While sitting in the breifing room, Dusk pondered on changing winds. Three of his squadmates had already been transfered to Jesters. 'Following this pattern, you might as well name it mini-RAIDERS, or somthing'

A few minutes had past and the rest of RAIDERS filed in. 'So what is it this time. Crazy crime lord bit off more than he could chew? New Republic leader in need of capturing? No, scouting mission.' The man's face drooped at the blandness of this mission. 'Well, at least there has to be a twist.'

"We will be freefalling for over 20 minutes." Joamer said.

'20 minutes?!,' Dusk screamed in his head. 'We'll be at terminal velocity for 20 fracking minutes. If I die, I'm going to kill the AHC.'

=========================

Sitting in his apartment, Dusk looked across the room at his two Massifs, Leroy and Jenkins, knawing on a large bone. "Larik, come here." Dusk called. From the cross beams of the room dropped a small figure onto Dusk's shoulders. The small creature wrapped it's tale around the privates neck. "Larik, were is the knife I had on the table there?"

Black eyes stared into Dusk's hazel ones inocently. The kowakian leaped back into the rafters, and after a few minutes, came back with a hand crafted, leather bound knife Dusk had removed from a dead wookie. He had ment to return it to the trooper that it beloged to, but didn't.

Glancing at the holo-pad on the table nearby, Dusk quickly stood knocking Larik from his position on his lap. Opening the metal cabinets that housed his weapons and armor, he quickly sliped into the bodysock of the new armor. Doning the rest of the armor, Dusk began grabbing his balsters and what not. Holstering his twin EE-3's and pistol, the man burst out the door and sprinted for the hanger.

OOC:

Will read over it again in the morning and fix any errors.

Once again the peculiar band of people that were known as the RAIDERS were off to some obscure planet to do a routine mission that would invariably end in disaster. The shuttle they were sat on was nothing special, of they never were, it was merely the vessel that would send the squad to their doom. They all had healed bodies, clean armour, new shiny trinkets and a few had new stripes on their arms. As was always the case the squad had changed slightly since the last time they had had an outing together, Coadster was now gone and there was once again a hole in the squad; for Karash at least. There were so few people that he actually liked and they all seemed to have moved on.

‘Havock, Grahim, Bright and now Coad, they are all gone. Yet you are still here... one might begin to think that you were stuck here.’

As always the inner commentary proved to be nothing but a pessimistic presentation of the facts. In an ever changing universe Karash seemed to be more or less constant; a low ranking, miserable medic that was stuck in a squad with more problems than an Ewok on Hoth. Those problems, even if he did not want them, always used to find their way to him. People used to want his help to solve them. Now they came from unknown and un-liked people, who had no interest in asking for the medics help.

‘You used to be needed; there was a time when they would listen to your rants. Now you’re lucky if they even acknowledge your existence.’ 

Karash had never interacted with other members of his squad before a mission but he had always known his place and what is more he had always known his squad-mates. Joamer was as distant as he ever was, Karash had always tried his best to detach himself from Jae and the others were peripheral at best. He had never felt so alone, so out of touch with what used to be his begrudging family.

‘She wants his job and he knows it. He is letting her risk us all with those things. The whole damn squad is on a knife edge and there is nothing you can do. You used to have a voice. Now you could scream and not be heard.’

“What’s the point in bothering? They all leave in the end. They all are in it for what they can get out of it.” Karash muttered as he closed his eyes.

The medic was sat in a dark and isolated corner of the shuttle going over past glories. How could they live up to the past? How could they match what had been the very best? They couldn’t was the only conclusion he could come to. They were not the RAIDERS Karash had loved, they were not the RAIDERS Karash had fought side by side with. They were different; they had formed new bonds that Karash was not included in. At best he was an odd remnant of a forgotten past, at worst he was just odd.

‘You have tried to interact with them but they are not interested. They do not understand. We both know that it is time to move on,one last blaze glory and then into the past. Where you belong.’ 

It was lucky that Karash was sat in the darkness; it would have been unfortunate if the rest of the squad could have seen the redness in his cheeks and tears forming in his eyes.

It was clear that Joamer's slip, whether or not it was intentional, about Jae's drug use had caused some friction within the squad. It sucked, it made her angry, frustrated and want to punch in the stupid man's face. Part of her felt like they all hated her now, part of her ignored that fact and just remained angry with Joamer. Maybe he knew that she wanted her old job back, that she wanted to replace him. Maybe that was why he said what he did, knowing that it would most likely turn the entire squad against her.

"Bastard..." The word had been meant to remain within her mind, but it seemed to have found it's voice and slipped through the woman's lips as she exhaled a great deal of the sweet smoke. As she realized that the word had, in fact, slipped out she looked up and saw Heliwer cocking his head at her with a brow quirked. "Go about yer business, buddy. Just a crazy ol' gal talking to herself."

Heliwer laughed and took another drag of his own unlaced lungblaster. "Right-o, Jae."

The tone of his voice is what almost set her off. Maybe it was just her paranoia of everyone hating her now, but to her it sounded like Heliwer had been condescending, as if he actually thought she was truly crazy. Again, all Jae could think about was the fact that Joamer had probably ruined her chances of ever taking over the squad again. The thoughts continued to escalate in her mind, boiling and tumbling over each other until she finally released a heavy grumble. Slowly, her good eye looked through the shuttle, for what exactly she didn't know until the sea-foam gaze fell onto the medic in the dark corner.

Not only did the Senior Sergeant look off but, considering how the two troopers had always been in the same squad together, the woman could tell something was wrong. Sure, the two had never really spoken but that would be the last thing to stop her from being able to notice when something was up. She felt the need to go over and speak to him, to ask him what was wrong, but she wasn't sure if that alone would allow Karash to come out of his... shell. Might as well bring up something medicine...y. With that thought, the woman stood, stumbled a bit as the shuttle hit atmos turbulence at that moment, and then made her way over to the bench the long time RAIDER was sitting on.

As she plopped down on Karash's left, she took the hand-rolled 'blaster from her lips and held in her left hand, away from him. "Hey so... I'm guessing you're a little ticked about what Joa let slip about me on the station, too, huh?" There was no answer, instead there was a light glance from the medic, one of indifference and maybe even a slight bit of anger. The woman continued. "I figured I'd talk to you, tell you why I do. You have the medical certification after all..." As she finished her voice trailed off, giving off a hint of shame.

It was then that Karash seemed to perk up a bit more, but his response was still sort and rather detached. "Explain away. But that doesn't mean I'll ever agree with it."

Jae shrugged. "Fair enough, I'm not asking you to approve of what I do, I just thought I'd tell the squad medic why I do it now that it's out in the open." She flashed a glare at the Squad Leader before looking back at Karash. "As you know, I've had anger issues in the past." She caught a scoff from the medic and chuckled a bit herself. "Okay... still have anger issues. They're what happens when I have anxiety attacks. I've always had an anxiety disorder, but it never really bothered me much until a couple of years ago, right before I took my first long leave."

"You had issues before that. You freaked out on Kalee."

Jae nodded and shrugged. "Yeah but you can admit they weren't nearly as bad back then. Though that was when they really started to hit me. Stress from being in the Army had begun to affect me, making my anxiety worse and bringing out anger issues instead of a normal anxiety attack in some sort of mental defense I guess." She waved her hands through the air, her lack of understanding when it came to most medical things obvious. "During my first leave I found a way to regulate my anxiety and thus my anger. I would smoke a half gram of spice a week, spaced out and sectioned into these hand-rolled 'blasters." She held up the lit one in her left hand. "I had heard of it being a self-medication process if you used the right mixture. And... well dammit it worked. But then other shit started to happen and I got into a bad place, I got addicted because I was using too much."

She quiet down, though she knew her voice was still filling the shuttle. Jae wouldn't be surprised if the others were listening as intently as she hoped Karash was.

"But after that, after a I got back here, after a few issues I ran into because of that - especially that withdrawal attack I had on O65-B, I've made some changes." She held up the lit stick again and pointed at it with her free hand. "I've cut the ration down by a lot. A whole lot. I'm only smoking as much as I used to when I first started now, and I already feel better about it." She sighed and put both of her hands down again, and looked into the medic's eyes, hoping for some form of understanding.

Karash remained silent for many moments, and when he finally spoke his voice was low and even. Jae couldn't tell if he was annoyed or not. "That's all good and well. But I still think you're putting us in danger by smoking that stuff."

"I want to prove to you, and the rest of RAIDERS, that it's helping me and in turn helping you guys."

Karash nodded and leaned his head back again, once more going into his quiet place. Jae took a deep breath and scooted over just a bit, giving the medic his space once more. She wouldn't bother him about it anymore, he knew and it was his choice to understand.

In the silence of Jae's mind - though there was probably still conversation going throughout the rest of the shuttle - the hours of flight to Randa were seeming to go by rather fast. She was sure they'd be needing to get ready for their HALO in no time at all.

Looking down he began checking all the gear he had locked into place around his person. Most of it was stored in the pack strapped to his chest, he had already gone over it carefully while he was loading it. His particle magnum, and twin saber knives were placed on the outside edges so he could quickly get to them if need be. His Armat M41-A Pulse Rifle was strapped to his chest between the pack and his chestplate. On his back was the advanced parachute that was designed for HALO jumps.

Looking up as the pilot turned on the comm system, "Jump in thirty seconds, making turn now. Entering atmosphere, prepare for some chop as we quickly descend."

"For those of you who have been asleep the past ten hours, I'll go over this again." Joamer said as he stood at the entrance ramp of the shuttle. "This is a combat drop, our shuttle has dropped out of hyperspace closer than most sane pilots like doing. At full speed, they perform a one hundred eighty degree turn as we enter the atmosphere. Dropping quickly to the predetermined altitude they kick the engines on full as they begin to pull back out. We have a ten second window to jump before the shuttle begins moving again, those that are the slow ones in the group are going to be sore in the morning."

"Compartment pressurized, opening main door now. Drop in fifteen seconds, standby main engines." The pilot's voice said suddenly.

"Remember, we have twenty minutes of free fall. Use your HUD, the landing coordinates are programmed into it. Good luck and god speed!" Joamer said as he felt the shuttle's main engines kick to full burn. A moment later as the momentary weightlessness hit everyone he simply floated out of the shuttle.

He could not see their reactions to this, but he would of hoped maybe one of them had reached out to grab him. Feeling gravity grab hold of him again he spun his body so his head was straight down. Locking his arms tight to his sides, he locked his legs in place as his speed indicator began climbing rapidly.

He could not hear the air currents flowing over him due to the sound proofing he had done to his helmet just for this occasion, but he could feel them beginning to buffet him off course slightly. Looking down he noticed he had been dropping for twenty seconds now, his indicator read ninety one meters a second. Three hundred twenty two kilometers an hour. My gods, we are moving. The voice in his head said breathlessly. Problem is we just jumped out of a perfectly good shuttle, and the ground does not like us.

Part of him wanted to spin around and look back at his squad, his saw everyone's location beacon on his HUD behind him spaced out every few hundred yards. He knew however from training, and his own personal experience moving much at this speed usually tore something off. Under his left arm he could feel the small bundle that housed Lurk, instinctively he squeezed it closer to his body as for a moment he imagined it being ripped free and spiraling away from him.

Calming himself slowly he realized Lurk was still very much strapped to his side. Opening the frequency he shared with Jaenna he heard a suddenly screaming. After a moment the dampners kicked on as her voice came back within range, "Jae, you alright over there?" He said carefully as his ears were still ringing.

"WOOOHOOOO!" Her voice shouted back to him after a few moments. "We need to do this more often, I've missed this!"

Glancing down at the chrono he noticed he had been dropping for nearly twenty minutes now. Gods, how did I lose track of the time like that. He said to himself.

Watching the location beacon he noticed he was off course by a few hundred feet. He knew he had no time to adjust correctly so he would have to fore-go the nice water landing and meet the hard merciless ground face to face. His body knew what to do, he just knew he would be sore in a few hours since a low opening meant a higher speed than most landings.

Two thousand feet, in three seconds spread body out to decrease speed. Two seconds later deploy shoot and brace for impact. The words of his old teacher came back to him as he did just as instructed.

He felt the shoot grab hold of him after he had reduced speed, looking down he picked out what he hoped was a soft landing spot. Unfortunately the chute was designed to reduce speed to a point, but keep you moving right below the point where things began snapping into pieces. They had set up a true combat drop, and that meant getting on the ground fast after you reached the correct altitude.

Bending his knees a second before he felt his feet touch the ground he allowed his legs to slip out from under him as he tucked into a roll. The chute was also specially designed to detached at ten feet above the ground, so it would not get caught and wrapped around the user.

Coming to a stop he ignored his body protesting at being moved as he detached both his packs and dropped them to the ground. Reaching in he grabbed his particle magnum and began scanning the area, the dusk filled shadows of late afternoon filled the small clearing he had landed in. From his own senses, and the small scanners built into his suit he detected nothing large in the surrounding area. Though, that did not mean something was not watching him and just not moving. The infrared was useless right now due to this planets annoying tendency of sucking in the heat of the day and slowly releasing it.

Sighing slowly he looked up through the small clearing as he saw the small shapes of his squad coming in closer. Thankfully he noted most of them had kept close enough to their course to land in the water. Hitting the ground during a true combat drop always hurt, no matter how many times you had done one. Picking up his pack he went over and untangled his parachute, he knew he had a few minutes before everyone was on the ground. The meeting place was only a hundred yards away, so at least he had landed fairly close.

OOC:

And yes, you do get to write your own jump experience, if you want too that is.

‘She is a complete liability, she can rationalise it all she likes but that does not make it right. It’ll all end in tears and you’ll be the one left to clean up the blood and guts. I don’t know what hold she has over our glorious SL but it all combines to add up to disaster; You are not going to let that happen.’

“She is better with it; perhaps it is a necessary evil.” Karash was falling through the air, an entire world was rapidly approaching him but his mind was still stuck on his talk with Jaenna.

‘You talking to yourself is a necessary evil. If her problems are so severe they require that level of control then she should not be in charge of an animal let alone an entire squad. Her issues will have consequences for the entire squad. She ships up or she ships out.’

“I suppose it’s the right thing to do...” The medic was unsure of what to do and that showed in the weakness of his voice.

There was no longer any time to think as a siren was going off in Karash’s head, for a moment her thought he had snapped again. The water was now just seconds away and he was forced to contort his body into the shape that was needed to survive, once again he was dangerously close to death but for once he was not bothered.

‘Brace yourself.’ Those were the medic’s last thoughts as he plunged into, the probably cold, waters. He had never been a strong swimmer but his armour was stopping him from getting wet and he could at least breathe. After plunging to a considerable depth Karash began to force himself back to the surface and after another short time he broke the water line.

“After a while they all begin to look the same. I wonder if we will die on this one?” The Senior Sergeant gave him opinion about the planet he saw but no one could have heard it.

“RAIDERS, report. How did you guys do?” The voice of Jae rang in the squads ears.

“Well I just fell from the sky, landed in a puddle and I could still quite possibly drown. Other than that I am perfectly fine and ready for action.” Karash’s response was surly as ever but no longer got a response.

The swim was a surprisingly easy one, perhaps this was going to be the easy mission that the RAIDERS had been waiting for; this did seem unlikely as Karash had been waiting for more than three years. The climb out of the water was slightly more embarrassing as the ground provided no resistance and repeatedly allowed him to just fall back into the water; the very ground appeared to be mocking him. Finally Karash dragged himself onto the land and laid there like a gutted fish that had been thrown into the dirt.

‘Seems to be rather peaceful, I suppose this will a fairly safe place to repair the squad. They never could cope without you.’ 

“You were planning on leaving just a few hours ago.” The medic retorted.

‘I was not, you may not like it, and you might not like them. But they need you.’

“Dusk, Karash. Go meet with him; make sure he gets here, safe.” Once again Jae’s voice appeared and gave orders.

Karash was not very far from where Joamer was but a deep feeling of unease suddenly ran through him. He put it down to the fact that he had been paired with Dusk, the two of them had never really gotten on but they had never really interacted; the medic decided to press on without the Private.

‘There is someone there.’ Karash drew his weapon and waited whatever foe was about to emerge from the thick flora that surrounded him. ‘This will either kill you or embarrass you eternally.’     

OOC:

I have not read through this so there are probably lots of mistakes. If there are any major ones let me know.
I have assumed that the person who will emerge is either Joamer or Dusk. Do as you will.

Smothered in the calm of darkness, Dusk ignored Joamer as he explained the jump. It was mostly a re-cap of what he already knew. Opening his eyes, Dusk stood rolling his shoulders and popping his neck. He gripped one of the bars that lined the walls and roof. He remebered the procedures, the traing, and the sims. But in each of those he never got to have any real fun.

The weightlessness was expected, the private pushed away from the shuttle quickly. Hoping he could get room before hitting terminal. He cleared his squad and checked his speed. 'Good, not at terminal yet. I still have time.

Pulling in his arms, Dusk began doing a few flips. The rush of air he could hear outside his helmet caused his adrenalin levels to spike. The trooper slowly extended his arms and got into proper drop position. Checking the timer till the alarm telling him to open the shoot, it read that it was only three minutes till touch down.

The alarm went off, "Here goes nothing." Dusk said, pulling the cord deploying his shoot. He fell for an other 50 feet, and at 10 he detatched. Plunging into the cool water, bubbles and water fluries filled his visor. Taking a quick breath, the private shot towards the suface. Once above water, The private tread water as he watched the rest of the squad land.

Seeing a new mark appear, Dusk began swimming for shore. Pulling himself onto the banks, he checked his HUD for the closest squad member. Seeing them a little to the south-east. "Dusk, Karash. Go meet with him. Make sure he gets here, safe. Whisey, Heliwer..." He droned the woman out after his orders were given.

'Karash really, Karash! I barely know him and hardly kike him, and I doubt if the feeling isn't mutual.

Drawing his twin EE-3s, Dusk headed in Joa direction. Occasionaly having to cut through the denser foliage, he slowly made it towards Karash. Coming out into a clearing, the private was staring down a barrel belonging to a certain medic.
"Dusk, what the hell are you doing? Trying to sneek up on me. I might of shot you." Karash stated angrly. "Aren't you supposed to be finding Joamer or somthing?"
"Yeah, but we're supposed to work together. I know I don't like you, and that you don't like me eaither. But we'll watch each other or we might end up dead, understand?."
"Let's get a move on then, come along." Karash stated heading into the brush.

“Look what have you done to my arm!!!” Mox shouted at Dusk as he pointed his vibroknife at the private.

It was nightfall and some people were becoming annoyed that they did not make a camp for the night. Although Mox didn't openly show his own disgruntlement, he was more hostile. But no small thing could anger Mox to point he would consider attacking his own squad mates. Now he was openly threatening Dusk with his vibroknife who accidentally broke his cybernetic arm.

“I didn't mean to!” Dusk exclaimed as he backed off, his rifle raised.

“I don't give a frak!” Mox yelled as he was about to throw himself at Dusk, only to be stopped by Jaenna.

“Whoah, whoah... calm down!” Jaenna shouted into Mox's helmet. Mox laughed.

“Well, look who's talking...” Mox said.

Mox took a few steps backwards, and Jae sighed.

“Anyway, what about my arm?” Mox he sheathed his vibroknife, and grabbed his cybernetic arm.

“I guess you should talk to Joamer about... he has one as well.” Jaenna said as she stared into Mox's visor.

Mox ignored the advise and sat down on a fallen tree. He then attempted to fix his cybernetic arm, though in reality he had no idea what to do. He never trained in mechanics, being more interested in the software side of technology. But he did not trust Joamer either, afraid that he would modify his arm. “Call me paranoid...” Mox muttered to himself, unhearable through the helmet.

“Mox, unless you want to have a swinging useless arm by your side, I advise you to go Joamer.” Jaenna pressed on.

Mox glared at Jaenna, without moving his head though, so noone could see it. “Very well...”

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

“How long 'til the climbing part?” Heliwer said with a bored voice.

It has been two hours of march, with no rest. Mox didn't mind marching, though it was nerve wrecking, walking through a dark forest, having to listen to every single sound coming from the forest. His cybernetic arm got fixed – “Lucky you, that we brought some replacement parts” – and Mox was able to hold his DC-17M. I wish I could bring my frag mod... would make killing the beasts much easier. Mox thought as he heard another crack from the trees.

Having Dusk at his side did not help either, and made Mox even more nervous. He tried to stay away from him, afraid he would break his cyberarm again. As they moved forward, Mox couldn't but feel that he was watched all the time. With Joamer at the front of the squad, he was sure it wasn't him, but Mox was still feeling restless.

As they moved on, some troopers were becoming more angry (Heliwer), or edgy (Dusk). Although Joamer was still maintaining the control of the squad, Mox couldn't shake the feeling that he is losing respect from his subordinates. So the next in line is Jaenna... and probably Karash as her ASL.... At this point he wondered if Jae knew of his past. Of Thyveck... Before now Mox has never paid attention to this issue, but now he began thinking about it. If she knew, she would obviously be more hostile towards him. Doesn't look like anyone knows anyway... Mox thought as he surveyed across the squad. So... is it just Joamer and Brightstar? If it is... and Jae managed to somehow take over... then I'm safe! Mox thought as he began to imagine what it would be like without Joamer.

Suddenly Joamer signaled the squad to stop. “Movement.”

Mox looked forwards and attempted to see what's going on.

“Don't move.” Joamer said, trying to remain motionless.

“What is it?” Jaenna asked, being at the far end of the group.

Suddenly two beasts could be seen, fighting, about 40 meters away from RAIDERS, smashing trees and brushes alike.

“This.... does not look good.” Mox exclaimed as he awaited orders.

The battling beasts were getting closer to RAIDERS. One had long legs and was attempting to slice his opponent. The other one was much quicker, and more feline. What are these creatures???

OOC:

So guys, next poster decides which monster wins the duel. The winner will fight us. The monstrosities are: an Ackley and a Nexu

Jae had watched it play out in silence.

There was nothing else she could have done from the place she had taken behind a large tree. Everything had slowed down, moving in slow motion. The woman was forced to watch was as the alien feline smacked down one of her troopers as if he were nothing more than a bag of small rocks and mud. She could feel her stomach knot, her blood burn and her mind scream at her to move forward and help him. Though every time she tried to move, it was if she had run into a invisible force that refused to let her move.

Finally, as the beast fell to its side, the moments caught up with reality. Afterimages whizzed by her vision as everything went back to normal speed. The invisible force broke and it felt as though she was thrust forward as she took the first step, stumbling over one of the tree's roots. She was silent as she watched Mox get to his feet and just barely joined in on the laughter that overtook the squad as they seemed to all recount what exactly had just gone on.

"Alright everyone, lets keep going." Joamer's voice rose through the laughter before he turned and continued on, the rest of the squad following.

As Karash rushed by her to catch up, it was only then that Jae had realized just how much she hated the fact that Joamer had forced them to move. Before the sudden appearance of the creatures her mind had been so wrapped around the fact that if they were to rest for the night they'd be safer. But after the attack... Now she wasn't so sure. The woman wasn't only unsure about the safety of everyone but her general distaste for the order to night march began to boil even more bile in her stomach. With each step she took her lips twisted from that gentle smile into a grimace, her good eye locked on the back of Joamer's head.

Jae had been so sure that resting for the night would be safer, that they'd be better off. How could it not be safe when every other report that had come back from the plethora of earlier scouting missions on this planet were clean of Rebels and other known enemies. There hadn't even been any reports or notes about native settlements. The woman had been so ready to protest Joa's decision on marching. She had been withholding her argument for time's sake, for the sake of her position and her mood. Though now... as she looked back on it, she was mad at herself for not thinking about the fauna, for not taking more caution. The grip she had on her Starslasher tightened as she fought a rough growl from her throat.

It was a fluke... It was a gorram fluke! Any other time I would have been right!

Had it not been for the sound of a breaking stick coming from behind her, Jae would have spent the entire night dwelling on what had happened. Instead, she spun around, Starslasher raised and eye narrowed. It was that moment that she had cursed the fact she had removed her helmet and attached it to her belt.

"Stay where you are!" Her voice came across in a snarl, hoping that it would catch the attention of the other RAIDERS, though as she heard other weapons clicking into into readiness from behind her a smirk drifted across her lips.

The woman the entire squad had their weapons pointed at stood completely still, though not in fear. Instead, her face was bright with a stoic confidence. The attire she wore was a uniform, formal yet unknown to any of the RAIDERS who were glaring at her with their weapons ready. That is except for Joamer.

His voice broke through the tight concentration Jae had on the unknown woman. "Lower your weapons." The command seemed to fall on deaf ears as everyone kept their assorted guns and blasters and pistols raised. "Lower them. Now!"

"Do you know her?" Jae asked, her face twisted into an expression of confusion, distaste and concentration. It was a terrible mixture.

Joamer stepped forward and wrapped his hand around the barrel of Jae's Starslasher and lowered it for her. "Yes I do." As he said this the rest of the squad lowered their weapons and were now looking between the woman and Joamer as if both of them had more than one head.

With a loud grumble Jae stepped forward and grabbed the SL's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and face her. "What the hell is going on here, Joa?"

"I don't know, yet. Let me find out." He shrugged off Jae's hand and stepped up to the woman who still had that same stoic confidence plastered to her face. "What is it, Pennile?"

For a moment the woman, apparently named Pennile, was silent, then she shoved her hand into a pocket and fished out a datapad and held it in her palm as an offering to Joamer. "It's been found."

Slowly, Joamer reached out and picked up the datapad, clicked it on, read the unknown information for a few moments, then sighed as his hands began to shake. "Right..."

"I've already contacted your superiors. You've been cleared."

"Right..." He turned around to face the squad after placing the datapad back into his pocket. His eyes were down, glazed and his hands continued to shake slightly. With a deep breath he looked back up and caught each of the RAIDERS' eyes. "I have to leave. Jae you're in charge now. Congrats." With that he reached up to his left shoulder and unhinged the orange pauldron that silently stated his position and tossed it to Jae.

The one-eyed woman caught it with ease but continued to stare at Joamer. "Where in all the hells are you going?"

"Can't say. Good luck to you all. I'll you again... eventually." With that he turned and walked off into the brush with the woman. Minutes later the sound of an engine powering up echoed through the trees and not a second later the squad could see the light of the small transport as it lifted back into the atmosphere.

Silence came over the RAIDERS as they all stood, looking up at the sky, confusion thick in their eyes.

"Welp. Just another strange thing to add to my diary when I get home." Karash's sarcasm blasted through the silence, causing a soft chuckle to roll through the remaining squad. "Time to move on then?"

Jae didn't want to believe it, but as she turned around to face the medic she could have sworn there was something similar to disdain in his eyes. She looked to each of the others, and saw something similar though not as obvious. "Uh... yeah. Let's get moving." The woman was still surprised, having been caught off guard by the sudden promotion. But as soon as she holstered her Starslasher for a moment in order to remove the blue pauldron and replace it with the orange one, happiness struck her heart and a smile reappeared on her lips. The woman took a deep breath, grabbed her gun from it's holster once more and squared her shoulders. "Alright, RAIDERS. Lets move. Getting way too dark now. Wouldn't want Moxxie boy to get ravaged by another kitty now would we?"

The woman was Squad Leader again. The happiness that ran through her as she turned and signaled for everyone to keep moving was obvious in the way she smiled. Though deep down there was a fear. A fear that the squad that was once more under her command didn't want her in that position...

OOC:

Okay. We've said our goodbyes to Joamer, sort of, and we are all on the move again.

With the sudden departure of Joamer, the whole squad were in varying states of confusion. Heliwer was having mixed feelings about it: on the one hand, he and the squad leader never really saw eye to eye on a lot of things and usually butted heads. However, since Thyveck, the sergeant had begun to stand by his commanding officer and trust him more. He also was both unsure and glad that Jaenna was now in command, partly nervous about her drug usage, and partly on their own wierd friendship.

The squad began to slowly continue to walk through to the destination. As the darkness began to set in, their helmets were switched on and continued to walk in stunned silence. The big trooper broke it by whispering up to the new squad leader. "So...." he began. "I'm gonna say it cause I know it's what's on everyone's mind. You are the new squad leader. You're gonna have to pick an ASL from one of us, and as far as I know, only Doc and I are above sergeant. So........"

"What are you getting at?" Jaenna asked, a hint of annoyance creeping through.

He sighed heavily. "Just make sure you make a good choice..... Ma'am."

At the least the brief interruption of silence had let the squad talk some. Dusk and Mox struck up a conversation about something that Heliwer did not interested in overhearing, and Karash was seemingly saying something to the squad leader. This left the sergerant and the other female RAIDER at the back of the group. He let out a deep breath and slung his rifle on to his back, then drawing a revolver with his left hand and wrapping his right arm around Xylonia's waist. "Well, I hope we don't get jumped by any beasties."

Heliwer helped set up some of the tents and got his own cot set up. The squad managed to get a good nights rest, considering that they did not get much sleep. They woke up early, most of them having woken up before dawn because they couldn’t get to sleep. The big trooper was one of those. He sat up on the edge of his cot calmly smoking several cigarettes for about an hour before deciding to get his stuff all ready for the climb that morning. Dusk began to wake up and mumbled something that was along the lines of “what the hell are you doing up this fraking early?” and tossed something at the sergeant’s head, missing by an inch. In the other two tents were the girls in one and Mox and Karash in the remaining one. The two other guys were not very excited about the arrangement, but it was either that or Mox would tent with Heliwer, which would probably result in one of them being killed come morning.

“Better to wake up early and get set up for the climb than to wake up and have to rush.” Heliwer responded. “Besides, I need to take a piss.”

He walked out of the tent, making sure to take one revolver and put it in his pants pocket. Unlike Mox, he slept with his armor off, instead sleeping in some shorts and an underarmor shirt that was just that bit small on him. The other two tents were still fairly quiet, but slight shuffling from inside told him that they were awake. He could hear the girls talking about something and his name being brought up in conversation. He shrugged it off and went over to the nearby brushes to relieve himself. As he did so, he began to think about the upcoming climb. Sure he had some experience with rock climbing, it was mandatory to get some experience in training, but he still did not like climbing all the same and was still fairly afraid of heights. He also began to think about his friendships with everyone in the squad. Coadster, probably the main person he would consider as a friend was gone. Jaenna was the new squad leader, and although the two were somewhat friendly, they did not really talk much. And Xylonia… The two had really hit it off since their last mission, becoming much closer. This left Mox and Karash. Doc was a pessimistic bastard and did not seem to like the trooper. However, you get the doc mad, he can always make sure you die by medical mishap. Mox and the big trooper did not really see eye to eye on anything, and both would kill each other given the chance. It seemed like the only logical choice for a friend now would be Dusk. They were friendly and neutral towards each other, and they didn’t really have any falling outs.

Finishing up, he headed his way back to the tent to find Dusk already set up and in his armor. Chuckling, Heliwer completed getting ready and putting on his armor before the two getting the tent broken down. In an hour, everyone was set up and ready to climb. “Ok guys,” Jaenna addressed the squad. “Let’s get started. Sooner we do, the more daylight we’ll have at the top and the less difficult it will be. Climbing in the dark is fun, but I don’t think you guys would like it.”

He was slow in climbing up the rock face because he was waiting for Xylonia to get moving and did not want to leave her behind. After she started her ascent, he resumed climbing up the cliff side. The rocks were, fortunately, quite solid, and the hand and foot holds were fairly easy to get to. The only difficult part was the height. A few minutes into the climb, Heliwer’s arms started to ache at the thought of the remaining feet to go. It took all his strength to keep going. He even had to defy himself from looking down to see if the other female RAIDER was ok. He was sure that she did not get enough sleep, and he wanted to go down and make sure that she was ok. To keep himself from doing this, he told himself over and over again that Jaenna would not let anything happen to her. She was a fellow squad mate and it would not look good if on the first day of command, she lost someone.

“Fucking hell, how much longer do we have till we reach the top?” He called up. “Can’t be that much further. I’m starving!”

“Almost there.” Mox replied. “Got maybe a hundred yards or so.”

The sun was already about at the highest point in the sky, signaling noontimeish. When the squad finally made it to the top, everyone needed a rest. Dusk and Heliwer, although they had just gotten over the top, helped pull up the girls with the last of their strength. “Good work people.” Jaenna huffed as she tried to regain her breath. “Let’s take a breather. Five minutes, then we get going. Have a snack, have a drink. We need to get going to our final destination soon.”

Heliwer sat down next to Xylonia, and gently called out to the newly minted squad leader. “Can we have fifteen? I need to… take a catnap.” Very discreetly he gestured to the woman sitting next to him. The squad leader nodded. “Fifteen it is.”

Two big, powerful, yet soft hands began to massage the female RAIDER’s shoulders. “You need rest. Take a power nap. I’ll watch over you.”

She sighed audibly and leaned into the massage. “I’m sooo fraked up right now.”

A silver flask was produced and put in her hands. “It’s whiskey. Probably shouldn’t have it, but you need it. Take only a sip, then get some rest.”

The top was screwed off and the fiery amber liquid poured down her throat, quenching a bit of her thirst and making her feel better some. She just about got the top back on before crashing, head resting in the sergeant’s lap. He heard Mox began to snicker slightly, but silenced him with a drawn revolver. “That’s right. Laugh, and I’ll make you be another soulless corpse. You won’t be the first Imperial I’ve killed, and definitely not the last.”

He felt a few more eyes on him and he took a deep breath. “I was a pirate, you all know that. Fought Republicans, Imperials, Black Sun, Hutts, other Pirates, and Mandelorians. So long as I got paid, didn’t care. I only joined the Empire to kill as many Republic sons of bitches as I can.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Never really did a psych profile on me. Partly glad they did, partly glad they didn’t”

Heliwer gently stroked Xylonia’s cheek and began to let his mind wander to the ‘glory days’, and soon regretted as he began to remember all the terrible things he had done when he was a pirate.

OOC:

601! So happy with myself! Anyways, got us on the way and revealing more about Heliwer's past and developing him more.

“She seems to be finding comfort with him, I’d keep an eye open though as she may not be mentally secure enough to continue.” Karash whispered in the ear of the new SL, who in fact was not new just reinstated, Jae.

“OK, let me know if anything else happens.” Jae said turning her attention to other business.

‘Of course I’ll keep my eyes open ma’am. Another one with a back catalogue of issues, they always seem to be far worse when they are female. Then again the males are just as bad; Grahim was a prime example of that.’ For a moment the medic’s attention was drawn back to old times, ‘Anyway, how does she expect me to do that? Heliwer seems to have picked up a psychology degree in the time since the last mission and I am already spending far too much time looking out for our new leader. She may have convinced herself with this self medication but it’ll end in tears.’

“Alright everybody let’s get moving again, it’s not that far to the base and I want to be there as soon as possible.” Jae ordered with the same visible swagger she had gained ever since her impromptu promotion.

The rocks of the cliff they had just climbed gave way to slightly greener pastures but there was a clear unease amongst the squad as they marched. Heliwer had stuck close to Xylonia, Jae and Mox were out in front discussing something mechanical and Dusk was slightly behind then. As was usually the case Karash was by himself but observing his fellow RAIDERS intently. Jae was far too happy about her promotion, Mox was fawning over the new SL probably seeking promotion, Dusk was clearly annoyed at something and then there was Heliwer and Xylonia.

‘He is trying to get on your nerves, acting as if he knows how to cope with a hysterical trooper! He could barely look after himself a little while ago. And as for her, she is clearly a few hairs short of a Wookie. No doubt due to the effects of the mission. Though the proximity of the two has been... and the amount of physical contact... and the... oh for frak sake.’ A sudden realisation of what was going on had hit the emotionally stunted medic. ‘Another fraking RAIDERS love. I wonder how emotionally devastating this one will be? They never end well, Hav and Jae are prime examples are that.’ 

Karash unintentionally began to vocalise his thoughts, “I don’t know why we don’t just change the motto to ‘RAIDERS you are guaranteed to find someone to sleep with, we have free contraceptives’ and a medic who will pick you the fracking pieces when it all goes down the waste disposal pipe!”

“What is the problem?” Jae had stopped and turned to face Karash.

“Nothing, just rambling.” The medic growled.

The squad had been marching now for a little while but they still had a little way to cover, the base they were approaching was supposedly abandoned but Karash had a bad feeling. He could not quite differentiate what the feeling was about though, it could have been about the squads prospects but it might also have been about the squad’s personal problems. Or rather the medics personal problems with the squad. He could not care less about Mox or Dusk, he disapproved of the now apparent relationship between Heliwer and Xylonia and he was worried about Jae. Karash did not like to show he cared but he really did.

‘Joamer knew her issues, he knew that the pressure would send her over the edge, why the hell did he leave her in control? He never did know how to handle this squad and she does but she is not fit. She always a powerful character but she is using that stuff as an excuse to believe she can cope. She is going to kill herself and us. Another matter I am going to have to attend to. They should have made someone else SL... Skarr perhaps... no not Skarr we need someone who knows what they are doing.’ 

“Doc, fancy joining us any time soon?” Heliwer said in his usual manner.

“I have no intention of joining your little sordid...” Karash quickly realised that Jae had gathered the squad.

“We are almost at the base and this is what’s going to happen.” Jae began another briefing.

OOC:

I have given Karash's perspective on a number of issues here. If have mistaken them, annoyed you or made no sense then let me know.

If Jaenna had not pulled them apart, Heliwer would have killed Mox. He noticed afterwards that his hand still was tightly gripping his revolver, and very calmly relinquished his grip. The hut was spooky looking, but it didn't really scare the big trooper. In fact, he snuck up on the private he had threatened earlier and yelled "Boo!" right into his ear, making him jump and yelp in surprise.

"Hehehe, come on Moxy." He chuckled. "Shouldn't be afraid of a delapidated outpost. Or would you rather stay out here and take on another Nexu one on one like last time?"

Before Mox's fist could connect to the sergeant's face, he heard his name being called over by the squad leader. "I need someone to go in first to scout it out." "Why me?" he responded, obviously unnerved by the look of the place.

"Look at it this way. Your gonna be away from Heliwer for a bit.  Once your done, just let us know."

With a deep sigh, the private went in. After a few moments, he called out that it was all clear. The squad filtered in to see what was in there. Computers and desks showed signs of age, a few chairs that were still there looked unable to bear the normal load. Fortunately the lights still worked, and occasionally one would flicker.

"Damn. Thought there was gonna be someone."

The voice came from Naast, the newest member of the squad. He had gone rather unnoticed by Heliwer mainly because he didn't really recognise him as a RAIDER until he proved himself. Right now he was nothing more than a rookie.

"I don't know and honestly don't care." The senior sergeant muttered. "Let's just get this over with."

The pounding of her own heartbeat echoed in her ears.  I’m going to be alone…with her?  Frakk that!   Xylonia stood still in the back.  The assigned groups started to explore in separate directions, slowly and cautiously.  Jaenna waited for her squad to move out before doing so herself.  Confidence and leadership emanated from her posture.  Slowly stepping forward in the only direction no one else took, Jaenna held her weapon ready before her.  With her blaster hung at ease at her side, Xylonia watched Jaenna silently.  After about ten feet, Jaenna realized that Xylonia was not following her. 

    “Hey, let’s go.” Jaenna stated as she motioned with her head. 

    Memories from her past were still flooding her mind and heart painfully.  Xylonia adjusted her feet, planting them slightly further apart.  Jaenna was watching her over her shoulder waiting for her to move.  She didn’t.

    After waiting a micron or two, Xylonia finally spoke in a very firm and controlled voice, “No.”

    Jaenna stood there as frozen as Xylonia.  “What?” Jaenna’s tone was controlled as well, but edging towards anger.

    “I’m not going anywhere with you, alone.”  Xylonia was as stiff as a statue, refusing to take her eyes off of Jaenna.

    Jaenna turned around and walked up to Xylonia steadily.  “That wasn’t a request.  It was an order Lance Corporal Rose.”  Her helmet was tilted slightly as she paused after her words.

    “I don’t take orders from junkies.” Xylonia made sure to emphasize the last word, putting all her hatred into it. 

    Taking the last few steps to be nose to nose to Xylonia, Jaenna’s tone started to change mildly, “I am your commanding officer, your Squad Leader.  Get your ass moving now, or I’ll move it for you!  We don’t have time for this.”

    Xylonia started to shake slightly when she saw Serci’s face reflecting through the sea foam lens of Jaenna’s helmet.  “Make me bitch.” 

    The two women stared at each other silently through their helmets, both unrelenting.

    “Damn it Xylonia!  If you don’t come with me I will report you for a court martial!” Jaenna yelled through the com link.

    Xylonia pressed her helmet against Jaenna’s as she spoke in her spooky but controlled tone, “Go ahead.  I’ll report you as well.  I’m sure the military would love to hear how the Raiders’ newest SL is a spice junkie, and apparently has been for quite some time.  I don’t know how you’ve skated by this long, but I’ll find out who you’ve greased and get them a court marital as well for keeping your dirty little secret.  I know Joamer is one of them, since he kept stim packs of spice for your withdrawal emergencies.”  Xylonia’s face was set in stone behind her helmet’s visor.

    Jaenna didn’t say a word or move.  Xylonia watched her while she waited.

    Finally, Jaenna spoke, “This isn’t the end of this Xylonia.”

    “No, it’s not.”  Was all Xylonia replied.

Slowly stepping away from Jaenna, Xylonia walked down the corridor Heliwer and Naast had traversed down.

    Jaenna watched the defiant Raider walk away angrily.  Growling under her breath, Jaenna continued on without her.  “There’ll be hell to pay…” she whispered under her breath.

    “You got that right SL!”  Xylonia called over her shoulder through the com link.

    Once she was out of view of her Squad Leader, Xylonia picked up her pace to catch up to Heliwer and Naast.  Upon her approach, Xylonia saw Heliwer take cover around the corner of the room the tunnel opened up into.  Naast followed suit and hid behind a large and bulky computer console. 

    “Guys, it’s just me.” Xylonia spoke through the com link.

    Heliwer peered around the corner at her warily, dropping his weapon’s aim once he realized who it was.  “What are you doing here? Is something up?”  He seemed nervous.  Naast stood up from behind the console silently.

    “No.  There was just a change of plans.”  Xylonia stepped into the room and started surveying it, taking out her data pad to make notes. 

   
    “What?”  Heliwer asked perplexed.  “Jaenna gave new orders?”

    “No.  I decided who I was going to work with.  Now shut up and let’s get on with it.”  She walked from corner to corner of the room and nodded to Naast and Heliwer. “It’s clear. Let’s move on.”  Her fingers flew across her data pad before she dropped it, letting it dangle on her hip.  With her weapon raised and at the ready, she continued up a different path. 

    Heliwer and Naast trailed her closely with their weapons ready as well.

Naast walked behind Rose, thou he didn't understand why she defied orders from the leader. In his clan a dispute like this would be either finished with a new leader or, as was usually the case, with the one ignoring orders dead. Naast decided to remove his helmet because they hadn't redesigned the helmet properly to match his species' preferences of facial features and it messed up his vision, so he would have to ask for a new one when they returned to Tadath.

Naast looked around the rooms as they walked down the current corridor. His only problem was that the ceiling was so low in height, he had to walk hunched over and it was starting to irritate him that Heliwer and Rose showed so much affection for each other. That kind of behaviour wasn't fitting for two soldiers in the field, it would cloud their judgement. Finally, his growing irritation started to transform into anger.

“The Empire must be weak if their troops are allowed to be both disloyal and ignorant of their surroundings.” He mumbled with a angry tone. His squad mate Heliwer apparently heard him because he looked over at Naast.

“What did you say Wookiee?” Heliwer said with a sharp tone. The large feline looked over at the small man with a glare that could cut a man in half.

“I am no Wookiee! I am not afraid of killing people with my claws and I am not afraid of putting people whom disobey orders down. One should always be loyal to one's leader.” Naast said and prepared for a brawl. Heli did not disappoint him. The small man charged Naast's knees in hope of making him fall and the despicable human's hopes came through because Naast fell and the human managed to get on top. Heliwer landed some solid punches on Naast. They exchanged a few punches before Naast landed a solid punch on Heliwer's protected face. Even thou the helmet caught the brunt of the punch it was enough to get Heliwer's helmet to turn ever so slightly so that he lost all his vision.

Naast then pushed the man off and started his own offensive. Trying to get to the least protected areas of his opponents body, the large cat managed to place a few good punches. But before long the small man took his helmet off and regained his vision. Just as the man was coming back to his senses an armored fist landed straight upon his nose.

As the blood started to flow down Heliwer's face, Rose decided that she needed to make the fighting stop. She put the barrel of her rifle in Naast's face and said. “Okay, you have hurt him enough so you can get off of him now.”

Naast realized as the barrel pushed into his face that both his and Heliwer's rifle had been kicked away from them. So he decided that he would listen to the woman. As Naast rose up Heliwer tried to continue the fight but Rose put a stop to that as well by placing her foot with enough force on Heliwer's chest to keep him pinned to the ground.

“I will stay here and stop the blood running from his nose. Perhaps you could go and keep on scouting out the rest of this corridor?” Rose said with a cold voice. Naast knew that in reality one should not go alone but right now the risk of Heliwer wanting revenge was too high, so Naast decided to do as the woman proposed.

Naast walked over and picked up his rifle and continued walking down the corridor.