In 7 ABY the Krytos Virus was unleashed on Coruscant.

The Mandaolorian Fever, Candorian Plague and the Emperor's Plague soon followed on other populated worlds.

In 11 ABY the Treaty of Vinsoth was signed to restrict the use of Bioweapons in warfare.

All major combatants have agreed to a cease fire to deal with their losses…for now.





Late 11 ABY - Rayjoy Supply Depot - Corellian Spine.

“Hurry the hell up Manti.”

The voice carried down the maintenance shaft to Manti’s ears as he fought with the air reclamation unit. His teeth clenched down on the small remains of the lit cigar in his mouth as he muttered curses to nobody in particular.

The air units throughout the station had gone haywire over the past week. One after another they overloaded and entered emergency shutdown, sending the visitors to Rayjoy into a series of drunken rants that got on Manti’s last nerve. Since the space jockey’s that visited were either military types or smugglers in graduated levels of legal distress, the simple mechanic preferred to just avoid them until they moved on.

“Manti!”

A growl was the only response, as Manti reached farther into the unit, his entire arm disappearing behind its compressor in the hopes of finding the wire that had rotted. All the units on the station were outdated and falling apart. He never would have guessed that he would have a week from hell where they all decided to take a shit on him, but he supposed that was why the Gods had made whiskey.

“Manti, dammit!”

With a final curse the mechanic turned his head towards the guard at the end of the maintenance shaft and yanked the cigar from his mouth. Words died on his lips as he watched the Bothan cough and vomit blood between ragged breaths.

“What the hell.” Manti muttered.

Manti moved to get his arm out of the air unit to find it stuck more out of his panic than a physical blockage. His legs pushed him back away from his co-worker in horror at the sight. Everyone knew the rapid onset that was a sign of the plagues, once it was in the air system it was all over.

“It...was in…the ship…” The Bothan slumped and the gurgled breathing faded into silence.

===~~~===

Late 11 ABY – Tadath – Fort Sexton – Command Information Center

The swirling image of the planet Corlaris rotated in a blur before her eyes. The final strike teams had reported back and none of them had been even remotely inspiring. Havock glared as the cold mug of caf next to the discarded datapads at her station.

“Major, just got a new one.” Garryll Gates approached the tired
Executive Officer with another datapad in his outstretched hand.

“Might be the last, I think their losing it. This one has swords and things flying around the rooms.”

“Saying that’s not possible Gates?”

“I’m saying if it is, the people doing it wouldn’t be that sloppy.”

Havock’s eyes narrowed and allowed a faint smirk to touch her
features as she took the pad. Corlaris was a key vantage point against the Remnant, and it was one they had fought a long, hard, cold winter to take. Even if “take” was a relative term to use given the circumstances. The government had fallen and been replaced by politicians sympathetic to the Vast Empire.

Fracking politicians.

The bastards may have been willing to talk to the High Command, but helpful wouldn’t have been the adjective Havock would have used to describe any of the snakes. They were self-serving short sighted idiots just like any other politician, and had zero control over the military which was heavily in the pocket of the Remnant.

The sum total of their efforts was a net gain of nothing. They still couldn’t consider Corlaris a useful asset; it was a hollow victory if they could even call it that.

“Skarr.”

Norith Skarr moved quickly from the doorway of the CIC to stand by his former squad leader. “Yea boss?”

“What’s the sitrep on the strike teams?” She tossed the newest datapad to the pile and rubbed her temple while she listened.

The experiment that was Phantom Platoon had done its job. They infiltrated Corlaris and fought a ground war for longer than most could imagine. Now they had spent two months on furlough with a healthy provision of meds and psych appointments.

“They’ll do their job, Major.”

Havock looked at the man and nodded. “Round them up then, I’ve got work for them to do.”

===~~~===

11 ABY – Tadath – Fort Sexton

The seats of the mission room filled quickly as the members of Wildcard platoon returned from their furlough. Havock wished she could give them another two months, but a draw did nothing for moral, the VEA needed a win and a big one.

Havock made eye contact with Skarr, “we ready L.T.?”

He nodded and she pushed a button bringing the holoemitter to life in the center of the room. “This is the Rayjoy Supply Depot. It’s a piece of shit orbital platform used for merchants, smugglers and the Imperial Remnant. Personally I’d like to kick every single one of these assholes in the nuts, but you lucky troopers get to do it.”

The image zoomed in and highlighted several key targets in red circles.

“Two weeks ago we received information that the Rayjoy Depot went dark. We got some pretty nasty comm chatter just before that, which indicates that the whole place may be infected.”

A few troopers leaned closer and incoherent whispers traveled all the way to the podium.

“You are being outfitted with scrubbers in your helmet’s, as long as you keep them on you should be fine.”

Several eyebrows went up at the word should, but Havock quickly continued.

“Your primary objective is to set explosive charges and take out the orbital platform. No more of this beating around the bush political crap. We are ramming a fist through their toys and blowing them to kingdom come.”

“Raiders, you will secure the command center. If anything moves you put it down. Keep your eye out for a priority target -  Ship Commander Tye Latryl. He’s little more than a glorified civvie, but he may have decent intel. You’ll find that you’ve also been outfitted with some interrogation gear, its new and techy so read the manual before you go poking shit. Once the CIC and Latryl are secure radio in for new objectives.”

“Blackjack, you will head directly to the core of the station, might have to crawl through some ducts…or blow a few holes in walls, whatever gets your rocks off, but I’d prefer you get there as quickly as possible. Place the charges and radio back that you are five by five. Please don’t blow up the station with Raiders still in the CIC, or you’ll do the paperwork.”

“The last thing I’d like to mention is that one of the ships docked had some nice intel on a new fighter pod the R&D guys are just pissing themselves to get their hands on. Anyone that finds it and retrieves a good copy of the data will get a present, from me.”
With a final look around the room Havock shrugged. “So what are you ladies looking at? Get your gear and get your asses on the shuttle, I’ve got paperwork to not do.”

OOC:

many Bothan’s died to bring us this post… 

Assault on Rayjoy Supply Depot

RSD is an orbital platform used by corporations along the Corellian Spine to funnel supplies to troops. Knocking out the platform would secure a strong target for our invasion plans.

Toxic Warning: The levels of Toxicity on the Depot are higher than normal level and all personnel should remain in full SCOPE environmental gear throughout the mission to reduce chance of exposure to toxins.

The reason for the high toxic levels are unknown.

Primary Objective: Use explosive charges to take out the orbital platform and render the enemy crippled in the theater.

Blackjack: Make way to central core and place explosive charges.
Raiders: Secure command center clear out all enemy presence, high priority target: Ship Commander Tye Latryl

    * Bonus Objective: Locate and secure top secret RnD project: AD-12 Fighter Pod

Equipment: SCOPE environmental suits (basically just full SCOPE trooper armor plus some kinda upgrade to the helmet), Personal Weapons are all good as long as they are within the realm of reality I’d prefer more weapon specification (colors/tags/names on rifle), SCOPE armor color is SL’s choice.

The aid was beginning to get nervous. To the human eye the details might have been less obvious. The steady twitching of his fingers on the keypad before him as he sought to immerse himself in the report he still hadn’t filed. The casual flicker of an eyelid as his gaze gravitated to the waiting room chairs almost against his will. All in all the young Lieutenant was doing a fine job in maintaining his composure outwardly. He might have fooled Mai if she were not a hunter. He might have fooled her had she not been Cathar.

The senses of the young huntress told an entirely different story. After several minutes of enduring Mai’s relentless and unblinking golden stare the man’s heartbeat had elevated. Though her hearing was not in the realms of the supernatural, it was nonetheless sensitive enough to ascertain that her prey was becoming nervous. The Lieutenant’s sweat glands had also betrayed him, reacting to the slow rush of adrenaline now slithering through his veins. The pungent odour of the man’s fear was a heavy flavour on Mai’s tongue. Almost languidly she stretched in place, rolling her back against the curve of the chair in which she waited, parting her teeth and flicking her tongue across her lower lip to get a better taste.

“Delicious.” She announced to the empty room, causing the aid to jolt in his place behind the desk. As the man forcefully swallowed the lump of unease that had lodged itself in his throat Mai tilted her head back further and allowed the slow smile of a predator to pull at her features.

“What did I tell you about playing with my subordinates?”

The voice of Mai’s new master interrupted any further amusement. Her smile vanished as she turned in her chair to regard the woman standing in the doorway. Whilst not particularly physically imposing, Havock Katash had the air of one who was an established killer. Any such skill would demand respect on the plains of her homeworld. Of course any brainless brute could also garner respect at the hands of her people, and that was one of the many reasons why she had rejected them and their archaic traditions. 

“I’m not playing,” Mai responded languidly as she came to her feet. “I’m simply bored.”

“I need that report in an hour.” Havock told the Lieutenant as she swept past him, dumping the trappings of her uniform on his desk as she did so. The man shot her a salute and a grateful smile as she vanished into the interior of her office, Mai forced to follow on her heels.

“I need you to accompany my Platoon to Rayjoy,” Havock began unceremoniously as soon as Mai moved through the doorway of her office.

“Am I to play babysitter?” Mai said as she moved to the extravagant desk in the center of the room. Her eyes followed Havock as she stalked about the room, uprooting files and casting clumps of paper aside. For a Major in the Vast Empire Army, Havock Katash was a terribly disorganised administrator.

“I need you as my eyes and ears,” Havock said, tossing her hands up in exasperation and sweeping the cyclone of papers into a nearby bin. “Screw that. I’ll give you unofficial permission to do as you wish and go as you please within the confines of the mission. Diplomatic immunity if you wish. Don’t know why I have to fill out a freaking form to do it.” She paused to slump in her chair and pour a cup of caf from the machine mounted on the edge of the desk. “High Command must simply delight in coming up with new ways to piss me off.”

“A scout then,” Mai curled herself into the chair opposite Havock and accepting a proffered cup of the dark brew. “To what end?”

“I don’t want a repeat of Corlasis.” Havock stated simply. It was an aspect of the woman that Mai liked. Her blunt honesty.

Mai held the cup of caf beneath her nose, drawing in a deep whiff of the blend of spices, before taking a small sip of the bitter liquid and putting it aside. “You need a decisive victory,” She finally said aloud. “No half-measures.”

Havock nodded and set her own caf aside. The woman leaned forward, running a hand through the dishevelled mop of blonde fur on her head. “Any means necessary.” She said, her blue eyes locked on Mai. “Is that clear?”

“Perfectly,” Mai answered. She moved back to her feet in the blink of an eye, a seamless manoeuvre that spoke volumes of her capacity to move swiftly. As she turned to go she offered Havock the mimicry of a courtly bow before speaking again. “I will be in touch.”

The hint of a smile played across Havock’s features at her impudence. Unlike the majority of her peers, she was amused by the Cathar’s arrogance in the face of protocol. Indeed it had been Mai’s haughty defiance before the sights of a firing squad that had caused the Major to intervene and save her life. For someone who spent every day of her waking life conforming to rules and regulations and surrounded by men and women who did the same, the Cathar huntress was a breath of fresh air.

“Be careful out there,” Havock called after Mai as she stalked from the office. “And remember, we’re all on the same side!”

Mai snorted to herself as she swept past the frozen Liuetenant and back out into the corridors of the CIC. The same side…perhaps. But that did not mean that she couldn’t test the boundaries of what constituted an allegiance. She smiled to herself as she swayed down the hallway towards where the ships that would bear the squads waited in a nearby hangar.

The last mission she had been on as a member of the VEA had resulted in her being court-martialed. Who knew what Rayjoy held in store for her.

Assistant squad leader? These superiors have one hell of a sense of humour Drexhel shook his head slowly from side to side as he checked over his gear. The new armor was just that, fresh out of the box and still baring a slight sheen, he gave his DE-10 a light tap as if reassuring the weapon then slung his T-21 to a loose hang over his shoulder before stepping out the Blackjack barracks door. Directly to his left as he cleared the threshold, stood a man slightly over a foot taller than Drex inspecting knife with a mild tint of admiration playing around his face. After observing for a few seconds the man drew his eyes from the blade to Drex who smirked and clicked his tongue.

“Lance Corporal Drex Helban, that’s a nice blade, shiny” his eyes flashed as the last word parted with his lips.

“It’s sharp to” the man grinned wide “Private first class Dac Harick”.

Drex rattled his fingers in fours across the plate on his left leg “So you must need a custom job for your armor huh?”.

“Drex” the semi warding tone of his Squad Leader floated by his ear from just over ten foot away, he took a glance over his shoulder to see Skarr standing with yet another Trooper taller than his own frame.

His head tilted back to look up at Dac “I’ll find out later” he smirked again took a step back to meet the red eyes of the second to last trooper to walk from the barracks followed by the last, a young woman and the only squad mate shorter than he was.

He gave both a small nod before turning with a spring in his step to the front of the pack, Skarr stood looking round the gathering troopers before calling out to one not yet moving.

“Karash, you all set?” .  He called out to a man who sat a little out of sight.

“Yep, just finished packing up medical supplies” He called back as he moved to meet the others.

“Alright Blackjack lets get a move on, the shuttle isn’t far from here, you know your brief so lets get to it”.

The quick chorus of yes sir made Drex reminisce of the last time he’d actually been present for the squad shuttle ride, short live by the fact he genuinely couldn’t remember the event. The though was quickly removed and replaced by the absence of mind he instilled during the walk from base, he considered it to be like death row waiting on an unspecified execution,  he’d be shot at no question.

He double stepped his pace briefly to catch Skarr, he’d known the man for quite some time and was in fact one of the few people Drexhel would lend an ear to. He tapped lightly at his shoulder and moved to his side.

“Mind clearing a few things up” Drex looked straight ahead as he spoke”.

Skarr did the same as he replied “Why the new position?”

Laughing lightly he turned his head “No, I still suspect a practical joke is running here,  I mean literal clear up, the stink of manufacturing grade polish in the barracks is going to kill me before the enemy does”.

With slightly raised eyebrows the SL replied “I’ll see what I can do if you avoid antagonising the rest of the squad”.

Drex paused for a second in thought “Anta- you mean Dac? I was just bridging out” the flicker of a smile passed twitched the corners of his lips.

Noticed by Skarr who spoke with sincerity in his question “You’re going to be a pain in my ass aren’t you?”.

Drexhel shook his head in the classic no motion “wouldn’t dream of it” he winked then fell back a little to the middle of the group.

Imperial Remnant Shuttle - En Route to Rayjoy Supply Depot

Lieutenant Pytr Blane stood firm in his crisp Imperial Remnant uniform. He had heard the reports from Colaris, and the hollow victory securing the military had been. The irony was that the piss-ant Vast Empire probably saw it has a victory as well. Blane didn’t care, he had half a platoon to command. Two squads of skiddish men sat in uncomfortable silence on the small transport shuttle. They had all been on the ground on Colaris, all except for Blane. That meant that he was surrounded by heavily armored men with certain mental trauma that wanted nothing to do with the untested Lieutenant.

They had to save a supply depot, it was difficult to keep a straight face in the briefing and the thought wasn’t much better. These soldiers needed a break, a true shore leave, not a few weeks off and a bull shit assignment. They need a stiff drink and a good lay, and it was all over their faces.

A young man approached his commanding officer with a datapad in his hands. “L.T., the long range scans show nothing on that supply depot.” 

Blane ran a frustrated hand through his short black hair. “Great, just what we needed.”

“No sir, you don’t understand. There should be something, workers, techs, Latryl.”

Blane raised an eyebrow. “Why do I care about the latrines?”

Corporal Ciyrl rolled his eyes. “Latryl sir, the CO of the Rayjoy.”

“Right, right.” A pair of tired brown eyes ran over the information, or lack thereof, on the datapad. “This doesn’t change our objective Corporal. Regardless of what happened to the depot we just need to get it operational. I’ll request command open job applications once we’ve cleaned the place up for them.”

Ciyrl scowled but kept his opinions to himself choosing instead to salute and turn back to the cockpit.

They would be on Rayjoy in six more hours, and Blane had paperwork to do.

===~~~===

Tadath - Fort Sexton - CIC

“The shuttle is just about to take off, Major.”

Havock grabbed the datapad as she walked through the CIC, a doughnut in the other hand.

“What is their ETA to the supply depot?” The final word was cut off by the pastry being inhaled by her mouth. It was the first thing she had eaten in hours, possibly days, and she intending on giving the Sergeant that brought them a damn promotion.

“Six hours, give or take twenty minutes.”

Havock tapped several keys on the holovid with sticky fingers and stepped back to look at the display. Rayjoy Depot was clearly marked on the map along with Wildcard’s currently static location.

A dozen or so blips randomly made their way through the display but they were faded and a neutral bluish color.

Havock had finally finished cleaning her hand and was reaching for her cold cup of caf that remained unfinished on her station.

The only thing they could do now was wait and monitor the comm traffic while the squads were in transport. It was the worst part of the missions for the young XO. Ayme Katash was used to action, she had been a squad leader then the command ranks started.

Missions being sent to the middle of nowhere, being captured, spending months in the same uniform, none of that was nearly as bad as the damn waiting. 

OOC:

Just a small post to give you an idea of how us AHC people might be participating in this little shindig. Also included a bit of info on the troopers you will find on the depot when you arrive. Keep in mind you don't know they are there but command may find out, if we pay attention to the holovid >.>.

Consider everyone whose going already on the shuttle, next posts should be on the shuttle en route to RSD.

When Terre got all riled up like this, Therex was usually very uneasy. She was a strong woman, and he was surprised at how much she had endured. But she still had her moments. He worried that somewhere under the surface sat a volcano that would erupt at the worst possible time. Slowly stroking her hair, he felt her body rise and fall with each breath. Shifting slightly under her weight, Therex felt the codpiece ride up again.

“Damn new armor,” he whispered quietly, trying to adjust without waking Terre.

After the troublesome piece of protection had been dislodged from his crotch, Therex sighed in relief. Years of scars and he could still be defeated by a lowly set of fresh armor. Slowly, he slid his leg out from under Terre’s head and laid her down on a pillow made of his oversized trench coat. Standing, he stretched out, surprised that the armor still fit his 6’6” frame. Adjusting the belt, he checked his armaments. He was obliged to carry the pitiful E-11 rifle, but still kept a revolver close by. It was one of a set, heavily modified, capable of holding twice the number of standard rounds, and outfitted with a quick reload, chamber switching system. Continuing around the belt, he found his knife, a length of synthcord, and his medic’s satchel. Skarr popped his head back in real quick, opening his mouth to say something, but after seeing Terre sleeping, decided to wait. Nodding at him, Therex sat back down next to her, and pondered the mission ahead. What information he had was not retained well. He didn’t remember much from the briefing, but with a long flight ahead of them, he had a solution.

Lifting one leg up, he removed the armor plating, and placed it aside. Tapping just below the knee, a small power pack ejected itself from under the skin, pushing back folds of synthflesh and revealing the metal inner workings of his prosthetic. Plugging it in, Therex leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the small orb that resided where his left eye once was playback the entire recorded briefing. Slowly, he dozed off as well, leaning slightly against Terre’s frame.

He didn’t dream often, quite frankly, he hadn’t dreamt in years. Instead, the voices in his head talked to him. And they weren’t polite about it either. They shouted at him, reminding him of past sins like imps, determined to make his every sleeping and waking moment a nightmare in hell. Jolting awake, Therex realized that his face was sweaty and his hands were shaking. However, waking up wasn’t helping too much. Still the voices whispered at the back of his head, screaming for their release.

But Therex knew better. He knew how to control it. This thing that sought to destroy him and all he cared about. The monster that lived within.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Therex nudged Terre lightly, making her roll over. Slowly, he placed his head next to hers on the bench, but kept his eyes open. Somehow, being near Terre helped quiet the voices. It was peaceful. Eventually he allowed himself to drift off again, this time greeted with silence.

OOC:

RAIDERS

Sitting in his cabin Mox already had the newly-manufactured armour on. Occasionally he had to adjust a few pieces in it, due to their stiffness and such, but he thought that the longer he wore the whole body suit, the easier it will become to endure fast movement in it. He even wore his helmet, trying to get used to the smell of the electronics. The steel and quartzite panels were a usual smells for someone who often dabbled in electronics, but when it’s freshly made, it still had to get some using to.

“Again?” he muttered to himself as a compile error appeared on his screen.

Mox, holding his DataPad in hand, was working for the past month on a little project, something to do, besides training his freerunning abilities, and trying to get his new “hidden” vibroblades to work. Luckily for him, the house he received from the Vast Empire was on an edge between a small forest and a city with a couple of skyscrapers. His training in electronics also allowed him to finally finish the said vibroblades, and he mounted them onto a pair of custom made gauntlets. But the one thing he did not feel satisfied with was his coding project, started mainly to keep both his slicing and coding abilities up to par. He hadn’t finish it yet, though Mox himself had no idea when he would consider it finished. He just kept adding further modules onto it. He wasn’t sure where he was going with it, not even if it’s going to be a useful application, but the young slicer did not worry about such things.

“20 minutes ETA” a voice boomed through the speakers in the shuttle

At last… Mox thought. He saved and shutdown the coder, put away his DataPad, and looked back at his gear. Sighing, he thought of what the battle to come will be like. Perhaps his new blades will come to use, perhaps not. He stood up, and went to equip himself. Ammo cartridges and various smaller items ended up in the belt pockets. Grenades and DC-17M attachments were clipped to the belt itself, along with the pistol. The rifle went onto his back.

“Alright, I’m ready.” he muttered to himself and left the cabin. Activating the HUD he glanced at the time 10 minutes…. Mox walked towards the exit hatches with a confident stride. When he reached them, he found he was the first person there. But soon enough the Wildcard started filling up the room, and minutes later the speakers came back to life.

“Alright, docking in. Hold tight.”

“I wonder if there’s going to be any resistance…” one of the newly promoted trainees remarked.

“There always is...” Heliwer replied briskly as he loaded up his gun.

“Touchdown, opening the gate. We’re going to wait for you here.” the pilot’s voice once again sounded from the speakers.

“Roger that, see you soon.” Skarr spoke into his comm

As the gates opened Dusk called out “Alright, Wildcard, let’s move out.”

Mox unclipped his carbine from his back and jogged out of the station,  sights up to his visors. But as soon as he laid eyes on the station itself, nausea filled his body.

“Dead bodies… dead bodies everywhere…” one of the trainees said.

“Don’t take off your helmets! The air is what’s killed them.” Skarr shouted out, as one of them almost reached for his helmet.

Surprised by his reaction, the amount of bodies, and the overall bloody paintjob, Mox did his best to hold all of his bodily fluids inside. Lowering his rifle, he strode across the hangar, looking across all the lifeless forms.

“I don’t think we have to destroy this station… whatever did this to them… has done the destroying for us. This place is unusable.” Mox remarked as he turned around to face the platoon.

“Command is aware of that. We have our orders, though.”  Dusk said as he slowly looked around himself.

“Alright, RAIDERS. Let’s go.” Dusk’s voice came through the comm, and the squadron started to head for the R&D department.

“Heliwer, where is that resistance of yours?” one of the newer RAIDERS said. Mox still didn’t get around to recognising their voices, and matching them to the faces.

“It’s there… you’ll see.”

“How long ‘til the we reach the R&D department?” Mox asked his new SL

“Not long. Few more corridors, and if this gas is all that’s dangerous, we’ll be fine.”

“If that really is the only dangerous thing here, Dusk.” Heliwer remarked.

“Command didn’t mention anything of armed onboard forces.” Dusk replied, his tone becoming slowly irritated “And it seems everyone on board was killed by the toxin, wherever it came from. Relax.”

The squad quickened the pace regardless, mainly due to their will to finish their objectives and get off the station.

Relax…

OOC:

WC: 807
So, we arrived. Bloodied bodies are everywhere, and RAIDERS are already on its way(BlackJack probably as well).
I assume that the Dominion has not arrived.

“FDO reports they are on Rayjoy, ma’am.”

Havock raised an eyebrow to the Corporal delivering the message. Her eyes flew quickly to the nearest chrono, wildly flashing around the room as her mind attempted to remember which console contained the time.

“It’s barely been seven hours, Fido how the hell did they arrive so fast?”

Major Gates jogged lightly up to the command console to stand next to Havock. She glanced at him but didn’t interrupt as he updated the holo image of the Rayjoy Supply Depot to zoom into a cross section of the structure.

“They are there; Raiders appear to have rushed into the hanger, or at least part of them.”

A Lieutenant from the surgeon station stood quickly. “Ma’am we may have a problem. The first Raiders to touch ground may have an issue, he doesn’t seem to be aware that there’s another squad on the transport.”

The FAO perked up, “that could be a HUD issue, let me do a scan.”

“Stand down boys, he’s not losing his mind, he’s just an idiot.”

Havock’s eyes narrowed on the holo display, her mind ignoring any further commentary from the command crew. “What is that Gates?”

Garryll frowned at the display. “What is what Hav?”

With a sigh she pointed to the small faded blip two levels up and adjacent to the hanger Wildcard had landed.

“Capcom, get me a report from the SL’s. GNC clean that blip up and report.” Garryll barked the commands as he started pressing controls on the holo display.

The GNC came back first. “Sir, looks like a transport, not getting clear ID, but she fits with Remnant tech.”

“SL’s report is five by five on hanger disembark Major.”

Havock leaned heavily on the corner of the console, her red
rimmed eyes slowly turning to the Tactical Officer. “Gar, we’ve got company.”

Gates nodded solemnly, “Capcom update the SL’s, we have a transport docking two levels from their location, weapons free.”

OOC:

In case anyone wonders I just used the NASA command center names for the command center jobs in the post. If you would like to see a full list of them, they can be found here: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_People_Behind_the_Astronauts.html. Sorry if the post is a bit blah/short, I’m wicked tired but wanted to get something up before I go back to grad school paper due mode.

Keep up the good work!

Mai spent the entire shuttle ride secreted away in the cockpit of the shuttle. Dressed as she was in nondescript light armour, black without any rank or squad markings of any kind, sitting in the rear of the shuttle would have only drawn attention. The co-pilot’s questions about her authorisation and presence on the mission had been repeatedly ignored until his colleague had shot him a look of warning. Some questions were best left unanswered. Particularly when her authorisation came from CIC.

It was only when the shuttle touched down, its magnetic seals locking the ship securely into place on the side of the Rayjoy station, that Mai moved back into the rear of the shuttle. The two squads were unclipping themselves from safety harnesses and doing a final check of their weapons. As the respective squad leaders gave final directions to their people, Mai slipped into the rear of the group, unnoticed in the final rabble that general preceded the beginning of a mission.  She followed them down the ramp and past the final magnetic seal. For this particular foray she, like the rest of the task force, would be forced to keep her helmet on.  While the inhibition to her sense of smell and hearing would be notable there was simply no way she could risk contamination until they had further information about what had befallen the stations inhabitants.

Despite the inadequate filters of her helmet, Mai could actually hear the warning hiss of the Barabel before she became aware that she was being watched. The lumbering armoured form of the lizard trooper had lingered behind the rest of his squad, the visor of his helmet tilted in a quizzical fashion towards her. Frowning beneath her own helmet, Mai slipped further into the press of soldiers to her left, seeking to lose herself amongst them. It was the discovery of the first of the station’s dead residents that provided the distraction she needed to slip away.

“Dead bodies….dead bodies everywhere.”

The first of the uncontrolled chatter, emerging from a jittery trooper, burst over the VE encryption. Several more voices clamoured over the top of each other as a group of technicians, their limbs caked with copious amounts of dried blood, became visible under the sheen of shoulder-mounted flashlights.

Mai ducked a shoulder and slipped down a maintenance tunnel. Moving quickly to increase the distance between herself and the two squads, she flicked her own light off and instead chose to rely on the HUD of her helmet and its inbuilt night vision. She had been given express orders to remain unseen and she fully intended to obey them. Unlike a great deal of Katash’s commands, this one had merit.

Almost as her thoughts turned to her master, she flicked a tongue out and switched her comm over to a private channel. Havock’s voice sounded immediately in her ear.

“Report.”

“In position.” Mai responded, continuing down the hallway at a loping trot as she did so. The corridor branched several meters ahead of her. After a quick check of the map hovering at the top-right of her HUD, next to a display of her suit’s power levels, she veered to the right and persisted deeper into the station.

There was a moment of silence before Havock spoke again. “I have the viral research and development team on hold. Can you get a sample of what we’re dealing with here?”

“One moment.” Mai said, slowing and coming to a halt besides the next crumpled form splayed in the open space before her. Dropping down to one knee, she pulled the small diagnostic pack clipped securely to her belt free and thumbed the power button on the side of the device. It let out a series of beeps before a long cylindrical section of the pack slid free and extended.

“Transferring.” Mai announced simply as she jabbed the tube unceremoniously into the neck of the corpse before her. Since the woman, a technician of some form judging from her uniform, had only been dead for a few hours the arterial blood would have only just begun to coagulate.

“Keep moving,” Havock said after a few more minutes. “We have reports of unidentified ships in the sector. You may have company shortly.”

Mai came slowly to her feet, leaving the diagnostic kit plugged into the unfortunate corpse.

“Do you want me to go and meet them?” She asked drily, still not comfortable with the clear imbalance of power in this particular relationship.

“No,” Havock’s reply was succinct. “I’ll link you onto the research team and they can keep you updated. Your current objectives stand. The virus is your top priority.”

“Understood.” Mai answered, the words tasting bitter in her mouth. The call of the hunt was the strongest when your enemy was unaware of your presence. The urge to stalk and strike down potential foes regardless of her orders was particularly strong. The cloak and dagger missions that Katash was fond of throwing at her would never benas appealing as the simple thrill of a kill.

Her lips pulled back beneath her helmet in a silent snarl as she turned and bounded off into the darkness.

They were not given the chance to decide the next move. A clearly audible shout came from the corridors ahead of them. It was closely followed by a hail of blaster fire. The squad reacted with terrifying speed and efficiency.

Jamasis and Skarr poked their rifles around the corner of the intersection and let loose a volley of covering fire. At the same moment Hammerhead and Therex rolled across the open corridor, putting themselves at great personal risk. The pair were up in a flash and adding to the return fire; one crouching down so both could get a view down the length of the corridor.

One of the advantages of the E-45 over the older E-11 was the ability of the barrel mounted camera to link to a SCOPE HUD. It was perfectly suited to the urban environments that the special forces squads often operated in. *

Khalldryn kept to the rear of the group. He covered a possible flanking route, his fletchette launcher more than capable of turning the narrow corridor into a choke point and preventing this. More importantly, he was keeping the explosives out of the line of fire.

Khalldryn linked his HUD to the views of the soldiers on the front line. There were only two or three soldiers returning fire. They had overturned a table or some kind of object to form cover ahead of Blackjack. That meant there was a possibility that the rest of the squad was either shoring up their position, or attempting to flank. Regardless, the enemy squad was now holding a position between Wildcard and its objectives.

The Remnant squad may have lacked the E-45s advanced functionality, but one of them had a heavy rifle with extra punch. The Blackjack men at the front line almost immediately spotted the rifle-mounted grenade launcher and shouted out a warning.

There was a loud thunk and the grenade was launched down the length of the corridor. The four soldiers holding the front corridor had started to duck for cover, but were still thrown from their feet. In the smoke Khalldryn lost track of what was going on.

Deciding to abandon his post he rushed forwards into the mayhem. Blackjack troopers were getting back to their footing all around him. No one was returning fire at the Remnant squad. In the smoke Khalldryn almost rang headlong into a Remnant soldier.

Khalldryn almost ran straight over the top of him, he was lucky the soldier didn’t have his rifle pointing directly at him or he would have taken a blaster bolt to the stomach. Instead he let his momentum carry him forwards, bowling the soldier over with only his tail allowing him to keep his footing.
Both Khalldryn and the Remnant soldier lost their main weapons in the collision. The Remnant soldier reached for a sidearm. The great lizard started stamping with impunity. His first stamp broke an arm and dislodged the pistol, the second definitely cracked some ribs. The soldier tried to crawl away, but Khalldryn kept stamping.

Drexhel and Terre already rushed through the grenade smoke to shore up the gap. The first returning fire, gunning down the second Remnant soldier who had tried to rush them. The second already had a grenade primed and threw it down the corridor.

Khalldryn reached down and grasped the Remnant soldier’s head with both hands. He gave out a futile cry, but the Barabel slammed it back down into the deck repeatedly until the body went limp.

Hammerhead was still down to his right, but Khalldryn soon realised that this was enforced by Karash. “Stay still!” the medic shouted as he checked the suit over. “You’re clear, no breach.” He added a few moments later.

“Watch for that grenade launcher!” Skarr shouted. The survivors of the first blast were all back on their feet now, albeit shakily. Whilst the Remnant were two down, the problem still remained; their forces were entrenched ahead of Wildcard.

“Jamasis, Khalldryn, break right and try to flank. Therex, Terre , go left.” Skarr ordered.

Khalldryn double checked the Remnant soldier for signs of life and then collected his fletchette launcher. He followed Jamasis out of a door to the right, entering what appeared to be a data centre. They leapfrogged through the computer racks, alternately advancing and providing cover. Khalldryn linked his HUD to the views from Skarr and Terre, keeping tabs on the other two groups. The firefight in the main corridor remained fierce, but neither side seemed to want to risk any more causalities. One of the flanking groups would have to find a route around soon, hopefully before the Remnant did the same!

OOC:

Remnant get the drop on us, but we hold the line and take two of them down. Squad splits two flanking groups off to try and find a way to surround them.
*http://www.vastempire.com/wiki/E45_Blaster_Rifle

OOC:

RAIDERS

“Sir, I hear footsteps falling ahead of us.” one of the trainees said as pointed his rifle down the corridor.

The corridors on this station, unlike the hangar, were not very spacious.  They could hold at most three people next to each other, and this could prove to be fatal as there was no cover around. Looking around Mox tried to find a duct, as he felt that confronting the enemy squad would only result in relatively massive casualties for both sides. Wait a second… he suddenly thought as an idea struck him.

“Dusk, I’m a qualified technician. Meaning the army high command has allowed me to carry EMP grenades. One or two of these, some knifes or blasterfire and we should be good.” Mox conveyed his idea over to his squad mates “And we would reduce the chance of them finding our transport.”

“That’s… not a bad idea.” Dusk said after a moment of thought “How many of them do you have?”

“Four.” Mox replied “They’re pretty small compared to frags.”

“Alright, let’s fall back to the nearest crossing. This will give us more cover.” Dusk ordered as he started backtracking himself.”

After the squad fallen back, Mox and Heliwer took cover right at the corners of the crossing, meaning they would be the first to open fire. Considering that Mox had the EMP grenades, it had to be this way. As the footsteps grew louder, their hopes of the Remnant forces passing through the crossing confirmed themselves. Alright… Mox thought as he placed his DataPad, which had a camera installed, on the floor. Getting the live feed from the corridor on his HUD he could precisely see when the enemy forces entered this part of the corridor leading to the intersection. Glancing at Heliwer and the RAIDERS on the other side of the junction, he could see the assault rifle in his hands.

Mox waited until he was sure the EMP grenades would affect the group, after which he threw them in. Here goes nothing… he though as he threw the second one, with the other hand unclipping his DC-17M. As Heliwer and other RAIDERS leaned around the corner and began firing, Mox changed his attachment to the anti-armour one and loaded it up. Leaning out of cover he saw that most of the Thrawnists were either wounded or dead, but he fired the cartridge regardless. The explosion either fried or heavily wounded the remaining alive Remnant forces, as no further movement could be seen, Dusk motioned them forward, to the check whether they were all dead. Unclipping his pistol, he walked through the dead bodies, along with Heliwer, but as soon as he saw an alive soldier, instead of killing him, he crouched down next to him, placed down the weapons he had in his hand, took off the soldiers helmet, submitting him to the horrible death by the toxins.

“Now. Tell me; are there any more of you?” Mox asked with a demanding tone, turning on the speaker in his helmet.

“I… will be silent…” the man replied, as he breathed in the toxic air.

“Your whole squad is dead. You are on the verge of death. Tell us, and we’ll spare you the suffering of this… toxic gas.”

“Go… frak yourelf…” the Remant replied before closing his eyes. His nostrils dilated, signifying the man taking in a deeper breath. Mox shook his head. He realized that there was nothing they could do change the trooper’s mind, as he would die anyway.

“Everyone else is dead.” Heliwer reported, as he watched the whole ordeal. Mox rolled the man onto his front and plunged his hidden vibroblade into the general area of the spine, hoping to paralyze the man’s limbs so that he could not commit suicide. The soldier screamed with pain, but Mox did not feel any pity.

“Good luck dying, Thrawnist.” the slicer spat out as he picked up his weapons “Because it will take you a while. And it will not be pleasant.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Dusk ordered “We still have to get to the R&D department. Mox, how many EMPs do you have left?”

“Two. Should be enough if we get into another situation like this.” Mox replied via the ComLInk, as he turned off the speaker.

The squad began to move quickly, their rifles in hand, trying to accomplish the secondary objective as fast as they could. As they reached the department, the corridors have become wider and a lot more cover could be seen, be it behind crates or various doors. As they traversed these corridors, the only sound that could be heard was the various fluids in the pipes, or their own footsteps. This is unnerving… feels like Shumongi all over again. he shuddered at the thought of the planet Hopefully this toxin doesn’t cause reanimation…

“Alright…” Dusk spoke out as he checked his DataPad’s map “Our objective is in the second doorway to the right… Now, let’s secure it. Who wants to stay to protect it from all those corpses?”

OOC:

WC: 841
We nearly reached the secondary objective, after dealing with a Remnant squadron using Mox's (relatively)new EMP grenades.

The command centre should have been in lockdown. Mai could see the blast doors from her position down an adjacent maintenance corridor. The heavy metallic structures were sitting stolidly in place, a three-meter wide gap between them, despite the toxicity warning lights flashing on the roof above them.

Mai eased her way back into the shadows of the corridor to think. There were several possibilities. Perhaps the station had experienced a system malfunction that had prevented those inside the command centre from activating the necessary protocols when toxins were detected. Alternatively, someone inside may have opened the doors after the presence of the virus was evident. The reasoning behind such a move was hard to pinpoint. They might have feasibly been under the impression that the danger was past? Or maybe some of the staff had intended to flee?

Tiring of speculation, Mai moved to small terminal fixed on the wall opposite her. Used by cleaning staff to sign in and off at the beginning of their shifts it was nonetheless connected to Rayjoy’s primary computer system. She pulled another tiny device from her belt and clipped it above the small screen, directly above the power circuits. Another expensive gift from Katash and Vast Empire Intelligence. Mai pulled her lips back in a grim smile beneath her helmet. If only she had had access to such equipment before her days in the military…

The rootkit device flashed twice, signalling that it had bypassed security protocols. Mai used a single finger to rotate the display and bring up Rayjoy’s extensive security surveillance system. She selected the command centre display with another tap and narrowed her eyes at the lone grainy image that flickered into existence.

Four figures were spaced about the exterior of the large room, their weapons held at ready, facing in the direction of the blast doors. Another human, a man whose uniform bore the pips of an officer on each shoulder, was hunched over the central command console. All five of the occupants of the room were wearing sealed suits.

Mai unplugged the device and locked it back onto her belt. Chances were that the officer was none other than Ship Commander Tye Latry. Without being able to confirm his identity she couldn’t risk accidently killing him.

With a single swift movement, Mai moved from her sparse cover in the maintenance corridor and moved up to the edge of the blast doors. She dropped down into a crouch and unshipped the sniper rifle clipped to her back. Locking the rifle into place against her shoulder she adjusted the scope, setting it back to a range that would allow her to fire at close-range. Holding the front of the weapon in position with her left hand she flicked a grenade up from her belt with her right.

Mai pulled in a deep breath, held it, and then rolled the grenade through the gap in the blast doors.

The resounding thunk of the grenade hitting the floor shadowed the creak of her armour as Mai leaned out into the open. The two soldiers closest to her position were already moving, launching themselves sidewards and screaming warnings to their comrades. She ignored them and centered the scope on the soldier nearest Latry. Her first shot drilled a neat hole through the vulnerable joint between the man’s helmet and chestplate. Her second clipped the shoulder of the other soldier at the rear of the room, spinning him up and backwards with the force of the impact.

The grenade exploded.

Mai launched herself forward even as her HUD struggled to adjust to the blinding flash of the detonation. She settled for using her rifle as a battering ram as she landed on top of one of the two remaining soldiers. The human immediately rolled on his back to confront her but was at a disadvantage on the ground following his flight from the grenade. Mai let out a snarl as she drove the butt of the rifle into the faceguard of the soldier, shards of glass and blood showering out in a fountain as it made contact.

The whine of a blaster alerted Mai to the danger posed by the remaining soldier. The woman had rolled up onto one knee several meters away and fired immediately. If she had waited and levelled her shot she might have lived. As it was, her attempt only served to irritate the perpetually moody Cathar.

Mai propelled herself off the corpse of her latest kill, spinning about mid-air to extend her bare hands out before her. The manoeuvre was both beautiful and deadly. Beautiful in that it carried her easily and gracefully across the distance towards the soldier. Deadly in that it brought her most powerful weapon into play. Her claws.

Her first swipe tracked down the length of the woman’s chest plate, lodging deep into the reinforced armour as Mai slammed bodily to a halt. The two women rolled, grunting with exertion as they sought to pin the other beneath them. The soldier managed the land a solid blow against the side of Mai’s helmet, briefly sending her world reeling. Mai narrowly missed being brained a second time as she caught the following blow with a reinforced bracer.

Tiring of the game and more than aware that she faced a strong opponent, Mai drove her armoured knee up into the woman’s stomach. She heard the soldier’s grunt of pain as the air was driven from her lungs. Using her spare hand to hold the winded soldier down, Mai pulled her claws free of the chestplate and slammed them down into the space between the plates protecting the woman’s groin and thigh.

Bright red arterial blood immediately spurted free from the downed soldier, splashing across the front of Mai’s chest and helmet. She growled and curled her claws, effectively sawing the remnants of the femoral artery in half. The soldier let out a low moan and curled into a foetal position, her hands now desperately clawing at her wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

Mai withdrew her claws and came to her feet. Leaving the wounded female soldier to die, she stalked across the floor of the command centre. The soldier she had hit in the shoulder was propped up against the command console, one hand scrabbling to find the comm, the other pressed against his wound. Mai batted the man’s hand away and gave him a solid kick to his wounded shoulder. He let out a howl of agony and crumpled to the floor. His suit was well and truly breached. It was likely that he would succumb to the virus long before he died from his wound.

Mai flicked her comm back on. “Anyone there?”

“Colonel Tyne, R&D.” Came the immediate response.

“I have a subject, human, male, early 30’s.” Mai said, pulling another diagnostic kit free as she spoke. “Plugging you in now.”

“We’re on standby,” The male voice responded. “Can we get a timeframe on infection?”

Mai pulled the downed soldier’s helmet free, ignoring the batter of his hands as he ineffectively sought to stop her. Underneath the helmet the man was relatively handsome by human standards. A healthy head of dark fur, bright blue eyes and a strong jaw. He watched her with those eyes, the depths swimming with pain and another…less tangible emotion. Mai held the man’s gaze for a moment before looking away.

“2 minutes.” She replied to Tyne after a quick check of her chrono. “Transferring.”

“Acknowledged.” Tyne said again as Mai jabbed the tube into the man’s neck. The soldier let out another grunt of pain but ceased his attempts to resist. A fine film of sweat was already forming on his upper lip and forehead.

“Oh, and thanks!” Tyne said again, sounding positively cheery.

Mai snarled at him in response and cut the connection. During the conversation she had become aware of the small security door at the rear of the command centre. It was a part of the room beyond the security camera’s scope. She left the infected soldier and moved to the small viewport fitted at the top of the door. Latry was secreted within, his gun still clenched between his fingers. As the Commander became aware of her presence he had the nerve to lift his spare hand and waggle his fingers in greeting.

Mai snorted beneath her helmet and opened her connection to Katash.

“Latry is secure in a bunker in the command centre,” She said. “Orders?”

“Leave him,” Katash sounded tired. “The squads will reach him soon enough.”

Jamasis winced inwardly as the giant Barabel jogged behind him. Not that stealth was an option in the middle of a fire fight, but the noise was still painful. He reached the end of the corridor and swung his rifle inside the doorway and aimed down his sights. The room was again empty and whilst the sound of blaster fire continually calibrated his sense of direction the hallways of the station had hardly been designed for flanking its own soldiers.

Khalldryn entered the room and jogged some way down it, then gestured for Jamasis to follow. There were several more doors, though only one opened in the direction of the skirmish. They both crouched on either side of the door, for all the good it did a seven foot lizard, and aimed their rifles almost simultaneously. The door lead to yet another open corridor which again appeared empty.

"Dammit," cursed Jamasis. He rose to his feet and tried to work out which corridor lead to the rear of the Remnant squad.

"Which way?" asked Khalldryn.

"If I knew, I'd be there," Jamasis snapped. "Can't you smell them out or something?"

"No more than you can hear them fighting," replied his squad mate.

This was mildly humiliating. Months of relentless training had lead to his first mission in Blackjack and his most notable action to date had been getting lost. It wasn't good enough.

Khalldryn pushed him back against the wall suddenly, taking Jamasis by surprise. He almost fought back before he noticed his squad mate slowly shaking his head. Khalldryn released him and gestured down the corridor they had just given up on. An enemy fire team, four troopers in total, was moving past, coming from a door to the right and with their backs to the two SCOPE troopers. Jamasis smiled inside his helmet as he dropped to one knee and aimed his rifle at the trailing trooper whilst Khalldryn mirrored his actions. His finger twitched and released a blaster bolt that took his opponent in the back, knocking him to the floor whilst the Barabel hit another trooper with several well placed shots. The remaining pair dived into cover.

Jamasis loosed several shots that all thudded into the wall in front of his adversaries. They returned fire, equally inaccurately with no soldier able to take the time to aim for fear of being hit. A bolt clipped the doorway slightly above Jamasis' head and he instinctively turned back behind the wall and into cover.

"How quick can you fire your rifle?" Jamasis asked.

"Quick enough."

"Keep them pinned down behind that doorway," he ordered. As Khalldryn did so Jamasis went prone, lying on the cold floor of the facility with his rifle pulled up to his shoulder and trained expertly on the doorway. He was lying in the middle of the doorway, completely exposed if his first shot failed to find its mark. As Khalldryn pulled back behind cover one of the Remnant troopers stuck his head around the wall and Jamasis pulled the trigger of his weapon. The bolt struck the soldier in the neck, killing him almost instantly, and Jamasis pulled back behind cover.

The final remnant fighter made a suicidal attempt to flee, and was cut down by the combined fire of both SCOPE troopers. As Jamasis jogged up to the fallen bodies he noticed the final soldier was still alive, barely, and was weakly trying to grab his rifle. He turned the dying trooper over and noticed the man’s armour had been compromised. The plague would get in and he would die. He stared with a morbid fascination knowing that the disease would need scarcely any time to finish the Remnant soldier off. It only took seconds however for his basic humanity to take over and he ended the trooper’s life before he could be subjected to the illness.

“Jamasis, Khalldryn, where are you?” asked Skarr over the comlink.

“An enemy fire team was trying to flank your position. Be there in another minute,” replied Jamasis. He turned to Khalldryn and nodded in the direction the Remnant fire team had arrived.

OOC:

Took care of the fire team Havock mentioned but the fight is still ongoing.

Sharp was silent like the other trainee. She was a natural hunter and knew what a dead body looked like. While the blackjack trainees almost took off their helmets.  Sharp stood still looking her red eyes fixated on each body studying it. They seemed to have gone insane and attacked each other. They fought tooth and nail till almost all were dead.

Sharp walked to one that seemed to have burns on its chest. She crouched her arm gently resting on her knee. She peered through the cramp helmet's seeing lenses. She could clearly see blast marks on the body. She didn't say anything because she saw a small pistol lying next to a woman. She wanted to grab it and check for ammunition but she didn't wish to be contaminated.

“Alright, RAIDERS. Let’s go.” Dusk’s voice came through the comm.

Sharp followed her squad leader into a tight corridor where he stopped the squad. He gave them confirmation that there would be hostiles on the supply depot. Sharp nodded guessing that they would have encountered hostiles had anyone survived. Now she wondered if that blaster pistol truly was the culprit for those blast marks. Blaster fire from Latry and any comrades he had may have done it.

“Sir, I hear footsteps falling ahead of us.” one of the other trainees said as he pointed his rifle down the corridor.

Sharp peered down the corridor ahead of them. She caught sight of a shadow which was growing little by little.

“Dusk, I’m a qualified technician. Meaning the army high command has allowed me to carry EMP grenades. One or two of these, some knifes or blasterfire and we should be good.” one of the troopers conveyed his idea over to his squad mates “And we would reduce the chance of them finding our transport.”

“That’s… not a bad idea.” the squad leader said after a moment of thought “How many of them do you have?”

“Four.” The trooper replied “They’re pretty small compared to frags.”

“Alright, let’s fall back to the nearest crossing. This will give us more cover.” Dusk ordered as he started backtracking himself.

When they reached crossing Sharp got down in a prone position against the metal floor. To most it would appear that she was one who has died. The only give away was her rifle but if the trooper's grenades went out fast enough the disoriented Remnant troopers wouldn't notice the small detail that she had a rifle. When the trooper popped the grenades they landed between the Remnant troopers. Some looked down others looked for the culprit who threw the grenades. Before they spotted any Raiders the grenades went off.

Sharp Peered through her scope directly at a troopers legs. She shot out his knees and he fell back onto his back. She then adjusted and fired into a remnant killing him. When the blaster fire ceased no troopers aside from the Raiders stood. Sharp looked at the trooper who lay alive his legs bleeding on the floor. The trooper with the EMP grenades walked to him and ripped off his helmet.

Sharp paid no attention at the small interrogation instead she aimed her scope down the Corridor behind them. When the squad began moving Sharp followed slowly her rifle remaining aimed behind her squad mates. When the squad stopped she stopped and looked back at the squad leader.

“Alright…” Dusk spoke out as he checked his DataPad’s map “Our objective is in the second doorway to the right… Now, let’s secure it. Who wants to stay to protect it from all those corpses?”

“I’ll do it sergeant I have my new E45 and a few grenades. Plus if it really comes to it I have my vibrosword.” Crimson said as he looked at his commander.

"Or the guy with the flash grenades and I could search for that Intel Commander Havock said about. " another trainee said as he pointed at the other trooper.

Sharp stayed silent but focused back on the corridor behind them. For her it was the commander choice if she covered the rear or went with the others into the R&D point.

OOC:

RAIDERS

The squad entered the control room for the R&D, where the prototype was located, and as Dusk walked by it he brought out his datapad.

“Hmmm…” he muttered as his fingered twirled on the screen of his datpad. “Mox, slice into their computers. It seems we’re only after the schematics after all.”

“Then why did we come here…” Mox said shaking his head, as approached the terminal and plugged in his datapad “I could’ve accessed this data from anywhere…”

“Doesn’t matter, Mox. Just do it.” Dusk ordered and walked towards the pod.

Mox quickly sliced into the terminal, and searched through their databases with ease. They should think of better protection… especially since it’s their R&D… Mox shook his head  as he found the data on the fighter pod. It’s the only one in this database; it’s got to be this one. The slicer downloaded it onto a data stick, and when he was finished he unplugged himself from the terminal.

“Alright Dusk. All done.” He called out lobbing the data stick over to his SL, who caught it with ease. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah, let’s move out. We still got to secure the command centre and catch Latry.” Dusk ordered

“Wait, shouldn’t I stay, protect the prototype?” Crimson spoke out, remembering what Dusk said few minutes ago.

“No, no point. This objective only consisted of getting the data. We don’t have to protect this.” Dusk replied as he neared to the exit.

“Very well, Sergeant.” Crimson answered, following him.

The squad quickly moved out of the R&D department and start jogging towards the command centre, Dusk checking his datapad every few minutes. Surprisingly there was no resistance on the way to the command centre.

“You got to wonder. Did everyone except Latry die in here?” he started thinking out loud “‘Cause that squad was the only form of resistance we encounter thus far…”

“Makes our mission easier.” Dusk answered

“True….”

The squad quickened its pace, hoping that no resistance was met. The corpses, lying in practically every corridor, were even more unnerving, and Mox was constantly worried that his suit would give, and that he would vomit himself to death. The whole jog over from the R&D to the command centre’s general whereabouts was uneventful, and Mox’s small paranoia was getting more evident. But he still had enough self-control not to spout random phrases, and he tried to calm himself down. I really prefer situations in which I know what I’m up against… he thought to himself, his thoughts constantly trailing to the mission where Phoenix fought with the mutants.

“Alright, boys. We’re here.” Dusk said as he rechecked his datapad “The command centre. There are two entries to it. Heliwer, Mox, me and my droid will go to one, Anival, Sharp, Crimson and Urukai will go to the other. If there are any enemies inside, we’ll cross fire them.”

“Good idea.” Urukai replied as he neared to the entrance.

Mox raised his eyebrow upon hearing the orders. Their group consisted of the 3 RAIDERS’ veterans and Dusk’s droid, where everyone knew each other, while the other one consisted of the trainees and two Army veterans. Bah, they’ll be fine. he assured to himself, as he followed Dusk and Heliwer. They all passed Basic and are in SCOPE, and only the best get here.

When the two groups, or fire teams as some would have called them, got besides the two exits, Mox crouched near the entrance, and using the build-in camera in his datapad, viewed the inside. Eeerm… Empty. Mox thought to himself, raising his eyebrow.

“Guys, the place is empty.” He called out, into the ComLink.

“Alright, let’s go in, but be careful. It could be a trap.” Dusk said, and, crouching, slowly entered the command centre, Mox following him closely. From the other side, Urukai and Anival both entered at the same time, followed closely by Sharp and Crimson. Each RAIDER had their carbines up to their visors, checking for any potential threats.

“Wait a second… these soldiers… they were recently killed…” Heliwer called out as he approached one of the corpses in the command centre. “And they had sealed suits. It seems something ripped its way into this one…”

“Same here.” Anival said, approaching another body.

“But who was it?” Crimson said as he found yet another body.

“Rather, what was it…” Mox said darkly, exchanging looks with Heliwer and Dusk. He still remembered the dark corridors of that station.

“Four corpses and no sign of Latry.” Anival said walking up to the SL “Which means we still didn’t finish our mission.”

“Yep. True that.” Dusk said, thinking deeply “Squad, search the area, maybe Latry is hiding somewhere. I’ll contact command; maybe their agent did it…”

RAIDERS started searching through the command centre. This whole situation looked awfully similar to their mission on OP 86-A, and Mox really hoped that it was not the case. But following the old saying “Hope for the best, but expect the worst.” he was expecting one of the furry beasts to emerge from either exit.

“Yep. It was one of their agents. She’s also a cathar, which explains the claw markings.” Dusk confirmed AHC’s involvement, quenching Mox’s worries.

OOC:

WC: 868
We completed the secondary objective and are inside the command centre, currently searching for Latry.

“So, what’s it to be?” Drex spoke with a poorly disguised childlike excitement.

“Hardly a good idea to let somebody go off on their own, crawling through a vent and ending up on the other side of a locked door surrounded by potential executioners.” Karash spoke without shifting his gaze from the door.

“He’s right.” One of the others spoke, Karash was still struggling to remember his new squad mates’ names.

“I am so glad you said that, I so desperately needed you to affirm my statements.” Karash turned his head briefly but realised he did not know who he was actually talking to, he turned back to the door and continued “Nor do we have time to go back and find another route.”

“So we blow it up.” This time the excitement in Drex’s voice was clear.

“I think the fact that we have a supply of explosives might give the plot away. Though if it makes Mox think we have already blown up the place, even for only a second, then it would be worth it.” This time Karash’s voice was filled with glee at thought of briefly scaring his former squad mate.

“Then let’s do it. We have already wasted enough time and I have missed the sight of an explosion.” Skarr spoke and then gave a series of instructions that Karash did not really listen to, after all they were not aimed at him.

‘If nothing else, you are at least paying homage to tradition by blowing something out rather than actually doing something that requires a degree of intelligence.’     

The inner voice of the medic had been quiet up until this point; it must have been triggered by the stress of the recent gun fight. Karash had almost missed it even though it was usually the source of his many problems, it would occasionally trigger some form of intelligence. Most the squad were taking up positions of cover that would shield them from the impending blast, a blast that was intended to clear a path.

“You’re all loving this.” Karash was trying not to sound too disdainful.

“What’s not to love, we are blowing stuff up, killing the bad guys and getting the job done.” Whoever spoke, spoke purposefully.

“Killing the bad guys and getting the job done. I did not realise we were such little patriots.” Karash hissed and edged even closer to his old self.

“We don’t need to hear your unique views at the moment Karash.” Skarr spoke sternly and move his attention elsewhere, “Are we ready to go?”

“Yes boss, it’s all set.” Again Karash was not certain who spoke.

‘You really must learn their names; they might prove to be useful.’

“Three . . . two . . . one. . .”

Even though it was only a small relatively small explosion the vibrations were still enough to cause the medic stagger slightly. The old space station seemed to give a great moan as bits of debris flew past the shielded squad, the creaking gradually faded and the smoke began to clear. The squad instantly moved into defensive positions as they did not know what might still be lurking on the other side of the former door.

“Clear.” A voice rang out, meaning the squad could begin to move forward

“They must have just locked the door and bolted.” 

“There was no reason for them to hand around, I am sure they have some reason for being here.” Karash said, lowering his weapon. “Besides who said they locked the door? They may have decided to crawl through the vents. The door might have been locked by the stations for occupants.”

“Either way they are around here somewhere, so keep your guards up. Let’s get moving.” Skarr ordered as the squad began to move towards their objective.

OOC:

Apologies for the relatively short post and the lack of proofing but it is all I could manage.