Rendili

[Aaron Starkiller]

Aaron stood up removing his hands from the heads of the two Warmongers he had made easy work of. There were no visible wounds but Aaron’s hands were covered in the creatures’ blood, showing that he had used the phasing technique he had become so fond of recently. He used precise Force blasts to blow the blood off of his hands before absorbing the shock from the thermal detonators with his knees. “This should be fun,” he said to himself as the three Sith charged him shortly after. He gave a quick nod, letting her know he could handle these three and leaving her to deal with the newly arrived beasts.

Aaron held his hands out to his sides as if inviting the three Sith in for an embrace. When they reached him, however, two lightsabers fell from his sleeves and into his palms. With two consecutive snap-hiss sounds the silver blades came to life in his hands, and with simultaneous humming the blades came up and caught two strikes from two of the Sith. The third stopped in his tracks and was lifted a meter off the ground and clutching at his throat.

These three were obviously accustomed to fighting as a group and Aaron knew that. The key to easily winning this battle would be to keep them apart as much as possible. They were also experienced as proven by the danger sense that traveled up Aaron’s spine as the incapacitated Sith pulled the Force around himself and sending a tremendous blast of Force energy at Aaron. Reacting quickly Aaron sent out his own force blast, matching the Sith’s and then some sending the man into and through the durasteel wall of the building he and his men at leapt from.

Returning his attention to the two Sith surrounding him, Aaron disengaged his lightsabers from their respective locks and focused on the warrior to his left. He relentlessly battered at the man’s defenses, forcing him to continuously step backwards to defend against the brutal flurry of attacks. His comrade was almost jogging in his attempt to stay in the duel and occasionally sent precise swipes at Aaron’s back, all of which were parried blindly before Aaron resumed his attack on the prior target.

---

Shaking his head to clear it Azeroth stumbled out of the same hole in the building he had entered through just in time to see the demise of his two men. The Force user they had attacked suddenly thrust one of his sabers backwards into the thigh of the warrior behind him, following the attack with spinning himself behind him and decapitating him. Before the warrior’s body hit the ground it was sent flying into the other Sith who threw it away out of frustration and was quickly stabbed through the heart by a silver lightsaber that was in the hand of the Force user.

Azeroth was consumed by rage when his men were killed. Not because he was upset over losing them but because this fool of a man thought he could best them. Reigniting his blade he began to run swiftly across the courtyard before launching himself like a spear, his lightsaber held out in front of him, at the man.

---

Aaron turned in time to see the remaining Sith flying towards him and was able to take only a glancing blow to the cheek as he leaned out of the way. He was on the Sith instantaneously holding the emitter nozzle of his now unignited lightsaber to the man’s spine while the other, still ignited, was held millimeters in front of his throat.

“I have I message I want you to deliver,” Aaron whispered into the man’s ear with a gravelly voice. “Tell your master if I feel anymore of your people breathing down my neck I’ll be coming for him next. Although, how you tell him that without your mouth is up to you.” With that Aaron moved his blade up into Azeroth’s face, removing his lower jaw.

Dropping the now unconscious man onto the ground, Aaron made his way back to the others. He had to give credit where credit was due. Even with the unimaginable pain of losing part of his face the Sith warrior hadn’t screamed once… even if he could.

[Dangerous Wave's Corporation]

The VaLCAT transport which had been assigned rendezvous duty with the away had launched from the Faustus almost as soon as the marines and Thruvarans had boarded, their trip towards Rendili had been purposeful but carefully conducted so as to not draw attention, considering the actions Faustus took to draw attention to themselves and the other problems the unknown fleet seemed to be having the transport captain and his co-pilot didn't think their departure and approach to Rendili had been noticed.

However to further keep from drawing attention the Transports crew were going to do a combat re-entry, entering Rendili's atmosphere at speeds faster then normal and advisable and therefore appearing to most sensors as a piece of debris from battle rather then an entering ship.

"Buckle up back thre..it might get a little rough" The Captain warned over the ships PA system as they closed in on Rendili's atmosphere.

"Lovely" Khai stated after the captain's announcement, her lekku twitching slightly, in her expiriencs 'might get a little rough' pretty much meant the jolting equivilent of an old school theme park ride...without the fun.

"Aw don't worry Khai" Kader told her as he buckled himself in "Just think about all the fun we'll have when we get there" he concluded with a wink to which she merely rolled her eyes.

"Alright people" Darren stated as he snapped his last buckle into place "Get your acting out done now, I want game faces on by the time we reach the surface"

[The Thruvarans]

Contrary to the ValCAT's pilot's predictions, things didn't get bumpy until the split second the dropship hit Rendili's atmosphere, which nearly ejected most of the passenger's stomach's out of their mouths. Leading up to this, unbeknownst to the sequestered passengers in the drop hold, was the sheet of fire licking the belly of the transport as it continued to drop. Luckily, her particle shields held the atmospheric friction at bay, at the same time allowing the illusion of debris burning up in the upper atmosphere.

The occupants of the hold seemed pretty grim...the Thruvarans in their armor, mag-locked to the bulkhead, and the mercs in conventional crash webbing. Only the Scholls seemed to be talking, though they were doing it with their visors down and via private channel. By the way they were tapping the gauntlets of their suits against their armored knees, they were probably singing.

Noticing this only caused Konrad to roll his eyes, and he opens a private channel to the both of them.

<<The both of you should take the Corellians' advice and take this little more seriously.>>

Their response is preceded by a blast of the suspected, and now confirmed, music. Konrad winces and has to mute the channel. Evidently, Marek, the respondent, seems quite content to let the music play a while before he actually responds...

"-be friendly fire
Body count's a mountain on a bed of barbed wire, coldly stacked
As soon as the morning light has broken, then we attack
If nobody tries too hard to kill you
I got your back-"

<<Sorry, old man. Didn't want to leave you out of the fun. Should've asked sooner....>>

Konrad shakes his head inside his closed visor, something which is somehow evidence in the timber of his response.

<<The both of you have the silliest taste in music.>>

<<Oh, this is only part of it,>> Lukas pipes up. <<We like all that ancient stuff you like, too. You know, where they bang against rocks and hollow logs and such.>>

<<More like wailing on electric quetarra's, then smashing them into our amps, youngling....which you're tempting me into doing with your skulls as soon as this mag harness let's me go.>>

The Scholls converse again privately, obviously enjoying some joke on Konrad's expense.

<<As you wish, oh Metal Master. But you should try and upgrade to music where you can at least understand the music.>>

Another jolt threatens to jettison the crew out of the roof just then. The pilot announces over the PA: "Close call with Rendili anti-air....nothing to worry about, folks. Looks like we'll have you in the outskirts of the city in 2 minutes. Deploy left and right out of the side hatches, have someone check your jumpers before you do."

The ValCAT has made it through the relative danger of the atmospheric reentry and has now settled into low-altitude terrain flying to avoid anti-air defenses and sensor sweeps. Ahead, the spires of the capital city, smoke and fire billowing out from beneath, grow closer.

Seconds later, contact is reestablished with the Faustus, and the bridge crew informs the pilot that the jamming signal has been eliminated. The pilot immediately questions the Prowler's flight control about the freighter crew that had brought the away team in the first place, only to receive an ambiguous answer: Contact was lost with the freighter. Moments later, they receive new orders, and the pilot relays this to the Thruvarans and mercs.

"Change of plan, ladies n gents. Recon surveillance indicates the area around the astro nav bureau is hot with anti-air. We'll be dropping you about a klick and a half from there, and you'll have to huff it further in. Meanwhile, we'll be checking out the last location of our freighter for any survivors. Comm us for pick up, standard encryption."

Victor, as squad leader, double clicks his comm in the affirmative, and orders the passengers to prepare for rapid debarkation. He pops his visor and looks over at Darren.

"Since you don't have jumpers, you may be interested in fast-roping down....or we could carry you....."

[Dangerous Wave's Corporation]

************Surface of Rendili*************

Things were going rather well to Ras' way of thinking, or at least thats what he was trying to tell himself as he helped Telera along...I mean sure this so called walk in the park mission had gone completely to hell, Telera was injured, communications with Faustus were jammed and they were being chased by sith injected rabid dogs but...oh who was he kidding "This is going down the fresher fast..." He muttered.

"What?" Telera asked as they hurried along towards the alley way, the Corellian marines covering them from the front, Vidown and Erika covering them from the rear. Although her eyes were pinched from the pain of her wounds Telera was attempting to make tracks as quickly as possible and with weapon in hand quite determined to help put a dent in the sith creatures.

"Just remarking on the wonderful walk in the park this mission has turned out to be" Ras remarked with a wry look on his face.

"I'm sure Faustus has deployed reinforcements as soon as they realized there was trouble" Jethro piped up and while Ras agreed he also had to point out that none of them knew the size of the invaders fleet and it was quite possible Faustus was in the middle of her own battle. Before he could get these words out however Blaster fire from ahead of them broke up their conversation.

"Hostiles ahead" Came the unnecessary heads up from one of the Corellian Marines, a Corporal Ekiam if Ras' memory was right. "Jethro find us another kriffing way to the rendezvous" Ras ordered having taken stock of the warmongers in a quick glance. "We'll blow a hole in one of these damn buildings if we need to" he elaborated while depositing Telera behind a dumpster for cover while Jethro huddled in a divet of the buildings architecture attempting to find them a different route.

"Going to have trouble from this way shortly boss" Vidown yelled up to him in his always calm voice "Bunch of Sithspawn coming from the alleys across the way, about to overrun our force users" He continued and Ras cursed, though he was too busy pouring fire into the warmongers advancing from the front to check on the situation behind.

"Cover them as best you can and keep me appraised" Ras responded as he and Telera along with the two Marines attempted to thin out the opposition barring their pathway to the rendezvous point.

"We can blast a hole in this building here boss and make our way...." A beep interrupted Jethro's words for a few moments "Communication reestablished with Faustus Sir, Volcat en route with reinforcements, secondary teams location will be transmitted upon landing" Jethro relayed this over the teams earbuds so that Taaru and the others would hear as well.

"Great Jeth...no what were you saying about blasting the building?" Ras remarked and Jethro got back to the business at hand "right...this building is basically a long string of connected stores...we can make our own alleyway through them and possibly avoid a few ambushes like this one." He suggested.

"Great...Telera..Jeth get on that" Ras ordered and the two Mercs began to set the explosives. Up ahead the same Marine who had earlier warned them of the impending danger stuck his head out from behind cover for just a second too long. "Ekiam!" his partner cried out as the man crumpled to the ground.

"Stay where you are!" Ras ordered the other young marine in a harsh voice before he ran to check on his friend and got himself killed as well "And get back to work" He continued shouting at the Marine "Do your Kriffing job!" and although Ras was sure the young Marine wasn't pleased with him right now he none the less stayed where he was and continued to try and hold the warmongers back while the others set the charges. Ras didn't much care hat the Marine thought of him..he wasn't here to be the kids friend after all.

[Commander Natherax]

Slowly muffled sound of blaster fire and shouting filled the black void inside Azeroth's mind.. Thins splits of red light began to filter in as his eyelids dragged to open, sound still muddled the smells of burnt flesh flushed into his nostrils. The ground shook, through the red haze over his eyes he could make out the body of one of the Warmongers, its tongue drooping from its open maw of razor sharp teeth, the creature obviously dead.
Blinking his eyes open again trying to clear the red hues He shook his head. Big mistake. Pain shot through his body like a solar flare consuming a planet. Shuddering violently against the pain his hands shot to his mouth, they splashed against the charred flap of flesh dangling from where his lower jaw used to be.. Recollection flooded his mind as the event leading to his jaws dismemberment filled his head. The Force user, his warning, The death of his two companions.
Rage then took the place of his pain, Rage turning to udder hatred, drawing on the dark side of the force he rolled over and jumped to his feet, the rest of his body assumably uninjured for the most part. Looking about him he could tell the battle was moving on, fire bursting from several of the squares buildings.

Three warmongers rushed past him in the direction of the combat, closely followed by the rest of their pack. Azeroth looked to the ground, his light saber laid at his feet, stooping he picked it up and turned away from the battle field. slowly walking back toward the base camp of WB-1. Fumbling his comm unit out he lifted it to speak, but the gurgle of blood was the only sound he could produce. swearing mentally he tossed the comm unit aside and grabbed his mouth once more, then took off running.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scout reports began to trickle into the Chaos Marine stronghold under WB-1. The Warmongers were encountering force users.
One of the commanding officers, Major Gaberial Charger, Glanced over at his familiar, a skeleton looking human old as the ground they walked on.
What do you think Masamune? Should we join in the fray?
The aged man lifted his bony fingers.
As assuredly as the coming darkness.. Night will bring the battle to you.. Major...

The major grinned.
I was hoping you would say that.
Slapping the comm-unit on his gloved hand with his other he barked into it.
Tighten up the perimeter, we're taking Axel and Scythe squads into the city again. Our dogs are getting kicked.

Moments later the two company's of 8 marines and a Sergeant each marched back into the city, Accompanied by Major Gaberial and the man named Masamune.

[Dangerous Wave's Corporation]

Darren arched a brow at the Thruvaran squad leader "Thanks" he replied dryly "But I think we'll manage on our own" he stated and even as he spoke Bella and Khai had busied themselves with snapping the fast rope anchors into place while the rest of the team positioned themselves into equal sized groups one to deploy on each side of the vessel.

Making his way to the spot reserved for him - Darren who would disembark first, made one final visual check on his team and their gear. "Nik...once we hit the ground appropriate some sort of vehicle, can't be left too far behind our mechanical friends here" he stated while bracing against the wind as the side hatches opened and the Transport came to hovering stop.

Not bothering to wait for a response, Darren already knew what it would be he started his descent, followed quickly by the rest of his team. Upon hitting the ground Darren and Bella who had been first down on the opposite side covered their comrades and then regrouped along the side of a building while Nik and Khai went to work on a nearby hovercar that didn't seem damaged.

"How long on that security system Nik?" Darren asked him over the com unit "just a few more moments.." Came Niks reply. "Good...Rex see if you can get a hold of Ras and get a real progress report"

[The Thruvarans]

Marek, watching the outboard cam feed off the ValCAT's wireless, is the first on his feet as the jump lights goes from red to green, and the mag harnesses release the armored Thruvarans from their lock ups in the jump bay.

His twin brother is shortly behind him, and the two busy themselves with a quick visual inspection of each others jumppacks as they stack up at the exit door.

As the ValCAT skims treetops above the municipal park serving as their el zed, the pilot cues the landing sequence which slides the jump bay doors back. A wave of hot, dry air blasts into the bay: Had they there visors up and their suits depressurized, the Thruvarans would smell a combination of burning wood, composite plastics and ferrocrete....the bouquet you'd expect from a city under siege.

The Corellians are out first....for reasons the Thruvarans don't really understand. It only makes sense for the armor to be on the ground first, since they were in no danger of succumbing to small arms fire. Squishy and unprotected Corellians sliding down a rope, on the other hand, were the carnival shooting gallery dream for enemy sharpshooters. Laszlo can only trust that the pilot and flight control have picked them a safe el zed.

As the last Corellian disappears over the lip of the jump bay, it is the Thruvarans turn. Victor signals the first pair to disembark. Marek and Lukas are happy to oblige, hefting the heavy cover shields acquired from their wall mounts, and taking a running start before flinging themselves feet first out into the open air beyond the dropship.

They fire jumpjets half way down to break their fall, landing smoothly and dropping to a knee, back to back and shields facing out, expecting initial resistance.

The second pair of suits is on the ground with shields shortly thereafter, and most of the Thruvarans are already on the ground while the mercs regrouped and readied their gear.

Only 6 were equipped with the heavy shields....a precaution during hot insertions, and particularly suited to urban combat. The rest would have to make do with the less impregnable riot shields built into their MACS.

Laszlo takes inventory of their surroundings and orders a visual sweep on multiple spectra, which the members of his squad do almost instinctively. Infrared shows intermittent fires throughout the immediate area, but nothing indicative of enemy units or weapons systems. EMF yields even less.

"All clear," Laszlo concludes on the channel shared between the mercs and the Thruvarans. To his own team: <<Stack up with the Corellians, and get your I-fields up.>>

The Thruvarans, still on alert, shuffles their way over to where the mercs have begun fiddling with civvie fast-movers for their own transportation.

On the move, the finally vent the excess non-ionizing Minovski radiation from their suits, forming the secondary I-fields that lend additional protection against DEWs. Visible only in certain spectra, the fields also have the benefit of interfering with most low-band sensors and comms...a site remedied by the suits LOS maser, which the Thruvarans are using to radio their Corellian counterparts, while using the sound scrubber to amplify incoming messages.

The Thruvarans form a perimeter around the mercs, offering themselves as hard cover...which, by design, they are supposed to be.

Laszlo comms Darren: "I suggest you contact your contemporaries with the away team...we don't know if they've moved away from the Astro Nav Bureau yet...and so that we can get underway...."

[Taaru Masako]

Masako is just finishing with another pair of saber-wielding warmongers that had attacked him as a pair when Jethro's voice in his right ear informs him the jamming signal has ceased and contact with the Faustus has been reestablished.

He is unable to do much about is, because his hands are busy with sinking his sabers into the chest of the last gray he had been previously dealing with. The creature flares its opposing mandibles, surprised at the uselessness of its armor, bearing its needle-sharp teeth as its last breath escapes it with a wet gurgle. The warmonger's knees buckle and it collapses...Taaru's cue to withdraw his blades, smouldering for split seconds as the creature's blood is vaporized from them.

He takes note of his surrounding, batting away more blaster fire from the warmongers that have found cover near low-lying walls and statues in the plaza opposite the Corellians. But he sees no more sword-wielders, and convinced his martial prowess has now exhausted itself, he switches one of his sabers into shield mode and uses it to cover his retreat as he steps back towards the alcove where his charges are holed up.

Reaching one of the previously functional speeder bikes, now little more than improvised cover, he vaults over it, finding Miko behind it, slamming a new power pack into a blaster rifle. Masako deactivates his sabers and stows them on his shoulder harness before taking cover beside Miko and drawing one of his blasters.

Miko looks up, <<You heard?>>

<<Yes, any word from the team they are sending?>>

<<No, not yet.>>

Taaru swears something particularly colorful before blind firing around the side of the speeder, a move quickly met by a hail of blaster fire striking the speeder and the ferrocrete, spraying molten flecks of metal and rock everywhere.

<<What are they doing?>>

Taaru nods over at Jet's people, their shouting indistinguishable form the general chaos of battle.

<<Last I heard, they were going to put a hole through these buildings for an extraction.>>

<<And they were planning on doing this with explosives?!>> Taaru inquires, watching Jethro pulling aforementioned objects out his pack and readying them for use. <<Isn't that a bit danger close?>>

Miko looks around the confined space of the alleyway, and simply shrugs: <<Since when have Corellians cared about danger close?>>

Taaru shakes his head before switching his blaster to semi-auto and standing, grabbing a saber and engaging the shield mode to protect him as he picks his targets and nails two warmongers in their unprotected necks across the street.

The rest of the pack drops into cover as a result, giving him enough time to back up to Jethro.

"Put those away!" He shouts at him in Basic, disengaging the saber's shield and holding the extinguished hilt up towards an adjacent building.

The gesture, his fist aimed at the wall, culminates in a mostly circular section of the solid reinforced ferrocrete wall cracking into a million splinters, before caving inward, dust billowing out in both directions.

Projecting his voice through their combined comm channel, he bellows: "There's our exit, everybody in! Aaron, up front and keep making holes until there aren't walls left!"

His order given, he turns to cover the retreating group with blaster fire and shield cover.


Taaru rolls his eyes, looking from cover at both Aaron and Erika, two people who could make the "hole in the wall" plan a lot less complicated with a mere thought.

[Dangerous Wave's Corporation]

Jethro rolls his eyes slightly at Taaru while he takes care of the wall before looked at Ras "You know why working with force users can be a pain in the ass?" He asked the man, not bothering to lower his voice since Jethro doesn't much care if Taaru hears him or not.

"why's that Jeth?" Ras responds though he's busy helping Tylera through the hole in the wall while Vidown glares daggers at Jethro to get him moving and help provide cover. "They never let you have any fun" Jethro continued to grumble while Ras merely rolled his eyes "Just get your ass through the hole" he told him as he and Tylera made their way through followed by Jethro and Vidown. They waited in the cover of the building for Aaron to take point and repeat the wall trick, Ras passing Tylera to Jethro as his earbud's crackled slightly.

"Rex?" He questioned after a moment "Uh no, we're not at the plaza or on the roads...we're making our own path through a series of connected buildings" He glanced around "Commercial stores by the looks of it, we had a rendezvous with the freighter but no one's heard from them for a while now" He paused for a few moments "Tylera's injured and we've lost one of the Marines but rest of us are safe" another pause "Understood,sending coordinates now." The transmission clicked off and Ras looked at Taaru.

"Secondary team is planetside, their about a klick and a half from our original position in the plaza and heading our way, we should meet them about halfway to the point we had set up with the freighter which the Valcat is going to check up on, they didn't check in with Faustus when the communications were restored." Ras didn't think there was much point in elaborating on that fact, the freighters silence more then likely meant only one thing. It wasn't there anymore.

__________________________________________________

"Well?" Darren questioned when Rex clicked off, though he had gotten the gist of the conversation from Rex's side of things he still wanted to hear the details as they sped along in the stolen transports. The Thruvarans didn't have any trouble pacing them in their suits and thanks to the advanced sensors they had been able to avoid much of the fighting up to this point. Darren was looking to meet up with the other team as swiftly as possible. Even if it ment taking a couple detours when necessary.

"They're blowing a path through a chain of stores..here" He showed Darren the coordinates on an overlay map and Darren nodded "They had a rendezvous planned with the freighter but of course that looks to have been waylaid now, but we should be able to meet up ith them at about the halfway point..here" he pointed to a second point on the map. "Good...did they have an injury report?" He asked.

"Tylera's wounded but mobile, and one of the marines was killed but everyone else is still good" Rex responded and Darren nodded "Good..pass that info on to our friends" He nodded towards the Thruvarans and then tapped Nik on the shoulder "Pick it up a little" he told him and Nik obliged by speeding the transport up.

[The Corellian Navy]

"Helmsman, adjust to new orbit, 23 degrees positive of current vector."

"Aye captain, adjusting course."

Washburne adjusts his 360 degree HUD at the helm for the new course, then shifts the manual column to match the course. The view on the bridge HUD shifts appropriately, the new vector around Rendili newly represented onscreen. Glancing up, Washburne watches the AI add a new firing window and solution for the ISD 3 in geosynch over the capital city. as well as a timer counting down from 1 minute and 27 seconds.

In the myriad small actions it takes to keep the ship on course, he becomes aware of the new developments. As the timer ticks down, he makes adjustments to the Faustus's pitch when ordered to do so, programming a thruster stabilization for the imminent MAC volley.

Seconds later, the two brilliant lances of the composite beam cannons lash out against the ISD3, followed seconds afterward by 3 tungsten ferrite rounds.

Jeffrey does not see directly, just their representation on the bridge HUD....and with the perceptible shudder felt throughout the ship.

[Erika Freeborn]

Erika worked with Vidown to cover the group while they attempted to make their way to the redenvous point. Her saber flashed around as another Warmonger rushed at them. These blasted things were certainly slowing them down she thoughts as she deftly dodged its attacks moving to within striking distance. Slashing her lightsaber across its weak spot she stepped back as it fell to the ground. One less annoyance in the world she thought. With a quick glance out from the alley she saw a break in the attack, there wouldn't be any more trouble for a short time. Just enough to get a quick breather.

Turning she signaled to Vidown to keep an eye out while she checked on the others. Disengaging her saber she went to where the group was.

"Set her down." She said she she motioned towards Telera. There wouldn't be much time to do what she needed to do before that next wave reached them. Once Telera was put down on the ground Erika laid her hands over the wounds and looked into the womans eyes. Slowly closing her eyes she concentrated on the injured areas, letting the Force flow through her. This was something her grandmother had taught her. Her mother as well had had the gift of healing.

As the Force flowed through Telera's wounds it slowly mended what had been damaged. Or at least that's what it looked like. In actuality Erika was absorbing the wounds into her own body, thus healing them on Telera's. With a grimace of pain she opened her eyes. "Don't get yourself injured again." She told Telera's before making her way back to where Vidown was keeping an eye on the end of the alley. Her new wounds hurt like hell but she could work through the pain thanks to the Force. She hoped this would allow Telera to focus on the task at hand.

As the hole in the wall was blown out to make their escape route Erika braced herself. Another Warmonger rushed around the corner. Igniting her lightsaber she quickly dispatched of the damned beast then followed Vidown towards the hole, keeping an eye out for anything else that would try to stop them in their escape.

[Jet Almeara]

To her great credit, Jet had thus far refrained from pacing about the control room, even if she wanted to. She wasn't so much concerned with the state of the battle - Jet had quite allot of faith in the Prowlers design, and while Aralee might not operate in the same moral zone of herself (few did) Jet had chosen her for a reason. she was good at her job - no the ship would be fine. And the people on the ground? She'd chosen them for this specific purpose as well - but that didn't mean she didn't want to join them. Jet was spoiling for a fight, adrenaline was flowing through her veins and everything drummed into her head over her years with the DJO was screaming at her to flit off to the hanger and escape to the battlefront. It was against everything in Jet's nature to sit out a fight.

And yet here she was, standing stoic and unmoving in an out of the way location, arm's crossed while she seemed to be silently observing the happenings in the control room. This calm exterior was a facade however - something someone who knew her well, or someone who was observant enough might pick up on. Jet was deeply enmeshed in the force and her typically green eyes had flashed a pale ice blue as she used her resources to keep tabs on the groups below, picking out the force sensitives in each groups - Erika was easy to find and was Taaru and Aaron - all people with whom she'd had prolonged contact and knew well. Darren was a bit more difficult, but she pinpointed him in time, thusly assured that they were well Jet turned her attention from them to any other players in the field, the mental equivalent of force sensitive radar sweep, she ignored the low blips that probably represented force sensitives like Darren - aware perhaps but untrained,seeking evidence of other powerful presences. Clues perhaps as to just who might be behind this attack, something felt familiar about it - even if she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Jet felt as thought she ought to know who this was, but the full knowledge of this identity escaped her, shrouded perhaps by the individuals own will, if that was the case well...Jet would just keep picking until she found the weak door that would let her slip through his shroud.

[Dangerous Wave's Corporation]

To say Telera was thankful to the Dathomiri women was an understatement - she'd been rather bitterly angry about her predicament. Not so much because she was wounded and in pain - but because she was slowing the groups progress and putting her comrades in danger. Nodding her thanks to Erika, Telera didn't waste much time in getting herself back into position along side Ras.

Jethro who has witness the entire thing threw her an irritated look. "what?!" Telera asked him finally, not quite sure just what she'd done to irritate him.

"I JUST told Rex, that you were injured..." He explained, uttering a deep sigh and mumbling about how he'd have to send off a whole new report now.

"Oh shut -up" She told him, kicking a piece of rubble in his direction as he smirked at her and pretended to cower from her anger.

"Cut it out you too!' Ras ordered as he peered around the rubble to check on their situation. "How's that next hole coming along?"

[The Thruvarans]

Laszlo had just finished vaulting the still smoking wreckage of a public transportation shuttle when his heads-up display indicated a comm from one of the Corellians following in the appropriated hover truck.

A set of blinks and verbal cues revealed the contents: A waypoint highlight on his map, along with the legend "Away Team's Last Known Location".

Laszlo double clicks his comm to confirm receipt and passes it on to his own squad as they continue to navigate the debris-laden streets of the burning city. Arrayed in a rough wedge formation forward of the hovertruck, the Thruvarans makes best available time in their repulsorskate equipped power armor, while maintaining their situational awareness and scanning possible ambush sites in the different available spectra on their HUDs. Meanwhile, they were doing there best not to be noticed, keeping LOS comm chatter to a minimum and venting Minovski radiation every so often, jamming enemy communications and fooling sensors.

Despite advancing faster than a regular bipedal forced march, Laszlo was beginning to fear they were moving too slow. The Faustus had put out no imaging satellites, so he had no tacmap. Initial communication with the away team had quickly fallen silent after the last transmission, leading him to believe Taaru and the others were on the move and too busy with this latest plan to advance through storefronts.

Victor makes the hand gesture for the advance to slow as they near a 4 way intersection, tall buildings on all sides. It is an unnecessary gesture, considering the suits have integrated and encrypted comms...but he had had his training long before Masako had arranged for Thruvarans to be trained on MACS. Laszlo motions for the hover truck to stay back, and for two pairs of threes to stack up on either side of the boulevard they are advancing down: these orders are promptly carried out.

Finally, he points at Lukas and Marek.

<<Scholls....check I-fields and advance across to cover.>>

Despite the fact that he can't see their faces behind their visors, he knows they are sharing a knowing look.

<<Is this for the music earlier, Papa Bear?>> Lukas asks.

"Sofort, Jungs!"

<<Yessir>> they comm in unison, taking a second to check their I-field readouts before stepping out into the boulevard, bolters sweeping corners and their eyes skimming through vision modes, looking for any tell tale signs of an ambush.

They approach a blaster crater pounded into the ferrocrete, severed water lines spewing water into the and turning the dirt underneath to muck. Personal speeders are strewn about, abandoned or destroyed, and they use these for added cover.

<<Anything?>> Victor asks, his own bolter pointed down the boulevard to the right of their advance.

<<Not yet....going to check this blast crater,>> Marek responds.

Marek briefly sweeps the crater, then hops down in, disappearing from you...evidently it is quite deep.

<<Some kind of drop pod down here...unoccupied. Lukas, cover me while I try to get some info out of the onboard computer.>>

Lukas clicks his comm and pulls a spherical probe from his equipment belt, thumbing a button and throwing it in the air. The probe falls for a brief few seconds before coming to a stop above both their heads, and begins hovering about, unfurling various imaging sensors and giving the whole squad a 360 degree view of the immediate area.

Seconds pass as Marek busies himself with the drop pod's computer, synching it with his suit's OICCM and running diagnostic and slicing protocols.

Jorunn is next to speak: <<Why is is taking so long? Is this even necessary?>>

<<Patience>> responds Aleska. <<When this is over, we're going to want to know who's ships those are in orbit.>>

A frustrated sigh from Jorunn as she shifts in her suit for comfort, flicking through magnification modes on her synched sniper display. She would have continued her protests by the sound of that sigh, but she falls silent for a few seconds, before opening a comm.

<<Lukas, the red brick building with the crashed speeder in its roof at your 2 o'clock. Scan rightmost third story window. What's that heat signature?>>

Lukas takes a moment to figure out precisely what she means before shuffling to a new vantage point to aim the optics on his rifle down range.

<<Can't tell>> is the response. <<Could be a busted heating elem->>

He is cut short as a neon green shaft of light explodes against his shoulder, spinning and smashing him to the ground. Half the squad has already begun yelling and repositioning by the time the sound of the enemy marksman's weapon discharge catches up with the blaster round. Viktor orders one group of three to put tungsten ferrite down range at the spot Jorunn had noticed before, now revealed to be the powerpack of a sniper rifle. Their return fire is not meant for accuracy but suppression, enough time for Laszlo to escort Jorunn across the street to a new position while the second group of three covers them around the corner.

Jorunn and Laszlo slam up against the corner of the building opposite them.

<<Lukas! Are you there?>>

A groan over the comm: <<I'm okay. Suit function nominal. I-field splintered most of the Joules.>>

A sigh of relief from Laszlo. <<If you can get down in that hole with Marek, do it. Otherwise stay under cover.

Another lance of green light impact against the wall of the building a meter above Aleska's head, and her group of three scuffles behind cover, breaking their return fire momentarily.

Laszlo to Jorunn.

<<You saw where he is?>>

<<Yes>>

<<Did you have LOS?>>

<<Couldn't tell with the probe, but if you give me a second with my optics, I can put an AP through whatever wall he's behind.>>

<<Alright.....on three......one.....two......THREE!>>

Laszlo rounds the corner, rifle stocks mounted against his shoulder, and starts emptying a magazine at the red brick building, advancing across the street. As the first round from the enemy marksman explodes the door off a parked speeder, Jorunn takes a knee and turns the corner, bringing her rifle's optics to bear.

Laszlo makes it half way across the street before a shot clips his I-field, the green blaster bolt refracting into hundreds of tiny strings of energy, impacting harmlessly against his armor and nearby obstacles. However, the force of impact staggers him and he smashes into the hood of a speeder, the transparent aluminum window buckling beneath the impact.

But Jorunn has had all the time she needs to find her target, and puts two rounds through the brick wall where her intuition tells her the marksman is sitting. The impact of her shots spews brick dust into the air, and the noise of the impact echoes back to her in mere milliseconds.

<<Lukas, get that probe to confirm.>>

The small sphere, having serenely watched over the proceedings until now, shoots down the boulevard towards the enemy marksman's position. Jorunn, however, has already started making her way to Laszlo, rifle still shouldered.

<<Oh man....>> comes Lukas' response. <<It looks like a freight train hit a herd of nerf in there. Isn't much left of the spotter either!>>

Marek laughs at his twin's grizzly description as Jorunn takes her rifle in one hand, stretching her other out to help Laszlo up, who has already ordered the rest of the squad to keep moving up the boulevard as soon as Lukas has finished sweeping the house with that probe.

<<One thing I got to hand to these tin cans,>> Laszlo remarks in passing to Jorunn <<....we wouldn't be able to pull stunts like this without them.>>

<<You're reckless, just like him, you know?>>

<<Brothers and sisters in arms tend to be very much alike in the end.>>

[...]

<<Clear!>> Lukas comms moments later, having checked the building thoroughly. <<Looks like Jorunn bagged herself some scout troopers.>>

Marek: <<How did you know where the spotter was? Or even that there was one?>>

<<He hit you on his first shot, so chances were he had a spotter. And I didn't know where he was, but when you put a 50 caliber tungsten ferrite shell down range at a couple of mach, you don't exactly have to hit your target,>> Jorunn says, signaling the Corellians to follow in their hovertruck.

<<Alright....let's keep rolling. We've got 5 more blocks to cover before we get to the away team's last position>>

[Taaru Masako]

Taaru kneeled to one side of the hole he'd punched out, shield serving as his cover, as Aaron sped through and got to work doing the same to the wall across the store. The rest of the group started filtering through shortly after, with Vidown and Erika bringing up the rear. As they retreated behind him, he quickly followed.

"Cover me," he shouts as he hops over the rubble, deactivating his shield and holstering his blaster. As Vidown and Erika find cover and begin suppressing the remaining warmongers, Taaru spreads his arms in front of him and curls his hands into fists. Across the way, a pair of dumpsters make a crunching sound, as indentations of giant fingers warps them into less dumpster-like shapes. Taaru finishes by jerking his hands towards his chests, sending the dumpsters flying at him. But instead of crushing him, his flying battering rams turn into convenient plugs, screeching to a halt and lodging in the whole he had formed, thus blocking any warmongers who desired to follow them.

Taaru exhales sharply, a sheen of sweat evident on his face, and he turns to Erika and Vidown.

"Let's go. Follow the others."

All three turn, and begin to make their way through the holes Aaron has been working on.