There were six of them, jogging in a chaotic rhythm. Clad in white armor, they carried weapons of various kinds. As the travelled through the snowy streets, they remained silent, cautious of any potential dangers. Around them were the ruins of buildings, some only grazed, others completely turned to rubble. They stood solemnly in the chilling air, like the skeleton of a dead city. The snowy street littered with rubble and debris, having been shot out from the violent blasts that wrecked the city. However, the six of them paid no particular attention to the ruins and buildings, and their movement kept them warm in the inhospitable chill of cold. Together, they were Wraith Team, and they were on a mission.

Psycho led the group from the front, hustling over the mounds of debris and snow. On his back, he slung a dented and beat up heavy repeater rifle, a layer of frost coated on its metallic exterior. Despite the look, the weapon worked fine - for now. The life of urban war had gotten to it, though, and new weapons were in tough supply.

Behind him were his squad mates: the pessimistic Karash, stubborn Heliwer, intense Sam, cold Balac, and tall Dusk. In short, Psycho found his squad mates very serious people. Being serious himself, he found no problem with it, but energetic, up-beat squad mates helped with the squad dynamics. They were a necessary evil, Psycho joked.

“Alright,” Psycho began, slowing his pace to a calm walk, “Let’s take a five minute break. Then, we’re off again.” Relieved at the chance to rest, the soldiers threw themselves and their belongings under a small overhang of a building. Immediately, cigarettes and and food were being consumed, and small chatter broke out among the men. Instead, Psycho pulled out a map of the city. Despite the advanced technology the Vast Empire had at its disposal, physical maps were still being used. Mainly because squad leaders found it nice to have something hands on, but also because the Vast Empire’s city garrison had little access to datapads - and everything else the soldiers needed.

“DAMN,” Heliwer cried, a cigarette in his mouth, “It’s FREEZING.”

While the main group conversed, Balac, emotionless and uncanny, sat in silence, staring up at the grey sky. “Where’re you from, Balac?” Psycho asked, trying to make small talk with the trooper.

Instead of looking at the squad leader, Balac continued to gaze into the sky. “Mandalore,” he said with an indifferent tone.

Psycho was hoping Balac would reply with a question of his own, but he just remained silent. Clearly, he was not fond of conversation.

Turning away from Balac, Psycho began to distinguish a faint noise in the distance. It was almost like a high pitched moaning, but it grew louder and louder, dropping in pitch as it did so. Then, his brain kicked in. He knew exactly what it was.

Frantically standing up, he yelled, “Artillery!” and he dove into the bombed out building, trying to find cover. The instant his squad mates leaped for cover, an explosion blasted from the road, sending a powerful shockwave outward, ripping through the air. Next came the shrapnel, spraying the surrounding buildings with red hot metal. A second later, rocks and debris were flung into the air as smoke and dust filled the street.

Psycho’s ears were still ringing after he stood up.

“Is everyone okay?” Karash, the teams medic, asked.

Psycho looked around. Their armor was covered in dust, but there were no injuries he could see. After all, no one was screaming, screaming generally being a good clue of injury.

“I think so,” the squad leader replied. “Alright everyone. Your break’s over. I don’t think you’ll be able to sit still any longer after that...”

-----

For several more hours, they made their way through the snowy streets and ruined buildings, searching for something - searching for a clue. However, despite Psycho’s hopes, they found nothing. Nothing at all. Clearly, their approach was not working. Wandering the streets at random was not going to cut it, Psycho realized. They needed to revise their plan.

Of course, understanding what they were looking for would help them find it. Wraith Squad was on a mission to find a Remnant Forward Operation Base, where several special ops squads were based off of. Wraith’s mission was to find the base, and destroy it. However, to find a single base, that could be the size of a basement, over the entire city would be difficult, so he had the plan of coming across a kill team, ambushing it, and getting the location of the base from them, but so far, they had not come across any kill team. Perhaps, Psycho realized, that maybe they mainly operated at night.

Then, it hit him. Operating at night would mean that they would have to use some sort of lighting device, but for obvious reasons, they would not be using a normal flashlight. They would be using infrared light, which would show up invisible to the human eye, but it would illuminate when using night vision devices. If he could get his squad somewhere high, they could use their night vision capable helmets to look across the city, and try to see any infrared light being displayed. It was a genius plan!

Now, Psycho wondered, watching the sun set over the crumbled buildings, he would have to find some place high. Turning around, his eyes scanned the immediately cityscape for the highest point. There, on a five story building, was a radio tower that stretched for another hundred feet. If he could get one trooper up there, then they could spot for the rest of the squad.

Smiling inside his helmet, he asked, “See that tower?” The soldiers nodded, wondering what plan their leader was devising now. “One of you is going up there. Normally, I would order one of you to do it, but since I’m feeling nice, I’ll let you volunteer. Now, who’s it going to be?”

OOC:

Word Count: 1,008. Alright guys, first one to post gets to climb up the tower! Basically, enter the building, maybe try and figure out a way up it (after all, half of it is bombed out), and then climb the tower. Once you’re at the top, describe seeing some infrared light (that being the squad), and then, we can get to intercepting the squad!

The night air pierced the lungs of each trooper as they took in slow methodical breaths. The team was located in an section of the city that held the air of a ghost town. Betwixt the destroyed structures and those that still stood, the icy winds whistled and cut through the nighttime without hesitation. The occasional fleck of snow obscured the vistas of destruction.

"Alright, Heliwer has located a warehouse five blocks from our position. That's where we are headed," the Sergeant named Psycho reported, "Let's head out."

"Hold on one second," the Lieutenant halted, "I understand that the forces around here are stretched pretty thin, but let's not go into this without some resemblance of a plan."

The sergeant stopped mid stride and turned to face the Lieutenant. The rest of the team turned as well and were evidently surprised that the Lieutenant had spoken up.

"And what do you have in mind, Lieutenant?" Psycho fired with a hint of acidity.

"First off, if you don't wish to listen then that's fine. You are welcome to get yourself killed, but I won't stand by and possibly lead us all to our deaths. I've got a plan for how I'm going to go and you aren't apart of that plan," Sam sneered back as he popped a few old habits into his mouth.

"Erm, well..."

"Now then Sergeant," Sam continued after a swallow, "Looking at the layout of the city and the surrounding areas of this warehouse, there are plenty of locations that could house enemy troops. My main concerns are here, here, and here."

He highlighted each structure on his datapad as he spoke. "Now, I think we should come about along this side here. It will give us significant cover from these two positions and we should be able to reduce the chances of them detecting us."

The sergeant stood silent and absorbing what Sam was saying. His face was stern, yet showed he clearly understood.

"Great plan, but I think you are being a bit over paranoid old man," hissed Karash.

Sam spun to face the voice, "Again, you can go and get yourself killed however you like." The scar on the zabrak's right cheek contorted as he stared down the trooper.

"It is your team. Ergo, your call," Sam said turning back to the squad leader.

"Right, well I do agree with you, sir. There is no need to get into a hot situation if it can be avoided," Psycho replied, "Let's take this route and we can make adjustments when we get there."

As ordered, the team began the trek towards the target warehouse with Heliwer still making his way back down. The snow compressed under the trooper's boots with the familiar crushing sound. Each breath hung in the air acting as the specters that occupied the ghostly ruins of the outer city.

The march started off mundane and Sam's mind began to wander. He kept his wits about him by keeping his eyes moving and observing the buildings around him. Then suddenly his body tensed and all his senses erupted into hyperdrive. His old habits had kicked in full force. He let out a loud breath creating a large phantom in front of him. It was quickly dispersed as he passed through it.

He was not sure if anyone else had noticed the change, but he was not going to bring it up for discussion. He could not say that he would do so even in the comfort of his own home. He figured all that really mattered was that he did his job, and did it well, regardless of his habit.

The cold air scratched its frigid claws across her pale skin. The woman crouched behind rubble and stared aimlessly into the dark night. There were no people - no sane people at least - living in the buildings to light their lamps at night. Over the five long months that had passed, the buildings had succumbed to the non-stop assault on their once sturdy frame.

Two strike teams had landed on the planet just after her arrival. They had their missions and she had hers.

A man dressed in a dirty trenchcoat stumbled out of a nearby door as if he'd been pushed. He found his footing and struggled to hold his tongue as the unseen assailant slowly closed the door. With a faint huff under his breath the man pointlessly dusted off his clothing and made his way down the alley, just as he had every night for the past ten days. She had been watching, sometimes from the roof but most often from her current vantage point between the rubble and the trash.

A soft click signalled the activation of the tripwire and the release of the poison dart into the man's blood stream.

"All too easy," Havock whispered.

He frowned at her just as his legs gave out and seconds later his face planted into the dirty duracreet street.

=====~~~~~

He woke up several hours later. He was tied to a cold metallic chair in a room with no windows. The foul taste of blood was already in his mouth from his landing on the ground earlier.

"Who are you?" He croaked out in a shaky but defiant voice.

Havock raised an eyebrow at him then turned back to the small crack in the foundation of the building that was allowing a small thread of light to enter the dark room. She had been sent to find a leak, and plug it.

"You are former Sergeant Major Thaddus Crispin, Phoenix platoon, Squad...well several of them. The point is, you used to be in the Vast Empire, now you are a Traitor."

He stared at her with large eyes, that were searching for a plausible denial and coming up empty.

"You sold classified documents you yourself retrieved illegally and you sold them to our number one enemy, and by the smell of you, you've spent most of your hard earned credits on booze." Havock jumped down, causing a plume of smoke to erupt around her feet from the dust. "See Thaddy, people shouldn't frak with the bad guys. It's never a good idea, and it voids your life insurance plan."

"No listen, I know you. You were in Raiders."

"Thaddy, you're making me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." She responded in a soft voice. "I need to know who you sold the intel to. You give me that and I'll be generous to you, after all it is nearly Life Day. You don't...well this room does make a lovely furnace and I've already coated the floor in burning fluid."

He attempted to raise his arms and grimaced as he remembered they were bound. "Okay, okay...I really don't remember you being this scary."

Havock flinched. "Recent events have given me less to lose."

"Right, sorry. Okay his name is Nick, at least that's what we call him, Old Nick. There's this warehouse we meet him at, me and  the boys. I was supposed to meet him there tonight but, I guess I forgot my chrono."

The former squad leader walked over to a table and held up a datapad, "would the location be on this?"

"Yes! That's perfect, right, I can take you there and you won't have to even fight with my boys. I promise..."

The blaster left his final words unheard as the bolt sliced through his brain. "No thanks, I've got it." 

===~~~

The warehouse was not far, but being cautious added extra time to the journey. Jaenna was gone, Aeos was gone and Havock kept wondering why she even bothered to breathe anymore. The cautious approach was a retreat to old training that had become ingrained.

Moving on the roads was suicide, Havock preferred to make her way through the remains of the buildings. Her approach also rooted out the cockroach-like snipers that scurried before her eyes several times. If she was lucky enough to sneak up on the cocky bastards she could use her combat knife or a straight forward snapping neck. Today was one of those days. She heard the shifting of weight above her, it was a sound that in a typical city would be imperceivable, but in a dark and silent night it was louder than thunder.

She smirked and slowly made her way to the floor above. The sniper was preoccupied with some prey he'd found approaching the warehouse. She could tell by the movement of his barrel that they were moving in formation and could be one of the strike teams, but his lack of firing was making that unlikely.

A shot spit softly from the silenced barrel and before another could do the same Havock thrust her combat knife into the mans neck sending blood spurting forward and the rifle clanking to the ground. She quickly activated her macrobinoc's in her HUD and got a 20 on the strike team. She quickly made her way down to the ground floor and began to broadcast the friendly code on her comm.

A blaster pistol appeared next to her from behind a support beam which had nothing left to support. "Stand down trooper."

The body of one of the strike team members was being attended to several meters in front of her. "We need to move him, now." Her eyes were scanning the adjacent buildings looking for more positions, all she knew for sure was that their current location was beyond unsafe, especially for medical treatment.

"You and you." She pointed towards Sam and the blaster wielding Dusk. "Get him up and move him this way." She didn't wait to see them move she just quickly made her way towards one of the more intact structures nearby. The medic continued to work on the man, who was a Strike Team Leader based on the markings on his shoulder. The bolt had hit him in the abdomen but looked to be a clean wound.

"Bloody fools, moving the patient like this. Do you even know who this is? And you just take orders? I'd feel safer in a looney bin I swear."

"Karash?"

The medic froze and looked towards the new comer. "Please Gods, say it isn't you. I didn't bring enough med kits..."

Havock rolled her eyes and knelt next to her former squadmate. "You say the nicest things. What were you guys up too? Other than shopping for my Life Day present of course."

"Who is this?" Balac grumbled from his position near the door.

Karash barely looked up he just continued to apply bacta patches and look generally dis-pleased. "Major Katash, yanno, Havock as in what she brings into my life."

"Heli make sure to keep an eye on that window, the rest of our lines of sight should be covered." The man lit a fresh cig and nodded. "Now someone tell me why you were going to that warehouse."

Dusk leaned against the doorframe keeping a watch on the right flank and kept his voice low as he responded. "We are looking for the Remnant Forward Operation Base, and we have good reason to think it's in that warehouse."

"Well you're wrong, but what is in fact in that warehouse could lead us to the Forward Operation Base. I don't think its far from here." Havock slapped a transponder on Psycho's chest. "That will tell our guys where he is, so they can evac him to a base for treatment. Of course if we stick around too long it will also draw in some of the more inventive slicers the Remnant has paid off."

"We are going to sneak into the warehouse, Balac, Karash and I will take the ground approach, Dusk, Heli and Sam you guys try to find a way in from the roof. We will find trained mercs inside who are delivering intel to one of our primary targets."

"So we get to take him out?" Heli smiled with a glint of excitement.

"I'd rather we follow him and find out where the base actually is, but I'm not picky today." She looked over at Psycho and gave him a brief pat on the shoulder. "Okay, lets move out."

OOC:

I heard you needed someone to post, so now you have a plan, lets hurry up and blow up this fracking command base hooha!

Ten targets...but no sign of Jolly Old Nick. Havock's eyes burned a hole into the wall, her glare filled with all the emotion her current postion had to hide. She was in charge of the welfare of troopers again, a squad leader. It was the last thing she needed to be in her current state of mind.

"Care to enlighten me on why you are here?" Karash's eyes were still on the far away location that had housed the injured SL, Psycho. The man was on his way to medical attention, a lucky fate considering the number of troopers she had watched bleed out on long missions just like this one.

"I needed a holiday." The medic's head cocked in a position which made it clear he was rolling his eyes under the helmet. "AHC mission, we needed someone to go undercover, what you think you boys get to have all the fun or something?"

"Lucky us." Karash spat sarcastically.

"Shut up, you miss me."

A click on the comm ended the banter of old friends. The team on the roof had spotted their target, and his image quickly filled her datapad screen. The man was large, very large, with a burly white beard and pale skin. He seemed to bounce as he walked towards the mercs with little fear in his gait.

Havock lifted her comm close to her mouth to whisper. "Okay boys, its fraking cold and we are all tired. Let's do this. On my mark we shove coal into these guys asses and try to get warm."

"Mark." In synchronized precision the roof team detonated their packs and dropped down and her street team bursts through the door. There were ten merc's caught off guard and plenty of shipping crates to hide behind. The new hole in the roof sent a sprinkle of snow and light onto the scene which reminded Havock of a snowglobe. The blaster fire reminded her of the reality though.

OOC:

Okay we are in the warehouse, those of you on the roof repell down and you are in a flanking position behind the mercs, those of us who were on the street are in the forward position in front of the mercs. They are boxed in and there is no excape unless they break our ranks. The mercs are trained fighters and will have basic weapons with a few mods. Santa...I mean Nick should NOT be killed in this fight, he can either be wounded or escape I'll follow your lead on that. Lets go guys!!!

Havock watched Dusk roll to the ground in a heap with the cubby old man. There were still five confused merc's sliding around in the snow to avoid the blaster fire. They no longer seemed to care why they were there or what had happened to their boss.

Balac rolled out from behind cover and landed two clean shots in the chest of a near by merc. Three on that same side of the warehouse quickly started to retreat to the rear, right into the sights of Sam and Heli. They were quickly dispatched just leaving one merc remaining.

"Karash I'll cover you, get over there and help Dusk."

The medic flinched. "Me? They are wrestling over there and you are sending me? I exercise my brain cells not muscles thank you very much."

Havock rolled her eyes and snatched the medic's pack from his waist, illiciting a loud hey from the man. She rummaged around for a few moments before pulling out a injection tube. "Like I don't remember where you keep the sedatives." She patted Karash on the head and motioned towards the wrestling match.

Balac took out the final merc, and the team converged on Nick.

"Ho-Ho-Hold on." The large man coughed and held his hands towards Karash to prevent the dose of sedative. "Why are you attacking me?"
Sam came up and placed his blaster against Nick's temple.

Havock squatted to be at eye level with the bearded man. "Nick, we need to know where the base is. That place you were about to take the data these men were supposed to give you but...failed."

"It's not far, just umm six or seven blocks away...underground in a basement. Barely guarded, I found these men, quite short stature well they work cheap. They keep an eye on the place, its mostly terminals and electronics. The name on the building it's called Elophtron."

"What kind of a name is that?"

"It means...."

Havock interrupted the old man. "Okay that's enough, Karash knock him out. The rest of you lets go before someone tries to find out what all the noise was."

With the XO’s order barely finished, Balac headed towards the room Dusk had just returned from, an EE-3 held in his hands. He admired the familiar weapon for a split-second before returning his gaze to the entrance. As he stepped through the doorway, the wall filled his sight, complete with enough weapons and ammo for a Mandalorian to have just a little fun with. The smallest of smiles briefly split his face. He browsed the shelves, looking over the various rifles and ammo cartridges, looking for something to replace his supplies or weapons completely. He stopped, looking over the DLT-20A sitting in front of him, complete with a box of ammo. It had been some time since he used this particular weapon, outside of a firing range, as he preferred the power of the A280. Setting the A280 on the shelf, he lifted the DLT, hefting it’s weight approvingly. The full complement of ammo appealed to him, especially after the low ammo amounts he had been running with. After a quick check to make sure the rifle was in top condition, and that it’s rangefinder and electronic sight worked, he shoulder the rifle and pocketed as much of the ammo as he could. Another quick check of the various ammo items brought a few cartridges of ammo for the A280. Setting the E-45 and it’s few remaining ammo cartridges down, he picked up his A280 and left the room which had grown in population during his inspection of the 20A.

Leaving the quiet chatter of the room behind, he settled into a position close to the basement steps and turned up his helmet’s audio sensors, waiting for the slightest hint of company. A few more minutes passed, filled with the dull thud of the durasteel fingers on his right hand slowly tapping the barrel of his rifle, the quiet servos also amplified by the enhanced settings of his helmet.

“Alright, bag up what ammo you can’t carry on you, it may come in handy later.” Havock’s voice issued from the munitions room. “Anything we leave will go up with the building.”

Some more conversation followed as they discussed what to leave behind before they set the explosives and ran. Shortly after they team left the munitions room and began to set up the explosives.

“Set the timers for ten minutes,“ the Major ordered, eliciting a noise from Karash. “Should be plenty of time for us to move out.”

A quiet footstep sounded from the floor above them, followed by a flurry of movement as whoever had entered the building noticed the disorder caused by the Wraith’s rush to the basement.

The confirmation of setting the explosives came through the com.

“Wraiths...” Balac said over the com, cutting off the chattering and slowly backing away from the stairs to find a better position, “We have company.”

More sounds of armored boots reached him through his aurally enhanced sensors. In response, the Mandalorian set his sights to the doorway and charged his rifle.

OOC:

WC: 501

Okay, as we get set to leave the building a (assumed) kill squad returns to find things not quite so right with their FOB.