Helping Hand

[Toshiro Kurojii]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BADrUjyu1Q8[/media]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdZc5RfKqyA[/media]


BANG! BOOSH!

These were the sounds emitting from the nearby artillery at Primium Outpost, a galactic alliance military outpost. In the distance you could hear other bombardments and see the flashes of the explosions. Luckily Primium Outpost wasn't a target yet. "Argh! So bloody loud! Where is this guy anyway!" Toshiro shouted to an alliance envoy, who was just a soldier, probably a private or something. "Not too far now Sir!". After passing a mortar team firing at distant targets and their commander shouting orders, Toshiro finally reached a command tent.

"The hunter Sir!" The private said, opening the tent for Toshiro to enter and saluting the outpost commander. The commander, a very tall man with a gas mask on turned his head from a very large holographic table showing the battlefield. "Oh. Finally, we were expecting you a couple hours ago. Dismissed Private, get back to the front." The commander said, his voice slightly modulated, not muffled like a normal mask. The mouthpiece was lighting up every time the commander spoke. The envoy unshouldered his blaster rifle and ran out the tent

"Well a combination of your anti air and the First Orders anti air made it a bit hard to find a landing spot." Toshiro said, rather bluntly looking at the battlefield map.

"Sorry about that, our systems flagged your ship. It says you are wanted for assault?"

"Chit, they tracked me after all....." Toshiro muttered under his breath. The commander turned back to the holographic map table and Toshiro walked to it.

"Don't worry, we need your help, Im not going to detain unless you refuse to do this job." He said, spinning the holographic map with his hand on the console. "Look at this.... This was supposed to be observation post. Not an battalion HQ. It started with a First Order scout team, then they kept pouring in, and pouring in and pouring in. But don't worry you won't be fighting any, we've got a pest problem."

"What kind of pest problem?" Toshiro said, sipping a flask of Corellian rum.

 

[Michael Ryder]

The sound of the bombardment was almost deafening, even through my helmet. I had been asked, no, I was ordered​ by an Alliance representative to report to Primium Outpost to receive an assignment by the Outpost commander. I'm not usually one to go seeking trouble but life would be really bloody boring without it. As I came in to land I realised that Anti-Air coverage over the outpost was unusually heavy. So I had to land somewhere outside the outpost itself. Once I was in the outpost itself I needed to report to the command tent.

​"This isn't looking good. Sam, what're the odds of us getting sent on another suicide mission?" ​"I would intonate that the odds are approximately 3/1, or 33.33%." ​"That sounds pretty good, I can take those odds. Anyways send the location of the command tent to my Omni-Tool, I don't have time to waste here."

​The tent was surprisingly close, and as I entered the tent I saw someone else there as well "​Maybe I'll have backup"​ I thought to myself. When I saw the commander I had to stifle a bit of laughter. "​Oh look, its gigantor" ​I thought. However I was quickly cut off by Sam who reprimanded me saying ​"Ryder, considering our current predicament I would not recommend insulting an Alliance Commander unless you wish for our stay here to be quite brief" ​He was right obviously. A.I. always are.

As I got to the centre of the tent I coughed obnoxiously loud and said ​"You called?"

​[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

"Couple weeks ago we noticed our food stores were stolen, I assumed that it was just a couple troopers wanting a couple extra alcohol rations or something but then I noticed it kept happening and happening." The commander pressed some buttons on the table and two holograms came up, a cave entrance and a creature. The cave entrance had hallmarks of a animal den, bones outside the entrance. It seemed rather bare for a cave den. The commander quickly turned to Toshiro to get his reaction of the animal, and turned back to examine it.

"You've got an Anooba problem?" Toshiro said, examining the hologram. "Interesting, Anooba's don't usually have this type of behaviour" Toshiro questioned, before taking another sip and sitting on a nearby crate.

Spoiler

"I know, but I just think the shelling and the fighting caused them to do this, they can't hunt in the plains anymore without becoming dinner for the troops. But it doesn't matter, the cave is north eas..........." The commander stopped, and turned to the entrance of the tent.

"You called?" An unidentified person in armour said.

"Karabast, You are also late. You must be the Alliance rep I called. Well well might as well listen to this. This is Toshiro Kurojii, our wildlife expert."

"And person who works alone." Toshiro said, shrugging his shoulders after turning to the armoured man.

"He will only interfere if there is First Order troops nearby, in which there shouldn't be. I called him as a precaution. The cave is north east from this outpost. Follow the trench line down and get into the forest, quick as possible. The shelling is heavier near the trenches. I've sent the coords to your new friends AI" The commander turned back to the hologram table and set the holograms to spin automatically. "You kidding me?"

"No, The First Order patrol droids go around every couple minutes, in which if they detect you, you'll be thanking um.... Sorry what is your name trooper?"

[member="Michael Ryder"]

 

[Michael Ryder]

​"The name's Ryder, my AI's called Sam by the way. Don't worry, I won't bruise your friends ego."
​Nice one Ryder, off to a great start. Couldn't have done it better if you tried. Okay, lets just get this briefing over with so you can be on your way.

​"Sam, have you received the coordinates for the Anooba cave?"
​"Affirmative Ryder, we can set off at your preference."
​Great, hopefully we can get this over with and be home for lunch. Turning to Toshiro I said

​"Right, seeing as we're best friends now I'll be watching your back when we're in the field. Don't worry, I won't cramp your style with those Anooba's."
​Turning to the holotable I downloaded the coordinates of the cave and details of the region to my Omni-Tool then turned to Toshiro and the commander saying:
​"Right I'm all set. I'm ready to head out if you are. Considering we're a small group we shouldn't attract as much attention compared to a large force, but lets not try to attract too much attention anyways. Which means no killing unless we really have to."

​​"The First Order shouldn't be in force in that area which could work to our advantage, if we handle this right, even so, if we get sloppy or attract too much attention to ourselves then we're dead. No question. I mean I'm good, but I'm not that good. Shall we go?"

​[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

[member="Michael Ryder"]

"INCOMING FIRE! GET DOWN!" A soldier yelled outside, pushing a fellow soldier into cover and diving down to the ground himself. Almost immediately, the area was getting shelled. Dirt and rocks bounced of the command tent, letting out an audible thud of which there were a lot of debris hitting the tent. Each explosion hit a different part of the outpost, but even inside the tent you could tell it was damaged. After a couple seconds the bombardment stopped, and yelling and footsteps were audible. It seemed that the outpost was now on full alert, with the reserves in the barracks moving out to do damage assessments and help the wounded. You could smell burning from inside the tent.

"MEDIC! We've got casualties!" A soldier shouted, followed by hurried footsteps. Multiple cries of pain were audible throughout the outpost. The alliance mortars were silent, for now. Toshiro drove a sword into the ground so he wouldn't fall from the shockwaves. The tent was now littered with paper, glass, electronic parts due to the rumbling of the nearby explosions. Nearby intelligence officers were on the ground and struggling to get up.

"Karabast! If they're shelling us, it only means an attack is imminent, you lot should hurry before the stormtroopers attack the front. Follow me, I need to get to the front." The commander said switching his mouthpiece to a red colour and grabbing a blaster pistol. Toshiro un-slinged his RHR1 bolt action rifle and loaded 2 stripper clips in, before tossing both clips on the ground. He also loosened both of his swords and grabbed a nearby helmet to wear.

"Let's go Ryder, I may need the extra hand after all." Toshiro said, before putting on the alliance helmet and opening the entrance of the tent.

 

[Michael Ryder]

​"Always happy to oblige, lets move. Sam, what's the situation out there?"
​ "There appears to be heavy damage across the camp as a result of the shelling, no hostiles have been seen as of yet but that may change in the imminent future." ​following the commander out of the tent I noticed that the camp was hit hard by the shelling, there were cadavers littered around along with injured Alliance soldiers everywhere. The best guess for an attack was the front of the camp, so we had to get there before they did if we were to have any chance in defending the camp.

​Whilst checking my weaponry to see if they were all loaded I heard what seemed to be heavy blaster fire coming from the entrance of the camp, they were here. First Order stormtroopers were pretty highly trained, they weren't pushovers, and we couldn't underestimate them if we were gonna make it out of this alive.

​​​Turning to Toshiro and the Commander I said:
​"Alright, we should expect for them to attack in extreme force, in an attempt to overrun us and end the battle quickly, their numbers will also be seen as an intimidation tactic, so the best thing for us to do is to make them thing that we're a larger force than we really are until Sam can use my ship as air support."

​Now all we had to do was wait, and hope against hope that this works.

[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

[member="Michael Ryder"]
"Leave the fighting to us, your job is the cave. We'll drive them back the time you are done. Come on the forest is this way, down the trench line." The commander said, entering an trench and running straight through and down. The trench started on a hill, then trailed right on the plains area, with the trench bypassing the edge of the forest. Soldiers lined up on firing steps with an assortment of weapons trained onto the advancing stormtroopers. As the commander ran through the trench he shouted, "Steady men! Fire at 500 metres!" The soldiers nodded and some replied, still aiming at the stormtroopers. After a couple seconds the stormtroopers threw smoke grenades. The smoke was spread wide, and the attacking force was hidden for now. "This way you two, we're close to the forest."

"How many are there! Karabast! How many!" A soldier yelled, grasping thermal detonators and laying them near his firing position.

"Too many! Too many!" Another one cried, sitting on his firing step and hugging his rifle tight, appearing to be sobbing. After a couple seconds, the stormtroopers appeared out of the smoke screen, about 600 metres away from the trench. As the tidal wave of white came closer, the alliance soldiers became eerily quiet.

"FIRE!"

Suddenly, the entire battlefield lit up like a christmas tree. The sound of blasters became deafening and blaster fire seemed to be coming from everywhere. Explosions pounded the trench and the land in front of it, from thermal detonators from both sides. Toshiro fell to the ground from the incoming storm of blaster fire. Scrambling to get up, a soldier fell back in pain behind him. He started shouting, grasping a blaster wound in his shoulder. Toshiro turned for a moment and was wide eyed, but quickly continued to follow the commander.

"Here! You have to climb over but we'll cover you! Go now! Just run!" The commander said, pointing to the forest with one hand, while returning fire with the other. Toshiro quickly scrambled up, and stayed prone to avoid fire. Once he crawled to the tree line, he turned around on the ground, using a tree as cover and started to shoot at the stormtroopers. The rounds bounced off the nearby tree as he cycled the bolt action. He was zoned out, and forgot his mission for now.

 

[Michael Ryder]

It was like hell on earth, explosions, screams, blaster fire illimunated the light sky as Aliiance and First Order soldiers fought in what seemed to be an unending battle. Toshiro looked traumatised, we had to move otherwise we would die.
Grabbing Toshiro's arm and dragging him into the forest i shouted ​"Look, I know it's difficult but we have to keep moving. We have our own mission. This fight might work in our favour as their attention will be drawn to this outpost instead of the outlying area. The soldiers here know what to do and my ship is coming around soon to provide support but we have to move. We can't help here and we'd be no use to anybody if we're dead, okay?"

​My assumption held true as there seemed to be substantially less stormtrooper patrols along the route to the cave, the must have all been sent to the outpost.
The sound of the battle had mellowed the further away we were, and Toshiro seemed to be more lucid as we got closer to the cave. As we were travelling we came across the corpse of what seemed to be an Alliance Scout, although his injuries were inconsistent do simply being shot. It looked as though he had been torn apart more than anything but the strange thing was there were no tracks around and we were still a ways away from the Anooba cave, the body seemed to be fresh which only added to my suspicions. Perhaps the body was dumped here? No, that's stupid. Why kill someone and then dump the body here. My scanner revealed nothing so it seemed that the professional would have to handle this.
​"Toshiro, your thoughts?"

[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

[member="Michael Ryder"]

Toshiro took a deep breath, ejected a spent case from his rifle and angrily shook off Michael's arm. He threw off his helmet in anger and it hit a nearby tree, thudding against the trunk. "Don't touch me with those rat claws again. Ridiculous, 'alliance rep'. Pretty heavily armed for an alliance representative. Where is their big suit of armor soldier-guy! Where is their AI tin can! Are you even from here, anywhere close? " He said, pointing in the direction of the fighting. "Don't ever tell me what I can and can't do on MY mission. You a Coruscant blue-blood? One of those, 'my father paid for the academy' bantha-fodder!" He said, walking forward towards the direction of the cave. Toshiro was in a very strange state, a mixture of anger and vengeance. Those men behind him, he didn't know them. Toshiro never paid attention to war or politics in most of his life. He took this job just to make money. Seeing the carnage of real war angered him. Toshiro, while walking quickly took a swig of his flask of alcohol. He quickly screwed the cap on the flask.

When Ryder pointed out the body, he walked to it and kneeled down near it. He started examining the wounds, analysing how vicious they were and anything weird. "Chit. This is weird, Anoobas usually don't leave food in the open. We're under the cover of the canopy, they would of dragged this poor soul back to the cave for later but they didn't. But the cave had bones littered outside........." He said, immediately setting off to the direction of the cave. He started running towards the direction of the cave, holding his rifle in one hand by the trigger guard. While this was happening the battle raged on, with what appeared was newly called fighter ships in the sky. The fighters flew so fast it shook the trees and made leaves start to fall down to the ground like rain. Toshiro brushed it off and continued to run towards the cave,

 

[Michael Ryder]

His outburst caught me off guard, he did deserve to let off a little steam, if this is the first time he had seen real war then it was better to let it happen rather than later, but his outrage could get us caught, as he was walking away I pulled him back and said
"Toshiro, buddy, I'm not with The Alliance. I was ordered BY an Alliance rep to come here, the Commander must've gotten his words mixed up. Does my gear even look like it came from the Alliance? I thought that you'd be a bit more perceptive than that. Secondly, you don't know me. So don't assume to know what I've been through okay?"

I wasn't finished however, I needed to shut this down with no exceptions. If another outburst happened if might be the death of us. I lowered my voice to a whisper, but made it just loud enough to get my point across and said to him
"Now that you know I'm not with them, you should know that I'm not constricted by their rules and regulations especially out here. If you ever run the risk of compromising our security again, then the Anooba's and the battle over there will be the least of your worries. Did you get all that? Well you better have since I'm not in the business of giving second chances."

It was a bit harsh, and I hated myself a bit for saying it but I had to do it. He had to understand the risk that he was taking.

As the fighters flew overhead and Toshiro rushed to the cave I knew that we had to get to cover before they spotted us, so I followed him. I just hoped that this wasn't going to be an "Out of the frying pan" situation.

[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

[member="Michael Ryder"]

Toshiro would start to burst out laughing, a quieter version of his normal laughing. "Hahaha! Karabast, its cute when cubs think they're scary. What makes you think I follow 'the rules'? Lot of big talk for a teen. If your not with the alliance, they won't care if you mysteriously disappear in a warzone" Toshiro said while running. Ahead there was a small hill Toshiro could use as a scouting position, which had a good view of the entrance of the cave. Toshiro said, carefully scrambling up the hill. He threw his rifle as far up the slope as possible to save time. Each time he threw his rifle, he scrambled up to get it and threw it up again, repeating as he scaled higher up the hill. When he was at the top, he ejected the rounds from his rifle, and put it in a pouch. He replaced the rounds with 2 stripper clips slotted in the chamber in which he bolted the action closed, ready to fire. He crouched low and walked to the other edge of the hill, in which going to prone.

The cave was enormous in size, the hologram didn't give it much credit. However something was wrong. Now the cave entrance was bare, clean. It looked like it was something from a quarry, instead of an animal den. He could hear the anooba's barks and roars emit out of the cave. Toshiro took out a pair of binoculars, and started to scan the cave area with it. He noticed small blaster marks on certain parts of the cave entrance, and the blast zone of a thermal detonator in the ground near it. "Strange......... Looks like someone found the cave before us." Toshiro said, before the anooba sounds seemed to get louder in the cave signalling one was exiting. However, Toshiro also picked up another sound. A certain shouting, human shouting but the voice was modulated.

After a couple seconds, 2 figures exited the cave. "Everything's clear out here, no need for the droids this time." A first order stormtrooper reported, with an anooba sitting near him rather frantically. The anooba was not compelled to rip the white armored man to shreds and having him for dinner. "Oh...... It makes sense. Chit. This is not an Anooba den, its an Anooba breeding facility. The First Order in the area, either tamed the existing Anooba population, or brought them to the planet. That's bloody genius." Toshiro explained, while examining the area.

"This mission just got a lot easier." Toshiro said, aiming his rifle down at the stormtrooper near the cave.

 

[Michael Ryder]

​"Looks like you've recovered from that slip up at the Alliance camp, to tell the truth I'm surprised that you haven't needed a change of pants. In all seriousness however, if you act that way again we're dead."

An Anooba breeding facility? Well, that's unexpected but the First Order are nothing if not resourceful.
Bollocks, this just got a whole lot more complicated. We can't get afford to be compromised otherwise reinforcements are bound to arrive, we have to think this one through and not go off half cocked.

After I noticed that Toshiro was about to fire I put my hand on his rifle to signal for him to hold his fire, and said ​
"Don't fire, there's probably more of them in the actual cave, and if they don't hear the shot then they'll surely notice the guards when they don't report in. We're going to have to do this strategically, and not be detected."
​Think Ryder think, how can you distract the guards when they're right there? Throwing a rock would be too obvious, and they'd surely notice us approaching them. They need to be incapacitated before you try anything, or rendered immobile, wait, I've got it.

​"Sam, can you overload their comm systems to send an extreme amount of feedback into their helmets? When that happens I'll take the one on the right with the Omni-Blade and use my jumpkit to get the other one." ​Turning to Toshiro I said
​"When I take them out I'll need you to deal with the Anooba, and to watch my back in case I attract any unwanted attention."

​Time to put the plan into motion.
​When the feedback kicked in I ran up to the first stormtrooper and plunged the blade into his heart before he even knew what was happening, when the other caught on I used my jumpkit to close the distance, however he seemed to be ready for it. Kicking me in the head and cracking my helmet, I had to act fast, a swift tackle brought him to the ground and I quickly got the trooper into a type of armbar and disarmed him. This would be a perfect opportunity to gain information ​"Tell me, if you'd be so kind as to the amount of stormtroopers in that cave over there or I'll ask my associate to take over, and he isn't as sociable as I am."
​I received only silence. ​"Fine, have it your way. Toshiro, he's all yours."

​[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

The Anooba ran away from the cave, probably startled. Toshiro walked calmly down the hill and letting Ryder arm bar the stormtrooper. Toshiro was a bit dumbstruck, he was going to shoot the stormtroopers thermal detonators to simulate an attack, and do the same thing to the troopers who went to check. Well...... He wasn't going to let a good plan go to waste. He placed his rifle in his shoulder using the sling and pulled out his small tanto knife from its sheath. He observed its sharpness, before setting off to the entrance to the cave. He knelt down near the trooper and took off his helmet.

"Good morning." Toshiro said, before covering his mouth and planting the tanto into the troopers shoulder, penetrating the armor straight through. The screams were muffled by Toshiro's hand, in which he let go so he could have an conversation.
"Now...... How many are in the cave." Toshiro said calmly. He didn't want to get into the mind games he just needed the number. "Argh! Six! Excluding the animals!" The trooper said, clearly in pain and wanting to live.

"See how easy that was! Right, you have about 30 minutes until you bleed out. Give or take. You have 30 minutes to turn yourself in to an alliance patrol or you will die. Trust me, I will know if you going the wrong direction." Toshiro said before removing the tanto and shaking it, removing the blood on it. He then sheathed it again. "Can I have your acknowledgement that you will go to the proper authorities?" The trooper nodded. Toshiro kicked his blaster away and took his thermal detonators. He then proceeded to take the troopers helmet.

"Right let him go Soldier-man. Six people won't be a problem. I have a plan. When you let him go, hide above the cave entrance using you jump pack thingie. And wait until the signal. You'll know it when you see it."

[member="Michael Ryder"]

 

[Michael Ryder]

Soldier-Man? Really? Well I've certainly been called worse thats for sure.

​"Wow Toshiro, I never knew that you had a silver tongue. It amazes me that you aren't considered to be one of the galaxies great linguists."
Turning to the trooper I said
"Right, you'd better do what he says, we will know if you go the wrong way, besides, you won't live long enough to regret crossing us."
​I pushed the stormtrooper to the ground and signalled for him to start running. He did of course, although he did stumble quite a few times along the way.

I used my jump kit to get just above the cave entrance, that way I could see what's happening below me, but someone at the entrance wouldn't be able to easily spot me.
​"Okay Toshiro, I'm ready. Do your thing." ​This plan had better work, I mean its only six stormtroopers and probably lots more Anooba's waiting for us if it fails, on the other hand, if things go wrong they'll get Toshiro first. I was kidding obviously.

Alright, I was in position. Time to wait for the signal.

[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Toshiro Kurojii]

[member="Michael Ryder"]

Toshiro would wait patiently for Michael to fly up to the top of the cave entrance to begin his plan. Toshiro knew that the stormtroopers in the cave were safe from bombardment, leaving him a couple options but Toshiro chose the one that would be more fun. The troopers in the cave would of come flushing out if there was any chance of the position being discovered, or in an event of an attack. Toshiro's plan needed deception, of which the helmet would come in. Toshiro looked down the cave and saw light, bouncing off the rock. He assumed that the breeding facility would be small, or at least compact. No one would set up an permanent facility deep near enemy lines, so Toshiro had faith that he could do the job. He was using the mindset he uses for trapping animals. Making them take some bait, waiting for them to reveal themselves and then execution. The only difference was that these were people, and he'll be getting paid a little more.

Toshiro grasped the thermal detonator in his hand and walked closer to the cave. He then started to arm the detonator. He quickly put on the stormtrooper helmet and turned on the voice modulator and the radio.

"IT'S AN ATTACK!"

He threw the detonator down the cave, bouncing into where the troopers were. After 3 seconds of clicking and beeping, BOOM! The explosion echoed out the cave but leaving Toshiro un-harmed. After that, the sounds of running steps were audible. Toshiro ran away from the cave and found a little steep hill he could use as a hidden firing position. He lay prone and pointed his rifle towards the cave, waiting. He threw the stormtrooper helmet away, the glass cracked after the impact.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP4y82JBHEA[/media]

 

[Michael Ryder]

The explosion rocked the cave, I almost lost my footing due to the initial force of it. Goddamn it Toshiro, you could've collapsed the entire cave.
You can't argue with success however, as the plan had seemed to go off without a hitch.

As the stormtroopers flooded out of the cave i waited for the final one to leave before dropping on his head, knocking him out.
I then raised my gun to another ones head, and offered them a chance to surrender. ​"Don't try it, if you want your head to remain attached to your head. This is your only chance. Don't blow it."
​They refused obviously, but my hesitation caused me to gain a swift punch to the gut, and a kick to the face once I was down. The trooper raised his gun, to which I knocked out of his hand and a brutal fight ensued.

I couldn't accurately predict and anticipate his movements, for the most part I was outmatched. This guy must've been a type of spec ops or something, either that or he was jacked up on stimulants. I was knocked to the ground, he rushed towards me to finish it but before that could happen I kicked out one of his knees, and when he fell to the ground I removed his helmet and bashed his head in with a rock.

After that ordeal was over all I could manage to do was shoot one of the troopers, before collapsing to the ground, unable to continue.

​Lets hope Toshiro had better luck

​[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]

 

[Nefertari Sovint]

Well, Nefertari's recon mission here had just taken a wild turn with the actions of a soldier and some guy who looked like a Jedi, but clearly wasn't. Still, it looked like they were on the same side.
As [member="Michael Ryder"] collapsed, Nef emerged from her hiding place. Throwing a green blade of light into one of the stormtroopers who'd turned back to try and finish the soldier off, she began using her limited healing abilities in an attempt to get him back on his feet. Where their not Jedi ally was remained to be seen.

[member="Toshiro Kurojii"]​