Private Ambush on Cotellier (pt. 1)

[Roth Likonis]

"The deep red color of Cotellier is visible even from space, the ruby red sand and ruddy topsoil omnipresent across the planet, pooling in doorways, corners, ceilings, and even in light dustings on its inhabitants. Great winds whip these sands into vast kilometer wide storms, sending them howling across the surface, scouring stone and sentient alike. Across the planet, great canyons, crags, and pits have been gouged deep into the surface - all so deep that light doesn't even reach the bottom."

"Roaming the surface of the planet are vast towers, hundreds of meters in diameter, and kilometers tall. They roam the surface silently, only stopping when some hidden requirement is fulfilled; lightning arcs off the towers in a brilliant display, and a great light radiates from the base of the tower - the energy discharge sends great clouds of dust into the air, contributing to the sandstorms. In the newly dug pits beneath the towers, the glimmering of raw nova crystals glimmered."

"On the eastern continent, a treadable tracked through the night through a raging sandstorm - its destination a seemingly derelict and isolated station that had ceased its movement and settled down to the ground to nestle itself between two crags. Dilapidated and rusting, the station leaned slightly, and only a few levels of the tower seemed to have power and lights."​

Inside the treadable's interior compartment, Roth listened to the howling wind - through the thin armored slits of the treadable's passenger compartment he could see the storm raging, and the dim flickering lights of the derelict tower in the distance. "Damn pirates. Lateral plates have been stripped; probably to get to the superconductor so they can sell it for scrap." The treadable bucked heavily as it hit a dune, and Roth reached over and banged the pneumatic door to the pilot's cabin. The droid inside was getting sloppy. But all too soon his eyes drifted back to the slits, eyeing the tower. It was old, on the smaller side, but still a behemoth at a kilometer tall. Decaying, stripped for parts, it probably hadn't been moved for years...who knew if it still worked. "That tower...is mine. It's my birthright. My father won ownership of it from a smaller mining operation when it went out of business. Turns out, the tower is why they went out of business. Got overrun with pirates. Most of them are out raiding...they use the tower as a hub and base. We use the cover of the storm to get close and slip in; the goal is the command center, where security and perimeter defenses are." Roth turned in his seat to regard the others in the compartment. It was freezing, cramped, and dusty - above them a single luma flickered weakly. "Any questions?"

Hild Valor
Iella Sunscream

 

[Hild Valor]

Hild feels a bit of regret from accepting this mission. Too late now. She could be in some comfortable chair under the air conditioner set to as cold as mechanically possible, sipping something strong. But she needed the action. And the credits. That last part is always important, yes.

She has absolutely no problems with assaulting a pirate base to drive them off, hopefully killing some of them in the process to free the place, but she is simply not fond of cramped spaces. It's not a phobia, it's just... height. She's a big girl in a treadable guided by a droid with an apparent love for road bumps and driving through a sandstorm and a whole crew around her. She had a nightmare like this once. To be fair it's probably the sandstorm's fault, but life gets better when you can complain about things. "Aside from suggesting you buy a new droid, does that mean we need to watch for collateral damage?" She is as vocal about complaints as she is efficient in a fight. Which is quite a lot.

She checks her gear one last time. Her whole body is covered, as protection from the sand and the warmth outside, and the helmet will protect her eyes from the dust and the sand. Nothing very fancy or powerful, it's all basic stuff. She checks her blaster last. All in good order. She doesn't dare checking on her 'Big No No' weapon, a lightsaber, in such crowded spot but she knows where it is. She never leaves home without it, although it is rarely used. Unless she really needs it.

Hild tries to take a peek outside to look at the place. "Do you how how much time do we have? And what kind of defenses are you expecting?" Seeing all the sand raging outside doesn't make her very eager to get out there and face all that sand and the desert's warmth, but... a job is a job.

Besides, what are her options now? It's best to go all-in now. "We could... ram through a wall and then run through the hole?"

Roth Likonis ​

 

[Iella Sunscream]

Cotellier | Night | Active Contract
Kit: Herself, x2 NK01 Rail Pistols (Several Spare Magazines - Chest Rig), 1x Winter Rose Cryoban Rifle (Four Magazine compliment), 2x Shiva Knives (Slotted in chest rig) 1x Homemade Pink Vapor Grenade

Iella rested the rifle between her legs after loaded the magazine, though hadn't yet primed it. One hand used to place the heavy rifle down while she would pull her other Rail Pistol from its holster, doing a rudimentary recheck of its condition. One in the chamber, ready to rock. She was holding the slide open partly with one hand and would release it with a satisfactory click. Chewing on some bubble gum, she listened to Mr. Likonis' story with interest. She always liked learning more about the people she worked with, and for. His story was one that she had heard before. People just came along and though what was yours was suddenly theirs. Tragic, but all too common in the universe they called home.

​

"Any questions?"​

She blew a bubble and popped it Didn't matter really, he had said enough. Though that may have been the rookie in her thinking. She had no intentions of dying on this planet today. Still looking at him, her attention was dragged when the behemoth of a woman spoke. And her eyes softly went to rest on her.
​

"Aside from suggesting you buy a new droid, does that mean we need to watch for collateral damage?"​

She snickered first, finding the reference hilarious considering the bumpy ride. Though would immediately quip in as she actually gave that thought.

"I'm not killing any non-combatants. I'm a merc, but not a creep. You guys do, that's on you..."
​

"Do you how how much time do we have? And what kind of defenses are you expecting?"​

She nodded again, while again it didn't matter to her one way or another, the question was good, and valid. She didn't blame her. After all everyone wasn't a walking tank like Iella... Although, the woman could have fooled her. What the hell did she bench, Banthas?​

"We could... ram through a wall and then run through the hole?"​

She moped at the comment but would tip her head to the side in thought on it, before nodding a few times.

"Direct approach is always fun, if ramming it doesn't work, I might have something for that too."

She said, absent-mindedly thumbing one of the Shiva Knives in her tactical chest rig.
​

 

[Roth Likonis]

"Aside from suggesting you buy a new droid, does that mean we need to watch for collateral damage?" She is as vocal about complaints as she is efficient in a fight. Which is quite a lot.

"I'm not killing any non-combatants. I'm a merc, but not a creep. You guys do, that's on you..."

"Collateral damage shouldn't be a problem; we'll be far away from critical system. The exception to this is the control room on administration level, every terminal in there has a critical function. Damage the room...we risk not being able to activate defenses. The pirates have been locked out of these functions, and our success is dependent on taking this room." Roth trailed off, before shaking his head. "Do what you will. Just get me to that room. As for the droid...it has its part to play."

"Do you how how much time do we have? And what kind of defenses are you expecting?" Seeing all the sand raging outside doesn't make her very eager to get out there and face all that sand and the desert's warmth, but... a job is a job.

"I only have physical observations that I've noted through macrobinoculars." Roth answered slowly, remembering his time lying on the edge of a sand dune, motionless, for six hours and in sand fatigues. It had been a rough day. "In its prime the tower had extensive interior and perimeter defenses. A squadron of starfighters. The works. I don't know how the pirates took the tower, but it was some form of trickery; they don't have access to these defenses." Roth trailed off, before grudgingly admitting, "That said, they have four active anti-aircraft point-defense cannons they've been able to slice, several hundred pirates with rifles, pistols, grenades. Two ancient turret droids I've seen scurrying around."

Roth trailed off again, silent once more. He was usually a man of few words; but it wasn't lost on him that at this particular moment, the vast bulk of the pirates were not at the base. He had spent thousands of credits creating fake shipping manifests and documents, and hiring a secondary party to act as a diversion. The pirates had their own starfighters, an entire corvette, and several hundred more troops.

How he was going to survive after he had taken the tower, and the main force returned...
Well, that was a problem for later.

"The sandstorm will scramble their sensors. We'll have until the storm dissipates to infiltrate."

We could... ram through a wall and then run through the hole?"

"Direct approach is always fun, if ramming it doesn't work, I might have something for that too."

Roth's impassive face cracked into a grin, somewhat amused at the gung-ho attitude. He'd spent his entire life on these platforms, let alone the planet, and he didn't expect Outworlders to understand the designs of the mining platforms. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. The base of the platform, where we will be approaching, has heavy plate armor near a meter thick."

Roth outstretched his arm, tapping a button on his wrist-link. A hologram materialized from the device with a beep, displaying a simplistic schematic of the tower. At the base, there seemed to be massive beam-drill arrays that made up the lower levels and were colored green, the middle levels - several hundred floors - were colored red - the top four floors, admin, were colored green. "The tower houses massive reactors to power the mining array at the base. It's my belief that the pirates created a radiation leak forcing an evacuation...only the base of the tower, and the top of the tower are habitable. They do not go into the lower levels for an unknown reason."

Roth paused, before outstretching a hand, detailing a series of small shaft that led through the tower - one of which led straight to the habitable areas at the top. "These shafts are maintenance tubes - radiation shielded. We enter at the base, climb our way up, then wipe out the inhabited decks."

Hild Valor
Iella Sunscream

 

[Hild Valor]

She nods, slowly, with the new information given. So they don't need to be careful and everything is allowed, as long as the control room is reached and is kept safe. That's good to know, but it is a pity she's not bringing any grenades with her. Best she can do is throw a dagger...

... Once.

She will remember the map. She always remembers everything, willingly or not. Numbers, nightmares, good things, bad things, every road bump building up her anger towards the Droidkind in the known galaxy... It's both a blessing and a curse. If only she could shut her brain off and play dead during her nightmares to not remember them ever again.

She turns to the client ( Roth Likonis ), easily speaking over the team's head. Literally. "If we had radiation gear we could do the same and leak enough radiation to force them out the moment we reach the controls. Maybe they did not clear the radiation in the lower levels exactly to keep people from storming in? That's... actually smart of them?" She is just throwing ideas around to see what makes sense and what is possible. If an idea is possible possible and makes sense that's a step in the right direction.

There was a time she was being deployed on missions like this one, but alone. Back then her methods were different and her life was restricted to being a tool to someone else's desires. Today, her old methods are only used if she really needs it. Also, she had a bomb implanted in her spine, so, yay, freedom.

But back to the present and today's life-threatening mission.

Hild glances to the side, briefly eyeing mercenary nearby ( Iella Sunscream ). A small woman -but then most people are small to Hild anyway- with decent gear. A quick fighter? A sharpshooter? A desperate merc looking for pay? She is the one who mentioned something about 'non-combatants' before. "Non-combatants? Do you mean hostages or or pirates actively not shooting at us?" She almost wishes she could believe in her gods again, just to pray so they would pull some godly magic to remove any hostages from this mission. Things are already complicated enough with the cannons and the droids.

Stupid logic keeping blind hope away.
​

 

[Iella Sunscream]

Cotellier | Night | Active Contract
Kit: Herself, x2 NK01 Rail Pistols (Several Spare Magazines - Chest Rig), 1x Winter Rose Cryoban Rifle (Four Magazine compliment), 2x Shiva Knives (Slotted in chest rig) 1x Homemade Pink Vapor Grenade​

Iella listened to him intently, shifting her form very slightly to him as he produced a holo-map. Her left iris reticulated a little, a slight glint visible on her eye as she quite literally committed the map to memory. Within the brief second, she knew this place as well as he did. As far as a blueprint was concerned anyway. Yet still, her face was stalled in a brief grimace, observing the the hologram as he spoke, then seemingly pulled from her trance to rest herself back, still observing. and listening to him, though now she had folded her arms over her chest.

Once he had finished saying his peace Iella nodded a few times with interest. He was serious about this and had been planning it out for some time now. Admittedly, it was comforting. Usually her clients were hysterical, yet venomous individuals that wanted her to do far pettier things for the credits. Honestly, it wasn't so much the jobs, but the people she encountered that kept her doing this. And the more she did, the more love she found in what she did.

She crafted her own destiny though her own decisions, though often these decisions were prompted by people she may or may not have ever met again in her life.

Hild glances to the side, briefly eyeing mercenary nearby ( Iella Sunscream ). A small woman -but then most people are small to Hild anyway- with decent gear. A quick fighter? A sharpshooter? A desperate merc looking for pay? She is the one who mentioned something about 'non-combatants' before. "Non-combatants? Do you mean hostages or or pirates actively not shooting at us?" She almost wishes she could believe in her gods again, just to pray so they would pull some godly magic to remove any hostages from this mission. Things are already complicated enough with the cannons and the droids.

She matched her gaze, having long took stock of both of them ever since she had gotten onto this hunk of metal. Though Iella hadn't been too talkative for most of the trip. Just methodically checking her weapons over and over as if she expected a different result each time.

"Yeah, hostages. Don't worry if anyone becomes hostile to any of us, I won't hesitate..."

She offered with a nod, and a smile, reaching back and pulling her single braided knot of hair over shoulder and resting it at front, over her chest. Suddenly, changing the scope of conversation towards the woman.

"I love your hair, by the way..."

She said, her smile only widening. Iella was a lot of what Hild thought she was, but certainly not desperate for pay. Maybe just an obnoxious adrenaline junkie that should've stayed in school. Not to mention blown millions of credits worth of funds on body modifications. She may have been more machine that human now in all honesty. Luckily Iella had gotten over the fascination with scanning bodies a long time ago, so she remained blissfully unaware the woman she was speaking to had a bloody bomb attached to her spine, and instead moved to make an acquaintance, hells, maybe even a friend if they survived this sortie.

Hild Valor Roth Likonis

 

[Roth Likonis]

"Maybe they did not clear the radiation in the lower levels exactly to keep people from storming in? That's... actually smart of them?"

"They were smart enough to take the tower." Admitted Roth, though it came bitten out behind a clenched jaw. "They forced the evacuation of thousands. Who knows why they don't go down below. I guess it makes sense tactically, but...it seems off somehow." Roth shook his head at the other comment. "I spent all my credits trying to hire mercenaries. Didn't have anything left over for rad suits."

"Yeah, hostages. Don't worry if anyone becomes hostile to any of us, I won't hesitate..."

"That won't be a problem. They're all dead." Roth said it with a finality that brokered no further question, and he turned to look out the armor-slits at the storm. He was, after all, supposed to be an administrator; a leader and organizer of thousands of miners and their families. What did it say of him that he had so utterly and completely lost his platform, and the people he was responsible for, before he had even arrived?

<<Bzzt. Reep-roo-ree!>>

Roth listened to the electronic squawking over his wrist-link, before leaning head back against the bulkhead of the treadable. "Droid says five minutes before we reach our destination."

Iella Sunscream
Hild Valor

 

[Hild Valor]

With the map memorized she turns her eyes away from the projection. It is useless to her now. Hild takes a peek outside to measure the distance to their target and the situation outside, feelingextremely eager to jump into a dangerous situation as long as it let her get out of this tiny space with a droid driver as good as she is a decent pilot.

To her defense she never hit any speed bumps or holes in the few times she actually got to pilot a ship herself.

"I love your hair, by the way..."

"Oh good, I was worried you were one of those pacifists and-Oh? Ah. Thanks. Mom gave it to me but I grew it myself." Sarcastic Hild strikes again. Still, this girl earns a few positive points and a smile. It's good to see her efforts being recognize, and keeping this hair this pretty is a feat as great as leading assault charges into heavily fortified pirate bases. She will try to help this one ( Iella Sunscream ) survive today if she can.

And then, after receiving that compliment there are more good news.

"That won't be a problem. They're all dead."

Praise the gods!

N-No, wait. It's... uh... It's good that there are no hostages to make this mission even harder...? Yes. That. That sounds better. She even returned to her roots for a second there, praised her old gods. Habits die hard. She needs to work on that in the future. There are no gods, there is only logic and things not yet entirely explained by logic, such as the Force.

If her gods were alive they would have saved her. She prayed so much.

It's best if she return her focus to the mission at hand. It's a dangerous thing to live in the past thinking about the details and the 'what if' scenarios. Even more for her. Focus on the here. Focus on the now. "Don't worry boss ( Roth Likonis ). I enjoy taking long walks through radioactive areas, I hear it is good for the health. We'll be fine." Probably? She has long legs, she can walk pretty fast. She makes one last check on her gear, patting the blaster at her belt and checking if the armor is strapped in correctly. Unlike the other woman in the ground Hild is a bit of under-geared.

But this behemoth of a woman is actually a good spy so having only the essential gear suits her best. "Five minutes to finally stretching my legs...." ​