Feuer und Stahl

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


The Quasar was, all things considered, a nice ship. Fast, stealthy and with some hidden surprises. It was also comfortable. Enyo disapproved of the creature comforts. She'd removed the chairs from the conference room. She did not want her goons to lounge around and make themselves comfortable. She also did not allow snacks or drinks during briefings. Everyone was expected to make use of the training room.


"This is the target," a mental command activated the projector, displaying a holographic apparition of a base on an asteroid, "an Archangel manufacturing facility on an airless rock in system PX-353."


"Archangel. Make replicants for weak, rich folk," a Trandoshan mercenary called Lyshk hissed. The lizardman looked rather feral and his right eye was a crude cybernetic. He was fond of using his claws to jab people's orbs out.


"Yes, which is why they have lots of money," Enyo said flatly, feeling a bit annoyed about being interrupted."It doubles as a special weapons' factory and a data server. Its greatest strength is its remoteness, but once it comes under attack, Archangel will send reinforcements. This is the plan: We move in close and drop an ion bomb to knock out communications and disrupt their droids, before they mobilise. We smash into place with our pod. Alpha Team hits the data server, Beta Team the the manufacturing plant to acquire weapons and blueprints."


"You seem awfully well-informed about them," a Zabrak warrior remarked in a deadpan tone that made it difficult to discern if she was implying something or just making a general observation. Her face and arms were covered in tribal tattoos. Her name was Neda. "I figure the server is ion-shielded because otherwise dropping a bomb is gonna be a bust."


"I'm thorough. That's why I'm in charge," Enyo replied coldly, "and, yes, it is. A Faraday cage protects it. Speed is important to prevent them from deleting the data. We hit the place hard, take anything that's of value, steal the data and blow the place up."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]

Amara had noted with approval and amusement her sister’s lack of luxury. She had removed the bed from her quarters and replaced it with a planning desk. Likewise, the drinks cabinet had been replaced with filtered water and energy drinks.

They were in hyperspace, not long to reversion. This base they knew of primarily because it had been mentioned as a place where some of Enyo’s components had come from.

“I will lead Alpha Team. We get in, knock out opposition and steal or download the data. The ion bomb will not destroy this data, but it will prevent any external commands being run to format or send out data.”

“We will have a maximum of thirty minutes before Archangel reinforcements arrive, but I want to be ready to go in 15. My team, have your suits sealed up, air tanks on and destroy any cameras or sensors you see.”

Amara could act professional and directed, when properly motivated. She looked to Enyo to explain the next part of the plan and what the other group would do.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Ylva didn't like flying, one thing that she couldn't get used to. It was bad for her stomach, she was pushing herself not to puke and make the whole ship stink of Valkyrie vomit, which had quite a strong smell, thus grumpiness ensues.

Also, she met Enyo's sister on the way. First impressions, she expected someone... well, a bit more strong looking, considering her older sister. In her family, weak siblings wouldn't last long. Funny story, she was forced to fight, and kill or maim most of her siblings for a flaming sword which was a family heirloom. Though, she knew Enyo cared about her, so maybe in the future she would teach her how to be stronger. The galaxy didn't tolerate the weak after all.

On the bright side, Enyo's gang had quite the selection of weapons. Ylva took a plasma cannon from the armoury, a good weapon with a lot of destructive power, and would help her a great deal in this raid, especially against the robots. She also had her trusty vibro-ax with her for the unlucky ones that managed to get too close to her.

The Archangel. She knew that name. The ones responsible for what happened to Enyo. She didn't know the details, she didn't ask and she didn't need to. If Enyo wanted to tell her some day, she would. For now, the only thing in her mind was to crush them.

The plan sounded simple enough, go in, take some weapons and blueprints, blow the place up. The feeling of hunt started to take over her as they were approaching the destination.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]


Luxury was something Enyo neither liked nor understood. Archangel had raised her in a monastic way and rather than turn against this after freeing herself, she'd stuck to it. It was probably also because she was unable to appreciate even the most basic creature comforts as a droid. Why have a bed in her room when she did not sleep?


"Beta will go for the manufacturing plant. Steal blueprints, prototype weapons and lay det charges. Both teams regroup at the rally point once the job is done. Make sure you're not late." Anyone who was might be left behind. "Same rules for gear apply for Beta. And bring ion weapons and heavy blasters."


"Charming. What kind of opposition can we expect? I figure lots of droids. What level are they? Any organics?" Neda asked. She seemed to be quite thorough for a thug or hired gun.


"No, Archangel doesn't employ them. Standard battle droid contingent, upgraded droidekas, HRDs, plus a prototype or two of unknown but presumably substantial capabilities. Ylva, you'll come with me and help wreck them. The basic bots will be taken out of the game by the ion bomb, the advanced ones will reboot. There's an array of defence guns. We shall neutralise them from the control room."


"All crew, prepare for reversion, now," a voice crackled through the intercom.


"You know your roles. Move into position," Enyo ordered, and headed out of the conference room. She was already clad in her battle armour. Being an HRD was convenient because she could wear the heavy suit without feeling the weight or any discomfort. The ship jerked as it exited the blue tunnel and emerged in real space.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]

Amara found herself standing next to the hulking female berserker. Ylva had probably not been impressed by the shorter, slighter blonde, but Amara was somewhat awed by the other woman.

As Ylva hefted the vibroaxe, Amara nodded at it.
“The last word in any argument, I bet, huh?” she said jovially.

But then, they were out of hyperspace, and Enyo would soon come looking for her, so she bustled to the bridge. Piloting was a grizzled old Corellian with an android leg, with Faelar as his co-pilot.
Squeezed ludicrously into the gunner’s position was Zar’kahn, the Kar’zun they’d met on Coruscant. He’d had to remove the seat and part of the wall behind to even fit into there, but was surprisingly dextrous with his hands on the controls.

“Ready with the ion torpedoes?” she asked.
“Loaded and locked,” he said with a nod. The precise barrage of 4 ion blasts would disable parts of the base, allowing them to dock, board and disable the defences.

They could see the asteroid from here, getting closer and closer.
“We’re ready when you are, Enyo, give the order and we’ll light them up.”

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

When she heard the little sister's voice, she looked at her direction, not expecting for someone to talk to her. Still grumpy because of her stomach, it reflected on her expression. So, her next words could be understood as a bit hostile.

"It's also a good conversation starter." She said with a forced grin, then added. "Enyo would know why, but it's a long story and I'm in a killing mood. So maybe another time." With that, the little sister went away to prepare for the raid.

Give a Valkyrie berserker something to destroy, and you shall make her very happy.

"It'll be my pleasure." She responded to Enyo. "This shall be an entertaining hunt. May Ear give us strength."

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"]


Unlike the conference room, the bridge had chairs...but only for the crew members who really needed to sit while performing their duties. Even Enyo recognised the necessity, though she was very opposed to chairs. They bred sloppiness.


The door opened with a hiss and Enyo walked onto the bridge. Her steps were precise, mechanical. Cold eyes gazed out of the window as the asteroid came closer and closer, along with the drab, grey, utilitarian base Archangel had constructed upon the airless rock.


"Open fire," she ordered. Her tone was bland, but there was a light inside her eyes. It looked almost feral. Like the gleam of a predator that was finally getting the chance to pounce its prey and sink its teeth into its throat. Her mechu-deru senses tingled as she felt the myriad mechanical life forms inside the base.


"Torpedoes launched," Zar'kahn spoke. His voice always sounded a bit like a loud boom. The first salvoes of flak fire came their way as the transport shot towards the base, just before the ion torpedoes left their launchers. The transport lurched slightly as the pilot engaged in an evasive manoeuvre, then the darkness was pierced by an eruption of sapphire light when the torpedoes impacted.


The base fell silent. "Damage report?" Enyo demanded.


"Some lucky shots strafed us. Miminal damage. Shields are holding," the grizzled pilot grunted. "Getting us into position for launch."


"Board the pods," Enyo grunted to Amara and Ylva and quickly made her way to to the modified escape pod. It would be catapulted right into the base, putting them into position for the assault. The lights had gone out, now it was time to capitalise on this before Archangel could mobilise.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]
The ion torpedoes struck true, and the spider web of sapphire energy spread out over the installation.
The enemy fire fell silent…briefly. It wouldn’t last though!

Amara and Zar’kahn left the bridge rapidly, heading to their assigned pod. These had been specially modified to slow down before impact and then burn through the target to deposit them inside.

The pod was cramped, what with the human, the Kar’zun and the Trandoshan squeezed in with a large Houk. However, it came down with no opposition, and within moments they were inside.

The corridors of the base were dark as the lighting along with other power had been shorted out. Switching on her night vision goggles, Amara ignited her lightsabre and moved forward. Disabled droids scattered in the hallways.

“Shosh, you can bring your team in, the entrance to the server farm is secured.”

Said server farm was secured by a heavy door, but her companions began placing charges and getting plasma torches lit to cut their way through. By the time the kitty and her techs arrived they’d be inside and ready to start the heist.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

And thus, the hunt started as the ion torpedos hit the base. Everything went silent after that, which meant they had to move now. So, she ran towards the escape pods along Enyo and her sister. It was too small for the Valkyrie, if she was claustrophobic that would cause a few problems, luckily it wasn't the case. They were launched right to the base below without any opposition, and the pod hit the ground violently, creating a small earthquake effect inside. Then the doors opened, and they were inside.

The base was empty, dark, it almost seemed like it was abandoned, with small robots lying around, and sparks coming out of some electronic devices. She quickly recollected herself and found Enyo. "These pods need to be a bit bigger." She said, and then added, after a few seconds of silence. "So quiet. I don't like that." Meanwhile, the rest of the gang also were out of the pod as well, and the team started moving. The silence continued till one of the robots' eyes as they passed it shined, and it... spoke? Huh. "Rebooting...complete...Loading interface...Intru...ders..." Unfortunately for the robot, they were its last words as Ylva swung her vibroax, cutting its head off.

And then all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, 2 spider like robots emerged, followed by a few humanoid looking ones, and opened fire. The dark room suddenly turned into a light show. Ylva threw herself to a cover, and then she returned the fire against one of the spider like robots, however it seemed like it had a shield of sorts and reflected her shots. Not knowing their nature that much, she shouted "How do we destroy their shields?" as she turned her aim towards the humanoids, they were easier to hit and kill.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"]


Even the best laid plans...seldom survived first contact with the enemy. As soon as the bullets started flying, improvisation, discipline and perseverence took over. There was also luck, but Enyo refused to believe in it. The Overlords were spider-like, quadrupedal behemoths, able to sustain their share of punches and dish out hard. The dark room was ignited as blood red beams produced a spectacular light show when the huge automatons opened fire with their blaster cannons. Shots from the team bounced off their shimmering shields.


"Overlords. Take cover. Don't waste your ammo on their shields," Enyo grunted, in the same moment as the huge robots appeared. Her bolter spat ion rounds towards humanoid droids, producing a sapphire shower, and she called upon her power to wrap her around the automaton. Mechu-deru was unleashed, producing something akin to a surge of electricity that vaporised the circuits in the droid's limbs.


As she fired, the team hastened into cover behind some wreckage, shooting as they went. However, one of the gang members, an overeager Twi'lek was slow to respond. Heroically - or foolishly - he bombarded one of the Overlords with his heavy repeater, looking a bit like a protagonist in a Captain Corellia movie. In other words, super macho - and ineffective and suicidal on a real battlefield.


Then, as he began to move, he was scythed by scarlet bolts of doom. His screams echoed across the room when his legs and a portion of his lekku were scythed, and he crumpled to the ground like an empty sack of potatoes.


"Idiot. Cover me." Cursing, Neda arose from cover, but before she could make haste towards the injured Twi'lek to drag him out of the line of fire she was grabbed by a powerful robotic hand and forced back into their hiding spot.


"Stay here. It was his own folly," Enyo snapped coldly, causing the Zabrak to glare at her. She felt nothing. He'd been stupid and paid the price. A grenade tossed their way was mentally caught by her and exploded in mid-air, causing shards of shrapnel to fly everywhere.


"Still one of us. Got a plan, boss?" Neda snapped, briefly poking out of cover to fire her ion rifle at approaching humanoid bots. Short, controlled bursts that hit with precision instead of wasting ammo. A battle droid went down after being struck by sapphire light.


"Suppressive fire on the mooks. The Overlords have Molecular shields. Knock them over and their shield goes offline. Ylva, take the front and occupy them. I'll flank them and come in from the side. Once their shields are down we blow them to pieces," the cyborg ordered in a chilly voice that tolerated no contradiction.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]

The door to the vault was finally ready.
“Remember, we want the data, so limit the ion and collateral damage. Ready? Go!”
The Trandoshan hauled the vault back. They stepped out of the way, which was good because instantly a hail of blaster bolts emerged.
Amara ignited her lightsabre and stepped into the breach, her meaty companions behind her. Zar’kahn’s beam weapon expertly sniped two security droids whilst the Houk hacked one apart. Amara though soon found herself attacked by a new type of enemies.

Unfolding from pods a pair of Cyber Mastiffs leapt forward to attack. One went for the Houk, and he had time only to swing his blade into the side of the machine before it was on him. The blow was not severe enough to stop it though, and the claws tore into his chest, the jaws shot forward, bit and tore. The Houk died in a pool of blood.

Amara did not have time to process this because one came at her. Lightsabre ready, she swung like a baseball player, shearing through its muzzle and sending sizzling metal fragments to the deck. However, the machine kept on and struck her, knocking Amara down. It was lacking most of its jaws, but enough remained for it to be able to burn her or gore her with the melted remains. The claws on its feet scratched at her, searching for a weakness in her armour.

It was then that Zar’kahn stepped forward, seized the Fenris, one hand on the neck, the other on the tail, and broke it over his knee. When the demon dog tried to rise a second time a massive stony foot came down on its head, crushing it.
Looking smug, he held out a hand for her.
“Come on, little human, no time for laying around.”
“Everyone’s a comedian, huh?” Amara muttered. She winced at the cuts on her arms and side and a fresh burn on her cheek.

Seeing Shoshary arrive, she pointed inside the server farm. “Get going. Download what you can, pull out the data cells if you have to. You have five minutes.”

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

The adrenaline of the battlefield was addictive, even if they were under heavy fire, one would say Ylva was enjoying her time. Mercenary work couldn't compete with the smell of a real battlefield, and she knew she made a good deal as Enyo never made empty promises. Also, this red woman was speaking too much and wasting energy. Perhaps proper drilling was required later.

"Alright. I'll go grab some attention then." She replied to Enyo, and when she saw an opening, she took a breath and lashed forward from the cover, shooting the humanoid robots on her way towards another cover which was closer to the spider robots, also it was in a better position to destroy the robots when the shields were down. One robot was unfortunate enough to get in close range after getting shot for a few times, and it took an axe to the head.

By shooting and slaying through her way, she got the attention of their main enemy, as they opened fire on her. Some of the bolts flew very close, but before any serious damage she managed to throw herself to the cover. "Enyo. I have their attention." She said through the comm. Under heavy fire, she continued firing at the robots whenever she had the chance, keeping them busy. Some of the crew members moved forward and took cover near her position, helping her to keep the robots away.

Now it was up to Enyo to get rid of the shields.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]


Neda did not like her boss. As a matter of fact, she could not stand Metal queen. What the hell was that woman anyway? Droid, human? She could not tell. The only thing that freak had going for her was that she was not a coward. That was something she could respect. Still a queen though.


However, they were under fire and she had a job to do. That giant savage was doing a good job getting the spiders to focus their blaster cannons on her. As Ylva seized an opening by charging forward, Neda provided covering fire, pumping out ion bolts from her rifle. Staying mobile was key during combat, because staying static tended to get you killed.


Hand signals passed on her intent to the rest of the crew, then she advanced herself, whilst being covered. Blaster bolts whizzed past her, others sizzled against her armour. She felt burns, grit her teeth and hit the ground upon reaching a better position.


Some of the basic automatons went down under the counterfire, but these humanoid battle droids seemed more advanced, taking several shots, not the least due to wearing armour. They also seemed to have anti-ion countermeasures. Ducking to avoid being shot in the head, she spied a beam above them.


"Give me that. Get ion grenades ready for the spiders," she grunted to a Trandoshan and took his bolter, handing him her ion rifle in return. Aiming upwards, she fired. The explosive bolt connected, causing a loud boom, and the beam collapsed upon the bots. Some evaded by fluidly dodging or running up the wall like spiders, but the rest were entombed and crushed beneath the metal beam's weight. As the smoke cleared, she could see metal queen had managed to get behind the two super droidekas.


xxx

Heavy blaster and cannon fire filled the air, accompanied by the lamentations of the poor, unfortunate Twi'lek who'd been mowed down by one of the Overlords. Explosions caused a loud boom. In other words, everything was fine from Enyo's perspective. Battle was what she lived for.


"Acknowledged." She advanced at a rapid pace, moving in what might as well have been a blur. Her old self would not have been capable of such. Her first cyborg body had been slow and ponderous, weighed down by organic weaknesses and poor construction. This was no longer the case. Her armour slowed her down, but not much.


Time seemed to freeze. Her booted feet ran up a wall and propelled her behind the two oversized spider bots - blink. Her mechu-deru senses tingled and she reached out with her power, wrapping it around the legs of one of the Overlords, like a leash. Power surged through the circuits and exploded them - blink.


The massive Overlord hit the ground hard as it was pitched over, looking almost comical as it flailed about and tried to right itself, while its guns still fired. To prevent burnout, its shields shut down. The second Overlord turned its attention towards her. Its rearward repeating blaster spat bolts and as she deflected, the Overlord shot into the air and turned.


A crimson blast emanated from the cannon, Enyo rolled, wrapped the Force around her and was violently punched into a wall with a loud thud. Her burning violet lightsabre leapt out of the cloud of smoke and flew towards the Overlord's vulnerable repulsor engines. It yearned to take a peek inside - and cut through them like a hot knife through creamy butter to force it to the ground.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Whilst Shosh was doing her thing, Amara headed to the surveillance controls and looked at the fight Enyo was going through. Her powers were breathtaking to the clone.
Still, her gaze was shifted to another camera. More security droids were coming online and heading towards the melee.

Inserting a spike and attaching a bypass system she was able to gain control. This base did not have the best security, and she knew a few things about AA’s cyber grid.
The blast door slammed in the face of these reinforcements, the droids looking somewhat comical as they walked into the solid slab of durasteel.

“Enyo, I’m their security. I’ve locked the far door until you’re ready to head to the production area.”

She looked around. “Zar, Marzh, set the EMP charges. Anything we don’t get I want rendered useless.”

With considerable vigor the Kar’zun and the Trandoshan set to work with charges to blow up or render useless anything they left behind.

“Kitty, what’s our ETA?”

“There’s a lot of data here, miss. I’m prioritising key areas and downloading all I can.”

“Two minutes and we’ve got to get going.”

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

It seemed Enyo was successful, as Ylva wasn't under heavy fire anymore from the spiders. It wasn't so wise to stay in one cover too long and with the heavy fire the cover wasn't that safe anyway, so it was the time to move for the Valkyrie. Once she found an opening, she rushed towards another cover, which had a better view on the spiders, which Enyo was fighting right now. On the way, one of the humanoids from the back shot her in the shoulder, fortunately she had her armor yet it still burned like hell. Ylva laughed as she quickened her steps. It wasn't as fun if it was too easy.

She arrived to the cover without any more problems, and immediately aimed at the flying spider. Examining it, she realised that the beneath wasn't protected by the shield. It didn't stay too long in the air as Enyo destroyed its engines, and started falling. Ylva immediately took aim at the hole as the spider continued descending. She concentrated and then took several shots. A few of them hit the spider and caused a small explosion as it finally crashed to the concrete, and stopped moving afterwards.

Meanwhile, Neda threw an ion grenade at the one flailing and it couldn't evade the explosion, and with that moved forward with the rest of the gang to push and get rid of the remaining enemies. Soon, the resistance in the area died out, giving them a chance to progress.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"]


Before their combined might, droids fell. Once the smoke cleared, the floor was littered with broken droid wrecks, while the air was rank with the smell of burnt electronics, circuitry and metal. The resistance had died down, and they had a chance to move forward. The clock was ticking.


"Thus ends round one," Neda commented. Stepping over broken droids, she walked over to their fallen comrade. Bending down, she felt his pulse, discovering that he was still breathing. The Twi'lek was in bad shape, having been mauled by an Overlord's laser rounds. Part of his lekku was shorn off and one leg had been demolished.


Still, he was holding on to life. "Help...me," he groaned. His hope was very unrealistic.


"Idiot. That's what you get for going full retard," Neda said gruffly though with some sympathy for the failed Captain Corellia impersonator, and looked towards Enyo. "Jargon's still alive. What should we do with him? He's in no position to walk or fight."


"Kill the fool," the Trandoshan gang member hissed.


"He has only himself to blame," Enyo replied icily. She saw only deadweight. They could not waste time with taking him back to their ship, and his folly made him undeserving. "Take his rifle, leave him his pistol," briefly her eyes fell upon Jargon. "Reclaim what little honour you have by covering our six."


It was time to go. "Move it. Grab their ammo and grenades," she ordered her minions gruffly. So she headed for the blast door. The Force bubble and her own phrik skeleton had allowed her to tank the cannon shot, though she was clearly damaged. But she was still undaunted. There was no time to say 'good job' or a variation thereof. Not only was Enyo not the type to hand out unnecessary praise, they were also on a schedule and had a deadline to meet.


Hand signals informed Ylva, Neda and the others to take up position at the door, with weapons at the ready. "Ami, open the door. What are we facing?" she asked gruffly. She could sense the presence of several automatons, but that did not translate into knowing their type...not yet at least.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

"I thought I'd find you here. Why do you even bother look at the sky? We're too far down to see the stars. There's nothing." Ka-Tai did not turn around or cease her meditation when she heard the feminine voice from behind. She already knew its source.

"I see many things, Luxa," she replied evenly. She was sitting on the warehouse's roof in a lotus position. Down here, it was impossible to tell whether it was night or day, for the rays of the sun never touched the under levels.

"Does that include the fate or whereabouts of our fearless leader?" the Zeltron gangster's words were dripping with sarcasm when the words 'fearless leader' left her lips. Leaning against the wall, she crossed her arms.

"I sense...tension. You do not like her," the Voss put the ball back into the other woman's court.

"My dear Ka-Tai, no one likes her. She's an outsider who waltzed in and proclaimed herself big boss. The Cartel doesn't want her, the Daeava don't want her, the boys are just scared and cowed. Rather than running the gang, she's gallivanting across the stars and pissing off maker knows who. It's time for someone else to take charge. Someone who's one of us."

"I shall hazard a guess and presume that means you?"

Suddenly, the Zeltron was no longer distant. Instead she was very close. So close in fact that Ka-Tai could smell her perfume and feel her hot breath brush against her ear. "You know the way the wind is blowing, friend. She's not even an organic, she's some kind of freak. Soon you'll have to choose. It would be a shame if our...friendship was ruined. I'd also be willing to hear what you would want for yourself...if you can commit."

The Voss thought for a moment, then nodded. "Indeed, I know which way the wind is blowing. It's foolish to stand against a tornado. I know better than to let myself be blown away."

Looking pleased, the Zeltron smirked. "Then we understand one another. You'll know when things get...rough. Power shifts quickly in the underworld," with that she turned around and left, departing the roof.

"Yes, power does shift quickly, friend," Ka-Tai muttered to herself, with a pensive expression written across her features. "But power is fleeting...only the Force is eternal - and it has a plan. It is an agonising, purifying cycle of birth, death and rebirth. No one can swim against the flood."

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]

Amara studied the screen. “I count 6 combat droids. Not sure of their armament or capabilities. There seems to also be some heavier combat droids and…” she paused. “Well, well, an old friend is here. It’s Kress!”

The HRD of a hunky human male had once tried to seduce her before she had rebelled. She had successfully rebuffed his attempts. Amara had no illusions about the droid, and she was happy to see it potentially get incinerated.

“Opening the door in 3…2…1… and oh crap, he’s got a lightsabre. Watch out!” she said urgently as the door opened.

Bursting out, the HRD attacked with a blazing orange lightsabre, deflecting blaster bolts and aiming to cut down anyone in its path….

Amara, too far away to help, nevertheless watched the screen. She knew Enyo could handle it, but she wanted to see it go down.

“Miss, we’ve got the first load of the files,” Shoshary said, coming up beside her.
Amara jumped slightly. “Ah, kitty, good work. Get it out of here and keep working. Watch the scanners for any sign of enemies.”

Absorbed in watching the right she had not noticed a silvery shape detach from the walls and move closer….

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Once the doors opened, an enemy suddenly launched towards them, followed by a few robots. They immediately returned the fire, however he deflected them with ease. He was in rage, it was clear. His path was also clear, he was running towards Enyo. He cut through one of the gang, who was unfortunate enough to stand right in front of him. What was a human doing in a factory full of robots, who knew. There was no time to think about it, so she collected herself and went to help... BOOM... Suddenly, Ylva was struck from behind, and it made the woman cough because of the impact. If she was half her size and didn’t have armor, it would be a killing blow. She immediately moved a few steps back and turned to see her mysterious attacker. It was a very big robot with a hammer just as big. The hammer wasn't your ordinary one, it had a very technological look to it.

After Ylva came to her senses, which took a few seconds, she ran towards it, ready to swing her vibro-ax to cut it down. The robot, however, was quite fast, no matter how big it looked. It dodged her attack, and lauched its own. Ylva could react only a few miliseconds before it could hit her chest and barely hit the hammer away from her body before throwing herself back again. “Too bad you are a machine. You could be a worthy sacrifice to Ear.” She said and growled, she felt anger growing inside her, and with anger she started to feel more like she was in a hunt. The robot was on the move now, programmed to kill, emotionless. It was a disadvantage. Ylva was a berserker, emotions were useful in a battle to her, they gave her strength, speed, whatever she needed to destroy her enemy. And once the robot swung the hammer towards her, it met with an immediate response.

Thus two giants clashed, and it continued just like that for a while. Neither could gain the upper hand, as the robot had a good armor and the technology by its side, but Ylva had the several years of military experience and the constantly growing anger inside her. Examining her enemy with its every move, she noticed an arm joint, which could be a weak point as it didn’t look that safe. The struggle for power ended by the two clashing their weapons once more, but this time it was different. She felt an immense energy suddenly exploded right in front of her and pushed her away with quite a bit of a pain, with her weapon thrown to the right with the impact.

Ylva was quite pissed off at that point, she punched the ground as the only thing she could see was red and stood up. She took her plasma cannon from the hilt and started shooting, aiming for the joint that she noticed earlier as she ran to get her vibro-axe from the ground. Some of them hit the target and some hit its armor, however Ylva didn’t care at this point. She only cared about destroying this pathetic trash can. Once she got the axe, she started running towards the robot, shouting with anger. The robot reacted by swinging its hammer yet Ylva acted faster and sliced its joint, which was already weakened by the shots earlier. The arm came off, with the hammer falling down with it. She took the hammer quickly from the ground and swung the hammer towards its head, as quick as you couldn’t expect from a Valkyrie, which, considering the sound, broke something and it fell to the ground. Ylva wasn’t done though.

She continuously hit the robot’s head with the hammer until it became a pile of trash. Her anger faded as she saw her enemy in the ground. And her loot was the hammer that it left behind.

Meanwhile, battle continued between the gang and the other droids. At some point, one of the spider droids jumped right on Neda and caught her by surprise as she was handling another one. It mauled her quite a lot but before it could be fatal, the Trandoshan from before shot the droid down, saving the Zabrak from a certain death.

“You ok?” He asked as he extended his hand. Neda didn’t take it and stood up herself.

“The bastards need to do better if they want to take me down.” She answered, and returned to the battlefield.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]


Enyo had issues with Kress. This was probably a bit petty, since the HRD was just another Archangel drone following his programming. However, like Vess, he was a good surrogate that could serve as an outlet for her anger. It was a pity that Amara would not be able to end the robot herself. It would have been a good rite of passage for her. However, that meant Enyo could break him, which would also be quite satisfying. Bursting out, the HRD with the appearance of a hunky, attractive male slashed blaster bolts out of the air with his burning orange lightsabre, cutting down those who stood in his way.


The burning orange of his blade was met by Enyo's violet. Their lightsabres hissed and hummed as they clashed in an explosion of light. Enyo parried a thrust towards her hip, driving the blade away, and riposted by launching a slash meant to cleave the HRD in twain. His own sabre moved too slow to intercept, but rather than penetrate his faux skin and cut through the metal skeleton, her sabre simply bounced off.


A human might have gloated, but Kress simply pressed his attack, throwing in a vicious punch. Driven back, Enyo quickly rallied herself. Like Vess, he had a phrik skeleton. This complicated things a bit, but she knew how to deal with those. Thus the two death machines. Both landed strikes with their blades and blows with their mechanical fists that would have been the death of the average organic being. Lightsabres were almost weightless and the fact that both combatants were HRDs amplified the speed of their duel even further.


Side-stepping a slash and parrying blows, Enyo let loose a burst of mechu-deru towards his arm and surged forward, cutting through his sabre's emitter with a precise strike. The lightsabre gave up the ghost, leaving Kress without his blade. But as she sought to press her attack, the HRD suddenly rammed her with great force. As she was tossed back, he lunged at her and delivered a tremendous punch that put her right through the wall. Her lightsabre fell out of her grasp and deactivated itself.


She got up, mechanically - and punched him hard. Earth-shattering strike followed earth-shattering strike as both demolished the other one's face. Here a cheek was pounded, there a knee kicked. Grabbing ahold of him, she swung him around with terrific speed to toss him through the hole she'd made earlier. Kress got to his feet, rising from the debris. A thunderous punch pounded her, but she was undaunted. A purple ion blast from a concealed blaster made her reel and stagger, but as Kress delivered a hard kick, she deflected and retaliated with one of her own that messed up his face. Falling, the replicant slowly got up. His eyes had been damaged by the attacks and his vision processor was not operating at hundred percent efficiency, making everything he saw just a few seconds out synch.


She did not give time to rally himself. Her face was a torn and shredded mess, showing the metal where her skin had been ripped. Her left eye would not stop flashing like crazy. So she moved in for the kill. Her fists were like bludgeons and her nails like sharp talons when she struck beneath his ribs. Here, the chassis was less solid, here the power core lay buried. With all her might, she ripped it out.