertrev wore a scowl on his face as he stared straight ahead. Erene was a bit timid but held her blaster at the ready.