Anival checked his messages, Ron's injuries had appeared to be worse then he showed, Anival  admired the man, by what the doctors had told Anival, it was a miracle he hadn't passed out from the pain, during their last mission that was, but now, just when Ron had been whisked into surgery, they had sent wraith out again. Along with all of Wildcard. Something big had to be going on. Anival sighed, and dragged his finger across his eyebrow and lower lip, a custom that had been drilled into him since childhood.

Anival met on the "Tiger's Eye" a Civilian transport, aboard it was wraith, Anival stepped in and sat down. almost as quickly as he had boarded they took off. Anival took the time to look over the other leaders withing Wildcard, Sergent First Class Ayme Katash, who also went by the alias of Havock, he knew her from afar, not having spend as much time as he had with his own squad. Same went with Saphira Striker "Saph", and Garryll Gates. Both higher officers than Anival, a small churning of his gut told Anival he was nervous, this would be his first mission without Ron or Kand's guidance, and he wasn't sure he was up to the task.

All the thinking and re-reading made Anival weary, and without thinking, sleep fell. He awoke an hour before re-entry. Again he took his time to rem member the details of what they had been told. As soon as they came out of hyperspace Anival received a message. He walked to a room, and locked the door.

"This is Senior Sargent Anival Velasquez, Temporary Leader of Wraith, trooper number 0012558964409, transmitting all codes necessary to continue contact." Anival uploaded the codes and heard the acknowledgment.

"Very well, that is all of us, we are to keep this message short, we all have the co-ordinates for the meeting, be prompt, for time is of the essence, that is all."

Anival sighed and put on his helmet, the familiar hiss was welcomed, and he went back to his seat.



Anival told the squad to wait, and walked to the pre-determined location. During the walk he decided to be as formal as he could be, he didn't want to leave a bad impression, he had been careful to guard his tongue, especially around the Twi'lek, but that was while he was under supervision, who knew how he would act. A white glare told him three others had already arrived, he silently scolded himself for being late.

"Anival!" said a unfamiliar, but recognizable voice, that of Black Jacks SL.

"First Sargent" Nodded Anival, then he nodded at the others.

"Alright so what?"

"What what?" asked Anival

"Hey, you called the meeting."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"No...I-."

"Ok then who did?" asked the Twi'lek.

Anival sighed.

"Not I."

"Me neither."

"Hey don't look at me."

"Then who did?"

Anival thought for a second, but he didn't know what was happening, not even when a hard whack sent him sprawling to the floor, or when the second whack sent him into a unnatural sleep, the last things he heard were "AMBUSH!"


Anival awoke with his head groggy, he felt light, he quickly realized why, his armor was gone, the only thing that had been left was the under mesh that they all wore under the armor. A feeling of nakedness overtook Anival, he was glad he was alone, or so he thought, a voice behind him made him even more aware of his missing armor, he turned around, and all the members that had been at the meeting. He cursed.

"We were suckered." murmured someone.

Anival nodded, but it only brought tendrils of pain to his head.

"Welcome, all of you." Came a booming voice.

"Co=operate, and you will live, don't, and well, take a look."

With that a video came up on the far wall, a man, dressed in regular infantry garb was being gnawed by some sort of creature, from the scream of anguish it was evident he was still alive, the creatures had started at his guts, so his organs lay exposed, yet for some reason he was still alive, a device above him answered that, the bastards were keeping him alive, barely, yet his death was inevitable. Anival heard someone gasp.


"For now, I will start with one simple question, and be mindful, I already know, a lot about you, all of you, but why are you here?" he asked seemingly pointing at Anival.

Anival gulped, he had no idea what would lay ahead, and he was happy, for once, ignorance was bliss.

OOC:

BEFORE POSTING LET OTHER SL's POST, AND READ THE TOPIC

SLAM

The sounds of feet and shouts could be heard behind another door.  Followed by a few chuckles as Saphira spat at the man in front of her. Her lower lip was split and bleeding and she didn't even seem to notice.

"How about you turn around and let me shove my foot up your -"

A Fist came down into her stomach. Instantly whooshing out the  remaining air as she grunted and lowered her head for a moment. Le'ku flickered for a few seconds as her hands twisted against her bonds. Whoever did this was an idiot..

"Now, I'll ask again. Why are you here? How many more are there?"

A Hand rested on the back of her neck for a moment and then squezed gently. Right before taking his fingers to trace her Lek. Saphira hissed.

"Stop touching me, or you'll be choking on that hand.."

Twisting her hands a little more she felt skin pinching and peeling. It was still giving a little more. Pain was something she could live with.

"I think not."

He reached and grabbed the end of her lek and slammed her head back with a snap. Pain swelled from the jerk not only from her neck, but the lek as the impact drew  to slamming her head to the back of the wall.  For a moment, all she could see were pain full stars.

"I don't think you get it. The more you resist, the more pain you and your friends will be in."

Saphira only managed to chuckle as she managed to slip one hand free from the cuff.

"Haven't you noticed? I enjoy pain.."

Standing up as fast as she could, the twi'lek swung her free hand around and struck  her captor in the face. A snap crunch sound as  it carried the cuffs with it. The hand she had freed was rubbed raw and torn in some places.  He swore and the door opened almost instantly. Another guard rushed in, grabbing her left arm and twisted  to put her into a hold position.  Trying to kick back, she failed when she felt a prick in her side and knew it was a sedative or relaxor of some type.

"Nice try. Impressive that you managed to get out of the cuffs."  He was holding his nose as her body started to go limp and was being supported by the first guard.  Smiling as a few drops of blood  fell from his nose.

"Hurt dosen't it. How about a glass of water or some acid for that?" She spat. Like hell she was going to tell them anything why they were there, or where their guys were at.

"Oh, I think I can arrange something..."


Saphira took the first few punches  that she could recall in the gut and at least two in the face before  the blow to the lek. Then there was nothing but calming darkness.

Zeshaun wiped his gun over and over even though he knew it clean, he had been cleaning it ever since they had boarded the transport. He didn’t know why he had begun to do it, he had never had this habit before and he never did anything like this when he was nervous. It may have been the lack of presence of their real squad leader, or their momentary squad leader.  They had just arrived, and Anival had left, claiming he had some sort of SL meeting he had to attend. Ron had to take a leave of absence, his injuries being much worse than he had originally thought. The other Wraiths sat idly, waiting for their temporary Squad Leader to return. 

“So. . .” Jamasis said a bit awkwardly, it seemed everyone was a little off of their game.

“How do you think Ron is doing back on Tadath.” Beta40 finished the sentence, trying to start some sort of conversation.

“I’m sure he’s doing alright, he’s tough, and surgery wouldn’t kill him.” Zeshaun said confidently.

The second the words left his mouth he knew he had just killed the conversation, he made his answer so definite no one else had a chance to give their opinion or what they thought of Ron. Feeling badly, he started to think of new things to talk about, and he just said the thing was on his mind.

“Where do you think Anival has run off too, he’s been gone for a while.”

The others looked at each other and mostly shrugged, “Who knows.” Bacredi said, looking back at Zeshaun. “He had some sort of meeting or something right.”

The others just sort of nodded and it seemed the squad was getting a bit more curious about his whereabouts now that Zeshaun had mentioned it, and the fact that Anival had not returned in a timely manner made people a bit nervous. Zeshaun vigorously rubbed an already shiny spot on his rifle trying to find something to do to fill up the awkward moment.

“Should we go look for him?” Nightowl asked, wanting to go look out for his new squad leader.

“Have a little faith, Anival won’t be dead, and he knows how to take care of himself.” Jamasis said, sounding like he put more faith into his words than he actually felt.

Zeshaun just nodded, hoping that he was right. Everyone was getting nervous, time passed and Anival had yet to return, he began to think that something was up, and despite his military brain telling him not to go and try to come in contact with another squad, he had to at least ask. Zeshaun tentatively picked up a comlink and went on the universal channel and said a simple message.

“Have other squad leaders returned?”

The moment he stopped talking, a few other voices that he did not particularly recognize replied with a chorus of “no’s” and Zeshaun felt butterflies begin to flutter in his stomach. This can’t be good It seemed to him that no other squad leaders had returned from their ‘squad leader meeting.’ Zeshaun also just realized that he had just allowed people to announce that their squad leaders were missing, and he knew he would get a long talk about putting the whole mission in jeopardy later on.

“Sounds as if we have a situation on our hands.” Zeshaun announced to the squad.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Beta40 asked, sounding a bit concerned.

“No one has heard from their squad leaders since they left for their meeting.”

“You’re right, we do have a situation on our hands.” Bacredi said.

“What do we do now?” Nighowl asked, being only on his second mission, he seemed to be having a hard time keeping his cool.

“We’ll figure something out, if everyone’s been captured then someone will come from the High Council or something and give us orders right?” Zeshaun said, asking the squad for confirmation.

The squad looked blankly back at him, no one was sure what would happen next.

"Stupid bastards'll never know what hit them." Corvin cackled, gleefully hefting his EE-3 in both hands. His helmet was on the bench next to him, along with a supply satchel. "Good to have the plates back on again, isn't it?"

The blaster carbine felt right in his grip, with more weight than the slug pistols the squad had used on the last mission while still light enough to be fired one-handed if necessary.

Abalar replied with what might have been a grunt or a snort, and Corvin's grin widened. The Blackjack ASL's low opinion of the squad colour scheme was an open secret, and the running joke was that she celebrated each successful mission by filing a request for a different armour pattern.

Force help him, but this felt good. Wearing full armour, no need to sneak around yet again, and with the added bonus of getting to gloat to Garryll after they rescued him.

Corvin's smile faded. Whoever'd kidnapped the squad leaders was either very smart or either very stupid, with a high probability of the latter.

Attacking and abducting any Imperial citizen was risky enough, but stormtrooper squad leaders? That wasn't asking for trouble so much as bringing down orbital bombardment levels of destruction on your own head.

Corvin would take great pleasure in killing every last one of the traitor scum, preferably ending with the frak-wit who'd thought up the scheme.

This mission was perfect for the Blackjacks, perfectly fitting their assigned role. Heavy force, a simple objective, and no need to keep things limited. After all, when the enemy started kidnapping stormtroopers, the gloves came off.

"You all right, Corvin?" Loran said. "You've been a bit quiet."

Corvin glanced over at Loran, shrugging.

"Just thinking."

"Feh, Garryll's tough enough to handle himself." Loran said confidently. "He'll be fine."

"Right." Corvin replied absently, fiddling with his EE-3. Just a few more minutes now.

"Approaching the squad leaders' last known position now." Godby called over the intra-ship com. The man sounded a little less sure of himself than usual. "You might want to get up here, Sergeant."

"On my way." Abalar replied tersely, getting to her feet, helmet tucked under one arm. "Get your buckets on, Blackjack. We're landing shortly."

"Ma'am." Corvin replied sharply, hurrying to obey. There were clicks as the troopers put their helmets, seals activating seconds later and HUDs powering up. Fully sealed, stormtrooper armour provided complete protection from biological and chemical agents. There probably wouldn't be either at the landing site, of course, but it was standard procedure.

There was a hum, and screens seemed to appear directly in front of Corvin. A small box with read-outs listing power cell charges took up a corner, while a circular reticule jerked left and right as Corvin turned his head.

There was a cough of static, and Abalar's voice came over the intercom.

"We're landing at the drop site now. Wraith's already on the ground, so stay out of their way and play nice. Oh, and try not to step in the evidence, Blackjack. We need to find Garryll and the others, and do it fast."

Saph had been captured, that right there left her sttunned for a while. It seemed like she was out of it-mentally for hours but in reality it was only a minute or two before she snapped back to the present. The rest of the Horsies had no idea what was going on, she had secluded herself in a small room of the shuttle before hearing this broadcast. In reality she had been worried for a little while as Saph almost never left for briefings without her by her side, or when she did leave Lucky in charge as she went to be briefed she was usually back a short while later. A few minutes had been spent on planning their next course of action and it had been decided that RAIDERS and Iron Horse would stay behind and hold the fort.


Breaking the news about Saph being held captive had been a little hard to tell the guys, normally she would reveal any news without hesitation but she knew some, Madman among others had a rather deep attachment to her. All feelings aside, they had some peole to rescue which led her to the second bit of news she had for them.

"Let's do it!" Madman barked as he and RK jumped up at the same time.

"Not so fast. Sit and be silent, I'm not finished!" She hissed back at them with a tone she rarely used.

"We'e not going anywhere. We along with RAIDERS are staying behind and holding the fort. We'll be doing some patrolling and all that good monotonous shit." She finished with a sigh, she wasn't happy with the news neither.

"What!?" several people shouted when it was clear she wouldn't be saying another word.

"That's our assignment and it's final! Everyone's upset the bosses are gone and in trouble, even though we can't join the fight I'm pretty sure it won't be as boring as you all think it will be now get off your asses, gear up and get outside and not ONE complaint. Understood?"

in reply sh got some mumbles and grumbles whic was better than nothing. Turning around she made her way down the ramp and outside. Surveying the enormous field which surrounded them she saw nothing suspicious as of yet.

There was darkness and pain. Her ears were ringing but she could still make out voices in the room around her. She was vividly aware of the chill she was feeling though her cheek yet she wasn't sure where she was at first. Then the memory started to flood back to her, followed shortly by a wave of concern for her squad. Havock turned and managed to move her stinging arm underneath her as she rested her throbbing forehead on the floor. She knew she brought this upon herself, she never was one to cooperate with authorities. Havock followed orders and tried not to get in trouble when it came to the army, but local police and idiots who liked to hit people to get answers, those guys she had no respect whatsoever for.

"Hey Katash, you awake?" The voice sounded distorted in her ears, but it must have been Gates. Karash was right, she really needed to stop getting hit in the head. One of these days she was going to end up in another coma.

She groaned and turned on her back. "Kinda. When do we get our complementary massages?"

"Heh, I don't think that was part of the package, Havvie." Saphira was standing over her, her arms crossed, looking rather battered herself.

"Call the damn manager, I want my credits back. This vacation sucks." She rubbed her face trying to will her eyes to focus because the blur was just making her head ache more.

"Is she okay?" Anival's voice was full of concern and worry. He probably wasn't in the mood to figure a way out of there and deal with a crazy SL.

Havock sighed and sat up. She scooted back until she could rest against the wall in the cell they occupied. It was small and only had one bunk, which Saphira had returned to sitting on. Anival was across from Havock in a similar position and Gates was pacing. Havock knew Saph was the best out of the three of them, the two of them had shared a few drinks at the bar in the past. She also met Ani on previous missions, but hadn't really gotten to know him well. Gates was a mystery.

"I'm good, Ani. Anyone know what the frack is going on?"

"The meet was a trick, damn well executed one considering the four of us only managed to take out six of them before they stunned us and dragged us here." Gates knelt down by her as he spoke.

Havock nodded and started to scan the walls and the ceiling for listening devices. "They asked all of us the same question then...about what we're looking for."

"Looks that way." Ani grumbled from across the room. "Did you tell them anything? These two claim they told them nothing."

Saph moved around Havock and only stopped when Garryll got in the way of her war path. She shot both men a glare. "I already told you, little man, that I said nothing, doubt me again and I'll feed you your arm."

"I think that's quite enough. Nobody said anything, now we are not going to go anywhere if we fight each other." Gates tried to diffuse the situation, it was obvious to Havock that this was a debate subject that they had already been through.

Saph was now laying back on the bunk with her arms behind her head. She laughed a bit before she spoke. "At least I gave that bastard a bloody nose."

Havock ran a hand through her hair. "Heh, well done Saph."

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

"What the hell are they looking at?"

Rogueboy came up next to Luckystar, they both had just finished setting up patrols around the transport. Nobody was happy about the assignment. They arrived on the planet and had done literally nothing since then. At least Wraith and Blackjack got to take a walk in the woods, all RAIDERS and Iron Horse had gotten to do was babysit a damn transport.

"I'm not sure, but something in the foliage is apparently fascinating."

RB shook his head, Grahim and someone from IH he didn't know were staring and pointing at something. They really needed something to do, if the troops were that fascinated by grass something was wrong. Something whizzed past his ear.



Aeos tried, unsuccessfully to sit on the ground next to Jaenna before finally giving up in an exasperated huff. "What is your problem Ae?"

"My...its...ugh." She dropped to one knee, the position seemed to cause less discomfort but still wasn't comfortable for the combat engineer by a long shot. "I tried to get my tail removed, before you ask, no, it didn't work. In fact, all it does now is hurt."

Jae smirked and tried not to laugh. Then her face returned to the stoic expression it had been showing since she found out Havock was missing. She had barely spoken to anyone, she paced for so long there was a path left in front of the transport.

"Jae look at this." Aeos nudged her with her hand that was holding a datapad. She had been trying her best to find any communications or signals or anything that would help them locate the missing SL's. She knew what she was doing, even though Jae probably could have hacked into any system in the surrounding area but Jaenna's mind just wouldn't focus with Havock missing.

On the screen was a faint signal about twelve clicks south-east of the transports position. "Its just outside the city, could be any-fracking-thing." She looked with distaste at her blaster pistol, which she was unhappy about having to use if they did need to put up a fight. She hoped whoever it was rushed in so she could throw the offensive device and pull out her treppus blades instead.

"Right, well I'm going to keep trying." Aeos shrugged.

Rogueboy dropped to the ground suddenly drawing both womens attention. "Shots fired, three and five o'clock."

"Look alive people!" Luckystar yelled before she got into a defensive position.

The woods jumped to life with at least twelve contacts suddenly opening fire on the two squads. They were dressed in what looked like military issue clothing, but it was far from what anyone would consider armor or a uniform even. They held E-11 blaster rifles that shined in the sun they were so new. Everyone rolled and jumped to find cover then let the bastards have it.


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

"Ow, son of a bitch." Havock shook her now burnt fingers and winced at the stinging.

"Do you think you could hurry up?" Garryll looked up at the woman standing on his shoulders. Havock was trying to access the controls that connected to the door that was keeping them locked in their cell. She could hot wire vehicles and she saw Jaenna do this to a jail door before, it shouldn't have been as hard as it was. Her burning fingers disagreed.

She rolled her eyes and reached around for the wire she had just loosened. "This would be a lot easier if I could see what the hell I was doing."

"You heard the lady Garryll, grow a few more inches." Saph smirked as she looked on from the bunk. Havock had to give the other female credit, when she claimed a spot nobody even dared ask her to move.

"Heh, right."

Anival shushed everyone both verbally and by waving his arm violently at the group. He was knelt down by the door acting as the look out. "Someones coming."

Havock jumped down off of Garryll's shoulders and slammed into the wall behind her. She muttered a few curses under her breath as she rubbed her neck. The rest of them assumed positions of extreme boredom just before the door swished open, Havock glared at the cursed thing, Now why couldn't you open for me? Stupid door.

The man that walked in was large, he couldn't have been shorter than two meters tall. He was human with a burly black bearded face and a patch over his left eye. It was clear from the faces of the SL's that none of them had encountered the giant in their interrogation, even if it wasn't clear just yet if any of them had given up information in their interrogation.

"So anyone ready to answer the question?" He looked around and motioned for the guards to move in to secure each of the prisoner's. He walked, his large boots clanking on the floor as he came within inches of each of their faces. He waited, patiently then motioned for the guards to leave. "No food, no water until one of you talks." With a wink and a nod he exited, the door closed behind him.

"Anybody seen him before?" Gates asked, as the large, bearded man left.

A trio of "no's" and shaking of the same trio's heads answered him. Saph spoke up. "At least we know none of us said anything."

"Mmhmm," Gates said, agreeing. They went back to their previous positions, Saph lounging on the bunk, Anival watching the door. Gates interlaced his hands together and proffered them to the last Squad Leader. She nodded grimly and stepped onto his hands, and he lifted. She pried the control panel off as she balanced on his shoulders, on hand against the wall to help. Sotto voce swears came from above as she waved stinging fingers a few times.

"Dammit," Gates cursed as she accidentally shifted a foot onto a sore part of his shoulders. "Watch it!"

"So sorry," Havock replied. "Perhaps you'd like to switch positions?"

"Just rip any old control out," he said in response, gritting his teeth. "That always works in the holo-films."

"And just locks down the door if you do it in real life, duh," Havock replied, and then cursed again, waving her hand around. "Didn't you ever learn how to hot-wire a door?"

"I just point and shoot what the bosses say to shoot, honey," Gates replied. "My specialty revolves around shooting things. With flamethrowers, rocket launchers, sniper rifles or machine guns."

"Well, it's a good thing I just figured out how to open the door then, huh?"

"Yeah, my shoulders are fracking killing me."

"I don't weight that much," Havock said. "Opening the door. Get ready, you two."

She pulled a wire out and then dropped from Gates' shoulders, landing on bent knees on the hard, cement floor. The door hissed open, and the four SLs piled out. A guard emerged from a doorway a couple meters down the hall, zipping his fly up as he went. He saw the four battered Stormtroopers in bodysuits and cursed. He reached for his holstered blaster pistol, but not before Gates took a couple long strides and slammed his head against the wall.

"Don't mess with Stormtroopers, fracker," Gates said to the woozy guard, a large cut across forehead, before crashing the man's head against the wall again, knocking him unconscious. Havock took the man's pistol, checked its charge. She nodded, pleased, and then took point, blind leading the blind, hopefully to salvation. Saph and Anival took the opportunity to rummage through the man's pockets, looking for a keycard or identification; he lacked the latter.

Havock led the way, pistol held steady and halfway up, ready to fire at a moment's notice. The other three SLs followed quietly, warily checking their six and wishing they had guns. Or knives. Or even heavy sticks. Gates cursed lightly under his breath; no armor, one gun, hostile territory and up to their necks in shit.

A door opened ahead of them, two guards talking animatedly to one another. Havock snapped the pistol up and planted a shot into the cranium into each of their heads, dropping them expertly. Gates cursed again, low and ugly; now it was up to their eyes.

"Screw this," Havock said, emphasizing Gates' thoughts with voice - "They know we're here now. Might as well run for it."

"And make it interesting," Gates quipped, and they sprinted down the hall, running like crazy. They paused only long enough to scoop up the two guards' pistols, and Gates started to feel better about their odds. Three guns, four Stormtroopers, and long odds. Better than none.

"Hey, we might make it out of this alive," Anival said optimistically. "We might even -"

A massive fist shot across the intersection as he was crossing, took him in shoulder and plowed him into the opposite wall, five feet away. Blue stun bolts emerged as well, taking the battered, newly-appointed Wraith SL in the chest. "Sonuva..."

A half-dozen guards emerged, firing their rifles on stun, blue rays pulsing out. The poorly-aimed shots were numerous, and Saph took a couple shots, cursing and spitting impotent anger. Gates and Havock raised their pistols and opened up on the guards, dropping a couple, before the men closed the range and beat them down with the butts of their rifles. The tall, eye-patch bearing tormentor of the Stormtroopers emerged from the intersection, face ugly in a leer of victory and arrogance.

Behind him, a door hissed open, a scant ten meters further down; a suit-wearing flunky strode through, head down. He looked up suddenly, and exclaimed, "Sir! What the hell?"

Havock shot Gates a frustrated look; escape had been within their grasp. Gates' lips formed yet another curse - a particularly vile one involving their captor's ancestors and nerfs. The door behind the flunky remained open, and Gates focussed; a large symbol was painted onto the far wall of the room the man had emerged from, a black circle around a white triangle.

The large man snapped his fingers, and the guards shot the two still-conscience Stormtroopers.

*** Time passes ***

"Well, that didn't work as well as expected," Anival said. Gates rubbed his aching head.

"No, really?" Havock grumbled. "What gave it away, the blue lights that shut your eyes for you?"

"At least it wasn't a total loss," Gates said, and then drew the image he'd seen for a brief moment in the dust on the cell's floor. "Anyone want to hazard a guess what this is?"

Saph rose an eye as her head felt like it was used for targeting practice. "The only thing we acomplished, was pissing them off a little more."

Being stunned wasn't exactly something anyone enjoyed. She was sure she felt a bruise or two  that was going to show up from some extra kicks to her ribs for them trying to escape. Everyone watched as Gates drew  the image.

Ack! Someone needs to clean this place

"Are you sure you sure the blast didn't hit you in the head and addle your brain?" Saphira  asked with a grin.

Havock gave a smile of her own  before Gates tried to move forward and have a go with the IH squad leader. Havock  and Ani holding him back.

"Bickering isn't going to get us out of here." Ani interjected.

"Hey, I'm not the one seeing strange symbols here." Saph added. Havock only shook her head.

"Whatever it is, this is more then just wanting to know what we are here for." Hvock replied.

It was a symbol that  they hadn't seen  before. Odd  in the sense that something so strange was visible.

"I'd still like to know how they knew we were even here and managed to  break through our private coms. It's all to confusing. Whatever it is, I just hope the others are alright."  Saphira replied. More worried on  what troubled her guys could get into. Small as her group was, she wasn't worried for Lucky as she was  for two other members.

"They will be fine." Gates replied.

"You don't understand...I have JellyBean and MadMan together."

"Sithspit.." Havock replied. "I hope Lucky has her whip ready then."

Jelly hadn't spoken a single word to any of his squad mates new and old since they had touched down on the Abridon. What he had gone through the last year and a half was not something that allowed himself to be as open as he had been before. Thus causing him to hold his tongue around his squad mates as to not let what was going on in his head get in the way.

Upon landing Jelly stuck around his squad though avoiding being in the group. He instead busied himself with cleaning the slug thrower rifle that had served him well through thick and thin. The barrel was dulled and was marred with combat scars something which contrasted the weapons of the newbies in Iron Horse their weapons pristine. Jelly worried about what had happened to many of his old friends that he had served alongside. Maybe due to his recklessness which caused his absence some of them had died and he had not been there to save them. The specters of these thoughts hung in his head and teased him from the time the other SLs had left to the reporting of their capture.

I can't let what happened to me happen to Saph He thought as a blast sent dirt spewing over his head. Another shockwave of dirt rolled over him bringing him back to what was happening currently.

"Cover RK!" Came Lucky's voice over his comm

Her familiar voice and the urgency of it set off a chain reaction that washed like cold water down the back of Jelly's spine. He had to do his job he needed to kill those that where endangering his squad. It was his responsibility to protect them and his responsibility to make those that threatened that dead.

Jelly had been off towards the right of IH's position when the attack hit which had been heavily concentrated on Jelly's squad. He rolled behind a decent sized rock that would give him sufficient cover and rested the muzzle of his rifle over a crevice that supported and steadied his weapon.

Releasing all thought that nagged at him Jelly closed his eyes as he lifted the covers on the scope. Breathing outward calmly going into a meditative like breathing as he sighted down the scope looking for marks. There was activity on top of the hill ,but he couldn't make out their numbers though he saw the worst of it.  A Squad Shredder a trooper with a heavy machine weapon propping it up to rain down hellfire on his team. Jelly breathed in deeply and then out the expulsion of air in unison with the hiccup of the rifle as it spat death at his foe.

The Heavy machine gunner never finished as his brains splattered all over one of his mates. One of the enemy troppers mouthed something before hiccups and splashes of energy washed over Jelly's position.

Jelly shook his head and rolled to the right behind a bush and taking aim again. The rifle hiccuped again with it extinguishing another life.

This was who Jelly really was a Reaper silent death riding on the back of the bullet he sent as a messenger to end one's life and it was the best feeling he had felt in a long time to have that power to take and give life as he saw it.

Her boots tapped down the empty hall accentuating each second it took to complete the length of it.

Why in the name of Sith do Imperials like long halls? There is no frakken point to it.She thought thought dryly while sent one fellow officer a nod of acknowledgement. 

She was back at the one place she’d never thought she entered again. Havock had asked her to pick up  a new trooper while she was in the area. Normally the trooper would report himself, or Havock went to pick them up, but today was Aeos’ lucky day and as such was honored with this task. The woman scoffed and repressed the urge to sigh as she passed a Private who immediately at the sight of her started saluting left and right.

She made a sharp turn to the left and continued down the stark hall before making down another left and after a short few meters turned right, raising her fist against the door that flew into her vision. A sharp rap of her gloved knuckles repeated three times sounded across the smooth flat surface of the plastex door frame.  She heard a muffed reply from the other side and entered.

“Ah. Aeos.” 
Aeos frowned at the informal manner in which she was addressed.
“Dawson.” She muttered in reply studying the giant in front of her. The giant smiled gently and gestured her to take a seat. Only now however did her eyes notice the sturdy frame of a Private First class posed in mid-salute.

“Ah, I see you have my newbie. I’ll be off then. “she said.
“Sit down, let’s have some tea. “ Dawson ordered. He might have been far inferior to her regarding rank but he had placed her through the STCA as well many years ago and he still held a slight power over her even she refused to admit it.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later of discussing said recruit’s records that Aeos managed to escape his office with the recruit on her tail. Literally. She hissed as her tail thumped against his side accidently as he closed the proximity in-between them in order to keep up.  She needed to get rid of the frakken thing.

She stole a glance at the trooper next to her. Brown cropped hair, good posture and good build walking with a fresh rigidness that could only have been disciplined into him through many harsh drill exercises and lecturing.

“We’re gonna be together now in Raiders huh?” the trooper stated awkwardly trying to break the formal silence between them.

“Seems like it.” She replied back stiffly. Her eyes narrowed.

“Well Aeos, I’m Mike, it will be a pleasure working with you.” He muttered keeping the tone of his voice friendly yet formal. 

“That’s Lieutenant Aeos to you Private” she muttered as they continued walking back. She admired his guts though.

“Maybe if you save the fur on this blasted tail, then we can be on first name basis.”  She rplied forcing the tone of her voice lighter.

***
She pushed his hand off her back and grimaced as she forced herself back on her knees. She stole an instinctive glance behind her following the trail of destruction caused by an blaster bolt meant to kill her were it not for Private Zenima who pushed her down just in time. She felt a small burning sensation and yelped while spinning around trying to catch the butt-end of her tail which had been smoked on the fur.

“Aeos.” She turned back to face the trooper who had a serious yet slightly amused expression on his Face. He handed her DC’s to her.

“Mike” she acknowledged with a smirk. 

A yell tore through the air followed with a massive explosion on their left flank. Someone stupid but brave had fragged the left wing of the enemy.  Mike and Aeos jumped back into the shootout, ducking and dodging behind boulders and bushes slinging curses along with their bolts to the enemies. It couldn’t have been more then minute and suddenly Aeos became acutely aware of the silence creeping into their fight.

Around them the chaos was settling. Grahim was picking off the last enemy troopers in the distance while the rest of the Horsies and Raiders were pulling themselves back to eachother.

Aeos paled noticing Rogue’s limp form slung over Jae and another Horsy’s arms.

“What happened?” she asked at Jae bolting forward to his side.
“Stray bolt caught him in this torso. His armor held but the force must have been massive.”

“Mike!” Aeos snapped her fingers calling the medic over.
“Take care of him.


“Is he okay?  Lucky’s soft voice asked. 

Aeos turned her head and nodded at the Asistant Leader.
“Are-Bee will be fine. “ Jae replied.

They had won the first wave. Hopefully the peace would last.

“Gather up Raiders, Iron-Horse. It’s time we assess this situation thoroughly.” Aeos ordered motioning for everyone to gather around. She pointed at Brightstar and Jelly-Bean and motioned them to keep watch while they tried to make sense of their situation.

Her eyes traveled across the small collection of faces in front of her. Her eyes met with Lucky. They shared a history. Their paths had crossed numerous times in the past and Aeos knew Lucky would trust her.  She only hoped that the Horsies were fine with this as well.  She studied the rest of the remaining Horsies. Reaper13. A nameless zabrak she still had to memorize. RK, Madmen and Lucky herself.  Jelly bean was keeping watch and Saph was playing victim. Aeos repressed a smirk imagining the spit-fire twilek’s reaction if she heard Aeos right now.

She glanced back towards her own Squad. There was Karash and Mike grouping around Rogue while Jae tried slapping his face awake and Brightstar keeping watch with Jelly-Bean and Havock was away on vacation. Frakked. She needed a cigarette. She started patting her pants for the items while keeping her vision on the troopers in front of her.

Despite being  two squads, they numbered pathetically and Aeos was worried. Sure, they were one of the best damn platoons in the Empire. That did not make them invincible however.

A salty breeze energized into the weather and all the soldiers glanced up at the skies with worrisome faces. Please don’t let it rain. 

“Blackjack and Wraith spotted!” 
Aeos spun around following the direction of the fingers pointing at the approaching squads.  She kept her expression stoic while her heart jumped in relief at the sight of them.  But something was wrong as the approaching squads were nearing their vicinity.

“Aeos-“

Bright soun around and stared at Aeos with wild-eyes. The rest of the troopers also noticed it and the silence and serenity that had settled in their midst was broken by the familiars clips and gleams of weapons being readied.

“Raiders, Horsies keep those bastards dead.”

She unclipped her own sniper-rifle from her back which had been strapped diagonally across her armor and propped firmly against her shoulder and took aim. Around her an explosion of blaster shots rang as soon as the troopers had managed to trap the pursuers of Black jack and Wraith into the proximity of their weapons’ range.

“Mike, get Rogueboy awake, we could use him about right now.” Aeos yelled through gritted teeth taking her first shot behind the shadow skulking behind Zes' speedy frame.

Zeshaun sprinted as if his life depended on it, mostly because his life did depend on it. The Wraths and Blackjacks were being chased by enemies they had failed to kill while being ambushed, unfortunately the two squads of stormtroopers had no idea where they were. The transports were in sight, and Zeshaun let out a sigh of relief, they were still intact and he could see the moving figures of stormtroopers. The area was much quieter than he had expected, since they had been ambushed he expected a whole army to be descending upon the transports but it seemed to be rather peaceful compared to their situation. Suddenly bolts of fire came raining down toward the two squads and at first Zeshaun panicked. He flinched as a bullet whizzed by his head for the second time that day. One of these days, that shot is going to hit me square in the forehead Zeshaun thought as he said a few prayers, knowing that he was lucky to be alive considering the circumstances.

“This is Sergeant Major Luckystar, ASL of Iron horse. Get your squads up here, we’ll cover you.”

Zeshaun smiled at the familiar voice. He had not worked with Lucky in a very long time, she was his first squad leader in Paladin. He put his full trust in Lucky and her squad and continued running without stopping to fire back at their pursuers. He then realized that the bullet that nearly hit his head was just an extremely well placed shot that saved him from being struck down. Within minutes Wraith and the Blackjacks had made it up to the transports safely, miraculously without a single casualty. Zeshaun’s smile slowly left his face as he saw a medic leaning over Roguebuy. Zeshaun had worked with him before when RB had been on Wraith. He felt his heart rate increase as he approached the medic.

“How’s he doing?” Zeshaun asked, inadvertently assuming that he wasn’t dead.

“Well, he took a pretty good shot to the torso but luckily the armor held, we’re just trying to get him up.” The new medic told him.

Zeshaun let out another sigh of relief, this mission was extremely stressful with the abduction of the squad leaders, the ambush, and the multiple near death experiences had him already planning the vacation he would take after the mission was over. After he had confirmed that Rogueboy would be alright Zeshaun and Alatar both walked over to Lucky and Aeos to thank them.

“Thanks for saving us down there, we thought we would be the ones saving you guys.” Alatar said with a smile.

Aeos shook her head. “No need to thank us, we know you’d do the same.”

Now that all four squads had come together they made quite a crowd. Zeshaun had never worked with more than one squad of troopers before, the four leaders stood together in a circle while each squad gathered behind their respective leaders. Mike was still working on getting Rogueboy awake but other than that, everyone seemed to be doing well. Alatar and Zeshaun shared the information they had learned from the battered soldier they had found and the four of them began to devise a plan.

“First off we need to do something about these transports, we’ll just have to leave a squad here to guard them and then they won’t be doing us any good.” Aeos suggested.

The other three nodded. “But what should we do with them? We can’t just send them back into space.” Lucky pointed out.

“We can't just blow them up either” Alatar said crossing his arms. "That would cause too big of a scene.

Zeshaun nodded in agreement. He still wasn’t used to the decision making power that he had so he let the three more experienced troopers discuss their options. After a longer discussion the four of them had yet to make a decision, it was a bit frustrating that something like this was holding them back from rescuing their squad leaders.  The sound of a large explosion forced everyone to flinch, but when they looked around nothing had gone wrong.

“What the hell?” One of the Raiders asked.

“Oh shit, scatter!” Jamasis yelled pointing at the sky.

A large rocket like object had been fired up into the sky and everyone stood flabbergasted for a moment, staring blankly at the projectile.

“You heard the man, scatter!” Aeos yelled.

The group of troopers fled in different directions as the missile approached their location. Zeshaun dove behind a transport, hoping that it would be enough to keep his scales from being fried. The missile hit the ground immediately engulfing one of the transports in flames. The extreme temperature of the explosion melted the joints of the landing gear, bringing the transports to the ground. Well that solves some of our problems I guess Zeshaun thought.

“Zeshaun lead your squad to the nearest transport, Blackjack will meet you there, and we’ll take the remaining ones out of here and find another place to regroup.” Lucky ordered.

“Yes ma’am.”

Zeshaun ordered the Wraiths out of their hiding spots and they sprinted towards the transport. Blackjack was already situated inside and Alatar was booting up the engines when Zeshaun got all his men strapped in and he sat down in the pilot’s seat.

“you can’t fly?” Zeshaun asked smiling.

“Let’s get out of here.” Alatar rolled his eyes and closed the ramp and they hovered off the ground before flying higher up into the sky.

Zeshaun noticed a blip on their radar that seemed to be approaching rapidly. “We have a problem.”

Alatar looked down and then shook his head in disbelief, “You’ve got to be kidding.”

A missile was headed toward their shuttle, and knowing the specs of the shuttle, there was no way that the shuttle would be able to outrun the missile.

“Get ready for a bumpy ride!” Zeshaun shouted.

Zeshaun juked to the left at the last second but the missile clipped their wing sending them into a spin. Zeshaun gritted his teeth as the inertia pressed him up against the wall. Zeshaun tried to keep the ship going straight as best as she could but without a wing, you couldn’t make the shuttle fly straight. They hit the ground sideways, they rolled twice before coming to a stop, surprisingly upright. As soon as the shuttle had stopped moving, someone smashed down the ramp and the squads rushed out of the destroyed transport incase it exploded. No one had been hurt, Zeshaun and Alatar had been able to bring the shuttle down in a way that somehow left them all unharmed. Zeshaun was still checking himself for injuries when the other shuttle slowly came down from the sky and landed next to their crashed vehicle. Lucky and Aeos came rushing out of their shuttle along with the Raiders and Ironhorse.

“Is everyone okay, does anyone need medical help?” Aeos asked immediately.

Alatar shook his head. “We’re all good.”

Zeshaun nodded, reporting the same.  The sound of a vehicle echoed through the hills, every eye turned in that direction. A small tank rolled over the hill, aiming its cannon directly at the troopers. how do they know we are here Zeshaun thought as he ran to take cover again.

“Hold on guys, I got this.” Corvin said with a smile, revealing a rather large weapon.

He got down on one knee, aimed down the sights and then fired. Zeshaun’s jaw hit the ground when the first shot smashed directly through the cockpit of the transport. He turned toward Corvin with a very curious look on his face.

“Oops, sorry guys, my bad.” Corvin reloaded, and then fired again, this time, landing his shot perfectly on the tank, obliterating it and the few soldiers that had accompanied it.

“Well that solves our problem with the transports.” Lucky said, staring at the two burning carcasses of their shuttles.

Zeshaun waited for the signal from Raiders that everything was ready to go. The EMP’s had been set out already and the mines were exploding, some of them a bit close for Zeshaun’s comfort. The Wraiths were sprayed with bits of dirt as the mines malfunctioned and went off.  Raiders was already up ahead, wrecking havoc on the electrical equipment and turrets around the perimeter of the base, and they headed toward the main entrance. Their comlinks suddenly came to life.

“We can see another door from where we are right now, should we split and try to get in both ways so that we can split their efforts to stop us from entering?” Rogueboy asked.

“Why not, we can use all the help we can get, Wraith and Blackjack will take that door, Ironhorse will come back you guys up.” Lucky stated. “Does that work for you guys?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Abalar said.

Zeshaun nodded. “Works for me.”

To avoid being targeted by any defense left, the two squads took two different paths to the newly discovered entrance. The Wraiths followed Zeshaun along the perimeter until they could clearly see the door. Zeshaun looked around for a moment to make sure that no new threats had revealed itself, when he saw none, he charged forward but came to a sudden stop when he saw the doors opening and a turret came rolling out from the base. Shit, where did that come from

“Open fire!” Zeshaun ordered.

Before the words had left his mouth bullets were already flying from his squad mates rifles. Zeshaun steadied himself on one knee and fired, the turret seemed to have some sort of armor equipped and their bullets did not do nearly enough damage to keep it at bay. The turret began to fire, sending waves of red bolts flying in their direction. Zeshaun dove out of the way as a jet of bullets hit the area that he had just been occupying leaving a small ditch in the ground. Jamasis fired at the turret but his shot fell short, a sudden explosion sent dirt flying through the air, and pieces of metal fell around the ground. Zeshaun thought that they had somehow destroyed the turret but when the smoke and dirt cleared, the turret was still there.

“What the hell just happened!?” He yelled firing at the turret.

“I must have hit a mine or something.” Jamasis yelled back, reloading.

“I thought we took out all the mines?” Nightowl said worriedly.

“I guess not,” Zeshaun mumbled, he quickly switched over to the platoon channel on the comlink. “Warning to all squads, the EMP did not trigger all mines, I repeat, all mines are not deactivated.”

OOC:

Squads: Wraith

I split the group again into two, we will be invading this building from two different points, but make sure its very tough to get into the building. Sorry for the shortness i was kinda rushed

"You want to blow the wall of a ten-by-ten cell apart?" Havock asked, incredulously. "With a few grams of detonite you had in your underwear, and a comlink as your detonator."

"Uh, yeah," Anival said, grinning like a loon. "Brilliant, isn't it?"

"Do you always have that much high-explosive next to your junk?" Gates asked, snickering.

Anival snorted and kept spreading the last of the powdered detonite. Hav fiddled with the comlink. "So we ready to get the hell out of here?"

"I think this is idiotic," Havock replied. "Do you know how much damage detonite does?"

"Alot," Anival said. "That's the point. Who's going to pull the trigger?"

"Draw straws?" Gates suggested. "Eenie-meenie-minie-moe? Nose goes?"

Havock shook her head. "If we're going to do it, I'll do it."

"You sure?"

"Damn sure. Set it up and let's go before I lose my nerve."

Anival fiddled with the comlink's exposed wires, sticking them into contact with the explosive. Havock gingerly took the device from him, carefully keeping the exposed wires to the powder-covered wall. She licked her lips and counted down from five. The three other SLs cowered as far away from the explosive-covered wall as possible. At the last number, she called out "Fire in the hole!"

The wall shuddered as the high-explosive powder went off at the click of a button. Dust filled the air, and all three SLs in the corner were soon coughing. The door to their cell slammed open, and two silhouettes appeared, waving blaster pistols. Gates stayed low, and sprinted at the one on the left; he couldn't see Saph or Anival, but they must be charging, too. Gates cannoned into the guard, slamming him into the wall; he grunted as the wind gushed out of his lungs all at once. Blindly, Gates rained blows into the man, fists crushing cartilage or slamming into the soft gut of the guard.

The man tried to throw him off, but Gates reversed his momentum, throwing him head over heels. The man landed, winded, and tried to point the blaster pistol at him. Gates kicked him in the neck before he could complete the motion, and there was an audible "crack" as the vertebrae gave way. A single laser bolt sounded behind him, muffled, and he turned.

Anival stood over the guard, face set in a grim slash, the man's blaster pistol in hand. Saph leaned over and took the other blaster. Her lips formed words, but Gates pantomimed hearing; he could barely hear her, just soft sounds. He cursed, but he couldn't hear that, either. Anival mouthed "Havock?"

Gates turned back to the now-open wall, and spotted Havock, a new gash across her forehead, crimson blood stark against the white dust that powdered all of them. Anival gesticulated picking her up, and Gates leaned over, scooping up the other Stormtrooper and pulling her into a fireman's carry. Anival took point again, pistol raised and wary. It looked as though he'd had enough of being knocked unconscious. Gates followed, and Saph took the rear, pistol also raised.

They walked in an eerie silence, but it was just their lack of hearing; Gates tried to walk quietly, but he couldn't tell if he was making as much noise as a Nerf in a china shop or an assassin. Anival was checking every intersection before dashing across, careful not to walk into another ambush. Garryll couldn't even tell if there were any alarms going off.

They were still in the ugly cell-block-type area they'd begun. Anival was starting to look frustrated, and he cursed several times, judging by his body language. Gates could slowly feel his hearing returning (ever so slowly) and he could hear himself curse softly, which meant his entire hearing couldn't be more than a couple minutes behind.

"Are we lost?" Saph asked a few minuets later. Gates could hear her, not clearly, but well enough to discern who it was, where it was coming from, and the annoyance it contained.

"Perhaps," Anival said back. "If you were the pathfinder, we wouldn't be lost."

"Can it, people," Gates said, inserting some steel into it. "Or did you enjoy the first-class amenities of our cell?"

They shut up. Anival led them down a few more corridors, apparently at random. Finally, they came upon a door. Anival pulled the handle, and it opened, unlocked. They moved through the portal, but it was just another barrier in the cell-block. Anival held up a hand a few steps later, though.

"Contact," Anival said. "One, walking. Take cover."

Gates moved into a nearby alcove, and carefully set down the unconscious Havock. He crouched out of sight, pulse pounding in his ears as he tried to sense the new contact. A man walked around the corner, briskly, business shoes contrasting with the heavy-metal floor and clicking very audibly.

Anival emerged from his hiding place, pistol held steady and aimed at the man's eye. Gates poked his head out and grinned. It was Mr. Broken-Nose, their chief interrogator. The man paled as Saph emerged, also pointing her pistol. Gates tried to shake Havock awake again, but she was very much out of it still. The other two SLs were leering at the wobbling man.

Gates plucked a Styrofoam cup out of the man's hand, and popped the top off. "Bastard, you drank all the caff. What are we Stormtroopers supposed to do now?"

The man gibbered in fear. "What, don't like questions asked back?" Saph asked.

"Right, where's our gear?" Gates asked. He pantomimed a helmet, rifle, comlinks. "Mine's red. Tell us, and I won't be forced to kill you with my hands."

"Down the hall!" the man replied shrilly. "First door on the left! Code is two-five-nine-nine!"

"Thanks," Gates grinned, and picked Havock up. "Hear that, Hav? The nice man told us where our stuff is."

She, to his lack of surprise, didn't respond. Saph gestured at Broken-nose. "What do we do with this piece of shit?"

"Shoot him in the nuts," Gates said, surprised. "Duh."

The interrogator sobbed. "You said you'd let me live!"

"I said I wouldn't kill you. These two, they like you less."

Saph sighted and gave their tormentor a predatory grin. She pulled the trigger; a red bolt flashed from her pistol into the man's crotch. He dropped, sobbing in pain. She fired again; this time, the laser took him in the gut, a cauterized crater appearing in his stomach. Steam rose, and the stink of burnt flesh filled Gates nostrils. The man's face rose, tear-streaked in pain. Saph raised her pistol one more time and planted a bolt in his forehead.

Broken-nose slumped to the ground, dead. Gates kicked him for good measure, and then jogged down the hall, looking for the proper door. It was the obvious one, with a heavy, blaster-resistant keypad. He pushed 2-5-9-9, and then "Enter." The door hissed open, revealing a half-dozen crates. There was little dust on them, as befitting a room that had been in recent use, and he cracked open the first box. Inside, a crimson-red Stormtrooper helmet grinned back up at him. He set down Havock, back to another of the crates, and started pulling his gear out. Anival and Saph moved in a moment or two later, and began opening the other crates.

"Find any medical supplies yet?" Gates asked. "Definitely not any in mine."

"Found a medpac, looks like Hav's stuff," Saph said. "And the guns, alright."

"Well, you two decide who's waking her up; I carried her," Gates said. He pulled on the torso portion of his armor, and then cocked his head. "Hear that?"

There was sporadic crashes from somewhere, and then, an explosion. Light rain could also be heard, tinny, noises.

"Explosions," Anival said, grinning. "Gunfire. Battle. I knew our boys and girls would find us soon enough."

"Damn right," Gates said, rummaging through the crate of weapons and pulling out his 30-centimeter long warblade. He teased the edge with his thumb. "And they're not the only ones."

OOC:

Squads: SLs

Summary: We got out of the cell. Anival or Saphira is going to wake up Havock.

"GAH!" Havock jumped up to find Anival's face far too close to hers. "What the hell are you doing, Ani?"

"What...nothing...she..."

"Never mind." Then the realization of the searing agony in her head finally made its way to her pain receptors. "Frack me, hand me that pack I need a damn pain killer."

"We need to go Havock." Garryll was already in his red uniform, and she realized that she could hear the sounds around her but they were all muffled like she had cotton in her ears.

She slowly got up, Saph grabbing her arm when she almost toppled over back to the floor. By the time she had her gear back in its proper place the rest of the SLs were scoping out the hallway. "There's an open door, I don't see anyone guarding it. I think that's our best shot."

"Right, I see it too Saph. You ready?" Havock nodded to Anival, who must have shouted the last two words, and the four of them made their way to the exit.

====

The building wasn't much to look at. It was the home to the Horn Genetic Telecommunications company, whatever the hell that meant. It was dark, and they were all getting shot at so nobody really cared. Every step on the ground was potentially your last, and the most disturbing part was the speed at which you would meet your end. No, you would take that step and then watch as the ground around your boot swelled before the blinding light ended your show. The scene was utter chaos.

At first it all made sense. Iron Horse and RAIDERS were running towards the main entrance, dropping militia and snipers along the way. They made it to the main door before a sudden force of at least twelve heavily armed guys slammed open the glass sending at least two troopers sprawling to their feet. They had to fall back, right on top of the heaviest concentration of the mines.

"Move dammit." Rogueboy grabbed Grahim by the back of the collar as the gungan tripped over some branches. They had been running full speed while avoiding the mines that should have been taken out by the EMP grenades yet remained lethal for some reason.

Luckystar fell into Aeos as a land mine went off just to her right. Somehow they both managed to stay upright and continued to run to the west of the building.

"I thought we needed to get in the main entrance?" Karash yelled to Brightstar who shrugged before diving to the ground along with everyone else.

"So we're running away again? Do we even know what we're doing?" Madman grumbled next to Lucky, who turned to the masked trooper and replied. "Its called regrouping."

Jaenna gripped her blades and was about to jump back into the fight when  rifle in her face brought her screaching to a halt. She raised an eyebrow at the trooper standing in front of her in blood red armor. "You mind?"

Corvin shook his head and turned slightly. "Found 'em, boss."

Abalar and Zeshuan joined Luckystar and RB on the ground looking up at the building. "A bunch of them ran out the back door, but I'm pretty sure we saw the extent of their force between all of us."

"Agreed. So now what?"

A couple dozen militia had pooled together on the western front of the building. The ground between Wildcard platoon and the other group was littered with mines that should have been dead. Not to discount the handful of snipers somewhere in the top floor windows that seemed intent on making life difficult.

"Alright, I've had enough of these guys and my unmentionables are getting itchy in this damn suit. Iron Horse take out those snipers, Blackjack and Wraith deal with those milita bastards about to run at us, RAIDERS will go ahead of you two and try to find a way to disable or destroy the mines." Rogueboy grabbed his rifle and motioned for the rest of the squad to follow. They prepared to laydown some suppression fire so that they wouldn't get shot while trying to disable the land mines in their way. He raised his rifle and pulled the trigger, only for nothing to happen. "Come on, really?" RB pulled the rifle off his shoulder and shook it in frustration only for it to suddenly go off. The blast didn't hit anyone but the butt of the rifle flew up and clocked him in the forehead sending him falling to the ground.

Mike and Karash ran over to see if they could figure out a way to revive the now knocked out ASL. "Well?" Aeos yelled as she kept firing.

Karash looked exasperated. "I'll stay with him, you go ahead."

OOC:

okeydokie. Let me break it down for ya'.

IH=there are less than 5 snipers positioned in the windows on the top floor of the building, take them out as you see fit. RAIDERS=Mines, EMP didnt work, see if you can find another way to deal with them, try not to blow yourselves up. BJ/Wraith=take out the 20 or so militia that are pointing rifles at us.

We are on the western side of the building, your SL's ran to the east (something your character does not know yet, your character thinks we are still in the building). So your characters ultimate goal right now is to get into the building.

There is a point to all of this I promise, we did come to this planet for a reason before the SL's were taken, and we will still be dealing with that but first you have to find us.

"Traitorous scum." Corvin snorted, pushing a new clip into his EE-3. There was a click as the power cell slid home, and Corvin's HUD beeped.

Nearby, the other squad members were firing from behind whatever cover they could find. Abalar was kneeling next to Drexhel's prone form, open medkit at her side.

"You know, they might have never been Imperials in the first place." Loran commented, sighting through his rifle scope. The Blackjack trooper was kneeling on one knee, calmly taking aim.

There was a crack as the stormtrooper fired, accompanied by a yell of pain from somewhere the group of enemy troopers. One of them staggered backwards part of his chest plate blown away, but somehow remained standing. "They wouldn't be traitors then, would they? Stang, he's still standing."

"Shut up and try again." Corvin shot back jokingly, firing a short burst at the enemy group. It went wide, tearing chunks of plasteel out of the building wall behind them.

They'd scattered after the frag grenade, most of them taking cover behind whatever they could find. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to stop them from continuing to fire.

"About that..." Loran muttered, adjusting his grip slightly as he raised his weapon's barrel a fraction. He adjusted a knob on the scope's side. "Just stay still for a sec..."

There was another sharp crack, then a second.

"Two down." the Private First Class declared, a hint of smugness in his voice. Sure enough, both the wounded trooper and his companion were sprawled against the wall, helmets blown away.

"Nice shots." Corvin commented, firing another burst. There was a cut-off shriek, and one of the troopers collapsed. "Bit slow though."

Loran might have been about to reply when a tight, red-white beam whined past his helmet. The trooper threw himself against the ground as the second beam sliced through the space where his head had been.

"Take cover!" Abalar yelled, looking up from Drexhel.

"Frakking snipers!" Corvin yelled, somewhat unnecessarily. Several of the Blackjacks turned, quickly switching targets and spraying blaster bolts into the area the shots had come from. Another bolt pierced the air, this one from a completely different direction.

The squad moved behind what little cover they could find.

"We can't go around, and we can't charge them directly because of the mines." Corvin sighed. "Frak it."

"Quiet." Abalar ordered, frustration evident in her tone. That was rare.

The Blackjack squad leader switched to the intersquad com. "Iron Horse, what are you playing at? We need those snipers down, and we need it now."

There was no response. Abalar snarled in frustration and closed the com channel.

Drexhel suddenly started to twitch, hissing in pain through gritted teeth. Part of his hand had been fused to the bodyglove and armour plate by a blaster hit, and blackened skin hung in tatters from the blackened mess that was left. His armour was cratered by blaster impacts, and parts had been burned away down the bodyglove.

His injuries might be severe, but he was a sitting avian lying there in the open. The same went for Abalar and anyone else nearby. Drexhel had to be moved, and quickly.

Abalar primed a syringe and slammed it into the bodyglove of the trooper's thigh.

Drexhel jerked repeatedly, eyes rolling back in his head and arms twitching constantly as the stims coursed through his system. The cocktail of drugs in the stormtrooper issue stim-packs could get almost any trooper on their feet, regardless of injuries. The long term consequences were another story.

Drexhel jerked one last time, then stopped. Gasping, eyes wide, the trooper turned over, grabbed his rifle and pushed himself back up.

"Blackjacks," Abalar yelled as she helped the trooper to his feet. "Take them out!"