"Sure thing, boss. I'll be so kind and leave some over for you," Siobhan promised her confidently.
The mercenary brandished a heavy grenade launcher, loading it with high-explosive shells. "May the best one win?" he asked with a cocky grin.
Siobhan nodded. "You mean me? Sure! Do aim that thing in the right direction."
"What, you're telling you can't mega Force jump out of the blast radius before impact? For shame."
"Oh, I can. I might just get cranky!"
"Something tells me I'd like to see that. See you on the other side."
Siobhan and the rest of the mercenaries assigned to the group she was with climbed into one of the gunships and soon they were flying low across the planet's surface. Much of Dahomey was still covered by jungle and plains, most of the towns amounted to little more than villages when one looked beyond the capital city, which housed the only functional spaceport. However, the planet was rich in resources, cobalt and gold chief among them, which strictly speaking was the sole reason to take an interest in it given that droids made sweated labour unnecessary. As they swooped down the locals were soon alerted to their presence, the mercs could hear yelling coming from frightened civilians running for the safety of their houses or whatever shelter they could find. A few civilians lit small fires, burning tyres or anything they could find. One assumed this was supposed to be a signal to the militia that intruders were coming. As they descended Siobhan could make out wrecked and corpses on the ground, some of them were little more than charred flesh and bone.
The relative serenity was broken by anti-air fire that came their way. Militiamen clad in a variety of clothes, most of them barely had anything that could be called proper armour, though many were tattooed and wore what could perhaps best be described as protective amulets, opened fire on their gunship. Red laser blasts and sluggers streaked through the air, creating a wild cacophony of sound.
Most of their shots were poorly aimed, but the sheer amount made it dangerous and a few shots hit the gunship. The pilot engaged in evasive manouevres, pushing the engines faster to evade their fire. Then he inserted a disc into the player installed on his computer and smirked. "Time for the psych warfare."
The loud music that subsequently assaulted the ears of anyone close to the gunship could best be described as this Galaxy's version of Ride of the Valkyries. "Haha. Always introduce yourself in style, I say!" the grizzled mercenary laughed happily, almost yelling to make himself heard over the loud noise. He aimed his grenade launcher at a concentration of hostiles firing at them with an emplaced blaster cannon and squeezed the trigger. With a hollow grunt, the shell was discharged in an upward arc and came tumbling on the hostiles, blowing them to pieces in a small firestorm.
Siobhan was standing next to their gunner, who was busy filling the air with laser bolts fired from his auto cannon. Holding her lightsabre up high, she reflected several right back to the shooters firing them from the ground. She looked untroubled by the fact that given how fast the gunship was flying, she could easily fall out if she lost her balance.
Suddenly she received a warning from the Force and her gaze fell upon a group of shooters taking up position on her roof. Two of them held primitive missile launchers, aiming at them. "Rocketeers!" she called out. The pilot heard her warning fast enough and pulled up. Focusing her gaze on them she held her lightsabre in one hand and thrust out her metal hand, focusing the Force energy into a telekinetic wave and then hurling it at the hostiles. The wave rushed towards them, enveloping them into a whirlwind and tossed them off the roof to their painful death. One of them managed to fire his missile and it streaked through the air, but the gunship swerved higher into the air and the missile weaved across and exploded against the wall of a decrepit building in a fireball.
From the sky their bombers came down, unloading their payload on the defensive turrets the warlord's forces had erected. One gunship was struck by a missile and went down, though the pilot tried to control the descent and a few mercenaries jumped down onto the roof of a building, coming under fire from militia rushing up the stairs. They were getting closer to the outskirts of the city and Siobhan pointed to it. "Get us down there!" she moved her blade in an aggressive flurry to block and reflect shots being fired at them. A few dead soldiers lay in the area, along with the burnt-out husk of a defence turret.
The gunship swooped down to touch the ground. Even before it had landed Siobhan had drawn on the Force as it started its rapid descent and jumped, using telekinesis to control her fall. Militiamen rushing to engage them were mowed down by heavy blaster fire coming from the gunship, Siobhan surged into action once her feet hit the ground, flying into a merciless flurry. Each spin was tight, each swipe precise as if the blade were an extension of her body rather than just a tool. Within seconds the rest of the merc team had joined her on the ground and they cut their way through the soldiers engaging.
A sniper took up position behind a tree and took aim at Siobhan with a long-ranged projectile rifle, who was hewing her way through opponents and oblivious. He took aim at her skull. then suddenly there was a loud explosion and he was hurled through the air to a fiery and painful death, tree branches came falling down. He landed on another trooper, who caught fire and screamed in agony. "Watch we're you're going, Jedi!" the merc called out happily, holding the launcher.
"Nice." Siobhan spun and threw her lightsabre, slashing off the head of a militiaman coming in from the flank with a blaster rifle at the merc. Up ahead more defenders were firing, hiding behind the windows and walls as cover, though most of the buildings were primitively constructed and the continuous fire from the gunships took their toll on them.
The merc force relentlessly pressed on, storming forward across the wreckage whilst their air support provided them cover, taking up position in what apparently behind some fallen obelisks. "Cover me," Siobhan called out and thereupon the air was filled by a furious hail of laserfire and grenades that were lobbed against the hostiles charging them. The human wave assaults reminded Siobhan a bit of Cixi. Countless poorly equipped militia were being thrown against them, some wielded little more than sluggers and explosive belts.
"Watch out for the crazies!" the merc blew a suicide bomber to pieces with his grenade launcher, incidentally wiping out a few unfortunate comrades of the bomber. An enemy soldier came in close and he just grabbed him by the neck, crushing his throat and then tossing him into the fray. Siobhan surged forward, using the Force to amplify her speed as bolts and bullets shot past her before hitting the dirt when she was close enough. She slashed at a trooper storming towards, swiping off his left leg and then slamming her boot into his face as he screamed in pain. She focused intently on what looked like the fallen statue of an old king. Sweat dripped down her forehead, blaster bolts whizzed and streaked over her head, but then slowly it started to rise and she sent it spiralling towards a horde of enemies coming in from their flank, willing it to pretty much race towards them at great speed. Many managed to dodge the improvised missile, but the remainder were impaled on it when the statue rammed into them like a battering ram. Their screams were added to the perverse chorus of death and pain.
Retrieving her lightsabre, Siobhan linked up with the other mercs, charging into battle.
