Every muscle ached. Every joint burned. His gun dragged down on his hands. His numb fingers fumbled with the hilt of his blade. There was only so much time that the four could hold the troopers off before they were forced to retreat. Rogue gritted his teeth with each step, Darian looked as if he had just eaten something sour, his face contorted with pain and fatigue after having lost his helmet some time ago, and Leon was doing his best to just stand up.

Arnaut spun thickly, and fired into a trooper. Halfway through, his clip ran out. He felt along his belt, but their were none. Rogue screamed something into the comlink. It took Arnaut a while to realize what he'd said.

"Tank! Tank! TANK!" Rogue's voice was frantic, and so was he firing at the approaching monstrosity of metal. It had six wheels, and that was the only portion that wasn't solid metal. Twin linked E-webs were mounted to either side, and the front was a solid sheet of durasteel with one tiny slit for the driver to look out from. An old fashioned artillery cannon had been welded on top and covered with metal plating to make the cannon part of the beast. It was big, it packed a lot of firepower, and it was driving straight for Rogue. Arnaut ran, legs pounding, and collided with Rogue, sending them flying into a crater just before the tanks E-webs scorched the ground where he'd been standing. Switching to short-range comlink, Arnaut screamed to the three other troopers.

"They've had enough time! Pull back! Fall back!" The troopers ran, fleeing from the giant thing coming after them. Arnaut was just inside the gates when  the E-webs opened fire again. A shot grazed his leg, and he tumbled to the ground. A hand grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the gateway.

"Looks like you lost that one, Sarge!" Kanderin exclaimed. Arnaut panted with exhaustion and lay down on the marble, gasping for breath. He removed his helmet and breathed deep out of the not-so-fresh, acrid, smoke filled air. I think my helmet was better. At least it was cooler. Rogue, Darian, and Leon also were prone on the ground, simply resting, or, in Rogue's case, getting immediate medical care. The moment of peace didn't last long.

With a deafening roar, the artillery cannon opened fire and took out the far balcony. Lukas and Virius had already made their way away from there, so the most it did was send rubble tumbling to the ground, crushing the small receptionist desk. The dull drone of the tank's wheels became a low rumble and then a roar as the tank approached the gates. With a metallic crash, the tank burst through the gates, E-webs firing. Arnaut weakly grabbed his rifle and fired back. We've been breached, he thought numbly. With a snarl of rage, he continued firing.

 
-----------------------
Sergeant Arnaut
-=Wraith Squad=--=SL=-
SL/SGT Arnaut/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

"Life is a dream; we all wake up eventually."

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to dig graves for twenty-three oak trees?" - Davram Bashere

Back in the armory, Mara and Jyse had just about given up on slicing when Rizzit started groaning.

"He's coming to?" asked the3djedi hopefully.

"QUICK!" Mara said. "Give me some duct tape!"

"What good's that gonna do?" asked the3djedi. "He's unconcious...not wounded."

"Well, we got no cold water around; so this will have to do." Mara said as she unrolled some duct tape off the roll. She attached a good portion of the pink duct tape to Rizzit's long black hair.

"Mara...you're not going to..." TJ asked.

"Yeah TJ, I am!"

"You're cruel!"

"They need him!"

The piece of duct tape that was NOT attached to Rizzit's hair, was the piece that Mara grabbed hold of. In an instant, the duct tape was gone, and she had succeeded in waking Rizzit up in an uproar.

"YYEEOOUUUCCCHHH!" Rizzit roared. "What was that for?" he said as he jumped up.

"Easy there Rizzy...you just might knock yourself out again."

"Wha...Mara? What we doing here?"

"Long story short...you sent Kami on ahead to the east gate. A batallion is outside trying to capture you and bring you to Thrawn."

"hmm....well, that explains that. Someone wanna explain why I'm back in stormy armor? I did NOT put this on?"

"You can thank me for that." TJ said. "I figured you'd be rushing off into battle again, so I did some changing up. You can relax...you still got your dress uniform on. This is just on over that."

"Great. Thanks Teej! Jed, how you feeling over there? Feel like an adventure?"

"Of course. Only thing is well, There's no armor for me!"

"You must be joking!" Rizzit said as he ran over to a storage bin and grabbed a box from inside. "Nope...didn't think they took it."

Rizzit brought the box over to Jed. "You should find everything you need in here. Mara, Jyse, Teej, JR, Otto: you too!"

the3djedi looked inside the box, then looked at Rizzit half-excited, half confused. "Rizz...how...it's impossible!"

"Nothing of the sort. You guys all left your things at the barracks when you left. I never passed them on, I ordered new ones. Jed...you'll find your scout gear here. Along with TJ's blaster that he used alongside his saber. Mara and Jyse: you'll find some of your personalized slicer gear (along with some duct tape). Otto, you really don't have anything except this. Even I never figured out why you left it." Rizzit said as he tossed Otto a strange object that almost looked like a medal. Otto started to laugh.

"You still have no idea what this is, do you Rizz?"

Rizzit shook his head. "I'm afraid I never did."

"This is the remote to my old Epso 101 Walker. It should still function....yes it does. I'm gonna activate it and get it over here. It's not gonna take out a whole batallion, but it should take a few of them out with it AND provide a distraction for however long a time it gives you guys to get what you need to get done."

"Great Otto. Jed, in the meantime: take TJ and scout around. See what you can find out. Don't injure yourself, we got no needles to stick into you. Mara...you and Jyse keep at it! We need control of power back to us! JR, stay here with the others in case Thrawn's forces work their way up here. We can't afford to let them get to OUR armory or hurt any of you. I'm off to the west gate! Contact me on the comlink if possible with any updates!"

Rizzit saluted his old squadmates and the others in the room. In an instant it felt as if he was back in the old days before he became commander of ANYTHING. He snapped out of it again, his troopers needed his help! For some reason, it felt like it was his fault they needed him. There was just one thing on Rizzit's mind: why would Thrawn's troops be after him, when Fury was not too far away? There had to be some reason that they chose him. Rizzit would have to worry about that later, he had a platoon to help out!
 
-----------------------
High Colonel Rizzit BlackHeart
~ Wildcard Platoon ~
Phoenix Company Commander
Army of the Vast Empire
CC/PC/HCOL
Rizzit/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE[OPE][OTH][EW1][RCoD][CRoM][CoH][OPA][SoA][SoS][SCP]
"Everything expressed truly from your heart and soul is as pure as gold in the minds of anyone who listens!"--Rizzit

Aphamos squinted, moving to the side of the room and behind a wall as the tank entered the area.  He took his helmet and rubbed his eyes for a moment, a headache soaring into his head and back out of it.  Not the time.  Defiantly not the time, he thought to himself as he pulled his last high explosive grenade off of his belt and readied it for the tank.  Fly gracefully, destroy relentlessly.  His training instructor used to always tell him that before every simulation, and it worked well to get his thoughts and concentration in order.

"TROOPERS, ON THREE!" yelled Aphamos as the tank slowly entered firing range.  "THREE, TWO, ONE, THROW!"  Five grenades came out of various areas of cover, each of them bouncing lightly off of the tank, and then erupting in a mixture of fire and shrapnel.  Aphamos made sure to cover his ears for the explosion, the sound deafening anyone who was unprotected and in range.  Alright, I'm getting sick of this.

Aphamos picked up his sniper rifle and slung it over his back, pulling his dual wields out and checking their cartridges.  The enemy rush had finally quelled down and silence had replaced the destructive sound of battle.  Aphamos sprinted over to the stormtroopers that had gathered in the corner of the room, the troopers doing a quick check up on their conditions and the plan of attack.  Rizzit was standing in the middle of the group, back and ready for some action.

Aphamos walked to the middle of the group, taking his helmet off and throwing it to the side.  He turned his head and bent over, throwing up next to the wall.  At least its out of your system now.  No more complaints.  He spat, getting up again and looking at the troopers who were staring at him.  "As you can see, I'm getting pretty sick of this," he said.  "I hate being stuck in here, and I don't like being on the defensive when others start things.  We need to change our stances on the situation and show these assholes who they are dealing with."

"What do you think?" asked Rogueboy, finding interest in Aphamos' views on what they should be doing.

"We need to take the fight to their doorstep," said Aphamos.  "We hit hard and hit silently.  It'll be over faster that way."

 
-----------------------
Raiders

War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over.
--William Tecumseh Sherman--

Leth and Kanderin kept laying down more fire.  Regardless of the skill of Thrawn's boys, nobody was insusceptible to a stream of fire from a repeating blaster, or being cut in half by Leth's Stormtrooper Two.

An entire squad of troopers came bursting over the pile of bodies that the pair of Wraiths had left.  Kanderin put down four with a burst from the repeating blaster.  Leth fired one shot, blasting bloody fragments of one ex-trooper into another, knocking him over.  Leth pulled the trigger again, but only heard a hollow click.  He dropped the blaster, swallowed two Strazeline pills dry, grabbed a flash grenade with his left hand, and metal cylinder with his right.  He tossed the grenade at the troopers and hit a button on the cylinder.  It made his arm jump as it extended to six feet.  His thumb flicked a switch from "stun" to "lethal" as the stims kicked in.

Light flooded Leth's eyes as his pupils dilated.  He played the scene of Rizzit getting shot in his mind, his nostrils flared& he wanted blood.  He charged forward at the remaining troopers.  Jumping over a pockmarked body, Leth stabbed the pike through the chest of a Stormtrooper, sending blood through the air.  He swung the killing instrument in a horrific chorus, shearing muscle from bone and head from neck. 

Another trooper came at him with a knife, only to have his arm sliced off.  He had only a split second to think about it, as the force pike went straight into his eye, ripping apart the eye, splitting the elastic bonds of gray matter, and finally fragmenting bone and blasting its way through the back of his head in a shower of red.

Another squad of Thrawn troops came out of the door.  Leth went prone, and Kanderin let loose another series of blasts.

Nobody is insusceptible to a stream of fire from a repeating blaster. . .




-----------------------
Lance Corporal D'har Leth
-=Wraith Squad=-
TRP/LCPL D'har Leth/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/Nar Shaddaa

{Grand Imperator}

"Son of a..." Darr-Rann muttered, leaping out from behind the table. Three wrist-rockets slammed into the table that he crouched behind just moments ago, reducing it to charred scrap. The turret went flying, and Darr-Rann saw one of the stands break off as it slammed into the wall. For some reason, he didn't think he'd be able to put it back up again this time.

"Say your prayers, assholes!" Darr-Rann said, pulling the last frag grenade from his belt. He threw it in the midst of the power-armored triple of stormtroopers, then ducked behind yet another nearby table. The grenade exploded with a thump, shrapnal tearing into the mech suits and wounding their drivers. He got up and drew his mynock. Sighting down the barrel, he squeezed off three shots, the rounds piercing through the gaps in the closest's armor. The man went down, screaming. He was wounded in so many places that Darr-Rann was sure the trooper wouldn't get up again.

There was a crack of a sniper rifle, and another of the brutes went down. Darr-Rann didn't bother to see who had fired it  He had given up keeping track of the kills a while ago. He drew his vibroblade and moved in for the kill on the last, who was staggering around trying to come to his senses. The blade cut through the gap between the torso and shoulder, severing the arm entirely. The squad leader winced as the many let out a bloodcurdling scream, thrashing around in a blind attempt to take his attacker down with him. The trooper missed as Darr-Rann backed up. The man then went silent, collapsing to the ground, blood still flowing from the stump where his arm used to be.

"Darr, get over here!" Aphamos said, marking a point on his mini-map, the corner of the room. Darr-Rann shrugged, then proceeded that way.
 
-----------------------
Raiders
SL/SSG_Darr-Rann/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][CoR]
|WO2_Demonic/Reserves| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*ee*=)(VC:B)(MC2)(VEB)(DSM)(LoM)[SWC]{O1}-=TOP PILOT=-
SENIOR SERGEANT, SQUAD LEADER/ASSISTANT COMMANDER OF TRAINING
WARRANT OFFICER, 2ND CLASS
Communications Technician
Part time Webmaster Guy
"DICTATOR DARR"
Clearly Canadian!

Rizzit was still not at 100%, but neither were some of his troopers. In a sense, Rizzit was a bit luckier than they were, cause while he was sleeping: they were out fighting this mess. It evened out; while Rizzit was basically in great physical shape (aside from random spurts of numbness that occurred as an aftermath of the stun gun) his troopers were in a far better mental state than he was. On a normal day, Rizzit would be welcoming the chance to be out on a battlefield. This was not a normal day though. The whole room was a blur to Rizzit; not in the physical sense, but the mental sense. It just seemed that nothing that was said or done made much sense to him at all. Normally, Rizzit would be running the show and calling the shorts. Today, he asked Darr-rann to do it cause Darr was in a much better position to make the decision than he was. Everyone seemed to be just shouting out ideas. "why don't we try" or "Let's go ahead and" filled the room. Rizzit couldn't hear a word that was said by Darr.
 
-----------------------
High Colonel Rizzit BlackHeart
~ Wildcard Platoon ~
Phoenix Company Commander
Army of the Vast Empire
CC/PC/HCOL
Rizzit/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE[OPE][OTH][EW1][RCoD][CRoM][CoH][OPA][SoA][SoS][SCP]
"Everything expressed truly from your heart and soul is as pure as gold in the minds of anyone who listens!"--Rizzit

Darr-Rann wracked his brain for a plan. Someone had to have been alerted to the attack by now... Unless it was more widespread. They couldn't could on waiting for reinforcements to bust in at any moment. They needed to establish organized positions with which they could hold the place, and they needed supplies.

"Arnaut, how do you feel about salvaging some gear?" He asked his fellow squad leader. Arnaut nodded, so Darr-Rann continued. "Take Rogueboy, and gather up blaster packs, weapons, and supplies from fallen troopers. See if you can find any medical supplies while you are at it."

"Leon, Aph, get sniper rifles. We're going to set up a position on the Roof and kill some bastards." He then turned to Namyr. The Twi'lek had an injured side, but was otherwise unharmed.

"I want you to take half of the remaining troopers and position yourself at the back-left corner of the room. Build a barrier out of whatever you can to avoid fire. Snipes, do the same with the other half of the troops. Arnaut and Rogueboy will deliver supplies to you when their finished, give them as much covering fire as they need."

He turned to Rizzit, who crouched silently. "You going to be alright?"

Rizz shook his head as if clearing it. "Yeah. I'm going to stick with Namyr's team  Keep me posted on everything, okay?" Darr-Rann nodded. Aphamos came walking over with a triad of sniper rifles and a satchel of what the squad leader assumed was ammunition.

"Alright everyone." He said. "Let's do this."
 
-----------------------
Raiders
SL/SSG_Darr-Rann/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][CoR]
|WO2_Demonic/Reserves| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*ee*=)(VC:B)(MC2)(VEB)(DSM)(LoM)[SWC]{O1}-=TOP PILOT=-
SENIOR SERGEANT, SQUAD LEADER/ASSISTANT COMMANDER OF TRAINING
WARRANT OFFICER, 2ND CLASS
Communications Technician
Part time Webmaster Guy
"DICTATOR DARR"
Clearly Canadian!

The squads desperately needed ammo so the commander sent out scavengers, Rogue volunteered for this dirty job and him and Arnaut were sent to the Imperial Art Gallery as the duo made there way over they knew they had one of the dirtiest jobs going on. Together they entered the room with a big box in each hand and immediately began searching the fallen troops for anything of use; pieces of serviceable armour to replace those that were damaged in the initial defense.

Within a relatively short time frame Rogueboy had managed to scrounge up twenty blaster packs, three sets of pauldrons, two sets of knee guards, and one undamaged chest protector. The Raiders ASL also looked through every dead stormtrooper's wallet looking for ICs or anything small and valuable and stuffing it into his pockets.

A slight sigh escaped from a nearby body Rogue pointed his pilfered blaster pistol at the corpse as he kicked it over. The dying stormtrooper looked young, perhaps as old as Rogueboy's nineteen years of age and as the blood seeped out of him he spoke. "Please save me." Tears started welling in his eyes. "I have a wife and two kids back home, please." A quick glance at his wounds showed that he was not going to live. There was a dagger sticking out of the man's cracked chest plate most likely pierced his lung. Rogueboy's suspicion was confirmed when the man coughed and his phlegm was covered in blood.

The Raiders ASL sighed, he knew what he had to do now and while he has done it many times before you are never really prepared to end a life while having the time to think about it. Rogue raised his bloody gladius over the man's throat; the dying soldier seemed to shrink as he cried out. "I didn't want to join the army, I was conscripted, I just want to be home, please don't kill me." Rogue's response was cold yet to him it was a helpful reasoning. "I am sending you home." The blade went through the man's throat and he twitched for a few seconds before he died.

"C'mon Arnaut we got all we can carry, let's go back."

 
-----------------------
Raiders
Faithful To The End
Heavy Weapons Specialist
He will give them death, and they will love him for it -Gladiator
Eat a hearty breakfast men, for tonight we dine in hell -King Leonidas, 300
Clearly Canadian!

ASL/SGT_Rogueboy/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [LoR][ES-FirstClass][CDS][CoR]

Just as Sam had blown the mech away that attacked Zafo, a blaster bolt struck the side of the e-web knocking open the back panel. Sam let go of the e-web from the sudden heat that startled him.

"Hey guys try to hold them, I'm going to see about over working this thing with the panel now open," Sam shouted to the Dragoons.

He pulled a wire and crossed against one circuit and twisted another wire with another. One wire he was moving scraped another wire and caused a spark.

"Is it still going to work?" Durandal asked.

"Yeah, don't worry I've done this before," Sam replied with a half truth.

He moved and swapped wires for a good minute before slapping the panel back into place. He aimed the e-web back towards the cloud of dust. "Let's hope this works," Sam thought to himself. He pulled the trigger and the e-web fired super white lasers that were blinding and the recoil was far more violent than it was before the modifications Sam had made.

Screams could be heard from the enemy troopers as the white beams ripped through them. Unfortunately, Sam could not see how much damage the beams were doing. For all he knew the beams could have a highly concentrated radiation around them and it could be eating through near by armor of troopers. The one thing Sam knew for certain was that it was doing the job.

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


SL/SSG Sandwich Sam/2SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1REG/1BAT/Tadath/VEA [LoR][BM][GS][EW1]
The Dark Dragoons' Site

Darr-Rann watched Aphamos sight through the rifle's scope with mild fascination. He himself never liked sniper rifles, even though he was using one now  Found them a bit underhanded. But giving the current situation, he really didn't give a damn.

He caught Aphamos take a deep breath to steady himself, then pull the trigger. A loud bang echoed through the night's sky, followed by the sound of a shell bouncing off of the ground. Darr-Rann saw through his own scope that indeed the target was downed, a man who was about to board a tank. The next assault had begun, troops charging towards the entrance. He hoped the defense teams were ready.

He lined up a shot himself -  A squad leader ordering his troops into formation. What a better way to break moral. The Raider thought, squeezing off the trigger. He felt the rifle jump with recoil in his hands, but he hit. Stormtroopers scattered for cover as their commander's head was pierced by a .50 cal slug.

Leon fired off two shots quickly  The first downed it's victim, while the second took a round to the shoulder but still stood. The trooper had to regulate his fire better.

They just needed to keep stay alive, until help showed up. Darr-Rann dearly hoped that it would.
 
-----------------------
Raiders
SL/SSG_Darr-Rann/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1RGT/1BAT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR][CoR]
|WO2_Demonic/Reserves| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*ee*=)(VC:B)(MC2)(VEB)(DSM)(LoM)[SWC]{O1}-=TOP PILOT=-
SENIOR SERGEANT, SQUAD LEADER/ASSISTANT COMMANDER OF TRAINING
WARRANT OFFICER, 2ND CLASS
Communications Technician
Part time Webmaster Guy
"DICTATOR DARR"
Clearly Canadian!

Aphamos setup his sniper rifle, placing the tripod right next to a large piece of cover.  He looked over at the enemy troopers that stood ahead of the building the stormtroopers were in.  They were forming into lines, readying themselves for another rush inside of the building.  Aphamos looked over to Leon as his fellow Raider walked over to him, placing a large weapon on the ground next to him.  "I brought this up," he said, pointing to the weapon.  "It's one of the missile launchers that the enemies brought in.  I thought it could be useful."  Aphamos smiled at Leon, picking the weapon up and placing it so that it vertically rested against his cover. 

The epitome of brilliance, he thought to himself as he patted Leon on the shoulder and looked around for another bit of suitable cover.  He pointed to an area that was a good distance away from him.  Better spread out.  Want to hit them from everywhere.  Aphamos continued with the setup of his weapon, checking the cartridge of his sniper rifle.  "Holy crap," he said out loud.  "That could have gotten really, really bad."  His clip was empty-he pulled it out and threw it to the side, replacing it with another one that was full.

"You guys ready?" he asked both Leon and Darr-Rann over the headset microphone.

"Ready," replied Leon.

"Been ready for the past seventeen years," said Darr-Rann, a hint of sarcasm in his voice this time.  Aphamos smiled at his squad leader's comment.  He looking into the scope of his rifle now, zooming in to the back of the enemy's lines.  He watched as an officer walked up to another man, both of them exchanging brief remarks.

"On my mark, Leon," said Aphamos.  "Three, two, one-"  Aphamos held in his breath, closing his eyes for a moment, then opening them and re-aiming.  "MARK!"  Two shots were fired, the sounds resonating out as if it was really one shot.

Aphamos' shot hit the officer straight in the head, the figure falling to his knees as blaster bolts started up again.

 
-----------------------
Raiders

War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over.
--William Tecumseh Sherman--

Rizzit fell onto the floor so hard that he woke up from his dream. It left him with a bump on his head. He began rubbing it while thinking over the bizarre things that happened in his dream: Thrawn's forces had not only invaded Tadath, but they wanted to capture Rizzit, not Fury. The old retired members of the corps had shown up for Sabaac, and ended up helping out. The whole thing was a disaster...thank stars it wasn't real. Rizzit continued to rub the bump on his head. Wow...I really must've been tossing and turning. That was some intense dream! Although....it would have been nice to see the old gang again. First thing tomorrow, I'm going to get my head checked out.

Rizzit was about to turn the lights back off, when the lights went off in the entire complex. Rizzit began to panic. Awww shit! not again!

"Sorry Rizz! I kinda blew our power converter..." Kami said.

"It's allright Kams, but you're going to fix it! I'm headed back to bed!"

Rizzit heard the sound of Kami grumbling as he got back into his bed. Well, she can take care of it. After the dream I just had, she woulda been freaked out too...
 
-----------------------
High Colonel Rizzit BlackHeart
~ Wildcard Platoon ~
Phoenix Company Commander
Army of the Vast Empire
CC/PC/HCOL
Rizzit/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE[OPE][OTH][EW1][RCoD][CRoM][CoH][OPA][SoA][SoS][SCP]
"Everything expressed truly from your heart and soul is as pure as gold in the minds of anyone who listens!"--Rizzit