Eyeing the forty stormtroopers assembled in front of him, Jegora couldn’t help but feel a little timid. Each and every one of the soldiers sitting just a few meters away were highly trained and disciplined professionals, and if he was honest with himself the prospect of leading them in battle was a little intimidating. This was one of the most elite collections of fighting men and women that could be found anywhere in the galaxy, and as their leader Jegora would have to keep up with them, if not outperform them, in everything they did. It was an amazing responsibility that he now found himself saddled with, but with the extra pressure of leading this particular platoon also came great pride in their abilities. They weren’t pushovers, and the fact that high command felt Jegora capable of leading truly humbled the veteran platoon sergeant.

Pushing away his nostalgia, Jegora glanced at the chrono near the back of the auditorium-style room. It was time. Rising to his feet, he slowly made his way to the center of the auditorium. By the time Jegora had reached his podium directly in front of the assembled stormtroopers, the quiet chatter of the gathered men and women had died off, and a cold, hard silence filled the room.

“Good morning boys and girls. I hope you all slept well,” Jegora began. By the collective sigh that issued from the group, they apparently hadn’t slept very well at all.

“Well, regardless, we have work to do,” Jegora continued. He hit a button on his podium, and an image of a planet appeared on the screen behind him. “This is Arkania, located in the Perave system. The details are being sent to your datapads, but the important thing is that that this world is a center of trade and commerce for the New Republic. We’re gonna change that.”

Hitting another control on the podium, Jegora waited for the image behind him to change before continuing. “The objective is simple: you’re going to get in, break things, and get out. To do this, you’re going to need faster transportation than the Dominion can offer.” Jegora paused again, gesturing up at the screen behind him, which was now showing a heavily armed and armored assault shuttle. “Each squad will take a Sentinel-class shuttle planet-side. These craft are hyperspace capable, so you’ll launch from the Dominion a few parsecs out and make a microjump into the Perave system.”

“This is will be a fast paced and highly destructive mission. Our goal here isn’t to win hearts and minds. We’re here to destroy, plain and simple. Each squad will have its own objective on the planet, and you’ll all be operating independently. You won’t be able to get support from the other squads, and neither will the Dominion be able to offer aide. Once you hit dirt, you’re on your own.”

Jegora shut down the screen and looked around the room one last time. “Transport to the Dominion leaves in an hour. Check your datapads for the location. The Sentinels, armor, and squad weaponry is already aboard, but anything else you want to bring needs to be loaded up. Other than that, you can take this time to read the mission specifics. Any questions?”

One of the troopers raised a hand. Jegora gestured at the man, who spoke in rapid, clipped tones. “You said the squads will be operating independently. Who will you be accompanying?” the man asked.

It was a legitimate question, but not one Jegora liked answering. The one thing he didn’t want to do was appear to be playing favorites. In fact, the squad he would join for this mission had been chosen purely by chance, but the troopers couldn’t know that.

“Raiders,” Jegora said, keeping his voice and his face completely neutral. Some of the troopers shifted in their seats, but that was it. “Any other questions?” he asked the collected group.

There were none. “Good. Remember, one hour. Check your datapads for your mission specifics. Squad command will have a meeting with me aboard the Dominion to go over further details.” With that, Jegora glanced around the room one final time. “WildCard, dismissed. Let’s go to work.”

OOC:

Aiight, pay attention. You need to get your gear and get aboard the Dominion, and settle in for a rather lengthy trip. Squad Leaders, I expect you to keep your squads relatively together for this section. We won't spend very much time on this, but it obviously needs to be done.

This is now open for posting, but as I said before, try and keep the squads together. Troopers, you may want to check with your squad command staff for further instructions.

Gah, I'm tired. The auditorium cleared out with each squad heading off in a semi-together fashion, following their squad leaders for instructions. The RAIDERS had just gotten back the night before from their mission to Qiilura, which was less than a success. Havock really wanted to get another shot at dealing with those mercs and finding the viceroy, but all of that would have to wait for now.

With a motion of her hand the squad followed her to a quiet corner in the auditorium. “I don't see the need to go to another room for this. You heard the boss. Get back to the barracks collect your gear. Storm Commando or personal armor and whatever weapons you like to carry, just don't weigh yourself down lets not be ridiculous. The armory is open to. I want all of you geared up, strapped in, and ready to roll on that transport in forty-five minutes, screw this hour crap. Be in your seats reading your mission documents by the end of the hour. Any questions? Good, dismissed.”

She looked around at the group. Aeos was standing near Decembrist, listening to him muttering about something. They all looked tired, which was to be expected since they didn't get much sleep. Beta and Njall were already walking off towards the barracks together, laughing about something. Grahim was talking to Jaenna about some detail in the mission.

Karash was leaning against the wall, alone and looking miserable. She had taken some time on the trip back to sit with him and talk. He was going through a lot at the moment, and planned to seek some help as soon as time allowed.

The last thing anyone needed was for the squad leader and assistant squad leader to be the ones that were late after Havock's clear instructions to be on time. Thankfully Jae was there to keep her from getting to lost in thought. Which was an unfortunate habit she had that was only made worse by being exhausted. With a nod they both started to walk together towards the condo to get their gear together.

---~~---

“You look tired.” She turned away from the bag she was packing to find Jaenna staring at her with her arms crossed. Havock was scrambling around the room, while her far more calm companion was already suited up and ready to go. She tripped over her helmet as she reached for her spare energy packs for the blasters. She had already put on her storm commando armor, she had her two DE-10 pistols on her hip holsters and twin H1 Particle Eagles on her back holsters.

She nodded. “Yea, and there's the small fact that Jeg is riding with us.” She slammed the other energy pack into one of the Particle Eagles.

Jaenna shook her head and walked over to where she was standing. Her hand reached over to touch Havock's shoulder. She took a deep breath and calmed down a bit with the simple gesture. “You'll do fine. We need to go, are you ready?”

Havock shrugged. “Sure, but I'd rather stay here.” She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Come on, if Vee beats us to the transport I'll never hear the end of it.”

OOC:

checky squad topic

RK let out a sigh of relief as he slumped down in his seat. It wasn’t a luxury yacht, but it would have to do, however it would have been nice to take a comfortable nap, but in this ship that was near impossible.

It had been weeks since he had been on active duty and everything had begun to seem so foreign to him, yet somehow it was still like riding a bike; you never forget. Yet, somehow he felt like he was forgetting. Maybe it was because he had been placed in a new squad, so now he had to learn a whole new set of rules, or maybe he was just being lazy. Whatever the case he still didn’t feel like himself.

“How you feeling?” A familiar voice called from RK’s side. He instantly sprung up and looked attentive, but knowing he wasn’t fooling anyone.

RK looked over to see Luckystar standing there above him, he had worked with her before back in eclipse squad, and it seemed fate had them working together again, yet this time she was in charge. “Ah, yea, just tired, been a while.”

“Good, just don’t fall asleep on the job.” She then proceeded to walk away.

RK just grinned to himself, he remembered her since when she had started the VE and she had been a shy trooper now she was ASL of Iron Horse, it was amazing how fast time flew. ugh, I feel like such an old timer.

Still regardless of how tired he was it felt refreshing to have a change of pace, instead of the aggressive nature of Wraiths, he’d at least be going back to his roots as a scout, or at least recon. If only he hadn’t been rushed onto a ship the moment he returned he might have gotten time to enjoy the return. Regardless, he just let it be and began to prepare.

After reminiscing about the good time RK proceeded to open up his duffel bag and rummage through the contents in search of his elusive C3Pod, he was in desperate need of adrenaline; and that seemed like the easiest way to get it. Once he found the faux golden plated item he immediately stuck the earphones in and proceeded to slump back in his chair.

He tried to block everything out, but he could still hear bickering going on around him. It seemed the squad wouldn’t get along no matter what they did. This is going to be a long mission.

Uncomfortable with the prospect of sitting "but a few meters away" from Jegora near the front of the briefing room- Ron chose a quiet corner near the back of the room where the bodies thinned out slightly and where there was ample space to stretch out his legs.  He grabbed one of the metal folding chairs and pulled it away from the rest, motioning for his squad to gather around the area.  They complied, pulling chairs towards where their newly made Squad Leader, all the while trying to divide their attention equally between both squad and platoon commanders.

Ron had to admit, he was happiest as a Squad Leader; even as Squad Leader of a green squad.  It was hard leaving Raiders Squad, commonly known as the most veteran of all the squads: for many of the troopers within it were of high rank and had fought many battles.  In Wraith Squad there wasn't nearly as much experience, but something told Ron that there was definitely potential.  Having brought Raiders Squad back to the glory that it was, Ron was confident that the same could be done to Wraith.

His thoughts were interrupted by a foul stench, a putrid smell that was probably brought upon by a nervous green trooper sitting before him.  Ron's nose wrinkled in disgust, and he moved his hand to cover his nose and mouth.  Ron could only tolerate so much from greens; he rarely became disagreeable with excessive sweating, but when it came to flatulence he was hardly forgiving.

He searched for a scapegoat.  "Rykin." he whispered behind him.  The unwitting trooper in question saluted and leaned forward to listen.  "Switch me seats." Ron said, trying his best not to gag.

Rykin did so without a question, though there was clearly puzzlement on his face.  Ron sighed with relief as his new position behind Rykin effectively staunched the smell.  It would be easier to think clearly now, and perhaps discern something from the briefing on their mission ahead. 

"This is Arkania, located in the Perave system." Jegora started. "The details are being sent to your datapads, but the important thing is that that this world is a center of trade and commerce for the New Republic. We're gonna change that." 

Ron ignored the bleeping sound his datapad made as the information was sent out to all the troopers; it would be good reading for the long trip ahead, and besides: it wouldn't help his ego to look like he needed to look at the datapad to understand what was going on.  As Squad Leader he couldn't possibly show signs of ignorance.

"This is will be a fast paced and highly destructive mission." Jegora continued. "Our goal here isn't to win hearts and minds. We're here to destroy, plain and simple. Each squad will have its own objective on the planet, and you'll all be operating independently. You won't be able to get support from the other squads, and neither will the Dominion be able to offer aide. Once you hit dirt, you're on your own."

Ron was about to delve into thoughts as to why briefing forty troopers at the same time in the same room was a bad idea when he suddenly saw Rykin stand up quickly, and walk out of the room with one hand on his mouth and the other on his stomach.  Not only was his question answered for him, but he now had to worry about getting nauseous himself.

"Duty of the service." Ron groaned.  His mind was starting to drift off to when he could leave the room and start to prepare for the mission when suddenly he heard something that caught his attention.

"You said the squads will be operating independently. Who will you be accompanying?"  Someone said.  It was a good question, and one that was dreaded by most Squad Leaders.  A Platoon Commander travelling with a Squad would be tempted to give commands that normally would be left up to the Squad Leader to give.  Ron hoped it wasn't Wraith.

"Raiders." Jegora said.

Ron heard a couple troopers whisper words of contempt, even Warbird mumbled "Figures." under her breath. "Let them think what they like." Ron thought to himself.  "Havock will have to watch her every move now."  He pitied his former squad mate deeply.

Ron knew the meeting ended when he heard the screams of chair bottoms scraping against the floor and the anxious voices of nervous troopers around him grow in volume.  He hurried to the door, motioning for his squad to come with him; he hated waiting in lines.

They headed towards an open area outside of the briefing room before Ron decided to address them.  He opened his mouth only to close it as he saw a new, yet familiar face walk towards them.

Rogueboy handed his transfer papers to Ron, while announcing himself with a grin.  "I've been transfered to Wraith." he said.

Ron grinned back and waved the transfer in front of him.  "Couldn't have happened at a better time." he laughed.  "It's great to have you on board, Rogueboy."  He turned to the other troopers and gave his short briefing on instructions.  Most of what he had to say Jeg had already said before him.

"You have an hour to get everything you need; that includes armor, weapons, pleasures, everything onboard The Dominion before we leave.  I want you all to keep together so that we don't cause confusion.  We go to the barracks as a Squad and we go onboard The Dominion as a Squad.  No one goes alone for anything, not even to piss."  Some chuckles at that, some of them uncomfortably.

"Right." Ron said.  "Let's go."

OOC:

Edit: 600th post

"Alright boys and girl," Gates said loudly. "You heard the Commander. Move out of the briefing room."

Blackjack slouched out of the room, headed for their barracks onboard the Dominion. They quickly reached it, and fell into the common area with some soft sighs and grunts.

"I know we expected a little bit more time than the couple days we got to get the cold of Redex out of our bones," Tanus said, eliciting a bit of swearing from the troopers most welcome to be out of the freezing wind, "But Command has decreed we get to work with our cousins in Wildcard."

"This'll be great," muttered Corvin sarcastically.

"Keep a civil tongue in your head, trooper," Gates odered. "They are our comrades, so play nice. That goes for the Storm and Phalanx platoons as well, and even the swabbies. I hear anything about the Elite Blackjack squad involved in anything untoward and I'll cut you a new hole to crap out of."

One of the troopers snickered at the mental image. Tanus smiled faintly and moved on. "You'll all be glad to know PFC Aramis made a full recovery in the bacta tank post-mission, he's good for active duty."

The young, upright trooper nodded to his squadmates, who responded with everywhere from a thumbs-up to complete apathy.

"So. To the mission," Tanus said, laying his datapad onto a nearby table and activating the hologram. "Here's the planet, Arkania."

Abalar took one look at the planet and started muttering. "That's another iceball! Could we just go to a cold place once a standard year instead of one hundred?"

Tanus held up his palms helplessly. "I didn't choose this one. However, for once, we'll be playing to our strengths. Hard, loud, lots of shooting, explosions and other good stuff."

Gates interjected. "And we're not going to be stealthy. Red armor is a requirement. We're going to scare them so much that they'll need a couple dozen new sets of clothes each, providing they can find a manufactory we won't have blown apart."

Several of the squad laughed at that. Gates grinned as well. Hell, he thought. Day after a rough mission and they're ready for another. Some am I, of course. I've got a good feeling about this.

By now, even the newest members of Blackjack had proven themsevles in combat, and with one of the heaviest arsenals of the STC, they were one force to be reckoned with.

"Alright," Tanus finished. "We've got a few hours. Get your gear together, eat something, catch some sleep, whatever. Just stay out of trouble and be ready to move on H-Hour."

Sleep was a comfort in times of war, and RK was using that comfort to the best of his ability on the cramped ship. It was a way of saving energy, but also shutting out all the discomforts of the trip, even if sleeping would make discomfort worst; at least when he woke up. Regardless, it was a risk he was willing to take, knowing he couldn’t fight back the drowsiness any longer, and he slowly slumped over and slipped into a land far away.

In the silence visions of the past and future flooded his mind. He couldn’t help them, but most of them were comforting, back on Coruscant racing speeders through the streets, while the galactic security kept close chase, taking far away trips with his father to planets he had never heard of, and other various memories that brought comfort and horror. It was like a run through history, that he would have rather not taken.

The visions continued, but this time, it was more of a warning; he was trying to hold onto it, but it began to slip into the back of his mind. He tried to revive it, but for some reason he couldn’t, then he woke up, the warning disappearing for good.

“R….K….RK….RK wake up!” the voice was firm, yet shockingly scary, yet it was enough to snap RK into reality. “You okay, you kept tossing and turning, thought it was time to wake you up.”Constantine said. As he stood above RK, a stern look on his face.
 
Rk just rubbed his eyes, still not sure what was going on around him. “Ugh, yea, probably a good idea. We even lifted off yet?”

“Not yet as a matter of fact, you weren’t out that long.”

“Feels like I’ve been asleep for years.”

“It’s the seating, just work out the kinks, you’ll be as good as new.”
RK smiled, working out the kinks was going to be a lot harder then it seemed, but he had to eventually, “Yea, I will work out the kinks, eventually.”

Constantine nodded then walked away to take a seat, leaving RK back to his realm of small solitude; if you could even call it that.

RK changed the song on his C3Pod then picked up his datapad and began typing up a letter, it was always habit before a mission, partly so incase he died his loved one’s would know everything, everything he’s done, and if he wasn’t doing that he would just sift through letter he had received from people back home. Yet, since he just returned there was nothing in his inbox so he decided to write.

With any luck time would go by faster and they would be on their way to the landing zone, but as it stood now, time seemed to crawl by which was starting to annoy RK. His trigger finger was itching, and he so badly wanted to get back in the field; sadly, he had to settle by typing on his data pad screen.

I just hope that high command knows what they are doing, or else we could be in for a whole lot of trouble.

"At least we get full armour this time." Corvin commented as he walked. "Won't have to worry about stray shots as much now."

Loran nodded in agreement, wincing slightly as he walked. His emergency bacta treatments hadn't ended that long ago, and it showed.

"You all right?" Corvin asked, turning to look at his squadmate.

"Fine." Loran grunted, waving one hand carelessly. "Bacta patch a bit tight, that's all."

Corvin nodded, not entirely convinced. The memory of Loran gasping as two other Blackjacks carried him, his face almost as pale as the snowdrifts they were running through, was still fresh in his mind. Corvin got along well with the other trooper, and had been dismayed when he'd been wounded. Thankfully, they'd managed to get to the orbiting cruiser's medbay in time, and they'd gotten him back up and running, but the still-healing injury might well slow him down. Slowing down was an easy way to die in a combat zone, especially on an ice world.

He'd have to keep an eye on Loran; make sure his friend didn't get hurt again. This was going to be interesting.

Corvin shrugged, the gesture earning him an odd look from his fellow trooper, and turned his thoughts to the mission at hand.

"Not even fair," he commented. "Arkanians won't know what hit them."

At least they'll be confirmed traitors, this time. a small, treacherous part of his mind whispered, before he pushed the thought away.

"I'm not so sure." Loran said thoughtfully, stroking his chin with one hand. "Republic isn't stupid, and they're probably used to fighting off pirates at the very least."

"Come off it," Corvin laughed. "What are a bunch of traders and mad scientists going to do? Throw datapads at us? We're the frakking Empire! They'll probably surrender before we even make landfall."

"I guess so." Loran replied, not sounding entirely convinced.

"Frak, even those pansies in Raiders could handle this one alone, let alone the whole platoon." Corvin continued, oblivious. "Blue milk run, aside from the ice planet thing. We'll be back before the tea's even cold."

"You drink tea?"

"No, but...still! Wait and see, a blue milk run." he declared confidently.

The two stopped outside the Blackjack barracks, stepping through the doorseal and opening their respective lockers. Several of the other troopers were already there, and either doing the same or starting to suit up.

Corvin gave a satisfied sigh as he pulled out his helmet, and a shoulderplate.

"Thank the Force…we get to wear the nice stuff this time."

Abalar quirked an eyebrow.

"Thought you didn't like the armour. Something about targets and enemy fire."

"With this on, I don't have to care about enemy fire." Corvin shot back, looking over himself for tears in his bodyglove as he did so.

Abalar stared at him incredulously for a moment, then shrugged and turned back to her own set of armour.

Pulling his Arbites shotgun from the locker and tossing it onto his bunk, Corvin started to suit up.

OOC:

Corvin's behavior is purely IC: no offense meant to the awesome RAIDERS squad or it's members.

The transport lifted off for the Dominion on schedule. Aboard were forty stormtroopers from WildCard Platoon, and their commander. For his part, Jegora spent the short shuttle ride in relative silence. Once aboard the Dominion, Jegora saw that his troops got to the cabins they had been assigned for the duration of their voyage to Arkania. The Dominion was scheduled to make the jump to hypserspace in approximately forty minutes, and after that it was another seven hours to the designated drop point. From that point, the Sentinel-class shuttles would disembark and continue on to Arkania. After disembarking, each shuttle faced another short hyperspace jump into the Perave system, approximately forty minutes long. All in all, it was going to be a long trip, and Jegora really wasn’t looking forward to it, but at least he and his troops would be relatively comfortable during their stay.

Once all his people were settled in, Jegora found the deck officer in charge of that particular section of the Victory-class Star Destroyer. The Dominion was a large ship, although not as large as the standard Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and while Jegora had been aboard the flagship of the Stormtrooper Corps many times he still needed help finding his way around. Right now, he needed a room that he could use to brief his squad leaders in, and the deck officer would know where he could find one.

He found the deck officer supervising some crewmen who were repairing one of the security bulkheads near the deck’s aft turbolift. When the older man saw Jegora approaching, he turned from watching the crewman work and offered a tiny nod. Jegora returned the favor. A brief conversation later, Jegora had the location of a conference room he could use to brief his squad leaders when the time came. With that little detail taken care of, Jegora was left with nothing else to do, and lacking any useful tasks, he decided to return to his own room and catch up on some much needed sleep.

***

The chrono awoke him exactly five hours later. A quick glance at his datapad told him that the Dominion was right on schedule, and was still nearly two hours from it’s destination. Swinging his legs over the edge of his bunk, Jegora ran a hand through his thick hair and pushed himself up to his feet. As he moved around his temporary cabin, gathering his equipment, he tried to blink the sleep from his eyes as best he could. Finally, he sent a message to his squad leaders detailing the time and place of their command meeting. That done he tucked the datapad into a pouch on his utility belt and left the room.

Three minutes later Jegora found himself outside the conference room that the deck officer had been so kind to donate. Fifteen minutes after that, all the squad leaders had arrived. When they were all seated, Jegora drew a hologram projector from his belt and set it on the table. Keying the small device, the gathered WildCard commanders watched as a blue-and-white image of the planet Arkania expanded before their eyes.

When the image was completely rendered, Jegora hit another button. Four points of light appeared at various places on the projected image, two fairly close to each other in the North-western quadrant and the other two spread out on the opposite side of the planet.

“These are your targets,” Jegora said, not wasting any time on the formalities. He had never been a very subtle individual, especially when there was a job to do. “Each squad has a designated target. Some of your objectives vary, but the general idea remains the same: break things.”

The squad leaders were all nodding. Jegora keyed the projector again, and the image of Arkania began to rotate. At the same time, lines indicating starship trajectories began to appear. They traced themselves towards the planet, one at a time and at different speeds, each perfectly coinciding with one of the targets on the planet.

“Each shuttle will depart at a slightly different time with a slightly different trajectory into the Perave system. The effect, when executed properly, is that you all should arrive dirt-side at the same time,” Jegora continued as the display unfolded before them.

“And if we don’t?” Tanus asked after watching for a moment.

Jegora shrugged his massive shoulders. “It would be unfortunate, but it wouldn’t compromise the mission,” Jegora explained. “The simultaneous attacks are meant to affect the citizens of Arkania psychologically more than anything, so I still expect you to complete your assignment even if the timing is completely screwed.”

The squad leaders nodded thoughtfully at that. They weren’t officers, nor were they master tacticians, but they were professional soldiers, and they certainly understood the value of psychological warfare.

“The actual mission timeframes are fairly short. The Dominion will make a run through Arkania to pick us up exactly eight hours after we land. If all goes as it should, you will use your Sentinel-class shuttle to return to the VSD.”

“And if things don’t go as they should?” Ron inquired. “What then?”

Jegora sighed, looking all four of the squad leaders in the eye in turn. What he was about to tell them was the cold, hard truth, and it was going to make them a little angry. “Then you get left behind,” Jegora said, “unless you can find other transportation.”

“What?” Saphira exclaimed. “You want us to take on an entire planet AND get ourselves back to the ship?”

Jegora shook his head. “I don’t like it anymore than you guys, but that’s the way things are. The Dominion simply can’t spare the time to loiter around in-system and send a rescue craft.”

They were all silent at that. Shifting in his chair, Jegora decided to change the subject. “Your Sentinels are being prepped now. The armory is open too. Get your squads down there, get your gear, and get ready to go. Final mission brief is in one hour in the hangar.”

Jegora looked around the table. “Any questions?” he asked. All the squad leaders shook their heads.

“I think you covered it,” Havock said dryly.

Jegora ignored the sarcasm. Instead he simply nodded. He had nothing else to say. They had already been briefed on the specifics, and there was nothing else Jegora could prepare them for. “Let’s move, then. Havock, I’ll be right behind you.”

***

An hour later Jegora eyed the assembled stormtroopers. They were standing in relative formation in the hangar. Nearby, four Sentinel-class assault shuttles were undergoing prep for combat operations. As for the stormtroopers themselves, they were dressed out in a variety of armor. The most noticeable was the blood red armor that the BlackJacks wore, signifying their elite status. The other squads wore standard stormtrooper armor or storm commando armor – it was an eclectic mix.

For Jegora’s part, he was decked out in regular stormtrooper armor that had been augmented to fit his needs as platoon commander. He wore a shoulder pauldron signifying his position, and the usually white armor had been decorated with dark blue markings. The helmet of his armor had also been refitted with an advanced heads-up display that allowed him to keep track of the battlefield. The blast plates of the armor itself had been further reinforced with light weight composite materials. All in all, the end result was a highly mobile, yet protective, battle suit that provided Jegora with exceptional battlefield awareness.

His weaponry was standard: BC10 blaster rifle, sidearm, and a combat knife. His utility belt was also fully stocked with datapad, backup comlink, rations, survival kit, and three thermal detonators, not to mention extra blaster packs for his weapons. It was an impressive kit, similar to the loadouts that every stormtrooper present carried, and the sheer amount of destructive firepower each individual soldier could bring to bear never failed to impress Jegora

As he stood in ranks with the Raiders squad, Jegora couldn’t help but notice that compared to some of the troopers he was lightly armed. Several of the troopers had heavy squad cannons and ordnance launchers. They were the heavy weapons specialists, those soldiers trained to operate larger guns effectively. Still, Jegora had to wonder if some of the troopers would even be able to keep up during the mission to come. It was going to be face paced and brutal, and all that heavy weaponry might very well slow them down.

Jegora shook his head. That was beyond his control now. Glancing at the chrono on his wrist, he noted that there was just under forty minutes to go until the Dominion reverted from hyperspace; it was time to get aboard the Sentinels. Sticking one hand up in the air, Jegora made a motion, a universal symbol used throughout the galaxy, and its meaning was quite clear: lock and load. Instantly the platoon jumped into action, each squad filing off into their separate shuttles. Jegora followed the troopers of Raiders squad into their Sentinel-class assault ship, and as the ramp hissed closed behind him he had the sinking feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.

Pushing his pessimism aside as useless worrying, Jegora settled in and began to wait. Ten minutes passed by, then twenty, then thirty. Finally, the crucial moment came. The Dominion dropped out of hyperspace with a familiar jolt, and one by one the shuttles began to launch from the starboard hangars. It was a very smooth process, and one that Jegora couldn’t see for himself from inside the shuttle, but he did recognize the sensations of spaceflight. And then there came another familiar jolt, and Jegora instinctively knew that their Sentinel-class shuttle had made the final jump to hyperspace.

It was only a matter of minutes now. The troopers had less than an hour before they would land on an enemy planet and attempt to burn it to the ground. Less than an hour before they would be required to risk their lives and take the lives of others. And, more than likely, at least some of the troopers in the shuttle had less than an hour to live.

And what did they do? They slept.

Jegora had to admire them for their professionalism. Men and women such as these knew that stress would come later whether they wanted it to or not, and there was no use getting worked up about things in the present. So they willed their bodies to relax, to shut down. It was the mark of a good soldier. As Jegora closed his eyes, mimicking the actions of the men and women he was suppose to be commanding, he willed his mind to quiet. His last coherent thought was, here we go.

OOC:

Alright, this thread is locked. You all have individual threads now.

“Keep moving, dammit!” Havock yelled to the squad, who was beginning to show their exausgtion from running. She looked up at the leads, Njall and Aeos. It was obvious that Aeos was once again having trouble with the whole idea of sprinting. The squad leader, used a burst of speed and sped up next to Aeos. “Hey, come on. We can do it. There aren’t any more in front of us, so you can fall back with Beta and them if you want to.” Her voice was loud, only so it could be heard over the thunder and lightning, but it still held the care that she had for her troopers.

Aeos nodded and began to fall back, nodding to Jaenna on the way as well. They all kept running, their minds on one thing and one thing only: Getting the hell away from the slimy bastards. Jaenna looked behind her, to see if they were still being chased. She clicked on her infrared vision on her visor to help her cause. It took her a few moments to adjust the settings, but finally she got it to where she could see if anything was following them. Her eyes widened and she began to slow down, her breathing heavy and shallow.

Havock looked back, rather confused on to why the ASL had suddenly began to slow down. The others slowed down with her. They were now at a soft canter going through the forest. The tress passed them, their shadows looming over the troopers, their branches seemingly reaching out to grab each and every one of them, only to devour their souls and spit the empty containers back out for the oozies to dissolve within their mass. The forest was a creepy place, which was why Havock wasn’t so keen on slowing down. Lightning struck again, lighting up the entire forest. Shadows flashed here and there, striking even more fear through the SL as she turned to look at Jaenna, still wondering why they had slowed down.

Finally, she decided to speak up. Her feet continued to hit the ground with a great ferocity, her want to get away obvious in the rough tenseness of her normally otherwise soft voice. “So Jaenna! Mind telling me why we are slowing down?”

The answer that went from the lips of the ASL to the ears of the SL were simple and blunt. “They aren’t chasing us anymore.” Jaenna stopped slowed to a stop, placing a palm on a tree to her left. Her breathing was ragged, a wheezing sound flaring up every few seconds.

“They… what?” Vee slowed to a stop as well, standing near Jaenna, looking down at the ASL, a confused look on his face. “How do you know?”

“I can’t hear them, we would be able to even through the rain and thunder.” She said through her wheezing and ragged breaths. She bent over, trying to catch her breath. Injuries that she had sustained to her chest and back during the Thrawn attack were beginning to catch up with her. She had never run that hard in her life, or rather not for quite a while. After a few moments she leaned back, hand still on the tree to steady herself.

“Are you going to be okay?” Karash asked as she took a few steps towards the ASL.

Jaenna waved his advance off, smiling behind her visor. “I’ll be fine, Kar. Thanks though.” She looked to Vee, then to Havock. “Plus, I looked back a few moments ago, using my infrared. There was nothing there. They might have found something else to chase. But I won’t count on it. Those bastards were persistent.” The ASL took a few deep breaths, finally steadying her breathing. She stood at her full height, placing her palms on the small of her back. She bent backwards and sickening snap was heard as her vertebrae released trapped air. She sighed in relief and shook her head. “There we go. Finally.” She chuckled, and looked back to Havock again. “There is still the chance that they are following us. But since I don’t see them or hear them, I think it’s safe to take a few minutes to figure out what we are going to do besides just run.” Jaenna’s expression was hard.

Havock nodded slowly, looking around to each of the other troopers. She was contemplating. Jaenna sighed and walked up to the Sergeant, placing a hand on her shoulder. She squeezed gently. “Look, I know we were all scared. But we are the RAIDERS, we are better than just running away. We need to get our bearings, and figure out if any of the other squads crashed here as well.” Jaenna looked deep into the empty visor, hoping that it was Havock’s eyes she was staring at.

“Uh, guys. Sorry to ruin your little moment, but I hear something.” Vee spoke up, his grip tightening on whatever weapon he had in his hands.

Beta spoke up then. “Yeah, I hear it to.”

Grahim came up next to Vee, looking from him, to Jaenna, then to Havock. His exposed ears perked up, the gungan using his enormous ears for what they were supposed to be used for. “Itssa not da slimies.” Everyone looked at him, surprised that he would actually decide to USE that ability at a time like this.

“I think he’s right actually.” Vee said as he began to listen up as well. “It sounds like the Horsies.”

Blackjack hummed a half-dozen feet over the ground on jetpacks. The squad had quite the use for them during the siege of Tadath and dozens of other battlefronts across VE space. Unfortunately, they hadn’t packed much fuel, forgoing a large fuel tank for more ammo and weaponry.

“Already running out of fuel,” noted Tanus. “Only a bit left.”

The jetpacks sputtered for another hundred meters before dying all at once. Gates shrugged his off and dumped it into the dust. Freed from the cumbersome device, he stretched his shoulders and looked back at the citadel they’d come from. Even a kilometer away, he could see the undead boiling around it, searching for their prey. Already, a huge mob of them were following the Blackjacks, stumbling and running at them. They were numerous and relentless.

“Move it, Blackjacks,” Gates cautioned. “Get those jump packs off and let’s go.”

The other troopers in red yanked the heavy devices off and dropped them unceremoniously. Living was a lot more important than keeping gear in good shape at this point.

They took off at a light jog, headed for the large structure they’d seen from the citadel. The inhumane screaming came from the assembled mob hot on their trail. The Blackjacks ran lightly, knowing they could never outrun the things indefinitely, but knew they could reach the ever-growing structure to make a stand, and even get off this hellhole. Knowing they were headed for a position they could take and hold was quieting everyone’s nerves. Even the huge crowd that was following them couldn’t damper the high mood that also accompanied the possibility of evac and withdrawal.

“What’s that?” asked Abalar, pointing down range through a break in the scraggly trees at a structure. Gates’ heart sank. It was another citadel, and where there was another citadel, there were bound to be more of the undead.

“We just can’t catch a break here, can we?” Gates nearly spat. “This entire kriffing planet is out to bloody get us! The dead are out to get us! The weather is even out to get us!”

“Seemingly,” Tanus said, but Gates could almost hear a smile in his voice. “But not everything on this rock is from this planet. Tell me what you think that is.”

Tanus pointed and Gates looked. It was a bunch of Stormtroopers running like their hair was on fire. What was so special about that, Stormtroopers were a dime a dozen in warzones…

“Oh,” Gates said, feeling a grin stitch across his face. “That looks like VE backup to me.”

“It’s not the Raiders, is it?” asked Corvin.

“If it is, you’ll keep your trap shut,” Gates said.

The Blackjacks were ahead of their unidentified allies, and loped easily to intercept them.

“’lo, Blackjack,” the lead soldier said, breathing heavily from the squad’s frantic run.

“Good to see a friendly face, Wraiths,” Tanus said, identifying the speaker as Ron, Squad leader of the Wraiths. “Have fun tussling with the undead?”

“What?” asked Tanus’ counterpart. “Undead? We were fighting some mutated Gora Beast things. What the hell were you guys fighting?”

Gates’ temporary good mood plummeted and he looked back the way the Wraiths had come. Large creatures were following, and they didn’t look remotely humanoid.

“How about we go back to running?”

“Ain’t that some shit.” Rogueboy muttered to himself as Ron had gone to greet Tanus from Blackjack.

The two squads approached each other, impending doom following both of them and they greeted each other. Rogueboy nodded to Garryll and Corvin, the only two troopers he really got to know in his rather short stay in Blackjack. Garryll nodded back but Corvin pretended not to notice, Alex kind of expected that since RB had left under less than pleasant circumstances.

“So where are we running to?” Rogueboy asked one of the Blackjacks, who he suspected was Abalar.

“Away from these bastards, not much more clear then that.” She said matter of factly.

“Cute.” The Wraith trooper muttered as he turned around and fired a grenade from his launcher into the wave of creatures behind the two squads.

Opening up the launcher’s canister Rogueboy popped out the six empty shells of the used grenades and began reloading it. “I knew I should have brought a second bandolier!” Rogueboy complained aloud as he only had enough ammo left for three shots.

Thumbing the safety on, RB swung the launcher over his left shoulder as he brought the RB-407 over. “Shit!” Someone yelled.

“What is it?” Rogueboy called back, as he was preoccupied with firing while running backwards.

“Marshland!” Someone called back.

“Damn it! There’s just no good news is there?” Anival said.

Nodding his head in agreement RB brought down one of the creatures that had originally been following Blackjack; it’s skin was in the process of falling off and reminded Alex of a zombie horror movie.

“Reminds me of The Returning, I’ll never forget that holofilm, gave me nightmares when I was little.”  Kanderin said.

A few others nodded agreements, RB new saw the film so he didn’t say anything. “Flyers!” Someone yelled out.

Both squads turned around and loosed some bolts at the flying beasts, half of which were killed in the first volley. “Keep running!” Ron encouraged.

Running through the swampy ground was not easy, and fatigue started to show on the troopers; most of whom had been running for about twenty standard minutes.  “Think...we’re...going....to *Cough* need...a...break.” Warbird wheezed.

“I second that.” Someone from BJ said.

“Good thing the VE is not a democracy otherwise you would all be dead!” Tanus called back.

“How far back are they?” Someone else asked.

Half the troopers glanced over their shoulders, RB being one of them. “Might want to run faster because they’re catching up!” Hassar shrieked.

Rogueboy could tell that Ron was talking to Tanus through the comlinks and he could probably guess what their discussion was about. Tanus probably wanted to counter-attack the creatures, running was never his style. Whereas Ron would be suggesting that they be cautious and continue running until they have a considerable distance before turning around and picking them off. Truth was that there was no win-win situation; either they turn around and get slaughtered now, or they run until they can’t run anymore and get slaughtered then. Overall the situation looked grim, and these beasts and “undead” as Tanus had called them don’t look like they were fatiguing all that much. There was always the third option, sacrifice a few soldiers so that the rest could get away. Usually in that scenario, one would require volunteers, and volunteers usually don’t last that much longer than a few missions.

“Where..are..we..headed?” Rogueboy finally called out.

“When I had spoke to the Dominion, there was a map posted near the comms array. We’re heading towards a building labelled “The Monastery”.” Ron answered loud enough so everyone could hear.

“Why are we going there?” Corvin asked.

“Because it’s far from here.” Tanus snapped back.

“What...if...there..are...more *Cough* of...them there?” Loran questioned.

“Well, you make sure you point that dinky little rifle of yours at them and pull the trigger.” Ron joked, except no one laughed.

“That really wasn’t funny Ron.” Rogueboy stated.

“You try a better one.” Ron stated.

Clearing his voice Rogueboy started his joke. “Alright guys...how many undead beasts does it take to kill the elite squad another squad?”

“I heard this joke before!” Someone called to a chorus of boos.

“Bah fine! You bastards.” Rogueboy called back.

“Are we there yet?” A member of Blackjack called out.

“No.” Ron called out.

Inside Alex laughing as he asked. “Are we there yet?”

“If you don’t knock it off, I’ll order you guys to stop.” Ron called to a short chorus of laughter before the squads realized he was serious.

Hassar rolled his eyes at the squads' feeble attempt at humor. He highly doubted anyone had a joke that could make anyone laugh sincerely in a situation like this. However, Ron's remark had managed to produce a smirk on the privates face from underneath his helmet.

The rain pelted Kyrus' red armor, creating a steady white noise that enveloped his helmet. Water was trickling down the side of his head, as droplets of rain found its way down through the crack in his helmet. He had sustained the damage to his armour from an encounter with one of the foul creatures that Blackjack had been constantly fighting against since landing on this rock.

Kyrus quickly glanced behind him, and saw, to his dismay, that they were still being followed. Not that he expected the zombies or the other creatures (Gora Beasts, if he remembered correctly) to stop their pursuit. He had a small hope that maybe the monsters would attack each other when they were close enough to each other. They didn't seem to be bothered by each other, and were perfectly content with chasing after the stormtroopers together. He did notice that the gora beasts were perfectly content with trampling over the undead, but that didn't necessarily mean anything, since the rest of the undead seemed to have no problem with running over their own kind, as well.

Both squads were jogging at a good steady pace. Kyrus wasn't having any problem with keeping up, for now. He was used to running, as he had been for most of his life. He imagined that if he had never joined the army, and settled down on a nice, quite planet, somewhere like Dantooine, that he would be a running man. Jogging helped to clear his mind, but lately the only time he ever got to go out and jog was when he was running for his life, which disappointed him a little. Still, his mind was starting to clear up, and he he didn't feel as mentally fatigued as he had before, which sometimes was better than a bacta patch.

"Heads up," RB said as more flyers came in above them.

It was hard to aim up and run at the same time, so Kyrus turned around and shot up at the airborne beasts, running backwards as he did so. One of the flyers was unfortunate enough to take a shot directly to its head, and with a screech, it fell to the damp ground. A while later it was lost from sight as it became trampled over by thousands of claws and feet.

As more of the creatures fell from the sky, someone laughed and then imitated the sound of a starship crash landing.

"Neeeeooooowww... BOOM!" Loran laughed heartily as the creature hit the ground.

"May-Day! May-Day!" someone else chimed.

Kyrus smiled, tickled by his own amusement at the childlike sound effects.

"Come on, knock it off." Ron said half-heartedly, firing off a few more rounds into the flock of beasts. A few more chuckles were heard over the com, before the squads finished off the last of the creatures.

"Alright, squad keep up the good pace. We're getting closer." Tanus called back.

"How much further?"

"Don't even think about starting that up again." Ron started. He sounded slightly annoyed, but there was a joking tone contained in his voice.

Both squads seemed to be getting along pretty well with each other, and their spirits had definitely picked up since meeting up with each other. Kyrus guessed that this may have had to do with the fact that there was now a fighting chance of leaving this moon. At the very least surviving a while longer if they made it as far as the Monastery.

Kyrus knew deep inside of him that they would make it off alive. He knew because there was no way that he would die such a pitifull death as being eaten alive by zombies, gora beasts, or any other sithspawning creature that tried to go up against the combined fury of Blackjack and Wraith.

With a grin, Kyrus looked over and called out, "Are we there yet?"

Jago trudged onward through the rain and exhaustion. He began wondering what he had done to deserve a first mission like this. He glanced around at the squad, unable to read any kind of expression through the helmets. With a quick look behind him he could see the blobs were preoccupied with engulfing their screaming victims rather than catching up with them.

The first break we’ve had all day. Jago thought with a sigh of relief. “Say everyone take a quick look behind us. It would appears as though the hunters don’t wanna share.” he called out to the squads over the comm. Most of the squad looked back and a bit of relief could be seen as their bodies seemed to ease a bit from being tensed up.

“Ha ha, seems like it,” Tank said, “Say does this mean we can take a break?”

Lucky turned and sighed, “I suppose.” Then in a louder voice barked, “Alright everyone we have five minutes! The minute any of you see either the blobs or the bloodsuckers advancing on us again we get up and move!”

Jago hefted his equipment off his back and sat on it looking over at RK and asking, “Say RK, could you tell me more about Mandalorians?”

“What in the hell are they doing?” Jaenna growled as she heard the Horsies stopping behind them as the RAIDERS kept moving. She stopped and turned to run towards Iron Horse, her expression hard and angry behind the visor of her helmet. The rest of the RAIDERS slowed a bit, but kept going, knowing that Jaenna would be able to catch up. The Assistant Squad Leader trotted over towards LuckyStar.

One of the Horises looked up after taking off his helmet and almost fell backwards from the shock of seeing such an angry girl coming towards them. “Uh… Hey Boss?” He said to Lucky and Saphira. The two woman looked around to see Jae, standing right there.

Lucky stood, and looked at Jae. “What is it, Sergeant?”

“We need to keep moving.” Jaenna said, not even allowing a moment’s silence between the question and her answer. It was obvious through the ASL’s voice that she was overly annoyed at stopping and moving again, stopping and moving again. “Last time the RAIDETS stopped for a break, they caught up to us. If we keep fracking stopping every time they a little farther behind us, they are going to just keep catching up!” She shouted.

Lucky’s eyes narrowed, not liking the idea of being yelled at by Jaenna. The IH ASL tightened her fists, glaring at Jaenna with daggers in her eyes.

“Look,” Jaenna continued, pointing to the rest of the Iron Horse troopers. “Get them moving again. I’m not overriding command, I’m just telling you that you are going to die if you keep taking breaks. This isn’t just a freaking race. It’s a rush to get that whatever it is,” she pointed behind her at the rather large building that was still silhouetted by the night and the shadows of the forest. The two squads still had a ways to go before reaching the Monastery though. “and secure it so that we can get off of this damn rock! Now I say you guys need to keep moving! But if you wanna stay back here and die, be my guest.” Jaenna snorted in her annoyance and turned on her heal, beginning to walk slowly back to her squad, who was only meters ahead of her, resting for just a couple second, waiting for Jaenna to get back.

Jaenna heard Vee speak up and shout towards her. It sounded a lot like “Come on! Get a reing on those horsies and get going!” Jaenna chuckled at that, but kept walking a bit slower, her ears listening out for any movement behind her. Finally, as she was almost to the RAIDERS, she heard the Horsies get up and place their helmets back on. She smirked to herself, and started at a trot again, passing the RAIDERS.

“Let’s move.” Havock shouted as she and Karash hoisted Beta onto a better position on their shoulders, still helping him to move as both squads once again were making their way towards the Monastery in the distance.

The building grew larger and larger. The lightning flashes only increased the eerie feel of the whole situation. The rain continued to slam down on the squads, not only creating a mixture of disgusting mixture of mud under their feet, but also making the trek that much harder. The rain itself felt like it wanted to eat all of them. It continued to come down in blankets of unrelenting pressure. The troopers groaning as they moved towards the building, their hearts pounding from the lack of rest, their eyes straining to see through the rain, their legs and feet tired of the movement all together. But they continued to move through it all, their fight or flight response having taken obvious effect.

A voice rose above the thunder. It was Njall at the front of the RAIDERS line, his fist outward and pointing towards what appeared to be very large and cliche spooky doors at the base of the building. "Not a few more meters!" He shouted, his voice not only loud and rough, but holding a slight hint of excitement as he visibly picked up speed.

Havock laughed, happy to finally be at the stupid thing. "Come on! Not much farther!" She was about to pick up speed as well, but stopped as a painful grunt from Beta reminded her that she was helping a wounded trooper. Karash shot her a look and she grumbled and kept moving at her normal pace.

The ASL laughed as well, running along side Aeos, who's limbs were looking a littler more fatigued than every one else's. Jaenna laughed again and nodded towards the building. "Alright, hun. Not much further. You can do it." She said in a soft voice, yet still loud enough to be heard over the unrelenting rain. Aeos nodded and took a deep breath, then exhaled quickly, trying to get a steady rhythm going with her breathing, rather than just panting wildly. "If you feel like you're gonna pass out, I'm right here to catch you." Jae's soft voice spoke up again.

Aeos nodded and kept moving.

They burst through the doors, Havock and Karahs instantly moving to what looked like a small bench. They set Beta down and Karash knelt by him, taking inventory on the trooper's injuries. The rest of the troopers stumbled into the door, the rain coming in over the threshold. Aeos and Jaenna came in next, then Vee, then Grahim. Njall stood at the doors, waiting for those of Iron Horse to get in. Finally, the Horsies got into the building. Jaenna rushed over to the other door, and helped Njall with closing both of them. The shutting doors sent a loud 'boom' through the place.

"Awesome. It's dark. Now we can at least be eaten with out seeing our predators." Vee scoffed as he fumbled about in the dark.

Karash growled. "It would be a lot easier to fix Beta with light, yanno."

"Shush. All of you." Havock said as she pulled out five glowrods. She tossed one to Jaenna, one to Njall, one to Vee and one to Karash. She kept one of them. They all cracked them and the green-yellow light slowly flooded the foyer of the large building. The ceiling had to have been at least twenty or thirty meters up. The whole creepy feel of the place was almost too much for the troopers.

"Hurray for cliche." Aeos grumbled as she looked up at the ceiling.

OOC:

RAIDERS and Iron Horse are now in the Monathingy. Huzzah.

"Hurray for cliché." Aeos grumbled. Grahim looked over at the girl and saw that she was looking at the ceiling. He got curious what she meant and looked up and saw paintings of getting killed by priests or cultists or something, he was sure they were religious in some way. Then he saw that there were pipes destroying the beautiful paintings that he thought had been put there recently.

The two squads kept walking further into the monastery. Grahim were not sure he liked a large quantity of troopers going in one place he liked it better when they were two or three. It was easier to be found and killed, but it is not up to him to decide what they should or not should do. It was up to the squad leaders and Jegora of course.

Sometimes they heard splashing sounds that were proof that the slime creatures were inside the monastery searching for them. Otherwise the only sound you heard were the sound of people walking.

“I can’t stand this.” A Iron Horse trooper whispered.

“Well then you maybe shouldn’t have signed up to be a trooper in the Imperial Army.” Jaenna said.

“Sergeant Jaenna, you should really not be such a…” LuckyStar started but was interrupted

“Wesa should notsa be fighting our own ranks when wesa have lots of datsa slime dat wants to kill us lurking in our shadows.” Grahim said and started to walk again. He knew the tensions that were building up were because everyone was scared to the bone but no one wanted to admit it. Grahim were scared but he did not want to show it to anyone because every one here was supposed to be tough soldiers, that should be able to keep their heads cool at all times. But then again they were still living creatures and not robots.

The two squads walked around inside the monastery without finding anything of interest or a place to get some rest before going on. They walked in a corridor when they saw light coming out of a room, the room was just a short bit ahead. The large gathering of people ran towards the room. They all were shocked by the sight when they looked into the room.

“Who the hell could have done this?” Havock yelled.