Mission Frost and Fire

[Mr. Usher]

FRONT LOBBY
Tags: Ma'lur'kek'thwin , Stevru Klamat ​

---

⠀It was at this moment that the prowler exploded from the front of the building. When flamethrowers were created, at their very inception in whatever primitive culture they first arose, this thing was precisely what they had been created for. And it was with such conviction that the faux Imperial pulled the trigger on the flamethrower their blaster was haphazardly lashed to, hosing the prowler down with a searing stream of sticky napalm as it swerved and broke away from them.

Flames. The prowlers were not fast enough to escape, the malleable flesh transforming was flammable, like rendered fat, flinging flaming splashes of biomass as the prowlers at the gates writhed and rolled, trying to put out the flames, loosing horrific sounds from their malformed, incomplete vocal chords. The burning prowler was soon helpless to do anything but sizzle and burn, observing the mercenaries storming past in it's final moments.

The crawlers would be a pleasant surprise for them.

---

WEST FLANK
Tags: Xoff Chantin , Jakharl
​

He charged the laser just to just under the threshold of being overloaded and fired into the base of the creature with a shot strong enough to slag armor at this range.

With the final blast, the calcified remains shattered, flying apart in shards of dead bone, freeing the Gank from the attempted deathtrap.

Other than any potential collateral damage from the laser, the threat was neutralized, the last of the Hulk's biomass rendered to mindless, dead. From the crest of the hill, the hole in the side of the complex was visible, as was the shuttle Xoff had dropped off in, and a distant view of the smoke and mercenaries at the front pavilion.

Jakharl had slain the hulk.

---

EASTERN FLANK
Tags: XaraXunia
​

Something strange happened when the Warrior husk's flesh was consumed. Mr. Usher's mind brushed against a vast myriad consciousness - a network of connected individual minds.

They were unlike him in that every mind consumed was assimilated so thoroughly it was him, his consciousness, his ego. He was only a he for simplicity of labelling. This hive mind was a true hive mind it seemed, signals from many different consciousnesses feeding into one another and to their overlord.

From the insectoid perspective, the consciousness that had just connected was vast and fluid, malleable, and concealing something within.

It was the minds and egos of every body consumed, recreated into a single entity, meshed with something dark within - a single body's mind. The origin, a ravenous and cruel spirit of the first form of Mr. Usher. The man who had been an experiment. The willing host of a Nether Devil, an enemy of the galaxy and all things within.

Mr. Usher's presence among the hive felt constricting, but communication was possible.

"The woman you look for, Liin "Tera" Terallo , she's gone. A body remains in the building, made by yours truly, but she herself is safely offworld,"

Mr. Usher tried to hide the knowledge of her laboratories on New Cov from Xaraxunia, but was unfamiliar with hiding knowledge telepathically.

She one person who met him with curiosity instead of hostility, and for all the brains and biomass he consumed he couldn't prevent himself from betraying her location.

The headless warrior husk dropped to its knees the remaining husks barely putting up resistance. Mr. Usher was abandoning the biomass here, he had bought as much time as he could.

As a final act of spite, the Hive mind of Mr. Usher gave each of the remaining husks and drones enough grey matter to act as rabid, base creatures, hostile to all - including themselves.

Mygeeto was lost, but the CorpSec within the building had time to prepare. Mr. Usher had done as he said he would.

The warrior husk became a mindless, hostile shell.

---

~Exit Thread~
​

 

[Jakharl]

As the calcified creature turned to ash around him, Jakharl took a minute to let his implants cool while his biometric systems cycled through his body. No structural damage, minor surface damage to the armor plating, wrist laser was spent for the day, but if that was the worst thing that happened to the Gank on this mission he'd be okay with that.

...no actually he was going to peel someone like a jogan for having to put up with that wriggling thing and blow one of his favorite weapons early. Hopefully he'd find someone to flay inside, but once his turned his enhanced senses to the laboratory his estimation dropped sharply. Ground forces pouring in from both sides, fires in the upper levels, Hell by this point the Gank seemed to be the only member of the ground team who hadn't made it inside.

"There better be something for me to kill in there I swear..." He grumbled before kicking on his comlink implant, patching through to Xoff Chantin inside. "You find anything good yet? Or did something else eat you?"

Ma'lur'kek'thwin Darth Moskvin Detritus Ren

 

[Xoff Chantin]

Outfit: Something Nice
Weapons: Holdout Blaster | Vibroknife

"You find anything good yet? Or did something else eat you?"

"BUGS"
Was the reply whispered in a harsh voice over the communicator. The meat-Centipedes were going berserk amongst themselves and larger bugs from the other mercenary group, hive... thing? At least the Imperials were approaching, the sound of bootsteps and blaster fire approaching, putting down the wild monstrosities.

"Imperials near, data received, charges planted," Xoff continued, looking out from his hiding place to see if it was safe to retreat.

Finally Xoff's skin stopped crawling so much that he noticed that Ma'lur'kek'thwin had dropped him off in the security room. Right, slicing things.

Xoff began to slice into the terminal, preparing to shut off the turrets... But then remembered the writhing creatures that zipped down the halls and back, through the vents.

Xoff struggled to find some way to alter the turret's targeting protocols, but a total reversal was beyond his skills. Xoff shut down the emergency security protocols, those that ran on emergency power, unlocking all doors in the complex, free for mercenaries and troopers to navigate through... And those crawling things.

Xoff visibly shuddered.

Ma'lur'kek'thwin | Jakharl | open​

 

[Ma'lur'kek'thwin]

LOCATION⠀|	Security Control Room, N&Z EnSol Headquarters
OBJECTIVE⠀|	Hold the fort, so to speak

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Oh good, the security control room had indeed been abandoned at some point. Whether it was before or after the raid began was anyone's guess, but Ma'lur appreciated the absence of further conflict all the same. She waited for the Zeltron to get ahold of himself, surprised when- despite his nerves seeming quite frayed- he took over the consoles only a moment after being set down on his own two feet. Stronger than he looks, she thought, giving his back an approving nod.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Hearing the subtle crackle of Xoff's comms it reminded Ma'lur to give her own some consideration before choosing what to do next. "Prodo, Krayt here. Security room secured. The Hutt's Rose is working on-" Deep mechanical whumps interrupted her speech, the distant sounds of security doors coming undone at the Zeltron's behest. "-scratch that- has opened most doors to the complex. Watch for aberrant bug... Things. They seem to be the source of the smell." Pausing again to approach behind Xoff, Ma'lur looked over the presented screens to see which were still functional and get a lay of the conflict at hand.

Finally, she added, "Where do you need me?"

Xoff Chantin , Stevru Klamat

|⠀TAGS

 

[Stevru Klamat]

⠀

Location⠀ Lobby, N&Z Ensol Headquarters
Objective⠀ Hold the Door, So to Speak
Tags⠀ Ma'lur'kek'thwin Xoff Chantin Jakharl Whottoomuzz Chantin

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀There was a horrible scuttling sound in the vents. Electrochemical returns informed him of realities he'd have preferred remain conjecture. There was a horrid screaming noise and something rocketed out of a grate, encircled a mercenary, and yanked, attempting to force the Trandoshan's nearly two meter frame into a space less than a quarter of that. There were crunching noises that very nearly made the commando cringe. But he didn't, for his nerves were forged from beskar and he had a job to do.

"Prodo, Krayt here. Security room secured. The Hutt's Rose is working on-"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀He watched the doors open at the same time she did.

"-scratch that- has opened most doors to the complex. Watch for aberrant bug... Things. They seem to be the source of the smell."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Chaos reigned. As the doors slid open, mercenary met husk in sudden and redoubled violence, as though oxygen had been suddenly unleashed on a dying flame. Bodies, whole and in chunks, flew through the air, blaster fire lanced this way and that, and in the press he feared they might lose just as many to the enemy as friendly fire. Something in the shape of a man threw itself at him, and he slammed his helmeted head so hard into it's own that he could feel it's skull cave around his own.

""KEEPUNA! KEEPUNA LA!"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀He shouted over the din of battle, grasping a mercenary by the shoulder and pointing up at the vents. As fire began to stitch the metal, he joined it with his own. A muffled scream informed him that something was certainly being done to the thing.

"Where do you need me?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Where did he need her?

{"I need you out. At best speed. The Zeltron too. The mission is done. We've secured an exit but we can't hold it for long."}

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀There was a distant detonation as something that ought not be on fire caught and exploded. The entire structure groaned. A bit of the ceiling fell in, cratered by a flaming hunk of something from above. It was at present impossible to tell which would crumble first. Their foothold in the building... or the building itself.

 

[Ova Ziss]

[ Wrong thread ]

 

[XaraXunia]

Objective: Escape with the Executive Hostages
Tags: Mr. Usher | All

​

"The woman you look for, @Liin Terallo , she's gone. A body remains in the building, made by yours truly, but she herself is safely offworld"

"NO! No! LIAR!!!", Xaraxunia argued with the voice in his head. But, the moving mass of sludge inside told him that the information was true. It had to be true. The bounty he had come for, the one that would pay the most, had escaped a long time ago. It was the worst (holo-)news that Xaraxunia had received all year. He came all this way, all the way from Koboth and his bug friends from Kashyyyk, just to steal away a few corporate mooks.

Xaraxunia should never have eaten that sludge.

"Are you okay, Xar?" One of the commanders was massively concerned about Xaraxunia. He seemed to be talking himself.

"GRRR! Bounty isn't here!" Xaraxunia quickly, and harshly, swiped his halberd across a lab counter like a sickle. He sent flasks, lab equipment, and beakers hurling towards the ground. The three Executive hostages wailed again. "Take what you can, the weaponzz and interestzzz, and letzzzz get out of thizzz placzze."

One of the Elites gave the stun-cuffed Executives a shove. The bio-husk creature, who he now knew was named Mr. Usher, would be following him around on all of his conquests for a very...very long time. The substance was inside of Xar now: changing him in ways that he could scarcely imagine.

Xaraxunia could feel a massive explosion rock the ceiling. It was the explosives set by the Hutt Cartel mercenaries.

That'd be their way out.

The Space Slug ships roared inhumanly as they gathered above the ceiling. They opened up flaps around their throats, which seemed to be some sort of gills or secondary breathing biology. They were dangling ropes down, so that the mercenaries and their friends could escape the remaining bio-husks.

The insects would help pull anyone who needed it to safety, using the rooms, and they would allow them into the Space Slugs. For the others, they would provide covering laser fire, so that their own ships could land and take them home.

Xaraxunia headed for the front of the building, which was now abandoned and partially caved-in, flames licking the entire facility. One of the Space Slugs landed closer to the space port, so that Xaraxunia could load the Executives inside. Xaraxunia and his elites would help the three Executives enter inside of the Space Slugs from the rear hatch. Then, they would begin to leave the planet.

The moment they were out of the atmosphere, the insectoid command would jump into hyperspace - taking their goodies, trinkets, and Hutt Cartel hostages with them to Nar Shaddaa.

[ EXIT THREAD ]

 

[Ma'lur'kek'thwin]

LOCATION⠀|	Near Exfil
OBJECTIVE⠀|	Leave

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Heard."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Ma'lur could hear the facility all but coming down around them. Whatever those scuttling horrors had been were likely the main reason for it, but perhaps she attributed too much to their meddling. It didn't matter. She scanned the available screens in the security room one more time to get a fresh lay of the complex, then cleared her throat towards Xoff. "I'm headed to the ships. If you need an escort out, this is your chance."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Sweeping the barricade aside with strength that belied the true weight of the frame, Ma'lur cracked the door and peered down the corridor, left then right. Suppression foam caked the halls in segments, split by the doors that had been shut to prevent a fire that wasn't happening. Now, retracted just as swift by the Hutt's Rose, the way lay clear. Now or never. The Ssi-ruu struck out at a jog, heading back the way she'd come with Xoff, scenting tongues flickering rapidly. At the first whiff of dank earth or putrid fruit she'd pivot and head the other way, but the smell never came.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Through luck, good fortune, or some uncharacteristically good clean-up on the part of the Dark Empire, the path that had been rife with the squirming horrors now lay clear before her. It didn't take long for Ma'lur to re-emerge through a hole in the exterior wall somewhere within eye-sight of the entrance, and once she'd set her senses on Prodo, the jog shifted into a sprint. Part of her felt bad as she approached him, that she'd left him behind. Circumstances had pressed her into the heart of the facility, but leaving him still made her scales itch.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"Good to see you," she said by way of greeting, turning her eyes to wherever their ride out happened to be. "Wanna get out of here before they try recruiting us?" Reptilian lips peeled back in a smirk she did not feel.

Stevru Klamat , Xoff Chantin

|⠀TAGS

 

[Stevru Klamat]

⠀

Location⠀ Near Exfil
Objective⠀ Leave
Tags⠀ Ma'lur'kek'thwin

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀The scuttling horrors were unpleasant, but the close air support that raked the structure, and the raging inferno set by some actor unknown to him, had certainly done the majority of the structural damage. Which wasn't to say he WASN'T inclined to blame the fleshy things which should not be. Having put one to the torch did little to expunge the idea that he could be PART of one of those things had the battle gone differently from his mind.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀It was time to go. That much was evident to him and his singular trusted comrade in arms, but not necessarily to the mercenaries around him. He could leave them... but. They'd stood shoulder to shoulder beside him in battle. Regardless of whether it was for credits, they'd exhibited true bravery, which could not go ignored. Gaining a grasp on a nearby Hutt merc, a Rodian who hadn't shot first but seemed determined to shoot second, third, and fourth, he began dragging him backwards towards the entrance, lifting his voice to cajole and berate his fellow mercenaries into something resembling an ordered retreat.

""JEE JEE BATA OVV! MIKIYUNA PUSHEE!""


⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Half carrying, half dragging his chosen burden, the stormtrooper helmet he wore rose and fell in a companionable nod as Ma'lur approached. Close air swooped overhead, and blaster fire was still being exchanged, but their battle was done.

"The feeling is mutual."

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Whatever guilt she might feel for 'abandoning' him was utterly lost on the commando. That was simply how battles went. People became separated. With Ma'lur and a retinue of rowdy mercenaries in tow, he beat a hasty retreat to the freighters they'd come in on. Anything more than what they'd done would be heroism. And the Dark Empire couldn't buy that from him.

EXIT.