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Flyboys - A Star Wars Story (Work In Progress)

Chapter 41: Jaycob

Summary:

With the first wave of boots on the ground, the Eclipse ground assault was now underway. Thanks to the powerful Starhawk, the enemy capital ship now lay weaponless on the icy surface of Exegol, aside from the impromptu ground defenses that the Final Order had deployed.

Chapter Text

Poe's presence in the LAAT was demanding. And standing next to him, some of that attention also blanketed onto Jaycob. They were mere seconds away from touching down, the battlefield already looking tense. Every now and then the gunship would be peppered by stray blaster bolts, but it was nothing the armor couldn't handle. However, it did cause those in the cargo hold to be shaken up a bit.

"Final Order defenses are heavy, so watch yourselves out there!"

Poe stated, the blast shields sliding away from the side doors. This opened up the canopy to fresh air, the smaller vertical slits being the only windows the soldiers inside the transport could see out of. Even with such a limited perspective, the scale of the massive battle could not be overlooked.

Jaycob glanced down at his feet, the experimental rocket booster attachments providing a little more weight to his boots. But he didn't mind, since he was able to ditch his flight suit for his regular garments that would allow for better mobility on the ground. Rose was the one to gift him these new contraptions, and they were apparently able to work in sync with his wrist-mounted gauntlet.

He tapped on the screen, the boosters powering to life. They needed a few seconds to recharge so in the meantime, he looked over his signature rifle. His EL-16 was his trusty weapon of choice, while he also carried his Glie-44 on a leg-mounted holster. His belt had all the needed equipment for booster fuel charges, energy cells, and all the fixings he could attach to his wrist. He wanted to prepare himself for a long fight of attrition.

Overall, he wished that he could just remain in the air either providing close air support or continuing with the destruction of the Star Destroyers. But Poe needed the leadership on the ground, and for Jaycob, this could be his opportunity to finally come face to face with Kylo Ren. Jaycob reached up toward his jacket pocket that housed Tallie's scarf remnant and patted it from the outside.

In the few seconds it took for the LAAT to land, Jaycob could only think about how his fellow Flyboys were doing. He knew that each of them had their own battles to fight, but he just wished that they could all be here together now in this final battle. He also wished Jessika were down on the ground here too. After going through so much together, it only felt right that she'd be here beside him. But much like these past few weeks, that opportunity seemed to elude both of them.

It didn't matter now though, Jaycob's feet planting into the ice and charging forward. He ran alongside Poe, the pair sending suppressing fire into the crowd of enemies that were firing back. A flaming 74-Z with an unconscious driver came barreling into an explosion just in front of them, forcing them to take cover behind a downed AT-ST. The walker was already on its side, smoke coming out from the two eye sockets at the front of the canopy.

But that didn't stop Jaycob or Poe from prying open the access hatch and checking for survivors. None remained. Jaycob peeked around one of the legs at the ground in front of them. The Eclipse was still disabled, but the front-facing hangar looked to be the most heavily fortified. Nonetheless, after checking in with Poe, the two pushed forward.

"Eleven-o-clock!"

Jaycob warned. Poe picked up on the signal, opening fire at a stopped LIUV.

"I see it!"

Poe took out the gunner before they could swivel their gun around to hit them, Jaycob opening fire and blasting himself upward, taking out the driver. The last passenger struggled to react in time, being met with a buttstock to the jaw from Poe's blaster. Any chance of them getting up was quickly extinguished as Jaycob finished the job with a shot to the chest. Without having to say a word, Poe jumped into the driver's seat, throwing the lifeless occupant off the speeder. Jaycob did the same, taking a position on the gunner's turret.

Poe then turned the speeder around and began to pursue faster toward the hangar. Jaycob opened fire at all the targets he could, their bodies being difficult to hit at such incredible speed. Their momentum couldn't be stopped now, the path for the hangar looking wide open as the ground troops around them were successfully pushing the Final Order's perimeter back into the cruiser.

Jaycob looked back at Poe with a satisfied grin.

"That was clean."

He said, alluding to just how fast they were able to commandeer an enemy speeder.

"Textbook!"

Poe answered back with a smile. His expression soon changed when a shot from an AT-M6 cannon struck next to the speeder, causing it to skid and grind a portion of the underbelly.

"Kriff!"

Jaycob responded, shifting aim toward the walker. Even though he knew it wouldn't do much he opened fire at the head, hoping that there was a slim chance that maybe it would strike through the thin viewport and strike the drivers. But Poe had another plan.

"Jaycob! Call in some air support!"

Without hesitation, Jaycob tapped at his wrist and pinged the closest squad leader in the area. There was a slight beep as the transmission was picked up.

"Hey there, hotshot! Whatcha need?"

Jessika.

"Skysis, center-most hangar. We have an AT-M6 lighting us up!"

Jaycob looked to the skies in hopes of even catching a glimpse of her A-Wing, but the battle was too chaotic to hone in on any ship in particular. After all, the target was pretty hard to miss, it be the only massive walker deployed so far.

"Copy that, I see it! Alpha moving to engage."

Jaycob looked up to watch as a squad of A-Wings lined a gun-run with the walker. The first couple of bursts didn't do much other than hinder its stability but after the fourth interceptor took their shot, the turbolaser fuel cells ruptured and caused a chain reaction all the way to the cannon. Panels off the top flew in all directions, the walker legs collapsing from underneath it and sending the entire body crashing into the ice.

As Poe continued to speed on, cheers could be heard coming from the other soldiers they passed, celebrating the destruction. Even Poe himself pumped a fist into the air.

"YES! Great run, Jess!"

"No problem! Alpha, checking out."

Jaycob hung up the call and continued firing into the abyss that was the Final Order hangar. A U-Wing came in overhead, zipping past the two Generals, and came to a hovering halt after rotating itself counter-clockwise at the entrance. The right-side door slid open, a gunner on an M-45 repeating blaster opening fire at the closest targets. Poe manage to skid their speeder to a halt right underneath the gunship, the front line now established.

Waves of Resistance and Civilian soldiers began to overwhelm the Final Order stormtroopers, in a battle of open-field warfare. The U-Wing made sure to take out the several turret emplacements scattered on the hangar floor, keeping the fight equal. Meanwhile, a pair of AATs kept the struggling AAL-2100/9.5 atmospheric assault landers at bay. If the pilot was lucky enough to even take off, they didn't make it past the hangar's threshold before being shot down.

Three of these transports were shot down in an almost-perfect line to be used as cover, with any survivors in the cabin shot to death. After discovering that it was already too late to push forward, the Final Order halted sending their troops in the landers altogether. Ones that hadn't lifted from the ground were simply used as cover to assist in repelling the momentum-driven Resistance, but it was no use.

Jaycob and Poe took cover behind a large cargo container, both peaking from the sides to get some shots downrange. Currently, they were pinned by an FWMB-10 that was specifically targeting them and keeping them suppressed.

"Any bright ideas for this guy?"

Poe asked, blindly firing off his Glie-44.

"Think air support would be overkill?"

Jaycob joked, poking fun at the fact that the enemy soldier was too deep in the hangar to line up any sort of attack run with a starfighter. Jaycob peaked over the cargo crate, then immediately snapping back down to avoid getting his head blown off. However, his quick glance was just enough time to observe a few overhanging TIE fighters still docked in their places above the gunner.

"How's your aim?"

He then asked.

"Better than yours!"

Poe teased.

"We'll see. There, TIE still docked. Let's hit those latches."

Jaycob pointed at the starfighter, Poe following his finger and seeing what he was talking about.

"Yup, let's do it!"

After backing away from the container, while still keeping it between them and the FWMB-10, the pair fired their blaster upwards at catwalks, blasting away the metal that kept the TIE fighter suspended in the air. The enemy gunner yelled before the ship crashed downward and exploded.

Perfect.

"Nice one, hotshot. Let's keep moving!"

Poe stated, looking back toward a crowd of civilian fighters. He raised his blaster in the air and pointed at the only doorway leading into the interworkings of the cruiser that wasn't blocked. Stormtroopers and Sithtroopers were hastily falling back through this door, falling by the dozen. Jaycob quickly exited the cover he was behind and led the pack, blasting away at a duo of stormtroopers that were retreating.

"Come on! The shields will be back up in minutes!"

He added. With that, they charged the halls. Through the doorway, a path intersected perpendicularly to them. Down both sides were already stormtroopers bunkered in as well as possible, using smaller cargo crates and combat shields attached to their weapons. The enemy fire consisted mainly of more FWMB-10 blasters held by gunners who were in the prone or crouched position. In response, a wave of thermal detonators was thrown at them, forcing them to fall back and shift their positioning.

After the initial boom of explosions hit, a flood of soldiers rushed down both ends of the corridor. Jaycob led the force down the right, toward the hangar that was already being invaded by Jon'Kil's forces. Poe went the opposite direction, aiming to regroup with Kare's force and eventually storm the halls altogether. Stormtrooper resistance was scattered and therefore unorganized. Before they could gain a foothold on preventing the invaders from pushing further into the ship, they were getting wiped out.

They did everything in their power to try and slow the advance, deploying the interior smaller ceiling-mounted blastercannons. It was effective but avoidable. The turrets' frames were too small to get a clean blaster shot on while already being suppressed, so Jaycob ordered a new tactic. Taking cover behind one of the portable barriers, he called out to the soldiers behind him.

"Three to a barrier! Two carrying on each side and one gunner!"

The barriers were heavy enough to withstand plenty of gunfire and even flames but were too heavy to simply slide across the floor. Two soldiers ran to Jaycob's side and picked up the barrier he was hiding behind. Only needing to lift the object a few inches off the ground and the pacing of movement being slow, he had confidence in his plan. Jaycob made sure to steer his carriers to the center of the hallway and make enough room for them to shimmy behind for safety.

"Make a wall!"

He ordered. Almost instantly, an impromptu line of soldiers holding the portable barriers aligned themselves beside Jaycob. Now with a near-impenetrable protective shield, the line pushed forward. Shots were exchanged from both sides, but only bolts from the Resistance ever made contact with an opposing soldier. Slowly but surely, stormtroopers fell to the ground and the Resistance inched their way deeper into the capital ship's interior. Jaycob raised his wrist up to his mouth.

"Jon'Kil! We're making our way to your hangar now, did you need some help-"

Jaycob was cut off by a stormtrooper flying through one of the open doors on the right-side wall ahead of him. The enemy smacked back first into the adjacent wall and fell to the ground with such impact that there would have been no way they would have survived. But somehow, the groans of the female trooper could be heard being muttered through her helmet filters. The remainder of the hallway wasn't empty by any means, but the force that Jaycob had led pushed further in, leaving Jaycob crouching beside the soldier somewhat alone.

She was in no shape to put up any type of fight as Jaycob removed her helmet. Underneath it was a young woman with short black hair and pale skin. She had hazel eyes which were bloodshot now, and there was a single trail of blood that crept out from the corner of her bottom lip down her neck. Jaycob tossed her helmet off to the side, Jon'Kil now emerging from the chaos that occurred in his respective hangar to join him at his side. Before he continued though, he took a long look at Jon'Kil's experimental weapon that glowed brightly in his hand.

"A lightsaber?"

Jon'Kil softened his aggressive glare at the stormtrooper when he turned to answer Jaycob's question.

"I heard Rose made something for you too, right?"

Jaycob responded by tapping at his boots with the new devices on them. Jon'Kil gave a side smirk and an approving nod. They both turned in unison back toward the stormtrooper.

"General Armitage Hux. Where is he?"

The stormtrooper could barely meet Jaycob's eyes. Her face began to grow heavy, yet she managed a satisfied grin.

"You mean that traitor who thought he could stop the Supreme Leader? Dead."

"What about Elrik Vonreg? How about him?"

"I'm done...talking to you, scum."

Jon'Kil crouched to come face to face with the trooper.

"You were programmed from birth, ok? This doesn't have to be your legacy any longer. Stop carrying the Final Order's burden on your shoulders when they don't care!"

The words seemed to have hit the trooper harshly, as her calm demeanor now shifted to questionable. Jon'Kil stood back up.

"I've been where you are. And I've faced death as you do now. I can tell you that serving the Order and making my superiors happy wasn't a part of my dying thoughts."

Jon'Kil's eyes pierced her, Jaycob could tell she was about to break. After a strained gulp of saliva, she exhaled.

"He's...in the Ancient Armory."

Jon'Kil and Jaycob exchanged curious glances.

"The what? Where is that? What is that?"

Jaycob questioned rapidly.

"He's assembling a team...to protect the main reactor."

"Stormtroopers or Sith Troopers?"

Jon'Kil persisted.

The stormtrooper shook her head.

"Both. But there’s more. I don't know even know what they are."

"What else?"

Jon'Kil pushed.

"Those without authorization...know them by only one...letter."

The two Resistance pilots' eyes widened in anticipation.

"Z's."