Private Catching Up With The Past

[Jai'galaar Gred]

Jai followed the fighting, slowly looking around before finally reaching a door. He looked at the Loth-bat, giving a call for the pet to fly back out and keep an eye on things as he gave Tracker a command to keep close and be ready. He then hit the button opening the door to see the two armored figures fighting. One was Samuel Exel , and the other was... wait? Dom? Jai quickly swapped his vision around.... No. Not Dom. Jai couldn't really sigh in relief yet though.

Jai lifted his rifle, and aimed carefully. He couldn't risk hitting Sam. Slow breaths. He waited for what seemed like a good shot, and pulled the trigger with a loud, deep bang coming from the rifle. He aimed it into the man's backplate. He just needed to give Sam and edge. He just hoped it would be enough. Along with one move thing, as he gave Tracker an attack command. He really hoped this would work.

Dominik Borra Ivory Stroud Stardust Solus Skirae Kardek Alpha

 

[Ivory Stroud]

​

She squeezed the trigger just as a blaster bolt hit her in her shoulder. Ana's shot went an inch wide and blew a hole next to Dominik's head, and her hand weakened, dropping the blaster to the floor. Ana only grunted as her flesh charred, a surprised and frustrated sound. She pivoted on her back foot, another bolt burning through the back of her shirt and blackening skin there, while her front leg rose up, shin and foot pointed to the ground. Her metal shin separated and opened, a blue translucent energy shield manifesting to cover her profile and block the remainder of Ivory Stroud 's shots. Her balance like that of a dancer's, perfect and unwavering as she stood on one foot, glaring at Ivory through the light of the shield for interrupting her hunt. And then she smiled.

"You always had the worst luck, Dom." She said without taking her eyes off of the approaching woman. "I don't know who this goth b!tch is or who's upstairs, but once I kill both of you, they're next." Dominik could do nothing but lay there and make sure he kept breathing. "Watch out! Her legs!" He cried, voice weak and pained.

Ana moved. She leapt forward and planted her shield-leg down halfway between Ivory and where Ana had stood a moment ago, shield still protecting her, before she sprung up to spin, kick off the ceiling and bring her back leg down in a crushing blow toward Ivory. Her leg strikes following would be a flurry of spins, low and high jabs and twirls, always bringing that shield-leg back up and returning to a starting form before unleashing more strikes, throwing those heavy metal legs around to crush and break her opponent.

Ivory watched, violet eyes burning with fury, as her augmented adversary deployed some kind of personal shield to protect herself from the onslaught of blaster bolts. The quip, delivered in Dom's direction, went ignored. Whoever this woman was, her arrogance would cost her much more than a singed shirt. Ivory settled herself, bracing against the impending onslaught... but was still taken by surprise as the woman sprawn toward her.

She was fast.

Ivory didn't have a chance to unleash another barrage of blaster-fire as the woman's leg came crashing down toward her. For the third time (or was it the fourth?) in a matter of minutes, the Donna cursed her choice of outfit. She brought up her right hand, still clutching the confiscated blaster-rifle, in an instinctive defense of her head and shoulders, and the woman's heavy leg struck the blaster rifle violently. The weapon went spinning out of Ivory's hand and slid across the dirty concrete floor.

Immediately, the raven-haired Mafiosa was on the defensive... and that just wouldn't do.

She backed up, clenching her fist and ignoring the jarring pain running from her wrist to her elbow, then deflected a second kick with her left hand - pivoting her wrist (which still clutched the FDS-4F pistol) and snapping off an un-aimed shot in close proximity. She'd aimed the shot toward the woman's midsection, but the wild assault continued. Simultaniously, Ivory's hand flowed to the small of her back, retrieving and deploying a small, double-edged, wickedly-sharp blade from concealment in her belt. The karambit fit perfectly in her hand, and her pinkie-finger instinctively curled into the open hole within the grip which would help her retain the weapon in close-quarters fighting.

Thusly armed, Ivory entered the flow of battle as she'd done countless times in the past - letting her body subsume her conscious mind.

Immediately, she began using the knife to it's full potential - using it to both block and strike against the woman's legs. Her expertise with the blade would be immediately apparent, as she brought the edge to bare against her assailant's ankles, the backs of her knees, and any unprotected weakspot she could easily strike it in a "parry", "catch", or "follow".

She had to weaken the woman's assault and gain space enough to go on the attack herself.

And already, she could feel the blood in her body beginning to boil, fueling her rage. She'd danced with the Dark Side before... and in this vicious dance, she had become a Master. She wasn't just fighting like a human under threat of death. She was as vicious a killer as she'd ever been, and at that moment, "The Donna"'s facade disappeared.

She was something else.

Dominik Borra​

 

[Dominik Borra]

The first blow ripped the rifle from the woman's hands, and the second was deflected. Deflecting heavy blows from metal legs would bruise and take off skin if it didn't break bones. The woman pointed the blaster wildly at Ana's midsection and fired, but Ana was too fast, retracting her leg and spinning in the air to dodge the blast, her other leg now shooting out for Ivory's head. But then the knife intercepted her, stopping the kick from crushing the woman's skull.

And then the dance came, of two ferocious killers going for the throats. Blow for blow they traded, the fast and factory-machinery strength of Ana's prosthetics and the swift cutting edge of Ivory Stroud 's knife. The vibroblade had a hard time cutting through the Phrik plating, but the weak spots that had to flex and remain less protected were Ivory's targets. Ana kept pushing Ivory further and further back along the duracrete floor, but the licks she took from that knife were starting to stack up. Disconnected or damaged connections and pistons made her movements slower, more sudden and jerky. She transformed from a violent ballerina to something out of a horror holofilm.

Dominik lay on the cold hard ground, feeling himself getting even colder and colder, vision moving in and out of focus. Blackness closing in. He raised a hand as his vision tunneled. And dug his thumb into his bullet wound. The pain had him almost screaming in pain as his teeth ground together. But his vision cleared as adrenaline hit him. His eye, an analytical machine, gave him a close approximation of how much blood he had lost and a timer to when he would pass out once more. It was less than a minute. He tried to sit up but couldn't, falling back to the ground. He could hear Ana and Ivory fight. He hadn't seen The Donna let loose, but he certainly had seen Ana go all-out before, trained with and against her, seen her operate and kill Jedi and Rogue Sith alike. Dominik hated fighting Force Users one on one, thought it was suicide. Ana liked it. Ivory wouldn't survive.

He scooted and pulled himself across the floor towards the dropped blaster, weak pale hand reaching out for it when he spotted Ana, her back to him, facing off against Ivory. Her left leg, the one with the shield, delivered a sweeping strike, her whole body low to the ground. Then she rose up on that leg, continued the spinning momentum, and Dominik watched as the mechanisms in her right leg began to move.

Ana was twirling, sending Ivory a roundhouse with her right leg. And as it came, her foot came apart to reveal a long two-foot blade, arcing for Ivory. The bloody agent reached out his left hand and activated the little trick he had there, hardly using it. A mini-tractor beam, powered by the energy preserved every time he moved his robotic arm, latched onto Ana. He pushed Ana, throwing her closer to Ivory.

If he had seen correctly, which his eye-sight wasn't the best at the moment, Ivory had a massive disadvantage when it came to reach. Being at the end of an arcing blade is the worst place to be, so Dominik was attempting to close that gap, to ruin Ana's strike and get her closer to Ivory's blade.

 

[Samuel Exel]

It was certainly a testament to strength to withstand the powered armor; Samuel would not be surprised if genetic or cybernetic augmentation was involved beneath that armor, or perhaps it too was powered. But his own equipment would serve as the equalizer here, the very reason it was created. Though the jab - despite the augmented strength and similarly powerful physique behind it - left much to be desired. Perhaps they may have even turned off his pain receptors at this point.

“Weakling?” Was all that was said with the following his wrist being grabbed - leaving a stream that was directed towards his torso redirected to his face, forcing his opponent to back off. When he capitalized on it with the leg sweep, “You barely know your own issues.” The veteran mercenary spoke in grim affirmation. It was then the black-armored figure acted, kicking at him and forcing him to take a step aback with a further adjustment. But he would not allow a reprieve, as the energized bolas were unlatched from his hip and twirled above his head with casual ease. The opposition was now at a distance he typically found his best results in - not too close, but not too far either. A suitable range where all his tools would work. After witnessing hand-to-hand do so little, it only made sense. He played to win.

It was brash action after brash action with his opponent, the charge lacking any sense of the finesse needed to pull such a maneuver off. Yet, it left little time to react - the bolas being flung towards the charging individual’s legs in a bid to send them crashing headlong. He was making it easy at this rate; and it led Samuel to be wary, as if there was some trick up his opponent’s sleeve barely out of sight. His footing slid across the ground with ease, repulsors alleviating the friction for a precise moment to try to dart swiftly aside from the grapple. The next moment, a shot rang out from elsewhere.

When that shot flew past his visor towards the individual, there was a small amount of relief - more complications was not what he needed at the moment. Still, the arms were too wide from the form of the Tank to avoid entirely, and should the bolas and the powerful rifle shot fail, he’d surely be caught by the follow-up if he was not already sent tumbling with a falling figure.

Ivory Stroud , Stardust Solus Skirae , Jai'galaar Gred , Dominik Borra

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Ana was twirling, sending Ivory a roundhouse with her right leg. And as it came, her foot came apart to reveal a long two-foot blade, arcing for Ivory. The bloody agent reached out his left hand and activated the little trick he had there, hardly using it. A mini-tractor beam, powered by the energy preserved every time he moved his robotic arm, latched onto Ana. He pushed Ana, throwing her closer to Ivory.

If he had seen correctly, which his eye-sight wasn't the best at the moment, Ivory had a massive disadvantage when it came to reach. Being at the end of an arcing blade is the worst place to be, so Dominik was attempting to close that gap, to ruin Ana's strike and get her closer to Ivory's blade.

The speed & power of her opponent was brutal... vicious. Ana's assault had Ivory on the defensive, and both of them knew it. Already, Ivory was beginning to tap into her own internal reserves - drawing upon The Force, and allowing it to flood through her body. Her skin began to tingle, and her heartbeat began to hammer in her ears as adrenaline flooded her bloodstream. Ivory's hands began to quicken - speeding up with her breath as her vision began to dilate, focusing on her opponent's body language and the miniscule movements Ana made as she readied every following blow.

Time, itself, began to slow, as Ivory began to draw on her own innate powers; using them to fuel herself in what was clearly a life-or-death battle.

The woman whirled, bringing up her leg in a roundhouse kick aimed for Ivory's neck and shoulders, and it was a blessing that there was barely enough hint of light in the dimly-lit cellar to shimmer off the edge of a razor-thin blade extending with speed & force from the woman's foot. The distance was too close for Ivory to evade without disengaging entirely, and the woman was too fast & skilled to fall for an evasive ducking of Ivory's head.

At that moment, however, Ivory's enhanced senses picked up a sudden shift in gravity as Ana suddenly jerked forward toward her. Something had happened to throw the woman's balance off just enough... and Ivory, being a skilled knife-fighter in her own right, capitalized on it immediately.

As Ana suddenly jerked forward, her right leg still rising & extended, Ivory dropped to one knee and brought her left arm up to shield herself from a sudden downward blow. Using her right hand, Ivory violently brought the edge of her blade toward the crook of Ana's groin where the leg met the hip. Her target: The Femoral Artery. If it connected, she could potentially end the fight in seconds due to rapid blood loss. Even if she missed, she could still improve her chances of victory exponentially.

Her plan of escape would be to whirl underneath Ana's outstretched leg and throw herself into a combat roll, disengaging and redirecting the fight elsewhere instead of being pushed back. It was time to regain the momentum.

Dominik Borra​

 

[Kardek Alpha]

Kardek's carbine lit up once gain as the heavily armored droid rounded the corner and took aim at Samuel Exel . The droid, stepping backwards from the onslaught, did its best to transition its aim towards Kardek, but right before it could muster a shot, a vibroblade knife implanted itself firmly within its metal head, causing it to fling its head back, pausing for a moment as the circuits finally seized and the heap of metal slowly fell backwards to the ground with a loud thud. Kardek, body still extended form the throw of the blade, pulled his arm back to his frame with a sense of tiredness. He was beginning to feel weak and a bit dizzy from the sniper shot he had taken to his head, and he hoped that he could muster the strength to stay fully conscious until this fight was done. Kardek walked over to the droid and yanked the blade from its circuits, his other hand pressed firmly against the wound in his head.

As he stood there above the droid, the gunslinger suddenly lost all sense of time and space, He stared ahead of him, his eyes widening as he experienced something truly indescribable. Memories... visions... of a past life it seemed... suddenly seemed to awaken within him, as if withheld previously by a clouded veil. Perhaps some circuitry had been damaged that tempered such memories, but whatever the case, Kardek seemed to be suddenly able to discover a whole other side of himself that he had apparently forgotten about, or had been intentionally hidden from him.

And in this moment, Kardek dropped the vibroblade, letting it klank against the floor carelessly as he instead held his hand out in front of him, staring at it in disbelief, studying it even. In the midst of this awakening, There was a truly shocking and, almost disturbing revelation. Something that shook the man to his core...

He knew... somehow, even if he couldn't explain it... or define it... but beyond all reason or understanding, he just knew... that the dark side of the force had flowed out of his fingertips countless times.

 

[Dominik Borra]

She had the woman on the ropes, barely able to defend against her heavy attacks. That knife of hers was becoming a problem, but the woman would tire before Ana did.

And then the woman got faster. Her reaction time sped up, her breathing more fluid. Ana had seen that a number of times. So she wielded the force, and this wasn't the first time she'd done so. She was practiced. Learned. That made her a wary foe, but she could kill her before she got the chance to do anything, it wouldn't matter how she was born. She sent a roundhouse kick and released the razor-thin blade in her leg, arcing for the woman. The weight and leverage alone would carry through the knife and into the woman, she couldn't stop it-

Something grabbed hold of her lower back and pushed. It wasn't much, just a solid nudge that tipped her off balance. Her leg hit the defensive arm of the woman, her blade uselessly past her. That curved knife swept to her lower abdomen and sunk in. The feeling of cold metal on her flesh made her shiver, and she knew exactly where that had hit.

She kept her momentum moving, up and over and past the woman. The blade in her leg shot back into her leg before her feet touched the ground. She turned, ready for another blow but the woman had backed off. Blood, hot and dark, soaked her clothes and ran down her robotic legs. Her Femoral Artery was hit. She had a matter of minutes left. Her hand came away slippery and dark before her eyes locked back onto Ivory Stroud . And Dominik Borra behind her. Her eyes burned as she saw him, still alive. She was going to fix that before she passed out, at least.

Dance To The Death​

She let out a battle cry and sprinted forward. Her injuries would put any normal person on the ground, but she didn't seem to care about them. As she got within striking distance to the woman her left leg expanded to become the shield once more and she leapt. She tucked her body behind that shield, attempting to barrel through her and get to her true target.

 

[Dominik Borra]

Samuel Exel | Jai'galaar Gred | Kardek Alpha | Stardust Solus Skirae

He charged the White Warrior, only for Bolas to be sent his way. He readied to jump over them when a blaster bolt slammed into his back. It bounced off, but shoved him forward. He tucked his leg back to miss the bola and stretched out his hands, springing off of them like a tank that somehow became a gymnast. His legs straightened out as he spun 180 degrees, both booted feet making to impact the White-clad fighter and send him flying into the other guy behind him, who just dispatched some droids. He rolled his neck, several pops popping. "Now then, who shot me?" He turned to look.

And a massive thing barreled into him, knocking him to the ground as it's far too many claws and giant maw clamped down on him. Thankfully the Beskar platings covered the majority of his body. His gauntleted hands held the jaws open, it's tongue writhing and smearing itself all over the helmet. A claw or two found the cracks in the armor and cut through the bodysuit, digging into the man's arm and leg. He cried out in pain and effort before he through a heavy knee up into its underbelly, shouting with exertion everytime he did, his other leg pushing off the ground to give him more power. After a few beatings the armor along his left armor segmented. Several darts with arcing lightning shot and stuck into the thing's mouth, gums and jaw. Electricity meant to incapacitate a man rode through the beast.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

She kept her momentum moving, up and over and past the woman. The blade in her leg shot back into her leg before her feet touched the ground. She turned, ready for another blow but the woman had backed off. Blood, hot and dark, soaked her clothes and ran down her robotic legs. Her Femoral Artery was hit. She had a matter of minutes left. Her hand came away slippery and dark before her eyes locked back onto Ivory Stroud and Dominik Borra behind her. Her eyes burned as she saw him, still alive. She was going to fix that before she passed out, at least.

She let out a battle cry and sprinted forward. Her injuries would put any normal person on the ground, but she didn't seem to care about them. As she got within striking distance to the woman her left leg expanded to become the shield once more and she leapt. She tucked her body behind that shield, attempting to barrel through her and get to her true target.

The play she'd made, like the practiced knife fighter she was, had been successful - the small blade of the kerambit biting deep into flesh. Ivory's unprotected hand immediately fleshed with warmth as blood erupted from the wound, and as it did so, she felt a strange sensation in her mind... as if her vision were suddenly clearer, and her mind more focused. The edges of the world around her seemed brighter & more defined, and a sense of steadiness washed over her - as-if an outside force were calming her, sharpening her senses, and dulling the sharp edge of the violent encounter so that she could think clearly.

When she'd purchased the little blade, she'd been told briefly of the power it held... but this was the first time she'd actually put it to the test.

Ivory hit the roll immediately, disengaging as her shoulder met dirty permacrete; taking her out of the way of an immediate follow-up attack and putting her between her aggressor & the prone Dominik Borra a few yards away. Ivory came back to her feet in a slight crouch, ready for another immediate assault from the mechanized assassin.

Ana gave a battle cry, launching herself forward even as blood was streaming down her leg and pooling on the floor. The shield extended again, putting a barrier between Ivory & the woman - an attempt to barrel directly through the criminal mastermind and get to her ultimate target.

Unfortunately for Ana, her blood had only fueled the fury behind the raven-haired woman's eyes.

Instead of taking the attack head-on, Ivory ducked - dropping to her back. At the same time, she extended her left hand - the one not holding the knife - and stretched out her fingers wide. The fury of the battle outside, the confusion and suspicion that had driven Ivory to assume Dominik had gone rogue, and the aggression & violence that she'd fought against for the past few minutes. Ivory took all of these things, bottling them in the pit of her stomach like a roiling maelstrom of red & black - like smoke and fire - and allowed these emotions to utterly consume her body for a single moment.

The sudden rush of power flooded her body and soul, and she intuitively directed it into a single explosive burst of telekinetic Force. An immensely powerful invisible field closed around Ana's airborne body, plucking her from the air like a giant snatching a tiny bird in one massive fist. In that single massive rush of Darkside Energy, as Ivory rolled back to her feet, she would swing her left hand in an arc - directing this bone-crushing invisible Force to send the augmented assassin entirely off-course, careening into a set of metal shelves against the far wall. If successful, the impact would be reminiscent of a collision with a vehicle at high-speed, potentially shattering bones & pulverizing soft tissue as Ana struck the metal shelves.

Stardust Solus Skirae Kardek Alpha Samuel Exel Jai'galaar Gred​

 

[Dominik Borra]

The Violent Bear it Away
​

The woman ducked out of the way and despite the heavy bleeding, Ana smiled triumphantly. She landed, took one leaping step, and ground her left foot into the duracrete. Sparks flew as she slowed to Dominik's position, the blade in her right foot already extending. The fallen blaster was millimeters from Dominik's outstretched fingers. He looked up to see her bringing that bladed leg down onto him.

And then she was gone, blasted to the side by an unseen force, her blade digging a wide arc right around his head. There was a loud crash of metal and falling debris. Then a loud, frustrated cry.

Ana peeled herself from the mess she was thrown into. Her left arm and some of her ribs felt broken. Something in her neck popped, uncomfortable. She had some trouble getting to her feet but she managed it, kneeling and breathing heavily. Some blood trickled into her left eye from a head wound, and out of her right eye she could only see the shadowy form of Ivory Stroud . She grit her teeth and hit the ground with her fist in frustration. She didn't feel any pain from any of her broken bones, but she knew she couldn't fight for much longer. Especially with all the blood she was losing.

"Dominik..." She said softly. "I guess you were right. Fighting Force Users is suicide."

"Especially-" It was hard to talk. "If they have Family." Dominik raised the blaster from the ground and shot her. The blast hit her in the chest. The next several hit her main body and upper shoulders.

She collapsed to the wet ground in an awkward heap. Unmoving.

Dominik let go of the gun and stared up at the ceiling. Darkness was closing in.

Everything was cold. So cold.

 

[Jai'galaar Gred]

Tracker gnawed into the armor, as his mouth was held open Nashta venom dripped onto the man before pained yelps came with the kicks to the gut, the an almost howl with the shocks as he finally let go. Jai glared, the glow from his eyes shifted from blue to red for a second. He'd quickly take aim, pulling the hammer back and fire another slug, then another. Five more in all emptying the cylinder. He'd sling the rifle and go for his pistols before.... He noticed Kardek. That look... something was familiar about it.

He ran up to the man, quickly ran up, getting in front of Kardek and shaking him a bit and quickly speaking up as he did. "Echuta, Kardek. Not here! If I'm guessinf right I get it, but trust me this isn't the place!" He stopped for a seond to look, quickly firing his pistols on some incoming droids. As he did this, Tracker shook himself a little, clearly still in pain before slowly walking to somewhere to keep hidden.

Dominik Borra Ivory Stroud Stardust Solus Skirae Kardek Alpha Samuel Exel Ivory Stroud

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"Dominik..." She said softly. "I guess you were right. Fighting Force Users is suicide."

"Especially-" It was hard to talk. "If they have Family." Dominik raised the blaster from the ground and shot her. The blast hit her in the chest. The next several hit her main body and upper shoulders.

The string of gunshots punctuated the moment; extinguishing the life of the would-be assassin & putting a permanent end to whatever she'd planned... for both of them. Ivory had whirled, prepared to re-engage if the violence continued... but she'd recognized, immediately, that her part in the melee was over. Her entire body was tingling, and her skin felt electric. The mixture of adrenaline and an intense (but momentary) dip into the Dark Side was still fueling her when she realized that Dom had passed out.

With a vocal curse, she rushed quickly to the man's motionless body laying on the dirty permacrete floor. She knelt by his side, bringing two fingers to the side of his neck - immediately registering he still had a pulse, but it was faint. "Dom?! Hey, you're not dead yet, you bastard!"

She immediately began checking him for wounds, paying attention to his blood-stained midsection. Simultaniously, she began to apply pressure, and focused some of her concentration into her hands - sending a flood of healing energy down her arms, through her palms & fingertips, and into his body. She wouldn't be able to heal him... but thankfully, she wasn't alone.

"I found Dom! He's injured - we're down in the basement! I need a medic, and we've got to evac now!"

The broadcast, sent over the team's personal Comms, could also be heard in the transports they'd used to get here. The small contingent of Family Soldiers they'd brought would already be getting ready to move in & assist. If Ivory didn't get help within the next few minutes, she'd carry him outside on her own.

Kardek Alpha Stardust Solus Skirae Jai'galaar Gred Samuel Exel Dominik Borra

 

[Samuel Exel]

The Bolas flew, right underneath the feet of the charging opposition. Unfortunate, for it seems his opponent was keeping some of their capabilities a tad veiled until the opportune moment. While he was expecting this, he couldn’t anticipate the man to be doing entire front-flips onto his person, and instinct allowed him to react barely in time. An arm raised in front of him, a sizeable energy shield crackling to life the moment the impact happened - rendering most of the damage null, but the kinetic transfer nonetheless sending him aback off his feet.

An elaborate drop-kick wasn’t easy to recover from, nearly crashing into Kardek, who had been too busy dealing with the encroaching droids as far as the bounty hunter knew to move out of the way. So Exel took action first, repulsors twisting himself mid-air and touching his feet down on the ground once again with a protesting screech of the metal floor. “Getting on my nerves, now.” A growl aloud to none but himself. It would’ve been graceful if it wasn’t so sudden, the rest of his body lowering down to better control the center of mass as he came to a halt. A huff left his mouth as a crackling made itself apparent in his commlink. Dominik was found. And hurt. His response to Ivory was brief.

<<Copy. I have medical supplies to stabilize, we’re wrapping things up here. Particularly annoying threat.>>

When rose again, a beast - The beast of the beastmaster, he thinks? - had beset the black-armored Tank. Moreover, it provided him with an opening. From where he stood, his hands reached to his belt and drew his hand-cannon, and a baton that crackled to life. Just at the same time the beast had loosed a howl and the fury of its tamer was unleashed in a storm of slugs, Samuel’s armored form saw itself dart to the side before forwards, subversively weaving into the fray once more as Jay passed to tend to Kardek.

In his approach, a hail of White-tinged bolts soared towards the Beskar-clad target, the Sonic Energy contained within intent on tearing him inside-out and disorienting whatever was left. The hope was that even if the armor still had functioning protection against it, the shorted-out helmet didn’t. Immediately when he was close enough, the baton whipped forth in an attempt to crack across the opposition’s faceplate, the imparted kinetic and electrical shock set with intent to kill his foe. Any further delays threatened the life of another, and that would not do for the Bounty Hunter.

Ivory Stroud , Stardust Solus Skirae , Jai'galaar Gred , Dominik Borra

 

[Ivory Stroud]

<<Copy. I have medical supplies to stabilize, we’re wrapping things up here. Particularly annoying threat.>>

"That seems to be a running theme..." Ivory muttered under her breath, then looked down at the near-lifeless body on the concrete before her. She dug in, putting pressure with both hands on the most visible wound she could identify - his belly - and began talking to the man: "Dominik, it's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay! Help is on the way, and I'm here with you! I need you to stay with me, Dom!"

She was paying close attention to the rise & fall of his chest, paying attention to his breathing... which was slower than she would have liked.

"Keep breathing, you bastard... You're not alone."

Dominik Borra

 

[Dominik Borra]

He was able to beat the beast off of him, sent it squirming away in pain. He started to stand, to break the necks of these annoying- And he was getting shot. Slugs slammed into him one after another, keeping him down. The armor protected him mostly, two finding cracks and gliding into his flesh. It made him angrier.

And then white sonic bolts were invading him, rupturing him on the inside. He coughed a splatter of blood onto his visor, and all he could see was the white-armored warrior and his gun. He could get him, he was getting closer. Even if he died he could twist this idiot's neck till his eyes popped out! His insides might be trembling and rupturing, but he'd get him. Amidst the sonic fire he grit his bloody teeth, grabbed the top of the shipping crate he was against, planted his feet on the wall, and launched himself at the White Warrior. A Lasatian battlecry erupted from the helmet, arms outstretched.

Something hard and lethal hit him upside the head, something blocked from his vision by his own blood. Something crunched.

The large body crumpled and went limp, sliding on the ground until the corpse came to a halt.

Stardust Solus Skirae | Kardek Alpha | Jai'galaar Gred | Samuel Exel

 

[Dominik Borra]

The Violent Bear it Away
​

Ivory Stroud hand's would quickly become slick and red, black in the dim light of the basement. The bleeding was slowing down, but mostly from the fact that there was a whole lot less to lose now.

The brain does weird things when it thinks it's about to die. Like replaying memories.

Help is on the way, and I'm here with you! I need you to...​

"...to stay with me, Dom! Come on!" She took the case he held and replaced it with a blaster in his hands. "Just keep shooting!"

There was blood in his mouth, he couldn't respond. But he raised the blaster and fired at the incoming troopers while Ana dragged him through the rubble. He heard her complain, "Damn it King, giving us entirely bad intel!" Dominik didn't think it was bad intel, just underestimated the protective team's wits. He fired some more, enemy blaster bolts exploding all around them. He wasn't sure how long they moved like that. Eventually he was dragged into a ship, he hadn't heard it land.

He set down the blaster as Ana took his helmet off, wiping something off his forehead. She was clearly frustrated and angry, but her eyes looking down on him, those held Relief. She hugged him tight.​

 

[Samuel Exel]

His tactics and equipment once again proved to be superior, and once again, they saw him to victory. His his subversive approach made it difficult to see after the individual was assailed by the slugs. Sonic bolts tore into them, bit into flesh and rend it asunder like any beast would an unarmored person. And still, he saw their head rearing to look at him, as if death itself had refused them entry. Saw him brace himself, and reach for him with a, battlecry’s meaning lost in the face of the blank visor - determined to drag Exel down to the next realm with him. Alas, such was not the case, for as the armored individuals nearly collided with each other, his body shifted. His head slid just past a grasping hand that would’ve been around his neck in a weave, and the baton curved inwards to hit the side of the man’s head, and the white-and-red clad warrior heard something crack. His momentum shoved the figure back, but there was no resistance; they fell limply to the floor. At last, they had reached the end of the conflict.

Panting, there was a pang of some remorse, some mild amount of dissatisfaction with the kill, as he halted and stared at the body. There always was, for the foes he faced were more often than not just on the wrong end of his blaster barrel by coincidence. And yet, with each time this feeling was encountered, there was never enough time for it - always moving onward to the next hunt, the next objective. His hand raised to the side of his helm, his steps already moving him in a sprint towards the indicated position. <<He’s down. I’m on my way.>>

There was no waste of time, vaulting over the railing of a stairwell before descending the rest. Could only hope the man of the hour could survive long enough, he was almost there--

Then he was there, coming upon the scene. Ivory over the barely-alive body of Dominik. Hand shifted for a pouch in his belt, he would take out a small tool with a vial contained inside. Wordlessly, Samuel strode over, coming to a kneel, with the device being waved over the man before an optimal spot was pinpointed, and a vial of bacta was injected. Thereafter, a small patch was taken out, and placed over the wound. In conjunction, it’d stem most of the bleeding, and make sure he didn’t die of pain shock. For the moment, at the least.

“Come on, you’ve survived worse than this.” An urgent murmur, “Up, up!” As he shifted with the applicator to instead place an arm around his shoulder to lift. Helm tilted to the woman, only then noting the body on the ground. Exel would neglect to comment on it; “This is a temporary solution. He’ll need real treatment.” No doubt known already, as he motioned to bring Dominik away from this mess.

Ivory Stroud , Stardust Solus Skirae , Jai'galaar Gred , Dominik Borra

 

[Dominik Borra]

Ivory Stroud | Samuel Exel | Jai'galaar Gred | Stardust Solus Skirae

"Think I'm gonna live doc?" He said through bloody teeth.
"Come on, you've survived worse than this." Doctor Brine sounded almost bored. "You'll be out for a day or so, but then you shouldn't feel any of those holes in you. Right back to duty, as ordered."

Darkness, and Cold.

The pale blue light of the scoreboard illuminated the backs of the agents who stood infront of it. Agent Dominion stood third in line and on the scoreboard. King was next to him in fourth, and Invisibelle, in second. Times like these meetings were the only real times you saw her. Anathesia entered the room and stood first in line. Other Agents were there. Exceller, Tankinine, Alphared, but Agent Oracla... They rest of them all stood at attention in the dark room.

"Glad to see you standing, Agent Dominion." Anathesia said with a rare smile. "Glad to have you back on your feet."

The Director walked in and Anathesia's face became military. "I am very disappointed in your performances. But mostly happy with the end results."

"Bad intel can ma-" "There was no Bad Intel, Agent Anathesia! You simply underestimated your opponent and their craftiness. You forget that each individual sentient you fight is a creative being who wants to live, not droids performing routine functions." Anathesia went quiet and looked down.

"You lost Agent Oracla. Made such a mess of things that your Support had to leave his post to accomplish the objective himself."

"I was the one who handed the package over to Research, sir."

"After you took it from Agent Dominion's hands! You would not have obtained it if Agent Dominion had continued with sniper support, which he had every right to. He nearly died doing so, and you seek to claim credit for his work?" Anathesia was silent. "Ambition is rewarded, Agent Anathesia, but lying about your own work is unacceptable. Very disappointed." An officer passed him a holotablet, and The Director tapped a few commands into it. "The new scoreboard. Review it and return to your quarters." And then he left.

The agents turned around to the pale blue hologram.
1. Dominion
2. Anathesia

Anathesia turned to Dominion, her eyes as hot as Mustafar and her clenched teeth like industrial vices. ​

 

[Ivory Stroud]

As Dom slipped out of consciousness, Ivory cursed. The sudden arrival of Samuel Exel had been perfectly timed, and the Donna quickly moved out of his way to give the Bounty Hunter room to work. As Sam applied a stim of some kind, Ivory shifted & stood, looking down at her hands... covered in blood. She blinked, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“This is a temporary solution. He’ll need real treatment.” No doubt known already, as he motioned to bring Dominik away from this mess.

Wordlessly, she nodded, turning and leading them back the way they'd come - toward the steps and upward into the warehouse. She moved quickly, ignoring her own pain and the state of her clothing, solely focused on evacuating the wounded soldier. As they ascended the stairs and returned to the warehouse floor, there were a smattering of gun-shots - which Ivory immediately recognized as The Family's own weapons. Her people were mopping up the last remaining resistance.

"Get him on the shuttle!" Ivory barked at Sam - casting aside any pretense of politeness. With her hands soaked in quickly-drying blood, and the last edge of adrenaline fading from her body, she focused only on what needed to be done. While Sam delivered Dom to their waiting transport, Ivory began to organize a speedy sweep of the building for any data that might be useful; hard drives, files, photos, datapads, and unusual weapons & armor.

Among the first things she identified was the body of the armoured foe Kardek & Sam had been fighting. For reasons she didn't quite understand at the time, she ordered the carcass stripped, and the armor to be taken.

Five minutes later, with a few arm-loads of hardware in-tow, The Donna joined Stardust Solus Skirae outside with a final order...

To burn the warehouse to the ground, and reduce everything inside it to ash & twisted metal.

Leaving behind a roaring inferno, The Family loaded up into their shuttle and departed District 9, leaving only debris & death in their wake.

Kardek Alpha Dominik Borra Jai'galaar Gred Samuel Exel​