"
Then come with me. I shall introduce you to my best scouts. There may only be five of them, but perhaps together, you'll reach the Outpost to the East while the bulk of our forces keep the Imperials busy," Rossisai Linsla replied to Balun Dashiell, pausing to glance at the other Rebel Leaders before motioning for him to accompany him out into the open air once more.
Linsla's escort, four heavily armed Rebel soldiers carrying blaster rifles and adorning urban battle armour, followed the pair out of the Command Centre, Balun looking ahead to the Reconnaissance Squad some distance away, still preparing for their assignment.
Many of these Rebels had been stationed on Lothal before the Tingel Arm Coalition's arrival, somehow operating under the nose of the Empire of the Lost. Balun couldn't help but wonder what price the stress of such an endeavour had cost them, the fatigue that might have already weighed heavily upon their shoulders set in before the real battle would eventually surface.
"
Before the Coalition arrived, exactly how bad was it here...-Governance under Imperial rule, I mean?" Balun asked curiously. He had been told stories from other Coalition Soldiers, experiences of former battles, recon operations and information gathering. Still, there was always a part of him that knew the bias that every man and woman out there was capable of. Bias was a natural and unavoidable part of life, even for the Jedi, who held bias towards the Sith Order and vice versa.
In most cases, they are earned through their shared and bloodied history, while others are taught and ingrained through the raising of future warriors, soldiers and politicians. Depending on your place of birth and the opinions of those who raised you, bias was easily influenced. War was no different. Two sides, justified in their minds.
Balun slowed in his pace; however, his gaze darkened as something gnawed upon the edge of his mind. "
Wait a moment..." he urged Linsla and her rebel escort. He couldn't understand where the sudden danger was coming from, yet the Force called to him and his gut feeling told him to act; "
Rossisai! Get down!!" Balun threw himself forward; the ethereal energies flowed through his body as he ran at her with unnatural speed, grabbing the man and pushing them both to the dirt just in time to feel the air zip past his face, followed by an echo of a single round being fired from somewhere not too distant.
"
Sniper!" one of Linsla exclaimed, calling to everyone within earshot.
"
We've got a casualty here!" someone else announced while Balun pushed himself to his feet, grabbing Rossisai Linsla and forcing him towards cover behind a rebel armoured personnel carrier, a ground transport.
"
Stay down; they're likely targeting officers!" Balun told the man. Rank no longer kept him polite as the situation had become a matter of life and death, potentially impairing the leadership and coordination among their troops.
The Sniper fire had sent the base into a sudden frenzy, a siren now sounding across the Forward Outpost, calling their troops nearby to take up defensive positions and fire back in the direction the shot had come from. Their fire was sporadic, however, and it wasn't difficult to tell that the sniper's whereabouts hadn't yet been identified.
"
Get word to the Protectorate and Commander
Fynch
's division!" Rossisai Linsla shouted across the clearing towards one of the officers taking cover at the entrance to the command room, "
No reinforcements, tell them to dig in. Warn them of possible sharpshooters!".
"
We need to get you back in there!" Balun interrupted Linsla, looking across the yard to Command; the building held far better cover than their current position. Turning back to the troopers taking cover with their blaster rifles locked and searching the distance for movement, he yelled out to them, "
Give us covering fire!" and soon ignited his lightsaber with a flash of copper energy being streamlined from the blade emitter, the hilt tightly gripped within his left hand. At the same time, his right moved to take Linsla's arm.
"
Let's move!".
Iroai Amulet
