Joamer finished the briefing. Already, Tonto’s mind was racing to what things he would need to pack to ensure that he was doing his part to complete the mission.

As the Barracks slid shut, Tonto spun and popped open his footlocker. He stowed his deck of cards inside and pulled out his favorite set of civvies. He lay them on the bed next to the footlocker and moved to his gear locker that hung from the wall near the head of his bunk.

Every atom of Tonto’s being felt alive. He felt energized. The pre-mission hum had filled the barracks. One of the harder things for Tonto was keeping his high energy in check. He found he often needed to either meditate or exercise before a mission. He often found time in transit to calm himself. For longer assignments, he would always go for a run to burn off some of the energy that he had if time allowed. He would have to meditate on the ship en route for this one as the mission had come in hot.

"Pack Light" was always an interesting concept for Tonto. He had always been a gear hound seeking the best gear possible for each mission whether that be heavy, long-range blaster, special environmental armor, or any of the myriad of medium to large weapon systems that could be deployed from the VE armory. Tonto was a field medic in his current position within RAIDERS. He had signed out all the newest doodads and dongles from the supply clerk as soon as he had received his certification to get them. When he opened his gear locker, the full kit was set in different pockets of a plastic hanging sheet that hung from the back of the door to the locker.

He reached into the bottom of the locker and pulled out a worn brown messenger-style bag with many small pockets and separated compartments. He thought carefully about the mission and what the parameters of it would require. He mentally checked off the required items before he moved to the more niche tools that he had available.

Bacta Patches, check. Oropharyngeal kit, check. Tourniquets, check. Tape, check…

Tonto fully packed his field kit with all of the necessities.

Now for the interesting pieces

He grabbed the new field cauterizer. It was a short stylus that could emit low-frequency lasers good enough to seal a surface-level slice that had made it through to the dermis. It worked far better to slow battlefield bleeds that were caused by non-blaster injuries. He had only just finished training with the cauterizer recently, but there was no time like the present to hone his new skills in the field. He also decided to bring a flash sterilizer in case he needed to clean up any injury and a roll of cordine stim patches.

Tonto returned to his rack and grabbed the navy-colored cargo pants from the bed. The cargo pants would make him more recognizable as some form of emergency medical attendant, but provide a great deal of function for him in the field as well. He had purchased them from a medical surplus site on the net. They had specialized pockets for all different types of tools. He slotted his trauma scissors into one of the thin pockets on the side of his right leg. He placed a thin folding knife that was about 4 inches long when folded into his main pocket. A suture kit went into the pocket on his left leg by the knee.

It was important that he carefully pack the pants the same way every time. That way, when he needed his gear, he did not have to think about where to reach. He slotted the heavy black belt into place. It could also be used as an effective tourniquet because the belt had a built-in windlass. He bent down and laced his black combat boots and cuffed the pants so they sat at an appropriate height on the boots. He put on a specially modified T-shirt that looked like a wrap around his torso and matched the color of his pants. Over top, he zipped up a black jacket with nothing on it. Finally, he wrapped a black scarf around the horns on his head. He made sure it was tight and thought that he looked as nondescript as possible. He slung the old brown leather messenger bag over his shoulder. It settled comfortably in the small of his back. Finally, he pulled open a small section of velcro that was directly in the center of his chest. Inside of this t-shirt, he could comfortably carry two DC-17 blaster pistols. He stuck the two from his gear locker in the chest into the velcro section of his shirt He loaded three extra power packs into his pockets and closed his gear locker. He was as prepared as he was going to be for this mission. 

As he looked around, he saw the other RAIDERS collecting their gear, examining their weapons, and debating on what the best possible combination of weapons and gear would be to complete the mission.

He saw Heliwer gently telling one of the newer recruits that he could either return the Z-6 to the gear locker, or he could find out what the inside of a Sarlaac was like.

Drex was geared up. He was a heavy weapons trooper through and through. The lighter armament of stealth and unconventional warfare had never really suited his combat style, but he had been just as successful as Tonto. He had a pack as well that Tonto knew would contain a heavily modified RSKF-44 short-barreled heavy blaster. Drex was quite proficient at putting the fear of the stars above into the people who came to stand against the RAIDERS. He was wearing simple olive drab tennis shoes, light tan pants, and a white shirt with no other gear.

Joamer would expect every trooper to be fully kitted and ready to go before he made a selection of which fireteams and troopers would be going with him on this mission.

OOC:

Tonto has a full field medical loadout with some extra goodies like stim patches and a cauterizer. Ready to handle most battlefield mishaps.

He also has two DC-17 blaster pistols and some extra power packs for each!

“We will be heading to Ryoone. It is one of the independent worlds under Vast Empire protection. RAIDERS was selected because this is not the jackboots and doorbusters mission that you would typically send a squad using tactics like Blackjack on. It requires…subtlety.”

Anival held the urge to roll his eyes. Subtle? What did RAIDERS squad know about subtlety? It felt like every mission ended with blaster bolts firing everywhere, someone losing a tooth, and something exploded as they escaped last minute to the yells and cries, and the occasional man shouting, “My leg!”

Well at least everything started subtle.

The sullistan in the holo looked like any other sullistan to him.  It was weird, even after all these years serving the VE, and of trying, he still felt uneasy with non-humans. At the thought he could swear his arm twitched. Reminding him that he himself was no longer human, at least not all of him. He was lost in brooding when the door shut. 

At least this briefing explained why his leave had been cancelled. Anival laid back on his mattress. His civvies bag was already packed, neatly tucked in the corner of the bed post. He had been hoping to get some leave time, go out on the town get a drink or two, who knows meet a girl or two. He chuckled to himself; he never met any girls. It was always two, and they were always taken. He chuckled to himself more. A way of coping with his disappointment at the cancellation of a hard-earned break. After a few minutes of staring at the slats that made the frame of the top bunk, he stood and walked to his locker.

Carefully unpacking some of the clothes that would no longer be needed, he started to add items he thought he would. His trusty tool kit, a combination of items he had learned he needed from time to time on missions and opened it. The next few minutes were spent on deciding what tools to leave and what to take, in this mission he figured if something happened to their transportation, they would need to steal something. In the end he went with some ignition cylinders, and bypass codes for the most common speeder models purchased and used on Ryoone. Not something he knew off the back of his hand, a quick comnet search helped immensely. Next, he looked at his armaments. Most of them fit the criteria, after all Wraith squad had consisted of infiltration and covert ops. His checked his A-180 pistol, it had scratches on it, battle wounds, but it was clean and worked perfectly.  His second choice was the heavier A280 CFE convertible heavy blaster pistol. He didn’t have the conversions for it, like he did for the 180, but it would work nicely, and was easily concealable. Afterwards he packed some attachments for the A180’s different conversions. He didn’t pack them together, by themselves they didn’t catch too much attention, but together they could warrant an extra inspection.

A small hiss, and the compartment in his forearm opened. In it he put some of the most obvious conversion parts and some extra magazines, including the gas for the A180’s rifle mode. After being sure he had everything that he needed, Anival looked around the barracks. A loud sigh and decided he may as well change. He put on a compression short and shirt. Over the shirt he wore a blast vest, and a loose-fitting dark, deep red shirt. For the pants he opted for long black semi-casual look.  He tied it together with a cloak made of armor weave. The cloak clasps two little trooper heads, a distraction and an identification. If anyone asked, he could say they were just whimsy, or if they disliked them, he could say it was a form of mockery.  Each one though had an RFID that could be turned on to track a target, or to identify friendlies, VIPs, or rendezvous locations.

That was really all he could think of besides a few non-lethal grenades he had as well.  Seeing Heliwer light a cigarette he grabbed his own pack, only to find it empty. I few loose pieces of tobacco flakes on the bottom. He sighed and took out an extra stormtrooper pin from a little tin candy box and walked over to him.

He stopped in front of the man who had just finished his sentence. He gave his straightest face. “You know those things are bad for you right?” He waited a slight pause, and before Heliwer could respond he continued “but not for me, I’m out though so I’ll trade ya?” He held up the stormtrooper pin.

Anival thought Heliwer was going to say no, but he popped a cigarette into his hand, and took the stormtrooper pin. He looked at it and raised an eyebrow.  Anival put the cigarette to his mouth and took a deep drag. Feeling the smoke warm its way down, the slightly bitter smell caressed his nose.  He looked at Heliwer not sure what to say to start small talk.

“Soooo….” He said awkwardly “…thanks”

OOC:

I have A180 and A280 pistols. Some stun, and smoke grenades. A vehicle toolkit, which includes a hijacking kit. Armor weave cape, what amounts to a “Kevlar” vest, some blaster packs, and 3 gas packs as the A180 uses gas. Lastly the RFID tracking trooper pins. Look like This Its not quite 1k words but future posts should be. I got as close as I could without ruining it I think.

Joamer entered the hall. He had intended to walk back to his private chamber and prepare his kit for the mission. He had intended to quickly return to the squad bay with his gear and pick out the troopers he would need for this mission. Probably three of them to make a single fireteam with the best chance of an undetected insertion. That was his intention at least. As soon as he had stepped back into the hallway outside of the barracks, his personal data slate had beeped. There was an all-hands officer meeting at the army high command building. All essential personnel were required to be there and any missions they were needed to be on were grounded until further notice.

Fantastic. Instead of getting to go and kidnap some druk-eating arms dealer, I get to go and listen to a brief about the state of the varping union.

He sighed. He could have grounded the mission and forced his team to wait, but there were two reasons that he would let the squad go and miss the fun. One was that the team could be loaded top-heavy. He could put the higher-ranking troopers on the mission because out of the eight members of the squad, there were three senior sergeants, two lance corporals, and three privates of first and second class. Had he been available to go, he would have taken a trooper from each echelon, but without him, it needed to be a higher-skilled group because failure would be spread amongst the fireteam rather than directed at Joamer alone. The second reason was that the window for catching this arms dealer would close and it had taken a long time for VENI to track all of the shipments and interrogate the right people to pinpoint the criffing Sullustan.

He leaned back against the wall. The squad should only need about ninety seconds to pack up. At least, the squad he would be sending.

Exactly ninety seconds after exiting, Joamer reentered the squad bay. The pneumatic door hissed open. There was a delay this time as he stepped through the door. The commotion of a mission makeready allowed him to briefly observe his squad without them seeing them. Only for a moment before one of the newly minted privates shouted, “Attention on deck!” 

While not every trooper snapped to attention, the older squad members knowing that Joamer was not one for the pomp and circumstance, the squad bay quieted.

Deviant was lounging on his bunk clearly having packed quickly. For some reason, one of the newer privates looked like he had been cuffed around the ears and was figuring out how to relatch a Z-6 rotary blaster back into the Squadbay weapon locker. Heliwer stood close enough to him for Joamer to know where the cuffing had come from. Joamer did not delay. He knew who was going.

“Jace, you’re on stick and comms. Keep an open line to the command center once you arrive on Ryoone and ensure the squad can maneuver effectively with squad comms. Do not park in no parking zones.” He gybed at Jace as he threw an activation chip to a small junker that was parked in the RAIDERS landing bay. “ Heliwer, weapons, and exfil. Do not make a scene that says “military action”, but utilize whatever tactics are necessary for the withdrawal. Anival, you’re working on hijack and tracking. We want to know where some of these shipments are going after they leave the warehouse so mark some crates for us. The team will need to get a speeder to play wheelman once the package is in tow. Tonto, you’re on support and medical. There is a wrist-mounted deployable cover on the ship that you are to keep on you at all times. I want you to administer a heavy sedative to the extraction target as arms dealers have a bad tendency to utilize combat and communication implants to prevent exactly what we are trying to do here.”

“Joamer, you covered all the mission roles.” Pointed out Anival.

“Very astute of you Anival.” Said Jomaer through gritted teeth. “High command has decided that this mission can be completed by my troopers without needing direct oversight. Now all of you get moving before I decide to send a different squad in your place.”

Swiftly and without comment, the four troopers moved out the door and down the hallway towards the RAIDERS hangar area.

“The rest of you, clean this place up. It looks like a bunch of wild animals live in here and it smells like Rancor droppings.”

“YES, SIR.” The newest RAIDERS shouted.

Gods they just get louder in their affirmation the shittier the job is. He admired the talent of the drill instructors at effectively indoctrinating the young troopers.

=====Tonto=====

The squad of four walked toward the RAIDERS Hangar. Tonto fell into step closely behind the sergeants as they quickly moved out of the barracks. As they walked, Anival and Heliwer took long drags on the cigarettes they had. Tonto knew what the consequences were, but he could feel his favorite joke just bubbling up inside of him as he walked behind the two sergeants down the long corridor.

“Ya know, those things’ll kill ya if you don’t quit.”

They had heard it enough times. The slight sarcastic tone it started with, the same joking phrase. You could hear every word drip passed Tonto’s huge smile. The consequences were, of course, the only predictable thing about telling that joke.

Anival slowed slightly and punched Tonto in the arm as hard as he could so that Tonto stumbled sideways a few steps and Heliwer dropped a menacing side-eye toward the stumbling trooper and said, “Tonto... I’ll kill YOU if you don’t quit.”

It never got old. The joke. The punches left varying degrees of bruises and he definitely could have done without those, but he simply could not resist the opportunity to say it when he saw them smoking. The first time he had said it, he had been fresh out of field surgery school and had genuinely been thinking about the lungs that the students had operated on from people who had been smoking for years. Now he just said it because he knew annoying his squadmates was how he showed he cared.

They arrived at the hangar as Tonto continued to rub the blood back into his arm where Anival had punched him. A rickety-looking Star Commuter 2000 bleeped as Jace pressed the activator chip. As the four troopers walked toward it, Tonto thought he heard Jace muttering something about, “...cannot be serious with this.”

The troopers boarded, buckled in and Jace flipped the switches to activate the lift-off repulsors.

Tonto could already feel his adrenaline levels rising. This was going to be fun.

As the squad left the barracks, Heliwer couldn’t help but flash a quick middle finger to the poor newbie who was still fumbling with the Z-6. He already liked his chances better now that that walking blaster magnet was being left behind, and he at least had Jace to back himself up with. Heading with the group to the hanger, he felt around in his pocket for the small stormtrooper pin that Anival had traded him for a cigarette. In reality he didn’t care much for it. It wasn’t his style, and his first impulse was to chuck it into the nearest garbage disposal unit. The problem was that he couldn’t exactly do that in front of the whole squad without looking like a complete toolbag to everyone. There was a fine balance that he needed to ride on that. So, there he was, wondering what the hell he was going to do with the pin and how he could lose it at first opportunity without making it obvious, and then disturbed by Tonto’s horrendous joke about smoking.

“Tonto… I’ll kill YOU if you don’t quit.” He growled and continued on his way to the transport, taking a seat nearest the exit. As the rest of the squad filtered in and Jace took seat in the pilot’s chair, Heliwer spat out the nearly finished butt and stamped it down under his foot. Within a few moments, they were away and into hyperspace.

Heliwer noticed Tonto immediately going through his gear and sighed. If he brought the usual amount of gear he’d be tearing through it all making sure everything was perfect, but that would involve thermal imploders and heavy repeaters. No, this was him carrying a light load, and there wasn’t much use in checking the grenades and thermal detonators that he only just checked before when he acquired them. That left the Enforcer and that was maintained daily as much as he could. Feeling slightly bored, he did draw his heavy slugthrower and give it a once over. Every part of it moved effortlessly and confirmed his suspicions of already doing a bang up job prepping the pistol.

Instead, Heliwer crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. He learned fairly quickly to get as much rest wherever and whenever he could, so taking a quick nap en route to their destination seemed like a good enough time to do so. Besides, it was highly unlikely anything exciting was going to happen on the way there. Even so, the Senior Sergeant wasn’t completely out. A part of him could hear someone talking, and could sense someone moving to the back where he was to mess with one of the seats. It wouldn’t take long though before Jace called back to the rest of the shuttle.

“Landing in 5 boys. Oil up those gears and prep your rears.”

With a discontented grunt, Heliwer roused himself and blinked himself awake, looking around the ship. He could sense one of his legs starting to fall asleep on him from how he was sat, so he stood up for a moment just after the shuttle dropped out of hyperspace. Anival already was heading to his seat as Heliwer took a quick walking lap around, looking over everyone in the squad to make sure they were ready as he stifled a small yawn. With the brief walk around done, he circled back to his seat just as Jace was receiving landing clearance. He felt the shuttle shudder for a moment as they hit the atmosphere, a side effect of the rustbucket they were in. Taking the last few minutes, he patted himself over one last time, making sure that every hidden explosive was in the right spot and his pistol was ready at a moment's notice.

With a loud thunk, the shuttle touched ground and the rear doors slid open to reveal the bustling crowd shifting throughout the spaceport. Steeling himself up, Heliwer turned to the rest of the squad and nodded.

“Remember your assignments,” Heliwer barked. “Sooner we get this guy, sooner we get to go home. Let’s get this dirtbag.”

With that, he stood up and started down the ramp, making sure his trenchcoat was fastened up and leaving everyone else behind him. In his experience, spaceports were only ever either boiling hot or freezing cold, and with the massive crowd around he was already feeling himself starting to sweat. Still, he knew that even when traveling for personal business that everyone kept their clothing tight even if they were sweating up a storm. No matter what planet you go to, there’s always crime somewhere. He absentmindedly bumped into a couple and apologized as he made his way to the entrance of the spaceport, and quickly felt himself over, content that nothing seemed to have been picked, not yet anyways.

Weapons and exfil… sounds easy enough, he thought to himself. Devil’s as always in the details.

Biggest pain in his rear was going to be sourcing the weapons. Joamer insisted on nothing that shouted “military”, which meant trying to nab some local corporate security weapons was not really on the table. That meant at best home defense weaponry and hunting gear if any and if he could find any at all. Not only that but they had under one standard day to get everything ready, meaning that he had to work fast. Mentally he started to check off areas that would have a better chance of finding the type of gear he was after, all the while making note of the pathway to the spaceport. After a few minutes of walking, he was able to spy a couple of possible merchants who had some basic weapons, but he’d need to come back later to investigate further, and even later with some spare hands to help with the gear.

Next up was the exfiltration from the warehouse. Checking the info given to them, it was quite the distance from the spaceport. Perhaps it was chosen as to not be so obvious, but it meant it would be up to Anival on driving the escape speeder to get them out fast. Taking a brief moment for himself, he leaned against a nearby wall and grabbed his communicator, being careful to not be so obvious with it.

“Hey Anival, need you to come meet me here. Gonna be easier to go over the exfiltration with you here, and gotta take you by the warehouse.”