Chapter 2: Accepting the Risk

After a couple of close calls, Elara was certain she’d found where their target was hiding. There was an old abandoned factory that had been overrun by rakghouls, monstrous creatures that were the result of a plague of origins unknown. Anybody who was infected had a high probability of mutating into one of the rakghoul, which made even the most pedestrian mission on Taris fraught with danger. This factory had recently been taken over by a contingent of the Sith Empire, though the Republic had yet to determine what they were doing there. Combining her investigative work and the evidence that Havoc Squad had found in the field, Elara had the utmost confidence that this was where Havoc would find their man.

In a minor breach of protocol, Elara had contacted General Garza directly to report on the status of the mission. Republic guidelines would direct her to bring her report to Colonel Gaff first; she had decided, based on the nature of the mission and the explicit request from the general, that it was a mission of Tier 1 Priority, which meant she was allowed to report directly to the officer in charge of the entire operation to eliminate any inefficiencies in communication channels. General Garza appeared to be amiable to the reasoning.

“Thank you for bringing me up to speed on the operation,” General Garza said, her aura of command obvious even through the holocall. She stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her intense stare drilling into Elara. “Your commanding officer has been … less than cooperative in regards to my requests.”

“Colonel Gaff is focused on the restoration of Taris, General,” Elara replied tactfully. She had refrained from apologizing for the colonel’s attitude, remembering the conversation with Havoc Squad’s commander.

“I’m sure he is, but that doesn’t excuse his behavior, which borders on insubordination.” The general looked exceedingly displeased, and Elara was relieved that it was not directed toward her. “Please continue to keep me abreast with how the mission progresses. Garza out.”

The hologram disappeared, and Elara felt her shoulders droop as her whole body relaxed. The conversation had gone very well, probably even a little better than she had expected. There had been a chance that General Garza would have reprimanded her for contacting her directly, but Elara had gambled on the fact that General Garza seemed like the kind of woman who wanted things done, and didn’t get hung up on the red tape of bureaucracy. Her gamble had paid off.

It wasn’t too much longer before Lieutenant Lacroix called her on the comms.

“Dorne, we’ve breached the outer perimeter of the Imperial base. We’re making our way toward the research sector, but wanted to check in to see if you’d heard any chatter on the Imperial channels about reinforcements.”

She hadn’t, but never one to pass on information with double checking, she quickly scanned over the communications she’d intercepted.

“Nothing yet, Lieutenant. Either nobody has managed to get out a call, or they’re using a new encryption, which I unfortunately wouldn’t be able to assist with at this moment.”

“Not a problem, Sergeant.” Elara heard blaster fire in the background before the lieutenant continued. “If you do hear anything, inform me immediately.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Also, ensure that the brig is prepared for visitors. I have every intention of bringing my target in alive, though I will resort to lethal force if necessary. Lacroix out.”

Although that last detail was entirely unnecessary, and Elara wasn’t sure why the lieutenant had deemed it prudent to tell her, she was glad she did. While she wasn’t one to shy away from killing her enemies, one of the reasons she’d defected from the Empire was the sheer number of soldiers she’d met who relished in the killing. Those who would hurt and kill soldiers who were incapacitated, or had already surrendered. Some who even felt that civilians were acceptable as collateral damage no matter the situation.

Elara knew that in war, it was impossible to avoid collateral damage, no matter how cautious you were. But the reward had to heavily outweigh the risk for her to be comfortable with it. The fact that the leader of Havoc Squad apparently held a similar set of morales made her smile. And it made her even more sure of her decision to help her, in direct opposition to Colonel Gaff’s orders. It may come to bite her later, but she’d know that she had made the right call.

—

The mission had been a success. The lieutenant had informed Elara, who had subsequently informed General Garza, that the target had been neutralized. Unfortunately, the neutralization had been realized with the target’s death, but when Lieutenant Lacroix had explained what she and Sergeant Jorgen had found inside the Imperial base, Elara couldn’t help but feel relief that the target had refused to surrender.

The defector had been working with the local Sith garrison on modifying the rakghoul infection with an intent to weaponize it. Not only were they hoping to release an army of feral monsters on the Republic, they had been testing their serum on recently defected or captured Republic soldiers, often subjecting them to painful deaths or mutations into rakghouls. Lieutenant Lacroix and Sergeant Jorgen defeated and killed the defectors as well as the rakghouls present and destroyed the data, much to the chagrin of General Garza.

“That data could’ve been useful to the Republic,” griped General Garza, rubbing the bridge of her nose. From her mannerisms, Elara felt that this may not have been the first time that Lieutenant Lacroix and Havoc Squad had deviated from the general’s preferred outcome, but if any of the other deviations were in the same vein as this one, Elara couldn’t help but support them. Naturally, she wasn’t going to voice her opinions to a superior officer unless specifically asked for them, but one of the very prominent reasons she had defected was the Empire’s victory at any cost mentality. Would the weaponization of the rakghoul plague be an unrivaled boon for whichever side implemented it? Undoubtedly. Would it be horrific and make Elara’s insides twist in disgust? Absolutely.

“Regardless, I am pleased that once again the lieutenant has succeeded at her mission. I look forward to speaking with her when she has returned to base. Be sure to patch her through as soon as she is back.”

“Yes General.”

There was a pregnant pause, which made Elara unsure as to whether General Garza had forgotten she was still on the holo, and whether she should disconnect. Before she could make a decision, the general spoke.

“What are your thoughts on Lieutenant Lacroix, Sergeant?” the older woman asked, her age-worn face giving no indication as to the intent behind the inquiry,

Elara was caught off guard, and wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “Ma’am?”

“I asked your thoughts, Sergeant.” General Garza’s stare was piercing, even though the translucent blue shimmering of the holocall. “I’ve reviewed your file. You’re a highly capable soldier, and have been relegated to positions far below your capabilities because of a stigma against your formal allegiance. Your stellar support of Havoc Squad has only strengthened my initial assessment of you. However, before I go any further, I ask again: what are your thoughts on the lieutenant?”

Choosing her words carefully, Elara was again slow to respond. “With all due respect General, I have only known the lieutenant for a short time, and a good deal of that time was just through the comms and monitoring their progress as best as I could. However, I greatly respect their courtesy outside of combat and what I have seen of their morales. Lieutenant Lacroix is a woman who has a strong moral compass dedicated to helping the people of the galaxy. I would be remiss not to mention her combat capabilities, which are far above average, even for a special operations soldier. Overall, again, given my limited interaction, she is an excellent soldier and respectful person.” Taking a breath, Elara scrutinized the image of the general for any response to her answer, good or bad. Unfortunately, the woman was like a wall of stone. Before her overanalytical thoughts were able to get too loud, the general spoke up.

“I would like to formally offer you a position in Havoc Squad. Your synergy with the lieutenant is apparent, and your training as a combat medic will no doubt be invaluable. Of course, Lieutenant Lacroix will have the final say, but I wanted to get your answer before I gave her the proposal.”

Elara felt her eyes widen. Surely she’d misheard. Was it actually a possibility that she was being given a chance to join a squad that allowed her to utilize her strengths, maybe even treat her with more than just tempered mistrust? She quickly tempered her expectations, not wanting to get ahead of herself. However, there was no question as to her decision. Even with the chance she may not enjoy joining Havoc Squad, there was absolutely no future for her in her current role.

“I would be honored, ma’am,” Elara replied, keeping her expression as neutral as possible.

The general nodded curtly, looking as if she was not the least bit surprised by Elara’s reaction. Though to be fair, if she knew even half of what she had indicated about Elara’s career in the Republic, she must have known that there was no way Elara would turn down such an opportunity.

“I will inform the LT when she returns. Please have your gear packed and ready to depart as soon as possible.” With that, the holo blinked off and Elara stood still, the afterimage of the general slowly fading from her vision. Even though it was the lieutenant’s decision as to whether she was allowed to join the squad, General Garza made it sound like it had already been made. 

Well, she does know the lieutenant better than I do, Elara thought as she headed toward the barracks to gather her gear. She knew that Colonel Gaff would be furious if he knew that she was ignoring her duties to pack, even if her current duties were practically meaningless. Hopefully the general’s assumption was correct, and Elara wouldn’t have to deal with Gaff any longer.

—

Elara zipped up her last duffel bag when there was a knock behind her. Straightening up, she turned to see Sergeant Jorgen in the doorway. She was a little surprised to not see the lieutenant herself, then immediately became worried that she hadn’t wanted her to join the squad.

“Got your bags packed, Sergeant?” Jorgen asked, glancing at the three duffels laid out in front of Elara.

“Yes, as suggested by General Garza.”

“Great, let’s go.” Jorgen grabbed the straps of the bag closest to him and slung it over his shoulder. Elara followed suit, picking up the remaining two and following the cathar out of the barracks.

“I assume this means my transfer was accepted?” Elara asked as she caught up to the other soldier. All signs pointed to her assumption being true, but Elara was one who liked things being stated in certain terms. Assumptions, while often necessary in her line of work, were just another potential point of failure.

A gruff laugh came from her companion. “Not accepted by everybody, but the LT is taking care of it.” As they approached the landing bay, Elara could hear raised voices. Well, only one raised voice, and of course it belonged to Colonel Goff.

“You can’t just come here and take my soldiers!” Colonel Goff fumed, his face uncomfortably red. “I allowed you to work on your bullshit covert mission, and even allowed Dorne to assist you, but this is unacceptable!”

The lieutenant stood unmoving, arms hanging loosely at her sides with her helmet still donned. Though she appeared to be relaxed, Elara could tell that her muscles were tense and ready for action if necessary. 

“The transfer has already gone through the appropriate channels, Colonel. It’s done.”

Colonel Goff clenched his fists. He caught sight of Elara and Sergeant Jorgen walking toward one of the landed ships, and his eyes narrowed. Elara wasn’t sure whether she should approach the colonel and perhaps offer a formal goodbye, but she saw the lieutenant give a very slight shake of her head. Understanding perfectly, Elara turned away from the two and followed Jorgen up the ramp of a BT-7 Thunderclap assault ship.

“Fine, you can have her. Better she’s with you when she betrays the Republic than me.” Elara could hear the venom in Goff’s words, and couldn’t help when a tear formed in her eye. She knew the colonel didn’t like her, but to hear him spout his suspicion of her so clearly was hard to take.

“With all due respect Colonel, maybe if you’d utilized the exceptional assets you had in front of you, they wouldn’t be joining my squad.”

It took a significant amount of willpower for Elara to not turn around to see what Colonel Goff’s face looked like after that statement. A small smile appeared on her face, nicely combating the tear in her eye, and she heard Jorgen chuckle.

“If the LT ever starts a sentence with ‘with all due respect’, it’s gonna be a scorcher,” Jorgen commented as they reached the top of the ramp. The boarding door slid open and Elara followed Jorgen into the ship, passing through the main area to a small room off to the side. Dropping the bag he was carrying onto the bed inside, Jorgen turned to Elara. “This will be your quarters. Go ahead and get settled, I’m sure the LT will want to get us off planet before welcoming you officially.

Brushing past Elara, Jorgen headed toward another one of the rooms off of the main space. Sliding her remaining two bags onto the bed next to the other one, Elara quickly unzipped them, checking that nothing was missing. One bag held her military gear, which currently had a second set of fatigues and some replacement armor pieces, while the second had her casual clothing and personal effects. The last bag had her medical equipment as well as her standard-issue blaster pistol, which she immediately removed and gave a once over, making sure that the safety was still engaged.

Satisfied that everything made it that mattered, she started pulling out her gear and stowing it away. She knew there were still a lot of unknowns in front of her, but she couldn’t help but be excited at her future for the first time in a long while.