[b]Quick Reaction Force[/b]
[hr]

The Signal Mountain Rebels had done this before, but so had the Empire. The first thing they did was overwhelm the comms net with noise, and they were quick to switch frequencies. It was one of those things where the Rebels lacked the sophisticated technology and, above all, power system resources to overpower Imperial signals for long. They had to figure out other things.

The rebel answer was amplified hearing modules, headphones with microphones modified for a higher gain setting and automatic cutoffs for extremely loud sounds above a certain decibel level. With a slight wind and perhaps some ambient sounds, it became terrifying for a first timer, hearing all these audibles they'd never encountered before, at least at a volume that made them reflexively jump at first. It wasn't a new trick or technology, but it was something, once described, that Xano and the other tech officers quickly created with the simplest possible components, rather than the fancy variations of digital, easily compromised, technology the Empire was used to countering with ease. The Imperials had access to the high tech production and expensive methods to create shielded devices that would not be easily ionized, the rebels had to innovate with cruder tech. Some rebels were a little shocked by the supposed downgrades in technology and the adaptations necessary to use it effectively, but others, usually fringers from the Outer Rim, knew how to use it.

But then, they became dead useful as one learned to deal with the volume, the enhancement of the sound. 

Glaato's team made their entry, they knew the sounds of it, it wasn't necessary to use the comms that cause them to be triangulated easily. The Imperials, of course, had similar technology, so it was just a leveling of the playing field, except that almost all these Rebels spoke Huttese. And the Imperials, disdaining such a language, did not see fit to assign Huttese speakers deliberately into their units. The stormtroopers were even less likely to speak it. Their translation services were back at bases, the same ones designed to intercept communications systems that the Rebels weren't using here. 

So the conversations were short, to the point and in a more obscure dialect of Huttese that was spoken in certain quarters of the Outer Rim. Perfect? No. Good? Yes. But then, on top of it, the tap of a pistol butt against a weapon magazine or even a handmade clicker allowed them to call out a general topic and then signal according to code.

It meant "k'wanna duba *two whistles*" meant "Signal 5 - Enemy down," with the whistles indicating that it was clear, engagement was finished, and to harbor up, or rally (#3). It was doable with hand signals, which mattered a lot where noise discipline was absolutely necessary. That was the signal for Glaatu's team to know that the initial assault was done and they could do a more thorough job of looting, which they weren't doing here, or destroying, which they absolutely were, enemy equipment. So Dar didn't feel the need to be overly finicky in cutting the power systems that ran the battery's lights. 

It was a variation of codes used all over the place, but in this case, it was well adapted to where they were fighting and whom. As Glaatu's people got ready to take and destroy the control console, Dar's people knew to start spread out, into a perimeter, moving in the darkness that was their close and personal friend. The Imperial Army didn't see the need to provide night vision gear to the troops at an individual level, though their static weapons were a different story entirely. The rebels had two schools of thought here; they either used their own eyes or they used night vision gear of a commercial grade, which had varying degrees of capability in protecting against flares and flashes. Once settled, most of them in the typical rebel poncho that helped break up shapes and make one look one with the mud and the dirt, were hard to distinguish unless they moved. And not moving allowed them to focus with every fiber of their being on watching and listening, letting the sappers get to their more intensive destruction of the enemy battery.

That was how they knew the Imps were sending a Jug, their favorite wheeled transport vehicle, along. Highly modular, everyone used jugs, but they used them differently. And a smart trooper knew the difference.

But the crucial thing to note, if one had a cool head and was used to assessing the enemy before enganging, if allowed such a luxury, was whether or not it was operating lights or not. The Imperial Army did not issue night vision gear to all troops, preferring the bare necessity of operational capacity. Imperial Army soldiers fought brightly lit engagements, which was why this battery, busily being planted for demolition, was dark. Cutting the power supplies was the first act of any raid after getting your bearings and checking to ensure you were still operational and that, next, your weapon was still operational. 

A pair of taps of a knife handle or magazine unit or similar item against a headset made a satisfying but not overly revealing sound that only needed to carry between two positions, and so *tap-tap* along the perimeter was to let people know the enemy was coming. 

Then, more info, "Stuta! Jujumon, haba gobamon, dopa Juggo. Plastics." And Dar knew it when he called "Contact! Bearing 144, approx 700m out, two Juggernats. Stormtroopers." Because he could hear the engines, saw the movement and there were no lights coming. Stormtroopers it was, because they didn't bother with running lights when they could see in the dark using their night vision.

"Echuta. Goba. Koocho shani." That meant that Dar didn't see a way to get the demolitions done, not without getting into a fight and it wasn't viable to fall back -- and it would probably be seen. But he wanted to wait, ready with the weapons, for them to dismount and get close before hitting them. 

It was possible the two Jugs were just looking for trouble, "Idiot Hunters" as Koocho shani went, meaning that they simply a patrol, but opening up on them would be buying trouble. It also let Glaato know that they were going to hold if necessary. TF244 was out there, but there was no way that he was going to compromise them by bringing the signal in. 

The hardest part was settling in a bunch of dirt and ash and staying absolutely still, manipulating the peripheral vision of Stormtroopers, who had not spent a lifetime learning to work with a limited field of vision (or updating their helmets to accomodate it the way Mandos did) and were relying on night vision to catch them. Peripheral vision and depth of vision mattered, he'd learned. His own helmet was off, a violation of the code as perhaps a zealot saw it, but he had a headset and his own two eyes while he held himself absolutely still under his cloak, one with the mounds of trench around him. The waiting was the hardest part, breathing steady, hoping not to be compromised, but also anticipating the Empire. They wouldn't just drive the jugs up if they thought they were going to encounter contact, they'd dismount the infantry to screen. It was his job to know the habits of the enemy, and Stormtroopers did it by the book.

"Glaato, find out how to set those guns to manual and use them to blow the jugs." That was in Huttese over the comm unit. Others might try to capture, but Dar knew that in a real fight, trying to be cute and fancy was a great way to die. Once they were in it, they'd be too busy cutting a hole in anything in front of them to worry about niceties.

They'd be on foot, but he had a plan.