Private A Fistful of Tibanna

[Salba Eldar]

Location, Tibannopolis, Bespin.


"Are you absolutely sure that no one is out there?" This again? Salba did a quick glance around, her eyes didn't find anything amiss, so she knocked on the window of the speeder once again. "Mister Gato, I promise you, there is no one out here." His attitude was starting to annoy her. Mister Gato, as it turned out, was a big name in the Tibanna gas operation on the planet, and he was scared to death that someone was gunning to kill him. Sadly, he was also a frugal man, and so he put all his bets on a buying the loyalty of a single Mandalorian in the hopes it would save him trouble from buying a security team. So, until her contract was done, Salba was going to be struck here babysitting this man. Gato finally got out, opening the door of his speeder as he stumbled out, still looking around with concern. "How are you so sure?" "Just trust me, it's clear. There's not a single blaster here." "But how are you sure?" She suppressed a sigh, a hand instead moved to brush against her beskar helmet. "Sir, we are in your private hanger. There is no one else in here." Gato stared at her for a moment, as if she had said something ridiculous, but he seemed to finally relent. "I see, well...keep an eye open." He muttered, before moving on past her and out the door into the city.

Salba followed behind her charge, guns starting to understand why someone wanted this man dead. They took the usual route, heading on to the main casino of the city; 'The Tibannuck Two'. Gato liked to gamble and drink as it turned out, and it seemed that today he was game for partaking in his vice once again. As the pair walked into the Casino, Salba looked about, her force sight looking for hostile intentions, shifts in behavior, the continued on behind Gato, wary of the environment they found themselves in.


Pluperfect

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu and his friends were all crammed together in a small vessel provided by the woman who had hired them. They were four but in reality, the ship was only designed for three and along with their arms, it made for a rather uncomfortable journey. Three ships of a similar design accompanied them and could be found on their flanks, naturally, these contained three people who had a far better time than Mathieu's group. While his employer had never really seemed very fond of him or his friends, the Morellian was rather happy at the moment - the employer had been much more friendly last time they met - in no doubt thanks to how well they were doing with their recent tasks. The good news didn't stop there as they had been promised a rather hefty payment for this next job.

Traveling at high speed, the 13-man group approached the hangar quickly. After their designated pilot reported a weapons malfunction, Mathieu reached for the comm and contacted the others "We have some trouble with our lasers. Can you take out the shields instead?" he said. The silence he received in response was typical from their employers loyalists. It was a strong reason for why the friends really did not enjoy working for her. The Morellian noticed how their designated pilot got more and more nervous as more and more controls stopped working. All factors pointed towards them having a rather rough landing.

Once close, his allies shot at the panels next to the hangar, fully disabling its shields and therefore allowing the ships to enter. Not having been able to reduce speed nearly enough as they should have, the friends' ship scraped against the top of Gato's ship, ruining most of the top area before crashing down onto the floor where it scraped against the floor as it glided towards the wall. Meanwhile, the three other ships landed close to the edge of the hangar and the loyalists quickly hopped out, guns blazing.

It was not long before Mathieu noticed that he was the only one in the ship who was still conscious and quickly started to get up from his seat and climbed up to the exit at the top. With a grunt, he pulled one of his friends with him - it was obvious that the ship needed to be evacuated. With his friend in his arms, the Morellian stood high whilst slowly moving towards the side of the ship that was covered from both groups facing the corner of the hangar. "Help me get 'em out!" he shouted but only got a couple of puzzled looks. What made it all worse was that a stray shot flew towards him, hitting his heavy armour and causing a bit of pain to his back. "Watch it!" he roared before continuing to pull his friends out. Meanwhile, the loyalists - all seasoned fighters and by no means pushovers - fired at the Mandalorian and her protege with one of them specifically targeting the door controls. They weren't about to let him slip out of their grasp and head to the casino now.

Salba Eldar

 

[Salba Eldar]

Well, they were planning on going into the Casino, but that didn't happen obviously. Salba's reaction speed was on another level, as the moment she stepped out, her force senses slammed into her, causing her to recoil and throw herself into the cover of the ship as it was clipped by the incoming ship. Blaster shots ripped through the hanger, shutting the shield off and exposing everyone involved to the forces outside; there was a lack of air on Tibanapolis, given it was so close to the core of the gas giant, clearly someone had made a mistake. Gato was already in a panic, but she paid him no mind, she didn't have time for his nonsense. She shoved him aside, drawing her blasters and kicking the door shut. She could see everything just fine from within the ship, watching as the angry little blobs of flesh tumbled out of their wreck of a ship, clumsily bumbling about with their guns.

She was a real shooter however, a killer, these were just some mercs with some hand me downs. Sadly, she was going to have to give into the force to make it out of this; if anything it would be a good exercise. "Gato, stay in here, you're about to get your credits worth." With two pistols in hand, she would give into the force, letting everything slow, as she would begin to step off the ship. She would move like a blur, though clad in Mandalorian armor, she could see the shots coming, and step in between the poorly timed shoots, as she began to unload shots of her own upon her attackers.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Mathieu kept bringing his friends out of the ship, desperately trying to avoid letting any of them get injured by the fire. Meanwhile, he noticed through the corner of his eye how there seemed to be resistance. Of course, someone who they sent 13 people to kill would be protected, it made sense. Over the comms, the Mercenary heard his allies shouting about getting to cover, one of whom seemed to suffer a hard hitting shot mid-sentence. Working frantically, he soon had all of his friends out in safety behind the ship which was burning heavily by now.

Grabbing his repeater, the heavily armoured Morellian stepped out and pulled the trigger, causing the barrels to spin as the weapon readied to fire. It was not long until a flurry of bolts was released towards her from her side - if not hitting her outright, at least forcing her into cover. Realising that the weapon was poorly suited for prolonged fights against a single enemy, he kept firing for a few short moments before releasing the large weapon and letting it hang by his side by the leather belt. At least it would have made it hard for anyone to plop up from that cover for a while. He then brought out his blaster pistol and aimed it at where she hid whilst also crouching down behind a piece of rubble.

While his friends were still unconscious on the floor, the loyalists which still remained were careful and also hid behind cover. While two or three aimed at where they believed her to be and another one just maintained a general lookout position, the others advanced or tried to find flanking positions. It was obvious that they were well trained but still held their opposition in high regard. A Mandalorian was not to be messed carelessly and these people obviously knew it. Soon, one of the turrets mounted on top of one of their ships activated, readying to fire and probably destroy her cover.

Salba Eldar

 

[Salba Eldar]

Looking through the men that fired towards her, Salba wasn't concerned, she dodged and moved, flowing like water as a shower of blaster fire sailed harmlessly towards her. Or at least that's how everything was going. A new burst of fire came towards her, unlike the rest, this fire was precise, following her form even with her speed; someone was actually aiming before shooting. Damn it. Given that she couldn't use this as practice, and actually have to fight now, Salba cut the dance short, her pistols whirled in fire, attempting to suppress the gunner as she worked her way back into cover, and caught a shot to the shoulder as a reward for all her hard work. Time resumed, the speed she had depended on for survival vanished, as an intense heat swept across her shoulder and arm. Pain lashed her senses, though she willed it to dull, sadly that didn't help her situation.

She had been moving towards the ship when she was hit, and now with that speed gun, the shots she had effortlessly dodged were now unable to be detected. Three more shots nailed into her body, sending her stumbling forward and into cover behind the ship, as she had dropped one of her pistols by accident; damn sloppy. She cursed herself, feeling her body burn from the blaster fire, but knowing she was actually fine. She drew up her one blaster, taking in breaths at the blaster fire that poured towards her, her armor still smoldering from the shots. She reached out with her left hand, finding her dropped blaster and pulling it back towards her. She swiped it off the floor, reloaded both blasters, and prepared for another shoot out. This was going to be fun.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

It was clear in which way the battle seemed to be going, at least for the moment. The strike force against Mr. Gato were making progress and now had his defender in cover. But then, three of them, Mathieu's friends were unconscious after the oddly timed malfunction of their ship and she had taken down one loyalist before he reached cover. But more than that, her blaster had scratched by the side of his torso which was fortunately protected by heavy armour, making the effect of the bolt limited. Still, she commanded quite a bit of respect - more than a single person should against a squad like this.

The ship-mounted cannon started firing at the ship behind which she hid. It was only a matter of time before it would punch through and hit anyone hiding behind it. Watching the action happen from his cover, the Morellian kept his senses honed as he readied himself to attack upon seeing her leave the current shelter. His eyes narrowed and forehead furrowed as he slowly started to notice that the comms channel was remarkably quiet. Suddenly, the impact of a bolt on his heavy armour could be heard and felt - but this wasn't from the lone defender, it was from the loyalists he had come here with.

While the first time they shot towards him could, generously, be interpreted as misfire, this could hardly be it. They had to be out to kill him and turning his head to have a look, he saw a few of them actually aiming at him, causing him to quickly throw himself around the cover in order to not get shot. Whilst his old allies shot a few shots at him, Mathieu noticed how his flank was exposed to the defender of Gato but seeing as she probably had more pressing issues the mercenary hoped that she wouldn't have too much time to focus on him. "Blasted traitors!" he screamed as he popped out from cover to fire a few shots at the loyalists. Their cover and his poor position, however, rendered his shots rather inefficient whilst he was quickly forced back behind his. "Guys! It's time to wake up, I need some help over here!" he shouted with a sense of urgency in his voice. Naturally, they wouldn't respond as they still laid unconscious on the floor. Still, he looked at them for a few moments before rising to send a few more shots at the loyalists. He would, however, not succeed as he was quickly forced back in behind cover. This situation was truly troublesome - it seemed like this had all been planned out very carefully by someone.

Salba Eldar

 

[Salba Eldar]

To Salba's surprise, a cannon shot slammed into the side of her charges ship, blinding her for a split second as a wave of heat and light washed over her t visor. She rose to her feet, her speed increased by the rush of adrenaline in her system, her heart beat thundering in her ears. She might day this day, but it would be a glorious death. Raising her guns, she rose to meet her challengere, only to see through her empty eyes that they were turning their weapons on one of their own.

She grinned behind her beskar armor, the force flowing through her as she found an opportunity and rushed to leap towards it. Her left arm straightened and trained on the heavy weapons man, the right arm went towards the rifle man in the back, and her legs pushed her on a collision course with the pack of mercs. She squeezed off her shots, as two bolts sailed and struck each attacker dead in the dead, as the Mandalorian rushed towards the rest of the pack. Whatever the betrayed man had done to earn their ire it wasn't a concern for her, she'd leave him for last, maybe she'd make it out of this yet. Her jetpack ignited with the press of a switch, as she gave herself a small boost, springing her a good ten feet into the air as she would come crashing down into the center of the ruffians. Salba would stow her blasters as she fell, deploying the vibro blade on her bracer in the process and plunging it into the one man who tried to gun her on her way down to earth. She was going to have fun with this.

Mathieu Brion

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Blaster bolts swooshed all over and heavy weapons went off from time to time, blasting away cover and causing debris to shatter across the room. But soon, a new sound could be heard - it was a jetpack. Peeking out of his cover, he saw the target they had been after soar into the air, only to drop down into melee range, causing havoc among the loyalist ranks. Seizing upon the opportunity, Mathieu rose from behind cover and let out a flurry of bolts, smashing into cover and foe alike. Naturally, he did not fire in the general direction of his apparent temporary ally. Instead, the stream was directed a bit away from her at what he would rather consider the support. Soon enough, two foes had fallen to the attack and the few that remained were all relatively close to the Mandalorian.

Deciding against provoking her more than he already had, hoping to earn peace with her instead, the Morellian dropped the chain gun and let it hang from his side. Instead, he brought out his blaster pistol and started walking closer to the scene of battle, all whilst firing more carefully aimed shots at the loyalists. Still, they didn't let up and while most seemed to be quite distracted by the the woman in T-visor, a couple fired back at Mathieu, forcing him down in behind cover again. Grateful that he didn't have any exposed flanks, the Mercenary simply waited for a bit before plopping back out, firing at and taking out one of the foes whom had kept him suppressed. Seeing how quickly they were eliminating the loyalists, it didn't seem like they would have to remain in combat for long.

Salba Eldar

 

[Salba Eldar]

Salba grinned inside her helmet, as she flowed into the combat, dancing around her opponents that sought to lash out at her, and cutting down those who drew too close. It was too easy. She could read them like a book, and they didn't have a chance in hell of harming her; at least that's what she initially thought. One of them managed to slip a knife past her defenses and jammed it into her ribs. Salba winced at the pain as it lashed through her system, then swiftly dropped an elbow into her attacked, before pulling the knife out. She was getting carried away. The knife hadn't gotten in too deep, but that sort of incompetence would be the death of her at this rate. She found a target and slammed the vibroknife deep into one of the mercs skulls, before moving to handle the rest of them.

Whatever was left of the men was cut down hastily, as Salba and her supposed companion cleared house. As the last man fell, Salba was quick on the draw, and aimed the weapon over towards Mathieu, ignoring the throbbing pain that was swelling in her ribs for the time being. "Not sure whose side you are on, but you and your posse tried to light me up a few parsecs ago. Do you want to give introductions another go?" She asked, her free hand brushing over her wounded side, finding that a steady stream of blood was rushing from the wound. She scowled under the helmet, knowing she was going to have to strip in order to mend it. She keep her blaster hand steady, ready and waiting for this little stand off to go hostile at any moment.

Mathieu Brion