"I don't know, Cy. This looks pretty sadistic -- I like it."
    Mara read through the blue datapad with interest, then shifted her eyes up toward her newly installed assistant. She never really could see his face, since it was at all times encased in some form of helmet, which she found quite amusing. Who was behind that mask? It truly was difficult to tell what Cyanus felt at any one time -- or if he felt anything at all. Surely, by his proposal sitting on her desk, she could safely deduct his personality by this rather "unique" mission; but there was never a guarantee. All this added a degree of mystery around this man in front of her, which she almost felt an urge to investigate out of sheer curiosity. "What'd Rizzit think of it?"
    Who cares what he thinks as long as he signs the papers? "It is authorized," he assured his boss.
    Behind the stormtrooper mask Cyanus had planned out the details in one night, sitting at his desk hammering away at the intricacies of this mission and getting the base computer programmers to cooperate -- which didn't take much. They cowered slightly before him, slightly sensing a dark presence beneath that white armor and cloak. Working under his watchful eye they'd crafted the AI characters and the 'game' world in six hours.
    "Okay, if he let us," said the Raiders squad leader as she pushed back her chair and stood up. "Get the boys together."
   
    Taking a little detour, Cyanus stopped by the simulators. His roving visors scanned through the large equipment and found the control console. The current batch of Raiders, to his complete and utter vexation, tended to lounge around and do nothing while the other squads headed off on missions. The once-elite squad reduced to a bunch of drunkards and inactives! All that needed to change, and he volunteered himself to do just that. If these lazy troopers wanted to keep their positions -- and their lives -- they'd have to fight for it. His hand reached out toward the safety switch...

    Sergeant [Major] Stonefish sat on his bed carefully adjusting the power levels of one of his numerous A280 rifles. He picked out the blaster pack with utter precision, as any mistake could spark a devastating explosion -- and mess up his room before the next inspection. A rustle of cloth made him draw his blaster and direct its muzzle at Cyanus, who'd silently entered the room and stood there silently with his head cocked to one side. Taking the hint, Stonefish nodded and made the sign for his boss to leave. He fell back on his bunk and sighed. Finally, a mission...
    Shadow lay on his bed staring at the sky idly while his left hand scratched his faithful Interceptor behind the ears. Since the recent idleness came over the squad he'd been doing physical training alone with Interceptor as his only partner. Whatever happened to Mara and that oddball Cyanus anyway? They never seemed to come out of their offices these days. He'd heard Fury had been kidnapped and that the other squads were on the job. Something was seriously wrong if the corps' prefect was captured and the Raiders stood by twiddling their thumbs. Suddenly, the great canine growled softly toward the door, and the trooper got up to look. Cyanus made the sign to get ready and silently walked out the door toward the less elegant quarters of the lower-ranking members, leaving the two in there to look at each other understandingly.
    Shouts of surprise echoed through the hallways, prompting Fish to peek at the Raiders section of the barracks carefully. All the newer guys' doors were open and two men and a Twi'lek flew out of their respective doorways. These, Fish guessed, were Fa'ah, TX, and Trike. Cyanus stared at the soldiers sitting angrily in front of him and spoke a few words. The group quivered and nervously made their way back to their rooms to get ready. 
    "What did you tell them?" asked Stonefish as Cyanus passed his doorway. The senior sergeant said nothing in reply. You don't want to know.
   
    No longer were they a rabble of men who were supposed to be soldiers. They exited out of their barracks and got into a line, straight as a line of men could be. Under threat of death the privates got into formation in full uniform. The older members needed no prompting. The Raiders were getting back into the disciplined fighting force they used to be -- with a few adjustments. Mara received the men at the newly renovated briefing room, impressed that they'd actually arrived in formation rather than as a small mob as per usual these days. She looked at Cyanus, "Did you..." He stopped her by holding his hand out and nodding slightly. The armor-clad trooper made his way by Mara's side while she opened up the projector.

    Situation: Our agents have managed to capture the enemy's key to activate the nuclear missile we have in our silo/bunker. Unfortunately, their agents have done the same to ours. While our forces engage the other in an attempt to regain the key, two equal and opposing stormtrooper squads have been deployed to supplement the regular forces directed to storm the enemy fortifications. Their job is to bring the key back (with a bonus if they take the general alive). 
   
   

Squares: Infantry/Armor positions
X's: Artillery positions
Blue Arrow: One suggested route
Imperial insignia: Our start zone
Red Arrow: Our objective


    "Cy, will you do the honors?"
    Nodding slightly, the trooper glared at the assembled men for attention. "If you have all heard the news, our prefect has been 'kidnapped.' There is no need to worry; all the other squads are on the job. Meanwhile, I have conjured up an exercise for us all. No need to worry about your blubbery bodies, this is a simulation mission -- quite similar to your arcade games. It consists of the elements of 'Capture the Flag,' only it is 'Capture the General and His Key,' and we will have one to three AI squads helping us. Simple, no?
    "Knowing me, you should not have assumed so. I had the programmers create an opposing Raiders squad, almost exactly like us in every way. They will use the same things we have and the same tactics, so this will be no run-and-gun scenario unless you want to die very quickly. Use intelligent tactics."
    Letting the surprise subside, the sergeant continued onwards, pointing out the various parts of the map. "Our allies and the bulk of their forces are engaged here, in the south part of the map -- the artillery-bombarded flatlands. One very good route is outlined with the blue arrows, through the mountain pass. I will not say that that is the sure path to victory. Beware that the opposing Raiders might also take that route, and take OUR general and HIS key. Note that both of our bases have gunnery positions on the roof but do not count on them to protect our objective. We must have our key when we take back the enemy's keycard to exit the mission.
    "If and only if you capture the enemy general, you must bring him back alive, or at least his key. Take the key and activate the console inside the main bunker, which will end the scenario. Any questions go to me. Do your last minute preparations and be back within ten minutes. Move out."
 
-----------------------
ASL/SSG Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE[VP1]
Dark Knight of the Krath
"History belongs to those who have the will to forge their own path." -- Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

    Mara found herself musing about the battle plans. How were they to sneak in and take the prize from a cunning enemy, much less face off against the Raiders? Her brain ran through the possible routes and then wandered over to the opposition. Most of her boys were green soldiers whose only combat experience lay on the shooting range and ordinary drills. They wouldn't be much trouble to kill off -- the virtual ones that is.
    Cyanus was her chief problem. Having seen him in routine combat drills, he proved to be a most deadly killer, scouting ahead and eliminating anyone that could compromise the squad. His virtual self would likely prove to be just as dangerous an opponent. Whose was the face behind the faceless mask? What was he like? Her curiosity grew steadily as she walked briskly to the sim room.
    That only made her heart skip a beat when his voice boomed, "Left, right, left, right, halt."
    Mara couldn't recall any incident of her Cy shouting at all, much less yelling at the other troops. Now he spoke as loudly as he could and still remained as calm as ever. She bit her lip as the jogging line passed in full combat gear. It only made sense to keep prepared for deployment from the Dominion at any time Rizzit's platoon needed the extra help. Trike seemed to have a slightly blood-red spot on his shoulder -- the result of a little extra prodding with Cyanus' force pike. The rest shuffled in formation and stopped abruptly before Mara's awed form.
    Already...?
    Cyanus came from behind the last man, Stonefish, carrying a metallic stick over his shoulder. He motioned for her to lead with his gauntlet, "After you, sergeant."
    After months of trying to get to know him, the armor-clad, silent trooper still called her by rank and only sometimes by name. Instead of trying to make conversation he got down to business. Instead of going out partying with the squad he stayed behind racking his brains over new intelligence information. He was almost always out of the base on some scouting mission or another. An enigma he was -- and an irresistibly compelling one at that. She would have an adventure finding out what he really was like hidden under all those layers.
    Cyanus knew of Mara's little plot to see his face and pretended to pay it no mind, for the sake of the squad's shaky organization. Directing the troopers with electric steel doing the talking, he trailed behind his squad leader thinking about the mission -- and observing her for any changes in behavior.
   
    The simulation room turned out to be decently sized, thought the troops. Lined up in neat rows were the holographic pods in which they hooked into the program. Wires crisscrossed the floor under protective clear runners and illuminated the place in blue. People in long white coats milled about chatting, inspecting the equipment, or working on the computers. The place looked like a space lab rather than a sim deck.
    Settling into the well-padded cylinders, the troops put the metallic visors over their faces using the flexible rod and signaled their readiness. With a single push of the button, all Raiders felt an intense yet painless shock run through their bodies...

    Mara looked around her surroundings: a solid duracrete fortress, it seemed, with gun turrets almost every two meters manned by what seemed to be crack troops from the looks on their faces. Nearby a roar filled the air followed by shouting orders. A crew served the very large artillery piece sending a flaming energy ball down to the plains below, where lines of red and blue clashed incessantly. The sky was brown choked with smoke, adding to the gritty effect of this war zone.
    "Tell me what you think of it," said Cyanus coming up suddenly beside her. Dark Jedi had a knack for doing such things, she quickly learned long ago.
    "It's really quite good," Mara said in a daze. "Seems like the old Laser Brigade all over again." She turned to talk to one of the AI squad leaders.
    Laser Brigade: the old kid's game of lining up troops in red or blue and just shooting it out on a field of battle for prizes consisting of cookies or other trinkets. Mara had learned it from watching a game in action, and had always wanted to join. Well, now was her chance, and this time the stakes were very real.
   
    Kormal Fa'ah had never been in a simulation before, much less an ultra-realistic military version. He wandered around poking the Imperial army troopers milling about, only to get shoved back. Is this real? he wondered. Everything seemed real enough, right down to the pebbles vibrating whenever the monstrous artillery piece shot. However, he'd heard that if someone would stop believing this in world and tries to do something impossible, he could achieve it. Feeling brave, the trooper dropped his rifle on the ground and stepped on the ledge.
    "Wade, what's this?" asked a scientist pointing at the screen depicting Fa'ah.
    "He's trying to fly, I think. Call the squad leader, Made, Jara, Mara, whatever!" said the lead scientist as he picked up the microphone. "Wait."
    Just calm down, this is all imaginary. It can't kill you. Mara won't say anything, the devil inside him said. Jump!
    Extinguishing his belief in this world, Kormal stepped forward and dropped out of sight. Mara and Cyanus dashed to the ledge and skidded to a stop before the stone barrier. They watched him plunge down the abyss.
    This is bad, the trooper thought. A screech in the air made it worse. He felt something constrict his lungs and gasped for air. Looking down at his chest armor he found a scaly thing with claws wrapped around him. Sounds of flapping signified the large bird that had him in its mercy. It reached down to tear at his flesh for its young.
    Shadow lined up a shot and pulled the trigger. The shot passed through the gigantic creature's wing, causing it to swerve toward the battlefield. These things apparently made their nesting grounds sensibly among the mountains. The AI soldiers instinctively ducked in a weird manner, as if they'd faced these beasts before. A roaring of cannons from both trenches tore the creature apart and its various bloody parts fell to earth, along with Kormal.
   
    Outside, the screen showing the green trooper's biological signs beeped alarmingly. In two seconds his heart rate accelerated and his body shook violently, ramming the screen and the padding in delirium. His mouth opened and shut, letting out silent screams that only he could hear, only he could feel the terror. Then it was over; he exhaled for the last time and lay still -- the green line had gone flat. Fa'ah was dead.
    The comm crackled. "Sorry, we couldn't reach the coding in time, Wade out," said the scientist.
    Mara sank to her knees before the ledge while Cyanus' cloak flapped indifferently in the wind. They'd been here six minutes, and already one of theirs had been killed.

 
-----------------------
ASL/SSG Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE[VP1]
Dark Knight of the Krath
"History belongs to those who have the will to forge their own path." -- Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

    Mara cast a downward glance at the duracrete floor upon which they stood. She'd expected some to die but not like this. She now knew how high the stakes were. Cyanus stood next to her, apparently scanning the mountainsides with his in-helmet binoculars. That was Cy, always on the job. Was he really human under all those layers?
    "Sergeant?" It was TJ, asking for the second time.
    "Huh?" That startled her, TJ saw. Something bad must have happened for the leader to feel this bent out of shape.
    "What do we do?" He looked around at the other troopers loitering idly by. All of them were dismayed by whatever recently happened. Well, all but one: Cyanus. From his copy of the roster, this man was Mara's assistant, though he seemed to be running the show right now, which made sense seeing how this mission was his idea in the first place.
    "Um..." Mara fumbled through her backpack. That datapad is somewhere around here. Blast, where is it? As if reading her mind -- he probably was -- Cyanus offered her the pad, along with a water canteen. "Thanks, Cy, you really do care after all." She winked.
   




Key:
Cyan path: Possible route
Green path: Alternate route
Red dots: Known eagle nests


    Mara studied the glowing map intensely. Scrolling around until she stopped on the mountain pathways, she nodded. "Not much in the way of going places, unless we want to get blasted to pieces on the field. We'll take the mountain way."
    Cyanus moved with a stir. He turned his head toward the lounging troopers and said simply, "You heard the sergeant: move out."
    "Wait!" cried a voice. It was one of the AI sergeants. "We were assigned to help you. These boys," he gestured to a nearby gunner, "can defend the area with no problems."
    "More problems than you might think, sergeant," said Cyanus ominously.
    "What do you mean?" Algorithms ran through the trooper's mind, trying to comprehend Cyanus' words. They came up in error and the artificial soldier scratched his head as a default response.
    "Never you mind." The knight looked away toward the battle. Across the field, lines of soldiers fired their rifles and artillery at each other. Being stuck in trenches, foxholes, and bomb scars, they rarely hit each other. Mara chose well, as any attempt to cross that murderous plain would kill them all -- and he only wanted the lazy Raiders dead. Still, the mountain path would be treacherous at best. Garqi eagle nests lined the craggy rock faces, further adding more danger to the game. They'd all seen what the massive birds could do when searching for food, and could only imagine to what ends the beasts would go to defend their young. There was also always the chance of encountering the enemy Raiders.
    So many dangers, yet the tradeoff proved good. Enemy and allied artillery pounded the flatlands, sending dirt and limbs flying all over the scrap-strewn field. They would have artillery and infantry support, but to fight in an open field with little cover was death.
    They were learning, the apathetic knight saw. Already, the junior members of the squad were in line, with Shadow and Fish bringing up the rear. TJ stood at the front, giving last-minute advice to Trike. The virtual troops, as a rule, were already prepared to go; one would hang around TJ as a sniper's observer. Mara Jade still sat looking at the pad mournfully. Was she still saddened by the loss of Fa'ah? What is one life lost, he thought, besides a little speck in the Force? Knowing that the other Raiders had already started on their own route, Cyanus cautiously placed his hand on Mara's shoulder. "Sergeant? We are ready."
   
    This is too real, thought TX-973. The constant wind whistling through the cracks and walls of the mountains made him grip his E-11 in fear. His boots crunched on the gravel path between two tall peaks. He ducked his head upon hearing screech in the sky. Something was out there, he was sure of it! Nevertheless, he trudged on. It wasn't as if he had a choice in the matter anyway. Cyanus menaced the lower-ranking members constantly not so much with his nonexistent temper and heartless nature but by something TX couldn't quite place.
    "Move it, soldier," said a virtual corporal as he and his squad filed past TX. That was the young man's cue to hurry up and catch up with the Raiders.
    "Cy, what do you know about these giant birds you put in here?" Mara walked silently beside her assistant, suppressing her desire to just rip his helmet off and see who exactly this mysterious stormtrooper was like.
    Knowing it was an attempt to converse with him, the knight relented and turned his helmet on Mara. "The Garqi eagle is similar to most other eagles, with some parts resembling those avian species of the raptor class. It has long, sharp talons and unusually strong wing muscles, allowing it to lift very large prey for its young. Fledglings of the species are typically quite small compared to the adults, so the parents must pick the meat into a small enough size. The most common eagles have a brown plumage, with fledglings at a pale yellow. These birds are known to defend their nests with a vengeance," he concluded.
    "Yes, I saw," she looked down at her feet and the rocky ground.

    Silence was key. The computers calculated the routes that the Raiders would take and relayed them to their AI counterparts. The virtual Cyanus took the lead and faded into the mountains to spy. The rest of them split off and climbed the various peaks and entrenched themselves for an ambush...
 
-----------------------
ASL/SSG Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE[VP1]
Dark Knight of the Krath
"History belongs to those who have the will to forge their own path." -- Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

    Warning: Battle scene rated R by me for excessive violence and disturbing images. "Not for small children or big babies."

    "Well, that was close," said Mara breathlessly, glancing at Cyanus, who'd gotten up already. "Thanks for the rescue."
    Her assistant nodded. Even after getting TJ's alert, she'd not expected the speed at which those eagles could swoop down and devastate the party. Cyanus had pushed her down, preventing the bird from clipping off her head, and diving to the dirt himself. Taking a look around, Mara saw everyone getting up and resuming his or her course. The virtual army trooper who'd been hit got up, shook his head, and continued. Only TX and Trike seemed uneasy, she saw.
    Trike fumbled around with his rifle, not able to get a grip. That Garqi eagle gave quite a scare, and he was nearly grabbed by the talons of the creature. TX, who stood next to him, still knelt with his hands over his helmet.
    "Hey, you all right?" Trike asked, placing his hands on TX's shoulder. The private jerked away and sobbed silently. The pressure got to him, its danger markedly affecting his mind. He'd seen Kormal die brutally, and knew that he was dead in reality too. Was he to die like this too? This was too much.
    "Mara, we got a problem here."
    She looked back at the group of soldiers loitering around the gravel path from talking with Cyanus about which path to take. They'd stopped at the point where the path split off into two directions. This was a dangerous place to halt, as it was wide in the open. "Cy, I'm going to--now where've you run off to?"
    He'd disappeared, probably off to scout out the paths. There was another mystery that she'd have to find out about him. Why is he like that? she thought. No matter, TX needed her help.

    Up in the mountain cliffs, Cyanus leaned against the rock face. He spotted some glints around this location and broke off from the group to inspect the threat factor. Slowly scooting through the sometimes-narrow rock faces, he spotted another white glint near an outcrop. Turning the corner and glancing at the flat rock plateau, he drew his weapon.
    As I thought.
    There, in a prone position, lay a stormtrooper with his rifle set against his shoulder. He was covered almost completely with the local dirt and sand, which made the soldier nearly undetectable at this height. Crouching down, Cyanus slowly crept toward the hidden marine, his rifle at the ready since the simulator canceled out the Force and lightsabers. Combined, those two would have made his job easier; just a quick shove would send the would-be guerilla flying off the mountain. Wary of other ambushers lying in wait, he took the time to scan around him for anybody training a rifle on him. Finding none, he trained his weapon on the enemy and fired.
    The virtual Trike had been lying in wait as per orders from its AI superiors. Though the main program knew where the real Cyanus was at all times, the realistic programming prevented the enemy Trike from knowing anything until it was too late. His body went limp as the bolt passed through his head; the rifle fell from his virtual grip and toppled over the edge. The blaster shot echoed through the mountains and made the others look up. Even the AI soldiers on both sides in the area turned their heads according to programming.
    The master computer calculated its options. Cyanus just took out the virtual Trike and alerted the living Raiders on the situation. It would have to act fast -- what would Raiders have done? Simple: it gave the order to ambush the group.

    "What was that?" Trike asked, instinctively lifting his rifle to his chest. That was one aspect that training could never cure: the need to duck whenever something goes off. Even in the distance above, the carbine shot sounded clear and audible. 
    "This is Cyanus. I have killed a stormtrooper. Take cover and watch out for an ambu--" The message over the Raiders comm ended with a shot and the sound of a body hitting the dirt.
    "Cy!" Mara shouted into her comm.
    Instantly, a hail of blaster shots rained down upon the squads. Several AI troopers went down immediately. The Raiders dove for cover in whatever they could find under fire: outcrops, rocks, and the like. These artificial Raiders seemed to target their human counterparts immediately.
   
    TJ spotted a flash of red from one of the dark shadows of the mountain just in front of his sniper's nest. Training his rifle up to that spot, he discovered a camouflaged man crouched down hammering away at Shadow's position. He pointed the crosshairs on this nuisance to his old friend. Say good night...
    *Bang*
    The army trooper next to him groaned and fell on top of him, forcing the colonel to shoot at the air. Damn! Missed! he thought quickly as he shoved the corpse off of him, only to find a white mask staring him in the face.
    "What the hell?"
    "You're in my spot," a female voice told TJ in an amused manner just as an E-11 rifle snapped up to meet his face...

    "You are quicker than I estimated," said Cyanus, looking at the armored figure crouched in a defensive stance in front of him. He stood right at the edge inspecting his dead comrade.
    "You should know that. I am you, and you are me," said the Krath knight as he shifted his glance from his computer counterpart to the smoking hole in the ground and back. "You know this will end up in a stalemate." He took another glance down at the Raiders group below.
    The virtual trooper shook his head. "No, I am not mortal, like yourself. I have the advantage, look above you. I always have a trick up my sleeve."
    The real sergeant glanced upward at the next ledge, seeing a Shadow perched up with its rifle trained on him.
    Cyanus trained his rifle on his living counterpart. "You are only human."
    He nodded slowly and deliberately, while keeping his glances switching from the ledge to his counterpart. "You are supposed to know me, I always have a trick up my sleeve. Mara, now." He dove to the side, hitting the dirt while grabbing his dropped rifle.

    Mara had seen a stormtrooper standing by the ledge. Judging by his speed and the fact that there was another stormtrooper right above him training its rifle on someone there, she knew that Cy was alive somehow. She lifted her rifle and took aim at the one standing at the cliff inspecting the dead body.
    "Mara, now!" someone said over the comm, and she took the shot. After doing so, she ducked back as a blaster bolt struck the rock that covered her. It occured to her that Cy called her by her name. About time, Cy, she grinned at that.
   
    Cyanus looked at the burn in his chest in disbelief. He reached down toward his armor and looked at the real sergeant, who'd just shot his Shadow multiple times. "Only human...?" With that, he stumbled backward and fell over the cliff, his body hitting rocks left and right until it skidded to a stop among the bodies of his victims.

    "Somebody? Anybody?" Someone shouted on the laser-riddled field. TX lay stricken on the field next to a private, his torso riddled with burn marks. Everything seemed an echo, the blaster shots sounding like muffled gusts of wind. Pain shocks moved up and down his body at will. His view of the world gradually darkened. His own words seemed distant.
    "Help..." he moaned before falling unconscious. Everything became dark. Sleep...rest... TX's body relaxed and his eyes saw no more.
    "Get him out of there!" shouted the head scientist. Around him his fellow Imperial workers scrambled over to TX's capsule, ripping open the glass container and unplugging him from the machine. They let his motionless body down on the white tiled floor and brought out the defibrillator.
    "Clear!" They shocked him once.
    "Clear!" Twice...
    The resident paramedic put his finger in the trooper's neck, then made a slicing motion across his neck. There was no pulse.
   
    All of this gunfire woke up the nearest Garqi eagle nestlings, their cries waking up their massive parents. The brown, barely-feathered critters opened their mouths widely, chirping for the next meal. Their exasperated parents, slaves to the parental instinct, spotted things moving far below and swooped down for the kills.
   
    Shadow leaned next to a boulder taking potshots at the soldier above him. Where the devil was TJ? He's supposed to be our sniper cover. He stuck his rifle out and pulled the trigger, not knowing what he'd hit -- or if he hit anything at all.
    A screech...
    Suddenly, all fell silent. The remaining AI troopers stopped shooting and looked toward the sky. Descending upon them, a dark shape like a wraith of death dove at near sonic speeds toward the bloody field. They wisely scattered, the false Raiders melting into the mountains to regroup.
    Trike looked around and lowered his rifle. What is everyone doing? He looked up just enough to see two sets of massive talons grab him. The pain from the impact alone, and the claws punching into the weak points of his armor made him scream in agony. The eagle lifted him up into the air and flapped its heavy wings.
    "No, no, please!" he begged, struggling against the iron grips. His moving around only made the eagle grip tighter for fear of losing its prey. The claws pierced his arms to the bone, scraping off his muscle tissue and letting them flap in the wind dripping blood. The icy cold air sliced into his sensitive nerves like poisoned knives. Trike screeched desperately, "HELP!"
    "Oh my..." the scientist stared in horror at the screen, his gaze fixated on Trike's vitals. The others bit their nails at his capsule, which rocked violently as if buffeted by flak.
    Inside, blood trickled freely down his lips and stained the padding upon which he lay. The pain transferred into his mind made Trike shake violently. The wiring came loose and punched into his arms, letting the current flow into his nerves and muscles. His arm turned a sickly black color as blood vessels fried and burned in contact with the electrical wiring. Pus formed at his arms and boiled upon touching the red-hot metal. Yellow smoke filled his capsule with smells of vomit and death.
    Trike's eyes burst wide open in shock upon spotting the chicks. Though they weren't the titans their parents appeared, most of them still matched his size -- and all of them had razor-sharp beaks open at the ready.
    He prayed and prayed that his extremely well made stormtrooper armor would hold on. The pain in his arms went away now, along with pretty much his arms. He dangled in the claws a broken man. The Garqi eagle dropped the soldier in the nest from several meters up, and he landed on the ground with a thud, snapping several bones.
    They came quickly. Pecking futilely against the armor, they picked at his arms and ripped out the black thermal suit, peeling off his skin while they were at it. One hatchling dipped its beak into his freely flowing bodily fluids, lifted its head, and let the stuff flow into its gullet, just like a real bird. He suddenly felt wetness near his groin spreading through his pants legs and closed his eyes. Tears stream down his face and onto the helmet's interface system, frying them. Sparks leapt onto his face and stung like a million needles. He breathed the smoke of his own burning face.
    The eagle tripped at the straps holding his chest plates together. A hatchling knocked off his helmet. Finally they gave, and finally the beasts tore into his chest. They ripped open his chest, crushing the ribs and tossing them out. Some baby pecked out one of his eyes and he watched it dangle by the nerves before disappearing into the bird's beak. His lungs he saw ripped out before him, along with his stomach ripped open and spilling its acidic contents onto his unprotected flesh -- the flesh of the fallen. Trike found himself losing his vision even though he had one eye left, and gradually he lost all feeling.
    No! No! No! No! No! No....
    "Unplug him! Unplug him!" The operators tried to hold the container together, but his body just kept shaking the metal cylinder. A loud buzzing knocked them back onto the floor; several men lay unconscious by the sheer voltage. Blue fire enveloped the cylinder and the room glowed and reeked of burnt flesh.
    Trike opened and shut his mouth, unable to think of something to do, or think of anything at all. All he saw was the dimming picture of his insides being ripped out. Electricity arced from his body to the VR cylinder and back, searing everything. Finally, the device broke free and slammed onto the floor, spilling out a black, smoking mass. It rolled over its occupant, almost flattening the crispy mass into dust. One of the scientists cried out. It barely resembled a humanoid shape; it was more like a barbeque meal gone wrong. Several men lost their lunches right there, on the clean floor. The head operator checked his readings, thankful that the others had not been affected by the accident. 
   

    OOC: Such is the fate of traitors...
 
-----------------------
ASL/SSG Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE[VP1]
Dark Knight of the Krath
"History belongs to those who have the will to forge their own path." -- Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -

    "Are you serious? You want to stay in?" asked the scientist, Jerdann.
    "Affirmative, doctor," Cyanus replied on the console speakers. "The mission is still incomplete."
   
    Within the simulation of his own design, Cyanus had just finished stripping the nonliving corpse of Nega(Negative)-Shadow of all arms and kicked its body off the cliff. He turned as the body disappeared over the edge and made his way down the mountainside carrying his, Nega-Cyanus', and Nega-Shadow's equipment down to the rendezvous point below.
    Stonefish peeked out from under his gravel bed cover, his rifle trained on whatever he looked at. The ambush had started so quickly, and ended so quickly that he'd barely fired a shot, much less knew what was going on. Three army troopers lay slain in the rough dirt near him, a testament to the Raiders' combat skills for sure, but still a disturbing sight. He made his way to the gathering core group while keeping his eyes on the mountains.
       
    Mara stood in the middle of the grisly pile of victims and hunters, her eyes fixated on the few stormtroopers laying dead in the blood-stained ground. Sinking to her knees, she lifted the helmet off of the one with many burns in its chest armor and shook her head.
    TX-973's face gave off the impression of being in a deep slumber -- if it wasn't so pale and there was no dried blood staining his lips. She tried to check the pulse on his limp hands -- nothing. His mouth drooping slightly, the trooper appeared to have found peace at last in death. 
    His story is over, and ours goes on, I guess.
    Mara bowed her head for a moment, and then let the body down. She moved on to the next armored body, where it lay on its face with a nasty looking burn mark in its back. It was the clone trooper she had shot on Cyanus' cue. She found herself grinning slightly at that. Reaching down to see who it was, Mara found her hand grabbed by someone. It was a dirt-stained stormtrooper who had three E-11s hanging from his belt: her assistant Cyanus.
    "Sergeant Jade, you do not want to see this," said Cyanus. "I will take that carcass."
    He grabbed it by its arms and dragged it away, with Mara following closely behind, curious as to why Cy was taking away this particular body out of all the ones laying around. Was this actually his clone? If so, why did he take such care in disposing of the body, since Mara was identifying the dead?
    "What's wrong?" she just had to ask. "Who's that, your clone?"
    "Perhaps," he allowed, after a moment of thinking. He wondered what possessed Mara so as to make her constantly pester him about these things, and now she was adding small talk too? He looked at her through his helmet, showing and feeling no emotion through that faceless mask. "Why do you ask, sergeant?"
    That caught her off guard. "Err, well," she reached for her hands behind her back and swayed left and right. Her glance met the ground and she dug a boot tip into the dirt. "Can you, I mean, do you think I can--"
    Cyanus instantly knew what she meant. "No, sergeant," he snapped. He let the dead body lay on the ground between Mara and himself and faced her with a stern look.
    The squad leader clenched her fists at her stubborn subordinate. She burst out angrily, "Oh come on! What are you afraid of? What's there to hide? It's been months since we've been assigned together and I've never even seen--"
    "Seen what? My face? Why are you so bent upon this pointless task? I know of your intentions," Cyanus shot back quickly, but with no less calm. He had his reasons as to why he hid himself besides facade after facade of armor. Could she not accept that? Why did she bother with him?
    "Im just curious!"
    Exasperated by her efforts, Mara planted both her feet on the ground and stood before her assistant, only a bit taller than she was. Taking off her own helmet, she tossed it to the side with an almost symbolic gesture. With her flaring jade eyes she glared at the knight.
    "Cy, it's either him or you. That's an order."
   
    As the highest-ranking trooper on the squad, TJ regrouped the squad while off in the distance Mara seemed to be involved in an argument with Cyanus over a dead body. Well, whatever it was, it was certainly none of his business. He gathered all of the scattered Raiders and had them report in, noting that the only two casualties suffered in the fight, Trike and TX, were already well known. It struck him as very unusual and somewhat disturbing that they'd die like this, and he well knew that they'd died in reality too, by the cries of the VR operators over the general frequency.
    All the AI troopers were gathered too, and they organized far more quickly than the flesh and bones Raiders. The colonel looked them over, seeing minor simulated wounds on just one of them while the rest were merely caked with dust.

    Having regrouped in a somewhat disorganized fashion appropriate to the real Raiders, the clones journeyed through the treacherous mountain path. They struggled through the craggy rocks now that their front line scout, Nega-Cyanus, had perished at the hands of Mara. Their Mara had also died at the hands of TJ. This was bad, the computer calculated. However, tactics bred counter-tactics, and the computer sent its drones out again, scattering them among the mountains in well-placed sniper spots...

    He could just have easily shot her; he should've, really. There was no price to conceal one's identity, one's utmost secrets. However, Jade was the squad leader. So he stood there, unmoving. Mara waved her hands in front of his face to no avail. "Do you hear me?"
    Meanwhile, Cyanus fought himself inside his mind, as duty faced off against his own security. Would he obey a valid order, or kill his squad leader in cold blood and face swift justice?
    Curses.
    "Very well, sergeant," Cyanus said slowly with a very low growl, his face creasing into a frown for the first time in ages, as if some anger long pent up was released bit by bit; he was finally showing some form of emotion, albeit accidentally and under much stress. Mara relaxed her stance and leaned forward inquisitively. He tilted his back and reached for his helmet...

    The supercomputer running the virtual battle wasn't about to lose this battle to mere flesh-and-blood humans. Though it still kept the standard Raiders tactics intact, it allowed the objects to think freely based upon the programming Cyanus installed into them. One of the clone stormtroopers crawled up to the ledge after brutally executing the Garqi chicks and nestling in amongst the wooden construct. Complex algorithms figured into the Stonefish clone adjusting its rifle sights on the two arguing figures not too far below. The sun now reached toward its highest point, illuminating all below it in a brilliant yellow sheen. Fish swerved the barrel toward Mara's head...

    Cyanus spotted the glittering barrel inside the nest high above him whilst delaying Mara's directive for as long as possible. At the same time he reached for his helmet, his internal instincts screamed No! and restrained his arms. Now this had to get in the equation also. Instantly he threw himself upon Mara again, whilst the incoming blaster shot seared his leg armor on the right side as he passed through that space.
    The AI Imperial soldiers pointed out the source of the shot and raised their weapons to fire, but both TJ and Shadow riddled the nest with blaster fire first while the real Stonefish scanned the surrounding area and found the rest of the Nega-Raiders lying in wait.
    Mara opened her eyes in a daze; she regretted taking off her own helmet to berate her assistant as she felt a swelling in the back of her head, beneath the fiery red hair.
    "Damn it Cy--" She broke off her complaint as she eyed the shadowy figure lying on top of her, somewhat blinded by the sunlight. Cyanus swiftly placed his finger to his pale lips and he pressed her head back down into the gravel gently with his free hand. His own helmet lay not a bit away while the smell of the burnt plastoid armor had not altogether faded away. He'd stolen Mara's blaster whilst saving her and now held it ready to fire.
    "Silence, sergeant."
    "My name," she growled, trying to shove him off with a defiant grunt, "is Mara."
    Keeping a straight face, the knight shifted his glance from the blasters pointed at them to his squad leader. There was a flash in his bright aqua eyes that Mara had never seen before. Then again, this was the first time she'd seen his face, so long covered by armor. She gasped slightly, though not enough for him to hear.
    Cyanus looked extremely youthful, as if in the stages between a child and a teenager -- only he was twenty-one, and only a bit taller than herself. In the light the thin, intricately shaped band around his forehead flickered like fire on his brow, while his spiked hair rose up like blades into the air from his head. They shined like steel swords in the blazing sunlight and waved in the breeze. The Krath betrayed no emotion on his aloof facade now, having recovered from his brief anger. He altogether looked like a young prince with a blaster and armor -- no surprise given his lineage. Given that he hid his face almost all the time, and that none but Angel has seen him like this, Cyanus left Mara wondering why exactly would this man hid behind a mask. He didn't look hideous at all. Unbeknownst to both, Mara had just become Pandora, opening her box and releasing what could either be a blessing...or a curse.
    "Look," he said, looking up with just his eyes. "We are all trapped."
    Mara snapped out of whatever world she wound up on and looked over at the Raiders and army troopers forming a circle with blasters pointing outside and upwards. Above them in the cliffs stood several blaster rifles pointed at them from behind cover. They were as good as dead.
   
    "Know any way out of this?" TJ asked, staring down the scope of his rifle.
    One of the army troopers broke away from staring down the barrel of Nega-TX. "No good. This is a clearing with no cover anywhere except there," it pointed with its gloved finger at a spot far away. The boulder was far -- too far.

    "Enough," Mara grabbed Cyanus' helmet, put it on, and activated the comlink to the global frequency. "Deactivate this damn thing before we all get killed." In doing this she knew she conceded defeat. The clone Raiders were just too good, even for the formerly elite Raiders. She looked defeated to her remaining squad members, her dead boys lying not too far away. Even if they were lazy, losing three members weighed heavily on the sergeant, and she involuntarily leaned against the nearest person, Cyanus, the aloof knight in shining armor.
    "What are you doing, sergeant?" Cyanus shuffled back, confused at what was going on. What was this woman doing anyway?
    "Huh? Sorry there, Cy."
    
    The entire environment wavered, and faded to black. All the remaining squad members awoke to white suited figures lifting the wires and equipment away. TJ made his way through the crowd and eyed the burnt skeleton on the floor -- what was left of Trike. Dr. Jerdann stepped up next to him.
    "We tried but we couldn't save him."
    Fish checked TX's pulse one more time, to make sure that the soldier was indeed dead. He was, and the sergeant major shook his head. He was too young. Not too far away, the scientists zipped up Kormal's body bag and hauled him away to the crematory for disposal. One handed the grim forms to Mara.
    Cyanus felt somewhat mixed up. On one hand, he'd gotten rid of several lazy members of the squad the hard way. On the other, however, he'd lost his mask that hid his shattered past, albeit only in virtual reality. Mara had gotten her wish, to his vexation. Was this an omen of things to come? Three brown-clad men peeking inside interrupted his musings. The knight waved them in and eyed them through his display unit.
    "Identify yourselves."
    "I'm Vint, sir. I have a message; this is Epock, he's with me."
    "Jakireth, reporting in for duty. I'm from the Academy."
    "You are both talking to the wrong person." Cyanus waved toward Mara. "Speak to her." He looked toward his squad leader and saw her looking back at him. She gazed at him mysteriously and then went to talk with the two new soldiers.
    What is she doing? What does this mean?
    Even with the Force at his side, Cyanus could only wonder.
    "Cy, something's come up," said Mara. "Get Jak and Vint here prepared; we have a job to do."
-----------------------
ASL/SSG Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE[VP1]
Dark Knight of the Krath
"History belongs to those who have the will to forge their own path." -- Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad -