Friends in unusual places

[Valkren Calderon]

A dropship roared overhead of Sergeant Valkren Calderon as he dodged and weaved through a densely wooded area of an unmarked planet somewhere still in Republic jurisdiction. He moved quickly but cautiously, gripping his assault blaster in both hands to keep himself ready for any confrontation, avoiding a multitude of roots and low branches that tried to keep him away from the objective at hand.

The young commando tilted his head up, momentarily taking his eyes away from the trail he was running through to glance at the dropship from behind his illuminated visor. "I've got eyes on the bogey! Heading northeast! Looks like it's closing in on the relay!"

"Saber three's got eyes on." Watson's voice crackled through Saber team's communication system, Saber team's designated marksman.

"Think I karked up my ankle awhile back there! Leave me behind!" A third voice crackled through, this one coming from a much further ranged communications transmission.

"Piss off, Irish!" Michaels voice cracked through, the demolitions expert sounding rather winded, signaling that he was also chasing after this illusive dropship that was storming ahead of them. After Saber team's insertion into the area three weeks ago to do recon on a group of mercenaries, they had stayed much longer than expected after not coming into contact with these mercs at all. This unmarked dropship being the first sighting of anyone other than Republic personal in the area since their insertion, making it a top priority.

Valkren dodged another low-hanging branch as he came to a large opening suddenly, the dense wooded area turning into an open plain with a flooding of light. The grass was suddenly up to the commando's thighs, his visor and Head's Up Display taking a moment to adjust to the sudden brightness. He'd stop for a moment before dropping to his knees to cover himself in the tall grass, watching as the dropship soared over him once more and suddenly took an unexpected stop at least four-hundred meters away from him, letting a group of a dozen or so armored men fall a short distance from the dropships now-open loading ramp.

As the young commando observed the group of shooters gather their belongings they dropped with and begin moving, he set his rifle momentarily into the dirt below him. "Got eyes on what I'm seeing, Sabers?" He spoke up to the three other commandos that were on the ground with him. During the chase for the dropship he had ordered a ten meter spread, giving them enough separation to track the vessel's unpredictable movement.

O'Riley, Michaels, and Watson's voices all came through with positive comms chatter.

"Copy"

"I got about a dozen unidentified individual targets, all armed.."

"Sounds like our mark."

"Dropship's moving off, might come back around for a perimeter check. You got eyes on, Overwatch?" The soldier mentioned as he watched the shuttle leave the group of men it had just deployed moments ago.

*****​

Just outside of the unmarked planet's atmosphere, The 'Atlas' sat and drifted gently while in orbit. It's occupants short on manpower as it provided mission support for the special forces team down on the terrain below. On the bridge of this Spewer class assault ship, with a couple of other republic navy crewchiefs stood the remaining two members of the special forces unit that was on the planet; O'Connor and Young.

O'Connor had pulled the easy job of providing security for the lack of man power the republic had spared for this new assault ship, and while on the bridge he had enjoyed his time-off by messing with his team below, stating how bad the run was and referring about how sexual Michaels' breathing was. It was all playful banter, the usual 'Irish.' Young had taken a spot with the other intel officers onboard the bridge, keeping track of the team's progress and monitoring the surrounding area of Saber team. "Copy, Saber one..Overwatch has eyes on."

Young, switched camera lenses on his personal computer, using surveillance technology to get an 'eagles-eye' view on the battlefield to provide his team leader with key tactical support. "Dropship is marked, confirmed twelve targets..Looks like they're converging on something about a klick ahead of you.."

O'Connor had made his round about the bridge, holding his helmet down under his left arm, listening in on the transmission with his ear piece. He placed a hand on the back of Young's chair, leaning in to take a glance at the screen that flickered before the pair. His usual smirk and joking demeanor faded as he took in a new feature. "Looks like they're heading towards a strange power source, boss man."

*****​

​

Approximately a klick ahead of Saber team, Lieutenant Tyler Brooks, an enforcer in the same mercenary group that the Republic was here in response to and a known criminal in the outer rim, landed with a roll in the tall grass just below the roaring flames of their dropship. After regaining himself and the weapon and kit that landed with him, he'd take a glance up at the vessel that brought them here before his visor shut, hiding any facial features worth of note. The same happened for his eleven men, now regrouping on him.

"Power source came from up ahead, Sir." A voice crackled through the mercenary's communications system, Brooks picking himself up and guiding the fireteam toward the unknown energy signature that had thrown a wrench in their employers' plans. His team moved quickly and efficiently, seeming to be professional in nature, all possibly having prior-service in some sort of military force. The Lt ceased the movement of his team when he came upon an odd sight for sure, [member="Razel Kolt"]. The team spread out in an arc, assault blasters and scatter shots trained on the strange looking, what seemed to be a cyborg at first. It was difficult to tell with the grass confining their field of vision.

"What do we have here?"

 

[Razel Kolt]

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

Razel was simply on the planet to check his database's accurateness after how long he'd been in a coma, see if it knew all the flora and such. But it seemed he'd be in for a whole other party. His eye glowed red as he scanned. Multiple people, multiple weapons, no way out for a cyborg with three energy cells on his belt. With how much energy he consumed, that would not handle much action,

"I know you're there, I'm not hostile, lower your weapons!"

His regular voice strained to gain volume, his robotic echo being far more easily heard. His vision filled with a HUD, and he began sending info to Lo'lak, his slicer friend. Describing the situation via built-in comms, Razel gathered enough information for Lo'lak to zone in on the nearby technology. Razel asks him to try to get a listening in on the comm channel they were using, and Lo'lak types a few scripts to mask his location, puts a drive in containing computer-stealth software, and begins to slice, attempting to listen in on the soldier's conversations and patch it through to Razel. Lo'lak, who was in orbit of the planet on his small ship, was holding Razel's only way of space-travel, but maybe this could get him another.

 

[Valkren Calderon]

"Command, this is Dagger one, we're on the power source..Cyborg by the looks of it, orders?" Brooks spoke into his communication device as the rest of his eleven men trained their weapons on [member="Razel Kolt"] . After a brief period of silence and some com chatter, the enforcer turned his faceless helmet back toward the cyborg at hand, blinking behind his visor. Command had transferred their orders and what was to become of the hybrid, and the Lieutenant would have to follow through with those orders.

After relaxing his weapon to receive his orders, he'd bring it back up, training the barrel of his rifle on Kolt's head. "Put it down, gen-" Brooks was interrupted by a high-powered blaster bolt that came from the mercenary's team six, and produced a red mist as the round went directly through the Lieutenant's chest plate and right over Razel's head. Tyler's eyes went wide as he attempted to speak during this split second, yet the only thing that came from his lips was a clump of blood he coughed out onto the inside of his visor. The Lt stood there for a moment, before collapsing and disappearing into the grass that once grew to their hips.

The rest of his team went into an uproar before being met with more unknown fire, it seemed to be chaos on the mercenary's side of the field.

"Contact rear!"

"Brooks is karkin' dead, gods he-"

"Man down! Call for the bird!"

As each of the men attempted to recreate their perimeter in a new direction, they'd completely take their focus away from Razel, focusing more on where the enemy fire was coming from. Flashes of blue and yellow came from behind each blade of grass seemingly; precise rounds finding their mark on each of the remaining men until they had all been incapacitated. Leaving only Razel and a half-circle of black-armored bodies around him.

*****​

​

Minutes earlier, Sergeant Valkren Calderon crouch-walked his way slowly through the tall grass, his visor and HUD outlining every one of the twelve combatants as they approached Razel. "Overwatch, Saber One..Got another player in the game here, looks unarmed."

"Copy Saber one, wait for further instructions from Republic High-command before engaging."

"I don't know if that one is possible, Young.. Bad guy's got their weapons on him now." Watson alerted the special forces team as he moved through the brush and into position.

"Sir, we need to take action." Michaels joined in as he began to mark targets through his Heads-up-display.

"Well..It wouldn't be the first time we've gone over high-command's orders.." Intel-specialist Young's voice cut through the system with almost of a chuckle.

Sergeant Calderon began to issue orders, deciding to not wait for the brass to make a decision. There was a possible life at stake, and he wasn't about to lose it. "Watson, disruptor rifle. Hit the one in the middle..Michaels, O'Riley, follow up after him and engage the others. Young, O'Connor, need you two to keep track of that bird, don't want to be caught in the open once it gets back, copy Sabers?"

Valkren's orders were received and responded to with an almost simultaneous agreement consisting of 'solid copy,' 'Good copy,' and 'yes sir's.' Watson removed his kit from his back, unhooking and priming an enhanced disruptor rifle that he commonly used on operations. Along the side of it's barrel were several notches and x's symbolizing kills of infantry and vehicles. O'Riley and Michaels both dropped their kits to the ground so to have more range of movement during this brief engagement if needed. Valkren followed suit, moving slightly ahead of his three squad mates to lead the engagement.

"Let's get evil, Sabers."

After this statement, Watson squeezed back the trigger of his rifle, being careful not to jerk his weapon to much and miss his target. Ofcourse, Watson doesn't miss. The high-velocity bolt left the barrel of his weapon smoking as it traveled to the intended target, the designated marksman lowering his weapon slightly to watch for confirmation. Seconds later, the merc crumpled into the grass, prompting the rest of the team to arise from the tall blades of grass and begin to engage. Valkren stood, taking a few steps forward to pick his targets. He'd let out short bursts of bolts from his 'Valor' assault blaster, attempting to remain accurate with his slight movements. The rest followed suit, moving forward and engaging, with Watson joining soon after dropping the disruptor rifle to the ground and picking up his own blaster.

A few minutes into the engagement, the enemies started to become more aware of their position. Their sleek, black armor easily spotted as they began to change their positions between the blades of grass. Valkren continued to advance, red bolts now flying in his own team's direction, providing for a slight bit more of a challenge..But this is what his team was trained for. Within a matter of minutes, the firefight was over. Black armor smoldering at the base of the field as a result of bolts ripping through the plating.

Valkren took his left hand from his rifle, signaling to push his team forward and confirm the kills. The four man team moved toward the Cyborg, slowing their approach as they came into range of him. The team-leader kept his weapon readied, but kept the barrel facing at the ground beneath Razel as to not scare him away. "Friendly?" His voice rang out in an audible, vocoded tone to the man before him.

Soon after Valkren's question to the cyborg, his team moved to his position, crouching and facing outward in each direction as to secure the perimeter.

"All clear; twelve bodies accounted for, boss." Michaels spoke up, a sigh of relief audible through their team's communication system.

 

[Razel Kolt]

Razel watched the firefight. These men knew what they were doing, best to be careful. A man walked up to him, and Razel would've shuffled uneasily if not for the machine (literally) precision of his body. He nodded, and spoke slowly, getting the message across about one hundred times more than needed,

"Yes. Friendly"

Lo'lak cracked through, and began overhearing conversations. He prepared to immediately quit from the system and erase any traces of himself if suspicion was apparent. Meanwhile, Razel stood still. His blade rested in its sheath, on his un-moving back. His lower jaw was mechanical, meaning no grin or expression was visible. He was just still.

"And I presume they weren't?"

He makes a slight tilt of his head towards the... former threats. He'd have to play it safe, their blasters were strong and they were sharp.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren nodded before looking around at his team's handiwork around their new friend, before looking back to the cyborg. "No kidding..Sergeant Valkren Calderon, Republic special forces."

He'd state this before receiving a transmission from The Atlas, still in orbit of the planet they were all located on.

"Sir, bird's coming back around..It brought friends too. Looks like your little stunt didn't go unnoticed. I suggest finding shelter in the woods once more." Young's voice echoed through the team's communication system, making them all change their posture rather suddenly and diverting their aim from the treelines to the sky above.

"We'll have time for introductions later, Sabers. Help the cyborg up!" He stated, tapping both O'Riley and Michaels on their shoulder plates, before taking their place and covering the rear. Both of the men went to the cyborg and assisted him, attempting to move him to the nearby treeline in a hurried state.

"Damn, you're one fetthin' heavy guy, aren't ya pal?" Michaels stated before placing his own mechanical arm underneath Razel's helping him to his feet, with O'Riley on the other side.

"He's low on energy cells, boss." O'Riley stated, noting his lack of full movement.

"We'll have to hook him up later, we've got incoming!" Watson stated before firing several rounds in the air, toward a pair of incoming dropships that were now seemingly outfitted with a terrifying array of weaponry. The first bird soared overhead, dropping a round into the grass maybe two-hundred meters away from them. It tossed grass and dirt about toward the team of Republic soldiers and the cyborg.

"Move! Move! Move!" The Sergeant pushed at his team as both Valkren and Watson turned to move toward the treeline ahead of them, keeping behind the cyborg and his other teammates to keep the enemy bird's fire away from the slower group.

This was bad, the mercenaries now had knowledge of their involvement in the area. How much more could they accomplish before the mercenaries got cold feet and bugged out all together? Luckily, that's why the Atlas was in orbit, waiting and scanning for any ships to leave the system. If one was to leave, even if their ship couldn't reach them in time, they'd be marked for authorities and for the Republic fleet.

The second bird soared by, missing it's mark by mere meters. The round exploding harshly and throwing debris all over the group, constricting their field of vision and their path to the trees. This round threw Watson off of his feet, forcing Valkren to stop and help him back up.

[member="Razel Kolt"]

 

[Razel Kolt]

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

Razel used the remaining power in his body to keep up. It'd suffice a bit longer, but nothing fancy was to be done. Razel managed to hold strong during the crash of debris. He pressed a finger to each energy cell he had left, and their power was seen entering his systems. He stood taller, and helped any others who had fallen to get up,

"I can manage for a while like this, but we have to move!"

He flicked his scanner on, allowing him to see the path to where they need to go. He pointed the way he felt fastest, and looked around. If this kept up, he'd be out of power sooner than he would've liked...