Comm Silence Speaks Volumes

[Mereel Vaun]

Nirauan
Greenhorn Canyon, Anti-Sith Empire Militia Base

Spoiler

img src: https://www.deviantart.com/artsaus/art/Zion-Canyon-Cliffs-304245559

The Republic's move back into the core was seemingly quick and decisive, but in all reality it was something of a logistical nightmare. Republic Navy, Army, and Intelligence were all in high gear, and personnel were stretched thin. Although the Jedi Order of the Republic were considered civilians by the government, even many members of the Jedi Order had found themselves caught up with the move in one way or another.

And so was the case for Mereel. Except for unlike most Jedi, he hadn't volunteered to help out the Army or Navy. Republic Intelligence was the obvious natural fit for him since people tracking was a skill he had developed quite well during his bounty hunting days, and he still had a few contacts in the underworld in a lot of places around the Rim and Wild Space.

However, he didn't suspect that either of those things would come into play on Nirauan. Republic Intel had lost contact with a cell of anti-Sith Empire insurgents that had previously kept up very consistent communications with the Republic Remnant.

While only a few days had passed since the insurgents had last made contact, Republic Intel thought it necessary to send the Mandalorian Jedi to investigate their base.

The compound was located snuggly inside and along the edge of a canyon. Mereel's rangefinder gave him a somewhat-blurry view of the grounds of the compound from his viewpoint - standing on the edge of a massive, easily over 500 meter cliff that jutted out over the facility.

"Huh, there's some movement. Looks like I got sent out here for nothing."

Mereel breathed out a heavy sigh before continuing to mutter to himself, "Should probably drop in to say hello at the very least."

Without further thought, Mereel jumped off of the ledge and towards the roof of the tallest building in the compound, activating his jetpack as he fell.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​NIRAUAN - Greenhorn Canyon
​Deployed Force - Promethean Guard: Cha'jen Setar

​
​One Hour Ago
It was that stench, you didn't notice it at first, when the bolts were still flying. It was only after, when the hefty Brutes carried the corpses into heaps and heaps. Did one notice, that stench. The smell of charred flesh, of broken bone and blood and death.

​The compound was built into a small mound on the side of one of the larger mountains in the canyon, with a massive 700 meter cliff drop at its back. It was defendable, and useful. However, Cha'jen had found that more often than not; Tathra preferred a torch and burn type operation. He'd have his brutes pile up the bodies, his technician wipe their records. And then destroy the site entirely.

​Usually an officer or Bellator operator would oversee such an operation. But, there were complications. Jedi, complications. Cha'jen was holding it now, the shattered hilt of the weapon. He had performed a counter repost just as a Brute rammed his knife into the Jedi's throat. Two stab wounds, liver and throat, he was dead in seconds.

​It was strange, years ago you couldn't see them out on their own. Now they were scattered, entirely. Popping up like flies. Easily crushed like flies.

​Cha'jen was standing alone, at the top of the base where the communication station was. Inside, a small grid table with a console on the front; Cha'jen jotted in a few numbers. The signal ran through at least a hundred various communication consoles and receivers before it found its target.

​The light of the day slipped behind the mountain as the dim light was overcome by the blue hue of a large holographic that appeared in the middle of the table. It was Tathra, impossible large, the red tint of his skin almost bleeding through the blue as his eyes summoned Cha'jen to raise the battered weapon of the Jedi.

​​"Good work. Set the Brutes to work Cha'jen, take whatever valuables the militiamen had. Appoint an officer to oversee the operation, you are needed elsewhere. A ship will be arriving within the hour to collect you."

​Cha'jen bowed, lowering his head as Tathra cut the communication and the blue left the room. The sun was completely hidden behind the canyon walls, a faint light now solely governed his path out of the station, and down to the compartments below.

​Present Time

​As the ship arrived, Cha'jen entered and left with haste to a far off location. The Brutes that remained were under the command of a Bryn'adûl officer, one of their own. There were a few ships on site, collecting the remaining supplies. The Brutes counted ten in total, two were moving the materials, three guarded the ships, another three prepared the bombs to destroy the compound. The remaining two were patrolling the compound.

| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Mereel cut his jetpack thrusters as his boots touched down on the metal roof. The building he was on wasn't quite as tall as the compound's communication's array transmitter dish, but it was the best view point he would get without jumping onto the comm dish itself.

Now that he was closer to the compound, something felt.. off. His senses in the force were hardly those of a Master and he still had a ways to go before he could even a Knight, but what was odd to him was what he couldn't detect. He couldn't feel that many life forms in the force nearby, which seemed odd for such a large compound. The revelation didn't set him off to the point of drawing weapons yet, and it didn't signal to him that he should probably extract, it just made him feel cautious.

Mereel had gone prone as the new ship came into and then hastily departed from the compound. Without getting up from his new sprawled out position, he reactivated his range finder.

His stomach sank.

There was carbon scoring spread out all around the compound, but more importantly there were a few massive, armored, and armed figures moving throughout several areas in the facility. From his position he spotted two moving cargo, and three guarding ships nearby. He hadn't seen the two guards on patrol yet or the three setting up the bombs - either because they were inside of one of the facility's buildings or because he was cursory in his scan of the compound.

"Fierfek. This was supposed to be a blue milk run. " He muttered to himself.

The armored figures were massive, but he didn't know what they were underneath. If he had, he probably wouldn't have been so confident in his involvement here. He pushed himself up from his prone position and shrugged the tension out of his shoulders, "Better take a look inside, see if I can't find any survivors for Intel to do something with..."

Un-clipping the lightsaber from his belt and igniting the icy-blue blade, he plunged the weapon down into the roof of the building he was standing on. He carved a red circle around himself with the blade and fell with the sliced bit of roof into the interior of the building overlooking the rest of the compounding.

​

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​​Offworld - Bryn'adûl Controlled Space

​As Cha'jen's ship arrived, the massive pyramid seemed to enclose around the small freighter. Moving almost inorganically as it collected into a brimming obsidian mass, orange lights shinning from within. Like glimmers of life from within blackened ice. Once docked, Cha'jen quickly made his way through the massive metropolis, heading towards the main central throne room of the pyramid.

​The room was long and dark, massive in scale. Yet, the overwhelming darkness clung not to the shadows or the obsidian like marble that held every room, but the massive crystal throne that sat grown into the back of the room. It was red, boiling underneath like it was alive. He'd heard the stories, how Tathra subdued the fallen of Nibelungen within the burning throne. After all he'd seen, it still made his skin crawl.

​However, what made it more unnatural was how often it was just one alone; with the throne. More often than not, Tathra was on the ground literally flattening someone's enemies. Cha'jen would often have to wait for hours. He wasn't fond of those long waits. Nor was any other in the employ of the titan Khaeus.
_____________________________________________

​NIRAUAN -

​The compound was busy, save a few quiet spots. That, was where Xelieices would strike, in the shadows. She hadn't seen anything quite like this before, brutish creatures shaped in heavy plated gear. What worried her more was the holo-recordings she'd retrieved on Charedell. These were the same beasts that attacked the remnants allies on, wiped out half a city in the process. But yet, when the remnant arrived to help; there were no records of anyone living there.

​All she'd been able to discover was a name, brutes. No doubt it referred to the beasts that now gathered her brethren's corpses. With a swift hand motion, Xel beckoned force her team. Fireteam Gamma, a four man team of remnant Commando's she'd worked with before. They were incredibly efficient and respected the chain of command.

​More than could be said for most resistance fighters. Even still, Xel cursed the fact they were here alone. The brutes were massive, and based on what she'd seen, deceptively fast and carrying menacing strength behind each swing. Gamma - 036, or Juan, saddled beside Xel, hugging the barrel of his repeater as he observed what little he could from behind the smoking ruins of the compounds barracks. ​"Xel, one of the BRUTES just deviated from his patrol pattern. He's headed towards one of the buildings." ​Juan's voice was sharp and strong, his blue muddied visor giving no indication of falter in his generally stoic persona, even against these odds. ​"The rest of Gamma can check it out. We'll take a closer look at what the Brutes are gathering into their ships." - ​​"Yes General." ​Juan only spoke a few words, his right hand raised from the barrel of his rifle as he directed the rest of Gamma towards the source of the Brutes deviation.

​Juan followed Xel as she led him down the arch of one of the buildings, and by the second patrolling Brute. On the other end of the compound, Gamma 056, 081 and 006 loosely tailed the Brute, finding the massive hulking soldier ripping a door from its hinges; entering a single room in the back of the compound. 006 raised Juan on the com, quickly speaking to Gamma's leader. ​"O-Three-Six, the Brute has entered a isolated area. Do we engage?"

​Juan looked to Xel, who gave a short nod before returning to observing the supplies being moved into the ships. ​"Copy, Six. Engage. Quietly." ​Juan placed his rifle onto the magnetic holster on the lower half of his back, taking the sniper from his shoulder blades, eyeing some of the canisters in one of the ships. ​"I hope one of those canisters is a high grade explosive."

​On the opposite side of the compound, the three Commando's entered the room from opposite directions. First, 006 noticed the whole in the room. And second, [member="Mereel Vaun"] crouched under one of the desks in the room, he was thrown off guard as both of his fellow Commando's attempted to grapple at the massive Brute. 006 remained stunned for a moment as he leapt over the desk and over Mereel, thrusting his vibrosword into the armourweave between the plates. The Brute knocked 051 back, struggling to keep on his feet as the Brute used its weight to snap the vibrosword and headbutt 006 to the ground. Next, the Brute reached for his gun.

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Mereel had decided to be methodical in his search of the facility - ducking into each door he came across as he made his way through the building. He was looking to see if there were any bodies, or failing that to see if his force senses had failed him in revealing nearby life.

So far he had uncovered nothing, and as he stepped into the next room his findings were nearly the same as each of the rooms that had proceeded it: empty save the furniture, none of the signs of fighting that marked the outside of the facility were on the inside of this structure, probably too far away from the unknown contact's landing zone.

That was when he sensed a presence approaching him in the force, followed by three others close behind. Although he hadn't seen the two unknown contacts patrolling, he had no doubt that it was one of the lumbering armored figures he had seen earlier that was coming towards him now. He sighed, deactivated his lightsaber, and took a good look around the room he now found himself in. There were several doors to the room, and several desks in varying positions around the room, but in his mind all he had to do was stay out of sight of one entryway.

He could've always sensed which way the bogey was coming from in order to find a good desk to take cover behind, but he didn't end up needing to do that at all. Mereel winced at the sound of the metal door being torn from its hinges and promptly ducked behind a desk that would conceal him from that entryway.

Unclipping his lightsaber from his belt, Mereel prepared to leap over the desk as soon as the first contact closed the distance. But before he could do just that, something unexpected happened. Two soldiers in armor not too dissimilar from his own rushed into the room, one vaulting over him and his position to stab the first contact before getting himself headbutted by the large figure. He could feel that there was a third nearby too, but that force signature had not rushed into the room with his compatriots.

Having never interacted with Remnant Commandos, or any Republic special forces teams for that matter, Mereel was caught off guard for a second at the soldiers' decisiveness in running up to stab and grapple such a large opponent. But his mind cleared as the brute reached for its rather large looking blaster.

Finally getting up from behind his cover, Mereel reactivated his lightsaber and vaulted onto the desktop. As soon as both of his feet were planted on the desk, he swung his blade in a relatively weak but fast arc aimed downward in an attempt cut through the barrel of the brute's weapon as the behemoth drew it.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Gamma 081 leapt onto the back of the Brute, thrusting his vibro-shortsword into the neck of the Brute through the back of his neck as 006 took to his feet, tackling the massive Brute, only pushing him a few inches stumbling backward. However, as the Brute bled out and stumbled, 081 ripped open the Brutes neck as he dropped from its back, allowing the Brute to stumble and fall to the ground.

​On the other end of the compound, both Xel and Juan were sitting, almost frozen as they heard the scuffle over the coms. ​"Gamma, respond!" ​Juan spoke in a half hushed tone, his hand pressed against his helmets com, pressing it against his ear as he almost stood up to go to his men.

​A delicate hand rose, pulling him down as he attempted to move. ​​"It's alright Juan. They are safe." ​Xel knew the tides had just turned.

​Gamma 006, turned his blaster on Mereel next, pressing the butt of his gun into the man's back as his fellow Commando's turned their weapons on what appeared to be a Mandalorian with a lightsaber. ​"Sir, it's Gamma Zero-Zero-Six. We've found another Jedi. I think, sir." ​Juan turned to Xel, stalling for a second as he thought on how to word his men's discovery. ​"You forget I'm using a com piece too Juan? Six, question him. Ask him for the system code."

​​Six backed up a little, raising his off-hand in an open palm. ​"Alright Jedi. Whats the remnant code for this system?"

| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

After swinging his saber at the brute's weapon, Mereel sat back. Swinging a lightsaber at an enemy that already had two allies in such close proximity was, he had decided, not a great idea - and so he played the role of spectator as the Remnant commandos finished grappling with and slicing up the lumbering opponent.

Even though one of the commandos was now pressing a blaster against his back, Mereel left his lightsaber activated as the commandos turned their attention to him and asked him Republic code for the Nirauan system.

Fortunately, an intel operative had made sure that the sector code was drilled into his skull before getting off the mission briefing's holocall with him. " Libra sixty-two, one, seventeen, thirty, eight, nine, zero, seven, four, zero."

His fingers tapped impatiently on his lightsaber hilt. Republic Intel should have told him that there would be friendlies on this mission, but for some reason they had failed to mention it. Perhaps these commandos were black ops spooks, "Guessing you lot aren't the insurgents. Care to tell me what your doing here, or is that information top secret?"

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Six's eyes rapidly jumped between the blade of the lightsaber in the man's hand and his face, not sure whether to keep an eye out for the swing or his face for the tell. His open palmed hand moved to his earpiece as he held the Jedi's gaze. ​"He knows the code." -

​Juan and Xel exchanged looks. Xel shrugged while Juan rested down onto is stomach, lying prone across the rooftop as he put together his anti-material launcher. ​​​"And people say the sith are unorganised. Our military groups can't even communicate with each other. Lower your weapons. He's on our mission now."

​All three of the Commando's lowered their weapons as Six let out a breath, his face almost purple under his helm. He'd seen what those laser blades of death could do. ​"Sorry Jedi. And I normally wouldn't have clearance to answer that question. But you've just been reassigned to our mission. We're part of the Remnant's Special Warfare Group One-Five. We're Commando's, Gamma Team. We've been assigned to General Xelieices, as part of a recon mission. These bastards-" Six pointed the barrel of his rifle towards the fallen Brute. ​"-have been hitting our outposts and weapon caches for a little over a month. And so far all we know about them is that they are bigger than us. And make short work for anything short of specialised forces." ​Six, opened the door of the small room; crouched with his fellow Commando's following behind.

​Five-One held a sniper, while Eight-One carried a type of bayonetted shotgun.

​"Another Jedi might just even the odds." ​Five-One quipped optimistically, passing a stun grenade to Six. ​"Maybe." ​The Commando commented, rather disregarding of his team members optimism as he peered over the railing to observe the on-goings below. "Jedi, get over here."

​On the other end of the compound, the Officer Cha'jen had left in charge made a round up call; noting that one of their men didn't report in, and now the three that were burning the bodies were headed towards Mereel and the Commando's. ​"Six, three brutes are headed your way. Alright Commandos. Eliminate the remaining hostiles on my signal. You'll know it when you see it."

​Six loaded his rifle, checking the magazine was full as he looked over the railing again. All three of the Brutes were moving in from different positions, seconds away. ​"You better be good with that saber Jedi." ​Six commented, nodding to Mereel as he placed his finger on the trigger of the blaster rifle he was carrying. Suddenly, one of the small ships at the front of base being loaded with supplies exploded, the explosive barrels within being hit with a high explosive grenade round.

​The whole ship leapt into the air before toppling on its side, scattering debris and pieces of the pilot across the landing pad. The three brutes turned on their heels, momentarily distracted.

| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Mereel breathed out a short, relieved sigh as the soldiers lowered their weapons. Cutting down Remnant special forces operatives wasn't high on his list of priorities for this mission.

With the situation disarmed, Mereel deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt as he listened to Six explain what the Commando team was doing here. Realizing that everyone but the Remant Commandos and the Jedi on site were likely dead, Mereel didn't really have a mission objective here anymore, so he raised no fuss when the Remnant soldiers said that he was being inducted for their mission.

Mereel shrugged his shoulders and followed the Remnant soldiers when summoned, "Why not? Already came all this way anyhow."

He un-clipped his durasteel Mandalorian helmet from his belt and donned the family heirloom, HUD and armor cooling systems sprang to life with computerized boops and mechanical whirs respectively. Mereel could feel the Brutes approaching through the force, but temporarily remained in concealment with the three members of Gamma Team.

"Good? I'm the best saber duelist who's ever come out of Glacies Domum."

Since he had found a long-abandoned Jedi Praxeum on the planet, he was almost entirely convinced that he had just told a bold-faced lie, but none of the Commandos would know any better.

"I'll try to leave -"

Before Mereel could finish his baseless boast, a thunderous roar erupted from somewhere in the compound, and a short tremor quaked through his boots. It looked like Gamma Team preferred to play it loud, and he was perfectly fine with that - one tended to avoid stealth when wearing bulky, and often creaky, armor plating. Beyond being loud and obnoxious though, the explosion would temporarily draw the attention of every enemy left on the compound. If there was ever a time to charge the three lumbering giants near them with a lightsaber, it was now.

He slowed his breathing and cleared his mind.

Wasting no additional time, the Jedi Padawan vaulted himself over the railing that Six had been looking over mere seconds before. Mereel summoned his lightsaber from his belt with telekinesis midfall, and further relied on the force to mitigate the impact of his landing. Clutching the still-inactive saber with both hands, Mereel sprinted for the nearest Brute. He relented from activating his blade until the last possible second, the icy blue blade only coming to life once he was up close and personal with the Brute.

Mereel stopped his run with a skid, shoving his lightsaber hilt forward in an attempt to connect the blade with the Brute at the center of the being's chest by method of a quick thrust attack.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​The thin duel purple blades of Xel's lightsabers exploded into a fiery energy as she exposed herself, standing tall as the firefight on the edge of the compound drew the attention of the Brutes below. ​"Time to get to work." ​Was her only words, Xel raised her left hand; using her mastery of the force to pull two of the blasters from the closest two Brutes, leaping downward in an arch towards the closest Brute as both of her sabers slid through the plates on his chest. The blades collecting into his chest and in a quick movement twisting through his lungs and out through his neck, causing him to fall, instantly.

​The second turned, taking a dagger from his belt as Juan fired a single sniper round into the seconds eye, causing him to collapse. Xel in unison ran to the staggering Brute. She leapt over his right shoulder, thrusting her saber through the weak spots between the back of his arms armour, using her bodies momentum to cleave it off, turning on her heel as her second blade cut through the top of his head.

​On the other end of the base, Six was readying himself to attack with his team when the Jedi leapt over him; flowing down to the ground like a butterfly as his blade ignited. Six didn't need to tell him Commando's what to do, immediately looking over the cover to open fire on the other two.

​Mereel's saber carved it's way through the thick armour of the Brute, stabbing into it's chest and hitting its crystal surface organ; causing it to tumble over immediately, almost easily. Six noticed that, not knowing whether the saber was just a much better fit or if they had a weakness to exploit. Regardless, he leapt down as Five-One and Eight-One both separately engaged their targets. Six, turned to face the Brute Eight-One was fighting, taking a frag from his belt, cooking it for a few seconds as he threw it; smacking the Brute directly in the chest and knocking him off his feet, though not doing a great deal of damage from the looks of his chipped armour.

​One-Eight immediately closed the distance, going for a quick and easy kill with him shotgun as the fallen Brute slipped One-Eight's feet out from under him almost effortlessly. The Brute used the thrusters in his armour to throw himself to his feet, flipping One-Eight upside down and knocking his gun from his grip. Six fired a volley of blaster bolts as the Brute curved through the air, flying downward and crashing into him, knocking Six back several feet and onto the ground just beyond Mereel.

​On the other side of Mereel, Five-One's sniper had just been snapped in half by the Brute; slamming the Commando through the glass window of one of the buildings. Six pushed himself to his feet as the two brutes now faced off with Mereel and Six.

​Six pulled himself to his feet with Mereel's assistance, pressing his back against Mereel's.

​"I really hope there isn't more of them."

​| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Much to Mereel's surprise, the massive being that he had decided to take a poke at with the business end of his lightsaber didn't immediately attempt to swat him out of the way like a bothersome fly. In fact, as he felt the blade plunging deeper into the small giant's chest, his foe offered him no resistance at all save that given by the weight transferred to the hilt of his lightsaber. The kill was quick, and he withdrew fron the strike with a spin.

If only the fighting had gone so smoothly for the others. He missed seeing Five-One getting slammed through a window, but he clearly saw the after effects as he turned and helped Six to his feet. As they stood back to back, he could've easily picked up on the fact that things really weren't looking all that hot for them, but Mereel was something of an overconfident fellow to begin with, and the clean kill on his first brute had only served to make things worse.

"Come on, they aren't that bad. Mine went out like a light."

Mereel slowed his breathing and cleared his thoughts. He couldn't see where Five-One was at the current moment, but he could see One-Eight, and he suspected that the man was in for a world of pain unless he or Six did something about it.

"Cover me for a second of focus.." he mumbled just over the hum of his lightsaber.

Mereel didn't move to charge down the Brute with his blade, instead his confidence on his own ability manifested itself in a different form. He slowed his breathing and opened himself to the force. Calling on a power of the dark side, Mereel's temper temporarily flared up as his wrist flicked out, hands conveying an imaginary stranglehold around the Brute now over One-Eight.

And this was the flaw of his confidence. He had force choked monsters to death or into submission before, but this was something he had never tried on such a large target, and he had no idea if the power of his force grip around the Brute's neck would be enough to kill it, let alone hold the behemoth in place.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​​"Cover you?"

​Six hefted his rifle, shaking his head as his blaster fired bolts toward the Brute that had thrown Five-One, firing for the joints of its legs as it turned its rifle to head. Six's left arms gauntlets lower half jotted out, a small hard-light shield appeared; covering the centre of his body mass as the Brute fired his rifle, its heavy shots slowly ramping up as Six attempted to fire in return, only to find the soon overwhelming rate of fire throwing his arm back.

​The Brute on the other side, staggering over One-Eight clenched his throat. He gargled and grasped at his throat, his head turning to face Mereel. His attention and weapon turned to Mereel, firing a volley of blasts much faster than a standard rifle. Closer to a LMG, and ramping up.

​Six was thrown back by the bolts into Mereel, pulling the Jedi away from the open fire in a half tackle towards the door of the building Five-One. Six pushed himself up, accessing his com. ​"These brutes are tough, we need assistance-" ​Six was cut off as both Brutes moved around the corner, Six firing at both. ​"-C'mon Jedi, even the odds!" ​Six chattered back.

​One-Eight pushed himself up to his feet, seeing as the two Brutes were cornering his team. On the other side, Five-One was pushing herself out of the building, landing on the other side as she equipped her pistol. The two pushed on the one furthest from Mereel and Six, Five-One aimed for the Brute's head, drawing its attention as One-Eight blasted his rifle from his hands with his shotgun, knocking the brutes rifle from his hands.

​One-Eight dashed and slid between the Brutes legs with his armours built in thrusters, blasting the Brutes weak joints with his shotgun. The Brute grappled at his leg, falling to one knee as Five-One closed the distance, using her bodies weight to press the now hampered Brute against the second rooms wall. Her pistol finding a soft spot under its helmet and lighting up its head.

​The other Brute, realising he was now outnumbered activated his thrusters and jolted into the air, and thrusting his fist at Six. Who, activating his now reloaded arm shield, used it to defend himself. However, the strike shattered the bone in his arm; and knocked him down to the ground. ​"Arhghg...."

​| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

An almost twisted grin formed under Mereel's helmet when he heard the questioning tone of Six's voice. In typical cryptic Jedi fashion, he didn't provide any verbal explanation of what he intended and just continued using the force to attempt strangling the brute lumbering over One-Eight.

As should have been expected, his telekinetic grip around the Brute's neck was not strong enough to completely immobilize such a large target. The grin he had been brandishing shrunk into a frown as only one of the Brute's hands went to clutch its neck - the Brute's other, weapon-toting hand, swiveled to face him. When the first of the Brute's blaster bolts began flying towards him, he initially doubled down on his strategy and attempted to choke the beast harder, but that failed to break the behemoth, and he gave up altogether when the first two bolts of the Brute's volley impacted his durasteel armor on the upper chestplate and his right shoulder pauldron.

Mereel's armor wasn't beskar, and as a result the air was knocked out of his lungs and a small amount of pain shot into his shoulder as the bolts impacted. Fortunately, the damage of the bolts wouldn't leave any permanent scarring on his body, but the Brute had successfully forced him to halt his aggressive use of the force to refocus himself on a more defensive application. Before he could bat any of the blaster bolts back at the Brute through Soresu, Six tackled him out of the Brute's line of fire and through a doorway into the building Five-One was in.

" 'C'mon Jedi?' I had that one on the ropes."

As Mereel pulled himself to his feet after Six, he saw that One-Eight had gotten back into the fight swiftly. The coordination between One-Eight and Five-One in taking down the Brute furthest from him and Six was impressive, to say the least. The efficiency brought a smile to his face, and he started to allow himself to relish the battle like he used to back when he was a bounty hunter. And then he heard the still-living Brute's thrusters roar to life, followed by the sickening snap of bone breaking.

His eyes only tracked Six's falling form for half a second before focusing on the Brute now directly in front of him. The Brute's desperate charge may have resulted in it dealing a heavy wound to one of the Remnant Commandos, but it had also brought the monster into incredibly close proximity to Mereel, and consequentially his lightsaber. Running for a second to close the distance, Mereel's hands gripped his lightsaber tight as he swung the blue blade out in an upward angle from his left side - a sweeping strike intended to slice the Brute that had punched Six from its navel to its shoulder.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Thump. Six's body recoiled at the pain as his ligaments tore, shards of bone scattering into his muscle as he yelped and rolled backward into a bundle under the massive Brute. ​"Hraaa..." ​The Commando groaned as the shock took his senses into overload, his mind to focused on attempting to regain his senses.

​​"Six!" One of the other two Commando's called out, not even having to look before reacting as they read his live vitals. The two Commando's turned to see the Brute topple sideways as the saber's momentum carried Mereel's body weight, slicing through the Brute's thick armour and causing him to collapse.

​Eight-One immediately moved to Six's side, pulling him up, stumbling as he pressed himself against the nearest wall. He was silent bar a few murmurs of pain, his visor turning to face Mereel. ​"You owe me one Jedi." ​Six nodded to the Jedi, inspecting his arm for a moment. ​"I'm fine, just need some Bacta I think... Oughgh..." ​Stumbling again, the Commando shrugged One-Eight off.

​"We need to regroup." ​Six managed, standing straight as One-Eight fixed his arm into a sleeve.

​On the other end of the battlefield, Xel and Juan were slowly working their way through the remaining Brutes. However, the overwhelming firepower of their weaponry had them pinned.

​"Let's move." Five-One remarking.

​| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Once again, the only resistance offered by the Brute was the being's weight and the blade's friction against the heavy armor that it wore. With no more immediate threats, Mereel's shoulders sank back down, but his lightsaber remained ignited at the point it had reached after cutting the Brute. Under his helmet, his eyes stared plainly ahead, looking at a point in the air containing nothing.

Mereel remained in his trance as one of the commandos yelled something, but remembered to breath again when Eight-One rushed over to help his fallen squadmate. Finally looking down to take in the damage he'd inflicted on the Brute, he lowered his lightsaber and thumbed the only button on the hilt to deactivate the blade.

After doing a quick scan of the Brute, Mereel swallowed and spun around on his heel to face the Remnant commandos. Under his helmet he forced himself to grin and slipped back into his normal deamenor, "Oh please, I would've been fine. You lot aren't the only ones with armor, and besides, I've got this.

He spun the deactivated lightsaber around in his fingers and held it up for effect before clipping it to his belt. I can owe you as a group though for dealing with the other one I suppose. Here, think fast -"

Mereel reached for a pouch on his belt and popped it open. He pulled out a small stim-shot syringe and gently tossed up in the air on and arc aimed at Six, "Caught me on a bad day without my backpack. Not bacta, but it'll help."

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​There was something quiet horrific about feeling a part of yourself become broken. The moments had past like an hour as Six did what little he could manage to ignore the pain. However the banter of their new companion was while annoying at first, a better alternative than the crunch of his dishevelled bones and muscle.

"Hmph." ​A chipper acknowledgement of Mereel's words were all he could manage as One-Eight was busy fixing his arm into a combat sleeve, holding it in place to ensure no further damage was done.

The sounds of combat caused him stress as he worried for Xel and Juan. ​"Go, I'll be fine." ​Six pressed his concern on his compatriots as Mereel tossed the stim in his direction. His reflexes were slowed, but not so entirely that he could not catch the stim loosely in his fingers, immediately pressing it into his shoulder. ​"Go." ​He managed, thrusting his head toward the sound of combat.

-

The fires of the destroyed ship had engulfed the Northern half of the docking platform, cutting Juan and Xel off from any potential cover bar a broken wing of the ship. The two remained cornered by a total of four Brutes, one of the ships had already escape. However, the other had been hit by the explosion, leaving it somewhat damaged.

​"We can't let that ship get away. We need that information. Gamma, where are you!?" ​Juan barked over the sound of gunfire as his blaster bolts narrowly passed his head. Xel leapt up, redirecting two bolts back toward one of the Brutes to no avail. ​"Seems like blaster fire has no effect on these guys!" ​The docking area was consumed by blaster fire, scorched earth as the Brutes continued to fire with their LMGs.

​Juan peered out from the side of their cover, firing a single round at a Brute, cutting through a few inches of its armour and causing it to stumble into cover. A heavy blaster bolt caught his shoulder, knocking his rifle from his grip and his legs out from under him.

​"Gamma, aim for the ships engines! Nmph.."

​| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Giving Six a slight nod of comprehension, Mereel pulled his Westar M5 V2 rifle from off of his back. It was obvious to him that Six was worried about his other squadmates, and he would do his part to not make Gamma wait on him. Mereel lifted his right hand, waved two fingers around lazily in a circle, and then brought his hand down into a fist forming a mock "follow me" gesture.

"Don't have to tell me twice. Let's go, I call dibs on point."

Mereel took the lead, jogging the squad the direction in which Six had nodded his head. He took care to avoid walking over any part of the downed brutes as they swung around the exterior walls of one of the insurgent camp's few buildings. When they came around to the other side, he was looking at a proper firefight. The first thing Mereel noticed about the battlefield as they arrived on the southern corner was that the north end of the landing platform was occupied by raging fire and ship debris. The second was that there was another force sensitive here like he had felt - a woman he had never seen about in any of the Jedi enclaves. Something not uncommon for him since he rarely visited them ever.

His breathing slowed and he dropped to a crouch on the edge of the platform, still very much exposed due to a lack of cover on their side of the landing pad. He knelt down as Xel jumped up to deflect two of the Brutes' blaster bolts. "If they didn't have machine guns, I'd recommend getting in close. Their armor doesn't bounce lightsaber strikes.

Instead of pulling out his saber again to thin the ranks of the remaining Brutes, Mereel took his left hand off of his rifle and let the weapon's barrel drift down towards the ground. As his rifle sunk, his left hand and the gauntlet around his metal forearm rose and took aim at an engine block on the remaining ship. After crossing his fingers, he inhaled slowly and fired his only wrist rocket at the ship's engines, hoping it wouldn't decimate the already damaged ship completely.

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Following Mereel's lead, One-Eight and Five-One opened fire on the damaged ships engines. The hurling blue flames blowing outward from the engine choked and wavered like a flame in the wind as the blaster bolts caught the engine's fuel pipe, causing it to flicker and die as the ship reached for the sky.

​"The ships going down!" ​Juan blurted out, pulling himself upright as Mereel's wrist rocket dealt the final blow and took the ship out of the sky. The ship flew downward, crashing through trees and covering a few miles worth of distance down into the canyons thick forest before crashing.

​One of the Brutes blurted out something in an unrecognisable tongue; the three now remaining turned on their heel and leapt from the platform. Both Eight-One and Xel made their way to the edge of the platform as they chased the three remaining. As they were joined by the others, they observed that the Brutes had built in thrusters allowing them to safely crash into the trees nearly five-hundred metres beneath them. ​"Damn it!" ​Xel remarked in earnest frustration.

​A few moments of silence passed as Juan and Five-One joined the other two and Mereel on the landing pad. Juan turned to Xel, even through his visor; she could feel his concern. Not only for Six but regarding their new companion.

​Xel turned, facing Mereel Vaun. Her eyes looked him up and down, the musculature of her face unmoving as she surmised little about him. Assuming and expecting nothing. ​"I am General Xelieices. I am the overseer of the remnants special warfare group THREE. This includes Commando units Gamma and Zulu. You helped us, and you know your codes. I'm telling you this to throw you a bone, you know the remnants is practically wiped out, inactive and these things that have been attacking us haven't been making it any easier." ​Xel placed both of her sabers on their respective bolted holders on her belt, her body moving uncomfortably as it chaffed under her Durasteel armour plates.

​"Firstly, I need a name. And rank. Then you can either be conscripted into part of Gamma Squad as an Auxiliary. Or, we will take you prisoner until further notice."

| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

 

[Mereel Vaun]

Mereel grinned under his helmet as his wristrocket connected with the enemy dropship. Nine times out of ten, the single-use ordnance launcher didn't disappoint him. This was easily one of those nine times. Still, even with the spectacular showing that was the starship falling out of the sky, he didn't give himself a second to celebrate.

Picking himself up from his kneel, he hefted his rifle back up and took aim at the nearest Brute - right as the target thruster-packed away from the platform with his surviving allies. "Fierfek..wanted to see how my blaster compared to commando gear."

He had a jetpack which meant he could pursue the retreating Brutes without any difficulty at all, but he didn't think his new allies were so fortunate. He would wait and see what they did first. Lowering his rifle's barrel toward the ground, he idly inspected his rifle until Gamma team was assembled around him. When Xel looked him over, he exaggeratedly returned the favor - just to make sure she saw his helmet moving as he did so.

"Mereel Vaun. Republic Intelligence, Special Operations Group operative. I'm only a temp, but I don't think SOG would like you taking me prisoner. Still, I'm feeling in a teamworky mood, consider my blaster temporarily yours General."

[member="Tathra Khaeus"]

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​Six shrugged at the Mandalorian as he comments of imprisonment was made. He stood, slouched and uncomfortable in the parchment that now made a brace for his arm as the General and Mandalorian Jedi exchanged words.

Xel nodded, ​"I believe that is fortunate for everyone involved. Gamma, the Brutes followed the ship down to the surface. No doubt they'll attempt to use the ship for long range communications. We need to find it before they do. Let's find out what the hell these things are." ​Xel ordered, turning to one of the mostly undamaged bodies of the Brutes lying on the ground. ​"Three-Six, Five-One. See if you can get that things helmet off." Three-Six and Five-One moved to either side of the Brute corpse.

​Behind them Xel moved to observe Six, asking his to extend his arm as she observed his wounded arm. Five-One and Three-Six both crouched over themselves and attempted to remove the Brute's helmet. Five-One grunted, and jumped back against his own weight, staggering as neither succeeded in removing the helm. ​​​"Hey uh, Jedi. Mind giving me a hand here?" ​Jaun/Three-Six asked the Jedi to his left.

​As soon as Mereel got close, Three-Six looked up to him quickly. "And, welcome to the team. I guess." ​He spoke in a short and hushed tone. He gave him a short nod, before waiting for Mereel to join I'm opposite him.

​The helmet resisted temporarily as it felt as though they both moved to rip metal from metal, coming away with an uncomfortable churning thump; the massive helmet rolled for a few paces across the floor. ​"Woah." ​Was all Three-Six could manage as he observed the features of the Brute. A dragonic and reptilian features, black and red crimson skin with an exoskeletal design of thick and bone-like features covering his face. A set of deep seated orange glowing eyes peered out from their thick brown sockets.

​| [member="Mereel Vaun"] |​

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