Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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A Dance of Fire and Water

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"] | Atmosphere Above Raevana , Tyson Base

Struggling to swallow against a dry throat, Judah was second guessing himself already. Last adventure to the mysterious planet of Raevana was more than harrowing enough. Every piece of the planet was hellbent on destroying an outside force. Yet he saw a great deal of potential. The moss that coated literally everything that didn't move had....properties. Ones that could put the small sector of space on the map.

Having accidentally collected a piece of moss on his last venture, minds smarter than his were intrigued examined the portions of it. Rumors of a potential medicinal plant swirled around the Salacia Consolidated headquarters on Ceto. A number of the aquatic species had seen a similar type of moss long ago, now extinct from the islands of their home planet. There was no guarantee the same would be the case with the Raevana plant.

Now he was sinking a considerable amount of time, credits and resources into finding out the unknown.

Running a hand through his shaggy curls, Judah looked out at the green glittering jewel. This would be his only shot. Dimly he was aware of the sound of the intercomm. The Silurus-Class vessel was housing a freighter to take crew of scientists, explorers and botanists to the surface and this was their boarding call. Tearing himself away from the viewports, Judah started a plan of action.

He joined the Salacia employees on the freighter, moving into the cockpit for a moment. Nodding to the pilot, the near-human woman depressed a button, hailing Siobhan Kerrigan and an elite squad of Firemane troops.

"Miss Kerrigan, we're dropping to the surface. ETA five minutes. Landing zone is the old Tyson Base landing pads."

If we make it that far.


[[OOC Note : I tagged Tegs out of courtesy. Was not sure if Miss Alcori is going to join, rather safe than sorry]]
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"], [member="Hecate"] Ferrum

((Wifey doesn't do fighting anymore, so she'll be staying at home...where it's safe :p))


Personally Siobhan thought it would be a reasonable proposition to drop several napalm and incendiary bombs on the jungle, after spotters had identified the largest concentration of beasts, thus clearing a ring all around the old Tyson base. Assuredly enough moss would be left for...whatever Salacia Consolidated wanted to do with it. However, it appeared some thought that a waste of heavy ordinance, as efficient as it would undoubtedly be.

Siobhan loved the smell of napalm in the morning. It smelt like victory.


Anyway, she acknowledged Judah's message curtly. "Understood. We're right ahead and will get the base secured for you." The craft, a Silaqui-class Dropship, having detached itself from a Firemane corvette called the Tempest, shot through the atmosphere with the eagerness of a little kid unleashing its hunger upon a chocolate cake, to behold through to behold the vast jungles and mountain ranges that bedecked the planet. Raevana was its name and upon first sight the rainforest looked inviting, beautiful even, an innocent world untouched by civilisation, perhaps promising riches that were theirs for the taking. Siobhan saw something entirely different, beholding the vegetation with the eyes of a soldier.

The heat and humidity seemed enough to choke a rancor. It was said that dangerous creatures, called creepers, could tear through ships and ground them. The enormous trees and impenetrable mountain ranges hid vicious beasts, the dense foliage would make scanners difficult to use. Hence why she doubted the miniaturised probe droids they had brought would be much use and the intense heat and constant rainfalls would make movement difficult. As if a wrathful goddes of the forest was showing her displeasure at their a huge downpour had begun amidst the crack of lightning, coating the humid ground in mud. Somehow she had the feeling their speeders would find themselves cannibalised.


At least she had taken a Silaqui-class Gunship with her as well. Big bombs seemed like a good idea to her. Inside the dropship was a small elite group of Firemane soldiers, some heavily armoured, others wearing more lighter suits suited for scouting duties, inspired by the gear of the Imperial scout troopers of old.


As far as armaments went they carried MK2 and MK1 boltguns, repeating blasters, scatter guns, Gorgon web rifles and a multitude of grenade types along with a flamethrower here and there. In other words they were outfitted for heavy combat, many of the soldiers had experience facing the fearsome Reavers before. A few Eldorai Angelii had joined the unit, on loan from the Star Queen. Time would tell whether it would suffice. For her part Siobhan ran through her last minute check-up, making sure her weapons were secured, fully loaded and ready. Soon they would be on the ground. If need be she could always collapse trees with her mind while flying. Good thing there were no ysalamiri on this planet as far as she knew because that would have been annoying.
 
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Judah Dashiell"]

To say she knew much about Raevana would be a lie. To say she knew a little would be an overstatement. Hecate only truly knew that the world was dangerous, but held some interest for which Firemane was getting involved in. The young Echani hadn't hesitated when the Vice President, Siobhan Kerrigan, had informed employees about the mission. Having just started learning to wield the force under Lady Siobhan, Hecate was still a soldier and wasn't about to let an interesting job slip by. Especially since it could also help her practice some of her new skills.

Although she wasn't the foolish sort to think she was in any less danger of course. The information she had reviewed available made it clear that Raevana had some very nasty denizens. As such the Echani made sure she was appropriately armed. She carried her blaster pistols, but was also sporting a MKI Bolter she had been issued and an Echani Vibrosword one of her comrades had given her. As usual she wore her old militia uniform, preferring the easy to move in fabric as compared to thicker combat armor. It was how Echani trained and were raised, to be fluid and utilize their mobility rather than rely on a bunch of plating to survive a battle.

Still, the Eldorai Angelii elite warriors were quite a sight in their own armor. Now that she could use the force to a minor degree too the Echani could tell they were all skilled force users and warriors as well. It made Hecate feel excited to be part of the operation. Of course with how much Firemane was bringing to the table it hardly seemed like there would be any major problems at all. Between the Silaqui Gunship and Dropship and the soldiers, Angelii, and Lady Kerrigan herself there didn't even seem to be any sort of comparison on the world they were approaching. Anything that tried to disrupt Salacia Consolidated's operations while under Firemane's watch was doomed to fail, and be obliterated into many pieces as punishment for such foolishness.

Likely the most dangerous foe would simply be the jungle itself. If there was an environment the Echani hated fighting in it was jungles or swamps. Anything that could bog a soldier down or keep enemies camouflaged. . . . . . that and the humidity.
 
Since this writer decided that the thread could use an actual Eldorai presence and this one had not been doing anything for a while, Captain Kaida Taldir was there as well on the dropship, leading the unit of Angelii. Presumably she was taking a break from helping Eyrecae adjust to the new world on Dahomey. Where she and the primeval Eldorai supersoldier, whose very existence was still a very well-guarded secret - in other words in Firemane only Tegaea, Siobhan and Tempest knew - had de facto been exiled to. Though she understood the reasoning behind it that still irked her a good deal and filled her with a measure of bitterness. Along with the fact that she had been the one who buried the truth. More precisely blown it sky-high to wipe any evidence of the laboratory of the mad Rakatan scientist away, though she had been jumped up a paygrade and gotten a harem girl as a reward!


But here she was and focused on the mission, for instead of moping she understood her duty. To Kaeshana, her Queen and the Eldorai people. Much as she intensely disliked the aristocrats and entertained the radical idea that the people should be given some say....if they weren't as deluded as they were right now. Moreover, spending some time killing beasts would make this week less boring!


She ran through her last minute check-ups regarding her equipment. Her expression was grim but not concerned as she gazed out to behold the jungle that bedecked Raevana. The heat and humidity were so intense it was almost choking. Every Eldorai force-user, or Sciian in their terminology, had an affinity for one of the four elements and in Kaida's case it was that of ice and water. Conjuring up an ice storm in this environment would be...tremendously difficult, but given all the moisture in the air she could probably still cause intense rainfalls to summon floods and taifuns. Still the environment filled her with a measure of unease, though she would not let it show. Not to her sisters in battle, certainly not to the humans. Kaida was probably one of the less racist Eldorai, especially since she knew the truth few of her people were privy to, but sometimes you had to remind the foreigners of the fact that no, they did not rule Kaeshana. The Eldorai needed their support, though many only admitted this grudgingly, but Firemane could not persist on Kaeshana without the sanction of the Queen.


Briefly her blue orbs swept across the dropship, her gaze briefly falling upon Kerrigan. To say that both women cared little for the other was an understatement. Far as Kaida was concerned Kerrigan was little different from the pompous aristo she disliked. Then there was Gehenna...Kaida had lost friends there when the then-Exarch sent them on death charges against the Bando Gora and then tore the ceiling of their subterranean lair down before tearing up the floor, exposing pits of lava. Of course, they had won the battle and put an end to this dark menace, but it did not make her trust her. She recalled hearing rumours that during a job on Myrkr a Firemane grunt had tried to frag her. Naturally Kerrigan had survived...she always seemed to.


Regardless soon there would be work to do so she spent her time making sure the other Angelii were prepared, with the usual mix of stern, commanding and encouraging words to make sure they were focused. These soldiers belonged to the group of Angelii who had been trained not only in the use of the traditional Eldorai weapons such as the sarix and the sarzmigar, but also in the use of bolters and blasters, that is modern weapons. Some elves still believed that the Goddess' blessing and their Sciia was enough to overcome any opposition, but Kaida had seen how well that had worked out for them during the last two civil wars and so felt quite comfortable with dismissing their claims. After all, if the Goddess were real then she would assuredly expect her chosen people to put some actual effort instead of relying on her to bail them out of trouble!
 
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Hecate"]

"Sounds like a plan Miss Kerrigan."

A ship full of nerdy-types wouldn't do well to land first. Most of the crew carried blasters or small hold-out weapons but their skills was rudimentary. Firemane was here to provide the muscle and firepower while the crew did their jobs. Hopefully Kerrigan wouldn't napalm the entire jungle. Most of the plant matter was key to their time here after all. Judah knew though it wouldn't be an operation without something getting blown to pieces.

"Set course for landing approximately two minutes after the Firemane vessels. This should give them enough time for a perimeter." By now the small freighter that was contained inside the Silurus-Class had zoomed out of the hangar. The Silurus-Class would remain in orbit with a small crew, as it was far too dangerous to land the large ship on the surface. The small freighter would act as a shuttle during the missing, sending back sentients and plant matter.

"Start loading up your packs. We're about to break atmo. We'll need to move quickly on planet. I doubt we will be able to stay for long."
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"], [member="Hecate"]

For her part Siobhan was tempted to believe that maybe she should have brought more napalm bombs with her. She had been much impressed by the Dresden-style firebombing the Fringe had unleashed upon the pass to the Imperial Palace during the battle for Atrisia. Perhaps Firemane should build a heavy bomber for...devastating strategic bombardment of the most ridiculously destructive type.

In any case their landing was uninterrupted, eeriely so. Save for the happy chirping of the birds and the roar thunder and of the engines as their dropship descended, its arrival heralded by its shadow, it was quiet. Siobhan had long found that she did not like the peace and quiet while on a job, particularly not in a jungle. Before them lay the old and long abandoned Tyson Base. The decay that had accumulated over the centuries was clearly visible, the landing pad was in a dilapidated state. What ships could still be found looked like something had quite literally chewed through them and they were barely recognisable. Plants had spread across the base, nature reclaiming what civilisation had yielded, large trees stood tall and proud, shooting up into the sky.

In the distance the crack of lightning was heard. One could not escape the feeling that somewhere something was out there, watching them. The landing ramp lowered as the dropship touched down upon the ground and immediately soldiers began swarming out, Siobhan at the head, barking out commands. The ground was covered in mud and it was raining in droves, impeding movement.

"Right, let's go, people. You know the drill, the planet's fething dangerous, so no slacking if you want to come out alive. I want a perimeter around this area! Taldir, perform a sweep of the base and scout out for hostiles. Lieutenant Ferrum, go with her. Maintain radio contact," she ordered. She was dressed in her beskar'gam and carried one of her boltguns.

"I want all entrances to the base secured. Get ready to lay mines to secure our defence ring. Judah, we're on the ground." Quickly soldiers began to move into place to secure the perimeter around the platform, setting up e-web and heavy repeater emplacements along with barricades to cover them. There were rumours about dangerous plants that could even heat through the armour as thick as that of a starship, so the troopers had been equipped with pesticide. The Gunship remained in the air and began scouring across the base, providing overwatch.
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

The Echani concentrated only on the silence leading up to the operation. Unlike others she preferred the quiet, even if it didn't bode well in some environments. After all, eerie silence was more of an indicator of something wrong than a place where the ambient noise always existed to mask certain dangers. Hecate was more concerned with the fact it was raining and that mud coated the ground, making the already bothersome jungle region even more of an irritation since her valued ability to move would be hampered. It made her wonder if she ought to have seen about getting some upscale armor herself, ah hindsight. . . . .

Well that or if Firemane had just bombed the area. Firebombing wasn't really her style and she was a bit content knowing the company didn't construct or sell such bombers capable of brutal and devastating destruction. However, if it meant not having to slog through the mud and clearing out the cover of brush from the jungle then maybe she'd be more hopeful for such designs to be produced in the future.

Regardless of that though, Hecate didn't hesitate to move down the ramp of the dropship once Siobhan gave the order to move out. Deploying with the rest of Firemane's forces on the ground as they began to setup the perimeter, the Echani turned as her name was selected and given orders. Blaster pistols in hand, the white haired woman nodded to her employer and commander. "Yes Lady Siobhan!"

Turning toward the Eldorai in question Hecate would do the same. "After you then maam." In all honesty Hecate wasn't well acquainted with anyone else yet in the battle group aside from Siobhan. She was rather pleased to be paired with one of the Eldorai though. It also pleased the young Lieutenant to be sent into the base where mud might be in a less substantial quantity. Although even though it meant getting out of the jungle with its rain, thunder, and brush cover, there was also the element of danger that could lie within the old base. Who knew even what might have taken up residence there? Or what could be lurking behind its doors?
 
[member="Hecate"], [member="Judah Dashiell"]

For her part Captain Taldir acknowledged Kerrigan's order with a simple nod, not wasting time with small talk. For her part she found that going on patrol meant there would be less of a risk of getting a building dropped on her. No, the two women did not get on at all. By contrast Kaida liked Lady Alcori well enough though.

"Keeps your eyes open and your senses alert. Watch for ambushes," she said simply to Hecate as she moved out, giving some signals to a few minions. Another scout team would move from the opposite direction and thus converge upon their position, allowing better coverage of the area. For when they went into the jungle they had bikes. Reminiscent of the craft. Galactic Empire had used almost a millennia ago for its scout troopers on Endor. Back then the Empire's finest had been defeated by a teddy bears and a few Rebels. While that transpired Luke had a confrontation with the Emperor and Lord Vader, which actually was wholly irrelevant to the outcome since the death star would have been destroyed even if he had joined the Sith.

As for weapons in addition to an MK1 boltgun Kaida carried a lightsabre, rather than a sarix like her battle sisters, on her hip. Speed was important, but likewise hastiness would do them no good if they walked into a trap. Intel was frightfully sparse on the planet, beyond the fact that it was fething dangerous and populated by carnivorous predators who were bloody tough. Having fought on Gehenna Kaida had learnt that things never went ideally on a mission. The base was

Anyhow, Kaida was quickly off into the base, Firemane troopers and Angelii would be securing the perimeter and then close in to rapidly secure the actual base, acting on the information they sent back to them. The Gunship was flying overhead, performing a sweep of the surrounding area.

Thunder roared and lightning cracked as they moved down from the landing platform. Dense bushes and foliage had arisen where civilisation had receded. Birds and insects chirped happily as if they did not have a care in the world, perhaps parodying the fact that this was a planet wrought with dangers and menaces. Rain sheeted down the dirty, damaged walls of what appeared to be an old warehouse in the base. Here and there one could behold a wrecked vehicle, whatever paint it had possessed having long worn off. Likewise one could dead bodies of the former occupants of the base...or rather their skeletons, for they had long been stripped of human flesh, making it difficult to discern just what had killed them.

"Someone who likewise thought it would be brilliant to come visit. Poor girl." She stopped when she came across a dead body, that of a blue Twi'lek for some reason, lying against a wrecked bike. Her face had been viciously mauled and part of her lekku had been viciously chopped off - or bitten off, it was hard to tell, while her stomach looked like...something very vicious had tried to make a meal out of it. A dirt-covered blaster rifle lay next to her, a few metres away was the body of the most disgusting lizard creature Kaida had ever laid eyes on, its face looking like it had been blasted.

Naturally, there was no chance of angry lizards lurking somewhere! Not at all.
 
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] , [member="Hecate"]

In the second wave, Salacia Consolidated ships made their decent. Nervous egghead types(himself included) were sweating the landing. Firemane in all their glory looked like ants below, fanning out and securing the perimeter. They were staking a claim. How long the claim would last was another story entirely. At lease their vessels wouldn't be tethered to the ground. The small contingent of folks were getting dropped and then their shuttle would remain close in the near-atmosphere.

With a rough and shaky landing, the ramp was lowered and heat greeted all who exited. Judah immediately started sweating. He couldn't help think that this was perfect [member="Thessa Kai"] weather, right down to the murderous lizard-people. Chuckling slightly at his own thoughts, he was one of the last to disembark, with the shuttle wasting no time in lifting off. No doubt the pilot was spooked by the stories and legends of the planets.

"All right, lets fan out folks. Collect everything and start seeing if its useful"

Judah spotted Siobhan and a disciple of hers, making his way over. The body of the Twi'lek girl looked more than worse for wear.

"What the feth happened here? Who lands on this rock for fun? Miss Kerrigan, does this Rebel base hold value of some sort? Lost secrets? Blueprints? Ancient technology?"
 
Siobhan was at the centre of the base close to the landing pad, whereas [member="Hecate"] and Kaida had been sent to the outskirts to scout things out, where they had come across the dead Twi'lek. Depending on Hecate's writer as of next post they might get attacked by angry lizards because this thread could use some violence.


The Firemane dropship had taken off again, the loss of immediate transport preferrable to having it chewed through because someone forgot to use the pesticide. Most absurdly Siobhan was smoking a cigarette when [member="Judah Dashiell"] found her despite the intense heat and humidity. She had taken her helmet off because it was starting to feel claustophobic inside and now carried it under her shoulder. Siobhan drank a good portion from her flask, then poured some of it over her sweaty face, though by now the drink had most annoyingly become lukewarm. Her long dark brown mane, tied back so as not to get in the way, was matted in sweat.


"I would not be surprised if any treasures on this base are long past their expiration date. So far it looks like your standard base built by people who wanted a convenient sanctuary and bit off more than they could chew. Generator's bust, computer network got all its cables chewed through ages ago. Bodies look like vicious beasts tore them to shreds...on the scale of the Reavers," Siobhan commented as she blew out a stream of smoke into the humid air.


"Sent recon teams to scout it out. We'll be sealing off the entrances and setting up land mines to keep beasties from flanking us, also collapse some of the trees via controlled demolitions to create obstacles for intruders. I'd advise you to do what you want to do fast and make sure your people don't go wander off alone...even if it is for a pee break."

At that she activated her comm, calling Hecate and Kaida. Something close to annoyance crossed her features when they registered a good deal of static and interference, but surely nothing could have happened. Well, perhaps but then they would gain XP to level up!
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Yes Captain Kaida." Hecate honestyl wasn't sure if there were any species sentient enough to actively setup an ambush effective against trained soldiers on military grade equipment. Then again the point of the Empire's finest losing out to primitive teddy bears with sticks and stones was an incredibly good one. Although perhaps the Stormtroopers of Palpatine's era were just that horrible. After all, who had ever seen them shoot anything in person? Likely one could believe every incident supposedly handled by them solved itself in a truly hilarious and convenient manner that allowed them to take the credit.

The young Echani followed after the Eldorai woman as other recon scouts were sent off in another direction to investigate the area more quickly and efficiently. The weather was truly atrocious, at least it didn't interfere with the communications equipment just yet though so they could call back to the rest of Firemane's forces with the information of the base as they passed around it. The rain was horrible, and the thunder discomforting. It'd be such a bother if a bolt were to come down and strike any of the soldiers, gunships, or equipment of note. Still, nothing wrong yet. . . . aside from everything being in a terrible state of rotting decay, dilapidated and rundown as the jungle began to reclaim the structures that had once constituted the old base.

Things only appeared to become worse once they began to move on foot. The damaged vehicles became more distinct, the ruins more tellings, and the corpses more noticeable. . . . well the skeletal remains more like. It seemed a bit off to the Echani that the base's occupants would have died like this. She couldn't tell what, but the fact they were dead when they should have been safe just didn't sit right with the white haired woman. Especially when she and Kaida came across the fresher corpse of the Twi'lek woman. The damage done to the former woman's face was definitely animalistic in nature, and the severed end of the lekku just wasn't clean enough to be the work of any forged blade, although the most telling signs were definitely the half eaten stomach and the dead body of the lizard nearby. This couldn't have happened very long ago with the lack of decay on the body. Plus there had to have been other lizard creatures in the attack like the one that had died, and they wouldn't have just left their meal lying about in pieces.

"It makes no sense they wouldn't finish off the rest of her. . . . Frak!" Of course she had to open her big mouth! Raising her blaster pistols once she sensed the disturbance and dangerous intent through the force, Hecate didn't hesitate firing her blaster pistols together in the direction of the threat she perceived. Which seemed to either set off what had been hiding or catch them in time as a lizard much like the corpse the Twi'lek had shot came barreling at them. . . .with its friends right behind. The Echani would watch the first one charging she had been shooting fall before keeping up her fire until her blasters would run out of charge, supposedly ducking, weaving, and flipping about with her Echani arts once the beasts closed.
 
[member="Hecate"], [member="Judah Dashiell"]

"That's Captain Taldir for you. We're not on first name basis," Kaida had responded sharply when Hecate called her 'Captain Kaida'. Leaving aside the fact that they were not friends, it was the incorrect form of address.
A former superior of Kaida's in Omega Pyre, Sergeant Hevana Martin, would vehemently dispute the point that the Emperor's finest were not that good! After all, she had been an Imperial stormtrooper trained to hunt down and kill force-users...eight hundred years ago. Before she got frozen in carbonite and was then awakened. Kaida was not sure what she was doing these days. Shame. She had sort of liked her. Even though she had been a good friend of Kerrigan, but then nobody was perfect.
Anyhow, now after having examined the mauled body of the alien woman they were finally being attacked by big, ferocious lizard creatures! "Taldir, engaging hostile lizards in the southern quadrant. Requesting backup. There may be...," Kaida grunted in annoyance when all she got was interference on her comm.

The Eldorai had received a warning through the Force, feeling the ripples though her powers of precognition were not the sharpest, and instinctively raised her boltgun as lizards charged them. With a dispassionate, cold expression she squeezed the trigger and the flat crack of the boltgun was heard as explosive bolts were punched out towards the charging lizardpeople. One was caught directly in the blast and ripped to shreds as the grenade impacted. One beast had gotten its arm blown off but kept charging, relentlessly so, hissing and with its sharp teeth bared.

Kaida took aim and was about to fire before suddenly a lizard pounced from above and she spun, managing to dodge but then was thrust down when it gave her a hard kick. She rolled quickly under a vicious blow that was being sent her way as two lizards closed in upon her. One grabbed her arm before she could move and twisted it in a powerful grip out of which there was seemingly no escape. Something snapped, painfully so and she grimaced in pain before suddenly she with her hand she grabbed ahold of the beast's arm. Abruptly the lizard recoiled at the touch, the very cold touch. Hecate would probably feel that abruptly the temperature around them was beginning to drop, as if suddenly everything was becoming a lot colder. Not enough for the area to turn into a winter land reminiscent of Hoth, for that would be impossible given the fact that it was a tropical rainforest without going onto power levels Kaida did not have. But things were getting icier as the moisture in the air was being manipulated to generate a cold reaction, just when the second lizard had been coming at Kaida with its vicious claws. Its sharp talons could not cut through her duraplast armour, but the impact still hurt.

Her first opponent seemed almost frozen as the bitter cold spread through his body, his scaly green skin turning very sickly and with the lizard choking as it tried to breathe. Lizards were cold blooded and these ones were attuned to the commonly hot temperature on the planet, so any significant change was a big disadvantage for them. Cold surged through the body of the lizard as she focused her powers to induce a harrowing cold inside it from the inside out. In a rage, but moving with glacial slowness, the beast came at her along with its brethren and she leapt high, very high, flipping through the air as she jumped away from them to avoid her legs getting knocked out from under her, her lightsabre dazzling into existence.

With the first beast having fallen, steam escaping its enormous mouth, the second one charged her, even as the already muddy and moist ground turned slippery. It was vicious and strong, reminding Kaida of the Reavers she had faced on Gehenna, but she was as agile as could be expected of an Angelii, weaving and ducking under its strong blows before she suddenly leapt as a powerful punch came her way, then spun in mid-air to kick herself off a tree and brought her blade down upon it, the dazzling yellow blade carving into its right shoulder and nicely burning right through. However, even with the loss of a limb the beast, its ferocity even more heightened, came at her, its claws striking at her armour before suddenly it grabbed its throat and she lunged to run her blade through it.

The beast fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been pulled and Kaida, looked around, seeing more beasts closing in. With a telekinetic gesture she pulled her boltgun back to her grasp. More lizard beasts came charging at them but at this moment it seemed reinforcements arrived as the other scout team closed in and opened fire, having presumably heard the commotion and now unleashing hell with their bolters and blaster rifles. Angelii, magnificient in their armour and righteous fury, charged the beasts, their sarixes blazing.
 
[member="Hecate"] , [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Nodding, Judah already had sweat-soaked matted curls sticking to his head. If the lizard creatures didn't kill off the entire operation no doubt the heat would. While Siobhan was in a joking mood, he did take her words of wisdom very seriously. After all, the woman had survived countless attacks, even though it meant a loss of limbs.Taking the comm out of his pocket, the Salacia owner communicated her instructions to the rest of the team.

"Kerrigan says not to wander off alone, not even to pee. Everyone find a buddy and stick with them..."

No sooner were his words finished did the chaos begin. The sounds of laserbolts and bolter fire echoed all around the vegetation. Local fowl squawked and took to the air, adding another element to the proceedings. Voices over the comms mentioned a pack of lizard-beasts moving towards the southern quadrant. While Firemane had their role to play in the assignment, Judah had his own. There was no need for him to start firing off rounds yet. Instead he had to corral his people.

"Everyone push back from the southern quadrant up to the center. Collect quickly. Remember to gather a sample and move on. We can return for the rest or grow it on another planet. Keep it moving."

"We have an injured scientist in the quadrant. Claws ripped into their arm by the lizard-creatures."

"Move back to the center and treat with our medkit. We dont know what type of poisons or other nasty surprises live in those things. Kerrigan, think you can hold off the creatures for another fifteen or so?"
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"], [member="Hecate"]

"No guarantees on me not burning the forest down," Siobhan said grimly as she took off to the defence ring at the edge of the quadrant, Firemane soldiers in tow. "Taldir, Ferrum, get back to the defence ring," she barked into her comm, though whether the two would get it given the interference was another question. In the blink of an eye chaos had broken out in the base. Blaster bolts sizzled through the air, booming explosions echoed across the base and the flat crack of bolterfire was heard, drowning out the screeches and hissing of the four-legged lizards that had suddenly pounced out of the shadows to charge at the intruders with reckless abandon.


In other words, Siobhan felt right at home. There was almost nothing she loved more than being in the midst of the action unleashing brutal violence. Well, she obviously loved Tegaea more! Moreover, these days she had acquired a taste for being an aristocratic femme who got pampered and waited on hand and feet by pliable servant girls - and had to look perfect! Still, she loved the action. On a certain level she might be addicted to it, especially since she had acquired a belief in herself being unkillable!


The Firemane troops had obviously not possessed the time to fully lay a mine field, but some trip wires had been set. As the fearsome lizards charged a command linked to Siobhan's HUD was acticated and in a flash there was a booming explosion, a billowing cloud of smoke rising up into the humid air as a tree and part of an already ruined building collapsed, with the mutilated bodies of lizards being violently tossed through the air, torn to pieces by the explosion. Still where some had fallen even more came, charging over the cadavres of their brethren.


A Firemane soldier found himself grabbed by a lizard and had his arm twisted so hard it broke in a snap, then the beast ripped his helmet off and violently sank its fangs into his throat before the soldier managed to produce a blaster pistol and pump him full with rounds at close range, whereupon the bleeding trooper was telekinetically grabbed by an Angelii and pulled out of harm's way. Siobhan swiftly took charge as she reached the troops, who were already firing. "Fire explosive bolts. Short, controlled bursts, make those shots count. Second line prepares buckshot and cover the first when they reload. Repeaters to the centre, Angelii to the flanks You wiped out Reavers, you can slaughter a bunch of lizards! Aim for the chest if possible."


As the lizards came upon them they were met with a brutal salvoe of bolter fire, to which some heavy repeaters and two e-webs were joined. Already ruined buildings and massive trees were scorched as laser bolts streaked through the air and grenades thunked out by bolters impacted. The effect upon the lizard creatures was gruesome, to say the least. They had thick hides and were tough, possessing incredible strength, but their thick, scaly hide could not resist blasters of heavy explosives.

"Prepare gas grenades...on my mark...now!" A volley of grenades was prepared and then tossed through the air, with Siobhan helping by guiding it with her telekinetic prowess so that it would impact right in the middle of the fray. Clouds of red-green gas billowed up into the air, covering the area they had effected and being spread wide by the wind. It would at least disorientate the beasts, whereas the Firemane soldiers had the necessary equipment to see through it. Wielding her own boltguns, dual wielded due to force-enhanced strength, Siobhan fired, satisfying explosions resulting.


However, cries came from the flanks as suddenly beasts came charging from there, having apparently wisened up by trying to sneak up and outflank their opponents. A brutal clash developed when some of the Korhilii got in close enough for melee, their sheer brute force colliding with the discipline and experience of the Firemane soldiers as they quite literally rammed them. Buckshot was pumped out, vibroblades and sarixes were drawn. "Shift fire. Don't let them flank us. Angelii, with me. Prepare firestorm!" Siobhan yelled as she moved to the right to coordinate things better, sprinting amidst the cacophony of gunfire and explosions.


From an overgrown bush a beast leapt at her and the impact was such that she was knocked back hard as its multiple legs swept hers down from under. Not giving her a reprieve it tried to sink its razor sharp fangs into her arm, but found her beskar'gam more than a match for its teeth. Her bolter, which in any case was loaded with explosive bolts that would have been ill-advised at close range, had fallen out of her grasp and so as the beast moved to strike at her visor with its long talons it suddenly began choking and spasming as her telekinetic will wrapped around its throat to crush it, then tossed it through the air right against the wall, smashing it.


Siobhan quickly jumped to her feet, bolter flying back into her grasp. A signal was given to two Angelii pyromancers as she linked up with them. The Eldorai battle sisters concentrated, steaming heat emanating from their gloves, eyes seemingly ablaze with righteous fury, then suddenly streams of flame and heat leapt from their gauntlets and shot towards the charging beasts. Siobhan's lips curved into a very feral smile as she felt aphotic energy rippling through her as she called upon the Force and let loose an overpowering telekinetic shockwave that swept forward right towards the beasts. It crashed into them with the force of a battering ram, crushing limbs, sending them flying. The ground and even the trees seemed to shake under her telekinetic might that impacted like an overpressurised shockwave, but she was not done yet and so she dragged the wave across the battlefield. The blasts of fire unleashed by the Angelii were spread alongside it, creating a small firestorm that raged without mercy and put lizards to the torch. A tree that had caught fire shook strongly and then collapsed amidst the telekinetic blast, burying a number of beasts as they retreated back into the forests, doubtless to return in due time with renewed hunger. The smell of ozone, of burnt and scorched bodies, of death hung high in the air, like a pall. To Siobhan the sight of the carnage before her was beautiful.
 
Firemane and Salacia Consolidated were not the only ones who had heeded the siren call of Raevana to brave its manifold beasts in the pursuit of riches. Ripples were felt through space and then in a flash the Lightbringer had manifested at the edge of the system, thousands of kilometres away and beyond sensor range of the vessels orbiting the planet.

Its cloaking shield had acticated, rendering it invisible to radar and immune to detection and so it approached the planet, still wary in its approach and thus making sure it avoided the Firemane corvette and the Silurus-class ship that served as the vessel of Salacia. From that point on it had waited as the two other companies did their part. Scans had picked up on the intense activity down on the ground at Tyson base, everything indicated a fierce battle. Archangel had no intention of interfering with that. As a matter of fact it had no intention of having contact with the organics upon the planet or in meddling with their operations.

If their operations drew in countless lizards then all the better. A shuttle leapt out of the hangar of the Lightbringer and dropped down through the atmosphere towards the planet. Seated in the craft were Moira Skaldi and four HRDs, murderous killer droids that had participated in the sack of Loronar and now were on an entirely different operation. Each of them was armed to the teeth with Gorgon web rifles, Czerka headbangers, tranquilisiers and stun grenades. Their objective was very simple: Capture some of the Korhilii beasts alive and return them back to base for study and experimentation. All intelligence Archangel had been able to acquire on the planet and the previous expeditions had been meticulously analysed and it had been concluded that these beasts were vicious, brutal and strong. They had even started using fire here and there, albeit in a very primitive way. It would be interesting to find out what they could do provided some mental enhancement was performed to uplift them.

The landing ramp of the shuttle lowered as it touched down upon the ground and the assassin droids quickly filed out, providing mutual cover, sensors alert for dangers as they trod upon the mud-covered ground, passing the badly mutilated corpses and mud-covered skeletons of those who had come before. In the distance lightning flashed and the roar of thunder was heard. Added to that further ahead one could see wild fires spreading, perhaps caused by detonation of explosives and the pyromancy of the Eldorai. Amidst a powerful gust of wind trees shook and came down collapsing.

Acknowledging a signal from the Lightbringer Moira nodded curtly, sending an electronic transmission and as one the killer droids advanced through the thick bushes, their shuttle having taken off into the sky again since staying on the ground was too risky. They were in what was termed the eastern quadrant, advancing forward on target. One only needed to follow the sounds of blasterfire and bolters, the rageful screeches of lizards.
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Needless to say, Hecate was not having as good a time as she had hoped. She desperately hated the muddy ground, especially considering the lizard like creatures attacking Captain Taldir and herself were having a much more comfortable time dealing with it than she was. The Echani realized she ought to have been wielding her boltgun as well when she saw how effective Kaida's own weapon was against the reptilian threat. However, once the creatures closed the distance with her it really wasn't a good idea to switch to the other firearm. After all, those explosive rounds would also injure herself if fired from a close proximity. So it was she continuously fired away with her blaster pistols until they clicked dry, which didn't take long for small firearms, and she instead drew the vibroblade she had on her person.

The white haired woman was not one to act foolishly, she knew she was in a bad spot compared to the Captain. Just one swipe of those claws or a bite from those fangs could leave her dead or deeply wounded. Taking into account she couldn't read the creatures body movements, muscle reaction, or facial expressions like most humanoids, Hecate knew she couldn't rely on how she fought in the past. So instead she reached for the force. The young Echani wrapped it around herself to make her body more sturdy with the slogged down ground, as well as reach out with her senses. She couldn't do much more still, trying to do more things at once were beyond her still, but she was learning. Hecate hoped to persevere in her training until she could enhance her bodies strength, reach out with her senses, maintain barriers when needed, and also compensate for environmental factors. It was something that would take a while she didn't doubt. She just hoped that she could live through this battle and any others so she could reach such a point.

As her own fight began Hecate could feel Captain Taldir's use of the force take shape as well. Both in the force and physically as she felt the temperature drop somewhat. Ducking under a swing of one of the lizardfolk's, the Echani stabbed upward with her blade into the creature's throat and pulled it to the side as she pressed off the ground away from the beast, slitting its throat. Hoping the creatures were cold blooded so the temperature shift would effect them, Hecate gripped her weapon as the pair that were still pursuing her came. One leapt into the air to pounce upon her while the other barreled straight towards her in a frenzy. Obviously of course she wasn't going to let herself be pinned beneath the creature attempting to leap on her. So the white haired woman pressed forward, ducking under the lizard in the air and then rolling through the muddy ground, getting her uniform and hair dirty to her fury, to get beneath the standing lizards claws before she came back up and directed the force into her arms as she swung her blade around to drive her blade through the base of the creature's neck and severe its spinal cord.

Seeing the chance with the distance she had briefly the Echani grabbed the Boltgun from her back, jamming her vibroblade into the ground for a moment, and fired at the lizard, watching with satisfaction as the explosive round burrowed into its just before detonating. The sound of other explosions drew Hecate's attention back to the Eldorai now arriving on scene while Captain Taldir fired her own boltgun. The other scout team had arrived then, just in time for the lizards reinforcements. Hecate added her own boltgun's fire to the mix, keeping her hold of the force she was using to detect what was around her in case some tried to sneak around, wondering if the main force was in danger as well.

Static coming in over the comms would likely have enlightened their group of the situation. The Echani heard Taldir mentioned and a defense ring but not much else. "Captain Taldir, should we try returning to the rest of the group? We're isolated out here, if too many come it would be a problem."
 
[member="Judah Dashiell"], [member="Hecate"]

The melee was brutal and vicious. Even with the salvoes of bolter and laser fire, there were lizards that came in close enough to trade blows. They had superior strength on their side and were ferocious, attacking even after loss of limbs, even when they set on fire, such was their primal viciousness. The Firemane soldiers and Angelii had superior training and firepower on their side though, having faced beasts as fearsome as the Reavers.

So beasts and soldiers clashed, covered by the Firemane soldiers the Angelii brought up their shields as the beasts charged them and struck at them with their sarixi, slaying many, but the lizards wisened up and tried to flank them. An Angelii blocked a blow with her shield, though she reeled under the attack, and then struck with her sarix to stab a beast. Kaida moved deftly to evade a lizard coming at her, dancing sideways as its powerful talons lashed out so that she emerged behind it and then with a quick swipe of her lightsabre cleaved it from shoulder to belly. A quick spin and she swung her blade to slash across the torso of another, innards spilling out before a powerful blow from a beast sent her falling down and collapsing. She could not get up for the lizard pounced at her, though fortunately then the lizard was riddled with laser bolts from a comrade and fell.

Then fires started spreading like wild in the distance, a tree shook amidst a powerful blast of force energy and fell down with a loud thud, such that for a moment the sounds of battle were blotted out. "I have no desire to be in this jungle when Kerrigan feels the need to drop things again. Gehenna sufficed," Kaida said dryly. "Retreat...in order! Tydaes, cover with me, get ready to blast them," she called out as more beasts came charging over the cadavres of their dead brethren. Firemane troopers kept up a volley as they slowly pulled back, bolters barking out explosive rounds. Kaida made a gesture to one of the Angelii, who gave a nod, and so the Captain concentrated, moving back to the edge of the formation as her comrades covered her. She was sweating strongly under the exertion, even shaking slightly, concentration was etched over her features.

The ground was already very muddy but now suddenly the rain seemed to intensify into a massive downpour and then, as beasts came at them, turned into a flood that swept right towards the lizard creatures as all the moisture in the ground and in the air was gathered. Holding on to a tree she gave a nod to her fellow Angelii and so a blast of lightning shrieked from the Eldorai's fingertips, homing in on all the watery goodness of the flooded lizards. After all, they had just become very, ahem, wet, though admittedly not THAT way! The effect of lightning on someone covered in water can be imagined, though it made for quite a show! To make things even more electrically charged one of the Firemane soldiers tossed an EMP grenade into the fray as the troopers retreated, the wounded among them being helped by their comrades. "Let's go."
 
Raevana was a world of shattered bones and broken lives. Skeletons upon skeletons lined the way, along with the cadavres of beasts. Blood mixed with mud, which existed upon the ground in plentiful quantities. For the HRDs the oppression and darkness of the planet had no effect, though they could plainly feel the dangers. Nonetheless the journey was no easy for them. HRDs gained their great toughness and strength primarily from their metal bodies and that obviously caused weight. Thus in the untamed wilderness of the planet they frequently became bogged down and had to go around.

By the end they spattered in mud and drenched with it. However, they had reached what appeared to be a clearing and quickly moved into cover. Various animals had waylaid them, but Czerka headbangers and buckshot rounds had convinced them of the foolishness of that. In the distance the boom of explosions could be heard, now a good deal louder as they were closer to the base. Thunder roared like shout of a wrathful god and the flash of lightning could be seen. They were still far enough from the Firemane contingent in order to avoid detection, and in any case were not interested in making a play in that direction.

Loud and angry screeches were heard, then the insistent sound of footsteps upon the muddy ground, or rather it was more like stampeding. Moira motioned to her minions and quickly whispered commands. Some sort of interference was wrecking havoc with the electronic communication they usually used, but that did not unnerve her. She had already experienced the same on Dxun when she and Maelion had braved dangers in the tomb of Freedon Nadd in search of the Taurannik Codex, though then a Sith sorceress had been the cause of it.

A pack of Korhilii could be made out past the bushes and enormous trees, having been put to flight by the Firemane troops and now rushing back into the forest. The strength their scaly lizard bodies held was all too evident, as were their razor sharp talons and teeth. Strength more than able to tear a common human apart limb by limb. Fortunately they were not facing humans, though they might wear the guises of those. Moira gave a signal and then brought up her boltgun as the beasts came closer.

An animalistic growl escaped it and in the same moment Moira squeezed the trigger. The round chambered was not an explosive bolt but a flash round. It was fired straight into the fray and in a blur there was a flash of blazing light that was meant to be blinding and disorientating. Angry growls and hisses were heard, some beasts took to flight, scaling up the trees, others charged with reckless abandon. The flash could also serve as an improvised incendiary round as it burnt rather well and one of the lizards caught fire, though it kept charging. In the same moment Moira produced a stun grenade and tossed it into the fray, the HRDs with her opening up a salvoe with their web rifles and Czerka headbangers. The headbanger produced a stun blast that was strong enough to put a Wookiee out of commission, the web rifle released a mist-like net solution designed to incapacitate force-users. Over the roar of engines of the vessels above Tydon base and the sounds of battle there, it was doubtful that the Firemane personnel would hear of their presence, given the distance between them.
 
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Hecate"]

Explosion rocked through the air, breaking the silence. Birds fluttered up through the trees at the noise. Leaves seemed to shake as the rumble echoed throughout the space. Judah could have sworn dust made its way off the old Rebel base. Blaster fire was immediately followed after the explosion, Firemane skirmishing with the lizard-creatures on the planet. Their presence caused an incredible road block in the path to collecting samples from the planet.

Crates and bags were thrown in the middle of the defensive circle. Plants and flowers of various sorts had been collected. Some had been lucky enough to collect entire plant systems but their survival was no doubt in question. Leaving a hot, humid planet for the cold vast reaches of space most likely wasn't going to work out. Still valuable information could be learned from the dead specimens and their potential uses. If any.

The small freighter that had been circling the atmosphere above was now approaching overhead. It looked alien in the green jungle, the sunlight glinting off its metallic hull.The roar of the engines brought many in the Salacia camp to attention with their eyes drawn up. The ramp was lowering as the vessel lowered, the freighter had no intentions of touching the soil. Hovering as close as possible, crew appeared in the ramp entrance and started to collect people and product.

Judah made sure he was one of the last to board.
 
The battle was vicious and ferocious. The Korhilii were strong, a match for the terminators in strength, perhaps even a bit stronger. However, at heart they were wild animals and thus charged with reckless abandon, driven by primal bloodlust and a pack mentality. Czerka headbangers could take down a Wookiee and several went down to the stun blasts that exited them, others were caught in the nets released by the web rifles, though a number managed to keep going and viciously tore at the nets, such was their ferocity.


One beast pounced at Moira with an angry hiss while another barelled towards her from the side in a frenzy. Moira just stood there, seemingly passive, before she suddenly reached out to grab the leaping creature by its manifold legs and, though it smashed them into her body with a force that would have crushed the ribs of an organic and threw her back, and swung him so that he collided with his brethren with a sickening crunch. With a wild hiss the beast jumped to its many feet and charged at her with surprising speed, so driven by primal instinct that it viciously clawed at her face. Moira shook herself a bit as if she were being annoyed by an insect then finally gave the lizard a headbutt. In most cases that would be considered a rather ill-advised move since it tended to hurt the attacker at least as much as the intended victim, but a machine could not feel pain.


The beast reeled and staggered so she grabbed it in her iron grip and lifted it. Its powerful legs were not spent yet and viciously kicked her, thrusting her backward as they battered upon her armour, but using her own momentum she flung the beast with her. A flechette pistol full of tranquilisers leapt into her hand and she fired them into the other beast that came charging as she weaved and spun her way out of its path to emerge behind, putting it down.


Lizards attacked but the outcome was not in doubt. The machines' process of elimination continued with the instruments of web rifles, headbangers and stun grenades, one terminator going so far to thrust a stun grenade down the overeager maw of a beast. In the end the area was strewn with dead or stunned lizards.


"Chain them," Moira said laconically and the HRDs quickly moved to appropriately restrain their quarry, all in all about a dozen. They were very good with ropes, chains and such, presumably having inherited this skill from their progenitor unit. One wondered whether human Moira might in fact have been a member of the Order. After all, they let Kerrigan in!



"Shuttle, mission complete. We require pickup," Moira transmitted to their craft. Two thermal detonators were readied and she tossed them to widen the clearing by blowing a path open, a powerful explosion rocking the forest. Soon the shuttle came swooping down from high above in the air, its landing ramp lowering as it touched down. The HRDs swiftly brought their prize into the flying craft, Moira directing the rear as more lizards, alerted by the noise, came swarming towards them.


Blaster fire whizzed through the air towards the beasts, grenades were thrust and as the shuttle lifted up Moira leapt into the air just before one of the lizards could pounce her, catching the ramp and being pulled in by one of the HRDs before it closed.


Beneath them the jungle world vanished and in the distance they could see Firemane and Salacia evacuting, though Moira cared not. Instead a transmission was sent to [member="Rave Merrill"], informing her that fun creatures had been acquired for her.
 

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