Faction Lift Me Up [THR/TJO/Do-Gooders]

[Andromeda Demir]

​

"We take the stuff to the drop point," Andromeda said flatly. "We follow Hicks back to her little hidey-hole, and we take the entire operation down. We can stick a tracker coin in the machine, somewhere hidden inside, so they don't see it, in case they manage to give us the slip." She gave Connel a once-over and raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I doubt they're going to give you the slip."

The Jedi Knight folded her arms.

Several hours later, night had settled over the settlement, and the appointed hour for the drop-off approached. Andromeda had reclothed herself in something approaching the dockworkers' jumpsuit, her dark hair tucked up under a boxy cap. In the dark, the jumpsuit was boxy enough for her to pass as one of the men. Good enough for government work, at any rate. She requisitioned a hover-sled and loaded the drum and illicit cargo onto it, then checked in with Connel.

"You ready to make some criminal scum unhappy?" she asked him with a tight smile.

Connel Vanagor
​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Heroism in different forms
Outside Froswythe City
Relief Camp Obj III

Omega Squad Every Day Gear Locations

• Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, Sariel, Raphael, Jeremiel, Connel, Raguel
  [Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]
• 
  Rides
  
  • "Enterprise" Station Ship
  • Null Vector
  • Speederbike
  • Iron Psalm
  Gear/Armor
  
  
  • Gear(“Bodycam” Datapad, UAD Drone, link to Seraphim AI and Nanotech included)
  • Lightblaster
  • Shortsabers (“Night” and “Day”)
  • Throwing Lightknives
  • Force Blinding Flashbangs
  • RI-17 Rifle-w-MS-0412 Grenade Launcher
  SURGICAL - CRYBERNETIC IMPLANTS
  
  • Repli Implants that would be for the limbs
  • Bonemer enhancements to strengthen structure of the body
  • Muscle enhancements.
  • Hemo enhancements for blood flow
  • Hawkeye implants for eyes
  • Advanced Medical Implant
  • Scentzy
  • Injected Nanotech upgrades
  
  
  
• Shadow Sanctuary - Enterprise

He could have put his UAD drone in flight to follow them if need be, perhaps putting the datapad into the crate and turning on the tracker, but if she had a coin beacon then that was just as good. What can I say? I’m as stubborn as a Ronto sometimes. “Sometimes”? ... okay most of the time…

Even he had a sense of humor, contrary to popular belief.

Once nightfall dropped over the environment, Connel had prepped himself, putting that drone high in the air, just as a contingency in case there were ambushes and the like. When she went to push the sled and asked him if he was ready, Connel just cracked his neck. Let’s make you their only option out.

With that, he jumped up and climbed to the roof of a nearby building, as she moved through the area, he followed from above, his aura was masked as the wind to hopefully ensure that it looked like she was going at this alone. He kept a watchful eye on her movements, ready to intervene if danger arose. His position allowed him to survey the area unobtrusively, ensuring her path remained clear while maintaining the illusion of her independence. The strategy was risky but calculated, blending caution with the need for subtlety.

Sure enough… everything in his gut was telling him that the drop-off point was indeed going to be an ambush. He noticed subtle signs—unusual movements in the shadows, a faint scent of tension in the air. His instincts sharpened as he anticipated the trap. Connel prepared to act swiftly, ready to turn the ambush into an advantage, ensuring their mission wouldn’t falter under pressure. Andromeda could handle these amateurs on her own, by the looks of everything, but he was ready to hit just in case.

Hope I’m wrong.

Colette • Andromeda Demir
• ARE • OPEN
Personal Effects - Omega Squad Loadouts​

 

[Andromeda Demir]

​

But of course Connel Vanagor wasn't wrong.

The pair arrived to the drop-off location and put the drum where they had been told by the two men. But before they could even turn to find a hidey hole from which to clandestinely reconnoiter, the presence of multiple individuals became apparent.

"Oh boys," Andromeda murmured under her breath as her hand slipped under her coat, groping for her lightsaber. "What did you do?"

There would be time to deal with those boys later. Now her attention had to be here. And even as she opened herself to the Force and felt its refreshing power flow over her like a clean river, she felt the whisper of warning. "Down!" She hissed at Connel, throwing herself to the soil. A fraction of a second later a blaster bolt sizzled through the air where her chest had been.

Hicks was shooting to kill. Playing for keeps.

Andromeda rolled over and leapt to her feet, her blade erupting from her lightsaber hilt with a tell-tale snap-hiss! and bathed her features and Connel's armor in a blue-green glow. The blasters didn't stop. Some went wide, others she batted away with her lightsaber, still others Connel would interact with. Not for the first time, she was grateful for Master Thule and his insistence on challenging her with the drones during their training together. He had been quite a taskmaster in her eyes then, but she could only imagine how she'd fare without those instincts today.

Her blade caught a bolt, sent it back the way it came. The attacker has moved, and instead the bolt hit a patch of dry grass, instantly catching. The fire spread around the dry grass in the area, and soon a little more than a third of the site was surrounded by low flames.

Ambient light to fight by -- that was a nice touch.

Andromeda opened herself to the Force, like she had done so many times with William when they had encountered enemies. She poured her senses into it, reached for Connel's in return, never stopping to think whether this was what all Jedi did during combat and crisis. She moved independent of him but aware of him, trusting him to handle that which was there while she was handling what was in front of her.

The bolt that caught her shoulder was glancing, thank the Light. It merely burned through her jacket and tunic, melting fibers of the fabric into her flesh and making her cry out. She turned to the attacker, seized him in the Force and slammed him to the side of the structure beside which they had left the drum. She felt pain, but not rage.

Feel, she heard William's voice in her mind. Don't think. Pay attention.

Connel Vanagor​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Heroism in different forms
Outside Froswythe City
Relief Camp Obj III

Omega Squad Every Day Gear Locations

• Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, Sariel, Raphael, Jeremiel, Connel, Raguel
  [Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]
• 
  Rides
  
  • "Enterprise" Station Ship
  • Null Vector
  • Speederbike
  • Iron Psalm
  Gear/Armor
  
  
  • Gear(“Bodycam” Datapad, UAD Drone, link to Seraphim AI and Nanotech included)
  • Lightblaster
  • Shortsabers (“Night” and “Day”)
  • Throwing Lightknives
  • Force Blinding Flashbangs
  • RI-17 Rifle-w-MS-0412 Grenade Launcher
  SURGICAL - CRYBERNETIC IMPLANTS
  
  • Repli Implants that would be for the limbs
  • Bonemer enhancements to strengthen structure of the body
  • Muscle enhancements.
  • Hemo enhancements for blood flow
  • Hawkeye implants for eyes
  • Advanced Medical Implant
  • Scentzy
  • Injected Nanotech upgrades
  
  
  
• Shadow Sanctuary - Enterprise

He wasn’t wrong.

When Andromeda dropped low, he went high, give them two targets. She was more than capable, deflecting blaster bolts but was not going to be able to hold forever, the stakes needed to change. Now I’m mad…

As the Indigo and Gold signifying the polar opposites that were “Night” and “Day” ignited with violent tendencies, Connel danced across the crates and down onto an ambush position. Hicks saw him and ran, leaving a “footsoldier”, “pawn”, whatever you would like to be the unfortunate recipients of his counter attack. A slash, a cut, a stab. Right clear!

He wasn’t “saving the day”, she didn’t need him. Connel was simply taking full advantage of the opening. Two idiots were setting up an E-Web style cannon, and it was not going to last, they did not know this, but soon the crinkling, the crumpling, Connel was crushing the weapon. The rifle one of them was leveling on him soon exploded in the Devaronian’s hands as a throwing Lightknife hit it center barrel.

Before long, it was down to just Hicks and two other lieutenants.

Colette • Andromeda Demir
• ARE • OPEN
Personal Effects - Omega Squad Loadouts​

 

[Andromeda Demir]

​

Andromeda felt the man go slack, his full weight slumping back against her, and she dropped him into the muck. He was the last, and one of the only ones she had been able to subdue without injury or death. His life force was still there, audible in the Force, but muted with unconsciousness. She surveyed the area around her, then called out to Connel: "Left, clear."

She turned and went toward Connel.

"That thing with the light knife?" she said as they turned toward Hicks and her two lieutenants. "Very cool. I mean, I never would have thought of it."

Her lightsaber was in her left hand, ignited, casting the pair in Baja Blast colored light from the blue-green blaze. The hilt, with its comforting auridium vein that bound its halves together, was a comforting weight in her hand. She drew confidence from its sturdy weight, literal and symbolic, and gave it a little twirl in her hand.

"Hicks," Andromeda shouted. "This is your one chance. I'm not going to give you any song and dance about the easy way or the hard way. Put your weapons down and tell your men to stand down or we're going to bring you in, dead or alive. At this point I'm really not fussed. What'll it be?"

Hicks looked to one of her lieutenants, then the other. Then they raised their blasters and fired. "Hard way," she spat at Connel, bringing up her lightsaber to deflect the bolts.

Connel Vanagor​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Heroism in different forms
Outside Froswythe City
Relief Camp Obj III

Omega Squad Every Day Gear Locations

• Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, Sariel, Raphael, Jeremiel, Connel, Raguel
  [Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]
• 
  Rides
  
  • "Enterprise" Station Ship
  • Null Vector
  • Speederbike
  • Iron Psalm
  Gear/Armor
  
  
  • Gear(“Bodycam” Datapad, UAD Drone, link to Seraphim AI and Nanotech included)
  • Lightblaster
  • Shortsabers (“Night” and “Day”)
  • Throwing Lightknives
  • Force Blinding Flashbangs
  • RI-17 Rifle-w-MS-0412 Grenade Launcher
  SURGICAL - CRYBERNETIC IMPLANTS
  
  • Repli Implants that would be for the limbs
  • Bonemer enhancements to strengthen structure of the body
  • Muscle enhancements.
  • Hemo enhancements for blood flow
  • Hawkeye implants for eyes
  • Advanced Medical Implant
  • Scentzy
  • Injected Nanotech upgrades
  
  
  
• Shadow Sanctuary - Enterprise

When the dust momentarily cleared and she offered her appreciation for his move with a Lightknife, Connel nodded. Thanks, it’s an Atrisian move, I learned it a few years ago and adapted it to lightsaber style tech. Stabbing “Day” into the ground for a moment, he pulled out one and offered it to her.

When Hicks decided to make a fight out of this, Connel just shook his head. He wanted to laugh at how stupid she was, but that was pointless now. This was going to happen, and once again Hope triumphs over Experience. Their loss.

Pulling “Day” from the ground and throwing it at the left side lieutenant, Connel charged in a sprint through the Force and went to cut down the rifle of the attacker. “Day” was meant to miss. This was a diversion and his focus was on the one in front of him. The bigger one, the one with crushgaunts and looking like he could handle himself in a fight.

The diversion worked as intended, drawing the lieutenant's attention while Connel closed the gap. With precise timing, he disarmed the rifle-wielder and used the Force to immobilize him. The crushgaunts posed a challenge, but Connel's skill and experience gave him the upper hand in this unexpected skirmish.

A moment later, he pulled the rifle out of the other’s hand. Both were unarmed. Now it was whether or not to look like he would take their bait and not be thinking three steps ahead(he saw the whipchord projector on the gaunt, this guy had Mandalorian connections). He indeed looked like he could fight.

What do they say about “looks” and “deception”?
Really? It took longer for Connel clip his shortabers than to take this big man down. The other lieutenant? Well he ran. That just left Hicks and she was watching Andromeda. She glanced at him momentarily.

Don’t look at me. She’s the one you ticked off.

Colette • Andromeda Demir
• ARE • OPEN
Personal Effects - Omega Squad Loadouts​

 

[Andromeda Demir]

​

Andromeda bit back an Irvulixi curse -- "Slag-sucker!" -- as she took an blaster bolt to the shoulder, the glancing blow burning through her jacket and fusing the fibers to her flesh. She had been distracted in deflecting another blaster bolt and simply missed it. Fury rose in her before she could get a handle on it, and that coincided perfectly in her surge forward. She slammed her other shoulder into Hicks' chest and rode the woman to the ground and punched her in the face before yanking the woman's blaster out of her hand and hurling it into the middle distance.

Andromeda cocked her arm back, her pulse roaring in her ear, her rage shouting at her to do it, do it, do it.

She took a shaking breath, remembering the flash of concern that William Thule had shown at her confession that she regretted not killing Perseus Kotar on Irvulix. Since that moment he had come to see the best in her, and more than that, he had illuminated the darkest parts of her with the light of discipline and confidence. He had helped her -- made her -- see that she was more than her worst instincts and impulses.

She had come too far to allow her demons to shout down her better angels now in a moment of pain and weakness. She lowered her hand instead and reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a set of zip-ties.

"You're under arrest," Andromeda told Hicks roughly, her voice still slightly winded from the fight. She stood and rolled her over. She wasn't terribly concerned about Hicks being covered in mud now. Occupational risk of being a criminal. Once Hicks had been secured, Andromeda hauled her to her feet and turned to Connel. "You all right?"

Connel Vanagor

​

 

[Connel Vanagor]

Heroism in different forms
Outside Froswythe City
Relief Camp Obj III

Omega Squad Every Day Gear Locations

• Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, Sariel, Raphael, Jeremiel, Connel, Raguel
  [Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]
• 
  Rides
  "Enterprise" Station Ship
  Null Vector
  Speederbike
  Iron Psalm
  Gear/Armor
  Gear(“Bodycam” Datapad, UAD Drone, link to Seraphim AI and Nanotech included)
  Lightblaster
  Shortsabers (“Night” and “Day”)
  Throwing Lightknives
  Force Blinding Flashbangs
  RI-17 Rifle-w-MS-0412 Grenade Launcher
  SURGICAL - CRYBERNETIC IMPLANTS
  Repli Implants that would be for the limbs
  Bonemer enhancements to strengthen structure of the body
  Muscle enhancements.
  Hemo enhancements for blood flow
  Hawkeye implants for eyes
  Advanced Medical Implant
  Scentzy
  Injected Nanotech upgrades
  
  
  
• Shadow Sanctuary - Enterprise

More blaster fire. Ah frell! He took the moment to crush Hicks’ rifle through the Force, just in time for Andy to take her down. There was something about the way she took the woman down that caught his eye, and not in a good way.

She looked like there was a lot she was holding in, anger, demons. There was no health in her psyche. She was a Sith’s dream if she continued down this road. He did not hide the double take, but he let it pass. After all, it was not like he held or could hold moral judgment on the manner. When she asked him if he was okay, it took a moment. He wanted to ask if she was asking him, or the person in the mirror, but that would be a problem.

So he offered a fist for her’s to tap. Yeah, good job.

Oh, I hope I didn't cause this.

Colette • Andromeda Demir
• ARE • OPEN
Personal Effects - Omega Squad Loadouts​

 

[Andromeda Demir]

​

"Couldn't have done it without you, Connel," Andromeda said, a tight smile crossing her features. "Probably would have gotten myself killed. Thanks for, you know. Making sure that didn't happen. Owe you one."

Andromeda's eyebrows lifted at the offering of a fist.

This was not a common gesture on Irvulix. She lifted her fist in response, then hesitantly reached over to gingerly put her knuckles to Connel's briefly. The movement made her shoulder burn in painful protest, and she sucked in a breath through her teeth and lowered her hand. "Let's get her back to the camp. They'll know what to do with her."

She shouldered Hicks onto the repulsor sled and set off with their prisoner. By the time the camp had come into sight, Andromeda's anger had dissipated, replaced with a cool sense of detachment, only half-tinged by the shame of having even imagined pummeling Hicks' face until it was unrecognizable. That wound linger longer than the pain of her wounded shoulder.

Connel Vanagor​