Tanus sat there in his seat, resting. Despite how his armor looked, the 210 Personal Combat system was surprisingly light at only 5 kgs. What really appealed to Tanus, other than its light weight, was that it was made for close combat and surprise attacks, with a jet pack and a pair of dual force combat blades in the wrists. For added fire power, he brought along his Samurai Edge and a DC-17m; he wasn’t going to take his chances on this mission. Despite the fact that the light was turned off on his seat, his armor still reflected the light around him, a black speck in the hall of light. Tanus looked forward at where his squad mates were; this would be his first mission with them, and he was really interested to see what the newbies could do. As Tanus was about to fall back asleep, an old friend came walking back at sat to the seat opposite his. Urakai was an old ARC mate of Tanus’, and he had basically been with Tanus in the Dark Dragoons since Tanus came to the squad. He sat down to the seat opposite his: he was wearing Stormtrooper armor, painted black, with a DC-15s at his hip and an E-11 in his hands. Tanus was happy to be serving with Urakai again; it had been far too long.

“So,” Urakai said with a smirk. “What do you think of the newbies?”

Tanus looked at them, acting like big kids, interacting with the others on the shuttle, and basically being annoying.

“Well, if I had to say anything, I’d say I thought of them as kids without a clue of what a mission is really like. But I also think that they will know what to do when the time comes.”

Urakai nodded; Tanus could tell he was basically thinking the same thing. But then Urakai turned back to Tanus and hit him in the shoulder with a light punch.

“Well now, Mr. Assistant Squad Leader, do you know what’s going on for the mission?”

Tanus nodded; he talked to Doc for a long time on this, just so he could explain it.

“Yeah, I do. But get the others for me, so I can tell all of them.”

Urakai nodded and got up. He walked over to the others and told them all to come to where Tanus was sitting. When they had all gathered around him, he started to speak.

“OK, settle down guys. I’m gonna tell you what’s going on for the mission. We’re heading to Tormar to knock out an enemy target, specifically a person. Now, normally, people like us should be able to handle this. Unfortunately, the place is locked up tight than Imperial Center. So, that’s where the Eclipses come in. The idea is we’re going to land on a Vast Empire base, the Eclipses are going to do some recon and then get us in, while we’re going to knock him out. Then it’s nothing but sweet sailing.”

The Dragoons nodded in unison; Tanus had a feeling that he would be able to keep them under control, and at least alive, for the next mission they had together. He looked each one of them over for some inspection.

“OK, now that I’ve covered that, let’s see what you have for equipment.”

Tanus looked at their gear: it was mostly standard, but colored black for the operation. Tanus nodded at all of them; he had a feeling it would go alright. Then he smirked at all of them in turn.

“Now get out of here so the resident geezer can get some sleep.”

As they left to go back to their seats, Tanus drifted off into a sound slumber.

Another murmur of conversation came from downstairs. There was a low snarl from Keng. Riqimo felt his jaw clench at the sound of the man’s voice. If there was any justice, Keng would’ve been left in the jungle with the men he had let die. Rike must’ve heard it too, because his breathing caught. After a moment, it steadied again.

Even on death’s door, Rike was attuned to his squad, and his enemies. They shouldn’t have to lose him... Even if the rest of them lived would they be good for anything ever again? Would they ever be able to sleep in the dark, or look at the moon the same way again? Nothing was worth that. Not a game of war. And not a new beast for Keng to study and torment...

The things outside were monsters. So was Keng. Given the choice between the two, Riqimo preferred the monster that didn’t lie.

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

Riqimo awoke from his slumber to a rocking of the shuttle entering atmosphere of their target planet, still breathing a little heavily from a nightmare.  Using his left wrist to wipe off the small droplets of perspiration on his forehead, Riqimo reached for his seat buckles with his right hand, despite the “buckle up” light not being on;  odds are the ship was old enough that the lightbulb for the little sign didn’t work at all.  Hopefully though, the ship could land easily enough... if not, well... that was best left unsaid.

It was déjà vu for Riqimo... the shuttle bounced hard twice, a characteristic of a runaway landing.  There must not have been enough time for a safe, relaxing repulsorlift landing...  But there wasn’t a runaway, and the shuttle immediately screeched to a sideways skidding halt forcing those that had their seatbelts fastened to go leaning heavily towards the left side of the ship, those few that didn’t bother with the seatbelts were mostly sprawled about. 

Screaming sirens greeted the passengers of the shuttle, and Riqimo sighed as if this was routine, getting him several peculiar glances from squadmates and any other passenger on board.  A trando officer hurried out of the cockpit and screamed over the noise, “Get out!  Everybody out, NOW!  IN...COMING!”

“Here we go again,” Riq droned to the squad as he beckoned them to follow, “I got hit at this same damn pad last time.  Nothing ever changes...”

Most of the two squads sat frozen in their seats, not even reaching to unfasten their seatbelts.  “Come on!” the Riq shouted as he negotiated the temporary stairs.  “Get off the gawddamn shuttle!” Riqimo took several steps at a time.

“Hit the deck!” Came seconds later from Riq’s mouth.  Down the two squads went on the open duracrete, a blast deafening their ears.  Eclipse and Dark Dargoons couldn’t hear the man, but they weren’t lingering behind as Riqimo regained his feet and shot out towards a row of bunkers.

As they huddled in the safety of one of the bunkers, Riq panted lightly and smiled grimly at the group, “Welcome to Tormar, you’ll get used to that stuff in no time at all.”  The two squads only blinked back at the man, even the battle hardened soldiers.  It was a peculiar sight, a man of not even 5 feet shrugging off  such a near death incident and promising more like it.  Tormar can change anyone, and it was getting a second attempt to change Riq even more.

As the all clear was given, the squads shuffled out of the bunker and into the blinding sunlight, the smell of burning fecal matter lingering in the air.  “Might as well get our packs out of the cargo,” Riq nodded towards the open cargo access hatch of the shuttle, “Squall, mind getting mine for me?  Need to find a washroom real quick.”

The new assignee to the squad, although not new to the Empire, nodded and headed off with the group as Riq turned heel towards a small line of huts to find some water to splash onto his pale face.

As Doc called out the order to hit the deck, Alater was already halfway there. The sound of something ripping through the air was something he was very familar with and when the explosion shook the shuttle, Alater immediantly grabbed for his gear. The huge duffel would look like an obstacle, but inside was Alater's custom made armor and quite a few nasty tricks. Their job as 'recon' often turned into back-up and enemy killing, as almost all jobs in the Corps turned into in the end.

The Dark Dragoons seemed to respond fast enough for Alater's liking, Tanus and Urakai of course the two fastest on their feet.  Alater had never quite figured out what was so damned special about them but they were ever ready, ever vigilant. He had observed Tanus' training and practices with martial weapons and had always saw the man as atleast an equal in combat.

Squall, their newest addition to the squad went zooming by Alater back towards the shuttle as himself and the giant duffel made it to Doc. His Brother had that look in his eyes, the look of death that covers up all fear. Something had happened to Doc before in this place and he didn't want to remember, something that helped make him into the killer most people never see. Alater knew, and had seen Doc in these moods and it scared him almost as much as himself being a Krsst.

You're a monster, a beast. You'll never be able to control the true powers of being a Krsst. You'll always be an outcast, turning on those that you care about to get to their blood. You are worthless to me.

The words ripped through Alater's head as the sore memories of the past came back. They were doing that more and more often now adays, coming back to haunt him at the worst moments. The 'true' powers of the Krsst had begun to reveal themselves, as Alater had learned, and he was truely afraid for the first time in his life. To be able to control such power was a gift indeed, but to have to deal with the possibility of a loss of control was almost too much. Alater shook it off as he opened up his duffel.

Because they were running recon on shut a dangerous place, Alater had opted for armor. He'd customized a suit of scout armor with a few little nitches and clasps for the extra weapons he had brought along, as well as painting the armor black. He hadn't had time to ask Blackout to put something on it that hid active sensors but his low body tempature did that fairly well for himself. He looked onto his entourage of weapons: his DC-17M, four Mynock Q33 Silent Slughthrower Pistols, two Enforcer Heavy Slugthrower Pistols, and a Republic Heavy Flamerthrower Carbine. The pistols all went into their respective holsters, the Carbine fit neatly onto little clamps with straps he had designed onto the back of the armor, and the DC-17M he slung around his shoulder. He then strapped Long Fang onto his waist.

Xenos looked at him with a mix of confusion and disaproval, while Mako went for the all out jaw drop, and turned to Riqimo.

"Is he always so...dangerous looking?" The Corporal asked,  looking between the scarey Riqimo and the over-armed Alater.

"Yea, it's his thing. Just don't get in his way or expect any kindness and you're fine." Riqimo said with one look at Alater.

Saphira shook her head and moved quickly. Grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as Dax followed quickly behind her. The Twi'lik set her mind on the mission. Strapping on her blaster to the side and moving out off the ship. Two Vibro Blades where in her hands reaching  as her eyes scanned the surrounding area.

Already she could feel the grind and drit hitting her armor. Long before she gave up attemtping to keep it spotless. There was no point and parts would be replaced. Though she cleaned it after missions it bore past missions with scratch marks and other hazards of the job.

I wouldn't have it any other way

Dax moved, comming up behind her as he slung over one of his weapons of choice. He grinned comming up to her side.

"Talk about a bang up welxome!"

Saph snapped her head to give him a glare and failed as a small smile creased her lips.

"If you say so.. Just don't do anything stupid.. like get killed on this one.." She replied back. Dax just grined wider.

"ME? You know I would never do that." Much to his amusement to watch Saph roll her eyes.

"YO! Lizard Boy.. hurry it up!" Saph called in a teasingly manner. KNowing that Altar wouldn't like  her words she watched as he quickly stalked over and growled his disaproval.

"Try that again.." He started and Saph, taking the challenge stepped cloer to him.

"Or what? You'll cut me?" She smiled, staring back as she hinted at their own ventures in the past. Alater shook his head and turned away to walk over towards where doc was at. He wasn't in any mood  to deal with  that now.


"Uh Saph? mind telling me  what that was all about?" He asked pressing  near her again.

"Nothing.. nothing at all. Let's hope this mission is much more attuned then the last..." She changed the subject and moved to where  everyone else was at.

Mako had some trouble with his belt when the shuttle landed so hard.  He thought for a moment that he may have to cut himself out, but he managed to free himself.  He followed the other ‘Goons out of the shuttle and moved toward the building to form up with his group.

Right out of the shuttle he had managed to sink to his knee in a mud-feces blend and hoped that this was not a signal of how the rest of the mission would go.  Gates laughed at his misfortune.

Mako pulled the rest of his stuff from the cargo hold and geared up.  He was wearing his new Camo Scout Trooper armor, and he liked the feel of it.  He hoped that its ability to absorb light and change colors to match his surroundings would fill in any gaps that may be present from his inexperience in moving through the foreign terrain.

Mako had his DC-15s blaster pistol at his side, his DC-17 Personal Combat System with bayonet attached in his hands, and his Heavy Republic Flamethrower strapped to his back.  He carried a small compliment of grenades and a Vibro-Knuckler on his belt in case things got too personal, and of course he had his Combat Engineer equipment. 

He also liked the way that his wrist lasers stayed hidden from view even up close.  The ICS had not lied about their stealthiness.  He knew that he was probably carrying much more than he needed, but in his experience it never hurt until you didn’t have it.

All of his weapons had their place, and none were so bulky that they impaired his motion or speed, save the rather bulky flamethrower on his back.  He was ready for combat.

He noticed all of the action that was going on around them.  He even saw that one of the Eclipse guys had already bagged someone.

Mako moved in, hovering close to the buildings, to get nearer to his squad.  He moved in to Tanus’ position to get their orders.

Mako knew that they were after the strategic advisor, Gabriel, and that he was holed up in a base that Eclipse was supposed to help them into, but as a soldier in a squad he was trained to work in a team, and that meant following orders.

Blaster fire from the four enemies down range flew past all of them sizzling into trees even some hitting the shuttle and pinging off. Jelly kept trying to hit them ,but to no avail as they where to well covered by the tree. Though he could tell they where all in the same position within two meters atleast. Jelly studied where the fire was coming from and suddenly got an Idea.

“Hey Alater want to get some action with you blades?” Jelly asked chuckling.

“Yeah Sure what’s your idea?” Alater’s voice rumbled over the come.

“You head out two meters to their left flank and hit those two guys and I’ll take out the two guys at the right flank.” Jelly said

“Acknowledged.” He Replied standing up drawing his wicked looking blade and shouldering his DC 17.

“Covering Fire!” Doc ordered over the com having overheard their plan.

Jelly slung his rifle behind him and began to run out to the right flank drawing his singled bladed Vibroblade which hummed to life. Jelly sprinted through the trees silently for all of his bulk coming in easily on the right flank. His Blade sliced into the first man’s arm just as Alater tackled into the man on the left flank. Jelly’s guy wailed in pain as his severed arm dropped to the ground along with his gun. Though his cries of pain where cut off when Jelly stabbed him in the chest viciously and twisted crack bone and rupturing vital organs.

Alater rammed into the man on the left flank impaling him with his own blade. Though he didn’t stop there as he picked up the man and easily tore him into two pieces throwing the remains at his comrade. Alater’s second victim yelped in fear frozen in place. Alater looked down as the back of his pants expanded.

“Pathetic.” He growled as he brought around his flame thrower.

Alater Let out a blast of flames which engulfed the man covering him in a large roaring flame. The man tried to roll on the ground and put it out ,but failed to do so and eventually laid still as the flames ate at his flesh.

The Last of the four dropped his gun and toke off at a sprint. Alater stepped forward to give chase , but stopped at the hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll get him.” Jelly said laughing slightly as he pulled out his Deathwind.

The Rifle shone beautifully as it was Jelly’s favorite instrument of death. The targeting scope linked wirelessly up to his bionic eye allowing him to target easier. Jelly toke a centering his sights on the fleeing man. The gun report was very small as it was modified to be as silent as it could be even though there was a slight sonic boom from the bullet shattering the sound barrier.

The man’s head exploded into a shower of blood, bone, and brain matter as the bullet tore through his head and the bullet’s speed ripping it apart. The body slumped to the ground without any resistance.

“Doc We’re all clear here I don’t see any more signs of opposition Alater and I will put up Scanners for the perimeter.” Jelly said calmly over the mic nodding to Alater.

“Negative We’ll be moving out soon so discard of the bodies we want as few signs of us as there possibly can be.” Doc ordered back.

“Alater mind discarding the bodies.” Jelly said emphasizing discard.
“Sure thing.” He replied as he picked up the tore halves of the first man jamming them into a log allowing the bones to crunch as they broke from the force.

The rest of the squad moved up in time to seem them disposing of the bodies. Jelly smiled as he heard someone retching for a moment followed by the evacuation of their last meal.

Well this is gonna be fun if there are some freshies that can’t handle this sort of sight cause there is gonna be more.

"Egh. Brutal. Those Eclipse boys and girls don't mess around, do they?"

This got a grim chuckle. Gates was standing on the second layer of the arrow-head formation, right behind and next to point man. He carefully looked across his HUD, checking for life. Or droids. He had his DC-15 at his shoulder, sweeping it across his line of sight. His boots sank repeatedly into the mud and crap on the ground, but he didn't stop to shake them off.

He tried to keep his DC-15 clean, but that was near to impossible in the humidity and grime. Soon, his spotless armor and clean rifle were splattered with mud. He wiped off the firing mechanism for his rifle again.

He hated mud.

COvered in a light coating of dirt the female moved threw the trees. Keeping pace with Jelly as she watched him take down an enemy. A smile played across her lips as it was over in a blink of an eye.

"Next time.. Save me one.." Saph replied to Jelly as she made it to his side.  He seemed to ignore her for a moment as he pulled out his Mic.


“Doc We’re all clear here I don’t see any more signs of opposition Alater and I will put up Scanners for the perimeter.” Jelly said calmly over the mic nodding to Alater who was only a few feet away.

“Negative We’ll be moving out soon so discard of the bodies we want as few signs of us as there possibly can be.” Doc ordered back.

“Alater mind discarding the bodies.” Jelly said

“Sure thing.” He replied as he picked up the tore halves of the first man jamming them into a log allowing the bones to crunch as they broke from the force.


Only now then did he turn to look at her as if Saph had just shown up. A smile creasing his lips as the soudn of retching was heard.


"Next time keep up then and you will get a kill." He teased. Crossing her arms she rolled her eyes at him.

"Wanna make a bet on it?" She smiled, looking  over her shoulders as she watched someone walk up to see if the soldier was ok. He won't last long if he dosen't get over it quick.

Saph thought to herself. She never had a problem taking out the enemy. Not once had she ever passed out or had to walk the other way. The kill was in her blood and was a  part of her.


"What kind of bet?" Jelly asked, breaking into her thoughts. The Twi'lik grinned back. The look that had killer written all over it.

"That I can and will take out as many of the enemy then you in the most bloodied mannor." She repled. Jelly just looked at her. Remembering the storie from her first mission that Alater and Wicket confirmed. Well he wasn't about to back down.

"Just what does the winner get?" He asked.


"I haven't decided.. We'll let the winner choose..Or are you scared?" She taunted, flipping up her blade in her right hand.

"No.. I'm not.. you're on..." He replied back, motioning  his team to stay near and vigliant.

"Good." She flashed her eyes open at him and started to walk on ahead of the group with a lighter step. Pleased with the notion that this was going to be a much better mission then the last one. One to quensh her thirst for the battle...

Orobos moved through the thick undergrowth covered in what he hoped was mud. He had loosened the sling with his vibro-axe in it. Better safe then sorry. There was a big chance that they would stumble across a group of enemies hidden behind bushes or trees.

After a while of trodding forward he moved forward nearer the front of the group to help take down the few enemies they came across.

He heard someone mumbling on the com and then some retching.

"Quiet on the com!"

Tanus' voice shouted into his ear. He looked over at him lifting his helmet of slightly.

"give us some warning if your gonna be shouting like that over the com again." Orobos said.

Tanus turned and and gave him a look which told him not to say another word. Then faced forward again just in time to take down another enemy running between the trees.

Orobos through a lance back at Garyll and Mako who just snickered. He grinned and brought his focus back to the mission letting of a burst of rounds which ripped through the leaves in front of them followed by the grim thud of a body hitting the ground.

He hefted his heavy blaster so the stock rested against his shoulder and shot through another clump of bushes which had the tip of a blaster poking out of it. He knew it to be carried by an enemy because it looked old and worn by constant use covered in the same sort of mud which seemed to be everywhere.

They carried on for some time picking of any enemies who crossed their path. After a while Orobos could see the grey drab surface of what was unmistakably a bunker. It had what seemed to be a small control panel set into it. It was hard to tell but it seemed to about half a kilometer away. He quickened his pace moving up beside Mako and Garyll who were just behind Tanus.

More enemy units were already trying to stealth in and ambush them. Gates sighed. Amateurs.

He brought his rifle up to bear, firing twice at a moving rifle barrel sticking out of another bush, seeing the high-energy plasma bolts rip right through the flimsy shrub, burning it to the ground and making the merc behind it lose his face.

He turned slightly; fired. A man sniping from a tree fell, his legs and an arm burned away, and a chest wound dripping blood. Gates sighed again. 'Won't he make my life easier and die, damnit?'

The man continued to scream. Gates drew his DC-17s and shot him in the head. He stopped screaming. Gates paused, looking for more contacts, as he walked back to the squaf formation.

Mako went over the briefing in his head.  Eclipse wa to break the 'Goons into a base, which they seemed to be almost in position to breach.

The next step was to find their target, Gabriel.  Gabriel was the general of his own private army, and was working with the hostile tribe on Tormar, presumably in this base, if their information was right, as a strategic advisor.  His ultimate goal was to have  ahand in the controlling government on Tormar so that he would have a clear place to front his black market goods.

General Gabriel was former pirate, but still had ties to the bloody banner pirates that Mako and Gates had encountered on their orienteuring adventure.

So now what was left was just the meat of the mission, get in, find Gabriel, and bring back his head.  Once eclipse got the 'Goons inside, they would split, and once DD had proof of the pirates demise, preferably a tattooed hand from Mako's past, they would be on their way back home to the sweet smell of Mako's personal refresher booth.

Nothing to it, Mako thought.

He heard Riquimo say that Eclipse was in position.  He heard Tanus give the order to get ready.

"Placing charges on the door." Mako said through the comm.

With Eclipse shutting down the security systems temporarily, and the 'Goons providing cover for him, Mako moved up silently to breech charge the door that they had marked on the specs.  THe door was in a bad place for a base.  It was somewhat secluded and not heavily guarded.  As Mako moved in closer, he saw two guards standing on either side of the door. 

In the low light he was able to sneak up very close behind them without being noticed. 

"Tanus.  You got me?" Mako breathed into the Comm.  Tanus' only reply was a release of breath as the guard farthest from Mako's neck exploded into a jellyish bloody mess.  The other guard saw his partner fall and reached for his guna nd his rado at the same time, unsure of which to grab first. 

Mako moved in and slipped his knife between the man's ribs, puncturing his lung so that he was unale to make a sound.  Mako quickly dragged the bodies out of sight and kicked dirt over the minimal blood in case the cameras came back to life for some reason.

Mako drew the smallest charge that he could manage and placed it in the door.  Just liek in Combat Engineer school, he opened the control box and rewired the door to think that it was open.  Then he set the small charge off.  There was a quiet "Pfffffftt" as the charge went off, followed by a slight trail of smoke rising from the breech.  The door opened partially, and Mako reported: "We're in," before he slid the door open a bit more.


"See ya later, Alater: Mako said through the squad comm.  All he heard in response was a sick whistling noise that sounded demonic.

"I think Alater wants to buy you a beer after the misison." Gate said jovially.

"Yeah.  To put on his headstone." Saph said luaghingly.  "Calm down Alater, let the boys have their fun.  They may not make it out, you know."

At this, Mako thought he heard the lizard giggle, but the comm was a bit staticky over the distance so he couldn't be sure.

"Don't get blood on your pretty red tails." Mako said to Saph tauntingly.

"Thanks for getting us in guys." He said to quickly finish the chatter.
 
getting back to work, Mako started to move inside.  He had the schematics of the base displayed on his HUD, as he was sure that all of the others had.  He moved into the dim hallway silently, his light enhanced helmet providing a pristine view. 

Crouching at the foot of a corner while waiting on his team, Mako saw a guard moving his direction.  Mako waited for the man to round the corner and jammed his bayonet into the man's gut, pulling the trigger to propell the man from his rifle.

Mako glanced behind him to see the rest of his team moving silently in.

He reported in a whisper that they were in the vehicle garage and that this area was remote, but that a long hallway led them to the main databanks on the far side of the building.

"We have to be invisible" he said going over to a breaker box.  "If the alarms go off, Gabriel will be alerted and may skip out."

Mako opened the panel and killed the lights to this section of the building.  THe rest of the power remained on, so if there were any turrets they may be in trouble, but the enemy was not likely as well equipped as the Imperial Squad was, so he was willing to bet that they didn't have any light enhancement.

Mako hoped that he got the chance to pop off a flashbang.  He was willing to put money down that in this lighting, any soldier looking directly at it would have their eyes explode, or at least never see again.

"One more thing" Mako said. 

"Make it quick," replied Tanus.

Gates, noticing that Mako was moving toward the vehicles, said:  "You gonna take a dump in the General's ride?"

Mako giggled at this and heard Tanus clear his throat.

Mako then went about sabotaging the few vehicles that were in the garage.  Most of them could be wired to simply not start, but there was a heavier personnel carrier that neede to be rigged with explosives. 

Mako managed to rig the vehicle so that the charges would focus inside the cab and crew sections, without too much expended force going outside the vehicle.

"Ready to infiltrate the rest of the base." Mako whispered.

Tanus silently signaled the 'Goons to move out.

Xenos had watched Alater and Jelly rip apart their enemy like a hot knife to butter. He smirked a bit staring down at their glazed over fixed stair back at him. Kicking at the ripped in half man he watched as some of his now external organs slipped out into a mass on the floor. Death was among them all.

Pulling the second E-11 he had purchased with his Imperial credits and tightening his Bandolier that was sashed across his chest with his set of throwing knifes ready for easy access and his Ryyk Kerarthorr Blade dangling from his belt along with still one of his C-22 Fragmentation Grenade. As he looked at his two E-11's and following as one tapered to a point he noticed something.

The hostile he had shot in the head. Blood streamed down his face as a gapping smoldering hole was painted in his forehead and a little to the right. He always shot a little to the right. The blood made rivers down the young face, not over 19. The fool Xenos thought. Even he at such a young age knew that the admiration and mite of the Empire was far to developed and inflated for any mere scum to upset.

Moving quickly with the squad he stayed his distance from the door which was being rigged with the sweet smell of explosives. The door buckled and the two squads were in. Following directly behind Saph he stepped through and flattened himself against the wall opposite of them. Reloading both E-11's and firing at some cowardly hostiles that seamed to be playing a game of "Hit me". Xenos could just see their cocky faces laughing as they tried to hit us and dodge us at the same time only to be cut into two by laser fire, or worse a lizard packing heat.

He noticed Saph fighting in it all and soon came to realize that the man she had just killed had been a suicide bomb, a demoralizing coward attempt to kill the entire thing. He was on the edge of running over picking up the bomb of a corpse and throwing it back at them but waiting for orders while he covered them and Doc could make the call.

A rebel came around the corner and Xenos elbowed him in the temple. He dropped his gun and slide on the base floor like it was ice and looked up as Xenos shot the man's jaw through not even looking in his direction but down the hall as he aimed his other E-11 only to find a foolish man wandering about as if he had just lost his way to the mens room. A dumb expression swiped his face as he noticed the trooper already trained on his head. He ducked bu only felt the sharp pain of blaster fire ripping through the tendons in his legs and back. His lung was pierces and slowly burned from the hole that now formed through his back and out by his lower ribs.

He dropped to the floor face down bleeding profusely as he slowly coughed and choked on his own blood as it trickled into his lungs. Xenos did not take another shot, just watching his die, watching him call out from a list of names that would not answer him. A fools death was a slow one, a fools life was a short one. Xenos smirked.

"S'ir. e'it v'eems 'o be cle'r."

He said in his traditional accent. He kept a trained eye on his hallway and he had to reason to rush. This base had no way to run or hide. And now the Empire's fist would slam across their board to disturb their pawns and tip over their towers. They were trained, Eclipse was trained better.

So far, so good. Somehow, even with Eclipse blasting its way inside out of people's guts, the Dragoons were still alive and kicking. The stormies carefully snuck through the halls.

Reaching a four-way hall, the squad stopped to debate where to go.

"The schematics said that this way was right." Orobos said first.

"Maybe they redecorated. This doesn't look like anything in the schematics." Gates responded.

"Screw it." said Tanus. "Someone hack that computer."

Mako trundled over, and was about halfway into the system when contacts appeared all around the squad.

"Aw, damn." Garryll cursed. He ducked into the indentation of the wall with Mako housing the computer, and started firing at the hostiles.

They were walking back down one of the corridors Himself and
Mako covering from the rear as Tanus and Gates moved quickly on the front.

He had his heavy blaster switched on to full auto. He sent a rapid burst of bolts felling to of the men following them up the corridor. As they moved back a bit farther slowly losing the enemies following them keeping them back with bursts of fire. He switched the rifle back to single shot knowing he would deplete the power cell quickly if he kept it on full.

They passed a couple of doors none of which stood out. Each had it's use labeled on it in red paint. Two of them where storage rooms.

The third an armory which they searched only to find a meagre supply of ammunition which was incompatible with their guns and one really rusted rifle which looked as though it would fall apart if they picked it up, which it did. The rest of the racks were completely empty.

They continued on encountering no one else but occasionally heard the thud of boots of in the distance. The traffic they picked up from the enemy radio became less frequent. The conversations they did manage to listen in on had little meaning and most of them were hardly legible because of the roar of the static which would drown out every second word or so.

After about fifteen minutes or so they reached another junction with a small service hatch leading of the opposite corridor. They opened it to find a bunch of pipes and wires behind in and a small cramped corridor with a control panel half hidden behind the wires. Mako moved in towards it as the rest of the squad stood at the mouth to cover him.

Orobos just didn't hope it would take him too long. The enemy obviously knew they were here and every second they spent wandering around these corridors was just more time for their target to escape.

Alater whipped his head around as heard the scream. The smell of blood and guts filled the air, dead bodies all around him. He had long ago dropped all but his sword, slicing through the enemy. Blood filled his veins and his eyes as he felt the powers of the Krsst fill him like never before. He saw things almost before they happened, moved as fast as he could think. His senses were heightened to a higher level than before, the screams of the dying sending shivers through his spine.

Moving like lightning he bursted from a behind a tree to find Rike, guts spilled out on the ground, and Doc hovering over him, a haunted look on his face. He had seen that look before, when Doc had seen Alater's scars open on their second mission together. It was the look of fear and pain in his eyes, something Alater never wanted to see there ever again.

"Doc!" He barked out, calling him in Barabese by accident and heat of the moment. He looked up, and started to say something before turning back down to Rike. Alater could see already that the trooper was gone, too much damage had been done.

"He's gone Brother, they have taken him from us. Let us take from them ten fold." Alater whispered to Doc, placing a clawed hand on his shoulders as he began to tear through his kit, seeming not to hear him.

"Not lost Brother, not lost." He mumbled, applying bacta patches to the wound, only removing what shrapnel he could see easily wasn't touching anything vital.

As he barked out orders and turned back to Rike, Alater tried to pull him away, concerned for his leader and Brother.

"That's an order Sergeant! Move your scaley ass and get them out of there! NOW!" He screamed. Alater left at a dead run.

Blackout and Wicket met him, trying to match his speed, but only Black came close. Alater moved through the entrance, Long Fang spinning in a long arc to catch the one enemy standing there headless. Blaster bolts flew over his shoulder, but he didn't notice, he wasn't blind. The lights were out, but he could see still. He moved towards the next entrance, only to meet with a small squad of men.

With the fury of the Krsst, he moved on them from behind. They were all paying attention to the opposite door and didn't notice until the first one screamed, Long Fang lodged between his shoulder blades. Alater didn't have time to remove the sword, and spun to the right while unsheathing a long blade. He sunk the blade deep within the gut of an astronished enemy, whom tried to remove the blade, burried to the hilt, from his gut.

A blaster bolt flew to his right, and three more responded as Wicket rounded the corner. Black rolled to avoid a stray shot and dropped one of the six left with a well placed shot to the head. The blood, everywhere, only served to enhance Alater's bloodlust and strength. He rounded on another enemy that looked up at him in fear. One blaster bolt, two, hit Alater's left shoulder, but he didn't notice, he was too far into the Krsst. A resounding thud responded as he slammed the now body into the wall.

Alater whipped his tail around, catching two left in the chest. Sprawling on the floor they were easy targets for Wicket and Black. Somebody said something about his wound, but he payed no attention. Doc would get it later, or it would heal on its own.

"This is Sergeant Alater to Dark Dragoons, repeat this is Alater, respond." He called out on the shared channel of the two squads. A minute passed before he got a response.

"Yea," came Tanus' voice followed by a stream of blaster shots, "This is DD. What do yall need, we're kinda in a jam here."

"The mission is a bust, repeat the mission is a bust. Gamma squad is here to pull you out. Where are yall?" Alater asked, and waited for a response. It never came, the line went to static. Alater was about to start running down the hall when the door infront of them opened.

"Heya, what's going on?" Tanus asked, turning to scream for somebody to shut the door as two more enemies ran towards it.

"The mission is a bust, and we're here to pull you out. Doc will explain later, but we must leave." He said, and started headed back towards the entrance.