Helena carried the mounds of books back out of the door, turning herself through the door sideways making sure she didn’t drop them again. After a few steps of agonising back pain and almost knocking the coffee machine off its stands, she finally reached the conference room that RAIDERS were to meet her at. Helena got pulled off her feet as Kanderin grabbed her round a corner.

“I’m so happy for you, I really am” a tear leaked from the corner of his eye.

“Kand, I’m always going to be here.” She wiped the single from his cheek and smiled, still struggling to carry the books.

“You were an amazing ASL to me, and more importantly an amazing friend. Who am I going to have late night coffee sessions with me now?” He joked, trying to see the upside of her leaving.

“I still can, and eh, I’m still your friend!” She smiled.

They both shared a moment before Kand gave her a quick hug.

“I’m still on this mission with you, nothing is going to change. I promise you’ll still see me around. But now, I have to go and meet my squad” She nodded briefly and professionally.

Kand smiled, he was proud of her progress although he was sad to see her leave. Helena smiled back before heading around the corner and stopping at the briefing room. She took a deep breath before pushing the door open with her back. The room gasped. RAIDERS weren’t expecting their new SL as a female. They were stunned more than anything. Helena placed her books down and stood behind the desk. She was very nervous, and you could tell, she was starting to shake and to stammer a bit.

“Well, H-Hello RAIDERS. I’m Helena, your new SL if you haven’t noticed already”

She waited for the polite laughter but it never arrived. In panic she frantically searched through her notes to see what she should cover in her introduction. She had a whole list of things, but she decided to keep it short and sweet.

“We are currently going on a mission with Wraith, as most of now know. We are going to monitor spectators outside of a Stadium on the planet Dendros. Dendros and Vantti are playing each other in a match. Now, Dendros and Vantti have major conflict issues, so expect lots of riots and things along those lines. Please stop me if I’m going to fast” She smiled sweetly, lifting her head up from the notes she had just read her way through.

“Miss?” called out Jaenna.

“Yes?”

“It’s my first mission, I’d like it to go smoothly. Is that guaranteed?”

“With me as SL? Of course it will” She giggled.    

The boys of the squad how ever were still trying not to make it obvious they were staring at her. It was the most unattractive thing you could ever imagine.

“I’ll continue then. Transport has been arranged for both squads which is departing 9am tomorrow morning. You'll be arriving on Dendros at about 4pm local time, three hours before the match kicks off. If no one has any further questions, I guess I’ll see you bright and early in the morning!” She began to gather her things up before sliding infront of the door so no one could leave.

“Oh, and just a quick note. If you don’t get up and start getting ready by 6am, I shall get the cold water bucket. Now, I’m sure you don’t want that” she smiled sweetly once again before letting the moaning squad members leaving the briefing room.

”I think I’m going to get used to this” she whispered to herself, clutching the locket that hung around her neck and smiling.

OOC:

Right guys, I apologise for it being a bit brief but my Word is playing up. But hey, that's your intro, do what you wish until the morning. I want to make sure who ever is still active posts something before we depart if you catch my drift

Staying seated at the square table that most briefing session were held at, Jaenna began to fiddle with her thumbs, turning them over each other in little circles, trying not to let them touch. The fact that this was going to be her first mission was obviously beginning to affect the young trooper. Despite having graduated early from the academy, and having plenty of physical strength... the thought that she might end up having to kill made her heart skip a few beats every time she thought about it.

"Man... I hope this mission is going to go smoothly." Jaenna heard some dark haired soldier saying to his friend as the two stepped out of the briefing room.

With a soft sigh and a a run through of her hair by her hand, she stood and straightened out her Semi-formal attire, trying to look her best in front of the new SL. The new SL... It was slightly comical, how Jaenna was two years older than Helena. But age didn't matter in the army. As long as you showed that you had the potential and you could carry out your duties with the least amount of faults, then you were considered good for the job at hand.

Jaenna ran another hand through her auburn hair and straightened her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose as she walked up to Helena, a soft smile flickering across pale-pink lips.

Helena was busy trying to sort out a few more of her notes, and didn't seem to notice Jaenna at first. That was until Jaenna startled the poor new SL by clearing her throat.

"Ah. Oh. Sorry. You startled me, trooper." Helena said with a soft chuckle. "Is there something you needed?"

With a nod and a chuckle, Jaenna replied. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your new position of SL, Miss Helena." Jaenna's light sea-foam eyes glittered with obvious idolization of the female Squad Leader. "Lets just hope that the boys can stay mature about having to take orders from a female, right?" She allowed a soft laugh to roll over her lips. Helena joined in on the laughter before turning back to her notes and sorting through some more of them.

"Yeah. I hope they can. I was so nervous during that briefing..." The SL stated with a sigh.

Jae began to lift a hand to place on Helena's shoulder in comfort, but decided to abandon the friendly gesture for fear of breaking some sort of code of conduct. Instead she smiled and shrugged. "You'll be a great SL, Miss. I'm sure of it"

"Thank you, trooper."

"The name's Jaenna, Miss Helena." Jae stated with a chuckle and a smile.

"Right then. Jaenna." Helena responded. "Why don't you go rest up? Or start packing for tomorrow morning? I don't want to have to pour some cold water on you."

Jaenna nodded and saluted. "Yes, mam." She then turned and left the room, leaving Helena behind to finish sorting through her notes.

"I could get used to this." She said quietly to herself as smug smile begin to stretch her lips.


~~~~


Back in the barracks, Jaenna was busy stressing about tomorrow's mission. Not only was it her first one, but it was the first mission with a new SL. And this gal was determined to prove herself worthy of higher thinking. As she moved about her room, grabbing this and that, stuffing it into the back that she would end up taking with her in the morning, her mind couldn't help but race to other thoughts of sometimes the most random things.

Her gang back on Coruscant.

The fact that she still didn't know who killed Op'ahju.

And even, believe it or not, what she was going to have for dinner tomorrow night.

Jeeze, this girl had a bad case of racing thoughts. It was distracting her horribly. Even to the point of not being able to study for her Com tech training. But right now... that didn't matter. She needed to finish getting ready for first mission.

"Armor... Armor... There it is!" She exclaimed as she finally located the shiny white armor. "Now for the polish... There!" She had found both things that she required for making sure that her armor, that she had yet to wear for any type of battle, was cleaned and presentable.

About a half hour of tough polishing, and whining to herself about some parts of the armor didn't fit correctly, she set it aside in preparation for tomorrow, and sighed as she finally allowed herself to lay back on her bed with a soft thud.

"Just a few hours until morning..." She told herself, trying not to let her eyes drift shut. She was bored, and needed something to do in order to keep her spirits. But right now... there's was nothing for her to do, for she had no acquaintances within her Squad just yet, and she didn't want to get on her Com to contact Ulip. So, poor Jae would just have to deal for now.

Karash sat and awaited Raiders new SL; he hadn’t really been in the squad all that long and was looking forward to see who it was. Though there was a definite feeling of unrest amongst the squad; the older members were just anxious and the newer members seemed worried because they never experienced this before.

As Karash began to feel increasingly bored the new SL walked into the room looking a bit weighed down by the amount of paper work she was holding. It was then that it dawned on Karash that it was indeed Senior Sergeant Helena who was now in charge.

“Well, H-Hello RAIDERS. I’m Helena, your new SL if you haven’t noticed already” she stuttered.

It was visible that she was nervous but there was still an air of authority around her and the squad listened tentatively. After hearing about the mission, Karash stood gave a salute and left the room.

As he made his way back to the barracks Karash began to wonder how his ‘new’ squad would conduct it self if anything did happen. After a childhood of living with a gambler, who was often drunk, he knew just how people at these events could behave and also knew it was naive to think they would have an easy ride.

It didn’t bother Karash that the new SL was female but he was worried about how others may react to this because the last thing the squad needed was an ‘argument’ in the middle of a mission.

~~~~Later That Night~~~~

Karash stood next to his bed and was rummaging through his armour whilst listening to other squad members complain about something or other; it was then that Karash heard a crash and realised that the Grahim had dropped something which made the squad jump out of their skin.

“Sorry,” apologised Grahim.

Karash sat and thought for a moment about his previous encounters with Gungans and although they could be clumsy they were reliable and generally efficient and Karash was looking forward to seeing him and the other new recruits in action.

As he finished sorting out his armour, Karash’s thoughts turned back to the mission and what was awaiting them all at this ‘event’; though Karash wanted things to go smoothly he also wanted to see some decent action. All that remained of Karash’s preparations were to sort out his weaponry.

The E-11 rifle was all primed and ready for action, placed his Kylan-3 blaster pistol in its correct position and snuck in one or two grenades. All ready and packed up Karash sat down and began to think just what was going to happen. It was then that the usual stuff started to flow through Karash’s mind:

‘What would unfold on this planet, how would people react’ and most importantly ‘would they all survive’. Also Karash could sense the pressure that was on the squad to perform well, not only for the SL’s credibility but also how this would affect the new recruit’s careers.

Karash then continued to ponder useless scenarios and pieces of information and listening to the continuing noise of the rest of the squad.

Once more, Zorgn's target looked over his shoulder, fear just beginning to show as he realized that there was no longer any doubt. It couldn't be possible, but the man in the foam varactyl suit was stalking him.

For twenty-odd minutes now, Zorgn had been following the tall businessman from main streets to side streets, circling around a few times and retracing his footsteps while the large greenish suit steadily heated from sunlight and use. Visibility from the fangy mouth was poor, but worked. It would all pay off eventually he knew. The looks on their faces- There. Zorgn grinned and broke into a run as the man looked back one last time and dashed into a distant crowd. No matter, he'd been tagged and could only be lost for a short time.

Dressing in foam suits shaped like exotic creatures and following people was a unique and rewarding passtime in Zorgn's view. The reactions of some people, be it fear, anger, or otherwise, always gave him a good laugh later on. Unfortunately he was having to move farther and farther from stormtrooper HQ to avoid the local police forces. Today, his distance would cut the chase short.

"And there it is," he mumbled as a three note chime sounded from somewhere inside the suit. "Time to go. Game over, everyone goes home." A green, clawed hand raised in a caricatured salute before he turned and began to run the race to his speeder and first squad meeting in a long time.



The suit was gone by the time he arrived at the meeting, stuffed into the back of his Wandering Flier. The thing handled like a brick, but was roomy enough to shove a few more bodies than there were chairs in it, and it lent itself well to oversized bodysuits. His garrison uniform was not in the best of shape, but wouldn't get him shot, and in the end, that's all that mattered.

Things passed as well as they could have, he supposed. It was a power transfer again, and the squad looked like hell. Two vets and the new squad leader. Zorgn was admittedly rusty, but could compensate with firepower and armor if they'd let him. His relatively new A280 practically called to him and begged to be used. Unfortunately, crowd control probably wasn't the place for high-powered anti-armor weaponry. Not the way the higher ups intended it at least.

He nodded quickly to to the SL as he passed her, turned down the corridor, and made for the sunlight.

"You called for me, Kanderin?" Ron said.  He was slightly misshapen, his storm commando armor was only on him in pieces, his chest piece down was complete, but he only had one arm armored and his back was still exposed.  His face was unshaven and still bore a heavy layer of grisly stubble that ran from his ears to his chin.  His long black hair fell loose about his face and eyes, but other than that his complexion was the same; slightly weary with a tendency to break out into a jovial smile when amused.

"Hmm?" Kanderin said as he turned away from his own equipment.  Kand's equipment was organized and neat, and Ron felt some small embarrassment after reviewing his own disheveled state.  Once Kanderin noticed Ron, he remembered what he was about to say and put down the barrel of a blaster rifle he was inspecting.

"Oh yes, Ron." he looked at the armor assembled on him with a grin.  "You could have finished that first."

Ron looked down at himself and grinned as well.  "Well I'm here in any case."

"Yes." Kanderin said.  "You might as well know that Helena is the new Squad Leader of RAIDERS Squad."

"My congratulations to her." Ron replied.  And he meant it.  After the mission regarding the shocking and rather dangerous situation in which the now dead J'ak Frozt had conjured up- Helena had shown more than enough courage and discipline to earn the job.  He just hoped that the RAIDERS had enough sense to see past her tiny frame and her seemingly innocent ways.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it." Kanderin said.  "However, she will not be leaving us as soon as we thought."

"No?" Ron said.

"We have been assigned to a joint mission with RAIDERS, and Helena, of course, will be there."  Kanderin explained.  That must be the reason why Kanderin had called him, just a heads up on the mission ahead.  Ron commented on the new piece of information the same way he would have if it were anything else regarding a mission.  He added the last fragment out of respect for Helena.

"That's very good news." Ron commented.  "I'm always ready to work with a former Wraith."

"I hope you carry that attitude with the others in RAIDERS." Kand said as he raised an eyebrow."  Ron realized that he had only shown pleasure at Helena's appearance, and Kand was mostly likely ready to squash any hard feelings towards RAIDER members.  Fortunately Ron had not meant hard feelings towards them at all.

"Oh.  Quite right, of course I will." Ron said quickly.  Kanderin nodded and looked at Ron as if he expected him to say something.

"Is there something else, Kand?" Ron said.

"Yes." he replied, slightly amused.  "I'm surprised you haven't asked about the vacant position that Helena left when she took over RAIDERS?"

Oh, of course the new Assistant Squad Leader position was open.  Kanderin was probably asking for suggestions from Ron for a replacement.  Ron could think of a few people who would fit well.

"Well Kand, if you're looking for suggestions I could recommend RK, Lukas, Joamer..."

"Ron." Kand replied with a grin.  "If I wanted one of them I would of sent for them.  I sent specifically for you to ask you if you would give me the pleasure of being my Assistant Squad Leader.

Oh.

Ron shuffled nervously in his place, he should have realized that Kand intended to give him the ASL position.  Of course Kanderin had called him specifically for something more important than mere chit chat.  He could have done that on board the transport.  The fact that Ron was just asked to be the new Assistant Squad Leader was somewhat shocking, yet pleasing to him.

"I don't know what to say." Ron said incredulously.

"Say yes." Kanderin grinned.  "And get yourself ready for the mission, there's more to being an ASL than getting me my coffee in the morning."

Ron grinned as Kanderin said this.  He turned away and headed for his own equipment to finish suiting up.

After that damn meeting, the day seemed to be going by slow as ever: every minute seeming like twenty, every hour seeming like three. It was quite depressing to someone such as this certain trooper. Especially considering her extreme apprehension about tomorrow’s mission. Her first mission. A mission that seemed to be very important to the world that it was going to be taking out at. This mission… It was going to be a matter of civilian safety in the end. Jaenna already figured that much. This poor gal was so terrified, and yet still excited. But the terrified part seemed to be getting her the most.

With a sigh and a soft grumble, she sat up in her bed, running a hand through her auburn hair. “Hours more… Just hours.”
Hours until she would need to don her StormTrooper Armor, grab her E-11 Blaster Rifle, and prepare herself mentally and emotionally for the first time she would have to listen to direct orders coming from a Squad Leader. 

Damn. She needed to stop thinking about this stuff. What she needed to do was just put on her armor now, strap her blaster to her holster and just waste the time that was left. Even though, sadly enough, she had once again been unable to get any sleep. Because of these dammed thoughts, and the fear of not being able to carry out her duties correctly during her first mission, sleep had been hard for her to get lately. And so, she did just what she had told herself to do. She stood up with a quick inhale and rushed over to her locker, where when she opened it with the press of her palm; she was able to grab the different pieces of the white armor and her blaster.

After doing so, she went back over to her bed, placed the blaster and pieces of armor down on her bed and slowly began to undress, and don the armor for the first time. With each piece of the plastoid armor she placed onto her body, and strapped into place over top of the black jumpsuit that was worn underneath, the thought of finally stepping onto the battle field played through her mind. The feeling of running across the terrain, no matter what type, and reaching a destination easily due to her Free Running skills. The feeling of aiming her E-11 blaster at an enemy, and pulling the trigger after a few mindful calculations of where to hit and when exactly to allow her index finger to pull back just enough to let the bolt loose from the barrel. The feeling of finally being able to help someone…

“There we are.” She said as she turned to look at herself in the mirror that hung on the inside of her locker. She hadn’t put on her helmet; she didn’t want to put that one just yet. Instead, she grabbed a hair twisty from the mall shelf in the top of her lock and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. Then, after grabbing her helmet from her bed, made her way to the door, which made the all too familiar lock-hiss sound as it opened, and began to make her way down the hallway. With each step, just like the pieces of armor, she felt as if her heart and mind were beginning to grow more used to the idea that in no more than six hours, she’d be carrying out her first set of duties her Squad. A squad that was known for its faithfulness, no less. But that didn’t matter. They were duties, and she’d cater to her SL’s every need. No matter how annoyed she got with authority at times.

~                    ~                ~

After a few yards or so down the hallway, and more racing thoughts, Jaenna came upon the sight of another trooper. A taller, and much more experienced male by the looks of it. Becoming curious of possibly getting to know her other Squad mates, she decided to speed up into a short trot in order to catch up with him.

“Hey. You’re in RAIDERS, too right?” she asked as she slowed down to match the male’s pace once she was next to him.

Dante looked at the young female trooper, a look of confusion on his face. “Uh yeah.” He said as if he expected Jaenna to know that just by looking at him. “Is there something you wanted?”

Shaking her head, Jae chuckled lightly, her sea-foam green eyes sparkling. “No. Just wanted to see who else was on the squad… seeing as how I’m new and everything.” She stated, not that it wasn’t obvious. And the look on Dante’s face confirmed that. It was quite obvious that Jae was new to the squad.

“Oh well…” Dante spoke, seeming a bit awkward and out of place speaking to a lower ranking trooper. Let alone a female trooper. “I’m Dante. Nice to meet you.” He said, continuing his brisk walk towards the meeting room, nodding to others that passed him by.

“Jaenna.” She said, smiling up at the taller male. “Nice to meet you as well.”

The rest of the walk to the meeting room was in silence. And awkward silence, since Jaenna wasn’t very good at starting conversations, and neither, did it seem, was Dante.

OOC:

Felt like writing some more... Sorry if it messes you up, Dante. Still getting used to the writing style used here.

Anival was standing in the shower letting the hot water run down his back, washing away any regrets, fears, and distant memories.

He started to shut it off, when he fell. His insides felt like they were burning, he clutched his chest and got up from the floor. It was gone as quick as it had come.

He turned of the nozzle which controlled the water flow, wrapped a towel around him and went to his room. As he walked he passed a droid,  a while later he was finishing putting on his clothes.

He was about to review what he had learned in his Spec. Class, when he was interrupted by  poor excuse of an Imperial officer.

He had a mental check, Anival started on his way out following the officer when a chime broke the silence.

“It seems, your scheduled check will have to be postponed.” Said the officer with a smug grin.

Anival felt the urge to show that scrawny piece of bantha poodoo who was boss, instead he gritted his teeth and said “ Yes, Sir”

Anival went back to his bed and started gearing up the only reason his appointment was rescheduled was for a mission.

A couple minutes after Anival started gearing up his Com-link started beeping,. Anival was told what the mission was and what to do.

Babysitting?  What a waste of mine, and the squads time thought Anival heatedly. He would have just sent normal troopers, to annihilate anything and everything that threatened the peace.

He started checking his equipment, deciding which ones to take. Speed was better than firepower, in most cases, he was sure they wouldn’t run into much battle, except for the occasional deranged fanatic.

He finally decided to pack a thumper, his vibro-blade, in the end he only took what he thought he would need.

He still had time before they had to leave. Anival decided to sit and wait. He was thinking of his home world, when he remembered the mission they would have to embark on in a little bit.

He thought of the gravity, it wasn’t any trouble, because his home world had really strong gravity, and 1.25 time more wouldn’t be trouble, he had recently been in a similar planet, and after his training on Yosefin, this would be a cinch.

So all that was left was the wait.

Helena awoke suddenly from her sleeping trance by the shouting heard coming from the other buildings. She shook her head out of the sleep and sat up, rubbing her forehead with her palm. This was no time to be awoken. Helena hated losing precious beauty sleep that she thought she needed.

“Stupid idiots!” She shouted.

She quickly made her way to the dresser and got changed into some combats and a dark green shirt. She slipped on her boots and just tucked the laces in; she didn’t want lose time and do them up. As she stormed out of her room and office, Dante knocked into her in an abrupt manner.

“Excuse me?” Helena said with attitude, placing her hand on her hip.

“Excuse you what?” He answered back.

“Don’t take that tone with me. If you’ve got some kind of anger and attitude problem take it else where but here” Helena shouted back at him.

Dante just stood there stunned.

“Got it?!” Helena shouted again, squaring up to his face.

“Yes Miss” He lowered his head.

“Good. Now how are the others?” She smiled, she hated shouting and being angry but unfortunately it had to be done. She hated Jerks more than being angry.

“They’re fine” he smirked before heading off to get his stuff.

Helena thought she handled that quite well considering she’d never shouted at someone before. The whole SL nature is something she doesn’t have in her nature; she will have to learn it. Glancing at the clock through the windows, she noticed it was almost 6AM. Time to start getting packed ready to head out.

She got her stuff together and placed it all in a bag, ticking off her checklist as she placed the items in. She then went into the Squad’s room to help them.

“Guys, we have three hours to get our stuff together and get ready. I want you to meet me outside in an hour so I can check your things and are ready to get on ship. Clear?” She smiled.

The squad nodded briefly as she walked out, struggling with her oversized bag.

OOC:

Once everyone is outside and acounted for we can actually leave for our mission.

The morning had finally arrived and they day of the mission with it. Karash had never really slept and was focusing on getting his equipment ready when he heard some shouting from the SL’s room. This was shortly followed by Raiders SL walking out, followed by a rather shocked looking Dante; Dante seemed to be finding it difficult to accept who his new SL was.

“Guys, we have three hours to get our stuff together and get ready. I want you to meet me outside in an hour so I can check your things and check you are ready to get on ship. Clear?” she looked a lot more confident than she did at their briefing. With that she left the room.

Karash continued to pack some of his things into the bag, checking them as he went, at the same time he noticed something that he had overlooked before. There was a fact file of the planet that they were going to, Dendros; Karash could cope with a stronger gravity field but the heat. Karash could not stand being stuck in that armour at the best of time let alone in sweltering heat, though Karash saw it as just more thing to make this mission even more complicated.

There was some cluttering noises going on in the back and saw Dante march out of the room looking happy, Karash had to shake his head just to make sure, but he was write Dante actually looked content. The rest of the room did not reflect Dante because the newer recruits looked nervous and Karash just didn’t have a positive feeling about this mission; he really hated any sites of gambling, they were always full of drunken bullies just like his father.

With one final push Karash had packed all his stuff, stood and began to make his way to the exit with his mind stuck on what awaited them.

Ron was fully equipped now, and looked every bit of the Assistant Squad Leader that he hoped to appear.  Striding out of the Wraith Barracks with the least amount of equipment nescessary (mainly his battle-grade laptop and comnode backpack along with normal ration pack and survival kit), he headed towards the RAIDERS barracks to make sure that everyone was ready to move.  With Kanderin awaiting them in the transports, Ron was determined to get everyone to the transports on time, even if it meant giving RAIDERS a little nudge out the door.

He heard the yelling that came from the RAIDERS barracks and gave a little groan; the new Squad Leader had a challenge job ahead of her.  Ron stayed a minute while he listened to Helena's strict berrating of Dante.  It was short, sweet, and to the point; Ron chuckled as he heard her discipline him.  No doubt Dante would soon see the strict leader that Helena really was underneath, no doubt he would soon lose all doubts of her ability.

Ron's thoughts were confirmed as he watched Dante step outside the barracks.  A smug grin which he flashed to the world explained everything; the whole ordeal had been a test.

"As if she needs a bloody test." Ron grumbled to himself.  He had much respect for Helena, and he wasn't sure if he could give respect to someone who judged by appearances.  He watched Dante walk towards the transports that waited outside, s storming Helena followed him.

Ron intercepted her, he had hoped to congradulate her on her recent promotion; as well as to inquire further as to what had just happened with Dante.

"Sergeant Helena!" Ron said to get her attention!

"Ron!  Good to see you!" she smiled.  In the excitement she forgot to inform him of her change in title, which she remembered almost after she said it.

"It's actually Senior Sergeant."  Helena said quickly. 

"Oh of course, of course."  Ron said.  He nodded and continued.  "Squad Leader of RAIDERS eh?  Rough bunch." he grinned.

Helena nodded in the direction of Dante and shook her head in an up and down fashion.  Ron looked at Dante and said, "I heard the yelling.  What happened?"

"Nothing you need to worry about Ron." she winked.  Ron realized that the easy going and talkative Helena he knew from Wraith Squad was fast dissapearing under the guise of a newer, stricter Helena.  Ron nodded his head in submission to this statement, even though he completely agreed.  He must remember to use this show of omnipotence if he ever had the chance to lead his own squad.

Ron noticed her looking at him strangely, he had been thinking for a good minute without responding to her answer.

"Oh!  Of course, of course, I'm sure that you've cleared up whatever it was."  Ron said hastily.

"I hope so." Ron heard Helena mumble to herself.  So the RAIDERS Squad Leader was still human.  It was good to hear that short show of human anticipation come from her, it would help to ease his own anxieties.

"Kanderin is waiting at the transports." Ron said.  Helena nodded, a little stiffly as she knew perfectly well where Kand was, but never the less, she smiled and said, "We wouldn't want to keep him waiting now do we?"

"That we don't, thank you." Ron said.  He left off the formal title due to her at the end of his reply by accident, and he hoped Helena wouldn't mind.  As he looked back at her he realized that she had much more on her mind than forgotten politeness.

Ron gathered up the rest of the Wraith Squad and herded them on board one of the transports for take off.  As he headed on board himself, the last one on the first transport; he hoped that on board Kanderin would give him a some more details as to what this mysterious mission entailed.  Would they really be there to guard and protect, or was there a hidden motive deep within that hadn't shown its face yet?  Ron didn't know what to think, he only hoped that he would be prepared in either scenario.

OOC:

Alright enough of the Barracks talk, we gotta get on board the transports and outta here.

With everything that was happening: Helena actually snapping at Dante for being rude to her, Dante yelling at her for asking a simple question, and few of the other happenings around here (mainly between troopers and their officers), Jaenna was beginning to feel almost out of place. She didn’t know anybody, and it seemed that the one time she had tried to have a nice conversation with one of the other troopers, she had been shot down. And guess what? That conversation was with Dante, the same trooper that had snapped at her for asking a question. Big surprise there.

But that was no matter. She needed to get her head around the fact that she was going to get onto a transport soon and land on Dendros, only to hope that nothing was going to go wrong. Hope. It’s something that she really needed at this point. The main skills that she could rely on with this first mission was probably going to be her Free Running abilities and hacking. Although, she wasn’t a Slicer yet, and there would be nothing that had to sliced, so there really was no point in even thinking about that. But that wasn’t the point. She had never gone into battle before. Unless you wanted to count the Hellgate simulator. But that’s exactly what it was: a simulator. It wasn’t real. There was no real pain, no real pulling the trigger of her blaster.

That’s what mainly bothered her. She hadn’t been in this squad for more than three days before being thrust into her first mission. It scared her to be honest. Which is why the question she had ask was able to come out of her mouth so easily. She really didn’t want to ask that question, it just happened. While the words were leaving her lips, she mentally tried to grab them back and keep them in her mind, but it was too late, she had already annoyed a few of the male troopers. That was quite obvious.

With a grumble, she stood up from the durasteel table that she was sitting across from Dante at and grabbed her helmet. Holding it under her arm, she used her other hand to brush her bangs from her left eye, revealing the green star tattoo on her left cheek. Those sea-foam eyes flicked to Dante and she suppressed a soft growl. Her eyes narrowed as she walked up to him.

“I only asked that question because of troopers like you. I don’t feel like being put down because I’m a rookie. Or because I’m female for that matter. I’m worried about being shoved out of the way by troopers like you, because you look down on rookies. Sorry if I’m assuming anything. That’s just how I’m taking it because of your ridiculous attitude.”

Of course while she was speaking she had a cocky tone, an evil little smirk even flickered across her pale-pink lips as she spoke to Dante. Not even waiting for a reply, she stepped out of the meeting room and made her way down the hallway and to her room in the barracks, her auburn hair flowing behind her, a slight smirk of triumph gracing her visage. Within a few minutes, she grabbed the bag that she had packed the night before, made sure everything was in it, donned her helmet, made sure that she could see out of the visor okay, then made her way to stand with the rest of her squadmates, awaiting the transport that would take them to her first mission ever.

He looked at the rest of Wraith squad board the transport and then got up and boarded it himself. Most of Wraith squad was not experience in combat, so it would be interesting to see what they could do, Lukas thought to himself as he sat down near a window by himself.

Lukas heard the various Wraith and Raider squad members try to get to know one another, but then again he heard various shouting and a few fights broke out here and there but were put down quickly.

From the briefing on his datapad, it didn't quite say what they were going to do so he liked the mysteriousness shrouding the mission, it would be a good challenge and test his battle skills no matter what they were up against.

Lukas watched Ron's eyes dart back and forth as well as his hands fidget a bit and decided to get up and pull him aside for a talk.

"Being an Assistant Squad Leader is just more than being a Trooper now...it means you will have to make split decisions in battle or even take over if Kanderin isn't there...", Lukas said in a quiet but serious tone and continued.

He kept eye contact with Ron as he spoke, "You may lose men and women under your command, but you should do your best in making every one of them come home safely...that is all the advice I am going to give you now..and I am a man of few words".

Lukas nodded to Ron and walked away to one of the abandoned rooms of the transport, re-inspecting his weapons and gear because he had nothing better to do.

OOC:

Guys, I apologise about this post and it's delay. I know its slightly out of sync of what you guys have done since I first penned it, but it's the most you're going to get out of me with my hectic schedule right now. At least with it you can progress the story, and I will be able to focus on it again from tomorrow. We'll going to be arriving at a pretty standard spaceport, so you can post about us arriving into the city and settling into a hotel we have a reservation for. Sorry again,

"What's going on over here?"

RAIDER's spun around to meet Kanderin, who was marching towards them fuming, pistol drawn.

"It's nothing Kand, it's settled now" Helena sighed, putting her own weapon back away.

"You sure? Cause If I just saw what I thought I saw, thing's definitely aren't okay"

"I'm sure" Helena nodded, shooting a look at Dante and Jaenna that immediately told them not to say a word.

Kanderin saw the look, but decided to ignore it. Instead he grunted and walked back to his squad, who had decided pretending to be sorting through their bags was the best option. Kanderin joined them, making sure both his weapons were ready and he had enough rations to keep himself going. It took a whole five minutes for RK to eventually ask what happened with RAIDERS.

"It's nothing to do with us" Kanderin snapped back "Let's just not affiliate ourselves with their sort of problems. Helena has her hands full with that squad"

He slung his bag over his shoulder and marched away without another word. The squad followed him and eventually RAIDERS joined them, all sixteen soldier's making their way down to one of the most far off hangers. Inside they were met by a ship that was, by all meaning's of the word, impressive. It wasn't overly large, only being slightly bigger than the ships that Wraith were used to going in, but it's paintwork was better, and it looked more...ferocious. He wasn't quite sure of what make it was, but it made him want one. Wandering over to it, he ran his hand along it's back entryway, his fingers not finding a single scratch or dent. The button that released the walkway was in similar condition, opening upon the gentlest of presses.

The seat's inside were dark red and substantially more padded than the normal metal bench, a stark contrast against the plain walls and black curtain separating the seating area and the pilot quarters.

"I'm guessing we're not the type of people to show off then" Anival grinned, jumping inside before the passage was half way open and throwing himself down into the furthest seat.

"No need for it in my opinion" One of the RAIDER's sighed, who Kanderin could seem to remember was referred to as Zorgn by the rest.

"Might as well enjoy it why we can though, huh?" Kand winked back, before throwing his own bag into the cabin and walking around to the front. "I'm going to need a co-pilot, any takers?"

"Do they need to be able to fly?" Gaz responded.

"Not really, it's only a short flight. I just need someone with me to press the occasional button and give me conversation"

Gaz agreed and followed Kand around to the front, while the rest of Wraith and RAIDER's found seat's in the back. To their surprise they found even more legroom than they first thought, every person on either side being able to stretch their legs out all the way without hitting the person opposite.

It took a few minutes for the ship to get started, during which there was a lot of murmuring from behind the curtain and a few worried faces tossed around. Finally though, the engine's purred into life and the large hanger door's revealed the space beyond.

"Apologies about the delay guys, the ship isn't quite what I'm used to. Got the hang of it now though" Kanderin was heard shouting back.

"We think!" Gaz added "Ow! What did you do that for!"

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

The flight had lasted about for hours by the time Dendros came into view, almost glowing an orangey colour against the emptiness around it. Gaz, who was half-dozing in the seat next to Kand suddenly sat up, admiring the planet.

"I thought it was similar to Tadath?"

"It is, below all that smog" Kanderin responded, pointing towards the darker orange part that was slowly moving clockwise around the planet "Heavily industralized, so don't be expecting a glorious holiday destination"

Their chat was obviously heard through the curtain, as a few second's later two or three other head's peeked through into the cockpit, admiring the planet.

"We're actually a little bit ahead of schedule, so if you really wanted to you could go sightseeing" Kanderin looked over his shoulder at the confused faces.

"What is there to see?" Ron asked

"Few factories, maybe the occasional office complex. If you walk far enough though you'll get into the urban areas, they're a little nicer"

"Might pass"

Kanderin laughed and began to ready the ship for landing, flicking a few switches above his head before glancing back at the manual he had open on the arm and pressing a few more. The ship moved left and spun on it's axis slightly, the planet now being big enough for Kanderin to calculate where the landing pad would roughly be.

Just as he'd promised, upon breaking into the atmosphere the planet because a lot more familiar. It's land was mostly green, but large patches of yellow desert were visible dotted around. There was less water than they were used to, the sea's being nowhere near as enormous and somehow paler than the usual. They got closer and focused in on one particular land mass that was almost completely spherical, only the occasional small spike punching through the membrane. The capital's larger buildings came into view, and Kand used them as marker's to direct him to the landing zone.

Karash was standing and talking to other troopers when without any notice, Dante and Jaenna fighting; though this wasn’t a small scuffle they were brutal and looked as though they were trying to kill one another. It was at this point Helena stepped in, pistols aiming at each of the troopers.

"Explain yourselves, now." Boomed Helena, you could now sense the anger in here voice.

This was followed by Wraiths SL, Kanderin Draken, who enquired as to what was going on but no one I the Raiders dared say anything because the expression on Helena’s face seemed to bind them all in silence. For a moment they sent in silence until the Wraiths began to fall out, who were shortly followed by most of the Raiders.

Karash and some of the other members of the squad followed on into the transport whispering to themselves about the events that had just unfolded, though they made sure no one else heard them. The general feeling of everyone was shock as no one had ever seen such a display amongst people who were meant to be on the same side and as they marched to the ship Karash’s thoughts moved on to how this would effect the mission; were Dante and Jaenna going even be going. One thing was for certain and that was Karash’s pessimistic approach to the mission may be coming true.

The ship that they were going to be travelling on wasn’t the usual hunk of metal that could just about fly but it actually looked good, the inside was quite roomy. It wasn’t long before everyone was in their place and their pilots, Kanderin and Gaz, were ready to get moving. At first Karash was a little concerned about their pilots flying skills but after the rocky start the flight went relatively uneventful. Although everyone was still confused about what happened earlier.

The planet had an unusual orange glow to it that Karash assumed was because of all the industrial pollution that must be in the planets atmosphere. As they entered the atmosphere the planet revelled itself to be more like Tadath in they fact you could see green continents, deserts but there was less water and it’s was a slightly different colour, this was to be expected considering the planets temperature.

People began to talk amongst themselves about various things as the ship came into land at the spaceport; the landing was a little bumpy but went without any real problems. The walkway opened to reveal a busy spaceport, which was to be expected considering what was taking place, as they filed out into the spaceport Karash could feel the change in atmospheric pressure but mainly they heat within this armour was intolerable. For Karash his mood was rapidly getting worse.

Karash could see all of the gambling, drunken, scum walking around that were defiantly going to make this task as difficult as possible, they were not helping Karash’s mood. He did not like feeling like this especially with the squad in such a tender state, but being in these surroundings reminded Karash of his father and that really did make Karash feel angry.

As the squads began to move to their destinations Karash was once again left feeling deeply annoyed, for no reason, about this mission.

The transport landed with as much grace as could be said for a large bulky piece of metal; its landing boosters shut on and off in a click clack fashion until finally the whole thing just dropped with little more than a jolt felt by its passengers.  The boarding incline opened up and slowly descended towards the reddish brown terrain that made up most of the earthy patches on the planet.  When finally the ramp hit the ground, sending a dusty cloud up and out, the troopers filed out quickly; most of them were stiff jointed and stuffy and so were eager to get some "fresh" air.

But, no surprise to them, the air was far less than "fresh", in fact it was more like "spoiled".  The atmosphere upon that planet was lower to the ground than the squad was used to; mostly due to the change of gravity.  Clouds: thick reddish looking ones, hung low as well, and to some of them it seemed as if the clouds were only a few stories high.  What fell from those clouds was a brownish, dirty kind of water; hardly drinkable, and hardly pleasant to look at.  Most of the squad discovered the quality of the water as they walked out of the transport, stiffly walking over the ugly puddle that the ramp had so inconveniently ended at. 

Ron was glad to don his black helmet and to breathe the fresh filtered air that it promised.  He looked around at others who were doing the same, and suddenly felt a twinge of regret for doing so.  Ron felt a sudden impulse to show an inner toughness, to deny himself the cool and refreshing air of his helmet in preference to the choking air of Dendros.  He submitted to the impulse- and even if he didn't feel much easier about breathing, he certainly felt the better for his conscience. 

Kanderin walked up to Ron, helmet under his arm (which pleased Ron) and waved about him at the new planet upon which they just arrived.

"Beautiful place isn't it?" he grinned. 

Ron grinned at the joke, and looked around him; noticing for the first time how dense the city was.  Dendros, he remembered from Kand's briefing, was a heavily industrialized planet- doubtless the high amounts of iron was a key raw material to the Dendrosians which more than likely raked up a tidy sum.  The buildings were tall, but not too tall, most of them piercing the reddish clouds and rising still above them.  Ron felt that the sky above them, as deep a red as blood could be, was a foreboding color; and made him wonder all the more how dangerous this new mission would be.  He looked at Kanderin who was grinning immensely.  He knew Kanderin was looking forward to this mission, as many look forward for a sports match or for a dinner party.  Ron forced himself to smile too, after all; they were going to a big race themselves- Ron might just bet and make some money while on this mission.

But Kanderin's look over Ron's shoulder stopped these pleasant thoughts quickly.  Ron turned to face this unseen menace, which revealed itself to be the dockyard manager.

"Welcome to Banaten." he grunted.  It was a heavy set
barabel who spoke, his dark black eyes and long black hair were set at a contrast to the lighter skin on his face and neck.  Helena walked towards the front near Kanderin and they both approached the barabel.

"We are grateful for your hospitality." Kanderin replied.  His reply was stiffened, but only because of the growing presence of armed dock yard workers behind the barabel in front. 

"Of course, of course.  We are always glad to be of service to the Imperial Army."

The formality was wearing off; soon the barabel would have to get to the point of the dockyard toll, and Kanderin would have to agree to pay it, or would have to decline and give a reason for it.  It was a tough situation, most of these intercity ports tolled heavily- especially on the Empire who could afford to pay such heavy demands.

After some more of the stiff small talk, Kanderin and Helena motioned towards the exit of the docks, were a dozen armed dockyard workers were stationed.  While the squad followed him, everyone was slowly preparing themselves for an attack, these intercity docks could never be trusted, as flattering as their managers may be.

They reached the exit, and there they stood awkwardly.  Either they shove their way through the door and assume a free fee, or they wait and request for the mob to move.  The decisions were left up to the Squad Leaders.

Helena broke the spell.  She turned towards the barabel and said, "Your men are unfortunately in the way of the exit.  Would you be so kind as to move them?"

"Forgive me." the barabel said bowing.  "But they are ordered to stand at the exit until the fee has been payed."

So there it was, it wasn't a free ride after all.

"How much?" Kanderin grumbled.

"Three thousand credits," the barabel said.  "For the ship alone.  An additional five hundred per passenger."

A ridiculous price- that they expected to get away with. 

Helena smiled and shook her head at Kanderin.  He motioned towards the transport.

"Five for the transport." he said.  "Passengers go free."

That was a better bargain, but still an expensive one.  But the dockyard man was greedy, and insisted for more.

"Five... and three."  Three per passenger meant another five thousand, and ten was just too much.

"Five and one." Helena said suddenly.

Kanderin turned towards her sharply, five and one would be six thousand seven hundred all together, which was still a terrible price to pay.

"Better than ten." she shrugged.

Kanderin sighed and affirmed the deal.  "Five and one."

The barabel grunted and pondered this deal.  He was being shorted by four thousand by the lowest he wanted, ten thousand, but he was still tempted to take the money.  Six thousand from a crew of seventeen who could make short work of his crew in seconds.  The barabel couldn't resist.

"It's a deal." he said, grinning.  Six thousand was more than he made in a month.

"We'll pay you on our leave." Kanderin replied.  The barabel was about to argue, but when he saw Kanderin pull out his blaster rifle to reload it, he lost all his courage.

"On your leave." he repeated.  There, it was finished.  Helena grinned at the barabels discomfort as she passed him, motioning behind her for the rest of the squad to follow.  Ron was quick on his heels, passing her to get a word by Kanderin.

"You said 'on our leave'." said Ron.

"Well." Kanderin grinned.  "If problems happen at the games..."

"Ahh." Ron said with a smile.  Kanderin obviously didn't expect to pay the toll after this was all said and done.  Ron honestly hoped that he would; better that they pay a heavy docking toll than die at the hands of a few terrestrial terrorists.