(OOC - Guess since no one else wants to post I'll just go ahead....)

Sitting cross-legged on the roof of his apartment building, Riqimo watched the Tadath sunrise, a soothing ritual he undertook every morning.  In the offing, the ground and sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the skyscrapers seemed to stand in silver clusters sharply peaked, reflecting the sunlight back into Riqimo's eyes.  A haze rested on the lower buildings that ran out to the horizon in vanishing flatness.  The air was still dark above, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the medic.  Last night he received a notice of his Advanced Recon Commando acceptance, but he wasn't celebrating, instead he felt more meditative than usual, fit for nothing but placid staring.  The day was beginning in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance.

"Beep, beep," Riqimo's meditations were interrupted by his datapad beeping from the pack he had sleepily tossed aside earlier.  Reading his message, he groaned at losing the time to perform his morning callisthenics.  First day, you can do it Riqqy.  Slinging his pack casually over his shoulder, Riqimo rubbed his eyes before forging his way to the stairs.

===

Riqimo walked into the ARC meeting room, a large table in the middle, plain chairs scattered about it, on one wall a large shining map of the galaxy marked with all colors of the rainbow.  There was a vast amount of red - good to see at anytime, because one knows some real work is done there, a duece of a lot of blue, a little green, and dashes of orange, and on the planet Tadath, a purple pin, to show where the jolly army members can safely drink the jolly large beer, off duty of course.

Once the last member drifted into the room, Stonefish began the briefing, their objective was not a red pin or even a blue one.  The just formed Delta ARC squad was heading to the lone yellow pin.  Dead in the center.  And a tropical planet was there - fascinating - a trail of red pins seemed to wiggle off from it, like snake with a yellow head waiting to strike.

Pushing these images to the back of his mind, the sergeant took his ident chit and studied it.  The name is Viclei Susili, has a nice ring to it... Oh how lucky... I get to be the pilot of our craft I hope it isn't a piece of crap.  Perfect, a YT-2400, just like my former smuggling craft, Riqimo's thoughts quickly fluttered to his ship that was destroyed on Ando Prime after a few incidents with a certain Eclipser.

===

"So Garet," Riqimo grinned, "Think the barracks will still be there when we get back?"

Garet shrugged, playing along with the joke, "I dunno, it would solve the mess in there if they blow it up."

Tanus was ahead of them and was talking to a woman Riqimo assumed to be Tr'lisa, the Petty Officer insignia strengthened his assumption.

"Pleasure to meet you," Tr'lisa nodded to the three other ARC members,  "As I was telling Tanus here, all the required equipment and files are located on your craft, which is over in that hanger."  She motioned to the hanger behind her just slightly to the left. "Should you need anything, there is a secure channel directly to me in the cockpit.  It is short range however, so if you leave this system we will be out of contact..."

The four men nodded through her briefing, Riqimo resisted the urges to glance at his wrist watch. "And if... however... the boxes... critical intel... the planet..."

Finally the petty officer concluded with a simple, "Good luck boys," and left them to find their ship.  The elite troopers found datapads on their bunks specifying some details that they either had already forgotten from the long speech, or the rare item that Tr'lisa had not covered.  The only question Riqimo had nagging at him was the one that no answer was given as to what was in the boxes...
 
-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw
EclipseSquad

ASL/SGT Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2]
Imperial Baronet

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

(OOC I got tired of waiting -_-)

Silence.  Absolute silence.  Riqimo was waiting alone in the cockpit while Urakai and Tanus were sleeping in their bunks.  Garet went off to get some more substantial food than the rations that were stored for the mission.  Dismataling his Annihilator pistol for cleaning, Riqimo glanced at the hypernet address after every few seconds.  Nothing.

It would come eventually, although Riqimo wished that it would some sooner though, as the silence was giving his darkest thoughts time to catch up with him.  There was a hiss of the cockpit door opening behind Riqimo and he turned around instantly, pointing the half assembled, but still operational pistol at the intruder.

"Doc, it's me." Garet held up a small bag of food while moving sideways out of the path of the pistol.

"Knock next time," Riqimo sighed, turning back to cleaning the weapon.  "Sorry, I am just a little edgy."

"Doc, get some sleep.  I'll keep watch."

"Nah, I'm fine."

"I am afraid that is an order, you need sleep."

"Beep, beep."

"Sorry, Garet, but it is time to take flight to Mrlsst.  And no, after that miner you piloted, I refuse to be in a craft that you drive unless no one else can drive it.  Wanna let the others know we're gonna be making hyperspace in a little while?"

As his normal SL left, Riqimo made a few quick calculations and started the light frieghter.

===============

The customs official was short.  Even by Riqimo's standards, he was short.  Being the native species of the planet, his red plumage seemed to make him slightly taller, but the gusts of wind would flaten it to his real height.  Wheesh, never knew anything smaller than a Jawa could be found out here.

Tanus walked up hoping that there was no local custom he was missing, the official nodded to him, "Cargo?"

"Satia spice from Lactos," Tanus replied.

"Ah, well you will need to wait a moment then," the creature responded in a sing-song voice and went off to see someone standing at a docking computer.

"Think he bought it?" Urakai whispered to Garet.

"Looks like it from how he is talking."

After a few minutes, the customs official came back, "Everything is in order, you have that cargo lift," he pointed to a few small repulsor lift platforms attached to each other like a train, "to move your boxes to your client."

"Thank you, pleasure doing business," Garet answered while paying the docking fee, hiding his sigh of relief. "Urakai, make sure that Stonefish knows we are here."
 
-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw
EclipseSquad

ASL/SGT Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2]
Imperial Baronet

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Tanus sat on his bed, cleaning out his DC-15s blaster, marveling at its structure. This isn't badly designed for an old Clone weapon, Tanus thought as he slid the components apart and took rags to it to clean the chamber and to calibrate the barrel and galven circuitry. As he was cleaning his pistol, Urukai walked in and threw him a sandwich.

"How're you holding up?" Urukai asked, as he sat down and started on his sandwich.

Tanus stopped cleaning his pistol and looked over at Urukai, then back down to his gun.

"I dunno. I guess I'm doing fine, but I'm just sick of this waiting, ya know. I'm just waiting for something to happen."

As Tanus went back to his work, Urukai smirked and looked at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But I wouldn't worry. We'll be making contact with the food cart tomorrow, so I guess we won't have to wait to long until we can really start to move."

Tanus nodded and started to eat his sandwich as the night waned on.

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

Tanus awoke the next day and got dressed in a nondescript workers outfit of a gray and blue jumpsuit. He tucked a comlink into his sleeve to keep in contact with Fish, just in case something went wrong. He went out to the main room, where Urukai and the rest of the squad was waiting. Fish looked at all of them in the eye. Tanus stood dead still, waiting for his orders from the ARC commander.

"OK, here's the deal: you guys are gonna go down to the food cart and make our 'appointment'. Just ask for the 'House Special.' After that, we can coordinate what we need to. But before you go, I ask two things: be inconspicuous and gather as much info as you can. But remember: BE INCONSPICUOUS. I don't want our target alerted to our presence on the planet."

Fish nodded to Yillis, and they turned out the door. Tanus turned to the rest of his group and Garet nodded.

"Let's go."

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

Tanus walked at the back of the group, Riqimo at the front. Tanus eyes kept darting to the left and right, making sure they weren't being followed. The part of town where they were was dotted by many different species: Human, Bith, Duros. After passing many cantinas and other hot spots, The group finally found what they were looking for. As the walked inside, a Balosar turned to greet them. Garet was the one who walked foward.

"We came for the House Special," he said in a low voice.

The Balosar look from the left and to the right and out the front door.

"Do you have the goods?" the Balosar asked in a slimy voice.

Tanus walked foward and slid the currency across the counter to him. The Balosar looked at the currency and nodded.

"You'll know what to do when we do. Now leave. I have customers to service."

The squad turned to leave and walked out the main door. Garet looked around and then back to the squad.

"OK, now remember what Fish said: Gather information, but be quiet about it. We'll meet back at the cantina near the hotel in 0400 hours. That should give us all plenty of time to find out what we need."

And with that, Tanus turned on his heel towards one of the cantinas and walked in, immersing himself in the smell of alcohol and walking to the bar to get a drink.

 
-----------------------

LCPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Gavrilo Dalibor. A quiet young man of twenty years who wanders through the galaxy for a living, picking up odds and ends that result in a paycheck. Formerly a fuel miner for various asteroid based mining companies, he know works as a cargo runner for whoever pays the most. He sticks to the back of any group, not wanting to draw aggressive behavior to his shady personality. He is quiet, but more than capable of holding his own in a fight.

Dalibor's just another nameless face in a deserted bar. He washed in two days ago on a small freighter ship with three other men. Rumors spread, people speculate, and as soon as you know it, you have unwanted company breathing down your neck.

Someone's approaching. Gavrilo glanced to the left from his barstool. A young woman sat next to him, ignoring the entirely empty bar counter to either side of him. What he lacked in social skills, he made up for in manners; raising a finger and laying some credits on the counter, the bartender served up a drink to the woman to Gavrilo's left. He paid her no mind, otherwise.

"That's it?" she asked at the awkward gesture. "Not gonna talk to me?"

He turned to her and slightly nodded a few times.

"I suppose men of your work are always like this," she responded in an intrigued tone.

"And what kind of work would a man like me be doing?" Gavrilo finally spoke in his deep, smooth voice.

"Word is you and your buddies are here for the special event," ignoring his question.

He chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "Yeah, I'm here for a special event."

"In town for business?" she asked in a flirty voice.

"Just a delivery."

"And what would someone like you... haul?" she leaned in closer and Gavrilo smirked.

"Satia spice from Lactos."

Gavrilo's companion turned towards the door as it slid open. She took a gulp of the drink that was being paid for and got up. "Looks like I'll have to cut this short." She left abruptly, leaving nothing but silence and half of a drink. In her stead, another person cam up to Gavrilo. Someone he was happy to see. Looking around and seeing nobody, the new company spoke.

"Boss says we're getting ready to go, Garet. He wants us all to go back to the hotel and relax for a while." Gavrilo nodded and followed him out.

(Ready to go on more if there's more posting.)
 
-----------------------
EclipseSquad
Eclipse Website
Eclipse Report Tool

SL/GSG Garet Daimun/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2C] [ES1C] [IH]

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Garet breathed out a sigh of excitement. He joined the Army for something new, a HALO jump was the perfect adrenaline fix for such a lack of extraordinary activity in the last weeks. He once again found himself away from the team, strapping on the light body armor assigned to the group for the jump. A camouflaged over-suit lay folded on the ground by his feet, two Intimidator pistols and a bayonet resting on top.  With the respective clicks of the last straps on his armor, he pulled the baggy camo-ed pants up to his waist and clipped on his pistols and bayonet, slipping on his camo-ed shirt over his armor on his way out the door.

The whole group was crowded one room over from the ship exit, save Yillis who was still operating in the cockpit. Each of them had the same camo suits, the burlap parachute backpacks, some sort of weapon hanging off their person, and the same look of seriousness that was to be expected from the breed of soldier. Garet plucked his Eclipse-Standard Stormtrooper Two Carbine and helmet from a wall and fell in with the rest of the group.

"Alright Yillis," their dear leader called over the Comm, "Open 'er up!"

A rush of wind and sound filled the small compartment ARC was standing in. The orange sunlight of dusk reflected harshly off the metal frame of their ship, and the group walked towards it.

"Alright!" Ramon yelled over the wind to the jumpers, "Open your chutes after 200 meters, try to stay in formation, and don't get lost when we hit the ground!"

The squad formed a single file line and moved towards the door. Fish was first up, strapping on his helmet as he approached empty space. He gripped a side handle and looked out. Seeing some sort of approval, he turned and gave a thumbs up to the troopers in line and fell out. Urakai went next, jumping straight out in a swan dive. Then Tanus, who preferred to fall out backwards into his dive. Garet whacked Doc on the shoulder as his would-be-ASL approached his dive. Riqimo fastened his whip and nodded to Garet. He walked to the opening and hopped out.

Garet was last. He slipped on his helmet and steadied his breathing. H refused to let adrenaline get him... yet. The sensation of free fall was one he always savored, he learned that during his time in the Dark Dragoons. Daimun took one last deep breath, ran to the edge, and leaped out as far as he could. He flipped his body and tucked his legs in at the apex of his leap and pointed his head down. Ahead, four camo bullets raced towards the ground, the first parachute opening after a split second. Garet watched the altitude monitor on his helmet's visor.

100 meters to go...
 
-----------------------
Eclipse Squad
Eclipse Website
Eclipse Report Tool

SL/GSG Garet Daimun/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2C] [ES1C] [IH]

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Yillis brought the ship around the Drop Zone. When Fish had finished the details of the mission, the bay doors opened. Fish jumped out of the doors like he had done it a thousand times: one hundred percent professional. Urukai went next, going for flair and finesse. Tanus was third. He strapped on his helmet, a gray sphere with a viewport, for lack of a better description. Tanus made sure his parachute was in order and went to the door, back first. He flashed Doc and Garet the peace sign over his heart before leaping out into the bitter cold air.

Tanus had never done a night drop before, and it showed. He remembered from all the old holovids he'd seen at the academy how the old pros used to do it. He was free falling at a rate of about 4meters per second, and he was starting to freak out. What happens if I pull my chute too early? What happens if I don't do it quick enough? What happens if we're seen? Tanus shook his head and soon threw those thoughts away; this wasn't the time to question his objective.

The air was a biting cold wave that swept through Tanus like nothing he had ever felt before. Jesus, this is colder than that time on Csilla, Tanus thought to himself. He looked over and up a little and saw Doc free falling about 100 meters away. He nodded at Doc, even though he couldn't see it, and pulled his chute. The chute deployed in a black wave that blanketed the ground beneath, concealing it completely. Tanus descended onto the ground below, beneath the blankets of mist, Not sure of where he was landing or what he had gotten himself into...

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

Tanus landed rather gracefully, which had surprised him; he had never done that before, and it excited him. Any chill in the blood was gone now by the heat of sheer adrenaline pumping through Tanus' entire body. He cut the strings on his Chute and shed it. He drew his DC-17m, making sure his DC-15s was securely holstered at his right hip. He checked his pack to make sure none of the DC-17's attachments had fallen out. He looked over and saw that Fish and Urukai were waiting, weapons drawn. Tanus trotted over to them, watching as Doc and Garet landed and cut the ropes to join them. When they all were gathered, Fish spoke to them.

"OK, we're going cliff side now. Keep close and stay out of site. We don't want to be stopped by anything. And remember: try not to kill. But if you have to, keep it to a minimum. I don't want to be on the 11 o'clock news."

The rest of the squad nodded in unison; they felt the same way. Fish made a motion with his hand and they moved out in the dead of night. Tanus was amazed at how the plants and life around him reminded him of Onderon. But he had no time to drift, no time to dream. This was reality, and Tanus and the rest of Delta squad were walking its unclear path.

They reached the base of the cliffs where they climbed up to its base at 100 meters. They had to climb about another 150 to get to its highest point. Tanus secured the sniper attachment to his DC-17m. He peered through the high-resolution scope down to the villa below. When he saw that there was nothing tracking them, he ushered the squad forward, watching them go in a single file line against the backdrop of blacked cliffs and a shining moon overhead.

 
-----------------------

CPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

"Watch for Tangos," Fish ordered using the codeword for hostiles, "The smoke's goin' up."

The group had made it down the cliff path with absolutely no resistance. The result of stealthy maneuvering and effective camouflage in the darkness. They halted, crouched in the shadows, just outside of the bright illumination the mixture of lights in the villa created. Their helmet visor created a nice, ghastly night vision for them, creating a false paleness that covered every surface they looked at. Each of the four pointed their weapons over the wall, waiting for something to happen so they could go commando. Riqimo's smoke grenade filled the air, sure to attract attention; nothing happened immediately. A minute later, the villa was ARC's playground.

Garet shuffled in with gun raised. A hint of smoke still lingered, causing the night vision from his visors to go blinding. He quickly turned away and kneeled down along the left wall in a covering fire position. His eyes raced around the small base. Guards in the distance. Lights up top. First floor illuminated. A shed, straight ahead. The Gunnery Sergeant tilted his head back, glancing towards the team who had assembled behind him.

"Stick to the walls," Ramon ordered in whisper, "stay tight. Comm silence in three... two..."

Silence. Garet nodded and moved west along the left wall, towards the shed. The soft crunch of five Commandos behind him was courage enough to lead the charge. Garet systematically kept his head on a swivel and his carbine level. They weren't supposed to be seen, but he was prepared for any amount of gunfire. An ironic thought came to mind as he practically crawled towards the shed. ARC was the highest honor a trooper could attain in the Army, yet if he were to die in the field, nobody would ever hear his name. He hesitated for a moment, a split second, and lost his balance at the thought. His carbine hit the ground with a metallic thud, and his footing scraped against the graveled ground. Garet quickly recuperated from his mistake, but not without consequence.

"What was that?" one of the Tangos on the roof called to an ally of his, his voice echoing off the cliff wall, the left wall, and the house.

"I dunno," responded the other. A beep from some sort of electronic device was a prelude to a bad situation:

"Clyde, check out the western wall, something fell." A voice through static chimed in.

"Roger that... think it was one of 'em critters that came through the other day?"

"Nah... this one sounded big. Might want to bring your blaster."

"Roger."

Through his night vision Garet could make out one of the ground guards making his way towards ARC's position. He turned back to his commander, the whole squad could've seen the "oh shit" look on his face if it wasn't for his helmet. Fish was already acting though, giving hand signals to get the group moving.

-----------------------
Eclipse Squad
Eclipse Website
Eclipse Report Tool

SL/GSG Garet Daimun/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2C] [ES1C] [IH]

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Tanus stood in the darkened shed a while after Fish and Doc had gone outside. He looked back to the others and nodded. Then he made his way out. He looked around for a bit and saw Doc had turned a corner. Hmmm, guess Doc musta found a way up, Tanus thought. Tanus decided to do the same. He hugged the wall and made his way around the villa, opposite of Doc, with his weapon raised. He turned the corner with his barrel pointed straight out, ready for anything. When he saw no one there, he made his way forward and looked around. By this time, the spotlights had already gone off, but luckily for Tanus, they couldn't bend at the right angle to pick him up. He noticed a set of cameras along the corners of the villa. He ducked beneath them and continued along his route.

Tanus found a ladder about 10 meters from when he ducked beneath the cameras. He was about to put his hands on it to climb up when he saw small blacks strips on the back of each rung. Hmph, Kelsk really is paranoid. Heat and weight sensors. Basically a modified mine set-up, Tanus thought. He looked around for something that could get him up to the roof. He turned a corner and saw that there was a small amount of space where there villa made a ninety degree angle with its intersecting walls. Tanus walked over to that section and look up. He saw no cameras or anything that might give him away. He shouldered his DC-17 and started to climb.

When he got up the roof, which was surprisingly painless, Tanus got a good look over the entire area. There were guards seemingly every twenty meters, weapons drawn and on full alert. Tanus had to duck quick as two guards passed by him. Have to be careful here. If I'm found out, then I'm gone, Tanus thought. Tanus dropped down from his perch gracefully and quietly, and sneaked around the building. He ducked in the shadows behind two guards, quiet as could be, and continued on to one of the searchlights. He found the man operating it, alone and no backup in sight. Tanus put his DC-17m away and drew his DC-15. He walked up to the man and got him in a choke hold, gun pointed to his head.

"Shhhh," Tanus whispered. "Now, if you're good and quiet, then I won't kill you, understand?"

The guard nodded, whimpering like a scared child; it sickened Tanus.

"Now, my friend, I have a small request. Those searchlights are really, really bright. I might need you to turn them off so you don't disturb the neighbors."

The man nodded again, less frantic this time, and got up to go to the lights; Tanus' gun was trained on him the whole time. When he turned them off, Tanus leapt at the man and got him in a choke hold again.

"Now I have one more request and then I'll leave. I need you to radio the other guards and say that the situation is back to normal. Then, we can both go on with our day."

The man picked up his comlink and radioed in to the head guard station, telling them that they found what caused the mess.

"Much appreciated, friend," Tanus said, and smacked the man on the back of the head with his pistol, rendering him unconscious. Tanus gripped his pistol in the ready position and moved forward.

"Now, to find that door..."

 
-----------------------

CPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

(OOC - Over 24 hour wait for a reply, so I am moving ahead once again...)

After the lecture from Yillis on avoiding interaction, Riqimo took the first door on the right. It certainly didn't look like a place to find Kelsk. There was a dark shape he took to be a bed, and a chest of drawers on which stood a collection of plastic chocobos. Riqimo raised his eyebrows and turned to leave. He stopped dead, however, when he saw that the door was shut and that there was a little shadow up to somewhere around his knees. He glanced downwards. A little girl was standing there in a nightie, with big green eyes and long brown hair. Pershaw wondered how the hell she'd managed to be so quiet.

"Hello. Are you a snowman?"

"I..uh...what? A snowman?"

"My mommy read me a story about a flying snowman that comes to life. Are you a snowman?"

"Err...not entirely. Aren't snowmen usually white?"

"Mommy said that it doesn't matter what color the snowman is. He's still a snowman, the same as all the others."

"I...see...well this is all a strange dream your having, kid. You'd...uh...better go back to bed."

The little girl wordlessly got into bed and lay there watching him, her eyes open. Riqimo didn't move until her eyelids eventually drooped, and she started to breathe slowly and evenly.

Yillis' voice beat into his ear again.

"Godammit, Riq! I thought I said no interaction! You're meant to be finding our target, not chatting to kids about whether you are a snowman or whether you are not! For God's sake get moving!"

Riqimo decided not to answer back on this one, still slightly bemused at how surreal the whole thing had been. On a top-secret, highly classified government-level mission and he had just had a conversation with a little girl. This was definitely the wrong room.

After exiting the kid's bedroom, Riq opted for a more stealthy way of picking the right room, inserting his optic cable under the doors to judge whether it was worth investigating or not. He ignored a bathroom and a small shower-room, then threaded the cable under the next door.
 
-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw

Eclipse Squad

ASL/SGT Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES2]

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Far From Perfect, the story of a VEA Combat Medic

Another room, but this one was maturely decorated. The bed was a double one, and a large curtain covered the whole of one wall, completely lined with windows. From the looks of it, this was the room of the two adult Kelsks. It wasn't locked, so Riq tilted the door ajar and looked in. Kelsk and his wife were definitely in the four poster bed - the snores were bordering on cataclysmic. Riqimo closed the door gently, then prepared to call Yillis.  He stopped though when a shadow was about to turn the corner and hid himself in a small closet.  Using the fiber optic camera to watch the man come closer, Pershaw waited until the right moment for...

"Clump" The heavy set man fell to the ground at the impact of Riqimo thrusting the closet door into his path.  First making sure no other guards were coming, Riqimo proceeded to squeeze the man into the closet.

"Doc, what's going on? It sounds like someone is dragging a bantha across a rubber mat..."

Riqimo didn't even honor this comment with a retort. He got the man into the closet then forced the door closed.

"Yillis, I found Kelsk, he's sleeping with his wife.  Tell every one to meet in the corridor on the first floor on the side away from the gate. They'll find me outside his door"

The Delta member situated in a clearing about two clicks away acknowledged and relayed the message to the other squad mates.

"They will be there shortly Riq.  Stonefish says to take no action until he gets there."

...  ...  ...
---  ---  ---
...  ...  ...

The tension was high, meaning Riqimo needed to keep a permanently tight grip with his left hand. As he worked, Mrs. Kelsk's face was mere inches from Riqimo's, breathing steadily into his face. Riqimo thought about asking for a full mask on every mission. Then, the woman stirred in her sleep, giving a few jerks and mutters. The squad held their breath. After she had settled, Riqimo closed his eyes, mouthed a prayer to whatever could be up there, and prepared to give her a tranquilizer to prevent her from awakening when they removed her husband.

Something exploded outside.

Kelsk's eyes flew open as he snapped bolt upright. His wife was clinging to his night-shirt, fingernails raking through the material, tearing into skin.

"WHAT THE F...Who the HELL are YOU?!?"

Fish had no time for explanations - everyone and everything around him was in life-threatening danger. Yillis's voice yelled in the squad's ears to get out of the place.  Fish canceled that order.  Someone else was here, and Delta was going to find out who it was, then stop them.

"For now I'm on your side. That bomb wasn't me, and you are in danger. Probably the kids as well." Fish tried to calm the Kelsks.

Mrs. Kelsk gave an ear-splitting shriek and immediately made to run to the door, but Mr. Kelsk managed to restrain her.

"You...hell, I don't even want to know what you're doing here. Will my children be safe?"

As he spoke a hail of bullets and laser bolts rang out and the glass windows shattered violently, shards spraying out across the room. Riqimo and his squad dove to the floor as Kelsk grabbed his wife and followed suit. He was no idiot, this man, knowing that the strangely dressed figures before him certainly knew what they were doing. A silence once again ensued, and Riqimo chanced a look out of the empty gap in the wall where glass once existed. Suddenly a loud bang brought his gaze downwards. A door had crashed open, and Kelsk's small daughter was running across the villa grounds, the floodlights illuminating her night dress and brown hair. Apool was nearby; the girl was stumbling as she made for it.

Then, a dark figure stepped out of the bushes dotted around the pool's edge. Seizing the daughter he dragged her towards the calm, cool blue waters.

"NOOO!!!! NO! MY DAUGHTER! STOP!!"

Kelsk was literally hanging out of the window gap, ignoring the lacerations being sliced along his forearms and torso. At the same moment attention was drawn to the door to the bedroom, which burst open, with a tall twi'lek holding an heavy repeating rifle. The room was sprayed with fire once again, but all seven inhabitants had already reacted to the noise alone and were ducked down behind the bed.

Riqimo drew his own pistol and dove out from the side of the bed. He had a split-second in which to drop his target before being shot himself, but the many years of training paid off as they should. The armed man was knocked off his feet with the combined force of so many laser bolts of the rest of the squad firing and he hit the wall, leaving a dark smear as he slumped over.

Turning his attention back to the window, a truly awful sight met Riqimo's eyes, seasoned by years of seeing the worst things in the galaxy; but this had to be one of THE worst. The figure who'd jumped the girl from the bushes was holding her head underneath the water. Yillis once again appealed for Delta to escape, but his words fell upon deaf ears.

Kelsk and his wife were going hysterical, especially Mrs. Kelsk who perhaps wasn't as emotionally practiced as the agent and the politician. An insane gleam was in her eyes as she struggled mechanically against her husband, repeatedly screaming her daughter's name in a harsh, hoarse, tearing voice. Riqimo knew there was only one thing he could do at this point, and previously controlled adrenaline came flooding into his system, narrowing his vision so that just the evil figure drowning the daughter was in any focus at all. Everything else was a strange blur, as one might see when eyes are opened underwater, or for someone who takes off their glasses. The thumping in his head seemed to draw every sound into a rhythm; every sense was crystal clear and his co-ordination had never been so effortless.

Taking a running start towards the window, he flung himself out, over the camera just below the frame, over the small stretch of tiling before the lawn, and he landed shoulder-first on the grass, converting the impact into a roll; then he was up again, sprinting madly towards the poolside, a primal, full-bodied shout searing out into the night.

The Bothan saw him coming, and let go of the girl. She'd been under for just over a minute.

He drew a combat knife, expecting Riqimo to be still a few meters away, but he'd underestimated the man's considerable momentum, lending extra speed and force.

Pershaw was on him like a speeding truck is on a remote-controlled plastic car, pure rage eliminating all of his carefully learned moves.

Instead, Riqimo jumped with his head back, then brought his whole body forwards, his entire centre of gravity in his head, bringing the full force of his momentum straight into the Bothan's face.

As if in slow motion, Riqimo felt the cartilage in the Bothan's nose break, the entire structure collapsing as copious amounts of blood came spurting out, a sickening crunch emanating across the poolside. The Bothan was knocked blind and unconscious, slamming hard into the bushes. Riq jumped round in the direction of where the girl was and started hurried to her.

She was unconscious, but still alive.  Riqimo scooped her up and saw the two members of Delta climbing out of the window, helping the Kelsks get out.  Garet and Tanus must have went back for the son.  Yillis shouted  into the comlink plugged into Riqimo's ear that he was ready to extract the squad, they would just have to get to a secured clearing two clicks away from the villa.

That will be to the north... over that wall.. Riqimo glanced down at the girl in his arms.  This is gonna be fun

"Doc!  Watch out!" Urakai shouted over the noise of a firefight between Kelsk's guards and the unknown enemy pouring through the gate.  Riqimo frantically glanced to his right and quickly dropped to the ground to avoid a shotgun blast.  The girl was gonna have some bruises and sore muscles when she regained consciousness.

While falling and using his body to shield the young Kelsk, Riq hand managed to use his off hand to take the pistol off his belt and fire random shots toward the Bothan wielding the shotgun.  Most missed, but a few lucky shots hit the head and quickly put the Bothan unconscious from the sudden blood loss.  He would be dead within a minute.

During the encounter, Fish must have done something as he was running like hell from the northern wall (OOC - opposite of the gate wall for those without sense of direction).  Moments later a huge explosion left a gap several meters wide for Team Delta to escape the fight they would lose should they stay.  Picking up the girl again, Riqimo ran after her parents being escorted by Urakai and Stonefish.  Garet and Tanus were hopefully behind him...
 
-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw

Eclipse Squad

ASL/SGT Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES2]

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Far From Perfect, the story of a VEA Combat Medic

Doc peered left and right, licking perspiration off his upper lip.  As far as he could tell, none of the unknown enemy was around.  None except for the eerie forest itself, that is.  He chanced a look down past the load he carried, to survey his worn boots, and saw they were coated up to the ankles again in thick mud.

He grimaced, his legs churning in the gooey soil, his chinstraps snapping against his dirt-streaked cheeks.  His arms trembled under the weight of Kelsk's daughter.  He squinted at the girl's face and started moving again.

He shook his head, as though the action could dislodge his thoughts.  Despair pulled at him much like the mud sucking at his boots.  He struggled not to fall, despite his burden, and wondered if he lost his way, how he'd be able to make it through all this.

Doc stumbled and nearly fell.  Twisting left, he danced right, almost breaking through a bush before regaining traction on strips of bark underneath a skinned tree.  He paused, tears springing into his eyes since he'd bitten his tongue, and pulled the unconscious girl back towards his chest.

He glanced behind him at the shadows haunting the occasional flash of light and forced himself to push on. 

He limped into the clearing where the ship was parked, splashing through a murky puddle that announced his arrival to Yillis.

"What the..."

"It's okay, Yill," Doc panted.  "It's only me."  He sloshed forward the last few yards to the man's position, trying to avoid stepping into any of the places where he might trip.

Exhausted, Doc set down the girl and pulled off his damp gloves.  He stuffed the gloves into a pocket while giving the area a quick once-over.  Doc tugged at one of the two medical pouches harnessed at his waist.  "Where's Fish?"

"On the ship trying to comfort the Kelsks."

Doc squinted at the tightly packed tourniquets, compresses, tapes, salves, and medicines, and finally pulled out some stimulant pills.  "Well, I want ya to take these now."  He passed Yillis two pills, put another two in his own mouth and capped the rest.  "Mind putting the gal on board?  I'm exhaused from carrying her through the jungle"

Yillis nodded as he closed his hand around the pills and reached for his dented canteen.

Doc turned from the medical pouch and disappeared into the dim cargo bay of the shuttle.

...  ...  ...

As the YT cruised through hyperspace, Doc kneeled beside young Katrina Kelsek, who was still unconscious, but obviously reconvering.  Her mother held her hand firmly while watching Doc with a suspicious gaze.  "Madam, I am not going to hurt her.  I saved her remember?"  Mrs. Kelsek adverted her gaze for a few seconds and had her eyes darting between Doc's hands and face again.  Sighing when he did everything he could at the moment, Riqimo decided to check on Mr. Joel Kelsek, whose wounds were mostly superficial.

"Now that you have me and my family hostage, would you care to explain to me why?"

Riqimo looked up from his medic bag into Kelsek's eyes and then glanced at Fish who was busy preparing a message to Fury.  Riqimo shrugged, "Well, you are welcome for saving your life, sir/"

Kelsek pushed off the remark, "Who ever those other men were, they wanted me alive.  I would still be in this situation."

"Your daughter wouldn't.  Please think before you accuse us, sir."  Riqimo retorted in a slightly angry tone.  Kelsek shut up.

Kelsek looked uneasy, be was obviously a self-made man who hated to be in the debt of others.  "Thank you Mr...?"

"Doc, just call me Doc."

"Thank you, Doc," Kelsek was swallowing his pride and staring at his feet while Riq used a cotton ball to swab Kelsek's forehead.

By this time, Ramon came over to chat with Joel Kelsek, "Now I will tell you what I can, if you  cooperate, it would be appreciated."

"It's the least I can do."

Riqimo grabbed Kelsek's nodding head to keep it still while he finished applying the bacta swab.

"I have no absolute idea at this moment about who attacked your villa in full force," Fish pulled something up on his datapad, "but my men and I were sent by the Vast Empire to take you in for questioning.  Our original objective was to avoid interaction with your family at all costs, circumstances changed that however.  Anyways, we have intel pointing to conspiracy on our hands, thus our Prefect wants you for questioning,"

"Conspiracy?" Kelsek looked genuinely confused.

"You are probably not a direct part of it, but you may have indirect info useful to help us reveal it."

"What will happen to my family and I?"

"You will have to ask the Prefect."

...  ...  ...

Riqimo was writing on a datapad an extension to his memoirs, this mission was a strange one that had to be recorded while it was still fresh in his mind.

"Snowman?"  a tiny voice came from behind Riqimo causing him to jump.

Still impressed with the girl's stealth, Riqimo chuckled, "I am not a snowman, I am a soldier."

"I saw you fly out a window to save me, you are a snowman."

A smile had replaced the pensive frown on the medic's face, "Well what do you want?"

"Thank you."

A small tear came to Riqimo's eye, "You're welcome."  She then turned around and ran around the cargo hold pestering her older brother.

"Hey Snowman, don't go soft and melt on us."  Garet pushed Riqimo jokingly.  "Anyways, mind coming into the cockpit?  We picked up an interesting new message when coming out of hyperspace."

...  ...

The ARC squad was huddled around a holodisplay, which played the New Republic News channel:

"Breaking news form Mrlsst.  An anti-human mercenary group calling themselves the Tam'Nak Tar has made an attack on the home of Joel Kelsek, a government official of our Republic.  Unconfirmed reports state a second merc group was present and fought the Tam'Nel Tar.  At this time, the Kelsek family is missing.  The Tam'Nal Tar makes no claim to having them hostage and no bodies belonging to any of the family are among the thirty-four dead..."

[OOC - Fury, you now have Kelsek, his family as bargaining chip in interrogation, as well as a disk of contacts from his library.  Have fun.  For ARC: We can relax now, but be aware this might be our only mission.]


-----------------------
Riqimo "Doc" Pershaw

Eclipse Squad

ASL/SGT Riqimo/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES2]

+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +

Far From Perfect, the story of a VEA Combat Medic