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THX1138
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THX1138
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
November 29, 2016 3:47:53 PM    View the profile of THX1138 
Shots pinged and ricocheted around their heads, splintering the crates they were hiding behind and bouncing off metal surfaces. Therex was crouched behind a support beam, using what small cover it offered. The sounds ringing in his ears reminded him of his own revolvers that he favored so much.

And why didn’t I bring those, he pondered, wishing he had something, anything better than the E-11 he had grabbed.

Making sure the safety was off, Therex peeked the corner and let a few bolts fly towards the group advancing on them. It was futile, and he wasn’t surprised when none of them hit anybody, but he was trying to distract, and intimidate. Mox and Swamprat had taken up positions close by, and when the majority of fire shifted to Therex, they popped up and took advantage.

Two soldiers dropped in the first volley before their enemies realized what happened and ducked under cover again. Not the smartest group. But they wouldn’t fall for it twice. Dropping lower, Therex slid out of his cover and tried to find a better spot. One that offered more, opportunity. Not a whole lot of options existed, but he did find a line of crates that could get him close enough for a different technique. Inching along so as not to draw attention, Therex squeezed between the boxes and crept as close as he dare try. The pirates were yelling orders back and forth, and they sounded like they were bracing for a push.

Time to quash some creative thinking.

Reaching to his belt, Therex grabbed two basic fragmentation grenades, his whole supply of explosives essentially, thought twice about it and replaced one of them to his belt. Pulling the pin on the remaining grenade, he waited. His prosthetic eyes flipped over to an infrared filter and he gave it a moment to adjust. Peeking between the crates, he clearly saw three large blobs of varying oranges and reds clearly through the smoke and cover. He pulled back behind cover, did a quick calculation in his head, and then flung the grenade from his cover. There was a click in mid air as the lever left the projectile, and another when it hit the ground. The yells of frightened men came only half a second before the explosion drowned them out.

Risking a peek around the corner, Therex scanned the crater his explosive had left. The clear remains of two men were visible. However, the third had been thrown away from the blast and his armor caught most of the shrapnel. He was trying to get back on his feet when Therex ended his struggle with a quick shot to the head. Instantly, he regretted that decision as more shots found his hiding spot and one slug caught his helmet and threw him to the side and onto his back. Shaking his head, Therex ran one hand over the helmet and found the slug had skimmed the edge and left only a minor hole in the outer layer. But the force of those guns was enough to send him sprawling and rotate his helmet a few degrees. Toggling his helmet mike on, he readjusted the fit and got to his feet.

“Yo, Mox. I’m a little stuck. As far as I can see, we’ve still got about four guys out here and those bigger guns are warming up. Any of your genius ideas?”
"He has his orders, and when a Chiss accepts orders he carries them out, period."

Smile for death

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Mox
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Mox
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
November 30, 2016 7:26:45 PM    View the profile of Mox 
Mox lunged across an opening to a different piece of cover in an attempt to close the gap a few precious meters. The slugs penetrating the air did not give much space for maneuvering, so the sergeant had to take any opportunity he had.


His plan for flanking the enemy hasn’t succeeded and the pirates have spotted them, forcing Auresh to stop their advance and engage. He and Swamprat were stuck in a back-n-forth with a number of them, and Mox couldn’t see too easy a way getting out of it.


We could really use a flank on these guys Mox thought just as the explosion went off. He peeked up up and saw that it was the pirates who got blown up. Grenades, of course he thought as he vaulted over the crate he was behind. In the corner of his eye he saw a bolt fly across the clearing ahead. The slug-throwing immediately restarted, albeit in the direction of the bolt’s source.


“Yo, Mox. I’m a little stuck. As far as I can see, we’ve still got four guys out here and those bigger guns are warming up. Any of your genius ideas?”


Mox slammed himself against a bigger crate, his mind going through various plans. His HUD showed Therex stuck between a number of smaller crates bit further to his right. The man was completely pinned down by slug-fire.


“‘Rex, are they together?”


“Three of them, about 10 meters from your location, behind the stack of crates.” Peeking out he could see the aforementioned boxes. 3 of them of relatively tall profile, one on top of the other.


“Insanity…” Mox muttered as he formulated an idea in his mind. Glancing back he could see Swamprat getting nearer to Therex, seemingly in an attempt to ease off some of the fire going the corporal’s way. Nodding to himself, Mox slung his rifle behind his back and bolted out of cover and towards the crates. Noone seemed to be paying attention to him. These grunts have short attention spans.


Using the run-up he kicked himself off the base of the first crate and reached for the tip of the second. The haphazard stacking of the crates allowed him to move his feet up  and scale the stack with relative ease, even in gear. When he reached the top, he pulled his feet up, placed them alongside the edge of the crate and kicked off, launching himself into air and pushing the crate onto its tip and off the stack. The slug-throwing mostly stopped, shouting now filling the air. Mox hoped that Therex would use this opportunity to scramble for more substantial cover. Flinging his arms behind himself and in a circle he backflipped, before landing on all fours, using as much of the bend in his knees and elbows to dampen against the force of his flight.


Looking up Mox could see one pirate in open before a bolt hit him in an arm, causing him to sprawl onto the floor and scramble for cover, the follow-up shots missing their mark. Getting up to a crouch, he slung his E-45 back into his hands and ran back up to the crates, stopping near the edge. Peeking out he could see the wounded pirate, clearly unaware of the flank Mox posed. The Harbinger brought his weapon up to his visor and fired, causing the outlaw to become still. Looking to the side he saw Therex moved further off and away from Mox and Swamprat.


“‘Rat, move up and support Therex, we can’t let them bring their heavy throwers to bear. I have no visual on them from where I am.”
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If you're thinking of putting me in a leadership position, for the sake of the entity I would be leading, reconsider.
[This message has been edited by Mox (edited November 30, 2016 7:27:57 PM)]
Tetrarch
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
November 30, 2016 8:19:47 PM    View the profile of Tetrarch 
The fireteam had gained a momentary advantage by flanking but it had only succeeded in culling the stupid and cockier pirates opposing them. They were still outnumbered and dealing with a lot of incoming fire. The same advantages that prevented the Harbingers from being overrun, stopped them from concentrating their firepower on any one section of the pirates.


It meant they were stuck in an up close and personal brawl, scrapping over a few yards of territory either side. Cathal swore viciously and shot twice before sidestepping behind cover. He scrambled over to the other side of the crate row and fired again, the only reason they hadn’t been rushed yet was because the pirates didn’t know how few they were in number.


He knew Therex was somewhere to his right and ahead of him, under heavy fire by the sounds of it. That was when he saw his squad leader backflip off a pile of crates, Swamprat’s mouth dropping open, utterly gobsmacked. The crates hitting the ground snapped him back into action and he slid into cover, Mox’s voice coming in clear over the comm. Balls Cathal swore silently, “Copy that” he said in a voice far calmer than he felt.


He slid around a stack of crates and fired on full auto, haphazardly spraying the area ahead of him with blaster bolts. A wolfish yell accompanied it, oddly distorted by the helmet. He didn’t wait to see the results of his foray, he was already scrambling back-


BANG!


He crashed right into a pirate coming the other way. Swamprat’s sally forward had been copied by the enemy going after Mox. He’d literally ran into one of them. Without even thinking, Cathal’s knee came up to take the pirate in the groin, the pirate squealing and stumbling back. Stepping forward, the stormtrooper slammed the butt of his rifle into the other’s face.


Then it was his turn. Something heavy and hard hit him in the side of the head. The helmet took a lot of the impact but Swamprat reeled sideways as if drunk, his rifle dropping from his hands. Someone grabbed his arm and he kicked out instinctively. They were all around them. Cathal’s panic lent him strength and he roared aloud as his free hand drew his bushknife. “Feara!” he shouted, “Feara!!” bellowing in Coilltean as he hacked down on the nearest pirate. The keen blade caught him right in the neck and blood spurted. A hard blow staggered the Imperial, he barely could keep his feet. Twisting in their grip. he slashed out viciously before they bore him down, being beaten savagely by rifle butts. “They’ve got me-I-hel-”.
[STC]  Private 1st Class Cathal "Swamprat" Mckarthaigh.

[Navy] Leading Crewman Muireach "Tetrarch" Buide.
THX1138
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THX1138
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
November 30, 2016 9:36:42 PM    View the profile of THX1138 
Therex’s footsteps slowed when a very audible thud came from behind him somewhere. At the same moment, almost all the gunfire stopped. Momentarily confused, he spun his head around just in time to see Cathal kicking and swinging at a group of pirates. He didn’t seem to be winning as he became buried under blows. Cathal was not 100% behind though. One of the pirates staggered back bleeding from his neck and slowly fell to the floor. Deciding he should step in, Therex shifted his weight in mid-run and spun perfectly so as to lose much momentum. Speeding from his small jog, to a full sprint, he dropped his rifle mere paces from the pirates, realizing it’s uselessness with his squad member buried under his assailants.

All he felt was the first punch he threw. The sheer combined force of his arm shooting forward and his speed threw the pirates head forward, and an audible snap came from his spine, not breaking it, but doing severe damage to the vertebrae. The enemy fell limp and landed right on top of Swamprat. Now Therex’s fist was between two pirates, who were just barely beginning to process this new attacker. Not wasting the moment, Therex hooked his arm to the left and broke the nose of the second pirate. As he stumbled backwards, Therex threw up his left hand and deflected a punch from one of the remaining enemies.

Under Therex, his comrade stirred and Cathal’s foot shot up and stumbled the last pirate just enough to get the body off the top of himself. Nodding up at Therex, Cathal jumped to his feet and finished off the last pirate with a quick knife thrust. They both ducked behind one of the many piles of crates just as a barrage of bolts flew in their direction from the heavy weapons installments. Tapping Swamprat on the shoulder, Therex pulled out a small pistol to replace the rifle that was still just out of reach.

“I have a really stupid idea,” he shouted over the shots. “I did this once a few years back and it was awesome then.”

Popping the energy cell out of the blaster, Therex reached inside the empty butt of the gun, and found the small regulator chip that ensured each shot was a precise amount of energy. Tossing the hardware aside, he replaced the pack and waited a few seconds. The gun hummed a lot louder than it should have and Therex started having second thoughts.

“When I fire, be ready to cover me when I go for my rifle. This should buy us a few seconds, if not more.”

When Swamprat nodded at him, Therex braced himself against their cover and stood up and rotated in one fluid movement. Aiming for one of the closest emplacements, Therex pointed the small hold-out, and fired. Recoil was not uncommon with blasters, but this was insane. His arm practically shot straight up as a thick red beam uttered forth from the barrel and sped towards it’s target. The heavy weapon exploded in a shower of sparks and threw the operators clear of it’s base. Before Therex could celebrate, the pistol in his hand started whining loudly. Panicked, Therex flung it over their cover and dove for his rifle. As he hit the floor a tiny bang, like a firecracker was all that came from his pistol as it succumbed to it’s overheated power cell.

Well, that was underwhelming.

Crawling back towards where Cathal was still hidden, Therex sat up and looked over at his squad mate.

“I swear, it was a lot cooler the first time I did it. The gun exploded in a fireball and it was gorgeous.”
"He has his orders, and when a Chiss accepts orders he carries them out, period."

Smile for death

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Mox
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Mox
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
December 5, 2016 8:20:22 PM    View the profile of Mox 
“I swear, it was a lot cooler the first time I did it. The gun exploded in a fireball and it was gorgeous.”

“And now you’re left without a sidearm, Corporal.” Mox barked as he caught up to the group. He honestly liked the idea, but with the state of the Vast Empire being as it was, the senior sergeant wasn’t too happy with weaponry being voluntarily destroyed. “How many more nests are there left?”

Therex raised his index and middle finger. “Two.” Mox sighed.

“Besh, come in. Status report.”

“Still engaged, but only a few enemies left. We should be done with them shortly.”

“Roger that.” Mox replied “Aurek out”

Glancing above their cover he saw the emplacements scanning for the three soldiers. He pulled his head back down before they spotted him. Clearly the overcharged blaster bolt shook them enough to lose track of the fireteam. The gunners should have tunnel vision if they get a target, and if these are both blaster-turret emplacements then their partners will have to monitor the power packs.

“Swamprat, I want you to hold this position and take pot shots at them. The more pinned down you get the better. Just don’t get hit.” he said as looked turned towards the private. He could tell the man’s jaw fell upon hearing the order. Frankly, we need a bait. “‘Rex, we’ll stealth around. We should be able to get them unawares if the Private does well.” the Chiss nodded.

The duo started crawling behind the chest-high crates, while the private has fallen back to more appropriate cover. Shortly after Mox could hear the E-45’s bolts being fired, shortly before getting drowned out by the turret fire. Mox hoped that the fact that Swamprat wasn’t properly firing at the nests would prevent him from getting hit.

Once the pair got to a row of stacked crates they stood up and started walking at a faster pace, while still attempting to remain silent. Scanning the area Mox could see no hostiles. So these placements and the folks at the back seem to be the last ones out in this warehouse. the squad leader thought as he creeped through Getting back out into the open shan’t be fun though…

Mox could feel his heart beating as the pair came back down into a crouch and made their way towards their enemies.

“You’re ready?” he asked as they reached the edge of the last set of crates between them and the emplacements. Their fire has somewhat slowed down, as if they were trying to snipe Swamprat out.

“As ever.” the Chiss responded slinging his rifle onto his back and cracking his knuckles.

Mox nodded as he did the same, equipping his knife and sidearm, the latter with his cybernetic arm. “You take the first nest, I’ll take the one behind it. Let’s go.”

The Chiss vaulted over the piece of cover and bolted towards the nests. Mox slid off the side and followed closely. Soon enough one of the pirates started shouting and the turret-fire had stopped but it was already too late: the giant of a man that Therex was was already on top of the gunner, his hands closing in on an embrace around the pirate’s jaws. As Mox sped past him towards the second placement, he could see the pirate’s partner reaching for his weapon, only to have the lifeless body of his friend land on top of him. Mox however was already at the second emplacement, thrusting his knife in a hammer grip into the other gunner’s head. The blade punctured the target with a sickening noise, the man himself gasping audibly. Using the hilt as a handle he moved the body to the side and raised his pistol to fire.


At this point everything stopped.


Mox could see his opponent hastily raise a shotgun with one hand.


Mox pressed the trigger on his sidearm. The bolt flew past the pirate’s head and off into the distance.


The next thing Mox knew was pain.


His left arm flew off to the side, the armour splintering into multiple pieces. Both the knife and the pistol left his grips and he himself was spun in the direction of the shot and sprawling onto the ground, blood marking the spot where he landed. Using his organic arm, Mox raised his body off the floor and pushed forwards. Next were his legs to come back to life, allowing the man to raise himself to crawl before falling onto the nearest crate back-first, getting into a seating position.

“Frak…” Mox muttered, deeply but quickly breathing, as if he was hyperventilating. Each breath brought a sting of pain. He started testing every muscle in his body before coming to his left arm. Wait a minute he thought as he found he could clench the fingers. Glancing down he saw his arm still attached, albeit only bare metal now. As the image processed in his mind Mox started laughing out loud.

“I fraking knew those armour upgrades weren’t a rip off…” he said mid-laugh.

At this point Therex appeared next to himself, falling to a crouch next to him and starting to inspect the actual wound. Mox composed himself somewhat, realising his outburst of laughter was caused by the shock his body went into after the blast.

“The damage’s superficial, mostly just the skin tissue. The majority of the pellets went into the arm, and only the fringe got through the armour.” reaching into his pocket the medic pulled out a small bandage and a couple of tablets. “Swallow these and lie down.”

Fraking brilliant Mox thought, his sulky demeanor coming back on, as he took his helmet off and threw the capsules into his mouth with his organic arm First mission back and I get myself shotgunned.

“That arm though, very impressive that it survived that.”

“The price was impressive as well.” Mox replied, staring blankly at the ceiling.

At this point a loud explosion off the side caught both men’s attention. Mox raised his head and saw a shelf falling over away from the wall, which now had a few holes in it.

...E-Web

Raising his arm Mox commed Cresh.

“Balac, what the frak is happening out there?”

“Apologies, squad leader. We have technicals incoming and the warehouse is right behind them.” the mandalorian replied.

Mox slammed his head against the floor as Therex finished up the bandage work and reattached the chest armour plate. “Good to go.” Swamprat crawled up to them, nervously glancing over to the holey wall. “Sarge, we should probably move.”

Mox slowly got up to a crouch, wincing at the pain, the painkillers not yet having kicked in. “Yes, we should..” he replied as he put the helmet back on, the audible hiss confirming the suit’s enclosure.

“Squad Leader, we’re clear.” Dusk’s voice came over the comm.

Well, just in fraking time. Mox thought as the E-Web’s blaster bolts penetrated the warehouse a few more times, the ones that got through missing them by a desirable distance. “Roger that. Make your way over to the front of the warehouse on the double. We’ll meet you there.”

“Roger, Dusk out.”

Mox walked over to where he fell and retrieved the knife. The pistol was nowhere to be found however. It’s probably destroyed either way. Mox thought as he looked up to his fire-teammates. “Move.”

===========

A few moments later Aurek and Besh joined at the front doors of the warehouse. The doors themselves comprised of two large gates which could be opened wide to allow for vehicles to enter. At the same time there was also a human-size door in one of them to allow for easy access.

“Right, the immediate objective is to regroup with Cresh. They’re under fire, but the enemy shouldn’t expect us to take them from behind. Let’s go.” Mox slung his E-45 back into into his grip. “Dusk, take point.”
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If you're thinking of putting me in a leadership position, for the sake of the entity I would be leading, reconsider.
[This message has been edited by Mox (edited December 5, 2016 8:25:58 PM)]
Slasher
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Slasher
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
December 6, 2016 6:36:07 PM    View the profile of Slasher 
Rintask peered Through his scope sighting his A280 blaster rifle in  on the stormtroopers that had come pouring out of the shuttles landing at the spaceport. He carefully aimed between the eyes of a stormtrooper who was peering over some cover and with a quick pull of the trigger the stormtrooper dropped to the ground.

His comlink beeped on his belt and he pulled it out activating it as he brought it up.

"Rintask here go ahead"

"Sir this is Borna, Grinta's dead, we've been engaged in the northern warehouse by an additional force of stormtroopers. We are unable to confirm at this time their exact numbers. This may be a second prong to their attack. Also, we have lost control of the Security Control building, so I don't know how much longer before we lose the comm boosters there."

"Okay I'll have Deidre lead a party of men your way to help put them down. We will also dispatch a few heavier vehicles to help eliminate them as well. We are engaged with about 60 troopers at the spaceport right now our selves, so it is possible that this side is a feint, keep me up to date on what is going on over there."

Approximately 200 yards away Deidre's comlink sounds, causing her to pause in directing her men to move to support the combat at the landing field.

“Diedre here,” She answers, “go ahead.”

“This is Rintask, I need you to take 40 of your men and move toward the northern most of the warehouses, Grinta's team was up there and one of his men comm'd in stating that Grinta is dead and they are under attack by an unknown number of stormtroopers there. I need you to take command over there and get that attack blunted. Also, they stated they are no longer in control of the Security center there, get that area back secure.”

“Roger that”

“Rintask to all PX-10 drivers, converge on the northern warehouse.”

==Space==

The beams of coherent light lashed out from the gun emplacements on both the Koom Valley and the Valiant, most of them finding purchase on the hulls of the Bountiful Brigands or the Looter's Lift as those ship's weapons responded in kind. The Looter's Lift moved past the lifeless hulk of the Bloodlust[i] which had been completely demolished by an ingenious maneuver by the [i]Valiant which ended up with the Bloodlust taking a full broadside from both the Looter's Lift and the Valiant at the same time. As the Looter's Lift maneuvered for position, the Alderaan's Justice came into range behind them.

==Looter's Lift==

“Captain, aft shields are down to 20%” yelled a bridge crewmember, “recommend we k-”
The pirate is interrupted by the explosion of half of the bridge consoles, including his, as the guns of the Alderaan's Justice found the range on the Looter's Lift. The captain of the Looter's Lift[i] looked around taking in the slumped bodies at many of the bridge's stations, and made the decision.

“That's it, we're getting out of here. Helm, get us out of here.” When nobody responded to his order he looked around again, he saw the helmsman slumped over her console and muttered “You worthless Flappin' Flotsam, I guess if you want something done you have to do it yourself!” he made his way over to the helm console and punched in the preset coordinates for their bolt-hole.

As the [i]Looter's Lift
disappeared into pseudomotion the Alderaan's Jusice turned her attention to the Bountiful Brigands
CPT Slasher | Chief of Naval Training


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[This message has been edited by Slasher (edited December 6, 2016 10:18:12 PM)]
Gurlanin
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
December 7, 2016 12:31:50 AM    View the profile of Gurlanin 
Well that’s an interesting contract.

It wasn’t every day that the New Republic hired Mandalorian mercenaries, especially former Imperial Navy ones, yet there it was on the screen in front of him: a request for a help clearing out some pirate’s nest, to be paid a set amount per enemy ship destroyed. That in itself was fairly standard, but what intrigued the man sitting in the cockpit chair was the fact that the Vast Empire Navy was offering the exact same contract.

Grent ‘Gurlanin’ Notimo let out a sigh as he absent-mindedly stroked the stubble on his chin, the Katarn armour clad gauntlet hiding the mechanical forearm and hand contained within. He hadn’t had any contact with his former employers for several months, the last being when the Mandalorian had attended a very small service that was merely a formality to confirm his medical discharge. It had been an embarrassing time for the former Strill Commanding Officer, as he had not even been able to properly salute with what was essentially a metal stick stuck into his right elbow. The only thing more embarrassing was how he actually lost his forearm: at least he had lost his left leg doing something military.

The memories of that fateful day caused Grent’s leg stump to ache slightly. He didn’t regret his actions, or the fact that he now had a metal leg. He had done what necessary, as had the medical droids and surgeons. From a certain point of view, being able to upgrade his arm and leg had been a blessing; they both contained a myriad of equipment from all corners of the galaxy. Being a Mandalorian bounty hunter meant that Grent was never left short of credits, otherwise the upgrades would probably have cost another arm and leg!

Gurlanin looked over the contracts again. Both were identical in location and targets, with only a slight difference in the pay-out. His left hand hovered above the controls as the Mandalorian contemplated his actions. His ship was definitely cut out for the job, being a Kuat Systems Engineering Firespray he had been given as a leaving gift from his old squadron mates (though he had no idea where they got their hands on it). It was a dark grey, with a deep red stripe, just off centre, running from top to bottom. A few blaster marks here and there had damaged the paintwork, but Grent had decided he quite liked it: gave the ship character. In honour of his former squadron the Mandalorian had called the ship Strill’ika, or Little Strill, and she certainly lived up to her name. Yes, she could definitely handle the contract … but could Grent?

Did he even want to get involved in that world again? If the VE Navy knew that he was operational again, they would almost certainly try and get him to sign back up.

Back into uniform.

Back into routine.

Grent made a decision, and entered the new hyperspace co-ordinates. He accepted the contract. Both of them.
------------------------------------------

As a former Navy pilot, Grent had seen a lot of action. He’d flown in some of the worst combat scenarios the Vast Empire had ever seen, and lost too many good friends. Yet the scene that greeted him seemed so alien, with all sorts of ships of pretty much every class engaged in some form of combat: troop transports, Imperial TIE fighters, New Republic X-Wings, frigates, cruisers … there seemed to be no order.

The comm crackled to life with an unfamiliar female’s voice. “Unidentified Firespray, the is Imperial Cruiser Koom Valley. You have entered restricted Imperial space. Identify yourself immediately, or you will be fired upon.”
“Roger that, Koom Valley, transmitting ID codes now,” replied Grent swiftly, knowing first-hand how trigger happy the Empire could be. He did not want to be on the receiving end.
“Code received. Stand-by.” Time seemed to slow. Grent sincerely hoped that his contract acceptation had reached them. “Clearance granted. Welcome back to the navy, Chief.”
Grent bristled, but tried to keep it out of his voice, “I’m just here on contract, Valley: don’t go enlisting me again just yet. What are my targets?”
“Transmitting target data.”
Strill’ika’s HUD flashed a few times, and suddenly the battle was a sea of red and blue targeting reticules. “Data received, Valley. Much obliged.”
“Happy hunting, Strill’ika. Koom Valley out.”

Grent angled his ship towards the heaviest fighting, flipping several switches to engage the combat protocols and settings. He could hear the whir of the twin laser cannons as they moved into attack position, and the hum of the power generator as it started shifting the power around. The Katarn helmet flickered to life as the Mandalorian put it on, reconnecting it to the ship’s computers.

It was time to earn some credits.
FM | SCPO Gurlanin | Aurek Three | S:175 "Aurora" | W:48 "Sabre" | ISD II "Adjudicator" | TF: Aurek | 1st Fleet | SFC | VEN | VE

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Tetrarch
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
December 12, 2016 8:00:17 PM    View the profile of Tetrarch 
For Cathal, salvation came in the form of a 6’8 armoured stormtrooper charging right into the midst of the pirates. He wasn’t quite sure what happened, but one moment he was filled in on the ground, the next, two strong arms had seized him and hauled him to his feet. “Thanks” he managed to cough out before they were diving for cover. Collapsed against some crates, Swamprat took a moment to catch his breath, and delicately take stock if anything was broken. Buíochas le Dia for armour, he thought fervently. He was going to have some nasty bruises later though, without a doubt. Then Therex’s words sank in.


“Are you fecking mad?!” he demanded, watching as the chiss proceeded to overload his blaster. Lesson drilled into him the day his first blaster was handed over. Don’t mess with the gakkin’ thing, leave it to the professionals. He shook his head, they were committed. “Feth this” he swore, coming up on one knee to fire, Therex fired but the high pitched whining building in pitch made him dive for cover again. Half expecting the warehouse to come down around them, his hands covered his head.


He barely heard it go off. He’d heard bigger explosions from the drunk miners at harvest festivals. “Stay away from my blaster” he managed in a shaky tone, his voice giddy from still being alive. The chiss was either mentally wrong in the head or gifted. Right now he’d take either. The big bastard had saved him from having his head kicked in by vengeful pirates so he owed him one.
Their squad leader arrived, no nonsense and demanding a sitrep. He kept quiet and concentrated on slamming a fresh blaster pack in, the light blinking onto a comforting green. Looking at Mox, he felt his mouth drop open as his words sunk in. He was grateful the helmet hid any expressions. Bollocks, why do I get all the fun jobs?. “Roger” he said robotically. Savouring the last few seconds of cover, he waited till they’d slipped off before rising. He fired twice before switching aim. A second later he was dropping, answering fire greeting him.


Cathal kept this up for a few minutes, scuttling from cover to cover, popping up to fire off a couple of shots every time there was a slackening of enemy fire. He obstinately kept it up, the enemy growing increasingly enraged at his snapshots. Until right in the middle of one heavy deluge….it just cut off.


Cautiously raising his head, he made out familiar white armoured forms in amidst the wreck of the heavy weapons. He was moving forward in a crouched run when a large explosion holed the wall. Swamprat landed on his arse, awkwardly sliding into cover. He completed the rest of his journey on his belly, crawling as quick as he could to rejoin his fireteam. “We should move” he said simply. He took in the corpses scattered about, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Gak me, this was ye that did tha’?” he said in shock. There wasn’t time to admire their handiwork, they were already moving for the entrance, linking up with Besh.


Outside was a warzone. Strafing runs by the Navy had left vehicles and fuel dumps ablaze. The whole compound seemed to be criss crossed with blaster fire. Here and there he caught a glimpse of Imperial white but mostly the area seemed to be swarming with pirates. There were, as his cousin Nihal would have termed it, a fethload of them. And the bastards had technicals. What he wouldn’t have given for an AT-ST right now.
[STC]  Private 1st Class Cathal "Swamprat" Mckarthaigh.

[Navy] Leading Crewman Muireach "Tetrarch" Buide.
THX1138
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THX1138
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
December 14, 2016 5:25:15 PM    View the profile of THX1138 
Squinting at the light change, Therex stepped through the fresh hole left in the side of the warehouse. Technicals lined either side of their exit point. He dove for a small pile of rubble that barely covered him when he laid on the ground. Shots flew over him, some close enough to shave the rubble and leave pebbles across his faceplate. Assessing the situation, Therex tried to think of what equipment they had on them that could bring one of those vehicles down. Nothing came to mind. Everyone was equipped with small arms and sparse explosives. Already down one weapon, Therex didn’t feel like pushing his luck with the rifle he still had.

Mox is gonna chew me out for that one later for sure.

The shots flying over him lessened slightly as more of his squad took up position in other points of cover and the number of targets increased. Peeking his cover, Therex took a quick scan of the area and slunk back down to give it a more detailed look. The closest technical was only about 7 meters away, and not terribly open to enemy fire. Slowly, the gears turned in Therex’s mind as he mapped out the safest path to the vehicle. Not much cover, so he’d have to move quickly and keep as much between him and the enemy as possible. When the best route popped up on his HUD, Therex smirked slightly. Not a whole lot of cover existed between them.

Not a whole lot of options...

“Mox,” Therex clicked his mic on, “If I can get one of those technicals under our control, do you think one of you guys can run the gun on top? I never really finished heavy weapons training…”

The sigh that followed, made Therex smile. Mox was obviously trying to stay professional but Therex was pushing him a little bit more than usual.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Therex said, “I’ve sent the info to you guys, and if Swamp could wriggle over here, I could use his help.”

Swamprat popped up near his feet a few seconds later, shimmying up to the cover. Running him over the plan, Therex handed him his medical satchel.

“This might slow me down. Keep it safe would you?”

Bracing himself, Therex clicked his comm over to Mox, signalling his readiness. When he got the clicks in return, he didn’t hesitate. Throwing himself in an arc over the rubble, Therex landed on his knees, but found himself on his feet in less than a second. Time slowed as he counted his individual footfalls.

One

His first step shot small rocks out from under his foot as he sought out traction.

Two

The second step was a lot more solid and propelled him forward. Each step covered a single meter each easily.

Three

As his foot hit for a third time, he brought up his gun and lined up a shot on the driver. The last thing he needed is for the vehicle to pull away and leave him open.

Four

Two shots uttered from his gun as he took his fourth step. The programming in his cybernetic eye started tracking the shots and confirmed the hit half a second before the bolts slammed the driver against the opposite door, limp and lifeless.

Five

Dropping down with his fifth step, he used all the strength he could get from his one artificial leg, and closed the last two meters in a leap. The gunner turned his weapon, trying to bring it to bear on Therex. Before he got even halfway around, Therex’s organic leg connected with his jaw and snapped his head sideways. Losing his grip on the gun, the ragdolling soldier flopped over the edge.

After landing, time seemed to return to normal, shots still whizzing past and yells filling the air. Mox and Swamprat were already moving closer as Therex pulled open the door and slid behind the controls. The vehicle was already running, so Therex grabbed the wheel and threw it in reverse. Using the armored exterior to protect his squad as they climbed in, Therex scanned the horizon and counted out their remaining targets.

“You guys secure? We’ve still got four more of these guys out there.”
"He has his orders, and when a Chiss accepts orders he carries them out, period."

Smile for death

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Mox
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Mox
 
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
January 9, 2017 3:12:20 PM    View the profile of Mox 
“Swamprat, get onto the turret.” Mox ordered as he threw himself onto the technical’s hood and slid across it. The winced at pain from his wounding coming the impact, but the painkillers the Harbinger medic gave him were doing their job. Stray slugs tore through the air around him and glanced off the technical, but the late Emperor had the trooper in his graces as the man landed, opened the passenger door and scrambled in. “Besh, dig in and try to hold against the hostiles on this street. If need be fall back into the warehouse, and do let me know if you do, or if something big attacks you. Over.”

“Wilco” Dusk’s voice came back through.

Enemy slugs were bouncing off the technical as both Mox and Therex tried to align themselves with the vehicle casing, only to be returned with turret fire. At the blaster noise Therex pressed his foot into the gas pedal throwing the car backwards even faster. Mox steadied himself before raising his rifle outwards through the windshield, and started firing at any non-white clad figures he saw. He could see Besh spreading out and engaging with the pirates. Hopefully shit doesn’t hit the fan. thought as he reached for his belt to reload. Bending back down beneath the dashboard he activated his comlink.

“Cresh, status.”

“Had to fall back into the woods, over.” Balac, audibly out of breath, replied.

“E-Web?”

“Still deployed at the tree line. *breath*But the technicals are surrounding us.”

“Count, over?”

“Five, over.”

“Hold on tight, we’re incoming in a technical of our own, over and out.” he glanced at Therex “Can you see them on your HUD?”

“Yep. I’ll get us there, esel.”

“Swamprat, turn the turret around and fire at will. We gotta help Cresh.”
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Faithful? More like crazy...
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If you're thinking of putting me in a leadership position, for the sake of the entity I would be leading, reconsider.
Tetrarch
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
January 9, 2017 8:55:18 PM    View the profile of Tetrarch 
Things can always get worse.

That piece of Coilltean optimism was firmly locked in Swamprat’s brain as he obeyed Mox’s order and clambered aboard to take control of the turret. Slugs bounced off the technical as the pirates kept up a sustained fire that was far too accurate for his liking. His hands ran over the unfamiliar weapon, fumbling with the controls for a moment as he tried to figure out the mechanism.

It was an older model tribarrel. Firing was easy enough to guess but it was how to load the bloody thing that he was more worried about. Something he did worked and a line of green lights flashed to show it was ready to work. He grabbed the firing handles and swung the weapon mount to aim it in the direction of the enemy.

His thumbs were just about to jab down on the firing button when Therex slammed the vehicle into reverse. It spared them taking a salvo of heavier firepower, He sent a stream of blaster bolts towards them, thumbs jammed down on the triggers. The fire was inaccurate but it kept some heads done and went some way to making him feel better.

He lost his footing and slammed into the mounted weapon as Therex accelerated. Pushing himself up, he forced himself to restrict his fire to short, controlled bursts. He didn’t want to blast any of their teammates in the treeline. And they were covering the ground towards the enemy rather faster than he’d thought. I feel like a bloody target in this thing

“Try and keep her steady!” he yelled. Easier said than done when there was plenty of returning fire coming their way. He swung the mount left and lit up one of the slower to react technicals, keeping the triggers depressed. The streams of laser fire tore apart the technical, slagging the weapons mount and leaving ruined corpses the sole occupants of the vehicle.

“Aieeee!” Cathal roared gleefully, only to be knocked forward as Therex jinked the vehicle to the side to avoid a collision. He took up the firing position again, washing the way ahead of him with swathes of heavy blaster fire.
[STC]  Private 1st Class Cathal "Swamprat" Mckarthaigh.

[Navy] Leading Crewman Muireach "Tetrarch" Buide.
THX1138
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  RE: VENA: Through the Shattered Glass
January 10, 2017 4:31:35 PM    View the profile of THX1138 
He would never call himself a bad driver, but Therex definitely wasn’t any sort of professional stunt driver. Comfortable behind the wheel, sure, but not really used to driving while under fire. The additional sounds and distractions made keeping the vehicle on course just that much more difficult. Behind him, Cathal was making noises and seemed to be cheering while mowing down one of the technicals. Jerking the wheel to one side, he barely dodged the vehicle as it’s leftover momentum pulled it right in front of him. Inwardly, he chuckled slightly when he head the sound of his comrade slipping around behind him. The forest was alive with laser fire and the sound of guns going off. Bright red and blue bolts threatened to bring some of the smaller trees down as part of their squad was taking cover. As they drove over the bumpy terrain, Therex noticed another one of the enemy vehicles go up in a small fireball as Swamprat mowed it down from his position. Mox was taking shots at foot soldiers and was even trying his luck at picking the gunners off the technicals.

Two down, four to go.

Shouting back, Therex pointed out one of the technicals to Cathal that had already lost some major armor on its forward section due to what looked like a grenade explosion. Without hesitation, his gunner poured into the exposed area, melting the remaining metal to slag and forcing small bits of molten debris to spark forth. As soon as a large enough hole had opened up, the shots ignited a ruptured line inside the engine bay, and the entire front half of the vehicle lit up, forcing the driver out of the front, his left side lit ablaze. Mox took two quick shots and finished off the gunner who was swivelling around for a retaliation shot. Before his body had time to hit the ground, another technical succumbed to the fire of the squadmates in cover. Another whoop rose from behind him. Swamprat was really enjoying himself back there.

Just ahead of them, the last two vehicles sat in a line, using their bulk to keep the enemies in the forest, while one gunner mowed down their position and the other fired at the new threat Therex and his technical presented. The shots pinged off their armor, but several cracked the transparisteel that protected them. Catahal even had ducked down to avoid taking stray rounds. A rather loud crunch came from the front of the vehicle as a shot found it’s way through their armor and had punched a small hole. As continued shots rained on them, Therex noticed that several warning lights had come on, and most were nearing critical failure. With his gunner pinned, and Mox slouched down below the window line, they really had no way to return fire and make an effort to push back.

I was hoping to keep this rig a little longer, but oh well.

Therex checked his blaster pistol, and tapped Mox on the shoulder.

“You’re gonna need to be ready to jump clear of the vehicle. I think I can throw them enough to finish this.”

Mox seemed only momentarily shocked by the idea. Apparently Therex was making a name for himself in the, “less-than-orthodox” department. Grabbing the arm of the driver’s chair, Therex yanked it hard enough to snap it off. As Mox relayed the plan to Swamprat, Therex wedged the armrest so that the acceleration pedal was pushed to the floor. The only thing keeping them in place was his foot on the brake. Once the nod came from his comrades, he took his foot off the brake, and felt the whole vehicle lurch forward, throwing his organs against his spine. His hand wrapped around the door latch and he waited. With the distance closing, he noticed Mox prep his rifle and Cathal poised, ready to spring off the back. The gunner on the enemy vehicle noticed their quick move, and shouted to his driver, but the timing was too slow. With only ten feet left, Therex shouted, “Jump!” and all three men flew from the vehicle. Mox landed on his feet and fired a line of shots, piercing the window, killing the driver, and throwing the gunner off with several smoking holes in his chest and forehead. Swamprat hit the ground a little harder and rolled to his knee, bringing his pistol to bear on the other vehicle. Before he could squeeze off a shot, all three vehicles made contact. The front end of their technical crumpled inwards, sending the other two swinging outwards and upwards. Climbing the still manned vehicle, now on it’s side, Therex and Swamprat fired repeated shots into both targets ensuring they wouldn’t be a problem later.

“Targets clear,” someone yelled over the comm and the squad rose from their cover. Therex took a second to smile at the wreckage of their confiscated technical, still rolling away at a slow pace, run into a tree and finally grind to a halt.

“It was fun while it lasted.”
"He has his orders, and when a Chiss accepts orders he carries them out, period."

Smile for death

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