A Faceless Number

Coarse, Rough, and Gets Everywhere

CPL Nexu's POV:

Only three days after Coyote completed his service, we began to prepare for the attack on the major city of Porcholsic. Our wonderful Star Destroyer, the Kronos, has finally managed to send down enough supplies, soldiers, and machines for us to be able to go in.

Unlike previous cities we've tried to capture, like the one on Jedha, these rebels had defenses and more spanning for miles around just the outskirts of the city, much less the five urban kilometers before the inner wall.

After gathering more Intel on the Rebel's fortifications, LCMR Pyro but in a request for another Legion to assist us. Last night, in the nick of time, the 476th Legion responded and will assist us in our assault. Each 476th Regiment will join the matching 939th Regiment to double our power during our attack phases

As the second regiment of the Legion, we should get a bunch of work but the first regiment should set off any booby traps and take the blunt of the hit. CMR Double tells us that we are the "reinforcements" to the first wave. Each wave holds a quarter of the legion, totaling about 3600 troopers in each. Due to the 476th coming to our (much needed) aid, we will now have ~ 7200 troopers per wave.

CPL Nexu: "Time for us to buckle up. We don't want to lose any more today. We all know that the Rebels will fight to the last man, and we must make them. Stay close, stay tight. Transport leaves in ten. FOR THE EMPIRE!"

4th Squad: "FOR THE EMPIRE!"

We load into our metallic shuttle. Three crew members await us inside. Two pilots and a gunner prepared to leave. There's only two seats inside for the ten of us.

CPL Nexu: "Bones, Blitz, Scorch take the port side. Neon, Turbo, and Artemis take the starboard. Knack you will stand with me. Ace and Havoc take the seats. We'll need your skills later."

I know Havoc wasn't happy with my choice to not let him stand outside and potentially start shooting sooner, but he's just a big target for Rebels in his red painted armor. And everyone wants to snipe Ace, the sniper.

Our crew moves us forward. The only light inside comes from the dim glow of buttons and screens. The troopers on the outside must have their doors shut because they should be shooting at an enemy and not retreating.

CPL Nexu: "Ready kid? First mission. Mine wasn't too long ago."

Knack: "Ready as I'll ever be, sir! Been training for years to come here."

Her voice is a bit shaky and you can feel her nerves.

CPL Nexu: "You can just say that you're nervous."

Knack: "Okay. Yes sir, I'm very nervous. I have no clue how well the Academy actually trained me for this. No clue if I'll be coming back."

CPL Nexu: "Well, you were selected for Stormtrooper Training and you graduated for a reason. At the end of the day, remember this is bigger than you. For the Empire."

Before she can respond, the transport shakes, artillery fire pounds the roof directly above our heads.

CPL Nexu: "All units inside now!"

Ten seconds later, the squad has assembled inside the transport, now being pounded with shells. The gunner goes to work, trying to shoot as many out of the sky as possible.

CPL Nexu: "Live fire when we get out of here, disembark quickly and find some cover." I yell up to the cockpit. "Get us some rubble to disembark by!"

Pilots: "Yes sir!"

After what feels like an eternity later of shells and noise, our HUDs light up with the numbers. Kills, Legion Strength, and Regiment Strength.