As the troopers of Alpha Squad pushed with all of their might, they cried out in anger at the door. 'It's impressive, they can simulate rust on a door. But they couldn't bother to decorate the environment even a little' Brake thought to himself. It was a classic Kaminoan trait to always focus on the wrong things sometimes, they were always a little too clinical.
The door had begun to budge again through the monstrous effort of Alpha squad. Brake and the members of Echo squad were ready if the whole droid army came marching through that door. Their rifles and carbines were tightly packed onto the lip of the wall. Every one of their fingers itched and twitched as they tightened around the triggers. At long last the door gave a final and beastly 'Clunk' as the squad sped alongside it pulling it open.
The warehouse was a huge open space, terrible to clear out itself. But even more surprisingly, it was filled with battle droids!
"Blast 'em!" Brake declared, after opening fire himself.
The rest responded in kind and a wave of fire flew from the wall. The droids were in a huge square formation, resembling the classic mass wave doctrine of the droid army. The mass of metal was already sustaining huge casualties. But with every B1 that fell, another behind it replaced its position. The monstrous metal beast began to march forward, every leg a tendril on the monster. All stepping in unison. It began to return fire.
The ensuing fire engulfed the courtyard in beautiful reds and blues. Alpha squad were in trouble. They still stood just outside of the warehouse. Tightly embracing the door was the only option they had for cover. If the droids began to reach outside they'd be caught in the open and slaughtered.
The firefight still raged as the blue light covering the room began to overpower its red counterpart, the clones were beginning to finally wipe the droids from the room.
A relief like never before washed over Brake, this was a successful assault. The first of many, he hoped.
The metallic monster roared as it finally collapsed. The droids within the warehouse had been defeated. But those who had annihilated Bravo could be minutes away. It would be better to dig in and prepare for the droid advance.
"Alpha, Get back over here!" Brake declared. The men followed suit and began rushing across the courtyard.
"Alright boys, we'll be digging in here! The droid counterattack should be-" A sudden hail of blaster fire enveloped the courtyard. The counterattack came early. Alpha squad were feet away from the wall, but with no cover, they began to be slaughtered. Luckily Sergeant Alpha rushed further ahead than his men, he was able to jump over the cover and land right next to Brake.
Brake had dropped straight to the ground when he saw the sudden flash of red. The ragtag group of clones left were all pinned down. The droids outpoured from the alley they emerged from. The more time Brake gave them, the more they would encircle and envelop the squad.
He hastily recounted his men left scanning over all of them. Nine troopers, two sergeants. It was still enough to continue, only barely. He couldn't risk telling them to return fire, if he lost three of them he'd fail his objective.
"Sir! Shall we return fire?" Echo chimed in. Crouched opposite from Brake with a vice grip around his DC-15 Carbine.
"No! I can't risk any more lives! Just let me think!" Brake commanded the Sergeant as he peered around him at his men.
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The troopers were all itching to fight but flinched at every bolt that flew overhead. Brake stayed on his arms and knees, this was not a time to jump up with action. He crawled alongside each of the clones, accidentally brushing through the hollow men.
Through a small break in the wall, he had eyes on the warehouse. Closing his right eye he peered through the crack and scanned inside the warehouse. Maybe they could still be able to capture the point. In the blurry haze, he reckoned he'd be able to see something in there.
Then he viewed an absolute blessing, there were a few boxes arranged inside the warehouse. It was a solid piece cover! And behind said cover was a pole of some sort, with a flashing red light on top. That must be the point he had to capture.
But to get to the flag, he'd have to traverse the hellish courtyard. 'Think Brake! Think!' he knocked his helmet, trying to rattle an answer out. The roulette wheel spinning in his head finally answered. He was always told famous last-stand tactics never worked. But the Kaminoans were notoriously known for their lack of courage. It was time for Brake to become a war hero.
"Alpha! Echo! C'mere!" He waved his hands as he rolled onto his side from his stomach.
They both shuffled over to Brake and leaned in.
"Echo, get your men inside that warehouse and capture it!" Brake breathlessly ordered.
"But Sir, We're Pinn-!" Echo began to explain.
"Alpha and I will cover the advance" He interjected.
"Get ready boys!" Brake flopped onto his knees, making well sure to keep his head down.
Both Himself and Alpha shuffled over to the wall and glued their backs to it. "Ready to get a medal?" Brake joked, almost being pulled into the immersion of the simulator.
"I don't under-" "Ah, ya Don't need to!" Brake ploughed right through Alpha's chatter. He was beginning to get more breathless and let his words fumble before him.
"Ready boys?" Brake huffed.
"Let me hear your war cries when you get over that wall! Keep moving until you capture that warehouse!" He scrambled to get his rifle.
Brake readied himself to be able to swing around the corner when he gave the order.
"Squad, Move out!" He hollered with all his might.
Brake swung his body and his rifle around the side of the wall, partially slipping onto his side. But he still had eyes on the enemy. He began firing. Behind him, he could hear various cries from the troopers rushing the warehouse. Although their limited and uncreative war cries broke his immersion.
Firing upon the mass of droids in front of him, he only started to realise how many had spilled into the courtyard. With every movement he had to make from his rifle, it tired him. But he kept firing into every single one of them he could see.
The mechanical opponents moved their targets towards the short stubborn wall taking down many of their robotic brethren. Brake now really felt the sting of their attention. If he kept in the same position for long he would catch a stray bolt.
Kicking his legs and pulling his chest in, Brake slid back into the cover. In the brief lapse of relief, he noticed a bluish spectre wilted next to him. Alpha was dead, he had caught a stray bolt. Brake gave an exhale. Alpha may have been out of the fight, but he wasn't.
Reinvigorated, Brake slid over to a part of the wall to peek from. He lifted his head ever so slightly from his position to test if any of these binary junk piles were honed in on him. Before he could even get his eyes over, he could feel the heat of what felt like tens of bolts above him. No chance he could jump back up. That last chance defence he performed was the last he'd see the droids.
In an attempt to slow the metallic mass further, Brake settled his rifle over the wall. Exposing only his index finger. He started to erratically move the rifle left and right while pulling the trigger, anything to hassle their advance was a good thing.
Soon the droids had even locked in on his rifle. It was blasted. The DC-15A went flying over Brake's head as he snatched his finger back to safety. It lay on the ground beside him smoking. His weapon was out of commission. He could no longer fight back.
Brake could only do one last thing. Sit and wait to see if Echo made it inside the warehouse and captured it. It felt like they were taking a while to just take a flag. It was worrying. But if they were dead, the mission would have ended by now. So there were at least eight men left. As Brake huddled himself tight into the wall he heard the clunking feet of the droids approach him. The mission was out of his hands now. He could only rely on Echo Squad now.