OOC:

RAIDERS

Valthir was still smirking slightly from the incident earlier with the fake grenade. Ah, breaking the tension. Even up to the moment, he still had no idea who exactly had thrown the empty clip, whether it had been him, the Eclipse trooper, or somebody else. Regardless, it had done its job and that was all that mattered.

And now they were on the plateau, overlooking the crystalline ground below, shooting at the MGs. Already, Valthir had a method. He wasn’t going for the inaccurate spray-and-pray that a few of his fellow squadmates were using. Rather, he would take his time to aim. Even under fire, he was pretty accurate, but then, with only the occasional round coming towards them and plenty of time to aim, he was a master. Every shot he took hit a Republic soldier, usually somewhere in the head. Unfortunately, while he was taking out quite a bit of the Republic soldiers, his deadly accurate shooting was starting to attract some attention. After yet another successful shot, Valthir looked over the edge of the barrier he was sharing with Beta and saw both of the MGs swiveling to point their way.

With a little bit of foresight, he turned and hit Beta, “Move! Now!”

Instantly, Valthir started moving, in a sort of crouching run, to safety behind another barricade. Beta, however, was not so quick. He had apparently not heard Valthir’s warning, but felt the hit, which was probably what saved him. Luckily, Beta was just quick enough and made it to the next barricade without any injury. 

Between the sounds of shots being fired and shouts ringing out, Valthir heard the heavy thumps of retreating feet. Turning, he watched three Raiders troopers leave.

Must be RK, Brightstar, and Karash. Wonder where they’re going.

“Beta. Where are they going?” Valthir queried.

“Who? Oh, they’re going to find Havock. She got into a mess and apparently needs some help.” Beta replied.

“And I’m assuming we’re supposed to stay here and continue to help Eclipse?”

Beta nodded, turning back to the battle. Shrugging, Valthir followed suit. Lining up a shot, he took it, slamming a slug into the right temple of the Republic soldier. The soldier, who was in the process of squeezing the trigger, fell to the side, still clutching the trigger. The MG, still shooting, began to turn around, carried by the weight of the dead soldier. Slowly, the hail of bullets cut a path of death in the oblivious ranks of the soldiers who were manning the other MG, so focused on their tasks that they did not notice. Eventually they did notice and while only a few of the soldiers had been killed by the errant MG, the other MG had been put out of action temporarily, perhaps even permanently.

With a whoop of victory, Valthir turned and focused on the single remaining MG, as did the rest of Raiders.

OOC:

Eclipse

Well, it could be going better Balac thought.

Skarr had relayed their request to Havock and were waiting for some help or distraction to get over the barricade and start moving into thte Republic base.

"Oh, wonderful.." Skarr said suddenly.

"What?" Eclipse asked in unison.

Skarr had kept his com open to Havock to keep updated on what she was doing.

"Havock's gotten into a bit of a mess," Skarr announed. "RK, Brightstar, and Karash are going to find her, she may have been captured. That leaves Beta, Abalar, Valthir and Grahim covering us."

Hnh, captured... Balac thought. If she was, I feel sorry for the unlucky di'kut that tried grabbing her first.

Still watching the MG crews to find either a chance to get over or take them out, he saw a wonderous spray of blood as one of the crew, the one firing the gun, took a round through the head.

Nice... Balac thought.

The gunner slumped to the side, still holding the trigger, and the gun turned towards another crew, taking down a few of them before the rest of the crew managed to take the gun out of the dead man's grip.

"Alright, there's our chance! ARCs, cover us!" ordered Skarr. The ARCs and Eclipse stood and took aim at the crew whose gunner was shot and proceeded to take them down. Bullets riddled the Republic troopsas they tried to get cover. The crew that managed to get in the way of their guns was nowhere in sight.

"They may be waiting for us or they may have fallen back, be careful, now, GO GO GO" Skarr ordered.

Under the cover of the ARCs, Eclipse leapt over the barricade and settled inside the emplacement they had been using for cover on the other side of the barricade. Checking for any Republic troops that may have been in the immeadiate firing zone, Skarr waved the ARCs over.

"Ok, there's one gun left. If they're smart, they'll be trying to guard it against any attack. That may be where the other crew has gone. We're in line of sight of that gun if we stand so we'll need to get their heads down if we're to move. We're also still open to fire from the base if they choose to try." Skarr told them.

"How are our guardian angels doing, sir?" Balac asked.

"Beta! Report!" Skarr ordered.

"Yes sir, there's about... ten troops in the last emplacement. We'll get them to duck if we need to. Just give the signal." Beta replied.

"Right, any of you hit?" Skarr asked.

"No sir." replied Beta.

"Ok, good. Get ready, we're going to move closer if we can. Keep an eye on the base and let us know if they're showing any sign of fighting us out here. Ok... on my mark, fire. One, two... Mark!" Skarr ordered.

There was a blaze of fire from RAIDERS. Eclipse and the ARCs moved to the next emplacement.

"Ok, so far so good." said Skarr. "Now to finish this and get inside the base.

Balac smiled to himself at the chance to take a world from the Republic, instead of helping them keep one, as he used to do.

RK panted as he slowed down to a halt. They had been running down the path Havock had taken for what seemed like hours and they weren’t getting anywhere. He kept thinking he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but every time he thought they were on top of it, it disappeared.  He was starting to think this mission seemed hopeless, yet for all that was sacred he had to find the leader.

“Beta come in, you there?” RK had calmed down a while ago; his blood had finally started flowing. Bright had everything to do with that, something about her was extremely charming and he couldn’t figure out what, and every time he tried to concentrate on what he was doing she would flood his thoughts.

“Yea, I’m here boss! Though we have a slight problem, we got past the first wave of troops, but when we tried to advance we got ourselves cornered.” Beta seemed calm for what RK had just told him, at least that was a good sign that this was the right decision.
“Stay alive then! We should be….”

“RK, do you hear that?” Karash’s voice chimed in as RK relayed his final message to Beta, but it wasn’t Karash’s voice that cut him short. It was a feignt voice just beyond the crystal wall.

“Yea, I here it, we must be getting close.” RK paused to think for a second, he was tired and worn out. The wound on his shoulder was bothering him like crazy, Karash had tried to make them stop and pull the slug out, occasionally Bright would plead along. As much as he wanted the thing out of his arm, he knew that there was more matters to attend to, and that if HAvvie had been captured and not killed she might end up dead anyway. Time was of the essence. “Beta, you still there, we are close to the base, as far as we know, we hear voices. Hang tight, we will update you in a little bit.”

“Will do! Hanging onto my gun for dear life!”

“As for us, we need to figure out what we are going to do about getting our hind ends into that base without getting our heads blown off.” RK sighed under his breath. He looked around the cavern at Karash, then Bright. Now he had to think of a plan, this was the hard part. He plopped down where he was standing and set his gun beside him, then he eased his helmet off and placed it next to his gun. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and then looked up at Karash. “How fast can you pull this thing out of me without infection?”

Karash seemed to stare at RK for an eternity before he replied. “depends on whther you want your arm with feeling o without.”

“Preferably with.”

“RK, you sure you want to do this?” Bright asked from beside him, her voice filled with worry. She was trying to hide it, and regardless of the feature on here helmet to make her sound mono, he could hear it. It brought a smile to his face.

“Yes, I’m no good if this thing get’s infected and it’s been bothering me since the adrenaline started slowing down.” RK grinned, then continued “…sides every rescue needs a break, Havock would understand.”

Karash was already knelt down beside RK. He had removed his helmet, probably to get a better look at the wound. RK turned away, he hated seeing his own blood.Yet, he knew it was inevitable. “Alright, I’m only going to say this once, we have no time for sedative, so the pain your feeling now will be ten time worse. You can always turn back now, I will burn your papers and forget you ever asked for the operation…..” Karash smirked, something was turning in his head. “…or Bright here can hold your hand. Your choice.”

A grin spread across RK’s face, and he could have sworn he felt himself blush. “Brigh..” but he was already a second behind her. She was kneeling down beside him, reaching out for his hand. Her red hair flowing again, highlighting her deep violet eyes. RK smiled at her and put his hand in her, ironically he felt this should be the other way around, but it didn’t matter now.

“Okay then one, two, three, push!” Karash began laughing, until  RK gave him a stare of death. “Just kidding, in all seriouslness here we go.” Instantly RK felt the pain, Karash stuck some sort of metal device into his shoulder, it was cold and painful all in one. He gritted his teeth and squeezed Brights hand as hard as he could. Karash wasn’t to far off… RK thought grimly as he tried to hold back a scream.

The next few moments were torture, that was until the feint clink of a slug being dropped on the crystal floor was heard. It was out, but the pain wasn’t over yet. RK gritted as hard as he could, and could feel himself squeezing even harder. He looked over at Bright twice, and could see her smile, it helped but he knew she was in pain, her hand had to be killing her. It’s Robotic…. The last thing on her mind is the pain your causing.The realization hit him and he looked at her again, she winked knowing he realized it. “Your tough.”

“Comes from being part droid, later on I’ll show you how fast I can mix up a drink. It’s pretty impressive” Bright said, a sly grin crossing her lips.

“Is that an invitaAAAAA!” RK yelled as he felt his skin being pulled together with the string that Karash was using to stitch up the gaping wound. He hadn’t even realized he had started, but he felt the ending.

“Wow, you would have thought you were giving birth!” Karash said saracastically as he dressed the wound. “Regardless, I’m all done. Does this mean we can move on?”

RK stopped squeezing Brights hand and used his hand to rub his shoulder, it wasn’t brand new, but at least it wasn’t bothering him. “Yea and I think I know exactly how we are going to get in there, here’s the plan.” RK winked at Bright as he began to etch into the crystal with his knife. He would have to grab her a crystal before they left the cave, she deserved it.

marked

OOC:

Blackjack

Fewer than ten seconds after the last body hit the ground, things started to go wrong again. Corvin was wiping a streak of blood from his face when his ear-mounted com crackled to life.

"Sergeant ...in, Gates, damn you!" the Gryphon sergeant snapped into the Blackjack channel, unaware or uncaring that she'd patched into the squad frequency. The transmission was patchy at best, with constant background static, and pops from nearby weapons fire.

"I'm here." Gates replied. "What's the situation?"

"We're into the second...definitely have their attention, Sergeant! Had to dismount... Gris ...too, and we're cut off from..."

The transmission devolved into a doppler whine, then closed.

"Get back on those bikes, doubletime!" Garryll ordered, slinging his slug rifle back over one shoulder. The chattering of high-caliber slug weapons echoed across the plain, along with more distant roars of cannons from the main battle.

Corvin sprinted back to his speeder, scavenged slug clips clacking against his legplate as he ran, and spat out a mouthful of crystal dust as he clambered on. The dust was everywhere, glinting on the plains, scratching lines into armour plates and getting into holsters and bodygloves. Corvin suspected that he'd be hacking it back up for months to come.

"Come on, Blackjacks." Garryll barked. "Time to clean up the Gryphons' mess."

With that, the squad leader slammed down on the accelerator, his bike shooting out of the trench system. The rest of the squad followed, spreading out into a V-formation with Garryll at its head.

Near the middle of the squad, Corvin struggled to keep his head straight. Dust caught up by the formations' repulsors was flying around him, getting into his eyes and mouth. Corvin swore silently, ducking his head as much as he could and still fly. He wished he'd slipped on the back-up goggles in his kit; peripheral vision wasn't worth a crash.

"There!" Saphira called. "The middle of the line!"

Jerking his head up, Corvin glanced to the left. Sure enough, there were regular flashes and figures along that section. Scattered around it were half a dozen bikes, several belching clouds of black smoke. There was a bright flash, and bodies flew through the air as a grenade went off.

"Turn!" Garryll yelled, and Corvin jerked the handlebars to the left. The bikes arced, and the Blackjacks flew towards the fight.

The only warning the squads had was a momentary whine. A blue-white streak slammed into the plain to one side of the squad, sending the bikes spinning in all directions.

"Concussion rifles!" a Blackjack called. His ears ringing, Corvin couldn't make out who it was.

"Down! Into the trenches!" Garryll yelled. Corvin cut the power just as he reached the line, and his bike scraped over the edge, coming to a precarious stop on the other side. Another concussion blast detonated nearby.

Corvin rolled off his seat before his speeder's engine shut down, snatching his carbine as he dropped into the trench. As he landed, slugs started to ping off his bike, holing the seat and deforming the handlebars.

Corvin brought his weapon up, and fired a burst blindly down the trench as he looked up. Someone gurgled incoherently, and there was the clatter of a dropped rifle.

There were six Republic troopers in the trench, one of whom was now collapsing while clutching his gut, as well as two of the Sidewinders, their criss-cross shoulder markings standing out against the trench. Khaki-clad bodies piled around the two suggested that they'd been busy. Another Sidewinder was slumped half-out of the the trench, crushed to pulp under his bike.

Corvin took all this in in the moment before three of the Republics opened up on him, muzzles flashing in the gloom. Corvin threw himself to the ground as the shots whizzed by, one coming close enough to jerk his headset loose. It dropped with a clatter, the mount ruined.

The comlink buzzed as Corvin raised his weapon and fired again, the sound of the Republics' volley still ringing in his ears. The rifle jerked, and another Republic fell with his face a ruin.

By then, the other Republics had adjusted their aim, and Corvin found himself looking down a pair of rifle barrels. He started to squeeze the trigger again, knowing he wouldn't get the shot off before they did.

There was a rapid burst of slugfire, the noise briefly deafening Corvin, and the two troopers collapsed in bloody ruins. A second volley sent the other Republics sprawling.

Bloodied, and with one helmet eyepiece shattered, Garryll Gates strode down the trench. There was a battered concussion rifle in his left hand. Striker shadowed him with her strange knives drawn. Corvin absently noted the fresh stains on the blade edges.

"You two." Garryll snapped. "Now that that's over with, where're your Sergeant and the Gryphons?"

OOC:

Eclipse Squad

Bullets flew from the doorway in a storm. Skarr crouched behind the table reloading his next to last clip. The rest of his squad was crouched behind him, guns unloading into the Republic troops. How the hell did we fall for this? He did not know how, nor did he care at the moment. The soldiers at the door did not care, either. They only wanted the quickest death or capture of the Vast Imperial Troops.

The young Sergeant would not let that happen to his squad or his former squad, either. They were required to do this mission and Skarr would complete it. He didn’t like things unfinished and this mission was one of them. He knew he could not do that with a hole in his head. He loved fighting, but this situation was too much for him. The area wasn’t open enough. Skarr felt trapped and cornered. But it was his experience that cornered animals bite the hardest.

Skarr began patting himself down, looking for something amongst all the weaponry he brought with him. Grenades would not work, it could kill them all. He didn’t want to chance the hold-out blaster he had smuggled onto the mission with him. It would not do to use his last resort. The explosive rounds would kill everyone in the room as well. For once, Skarr felt almost complete despair. He had no way out. All he could hope for now, was either the cavalry to arrive or the Republic troops to run out. And the latter did not seem to be happening.

OOC:

Blackjack

The two Sidewinder scouts looked shell-shocked at best. “Uh, I have no idea where Sergeant Gris and them went,” said the first.

“No, they went down the trench; we came from, that way? Right?” the other said, posing his statement almost as a question.

“They’re useless,” Gates muttered to himself. He pulled his battered, useless helmet off by the shattered eye piece; head protection wasn’t worth anything if you couldn’t see or hear the threat to you in the first place. He rummaged in his pack for a minute and pulled out a pair of shooter’s glasses, designed to have a low-tech HUD and keep you from being blinded by muzzle flash. He slipped a comlink bead into his ear and then gave his orders.

“Looks like these guys are messed up good,” he said, drawing both Sidewinders’ gaze to him. He stared back, the reflective lenses of his glasses as blank as his Stormtrooper’s T-visor. “So Tanus, Madman and Jelly will take this guy and go down that way-” Gates pointed down the trench the way that the second Sidewinder had pointed, and had grouped them with the first Sidewinder who’d spoken. “Myself, Corvin and Striker will take the main road.”

The ASL raised an eyebrow, and Gates answered the unspoken question of why?. “I want a close-range specialist in both parties, and I’m confident in both your command abilities, but you’ve had more experience with broken parties. I want someone I can count on if the Griffons and rest of Sidewinder are shot to hell and their commanders are gone.”

Tanus nodded and led his team down the trench. Gates nodded forwards, rifle slung and recovered concussion rifle in his hands. One of the New Republic soldiers, dead in a pool of his own blood, had his hands still wrapped around a concussion rifle, and Gates bent over and rifled through the man’s pockets and pack; he found a few more charges for the rifle, but not enough to really last an extended firefight.

“Let’s go,” Gates said, and motioned Saphira to the point position. She nodded and sheathed one of her knives in exchange for a pistol, and held the knife in her off-hand, arm tucked beneath her handgun in the other, to help aim and give her knife an easy slash or stab.

Gates followed, concussion rifle in hand, but he unbuttoned the holster for his handgun, an extremely unsubtle M4 “Bullstomper” .45 cal pistol. After all, his ASL would likely be displeased if he accidentally used the concussion rifle on the back of her head in a close-range firefight.

The Sidewinder was third in line, standard-issue rifle battered but still serviceable. His Scout’s helmet and armor weren’t as good as the Wildcard SCOPE-issue, and he wasn’t as experienced nor as well-trained as them. On top of that, he’d been thrown into the teeth of a firefight without warning recently, and Gates wasn’t too keen on his mental state.

Corvin was on their six, rifle sweeping constantly, steady and sure that nothing would sneak up on them. He was usually Gates’ pointman of choice, but he was adept at not getting killed and was a good trooper.

“Shout if you see anything,” Gates said quietly, though there was really no need. The constant gunfire and explosions of the battle drowned out most noise, and what was loud enough to hear was usually a lot more dangerous than orders.

OOC:

RAIDERS

“Why the hell is he taking so long?” Karash asked half rhetorically.

“Just calm down and be patient, he will be back any minute.” Brightstar had been staring into the distance ever since RK had left.

“You do realise he has probably been captured along with our other leader, what a pair they are... either that or they’re dead...”

“Just shut-up!” This time Bright scowled down at Karash before turning back to her former position

The medic also turned so his back was towards and scowled in the opposite direction, ‘Who does she think she is? I was just trying to make polite conversation and she overreacts, then again she has had her own trouble lately... but there was no need to talk to you like that.’ Karash ended his inner rant with a self satisfying nod. Suddenly there were footsteps making their way towards the two troopers, both of whom raised their weapons and ordered the figure to identify itself immediately.

“It’s fine, it’s me.” The obvious tone of RK filled the silence.

Bright began to rush towards RK but appeared to stop herself and instead said, “Did you get everything?”

“Well if he hasn’t, he has found time to enrol at the Rebel academy and graduate.” Karash could see Bright getting visibly angrier with him so he moved away from her, at least out of hitting distance.

As the two continued to discuss what was going to happen Karash drifted off into his own thoughts, ‘Why do they always react that way to what I say? They never pay attention and when they do is to rebuff or shout at me but the greats are never appreciated.’ His trail of thought was once again interrupted as someone grabbed his arms.

“I am going to enjoy this.” RK spoke with a smirk growing on his face.

“Wait... I never agreed to actually... oh just great.” Any remnant of pride that Karash had was slowly leaving him. 

The medic had been handcuffed and was being lead back to the rebel base by the two newest rebel recruits. He only hoped that Havock was still alive because if she was not, then he had been treated like a common criminal for no reason.

A grin spread across RK’s lips as he reentered the cave. His fist was pounding with each heartbeat as he flexed it, never had he been so full of adrenaline to punch a couple rebel scum to oblivion, something was different about him, but he wasn’t able to put his finger on it. Still he liked this new found energy.

“It’s fine, It’s me” RK said as he saw Karash flinch as he returned. He saw Bright run towards him and he smiled, but she stopped short. must be since Karash is here

“Did you get everything?” Bright asked, her eyes beaming with excitement

“If not he found the time to enroll in the Rebel academy and graduate.” Karash grinned. Bright shot him an angry look, RK couldn’t help but slightly snicker and shake his head.

“I’m going to enjoy this.” RK moved towards Karash, the handcuffs dangling from his hand a smirk across his face.

“Wait…I never actually agreed… oh just great.” RK could tell Karash felt like he was being demoted, but in reality his part had to be the most believable, if he didn’t act like a prisoner the guards would get suspicious and they all might end up dead.

RK smiled as he slapped the handcuffs on. “Okay, you sit here and wait.” He chucked some wadded up rebel clothes to Bright, who caught them in one swift motion. She looked at him peculiarly, looked down and walked away to change. RK smiled again, he could have swore he saw her blush, she was tough, but he liked her soft side. “Now you mister criminal, I need you to keep your mouth shut, with the occasional out burst, we need them to believe you’re a criminal.”

“Being with you right now has already prepared me for the role.” Karash said, smiling up at RK, more sarcastically then friendly.

“See, now your getting the hang of it.” RK looked up when he heard a clink on the floor, he looked over to see Bright pulling of her armor plates, he stared at her for a second. She was amazing, he had to admit, she wasn’t ugly, not by any sense of the word. Her call sign fit her perfectly, she was Bright. A Shining star, and he made RK feel things he never though possible. She’s gorgeous, RK admit it, you like her! The realization hit him like a bullet. He saw her look up at him, and he instantly turned away, feeling like a kid who just got caught eating dessert before dinner.

“Alright, almost done, give me a second.” Bright sounded like she was having trouble getting the suit on. RK looked over again, trying to get a glimpse of her before she put the clothes on the rest of the way, she finally got it on and she looked over, RK again turned quickly. “All ready.”

“Alright, let’s do this, we have a SL to save.”  RK clapped his hands together, and picked up his plates he stacked them neatly and pulled a small satchel out of his belt. The other one he threw to Bright. “Put your armor in here, we may not have time to come back and get it.” He looked over at Karash. “You wear your helmet, I’ll put it on.”

“What about our Helmets?” Bright asked, as she stuffed his plates in the bag.

“We will carry them, maybe they do the whole trophy thing.” RK said, giving her a wink.

“Sounds good.” Bright walked over, grabbed Karash and pulled him up. “Okay, let’s go you Di’kut”

RK stared at Bright for a second, then remembered he had used that word quite often back in the day, yet he still asked. “Where did you learn that?”

Bright looked at RK, smiled and let the words touch her lips before saying, “picked it up from you, I believe it’s something you used to call Doc when he was being stupid, isn’t that right?” She then walked past him and headed for the door. RK watched her walk, surprised she remembered the word.

“Well, he would act like a Di’kut often…” He said under his breath, he hurried to catch up. He looked at the crystal wall, smiled to himself and broke a small chunk off, amazed at how he got a nice looking piece. He shoved it in his satchel and hurried after Karash and Bright. It was show time.

OOC:

Eclipse

Fierfek Balac thought.

A couple of the troopers ducked down behind the table with mutters of "I'm out."

Balac was on his last clip, and he was sure the rest of the troopers were as well, or out of ammo completely. Skarr ducked down too and gave the same statement. Thinking for sure the Republic troops would approach and take all of the troopers captive, they heard rapid footsteps heading in the direction of the door. Looking over the table Balac was startled, the room was empty and the door ajar.

"Well, did we scare them off?" Balac half-joked to Skarr.

"I don't know, the only other reason I can think of is that the base has recalled them, but that doesn't explain why they just... left." Skarr replied.

"Well, at least we're better off now." said Balac.

"Alright, gather any ammo they dropped, if it fits use it, if not, switch your gun for theirs." Skarr ordered.

The troopers went around, gathering ammo and picking up weapons. Balac could see Beta and the ARC on the other side of the room, from the movements of them both, they were arguing on a private com channel. Finally they separated and gathered up munitions themselves.

"Alright, be careful, they may be waiting for us out there." Skarr told them.

Rearmed, Eclipse took up positions by the door, ready to cover the RAIDERS troops as they edged out the door.

"Clear!" announced Beta.

"Ok, move!" Skarr ordered. Eclipse left their spots by the door and with RAIDERS searched the surrounding area for any hidden troops.

"Ok, let's get to the base." Skarr said.

"We can take the path over there," Beta announced, pointing to the path where RAIDERS had been covering Eclipse.

"Good, let's go." Skarr ordered.

The troops started moving towards the path when they heard footsteps.

"Hold it, get down!" Skarr whispered.

Seven people came from the path heading to the NR base; the leader was a young man wearing robes.

"Kriffing Jetii!" Balac whispered.

The Jedi and troops turned towards the stormtroopers, "There they are!"

Seeing the seven men Nitemare heard Skarr shout "Kill 'em!" and she took out her throwing knives as she stood up and hurled one at a soldier hitting him through his eye "Owww!" he yelled as he ducked and covered "Now lets have us some fun" she chuckled as she muttered to herself.

as she ran up to the walls of the cavern she jumped and flipped grabbing her zenjii needles and hurled them toward the others, taking in the gun shots from the other troopers she ducked down and looked onward as she saw the stupidity of the republic "Left yourself wide open" she said as she crept up to a lone soldier about to shoot down a fellow trooper and grabbed him snapping his neck with a swipe of her hands "Idiots" she said as she took her E-11 from its holster and aimed at the nearest soldier gunning him down and creeping behind another soldier sticking him with her combat knife "Damn i love being a trained killer" she said as she continued creeping in the shadows of the cavern stalking and hunting her republic prey.

OOC:

Eclipse

OOC:

Blackjack

“Dammit,” Gates muttered. Some New Republic stragglers had stumbled across them in their rather disorderly retreat from the frontlines. Gates levelled the concussion rifle to his hip and let loose a trio of shots, instantly draining the battery of the weapon. He threw it aside in disgust and yanked his handgun out of its holster, kneeling as he did to minimize his profile.

The Griffon’s Sergeant - Goltz, it he hadn’t forgotten. Her shoulder was mostly gone, the 7.62mm round haven cratered her armor and run on through, the entrance hole a lot bigger than the exit. It reminded Gates, again, of how vulnerable he was without his helmet.

“Dammit,” he muttered again, before grabbing the Scout by her torso armor and starting to drag her behind cover. A few oppurtunistic NR soldiers who’d managed to shake the ringing out of their ears - courtesy of his concussion rifle - pinged a few bullets at the two Imperials in the open. The Blackjack fireteam and the surviving Griffons blasted back, and Gates fired his handgun one-handed in their general direction, more to make himself feel better about being shot at than to actually hit something.

Goltz groaned in pain as her limp arm slid down a depression. A spreading pool of blood marked the track he’d made dragging her. “Griffons, while your Squad Leader is out of commission, I will be taking over the squad. Follow my orders like they’re gospel, same goes for my ASL,” Gates barked into his ear-bead. “Get your medic over here ASAP and put something in this lady’s shoulder-hole.”

The two Griffons were too well-trained to chafe at his rough orders or to mourn the massive, likely life-threatening injury to their SL, and they jumped to, one, the medic, sprinting down the trench to the Blackjack fireteam’s position. The other survivor laid down covering fire, as did the two Blackjacks. Gates slid Goltz behind cover and holstered his pistol in favor of his rifle. The Griffon medic slid to his SL, medpac in hand. The pack popped open in his hands, and rolls of gauze and bacta were found in seconds by experienced hands. Gates turned his attention from the medic and his patient; he barely understood basic battle-field first-aid, but he did remember the pain of getting shot.

Garryll raised his rifle to his shoulder, his scope to his eye - my eye, not my visor, he marvelled for a moment. In his career, his face had become the helmet of the Empire, his hands gloves and his feet boots. Gates blinked, then re-aimed his rifle - it had drifted from where the gunfire was coming  from - and fired once, then again, and again.

OOC:

Eclipse

Balac saw Skarr shoot as the Jedi advanced. The Jedi's Lightsaber sprung to life, evaporating every bullet shot his way. With a casual movement of the hand, he shoved Skarr against the wall.

"Sarge!" Balac shouted as he saw Skarr slam against the wall as if shoved by a great wind. "Shabuir Jetii!"

"Cover him!" Balac and Beta shouted at the same time as the Jedi continued his advance on Skarr.

Multiple streams of bullets flew towards the Jedi. Although the Jedi managed to evaporate every bullet that flew his way, he was forced back under the volume of fire from the troopers.

Balac had learned a bit about Jedi fighting abilities. They could keep up a great defense, until attacked by vast numbers, attacked from multiple sides, or wide angles of fire converging on them.

"Spread out, keep forcing him back!" Balac shouted to the troopers. Once Balac was satisfied that the Jedi was far enough back, he ran up to gather Skarr. With a quick vitals check he lifted Skarr onto his shoulders.

Balac turned back and started running towards to the troops.

"He's unconscious but otherwise fine, now GO!" Balac said.

They broke off and continued running down the corridor. Eventually, Balac could feel Skarr starting to stir on his shoulders.

"Hey, what are you- put me down." Skarr said.

"You alright Skarr?" Balac asked letting Skarr back onto his feet and continued walking.

"Yea, could have been worse without the armor though." Skarr replied.

"What are we going to do about the Jedi?" Beta asked.

"We should bury the damn di'kut here." Balac answered, adrenaline coursing through his system. "I'll do it alone if I have to."

"Don't be stupid," Skarr replied, "We need to be careful. We can't risk burying one being, even a Jedi. Besides, I don't think there's much we can do in this enclosed space. We might get ourselves caught under our own mess."

"Then what?" Beta asked.

"We try to find a way out, and get reinforcements to help us deal with the Jedi." Skarr answered.

Balac looked back in the direction they came. He'd trained so much, often with the faint hope of meeting a Jedi on the battlefield, and now the chance was torn from his grasp.

Calming himself, Balac replied, "Yes, sir."

OOC:

Blackjack

"Come on, Blackjacks!" Garryll yelled, gesturing with his rifle. "Blood and Iron!"

The squad echoed the call back, Corvin shouting with them.

"Blood and Iron!"

His ears ringing from constant weapons fire, armour covered in dents from glancing hits, and his helmet missing, Corvin had never felt more alive. Adrenaline coursing through his system, he charged with the rest of the squad.

The half-dozen Republics cowering in the ruins were dazed from the AT-AT's bombardment, and only got a few shots off before the Blackjacks were on them.

Corvin felt a sudden sting as a slug skimmed his forehead. If he'd still been wearing a helmet, the snap-back would probably have broken his neck. He swore, and slammed his carbine's side into the shooter's helmet-plate.

The Republic dropped, visor shattered, and another Blackjack finished him off as he collapsed. In the confusion, Corvin didn't see who.

The squad was now in the wreckage of a guard tower, the last of the Republics gunned down as he ran. Corvin was crouching behind a ruined heavy gun, the barrel warped by heat and shrapnel, and covered in the ever-present crystal dust. The stench of gunsmoke and fresh blood was almost breathable.

There were slightly muffled roars from ahead, followed by the shriek of smoke-trailed rockets. They spiraled overhead in almost a solid line, then exploded against the lead AT-AT's cockpit plate.

In his peripheral vision, Corvin saw the explosion as the great war machine staggered mid-step, its advance halted. Then the walker brought its front foot back down, and turned its cockpit from side to side, guns swiveling up and down. Corvin was momentarily, absurdly reminded of a cannid shaking itself off after getting soaked. It was surprisingly appropriate; inside, the walker's crew were recovering from the hit and removing any injured.

The AT-AT, Dies Irae according to its Com-tag, came to a complete stop. Behind it, its two brothers continued to storm forwards, firing periodic bursts at distant targets. Around their feet, squads of stormtroopers continued to run forwards, careful to givethe walkers a wide berth. The platoons formed one solid wall of white swarming over debris and shattered crystal, coursing into gaps in the defensive wall.

"Hit those rocketeers!" Garryll snapped, then froze, one hand moving to his earpiece. "What? Yes, of course, sir."

The squad leader slumped slightly.

"Belay that. Blackjack, we're pulling back."

Striker nodded, and dropped back into a crouch.

"Got it, boss." Corvin said, trying and failing to keep the reluctance out of his voice. Orders were orders though, and Garryll always had good reason for his.

"The walkers want to handle this themselves." Garryll said, answering the unspoken question, and Corvin's eyes widened. "Pull back, doubletime!"

The Blackjacks scrambled over wreckage and shattered emplacements, spraying suppressive fire at anyone taking potshots as they moved. No sooner had they reached the ruined bunker they'd first reached did Garryll reopen his com.

"Blackjack here. We're out of the area, and waiting on the fireworks, commander!"

Squatting in front of the bunker's fire slit, Corvin turned his head, looking at the gap at the squads' backs. Troopers were pouring in through every gap, firing as they overwhelmed pockets of resistance. There was a distant thump and the ground shook as an ammunition dump went up.

Dies Irae screamed. What looked like a solid sheet of explosive slugs streamed from the walker's cockpit, flowing from the chin guns and into the ruins. Blinded again, goggles darkenning automatically, Corvin looked away and pulled them up. Spots seemed to flicker everywhere as he tried to blink away the after-image.

Dies Irae was still firing, playing the shots futher into the base. When the smoke cleared, the area up ahead was completely gone. Not a single tower, bunker, or even wall was still standing in a twenty meter radius, all reduced to rubble by the explosive rounds.

Ears still ringing, Corvin felt more than heard Garryll's orders to advance.