Feuer und Stahl

[Amara Zarides]

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

Sadly, Amara had not been able to witness the downfall of the hammer droid or Kress. She had more pressing things like staying alive to consider.
A flicker of movement, a screaming of premonition made her fall backwards in a most undignified way. A blazing orange blade arced past her head and tore into the control panel.

Amara jumped to her feet and faced…a silvery statue holding a lightsabre. Her team had turned to look at the showdown.
“Zar, get them to the pods and get ready to go, I’ll handle this.”
The Kar’zun didn’t argue, protecting the data was important and Amara could look after herself.

Amara’s purple blade flared into life, and came forward to block the silver droid as it advanced. Swiftly she had to switch to a more defensive stance, settling on Soresu, especially in the narrow confines of the server room.

Rapidly being hemmed into a corner, Amara disengaged with a dart to the left, and now the two were fighting down the row of servers and processors. With each deflection of their blades one of the processors would get cut and fountain sparks.

Finally though, the silver droid extended too much, and Amara struck off its head.

As she turned to leave though she heard a gurgling and turned to find the silver statue reforming.

“Well…that sucks,” she said, readying her guard.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

While Enyo was getting rid of the human with the lightsaber, Ylva was making use of the hammer she looted from the huge robot.

With her rage slowly disappearing since she got her satisfaction destroying her enemy, she examined the battlefield for remaining enemies and noticed a humanoid robot which was shooting at the 2 gang members. Their cover was almost destroyed, yet they couldn't move because of the suppressive fire. Luckily, its attention wasn't on Ylva, so she moved closer and then swung her hammer. By the time it realised Ylva's presence, the hammer touched it's body with quite a speed and let out the explosive energy charged inside, throwing the droid away. The two she just saved finished the job by shooting it continuously.

"Thanks." One of them said, scratching his head. Yet Ylva was not amused.

"Next time, I will not save you. You let your enemy pin you down." After she said her piece, she moved away from them to help get rid of the last of the droids. Joining Neda and the lizard guy from before, they pushed once more and finally got rid of all of them.

With the resistance dead, Ylva searched for Enyo, and moved towards her once she saw her. It seemed she also was victorious against her enemy, which of course wasn't surprising at all. As she moved closer though, she noticed some kind of device in her hand, and her enemy had a giant hole in his chest. He also didn't look like a human anymore. Still alien to this kind of technology, Ylva was a bit confused. However, what shocked her the most was, Enyo's face also looked like that, metal and organic combined, with her left eye flashing just like the robots they were facing.

Just what the hell happened since they last contacted each other?

"Vad fan? [What the hell?]" Ylva said out of pure shock, then collected herself, knowing that there was still much to do. "Gotta explain this to me, Enyo. Later." Her words contained a bit anger, yet it was a natural thing for her as she didn't like being confused.

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

 

[Enyo Typhos]

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


Kress had been destroyed, but Enyo was not done with him yet. Having torn through his power core, she wrapped both hands around his throat and pulled. There was a loud crunch, and she pulled his head off. She would hold on to this macabre trophy.


However, then Ylva came. The evident shock in the Valkyri's tone caught her off-balance. "Later," she grunted. There was more than a little anger in her tone. A touch of insecurity? Perhaps. Either way, they still had work to do. Kress' head vanished into her backpack.


The path to the production plant was now free. Said area was comprised of multiple levels. In one droids were being manufactured like in a factory or were in various stages of creation but still inert, in another models of prototype weapons were being stored, and finally there was a control room.


"Grab any gear you can carry and deploy explosive charges. I shall access the network," Enyo ordered coldly, marching towards the central computer. She had been damaged by the fight and thus walked less fast or fluidly than before, but still with purpose. Her left eye would not stop flashing, which caused her vision to be a bit disorted. "Amara, what is your status?" she demanded as she began to access the computer.

 

[Amara Zarides]

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

“A little busy here, Enny,” Amara said. She attacked the silver statue again, but it had reformed and blocked her.
Time was running short, and so she pressed her attack, this time unleashing the Force to blast the droid back into the wall. She ran it through triumphantly, cutting it in half…but it didn’t stop!
Instead she had to leap back losing her lightsabre as she did so that she could avoid its swipes. Even now it reformed into a quicksilver puddle.

Desperately, she looked around and got an idea. A large power cable in the wall had been revealed by the fight, and before the droid was ready she called her lightsabre back to her, the active blade shearing through the supports. Fortunately, lightsabres could handle the electrical charge, though the blade was flickering badly when she got it back.
Finally, a powerful telekinetic thrust just before it could attack again pushed it into the sparking cable.

The droid seemed to melt, like it was wax under a blowtorch as the power arced through it. Amara ran, slamming the vault door shut as she did.

“We’ve got to get going,” Amara said. “Charges placed.”

As if to add to the urgency, Faelar commed from the ship. “Uhh, boss, I’m getting massive gravity signatures approach. We’re going to have company real soon!”

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Ylva noticed the anger in Enyo's tone about the subject, and was now angrier since she assumed it was these people's fault and she went too easy on them, however she let go for now with a growl and returned to looting the corpses. There wasn't that much left, the ground was filled with droid parts, and a few of their own, oil mixed with blood. Ylva looted the remaining ion grenades from one of the corpses. Call it a gut feeling or experience in a battlefield, they were going to need these very soon. She also grabbed some ammo and distributed to the others. As expected, there were fewer of them now, but strong survived.

Now, the only area left unlooted was right in front of them, protected by this huge door. Almost too huge, considering the ones they faced weren't that big. "Alright, let's get this..." Suddenly, an explosion was heard and the huge door flew right towards them. Ylva threw herself to a cover immediately and looked up to see their mysterious attacker. A wide grin formed on her face with the sight of this huge robot, it was like the spider robots they have faced, but Midvinter version of it. It also had a shield which covered its body entirely.

"Heh. Alright." She said, excitedly. "Now this is a challenge."

It was the first to attack with a huge laser beam from one of the weapons near its head. The beam hit the cover one of their unfortunate NPC gang members was staying and immediately roasted the poor girl alive.

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

 

[Enyo Typhos]

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


"Data upload at eighty-five point three percent," then boom. Precognition kicked in and Enyo bolted. Her feet carried her to up the wall and propelled her away in a massive leap when the huge laser cannon fired its epic beam of desolation. The beam turned the computer console to ash and blew a hole into the wall she had just kicked herself off.


Their mechanical behemoth's energy shield shimmered brightly as it approached, absorbing the small arms fire from the gang members. "Cease fire, you're not even scrapping the paint," Neda barked. "Feth this chit. Plan, boss? Shoulda brought a missile launcher."


Enyo relished a good fight...but she also liked coming out on top and the clock was ticking. While the beam cannon recharged, the rotary blasters fired. Blaster bolts splashed against her burning violet lightsabre as she sought cover. They could not take the behemoth head-on, especially not with such little time.


The cyborg looked around - and found what she needed. This was a production plant and thus it possessed all the tools a factory would have. Her lips curled into a cold smile. "Ylva, Neda, lure that thing to the construction line. Once it's in range, I'm gonna drop a vat of molten metal on it," she barked.


"We're bait. Got it. Some more cannon fodder would be nice," Neda could not resist snarking.


"Override protocols initiated. Command Unit: Enyo Typhos." And suddenly inert war droids began to awaken and step out of their prods. To be precise, it was every single droid that had been slumbering until now. "Get your arse in gear or I'll kill you myself."

 

[Amara Zarides]

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

Amara chivvied the group into the pods and had them blast off to join the Quasar. She had them bring down pods to bring Enyo and Ylva’s team back.

But nothing.

The seconds ticked by and the sound of explosions and firing came from down the passage.

Amara looked around, and knowing it was foolish to go, she did anyway. Pulling out her lightsabre she ran down the hall, over the fallen Kress, through the tunnel and into the factory.

She saw why her sister had been delayed. A giant spider bot was fighting them. She could see some allied droids and Neda leading the monstrous thing off. Part of a plan doubtless.

She looked around and saw that there were controls for a giant magnetic clamp near the construction line. If she used that she could hold the beast in place whilst Enyo did whatever it was she was planning on.

“Enny, Ylva, I’m ready with the magnet. Give me the word when I can lock it in place.”

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Enyo's sister has joined them, meanwhile Enyo explained the plan. Keep the big one occupied meanwhile you bait it towards the construction area, that sounded like suicide, but of course it doubled the fun. She checked her equipment once more before she proceeded.

"Stop complaining." She answered to Neda coldly. "If you want to get a big prey, you need to lure it to a trap." Neda let out a groan. She was fine with the idea of just the two doing the job, but of course, more cannon fodder would be nice. With Enyo's help, they got that too.

Neda and the droids moved first, attacking the droid and getting its attention.

"We'll contact you when it's in position." Ylva said and then moved as well towards the construction area, unloading ion bolts towards the droid. It reflected from its shield, yet managed to get its attention away from their original position. She jumped to a cover before it could melt her with its laser beam. The team continued to attack it with all their might, however the droid had enough range to return the attack.

The covers kept them from dying for now, however they wouldn't last long if the group kept getting shot constantly.

"The bastard won't budge." Neda shouted.

"I can see that. Keep shooting." Ylva answered, and then looked around the area to check if there was something to fix the problem.

Call it luck, there was a big, heavy looking container standing nearby the doorway, chained to the ceiling. Ylva reacted to that by immediately shooting the chains to get it down and close the doorway. Best case scenario, people who designed this thought about a possible raid and made the containers resistant to laser beams and whatever this droid had in store. Worst case scenario, it was at least a good cover. The container fell down near the doorway as intended, and suddenly the suppressing fire they were under vanished.

Close one.

"Go keep it busy." She ordered to a few droids, and they moved immediately to position where they could hit it with a few shots behind the container, but the droid wouldn't be able to get them.

"Stay sharp. It's going to barge in any second." She commented.

"What?" Neda retorted. "It's your plan?"

"Do you have a better one? Let me hear it."

Neda shook her head sarcastically, and kept watching the doorway.

Fortunately, the plan worked and the droid started rushing towards the barricade, and pushed it away with quite a speed, destroying the few droids behind the container. It was in position.

"Suppressing fire!" Ylva shouted to the survivors of the Suicide Squad, meanwhile her hand went for her comm. They were under heavy fire since now the droid had nothing between it and the group.

"It's in. Go for it."

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

 

[Enyo Typhos]

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


"Cirlce it. Go for the limbs. Full auto." Years of field experience and military experience made Neda go along with this crazy-arse plan, rather than turn tail and run. Her experience had been forged on the blood-soaked battlefields of the Republic-Sith War; a conflict that had by now been relegated to the history books.


It had taught her a number of things. Such as that Force-users were nuts and noble ideals were for little kiddies. So she maintained her discipline and squeezed the trigger of her bolter, pumping out explosive bolts towards its legs. It did not do much against the giant spider, but pissed it off.


Its shields seemed to have weakened. Boss, now would be a good time, she thought grumpily. "Pull back, boys. Scatter. Blondie, restrain the damn thing," she grunted as the machine charged them, lashing out with its cutting lasers and clawed legs. Here and there, droids were mowed down. If Blondie took a look at the surviving ones, she would find another one of the silver droids, deftly evading the behemoth's laser blasts or simply reforming, whilst blocking blaster bolts with a blazing lightsabre.


That was not something Neda concerned herself with. Dimly, she heard the Boss yell an order, then the giant robot was restrained by a magnet. Then there was pain. Everything that happened from that moment onward was a blur to her. She was on the ground and her arm was gone. This was not the only place that hurt though. Her nerves felt like they were on fire.


The giant spider raised itself to its full height, powering up its massive beam cannon. Then boiling heat swallowed it wholesale as the vat of molten lava dropped down upon it. She had little time to enjoy the light show of the magnificient explosion, for her face burnt. A lance of white-hot pain shot through her. It was like hot shards digging into her skull. The last thing she saw before everything went dark for her was the shape of the metal queen standing above her.

 

[Amara Zarides]

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

Giant magnets were a stereotypical villain tool, so impractical. And yet, in this case it was actually effective!
When the order was given, the magnetic clamp descended and latched onto the spider tightly. It thrashed, laying waste to the factory around itself, and incidentally seriously injuring Neda, but it could not escape.

And then, Enyo unleashed the molten metal on it. At first the shield held, but then it broke and the river of molten steel poured over it, burning the droid, melting its circuits, weighing it down. By the time Amara released the clamp the droid had been crushed and burned to the ground.

No sooner had this been done but the warning sirens sounded. “Boss, we’ve got to go now! We’ve got incoming AA ships. We got maybe 5 minutes before they’re in range and able to fire! Shosh and the tech are aboard, it’s just you guys now,” Faelar commed them.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

The plan worked, now it was the time to fall back.

With the rest of the Suicide Squad, she started running as the giant spider robot made its last attempt to get rid of them. All around her was explosions, and droid parts flying. One misstep and she would probably be dead.

Order was given and the magnetic clamps caught the giant. Ylva barely managed to get to the safety, accompanied by only a few droids that survived, before Enyo unleashed the fire upon the giant robot and its screeches filled the entire area as it burned and crashed to the ground. Ylva savored the moment with a smile, it was glorious.

However, they faced another problem now. The power was back on, and so followed the sirens. Ylva was feeling pretty confident after defeating the giant one and her bloodthirst wasn't satisfied yet, but she knew when to escape, and this was their reminder.

"Heh, too bad the giant one completely burned down. Its shield could be useful. Oh well, we have 5 minutes. Let's get what we need and get out."

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

 

[Enyo Typhos]

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


"We have its blueprints," Enyo grunted. The giant spider was dead, but the clock was ticking. Her eyes fell upon the mutilated, badly injured body of Neda. Making a snap decision, she picked up her unconscious form.


The Zabrak's questioning attitude had annoyed her, but she'd been useful in the fight. This was something she could salvage. "You're coming with us," she glanced towards the silver statue holding a lightsabre.


"By your command," it spoke mechanically. For no apparent reason beyond meta ones, it looked up towards Amara. For a moment, its crimson eyes glowed in a vaguely creepy manner. Then the moment was over and everything was all business again.


Grabbing whatever equipment they could get their paws on, the somewhat reduced gang and the surviving droids quickly made their way out of the production plant. The Twi'lek gang member who'd been mutilated earlier due to his insistence on playing Captain Corellia was slumped against the wall. Enyo paid him no mind.


Up the ramp of the Quasar they went. "Calling it close, boss. AA fighters are...damn, what happened to her?" Shoshary exclaimed when she saw the badly burnt body of Neda, an expression of shock written across her features.


"Put her in a medical capsule," Enyo ordered coldly instead of answering her question, passing the body over. Take off, she transmitted electronically to the bridge. The ramp was pulled and the Quasar lurched as their Corellian pilot kicked it into gear and it took off into the void.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]
Amara found herself facing another of the silver robots. It was creepy, and she was tempted to ‘accidentally’ toss it into a molten metal smelter. Still, there was no time for messing around.

They barely made it back to the ship and took off, the Quasar’s speed and agility really helping it as it dodged past the incoming drone fighters and jumped to hyperspace.

Behind them the station detonated into sparkling fragments….