Faction More Toys for the Toy Box

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori had Arla piloting Jaster's Delight for her, their long journey taking them to Pianta/Crossroads where her contact was set to meet them.

It wasn't just a meeting for her, however, but for the Eclipse Rebellion. She didn't want to go about this all alone either and so she had both bribed and requested that some others come along for the journey. Of course she had other reasons for having the selected individuals on board her new ship, but all of that would be revealed in time.

Lori sat in a chair in the lounge area, sipping on a fizzy drink. Curtis Learchin was there and she gave him a small smile followed by a wink. She hadn't told anyone about their engagement except for her brother. Uncle Darlyn Excron was there too, him having recently come back into her life in full support of her work with the Rebellion. And with the occasional rescue as well... Kalic Daws , Kahlil Noble were on board too, each occupying themselves through the hyperspace travel. The Voice of Abbaji LE-03 (Leigh) was also taking part in some form or another.

Some might call it stupid for the lot of them to travel together in one ship. Yet the Jaster's Delight was new and up to the task of escaping blockades or shaking off other unwanted ships tailing them.

~Captain, we drop out of hyperspace in two minutes. Landing co-ordinates should be arriving shortly.~ Arla's voice was heard on the intercom.

"Well, there's our cue. We should hear from the contact shortly. Thanks for coming with me. The Empire's not making it easy for travel."

BIG Z1776

 

[Zela Urrin]

Zela found herself sitting on a beach on one of the many Piantan islands of this, her favorite Crossroads Republic colony moon. The locals were as kind as could be, the atmosphere was pleasant, and the environment was even more-so, even when there were the sounds of wargames interrupting her "vacation time" for the modelling agency she worked for. At the moment she was on this so-called vacation time after having gotten off of assignment sporting some of their newest fashion lines on the Core Worlds. However her assignment as an agent of the External Security Department had her doing other things as well, specifically, seeing what the political, economic, and military situation of the new Galactic Alliance was like and how many Jedi were out and about and what it was they were doing. The intel she'd gathered was probably already analyzed and contingency plans were probably being drawn up to figure out what to do in the unlikely even the Crossroads Republic and the Galactic Alliance found themselves at odds. Ancient rivalries with Hosnian Prime were long-since morphed in cultural and economic competition, and a virulent distrust of anything with the word "Empire" in the name made Crossroads fairly approachable for this central galactic power.

Of course Zela herself knew that the facts were often more intriguing than the public perception was. She knew that the Crossroads Republic had feelers out to the First Order and to the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the ESD even had agents dispatched to the New Imperial Order to look into their public's perception of her little Outer Rim republic. However, her assignment today was a much simpler one, make contact with some potential insurgents who hailed from Eternal Empire's territory. As she sat there her commlink on her wrist beeped, and she looked down and saw an encrypted transmission. It was from the Fleet, a Prowler-Class Covert Surveillance Cruiser assigned to watch for her new friends had detected the incoming ship from its position cloaked at the edge of the system. Pleased to see this she tapped an acknowledgement, giving the ship the clearance to beam the transmission straight to the insurgent ship, landing coordinates of the small commercial spaceport on its own island across the archipelago from the hotel she'd arranged for them to stay at. She got up and pulled a beach dress around her hips, barring her tight lithe form in the bikini she had one and slipped her sandals on and left to get into her speeder, a nice bright red convertible and left for the spaceport, knowing her new responsibilities were going to arrive soon.

At the edge of the system the cloaked cruiser, the Stalker, beamed a powerful straight-line transmission to the Jaster's Sparrow, a passive-aggressive way of informing the ship that they were indeed being watched. This method of transmission was meant to prevent listening-in by unwanted parties, a proven method of comms security for the Crossroads military and intelligence services, all of which utilized the small fleet of Prowler-Class ships for their various assignments and missions. Now, all that had to happen was to see if these insurgents had been truthful about their declared intentions. If they didn't, then the Crossroads Republic's Special Operations Command had a contingency for that as well.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Whatever the others were doing, Darlyn was busy occupying himself with the ever important task of meditating the entire trip. The ship was spacious enough that his meditation wouldn't force him to be too close to anyone, which meant he could focus entirely on the preparations he was making. Dressed in another borrowed set of Jedi robes, for the consistency of his 'disguises' as they were, he had been seated cross legged on the ground, immersing himself in the whole of the Force. While they had been in hyperspace, he'd been creating small flames that danced across his body without leaving behind even the slightest burn mark, his personal favorite exercise his mother had taught him.

Since his trip to Domhanda, and acquiring the crystals that were sitting back home in Samhain, his abilities in pyromancy were developing at an explosive rate, which necessitated daily exercise to further his ability to control them. The last thing he needed was burning his shirt off, or worse, because he got a little heated in an argument. This did give him a small chance to sort of show off to both Loreena Arenais-Valhoun and Kahlil Noble , however, as both wouldn't have known he was developing such powers. Until the trip, he couldn't conjure flames, only manipulate their shape and intensity to an extent, which was bad if he wanted to show them any neat little tricks, like juggling fireballs.

When they exited hyperspace, Darlyn let his body drift up off the floor, levitating ever so slightly as he continued practicing control of the little flames dancing over him. The Taozin amulet rested against his chest under the tan tunic, and being slightly elevated now, Exar Kun's lightsaber dangled down from his belt. All this to say, he was intentionally trying to show off to his friend and niece, and by extension the others present as well so there would likely be little surprise of anything that came up.

"Well, I wouldn't miss the chance for some bonding for the world. I'm just glad things worked out that I could be here. No point in supporting you if I can't act on it after all." He didn't really know Curtis Learchin , on account of being a rather distant, work obsessed uncle, nor did he know Kalic Daws on account of, well not having any reason to have met them to begin with. But if they were here, Lori trusted them, so he trusted them.

The people down wherever they were headed were the real questionable ones.

Zela Urrin

 

[Kahlil Noble]

It'd been a long time since Kahlil was on someone else's ship. It felt.. Weird, to say the least. He was use to having to maintain the whole thing by himself. With R6. R6 would probably be pretty annoyed if he'd said such a thing out loud. Good thing the droid was back on their ship taking care of it. He was in the kitchen, cooking up something or another to pass the time at least. The announcement couldn't of come at a better time. Kahlil stepped out of the kitchen after making sure the pizza he'd made was out on the counter for anyone to enjoy.

"I'm a involved as I can be. Sides, if we can get more help, all the better."

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun | Curtis Learchin | Darlyn Excron | Zela Urrin

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic was trying to focus. He'd figured maybe it could dull the chances of him having another vision when he really didn't need one. It didn't work of course as he got more flashes. It was a vision he'd had before, the one where he.... Well it had nothing to do with now. He almost wished it did though. At least he could tell Lori something possibly useful then. The Miraluka grabbed his head a little before hearing the message.

"Hey, I always like seeing the new toys we manage to get our hands on. Plus if I'm still technically not able to fly I can still be useful.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Darlyn Excron Kahlil Noble Zela Urrin Curtis Learchin LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Curtis Learchin]

Curtis smiled at Loreena Arenais-Valhoun and returned the wink. He had no one to tell about their engagement, and to him that was probably for the best. The EE were after them, last thing they needed was yet another weakness for them to exploit.

The number of new faces on the ship was worrying for him, and he'd kept on guard since they'd arrived on board. One face was recognisable to him, if only barely. Kahlil Noble . The two had fought once before, years ago when Curtis had served the Sith Empire. Back then, he'd hoped to capture the boy and return him to his family, it was strange that the Force had reunited them as potential allies. He stood silently, making his way over to Kahlil.

"Long time Zambrano" He said bluntly, grabbing a piece of food. He wasn't sure who the others were, but he could at least catch up with an old foe.

Darlyn Excron | Zela Urrin | LE-03 (Leigh) | Kalic Daws

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori watched with gleeful amusement as Darlyn Excron practiced his tricks. To her that's all that Force abilities were = tricks. Magicians use them too, albeit slightly different versions. Yet it was that kind of perception that anyone that tried to teach her to use the Force found a bit frustrating. Well that and her stubbornness. "That's so wicked....

The smell of the pizza caught her attention. Most food tended to do that, especially homemade. At times Lori would find herself in prison or some sort of transport cell, so good food wasn't always on hand. Without a second to spare, she snatched herself a piece. "Thanks!" She hastily started to munch on it, nodding to Kalic Daws as she chewed down a mouthful. A little bit of sauce dribbled down her chin and she scooped it with her finger before licking it, her eyes drifting towards Curtis Learchin as he approached Kahlil Noble . She wasn't aware of their history, but there was definitely something there. Hopefully nothing would come of it though. Everyone was brought here as trusted friends.

~Co-ordinates are in, Captain. Everyone prepare to disembark.~

Lori shoved the pizza into her mouth as fast as she could, taking hold of a napkin to wipe her chin if needed. She then motioned with her free hand towards the ramp that would drop open for them once they had arrived.

This was surely not going to be quite the professional lot that Zela Urrin was probably expecting.

LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Zela Urrin]

Zela saw the unique ship descending, noting its exotic build as held her binos from afar and watched them descend into the large white circular landing bays, similar in build to the countless others in the Outer Rim. She knew that the holocams in the spaceport had been hacked by ESD and the ship was going to be under constant droid-monitored surveillance in case a stowaway was on board. The young woman instinctively checked for her CDI-built CDP-10 Blaster Pistol at her left side between the side of the speeder and her seat. She wasn't a lefty, but her training made her ambidextrous enough to wield the weapon in either hand. On standby was supposed to be a Tier-1 team of Crossroads Special Forces, probably hiding in alleyway inside of a speeder truck with tinted windows, admiring her rather promiscuous getup, not knowing she used to be a Tier-1 operator herself, although her tattoos had been removed, so there was no way for them to know that.

So Zela remained in place, watching for the group to arrive, knowing that the customs agents had been told to ignore the occupants of that ship and not to log their presence, much to the Immigration and Customs Department's annoyance. But when ESD said to do something, only a very select few departments refused, and ICD was not among them. There were other aspects of the group's arrival that had been taken into account. A bugged and wired speeder was waiting with forged documents and a thousand Crossroads credits. The dark blue high-top speeder was parked in the parking lot for the rebels under some palm trees.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil froze for a moment as he heard Curtis Learchin so casually drop his last name. He slowly took a bite of his pizza as he turned his gaze to the other man. Yeah, he recognized him. "Hey. Guess you decided to head out from the Sith too then? Hope that's the case at least." He flashed a friendly smile before glancing to Loreena Arenais-Valhoun . She knew what she was doing. No way she'd let a Sith sneak on board or dupe her, right? Hopefully.

Not that there was really too much time to talk. The ship had landed. Time to meet whomever was planning to supply this rag tag group of rebels.

Darlyn Excron | Zela Urrin | Kalic Daws | LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk arrived in orbit of the planet known as Crossroads 3. He was board his new ship, The Dark Hand. It was a Surprise Series Q carrier that was disguised to look like a large freighter. Imperial spies had gotten wind that an arms deal was to take place here.

Since this planet was outside the confines of the Eternal Empire, Eskk had no legal authority. That was fine with him. He preferred to achieve authority through methods that required less paperwork anyways. Eskk eased the ship into the atmosphere and towards the spaceport. He was in no hurry.

Once above the spaceport, several starfighters began to spew from the freighter. There were 3 squadrons of Angel Series interceptors and 3 squadrons of Tau Devastator bombers. These ships immediately began to attack the spaceport on the small planet. As they did, Eskk released a broadcast to the planet.

The broadcast was sent as a hologram of Eskk in his hoaded cloak and Durasteel mask. "Attention Crossroads 3," he said, "I am the captain bombing your spaceport and we are pirates. It is my understanding that on this planet you regularly consort with nefarious individuals. In fact, that there are some here now. If you want the destruction to stop bring them to me."

Zela Urrin Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Darlyn Excron Kahlil Noble Kalic Daws Curtis Learchin LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Cynan Drexel]

Eskk Jannik has chosen the wrong territory to attack in such meager numbers in a blatantly stupid move. In orbit over his ship was currently a fleet of Repulse-Class Attack Battleships, Monitor-Class Cruisers, and Archer-Class Escort Frigates alongside a dozen Enforcer-Class Assault Ships. These ships had been at battlestations, engaged in wargames. However, when the disguised ship had arrived and launched a completely unprovoked attack on Crossroads-3 a series of contingencies went into effect. From the bridge of one of the two three-thousand-meter-long Illustrious-Class Carriers Grand Admiral Cynan Drexel, commander-in-chief of the Crossroads Republic Fleet, knew that this ship was going to die after launching such a blatantly suicidal attack in heart of Crossroads Republic territory.

"All ships, secure from wargames stance and load live ammunition, this is no drill, I say again, no drill. Activate shields and vector starfighters to wipe that ship's fighters from existence, battleships, activate tractor beams and rip that junk into position over the water," he ordered and saw the more than two dozen two-thousand meter long battleships turning towards the moon, "Prepare main batteries for anti-ship barrage, gunnery officers signal when ready."

All across the fleet the red and blue holographic labels signaling the ships' status as wargames participants blinked out, leaving them in their rarely-seen battle stations lighting. Their J-32 Heavy Proton Cannon Turrets swiveled as within the ships live proton shells the size of a man were unlocked and rapidly loaded into the quad-barrel weapons' breaches. More than four hundred FT-99 "Banshee" Starfighters screamed towards the planet. Individual ship captains of the assault ships independently ordered their ships to engage their electronic countermeasures, bombarding the small aggressor ship with powerful communications and sensor-jamming fields from a dozen warships almost ten times its size. To make matters worse, tractor beams descended from the powerful Starhawk-Class Battleship of old locked onto the aggressor ship, and began to wrench it away from the spaceport, over the turquoise blue waters.

On Crossroads-3 itself, six ever-watchful squadrons of "Viper" Droid Starfighters began to descend like ravenous sky wolves engaging the small squadrons from up close with their heavy repeating laser cannons. Their dogfighting programming and speed, plus numbers, was now a true asset as other military assets swung into action on their own initiative. A battery of six W53-R "Howler" Multiple Launch Rocket Systems loaded live ammunition from their accompanying ammunition vehicles and began a devastating fire of a hundred and twenty guided Spearhead missiles which were the first things to begin pummeling the small ship's shields as much more power J-10 Proton Cannons in defensive positions opened fire, coating the sky in flak and EM-2500 Paired Repeating Laser Cannons began to pick out the enemy fighters and bombers and engaged, two or three guns to a single target. "Dart" Surface-to-Air Missiles also began to streak up from the ground, homing in on their targets, leaving almost no room for escape. Ground vehicles, including tanks, infantry carriers of several kinds, and actual infantry began to emerge from their garrisons, having been prepared to embark on today's wargames.

Across the planet air raid sirens began to go off, and the planet's entire garrison mobilized. Across the space of Crossroads territory the entire fleet on patrol or on wargames deactivated their drills and loaded live ammunition, and over Crossroads Prime, a giant stirred, the Crucible, flagship of the Crossroads Republic, went to battlestations and it and its fleet of two hundred warships including five carriers and fifty battleships broke from orbit, and prepared to accelerate towards the other moon which near enough for a ten minute flank speed run. This little disguised as a cargo ship had just kicked a hornet's nest which had no intention of merely stinging it, they wanted to kill it and everyone on board. Admiral Drexel sent a reply to the ship in question over an open comms channel.

"Attention pirate vessel, be advised, you have just committed suicide, prepare to cease to exist," Drexel informed him.

"Admiral, all ships signal ready for anti-ship barrage," a comms officer reported in.

"One gun salvoes, all batteries execute," Drexel ordered, and in a wave of fire more than three hundred proton cannon turrets with targeting solutions laid in opened fire, and sent a converging wave of yellow proton shells screaming through the upper atmosphere.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Oh they were here, that was nice. And they were being allowed to land, even better! He lowered his feet from his floating position, until they were able to support him naturally, before wandering over to Loreena Arenais-Valhoun . HE put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a loving little squeeze, smiling down at her. The little fires still sputtered and flickered, resting on his head, shoulders, forearms, etc. despite him no longer consciously feeding them the Force. Unlike his partner, his control extinguishing the flame was noticeably... lesser. If you had actually met her, anyways, as it was it was at least somewhat clear he wasn't even trying to keep the flames on his robes.

"Your show Goofball. Just promise if they have a demonstration kit of weapons I get to play with them, especially if they have explosives."

When the ramp opened up, Darlyn was quick to step out onto it even as it was just lowering down enough he could do so, as he was quite eager to get ahead of the others and get the ball rolling. New toys for the Rebellion meant more toys for Darlyn, which meant new ways to kill the bad guys, always a fun time that was! Though, he'd barely made any sort of landfall really, before absolutely everything went off at once.

Immediately in response, Darlyn's Force abilities flared up, his left hand igniting into flames while his right began to generate noticeable sparks of purple lightning. Before he could do much of anything, a transmission was made across open channels, complete with holographic image and a rather familiar voice. Darlyn tilted his head as he watched it, before it cut out and the Crossroads' forces enagaged. Quite puzzled, Darlyn turned behind himself and called back to both Lori and Kahlil Noble , with the most amused, and perplexed voice he'd ever managed.


"D... Did Major Eskk Jannik just chase us three across the galaxy with a single ship to attack us, in another nation's airspace? Which one of you two flirted with him to get him that obsessed because I sure as feth didn't."

Curtis Learchin :|: Kalic Daws :|: Zela Urrin

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk knew something was wrong the moment the ship began to drag away from the spaceport. It was being moved over water. Eskk heard the warning from the fleet stationed above. Eskk hadn't thought to check such an unimportant planet for the presence of a fleet.

He immediately ran for the escape pods. As he did he could feel rockets start to slam into the shields one by one. He had to get out of here now.

Eskk climbed in the escape pod and ejected himself from the ship. As it rocketed a short distance towards the surface he looked up. His ship was vaporized by some yellow wave of starship fire. Eskk thought about his foolishness. He had been so eager to get his hands on Loreena Arenais-Valhoun and her friends. He had neglected his duty to accurately assess the situation and it had cost him everything except his life.

There was no way Eskk could return to the Eternal Empire now. Not under the shadow of such a failure. No, it was time to cash it in. He would buy or steal a ship and escape this planet then go... somewhere. The escape pod landed in the water. Eskk opened it and swam out.

He couldn't stay here. The planetary military that had just wiped him out was probably coming. They probably knew what he was wearing. Eskk was furious.

He let his anger fuel his muscles and swam faster. He was almost to the shoreline. There must be a house he could break into and steal some clothes somewhere nearby.

 

[Alask Terrano]

When the bombardment had started Lieutenant Alask Terrano had been with his team in a large speeder van parked in an alleyway near the spaceport in case the rebels who were arriving turned out to be hostile in any way. His dozen operators, all Tier-1 Operators, the best that the Crossroads military had to offer, were in their unique black armor, SOCOM-AAS's (Assault Armor Suits), and black exoskeletons, SOCOM-ER's (Exoskeleton Rigs). In each operator's hands was fully-readied CSOR-230 Blaster Rifle, a limited issue weapon meant to deal with enemy special forces and their prospective specialty armor suits or even plant a hurt on Mandos wearing beskar. Each man also had a CDP-10 Blaster Pistol, a potent close-in blaster. Although each individual operator was a potent human weapon, trained in several martial arts forms and while wearing their exoskeletons, which possessed kinetite generators in addition to their strength amplification, they could kill most sentients bare-handed.

"Dagger-Actual, this is Warlord," Alask's comm went off in his ear as his team relaxed after seeing the enemy ship explode.

"Warlord, this is Dagger-Actual, send traffic over," Alask replied to the voice of his commanding officer.

"Dagger-Actual readback: Reference BFT-Marker, zero-eight-five-one, escape pod, one times enemy survivor, swimming for shore to the west at Isle Sass, moving fast time now, how copy over?"

"Roger Warlord, BFT-Marker zero-eight-five-one, one times enemy survivor moving fast west to Isle Sass, time now, over."

"Good readback Dagger, break," the comm chirped back, the word 'break' telling him hold on a second in military-speak, "Dagger has one-times Comet inbound, thirty-sierras. You will board the Comet, and you will move to intercept by air, SOCOM wants this guy alive. Ground forces are setting up a cordon around Isle Sass and Condors are coming on station for ISR. Other ground forces are also being airlifted in around the Spaceport to secure the HVI's, when safety is determined, ESD will escort the HVI's to their safehouse, over."

"Good copy Warlord, Dagger oscar mike," Alask said back.

"Warlord out."

Alask began to signal his team towards the DS-11 "Comet" Dropship that was already coming in for a landing on the parking lot tarmac, blowing lots of dust in its wake as it didn't even touch the ground by the time the twelve elite operators piled into the back.

The large dropship took off, heading towards one of the islands where their survivor was being pinned at. The enemy fighters were gone, leaving the rumbling sounds of "Viper" and "Banshee" Starfighters to fill the air as on the ground civilian speeders were forced off the roads as several companies of Crossroads Republic Army T80-T Main Battle Tanks, T80-IFV "Boxer" Infantry Fighting Vehicles, and at least a battalion of W50-IMV "Chariot" MRAP's with troops loaded up secured the small island, especially its two bridges.

The island was fairly small, almost entirely urbanized, all of the white and orange and red bricked and tiled buildings were Delfino-inhabited, the quiet, peaceful race not being much for fighting, meaning that hostages were certainly a danger. There were only two ways off, the central highway which bisected Isle Sass's large town of closely-packed mostly-two and three story buildings and tight streets with large palm trees and other tropical vegetation scattered about in the urban environment. Then there was the boat basin, which had a mix of primitive and advanced boats, some of which were quite fast. But the Crossroads troops were not intending on letting this individual get away.

And frankly, the dozen spec-ops operators knew that their rank-and-file troops had a habit of not taking prisoners when the aggressor attacked civilians, most-likely because of anger but partially because in their wargames they fought to the simulated "death", afraid of their officers' and senior NCO's wrath if they threw in the towel and surrendered. But the brass wanted this survivor alive, and Tier-1 operators rarely failed. However Alask could sense something, a feeling he rarely felt, his Force-sensitivity was no secret, and some research on the Holonet had given him some insight into these feelings he got every so often, if he remembered correctly, he was sensing a dangerous force-sensitive being right now. But after alerting his team he locked his emotions down, getting into the zone as the large dropship settled into its low-altitude holding pattern.

The plan was simple, the large ground forces were set up sweeping lines and would start to move and clear, house-by-house, room-by-room. When they found or flushed out their quarry Alask and his team would swoop in to make the catch. This would be helped by the presence of large numbers of standard-issue large and powerful "Sentinel" Security/Combat Droids and the small but lethal "Sentry" Combat Droids organically attached to platoons and companies which would provide excellent sensor sweeps and could recon out potentially dangerous areas without risking the troops themselves, and if necessary, be on point for the final assault.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk had broken into someonecs house. By the looks of things they had lived alone. These beings were strange. Eskk had never seen anything like them before. It was a light green and stubby looking creature. It also had some type of tree on its head. Eskk was a master assassin and this thing didnt seem to be trained in combat at all. So, it was fairly easy to get the jump on it. Eskk wondered about these creatures, but he didnt have the time to ponder too much on the subject.

Of course, Eskk hadn't bothered to question the being about his life before tackling him and eating his brain. He was up in his bedroom now going through his closet. There wasn't a lot of variety in his style choices. After selecting a casual shirt and a pair of pants, that were a size or two too wide, Eskk discarded his clothing and facemask on the floor.

Eskk didn't like leaving the facemask behind, but they had all seen it. Where as no one would be looking for a pale man with a big nose, he hoped. Eskk went down to the man's garage. Inside there was a new speeder. The keys to it hung up by the door.

Eskk's sensory organs were picking something up. There was a force sensitive nearby. Eskk assumed ot was probably someone deployed to hunt him. He had to get out of here, but he couldnt panic or rush. Panicking and rushing were how you got caught.

The speeder was a little flashy for Eskk's taste, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Eskk unlocked the speeder and opened the garage. He pulled out slow, making sure to close the garage behind him.

Eskk was trying to appear normal, so when he left the driveway, he left at a low speed. There was no fugitive escaping custody here. There was just a pale man with a big nose going for a nice drive through the neighborhood. At least, that's what he hoped it would look like to anyone watching.

Alask Terrano

 

[Alask Terrano]

When the speeder entered the road it immediately found itself driving towards a staggered column of Crossroads regular troops about thirty meters away. They were well-equipped and well-armed, and by their movements and reactions, they were even better-trained, easily on par with the training of, and in many respects, superior to, many superpowers' armies. There were two squads here, each of which were organized into four-man fireteams plus a squad leader and a medic, each having a variant of the standard-issue blaster rifle of the Crossroads Republic Army, the CBR-800, with one having an extended and heavier barrel plus a larger power cell and a folding bipod and 8x scope, another having a Viper 2 Underbarrel Grenade Launcher on his blaster (an old but tried and true weapon), a third having an RPS-50 Missile Launcher slung on their back, and a fourth who had a fairly-standard setup with each of the last three having a x4 scope and other attachments of their own personal choice. Each man also had a CDP-10 Blaster Pistol in a holster type and location of their choice.

Their initial appearance must have been surprising for someone not familiar with Crossroads troops. They were remarkably well-equipped, with strong body armor (C-TPCS Trooper Plate Carrier System), strong helmets (ACH-50 Combat Helmet System), and most striking of all exoskeleton rigs (C-TER Crossroads Trooper Exoskeleton Rig) equipping each soldier. Their helmets and uniforms, C-CU's, were in the standard woodland style of the Crossroads Army: Pattern 1. On their backs an antennae poked up with an actively-broadcasting RDEJ Mk. VII jammer being on their backs. Their faces were masked by their CRAF I-HUD's which picked out the vehicle, and the fact it was on the street when a curfew was now in effect, thanks to the attack, caused the vehicle to be flagged and blink red on the troopers' HUD's. The squad was also joined in its blocking position by a pair of "Sentry" Combat Droids hovering over the column in the middle of the road, a pair of Model 1 "Sentinel" Combat Droids, and a pair of Model 2 "Sentinel" Combat Droids all staggered at the front and rear of their squads with the Model 1's in front and the Model 2's in the rear. The three different droids joined their ten biological squad-mates in leveling their weapons at the speeder, and the lead squad leader yelled out at the vehicle.

"Halt that vehicle!" the man said, holding his left hand up in the universal symbol of stop while he kept his right hand around the pistol group of his blaster.

Up in the air, the "Comet" Dropship holding the Crossroads special forces team was vectored in, but it was about a minute away, having been in the southern end of the island in its holding pattern.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

"Stang," Eskk thought as he saw the troops. One of them had ordered him to stop. What was he going to do now? There was only really one option. Even if the speeder would hold up to the blaster fire, he couldnt see himself outrunning the rocket launcher. He pulled the speeder over and parked it sideways.

Eskk got out on the opposite side of the crossroads troops. They were obviously highly organized and we'll trained to counter normal threats. Eskk wasnt a normal threat. Eskk called on the force to throw the speeder at the pair of droids in front of the formation. At the same time, he used it to enhance his spped as he ran for the cover of the houses.

Eskk drew his lightsaber as he ran and would use it to deflect any blaster fire that came his way. These guys were serious about catching him. Eskk would have to be careful from now on.

 

[Alask Terrano]

The speeder flipped end over end. The two Sentinels at the front locked their feet into place and their single-barrel EM-2500's and wrist-mounted grenade launcher and blaster began to engage the vehicle coming at them, tearing the vehicle apart, sending shards pinging off the road and their armor as the troops ducked for cover and the remains of the vehicle impacted the two droids and they shrugged their way through the flaming wreckage and their programming forced them to give chase as the two Model 2 "Sentinel" droids chased behind them. Above them the two "Sentry" droids chased immediately and each droid's four HOB/F Heavy Repeating Blasters began to open fire in a stream of lethal yellow blaster bolts. The troops chased as well, one of the four rocketeers unslinging his missile launcher and shouldering it after clicking the safety off.

"Clear back-blast!" the soldier called out.

"Clear!" his battle buddy called back after checking to be sure there wasn't a threat to anyone behind him.

"Rocket!" the man said and pulled the trigger.

The rocket fired, accelerating to 300 meters per second with the weapon aiming for an explosion above his target which would send shrapnel into his target's face. The explosion was powerful, the High-Explosive Dual Purpose warhead blowing out the side of the building in front of Essk in a curtain of debris and smoke.

The "Comet" Dropship holding the spec ops team now came within sight, although they weren't ready to deploy quite yet. But Alask had seen the speeder get launched, and knew that they were dealing with a Force-sensitive, further instilling his doubt that this was a pirate. No, he was leaning towards a state actor, or at least state-sponsored.

"Dagger Team, be advised we're dealing with a Force-sensitive HVT, keep your distance when we engage, right now the ground-pounders are in pursuit, reinforcements are moving to constrict the perimeter, prepare for deployment," he called out to his team, and his HUD blinked eleven times from his teammates nonverbal acknowledgement, knowing he was listening the busy comms going on right now at the higher command levels.

 

[Zela Urrin]

Zela rushed into the spaceport after driving her speeder practically up onto the sidewalk and drew her pistol, unsure if anyone had infiltrated the facility during the assault. With blaster pistol held tight the beautiful but now armed agent rushed into the main entrance. There was a series of loud bangs behind her and she turned around and saw that a dozen "Sentinel" droids, Shipboard Security Models in blue and white police markings, were now arriving after taking flight and landing on the duracrete surface.

Knowing that these law enforcement droids (although they were technically military grade) had her back she made a beeline for the spaceport where the rebels had been. Fire was raging nearby as firefighter speeders hovering high in the air now began to arrive en masse and police speeders and ambulances with sirens blazing were heard pulling up into the parking lot where she'd just come from. Zela opened the door to the spaceport where the rebels' ship was and saw her contacts.

"You alright?" she called over to them, lowering her blaster to the low-ready position.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Darlyn Excron Kahlil Noble Kalic Daws Curtis Learchin LE-03 (Leigh)

 

[Eskk Jannik]

As soon as Eskk began to run, the troops and droids opened fire. Eskk assumed they would do that. As soon as he heard the sound of the the first blaster bolt he began to move in a zigzag pattern towards his target. Still Eskk had to activate his second lightsaber to keep all the blaster fire away.

He heard a rocket launch. He hadnt been expecting that. He instinctively went into a barrel roll as the rocket exploded on the corner of a building above him. His roll carried him past the explosion and between the buildings, but he still felt the impact of several pieces of shrapnel.

They pierced his back and legs. None of them were big enough to do any real damage, but Eskk still bled and ir still hurt. Eskk allowed the pain to fuel his rage and he drew on that to keep going. Eskk was starting to feel like his chances of escape were low.

Still, he couldnt simply surrender so he ran between the buildings trying to put distance between himself and his pursuers. He knew it would eventually come to a point where he would either die or surrender and if Eskk had a choice, he wouldnt give up his life for the people he claimed to serve.

Alask Terrano