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ComNet > Stormtrooper Corps > Archived Stormtrooper Corps Story Board > ESC Storyline - BlackJack
 
 
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Topic:  ESC Storyline - BlackJack
Angel
ComNet Marshal
 
Angel
 
[VE-ARMY] 1st Lieutenant
[VE-DJO] Sith Infiltrator
 
Post Number:  3058
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  ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 19, 2009 3:20:07 PM    View the profile of Angel 
"Do it Tanus! Eat the worm" Coporal Wrex shouted at the BlackJack Squad Leader, Tanus Solvona.

A slow beeping noise emanated from the SL's pocket, sparing the worm from the bottom of the booze bottle it's horribe fate. Satching the datapad out of his pants-pocket, Tanus toggled the power.

An emergency action message from the Phoenix Company Commander flashed onto the screen, with a recording of Angel's voice stating: "You leave in fifteen minutes."

OOC:
BlackJack

Phase I Objective 1: You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry...
Location: Interdictor-Class Star Destroyer Aggrevator
Equipment:
  • Standard Squad Loadout
  • One (1) Personal Choice Weapon
Orders: Blackjack will shuttle to the Dominion with Jester. Once the boarding parties land, they will commandeer one of the boarding craft and fly it to the Aggrevator. They will start by disabling the ship's weapons.
Opposition: Up to Twenty (20) Active-Duty Security Squads (9-man)
Add'l Equip.: None
NPC Support:
  • Five (5) Squads of Star Corps Troops (Marines)
  • One (1) Squad of Commandos (Spec Forces)
Max Posts: 15
Additional Information:
Tactical Officer - Army High Council | Company Commander - Phoenix Company
TO-CC/1LT Angel/HCA-4/Phoenix/Dragon/Osiris/Stormtrooper Corps/Tadath/Vast Empire
Imperial Network Star Wars Image
----------------------------------------
Darth Phoenix - Dark Lord of the Sith
DLoS/SI Phoenix/DC-04/Lopen/Dark Jedi Order/Vast Empire
[VP:1]

Tanus Solvona
ComNet Member
 
Tanus Solvona
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-ICS] Pirivateer Captain
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 19, 2009 11:34:15 PM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
Tanus shot up from the table, knocking over the bottle from which he had been drinking and hearing it shatter as it hit the floor; Wrex shot up and backed away as shards of glass spread out across the pristine floor of the lounge. He bent over and picked up the worm – or what was left of it –, shook his head and let out a long whistle.

“Wow, Tanus, you sure went to town on the bottle. The break was impressive, but the worm would have been equally as good.”

Tanus’ eyes were wild with excitement. He actually made a move. I can’t believe it. Good thing we got back when we did. Tanus turned on his heel and ran towards the door. Wrex, without a word, followed him out. He sprinted to the squad armory, Wrex on his tails, and opened the door, turned the lights on and started to undress. Wrex simply stared at him as if he had gone crazy. Tanus looked back at him, his eyes wide and filled with a fire he had not felt for some time.

“Get the squad in here, and get them in here now. We have fifteen minutes to get to the hangar and onto the Dominion.”

“Tanus, what the hell…?”

“I don’t have time for that now! Just message the squad to get in here NOW!”

Wrex pulled out his datapad as Tanus started to attach the armor pieces to his black undersuit. All right you bastard; let’s see how well you do against the rage of the entire Stormtrooper Corps down on you. I hope you like funerals; you’ll be attending quite a few.

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


The squad was there in minutes, and by the time they arrived, Tanus was already mostly suited up. Garryll ran up to his locker just as Tanus grabbed his war hammer and began to shorten the haft and put it in its pack mount before grabbing his EE-3 and spare ammo.

“What’s the skinny, boss?”

“Thrawn.”

The entire room fell silent; Tanus was vaguely aware that the entire squad had stopped moving and were all staring at him. He turned to face them as he holstered his Rebel-1 disruptor pistol and grabbed a belt of grenades, slinging it over his shoulder.

“That’s right. Thrawn’s here, and he is not happy. Looks like Jester’s handiwork, along with our own, were just enough to tick him off to the point of bringing in a small fleet.”

The squad started to pick up its pace with gusto; Tanus was pleased that he had started the fire in their bellies. Let’s see how far it takes them. Garryll grabbed the squad’s flamethrower and eyes it with relish. He looked at Tanus with a smile on his face.

“I’m gonna have so much fun with this. I feel like it’s all the birthday gifts my parents wouldn’t give me in one room.”

Tanus started to laugh. He clapped Garryll on the shoulder and gave him a good, long look.

“We’re gonna need your help big time Garryll. You up for it?”

“Please. If Felucia didn’t kill me, this sure as shit won’t.”

“Good to hear.”

Tanus turned around and looked the squad over: Orobos had his axe packed on his jetpack and was looking over one of the SA-40 Particle cannons with a twinkle in his eye; Corvin and Wrex were checking each other’s packs to make sure everything was loaded and locked tight; Rogueboy was grabbing his grenade launcher and packing a few more clips of grenades as Tanus grabbed the J-4 rocket launcher.

“Someone needs to carry this. Make up your minds now; we only have 5 minutes till we leave.”

Wrex pointed at Corvin, who was not paying much attention to anything other than his EE-3 at the moment. Tanus merely shook his head.

“Congratulations Corvin. You have officially been designated our resident rocket man. Grab a few more clips of rockets and get ready to leave.”

Corvin looked around at the others; Wrex was looking away from him, whistling absent-mindedly. Corvin grimaced as he grabbed the rocket launcher and few more clips from the store room. Wrex grabbed another of the Particle cannons from the back as well and packed it on the left side of his jetpack. When they were all standing tall, Tanus simply nodded.

“Let’s go Blackjack.”

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


They sprinted down the hall at full speed in full armor, which was no easy feat when one was wearing 30 kilos of gear. People threw themselves against the walls as the Blackjacks moved swiftly and speedily through the halls of the barracks, aiming right for the hangar. When they got there, the hangar was on full alert, and gunships were streaming out of the entry way, packed with soldiers to fight the enemy. Tanus then looked around, trying to find the right gunship. Where the hell are they? He walked along between gunships that had yet to take off or were just getting ready to leave. And then he found them. He ran up to the gunship just as Jager was getting on board. He walked up to the gunship and cocked his head, looking all of Jester squad over with a smile. Jeg stepped forward and offered him a hand up.

“Glad to see you made it. We’re leaving in thirty seconds.”

“Perfect timing then. Let’s go Blackjacks.”

The squad clambered on board and took their places on the gunship alongside Jester. The doors then slid close and Tanus felt as the ship lifted off and blasted out of the hangar. When they were safely in the air, Tanus took a sidelong glance at Jeg, who was checking his weapon.

“So, Jeg, how’s Jester holding up? Haven’t you been back about an hour?”

“Yeah, something like that. No rest for the weary I suppose. What about you guys? You’ve been back less than a day.”

“Aye. But it doesn’t change the fact that we’re both headed back out.”

“True enough. So what’s Blackjack doing?”

“We’re going to make things go boom and make the ladies swoon.”

“Cute. But really, what are you guys doing?”

“Well, while you get to play with the boarders in the hangar, we’re jacking one of their ships and getting to their Interdictor. From there, we’re taking out the weapons systems and causing a general panic with a bang and a boom on the side.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Bah. With men like mine, we need no luck. Only a good blaster and the man to your left.”

“Fair enough.”

The gunship made a soft landing and already Tanus could hear the sounds of battle outside. The doors slid open and before Tanus could even make a step, Jeg was already out of the breach, firing as he went and diving for cover as blaster bolts rained on his position. Jager and Kip were next, laying down covering fire as the rest of Jester squad moved out. When they were out and in their positions, Tanus heard Jeg yell above the din of battle:

“Okay Jesters, let’s get Blackjack to those shuttles! Covering fire!”

A wall of blaster fire leapt out from Jester’s positions, slamming into everything it could find with murderous force. Then Tanus started to run behind them. As he passed Jeg, he said “Good luck.” Jeg returned the sentiment, never looking twice as he started to pick off targets. Out of the corner of his eye, Tanus saw the squads of Marines and Spec Ops rushing to meet them. Tanus pulled out his EE-3 and fired as he ran at any enemy he could find.

“Blackjacks! Get to that shuttle!”
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
[This message has been edited by Tanus Solvona (edited July 20, 2009 2:18:09 AM)]
Orobos
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Orobos
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 20, 2009 7:32:32 AM    View the profile of Orobos 
Orobos ran with Blackjack towards one of the boarding shuttles. Enemy fire concentrated on the squad as they drew closer. Luckily they had the support of the Marines and Commandos. Between them they forced the enemy troopers around the shuttle back away from the entrance of the craft.

Orobos stumbled as a blaster bolt nicked him on his shoulder, leaving a large, black scorch mark. He returned fire on the squad across the hanger. The shots impacted the wall behind the enemy squad. A few of the men ducked into cover.

The hanger was in mayhem. Laser fire flew in every direction as overlapping fire corridors shifted and changed as different enemy threats emerged and more squad joined the fray. The battle was not only restricted to the hanger. Outside large, red lasers cut through the vacuum of space, clear against the black backround. AS Orobos watched a approaching vessel en route was blasted into oblivion.

The squads reached the boarding craft. It was clear of any enemies inside. A yell cut through the sounds of battle as one of the Marines was hit by laser fire. He fell slumping against the hull of the shuttle his uniform covered in black and burning holes.

"The sarge's been hit!" yelled one of the Marines as two men linked their arms under their sergeants body and hauled him onboard the shuttle.

"Let's get going! I want a boarding party when we reach the ship!" Tanus said gesturing into the back of the shuttle.

Stormtroopers and Commandos laid down fire as the Marines loaded up into the craft, keeping the enemy at bay they backed slowly into the shuttle. Just before the shuttle was closed Orobos saw Tanus give Jester squad who was moving quickly away from them a little thumbs up. Garryll punched the small control panel and the rear of the shuttle pulled up and sealed off the rear compartment. There were several clicking noises and a hiss as the shuttle pressurised.

"Who the hell is flying this thing anyway?" Rogueboy announced to the silent compartment. Before an answer was given two Commandos moved to the forward compartment.

"Transmit the shuttles ID signature to the bridge. Tell them the counter boarding party is on board and not to fire on us."

The door slid closed behind the Commandos. The rest of the Commandos stood in the corner. Now that Orobos had gotten a good look at them he could see they were real professionals. There armour was pristine and there weapons all seemed to be kept in perfect condition.

"Alright, all squad leaders," Tanus said gesturing for them to group up. A Commando stepped forward bearing the chevrons of a Sergeant. Four Marines stepped forward each with varying ranks ranging from Sergeant to Gunnery Sergeant. The last Marine stepped forward, two chevrons clear on his Jacket.

"Sergeant's dead," He said gesturing towards the body of his former squad leader.

Tanus nodded. "Ok, I need names."

"Sergeant Heinsten," The Commando said.

Each of the Marine squad leaders sounded of in procession.

"Sergeant Renins."

"Senior Sergeant Kalman."

"Sergeant Alker."

"Gunnery Sergeant Cant."

"Do I know you?" Tanus said gesturing towards the Gunnery Sergeant.

"Yes, I served with Blackjack when we moved to take out the pirates shadowing our vessels," Cant replied crisply.

"Ah yes, Senior Sergeant Randel Cant. Congratulations on the promotion," Tanus said, "Now, I'll need your full attention. We're going in there to take out the enemies weapon systems. I want you to keep it tight. We're going to keep the plan simple, together we can force our way to a control room," he concluded.

A resounding chorus of affirmatives, ayes and rogers filled the air as the squad leaders sounded off again.

"Approaching on our fina-" The pilots message was cut off as the shuttle lurched violently. The sound of screaming metal filled the back of the apartment.

"That doesn't sound good." Orobos said looking around.

"We're venting atmosphere!" Wrex shouted pointing to the tiny sliver of a crack where the metal of the shuttle's door was warped.

"What happened?" Corvin asked.

The ship creaked and the door of the shuttle moaned as the vacuum tried to force the hole open even further.

"We're taking enemy fire," the pilot commandos voice came over the inter-com. Tanus moved and put his finger on the intercoms button.

"We have a breach in the hull. The doors have sealed shut, we can't move from this area. You need to get us there now!"

"Five more minutes sir."

"We don't have that long. Now!"
" Peace at Home, Peace in the World "
-Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

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TRP/GSGT Orobos/2 SQD/2 PLT/1 Com/1 Bat/1 Reg/Tadath/VEA/[CoR][EW1][BoH][LoS][SRP][IH][AS-1][CCA][BC]

Beag ach Fíochmhar
Small but Fierce
[This message has been edited by Orobos (edited July 20, 2009 7:46:23 AM)]
Garryll Gates
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Garryll Gates
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
 
Post Number:  783
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 20, 2009 9:49:32 AM    View the profile of Garryll Gates 
“Seal your suits!” Gates ordered. “Do it now, Blackjack!”

There was a flurry of activity as the Stormtroopers and marines secured their suits against the cold and airless vacuum. Gates checked his suit’s integrity – he wasn’t even sure if jump trooper armor could be sealed. His HUD proclaimed him totally sealed, and the internal heater began to kick in lightly. A small timer showed him his stored air – about three and a half minutes.

“Plenty of time,” he muttered sarcastically, and then, louder; “Blackjack, sound off!”

“Rougeboy, good here, boss.”

“Wrex ready to rumble.”

“Corvin, sealed and prepped, sir.”

“Orobos, ready to kick some ass.”

“I’m good,” Tanus finished. “Pilot! What’s our ETA now?! I hope you stepped on it!”

“Two minutes, boys!” the Special Forces soldier barked through the intercom. “Yah! Get ready to kill some sons’a’bitches!”

“Blackjack, final prep,” Tanus said. “Let’s give Thrawn a taste of the Hell he just called in.”

“Hoo-ah!” Gates yelled, and the sentiment was echoed by Blackjack and some of Cant’s men. “Lock and load, penetrate and annihilate!”

The ASL looked down at his rifle, the EE-3, a short, compact weapon that went well with raids and maneuverability without losing too much accuracy or punch. He checked his other weapons, the squad flamethrower and his M-13 shotgun, both excellent for the tight, little-cover environments ship corridors usually presented.

He slung the rifle, and replaced it with the flamethrower, and asked, “Permission to risk my neck recklessly.”

Tanus chuckled. “When don’t you? Permission granted, but if you die, I’ll have to find another ASL.”

“Copy that sir. I know how much you hate paperwork,” Gates laughed along, readying the flamer.

“Thirty seconds!” the intercom crackled. “Heavy contacts in sight!”

“Thrawn just bit off a lot more than he could chew!” Tanus yelled over the comlink, as the entire cabin was filled with vacuum. “Let’s make him choke!”

The dropship passed through the hanger shield flawlessly, and the commando wheeled it into one of the star craft storage areas. The ship bounced heavily on its landing skids, and the dropship door banged open. Gates jumped down onto the deck and the rest of Blackjack followed, thudding heavily onto the heavy metal deck.

Mechanics and deck officers ran up. Gates laughed into his comm. “They think we’re on their side!”

“Just shoot them, Gates,” Wrex laughed back. “Put the dumb bastards out of their stupid misery.”

The first Thrawnist officer ran up. “Why have you come back to the ship?”

“We had some, uh, maintenance issues. The ship sprung a leak. And, y’know, we’re from the Vast Empire. Happy surprise, no?”

The officer gaped for a second, and then his hand dipped to his sidearm. Gates already had his hands on a weapon, and incinerated the man. The hapless officer burned and screamed, and fell to the deck, a flaming torch.

A group of mechanics paused and then one yelled an explicative. Blackjack gunned them all down.  More mechanics dove for cover, pulling out duty pistols. A dozen Thrawnist marines jumped from their stations and opened up on the VE troopers.

Blackjack opened up in a heavy flurry of munitions, and the marines poured out of the dropship, firing from the hip and looking for cover. The VE Special Forces squad was descending from an emergency exit on the far side of the dropship, and they were firing when they had good cover.

“Press the advantage!” Tanus ordered, jumping into the air and activating his jump jets, giving him a clear shot on a fireteam of marines that had had good cover.

Corvin and Orobos blasted apart a blast door and a soldier who had been standing near it with their heavy weapons. A dozen mechanics took cover behind spare TIE parts, firing rapidly but with little accuracy. Gates charged in, barely being missed by hastily-aimed laser bolts, and sent a spear of fire into their cover. The torch hit a fuel container and exploded it, obliterating a TIE’s wing and ripping the mechanics in half with shrapnel.

“Boss!” Wrex yelled, “We got reinforcements!”

The squad medic pointed at the blasted-open doors, where Thrawnist marines were spewing out of, firing tight, disciplined burst at their VE counterparts. Gates checked the flamer’s fuel gauge and ran back into the fray.
ASL/SFCGarryll Gates/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [RoM][ICE][IH][CCA][BC][SRP][AS-1][ES1][CoS][EW1]
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If these people want to fight me, I'll blow 'em straight to Hell!
Wrex
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Wrex
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 20, 2009 10:48:24 AM    View the profile of Wrex 
Hiding behind several crates filled with maintenance supplies, Wrex checked himself.

Not even a day a rest. Thrawn doesn't even care that I'm tired! He thought as several blaster bolts flew over his head. Peeking up over the crate, he noticed the rest of Blackjack and the marines hiding behind other assorted crates and ships.

He called out over the radio, his medic senses kicking in as more and more blaster fire came at the troopers.

"Anyone hurt?"

He got all negatives and Wrex exhaled.

"Let's keep it that way."

Coming into a crouching position, he quickly stood and ran to a crate that was closer to the blasted open door, firing quick shots at the Thrawnists that came through. One fell from his shots, caught in the abdomen.

Wrex slid behind the crate as the enemy noticed what he was doing. He barely made it behind before the other side of the crate began to melt from the blaster fire.

Glancing over the crate, he noticed about twenty of the Thrawnists still stood, firing at the enemy with reckless abandon. A medic carried wounded behind the door, out of sight to properly attend to them.

"Wrex, cover me!" Garryll yelled as he charged forward with his flamethrower. Wrex immediately stood and fired with his E-33, red bolts flying from his gun.

Garryll's charge caught the Thrawnists by surprise, leaving some wondering where to shoot before they were incinerated in their armor. Several of them fell, screaming before they died. The others who were left standing doubled their efforts as they watched their comrades die, shooting at Garryll now. Garryll made a hasty retreat, but not before his armor was scorched black from the fire.

"Wrex!" Garryll said, before he threw himself behind a crate.

Shit. He thought. Charging over to Garryll, he quickly pulled his medkit from his back.

"Where's the damage?" Wrex said instinctively, but he noticed the hole in Garryll's armor right away. A blaster bolt had caught Garryll in the back of his left arm, burning away armor and flesh.

"Jesus. It's a wonder you're still standing Garryll."

"I've been known to be a little crazy." The Blackjack ASL replied.

Reaching into his medpac, Wrex pulled out an anesthetic.

"This may hurt a bit." He said as he sprayed it into the wound.

Garryll shifted uncomfortably, but made no sound. Wrex continued, adding a bacta patch to the wound and covering it with protective gauze.

"Just don't go getting yourself shot again, alright? Otherwise you're good to go." Wrex said, giving Garryll a playful slap on the back.

"Don't plan on it." Garryll said before taking off again, flamer in hand.

By now, the Thrawnists were down to just a few men, all of which were taking refuge behind the blasted open door. They fired occasional pot shots at Blackjack and the marines, but it wasn't enough to keep the troopers at bay.

"Move up!" Tanus yelled and Blackjack charged forward. Wrex pulled the particle beam cannon from his back and fired at the walls. He heard the screams as the cannon obliterated their armor and worked inward, rupturing organs and internal bleeding. By the time Blackjack made it to the door, the troopers were dead.

"Let's go Blackjack. We've got some weapons to explode." Tanus said, running off down the hallway. Wrex and the others hastily followed.
TRP/CPL Wrex/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [EW1][EW2][SRP][DCE][AS-H]
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Corvin
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 20, 2009 12:23:28 AM    View the profile of Corvin 
Corvin ran as fast as he could, the rocket launcher slung across his back pressing down like a bronzium weight. The air he inhaled through his helmet tube was dry and sterile, both due to the numerous filters it went through and its origin. Tanus came to a sudden stop, holding up his hand as he did so. The troopers stumbled to a stop, rifles raised.

"What is it, sir?" Corvin asked, his EE-3 half raised. There were thumps as proton torpedos exploded somewhere along the 600 meter long ship, followed by softer shakes as the Interdictor's own weaponry returned fire. Corvin briefly wondered what the squads would do if the ship succumbed to the Vast Imperial fire, then dismissed the thought. There was no point in considering hypotheticals.

Tanus shook his head then turned around, his fists clenched.

"Blast doors are sealed. Must have taken a hit somewhere nearby. Orobos, could you do the honours?"

The massive Whipid, his helmeted head all but scraping the ceiling, grunted and dropped to one massive knee as he brought his particle cannon up to his shoulder.

The other stormtroopers hastily moved to either side of the corridor as he did so, moving into a standard V-formation as to bring the maximum firepower to bear on whatever was on the other side of those doors.

"Firing." Orobos said matter of factly, then squeezed the beam cannon's trigger. A blindingly white particle beam crackled from the weapon's discharge dish, carving into durasteel with a deafening hum. Sparks and globules of molten metal flew everywhere, searing black marks in the walls and ceiling and pinging off the stormtroopers' armour. The beam abruptly stopped, and Orobos lowered the particle cannon. The area beyond was completely black: the lights had evidently gone out. There was a whistling as air was pulled through the gaping hole where the blast doors had been.

"Helmet seals, Blackjacks." Tanus ordered. The other squad leaders were quick to echo him. Corvin quickly obeyed, and a small readout appeared on his HUD.

26:03

Designed for possible usage on planets where the atmosphere was too thin for human habitation or simply toxic, jumptrooper armour had larger air reserves than its standard counterpart. It still wouldn't last forever, through, and there were still the Marines to consider.

Tanus fed a probe in by inch through the hole, feeding the holoimages to the others. The area appeared to be clear, with the corridor blackened and damaged but empty of living hostiles. There were several swollen bodies in Navy uniforms, apparently victims of the decompression who'd subsequently suffocated.

Tanus raised his hand, then brought it down again. The Blackjacks entered through the destroyed hatch, spreading out as soon as they emerged. The gravity was still functional on this side, meaning that they didn't have to use jetpack charges to maneuver. The other squads pushed through, their carbines raised as they moved to each side.

Corvin felt something soft give way under his boots as he moved. Looking down, the Private that he was standing on what had been an ensign. The woman's face was grotesquely swollen and the eyes had shriveled up. He quickly stepped off the corpse, paying much more attention to where he was stepping.

"Charming," Wrex commented, kicking a dead crewman out of his way as he walked.

Tanus glanced over his shoulder at the squad.

"Right. If the Thrawnists followed the standard 418 deck plan, we should emerge at a quad laser emplacement in forty meters. Expect resistance."

A blaster bolt flew past the squad leader before he'd finished his sentence. A group of vaccum-suited Thrawnists were clumped in front of the door, wielding standard fleet-issue DH-17s. Automatic blaster fire flew through the air towards the squads.

"Take 'em out!" Tanus yelled, firing his EE-3 in bursts between each word. In the cramped quarters of the corridor, the stormtroopers were at a distinct disadvantage: with no room to move and no way to take cover, they were sitting mynocks. Even as Corvin and the others began to fire, one then two of the Marines fell to multiple energy bolts.

There were only eight of the cloned crewmen, but their flash-trained aim and increased maneuverability evened out the disparity in numbers.

Another marine was thrown back by a shoulder hit, the blood from the wound crystallizing as it fell. One of his squadmates disengaged and started trying to seal the breached suit.

Corvin felt his skin blister as a blaster bolt grazed his arm plating. He swore under his breath as he checked for damage.

Frak this. We're getting torn apart by a couple of vat-growns, they've probably called for reinforcements, and we're running out of air.

Tanus must have been thinking more or less the same thing, because he spoke to Wrex over the com.

"Wrex, take those buggers out with the cannon."

"Delighted to, sir." the medic replied, unslinging the heavy weapon. There was a whine as the weapon charged, followed by the now-familiar flash of light and energy beam. The blasterfire abruptly stopped.

"Move it, Blackjacks!"

The stormtroopers ran through the next few rooms, passing the charred bodies of the vac-suited crewmen. Thirty-two meters to the first quad battery.
TRP/PVT Corvin/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
*HeavyWeapons *
Read the bloody manual!
"Never believe a rumour of my demise. I have as many lives as a cat. Also as many teeth, as many claws, and the same cheery, cooperative disposition." Peter Wiggin, Xenocide
Washington:"I knew this plan would never work!"
Church:"None of our plans ever work."
Caboose:"That's why we carry guns."
[This message has been edited by Corvin (edited July 20, 2009 4:27:30 PM)]
[This message has been edited by Corvin (edited July 20, 2009 4:32:54 PM)]
Tanus Solvona
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Tanus Solvona
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 20, 2009 9:55:41 PM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
Tanus’ heart was pounding. Thus far Blackjack was doing fantastic, with only Garryll being wounded via a wound to the arm. Well, at least he’s not dead. And then again, I did totally expect that. He pounded down the hallway, the sounds of full armor slamming on the pristine floor of the Interdictor filling in every portion of his brain. 15… 13… 11… At the end of the hall stood a large door, sealed by every means necessary. Tanus walked up to it and ran his hands along the surface before backing up and cracking his neck. Garryll walked up next to him and looked the door over.

“So what’s the skinny?”

“This is triple-thick durasteel. So we’re going to need something pretty volatile to eat through it.”

“Disruptors?”

“No. They’ll do some damage and penetrate the door, but it’s too thick for it to do much more than that. The flamethrowers’ll heat up the door, but they won’t eat through it. The J-4 would just be suicide with us in the hall, and the SA-40s can dent the door, but I doubt that they’ll do much more than that.”

“So you’re saying we’re shit out if luck?”

“For lack of a better phrase, yes I am.”

“Well, that’s certainly disappointing.”

“Maybe we can help.”

Tanus turned around, disruptor pistol raised at the source of the noise behind him. The squad followed him, and then one by one lowered their weaponry when they realized who was behind them. They stood like living shadows, in the black body suits and armor of the Storm Commandos. There were 12 of them, and each looked as terrifying as the man before him. Tanus was impressed. The squad leader walked up to him and nodded to the door.

“Well, sergeant, look like you need to get inside that room.”

“Aye, that’s the way it’s looking.”

“Need some help?”

“Whatever you can offer, Blackjack will take gladly.”

“Well, in that case, you may want to back away from the door.”

Heinsten put up his hand and waved two fingers forward. From the back of the group came two Commandos, each carrying a rather nasty looking weapon over their shoulders. Tanus looked from the door and then to the commandos before looking back at Heinsten.

“Are those what I think they are?”

“Well, that depends. If you think those were acid launchers, then yes, you are correct. If you think that they fire sunshine and happiness, however, you would be dead wrong.”

“So cynical.”

“You expected something less?”

“Not in the slightest.”

The two commandos raised the acid launchers at the door and stood back about 5 meters. As they got ready to fire, Tanus looked back at his squad, grabbing a grenade off his belt as he did so.

“As soon as that door is gone, toss a few of these into the breach. I want to soften up whatever they may or may not be saving for us inside. At this point, I just want to see something explode.”

The squad chuckled as the commandos pulled the triggers on the acid launchers, sending forth a stream of vibrant green corrosive liquid. As soon as it hit the door, it began to smoke and sizzle as it began to eat away at the triple-thick durasteel. The commandos spread it around as much as possible, covering every square inch of the door in smoking acid. Within seconds the door had clearly started to fail, and the acid was even beginning to eat at the floor. Several minutes went by as the acid worked its magic, and the men of Blackjack and Special Operations stood quietly and patiently, waiting for the inevitable firefight to ensue. And then finally, the smoke cleared, and the only thing that stood between the men of the Vast Empire and the men of the Interdictor was a thick wall of noxious fumes. Tanus reached up to his helmet and flicked a switch.

“Seal your suits. I don’t want anyone dying just yet. Now, gentlemen, let’s give these bastards a warm, Blackjack welcome.”

Tanus primed the detonator just as Garryll and Rogueboy stepped up beside him; Wrex, Corvin and Orobos stood behind them, each with their weapons raised. And then Tanus threw the detonator. All three flew through the decayed and destroyed door, and Tanus heard them hit the ground and roll. Three seconds later, the floor shook with the power of three grenades down off at the same time. Tanus heard several people scream as fire and shrapnel bit into their flesh with tremendous explosive force. Tanus drew his hammer and his disruptor pistol and, without a word to his squad, charged. When he cleared the smoke, what he saw pleased him immensely: several technicians were lying on the ground, either dead or dying, and security for the most part was nowhere in sight. As one of the guards raised his E-11 to fire, Rogueboy put a bolt between his eyes.

Tanus ran up to another guard as he was getting up off the ground, staggered by the blast that took out most of the room. Tanus knocked his gun out of his hand his hammer, sending it skidding across the floor. As he made an effort to punch Tanus, Tanus sidestepped the blow and brought the hammer’s spike through his helmet, penetrating the man’s skull cap, killing him instantly. Tanus turned his head towards two other guards who slightly quicker than their comrade and had raised their rifles at Tanus. Tanus pulled the body of the slain trooper around, hammer spike still in his head, as the troopers opened fire. While they fired at the body of their dead friend, Tanus took aim with the disruptor pistol. He pulled the trigger, and a brilliant green bolt flashed out of the emitter, hitting him between the heart and the chin – right over his windpipe. The man backed off, holding his throat through muffles screams of agonizing pain. The second soldier, seeing this, switched his weapon to full auto, firing with a renewed gusto to see Tanus dead on the floor. Then Tanus did something the man did not expect – he charged, using the dead body as a cushion to absorb the blaster bolts coming his way.

Tanus got close enough to see his reflection in the man’s eyeplate. Its now or never. Tanus withdrew the hammer’s spike from the dead man’s skull and pushed him forward onto his still firing comrade. The tactic startled the man, who was forced to stop firing as a dead body came flying at him. As he tried to divert the incoming mass of dead flesh, Tanus reached out with a vicious hammer swing, knocking the rifle out of the man’s hands and breaking his wrist. As he stumbled back swearing and shouting in pain, Tanus swept his leg out from beneath him, and he fell backwards, slamming his head on the floor. Tanus then stepped over him and aimed the disruptor directly between the man’s eyes.

“Cheers mate.”

Tanus pulled the trigger, sending a vibrant green bolt of devastating energy right through the man’s helmet, and then through his skull as the disruptor ate at whatever matter it could find. Tanus turned around and put his hammer back in its mount and looked around at the others; they had all finished their fighting, and were now looking around for some guns to blow. The only problem was there were no guns. Tanus started to look around, searching for something to blow, and then heard Heinsten start to laugh. He turned to observe the man, who he assumed had started to go crazy. He walked over to him, still slightly unsure as to the man’s mental health.

“Mind telling me what’s so funny?”

Heinsten stopped laughing and turned to look at Tanus, who was clearly confused. He pointed at the far wall where a massive computer along with rows of data terminals stood.

“Aye. You see those terminals and that computer?”

“Yeah. They’re kind of hard to miss.”

“Well, do you have any idea what they are?”

Tanus wracked his own brain, trying to figure out just what the hell the commando was talking about. Finally he gave up and conceded his lack of knowledge.

“No, what are they?”

“Those, my friend, are the central targeting computers for every quad cannon on this flying metal death trap.”

“Wait… So you’re telling me…”

“Yeah. You came looking for a few guns. Instead you found their brains.”

Tanus looked around, awe struck at his own good fortune. Tanus looked to the others and started yelling orders, pointing at the terminals as he did so.

“Blackjacks, take out those terminals and fry that computer! This is the central targeting computer! Let’s make ‘em blind boys!”
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
[This message has been edited by Tanus Solvona (edited July 20, 2009 10:32:00 PM)]
[This message has been edited by Tanus Solvona (edited July 20, 2009 10:36:03 PM)]
Wrex
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Wrex
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 20, 2009 11:22:05 PM    View the profile of Wrex 
Wrex ran between the terminals and the entry way to the room, his breath barely changing from his rigorous training. Blackjack was setting the charges next to the terminals while a couple watched the door for any reinforcements.

Wrex was one of those few.

"Rogueboy, you see anything?" He called as he made his way back to the terminals to check Blackjack's progress. Orobos was directing where to place the charges while Garryll, Tanus, and Corvin did the dirty work of actually moving and setting the charges. All were linked to a single detonator that Orobos controlled.

"I don't see shit in here Wrex. Either they forgot about us or we're just damn sexy." The Platoon Sergeant called out, his humor not failing him even in the middle of a full out space battle.

"Alright. I'm heading back to you now. They've almost got the charges set." The commandos who had been watching Blackjack set the charges now fell in behind Wrex as he ran back to the door. Rogueboy waved him away. Wrex stopped, confused. The commandos didn't stop in time behind him, several running into each other.

"What is it?" Wrex said, moving forward to see around the fellow Blackjack. However, Rogueboy answered his question by moving quickly back before Wrex could see what was troubling him.

"We've got a lot of reinforcements inbound!" He yelled, taking cover behind one of the many terminals in the room. Wrex turned and followed suit with most of the commandos.

Sliding and making sure his EE-3 was loaded, he turned and noticed that two of the commandos had remained near the door. Then Wrex noticed that they were carrying the acid launchers that they had used before on the durasteel doors.

They'll be in for a nasty surprise... He thought as he remembered how the acid had eaten through the durasteel easily, even eating through the plating of the floor.

The first of the security guards had no idea what was coming. They stepped tentatively through the door, unsure of what to expect. What they got was a liquid wall of green acid.

The first two who had stepped through were consumed by the acid, their armor almost instantly eaten away and continuing to eat their flesh. Their screams were drowned out by the yells of their comrades behind who noticed that the room was in fact not empty.

"How long do those guns last?" Wrex asked, but his answer came almost immediately. The acid guns sputtered and died, the commandos who wielded them dropping them to the floor. They ran back to cover as the bones of the first guards were eaten away and bits of the floor began to disappear.

The only defense Blackjack and the commandos had now was the noxious fumes the acid created but the security guards ignored the threat. Holding their breath, they charged into the room, immediately opening fire on anyone and everyone within range. Wrex returned fire with his EE-3, catching a guard in the leg. He tripped and fell in the cloud, dying as he inhaled the toxic fumes. He rolled around on the ground with death spasms before he died.

"Blackjack! Let's kill these bastards!" Tanus yelled, charging forward with his hammer. More guards flooded into the room, the acid cloud now gone, and Wrex saw about seventeen of them left. Blackjack and the commandos, however, were making short work of them.

Firing towards the bolder of the guards that were getting dangerously close to his position, Wrex noticed Tanus and Orobos fighting several of the guards with their melee weapons. Tanus swung his hammer, spike first into the gut of a slow trooper while Orobos cut limb from torso with his axe. They were artists of war, battle hardened veterans, and Wrex admired them for a brief instant before he was knocked to the floor.

An explosion rocked the floor and Wrex's body, the vibrations causing his teeth to chatter. Something large was covering him, but it finally moved aside once the shaking had stopped.

"Wanna watch what you're doing?" The commando said before standing up and returning a grenade at the enemy.

That was close. Wrex thought as he checked himself for injuries. Standing up shakily, he noticed that there were only a few of the guards left.

"Quick! Take 'em down!" Rogueboy yelled, charging forward. Several others followed suit, cutting down the remaining troopers with their sheer numbers. Eventually, none of the enemy stood to oppose them.

"Anyone hurt?" Wrex called out, receiving many negatives in return.

"Alright Blackjack. Let's blow this joint." Tanus said, heading out towards the hall. Blackjack and the commandos followed suit, Orobos at the end of the procession. As he left, the room was ignited in a fireball from the charges, fusing circuits and destroying all targeting systems. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was a lot of piles of slag.

A soft boom emanated from the ship.

"That was one of their weapons." Garryll said.

"Are they blind-firing their guns?" Wrex asked.

"Seems like it. They must be desperate to win this battle. So much they'd risk shooting each other." Tanus said. "How can we stop them then?"

"There's a reactor inside the ship which is linked to powering the weapon's systems." The commando's leader spoke with quiet certainty. "We disable that, they won't have the power to shoot a blaster with the ship, let alone a quad cannon."

Tanus nodded, heading off down a hallway.

"Let's roll Blackjacks!"
TRP/CPL Wrex/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [EW1][EW2][SRP][DCE][AS-H]
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Corvin
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 21, 2009 8:50:36 AM    View the profile of Corvin 
The squads advanced through the halls of the Aggrevator, which was starting to live up to its nickname. The Blackjacks were in the lead with the storm commandos just behind them and the SpecForce Marines bringing up the rear.

Another blast door blocked their path, its control panel dim and wires danging in sparking clumps where someone had physically pulled them out. The precautions wouldn't do any good, however. The storm commando sergeant glanced at Tanus for confirmation, who nodded. Again, the acid streams burned through the blast doors, no mean feat considering they were designed to repel hard vacuum, explosions, and even starfighter cannons.

Their suits sealed, the squads waited for the inevitable screams, shouts of warning, and random shots. There was silence.

Tanus glanced at one of his Specforce counterparts.

"I don't like it."

The acid cloud had mostly cleared by this point, having etched deep craters into the wall panels and ceiling. A destroyed intercom spat showers of sparks in all directions. There was no sign of Thrawnist marines, or even crewmen.

"Where the frak are the Thrawnists?" Corvin whispered. Tanus made a cutting gesture, indicating silence, and snaked a probe through the doorway. The doors on either side were sealed and there were no life signs behind them. Nothing along the corridor either. The place was clean.

It shouldn't have been clean, however. There should have been other reaction teams rushing to the fire control centre, or at least an investigative force in vacsuits. Instead, there was silence and a solitary mouse droid squeaking as it made its way through a nearby corridor.

Cautiously, Tanus advanced through the hatch, EE-3 aimed at the empty corridor ahead. When there was no contact, he gestured for the Blackjacks to advance.

Stepping through the remains of the blast door, Corvin swung his EE-3 from side to side apprehensively. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. The rest of the squad apparently agreed by the way Gate was clutching his flamethrower and Wrex's nervous twitching.

The corridors were eerily silent, almost as though they were still in a sealed area of the ship. The mouse droid's beeping had stopped, with only the hum of the ship's power systems, the squads' footsteps, and the now-continuous thump of impacts breaking the silence. The place felt like a tomb.

The squads advanced cautiously, troopers covering each sealed door as they passed. The probe had declared them clean, but there were ways to fool technology.

Tanus took a moment to check the ship schematics Intel had provided. Unlike the fire control centre, the reactor was probably in the standard location: it was much harder to relocate for obvious reasons. The squads were still over a hundred meters away from their target.

"We need to hurry things up a bit," he muttered. As though to underscore his point, the lights and gravity flickered and faded for a moment as a series of explosions shook the cruiser.

The Blackjacks started running, and the other squads followed them seconds later.

Sprinting as fast as he could with the J-4 slung over his back, Corvin wondered exactly why Tanus had assigned it to him in the first place. It wasn't as though he could swing it out and start firing away in the cramped corridors of the 418. Still, there was no point in questioning orders, even if the blasted thing was heavy and impaired his motion.

65 meters to the reactor. Corvin's earlier feelings of unease had bloomed into full-on paranoia. Short of a hull breach, nothing should have emptied a central corridor. Yet there was no one there.

"Keep your eyes open, Blackjacks." Tanus cautioned. There was a hiss, and then another and another as doorseals opened along the corridor. Stormtroopers poured out, firing blaster rifles as they charged.

"Keejin Squad, tak-!" Sergeant Alker started to yell, only to be cut off by a series of blaster bolts to the face and torso. He flew through the air, hitting the wall with a loud clang before falling lifelessly to the ground. Corvin squeezed off a burst, throwing himself to the side as blaster fire flew in all directions.

It was almost like a recreation of the vacuum ambush: the cramped quarters made the firefight into a slaughter. Only this time, it was the Thrawnists that had the numbers on their side.

Frak this.
TRP/PVT Corvin/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
*HeavyWeapons *
Read the bloody manual!
"Never believe a rumour of my demise. I have as many lives as a cat. Also as many teeth, as many claws, and the same cheery, cooperative disposition." Peter Wiggin, Xenocide
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Garryll Gates
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Garryll Gates
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 21, 2009 10:59:35 AM    View the profile of Garryll Gates 
Dozens of Thrawnists marines poured into the hall, firing E-11s or swinging vibroblades. Several VE Marines went down in the first barrage, blasted off their feet in the cramped quarters battle.

"This position is exposed!" yelled Cant, blasting a Thrawnist straight to hell with a full-auto blast from his own E-11. "We'll be slaughtered!"

"No fucking shit!" Gates replied testily, hemmed in by his comrades. "Get us an escape route! Find cover! Get outta my way, Wrex."

Wrex squished against the steel wall, letting Gates clear his arms. Liberated, he raised the flamethrower and put up a wall of flame. The unfortunate Thrawnists in the front wave were burned alive in their suits, turned into dancing, boiling torches. Even as the first wave burned, more men would jump up to the fore, ready to try their luck against Blackjack and the other VE soldiers.

"Yeah!" Gates yelled, spraying another wave of fire. "Get some!"

"Go Gates!" Tanus yelled. "Turn 'em back!"

The ASL grinned, and another bright yellow spear of fire caught a Thrawnist in the chest, melting the plate and setting the man's flesh on fire. The temperature in the hallway raised anther couple degrees.

There was a loud thud, and a sudden screaming. The flamethrower sputtered out. Gates looked at the suddenly inert weapon. And then he started swearing.

"Those shitheads!" yelled Gates, dropping the flamethrower, now effectively a simple paperweight. "Those shitheads emptied the oxygen out! Flame don't burn without air!"

"Seal your suits!" Tanus yelled- it was already too late for many men, who had punctures or were to slow. They died hideous, suffocating deaths.

Gates ripped the M13 shotgun from its sling, and blasted an oppurtunistic Thrawnist off of his feet. The man stood back up in a second, chest plate dented, but not punctured.

"Useless freakin' object!" Gates yelled, then surprised the man by grabbing him in a gap in the armor, and sticking the shotgun's barrel up under the man's helmet and blowing his brains apart. Brains and blood leaked out a gaping hole in the back of the helmet, forming a small puddle where Gates dumped the corpse.

Tanus swung his hammer wildly, crushing a man's ribcage and armor, and sending him flying into a wall. Not dead, he raised a pistol in defiance until Wrex put a round into his head. The Special Forces soldiers formed a whirling, slicing delta, ripping into the Thrawnist ranks.

However, the Thrawnists were still outnumbering the VE soldiers, and the marines were taking most of the casualties. Marine officers were yelling orders and trying to rally their men, but the command staff was riddled with holes. Two of the marine sergeants were dead outright, and one was injured and unconscious.

"We need to find a way around!" bawled Rougeboy, blasting a charging Thrawnist into a wall.

Gates couldn't reply. He was wrestling with a Thrawnist with a vibroblade, and the man was big. Gates' shotgun was pinned to the ground, and the man's blade was scraping the ASL's upper torso armor. Gates tried to hold the man's wrist back, but he didn't have leverage or the strength to.

Suddenly, the massive weight slipped off of him. Orobos waved his axe victoriously, and helped Gates to his feet.

"Thanks big guy," Gates said. "I owe you one."

The large trooper grinned and nodded. Both men turned back to the battle at hand.
ASL/SFCGarryll Gates/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [RoM][ICE][IH][CCA][BC][SRP][AS-1][ES1][CoS][EW1]
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If these people want to fight me, I'll blow 'em straight to Hell!
Rogueboy
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Rogueboy
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 21, 2009 11:05:37 AM    View the profile of Rogueboy 
Du! The sound of Rogueboy’s grenade launcher slightly echoed through the corridor, the grenade slowly sailed through the air directly hitting one of the Thrawnies in the helmet. The launched explosive took an upward turn, hit the ceiling of the corridor and went crashing down. The explosion sent quite a few of the enemy flying, someone’s leg sailed past Rogueboy and bounced against one of the marines’ chest plate.

The battle seemed to move slowly, there was little cover for either side as the enemy needed to descend a small staircase before they could engage the VE force there was an advantage on the VE’s side.

“Someone toss a damn grenade in there!” Tanus commanded as Orobos did what was commanded.

The grenade bounced onto the landing part of the staircase for a split second before one of the Thrawnists kicked it back. The grenade soared overhead sailing over some VE troopers and landing right in front of RB. The platoon sergeant made a silent prayer before jumping on the grenade in the attempt to keep the blast down at the sacrifice of his life. Shutting his eyes, RB made a stupid face and cringed in anticipation for the explosion.

Someone’s toe nudged Rogueboy’s arm. “Get up you lazy asshole, you’re not dead yet.” Tanus said.

“What do you mean I’m not dead?” Rogueboy asked looking around at what heaven might look like.

“The grenade was a dud; we shot a few more bolts before the enemy routed. Likely pulling back until they could find a better position to take the fight to us.” Blackjack’s squad leader simply stated before continuing. “Now get up, we need to find the reactor room.”

The rest of the squad walked past Rogueboy and each member shook their head, leaving the confused platoon sergeant guess as to which reaction they disapproved of. Climbing up the staircase the squad proceeded to follow the direction where the Thrawnists most likely retreated to.

Must have been a nasty little surprise for the captain of the ship. Rogueboy thought to himself. Bastards thought they could just waltz up and attack us without some kind of resistance? I’ll show those womp rats how to properly mess up a starship.

“Are we there yet?” Wrex asked of the assistant squad leader.

“No.” Responded Gates.

“Are we there yet?” Orobos chimed in, once again directed at the assistant squad leader.

“No.” Garryll said a slight edge in his tone.

“Are we there yet?” Rogueboy grinned.

“No!” The assistant squad leader yelled.

“Are we there yet?” Tanus said, his voice barely contained by laughter.

“No, sir.” Gates answered, a forced coolness in his voice.

“Are we there yet?” Corvin asked in all seriousness.

“Yes we’re here! We’re finally here just stop asking me!” Garryll exploded in anger.

“No seriously, we’re here guys.” Tanus said.

The door opened up and revealed a couple of engineers and techies staring at terminals or working on the converters. The engineers were in their stereotyped stained coveralls while the techies wore the navy blues of well...the navy. Two guards stood on the opposite end, where a door was located, and two guards were stationed on the door the squad just opened.
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

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Orobos
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Orobos
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 21, 2009 12:08:39 AM    View the profile of Orobos 
The two guards closest the doors were blown off their feet immediately before they could react to the sudden intrusion. The mens legs swung up in a comical fashion before they hit the ground. The two guards opposite had the benefit of distance and more time to asses the situation. They opened fir immediately running for cover behind terminals as they did so. Naval personnel and technicians followed suit pulling out small hold out pistols while they did so and sending more weapons fire in Blackjack's direction.

Blackjack spread out in standard room clearing procedure taking cover behind what they could find. Commandos slipped in and moved quickly seizing the initiative. What was left of the Marines had fallen in under the command of Gunnery Sergeant Cant who led the twenty or so men in last taking up whatever room the rest of them would have been able to use to maneuver in.

The fire fight ensued in the usual fashion as it had in every other conflict since they arrived on the ship roughly an hour ago. Orobos though about how long they had been here and how the battle was faring elsewhere. He shook himself as a bolt soared over and flashed in front of him as it impacted the terminal inches from his face.

"Garryll, your flamethrower should be working again right?!" Orobos asked eager to put a quick end to this skirmish before the rest of the security squads regrouped and came looking for them again.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" the ASL replied swinging the weapon from his shoulder the small flame at the end of the barrel flickered reassuringly.

A long tongue of flame lashed out from behind the terminal they were occupying. The enemy were taken aback by this sudden rush of heat, light and flames, they sought the protection of cover caring little for anything else.

The commandos were quick on the uptake moving across then right of the room and around another series of terminals and conductors into a position to flank the enemy. The Marines followed them moving from Blackjacks cover and into the former position of the now flanking commandos.

"Covering fire!" Tanus said over the comlink.

The squads responded firing with all they had on the guards and technicians with all they had giving the commandos enough time to flank them. The enemy seemed to pick up on this ploy and the guards were moving quickly to counter it. The technicians remained in their location seemingly traumatized by the various attempts at taking their lives.

"Blackjack move now!" Tanus said and they moved to finish the trap set by sergeant Heinsten and his commandos.

Diving over command terminals, nods and conductors the stormtroopers closed quickly on the technicians. They gunned them down as they ran further back into the tangle of wires. Without breaking their stride the squad then followed up by swinging around and heading straight for the guards who were blind firing over consoles at the commandos. Gates sent another jet of flame towards them eliminating the last of the enemy occupants in the room.

"Alright secure that door," Tanus said pointing at the door they had entered through. The marines moved quickly closing and sealing the door. "We don't want any surprises from our friends we just saw off."

"Won't hold them for long if they're controlling the place," Garryll said,

"Doesn't have to," Rougeboy said as the commandos moved setting charges along terminals and the main reactors.

"Where do they keep getting that stuff?" Orobos asked staring at the commandos in awe at the amount of training they had obviously went through.

"Same place I would have thought that you keep getting all your stuff," Gates said grinning.

Orobos turned and smiled at the man, "Thats for me to know and for you to never find out."

"If you're done chatting," Heinsten said, "We're done setting the charges. We can get out through there," the sergeant said pointing at a small gauze wire door.

Through the mesh wiring Orobos could see a small emergency corridor light by dim, red lights.

"Should lead us out somewhere near the Hanger."

"Good enough for me," Tanus said, "We're moving. Then you can blow this place," he added to the commando.
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Tanus Solvona
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Tanus Solvona
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 21, 2009 3:26:01 PM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
They were almost done. And when that time came, it was time to finish the job once and for all. The charges were all set and everything seemed to be going well for the men of Blackjack and the living shadows of the Special Ops men. Tanus nodded at all of them in turn.

“We did well here Blackjack. Now let’s get back to that corridor and watch the light show.”

Tanus and Blackjack made their way to the emergency corridor, keeping a steady eye on the main entrance door and making sure that nothing went awry. Tanus took his position near the front of the open archway, with Garryll behind him and to his left; Tanus rolled a thermal grenade around in his hand just in case. Finally, after checking all of the charges and making sure everything was in place one last time, Heinsten and his men fell back. With Cant and the other marines off in the ship, Tanus hoped that they could at least stem the tide of the security personnel on board the massive cruiser. Every so often, Cant would send him a message, telling them how the marines were progressing throughout the ship, usually in the form of swearing or the sound of blaster fire and explosions drowning out what he was trying to say. The sooner this ends, the better, Tanus thought. All he wanted to do was get Blackjack off this screaming metal death trap and back to Tadath for some well deserved R&R.

Heinsten set his back against the wall, tossing the detonator around in his hand. He looked over at Tanus and nodded to it.

“You wanna do the honors.”

Tanus shrugged; the others were just itching to get moving again, and Tanus felt the same exact way. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

“Not really. Makes no difference to me. Just blow this place so we can move on.”

“You got it.”

Then Heinsten pressed the button on the detonator. There was the sounded of something going zap near the detonator on the main terminal. Oh, that cannot be good. Tanus turned around to look at a furious Heinsten, who was looking down at the remote detonator with a face contorted in rage and betrayal. Garryll looked out at the room and swept his around at all the terminals.

“What happened to the boom?”

“I don’t know. Something’s not right here.”

Tanus turned back once more to a now convulsing Heinsten: his arms were shaking visibly and soon he dropped the detonator entirely and turned on his squad; had the man not been wearing a helmet, Tanus was sure that he would have seen a vein topping out of his neck.

“Misfire? MISFIRE!? Who packed that damn charge!?”

Each of the special ops men looked at each other, waiting for one of them to speak. While Heinsten waited for an answer, Tanus bent down and picked up the remote and looked it over. Well that certainly explains the problem. Tanus tapped Heinsten on the shoulder, who whirled around so fast Tanus was sure he was going to be punched.

“WHAT!?”

“Uh, not sure if you notice, but it wasn’t the charges that failed; it was the remote. It was set at the wrong frequency.”

At those words, Heinsten cowed down considerably. He took a few deep breaths before looking back up at Tanus and then past his shoulder and into the room.

“So what do we do then? Just leave it?”

“Hell no. We reset the frequency on each of the detonators and then blow the room.”

Heinsten seemed to be lost in thought. Tanus could hear his brain whirling through numbers, crunching down to an effective time. He looked back up at Tanus and nodded.

“We can do that, and we can do it in five minutes. Just cover us in case something happens.”

“Will do. Blackjacks, take up support positions! I don’t want to lose this now!”

The Spec Ops men fanned out to each of the detonators, starting their work on resetting each of the bombs that would blow the power supply controls. Blackjack took up positions all around the room, Rogueboy at the back with his grenade launcher aimed high and at an arc. Orobos stood in front of the door and several meters back, his SA-40 raised to his shoulder, and was then supported by Wrex and Corvin, who each had their EE-3s raised and ready. Garryll checked his flamer and nodded at Tanus, who was on the opposite side of the door, grenade in hand and ready to prime. For the first minute and a half, all was quiet except for the methodic beeping of bombs being reset. And then the door began to sizzle. Tanus opened up the squad comm channel.

“Okay boys, get ready, here they come. Rogueboy, get ready to bring down the house.”

“I was born ready for that. Just move when I tell you to.”

“Got it. Is everyone else in position?”

An assortment of grunts and confirmation came forth from each of the remaining Blackjacks. Soon the sizzling was getting louder – and louder still. What the hell are they doing? Making a new door? The answer was a clear no as the door slid open and the feet of security troopers ran in, weapons raised. Tanus primed the detonator and tossed it through the still open door and heard it roll back to the end of back of the corridor of troopers; the explosions and screams told him that the device had worked. He threw his back to the wall as a shower of blaster bolts shot through the smoke, hitting no one in particular but striking the surfaces of the room. Some of the bolts ricocheted harmlessly, while others struck the computers the men of the Vast Empire were trying so desperately to destroy.

Orobos, still kneeling down, pulled the trigger on his SA-40, vaporizing the second group of men to walk through the door; Wrex and Corvin’s wall of blaster fire saw to the rest of them. Garryll popped out from against the wall and unloaded with the flamethrower, putting up a wall of flame and pushing the next wave of men back. Then Rogueboy called out, “Get back!” A solitary grenade sailed out from the back of the room, flying through the hallway and going off with a tremendous explosion, enveloping all those unlucky enough to not run fast enough. When the smoke cleared, Tanus peered his head out into the hallway, and what he saw did not please him.

“There are more coming! Garryll, switch to the EE-3 and put up some strong support; Wrex, Corvin, you do the same. Rogueboy and Orobos, you’re our heavy support. Let’s light ‘em up boys!”

The squad formed a solid wall of white armor, weapons raised high and ready to fire. The security personel got closer and closer as the seconds ticked on. Tanus looked back the commandos.

“What’s the ETA on those charges?”

“1 minute!”

“Well, go faster, damn it!”

A blaster bolt lanced past Tanus’ head and hit the wall behind him. Tanus grimaced, stared down his sights, and fired. Soon the hallway was ablaze with bright red blaster bolts, yellow particle beams, fire and shrapnel as it ate up the entire hall. But the security teams did not give up. More charged through the flames. There’s no end to them. Tanus hit the control panel on the door, nothing happened. Figures. Onwards came another wave of troopers, charging with cold determination to defend what was there’s. Then maybe you shouldn’t have invaded what was ours. A shout from the back of the room broke through the din of battle.

“Charges are set! Get back to the corridor!”

Tanus nodded and looked to the others.

“Fall back in phased lines. Orobos and Rogue first, then Wrex and Corvin, then Garryll and I. Cover us. Go!”

Tanus watched as Rogueboy and Orobos sprinted for the dimly lit emergency corridor; Orobos knelt down, weapon rasied and ready to fire. Next went Wrex and Corvin, who took up positions next to Orobos. Tanus looked at Garryll.

“You ready?”

“To leave? Hell yes.”

Tanus turned and ran at full speed back to the open door. As more men poured through the door and into the room, Blackjack cut them down. Heinsten looked out into the room and nodded.

“Fire in the hole!”

And this time when he pressed the button, he was met with blinding explosions that swallowed the room and bathed it in light and fire. When the smoke cleared and the fires started to wane, Tanus looked at their handiwork: the computers were now slag, and the core’s lights started to wane. Alarms were now going off, and for the most part overrode the sounds of sparks flying and fire crackling. Heinsten walked up next to Tanus and looked around.

“So what’s next?”

“Simple. We turn this ship into a metal tomb. C’mon, there are more things to break.”
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
Angel
ComNet Marshal
 
Angel
 
[VE-ARMY] 1st Lieutenant
[VE-DJO] Sith Infiltrator
 
Post Number:  3074
Total Posts:  3342
Joined:  Jul 2003
Status:  Offline
  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 22, 2009 11:51:24 AM    View the profile of Angel 
OOC:
BlackJack
Phase I Objective 2: Red Light Green Light 1,2,3...
Location: Interdictor-Class Star Destroyer Aggrevator
Equipment:
  • Standard Squad Loadout
  • One (1) Disabling the weapons systems put the Aggrevator on full alert. The cruiser pulls to the rear of the engagement. Blackjack must take down the gravity wells in order for the Corps to start it's counter attack and send ships for help
Opposition:
  • Remaining On-Duty Personnel
  • Up to Twenty (20) Additional Standby-Duty Security Squads
Add'l Equip.: None
NPC Support: Survivors from Objective 1
Max Posts: 15
Additional Information:
Tactical Officer - Army High Council | Company Commander - Phoenix Company
TO-CC/1LT Angel/HCA-4/Phoenix/Dragon/Osiris/Stormtrooper Corps/Tadath/Vast Empire
Imperial Network Star Wars Image
----------------------------------------
Darth Phoenix - Dark Lord of the Sith
DLoS/SI Phoenix/DC-04/Lopen/Dark Jedi Order/Vast Empire
[VP:1]

[This message has been edited by Angel (edited July 22, 2009 11:51:52 AM)]
Tanus Solvona
ComNet Member
 
Tanus Solvona
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-ICS] Pirivateer Captain
 
Post Number:  538
Total Posts:  744
Joined:  Dec 2006
Status:  Offline
  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 22, 2009 9:55:36 PM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
The dimly lit hallway was engulfed by the sound of the foot falls of the invading Vast Empire troopers, Tanus at the head of the group with his EE-3 in hand. From the schematics he had seen of vessels based on the Star Destroyer model, this corridor lead out towards one of the main arteries of the ship, which could in effect get them anywhere they needed to go – as long as they went the right way and weren’t cut off by the security patrolling the halls. Like they could stop us anyway. Halfway down the hall, his datapad started to beep. He picked it up and looked at it. Angel? Must be important then. As he picked it up, Rogueboy shouted from the back:

“You get reception down here?”

Tanus stopped and turned to look at the man with a quizzical look, which didn’t mean much, considering Tanus was covered head to toe in full armor. Tanus just shook his head.

“Yes, Rogue, I get reception down.”

“Damn, I ought to change my carrier then. I was expecting my mother to call HOURS ago…”

The group started to chuckle, and Tanus joined in; it was good that even in the thick of battle, the men could enjoy themselves with some well deserved humor. He pressed a few buttons on the screen and the Aurebesh started to scroll across the screen. Tanus stared at the new orders carefully. Looks like there’s more fun yet to be had. He closed out the screen, put it away and then turned to the squad, who were anxious to get moving again.

“All right, we just got new orders. Our transmissions earlier went through, and the brass got ‘em. In short, we’re wrecking this vessel to the point of scrap, and we’re to take as many of the bastards as we can with us along the way. Our new targets are the gravity well generators. With the destruction of the weapons power core gone, the interdictor has had to pull back. While that’s initially a good thing, because it’s less fire power, the mass shadows are still giving us trouble, for both communications and reinforcements to engage the ships. So, we’re going in, blowing the mass shadow generators, and then waiting for further orders. Any questions?”

A wall of silence met him from all of the men in the group, the Spec Ops included. Tanus nodded his confirmation.

“Let’s get moving.”

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


The durasteel doors slid open to reveal a pristine white hallway. The security guards stationed near the door never saw anything else as the 20 Stormtroopers made their way into the hallway. They looked up and down the hall: No other enemies were in sight. Garryll took up a position at his left, and Heinsten took up on the right.

“What’s it looking like?”

Tanus shrugged; despite knowing the general layout of a Star Destroyer, his knowledge stopped there. His forte was knowledge of ground warfare. In truth, he was hitting the places that he knew well enough to go to and not get lost.

“I have no idea. My knowledge extends to us getting here, and that’s about it.”

“Wanna go right?”

“Why the hell not? Blackjack, form a couple of lines. I’ll take point with Garryll; Spec Ops can cover our rear.”

Tanus took up along the left hand wall, while Garryll took the left, weapons raised and at the ready. They made their way forward, ready for any other surprises that may come their way. With the ship now on full alert, Tanus expected to see a fair number of security personnel roaming the halls. He was, however, mistaken in that regard. They have to be watching us then, waiting for a good time to hit us. Although I can’t imagine them doing much to 20 soldiers here, plus another 50 or so running around the ship. Let’s see what happens. The hall seemed to stretch on forever, an endless see of white walls and a gun metal gray floor. Halfway down the hall, Wrex said into the comm:

“Are we there yet?”

The squad started to chuckle again; Tanus looked over to see Garryll’s trigger finger twitching. Tanus could only shake his head as he said,

“Guys, I’d watch out if I were you. Garryll may become mutinous.”

“Remember, you little buggers,” Garryll said, “I know where you all sleep.”

They continued along the halls, occasionally breaking silence if only to lighten the mood and ease the tension of walking on forever. Rogueboy and Wrex kept the group in good spirits, with Garryll throwing in a death threat every so often to spice up the conversation. All in all, there wasn’t much of a difference n conversation here or in the barracks, Tanus noticed.  From the back, Tanus heard the Spec Ops commandos talking, and every so often he’d listen to what they would say. Truth be told, it was a very dull walk, and nothing of any great import happened. Finally, there was abuzz in his ear, signaling that someone was trying to get through. Tanus opened up the channel.

“Thank you for calling Blackjack squad, purveyor of all things exploding. This is Tanus speaking, how may I help you?”

“Well, I was lonely and could use some company.”

“Cant!? Wow, it’s good to hear from you. And how the hell are you lonely? You have 50 men under your command.”

“Correction: I had 50 men. Some of us got taken out by grenades or just got overwhelmed. In truth, I have about 35 men left that can still fight.”

“Good. Because I have a job for you.”

“Is it something other than destruction and mayhem?”

“Absolutely not. But this time it will be much more focused. Kind of.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Can’t quite tell you yet. I need to see the men in person and see what we can do with that.”

“Fair enough. Where are you?”

“We just got out of a maintenance corridor on level 3C.”

“Wow. We’re about 50 meters from each other.”

“Good. See you in a bit then. Tanus out.”

He closed the channel and sped up to a light jog down the hall, and the others caught up in the center of the hallway. At the end of their destination was a large atrium, with several turbolifts leading to other areas of the ship. When Tanus stopped, Garryll walked up next to him, EE-3 cradled in his arms.

“What’s up?”

“Cant is showing up with some men. We’re gonna play with stuff.”

“Fun. Here he comes now.”

Cant and the remaining 35 marines stood before him, most of them covered in carbon scored and all cradling E-11s. Cant walked up and shook Tanus’, Garryll’s and Heinsten’s hands. He stepped back and cracked his neck as he looked around the room.

“Quite a room.”

“Yes, quite.”

“So what do you need?”

Tanus told him the squad’s orders, and Cant stood there, silent and listening. When he was done, Cant nodded and looked at the men behind him.

“So what do you need from us?”

“We need a diversion. But I don’t want you going rag tag. This time, I want you to head to a very specific target.”

“And what would that be?”

“The main power core.”

There was a slight pause as Cant absorbed the words Tanus had just said. He looked back up at him, and Tanus could tell Cant was judging whether or not the man standing in front of him was insane.

“That’s suicide.”

“No it isn’t.”

“How so?”

“Well, figure if we go to the mass shadow generator’s power source, you can stem the tide and take the heat off of us on the way down to the core, which I imagine a good portion of the security is.”

“Are we to actually engage?”

“No, just head down that way. When you get close, break off and start hitting other targets, anything that looks like it could be a rally point for the security personnel.”

“All right. When do you want to move?”

Before Tanus could speak, he heard the sound of something hit the floor, and it bounced. Is that… metal? Tanus turned around and watched as the thermal grenade got closer. His eyes widened as he looked to his left and saw the security personnel 60 meters away.

“Contact! We have contact! Cover the halls and get to cover!”
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
Kairo
ComNet Veteran
 
Kairo
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant Major
[VE-DJO] Acolyte
 
Post Number:  1318
Total Posts:  1338
Joined:  Jun 2003
Status:  Offline
  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 22, 2009 11:02:21 PM    View the profile of Kairo 
*Before Thrawn's Arrival*

Striding down one of the pristine hallways of the Dominion, Kairo felt out of place. His training had kept him away from the general populace for many months, causing these clean hallways and bustling technicians to now feel foreign. I need to get back. He was only on the ship to deliver a short message, but the familiar yet different feelings this place gave him had postponed his departure. Wandering down another of the halls, he ran his hand along the smooth and cool wall. With no specific destination, he just let his feet freely move where a whim took him.

Not only were the surroundings different, but even his clothes felt odd. He was wearing a jet black shirt and pants with matching shoes. He carried only two concealed daggers as protection, having left his familiar weapon behind. His hair was also much longer than it had been during his time in the Corps. Having not cut it for months, it was long and thick, a mass of bright blond. Squeaking to a stop in front of a door, he pushed the access panel out of curiosity and entered. It was one of the ships many armories for the marines stationed on board. White armor lined a wall next to a bench, each one accompanied by a set of weaponry. Walking down the line, he read the nameplates marking the armors owners.

You remember those days. He absently thought to himself, stopping at a set of armor without a nameplate. Oh yes. A time that was almost carefree compared to now, however absurd that is. Staring into the polished chest plate, his mind clouded with thoughts of the past. Time seemed to slip by, paying no attention to the man now completely lost to the world around him.

A siren suddenly went off in the room, jolting him from his reverie. A shiver ran up his spine, a feeling of foreboding for events about to come. "All civilian personal, please head to the nearest shelter." A monotone voice came through the intercom system. "All military personal, enemy forces have entered the system. Prepare for combat and await orders." The automated message repeated a couple times more.

Things are about to heat up it appears. Time to leave. I've overstayed my welcome. Before he could reach the door though, it slid open and troopers started to rush in. The last man to enter carried himself with a more forceful demeanor. The man turned his attention to Kairo and said, "Hmm? Don't recall us getting a new recruit, but every man is needed. It's good to see a trooper ready for some action. Sometimes they just cower in their rooms on the first mission. Well, suit up."

"Ah, wait, I'm not…" Kairo started to respond.

"What's that? Not getting cold feet are you? Thrawn just jumped into the system with a damn small armada. I may be exaggerating a bit, but that interdictor cruiser he brought is going to cause trouble." As he talked, the man grabbed Kairo's shoulders and spun him around, pushing him down the room. "Now suit up. We don't have much time." The man turned and headed for the only other armor that had remained untouched by the rest of the troopers.

Pushing aside his anger, Kairo thought about his predicament.Well, good job. You could always just explain again. You can be forceful when you want. He looked at the waiting armor and then the row of marines. Two choices. Either join these guys and kill some annoying Thrawnists, or hide with the civilians and wait for the whole thing to end. It did not take long for him to make a decision. "This better be the right size," he whispered, reaching toward the armor.

*Inside the Hanger*

Clenching his fist, Kairo rolled his shoulders and flexed his muscles. It had been a long time since he had last worn armor. It did not feel heavy at all, just mildly cumbersome. He doubted it would slow him down, and he knew the plating could potentially save his life. He had passed on carrying one of the assigned heavy weapons. Kairo was much better when he was free and agile. He had transferred his two daggers to the armor, adding them to the provided E-11 and four detonators. He had also grabbed a few extra cartridges, thinking this battle might take a while before it was all said and done. The armor itself fit well enough, just a size too small. This left minor gaps between some of the plating at his joints and felt awkwardly tight around certain areas.

"All right marines, here's the deal. We're going to be heading over to that interdictor that I mentioned earlier with a couple other squads. Once Thrawn's forces land in here, we'll jump inside one of the ships and launch our own landing party. Stay tight, because we'll be moving fast. Our objective is not to fight here. Take out those that you can, but there are other squads here to defend the Dominion. All clear?" The leader carried himself well. He had definitely been through his own share of battles and led men before. His men nodded and said their affirmatives. "New guy? What's your callsign anyway, I seem to have forgotten."

"Ka," He stopped himself. He could not say the name of a known dead man. Even though he was sure these men would not know him, he did not want to risk it leaking out to someone who might. Sergeant Major Kairo was not a name he wanted popping up out of nowhere. It would cause too many problems.

"What was that?"

"The new guys lost his voice it seems," A lance corporal quipped.

Kairo ignored a few of the other remarks, trying to think of something. Tempest. A familiar growl said in his head. Tempest? "Tempest," As he said the word, he felt another shiver run down his spine. This one he knew had implications far beyond the battle today. Why does that have such meaning? This new development startled Kairo.

"Tempest, eh? I like it." The leader stated. "I'm Gunnery Sergeant Cant. Look sharp everyone. They'll be here any second." I like this guy. Kairo thought as multiple squads started to set up a forward position. These would be the ones to head toward the interdictor. Many others were setting up e-webs and barricades throughout the remainder of the hanger, hoping they could hold off any landing party Thrawn sent of his own. Once the first ship landed, the orders were to take out whoever got in the way and board it.

"Nervous?" The lance corporal asked, kneeling behind supply crate for cover and checking his E-11.

Kairo knelt down as well. He was not even slightly nervous. The many battles during his time in the corps and his recent training had taken care of battle jitters. It took far greater things to shake him, but he had to act the part. A private on his first mission, even ones with jaded pasts and weird quirks, had nerves. "A little. Never liked flying in space that much." Kairo put the tiniest amount of shaking into his voice. Nicely done adding the bit of truth about space.

"You'll be fine. Just follow the Gunny."

With that, a tense silence enveloped the squad. They were a coiled spring, waiting to snap. Green turbolaser fire mixed with red return fire, marking the approach of the incoming forces. Within seconds the first shuttle careened through the blue forcefield that protected the hanger from the vacuum of space. For a split second, time froze inside the hanger as the ship landed, then all hell broke loose. Blaster fire filled the air. A moment later, the first wave of forces charged from behind the shuttle. Tightening his grip on the E-11, Kairo suddenly realized he actually had not fire a gun in some time. Can I still do it? Is my aim going to be completely off? With a sigh, he relaxed his body and focused his mind. With a squeeze of the trigger, he sent off a red bolt. It pierced through one of the first trooper's helmets, dropping him like a stone. Kairo realized that his aim had probably improved from the harsh training and new abilities.

A gunship landed in the shuttle a second later, followed by another Thrawn shuttle. They had been told a landing party of their own would be coming to help them. "Alright troops, move out. Get to that shuttle!" Breaking from cover, the squads pushed forward, breaking through the enemy ranks. One of the squads inside the gunship ran across the hanger. Kairo's group reached the shuttle just after the gunship squad. "Let's get going! I want a boarding party when we reach the ship!" The leader said gesturing into the back of the shuttle.

Kairo ran inside with his squad. Passing by the newly arrived squad, he felt like some of them were familiar. The armor prevented him from knowing exactly who they were, but he was able to catch their insignia. Blackjack. A smile crept onto Kairo's face as he took his seat. "Who the hell is flying this thing anyway?" A trooper announced to the silent compartment. Before an answer was given two Commandos moved to the forward compartment.

"Transmit the shuttles ID signature to the bridge. Tell them the counter boarding party is on board and not to fire on us."

The door slid closed behind the Commandos. This day keeps getting more and more interesting.

*Present*

Clink The detonator bounced off the ground a couple meters short from the large group of soldiers, continuing its path toward them. Glancing toward the source of the grenade, Kairo snapped his hand up and fired. His shot along with others hit the man, sending him collapsing against the wall.

"Contact! We have contact! Cover the halls and get to cover!" The detonator finally exploded, sending heat and shrapnel spraying into the soldiers. No one seemed to sustain any sever injuries. Kairo ran with Cant's team who were heading for a hallway next to one of the turbolifts. Leaning into the walls and the area around the lift, the team opened fire on the groups of enemy infantry now flooding the atrium from across the room.

If I were to lay a trap for my enemies, I would do it in a large open room with very minimal cover. Well played. All through out his time aboard the ship and fighting with Cant he had analyzed the enemy's tactics. They were very well trained, just not as lucky and not quite as good as they were.

Cant's voice came through the comlink inside his helmet, "Alright marines, we're going to cause a diversion for Blackjack over there. While they finish up everything in here, we're going to begin heading toward the main power core as a feint. I want the remaining soldiers to," He stopped for a second to blast a stupidly courageous soldier who had tried to run across the room at them, "Break into four teams of about eight. You should all know your way around an interdictor by now. Once you make contact with the enemy, break off and head to the auxiliary targets we learned in training." The firefight inside the atrium was getting intense. Blackjack and the commandos had set up a small defensive position down one of the other hallways and a turbolift, causing mass destruction in the enemy forces that continued to pour into the room.

The marines slowly started to back out of the room down various hallways. Laying down fire, Cant signaled a full turnaround. The squad broke position and headed down the tunnel. "Hey, new guy. Take this." The Lance corporal tossed Kairo a datapad. "That has multiple ship schematics in it. Figured you might not know these ships like the back of your hand yet." Kairo nodded and tucked it into his belt. The thing about ambushes like the one back there is that they only work if you have all the exits taken care of. This feels wrong. Instinct told Kairo to channel all his energy into his reflexes. Before he could say anything though, the squad rounded a corner, and he wished for once that all his training and intuition were wrong.

Sitting on the ground directly in front of the lead troopers were two explosive charges. Down the hall was an entire squad of enemy soldiers, weapons trained down the hallway – a perfect trap. A quick flick of the enemy captain's hand and the soldiers opened fire. The rain of colored bolts was accompanied by synchronized explosions, which blew the three men in the lead into bloody pieces, their armor joining the flying shrapnel of the hallway. The blaster bolts impaled the two soldiers behind them, and the shockwave of the blast sent them backwards into Cant and Kairo. The three soldiers in the rear ducked back behind the corner, but not before taking a few injuries.

Grabbing the soldier that flew into him, Kairo used him as a human shield as he collapsed to the ground under the weight. Shimming backwards, he threw the man off, and rolled to cover around the bend. Coming up in a crouch, he noticed his soldiers was burned. Ignoring it, he looked for Cant. A stray shot had hit him in the leg, before he managed to make it to cover. "Return fire damn it!" He yelled. The remaining soldiers put their guns around the bend and fired blind. This was more a preventative act to keep the enemy from advancing. "Tempest. Take a message to Blackjack for me. They need to know that all the hallways are probably mined just like this one. Don't come back for us either. I doubt we'll be joining you later, but then again, I'm not one to die this easily."

The last thing Kairo wanted to do was leave. He knew the only reason he was being sent was because Cant thought of him as just a newly recruited private. Anger blinded him. He wanted to kill everyone down that hallway, and he knew he probably could. "Go!" Cant yelled, lobbing one of his last grenades down the hallway. With a grunt, Kairo ran back down the hallway and into the atrium.

Skidding into the room, Kairo saw Blackjack and the commandos taking care of enemy forces still rushing into the room. Shooting into the enemy flank, he ran to meet the squad. "Private Tempest. I have some bad news. All the hallways are prepped in ambush. We're trapped, except maybe for the turbolifts. Oh, and request an immediate reassignment to Blackjack. You won't regret it."
Sergeant Major Kairo

TRN/AC Kairo/Training 1-3/Lotaith/VEDJ/VE
TRP/SGTM Kairo/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][SC][CoV][IH](LoC-DD)(CM-PL)
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in one hundred battles.
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Garryll Gates
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Garryll Gates
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
 
Post Number:  798
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 23, 2009 7:21:02 AM    View the profile of Garryll Gates 
"Who?" Gates asked over the roaring gunfire. He recklessly jumped up from behind his cover and sprayed a torch of flame down the hall they were covering. Screams and blaster fire came in return as men caught fire. Gates dove back behind cover.

“Private Tempest,” the man replied. “Sergeant Cant advises some of the hallways are mined, but thinks the turbolifts are clear. Also, I am requesting an immediate transfer to Blackjack. You won’t regret it!”

“Unusual circumstances,” Tanus replied, blasting at a target down range.

“I don’t give a damn! Can you shoot?” Gates replied.

“Yes sir. I am a pretty good shot.”

“Alright, get on the line, then,” Tanus ordered, pointing to an open space between Rougeboy and Wrex. The two troopers shifted to let the newest Blackjack in.

Laser fire ricocheted off the steel walls of the tight maintenance corridor they had come down, flickering both ways as the ambushers tried to break Blackjack’s position, and the Stormtroopers denied them. Orobos poked his head around the corner and blasted a long burst with the particle cannon, vaporizing a man’s head as he, too, aimed.

“Cant!” Tanus yelled into his comm. as he ducked into cover. “Cant, you moving yet?”

“My squads managed to fight out the atrium. Distraction in ten!”

“Good hunting, then!” Tanus replied and cut the link. “We need to get out of here – get the turbolifts, and we can get around these scumbags!”

“Fall back by numbers!” Gates bawled to Blackjack. “Wrex and Orobos, Tempest and Corvin, Rougeboy! Move it!”

The squad medic and engineer pulled back first, the rest of Blackjack covering them with spurts of laser fire and flame.

“Turbolifts are clear of explosives!” Orobos informed the rest of Blackjack. “Move up!”

Corvin and Tempest fell back next, both men scoring a few good kills as they backpedalled to the turbolift. Rougeboy fired a last grenade and then dropped back, leaving just the SL and his assistant.

“First in, last out, Gates,” Tanus ordered pointedly. “Fall back.”

“Are the commandos out yet?” Gates asked, shooting a look over to the Special Forces’ position. “Heinsten! You pulling back?!”

“Half my squad is at the other turbolift, we’ll fall back on your command!” the Special Forces Sergeant replied.

“I’ll cover out backs, boss. Wall of flames and all that,” Gates grinned, tapping his flamer. “Just give me a few seconds.”

Tanus shrugged and emerged from cover again, blasting an opportunistic trooper back into his comrades, who shoved his dead body aside to give them a clear shot.

Gates, meanwhile, was prepping his plan, a spur-of-the moment trap he’d used a variant of before. First, he shut the flamethrower’s forward flame off, and then squirted a generous quantity of napalm onto the floor of the corridor, and some at their own feet. Once he’d done this, he tapped Tanus on the shoulder.

“Plan’s done, chief,” Gates said.

“Alright, Heinsten, fall back!” Tanus yelled to his opposite, blasting covering fire down the hall. Gates added his own EE-3 fire to the mix, and the two men fell back to the turbolift as the Commandos sprinted for their own elevator.

“Just up one level, Wrex,” Tanus ordered as they got closer. Thrawnists poured into the room behind them, firing wild bursts at the retreating Imperials. Wrex poised his finger over the up button, and Orobos raised his rifle.

“Don’t waste your ammo, boys,” Gates grinned, “I’ve got it all under control.”

“What, do you have some extra-powerful weapon I’m not aware of?” Rougeboy asked incredulously. “There are at least ten of them!”

Gates just grinned and turned to the Thrawnists, who slowed down as one of their enemies turned to face them. Gates raised his flamethrower and flipped the switch for the front flame. The Stormtroopers looked quizzically at him and then he lowered it to the puddle of napalm on the floor. An officer aimed his rifle and got off three shots before the entire room went up.

The ASL stumbled back into the elevator. The doors slammed shut and Blackjack breathed a sigh of relief. Gates waved a hand. His armor was blackened and there were two more holes in it, leaking bright crimson blood, made easily visible by the armor.

“Gates, when will you learn?” Tanus asked, grinning and waving Wrex over.

“Probably when I fall apart,” Garryll grinned. “Or when my plans stop working.”

“You seem to like fire,” Rougeboy commented dryly, cracking up Wrex and Orobos.

“Hey! Watch where you’re dumping that stuff!” Gates barked at Wrex. “Aren’t you supposed to be a trained medic? That stuff stings!”

“He can take blaster bolts without flinching, but a little disinfectant…” Wrex trailed off, drawing a few laughs.

Wrex finished in under a minute, and the turbolift opened a few seconds later. Blackjack cautiously exited the elevator, checking angles and moving up. The Special Forces troopers fanned out as well, taking cover and reloading weapons.

“So which way now?” Gates asked, EE-3 in hands. “Or do you want me to choose again?”

“Last time you chose, we got ambushed,” muttered Orobos darkly.

“Um, if I may?” Tempest put in. “The marines gave me a map.”
ASL/SFCGarryll Gates/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [RoM][ICE][IH][CCA][BC][SRP][AS-1][ES1][CoS][EW1]
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Muse rocks.
If these people want to fight me, I'll blow 'em straight to Hell!
Corvin
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Corvin
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 23, 2009 11:19:06 AM    View the profile of Corvin 
Corvin glanced at the newcomer, his voice skeptical.

"We had a map too. Fat load of good it did us."

Tempest simply shrugged. Tanus looked at him inquisitively for a moment, then nodded.

"Welcome aboard, Tempest."

At a gesture from the squad leader, the Blackjacks and storm commandos started walking again.

Thrawn's engineers had evidently spent many a happy hour redesigning the Interdictor from the inside out, to the point where the standard schematics were more or less useless. From modified, oversized gravity generators to entire quad lasers moved around, it seemed the only things left unchanged on the Aggrevator were the deck plating and the blast doors.

"Right," Tanus muttered. " If we take this set of side corridors here, then take this turbolift, we should be able to bypass the mines and get to the left generator without too much trouble."

There were acknowledgments over the com, and Corvin wondered how he had managed to say that in one breath. The Blackjacks were taking up the rear this time, letting the better armoured storm commandos take point.

The turbolift ploy appeared to have worked: there were no Thrawnists waiting in ambush and the intercom on this level was still blaring out orders and reports from the ship's security teams. The groups crept through the deserted hallways, the occasional shaking from turbolaser hits and the rumbling of the engines serving as a reminder of the ongoing battle.

For a reason he couldn't quite place, Corvin remembered that he'd chatted with a Tadath defense platform gunner a few weeks earlier, back when he was still with Nexu Squad and had been on leave. She'd mentioned that she was assigned to Level 4 of the Veritas. She'd had a very nice smile, Corvin recalled, then wondered if she was still alive. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Distraction killed.

The two squads rounded another corner. The Blackjacks spread out into a "V" formation with the storm commandos at its centre, boots clanging on the durasteel floor as they advanced.

There was an electronic squeal over the squad com, followed by several seconds of static. Abruptly, the transmission resolved into shouting.

"-do you copy?"

"Cant? Tanus here. What's the problem?"

There was no reply for several seconds.

"Sergeant? Sergeant, do you read me?"

There was a beep, and the static suddenly stopped. The transmission had stopped. Tanus stood there for a moment, his expression hidden by his faceplate. Then, he sighed slowly.

"Stang. Blackjacks, move out."

Slowly, the stormtroopers started moving again, much quieter after the transmission. Strangely, Corvin noted, Tempest seemed to be taking the news rather well under the circumstances. The man was decidedly odd: since his introduction, he hadn't spoken at all. Bloody efficient though, especially with those odd little daggers of his.

One of the storm commandos leading the group held up his free hand, and the troopers stopped.

"What is it, Hern?" Heinsten asked.

The storm commando slicer looked at his squad leader.

"Holocam around the corner. Don't think it caught us, but we'll have to deal with it somehow."

"Xendor..." the Sergeant muttered. He glanced at Tanus, moving his shoulders in a shrug. "Gunnery Sergeant?"

Tanus opened a belt pouch and took out an EMP grenade. Heinsten nodded crisply.

"Right. Buckets off and armour powered down, Praxis Squad. Don't want to have our suits fried, do we?"

The storm commandos obeyed, following the SL's orders with almost droid-like precision. The Blackjacks looked to Tanus for conformation, then mirrored them when the Gunnery Sergeant nodded.

Corvin disconnected his helmet breathing tube, then started to shut it down. One after another, the HUDs systems deactivated, until all Corvin could see was blackness broken by a rectangle of visor-darkened corridor.Taking the helmet off, he shut down his armour's various remaining systems. Finally, with the jetpack guidance computer shut down, he gave a thumbs-up.

Tanus depressed the button mounted at the centre of the grenade, then held it in one hand as it beeped and a red light flashed on and off. When the beeping had reached almost continuous levels, he pulled his arm back and let fly. The EMP flew through the air, hit the wall, and bounced to the side.

There was a deafening buzz, and arcs of electricity crackled over the walls and floor. Tanus waited for the noise and light to fade, then cautiously looked around the corner. The camera was smoldering gently, with sparks falling from its casing at regular intervals. Two doorseals had malfunctioned and were stuck in the closed position, their status lights a dull red.

The crew would probably investigate eventually, and they would be alerted to the Blackjack's presence on the level, but it was better than their being spotted on the holocam. In any event, they should be back down to the generator's level soon enough.

The squads quickly reactivated their armour and helmets, putting them on and resuming their journey. They passed quickly through a series of corridors, the wall lighting flickering on and off as the ship's crew diverted power to the engines. There were less than three meters away from the turbolift Then, inevitably, something went wrong.

A doorseal hissed open, and a surprised crewman all but ran into the lead commando. The Praxis trooper shot him in the face, but the blaster bolt and the man's cut-off shout were as revealing as any alarm. More crewmen appeared through the hatches, firing blaster pistols and calling for backup on comlinks.

"Blackjacks, get to the turbolift!" Tanus shouted. The squads started backing towards the turbolift, firing as they went.

The lift doors hissed open before either squad could get there. Inside was a squad of very surprised Thrawnist security troopers. Their shock quickly wore off, however, and they joined the firefight, pinning the Vast Imperials in the corridor.

Imminent doom had become a depressing familiar status in the few short days he'd been with the squad, Corvin reflected, then fired a sustained burst from his EE-3. The blasts tore into a crewman wielding an SE-14 sidearm, killing him instantly.

"Any ideas?" Heinsten shouted.

"Kill the frakkers?" Tanus replied, crushing an unfortunate security trooper's skull with his warhammer as he spun around.

Imminent doom it is, then.
TRP/PVT Corvin/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
*HeavyWeapons *
Read the bloody manual!
"Never believe a rumour of my demise. I have as many lives as a cat. Also as many teeth, as many claws, and the same cheery, cooperative disposition." Peter Wiggin, Xenocide
Washington:"I knew this plan would never work!"
Church:"None of our plans ever work."
Caboose:"That's why we carry guns."
[This message has been edited by Corvin (edited July 23, 2009 11:24:51 AM)]
Kairo
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Kairo
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant Major
[VE-DJO] Acolyte
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 23, 2009 1:59:21 PM    View the profile of Kairo 
Being caught between enemies with no efficient cover was one of the worst things that could happen. In front of them, the hallway was now being filled with crewman and anyone else that thought they could handle a blaster. Poking out from the rooms they had been working in, they used the door jams as cover while they shot at the exposed squads. Behind Blackjack, the arrival of a security squad in the turbolift cut off any retreat. The expanse of hallway they were stuck in was completely devoid of any real cover. Within just the first few seconds of open fire, one of the commandos had been hit in the arm. Multiple people had carbon scoring where they had been just grazed.

"Orobos, Gates, open fire down the hall and keep those crewmen in their rooms. Anyone with a melee weapon, take down that squad in the lift. We can't risk damaging it with heavy weapons. Everyone else, covering fire." Tanus ordered as he tried to close the little distance between them and the lift.

Flames and lasers blasted down the hall, forcing anyone without a death wish to duck into the rooms. The goal was to keep them from getting any chance to shoot, but it was a race against time until someone got off a lucky shot. Ignoring the banter that Blackjack seemed to love, Kairo race down the hall with Tanus and holstered his E-11. Tanus was fast, but Kairo was faster.

The covering fire from the commandos had momentarily forced the security crew to take cover in the turbolift, allowing Tanus, Kairo, and two commandos to reach it unharmed. A second ahead of the rest, Kairo grasped his two daggers and rolled into the lift. Not expecting such an assault, the security troopers were caught momentarily off guard. Launching from his crouch, Kairo brought his left dagger directly underneath one of the troopers. With mild resistance, the blade tore from the crotch to the shoulder. The trooper let out pained yell as he collapsed.

A solid thump behind Kairo told him Tanus' hammer had made contact of its own. As the dagger left the man's body, he spun in a tight circle with the momentum. Reaching out with his right hand, he stabbed it into the chest of another unfortunate soldier. Once he finished the full revolution he brought the left dagger with full force into the man's helmet. By this time, what remained of the soldiers had recovered, turning their aim on Tanus and Kairo. From the doorway of the turbolift, the two commandos fired precision shots into them, adding two more to the list of dead.

Turning toward the remaining three, Kairo felt a searing pain in his thigh. One of the shots had pierced through the armor of his right leg. Letting his right leg relax, he dropped to the floor as two shots flew through where his chest and head had been. Ending in a crouch, he flicked his wrists, throwing both daggers across the tiny space. One impaled a soldier's head, while the other hit the blaster one had pressed against his shoulder for better aim.

Tanus had reached the final soldier, sweeping his feet out from under him then slamming him with the hammer. The commandos took out the man with the destroyed blaster and shot the other two that Kairo and Tanus had hit for safe measure. "Get your asses in here!" Tanus yelled into the comlink, signaling the squads to fall back into the turbolift. Within seconds, they were all inside. A commando hit the panel, closing the doors and sending them cruising down through the ship's levels.

Gates had received yet another minor injury it seemed, cursing as Wrex fixed the minor burn. "I swear this stuff hurts more than the burns."

Counting up the numbers, it appears they had lost one of the commandos in the fire fight. Finishing with Gates, Wrex turned to Orobos who had also sustained a minor shot to his left arm. "You two should probably stop taking forward position so often. You wouldn't end up this way all the time."

"But they are such good walls for the rest of us," Corvin commented.

Kairo let himself smile as he grasped the hilts of the two daggers and wrenched them from their homes in the soldiers. "Nice job back there." Tanus stated.

"I suppose. I missed though." Kairo replied.

"Huh?"

"I was aiming for both heads…" A few chuckles went around the small space. Turning around, Kairo looked at the rest.

"What the hell happened to you?" Corvin said, as Wrex walked over.

"What?" Looking down at himself, Kairo realized his armor was covered in blood. "Oh, side effect of using daggers, I get a little bloody."

"A little…" Wrex muttered, realizing most of it was from the enemies and not from Kairo. As Wrex began to patch the wound on his leg, the lift suddenly lurched to a stop and the lights dimmed.

The commando by the controls turned around and punched a few buttons. When nothing happened he hit them. Still nothing. "Well now. Looks like they shut off power to the lift." It took a couple minutes to find the emergency access panel in the roof. Ripping it off, two commandos move it to the side as Tanus and Heinsten opened the outer panel. Offering his hands as support, Heinsten boosted Tanus up. Climbing through the hole, he disappeared into the darkness. As he searched around, everyone began to make their way up, passing equipment as they went.

"Well, this could be problematic." Tanus said from one side of the lift. "We need to go down two more levels, and from what I can see, the only way down is this ladder."

"So what's the problem?" Gates asked.

"I don't think we'll be able to fit the heavy weapons through the gap next to the lift itself, and that's the only way down." Everyone turned to look at the small gap situated between the turbolift and the tube wall.
Sergeant Major Kairo

TRN/AC Kairo/Training 1-3/Lotaith/VEDJ/VE
TRP/SGTM Kairo/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR][BC][SC][CoV][IH](LoC-DD)(CM-PL)
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in one hundred battles.
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Wrex
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Wrex
 
[VE-ARMY] Corporal
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 23, 2009 6:42:34 PM    View the profile of Wrex 
"Well, what do we do?" Wrex asked, cradling his EE-3 in his arms.

"We do what we can. We have to disable the generators and get the fleet in here." Tanus said. Motioning to Corvin, he gave his ultimatum.

"We'll have to leave them here. The particle cannons, the rocket launcher," He turned to Garryll. "Your flamer too Garryll. All of it behind. We need to finish our mission."

Almost reluctantly, Garryll dropped his flamethrower to the roof of the turbolift. The flame sputtered and died as he disconnected the tubes that allowed it to burn. Wrex and the rest of Blackjack followed suit, dropping their heavy weapons to the floor. There were several clangs, then silence.

"Alright Blackjack. Let's go." Tanus said and started down the ladder. "Heinsten, we'll cover your squad as you come down. Deal?"

"Just don't let me get shot in the ass." The commando leader grumbled to assorted chuckles.

Garryll followed Tanus, then the rest of Blackjack moved down the ladder. Wrex took his customary spot at the back of the pack, making sure that everyone was making it down before he started himself.

Gripping the bars, he began to move down slowly. Just don't look down. Just don't look down. He thought as he continued his descent.

It was inevitable though. He looked down to check the position of the rest of Blackjack and shuddered. The shaft continued on for as long as Wrex could see and there was even some slight fog in the recycled atmosphere.

Tanus voice came up the shaft. "All clear in here. Let's move Blackjack!"

Wrex looked up to see that the commandos had begun their descent as well. He didn't see Heinsten, but he assumed he was going last.

Wrex continued down the ladder, his medical backpack shifting from the last of his medical supplies.

This is taking a while. He eventually thought, then Rogueboy's voice broke his train of thought.

"Hey Wrex. Up here."

Wrex looked up to see Rogueboy leaning out from the wall, half his body hidden in the hallway the turbolift normally exited to. Feeling his face flush, he pulled himself back up and through, to see a resting Blackjack. Garryll and Orobos had watch positions, their EE-3's pointed down the hallway.

"About time you joined us Wrex." Tanus said, twirling his hammer expertly. "Now we just wait for the commandos and we'll be on our way."

Almost at his word, the first of the commandos arrived. He had just barely pulled himself through when a loud shriek came from the shaft.

"Oh shit." Wrex said, running to the shaft opening. He stuck his head out and looked up to see the turbolift now beginning to shudder.

"They turned the power back on! Heinsten! Move!" Wrex yelled at the commando, who only about three quarters of the way down. Moving aside as several more commandos made their way in, Wrex lost sight of the turbolift and Heinsten. When they had gotten inside to safety, Wrex stuck his head out but had to pull back in.

A loud whoosh went past the hole as the turbolift made it's now rapid descent towards the unknown.

"Wrex." Tanus said, but Wrex already knew what he was going to say. Sticking his head out, he glanced upward at where Heinsten had been last.

He was gone.

Coming back, Wrex looked at the few remaining commandos. They were somber with the death of their leader, but Wrex saw their body movements showed a deeper emotion.

Anger.

"Blackjack." Tanus said, his voice almost a whisper. "Let's move."
TRP/CPL Wrex/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [EW1][EW2][SRP][DCE][AS-H]
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Tanus Solvona
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Tanus Solvona
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-ICS] Pirivateer Captain
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 23, 2009 11:45:50 PM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
They continued down the hall in silence, only hanging their heads in silence at the fall of their dear comrade. Tanus could not bring himself to ask the necessary questions, even though he knew the time would be coming soon. Garryll stood off to his right, EE-3 at the ready, and Tempest was at his left, looking over the schematics of the ship carefully to see where they needed to go; the others formed up behind them in a diamond pattern and looked to the sides, trying to forget what just happened. Behind them further still, the Spec Ops commandos walked on in silence and somber remembrance of their fallen leader. The fact that they looked like large, living shadows did not help the fact that Heinsten was now dead, and crushed beneath the weight of the turbolift that brought them here. As the squad continued down the hall, Tempest held up his hand every so often, indicating a new way to go or whether or not they should cut back and around. Thus far, there had been no contact from Cant, but at the moment the men of Blackjack wanted to be alone in their thoughts, to contemplate the shortness of a soldier’s life. Halfway down one of the hallways that would take them closer to their target, Tanus stopped; Blackjack stood off to the side, as if they knew what was going to happen. He turned around and sighed, stepping up to the Spec Ops with a grimace on his face; he was all too happy that he was wearing a helmet right now.

“All right, I know this is sudden, and if you want to think of me as an inglorious bastard, you are more than welcome, but I need to know who was next in command after Heinsten.”

No one said anything or dared move; they all looked off in different directions, or at the ground, as Tanus continued to stand there waiting for a response. He urged them again.

“Guys, I know he was your leader, but right now we have a mission to complete. So you need to tell me who is your ASL.”

At first, no one said a word or made a sound of any kind; Tanus was almost entirely certain the men had stopped breathing. Then, from the back, someone spoke up.

“I’m the next in command, sir. My name’s Sergeant Hile Varth.”

Tanus nodded at the man. It took a lot of courage to fill in the shoes of a man like Heinsten, especially so soon after his death.

“Excellent. Varth, rally your men and get them ready I think we’re close to our target.”

He walked back up to the head of the group and looked to Tempest and then to Garryll, who Tanus could tell was grimacing under his helmet. He misses the weapons. I don’t blame him; we could use them right about now. He looked at Tempest, who was tapping away on his datapad, most likely trying to find an alternate route to bypass the heavy security. From the swearing under his breath, the plans were not going well.

“What’s the problem Tempest?”

“Well, the fact that they know we’re here makes it more or less impossible to breach the doors to the Mass Shadow core, which are triple-thick durasteel and security encoded. We could hack the doors, but that’ll put us in the path of what I’m supposing to be an amassed group of security personnel. But we can’t even worry about that if we can’t get into the room.”

“Damn. All right, I think it’s time Cant gets into action.”

Tanus opened up the comm channel with Cant, and at first all he heard was static. Soon, however, he heard the characteristic swearing of a man being shot at. A muffled explosion told Tanus all he needed to know about their progress.

“How’re you holding up Cant?”

“Well enough. I’m not dead yet, although I’m down to 28 men. How about you guys? Any news?”

“Yeah. Heinsten’s dead.”

The words left Tanus’ mouth so carelessly that at first he failed to register them. Cant was obviously taken aback by the news of his death.

“Jeeze. So what now?”

“Some soldier named Varth took over. He seems capable, but we’ll see how that goes. But listen. We have a problem.”

“Commissary out of cream puffs?”

“No, smart ass. We had to ditch all of our heavy weapons in the turbolift because it stopped and we couldn’t get through with them. So all we have are our rifles, sidearms and maybe a few detonators. We need that distraction as soon as possible.”

Tanus listened to sound of blaster fire in the background, and then some static took over the channel. This time though, Cant didn’t swear. He just started to chuckle.

“I swear, if it weren’t for the fact that you wanted me to risk my life I could swear you were coming on to me.”

“Not now dear, the kids will get suspicious. Now just do this for me and I promise I’ll get you that diamond ring you always wanted.”

“Fair enough. Now what do you expect?”

“I just need you to cause a diversion to draw off the heavier infantry. I can almost smell the tibanna burning in the heavy cannons they have waiting for us. I’d prefer to limit that as much as possible. When I get confirmation that you have contact, we’ll blow the door. Deal?”

“Yeah. But I expect that ring, damn it.”

“Will do, sweet cakes. Smooches.”

The channel closed with a buzz of static. Tanus turned to the men and looked at each of them in turn.

“Gentlemen, get ready. Cant is going to by us our lives by diverting the heavier infantry. We’ll blow the door with an EMP charge to the security panel leading inside the core control room. One we’re in, it’s the same drill as before: blow the terminals to shut down the power. Once we’re done there, we’ll see what else we need to do. Everyone understand?”

All of the men, including the Spec Ops commandos, nodded in unison. Tanus returned with a curt nod of his own.

“Let’s get going.”

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


Tempest lead the way, datapad in his hands and directing the men along. The hallways bended and twisted together, and Tanus was sure that if Tempest had not been there with them, they would have been lost. Soon they came to the end of a corridor, which turned off to the right and at the end of that was a large door. There it is. Triple thick durasteel. Tanus turend to look back at Rogueboy.

“Rogue, get a charge set on that panel. I’ll get in contact with Cant.”

As Rogue set the charge on the door, humming as he did so, TAnus opened up the channel once more. This time there was an immediate response, this time Cant laughing and swearing as he mowed down troopers.

“We’re here.”

“Aye. And so are they. It’s your show, Tanus.”

“Thanks. Good luck.”

“You too. Cant out.”

Rogueboy looked at Tanus, who nodded a confirmation. Rogueboy pulled out the detonator and ran back to the squad, who was bunched up behind the wall leading down the corridor. When he got back there, he looked at each of the squad, and then to the door.

“I hope you like fireworks.”
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
Rogueboy
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Rogueboy
 
[VE-ARMY] Platoon Sergeant
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 24, 2009 1:21:46 AM    View the profile of Rogueboy 
When you lead from the rear, you take it in the rear, that had always been one of Rogueboy’s mottos. Heinsten’s death had been so quick that it took RB a few seconds to register it, even though the squad leader was most likely making sure that none of his men got lost or left behind.

The morale of the Spec Ops commandos had plummeted, either some of them didn’t like their new acting squad leader or they were too attached to their previous squad leader. Since Rogueboy was a betting man he would wager on the latter of the two scenarios, heavily.

The Vast Empire troopers moved through the hallway with Tempest and Orobos on point, the new recruit was handling himself well too well in Rogueboy’s experience. Studying the man with a seasoned eye, the troopers were approaching a junction in the hallway where two corridors met up. Tempest positioned himself on the right and looked down the left hallway without sticking his head out, and then he repeated the same motion on the left side.

This guy is too good to be a recruit. The former Raider thought to himself as he checked his EE3’s ammo, fully loaded. When things were not always as they appeared the immediate thought and more than not conclusion was that of a spy. While Rogueboy would not start a scene in front of the squad and at the crucial moment of being inside a ship still controlled by the enemy he would however pass those thoughts to Tanus and follow his advice.

Opening up a private communications link with Tanus was easy, just flicking a button. “Yo T-man.” Rogueboy greeted.

“What’s up?” The squad leader asked impatience echoing through the comlink.

“This Tempest, I don’t think he’s on the up and up.” Rogueboy said skipping the majority of the formalities.

“What makes you believe that?” Tanus asked, mildly concerned.

“Most new recruits don’t know their head from their tail bone, this guy has his shit covered. Look at the way he’s clearing the hallways.” Rogueboy had to refrain from pointing.

“You’re getting paranoid in your old age, it’s a hallway one straight line with random doors and stuff. I don’t imagine it’s that hard to be on point for.” Tanus said.

“Well whatever, I got my eye on this guy if anything turns up you’ll be the first to know.” Rogueboy said before cutting the link.

Finally they reached the end of the corridor and reached a huge gate of triple thick durasteel. “Rogue, get a charge set on that panel. I’ll get in contact with Cant.” Tanus commanded.

“While I’m at it, I’ll stop the flow of time.” Rogueboy muttered while he searched his pockets for that small package of sealed detonite he always kept with him.

That was one thing Rogueboy was glad for changing the armour from Katarn to the Jumptrooper, his hands were a lot more nimble than they had previously been. Finally he found the detonite in the pack located just above his left rear cheek, that was odd since he normally stored it in the belt pack at his right hip. Patting himself down revealed that Rogueboy had moved his ration bar to the hip side. Shrugging it off RB pulled out his vibro bayonet and carefully cut the packaging.

Mixing the compound around so as minimize the effects of oxidization Rogueboy wished that he could drill a small hole through the durasteel so that he could maximize the explosion. As things were he wasn’t too sure that the detonite would do anything more than dent the triple plated gate. Humming a dirty ditty one of the other troopers caught up and started filling in the words. “There once was a man from Nantucket, whose willy was so long he could suck it, he said with a grin, as he licked off his chin, “If my ear were a runt I’d f…”

The man’s words were cut off as Rogueboy pulled out his detonator, took out one of the five mini-receivers that were attached to the detonator, placed it on the detonite and headed towards the soldiers. “I hope you like your fireworks.” Rogueboy said before continuing. “Because this is the finale.”

While bracing himself for the explosion Rogueboy pressed down on the trigger. There was a slight hesitation as the squad looked on, no explosion. “What the hell!” Tanus yelled. Pressing down on the button a few more times achieved nothing, what did I do wrong? Rogueboy asked himself. Maybe it’s a defective receiver? Could it be the detonite expired? First I should check the basics.

“Give me a second!” Rogueboy yelled in an attempt to stave of Tanus’ questions.

“What? No explosion?" Varth asked Rogueboy.

“It’s not my fault.” RB said in an attempt to shift the blame.

Stepping so that his face was inches from the former Raider Varth continued his belligerence. “You know what we do with pieces of poodoo like you? We give them latrine duty.”

“Get out of my face Varth!” Rogue yelled back.

“What are you going to do about it?” The acting squad leader asked his tone less than friendly.

Using one of his hands Rogueboy shoved the man as hard as he could, the one hand proved futile as Varth moved back a few centimetres before stepping forward and planting a fist into Rogue’s visor. His head snapped backwards and the red mist descended over his eyes as it dawned on him that this womp rat actually believed that he could take Rogueboy on. Grabbing Varth’s head the platoon sergeant attempted to bring his knee up and smash his face, the spec force’s leader blocked the move by landing an uppercut on Rogue’s abdomen, following the uppercut was a jab at RB’s chest. Grabbing the fist before it landed Rogueboy used Varth’s momentum to pull the larger man forward and used his other hand to push him into a durasteel column.

The whole fight lasted about fifteen seconds before Tanus was in the middle breaking it up. “Cut it out you two!” He shouted.

“You better keep your man on a leash.” Varth said pointing at Rogueboy.

While none of the men could see it Rogueboy sneered at him before going to pick up the detonator he dropped. The casing popped open and a battery rolled out, picking it up Rogueboy checked the charge on it. “No wonder it didn’t go off, the battery’s dead.”

Some of the men laughed and Wrex handed him one with a request. “Give it back when you’re done, I need it for my hand-held defibrillator.”

As soon as the new battery was in the explosives went boom. When the smoke cleared, and it took its sweet time doing so since the ventilation in all starships seemed to be weak, the obvious thing was that the door was still standing. Curse words erupted in both squads, however the door was damaged pretty badly. “We need another charge, anyone got some detonite on them?” Tanus asked.

“I do.” Orobos said before heading towards the door.
Heavy Weapons Specialist

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[This message has been edited by Rogueboy (edited July 24, 2009 1:27:36 AM)]
Corvin
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 24, 2009 1:46:16 PM    View the profile of Corvin 
Corvin wasn't sure if he'd walked into a comedic holoplay or a nightmare. First the charges refused to go off, then the blackhat's ASL got into a fight with Rogueboy, and then the charge still refused to blow properly... Maybe it was a side-effect of coming off an adreneline high, but he had the strangest desire to start laughing hysterically, burst into tears, or some combination of the two.

If the Thrawnists haven't heard us, they deserve what they're about to get.

"Orobos, if you would..." Tanus asked.

The hulking Whipid nodded, advancing past the other troopers and crouching next to the door. His clawed fingers gently removed the safety coating on a second charge, then typed in the activation sequence. There was a quiet beep, and a red light flickered on and off, signifying that the explosive was primed.

"Ready to blow, Sergeant." Orobos noted.

"Good," Tanus replied, raising his EE-3 and checking its power cell before deactivating the safety. "Blackjacks, Praxis, get in position."

None of the storm commandos responded. It took Corvin a moment to realize that Varth was glaring at Tanus with his hands at his side, quite plainly disregarding the Blackjack SL's orders. Corvin sighed.

Just lovely, a pissing contest...

Tanus turned and looked at the acting Praxis SL.

"Do I need to repeat that, Sergeant?"

There was no response for a long moment, and Corvin tensed. Then, the storm commando looked away.

"No."

The storm commandos hurried to fill the breaks in Blackjack's formation. Forming a loose V formation, designed to concentrate the maximum fire power on whatever was on the other side of the door, the two squads waited. Orobos handed Tanus the detonator. The SL turned it over in his hands, then held his thumb above the activation button. His EE-3 was held casually in his other hand.

"Big bang in three, two..."

There was a flash of light and flame, and the blast door vanished into a cloud of shrapnel. Instantly, the squads opened fire through the hole, advancing as they did so.

They ran through the still-smoldered doorway and into a cavernous chamber dominated by three massive generators. The air seemed to crackle, causing Corvin's hair to stand on end, and there was the stench of ozone filled his nostrils.

There were a few dozen crewmen in the central clearing, with a few more monitoring displays near the generators. Most were unarmed. Those who were carrying their DL-17 pistols drew them and started firing at random, blinded by the charge. Badly aimed shots slammed into the walls, prompting bursts of accurate return fire. The unarmoured crewmen trying to rally their comrades and firing on the squads fell over dead, their bodies smoldering. A black-suited man with the insignia of a Thrawnist commander was shouting into the com of one of the computer terminals, firing an E-11 one handed while he did so.

One of the storm commandos took several blaster bolts to the throat and jerked, collapsing seconds later. Blaster bolts continued to hit her as she went down. 

The surviving Praxis showed no signs of noticing their comrade's fate, mowing down the crewmen with droid-like discipline. One of them threw a thermal detonator. It flew through the air, blowing a group of red-suited security personnel into very small pieces. Corvin followed Tanus as he cut a swath through their enemies, blasting those he missed and any Thrawnists who tried to fire on them.

There weren't many. The man was in his element, killing or crippling several crewmen with each swing of his power hammer. Tanus reached the Imperial commander, who was still firing at the storm commandos clearing the west side. The man had enough time to swing around and look very, very surprised before Tanus brought his hammer down on his cap. The man's head more or less collapsed, and he fell onto a console.

There was a whine as the Praxis brought down the last few crewment, who'd been trying to flee.

"Generator room one secure." Varth announced.

All three blast doors hissed open and white-armoured stormtroopers poured through. Not the crewmen or the Naval security jokers, these were obviously the real thing.

"You just had to say..." Corvin began, and then a blaster bolt hit him. Flames erupted from his chestplate as the bolt burned through his breathing tube and the heat set the oxygen aflame. Corvin's helmet filled with smoke, and he began to have trouble breathing.

Reaching down as he started to choke, the Private twisted one of the air valves. The air tanks sealed, cutting off the oxygen flow to the flames. They flickered, and went out. Taking off his helmet, Corvin started to return fire, only slightly fazed by the loss of his HUD.

The storm commandos had been cut off from the Blackjacks, and were impossible to see with the Thrawnist Marines in the way. From the blasterfire in the general direction of the first generator, they were still alive and giving a good account of themselves. Even so, the odds were not in the Vast Imperials' favor. They were outnumbered, and these troopers were at least as good as they were.

Never a suit of Katarn when you need one. Corvin glumly thought, then ducked behind a console.

OOC:
Not quite to placing the charges, but I ran out of time. Sorry, Tanus.
TRP/PVT Corvin/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
*HeavyWeapons *
Read the bloody manual!
"Never believe a rumour of my demise. I have as many lives as a cat. Also as many teeth, as many claws, and the same cheery, cooperative disposition." Peter Wiggin, Xenocide
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Church:"None of our plans ever work."
Caboose:"That's why we carry guns."
[This message has been edited by Corvin (edited July 24, 2009 7:14:13 PM)]
Garryll Gates
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 25, 2009 8:16:32 AM    View the profile of Garryll Gates 
Dead bodies and laser fire killed the room. Gates tried to dodge both, but only succeeded in the latter. The dead commander, his head and upper torso pulped and weakly leaking blood, was sharing Gates’ bit of cover.

Corvin slid into a piece of cover behind another console. He’d lost his helmet and a bit of smoke was leaking from the torso of the suit. There was also heavy laser damage.

“God damn turbolift,” Gates swore, hands itching for his flamethrower. “Could’ve designed it with moving troops around efficiently, but nooo.”

He poked an eye above his cover, and didn’t draw any fire. Emboldened, he raised the EE-3 over the console he was hiding behind, and peered through the scope. Steadying his aim on the edge of the now unlit console, he aimed and fired. A Stormtrooper with a long-barreled rifle collapsed, the shot catching him in the lower head, destroying the respirator and the man’s jaw. Another shot took a Stormtrooper in the shoulder, but he continued to fire one-handed with his E-11.

“Blast it,” Gates muttered, and then put a blast into the upper chest of the wounded man. The target collapsed, finger pulling on the trigger in death, emptying the power cell into the ceiling.

Gates scrambled from his cover as answering fire came back, and slid behind one of the generators. Gates poked his gun from behind cover and blind-fired in order to keep the enemy ducking, and not shooting.

“Flankers!” yelled Wrex from somewhere to Gates’ right. The ASL turned his attention to the right, where Wrex had taken refuge behind a security desk. There were two Thrawnists Stormtroopers with their E-11s blasting away at the medic’s cover.

Gates sprinted over, firing from the hip at his previous targets, and slid into cover next to Wrex.

“Oh, hello, sir,” Wrex greeted Gates as cordially as if he had met him in Fort Sexton hallway. “And how are you today?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Gates replied in the same tone of voice. “Saw you were in a bit of a bind, so I thought I’d help you out.”

“The help is much appreciated. There are two problems maybe ten meters that way. I’d like to see them gone.”

“Alright,” Gates replied, dropping the pretense. “I’ll toss a ‘nade. That’ll drive ‘em out.”

Gates jumped up from cover, and yanked the pin off a frag grenade. He cooked it off for a second in order to prevent the enemy from tossing it back, and then threw it in a gentle curve over the enemy cover before dropping back behind cover.

The explosion shook the deck…or maybe that was just long-range VE guns punishing the now-unarmed Interdictor. Gates poked his head back over cover as one of the Thrawnists jumped over it, officer’s markings on his shoulders and helmet, swinging a foot-long war knife at Gates’ face.

The two armored combatants wrestled for a second. Out of the corner of his eye, Wrex was trying to stab the other Stormtrooper with one of his throwing knives. Gates managed to get a few inches and threw a short, hook into the man’s head. His bulk lurched off of Gates, and the ASL rolled away. Both jumped back to their feet, and Gates threw another punch at the man’s head. He took it and his head jerked back, but he came back, blade scything. A long scratch followed the man’s blade across the faceplate of Gates’ helmet.

“Shit!” Gates muttered, backpedalling. “That’s a nice blade.”

The officer, emboldened by Gates’ retreat, moved forward faster, swiping his blade in tight slices. Gates dodged back and back, occasionally getting a kick or punch in. Eventually, he backed into one of the generators, and ran out of space to run to.

“I have you now,” the Thrawnist crowed, going in for the kill.

Gates grinned and jumped into the air, firing his jet pack. He shot a dozen feet in the air and came back down behind the officer.

“On the contrary,” Gates sniggered, pulling the shotgun off of his back. “I’ve got you.”

The first shotgun blast staggered the officer into the generator. The next knocked him off his feet. The officer tried to rise, but the second shot had severed his spine. He compromised by flipping Gates the bird before the third blast took his head apart.

Gates ducked down and plucked the war knife out of the dead man’s hand. “I’ll take that.”

Ducking, he ran back to his previous cover. Wrex was back to taking potshots and Gates collected his EE-3. Peering around the room, he spotted Tanus, and waited for a lull in the firing to run over.

“We’re at a dead lock! We need to blow the generators now and move on!” Gates informed his SL.

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” Tanus asked bad-temperedly.

“Rougeboy!” Gates ordered, “Fire your grenade launcher on my command!”

“We’ve already tried that,” Tanus said tiredly. “They just focus fire on him every time he comes out of cover.”

“Well, ever play dodge ball?” Gates asked.

Tanus was thrown by the question. “What the hell does a childhood game have to do with this?”

“Watch and learn, sir,” Gates laughed. He poked his head from behind cover, and it was nearly shot off.

“You were saying?” Tanus laughed as Gates checked to see if his head was still attached.

Gates grumbled back and then stood up, and slung his EE-3. He pulled a thermal detonator from his belt, and prepped it. Tanus looked about to make a remark, but shrugged and waved Gates forward. He breathed in and out carefully, as he was going to dodge across the heaviest fire in the entire room…or die trying.

Garryll leaped from behind cover and tossed the detonator high to land it behind the Thrawnists’ cover. Half of the Stormtroopers followed the grey sphere as it flew in the air.

“Rougeboy! Now!” Gates yelled, rolling into cover, miraculously unscathed. He sent up a quick thank-you to whatever force happened to have his back, and then peered around the corner.

Rougeboy emptied the grenade launcher at the Thrawnists, who had been distracted. Freed from suppression fire, he blew them all apart. The smoke clouded the room. No more fire came from the Thrawnists’ positions.

“We clear?” asked Corvin, having lost the internal comlink with his helmet.

“Yeah, we’re clear.” Tanus shouted back. “Set the charges, move!”

Orobos began attaching explosives to the first generator, with Tempest doing some of the grunt work for him. Two Spec-ops men rigged explosives for the second, and Gates lent Rougeboy a hand with the third. Two minutes later, they had finished with the rather fiddly job of placing explosives.

They all made sure that their detonators had batteries and were set on the right signal before they withdrew to the far side of the room. Once they were far enough away, Tanus nodded. Orobos punched the detonator, and the explosives exploded flawlessly, fragmenting the power plant for half the gravity field generators and leaking coolant fluids all over the floor.

“One down!” Tanus yelled, “And one to go! Move it out, Blackjack!”
ASL/SFCGarryll Gates/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [RoM][ICE][IH][CCA][BC][SRP][AS-1][ES1][CoS][EW1]
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Wrex
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 25, 2009 4:29:10 PM    View the profile of Wrex 
Wrex's breath came in shallow gasps as he followed Blackjack through the bowels of the ship. They stopped at a corner in the hallway, giving Wrex a quick chance to catch his breath while they looked for any passing patrols.

This is getting to be a little much. He thought, bending over and gasping for air. He hadn't had much time to get back into the Army's conditioning routine since he'd been back and it was beginning to show.

Tempest looked at his map and pointed to the right. "Shouldn't be much farther. The generators should be close together according to this."

"Alright, let's move it out." Tanus said, taking point with Garryll. Wrex sighed and pulled up his EE-3, trying to find the air to continue.

They made it down the hallway quickly, moving as fast as their weapons would allow them. Eventually they came to another durasteel door. This one was closed like the last one, however the keypad was not destroyed.

"It's like they want us to walk right in." Garryll noted, pulling his EE-3 up into a firing position. That was the moment a crewman walked out the door, his head buried in a datapad.

Suddenly, he noticed the squad of armored troopers. Startled, he dropped the datapad.

He was dead before it hit the floor.

Blackjack moved forward, getting inside the durasteel doors before they shut. However, the rest of the commandos had been left behind.

"Rogueboy! Get that door open!" Tanus yelled, taking down a crewman as he fumbled with a blaster pistol. Wrex glanced around at the room. He still couldn't take in the immense size of the generators.

I need to get out more. He thought, firing at another crewman. He fell, caught in the throat, still smoldering.

The fight was over quickly, the crewmen and their leaders little match for the armored troopers.

"Here comes the cavalry." Rogueboy said as the doors slid open.

Two squads of white armored Thrawnists poured through, shooting at the surprised Blackjacks.

Wrex glanced behind and saw what remained of the commandos before he dove for cover.

Isn't that lovely.

Glancing around the terminal he was using for cover, he noticed Rogueboy slumped up ahead. He was grasping his arm.

"Rogueboy. You hurt?" Wrex called out, ducking back as red bolts melted the terminal into slag.

"Just a flesh wound." He called out. Unconvinced, Wrex decided to help him out.

"Corvin! Gimme some cover!" He called out, already sprinting towards Rogueboy. The private jumped out of his cover, EE-3 fire flying towards the Thrawnists. Taken aback by the change in tactics, the Thrawnists opened fire on Corvin, who now was hidden safely again.

Sliding in next to Rogueboy, he was already opening his medical backpack. Rogueboy lifted his arm, revealing his wound.

"Shit." Wrex said. The wound itself was not serious, however it looked bad. The bolt had melted part of his armor and the armor had actually leaked into the wound. \

"Seems like you patched yourself up." Wrex said, reaching for his dwindling supply of disinfectant.

"Like I said. It's just a flesh wound." Rogueboy replied, grunting as the disinfectant made it's way into the cracks in the wound. Filling the hole with gauze and taping it over, he patted him on the back.

"Good to go."
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Tanus Solvona
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Tanus Solvona
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 28, 2009 12:55:19 AM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
He could hear the whirling of the final generator through the walls. You’re ship is mine now, Thrawn. Best start looking for a replacement. Tanus raised his war hammer and brought it down on a security guard’s head, smashing helmet and skull with a sickening crunch. The battle was going well, with the security guards either dispersing or dying in quick fashion. Tanus sheathed his hammer and drew his EE-3, laying down a wall of fire on any Thrawnists he could find. He looked behind him to see the Spec Ops commandos moving up behind Blackjack squad, and Tanus grimaced as Varth started to cut through the squad of troopers protecting his men. He started swearing that the top of his lungs, yelling at everyone to get out of his way as he opened for with his Stormtrooper Two. I swear to The Maker, Varth, if you get any of my men killed, I’ll make you pay. Tanus charged up and got next to Varth, fring his own weapon now with deadly accuracy, Varth glanced over at him and swore.

“So, pretty boy, decided I don’t know what I’m doing?”

“Two things. One: You’ve never seen me without my helmet, but your judgment on my looks was good. Two: No, I decided that if any of my men died because you were too stupid to duck that’d I’d kill you myself.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“If we continued on after the death of Heinsten, then I can sure as hell continue after you.”

Tanus knew that he had struck a chord with that blow. Varth fired with renewed vigor, and thankfully, with renewed accuracy. Soon the entire morass of the security guards had dispersed or lay dying at their feet. Tanus started to walk forward and over the bodies, and then looked back to Varth, who wasn’t moving and was simply holding his rifle at his side, staring down at the floor. Bullocks, this cannot be good. Tanus walked back up to Varth, who made no point to actually look up at the larger trooper. Tanus started to speak.

“Varth, you can be pissy as much as you like later, but right now we have a mission to complete. So get your head together and get moving.”

But Varth didn’t move. All he did was simply stare at the ground, this time his arm shaking a little. Tanus called out his name once more.

“Varth?”

His answer was a headbutt to the chin. Tanus dropped his EE-3 and staggered back at the force of the blow. Varth dropped his rifle, charging forward in a rage, swinging at Tanus’ head, connecting and knocking him flat. As Varth got closer, Tanus hook off the blow and got up. He brought his hands up and looked Varth square in the eye.

“That was NOT smart.”

It was at that point that the Spec Ops commandos made a move forward to help their commander, but they never got farther than several gun barrels pointed their way. Rogueboy leveled his grenade launcher at their faces while Garryll pointed with his disruptor.

“I wouldn’t recommend that. Your commander needs a lesson in manners.”

Tanus parried a punch aimed for his head again and crouched down, laying a solid jab into Varth’s midriff. While the force of the blow was lessened extensively, Varth still backed off at the hit. Tanus walked forward, hands still at the ready. Varth went in with a few quick jabs of his own and some good footwork, but Tanus managed to dodge a few of the blows, or parry the ones that got too close. The dance went on for what seemed like hours, but in fact only about thirty seconds had passed. But even still, it had gone on too long. In the blink of an eye, Tanus spun around, bringing the full force of his fist on Varth’s face; if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet, Varth would have been dead. He staggered back up against the wall, dazed. As he tried to get back up, Tanus walked up to him and barred him up against the wall with the ridge of his arm. And then, with ice in his veins and his voice, Tanus spoke.

“We have a mission to finish, and I will see it completed; whether or not you live to complete it is another tale entirely. If you want to lead these men so badly and even come close to the man that Heinsten was, I recommend that you get your head out of your ass and start acting like an officer of the Vast Empire military. Do I make myself clear?”

Varth whispered a barely audible “Yes” and walked over to pick up his rifle, not saying a word thereafter. The rest of the Spec Ops men stood back in grim silence, looking on with a sense of disgust and regret as their commander shuffled down the hall listlessly. Tanus turned back to the men of Blackjack and nodded.

“Blackjacks, stand down. This fight is over. And as for the one to follow…”

Tanus walked over to Garryll, who handed him his EE-3 and nodded; Tanus clapped him on the back.

“Let’s rock this ship.”

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


The rest of the journey was quiet; not even Rogueboy spoke with his usual witty banter to break up the monotony of the situation. With what had just transpired, the Spec Ops commandos dared not say anything that would infuriate Tanus any further. Varth was quiet and hung to the back of the group, where he was surrounded by three of his men; Tanus guessed it was to prevent Varth’s skull meeting Tanus’ hammer. Rogueboy kept checking his grenade launcher, making sure the drum clip was secured correctly; Orobos tightened his grip on the haft of his axe every so often in apprehension. Tanus could tell they were anxious. Tempest lead the way, as usual. Garryll was on his left, keeping an eye for anything that may jump out them. Cant broke the silence every so often with updates on their progress, and to check in on the squad. Tanus gave him the good news and bad, and Cant just laughed.

“Never fails that the new kids always have to prove themselves.”

“Nope, never does. See you soon brother.”

The line cut out as Cant started swearing for more grenades. Tanus just chuckled as they came up to the last bend that would lead them to the last generator. Tempest looked up at the sign and nodded, saying to the squad, “This way.” As they rounded the corner, Tanus’ eyes widened: At the end of the hallway were two E-Webs with full fire crews. Tanus dove back behind the wall.

“Get down!”

Blackjack and the Commandos threw themselves up against the wall as a wave of heavy laser fire flew down the wall, slamming into the far wall; two of the commandos weren’t fast enough and were cut down by the rain of laser fire. Tanus swore under his breath and looked over at Rogueboy. He opened up the comm to the rest of the squad.

“All right. This could be problematic. Rogueboy, this is your show. I can see some smaller doorways along the hall. If we can get a few of us up there, we can establish covering fire and a distraction for Rogue to nail ‘em with the grenade. After that, you know the drill. I’ll move up with Wrex and Corvin. Someone pop off a smoke grenade for cover.”

Tanus looked over at Garryll, who popped a smoke grenade off his belt and pulled the pin, hurling it through the air. It skidded across the ground and fell right between the firing squad and the Blackjacks. White smoke started to fill the hall and Tanus looked over at Wrex and Corvin. Then, without a word, Tanus bolted for the door. With no visual confirmation of targets, the firing crews shot wildly through the thick white smoke, hitting the walls and coming close to giving Blackjack squad a new squad leader on more than one occasion. Tanus pulled up in the right doorway, while Corvin and Wrex took the left. Tanus raised his rifle and started to fire through the cloud of smoke. They heard screams and shouts as blaster fire pelted either the walls or the personnel; Tanus couldn’t tell for sure. Tanus looked back at Rogueboy, and he nodded.

“It’s your show, Rogue. Make it look good.”

“With pleasure.”

Rogueboy rolled out from his hiding spot, arced the grenade launcher upward and puleed the trigger. The grenade sailed down the hall and disappeared behind the smoke. A half-second later the hallway shook with the force of the grenade going off. Tanus got up, rifle raised and slowly walked up to the still floating white cloud. Wrex and the others moved up to follow him. When he cleared the smoke, all that remained of the E-webs were shattered metal casings and portions of the feed tubes from one of the power generators, which was strangely still intact. Tanus looked up to see the other solid heavy durasteel door in front of him. He look down at the security panel and frowned: It was completely locked down. He started to look the door over as Rogueboy and Garryll stepped up next to him.

“So, what’s it looking like?” Rogue asked as he shouldered the grenade launcher. Tanus shrugged.

“It looks like the same setup as last time. Only this time I can almost guarantee we’re going to get hit hard by resistance. This means that regardless of how we get inside, we’re getting met with some serious firepower. And on that note, I think we should give the unlucky bastards on the other side of that door one last fireworks show.”

Tanus pointed at the still active power generator, which Garryll balked at.

“How the hell did that thing make it?”

“I have absolutely no idea, but we’re going to use it. Wire that thing with a few more detonators and put it up against the door. We’ll blow it, Rogue will cover us with some grenade fire and then we’ll take out the generator. Any questions?”

No one said anything. Tanus looked to the back at the Spec Ops commandos and motioned to their detonators.

“We’re going to need those detonators for the power generator in the room. I’d recommend that you do as little dying as possible.”

Without waiting for a response, Tanus turned back to his men setting up the gigantic bomb that was to blow the door. The large generator house both an energy core and tibanna gas, which essentially made it the largest detonator one could carry on the field of battle. Rogueboy strapped the detonators around the base and top of the generator, which took several minutes. After some swearing and chuckling under his breath, Rogue told the others to push back to the wall. He got back and looked at Tanus and Garryll; Tanus could tell that he was smiling. He pulled out the detonator and flipped open the cover over the button.

“Best hold on to something. This’ll be quite a show.”

Without a further word, Rogueboy hit the button. Almost instantaneously, Tanus was blinded by bright light as the hall was consumed in energy and fire. A gout of flame shot out from against the door, and terrible sound or metal being rent from its hangings filled the air. Shrapnel rained down on the floor as white hot metal rained down from the ceiling as door, ceiling, floor and walls were ripped apart from the force of the blast. Finally, the smoke cleared, and Tanus could see straight into the room. The guards stationed near the door were blown apart or were missing entirely, and those that were farther away were still dealing with the shrapnel and fire bursts. It’s now or never. Tanus jumped out from his cover.

“Blackjacks! Charge!”

Tanus sprinted into the room, disruptor pistol in one hand and his EE-3 in the other. One guard got up and raised his rifle to fire. Tanus pumped off a single shot from his disruptor. The enemy fell back, clutching what would soon be a stump of his left arm. Tanus dove behind a computer terminal just as the E-web started to open fire. The others rushed into the room and made short work of whoever they came across. Many of the guards fell back behind the E-web cannon, which was now struggling to keep up with the targets that were streaming into the room. Tanus pulled a frag grenade off his belt and pulled the pin, tossing it into the breach and hearing the sound as hot, sharp metal filled the air. Tanus got up, raised his EE-3 and opened fire as Wrex and Orobos threw in grenades of their own. The explosion was magnificent as both E-web and crew were swallowed by the explosion. Tanus pulled out his hammer and charged into the fray, Orobos soon behind him with his axe in hand. A flash of silver flew by out of the corner of his eye as Tempest ran past him, one of his knives sticking out of the face of an unfortunate guard. Tanus brought his hammer up in a savage upward swing, driving the spike of his hammer through the underside of the man’s mouth. He pulled the bloody spike out, and the man fell down dead. The others fell in short order. Tanus looked back to the commandos, who were already moving up in a black, armored mass.

“Get those charges set now! I want this generator blown in three minutes or less!”

This time as Varth passed, he gave Tanus a thumbs up. Guess a beating really did do some good. The commandos set to work, this time with Rogueboy doing his share as they lined the generator and terminals with charges. Soon the entire room was blanketed in a thick mass of small, black explosives. Tanus ordered the squad to pull back to the main door frame when all of the charges were set. Varth looked at Tanus and nodded before pulling a small black detonator sequencer out of his pocket.

“Everyone get ready! Fire in the hole!”

Varth hit the button, and there was a resounding crack as the generator and terminals were absorbed in fire and light. The entire ship seemed to shake as the second gravity well generator exploded and fell apart, sending metal and liquid everywhere. Tanus nodded and beneath his helmet smiled. This day just keeps getting better and better.
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
Angel
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Angel
 
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[VE-DJO] Sith Infiltrator
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 28, 2009 10:21:42 AM    View the profile of Angel 
OOC:
BlackJack
Phase I Objective 3: See What Happens When You Aggrevate Me?
Location: Interdictor-Class Star Destroyer Aggrevator
Mission: The Interdictor is useless in the battle. It still has troops to deploy, so it does not flee. BlackJack will use high yield explosives to cripple the engines so it can't deploy its troops
Equipment:
  • Standard Squad Loadout
  • One (1) Personal Choice Weapons
  • High Yield Explosive
Opposition:
  • Remaining On-Duty Personnel
  • Up to Fourty (40) Additonal Security Squads
Add'l Equip.: None
NPC Support: Survivors from Objective 1/2
Max Posts: 15
Additional Information:
Note: Security will be up your butt intense. No sneaking around this one.

Tactical Officer - Army High Council | Company Commander - Phoenix Company
TO-CC/1LT Angel/HCA-4/Phoenix/Dragon/Osiris/Stormtrooper Corps/Tadath/Vast Empire
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----------------------------------------
Darth Phoenix - Dark Lord of the Sith
DLoS/SI Phoenix/DC-04/Lopen/Dark Jedi Order/Vast Empire
[VP:1]

Tanus Solvona
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Tanus Solvona
 
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[VE-ICS] Pirivateer Captain
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 28, 2009 3:15:08 PM    View the profile of Tanus Solvona 
Tanus peered back into the room and smiled at the metallic and biological carnage strewn about the room. Blackjack squad had done well. We’re almost done here. Hoots and hollers came up from the group as hi-fives and pats on the back were distributed amongst the men in jubilation of what they had accomplished; Tanus couldn’t be more proud of Blackjack squad in that one moment. He took a step into the room to look around and bask in the glow of destruction in his wake, the destruction that he and his men had caused to so great and powerful of an enemy. Well Thrawn, it looks like this time you bit off more than you could chew. Garryll walked up next to him, and Tanus could tell by the slight spring in his step that his ASL was extremely happy.

“Tanus, this is bloody brilliant. We’re tearing this ship apart.”

“Heh. Don’t get cocky, Garryll. You know that there’s always more to do.”

Garryll’s demeanor instantly sobered; he turned his head to look at the smoking generator in front of them, and then at the flames licking the terminals and power cables attached to the generator itself.

“Do you know what else we have to do, besides horrible chaos and destruction?”

“You act like its ever anything different. We may as well get ready -.”

At that instance, Tanus’ hip beeped as his datapad started to make alert sounds. Speak of the devil. Tanus took out the small device and flipped to his new messages, and saw Angel’s name creep up on the screen. He looked over the words unfurling on the screen and started click his tongue. He put the datapad away and Garryll looked at him with apprehension.

“Well, what’ve we got?”

“More orders. Let’s get the squad ready to move.”

Tanus walked back into the hall where the men were laughing and hollering in triumph; Tanus grimaced as he stared at the mass of armored soldiers and how he must break them the bad news. So much for some much need rest. He held up his hands and all of the men instantly fell silent. Tanus cracked his neck and then sighed as he began.

“Well boys, we have done well here. So well have we done, in fact, that the brass wants us to bring this mother down with even more fire and chaos.”

No one said anything; the tension in the hall was palpable. Tanus continued on.

“Command just gave us new orders. We are to get to the engine room and take them out, which will prevent the Interdictor from deploying anymore ground troops to the battle below. This blow will be decisive for our friends on the ground, since it will give them a serious leg up on the competition.”

“So, what can we expect on the way there?” Wrex asked, anxiety leaching out if him with every word.

“Well, I can tell you that there will be no sneaking around this time. With the guns and mass shadows gone, this ship is essentially a flying metal death trap with no means to defend itself. The fact that it is now on the outskirts of the battle means that the only thing it can do now is provide ground support. That said, any security teams that either we or Cant haven’t taken out will be in full force, and will be ready for us anywhere we go. That means we need to pull our A-Game out this time around, boys. No heroics, nothing stupid. Just good, clean soldiering. Are we clear?”

In unison, the squad shouted “OORAH!” Tanus felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he smiled, knowing that this time around Thrawn’s men would die in the wake of true soldiers. Tanus walked through the group, Garryll taking up at his left and Tempest at his right.

“Tempest, I’m going to trust you to get us to the engines in one piece. Turbolifts will be watched with great care this time around; more of them may even have been cut from power. This means that only the emergency and maintenance lifts will be up and running. Since I’d like to not risk dying so soon, let’s get to a maintenance lift and see where we get to.”

“You got it,” Tempest said as he tapped away on his datapad. Tanus opened up his channel with Cant. This time there was no swearing, just maniacal laughing. When he was finished, he started to say something, then swore under his breath.

“Damn it all. Is this thing on?”

“Aye,” Tanus said, not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice.

“Wonderful. So, we felt a slight rumble come up through the ship. You have anything to do with that?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s a yes.”

“Heh. We try. Now listen. We have new orders.”

Tanus told Cant everything Angel had sent him, and then the plan to get there. When he was finished, Cant just sighed and started to give a weary chuckle.

“So let me guess; You want us to cause a diversion?”

“Quite the contrary. I want you to join us.”

Cant stopped talking for about three seconds, before saying very slowly, “Come again?”

Tanus chuckled a little. “Think about it. If you suddenly switch direction, their defenses will still be split, and it will take them a fair amount of time to switch up and get to the opposite end of the ship. Granted, that doesn’t mean we won’t run into any opposition, but it will at least cut down the number of security teams we have to face, which means we get to send more of these men home alive.”

Cant made some noises that Tanus knew meant he was thinking. After a while, Cant finally spoke.

“All right, where do you want to meet up?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re looking for a maintenance elevator to get us close enough to the engines so that we can strike fast and get out before anything bigger and meaner comes around.”

“All right. Keep me posted if anything changes.”

“Will do. See you in a bit. Tanus out.”

As soon as he closed the channel, Tempest came up holding the datapad. He was looking it over with harsh judgment; Tanus just sighed. That’s not a good sign.

“We have a problem,” Tempest said matter-of-factly.

“Of course we do. What is it?”

“Well, the maintenance to the engines are completely cut off from power, which means that the maintenance crews are already in the engine room, along with what I suspect to be a large number of security personnel. Regardless of that, even if we wanted to get through to the maintenance lifts that go directly to the engine room, we need to run a marathon through the middle of the ship, which means through the middle of a nest of guards.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Well, there are some maintenance lifts near here, about 500 meters away from this room. Problem with that is the lifts come out nowhere near the engines, which are on the opposite end of the ship.”

“So either way we have a fight on our hands?”

“No doubt.”

Tanus sighed as he looked down the hallway and to where the turbolifts should be. He then shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Tempest and nodded.

“Well, it’s the only plan we’ve got, and it’s better than nothing. Blackjacks, move out.”
SL/GSGT/SF Tanus Solvona/2SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [EW1][ES1][LM][BC][CoR][LoS][SRP][CDS][SCA][FCE][VUA-ARC-Lambda]

CA/PRVC Tanus Solvona/YZ-775 (m) Iron Victory/The Osk Company/ICS/VE

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken - House Martell words, A Song of Ice and Fire
Garryll Gates
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Garryll Gates
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
 
Post Number:  814
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 28, 2009 6:17:14 PM    View the profile of Garryll Gates 
Gates had his rifle at his shoulder. He dearly missed the comforting weight and sloshing noise of his flamethrower and its napalm tanks. Tanus led the way, his rifle raised in expectation, and Tempest had his rifle grasped in one hand while his other held a datapad.

The rest of the squad was strung out behind them, and the Spec Ops squad watched the rear. Varth had the back point, taking full responsibility for the protection of both squads. He obviously felt that he needed to repair his rep and win some points back with Blackjack for his earlier behavior.

The clinking of boots on heavy metal decks was the only noise that was in their hallway. The beast was injured, blinded, and lacking its most powerful tools. It had guns, but no power to fire them; it had gravity wells, but the generators had been destroyed. It had troops, and it had engines; its only course of action was clear.

“A wounded beast turns feral,” Gates murmured under his breath. The security teams and soldiers would be on high alert, and the beast did have that one mighty weapon left – its crew.

“Hell, I thought you said we wouldn’t be able to dodge their security crews,” Rougeboy crowed. He waved his grenade launcher at their surroundings. “I got news for you! They’re so afraid of us they won’t stand and fight!”

Wrex and Orobos chuckled dryly. Gates smiled and grasped the rifle’s forward grip more securely. A whisper came from Varth. Contacts had been spotted.

“Rougeboy,” Gates sighed as a Thrawnist security personnel squad opened up on the rearguard, “Please, please, refrain from jinxing us again, would you?”

The Platoon Sergeant laughed and scattered a trio of grenades over the rear guards’ heads, scattering the guards and blasting one unlucky man apart. Gates and Tanus, used to leading from the front, were delegated to shouting encouragement as the Special Forces took the brunt of the attack.

Varth in particular fought like a demon; as the first point of contact, he fired a burst from the hip and blew the lead officer right off of his feet. The other Spec Ops men laid into them, firing their Stormtrooper Two carbines with practiced precision, cutting into the security men with little difficulty.

The acting squad leader of Praxis squad took a blast into the gut and went down. The rest of the Special Forces yelled in anger at seeing their leader go down again, and stormed forward, ripping the hapless security squad apart with close-range blasts.

Wrex ran forward and knelt by the downed Special Forces soldier. “Give me some room!”

The Blackjacks’ medic peeled away a melted piece of armor and inspected the flesh underneath it. Varth coughed. Two Praxis members let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re not dead,” Gates said in all seriousness, extending a hand to help the man up.

Varth hesitated for a second and then grasped the proffered arm by its wrist and climbed to his feet. He shuffled his armor to cover the melted spot, and leaning over and picking up his dropped rifle from the ground.

“Just winded,” the man replied, brushing charred plastoid off his armor. “No harm done.”

Gates laughed. “Not almost!”

Varth looked down at his armor and blanched. The carbon scoring was less than an inch from his grenades.

“Luck of the devil!” Gates said, patting him on the shoulders. “Charmed life, I must say. A command and a lucky shot, all in one day!”

Wrex sniggered at the incredibly lucky shot, and then the squads got back on the move, again with the three-headed point position. Varth had moved up to the middle of the group with his breached armor. They moved quickly, now free from the need to stay invisible by the sheer numbers of enemy forces prowling throughout the ship.

“Fifty meters, sir,” Tempest said quietly. “Then the first left. The maintenance elevator should be there.”

The pounding footsteps of the two squads drowned out everything else. Gates bit his lip nervously. He was all for a fight, anywhere, anytime…as long as the fight was not in a tight, enclosed space at a time when five hundred armed men were hunting for you. He hated space ships and all their tight, winding corridors, plentiful security squads, and the fact that the entire outside was a vacuum. If the entire situation went to hell in a hand basket, they were hemmed in and stuck, like fish in a barrel.

Gates, Tanus and Tempest ran around a corridor and right into the equally-surprised men of security. A pumping arm of one of the enemy who had been jogging jostled the EE-3 out of his hands. The gun went off as it was knocked from his hands and killed the man who had accidentally bumped Gates. He collapsed with a smoking hole in his helmet.

Gates dove forward, ripping his newly-acquired knife from its sheath and pumping it up under the nearest soldier’s helmet, killing him instantly. Tanus fired his EE-3 rapidly, decimating the surprised men, and Tempest blasted a gaping hole into a man’s torso plate and then dropped a second shot right into the first hole, killing the man.

Gates grabbed the corpse and used it as a human shield as the rest of the security squad opened up at point-blank range. The body the Blackjack held was pounded by rapid shots and smoked from the hits.

One-handed, Gates dug his disruptor out of its holster and fired twice, disintegrating one man’s head and another’s hand. The first dropped without a sound, dead hands clawing at air, while the other grasped his stump and moaned in pain for a second. Wrex shot him in the head. The last man turned and ran, but only got several steps before Tempest gunned him down.

“This is really starting to piss me off,” Gates grumbled, dropping his shield. “Thanks mate.”

The corpse barely looked like a body anymore, what with the plentiful laser craters the ex-security squad had put into their ex-comrade. Blackjack gathered their wits and moved up to the corner Tempest had told them to turn at. Amazingly, the maintenance elevator was unguarded.

The comm. crackled loudly in Gates’ ear, and he addressed it. “Cant! What’s your situation?”

“Lousy, Gates!” the tough-as-nails Marine officer spat. “We’re hip deep in Thrawnies. Get to the RV or we’ll all be dead.”

“Alright, alright,” Gates said casually. “We’ll see if the taxis are running.”

“You know you’ll owe me a drink,” Cant replied more calmly, the banter between soldiers even plentiful in full-on contact.

“He’ll buy you a pitcher,” Tanus replied. “Move it, Blackjack!”

The two squads were within a dozen feet of the elevator when a dozen Stormtroopers piled out of hallway doors.

“Well shit,” Gates grumbled, firing from the hip. “I knew it was too good to be true.”
ASL/SFCGarryll Gates/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [RoM][ICE][IH][CCA][BC][SRP][AS-1][ES1][CoS][EW1]
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Muse rocks.
If these people want to fight me, I'll blow 'em straight to Hell!
Corvin
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Corvin
 
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  RE: ESC Storyline - BlackJack
July 28, 2009 8:11:45 PM    View the profile of Corvin 
The stormtrooper was literally an inch away.

It all happened in an instant. Corvin raised his EE-3's barrel slightly, aiming for the weak spot between the helmet and the chestplate, then tightened his grip on the trigger.

The stormtrooper lunged, adjusting his grip on his E-11 as he did so, then  slammed the weapon's butt into the blaster carbine's side. It discharged as it was thrown out of position, burning a massive crater into the ceiling glowpanels, and was almost wrenched out of Corvin's hands. Corvin started to bring it back down. The E-11 butt slammed into his stomach before he could complete the gesture.

The impact caused him to stagger back a half step with a choking gasp, bending over in an unconscious reaction. The stormtrooper swung again, hitting him in the chestplate hard enough to leave a thin crack in the hardened plastoid. Corvin was thrown back, slamming into a wall, his EE-3 dropping from his hand and skittering across the floor. His ear com-piece fell with a clatter as his head hit the wall.

All around him, Thrawnists and Imperials were fighting, all too busy to notice Corvin or his assailant. The stormtrooper flipped the rifle over in his hands, then leveled it at the Private. Stunned and disarmed, there was no way for the Blackjack to resist. The stormtrooper started to squeeze the trigger.

The man stopped mid-motion with a gurgle, suddenly limp. The two inches of humming metal protruding from his throat might have had something to do with it. The vibroblade was withdrawn, and the man's corpse fell.

A grim-faced, helmetless Varth, seemingly none the worse for wear despite multiple blaster hits, spun the weapon before impaling another stormtrooper trying to draw a bead on him.

Scattered over several meters, the four surviving Praxis commandos were giving a good account of themselves. Wielding carbines or captured melee weapons, they were cutting through the ranks of the stormtrooper with every sign of relish. One of them fired a burst from his E-11 into a control panel, causing the heavy durasteel blast doors to come crashing down over the adjacent doorway.

That was one entrance stemmed, with three others still spewing Thrawnists. The elevator's doors were mockingly inviting, only meters away but with stormtroopers packed shoulder to shoulder between the squads and escape.

The other Blackjacks had taken up a position against the wall, spraying fields of fire at the squads entering the fray through the side doors.

Corvin fired a burst from his SE-14 sidearm, bringing down a yellow-pauldroned stormtrooper, then ducked as another Thrawnist swung at him with a short vibrosword. Reaching up and grabbing the man's wrist with both hands, he tried to force the blade from the trooper's grip. The stormtrooper reacted instantly, headbutting him. Corvin fell heavily, the impact on his unarmoured head stunning him again. He recovered in time to see the Thrawnist bringing the sword down on him. He rolled at the last moment, feeling the vibroweapon cut into his backpack with a shower of sparks.

Before the man could swing again, Corvin had retrieved his pistol. The stormtrooper jerked as the blaster bolts hit his chestplate, then flopped as several burned through his bodyglove and neck.

The hostile reinforcements abruptly stopped coming. The two squads cut down the remaining stormtrooper, causing a near-silence to fall on the corridor.

Tanus was the first to speak.

"Casualties?"

Varth looked over from where several Praxis troopers were crouched over a fallen squadmate. Several E-11s at point blank range had drilled through the man's tough, reflec-coated plating.

"Grevonich."

Tanus nodded.

"We need to get to the lift before they decide to try again."

The turbolift was just a few steps away. When the squads arrived, however, they were greeted by a familiar sight.

"Stang," Corvin muttered. "They shut down the power again."

"Then we'll have to go through the roof again." Tanus said calmly. "Better make sure they can't reactivate it again once we're in the shaft."

His face expressionless, Varth waved one of the surviving storm commandos forward. It was clear that their SL's death was still fresh in the Praxis's minds. A minute and a half later, the slicer nodded in confirmation.

"Into the lift, Blackjacks." Tanus ordered.

The hatch was in the same place as the previous lift's, and the squad was soon climbing down another shaft. Glancing up at the looming, hopefully disabled, capsule, Corvin felt distinctly ill at ease.

I just hope Cant and his Marines are more or less intact...
TRP/PVT Corvin/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
*HeavyWeapons *
Read the bloody manual!
"Never believe a rumour of my demise. I have as many lives as a cat. Also as many teeth, as many claws, and the same cheery, cooperative disposition." Peter Wiggin, Xenocide
Washington:"I knew this plan would never work!"
Church:"None of our plans ever work."
Caboose:"That's why we carry guns."
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