Overrun

Vendaxa
3 months ago.

    Lieutenant Narrys dropped his Cigarra to the ground. It hissed as it hit the moist ground, Biars reflexively squashed the butt into the water logged ground under one heel. That was the problem with this damn planet - other than the wild acklays that was - the ecology changed so quickly from region to region. He had landed in dense jungle, moved through flat grassy plains, forest and woodland, and now in the great marshes on the south of the planet. At least they'd avoided the verdant plains where the greatest number of acklay's dwelled.
    Still the local factories made the best damn repulsorlifts outside of Bakura and the campaign was reaching it's climax. Since he had been sent here with the Vast Empire detachment two years ago to assist the locals in their civil war he had seen relatively little action. Although even now a platoon of his best were moving forwards with the attack force. Only one bastion of republic support was left standing and soon it would crumble.
    Then he heard the deep, rumbling noise for the first time. Slowly it grew in volume, until it drowned out all the mundane noises coming from his camp. Biars looked up to see all the men around him start to sprint up the hill, hundreds of men broke away from their conversations and rush forwards. Narrys got to his feet, grabbed his rifle and followed the soldier. Excited shouts come from the top of the ridge, angry shouts, curses...
    "By the Emporer's bones," he gasped as he reached the top of the ridge. From here the noise was almost deafening. Behind him his officers started screaming orders. From the top of the ridge he could see for miles towards the front line. In the far distance plumes of smoke filled the sky, occasionally lit of by flashes of light from the ground.
    The expanse of land ahead of him was rapidly being filled by a horde of soldiers. His own soldiers. Yes, he recognised some of the colours from here. The 5th, the 6th, in fact almost all of the various regiments were there. But of the tens of thousands of men sent forwards, a very broken force was now in full retreat. He paused for a moment, just starring in disbelief, before turning back to his small reserve force.
    "Get those damned turrets up now!" he screamed. "Prepare for wounded!"
    "Sir, a messenger from the front!" Narrys turned to see a grim looking man riding slowly towards him on a speeder bike. His face blackened by smoke, his eyes betraying the fear within.
    "What the hell happened?"
    "It was going well, but then they arrived! They were all over us, Titan walkers, tanks, vicious aliens. . ."
    "Calm down. Trooper Report!" he screamed at the soldier. The bewildered soldier paused for a moment and just looked at Narrys, before his training kicked in.
    "A huge force landed as we arrived sir, New Republic markings, but we could tell they were mostly mercenaries. Good ones too. They ripped through us and sent us packing, I have a message for you, personally,"
    "What?"
    "It's from Sergeant Dole, he says he'll hold them for as long as he can, but you're going to have to be quick about making a new line. He says it was an honour to serve you," Biars stood still for a very long time. There had been a group of stormtroopers amongst the men he had sent forward, and now they were lost. Already his mind was racing, thinking of possible places to hold a new line. He would need to get in contact with VE command as soon as he could, perhaps they could help.


***


1 month ago.
    Raziel leant over the rail and looked down at the imitation urban landscape beneath him. From his vantage point on the walkways high above the training environment he watched the other five members of ARC squad in training. Arrayed against them was a force of old droids armed with stun weapons. The mission was a relatively straightforward one, assassinate a roomful of officers without drawing too much attention to themselves.
    Raziel heard a silenced Acklay rifle going on and looked down to see Stonefish pick off a droid scout. Fish had brought with him a wealth of experience to the team and they were all thankful.
    In normal situations one member of the squad carried advanced biological scanning devices, but when it was Raziel turn to observe the rest of the squad he decided to see what they team could do with just their eyes and ears.
    Raziel turned to see Fury walking up behind him. The Prefect took a place beside him and watched the ARC squad manoeuvre through the urban landscape.
    "It's all going well isn't it?" Raziel asked.
    "Yup, you've all bonded well and I'd say with a little more training you could reach peak efficiency soon," Fury replied.
    Raziel groaned, the intensive training course Fury had set out before them was gruelling and he had hoped for it to end soon.
    "What about our transport?" Raziel asked, referring the old republic LAAT Fury was having upgraded on the sly.
    "Almost finished, we've stripped away most of the weapons to reduce the weight and that Nutorium stealth coating you recommended works a charm,"
    "Ah good, what about a pilot?"
    "I think we may have found one," Fury said, showing Raziel a picture on his datapad. "Likes to go by the call name of "Sleuth" He has his roots in atmospheric flying, he spent a few years on transports and recently has been doing lone recon," he said referring to the group of imperial pilots who were sent off alone deep into enemy space.
    "Wooo, those guys are supposed to be slick,"
    "Yeah and this guys been doing it for two years, do you know the average life expectancy of a lone recon pilot? Measured in minutes last time I checked,"
    "And how exactly are you getting this guy?" Raziel asked
    "Oh don't worry about that - well - then again when Japheth calls his favour in, it might involve you guys,"
    "Great, so how long will we be going through drills?" Raziel asked, getting to the point at hand.
    "Actually something may have come up, something rather large in fact . . ."


***


2 weeks ago.
    "The men we sent in reported back frequently, telling us of how they trained up the Vendaxa's imperial loyalists into a strong army. We also sent a great many weapons and supplies. Our men, commanded by Lieutenant Narrys moved forwards with the army, reporting on their advance. All was going well until approximately two months ago."
    The six ARC members sat in a small, private briefing with just Fury and an intel officer. Fury had gone over the history of Vendaxa and of how they had armed an imperial force, in the hope of adding the planet's excellent repulsor factories to their own manufacturing force.
    "A large Republic force landed shortly before we struck the final blow. The force compromises primarily of mercenaries, but they are using republic equipment and are led by a strong military contingent. Our own forces were pushed back again and again. Until now only this peninsular is under loyalist control. Our forces are in a route and it looks like they will be finished off soon," Fury pointed towards one last area of purple on the map.
    "Fortunately we still have control over New Dentan, the planet's primary space port and point of export. Many repulsor factories are there and a great deal of equipment we can salvage.
    "So this is our theory. We could deploy a strong stormtrooper force and try and turn the tide of this war. However, we are spread thin as it is as we do not want to turn this into a war of attrition. We are not prepared to lose thousands upon thousands of good men for this planet. So we have another plan, a small elite force will be sent into the warzone with the aim of turning the full route into an organised retreat. If we can convince our loyalists to stand their ground and organise themselves we can safely transport most of our forces off the planet from New Dentan and return again at a later date with a swift victory in mind." Several holo maps came to life in front of the team showing topography and troop movements.
    "Right now the Republic forces have passed through this valley and are massing outside of Bara'Doush, the city bridging the only natural crossing of the Great Baradin Gorge. The only other crossing over the gorge is the kilometre long repulsor bridge shown. The distribution of their forces are shown are red, ours in purple. Even if the Gorge could be descended into it is filled with thick jungle and a huge Acklay population.
    "Your first priority upon landing in Bara'Doush will be to turn the city into a dangerous, scrappy, urban warzone, not something they would like to march an army through. Cause chaos, turn the city to rubble, whatever, just make sure the loyalists stay and fight to the death. We have to slow down the enemy army. After that you can determine your own course of action, your new pilot "Sleuth" can get you around the area  quickly. Call him over secure comms whenever needed. The local landscape is mostly grasslands, the vegetations having been wiped out over the last century. You shouldn't have to worry about the local wildlife in this area of the planet.
    "I should warn you more about the enemy forces in the area. As well as the usual T3 tanks and the odd titan walker, the republic has been putting a mercenary force of rodians to good use. These skirmishers have been attacking early, softening up our forces and then picking off the stragglers as we try to retreat. They're using what has been dubbed the "Rodian Long Rifle" by the local forces. It mechanically and magnetically accelerates a slug down the barrel at very high speeds. Despite each slug having to be loaded individual these things are powerful and accurate, don't expect your armour to help you, so keep your eyes out for snipers. Also the rodians have been seen to close in quickly and use the rifles as halberds to some effect. All the information is on the datapad.
    "Let me remind you though, this is a fight we cannot win. Don't expect to win many battles here and certainly don't get bogged down in combat for more than a few minutes at a time. Through most of the mission the only person you'll have communications with is your pilot, so take care of yourselves. Get yourselves ready, as usual pack whatever equipment you deem necessary. We'll have jetpacks, explosives and your gliders packed onboard the LAAT." With that Fury looked around the room once and left, the intel officer following into step behind him. The ARC members were left reading their datapads.


***


5 minutes ago.
    Narrys turned quickly and brought his rifle to bear on a group of Rodian scouts trying to close down on his group. He turned the first pair into a bloody mess and seeing the others scramble for cover, he turned and ran. Things were not good. Since the initial counter attack the imperial loyalists were smashed at every engagement. They had reformed defensive lines over and over and each time the overwhelming New Republic force had routed them.
    He heard the 'crack' of a rodian long rifle and turned in time to see one of his men's arms taken clean off. He spotted the sniping mercenary and opened fire on the window, the rest of his squad joined in and brought the building the ground. Probably the quick merc had already fled.
    There were screams from all around as the New Republic's alien mercenaries swept through the city, softening up the imperial forces before a full on attack. Another rodian descended on one of his men, hacking at the imperial with his long rifle's blades. Before he could act he was distracted by the shouts of other soldiers, he looked up to see a massive titan walker towing over them, its mandible-like cannons aiming their way.
    Then there were more shouts and a distance whining, he turned to see a small black object streak through the skies towards them, barely making a sound. What looked like an old LAAT instantly came to a stop above the building adjacent to himself. Six pairs of red dots lit up inside the transport.
    Six strangely clad men burst out of the transport, five of them forming a semi-circle around the last - who went down on one knee and shouldered a rocket launcher. And as quickly as it came, the transport was gone.
    Then Narrys was knocked from his feet as a massive explosion numbed his hearing. Soon the explosion was replaced by the distinctive chatter of Acklay rifles. Narrys looked up the see the 'head' of the titan walker in flames, its insect like body falling to the ground, crushing the main body of republic troops. The black-clad soldiers moved forwards from their position, their weapons blazing and tearing apart the rodian mercenaries in the area.
    There were some furious orders shouted and the Republic force began to scatter. But the soldiers just moved on, quickly and silently.





********************************

Datapad info:

Topography:


Bara'Doush City.
This city surrounds the only natural crossing of the gorge. The outer city is a loose collection of houses, but the walled in inner city has industrial and residential sectors. The inner city bridges the narrowest point in the crossing as shown:

The inner city with landing point indicated:


On the map enemy forces are shown in red. They recently moved through the northern valley, forcing our forces to retreat back from the still-functioning outposts.

Transport is a heavily modified old republic LAAT. The weapons have been stripped down and it has been covered with a stealth coating as well as an unreflecting black paint.


Long rifles:


ooc: Ok hold of posting for just a second until i'm sure the mission is good
  -----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
PL:A/SGMRaziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/{EW1} {IG} {CDS} {BoA} {PoC}
Assistant Squad Leader - Squad4 Wraiths
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.

"God does not play dice with the universe" - Albert Einstein
"Who are you to tell God what to do with his dice?" - Bohr
"God does not play dice with the universe. He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." - Terry Pratchett
CM/DJK Raziel/lion 1-5/Krath/VEDJ/VE (WoS1) (VP1) (VP2)

The Gands had fallen into pure chaos after getting hit by the rocket.  The large group of about 40 Gand Mercs had been reduced to 27 after the explosion.  Blaster-fire rang out against singled out Gands then the ARCs began striking the 3 groups that had formed.

Anubis and Kami took one of the groups, sending out blaster fire at the mercenaries in front.  Anubis noticed something in the group however.  From within the group came a Trandoshan Merc wearing heavy armor and shield generator.  The Trandoshan ran towards them with pure rage, wielding a massive battleaxe.  Kami and Anubis ducked out of the way of the berserking Trandoshan as he sliced.

Dodging Gand blaster-fire and the Trandoshan, Anubis and Kami were put into a dangerous situation.  A concentrated assault by the two took out the Trandoshan's shiled generator, but its heavy armor took the blaster bolts on with little damage.  A few blaster bolts came by, hiting Anubis in the chest, but only doing minimal damage.

The Trandoshan was caught up for a moment with Kami's quick moves.  The large reptile was unable to match Kami's dexterity, which gave Anubis enough time to focus on a weak point in his armor.  A concentrated burst of fire from his Carbine brought the Trandoshan to the ground.  Kami finished him off with blast to the face-plate, rupturing it and killing the Trando.

The two went back to hammering at the Gands, taking cover behind various boxes and crates.  This certainly is more fun than Spec Ops. Anubis thought.
 
-----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
TRP/CPL Anubis Benor/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
Wraith Squad
Vast Empire Army

All six troopers sat poised at the back of the cantina, helmets carefully tilted to provide the greatest view of the small area visible beyond the trash. A jumbled mass of screamed orders echoed about them as their mercenary pursuers attempted to pin down their location. Gradually, second by second, the voices grew louder as the appointed Rebels circled in about the cantina.

To Kami's right, Raziel raised a hand, signaling a hold position. A query in Rodian sounded to his right, its proximity not enough to startle his unshakable concentration.

Kami's gaze tracked the wall blocking her view as the shouts died, followed by an abrupt silence. She tensed, the movement barely visible to the naked eye as a brief silence ensured, before a now lone voice pierced the air.

Kami swiftly translated the almost unintelligible language in her mind.

"Come closer" she whispered, so softly that only Anubis, crouched closely at her back could hear.

The voice sounded again, angry now.

"Move cowards, move"

Then...the voice lowered to a deathly soft level.

Kami's carbine flew up as she whispered the last translation.

"Take the shot."

The ARC's scattered, rifle fire scouring deeply into the ground that Zafo had only just recently occupied. Then the mercenaries were on them, materializing in their midst. Acklay rifles came to life, their distinctive chatter drowning out the battle cry of the first Rodian who charged into Kami's path. She slid side wards in response, letting a wicked vibroblade pass inches from her neck. Pausing momentarily to allow the rodian to overextend himself,  she twisted lithely about to drive her rifle into the alien's spine. Leaving the kill to Anubis, who remained steadily at her back, Kami gunned down three mercenaries taking pot shots from the rooftop above them, then risked a glance at the rest of her squad.

They were steadily retreating, their firing paths overlapping in order to provide cover for each individual commando. Without turning to Anubis, Kami shot a Rodian struggling to reload his rifle, making her way over his twitching body to engage the next Rodian blocking the duo's path to the other four members of the team. He fell with a single headshot snapped by Anubis, collapsing onto another sniper who dropped with an armored blow to the head. The next rodian gave way to Stonefish, who stood unmarked in a gleaming set of armor before a virtual storm of enemies.

Moving quickly now that they had regained their temporarily wayward members, the squad backed out of the cantina trash heap. Alien after alien fell under the combined fire, but more and more of the provisional Rebels were flocking in to fill their places.

Raziel signaled again, spurring the commandoes into a run.
They managed to dive into the momentary cover of another alleyway before the Rebels adjusted to the sudden maneuver, pounding their position once more...

 
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Iron Horse Squad
ASL/SGT Kami/1SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR] [CoR] [IG] [GCA]
TRN/JRN Kami/Training 1-3/VEDJ/VE
-=Surrender to your darkest dreams, and you'll live as you've never lived before...=-

(o^_^o)

Raziel paused, and put a hand up to his ear. The others near him could hear the buzz of comm chatter. He took his hand down and looked around the map he had spread on the table.

"Okay," he began, "I've just got word from Sleuth that the militia have rustled up a half-dozen bombers and some pilots, and that they're just itching to blow the hell out of something around here."

Stonefish considered the map while Raziel spoke, evaluating approach routes and targets.

"Are the walls still intact along the north edge?" he asked of Raziel.

"Last intelligence says that they are mostly intact, though we can't get near them right now due to the heavy enemy patrols."

"If the walls are intact, the only ingress point for the enemy is this gate here," Stonefish pointed to a fortified opening on the north wall, "A precision strike bringing down these two buildings will block that," he pointed to two larger buildings near the gate.

"Right, and with that gate blocked up with rubble, their armour will have no way in," commented Kami.

"Or out," finished Stonefish, "and their infantry will have a hell of a time clearing it."

"So what's to stop them just blowing a hole in another part of the wall?" asked Zafo, innocently.

"The fact that they haven't already done so suggests that they may be inclined to take the city intact, or perhaps, if we're lucky, that they cannot," Raziel put in, "So how the hell do we get up there?"

"There's waste conduits running under most of the city, and I very much doubt that the rebs are brave enough to go down there these days."

"Aww, man," said Anubis, "and I just polished these boots, too."

"Stow it, Corporal," ordered Raziel, "Entrances?"

"Right under this building we're hiding in, and there's a street access close enough to the target that we could lift the manhole cover and paint the target from there."

"That would be nice, but we need to sweep the area for anti-air defences. So, we'll approach the target through the sewer, come up through the indicated manhole, sweep the immediate area for AA defences, get back in the sewer and paint the two buildings for the bombers. I'll let them know the plan."

As Raziel put his hand to his ear again, Stonefish rolled up the map and got the rest of the unit ready to roll.
 
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Ramon Stonefish

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCS/ED d- s:+ a-- C++++ UL P+ L++@ E---- W+@ N+ !o w--- PS PE t+ 5++ X-- R++ tv+ b+++ !DI D++ G e>++ h! r-- z-
-----END GEEK CODE BLOCK-----

Sewers...I hate Sewers Anubis thought as the group slowly treked through the slush and gunk of the water.  Then there was the smell, it wasn't just a normal smell, it was a permeating, neverending smell of doom.

The visor revealed various critters scurrying around the sewers, some resembling large overgrown rats, others to snakes of various sizes.  Then Anubis began to wonder why the Rebels weren't so keen on coming into the sewers, he would soon fine out.  There was a billow in the water near Zafo, and for a moment the trooper didn't notice it. 

The billow then moved, passing near Kami's leg, till it finally came upon Anubis.  With one fierce grab it pulled him under.  "What the ...!" Was all Anubis got out as he was pulled under and towards the deeper part of the sewers.

Fish took out his carbine and with a direct shot hit what was carrying Anubis.  The creature slithered away and Anubis got back to the shallower portion.  "Ugh...wh...what was that?" He asked while still trying to catch his breath, he was soon answered from Raziel.  "A sewer Kraken, that was just a tentacle, I suggest we move on before it returns."

Anubis now had a reason to hate sewers even more...
 
-----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
TRP/CPL Anubis Benor/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
Wraith Squad
Vast Empire Army

The commandos scattered out, takin numerous positions.  Squall barrell rolled to the right, and went prone.  His carbine's barrell filled with energy as he released the trigger, and unloaded into the dumbfounded group of soldiers.  They were dropping easily, no match for the commandos.

Just as quick as the soldiers had been killed, more of them were spitting out from the alley ways.  There was no way to defeat them all.  More were coming from the rooftops, grappeling down, and snipers came out from the highest points on the highest buildings.  There was no way out.

Squall spotted Fish slowly grabbing for his flashbang.  He pulled the clip, and let it drop at his feet.  Squall did the same, to make the flash even brighter.  Squall's eye shields turned black to shield himself from the flashbang.

The commandos rolled back from their position, out another alley way.  Explosions and fire erupted into the area where they previously were, and screams were heard from throughout the area.  They had no idea where the commando's had disappeared to.

Swiftly and silenty the commando's moved through the gutterways in the city.  Water droplets dripped from the ceilings of the buildings above the low alleyway as the troopers made their way through.

They stopped at a spot, and circled around Fish once more.  Another one of his maps emereged, along with a Magic Marker.  He pinpointed the spots of the AA placements.  It was like a triangle from their position.  They would have to split up.  One group would have to go back to the previous position with all of the soldiers they escaped from.  One group would continue on, it was a straight shot to the AA gun, and another would have to go for the other one to the North.

Squall and Anubis would head for the one to the East, the straight shot

Kami and Zafo would head for the one to the North.

Raziel and Fish would head for the one to the West, the Backtracker.

Everyone polished their gear, and got ready for the run.
 
-----------------------
Ex---Vast Empire Army Member
-----------------------
- Squall Lionheart
- Lance Corporal -
- Ex - Raider Squad Member
Ex + Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} + Member

Lieutenant Narrys strode through the confusion and chaos that dominated what passed for the Imperial base camp. Soldiers rushed back and forth with portable blast shields, engineers tried to mine as many of the incoming roads as they could. Their last heavy weapons and turrets had been abandoned in the valleys north of Bara'doush and they had been forced to improvise.     Over the past few months the planets militia had turned from a massive powerhouse of well equipped, but green troopers to a small force of toughened veterans. So few of that army now survived that only the best of the best was still alive, grim-faced and determined, ready to sell their lives for this planet. What was left of Narrys' original Stormtrooper platoon was now just a part of the regular force, their shining white armour reduced to just a few usable dirty shards that some of them still wore as badges.     The men were busy preparing for a stand, building up for one last defensive line. But Narrys had received the communiqué from Vast Empire forces and knew that they would be swept aside before their ally's could start an effective evacuation programme. The Empire would cut its losses here and save as many of the hardened troops as it could. Narrys knew he had a choice to make, one that would sacrifice many lives, but in the hope of saving the majority of his force.     "You! Come here!" he shouted at the nearest NCO. He strode forwards towards the hastily prepared line. His sergeant didn't even bother with formalities any more, merely offering a nod.     "Sir,"     "Tell half the men to stop what they're doing, abandon the lines,"     "Sir?"     "We cannot hold here for long, organise the men into squads, in fact let them organise themselves into groups. Tell them to take whatever weapons and supplies they can and send them out into the city, disperse them,"     "We won't survive long out there sir, the rodian scouts are everywhere,"     "I know, tell them all to do everything in their power to slow down the enemy. We cannot fight on their terms any more, we wont last in a direct fight. We will have to ambush them, fight hand to hand, use explosives, anything to make this a bloody fight they won't forget. Bara'Doush is lost, but we will make it a hellish war zone that every Republic soldier will fear to enter."     "Very well, what will the rest of the men do?"     "We will defend the road to New Dentan and we will start an organised retreat, we can only hope to hold them off long enough."     Raziel padded silently through the darkness, slipping by enemy patrols with Fish just on his shoulder. They had the hardest route, backtracking through the soldiers who were still in chase.     As the mission parameters allowed for a personal selection of weapons Raziel had decided to bring along some more exotic items. He had looked up one of his old storage compartments that had been left unopened on The Wheel and found a wealth of items he had stored away before leaving Nar Shaddaa. Though fewer that half of the items were technically 'legal'.     Raziel had removed a batch of 'Splinter Pistols' as well as a temperature controlling skin suit. The former was a small, exotic pistol which fired slivers of poison coated metal. The weapon was completely silent, could penetrate most armour and could kill a target with just a scratch, which was useful with Raziel's inaccuracy. Monomolecular blades were attached to the pistols to double them up as vicious close combat weapons. The skin suit was basically a thin layer of insulation with 'veins' of temperature controlling liquid across the surface. The suit was set up to keep Raziel's body heat inside and keep the outer layer as cool as the surroundings.     Raziel brought them to a halt down an alleyway blocked of with debris, realising they were getting close. He paused for a second, letting his hearing adjust to the background noises, until he was sure there was no one nearby.     "How do you want to do this then?" he asked.     Fish shrugged. "More and more Republic troops are moving into the area, however we do it, I suggest its fast,"     "Well unless you want to get shot in the back, you'd best cover me. We take the high road," he whispered looking to the rooftops above.     Fish passed across a pack of charges and checked the ammunition in his carbine. Without a further word, or noise, the pair scrabbled up the debris onto the rooftops above.     Raziel sprinted across the rooftops, splinter pistol in each hand. His feet made no sound as he ran, as he leapt from building to building. Fish quickly took up a firing position and laid down a pack of ammunition next to him. He quickly lined up his sights just ahead of Raziel.     He switched the infra-red as Raziel seemed to meld into the shadows around him, but then switched back as for some strange reason Raziel had almost no heat signature.     A pair of soldiers on watch spotted Raziel, but too late. By the time they turned about Raziel was already past them and moving fast. Their warning shouts reached a group of Rodian's on a rooftop ahead, who branched out to block his path.     One of them shouldered a long rifle, preparing to fire. Raziel fired one silent shot from a pistol, which struck the Rodian in the thigh. The mercenary fell to the floor, before starting to rise again. He went stiff a moment and then toppled back to the ground.     The other two moved forwards to engage him, swinging their bladed long rifles ahead of them like pole arms. Raziel barely paused at the first one, sliding his needle pistol past his rifle and running the monomolecular blade through his neck. The second came in hard, swiping for Raziel's chest. The ARC trooper barely avoided the blade, but quickly moved in behind it to administer three lightening fast blows to the Rodian. Clutching at the thin incisions across his body the Rodian crumpled.     More soldiers moved to block his path, enough to stop him, but a burst from Fish's rifle scattered them, throwing two from the rooftops and leaving only one for Raziel to dispatch with a poisoned shot.     And then he had arrived at his goal, the building overlooking the AA tower. Blaster fire sounded behind him as Fish cleared a path for his retreat. The soldiers guarding the weapon looked up at the unusual figure looming above them and went for their weapons. Without a thought Raziel primed the charges for almost instant detonation and hurled them at the barrel of the AA gun. There was barely a moment for him to dive to the floor before the air was filled with fire.     He looked up to see the twisted remains of the gun's barrel, turned and fled. He raced past Fish, quickly flashing him the silent code for regroup. Fish fired one more burst to cover their escape and followed.

  -----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
PL:A/SGMRaziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/{EW1} {IG} {CDS} {BoA} {PoC}
Assistant Squad Leader - Squad4 Wraiths
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.

"God does not play dice with the universe" - Albert Einstein
"Who are you to tell God what to do with his dice?" - Bohr
"God does not play dice with the universe. He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." - Terry Pratchett
CM/DJK Raziel/lion 1-5/Krath/VEDJ/VE (WoS1) (VP1) (VP2)

Raziel turned on one heel, whipping his pistol around in one fluid motion. He fired one splinter into the rodian only a few metres behind him. He had added some more universal toxins into the mix this time, so the Rodian dropped down instantly dead. A short burst of Acklay fire from the rest of the squad blew away the rest of the small group behind them. The rest of their pursuers scattered.     This had been going on for a few minutes now. The squad moved along as quickly as possible, then whenever the opportunity presented itself they set an ambush for the mercenaries and their pursuers would back off. However the enemy was in abundance and they didn't have an infinite supply of ammunition, they needed to re-arm and have a break.     "Sleuth, where are you?"     "Headed to a location near you, its getting a little hot up here right now. ETA two minutes."     Raziel gave the silent code for Move rapidly. Blaster fire sounded all around them now, despite being the darkest hour of night. It seemed that the loyalists were everywhere now, doing their best to slow down the Republic forces advance. This city was the last line of defence now and their could be no defeat, no matter the cost.     His sensitive eyes spotting something in the night sky and he signalled for the squad to break cover and climb a nearby building.     The rodian mercs had been chasing the shadow-like imperials since the AA towers had been hit, given explicit orders to finish them off. Now it seemed like they had finally caught their quarry. The soldiers had moved out into the open and the rodians came from all directions to surround them. Their leaders watched and directed as the ARC members formed a defensive circle and defended themselves with unnerving accuracy. A pair of Rodians climbed the roof and rushed forwards, only to be cut down by one soldier deftly wielding a pair of bladed pistols.     The noose began to close though as more and more alien mercenaries closed in on them. One of the ARC's took a glancing hit and for just a moment they sensed victory.     Then there was a bright flash of light as someone used some sort of flash bang, followed by the groan of repulsor lifts firing. The rodian's caught a glimpse of a sleek black shuttle where the soldiers had been and then it was gone.     "Smooth pick up there," Raziel said as the shuttle lifted away from the city.     "No problem," Sleuth replied, his hands flowing over the controls naturally.

(ooc: as far as i got before having to go to work, take us where you'd like now. the bridge might be an idea )
 
-----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
PL:A/SGMRaziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/{EW1} {IG} {CDS} {BoA} {PoC}
Assistant Squad Leader - Squad4 Wraiths
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.

"God does not play dice with the universe" - Albert Einstein
"Who are you to tell God what to do with his dice?" - Bohr
"God does not play dice with the universe. He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." - Terry Pratchett
CM/DJK Raziel/lion 1-5/Krath/VEDJ/VE (WoS1) (VP1) (VP2)

Into the deep . . .

(ooc: well I kind of meant the bridge on the map, the city actually sits on the natural crossing of the gorge, but nvm )

The mile long bridge the spanned the Bara'doush gorge had been built to last. Fifty metres wide, very thick and built of the strongest materials available there seemed no direct route to destroying it. It was however the only other route to crossing the acklay infested gorge other than through the centre of the city.     "Ideas?" Raziel asked.     "If we could get onto the bridge and survive I suppose we could use some explosives and crater it? Would only slow them down though," Fish replied     "No way of blowing it apart?"     "Not up here, its far too thick for any means we have,"     "Well the loyalists supposedly had engineers try and demolish it before they fell back, looks like they failed." Kami said.     "Sleuth said they were picked off before they could finish," Zafo said.     "Yeah and then they abandoned the defences," Raziel said, indicating the abandoned loyalist turrets and fortifications. "Right then, what options have we got?"     The six ARC members stood alone on the south side of the gorge. Behind them Rodian mercenaries chased down the loyalist soldiers and ahead of them the Republics armoured divisions were already half way across the bridge. Six men were stood as hundreds of wheeled, tracked and legged vehicles slowly made their way across the gorge. Thousands more infantry bustled around the vehicles. Not mercenaries, but dedicated Republic soldiers.     "The supports," Fish said, as they moved silently down to the edge of the bridge. They had a few hours of darkness left and they were confident of  getting to the bridge unnoticed by the force crossing it.     "What?" Raziel asked.     "If we could place thermo-charges on the supports we could destabilize the bridge," Raziel took a look at the bridge. Every fifty metres or so a pair of thick metal supports ran down into the gorge below.     "The Gorge is several hundred metres deep, there are lots of thin supports to hold the bridges weight. If we could just damage several pairs we could destabilise the whole thing,"     "Slight problem here," Zafo interrupted. "The underside of that bridge is sleek metal, no way to climb it. And down there, are Acklays," he said looking down into the gorge.     "We'd only have to take out a few and anyways what chance do we have against that lot," Fish argued, pointing to the army marching in their direction.     Raz raised his hand for quiet. He considered the force coming towards them and looked down into the gorge, as if he could see what they could face down there.     "Three of us go down into the gorge, Fish you have the explosives, I'll go with you, who else?" Kami took a step forwards. "Ok you as well. Squall, Zafo, Anubis. Use whatever weaponry the Loyalists left behind, wait until the tanks are close and open up, they don't know we're here yet. Hold them off for as long as you can and then fall back, get Sleuth to extract you."     They all knew that six people had more chance of fighting through a horde of wild Acklays, but that wasn't why Raziel was taking two others down there. He was doing it so there would be some ARC members left to carry on the fight.     Squad, Anubis and Zafo slipped into the darkness. Unseen by the republic army they took up positions around the turrets the loyalists had left, fully functional, at the south end of the bridge. They didn't power up any of the weapons, instead waiting until the first of the Titans would too close to defend itself.     "Sleuth we need a pickup," Raziel said into his comm unit.     "Turning tail already?"     "Nope we need a lift down,     "Down?"     "Down."     Without warning the black LAAT seemed to come out of nowhere. The three ARC troopers boarded and the LAAT disappeared from sight into the deep gorge.     Fish immediately started sorting through the various explosives on board the shuttle. He took a pack of heavy charges,     "One of these on each support, they attach magnetically and are remotely detonated."     "Take this," Raziel said, tossing Fish a bio scanner. "Stay between us and plant the charges and tell us what's around us. We'll keep you covered." Then as an after thought he added. "Also give the remote detonated to Sleuth. Sleuth, if you lose radio contact detonate the explosives."     "Got you," the veteran pilot replied with no complaint. Everyone had to die sometime.     "What heavy weapons have you got aboad?" Kami asked. "Something that will hurt an Acklay."     "We have a flame carbine, not much juice. Also some portable grenade launchers. Ok we're almost at the bottom now, I don't see any life signs in the immediate area. Good luck."     The three ARC members slid out of the transport, which stayed hovering above them.     "I'm picking up life signs. Multiple large creatures, dear god there are hundreds of them around. I can make out about ten between us and the first four pairs of supports." Fish said. The charges were so heavy he had only one hand to hold the bio-scanner. Raziel looked back up the sheer sides of the gorge, at the bridge high, high above them. Down here it was incredibly dark and he heard the others switch to night vision.     "Kami use the grenade launcher, I'll use the flame thrower. Once those are out we'll use rifles. If we concentrate fire we can probably take a few out that way. Lets move."     The three rushed forwards, struggling through the dense foliage. Raziel kept to the right, his flame thrower burning ahead of him. Kami kept to the left, grenade launcher shouldered.     "To the right!" Fish shouted.     Raziel rolled aside just as a massive acklays crashed through the undergrowth at him. It reared up, ready to cut him down. He sent a stream of fire at its head, forcing the creature back. Kami fired one shot at the creatures kneck, the small grenade blowing the things head clean off. The thing had been more nightmarish than Raziel could ever have contemplated.     "Another," fish shouted.     "Keep moving!" Raziel shouted back. A pair of the creatures came at them from behind. Raziel tried to hold them off with a jet of flame, but they moved forwards to spear him with their claws . . .

 
-----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
PL:A/1LtRaziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/{EW1} (WoS1) 2x(VP:1) {IG} {CDS} {BoA} {PoC} {BC}
Assistant Squad Leader - Squad4 Wraiths
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.

"God does not play dice with the universe" - Albert Einstein
"Who are you to tell God what to do with his dice?" - Bohr
"God does not play dice with the universe. He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." - Terry Pratchett
CM/DJK Raziel/lion 1-5/Krath/VEDJ/VE (WoS1) (VP1) (VP2)

Raz watched as Fish disappeared ahead of them. For a few moments he could still hear him smashing through the undergrowth, but soon any noise Fish made was drowned out by the sound of Acklay's closing in around them.     "He won't last long out there alone," Raziel said as he looked back and forth. Scanning for the acklays that surrounded them.     "We won't last long." Kami replied. Before the words had even left her lips an Acklay seemed to materialize behind her.     Kami dove to the floor, sensing Raziel's thoughts. A burst of flame streamed over her body, the intense heat stinging her eyes. The Acklays flesh charred, it reared up, trying to get its head away from the flames. It backed away screeching and Raziel watched as it hurriedly limped away.     He span around as Kami got to her feet, but no other targets presented themselves. He twisted back and forth, keeping his flame carbine up ahead of him. He randomly unleashed bursts of fire into the undergrowth around them.     "Are you ok?" Kami asked.     Raziel realised that his heart was racing and that he was gripping his weapon far too tightly. Far from resigned to death, his instincts were screaming at him. His mind was torn as his more primal self fought for control. His instincts wanted him to run, to slip into the shadows, to hide, to survive. He took a deep breath and went through a series of mental exercises, forcing control over himself.     "Yeah I'm fine," Raziel replied, flashing her a smile that she could not see through his mask, but sensed nonetheless.     He could see the Acklay's now, all around them. They were keeping just out of range of the flamer. They were gathering. It was some kind of group behaviour he realised. Soon enough of them would pile in and they would surge forwards at himself and Kami, crushing them in a flurry of claws.     Hearing another explosion on the bridge above them, he looked up. The other three ARC members were obviously putting up a furious fight. Then an object seemed to reach out over the side of the bridge. He used the helmets built in zoom and quickly made out the figure of a titan walked, two legs flailing over the edge of the bridge. There was another explosion and Raziel could only watch as the Titan walked tipped over the edge of the bridge and its ruined body began to fall - From directly above them.     "Oh dear," he breathed. Kami looked up.     "What the  oh no,"         Kami immediately turned to face the direction of the bridge and started launching grenades ahead of them, multiple explosions sounded and Acklays scattered. She only had five shots left and then she reached for a rifle, but Raziel interrupted her.     "Take that! Clear a path, i'll cover you! Run!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, tossing her the flame thrower. She raced ahead of him, spewing a trail of fire ahead of her. Raziel pulled a pair of slender short swords from his back and sped after her. He could only guess that it would take around 8 seconds for the massive walker to descent six hundred metres or so.     He skittered along the ground, flanking her, avoiding the thickest foliage, but staying out of the corridor of destruction Kami was leaving behind. An Acklay avoided Kami's flames and went to intercept her from behind.     Raziel hacked at one of its rear legs and dashed under it's body. The creature turned around and Raziel carried on running after Kami.     Another one suddenly came out of nowhere, striking down at him with one massive claw. He dodged to the side and scrambled up the creatures limb before it could react. It reached out to grab him with its toothy maw, but he leapt to the side, plucking out one of the Acklays eyes with one sword. He skittered down its back and carried on chasing Kami.     Ahead of him the flame thrower ran out of fuel, Kami slowed to a jog as she dropped the weapon and went for her rifle. Three acklays moved to block her path, but a growing whistling noise distracted them. Raziel caught up to Kami, but carried on running, catching her by the shoulder and pulling her to the ground with him.     The massive titan walker hit the ground at two hundred kilometres per hour, unleashing hundreds of gigajoules of energy . . .

 
-----------------------
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
PL:A/1LtRaziel/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/{EW1} (WoS1) 2x(VP:1) {IG} {CDS} {BoA} {PoC} {BC}
Assistant Squad Leader - Squad4 Wraiths
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989.

"God does not play dice with the universe" - Albert Einstein
"Who are you to tell God what to do with his dice?" - Bohr
"God does not play dice with the universe. He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time." - Terry Pratchett
CM/DJK Raziel/lion 1-5/Krath/VEDJ/VE (WoS1) (VP1) (VP2)

The tanks were turning the corner just as Squall shifted into position behind one of the turrets.  It wasn't powered up, yet.  Squall pulled out one of his thermal detonators, and signalled for Anubis and Zafo to do the same.  The plan was, paint the tanks with the carbines, drawing their attention away from everything else, pop a few thermal detonators at each tank, and wait for the show.

Squall spun around the turret, unloaded his magazine into the tank coming down the road.  Zafo pulled out his slug rifle as took careful aim at the cockpit area.  Squall gave the signal to pop the grenades, and the barrage began.  A small explosion rocked the tank, only shifting its position a few feet, but after the rest of the grenades met up with the metal hull of the tank, it was demolished.  A few Rodains were just behind the tank, waiting for the ambush.

Zafo gave the signal to take cover, so the three men went back to their previous positions behind the turrets.  The roadians were confused as to what happened to the attackers, and walked in a daze searching for them.  Zafo slipped into one of the turrets.

"Go," whispered Squall in the radio.

Zafo charged up the cannon and started firing into the crowd of mercenaries.  A large Gamorean horde came out, swinging their axes and killing everything in site, even taking a few of the rodain mercs with them.  The turret that Anubis was hiding behind was crushed by the heavy swing of the axe.  It was domination on the Gamoreans part.

Anubis rolled out, and quickly stuck a sticky grenade on the large beasts back, catching him with surprise.  Anubis sprinted to cover behind Squall's turret as Zafo ripped open the body of the Gammorean as it was exploding.  With a few more magazines, and a few more grenades, the horde of mercs was destroyed, or retreating.

"We better call for evac," said Zafo

"Alright," Squall said, queing Slueth on the com.

"Slueth, we need evac at our drop point.  No word from Raziel or any of them yet," said Squall.

Within moments, the jet black transport whipped out of the city area and lowered down to pick up the three ARC troopers.  They climbed in the large LAAT transport, and lifted off the ground.

Just as the transport was flying over the bridge, Squall spotted the titan walker demolished.

"Something bad has happened, something really bad," said Squall.
 
-----------------------
Squall Lionheart
Lance Corporal
*DarkDragoons*
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
----------------------
TRP/LCPL Squall/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR] [EWI]

Squall veered around the corner, unloaded his carbine into the acklay.  The body splashed into the ground, but Anubis thought second about the creature being dead, so he put a few more bolts into the body.

"Kami...Fish...Raziel..," said Squall, "Does anyone hear me?"

"This is Raziel.  We are just behind the downed Titan walker holding off a small group of Acklay.  We need assistance, Fish looks like he is injured..." said Raziel

"Slueth, we need an evac," said Squall, "Throwin the marker grenade now.."

Squall pulled the pin on the smoke grenade and tossed it about 15 feet infront of the three ARC troopers.  They were covered in a variety of muds and blood from the deep trench.  Debris was still falling from the sky from the now devestated bridge.

A few moments later, the slick, jet black LAAT came down close to the ground.  Right as it set down, Squall heard the screams of the Acklay.

"Get in the transport, Slueth, open fire!," said Squall, running on a dead sprint with Zafo and Anubis towards the LAAT, and jumping into the turret positions.  The Acklay were swarming the LAAT.

"I have no view sir," said Sleuth, "You guys have to hold off the Acklay while I try to take off,  or else we have no transportation"

"Roger," said Squall, taking aim with his carbine and unloading into the chest of the Acklay that was trying to latch on to the outer hull.  Zafo and Anubis had taken the turret positions, and were ripping the Acklay apart with the sharp green lasers.  The number of the Acklay was slowly diminishing, and the LAAT was now starting to lift off of the ground.

Squall pulled out a flashbang grenade, so that he could take out the eyesight from the rest of the Acklay so the ARC troopers could take off.

"Visors," said Squall, snapping his red lenses down onto his eyes.  Zafo and Anubis did the same, and Slueth slid his dark black visor from his helmet over his eyes.  Squall pulled the pin, and set it on the floor of the LAAT, and looked away just in case.  The grenade illuminated with a very bright light, letting out a small explosion, lighting up everything in the vacinity.  The Acklay were now blinded.  Squall, Zafo, and Anubis opened up onto the Acklay, sending them straight into the bottom of the trench.  They were all now either retreating, or were dead.

"Slueth, God Speed.  The city is falling, and we haven't a chancee out there.  We need to get to Raziel and the rest for more directions."

"Affirmative," said Slueth

 
-----------------------
Squall Lionheart
Lance Corporal
*DarkDragoons*
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
----------------------
TRP/LCPL Squall/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR] [EWI]