Private Bread crumbs

[Wrenarias]

She ducked her head and covered her ears once Noah tossed the grenade, waiting for the distinct thump that would hit her chest when the compression would hit. Once she heard Noah scramble out of the vehicle to open fire, Wren squeezed herself through the small gap of the window, dragging her staff and the pistol with her. The LPV offered her some cover as she regained her footing, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

In an instant, Wren felt as though she was back on the battlefield. Chaos rained down around her. Men were shouting, the flashes of blaster fire illuminating the street, the acrid stench of explosives.. it was all so fresh in her mind. Wren realized that she was at Noah's back as most of his attention was focused squarely on the fighting in the middle of the street.

As she was finding her feet, a group of men rushed out the door of the nearest building with their blasters at the ready. In their hurry to flank Noah, they missed the twi'lek crouched by the LPV. There wasn't enough time for Wren to shoot all three of them. Nevertheless, she raised the pistol Noah had given her and took aim.

"Noah, six o'clock!" She called out sharply, staying down on one knee for the better firing position. Before the mercenary could react, Wren had fired a slug straight through the throat of the man closest to her. He dropped to the ground, gurgling on his blood as he pawed at his throat.

Their companion suddenly dropping dead was enough to draw the remaining two's attention to her.

The corner of her mouth curled into a faint smirk as they turned their weapons on her. She spun the staff behind her, clicking an actuator in the hilt. In a flash, the top of the spear slid open and a distinct hum filled the air. A jade-colored beam of light thrummed to life behind her. The simple act of turning on her saber was enough to give the assailants a moment of pause, which afforded Wren all the time she needed.

Her smirk shifted as she launched herself forward off the ground, firing another round at one of the men as she closed the distance between her and the third -- the saberstaff hummed dangerously through the air as she carved a brutal slash across the third man's chest. Both him and the second man she'd shot stumbled to the ground at the same time.

There were still three more closer to the building and each of them turned their rifles to the very clear threat of the twi'lek with a modified lightsaber and a slugthrower.

 

[Noah Corek]

As soon as his boots hit the ground outside of the LPV his rifle was raised, finding the chest of one of the attackers. A simple double tap of the trigger and two slugs found the mans chest, tearing through the blast vest that we wore, designed to stop blaster bolts but was virtually useless against the armor-piercing slugs Noah had loaded into his rifle.

He repeated the same process with the attacker that had been just a few feet to the others right, he himself covered in his friends blood and a look of shock and horror on his face, until his own chest exploded from two bullets as well.

While not exactly needed, due to his helmet having a three-hundred and sixty degree HUD, Noah was nonetheless thankful for Wren's warning, quickly turning with his rifle still raised and double tapping the nearest target. And that's all these people were to Noah, all his training both from being a Mandalorian and in the army had conditioned him for this. As soon as they shot at him, his legionnaires and even Wren they had ceased to be people and turned into targets.

Noah's eyes deviated from the battle for a few seconds as he watched Wrenarias , thinking to himself that her saying she knew how to shoot had been a massive understatement. As he had been watching Wren one of the attackers had snuck around the LPV and was about to shoot her in the back. Being too close for him to shoot Noah instead slung his rifle at his hip and reached for the opposite hip, drawing his axe.

His first attack severed the attackers hand, which previously had been holding a blaster pistol. He screamed out for only a second before being silenced as Noah's axe found its home in his neck, severing his windpipe and carotid with one strike. Pulling the axe free, and getting a spray of blood across his chest, Noah saw that one of the attackers near Wren raising his rifle. Getting a good grip on the axe Noah threw it with all his strength, the weapon finding its place in the mans head.

 

[Wrenarias]

There was still another man before Wren, but Noah's intervention had caused the man to hesitated for a single second as he tried to decide which hostile to target. Wren was not faced with such a dilemma. She launched herself towards the man, since he was too close for her to aim the pistol properly. The man took a step back as she rushed him, fumbling for a vibroknife in his belt.

He never had a chance to bring the weapon to bear.

Wren's saberstaff arced through the air, cutting through the man's midsection. With a startled gurgle, the man stumbled backwards and then he collapsed onto the street, his body coming apart. She turned, looking over her shoulder at the chaos unfolding on the street around her. The men in the other two LPVs had dismounted and were engaging the hostiles, those at the rear of the convoy had been pinned down by a man firing down at them from a balcony.

She glanced to Noah for a brief moment. "Your driver is pinned down in the vehicle."

"I'll clear the road ahead, we need to move. We're in a shooting gallery down here." She called out to him, already rushing off towards the blockade that was still in place.

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah walked over to the now corpse that his axe was buried into, wrenching it free with yet another splatter of blood coating his legs. Wiping the axe clean on his forearm, an action that in all reality was just going to mean more blood to clean off of his armor later.

He looked up at Wren at her words and his eyes shifted towards the pinned down driver and the rear section of the convoy. Making a quick decision upon who was in more danger, deciding that the rear section was due to them being dismounted while the driver still had the relative safety of the LPV's armor between him and the attackers.

Reaching for his belt he picked out a 40mm grenade for the UGL-01 mounted on the underside of his rifle. Thumbing the tube release he loaded the grenade into the launcher and activated his HUD's targeting system. The HUD showed an arc for the grenade and Noah raised his rifle to match the arc and fired, the dull thump of the grenade being launched followed shortly by the deafening explosion of it detonating. Consequently the man on the balcony was no longer an issue.

Turning his attention to the driver he came around the other side of the LPV and quickly dealt with the two attackers pinning him down before walking over to the drivers side door. He tried to open the door only to find out it was jammed. "Get away from the door." When he had backed up from the door Noah took his axe and hacked at the door, getting it loose enough to open. The man hopped out and gave him a appreciative nod.

 

[Wrenarias]

While Noah was helping his men, Wren was moving towards the blockade. She carried the saberstaff out to the side, the glowing blade angled towards the ground. Though the twi'lek was rather small, she quickly manifested as one of the more terrifying figures in the fight. Wren had cut her teeth in countless battles; fought and bled alongside mercenaries and soldiers alike. A battlefield felt more like a home to her than her quaint apartment. It was a part of her that was broken and fragmented. She could never find peace or feel in control unless she was fighting.

Wren's reality was a bleak one.

The gunfight boomed around her and the scent of blood soon filled her senses. It brought back memories. In the back of her mind, Wren acknowledged she served better as a weapon than anything else.

Men had started to break off from the fight, scared off by the mandalorian that was tearing through their ranks and the force user that eviscerated anyone she came into contact with. There were some voices in Wren's consciousness that squealed with glee every time she swung the saber and severed a limb or cut someone down; cruel and brutal glimpses into the souls that she'd touched in her lifetime.

As she reached the barricade, Wren tucked the pistol into her belt and raised her hand forward. While there were force users in the galaxy that could fling large objects around with little effort, Wren was not one of them. Her connection to the Force was not some limitless fount of power. Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes, she focused her energy on the patrol car in front of her. With considerable effort, she was able to drag the vehicle aside, pushing it onto the sidewalk.

Focusing her attention on clearing the barricade, however, left the twi'lek exposed.

Pushing the second vehicle and the barriers aside required all of her efforts, by the time she realized that a hostile had her in his sights it was entirely too late for her to do anything about it. She twisted around, trying to bring her saberstaff up in time to deflect the incoming projectile... but this particular assailant had grabbed a slugthrower. Before the bullet even struck her, Wren knew there was nothing she could do.

The slug tore its way through the front of Wren's shoulder, a brief and visceral spray of blood gushing from the wound as it hit her.

Gasping in pain, Wren was dropping to her knee as the man came rushing towards her. There was a giddiness in his body language. He was delighted to have hit the force user. "I GOT HER! Holy shit! I GOT HER!"

Wren watched as the man's finger moved back to the trigger, intending to shoot her again. He was grinning from ear to ear. Her hand darted to her waistband, snatching Noah's pistol free. Just as she moved, the man fired a second shot.

He staggered first, absently patting his chest when he saw the blood that was gushing from an open wound. His own shot had gone wide, grazing the twi'lek's neck instead of killing her.

Wren's hand trembled slightly as she exhaled a breath, staring at the man as he went to take another shot, even as he stumbled. He was going down, but not before he tried to kill her first.

 

[Noah Corek]

Wrenarias​

Noah had been finishing up mopping up the attackers at the back of the convoy, of which there were not many. 'Damn amateurs. Even the most rookie of soldiers knows you don't leave one spot in a ambush lighter than the other, it just gives the target a better possibility of escaping.' He gave a scathing review of the attackers in his mind as he turned towards the front of the convoy and began making his way towards it.

He gave a small jog towards the front of the convoy, just in time to watch Wren use the force to push the patrol speeders out of the way. Giving himself a chuckle and shake of the head he turned to say something to one of his men only for the sound of a single shot to ring out, followed by a rather excited man's voice.

Turning back around and observing the scene it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. The man had shot Wren, Wren had been able to shoot him but he was completely out of the fight yet and was going to shoot Wren again before she had to react.

Acting out of almost instinct Noah raised his rifle and braced it against the side mirror of the LPV he was standing in. The shot would be difficult. The distance wasn't the problem, it was about a twenty or twenty-five meter shot, a shot he could have made with one hand tied behind his back. The problem was that both the man and Wren were in motion, one centimeter to the left and he'd miss his target. One centimeter to the right and he'd miss his target AND hit Wren.

He didn't even have time to steady his breathing but he aimed, sighted the mans head in the crosshair...and fired.

 

[Wrenarias]

Noah Corek

The sound of a rifle firing cracked through the quieting street and Wren flinched. A splash of blood struck her cheek, followed by a dull thud as something hit the ground.

At first, Wren thought she'd been the one to get shot. It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized it'd actually been the gunman that'd been about to kill her. Half of his head was missing in a gory and bloody pulp, he was laying at her feet and twitching.

She exhaled a sigh of relief, falling back onto the asphalt of the road as she pressed her hand against wound on her shoulder. Blood openly seeped between her fingers and pooled on the road beneath her. She took deep, steady breaths to keep herself calm. This wasn't the first time she'd been shot, after all.

Hell, it wasn't even the second.

The wound in her neck was also bleeding, but not as severely as her shoulder. The bullet had only grazed her there, merely a superficial wound, though the amount of blood that soaked into the camojacket Noah had given her was regrettable.

That's it, kid. Nice and steady. Just keep breathin' and everything'll be alright. She heard Marcus' voice murmur lowly in her ear, his tone reassuring. He'd said that to her before, years and years ago. Was it a memory or his thoughts? In moments like this, she was never really sure. She liked to imagine from time to time that he was still around, even though deep down she knew he was gone.

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes for a short while, listening to the chaos around her. It was a familiar cacophony, one that she knew all too well. In some twisted way, it was almost comforting. It was in this mayhem that she could find her center.

Opening her eyes, things seemed to have slowed down around her. The road was clear now and Noah's men could get through. A part of her fully expected them to simply mount up again and leave her behind. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah let a small smile of satisfaction cross his lips as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and marched off towards Wren. He gave a sharp whistle to the convoy to start moving, holding up his hand for the last one to stop as it got to him. Finally reaching Wren he looked down at her and kneeled down to look her over.

His eyes found the wound and he grimaced as he observed it, as best as he could through Wren's hand. "Well good news and bad news kid...Good news is that wound isn't life threatening but the bad news is that it's gonna hurt like hell when we treat it. Alright, I'm gonna grab you under the shoulders and pull you into the LPV."

Giving Wren a few moments to take his words in he grabbed her by the arms pits and as carefully as possible pulled her into the LPV. Once in he leaned over her and closed the door before leaning over to smack the driver on his helmet. Getting the message the driver quickly pressed his foot against the gas and raced to catch up with the rest of the convoy.

 

[Wrenarias]

Noah Corek


When she realized that Noah was intent on dragging her into the vehicle, Wren tried to move away from him or warn him not to touch her; but the stubborn Mandalorian grabbed her before she could utter a word.

The moment his gloved hands grabbed hold of her through the blood-stained jacket he would feel an excruciating spike of pain slam into him. The sensation would tear through his arms, coalescing in his shoulder -- the same one that Wren had been shot in. As he carried her into the LPV, it would feel as though something was tearing and clawing at his mind, some unseen force that demanded to be set loose. The sensation would only grow worse and worse the longer he held her.

Wren grit her teeth and quickly disengaged herself from the Mandalorian once he'd gotten her into the vehicle, gasping for breath as the agony slowly subsided. For her, the pain was two-fold. She could sense the same agony that she inflicted on others when they touched her, and it doubled back into her mind in some sort of horrific feedback loop. The only reason her consciousness had not outright assaulted Noah's, as it had with Farlon, was because he'd told her he was going to grab her before he did. It'd been enough of a warning for Wren to grapple herself into some semblance of control.

"I'm sorry..." She mumbled weakly, resting her head against the window as she closed her eyes.*

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah let out a growl as he pulled Wren into the LPV, her ability on full show for him as the pain rocketed through him. He would admit the pain was intense but it wasn't the most intense he ever had experienced. Noah's life had been filled with many instances of pain, both mental and physical and while Wren's ability was an extremely painful experience it was not even in the top five on Noah's pain list.

Noah groaned after the ordeal was over, slumping backward into the seat, his head resting on the head rest. "Damn kid...you were right that is a fucking painful as hell experience...it wasn't your fault. I was the one who grabbed you. I knew the risks before I did it so don't worry about it."

 

[Wrenarias]

Noah Corek

Wren kept her hand pressed over her injured shoulder, doing her best to stem the bleeding. Noah was right, the wound wasn't immediately life-threatening. She'd been fortunate that the man's aim had been so poor. Her head came to rest against the plexiglass window, exhaling a sharp breath. Exhaustion clung to her form, weighing her down and making her sluggish. Using the Force to break through the barricade, coupled with being shot, and then Noah creating a Bridge had left her drained. Truthfully, she was amazed that she was still conscious.

Remarkably, the rest of the journey to the Legion's headquarters was uneventful. There were no other ambushes and it didn't appear as if they'd been followed.

"You did well." She murmured as they pulled up in front of the building. "With that shot I mean... thank you."

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah wouldn't admit it, at least not in public, but he was exhausted. His age coupled with the reaction he had to Wren when she grabbed him had sapped him of his energy and he relaxed into the seat as the vehicle rolled along, of course his eyes still scanned the surroundings, just because he was relaxing didn't mean he wasn't still aware a threat could be out there.

Her words brought his attention to her and he let out a low chuckled. "Thanks kid...I've spent a lot of honing my shooting skills so it was really nothing. You did good too, you've obviously had some training." He sighed as the LPV came to a stop inside the headquarters. Opening the door he stepped out and walked over to Wren's side, opening it for her so she could step out without taking her hand off of the wound.

"Come with me, I can take you to the med-bay to get you patched up."

 

[Wrenarias]

Noah Corek

She glanced around the vehicle as she got out, realizing that her saberstaff had been left behind at the scene of the ambush. Her face contorted slightly but there was nothing she could do about that now. Reluctantly, she left the LPV behind and followed the mandalorian into the building. Two other legionnaires that had been a part of the group that captured Wren were carrying Farlon's unconscious form in along behind them. It felt unsettling for Wren to walk ahead of the group, given the fact that she was the one responsible for Farlon's condition.

Her guilty conscience got the better of her and she stepped aside for a moment, letting the men pass her by.

As she glanced around the interior of the building, she could see the operation was a hive of activity. It seemed the news of the ambush had reached the headquarters before their arrival, which only made sense, and now men were scrambling to both track down those responsible and reinforce their position in case of a second attack.

Her gaze shifted back to Noah and she managed a strained smile, then followed him to the med-bay.

Wren froze when she saw a familiar face. It wasn't the face of someone she knew, but Farlon. There was a tall woman with cropped blonde hair standing by the man's bedside, talking in hushed conversation with the two men who had carried her husband inside. A name came to Wren's mind, 'Leona'.

As Wren was ushered off to another medical bed, Leona whirled around at Noah's arrival, storming up to him. She was tall enough that she could look Noah directly in the eye. "Why in the hell is she allowed in here? Why isn't she in custody? She should at least be restrained." Leona growled.

 

[Noah Corek]

He gave a sigh through his nose as they walked into the base, his shoulders slumping as they did so, the adrenaline finally draining from his system as they made their way towards the medbay. He noticed Wren lagging behind and frowned a bit understandingly beneath his helmet, slowing his pace and falling in step with her. "Don't blame yourself over what happened kid. You tried to warn him and you heard what the others said, we all knew risks of this job when we took it."

Noah observed the too and fro running of the personnel at the base with a small smile. To the untrained eye it might have seemed like chaos but he could observe the patterns that were among the hive of people.

More than a few people came to him to give him status reports and hand him datapads to look at information on the screens and give them his opinion or breakdown of the information on them. This went on for a few minutes before they reached the medbay.

Noah let out an inaudible sigh when he observed Leona, reaching to take off his helmet so she could better see his reactions. Along with her husband, Leona was a former New Republic Marine whom he had met when he was the head of the New Republic's special forces.

"First off she's hear because she took a slug to the shoulder and it needs to be treated. Secondly she isn't in custody because other than what happened to Farlon, which was a complete and utter accident which to her credit she warned him not to touch her, she's been nothing but helpful. In fact that slug she took to the shoulder was from helping us get unpinned from that ambush you might've heard of. Lastly, she isn't going to be restrained for the previously mentioned reasons...though if it makes you feel better I'll assign an escort for her for the duration of her stay. Now...I'm sure you'd rather be with your husband than yelling at me..."

 

[Wrenarias]

Wren could hear the ongoing argument between Noah and Leona as she plopped down onto the bed. Even though Noah had assured her that they were in a safe area, she couldn't seem to relax. Sidelong glances were cast her way, uncertainty and suspicion in their gaze. The men who had been on the convoy with her seemed comfortable with her presence, but she didn't need to touch the others to know their thoughts, it was written on their faces. Dangerous, Freak, Threat. Monster.

She sighed quietly, resting her head against the pillow behind her. A medical droid hurried over to her, quickly starting to tend to her wound. It was a relief that her attendant was a droid, it meant she didn't have to worry about causing any sort of problem.


Leona's mouth set into a thin line at Noah's rebuke and she scowled before she gave a small nod. "Yes... an escort would be sufficient." She muttered ashamedly, then turned to make her way back over to her husband's side.

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah gave Leona one last small nod before turning toward Wren and walking over, pulling a chair up beside her bed, the side not with the medical droid on it. "Well your wound doesn't look that bad...shouldn't take too long for the medical droid to get you fixed up and then we can have a chat."

You'd have to be blind to miss the looks that Wren was getting from the people who had not been a part of the convoy, and he gave her a understanding smile. "Don't worry about them. People look at you the same way they look at me when they don't know you. But when you get to know them and vice-versa they'll warm up to you."

 

[Wrenarias]

The twi'lek managed a strained smile at Noah's words and then she gave a slight shrug of her uninjured shoulder. It wasn't exactly uncommon for people to either give her a wide berth or strange looks, in fact, she was quite accustomed to both -- that didn't make it sting any less, but she was used to it. "Not the end of the world. I'll be out of their hair in no time, shouldn't be an issue."

Whatever the questions were that Noah had to ask her, she doubted any of them would be too pressing. He'd made it fairly obvious that he didn't think she had anything to do with the situation, which would make things all the easier and quicker.

Her head dropped back against the pillow behind her and she expelled a quiet breath.

"They're looking at me because I'm a freak that hurts people just by touching them, Noah. Not to mention the prosthetic." She turned her unsettling gaze on the mandalorian, a sardonic smile on her lips. "But I appreciate the sentiment."