@[member="Akio Kahoshi"]
Moira did not make an effort to correct General Yu when he got the codename wrong. Similarly she showed no visible reaction to his lame jokes. It was certainly better than a superior gaining morbid delight from flipping coins to decide whether someone should live or die. Yes, her pirate catptain had not been entirely on the sane side. Hence why betraying him had not caused her any inner conflict.
"Good. Your cooperation is appreciated, General. Once the sector has been purged, Weedin will make a proclamation, proclaiming Republic troops as liberators and denouncing Komar as an 'enemy of the people'," the hint of irony was strong in her words.
What irony then, that the remnant of a dead empire comes to save him, Moira thought to herself. But it was the common propaganda line. So that a Republican Empire could claim the world.
"Once the compound is taken I'm responsible for matters of his personal security until Republic Command issues new orders and our forces link up. Some of his followers might be...problematic. They have this fantasy of liberating the planet on their own," her words left no doubt that she knew how to deal with them should they become a nuisance.
Surreptitiously she transmitted a signal through her comm, informing her handlers. They would pick up on her words through her earpiece.
The bow did catch her by surprise though, she presumed it was an Atrisian custom of some sort. Deciding to play along she returned it, though not very deeply. She was a Republic agent, after all, and so while she was far inferior in military rank, the galactic balance of power was such that Atrisia was a protectorate. But they'll be extremely useful for now, the agent thought to herself.
She swiftly departed the camp and boarded one of the AT-ATs that was part of the Atrisian vanguard, taking up position in the cockpit alongside the pilot, gunner and the other relevant crew members. Typing in few commands on her datapad, she brought up a holographic map of the area, based on the info her technicians were feeding her from their hideout.
"Weedin's compound is there, his men are hiding in the underground bunker," she said, pointing to a further away location to the north. Their initial evacuation attempt had failed. "Droid forces are coming from the west and south. This route here..." her hand travelled down, indicatig the western bridge. "Gets us there fastest, behind the largest droid column."
The stormtrooper commander seemed untroubled by all this, but then again it was difficult to discern any emotions given that his face was obscured by a visored helmet. "Any heavy armour?" he asked flatly.
"Old repulsorlift tanks. A few mortars, the crews are untested. Neimoidians," Moira responded, crinkling her nose in contempt. She pointed towards the outskirts. "Th 73rd Republic Infantry has landed here, they're advancing." On the surface normal information, but there was a hint of a challenge in her voice.
"The Imperial Atrisian Army will be there first and prevail," the commander said in a dull monotone.
There was a hint of a smile on Moira's face, it looked borderline mischievous before it vanished. "Oh, will it? Let's put that bold declaration to the test, shall we?"
With that the armoured task force moved into action, the large walkers rumbled across the ground, seemingly unstoppable mechanical behemoths equipped to rain down death and destruction. This was not a force meant for subtlety, its purpose was to blast its way through and crush all opposition.
Moira watched the proceedings from the cockpit of the AT-AT. It was ancient in design, from an age long bygone, but it had been upgaded to be fit for service in the modern age. A behemoth of a war machine, it was over twenty metres tall and nearly thirty metres long, boasting extremely resilient armour. Carrying a ridiculous amount of firepower and capable of carrying a sizeable contingent of troopers, it was a deadly weapon despite its age.
Moreover, the Neimoidians had not managed to advance with the times and stay on top of the game. So as Moira had earlier surmised, they were evolution's losers. In this Galaxy without power, one died.
Life was strife, not necessarily in the sense of brutal violence, but oftentimes. If you failed to pass the test, you got devoured. As was happening right now with the Neimoidians.
From the cockpit of the walker Moira had a good view of the surrounding area and could watch as the enormous walker paved its way through the war-ravaged bridge city, blasting vehicles and small buildings out of the way to clear a path. The earth seemed to be shaken by tremors as the armoured column advanced, scores of battle droids were mowed down, grenades lobbed at the walkers caused barely a dent. An explosive shell detonated twenty metres in front of the battlegroup, and a little to the right.
Slowly the walker turned its heavy laser cannon towards the enemy, having pinpointed them in the ruins of a factory and with a sizzle let loose a red laser beam. Screams were heard when a mortar crew was incinerated. Neimoidians and Duros fled as the walker advanced, their attempts to take flight were futile when the walker's heavy feet crushed them, thus reducing them to an unapppetising jellie.
High-energy bursts slammed into the walker's left forward legs, sending a shudder through the frame when it passed around a corner, blasting surprised and inferior droid forces. To the stormtrooper commandr's satisfaction, the AT-AT remained upright and it was soon joined by the rest of the task force.
Two repulsorlift tanks of the old type came into view, firing with their laser cannons. An impressive lightshow was created when red laser beams were exchanged in the street, some hitting the walkers, others impacting upon buildings and setting them alight. Then the tanks got atomised upon being struck, creating a small fire.
Angry bursts of red laserfire erupted from the blaster cannons of droid-piloted fighters that swarmed the walkers like a locust of insects, only to disperse at in bursts of energy from the walker's head section. Realising where its weakness lay the fighters swooped down, trying to evade the laser fire to get in close and fire missiles at the AT-AT's more vulnerable underbelly, but as they did so they came under concentrated fire from the walkers.
Droid fighters were torn apart by the hailstorm, one of them got knocked off course and crashed against the walker's leg, leaving a nasty dent, though Moira showed no reaction to it.
The heavy column pressed on, encountering yet more droids. Most of them were of the older variety, back in the Clone Wars they would have been the B-1 type, along with updated droidekas. Highly-powered laser fire took them out or they simply got tread on. A warehouse wall, so bombarded with laser fire, gave way and fell upon the enemy.
One AT-ST shuddered when the droids got in a shot and knocked a missile into it, causing damage before a laser beam reduced them to wreckage.
As they rumbled across the bridge the compound of Weedin came into view. Scores of dead bodies and droid wreckage lined the area, the battle was still in progess, though the government's droid forces were advancing into the badly damaged building. Many of the opposition Neimoidians were throwing away their weapons and holding up their hands in surrender.
The wreckage of a speeder was reduced into tiny pieces when an AT-AT crushed it. Gradually the enemy forces came into view, the cannons were powered up. Hatches opened with a snap-hiss and white-armoured stormtroopers disembarked rapidly.
"Exterminate them."
