Project Ares Gold Edition

Chapter 13 - Rescue mission

Jedi Temple - Coruscant

After successfully halting an underground weapons smuggling operation on Alderaan, Blue Team was recalled back to Coruscant and put under the temporary disposal of the Jedi Council. Finding this a bit odd, Chief pushed he matter, but Tarkin was clearly upset about this whole thing, so he just shut Chief down and told him to 'follow orders'.

Making a rapid descent through the dense Coruscant air-traffic, the Forward Unto Dawn quickly landed on one of the rooftop platforms before the men exited the craft via the module's front hangar doors. Drawing the attention of many Jedi as they walk past with their grey camouflage and heavy weapons. Blue Team quickly found the briefing room where they saw Masters Yoda, Windu and Shaak Ti surrounding a holo table looking at a large city. "General Yoda, Blue Team is ready for the briefing sir." Master Chief announced, finally gaining the attention of the three Jedi in the room.

"Master Chief, we have an urgent situation on the planet of Zygerria. Jedi Obi-wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex have been captured by Zygerrian slavers and are being held on the planet's capital city." Windu briefed as the soldiers gathered around the hologram projection. Explaining that Zygerria is currently being protected by a small Separatist fleet that would notify the slavers if a Republic offensive occurred. This would mean that the hostages would be executed before gunships even breached the atmosphere. "We need your team to go in quietly and rescue the prisoners before making a stealth exit. If you could obtain any intelligence regarding Separatist movements or even capture the Zygerrian queen that would be much appreciated."

"Sir, Blue Team will depart in two hours."

"Thank you Master Chief, may the force be with you." Shaak Ti replied calmly. Swiftly exiting the briefing room and walking towards the Dawn, Chief ordered Fives and Echo to get changed into civilian attire while June and Romeo should gear up for an urban operation.

Spaceport Customs- Zygerria

The plan was simple; Chief, the ARCs, and the sniper pair would stowaway on a freighter heading to Zygerria. Once there, they would infiltrate the Royal Palace and disable the communications array and defence emplacements just as the rest of Blue Team made their appearance for extraction. So far, all had gone well, the container that the five men had hidden away on had gone through initial customs and were now in quarantine awaiting inspection.

As the doors open, a volley of stun rounds flew out from the container before the ARC troopers dragged the guards into the container. Equipping themselves with the Zygerrian uniforms, Fives and Echo turned to Chief, awaiting the last details of the plan. The operation depended on three crucial elements; the palace infiltration, successful rescue of the prisoners, and the extraction.

Fives and Echo would infiltrate the Royal Palace and disable the defence guns while June and Romeo would manouvre to the top of the palace and cut communications. From there, they would guard the landing zone whilst the rest go and rescue the prisoners. In the meantime Fives, Echo and Chief would go to where the prisoners were being detained and extract them. Obviously Master Chief would not be able to just walk in through the front door without blowing the element of surprise. Instead, he would insert himself via the underground sewer system and pop out just below the dungeons.

Getting to work, the sniper duo quickly stole a speeder from a nearby shipping container while Chief got a ride in the guards' speeder with Fives steering it towards the Royal Palace. Spotting his objective, Chief wished his men the best of luck before jumping from the speeder and freefalling down to a nearby canal. Firing his thrusters at the last moment, 117 subtly landed just to the side of the murky brown water. Marching on the walkway next to the stream, Chief approached the underground part with a massive metal stormwater gate keeping it shut.