Cody sneezed and pulled his hood up over his head as an NR patrol zoomed by. Since the alert was put on hours ago, patrols were increased and they were all… well, on alert. Alleys were swept, suspicious characters were questioned, and especially destroyed buildings were searched. He tried to be as casual as he could, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t help the chill passed down his spine when a patrol passed by. It wasn’t in his nature to skulk, and it was nerve-racking to endure their presence. To take his mind off of the enemy, he studied as he meandered through the crowds, committing the chain of command and enlisted ranks while he walked.

It was an hour before he looked up from his reading, just in time to watch a patrol head down an alley. Curious, Cody walked up to the corner and listened to their banter, laughter echoing off of the brick that surrounded them,conversation sounding odd through their helmets. Obviously these loons aren’t threatened by us, he thought as he looked round the corner. Hopefully we can change that soon. It was a half-hearted thought, though. The time for the store to blow was almost at hand, and Cody was ready to get out of this burnt city.

“Thank the stars our shift’s almost done, eh?” One of the NR soldiers said. Coadster’s curiosity, even with the threat of being detected, was piqued. He leaned against the corner of the building next to the alleyway and put in an earbud. It was a gruffer voice that answered the first soldier, the sound of a bear of a man.

“I know. All this mouse hunting’s got me all thirsty. Rickard, IF I remember correctly, it was you that said we’d find these insurgents before it was done? Better be ready to live up to your word, friend, ‘cause there’s been no sign of ‘em anywhere.”

“Haha, sorry. I don’t seem to recall.”

“Yeah, yeah. Tell ya what: you go ahead and buy us two bottles of starshine. You drink half before I finish my bottle, and I’ll take the tab.”

“Ha, you’re funny. That’d be like Osney here facing me.”

A more strained voice than the others, a low tenor bristling with irritation. “Don’t bring me into this Rickard. We’ve only got half an hour left, and I’m ready to get home and get some sleep…”

The rest of the conversation couldn’t be heard even with Cody’s audio input, so he moved in. The alley split two ways twenty feet or so from the entrance, and the voices were louder from the righthand passageway. In fact, they were louder in general. It seems all is not well in the house of our enemies, Cody thought, rounding the corner and ducking behind a large trash receptacle. He slid his datapad into his pocket and peeked around it to watch.

“…Mind if I do! I’ve been with you for a week now, and I’ve heard nothing but negativity. If you’ve got a beef with me, come out and say it Osney!”

“You’re a pompous ass that thinks just because you’re a rank higher than me that you’ve got a right to fun around with me! Lemme tell you allsomething; these ‘mice’ are adults just like you and me, they’re soldiers just like you and me, and they haven’t been even detected until today. We took the damn city, but that doesn’t mean a thing unless we can keep it. If you keep clowning, we’re going to end up in a difficult situation, just you watch.”

“Soldier my ass! Why don’t you get going now and save us the trouble of checking your closet and tucking you in?”

“Frack you, Dickard. Grow up.”

“Alright, alright, no more out of either of you! We’re gonna talk about this when we get done with our shift, but until we’re done here, there’ll be no fightin’! Osney, go cool off. Now. Goodness, couldn’t have one night without either of ya gettin’ all jumpy.”

The patrol turned toward the opposite end of the alley, and who he assumed was Osney headed his way. He pulled his head back quickly and pushed himself into the corner of where the receptacle met the wall, trying to get as small as he could. Oh man, did he see me? Angry mutterings were all that could be heard on the earbud as Osney got ever closer. He could only hope that Osney didn’t chance to look to his right as he passed by. Hindsight, as always, was 20/20. If he was caught… You idiot! Why do you have to be such an idiot, Cody?!

He held his breath as Osney passed by, the only sound Osney’s breathing on the earbud and the crunch of gravel underfoot. That, and the blood rushing in Cody’s ears. Osney passed. Several thoughts suddenly passed into his mind. Osney’s about my size… I need a uniform for the operation… He’s not paying attention! Cody rose silently, and before he knew what he was doing, he was just behind Osney.

This is crazy! This is crazy! Cody walked just behind the man, in step, and for two heartbeats he had no idea what to do. No chokehold would work, since the gorget was in the way, and how was he to take this grown man out in full body armor without him yelling out? It was only a matter of time before the man turned around; he acted. First he tried pulling off the man’s helmet, which incidentally meant pushing the button for the visor. The faceplate slid up, and Osney had enough time to say, “Oh,” before Cody’s arms came around his face.  One hand slid over the man’s mouth while the other pinched his nose shut. Cody kicked the back of Osney’s leg, bringing the man down to the ground. Osney’s arms during the fall were pinned beneath him, and after what seemed like forever, the man stopped kicking.

Warily, Cody took his hands from the man’s mouth and looked at his handiwork. “Did I… do that?” he asked himself, pushing the man over to face the night sky. He was younger than Cody thought. Suddenly, he panicked. Did I kill him?! Cody pulled off the man’s helmet and unlatched his armor plating, pulling the pieces off until only the blue of the man’s undershirt showed. Cody listened to the man’s chest, and sighed with relief as he heard rattling breaths and a heartbeat. He finished stripping Osney and put his armor on. It was less comfortable than Cody’s own armor, but who could complain? He thought about putting Osney in the receptacle, but decided it was too risky since the patrol might come back this way. Instead, he drug Osney to the split in the alley and into the other end of the alley, where another receptacle with a heavy lid awaited.

He lifted the lid, letting it lean on the building behind it, and then picked up Osney. He set him down gently on a bed of cardboard and food wrappers. He then closed the lid slowly so as to avoid noise and unholstered his pistol. It wasn’t very loud a sound, perhaps equivalent to a slamming door, but it made Cody jump all the same as a bolt of red hit the lip of the receptacle and the lid. “There we go,” he said to himself. The metal of the lid and the side of the trash receptacle were now quite fused together, a black scorch mark smoking from the heat of the shot. He decided it was time to get out of dodge, and jogged to the street, and turned in the direction of the stash. He could feel the weight of his datapad, the map of the city contained within, and cursed quietly into his visor. Well, I suppose it’s time to see how good my sense of direction is…



The explosives were right where they were stashed a few days ago, in a locked container in a razed building near the targeted store, half covered in pieces of blasted plaster. The others hadn’t arrived yet, so he unlocked the container and waited. It was full of charges they were to place to bring down the building, With fifteen minutes to kill until the operation, Cody decided it was a good time to retrieve his datapad. “Almost done,” he muttered as he pulled the left leg of his suit off. “Almost off this planet.” When had he gotten so tired of doing this?

It’d only been a week since joining the RAIDERS, and yet he felt queasy thinking about how it ran. Being a stormtrooper was nothing at all how he’d imagined. He imagined long battles, heavy fire coming and going in the night sky, and after it all he’d sit and laugh and drink with his comrades. But when he looked up from where he sat on a broken support beam, all he could see was dust motes in the orange beams of the streetlights, and all he could taste was dust in the air. He sighed. Maybe I’ll transfer, get a normal squad… But what was the point of that? He’d heard he was lucky to be a part of RAIDERS, that they were good at what they did. So what was the point of transferring if he was moving into something worse?

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of boots treading on debris. He crouched down low near the container. He opened his visor. “Who goes there?” He said to the noises as they came into the doorway. Two NR patrolmen walked in, visors down and facing him. He reached for his pistol and drew it as both of them lifted their visors.

“Hey now, is that any way to treat a squadmate?” Dusk said, grinning at Cody. Karash gave him a wary look and walked over to the explosives. Abashed, Cody stood up and holstered his pistol. “Sorry about that. The alarm’s got me all jumpy. Where’d you guys get the suits?”

Dusk laughed. “We jumped us a patrol. Got four sets of NR armor for our troubles.”

Cody remembered Lloyd, and forced a smile on. The man was friendly enough, but Cody didn’t know how to take him, yet. “Well, it’s a good thing. It’ll make things seem a lot more like NR’s to blame, “ he said. Karash gestured to the explosives beside him and closed the lid, making a hollow thunk!. “People, we’ve got charges to set. Let’s get to it. Or do you really want to be here when the next shift starts?”

The point was taken, and Cody moved to the other side of the container. The container had two handles so it could be moved, and he was ready to get moving. Dusk took the other handle, and Karash led the way to the store. It was late out now, and the difference was definitely noticeable. While in the daytime the crowds were bustling and frequent, the night was subdued, the pedestrian traffic was a quarter of what it was. There was enough people to be curious enough to follow, though. They allowed a wide berth for the three of them, but by the time they got to the shop a trail of twenty people were following behind the trio. Also, further away, sirens could be heard across the city. It made Cody itching to get things done.

The shop was closed, but there were still a few lights on, the manager closing up inside. When he saw the three troopers getting close, though, he opened the front door and came outside, though it would have been easier for him to have climbed through the hole to the right of it. “Hello there, sirs!” The man said, giving a wary eye to each of the RAIDERS. “Can I help you?”

Karash gave the signal to move past the man and into the store, and said, “We’ve got orders to demolish this building here.”

“W-what?! But why?”

“Orders are orders, and we’ve got ours. If you have a problem with my orders, please file a complaint to my superiors at the NR headquarters in the center of Bastion.”

“But my business is-

“Alternately, you can send a complaint with your datapad on the net…”

While the shop owner argued with Karash, Dusk and Coadster entered the building. They dropped the container down on the ground and opened the lid. There were twelve charges, and one detonator. Coadster set the detonator tenderly aside, sure not to get close to the switch, then turned to Dusk. He showed Dusk the diagram he’d made of where the charges were to go. “I’ll take four charges to the second floor,” he said, scooping up the ones he needed. “Here, take my datapad and put the rest where they need to go.”

He ran up the stairs to the second story and came to the hole next to the plasteel beam.  He could see the crowd had grown to watch the arguing men, making a fair line at the front of the store. He ripped away the yellow caution tape around the beam, and pressed the charge against it. It held fast, and He placed a second one above it. He then placed another charge on the opposite end next to the staircase, and the last one was placed on the horizontal beam at the front of the store, already half melted from some large explosion beforehand. He placed it dead center, hoping it would fold and topple the floor he now stood on. Not for the first time he wondered at the morality of what he was part of, but he shook it off and headed down the stairs again.

Dusk’s charges had been set, so all they needed to do now was to detonate it. He picked up the detonator and headed outside. “Sir, charges are set,” Coadster said to Karash, breaking him off from his argument. He took the detonator and looked out at the crowd. It was larger now, by perhaps a dozen.

“Alright, citizens! Back away from the building! By the orders of the New Republic, this building is to be demolished! To avoid injury, please step back! You’ve a minute to comply!”

And with that, the three retreated into the building even as the crowd retreated. Mutterings of disapproval were mixed in with the cries of the shop owner. The doors closed behind them, and they ran for the back exit. “Alright, fifty seconds,” Karash said. “Let’s get out to the alleys and set this thing off.”

They ran into the alley way and sprinted further into it. They took a turn, then another turn. They ran perhaps forty feet into the backalleys before stopping and turning around. “Three, two, one!” There was a soft click when the switch was flipped. “You know, we might be-“  Then, the charges went off.

The first thing was just light, a halo around the whole building. Half a second later was a monsterously thunderous noise, breaking glass and groaning metal just after. Cody remembered an invisible force in front of him from the alley, dust and paper and small rocks thrown up in a torrent before just before the ground came out from underneath him and then filled his vision. He groaned, picking himself up off the floor. Stars flew before his eyes, and it took a few seconds before he could stand. Silently he thanked whoever made the helmet for the visor he’d remembered to put down as a fog of dust and glass settled down around him.

“Everyone… everyone okay?” Cody asked warily, moving drunkenly in the haze.

“I’m not dead yet,” Karash called out, and Coadster could see a silhouette of him standing up.

“I’m still here, too.” Dusk came out from behind Coadster, dusting the armor ineffectually with his hand. Karash joined them, waving away the dust from his face. The dust cleared from their vision slowly, and all of them were covered from boots to helmet. There was smoke billowing from the store that had been there only a moment ago, and a building next to it was aflame as well. Sirens were louder now, getting louder. For some reason, some strange reason, it made him laugh. He laughed at the site, and laughed as he took his helmet off, and laughed at the burst of ashes as something collapsed within the building. It was exhilarating. “Oho man, that was… That was incredible.”

The other two were stripping off their NR armor and throwing it aside. “Time,” Dusk said as he slipped off his legplates. “To rile up the audience.” He grinned up at Coadster, pulling out his blaster and firing into the air. There was a glint of the fire in his eyes, and Coadster could feel it reflecting in his own. So this is what the RAIDERS feel like… It was exhilarating already, bringing down the shop. He might regret it later, but for now it felt good, and the night was young. “What do you say?”

OOC:

Gyuuh, felt almost like it was too long to post...

He felt the wind whipping at his long coat as he starred out from the doorway into a city in turmoil. The small force he was leading had taken shelter in an abandoned house as a dust storm kicked up suddenly. He knew his squad was out there, in the darkness. The dark night was broken by the screams, and explosions of a true warzone. Part of him felt anger at letting things go this far, but it was a tiny voice in the blackness of his soul. This was the darkest part of being a RAIDER, sometimes you had to kill the innocent to insure the greater good.

Greater good? Seven months ago you would of never have thought this way. He ignored the voice, this was the burden of being Squad Leader. A harsh lesson he learned in a campaign that was not over for one squad of the Empire. Everyone else had pulled out, only his group was left. They were taking their revenge on a population that was largely innocent, he knew by morning those who had survived this night of terror would turn against the New Republic. It was psychological warfare now, press the right buttons and people react accordingly.

As he watched the sand patterns in the wind he wondered how the squad would turn out in a weeks time. For some of them this was an experience they were not prepared for. Something no one knew is that you do not get put into RAIDERS by chance. To be in this squad you have to have some sort of pathological problem. It was the only way to insure the more darker missions would be carried out. However, even the best people make mistakes. Sometimes truly innocent soldiers are put here by mistake. The resulting aftermath is tragic, very few regain their sanity. Even then they are broken inside. He wondered if any of the new people would snap, this was a rough way to break someone in. This campaign had been difficult for everyone.

"Joamer." He heard the voice of Mox come from inside the building, ignoring it he continued to watch the wind and listen to the screams. Every once in awhile he would here laughter on the wind, he knew it was Jaenna's voice. Most of the screams were being caused by her actions.

"Tremaine." The voice said again, for a moment he was taken back to a time when he went by that name. Part of him yearned to take back his old life, for now he pushed it down to where it rested silently.

"I've already told you the plan, traitor." His voice was cold, arrogant, and commanding. Grahim was not the only one playing Bounty Hunter, only for Joamer this was not playing. Tremaine Reistlin was a name heard throughout the Galaxy years ago. It came with a reputation, and that reputation he was counting on to get them past the New Republic security on this night and into the command building.

"Blasted Bounty Hunter, you have no idea what my Squad Leader is going to do to you when he finds me!" Mox shouted suddenly, a moment later a loud crash was heard as a thump echoed around the room.

"Missa suggest keep quiet. Weesa ganna always give yousa toda New Republic miss a few pieces." Grahim said a few seconds later.

Stepping inside the building Joamer dusted off his black sleeveless shirt as his jack-boots clicked on the old floorboards. Looking down at the coughing form of Roy Kerrolin, he knew a sizable bounty was on his head from the New Republic. Using that information he hoped to gain access to the command center.

"Not my fault you made a mistake Kerrolin. Some say that I retired, or even was killed. I think when I drag your sorry hide to the New Republic that the name of Tremaine Reistlin will echo throughout the Galaxy again." Joamer said as he grimaced at the shaking form below him.

Pulling a republic commlink from his belt he flipped it to a frequency and said arrogantly "Message to the Commander of the Republic forces in Bastion. Three man group coming to the west gate in five minutes. Have a delegation meet us outside, the traitor Roy Kerrolin is being brought in."

"Who the bloody hell is this?" A scratchy voice said a few moments later. The storm was beginning to pick up, so were the screams.

"Tremaine Reistlin." He said as he shut off the commlink. "On your feet, it's time for the final curtain on this insanity."

“But this is my shop... you can’t just come in here... where am I meant to live... what about my money.” The shopkeeper had become frantic.

“There two kinds of problems in the world. Yours and mine. As I am sure you can work out, this problem is one of yours.” Karash spoke calmly.

“No, I won’t go!” The man now sounded more resolute and puffed out his chest in a poor attempt to show authority. 

“Then you will be blown into a million little pieces, either way this place is going to be destroyed. This is an official order given by the New Republic high command if you have a complaint you may...” The medic was not allowed to finish his speech.

Tears had begun to form in the man’s eyes and his voice cracked with emotion, “How can they do this to me? I will give you credits, any amount you want.”

‘How long will those two buffoons take to get the damn charges set? If I have to stay here for much longer and listen to this pathetic creature whine on I may stay in the building myself.’ The shopkeeper really did present a sad sight as a few passsers by entered to try and comfort the broken creature. It was just another side effect of being a RAIDER, sights like this no longer affected you; some would take pleasure in seeing it, newer members would feel a twinge of emotion but Karash felt nothing as if he were staring at nothingness.

“Control yourself man, you are making a mockery of us all. If you do not like it you can complain by sending a...” Karash was once again not allowed to finish.

“You’re a monster!” The man spluttered.

“No, I am just doing my job. This was an official order of the New Republic and if you have a complaint you...” The Senior Sergeant was becoming slightly annoyed that he could not finish he made up message.

“Sir, charges are set.” Coadster had reappeared at Karash’s side.

The next few minutes were a blur, he remembered saying something to the people of Bastion who stood around in shock, he remembered leaving the building and beginning to run and he remembered being flung to the floor by a wave of energy as the explosion ripped through the air. As he laid on the floor Karash thought of times gone by, when he still had some level of feeling for other forms of life. The times when he could actually bring himself to care about the other members of his squad; those that remained were either alien to him or not worth bothering about.

“I’m not dead yet.” Karash found himself answering a question he was not sure was asked.

Looking into the near distance all that could be seen were the plumes of smoke that were rising out of the explosion site and flames tearing through the surrounding buildings. ‘I wonder if that man got far enough away from the building? And what the hell are those two fools smirking about?’

“Can the both of you at least try to maintain some kind of order within this anarchy?” Karash felt his words were falling on deaf ears.

“What?” The sirens and unfamiliarity culminated to mean he was not sure who said it.

“I mean try to leave some forms of life, we want them to turn against the NR, not leave the NR with a new funeral industry.” He spoke slightly hopelessly.

As far as Karash could remember the plan was to now spread amongst the panic stricken people and cause further dismay. The crowds of people had managed to organise themselves into distinct groups, there was the group that was running away, there was the group that was injured and then there was the group who were determined to salvage their lives from the flaming mess that engulfed them. ‘These two are going to cost you your life, they are too gun-ho and will end up shooting at the wrong group. Then again death is always a preferable outcome to listening to one of Joamer’s riling speeches.’ 

“Let’s do this!” One of them, quite possibly Dusk, had spoken just before he charged into the crowd with his gun firing in all directions. The other one quickly followed.

‘This is madness, this is savagery. It would have never been allowed to descend into this mess in the old days. Havock would never have allowed this...oh no, the final point of madness has been reached, you are praising Havock! What next, telling Joamer what a great job he does? What a sane person Grahim is? How much a respected member of the team what’s-his-name is?’As always Karash had become lost in his thoughts until something caught his attention.

In amongst the rubble, the screaming people, the smoke and flame Karash noticed a body looking up at him. It was indeed the shopkeeper with whom Karash had been arguing less than ten minutes ago. He was better off there than left in this mess.

“Damn it!” Karash shouted as he felt his arm being grazed accompanied by a burning sensation. He had been shot.

Turning around Karash noticed what must have been a patrol heading towards him, ‘You were right; they are going to get you killed.’

Dusk kicked the new Republic helmet away, ‘Time, time, if only I had enough to take out my revenge on this blasted city. This campaign took a lot from me, now I’m going to take it back.’ He thought with evil intentions.

Dusk drew his Bullstoper and and ran into the crowd. Firing in all directions, he began to say, "Time... Time..." Over and over.  He pulled a grenade from his belt. He pulled the pin and tossed it through an open window on the secon floor. Hearing the screams of a mother and her children strangly put a smile on his face.
He mowed down line after line of civies, but in Dusk’s mind he was killing everyone that had done him wrong. The pirates that killed his father, the people that scammed him in sabacc, and NR troops.A man came up to try and subdue Dusk, but when he was in grasping range. Dusk grabbed the man by the neck and smashed his head into the ground. The people were now extremely terrified. “You will all burn for what you’ve done.” Dusk yelled.

A man came up behind him and Dusk kicked him down, he raised his gun and saw the man’s face. Dusk shook himself back into reality and helped Coadster back up. Dusk crouched, put his gun away in place for his knife. He leaped at a man and plunged the knife into his chest. He began to rebuild his bloodlust, he took into favor of a pistol-knife combo.

                                      *      *      *

Dusk was in a small apartment building and steped into a dimly lit room. It seemed to be of a young teenager's. He scaned the room and his eyes fell apon the closet, the most likely hiding spot. He aproached the door and examined the walls. It had a few campaign posters, the kid seemed that the kid wanted to join the empire. Probably wanting to be a flyboy, based on the majority of navy posters. Standing in front of the door Dusk could hear the frantic beathing inside. There was a shuffling of feet behind him. He spun around and cracked the man over the head.

The man was slumped on the floor with one hand on his head and in the other was a blade. Dusk heard a gasp in the closet and he saw the gun in his hand. He began to recal the faitful day his father was murdered. It was almost the exact same image. He went to the closet and open the door, the child was in the corner cowering. Putting away his gun Dusk held out his hand to the kid.

"Hey I'm not going to hurt you," Dusk said softly. "just come out, your Dad's going to be fine, he just suprised me."

The kid looked up and Dusk saw himself in the face before him. He shifted his wait to the other leg as the child grabed his hand.

"I'm Dusk, part of the empire. I'm only a private but I can tell your not interested in the army. You want to be part of the Navy right?" The kid nodded. "Well, if you just keep up with studies you might just make it. You'll make a good flyboy when your older, hey, you might just see me in the future."

Dusk jumped out the window and shot a man outside. 'Well back to the sence-less killing.'

Coadster saw the light before he heard anything, a dazzling red beam of light there and past him. “Shit!” He yelled. He ran toward the crowd, blaster in hand. The crowd had moved back from the ruin of the store, from Dusk's firing into the crowd, and he took the opportunity to duck behind a blasted chunk of cement near them. He pulled out his pistol, small thing compared to the NR’s rifles and armor. There was a fire to his back, and the entire area was hot as an oven. He fired over the cement once, twice, thrice without looking. He looked around for his teammates, and saw Karash  pinned in an alleyway across the street, closer to the NR patrol than he was. He was firing blindly like he was, red light arcing from their own firearms. Karash was using his left arm, a long scorch mark burnt into his other sleeve. His arm, too. Dusk had run through and past the crowd after helping him up.  Well now what? He thought, looking around for something that might change things. Fully decked out NR patrol against two unarmored people with blaster pistols? No dice for us.

The firing stopped. A voice floated over his cement wall, nasal and synthetic through the megaphone one of the unseen NR soldiers was using. “Attention citizens, Empire forces have been spotted in the immediate vicinity. In addition, by order of Martial Law put in effect by the New Republic, you are breaking the law by assembling in such a manner. Vacate the premises immediately, or we will be authorized to use lethal force.”

He looked at the crowd for the first time, really looked at them. Despite the warning, most haven’t moved. Numbering almost a hundred now, they were sullen, stricken faces that looked out at the voice; or blatantly defiant ones with sneers on their faces. But they hadn’t moved. Why won’t they move? Dust motes danced around his vision, the faces of the crowd shifting and dancing in the firelight. One man stood a little closer than the others, a look of determination on his face. Could it be? It was. Cody could see the fire in those stricken eyes, blazing brilliantly in the shadows cast upon his face. The man picked up a hefty chunk of cement the size of a fist and hucked it up and over Cody, past Karash, to land a few feet away from the NR patrol car.

“Yeah!” Someone shouted in the crowd, and the crowd looked surprised to hear it. Another man stepped up and took a rock, then three more came up behind him. Is this… They all hucked rocks at the patrol, some even hitting their mark. More joined in, and a rain of rocks and debris rained over the street. A rock smashed through a window across the street, another hit a parked car and broke the windshield. The crowd was cheering them. Red arced through Cody’s vision and past him. He fired back, and the rocks continued to fly. Half the crowd was now in on it, and for some strange reason, Cody felt pride. My Empire’s people, He thought as he yelled a wordless, triumphant call into the night. The patrol was backing up. One of them was yelling into his com, another to the crowd. Both seemed pointless. People started opening their windows and yelling down at the cacophony.The crowd inched forward even as the patrol was backing away, a hail of stones raining down around them. Trails of light floated across Cody’s vision from the laserlight, but the most dazzling sight was a rock catching a patrolman in the helmet, knocking him to the floor. Another NR troop broke and ran. Then, all hell broke loose.

When the crowd saw the man break, they charged like a large, formless predator. The rocks stopped, and so did the lasers. The NR force broke completely, and were in turn swallowed up by the crowd. One man even got into their patrol car and before he could get the thing moving he was drug out, replaced by a laughing eight, who drove off into the night, a beacon of red dazzling light going off into the night as they were swallowed up by the city. Actually, now there were four lights trailing into the dark night sky, catching and refracting oddly through the smoke from the shop. A dozen people were by the parked car they’d smashed before, tipping it over in triumph. Now people were starting to mull around. Useless destruction surrounded him in the street, someone breaking down the doors of a shop, a fight breaking out in the middle. Suddenly it didn’t seem as pointed as Cody liked. He could hear Karash’s voice in the crowd, yelling at them to start a march to the HQ. Don’t destroy your city, destroy the ones plaguing it! Through the crowd, he could see the megaphone. He walked to it, bumping elbows and chests as people ran across his path. He grabbed it.

He climbed onto the steps of a building. He could see his teammates now, on the other side of the spread mob. The switch made a small click as it was depressed, a low echo of the general noise around him filling the air. He put it up to his mouth. “HEY!!!” He yelled through the megaphone, amplified to a thunderous synthetic noise and echoed over and over again off of the buildings that surrounded him. Everyone turned to look. A silence took the mob, a quiet reverberating just as loudly as his megaphone. He took a deep breath, smelling ash and smoke in the air. “TO THE NEW REPUBLIC’S STATION!!! LET’S TAKE THEM OUT!!!”

A thunderous, triumphant call went out, drowning out Cody’s last syllable. The crowd came together again, an amorphous predator with a new target. Cody moved with it, losing sight of his squad members, losing thought of them as he was taken into the mob, united in his want to remove the head of the beast as everyone else. This was his… their night. He might regret it later, but the night was young, and there was fire in their eyes.

Beta walked out the front of the building wearing the New Republic uniform he recently snagged off of the officer just minutes ago. In case it was necessary he carried his old beaten up armour in a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He stopped at the corner waited for the patrol speeder to get there.

Lieutenant eh? He thought as he looked at the rank insignia on the shoulder. As he looked to his right sure enough the landspeeder raced towards him. Beta lowered the stolen hat over his eyes as it slowed to a stop in front of him.

“Sir, thank god you’re okay.” The soldier driving said, “You need to get in, there’s a mob of civilians wanting the heads of the NR.”

Beta just nodded and walked around the front to the passenger side door. He opened in, stepped in and closed it followed by the soldier immediately turning around and heading away from the mob.

“I have orders to take you to the command center. It’s for your own safety.” The corporal paused and waited for Beta’s response, “Sir?” The NR soldier looked at Beta just in time to see the fist connect with his head. He lifted his hands off of the controls to cover his face and Beta opened the door and threw him out the side. The body rolled into the side of a building, killing the soldier instantly.

“Oh shi–“ Beta thought as he looked out the front windshield to see the speeder spin right into the side of the same structure.

He opened his eyes, finding himself on a cold stone floor. The building around him obviously abandoned and falling apart. It had the same eerie lighting as Bastion’s streets. He barely managed to pull himself to his feet, his whole body throbbing with pain. He looked around and found no person or exit.

“So it’s come to this.” That same familiar voice said. A light turned on across the room to reveal the faceless puppet leaning against the wall.

“What are you doing here?” Beta asked it.

“Isn’t it obvious?” it said walking towards Beta, a light turning on each time it left the range of the previous, “I’m here to save you.”

“Save me from what? I’ve been doing fine by myself.”

“That’s what you think; you haven’t seen my side yet.”

Beta was getting pissed off at this point, “You know, I have seen your side of the story and it’s complete bullshit. I’m tired of your attempts to manipulate me.”

“Then why don’t you do something about it?”

Beta picked up the small puppet and put a knife to it, “Maybe I will.”

“Ha, just try it. I doubt you have it in you.”

“Then you sir have just underestimated me.” Beta then thrust the knife into the fabric of the puppet.

The pain quickly returned to his whole body. The front windshield was shattered, rubble from the wall of the building falling in. Beta had blood running down the side of his head and his leg was stuck in the speeder rendering him completely unable to move. Yet still a feeling of relief overcame him.

The glow of the blue light veins continued to trail behind the woman as she ran, chaos following her as she moved throughout the city, her right fist still clenched, blood splattered over it in sick, dark patches. Not once had she taken out her DC-15 pistol, not once had she used the two Treppus-II Vibro blades that hung at her sides. It had been brawl after brawl, her training over taking most of the men she had started with, her street smarts able to get her out of any situation that her training couldn't help her in. And now she ran, a mob of angered and hurt men - most of them bloodied and bruised from the woman's attacks - following close behind, shouting threats and lighting the air with a fire of rage.

Jae laughed, her voice hitting the night sky like a lightning bolt, her joy and sense of duty combined into a frightening ball of mess in her mind. She jumped, climbing a car that seemed to have been struck by a blast of sorts. As she landed on the other side she saw the still burning fires of an explosion that had taken down a large shop. "That's it RAIDERS." It was pride that lit her face, her sea-foam eyes sparkling with the love and respect she had for her Squad.  Another laugh rolled off of her tongue as she went to look behind her.

A frustrated and disappointed grunt left her cheeks puffed as she stopped on a dime and spun on her heels, now fully facing the direction she had been running from. But it wasn't a mob that attacked her once she stopped it was... nothing. All she saw was the tail end of those who had been raging and shouting for her head, following and merging into another much larger group. "Fucking brainless insects..." The mutter was obviously angry and the woman's lips fell into a pout as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Jaenna, don't just stand there you twit."

"I'm sorry WHAT?" As soon as the pout had come it was gone as the insult struck her ears and she swiveled around to glare at the being who had not only insulted her but knew her name. "Oh. Beta, what the frack are doing? Making love to a speeder?" She approached him, glare melting into an amused smirk as she squatted next to the damaged speeder and laughed softly.

The man tried again to wriggle out from under it, but grunted and went lax again, sighing as his own eyes twisted into a glare as they found Jaenna again. "Shut up and get me out of this. Coad, Karash and Dusk just passed as the head of that huge group that stole your little amoeba. They're going to attack the Rupublic HQ. At least that's what I gathered from Coad and that annoying megaphone." Another frustrated grunt came from Beta as he tried again to wriggle out from underneath of the speeder.

The sight was... sadly funny to Jae, her head shaking slowly as she chuckled again at her Squad mate's predicament. "Look's like the chaos worked then." She was proud as she lifted her right fist, blue light veins still pulsing in the darkness, and flexed the cybernetic wrist. "Lets get you up and follow the group."

"Ah really? I thought it'd be best for me to stay here since." The sarcasm was obvious as it squeezed from between gritted teeth, eyes glaring daggers at the woman next to him.

"Yeah yeah, just shut up." She stood and moved to the opposite side of the speeder, leaning down she gripped what she could of it and, using the extra strength of her cybernetic right arm, slowly lifted and pulled the speeder a couple of feet to the side, releasing Beta from it's grasp. She helped Beta stand and looked down at his leg. "Eh, the speeder wasn't heavy enough to cause and real damage, Karash will know more than I do, though." She slapped the man on the back.

He grunted and started jogging after the large group that had now disappeared into the darkness of the smoldering city.

Jae followed close behind.



It hadn't taken long or much effort for Jae to ditch the NR uniform she had been wearing: she had done so while she was jogging after Beta, stripping off the shirt and tossing it aside, then taking the hem of the pants and attempting to hop out of them. Granted the last part hadn't gone so well, a resulting skinned elbow and knees showing through holes in the civvie clothes she had been wearing under the NR uniform.

She watched ahead of her, face in a tight grimace as the only pain she really didn't deal with very well for skin scrapes, as Beta fused into the back of the group, drawing his pistol as he did so. She followed behind, elbowing her way into the mob, fighting the urge to fight the idiots that kept almost knocking her over. The woman growled to herself, chewing on her lips and concentrating on finding Coad and the others that were apparently at the head of this ridiculous mob.

"KICK DOWN THEIR DOORS AS THEY DID YOURS! TAKE BACK YOUR CITY! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!"

Coad's voice rang into the night, Jae's ears twitching slightly at the feedback of the megaphone, her eyes narrowing as she sped up her attempts at pushing through the crowd.

Determination was clear on her face, her lips drawn tight and her eyes alight with a certain fire that she hadn't felt in so long: The fire to succeed. Being here, on this hunk of rock and in this nearly decimated city, with her squad... her family... It all proved to her why she should have never left in the first place. This stuff was her life. Not the senseless violence and killing of civilians, but the feeling of knowing that soon it would all be over and the RAIDERS would be going home after a job well done again. But it wasn't just these thoughts that kept that almost trade-mark smirk on her lips. It was knowing that even though she hadn't been part of the campaign, she was part of the group who was ending it for good. This thought alone brought a new feeling to her mind and it was... Pride. Pride to be a RAIDER again, pride about the blood that stained the silver of her cybernetic arm, pride about how as she finally came out of the thick of the group and stood next to Coad and his megaphone, and looked to Beta who was firing his pistol at oncoming NR troops, and to Dusk who was in a brawl with a few NR troops and finally to Coad who looked at her and smiled, that she was a RAIDER now and forever.

The good feeling quickly came to an end as pain erupted on the right side of her face and she fell back to the ground. Through a sliver of sight that was still in her left eye she saw Cody shoot and take out the NR officer who had punched her. He leaned down and helped her stand, though it took a few moments for the woman to regain full mobility and balance. Her head was spinning, unable to hear let alone decipher what ever Coad was saying to her. She reached up to her right eyes and felt only blood as she looked into the darkness that used to be the right side of her sight. She touched the edge of her eye socket, her fingers gingerly sliding across the slick skin and she erupted into a shout of pain. Her eye socket was fractured and surely she had lost all sight in her right eye.

"Gorrommit you fracking slime sucking asshats!" She shrieked and drew the twin Treppus-II blades from her hips and sprinted into the oncoming group of NR troops, slicing and hacking away, blood spilling from her fractured eye socket, rage taking over her entire visage.

But pride still clung to her heart, growing with each New republican that her Treppus blades cut down.

“Who the hell do you think you are touching?” the Senior Sergeant hated being in cramped environments, “Now get your filthy hands off of me before I shove them so far down your throat you can tickle your own feet!”

Before Karash had finished his sentence the mob had exploded in a fit of blind rage and the fighting had begun. The man with whom he had been having a disagreement with had stormed forward and been met with a stun-baton to the stomach, despite how often this pattern seemed to repeat itself the mob appeared to be winning. The crowd thought they really were fighting against some great injustice, against some monster in the shadows but it just was not true; there was no monster lurking. The NR troopers were no longer holding their line it had been broken by wave after wave of angry citizens who were now scrapping like rabid dogs.

“Jae!” A familiar cry was heard in the background.

Karash looked around and saw Jae bulldozing her way through a group of NR troops, ‘I must remember to stay away from her.’ The time for thought did not last long as a stun-baton was waved just a few inches away from the medics face; the attempt at dodging had made him stumble over the masses of feet that occupied the ground and fall to the floor. ‘Don’t just sit there! Do something!’ Close combat had never been Karash’s speciality and now he was faced with a clearly annoyed NR trooper waving a stick at him. His first instinct was to sweep at the man’s feet but it then suddenly struck him, ‘you idiot.’ Karash raised his blaster and shot the NR trooper in chest, the man slumped to the floor and his baton rolled off in to the darkness.

The mob was most definitely winning now, there were just a few NR troops remaining. The mob had turned into some form of hydra; with everyone of their number that was neutralised two more would appear. It was impressive that a relatively small squad, the RAIDERS, could do this, that no matter how tired and disheartened they were they could get the job done. A feeling that Karash had not felt in a long time returned to him, he felt proud of his squad. This feeling did not last long as an almighty crash was heard around him.

“What was that?” The involuntary question had left his lips before he could think about it.

“We are takin’ them down, we’re gettin’ in!” The person who spoke in response was little more than a child.

Upon closer inspection Karash could see that the mob had now turned its attentions to the Iron Gate that stood between them and victory. They were using anything they could lay their hands on to smash into it, some had advanced to forming into groups and using actual battering rams but it appeared they were a while off from finding any success. It was slightly disturbing that more and more people were still joining the mob, fresh recruits were pouring into the battle ground all the time. ‘They must be stupid if they think bashing it with a few sticks is going to cause it to collapse. Why have they stopped fighting back?’ It worried Karash that the NR had stopped fighting back, it usually meant that they were planning some sort of counter attack. The mob was still for the most part unarmed and the few RAIDERS that were present had become dispersed and remote. If a counter-attack was coming, it was likely to be successful.

The air seemed to have cooled slightly, despite the fires that raged all around them and all the furious bodies that surrounded them there actually appeared to be a breeze. The coolness of it was quite refreshing, for just a moment Karash was no longer in a war-torn city; he was standing on a peaceful hillside as if he had never been involved in the dreadful affair. The day dream was ended abruptly when another explosion sounded off in the near distance, a wave of hot air surged through the streets. The mob felt this as well, they roared with a sort of renewed ferocity as they once again surged against the gate of the NR base.

The explosion shook the ground beneath the RAIDER's feet, sending her falling backwards, a silent curse streaming from her already pursed lips as her rump hit the ground. The city had exploded, both metaphorically and physically, into a mess of chaos and tyranny. Her mind spun in circles as she looked around, attempting to wrap itself around just what was going on, analyze it like someone who was in the mob as a civilian. And it was all too easy for her. The feeling of revolution had wasn't a foreign thing to the woman,

Many times before, before she had joined the Corps, she had risen up against the local militia of her city, surrounded by the friends she had made and the other estranged kids and teens she lead in her gang. Star Struck had caused, fought in, won and lost many civilian revolutions. They would travel from city to city on Coruscant, helping the local Slicers try and win back the freedom of the HoloWeb, once more creating a plane of true self being for the people who found their comfort in the words, symbols, sounds and sights of the HoloWeb. Jaenna had lead them as a civilian, and now...

She had helped to start one as a trooper in RAIDERS.

A she stood, the smell of blood stung at her nose and yet it didn't bother her, nor did the scent of burnt flesh from various blasters going off and hitting their mark. The sight of the brawl that surrounded her was - for lack of a better term - epic. Those seafoam eyes went from head to head of the amoeboid hydra mob. She watched as they swayed with the turning tides of the battle, she watched as fighters fell on both sides, she watched and by the Gods she smiled as she saw the determination to take back their city in each and every one of the civilians' eyes. It was a spectacular sight to see, the determination almost tangible as it spilled from each heart of the gathered brawlers. Despite how the sheer sense of excitment and doing something wrong had brought some, if not most, into the mob in the first place, the idea of revolution - of taking back what was theirs - filled their mind and pushed out the original much more simple thought of simply causing destruction.

"We're breaking through! Keep going!"

"This is our city you nasty people!"

"IT'S OUR CITY! OURS!"

The various shouts of possession over something so great as a full city, an entire society, was great to hear and played like music as it danced around Jae's skull. A wider smile moved across her cheek, the shock from the earlier explosion finally entirely gone. This wasn't over yet, this was no longer just a mission to her. It was drive to help these people get rid of those who had taken their city.

A vicious growl rumbled in her throat, blood still leaking from the shattered eye socket she sported. Her hands gripped tighter around both of her Treppus-2 blades as the growl continued to boil, bubbling into her mouth, her teeth grinding together. And finally, the growl burst through her mouth as a loud, blood curdling battle cry. It rang out over the commotion of the battle and she watched as the sound frightened the NR troops and added fuel to the fire in the civvies' hearts. She watched her cry push the civvies further.

Her cry died down and she looked around again, seeing only RAIDERS as the stragglers as the mob pushed forward even more. A smile was given to each of the troopers that were there, the expression one of pride, one of true and pure excitement. Give these people the drive to win. It wasn't only causing chaos anymore. At least not to her.

"Jaenna, what in the hells happened to your eye!"

It was Karash's voice that broke through her gaze and caught her attention, bringing a chuckle to her lips. "Oh this?" She lifted a finger to point at the bloodied and shattered eye socket. "Oh it's nothing."

The response from the medic who had dealt with one too many Jae injuries before was a simple shy and a shake of his head. "Lets at least help Cody before other civilians decide to-"

Another explosion met the chaos of the sounds of battle. Then the command came over the RAIDERS channel. "RAIDERS, let's go home. Rendezvous at beta three, four clicks. Over and out."

"Aw I was just starting to have fun." Jae said into her wristcom with a playful chuckle. "Oh well," she looked back to Karash, Dusk and where Cody was laying, "time to go I guess."

The woman jogged over to her fellow trooper alongside Karash, where both of them knelt and took one side of Cody, each drooping an arm of the unconscious man over their shoulder. Though, they didn't get far as multiple bolts flashed by their heads, followed by shouts of various NR troopers that had decided to give chase.

Quick thinking beckoned Dusk over to her and she gave him the arm that she was assisting with and signaled for them to keep going.

Another growl boiled low in her throat and she gritted her teeth as she ran to duck behind cars that had been piled together in the thick of the mob - which was now against the iron gates of the NR HQ. The woman watched her fellow troopers, making sure they had made it out of site. With a grumble she drew a DC-15 fro her side and looked over the car just enough to catch an NR trooper in her sights. A single shot went off, and one of the six that had her pinned down fell. Ducking back behind the car, Jae lifted the wristcom to her mouth and grumbled. "Joa! Hurry up you asshat! I'm pinned down out here! I told the other to go on ahead!"

"On my way."

The voice that reached her over the com was indeed Joamer, but it was a Joamer she hadn't heard in so long. It was the voice of the man she had once long ago been inseparable from, a friend of, and a true and worthy ally with. It was the voice of the man that would do anything for his friend and fellow trooper. When the com crackled into silence again, it left her mouth hanging open for only a moment before she shook her head.

Jaenna Caldwin really was back in RAIDERS again.

Bolts blazed over her head, her lips twisting into a snarl as strings of mumbled curses spilled from her mouth. There were still five New Republicans to kill and it was only her ducked behind a few busted up cars. As another string of curses came from her still snarling mouth, she turned and looked down the road that she would have been going down minutes ago. "At least they're out of here." The thought that she had virtually scarified her own safety to make sure Cody, Karash and Dusk got away safely was the only thing keeping her heart out of her stomach and away from the thought of death.

Jaenna looked down at her two DC-15 pistols, she gripped them tighter, the knuckles of her left hands turning white and the servos in her right hand grinding together slightly as they adjusted to to her will. "Where the frak is Joamer..." She growled, the sound loud and growing with the surge of adrenaline that lifted her to her knees and sent her twisting to once again pop her head and both arms up and over the car rampart and fire a few more bolts at the attacking troopers. An even louder growl flew from her mouth as she watched the bolts fly around the troopers. She had missed. She was too worked up, too worried about the others. She still wanted to be slicing and dicing... Quickly, the woman ducked back down behind the cars, slamming her back against them and instantly regretting it as pain surged through her spine, though it was a quick brush off as again her mind switched gears.

Again, those seafoam eyes fell onto the pistols. This was her first squad mission in so long, her first time using the pistols as they should be used in even longer. They felt foreign in her hands now, even more so after her fingers having pulled the triggers. Sure, she had held them in her absence but what had become the normal use of them was the savagery of a brutal pistol whip. The smoking barrels just looked... off to her.

Moments passed where her mind made her wonder if she belonged back here, doing this again, but the crackle of her wrist com and the voice of Karash coming over the channel-

"We're at the city gates and safe, no one is here, all of the guards are dealing with the mob, Coadster is awake again."

Made her remember why she had come back in the first place: She was a RAIDER through and through and never again would she leave the people who had become her family.

"You little rat! Come out of hiding and face your death like a real man!"

The voice of one of the enraged NR troopers, and the words themselves, tore Jae from her thoughts and were the fuel the lit the sudden back draft of a blaze within her chest. Her hands flexed for a moment, a growl rising in her throat. She stood and spun, holstering her pistols and in the next moment climbed the cars and leaped over them, going at a full sprint towards the trooper who had called her out. Bolts whizzed by her head, the widened and frightened eyes of the troopers fueled her fire further as she reached to her back and unsheathed her trusty Treppus-2s.

Within the next moment blood splattered to the ground, along with the head of the man who had spoken out. Another moment passed and Jae had in her sights another trooper, seafoam turned steel blue in her radical change of emotions, her blades poised for another attack as she raced towards him. The woman was blind in her rage though, and didn't see him raise his blaster.

The bolt came at her, mind blanked of her own safety, only thinking about killing these men, about ensuring the others' escape. Time slowed as it neared her chest, her lack of armor ever so tantalizing to the fatal shot. Ensure the safety of RAIDERS. Make sure they get out ALIVE. Them, the sound of a loud clang and the fizzling hiss of the bolt against steel broke her from her state of lost mind and brought her back to the moment at hand, time once again moving at normal speed.

The woman slowed her sprint and watched as the man who had come in front of the bolt then raised his own pistol and felled the NR trooper with a single shot. He then wrapped an arm around Jae's waist and pulled her quickly behind another wall of riot rubble.

After slamming her back against the new ruble, she turned and looked at Joamer, whose left arm held the large burn mark of the bolt he had caught. The synthetic flesh was completely gone and the cybernetics had taken some damage. She looked up and met the hard faced smile of the man she had forgotten was her friend.

"I can't lead this squad alone." His voice was hard, his chest heaving in a pant. "And if you die I don't have any one to help."

"Joa..."

"You're my ASL. Now lets kill these guys."

And then he was off, turning around and sprinting out from behind the cover he had pulled both of them into, his blaster firing multiple times before Jae's head in the right place to follow suit.

It only took mere minutes for the both of them to finish off the last four troopers that were attacking, Joamer taking out two with quick shots from his blaster and Jae dirtying her blades even more with the blood of the last two. They stood there, in the midst of the final battle and looked at each other. They both raised an arm, Jae her right and Joa his left. They grapsed each other's forearms in and smiled at each other, then broke away.

"I have something to finish, go to the others at the gates, I'll be there soon."

Jae nodded and smiled and turned to run off, but stopped, turned on her heels and looked back to Joamer again. "Thanks, Joa." The response from the SL was a simple nod and wink and off he was, sprinting through the devastated city and back into the darkness to finish whatever task he was on.

Off she ran, blades sheathed against the small of her back once more, pistols holstered at her sides and a new, reforged smile touching her thin lips. She reached the others and smiled to each of them. "Joa will be along soon, we just gotta wait here." Jae slammed her palm to her forehead then and chuckled. "By the way, I'm the new ASL. Again."

Damn it feels good.