(Ok carrying on the story that can be found here: http://www.vastempire.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000114.html)     Raziel frantically tapped away at the board…he almost had it. Suddenly he swung to his feet and drew a knife; he had reacted purely to instinct to a sound. He could now clearly make out the sounds of 2 men fumbling with the controls on the room’s back door.         “Damnit!” he whispered. Fury had gone to help the others and guard the door, and people had arrived from the other one.     The guard fumbled in his jacket pocket to retrieve the correct card. Fortunately neither of these two were feeling like fighting. Basically they wanted out of here and fast. Finally he got the door open and it revealed and empty room.     “Maybe if we hide here, they might leave before finding us!”     “Good idea” the two went about hiding themselves, neither noticing the small device in the terminal socket.     Raziel carried on his typing above the movable tiles that made up the rooms ceiling. He was well aware of the 2 men’s movements and could react to anything they did. Finally he managed to reach the data he needed. He gasped as the information flashed across the screen, the rosters, and the sheer size of their movements!     Raziel hastily made 3 copies of the information. He then drew his packed away his equipment and drew a combat knife and the pistol. He listened out with his keen ears and positioned himself accordingly, all in complete silence.     Raziel slid back a soft tile and dropped into the room. He came down from above one of the men who was looking around the room. The other soldier was standing in the corner fully alert. As Raziel dropped he slashed down with his left hand. The knife, with the added force of Raziel’s fall slashed straight through his neck.     As the first of the two cowards fell to the ground, blood spurting from his neck the other raised his weapon. Raziel hit the ground moving and dived to one side, putting a table between himself and the other soldier. Raziel came to his feet and raised his pistol. His moved incredibly fast and with a fluidity of movement that betrayed great agility. He aimed at the central body mass and fired three times. He let the weapons recoil adjust his aim so that the three shots hit him in the chest, neck and head.     Calmly Raziel replaced his weapons and walked towards the door, taking the remote transmitter from the terminal as he went. He shouted out to Fury before opening the door.     “Its me, Raziel. I’m coming out!”     When Raziel came out he saw fury a few metres from the door looking down at some pad he was holding. Raziel walked over to him and passed one copy of the information to him.     “Ok time to get out of here, the transport is moving in now.”     That had been the plan all along. As soon as Raziel had the information he would make 2 copies and give one to Fury. This way if one of them went down the information could still be recovered. They would then both make their way to the arranged meeting point. The 1st of 2 transports would pick them up there, the 2nd would wait for the rest of the troopers to finish off their work and get out.     Fury and Raziel headed off to the elevators to make their way up to the top floor. Cosmic had something planned for the only 2 elevators so Fury opened the doors and they climbed. When they reached ground floor they split up as instructed to make sure at least one set of data got back. =================================================================== (The Enemy flagship in orbit)     “Sir they’re shooting at any bombers and fighters we send down, they’ve taken over our AA guns.”     “Damn” the captain replied. “Are most of the troops down?”     “Yes sire. They were forced to land 3 miles from the base to keep safe; they’re on their way now. 30mins max.”     “Good,” Purred the captain. “If all else fails we’ll have to bombard the base and kill our men regardless. There’s too much at stake here.” ===================================================================     The defenders braced themselves as the lifts descended down to their floor. They knew they would have to sell their lives dearly in order to keep their leaders safe. They were the General’s personal bodyguards and they weren’t about to give up. They’d set up heavy repeaters and defences all aimed at the only way down. Two elevator shafts.     The two turbo-lifts stopped and the men took aim. The following explosion shook the whole building. One floor up Snake screamed in joy as his explosives went off, he was beginning to enjoy himself.     As the guards began to pick themselves up stormtroopers burst the doors, guns blazing. They may not be the subtlest of soldiers, but when it came to straight blitz attacks no one came close.     “Fall back!” someone shouted. They knew they couldn’t hold their current position and they would have to regroup somewhere further back. The lieutenant had lost some good men, but he wasn’t about to let these stormtroopers get at his leader! (Story needs wrapping up soon. Fury and me need to escape to transport coming in. Rest of troops need to escape to another transport with hostages before the incoming army arrives and overpowers us.)

Cosmic was lying on the stairwell, right after he got grazed from a laser blast on his shoulder.  Just a little graze though. He quickly got up and motioned his troops to follow.  Cosmic came to a corner and peeked around it....Two guards. Cosmic quickly did a summersault roll and fired his Stormtrooper Rifle.  The guards fell and Cosmic nodded to his squad.  They all ran all around the room, checking to make sure therer wasn't any vital information that was going to help them.  Cosmic came to a computer consol and started typing in commands. He popped up the map of the facility and motioned his troops to come and see.  "Ok.  The two elevators that lead down to the Intelligance room three stories below us are about three hundred feet from here." Cosmic squinted...."That corridor.." Said Cosmic pointing.  The troopers nodded, looked, then looked back to Cosmic. "Ok, here's the plan.  Jedi, and Raziel, come with me.  Epic, Montys, and Yellowfive, you will be team two.  Ok here's the deal: My group, team one, will go down the first elevator which leads to the front of the Intelligence room.  Team two will get onto the second elevator, which leads to the back of the Intelligence room.  We'll make an assault from both front and back areas of the room.  Total surpise attack. Any questions?....Good.  Let's go." Cosmic and his team went into the first elevator and team 2 went on the second.  Simultaniously, they pushed the button that read: Deck 3 - Intelligence
 
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AAS-4/SL/1LT Cosmic/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE [OPE][OTH][OPA][IH][CDS][IOC]
Dark Jedi Knight Cosmic/VEDJ Academy/VCF Deathscythe [VP]

  Raziel slipped from cover to cover on the top floor of the building. With the information safely with him or Fury they simply had to get away to the first hidden transport and get to the nearest safe port. They had split up to make sure at least one copy of the Data got back.   The other two inner orbit transport were now miving undetected into the valley for the rest of the VE troops. Currently Cosmic and most of the 1st platoon were fighting it out in the bowels of the building in an attempt to capture the officials hiding. FA and IH were still holding out outside...but not for long.   There was a crackle as Fury's voice came over the comms. "Ok everyone, we now have about 15 minutes to E & E, we are not going to use the 3rd evac plan as the mission is near completion. As soon as you have captives escape to the nearest trasports...you know where they are. Me and Raziel will be clear with the information soon!" The comms clicked off, but Fury's voice remained. "Raziel, i am now leaving the building. I'll meet you at the transport. Whatever you do, get out safe ok?" "yeah i hear you" Raziel replied. "I'm 5 minites to nearest exit. See you at the transport soon" Raziel clicked off the comms and headed off again.   Before he got far a dark shadow dropped from behind him, Raziel was saved by the sound of a sharp blade cutting the air. Barely dodging a strike from a short sword, but losing his gun Raziel turned to regard his enemy. Raziel knew immediately it was an assasin. From his garb and weaponry mostly, his movements also betrayed that he was a good one. The master assassin stepped forward as Raziel drew his knives in his usual right hand-knife grip and left hand-sword grip. Raziel had spent 10 years as one of the best assassins in his sector. He wasnt about to give up. By the speed of his opponents movements however he found that he may be in trouble. His knives moved in perfect harmony, but still he was forced onto the defensive.... (ok lets wrap this up before the next chapter...please leave the assassin alone, im setting him up as a nemesis )

    Raziel backed away, ducking and weaving as the sword short slashed and cut about his body. So far the assassin had not been able to penetrate his defences, but Raziel could see the signs of defeat now. He was an expert in blade fighting, and his knives functioned as extensions of his arms at times…however this master assassin was equally skilled and he wasn’t tiring as fast as Raziel was.     Raziel noticed when the assassin moved his hand in a blur towards his clothing. Raziel recognised this as a move towards a concealed weapon. When the decoy thrust came Raziel positioned himself well and his left hand was already moving.     The assassin’s hand emerged with a small throwing knife, but before he could throw Raziel’s knife had sliced at his forearm. The assassin jumped back and lowered his weapon. Raziel did likewise. “Get out of my way and you can live.” The assassin purred through clenched teeth Raziel looked at him confused then realised the assassin’s position. He had been here maybe to deliver a message or guard someone. He had not expected a whole platoon or two of stormtroopers to land on him. He was now running to save his own life.     Raziel knew he should have accepted the offer, but for some reason he didn’t. This man he realised was possibly the most dangerous man working for the enemy…Raziel had been an expert assassin and he now knew that this man was better. Partly out of pride Raziel attacked, Fury still had half of the data and if Raziel failed they would still succeed. Partly he also did it out of foolish pride. ==============================================================     Fury stared out of the shuttle-landing ramp at the destruction about him. Most of the base had been ruined now and a bombardment from space had begun. The sky was tinted red by the destruction. Even now enemy troops were marching towards the abandoned building. He knew that there they would find a lot of bodies…some missing officials and Raz. “Damnit”     He was brought back to full alertness as a sniper rifle cracked near his right ear. “That got him!” the FA were laughing as a whole platoon of troops a few miles away ducked for cover as their commander lost his head. They had obviously decided to take a few pot shots to slow down the oncoming army to slow them down before leaving. Fury switched on the comms: “Raziel if you can hear me, you have 5 minutes to get out before we leave. If you get outside we can probably cover you to the shuttle. Hurry”     Fury knew this was the wrong thing to do. He should leave now. The prisoners were secure in a shuttle off-world and he had at least half of the information. But 5 minutes he was sure they could spare. He turned and went back inside the shuttle as they went for the final passes over the building. The dorr slammed shut with a hiss behind him. ==============================================================     Raziel heard the message, but didn’t have the time or breathe to reply. He had been fighting hard now to keep up his defence and was beginning to tire. Even now as he parried and overhead slash and struck in low with the left knife he was slowing.     If the assassin knew what the situation was outside he would have slowed the tempo down and finished Raz in time. He didn’t know that most of the VE troops had evacuated and were leaving the planet.     In a sudden blur of movement that even Raziel’s sharp eyes couldn’t follow the assassin parried a knife, span and smashed Raziel with a backhand punch. Raziel went down, vision blurring.     The assassin made a lame attempt to finish Raziel off, but Raz had the agility to move himself out of the way. And anyway this was only a trooper, even if he was pretty quick.     As the assassin slipped away the still dazed Raziel screamed after him. He got in one knife throw before he fell to the floor again. He didn’t get to see that the knife actually hit the assassin in the arm, badly injuring him.     The assassin had won and Raziel was lucky to be alive, even if he was sprawled on the floor. ==============================================================     Fury finally issued the order to leave; the 2nd shuttle was already in the upper atmosphere, although they were currently experiencing technical difficulties.     “Fury I’m still around, haven’t left without me have you?”     “Where the hell have you been? Where are you and what condition are you in?” Fury almost shouted     “I’m not too bad, a few cuts and bruises. I believe I just ran into that master assassin we heard of, trust me he’s good! I’m at the southern exit, I see an awful lot of troops coming my way, any chance of cover?”     Fury gave the order to make one final pass over the installation.

  Raziel sat in the back of the transport, he was almsot completely out of energy. It shuddered violently as the ship was put under a maneuver it shouldn't have been able to do.   Raziel reflected on what had basically been a bodged up job of an infiltration mission. They had got in clean, but had simply underestimated the ememies response time. They hadn't got out cleanly at all.   The enemy troops had been well organised and well equiped. Although Raziel had not seen it himself the fighting in the bowels of the building had been intense. Enemy soldiers had given their lives in an attempt to save their officiers.   However the main thing that Raziel remembered was the cold dark eyes of the Enemies Master Assassin. Raziel had never met someone so good with a blade and he was sure he was a better Assassin than Raziel had been. However Raziel had taken a vow...revenge would be taken. That man could have killed any number of VE officials before now.   If they would get away now the mission could still be a success. They had the data disks and both the Army and Intelligence officials had been capture by Cosmic and his men. Apparantly one Army general had shot himself rather than being captured...Raziel shuddered. He had briefly seen the information on those disks...whoever they were fighting they were powerful...extremely powerful.   The shuttle shuddered again, but this time Raziel knew not from a tight turn.   "Christ we've been hit...BAD!" Jingo shouted from the console.   "War woman how bad is it??" shouted Fury.   "We've lost propulsion and shields...life support won't hold out long. Sensors almost gone." screamed War women.   "We're gonners!" shouted Jingo.   The shuttle rolled out of control through space, closely followed by a corvette class ship. The ships eratic movement saved it from any further hits, but their luck wouldnt last.   "Report all! any hope?" Fury shouted Raziel knew they had no hope and braced himself for the worst. God he hated space journeys!   "Sensors have got a spike sir! Yes multiple ships dropping out of hyper space now!   "Damn sensors of gone now. The last thing i saw was an incoming fighter!" War woman shouted as loud as possible over the noise, but struggled.   Out of the viewing port Raziel saw ships...lots of ships. He grinned however as he recognised a star destroyer and wings of Tie fighters.   "We're stabalising...sensors back up."   "Godamn! look! half of the fleet must be here!"   The navy had come out in a dazzling display of force. The High commmand had pulled lots of stops to get the information back home. Even now attack craft were coming out of hyper drive to pick up the shuttle. The ships comms crackled online: "Shuttle craft do you come in?"   "We hear you!" Fury called back.   "Good to see you got out in one piece, don't worry we've already picked up the other two shuttles. Give us a few minutes and we'll have you docked. VSD out!" (ok thats about it. if anyone has anything to add to the aftermath  feel free. In a few days ill do a final post that will conclude everything)