It was unusually quiet within the confines of Jester barracks. The bar was empty, save a very disgruntled barkeep who was cleaning up the mess from the night earlier whilst cursing the members of the squad under his breath. Empty. Just the way Kami liked it.

She sighed, glancing down at the full glass set on the table before her. The barkeep ignored her, continuing about his business as though she was part of the furniture. There had been a time a few months ago when Kami had been, so she understood his mindset. Ignoring the urge to sigh again, Kami stared down at the whiskey, almost willing it to leap up at her. She hadn't had a drink in an awfully long time. She didn't even really know why it was that she kept ordering drinks, only to leave them sitting untouched where the barkeep placed them. Habit, she'd have to guess. That, and the fact that it was a reminder of bad times. A nice little symbol to keep her from going back to an era that had almost seen her out on the streets. Out of the army, and without purpose.

She jumped as her datapad beeped, announcing an official communication. Aeos, most likely, with Jester's next mission. Her upper lip curling in disgust, Kami pushed the glass of whiskey to one side and opened the file, her green gaze quickly tracing down the lines. Aeos indeed, though she wanted to meet in person for the next briefing.

Coming to her feet, Kami slid free of the booth, casting a few credits next to her clean glass. She didn't even notice the barkeep move to the table in her wake, his hand greedily closing about the free liquor. Not that she would of cared.  She was beyond judging alcoholics. After all, she was more than aware of just how powerful the desire to blot out memories could be.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

“Kami!”

The smile on Aeos's face was contagious, tugging at Kami's lips as her former squad leader rose from behind her massive desk. The petite woman waved at the seat opposite, “Take a seat, you must still be tired from the Loetta mission.”

Kami gratefully sunk into the plush chair, Aeos resettling herself as she did so, “Not tired. Still a little sore. I wasn't planning on having an AT-PT dropped on me.”

Aeos grinned, “You get to have all the fun,” Her expression became downcast as she glanced at the paperwork surrounding her, “Meanwhile, I write reports.”

“You're doing important work Ae,” Kami countered, understanding her friends situation far too well. She'd taken the paper pusher route before.

Aeos shook her head, her eyebrows furrowing, “I know I know,” She looked up and held Kami's gaze, “You know why you're here?”

A little unsettled, Kami shook her head, “No, not really. Though I'm getting the feeling you have bad news.”

“We're reforming Jester again, swapping and shifting the ranks,” Aeos replied bluntly, before falling silent, seemingly bracing herself against the desk as her words hit home.

Kami swore bitterly, “I've just got this team working together and you're tearing it apart?! Gods!”

There was a moment's silence as she struggled to calm herself before continuing, “I'm sorry Ae, I know this isn't your fault, but I can't keep losing everyone. It's horrible for morale.”

Aeos accepted the apology with a slight decline of her head, “It's ok, I understand exactly where your coming from. The good news is that you won't be losing everyone. Bright and Jager are staying put, they're both solid troopers with promising futures.”

“What about the rest of them?” Kami asked, her voice sounding hollow to her ears.

Aeos shrugged, flicking through a file before her, “Either returning to the normal core or headed back to the academy for further training. HC will fill their places with fresh blood over the next few weeks.”

Kami collapsed back in her chair, silently contemplating the massive shift. Aeos, looking guilty now, used the opportunity to speak again, “I have a request to ask of you as well.” She waited until Kami nodded before continuing, “Since Jester is out of action for the time being, another one of our recon squads have been tasked with what should have been your mission. I'd like you, Bright and Jager to tag along with them. Now don't get me wrong, they're not amateurs, but they have no where near the level of field experience that you three have. Consider it a favor?”

Swallowing her frustration, Kami declined her head in acceptance, “Alright. At least it will keep us switched on.”

Aeos pushed a metal file across the desk before Kami, who took it and came to her feet to leave, “Oh and Kams?”

Kami halted mid-stride, glancing back over her shoulder, “Yeah?”

Aeos seemed about to say something, before hesitating and changing her mind, “Good work on Loetta.”

Kami nodded, clutched the mission briefing tighter within her hands, and then went to find what was left of her squad.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

The briefing room seemed overly large with just three inhabitants. Bright and Jager sat before Kami in the front row, quietly absorbing the news of their squamates departure. Bright was the first to speak,

“So...this mission Aeos wants us on?”

Jager shifted in his seat, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees, “I'm ready to head on out again.”

Kami smiled, relieved that her two remaining troopers weren't too disheartened by the massive change. Ignoring the projector next to her, she took a seat on the edge of the upraised stage and flicked open the briefing still in her hands, “HC wants a man. Not just any man, one of our men, a missing scientist called Kelan Skyus. Skyus was heavily involved in some confidential stuff related to chemical warfare until he abruptly disappeared a week ago.  Investigators found his apartment empty, his belongings sold and the ticket stub of a luxury liner out of Imperial space near the door.”

“Let me guess,” Jager offered a lopsided half grin, “He got an offer from a VE enemy that he couldn't refuse?”

“Typical, but yes,” Kami looked up from the file, “He's been tracked to the planet Baroonda where intel believes he's set to meet up with several interested buyers.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Bright interrupted quietly.

“It used to house podraces, although the competition on planet now is no where near as intense as it used to be,” Kami held out a photo of Skyus for Bright and Jager to observe, “We're going in with 82nd squad, a lower level recon team under the command of Senior Sergeant Rake Quelen. Orders are to get in and out with minimal contact. The locals won't be bothered by our presence either way, but the VE isn't exactly on friendly terms with the established government.”

“So...how are we getting on planet?” Jager drawled, before widening his smile, “Maybe 'chute?”

“Right again, you're on a roll,” Kami answered, “We're parachuting in. Once on ground we're to track Skyus down, eliminate anyone that may be protecting him and then bring him home so he can go to trial. All clear?”

Both soldiers nodded, Bright speaking again, “So when do we leave?”

“Two hours,” Kami snapped the file shut, “I'll meet up with you both here, then we'll make our way over to where the 82nd are housed and get introduced.”

Engines roaring, music blasting, and wind flying through his hair: this is how time should be spent. Nothing like a little steel between your knees and a cigarette in your lips to relieve the stress of living. Nothing but open fields and open skies today. Conditions are perfect. Couldn’t have picked a better day for a joyride. *beep beep* Ah, hell… Vasili braked his bike hard and cut the engines. His datapad was going off like crazy. Probably another Recruit that needed counseling. He flipped open his wrist display to read whatever the higher ups wanted him to do. He could blow it off for a couple hours, at least…

“Goddammit.” Vasili sucked down the remainder of his cigarette and quickly lit another.



The roar of a speeder could be heard from at least 3 miles off from 82nd’s hanger. At this part of Army HQ, it wasn’t odd to hear one at any point of the day as there were hardly any other buildings to surround the small complex, just more empty plains. But as the sounds grew and grew, the members of Jester and 82nd picked their heads and scanned the plains outside the enormous shuttle-doors to see what the commotion was. A silverish-tan bullet was approaching, accompanied by what sounded like jazz. Assuming he had nothing to do with anything relating to the Army, they ignored him and let him cruise around until he left or until military police “escorted” him away. But he didn’t leave. In fact, he entered the hangar with saxophone blasting and engine revving. The combined Squads (or whoever was at the hangar already) semi-circled the parked speeder bike, who’s operator had by now switched it off and was rummaging through the storage compartment in the back.

Fearing that this mysterious maniac might be higher ranked that themselves, the Troopers said nothing and just watched this mess of a spectacle get himself together. Finally, after pulling out the four or so various parts of a shotgun and clicking them together, the man turned to face his audience. He was disheveled; ruffled, blue suit, half a burned smoke hanging from loose lips, sweat sliding down from his wind-blown hair towards his large sunglasses, all topped off by the assembled shotgun resting in his hand and over his shoulder.

“Where’s the party?” Vasili asked with his lips wrapped around his cigarette. One of the troopers from 82nd pulled out a pistol and held it to Dec, apparently thinking he was a civilian looking for trouble.

“Easy hotshot, no need to be flingin’ that thing around. Look,” Vasili pumped his shotty, “It ain’t loaded.”

“Who the hell are you?” the trooper asked as he put the gun away.

“Vasili Rustam. Though some like to call me Sergeant Decembrist.” The trooper looked mildly horrified that he had just pulled a gun on the Sergeant.

“Somebody get me a suit.”



“If Garet really wanted to ‘send his regards’, he wouldn’t have sent you! I’m in a hole, but not that deep.”

“Hey hey hey… easy Sharpe. That kind of talk is ‘horrible for morale’.”

“Oh God, you talked to Aeos?!” Vasili giggled at Kami’s shock. “And it’s ma’am now, this time I’m your boss.”

Vasili started acting bored and tinkered with some pens from Kami’s desk, “Oh, you gave in so easily. No fun.”

“Yeah, well, if you talked to Aeos and she didn’t kill you, I don’t have any reason to do the same.”

“Let’s just cut through the bullshit, you’re happy to see me.” Vasili put on his boyish smirk and passed his canteen to his temporary SL. “Brought you a present. I heard you hadn’t been into town for a while.”

She reluctantly took the flask of liquor from her former Squad-mate and took a seat, sighing as she did so. “You heard wrong.” With a hint of stress she took a quick drink and put the canister down. “You’re just here on loan?”

“Rent-a-Dec.”

“Then I s’pose I’ll live… now get outta here and introduce yourself to Jester.”

Vasili stood up and slackened his tie a bit. C’mon Kams, gimme a smile. Please? Aaaaah here it comes…

Kami slid down and buried her face in her arms. “Go, Sergeant!”

Yeesh, she is getting’ it pretty tough. He got one foot out the door before a muffled Kami-voice called.

“V… it’s good to see you.”

That’ll do, that’ll do. “Yes, it is. And it’s good to be back, ma’am.”

"Sit still, This is hard enough without you moving around" the young Technician mumbled as he attempted to see why Jager's right hand wasn't responding. The hand began acting up as soon the Jesters returned from Loetta, at first Jager thought nothing of the occasional spasms but after it suddenly crushed a glass that he was holding in the bar he was ordered to get it looked at.

"Where did you get this piece of Junk installed?, its ancient" The tech grumbled, reaching for another tool on his bench.

"Got sick of losing at Arm-wrestling, deiceded to get an advantage" Jager smirked, the technician shook his head

"Yeah, that or you didn't let go of a grenade in time..." he mumbled under his breath. Jager faked a smile as he started to see that annoying this guy isn't going to make him finish any faster. After what seemed like an hour the Tech sealed the hand back up,

"Well, I don't work miracles... but i think i came close today" he announced,

"Whoever installed that thing must of really hated you, its not military grade or Emp shielded... hell if you bang it against something the wrong way it'll probably just turn off all together."

"Thats... reassuring, but its good to go right?" Jager quired as he stared at the hand.

"If by go, you mean go to the scrape heap.. then yeah.. Just take it easy, the servos are old and I've seen better wiring in a toaster but it'll hold for the time being." The Tech finished as he began clearing his work space. Jager quickly got to his feet and headed back to his barracks to start getting packed.

-------------------

The shuttle ride over was uneventful, Boarding the shuttle was thanks to Kami's episode with the 82nd's Sergeant... but other then that it was uneventful, then again anything to do with a "baby-sitter" mission usually is. As the shuttle headed towards Baroonda, Jager sat thinking about the mission. The entire setup was frustrating, it wasn't the fact that he was stuck with a bunch of kids straight out of basic.. it was the fact that Jester would probably have to do all the work.

The shuttle rocked and hummed as it entered the atmosphere. By now the roar of the engines was overbearing, so the squad started using their Comm's. Jager threw his Jump helmet on and grabbed his chute as the pilot's voice came over the Shuttles P.A system

"This is your captain speaking, We're currently cruising at an altitude of fifty thousand feet over the lovely planet of Baroonda. We'll be making our descent to forty thousand feet over the course of the next two minutes where you'll be making your insertion. Please make sure you collect belongings from the overhead compartments and return your serving trays to the upright position", His announced got a few laughs and lightened the mood a little.

As the announcement finished Kami's voice came over Jesters channel,

"You know the drill, Lets not screw this up. Jager your first, Then bright, Then Dec, Then me. The 82nd will follow after that."

"Right on, See you planetside" Jager called, making his way over to the door.

"30 Seconds" The Pilot announced, "Door's opening". The door opened revealing a sprawl of white and grey clouds for as far as the eye could see. For a moment Jager paused to take in the view, but this moment of sight seeing was cut short by the green light next to the door and a loud "Go, Go Go" over the Comm channel.

Jager had done a few practice jumps on a simulator, but it was nothing like the real thing. The noise for one was far greater, even through the helmet it was like placing his ear against a shuttle engine, and the shear scope of the situation was more relevant... hewasn't in a room pretending to jump, he was actually jumping from a shuttle Forty thousand feet into hostile territory.


The altimeter on his Helmets Heads up display was counting down rapidly as he reached terminal velocity, the rate of descent was rather daunting to look at but this was quickly replaced by the most awe inspiring sight Jager had ever laid eyes on as he broke through the cloud cover.

The ground was a lush green with spots of brown which spread out in all directions. From this altitude Jager could see the proposed landing site, a clearing next to a river that snaked its way across the landscape. With a loud beep the altimeter turned from green to red, indicating that the chute had to be deployed.

With a quick but violent pull, Jager felt himself slow considerably. As he regained his bearings he caught a better look at the landscape, which at one point had changed from a lush green to a dull browny-Gray colour. The landing site and river also changed considerably, it was then that it hit him... they were landing in a swamp.

Reaching the landing site, Jager un-clipped his chute and fell a few feet to the soft, wet ground. Bright was the next down, landing a few feet to the right of Jager. Immediately she began packing her parachute up and moving off the landing zone. Seeing this Jager remembered that he also had work to do and reached into one of his ammo pouches, pulling out a strobe beacon. Giving it a quick smack, he threw it at his feet and took a few steps away.

Kami and Dec were next to land, they to quickly grabbing their chutes and moved off the L-Z. Jager however didn't take the hint and continued to stand out in the open as the 82nd began landing, he turned in suprise to hear

"Heads up",

before one of the privates slammed into him, sending Jager to the ground with a thud. Slowly he got to his feet and took his Jump helmet off, mumbling something under his breath as scrambled off  towards Kami and the other's.

"Thats the easy part down... Everyone good?" Kami asked, receiving a nod from each of her squad members. Before she could continue, Sergeant Quelen chimed in over the Comm,

"I've got bad news... We've lost one, He's pulled his chute to early and drifted off course. No response over his Comm..."

Kami let out a slight grumble before replying, "Did anyone see were he went down?"

"Negative, But judging by wind direction I'd say he's to the north... cant be more then a click",

Kami paused for a moment...

"Guess it was lucky we decided to tag along then,"

OOC:

-Revised Edition-

OOC:

Yeah. It's a long post. Suck it down, it always goes smooth.

Constant, jittery, nervous clicking from Vasili’s armor was the only sound made from him pre-drop. He couldn’t stop his legs from shaking and causing a racket. He must’ve huffed down at least two packs of smokes by the time the Squads reached Baroonda. The cabin was cooled and kept ventilated, but sweat was pouring off his face like he was in a sauna. If it wasn’t for the issue to refuse to serve alcohol to him, Vasili would’ve been drunk out of his mind for this kind of crap.

Nobody ever said anything about a freakin’ air drop.

Sure, he could fly around in a Fighter but plummeting to the ground in nothing but body armor was a little too extreme. By now some of the troopers in 82nd had noticed the shower he was making for himself. Without his trademarked sunglasses on him, they picked up the fear in his eyes immediately.

“Sergeant… you ok? You don’t look so good.”

“Oh just…” Vasili was having trouble breathing now, as he spoke. “…just go to hell, you 82nd bastards.” He wasn’t necessarily angry, just agitated.

“Sorry, sir.”

“Gimme… gimme some water, Corporal.” The Trooper tossed over a canteen which Vasili caught and took a big swig from. He calmed his breathing and took another. “Here,” tossing a pack of cigarettes to the Corporal. The Trooper looked to his pal and, deciding not to, put the pack down, evoking a grunt from V. “Don’t you guys have an easier name for your Squad?”

The two nodded, “Yeah, but Sarge wants us to use our assignment name.”

“What is it?”

“Well, back when I was assigned,” the other Trooper, a Private, started, “my PC called 82nd ‘Southbound Squad’. My guess is that Sarge doesn’t want a name that associates us with failure.”

“Well,” the water helped Vasili feel a little better, “I ain’t dyin’ any time soon, so you can bet your asses I’ll be going home with objectives completed.”



First Jager, then Bright. They did it so easily. Once again the jitters started to overwhelm him. It could’ve been the wind and ground rushing past, or it could’ve been the way the light was reflecting off of Kami as she stood by the open cargo door… no, it was definitely the wind and ground.

“Get that helmet on, Dec!” Kami yelled over the wind. “Get out there!”

“Aaaaah…” Vasili leaned forward to peer down, “I quit, put me back in jail!”

Kami jogged over and forced Vasili’s helmet on. “No no, V. You can do the mission with me or you can return in a body bag, your choice.”

“I choose the body bag!”

Kami was forcefully pushing Dec out now, the man struggling against her and holding on very tight to a conveniently placed overhanging strap. She toppled over trying to pull him off, and got up with a growl. “Ok, FINE! I’ll hold you and we’ll jump together.”

Vasili’s face (under the helmet) brimmed ear to ear at the proposition. “Deal!” He released his grip and joined Kami, who stood behind him and wrapped her arms around.

“Ok, there’s just one thing I need to tell you before we go,” Kami said as she walked Decem towards the opening.

“And what is that, darlin’?” The fear was pretty much gone in Dec.

“Garet sends his regards.”

He barely got off a grunt as Kami released her grip and shoved him out of the shuttle.



“Oh for the love of God, I have to lead you two? Can’t I just take D’Jonoc and go get your idiot?”

“Not a chance in hell, Decembrist,” came Kami’s voice over the Comm. “I’m down to two troopers and a rent-a-drunk, I’m not losing one or more to child-birth.”

I’ve really got to learn how to use this damn Helmet Comm.

“Fine, but if I have to save ANY of your asses, it’s gonna be Brightstar’s.”

And so the four troopers trekked northward, Decembrist leading them fearlessly into enemy territory. Or a swamp. It was really hard to tell with all the shit on the ground. “Keep on the radio, Jori, if you hear ANYTHING that isn’t Jester or intelligent members of Southbound, you tell me.”

The walk was pretty uneventful besides the occasional pit stop to pull somebody out of mud. Each of the soldiers was mostly or wholly covered in brown and black by now, which turned out to be decent camouflage. No sign of the missing idiot, though. Even I was able to recover and make a good landing… what the hell is wrong with this guy?

An hour passes, and by then small talk had begun.

“So, Sergeant,” addressed Private Bach, “You were my advisor in the academy, remember me?”

“What was your name?”

“Bach, sir.”

“No.”

“Oh. Ok…”

“Don’t worry, Bach, he doesn’t remember much,” Brightstar apparently was playing good cop. “Like being my Squadmate, for instance.”

“I told you, I remember!”

“Yea, ahuh, that’s why you couldn’t remember my name, callsign, rank, or face.” She was annoyed, but the Privates laughed anyways.

“Hey, don’t be laughing, I remembered as soon as she turned around. I never forget cheeks.”

“Ah crap, hold up guys, I’m stuck again,” Jori was attempting to pull his leg out of a knee-high puddle of mud.

“Christ, Jori, watch where you step.” Decem doubled back and grabbed Jori around the torso and started pulling. With some proper application of ‘ordering Bright and Bach to get in the mud and push’, Jori was freed and they continued forward.

“Hey, Sergeant…”

“What is it Jori?”

“There was a rumor goin’ on in the Academy about, er, you.”

What the hell is this, honesty hour?

“Are you really a convict?”

Decembrist stopped the march and faced Jori. “That’s right.”

“Well… how are you here?”

“I made nice with the parole officer.” This was a lie, but now wasn’t the time for this small talk.

“You actually get friendly with some p-“

“Wait!”

The Squad stopped immediately at Bright’s shout. At least one person was paying attention to what the group was doing. “Look at that.” She pointed towards the ground where Jori was about to step.  “Landmine,” she followed up.

“Good God, thank you Brightstar,” Jori exasperated, backing off.

“Yeah,” Bach reciprocated the thanks as he took a look around him, “We would’ve all been blasted.”

This made Vasili disgusted. We’re dealing with guerillas. Perfect “welcome back”, V. “Apparently they’re organized. Bright, Jori, keep your eyes on the ground. We’re on dangerous ground, now. Everybody watch your step. If we find anyone, you all jump in front of me; I HATE blaster wounds.” Vasili pulled his shotgun from his back and turned on his Comm.

“Kami, we got some landmines. They’re out there.”

“I hear that,” she responded as if she knew.

“Still no sign of the jumper. I’ll contact again when things go to hell.”

“Lookin’ forward to it.” Click.

With a flick of his boot to through some mud off and a wave of his hand to bring his troops forward, Vasili started goin’ again, but he didn’t go far.

“Dec,” Brightstar poked in again. She rapped his shoulder and pointed up. V looked up, followed by Bach’s and Jori’s gaze. “There’s your idiot.”

Oh God.

Hanging by his parachute, stuck to a very large tree was the missing 82nd. He would’ve survived the fall – in fact, he did – but scores of blaster marks were all over his body. Apparently these renegades weren’t taking any prisoners. Even worse, Vasili realized they weren’t on enemy ground. “Hot damn… Eye’s up! This isn’t a minefield or enemy territory. It’s a trap!”

“Shit!” Jori yelled.

“Dammit!” Exclaimed Bach.

A blaster charging up was the only indication from Brightstar.

“Kami…” Vasili’s heart was starting to speed up, “Things just went to hell.”

"... This is a Trap." That was all Bright really needed to hear from Dec before she charged her blaster. She really hated traps. In fact being ambushed by NR soldiers in the past have given her a kind of dread or phobia for being caught in the open and unprepared. This was one day she was in no mood to just go down quietly if at all. The fact that Decembrist was there was only a small comfort to the adrenaline mixing with the fear in her blood and being pumped at about 80 beats per minute through her heart.

The blaster fire erupted around them like fireworks at one of the VE's Independence celebrations back on Tadath. All she knew was reaction at that moment. Reaction was really one of the things that had given Lance Corporal Brightstar D'Jonoc fame throughout the army. She had also been known to take out her enemies through means of Melee weapons that she hardly if ever used anymore since Mygeeto.

All Bright really seemed to be doing was shooting until she noticed a Laser Focusing beam on Vasili's back. He was still talking to Kami through the comm and was completely oblivious to the danger he was in. Without thinking, and certainly not caring how it looked, the sole woman of the four troopers reached out and yanked the much bigger man down sending him sprawling in the mud. Less than a second later a projectile whizzed through the air where Vee had been only a moment before.

"Snipers!" She yelled as her only explanation. "Make yourselves as small as possible boys, down on the ground and find as much cover as possible."

Bright's only thought now was to find those snipers and pick them off. Time, She realized, to be a ghost. "Kami watch for snipers! If you get yourself killed, I'll kill you." Yes the pun had been intended. Perhaps she had spent to long in Jester already or maybe it was just they were finally beginning to rub off on her.

She turned and saw that Jori was behind her while Bach and Vee were five feet away and to her right. Jori would have to do for now. She signaled Dec. "Vee, we can't hide forever and Kami has her own problems." Bright started. "We move those snipes will gun blast us before we make it ten yards back to her position."

Dec raised a hand cutting her off. "I know what you're thinking, Bright, and the answer is not only a no but a HELL no." It was probably a good thing that Vee couldn't see Bright's face. "Give me a minute I'll think of something."

"In a minute, Sarge," Bright said, "we'll all be deader than Alderaan! We don't have time to argue just give Jori and me a distraction and backup." Bright wasn't really sure where that had come from exactly, but she knew that she would likely be hearing about it for a while after they got out of this mess. Had she just given a higher ranking officer a direct order? She really didn't have time to think about it.

"Jori, we're going to run left and into those trees across from us." Bright said indicating where the sniper fire had come from. "We NEED to take out that sniper. We can use the environment to our advantage, gods know that we're camouflaged enough. Are you up to it?"

The man nodded and gripped his weapon. "Ready as I'll ever be, Ma'am." He said.

"Save the Ma'am business for Kami." Bright responded and gave a nod to Vasili. She and Jori took off before he had a chance to argue.

The two of them were well aware that they were in open territory, with no cover. The thing that saved them from being spotted was Decembrist's well timed distraction. Whatever it was, it had worked wonders. Bright risked a glance behind her to see if Vee had survived, seeing nothing she pushed through the trees and into the semi sparse wood around her. Now to find our friend that thinks its funny to play hide and seek in a fire fight. She thought with her back against a dark trunk.

And so Bright jumped up and started running away with Jori, leaving Decembrist and Bach to cover their stupid asses. How did she expect Vasili to cover her when all he had was a shotgun? This was going to take some ingenuity… and some balls. “Bach, just stay down and start running back to your Squad when I tell you to. By the sounds of it, they can’t lose another soldier.” Brightstar and Jori were a bit aways now, no doubt drawing the attention of the snipers, “And keep an eye out for where they’re shooting from.”

Time to be a hero.

“Heeeeey over heeeeere!” Dec jumped up and started waving his arms, jumping up and down, and shooting his shotgun in the air. Thinking back this was a bad idea, because as soon as he had stopped acting like a fool, two red dots danced on his chest. “Hot damn!” He jumped to the side to hear a shot whiz by and thud into the mud.

“Shit! That was right by my head!” Bach yelled from the ground.

“Where is he?!” panted Dec as he scrambled to his feet and starting rolling and diving and running through the trees and mud trying to throw the snipers off.

“Um, um…. Two o’clock!”

“YOUR TWO OR MY TWO?!”

“My two! Your, er…”

“Oh screw it, just start running!”

Bach didn’t need to be told again, he up and booked it back towards the drop zone and Kami’s group. Vasili watched him duck through some trees and out of sight from behind a boulder he had decided to hide behind. Bright and Jori should’ve been engaging the snipers by now… and there it was: they had found the enemy and started firing. Meanwhile, two snipers still were lobbing shots at V’s feet, which were just barely in view from behind the boulder.

“Brightstar! Some help would be nice!”

Silence. The snipers stopped shooting. Over the comm. grunts and thuds and the sound of branches breaking. In the distance, quite audibly, the scream of a man and more branches breaking.

What the hell? What is she doing to them? Carefully Dec slid his head around the side of the rock and peered off to see what was going on. Blaster shots came at him as soon as he poked around, but they weren’t sniper fire. He lifted his head over the rock to see what was going on, expecting the enemy to be firing at him. But it wasn’t the enemy, it was Bright and Jori doing the shooting.

“He’s heading right towards you, Vasili!”

Then he picked up on it. One of the snipers was retreating but running right towards Dec. “Right, I got him.” He pumped his shotgun, took a breath, and jumped up. The look on the sniper’s face was priceless as he looked down the barrel of the loaded gun:  a mix of fear, shock, and realization that he was an idiot for having the trap reversed on him. With his merciless smirk, Vasili pulled the trigger, sending the body of the sniper spiraling clothes-line style.

But somewhere between the smoking barrel and the mud covered ground was something out of place: the body flying through the air, the blood spurting up from the force of the blast, the two Stormtroopers popping out from the treeline, and the small piece of metal hidden under the mud. Oh… screw me.

The body fell, its entire weight landing on that small piece of metal that acted as the spring-trigger for a landmine. A bloody explosion lit the area, the pre-shock wave knocking Vasili off his feet and through the air. About 15 feet and a mud bath later and Vasili had his eyes open and looking towards the sky again. If it wasn’t for the sniper’s body taking the brunt of the explosion (as his bodily fluids littering the area indicated), Vasili would’ve been the one strewn about the swamp. That’s not a proper way to go. He needed something with fire or lightning, maybe a tidal wave and a cruise liner.

“Can we go now Vasili?” Bright asked as she popped into his skyward eyesight.

“I could be dead and all you’re asking is ‘can we go’?”

“I hear you giggling over the comm.”

“It was fun.”

“You’re insane!” Jori said, slinging one of the sniper rifles over his back.

“Nah, just unlucky. Shall we?” Brightstar extended her arm and helped V out of the mud and Jori handed him his shotgun back.

“We’ve got to get to Kami,” the only female present remarked.

“Yup, double time.”



“Kams, how you doin’ girl?” came the strained voice of Vasili over the comm.

Kami was busy fending off some enemies, blaster fire in the background of the return call, “Not good! Get your ass over here V!”

“We’re on the way, how many you still got?”

“Three from 82nd are dead, Cowboy’s down as well. We’re scattered out here, no idea what the hell is going on! They’ve got snipers and infantry just picking us off one by one.”

“Alright, get ready for a mess… I see you on radar. We’ll be there in two.”

“Dec, hurry!”

He didn’t need to be told. Already they were moving at least triple time, even with the friction of the mud. If the enemy didn’t kill them they’d die of exhaustion. No time to die now though, blaster fire could be heard and seen through the trees. “Ok, stealth time you two. Get those grenades ready.”

Blasterfire was hitting the ground around him. Sending small fountains of dirt, mud or water all over the place. Still he was enjoying himself. The swamps felt good. The increased moisture made him want to pull off his helmet. But as his superiors had wanted him in under deep cover, that sadly was no option.
Maze had thrown himself into as many puddles of mud as he could, not only to dodge fire, but also to get as much camouflage as he could. Sometimes he questioned the wisdom of running around in bright white armor. But such considerations were quite out of place at this precise moment.
Gripping his E11 tightly Maze rolled around, out of the cover of the tree that had slowly begun to disintegrate under the incoming fire. He brought the Rifle up to his shoulder and peered down the scope. Several Tangos were friendly enough to provide themselves as good targets. Slowing his breath as much as he could in such a situation he squeezed the trigger. And missed.

“Sith spit!“, he cursed, his voice distorted by the helmet.

Even though it might have been a perfect match, regarding that he was masquerading as a rookie, this was far from perfect. His opponent had noticed the shot that had burnt into a log next to him and was by placing his shots even closer to Maze.
Still peering down the scope the Falleen saw how his would be killer got hit by a red hot bolt, presumably fired from somewhere behind Maze. The identity of the shooter shouldn't remain a mystery for too long when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

“We gotta get out of here on the double, Bro.”, his savior, one of the soldiers of the 82nd whose name he had already forgotten, told him.

Laying down indiscriminate suppression fire Maze replied:”Jolly good Idea, but where to?”

“Hell how should I know? But I got the bearing of this Kami girl of Jester”, the other sugested.

Fighting back the urge to reprimand the trooper for this statement, Maze simply agreed with the words:”Beats staying here, if you ask me.”, with this words the two of them turned around, Maze following, as he hadn't had the time to get a bearing on Kami himself.

About half a minute before they reached their destination something exploded in between the trees. Without really noticing it, Maze ran even faster, plowing through the mud as good as he could.

The scene he beheld, arriving at the small glade confused him at first. Several troopers were standing their gazing upon another, who held his right arm. Blood was running through his fingers.

As no one was looking at him, and he knew that one word could get you killed in such tense situations, Maze remained silent.
While slowly walking towards the group he tried to further assess the situation some more.
The shock broke and two troopers lunged towards their wounded fellow. Another one turned around, presumably to scan his surroundings.
Noticing Maze, who was still standing in the shadows, the Trooper quickly brought up his rifle and when he spoke Maze noted that he had guessed the gender wrong.

”You another one of those greens from 82nd?”, asked First Sergeant Sharpe
.
Fighting back a witty repartee Maze stood at attention and saluted:”Private First Class Keyel, ID Number...”

As he had expected, Sharpe interrupted him:“Spare me that Private. We can work out the formalities later. I'm First Sergeant Sharpe, this is some more of my Squad, and some more of the 82nd. So get yourself in gear and help with the wounded.”

Smiling under his helmet, Maze nodded and made his way towards the wounded soldier.

Kami crouched down next to the enemy trooper, resisting the urge to empty the confines of her stomach on the muddy soil beneath her feet. The woman turned glazed eyes in her direction, almost delirious from the pain.

“Can you hear me?” Kami asked her, watching to see whether any recognition flashed across the woman's bloodied features.

“Help me,” The words emerged as a gasp, “The pain...”

“Get her something,” Kami ordered Bright, who visibly hesitated.

“We don't have a lot of meds...” She began, well aware that the woman would die within the next few minute.

“Just do it,” Kami hissed, turning back to the woman as Bright stood forward, injecting a shot of morphine into the soft flesh of her neck. The enemy soldier let out a soft gurgle that might have been a sigh of appreciation as the drugs took effect, her eyes rolling back to Kami,

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“Who do you work for?” Kami asked brusquely, silently counting down the wasted seconds in her mind.

“Gustav...Rudolf Gustav,” The woman managed, pulling in another rattling breath, “He didn't want the meeting to be interrupted. Any problems and the contact walks he told us.”

“Where is this meeting?” Kami bent closer to the dying soldier, “Do you remember?”

“Please,” The woman clutched at Kami's hand, pulling her closer with surprising strength, “Please, I don't want to die.”

“You won't,” Kami lied, allowing herself to be held, “Tell me where Gustav is meeting our man and we'll help you.”

The soldier allowed her head to slump back in the dirt, “Southeast of here...20 miles or so. Nice flat terrain...no surprises.”

Kami glanced down as the woman's hand uncurled from her arm, falling limply to the earth. The enemy soldier pulled in one last, thankfully brief breath...and was still.

The small group of VE troopers froze for a moment, interrupted only as Keyel returned, the remnants of 82nd in tow. Kami came to her feet to regard the four uninjured troopers, her gaze settling on Quelen, “You get lost in the firefight Sergeant?”

She didn't miss the glance exchanged between Quelen and his ASL before he responded, “Pinned down by snipers. We would have been killed if we broke cover.”

Clenching her jaw to control her anger, Kami looked back to Jager, who seemed steady on his feet, the other remaining 82nd trooper supported on his good shoulder. “Alright, Southeast it is. Look lively people, we're sure to encounter more trouble on the way. Oh and Quelen, you take point.

“Uhhh, wait. What are you do- AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  Jori said as a trooper walked over, jabbed a needle with some kind of painkiller in it in his arm, and proceeded to yank the shrapnel out of his arm.
After he picked out the shrapnel pieces and held them up for Jori to see, the trooper started to disinfect the wound, which made Jori scream bloody murder. After that, he bandaged it up and was done.

“There we go. Finally done.“ the trooper said as he packed up the medical supplies into a first-aid kit.

Jori got up off the ground and looked around. He saw Kami stand up and Quelen walk up to her with four troopers who were uninjured. He witnessed the whole exchange between them, and he wasn’t the only one, and even caught the subtle clench of Kami’s jaw. Shaking his head, he looked around again and saw Jager with Sarah, another 82nd trooper and started to walk over to them when Kami’s voice rang out, “Alright, Southeast it is. Look lively people, we're sure to encounter more trouble on the way. Oh and Quelen, you take point.”

“Here we go again. Heh.” Jori said, shaking his head.

Oh jeez. She’s mad at Quelen. That’s why she put him at point. If anybody else is waiting to ambush us, then he’s going to be one of the first ones to get hit. He is dead cause I’ve fought with him before and I outshot, outran, and generally outdid him, which nearly every other trooper who was with did too.

Shaking his head again, he walked over to Kami.

“Uhhh, ma’am? Kami? Why did you put Quelen at point? You know well as I do that he, for lack of a better word, sucks. He can’t shoot, he can’t run, and he can’t think straight during a battle. The only thing he is good at is giving orders.”

“Don’t question my actions okay. Just do as I say.” Kami snapped.

“Ma’am yes ma’am.” Jori snapped off a salute as Kami looked at Quelen with a look of contempt.

Soon, they started moving southeast. Jori quickly moved into formation, though there was hardly a formation.

OOC:

Not brilliant, but at least I got something. Oh and Bright, maybe you wanna try marching 20 miles in swampy terrain, its not quite as fast as your post suggested ;P

He was tired, sick of this blasted armor, and quickly losing his patience with some of Jesters newer members. Especially when he got kicked after remarking that the lack of cover wasn't in their favor, he decided that there had to be some kind of repercussions. Of course she could have acted that way simply because he was masquerading as a PFC, but still that was against regulations. That ill-mannered sergeant would get a little education about violence towards fellow soldiers and its consequences.

They continued a little longer, cr