Story posts go here.

Therex shifted in his armor. There was so much uncomfortable about right now, but at the same time, so much to make him comfortable. His mind was in a conundrum.

On the one hand, he hated standard Stormy armor, favoring his own personal armor and trench coat. Every time he had to stop moving, every edge of the armor dug into another part of his body. Continuing to shift, he casually tugged on the codpiece, trying to dislodge it from his inner thigh.

Second, he was hefting a rocket launcher. Sure, an effective tool, but rather bulky, especially for a stealth mission. Again, Therex missed his personal preferences. He would have brought his pup and a few proton charges. More than enough to take out any convoy, and easily kept at his side in the belt's compartments.

In his daze, Therex almost missed Skarr's signal to stop, and nearly toppled into Terre. The greenie stood in front of him, her stature dwarfed by his 6'6" frame.

Trying to regain his composure, Therex dropped to one knee with the rest of his squad. The crunch of the snow was a welcome sound. He smiled under his helmet, remembering his childhood on Csilla, playing in the snow.

The patrol walking by snapped him out of his haze. Shaking his head, Therex tried to focus. He held his breath, both to calm his nerves, and to silence his heavy breathing. Watching the patrol, Therex opted for a thermal filter on his eye, not quite trusting the ones on his helmet's HUD.

Several moving blooms of orange and red stood out against the blues and purples of the ground. However, all around him, Therex could see similar blooms of heat.

Fires that had started during raids, and just left to burn themselves down.

As the figures of the patrol disappeared around another street, Therex sat, waiting for Skarr's signal. He was getting antsy. Stealth was something he could do, but not his preferred technique. And with a separate personality always fighting for control, he was a bit of a liability. Sadly, Therex couldn't turn down the mission. He was just going to have to stay in control.

Skarr gave them the go-ahead. As the group stood, Therex glanced behind him. Opting for the rear of the line, Therex was prime for spotting ambushes. No longer relying on his fancy computerized eyesight, Therex tilted his head and closed his eyes, straining to listen. He heard nothing, and Therex trusted his own hearing. Returning to the line, Therex followed Terre out into the open street, keeping his head low. On the opposite side, Therex lined up on a wall and gave Skarr an all-clear signal.

As Skarr nodded at him, Therex placed his head against the crumbling wall. He steadied his breathing, trying to calm his jittery nerves. Continuing to follow his squad, Therex saw Skarr dart into the remaining half of a building. Ther rest of the squad also filed in. Therex hung by the door for a mere second.

That's when he heard it. That telltale sound of snow crunching under a heavy boot. He tensed for a moment, still listening, this time using both eyes and ears to locate their stalker. Jumping slightly, Therex darted into the building just as a curious scout peeked around the corner. Therex watched him through a hole in the rubble. He didn't risk telling Skarr, fearing that any sound or movement would give him away.

The scout shrugged and kept on his rounds. Therex sighed in relief, and opened a comm channel to Skarr.

"Our back is clear."

OOC:

WC: 601
Not long, I know, but I needed to get a post out before I lost the story. A bit of background: Therex, or Rex, is a man of split personality. The dominant being Therex himself. But, in times of stress, his other personality takes control, a lot like an instinct.

Snow. The white stuff covered everything, glistening and shining and pure. This was the first time Terre had seen snow, and she was absolutely in awe, studying it intensely. She had read about it in books, of course, but she had never seen it for herself. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed. Of course, this wasn’t exactly the setting she had read about in her books at home, back on Obroa-skai. She wasn’t curled up on a couch with hot spiced cider in hand, leaning against Therex (or anyone), and there wasn’t a fire going in a fireplace, crackling and popping. Still… She knelt down and scooped some up, playing with it, letting it sift between her fingers, eyes wide in childish glee. “It’s beautiful…”

That was about all that was beautiful, though. The rest of the landscape was merely bombed out husks of buildings and the hot, red embers of dying fires. Still, the snow covered some of the horrors that else might have been seen.

She felt Therex fidgeting beside her, uncomfortable in the Stormtrooper armor. Terre grinned. The armor was like a second skin to her, and she was perfectly comfortable in it. She saw the trooper in front of her (Hark? Was that his name?) stop. Looking forward, she saw Skarr give the signal. She paused as well, and felt Therex step in closer to her. (Probably an accident… Probably.)

As one, they dropped to one knee, waiting for the patrol to pass. Listening to the sound of grinding metal, Terre grimaced. That could run a lot smoother, she thought. She began drawing up plans in her head, and then Skarr gave the signal to move on. Terre stood, listening to the crunching of the snow under her boots. She caught herself looking behind to see the imprints of her boots in the snow. She could feel Therex quirk an eyebrow, and she blushed, glad for the helmet. She ducked her head in embarrassment, picking up the pace slightly. Skarr led them into an abandoned building, and she went down on one knee, beginning the semi-circle. Therex knelt next to her and she brushed her hand against his leg, a small gesture. Skarr began his explanation, and Terre studied the hand drawn map, hoping it was to scale. She began adding things in her head, such as terrain and alleyways they had been down… And snow.

She gave a small smile, then closed her eyes, absorbing everything Skarr said, trying to keep her focus where it belonged. Skarr gave the order to move out, and Terre stood, shaking away her fantasies. That could wait. Now, it was down to business. She hurried out, keeping to shadows, her back against the wall. Skarr, Mox, Hark, Hammer and Jamasis crossed the street quickly, turning into an alley. Terre took a step forward, then was pulled back by Therex.

“Wha--?” she started to ask. He put a hand over her mouth, then motioned to his ear, signaling her to listen. She closed her eyes, listening hard.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Oh. That sound. The new sound. Snow under boots. Terre sank down the wall, hiding. She heard Therex behind her, kneeling. The scout passed, failing to turn and look, and Terre grabbed Therex’s hand, pulling him across the street just in time to hear Jamasis tell Skarr, “Whole place is empty.” Terre dropped Therex’s hand and stared at Jamasis. Something was up, she could tell. He seemed… Antsy. Nervous. Terre squinted. Was he… Lying? She opened her mouth, then closed it, glad for the helmet. She continued to study him intently, following the rest of the squad to their next alleyway.

OOC:

WC: 610.

Ah. Terre being childish. Wonderful. (New squad mates: Obroa-skai is Terre's homeworld.)

Too easy… this is all… too easy…

The squad moved quickly and efficiently but Mox knew that some troopers would be trouble and couldn’t be trusted. One such trooper was Jamasis, outrightly lying, first about about the 2nd level being clear in the ruined building, while the two distinctively different footstep sounds could be clearly heard, and then falsely reassuring Hark, telling him that the Thrawnists killed the child and her parent. Truth was that it could be both sides, the Thrawnists and the Vast Imperialists, and Mox would bet that most of the snow they were walking on was covering dead bodies, probably belonging to innocent people. The little girl and her parent were killed only recently, otherwise they wouldn’t have found her in the snow. But to be honest, Mox didn’t care.

The thing that was worrying him more was that so far no one has found them yet. No alarm was raised, no skirmishes happened and the group was stealthing their way through 9 out of the 10 blocks. As Skarr approached the end of the next building Mox was thinking of freerunning himself up on the 3rd floor to check the surrounding but quickly dismissed the idea, out of fear of possibility of the building collapsing on their heads. Being right behind Jamasis he couldn’t shake the feeling the man was going to do something, betray them, even though he knew that it was the cold and the exhaustion getting to him. He only hoped that the strength and experience he gained during Thyveck would allow him to survive this ice-hole.

As the group reached the end of the building they gathered around the doorframe and waited. They were right to do so, as soon enough a patrol could be heard. Skarr gestured the squad to take cover positions, even though they were in a building and couldn’t be seen from outside. He must’ve thought the same thing as Mox, their journey through the 9 blocks being too easy. Laying behind a broken down wall the slicer, perhaps foolishly, laid down his gun and took out his DataPad. He was correct in his thinking that the squads of Stormtrooper Corps. were being restructured into Strike Teams, mainly because of a major conflict coming up. But he was still surprised of the enemy they fought What sort of threat can we pose to Thrawn? he thought as he tried to find any sort of information, other than the official ones We’re not a super power…

Ghosts waited, what seemed to Mox, eternally. A patrol was coming one after another, from different directions and sometimes out of the ruined buildings. The Thrawnists must’ve placed huge importance on the road the Ghosts were trying to get to and now they had to find a way to silently pass through. The snow pouring as thick as it did, Mox was surprised that the Thrawnists’ patrols did not wear or used any sort of thermal vision. If they did they would be able to find the Ghosts almost immediatly I guess I shouldn’t complain… he thought as he looked through a crack in the wall. He saw another squad of stormtrooper armor-clad soldiers. Imperials fighting imperials… what has this galaxy came to… he thought as he put away the DataPad and picked his DC-17M back up.

“Skarr, we’re going to be stuck here forever, these patrols keeping to pass through this area. We must pass at the next opportunity!” Mox said into his ComLink

“I know… the snow is thick enough for us to pass through mostly unseen, but...” Skarr’s sigh could be heard through the comm “the road is just too wide… we will never make to the other side without someone noticing such a big group…”

“We could always go one by one…” Hark said.

Silence fell upon the squad, Skarr heavily thinking about what the two Privates said. Mox knew that Skarr’s words were true, but he felt like Hark’s idea could work. If the squad quickly sprinted over to the other side of the road, they should be able to pass unnoticed.

“It’s our only chance…” Hark insisted.

“Very well. We will go across in the way we’ve been walking for the past two blocks. That is I’m going first, then Jamasis, Mox, Hark, Terre and lastly Therex…” Skarr decided as he moved closer to the doorframe. The squad began to shift themselves closer to the entrance, making a line of sorts. After the Thrawnist patrol passed through Skarr waited for a moment before going. But he couldn’t wait any longer as another patrol could be made out in the snow, according to Therex. But they were coming from the opposite road, not the one Skarr was about to run across.

“Alright, wish me luck…, and once you’re on the road don’t stop for anything.” Skarr said as he got up and prepared himself. “I’ll see you on the other side…”

The man grabbed his rifle with one hand and began running across the road. Soon enough the patrol could be seen and was now the intersection, but Skarr was already on the other side and inside the building. The patrol kept on going and already another one could be made out of the snow. There must be at least a whole company in this sector alone… considering the amount of patrols… Mox said as Jamasis took off. Mox pushed himself through the snow to the entrance and peeked around the ruined door frame. The moment Jamasis made it to the other side, the enemy patrol came into clear view and into the intersection. Mox pulled himself back behind the wall and waited. The crunching sound of military boots going the freshly fallen snow was the only thing he could hear apart from his own breathing. Moments after the patrol passed Mox rolled over onto his front, got up and clipped his rifle to his back. He peeked around the doorframe for the last time and then began to sprint. His trained muscles were making short work of both his weight and the snow and so after a few seconds he found himself slipping on the icy floor on the other side. “Frak…” he said to himself as he attempted to stabilize himself, only to land face first, flat on the floor.

“Damnation…” he said as he got up. The momentum he gained during the sprint was painfully pushed back in his body as he slammed into the floor.

“Well done…” Jamasis said, his smirk inprinted on the tone of his voice.

“Thanks…” Mox replied, not bothered enough to be insulted.

He stretched, unclipped his rifle and immediately took a cover position. Considering that none of the patrol raised an alarm or approached them, Ghosts assumed that Mox has not been heard.

So… planting those explosive should not be too hard… as long we don’t get caught along the way or when actually doing it…

OOC:

WC: 1158
We're going across a wide road, one by one. Me, Skarr and Jamasis are already on the other side. Patrols keep sweeping in and so the windows fro getting through are brief.
It's the last block before the intersection.

Terre was so embarrassed. She hid behind the rest of the squad, ducking her head before following Therex obediently to one side of the intersection, waiting for a signal from Skarr. Ice hurt. Her boots, easily able to provide traction on every other surface or terrain she set foot on had easily given way, leaving her sprawled in the middle of the street, landing with a shrill yelp. Upon hearing the AT-ST coming, she curled into a ball, crossing her fingers and praying for deliverance.

As if in answer, she was grabbed up in strong arms and carried to the other side of the street and safety, far faster than she could have gotten there on her own. She was gently lowered to the ground, and she looked up at Therex. "Thank you," she whispered, squeezing his arm gently. He didn't respond at first, then he was pushing her into the collapsed building. She realized Skarr must have given an order, since the whole squad was piling in. She backed into a corner, her adrenaline running wild, listening to the squealing grind of metal as the AT-ST wobbled ever closer. She huddled closer to Therex, who wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head on his shoulder, wishing the armor away. She was trembling, nervous, embarrassed, and pumped full of adrenaline. "I'm scared," she whimpered.

Therex shushed her, squeezing her gently, but otherwise hardly acknowledged her. Terre's brow furrowed, but she figured he was just caught up in the mission. Still... She could feel something roiling below the surface.

The AT-ST passed by without detecting them, and Skarr was the first out. The rest of the squad followed, Skarr helping them out. Terre was in the back, and took the hand offered her. The armor wasn't one she recognized, which ruled out Skarr, Therex and Hammer... She glanced up. Not Hark, not Mox...

"Oh. Thanks, Jamasis," she said, dipping her head. He nodded back, then started jogging, escorting her to the squad. Mentally, she reviewed the overall route the squad was taking. This is going too fast, she thought, hurrying to catch up. She split off at the intersection, moving in unison with Therex. She checked her ammunition in her dual DC-15s. As the adrenaline ebbed away for a moment, she felt a large bruise building on her left thigh. Damn, she thought. The armor must have pinched... She rubbed it as well as she could through the armor, hissing slightly. If it got too bad, she could ask Therex for something later. For now, she crouched down, wondering if she should have brought something a little heavier in firepower than side-arm blasters, her knives, and her reinforced gloves, but is was supposed to be an assassination. She liked quiet weapons... Her gloves, which she had designed herself, hadn't failed her yet, her knives were used rather often, and her blasters had some special sentimental value... She stroked them lovingly.

Suddenly she realized Therex still hadn't spoken to her since she fell. Not that it was necessary to speak, but she sensed something else going on... She glanced up the stairwell and saw Skarr panicking for a moment, slamming something against the wall...

Then there was a large explosion, bright enough for her . She cringed away, but Therex didn't move. She could imagine the smile spreading across his features. As the rubble settled, she tensed, waiting for something, anything, from Skarr, a sign or--

"“Time to pounce, Ghosts! Use your ammo wisely. This has to be done quickly!" Skarr hissed. Aha. Something like that. That counted. Terre felt her adrenaline jump again as she flexed her hands, then pulled her DC-15s from their holsters, waiting for Therex to make the first move.

OOC:

WC: 621.

There ya be. This took a little too long for me to write... XD

Rex had a flair for the dramatic. Although this might be considered overkill. Anytime explosives were involved Therex became happy. When the explosion went off, Therex had a wide smile under his helmet. As the snow and dirt showered upon them, he stood up amongst the chaos.

Filtering through the haze with his cybernetic eye, Therex begin labeling targets.

Once he had several Troopers set, he brought his rifle up, tensing for the fight to follow. Lining his first target up along the sights, he squeezed the trigger and fired. He didn't see much, but the
distinct shape of a body fell to the ground. Standing up from behind his cover, he repeated the process, downing two more Troopers. Therex vaulted over the concrete he was hiding behind, and took cover behind a closer piece of rubble.

As Therex checked his rifle he noticed the smoke clearing. The rest of the Ghosts seemed to gain confidence, their visibility no longer impaired. Using the many filters on his eye, Therex determined that the convoy were still intact minus, their AT-ST.

Good, Therex thought, personnel carriers weren't much of a problem, once you punched through their armor that is.

He felt the rocket launcher, still strapped to his back, scrape against his cover. Rex had to resist the urge to pull it out now and use it. He only got one shot with it and he really did not want to
waste it. Peeking over his new cover, Therex began picking off more of his designated targets.

1... 2...

This felt too easy.

Shrugging, he pushed the thought away. Thoughts like that could easily lose a fight. A thud sounded next to him as Terre landed beside him. He smiled at her from under his helmet and gave her a nod, before she also stood and began pelting the enemy.

This was how he prefered to fight. He was never a team player, but he had no problem fighting
side by side with Terre.

A low sound snapped him out of his thoughts.

Repulsorlifts.

They were obviously recovering from the explosion. Two of the carriers were still stuttering to start back up. The third was already up and running, and Therex could see a few of the stray troopers moving towards it.

Dropping his rifle, Therex reached up, grabbing the opening to the rocket launcher tube, and yanking downwards, bringing the weapon down on his shoulder, the reticule lining up to his eye. Taking a breath to steady himself, Therex focused on the carrier. His best chance was to hit something vital and hope the whole thing went up. However, those spots were small on an armored carrier.

Therex gripped the trigger, pulling slowly, trying to line up that perfect shot. Just then, one of the other carriers opened fire, spraying his cover with blaster bolts. Therex pulled the trigger completely, in surprise, and misfired. The rocket shot forward, landing a foot short of it’s target. Definitely not a death dealing blow. As Therex dropped the useless firing tube and ducked into one of the collapsed buildings, he saw what happened instead.

The rocket had created a strong enough force in all directions, that the carrier had been thrust sideways. As it slid one way, gliding on it’s on repulsors, the top-heavyness of the vehicle doomed it. Slowly, it lurched to one side, it’s lifts squealing as they tried to push against nothing. Landing upside down with a crunch, the carrier’s back door blew out, obviously triggered by some sort of manual release, and the troopers poured out again, shaken and dazed. Just as Therex pulled up his pistol, three of the men dropped under rifle fire to his left.

Turning, he saw Terre, her rifle placed against her shoulder. Giving her a quick thumbs-up, Therex replaced his pistol, and retrieved his rifle. Joining Terre once more, he started spraying targets. Therex was surprised. As a combat medic, he had been in several fighting situations, and this so far was the only one that had lasted more than five minutes without any injuries.

Guess I should count my blessings. I don’t have much in the way of medical supplies anymore.

OOC:

698 Words.

OOC:

12/15

The building around Skarr was starting to crumble. Even more so than it was originally. He had only been able to fire on a few Thrawnists before one of the troop carrier’s turrets began firing up at Skarr. By now, the entire wall around the windows was completely gone. Skarr had crawled back to the corner near the stairs, but he could already hear the shouts of a few troopers below. He pulled one of his pistols out its holster and trained it on the landing below him.

The sounds of battle continued outside and streams of reports were coming in from his squad. He ignored those for the moment and concentrated purely on the landing. The first trooper came in sight, but soon fell back down the stairs as Skarr pulled the trigger. That had been the moment Skarr was waiting for. While the stormtroopers were still distracted, Skarr stormed down the stairs. His pistol barking each time he pulled the trigger, ending another soldier’s life.

On the ground floor, Skarr became aware that the turret outside was still shooting at his previous position. He took advantage of the distraction and shot his blaster right at the gunner’s chest. The trooper slumped in the turret and Skarr smiled ferally. He slipped to the side of the building where Terre and Therex were crouching behind a fallen wall.

“Are you guys having fun?” Skarr asked. “Because I  sure am.” Therex and Terre traded looks and began firing again. The strike leader shrugged and added his fire to the cacophony.

“Skarr, you’ve got reinforcements on your left....AT-ST and a squad of stormtroopers.” Mox’s voice came over the comm. A growl of annoyance escaped Skarr’s throat. Reinforcements had arrived sooner than he had anticipated. Now that he was paying more attention he could hear the AT-ST over the sound of blaster bolts. The battlefield was just about to heat up even more so. Skarr peeked his head out onto the street to find that one of the troop carriers had been turned on its side. He wasn’t sure which carrier held Vuxner and Hornby, but it would be tough finding out which one. The best bet was to destroy all three, but Skarr didn’t have that kind of firepower on him anymore.

The rocket launcher still lay on his back, but with the AT-ST incoming, he figured he may still need it. He fired another burst into the stormtroopers hiding in cover. Something had to change soon. His eyes settled on one of the troop carriers and he was struck with an idea.

“Do you think you two can cover me?” Skarr asked his squadmates behind him. Therex nodded his head for the both of them. Skarr set his rifle down next to Terre and drew one of his pistols. In the other hand he held a grenade. The strike leader took a deep breath. What he was about to do was one of the more stupid things he had attempted in his life. Another deep breath escaped him before he darted out from behind cover. Terre and Therex rose from behind him and began firing as effectively as only SCOPE troopers could.

Norith ran straight for the troop carrier closest to him. He raised his pistol firing at the gunner, who was only just swinging the turret towards Skarr. The strike leader’s first few shots went wide, but his next few shots hit the gunner in the arm, shoulder, and finally head. The gunner had just begun to fire and his turret swung to the side, firing briefly before the gunner died. Skarr holstered his blaster and climbed up to the top of the carrier. He trusted that Therex and Terre still had his back, so he activated the grenade and dropped it down the gunner’s hatch.

He clapped the dead gunner jovially on the back before he jumped clear of the carrier. As Skarr fell to the ground he heard the explosion, it sounded like a whole library of books being dropped on the floor at once. Skarr looked back to see the whole carrier had lifted off the ground a few feet before dropping back down as a burning scrap pile. He rose up off the ground in pain. The shock wave had hit him pretty good and even through the adrenaline, it hurt. He grinned fiercely, however. The odds were growing more in favor of Ghost.

OOC:

WC: 739

Reinforcements are still growing closer, but one of the carriers is destroyed.

OOC:

14/15

The snow and ice lashed across his helmet and armour. Jamasis fired round after round towards the enemy troopers, but was constantly thwarted by the poor visibility. So far as he could tell every shot fired seemed to be wasted. There were also two more troop carriers at the intersection and presumably their two targets had so far survived the ambush. He lowered his A280 rifle, and noticed that he wasn’t dead. Or rather that despite being outnumbered and under fire nobody seemed to be getting shot.

They can’t see anything either. The thought cause him to break out into a grin.

“Mox!” he shouted towards his squad mate who was still struggling with the conditions. “Mox,” he repeated into the comlink.

“Yeah, what?”

“ They can’t see in the storm so I’m going to try and take out one of those troop carriers.”

“Skarr says the wind is too strong.”

“I’ll get closer.”

“Won’t that kill you?”

“I’ll think of something. Come with me.” The two troopers moved to the back of the house and out into the brutal conditions. If he hadn’t known there was a fire fight just metres away it would have been almost undetectable, drowned out by the wind and snow. They crept around the building and Jamasis gestured not to open fire. They would probably miss, and almost certainly die. He drew his knife and slowly made his way towards the carrier. Mox stopped him quickly and pointed towards a small mound of rubble on the side of the road, being used as cover by two storm troopers. Silently they made their way towards them, grabbed them from behind and plunged their knives into the troopers almost in unison.

Jamasis felt the body turn to dead weight in his arms, and slowly lowered it back to the ground. He pulled out his knife and wiped it clean in the snow. A few tense seconds later and they had made it to one of the carriers. The gunner wasn’t visible, so Jamasis clambered on top and pulled Mox up with him. Peering inside revealed a few enemy soldiers, though there was still no sign of the general himself. He took out his rifle and brought it up to his shoulder, then the two of them opened fire on the soldiers below, catching them by surprise.

It worked perfectly barring the minor detail that it immediately exposed where they were to every soldier in the immediate vicinity. They hurriedly dived into the carrier for cover, alone with three corpses and barrage of blaster bolts overhead.

“What now?” asked Mox, with a subtle hint of sarcasm.

“Can you drive this?”

“No.”

“Well, neither can I. This should be fun.” Jamasis pushed the corpse of the driver to the floor, then climbed into his seat. Looking out he saw a great opportunity to decimate the enemy troopers, simply by running them over. Jamasis tried to drive towards them, predictably sending the carrier into reverse and almost immediately losing control.

“What are you doing?” came the incredulous shout from behind. Jamasis ignored him, tried to steer the vehicle whilst it continued to reverse and drove straight into the newly collapsed building. The wheels struggled for grip, tried to pull them over the rubble, slowly edged up. Suddenly the rubble gave way on one side, tipping the carrier onto its side, knocking Jamasis and Mox to the floor. Jamasis helped Mox back to his feet, and they took cover at the gunner’s hatch, aiming towards the remaining enemy soldiers.

“So that was your plan?” asked Mox.

“Not exactly, no.” Though it did seem to have worked. The carrier had been taken out of action, and that was what mattered.

OOC:

WC:619

Jamasis and Mox in a tipped carrier where the collapsed building is/was. One more carrier left, Skarr has next post.