Alan and Zeshaun stood guard at the door waiting for any news from the rest of the squad.

Lucky's voice crackled over the comm. "We have to get to the basement, what we want is there. be on your guard though, if these plans have been unchanged when they built this place, there will be twice as many guards below us. There's a server room down there along with some other areas we might want to explore. You guys let me at the computers and go find any hard evidence we can take with us. After we take care of the baddies of course."

Zeshaun heard Alan let out a sigh. Zeshaun knew he wanted to be going down there helping out.

"Hope they don't get into to much trouble, I don't know how fast we can go down there to back them up." Alan said more to himself than anyone else.

"They'll be alright sir." Zeshaun said those words but wasn't sure if he believed them.

Alan's head turned slightly, then gave Zeshaun a sign to be quiet. Zeshaun looked around, he looked toward the spot Alan was looking at and at first he didn't see anything but then he saw a bush move. He looked over at Alan.

"I'm gonna go check it out, cover me." Alan took a long way around to the bush. Alan looked around the bush but found nothing.

While Zeshaun was watching Alan search the bush he heard a rustle behind him as well. When he turned to look he was looking into the barrel of a rifle.

A group of about 15 men were standing behind him all carrying rifles. "Call your friends up here. We know they are in the base."

Just then Alan came back around the corner, "I guess we were just seeing things..." Alan duck for cover behind the corner as a shot nearly caught him in the shoulder, it left a smouldering mark on the ground.

"Idiot! The boss said he wanted these guys alive, if you kill them you'll be in big trouble." The leader of the group said.

Alan pocked his head around the corner and fired back. When the men ducked for cover it gave Zeshaun a chance to grab his rifle. He ran back toward Alan's position and fired shots as he ran.

Alan shot again and this time hit one of the men sqaure in the chest. It sent the man spinning back.

Zeshaun saw the other men fire back and one of the bolts hit Alan in the shoulder. Alan crumpled over and fell to the ground. Zeshaun got a sick feeling in his stomach and turned to return fire.

Another man fell when he was shot in the stomach but there were too many, Zeshaun took a full blast to the chest and his world went black.

***************************************

Lucky and the rest of the squad found some good hard evidence and holo's, finishing up she checked up on Zeshaun and Alan.

"Alan, Zeshaun, hows the wildlife up there?" Lucky said through the comm. When all she got was static she knew there was something wrong.

"Oh crap, lets move Paladin's we might be in trouble." Lucky started making her way back.

*************************************

When Zeshaun awoke he saw that Alan was already up and in the same situation as him

Their hands were cuffed along with there feet and there helmets were off so they couldn't send comm messages.

We are so screwed Zeshaun thought to himself.

Are you ok?" Alan asked as Zeshaun slowly regauned consciousness

"Yes" croaked Zeshaun was feeling some sharp pain in his chest where he was hit. "I took a blast to my chest but I think my armour took the brunt of the blast.  How are you holding up Sir?"

"I'll survive" replied Alan, "we need to get out of here somehow".

"Agreed" Zeshaun nodded, "any plans?"

Alan looked around and shook his head.

Zeshaun was disapointed, this was his first mission and he was already tied up, captured and had marked up his new armor. armor...my vibroblade!

Zeshaun put one hand in his belt and waited until their guards were looking the other way. He snapped on his vibroblade and started to saw at the cuffs.

Alan gave Zeshaun a smile seeing what he was up to. "Nice thinking kid."

The vibroblade cut through the cuffs in a matter of minutes and Zeshaun was free. He dropped the knife at a place that Alan could reach. Alan was also free but the difficult part was not showing it when the guards turned to look.

"Let's see if we can sneak over to our blasters." Alan pointed to the rifles and his blaster sitting next to the wall.

They slowly craweled over to them and quietly grabbed them. "Hey!" One of the gaurds turned and pointed his rifle at Alan but Alan was quick with a blaster and had downed both of them before they could get off a shot.

"Nice shooting sir." Zeshaun was in awe.

"Thanks," Alan smiled, "now lets go help our squad down in the building.

Alan and Zeshaun made sure no one else was up here and slowly entered the building.

The first room was full of pannels with a lot of buttons and lost of screens. The screens showed different rooms and hallways. "Those must be the security camera's, some of them are disabled." Zeshaun pointed to a couple of screens that were not showing any image.

"Lets find a way down, if I remember right that's where Lucky said they were going." Alan started moving down a hallway that had some signs with stairs on it.

They heard voices but weren't sure where they were coming from. "Be on your guard they could be in the rooms." Alan pointed to the doors on either side of the hallway.

Alan reached a door at the end of the hallway that had some stairs leading down. When Alan opened the door they could hear some footsteps fading away down the stairs. "Let's move." Alan and Zeshaun both moved down the stairs and after going down one set of stairs they reached the basement.

Alan motioned for Zeshaun to open the door and he would check to see if it was clear. Zeshaun whipped open the door and Alan went through with a  raised rifle. "Clear" Alan's voice came in over the comm.

Zeshaun followed him in and they entered a room full of cabinets and computers. The light was rather dim and there were a few doors in the back. They could not immediately see the people that they had heard coming down the stairs or the rest of the Paladin's.

"Let's search the room for any signs of a fight and then we'll search whatever is behind the doors next." Alan said

Zeshaun nodded. They started to walk through the aisles and aisles of shelves and cabinets.  Nothing interesting was to be found, it seemed that someone had come through earlier and ransacked the place.

"This room is all clear." Alan said. "Let's head over to the first door down there."


Zeshaun went up to the door and pointed down toward the ground. There was a light on in that room. "Okay, we'll do the same thing, whip open the door and I'll go in." Zeshaun nodded and positioned himself.

"Now." Alan said.

Zeshaun opened the door and Alan peaked around the frame to see who was inside.

"Open Fire!" A familiar voice shouted.

"Wait! Wait, It's Alan and Zeshaun we came down to save you guys!" Alan shouted.

The shots stopped and Zeshaun stepped out from behind the door. They were greeted by the rest of the Paladin squad.

"Did you guys run into trouble down here?" Alan asked

"You mean other than the twenty something guards that were hanging out down here? No." Lucky said.

"Well then we better search the place because we were attacked by 15 men and I think we only killed about 5 of them. The other ten should be somewhere down here." Alan said.

"Well, lets take a look." Lucky started out the door and headed for another door that was labeled archives

Alan was overjoyed when he heard Lucky saying she was going to take the squad out for drinks.  He licked his lips as he imagined a nice tall glass of cool corellian ale, no wait, make that two nice corellian ales, actually, come to think of it, his mind was thinking of a lot more than that.  Let’s get the job done so we can get to those drinks thought Alan.

The squad left the office and started walking down the corridor slowly.  Everyone was checking every corner knowing that was scumbags in here somewhere.  Up ahead, the corridor opened up into an open office workspace.

As soon as the squad entered the open area, several blaster bolts flew over their heads.  The squad dived for cover behind some desks.  Thank goodness these guys are lousy shots thought Alan.

Lucky started waving her hands around, silently ordering the squad to fan out.  The squad was very experienced and professional and soon all of them were moving in different directions, seeking out those that had fired the shots.

Alan had chosen to move to the far right of the room so that his back was against a wall.  He felt more secure in this location as he crawled along the floor.  From his vantage point, he was able to look along the floor.  He immediately spotted a pair of boots that were not standard imperial issue.

Knowing full well that none of the squad was wearing boots like that, Alan smiled to himself and fired.  The owner of the boots cried out and jumped in the air howling.  His howls did not last long because as soon as the man was up and out in the open, Alan downed him with a clean shot to the forehead.

Well that’s one down, I wonder how the rest of the squad is doing thought Alan.

Keeping his back to the wall, Alan continued his movement through the room.  He hadn't seen any other Delta Ohms and he was starting to wonder whether his squad mates had despatched all of them.  He hoped not as he wanted to kill a few more before returned back to the hotel for a much needed break and even more desired corellian ale.

He spotted Lucky moving stealthily through the middle of the room.  Alan thought about moving down to join her as there was nothing going on in his side when he spotted a Delta Ohm targeting her.  He brought up his com unit to inform her she was being targeted but found that the com unit was met with static.  Damn he cursed to himself either this room is well shielded or they are jamming our transmissions.

Without a second thought, Alan moved quickly but quietly towards the Delta Ohm.  He thought about firing a shot at the man but decided against it in case it alerted any others to his position.  Instead he snuck up behind the man and grabbed his head.  He twisted sharply and was satisfied when he heard an audible crack.  The man's head became floppy and Alan lowered the body gently to the ground.

Alan was about to return back to his previous position when he felt the barrel of a blaster being jammed into his back.  I'm dead he thought to himself.  Then he noticed from the corner of his eye a blaster bolt heading towards him.  It passed by and the blaster was no longer in his back.  He glanced round and saw the Delta Ohm lying down dead.  Alan glanced over and spotted a very bloody looking Zeshaun.  Alan gave him a quick salute and thought to himself looks like he's had some fun

I wonder how many more of them there are thought Alan as he moved back to the wall to continue his advance.

After Zeshaun took care of the man and he stepped out cautiously from the cover of the shelves. He saw Alan against a wall and threw a quick salute. Alan started to advance.

Zeshaun followed suit . Zeshaun rested the rifle at his side but was keeping a hand on it just in case someone surprised him.

"How is the clean up going?" Zeshaun asked through the comm. All he got was static.

Sithspawn, looks like they have some sort of jamming going on.
The squad was now unable to coordinate anything and they would have to go by visuals.

Zeshaun crawled through the desks and cabinets and followed a path parrallel to Alans. As Zeshaun crawled he saw a knee that was not in stormtrooper armor. Zeshaun took aim and fired.

The shot was very loud and broke the silence in the room but it did the job, the man was rolling around on the ground grabbing at his knee. As the man's head came into view Zeshaun shot again and the man was still.

He could hear a shuffle of feet as the men and the Paladin's moved themselves around. Zeshaun new that the Delta Ohms would be coming in his direction. He hoped Alan would pick up on this and help him out if needed.

Zeshaun also noticed that he was leaving a trail of blood along the floor from rubbing his armor against the ground. Sithspit Zeshaun had nearly laid out a map to his position.

He got up and moved at a quick trot. Shots flew by his head as he ran for cover. The shots taken at Zeshaun by the men had given their position away to the other Paldin's and they had been neatly taken care of.

OOC:

this was kind of short but will post again later, have to leave right now.

The squad, assuming that they were all dead, started out of the building. Zeshaun winced as the bright light of the sun caused his visor to adjust.

Suddenly a tide of bolts ripped the ground. Everyone dove for cover. Alan had a dismayed look on his face.

"What is it sir?" Zeshaun asked, he knew Alan must know what they were facing

"They've got an E-web." Alan said.

“What’s an E-Web?” asked Hassar.

Alan looke dover at Hassar  “It’s a heavy repeating blaster” replied Alan, “and we’ll be cut to shreds it we try to advance on it”.

“So what do we do?” asked Novacaine.

Zeshaun let out a sigh, we were so close to getting out of here.
The squad needed something with a lot of firepower, something like a grenade.

Zeshaun turned to Alan. "Sir, do you have a grenade?"

Alan grimaced, "Unfortunately, no but maybe someone else does."

Zeshaun looked around the group, everyone shook their heads.

"I have a flash bang." Lucky said as she crouched to avoid the bolts. "It won't kill them but it will give us a small gap to move in on their position."

Everyone knew the consequences, if the squad was a second late on the attack they would all be caught in the open ground and be mowed down.

"It's our best shot, let's do this." Alan got ready to spring out from behind the rock.

Zeshaun did the same if Alan's gonna do it then why not. Hassar, and Novacaine set up behind Lucky and Lennik came and set himself behind Alan.

"On the count of three. One...two...three!" Lucky lobbed the flash bang high into the air.

The bolts stopped coming and that was the cue for the squad to move.

Everyone made a mad dash toward the position of the E-web. Zeshaun saw some of the men that were trying to recover from the explosion as quickly as possible.

Almost at the same time, the squad started pouring laser fire into the crew of the E-web. Zeshaun saw a couple men go down.

One of the men, still partially blinded got his hand on the trigger and pulled it. A blast of bolts went up in the air. Luckily the man couldn't aim but randomly shooting an E-web could still be deadly against the enemy.

The men's shots slowly became more  and more accurate. The man at the gun aimed toward Alan's crew. Zeshaun aimed for the man pulling the trigger but before he could get his shot off the man flew back and hit a tree.

"Nice shot Lucky." Zeshaun said.

They fell upon the E-webs position. They caught most of the men as they were just recovering fully and their hands went straight up to their heads.

Lucky rounded them all up and cuffed them.

"What should we do with all these prisoners." Lennik asked.

Lucky just shrugged and looked around for suggestions.

The trip back to the hotel was uneventful. Zeshaun almost wished he could kill a few more guys before he was done but was looking forward to the vast amounts of ale Lucky would be buying the squad.

"Good job on your first real mission kid." Alan came up behind Zeshaun as they both headed toward the bar.

"Yeah, never expected so much from someone just out of the academy." Lucky was following Alan to the bar as well.

"I just do my best." Zeshaun replied trying to hide his embarrasment.

They walked into the bar and found Nova and Hassar already at the bar waiting and Lennik was not to far behind Zeshaun.

Once they were all seated at the bar Lucky cleared her throat. "Here is to another successful mission by the Paladin's, and for not having any casualties." Lucky raised her glass.

This was followed by a string of hurrah's, yeahs, and other things. The room seemed livelier than the fist time they came. Everyone was telling the stories that they went to and sharing things that they found and complimenting each other on nice shots.

Zeshaun and Alan were recollecting their time guarding outside the base and was captured. The rest of the squad filled them in on what they found in the basement.

The party went on for what seemed like an eternity and Zeshaun wished they could always be like this but by tomorrow or the day after Lucky would give them a briefing on another mission and they would be off to do another hard days work as a stormtrooper.

Lennik was amazed he didn't mess everything up, or get killed on this mission. While he didn't do much other than follow exactly what everyone else was doing, he was still excited for coming back from a mission, still alive and not kicked out of the squad. Paladin went back to the bar and had a few drinks, shared their tales and other things, then went to the hotel. Lennik savored every sip of his jawa juice, his favorite drink. By the time he finished, everyone else was heading to the hotel. He stepped out of the door and headed for the hotel as he saw Alan grab Lucky and bring her to a small corner of the bar.

As he walked on towards the hotel, his mind was filled with different thoughts. What if Alan was right, and those Delta Ohms are released? Damn, I would hate having to fight them again. Was the thought that kept coming back to Lennik over and over again. But then the occasional congratulative Wow, I just came back from my first mission as a storm trooper! came into Lennik's mind. Not watching where he was going, he bumped into the wall of the hotel, and he heard another soldier chuckle.

He scowled and walked into the hotel. Again, he couldn't stop thinking of his previous mission as he went to his room. When he got there, he just sighed and took off his armor. He placed a blaster under his pillow, and his vibroblade in an easy-to-reach area. After a long while of thinking, Lennik drifted off to sleep.