(OOC All right. Four pages. )

  As the door creaked open, Kairo saw a dark, smashed in face with beady eyes staring out at them. The man was short, which made Kairo have to look down to see him. "Who are you and how do you know the code?" He asked.

  Kairo decided he should take the initiative and establish himself as the one to be regarded. "Greetings. My name is Sulobant Gryphith." Kairo whispered. "I heard that there was a meeting here for people who aren't...shall we say...Pleased with the imperial control of Cepany."

  The man paused a second, then asked, "Who's he?"

  "This is my brother. Tolbus Gryphith. He's mute, but I normally know what he wants to be said." Kairo explained while viewing what he could of the room beyond. Cautious, aren't they. The door had only been opened wide enough for the short man to view them.

  "Very well. You know the code, so that fool of a bartender must trust you enough. We'll have to search you before we let you in though. We wouldn't want any trouble." The man opened the door wide enough for him and his taller friend to step out into the hall.

  "Of course, but I must warn you. My brother will not allow himself to be searched. He was abused as a child and hasn't let another human being touch him since then. You can always try, but you might lose a limb." The two men paused as they started to reach out for Zafo, then stopped and looked at their hands.

  "We'll let him slide, but we will have to search you."

  "Go ahead. I do have a few weapons, but that is for my own protection. You can't be too cautious. Allow me." Kairo then reached into his folds and brought out his blaster that was attached to his hip and chest. The two men took them and waited to see if Kairo was finished. Kairo smiled knowingly. He reached behind his back and unstrapped his beloved blaster's holster. Handing it to the larger man. Kairo put a stern look on his face. "Touch it, and you die. I'll be taking it back later. Just keep it in its holster." The man looked at the holstered weapon, then at Kairo. He nodded. "Well, now that that is taken care of, can we enter?"

  "I hate to let you in without a full search, but we are looking for sympathizers to our cause. Come in." The man knocked once and said, "Let me in, you know it's me." The door slid aside to reveal a shadowy room. The lights had been dimmed, and the many occupants wore cloaks and hoods. Kairo nodded and entered. He watched as the taller man walked over to a table and deposited his weapons. Walking over to the table, Kairo took a seat and took a quick glance into the hall before the door closed. He saw Squall walk by in an unobtrusive manner. Good, he knows where we are.

  A man from across the table greeted them. "Welcome to our little meeting. We are always looking for potential members. Don't mind Grant. He hasn't trusted anyone since an activist who had snuck into one of our meetings smashed his face in. Since then, we've had to beef up our defenses and security. Anyways, where did I leave off gentlemen?"

  "You were about to go into another rant about how the empire is bad and we are the defenders of justice." A surly man in a dark cloak said from a corner of the room.

  Pretending like he hadn't heard the man's snide remark, the original speaker said, "Ah yes. Thank you. Interestingly enough, we have another new member who we have been explaining the reality of the situation to for the past few days. As I'm sure you know, the Imperial reign that is over us right now is corrupt and needs to be demolished for the good of Cepany. It is a plague that is surrounded by shadows. It has only given us worse conditions, since it took root. It has taken our natural supplies, stolen our children to serve in its abominable army," Kairo put his foot on Zafo's to stop him from rising, "And caused widespread poverty." Zafo looked at Kairo with a look that said, How can you stand it? Kairo just shook his head and turned his attention back to the speaker. "It has to be stopped. To do this, our leader has the perfect plan to start the balls rolling. Would you like to meet him?" A few of the members nodded, and Kairo fallowed suit. "Good. He is very secretive though. He has to be for his own protection. If the rulers every found out where he was, they would try to kill him to stop him from spreading the truth. We are the righteous. It is our destiny to bring order back to Cepany."

  Cheers broke out, and a few members started to clap. The speaker raised his hands to silence them and continued. "Thank you. Now, let's get into some more interesting matters. We have a lot to discuss tonight..."


-----------------------
Senior Sergeant Kairo
Squad Leader
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SR.SGT Kairo/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

  *In the Meeting Room*

  The primary speaker was still at it inside the dark room. Kairo and Zafo had been sitting through speech after speech. Kairo had tried to pay attention to most of it, but had found his mind wandering off for the past few minutes. How long has it been? Man, only ten minutes. This guy is even more boring than some of the teachers I've had. Does he really think this is how to bring in potential recruits?

  "Dart," the speaker continued, "You were the newest before these two, fine gentlemen joined us. You raised a few interesting questions earlier. You said you saw thing clearer after I explained things to you then. Do you have any more questions now?"

  "No Farrin. I understand perfectly now. The new regime that is over us must fall. It is the only way for true peace to return. Not this twisted and evil mess of tyranny that disguises itself as a bearer of justice. I am ready to fully follow Grenton to the death if it means saving Cepany."

  "Very good Dart. I'm proud to know that you are on our side," Farring complimented with a air of a father deeming his son worthy.

  This guy is good at turning people's ears. Kairo thought as he saw a smile appear on Dart's face. He's able to make people believe they are dying for a worthy cause. It makes it that much harder to hate some of these people. We have to get to the core of the problem. Grenton...

  "How about you two, do you understand the situation we are in now?" Farrin asked, directing his attention toward Kairo.

  "I know that I speak for both myself and my brother. He would probably be cheering right along with you if he wasn't mute." Kairo looked at Zafo with a look of brotherly compassion for effect. "But he is, so I will have to speak for the both of us."

  "I extend my deepest sympathies to you." Farring nodded to Zafo. Zafo nodded back, with a hint of distaste. Farrin didn't noticed.

  "As for your question," Kairo continued. "I am a little bit more reserved with my fealty than others. I trust my eyes more than my ears, and my brain even more. Words are nice, but evidence is better."

  "So, you want evidence of the Imperial corruption?"

  "Yes."

  "Very well, but first I would like to know your name. I don't remember it."

  "That's because I didn't give it. Your minion there knows. Ask him." Kairo responded.

  "Cocky and strong willed. Interesting. You're not the average man, are you..." the short man who had answered the door spoke into Farrin's ear, "Sulobant?"

  Kairo smiled slightly and stared into Farrin's eyes. "You'll just have to find out."

  They held the stare for a few seconds. It seemed to stretch into eternity as each man tried to find the answers that they sought in each others eyes, as if they were windows into the mind. Farrin was the first to break the contact by turning to one of the men in the room. "I can see that you would quite the added addition to our group. I also know that you are going to need a push in the right direction. Grant, bring out the map of the city. It's time to show these fine men what is really going to be happening tonight and where we will be going next."


  *Across the Street*


  The voice on the other end of the comlink got louder with each passing moment. "Gio?" Sam asked.

  "I think it's going to get a little hot in here soon." Giovanni answered, as he gripped his weapon harder.

  "Come in Davis. Damn it, come in." There was a moments pause as static filled the room. Then the transmission was cut off.

  "I think we need to get to a safer area than this. Marcus, do you have those blueprints yet?" Gio asked, as he quietly moved across the room and took position on one side of the door frame, motioning for Sam to take the other side.

  "I need another minute. Breaking into the cities computer files doesn't just take a second. You have to get through all the firewalls, then the access codes, then the..."

  "Just get them." Gio cut Marcus off. "I don't need to know how."

  "Oh yeah. Sorry. Just hold your position for another minute." Marcus said as the sound of his fingers hitting a keyboard emanated from the comlink.

  "Where are you anyways?" Gio asked, listening for any movement from the other side of the door.

  "I'm with Tay'Ren in the van. I put all of my slicing tools and things on the truck when we came. I hacked into the system from here. It was really cool. First I..."

  "You're ranting again. Do you have the file yet?"

  "Sheesh, I'm just trying to talk here. It's boring inside this hovervan."

  "You're not the one with his life on the line here."

  "Ok, ok. I have it right here. Your in the first room right?"

  "Yes." Sam answered this time.

  "Ok, there is one door that leads out. That door connects to another room that has three separate doors. The one on the right leads upstairs. Another one the left goes downstairs, and the third goes to a storage area."

  "Does it say where the recording room is?" Gio asked, as he heard footsteps approaching.

"No, but I can find out. I'll just have to hack into the shipment files and worker logs to see where they said that they put the stuff. Hopefully, they didn't just drop it off." Marcus informed.

  "Send it to us when you're done." Gio shut off his comlink and nodded to Sam. Gio kicked open the door and saw two men approaching from the right side of the room. Surprised looks appeared on their faces. Sam rolled into the room and stunned one of the men in a split second. Gio hit the other one a moment later. "Hmm. They came from upstairs. That is probably where the keep the guards, so the recording room is downstairs." Gio concluded.

  "If you're wrong, we can always go back upstairs." Sam stated.

  "Downstairs it is." Gio lead the way as Sam kept his holdout blaster aimed at the other two doors. Once they arrived at the door. Gio put his ear next to it and listened. Motioning for Sam to take position behind him, Gio quietly opened the door. A stairwell curved immediately from the door down to the basement of the building. Moving as quietly and as quickly as they could, Sam and Gio were soon on the bottom landing. There was another door with computer sounds emanating from the other side. Leveling out his blaster, Gio threw open the door and fired at one of the technicians. There was only one gaurd, who quickly fell before the combined power of Gio and Sam. The technicians didn't even know what his them. Giovanni's comlink sounded as he was about to sweep the room for any remaining attackers. "Yes?"

  "The recording room is downstairs." Marcus said with a proud note.

  "We know. Now get in here." Giovanni responded.

  "You know? Fine. I'll be there in a second. You might want to check upstairs though, because it says there is a guard station there." Marcus stated then ended the transmission.

  "Let's go." Giovanni said. Sam grinned.

  Once they arrived, they saw Marcus entering the building. Marcus ran over to them, then immediately moved downstairs to hack into the system and record the conversation that was taking place inside the meeting room. Giovanni and Sam went upstairs. After following the stairs, Sam and Gio paused before another door. Sam smiled and motioned for Giovanni to pause. "I've been dying to use this." Sam pulled out a stun grenade and set the timer. Cracking open the door, Sam threw it into the room. A cry was heard from the other side, then the door was pushed shut by the force of the grenade. Opening the door, Sam and Gio found five stunned guards sprawled out on the floor. "Well that was fun." Sam said.

  "Yep. It's up to Kairo and Zafo now. We should head back downstairs." Gio said and moved out of the room.


  *The Meeting room*

 
  "Yes sir." Grant said, pulling out a large, rolled up map from under the table. Opening it up, Kairo saw that it covered the entire table. The map showed every detail of the city.

  "Amazing isn't it. It also has an added bonus of showing us many other features." Farrin stated as he pressed a part of the map near him. Suddenly, it blurred and then cleared to show the pipelines of the city. Farrin pressed a different button. This time, buildings showed up as red and blue. New buildings also appeared. "This one shows all of the buildings and complexes that aid the empire. It also shows all of our hideouts and places where Grenton stays periodically. As you can see, most of our buildings are on sub layers of the city. It is impossible to find without knowing where they are in the first place." Farrin pressed another button. Now the map showed all of the buildings once again, but this time little red dots appeared next to them. Farrin touched one of the dots. The schematics for the building that the dot was next to appeared where the building was and expanded to take up a larger area of the map, so they could see it clearly. Farrin pressed the dot again. The building returned to normal.

  "Impressive," Kairo stated. He was truly amazed at by the map. He knew how long it must have taken to make it.

  "Thank you. Yes, this took a lot of time and care to make. It is almost priceless in value. Now, I believe it is time for all of you to meet our leader. Yes, that's right. Grenton himself will be there. He is going to be visiting," Farring pressed the button that showed the separatists buildings, "Here." Many people leaned forward to look. "You should know, Suldobant, that almost everyone in this room is a prospective member just like you. Only ten of us are actual members. The rest are well on their way to joining us though. Well, six, now that Dart has joined us. Are you ready to meet our leader? Can we trust you all or should we wait?" Farrin asked the room.

  "We're ready," Kairo answered for everyone. "I'm sure once we meet him we know for sure that we are to join this noble cause, and if not, then we probably won't live to see the light of day again."

  Farrin grinned. "You are full of surprises Sulobant. You will excel through the ranks quickly. This is a time for celebration. We have new members and they are all about to meet our grand leader in just a while. What is it?" The short man had appeared next to Farrin's shoulder again. "I see. Well gentlemen, it is time for us to leave. Oh, and I do believe it is time to drop the charade, Imperial."

  Kairo wasn't surprised that Farrin had somehow found out who he was. But why did he tell me all of that?

  Everyone in the room jumped up from their chairs, pulling out their weapons. Everyone that is, except for Kairo and Farrin. They remained sitting. "I'm sure you're wondering how I know. It's quite simple. We like to follow every Imperial group that lands on the planet. It took my friend here quite awhile to find out who you were though. You're squad is a hard group to follow, and I have no idea where the rest of them are. Though I am guessing they are in this building somewhere. Unfortunately, that area on the map is where Grenton will be. It won't do you any good though. We will inform him that he will have to go somewhere else, and we will just destroy the base before you can get there.  Now, it is time for you to leave us. We won't kill you, if you allow us to leave the building. Your life for ours."

  Kairo grinned. This guy sure like to play mind games. "Interesting. Unfortunately for you, I don't like to let separatists go. Plus, you aren't even getting out of this room." Kairo leapt over the back of his chair. He kicked it as he landed, sending the chair flying across the room to his one of the people in the room. With that, all hell broke loose. Zafo had two of his weapons drawn in a blink of the eye and had downed two of the fourteen remaining men in an instant. Blaster fire shot out across the room the instant Kairo had moved, which had made both Zafo and Kairo to drop behind the table and chairs the moment they had taken out their three targets. I hate to do this, but I have to. Kairo pulled out his two throwing knives and slid underneath the talbe. Four pairs of feet surrounded him on the edges of the table. Spinning himself on the ground, Kairo cut all of the men at the ankle, causing them to drop to the ground in pain and screams of anguish. Meanwhile, Zafo had taken out another separatist. Suddenly, Kairo heard a loud wookie roar and heard a loud crack and solid thump onto of the table a moment later. Three more men fell to the ground. The three remaining men were Grant, Dart, and Farrin. Grant was grabbing Kairo's weapons off the table. Dart and Farrin were barricaded on the opposite side of the table and were fending off Zafo and Arrow. After Arrow had landed on the talbe, he had jumped backwards and landed next to Zafo.

  Sliding out from the left side of the table, Kairo saw Grant pick up Dragon's Fury. Feeling anger well up inside of him, Kairo flipped the daggers in his hands and tossed them directly at Grant. They pinned his arms to the wall. Fear welled up into Grant's face as he saw Kairo run across the room toward him. Farrin saw Kairo and launched a series of shots from his blaster. Ducking down, Kairo changed tacks and lunged directly at Farrin. Taken by surprised, Farrin moved backwards, directly into a shot from Arrow. Dart was soon overwhelmed by Zafo and joined his fallen leader on the floor. Kairo turned around and stepped up to Grant. "Those are mine." Kairo reminded. Grabbing his blaster and holster, he strapped it onto his back again. He also grabbed his Kylon-3 and Mynock slugthrower. "G'night." Kairo shot a stun bolt into Grant's stomach, causing the man to go limp against the wall.

  "What do we do now Kairo?" Zafo asked from his position across the room.

  "First we get the authorities to take these men to jail. I'm sure they would like to know that these men are involved with the trouble they have been having recently. Then, we go meet Grenton." Kairo turned on his comlink and connected with the other members of the squad. "Marcus. Can you shut off the transmission jamming in this room?" Kairo asked to no one in particular. A few minutes of silence fallowed.

  Kairo was about to ask Zafo something, when Marcus' voice broke through Kairo's comlink. "Are you there?"

"Yes I am. Did you get all of that Marcus?"

  "Yes. I couldn't even tell what was going on in that firefight though. That was just sick. Remind me not to piss all of you off." Marcus answered.

  "Good. Make a copy of it, edit out the fight, meet Gio and Sam, and meet Arrow in the hovervan. Gio and Sam, get to the hovervan also. Squall, wait for us outside the door. Did you hear anything by the way?

  "Nope, those rooms are definitely sound proof." Squall's voice said.

  "Arrow, I need you to climb back outside through the ventilation system, go to the hovervan, get the copy of the meeting, then come back here the same way." Kairo ordered. "We'll be waiting."

  Arrow gave a mournful wookie sound then jumped back into the cooling system. Ten minutes later, the wookie dropped down once again. Kairo and Zafo had folded up the map and placed it in the middle of the table. They had also placed all of the men on the table with their weapons on the other table. The wookie handed Kairo the recording. "Thanks." Kairo placed it on top of the map, and then placed a datapad next to it.

  "What's that for?" Zafo asked.

  "It will tell the authorities what happened and who these guys are. Now it is time for us to go. Arrow, go back through the ventilation system. Meet us at the hovervan." Kairo and Zafo then moved out from the room. Opening the door, they saw Squall waiting for them by the stairs. After closing the door, Kairo and Zafo walked over to the stairs. Three minutes later, they had made it out of the cantina. Opening up a channel, Kairo said through his comlink. "Marcus, send the authorities a message telling them to get to the room we were just in. I don't care what you say, just make is convincing. And don't make up a name."

  "Roger." Marcus said. It was still raining profusely outside as Kairo, Zafo, and Squall ran across the street. Stepping into the hovervan, they met up with the rest of the squad.

  "Some vacation," Squall laughed.

  "Sorry." Kairo said. "We'll relax later. Right now, we have to get to business." Kairo then related the story of what had gone one inside the meeting room.

  "Wow. So what now?" Sam asked.

  "First, we are going to go back to hotel and get as much firepower as you can get without going overboard. Then we will head to the area that Farrin told us about. I know exactly where it is. It is underneath a statue that Zafo and I raced to very recently. You remember don't you?" Kairo asked Zafo.

  "Sure do. That thing was nice. But how will we get inside?" Zafo responded.

  "Well, we will split into two groups. I haven't decided who will go with whom yet, but you and I will be leading them. Now, let's get back to the hotel. I don't know how much time we have. Just get your equipment once we get there, and then meet me out back. Don't go through the lobby. I don't want people getting suspicious seeing a large group of heavily armed people. I would advise armor on this one. Stormtrooper or whatever. Now let's go. Zafo, get to your bike." Kairo and Zafo ran back out into the pouring rain and to their bikes. After driving through the horrid rain once again, they all arrived back at the hotel. Running inside, they ignored the protests of the clerk who complained about the amount of water they were spraying on the floor. "Sorry," Kairo yelled over a clap of thunder as the squad packed inside the turbolift. Once they made it to the circular room, everyone went to their respective rooms. Kairo halted as he noticed someone standing in the middle of the room.

  "Who are you?" Kairo asked.

  "My name is Tolvus Jimbru. I've been transferred to your squad from Raiders. Rizzit said I would find you here. I've been waiting for the last half of an hour." TJ informed. He was in stormtrooper armor and was wearing a cloak.

  "It is a pleasure to have you aboard. You're Tolvus huh? The colonel. Interesting. We're about to go out on a mission, and we need all the support we can get. So, get your equipment ready and meet me here in five minutes." Kairo stated as he ran into his room. Kairo decided he was going to take his same weapons with him on the mission, but he knew he had to put part of his stormtrooper armor on himself so he didn't get killed. Taking off his cloak and weapons, Kairo put on his boots, leg armor, breastplate, arm and shoulder protection, and gauntlets. He didn't bother putting on the underlay of the armor and decided to just wear what he had on under it. Kairo then belted on all of his weapons that he had had before and strapped on his cloak. He also grabbed two new daggers and two grenades. Once he was finished, Kairo ran back out into the lobby with his helmet in his hands.

-----------------------
Senior Sergeant Kairo
Squad Leader
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SR.SGT Kairo/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

    Sam ran up to his room, to grab some more gear after they had entered the hotel. He did this knowing that what was about to happen would require some firepower.
    He grabbed his E-11 and cleaned up his hold-out blaster and grabbed a few grenades, too. He tossed on his stormtrooper armor and tossed his dark cloak back on. He rushed off leaving his helmet behind. He wasn't to worried about his head being hit.
    "These sepratists can't possibly be that good with a blaster. At least I don't think they will be," Sam thought to himself as he went done the stairs which leads to the back of the building. "I should look into getting some dark colored armor for jobs like this. This cloak won't cut it in this type of weather."
    As he hit the landing he saw Kairo coming down the stairs on the opposite side of the back hallway. Sam waved to him.
    "What no helmet, Sam?" Kairo said.
    "I don't think I'll need it. I've seen some battles with Rebels, who have been trained to their limits. Besides I can't stand that thing anyhow," Sam laughed.
    "I would prefer that you bring it. The squad really can't afford to lose anyone on this mission. You are a good soldier and because of that I would like to keep you around, now go get your helmet," Kairo said, "And besides that the guys we are going up against are probably more trained in marksmenship than those gaurds."
    "...But I really," Sam started.
    "Just do it, I don't want to hear anything of it," Kairo interupted.
    "Fine, I'll get it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to keep it on the entire mission. If you have a problem with that then tough," Sam said sternly as he went back up the stairs to retrieve his helmet.
    With in moments, Sam was headed back down the stairs to the back of the building with his helmet in hand.
  -----------------------
TRP/CPL Sandwich Sam 2SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR]
*DarkDragoons*
Roses are #FF0000
Violets are #0000FF
All my base are belong to you.

The Dark Dragoon's squad, now in full strength, marched around the hotel towards the hovervan. The sight of a fully armed Squadron of Imperial Stormtroopers would send a shiver down the spine of anyone unlucky enough to be out at that time of night. The rain, however, dampened the sound of boots in the hotel lot, and made the Dark Dragoons look like just odd, dark shapes out from a distance.

The dragoons quickly piled into the hovervan. Giovanni, closest to the door, slid it shut and spoke into his comlink.

"Let's move out."

The van sped off ahead of Kairo, but not for long. A few seconds after, his speeder bike raced ahead, barely staying in view. Giovanni removed his helmet and took a look around the van at his cloaked squadmates. Everyone looked anxious, checking and rechecking their equipment. Everyone except TJ. The look on his face told Giovanni that he had seen it all.

The presence of such an experienced trooper gave him a sense of comfort. He didnt know why, but he felt at ease.

"We should arrive there in 20 minutes or so" said Kairo over the comlink. "Try and get whatever rest you can until then."

Well, in that case...

Gio leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.




 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

*Corporal Giovanni A. Bryden*

TRP/CPL Giovanni Bryden/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR]

Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.

  "All right guys, let's move out." Kairo said as he moved into view by the people on the inside of the hovervan. "Good luck, Zafo's team." Kairo said as they passed by him to exit the van. He saw them run off in the direction of the river. Meet you on the inside. Kairo stepped into the van. He saw Marcus and Arrow preparing to head out. Marcus had a large backpack on his back. Kairo nodded as they left. "Keep in contact. Remember, if either of you see anything odd, send me a message." The two squad members left the vehicle and started to look for a good look out position. Kairo turned to Sam and Tay'Ren, saying, "Our turn. Sam, you will find some very nice explosives in the back of the vehicle. Grab them and let's go." Sam hurried to the rear of the vehicle as Tay'Ren and Kairo stepped out. Kairo looked around. They had parked the hovervan a few alleys away from the statue's clearing, while Kairo had placed his speeder bike directly at the base of the statue. Kairo and Tay'Ren ran over to a wall and waited for Sam to exit the vehicle.

  He appeared a few seconds later with a bulky bulge under his cloak. Kairo motioned for them to follow him. A few minutes later, they were looking out into a large clearing in the middle of the buildings. Standing directly in the center was the large statue. Kairo knew that the separatist's base laid somewhere beneath them, but right now, he had to set up the distraction for later. "Tay, stay here and tell us if any approaches our position. Sam, follow me." Kairo ran out into the clearing, weaving between odd trees that had been transplanted their for decoration.

  Luckily, the pouring rain aided them in not being seen. It seemed like the storm would never end. As he stepped close to one tree, the strongest gust of wind yet buffeted him, causing him to reach out for the branches. His hand barely grasped the edge of the foliage, but Sam wasn't as lucky. He was forced to drop to the ground, but even then, the force of the wind slid him across the wet ground. As the gust subsided, Kairo saw that Sam was more then three meters from his original position. We have to get inside soon. This is getting even worse. Moving over to Sam, Kairo asked, "Are you ok?" Sam nodded. After helping Sam back to his feat and checking that the explosives were alright, they continued to make their way to the obelisk. Finally, they arrived at the base of the statue. They were on the opposite side of the statue from the wind, giving them a small amount of protection from the rain and keeping the noise level down.

  Stepping next to his speeder, Kairo rubbed the handle bars one last time. It's for a good cause, I guess. Kairo then opened the back access panel that allowed him to see the many components of his vehicle. "Tell, Tay to get over here and make sure he makes it. This is going to take a little bit of time." Kairo turned back to his vehicle and reached to the side compartment, where he kept his tools. Pulling them out, he heard Sam start to talk into his comlink.

  "He's on his way," Sam said. "Can I take off these explosives now?"

  "Yeah. Set them down over here. We'll be needing them in a bit." Kairo stated as he reached into the open repair compartment and set to work. He was going to tamper with the vehicles power and propulsion systems. He had learned how to repair a vehicle before and what would happen if the wrong thing happened. He had always tried to prevent those things, but this time he wanted them to happen. After opening a few valves in the power core and placing a receiver over a certain fuse, Kairo moved his attention to the propulsion systems. First he broke the connections with the system commands and the propulsion system that made the speeder move. Next, he tampered with the main fuel injector and other systems. After about ten minutes, Kairo was finished. Pulling his arms and head out from the compartment, Kairo examined his handy work. "It'll do." By this time, Tay'Ren had arrived. "Your turn," Kairo told Sam. Sam nodded and opened the backpack. Inside were charges, wires, detonators, smaller explosives, shockwave emitters, and other tools for making an explosion.

  "Damn Kairo, where did you get this stuff?" Sam asked.

  "I found it lying around my room." Kairo said sarcastically. "No, I told Rizzit we might need some things, and he went all out for us. Who knows where he gets his stuff. Hurry up though." Kairo turned around to keep a look out for any signs of approaching figures. After another couple of minutes, Sam was done. Looking over his handy work, Kairo let out a whistle. "Nice." Sam had strapped and glued everything that had been in the backpack in an almost beautiful yet horrifying work of art.


  "Isn't all of this going to make a large dent in the statue?" Tay'Ren asked.

  "That's the idea," Kairo informed. "Hopefully it will be enough to make it topple and cause a massive shakeup underground. It's time for us to get down there. Any ideas on how we're going to do that?"

  Sam and Tay'Ren looked at him pointedly. "Ok, maybe that is my job." Kairo smiled beneath this helmet. "Ok, time to take off the helmets, place them under your cloaks, but keep them at the ready. Having a few stormtroopers roaming around will raise a little suspicion." Kairo pulled off his helmet and was immediately pelted by the stinging rain. Throwing his hood over his head again, he attached the helmet to a clip on his belt. It caused a little bulge to appear on his left hip, but it was still covered by the large cloak. Kairo raised and hand and motioned for them to move to the front of the statue. Once they were at the front, Kairo had to hold his cloak shut from the strong wind. Scanning around, he saw a figure approaching. I hope he is heading to the meeting. Please let him be heading to the meeting. If not, then We're going to have to get creative again.

  As the figure neared them, they saw that there were three other people with him. The group saw them and approached warily. As the two groups met, Kairo said, "Hello there, fellow traveler. What brings you here?"

  "We're looking for some friends. Who are you and why are you here?" The leading figure asked.

  Kairo adopted a gruff voice and put a strong intonation into his voice, saying "Cut the chit chat. We're the guards for the meeting. If you want in, you'll have to show us that you know how get in to the base and prove who you are. Earlier tonight, one of our teams got infiltrated and sabotaged. Security has been buffed up." Kairo pulled out his Kylon-3 as he spoke for added effect.

  "Hey Hey Hey. We're friends here. Ok, Charley, open the door. My name's Talgos. That should get us in." The leader yelled over the storm.

  Charley ran up the to statue and searched around. After minute, he found a hidden hatch and opened it. On the inside was a keypad. Entering a series of numbers, he stepped back. A hidden blastdoor opened, revealing a large tunnel and led downward into the complex. "Is that good enough?"

  "You may proceed," Kairo raised his blaster and stepped back. Once the group was through and the door had shut, Kairo waited a few minutes and walked over the control panel.

  Sam asked, "Did you get all of the code?"

  "I got the first five numbers, but the last one must have been hit by an odd finger. Did either of you get it?"

  Tay spoke up, "It was seven."

  Kairo smiled. Punching in the code, he stepped back and watched the blast doors open. We're in. Walking through the opening, the three Dark Dragoons walked down the hall. "Ok, you two keep your hoods up and your weapons concealed. Make sure they are in reach though. Just follow my lead. We just have to find the main auditorium without raising suspicion. This could get tricky though. Here we go." Kairo moved down the hallway, as he threw back his hood and shook the rain out of his hair.

 
-----------------------
Senior Sergeant Kairo
Squad Leader
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SR.SGT Kairo/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

  As Kairo walked down the hall, he felt himself descending at a fast pace. The incline didn't appear to be that steep, yet he could feel himself moving downward faster than he should have been. This place has been built very nicely. Kairo saw hallways that moved off from the sides along with doors and stairwells. This must be the main hallway for the whole installation. After moving down the large hallway for about three minutes, the three DarkDragoons ran into a large crowd. They were all moving down the large hallway, toward the bottom of the complex. Kairo turned to another soaked group and asked, "Why are we heading down there?"

  "Heh, you must not have been to this installation before." The leader of the group said. "Down there is a large audience chamber. That's where Grenton's going to be speaking. Have you ever been to one of his speeches?"

  By this time, Kairo and his group had been pushed farther down the hallway by the ever growing crowd. "I've only been to one of his speeches, but it wasn't delivered by him," Kairo answered.

  "That's too bad. Well you are in for a treat today. This crowd is proof enough that this man knows what he is talking about."

  Or that all of these people have fallen on desperate times and have gone to a person who says it isn't there fault. The two groups got split apart by the crowd, causing Kairo to not be able to ask any more questions. After ten monotonous minutes of being pushed, pulled, and tugged, the three Dragoons had made it to the audience chamber. It was a large room. Kairo guessed that is could hold three thousand people if it was crammed full. In the center of the room was a large podium with a ring of four guards along the outer edges. They were carrying large blasters and were standing at attention, facing the crowd. Kairo motioned for Sam and Tay'Ren to move outward and around to the other sides of the stage. They were going to position themselves in a triangular pattern around the podium and were going to get as close as they could through the crowd.

  After another ten minutes of weaving through the crowd. Kairo had made it close enough to the stage to be able to push the crowd out of the way and leap onto the stage. Turning around himself in the crowd, he scanned the entire chamber for other defenses. Kairo first noticed, that on the top balconies were six other guards. Next, he saw that a shield generator was position around the podium, so no one would be able to shoot or get onto the stage. This is going to get tricky. Kairo's thoughts were cut short buy a amplified voice echoing around the room.

  "Thank you all for coming to this most glorious meeting. I am proud to present to you. Lord Grenton." The floor on the middle of the stage retracted into itself to reveal a hole in the floor. From out of the hole, slowly rose the figure of a cloaked man. Once it was completely lifted, the man raised his arms and said, "Welcome. I am most grateful that the people of Cepany have not been blinded to the truth and have come to hear the truth." Cheers erupted, and it was all that Kairo could do to not jump onto the stage and hit the man right then and there. Once the cheers had died down, Kairo listened and waited for the proper moment for them to strike.

(OOC Here is a map to help see what is going on. It's not perfect, but it should help. )
 
-----------------------
Senior Sergeant Kairo
Squad Leader
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SR.SGT Kairo/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

  Ten minutes had passed since Grenton has started his speech. Kairo had heard it all before. It was a message containing promising lies of hope and prosperity for all. It was the ravings of a mad man who wanted power, playing off of the crowd. He was using their sorrow, anger, and hate to his advantage, pointing it like a gun at the Empire. He knew how to play the crowd and use their emotions for his purposes. Kairo knew he had to be stopped. After another ten minutes of his ranting, Kairo could feel the emotions reaching their peak in the crowd around him. He could also tell that his speech was reaching its climax. Kairo opened up his comlink and hoped that the transmission wasn't being jammed. "Group two, are you in position?"

  Zafo's voice came over the comlink, "Yes. Surprisingly there wasn't any resistance in this security room. I guess its because this area of the installation is rarely used. How much longer are we going to wait anyways?"

  "I give it one more minute. Remember; get here as fast as you can. You're going to be fighting the large crowd to get in here, but hopefully you can make." Kairo turned off his comlink and listened closely to the speech.

  "This is why we must show the rest of Cepany the corruption of the empire. We must stand together. Who is with me?!" Grenton yelled.

  The crowd erupted with shouts and applause. Kairo saw people throwing their arms in the air and the felt the jubilation of the crowd around him. He opened up the comlink and said, "It begins." The message was sent to everyone in the squad, and they all followed their directions. Sam and Tay'Ren pulled out their weapons and slapped on their helmets. Kairo also put on his helmet and flipped up his hood. He then pulled out Dragon's Fury. He then rushed the stage and hoped that Marcus had somehow done his task from outside. During the speech, Kairo had told him about the shield generator and told Marcus to somehow shut it off. Kairo pushed through the crowd and finally reached the stage. Kairo turned around and shot two shots from his beloved blaster. The shots startled the crowd around him and hit the two guards on his side of the auditorium. Kairo then pushed a hand on the edge of the stage and flipped himself into the air, hoping that the shield was down. He landed on the stage without a problem. After that, he reached into his cloak and hit the detonator. There was an audible thump from above. Suddenly, the lights went out, alarms wailed, and the sprinkler systems turned on.

  The crowd completely panicked and headed straight for the exit, forgetting about Kairo and his group. By this time, Sam and Tay'Ren had disposed of three of the guards before the power had gone out. Kairo heard the sound of escaping air ahead of him as he ran toward where Grenton had been standing. As he reached the spot, he saw Sam and Tay'Ren appear from out of gloom. At their feet was the hole that Grenton had come up from before his speech. Kairo pointed downwards and jumped in himself. He dropped two meters and rolled into a crouch. The bottom area was lit by dim red lights, giving the surrounding area a gloomy appearance. There were two tunnels, one led in two different directions. Kairo opened up the comchannel and said, "Group two. Stay where you are for a second."

  "Will do sir."
 
  "Marcus, there is a tunnel beneath the auditorium. Can you tell me where it leads?" Kairo hurriedly asked.

  "There isn't a tunnel anywhere in the... wait a second." Marcus' voice died off for ten seconds then reappeared, saying, "I found it. Wow, they were clever. Anyways, one leads back to the pipe room and the other leads away from the complex and then seems to head to the surface. The way to your right leads to the surface I believe, if you jumped down while facing away from the entrance to the auditorium. It should appear on the surface not twenty meters East from where we parked the van."

  "Thanks. Did you get that Zafo?" Kairo asked as he started to run down in the direction of the surface.

  "Yeah, we'll cut him off if he's coming this direction."

  "If he doesn't get there in a minute, head back out the pipes and try to get to the hovervan. Then contact Marcus and have him tell you exactly where the exit is for this tunnel. Arrow?"

  A wookie roar greeted Kairo's ears. "Yeah, you get to have some fun. Get to the tunnel's exit by following the rooftops. If Grenton appears, stun him with your rifle." A wookie acknowledgement was heard a second later.

  Kairo cut off the comtransmission and ran as fast as he could down the tunnel. He/s not getting away. After three minute of running, the lighting came back on and lit the area brightly. Squinting, Kairo ran ahead. While still slightly blinded, Kairo entered a larger room. Blaster fire flew in his direction. Kairo was only able to react to the sound from his slight blindness and pushed back into the tunnel. Crap. Think fast, Kairo. Think fast.


-----------------------
Senior Sergeant Kairo
Squad Leader
*DarkDragoons*

SL/SR.SGT Kairo/2SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [CDS][BoA][CoR]

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in ten thousand battles.
You may forget the past, but it always has a way of haunting your future.
Men can die, but a symbol is eternal.

Giovanni still couldn't grasp what had just happened. All he could feel was a deep burning hole inside of him. If felt like it was scorching its way outwards trying to engulf him in its flames. The anger within him was unimaginable.

I cant believe I ever considered him as one of my friends... How could a squadmate turn on us like that?

The sound of the blood thumping in his ears drowned out the sounds of 4 pairs of boots marching through dirt, water, and filth. The thoughts rushing through his mind distracted him from the things going on around him. Giovanni just wished he could go after Tay'Ren and see to it that he paid for his betrayal.

"We're coming up on a clearing. I saw Grenton and his men come this way. Look Sharp Dragoons" buzzed Zafo's voice through the comlink. This snapped Gio back to reality. There was still a mission to be completed, and any distraction could get his squadmates into a dangerous situation.

Giovanni looked over to Squall, and looked down at his rifle.

I should've blown his head off when i had the chance...

He shook the thought from his mind. Too late now.

He tightened his grip, and sped up a bit. He was prespiring quite a bit, and he was very tired, but the stim was keeping him up.

The dragoons neared the clearing. The streets were deserted. The wind whipped lightly. Zafo gave the signal for them to halt...


 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

*Corporal Giovanni A. Bryden*

TRP/CPL Giovanni Bryden/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR]

Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.

Zafo switched on a heat sensor on his ARC goggles in an attempt to find out where the escaping separatists were heading. Three vague intensified light readings showed up on his left.

"It may not be them, but it's our best bet." Zafo informed the three other dragoons

"Yeah I see it too" Squall added

"Follow me, they aren't getting away!" Zafo shouted as he sprinted towards the heat readings.

Anger swarmed through his entire body, giving him the extra strength necessary to keep pushing forward.

"To think I ever considered him to be one of us..." Zafo had trouble even thinking about it right now. He pushed on through the incredibly strong winds and horrible downfall. Every step was becoming harder and harder to follow through.

Suddenly, Zafo noticed the heat readings growing larger.

"They've stopped!" Zafo shouted over the comlink.

Then it all made sense. Zafo thought back to his race with Kairo. He recognized where they were. They were nearly at the warehouse he had jumped on to, in hopes of pulling ahead. Although he couldn't yet see it, due to the wall of rain that was making vision difficult, he knew it lay just ahead.

When they were just a turn away from the separatists" position, they were once again on the move. "They must be heading into the warehouse" Zafo thought "But Why?". The answer was obvious but the shock of the betrayal was clouding his thoughts. The warehouse was easily large enough to store a starship.

A loud grinding of mechanical gears was heard over the pouring rain and devastating wind. "Must be the doors closing Zafo thought.

"All right, push yourselves dragoons, we must get into the warehouse before the doors close" Zafo shouted into his comlink. The acknowledgment of the other Dragoons immediately followed.

When the massive doors became visible, they were only two and a half meters from the ground, and rapidly descending. Zafo forced his legs to move faster. Realizing he might not make it in, he took a dive. His body passed under the door with only three feet to spare. Gio, Squall and TJ followed, all their body's stopping in the mud beside his.

The rain and wind were greatly reduced in the warehouse, but various holes in the ceiling and walls still let in some water and wind. The warehouse was filled with various crates  and barrels and at the opposite end, the separatists' escape shuttle. Grenton, Tay and the other man were nearly at their destination. All four dragoons pulled out their riffles and began releasing stun waves at the fleeing enemies. With twenty meters to go, two of the three forms fell to the ground. The third one quickly ran back and picked one of them up over his shoulder and continued his run to the ship.

The four Dragoons continued to unleash plenty of fire but it was no use, they were to far ahead. It was already a miracle that two of them got hit. The Dragoons were forced to watch helplessly as the two figures made it onto the ship, blast a whole through the warehouses' ceiling and soar out of sight.

Squall gave out a shout and shattered a wooden crate with his foot. While the other two Dragoons cursed aloud. Zafo on the other hand, was still drawn by something. A figure still lay stunned on the ground. Zafo slowly began to walk towards it, the other Dragoons following behind him. As they drew near, the figure was desperately trying to fight the stun and move away.

Zafo removed his helmet and and starred into the face of a half-stunned seperatist. The feeling of betrayal was burning every sense in his body as he stared down at the man. Even though it wasn't Tay'Ren, Zafo's anger had consumed him. The man's face curled into a twisted smile. He was gaining back the feeling in his face and he opened his mouth to speak.

"You Fools" He began, hatred burning in his eyes as he stared at Zafo. "The Empire has blinded you. You do not see it, because you are all contribute to it's reign of terror. Countless numbers of humans and creatures alike suffer at the empire's hands..."

Zafo's mind jolted with every comment. The anger and betrayal had numbed his senses but awakened a part of his mind that was long asleep. Memories of his father's betrayal and abandoning flooded his brain. All his old feelings of anger and hatred were awakened. The anger was boosted by recalled memories of betrayal on Tatooine. Zafo had convinced himself that the authorities found him, forcing him to flee on Tatooine because of an "ongoing investigation", but Zafo knew it was one of his closer friends who had radded him out. Now being faced with the betrayal of one of his own squadmates was overwhelming.

The man could see this in Zafo's eyes and continued verbally attacking the empire, the one thing he truly believed in.

"Don't listen to him" Zafo heard Gio saying, but the words just passed right through him "Lets just get this over with"

The man let out a horrible laugh at Zafo's emotionally racked body.

"No wonder your father abandoned you" the man said, slowly, making sure Zafo heard every word of it "You were to weak"

Zafo felt as if a dozen bombs detonated in his head. Never in his life had he experienced such anger and hatred.

Zafo swung his foot with tremendous force smashing the man right in the face, yelling, "How could you possibly know that?".

The laughing Continued...

He did it again.

The laughing continued...

Zafo pulled out his father's pistol and fired shots into the man's head

The laughing stopped as Zafo collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by his emotions...

The three other Dragoons walked over and picked Zafo up, along with the limp seperatist. TJ said, "You did the right thing. We all felt the same, luckily your gun was on stun and you didn't kill him. Maybe Kairo can use him for questioning. We can lie about the smashed face."

The group slowly moved out of the hanger and back to the hovervan...
 
-----------------------
~ZaFo
*DarkDragoons
+ Advance Recon Commandos {ARC} +
ASL/SGT ZaFo/2SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE
~Keep on Rocking in the Free World

  The door to Giovanni's room burst open. A dark silhouette of a man stepped in and threw his rain-soaked cloak on the nearest chair. He let the strap of his bag slide off his shoulder, and he removed his helmet and placed it on the desk by the window. The rest of his armor was littered about in pieces on the floor. Giovanni sat down on his bed and looked around the pitch black room as if trying to find something, but he didn't know what.

  The energy stim seemed to be wearing off. His shoulders felt dead, and his legs took him a great effort to move. His eyelids also felt like they had lead weights on them.

And they say getting hit by a blaster bolt is painful...

  Giovanni thought to himself. He couldn't see a thing, but he reached for the bottle of whiskey next to his bed. It felt a lot lighter than he remembered. Squall...

  He took a pull at the bottle. Pretty soon, its amber content was all gone, and the feeling of emptyness in the pit of his stomach grew even more. Giovanni's thoughts were racing in and around his head.

Zafo... Something tells me he's not gonna be the same again... And Kairo... He might not have showed it much, but i could somehow feel the anger inside of him...

He looked around the room once again. Darkness.

  A single bolt of lightning lit up his room for what seemed like an eternity. His unkempt hair. The dripping wet cloak resting on the chair. The empty bottle at the foot of his bed. The eerie sight of his Stormtrooper helmet, with its dark eyes staring at him from across the room.

He looked at the time. 1400.

  His eyes were almost closed now. His heavy shoulders rested against the backrest. His legs laid there limp in front of him. That Stormtrooper helmet, though he couldn't see it, was still there by the window mocking him. He picked up the empty bottle. A lightning bolt lit up his room for what seemed to be an eternity.

  Giovanni's strormtrooper helmet was no longer by the window. It lay on the ground wrapped in a blanket of broken glass. The cloak was no longer on the chair, and the bed, though it was still haggard and unkempt, was empty. A trail of water led to the door, which was now half open.

The room sank into darkness once again.
 
-----------------------
*DarkDragoons*

*Corporal Giovanni A. Bryden*

TRP/CPL Giovanni Bryden/2SQD/2PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/[LoR]

Whenever death may surprise us, let it be welcome if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.