Muunilinst just before attack
Two months after the attack on Kamino, Brodo left the ocean planet for the first time in many years. He and his men had spent the previous two months either assisting in the rebuilding of the Kamino ocean city, or on covert missions deep into Confederate space. Brodo could feel his skin shiver every time he saw the backs of his three Commando teams disappearing into a waiting LAAT/i. Every time he felt it would be the last time he'd see them. Over time, he realized they were like sons to him.
But there was something in the back of his mind that kept bugging him. He couldn't really understand it, but every time one of the surface to space transports lifted off, his skin and muscles felt like they wanted to be rising with them. Finally, he realized what it was: battle lust. Not the kind one would see in the seething eyes of a Sith on a rampage. This was the lust for combat, the feeling of adrenaline pumping through one's veins, and charging the enemy. He'd been sitting still for far too long, and now was time to do his part for the cause.
His opportunity arrived when his company was activated and collected together in preparation for a new assault, this time on the CIS held world of Muunilinst. As the training sergeant, he was allowed to follow, and was assigned to command a lance of 4 AT-TEs. He was not used to mechanized combat, which admittedly was one of the areas of warfare he was not well versed in, but he took what he could get. He trusted the vehicle commanders knew what they were doing, and hoped he could do the same.
Though he had trained with his men time and time again, he'd never been allowed to participate in what the troopers called The Drop. Essentially, The Drop was the transportation of a land-based vehicle to the surface by way of the modified LAATs, which could drop an AT-TE at a time. The maneuver was a common enough one that it didn't unsettle the men at all as the vehicle bounced and dropped through space as the LAAT fought the turbulence and winds. Brodo had difficulty keeping his lunch down, much to the enjoyment of the clone commander of the vehicle.
It was funny until Brodo gave up and painted the commander's bright white and yellow armor a not-so-pleasant olive color.
All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer
When the AT-TE had finally landed on the surface, Brodo recovered quickly; a few sips of water and a breath of the Muunilinst air had him feeling as right as rain. The AT-TE was already trudging towards the city of Harnaidan. The city was archaic in architecture, and massive in size. And it had swarms of Droids and a heavy power grid which could keep all of the powerful defenses running smoothly. A Recon ARC team had already been inserted, and the ground army prayed they could get their mission done in time.
Within a few minutes, the big guns of the Army began to open up on the leading edge of the Droid army. The sound inside the AT-TE was deafening, as the cannon on top of the six-legged beast pumped shell after shell into the ranks of Droids. Evidently, the designers had expected the users of this walker to be wearing the acoustic-dampening helmets that all Clone troopers wore.
The droid army was massive, but the Republic forces were exacting a heavy toll. The Clone Commander in the vehicle with Brodo commented at the ease, which made Brodo wonder. This seemed too easy to him, and after commenting on this sentiment, the Commander agreed. Brodo kept the AT-TE lance back, feigning mechanical trouble to the questioning voices over the comm system. He wanted to be ready in case the droids used some sort of Ace to win the battle.
Durge and his Lancer Droids
That Ace was, in fact, Durge, and his Lancer droids. Riding hover bikes and moving at breakneck speeds, they ripped through the Clone ranks, and destroyed almost all of the SPHA Heavy artillery. Brodo screamed at his lance to fire on the bikes, but they were too fast. Instead, Brodo had the lance retreat slowly, keeping the lancers in front of them. It was only the sudden appearance of Master Kenobi which saved the lance from total destruction.
After praising the efforts of the Jedi over the comm, the lance headed into the city to take the headquarters. The mop up was easy once the lancers had been removed and Durge had been chased away by the Jedi. Many Clone lives had been lost that day, including a Jedi, whose cremation was something that Brodo made a point of attending. Under his breath, he muttered his families Ode to the Fallen Warrior, a piece he'd made sure to memorize, knowing the day would come when he'd need to use it.
After Muunlist, Brodo's teams went on several missions without him, something which he was not happy about. He'd spent too much time and energy training these men for the Republic to throw them away on useless missions. Luckily, no causalities were sustained, though seveal men were injured and their teams were put on standby while they healed.
Brodo under interrogation
Brodo's entire platoon was redeployed to an Acclaimator troop ship fleet under the command of Plo Koon. Brodo had heard a lot of this Jedi master and respected him already before meeting him. The Jedi Master took the time to talk to the men who had recently swelled the ranks of his force, and this alone endeared the Jedi Master to Brodo. The man was quiet and unassuming, but had the logic and wit of a trained diplomat.
The fleet set out towards the Core Worlds, their target being Brentaal IV. A large CIS fortress dominated the planet, and threatened to cut the vital link in the Perlemian Trade Route connecting the Core Worlds and the Tion Cluster. This could not, and would not, be allowed to occur.
Brodo's platoon was assigned two LAATs, and was ordered into the depths of fortress. The power plants were buried deep inside the infrastructure of the building, and would take a long time to reach. Landing under fire, the team charged forward. They made their way through the maze of air ducts and other essential systems, slowly heading down into the basements of the fortress. Even as the teams progressed the near constant wumph-wumph of the Ion cannons could be felt.
At an important junction in the corridors leading towards the main reactors, a force of droids had been set up to repel them. Several Super Battle Droids fired their wrist-mounted rockets, collapsing the main path to the reactor. Brodo sent his teams in different directions, hoping that they would find their way through and to the objective. Unfortunately, moments after his men were out of sight, Brodo was stunned, and lost consciousness.
He awoke in a dazed state. He was slung up by his arms and legs in a contraption which had probably served as a torture device in a past life. A female voice could be heard, but was hard to understand. There seemed to be a medical droid near by, and was injecting him with something. He felt his mind sear with pain, and grunted with the effort of staying awake.
His captor was a Dark Jedi, whose name escaped him, no matter how many times he asked. She asked him question after question; troop displacement, morale, locations of Jedi Generals. Every time, Brodo grunted, or snapped a witless comment at her. The Sith woman found herself becoming tired of this man, beating him repeatedly having done little to jar his mind.
Just before she gave the order to give Brodo a lethal dose of some concoction of truth drugs, four explosions rang out. Zeta Squad charged through the dissipating clouds, guns blazing, Rielle leading the charge. The Sith woman, suddenly raging, fled through a hail of blaster fire. The droid escaped, somehow, and Zeta managed to extract Brodo without further hassle, Rielle personally taking the man's weight on her shoulders to drag him out. After a week's rest and a short stint in a bacta tank, he was his old self again, ready for the next battle.
B3 Ultra Battle Droid in action
The war suddenly went very quiet for Brodo. The Jedi Commanders, considering the impact of torture from a Dark Jedi, were wary of using him in a military function. Instead, he was posted aboard an Acclaimator troop transport, retraining Clone troopers who had been wounded or placed into mixed teams. While Brodo was left in stagnation, his company's activity skyrocketed. Over three months he never saw two teams at the same time, and even when they were given downtime, they were always cut short by a crisis or a mission.
The Acclaimator Troop transport, named the Prestigious, was soon assigned to the task force lead by Mace Windu, one of the most famous Jedi Masters. While this did not matter much to Brodo at the time, soon missions were coming faster and faster. His commando teams were more on the ship awaiting assignment than out on missions. Brodo could feel the energy in the air. Something was coming up.
That something was announced to the troops two days before it actually happened. The planet of Iktotch had been taken by the droid armies of the Separatists. This planet, while not vital, was important to have a show of power. While Brodo agreed that a show of power in these bleak times would be useful, he could not help but feel there were ulterior motives involved in the decision making.
The task force arrived on station into a hail of laser fire. A flotilla of Separatists had jumped the armada, attacking the outer troop ships. The flagship of the Republic fleet, the Grandeur, charged off through the formation to take on the flotilla. The troop ships continued to the planet, dropping LAAT/i dropships throughout the atmosphere. Through the swarm of dropships, the Acclaimators bombarded important locations, preparing them for the assault.
Brodo and his commando teams dropped in a group of dropships led by the vessel carrying the Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Saesee Tiin. Their target seemed clear: the main command facility. Brodo still wondered why both the Jedi Masters were on their way to the same location, and why it was so important. Charging through the halls, the Jedi made amazing time, and were incredible fighters, taking down droids before Brodo had time to take a shot.
As the teams delved deeper into the building, Brodo's sense of anxiety grew. His anxiety was finally answered when a massive form lumbered down the corridors. The massive formed opened fire, lighting it up with crimson flashes. The Jedi shouted at the troopers to take cover. As Brodo moved to the side, a laser blast clipped him in the chest, spinning him and putting him down. Commando troopers dragged him to the side as he swore and cursed over the din of battle.
Brodo was evacuated, and was then transported to the medical facilities orbiting the planet of Duro.
Duro
The orbiting cities of Duro were an important Republic fleet staging area, especially for strikes into the Mid Rim and Outer Rim where the Separatists were strongest. It was also the site of a Republic Medical facility, where Brodo had been placed after his injury on Iktotch. For the first week, he was in and out of bacta tanks, as the staff there upgraded his condition from critical to stable. He was moved from the ICU area to a large ward where Clone Troopers were also being treated.
This was his very first serious injury, which was amazing considering his long military career. He blamed himself for his injury, being too cocky in the face of overwhelming danger. He should have been more careful, he told himself. Putting himself into that kind of situation put his troopers into danger, which was unacceptable. He promised himself that he would never do such a stupid thing again. Hopefully he could keep it.
His recovery was slow, a trait owing to his lack of injury before. His body was not used to repairing itself after a massive shock or damage to his system. Bacta patches were constantly being pressed against his wound or replaced as they were used up. At least the company was good. Most of the Clone Troopers knew him or had served under him in some instance, so sharing stories and experiences became an evening ritual in Brodo's ward.
The Physio assigned to Brodo's case was a friendly Duro female, who was frequently overworked with all of the major injuries in the ward. Oftentimes she would just leave Brodo to his own devices, which suited him just fine. One day, while walking through the botanical garden of the floating city on an excursion allowed by the ward's chief nurse, he saw something that made all of his misery and pain disappear.
Ms Rielle was as beautiful as he remembered her, sitting amongst a group of troopers as she showed them how to clean a new type of pistol. He caught her eye from the shade of a small grove, and waited until she could excuse herself from the troopers, and meet up with him. Their reunion had a very significant impact on Brodo, his feelings for this wonderful woman being rekindled as if by the flame of a thousand suns. But in the midst of a war, such a reunion would be short lived. He knew in his heart that he had to do something, so he took a leap of faith.
He asked her to marry him, and she accepted, with the ceremony completed by the captain of the Acclaimator-class starship Judgment. When Brodo's ward was transferred to the Judgment, Rielle went with him. This brief respite, as Brodo has predicted, was short lived. A half of a day after the transfer of the ward, the Separatists attacked the Duro system in a lightning fast strike, taking the floating cities in mere hours. The Judgment was the last major vessel out of the combat zone. It met up with the fleet under the command of an old friend of Brodo's, Quinlan Vos, though Brodo made sure never to reveal himself to the man, in hopes that he would not compromise him. Rielle was always at his side.
Moving from hotspot to hotspot, Brodo had little time to recover properly. His injuries were healing, although very slowly. He was going to be out of commission for longer than he had hoped. His troopers often left for missions without him, with only his words of encouragement and experience to aid them. Though this momentary weakened state was tempered slightly by the presence of Rielle.
The Judgment had become their home since their escape from Duro, though it's halls bustled with troops and naval personnel. Their relationship blossomed as their time together grew longer. This tranquility was short, but sweet. The task force was ordered to the Boz Pity sector to support the landings of Obi Wan Kenobi and his force. Brodo could see the other task force from the viewport, but they never got close enough to do any actual fighting. Several sorties of fighters were sent out to assist in the aerial battle, but nothing else from the Vos task force.
Brodo felt frustrated at the lack of action, both because of his injury and because of all of the troopers dying down there, which he could have prevented. He had grown attached to his troopers over the years, and had tried to instill a strong survival instinct into them to help them survive the war. He only hoped that they would follow his advice.
Due to actions elsewhere and the apparent victory in the holes of Boz Pity, the Vos task force was diverted to the Kashyyyk system, on the eve of the Battle of Kachirho City.
The Battle of Kachirho City
The forest planet of Kashyyyk lay before the massive Republic fleet which had congregated in orbit. Three separate taskforces of men and equipment had been ordered to this lynch pin in Republic controlled space. Brodo, still bandaged but fully mobile and capable of fighting, boarded the same LAAT/i as his last commando squad, Kamda. He waved goodbye to his wife Rielle as the gunship dropped away from the Judgment, heading for terra firma.
He could see the massive trees which covered the world as they headed for the main hot spot for the battle, a Wookiee city by the name of Kachirho. By Kashyyyk standards it was a metropolis, with dozens of villages connected with numerous massive vines which the furry creatures seemed to use for transportation and walkways. It would be a nightmare to defend, as there were so many different ways to get into the city, and almost no real cover other than the various levels that the city was built on.
Brodo set about ordering his troops around, keeping Kamda with him as a flying squad, to be used to plug any holes in the line or assist where the line needed help as the fight ensued. His company was mostly scout clone troopers, excellent for use in this sort of terrain, but they were thinly spread. The droid army numbered the hundreds of thousands of units, not to mention their heavy weaponry.
During their wait, as dawn slowly approached, they finally heard the rumble of Separatist power stations as they powered up. This was the sign that the attack was imminent. Brodo ran up and down his line, checking to make sure every man and Wookiee was ready for the battle. He had found that he felt some kind of camaraderie with the massive furry aliens, who in a sense resembled him in many ways. He did not understand their language, which wasn't much more than growls and strange purrs, but he respected their fighting skill, having seen it first hand when a male raptor of some kind strayed into his command center. A massive Wookiee dispatched the beast with little more than a swipe of his Ryyk blade.
Kamda firing on incoming Droid army
The droid armies approached slowly, the large lake between them and the city being the only real barrier to their advance. The Separatist fliers were the vanguard of the attack, slicing through the gathered ranks of clone troopers and Wookiees. Several massive Juggernauts advanced from the rear of the Republic battlements, dispatching some of the fliers and opening fire on the surface of the water, boiling it.
The first droids appeared from below the surface of the lake into a hail of blaster fire. The Wookiees employed their bowcasters to great effect, these incredibly accurate weapons being able to pick off tank commanders from a great distance. Yet again, Brodo found himself impressed by these aliens and their fighting, some even swinging into battle on ropes and depositing mines onto the oncoming droid tanks.
Brodo sent Kamda squad to reinforce one of the weaker battlements which had been hit by a stray missile. This would be the last time he saw his boys, but he did not know whether they were alive or dead. He hoped for the former, but knew that in all likelihood, the latter was the truth.
Suddenly, an order appeared on the clone trooper arm bands around him. Order 66 had been given. Brodo had no idea what this meant, but the Clone troopers started firing on the Jedi around them, many being cut down by their allies' blasters. Horrified by this sudden change, Brodo slipped away, hoping that this order did not include him. He knew no one in the area knew he was Force sensitive, but he could not take that chance. He started making his way through the trees towards a space-worthy craft he'd spotted earlier that day. He could make his escape that way.
Brodo making his escape
The final jump to get to the hangar floor would have been far too far for someone who did not have Force powers, but Brodo decided to risk it. He used the Force to propel him up onto the hangar... right in front of a Clone commander by the name of Irit. The Clone commander opened his mouth, his arm raised to point at Brodo, but the Shaevalian acted faster, using the Force to push the Clone into the trunk of the massive tree, then off of the platform all together.
The craft made it to space, but he was stopped by an Acclaimator vessel and boarded as if he was just returning from the battle. No one seemed to know or care that he was Force sensitive, but he could feel the Jedi on the planet as they were extinguished or killed. He made inquires about the Judgment and the fate of his wife. One controlled, sympathetic to the training sergeant, told him that the Judgment had been lost, with all hands.
Brodo felt a coldness grip him and his heart, which he could not shake. He did not cry, or show any outward emotions upon hearing the news. He just felt cold, with a deep pain that he could not and would not try and temper.
- "Your fealty is to the Emperor, not some archaic form of government. Get that into your head or you will lose it."
- ―Imperial Moff Falon Karrinos, addressing Brodo
Kashyyyk was Brodo's last battle before being officially inducted into the new Imperial Army. The changes were slight, but noticeable. All of the non-Human species were either removed or transferred away from the main military formations, and Human officers replaced them. These replacements were already quite adept at their roles, possibly because the higher ups had seen their need and prepared for the worst.
The Clone Troopers were reformed into legions of Stomtroopers, though their training sergeants were ignored for the most part. A select few were offered positions within the new Imperial military, under the command of the Emperor. Brodo was one of the few to do so, owing mostly to the apparent loss of his wife. He missed her, his heart felt torn, but he strode on. He wanted to live up to her memory.
Empire
Colonel Brent Tainer
- 15 BBY - In the Emperor's Name...
- "Trooper, if I see you lay a hand on an innocent civilian again, I will execute you myself."
- ―Brodo
As he had been absorbed into the Imperial Army, his commanding officers decided he would be best suited for training, as he had been all those years before. Brodo hadn't felt that this would be a moral problem at all. He believed that the Empire would be just about the same as the Republic, if not better. He believed that their anti-alien policy was pretty fair, and didn't think that it would effect him, as he just looked like a much larger Human.
However, at this point in time, he'd decided to change his name to conform more with the standard naming systems in the Galaxy. He had already taken his mother's name, but to put himself even further from his past, and any possible troubles that could come up from his Force sensitivity and abilities, he changed his first name to Brent. He was commissioned as Colonel Brent Tainer, of the Imperial Army, in 15 BBY.
Stationed at the Imperial Army training center on Carida, he was put in command of one of the training legions. This legion, known as the Devil's Own, was very very green when Brent got a hold of them. He employed all his training experience and knowledge to teach them all he knew about combat. He also tried to instill them with a sense of honor and pride, as most of these men were not volunteers.
Over the course of a year, he kept them training hard, pushing them through each section of the training scheme as quickly as he could. He wanted these men to know that they could be expected to fight for days and months without any real relaxation, or even sleep. They hated him for it, but he knew that it would make them much stronger.
By the end of the training course, the entire Legion gained full honours, and an unprecedented 17 Legions of Merit, awarded for excelling in all fields of training and combat skills. Brent was so proud of his men, and knew that they would do their job properly and well. He requested a transfer to the Army's command structure so that he could command these men on the field, and his request was approved.
The Devil's Own Legion
- 9 BBY - Dissent and Deceit
- "Did you see that alien drop? It was like a bag of spuds!"
- ―A soon to be dead Stormtrooper
The Devil's Own made a name for itself for being able to overturn overwhelming odds and defeat their enemies outright. With their commander, Brent, they hopped from hot spot to hot spot, clearing each swiftly, almost clinically. Brent was very proud of his men. The problem, he found, were the replacements. These men, not trained by Brent, and obviously brainwashed by propaganda from COMPNOR and their training sergeants, seemed to want to make it their goal to spread said propaganda through the ranks of his legion.
More than once he had to discipline his own men for acts that they had been egged on to do by replacements. Eventually he had had enough, and began punishing the replacements for their actions. This, unfortunately, sparked the attention of the Imperial Security Bureau. They sent an officer to investigate Brent, which was the last thing he'd wanted to happen. He knew there had been a dissident group in his legion, but hadn't tried to rout them out, believing that this kind of thinking was natural in soldiers who hadn't volunteered, and who had families and wives back home.
He contacted the man he believed to be their leader, and explained his situation to him. Lucky for Brent, this man had a contact with the new resistance group known to the Imperials as the Rebel Alliance. While he didn't want to desert from the Empire, he believed that their uncompromising rhetoric was incredibly overzealous, and frequently deadly to those who didn't approve of it. A week before the ISB was set to arrive, Brent took a shuttle to Fondor, where he subdued the pilot, and escaped to a hidden Rebel base. Once in the system, he immediately started transmitting that he was defecting. Apparently, the rebels hadn't heard this, and fired on him in their Headhunter fighters. With the pilot incapacitated, Brent took the controls, his frantic movements turning the shuttle almost into a nimble one-seater fighter. Finally, his calls were answered, and he was allowed to land.
Rebellion
The Rebel Alliance
- "Do you believe in the cause, Mr Tainer?
Does the cause believe in me?"
- ―Brodo under interrogation upon arrival Rebel Base
Arrested upon arrival, Brent was dragged from his fighter and thrown immediately into an interrogation room. He had ample time to consider his decision to defect while the Rebels seemed to have forgotten him. After many hours of boredom and several recitations of classical Shaevalian verse, a Rebel officer entered the room. He introduced himself as Commander Tanaka, and placed a hefty file on the table before him.
Commander Tanaka then spent the better part of an hour describing atrocities committed by the Devil's Own Legion, the Legion he commanded and trained. The list was grievously long, each new charge compounding his disgust at how far his men had fallen. After the recitation, the Commander asked for an explanation and why he shouldn't have Brent killed right then and there for war charges.
Brent smiled, and nodded to the stack of papers in the man's folder and explained that the day all of those atrocities started was the day his troops were 'reinforced' by COMPNOR troopers, undermining the integrity and discipline of his troops. He continued to point out how little control he had over the situation, and finally had had enough. The Commander smiled, and left.
Confident in his innocence of the charges, Brent was still worried by the unpredictability of these Rebels. About half an hour later, a General entered. In his customary formalness, Brent stood up quickly, and saluted the higher ranked man, who smiled, commenting that it had been over two years since he'd been saluted properly. Though he did not introduce himself, Brent surmised that this man was important in the Rebellion. The General placed a small badge on the table in front of him, seemingly some rank in the Rebellion forces. The General said to put it on, and be ready to command within 24 hours.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Brent shook the man's hand, before discarding his Imperial insignia, replacing them with the Rebel rank of Major. As the General turned his back, however, Brent pocketed his Imperial rank badge. As Brent left the interrogation room, alarms sounded, causing the General to start running, Brent followed quickly, being led to what could only be the base's control room. An Imperial landing force was set to arrive. From snippets of conversation, Brent learned of some great victory the Rebels had just won, and this would probably be the retaliation.
The Second Battle of Yavin IV
Brent tried to get answers, but the General was busy. Commander Tanaka pulled him to one side, and said that if he wanted to prove his trustworthiness, he would help lead the Rebel troops to victory over the Imperial forces. Nodding grimly, Brent accepted, and sped off down the corridors. He stepped out of the hangar bay with several platoons of mottled Rebel troopers in his wake, and began setting them out in defensive patterns.
He took pleasure in taking the first Imperial tag that day, his sniper bolt connecting with a COMPNOR security officer, wiping the smug grin off his face. His shot caused several dozen more to lance out from the trees and Massassi stones. The ensuing firefight lasted most of the day, with the Rebels winning the day. Brent would be commended that day, by the General himself, with the Burdine Cluster, awarded for bravery, and the Yavin IV battle tab.
- 1 ABY - The Devil's rebuttal
- "Target acquired in Grifdal system, Devil's Own in pursuit, expect speedy resolution"
- ―Intercepted Imperial communique, Star Destroyer Tempest en route through Grifdal System
The Devil's Own Legion is sent to capture the Grifdal system and Brent, who is commanding a Rebel force in the area. COMPNOR officers call for the slaughter of civilians, Brent communicates to Imperial officers who he trained on Carrida, and insights revolt.
After this valiant fighting during the Defense of Yavin IV, Brent was assigned to the Operation centered around the system known as Grifdal. The Grifdal system, though minor in galactic standards, was a major communications hub due to it's situation in a convergence of gravity wells, allowing it to send holonet messages further and faster than anywhere else. The Imperials had controlled this system since the beginning of the Clone War and hadn't let go. Brent's job was to make them.
The system was comprised of a sun of roughly standard size, with four major orbiting bodies. Three of these bodies were terrestrial planets, housing large populations, while the last, a gas giant with numerous moons, was the main base for the Imperial garrison to the region. The Garrison was sizable, due to the importance of the system to the Empire, with a legion of stormtroopers, and a large ground vehicle fleet. The Imperial Navy also had a presence, with the Storm Flotilla in port, led by the Star Destroyer Tempest, along with several cruisers and gunships. Easily enough to take on the entire Rebellion fleet at the time.
His force wasn't much, with barely 200 men and women, and almost negligible support and equipment. The one major resource that they had on their side was the massive population of Grifda, a small furry kobold-like race of sentient humanoids, who had been enslaved to work for the Imperials in the agricultural and industrial regions on the main planets in the system. They numbered in the billions, but had only known Imperial rule due to their relatively short life span of 25 years, and their lack of any form of historical record keeping.
Brent began by tasking a full half of his force to act as administrators and commanders of the Grifda, organizing them into a sort of militia. He did not expect them to be much of a fighting force, but more an annoyance to help mask his own activities. The remaining 100 or so Rebels were the specialists and ex-Imperials who had military experience. Though their store of weaponry was small, they had enough blaster rifles to make a difference to the scales of war, which were already massively overbalanced in favour of the Imperials.
Devil's Own Trooper on patrol
After a month of preparation, Brent set about gathering intel on the Garrison and the local political and military leader. Just a week after beginning his intel sweep, he had a run in with the local COMPNOR agent, Jedd Jor'Jarrin. A name Brent recognized from his past, he'd spotted the man across the street in the main city of the system, Grifdale. The man was a bastard in almost every sense of the word, his demeanor and utter hate of all things non-human had classed him, in Brent's mind, as a primary target for... reeducation. Luckily though, the COMPNOR officer did not look his way; his eyes were constantly on a tall white haired woman who was walking in front of him.
After this near run in with one of his main enemies, Brent stayed hidden, using his operatives to do his work for him. Though they were less skilled and less experienced at this kind of work than Brent was, he could not afford to be seen and recognized by anyone. It would jeopardize the operation, and all of the lives of the Rebels involved.
Even though the Rebels planned meticulously, the old adage that "Even the best plans of Mice and Men may go awry" forced them to accelerate their plans. A Grifda revolt on one of the agricultural moons orbiting the gas giant led to the deployment of a large contingent of stormtroopers and the Star Destroyer Tempest. This shift in their distribution of forces had two major effects. One was that the moon was often on the other side of the large gas giant from the rest of the system and would make any attempt to assist in the event of a Rebel attack much harder and slower. The second was that Brent found out the name of the Legion stationed at the garrison: the Devil's Own.
The revelation that his old Legion was stationed in the system he was charged with capturing both elated him and sickened him. He would have to deal with that as the need arose. He contacted the Rebel High Command, and requested a fleet and reinforcements for the assault, as well as a wing of fighters (which was a very difficult request to fill at the time).
His operatives in the Grifda camps began spurring the creatures into an angry furor, causing riots and destruction throughout the system. The Governor, hiding in his bunker-like residence near the centre of Grifdale, called for help, but his communication was intercepted by a carefully placed recon X-Wing, the vanguard of the reinforcements Brent had called in.
Brent and his strike teams waited for night fall to strike, taking out several major power stations and guard posts throughout the main cities of the system. The Governor's residence was stormed by Brent and fourteen Rebels, along with a horde of countless Grifda. The residence was soon overrun, the Governor arrested, and the Imperials on the run from the city.
The Tempest, after hastily retrieving her troops, rounded the gas giant just in time for a pair of Mon Calamari cruisers to drop in front of her, disgorging a wing of X-Wings, Headhunters and Y-Wings. The pitched battle between the ships slowly progressed towards the main planet in the system. With this oncoming danger something had to be done or else the day might be lost.
But Brent had a final trick up his sleeve. Using the governor's communications system, he broadcast a system wide message, addressing the Devil's Own Legion. He proclaimed that their leaders were unjust, unethical and should be removed. He commanded his legion to revolt, and take over their assigned ships. The transmission had it's intended effect, confusing the commanders and naval personnel, and causing discontent within the ranks of the Legion.
Gunships and drop ships started to flood from the hangars of the Imperial cruisers, heading towards the planet. Transmission after transmission from the drop ships proclaimed the fealty of their passengers to Brent.
A rival transmission, from Jor'Jarrin, ordered the Legion to return, branding all of those who did not traitors to the Emperor. The transmission originated from the COMPNOR offices not far from the area, which were soon surrounded, and a select team of Rebels stormed it, led by Brent. It was Brent who finally silenced the COMPNOR officer with a blaster bolt to the chest.
Grifdal was taken, and would stay Rebel until the call of the Empire. Brent was transferred to Ring Base, a small outpost in an asteroid field once used by Alderaan as a military base, to rest and heal from the various injuries he had sustained in the battle. He was awarded two bars of bravery for his Burdine Cluster and a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel for his efforts.
Ring Base command centre
- "But you... you were dead...
Only a little bit"
- ―Brent and Rayne reunited.
The Ring Base outpost, nothing more than a mined out asteroid on the fringes of an uninhabited system, was a very sterile, quiet place to be assigned to. Even though it was situated in Core systems, which connected it to the rest of of the galaxy, this area had become almost as lifeless as dead space since the destruction of Alderaan.
Though the injuries he had sustained at Grifdal were relatively minor compared to the norm of those he had witnessed so far in his military career, they had occurred over a number of months. And in those months, they tended to be under-treated, due to the stretched supplies available to his medical teams. At times, all he had on a seeping wound was a patch of cloth and a discarded rifle sling to hold it in place.
Compared to the battlefields of Grifdal and Yavin, Ring Base was a virtual paradise, though Brent did not enjoy the over-cleanliness the Alderaanians seemed to require from themselves and others. Most of the personnel assigned here were Alderaanian, who seemed to want to protect their destroyed home planet's remnants from Imperial incursion.
Endless days 'resting' in the medical ward on the base, he had ample time to watch those around him, especially the women. He had not known any women in any real sense since Rielle, but was unsure as to how he should proceed. Of course, being a decorated war hero, with looks to match, helped in this regard, drawing giggles from younger girls, and lingering stares from the older women.
After a month in the ward, he was relocated to one of the residential apartments for visiting high ranking officers. Though he himself was not ranked high enough to warrant such a posting, his record had impressed the commandant of the station. The apartment, very large for a residential space on such a station, was finished in classical Alderaanian class, with genuine woods making up most of the decoration.
After being transferred to the apartment, Brent was allowed to walk unescorted throughout the station. He made the most of this new freedom, stretching his tired muscles as much as possible. He could not allow them to start to succumb to lethargy. On one of these long walks, he found himself in the main hangar of the station. The expansive structure could house two wings of fighters with enough room for a battalion of Wookies to have a brawl.
He watched the freighters arrive and leave, quietly surveying the new arrivals with interest. A Corellian light freighter, rickety and sporting patches of burnt armour plating, managed to touch down on the station's flight deck with such a quietness that the absence of the expected sound caught Brent's attention. His head turned just in time to notice a snow haired woman descending the ramp. His heart stopped for a moment at the similarities between this woman and his beloved Rielle. He shook his head as he watched her barking orders to the crew.
"Rielle" in combat suit
That night, he'd fallen asleep reading station reports from a hidden outpost on some ice planet called Hoth. Midway through the night, he'd awoken with a start, the only light in the room was the glow from the datapad, and the artificial fire in the corner of the room. He looked around for something which might have stirred him, and found it standing near the doorway.
The figure smiled, and stepped into the light. It was Rayne, though her eyes seemed confused. She was dressed in a skin-tight dark grey combat suit, with a utility belt sporting a wide array of gear and weaponry. In her hands, she held a pair of mean looking blasters.
Brent was startled, staring at the woman who had been his wife for such a short period of time, and was lost to him, apparently forever. She seemed to also be confused by this presence. He stood up from his bed, and she raised a blaster. She explained, in a shaky voice, that the Emperor had ordered her to take care of a treasonous Colonel on Polis. Apparently she had not been expecting him.
As he approached her slowly, her blaster wavered, before failing completely and she dived into his arms. She began crying, from relief, from pent up longing, and frustration. But mostly from happiness. He held her for the longest time.
The morning after, they found themselves in bed. They discussed the situation, the death mark on Brent's life, and Rayne's situation as an Emperor's Hand. She explained he would never be safe. Not many high ranking officers are afforded the amount of time Brent had managed to escape death or capture by Imperial forces.
They decided to register her as a close friend of his with the Rebels, with the assumed name of Rielle. They spent a blissful month in each others company, making up for all the lost time. They told each other stories of the intervening years, of battles won and lost.
He was called up for duty soon after, but he managed to take Rielle with him, commissioning her as a Lieutenant in the Rebel military and appointing her as his adjutant. He was put in charge of a small flotilla of Corvettes and a ancient Strike Cruiser known as the Valiant.
- "Imperial Fleet, your Emperor is dead. Your leaders are defeated. Lay down your arms and you will be treated fairly"
- ―Admiral Akbar
Under the auspices of his new command, Brent flourished, having missed the feeling of true command over warriors. The last few years he had been jumping from one rag-tag group of miscreants to another, leading them to victories that they would never have achieved without him. But now, even though he was a bit player in a possible turning point in galactic history, he smiled.
Sullust
The Rebel fleet began to gather above the dust-coloured planet of Sullust, a staging for the attack on the Second Death Star. Despite the need for as many vessels as possible, the Valiant was being sent to one of the main systems which would be the most likely to receive escaping Imperials or fleeing Rebels, whatever the outcome of the battle.
This was viewed as a slight by the more arrogant officers under his command, but Brent quelled their fears by pointing out the trust which had been placed upon them by being the backup for their retreat or the sole vessel to capture dozens of escaping Imperials.
The Valiant and a Corvette called the Drallian Freedom waited at the hyperspace 'intersection', anxious to know the outcome of the battle. No communications traffic came in or out for almost an hour. Several Imperial shuttles suddenly appeared right in front of the Valiant, and were immediately tractored into the cargo hold.
Battle of Endor
Several agonising minutes later, a message directly from Admiral Ackbar himself, addressing the entire Rebel fleet sent word of a Rebel victory. Cheers rang up throughout the bridge, but stopped moments later when a white dagger-shaped vessel hyperspaced into the area. Imperial Star Destroyer Inquisitor, though severely damaged and without shields, was more than a match for the Valiant.
Brent ordered the laser batteries to open fire, but they were already firing. The Star Destroyer replied with volley after volley. The Valiant charged straight towards the bridge, and used its tractor beams to turn a tight turn around the stern of the Star Destroyer. Once below the Destroyer, Brent ordered the assault transports to attack, with the Destroyer's hangar bay wide open.
The Devil's Own legion dropped out of the Strike Cruiser's hangar and attacked key locations on the Destroyer. While the space battle ravaged, the stormtroopers of Brent's former legion took over the engines and finally the bridge of the Destroyer. It was a massive victory for Brent, who transferred his flag to the Inquisitor, renaming her the Endor.
Upon arriving at Endor with his prize, and after a few moments of mis-recognition, he was greeted as a hero. He was promoted to Colonel by Admiral Ackbar himself, but the Endor was taken away from him, and given to an upstart Brigadier General called Mav Yarin, who had been digging his political claws into the flesh of those around him. Brent was furious, but privately, knowing he would outshine this fool without trouble and would earn his vessel back.