Burn Right | The Collective

[Janeth Farr]

PLANET CARIDA
Tarkin's Teeth

In the heart of Tarkin's Teeth, one of Cardia's most inhospitable landmarks, lies Facility X.

A top secret training center where the elite go to train in live combat scenarios. The high tech fortress is home to many traps and defenses: electrified floors, trap doors leading into acid pits, wall-mounted flame throwers, disruptor fields, auto-turrets, toxic gas dispensers, and a garrison of well-armed commando droids.

Those who have survived Facility X have went on to serve as the best of the best for numerous military forces since its inception by the legendary Grand Moff Tarkin.

Since Carida quietly fell under the Collective's growing influence, Facility X was supposed to be nonoperational.

That was until one of the Collective's own--a field agent by the codename 'Crane'--co-opted the training facility into her personal headquarters and fortress after stealing classified information from the Board HQ on Arkania...

A message went out to all agents:

Subject: BURN NOTICE

Agent Crane (human, female, description attached) has gone rogue and her current whereabouts are at Facility X on Carida.

The former training center served as a final challenge for elite military units. Be advised that the facility is still operational, and your chances of survival are minimal at best.

Good luck. 15,000 Credits will be transferred to your account upon completion; 100,000 if you erase the stolen data. You may claim anything within the facility as an additional reward.

[member="Atasihd Zi"] | [member="Atlas Kane"] | [member="Atlas Nova"] | [member="Dirk M'yott"] | [member="Faceless"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Jayde Khala"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Moira Skaldi"] | [member="The Matador"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Verza Lor"] | [member="Vinten Veers"] | [member="Wes Rykker"] | [member="Whisper"] | [member="Xern Arterius"] | [member="Zezu Lya"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"]

 

[Gauntlet]

Gauntlet took a long drag of his cigarra.

The rising smoke filled the small passenger cabin of the freighter, clouding him in his own cancer.

"Fifteen fethin' thousand?" He read over the message once again. Calling Gauntlet a mercenary was stretching the truth. Sure, he fought for money but it wasn't always contractual. However, that didn't stop the Collective from acquiring his special services. Base busting happened to be a specialty.

The freighter swept low below the dark cloud cover above, now slicing through the rain storm that battered the surface below. The jagged mountains along Tarkin's Teeth made low flying difficult, forcing the starship into the hidden trenches where valleys were absent. Along one of these gulches was Facility X, built into the mountain side along a massive hydroelectric dam feeding the facility's generators.

As it drew nearer, the facility opened fire with its long range anti-air guns. The powerful energy beams shot across the sky and erupted like thunder. One narrowly missing the wing but the other hitting the underbelly directly.

"We're going down!" The pilot screamed through the loudspeakers. Gauntlet strapped himself in as the freighter plummeted below, skidding across the river and crashing along the bank in a rough, controlled crash.

 

[Jaya Tandris]

"So, what are you going to do while you're waiting for me?" Jaya almost jumped out of her seat after landing her ship, obviously in a good mood. Today was going to be extremely dangerous, stressful, and had the potential for a huge payday. To her, that was pretty much the perfect recipe. To say she was looking forward to this was an understatement, but that could have been said about nearly anything she had come across ever since getting to know the shadowy group that was called the Collective.

Oh, and punching.

You can never forget punching.

"I got the new City Fighter, so I guess I'll be shotgunning the campaign or something. I also need to pick up some parts for my rig here, it seriously needs some upgrades. Newer games can't be played on ultra quality." A scrawny, blue-haired girl sitting somewhere in the back of the room slowly got out of her own seat, stretching as she stood up straight. "Maybe I'll scour the holonet for the best price." Her name was Zoey, and she was the brains to Jaya's brawn. She was the one who had originally come across a message sent by the Collective, although at first she had thought of it as just another job. She wasn't the one who did them, that was all on her best friend Jaya, but it was a cooperative effort still. She found the work, Jaya did the work. By punching things. A lot.

"If we land this payday, the parts are on me." One contract had led to another, then another, and before they knew it they had earned a neat amount of credits by working for them almost exclusively. Jaya wasn't bothered by the fact she knew very little about her employer, or their goals for that matter. She got to dish out violence and get paid for it, there was nothing else that mattered. Zoey had been curious however, but even then she wasn't really bothered by the potential goals that the Collective pursued. It simply wasn't her problem.

Walking over to a storage compartment, she pushed the button to open it. Inside was a frame with two gauntlets fixed onto it. "Let me know if it's any good. I've tried some games, but only fighting games seem to stick with me. I guess I'm not really the gamer type." With some maneuvering the woman placed the frame onto her back. "In any case..." Jaya said as she approached the already lowered boarding ramp, "time to move. Gotta get them credits, credits." Zoey chuckled for a moment, before putting up a more serious tone. "Remember. 'Your chances of survival are minimal at best,' and they don't put that in a transmission for no reason. Please be careful, Jaya."

The words were met with a simple shrug, completely unbothered. "Hasn't stopped me before, and it won't now." It was the response the blue-haired girl expected, and decided to leave the topic to rest. Jaya had always been this way. She had recklessly tossed herself into dangerous situations, but somehow she always managed to find a way to succeed. Most of the time it was mindless punching, but it worked. It was honestly kind of impressive to see. Was she truly oblivious to danger, or did she simply not give a chit? It would likely remain a mystery until the end of time. As Jaya walked down the ramp, one last thing was said to her. "Come back in one piece!"

"I always do, Zo!"

 

[Faceless]

Carida
851 ABY

---

Another day, another target, another paycheck.

In truth, Faceless wasn't poor, far less so with his time with the Collective. Believed or not, bounty hunters, assassins and mercenaries depending on the outfit they worked for didn't made a bad sum for what they did. Sure, they had to come to terms with the morality of taking lives for money, the fact that they always had the possibility of getting bested and killed in their line of work and then there was the always the possibility of another hunter taking out the target before they could and the whole implications of a race with everyone else but even with these facts laid upon the table, Faceless wouldn't give up his work for anything else. For the most part, he enjoyed it too much to simply toss it aside for another avenue of work. For the all the negatives and risks that came to his health, the sheer amount of adrenaline that pumped through his veins with every contract he undertook never ceased to give that kick of satisfaction of a job well done.

As soon as the call came through to take out one Agent Crane, Faceless was on it in a heartbeat. Of course the Board didn't give him much information to work with other than the target itself so it looked like yet another job where he'd have to figure it out as he went along. The travel to Carida was uneventful, other than some dangerous read-piloting as he tried to blitz as much information he could about the place that the target had holed up. His attention was turned back outside as he saw the streaks of guns strike something through the dark clouds and sent it down to the planet below. So much for that idea, the Assassin thought to himself, gunning his way inside within his Headhunter was probably a one step shot to suicide, another route was needed and with the terrain of the planet itself, it wasn't exactly going to be easy.

He landed as close as he could without getting shot out of the sky, utilizing the most extensive and 'by god what are you doing' techniques he could to get any chance of getting close to anything equalizing walking distance to Facility X. Fortunately, having done his research about the planet before he had set off, he had packed mountaineering equipment graciously purchased from some reach of Eshan or another; having built himself up as the lover of the terrorist cell leader there, it was no surprise that he had kept a foot in the door there; it gave him a little playground to toy around in when he wasn't busy, even if it led to some very awkward holocalls at probably the most unfortunate at times. How he managed to keep it going? One could only guess.

Now on foot, however, and a good amount of climbing and maneuvering to reach Facility X, he had a long way to go.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

Facility X.

She had no idea why anyone would actually want to use such a name. The name itself sounded questionable and probably invited too much unnecessary attention. A more subtle name like "Training Facility Alpha" or "Blue Harvest Academy" might have been better. Still, she was here for the money. Mariya had found herself performing mercenary work ever since she decided to come out of retirement. Retirement, it seemed, required more credits than expected. And so here she was, stuck in an escape capsule speeding towards the planet's surface after being ejected by a hired ship above the atmosphere. Not exactly the most comfortable means to travel, but the cheapest bargain available.

Besides, it would only take a few minutes to land onto the ground.

She glared out of the tiny window, watching the space turning into blue sky. The capsule shook violently as it entered through the atmosphere, racing towards the ground. Any moment now, she thought to herself, bracing for the impact that would come soon. As the acceleration increased drastically, her heart pounded faster with each passing moment. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down in vain as the capsule crashed through the trees, sending broken branches and leaves in the air.

"Damn it. Rough landing."

Mariya found herself being thrown against the metallic wall with the final landing. She managed to pick herself up, slapped the exit button and hopped out of the miserable metal cylinder. Her backpack and weapons followed suit. A few grunts later, she was ready to go.

"This way."

The navigation map pointed her towards the direction of the facility and she started her trek, which should take a while. A few steps later, she was magically gone, hidden by her personal cloaking device.

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Another mission sent out by the board of the Collective that required special services to eliminate a target which had a reward for it. Fifteen-thousand credits, a material that Kodryl had no interest in. Only bringing his prey and victims to Death was his purpose in life, and money was a thing he didn't care about. He survived off hunting animals and gathering herbs off from the wild to give his body the nutrients it needed if one were to ask him how he could survive if he had no money?

Money was a fool's possession as it made one's mind dependent on it to gain whatever they needed.

On the same freighter as [member="Gauntlet"], the Bando Gora Assassin braced himself as the vessel was struck by an anti-air cannon and crashed on the earth of Carida.

The Assassin didn't ask if the passengers were all right which showed of his nature and personality. He did, however, saw a lifeless agent that died in his seat that he was braced in. The Grar then got out of his seat and grabbed his bow and quiver before walking down to the cockpit, as the pilots weren't communicating with the team after their happy landing.

[member="Mariya Fleischer"] [member="Faceless"] [member="Jaya Tandris"] [member="Gauntlet"]

 

[Gauntlet]

Gauntlet managed to escape his enclosed quarters once the freighter had crashed completely.

He walked about the interior space, eyeing the many dead bodies now littering the seats and floor. One man in the back wasn't so lucky. Wounded, but still alive. A pipe from the air filtration system had snapped off and pierced clean through his abdomen.

The mercenary drew his blaster and fired point blank into the man's head; putting him out of his misery. He looked back over to Kodryl who was walking about, making his way to the cockpit.

"Looks like we're the only two survivors. I don't imagine them up front had better luck." He grunted.

Whether or not Kodryl continued his search, Gauntlet forced open the drop bay and and hopped out into the wet plains below. The torrential rainfall stung against his exposed face, forcing his hand up to guard his eyes. Through the squinted view Gauntlet managed to catch Facility X above them. A short climb, but a nasty one given the conditions.

That is when he noticed dead ahead what looked like a sewer access. A way in.

[member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Faceless"]

 

[Faceless]

Carida
851 ABY
Theme

---

Pick lodged into the rock as the rainfall made conditions abysmal for this kind of infiltration into what was considered a death trap made for the very best of yesteryear. Still, Faceless hadn't the time to sit about waiting or searching for an easier entrance. With his helmet's HUD lit up with a low-light vision adjustment, at least he could see better than most as the lone assassin scaled up the mountain towards the facility. One wrong step here and Faceless became like an elevator and later something resembling jam as his body would no doubt hit the floor several thousand miles below... Or worse; at least in this kind of situation, there could always be a worse, the one that despite everything made every 'bad' situation look rather light in comparison. Regardless, Faceless climbed, defying the very weather and environment as it seemed adamant to dislodge him from his position and send him on the long way down. Naturally, the assassin preferred his life being on the side of intact as that more often than not meant that he could keep doing what he loved and getting paid for that very thing. As the lone agent continued his perilous advance, every step was cautious and calculated to ensure that the gear he utilized to reach Facility X would hold him exactly where he needed to be; it wasn't that he distrusted the equipment, after all he had ensured to buy it from a reliable source but in a situation such as this, he couldn't be too careful.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Faceless could spot the very underbelly of Facility X, a walkway that acted as some sort of balcony at the same time. Now Faceless had his way into the Facility, though what he would find inside would be another matter entirely. Almost offhandedly the Board had mentioned the traps and defenses inside, made to test the very elite of the Empire yet now were utilized by this Agent Crane to turn a training facility into her own personal fortress. The list of possible ways to die seemed endless within the halls of Facility X and this was only made substantially more complicated once the addition of Commando Droids and whatever else Agent Crane had brought along to protect herself with were thrown into the fire. It seemed if the assassin, more so any one else had any desire of completing this mission alive without being turned into a fine red mist, they had to be on their A game, put all their knowledge together to reach the finish line.

Whilst he was no commando, Faceless knew a thing or two, dealing in the industry of death tended to do that. As the assassin reached the balcony, the picks and rope would be collected back up as Faceless began to scale upward, hanging off the very ledge that one wrong move could send him on the express train to hell. Heavy footsteps came above him as his head eventually peeked and there stood one Commando Droid, armed with a Blaster Rifle. Whilst Faceless had wished for a simple sneak in, the droid seemed adamant on guarding his only way in. The course of action came naturally as the assassin waited for the droid to shift its arc of vision away from where he was about to pop up, pulling himself up as quick as possible and rushing the droid before shoving it towards the railings as hard as he could.

For such a crude and daring plan, it seemed as if luck was on his side. The droid was thrown off balance and tossed over the side of the railing as it fell down into the fog and the rain, its chassis hitting just about every crevice and surface of the mountain itself that it could.

Entry secured and that was the easy part, the absolute hell of a contract waited for him beyond the set of doors at either end of the hallway.

[member="Gauntlet"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] |

 

[Mara Kellarov]

Facility X

Mara had heard stories about it, legends spoken amongst the Special Forces and Intelligence Agencies. She had fought alongside, and against folks who had been in there at one point in their life. Those that had managed to make it out were high on the Agent's list of toughest opponents.

One or two of them were still alive to this day.

The agent walked through the freighter she was one, the very same one Gauntlet and Kodryl were present on. Although Mara hadn't said much, simply keeping to herself during the journey to Carida. She was remaining focused, mind centralized on thinking up a plan of action - although that always tended to not end up lasting for long.

Make the plan. Execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan.

At least that was the case whenever she and [member="Evoros"] ended up in the thick of something. Then again, a plan even an initial one was always handy. They only needed t-

Mara's train of thought was interrupted as the ship was stuck by the anti-air guns. She quickly ran into her small cabin, grabbing her helmet and sliding on over her head. It hissed closed just as things got a lot more rocky, and the Agent was sent across the room. Minutes passed until she came too, slowly crawling herself out of confinement of her former quarters. Thankfully the armor had kept her unharmed; aside from a potential headache from her head hitting the wall.

Which would've been much worse if she hadn't got the helmet on in time.

Taking a moment to grab her weapons; a rifle and pistol, Mara slowly pushed and crawled her way out of the wreckage. From the overall silence, she could only assume not many had made it. Although those that did, she could hear further along, having apparently made it out as well.

"Looks like we're the only two survivors. I don't imagine them up front had better luck."

"You missed one."

She hopped down through the doorway Gauntlet had kicked out. Her voice was somewhat modulated through the helmet, but it was still recognizable.

[member="Gauntlet"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Faceless"]​

 

[Jaya Tandris]

This spot would be as good as any, Jaya figured. It was close enough to Facility X and was shrouded enough to give her a place to don her gauntlets, a process that required such a place. They were quite large and it wasn't as easy as sticking your hands in and being good to go. The woman knelt down and undid the clasps that kept the frame carrying her weapons of choice on her back, letting it drop the short distance to the ground with a slight thud. She then turned around and let her hands be encased by the gauntlets, her fingers pressing a number of buttons inside it. With a hiss a number of clasps made sure nothing was loose before she lifted her hands off the ground, 'cracking' her knuckles as she stood back up. An excited smile formed on her face, this was where the fun began.

The exact part of the wall Jaya walked towards was not coincidental. Zoey had made use of the blueprints she was able to find to help with deciding the best point of entry, at least as far as she was able to make out. Chances were nasty things were waiting on the other side, but that was a calculated risk. Not that Jaya cared about it being calculated, it was a 'tell me where to aim' thing to her and nothing more. "I'm here." The comm piece in her ear registered her voice, activating in response and sending the short message to her partner in crime.

// Good. I have the blueprints up, let me know whenever you need me. //

Without answering, Jaya pressed two similar buttons in her two gauntlets. Small shutters in the back of them slid open, revealing a duo of small thrusters, the one installed in the left gauntlet powering up as she lifted it up. With incredible speed it collided with the wall before pulling back and letting her right hand hit the same spot. Another set of punches later the wall started to crack, and another well-placed punch in the center of it caused a part of the wall to collapse to the force of her repeated strikes. When you're certain all entrances are watched, why not make your own?

Meanwhile, a trio of droids walked through a hall, patrolling the facility. Repeated bonking against the wall caused them to react and move over, standing there to assess what was going on. That assessment was cut short however as a piece of debris suddenly flew towards them, colliding with the head of the middle droid and knocking it clean off. It landed a few feet further alongside the piece of wall and the droid's body fell into a heap, the other droid reacting by raising their blasters towards the hole and opening fire. What they didn't expect however was the blaster shots to be reflected, a pair of oversized gauntlets meeting the red flashes and bouncing them straight into one of the remaining droids. Quickly it turned into another heap of scrap, leaving the remaining one to look down for a moment and then back to the woman who had just stepped inside.

It tried to run.

Its head got punched clean off.

Jaya Tandris, codename Cupcake, had entered Facility X.

[member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Faceless"] | [member="Gauntlet"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Janeth Farr"]​

 

[Whisper]

Coming up with excuses for her mother on these trips was becoming quite the bother. She didn't even remember what she had said this time. A sleepover? A convention? Who knew, and who gave a chit. All she knew was that she was in pain. She had been in that damn freighter, and she had been in it when it had gotten shot down. And now she was stuck inside the ship, who knew how much longer later.

Great. Perfect. This was just amazing. The teenaged slicer sighed as she rubbed her head where it had bumped the wall. Okay, okay. She needed to think. She just needed a moment to think, to plan. Okay. She wasn't a fighter, this was well known. She couldn't go in to that facility and tear chit up. But, this was now a destroyed freighter. Plenty of scrap and components. She began to smile. She heard chatter, and keyed the comms.

"Four survivors, actually. But I don't need to be with you. Give me fifteen minutes and I can build a slicing terminal to assist from back here."

[member="Gauntlet"] [member="Kodryl Grar"] [member="Mara Kellarov"] [member="Faceless"] [member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Evoros]

"Sweetheart, you're going to get us killed."

Yvonne Evoros looked remarkably calm for somebody contemplating impending doom. This wasn't her first time getting shot at by a long shot (pun intended) and she certainly didn't plan on it being her last. Whether or not her pilot had been so thoughtful? That was still up for debate.

The pilot in question--agent Reyes, if Evoros had heard correctly--turned to glare at her passenger.

"I'd fly faster if you stopped talking-"

"You'd fly faster if you stopped eyeing me up and looked where you were going."

Fuming, Reyes turned to face the viewport again, sharply steering around a mountain peak as Facility X's relentless open fire missed them by what felt like inches. Evoros flinched as she rocked to the side, swearing under her breath. Next time, she was bringing M- bringing Kellarov. At least the other agent had been seemingly shot at more than once in her life-

The turrets struck the vessel and clumsily, they veered sideways then down.

"We're going down!"

"Oh, really?" Evoros was shouting over the sound of autofire and hurtling downward, but somehow her voice stayed level. "What gave it away?"

"Feth off, y-"

"Look. Forwards."

They were falling directly towards the jagged mountains. Reyes steered sharply to the left and Evoros braced herself-

CRASH

_________​

​

"Reyes. Reyes."

The pilot did not stir. Lacking any kind of gentle nature, Evoros grabbed the woman's wrist, searching for a pulse. Years of training had fine-tuned her every sense but she couldn't pick up any trace of life.

She groaned.
"Chit."

Well, this was a great start.

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

[member="Janeth Farr"] [member="Evoros"] [member="Whisper"] [member="Jaya Tandris"] [member="Mara Kellarov"] [member="Faceless"] [member="Gauntlet"] [member="Kodryl Grar"]

The hike was eventful, to say the least. The mercenary had the advantage of stealth, making her way steadily towards the right direction (she hoped) as the navigation had plotted out. The planet itself was rather undeveloped. She found herself enjoying the hike even, her comfortable pace that allowed her to catch a few glimpses of mother nature's creations. Lots of trees, mountains and strange creatures. Some of them did not look particularly friendly, but she avoided them easily with her invisibility.

As a deserted building loomed in front of her from the distance, she could hear the unmistakable sound of gunfire and explosives. She glanced up into the sky, a smoking ship that she estimated to be freighter size being shot down by the facility's defenses. Down it went, a sorry state lying next to the river bank. Curious, she got closer into position, increasing the magnification of her googles. She could make out a few figures coming out of the crash site.

Strange. No one else should be here, unless they had interest in the Collective's message.

The Collective. A strange faction that Mariya had joined, at least temporarily for the time being. She did not really care much about any ideals or goals by now. In the past, probably. There was a Republic she joined for a while before leaving. Then a Underworld led by a pirate queen. Life was awesome, but all good things came to an end when the criminals left for their own ways.

Now? All she cared about was credits. Credits that she would be paid if she completed this mission. Her pace increased silently, wary of alerting the unknowns she had seen until she could identify them closer.

"Four survivors, actually. But I don't need to be with you. Give me fifteen minutes and I can build a slicing terminal to assist from back here."

The blonde was now less than a hundred metres away now, her googles giving her the advantage of observing the survivors. She counted four of them - A Kiffar. A man with cigars. A masked agent. A teenager. Were they from the Collective? She had no idea and was not about to give up her position without finding out. Mariya decided to lurk behind, following in a distance for the moment. If they were friendly, she could always say hello later.

But only later.

She was distrustful of strangers.

 

[Gauntlet]

Gauntlet chuckled when Mara made her presence known.

"Well, I'd say things just got better for it. Now there's three--" He was interrupted by a fourth presence. [member="Whisper"]. A young girl by the looks of it. Gauntlet never trusted children working for shadowy organizations. Adults he could understand. They've had enough life experiences to justify working for credits, or a cause that had just the right hooks for them to believe in.

But a kid? Kids were idealistic dreamers. They're the kind of people you really need to keep an eye on.

"Four then." He reached into his pouch, pulling out another cigar and lighting it. After one great puff he continued. "If you want to stay with the wreckage be my guest, but if I had to bet my bantha I'd be sending scouts to our position right about now. I doubt this Agent Crane is a fan of loose ends."

Indeed as he spoke, a squadron of commando droids equipped with camouflage technology were on their way. Six to be exact and armed with repeaters, not the kind of fight worth picking in their situation.

"There's a sewage system towards the end of the river, just below the facility. I say that's our ticket in." He looked around to his companions, curious to hear what they thought as well. Though he wasn't going to stick around for long even if they didn't agree.

[member="Faceless"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Evoros"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mara Kellarov]

The agent raised an unseen eyebrow when Whisper made herself known. Why was a teenager here? She knew The Board had the last word on recruiting, but what led to them bringing a kid into this?

Part of Mara was curious to learn the kid's story, to find out why she was here. But there would be time for that later, they had a mission to focus on.

"Smart idea, see if you can hack into the facility's surveillance system. We could do with a set of eyes in there."

They had some of the blueprints and schematics, but a majority of them were likely outdated. A place like Facility X wouldn't have been designed to give an inch to simple mistakes such as those. There was no doubt that the interior was a lot more different than when it was originally constructed.

Mara looked over at Gauntlet, watching as the man grabbed another cigar. She wondered if the man was going to be smoking them throughout the mission? If he was, then Mara was glad she had decided to armour up for this one - keep the smell of the things out of her nose.

"He raises a good point, see if you can make something portable instead. Once we're inside you can find a means to access their system from within."

Anyone who remained outside would be a sitting duck for whoever Crane sent out to search the wreckage.

The agent merely gave Gauntlet a nod, she agreed with the sewer system, it was the only viable option they had at the moment. Perhaps they could've found another if they had the time too, but right now they didn't.

[member="Gauntlet"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Faceless"] | [member="Evoros"]​

 

[Jaya Tandris]

With Jaya having entered the facility in a not-so-subtle fashion, it was now up to Zoey to navigate her through the maze. Luckily her first stop was not far away, allowing her to get there before any reinforcements arrived to where she had entered if she made haste. If anyone would ask about it, the whole 'blast through a wall' thing was an elaborate distraction. The fact it was something she did because she wanted to was something that would be conveniently left behind. Probably. Actually, it was very much doubtful she wouldn't glee over how hilarious it was when the debris knocked a droid's head off, but she would at least try and that was worth at least something to her.

// Take a turn there, then look to your right. You should be able to find it from there. //

// Gotcha... Yup, that's it. Comms will likely be less than stellar while I'm down in the sewers, so I'll be signing off for a little while. //

// I'll be waiting. //

The descent down into the sewer system was a quick affair. From here Jaya could wait out the state of high alert most of the droid would be in for the coming time, to pop back in afterwards and really get down to business. It wasn't anything exciting, but had it been up to the woman she would've just gone straight for the target. She decided to trust Zoey's judgment, however. Her friend was definitely the brains of the two, and admittedly, had it not been for her Jaya probably wouldn't be in any state to do anything as dangerous as this. Or alive.

A ping was sent through the commlink, but found no response. As expected, the connection was broken off while she was in the sewers, leaving her alone for the time being. With a sigh she looked for a dry place to sit, not looking forward to being bored out of her mind while riding out the storm that was the droid patrols.

​

[member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Gauntlet"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Whisper"] | [member="Evoros"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"]​

 

[Evoros]

The wall was broken.

Evoros was good at dealing with surprises, but this one had to make her stop a minute and tilt her head. The wall. Was broken. She'd prepared for many different outcomes in terms of reaching and entering the facility. A broken wall wasn't one of them.

Well, no matter. An entrance was an entrance.

Pistol at the ready, she moved into the building via the destroyed hallway. Clearly whoever'd made this entrance was not one for subtlety. She might've been worried about the evidence showing someone had beaten her to the chase (Evoros was more than a little competitive, even if she stifled it when it was detrimental to a mission) - but then again, someone going in front to take the fire while she snuck in in silence was an uncannily Evoros way of pulling off an operation. There was something to be said for that, she supposed.

There would be more droids on their way now. Evoros could hold off a handful--combat wasn't her strong suit, but between a pistol, a cybernetic, and the link to the Force she was so careful of using outside of emergencies, a few droids were easy enough to deal with. The problem? She expected more than a few droids.

But when she couldn't fight, Evoros ran.

Locking her gaze onto the doors at the end of the hallway (she didn't know which way to go. But she wouldn't find out by staying and waiting, and sometimes it paid to keep moving), she cocked her gun and took off.

And as predicted, she didn't have far to go before she was interrupted.

| [member="Gauntlet"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"] | [member="Whisper"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Faceless"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] |​

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

She kept an eye on the four figures in the distance, moving closer slowly. They were apparently discussing their entry in by the sewer system. The sewer... of all possibilities?

Mariya frowned. It was not like she disliked the smell. But the stench would linger for ages in her armour. Maybe someone could just break the wall down with a thermal breach. Or a thermal detonator. There seemed to be a sound of wall breaking somewhere else in the distance, so that could be an easier way.

Her goggles captured the facial expressions of the people she had been monitoring, confirming their identities as agents from the Collective. A good time to reveal herself then. She moved forward quicker, deactivating her cloak as she did so to make herself known to [member="Whisper'], [member="Mara Kellarov"], [member="Gauntlet"] and [member="Kodryl Grar"].

"Hey all. New girl here from the Collective. I think we all heard the sound of walls crumbling, so there must be an assault happening already. I reckon the faster way is to blow up a hole and do a breach entry. Stealth may no longer be necessary since the enemies are probably alerted."

OOC: Pushing the plot along... a little forcefully but better than letting things die off. [member="Evoros"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Faceless"] | [member="Janeth Farr"]

 

[Gauntlet]

"Heh." He chuckled.

"Let's just keep the show on the road, shall we? I'm taking those sewers either way. Stealth was never an option, but the route of least resistance is." He had raised his point and gathered what gear he could from the wreckage. Already burning through his second cigar like it were nothing.

With everything together he simply began to walk off down the river, towards the sewer runoff. He didn't stop to see who--if anyone--had decided to follow him. It wouldn't be the first time the old merc was forced to go it alone, but this facility was really something else. Even from a distance it looked imposing. High walls kept it situated along the mountainside, preventing intruders from simply walking in.

If you tried to climb, an entire row of autoturrets were stationed along the wall itself on an axis, capable of spinning around to fire at their foe. And even if you did manage to reach the top, it was guarded by an electrified fence. Walking through that was sure to fry you like fair food.

He was even sure the sewer had its traps, maybe even a few guards, but the smell alone was strong even from where he was standing. That smell being its greatest defense.

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Mara Kellarov"] | [member="Mariya Fleischer"] | [member="Jaya Tandris"] | [member="Whisper"] | [member="Kodryl Grar"]

 

[Whisper]

This whole thing was fething stupid. There were too many people here, too many obstacles, it was too fething cold, and she just wanted to go home. The teenager huffed, crossing her arms, setting her face into an angry pout. She knew this whole thing was a bad idea. Dammit. All of it. Why have her along? She could be chilling in her room, totally beating whatever game she attempted that day, but noooooooo, she just had to be along for this fool's venture. Stupid. So. Fething. Stupid.

"Sewers?" She screwed up her nose. "There is absolutely no way I am going into some hole in the ground filled with chit. Nuh uh. No fething way. I will stay right here, thank you."

She leaned against the wall, then, determined. Until she saw [member="Gauntlet"] going away, that was.

"H-Hey! You weren't supposed to actually leave! HEY!" She scrambled off after him, muttering to herself.