OOC:

When I said 'give me an hour', I assumed you guys knew that actually meant 'give me thirteen hours'

>.>

The morning Sergeant First Class Renault led Whisper Squad out of Tadath's barracks was a truly beautiful day. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, allowing the sun to illuminate the base without interference. This of course made it hot, the type of heat that normally meant full stormtrooper armor was not just uncomfortable but damn nearly an oven. No one minded however, whoever's face Renault's eyes fell upon smiled pleasantly under the beads of sweat. It was for perhaps this reason that this morning was his only recognisable memory for several weeks. Soldiers get bad feelings about missions when they begin with bad weather, never when its a great day. He wasn't able to remember anything else apart from that sun and their faces, the journey to where they were going and even why they were going there had all become a blur. All that remained of his memory was a few smiling, now nameless soldiers.

Reaching for his glass of water, a shot of pain ran all the way up to his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and jerk it back. His spine had all but given out weeks ago, a result or the hundreds of beatings, lashings and god knows what else he had sustained in the last two weeks. Several of his ribs were broken, the breaks feeling so defined that he believed if he had the strength to lift his top up he would see boot marks. His breaths for some time now had been slow, wheezy, and very, very painful. He could of reached across for the glass with his right arm, which was far closer to the glass, if it wasn't for the guard that had stamped on his elbow two days ago for reaching at the food under his cell door.

He slid himself down onto his good side slowly, seeking whatever comfort he could find in the cell that had been his home for nearly a month. There was a small window, no more than a foot square above him, one that his six foot three frame could just about peek out of back when his legs worked, and he had the strength to stand. Nowadays the light that slipped through was all but a painful reminder of what he had lost.

When he reopened his eyes, he found himself back in that accursed village. He could recall this memory to completion, but annoyingly anything from an hour before was still invisible to him. At this point he was cowering in a small hut, hastily threw together by those lucky enough to see what was happening in the centre of the town but not be a part of it. Inevitably though the attackers did come, and while the Whisper's fought valiantly they were inevitably beaten, outnumbered and outmatched. What was left of the squad and the brave villagers that tried to help dispersed, running in every direction they believed safe. Renault had initially attempted to regroup them but it proved futile, all being far too far away or too terrified to respond. He decided all he could do was hide himself, locking himself into the nearest hut and hiding under several blankets and pillars.

The killing began almost immediately, large periods of silence broken by the occasional shocked cry, one that lasted no more than a few seconds before being snuffed out. Men, women, children, the cries didn't discriminate. The only difference between the genders and ages was those of the females would last far longer, and often sound far more painful. His reasoning behind it made him feel physically sick.

Three hours later, his door was broken down and four of the attackers charged in, screaming some sort of tribal cry. They began to systematically take the hut apart, tearing anything they could from the walls and floors. Inevitably this led to Renault's discovery, leaving him nothing but to hopelessly accept his death. While it seemed to be arriving initially, the raised bayonet of the one man was stopped by another, pointing at the badges on Renault's sleeve. Before he could even blink the bayonet was spun around and the rifle butt found his face, knocking him out cold.

Then he found himself back in his cell, tears falling from his face yet again. He'd lost faith in the beacon long ago.

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

"Sarge?" Anival shouted, running to the front of the ship to where Sergeant Major Kanderin Draken fiddled with controls.

"Is everyone loaded up?" He responded, little more than a glance over his shoulder back at the trooper.

"Yeah...but we don't even know where we're going, it's making a few of the guys nervous"

Kanderin swore to himself and spun around on his seat, his pupils burning into Anival.

"Okay, I'll be honest here. I have a giant hangover, one of the one's that can normally break mountains in half. I'm not happy about being pulled off leave to search for some stupid squad that got lost in the woods. So I'm asking you to sit down, be quiet, and wait until I get this thing airborne and in flight. Then, and only then, will I explain what the frak is going on"

Kanderin's hangover anger streaks were all too well known by the senior members of the squad. Anival simply did what he was told before he had something thrown at him.

A few minutes later, the ship found its way into the sky, and despite a worrying dip near the start made its way free of the atmosphere without incident. It was another half hour however before Kanderin emerged into the cabin, a strong coffee in one hand with the other too a cold towel wrapped around his forehead.

"Alright, what do you guys know?" He started, biting his lip at the sudden jerk his brain made inside his skull.

"Nothing, you just got told us to get ready and get on board" RK responded.

"Fine, the beginning it is. A squad known as Whisper Squad was sent on a simple reconnaissance mission upon Carus, a planet only recently acquired by VE space" He paused to sip his coffee. "That's the last we heard of them in radio comms for two weeks, at which point an SOS beacon was fired off in Cyren woods, just outside one of the main towns of Carus. We're simply to head on in, retrieve the squad and leave again. The planet has a high military presence, so quite frankly I'm not expecting any sort of trouble. I think they've just got lost in the woods and cant find their way out"

"But they've been gone over a month if I recall?" RK asked, causing Kand to eye him suspiciously.

"I thought you guys didn't know anything?"

"Jeg sent the report onto me as well, he had a feeling you weren't listening in the meeting. I just wanted to test you to see if you were."

"I'm going to have you demoted when we get back for that one" Kanderin mumbled, turning back towards the cockpit.

Rk laughed nervously to himself before turning back to face the rest of the squad.
"Do you think he really meant that?"

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

Upon entering Carus space, the squad were surprised by the lack of any noticeable port. Most planets inside VE space had at least one major security gate you'd have to fly through, but there wasn't a single thing noticeable in the atmosphere. This allowed Kanderin to simply let the ship down into an open area of land just short of the woods they all assumed were Cyren. As the landing gear crunched down onto the floor below, Kanderin spun around to shout back towards the squad.

"Get your gear together and meet up outside, the beacon is about two clicks into the forest from here, we have quite a ways to go so I don't want to waste time"

There was something creepy about walking through a jungle at night, night vision changing the look of everything, and the rustling of leaves by small animals in the undergrowth.

Not to mention that a squad had gone missing here not so long ago.

Jamasis didn't like it. Sure, there was nothing wrong, and the squad had probably gotten lost. Nothing had happened yet, in fact the only living things other than wraith here appeared to be small ratty creatures. But even so, the darkening forest, the last rays of light having been concealed long before sunset, and the frequent rustling nearby was creepy. He wasn't particularly worried, but the doubt was there, toying with the edges of his mind.

Even though it was dark, it was still humid and surprisingly hot. And you thought Felucia was bad he thought. For what seemed like the hundredth time, he wiped his brow before putting his helmet back on. A piece of wood snapped underfoot nearby, and instinctively he turned to look at it. Nothing, of course there was nothing, this place was empty. Just the wraiths moving through the trees with small animals coming close but never quite close enough to see. It felt dark, and the doubt festered in his mind. Typically the squad had no idea about what might have happened, all they knew was a squad had gone missing and they were to find them. No reports on dangerous natives, no smugglers and certainly no Thrawn or Republic presence nearby. A squad wandered off and got lost, that's it.

He couldn't even convince himself.

We've plenty of settlements, plenty of troops. Nothing could have gone wrong, else we would know what might have caused it. I'm sure intel and the other scout groups aren't so incompetent that they'd miss something like this. Whisper were near a village. They had proper communication devices in the village. Maybe there own devices conked out. Probably just need some new ones, but don't want to use the villager's. Yes, that must be it.

A leaf fluttered down past Jamasis into the mud below. His eyes followed it down, until it rested on the soft ground. A small set of tracks, they looked like the right size for the animals they kept hearing, led off past some more trees on the right. It looked like one or two of the branches there had been removed purposally.

See. Nothing's happened and that must mean you're near the village. Or a different one, but it can't be far. Besides, in a place like this I'm sure you'll find someone who knows the way if it turns out to be the wrong place. For the first time since they had seen the planet, his mind began to relax.

OOC:

Short I know, but not much I can write about. If anyone else wants to post about the jungle I said "close" and I might be wrong anyway.

The smoke in the distance was slowly getting closer. Kand had saw it a while back, but chosen not to say anything. He was concerned about the risk of an ambush in the forest and distracting the squads attention away from it and towards the smoke would of been trouble. Instead he casually watched himself, trying to identify it's source.

Eventually, the treeline broke, and the ground a little afterwards. They were stood at a cliff face, a near straight drop of about one hundred feet below them. In the middle of it, stood what appeared to be a town, or what was left of it. There were several buildings still intact, but all those visible were lacking doors. Near the edges were the remains of several wooden shacks, burnt to the ground almost completely by the fire. And bodies, at least two on every road.The blood from them had dried long ago, permanently staining the mud road's a deep orange colour.

"What's a place like this doing here..." Anival whispered, keeping his voice low so as to avoid the attention of anyone nearby.

"Command never said anything about this...it should of been noticeable by satellite. It's easily a kilometre square, probably more..." Kanderin responded in the same hushed tone.

"Do we go in or do we ask for backup? Anyone capable of the murder of a whole town - and possibly Whisper along with it - might be too much for just one squad" RK added, but Kand shook his head.

"Let's not scare them so soon. We'll just keep a low profile and see what we can find"

OOC:

Something minorly urgent just popped up, I'll finish this tomorrow but don't hold back, if you want to post feel free.

Ghost town's were new territory for the Wraith's, ironically. The bodies were numerous around the outskirts, but by the time they approached the centre not a single one was in sight. The blood that bordered the roads just yards before had all but vanished, as if they had entered a different town entirely. The water inside the central fountain still trickled happily, a lone presence humming to itself blissfully ignorant of what was going on around it.

"Take a break guys" Kanderin called, slinging his own rifle over his shoulder and jumping up onto the fountain. Most of the squad followed his lead, but a few decided to instead sit on the floor in front of him. Grahim was the only one that didn't join the squad, instead deciding to stand watch over the entrance to their courtyard. Eventually RK decided to get up and join him, and the two spoke quietly away from the rest.

"What do you think happened here?"

Kanderin glanced down from the pair to notice Warbird looking up at him, nervously shuffling her weapon further over her shoulder.

"Honestly? I have no idea" Kanderin shrugged "They must of been a pretty large group to be capable of it, highly trained by the looks of it too. Did you happen to notice their wounds?"

"I don't think we were that interested in looking, that sort of thing is for you medic sickos" Anival mumbled, rolling over onto his back.

Kanderin smiled. "All were killed up close, there wasn't any weapons fire. It was mostly slit throats, knife puncture wounds, the usual frenzied attacks"

"So what, we're dealing with ninjas you're saying?" Anival smirked back.

"I'm going out on a limb and saying no, but my point is if we encounter these guys expect them to try and get close"

"Just makes them easier targets" Jamasis nodded.

Spinning around, Kanderin took a few minutes to drink slowly from the fountain. His initial sip was hesitant, taking in as little water as possible while still being able to taste it. On deciding it was clean and drinkable, his sips soon became far larger. It was hot, far too hot for them to really be comfortable. The forest was sheltered from the sun, but it's closed canopy made the air stuffy and cramped. The town was the opposite, exposed to the elements but with no protection from the piercing heat. That and his still pounding head made it feel like he was on the verge of collapsing.

The hangover was still there, he could feel it lodged at the back of his skull. However, he wasn't proud of it but working through one was something he was no stranger to. The sudden danger of the mission and the possibility of hand to hand combat had fully arose his battle senses, sharpening his vision and boosting his thought chain. The only thing it didn't improve was the headache, but when it came down to it that was little more than pain.

"Kand!" Grahim shouted, raising his rifle to something appearing down the road. Without him having to say a word the squad around him jumped to their feet, running over to assist Grahim and RK. Kand was the last to arrive on the scene, far enough back to be mildly amused by the confused faces on each of his squad members. It wasn't that dangerous obviously.

What stood in front of him, while not dangerous, was just as worrying. A small girl, clutching a teddy bear stood mere feet from Grahim, looking up with a terrified look on her face. After blinking a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Kand made his way through the group and dropped slowly to his knees in front of the girl, offering out his hand.

"Hi there" He smiled warmly "My name's Kand, these are my friends. Can you tell me your name?"

The girl's deep brown eyes looked Kanderin all over, before she took a step back nervously.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you" Kanderin said quickly, taking the badge off of his armor and offering it to the girl. "See? This badge means I'm one of the good guys"

Taking the badge, the girl spun it around her palm, scanning it intensively. Eventually she looked back up to the squad, managing a half smile. "My name's Kara"

"Pleasure to meet you Kara. How old are you?"

"I'm nine and a half"

"Thankyou" Kanderin smiled. "Do you live with your parents then?"

"I used to" The girl responded, before looking at her feet and kicking the dirt around them. Glancing up at the faces around him, Kanderin knew they were in agreement as to what that meant.

"Do you want to come with us then? This is a dangerous place, we'll look after you"

"Please" The girl nodded, still not looking up.

Kanderin laughed gently and offered his hand out, Kara taking it a few seconds later and allowing herself to be led back through the squad towards the centre of the courtyard.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" RK whispered, running to catch up with Kand.

"We have no choice, I cant just leave her here" He whispered back "Get the squad together, I want to get this mission done with as soon as possible now"

"We're taking her with us all the way?"

"Only till we find the beacon" Kand nodded "Then I'll take her back to the ship until we're ready to go"

Elektra had done her best to help the group, maybe having a killed a couple of those creatures. She saw the girl crying and went over, bending down and hugging the small girl, which allowed Kand to get away to talk to the others. She took off her helmet and smiled at the girl.

She says, "See, I'm a girl too." Elektra says, trying to cheer the girl up. The girl said nothing, but hugged her back. Elektra patted the girl on the back, and sighs, sitting down.

Kara says, "You look a bit like my mommy, except her hair was red."

The girl started crying agin, and Elektra held onto her, "I won't let anything hurt you, Kara, I promise. Are you hungry?"

The little girl nodded. Elektra smiles, "Wait here, and I'll go get some food."

She walks away to the pack where they had some food, and saw Anival there. "She is such a cute girl, isn't she, Ani?"

She gets close to Anival as she says this and kisses him on the cheek. She then gets the food and walks back to Kara. She hands the food to Kara, and says, "It's not really good food, but it should be enough for you not to be hungry for awhile."

She watched the girl eat and Kara also told her more about her parents, and how the creature people attacked the village. After awhile, Kara fell asleep, and Elektra got up quietly,  "Sleep well."

She got what was left of the food and ate it. Then, she got up and walked over to where the other squad members were and sat down leaning against Anival.

"When are we moving out?" She asks.

Kand stretches and replies, "Within the next 20 minutes, or sooner, if the hostiles get here."

The shouts had started to fade, though they were by no means distant just yet. First good thing to happen all day. Go and find a squad that has probably just got lost. What happens? We find that the squad was probably destroyed, and the people who destroyed them are right beh-

Suddenly a longer, and much larger cry erupted from the trees a few hundred metres away. The cry was picked up by the others, growing louder until it became deafening. Wraith stopped, almost instantaneously. Everybody nervously glanced back and forth, then with no indication they ran towards the village. Their pursuers were definitely getting closer, and caution was thrown to the wind. Instead of staying on the path, the most direct route was chosen. At this speed we won’t even see the traps until to late. Jamasis glanced behind, glimpsing one of the attackers darting through the trees, gaining at an impossible pace. He tripped on a tree stump, just in time to see an arrow whistle above his head. The culprit was running fast towards Jamasis, and as he scrambled to his feet, some unseen force swept his attacker of the ground, smashing his neck as he collided with a tree. So that’s what the traps look like. Jamasis looked ahead, and saw Wraith in the distance, though the others had all stopped and were firing into the trees around them. Shadows flickered in the trees nearby, so deciding not to wait and see what a knife in the back felt like, he sprinted toward the rest of the squad, drawing one of his D-15’s at the same time. It hardly felt adequate, but in the dense undergrowth the rifle seemed to bulky for this type of fight.

“Nice of you to join us,” shouted Zesh.

“Shall I go back then?” he shouted back.

“On your right!”

Jamasis turned and fired at the same time, thudding into an attacker who fell before he even registered the image. Another tackled him, knocking them both to the floor as his gun landed a few metres away. The man came at him ferociously, then collapsed to the floor as a blaster bolt hit him in the chest. There wasn’t time to see who had fired the shot, but in seconds Jamasis was back on his feet with both pistols back in his hands. The rest of the group were firing frantically, and Kara was hiding behind a fallen log. They were totally surrounded by now, and even though this was a smaller group, they still outnumbered the wraiths considerably. We’ve got to get to that village. How?

Jamasis fired more shots at the bodies flickering between the trees, but they were all slowly edging back towards each other, being closed in. By some incredible chance however, few of their attackers had thought to move between wraith and the village. The simplicity of it was pretty appalling really, though nobody could be blamed for it under the circumstances. Jamasis threw a grenade at the men on the other side, away from the village. The explosion was nothing by Stormtrooper standards, but in a forest fire could cause serious problems. Some trees smouldered, though the main impact was on the enemy troops who were shying away, stunned by the occurrence. Somebody else threw another grenade, and this time some of the enemy definitely took a few steps backwards, though they were far from fleeing. Even so, they were nervous, and made no move to help their friends when Wraith charged toward the village. A few of the enemy soldiers found the courage to stand in their way, but a few shots got them through, and they were once again sprinting towards the village.

But sure enough, within a minute of running the enemy were charging again. Now though, Wraith were rapidly closing in on the village, and some safety.

Zeshaun, Kand, Jamasis and the rest of the squad waited in the one safe hut while RK and Anival searched the other two huts to make sure they were safe to take refuge in. The attackers closed in on them, taking advantage of the Wraiths as they seemed to surround the village around the edge. Zeshaun heard a couple shouts and a blaster shot from one of the other huts and hoped everything was going okay for RK and Anival. Zeshaun took a knee by one of windows and stuck the barrel of his rifle out of the window, searching the premises for any incoming natives.

"To the left!" Kand shouted as he spun his own rifle around and pointed.

Zeshaun turned and saw a band of ten natives now charging the hut, waving their spears and making some sort of war cries. They approached the hut at unimaginable speeds running faster than anyone Zeshaun had seen before and they had the intent of killing in their eyes. These guys are acting like they're on just another hunt Zeshaun thought as the looks from their eyes sent a chill down his spine.

"Open fire!" Kand ordered.

The squad didn't hesitate. The natives at first managed to dodge a few of the bullets using their ridiculously agile bodies but the closer they got, the harder it became for the natives to escape the punishing blaser bolts, there just wasn't enough time to react and their leather armor was nowhere near strong enough to withstand the damage that the bullets would dish out. Before the natives actually got close enough to do any damage to the hut, they were dead.

An uncomfortable silnce settled around the small village. Then the sound of wind filled the air. Zeshaun looked around the squad, hoping someone had some kind of explanation for this but no one did. The sound of somehing hitting the wall caused Zeshaun to turn his attention toward the door. He slowly stuck his head out and saw an arrow embedded in the wall. A very bad feeling swept over him as he looked up Oh shit Zeshaun hurried inside and started shouting.

"Get under a table! Put a dresser ontop of you! Do something!" Zeshaun franitcally pointed to things that could be used as a shield if the arrows made it inside.

"What are you talking about." Kand said looking toward Zeshaun quizically.

Zeshaun caught his breath and then pointed outiside and uttered one word. "Arrows."

Kand quickly had everyone do as Zeshaun had been suggesting a few seconds ago. Zeshaun crouched under the table as he heard the arrows rained down on the hut. Zeshaun saw the tip of one of the arrows come through the roof, since it was not exactly made out of concrete. Zeshaun prayed as he watched the roof slowly give. The roof crashed down, luckily not onto the table that a couple of the squad members were hiding behind. Arrows started to hit the ground in front of Zeshaun.

"We're a hole here." Jamasis said blandly, not sounding too excited.

"Don't worry we'll get out of this." Kand said without adding anymore inflection to his voice than Jamasis had.

"Cavalry's here!" A very familiar voice shouted over the comlink.

"Thank the emperor, thought we were gonna die." Jamasis said with a sigh of relief.

"Told you we were gonna get out this." Kand said with a coy smile on his face.

"Sorry if I didn't believe you." Zeshaun said laughing.

He heard blaster bolts and the arrows slowly decreased. Even though they were outnumbered they were slightly intimidated by the blasters, they hadn't found a way to counter them just yet. As the arrows slowly started to stop, the shouts and cries of the angry natives could stil be heard around the edges of the village so the Wraiths weren't safe yet.

Anival and RK came rushing into the hut and then hurried them out to another hut that they had deemed safe. This one actually had a door on it, it was made of wood but it was still a door. It also still had more intact furnishings. Where ever we are, we can't stay here long Zeshaun thought as he swore he could hear the footsteps of something outside of the hut.

Elektra set Kara down on a rock, and cleaned her up a bit. She then went and got the water for the two of them, and the food for the two of them. She gave all but a little bit of the water to Kara, and most of the food to her as well. Elektra eats and talks with Kara, as Kara is curious about Elektra. After a bit, Kara says, "You don't seem like a soldier to me."

Elektra looks down, "I don't know if I am. I started to do it, becuase of my father, who was a soldier...a very high ranking one. Higher ranking than I will ever be...but then, I met this guy, and he, he convinced me to countinue, countinue my service ot the army that needs all of the help I can give."

Kara nods. Elektra says, "Be back later, kid."

She gets up, and walks towards Anival, sitting down next to him.  "I wish the mission would end soon..."

Anival glances at her and cleans blood off of his lip. "So do I, but, sometimes, it's better to be out here in the field,.....it awakens a part of you you didn't know was there." 

Elektra looks down,  "Does the awakened part of you, care about me at all?"

Anival looks at the floor, "My honest answer would be, i don't know, everything is happenign so fast, I really want to, and I think I do, but..."

He hesitates, "Can we talk about this somewhere else?"

She nods, a little dissappointed by his answer, "Sure, where do you want to talk about it?"

Anival moves a little and looks away. "Anywhere but here."

She gets up and says, "Lead me wherever, Ani."

Anival stands, he clips his helmet on to his belt, and takes her hand, he leads her to a corner, far enough to recieve privacy, but not hidden from view in case anything broke out. 

"Okay, Ani, we are pretty much alone.." She says, slightly upset. Anival looks Elektra in the eyes and laughs.

Elektra looks at him, a bit mad. "Whats funny?" she askes quietly.

"Nothing, it's just, I never thought I'd get back into another relationship, and when I do, I run the danger of you dying, everyday theres a chance you might die, or me. Thats why I'm not sure.....,"

They stay silent for a long time, the lively banter of the squad getting quieter. Just out of impulse, she leans forward, puts her hands on his arms, and kisses him, deeply.

Anival and Elektra stood there, looking at the waning moon, she was leaning on him, long hiar draped behind her back, and for the first time in a long time, Anival felt peaceful, that was until the knowledge of the mission ahead dawned on him, it shook his peace.

Anival spotted Kand, who looked at them and quickly turned around, Anival chuckled to himself. Elektra looked up, and gave him a quick kiss.

“It's getting late” yawned Anival, noting the small fire that was once a great roaring inferno, kindled into a small flame, struggling to stay alive. Anival got up, and extinguished the flame.

Elektra yawned and stretched,  she got up and walked to Anival's side.

“Where are you going?” she asked taking his hand.

“I was just going to go see where we are to bunk.”

“I'll wait here.” she said sitting down, she smiled, “don't take to long.”

Anival nodded and went off, not seeing a single person he walked to a room where a small light was visible.

Anival stopped, he heard Kand and Yiliad.

Anival stepped into the room, Kand and Yiliad were instantly quiet.

“Yes?” asked Yiliad, Anival averted Kand's eyes.

“I just wanted to know where I am to sleep tonight.” mumbled Anival.

Yiliad clapped his hands twice, the sound was incredibly loud and booming in the deathly silence. A small fragile woman stepped into the light.

“She will show you to your room.” he said with authority, Anival nodded his head to Kand, then towards Yiliad.

“Good night.” finished Anival.

“I'm sure it will be, Ani.” winked Kand, Anival blushed and looked away.

Anival and the woman walked towards where Elektra sat waiting, her hands tucked in her lap.

“I take you to rooms.” the elderly woman said with a heavy accent.

Elektra got up, and walked next to Anival, the silence was highlighting every single sound. They passed room after room, at one point Anival thought he had seen Grahim, but dismissed the thought, that Gungan was popping up to much nowadays.

Elektra walks into the room the old woman designated as theirs. "It works, I guess."

Anival looks around, then he sights the women leaving. "Wait, we're sharing a room?" 

The woman looks at them "Unless you prefer different arrangements?"

Elektra blushes and looks down, "It's up to you, Ani."

He stands there for a while "yes, this will be fine, we don't want to be a bother."

The women bows and starts to walk away. "Excuse me," the women stops, "could you get me some water?" she nods and walks off.

Elektra sits on the bed, and starts undoing her shirt. Anival shifts uncomfortably, and removes his armor, and lays on the bed with wearing his protective under-clothing. She sighs and falls backwards onto the the bed, her shirt undone. She looked around the room, which was beautifully decorated in nice colors, and some stuffed dead animals, like birds, hanging on wooden trees.

She smiled a little. "Maybe things will be okay afterall."

Anival looks at Elektra and hides a smile, he closes his eyes, and says "tommorow we start the assault."

She frowns and sighs, taking off her shirt, then leaning down and started taking off her boots. "Elektra, you looked good with the kid."

She smiles at him a little and finishes taking off her boots. "thank you."

"Did you ever give a thought to kids?" he asks.

Elektra stays silent as the lady walks back in with the water Anival had asked for, she hands it to him and leaves with a coy smile. "I would love to have children, Ani." She says, laying her head on the pillow.

Anival turns to face her, he carreses her hair with a hand, "when we get back I'm going to show you where I live,"

He takes his hand of her hair and takes a deep drink from the cup. "Your house? Wow, Ani, I didn't think...." She looks away, and gets underneath the blankets.

Anival stayed quiet waiting for her to say somthing. She sighs, and turns back to face him, smiling a little, "I'd love to see your house, Ani."

Anival finishes his water, and lays down, putting his hands underneath his head. "What where you going to say earlier? You didn't think what?"

He asked trying to sound seroius, but the smile on his face prevented him from doing so.

"I didn't think you cared that much about me." She puts her hand on his chest, and kisses him, deeply.

There were times when Karl Rykin was not a patient man, and this was one of them. Captred by primitives. Inferiors forms of life, so he had been taught for most of his life. Inwardly, Karl almost smiled, but the expression didn't come. Outwardly, he continued to stare at the ceiling of his cell, in a compound where apparently the rest of Wraith Squad was spending the night in whatever comfort could be offered. This was as much as he could get out of the guard before being left to his own devices for the rest of the night.

His helmet was on the ground in front of his cot, his left hand behind his head. He hated having his head to elevated. Couldn't sleep like that. Not that he could sleep. His life, all the studying he had done on Corellia, had lead him here...and oddly enough, Rykin was, in a word, excited for his first mission has part of the Army. The only concern he had was whether the price that he and nineteen other people had paid for this excitement. Karl grimaced as he stared at the ceiling.

Of course it wasn’t. They were dead. It was a funny thing, the whole ordeal; sometimes it seemed to have happened to someone else, and sometimes he still felt the pain of revenge. The power revenge still had over him. He thought it would make the pain go away. It didn’t. Revenge made the pain worse, like salt in a wound. Revenge had become his life. It was a good thing his punishment was an organization that killed on a regular basis.

Karl’s musing was cut short by a rather curt, but most certainly human, voice to his right getting his attention.

“Hey,” it said. He looked and immediately sat up, not only for the fact that he was a soldier, but for the fact that the one who had spoken was a Sergeant. He and the other were doubtlessly from Wraith. His rescuers, albeit slightly anti-climactic ones. Karl wouldn’t complain though. Truth be told, he was rather bored in that cell.

Karl and the Sergeant – Velasquez, Anival Velasquez – briefly conversed, Rykin informing Velasquez that he had been sent to join with Wraith. The Sergeant approached Karl and helped him up, and Karl stooped uneasily to retrieve his helmet. Carrying it under his right arm like he had been taught during training on Tadath, Rykin followed Velasquez.

“I’ve got to say Sergeant, thanks for getting me out of that-“ Karl was cut off from thanking Velasquez by a finger held up. They had stopped in front of a room, and Anival was opening the door, obviously trying for quiet. Anival entered, and Karl followed. A woman sat on the bed, lacing up her boots. Anival introduced the two of them, but Rykin couldn’t hear him. At all.

It was as if sound had left Karl’s world, to be replaced by the thundering of his pulse in his ears. Instantly, sweat beaded on his high forehead. Rykin could swear that his wife, Gheira, was sitting on the bed in armor of the Stormtrooper Corps. And it was at that time Rykin seemed to have two fields of vision: one of the present, with the Sergeant and Warbird in the room, and one of the day his life had been ruined. He could see the slightly taller for, of PFC Warbird and the shorter, but more lithe, frame of his wife, parts of Gheira’s skin charred black from blaster fire. Karl’s teeth grit, and it was an effort for him to relax his jaw muscles. Karl slowly became aware that Anival had laid a hand on his forearm in concern, and in another moment, he seemed to hear his voice again.

“Private, are you alright? Private?” The second inquiry was louder, as if Karl were deaf, and it took Rykin another small but noticeable length of time for his head to nod.

“Yes, Sergeant, I’m just fine,” he said, venom surging through his voice. “I gotta say, it sure was nice of you to get me outta that cell, sir.” His breathing seemed to have deepened in strain; Karl was fighting hard within himself to keep his temper down. It wouldn’t behoove him to lose what tenuous control he had.

He had to keep fighting. Recognize authority, Rykin. Do it. He looked towards Warbird, and felt a surge of emotion well up in his chest. Remorse and sadness and anger raged a torrent against his chest, struggling to get out. Struggling against his will.

That will, which was all he had.

His scowl deepened, and he looked away from them both.

Zeshaun woke from his bunk well rested, he never felt so good. After running for so long that day, he could have fallen asleep on the ground without a complaint leaving his lips. He stretched, quickly checked to make sure his rifles and armor were still where he had left them. Zeshaun grabbed the part of his armor that covered his thighs and torso and strapped them on, leaving his arms and shins uncovered. He didn't like walking around without any armor on but wanted to feel at least a little protected. He grabbed his helmet and he slung his assault rifle over his shoulder, checked the magazine and loaded a grenade into the grenade launcher attachment. Just in case

He stepped out the door into the sunlight, despite the fact that he had slept in, it was still quite early the sun had barely risen over the trees and a soft beam of light came down and bathed him in warmth. Zeshaun looked around and saw some of the native people of the village walking around and saw Grahim sitting at a table eating what he assumed was breakfast. Zeshaun jogged over to the table placed his helmet down on the table and took a seat. He grabbed a plate of something, he wasn't sure what, and started to eat using the utensils provided. They weren't quite forks but they functioned like one.

"Hows it going Grahim, get a good nights sleep?" He asked.

Grahim nodded. "After bein chase mesa slept good."

"That's good." Zeshaun said inbetween bites.

He continued to eat, without talking for a bit, Zeshaun hadn't realized how hungry he had been. When they reached the village the night before, he was so tired he went to sleep without dinner. Zeshaun stopped for a moment to obverse the food but found that it tasted more appetizing than it looked so he continued to just shovel it into his mouth.

Anival joined them with someone Zeshaun had not seen before, he wondered if they had managed to find a member of whisper squad during the night.

"Who's this?" Zeshaun asked, motioning toward the new soldier.

“Rykin, Private First Class Rykin.” replied the new soldier.

Anival took a plate of the food and then continued to introduce both Zeshaun and Grahim, soon Kand also joined their table and struck up a conversation with Rykin. Zeshaun listened and found out that he was a new member of Wraith. We can use all the help we can get Zeshaun thought as he proceeded to finish his breakfast.

“Guys, we leave at midday, eat rest, do whatever but I want you guys ready to go.” Kand stated.

He excused himself from the table and went back toward his hut where he put on the rest of his armor and cleaned his rifle. He went back outside and slid his helmet on, checked all the functions and then started to wander the village until it was time to go. He hadn't gotten a chance to explore the night before so he observed the native people work, and looked at the buildings, amazed by the sturdiness of them. He aimlessly wandered the village looking at things as he went.

OOC:

I left it open so you guys could deccide if you want to blow up a tank or w/e 3 people are lying under the tanks (Including me).

Anival and Jamasis were pushing the heavy doors close, as he pushed he felt the strain on his shoulder, the electro-drives in his wrist whirred with a flurry of noise. Finally the doors creaked shut, right when Kand called them over. The squad huddled around Kand, a trio of AAT’s had started towards their position.

“Any ideas?” sighed Kand?

Anival raised his hand a bit.

“I do.”
Kand nodded.

“Well these old AAT’s  have a weak spot on the bottom, and since they hover, if we could get under them, stick a grenade on it, then it would be a simple matter to take them down, the problem is getting under there without the other tanks hitting us, and getting out.”

“Well, you and Zesh are the Vehicle guys here, problem is getting the explosives on there quickly then getting out, without becoming a target on the crossfire or becoming the prime target for one of the tanks.”

“Well a well centered blast should be able to ignite the shells it carries and would thus force it to implode. And in this settings we have the advantage, three of us can lay down and wait for  a tank to pass us then place the explosive, the tanks will keep moving and all we have to do is lay still.”

“Well, I guess it might work, but it’s gonna be risky getting in there, volunteers?”

“I’ll do it.” Anival almost barked, he loved making things go boom.
“I’m in.”
“Same here.”

The other two volunteered as well.

“All right, get ready, the tanks will be to close for comfort in a short while, so go, and get in your positions.”
“Sir, a trooper has been spotted in front of the attacking party, by the looks of it one of ours.” Reported Elektra.

Kand looks taken back, and then quickly recomposes his demeanor.

“Could be a whisper, or could be a trick, Anival Zesh go ambush him, make it fast, otherwise you’ll loose your chance at getting at the tanks, hurry!”

Anival and Zeshaun ran off at a good pace. Fifteen meters ahead of them they heard the trooper walking. Anival motioned for Zesh to go behind a tree, Anival climbs a tree and lies in wait. The trooper kept walking as soon as he was underneath him, Anival jumped on him, clipping the troopers shoulder, he collapsed underneath Anival, Zesh quickly rushed over and helped to restle the trooper to the floor.

“Name, position and business.” Demanded Anival through gritted teeth.

“Private First Class Arok Valestrom, trooper, here to look for Kanderin Draken, and wraith.”

Anival hesitated to let him go, but he remembered their time limit.

“Fine get up.” Said Anival taking the newcomers weapon and handing it to Zeshaun, lets move, we have to get back as fast as we can.
They ran hard and fast trying to outrun time, a nearly impossible feat. They arrived shortly after leaving, Kand was setting aside some explosives.

“Why do we need to separate them? Asked Anival.

“You’ll see in a bit.”

"Who's that?" asked Kand, pointing at Arok.

"A lending hand hopefully, he said as Zeshaun handed Arok his weapon back.

"Thanks, now go to your place."

Anival nodded and took some of the explosives.

“Well here I go to blow up an antiqued AAT.” Mumbled Anival

As he ran he looked at the oncoming tanks, they weren’t much, but Anival was sure their imposing bulk was quite a sight to the locals, and the tough thick frontal armor would be a problem. The shape of the tanks always reminded Anival of a powered down battle droid. Anival laid down and waited. Hoping the plan would work.

Anival was covered in leafs, the plans sheer stupidity dawned on him then, if a soldier saw even a glint of their armor, it could all be over really fast. Anival lay still looking at the clouds move across the sky. The breeze was eerily still, and the humid air was making it all but impossible to stay still. Anival heard the roar of the AAT’s engines, and laid still. At first the air being pushed to keep the tank hovering hit Anival, then the smell of burnt oil, Anival quickly identified the possible problems wrong with the tanks, but dismissed the thought and tensed for the coming assault.

The hulking bottom plate of the tank came into Anival’s view, it was moving painfully slow. Around the tanks Anival could see feet, as well as some bodies quickly falling, Anival got up as far as he dared, took out a thermal detonator and started to open it, and he combined it with another detonator and took out engine tape from his belt, attaching the two small bulks of detonite to the tank Anival rolled out, he managed to avoid detection by the advancing enemy, but he wasn’t fast enough to escape the explosion, a piece of metal flew away from the back of the tank, as well as several plate sized pieces.

Anival was about to get up when a large piece landed on his arm, pinning him face down. Anival growled, regretting the installation of pain sensors in his cybernetic arm. Anival tried to pull his hand out from under the piece of metal, but he couldn’t get the leverage he needed to get it out.

“Hello?!” said Anival through gritted teeth, hoping someone would answer his comm.

“Hello?” asked a voice, Anival couldn’t identify through the static.

“This is Anival, I’m stuck under a piece of an AAT, and can’t get out, my arm is being crushed.”

“Oh my god!” said the person on the other end, then a new voice broke into the com.

“Anival where are you?”

Anival looked around and judged the distance from the shards of the broken AAT to the compound where they were staying.

“Roughly 50 meters from the compound.” Struggled Anival to continue his sentence.

“That’s a not that far, is the tank down?”

“No, I failed; just a piece from the back is exposed.”

“Alright hang tight someone will be there.”

Anival didn’t respond the pain was excruciating, his arm not being able to just die and get over it kept sending signals to his brain.

Damn my pride, and damn my bigotness, Thought Anival.

The tank continued its reckless and relentless journey forward, Anival screamed in frustration and punched the floor, he had failed miserably at his task, but he could at least cause some chaos in the files of the enemies. Anival took out his A-280 and aimed through the hole in the tank, he shot at one of the gunners, the bolt of energy launched by the rifle hit the gunner in the back, the bolt of energy sunk into his body and he went limp, the group guarding the tank immediately turned around and looked for the person behind the kill, the scraps that had fallen from the tank made perfect cover for Anival, he smiled and targeted the rest of the guards.

Anival shot bolt after carefully aimed bolt, until he only had one shot left, he saved it, he would need it if the found him, and he couldn’t reload the clip so all that was left was for him to lay and wait.

"Oh my god," said Warbird into her comm.

"What?" Kand practically shouted over the sound of the fighting.

"It's Ani. He's trapped under the AAT."

"I'll talk to him." After about a minute of anxious conversation, Kand talked to the squad again. "He's fifty or so metres outside the compound. The tanks still mobile, he only managed to destroy the rear armour. Someone's got to get him out."

"I'll go," said Jamasis.

"Fine. But hurry."

Jamasis sprinted away from the compound, being forced to take a much longer route to avoid the tank.  Over towards his left he could hear the battle taking place. Suddenly a tank. barely visible in the distance, exploded in a great ball of flaming wreckage.

"Rykin, are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"Rykin, talk to me!" ordered Kand. "Guys, I think he's been knocked out, the blast missed him but you saw what happened.

"Kand, what did happen?" asked Jamasis.

"Tank exploded, shot at Rykin. He went flying, and now he isn't talking. Now go and find Ani, I'll take care of this."

Irritated but forced to accept his leader's words, he sprinted on toward the area that Ani had intended to meet the tank. There! About thirty or so metres away he could see Ani lying on the ground. What he could also see was three enemy soldiers advancing slowly towards him. He ran, as he had never ran before, just in time to see one of the men crash forwards to the ground as a bolt erupted from the wraith's rifle. Shoot them you fool, shoot as no more shots came. He paused, aimed his rifle and hit the second man in the chest, then as he reached the third, swung the butt of his rifle around, knocking him to the floor. A final shot finished the job.

"Took long enough," complained Ani.

"Next time I'll wait another minute or two then shall I?"

"Yeah, thanks and everything."

"Why didn't you shoot the other two?"

"Well my clip was empty, and this," he gestured at the large chunk of tank resting on his arm "is a bit of a problem."

"Sorry, should have realised." Jamasis reached down and lifted the large armour plating just enough for Ani's arm to slip out before it crashed back down with an almighty thud. "Now, how are you going to take care of that tank?"

"Well, I don't have any explosive left. I don't think these peashooters," he gestured at their rifles "will do much against the tanks armour. So, any ideas?" They both paused, deep in thought despite the battle raging nearby. They both looked at the tank slowly moving away, and the armour plate that had been completely blown off. Then back at the exposed tank.

"You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking," pleaded Jamasis.

"Well, either we do it or we get blown up. Take your pick." After a pause, Ani continued "I'll give you covering fire from here, keep their heads down. You run up, I'd use the pistols, and basically blast them all until I get there and we can finish them off."

"How come I'm the one that runs toward the enemy tank?"

"I'm senior. In such a close space it shouldn't be hard, and at most these things carry about four crew and half a dozen passengers."

Shaking his head, Jamasis shouldered his rifle, then ran towards the tank. The first few bolts zipped past him, thudding into the tank's armour and insides as Ani fired incredibly accurate shots at the gunners.In seconds, he was next to the tank, and jumped up into the rear already firing both D-15's as quickly as he could pull the triggers. The effect was devastating, both pistols in such a tight space meant that the pilot slumped down instantly, and the remaining gunner collapsed. The commander crumpled to one leg then slipped over backwards as more shots poured into the cabin. From start to finish, all three had died in less than five seconds.

"Well," said Ani from behind him "I've always wanted a tank. Even one as damaged as this one."

Jamasis shook his head, before speaking into his comm "Kand, we've got the tank. Anything we can do for yo-"

Suddenly, around a hundred enemy soldiers burst out of the nearby trees, and frantic shouting broke in over the comlink.

"Hold tight you two, if you can get back do it now, if not you'll just have to hold out. Everyone who can, back to the compound and get shooting!" ordered Kand.