After receiving his orders, Marka set off to the barracks to get packed, but also to get some sleep. The previous mission had been demanding, even if he had only been there for the end of it. This mission would be his first real mission, and was glad he was starting it as Fire Team Captain. He was surprised when he received the promotion, but also glad. He didn't mind taking a bit of responsibility, and it gave him a chance to work more closely with the more experienced members of the team.

"You ready for this mission sir?" asked Drask as the two made their way to the barracks.

"Born ready soldier, I should hope you are the same" replied Marka. He knew he had to keep the morale up, and show no fear. A fearless leader meant a fearless squad, and this particular squad would be a force to reckon with.

Drask went on ahead as Marka stopped to survey the surroundings. Life was crawling all over the place. It was amazing. All these people had jobs to do and would carry them out without question. The last time he remembered seeing such activity was when he was on his way to his first combat engineer training. How could he forget that?
    As he set off once more his thoughts drifted towards the dragon symbol. For such a small thing, it had plagued his mind ever since he found it. Not a day went past when he wouldn't think about it. One question that repeated over and over again was why he didn't get one of the medallions. It wasn't out of jealousy though, far from it. The man he took it off was a poor soldier; he let his guard down and was killed for it. Marka knew he was a better soldier, but still he wondered.

He had soon reached his room and was packing his gear for the mission ahead. His recently polished armour sat neatly on the bed, glimmering in the sunlight. His vibroblade was mounted on the wall above the head of his bed, an instalment he had made after arriving home from the previous mission. Slowly, he ran a finger across the exposed blade. A small line of blood trickled down his finger.

"Still sharp" he commented before heading off to have a shower.
 
-----------------------
Private First Class Marka
Raider Squad Fire Team Captain
FTC/PFC Marka/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
[LoR][ES2C]

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together"

Otto Vox sat alone in the frieghter as it came out of hyperspace. He sat meditating and contemplating his new situation: he was back with the Raiders, his original squad, to which he had been a trooper, a Fire Team Captain, an Assistant Squad Leader, and even Squad Leader. He had been with Wraiths for a good six months when he had to take an extended leave due to personal issues, and had come back to find himself removed from the active duty list by mistake. Rizzit had placed him back into the Raiders in a regular trooper position, under one of his old squad mates of Wraith, Sergeant Slick. It was a little different for him, because he had the highest rank in the squad, and had no leadership role whatsoever, which could be a good thing. He had the experience, but didn't have the responsilbility.
He could take a breather and perform things for the squad that he couldn't before, because he didn't have to worry about telling others where to go and what to do. This fact would make the coming mission a lot easier, because of his Force abilities, he could sneak around the town and influence answers out of the locals without them even knowing. He would just have to convince Slick to allow him to go off on his own. He would be what he always wished to be on an Army mission, he would be the silent hunter, the stalker, the unseen and unknown detective. This would be enjoyable.

Otto came out of his meditation as Slick began to speak the squad,
    "Alright, we're at Cepany, remember, we're not to be in our stormtrooper armor, is everyone set?" he looked around the frieghter and waited for checks from his squad, "Ok, get ready to land." 

Everyone was in civilian clothing, and for stormtroopers they all looked extremely uncomfortable, mildly afraid, and foolish. Stormtroopers were never in civilian gear, and half the squad looked like they had no fashion sense whatsoever, but then, half the galaxy didn't either, so they would fit right in. Most of the troopers were heavily built and looked awkard without their armor. Fortunatly for Otto, he had his Barabel Microbe Armor under his dark red tunic and his Tracker Utility Vest. His pants were black, and oddly resembled the pants he had seen on holos of the legendary Han Solo. He had his RLW-77 Wrist Lasers on under his tunic, hidden by its sleeves. He wore a strap on his right forearm, under his tunic sleeve to which he had clipped his lightsabre just in case he needed it. On Army missions the lightsabre was a last resort. It was not a good idea to let the Vast Empire's enemies know that they had Dark Jedi in their ranks, so it had been recently ordered that no obvious Force powers were to be used in battle. So, strapped to his belt he held his DH-44 blaster pistol, which, again made him look like Han Solo. He didn't care however, because the only reason he wore it was to show any vagabonds that he was actually armed. He seldom used the blaster pistol, because he relied mainly on his wrist lasers, which were more accurate, and had longer lasting power cells.

A few minutes before the shuttle would land, he got up and asked Slick for a private talk, in which he would request to be the silent hunter.

-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Otto Vox
Dark Jedi Knight
Trooper - Raiders
Vast Empire Army
TRP/GSGT Otto Vox/3SQD/1PLT/COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE(LM)(ES)(SoS)(RCoD)(SoY)
CM/DJK Otto Vox/Lion 1-4/Krath/VEDJ/VE
Give into the inferno that is the Dark Side of the Force - Otto Vox
"The earth it shall burn right into our eyes on this very night"
"We shall destroy the earth, rebuild it, and none shall inherit it."
"Blood turned into fire, made to drink like wine"

[OOC: I am writing Mirei out, hope that is ok with everyone]

Marka's foot gently made contact with the ground; a soft crunching sound came as dirt and fallen leaves were crushed beneath his black boot. The sun shone beautifully down on the squad as they all stepped out of the freighter in twos. A rich, cloudless blue sky hung above them and a light breeze passed by often. Great trees could be seen in the distance, their green tops obscuring the distant horizon. Midday had crept upon the town of New Brinne, and the Raiders had come with it. Marka had only the bare essentials with him, his civilian attire leaving little room for hidden surprises. His only weaponry was a dagger that was kept in his boot. Other than that, he was unarmed, all his armour and other weapons were in a crate somewhere. His simple black tunic hung just below his belt line, with his newly acquired medallion positioned in the centre of his chest. Black pants followed his legs down to the middle of the boots. His hair was scruffy once again; and two loose braids fell to the side of either eye. The tattoos under his eyes were clearly visible, and drew attention to the young Fire Team Captain, though it was mostly harmless.

"Nice day isn't it? Would be nice to take a holiday here" commented Slick, his short brown hair shimmering in the golden rays of the sun. He had to look up at Marka to speak to him, but found it amusing.

"Yeah, but I really feel like hurting someone, or getting a drink, either one suits me. That flight wasn't the most comfortable I have had" replied Marka, tilting his neck to the left before feeling it crack. A chuckle escaped Slick's mouth, and for the first time he noticed an odd shaped scar on his Squad Leader's upper lip.

"You can get something to drink soon enough. How do you think the new guys are going to go?" asked Darr-Rann as he wandered over to Marka and Slick.

"They should do well. Drask seemed a little jumpy before we landed, but he will be ok. I know how I was like when I got to Stassia" responded Marka. He remembered the fear, and the adrenaline running through his body. His heart had almost broken out of his chest when the shuttle had hit the ground, but he had turned out alright.

"Yeah, anyway, I think we should get moving now. We need to get set up and organised, then we can make our move. Darr, Marka, go round everyone up" ordered Slick.

Darr strode off to where the majority of his fire team was located, as did Marka. Within thirty seconds Darr had his team assembled, but Marka did not. He was frantically looking for Mirei. "Where in the Emperor's name is she?" he thought.

"Slick! We are missing someone!" cursed the frustrated young Raider, "It's that bloody Mirei Seppen!"

As he said this, Mirei popped out of the freighter. He wasn't happy that she had evaded him.

"You called me? Well? What do you want?" asked Mirei obliviously, her blonde hair swaying from side to side.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Marka screamed into her face.

"Uh...in the ship? Yeah, I am not coming along. I requested a transfer and I got it, so I am going back. I hope you don't mind" This prompted Marka to reach for his vibroblade. His arm swung back, but connected with nothing but air surrounding him. He forgot that he was in his civilian clothing, and that his vibroblade was currently elsewhere. At that, he walked away to where the rest of the squad was assembled.

"Apparently she isn't staying with us. Transfer or some such thing, I don't know. I don't care either. She is lucky I didn't have my blade with me however..." the Fire Team Captain stated.

"Ok then gentlemen, looks like we are without her. Doesn't matter, we are still perfectly capable of completing this mission," assured Slick, "so let's get going."

The squad broke into many smaller parts and headed for their safe house of operations, many of them having a casual conversation with another. Marka was aching for a drink, and something to eat. His stomach screamed at him from the depths of his body. A quick glance up revealed that the sky had kept its magnificent blue grace, not a speck of white could be seen. This truly was a beautiful planet.
 
-----------------------
Private First Class Marka
Fire Team Captain
- Raider Squad -
FTC/PFC Marka/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
[LoR][ES2C]

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together"

Darr-Rann and Jakireth walked down the short street.
    Well, it certainly isn't much like Coronet." Darr-Rann said, looking around at the small buildings scattered down the road. He was used to colossal cities, and the town of New Brinne was much smaller then he was used to.
    Jakireth nodded, also looking around the area. A bystander would think they were just taking in the sights, but these two were experienced soldiers, becoming familiar with their environment, preparing themselves for confrontation.
    On either side of the street stood shops, their windows filled with various goods. A few people were walking down the road, many of them waving or stopping to talk to each other.
    "Only in a town this small..." Darr-Rann thought to himself, smiling. He looked around for a store to examine first.
    "Lets start here." He said, pointing to a store which had it's windows filled with droids and computers. A big sign read "Datapads, 20% off!" with a picture of a datapad underneath it. It
looked like a older model; Darr-Rann thought it unlikely that there was much new in the ways of technology here. Walking over to the door, they opened it and walked inside.

*                                                  *                                                  *

The man opened the case, first taking out the base of the weapon. He then drew out the long barrel, attaching it. He took out the scope, polishing it's lenses, then proceeding to clip it on. He then drew out a ammunition pack, taking out and counting the bullets. Satisfied, he put them back in and loaded the pack into the rifle. He then took out a short silencer, and attached it to the end of the barrel. He looked into the scope experimentally, adjusting the zoom to his preferred level.  He aimed the rifle at the wall of a deserted building, far down the road were nobody could see and fired off a shot. He adjusted the barrel and took another shot, a grin spreading across his face as the bullet hit precision. He pulled the reload, causing another bullet to click into place. He raised his weapon, taking aim, ready to make his kill...

*                                                  *                                                  *

"So, I heard there has been attacks or something around here lately." Darr-Rann asked, playing the part of the tourist.
    "Oh, yeah, something about the children getting kidnaped children." He looked a little distressed. "Erm... I dunno anything about that." He said quickly. It was clear he was lying.
    Suddenly the glass window crashed down, shattered into pieces. Darr-Rann threw himself to the ground and Jakireth ducked behind a display case filled with electronics.
          After a moment, Jakireth looked up to see a dark figure running down the roof of the building opposite to the one he was in
    "Let's go!" Said Darr-Rann, getting up and running towards the door. Suddenly he stopped as he heard a groan come from behind the counter. He turned to see the storekeeper on the ground, blood spilling from the bullet wound in his torso. He looked from the man, then back at Jak. Jakireth nodded in understanding.
    "Don't let him get away." he said, taking off his backpack and taking out his medical gear from inside. Jakireth ran out the door, after the sniper.

*                                                  *                                                  *

Jakireth lept from roof to roof, drawing his blaster.
"Stop!" He called out, taking a shot at the fleeing man, who turned, his own blaster in hand. Jakireth rolled aside as the man took a few shots at him, before proceeding to run again, jumping to another building.
    Jakireth groaned. This man was making a pretty big effort to escape. He jumped across to the other building, letting a few shots fly to cover his leap.
    "Last building." He thought to himself - The next was too far to jump to.
Apparently, the man thought the same, for he dropped his blaster and walked over the the edge of the building.
    "What..." Jakireth thought. Then he realized. This one wasn't going to let himself be taken prisoner.
    "NO!" Jakireth called out, running forward to stop him.
He was too late, and the man jumped off the building, hitting the ground with a sickening splat. Jakireth looked over the side to see the man's broken body, blood spilling over the street.
    "Damn..." He muttered to himself, climbing down the back of the building.

*                                                  *                                                  *

Darr-Rann carefully laid the man on the counter, cutting open the shirt around the wound. He examined it for a few moments, then swore to himself. The wound was too deep to operate without a proper surgical team and equipment.
    "The... The caves to the east..." The man said, coughing up blood.
"What?" Darr-Rann asked. "Whats to the east?"
    "The Wolves'  Den..." The man said with his final breath...

 
-----------------------
ASL/CPL Darr-Rann/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][CoR]
LANCE CORPORAL
one of few - A vast Empire medic
Read Losses of Vandetta by me and Hellra
www.darr-rann.95mb.com

[OOC: It isn't stellar, but I'm still trying to figure some things out.]

"This planet is packed with surprises," Jakireth said softly, raising an eyebrow towards Darr as he did so, "assassination attempts, notes from a pub, and absolutely no way to proceed except a vague point in direction, which we can't even verify."

The medic shook his head negatively, although it was done so in a manner that reinforced a feeling of agreement. Jakireth flung his head back with a sigh, and his somewhat angry expression slowly changed to a grin.

"Reminds me of home... eh Darr?" Expecting similar acknowledgement. Laughing between words, Jakireth looked to his partner for an answer. After a moment with a matching smile, he answered in a low tone:
"I can't say Coronet was as much related to an old mystery novel as this town is, but I know what you mean..." He paused, considering a course of action. They needed some way to continue in their search of the 'Wolves', but simply no leads. It was difficult to go on at this point, mostly due to the arousal of suspicion that would occur if 'tourists' began an all out scan of the area, and that was on the extensive list of things that couldn't go wrong. With as many innocent lives hanging in the now loosening grip of the success of their mission, execution of their plan (once they figured out what it was) needed to be perfect.

Jakireth adjusted his cloak as they neared the end of the immediate pathway, hastily sliding the attached hood over his head. The space around them was great, and he didn't feel very safe when you could be picked off like a chocobo in a bathtub. Apparently, Darr recognized the situation as well because he quickly slid his right hand over the space that would holster his blaster. Jakireth was also beginning to see the comforting qualities of a weapon within your reach, mimicked the action and choked back a laugh.

As if on cue, Darr began briskly moving towards a large indent within a shop building, basically the only thing that could be used for cover. Jakireth shot a look at his surroundings before following, trying to analyze the situation.
"Jak, someone has been keeping pace with us for the last 25 minutes..." Darr said between the sounds of loading his blaster.

Jakireth nodded, and mouthed his next words:
"Two men...coming...now"

-----------------------
Lance Corporal Jakireth
- Raider Squad -
Army of the Vast Empire
------------------------
TRP/LCPL Jakireth/3SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA[LoR]
Rep/Reporter Jakireth/NewsRep: 2/News Division/VET/VE

Marka strode in through the make-do entrance of the Devaronian's Horn. The air was stale and harsh. Smashed glass littered the floor, while small puddles sat at the bottom of almost every table. Lights flickered, and dark corners fed the ominous aura this bar gave off. The soldier shuddered slightly and scanned the room for his two squad mates. Tallanvor had planted himself at a table, and was eating something that didn't quite look eatable. Matthew, however, was at the bar, trying to make conversation with a particularly slimy Ithorian. Marka didn't think it was going well, though, simply because the snail-like creature kept trying to push Matt of his stool.

"Come on," Matthew said to it, "let me buy you a drink."

Marka made his way over to the two of them. If he didn't stop this it could get ugly, and would most certainly draw unwanted attention.

"Excuse me, sir, but my friend here needs to leave now," he said, motioning to Matthew, "don't you?"

The two soldiers left the rather large snail to his drink, collected Tallanvor and left. The Fire Team Captain explained what had happened, about the assassination and the note from the fat man, Sert Margaan.

"So what do we do?" Matt asked.

"Carry out our orders for now...but be ready for anything" replied Marka, his eyes occasionally darting to the rooftops.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A tall, ghostly white man in a large, grey cloak approached Mr Margaan. He had entered the bar shortly after Marka had left. His two black eyes fell upon Sert.

"What do you want me to do sir?" he asked softly, his hair falling in front of his eyes, "There are two more with him now."

"Get them alone, Justyyn. Once you have done that......kill them. Be careful of that man with the tattoos on his face. I know him. Get the others if you must." Sert gave a nod to his associate, and then returned to eating. The dark haired man turned on his heel and left the bar. He spotted the three soldiers down the road to his right. It seemed they had just left the Devaronian's Horn. The wind picked up slightly, but the sun continued to shine with great intensity. Justyyn followed his three targets with great precision. He kept his distance, not wishing to be caught, dodging pedestrians as he went.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Matt, Tall, see that park over there?" Marka asked, pointing to a beautiful section of grass and trees filled with families on picnics. His question was met with nods.
"I want you two to make your way over there and wait for me. If I am not there in 10 minutes, call Darr and let him know."

After some more nods, the three soldiers separated. Marka broke of into an alley to his left while Tallanvor and Matthew continued down the road. The alley was thin and dark, giving very little visibility. Two shops towered above the soldier on each side, with a roof joining the two. No sunlight could break through the veil of darkness that hung over the alley, but Marka felt a strange comfort in the darkness. Moments later, his follower entered the alley. He was only a silhouette as he stood at the entrance, but soon became a solid shape as he inched further and further in to what would soon be his biggest mistake.

"Come out and face me coward!" the man screamed. A now crouched Marka kept his breathing steady, hiding behind a pile of scrap metal to the left of the alley. Heavy footsteps came from the entrance, getting louder each time.

"Intimidation," Marka thought, "that's what I need."

He slowly pushed off the pile of scrap and turned around. A loose piece presented itself, and the soldier slowly picked it up and lifted it over his shoulder. With one swift motion he tossed the piece flying through the air at the wall near his enemy. The metal crashed against the wall and ricocheted into the arm of the cloaked man and he flinched.

"Now I can see you" Marka whispered, just loud enough for man to hear, but not so that he could understand it. His enemy was only ten metres away now. Gently, the soldier removed another small piece of metal from the pile and lobbed it at the ceiling that joined the two buildings next to him. A loud clanking noise came as metal connected with metal, and the cloaked man looked up. As soon as his head lifted, Marka rushed towards the man, his knife now unsheathed from his boot. Only centimetres away, the man brought his head back down, but brought it down onto the blade in the young Raider's hand. The point pierced the skin under the jaw, and made its way up. Blood rushed out of the wound, drowning the blade, and the hand that carried it. The man's very soul drifted out as the body became limp. It fell, followed by a thud. He was dead.

"Fool" Marka said softly, re-sheathing his blade.

He removed the cloak from the man and put it on himself. He quickly left the alley and made his way to the park to his squad mates.

-----------------------
Private First Class Marka
Fire Team Captain
- Raider Squad -
FTC/PFC Marka/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
[LoR][ES2C]

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together"

The cool blast of air hit Drask as he re-entered the city hall. He didn't see Slick or the protocol droid anywhere so he decided to take a seat in the reception area. Planting himself in a deep armchair, he relaxed and his body suddenly felt very tired. He had been on his feet since morning and the heat outside had drained him more than he expected. He was fighting to stay awake when Slick walked into the reception area with another man at his side. He was tough looking, standing taller than Slick with a chiseled jaw and graying brown hair, cut in a military style. Another Imperial task force here?

As Slick approached, Drask got to his feet and had to make a conscious effort not to jump to attention.

"Sole, this is Major Granville. Major Granville, Sole Jahl." Drask grasped the mans hand and got the impression he was used to holding a blaster. So there is another team.

"Major Granville has come here to help Mayor Granville all the way from New Republic space. He has graciously invited us to his task force's camp on the other side of town." Slick announced very diplomatically.

"You make it sound like a fancy five star hotel Mr. Bran.. erm Slick. It's nothing special but we can pool our resources there and figure out how to get these children back to their parents. These Wolves must pay for their actions." Granville said going from a cheery mood to one of angry determination.

"I have never worked with the New Republic Military before, this should be fun," Drask said with a wry smile.

"Oh we'll have fun," replied Granville returning to his cheery mood. "I'll have to arrange transportation for all of us, it would talk far too long to walk so if you will excuse me." Granville turned and walked toward the exit. As soon as Granville was out of the building, Slick turned to Drask.

"Sorry boss, lost them in the crowd. Two humans and the Twi'lek, both humans armed with pretty powerful blasters. Military grade I would say. But I think it is safe to say someone knows who we are and why we are here. Only question is how." Drask reported to his CO.

"Alright. I have to contact Darr and Marka about our new found ally and let them know we are heading to their safe house. Might be good to have backup in the area." Slick said as he unclipped his comlink.

"Do you think the Wolves would attack us while we are at the New Republics safe house?" Drask wondered out-loud.

"They might, but I'm more worried about our friends finding out they are really our enemies."

-----------------------
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." -Machiavelli

How do they manage it, these humans; beginning each time so innocently, yet always ending up with the most blood on their hands.

TRP/PFC_Drask/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE

Major Granville wasn't kidding when he said it wasn't special. It wasn't awful, but it could really do with some work. From the outside it had appeared to be just your average house, home to a wife and husband and their kids, maybe even a pet; but no, no happiness or joy or family to be seen. Just a bunch of middle aged guys, eating, drinking and laughing at crude jokes. The place was a mess. The air smelt of alcohol and some form of food. One guy, a thin man with a face very similar to that of a starved Gamorrean, lay spread-eagle on the ground in the middle of the room, a bottle in one hand and something very disgusting looking around his mouth. When the door shut behind Matthew, who was at the end of the line all of the Republic men stood at attention. All, of course, except for the man passed out on the floor.

"My God, what did you do?" Major Granville asked. The men looked at each other, waiting for someone to break the silence. Finally, one man, the tallest, but probably the most senior, apart from Major Granville himself, stepped forward.

"Well, sir, it's Jeet's birthday today, so we thought we would just have a couple of drinks to celebrate while you were gone. No harm done" he said, though his voice seemed shaky.

Granville's face scrunched slightly, but relaxed slowly. "Get him to his bed, and see that this never happens again," he turned to Slick and the Raiders, "especially not when we are expecting guests!"

"I hope your team isn't this sloppy when it comes to crunch time, Major" Slick said, bringing a grin to the face of almost every Raider. With that, the Raiders spread through the house, finding empty beds and rooms that they could make theirs for the time being.

Marka made his way past the unconscious soldier, and down the hall at the opposite end of the room. The walls were a pale yellow, with small chips in small places. It was a dark hallway, with only a single faint light on the right wall. Along the left wall were doors, and after seeing some more Republic soldiers leave them, assumed they were the sleeping quarters. Darr tapped Marka on the shoulder, and motioned towards a room at the very end of the hall, with a faded green door. He took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the door handle. It was made of a freezing silver steel or plastic of some sort. It turned with a loud squeak, the latch clicked, and the door eased open. The air was clean when compared to the rest of the house, no smell of alcohol or food. Perhaps this room isn't used as often as the others Marka thought. Eight beds were in the room, all bunks, so four sets; two on either side of the room. At the end of the room was a window, which provided the only light, as there was no artificial lighting in the room.

"Grab a bed everyone," Slick said, with a smile "and if any one of you argue over who gets the top or the bottom, I think I will shoot you." The squad gave a small laugh, and arranged themselves throughout the room. Marka and Darr paired up, as did Slick and Otto and finally Matthew and Tallanvor. The squad chattered amongst themselves until a firm knock came at the door. Before Matthew had taken a step towards the door, it flew open, and in walked the Major.

"Sorry, about the behaviour of my men. That was really quite embarrassing. I assure you they are up to any job. Some good news is in order, and I bare it. I believe your gear has just arrived" he said before turning on his heel and leaving.

Outside sat three large crates, metal cubes now full of Stormtrooper gear and some other odds and ends. They could only be seen because of a small streetlight.. I hope the Major knows about our 'Imperial past' or this could get ugly Marka thought. Peeking into the closest of the crates, he retrieved his bag and flung it over his back. The rest of the squad did the same, and soon enough all their equipment was in their room, being polished or checked or modified in some way. Darr had his Katarn Class Commando armour set out neatly on the bed, observing it, along with Matthew and Tallanvor. Marka had his sword out once more, making sure there was nothing wrong with it. As always, not a dint, a scratch or a mark of any sort could be found. Otto and Slick were standing together, chatting about the squad when Slick's comm went off. Everyone stopped momentarily, but returned to whatever they were doing soon after.

"Sergeant Slick, you have a new trooper coming. He should be roughly five minutes away from your position. See that he is made welcome" said the man firmly. Marka picked up his sword and strung it across his back and left the room.

"Where are you going?" Slick called through the doorway.

Marka popped his head back around the door, "To get our new bloke... yes, I heard, five minutes, to the south. I shouldn't be long."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Making his way east through the darkened city, in the calm, cool night brought Marka a sense of relaxation. The streets were abandoned now, not a single life could be seen for as far as the eye could see. Streetlights on each side gave off their light in a perfect circle, as bright as the closest star at the middle, stretching out, fading to grey as it expands and finally blending with the night at the end. The streets seemed to blend together after a while. Houses, occasional office buildings and shops; it all seemed the same. Marka came to an intersection, and life finally appeared. Restaurants and bars glowing with neon lights of pink and green and red and blue lit up the street. Laughter could be heard from the left in the bars and soft, soothing music from the right at the scene of many a romantic evening. A minute of music couldn't hurt Marka thought tiredly. Keeping to the shadows he made his way to a small space behind the musicians, mainly Bith. Some time went by when Marka remembered his squad mate, the one he was supposed to find. He turned, only to find himself face to face with that fat man once again; Sert Margaan.

"Marka... I mean you no harm. There is no need to use that on me" Sert said, pointing to Marka's sword. He obviously disregarded this, removing the blade quickly from its sheath. Sert began to panic, back away slowly. "Look, I have something for you, but first I must explain a few things. I knew you when you were a boy."

Marka stopped immediately, his body and sword frozen in time. Sert stood slightly taller as the Raider lowered his sword. Stepping forward, Sert placed a hand on Marka's shoulder, "Your father and I were friends. He was of the Coruscant Guard, do you know of them?"

Marka nodded slowly, "Yes, I know of them. I don't remember my father... or my mother. Most of my childhood is unknown to me. How did you know him?"

"I was his superior in the Guard. He was a fine combatant, if not the best we had. Not the nicest of people, but loyal, and wise. You see, that is why I approached you like I did, back in the bar. I needed to know if you were truly your fathers son, and if you deserved what I am about to give you. Here," Sert gestured to a bag, hidden behind a small pillar, "you should open that. I believe you will be glad to find what is inside."

Marka gave a quick glance, first at Sert, then the bag. He slowly unzipped it, and eased the opening apart. Beautiful crimson armour, not unlike that of a Stormtrooper in design, sat neatly, begging to be brought out. The Raider lifted the helmet from the bag and stood, holding it level with his face. He looked into the face of his father. Marka slipped into a dream state as memories flooded through him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Son, you can't come with me. Not this time..." Ottmar said. A young Marka looked up at his dad, and knew what was happening. He wouldn't be coming back from this one. The tall father knelt in his armour, now face to face with a teary-eyed son. He reached out, and ruffled Marka's hair, bringing a whisper of a smile about the boys face.

"Please father," the child said, reaching into his shirt, "take this with you." Marka had removed his necklace. A soft brown string with a small carved Veractyl was coiled up in his tiny hands. Ottmar dipped his head, and Marka tied the string around his father's neck. Raising his head again, the two met eyes. Deep brown eyes from both sides clashed, and a single tear fell down Ottmar's face. Giving his final sigh, he rose to his feet and put his helmet on. Turning on his heel, he set off to his squad, and soon merged into the sea of crimson and black. Within seconds he was gone, forever. Soft tanned arms, those of a woman, came around Marka's waist gently.

"Come, inside now" said the soft voice of his mother.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Raider trembled, his hands shaking, and his eyes lost in the darkness of the wall in front of him. His gaze soon returned to the helmet. He peered deep into the black visor; half hoping he would see his fathers smiling face before him. It would never appear, though. It was an impossible dream. A rough hand came once more to his shoulder, and suddenly Sert Margaan was not just some fat man. He was a man of importance, of meaning. He had a face, a heart, a soul; no longer just a shell of skin. Marka turned to meet him.

"I think you should have this now" Sert said, extending a closed hand to Marka. Holding out his own hand, open and palm up, the young soldier waited nervously. Sert dropped the necklace into his hand. The small Veractyl sat lightly in Marka's now large hands. He removed the dragon medallion that already hung from his neck from its string. Throwing the string away, he strung the medallion to the same string as the Veractyl, and placed those around his neck.

"Thank you, Sert" Marka said, feeling uncomfortable having to thank someone.

"No problems... I will be in touch; there are many more questions you wish to ask I presume. Take care; your father would be proud of you."

With Sert gone, Marka placed his father's helmet back inside the bag, along with his sword, zipped it up and put it over his shoulder. Walking slower now, thinking of his father, the Raider headed out in search of him team mate.

After only moments of turning a corner, the two Raiders met for the first time, though not how Marka had hoped. Private First Class Alex Gorjan was bolting down the street, brightly clad in the Stormtrooper attire, towards his Fire Team Leader. He was a tall, yet rather chunky man, and was slowing down considerably. Soon, though, Marka noticed why he was running. A speeder of some sort was chasing him down. What the... OH, right, the armour Marka thought, deciding what to do. He realised the easiest thing would be just to call out to him.

"OI!" Marka bellowed out. It caught his attention alright. "Get over here!" he continued. The man got the hint, and ran towards the other Raider, using all the energy he possibly could. When he finally did reach Marka, his breathing was heavy. The two ducked around the corner, and hid in an alley. The speeder simply glided by, as if it was never chasing anything.

Panting heavily, Alex asked, "Well... aren't you going to chase me too?"

Marka grinned, "No. My name is Marka. I am Fire Team Leader of the Raiders. Welcome to Cepany!"

"Private First Class Alex Gorjan, though you can call me Cheech" he said, giving a tired and sloppy salute.

"Ok, let's get you back to the place we are staying. Oh, right, before we do, lose the Stormtrooper armour for the moment. As you have noticed, the people of this planet don't take kindly to us. We are working with a Republic strike force currently, though it will not be a permanent arrangement. We will set out tomorrow probably to carry out our original orders. They believe us to be an independent security force consisting of ex Stormtroopers and," Marka paused momentarily, "I think that's it. Oh, and no talking about the Empire, at all"

The two set off, sticking to the shadows as Marka had done when he was on his own. He was eager to put on his father's armour, to follow in his footsteps, whatever they may have been.

[OOC: Holy crap what a post...]

 
-----------------------
Private First Class Marka
Fire Team Leader
- Raider Squad -
FTC/PFC Marka/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
[LoR][ES2C]

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together"

Rogueboy received a message on his data pad, it said. "Gear up and hurry at the docks." Cheech hurried home to his bachelor apartment, gathering his kit he hastily slammed on his storm trooper armor, ran down to the stairs where he ran into Graan. "Graan I'm gone for an indefinite amount of time, I'll pay you when I get back." The Huk shrilled in delight. "By law if you're not back in a month's time I can throw you and that oversized beast of your out on your rear ends." Right there Cheech pulled out his DL-44 and pressed it against Huk's skull. "If I come back and find out I no longer live here, neither will you." With that said Cheech hurried to the garage packed down some fodder for Alyssa (his tauntaun) and than hurried to the space docks.

    When he arrived Rogueboy met a senior officer who instructed him that he will be dropped onto the planet Cepany where he will meet up with the Raiders squad, where he should assist them in anyway Commanding Officer Slick would like. Alex than went aboard the transport ship which was a sleek looking Kappa-class. When they arrived at the town of New Brinne Cheech was dropped off in the middle of town where he was pointed out by an old man who screamed. "Storm trooper!" Immediately the town responded everyone within hearing range dropped what they were doing and picked up blasters, Cheech muttered one word before running as fast as he can. "Shit." The lynch mob thought quick and hopped into a blue speeder which almost abruptly ran him down, sprinting as fast as he can he started running down a street, the speeder was catching up until Alex heard a voice. "Oi, Get over here!" Startled by the voice yet never the less Cheech ran into a dark alley, thinking to himself he was going to get robbed and murdered, putting such thoughts out of his mind by negotiating with himself it couldn't be any worse than being run over. Cheech looked at his would-be savior and thought he looked unusual, he had two scars one under each eye that read Life and Death, he had dark brown hair and eyes, and wore dark robes which in the dimly lit alley was impossible to tell the color. Rogueboy between heavy breathing asked the strange man. "Well&aren't you going to chase me too?"  The strange man grinned and introduced himself as Marka, the Fire Team Leader of the Raiders, Cheech introduced himself, dropped his kit and gave a lazy salute Marka than proceeded to tell Rogueboy what was going on.

    Rogueboy quickly took off his Storm Trooper armor donned his Barabel Microbe armor, put on his leather jerkin, and a pair of black khakis, when he was changed Cheech started to follow Marka towards the shared base. When they arrived the Rebels gave Marka and Rogueboy a funny look until Marka said. "New recruit home security wants us to break him in see what kind of man he is." Alex gave Marka a sidelong glance with brows furrowed, the rebels laughed. "Well as long as he knows where the shooting side of the rifle is I don't mind sleeping under the same roof as him, just than a man walked into the room wearing an officer's uniform and swearing heavily. One of the Rebel guards asked him. "Major what's wrong?" The man snapped. "If I wanted to tell you what's wrong I would have you Wookiee, and who's this shit head?" One of the rebels stepped in. "It's one of them rent-a-cops&." The Major gave him such a look as to shut the man up immediately, Cheech introduced himself. "The name's Cheech, worked as a merc until I found out that companies pay better." The Major calmed down a little, not because he was impressed, but because Cheech was so informal. "Report to your head of whatever you guys call yourselves."

    Marka and Rogueboy met up with Slick and the others in the house, it was a mess it needed to be repainted, there were cracks in the walls, the men didn't look any better, they were a semi-ragged company, unwashed and unshaven, the house only had one bathroom. Rogueboy gave Slick a nod when he met him knowing to do anything else might bring suspicion upon them. "You get the bottom bunk in the corner." Was all Slick said, Cheech dropped his kit and prepared to store his gear, putting his DL-44 under his pillow remembering that harsh lesson he learned.

    It was a dark night and Alex was at a bar with a few friends of his, he got smashed and hooked up with someone, as they were under the sheets the girls boyfriend walked in, naturally Alex pulled up the sheets, while the guy pulled out his blaster and fired Alex dove towards his pants, pushing the guys girlfriend in the way of the bolt, it was messy. The man fell towards his knee realizing what he had done; Cheech finished him quickly with his Ryyk blade severing his head with one stroke. Immediately there were knocks on the door, concerned people or guards, Alex got dressed and jumped out the window only to break his leg four stories down, Cheech than proceeded to limp away.

    Packing his Subsonic Slug thrower under his bed Cheech left his grenades and his medium repeating blaster in his bag. Looking around Cheech noticed a lot of the soldiers were playing Sabaac Rogueboy was indifferent to the game having streaks of bad luck didn't make it easy to enjoy that game, Cheech noticed that Slick was by himself, in a thoughtful mood, Rogueboy approached him and asked. "Hey Slick you wanna go to a bar? I noticed one on my way here." Slick understood the message, this was a chance to talk and understand what this new recruit was good at so he whispered a reply. "Sure just be sure to pack a little something in case." Alex smiled that damned smile of his and said. "No need to tell me." He turned and showed Slick the DC-17M rifle that was hidden under his jerkin, unfortunately it was kind of big and bulged out a little. "It was the loosest fitting shirt I had." Slick shook his head but laughed none the less. "Well if you can pull that out before you get killed I got no qualms." They left towards the bar.

    Rogueboy and Slick stepped into The Devaronian's Horn, sat down in a private booth; Slick ordered a Corellian ale meantime Cheech took an Electric Dampener which was a mix of fruit juice and hard stuff, just than they heard a voice at the bar. "And than he started running as fast as he could carrying a bag that must have weighed one hundred pounds!" This was followed by a chorus of laughter, a man walked into the bar and all laughter ceased, the man was tall easily six foot five inches, and built, one of the bar's patrons walked up to him. "Hey Bill how was the day at the mines?" Bill looked at the patron who seemed to curdle in front of him, Bill than proceeded towards the bar and ordered himself a drink. Slick and Rogueboy exchanged looks each with the same possible conclusion, is he a wolf? Alex whispered to Slick. "Only one way to find out." And proceeded towards the bar, sitting next to Bill. "Mind if I buy you a drink? Bill is it?" The man grunted, his bald head reflecting the light so much it hurt, Cheech motioned to the bartender for a drink. "I'll take an Electric Dampener and my friend here will have a....." Bill looked at Alex and said. "What are you a little schoolgirl? Give us ten shots of my regular each." The bartender looked at Rogueboy to see if it was alright with him, he nodded; the bartender disappeared in the back room to return with an old fashioned clay jug, pulling out twenty shot glasses and filled them. Cheech picked his up and gave it a sniff; it was strong, "its fifty-per-cent alcohol if you can drink your ten than maybe I'll talk about my day at the mines." Rogueboy looked surprised, so he's not as stupid as I think he is, Cheech picked up the first shot glass knocked it with Bill's. "Salute." They both gulped them down; Alex suppressed the urge to gag, already his head was swirling, Bill laughed. "If this isn't the good stuff than I don't know what is, c'mon boy round two." They picked up the shot glasses and right when Bill shot his Cheech poured his down his shirt, whilst making it look like he was drinking it, it touched the light cut on his chest, he got when running with his kit slung over him, the weight was so constricting the rope cut him. Rogueboy gasped tears came unbidden to his eyes, he wiped them away, Bill laughed. "A little too strong for you?" Cheech choked out a simple reply. "I'm not done until I say I'm done." He wasn't going to let bill have the satisfaction of seeing him humbled.

    Eight shots later...Rogueboy couldn't keep his eyes open; they would flutter half close and than shoot back up again, Bill looked equally as tired. "Soooo....howwww wasss the minessss todai?" Bill looked up from staring at his feet. " Thhheyy were terrrrrrible, theyyy got so many kids wor *hic* king in them mines, I keeeeeep telllingg them that kidsss shoulddd be at *hic* home." Cheech tried hard to memorize every word being said, but like every time he gets smashed, some things are just hard to remember. Rogueboy tried to stand up but his legs felt weak and he came crashing to the floor, Bill laughed and helped him back to his feet, Bill was still standing when Alex sat back down. "Wuzz up B ill?" "I reallli gotta go to the bathhhhh rooooom." Bill than started stumbling in the general direction of the men's room. "Ya know B ill that's sunds like a gooood idea."

    It took them all of five minutes to get to the bathroom, when they got there Bill proceeded to the nearest urinal, Rogueboy on the other hand stumbled towards the window, unhooked the latch and took a look around nothing, perfect. "Wat youuuu doing?" Cheech took a deep breath of fresh air which felt like a slap across the face. "I'm trying toooo get sum fresh ar." Alex than stumbled to the urinal on Bills left hand side, unzipped his pants and started to relieve himself, Bill faced his body in the opposite direction. Alex looked in front of him admiring the smoothness of the tiles, he quickly grabbed Bill by the back of his head and smashed it against the wall, Bill slumped down unconscious. Cheech waited until he was finished, flushed the urinal and washed his hands. When he was done he tried to pick up Bill but in his weakened state he couldn't do much, thinking quick or as quick as possible, he reached for his comlink. "Heyyy Slick budddyyy ole pall, meeeet meh at the bathhhhroooooom." Within seconds the door opened and Slick popped in. "What the hell is going on?" Rogueboy looked from Slick to Bill. "ummmmm we ned to get him somewas quite, and ah can't lllllift him bah mahself. Juss grab his ams and well pushhhh him outta tha window." They both grabbed Bill and managed to roll him out the window.


-----------------------
He will give them death, and they will love him for it

TRP/PFC_Rogueboy/1SQD/1PLT/COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR]

Blaster bolts flew out of the darkened doorway, exploding in showers of scarlet and golden sparks on the duracrete wall of the building opposite. Within, Tallanvor could make out at least four muzzle flashes, each illuminating a humanoid figure and the various pieces of furniture they had quickly overturned for cover.

On the street, Major Granville had been pulled to one side of the doorway, with Darr-Rann bent over him, examining his wounds. With haste, he pulled a small medical kit from a belt pouch and opened it. He turned to the soldier, Jones, as he removed a pad from the kit.

"Hold this," he said, proferring the pad to Jones, "and press it on here, applying pressure. That should stem the bleeding until we can get proper medical care."

Jones quickly took the pad and pushed it on to Granville's gut where the blaster bolt had penetrated. Behind him, Sergeant Slick looked to have recovered his wits somewhat and seemed in deep thought. After a moment, his eyes cleared and he turned to the squad.

"Okay, Granville's out for now, but they just winged me. There may be hostages in there, so we need to take care. Concussion grenades," he ordered.

Tallanvor pulled a small cylinder from his belt and thumbed the release, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Darr doing the same.

"On my mark," said Darr-Rann, curtly, "Mark!"

The two soldiers tossed their grenades in through the dim rectangle of the doorway and ducked back to the sides. After an extended brief moment, there was a thunderous sound from within the building, and the doorway was outlined in white on the opposite wall.

"Go! Go! Go!" yelled Slick.

--
Not much, but it's a start :P

"Damn-it Darr-Rann!  That hurts!"  growled Slick as the medic pulled another stitch tight.

"Oh shut up you big baby.  You should have worn some type of armor... idiot.  What did you think you were, eh?  Some type of Dar..." Darr faked a coughing fit when he remembered that Major Granville was in the same room.  "Uh... Jedi."

"No, but I- OUCH!  I didn't have time to think about it.  I was kinda rushed.  OW, OW, OW!" cried Slick in agony.

"Alright you're done boss."  said Darr as he rose to his feet.

Nodding Slick stood, and flexed his arm.  He was testing the limits of the stitches, and found that he still had most of the movement in his arm.  He glanced up as one of the New Republic troopers entered, and gave the major a swift salute.  He then turned to Slick, and nodded.

"What is it corporal?  What have you, and Mr. Tallanvor been able to find out from the prisoner?" asked the major.

"We did find out something very useful sir.  His band wasn't part of the Wolves."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Slick, Darr, and Granville.

"He and his compatriats were poor traders hired by the Wolves to kidnap those particular children... and wipe all of us out if possible.  He said we did wound one of the Wolves that was present however.  So we did a sweep of the house, and this is what we found sir."  the soldier held up a tightly wrapped bundle, and handed it to Granville.

"Thank you trooper." Granville grabbed the bundle, and opened it as Slick and Darr crept closer to see.  What they saw in the bundle made them cry out in surprise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"DROIDS!" yelled Marka as they all sat around the bunks.  "The Wolves are droids!"

Darr nodded.  "That's right.  We found one of the arms in that bundle.  One of us must have shot it off.  They are heavily armored droids.  War droids would be my guess."

"Or assassin droids." commented Slick.

Tallanvor shook his head.  "No.  No one has been assassinated, and assassin droids don't kidnap."

Shrugging Slick said, "I'll take your word on that.  I don't know jack about droids."

"So battle droids then?  With an odd streak to them?"  said Rogueboy as he rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah.  No wonder we haven't found anything.  We were looking at living, breathing species.  Not droids."  answered Slick with a grimace.

"So how do we proceed now?"  Darr asked.

S;ick only shook his head. "Dunno yet, but we still have to rescue those kids."
 
-----------------------
Sergeant Slick
-=Raider Squad=--=SL=-
SL/SGT Slick/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath[LoR][CoR][CoH]

"So." said Slick, holding up the part for everyone to see. "It seems the wolves are droids. This means that they could be being led by a malfunctioning droid, or a droid programmed to kidnap these children. They are most likely led by a person or persons who programmed these droids. We've got to find out where they are taking the children, and what they are doing with them. Darr-Rann will be taking Marka and Tallanvor with him to investigate this 'Wolves Den' we found out about earlier. The rest of us will be waiting for another attack. If they strike, we'll be there to take them down. Alright, that concludes this little briefing."

Everyone got up, leaving the room. Darr-Rann, who had already been informed of the plan, left his post outside the door (to make sure none of the NR overheard them) and walked over were Slick and Marka were standing. "So, eventful first mission for the squad, huh?" Slick said, putting down the droid part.

"I don't think I've ever been a part of a 'uneventful' mission." Darr-Rann said, grinning.

"Oh well." Said Marka. "They are better like this anyways. More action."

"Anyways, we should get Tallanvor and get going." Darr-Rann said. After they had found the trooper they went back to get their equipment. Darr-Rann wore his Katarn Commando armor, while Marka wore his Imperial Guard armor. They met Tallanvor and set out in the general direction which the dying man had told him.

"Alright guys, we want to get there as soon as possible, so lets bring it up to a jog." Darr-Rann said, increasing his speed. Suddenly old memories came back to him...

------------------------------------------------------------

Rannik Cedaan and his squad moved at a rapid pace, calling out encouragement to the members who were starting to tire out. They were on a mission to a small new republic police outpost. The mission was simple - Move in, get the NR police control stations administration codes, and get out. They would use the codes to disable the communications and various defensive systems of the station for an upcoming attack they had planned. If all went well, this would be a simple mission. But things rarely went smoothly.

Their plan was to enter from to points. Team one, led by Rannik, would take over the auxiliary entrance. From there, Rannik would use the stealth skills from Cedaan-Ryu to sneak through the vents, get into the secondary computer control room, eliminate any technicians inside, and open the blast doors which led to the main computer control room. From there, an attack team led by Ben Kell, a sergeant in the resistance and a skilled fighter, would download the codes and exit. Both teams would meet at extraction.

Darr-Rann took his team and approached the entrance. Rannik motioned for the team's slicer to come forward and open the door. Once it was open, they proceeded inside, silenced slugthrowers ready. They proceeded down the hall until they reached a vent on the wall. Rannik ran up the wall until he reached the vent and grabbed hold. He pulled it out and let it drop, grabbing the ledge, letting one of his team catch it. He then hoisted himself up and crawled inside, moving into the darkness

"Ben, this is Rannik, I'm in the vents and making my way towards the secondary computer control center now."

"Roger that." Ben's voice sounded out over the comlink.

Rannik crawled through the vents for what seemed like an eternity, his mind on last night. He had proposed to his girlfriend Sarah. They were going to be married. The thoughts of this filled him with a greater joy then he had ever experienced. Life was good.

He reached the vent, taking it out and dropping to the ground soundlessly. He put down the vent and silently proceeded towards the closest of the two programmers who were sitting at the computer station, knocking him unconscious with a blow to the back of the head. After he did the same to the other programmer, he sat down at a chair and logged in to the terminal with the password and username that they had gotten off of a NR programmer who had turned to their side. "Great, the password still works." He said in to the comlink. "Okay, tell me what to do Kim."

Kim was a expert slicer who ran the resistance's network, and did mission control in many of their operations. "Okay." She said. He could hear the sound of typing for a few moments, then "Access the authentication database."

"Err..." Rannik stated, not quite sure what that even was. He heard the sound of Kim sighing.

'"Okay, access the directory '/Auth0Auth' and plug in that datacard that I gave you." Rannik did likewise, then she continued. "Okay, now run the command '//access//Datacard B//run Authcontrol/password:Rebel Bastards.'

"Yeah, sure." Rannik said, typing it in. A window came up with the a button which read 'Open the doors'. Rannik pressed it.

"Alright, that'll do it." Kim said. "Okay Ben, move in." Rannik watched over a security feed as Ben's team entered the primary control center and dispatched the technicians inside.

"Hey wait, Rebel soldiers, coming in fast on both teams!" Rannik swore and got up. "Rannik, stay were you are, Your team is already down, they got surprised before I detected these squads."

"Why the hell didn't you inform me earlier!" Rannik demanded angrily.

"It wouldn't have helped, you needed to open those doors."

"But dammit..."

"Just shut up Rann, even if you left to help them, which you undoubtfully would, you wouldn't have gotten there in time and worse yet, they would have died in vain because this mission would be a failure." Rannik didn't respond to this, because he knew it was true. It still angered him though. Over the camera he watched as Ben's men were being overwhelmed.

They aren't going to make it. he thought to himself. Ben seemed to have the same impression.

"Rann, it looks like it's bad luck for us. I'm transfering the codes to your datapad now. Get out of here as fast as you can and get them back to base."

"Ben, let me help..."

"No. Rannik, we're screwed. Just get those codes to base so our lives were well spent." Rannik felt sadness fill him. There was nothing he could do but complete the mission.

"Good luck Ben." he said.

"You too Rann" Ben replied. As Rannik  sped towards the door, he looked back at the viewscreen to see ben fall under a hail of fire...

------------------------------------------------------------

Darr-Rann shook his head. This mission would not be like that. "Okay guys, double pace!" As they hurried down towards a set of caves into some mountains up ahead.

"I guess this is the wolves den, common guys." as they walked towards the caves a dozen super battle droids marched forward, raising their arms. Darr-Rann, owning a super battle droid, knew that their guns were placed there.

"Lets finish these guys quickly!" He said, firing at one with his A280. Fire flew across the gap between them from both sides, but the stormtroopers were far more accurate. Quickly the cut down the set, when suddenly they heard a new sound. Up ahead, a droideka unrolled and activated it's shields, spraying a heavy rain of energy in their direction.

"Shit!" Darr-Rann said, throwing himself behind cover. Marka and Tallanvor joined him. "Okay, Tall, get out a frag grenade. Marka, get ready to help me gun it down once it's shields fail." The others nodded, and they got ready to move.

When the fire had stopped for a moment, Tallanvor activated his grenade and threw it over in front of the destroyer. The grenade exploded, knocking out the droids shields. Darr-Rann and Marka got up from under their cover and opened fire on the droid, reducing it to a smoldering pile of scrap.

"Okay, time to move on to the caves." Darr-Rann said, moving forward. "Be careful."

It actually turned out caution wasn't needed. The droids seemed to have been left behind to guard the wolves' den, which had been abandoned. "Dammit!" Marka swore as they looked around the empty caves. "We're too late!"

They found a small lot of parts and tools that had been left behind in the apparent hurry to leave, along with a datapad. Maybe this will have some info. Darr-Rann thought, putting it in his pack. "Alright, lets get going back then." He said, walking out the entrance of the caves.
 
-----------------------
ASL/CPL Darr-Rann/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][CoR]
|FL/PO2_Demonic/Kaph 5/PheonixWing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE| (=*A*=)
CORPORAL
SENIOR CREWMAN
one of few - A vast Empire medic
Read Losses of Vandetta by me and Hellra
Flashmaker

"Slick, this datapad we found, it gives us the location of the Wolves. They are three clicks east of the caves. It seems they move about a fair bit, to avoid detection. There was little information on the exact whereabouts of them now, but I think we can find them" Darr Rann said via his comm.

"Ok, I want you to do a bit of recon before you jump into anything. If they are in much larger numbers then you will not engage them, instead call me, and I will bring the squad. If you feel you can seriously damage their numbers, do so by all means, but again let me know when you are doing it. I know you already know this, but it's better said than assumed. Be careful, Darr" replied the SL.

Darr lowered his wrist and raised his head to Marka. A nod from the ASL began a long hike along a mountain pass, heading east, through light snow and rock. Slightly uphill was a patch of foliage, uncovered and undamaged by the weather. Marka raised his hand, looking up at the foliage. Immediately after, Tallanvor appeared, brushing off leaves and branches as he came down the hillside.

"See anyone?" Darr asked.

Tallanvor shook his head, "No, sir, not a soul. However, I did see an interesting rock formation out there," he pointed to the southeast, "might be worth taking a look at."

"Good work, let's move."

After some tough runs over awful terrain, the three Raiders made it to the rock formation Tall had mentioned earlier. The rocks sprung from the ground like fingers from a hand. Great giants of stone, moss covered and cracked, stood tall and proud on the mountainside, watching over New Brinne and further on, into the wilderness of Cepany. What spoiled the moment of beauty were the heavy tracks made to and from the site, tracks that could only be made by droids. Then, to turn inconvenience into disaster, the droid patrol returned. There were way too many of them for three Raiders to handle.

"There! Attack!" This, however, was a human voice. He sped and wove between the droids until he was the front of the pack. He raised his blaster at head level and fired three rounds at Marka. Fortunately, the Raiders were moving quickly, making a head shot difficult to achieve. What started as three shots soon turned into a hail of red blaster fire, hounding after the retreating soldiers.

"Slick! We need the squad up here in the mountains, now!" Darr screamed into the comm. Red bolts flew past his head, smashing the ground and rocks behind him. "Droids... bloody everywhere!"

The Raiders had been forced back, and were now almost out of room to move. To their sides were sheer cliff faces, and behind them was a drop that would kill anything. It seemed to fall into the depths of the planet, though of course it didn't. With the impending defeat, the soldiers fought harder then they ever had before. Like the older animals sensing their end, they lashed out, firing round after round into the steel frames of the approaching droids. Tallanvor and Darr fired on, but Marka soon ran out of ammo.

"Damn it... I knew I should have packed more..." he said quietly. He sighed, threw his weapon to the side, and slid his sword from his back. Tall looked at him briefly, swore under his breath, and then continued firing. Marka jumped to his feet, only narrowly avoiding a fatal shot to the neck. He charged, running low and crouched towards the enemy. Somehow, all the shots missed him, howling past him.
    The first droid he reached took careful aim, but before it could analyse the best possible shot, Marka swung his blade up, in a diagonal arc, the steel of the sword crushing through the arm and blaster. It fell, and Marka brought the sword high above his head. The droid squirmed, and attempted to bring itself back up, but its chest was forced to the icy ground by the crimson boot of the FTL. He could feel the effort, deep within his body, stretch through him, through his blood and his bones and into his arms, to the ends of his fingers. As the downward motion began, the effort left as two bolts ripped through his back, and all went black.

[OOC: Sorry, crappy post, will do better next time.]

 
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Private First Class Marka
Fire Team Leader
- Raider Squad -
FTC/PFC Marka/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE
[LoR][ES2C]

"Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together"

Tallanvor saw Marka go down, blaster bolts slamming into his back. Keeping the trigger held down on his carbine, the former enforcer fired into the mass of battle droids until the power cell bleeped empty. Sliding his foot back, he felt his heel drop over the edge of the precipice. Without thinking, the looked down into the darkness of the chasm stretching out below him and saw the ledge, the darker shadow on the cliff face about twenty feet below.

Thinking fast, Tallanvor slung his carbine and pulled a pistol, and his grapnel line from the standard issue utility belt.

"Corporal!" he called out to Darr-Rann, "See if you can get Marka over here! I'm rigging a line down this cliff!"

Looking up, Tallanvor saw a rocky crag about six feet above him, near the edge and threw his hook over it. With a few experimental tugs, he felt it was secure and drew a second pistol. With one in each hand, he covered Darr-Rann as he dragged the unconscious and wounded Marka toward the ledge. The lead droids were down now, and the man had vanished into the press, but the hail of bolts had not lessened. It was only by constantly moving that Tallanvor avoided being hit directly, though his arms and legs felt like from from the numerous near-misses.

Looking back, he saw Darr-Rann's head vanish into the chasm, Marka slung over his shoulder, and continued to fire. The wire swung gently left to right as they made their way down, and he continued to fire. The droids pressed forward, more blasts skimmed his body armour coming ever closer, and he continued to fire.

At last, both blasters beeped with the last of the power drained from their energy cells and Tallanvor turned. As he reached the edge of the cliff and grabbed his line, he felt an impact on his shoulder shove him out over the edge faster. Reflexively he tightened his grip on the line as he fell. A few feet down the cliff rushed toward him as he swung back in. The impact made him lose his grip on the line and he began to fall. The ledge came up toward him and there was a flash of light behind his eyes.

[OOC: Good luck, Darr.]

Rogueboy finished burying Bill it was a shallow grave only three feet instead of the standard six. Bill talked they all talk even though Bill took slightly under an hour before he spoke about the Wolves, Rogueboy finished him off by cutting his throat. Rogueboy hurried back towards the Base of Operations.

When he arrived the place was in an uproar three of the Raiders were pinned down near some mountains Darr, Marka, and Talanvor. Slick ordered Rogueboy to gather the rest of the squad and one green member.

"T1234 gather your kit we're getting some action."

The said trooper looked at Rogueboy nodded his head and dove under his makeshift bed and pulled out his standard trooper footlocker and gathered his weapons. Rogueboy entered another room passing by a few New Republic troopers he entered the room he shared with Marka and began gathering his gear, only heavy equipment and his grenades. When he finshed gathering his weapons he met up with Slick before walking out.

"Alright Rogueboy the Wolves are about three klicks north of our current position, we're gonna make a battle plan as we get there."

Slick moved next to Major Granville and they started making battle plans. The plan was simple the New Republic soldiers would attack the Wolves dead-on while the smaller Raiders would come around from behind. Rogueboy spoke with Slick after being told what to do.

"I don't like the fact that we're moving in on their last coordinates it could be a trap."

Slick gave Rogueboy a reproachful look and than blasted him.

"WE HAVE THREE MEN PINNED DOWN, POSSIBLY DEAD AND YOUR AFRAID OF GOING IN?"

Rogueboy stared Slick straight in the eye and than glared at the troopers who looked in their direction and whispered.

"No, Sir just pointing out that it may be a trap and that as much as all due haste is required we need to be cautious as well, I'am requesting to take up sniper position and as well as act as rear guard. I have my slugthrower sniper rifle."

Slick thought about it for a moment and than nodded.

OOC: I would of liked to get a bigger post done, but theres not much I can do at work.

 
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He will give them death, and they will love him for it

TRP/PFC_Rogueboy/1SQD/1PLT/COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR]