Devil's Backbone

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Vicard Heyn"] [member="Adder"]

"Heyhey," the teen pushed her wingmate's hand away. "Don't mess up the hair. Already gotta worry about helmet hair half the time anyway." The redhead huffed with a smirk on her face. Sal glanced warily over the duo's shoulder, catching a glimpse of someone. He quickly dismissed it and motioned them inside.

"C'mon. Friend of Naomi's is a friend of mine. Hear we share the same birth too."

Naomi's hazels rolled. "City folk," she muttered with a good natured smirk on her freckled face. The paint-chipped door sealed and locked behind them. The humidity and brightness was quickly cut by some cooler, darker inside air. Sal motioned them further into his dwelling-shop-mechanic paradise.

"Sal, we need to gear to get to Copper Ridge. Comms, camping stuff, and any info you can tell us about this lockdown. And maybe the terrorist cell. There's a chance we could help them and keep the First Order chasing their own tails out here."

Sal grinned and motioned around his place with open hands. "Take your pick. But if anyone questions me, I'll deny knowing yah. When you're done raiding my shop I can show you a back way outta the city. You Alliance now like your Pa was?" His gaze settle don Naomi and flickered to Adder.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Scouring the streets while looking for the two he had seen leaving the bar was slow progress, but if they were stocking up on supplies, chance's were it would take some time before they moved again, prefect for picking up on a trail or finding whatever store they were at. Though that turned out to be only in theory, not having good enough knowledge about the place, trying to track them was fairly hard seeing as he only had a rough estimate of where they went after seeing them leave the caf store and turn down the street.

After a few minutes though his luck seemed to be taking a turn, looking down the latest avenue he spied a man, who appeared to match the look of the of the one outside the caf shop smoking. 'well well well, what do we have here' though it may have been a long shot the fact the same person was here was here, in an empty street and who seemly move right around the same time as the duo indicated that he might have been tracking them. Despite looking normal he knew that there was probably something arise.

Not having anything better to do he decided to take a laying position and observe the observer, he didn't really care if he got spotted it was always funner when they ran.

[member="Naomi Carolina"]

 

[Chubs]

Chubs continued his patrols around the city unabated, until about an hour before curfew. Chubs' sergeant called the unit into the transit zone. By the time Chubs had received word, the whole platoon was ready. "Alrighty boys," platoon CO, Captain Germaine Hennersey stood in front of them all, "We all here?"

"Sir yes sir!" A trooper barked, "Just did the count, all are ready and accounted for sir!"

Hennersey nodded, "Good, now, boys, we're being redeployed."

There was a collective groan that came over the unit. "Not another karking guard assignment Cap!" One yelled, "If I have to stand some place for another eight hours I'm gonna neck myself!" Some laughter bubbled to the surface of the unit, who chuckled. The Captain waited till the laughter died down.

"Alright jokers, we're not heading out to the dance boys, we're going hunting." The Captain informed them. Cheers ran over them. Even Chubs joined in. This was it, he was finally going to get out into the field. Be able to go and rush the enemy. Once the cheers died down the Captain continued.

"A small town south east of here, called Copper Ridge got hit hard by a Righteous Legion attack. Our troops there got hit pretty damn hard, and they need boys to help with the pursuit. Drive them all out of there." The Captain continued, "In short, we roll out in four hours, and set up there." The stormtrooper officer informed them, "So we wait here till reinforcement get here, and then boom, we'll redeploy." Hennersey raised his fist. "Hoorah!" He barked.

The platoon responded in kind, "Hoorah!" They bellowed.

[member="Adder"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Vicard Heyn"]

 

[Adder]

[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Vicard Heyn"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"] | [member="Chubs"]

“Quiet, farm girl,” Adder was quick to shoot back, but her heart wasn’t in it. This whole city made her hair stand on end. Like the damn walls were watching them. The sooner they got out, the better.

"You Alliance now like your Pa was?"

Her only response was an absent nod when she caught Sal’s gaze – Adder’s focus was on rummaging through the disorganized piles of junk the man had just called his ‘shop’. Keen eyes and practiced hands quickly separated trash from treasure. In a few minutes, a neat pile of gear and equipment stood behind her back, and the redhead resurfaced with a triumphant grin.

“Got just about everything I could find. Some spare parts too, in case anything breaks down.” ‘In case’ was being generous – by the looks of it, most tech here was about ten years behind and had the rust to prove it. No matter. Adder could make it work with half a screw and a broken battery.

“Now,” she turned to Sal as Naomi went to packing the gear, “you wouldn’t know of a way past this blockade, wouldn’t you?”

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Chubs"] [member="Adder"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Vicard Heyn"]

She too nodded in response to Sal's question. Not because she was looking around the shop for the tiny treasures that could help them in their journey but also because her throat became mighty closed and burned at the back. She was home again after she'd barely escaped the First Order occupation. Thinking about her Pa now, though he'd died years ago, was a bit too much for the teen in that moment.

Sal turned to Adder as Naomi rummaged around the shop, packing her own pack and getting Adder's ready. Kneeling down, her fingers pushed some oil and grease off a domed head. "A pebble drone!" She grinned as she looked up. Grabbing a hydrospanner from her belt, she began re-routing some of the droid's circuits.

"If you can get it to work kid, you can have it. And yes. I've got access to tunnels going through the floor. This part of Barkesh has a bunch of old mining and interconnecting tunnles that aren't on any maps. Should get you out past the blockade and in theory, could get you to Cooper Ridge. But they're dangerous. I'd suggest heading above ground once you get north of the barrier. Lots of stories of beasts that live down there."

Sal turned and kicked aside a dirty-stained carpet and knelt down, opening up a hatch.

"But then again," Sal paused and closed the hatch. "Speed might be your friend. Old swoop bikes out back. Even got a spot for a droid on one of 'em. You're welcome to 'em. Should get you past any blockade."

With a buzzing whir, the pebble drone came to life and Naomi popped back to her feet, shouldering her pack. Short-form stopped in front of Sal and she circled him in a quick, fierce hug. "Thanks Sal. Listen. I already know what yer gonna say, Adder. You want open air and since we're dagum ace pilots I guess we can go above ground." The teen winked at her fellow redhead as the pebbledrone wheeled to next to them. Sal turned to the back of his shop, recovering the hatch, and showed them the back courtyard and the two swoopbikes.

 

[Adder]

“What if – and here’s a kicker – what if... we take the bikes… through the sewer?” Even as the idea materialized in her mind, Adder already knew this was it. No other way would do.

Her mouth stretched into a devious grin as she turned to [member="Naomi Carolina"]. “You did promise me a race through Barkesh canyons, Freckles. Underground tunnels’ll do just fine too.”

It was dangerous, of course, but so was speeding your way through a blockade in the light of day. If there was one thing she knew, it was that First Order stormies knew how to aim, and they aimed some nasty blasters you didn’t wanna get on the wrong side of. Swoops weren’t exactly sturdy stuff.

“Honestly…” she shrugged, shouldering her backpack, “whichever we pick we’re half screwed already. I still think underground’s a better bet though.”

Adder turned to Sal, face all screwed up with deep thought. “You know of any bigger entrances to this tunnel network? Elsewise I guess we’ll take the swoops and just… heh. Floor it.”


[member="Vicard Heyn"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"]

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Waiting waiting waiting, why was it anytime he caught onto an interesting development, it always involved waiting a long time. Though he was usually a patient person, as being in his profession required it, at lest he would have an idea of what to wait for. In this case laying down a building over looking a door was not fun. So the only logical thing to do was go into the shop himself, or try, maybe the people in question left out of some back door, so looking around for a few personal items might be nice, especially if he was going to be stuck on this rock for a while.

Jumping down from the roof he made his way towards the door of the shop in question, that the man was looking at, probably safe to assume this is were the duo had entered. A brief and playful knock, one used by a few smugglers and undesirables sounded from the door, the owner might not know it was a code but storm trooper would not use such a knock anyways. This might be enough to get the owner to open, if that didn't happen their was always the option of cutting through it, but that would be too expensive to fix.

[member="Adder"]
[member="Naomi Carolina"]
[member="Chubs"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"] [member="Vicard Heyn"] [member="Chubs"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"]

Sal scratched at his chin, meaty arm coming up and dark brows furrowing. "Y'know," he went back and peeled up the carpet and opened the hatch, looking down. "Got a speeder bike already down there for my own runs. It should fit you both. Spot for the little droid too. But there's only one so you'll have to toss for who flies."

The man smirked. There was a knock at the door and his face pulled into a frown.

"You two get going. I ain't expecting anyone." The Barkesh draw was rubbing off even on Sal. He'd been here so long.

"Called it!" Naomi immediately shot to Adder, smirked, and scrambled down the tunnel ladder. Snooze you lose. With a burst of repulsors, the pebble-drone followed. Once Adder went down, Sal would close and seal the hatch and flip the rug back over. He'd then cross the room and rumble to the door, opening up a small peep-hole at the top.

"Whadayah want?" Voice boomed from the other side of locked metal.

 

[Adder]

“Oh like hell you did!” Adder hissed after Naomi and leaped through the hatch. No time to lose now – whoever was knocking on that door was probably looking for them. The redhead duo had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out.

She found Freckles already astride the speeder, revving its vintage engine in vain. The bike spluttered, but refused to start – a perfect opportunity.

With the additional strength afforded by her cybernetic arm, Adder easily pulled the short stack onto the back seat. Assuming her rightful place at the fore of the speeder, she popped its latch and flipped the light on her datalogger.

“Holy feth,” she groaned. Dirt and cobwebs reigned unchecked where no dirt and cobwebs should ever reign. Adder coughed, waving away the dust before she hastened for her hydrospanner. She could hear Sal talking above them, stalling whoever was sniffing around.

“Come on come on come onnn,” she muttered under her breath, chewing on her cheek. “Fethin’ finally!”

The speeder coughed to life, and Adder floored the gas. “Hold onto yer butt, Freckles!”


[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"]

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Though it was faint he could hear what sounded like multiple people on the other side of the door walking somewhere, but soon the sound was muffled and was greeted by with a not so welcoming man."Whadayah want?", that was some 5 star service right their.

(overly feminine voice) "ohh I'm sorry I hope I didn't interrupt anything, as for what I am looking to acquire, it seems due to this blocked and lock down my persons has been confined to this city". "Now normally I would simple go to a more higher end store but my current profession involves the 'removing of people' as a third part and id like to avoid any official purchase that may be tracked to me, your store seems to be idles for those who want to stay under the radar".

If said store owner didn't open, he could just cut the door down, though he didn't want the other man to catch on.

/ [member="Adder"] / [member="Naomi Carolina"] /

 

[Chubs]

Chubs felt his heart begin to plummet with dread as he and his platoon began to board the atmospheric assault landers. The flight would take only ten minutes via air. But, what struck him, was the atmosphere. Everything and everyone seemed to suffocating beneath this fear. Whenever Copper Ridge was mentioned by any of the command staff, the officers visibly grimaced. Word was,that the town had nearly been razed and its populace slaughtered by unknown assailants.

Of course Chubs and the others already knew who those assailants were. The Righteous Legion. A name which made any stormtrooper's blood went cold. While there were other resistance movements which had operated on Barkhesh, it was the Righteous Legions most feared. The others were primarily farmers, and volunteer militia fighters. Untrained, ill-equipped and often unintelligent, they were only a danger in numbers. It was the Righteous Legion stormtroopers really feared. Made up of veterans from the Galactic Republic, and assorted other light-sided zealots. They were a real danger, and their disdain for their own lives and penchant for suicide attacks made any military personnel jumpy at the possibility of facing them.
The stormtroopers marched slowly into their transports, the bright floodlights of the base shining upon the troopers. "Move along, move along!" A deck officer commanded, marching through the lines of troopers, now filing into the assault landers. Chubs slowly filed into his, he was last man in, which meant he was first man out when it eventually landed. The private turned, clutched his rifle tightly against his chest. There were no seats afforded to the stormtroopers. They were stuck standing.

Chubs closed his eyes. The bravado which he had indulged in with his comrades had evaporated. Despite the sounds of the lander's pilots making their anticipatory checks, all Chubs could hear was the beating of his own heart, and the sound of his breath. Chubs didn't want to die. He wanted to go back home. Referee Huttball, and maybe marry Dori, the innkeepers daughter and grow old with her and three kids. He didn't want to die on some godforsaken planet. He didn't want to survive this war, only to be killed in the peace.

Chubs' thoughts wandered. He wondered what his sister Gail thought. What her last thoughts were of when she had died when the FIV Wrath crashed into the radioactive surface Kaeshana. Chubs' thoughts dwelt there. On her courage, her stoicism. She wouldn't have cried. Wouldn't have cowered in the face of what she had done. She would have fought bravely, boldly and courageously. She would have taken her death with open arms. Greeted it if it meant that others got away. And if that was good enough for her, that was good enough for him.

Chubs began to rock back and forth. He felt somewhat hyped now. He would do what the Hadley's had always done. To stay stoic to the bitter end, and he would not betray that legacy. Gail's legacy.

Chubs barely acknowledged the pilots updates on their progress. All he knew was that there was less than a minute left until they landed. Until Chubs could prove himself worthy. His legs became springy, ready to launch into action. His grip on his rifle tightened, and his breaths became deeper, calmer. The comms chatter began to spark to life within his helm, and one by one, the platoon acknowledged themselves. "FN-4353, ready to roll." Chubs barked in a determined voice. Some vague order to secure some kind of perimeter came through, and then the lander hit the ground with a thud.

The door slowly opened, and Chubs ran out. Only to find all the courage he had, had evaporated. Even with the smoke filter, the air tasted acrid. It took a minute to flicker through to some kind of view filter to properly. When he did, he saw Hell on Earth. Words couldn't begin to describe the destruction they'd witnessed, not thirty seconds into their deployment. As the stormtrooper reinforcements fanned out, all Chubs could think about was how much he wanted to hug his mother.

[member="Adder"] | [member="Naomi Carolina"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"] [member="Vicard Heyn"] [member="Chubs"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"]

"Hey," the teen swatted at Adder's arm as she was pulled back. "CHEATIN!" If Naomi had an older sister, she imagined the sister would've been a lot like Adder. It was a compliment. Mostly.

Heh.

"Just remember I've been flying these tunnels since I was born." Fingers quickly latched onto Adder's hips in a death grip. The pebble drone warbled once as it latched in behind them with a magnetic clip. Goggles were already over her hazels.

Voice quieted immediately as they zoomed through the semi-darkness. Naomi had a map on her chrono and she called out directions to Adder as they went. "Sharp right coming up." They air was cooler down here and a bit more stale.

She just hoped they didn't run into any tunnel worms, malkuns, or vipersnooks. That'd be worse than fighting a whole legion of the Order.

Above, Sal looked at the man. Woman? With a critical eyes. He could count on his hand the number of folks who knew he even had a shop. This wasn't one of them. He slammed the faceplate shut not knowing his door might be cut down in the next second. "I don't know what yer taking about. Get outta here!"

 

[Adder]

Didn’t need no goggles when you had cybernetic eyes. She’d switched to night vision the moment she revved the engine – wouldn’t wanna end up smeared along the ferrocrete wall of some backwater tunnel.

She pulled to the right, smoking out a cloud of bats that whirled above their heads. “You sure that map you got is up to date?” Adder yelled over her shoulder. It’d been a while since Naomi was last here, and underground tunnels had a nasty habit of collapsing. Especially when occupied by an oppressing regime – didn’t really give you a whole lot of time or opportunity to make repairs.

One of the speeder’s light flickered out right on cue. Could swear she heard a faint pop. “Feth! This might be the oldest rustbucket I’ve ever flown, and lemme tell ya, Freckles, I’ve flown some real trash!”

[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Vicard Heyn"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"] | [member="Chubs"]

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

"I don't know what yer taking about. Get outta here!"

Whelp that didn't go well, "no more Mr nice guy". two simultaneous hums emitted from his wrist, green beam emitting from their respective devices, time to improvise and maybe take one of those speeder he spied out back, they must have been their for a reason, why not use them if need be.

The duel beams plunged into the wall, sparks flying and metal melting, "I don't take 'get outta here' for an answer", with a quick flip a nice hole was cut through the wall, before entering he made sure that one of the spare speeders was within easy reach, for making the inevitable escape. "Now perhaps we can talk, and this time at my pleasure, where are the two girls"?!

Tanaski may have been over reacting but his patients was thinning, maybe it had something to do with not feeding for a while, for now though this store owner would have to cough up some answers.

[member="Adder"]
[member="Naomi Carolina"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]
[member="Tanaski Yumi"]
[member="Chubs"]

Sal was a lot of things. But super brave wasn't one of them. "What the blazes...," voice trailed off as a hole was sliced open into the door. He didn't even wait for the person to enter. He high-tailed and ran without looking back. Tanaski would find the shop and speeders to himself.

Meanwhile...

"How yah think I got so good?" She hollered back behind Adder, hands not relinquishing the death-grip on the woman's hips as they zoomed and sped deeper into the tunnels around blind turns and walls that would've killed a normal man by now. Or woman.

"And trust me. Even without the map I feel like I'd know where to go." She'd been traveling these tunnels since she was a kid. More so on the Copper Ridge system. And there was the force. She didn't talk to Adder much about that or the training she got with Ryan Korr. Although, Korr had disappeared lately and Naomi didn't know how to feel about it. Maybe a teeny bit relieved. She could focus more on her duties with the Wraith Squadron.

They'd travel for a good while longer until a tickling sensation fluttered down her neck like a ghost's cold claws.

"Slow down," she whispered quickly. Hazels squinted in the mostly dark. "Those lights and moving bodies up ahead?" Eyes widened. Seemed like the whole town of Copper Ridge was below Copper Ridge.

 

[Chubs]

The town of Copper Ridge was coated in thick black smoke, which obscured the town. The smell was putrid, and carried over by the wind for miles around. It was a mixture of fighter exhaust, and grilled flesh. Human flesh. There were few sounds heard from a distance away, the most definitive was the whine of TIE fighters, which circled the perimeter, flying into the smoke, and then out of it like wraiths claiming a soul. The other sound, was heavier. The deafening clunk of imperial walkers against the ashen ground. The walkers had been modified with massive floodlights designed to pierce every crevice, and give the troopers on the ground some line of sight.

The bodies in the distance Carolina had noticed were a combination of the local planetary defence garrison and the stormtroopers who'd stopped her earlier. Sitting within a canyon, with some haphazard barricades and two AAP-VW's, the soldiers sat in silence, waiting for something to come up on their infa-red sensors.

"You hear that?" Chubs asked, he was disturbed, he swore he'd heard something. "I think I just heard a speeder."

Usually such speculation would be treated as hearsay, and discouraged by squad officers, but given what these First Imperial troops had witnessed, no one could be too sure. "Turn on the floodlight." The sergeant barked, he was an older man, attired in a charred black PDF uniform.

Two corporals nodded, and briskly activated the light, which was mounted in place. They shone it down the canyon, and there was nothing. The troopers methodically shone it across the eastern wall, and then to the western wall, until it crept upon a singular figure. "Sir, we've found something!" A coporal exclaimed.

The sergeant nodded, and took a pair of macronoculars, measuring the distance between them, "Zero point three clicks that way," He said, before pointing at them, "Call it in," he barked.

Another private from Chub's reached for his datapad and quickly typed in a message. [Unidentified speederbike spotted at coordinate 0.045, West]
Within seconds, a message was broadcast upon open channels in the vicinity, and two TIE Fighters moved from circling the ruins, to beginning to circle the duo. A transmission began to play on any communications equipment they had. "Unidentified speeder bike, you are to dismount, and report to the closest checkpoint for identification. Failure to do so will result in immediate termination."

[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Adder"]

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

The owner had zipped out as faster then a blockaded runner "well this is not fun", looks like he'd have to use some detective skill in order to figure this out. "If their one thing I've learned from shady business men and other associates, its always have a back door no one know about, not i just need to do some prodding around". This day didn't seem to be going his way, but he would hell try to make it, what ever he had stumbled across was worth investigating, even if it just turned out to be some petty smuggler or drug runner, he was not going to just stand around for hour on end waiting fro the lock down to lift.

Switching to a vibo sword he started to process of tapping various parts of the floor, looking with the intention of finding a hatch of some sort, "come one, you got to be around here somewhere', 'tap' 'tap' 'tap' 'clonk', A section of the floor responded with a different sound, not noticeable when walking of but when tapped in a certain spot, most likely the handle, came back with a different sound. "This looks interesting", not wanting to cause the poor man anymore property damage, Tanaski decided to use normal methods to open the hatch.

"This sure is a large hatch, hmmmm looks beg enough to fit a speederrrrrrrrr......" a sly grin appeared on his head, these people were cleaver, he kind of wanted to learn from them now, exiting the back of the shop he ceremonially one of the backup speeder through the door, knocking a few items over in the process. "I should leave the guy a little something for his troubles", using the force he lifted the speeder off the ground, rotating it into a horizontal position, before slowly lowering it into the hatch.

"ahh all good to go, now just one more thing", going over to the counter he started to carve a message out for the owner, if they ever came back, 'dear who ever you are, I am sorry for ruining your door and taking your speeder, I have left you some credits to cover the cost, your truly T.Y..... ps if you need anyone dead send me a message, ill give you a disscount'. Finishing the letter and placing the required credits on the table, he jumped down the hatch closing it on his way down, landing on the speeders seat. "Lets see where this tunnel takes me', reeving up the engines the speeder started to fly down the tunnel, though a bit slower then its predecessors as he was not used to flying in such, confined spaces.

/ [member="Naomi Carolina"] / [member="Chubs"] / [member="Adder"] /

 

[Adder]

Adder released the gas, allowing the overworked speeder to sputter to a slow stop before they crashed into the refugee camp set up in the tunnels.

Right. Tunnels.

Which meant that the sergeant groundside hadn’t had a speeder to notice. As the floodlights came on and the transmission began to play, the silhouette froze in its spot. A bantha, terrified shetless, stared at the bright lights, grass falling out of its mouth from shock.

“Moo?”

Meanwhile, far underground, Adder dismounted and helped Freckles off the bike, short legs and all. Shouldering her backpack again, the redhead glanced down at Naomi and gestured to the gathering people ahead. Some of them were holding rifles and blasters, but most of them only had the clothes on their back.

“Who’re you? Stop right there and stand where we can see ye!” a gruff male voice sounded from the welcoming party.

Adder raised her hands in the universal sign of peace, but left the talking to her friend. This was her home, after all.

[member="Naomi Carolina"] | [member="Tanaski Yumi"] | [member="Vicard Heyn"] | [member="Chubs"]

 

[Naomi Carolina]

[member="Adder"]
[member="Tanaski Yumi"]
[member="Chubs"]

Right. Underground in the tunnels was certainly a different scene than the raging war and razing of the above. Lights from multiple personal battery torches lit-up the cavern. There were a lot. Hazels squinted and zeroed in on the male voice that addressed them. Sounded familiar.

Naomi's hands rose too and she ducked her head, trying to look outta the glare shining in her freckled-face.

"Naomi Carolina and friend Adder. Born and raised in Copper Ridge and just tryi--," that same male voice suddenly interrupted the teen.

"NAOMI. Call me a gundark's Uncle. Lower the weapons, folks. I used to change this tyke's diapers," the man stepped forward, a wild grin on his face. He shook Naomi's hand and nodded to Adder, ushering them forward.

"Gads, Greg. Can we not bring up the diaper thing?" Freckled-face was a bit rosy in the dark.

Greg chuckled. "Sure squirt. Dangerous times to be coming back home, kid. As you can see. We've been forced underground. First Order claims there's a terrorist group running around. But there ain't no terrorist group. We're pretty sure they hired mercs to paint themselves as good guys. Bet their plebs don't even know they're really fighting themselves. At least in this case."

Naomi grimaced. "Means the regular folk are caught in-between." Fists clenched at her sides, anger firing through her veins. Seemed like typical First Order stuff to pull.

"We're just tryin' to survive down here. Most of us ain't no friends of the Order but we're not dumb enough to fight and get our town razed." Greg ran a hand through his scruffy beard. "Hell, still can't believe you're here kid. We thought you died when the Order first invaded."

"No...I got out with two of my brothers. But...do you know anything about my Ma? I was hoping to find her and get her out....but maybe there's a way we could help the rest of you too?"

Hazels swept to Adder, unsure for the first time. Could they help this number of people?

 

[Chubs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X_XSqOy-zE​

​

Copper Ridge was dead silent. The civilians who hadn't run off, been killed in the fighting, or retreated into the tunnels, were being housed in a makeshift camp on the far eastern reaches of town. The camp was housed beneath the protective bubbles of three AT-SG walkers, along with a perimeter guard of stormtroopers, and FIMS personnel. Most of the civilians there were still shaken by the events. Many were parents who still couldn't find their children. Some volunteered to help the local Planetary Defence Force troopers attempt to clear the rubble from the smouldering ruins of houses and businesses, hoping to find survivors. Others began to distribute relief aid such as food and water. Even though some had reservations, they still assisted their fellow man.

The smell of burning flesh clung around the town, and no matter what filters the troopers used. It was suffocating. Stormtroopers, their pristine, white shining armour, now an ashen grey, marched around the town. Some worked at the town's graveyard, with captured Righteous Legion, digging graves for the dead. Central Command's doctrine dictated a "No Martyr's" policy. It meant that despite the atrocities committed by the Legion, the stormtroopers couldn't execute them, lest they inspire the more reactionary members of Barkheshi society. It meant that a lot of good troopers died taking prisoners because some hotshot had a suicide vest on. It however didn't stop the stormtroopers from using them as labour.

The only surviving buildings were those in Copper Ridge's central square. It was there, the town hall, the town bakery and bank were. While the rest of the town was made out of wooden huts, and construction, these firm brick buildings stood tall. In the main square, a near whole platoon stood guard, taking down the charred bodies from where they had been impaled. The whole scene was nightmarish for the soldiers who'd been repositioned to the town. Many were veterans of Kaeshana, where they had witnessed Galactic and Tygaran Alliance cruelty, but for many, this was a new level of depravity they were not yet used to. At street corners, off duty troopers could be found hurling, or smoking. Confiding with their comrades about the horrors they had witnessed.
The commander of the response force, Colonel Hank Krutz paced up and down the foyer of Copper Ridge's town hall. The massive brick building had been spared most of the flames because of its construction, but it still bore the scars of flames. The marble floor was singed with ash. Kurtz had been up for forty eight hours at this point. He would not sleep until the monsters who caused this paid.

The town hall had been turned into a temporary morgue and hospital. FIMS personnel were busy dragging bodies in for storage in the cellar, while also performing surgeries, and applying bacta to those with fresh wounds. A team of FOSB techs now accessed the towns archives, performing a census, and trying to figure out what had happened to Copper Ridge's townsfolk. From the initial count, about a fifth of the townsfolk were huddled in the refugee camp. About a third of the town was freshly grilled downstairs.

That meant that a little under two thirds of Copper Ridge's people were still missing. According to some accounts, the Righteous Legion forced families into their homes before burning them. Some others claimed that many fled into the wilderness. Though they wouldn't be sure as to whether they'd joined the murderous group, or had fled to escape the fighting. Either way, a massive rescue effort was underway. But even the the rescue efforts to save the survivors had been hampered by the shear scale of the fires burning. Usually FIMS, and military personnel would be able to perform search and rescue using infa-red vision to detect survivors.
Because most of the buildings were still smouldering or radiating heat, it made searching through the rubble near impossible. And with nearly a third of the town unaccounted for, Kurtz asked for help from Central Command. And his call had been answered. Apparently they were going send someone. Some kind of FOSB agent who could sense people using the force. Kurtz had is own issue with force users, but if this one could be trusted who could deny them.

"Colonel," A voice rang out, "Sir, the special agent is about to arrive."

"Route him to the town square." The colonel replied, "We're gonna need him to get right on the job if we ever want to give these folks a chance."

@Naomia Carolina | [member="Adder"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"]