As the last of the bodies was piled up in the corner, Kanderin nearly jumped out of his skin. A large vibrating sensation had just ran all donw his right side, followed by a high pitched beep.

"Wait, your comlink works down here Kand?" Helena looked up from the bodies.

"Apparently" Kanderin shrugged, unbuckling his pocket to take it out. "A shame really, I quite liked the thing being unable to work, no one could bug me apart from who I actually liked"

As he pulled it out, he just had enough time to notice the signal bar vanish into oblivion again, indicating that he had probably found the only place in the entire complex a signal was possible, and them immediately lost it again. He pressed a few buttons and the message flashed up across the screen

"Dominion under attack, all squads are to return to the ship ASAP upon completing objectives"

"We're on the move guys, pack up and let's go" Kanderin called

"What about the tracker?" Ron asked, looking up from his laptop.

"I'm guessing we're too late to do anything about it anyway, and the fighting out there has gotten pretty heavy. Let's leave why we still have a ship to board"

"It's that bad out there?" RK asked.

"It's bad enough for Cosmic to decide enough's enough, put it that way"

The squad gathered together their weapons, laptops and stolen items from the mercenaries and headed for the door, Kanderin lagging behind just long enough to shut the door and lock it as best as he could, draining all light from the giant body heap in the corner and the unwanted attention it could attract.

Unfortunately it didn't occur to them until they had ran several hallways that they had been transported to the room as hostages, and that none of them had decided to remember where they were taken. They simply ran from hallway to hallway hoping for some sort of glowing sign illuminating their way.

"What floor are we on!" Someone's voice shouted behind Kanderin.

"I think we're quite close to the surface, if you listen carefully you can hear something" Helena replied, pulling Kanderin to a stop ahead of her. The whole squad froze, looking up to the ceiling for whatever noise she was pointing out.

"Are those fighters?" RK whispered.

"If they are, what the hell are they doing so close to the surface? Surely they should be up by the dominion" Joamer responded.

"They might be trying to scout us out, if they know we're here"

"Not in fighters they wouldn't, it's not suitable, they'd probably send men down or short range ships" Kanderin shook his head.
"Either way, let's move before they do something we don't expect."

Orobos sprinted around cover and smashed up against another wall of crates. Hurling himself around his rifle pressed against his shoulder he fired a stream of shots down towards a group of enemies. Two fell, the other ran diving behind cover and returning fire. Orobos ducked back as the red lasers flew by then popped his rifle around and blind fired around in the general direction of the troopers.

Orobos edged down the crates away from the fire still being pumped to the area around were he was. Pushing of the ground he rolled passed back to where the squad was and began firing. The enemy seemed more cautious then previous engagements they had made in the bunker. A few grenades flew through the air thrown by his squad-mates detonating all along the line of mercenaries hidden in cover. A few crates toppled, falling all around the enemy.

After another few minutes Orobos moved back around the cover and towards where he'd been. Removing his vibro-axe he pushed of sliding slightly on the floor coming in behind some crates piled up in a kind of crumpled heap. A few more members of Blackjack were flanking as well. Close combat weapons all clutched in their hands.

Diving Orobos grabbed the first of the mercs around the waist and threw him to the ground. Grabbing his helmet on both sides Orobos jerked his neck to the right a sickening crack coming from under the helmet. Jumping up he brought his axe around. The blade sunk into the mans shoulder. Dropping his weapon instantly the man fell his other free hand moving up to cradle his near severed arm. Orobos ignored him and moved quickly trying to keep momentum running through the rapidly rallying enemy.

After dispatching another enemy Orobos turned and was met by the flash of a rifle butt. The end of the weapon smashed into the front of his helmet. The armour absorbed some of the shock. Staggering back another blow came from a man lashing out at him with his foot. Catching the stormtrooper around the knee he was sent flying, falling on his back. Pulling out his pistol Orobos shot the mercenary who'd attacked him first shooting him twice in the stomach. The second man right behind him already had pulled out a combat knife. Orobos was just bringing his pistol up to train it on the man already lunging at him the knife clutched in his hand when a flurry of shots came from nowhere.

Looking to where they had come from Orobos saw Saphira and Tank standing there rifles following the progress of the mercenary falling to the floor. Orobos gave two thumbs up for perfect timing before rolling over. Holstering his pistol and returning his axe to it's sling he brought is blaster rifle up which had been swinging around his neck he fired another flurry of shots towards the slowly retreating enemy their numbers severely diminished.

Tanus ducked down as a pair of blaster bolts grazed his armor, sending him around a corner to make sure that no other damage had been done. When all he saw was scorch marks, he knew that he’d live to fight another day. He tossed a concussion grenade down range, knocking everything within 5 meters back another ten with sheer force. The enemy was beginning to fall back, and in-between Garryll’s bursts of flame and salvoes of blaster fire and grenades, it was a wonder they still managed to survive this long. Tanus took out his Samurai Edge and pumped a few shots down the way; he managed to hit one of the mercs in the shoulder while the other rounds either hit the walls or nothing at all. Another flame burst from Garryll funneled another three mercs into the open; Saph and Tank cut them down quickly as Tanus started firing at whatever body parts he could find. He managed to take down another two mercs before eventually he ran out of ammo and had to slam in a fresh clip. As he looked up, he saw two mercs making a move towards them.

“We have two bold ones Blackjack! Let’s show them where ambition leads!”

Tanus raised his rifle and unleashed a quick burst, followed by the rest of Blackjack squad. They were cut down in a flurry of superheated tibanna gas and fell to the ground, their bodies riddled with holes. As Tanus looked up at the remaining mercs and saw that they weren’t moving to follow, and also that there seemed to be fewer of them. That makes no sense. There should be at least seven more of them. Where in the Nine Hells are they? Tanus got his answer byt the sounds of footsteps to his right. He turned around and looked up to see two mercs getting into position, followed by another directly behind them.

“Flanks! Watch your flanks! Switch positions guys!”

Tanus turned and aimed his Samurai Edge at one of the mercs while aiming his rifle at the other. The one under the rifles gaze managed to move in time, but his companion was not so lucky. Three rounds hit his chest, and he was dead before he even hit the ground. Unfortunately, this gave the third man an open shot. As he was about to take it, BARman opened up, forcing him behind cover. As Tanus began to move forward a little, the second merc, tackled him to the ground, knocking his guns out of his hands. The next thing Tanus knew, he had a knife mere millimeters from his face. Tanus swore as he tried to throw him off, but it was no use. The merc was pressing down with all his might, trying to get the knife to pierce Tanus’ face plate. It would have been all over had it not been for Orobos’ indiscriminate firing. The split second the merc’s attention was off him was all he needed. Tanus pushed the merc off of him and grabbed his Samurai Edge and smacked him across the face with it, watching as spit and blood flew out of his mouth. The third merc attempted a shot, but Tanus ducked and rolled closer to him, knocking his rifle out of his hands; Saph but a few quick bolts in his chest bringing him down. As Tanus was about to get up from the crouch, the second merc charged him, knife extended and ready to strike. Tanus tried to divert it, but was only successful from it piercing his heart. Tanus was lifted off of his feet and slammed into a wall, with the blade of the knife sticking out of his leg. Adrenaline kicked in at that moment, and despite the fact that he was essentially numb, Tanus knew that he was going hurting later.

Tanus head butted the man, sending him reeling as he grabbed his own knife and marched forward, aiming to get vengeance. Tanus swung with the knife, all rage, just hoping to get the man loose on his feet. It happened eventually as he stumbled back to try and get his footing from the barrage of knife slashes. Tanus grabbed the man’s arm and tossed him into the wall, pistol whipping him a second time before jamming the knife up through his throat and through the roof of his mouth. Tanus removed the blade and sheathed it before crouching down; the adrenaline was beginning to wear off and Tanus was becoming aware of the knife in his leg all too well. As he removed, a small spurt of blood shot out of his leg. As he looked it over, Verkur came over and started to patch him up with a bacta patch and a sealant for the wound. Tanus then holstered his Samurai Edge and grabbed his S-FOX and put a spray of bullets downrange, sending more mercs into the open, only to be cut down by blaster barrages.

“C’mon guys! Let’s cut them down and get the kriffing hell out of here! Besides, I need to see a bloody doctor…”

Zeshaun stayed by the side of the pilot until the medics confirmed that he would be alright. Zeshaun relaxed and joined his squad gathered around the door in the back of the hangar. Lucky informed everyone that they had some time to themselves for the moment but she didn't know what was up so they should stay alert.

Zeshaun decided to go back to his room and get some rest or maybe go back to the bar. Zeshaun remembered from last time that the ship had a lack of signs and it would take some time to find both his room and the bar so he said his goodbyes and left the hangar.

After about 20 minutes of wandering around the ship he found his room, he took off his helmet and threw it down on the bed. He quickly unclasped his armor and stored it away in it's proper locker before finding some normal clothes to wear. His twenty minute walk with his armor on had gotten him very sweaty since the ship was well heated. Just as Zeshaun had lay down on his bed a knock came from the door.

"Who is it?" Zeshaun asked yelling from his bed.

It was Alan, he had come asking if he wanted to go get some drinks. Zeshaun looked back at his bed, contemplating whether he should rest or go get drunk. Zeshaun decided he could sleep after he got drunk. He grabbed his machine pistol, put on his leather vest and left out the door with Alan.

Zeshaun and Alan visited Nick, Novacaine and Requiem's room's as well and invited them to join. Novacaine declined but they convinced him that it was a good idea, Nick and Requiem were happy to join them.

When they arrived at the little restaurant Lucky was already sitting at a large booth in the back corner. It was dimly lit with candles at each table and there was some smooth jazz coming from the speakers. Zeshaun immediately relaxed and he took a seat next to Alan at the end of the booth.

A waitress came by not to much later and they all ordered some Correllian ale. The waiter left and within moment came back with their drinks.

"Here's to another mission without losing a trooper." Lucky said holding up her glass.

They all held up their glasses to the toast. Zeshaun still had an uneasy feeling that the mission wasn't quite over yet but he didn't care at the moment, he felt happy and he was going to enjoy evere second he spent with his squad.

"What do you think the enemy fighter's were about." Alan said putting down his half-empty glass.

Lucky shrugged and everyone else didn't know either. They all agreed that it couldn't be good. The arrival of two unknown star destroyers is always a bad sign. Zeshaun thought downing the last drops of his ale. The waitress came by and asked if he would like another but he declined. Best not to get too drunk when the situation is so uncertain He thought priding himself in being able to decline an ale.

After the next round of drinks arrived for the rest of the squad Zeshaun slightly regretted not ordering another drink himself. To remove the feeling of regret he ordered some food for himself to take back to his room. As Zeshaun started to nibble on the food that had arrived Lucky was called up to the bridge.

Alan turned to her and said "hopefully you'll get to find out what is going on".

"I hope so" replied Lucky, "you'd better get some rest and we may be called into action soon".

Zeshaun got up and said he was going back to his room to rest and he departed with his food. It took him another 10 minutes to actually find the right room. They really need to get some signs around here. Zeshaun thought slightly frustrated.

He put the food down on a counter next to his bed and he noticed for the first time that he smelled like a room full of wet dogs. He quickly got in the shower and took a long shower. It was soothing to be in the warm water especially after coming off of the cold planet of Anteevy.

He got out and he shivered, he went to the heater and turned it up. Once he was in another new set of clothes he went and sat on his bed. Zeshaun picked up his food and started to eat it.

Zeshaun turned on the holonet and clicked through the channels to see what was on. He found a show giving a history lesson on the reign of the emperor and gave some very descriptive first hand accounts from the major battles. 

He unholstered his machine pistol and set it on the nightstand. He went through every gun to make sure they were in pristine condition. The combination of the holonet's was stories and having his guns in his hand made Zeshaun want to go shoot something. He decided to go and find a simulation room or a shooting range.

I should probably be sleeping right now Zeshaun thought as he yawned. He had spent the last half-hour roaming the halls looking for the simulation room or the shooting range. By now he had given up looking and was aimlessly wandering the halls. He ran into the occasional navy crewman and he asked for directions.

"We do not have either a simluation room or a firing range sir." The navy crewman said giving Zeshaun a strange look/

Zeshaun nodded and continued walking to the end of the hall and took a right. I think that crewman was messing with me, there has to be some kind of firing range on board Zeshaun thought very confused.

After an hour of searching he compeltely gave up and returned to his room. He threw his guns down onto the floor and fell onto his bed almost falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The officers were cowering on the far side of the cabin when the RAIDERS stormed in. Two of them turned and fled into the cockpit, sealing it before anyone could stop them. One of the remaining three, his Imperial standard uniform revealing him to be a General, lifted a blaster pistol in one shaking hand.

"Stop...don't come any closer..." the officer stuttered.

Dante aimed his DT-57 at the man's head, but Sniping101 gestured for him to stand down.

"Surrender, General, and you'll go unharmed. Once you've told us what we need to know, you might even be released." The last statement was a lie, but the officer didn't need to know that.

The man stared at the RAIDERS squad leader's expressionless helmet, uncertain. Dante noticed the man's eyes were bloodshot and his uniform was  covered with dust from the firefight.

"I have your word?" the officer whispered quietly, his weapon hand dropping an inch.

Battlemont nodded.

"May the Force help me if I'm wrong."

The pistol dropped from General Moteurs hand. Vox bent down and retrieved the weapon.

"Your hands please, gentlemen."

Moteurs shrugged and extended his arms. Dante clamped the stun-cuffs onto his wrists, then stepped back again. The other two followed suit.

"And now, for your colleagues in the cockpit..."

The doorseal came down after a few impacts from the butt of Dante's A-280. The two officers were waiting, armed with E-11s from a rack on the wall. Before they could fire, the RAIDERS had shot each of them with several stun shots. Their limb bodies were dragged unceremoniously into the main cabin and they were handcuffed and tied down.

Sniping101 returned to the shuttle's cockpit and looked at the controls.

"Anyone know how to fly a shuttle like this?"

When no one replied, the squad leader muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "rookies" under his breath and plopped into the pilot's seat.

"You three, keep an eye on our guests. Virius, you're co-pilot."

Dante walked back into the cabin, where Gaz was standing in front of the ramp, keeping his rifle trained on the group of officers. As Dante joined him, the ramp hissed and rose smoothly until it was fully raised. As the chamber sealed, the shuttle's engines activated and the small luxury craft began to turn.

Suddenly, the ship shook, and there were curses from the cockpit.

"Frak!"

The ceiling holoscreen showed groups of heavy weapon wiedling wielding mercenaries pouring into the hanger. As Dante watched, one fired a rocket at the shuttle, causing its shield to flare and die.

"Eat this, Sithspawn..."

Virius activated the ship's rear laser cannon. The heavy cannon tore through groups of trooopers and their weapons, hitting a crate of thermal detonators. The ensuring explosion tore that section of the hanger apart and caused a cave-in. As rubble continued to fall, and secondary explosions occurred around the structure, the shuttle flew from the hanger and into the pristine air of Anteevy.

"Next stop's the Dominion, RAIDERS!" Sniping 101 whopped as he sent the small craft soaring upwards. The ship's IFF code meant that they successfully bypassed all of the base's defenses, a code which Sniping101 changed once they were in the upper atmosphere.

This part of the mission was all but over.

=Double post, accident, sorry, please delete.

Requiem had an unbreakable feeling to explore, him not having enough time to observe The Dominion before departure to the Ice planet Anteevy was dis-heartening. He had welcomed the thought of having the time he had now to explore the vast space's and hallway's of The Dominion.

He had jumped from his spot on the stranded shuttle the second they had told him to " Please. . . take your time you will be informed on more objectives on your mission soon ", even though no matter how much time he had to survey the ship he still wouldn't be able to see all of it including the classified room's or inside of the important area's in one day or how many hours he had, but he still kept on trying to see as much as he could.

Damn, this ship is huge Requiem's helmet was constantly held looking most of the time he was on the dominion, this being his first time actually on the ship itself casually until his next mission was cherished time and he wanted to see all of it. If i ever feel Uncomfortable anywhere, at least i can remember The Dominion .

Requiem knew he was going to have a sore neck the next day but he didn't mind that at all. He began to see the large intricate workings of the Dominion and wanted to see the large power system it had to control all of what was inside. that would make my day. . . Requiem looked ahead of him and saw a large fork in the road on all directions The hell am I going ?

Requiem had taken the left passage and ran down it in a certain haste almost believing that the person responsible for the generator would leave his post and keep the door open, this is what he wanted to have happen but he didn't want anyone to find out if he tinkered with any of the large equipment Ahh I could say I was the repair guy Requiem looked to his attire while he was running and noticed his Array of weapon's and storm trooper armor Wow. . . am I that tired ? Requiem shook his head and looked to his ComLink I could find out what the rest of the squad is doing ?

" Hello ? "Requiem spoke out slowly into the ComLink trying his best not to have the feedback of his running enter the Mic.

" Whadda ya Want ? " Requiem heard Nick use the feed and reply back. he seems hes at the bar Onto someone else than

" Zeshaun ? " Requiem heard loud static and snoring so he presumed he was sleeping.

" Alan ? " Requiem heard loud blaster fire over the ComLink and tried to think of a way to get closer to Alan.

" Damnit anyone know which direction Alan went ? "Requiem spoke to the people around him who ran by to get to their duties and shook their head no help ? Requiem ran through the hall to get to where he was going.

Requiem stopped in one spot as he ran through the full length of the hallway and came to a crossroads, Requiem strafed his head in both directions and tried to use his hearing to get closer but he guessed and went left and to his surprise it was right. he burst through a metallic door with his weapon's in the ready but only saw other troopers and officer's firing down into 7 lanes. they had a firing range ? Requiem laughed inside and saw Alan at the 6th Lane Requiem went over to the 7th and took out his Machine Pistols.

Requiem yelled over the loud Piercing sounds of the Weapon's and tried to reach Alan in some way but to no avail well while I
m here Requiem began to open fire on the target's as they appeared in front of him from activation of the control panel to his right. He smiled as they were a good form of practice and he was happy that if he missed it wouldn't damage the ship in any way.

Nick closed and clipped it back onto his armor, which he still had equipped. He didn’t bother to take it off, they would be receiving their next objective soon. He took a final sip from his corellian whiskey and placed it on the counter. He hopped off the seat. He was tired of sitting and drinking. He wanted something worth doing. Despite his dizziness and lack of accuracy, Nick Draxen headed towards the Firing range. He had known that some form of training area was on the ship, but he had never gotten the chance to visit it.


There was only one problem. He had no idea whatsoever as to where the practice range was. One of the crewmembers walked by Nick. It was his only chance to get directions.

‘’Excuse me.. Could you show me the entrance to the shooting range ?’’ Nick asked.

The crewman nodded. He didn’t seem like the talkative type. He lead the Lance Corporal down the hallways of the Star Destroyer. After a while, they had finally stumbled upon the shooting range. Within it, Nick could see two familiar faces from his squad. Alan and Requiem had beat him to the ranges location. They were too busy trying to hit the targets to turn around and greet him.

Nick was surprised he had not been invited into this. He didn’t like it when he was left out, uninvited. Nonetheless, Alan and Requiem understood that he enjoyed drinking and games like Sebacc.

Nick went to the side of the range. Large arrays of weapons filled the wall. It was in Nicks eyes, a marvelous sight. Nick grabbed a weapon he had not used in a long time, the E-11 blaster rifle. It was the standard stormtrooper rifle but Nick preferred to stick to the more advanced and effective.

‘’So.. I guess the Sarge still hasn’t arrived back ?’’ Nick wondered.

‘’No.’’ Alan said, he was concentrating on the targets.

Draxen had wondered what was going on. He could tell the rest of Paladin squad was extremely restless, except for Zeshaun. Nick figured he should do some training as well. He stationed himself next to Requiem and began firing away.

Another four squads of mercenaries came sprinting down the hallways towards the control rooms the Wraiths had just left, seemingly oblivious to the fact the squad that had caused the chaos were hiding mere feet away from them. Kanderin shot dark looks at any members of the squad who seemed to be about to take a gasp of air, knowing that the smallest sound would be amplified by the small space they were in and heard by everyone outside. It was a miracle in the first place they had managed to find such a perfect hiding place, he didn't want to ruin it now.

There was a gap after the third squad, the fourth seemingly being distracted elsewhere temporarily. Kanderin took the gap and whispered to the rest of the squad
"The moment this next one is out of sight, we make a break for it. I'm guessing the exit is where they came from, so follow me right". The squad nodded in response and went back to their prone positions, the dark shadows of the fourth squad starting to stretch their way across the floor.

It seemed a good few minutes before the shadows dissipated into the genuine articles, the squad being led by admittedly a very short, weedy Squad Leader.  His glasses dropped below his nose as he ran, causing him to stagger slightly as he pulled them back up his face. His assistant had to be careful not to collapse completely over him, his huge frame dwarfing his bosses.

The next man however, caused them a problem. His vision seemed to lack a focus, his pupils deciding to scan every nook and cranny of the hallway they were running down. For a squad currently hiding in one of those spots, it was a problem. Kand and the rest of the squad watched the mans eyes closely, begging them not to fall on their own. Inevitably though, they did, and the man opened his mouth to cry out. What happened next however, took everyone by surprise. Helena, without a second of warning, lunged out of the tiny storage closet and came crashing down upon the helpless man, like a tiger bearing down on its prey. The other four men following him had no time to react and simply stumbled over them, collapsing into a huge heap of bodies. RK and Joamer were next out of the room, just in time to spot the Squad leaders turn around and begin to raise the guns. The Wraith's however were too fast, gunning them down before either could lock a finger onto the triggers.

Kanderin hadn't realised how long he had been stood watching this unfold however, and only snapped out of his trance when he heard RK cry out, one of the men on the ground grabbing at his ankle. He didn't want to draw his gun, firing again could attract attention, so he did the next thing that came to his mind, and swung a foot towards the man. He connected heavily with the side of the mans face, the force pushing him towards the wall and into it with a bone shattering crash. Several teeth fell loose underneath Kanderin's boot, and the moment he moved his foot the man just dropped to the floor unconscious.

"Thats what you get for not wearing a helmet" Kanderin muttered, looking around at the rest of his squad, who were now watching him in shock. They had the rest of the mercenary squad subdued, guns pointed to their necks or foreheads.

"What do you say we do with them?" Antos asked, kicking the man below him who shuffled slightly.

"We should just kill them and move on" Leon answered.

"No, I'm going to be nice and let them keep their lives" Kanderin shook his head, and many of the hostages cried out in joy. "Strip them and throw them in the closet, lock it behind you"

"What!?" The one closest to Kanderin shouted.

"We cant have you crying out and ruining our getaway now, can we?" Kanderin winked, before removing the weapons of the man. The rest of the squad got to work as well, and five minutes later five fully grown men, two of them unconscious were thrown into the closet, wearing nothing but their underwear.

"Oh and Helena" Kanderin called as he used a broom from in the closet to wedge the door.

"What?" She answered.

"Dont jump on anyone like that ever again, it's way too creepy"

Helena shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

"I liked it" Leon added in "Very amazon like, hugely attractive"

"Compare me to an amazon again Leon and I'll clobber you too"

"Enough guys" Kanderin smiled "Let's get out of here"

After the squad finished ransacking the decent parts of the mercenaries equipment, they sprinted back and around to the right, where they were met with a large set of stairs. At the top was a door, which after being forced open by the majority of the squad, led them out into the open once more, met by the two feet of snow now suffocating their feet. Immediately the squads comlinks went crazy, chattering into action with five or six intercepted conversations at once. From the co-ordinates being pointed out, they were roughly right below where the Dominion was, but the distance between them was still to great for him to be able to see the ship.

"This is Wraith's squad leader, any transport ships available?" He called into his comlink. For a few moments nothing seemed to change, the chatter if anything got louder. Then out of nowhere, a voice came through clear as day.

"Christ, you guys have taken your time, I've been waiting forever. Where the hell are you?"

"We got sidetracked a little" Kanderin replied "And we've just come out of the complex, we're what appears to be a few clicks north of where you dropped us off"

"Roger that Sergeant, I'm on my way now. Any casualties?"

"No, we're all fine, just hurry up and get down here"

"Easier said than done, it's chaos up here. In all honesty I think you'd be safer staying down there, but orders are orders"

OOC:

Just noticed the timeline our posts have been heading on is slightly different to Rizzit's, I'll sort it out this post.

The speeder's landing sent several pounds of snow crashing over the squad, successfully making them even colder.

"Sorry about that, I misjudged it's depth a little bit" The pilot smiled, opening the doors for the squad to enter.

"Whatever, you did that on purpose" Kand snarled, shaking the snow loose from his armor.

"Heh, you got me. Let's get moving though, I dont want any of those fighters to catch me up"

The squad made their way up the ramp and dropped off their weapons and helmets at the storage compartments, and sitting down on the seats near the cockpit. The pilot made sure everything was secure, before pressing a button on a controller and shutting the large transporter doors, a loud clunk signalling they were locked.

"I'd buckle your seatbelts this time guys, things are getting pretty rough up there" He called, sitting down in his own seat and pressing a few buttons to start the engines up once more.

"How rough?" Rk asked, gulping.

"Well, we have enough trouble for me to need to ask for a fighter escort back into the Dominon" He shrugged.

After that there weren't many complaints from the squad, all of them buckling their belts and tightening them as far as they would go. A few seconds later the ship took off, once again sending snow flailing everywhere. The ship didn't accelerate, instead the pilot used the time until they broke the atmosphere and headed towards the Dominion to call for his backup. There were a few crackled responses that weren't audible to the squad, before he cursed and clicked off the radio angrily.

"What's the problem?" Kand called forward.

"They say they cant back us up with a flight, the best they can do is two fighters"

"Then you'll just have to fly fast" Kand responded.

"Easier said than done considering what's going on up there. You'll see what I mean soon enough"

With a flick of one of the controls, the ship accelerated to near it's top speed, allowing it to break the atmosphere, the blue of the fading out into a dark black. From the east the two fighters arrived, positioning themselves to either side of the shuttle and accelerating along with it. Pretty soon, the Dominion came into view, it's hulking structure currently engulfed in fighters. There were two more larger ships in the distance, that appeared to just be sitting there.

"What the hell are those things doing there?!" Helena shouted

"Lady, I have no clue, nor do I want to. Now I need to focus, so please, be quiet"

Helena simply growled and sat back in her seat, watching what was going on out of the view screen intensely. They saw the two fighters accelerate at either side of them, ready to act as a barrier and engage any of the enemy ships that got too close. They had gotten close enough to pick out individual fighters now, in particular the flight of four ships that had turned away from the assault and headed towards them.

"Four against two? This is bad" The pilot warned. "I'm taking evasive manoeuvres, hold onto your seats"

The ship banked to the left, sitting in the wake of the one fighter. He sat there for a while, before spiralling off further left, right out of the way of the fight. The view screen to the right was still able to witness the approaching dogfight, so most of the squad turned their attention to that. What they saw, they couldn't quite believe. The two escort fighters fired their weapons and managed to take down one of the ships, but the other three didn't react, and instead carried on heading straight at them. The two ships had to each barrel roll to avoid impact, before quickly turning on their axis to face the ships once more.

The enemy however never turned around again, instead they headed back towards the two larger ships. The squad looked forward again, and saw the rest of the enemy ships were doing the same.

"They're retreating!" Antos shouted

"Mhm" The pilot nodded again. "But dont you think that's odd? They had us outgunned quite badly, they could probably of taken us down. But they didn't, they just left"

"They were after something, or at least creating a diversion" Kand replied.

"You're guess is as good as mine, let's just get back inside, I dont feel safe with those two things looming over us"

The pilot thanked the two fighters over the radio, before turning back towards the Dominion's hangers.

The BlackJacks had managed to, against all odds, escape death unscathed. That's not to say that the squad as individuals weren't hurting...

"God dammit!" cursed Gates, his leg burning as the painkillers wore off again.

The squad limped out of the base, the very buildings shaking ominously. And it is a very good idea to get out of a building if permacrete walls are shaking.

"What the hell is it, earthquake?" asked Dinin, looking back.

"Damned if I know. Must be pretty stupid to set your base up on a fault plate."

"Maybe they did it because the lower levels were all carved out that way."

"I don't care, there's the dropship."

A trio of dropships rested on the hard-packed snow; a couple dozen men were crouched in the snow in blurry white outlines.

Fortunately, the Stormtroopers weren't the only forces on this hell hole.

Gates grasped his rifle, checked his flamer and other weapons. He only had a few clips left  for his DC, a scant two seconds' continuous fire for his flamer, but a few grenades, his knife, and a dozen clips for his pistol.

He sighted the soldiers near the dropships; they had a small Imperial Insignia, and fortunately, as pathetic as his HUD was, it was designed to cut through snow and affirmitively tagged the soldiers as friendlies. The tech they had dragged along was white with cold and was bleeding out of his arm.

A few random shots came from behind them, the mercs' last attempts to stop the escaping soldiers. Tanus fired off orders quickly.

"Anyone who's hit, fall back. Anyone who's not, stand to and repel the mercenaries."

Gates and Tank supported the tech, who looked very close to death.

The other stormtroopers turned and fired at the mercenaries.

The two men managed to get back to the dropship in under a minute, dropping off the tech inside one of the dropships that was designated the medical, where a trio of overworked medics fixed up soldiers.

Gates stuck another painkiller into his thigh, looked at the syringe, and cursed.

"What," asked Tank.

"I've exceeded the maximum dosage by about, five times. I should probably be in a coma by now."

"Oh, that's bad."

"Yeah, it is, especially out of combat." Gates limped over to the medics, who diagnosed him in seconds, handing him another syringe. "Dammit, not more needles."

"You need to get the drugs out of your system, and this will neutrialize a good amount of it. Hopefully, it will also keep you conscious, but its going to hurt like hell."

"Whatever, as long as I can stay awake."

The ASL stuck the needle into a vein, pushed its contents in. In seconds, his leg and stomach throbbed, then burned.

He looked at Tank, "He was right, it does hurt like hell."

They must be well paid....that has to be it.  That’s the only explanation that Dinin could come up with as to why the mercs were still chasing them into the snow-packed landscape, towards additional squads of snow-troopers.  Either that or they really wanted to die.  Might as well give them what they want, he thought as Tanus, Saph, and himself turned and picked off the few remaining mercs that hadn’t learned their lesson.

That finished, Dinin made his way to the dropships and called a medic.  They looked over his hand quickly before giving him a shot of painkillers and packing it full of bacta tape and wrapping thoroughly before admonishing him about getting shot.  Because he obviously did it on purpose.

Dinin let the patronizing slide...he just wanted to sit down and rest.  He made his way to the dropship that was assigned to the Black Jacks and settled himself in one of the seats, strapping himself in and stowing his helmet under his seat.  His long black hair, usually tied up for missions had fallen at some point and laid, disheveled over his shoulders.

He quietly put his head back and fell into the deep sleep that only exhaustion can bring.  He woke with a start just as the dropship began its ascent with the rest of his squad.

Dinin wanted to feel that they had done their mission well, he really did, but he had troubles feeling like they had succeeded when the atmosphere of the pilots told him that there was still so much to be done.

Dante felt a bullet ping off his right arm and swore under his breath as the offender fired again, catching him in the chest. Bringing his own gun up, the Sergeant First Class emptied the clip into the offender. He dropped, momentarily stunned. Dante ducked, managing to avoid a spray of bullets from Gaz. He returned fire, but the wily Corporal had thrown himself to the ground and avoided the burst. Firing from his position of the ground, the RAIDER managed to catch Dante in the helmet. Slightly dizzy from the impact, the trooper dropped his practice sidearm in disgust. Andar smiled and got up...only to find himself staring down the barrel of a training rifle held by the Lieutenant.

"Bang." the officer said calmly, then smiled. "Nice work, everyone. Gaz, Dante, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. Reliance on your suits' systems might work for most missions, but you'll be in a world of hurt if ,Force forbid, you're working outside the cans or if their sensors fail. Equipment breaks; your body won't. Walcroft, your marksmanship need improvement. I've seen better aim from Gungans. Other than that, good job. Dismissed!"

The various troopers filed out, replacing the training weapons on racks located outside next to the doorseal. His chest and forehead still aching from hits, Dante walked side by side with Gaz for several corridors, then took a left, heading for a different destination from the other RAIDER. Glancing at a map of the Dominion displayed on his datapad, the Sergeant First Class jogged through the hallways towards the nearest armoury. The occasional darkened stretch of corridor and the flashing emergency lights served as reminders that the Dominion was still technically engaged with the enemy.

Despite the occasional explosion beyond the viewport and the shuddering from turbolasers recoiling meters away, Dante felt there was no real danger. The Dominion was more than a match for most ships of its class, and Captain Elith was competent enough. Whistling a Mandalorian war chant to himself, the trooper made his way to the armoury.

OOC:

Cursed, I though that RAIDERS was currently a four or five man squad, and that Famus and the others were gone...

Corporal Drax Honin looked up as the blast doors leading into the armoury slid apart. A figure in the standard black stormtrooper bodysuit strode in confidently, walking up to the counter and rapping on it with its gloved right hand.

"Yes?"

"I need... six power cells for a zee-six and a replacement right chest piece for a suit of snowtrooper armour. Oh, and grenades."

"How many?"

The figure paused, looking around the shelves.

"A dozen."

"A dozen?" he gasped.

The trooper nodded amiably, the mad glint in its eyes barely visible.

"Yep."

Honin shrugged and walked into the back, hefting the explosives in a canvas bag. He dropped it onto the counter, and the trooper picked it up with one hand. Swinging it at his side with a disturbing lack of caution, the Sergeant walked back out. Shaking his head, the Corporal picked up his holozine and reopened the page he was at before the trooper came in.

====

Dante pushed the activation button on the holopanel and threw the bag in before the doorseal had fully opened. It landed on his bunk with a loud rattle as its contents banged against each other. Gaz looked up, registering Dante's presence with a slight shrug. The other four RAIDERS were either lying on bunks or stripping down weapons. Sniping101 was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's our exalted leader?" Dante ironically asked. His lack of confidence in their squad leader was well known.

Gaz stared for a second, then grinned.

"Not sure. Word of mouth is that all the SL's are in a briefing right now."

Dante shrugged, and sank onto his bunk with a dramatic flourish. Reaching for the satchel he'd thrown onto the bunk a moment earlier, he began to pull out the grenades and pile them up on the other side.

I love this job...