Star Wars_ Darth Bane 01_ Path of Destruction - Drew Karpyshyn [25]
He slid the pistol into the holster clipped to his belt, checked the vibroblade in his boot, and turned his attention to his troops. All around him the men and women of his unit were following his lead, making similar inspections of their own equipment as they waited for the orders. He couldn’t help but smile; he’d trained them well.
He’d joined the Sith armies as a way to escape both prison and Apatros itself. But it hadn’t taken him long to actually grow fond of the soldier’s life. There was a camaraderie among the men and women who fought at his side, a bond that quickly extended to include Des himself. He’d never felt any connection to the miners on Apatros and indeed had always considered himself something of a loner. But in the military he’d found his true place. He belonged here with the troops. His troops.
Senior Trooper Adanar noticed his gaze and responded by thumping a closed fist lightly against his chest twice, just over his heart. It was a gesture known only to members of the unit: a private sign for loyalty and fidelity, a symbol of the bond they all shared.
Des returned the gesture. He and Adanar had been in the same unit since day one of their military careers. The recruiter had signed them up together and assigned them both to the Gloom Walkers, Lieutenant Ulabore’s unit.
Adanar picked up his rifle and sauntered over to where his friend was sitting. “You figure we’re going to need that disruptor pistol of yours anytime soon, Sarge?”
“No harm in being prepared,” Des replied, whipping out the disruptor and giving it a spinning flourish before returning it to its holster.
“I wish they’d give us the go-ahead already,” Adanar grumbled. “We’ve been in position for two days now. How long are they going to wait?”
Des shrugged. “We can’t go until they’re ready to move in with the main force. We go too early and the plan falls apart.”
The Gloom Walkers had earned quite a reputation over the past year. They’d been in scores of battles on half a dozen worlds, and they’d tasted far more than their share of victories. They’d gone from being one of a thousand expendable front-line units to elite troops reserved for critical missions. Right now they were the key to capturing the manufacturing world of Phaseera—if someone would just give them the order to go. Until then they were stuck in this jungle camp an hour’s march away from their objective. They’d been here only a couple of days, but it was already beginning to take its toll.
Adanar began to pace. Des sat calmly in the shade, watching him march back and forth.
“Don’t wear yourself out,” he said after a minute. “We’re not going anywhere until nightfall at the earliest. You might as well get comfortable.”
Adanar stopped pacing, but he didn’t sit down. “Lieutenant says this is going to be easy as a spicerun,” he said, trying to keep his voice casual. “You figure he’s right?”
Lieutenant Ulabore had received many accolades for the success of his troops, but everyone in the unit knew who was really in charge when the blaster bolts started flying.
That fact had become painfully clear nearly a year before back on Kashyyyk, where Des and Adanar had seen their first action. The Brotherhood of Darkness had tried to secure a foothold in the Mid Rim by invading the system, sending in wave after wave of troops to capture the resource-rich homeworld of the Wookiees. But the planet was a Republic stronghold and they weren’t about to retreat, no matter how badly outnumbered.
When the Sith fleet first landed, their enemies simply vanished into the forest. The invasion turned into a war of attrition, a long, drawn-out campaign fought among the branches of the wroshyr trees high above the planet’s surface. The Sith troopers weren’t used to fighting in the treetops, and the thick foliage and kshyy vines of