The plush meeting room of Jester barracks was a substantially more professional stage for Kami’s briefing this time around, although the location most definitely could of benefited from a bar.

Jester looked tired. A bad sign for the beginning of a mission, but an understandable occurrence considering they had only returned from the Vectra system 24 hours earlier and were still coming to terms with almost being eaten alive by the locals they had been sent to bargain with.

Kami hadn’t had a chance to sleep since her feet had touched down on Tadath soil. She’d spent more than a few hours ranting and raging to Aeos about the predicament her squad had found itself in, before managing to cool herself enough to make a concise report to HC about the Atakapa people, and give her professional opinion of what should be done about the relative unknowns. Kami’s advice had been short, and relatively sweet. Wipe the whole damn moon clean of the Atapaka bloodsuckers and sleep easier at night. The General receiving her report had failed to conceal a smile.

“I know you’d rather not be here, but this is big, and completely to our taste,” Kami started, snapping the members of Jester out of their reverie. There were only four of them, Jinx and Verkur sitting attentively at the front, Jager slumped at their backs, and the latest addition to their ranks, Brightstar a few seats behind. Quilla and Maze had been whisked away following their return, Quilla on personal leave, Maze to the confines of VE intelligence for a mission Kami wasn’t authorized to hear about. She hoped that she’d see the duo again at some stage, but the Army was a fickle organization.

“No cannibals?” Jinx questioned immediately, Verkur going pale at his side at the mention of the Atakapan people.

“New Republic,” Kami responded, noting that her squad straightened in interest at the phrase. Smiling, she thumbed on the projector, brining a large image of a green planet to life before her.

“This, people, is the planet Loetta, of the Sian System. It’s one of the Vast Empire’s largest producers of nuclear energy, and is therefore an extremely important support centre for the entire organization.” She paused to thumb to the next image of a majestic, ancient looking city, “This is Loatta’s capital, Noether. 12 hours ago the Moff stationed at the government house there was assassinated, followed shortly by a distress call from the central Stormtrooper barracks administrator. It seems the city has been overrun by a freedom fighter group calling themselves the NUIL, which apparently stands for ‘National Union for the Independence of Loatta.’”

“Original,” Jager snorted.

Kami waved the comment away with a hand, “Intelligence has reason to believe that NUIL has been in contact with, and aided by members of the New Republic. Whilst the group has been around since the Vast Empire enforced their regime, it has never had the resources or the man power to strike openly at Imperial forces.” She flicked to the next image, which highlighted the cities intimidating walls, “Noether is easily the most defensible position to make a stand, which is probably why NUIL has settled in. The wall system, whilst somewhat aged, effectively limits entry to the city to two points, those being a large main gate and small back exitway into the mountains. Because of the setout of the city, NUIL is holding a city of 4 million captive with just a few thousand soldiers.”

“Their demands?” Brightstar asked quietly, obviously uncomfortable in her new surrounds.

“They want a provisional government put in place,” Kami answered smoothly, “An elected parliament from the people, for the people. They want the right to choose their allegiance with whatever faction they deem fit.”

“The NR,” Jinx murmured, looking troubled, “They see the VE as the oppressors.”

“Undoubtedly,” Kami focused her attention of the recently promoted Sergeant, “The VE governance system has its faults, but ultimately, the people of Loatta have enjoyed nothing but prosperity since the Army established order decades ago.”

“There must be something motivating them but,” Jinx contended, “Some injustice.”

Kami’s face hardened, “That’s not our concern. We have orders from HC to meet up with and assist forces that have already been mustered to deal with the threat. There will be no provisional government, and a replacement Moff has already been selected.” She gestured to the next image, which showed the interior layout of Noether, “We, along with another two strike teams, are to gain access to the city and carry out a number of objectives. One, we take out the main gate to allow the rest of the VE forces to enter. Two, we neutralize the guard towers stationed about the perimeter of the walls to prevent any warning of the incoming attack. Three, we secure the barracks which are now home to NUIL personnel.”

“And then we party?” Verkur grinned.

“Wrong,” Kami replied, “We move from the barracks to secure the rear gate, and then have concise orders to move on parliament house and arrest key figures of NUIL.”

“What about the local population?” Bright spoke up again, “How can we expect them to react?”

“Obviously there will be supporters to the NUIL cause,” Kami conceded, “But a large portion of the people in the city won’t care which way this fight goes, as long as they are left alone.”

“So when do we leave?” Verkur was already on his feet.

“You have the right idea,” Kami offered a small smile, “We fly out in thirty. Full gear for this mission, scout armor inclusive. Let’s go show those Loetta divisions what a true recon unit can do.”

Jester surged to their feet and quickly filtered out of the briefing room to prepare. Shutting down the projector, and casting to room back into blackness, Kami stormed out after them. This mission, with some many elements incorporated into the attack, had a large degree of danger involved. She had thirty minutes to do what she could to ensure that her team was as prepared as they could be for whatever came their way.

“We fly out in thirty. Full gear for this mission, scout armor inclusive. Let’s go show those Loetta divisions what a true recon unit can do.” Brightstar heard Kami say through her reverie.

As all of Jester got to their feet and quickly filed out of the briefing room to prepare, Brightstar couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. It had been almost a full year since she had even thought about a mission, let alone been on one. She took a few deep breaths. To compound her awkwardness was the wellspring of unease that seemed to follow her everywhere she went these days. Was she ready? Could she pull this off without getting her new squad mates killed? Bright shook herself as she entered her personal quarters and closed the door. She stood there for a moment just breathing.

"Ok, Bright, get it together you have no room for these thoughts on this mission." She told herself heading to the trunk she kept at the foot of her bed. A beeping and booping behind her said that R5 her astromech droid had overheard her. She looked at the translation on the console she kept on her dresser. "No, 5, you can't come with me on this one." She said smiling slightly at the droid.

R5 gave a disappointed boop and whirred backwards. His black and white dome swinging back and forth. Bright gave the droid a reassuring smile and patted him on the top of his dome. "Maybe next time, ok?" She said, "I don't think they're quite ready to meet you just yet."

R5 chirped at that and whirred to the corner that was his place in Brightstar's room. "Now what to take." She said pushing her earlier dark thoughts to the back of her mind and throwing what ever she could find over them. The first thing she grabbed was her scout armor, after all she was still in a recon unit. Even if it wasn't Eclipse this was something she was familiar with. Perhaps she was just worried about nothing. She smiled sadly and shook her head. After she donned her scout armor minus the helmet she grabbed her Stormtrooper II Carbine, her KYD-21 Blaster Pistol, which had been her personal side arm for the last year since she had met Tracen McLawrey. She also grabbed a set of Flyhigh Throwing Knives, a DC-15s Blaster Pistol, and her Treppus-2 Vibroblade.

She took stock and nodded in satisfaction. She stopped just inside her door and thought about adding the Ryyk Kerarthorr Blades to her weaponry. Eventually she turned back and grabbed them just for the sheer fact that having something that reminded her of her mother's Fireblades close at hand made her feel more comfortable. She said goodbye to R5 and quickly left, locking the door behind her.

It didn't take her long at all to find her way to the hangar bay from the barracks as she had walked there often just for the heck of it. Her feet by now knew the way without her really having to pay that much attention. Upon entering she strode straight to the ship that would take them to their destination and loaded her possessions aboard. She double checked her items just to be sure and as an after thought strapped her Dc-15s around her waist. She would settle the rest of her weapons on her person while on the way to Loetta.

Looking at her chronometer she noticed that she was only just a few moments early and she took that time to gather herself and her thoughts settling herself into that familiar calm that had helped her to remain so objective on many other missions. Hearing a sound behind her she jumped and looked recognising another member of Jester entering the hangar behind her. I guess there are somethings you just don't get over so quickly. Bright thought calming herself and plastering a purely professional expression on her face. She nodded to the newcomer and took yet another deep breath.

"Alright Private, your tests check out" the nurse said handing Jager a bottle of pills,

"So... thats it?" Jager replied glancing down at the pill bottle,

"Thats it... From what I can see the stress, coupled with the slight head trauma you received from the fall caused you to have a small psychotic episode" The nurse stated, to which Jager only stared in confusion causing the nurse to sigh,

"What we here call 'A freak-out', Now see those pills in your hand" she continued in a slow patronizing tone
"If things start getting to much for you to handle, take two... their sedatives".

Jager lifted up the small white bottle to the light, "So.. i am ready to get back to my squad?"

"Yes... You were dehydrated and had a slight concussion, causing you to have a small psychotic episode... you can go." she paused looking down at her clipboard "Also we incinerated your clothes while you in the decontamination tank." she finished with a sarcastic smile, which quickly faded as she turned and walked over to a desk.

"Thanks, uh.. hope i never see you again" Jager muttered as he opened the bottle and took two pills, and with that he headed out the door and back to his barracks.

* * * * * * * * * *

Jager arrived in the hanger in his trooper armor carrying his kit-bag, by the looks of things he was running late but he didn't see Kami which was a good sign. Getting on board he went to take a seat next to Jinx, who immediately blocked it with his hand

"No way, not after the last mission... go and stink next to Verkur" Jinx stated shaking his head.

"I see how it is" Jager replied with a smirk as he went to sit next to Verkur,

"Private, just to be safe why don't you move two seats down"  said Verkur. As Jager took his seat he could see that Jinx was filling in Bright on their recent exploits, which caused them both to chuckle.

"Its alright Jager, We all have shit days sometimes" Jinx said after he finished filling Bright in, to which Jager could only shake his head. Sighing, Jager reached into his ammo packs and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and the bottle of pills that were given to him. Hesitantly he took one then lit up.

"Okay... lets not screw this one up, just get there, do your job and come home.. thats it.. no backwards natives, no circus-folk, no cesspit's... Just you, your squad and a bunch of pissed off nationalists. What could go wrong" he muttered to himself taking another drag on his cigarette.

Verk nodded in agreement to Jinx's comment. Pulling off his helmet, Verk leaned forward a bit and ran his gloved hands through his hair taking a deep breath and just trying to relax.

"With what Jinx said Jager. We're a team, and no matter how bad things get, we will always have each other." Verk said to Jager, trying to get him to relax.

Verk leaned back in his seat and sighed. Putting on his helmet again, Verk made the final checks of his gear and waited for launch.

"Alright boy's and girl's, if you're all ready we can launch." Kami said from up front.

Everyone gave their acknowledgement and strapped themselves in. Verk sat up, a strange noise barely audible over the roar of the shuttles engines. Just as the door began to close a hand shot in and held it open. Two soldiers stepped into the shuttle.

"What the hell are you..." Kami began as she noticed the two additional soldiers in the shuttle. "And you three are?" Kami asked.

The three soldiers saluted, one stepped forward.

"Private First Class Drakar reporting. I was placed in Jester just this morning." The new recruit stated.

"What about you?" Kami said motioning to the other newcomer.

"Private First Class Lionheart. Returning from reserves." He said saluting.

"Sergeant Durandal." The third trooper said, stepping forward.

Kami looked the three recruits over, and nodded. "Ok, take a seat. Someone introduce them and brief them. We take off now, new recruits or not." Kami said, turning and entering the cockpit.

The craft shuddered as the repulsorlifts kicked in and the shuttle took off.

"Well, since you three need to be briefed and us introduced, we should start. The name's Verkur. This is Jager, Jinx, and Brightstar." Verk said, motioning to each member of Jester.

"And that was our SL Kami." Jinx said, nodding to the cockpit.

Both new recruits nodded and sat down, setting their gear on the floor between their feet. Durandal sat down between Verk and Jager.

"As for briefing, nothing to special. We are headed to Loetta to beat some NR revolt in the city and we need to stop it." Verk continued to brief the new members of Jester, and sent the map and details to their data pads.

"Thats about it. Welcome to jester and enjoy the ride." Verk finished, leaning back and waiting for the shuttle to arrive at its destination.

OOC:

Ok Drakar, Lionheart. You two are in the story. Again, welcome to Jester.

When Drakar finally finished the Academy it was late at night.  The drill instuctor walked up to him and saluted before handing him, without any instructions, a datapad with the name and call information for Aeos.  After a quick return salute the DI walked away leaving Drakar wondering what this Aeos person had to say.  He walked over to his bunk and began to pack his artillery and uniform placing the recently received datapad on his bunk. 

After finishing packing he received a call from Aeos who told him that he was already shipping out with his new squad, Jester Squad, and needed to immediately report to the flight deck because they were taking off in twenty minutes.

He ended his call from Aeos and immediately started putting on his armor.  Drakar reached for his recently purchased Scout armour and strapped it on making the final touches by putting on his helmet.  Next, he started filling the compartments of his utility belt and straps on his uniform with different weapons.  He placed his PT-212 Vibroblade in its slot on his back, holstered his two DC-15 pistols, placed the shotgun in the holster on his right leg, his throwing knives in the compartment on his left hip, some C-22 fragmentation grenades and smoke grenades in the other slots, and the strap of his E-11 blaster rifle around his neck and right shoulder.

Once he finally reached the hanger he noticed that it was about to take off even though he had a couple minutes to spare.  Just as the door was about to shut completely Drakar stuck his hand in to stop it.  The door slid back open and Drakar and another soldier got in.  After an introduction by Verkur, Drakar and the other Private First-Class, who was later introduced as Lionheart, were briefed on the mission.  This would be his first real mission as a trooper, not including the simulation created by Cosmic at the academy.  Drakar was nervous and excited because he was finally  ready to perform a duty for the Empire just like his father had done so many years ago. 

As the transport flew his mind raced about what would happen on the mission, whether he would be able to keep up with all these experienced soldiers, hoping he would not let his new teammates down on his very first mission.  Drakar thought to himself, "I need to establish myself as a early contributor, not just as a follower."

"Alright, everyone gear up. ETA five minutes." Kami's voice sounded from up front. Verk nodded to himself, and grabbing his blaster rifle, slung it over his head and right shoulder. Standing he grabbed one of the few hand holds above to steady himself as the shuttle rocked back and forth as the shuttle neared the ground. Verk watched the other members of Jester go through their personalized forms of preparation for the mission. He smiled from behind his helmet, and reached down and picked up his sniper rifle with his right hand. Verk moved aside as Kami moved from the cockpit to stand with her squad.

"Ok. First things first. As soon as we land we locate the VE forces that will be waiting for us. The we head to the main gate and get it open. Understand?" Kami asked, her gaze moving from one Jester to the next.

Each member of Jester nodded their heads. "Good. Lets move out." Kami said, turning to the shuttle doors as they opened.

The squad looked out across the expanse of land below them. A few dots and lines of blue marked the bits of water that dotted the landscape. Most of the area was covered in lush forest, a green blanket covering the planet, broken only by the water ways. In the distance the squad could see the city of Loetta, it's vast walls protecting the city interior. As the shuttle drew closer to Loetta, the trees began to fade, replaced by hills, covered with grass, and dotted with stone.

"Some place huh?" Jinx noted, taking in the lat of the land.

"Sure is." Jager replied.

The shuttle drew closer and closer to the city, and below them, on a large area of flat land, sat a semi-large VE military force. Jester began to fidget with a bit of excitement as the coming mission drew near. Jester surged from the shuttle, even though it was still a few feet from the ground. Once planet side, the squad took formation and jogged off towards the VE army awaiting Jester's arrival.

Just outside the main encampment, Jester was met by a small scouting party.

"Luth, take the point" Kami ordered

"Your the Boss, Boss" Jager replied, giving a half hearted salute as he headed off into the jungle with the rest of Jester in tow. The group made steady progress, but slowed as the jungle got thicker. After about a kilometer the forest suddenly thinned considerably. Reaching the edge of the thicker foliage Jager paused, giving Kami a few seconds to catch up.

"Why have we stopped?" Kami quired in a low tone.

"Forest is thinning, and my legs are killing me" Jager replied sarcastically. Kami nodded and used a hand signal to spread into a line on the left and right of her position.

"Ten minutes, then we move on" she whispered to Jager, who signaled it down the left flank. Jager positioned himself behind a large tree and light up a used cigarette. Kami knelt staring at her watch, as it hit ten minutes she gave Jager a gentle tap on the shoulder and signaled the rest of the squad to get ready to move. As Jager noticed that Verkur had got to his feet yet, but was lying very still with his rifle perched on a large tree root. Kami noticed this to and got onto the comm channel,

"Jester, sit tight for a minute. Verkur, whats going on?" she asked,

"I count four, lightly armed, haven't spotted us yet..." Verkur announced calmly, causing the rest of the move towards the ground or take cover behind something.

"Can you take them out" Kami replied after several seconds of thought

"At best, I'll get two... maybe three" Verkur finished. Again kami paused as Sergeant Durandal crept up next to her.

"I see two ways of going about this" he stated as he got closer to Kami, "We wait for them to get closer and then surprise them, or we try and flank them" he finished.

"I dont like it.... if we hit them when they get closer it might give away our position, and if we start trying to flank them we might get" Kami stated "But, it seems we are stuck with these opti..." she continued until Jager cut in,

"A distraction" he announced, causing Kami to raise an angry eyebrow, "Sorry Sergeants... but I have an idea" Jager stated anxiously,

"...What is it Private" Kami queried with a hint of sarcasm. Jager cleared his throat nervously and began quickly explain his plan.

The plan itself was simple, Jager would stumble out from the Jesters position and act lost and surrenderer to the small patrol. Whilst the patrol was busy with Jager, Bright and Drakar would flank to the left, Durandal and Anji would flank right and Kami and Jinx would hold the front covering Verkur, who would cover Jager.

"Kami, Am i taking the shot or not" Verkur asked as Jager finished telling the two sergeants of his plan. Kami paused and looked at Durandal, who shrugged.

"Alright... don't mess this up" She said sternly. Jager quickly started rubbing dirt onto his armor and face, as well as taking off the left shoulder section of his armor. Whilst he was doing this Kami got on the comm channel and filled the rest of Jester in.

* * * *

The NUIL patrol had stopped about one hundred and fifty meter's short of Jesters main line. Jager finished messing himself up and got to his feet, Here goes nothing he mumbled as Kami gave him the signal to move.

Stumbling out of the main line, Jager broke into a dazed run and began calling and waving his arms trying to get the patrols attention. He got within fifty meters before he dropped to his knee's

"Thank the star's, HA.. I AM SAVED" he cried, The first part of the plan had succeeded, Jager had pulled the patrols attention away from searching and he wasn't dead. As they got closer to him it was clear that these weren't seasoned veterans, Only one seemed to have some idea of what he was doing. Getting closer the reason behind this became clear, three of the patrol were probably in their late teens and the other was in his late forty's. 

"Hands up Imp!" one of the teen's cried as he moved towards Jager. The four men surrounded him and raised their blasters.

"Move and we'll blast you, I've killed twelve Imps already" Another boasted,

"Shut up," Older member ordered, "Name, Rank and ID.. NOW!" he barked at Jager. Pausing slightly Jager blurted out

"Private Jager Sandrosa, DONT SHOOT" he finished as the old mans blaster was shoved closer to his face,

"ID!" he shouted, catching Jager off guard. Feeling as if he was about to blow his cover Jager dropped lower to the ground and began sobbing,

"Please... Please dont shoot me, I surrender" he begged. The old man signaled to the third teen to pull Jager back to his knees. The teen grabbed Jager by the shoulders and pull him upright,

"Alright Imp, what are you doing out here" The old man asked

"When your guys attacked i fled," Jager stammered hoping that they wouldn't see through his paper thin alibi. The old man paused and quickly scanned the jungle around him, Jager however looked at each of them. The one to his left was shaking slightly as he held the blaster, the one on his right didn't seem nervous but he was just as green and from what he could tell the one behind him wasn't much different.

The old man put his attention back on Jager, eying him up and down. After a few seconds of this he placed his blaster on the ground and pulled out an old hold-out pistol, and walked confidently towards his victim.

He got within a few steps before a sharp whistle from behind broke their concentration, causing them all to turn. As they turned Verkur took his shot,

With a disgusting splatter noise the old man collapsed onto the floor, covering the three remaining patrolmen and Jager in a light spray of blood. The teens stood their in shock, the one on Jagers right lifted his gun to take a shot towards Verkurs position, But Verkur was on the ball dropped him with a chest shot. Jager quickly got his sense back and grabbed the arm of the teen behind him and throw him onto his back and placing a knee to his throat. The nervous teen stood with a stunned expression on his face, still holding his blaster. 

Bright emerged from her position with Drakar tailing and subdued the the last patrolmen. After the situation was contained, Jester dragged the two bodies and captives back behind their initial line. Getting back to the line Jager gave a quick bow to his imaginary audience.

"Thank you, thank you, there will be no encore" he announced to no one in particular, as he quickly cleaned himself up.

"Can in Private" Kami cut in, "We'll see what these two know, then we'll head out... Stay alert, there could be more". she announced, and with that Durandal and her moved off to interrogate the captives leaving Jager and the rest of Jester watching the line.

OOC:

Didnt spell check well, i'll check through it later

The questioning seemed to only last about ten minutes before Kami and Durandal emerged from the tent in which the two to young soldiers had been taken.  At the site of both of them Jinx stood from a kneeling position and waited till they got closer.

"Were they able to provide any information regarding the compound" Jinx asked casually.

"Somewhat.  Seems that they were rather new recruits and still in the training phases" Durandal responded.

Kami nodded in agreement and added "basically they can't tell us the information we need.  They don't know the exact numbers of NR troops but the guard changes every four hours.  The same with the towers."

"Did they say how long they were on guard for before we interrupted their shift" Verkur asked.

"Two hours" Durandal replied.

"So when do we move" Brightstar inquired.

"Now.  Get your gear and let's move out" Kami responded.

Jinx quickly looked around at the new additions to the squad especially the newly graduated troops.  He simply watched to make sure they were following orders and did not appear to be having any second thoughts to coming on the mission.

Jinx knew what is was like to be thrown into your first mission right out of boot but there was no reason to make that an excuse for hindering your squads movement or for that damn matter their lives.

The Jesters moved out as ordered, they kept their pace slow and moved in deliberate sprints when needed.  The surrounding vegetation provided great cover but it appeared that it wouldn't last very long especially as they got closer to their objective.

The area closest to the walls was well manicured although it did help that whoever was in charge seemed to like the idea of a lot of trees and large shrubs lining the walls.  This would provided a great asset to them as they reached the walls.  But for now they would have to remain out of sight from the guard towers.  They also had to watch out for any more exterior patrols.

This was easier said then done.  Verkur paused and dropped to a knee.  He brought up his sniper rifle and looked through the scope.

"How many in each tower" Kami asked.

Verkur swung his rifle from side to side as he scanned the towers.  "One in each except the two nearest the main gate.  Two guards in those."  He said and brought his rifle down.  "We should move to our left and away from the towers on the right as they are closer together and more of them."

"Agreed" Kami added.  "Jinx you take point, Jager close behind him.  Bright, Drakar, Lion Heart and Durandal spread out slightly in a A formation behind the two points.  Verkur and myself will take rear."

Kami called the squad to a halt as we came up to the destination that she, Verkur, and Durandal had decided would be the easiest. The sewage drain was covered in huge grates and there was a good sized creek pouring out at a constant rate as well as tons of sludge and slime.

The smell somehow was powerful enough to cut through their armor and Durandal could see Drakar gag slightly and shake his head at teh horrendous smell.

Durandal immediately went to the grates and began the slow and quiet process of pulling them out. The rest of Jester listened to Kami's orders, fanning out and patrolling the immediate area, being sure to stay out of the tower's sight.

This was no time to play games as they were at a vital spot for getting in the city and couldn't afford to reveal their position to the enemy.

Kami meanwhile radioed back to the command post on planet and informed the commander that we would be in the city at night, and at midnight we would open the gates.

This was crucial, cause it had been agreed that we wouldn't actually strike the city till fifteen minutes till midnight, so the VE came in the city to a rather surprised and still slightly groggy enemy.

Durandal finished cutting the last bar and pulled the grate off, setting it to the side gently, then hopped in.

"Grate secure, going ahead ma'am." Durandal reported. He could see her nod from outside and motioned Verkur Anji and Draker to proceed with him.

Then went off to the split and set up motion sensors, to start to get a map of the sewage filled labarynth. As they went deeper in and the smell increased they placed more motion sensors, and they would peek out of man holes that went up to the streets, using mitrrors to greatly reduce the threat of detection.

After another hour of scouting and finding the closest man hole to the gate control room they all headed back.

"All right boys, listen up." said Kami, calling all of us to attention. "We are going to head back in there at about 2300 hours standard time. and by then it shall be dark. At which time, at 2345 hours we are going to strike the gate control room, and open the gates to the city by 2359. At the same time, we will have two teams of two that will go north to the two guard towers and disable them, making sure that those very advantageous sniping positions are put to use by our reinforcements when they arrive. And then we'll ride down those southern guard houses, taking them out one by one and hop right on over to the barracks. Understood?"

Everyone nodded and waited patiently as she divided up the squad to their specific duties.

"2300" Verkur murmured

"Okay, Everyone remember the plan... Verkur and Jager, You will handle the towers closest to the gate, Jinx and Me will handle the other three. Alright, Lets go" Kami stated as she and Jinx headed into the sewer.

"Your on the towers to the right, Near the barracks. I am on the towers to the left, Good luck" Verkur said, patting Jager on the shoulder before he disappeared into the tunnel.


Before long Jager had reached the grate in between the barracks and his towers. Discreetly he lifted the manhole cover, waiting a few seconds after he had done it to see if anyone had heard.

"This is Verkur, I've cleared the furthest tower. Nothing from the NUIL, Moving to the second, Out"

"Son of a bitch... that was fast" Jager mumbled as he began climbing the ladder to the second tower on the right. 

He stopped before the end of the ladder and took a quick peak over the top, To his surprise the tower was empty, "hmm, to easy" as he pulled himself the rest of the way up and into the tower.

"This is Jager, second tower on the right clear.... moving to the next, out"

Within a few minutes Jager was already half-way up the other tower.  Kami and Jinx had reported that their towers were now clear and that they were heading towards the rear gate.

"Durandal here, We're at the front gate control room, clearing in three... two..."

Jager could hear the faint sounds of a gun fight, as he reached the top of the ladder. Seconds away from peaking up a siren began blaring, Followed by his Comm's.

From what he could make out over the siren, one of the rebels in the gate control room had triggered the alarm as the group began clearing it. In one fluid motion Jager threw himself up the last two rungs of the ladder and into the tower.

The Tower guard was taken by complete surprise when Jager crashed into his legs, throwing him off balance and over the edge. Scrambling to the nearest wall, Jager took cover and paused "The alarms off" he thought,

"The alarms been taken care of, working on the gate now. Sit tight" Durandal called over the radio,

"Jager, heads up.. you've got one coming up your ladder" Verkur announced. Jager stuck his blaster over the edge and let a few shots off, which were followed by a cry of pain and a dull thud.

"He's down." Verkur replied over the Comm's. As he finished a cry came from below Jager's tower, Several rebels had seen their comrade fall and now began firing wildly at the top of the tower.

Jager responded in kind, firing the occasional blind shot towards them from behind the wall. He could still hear the occasional crack from Verkur's tower as he took another shot. The rebels continued to fire blindly towards Jagers position, but for a brief second they stopped. "What the..." Jager thought as a grenade bounced next to him.

It seemed that time itself had slowed around Jager, as he reached over and swatted the grenade out. A deafening bang followed a few feet below. Taking a deep breath he came back to his senses, "Way to close.." he sighed. With his ears still ringing, he grabbed his blaster and went back to firing blindly at the rebels below.

Drakar could hear firing through the static on his comm and wondered where it was coming from when suddenly Verkur broke through the silence saying that Jager was pinned down in one of the towers.  Upon hearing this Drakar and the rest of the group in the gate control room headed toward the tower.

"Drakar you and I will try and flank from right of whomever is attacking and Bright and Lion Heart try and draw their attention away from Jager." said Durandal.

Everyone nodded in agreement and split to their specific duties. Drakar knew that reinforcements would soon be arriving at the tower from the barracks trying to come up with a plan of their own.  This pushed him to run even faster because his teammate would not be able to last very long against a whole squad of rebels by himself. 

Once Drakar and Durandal were in position they saw around five or six rebels firing blindly into the air at the tower.  Out of the corner of his eye he could see the reinforcements running trying to catch up with the group already firing. 

“We better take out this group before the others get here otherwise we may be overmatched. On the three I’ll throw these grenades and you cover me alright….?”, said Drakar to Durandal, whom agreed.

He stretched his right arm around to his compartment with the grenades in it and threw two frag grenades into the group.  Three were caught in the blast immediately flying through the air, landing on the ground with a thud, while the two remaining were shot by Durandal easily.

Just as the last two of the original group fell to the ground around seven more showed up.  Drakar quickly pulled his rifle around his body and began to fire while he and Durandal, both began to charge the position of the group.  Drakar managed to take out the one directly in front of him with his rifle while Durandal got two.  In one fluid motion Drakar quickly spun around grabbing his Vibroblade out of its’ slot and started swinging it around.  As he was swinging it around he managed to kill three by slicing two across the neck and stabbing another.  The last one dropped his gun, got down on his knees and put his hands behind his head after seeing how easily Drakar and Durandal took down the group.

Drakar returned his weapons back to their respect places and walked up next to the cowering rebel.

OOC:

I'm also going to go back a bit but it will lead up to where we are now. And I am sorry if it makes no sense.

===The Gatehouse, Jester Entrance Point===

Brightstar had always hated smoke grenades, they caused problems with her vision even through her armor at times. She kept that to herself however as events began to unfold. By now she was coldly detached from everything around her, almost as though she were seeing things from outside of her body. To be quite honest though it was something she had liked about herself in the past. Being detached allowed her to kill more efficiently without having to feel remorse for the life she knew she was taking. She could feel that sensation falling around her now, as if a cooling blanket had been wrapped around her after a day in the desert.

Durandal gave the go ahead for the smoke grenades to be thrown, and Bright became alive again. Moving through the smoke she immediately dispatched the guard she knew to be directly in front of her. It was a silent death, the man in her grasp had no time to cry out as his neck was snapped. But dispatching the guards was not her duty. She knew that in a matter of moments the alarm would go off as she had spotted a young NR officer move toward the console. She also knew that she would not be able to hit the man with blaster fire as he was already doing a marvelous job of evading Durandal's fire.

So she made her way silently, blending with the smoke, flowing with it till she was in front of him. Her presence was the only obstacle in his way to the alarm console. She brought her Ryyyk blades out and in an offensive position. The young officer made a jump for it and managed to duck under one blade only to be impaled on another. He thudded to the floor but not before triggering the alarm as he fell.

Brightstar seethed under her helmet. He had triggered the alarm anyway. Was it because she had missed something? Or was she just so out of practice? She decided to get back in practice, and fast lest she get this squad killed by her incompetence. She hurried over to the console and quickly shut it down. She turned and nodded to Durandal and mentally kicked herself for letting this happen.

"Alarm silenced but we might have incoming" She heard Durandal say. Bright concluded that he was giving a report of sorts to Kami and tuned the rest of it all out as she had been signaled to take care of the gates. After a moment the doors gates started to open and then she locked them, re-encryping it with an imperial code so as to make it slightly more difficult to crack by the NR should the battle go sour.

Hearing blaster fire from outside, Bright hurried to the door to have a look at the situation. Durandal was beside her in seconds with the two privates behind them. She looked at Durandal as he took things in, waiting on him to decide on what should be done. It seemed to her that Intel had not painted a full picture as to how organized this operation was. Somehow she got the distinct feeling that this organization had been planned out by someone who knew how the military worked. Someone like Admiral Ackbar or Perhaps one of his officers. Bright shook that thought away. Loetta wasn't important enough for Such a biggy to be here but it still stank of the former Rebel Admiral's tactical genius.

It was unanimous that they needed to regroup with the rest of the fire team and get direct orders from Kami before proceeding, but they also knew that those towers to the south would demolish the land forces of the VE if they weren't taken care of. Brightstar shuddered at the thought of their failure. What am I thinking. We won't fail. Not here and not now. She thought silently.

As they moved out to help their comrades Bright's mind took a trip down memory lane. This wasn't so different from her smuggling days before she met Riqimo Pershaw. She smiled, it wasn't even so different from those times when the two of them were out running New Republic troopers on the core worlds before they had decided on that heist on Nal Hutta. She shook her head as she realised there wasn't anybody else in distance enough to fight.

Regrouping with the others, she remained silent while they planned. It wasn't that she didn't want to take part in it, it was more or less her inability to come up with a good attack plan. She admitted it was a flaw she had never really gotten over. With all her ability to stalk her enemy silently and surely and to take him out just as efficiently, and her even greater ability to track her enemies to the edges of the galaxy, Brightstar just never was a great tactician.

The plan was set.

"This is a land to space beacon." Kami said fishing something out of a pouch on her belt and looking towards Verkur. "You and Durandal get the glorious task of setting it near those vehicles and activating it before they power up and come into play. I should advise you to leave the immediate area before the air support comes though, else you'll both be incinerated." She said, with a very level voice. "After which, proceed to brave point, marked on your tac maps to regroup with us while we go proceed to take out those towers. The NR forces we have to ignore for the most part as they are for the main army to take care of."

Everyone nodded and Bright watched as Verkur and Durandal turned and immediately set off around the buildings to carry out their task. They didn't once look back. Bright whispered under her breath, wishing the two of them luck and hoping to high heavens that they wouldn't be... as Kami had so eloquently put it... incinerated.

The rest made their way to positions near the barracks.

The barracks had finally come to life. Whether or not the inhabitants had been keyed in to their predicament by the sound of the assault at the front of the city, or the massive eruptions of flame across the breadth of the inner walls as their armored vehicles imploded, they wasted no time reacting now. The shadows of NR troopers as they readied rifles filtered past the worn windows of the installation. Luckily, due to the aged nature of the two long buildings that now housed members of the rebellious NUIL and their newfound New Republic allies, all the soldiers were effectively pinned down in one place.

Of course, Jester only had bare moments in which to act before the enemy force swept free of the confines of the barracks and overwhelmed them. But for Kami and her team, that was more than enough time.

Gesturing with one hand, Kami sent Verkur, Jinx, Jager and Drakar towards the second building, keeping Durandal, Bright and the menacing wookiee Lion at her side. Not bothering to check if the other three members of her strike team were following her example, Kami reached down to her utility belt and pulled a grenade free. Using her spare hand, she lashed out with the butt of her rifle and sent the glass of the nearest window smashing inwards. Pulling the pin free with her teeth, she lopped the grenade through, moving onto the next window in a single stride.

Across the other end of the facility, Verkur's team were carrying out a similar process, smashing through the windows of one end of the building and casting their deadly arsenal inside. They had to bottleneck the soldiers for what they were about to attempt.

Screams of warning sounded at Kami's back, followed by the deafening roar of her grenade, and another one of her trooper's as they went off. Ignoring the wave of heat that buffeted at her armored form, Kami smashed out another window for Lion, shooting the curious, sleepy face of a local that appeared briefly at point blank range. The screams and shouts grew louder as the soldiers inside the building began to panic, pushing through their fellows to reach the other end of the barracks and get outside. Leaving Lion and Bright to continue to force the soldiers forwards, Kami signaled to Durandal, and together the two Jester's sprinted towards the exit ahead.

A few motley dressed local soldiers had already stumbled free of the building, half dressed, doubling over as they fought to breath through the smoke that was billowing out behind them. Kami gunned them down as she ran, Durandal picking off the young woman she missed. The two didn't slow down, continuing to sprint past the building, spinning back and taking potshots at the few troopers who broke out into the open. They could have stood and simply gunned the soldiers down as they emerged, but Kami had spotted something much more interesting in the facilities small parking lot. An old AT-PT, its armor scorched, but seemingly still in working order.

Praying that Verkur and the others would manage with their rifles against such overwhelming numbers, Kami leapt up onto the mech's leg, using it to propel herself into the cockpit. Durandal jumped in after her, his weight causing the air to whoosh free of Kami's lungs as he landed directly atop her.

“Sorry boss!” He exclaimed, spinning about so that Kami had to room to maneuver into a comfortable position on the one person seat. Finally settling for simply sitting on the other Sergeant's lap, Kami ran her hands over the control, powering up the vehicles blaster cannons and concussion grenade launcher.

“You know how to drive this thing?” Duran asked from behind her, receiving his answer as the AT-PT lurched dramatically forwards, almost rolling sidewards with the violent movement. Ignoring Duran's curse, Kami focused on the field before her.

Both buildings were alight with flame and smoke, though now the green and red of lasers now flashed between the confines of the two. Verkur and his strike team were visible at the more badly damaged building, slowly but steadily taking down NR and rebel soldiers as they were forced away from the flames inside and into the open ground surrounding the barracks.

She couldn't see Bright and Lion, and that alone was enough to make her breath catch in her throat. Slamming the controls about again, she turned the nose of the AT-PT in the direction of the second building and lumbered forward.

As Verkur, Jinx, Jager, and Drakar began to assault the second building of the barracks, Drakar could see out of the corner of his faceplate the strike team assaulting the first building the same way. 

Drakar used the back of his shotgun to break one of the windows and immediately tossed in two grenades.  The explosion of several grenades all at once caught the NR soldiers inside by surprise and caused part of the roof to collapse because of the intensity of the blast.  Immediately following the explosion four NR soldiers bodies came flying out of the barracks flopping around like rag dolls.

Drakar followed Verkur in the fact that after the grenades went off they both starting firing into the building.  It was pretty much blind fire because of the amount of smoke in the air.  Drakar managed to kill one after another as they came stumbling out of the barracks gasping for air. 

One soldier did however manage to fire a couple shots off in Drakar's position.  He just moved out of the way when a laser scorched the wall where he was originally.  In the same motion as rolling out of the way of his fire he slipped his vibroblade out of its slot and sliced the NR soldier across the neck.

After killing this soldier Drakar happen to notice Durandal and Kami coming in his direction with an AT-PT.  "What the.....? What are planning on doing with that?", Drakar thought to himself. 

He decided to dismiss what he just saw and went back to firing on the barracks that was now immersed in intense fire and smoke.  Each member of the second building strike team continuously fired upon the building killing soldier after soldier as the came out of the flames each carefully dodging lasers and returning fire upon whomever shot at them.

Kami cursed bitterly as the battered AT-PT groaned in its death throes and began to cast forward towards the unforgiving earth.

“Bail out!” She yelled over the noise, glancing up to watch desperately as Durandal slammed his armored fists against the viewport.

“The bloody thing is stuck!” The panic in Duran's voice was blatantly audible as an explosion racked the left side of the mech. The Sergeant lashed out again with all of his strength, denting the metal yet failing to budge the hatch.

“Verk, we're going down, move onto the next objective...” Kami's brief communication was cut short as the console before her heaved, the metal bolts of the cockpit bending as one of the AT-PT's legs collapsed inwards. A panel flung upwards, striking the front of her helmet and causing her to slam backwards into Durandal's stolid form.

Another explosion sounded, the sound defeaning as the the force penetrated the last of the protection surrounded the two Jester members. Kami's vision flickered and died as her helmet receptors shut down, the bitter tang of blood filling her mouth. Blind, she threw out her hands in an attempt to find something to support herself as the mech continued to tip forward, the world cascading madly about her. There was a grunt of pain from above her which could only be Durandal, the position of the sound the only clue Kami had that she was no longer sitting upright.

The shrieking of metal reached a crescendo, drowning out the remnants of sane thought in Kami's mind. Her body twisted sidewards, completely out of her control as the mech finally slammed into the ground.

Then, it was over. Silence reigned, pierced only by the faint sounds of blaster fire. Jester, most likely, still engaged with the enemy soldiers. That thought solidified Kami's resolve, allowed her brain to click back into gear through her shock.

Raising both her arms, which were thankfully still attached, Kami heaved at the bottom of her helmet, pulling the battered armor free from her head. She was lying on her side, her legs strewn across the remnants of the AT-PT's controls. Somehow, miraculously, the mech's cockpit was still relatively intact, although both of its legs were simply shards of metal lying cast about her.

Slowly, cautiously, Kami forced herself up to a sitting position, giving herself a quick assessment as she did so. Nothing broken, though she was extremely battered. It was only then that she remembered Durandal.

“Duran?” The shout emerged as a croak, which abruptly turned into a fit of coughing as Kami inhaled the toxic smoke wafting from the console. Planting a hand on a solid surface, Kami glanced about her with streaming eyes, desperate to pinpoint her friend,

“Duran? Can you hear me?”