Commonwealth Mission: Search, Retrieve, Establish

[Cadan Tazi]

Cadan was dragged away to his room, he heardthe muffled screams of his Twi'lek slowly he turned his head only to see Thraxis finish his job. "You owe me a Twi'lek Thraxis." He shook his head and stood from the ground. "Ain't we get told to make them people get the spice?"

Cadan begant to walk out of the room and head towards the Spider Caverns assuming Thraxis had followed him. When they arrived, Cadan drew a needle from his pocket and rammed it into his arm. "Much better!" Cadan saw the workers lurking around and approached them. "Oi, Xis wants yous to 'urry up and 'averst the web!" Cadan said quietly to those around him. He had worked with energy spiders before and knew how they acted. His fingers danced around the hilt of his DL-18 blaster pistol. Those that werent hurrying would be met with the pistol pointing towards their head.

[member="Thraxis"] [member="Corrax Talrus"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Xis"]

 

[Corrax Talrus]

Location:​ Killing time on an MPD heading for probable frozen death
Objective:​ Make friends ... {{||Probability of Success: LOW||}}
ATTN: | @Lorraei | @Phislo Bress | Anyone who bugged the shuttle in attempts to pick up awkward "first date" audio |

Strapped into the dropseat, Corrax remembered how much he hated being in space craft when he wasn't at the controls. It wasn't that he didn't trust other pilots, it was just that ... ok, yeah, he didn't trust other pilots. He'd logged enough flight hours to know how devastatingly dangerous space could be. A soul-sucking vacuum devoid of warmth that wanted nothing more than to end you in the most dramatic way possible - not too terribly unlike a number of women he knew, actually. He also was acutely aware of how woefully incompetent pilots could be. It was a crapshoot whether or not the git flying you around had learned to fly in some kind of low grade dune-hopper shooting desert critters with their inebriated, inbred friends, or had actually been through some semblance of flight school. He always hoped for the latter, but found that life frequently disappointed him.

He was distracted from his reverie by a woman coming and strapping in next to him, her body armored up in the Mandalorian style with the traditional conically shaped helmet complete with T-visor cut out. He was about to introduce himself when she turned and asked if he was okay. Awfully considerate for a Mando,​ he thought to himself. Was he exuding anxiety or something? Force knows he felt it. Collecting himself, he prepared for a witty remark but was unable to get that out as the Jedi seated across from him started speaking. Force, I'm exuding anxiety and unpreparedness? ​He thought to himself incredulously. Subconsciously he reached up to scratch his forehead as he considered the possibility that he was sweating uncontrollably, but his fingers came away dry. How does he know whether or not I'm well equipped?​ He reached down to check the zipper on the duffel, but found that it was closed. Jedi,​ he said mentally. ​Born with the innate sense to feel what's going on in the private minds of everyone else, but without the common sense to grasp that it's private.​ Corrax wasn't entirely certain how the Force worked. He didn't think that Jedi could actually read his mind, but he wasn't totally certain.

"Hey, that's a cool trick, Jedi," he said as he leaned forward, adopting a conspiratorially raised eyebrow. "What am I thinkin' now?​" he asked in a whisper, raising his hands to touch his temples as if he were attempting to mentally communicate - at least the way it was done in the holo's. He did his best to form a mental picture of himself offering an obscene gesture with his left hand, held it there for a moment, and then slowly leaned back, awkwardly maintaining eye contact. He offered a quick wink before closing his eyes and leaning back against the headrest. His head lolled to the side, toward the Mando.

"Y'know how I know the universe hates us?" he asked dryly. "It only chooses hippies and sociopaths as Force-users. Yeah. True story."

It was going to be a long mission.

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Horus"] [member="Xis"]

On a hill overlooking the landing sight of the Commonwealth Forces sat a man atop of a rock flanked by two Droids behind him was a Human on his knees covered in fur coat to keep him warm. The man atop the rock wore a white coat with his hood flapping in the breeze. His red eyes narrowed as his hand fiddled with buttons on the side of the Face Plate he wore. He continued to look at the soldiers gathering at the entrance to some cave maybe? He couldn't be sure as the visibility on this planet was always spotty. "Guess you weren't lying when you said soldiers were near by." He finaly spoke with his Mechanical Voice Changer modifying his voice. HE stopped fiddling with the zoom modification on the Face Plate, looking at the Human next to him and throwing him a bag, "And so you deserve that."

"Thank you, Tydus, Ill let the men know to keep an eye out if they change their location in the direction of the warehouse." Said the man.

Tydus waved the man off, stopping him from continuing, "No need, we can get the ships off the ground till that fleet above movies." He looked in the Commonwealths way again. "Plus I'm a little interested in whats gana happen here, the whole reason we are here is to get the Guns and Droids, to think someone else is on this wasteland, is rather interesting." He pulled up a Holo-Com, and another Droid appeared. "Keep loading the transport, but dont take off yet, seems theirs a party next door and we dont want to be rude."

The droid nodded without saying a word and turned off the Com. Tydus would stay on the rock for a bit longer.

 

[Mr. OOC]

Location: Iskeria
Objective: Secure Research Facility
Allies: Commonwealth and Mercenaries
Enemies: Spiders

He waited until absolutely last second to turn. Not because he wasn't aware that danger was drawing close from behind, but simply because he intended to catch that danger unawares. As he twisted, he brought his sword around, shearing an arm from a spider large enough to make his skin crawl. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before, and that wasn't an understatement. He had literally never seen a spider as large as this one now looming over him. Nightmares might count as a place of viewing, but he was certain he hadn't even dreamed of creatures as large as these. Regardless, it pulled back and made a strange sort of chittering-hissing noise in pain, it's leg now lost to it. He quickly realized that there were more of them about.

"Giant spiders! Turn your eyes up!"

As soon as some breachers saw them, they opened fire with blasters. This quickly proved fruitless as Maris watched energy being absorbed directly into the body of each targeted creature. That was certainly a curious thing. He couldn't linger on it for long, though, as he still had one in front of him.

"No energy weapons on them, then."

Fortunately, Maris was a hater of Force practitioners. What this meant was that he often carried a loadout designed to best suit fighting against such individuals. Though he could certainly use a few upgrades, what he had on him would suffice for now. Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled a scatter gun free and drew it one handed, pointed at arachnid face. A trigger squeeze sprayed pellets at close range into its face, goring a hole into it that sent the creature screaming in pain away from him. He would let others deal with finishing it off, as he could tell that they had now drawn the attention of whatever foe it was that was harvesting webbing across from their entry point. Which meant he was going to have to switch to his subrepeater with glop grenades on standby. That, plus his lig sword, was his loadout.

Poking his head up, he spotted many other breachers fighting arachnid foes. None had yet truly engaged sentient hostiles. Darting forward, rock to rock, he approached closer and drew a line on enemy workers. Seeing them armed with weaponry made up his mind and he opened fire, hoping that his fellows would keep their arachnid foes at bay.

[member="Horus"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Xis"] [member="Thraxis"]

 

[Lorraei]

Location: Iskeria
Objective: Secure Research Facility, Third Wave
Allies: Commonwealth and Mercenaries
Enemies: Black Sun Forces

Lorraei leaned forward as the young Spacer before him had done. For a moment the two looked one another dead in the eye. Silence hung between them as they stared at each other until Lorraei's voice shattered it. "You're thinking I can't possibly know what you're thinking, and that if I did know what you're thinking then I should stay the feth out of your head." A smile split Ray's tanned features, boyish dimples forming in his cheeks. "That's what they all think, Whoka."

Once more he rested back against his seat, smiling softly to himself. "Unfortunately I would know how you felt regardless of my ability to manipulate the Force. Likely for the same reasons she asked if you're alright." His right hand rose to indicate the young Mandalorian woman across from The Desert Fox. "Most Mando'ade are born and raised with the ability to pinpoint a weak spot in a firing line. Sometimes they exploit that weakness, other times they offer support, but that depends on which side of the line their standing on. Equally, I'm born Zeltron. I can't help be feel your reluctance, anxiety and fear. Or the dislike for me I've inspired just now."

He shrugged his shoulder once, his attention turning back to the three objects he was spinning through the air. "Just because a man enjoys a little giggle dust, or glitter stim, the occasional deathstick. . . Chit. I'm a fething hippie." A rich laugh escaped the desert nomad as he settled deeper into his seat.

In another minute the Dropship they road in would reach the planet's surface and their work would begin in ernest. Lorraei returned his tools to their proper places about his person as his focus turned inward. By the time they reached the planet's surface his very presence in the force would dwindle to nearly nothing. He would stand out no more than any other soldier on that ship, at least to anyone trying to perceive him via the Force.

[member="Horus"] [member="Xis"] [member="Corrax Talrus"] [member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Phislo Bress"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Zee"] [member="Cait Falcor"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Tydus Wryeens"]

 

[Phislo Bress]

Location: Iskeria
Objective: Secure Research Facility, Third Wave
Allies: Commonwealth and Mercenaries
Enemies: Black Sun Forces

Phislo chuckled as the strange fellow [member="Lorraei"] read the his squirmy companion like an open book. "Hippie or not he's right. I wouldn't appreciate you to cut and run if, or when, the shooting starts. If anything I guess you can stick close to the marines."

She decided to try and poke him a bit to lighten the mood, "Or, I guess, you could try ducking behind one of us.", she said jokingly pointing at Lorraei and herself.

She looked at Lorraei now curious about the extent of his power. So far her experience with force users has been mostly negative with a few notable exceptions and the Mandalore culture had generally looked down on those with it even if they did tolerate it to an extent. "So, I'm curious. What is your thoughts on this? Why would they need mercenaries, marines, and their top commando unit trying to clear this facility? I thought this place was meant to be abandoned for years? Doesn't this seem like a job for an expeditionary force?"

[member="Horus"] [member="Xis"] [member="Corrax Talrus"] [member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Zee"] [member="Cait Falcor"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Tydus Wryeens"]

 

[Xis]

Location: Underground Compound/Command Center
Objective: Fortify and Hold position
Allies: [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"]

Enemies: Commonwealth

The meeting was breaking up with the only people remaining in the chamber being those that had been there before monitoring the facility as a whole along with Xis and Flannigan. Sure that the cyborg would soon be leaving Xis picked up the bottle. Well the cyborg had shown his distaste for it already. Pouring himself a full glass this time Xis swirled it properly watching the liquid move wondering how much longer he could keep this up. The Black Sun had nowhere near the power base they did in their glory days, while the profits they made were easily enough to satisfy any regular individual it wasn’t enough for Xis. He wanted more, there would never be enough to sate him.

Looking up the doors to the command center opened. It couldn’t have been Thraxis and Cadan returning nor was it possible for the intruders to have reached them already. Xis was completely unarmed but still lethal in his own right. Instead what came in was a probe droid he recognized it and the face it projected even more so. A sigh of relief left the Falleen’s lips. “Aw Ghoura, good you missed the debriefing but I’ll send you a datapad with the locations of entry." Everyone in the Black Sun were heavy hitters, while outnumbered they’d pull through one way or another and strike back harder than ever when the time came.

Looking at the map Xis had to decide where to send Ghoura, he could of course call the Herglic with him to the final entry point that had yet to be breached. It was also closest to the command center but if Flannigan and Ghoura teamed up they should easily be able to complete their tasks and be back to help the Falleen. “You will be joining Flannigan in evacuating our personnel. There’s an entry point near the living facilities.” With a look over to Flannigan Xis nodded signaling that the cyborg was in the clear. “Oh and set up a few explosive surprises will you? We don’t want to seem like bad hosts.”

Xis had said his part and now it was his time to prepare for battle. Within the command center was a set of BSGA armor specifically for the falleen. Clipped to its belt was a lightsaber hilt, the thing that signaled Xis as being a force user. In this day and age many owned the weapon but few truly knew how to use it the way the Falleen did.

[member="Horus"] [member="Cait Falcor"] [member="Zee"] [member="Lorraei"] [member="Phislo Bress"] [member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Corrax Talrus"]

 

[Silara Varis]

Location: Hangar Deck of No Land Beyond
Objective: Oversee repairs and refit
Allies: Commonwealth
[member="matthias hull']

"Chief, we're out of acetylene and running low on plasma cells for the torches."

From across the deck Silara whipped her head around, looking up from her datapad where she was reading a recent LOGSTAT. It seemed they were wonderfully prepared in terms of bullets, rockets and bombs, but less so in other supplies.

She rolled her eyes at the comment, moving at a quick clip across the deck. Figures they were always getting the shaft lately. Then again her crew was a bunch of rookies with very few campaigns under their belts. Most of the senior guys had rotated on shore leave, or transferred commands before the mission.

"Did you turn the torches to three fifths power?" She asked with a scowl.

"Uh, we can do that?"

"Good god kid, gimme that thing before you blast someones eyeball out."

Sialara seized the torch, rotating the knob with her thumb and handed it back.

"That's a rookie kark up. Don't disobey orders again. If you don't know something, ask for further instructions."

"Roger Chief."

"Get out of here, go back to what you were doing."

With hands on her hips she stood watching the swarm of orange clad deckhands hammer and weld and curse. They were a disorganized bunch. But her mission was to make them the finest deckhands she could find. Most of the MPD's were being reinforced with extra steel on their flanks and bellies. It was a tactic she'd picked up during intelligence work.

Some of them were even having extra rocket pods rigged up.

"Ensign Kallis, how many munitions are left in the main magazine?"

"Six hundred and forty rocket's Chief!" He called from beneath one of the birds.

"Bring them out here and stage them. If our boys need extra firepower I want incoming and outgoing birds refitted within the shortest time possible. Fuel?"

"A ton."

"Get the hoses rigged up too then."

"Roger Chief!"

 

[Horus]

Perspective: Horus
Location: Iskeria Orbit
Objective: Operational Command
Allies: Commonwealth
Enemies: Black Suns

On board the No Land Beyond II . . .

As the troops were debriefed and Fireteam Black boarded the MPD, Horus made no attempt to see them off. He retreated back towards the elevator and took the officers express lift for the command deck. Captain Hull was commandeering the vessel, and they were his troops down there until his former vessel was retrofitted with modern designs, but this was Horus' operation, and Fireteam Black was his main concern. Hull would just have to deal with the Lord of Admirals breathing down his neck.

Returning to the command deck he moved for the upper platform in the center of the room. Below technicians were analyzing scanners and mapping out the facility. On a large screen was a live feed of Fireteam Blacks bodycams, they were just dismounting the MPD as he found a seat by a holographic table. The table was displaying a live and updated scan-read of the laboratory layout, and the holographic figures of soldiers and vehicles mulling around while excavation equipment and personnel worked at the ice. "Get me a channel to [member="Cait Falcor"], I want a situation report," Horus ordered.



Perspective: Fireteam Black
Location: Iskeria
Objective: Mercenary Escort
Allies: Commonwealth
Enemies: Black Suns


En route to Iskeria surface . . .

Dean shot one of the mercenaries a disapproving glance as he barely made it onto the MPD before take off. He made no comment as Hadiyya and Marguerite retreated towards the rear of the cabin where the weapons were hanging in racks. The SpecOps commando slowly followed them, his head turning to the intercom when he heard the pilots begin to play classical music. It was about as old as music got on Alexandria, but it somehow still caught his attention. He enjoyed it, not so much the Lord of Admirals from what he had heard.

As he took a MM110 off the rack and collected spare clips he overheard the Mandalorian question the legitimacy of intel they had been given. She was right, this wasn't just an abandoned facility. They had their suspicions that someone was operating, but their suspicions were mild, enough to warrant a Section Zero investigation. Though he made no mention of that, he did answer her question on mercenaries, he had a distaste for their type. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and said to [member="Phislo Bress"], "Mercenaries are expendable, and we don't have to pay out a grieving family." Harsh, but that was the exact motivation behind the Commonwealths use of mercenaries.

He moved to the front of the cabin, ready to deploy, "Not to mention, if Commonwealth blood was spilled outside our borders, the news would make a frenzy of it." He turned and face the mercenaries, "And don't forget the non-disclosure clause in your contracts. This mission never happened, or we'll see to it you forget." It wasn't a threat, it was a reminder to stick their noses out of things that weren't their business. Mercenaries traded bullets for credits, not a loose tongue. The MPD settled down, the doors swung open, blistering cold swept in and Fireteam Black dismounted, ahead was the breach into the facility. "Move out," Dean ordered to the mercenaries, Hadiyya and Marguerite falling in behind him.

 

[Corrax Talrus]

​Location: ​Still on the MPD
Status: ​Things got awkward
ATTN: ​| [member="Phislo Bress"] | [member="Lorraei"] |
​

​A smile creased Corrax' face. So the Jedi couldn't read his mind. He was almost disappointed. ​Anxiety ... check. Reluctance ... check. Dislike ... Double check. Fear? No more so than what's healthy,​ Corrax thought, bemused. They thought they had him pegged. That was fine by him. He was perfectly capable of defending himself. The A-rDF had seen to that. However, if either one of them thought that he was about to put his neck on the line for them, they were sadly mistaken. What good were credits if you weren't around to use them?

He kept his eyes closed through their soliloquies, running through a mental checklist of things that were worse than listening to them talk, but it started killing his jive so he abandoned that in lieu of a short nap ....

However, it wasn't to be. The usual rant about expendability, and the reminders of their contract were laid out. It was nothing new, and nothing Corrax hadn't heard before. The ship settled down nicely on the snow and ice covered surface of the planet, causing Corrax to decide that their pilot probably wasn't a desert hick. The icy cold of the planet filled the ship as the entry ramp lowered, mechanical sounds filling the small space. Here we go​, he thought, as he unharnessed and stretched.


::EDIT:: ​I was posting when the previous post went up, so I added the final paragraph. Apologies.

 

[Phislo Bress]

Location: Iskeria
Objective: Secure Research Facility, Third Wave
Allies: Commonwealth and Mercenaries
Enemies: Black Sun Forces

She turned to Dean as he spoke about how little their lives meant to the Commonwealth and offered him a cold glare as the transport bounced up and down with the snow and rocks beneath their feet. His boastful pride about what the Commonwealth could possibly do to one of the oldest warrior cultures in the galaxy was almost laughable but she chose not to antagonize him further. Good to know our employer cares she whispered sarcastically to herself and not audibly through the helmet so anybody could hear. She really didn't mind that the life of a a mercenary wasn't worth a hill of Bantha dung to the Commonwealth but the nature of the mission was still all wrong.

Her worries soon faded and the rush of combat took its place as the carrier came to a halt and the doors opened on the sides. "Move out," Dean ordered to the group. Phislo unstrapped from the seat and grabbed her rifle following the Marines and Dean as they double timed it to the breach.

 

[Ryan]

Location: Iskeria Orbit
Objective: Orbital Security and Support
Allies: Commonwealth
Enemies: Black Sun
Aboard the No Land Beyound II.......

The command deck was crowded, common consensus was there were one to many high ranking officers occupying such little space. Well, that was the reading Matthias got from his crew as he watched them tense up anytime the Lord of Admirals or he stalked past their stations. Such was the natural reaction of junior officers and NCOs that braved the command deck. Though they were use to having their Captain over their shoulders, it was not everyday they had the old man's boss doing the same. Hell, even the Captain himself quenched his ass a bit when the Lord Admiral darted a glance in his direction. Some believed he was a man, but most in the navy believed he was a living god and even Hull found himself in such belief. It was the way the older man held himself with his fierce gaze, ferocious appetite for tactics and unwavering nerve. Was probably the only living man he would trust to have full command of his crew and his marines on the ground, that and he did not have much of a choice in the matter. Captain Hull serves at the pleasure of the Lord of Admirals and the military council. They say jump, he asks how high.

"Captain!" The young officer sitting at the sensor station piped up from his screen.

Keeping his blue eyes on his own holographic displays that floating around the command chair, Matthias rose with all the regal weight thirty years in the navy gave to a man, straightening up and then turning towards the young pup in the pit below. "Report Lieutenant Tull!" Commanded Hull, his voice calm yet ice cold in Alexandrian accent.

The young officer didn't gulp in fear nor did he hesitate. He had nothing to worry, this was not the Imperial Navy of old where summary executions were handed out willy nilly and with out just cause. This was the command deck of the Commonwealth's navy, where respect traveled both ways. "Aye Sir! Scouts have nothing the report and our long range scanners have come up empty, all is quiet"

"Thank you Lieutenant Tull!" He dismissed the officer and settled back down into his chair. He gave the Lord of Admiral a look from a distance. Their fierce leader was locked onto the displays of the marines ground side. They were about to breach and he did not need to be bothered with simple mundane reports. That was the whole point in Captain Hull being present and in command of the ship, so the Lord of Admirals could keep his uninterrupted attention on the task at hand.

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

Black Sun Zenith​

​

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OUWgxu7xng[/video]​

​

Location: Underground Compound
Objective: Fortify and Hold position
Allies: Black Sun forces
Enemies: Commonwealth

"[member="Ghorua the Shark"]." he rolled the name in a metaphorical mouth, putting emphasis on letters and sections that stretched the name out almost giving it an almost alien quality 'Gh-or-ua'. "You don't know me. My name is Flannigan Mcnash." he said into the comlink hovering the small device inches from the base of his face. "But I know you, you've worked for me in the past. Or well you've worked for me by proxy, you've worked for my associates in the past. I hope you 'live' up to their praise." or live at all, they were after all going into a fire fight anything could happen.

"So tell me, what's a shark like you doing in such a small pond." he waved his hand imploringly the elongated finger's stretching out flat from the base of his palm, of course no one was around to see the gesture, or at least no one was free enough to care as a cyborg sauntered down the hallway on his cellphone gesturing wildly to no one. "How did you come to work with the Suns?"

Pointed digits played with a small dial, as the channels of his comlink were changed to that of an open one, anyone could now hear him. "Chm.." the air ways resonated with his hard metallic voice, the flicker of humanity still trapped within those cords. "My name is Flannigan Mcnash, you're entering a restricted zone." he paused letting the silence fill the airways, one moment turned to two moments, and two moments turned to three- "But you knew that, now I'm a reasonable guy. But, I've just experienced some very unreasonable things."

"So here's a parting thought, for every person who enters I'm going to give them parting gifts in Teflon and I ain't talking about no god damn cook ware. You'll be leaving here in body bags."​

'CLICK' ​

the transmission ended.​

​

---​

[member="Horus"], [member="Corrax Talrus"], [member="Maris Jolner"], [member="Phislo Bress"], [member="Zee"], [member="Cait Falcor"], [member="Matthias Hull"]​

 

[Silara Varis]

Location: Hangar Deck of No Land Beyond
Objective: Oversee repairs and refit
Allies: Commonwealth [member="Horus"] [member="Matthias Hull"]

Torches still fired in the dull lighting of the bay. Silara donned her headset, changing the freq. to the internal Comms channel. From here she could monitor all traffic coming and going from the vessel. Normally only senior Officers were on, but she liked to be appraised of the situation. Battle reports were coming down, and monitoring birds was essential.

The back up waves were being loaded into their newly reinforced MPD's and she was standing with hands on her hips watching the Crew Chiefs load them up. It was hell down on the decks. Senior guys called it the pit. Where everything happened so fast that one slip up could cost you an arm or worse.

"Careful with those warheads Enisgn. They aint toys!" She adored over the din.

"Aye Chief."

The weapons magazine was being opened now, large steel racks coming out with their tubular warheads. Most of them were scuffed and scratched, which made her a bit skeptical. She guessed they hadn't been handled very well. A dropped rocket was prone to explode in the tube rather than fire correctly.

"Stop."

Blue unifomr pressed and shiny badges, she stalked across the deck.

"Give me the inspection data for this."

Two of the nearby Ensigns, touched their arm mounted datapads, linking to hers. Numbers, dates, and streams of manifests rolled down the screen as she held her arm out.

"These things been serviced after transfer between vessels?"

"Negative Chief we didn't-"

"Yes or no Ensign."

"Negative Chief."

"Ok, check this out. None of these rockets are serviceable until they've been checked out. See the scuffs and dents here and here?" She pointed with her index.

"Indication that it's been dropped or tampered with. Set these off to the side and call the Munitions personnel. You two get the next rack out and keep it moving. Report and store any more deficient lots separately."

"Roger Chief!" They tooke off with a salute, scrambling like bees back into the hive. Then she keyed her headset to Captain Matthias

"Deck Control to Command. Fourth wave is loaded and fuelled. Secondary refit arms are being staged as we speak. Do we have an ETA on refit and repair for first, second and third wave MPD's?"

 

[Doyle]

Location: Iskeria Orbit
Objective: Orbital Security and Support
Allies: Commonwealth
Enemies: Black Sun

Aboard the No Land Beyound II.


Commander Stokely 'Stokes' McFadden was no greenhorn. Her age, her eyes, her stance and her attitude gave all of that away. She was born for the Military. Both of her parents were officers, and so it was the only life that she knew, the only life that she wanted. She had no husband, no children, as she spent most of her time hard at work. Her aptitude tests at the Academy put her in Engineering, but it wasn't long before she rose through the ranks and took on a different role. One that suited her just fine.

Once she was at the bridge, Stokes approached [member="Matthias Hull"] and nodded to him. "Captain Hull, our little situation in Engineering is resolved. Bit of an aftermath from a brawl before the start of the mission. I made sure that it'll be smooth sailing from here on out." Especially with the Lord of Admirals on board, she wanted to say. "How are things on the ground?"

 

[Darth Caecus]

Location: Iskeria
Objective: 2nd Wave, Entering Base from the NE
Allies: Commonwealth
Enemies: Black Sun- War Droid Patrol

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6glSbKvVyUA[/media]

​Zee waited while their technical support worked to gain entry to the underground facility. The First Wave had already gone underground, and she was listening with half an ear to the chatter from that quarter- they had their own orders here, and they were far enough away anyway that they could offer little support, even if they had been free to.

She frowned slightly, already unhappy with the Spectacular Spider Surprise awaiting the first wave. Plans never survived first touch with the enemy, that was true. But this seemed particularly off the map- no one had been expecting it.

And Zee knew from experience that if there was one thing no one was expecting, there would be at least a half dozen more.

It wasn't necessary to tell [member="Cait Falcor"] to keep her eyes peeled. Both women were sweeping the seemingly idyllic scene before them, weapons drawn, when-

"DROIDS!" Zee barked. A squad of a ten Wardroids came out of- well frankly nowhere, as far as Zee could see. One minute everything was clear, the next minute they were coming from behind a snow bank- where had they come from? And how had no one up top seen them coming? Wasn't that was Sensor support was for? Did they have sensor support?

It all seemed rather moot as the plan went to hell a second time.

"COVER THE TECHS!" Zee called over her shoulder to the soldiers who were closest to the technicians working on the door. Now, more than ever, they needed that door open.

Just so they weren't sitting ducks for the-

"They've got sonic shotguns. LOVELY." She muttered, partly to herself and partly to Cait. Were they set heavy enough to blast a crater in the ground itself? Or would they merely stun? Not that Zee intended to be in the same place as any of those shots.

She was already moving, opening fire with her own rifle. She kept it on primary firing mode, single shots but a high rate of fire focused on the lead droid.

(ooc note- making an assumption of squads of 10 groups of 10 for the droids- if that is not what [member="Xis"] had in mind, please let me know and I will happily edit)

 

[Cait Falcor]

Cait Falcor, Commonwealth Mercenary
Iskeria - 2nd Wave, North East Breach
__________________

**some moments before**

Cait kneeled behind a small rock out-cropping while she scanned her sector, her rifle comfortably snug in her shoulder pocket like a favorite old pair of shoes.

One of the Commonwealth Marines - a commo-dork based on the huge antenna sticking out of his backpack came trudging over and sat down next to her, his back against the rock. The kid looked all of 17.

"Lord Admiral is asking for a report Ma'am" he said, holding out a transciever.

"Don't Ma'am me, Private, I work for a living." she said - the pithy reply was nearly as old as the concept a military - a way for NCO's to separate themselves from pencil pushing officers and brand themselves 'real' leaders. Cait knew it was all pointless posturing - she's seen plenty of Captains eat a blaster round for their men - but the conception remained regardless.

Chastised the Marine took solace in the fact that Cait was just a Mercenary, at best an unwanted but necessary guest, at worst a waste of valuable credits. He shot back "Either way...Admiral on the Horn." Cait nodded, approving of his chutzpah.

***

It wasn't really the Admiral, it was one of his Staffers. They wanted a report.

"Sitrep is as follows. At T+12 minutes Task Force Jolner made entry and entered the facility. They reported nearly immediate contact with larger than normal spiders. I want to repeat that. We have troops in contact with fething Spiders in the vicinity of TF-Jolner. No casualties reported as yet, that I know of - I will keep you advised on this channel of all updates as they occur.

TF-Falcor is on-mission to breach and enter at T+15 minutes - we will start to clear and linkup with Jolner as soon as practical.

Quick Reaction Force (QRF) responds that they are prepared to lend assistance to either arm at any time."

***

Having wrapped up Cait was about to close the channel when Zee yelled out "DROIDS!" followed almost immediately by Blaster fire.

Cait's system immediately kicked into high gear, she could feel her pulse begin to race. She scanned her sector - still nothing. "Call out your targets!" she yelled to the Marines nearby, but they seemed to know what they were doing. Some had already begun to open fire, helping Zee - Cait presumed. Zee called back "Cover the Techs!" Should have thought of that Cait chastised herself but the Technicians were already making themselves small, and some Marines had moved to protect them.

She looked down to the Signalman "Channel still open?" He nodded absently, his attention focused down the sight-well of his rifle.

"Beyond, this is Falcor Actual, we are Troops in Contact, coordinates ride this signal." Cait looked around, her visor HUD updating in near real time with data from Zee and the other Marines. "OpFor appears to be squad sized, using small arms. We are engaging - say again - we are engaging. Requesting Close Air Support - if available - plug your birds into this channel, we'll keep targeting data updated. Over."

Cait put the transceiver back in the Signalman's Pack "Time to earn that paycheck, stay low Marine!" Cait left the Signalman and another Marine guarding that flank before moving to join what appeared to be the main engagement.

 

[Cadan Tazi]

Cadan heard the fighting across the caverns and knew that his enemies had engaged the spiders. This cause a smile to cross over his face, imagine their shock when their energy weapons didn't work. "You lads 'ear that! They are gettin' closer, so 'urry up and get that silk!" Cadan began to raise his voice, he knew that the spiders would be distracted so he risked it. Cadan pushed a few workers, force them towards their jobs.

Suddenly there was a brief moment of silence before Cadan and the workers came under fire. A few shots glanced off Cadan's armour but he could take it. Out of the corner of his eye Cadan saw a worker running for the door. In a swift movement Cadan drew his DL-18 and loaded the man full of rounds. "Now one leaves until you 'ave finished your job!" Cadan then began to fire towards Maris with his Guass Rifle, seeing that that was where the inital shots came from.

[member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Thraxis"]

 

[Thraxis]

Location: Underground Compound
Objective, Make sure no one gets in
Allies: Jackals, by extension Black Sun
Enemies: Whoever wasn't listed as an Ally

Thraxis looked with shock as he heard Cadan make demands, "No way... there can't be a firefight?" he said, feeling of amusement washing over him, he didn't know people could sneak through there, he thought his guard duty would consist of drinking and telling people what to do, "Well, call me a silly piece of crap, and slap me into a suicide pod, there is actually gonna be some decent bloodshed." he yelled as he started to rush over, a pounce lacing his every step as a smile started to morph across his face, all the while his fingers crawled along his body, moving down to the belt before his fingers clenched around his Pistolas, if only he brought his blasters, then he could go for a proper spray and pray technique.

As he turned the corner he opened a door, a man rushing into him as he caught in mid fall, "Now where do you think your going ya silly duffer?" he inquired with a smile hidden beneath his mask, the mans mouths curled open before a spray of blood evacuated his throat, coating his face, his arms raised high in the air, before tossing the man to the side with a heavy thud, little attention to be paid on the blaster holes that had creviced through his chest, slowly Thraxis walked to Cadan, taking in every scream and plead for life in with a sigh, "That noise never gets old does it." he mumbled out, his words laced with an almost toxic amount of joy, he was in his own slice of heaven, a Slice that seemed to be all to common to find in this crazy galaxy.

Thraxis walked to the Crazed Duros, his hand tapping Cadan's shoulder, his gun aimed away from the man, "So then, what we fighting? Sith? Rancors? People who think themselves god? A combination of the three?" Thraxis confirmed, he wanted to know what they were fighting, and in all honest, a Sith Rancor sounded like a pretty dope thing to get into a scrap with.
[member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Maris Jolner"]

 

[Horus]

Perspective: Horus
Location: Iskeria Orbit
Objective: Operational Command
Allies: Commonwealth
Enemies: Black Suns

On board the No Land Beyond II . . .

A communications officer briefly called for the attention of [member="Matthias Hull"]. He was reporting that an open channel had been detected and was operating from within the facility. "Give me a feed," Horus commanded gravely, he was leaning over the display but was now leaning back into the seat. The audio of the channel began to play across the command deck, everyone slowly turned their heads in curiosity.

When the transmission ended there was silence across the deck, even the technicians murmurs had dissipated into abject horror. Whether it was because the Commonwealth was now engaging an enemy that was not from within its own borders, or someone had just threatened the Lord of Admirals himself.

[member="Stokely McFadden"] cut the silence, he waved a slow dismissive hand. His brows were knotted and his forehead creased in deep thought. He slowly peeled off the leather command chair and leaned over the holographic table. Wave One was inside the facility, Wave Two was en-route, and it was then he got the situation report from Falcor - and it wasn't good. The enemy had been found and they were engaging.

A deep rumble came from Horus' throat as he hummed in thought, his eyes shifting to Stokely, "Commander, I need an MPD down there for Falcor, they need air support. Double time." He turned to Matthias, "Move in a squad of MARV's to flank OpFor, their 50.cal's will tear through the droids plating. Make sure they keep clear of the MPD's firing runs."

He turned to face the table, observing the minuscule figures of distant soldiers portrayed via hologram. It was a game of chess on a much lethal scale. He could see the pin hanging over Fireteam Black and Wave three, he opened a line to them. "Fireteam Black, OpFor presence has been found. Engage the enemy." He paused for a moment, "Take a prisoner with you. I only need one."

With over three-thousand marines on the No Land Beyond II at any given time they could deploy an entire battalion if the need called for it. But it wasn't about how much Horus could throw at the enemy, it was about how little he had to and still claim a victory. There was strength in numbers, but he wasn't looking for a Pyrrhic victory.