OOC:

Ghost 1/30

The wind outside continued to howl as the snowstorm raged. Ghost Team huddled inside what had once been a house. After assassinating General Vuxner and Governor Hornby, Skarr had ordered them to begin looking for shelter. They had found a nearly intact house a few miles away from the intersection where the battle took place. Skarr had the team inspect the weapons they had scavenged. Only one or two of the rifles were completely serviceable. The rest had been disassembled for spare parts and ammunition. The strike leader hated having to scavenge in order to keep their weapons and ammo in order, but this was as well stocked as they could get in the winter wastes. He started as his comm crackled to life, “First Lieutenant Skarr, this is HQ do you copy?”

“HQ, this is Skarr,” the strike leader replied.

“Standby, First Lieutenant. Your orders are on the way. Transmitting to your wrist link now.” The comm conversation cut there. Skarr snorted, HQ wasn’t feeling chatty today. He surmised that it had something to do with the distant sounds of battle he could hear. Skarr only had to wait a minute or two for his orders to appear on the wrist link. Colonel Sorak wanted a power plant taken care of in the industrial district. Skarr read further. Both Ghost and Wraith were being sent into the subway tunnels with Zombie Platoon. He switched off his wrist link to address his team.

“Alright, Ghosts. We’re going to have some action. But we’re going to have to play nice, ladies and gentlemen. A squad from Zombie Platoon will be with us along the way.” The members of the team traded glances before looking back to Skarr. “I know, we’re not used to help but it is what it is. Our mission is a power plant deep in the industrial district. It is also Thrawn territory. We’ll be using the subway system against the Thrawnists this time.

“And to make things even more interesting, we have to be largely careful in the tunnels. They’ve been known to collapse during bombing run and are very unstable. Which means, no grenades. No explosives. And absolutely no slugthrowers. Blasters only, people. Am I understood?” A chorus of agreement rose from the team. “Good! Let’s move out!”

The Ghosts moved as one and filed out the door to the house. Despite the helmet protecting his eyes, Skarr still squinted as the wind and snow whipped around him. The entrance to the subway tunnels were not far from their position, but it would take a very long time to reach the power plant once they were inside. The strike leader warned his team to be vigilant. The patrols would still be roaming the area, searching for the assassins.

The snowstorm made it slightly easier for the squad to evade the patrols, although it did give them less time to hide when a patrol came into sight. Skarr could not wait to get into an area with better visibility. Even though the subway tunnels would be mostly pitch black, Ghost was equipped with night vision. When the team neared the subway tunnels, Skarr stopped them. Zombie Platoon would be hidden nearby and they would be alert for enemies.
He prodded Ghost into slowly and cautiously making their way down the street. They were alert for anything. Without warning, two squads of troops came pouring out of the alleyways, blasters at the ready. One man stepped forward to meet Ghost. He was of middling height and a muscular build. Exactly what Skarr would expect out of stormtroopers.

“What’s the passphrase?” the man called out.

Skarr chuckled and gestured at the snowstorm, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas!”

“Don’t get too excited. All you’re getting is coal,” was the man’s reply.

Skarr strode forward and clasped the man’s hand. “First Lieutenant Norith Skarr of Ghost Team, Commander of Phantom Platoon.”

“Sergeant Major William Carter of Voodoo Team, Commander of Zombie Platoon.” Carter said. He motioned to Zombie platoon and they began walking with Ghost to the entrance of the subway tunnels. “I hear we’re to help you get to your destination.”

“That’s right. Has Wraith gotten here yet?”

“Negative. We’re waiting for them now.”

Skarr sighed, “Then we’ll head into the tunnels first. You want to come along Sergeant Major?”

Carter nodded and walked off to discuss the situation with what Skarr guessed to be the other squad leader. He watched as Carter pointed out various positions and gestured to Ghost Team. The other squad leader saluted and ordered his squad back into cover. Skarr guessed the remaining troopers was Voodoo Team. Including Carter, that put Voodoo Team at seven people. That made 14 troops in all. Skarr ordered them all to fall in behind him with Carter at his side.

Norith took a deep breath and motioned for them to enter the dark of the tunnels.

OOC:

WC: 818

Alright, Ghosts! We're the first ones in! Get your posts up and describe the tunnels and introduce an NPC of Voodoo Team!

OOC:

Wraith  2/30

The snow fell lightly on the broken landscape of the subway entrance. The area around the opening was clear as though it had once functioned as a courtyard. Pieces of broken buildings laid scattered around the bloated bodies, waiting in the snow for their final destination. Makeshift barricades had been set up at each of the possible entry points to the duracreet courtyard with handfuls of tired troopers manning each one.

A blonde woman approached the east barricade with a cig hanging lit out of her mouth. She had a long blade attached to her back along with a rifle and standard issue pistol. She gave each trooper a cocky nod as she passed them on her path to Havock.

"Jack."

"Major." Jack removed the cig only long enough to flick the excess ash from its tip, before replacing it. "You're needed back at command."

Havock glanced over at Dusk and Dalen who were taking and getting the squad prepped for their trip into the subway tunnels. "I can't go back, I'm in this now."

Jacaranda, or Jack as she preferred to be called, had been Havock's liaison since she became XO. Jack wasn't good at following orders but she respected Havock and had been loyal. She also seemed to enjoy the variety of tasks she got to dive into as Havock's liaison.

"With respect Major, the Prefect ordered you back. Your mission was completed, this is grunt work and no place for the XO of the army. Honestly, you've done your time on bloody battlefields and smelly underground tunnels, let some of us have fun now." Jack cocked her rifle and continued to check her gear as she spoke.

"What about Wraith?"

Jack looked up confused for a moment then muttered a few words under her breath and felt around for a lost datapad. "Almost forgot about that. Garryll had orders, Sergeant Dusk is SL effective immediately. Psycho's gonna live but he's out of commission for a while docs say."

"Jack you realize that none of that gear is SCOPE standard issue." Havock looked back over to the young Sergeant speaking to the Virus SL and hoped he was up to the challenge. "You'll keep an eye on him."

"You are such a softy." Jack rolled her eyes and slapped the XO on the shoulder. "Now get your cute ass back to the command center boss."

Havock watched solemnly as Jack joined Wraith and Virus  and walked over to the speeder bike waiting for her.

Jack adjusted her opical HUD and made sure she had the nightvision sensor aligned.

"Hey you Dusk?"

The young man raised an eyebrow and walked over suspiciously. He was about to speak when Jack tossed a datapad at Dusk's chest. "Congrats you are the new SL, I'd buy you a round but....yea."

"What?"

"Oh and Havock had to report back so you get me instead." Jack tapped Dusk's helmet. "Cheer up, I'm so much more fun."

"Where is your gear?"

Jack rolled her eyes. "Look, the Major got me in this stuffy SCOPE, and my HUD is five by five, I'll put on the ugly helmet when we are ready to go."

OOC:

Meet Jack, my trusty NPC. She'll be accompanying you fine Wraiths for now. If you need to learn more about Jackie girl her wiki is: http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/Jacaranda, she is a Sergeant by rank but you can just call her Jack.

Jack is brash and seems to always have a sarcastic comment. Enjoy!

Also sorry for the short repetitive nature of the post, kinda poked away at it throughout the day as I had moments free.

OOC:

Ghost 3/30

HammerHead followed his squad into the tunnel, expecting a fairly casual walk. The two squads halted in the tunnel. People all of began preparations for the hike. Skarr walked over to HammerHead and pulled of his helmet.

"You know as well as I do you can't use that slugthrower of yours. I know you keep it with you for personal reasons, but I'm going to ask that you keep it unloaded."

"I...I understand." HammerHead proceded to pull the revolver out of his holster, pour the rounds in his hand, and turn the gun over in his hand so the handle faced Skarr.

"What are you doing private?"

"It's simple, I don't trust myself."

Skarr took the weapon HammerHead, and tucked it away. Skarr put his hand on his shoulder and said "You'll be fine, you are packing enough fire power as it is."

Skarr then put on his helmet and walked over the other squad leader.
Hammer dejectedly leened against a wall. All of a sudden, cutting thrrow the sound of the others around, came a familiar voice.

"You Mandalorian son of a bitch!"

HammerHead swung around ready to deck the man who spoke, but stopped as soon as he saw who it was. "Duke, you smug bastard!"

The two took a swing at each other, which ended with them arm wrestling in mid-air. The men struggled, and Duke's arm began to descend. "What's wrong Duke, out of practive?"

"No, I just don't want to hurt yah' feelins," he said with a sinister grin.
Eventually he lost, his arm descending to the point where HammerHead had the opportunity to break his arm. "Alright, alright, I yeild." As HammerHead let go of his longtime friend, he noticed something that he didn't see when his comrade walked over.

"Duke, what Happened to your leg?"

"Ah, that. Well, I was giving covering fire to some guys from my squad while we were trying to take a hill. The guys on the top of the hill saw me, and used  some heavy weapons to fire on my position. I lost my left leg, and my right hand."

As HammerHead thought about what his friend just told him, he decided to lighten the mood with sarcasm. "Well, you never could be stealthy."

As the two prepared to get into another arm wrestling match, Skarr ordered them to move out. HammerHead and Duke took the tunnel to the far left, as did Therex and his partner.  The tunnel was quite dark, and was filled with small puttles, and the occasional vermin. Memories of his horrific expirience with the mutants started to flow through HammerHead's conciousness as he headed down the dark tunnel.

As he heard a strange creaking noise from just ahead of him, HammerHead reached for the former location of his revolver, and was filled with deep regret to find that it wasn't there. He fear growing, Hammer decided it would be better if he got a firm grip on his Heavy E-11. If trouble comes, I can just blow it's fracking head off.

Duke was having his own troubles, as he stepped in some sort of thick gelatinous substance, and was having troupe getting off his boot. He tried to continue walking, and slipped on the goop, falling into a puddle. The loud splash was accompanied by chuckles from the other troopers, and then followed by a strange but very lowed growling sound from farther up in the tunnel.

The troopers, now all frightened, stared blankly into the darkness. The waited, as if expecting a massive monster to lurk forward and crush them with its massive claws. However, nothing happened, and the black darkness remained untouched. And so, after much hesitation, the group moved on.

As the traveled down the tunnel,  the encountered a foul smell. The acrid stench of rotting flesh met their nostrils through their helmets. As they moved on further, they found the source of the horrid smell. A rotting body, covered in rats in flies, with its arm extended towards what appeared to be a blaster. Pieces of white armor scorched black with blaster fire were located around the body, and an E-11 was position write out of his reach.

"Pour bastard" muttered Therex's partner. "I wonder what side he was on."

Well, whichever side he was on, I don't think we'll be able to find out.

Feeling remorse for the pour fate of the man, HammerHead moved down the tunnel hoping to get out of the cloud of evil that surrounded the corpse. However, HammerHead was met with the opposite of his expectations as the stench became almost unbearable. To his horror, many more bodies came into the light, each seeming to suffer the same fate as the man behind him.

HammerHead turned on his com in hopes of getting a response. "Skarr, we seemed to have made a discovery."

OOC:

WC: 812

Alright, I posted. If you have any complaints  or comments PM me.

OOC:

Ghost 4/30

Corporal… the young slicer was thinking to himself about the message he received on his Datapad. He was certain that there is going to be some special ceremony for everyone who received a commendation, medal or a promotion. But the newly promoted officer couldn’t care less about such assemblies. He would attend of course, but he wasn’t looking forward to the event. What mattered is the present, and that they had to destroy that power plant.

“Hey dude. I guess we’ll pair up.”

“I guess we will. Mox’s my name.” Mox nodded to the Zombie.

“What?” surprise could clearly be heard in the man’s tone “The Mox?”

“What do you mean, ‘The Mox’?” the young corporal said, trying to figure why the man seemed so familiar “Have we met?”

“Well…” the man said as he took off his helmet “What do you think?”

Suddenly he realised who he was talking to, and the memories of their operations together rushed into his mind. The body language, the voice and most importantly the face brought him back to the moments when he was just starting his real undercover missions. At the time the least experienced agents were often bundled up into fake mercenary groups, and Mox was once in the same undercover squad as the man who stood before him.

“Gav?” Mox muttered in disbelief. The man grinned as he put his helmet back on “But… they said you got KIA…”

“Well… they’re not going to say that one of their top agents, who was training the other agents, deserted right?” the man said but his tone suddenly turned serious “What about you? What are you doing here?”

“Officially? Well, the NR said no official word, apparently I stopped existing. No idea what’s going on, and frankly I don’t care... I was placed here about 2 years ago and… things changed…” Mox said as he was quickly thinking over whether he should tell Gavin Darsten about giving up on the New Republic.

“And?...” the man asked impatiently. Mox started wondering whether the man would give him away and quickly continued.

“I was discovered. Luckily the pair that found out about me were kind enough not to tell anyone about it, and then to disappear.”

“I see…” the past New Republican said as Skarr spoke up.

“Alright, Ghosts. Split off three ways, keep in contact, and stay with your partner. If possible, take another Ghost and another Zombie with you.”

“Guess we can go together.”

The group quickly split up and the largest group, consisting of Mox, Jamasis, Skarr and other Zombies started traversing through the middle tunnel. The nightvision mode in the SCOPE helmet was doing its job perfectly and Mox could clearly see nearly everything. It seemed weird to Mox for Terre and a Zombie to go on their own into a tunnel, since 14 troopers could be easily divided into 3 groups, but he dared not to question his SLs’ motives. Not after Joamer… The group was moving quickly and stealthily. Surprisingly Mox couldn’t see anything unusual or suspicious. Well… We are in the tunnels controlled by the Vast Empire… I doubt we will find a lot here. We’ll probably have to split up again…. Mox continued to search the plane of vision for anything out of place but after a few minutes Hammer’s voice boomed through the ComLinks.

“Skarr, we seemed to have made a discovery.”

“Roger that, what sort of discovery?” Skarr replied

“A lot of pretty decayed bodies.” HammerHead’s voice came through. “As in, we can’t identify them.”

“Hold on…” Skarr said as he brought up his datapad. He seemed to be checking through the maps as he was muttered to himself. After a moment he spoke again “There is a personnel tunnel connecting the two tunnels not too far from here. We will meet you there.”

After a prolonged while an acknowledgement came from HammerHead and the group was moving again. After a few minutes of hurried walking the group was already at the mentioned personnel tunnel, but it seemed to be partially caved in.

“Maybe we can squeeze through?” one of the Zombies asked

“And get crushed if a bombing raid would come?” another one replied

“She’s right, we can’t go through it like that. Looks like…” Skarr said as he looked back at his Datapad “…well, the tunnels actually connect together later on… and the distance is shorter than if we had to backtrack.”

“We may try to dig our way through… it may only be the entrance that’s blocked…” Mox said as he crouched in front of the partially caved-in tunnel.

“No, it’s already too unstable… it could recave-in at any time…” another Zombie said, scepticism apparent in the tone of his voice.

“He’s right, Mox. Let’s go.” Skarr motioned the group forward as he put away his Datapad.

OOC:

WC: 806
Tried to get 800 but proofreading caught up with me.
It seems the 3 groups we split into are very unproportionate(4, 2, everyone else) but meh.

OOC:

Ghost 5/30

Therex had seen decay in the body. In his medical training they often talked about post mortem investigations. But this was different. The flesh not only had decayed, it almost seemed to sag on the bones. Like it had been pulled and stretched over the skeletal frame, only a little too far. Running his fingers through several of the corpse's pouches, Therex was disappointed when his pickings came up scarce. A few spare rotted rations, half chewed credit chips, and two quarter full clips.

Sighing, he placed the clips on his own belt. In this situation, every shot helped. He next checked his satchel. Frowning at his dwindling supplies, he stood up and out of the puddle of various bodily fluids. Turning he glared at the short trooper who had followed him since they had started.

His name was Thomas. Therex only knew this because ever since they had entered the tunnels, the Private couldn't keep his mouth shut. Apparently he was a recent recruit, still green and very optimistic. His Squad Leader had suggested Therex as a partner because of Thomas' background in medicine. Hopefully being on a mission like this one would help shape him up a bit.

"Tom," Therex called him over. The greenie jumped when he heard his name and rushed over.

"Y-yeah?"

Therex grinned under his helmet. Most of these recruit grunts were anxious to fight, and were terrified of those of higher rank. He remembered his first few days in Wraith Squad, fresh out of training. Never before had he been grateful for a full helmet.

"I need some medical supplies, plus I want a scan done on some of these bodies please."

Thomas threw him a quick salute and scuttled off. Therex was kind of enjoying having a lackey. Tromping through the multitudes of bodies, Therex found Hammer.

"Hey," he said, knocking on the troopers helmet.

He whipped around, a little high strung for some reason. It was understandable though.

"Calm down," Therex said, chuckling. "I was just curious if everyone else was ready to head out."

Hammer tilted his head to the side slightly, almost questioning him.

"Myself and Thomas have been checking the bodies. We'll have a full scan report in like two minutes. We should keep moving on."

Hammer merely nodded and raised his blaster.

"Private," Therex said, turning back towards Thomas and the bodies.

The trooper was leaning over one body, brushing rats and bugs away from the faceplate, using a scanner to get readouts on the decay rate, toxicology, etc.

It was quiet.

I hate the quiet.

Therex shook his head and saw that Thomas had completed his scan. The greenie walked over and handed him a datapad with the results. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just dead bodies in a bad environment. He shrugged at thomas and handed the datapad back.

"I guess we'll just keep going," Therex said, smirking. He was kind of hoping for something more substantial. Some mystery to explore. Something to break up this gorramn monotony. Sighing in defeat, he placed on hand on Thomas' shoulder and motioned back towards the group.

When Thomas was out of earshot, he flipped his comm onto a private channel and clicked it a couple times, waiting. Soon a familiar voice came on.

"Therex," Terre asked "What's up?"

"Something doesn't feel right..." he said, scanning the room one last time. "It's just a hunch."

"I feel that too. I can't quite place it though."

"Just stay safe, okay?" Therex said, the concern escaping his voice.

"You too."

Sighing, Therex turned the channel off and walked over to the group.

"Therex," Thomas said, almost tripping over the bodies as he ran. "We're leaving. We need to meet up with your squad leader. He believes we need to regroup."

Good, Therex thought, nodding in agreement. Maybe we'll find some trouble.

OOC:

Ghost 7/30

"Hey, what's your name?" asked the Corporal to his right. He was a member of Zombie Platoon, a unit that he had never heard of before today and probably would forget in a weeks time. The soldier was anxious, curious and probably the older of the pair.

"Jamasis."

"My name's Jos'Var, but my friends just call me Jos. Do you have a family?"

"Nope." Jamasis couldn't care less about making idle chit-chat. Though the way the man stared at him eagerly forced him to cave in. "Do you have any family?"

"Yeah, they're amazing." The man was visibly relaxed by being able to take his mind off of the mission. "I've got a Dad, he's always complaining I don't do enough manual labour, I mean I'm a soldier for God's sake. And my Mum, she's an amazing cook. Also I've got a beautiful wife and daughter. Y'know I'm actually leaving the army so I can be with them?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah, gonna leave as soon as I can. I can't wait," Jos beamed under his helmet.

"You might not have realised, but the only way to get out of the army at the moment is to desert, and telling me about it wasn't the best idea."

"Oh no, I'm not deserting. I decided to quit just before this mission, so they're gonna let me go when we've captured the planet."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" asked Jamasis with mock anger.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're telling me this is your last job, then you're gonna go and be with your family? This means that at some point you're gonna get shot and make me promise to tell them you love them. Then I'm gonna have to go into some sort of righteous rage and kill thousands of enemy soldiers with no regard for my own safety. That's not how I want to spend the week."

"What?"

"You're one day away from retirement? One big last job?" The man slowly seemed to understand.

"Oh, I get it," he laughed for much longer than was necessary. This is going to be a long day. Something clattered behind them, in the distance. Jamasis stopped Jos immediately, cocked his head to listen.

"Skarr, we're going to drop back for abit. Five minutes," said Jamasis through his comm, and his Squad Leader nodded. Jos aimed his rifle through the tunnel, and they moved forwards together. Even with night vision visibility was limited, the constant damage to the structure had created a lot of dust and debris, in addition to numerous branching tunnels. Enemy soldiers could be waiting almost anywhere. If the surface of this planet was heaven for a strike team then this was hell. One incompetent trooper with a light machine gun could decimate a whole platoon with no skill and no escape.

"Go left, I'll go forwards," murmured Jamasis when they reached an offshoot. If there was anyone here at all, they couldn't be much further back. Ahead all he could see was a seemingly endless stretch of tunnel that lead back to the subway station. "We should go back Jos," he said through his comm.

A loud noise came from the other tunnel, followed by shouting. Jamasis ran back to the offshoot, in time to see two troopers, one Thrawnist and one of Zombie platoon, clawing at each other on the floor. He tried to aim his rifle, but couldn't fire for the risk of hitting the wrong man, and instead simply clubbed the troopers with the butt of the gun.

"Ow!" came the annoyed shout from Jos, as Jamasis continued to batter the Thrawnist.

"Oops, my mistake." He shot the stunned trooper three times in the chest, then pulled his partner back to his feet. "Pay attention in the tunnels! How hard is it? Get back to the others." Jamasis crouched down and relieved the dead soldier of his ammunition before being kicked in the back of the head. His eyes focused on the business end of an enemy rifle in time to see the man wielding it crumple to the floor.

"Pay attention in the tunnels!" mocked Jos from several metres away. Jamasis shook his head and activated his comm.

"Skarr, there are enemy troopers in these tunnels. It's better than that though," he said, glancing at the dead soldiers uniforms," apparently this is the route enemy special forces take."

OOC:

WC: 730

OOC:

Wraiths: 5/30

Wraith and Virus moved throughout the tunnels with no encounters. The two groups seemed to get along with each other well enough, other than the two medics. Dusk had spoken with Dalen a few times, mostly if he had any tips on command, but also about the Sergeant himself. He had grown up on a back water planet and joined up with the Empire back in Palpatine’s area. He had only been a grunt but after their defeat, he’d joined the Vast Empire and was gladly accepted into their ranks. “So how’d you lose your eye?” Dusk asked the Virus SL.

“It was Thyvek, I’m sure you’ve heard of it, one of the worst battles I’ve ever been in.”

“I know, it was when I was first deployed. My squad, RAIDERS, left quite the dent in the city after the VE pulled out.”

“Sorry to hear it, a campaign like that is no place for a green, least you made it out unscathed.” He said giving Dusk a pat on the shoulder. “But I owe my eye to a NR commando, the bastard came at me with his wrist blade and got a couple of hits on me, but I took his arm and shoved the blade through his skull. I got some field medicine and an eye-patch and was put right back onto the front lines. Only after I got back to Tadath was I given real treatment and my cybernetics.”

“At least you got the guy. I can’t really get the person who took my arm, ‘cause it was just bad luck. But it turned out for the best in the end.” Dusk said deploying and examining his wrist blade. As he looked at the polished metal he was briefly blinded by a laser sight reflecting off of it. “Contact he shouted as he dove to the side, barely missing being shot.

Arcs of light shot across his vision as he got himself behind cover; he popped up for a moment to spot where the shots were coming from. He saw the armored figures briefly illuminated by their rifles as they pelted the two groups with blaster fire. He pulled his EE-3 up to his shoulder and squeezed off a few bolts before being forced back behind cover. “Wraith, Virus!” He called into his comms, “They’re on the platform overhead.”

Fire was exchanged between the two forces. The Thrawnists were at an obvious disadvantage number wise, but they had a well defendable location above them. So a direct approach was impossible. Looking around he saw a maintenance hatch on one of the walls nearby. “Cover me!” Dusk called as he sprinted for the door. Once inside the cramped space, he felt the metal slightly heat from the missed blaster fire. He climbed the ladder to the second hatch and pried it open just enough to poke his blaster out. He brought the soldier on the E-web into his sights and put three shots into the man’s chest, dropping him. “Heavy support is down, increase your fire, and let’s finish this.” New found confidence pulsed through the new SL.

OOC:

WC: 520
Ok Wraiths, I want this firefight over in the next post and move us closer to the objective. We can have 1 or 2 more encounters, but space them out. We can with this.

OOC:

Ghost 10/30

Jamasis placed shot after shot down the tunnel, aiming in the few brief moments that blaster bolts didn’t impede his vision.

“Looks like we’re winning,” said Jos lightly.

“Don’t you ever shut up?”

“Woah, sorry.”

He aimed his rifle ahead and Jamasis thought he clipped one of the Thrawnists, but they didn’t go down. A shout came from his side and he turned irritably.

“What now Jos?”

“Wasn’t me.”

“You sure you weren’t too busy talking to notice?” The words were a little too spiteful all things considered, but they would all probably be dead by the end of this campaign anyway. That didn’t mean an awful lot of Thrawnists wouldn’t die at his hands though. Jamasis fired quickly at the outlines of the enemy, missed, and swore out loud.

The pain seared through his arm and it had gone dead on impact. He tried to hoist his rifle up to his shoulder but it was too heavy. One of the enemy special forces had clipped his right shoulder and it stung worse than anything he could remember. Actually it stings just as much as the last time I got shot. Funny that. Jos moved towards him and started to loosen the armour around his arm.

“What are you doing now?”

“I’ve trained as a medic, this is nothing.” Jamasis grimaced as he touched and probed. Jos shook his head. “Don’t be such a wimp, there’s barely any damage. It’s looser now and everything will be fine in a few minutes. You might want to take some painkillers though.” He took two pills out from his belt and Jamasis swallowed them.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, some of us have shooting to do.” Jamasis smiled inside his helmet. He propped himself up and tried to aim but the majority of Thrawnists had been killed and the last few were retreating. The rest of his own squad seemed intact, though Mox looked to be in pain and some of the others including Skarr had gathered around him.

“I think we have a few minutes. You’re a medic, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Are you a good one or what?” Some part of him was amused by the sudden role reversal, that he was now the one asking annoying questions.

“I’m fairly good. Why?”

“Do you do mental problems?”

“Yes, you have one. No I do not know what it is. And yes, you probably are going to go on a murderous rampage at some point.”

“The proper doctors were a little bit kinder but that does seem to be the general opinion of me. Can you suggest any way for me to avoid killing everyone?”

Skarr walked over to the pair of them, “Both of you okay?” he asked motioning to Jamasis in particular. Jamasis gave him a thumbs up and clambered back to his feet. “Everyone is still standing, so we keep going. We need to regroup and take down the generators ASAP.”

OOC:

WC:489

OOC:

Ghost: 12/30

Therex had patched up Terre pretty resourcefully, and he was now leaning over her, their lips barely centimeters apart.

“Would these work?”

Therex hung his head and swore silently to himself. He had wondered where Thomas had gone. Standing, he turned towards his temporary assistant. Drawing himself to full height, he towered over Thomas and tried to act menacing.

“Yes,” Therex growled lowly, “Now go somewhere else. I’ll deal with you later.”

As Thomas walked away, still in bewilderment about what had happened, Therex knelt down by Terre again. Thomas went to check on some of the others who had been injured. Still incensed with his assistant’s interruption, Therex felt Terre’s hand on his face, lifting his chin.

“Are you going to finish fixing me?” she asked, her smile calming Therex slightly. Placing two pieces of some stiff material that Thomas had brought him underneath Terre’s leg, and gently brushed her knee.

“This might hurt a bit,” he said, grimacing slightly.

Terre sighed and relaxed, preparing for him. Therex grabbed her ankle, and pulled gently. When she bucked, he stopped and tried to flash her a grin.

“Sorry.”

Returning to his work, Therex pulled lightly, trying to reposition her leg. Weighing his options, he shrugged, and jerked hard. He heard a light crack, and Terre grunted rather loud.

It’s better than going slow.

“You okay,” he asked, bandaging the leg and moving the splint back.

Gritting through her teeth, Terre nodded, her breathing coming in gasps.

“I wish I could give you something for the pain”

Therex checked his pouch and pulled out a hypo. Handing it to her, he wrapped her fingers around it.

“If the pain gets too bad, use this. But not until then. I can’t guarantee there won’t be side effects.”

She smiled and held the syringe close as Therex helped her tentatively to her feet. When she wobbled slightly, Therex helped keep her upright. She leaned against his shoulder, her eyes closing to slits. Picking up pieces of her armor, he replaced the ones he could, skipping over her leg. Walking her over to her comrade, Therex stopped before they rejoined the group and placed his hands on her shoulders. Terre looked up at him, and he opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him with a kiss. He was surprised for a moment, then held her closer to himself, exhaling in a sigh when she pulled away.

“That was to make up for Thomas interrupting the first time,” she whispered, her eyelids halfway shut.

Therex opened his mouth to reply, but Skarr cut him off.

“Therex, come here.”

Sighing, Therex handed Terre her helmet.

“Be safe,” he whispered before walking away and finding Skarr. He was standing with Hammer, and Mox around an upturned crate with a map. They were all filling him in, and Skarr was working on their next move. When he walked up, all three nodded at him.

“Fill me in Rex, how is the crew?”

“Well,” Therex said, removing his gauntlets. “I just patched up Terre, and I think she was the worst case. Everyone else just has minor scratches, burns, or breaks.”

“Any recommendations to add to our little brain pool here?” Skarr asked, motioning for him to sit at their makeshift table.

“I think we could use some rest. I could go around patching up the small injuries as needed. Maybe ten minutes or so. If that’s okay, I can go assign the priorities of our wounded.”

Skarr scratched his stubbled chin, and nodded.
“I agree. Go ahead. Keep your eyes open though.”

Replacing his gauntlet, Therex stood, and threw Skarr a quick salute before turning back to the squad...

And ran right into Terre.

“I heard you talking,” she murmured, looking up at him with a smirk on her face. “Thomas is flirting with Vidia, I thought I’d take a turn with you. Let me help.” Therex began to protest, but she stopped him, putting a finger over his mouth.

“Please?”

He sighed, then nodded slowly. “Just follow me, okay?”

“I’m not a newbie, Therex. I know how to work with you,” Terre said, raising an eyebrow at him. He sighed, laughing a little. “Besides, many hands make light work... And we might even have a little free time after.” She took his arm, leading him to the nearest wounded squadmate.

Therex knelt down and started examining the soldier, tearing bandages from whatever cloth he could find. It wasn’t very clean work, but it would hold them long enough to get out. Sighing, he knew he was going to see most of these men a second time, either under a white sheet, or on the operating table with an infection.

While he was focusing most of his attention on this new patient, he noticed Terre limping off to another soldier. She took his helmet off, and Therex recognized Jamasis. Terre looked around nervously, as though someone would catch her doing something, then whispered a few words in Jamasis’ ear, which he responded to by shaking his head vehemently. Terre seemed firm, and finally, Jamasis heaved a sigh, and nodded. Terre glanced around again, then slipped something into his hand. She hunched forward, and Therex couldn’t see for a moment. Then she stood and hobbled back to Therex.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Terre said, shifting her weight off of her right leg, not making eye contact with him.

“You’re lying to me. Why?”

“It’s nothing, Therex,” she said firmly, a warning in her voice.

“Terre, just tell me. What. Did. You. Do?”

She shifted again, then sighed. “I... I gave him my stim...”

Therex stared at her blankly for a moment. “What?”

“He needed it more than I did... I have a pack of cigs in my knapsack. I’ll be okay. He needed... /Something/...”

“I gave that to you for a reason. Mere cigarettes aren’t gonna do bullshit if you go into shock.” Terre looked down at the floor, stunned at his reaction. Therex sat back and covered his face with one hand. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget that a medic can’t let personal feelings get in the way. All that oath shit they made me do in the classes would have had me do the same.”

He brushed Terre’s cheek lightly, “I’m sorry.” Before Terre could reply, Therex shot up and looked around.

Steps. Footsteps. Not booted, like a Stormie, but light. Switching through several filters on his eye, Therex found the source. A small group of about six men were patrolling the tunnel ahead of them. Swearing, Therex ran over to Skarr.

“We have a problem.”

OOC:

1103 Words. A collaborative effort with Shanne. I don't expect this to turn into a firefight. More of an information revealing, hide and seek.

OOC:

GHOST 13/30

“Everyone back away, and spread out. Break out into your pairs and stay quiet, but try to make as much progress towards the target as possible.” Skarr ordered the moment Therex finished talking. “We can’t risk another firefight here; this whole place is about to fall on our heads...”

The two squads immediately separated into 7 pairs, and these backed away, each going into a different tunnel as it found one. Mox, his shoulder still hurting deeply from the shot, followed Gavin away from the patrol. Suddenly the foreign footsteps loudened: the patrol gave chase. Try to find us, idiots... Mox thought as he reached for Gavin, and threw him towards a smaller tunnel, more of a deep hole in the wall.

“What are you doing?” the man asked through the comm as he regained balance

“We gotta hide. We can’t just run away, these guys are sure to notice us.” Mox said as he crept into the hole. “This looks small enough not to collapse, but large enough for them not to notice us.”

The Zombie stood there for a second, apparently baffled by Mox’s idea. “Have I not taught you… anything?”

“Get in here, or run. But do it now, or they’ll see you.” Mox ignored his former mentor’s question, and pushed himself further into the hole. “Come on…”

“Fine, but we’ll regret this…” he said as put away his gun, while going into the hole, and readied his pistol.

The two Vast Imperialists waited for a while, before three pairs of white boots flashed across the corridor. The visibility wasn’t great, and so Mox couldn’t tell whether it was an enemy or friendly. They waited there for a few minutes, until the footsteps became nothing but mere echo, and then they left their hiding place, their carbines up to their eyes, ready to shoot.

“Right’s clear.” Mox said as strained his eyes to detect even faintest differences in the color, on his visor.

“Same as left…” Gavin replied, disbelief in his voice “It worked… Since when did Thrawn allow such idiots to be his scouts…”

“Come on, Gav. We gotta move ahead, remember what Skarr said.”

“Of course. Let’s move.”

The two troopers slowly moved forward, their carbines up to their faces. Mox connected his DataPad to his helmet, to show the VE’s map of the tunnels. Unfortunately, the map was fairly inaccurate, to the degree that almost 80% of the tunnels were either closed off – and they couldn’t risk the noise of breaking through them – or caved-in. Some were only partially caved in, and Mox wanted to try go through them, but Gav insisted on not risking an airstrike squashing them. “And you saw what happened to that girl from your squad. There could be more mines in there. Also, these ‘tunnels’ could become a dead end…”.

As the two men moved through the tunnels they started meeting up with other pairs, but each time they split at the next opportunity, following Skarr’s order. But soon enough the pair has ran into a couple of Vast Imperilist, taking cover behind various objects, constantly glancing over the edge. Mox quickly used his DataPad to identify the group, and it turned out to be Skarr’s, Hark’s and Therex’s pairs.

“What’s going on?” Gavin asked as he crouched next to one of the Zombies.

“There’s a Thrawnist checkpoint up ahead, and all the other entrances are either blocked off, more heavily guarded or just caved-in.” the man responded

“We’ll have to eliminate them silently…” Mox said as he peeked out at the enemy troopers. It was a noticeable group and Mox could see light more deeper on. “And it seems that they have power over there.”

“Yeah, we’re getting close…” Skarr said, leaning on a wall. “We’ll wait for everyone else, and then we’ll take them out.”

“But you said yourself that you don’t want to risk fire-“ Mox said, but was cut by his SL

“I know what I said, but we have to somehow to get through” the 1st Lieutenant looked over the cover into the enemy checkpoint. “And besides, it looks like this area wasn’t bombarded much; I don’t see a lot of cave-ins. It must be commonly used by the Thrawnist, as well as much sturdier.”

“So we wait?” Therex asked

“Yes.” The SL nodded “Hopefully they all managed to escape or evade that patrol and they’ll be here.”

Mox looked around. Having to crouch so that the enemy would not see them, the situation looked preety dire. The cover was plenty, but he bet that it was easily destroyable. They would have to most likely charge in and use an element of surprise to get into melee range and hopefully overpower the enemy.

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

“So, Strike Leader, what are we going to do?” corporal asked once the two squads reassembled, making sure his DC-17M was reloaded.

OOC:

WC: 811
We're preparing to enter the part of the tunnels where our maps end, but first we must get rid of the Thrawnist checkpoint.

OOC:

Wraith 7/30

Dark and damp with noticeable cracked and crusting walls, it was all too narrow for his comfort, Drex chuckled reminiscing of time spent in more comfortable holes in the ground. He held his breath for a moment and wondered why he found this amusing as he had done many times in the past, making him a sceptic of his own thoughts. Grimacing slightly as he stepped into a gritty paste like substance he crouched to examine his boot please don’t be a ground up trooper, that’s not a good signhe thought as he brought two coated fingers up to eye level. Drexhel sighed with relief, it appeared to be common water thickened by collecting dust, he stepped forward and continued briskly down the tunnel system, he had banked on catching his new squad before they’d gotten this far, he was once again paying the price for selectively hearing his briefing. He had captured the major details but had entirely neglected to pay attention to things like com channels, names or the loud complaints about him not listening. 

*SMACK* Drex struck his wrist com in frustration after tampering irresponsibly during the last few minutes of absent wandering, he stopped with sudden attention to his surroundings, still dark but a faint shuffling could be heard up ahead. He drew his side arm and began to trot, hunched over and light footed after a few seconds he could see the lone silhouette of a man standing in the wake of a very recent fire fight, he broke into a shoulder forward sprint, tackling the figure as he turned to meet Drex. Both men fell, as Drexhel landed he rolled, redirecting his aim on bended knee to his suspected enemy, he could see the armour was not friendly as he dropped the butt of his pistol, hard, onto his grounded opponents face. Standing up the Lance Corporal aimed a disarming kick and dragged the thrawnist to his feet, with the sharp ridge of his forearm he held the man by the throat, gun barrel pressed against his head. 

“Hello” Drex said with gleeful elevation in his voice “you’re a scout right? Following some troopers?” he grinned with a make my day kind of expression.

He could feel his captive gulp under the pressure of his arm as a managed to rasp a few words “Wha? No? Please?” Drexhels eyes shone with rage barely visible at a distance but he had drawn his head eye to eye with the man.

“You’re lying” he half sung in a shrill pitch “If you point me in the right direction” he paused for effect “I might not kill you”.

He pointed to a pathway of scattered rubble and scorch marks and gulped “They can’t be to far ahead, so you let me go?”.

Drex stifled a laugh as he pressed his gun to his skull “Um, no? Are you stupid?” he pulled the trigger replacing face with a large burning hole.

He looked at the scene ahead and muttered to himself “Kinda obvious now that I think about it, that hardly seemed necessary” he looked down at the corpse, knelt down and began rummaging, finding some credit chits, a spare clip and a seemingly active small datapad.

Drex walked carefully over the former battle zone, there had been very heavy fire, an almost decimated pile of rubble struck his notice as it has a small amount of burnt blood on it Someone’s hurt? That’s my job! this thought like many others struck him as odd as he broke into a full run in attempt to catch his future squad. He passed an E-WEB to meet two mangled sets of tracks perusing the runners? this one spurred him further he was not going to miss out on anymore fighting. He came to a small patch where the tracks seemed fresher, where the squad may have stood for a weapons check and a tactical talk, he knelt to confirm this and Drex was by no means a tracker. No sooner had he touched the ground was he barked upon with commands.

He cursed under his breath as he listened “Rank and name! Now!” there was no hesitance in this voice.

Drex decided he’d best not screw with them just yet “Lance Corporal Drex Helban, late assign to Wraith. Permission to not be shot at?”.  He was more nervous with being at gunpoint than anything else.

The speaker moved forward still with gun at the ready “can you prove it?”.

Drexhel fumbled around his pack looking for his datapad containing his brief on finding it he handed it over.

The man looked over it cautiously “It checks out but I don’t remember being notified of this” he lowered his weapon as did the two approaching troopers behind him “Sargent Dusk, squad leader of wraith” he spoke with an uplifted tone of pride.

“My assignment was very last minute, I’ve been trying to catch up for long enough, you guys move quick” Drex felt the tension leave but felt they may still be sceptical.

“fall in trooper we’re on the move, try to be a little more quiet, we heard you coming from miles off” Dusk had turned on heel to get back to the squad, one of his supports stood glancing him up and down with a measuring look about her, the other threw a quick nonchalant wave before he spoke.

“Sargent First Class Urakai, hope you pull your weight here” there was an almost joking side hint to his tone but with the sincere enough hope to be expected when stating something along those lines.

Urakai and the unidentified woman had now rushed off to now viewable larger pack, Drex didn’t take time to count as he joined, switching to his rifle and lightening his step, they moved at pace and with intensity, again if Drexhel had done more that skim the brief he’d know why. Urakai took the forward position, closely with the squad leader, the tracks they followed had a harder pat on the ash than when they began, deeper and more pronounced until a spilt in the pathway occurred.

Ura spoke to Dusk but audibly heard by all “More prints to the left, but I wonder why they broke apart?”

Dusk thought for a second “They could be leading us astray? They must know we’re following, but they could also be protecting something”.

Drex remembered the little datapad he’d taken from the scout on the way here “Maybe this has something on it?” he shook the thing eagerly.

Dusk extended his hand and retrieved it, with focus he looked it over. Drexhel stepped back to analyse the situation, he hadn’t yet decided where to place his own brand of fun.   

OOC:

WC: 1,123
I'm expecting to be a bit rusty, any complaints or if I've missed anything important give me a shout

His shoulder ached; the drugs had removed the pain but the arm still felt sluggish and heavy. On a more optimistic note, whether it was the drugs or a simple placebo effect, he definitely felt more upbeat. The same could not be said of anybody else. The squads were subdued, quieter than even Jamasis was comfortable with.

“You’d have thought someone had just died or something,” he remarked to nobody in particular. Apparently the recent loss of a few men in the withdrawal from the tunnels made that particular comment inappropriate as nobody deigned to reply to him. “Hey, wraith-person, what’s your name?” he continued, nudging the trooper closest to him.

“Reign.”

“Pretend for a minute that I’m an idiot-“

“Already done.”

“and explain to me why everybody’s freaking out right now.” Despite the helmet and tinted visor Jamasis could feel the eyes on him, uncertain if he was genuinely ignorant or not.

“Maybe because of the Jedi?”

“Now pretend I don’t know what a Jedi is.”

“A mythical warrior that apparently fights for our enemy? Whispered legends of heroism, of secret orders and so forth that dozens of soldiers have come back from the front line with? Supernatural powers and a weapon, like a vibroblade, but made of pure light that can cut through armour like paper?”

“Strike Team leaders, do we expect wildlife locally or is unidentified movement a problem here?

It’s a problem. Spread out and take cover.

Jamasis pressed himself up against a wall and peered inside the building. It had been burnt out from the inside though the exterior seemed intact. He clambered in through the window and made his way down the road from inside. There was nobody, nothing visible though the sound of distant fighting was more intense than it had been for weeks. Across the street other members of the strike teams crept along, all looking for the source of the disturbance. The sudden sound of footsteps to his left almost set Jamasis off firing, controlling himself just short of decimating a rather large, but clearly domesticated, dog. Stupid bastard, he thought as he let it lick his glove.

“It’s a dog,” Jamasis muttered into the comlink, and the squad continued onwards. Irritatingly the dog seemed inclined to follow, most likely having been abandoned since the majority of the population fled. In fact it seemed surprising no desperate trooper had decided to make the hound into a moderately tasty lunch. “You’re lucky I prefer cats for dinner,” he walked back towards the wraith trooper.

“So is a Jedi just a type of special forces trooper, or do they actually have some weird magical powers?”

“From what I heard they’re the most dangerous people in the galaxy. Most of the survivors were the last of their unit.”

“So if I shoot one in the face he dies?”

“It’s not that simple, they destroy entire units on their own. We haven’t killed or captured a single one. I didn’t even think the reports were accurate.”

“I’ve destroyed entire units on my own- I’ve even done it by accident. I sure as hell die if I get shot in the face. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“How are you even alive?”

“Hostiles are ahead, do we engage?” came the message over the comlink.

Is it another dog? Jamasis asked sarcastically.

“A dozen thrawnists one fifty metres ahead.

OOC:

WC: 563

The problem with being the best; and as far as Jamasis was concerned the strike teams were undoubtedly so, was that your needs tend to differ from the norm. Thrawnist soldiers almost exclusively used E-11 rifles, the same model as many of the empire’s troopers, and that meant both sides could survive off of each other’s lost supplies. Except when you were the best. Then you had a much greater selection of equipment to select from and Jamasis invariably went with his A280 rifle. This was ideal if not least because it meant he could always trust his gun to fire, whatever the conditions, provided he took good care of it. The downside was that useful ammunition was much harder to come across.

“They really should give them better weapons. For all his success grand admiral Thrawn could have killed me a dozen times over if more of his soldiers used armour-piercing rifles.”

“I’m sure killing you is his priority Jamasis. Do they have anything useful?” replied Skarr.

“Ammo for E-11’s, guess you could steal the armour if you’re really desperate.” He kept going through the dead men’s personal possessions and was amazed to find something resembling food. It tasted awful, in all honesty, but he had been on the move for hours now.

There was also a photograph in the trooper’s pouch. A young girl of around ten beamed at something behind the lens, presumably a daughter, perhaps a sister? Would she be waiting for this rapidly freezing corpse to come home and embrace her? She would probably cry when she found out, if she ever found out more than M.I.A. There would be upset family, devastated friends, those who hadn’t already been killed in the conflict. Jamasis was pretty sure he didn’t feel guilt over any of this, but he felt something out of place. Again his memories couldn’t explain the feeling in his stomach that something was missing.

Salken, you’re one good explanation away from me removing every organ from your body individually.

“Jamasis, we’re moving out.” He looked around and noticed everybody else seemed to be getting to leave, whilst one of the wraith troopers was being helped to his feet by a medic. He silently berated himself for completely losing focus.

That was the other drawback of being the best. Regular troopers got sleep, not much, but they got a little. Strike teams could function more effectively with less, but a tired strike team would be given another job to do, then another and then another. It built up beyond what anybody could handle.

“How far is it back to our area?” Jamasis asked.

“Apparently things are shifting around right now. It’s only around a kilometre to our destination though.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be deep behind our lines?” queried someone else.

“Like I said, things are shifting around. Until we get told something else we keep going forwards,” ordered Skarr.

So we’re going from fight to fight without a break and the lines are more blurred than ever? This should be fun. The possibility of testing himself in some massive conflict set in a ruined city actually cheered him up.

OOC:

WC: 526