Lion followed his SL toward the building in silence. It was quiet. Too quiet. Other than the howling sounds of the wind that were blocked out by their helmets, Lion could hear nothing else.

"People, secure the area before we make the decent. I don't want anyone shooting at us from above once we're on our way down."

The squad spread out a little then a few voices responded "Secure."

"I got contacts here. four guards. Someone come flank them for me." Alan reported.

"On my way." Lion growled into the comlink. Kantar moved forward as well.

Alan pointed at Kantar, then to his left, and Lion, to his right. They moved off as quietly as possible.

"I'm in position." Kantar reported.

"Fire at will." Alan ordered.

Alan and Kantar both downed one guard each just as Lion got into position. As usual, Lion chose brute force over fire arm. "Arrr" he growled again to signal cease fire to the other two. On his way to the two men in the process of drawing their guns and looking for the ones who shot their comrades, Lion unstrapped his jetpack, knocked out one with a single swing. Just like that time in practice. The other swung around to fire at him, but before he pulled the trigger, Lion pressed down on the throttle button and pumped the guard a faceful of rocket exhaust, burning him to death.

"Nice going Lion." Kantar commented, "Now we got another prisoner knocked out cold."

 
-----------------------
-Paladin-
Anji "Lion Heart" Greenwood
TRP/PFC Lion Heart/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA

Tanus stepped over the "prisoner" Lion had just taken in. "Jesus, Lion, do you ever have any finesse?" Lion gave him a defiant roar for an answer. "Hmph, guess not." Tanus opened the door to the turbolift that would take them down to the docking level - and it was gigantic. It was very easily the size of a hangar and could probably fit the Scythe in its massive frame. The windows showed a view of the snowscape and tundra around them. It was a striking sight to behold. While light filtered in through the windows, it was still quite cold, almost as cold as the temperature outside. The ceilings were easily 25 or 30 meters tall, with steel gray and black supports that ran the length of the chamber. As he ushered everyone into the chamber, he began closing the doors, blocking the bright lights from the outside and turning on the equally as bright ones in the chamber they were all currently in. When everyone was in the room, Tanus hit a button and they descended into the darkness below.

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

Tanus opened the lift door to find more pirates then upstairs - and they didn't look very happy. Tanus rolled along the ground, ending up behind a durasteel canister as the pirates opened fire. Tanus brought the barrel of his A280 to bear on one of the pirates and opened fire. The pirate fell in a crumpled lifeless heap. As he turned he saw Lucky and Finch opened fire on a pair of Weequay guards as the rounded a corner to bolster the piate's position; they didn't make it there. Further along, he saw Jak being overrun by three of the pirates. As Tanus was about to get up, laser fire pummeled his position. When turned to get a good look, Shado and Alan were laying fire on the position, and Tanus watched as pirates fell out of the loft.

He turned again to see Jak with his Neuronic Whip drawn and his attackers brought their rifle to bear. As they were about to fire, Jak cracked his whip across one of the faces of the attackers, killing him instantly. The other two, surprised at the motion, tried to open fire, but Jak was too fast. In the blink of an eye, Jak shouldered one of the attackers into the hull of a starship knocking the wind out of him. Jak brought his whip down across his chest, ending his life. The third and final opponent was about to open fire, but Jak charged the man and knocked the rifle aside, and head-butted him. As the man fell to the ground blood formed on his forehead. Jak went over to the man and broke his neck. Jak turned around to Tanus and gave him the thumbs up and brought out his A280 and charged back inot the firestorm. But the Tanus realized he couldn't find Lion. When he turned around, he saw that the Wookie had two pirates in his hands, and crushed their skulls against a wall.

Tanus Ran for his life to the other turbolift, firing at the pirates all the way. He opened the lift and yelled for everyone to get inside. He then brought out his DC-15s pistol and laid covering fire with both weapons as the squad got inside the lift. Lucky and Finch laid fire for him as he ducked inside the elevator and shut the doors, hearing the blaster bolts strike the metal as they descended.

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

Tanus slammed a fresh power pack into his rifle when he felt a slap on his back: It was from Alan. "Good fighting back there soldier. You really gave them a run." Tanus smiled, even though no no could see it. "Thank you, sir." Tanus went back to refitting his weapon when he heard Finch:

"What else can we expect to find down here, Sergeant?"

It was Jak who answered. "Well, from what we've encountered, I'm going to guess that down below will be even tighter security, probably the pirate band's elite soldiers. Possibly some defenses the Chiss established as well. But I really can't say. However, in any case, be prepared. I don't want to bring anyone home in a casket." The entire squad nodded with grim agreement. Tanus heard as the rest of the squad were rearming themselves as well. Tanus then turned to Shado and gave him a slap on the shoulder. "Hey, thanks for savng my can back there with the sniper. I owe you one." Shado waved his hand in a nonchalant matter. "It was nothing, man. I know you would've done the same for me." Tanus nodded and turned back to Jak, where he noticed a small black carbon score on his left pauldron. "Sir, it appears you were hit." Jak looked down at his armor and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Figures, right after I have it cleaned..."

The entire squad chuckled as the lift brought them closer to their prize.
 
-----------------------

LCPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

Tanus was behind Jak and Alan as they made their way through waves of pirates and metal through the labyrinth of halls the Chiss called the Ascendancy. The walls were a steel gray and chrome extending off into the infinity of the building. Moving along, they got to the gates of the Ascendancy building, which were massed with Chiss guards. The Chiss noticed the squad moving up and called out some orders. "Damnit, firing formations," Jak said.

"Paladins, take up counter-fire positions!"

Tanus crouched down and saw the shadow of Lion come up behind him. They all raised their weapons in harmony, hearing the CLACK as the rifle stock came in contact with their armor. Then the Chiss opened fire. Brillaint green and red bolts filled the sky as Paladin squad unleashed a hail of bolts from their own rifles.

Then it turned chaotic. Chiss guards began swarming out of the building, and then it turned into melee. Tanus lost count of how many enemy skulls he had smashed in with the rifle stock, or how many punches he had thrown. He even had to take out his whip to clear out a swath, as did Alan and Shado.

The squad eventually reached the door way to the Ascendancy, with the bodies of dead Chiss and pirates in their wake. The doors to the building were gigantic. Upon entering, they found themselves in a stark white greeting room with various chairs and a desk that apparently had at one time a receptionist at it. Paladin squad was in awe of the shear size of the room, which had 30 meter tall vaunted ceilings, with a massive picture of the Chiss Ascendancy insignia. Their armor smeared with blood and carbon-scoring, the Paladins moved into the main hall where they were greeted several squads of Chiss elite and their leaders. One of them, a Chiss in black, almost basalt-like, armor walked foward.

"Greetings, human. I am Tell'ura'Colas, and this is the elites forces of the Ascendancy. May I ask why you killed my men?"

It was Jak who answered.

"First of all, it wasn't all your men. Some pirates were here too; for what I don't know. Secondly, your men opened fire first, and we weren't about to let ourselves get killed."

The Chiss nodded. "Well then. Since you've slaughtered my men and theses so-called 'pirates' to get here, you must want something. What is it?"

This time Alan answered.

"We received intelligence that you have come in possession of an extremely volatile strain of the Krytos Virus. We need you to give it to us."

The Chiss smiled. "And why do you need it so badly if its so dangerous?"

Jak answered again. "Because it's Imperial property, and we very much badly want it back."

The Chiss stopped cold. "You listen to me, human. You killed my men and destroyed a good portion of Chiss property to get here, and you truly think that we'll just give you the virus? We shall do no such thing."

With that, Tanus and Shado raised their rifles, and the rest in the room did the same. "Look," Jak said, "we can't afford to have this virus let loose on the galaxy."

The Chiss snorted. "You should have thought of that before you killed my men. Very quickly, the ten meters splitting both groups was filled with laser fire. "Paladin, fall back!" Jak shouted, and the squad turned and ran for the exit. Tanus caught up with Jak. "Sir, what are you doing? They'll surely call for reinforcements." Jak didn't even look over at him.

"I know that, kid. But we,re not going out - we're heading to the lab." And with that, Paladin squad ran down and around the Ascendancy building, searching for the lab.
 
-----------------------

LCPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

You have got to be kidding me thought Alan as he watched his SL dive down the elevator shaft is he insane or does he really enjoy these hell raising situations.  He looked around at the rest of the squad and saw in their faces the nervousness, he felt it too but he knew of the importance of this mission.

"Let's move it people, do you want to live forever, let's go, go, go!" he shouted.

The squad suddenly sprang into life and one by one they dove down the shaft.  After everyone had dropped down Alan swore silently and with a loud yell he jumped.  His jump took him into a world of darkness.  Even with the magnetic grips, his descent was fast and he was soon on solid ground.  Looking beneath his feet he realised that he was on the roof of the lift and that the trap door had been opened.  Jumping down, he exited the lift and was met with the rest of the squad.  He roamed his eyes over everyone, pleased to see that everyone had made it and that no-one had suffered any injuries.  Looking around at his surroundings, he noticed a sign by the lift which said Sub Level 2.  He didn't know whether the lab was on this level or not, but it was a start.

"OK people, let's not stand around gawping, lets move it, I want this level secured and the lab found" ordered Jakireth.

The squad moved out, weapons raised, ready for action.  It didn't take them long to run into it.  Rounding the first corner they were met with four Chiss guards.  The Chiss raised their weapons and opened fire on the squad who ducked immediately for cover.  Lion, upon seeing the Chiss did not follow the squad for cover.  Instead, Lion leapt in the air and roared a defiant roar.  Collapsing the nearest Chiss he slammed their faces into the ground and smiled as he heard a satisfying crunch.  Peeking from their covering positions, Kantar downed another and Tanus finished off the last guard.  One of the guards stumbled forward and collapsed on a nearby station as he died.  Immediately, red lights started flashing and a voice was suddenly heard over the intercom "warning, security breach, lockdown now in effect".  With that, large bulkhead doors came slamming down around them.

Oh great thought Alan can this mission get any worse?

 
-----------------------
ASL/SGT AlanRJ/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2]

-Paladin-
Army of the Vast Empire

This cannot be happening thought Alan as he looked around, realising that they were trapped with no way out.  He slammed his fist against one of the bulkheads in frustration.  As soon as he fist slammed against the bulkhead, the bulkheads whirred into life and started rising.  Alan smiled to himself, thinking he must have the magic touch.  Wait a second he suddenly thought that was a little too easy.  His fears were well justified as guards started swarming in.  Immediately the corridor erupted in a vast array of blaster bolts as the guards bore down on them.  Why isn't anything easy these days thought Alan as he dove for cover and started firing several shots back.

From his covering position, his attention was drawn to Lucky who was moving to a nearby computer.  What the hell is she doing he thought there's no cover there, she'll be killed.  He looked on in horror, expecting her to be hit at any second, his mind reeling as to what insanity had come over her.  He suddenly noticed that she was connecting a wire to the terminal.  Clever girl he thought to himself.  Swallowing hard he dived from his position and moved to a kneeling position between Lucky and the guards, he knew that her success was vital and could be the deciding factor of having this mission succeed, even if it meant his death.

The guards carried on swarming in, blaster bolts raining down around the squad.  Guard after guard fell from the precision shots from his fellow squad mates, he too was nailing guard after guard, yet still they came.  He yelled a defiant yell, knowing he was in too vulnerable a position but yet knowing it was a position that needed to be filled if this mission was to be a success.  He was starting to believe that he was going to survive this onslaught when suddenly his world exploded in a world of hurt as he yelled out and staggered back.  Looking down he noticed his left shoulder had taken a direct hit.

"Alan!" shouted Kantar as he started to move towards him after hearing his yell.

"Hold your position" replied Alan

"But..." said Kantar

Alan never let him finish his sentence by saying "hold your position Corporal, that's an order!"

Kantar settled back down into his covering location but still glanced over with concern at Alan. 

"Fire in the hole!" shouted Jakireth who had finally gotten tired of the onslaught of guards as Alan watched him lob two grenades into their midst.

"Oh hell" muttered Alan as he turned his head to one side to shield himself as best as possible.

The ground shuddered under his feet as two explosions rocked the corridors.  Alan turned his head back around, weapon raised and waited for the smoke to clear.  He was happy to see that no more guards were advancing on their position.

Tanus rushed over to Alan "are you OK?" he asked.

"I'll be fine" replied Alan as he got to his feet.

"What the hell do you think you were doing, are you trying to get yourself killed?" shouted Jakireth as he stormed over to his ASL.

Oh hell thought Alan.  "Sir, I was protecting Lucky, her quick thinking may be the very thing that turns the tide on this mission and ensures that we get what we came for"

Jakireth looked round Alan and saw Lucky kneeling down by a computer terminal.  She stood up, looked at them both and said "I have it, I know where they are keeping the Krytos virus"

"Nice work" said Jakireth.  He then looked up at his ASL and said "you did good" as he slapped him on his shoulder.

"Son of a..." said Alan under gritted teeth.

"Sorry" said Jakireth.

Lucky moved over to Alan and quickly tended to his injury.  "You didn't have to..."

Alan cut her off before she finished, "yes I did, we needed that information, you did good".

"All right people, thanks to Lucky we now know where they are holding the virus, let's move out and get the job done" said Jakireth.

With that the squad moved hastily down the corridor to get the virus.

 
-----------------------
ASL/SGT AlanRJ/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2]

-Paladin-
Army of the Vast Empire

[I think this is 722. I went a bit over. Oh well =P]

Tanus followed close behind the squad, his A280 replaced with his DC-15s sidearm blaster. As they rounded the corner that Lucky indicated. They were met with resistance by way of the Chiss. The Paladins dispatched them in short order, and continued on their way. When they got to a dead end, Alan turned to Lucky.

"OK, Lucky, where do we go now?"

Lucky pointed up to the ventilation shaft above. "Oh, you're kidding, right?" Tanus asked. "We can't fit up there with all this equipment." Then Jak walked by him and slapped him on the back.

"Well then, better suck it in, fatty."

Jak walked by him and tapped Lucky on the shoulder to give him a boost up into the shaft. Tanus grumbled as one-by-one, the Paladins got into the shaft, the last of whom was Lucky, whom Tanus pulled up into the shaft and crawled around in the darkness until...

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The shaft door opened as the Paladins climbed out into a circular room with supplies and weapons as far as the eye could see. Jak turned to Lucky. "Lucky, are you sure you accessed the path to the lab and not the armory?" Lucky pondered for a bit, and gave an answer:

"I think so. I accessed the mainframe records of this level."

The entire squad groaned. "That's it, I want a new tour guide," Tanus said. Finch slapped him in the back of the head. Tanus rubbed the back of his head; getting slapped with a gauntlet hurt. Alan came forward and patted her on the back.

"It's fine. Besides, we can restock on supplies while we're in here."

As Alan said that, Tanus' eye caught something: it was a fuel cell, perfect for his jetpack. Tanus went over to it and called the squad over. They loaded in fresh fuel cells into their packs, and read that the fuel was at 100%. Tanus then went over to the blasters and started picking up spare blaster cartridges and gas containers for his rifle and pistol. He took a spare battery cell for his whip put it in his small equipment pouch. Tanus then went over to the nearby terminal systematically downloaded all of the schematics for all of the Ascendancy levels. When he got them, he turned around to find the squad in the center, huddled around Jak. Tanus walked in as they were formulating a plan.

"OK," Jak started. "This is where we are. We must get here if we are ever going to get to the Krytos virus in time, then we have to leave here and take a right, continuing down that corridor for a kilometer or so. When we get here," he pointed, "we will take the fork going to left and up. On our right should be the lab after about ten minutes." Tanus then interjected.

"Sir, I've taken the liberty of downloading the schematics of the building, and it appears that here will be some resistance along the way if we're not careful."

Tanus brought up the display of the section near the lab.

"The red dots are all auto-blasters that all designed to sense in all spectrum of light. Trip sensors and the like set them off. If we set them off, we're be royally screwed. What I recommend is that instead of taking this passge," Tanus indicated to the fork, "that we go straight ahead and enter through the shafts in the lab. It'll be a lot safer down the road."

Jak nodded in grim agreement. "Alright, lets get started. Paladins, move out.

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Tanus was behind Alan when they started walking down the ahlls of the Ascendancy for the umpteenth time in what seemed to be an eon. When the squad got up to the long corridor, Chiss aggressors met them. Both sides opened fire, the Paladins taking the victory and moving through the dead bodies in a grim silence. After several minutes of walking, they found themselves at the fork that Tanus had indicated. They continued straight for about 4 minutes, before reaching a ventilation shaft. Tanus put down his rifle and hunched over with his hands cupped and gestured to Finch. "Up you go," he said. After Tanus almost broke his back getting Lion into the shaft, Jak pulled him up and they crawled ever so quietly into the lab.


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

LCPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

Alan watched as Lucky retrieved a small canister from the refrigerator.  That it he thought to himself I guessed there would have been more of it, well at least this mission is coming to a close.  The squad exited the lab and were suddenly met with six Chiss guards, weapons raised.

The leader pointed a finger at the squad and said "you stole virus from usssss, why youuu come backkkkk"

Alan grimaced slightly from the Chiss's dialect wait a second he suddenly thought did he say back

The Chiss leader carried on speaking, "youuuu will perishhhh at the handssss of the Chissss".  The Chiss lowered their weapons and started to walk away.

Alan watched them leave, scratching his head, "How odd" he said, commenting to no-one in particular.

"Umm, guys" said Lucky

Alan looked over at her, wondering if she had anything to add to their strange encounter.  He suddenly noticed that the canister was starting to vibrate and he could now hear a faint noise.

"Lose it!" he suddenly shouted, hoping it was not going to be too late.

Lucky threw the canister as hard as she could, seconds later a large explosion rocked the corridor and Alan found himself flying through the air, he landed hard on his wounded shoulder.

"Son of a....!" he shouted when he landed, he got up slowly and noticed that the rest of the squad had been thrown clear and were unhurt although some were slow in getting up.

"Booby trapped, why the hell was their virus booby trapped?" queried Jakireth as he stood up, dusting himself down.

"Sir" said Tanus, "I don't think that was the virus"

"Oh, and what makes you think that soldier?" asked Jakireth

"Because of that Sir" replied Tanus as he pointed.

Alan followed his pointing to the body of a human male.

"Damn pirates" muttered Alan.

Jakireth cursed silently, this was supposed to have gone easier than this.  "They must have a ship on the surface, we need to get topside now and stop them before they leave or this trip will have been for nothing.  Paladin squad, let's double time it"

"You heard the man, move, move, move!" shouted Alan.

The squad sprang into action and rushed down the corridor to make their way back to the planet's surface.

Let's hope they haven't left already thought Alan as he ran with his squad.


-----------------------
ASL/SGT AlanRJ/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2]

-Paladin-
Army of the Vast Empire

Lucky looked at the body lying on the floor frozen in shock. How did this guy get here? He doesn't look like any Chiss we've encountered so far.   She saw Kantar move closer to the body to check it out. "Watch it Kantar" she cautioned. If this was a trap he would be the first casualty on this mission.

As she watched Kantar examine the dead man no one jumped out from behind a corner . But you can't be too careful. 
'Then let's keep moving!" shouted Alan. The squad started running towards the turbolift. It looked more like jogging because of the heavy armor. they went into the elvator on sublevel 2 and went up its shaft using the jetpacks. Once up there they came across a group of Chiss gurds. She counted at least ten. As she started shooting bullets from their guns started flying everywhere. And one of the Chiss gave a short burst from their rifle before dying. One of the bullets hit Lucky and pierced through her armor. She let out a groan and a sharp but short yowl before collapsing on the ground.

-----------------------
LCPL Luckystar/1SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/ Tadath/VEAVE

-Paladin-
To Embrace the Darkness is to bring about the Light

[I realize this may not look like 3 1/2 pages, but trust me, it is 3 1/2 pages]

Tanus watched as the titanic CR-90 Corellian Corvette lifted off into the atmosphere, its engines burning in an orange and red fire of its fusion reactors giving off energy. Then, for whatever reason, Tanus began chasing after it. It was then that he felt Lion pull on the scruff of his neck and the corvette slowly began to blast away. Alan threw down his weapon.

"Fierfek. How the hell are we supposed to catch that?"

Tanus then turned around and noticed that there was some Z-74 speeder bikes in the hangar behinds them.

"Sir," Tanus said and pointed to the bikes, "we could use those bikes to catch up with the corvette. It should take quite a while for it to get up to full speed, and by then we should have it in range to boost up to it with our jetpacks. Then, we can blast our way in and get the virus and haul space until we see lines."

Jak chuckled at this as Alan picked up his rifle.

"Kid, I like the way you think. There are enough speeder bikes for all of us. I think we can pull this off."

Jak walked over to one of the speeder bikes and swung his leg over the saddle.

"Paladins, lets ride!"

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It didn't take long for the Paladins to get with the pace of the fleeing corvette, as it wasn't even going at a quarter of its top speed. When they got around fifty meters directly beneath the craft, Tanus watched as Lion and Jak launched off of their bikes with tremendous force, the blast of the boosters from the jetpacks sending the speeder bikes crashing into a ball of flame behind the rest of the squad.

Tanus was the next to boost up, blasting into the atmosphere and firmly clamping onto the side of the vessel with his magnetic grips as he took his side beside Lion and Jak. Alan and Finch were the next to boost up, getting pulled by the others. Finally, Kantar, Lucky and Shado boosted up and landed on the top of the hull.  The entire team stayed down as to not get noticed by the turbo lasers that adorned the hull of the vessel and moved to the back of the ship near the engines.

Silently, Jak asked for Lion to come forward and rip off the hull plating so the squad could get inside. Lion walked forward and bent forward to the plating as the squad moved back. With a massive pull, Lion wrenched to plating free and Tanus watched as it fell to the icy tundra below. One by one, the squad popped through the hole into the pirate's cruiser.

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Tanus walked forward, weapon raised in case of pirate attack. They moved through the halls of the vessel, which were a stark white, with computer displays and diagnostics running along the screen. The Paladins found a computer terminal in the hall and accessed it. Lucky was the one that did the hacking; soon after she accessed the mainframe to find where the virus was, klaxons blared to life. The shrill cries could be heard throughout the ship and soon pirates began filling the halls.

"Damnit, can't hide now. Paladins, give 'em hell!" Jak shouted.

Tanus turned to find pirates sneaking up behind them, weapons raised. Tanus dropped them in the blink of an eye with blaster fire. When he turned again, he saw that the Paladins were pushing though the enemy lines, dropping pirates with a barrage of destructive energy. Just as Tanus was about to catch up, a pirate leapt out of a doorway and swung at Tanus with a vibro blade. Tanus ducked, and came back up with an uppercut that knocked the man off of his feet. Before the man could get up, Tanus took out his DC-15s and put a blaster bolt between his eyes.

The squad broke into the ship like a wave, destroying anything that moved. When they got to the communications room, Tanus soon discovered they were surrounded  but that didn't mean a thing. Tanus leapt up on the table and brought out his Neuronic Whip and ignited it, seeing it glow in a eerie green light. Tanus brought it down on several attackers, cutting them down in droves. When Tanus turned, Lucky and Finch were standing back to back, cutting though the pirates with the firepower of the A280s ripping them to bits. Lion, completely in battle mode, started throwing the pirates every which way. Tanus watched as pirates went crashing into the computers around the room and watched the computers shatter under the mass of the bodies.

Alan and Shado were busy in the melee part of the fight, rifle smacking and head-butting pirates out of their way and into the arms of death. Tanus watched as the pirates before Alan and Shado dropped and were pumped with laser fire as they moved on to the next target. Kantar bellowed: "Fire in the hole," and lobbed two grenades into the enemy positions. Within seconds, the baradium cores of the detonators went off, sending out waves of energy and feet, completely destroying anything that existed. As the last body fell, Jak sent in word to command to send the pickup ship. After that, the Paladins systematically went around the room, destroying the computers and technical readouts in the room. When they left, not a single pirate lay living.

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When the Paladins got into the armory, it was a totally different situation: the pirates refused to give ground. Tanus lost count of how many times he almost got shot by the E-Web blasters they had been using for fortification. Tanus and Alan were laying covering fire while Jak and Shado crawled along the sides to lay fire from three positions. When Jak gave the go ahead, Finch popped out with a Merr-Sonn PLX 10 missile system and fired a single rocket into the enemy fortification  and one rocket was all that was needed. In the ensuing chaos, the Paladins mowed down the pirates in a frenzy of screaming, fire and energy. When the pirates were done, they grabbed what supplies they could and left the armory.

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The Paladins moved to the rather large storage bay and lab. In there, they saw many of the things that Tanus had seen in the Ascendancy lab: vials of liquids, bubbling and fizzing, all of them every color in the light spectrum. Tanus moved in with the rest of the squad, filing through the mess of tables, vials and beakers throughout the lab. At the end of the lab, there was a massive computer, and next to it, in a large transparisteel tube for protection, was the Krytos Virus. Tanus walked up to the case and rapped it with the back of his gauntlet.

"This is tougher then regular transparisteel. This has to be triple strength at least, so Lion can't break through it."

Lion growled in indigence, and folded his arms. Tanus looked at the large computer next to the case. "Lucky, see if you can over-ride the controls," Alan said. "Maybe that'll open the case up." As Lucky headed over to do so, the doors to the back of the lab opened, and in walked a cadre of the elite pirates, weapons drawn and full of rage. Tanus and Jak raised their weapons in tandem, training them on their large foes. One by one, the rest of the Paladins did the same. Then Jak opened up a comm channel.

"Listen to me. We want to cause as little collateral damage as possible. Wait till we have to virus, then blow everything straight to hell."

Tanus gave his response, as did the rest of the squad, and they began to assume combat positions. It was the pirates who had the first volley. Red and green laser fire shot out from the barrels of their massive guns, annihilating anything they hit. Jak ordered the Paladins to return fire, and they did, with extreme prejudice. Two minutes into the firefight, one of the pirates hit the computer, ionizing it and making it completely inoperable. Tanus, realizing this, looked around to see what he could use to open the case, and then he found it: a bubbling, volatile red liquid. Tanus rolled over to the table and picked it up. In the same move, he spun and lobbed it at the container. It took a little while to catch, but the acid started to eat through the casing. When it was thoroughly gone, Tanus ran over to get the virus. He got it in hand and turned to join his squad when a concussion rifle's bolt hit the hall beside him, sending him flying ten meters to the right, skidding to a stop along the ground. Kantar rushed over to him.

"Tanus, TANUS! Are you OK!?"

Tanus turned to Kantar, and handed him the vial with the Krytos Virus still intact.

"Tell Jak objective complete."

Tanus got to his feet shakily and felt he couldn't move his left arm. HE shouldered his rifle and brought out his DC-15s pistol and began firing at the pirates, blasting their armor to ribbons under his continuous barrage. When it was over, Jak came over to him.

"You OK, You got hit pretty hard."

Tanus shook his head and looked back at Jak.

"I'm fine. I'll worry about it when we get to the evac ship. Let's just get outta here."

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The squad headed to the bridge, where they found that the crew was still intact. But after Paladin was in the room for about 30 seconds, that was rectified. Alan looked at the readout and saw that they were at near orbit levels. He also noticed that the escape pods were still in their berths. Alan reset the coordinates to his the massive rock face miles and miles below them. He then brought up the diagnostics on the escape pods, and saw that they could each hold three people. He set up their computers to land near the evac point. Then Alan hit the switch, and all the lights and klaxons went off. The Paladins rushed off to the escape pods. Jak and Shado got in one pod, Alan and Shado in another.

"See you planet side," Jak said as he slapped Alan on the arm.

"Yes you will," Alan said, and saluted.

Lucky and Finch got in the other escape pod, while Tanus and Lion got in the last one. One by one, the escape pods launched out of their berths as the corvette launched back into the atmosphere at blinding speed. Then Tanus watched out of the viewport as the icy tundra below got closer and closer.


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LCPL Tanus Solvona/1SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT//VEA/VE
-Paladin-

Alan kicked open the door of his escape pod and clambered out.  Looking around the desolate white surface, he saw several other escape pods and noticed that the squad was starting to assemble.  He quickly rejoined the rest of the squad and they started to head off to the rendezvous point.  Damn, I'll be glad to get off this godforsaken planet thought Alan.

The squad marched slowly towards their rendezvous point where hopefully the Scythe would be waiting for them.  The squad talked quietly amongst themselves, their mood was jubilant as they had been successful in yet another mission and would soon be on their way home.  Alan was glad to see that despite their jubilant mood, they were still aware of their surroundings and had their weapons raised, in case of trouble.  One thing that did catch Alan's eye was Lucky, she seemed withdrawn somehow.  He increased his pace until he was walking beside her.

"Something troubling you Corporal?" queried Alan.

Lucky shook her head, which didn't convince Alan.

"Come on Lucky, talk to me"

Lucky stopped in her tracks and looked around to make sure none of her squad mates were in earshot before she spoke, "I'm starting to have doubts about why I am here and what good I bring to the team.  I feel like all I've done is cause more harm than good".

Alan looked concerned at her, "now you listen to me Corporal and you listen good, you are a valued member of this squad and I am proud to have you on this squad"

Lucky looked up at him and replied "but I've made so many mistakes"

Alan didn't let her finish "but nothing Corporal, we all make mistakes, it's how we learn from them that makes us better soldiers"

"Yes Sir" replied Lucky as she smiled.

"We're nearing the rendezvous point" said Alan, tapping his comlink "Scythe this is the Paladin's, requesting immediate extraction".

"Roger that Paladin's" came a reply, "we're sending a shuttle down now should be with you shortly"

Alan looked up at the sky and saw a small shuttle start to descend.

"That's our ride out of here" shouted Jakireth, "let's move it people".

The squad, although weary from their mission, started moving quicker, seeing that their mission was nearly at an end.  They climbed up the hill and once at the top they looked down and saw that the shuttle had already docked and its doors were waiting open, ready to receive them.  The squad hastily ran down the hill and one by one got onboard.

"Nice work people" said Jakireth as he got onboard.

"Ok people, let's get those weapons secured and let's enjoy the ride home" said Alan.

The squad immediately started stowing away their rifles and sat down in seats to relax and unwind.

"We did it" said Lucky, smiling.

"Oh you did it alright" said an unfamiliar voice.

The door of the cockpit opened and out strode a tall man wearing a rather battered mandalorian armour, his weapon was raised and pointed at the squad, behind him came six burly human also with weapons raised.

"Who the hell are you?" queried Alan

"My name is not important" he replied "what is important is how much I will get for this shuttle, its crew and more importantly the virus.  Now hand it over"

Tanus looked sideways at Alan who simply nodded.  Tanus retrieved the virus and handed it over to the bounty hunter.

The bounty hunter said to one of his henchman "tell the pilot to take off and head to these co-ordinates".  He handed the man a piece of paper, "I do not want us returning to that ship you have in orbit"

He looked at the squad and said "sit back and enjoy the ride, it may be your last".

 
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ASL/SGT AlanRJ/3SQD/2PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [ES2]

-Paladin-
Army of the Vast Empire