Private A desperately pink rescue

[The Court of Iron]

Illyira, for the most part, was a beautifully peaceful world under the rule of Adron Malvern. At least compared the never-ending wars that had once plagued the world before he had made his home there. Rival lords and ladies waging war over resources, locations, people, all in a constant bid to become the ruler of the people. None truly accomplished it, and there was no unifying government until Adron made his way there. As his reign progressed, the threats on the planet itself become fewer and fewer, and while the military on the planet was still in need of a full convergence, peace was finally tasted by all that lived there.

That was, until the pirate attacks from the moon began. They launched quick, ruthless raids on many providences, quick enough that official responses were much too slow to do anything about them. By the time they figured out exactly where the attacks were being launched from, and a response force was readied by the military, many lives had been lost that could never be recovered. With a vengeance, a campaign was launched, commanded by both the Knight of the Illyiran throne, Xobos Yakieer, and the new lord of the Court of Iron, Luna Terrik.

Doing anything on the moon itself was a struggle, as the limited atmosphere and limited available resources made even establishing a forward operating base that could stand up to the elements, not to mention giant spiders, difficult. Eventually however, a foothold was set up. The pirates began to be pushed back, and under the combined command of the former commando and the vengeance seeking knight, it seemed as though the moon would be fully under their control within a week.

Something changed not long afterword. The pirates, once on their heels and minutes from defeat, suddenly were digging in much deeper. They seemed to have more men, better weapons, and all of the ammunition that the Illyiran military force could handle. One week stretched into two, and two into four. Resources were running low, and an recent attack on the pirates last stronghold left the knight in their clutches.

Without her, their campaign could come to a swift close. Fortunately, it seems as though help was on the way, in the form of a customized shuttle throttling very, very fast toward the military’s base…

| The High Court of Illyria | Cali Ziiva |​

 

[Cali Ziiva]

Chief Manufacturing Consultant of the Iron Court of Illyria, Chief Party Specialist of Party Favors LLC, and Cutest Zeltron in the Universe Cali Ziiva sat quietly with her bright eyes on a data pad as the shuttle shot through the void. Few would ever describe the pink woman as the quiet type. Then again few ever engaged with Cali when her attention was taken entirely in preparation for a super serious situation.

How had such a charming and cute person uncovered the super secret operation on the moon? A girl had her ways.

What was truly important was the fact Xobos hadn't checked in recently. Sure, she'd been late before but this was different. Cali knew something was wrong, and sitting back home waiting on it to resolve itself were foolish. Launching herself into a war zone to uncover the truth was also foolish -- from a certain point of view -- but Cali wasn't worried. This wouldn't be the first time getting into trouble. Or out of it. And pirates? Not the most dangerous group she'd interacted with.

Narrow band transmission on their approach gave the base warning the shuttle was coming in. Whether they were expected didn't matter. Their defenses were enough to handle surface to space assault. As for whether the Illyrian forces wanted their visit... wouldn't really matter. They were landing, and the soldiers had the time it took to do so to figure out how to live with it.

Wearing a black bodysuit, the pink-maned woman strode down the shuttle ramp once they touched down. Not her normal attire, but under the circumstances it seemed tactically sound. Not tactically cool, but definitely sound compared to wearing bright colors like usual. Not much to be done about her cuteness though. Pink's pink.

Cali expected someone to 'greet' her, but if no one did -- which would be odd entering a security zone -- she'd find her own way. Time to find her Xoxo, whatever that took.

Tag: Xobos Yakieer | The High Court of Illyria

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E​

Location: Illyiran Moon – Delta FOB
Time: 1100 Hours
Tags: | Cali Ziiva |

Things were not going perfectly to plan, and the very last thing that Luna needed was a new problem to add to the pile. It just so happened that a new communication came through announcing the arrival of someone that Luna truly didn’t really need coming through. Still, she was here, and if the former commando had learned anything throughout her few conversations with the Zeltron, there was not much that could deter her from the path she had set herself on. The shuttle was coming in for a landing in the south location of the base, and she nodded to the other security officers in the tent to go and meet their uninvited guest. “If she’s going to be show up, I better go ahead and speak to her. Maybe she just came to check our cookie reserves…”

It wouldn’t be long after that, that the pink alien would be showing up at the command tent. Luan was working her way around the table in the middle of the room, a hologram of the pirates final holdout sitting just above. Glancing at the hologram once more, she eventually turned to look over to where the Zeltron would be standing, flashing her a tired smile. “Ms. Ziiva. I wasn’t..expecting a visit from you during our excursion here. It’s not exactly..a place that I figured someone like you would chose to come to.” She was attempting to chose her words carefully, not wanting to frustrate the woman before she even had the chance to talk about why she was here in the first place.

In fact, Luna was almost certain she knew why she was here. The knight. Knight Yakieer, her partner in all of this, the one that had met a very unfortunate fate during the past incursion. She had been trying to plan a rescue, and had been hoping to get reinforcements of her own before too much longer. And now…now there just so happened to be a zeltron on her doorstep.

Maybe she just wanted cookies.

 

[Cali Ziiva]

"Take me to your C.O." Her voice was firm, but not tense. The Zeltron teased a bit of humor without making an actual joke. The circumstances were too serious to be an avatar of mirth at the moment. Fortunately, the soldiers sent to greet her were amenable to the idea. Guess their leader must have been expecting her. Probably informed of the sudden arrival of a cutey like herself. Made sense. Kind of a warzone the Zeltron had jumped into.

When they showed up, the woman present -- one Luna Terrik -- was prowling about a holotable. No doubt extremely busy doing important things. The Zeltron was uncharacteristically quiet under the circumstances. Her bright eyes, however, roamed over every display and studied the layout of the facility being projected carefully in that time. They said you should be cautious around quiet people -- because they had more time to observe and think rather than chat or react to stimuli. Well, it was doubly true when someone so animated was quite still.

"Excursion," Cali echoed with a quick smile. Oh, was... that what they were calling this? An 'excursion.' Like a safari, but less whimsical. "Choose?" No, the Zeltron wasn't just going to repeat Luna's words back at her. Yet there had been a few that stood out. "I'd choose to be home in front of a fire holding my cutey in my arms talking about how amusing the latest political participants had been of late. Instead, Knight Yakieer attended to an 'urgent need for the communal good' to suppress what was supposed to be just a band of pirates. Something that should have been dealt with in a day. Maybe two. Then it kept going."

The Zeltron began to slowly pace about the tent herself as she spoke, "Knowing Knight Yakieer is a dutiful servant to the People of Illyria, I, of course, patiently waited back home for her return. Then something strange happened. I stopped hearing from her, but the 'excursion' continued." Cali stopped and looked over at Luna. "So, where is Knight Yakieer, Commander? I can't help but notice she isn't here."

Her words were silken and airy of someone of buoyant spirit, but lacked the giggling and idle rambling of her customary demeanor. Perhaps Luna did not know Cali at length, but today she had the privilege or ill-fortune to deal with Business Ziiva. The one that kept the Iron Council moving despite being such a carefree spirit on a world ruled by a Dark Side King. She would very much enjoy a cookie, and yet it would do nothing to delay her pointed interrogation.

Tag: Xobos Yakieer | The High Court of Illyria

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E​

Location: Illyiran Moon – Delta FOB
Time: 1100 Hours

Oh good, she was exactly here for the reason that Luna had hoped she wouldn’t be. It was bad enough that the knight had gotten herself captured on Luna’s watch, but now..now she had a very attached zeltron standing on her doorstep, ready to lash out at the first person that told her that her…’cutie’ was in the clutches of the pirates.

Avoiding the topic, unfortunately, wasn’t going to be the method of attack here. There was nothing that Luna could do to walk it back, or even distract this woman. From the stories she heard, despite the jovial and pink exterior, Ms. Ziiva held her goals in very high regard, meaning that once she set her sights upon something…it wasn’t going to just go away. Better to be a good solider, face it right in front, and try and put together the plan that had bene slowly coming together in her mind.

“We attempted, four days ago, to finally break the final stronghold of the pirates on this moon. As you know, Ms. Ziiva, the military I am working with is not…what either you nor I experienced with the Confederacy. This operation should’ve been over weeks ago. But, four days ago, it should’ve been over regardless. Yet, when Knight Yakieer and three squads approached from the front, and another from either side….it did not break. Worse..it repelled them easily.” Luna chewed on the inside of her lips, clenching her fists while her eyes did not make contact with Cali’s despite knowing they were on her.

“As far as I know…Yakieer alongside two of my squads were captured and brought into the base. We..have not had contact with them since.” It was now her gaze looked up toward the Zeltron, frowning as she did so. News such as this was best given behind a press stand, where questions didn’t need to be asked afterword, not while she was still living in the moment and need to figure out just how to fix the pain that had been caused. And Luna had very little idea of how to fix that pain.

Eventually her eyes met the holotable once again, obviously trying to find the words to continue. It wasn’t like her to be lost for words, but with having to pick them carefully while still figuring out a plan was..interesting. “I was hoping to keep it under wraps until I could some reinforcements up here. At this point, tactics are almost out of the window. I need more people, better equipment, if I’m going to attempt some sort of rescue.” Those eyes eventually did look up to cali, a more serious look coming across the emerald gaze. “I want to get her back too, Cali. She’s a good woman.”

 

[Cali Ziiva]

Cali was quite versed with the military under Illyria's authority. After all, her Court was responsible for balancing the needs of the People with that of Luna's new armed forces. Actually it was a good thing they weren't like the Confederacy -- or, rather, they couldn't be like them even if they wanted to be. Even if Adron were a military dictatorship your armed forces were still limited by the amount of sheer, raw materials on hand. Only so many advisors you could kill demanding a bigger bomb before even a Mad King figured out the problem... Okay, maybe not. Good thing Adron wasn't Mad either. Mad, sometimes, but not Mad.

The operation went long, and then longer... and then they got captured. The pink woman stood there with a smile on her lips and a clear-eyed stare at the military commander of this little 'excursion' waiting on her to continue. They'd covered where they were and where they are, now was about the time Cali expected to hear about where they'd be in the near future. Specifically, what Luna was going to do about their little 'problem.' If Luna expected she'd be forced to deal with a Zeltron breaking down in tears or flipping over her holotable, she'd be pleasantly surprised. Or disturbed. Either way, Cali stood there waiting on the woman to continue her explanation.

"Uh huh. That's why you have me," the pink one dropped soon as Luna was done talking. "Reinforcements are here! So, pirates have some kind of secret weapon, right? Maybe a Force user or ten able to keep my Xobos from causing a fuss? Scoped out their defenses yet? Figured out how they repelled your last assault? 'Cause while I have Sugar Power, I can't create wormholes or some other kind of 'magic' some people think Force Users do." Few took her for a Force Sensitive, because unlike most she didn't run around waving glowsticks around. Usually. Which all suited her because some people had some very strange ideas of what you could do with the Force.

Tag: Xobos Yakieer | The High Court of Illyria

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E​

If it was only that easy. A single force user, that was something that they could handle. Hell, plenty of the Dauntless that stood by her were with her when they attacked that Knight’s obsidian monestary…what a mess that had been, yet they had held their own. Special weapons would be nice as well, but no, it was neither just those two things.

Luna motioned for Cali to come over to the table, expanding the holo to show exclusively the base the pirates had dug into. It showed the thrown together buildings all huddled near the center of the crater, with a piecemeal fence all around it. There were a few defensive emplacements, but because of the flat topography for hundreds of meters around the crater, they didn’t need many more defenses to put up a stone wall.

Nodding first to the center of the crater, Luna seemingly flipped a switch onto her more authoritative voice, as if she was giving a briefing. “If I had the resources, we wouldn’t step foot anywhere near this crater. We’d nuke it from orbit, and there’d be minimal loss of life on our side. Unfortunately, I have no such option. Illyira has no large vessels, and the new..starfighter project is just getting off the ground. So a on the ground attack is our only option..” There was a bit of ire in Luna’s voice as her eyes danced around the crater. The lack of military resources on this planet was something she was still struggling with, though admittedly, this was the first time that it felt truly…determinacy.

“Now we have to attack on the ground, against a target that can see us coming from miles and miles away. Our best bet, while still hoping to eventually get extra shuttle support…was that the enemy was ill prepared for a night raid. Knight Yakieer intended to get inside, cause chaos with my Omega squad, before the rest of the attack could stream through. In concept, a solid plan.” Chewing the inside of her lip, she turned, nodding to an attendant who brought forward a crude looking helmet, a pair of amber colored googles with wires twisting around it. “We recovered this off one of the pirates. While crude..it does function as night vision. Either these pirates are much more technologically advanced than we thought, or they’re being financed by someone..”

Her money was on the later, though that was for a later time to investigate. For now, they still had a nut to crack that was proving more difficult than it had any right to be. The pirates were smart, barricading themselves here…but the tactics they were doing just seemed to be smarter than they were given credit for. A advisor here, maybe? Who could know, at least not until they finally got to the central hub of their base. Turning to Cali, Luna gave her a thin lipped look of frustration that was vaguely masked. “So now…we wait. From what I’ve seen, there are very few anti-air emplacements. I requested four shuttle transports, and once they are here, we’ll push for a night raid. Unfortunately….my reinforcements have been slow to arrive.”

 

[Cali Ziiva]

Cali's head rotated a bit to the side as Luna's briefing began. "Huh, guess I'll need to put in a No Xobos kill switch when I design the things then." Hey, if Luna could casually comment how her preferred strategic option would be glassing the place and her Xobos, then the Pink was going to casually comment how she'd undermine that option. Given the Zeltron's position it was a very real possibility. 'How' would be in question, but then it would be in question -- as in you would never be entirely certain there wasn't such a thing.

When the crude night goggles were produced, Cali drifted closer and held out a hand to examine them. She turned it over slowly in her hands as Luna spoke. "Well, silver lining, right?" Bright eyes popped back up to look at the military commander. "They're ones I made, so whoever is behind it hasn't gotten hold of the goodies being made for you." That'd be a pretty serious breach. Like, some interesting party poppers were in the inventory that'd be totes bad in the wrong hands.

Not surprising someone else on Illyria figured out how to make such things. Wasn't like the entire planet had been in the Stone Age until recently. Most of it was now because of all the war, but there were still educated people present. Some offworlders -- like herself. Shoddy design though. No pride whatsoever. Limited resources or financing behind it. Not elegant, but smart.

With a soft, but drawn out exhale the Zeltron reached up to ruffle her messy pink hair. "Okay, so where's my Xobos in all this? Got a building in mind? Underground dungeon or something? 'Cause like I'm wondering if you need a cloaking device to approach from the air, or a drill to come in under their feet. I could always try just walking in the front door and talk them down, but you've all been fighting so much I don't think they'd listen. More's the pity. They're missing out on all the goodies. Anyway... Knight Yakieer's location?" A smile slid back into place after she finished speaking. Had to stop and wait for a response cause it was kind of important.

Tag: Xobos Yakieer | The High Court of Illyria

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E​

For a moment, Luna’s eyes left the pink ones that seemed to find a way to bore into her very soul, turning to look over toward the darkened corner of the tent. Her emerald gaze met a piercing red one, one that very few people would find any sort of comfort in. Yet as their silent gaze continued to pierce the air, Luna could feel herself beginning to breath a bit easier, having now realized that she was partially holding her breath in the presence of the pink one. This was her territory. This was her area of expertise. And it was time for her to take back the room a bit.

Standing tall, she turned back to the alien as she finished her questions, nodding slightly in agreement as she did so. “Here are our issues with busting in there and rescuing my men…and Knight Yakieer immediately. First, recon,” Motioning to the holotable, three of the more central buildings in the crater compound lit up and began flashing for a moment. They were situated, as stated, near the center of the compound, surrounded by what was labeled as the security command and barracks. “These three buildings are connected, and within those three, somewhere, is our prisoners. We do not know what’s inside, nor the security these pirates have managed to put together to keep my men and Knight Yakieer under control.”

Zooming the holotable out again, the wall around the crater began to flash yet again. “Now, for the second issue. The wall. Even if we did manage to get inside the compound, rescue everyone, getting out is still a..sticking point. I do not want to push inside that base if we can’t get out safely. Though..there a solution to this.” The security station lit up now, not far from the trio of buildings where the prisoners were somewhere being held. “Inside, we theorize that one could shut down all of the auto turrets and force open the gates. Once that is done, however, they will notice…obviously. Which means it has to be timed to when we are almost out. Requiring this to be a multiple team operation.”

Luna leaned back, understanding that she had launched into a very…briefing style of talk in the past few minutes in an attempt to control the room. Perhaps speaking to the Zeltron in such a way was..not the best idea, but Cali seemed to be the kind to have not shied away from a briefing or battlefield in her lifetime. “Getting inside, both teams, one to the prisoners and one to the security center, is the issue. I have the men to do one…but not both. So I wait for reinforcements until we can safely…securely, complete this operation.”

 

[Cali Ziiva]

The Zeltron's bright eyes shifted to the Chiss that Luna look toward for a moment. Strong blue Lady to balance the Bubbly Pink one that sought to spur these soldiers to action. Calm. Disciplined. Cali knew about Chiss, and even knew about this particular Chiss. Fleet Marshall of the Confederacy turned Right Hand of the Grand Marshall. A woman with extracurricular 'activities' involving extralegal matters.

Terrik launched into a breakdown on the situation. Whether to keep the Pink One silent or to demonstrate their competence, the reason didn't much matter. Cali could see they'd thought this through. It was pretty apparent. That wasn't the problem. The problem was exactly what Luna ended with: they weren't going to act. Yet.

"'Kay. So, when do we leave?" A smile instantly spread across her dark pink lips. "'Cause I can totally help with the whole 'not enough resources' thing, remember? Droids, guns, armor... Stuff to make even an army of only a few more effective. Oh," her head flopped to one side while a grin peeled her lips apart momentarily, "and you'll have me, of course."

Her eyes snapped to the Chiss. Cali coul feel those red eyes on her specifically. "What? I may be cute and innocent, but I can totally protect my Xobos. The Iron Council doesn't just build pretty sculptures. You both know that since we furnish most of what you have. Well, I got my own, personal resources on top of that. Materials on the shuttle, and I can have my ship here with a lot more in a day -- but I don't want to wait that long. Been long enough, and the Knight -- and your men -- are in danger."

"Questions? Objections? Aside from the whole 'we totally cannot do this' because, uh, we are." The smile returned in force.

Tag: Xobos Yakieer

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E​

Persistent wasn’t even the beginning of how Luna would describe the pink woman sitting across from her. Persistence could be annoying…yet she was learning that she would have to deal with characters like this during her time her on Illyira. If this…Cali and her were going to work together in the future, a high pressure situation might as well be the first time they try and piece together some sort of coherent plan. The eyes of the woman slowly looked over toward where the Chiss sat, giving her a slow nod as the ideals of the plan rolled through her mind.

If there was one major part of what she had learned from being around the blue woman, it was that the objective mattered more than how they actually got there. Military prancing only worked so much, and sometimes there needed to be a different way to get around the obstacles to an objective. Maybe this was just the galaxy’s way of testing her to see just how adaptive to a situation she could be.

By the balance, the galaxy had a funny way of testing one’s psyche sometimes.

“Fine..Fine!” She grumbled, eyes looking back to where the holotable displayed the pirates’ HQ. The different ways of getting inside and plans that both her and Tyrias had come up with flashed through her mind. “I would…we would need at least two dropships. One we already have fueled and ready to go. Two squads of high level droids. I’m talking commandos. Capable of clearing that security station without raising any alarms, as well as opening the east gate to give us an escape route.” It could work…it could. But the pink pulling out two squads of commando droids out of herself would be quite unbelievable.

Crazier things had seemingly happened so far today, however.

Taking a step back from the table, she then moved over to where the rest of her gear was laid out from being cleaned only moments before. “Get me those droids and another stealth ship, and you, myself, my…companion, and the one squad I have left will assault that prison. We’ll get your knight out, and my people too.”

 

[Cali Ziiva]

Cali continued to smile as Luna capitulated to the fact their resident Zeltron wasn't leaving. Her light lids batted over bright eyes as she launched into a shopping list for the mission. It was nice to find out the woman could be reasonable. After all, she was too strong willed to try a fancy hand wave suggestion. If things hadn't worked out so well the pink woman would have had to engage in strong arm tactics that would make her Xobos proud; or at least some kind of political bargaining that the Miraluka wouldn't be so thrilled at but needed to learn herself to survive the political world of Illyria.

"Two squadrons of Commando droids?" Cali's pink tufts flopped to the side as she tipped her head slightly to the right. "How about one of really, really sneaky droids? Won't see 'em comin'. They'll secure the security station so we can leave." They'd pass for Commando droids too, but Cali hadn't built them to take an army head on. Stationed, armed forces tended to have some serious firepower unlike the unsuspecting.

"I'll be with you, of course. With my trust glow--saber." Good catch, Cali, she thought. "I make sure our Knight gets home, you make sure your men get home. We work together and these thugs don't stand a chance." Of course she was confident. They were getting the Miraluka out of there alive. No point thinking anything else. Worst case scenario? That's why they had the droids and Commandos. Kick everyone's ass before they had time to think.

"So," Cali glanced at the Chiss sitting nearby with that shadow of a smile on her lips, "when do we leave?" Her ship was ready to go too. Though the pink one would probably be on Luna's ship for insertion. The droids were already on board the stealthy shuttle; no point shuffling resources needlessly.

Tag: Luna Terrik

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E​

Location: Illyiran Moon – Delta FOB

Time: 1100 Hours

When would they be leaving?

Oh, as soon as Luna could get the squad ready to go, officers and pilots briefed, as well as the ship run through it’s checklist. Making sure that the shuttle was armed to the teeth with what little missiles and weapons they had left over was imperative as well. All in all, it would take at least a few hours to prepare for an operation like this. Time that, from how the pink alien was already heading to the door looked to be, wouldn’t be allowed on her watch. The frustrated breath of air escaped from Luna’s nostrils as she looked over to the chiss, motioning with a nod of her head toward the opening of the tent.

“Tyrias, get the boys up. We leave within thirty. Officers to the briefing tent, and get the mechanics on loading up our shuttle asap.” Her emerald eyes then found the pink one’s, and with a slight bit more annoyance than she might’ve otherwise let slip than usual, said, “I hope that suffices time wise. As much as I want my men back, things still need to be done the right way to avoid anymore….complications.” Taking a moment to calm herself, she started to stride outside the tent, holding it open for both of the aliens to make their way through. Doing so, she locked eyes again with Cali, softening her look for a moment. “Get your ship and your droids ready. We’ll get the knight out, but we do it my way.”

From there, Luna left to run what could only be described as the quickest briefing that had ever been done in her military career. She knew that Tyrias could handle the rest of getting the men and women ready to go. While she didn’t exactly have an official rank on Illyria, not that Luna really did herself, but there was no doubt that the Chiss had as much respect, if not more, than she did herself. Tyrias would get them into shape, that was for sure.

On the half hour, what remained of Omega squad was loading onto the shuttle while the pilots ran through their final checks. Gripping her helmet tighter within her hands, she turned to look over toward the Zeltron, giving her a nod. “ready to get this done and dusted?”

 

[Cali Ziiva]

"Course," the Zeltron chirped. "I may not be a soldier, but I get the whole 'fools rush in' thing." That's what said she, anyway. Cali didn't want to wait another minute, but like constructing a giant monument to someone's ego you couldn't rush the fundamentals or that pretty-pretty wouldn't be a grand monument to anything but ineptitude.

As for the red head's exasperation, well that was to be expected under the circumstances. Not that Cali truly understood why it was misplaced on the pink woman present. Maybe they'd grown numb to being exasperated at the dug-in enemy, or their inability to route them. Well, that would change today. Hopefully. Hadn't exactly brought an army with her, but where open combat had failed perhaps a more stealthy approach would have more luck. As for filling in for Xobos, Cali was a poor substitute. Different skill sets. Hopefully all these changes would steer them clear of repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

"You're in charge, General Commander Terrik. I'm just the cute tempest with a glowstick." With a broad grin, the Zeltron gave the two ladies a little wave before ducking out of their command center.

Back aboard her own ship, Cali assembled her Cute Crew. "You're going to breach their defenses, secure their security station and our way out of the base with the prisoners." What layout details were available from the recon missions were provided and analyzed instantly by he capable droids. "Keep it quiet. Save any loud noises for when it doesn't matter whether they know you're there or not. Oh," the Zeltron held up a finger, "and make sure you come back in one piece. The Commandos might not care what happens to you, but I do. Got it?"

Lidless eyes stared at the pink woman and silenced reigned for two seconds.

"Good." Well if they had nothing to say then Cali was happy to fill in the gap. "I'll be with the Red and Blue Team so I don't get in your way." Well, really it was about being there when they could the MIraluka, but it was also true that they'd be a lot stealthier without a vibrant, pink woman among them.

The Zeltron's briefing was far shorter than that of Luna's. Mostly because the droids could process the information faster and were programmed to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. All things organics could do obviously, but they required more time to prep materially and psychologically. After all, it took billions of simulations just to get a droid to know how to walk. Imagine all the work that went into military tactics! Droids were hard to build, but once built they were always ready at the drop of a chocolate bar.

When the time came to head out, Cali strode up to where Luna's Commandos were boarding. The Zeltron cradled a blank helmet with cat-like ears atop it. "Do goonies disturb rocks? I'm ready, and so's my ship." A smile spread across her dark, pink lips. Ready as she would ever be. Like, usually she fell into situations like this. Knowingly sauntering into a war zone wasn't usually how Cali ended up in trouble.

Tag: Luna Terrik

 

[Tyrias Aran]

Identity: Cali Ziiva.
Species: Zeltron.
Gender: Female.
Occupation: Chief Manufacturing Consultant, Iron Court.
Personality: Flamboyant. Cheerful. Unexpectedly shrewd despite the rambling.

Tyrias sat back while the Zeltron engaged the theater's military commander. The Chiss had nothing of value to contribute. Luna was in charge and could handle herself. Of course they'd been under a great deal of pressure of late. Exhaustion wore at them all with the prolonged campaign. She could see its effect on Luna's temperament, but she could still handle a 'mere' Zeltron. This 'mere' pink woman, however, didn't appear the least bit inclined to be cowed into leaving matters alone.

Once the 'polite' exchange got down to materials for a rescue mission all but demanded of them on the spot, however, Tyrias' red eyes regarded the Zeltron once more. She'd brought more than a shuttle and herself? Not quite a useless politician's trophy wife? Not that the Chiss thought that little of the woman whose decisions supplied the armed forces with much needed supplies and equipment. Politics. Just so happened they needed a good rescue mission anyway... if Cali could produce as an effective fighting force as implied.

As Luna's prompting, Tyrias slowly stood to her feet. Their leader seemed quite hospitable holding the flap open for Cali and herself to depart. With the pink one quickly on her way back the way she'd come, the Chiss turned to regard Luna for a moment. "It could be worse. The Zeltron could have tried assuming authority." A small smile graced her dark lips before she went to rally the Officers to Luna's command.

While they didn't have formal ranks yet on Illyria that had never stopped the two women from carrying themselves with the authority commensurate with their positions. What was Tyrias' position? As Luna's Lieutenant or Right Hand, naturally. She kept her statements concise and calm, but would gladly educate civilians and soldiers alike on proper etiquette -- on doing their job before they found themselves floating home.

While Luna briefed the officers, the Chiss focused on organizing the rest of the personnel and materials. The soldiers wouldn't take thirty minutes to get ready, but Tyrias would do a full inspection to make sure the rigors of recent events hadn't left anyone to forget something. Last thing they needed was a discharged rifle getting their fellow soldier killed, or unsecured ordinance taking out their dropship. Even Tyrias felt this engagement wearing on her physically. Chiss weren't immune to exhaustion; their discipline -- or pride, if you must -- simply refused to allow them to show it. Until they collapsed.

Solid red eyes shifted aside to regard the Zeltron as she drew near once more. At least her gear wasn't as brightly colored as her own skin, she thought before her attention returned to the last second preparations.

Tag: Luna Terrik

 

[Luna Terrik]

H O M E
​

Location: Illyria's Moon
Equipment: Standard Dauntless Kit
Tags: Cali Ziiva | Tyrias Aran

Did…did her helmet have cat ears on it?

Of course it did. Why wouldn’t it? How could Luna possibly expect the zeltron to do anything but have such a outstanding and odd way off showing off her professionalism in this situation. It hadn’t really dawned on Luna why she had never had a zeltron on any of her dauntless squads before, though just by interacting with Cali, she began to wonder if every one of her species was exactly like this. Perhaps comically suggesting that her and Tyrias take a vacation to Zeltros was more like hell than an actual relaxing time.

Not that Luna exactly knew what relaxing looked like anymore.

Cali’s voice was enough to pull Luna’s attention away back from looking toward the shuttle, watching as the last of her squads prepared for what most certainly could be their last mission together. There was little to no guarantee that this would actually go well, so taking one last look was enough to fill Luna’s chest with a shot of pain. The pain seemingly managed to be whisked away as she turned to look back toward Cali, being stared right in the face by that wide, pink smile. “yes, we’re ready. As much as we’ll ever be.”

She jerked a gloved finger toward the cockpit, where a pilot seemed very interested with the gauges and computers illuminated the darkness around him. “Jocky is going through the final flight checks. If you’re with us, go ahead and load up. We’ll leave here in a few minutes.” Giving her a nod, Luna left the pink one there on the ramp, not too concerned as to where she would end up being during this whole attack. Of course, she might ‘mess up’ their group, but there was something to be said about someone that had been around a sith long enough to have learned something about staying alive in a fight.

Within that short timeframe, the comm in the shuttle’s compartment crackled to life, and the drawl of a man from the southern systems made it’s way through. “Pre-flight checklists finished y’all. Strap yourselves in, ETA is ten minutes from takeoff.” The comm stopped crackling, and the engines outside the ramp began to roar to life. A nod from Luna to where the blue stood at the edge signaled the ramp to be brought up.

The commandos had been briefed, of course, but as the shuttle lifted off and started toward the pirate’s crater, followed soon after by Cali’s smaller ship, Luna’s voice began to come through the commlink’s linked up to everyone. “Everyone know’s their job, knows what we’re about to attempt. Our…benefactor from the Court of Iron has been gracious enough to provide what we can hope to be more than a distraction, allowing us to break inside the main three prison buildings and get our men, and the Knight, out. Once we’ve broken them free, we’ll exit out of the east or west gate, hope back on the shuttles and get back here. Medtechs are waiting at the base for our arrival, but I want no extra casualties other than who we rescue. Keep each other’s backs watched, and let’s make this clean.” The helmeted woman focused on Cali, giving her a slight nod.

“Are your droids ready to drop as soon as we get there?”

 

[Cali Ziiva]

The Zeltron's stared at the red haired woman and listened to her response attentively. Not that she had much to say. 'Course, Cali didn't really have much to add in the moment either. Xobos was all that mattered, and humorous quips wouldn't help get the Miraluka out any sooner. Commandos also weren't the type to take encouragement from a carefree rogue. Not when they were about to head into battle. With how tired they were she doubted they'd even crack a smile. Ending the stalemate was the best thing for everyone's well-being.

Of course the pink woman strode right on inside the Commando's dropship when invited. Cali wasn't going to hold the exit door open leaving all the heavy lifting to others. She'd come here for Xobos, so she wasn't leaving without Xobos. 'Sides, the weapon-touting warriors could use a good Cutey on their side with magic powers. Even if Cali doubted she could fill a Miralukan Sith Apprentice's shoes.

With the ship spun up and under way, a spare glance was given while Luna briefed the soldiers present. Her focus was on the arm-mounted display tied in to her own ship. Not that they needed babysitting. Just seemed prudent to make sure neither ship had any last second corrections. No surprises. The Bad Guys would give them more than enough of those on their own.

Luna didn't sound over-confident about Cali's bots, but the Zeltron let that roll off her in the moment. They'd recognize their mistake doubting the brilliance of her cuties when the dust settled -- so to speak. Not that they'd appreciate the chassis design. 'Course the droids weren't built to be admired by the enemy. The stealth field generators made sure their design was not visually appreciated. The girls weren't made to march in an army either; but that didn't mean Cali couldn't add function to style. Much like she'd add style to function when Illyrian bought some of her droids -- and she'd let them pick the style too. Wasn't that generous?

When Luna's attention turned to her specifically, however, Cali lifted her gaze to meet that of the seasoned warrior. "They're ready. Leave exfil to them. All we need to worry about is busting in there and saving our people." That was more than enough to worry about. Hopefully the Commandos would take her advice and leave the exit strategy in her hands -- even if they scarcely knew her and likely doubted the droids of such a bubbly personality.

Tag: Luna Terrik