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ComNet > Stormtrooper Corps > Archived Stormtrooper Corps Story Board > Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
 
 
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Topic:  Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
Rogueboy
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Imperial Duke

 
Rogueboy
 
[VE-ARMY] Platoon Sergeant
 
Post Number:  1663
Total Posts:  2089
Joined:  Dec 2005
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 1:08:35 PM    View the profile of Rogueboy 
A blade was pushed up against Rogueboy’s back. “Put your hands up.” A voice whispered menacingly.

Forced to comply RB raised his arms and toppled to the ground, the enemy nearly impaling him because of the sudden movement. “On your feet!” The man shouted at Rogue.

“I can’t.” Rogueboy retorted. “One of the barbarian’s took out my kneecap.”

The man quickly had a sober far off gaze. “Are you referring to the demons?”

Finally been able to fully see his assailant, a quick note of his boiled leather armour, and primitive sword quickly revealed the low tech of this planet. “Yes one of the demons hit my knee with one of their crossbow bolts.”

“He lies!” One of the other assailants screams. “I’ve seen the angels who have fallen from the sky helping the monstrosities.”

“No! We’ve been sent to destroy those fallen angels, but we were unprepared for the demons and they caught us by surprise.” Rogueboy responded.

“You may lie or you may not, that is not for me to decide. The elders will judge you and they will decide whether or not you are lying or if we will aid you in the destruction of the other fallen angels.” The man who answered must have been the squad leader as he was clothed in a darker shade of the boiled leather and he wielded a nasty looking recurved bow.

Black bags came out and one of them went over each of the Stormtrooper’s and Declan’s head covering them fully. “You two will carry the crippled one, and together we shall make for Northwind, the settlement of the Grechlin.”

Rogueboy screamed as one man grabbed him by the legs and lifted him up and pain shot through his entire body. “Stop it!” Starfruit yelled as she struggled against her bonds.

“Silence woman.” One of the Northinders said loudly.

“Mayhaps you should let him use his walking sticks.” Karash interjected in the hopes that they wouldn’t kill RB just because he couldn’t walk.

“There is sense in that, remove the bags. The elders will decide once we get there whether they will live or die.” The leader said again.

The bags were removed and RB was given his crutches to walk on. Declan was panicky and he asked the guards. “What happened to the camp of men here?”

“We had captured them much as we had captured you, they are being held until the elders meet.” The man said.

“How often do the elders meet?” Rogue asked curiously and afraid that if they took too long they would have to leave Wildcard to die.

“They meet once a week, the three leaders of the council decide on many policies. They meet only at night, and they meet tonight.” The man volunteered.

Together the squad marched while under guard from the men in leathers. Unarmed their odds were slim to none against the trained men, just their movements showed that these men were well trained in the art of forest warfare.
Heavy Weapons Specialist

He will give them death, and they will love him for it -Gladiator

Eat a hearty breakfast men, for tonight we dine in hell -300

A man, can be an artist, at anything food, whatever... it just depends on how good they are at it. Creases art is death... he's about to paint his masterpiece -Man on Fire

TRP/PSG_Rogueboy/2SQS/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/TADATH/VE [LoR][ES1][CDS][CoR][EW2][IH][GRP][CCA][SC]

Clearly Canadian!
Joamer
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Joamer
 
[VE-ARMY] Senior Sergeant
 
Post Number:  237
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 2:30:33 PM    View the profile of Joamer 
Joamer squatted behind one of the barricades waiting for something to happen. For almost ten minutes now it had been nearly silent. After the initial attack they stopped coming. He wondered if they thought we had the upper hand, could they believe we had found reinforcements and secured a strong location. Or was this all a big trap, was the whole mission from day one one huge mind game. He did not have the answer to that question.

Tapping his index finger on the body of Anival's A280 he began mumbling softly to himself. The engineers reported some time ago that the work on the main tunnel defense had been completed. They sat at the second line of barricades and waited, he knew if they even slightly tried they would break through and push the survivors all the way back to the main tunnel complex. Though, it seemed they liked waiting, the mind games continued.

Joamer had volunteered to sit behind the second barricade while the squad went about securing explosives and planning the tunnel systems collapse. Would be a fitting resting place for Wraith squad, going out in one big final explosion. Every troopers dream, least he used to think that way.

He looked down at the ground and sighed, he wondered how the Raiders were doing. Did they make it clear of the mountains, did they reach safety? He looked up and steadied the large rifle, he heard shuffling up ahead. He knew then what he had to do, if he was going to die he would have to sell his life dearly. Not in one final explosion, but make them pay in blood for taking his last breath.

He tapped his comlink and set it to broadcast on all channels.

"I am called many names, on many worlds. On most I am simply referred to as a Wraith. We are the ones your parents warned you about, we are the reason why people are afraid to go out at night. We are the ones that make Death itself fear the darkness." Joamer said quietly, his voice had an eerie quality to it. He let the seconds tick by, the noise he heard was getting closer.

"Why do we run from brutes? Why suddenly did we choose this planet to run away with our tails tucked between our legs? Why here have we let a lot of friends die? Why did we choose this place to die?" He said again, he saw shadows at the entrance to the cave.

"I say we stop running, I say we make this our last stand. I say we fight here and now. No more running, no more being afraid. The time is now, the place is here. Stand strong next to your comrades. Hold the line." He said. He raised the A280 and gently squeezed the trigger.

Half a second later the heard the screams, and the sounds of something big crashing to the ground. He snapped his head to the left to crack his neck and squeezed the trigger again. He lost track of time as he continued to fire. Soon enough he slapped in a fresh clip and set up another shot. Before he could squeeze the trigger he felt someone slide up next to him and fire what sounded like a A280.

"Mind if we join you?" Kanderin said.

Joamer smiled as he heard Helena, Jori, RK, and Anival take up positions. He noticed Anival with one hand firing one of his blaster pistols. The squad simply began methodically picking off targets, one at a time.

The time passed slowly, soon enough the attack faltered and ceased, no ground had been lost. Joamer nodded slowly and slapped in a fresh clip, he heard the rest of the squad do the same. Something began bugging him though, this was almost simple compared to previous attacks.

It was as if they wanted only to hold us here... He ended the thought suddenly and jumped up. His face going white.

"Oh gods, it's a trap." He said almost silently.

The squad looked at him with confused expressions, it took a few seconds for them to catch on. The cursing began when they did.

Kanderin slapped his comlink and stood up "Fall back to the central complex! They are coming from every direction!"

Jogging further inside the tunnel system he heard someone ask what was going on via comlink, the voice was not familiar.

"Massive attack, they spent the time finding every passage inside the tunnel system, the plan is to overwhelm us in one massive attack. Everyone fall back to the central complex." Kand said into the comlink.

It took only a few minutes to reach the large domed chamber. The engineers had spent the time creating a massive circle of barricades. Pieces from the trucks, rocks, sticks, tree trunks. Hundreds of years of garbage being piled into the caves had been put to good use. The circle stood four feet high, and most of the survivors had settled into positions by the time Wraith had arrived. Joamer slipped inside and readied his rifle, he noticed Anival sliding in next to him.

A minute ticked by before he heard it. A deep rumbling reverberated throughout the chamber as if a thousand drums had begun beating all at once. It was coming from every direction.

"Last stand of the Wraiths." Anival mumbled silently.

"There will be other Wraiths in time, our job now is to make them pay dearly for taking our lives." Joamer said, he rolled his shoulders and prepared the A280. Seconds ticked by, far down one of the multitude of tunnels leading out of the chamber he began seeing shadows. He looked to the left and right tunnels and saw more shadows.

"Here they come." he heard someone say, he only nodded.
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TRP/SSGT Joamer/3SQD/PLT/COM/RGT/BAT/VEA/VE [ES1]x2 [EW1] [LoR] [BoH] [AS-H] [AS-1] [SCA]
StarFruit
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StarFruit
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
Post Number:  191
Total Posts:  799
Joined:  Jan 2009
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 2:31:25 PM    View the profile of StarFruit 
Jaenna grunted into pain as yet again the man who was holding the knife to her back pressed a little too hard. “Oi! Why don’t you watch it!” She growled to the man. The man responded by another hard pushed of the knife into her back. The SL gritted her teeth from pain. She looked over to RB, her eyes pleading. RB only looked back at her with the same expression. But then, a feeble smile spread across her lips as RB mouthed the words ‘It’ll be okay’. Only a few days together and already it felt as though they had known each other for so long. She whimpered softly, looking back in front of her, watching as the sun finished setting, and the sky became a deep blue.

“Ockta. The fires are lit.” One of the Northinders said, looking back at their commander while still holding his curved blade against Grahim’s back. He looked back in front of him, as did the others. One hundred or so meters away, a large circle of small fires could be seen from inside a large formation of rocks.

Ockta, the Northinder leader, of this group at least, grumbled softly. “The Elders are getting ready then. We have until the South star reaches the tip of the mountain. We should be to the camp soon, though. We have enough time.” He grunted softly as he looked around at the other Northinders and the Troopers.

“Havock. Are you okay?” Jaenna looked over at her, looking worried.

The ASL sighed and shrugged. “I dunno, Jae. I just-“ The Northinder that had a knife to Hav’s back grunted and elbowed Havock in the hip. Havock yelped softly and almost fell forward, but the man grabbed her wrist bonds and pulled her back up.

“Hey! Stop that- Ack!” That time, Jae was hit, in the face, by a back hand from the Northinder holding her. She growled loudly and went to turn around, but was back handed again. She heard RB grunt against his own bonds as she fell to her knees from the force of the hit.

Ockta stepped up in front of Jaenna. He placed the tip of his curved sword underneath of Jaenna’s chin and lifted her head up to look at her in the eyes. Jaenna’s cheek was bleeding, her green eyes flashing with fear and anger. Her breathing was heavy as she stared at Ockta. “You, dear, must be these wretched heathens leader.” He chuckled and Jae tore her gaze away from his. “I suggest you set a good example for the rest of your heathens.” She kicked her in the stomach then.

“Star!” RB yelled as the SL hunched over and began to cough violently, spitting up on the ground. The pool of sick was a deep green, yellow mixed in. It was all stomach acid. She had eaten anything. The reason why she was so weak. Ockta laughed and motioned for Jaenna’s holder to pick her up onto her feet again.

Jaenna growled, her nostrils flared, her eyes almost spilling over with tears yet again. “If the elders decide against us, you WILL die, you stupid hillbilly.” Jae’s holder elbowed her, and the group kept walking.
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Corporal Jaenna Caldwin
[]CommunicationsTech[]

SL/CPL Jaenna/2SQD/1PLT/1COM-Phoenix/1BAT-Dragon/1RGT-Osiris/Tadath/VEA/VE
[Cor]

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"I found the cure to happiness. Too bad it's an illegal substance."
Jori
ComNet Cadet
 
Jori
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant
 
Post Number:  290
Total Posts:  304
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 3:01:37 PM    View the profile of Jori 
After Joamer’s rousing speech, Jori quickly made his way down to where the Wraith was, joined by Helena, Kand, RK, and Anival on the way. When they reached Joamer, a few words were exchanged and the shooting really started. Cold and calculating, the combined might of Wraith shredded through the enemy ranks like rancor during a feeding frenzy. It was amazing, but they had nearly killed all the ones that they saw, at least the ones who were not laying among the bodies that littered the floor playing dead, when Joamer started cursing and jumped to his feet.

"Oh gods, it's a trap." he said quietly, his face as white as a sheet.

It took Jori a few moments to take in and understand the words as he was too caught up in the shooting, but when he did, he started cursing also and was joined in that by the rest of Wraith.

"Fall back to the central complex! They are coming from every direction!" Kand shouted into his comm when the grave danger they were in finally sunk in.

“Frak, frak, frak!” Jori said loudly as Wraith raced through the tunnels back to central complex, a large, domed room where barricades had been set up in circles around the center of the chamber.

Quickly, Jori hopped the outlying barricades and made it to the center circle, where he crouched down next to Kand, who was shouting orders into his comm. Jori couldn’t make out what he was saying so he just focused on the upcoming bloodbath that was sure to take place.

“At least if we die here today, it will be by comrades and friends and I take comfort in the fact that our deaths will not be for naught as we allowed the rest of the forces to get away.” Jori said somberly.

He heard muttered agreements from all around him and saw a few nods from those who didn’t feel like talking. Everyone knew they were likely to die in this chamber, but each and every one was ok with that.

“Here they come.” Jori heard someone mutter quietly.

With a grim smile, Jori picked his head and looked around at the faces around him, most he didn’t recognize and a scant few he recognized as ones from his own squad or another squad. A few scraping noises echoed out from the tunnels, which gradually grew louder. Eventually the first few troops emerged from the tunnels with a rumble and, as soon as they did, all hell broke loose.
Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps
Sergeant Jori Lekrif
TRP/SGT Jori Lekrif/3SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [CoR][CCA]
Karash
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Karash
 
[VE-ARMY] Private First Class
 
Post Number:  120
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 3:40:51 PM    View the profile of Karash 
The optimism and light heartedness that the Raiders had experienced at the weapons cache had long since been forgotten; it now seemed that it was certain death not only for them but for the entire Wildcard platoon. Karash and the rest of the squad had their hands tied and were being manhandled by yet another group of Neanderthals but at least these ones were not gigantic beasts. The men that were holding the Raiders captive were primitive but were most definitely not on the side of the New Republic which meant that the storm troopers were not necessarily their enemies.

“Stop it!” Star screamed at the man who was trying to drag Rogue by his injured leg.

“Silence woman.” One of the Northinders ordered the squad leader.

Karash knew that he had to try and reason with these men and stop them from injuring Rogue any further or worse, killing him. “Perhaps you should let him use his walking sticks.”

“There is sense in that, remove the bags. The elders will decide once we get there whether they will live or die.” The man seemed to see reason and agreed with Karash’s suggestion.

These new attackers seemed to be more intelligent than those that the Raiders had encountered earlier on in the mission and even though they were not the size of the monstrous barbarians it made them no less intimidating. These people were of a warrior society, they lived and died with a sword in their hands, they were clearly well trained and ruthless but they showed a sign of compassion. By allowing the Raiders and any other imperial forces held captive to appear in front of the so called “elders” they gave hope to Karash.

----Some time later----

“Ockta. The fires are lit.” One of the Northinders said to another who must have been their leader.

The time of reckoning for the Raiders was almost upon them as these fires must have been of some significance because all of the Northinders looked over at these fires. Karash’s thoughts had not once left the thoughts of what the elders would decide; part of Karash hoped that they would be wise old sages that would see the Imperial army as a force to help them but part of Karash knew they could just be bloodthirsty warlords that would sacrifice their captives to some sort of god.

“The Elders are getting ready then. We have until the South star reaches the tip of the mountain. We should be to the camp soon, though. We have enough time.” The Northinder looked comforted by his own words.

Karash looked over at his squad mates and could see a bunch of tired, injured and generally broken troopers. This mission had taken its toll on everyone in more than just a physical sense because never had Karash felt so tired and sick in his entire life.

“Hey! Stop that- Ack!” Karash looked over and saw his squad leader bleeding and kneeling on the floor.

“You, dear, must be these wretched heathens leader.” The Northinders leader grinned evilly as he kicked Jae in the stomach causing her to vomit violently.

“Star!” Rogue shouted loudly and wrestled with his own confinement.

This single act of cruelty by the Northinders pushed Karash into complete despair as the one spark of compassion that separated them from the beasts had been destroyed with one kick. As the majority of the squad tried to get to the aid of Jae, Karash just stood in silence staring at the floor and hoping that the deaths they would be sentences to would be quick and painless. The last glimpse of hope had departed from Karash’s body.
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StarFruit
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StarFruit
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
Post Number:  192
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 4:29:12 PM    View the profile of StarFruit 
“Ockta! The drums are sounding!” One of the men yelled as they group continued through a small tunnel of rock, heading towards the lit circle of fires. The night sky was even darker now, the hour was late, and the air was cold and full of fear, most of this fear rising from a few troopers within the RAIDERS squad. “We must hurry, else the Elders will begin the meeting without us.”

Ockta growled as he look at the man. “You think I don’t know that? You insulant wretch!” He yelled, raising his curved sword in a threatening stance. The man who had spoken to the leader seemed to shrink. It was quite obvious that Ockta had much power over this certain group of Northinders. He chuckle softly, seeing his men look at him with fear wide in their eyes. Rogueboy growled deep in his throat, wishing that he were off of his crutches so that attacked the bastard would be so much easier.

The light from the fire grew larger as the group kept walking. Jae could feel the fear in her squad. She could feel the morality once again draining from the group. She was getting sick of being constantly captured. Sighing, her head drooped as she began to cough again. Spittle was dripped on the corners of her mouth. Every time she took a breath, it felt as though her left lung was being stabbed. A cracked rib. She could tell. This wasn’t good. Looking over to RB, she silently pleaded for helping, knowing of course that it wouldn’t come, even from the man that her feelings were growing increasingly strong for.

A Northinder chuckled as they reached the end of the tunnel. “Take them to the Cheiften hut. There they will wait.” The group had arrived at the camp of Northinders. The light from the circle of fires was vast and bright, tinting the entire area in an eerie orange. It was all so… beautiful and yet terribly frightening. As the group of Northinders lead the troopers to the large hut painted in different earthen colors, Ockta left the group and made his way to three large stone chair that sat in the circumference of the circle of fires. Jaenna watched as Ockta left, plotting in her mind the man’s demise.

“In you go, heathens!” The Northinders shoved and puches the RAIDERS into the tent. It was empty, save for a small fire in the middle of the ground. The small group of bound STs grumbled as they adjusted themselves after the Northinders left them alone. They sat there, in a small circle around the even smaller and dying fire. The SL sat next to the ASL, the medic sat next to Raelene, the Gungan sat with Beta and RB was sitting next to the SL. They were all injured and frightened.

Grahim shuddered and struggled against his bonds, but they were too tightly tied at her wrists. “Thissa is stupidsa! Whatsa did we doo?”

“Nothing, Grahim.. Some people just hate others.” Karash answered as he stared into the small fire.

“Star, what are we going to do?” Raelene asked, shivering as she did so. The SL looked at the trooper and sighed.

Jaenna shook her head and joined Karash in staring into the fire. “Yanno, Rae? I really don’t know… But I do know one thing: We will get out of this mess.”

“No we won’t.” Beta growled as he glared over at Jaenna.

Instantly, Jaenna glared right back at him. “Shut the hell up, Beta. I’m starting to figure that you don’t even belong in this squad. Not if you’re going to lose hope so easily.” Beta continued to stare right back at his SL, as Karash looked to the ground. “No RAIDER ever loses hope completely. We have an entire freakin’ platoon to save! We can’t lose hope! We are going to get out of this. You hear me Private?!” Beta just stared at Jaenna, who’s eyes were narrowed, green flashing with the orange from the fire. Finally, Beta looked away. Jaenna then addressed the rest of her squad. “We may have lost Baretz, we may have been captured yet again. We may not have much hope, but I swear to you all that we will get out of this. If we don’t, let me burn in whatever hell exists for failing my squad.” She spoke with passion as she looked to each of her troopers. Then, she sighed and leaned her head on RB’s shoulder, who in turn rested his own head on hers. “Just right now, guys… We need to relax and calm down. Our time will come. We just need to wait.”

The squad all nodded at their SL and then look at the ground. Jaenna shut her eyes, sighing as well. She had a terrible feeling that she might have just lied to her entire squad.
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Corporal Jaenna Caldwin
[]CommunicationsTech[]

SL/CPL Jaenna/2SQD/1PLT/1COM-Phoenix/1BAT-Dragon/1RGT-Osiris/Tadath/VEA/VE
[Cor]

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"I found the cure to happiness. Too bad it's an illegal substance."
Anival Velasquez
ComNet Member
 
Anival Velasquez
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
Post Number:  332
Total Posts:  1075
Joined:  Oct 2007
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 5:44:06 PM    View the profile of Anival Velasquez 
Anival woke up in a makeshift medical room, it was actually a cave, intricate patterns worn by years of water passing by, decorated the walls. Anival briefly wondered what he was doing in the makeshift cot. Anival spotted RK, he seemed half asleep and half dead. Anival stood up, and was met with the ground rushing at him, quickly he decided to sit back down.

“Oh Ani, you’re awake.” she said, handing him a pill of some sort.

Anival took the pill with his only hand, and popped it into his mouth and swallowed it dry. Anival looked at the floor not daring to look Helena in the face, he still felt like he had somehow let them down. Anival lifted the stump and examined it. There was a white bandage covering the stump, red dots were the blood had soaked through.

“Don’t worry Ani, it will be ok.” Anival didn’t here Helena he was so engrossed in his self-pity he forgot they were in the middle of a war. Knowing a rifle wasn’t an option, he checked his holster, his pistol was still there, it was the only thing he would be able to fire for a while.

Anival examined the area around him blaster fire was heard less often, and then barely at all, it seemed the enemy was taking a break, or calling air support. Anival shuddered at the thought of being encased inside a cave, the only appealing prospect of it was that he would die with his squad mates.

Anival craved to go back out to see his squad, somehow, he felt even more distant. The burden of not having an arm weighed heavily on him. A few seconds later Anival heard Joamer’s speech through a nearby comlink. Getting up, he upholstered his pistol, and marched with a purpose to the second barricade.

They had been firing at the enemy, barbarian and NR soldier alike fell. Suddenly Joamer went pale.

“Oh gods, it’s a trap.”

The impact of Joamer’s word hit Anival like a hammer to the chest, he started running before Kand had given the orders.

As soon as they got behind the barricades the caves started to tremble, it sounded like a bantha stampede, small chunks fell from the roof, as if somebody were bombarding the cave. A million roars could be heard as the enemy erupted seemingly out of nowhere pouring forth like a fountain, everyone opened fire, sending a symphony of blaster fire, explosions, and the now common screams of rage, and death.

Anival winced as a normal soldier fell, his eye missing, as well as half of his face, Anival blocked it all out, and focused on not letting the enemy get to close, it was hard firing only a pistol, but he was glad that his rifle was in capable hands.

Anival reloaded his pistol and threw the empty clip, he had another pistol if worst came to worst, Anival heard a faint hiss, looking around he spotted a bolt flying towards him, he instinctively throwing himself on the floor. Anival got up with more difficulty than usual, and dusted himself off, and continued the barrage of fire.

They were slowing down the enemy, but not stopping it, they were greater in numbers, but couldn’t get their whole force to batter at the defenses, that made them vulnerable, however the imperial army was fortified, and dug into the cave, they were expecting the enemy, and that was what gave them the upper hand.

“We might actually survive this.” said a nearby army regular.

Anival only responded with an affirmative grunt, his face lit up with every shot he fired, his features highlighted by the crimson fire of his weapon.

“I hope the Raider’s find reinforcement soon, I don’t want to die in this frakken place, and I especially don’t want to end up as a fashion accessory e for some dimwitted brute.”

“I heard you.”

Anival only had five blaster pack left, he started using the shots wisely, only firing when he was sure it would hit. Anival looked around to see if the casualties they were suffering, surprisingly it was few, well compared to the losses they had suffered from the beginning of the campaign.

“We can do this! We can win!” shouted an officer Anival didn’t recognize. Anival noticed that the mood had slightly shifted, the soldiers had hope again, small shakable hope that could be blown apart by the faintest of winds, but hope none the less.

Anival looked at his stump, and spat on the ground. He was sick of this war, and sick of the army, but it was the only life he knew, angry but resigned he once again started tearing away at the enemy ranks. The enemy kept coming only to be mowed down by the fortified army.  They really could win, but they couldn’t hold forever, it all rested on the hands of the Raiders, and Anival hoped they were up to the task, because if they weren’t they would have to live with an army’s death on their minds.
Corporal Anival 
Vine Vidi vici
Cogito Ergo Sum
TRP/CPLAnivalVelasquez/1SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/[AS-H]/[AS-1]/[EW:2C]

~WildcardPlatoo n ~
-=Wraith PRIDE=-

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Havock
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Havock
 
[VE-ARMY] Lance Corporal
 
Post Number:  164
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 5:54:10 PM    View the profile of Havock 
Havock watched as Jae's head fell against the wall of the enclosure the Northinder's had left them in. The fire was reflecting on each of the troopers faces. The fire needed to be in their eyes, they needed to believe they were going to get out of this mess or everything would be lost.

Havock looked beyond Jae to Rogueboy, who's eyes looked worried. But not about the squad or himself, just about the SL whom he still was staring at. 

Looking around, the structure they were in was of similar design to the barbarians camp Havock had been imprisoned in earlier. Only this time they didn't feel the need to tie her to a support beam, which was a nice improvement on captivity standards.

The thought of being an expert on captivity locations and practices actually made Havock laugh out loud. This got the strangest look from Jaenna.

Havock looked over at Jae, then glanced at the rest of the confused faces in the room. “I'm okay. I haven't lost my mind, yet.”

Jae nodded. “What was so funny?”

Havock's arms were starting to hurt, they had bound her hands behind her back. She pulled her legs back and brought her still bound arms out to loop through her legs, this brought the arms to the front in a much more comfortable position.

Sighing and twisting her neck forcing the bones to crack, she turned back to Jae. “I actually find the accommodations given by this particular captor to be rather nice. You know I'm thinking of writing a holonovel. I'll call it, 'If you must find yourself captured, make sure its here'. What cha think?”

The silent stare she was getting from RB and Jaenna, was enough for her. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to get comfortable. “Yeah, you guys are right. Need to work on the title.”

“Havvy.I need you, stay with us okay?” Jae's voice was a whisper and laced with concern for everyone.

Havock opened her eyes and leaned over a bit to speak quietly to Jae. “Relax. I'm not going anywhere, mentally or otherwise. And you and I have been in this situation before, I've been here twice. We are all going to be fine.”

Jae smiled slightly. “Your lying.”

“Not entirely. Regardless of what happens, or whats happened to Wildcard. I'll be at your side, so see I'm not going anywhere.” Hav smirked and leaned back against the wall again.

She could hear a commotion outside the building they were sitting in. Havock was scared, but she had pushed the fear to being more about her squadmates than about herself. She had accepted never leaving this damned planet when she was captured by the barbarians. Now it seemed that it might be their local enemies that would finish what they couldn't accomplish and kill Havock.

Dieing, that Havock didn't mind. But she refused to die panicking, or lying down in any way. If they wanted to kill her or her friends, they were in for one hell of a fight.
Lance Corporal Ayme 'Havock' Katash
Assistant Squad Leader | RAIDERS Squad | Wildcard Platoon
Vehicle Crewman


ASL|LCPL Havock|2SQD|1PLT|1COM|1BAT|1RGT|VEA|VE
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Havock
Rogueboy
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Rogueboy
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 9:33:47 PM    View the profile of Rogueboy 
The commotion outside of the hut was quickly brought into the hut and the squad just as rapidly found out what the cause of the fight was. “This woman is in charge.” The man yelled at another while pointing at StarFruit. “She is in charge of the other woman, and this man is in charge of the men.” A sausage like finger, which was connected to an arm the size of roast haunches, pointed at Rogueboy reminding him of how hungry he was.

“I’m telling you Chieftain Redbeard, there’s two woman in charge of these defilers. The men are nothing more than the sons of usurers.” The thinner man said to the walking steak.

“The elders want leaders, and that man carries himself like a leader. So I will take him to the elders along with the she-wolf.” Chief Redbeard stated before continuing. “Guards! Escort these two hell spawns to the audience chamber.”

Rogueboy found himself being lifted by two burly guards who each carried two dark blades, and a longbow slung over their backs, and a hip quiver on their right sides. They could have been twins, RB thought to himself as they were dragging him by his arms.

Starfruit was likewise picked up and dragged. Together they were brought outside the hut and down a dirt road in between larger huts. Past what must have been a barracks or training hall, into a mighty circular building. Once they passed the threshold of the door, which was covered by the skin of some animal they were greeted with four rows of crude benches.

“We used to have a wonderful carpenter.” One of the guards whispered into Rogueboy’s ear. “The barbarians used his skin to fashion a cloak for one of their clan leaders.”

“I’m saddened to hear about your loss, any artisan is worth their weight in gold.” RB said hopefully adding just the right amount of sympathy to his voice.

“He was a piss poor fighter, and surrendered while gathering wood. He deserved his fate.” The guard whispered.

Turning to Jaenna, Alex used his mouth to say. “I love warrior cultures.” All the while rolling his eyes, which rewarded him with a snicker.

A door opened up at the end of the round room, and three people passed through with veils covering them from head to toe. The guard dropped Rogueboy and Starfruit onto the ground and began bowing. “All hail the elders!”

The three veiled men sat at a wooden dais at the center of the room. “Today, we the elders will hear the voice of the people. We will begin with the problem of the guards. Will Chieftain Redbeard bring himself forward?” The voice said many touches higher than what Rogueboy would have expected from an elderly man.

The pudgy Chieftain stepped forward. “I, Chief Redbeard have captured, thirty-eight prisoners today. Of these prisoners all thirty-eight have fallen from the sky. Our scouts have watched as they battled the large heathens and fallen angels. I have gotten brief reports that the majority of the prisoners’ comrades are holed up in the cave North of the former town of Herans. Our guards insist that the prisoners claim to be here to exterminate the heathens. I believe that they are here to kill the other fallen angels, I leave this matter up to you.” Chieftain Redbeard bowed.
Heavy Weapons Specialist

He will give them death, and they will love him for it -Gladiator

Eat a hearty breakfast men, for tonight we dine in hell -300

A man, can be an artist, at anything food, whatever... it just depends on how good they are at it. Creases art is death... he's about to paint his masterpiece -Man on Fire

TRP/PSG_Rogueboy/2SQS/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/TADATH/VE [LoR][ES1][CDS][CoR][EW2][IH][GRP][CCA][SC]

Clearly Canadian!
StarFruit
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StarFruit
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 11:06:59 PM    View the profile of StarFruit 
The pudgy Chieftain stepped forward. “I, Chief Redbeard have captured, thirty-eight prisoners today. Of these prisoners all thirty-eight have fallen from the sky. Our scouts have watched as they battled the large heathens and fallen angels. I have gotten brief reports that the majority of the prisoners’ comrades are holed up in the cave North of the former town of Herans. Our guards insist that the prisoners claim to be here to exterminate the heathens. I believe that they are here to kill the other fallen angels, I leave this matter up to you.” Chieftain Redbeard bowed.

The three elders looked at one another before turning their attention back to Rogue and Star, who were both bowing their heads as they sat on their knees, waiting to be addressed. Both of them knew how to act while imprisoned and at an audience with a higher rank of any type of culture than they. One of the Elders grunted and both RB and SF knew what to do; they looked up, expressions stoic and almost empty as they looked at the three elders, only one of them female.

“I bid you to explain your reason for being here. The male leader speaks first.” The Elder in the middle chair spoke loudly, his voice deep and booming.

Alex sighed as he looked to the Elder, trying to gather his thoughts. “Great Elder. We have been sent here by our own elder to rid this world of those Fallen Angles. When we arrived, we were prepared for only coming to battle against those Angles, but we were ambushed by the demons. We ended up learning from our scouts that the Fallen Angles and the Demons have joined forces and are now working together to destroy us and everything else on this world.” He spoke intelligently, and with the same words that those of this tribe would use. It surprised Jaenna to a point where she even looked over to him, head cocked slightly, confused as to why he knew how to speak with these men so well.

“The female speaks now.” The female Elder boomed, her own voice also deep. This caught Jaenna off guard as she whipped her head back to look once again at the Elders. She gulped, and knitted her brows, trying to think of what to say. Panicking, she looked over to Alex, who only shrugged and gestured for her to look back at the Elders. “Speak, woman.” The female Elder boomed.

Again, the SL gulped. Her authority wasn’t going to help her now. “Elders. Just as my companion said, we have been sent her by our leader to destroy the Fallen Angles. But we were caught off guard when we realized that they asked the Demons for help. Many of our forces have been wiped out. My team and I-“ The Elder grunted as she said those words, and she panicked, trying to find the right words to replace her old ones. “OUR team,” she said gesturing towards Alex, “have been sent in search of help. Our forces, as I stated before, are thinning due to the combined efforts of the Demons and Fallen Angles. We are in desperate need of supplies, food, and help. Elders… Please. We are not begging for this help, but we are pleading.”

“What is the difference, heathens?!” The Chieftain roared as she stepped forward.

“Redbeard! Step back and stay quiet!” The Elder on the right of the other two roared at their Chieftain.

“Yes, sir. I apologize humbly.” The large man stepped back and grumbled lowly, staring hungrily at Alex and Jaenna.

“There is a difference between begging and pleading. Begging is done by those who have no respect for themselves. Pleading on the other hand, Redbeard, is done by those who do have respect. A very large amount of respect.” The Elder looked down at Alex and Jaenna, who both looked up at him, expressions still stoic. “I haveheard your stories. Now… I wish to know what you have to offer us if we do end up helping you.”

Redbeard was heard in the background, kicking something with a grunt. It was obvious he wasn’t happy at the possibility of his people helping out the STs and other Imperials.

“Elders. We will offer you our guarantee of the Demons and Fallen Angles being destroyed. We will give you the technology  you could use to further your defenses in case of any other attack. We will speak with our own Elders, and discuss the possibility of leaving some of our forces with you for even further protection. Elders, if you help us, the Empire will be in your debt.” Jaenna said as he looked at the Elders, pleading in her eyes now. She felt Alex’s eyes on her, but ignored him, knowing that what she said would put thoughts in the Elders head. Good thoughts… Hopefully.

The three Elders looked to each other, then nodded once each. The middle Elder looked towards the CPL and PSGT. “Redbeard, return them to your hut. We must speak on this matter. We will call the leader and she-wolf back in when we have reached a decision.”

“What?! But Elders! These… These heathens have destroyed our forest! They have killed many! They are demons their selves!”

“Silence, Redbeard! I am beginning to think that you are a heathen yourself with they way you treat others who do not practice culture as we do. Now return them to your hut! NOW!” The middle Elder boomed as his pointed a large, wrinkly finger at the entrance.

“Yes, Elder…”
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Corporal Jaenna Caldwin
[]CommunicationsTech[]

SL/CPL Jaenna/2SQD/1PLT/1COM-Phoenix/1BAT-Dragon/1RGT-Osiris/Tadath/VEA/VE
[Cor]

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"I found the cure to happiness. Too bad it's an illegal substance."
Havock
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Havock
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 17, 2009 11:39:46 PM    View the profile of Havock 
When the guards came in looking for leaders, Havock knew better than to move a muscle. But when they grabbed RB and Jae, her impulse was to rip their fraking heads off. One look from Jae silenced her and physically forced her back to the ground. She swallowed hard and looked sad and beaten at the guards as they carried her two friend out of the hut.

“What, what do we do now?” Beta stammered. He was starting to get on Havock's nerves.

“You're going to shut up, Beta.” Havock looked around at the others, they needed a plan if things went bad here. She refused to just give up, no matter what happened.

Raelene looked like she was about to cry, but there was a quiet strength about her. She would do whatever was asked of her, she had not yet given up completely. Karash looked beyond angry about being tied up and told to sit on the dirt floor. Anyone could tell he did not like taking orders from primitives, so she could count on him if things turned. Grahim looked dazed but not completely out of it. The only one that concerned Havock was Beta, he didn't look well at all.

“We'll know soon, what has happened. Everyone just stay quiet so we can hear anything thats going on outside. I haven't given up, guys. I would hope that none of you have either.” With that said, Havock closed her eyes and focused on all the sounds she could make out beyond the hut. There was the sound of fire, drums, and people walking.

A scuttle snapped Havock's head up off the wall, she looked around at the others who had equally inquisitive looks on their faces. Then the door flap ripped open and a very angry looking man shoved Jae into the room. She had to twist her body to miss falling into the fire.

Havock jumped up to her knees, ready to beat the crap out of the man. “Hey!” Jae quickly looked up at Havock and shook her head in a negative. Havock's teeth were grinding so hard together she was sure they would crack. Her eyes flicked up to see another guard toss Rogueboy in the hut and put his hand on the first man's shoulder.

“Remember what the elders said.” The man was standing over Jae with his nostrils flaring, he growled and spit at her before turning quickly and leaving the RAIDERS alone again.

Once he was gone Havock jumped up to help the two of them. Jae waved her off and got up on her own, but Hav helped RB back to his seat before returning to hers.

“Okay, what happened.” Havock's wrists were starting to bother her, they itched from the binding.

Jae took a deep breath. “We told them we were here to kill the barbarians, and that if they helped us we would help them keep on killing barbarians.”

Havock thought about that for a minute or two before turning back to Jae. “So the truth, did the Elders  believe you. Cause from what I could tell our friend that brought you back doesn't.”

“We don't know, they are going to come and get us once they've decided.” RB's voice was weak, he was in a lot of pain.
Lance Corporal Ayme 'Havock' Katash
Assistant Squad Leader | RAIDERS Squad | Wildcard Platoon
Vehicle Crewman


ASL|LCPL Havock|2SQD|1PLT|1COM|1BAT|1RGT|VEA|VE
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Havock
StarFruit
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StarFruit
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 9:51:06 AM    View the profile of StarFruit 
Drums kept playing; lights from the fires flickered underneath of the entrance flap to the hut - The noises outside were of jubilee. Obviously some sort of festival. But everyone of the RAIDERS were just sitting there, faces showing fear and apprehension. The morning was about to come. The sun was rising. They could all sense it. Every single one of them had given up hope at some point through the night. The lot had let their entire Platoon and even more of fellow Imperials down by not finding help in time. It was all just so scary for them. The RAIDERS squad, one of the most feared squads, was just sitting there in a hut on this wretched planet, hands tied behind their backs, waiting to hear their fate from a less technological advanced tribe. It just seemed so lost. They were all thinking at this point that they were done for. Nothing could save them.

“Ssshh. It’s okay.” Rogueboy cooed softly as he ran his hand through Jaenna’s hair, her head resting on his thigh. The SL was whimpering in pain, her hip hadn’t healed completely before they were sent out on this objective, and now an infection was spreading. RB himself was in a lot of pain as well. His face wasn’t necessarily contorted, but it showed an obvious large amount of pain. He refused to make any sound of it though while attempting to comfort his girl.

Karash moved his head to look at the pair. His eyes were sunken in and showed his lack of sleep. “An infection…”

“Yeah I know you idiot medic.” Rogue snapped at Karash, who in turn just shrugged and rested his head back against the side of the hut.

“Not like I can do anything, so don’t get pissy with me, boy.”

“Don’t call me boy!” The Platoon Sergeant growled through gritted teeth.

Jaenna whined softly, and twisted her neck to look up at RB, her green eyes glazed and watery. “Shut up, Alex. All of you just up. There’s no point in arguing right now.”

“She’s right.” Came the voice of Havock from her position up against the side of the hut. Her blue eyes were locked onto the now dead fire in the everyone just needs to calm down. We’ll hear from the Elders soon.”

Beta grumbled and shot a glare towards his ASL. “Yeah right! We haven’t from them by now, what makes you think we’ll hear from them at all?”

“Uh… He does.” Raelene said, pointing to a large, old man standing in the open flap-way of the hut. The entire squad turned to look at the large man. He was one of the Elders that Jaenna and RB had spoken not eight hours before. The sunlight from outside shinned against his back, silhouetting him in the threshold of the large, animal skin tent. He simply raised a hand and pointed to Jaenna and Alex, wagging his finger in a gesture to come with him.

“Our bonds, Elder. I humbly request to be released from them, since your men are not here to carry me this time. Also, the she-wolf will have some trouble standing on her own due to an infection festering in one of her wounds.” Alex spoke softly, staring straight at the Elder man, who nodded. He slowly drew a gnarly looking curved knife from underneath of his fur robes and walked over to RB and SF. He cut their bonds and stepped back, staying silent the entire time. “Thank you, Elder.” Rogue said while nodding his head low in a sort of soft bow. He grabbed his crutches and stood, once he had balance, he held out a hand to try and help Jae stand up. She took his hand and stood slowly, gritting her teeth as did so.

The two troopers walked out of the hut, lead by the Elder. Instead of heading towards the audience hall, the three walked towards the circle of smaller rock pillars that held the fires from the night before. The sun shone down on them, causing Star and Rogue to squint. They both stayed silent though, mostly from fear as they looked around at all of the other tribesmen and women staring at them. Their faces were painted and weapons were drawn.

It was a lost cause.

“Stop right there, leader and she-wolf.” The Elder man said without turning around he climbed a couple of rock steps to sit upon the middle throne in a line of three. The other two elders were there as well. Alex and Jaenna stood there, waiting to hear their fate.

The Elders looked down on the two StormTroopers, their eyes holding many, many years of wisdom and war. The one on the left spoke first, the female. “I have heeded the She-wolf’s words. All night I have thought on them. They were meaningful and deep. She spoke well and with the respect that was needed from such a girl. How, though, such a small girl is in command of the females of her pack, I know not. But through her speech, I began to learn the answer to this. She is strong and knowledgeable. The She-wolf knows what she speaks of and her words have reached my heart.” The female stopped talking and looked towards the Elder on the right.

“As SkyGazer has stated, the She-wolf does speak well. My attentions though were at the leader. His heart was visible in his words. He feels greatly for his tribe and for this She-wolf.” Jaenna looked over to see Alex’s cheek flush a bit. “His words touched me greatly and I also heeded them well. He is a great leader indeed, and does not let the fact he is only of three paws to hinder his leading efforts.”

The two Elders on the sides now were looking at the one in the middle. His eyes were deep and gray, showing his age. He nodded to Alex and Jaenna. “SkyGazer and SoftWalker have spoken well on your behalves, You, leader.”He spoke to Rogueboy now. “Despite having only three available legs, you are strong hearted and strong willed. You have the will to fight and do not give up easily. I can see this in your eyes. The She-wolf.” He turned his attention to Jaenna. “You have the personality of a storm. Raging and strong. Yet right in the middle is a soft area for those you care for. You care for your pack well.” He now spoke to the pair. “Both of you are strong. You are as one. I know, just from looking at you, that you care each other deeply, whether or not you know it already. You also care for you pack more than any other Alpha pair I have come across.” He spoke as if they were wolves. It confused Alex and Jaenna but they didn’t mind, it made them feel strong. “This is why, after hours of deliberation, the Northwinders have decided to help you in your efforts.”

The place erupted in cheers. The Squad leader and Platoon Sergeant looked to each other and smiled, both of their hearts skipped. The Elder stood and stepped down from his throne, carrying a large walking stick. He stopped a foot away from Alex and Jae. He smiled down at them, his large grey eyes looking from a green gaze to that of RB’s. He raised his walking stick and places the end first on Rogueboy’s shoulder.

“This Alpha is now known as StormPaw.” The tribesmen and woman erupted into cheers again. The Elder than placed the end of the walking stick on Jaenna’s shoulder. “The She-wolf is now known as StormHeart.” He raised his walking stick and place the end back on the ground as once again the area erupted into cheers. “NorthWinders! Prepare for battle!” More cheering. Then, the Elder gestured for someone to come towards him, it just so happened to be Redbeard. “Redbeard, take these two Storm wolves back to their pack. Gather them and take them to the healers. We move out in one shadow length.”

“Does that mean one hour?” Jaenna softly asked RB, who nodded while smiling brightly.

“Yes, Elder StarBlast.”

OOC:
RAIDERS Objective complete

We were able to gain help from the locals called the NorthWinders. They are an ancient race that uses mainly melee weapons and long bows. Despite their appearance, they are a warrior culture, meaning they are strong and now how to fight in both mountain and forest terrain rather well. Guerrilla warriors if I may call them so.
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Corporal Jaenna Caldwin
[]CommunicationsTech[]

SL/CPL Jaenna/2SQD/1PLT/1COM-Phoenix/1BAT-Dragon/1RGT-Osiris/Tadath/VEA/VE
[Cor]

Imperial Network Star Wars Image

"I found the cure to happiness. Too bad it's an illegal substance."
[This message has been edited by StarFruit (edited June 18, 2009 9:54:12 AM)]
Saphira Striker
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Saphira Striker
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-VEEC] Journalist
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 11:49:36 AM    View the profile of Saphira Striker 
Everything seemed to be crumbling and those still left standing were going to lose hope. Some already have. Saphira thought as she shot off a few rounds at a barbarian that was trying to break into the barrier. As sensitive as she was with he lek, it twitched over her shoulder almost constantly now. People were loosing hope and she felt the agony of the troopers who died before her. Troopers she would never meet again unless she joined the great beyond.

No, no thoughts like that. Have to keep positive. Doc's injures and I'm ASL. I have to.. No... Must stay in charge and keep the hope alive.

Saphira thought again as she ran up to an alpha trooper who was injured. It was obvious he was trying to keep up, but his left and right arm were injured to the point she could tell he was in pain. Under other circumstances she w would let the trooper keep going. "Trooper! Stand down. Fall back with the others." She ordered.

The trooper looked up and she saw the pain that clearly ran across his face. It was both, she knew. He wanted to fight,but knew he was injured to badly. That he was still pushing himself above all was inspiring. "I can't do that. I have to do this. You've saved my neck several times on this trip. I'm not going to fall back and wait to be slaughtered." He replied.


Sam, Brock and JB looked over as they watched a few wraiths with their own issues. They were looking to her now for hope and whatever she had up her sleeves. They wanted to see the trooper they knew from day one of the mission. Even as Brock still was picking dirt off his armor.

"I can't let you do that -"

"No!" He interrupted. "I can already tell I won't make it out of here. Don't say I will. There's too many injured and there will be only so many that will be able to make it out. You know this, I know this and everyone knows it." He reasoned. Right then Sam and the others ran up to the end barricade where it was being torn apart.


"Sarge! Saph.. whatever.. They are breaking through! There's too many!" Sam yelled out. Saphira opened her eyes and knew if they broke through there they would be overwhelmed with too much. Snapping her head towards them she looked to where they were setting streams of blaster fire. The trooper then grabbed her left shoulder and turned her to face him.

"Let me go. I can stop them from that point. Better to go out in glory then be killed like a dying womrat."


saphira sighed and closed her eyes. He was serious and it wouldn't matter what she said. " What's your name trooper?"

"Darmin... You have some of my friends dog tags.." Darmin replied. Saphira nodded and heard the shouts for help from her troopers as she pulled out the id tags to show him. "They were some of my closest friends. I don't want them alone in death." As he spoke she watched as he took off his own tags and handed them to her. The trooper number 8411 was on them with his name and other information.


"I shouldn't let you do this."


"You know I have to. It's been an honor, but my death will buy you all time.. an d I am glade to do it. Too bad there won't be other times. After ten years of this I can now say I have seen everything." Darmin replied and reached into his pouch and pulled out a thermal detonator. Turning git on he sat it to dead mans switch. When it hit the floor it would go off. "Tell them to back away."


I.. I shouldn't let him do this. He can be saved... But he is right as well. A good leader had to make tough choices at times. Choices that would be hard and if she was taking Doc's place she knew it would have to be like this. She couldn't just let things happen. Everyone had their time and place to go, and Darmin was choosing his now to save time and lives for those who were still breathing. "MOVE BACK!!!!" She screamed as Darmin ran as fast as he could. Sam and Brock looked over at her and say Darmin running with pain on his face towards them.


"No, Saphira! You can't let him do this!" Sam replied as they bolted out of the way. Her face was only a hard, cold mask as her right hand squeezed Darmins id tags in her left hand. They all watched as Darmin made it to the breaking vantage point and shot a round of blaster bolts at the enemy trying to break through. Then he tossed his blaster back as a hand reached and grabbed him. Yanking him through as people and other Alpha troopers yelled out. It was as if time slowed and then paused.

"Goodbye.." She whispered as an explosion took off that rocked the cave. Small bits of stone fell around them, but the most was at the side where Darmin sacrificed himself. Rocks fell and everyone heard screams on the other side. Knowing very well that they were lucky that the whole cave or, at least the section they were at didn't cave in itself.


"Saph!? What the hell? Why did you let him do that?" It was Brock who said it first. She looked up at him and gave a cold stare that made him step back. Sam however, didn't.


"Now we are down another trooper. What the hell!? He could have been saved. We could have tossed one of those out there -"

"Quiet! He did his job to save our asses and buy us some time. I made the choice as well. You both know well the more injured we have, the less likely we can get them all out. He knew he was at the breaking point. Darmin chose that for us and the others. If anything those barbarians have lost a couple as well and from the sound of it that section is caved it to give us more of a barrier. We can now fall back and help the others." She snapped and turned her back to them and started to walk away. Only to stop as she looked at Darmins Dog tags in her hand.

"Sometimes, as a leader you have to make a choice that is hard. I made it, as well as he." She added, an looked back at them. Her gaze softened. "Don't let him die in vain. Now lets go. There's still more to kill."

Sam, Brock and a few others nodded and they took off to to where the wraiths where at. Sam noticed as they ran she took Darmin's dog tags and placed them around her neck. They came in to where the other squad was as she tucked them under her armor. Leaving only a couple Alpha troopers at the other spot just in case the enemy started to break in again.

We'll make it. I promise you Darmin. You're death won't be in vain. I will wear your tags in remembrance of you and the hard choice made here today. If not, I will die gladly, knowing that we did the best damned job we could. We'll make it and you will not be forgotten

OOC:
1237 word count! Woot!
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TRP/SGT Saphira Striker/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA


Author/JRN Saphira Striker/Lotaith/VET/VE
[This message has been edited by Saphira Striker (edited June 18, 2009 12:34:30 AM)]
Joamer
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Joamer
 
[VE-ARMY] Senior Sergeant
 
Post Number:  238
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 12:55:35 AM    View the profile of Joamer 
Joamer reached over the barricade and gripped the barbarians throat who was trying to climb over the edge. The savage had a look of surprise on his face as the trooper effortlessly lifted him off the ground. The surprise turned to panic as Joamer closed his fist, the soft snap of breaking bones filled the air, he tossed the limp body away.

The A280 had run out of ammo some time ago, his pistol had a few shots left, but he had found out a fun way to rack up the kill count. Plus it allowed him to release some of his anger. Striking with his left fist he struck a barbarian dead center in the chest that had jumped the wall. He watched as he the brute tried to take a step but failed when he could not get a breath. Joamer smiled as his eyes began to budge out slightly then fall back, he twitched for several minutes before laying still.

He ducked at the last instant as a crossbow bolt sailed by his head, he turned to watch a man stumble a few steps before smashing into the ground, the bolt protruding from the back of his skull. He mumbled something and waited for something else to attack, nothing else came.

The attack faltered sometime after that, they pulled back like usual and regrouped. Joamer kneeled down and took a long breath. He looked around, most everyone was injured in some form, holes were appearing in the barricades. He knew ammo count was very low. He drew his frontier model B and checked the gauss clip, it was empty. He ejected the shells and began tossing the fired ones away, he shook his head as he held up one bullet.

"Fitting, one remaining." He mumbled half to himself. Anival raised his head and tried to chuckle, it sounded more like a grunt.


His comlink beeped then and he heard Arnauts voice. "Count up ammo, report to your SL." He sounded worn out and worn down.

He waited while people checked clips, and their belts. He heard Kanderin walk up and ask the question. He did not respond as he heard Anival say he had half a clip, and Joamer has one pistol shot left. He tried to smile but he did not have the strength left.

"After the count, and after searching the dead. We have two hundred sixty two shots left." Arnaut said into the private frequency they all shared. He did not hear anyone panic over this, they already knew.

"So this it, the next attack will be the last." Joamer heard someone say, he did not open his eyes to find out who said it, he did not care anymore.

"What about running?" Someone said, "There has to be other exits in this cave system. We split up, get into small groups and just run for it."

"It's better then sitting here and dieing in the next few minutes." Kand said.

Joamer opened his eyes and starred at Arnaut. He was turning in a slow circle meeting the gaze of every person still alive. He nodded slowly when he finished.

"It's agreed then, we run. SLs, pick a route and get out of here. Those of you in the army that are alive, break up into fireteams and run for it. Find a exit, get down the mountain, try to get home. Spend the rest of your lives remembering those of us who died here." Arnaut said softly.

Joamer watched as everyone stood around for a few seconds looking at each other. They began dispersing without a single word, soon the whole chamber was empty except for the members of Wraith.

"Well, which way." Helena said.

"That way." Anival said as he pointed at a tunnel no one took.

Kand shrugged and began walking that way, the rest of the squad followed him, all except Joamer. It took them a few moments before they turned around to find him still sitting on the ground.

"Time to go bud." Anival said softly. Joamer looked up and shook his head. He patted his right leg a couple times and grimaced.

"Not this time, it has slowly gotten worse since the village. I can barely stand let alone run." Joamer said quietly, he could hear the sound of distance footsteps.

"Then we will carry you." Anival said again, his voice had gotten angry.

Joamer only shook his head again and mumbled "It will only slow you down, you will die."

Kand walked up, as did Helena, Jori, RK. They stood in a semi circle and looked down at him. He used his hands to push himself up. He leaned heavily on the wall behind him, and looked into the eyes of every one of his squad members, his friends, his family. He watched as Kand and Helena both began getting angrier, he held up a single finger and smiled.

"Every soldier has a duty to know when to make the ultimate sacrifice. This is my time. Go now, before it is to late." He said softly.

He watched a dozen emotions cross each of their faces, before resignation became dominate. He gripped each of their hands one by one, he hugged Helena and patted her gently on the back. He smiled as best he could as they slowly turned around without another word and walked away.

He watched as they rounded a bend in the tunnel and were lost to sight, he hid a grimace as he saw Kand poke his around the corner to scowl at him. He could see in his SLs eyes that he did not buy the leg story, he was surprised any of them did.

He waited a few long seconds after Kand's head was lost to sight again before standing up easily. He had not lied about his cybernetic leg getting worse, it was just not as bad as he made it seem. He rolled his shoulders several times and walked out in front of the barricade, the chamber became eerily quiet.

He waited what seemed like a lifetime before the first signs of the barbarians approaching were seen. They walked up slowly, confusion crisscrossing their faces as they starred at the lone human standing out in the open. Their faces became snarling rage as they took the first step of the charge. A long low roar stopped them in their tracks.

A path cleared as a gigantic brute stepped forward, he wore some sort of elaborate outfit of hides in colors of dark greens and browns it looked to almost be silk. Seeing the shimmer Joamer had not doubt it was silk, feathers covered his head in a multitude of colors. You could tell this was a leader of some rank just by his outfit, even if you ignored how every other barbarian cowered near him. Joamer hid back a laugh as he saw headlights being used as shoulder pads, the brute had on a weapons belt, and on it were thirty or so human ears.

He stepped forward and begun swinging a wicked looking piece of steel, Joamer thought it was a stretched out bumper from a truck, it was stained dark red.

Joamer began pulling off his shoulder pads, and gauntlets. Then pulling at the black body glove he ripped both the sleeves off to reveal his cybernetic arms. He heard mutterings in some rough language, he looked up to see the leader staring at him. He watched as the brute tossed the bumper behind him and took another step forward, he was within arms reach now.

Joamer brought up both of his arms and spread his legs. The leader took a deep breath, but before he could throw a punch Joamer swung with his right fist, he felt his knuckles make contact with the somewhat soft stomach of the beast. He felt pressure before the tissue gave way as most of his forearm slide inside the leaders body. He wrapped his fingers around something and gave a slight squeeze. He looked the brute in the eyes and smiled as he ripped out part of his spinal column.

He held it up as blood and gore dripped down his arm, he stepped to the side as the nearly dead corpse leaned forward and crashed to the ground. He watched the stunned expressions of the crowd and tossed the spinal cord away. He felt a deep rumble as they began to shout and wave weapons in the air, bringing his arms down he tapped a code sequence into his palms. He heard a soft hiss as his twin wrist blasters emerged from his forearms.

He rolled his head to the left to pop his neck then said "Lets dance."
Imperial Network Star Wars Image
TRP/SSGT Joamer/3SQD/PLT/COM/RGT/BAT/VEA/VE [ES1]x2 [EW1] [LoR] [BoH] [AS-H] [AS-1] [SCA]
[This message has been edited by Joamer (edited June 18, 2009 1:08:52 PM)]
[This message has been edited by Joamer (edited June 18, 2009 1:11:02 PM)]
Havock
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Havock
 
[VE-ARMY] Lance Corporal
 
Post Number:  166
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 3:19:58 PM    View the profile of Havock 
Havock flinched as the cheers erupted in the village beyond the hut. Hav's face was pinched with concern. The cheers could mean one of two things, and she silently prayed that it wasn't a celebration for the death of her friends. Swallowing she looked around the room at the faces of her squadmates, the looks of defeat and nausea were overwhelming.

Havock stood up and walked closer to the opening, passing half of the squad and finally Beta before reaching her destination.

“They're dead, you know.” Beta mumbled as Havock passed. The words stopped Havock cold in her tracks. Slowly, she turned towards the Private who was sitting at her feet.

“Stand up.” Beta raised an eyebrow, but complied with the order.

Once he was on his feet, standing against the wall of the hut. Havock stepped closer to him, her eyes narrowed as she looked at his smug yet defeated face. “I remember telling you to shut up, Private.”

“You really think their cheering for the sun rise? They killed them, and now they are out there sharpening their knives getting ready to come in here and kill us.”

Havock stared daggers and the boy. “Ja... They are not dead, Private.”  Havock looked away for a second, hoping nobody noticed the little stutter at the beginning of that particular sentence. She was concerned about RB, he was her friend. But Jae was her best friend, and the though of something happening to her made Havock sick.

“Heh, great. Your delusiona...” He never finished the sentence. Havock rammed her fists into his gut, slamming him hard against the wall. Then put her bound hands near his throat.

Havock was mere millimeters from Beta's face, and spoke in a growl. “You seem to not seem to be understanding me. Shut up, means you don't talk anymore. Understand?”

“Hav.” Havock released the Private with a shove, then turned to face Karash. “They're getting closer, listen.”

Havock twisted and placed herself next to the coughing Beta on the wall. She put her hands on his shoulder and pushed him with her to the ground so they both were sitting when the flap opened. Havock was ready to rush the guards, she'd be damned if she was going to make this easy for them.

Jaenna walked in first, she looked at where Havock was sitting and was confused for a second until her eyes found Havock sitting next to Beta. RB was right behind her and whispered something in her ear.

“Hav, come here.”

Havock was so confused she just stared at Jaenna for a few seconds before finally realizing she wasn't hallucinating and jumping up. Jae looked to be in an immense amount of pain. She motioned for Havock to put her hands out in front of her. “Jae whats going on?” Jaenna grabbed her wrists and pulled them closer, then pulled out a crude knife and cut through the binding.

Havock looked up at Jaenna, now more confused than ever. Jae just smirked at her ASL.
“They are going to help us. We are all going to be okay.” Havock still looked stunned, but she could hear a few of the other RAIDERS start to mutter to each other.

“And...” Rogueboy nudged Jae from where he was standing behind her in the doorway.

Jae looked slightly perturbed but continued. “And, they have a healer. I'm going to let them take a look at this leg and see what they can do about the infection. RB needs to have his leg looked at too while were at it. Hav, I need you to get everyone untied, then meet up with the other prisoners from the army in the square out there. We will meet you, but you are in charge for now. The NorthWinder's know where the rest of the platoon is holed up and they are under attack, so we need to move. We leave in a hour.” She put the knife in Havock's hands.

Havock spoke but her voice cracked, causing Jae to look quizzically at her. “Our weapons?” She repeated.

“Oh yes, they should be waiting for you in the square. The guards are going to bring them out.” Havock nodded then smiled at Jaenna and shooed her out, they needed to get their medical attention before it was time to go.

The flap closed behind them, and Havock took a deep breath as she looked at each trooper in turn. “Okay you heard her. I'm going to get you guys untied, then lets get our gear together. The rest of the platoon needs us, lets not disappoint people.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Standing in the center of the village, Havock slid her twin DC-15 pistols into their holster's on her hip. She made sure to pick up her E-11 and fed the strap through her arm so the blaster rifle hung over her back. She strapped a few grenades to her weapons belt and looked around to make sure the rest of the squad was just about ready.

They were all a sad sight. The troopers armor was filthy, some painted black but all in pieces. Havock herself had lost her helmet and gloves a long time ago. One of her wrist bracer's was cracked and probably should have been removed, she just hadn't gotten around to caring.

The army soldier were not in much better shape. They were obviously in a poor nutritional state, many wobbled as they walked and all resembled skeletons. They picked through the large pile of weapons and explosives making personal choices based on preference and proficiency.

Havock checked her chrono, she had to wipe the crud off the face with her thumb. They had fifteen more minutes until the NorthWinder's had said they would leave. Looking around Jae and RB still had not come back. Havock would be dammed if she would leave without them.

Looking around again, her eyes met with Beta's. The trooper had made an effort to avoid Havock at all costs since their encounter in the hut. Havock really didn't care.

Her eye caught movement from one of the larger tents. RB and Jae walked out and headed over towards the group. They both seemed better, so whatever the healers had at their disposal apparently had helped. Havock smirked. Time to get this party started.
Lance Corporal Ayme 'Havock' Katash
Assistant Squad Leader | RAIDERS Squad | Wildcard Platoon
Vehicle Crewman


ASL|LCPL Havock|2SQD|1PLT|1COM|1BAT|1RGT|VEA|VE
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Havock
[This message has been edited by Havock (edited June 18, 2009 3:39:21 PM)]
Anival Velasquez
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Anival Velasquez
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
Post Number:  334
Total Posts:  1075
Joined:  Oct 2007
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 3:24:12 PM    View the profile of Anival Velasquez 
Anival stared at his pistol, he had about 20 shots lefts, he dispersed two barbarians that had gotten to close to the wall, and a NR soldier that was tangled in between.

Arnaut gave a brief command and they followed it.

They were contemplating running away, a cowardly choice, but a smart one.

“That one.” said Anival in response to Helena’s question.

They all nodded and started to walk towards the tunnel, Anival noticed Joamer wasn’t with them. Turning around he noticed he was just standing there watching them.

“Time to go bud.” said Anival. Joamer patted his leg and smiled weakly, and explained why.

“Then we will carry you.”

“I will slow you down, you will die.” said Joamer with a shake of his head.

The rest of the squad gathered around Joamer, Kand spoke, and was rebuked by Joamer’s reasoning.
Anival turned around and started walking, following the rest of the squad, he sulked behind them, thinking Joamer was a fool to stay behind there was only so much a man could do, even a man like Joamer. Anival wiped away a tear, it had been sixteen years since he had shed a tear, voluntarily, he cried for Joamer, for the stupid war, for the fallen comrades, and for the fate of all the other soldiers, doomed to die a lonely death.

They walked in silence, only the soft thuds, of their feet was audible. Anival looked at his pistol, he had so few shots left. Looking at the walls, then at his companions, Kanderin, the Squads go to man, Helena, the bubble of joy, RK, the squads’ comedian, Jori, a quite sabrack, but a member of Anival’s family. Ananzi, the new recruit who had fitted in so well, and himself, he didn’t know were he fit in without Joamer.

Anival tightened his jaw, and ground his teeth, a small shiver going down his spine as he did. Anival thought back to the first time he had met Joamer, he had been dressed as a mercenary, Anival hadn’t trusted him, and after Iron Horse was disbanded and they both ended up in wraith, only after a handful of hairy situations had he put trust into the cyborg.

“Kand, we can’t just leave him there.” Anival said.

“I know, but what can we do, he is right, he would only slow us down.”

“What about the Vectra system?! Did we leave you behind? You were as good as dead, but we didn’t leave you did we?! Answer me!” Anival was angry his face red with anger, he walked up to Kand and grabbed his shirt. For a second Kand looked taken back, then he punched Anival in the gut, hard. Falling onto the floor spittle running down his chin, he laughed. Everyone stared at Kand, and Anival.

Anival stood and spat on the ground, and walked back the way they had come. 

“Where are you going?!” Roared Kand.

“To get my friend. Yours too. All of you!” spat Anival.

Anival heard Kand shuffle his feet, then Helena said something. Suddenly Anival was aware of  RK next to him, matching him stride for stride. Then Kand, Helena, Jori, and Ananzi.  Thy all owed something to Joamer, Anival more than anybody.

“So we all are going to lend ..a hand?” asked Anival after a too long silence, and held up his stump.
Upon arrival he noticed Joamer on the floor panting, smoke coming from one of his arms, Anival broke into a trot. He stopped when he realized that the smoke was coming from cannons. Anival knelt near Joamer, and looked at the surrounding bodies, he had taken a good pounding, but he had probably killed off 23 barbarians.

What about the rest, he thought.

Anival lifted Joamer with the help of RK, and they started toward the tunnel, a small party of barbarians erupted from seemingly out of nowhere.

“Ger Joamer out!.” shouted Kand, Anival nodded, and tossed him his pistol, they were low on ammo, and he would need it.

Anival and RK made there way to the tunnel, dragging Joamer’s limp form. Anival felt a small stir, Joamer was starting to regain consciousness, he looked at Anival , then at RK, and he lost consciousness again.

“When he wakes, we are putting him on a diet.” muttered RK, struggling with Joamer’s body.

They walked on and got tired a few yards into the tunnel, Anival set Joamer down, and turned to RK.”

“stay here, and don’t let anything happen to him.” RK nodded, and Anival ran off to help the rest of the team.

He got there as wraith was scavenging the bodies.

“Look!” shouted Ananzi, “blaster clips!”

The squad looked up at once, that was more valuable than gold to them, and they ran, there was only four blaster packs in all, but it was enough for what they were doing.

“Alright, lets haul our asses out of here.” ordered Kand.

They ran back to the tunnel. Anival picked Joamer up again and they continued to walk, Anival noticed as Jori limped, a small trickle of blood dotted the way. Anival sighed, they would all have reminders of this horrible campaign, sometimes Anival thought that this was just a test, a test to see who was fit to serve the Empire, those who weren’t died, those who did, lived.

Anival sneezed, looking up Anival could see a small fine dust falling from the roof of the tunnel, either someone was trying to get in, or some native creature was trying to get out.

“Heads up.”

Everyone looked around, alert and ready to act. Anival waited, and looked around, the dust was still falling, but it was falling everywhere. They all shrugged and continued on their way unaware of what they might find. Or what fate would find for them. Anival didn’t care anymore, as long as they all died together.

Anival was content, he wouldn’t leave anybody in battle if he could, even if they were already dead. The deserved better, they were better, they were wraith.

Anival suddenly remembered the Raiders, Anival let a silent prayer spill from his lips, they had probably gotten a worse fate.

“Hope the Raiders survived.” muttered Anival. 

“They probably did.”
Anival stood up and felt Joamer, getting lighter, he turned to see Kand taking over for him, Anival nodded and let Kanderin take the weight from his shoulders.

Anival rotated his shoulder, loosening it up from the weight it had been burdened with.  Joamer writhed and opened his eyes.

“What am I doing here?” he asked, taking his arms away from Kand and Jori.

“You flew here.” joked RK.

“We couldn’t leave a man behind. Or a cyborg.” smiled Anival.

Joamer nodded, a silent thank you, they all expected an army of barbarians to come pouring out of anywhere loathed on ripping them limb from limb, and then proceeding to make a monument to their strength.

Anival sighed, he was tired, ready to give up, he wasn’t sure he wanted a military career anymore, he had enough stuff, he had the funds to start a nice company were he wouldn’t have to fight barbarians or run from zombies. He wanted a nice comfortably job, one that wouldn’t leave him in poverty, on that could potentially be profitable. He knew better, he probably didn’t have the brains to run an effective company.

No, you don’t, but you could find a partner. A small part of him said.

Anival shook away the thought, he had been thinking the same thing since they had retreated into the caves. It was very unprofessional, and not like him at all.
Corporal Anival 
Vine Vidi vici
Cogito Ergo Sum
TRP/CPLAnivalVelasquez/1SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/[AS-H]/[AS-1]/[EW:2C]

~WildcardPlatoo n ~
-=Wraith PRIDE=-

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BARman
ComNet Initiate
 
BARman
 
[VE-ARMY] Private
[VE-NAVY] Crewman
 
Post Number:  137
Total Posts:  138
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 3:51:59 PM    View the profile of BARman 
BARman crouches down over the comm equipment that they have to work with, it wasn't much, 4 portable sets including the one he carried, which had either been taken from their owners as they had fallen, or else taken from the numerous wounded who inhabited the cave with them. In addition, they had a single base set, which had been salvaged from among the equipment that the Alpha Troopers had brought with them.

"How's that equipment looking private?" asks a Comm Sergeant from the Alpha Troopers,

"Not to good Sarge," BARman gestures at the base set, "This unit took a lot of damage during the retreat, I'm doing my best to get it up and running, but I'm going to have to start juryrigging soon, because we don't have the spare parts needed."

"Well keep doing your best private," Turning to a couple of walking wounded in the group of the injured the Sergeant continues speaking, "You and you, go among the dead and wounded, we need any ammunition, water, or anything else of use that you can find."

"Yes Sergeant!"

BARman turns back to his task, trying to figure out a way to get the base unit back up, if he can get it back up, he can use its stronger broadcast antenna capability to push through the jamming signal, and get out a message.

Wait a second... It isn't the base unit itself that has the strength... IT'S THE ANTENNA!

BARman works quickly, the sounds of the battle outside are becoming louder, and there is lots of yelling, and then there is the distinct "THUMP" of the explosion of a Thermal Detonator.

"Sergeant, I've rigged it, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to get very long range of the set, it's only indicating that it will work up to about 40 meters out of the cave, for some reason."

"Are you absolutely certain there is nothing you can do?"

"Yes Sarge, nothing can be done, we're on our own."

"Then take your gun and go shoot something."

BARman stands up, grabbing his rifle from where he had placed it while working on the unit. Turning to leave, he sees the rest of Iron Horse moving in from the outer defensive positions, he turns toward Saph, but seeing the look on her face, he turns instead toward Sam, asking him in a low voice, "What happened?..."
Private Crene Crith
Iron Horse Squad
TRP/PVT_BARman/1SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE/Tadath [SCA]
Retired
Crewman Crene Crith
RET/CRW_BARman/VEN/VE/(=A=)
StarFruit
ComNet Initiate
 
StarFruit
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
Post Number:  197
Total Posts:  799
Joined:  Jan 2009
Status:  Offline
  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 6:51:25 PM    View the profile of StarFruit 
“Augh! Dammit.” Jaenna growled through her gritted teeth while she squirmed against the table she was laying on.

“Calm yourself StormHeart.” The woman said as she continued to rub a deep blue paste against the infected wound on Jae’s upper thigh-hip area. She growled again, looking over to Alex as he was sitting up on his table, injured ankle propped up with a another table as a shaman was dancing about.

Alex simply shrugged as he saw Jaenna give the shaman a questioning look. Jaenna sighed and dropped as she decided to turn her attention to the ceiling as yet again, another was of pain shot through her. Green eyes flashed with pain and worry as she continued to lay there. A lot of time had gone by since the decision was made for the NorthWinders to actually help the RAIDERS and the rest of the Wildcard Platoon in their time of dire need. It worried Jaenna.

“How much longer is this going to take?” She grunted as yet another wave of pain struck her, hard.

“StormHeart, you must calm down and allow your soul to accept the medicines. Our medicines are not only science, they are faith.” The woman with the long white hair spoke softly to Jaenna, who in turn nodded and closed her eyes, waiting for it to be over.

“Ayahyahyah. Ayahyahyah. Coootahyahyah. Cootahyahyah.” The voice of the shaman dancing around Alex made Jaenna want to giggle, but at the same time, it was much more than relaxing. It sent her almost… into a trance. Everything was so peaceful. Her eyes stayed shut as she listened to the shamans voice take over the entire medicine hut. The sound of the dried grains in the man’s empty fruit shell. It sounded like rain. Hard rain falling down against a tin roof top. It was so soothing… So… soothing…

-       -    -    -    -    -    -

“StormHeart. Wake up. You and StormPaw may join the rest of your pack.” Jaenna jolted awake, and sat up straight, looking directly at the woman with the long white hair that was rubbing that wretched paste on her hip earlier. She looked around, highly confused as to why she had only woken up now. Why had she even fallen asleep in the first place? Continuing to look around, her eyes finally fell on Alex, who was standing – without crutches – looking at Jaenna with a smile that was as bright as can be.

“Heh. That shaman worked wonders. I have a limp but I don’t need those damn crutches anymore.” Alex continued to smile and made his way over to Jaenna, limping slightly. He wrapped his around her waist and helped her down from off of the table.

As she stood, she cocked her head to the side a little bit, utterly confused as to why she felt no pain. She bent her knees, purposefully putting pressure on her hip. She squinted her eyes, bracing herself to start whimpering as pain shot through her. But… there was nothing. No pain. Nothing. She looked up at Alex and smiled. She was all smiles. Everything was beginning to look up again. “No pain.” She said simply. Alex just nodded and chuckled.

The Shaman came over to the pair and placed a hand on both of their shoulders. “Your other Storm wolves are waiting young alphas.” The two Troopers looked at the shaman, then at each other and smiled before walking out into the noon sun.

They saw the rest of the RAIDERS, standing there with their gear on and their weapons ready. It made a rather large and bright smile cross the SL’s face as she approached her squad. Alex fell in next to Havock. The three troopers looked at each other. “Nice to see you guys again.” Jaenna said with a chuckle.

“Heh. Yeah.” Havock replied, looking to her SL then to RB. “What took you so long?”

Rogue decided to answer this one. “The shamans chanting put us both to sleep. But the healing did wonders. I still have a limp but other than that, my knee is fine. Jae’s infection is completely gone as well.” Jaenna nodded to concur with what RB had said.

The three of them stood there in silence, waiting for the rest of the NorthWinder warriors to prepare.
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Corporal Jaenna Caldwin
[]CommunicationsTech[]

SL/CPL Jaenna/2SQD/1PLT/1COM-Phoenix/1BAT-Dragon/1RGT-Osiris/Tadath/VEA/VE
[Cor]

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"I found the cure to happiness. Too bad it's an illegal substance."
Saphira Striker
ComNet Member
 
Saphira Striker
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-VEEC] Journalist
 
Post Number:  825
Total Posts:  1385
Joined:  Sep 2007
Status:  Offline
  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 18, 2009 8:54:59 PM    View the profile of Saphira Striker 
Sam told Barman quickly what happened as orders were given out for SL's to take their groups and move through the tunnels. There were several ways as they took one that no one else had yet.

"No wonder she's acting like that." Barman replied as they approached Doc and helped him to his feet. He groaned, and Sam slapped another bacta patch on his wound.

"What happened? I heard a TD go off." Doc rumbled as he sighed with relief from the pain. They walked at a slow pace, giving Saphira the lead as the rest of Alpha team picked up their wounded and hurried on.

"No, it wasn't Doc..." Sam replied with a pause. "We lost another member from Alpha, and Striker made a choice." There was another pause as Doc started to walk on his own and shrug them both off him. His face was blank and yet you could see the hardness in his eyes as he had been there before.

"I can walk for right now. We need to move. Striker is in charge with myself injured. What she did was a hard choice. We all have to come to terms of that in a leadership position." He stated as the rest of Iron Horse moved into the tunnel.


Saphira walked ahead with her blaster at the ready. Hearing whispers from the troops as the voices bounced off the walls. Not needing any night goggles she looked at the patterns on the floor, wall and the Stalagmite's and stalactite that grew from hundreds of years of water formation. I've never had to make a choice like that before. Can I really be a leader? We don't know if we are even going to make it out.


"Saph, uh, I mean Sarge, hold up!" Came the sound of Sam's voice.


"We have to press forward. With wounded we still need to go. That barrier won't last long and -"

"I know." He interrupted her as he jogged up to her side. The tapping of everyones boots echoed the words as they drew deeper into the cave.

"Then what is it? I don't have time for games right now. As well as more of your attitude towards how this group is running." The Twi'lek snapped at him . Her silver eyes piercing him as if they were lasers.

"Hey I wasn't coming up here to complain. You're thinking of what happened back there." When she didn't say anything Sam continued. "Look, if I was in you're shoes, I wouldn't have known what to do. You're right about chances, about this mission. If it wasn't for allot of what happened more would have died. You did the right choice."


Sam himself wasn't sure he would have let the man go on a suicide mission. He was split in two with that on his mind. It would have been harder if had been one of their own and not from another division. Saph took in a deep breath of the cool air in the cave and let it out as she paused for a moment. So did everyone else as glow sticks lite the small area around them. She looked at each remaining member, but lingered her gaze on Doc for a moment longer as he nodded his head.

"Alright, this could be our last mission with each other. We are out numbered, we have little ammo left. Things have been bad from the start and I know the loss of our comrades are the hardest of all." Saph paused and let the words sink in before continuing.

"If we fail this mission, then it has been one hell of a mission for the books. As there will be other troopers to take our spots and hear of how brave we all were. Even through the toughest of times we have stuck together. Now, I don't know about you all, but I plan on getting out of here, or taking out as many of the enemy as I can. We all have a tough road ahead and if we get out of here alive... I'll buy the first round of drinks back on home port!"


There was a cheer from them all and the Twi'lek caught a smile from Doc's lips. Apparently she had said the right thing, for she could feel the moral rise up a bit. It made herself feel better, even as she brought her free hand up to touch the ring of Dog tags. She had a promise to keep and she knew they would have to make it. They would make it, and she would make sure no one else was killed or left behind.

"Alright, these tunnels have to lead somewhere. The air isn't Stael, so there has to be an opening somewhere. Now, let's move out as fast as possible. We have no idea how well those things can see in the dark, or if they know these caves. We'll make it and leave our mark here!" Saphira finished and with renewed strength the group moved along at a fast pace. Even the two carrying their broken leg trooper was moving better then before. Perhaps things were looking up for them. As Sam passed her, she tapped his shoulder and gave calming look.

"Thanks Sam. I needed that."

"Uh, no problem." He replied and walked past her to reach Brock to talk to him.

"Nice Job Saphy." Doc replied as he came up to her. She winced at the nickname.

"I really wish you would stop calling me that." saphira replied as they walked together. She checked his arm and he pulled away.

"Stop looking at it. I'll be fine."

"Don't even start that one." She snapped with a hiss and tapped her E-11 Blaster against his right shoulder.

"I was just saying that was good. You have everyone with a higher spirit. For what it's worth, you made the right call back there."

"I.. I don't want to talk about it." She replied and ran a gloved hand over her forehead.

"Saph, you're the leader now. It's not going to be easy. I've had my choices as well. Each one has a reaction. You will lead this team and be fine. After what you have showed it told of the maturity and discipline needed to get the job done. One life to save that of many is better then having many killed." He replied before giving a groan of pain and hissed through his teeth.

"I know you're right. I just never figured it would be that hard. He wasn't even part of Iron Horse. What if I can't do that wtih another one and that one being and IH?" She asked as they kept walking. With about everyone talking no one could hear what they were talking about.

"If the time comes, it comes. You can't plan the events. They unfold for us and we take it as they are. Just like the chance cubes, or playing cards. You work what is given and dealt to you in your hand." He finished and Saph nodded and took in the information.

" I will remember that Doc."

"Good, now, lets get moving. The farther lead we have the better."

"You know, I would had rather been stuck back out by the downed ship right now compared to this."

Doc chuckled and Saph couldn't help but grin.

" I know what you mean.. I know what you mean." Riq replied as they vanished down the tunnel in hopes of finding an exit and not running into any more snags on the way.


OOC:
Word count 1242
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TRP/SGT Saphira Striker/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA


Author/JRN Saphira Striker/Lotaith/VET/VE
[This message has been edited by Saphira Striker (edited June 18, 2009 9:41:29 PM)]
StarFruit
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StarFruit
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 19, 2009 10:54:55 AM    View the profile of StarFruit 
Of all the things that could be going on right now, during a campaign like this, it had to be that RAIDERS was surrounded by a rather large group of old fashioned warrior culture tribesmen wielding some sick looking curved blades and short swords. Longs bow were slung over their backs, short knives rested at their hips. They were a scary looking force, the faces of tough and merciless warriors. Scars stretched across many of their bodies. Their eyes held the vision of deaths long ago but never forgotten. Their weapons held a stench of death and old blood. It was odd, being a squad of seven holding blasters, and being surrounded by a much larger group of melee warriors, who probably had much more experience in the art of close combat. The RAIDERS were for sure outnumbered, and a couple of them were frightened about the thought of the NorthWinders suddenly turning against them in the middle of the upcoming battle, but they were also more than grateful for the help they had come across so unexpectedly. It was an odd situation that a squad of StormTroopers and one army guy found themselves in, but it was necessary to survive. Or rather put up a better effort.

Jaenna stood there, VibroBlades gripped tight in her fists. Ever since seeing this culture, she had decided to try and fight as much as she could with her blades rather than with her DC-15 pistol or even that annoying E-11. Since she had taken out two Barbs while rescuing Havock by using melee weapons, she had been thinking during the rest of the fighting that it would be better to just keep using them. Especially with her stealth skill, Jaenna could get up behind an enemy and take them out with one easy swipe of her blades to the throat or the back of the neck. Sever the spinal cord. It was a brilliant idea, but she knew that her fellow troopers would be looking down on her for it.

“Jae. You alright?” Havock’s voice was finally able to jam through the wall of racing thoughts in Jaenna’s head. Havock looked at the slightly startled Squad Leader after the girl jumped a bit and shook her head. “There we go. Back to reality.”

“Yeah reality.” Jaenna chuckled. “If that’s what you want to call this place.” She sighed and looked up at the sky, then down at her wrist chrono. Just a couple more minutes before the new secured help force were to move out. The SL had no idea what was going to happen. They hadn’t heard anything from the others because of the damn long range comms being jammed by those bastards. “Wildcard is really taking a beating. Even with the Alphas there, it’s going to be hard to win this whole thing.” Another sigh and Jaenna tightened her grip on the blades.

Havock nodded while looking ahead at the rock hill that they had come down the night before. The LCPL’s face held worry and yet still, for some reason, was strong. Jaenna looked at her friend, a little confused by the silent cursing she knew the girl was shooting out towards the Barbarians and those other evil bastards. “We will win it, though.” The girl’s voice was low, almost a whisper as her eyes stayed glued on the path ahead of the squad and the warriors that were steadily gathering around them. “Even it has to be RAIDERS lopping off the final head, or pulling the final trigger.” Havock narrowed her eyes. “Is it time to go yet? I’m getting anxious.” Anybody, even those who didn’t know Havock, would be able to tell this straight away. The girl’s grip on her DC-15’s hilts were unbelievable. Her face showed the bloodthirsty girl that even Jaenna had never seen.

So much has changed in her fellow troopers since this campaign. Many of them had shown their lack of hope in their comrades. A few of them grew stronger. Another couple had gone crazy at one point or another. It was so… different now in the RAIDERS squad. They had grown closer together as a team. Not that they weren’t close as a team before, but now… It was more so. Much more so that you would see any RAIDERS willing to give their life to save another RAIDER.

“Storm wolves! We are ready.” The leader of the warriors came up to Jaenna and nodded to her. The SL nodded back and once again tightened her grip on the blades she was wielding. “Lead us well StormHeart. StormPaw.” The warrior leader nodded again and went back to stand before his large group of warriors. He smiled at Jaenna who looked back ahead of her.

“Lets move out RAIDERS!” She yelled before she started walking up the rocky hill, a devilish smile drawing her lips back as her green eyes flashed with the want and need for revenge.


OOC:
Okay so. The NorthWinders are a warrior culture. Not a bunch of retarded primitives. They are wonderful fighters. They kick ass. There are about 200-300 warriors with the RAIDERS.
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Corporal Jaenna Caldwin
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"I found the cure to happiness. Too bad it's an illegal substance."
Havock
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Havock
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 19, 2009 6:41:20 PM    View the profile of Havock 
Havock could hear the NorthWinder's walking behind her, there feet made the oddest sound as they padded on the dirt. The battle was finally going to happen, and Havock could not wait. She had been beaten, bruised, abducted, and starved. Now it was time to unleash all of that and more on these giant bastards. She was tired of playing around, tired of all of this. She was done and it was time for them to fall.

Havock had never been much of a warrior, that was all the more evident looking at the men and women NorthWinder's around them. The way they held their weapons it was obvious the bows and swords, it was as if the weapons were a connection to their body. Havock didn't think there was this many of them when she was in their village, but every square inch of ground behind her seemed to move with the warriors.

Havock turned back to the front, wearing the permanent scowl that she had since leaving the village. Her hands were getting sweaty gripping the DC-15 pistols at her side. They still had some walking to do, but she was in no mood for an ambush.

“You sure your okay, Hav?” Hav snapped her attention to Jae who had apparently been next to her this whole time without her realizing it.

Havock blinked, and answered with a vacant voice. “Yeah, why?” 

“Lets go with, same reason you asked me earlier.” Havock looked back over at Jae and made a feeble attempt at a smirk.

“Alright, StormHeart. I'm fine. Why are they calling you that anyways?”

Jae shook her head. “I don't know, they seem to like to give tribal names to their members. Guess we are members of the tribe now.”

A young warrior came up next to Havock. “What do you call these weapons, female StormWolf?”

“Eh?” Havock looked at him, he was very young even younger than Havock herself. He held a bow in his hand and had a sword with an intricately designed hilt strapped to his back along with arrows. Observing his gaze, she could tell he was looking at the DC-15 pistols in her hands. “Umm, they are blaster pistols. They shoot energy bolts at the enemy.”

He still looked confused so she continued. “Like you shoot arrows from the bow, they shoot bolts.”

He breathed in a deep breath of understanding, Havock was glad she really couldn't think of another way to explain the inner workings of a blaster pistol. “Oh I have seen the others use these weapons then, I have never seen one up close. So you use ranged weapons with skill, I am skilled with weapons of this type as well.” He smirked proudly as he gripped his bow tighter. “My name is EagleEye.”

Havock smirked, she would have smiled but she just wasn't in the right mind set for anything like that. She was focused on the battle, and focused on seeing the barbarians fall. These warriors were eager as well, they wanted to prove themselves in battle, in their culture it probably brought a lot of glory.

EagleEye was still looking at Havock, she shook her head out of her reverie. “Sorry, I'm Havock. Nice to meet you EagleEye.”

“Havock? Who gave you such a name? Do you cause commotion?”

Hav grinned at that. “Sometimes.”
Lance Corporal Ayme 'Havock' Katash
Assistant Squad Leader | RAIDERS Squad | Wildcard Platoon
Vehicle Crewman


ASL|LCPL Havock|2SQD|1PLT|1COM|1BAT|1RGT|VEA|VE
http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/index.php?title=Havock
Rogueboy
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 19, 2009 9:31:11 PM    View the profile of Rogueboy 
There was a familiar taste in Rogueboy’s mouth and he couldn’t quite place what it was, but he knew he should have. The Northwinders had impressed Rogueboy with their skill in medicine; the lack of pain in RB’s leg was either a form of divine intervention or heavy dosages of drugs. Upon that realization Rogue realized exactly what the taste in his mouth was; an illegal substance that’s street name was brick. Brick was the kind of drug that even Rogueboy would have stayed away from, highly addictive but the smallest dose would numb the body for hours.

Shrugging his shoulders as if to say worrying about a drug addiction was the least of his problem RB drew the attention of Beta. “So what do you think of this warrior culture?” He said with the tone of a pompous fool.

Pondering for a moment Rogueboy took a few minutes to frame his answer before finally enlightening Beta. “The barbarians definitely have more strength, however they are at times cumbersome, whereas all these warriors carry themselves with a certain grace I would be unable to master my entire life.”

“Way to dissect an entire race.” Beta said as he snorted.

“If I don’t dissect the race and create certain stereotypes and formalities to avoid with a race such as this, I can find myself being dissected.” Rogueboy said slyly.

“Bah I would rather look at their women if you know what I mean.” Beta stated while leering at a brunette, winking his eye at her, he whispered. “I’ll be seeing you later.”

The brunette in question raises a knife to her throat and pantomimed a slash and then she pointed at Beta. “Looking for a quick death?” Rogue asked with a grin at Beta’s immediate discomfort.

“Shut up, she just can’t handle a guy like me.” Beta said inflating his already large ego.

The sighing platoon sergeant looked at the squad’s medic. “What’s your view of the Northwinders?”

“For a society that has this many warriors I wonder how they gather enough food to feed them. I didn’t notice any farms coming in, did you?” Karash asked.

“Come to think of it, no I didn’t.” The eldest of the Raiders answered.

“That leads me to believe that they’re either hunters and gatherers, or their farms are not near the village which would be odd.” The medic stated.

“How would it be odd?” Rogueboy inquired.

“Well if you aren’t near your crops you can’t defend them from scavengers and the like, also the soil here is too rocky to grow anything half decent.” Karash responded.

“Stormpaw!” Chieftain Redbeard yelled.

“Over here, oh Sunbearded one.” Rogueboy called back.

“You will lead your small tribe of eight along with the others that we have found?” Redbeard inquired.

“Aye, that I will Chieftain.” Rogueboy responded remembering that the Northwinders had captured thirty of the army boys.

Unfortunately for RB the only weapon that he had brought to the camp was the pistol he had salvaged from Baretz’s corpse. Which reminded him that the trooper would need to be buried once the Empire controlled this planet, if they could gain control of the planet. He amended.
Heavy Weapons Specialist

He will give them death, and they will love him for it -Gladiator

Eat a hearty breakfast men, for tonight we dine in hell -300

A man, can be an artist, at anything food, whatever... it just depends on how good they are at it. Creases art is death... he's about to paint his masterpiece -Man on Fire

TRP/PSG_Rogueboy/2SQS/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/TADATH/VE [LoR][ES1][CDS][CoR][EW2][IH][GRP][CCA][SC]

Clearly Canadian!
Arnaut
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Arnaut
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 20, 2009 1:27:43 PM    View the profile of Arnaut 
OOC:
No posts to be graded beyond this point. Finish up your objectives all quick-like, and be done with it.

Final ending post (of Doom) to be posted tonight, most likely. Most likely because, as none of you may know, I'll be out all next week starting tomorrow morning and, therefore, will have a bit of trouble posting the end post during that time. Yeeeeaaaaahh...more bad planning and keeping this story running for so long. Final grades should be out next week. Awards and promotions will happen that week or the week after, depending on how long it takes to sort through them all.

So that's all from me for now. Have fun, and remember to drink your ovaltine!

Second Lieutenant Arnaut
PC/2LT Arnaut/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2] [EW1] [CoS]
~ W i l d c a r d P l a t o o n ~

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

"I read another article whining about how much violence is on television...I'd like to shoot the idiots who think this stuff affects me" -Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life. " - Terry Pratchett
Arnaut
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Arnaut
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 20, 2009 10:05:59 PM    View the profile of Arnaut 
OOC:
Stop cluttering the topic

Also, as a note, should my end of everything post not appear, Kand will hopefully be making a nifty one for y'all.

While it will be exponentially worse than the greatness I could achieve given the right amount of time, I pray that you all accept it just the same as you would a magnificent post of mine.

That is all.

Second Lieutenant Arnaut
PC/2LT Arnaut/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2] [EW1] [CoS]
~ W i l d c a r d P l a t o o n ~

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

"I read another article whining about how much violence is on television...I'd like to shoot the idiots who think this stuff affects me" -Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life. " - Terry Pratchett
Arnaut
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Arnaut
 
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  RE: Undying (Wildcard May Comp)
June 21, 2009 12:55:09 AM    View the profile of Arnaut 
Day 14
Caves South of Death Valley, 13.57



It was like a dance. A very intricate, very bloody dance, but a dance nonetheless. Arnaut skipped around his partner, coming just close enough to lightly nick open his stomach. Entrails spilled over the wet rock as the barbarian went down, screeching. Arnaut twirled, the sword flicking in his hand, dancing the dance of death. Throats became fountains of blood. Arms became stumps. Men became corpses. All in the dance.

For a knife-wielder, he was getting pretty good with his new vibro-sword. There were only, really, two rules when dealing with the barbarians: keep them at arm’s length and watch out for the axes. Once you got those down, everything went a bit smoother. He leapt in, separating a hand from an arm before the barbarian could swing his axe, and jumped back just as nimbly. Easy as that.

Except that it wasn’t. As he came down, his foot landed in something that gave way beneath him. With a gasp, he crashed to the ground. An axe came down, narrowly missing his shoulder as he stood up. Another swung around, nicking him in the chest. Even so, it was enough to send him flying into the wall. He’d broken rule two. He went to swing his sword, but the barbarian was on top of him. And now he’d broken both rules. Great.

The man grabbed him by the arm and dragged him bodily into the air. With his other hand, he raised his axe, ready to cleave Arnaut in two. Arnaut struggled, to no avail. The barbarian smiled, and swung the axe.

He missed.

Arnaut opened his eyes, just as shocked as the barbarian looked. They stared at eachother for a second, and then looked at the arm that had been holding the axe.

It was gone, a charred stump smoking slightly in the place it used to occupy. The arm itself was on the ground, axe still in hand. Another shot ripped through the man’s skull and sent him toppling. Arnaut fell with him, his sword falling from his grasp. He felt hands on his helmet, on his shoulders, pulling him to his feet.

“Don’t mean to be a bother,” Brock chuckled lightly, “but you’re worth more to us dead than alive.”

“Took you long enough,” Arnaut grunted. “But thanks anyway.” Iron Horse moved in, guns blazing. Barbarians began to die, quickly, stuck in the enclosed space of the tunnel with no place to run. Someone brought up a flamethrower – it looked like Sam – and finished them off. The tunnel filled with smoke and the overwhelming scent of charred flesh.

“The hell were you doing here all alone?” Arnaut shrugged.

“I wasn’t. Not originally.” He indicated toward the butchered and partially cremated remains of the army detachment that had been holding the barrier. “I think a better question is how you found me at all. This is pretty far out.”

“We were looking for a way to escape and heard the fighting. Figured that saving ourselves came second to saving your sorry butt,” Riqimo smiled.

“And what have you found? In terms of us escaping?”

Sam sighed. “Not much, really. Dead ends and collapsed caves. We were actually on our way back to rejoin the lines when we heard you.” The hope that had sprung in Arnaut’s breast fizzled and died. There was no escape. This was going to be their tomb. What had he done? They might’ve stood a chance outside the caves, but in here, they were trapped with nowhere to run. He’d doomed them all.

He stood up, carefully concealing his worries as he slipped on his helmet.

“We’ll find a way out eventually. The best thing for us to do now is to get back to the rest of the group and hold out.” Iron Horse seemed reassured and Arnaut’s lie hurt all the more for it.


* * *



“His stitches are bleeding again!” the medic cried, rushing over to the patient. “We can’t move them! Not again! Half of them won’t make it thirty feet!”

“We have to!” Arnaut insisted, trying to push the gurney that the wounded Army regular was on. The dark stain across his gut was spreading. The medic grabbed hold of the bed and held it fast. Arnaut pushed, but it didn’t budge. The medic was strong, for someone who didn’t see any actual combat. Damn.

“We can’t move them,” the medic said again, more sternly this time. Arnaut sighed, and looked around the room.

The cave was the largest they’d found so far, and one of the deepest. They strung it with glowlamps. Reflecting off the damp rocks, they made the room glow with an eerie, bluish-white light.

It was serving as the hospital for their desperate siege. Every soldier not able to fight had been puleed back here. The worse-off ones got the few gurneys that had been salvaged from the medical trucks. The rest got cots or, in some cases, nothing but bedrolls on the cold ground. There were moans as the medics rushed back and forth through the rows, tending to those closest to death. Even as the battle raged a few corridors away, the medics fought their own, personal battle, trying to save the few they could even as more straggled in from the front.  Even if they could be moved, somehow, Arnaut doubted that they’d all make it out before the barbarians swept through. They had to try something though. They couldn’t just sit there waiting for the barbarians to come.

In the end, it proved to be a moot point.

From an eastern hall, the sound of blaster fire intensified and got closer. There was screams, loud and clear, along with the now-infamous roar of the barbarians. Terrified Army regulars began to pour out, wailing and pointing toward the opening behind them. A crossbow bolt ricocheted around the corner and came bouncing into the open with a series of metallic clangs.

“Iron Horse!” Arnaut yelled, but they were already moving toward the hallway.

“On it,” Doc said, moving past Arnaut.

Arnaut grabbed a medic running past. It was the same one that had stopped him from moving the patients.

“If we can’t move them,” Arnaut said through gritted teeth, “For the Emperor’s sake, at least arm them.” The medic looked up and then nodded quickly. He called to two of his aides, and sent them running for all the spare weapons they could find. They may have been short on ammunition, but they still had plenty of guns. Their dead soldiers had seen to that. A wounded soldier with a gun and even a single clip was better than an unarmed one.

Arnaut grabbed one of the rifles out of an aide’s arm as he came rushing past and held it out to the man with the stomach wound.

“Can you use this?” Arnaut asked. The man looked up, his face pale, and nodded weakly. Arnaut placed the gun into his surprisingly strong grip.

“For the Empire,” the man whispered, and leaned his head back.

In all, there were six tunnels leading into the cave. Five of them were now spitting out Army regulars, all routing back toward the hospital. Only the sixth, the tunnel that the Wraiths were guarding, was unusually silent.

The men formed around the tunnel entrances, piling spared truck parts, their packs, their bedrolls: anything that could stand between them and the barbarians, even for a second.

After a few moments, the blaster fire stopped, and an uneasy calm settled on the cave. The flow of Army soldiers fleeing from the barbarians slowed, and then stopped altogether. Only about half had made it back alive. Those still in fighting shape took up posts to either side of the tunnel, ready to shoot the barbarians when they came through. They waited nervously, impatiently, fidgeting and muttering prayers to the powers-that-be. The silence rested heavily on their nerves. They just wanted it to be over with.

The Wraiths were still notably absent. Arnaut dearly hoped they weren’t dead. They’d need all the stormtroopers they could get in the fight ahead. The regulars were getting steamrolled.

They waited for fifteen minutes. In that time, the medics handed out what little water and rations they had left to the soldiers, and tried to calm their nerves as best as possible. No small feat. The best any of them could hope for was a quick death at the hands of a battleaxe. If the barbarians captured them, well...some of them had already had a taste of what that could be like. Torture. Men on stakes. Lots of pain. In all, not fun.

Fifteen minutes, and fifteen minutes went by exactly, when the roars came again. They were coming from right at the edge of the tunnels, right where the dim light from the makeshift hospital ended and the shadows began.

And then they came.

It was like a floodgate had been opened. All five evacuated tunnels suddenly swarmed with babrians, pouring through. The regulars began to scream, fire, and run, all at the same time, but there was nowhere to run to. They were trapped, like caged animals, with nowhere to go.

And so they fought. Arnaut drew his sword and pistol and entered the fray, screaming. The battle became a blur of images and sensations rather than something actually coherenent. Remembering it later, Arnaut could only recall snippets of it, brief instances in the battle that had etched themselves into his memory in crystal clarity when the rest of the battle had become a haze.

Two army regulars, jumping on the back of a barbarian, thrusting with their bayonets.  The next instant, they were dead, cleaved apart by the barbarian behind them.

An army soldier unloading a clip into a barbarians face, only to have the man collapse on him, taking them both down.

A soldier wading through the mess with a flamethrower, occasionally squirting fiery death into the mix. Something nicked his tank everybody within a five foot radius of his went up in flame.

Iron Horse calmly dropping barbarians as they made their way around the edge of the close combat brawl. They used their shots well. The barbarians dropped with one or two shots, always to the head. Even so, more barbarians continued to take their place.

Arnaut, at the front of the crowd suddenly, facing down two large brutes. He must’ve done something instinctual, because the next second, they were both down, blood spilling everywhere.

Kanderin, suddenly next to Arnaut, firing the last few bolts from his rifle. It ran dry half way through killing a barbarian, so he swung it like a club, finishing the job.

New Republic troopers finally entering into the fight, firing indiscriminately into the crowd. They took down  barbarian and Imperial alike.

It was all so fractured, so messy, so confusing. Arnaut wasn’t sure whether hours had passed or minutes, but when he finally regained control of himself, he was standing on the edge of the battle, drenched in blood.

Two feet in front of him, the Sniper stood, rifle in hand, finger on the trigger, aimed at Arnaut’s chest.

Finally, they were face to face. The Sniper that had haunted Sorin. The Sniper that had taken down the scouts. He was here. And he was about to kill Arnaut.

He pulled the trigger. There was a click. The clip was empty.

Arnaut seized the moment. He leapt toward his foe, his sword whistling through the air. The Sniper dodged, too late, and the sword left a nasty cut on his ribs. He hissed, dropping his rifle, and jumped back quicker than Arnaut would’ve thought possible.

Fatigued and encumbered by his armor, Arnaut swung, but missed by a long shot. He didn’t feel nearly as nimble as he had back fighting the barbarians what seemed like ages before. The lithe Sniper danced out of the way and drew his knives. They curved wickedly, promising the pain they were about to deliver.

It was times like these that Arnaut regretted not bringing his whole collection of knives. He dropped the sword, pulling out his single vibroblade. It would have to do. He ripped off his helmet, affording better visiblity, and then surged forward, toward the Sniper’s blades.

They fought. The Sniper came in quickly, his knives going for Arnaut’s throat. Arnaut batted them off, barely, with his vambrace and knife. His vambrace smoked and cracked, the knife ripping through it.  So much for that, Arnaut thought.

Arnaut parried, ducked, dodged, and parried again, but his attacker was gaining ground. Every step closer the Sniper came was another step closer to the violent melee swirling around behind Arnaut. If he didn’t finish off the Sniper, he’d get caught up in it, forced to deal with both the barbarians and the knife-wielding sociopath.

From the grin on the Sniper’s face, he’d thought of this too. He took a step forward, and thrust with his knife. Arnaut went to block, but it was a feint. The Sniper’s fist came smashing into his face, breaking his nose and sending him to the ground. His knife went skittered across the ground, far from his reach.

An Army regular came rushing forward, screaming at the top of his lungs. The Sniper casually flicked his blade into the man’s throat. The corpse crashed to the ground right in front of Arnaut’s face.

“Did you really think you could defeat me?” the Sniper asked, walking toward Arnaut menacingly. Arnaut tried to scramble backwards, towards his blade, but the Sniper brought down a boot on his chest. “Did you really think you could kill me?”

Arnaut stared up at the man’s face, eyes wide in terror. For the second time in two hours, he was staring Death in the face. And Death was grinning.

“I am krish’na,” the Sniper continued, obviously revelling in the sound of his voice. H eleaned in closer to Arnaut’s face. “I’m the undying. I can’t be killed.” He grinned cruelly and lifted his remaining blade for the final blow.

He stopped, frozen in that position. For a tiny, inintisemeally small second, his eyes widened in shock, staring down at the small point of a blade that had erupted from his torso. Then it disappeared, and the Sniper flopped sideways. He tried to say something, but all he could do was aspirate blood.

Arnaut grabbed one of the man’s knives and leaned over his face.

“No one lives forever,” he said, and plunged the blade through the Sniper’s throat.

With a long cough, and a dab at his nose, Arnaut rolled over, trying to see who his savior was. He almost gasped.

It was a barbarian, but not the one’s that Arnaut had grown accustomed to seeing. He was smaller, the same size as normal humans. Instead of crude fabric, he wore a tanned leather jerkin. His sword was metal, not bone, even if it was a bit crudely made. He smiled at the look Arnaut gave him.

“You in need of help, yah?” the native said in broken basic. Arnaut said nothing still trying to comprehend what was happening. This wasn’t making sense. The barbarians didn’t speak basic. They didn’t help the Imperials.

He jerked his head around, trying to find out what was going on, trying to prove to himself that he hadn’t been knocked unconscious during the fight and wasn’t dreaming. But there were more of them, all over the place, fighting their larger brethren. Arnaut rubbed his eyes, but newcomers remained visible. He let himself be pulled to his feet as he stared at the changing battle around him.

They were smaller, but they fought just as savagely. Even as he watched, two of them expertly rounded on one of the larger barbarians and cut him down with swift, expert strokes of their blades. A larger barbarian swung at one of them, quicker than Arnaut’s eye could follow. The native with the sword was quicker, sweeping calmly behind the man and plunging his sword through his gut. The barbarian let out a roar and fell.

They weren’t invincible, the newcomers. The fell to axe blows and blaster bolts the same as all the rest. They were turning the tide, though, and pretty soon the larger barbarians were in full rout.

“Holy frig,” Arnaut muttered, walking amongst the dead. In an instant, the hospital had become quiet. The smaller natives had run off into the tunnels with most of the able-bodied Imperials, hunting down the remaining barbarians. The New Republic soldiers that had lived through the ordeal were being rounded up and stripped of their gear. They look stunned, still not quite comprehending what was going on.

Then again, Arnaut admitted, he himself still wasn’t sure what was going on.

“Returning as ordered, with reinforcements, sir,” Corporal Jaenna said, walking up smartly to her commanding officer.

“I can...I can see that,” Arnaut said. “How exactly...what did....” He looked around at the carnage. Jaenna smilled slightly.

“Nevermind,” Arnaut said finally.


* * *



The room was unnaturally cool, Arnaut thought. He shivered in his pressed gray uniform. His newly minted Second Lieutenant pin was clipped pristinely to his jacket. His nose felt sore, but the bacta had done well. The doctor had promised at least a two week recovery. It’d only been six days.

The couch was soft, too soft almost, but Arnaut still felt uncomfortable. The audacity of what he was about to do had finally struck him. He’d been so caught up in the affairs and paperwork and general activity surrounding their fiasco that he hadn’t really sat back to think about what he was doing.

Still, there was no turning back now. Right on cue, the secretary stuck her head out and nodded to Arnaut.

“He’ll see you now,” she smiled. Smiled, Arnaut noted. How odd. She was smiling as Arnaut went to commit political suicide. Well, here went nothing. He stepped into the office.

It was just as cold, if not more so, in the office. He shivered and took a step forward. His boots, gleaming in the light, sank into the thick carpet. Despite the temperature, a bead of sweat collected on his brow.

“You can approach. No need to look so ghastly,” the man behind the desk said. Arnaut remained still for a second before moving toward the desk.

It was a nice desk. Surface Marhsals were afforded the best of the best after all. Alderaanian cherry-wood. Rare, now. Of course, they had only themselves to blame for that.

Sector Marshall Gruul looked at Arnaut expectantly. His shock of white hair stood out from his tanned, leathery features. Years campaigning had hardened his face into a stone. His eyes were like coals, burning into Arnaut’s face. This was a bad idea.

If only it had been Cosmic. From the few times Arnaut had met with his own Surface Marshal, he’d warmed to the man. He didn’t have quite the overbearing presence that this Gruul gave off. You could speak your mind around Cosmic, and you didn’t crap your pants when he stared at you. This was a bad idea, a bad, bad idea.

“You said this was a matter of clarification?” Gruul inquired brusquely. Arnaut flinched. Alright, no more of this. He’d come here for a purpose. He wasn’t about to be trodden over before he had made his point.

“Yes, sir, it is,” Arnaut said, his voice only slightly wavering. He couldn’t bring himself to meet Gruul’s eyes, and stared at his cheekbones instead.

“We, as you know, suffered nearly eighty percent losses on our last ordeal. We were ordered to hold our ground, and fight, ultimately leading to our near destruction, all because of a mysterious set of secondary objectives. I was just wishing to know...what they were.” Arnaut said, staring at the desk again. He added a belated ‘sir’ to the end.

Gruul stared at him for a long moment before responding.

“You were to continue through the mountains, making your way behind enemy lines, and opening a hole in the New Republic fortifications for our forces to flow through. Had you not met the New Republic taskforce coming the other way – for just the same purpose, no doubt – you might’ve succeeded.”

A tool, then, Arnaut thought. They were going to sacrifice themselves and, in doing so, break the stalemate, allowing Gruul’s forces could triumphantly push through the lines and win the planet Their deaths would be praised, no doubt, but not nearly as much as Gruul’s forces after they’d won the battle. A political tool, used to shorten the seige and ensure Gruul’s victory. Nothing more. Arnaut fumed.

“Surface Marshal Gruul, I would recommend that you not use my forces so lightly again, sir,” Arnaut said, a slight warning in his voice. He managed to make eye contact this time.

Gruul sat forward in his chair, his eyes burning. “Do you know why I granted you this audience?” he asked slowly. Arnaut stayed silent.

“I let you come in here because the men are hailing you as a bloody hero. The “Commander who held the mountains”, the “One who stopped the New Republic’s schemes in their tracks”. I granted you this audience, and you come to me with this. This!

“You have three seconds to be out of my sight, before I court marshal you and strip you of your new rank. If you were wise, you’d stay out of my way and never question my orders again. Ever. You’re working with my Sector Army when you’re in the Hestus Sector, and you follow my rules.  Is that enough clarification for you?”

Arnaut stood, staring angrily at the man for a second. Finally, something clicked in his head. He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. This wasn’t the end of this. He could feel it. It was just getting started.

OOC:
It’s over. Finally.

For reference, most of our further Platoon Stories will be in the Hestus sector working with the Sector Army there. This Army is under control of Gruul, who you’ve just met. He’s no Cosmic.  We’re the outsiders here, our lonesome Platoon. So, yeah, this’ll be fun.

Regular army stories’ll still be conducted within our own army.

I’m going to bed. See you next week.
Second Lieutenant Arnaut
PC/2LT Arnaut/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2] [EW1] [CoS]
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