Wind buffeted the armored figures as they landed on the roof of the building. The vehicle that had dropped them off was cleverly disguised as a delivery vehicle. Sensors in the building would pick up on the vehicle and register it as just passing, but they would not pick up the figures dropping from the shuttle. Eclipse Squad had counted on that. The ground floor entrance was well guarded and no amount of disguising would get them in. Besides, the orders had stated that there would be no disguising. For this mission it was imperative that the culprits were clearly seen as members of the Vast Empire.

Eclipse Squad had made sure of it. Their SCOPE armor had been painted completely black. In gold, their insignias and callsigns were etched into their chest and helmets, respectively. On their chest and abdominal plates, a large eclipse was done in silver. It made it quite clear who was attacking the building. Surely, the New Republic knew who Eclipse squad was. And if they did not know Eclipse, they had certainly heard of Phoenix Company. And so, for safe measure, a large phoenix had been painted in red on the squad members’ backs.

“Are you sure this is smart?” Balac asked critically, as he eyed the symbols again.

“Part of the mission,” Norith Skarr stated as he slipped his helmet on. It felt good being back on the field in full capacity. His shoulder no longer hurt from the wound he suffered on Thyveck. His squad had been given various promotions and medals for their grand service to the Vast Empire. Skarr surely had not felt all that grand. If he had not been doped up on drugs while his shoulder healed, he would have given the High Council a piece of his mind about Thyveck. Everyone in his squad had gotten some much needed rest, so Skarr did not have much to complain about now.

The assistant squad leader, Rawr, walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. He whistled in amazement, EmTech Research Labs was a very tall building. It numbered around 40 floors total, with a few basement levels.

“Remind me why we couldn’t just break through the door,” Zippy complained. Ion hit Zippy on the side of his helmet, as Skarr chuckled. It was an insane idea Skarr had come up with. But the squad leader was an insane kind of guy. The insanity of the plan guaranteed that it would work. There had always been the option of storming the front entrance, but Skarr did not like the idea of fighting up twenty seven levels. This way, at least, they could end up on the 27th floor to begin with. And then they’d have to fight their way down. The design of the building and the security limited what Eclipse could do.

“Let me rig some simple equipment and it will all become clear,” answered Skarr, a bit mysteriously. The squad exchanged nervous glances. Their helmets covered their facial expressions, but Skarr could tell from their body language. The “equipment” turned out to be simpler than anyone had thought. It was several strands of synthrope. The strands were very, very long, and there was one for every member of the squad. As Skarr tied the ends to the railing at the edge of the building, a few of the squad members got the idea.

“Oh, hell no,” KayNine spoke up, “I am not going over that railing!”

Skarr looked up at her, trying to convey that he was hurt, “What? You don’t want some fun?” He could hear murmurings from the other squad members who were stating their misgivings as well. “I guess that means I’ll be leaving you guys then.”

“Heh, no we’re going over,” Rawr spoke up, putting authority into his voice. Skarr had been putting Eclipse through training runs where Rawr was given command of Eclipse. The squad had to learn how to listen to Rawr just as well as they listened to Skarr. With that issue of command from the ASL, the squad soon stopped whining and began hooking their strands of synthrope to their belts.

The First Sergeant checked all of their lines and harnesses and ensured that all of them were safe before he began attaching his line. “Up, and over, men!” The squad clambered over the railing. They stood there, looking down at the city scape below and around them. It was a beautiful sight. Skarr let it soak in for a minute before he turned around and gripped his line tight.

“Go time!” the squad leader ordered, and kicked off.

OOC:

772 words is a good opener, no? I was a bit ambiguous on our objective, I know. But I want to try something new with the story. I'll post objectives and the like on the squad topic. Use a sort of Intel report to help you with the story. But first objective now is to rappel down the side of the building and break into the window of the 27th floor. Expect alarms and security to appear almost immediately.

The squad began propelling down the side of the large building. It was a nerve racking feeling as the squad went down over the side of the building. Zippy was thinking to himself, "this is crazy. There is no way we're going to get down this entire building without getting caught." Of coarse, Zippy was entirely wrong. The squad propelled flawlessly and with no problems what so ever. The squad came to the area where they were to breach the building.

"Zippy, you wanna take this one, or should I show you how to breach?" Ion joked hanging next to him.

"Heh. I bet this mission I still do better then you and it has barely even started. We will see whose teaching who."

"I see its going to be one of those missions where we have a little competitive fun again, huh Zip?" Ion joked back to Zippy.

"Wouldn't be a proper mission without a little friendly fun now would it? Up for a little wager. How about two rounds of ale for the entire squad this time sound?

"Alright Zip. Your on. Better keep track of your few kills. It's going to be all you're going to get," Ion stated, hitting Zippy in the shoulder.

Zippy burst though the window with ease. An alarm began to sound as the rest of the squad finished propelling and came through the window. Two security officers came running into the area they were in and Zippy quickly took them out with two well placed blaster shots. Fortunately for him, he polished up his guns like new, so shooting came easy for his seemingly new gun.

"Alright squad, clearly we are unwelcome guests here, but no matter. That is our whole intention. We need to get to the security center as quickly as possible!" Skarr announced over the sound of the alarm system.

Ion and Zippy filed down a longer corridor as a couple of security droids/officers came running toward them, blaster fire raging. They both ducked behind cover as Rawr came running up behind them, tossing a thermal detonator into the small group, quickly dispatching all but two droids. Ion and Zippy looked at each other as Rawr took them out flawlessly.

"Take them down! Kaynine yelled out as she took out another droid. We need to keep moving!"

"Skarr, where exactly is this security room? Is it far from here? There is a swarm of guards and droids bound to be on the way," Anival mentioned.

"It shouldn't be to far from here. We need to keep progressing down the southeast corridor until we come to a larger area in the center of this floor," Skarr stated.

The squad continued to progress farther into the building. Not knowing what to expect around each corner of the facility. Zippy continued to focus on the task at hand. Every shot, every movement he took flawlessly. Checking around every corner for a sign of something out of the ordinary. He would not be getting distracted on this mission. With his new promotion came more respect, but more responsibility as well. He would prove that he was worthy of this new rank. Zippy rolled and ducked behind a few storage crates and placed another well placed shot into a security droid. Coming under fire, He quickly withdrew behind his makeshift cover. Ion jumped behind him and took out another officer who was reloading his rifle. 

"How close are we anyways? Rawr commented to Skarr, ducing behind cover. We can't be that far away, can we?

"Not much farther now squad! Just keep pushing though!" Skarr yelled as a piece of shrapnel came flying off the wall.

Zippy knew that once again, it was just another mess he and his squad got into. It was the place they all loved to be in. It was some kind of thrill to them to be in action. Many people would think if these assignments as crazy and any sqaud who even wanted to embark on an assignment like this was insane. Eclipse loved every second of it. Serving the VE with pride. This to him was the real definition of home.

The rappelling had gone well, and overall, Skarr enjoyed it. It was different from the norm, and even though it was a cliche from action holo-films, it was really cool. The action was also very unexpected. Eclipse had caught security by surprise, and they fought to rally their forces quickly. The squad’s first volley of shots had taken out the rushing guards who had been unfortunate enough to come running. It had been exhilarating to break through the window and lie in wait for the first few soldiers to come in.

It had been a small fight getting through the halls, but the going was rather easy. The security forces were rather thin and lightly armed. They had no chance against professional soldiers. Skarr had already put the blaster to about five of them. This floor had to be running out of guards by now. But the squad leader was sure that more would be coming. According to the blueprints on Skarr’s HUD, they had almost reached the security room.

As they sprinted, pieces of durasteel were falling off the walls where a blaster bolt had hit. Skarr was aware in the corner of his HUD that Zippy and Ion were counting kills. He could hear them going back and forth, which made him chuckle slightly. As long as it kept them concentrated, he was fine with it. As it was, his whole squad seemed concentrated on the mission just fine. A final blaster bolt rang out from KayNine’s blaster and the halls were eerily silent. Skarr surveyed the hall, bringing a closed fist up. His squad came to a halt.

“Notice anything strange?” he asked.

Anival was the first to notice, “Intel said there was a reserve of droids for this floor. They’re not here.”

“Ambush?” Balac asked.

“Ambush.” Skarr agreed. He looked through the hall. Up ahead was a large intersection. Skarr sighed deeply, it was far too obvious. Droids could be really stupid. “Eclipse, form up! Watch our perimeter. Ion, Zippy, watch our sixes!”

Eclipse Squad slowly moved forward. They all knew that if there was truly going to be an ambush, it was going to be in the intersection. It was a smart move, Skarr knew, in a way. But it lacked in the fact that it was obvious. The security room was just down the hall, and this was the only place possible for an ambush. Skarr stopped Eclipse just before the intersection again. He motioned to Rawr slightly. The man took out a flash grenade and without pulling the pin, rolled it into the intersection.

A blaster bolt blew the grenade. The visors in the troopers’ helmets filtered out the intense light. Each trooper snapped into action, throwing themselves around the corner, blasters blazing.

OOC:

I'll let someone else deactivate the turret systems. After the security measures have been lifted, I will post the next intel report on the squad channel and the next set of objectives. Get to it fellas.

Thirty... Twenty nine... Twenty eight... Twenty seven. Oh, over already? the female trooper thought as she pushed herself away and shot a couple of bolts at the window before allowing her momentum to throw her inside. With one hand pointing her gun in the opposite direction, Kyra easily managed to unhook the rope - thus freeing herself in the process. Considering her surroundings however getting free didn't really made the human feel any better. If it was up to her she'd have continued rappelling all the way down, where she would get out of her armor and pretend to be a local.

Actually no, if it was truly up to Kyra then she wouldn't have been there in the first place. If it was truly up to her then she would've enjoyed sun bathing on some exotic beach, drinking some equally exotic beverage whilst slicing her away into some large corporation, interested in finding and subsequently selling or ransoming their darkest secrets. Now that's how her future should've looked like if things were up to the Onderonian female. Alas they weren't so there was no exotic beach, no exotic beverage and no state of the art gadget for her to play with. There were just other Army grunts and hostile security forces that the former kept shooting and killing. At least it's not the other way around. Suppose that's something...

"Move out!" someone ordered and the squad pushed forward, making their way in the corridors and advancing from cover to cover, every now and then some more bozos appearing on the other side and starting shooting. Whenever that happened the squad just took cover and returned fire. Now some members chose to do this the obvious way by checking the enemy positions, waiting for the latter to show themselves and then take them out as soon as that happened.

That may have been the proper way to deal with enemies but Kyra was smarter than that. Rather than check the enemy's location, waiting for him to get out from cover and taking him out when he did... well the human trooper just kept crouching behind cover, shooting blindly either from the side or above in the general direction the bolts were coming from. Granted it was nowhere near as effective but then again she had plenty of ammo and she wasn't alone either. Her method would also ensure she'd remain perfectly safe as well. Unless the enemy had thermal detonators or similar. But if that were the case then the whole squad would be screwed, not just her personally. Surprisingly she managed to take some comfort in that thought.

"Take them down! Take them all down!" KayNine cried even as she continued shooting blindly. Although that simple, repeated phrase seemed perfectly appropriate considering their situation it was something about the way Kyra managed to say it. Both indifference and sarcasm could still be detected in her tone even though under normal circumstances such a phrase should've probably been said with anger, frustration or even no emotion at all.

Eclipse kept advancing in the same manner - taking cover and dealing with enemies and then just repeating. The squad just finished another such encounter when Kyra noticed a few of her colleagues looking her way. The reason for this? Well it turned out that the Onderonian female continued shooting a couple of seconds after the rest of the squad stopped. They were just short bursts, aimed blindly in the enemy's general direction like always but now that she was the only one shooting this was all the more apparent to everyone else.

Kyra just glanced back at some of those members staring in her direction before silently popping her head out of cover and confirming that which she already assumed to be true - the enemy was already dealt with. Standing up she just shrugged and in a casual tone explained "Thought one of them was still moving. Nobody else noticed? No? My bad then..."

The rest of the squad moved forward, with Kyra taking the rear - the safest position of them all considering there would be no more enemies coming from behind. The Eclipse members were still moving forward when a couple of shots from behind caused most of them to instinctively turn around and take cover. What they noticed however was just one of their own pointing her gun at one of the corpses that now had a few more holes in it. "Told you he moved earlier..." Kyra casually explained as she lowered her blaster and moved to rejoin the rest of her mates.

“Eclipse, form up! Watch our perimeter. Ion, Zippy, watch our sixes!” Kyra cursed inside her mind knowing that if she hadn't messed with the stiff from earlier she might've still been allowed to cover everyone's back. Meh, at least she wasn't asked to take point or anything. That would've been bad. Not just for her but for the rest of the squad as well.

"Go, go, go!" Skarr ordered after the room ahead of them was covered in light. Blinding light that would've really pissed off most organics. But if the organics would be mostly taken care of this way the droids were another matter altogether. If they relied on regular photoreceptors then the flash bang would mess with their targeting systems as well. If however they relied on thermal readings or even more advanced criteria then they'd really be screwed. Still, considering what they've encountered that far the hostile droids were likely part of the former category.

Ah yes... nothing better than shooting blinded targets. Noticing a pillar large enough to cover her Kyra quickly headed for it. "That is nothing better than shooting blinded targets... from behind cover!" She grinned as she used the pillar to ever so slowly move around and shoot anything that moved on the other side. Why the human female even took a couple of shots at a fast moving target as well. Why's it running away though? And why's it black as well? Eh, such mysteries would no doubt be revealed soon enough, once the chaos would die down somewhat...

What is the point of combat droids? Group after group of pathetic machinery that never hits anything; makes you wonder why people still buy so many. Jamasis stuck his head up from cover to fire three quick shots from his E-45 at an approaching droid. Approaching summed it up really; walking at a slow, monotonous pace without taking any cover. Almost like target practice. He rose again, but before he could fire another shot he dropped flat to the ground, noticing the flash of a blaster bolt from the droid's gun.

Target practice, except computers shoot better than people.

Jamasis shifted to his left, hoping to buy himself enough time to get a decent shot at the target. As he popped up and fired, another bolt took the droid clean out. Zippy, or Ion, Jamasis guessed, moving on to the next target. Both were his junior, in service if not in age, and both seemed very eager. Nothing wrong with that, it meant less work for everyone else, but the chances were somebody would have to bail them out of something in the near future. And that somebody would probably get shot in the middle of it. Like I always do... he mused to himself.

Several quick shots at the next droid soon brought it down, or possibly the sporadic and inaccurate fire that peppered the ground near the droids legs. A quick glance told Jamasis it was Kyra. Other than being generally annoying so far, irritating comments and questionable giving-a-damn-about-hitting-the-right-people, he had nothing against her. Skarr was a familiar face, and seeing him relaxed and in control alleviated Jamasis' worry about rejoining Eclipse. If nothing else, he owed Skarr for 'mislaying' the report about him going A.W.O.L. nearly two months ago.

The squad began to move forwards, keeping to cover as much as possible and checking the droids they had shot were all fully deactivated. The only other squad member Jamasis felt anything towards was Anival, his long-time squad mate and previously commander. Before, they had been close, both bailing each other out on several missions. In the past months they had drifted apart, having barely met since the time before Thyveck. Part of him wanted to rekindle their friendship; another part warned of them drifting apart again.

"Droids have all retreated," one of the other troopers remarked.

"Retreated, but split up. We don't need to hunt or pursue them, just stick to cover as we move. Ion and Zippy take point, Anival and Jamasis watch our backs. They might set up for another ambush, stay alert and stick to the objective," ordered Skarr.

Tactics from droids? Almost makes them useful.

After being in reserves for a while. Hector Vandaval took some time to spend with family and friends enjoying both home and vacation. He had traveled to different planets during that time, seeing the many cultures they had but more on enjoying his vacation time accrued through being on active duty.

There was a lot of things the private wanted to get done before being called to active again, like eating his favorite food or just watching the ocean pass by. To Hector the tranquility of serene nature of life was flowing to him but he also had the imperial duty in mind, to hunt down its enemies and protect the empire at all costs. His orders from imperial command read

“To: Private First Class Vandaval
From: Imperial Command
Subject: Reserves

Hello Private,

While we are missing you from active duty, it is with happiness of the Imperial Command that we grant you vacation time as well as some off duty stipend. If you decide to come back to Active duty please speak with one of our recruiters or imperial liaison officers who would be glad to get you suited back with your squad. Have fun and always remember the empire!

End Message – 101343.21

After reading the message, while on vacation Hector took the time he had and was able to spend it without costing the imperial bank more loan money. The stipend was a nice addition but also something he knew that it had to be worked for. The time had passed from his vacation to he decision to want to join back with the empire once more.

Gaining new skills in communication and linguistics as well as technological programming enabled for his career success, Hector even spent some time at the gun range shooting his own blaster pistol to get into the groove. After much time of improving himself and studying material from his old training days, it was time to speak with the imperial officer for reenlistment.

At one of the stations, Hector walked up to one of them snapped to attention in imperial uniform and stormtrooper armor and greeted the liaison on arrival. “Hello Sir, id like to submit my oath for citizenship to the vast empire and the imperial army once again, I have used the time well and prepared for new challenges.” The officer looked Hector over, then saluted back

“Well soldier, you paper's are in order and ill have you on the first ship to your squad asap, at the moment, take this manual I have and start studying, also get on some new stormtrooper gear, the one you have is a little worn.” Hector affirmed then walked with the manual and new uniform in hand to the changing facilities. Walking back out Hector was now in the updated stormtrooper armor and brushed up on his imperial training.

The ship for departure had also landed. A loud speaker announcement was made over comms “All imperial recruits, enlisted and officer, proceed to lambda class vessel A for departure, please have your identification ready.”

Taking a quick look over the manual then shutting it he enclosed it inside his pack and run up the ramp to the vessel. Giving the departure officer his papers, the officer nodded and pointed at one of the seats.

With Hector now placed, the vessel departed from headquarters to the imperial army station. A few hours had passed before the shuttle arrived, the paper filling was submitted to the imperial army then had the vessel proceed to drop off with eclipse squad. Sitting in his seat, Hector was anxious to see what awaited him for both training and career.

The shuttle began its decent, lowering the landing gear in a drop off point, a stormtrooper tapped Hector “take a speeder to your squad, we cant meet up for security reasons. Your weapons are in your pack and be on the look out for enemy fire on your way. We will direct a message to your Squad Leader informing them of your arrival” The trooper nodded then closed the ramp, with the vessel departing and entering orbit. Hector took a moment to breath through his helmet and scan the area. After which he jumped on the speeder and proceeded to squad zone for objective.

Zippy ducked behind a wall for cover as the newer looking troopers came around the corner at the battle weary squad. These troopers were packing a heavier load then the security droids/personnel that they had been encountering before. He turned the corner with his heavy blaster rifle raised and shot one of the troopers in the upper left shoulder. The blaster bolt didn't even dent the armor. Merely left a blast mark if anything. These troops were clearly here to stop Eclipse from getting the prototype weapon.

"It's troopers like these that really don't know when to quit. We've gotten this far, what makes them think they'll succeed in stopping us I'll never know," Zippy said to himself as he took another few shots more as heady fire came flying towards him.

"Hey Zippy! What's your kill count at? Ion yelled out to him. Hope you're actually keeping up with me! I'm up to twenty-one kills right now. Four turrets included."

"I'm right behind you at twenty kills for me. With a couple turret kills as well. We'll see if you can keep up with these heavier armed troops then the other childish troops, which I know you're so accustomed to," Zippy joked back.

"Cut the chatter you two! Skarr yelled at the both of them. We aren't far from the prototype location now! We need to keep moving before the rest of these troops cut us off!"

Zippy and the rest of the squad continued to push through the seemingly endless troops to the, what they were told, was the prototype room. It was a vast looking area with many different sections for certain types of work and construction projects. This seemed like it was to good to be true.

"Alright squad. Secure the area. We need to be ready for when those troops find where we are. Zippy and Ion, get your ass's on our six and cover for us while we search around for this weapon. Alert us when the enemy is upon us. To the rest of the squad, find that prototype." Skarr ordered out.

Zippy knew he and Ion would be ordered to guard the flank. With both of their big mouths, how could the squad not know when the enemy would be here. Or maybe it was just how loud they got with excitement whenever action occurred. Who knows. Nevertheless, he knew that him and Ion could handle it. Not to mention that they did have a little friendly wager on this new assignment, so more troops to kill was always a bonus.

"So Zippy. What do you think this prototype is about huh? I bet ya it's just some kind of super gun or something like usual. Maybe some form of building machine."

"Beats me Ion. I bet it's another weapon that we get to blow up with some good old explosives. Haven't had many good times to use mine in a while. I could use with some blowing up of something."

"Well maybe you'll get your wish sooner then you think. We've got company!"

Red and green blaster bolts were exchanged by both the members of the Eclipse squad and the automated defenses protecting some prototype Kyra didn't have a lot of information about. She wondered whether it would be small enough to pocket when nobody would be looking. She could then either figure out what it did herself or just sell it off to a black market auction house that would subsequently get rid of it to whoever would pay the most for it. Less profit that way but at least nobody would be able to directly link her to the item resurfacing afterward.

Wonder if that would work, she thought as she sneaked a few glances to the rest of her squaddies. She wouldn't have minded working with them in order to make themselves all rich but she somehow had a feeling most of them were just too self righteous for her own tastes and their own good. Honor, duty, loyalty... it was all bull as far as she was concerned. Where was the honor in sneaking into a company and stealing their secrets? What purpose did duty served other than actively trying to get everyone killed sooner or later? As for loyalty... bah! That was the most hypocritical of them all - thinking that no matter what someone else would definitely have your back. Yeah right...

"Cease fire!" Skarr ordered after noticing the droids and turrets were no longer shooting back. The squad leader left cover and stepped towards the droids formerly shooting at him and everyone else. Seeing how he wasn't getting mowed down the rest of the squad pulled out of cover and joined him in the open. Everywhere one looked there were deactivated droids still in working condition, droid parts scattered around the floor, lots of burn marks all over the walls and also a few fires as well.

What the? KayNine wondered as water began falling from the ceiling. At least this'll take care of the fires. Yay! Only a few more seconds passed before she realized something else Thanks to the helmets our vision will also remain mostly intact. Plus I've just washed my hair yesterday. Double yay!!!

"Eclipse! Disperse to cover!" Skarr called, catching Kyra by surprise. She would've had no problem jumping behind a crate, a pillar, behind a wall or anything else that could serve as any kind of cover. The problem? There was no such cover to be had. None! The Onderonian female as such did the next best thing she could think of - she allowed the trooper directly in front of her to mask her own frame as she herself moved back to find some proper cover. Human shields were great no doubt about it, but they also tended not to last for too long.

Finally, she sighed with relief as she dropped to cover around the corner. She peaked out and aside from the retreating squad members she also noticed a bunch of incoming bastards that for some reason looked bigger and meaner than before. Now that just wasn't fair the trooper thought as she pulled back and considered her chances as well as next move.

She was still crouched down and lost in thought as other members of the squad passed her by, finding more cover from which they would be able to return fire. Oh! the human female suddenly raised her head as she realized something. Two seconds later she was staring at the detonator she grabbed before the mission started. If it was up to her she'd have taken a dozen or so of these babies but for some reason regulations prevented her from doing this. Cheap Army bastards, she swore as she recalled the quartermaster's shaking head as he quoted some bogus rule.

A quick look around however and Kyra easily found another thermal detonator - strapped to another trooper's belt and just waiting to be used. She looked up to the trooper who was busy returning fire in the enemy's direction - This'll be easy, she thought as she made her way closer to him and under the guise of accidentally tripping in his direction, Kyra used her sleight of hand talents to grab the small sphere.

She armed the tiny explosive device just as she was straightening up and threw it in the corridor the enemy was advancing from. The trooper aimed high and against a wall, thinking that with a proper ricochet it'd land behind the shields. She armed and threw her own detonator next. This one sort of slipped form her hand however as it slowly rolled in the enemy's direction. Oops?

Well, mistake or not, the explosive devices would be able to do some damage all the same. They would be able to kill, maim, panic and disorient the enemy and that sounded like just the things expected from a trooper. Kyra felt good about herself...

Damn it all to hell! The squad leader had faced cloaked opponents before. Granted, it was almost always in a simulation. He had never been in a real life situation with such opponents. Anival and Jamasis had already taken care of one of them. Anival proving to be an ample distraction and Jamasis’s annoyance improving his aim had taken care of that. Skarr was sure that Eclipse would be able to handle the other three. Anival’s helmet was malfunctioning, so Skarr had ordered him to the center of the group.

The rest of Eclipse had their infrared enabled. Even then, the cloaked enemies had proven difficult. With back-up behind them constantly firing, the cloaked guards could dart around while Eclipse focused on not dying. Skarr had arranged a fire team consisting of KayNine, Balac, Anival, and Rawr. Skarr had taken Zippy, Ion, and Jamasis with him to eliminate their invisible assailants. It had begun as a fire fight at the intersection. Once Skarr seen that their plan of just killing them was not working, he split the squad.

Now Skarr’s team was engaged in a running battle with the cloaked guards. He did not like being separated from the rest of his squad, but he was sure that they would have the situation finished by the time the cloaks were finished. Skarr and Jamasis were now hiding behind some cover, in this instance it was a sheet of durasteel that had fallen from the ceiling. It was not the best cover, and Skarr had lost track of Zippy and Ion. The squad leader was not exactly sure if he should be worried about that or not.

Behind the cover of a corner was one of the cloaked guards. Skarr’s infrared saw him clearly. Jamasis had been taking shots at the cloaked man, while Skarr tried to think of something. The sheet of durasteel was already becoming warped with a few of the guard’s shots. A crazy thought had already occurred to him, but he was hesitant in telling Jamasis. The man’s annoyance poured off him in waves. The squad leader sighed deeply, grimacing inside his helmet.

“Want to do a trick, Jamasis?” Skarr asked lightly.

“Oh boy, do I get a treat afterward?” was the man’s bitter response.

Norith chuckled slightly, “I’m not sure. But I do have a slight plan.” Jamasis’s helmet turned slightly toward Skarr. His body language completely displayed his thoughts. Not another one of your plans. “We charge him with the sheet of durasteel.” The other man groaned deeply, it looked as if he had expected as much.

“Say we actually charge him and it works, what then?” Jamasis inquired.

Skarr shrugged jovially, “We kick his ass?” Jamasis’s head shook ever so slightly, but Skarr could tell he was already resigned to the plan. “On three then.” The two squadmates counted down from three and suddenly stood, durasteel gripped in their hands. The charge worked well enough, the man under the cloak stood frozen, half in surprise, half in sheer disbelief as the two troopers pounded down the hall.

At almost the last moment, the guard snapped to his sense, but it was too late. Skarr and Jamasis hit the man full on and knocked him flat. The two troopers dropped the durasteel and Skarr aimed a kick at the man’s ribs. The man caught his foot and dragged him down in a cursing heap. Jamasis’s foot, though, connected. His boot had been aimed for the face. Skarr heard a small pop as the man’s nose broke.

Jamasis was going to kick again, but the man was successful in pushing him off balance. Skarr and the guard quickly rose from the ground, both aiming punches. Skarr’s first punch missed, but his second connected right into the man’s stomach. The man doubled over and as he was about to straighten up, an armored forearm came across his throat from behind. Jamasis held onto the man’s neck, squeezing tight. With a final twist, the man’s neck snapped in a sickening crunch.

The squad leader surveyed his squadmate’s handy work. “That’s two of these guys now, huh?” He looked around a little bit more, hearing the blasters off down the hall. “We should probably go see what trouble Zippy and Ion are getting into.”

OOC:

So, Eclipse is split in two for the moment. One group to take care of the guards another to take care of our cloaked "friends". Jamasis and Skarr have now killed another cloak. Zippy and Ion are left to deal with two of them. Continue on, mates.

"So let's see, I have how many more kills than you?" Ion asked nonchalantly.

"It's only three kills and you know it." Zippy replied.

"And that's three more kills than you."

Ion tried to keep his tone casual but in reality he was spooked by the invisible opponents. He had learned to trust more than his eyes, relying instead on his other senses combined, during his youth. But he still did not like it. His eyes were some of his least reliable sources, always playing tricks, hiding things in the shadow, but he still preferred  to have them available. He now seemed to feel like he was constantly watched by the hidden opponents, hiding just outside of his peripheral vision. With an invisible enemy his eyes were useless and he was literally flying blind.

"Well there's still three more of these cloaked guards and entire floors worth below, so don't get cocky. I can still pull ahead."

"Not if I can help it." Ion joked.

They stopped now, two short foot steps thumped in the next room over. Glancing at each other they went silent. The rest of their squad wasn't supposed to be there yet, they were covering their backs; it had to be one of the guards.

Moving forward, Ion and Zippy stopped short of the door. Voices carried through the sealed doorway, there were at least two of them in there. Great, now we have to fight two of them at once. Maybe we got lucky and they've de-cloaked.

The voices stopped from a loud clatter from down the hall,

"Looks like there's more action over there."

"Let's check behind this door first."

If they were going to move, now was the time. They could be spooked off by the noise or readying to move in on the same noise they had just heard. Ion and Zippy tensed.

"Now."

The door flew open and, despite their worries over meeting two cloaked guards, a group of four stood in the small room, heavily shielded. Not the easiest enemy but preferable to fighting two ghosts. Ion and Zippy opened fire, battering the guard's shields.

Killing one right off-the-bat with a second one down soon after, they had quickly leveled the numbers. Two on two. Hardly a fair match given the stormtroopers's training.

Then, as suddenly as they had burst into the room, stars flashed in Ion vision. It had certainly felt like a right hook, but no one stood in front of him. Damn, one of the cloaks found some friends to give support to, he thought as he killed another standard trooper.

"They've got some cloaks with them!" Ion warned.

"Great... um, more bad news."

"What?"

"Ion, where the hell did Skarr and Jamasis go? I swear they were right behind us a moment ago!" Zippy called, firing a volley of blaster shots toward the direction of the cloaked soldiers. "Heh, you gotta love the mess we get into huh?"

"Zippy on your left!" Ion shouted pushing Zippy out of the way of a cloaked guard. "Alright Zippy, how about we take these two down in our own, unique way?" he said wish a grin.

"Unique, you say? I like where this is going already," Zippy said with a chuckle to himself.

"Charge the cloaked guy on your left and I'll follow close behind you without being seen. Once you get close to him, roll to the side and I'll clobber him with my rifle. Short and sweet, no?"

Zippy shot down the last uncloaked guard as he ran for one of the invisible guards; Ion readied behind him and, as Zippy rolled to the side, he hit the guard like a speeder-train, pinning him to the ground.

Struggling with the man, he slipped out of his grasp into the near shadows, shifting in and out of visibility. Ion reeled at a blow to his solar plexus. Whoever this guard is, he can sure as hell throw a punch. Let's see if he can take one.

"Ion, how you holdin up over there?" Zippy said.

"I'm working on it best I can here!" Ion shouted in response. "Should be dispatched with this scum momentarily!"

If I can find him. Ion swung toward were he thought the guard was. Nothing but cold air, not what he was searching for. Zippy grappled with the last guard who looked on, distracted by Ion's flails at the shadows.

Ion walked slowly toward the corner, eyes darting around the corners of the room. Seeing motion in his peripheral vision, Ion swiftly turned. Then, from the opposite side, an arm reached round Ion's neck, attempting to choke him.

Grabbing the invisible arm, Ion wrenched him off his neck and flipped him onto the floor. With a crackle of energy the cloaking shield shorted out, small bits scattered across the floor by the force of the impact. The guard lay stunned on the floor. Ion jumped on him as he tried to stand and snapped his neck with a crack.

"Never mess with the VE. It just doesn't get you very far," Zippy said behind Ion as he finished the other guard.

"Well that was interesting huh?" Ion commented, nudging Zippy with the tip of his gun.

"Lets just hope we don't have any more surprises like that in the near future."

Skarr and Jamasis came into the doorway, guns loaded, searching for any sign of resistance. Apparently they had finished the other cloaked guard. and had come to check on them, cute.

"Well I see you two didn't need any aid then huh? Figured with all the shooting you two were in trouble or something," Skarr joked, no doubt grinning underneath his helmet.

"Me and Ion, in trouble?" Zippy said jokingly in reply, "We don't know the meaning of that word now do we Ion?" he said with a laugh.

"No we don't, Zip, and by the way, I've got more kills then you right now."

"We still have a few guards left before we reach the weapon, don't we Skarr?"

"If the rest of the squad hasn't torn them to pieces already."

As he said the words another short burst of blaster fire erupted from further in the complex.

"And that sounds like there's at least a couple of guards left. We should be close to the safe; it's only a matter of time now before we can punch through." Skarr continued, "Check your guns, let's support some troopers and crack some safes."

OOC:

Last of the cloaked guards down Skarr, Ion, Zippy, and Jamasis have regrouped and are on their way to support the rest of the squad who have nearly got us to the safe now.

"Zippy, get those charges planted now! We need to have them set to go before we get picked off one by one out here!" Skarr ordered, dodging another knife.

Zippy quickly set another set of charges, this one being a lot larger then last time. He had packed his own creation of a C4 charge. The difference in Zippy's design was that he had wired three thermal detonators to one of his bombs. He had just hopped to himself that it would work and that it wouldn't short out on him. This was no time to make mistakes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the dark looking figures progressing closer to the squad, knives ablaze.

"Charges are set to go! Zippy announced to the rest of the squad. Give the orders and I'll have this door blown all the way to Coruscant!"

"We need to get the generator offline first! Anival told Zippy. Without it offline, we won't be able to get the door open, even with all the explosives we try to open it with."

Zippy ran back over to Ion to make sure he was alright. From what he could see, the knife had gone pretty deep into his armor, but then again, looks could be deceiving. He new Ion was tough any way and he was sure he would be alright for the time being. He new that his friendly competition with Ion would have to wait for the time being. These newer, ninja like troops would have to be dealt with first. Dodging another knife, Zippy jumped behind a thinker steel wall for cover. Peering around the corner, he took another shot at one of the darker looking figures. He swore for a moment he could literally hear one of them cry out in fear as they fell to the ground in agony.

"Hold the line! Rawr had exclaimed. We need to give Anival and the others more time to get the generator offline! I don't feel like dyeing in this hell hole!"

"Ion, you alright? Zippy asked, firing down a volley of blaster bolts. It looks as though it's pretty deep. You alright to keep fighting or do you need to sit this part out?"

"Hell, it's going to take a lot more then knife to the arm to keep me out of a fight Zip, Ion chuckled. I'm in this fight to win, not to lose to a bunch of cowards who hide in the shadows."

Zippy lifted Ion up behind cover and held the line. One by one the ninja like figured fell to the ground. They were extremely skilled and shockingly fast. Knives came in just as fast as they could shoot their weapons. They may have been getting killed, but it was hard to make out where each one would be and when to shoot. Zippy had never faced an enemy with this type of speed. Even though they were in danger, he couldn't help but to be impressed by the skills these new warriors had. At the same time though, he wondered who they were working for and where they came from.

"Generators almost deactivated guys! Just need a little more time! It won't be long now! Zippy, be ready to detonate those explosives!"