At least this time around i wasn't stuffed in a suffocating shuttle...

It's what Seth thought to himself as he entered the moon's atmosphere. Traveling through space was great, sailing the black unknown, occasionally witnessing the birth or maybe the death of a star, interacting with all sorts of individuals and simply being able to achieve the highest possible freedom out there. Those were the fun things involving space travel. Then there was the matter of possibly ending up shoved up in a nasty looking bucket of bolts where you would be unable to move around without bumping into someone else every few feet you'd try taking in there. That was the not so fun possibility involving space travel. It was what civilians and Army runts were supposed to endure though, not what pilots were supposed to also suffer. So the fact that unlike the squadron's previous assignment on Asteroid 19 this time around everyone could come flying in their own Interceptor... that really was good news as far as the Onderonian was concerned.

Why send a whole squadron for a recon mission though? Why not just send a single flight? Why not just send a single or maybe just a couple of ships for that matter?

This felt odd but heck, who was he to question things. So long as he was able to fly an Interceptor whilst getting the job done all was good. All was perfectly good... until a certain order came over the comm. They were all supposed to land and get their butts outside in order to check out the strange signal. Now if their numbers alone was reason enough to raise a few questions in the smuggler's head, this order was only fueling his own suspicions and mistrust. Something was up. Something that wasn't appearing to be quite normal. First of all a whole squadron was called out for such a routine task? Then instead of letting them provide aerial cover or perhaps just guarding the site to ensure nobody would come or who knows try to leave even... they were supposed to get out and willingly put themselves at potential risk? This made no sense whatsoever. How come the brass hadn't just sent a small Army squad instead? What if the other pilots were completely useless in an actual fight involving punches, kicks, sharp instruments as well as ranged weapons?

Good thing i never leave with these babies...

The crewman affectionately rubbed the handle of one of his blaster pistols just as he finished dealing with the landing procedures. Oh yes, landing also had to be achieved a few clicks away from the target area due to no other suitable locations closer to it. This in turn meant that whoever would get unlucky enough to be sent to investigate would also need to do so whilst exerting themselves. So an unknown moon, limited to no proper close combat equipment such as armors and heavy weapons and potentially no real experience involving such scenarios either, except maybe for the Academy's training programs that weren't all that great either as far as hand to hand combat and personal weapons combat were concerned. And to top it all off it was raining. It was bloody hell raining as if to make the whole thing perfect. Nothing like walking around blindly, being on edge given the possibility of attacks or some other weird stuff happening... and being wet and uncomfortable as well.

Just freakin' great...

[[Alright Rhegent's time to get wet. Grab your gear and don't forget your pistols, I want everyone to meet me at the tree line in two minutes or I leave your ass here. Tinker Out.]]

So they were really doing it after all huh? Deep down Seth was still hoping to hear the XO suddenly burst out laughing and saying something like 'Alright fools, the joke is on you. We were only meant to patrol this far out and return home and nothing else. Mission completed i guess, now let's get back on Abrae and have a drink.' That would certainly be frustrating as well, but at least it would be much less so than doing what they were ordered to do. The Onderonian just sighed as he opened his fighter's hatch and got himself out. He would take one more look around the cockpit to ensure he got everything he might need and then just jumped down and hurriedly made his way towards the treeline. Heh, gear... What gear was there to take along anyway? There wasn't even a damn raincoat or similar in the Navy's standard survival package. Their issued blasters were also cheap and only useful as a last resort really. About the only useful thing they did have were the rations - crappy as well, but at least they would do a better job ensuring one's survival on a strange world. Then again that too was debatable assuming the local fauna would be killable enough. Fresh fried meat versus crappy rations - oh decisions, decisions...

Wonder if we get paid extra by doing crap like this...

Thane had landed close Arthur, once he land he began to sort out his gear and load up. His family's traditional spear, "combi-stick". Thane pressed a button and watched extend to its full length, after which he brought it back to regular form and place it on his waist. Next wast his custom sniper rifle, which he began to assemble, he did his best to keep the internals from getting wet. fully assembled, Thane toyed with the scope, and slung the rifle over his shoulder. Next he checked his pistol, and a couple of knives.

After everything was done he slowly took up position next to Tinker. She nodded towards him, and stared a the modified sniper rifle.

"Do you think we'll need that much fire power?" asked Tinker

"I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it." replied Thane, Tinker crack a smile at the comment.

Maroy climbed out of her cockpit, grabbed her gear, and started marching off to where the others were gathering. She was more than a little intimidated by just how heavily armed the other pilots were. Sniper rifles, knives, and large blasters were all being inspected and unpacked. All she had was a hydrospanner, a standard issue pistol and a survival kit. Do we really need this much armament for a recon mission? There's no way these fighter jocks are going to get very far with all that heavy equipment. As if answering her thoughts, she heard Thane say "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.". She could see the truth in that, but hopefully it wouldn't be that bad. Just in case, she pulled out her communicator and contacted her transport-turned-warship, the Junker's Demise. "R3-RD, could you fly over to the far side of the moon? If something goes wrong, I want the ship nearby." The astromech acknowledged, and Maroy put her comlink back. She thought about the call she'd recieved during the squadron's training mission, which claimed that her family needed her on Ryloth. It had turned out to be the pirates who had held her hostage before, and after their plan to enslave the Twi-lek refuges backfired, she destroyed their ship. Bringing her attention back to the present, Maroy noticed Zizi standing off by herself, talking on her comlink. She seemed just as distracted as ever, even a bit more than usual. Maybe it had something to do with Kan being killed due to a turret malfunction. "You okay, Zizi?" The Zeltron stiffened a bit and mumbled "Yeah,  fine..." before moving off farther. Oh well, she'll tell us  what's wrong when she feels like it. For now, focus on the mission. She trudged over to Tinker and let her know she was ready.

The jungle was dark, due to the tress and the storm, visibility was low which made Thane nervous, He was already on point with Arthur, and they were walking towards what could possibly be and enemy listening post, and who ever was her had the home field advantage. Thane had his sniper rifle strapped to him, hands in place to bring it up and fire should he need to, for now there rifle was aimed towards the ground. The group kept moving towards their target when they heard a noise, by the time Arthur looked to get confirmation from Thane, that something was moving, Thane had his rifle aimed down range. Thane could see farther than anyone with his scope, he scan the area for any signs of movement, nothing, but yet the noise kept coming, finally he saw a small fern move just a bit, a second lated some tiny creature pops its head out and then scurries off. Everyone took a deep breath, Thane could hear Ruwe laugh, he would have to but the rain really didn't help his disposition. After a few minute Arthur got the group moving again, and right at 2.5Km's Tinker, told the group to hold. She motioned for Thane and Arthur to come here.

"Ok, we're getting close to the target now, and we still don't have any reliable Intel on what the hell is out here, or who, if anyone is here. So Arthur your doing a good job of getting us there, so I want you here with me as point man. Thane take 2 people with you and scout ahead, report back every .5Km's alright." ordered Tinker

Thane nodded and looked at Arthur, the two grabbed each other by the forearm, said something in their native tongue, and shook, then he was off. Thane grabbed Zizi, and Maroy. He knew Maroy could handle herself, after heaving seen her at the Casino incident, plus she basically had access to an orbiting gun ship, which would come in handy should something go wrong. Zizi on the other hand seem more paranoid that usual, which Thane thought to be impossible, he wanted to see how she would react heading out in front of the group, towards what ever it was. Thane move them up towards the front with him, then the trio headed out deeper into the jungle alone. Thane stayed in the middle while Maroy and Zizi were on either side of him. Thane, while they were walking pulled out part of a blaster rifle, and began to assemble it, when he was done, the gun was like a SMG in his hands, he held it out to Maroy, She looked up at him worried that he thinks seem might need this, then he answered her fears by saying "You might need this." She took the gun saw that it was load and ready to fire, she nodded and moved out.

Thane and his group made their way towards the signal, along the way Thane pieced together a Ghillie suit, by taking pieces of the jungle itself and tying it to him, pretty soon Thane looked like a walking tree, Maroy found this to be humorous, while Zizi looked around as if something was following her. Thane was about to vault over a downed tree when Arthur commed him.

"Thane, this is Arthur come in.."

"Arthur, tell her that I can not see a damn thing..." Thane was cut off be Tinker

"Pipe down and listen, Petty Officer, I just found a sign that said New Republic Base 12Kilometers NNE, you are heading towards an enemy base." barked Tinker

"Ma'am we are right on top of the signal, if the base is 12k away then, there not the ones responsible for the signal, permission to continue on towards the signal's source?" replied Thane

Tinker weighed the options in her head, on one hand; Thane and his group could find and secure the area so that the rest of us can move up. On the other; he could walk right into a NR trap. Then she remembered the casino and Asteroid-19.

"Permission granted Thane, but at the first sign of trouble I want you out of there, got it?" ordered Tinker

"Aye, aye ma'am" replied Thane

Thane turned to Maroy and Zizi, and motioned them to wait while he goes to check and make sure the forward area is clear. They nodded in return, Thane vaulted over the downed tree in front of him. He planned on landing on soggy flat terrain, but instead he was met be a crater in which he roll all the way to the bottom. Maroy and Zizi followed him down, in a more graceful fashion.

"What happened there?" asked Maroy trying not to laugh

"I figured that the jungle would continue on, not something like this..." Thane pause and looked at what appeared to be a giant tree at the center of the crater, but there was a metallic gleam coming of it. Maroy and Zizi saw what he was looking at, a downed ship, Maroy cocked her to the side and noticed scorch marks on the hull.

"I think it was shot down," she said out loud.

"Keep it down, there is a NR base out here." whispered Thane, he noticed Zizi shift slightly. "The signal is coming from the ship," he grab his comm, "Ma'am we have found the signal source, you might want to get down here." said Thane

"We're three minutes out." replied Tinker

Thane move his team back to the edge of the crater, there was more cover there, that and he wondered if the VE could hear the signal, could the NR hear it as well.

Zark smirked. "Still no luck Chief?"

"Do I look like someone rolling in the luck at the moment? Bloody hell." Tinker stomped her feet faster through the thick underbrush, the squadron trailing behind.

If I wanted to hike through the woods carrying weapons and supplies I'd have signed up with the Stormies... Zark thought to himself. He followed behind Tinker, the weight of the pistol uncomfortable on his side.

Tinker picked up her pace after briefly talking into her comlink.

"Change of luck Chief?" Zark asked trying to hide the joking tone in his voice.

"Definitely." She replied amidst the downpour of rain.

Tinker burst into the clearing first, and paused at the edge of the crater. Zark stifled a chuckle as he looked at Tinker, and the rest of the pilots, and then looked into the crater and saw a downed ship, and the three other pilots.

"What the hell is that?" Zark asked pointing into the crater.

The rain was really annoying. That is, the Onderonian wasn't exactly bothered by the fact he was getting wet or colder - his suit kept him warm, dry and mostly cozy after all. No, what annoyed the senior crewman was the fact that the damn rain was messing up his visibility. In a Tie this wouldn't have been as bad since the onboard scanners would've solved the issue right away. Here on the ground however he didn't really had such useful gadgets.

The crewman's annoyance aside, everyone eventually reached their XO and from there formed two lines and began marching further into the jungle. The fact they were told to march in an orderly fashion - 2 rows, one next to the other - well that again didn't really appeal to the Onderonian. Granted he had no official military training regarding ground recon or assault missions but he did however had plenty of guerrilla warfare knowledge. Raiding escorted columns and making away with the goods was no foreign thing to him. Security or military personnel... it hardly mattered since in the end they all tended to react in pretty much the same manner.

Why scouts hadn't been sent ahead to make sure the way was clear was another mystery to the cynical Onderonian pilot. What good were sniper rifles and all those weapons when a single stealthy individual with a grenade launcher was more than enough to take out the whole squadron in 2 shots? Nope, no matter how Seth tried looking at their current situation he just couldn't see a single good tactical decision having been taken yet. All he could see was a long series of bad calls that had he been working for the New Republic he would've had no trouble at all exploiting quite thoroughly.

Even the way his squadmates reacted upon hearing something coming their way was proof of them not being the right people of this job. Reaching for their blasters was a good call of course, but standing put and just waiting there for whatever was coming to come - now that was just stupid. Since the sounds were coming from their left that meant that only half the squadron would even be able to fire, the other half otherwise ending up shooting in their colleagues' backs. If the thing coming their way was some native predator - a large predator especially - then should the creature charge straight at them, chaos would set in. That was why spreading out and seeking cover would've been a much smarter idea than risking some big thing from trampling and shredding them as they would try to scurry away for safety...

Still, they were lucky considering the big bad predator that somehow managed to make enough noises for the whole squadron to hear was just a tiny little thing. That was about all Seth could tell about the creature, as the rest of its features were masked by the rain. The animal taking off just after noticing the group of bipeds strolling through its jungle also didn't help with a proper identification... not that Seth was a proper biologist or anything like that anyway.

After that little incident everyone just began marching once again. Marching and marching through the humid jungle, through the mud and through the cold. Ain't the Navy great? Well at least some proper scouts had been sent out this time around to prevent further awkward incidents. This was one of the few good calls Seth witnessed thus far. A call that he began soon enough doubting however upon being stopped together with everyone else because of some signpost of sorts. The thing wasn't very big and the rain was making it that much harder to see but still... if the scouts failed to notice it and report back about it were they really that good scouts after all?

His concern only got bigger as he finally got to see the sign' writing for himself. Blah blah blah blah blah, NR... That NR there wasn't really appealing to the Onderonian pilot. He knew what the initials stood for and he realized that their mission had just gotten a hell of a lot more complicated. Instinctively he reached for his blaster and patted the handle.

[[We're three minutes out.]]

XO's voice was loud enough for the pilot to hear that they were apparently nearing their destination. Great, so this whole hike could finally end and everyone could then make their way back to their pretty Ties and then back to base... back to civilization.

Oh, what's this?

Their destination appeared to be nothing more than a huge crated caused by a ship of their own design. That though hardly meant it was actually theirs or anything like that. Especially given the custom paint job, that although indeed looked better and everything also seemed to be better suited for shadier elements. Not pirates, since it was a transport, but maybe smugglers? Or perhaps military dealing with covert ops and similar? Meh, whatever the case may have been it wasn't really any of Seth's business.

The Onderonian kept his distance from the ship, always glancing towards the forest surrounding them. Since investigating the location would likely take a few minutes at least, he figured it was a good enough time as any to have a smoke and relax after hiking all the way there. The crewman had barely managed to start enjoying the cig when his flight leader let him know he was to act as a sentry for now. Well, since it was more or less what Seth was already doing on his own he didn't complain. For starters he made his way back up from the crater in order to get a better view of the surroundings. It would've been quite dangerous for everyone to be ambushed whilst in that crater, without any real cover except the ship and with no way out.

Rather than twiddling their thumbs there, more of them should take positions above and keep an eye out for trouble... if the ship was shot down then someone obviously shot it down. If the signal that oddly enough nobody could figure out was a distress call was sent after the crash then whoever shot this down already has quite a head start so question is - why exactly aren't they here already?

There were quite a lot of things that hardly seemed right, and all those things kept on troubling the Onderonian more and more. He was just exhaling another puff of smoke when the sound of what he assumed was a broken twig reached his ears. Reaching for his blaster the Onderonian headed in that direction. Better to investigate first than panic everyone for no good reason...

From Arthur's hiding place he saw about six pairs of legs pass him.  There was a lone straggler coming up from behind him. Arthur quickly grabbed one of his many daggers and wait for him to pass.  The second he passed Arthur had his hand over his mouth and sliced quickly.  One down and who knows how many left Arthur said to himself.

This was not as peaceful as a battle like in his ship which Arthur would have liked.  With the whole squad being scattered he had know idea how they would survive this attack.  Arthur heard the first gun shot coming from the high power rifle Undertaker brought which alerted the rest of the squad that we were under attack.

Soon after the shot the whole place was lit up with blaster fire.  Arthur not being in the attack zone and not having a rifle started to move to the crater to help.  Arthur was hold more weapons than everyone but they were almost useless in this battle.  He found a good hiding place with in his range with the daggers.  He was going to use those first then the two blasters he brought.

OOC:

Just something to try to get this going again.

Thane climbs his way up the tree he had picked out and then sets up, to where if he needs to he can, swivil around, and hit targets in almost every direction but the small bit of brush that block his view. Thane watches Ruwe creep up on a small path, Thane watches him through the scope, and sees Ruwe suddenly stop. Thane pulls the bolt back on his rifle, chambering a round, and then flips off the safety. A few seconds later, Thane sees what made Ruwe stop, there was a small squad of what appeared to be mercs heading towards the NR base. Ruwe silently grabbed one of the mercs and dispatched him, a hard feat for someone as big as Ruwe. Thane saw the rest of them move up, unaware that one of their team mates was just killed.

Then Thane saw what he was looking for, all of the mercs had different gear, some had armor, some didn't, and they all had varying weapons. But Thane saw the one target he needed to take out. The man had a backpack with an antenna sticking out, and a headset on. It was obvious that he had something to do with communications and if he were taken out along with his radio, the mercs would have no comms with the NR base, and No body would know Rhegent's was here. Thane pulled the bolt back ejecting the chambered round, he caught it, and put it back in an ammo pouch. Thane reached for one of his special rounds attached to his arm. The round was designed to tak the engine block out of a speeder. The round will enter the target and explode, usually Thane would be more descrete in this case put to take out the guy and his radio in one shot he'll need this round. Thane watch Arthur grab another merc and quietly kill him.

"The instant I pull this trigger, all hell is going to break lose." thought Thane.

He loaded his rifle, set the range for 300 yards, Thane steadied his aim, and held his breathe, for a few seconds time and space itself seemed quiet, then Thane pull the trigger. Seconds later the round entered the target and detonated. Sparks sprayed from the radio, which was acommpanied by a pink mist. Thane reload the rifle with his regular ammo, he became very focused on the merc, and nothing else.

~Arthur~

Arthur was quietly walking to his next victim.  He saw a large group over looking the crater.  They have the advantage over the rest of the squad but I have an advantage over them Arthur thought.  He hoped Undertaker saw him and his signal to take at least one or two of them.  Arthur pulled out his two blasters and aimed and he took his shot killing one of them knocking the other out they both fell into the crater.  Arthur saw a third go down and realized Undertaker saw his signal.

the rest of the group turned and saw Arthur about to take another shot, but they also saw one of their own right behind Arthur.  Arthur took a blow right to his head with the blunt end of his rifle that knocked him out completely.  The Guy that hit him picked him up and started to head back to base.  Arthur regained consciousnesses on they way and saw a larger force head to the crater.  They have no hope and he was soon out again.

The next time he awoke he was sitting in a dark room chained to a chair.  There was a table just off to the right of him and no one else in sight.  Now what is going to happen.  Arthur was lucky that there was no one else in here because that means that they are still fighting them off.

~Hark~

Hark was inside the cashed shuttle when the fighting started.  He grabbed his blaster pistol and when he had a clean shot he took it.  He saw Maroy get hit so he grabbed his med-kit and started to help her.  When the wound was treated he returned to the battle that was going on.

Hark took a spot where he was covered 360 degrees around but had a few spots that he could fire from.  While in side he saw Arthur get taken from the battle towards the NR base.  He saw that Undertaker or any one for that matter had no shot at him, because he was using Arthur as a human shield.  He was now with out a flight leader.  He also had no idea how many more of his squad was taken or even able to fight.  While sitting inside the the only viable cover in the crater he was able to kill a few of the and not get shot himself.

Thane watched as his fellow squadron mates were captured and hauled off by the NR forces. He could have helped them but then he would have be either captured or killed, better to live so he can go and rescue his Squadron mates. Thane dropped out of the tree and, took off his ghillie suit, he made his way towards Ruwe, who appeared to be fine, the two men checked their gear and got moving towards the NR base, as they moved through the crater and the the downed ship. They managed to regroup with Hark and Kan, both of them had injuries of some sort but they'd live. The group moved silently and quickly towards the tree line that continued on to the NR base. Ruwe and Thane were the first two in the tree line, Hark, and Zark followed suit. The group silently moved towards the base, they were like shadows on a moonless night.

Ruwe held up one hand and they group stopped, Thane panned around with his scope looking for targets. He found one, but Ruwe was already taking him out, Thane admired how a person that big is able to move that quietly.

"He may not like CQC, but he excels at it." Thane thought

The group moved slowly towards a stretch of woods which overlooked the NR base, Thane got everyone in a small group, and made a battle plan.

"Alright guys here is the situation, we've got several of our friends inside of there," Thane motioned towards the base, "so we've got to get in and get them out, alright here's how it going to be, we're going to cut power to the door, and move in Hark, Zark, you two will hold that front area anyone comes into your vision and they're not friendly, you put two in the chest, one in the head. Ruwe you and I will move in further to the base and get our friends out, you'll escort the first group out, I'll bring up the rear, or if need be I'll go and get the others out."

Everyone looked ready, Ruwe prepared himself, for more close quarters combat, Thane dropped his sniper rifle, and pulled out two daggers, Hark, and Zark charged and locked their rifles.

"Has anyone seen Zizi?" asked Zark

"Come to think of it I haven't seen her since all the shooting started." said Hark

"We'll worry about her, when the time comes to it." Said Thane gruffly, he was angry, the NR was responsible for his brothers death, visions, and memories came flooding back Thane, was being to shake, he could feel his blood boil, the Zabrak male, who was a hand to hand combat expert, was now in a blood rage.

"Lets do this!" said Thane

[[Move imperial scum!]]

Ahh, it felt so good to be appreciated. Whoever said that wars were always waged by professionals and in a professional manner? Damn idealistic moron that was certain. Anyone that had ever seen actual action would know that was all a pile of bull.

"Hey, i resent that! You found me wearing an imperialist's uniform, thought i was scum and what? Just figured i was both? I really might just have a strange uniform fetish you know..."

The republican guard that opened his cell took a couple of steps towards him at which point Seth just raised his hands in a resigned manner:

"Fine, fine... If you insist i'm the imperial scum."

The Onderonian was just exiting his cell when he decided to continue in a lower voice, making sure though that he would still be heard however:

"Though i bet you're just jealous i look better in an uniform than you do..."

[[Just shut up and move!]]

Seth shrugged and continued walking, merely following his other two captured teammates. It wasn't that bad since in his experience it was always better to follow a woman than lead one. If nothing else the view was bound to be better in the former case. Although captured and led who knew where part of Seth's brain was busy with a most puzzling question. Who had the nicer bottom? Was it the human or the Twi'lek? Hmm, human... or Twi'lek?

"I just can't decide after all..."

He purposely made it seem like that involuntarily slipped his mouth though in reality it was quite intended. Anyway, a few more corridors and everyone was once more reunited. Himself and the girls were made to stand whilst Arthur was lucky enough to just sit down instead. Lucky bastard! Hmm, come to think of it he did looked crappier than when he was back in his cell meaning that either he tripped on his way there... several times or otherwise meaning that he just got tortured for a while. Meh, Republic's torture methods were so sloppy and not at all elegant. The Empire wasn't afraid to use drugs, interrogation droids and more sophisticated approaches. Thinking twice about it maybe the Republic's approach wasn't as effective but it sure as heck was more satisfying after all.

[[He told us all he knew, Now the first person to give us the rest of the information we need will not have to go through this.]]

Ordinarily Seth would've stepped right up and offered to fill in those missing pieces but he just realized something - he could use a second look at the layout of the place before making a move and besides he'd always be able to use his jailor's "shut up" threat as an excuse for remaining silent. Yeah, that made sense... in a somewhat strange and freaky way.

[[Take them away.]]

The guards once again pointed their stun batons at the prisoners and led the way back to their little cells. This time around Seth made sure to take a better look at his surroundings... whilst also apparently by accident glancing over at his squadmates' rears. Not like anyone could blame him though. He was a locked man for crying out loud and people in jail would always invariably start thinking about such things. Seth just happened to start thinking about them hours after being caught rather than weeks, months or possibly even years. Then again he figured it sort of made sense in a way. He had no intention of spending years in this place so that meant he was supposed to hurry up if he was to experience all the things prisoners tended to face under regular circumstances.

Once back in his cell the Onderonian did not have to wait long for the Zabrak to be brought back. The fellow made a rather sad looking show of courage and... collapsed. Now that felt rather disappointing. Besides, what was this about if he did not break neither was anyone else supposed to? Just what kind of weird logic was that anyway? If he had succumbed to the interrogation would that have meant that everyone else was also okay to follow his example? Pfft, as if Seth would care about such things...

[[Smart mouthed blondy! You're next.]]

"And here i wanted to be a gentleman and await my turn after you'd finished with the two ladies next cell... Whatever though."

Seth wasn't exactly wrong though. His sarcasm and faked shallowness aside it really would've been smarter to begin interrogating the girls next. To start with a male first was smart, for that would allow the captors to inflict more damage and also make it look worse than it really was perhaps. The sight of the half dead hulk of meat would then maybe serve to make some girls a lot more cooperating. And if not then some actual torture was still more likely to yield results from them seeing how generally females tended to have a lower pain tolerance than males. This was true for pretty much all known races throughout the galaxy. Thus it made little sense to the Onderonian for him to be next. Not that it bothered him or anything...

~~~~~~~~~~

[[How many of you are out there?]]

The voice belonged to the same individual that called them there earlier. This was thus proof that he had likely ordered Arthur's torture. Now Seth had three options - tell the truth, lie or say nothing. The latter was definitely a bad idea seeing how he did not particularly want to become a punching bag or a needle cushion or a knife support. Lying might have worked but what if this was actually a control question after all? What if these bastards had good enough scanners to detect humanoid life signs outside the base? Hmm...

"Eleven plus the survivors from that crashed shuttle."

So he decided to give away such a small amount of information in order to save his own butt... So what? Who would know for certain anyway?

[[What was your mission here?]]

"Investigate the distress signal sent by the crashed shuttle."

[[What was the shuttle's mission here?]]

"No idea. That information was not shared with the squadron. The leader might know but if so he kept quiet about it... or just was unable to actually share it with the rest of us. The leader you see is a big furry Wookie by the way - lieutenant Zalkor."

[[What is your contingency plan for this outcome?]]

"Contingency plan? Oh, you mean for getting caught by the enemy? Well if we don't make contact on time then a destroyer would drop from hyperspace and send a rescue mission. At least that's what the Wookie told us. Me personally... i think they'll instead bombard the whole area. Something about this mission smelled bad from the start you know?"

The senior crewman could almost imagine the republican frowning underneath that mask of his... The man got up, ordered a guard to bring the prisoner back to his cell and then just disappeared, no doubt to verify some of this information. Maybe scan for incoming or outgoing messages, debrief the troopers that were still on the field in regards to the mysterious Wookie leader, possibly prepare for evacuation as well... Yup, there were quite a lot of things that the fellow would now have his mind on and pursuing those leads would take a little time, just as they would potentially cause a little bit of confusion as well. It might be nothing of course but then again it might just be the thing they would need to turn the tides of this whole situation...

The Onderonian pilot again found himself being led to his cell but this time around he planned to actually do something about it as well. Once in the prison area - if it could be called that at all - the smuggler would wait for the door behind him to close before bringing his hands together and spinning around, punching the guard behind him right at the base of his neck. Normally he would've gone for the head but seeing how that was protected it just didn't seem like a smart idea... As the guard began collapsing his colleagues would realize what just happened. This was as such the moment of truth - would the Onderonian be able to take care of the handful of guards before being zapped by their batons or not?

Just in case the answer was no though Seth thought to level the playing field a little by throwing the downed guard's headgear into the console controlling Arthur's cell lock. The red blimp changed to green and the Zabrak's forcefield thus shut down. Arthur wasted no time and quickly took the chance presented to him. As the Gamma flight leader would get out he would pause for a moment to also release Tinker and the Twi'lek - power in numbers and all that good stuff...

The question now however was whether the prisoners would be able to overcome their captors or not. Let's see, five guards using stun batons versus four prisoners, not all in great shape and with only one such weapon available at their disposal. The chances pretty much sucked for Rhegent's Reign but heck, it wasn't like this was the first time they'd need to overcome such crappy odds...

Arthur was surprised he was able to fight after the ordeal he went through.  He took a look at DeepSix to see if they tortured him.  He looked unharmed.

"So what did you tell them?" Arthur asked.

"Just fed them lies to prevent my torture Sir." DeepSix replied.

"Fine as long as that is all it was." Arthur said hoping to resume this conversation when they were not inside an enemy base.  Arthur and the rest grabbed the bodies of the NR and put them inside the cells after searching them.  They grabbed the stun batons, and Arthur had DeepSix get the girls out of the base while he looked for their gear.

Arthur was walking down the hall toward where he was held searching every room that had no sound coming from the other side.  Arthur opened a room with two bunks and the NR sound a sleep in them.  He quietly walked over to them and with a stun baton in each hand zapped both of them.  He searched the room for anything useful to help him find his way around.  He was lucky that one of them had a unlocked data-pad sitting next to his bed.  Arthur quickly opened a map showing him the lay out of the base there was a total of three buildings the one they were in was the largest of the three.

Arthur zoomed in to the map to see if he could find where they would keep the gear.  Arthur found the armory and was near by it.  He walked over to the door, and he slowly opened the door.  The room was unguarded, but the gear he and his fellow squad members had was not there.

As Arthur left the room he started to hear blaster fire coming from the entrance of the building.  He grabbed one of the grenades and threw it into the armory and started to run.  With the NR not having any heavy fire power the squad might have a chance to make it out alive.  The first person to run into Arthur was the only one he would let live if he got what information he wanted.

"Where is the prisoner gear kept?  Tell me and I'll let you live." Arthur threaten

"Ok, just let me live." He replied.  Arthur had him point it out on the map, and he kept his word and just hit him with the stun baton till he was out.  Now that Arthur knew where he was going he quickly left the room and made his way there.

When Arthur got to the room he quickly and quietly killed the guard with a quick snap of the neck.  He put all the equipment on and pulled a few daggers just in-case he ran into any more NR members.  He was surprised to see a large Wookiee run right to him and then passed only to save Arthur life.  The whole group soon met up just outside the complex.

And take that as well you goddamn son of a Hutt!

The Onderonian was satisfied just thinking that as he proceeded to zap one of the other guards straight in the face. Now whether the latter collapsed because of the actual zapping or rather the baton punching him in the nose - well that wasn't certain. It sure as heck wasn't all that relevant either seeing how there were plenty more of his buddies out there waiting to be brought down as well. The good news was that with each knocked out guard the chances of all the pilots getting out alive would increase. The bad news was that Seth would still be their first target, seeing how he had been the one to start the little riot.

Well at least Arthur, banged up as he was, still managed to bring down one guy of his own. The way he did it was also rather impressive. A human that would've attempted the same move would've just looked stupid and would've afterward ended up with a nasty headache most likely. A Zabrak however would apparently be able to use his or hers funky horns as tiny weapons. Now that was nifty. Somewhat disturbing perhaps but nifty all the same.

"Aaaah!"

It wasn't pain but more like surprise that made Seth jump forward after receiving a jolt in his lower back. As the smuggler found himself fast approaching the ground - limbs momentarily unwilling to listen to him - he did manage to see a boot coming out of what was supposed to be his attacker's groin. Trying to shift his position to get a better view Seth realized that the boot belonged to the Twi'lek who somehow decided to use some very unorthodox fighting techniques against her captors. Granted kicking human males in certain areas was effective but as a member of the same gender, and of the same species even Seth couldn't really approve of this form of attack.

Anyway, as the rest of his companions would fight for their freedom Seth would calmly lie down and watch. The jolt he received earlier was still messing with his muscles and he could tell as much from where he was standing... ehm, sitting that is. Besides that wasn't really the only reason he decided to more or less play the dying man card. The less he looked like a threat the less the guards would think of zapping him again and the more chances he would have to catch them by surprise should the others fail to deal with them. Then again the others seemed to have things other control. Let's see there was Arthur exchanging punches with the biggest guard. There was the goofy Twi'lek clinging to one of the guard's backs and... was she trying to strangle him to death or just scratch his eyeballs out? Hmm, it wasn't really clear from where Seth was standing. Then there was also the XO who rather than relying on raw strength against her attacker she apparently chose to rely on skill and fancy moves. Now that was much better to watch than simple punching, kicking and headbutting...

Within a few short minutes all the guards were down and luckily none of the other pilots seemed to have been taken out either. That was good for otherwise the burden of dealing with useless comrades may have proved too much. It was after all hard enough to escape from a military installation, but escaping all the while dragging and carrying colleagues as well - well that was hardly fun. Speaking of fun it was fairly funny how rather than zapping the guard she dealt with thus far Maroy instead decided to use the stun baton as a melee weapon, using it to deliver two or three blows to the downed republican's head. Oh well, to each his own...

[[So what did you tell them?]]

That there was a high chance the rain outside wouldn't let up anytime soon. Yeah, Seth actually considered giving such a reply but decided against it though. Heck, it wasn't like he actually gave any vital information but even so he still provided a few bits of truth. Then again if he would admit that then chances were some committee back home would end up endlessly questioning him about this. Maybe even question him about other dealings as well... No, for now it was better to lie and that's exactly what Seth did as he replied.

[[You three make your way outside. I'll try to rendezvous with you there after hopefully finding our equipment.]]

Ah yes the equipment that had been taken from him... Seth did indeed want it back. Why, he even planned on sticking around to find it himself but since Arthur volunteered to go and find it the crewman supposed it wasn't all that bad. With the Zabrak off to find better guns that left DeepSix in the company of his two female companions. Hmm... two females, one male, highly dangerous situation, lots of adrenaline possibly temporarily messing up their brain's chemistry - why who knew where this could lead?

[[Look, more soldiers. Let's zap them too!]]

Oh yes, there could be lots of zapping and sparks flying and... wait, what was that about zapping soldiers though? Peeking out from cover and glancing along the corridor Maroy was prepared to head on in Seth noticed a small group of guards walking away. They had their backs at them so they did not see them yet which was good. They also had blasters however so should they see them chances were things would turn out not so good. Before he really knew what he was doing the Onderonian reached out and grabbed one of the Twi'lek head tails.

"Wait... We could zap them but they could shoot us - not a good deal, you see? This is like playing sabacc - you need to know when to raise, when to observe and most importantly when to get up and leave on your own two feet."

Whoa, now that sounded fairly deep. The Onderonian wasn't sure whether the Twi'lek understood, especially since he didn't know whether she played cards or similar, but at least the latter decided not to go off and zapping those soldiers. Pfew, now getting out stealthily was a whole lot harder than Seth had previously assumed. With a few weapons - silent weapons that is - then this whole thing would've been a lot easier. With just a few stun batons however it was annoying as all hell. Even so the trio would eventually manage to get out. Which was all nice and dandy except they only managed to escape the building they were kept in. Now they found themselves in need of escaping the entire camp they were held in. This sucked!

The three of them would still be lying low waiting for Arthur to catch up to them when the latter would just pop out from seemingly nowhere. Hmm, fellow was definitely stealthy that much was certain... More importantly though the Zabrak was not coming empty handed. Oh, how the Onderonian missed his two heavy blasters. And the other stuff too, but the blasters were definitely what he missed more. He was still playing with them when he realized the others were talking about escape plans and such. Two ideas were apparently brought up. Hmm, try to just get out or rather try to make the base more or less defenseless against soon to come rescue teams? Both ideas had pros and cons and both were pretty much as dangerous too. Hmm...

What the heck! Why not do try them both? Sure their chances of succeeding at either would drop but at the same time by separating they had a bigger chance of at least pulling one thing off. That was exactly what he shared with everyone else after putting away his Annihilators. He also proposed himself for the task of rushing the gate and dealing with the guards. It wasn't like he was totally bad with computers and such but truth was he much more excelled at plain ol' shooting things. It as such made much more sense to take the best job he was suited for...

So it was that DeepSix once more found himself by Arthur's side, once more against goddamn Republic troops. They stayed out of sight and waited for the others to be ready as well. The waiting was annoying as hell too. Waiting for all hell to break loose was even more annoying than actually dealing with it afterward. Still, after a while the others managed to get to their destination as well and as Arthur would motion to him that meant it was finally playtime. Awesome! Seth leapt out from cover and as soon as he did that began shooting at anything that moved. Taking out the guards wouldn't be that much of a problem. Keeping that position whilst Tinker and Maroy would get back however... now that would be a real problem. Oh well, it was no use thinking about such things now. Rather than considering his own mortality the Onderonian much more preferred emptying his mind and concentrating solely on acquiring new targets only to soon after take out those targets. He would every now and then run for cover and recharge his guns however only to afterward resume and repeat once more...

Ruwe and Thane ran in to a squad of guards and quickly tore through them, Ruwe shot most of them Thane was busy slicing his way through two others. They were about to advance when alarms rang out, they heard prison break, in section 22J. Thane looked at Ruwe, they were in the wrong place, they double timed it back to Hark, and Zark. On there way back explosions lit the whole facility up. Thane could hear Hark shout, "What the hell was that!"

"Must be that freighter that Maroy had, Junkers... Junkers... I don't know it was Junker's something." replied Zark

"It's called Junker's Demise, and apparently, our friends that are in there have sprung themselves out, we are moving back to the TIES, lets go." said Thane

As they pealed off into the jungle, another explosion hit the complex, and this was extremely close to the exit. After that all fire had ceased, no more orbital bombardment of any kind. Thane and his group turned to leave, when they heard movement and gun fire behind them.

"Friendlies to the rear!" exclaimed Ruwe

Everyone had ran towards them, and took cover behind a dense group of trees to provide covering fire. Thane wished he had his sniper rifle, but in the confusion lost track of it. The others took aim, and noticed no one was pursuing them. Thane waved Arthur and them over to his position.

"Man is it good to see you guys." said Arthur, happy to see some friendly faces.

"Its good to see you guys too, we were inside looking for you, until we figured out you all had escaped already." replied Hark

"Not everybody escaped." replied Maroy

Thane realized that his Squadron XO, Tinker was missing.

"What happened?" asked Thane

"I got knocked down, and she knew that there wasn't enough time to get through the security gate before it came back on-line, for both of us to get through, so she threw me out of the base, and held of the guards." replied Maroy she was hurting both physically and mentally after that.

Thane nodded, and looked at Arthur, "That puts you in charge."
Arthur didn't like the circumstances of his new position.

"We're getting the hell out of here." Arthur announced anger getting the best of him.

The all got up to move, Thane looked at, Arthur, Deepsix, and Maroy's faces, they look like hell, Thane thought. each one wounded and angry at the fact they left the XO behind. If Thane had it his way he'd tell them to leave while he went and tore that base, and everyone in it apart.

Maroy by far had the most extensive injuries. Maroy also noticed that Thane had no ranged weapon of any kind.

"Here you might want this back." she tried handing him his blaster rifle back, Thane declined.

"Lets go."

Everyone moved back towards the downed Imperial ship, which was their new rally point. Along the way Thane, grabbed a rifle from a dead NR merc, who had a hole through his chest from a sniper round.

"Hello again." Thane said under his breathe

Everyone rallied at the downed ship.