Skirmish Part 2: The Mirror Looking Back [Darkwire & Mandalorian Union]

[Gray Venasir]

It shouldn't have been a surprise that other people Gray knew showed up at the Blue Flame at this hour. From what he had heard, all of Darkwire had been hit by doubles who attacked their reputation. So it was only natural that others had seen the CryptNet messege and come to answer it. "Hey," he answered Ruby nonchalantly. It hit him moments later that it would seem weird to the others that knew him that he was sitting there with a young girl. A young girl who looked a lot like him. "Try to keep your head down," he told his clone.

When the Chiss woman came out, and addressed them, Gray had to admit he was surprised. Chiss were reclusive by nature, and mostly kept to themselves, so seeing one of them here, and speaking to them about the Darkwire copies, was a big shock. Though it faded in comparison to what she told them. The copies weren't real, organic. Simply droids, made to look exactly like their organic counterparts. But act opposite of what they would.

Now, it seemed like the surprises were over, as it was expected that the DireX was involved in some way. Even if they didn't know it themselves. Gray looked at the blueprints that had been sent to everyone's datapads. A big factory, probably well defended. But very much possible to assault.

But before he could take a close look at it, the communicator in Gray's ear vibrated. He touched the button that activated it. "So, I guess you know now," came the voice from the comm. "I'm a droid." It was still weird to hear his own voice comming from another being. "How do you know?" asked Gray quietly, so only he and Gina could hear it. "You here in the cantina too? You know what, nevermind. Why have you contacted me?" The Replicant laughed. "Why do you think? I know that there is talk about attacking a certain factory in there. I have a feeling it will all be a decoy, or maybe a trap. Anyway, you have to spring this trap. Attack the factory, get inside, and do what has to be done. I'll contact you closer to the assault. If you need incentive to go through with it, know that I have found out more about your clone situation. I'll tell you what I know once the attack is in motion." And with that, the conversation ended.

Gray looked down at Gina. "I guess you heard that," he asked. She nodded, without saying a word. Finding out about the whole cloning thing was important to both of them. They had to go through with this. "Stay here," he told her. Then he got up, and walked towards where a very colorful woman was standing, who had just spoken her oppinion about this. "I suggest we split into two groups. One who will distract any guards that might be there, and one who will sneak inside. Either that, or a full blown assault." He spun around to addres everyone present, and raised his voice."Anyone who wants to join in infiltrating this place, speak up!"

Ruby Jaxx | Daiya | Xan Deesa | Cartri Keswoll | Cassus Akovin | Zo'i Prihm | Sentiri

 

[Daiya]

[Post Soundtrack: "The Grey" by Icon for Hire]​

Other beings milled about the bar, but the girl didn't pay them any mind. Daiya didn't want to. Her sullen mood was like a cloud, closing in around her to paint the world in a gloomy light, drenching it all in shades of unpalatable greys. It was easy to ignore, even if the presence of those greys weighed on her. But that, Daiya did want right now. If her world felt as heavy as she did, maybe things would start to make sense.

A familiar voice didn't rouse her from the melancholy. It took until someone sat down across from her, the cheery tone of the Zeltron girl alighting on the young shadowrunner's ears. Daiya looked up with just her eyes, shutting them for a moment as if she could just block out the blue-haired girl's presence. After a moment or two, she opened them, sighing to herself at the sight she expected to find anyway. "Go away, Zo'i."

Daiya must have been about as depressed as Zo’i felt. Times a thousand, maybe. The past few months had been stressful, occasionally horrific, and certainly traumatic for the Zeltron teenager. But Zo’i still managed to put on her face. That face you use when you want everyone to think you’re ok just so they don’t feel obligated to give you the “Oh my stars, are you alright? What’s wrong?” pile of poodoo that you really don’t want to talk about. Daiya either did not have the masking-her-emotions skill, or she wanted to talk about whatever was going on.

And Zo’i could talk. And she needed a friend. So like it or not, Daiya was going to get it.

”Noop,” Zo’i said and booped Daiya’s nose with her pointer finger. ”So look. You’re down, duh. You feel like crap, obvs. You’re gonna tell me you don’t wanna talk about it, been there. Let’s just skip all that, ok? I’ll pretend everything is just gems for you and instead tell you how lame it’s been that you haven’t written to me over the last couple weeks. I’m dying out here, girl.”

Daiya's nose tingled from where Zo'i had touched it, and she brought up a hand to rub it away. The fast-talking girl across from her was trying hard to pull some some kind of engagement out of the blonde-haired teen. Daiya groaned to herself, loud enough that she was sure Zo'i could hear it. The girl didn't care. She wasn't in the mood to share her space, much less her feelings.

"It's not going to work," Daiya told her blue-haired friend, lifting her head up off her hands to look at the other girl. Since when was Zo'i the magic wizard of cheeriness, anyway? All Daiya wanted to do was to hear what this expert had to say, and then go back to being miserable. Couldn't she just have that? "I've just been sorting out some stuff, okay?"

”Also, duhhh. If this was the mood you put on every Taungsday, no one would even notice by now.” Zo’i did feel bad though. It hurt to see other people in pain, especially friends. Though she wasn’t quite aware when that had started being a thing. She clearly remembered not caring all too much about getting other kids in trouble while in school. Though, perhaps, she always knew that wasn’t serious. Denon was always serious. Such gloom all the time. Daiya was typically a more cheerful part of the experience. But not today.
”Here’s the thing. You can keep not talking about whatever you’ve got going on all you want to. But the more you hold it in, the more you’re really going to want to tell me. And not because you actually want to talk about it. But because it’ll just feel better to have it falling out of your mouth than stuck up in your brain, getting moldy. So if you want to let it out? I’m here. And I won’t say a thing.”

"Oh my staaaaars, Zo'i. Is that what it's going to take for everyone to leave me alone?!" Daiya demanded, unfolding herself so she could turn to face Zo'i properly and place her palms on the table. The Zeltron girl didn't seem intimidated by Daiya's posture, or she hid it well. The Human teen didn't care, she had spent days sussing out motivations and trying to figure out who to trust. If Zo'i just wanted to pester her, then she would give the wannabe therapist something to chew on. "I forgot Tawrro's birthday on Primeday. I stubbed my toe on the way in here. And I think I have a crush on Cassus and I hate myself for it. There, that's three things, alright? Now leave me alone!"

Zo’i frowned but nodded. Those things all strung a true chord. Which meant that whatever Daiya was holding onto was pretty heavy. But she could only push her friend so much. ”You want me to drop it? I’ll drop it. Not another word. But I guarantee you won’t feel better until you let it out. Even just a little. And I’m not gonna leave you alone. At least not completely. Just not about that. Whatever that is.”

Heads around the two girls started to turn and Zo’i joined, head swiveling to see a blue-skinned woman descending from the second floor of the cantina-slash-restaurant-slash-night-club-thing. ”Looks like you’re in luck. A distraction!” Zo’i flashed her friend a grin.

Not so nonchalantly, she pulled out and thumbed her commlink, turning away from Daiya and speaking under her breath. ”Hey. I think the person just showed up. Whoever sent the message to gather here. She’s a Pantoran, I think. But her eyes are crazy red, like… glowy.”

Zo’i expected an immediate response. At least an acknowledgement. But none came over the comm. ”You there?”

”Chiss.”

”Did you just hiss at me? What are you, a Trandoshan? Did you have enough caf this morning?”

”Chiss. Not Pantoran. She’s a Chiss.”

”Ohhh. Huh. That’s new. To me. Anyway, she’s starting. I’ll leave it on so you can listen in.”

Zo’i left the button depressed, but as the door locked, she didn’t notice the red send/receive light turn off.

When the Zeltron girl turned away, Daiya took it as an opportunity to dismiss her words. A hollow threat? An empty promise? The girl didn't care. She curled back up on the booth, folding herself over her knees as she spied the arrival of some newcomer to the bar. Arriving from above, the blue-skinned woman drew the curious eyes of the melancholy teen, who didn't expect the mysterious expert to be so familiar with Shenn to have run of the Blue Flame's less public areas.

There was no question about the woman's level of knowledge. Jumping straight into a presentation, the polished slideshow looking quite disgustingly Corporate however, the facts presented lined up too well with what Daiya's double had told her. A chill ran through her spine, not at the CorpSec woman's thin attempt at intimidation, but rather that it confirmed just how significant the arrival of the doppelgängers were. If CorpSec was this frightened, then however tangled the Corpos were in these replicants, the plot ran deep enough to keep even their lawbeings in the dark.

Deep enough to turn her Wookiee companion into a double agent, too.

It was hard to feel more the constant throb of pain that had been the girl's life since her machine double had confronted her with the truth. But learning about the factory that was building the replicants gave her a new target for the hurt. To contemplate Tawrro's betrayal was a feat beyond her imagination, but a factory? A physical location she could seek out and damage? Something, or someone, she could hurt in return? Daiya's eyes found a new gleam as she lifted her head, looking at the faces around her.

Daiya didn't see anyone with an opposing viewpoint. For the first time in a few days, the girl smiled. "I'll be there. Put me anywhere, I don't care, just give me a chance to kark up that factory."

Before Zo’i had a chance to check in with Rhé, she heard Daiya’s nonsense. She also knew that nothing she did was going to stop her friend from doing something stupid. ”And I’m going with you,” she chimed in, her enthusiasm covering up her worry and her own problems. But…

”Hey, Rhé? Did you catch all that? Rhé?”

Sentiri Xan Deesa Gray Venasir Cartri Keswoll Ruby Jaxx Cassus Akovin Zo'i Prihm​

OOC: Written jointly with Zo'i Prihm .

 

[Spark]

BING

"Damn it! What now?" Spark snapped as he held a street thug in a chokehold. "Would you hold on for a moment while I get this?" Spark asked. Not waiting for an answer the Shadowrunner reached for his datapad with one hand, opening the most recent message:

"Seeing double? Need answers? Find some at the Blue Flame. Offer ends in one hour."

Spark smirked as he returned the data pad to his pocket. "Hey by chance do you know the one about the man who was at a loss for words?" Spark asked as the man struggled to get out of his grasp. "No? Well I'll tell you. It's because he was unconscious." Spark said as he applied pressure and chocked the thug out.

He sighed and shook his head. "What, not funny?" Spark asked the man, but upon further inspection, the man appeared to be unconscious. "Oh!...oh right." Spark dropped the man and sighed. "Hopefully this contact proves informative." Spark mused as he began to make his way to The Blue Flame.

...

Some time later the masked man stood silently as a Chiss Corpo launched into all the intel they had on the doppelganger problem that Darkwire had been facing. The Shadowrunner had no love for the Corpos of Denon, but he couldn't deny that their information would be a major help even if it did seem a bit weird.

As soon as she finished she exited the building. Without another thought, Spark made his way to the bar and stood next to Xan Deesa and Cartri Keswoll .

"I see you found a new sidekick, what got tired of my jokes?" Spark said as he leaned against the counter.

"Anyway. I'm game for whatever. As long as there's no surprise explosions." Spark said with a chuckle and glance to Xan. Either way, Spark was prepared for whatever action the group decided to take.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

​

Cassus listened to the blue woman speak and detail a target for Darkwire. It all felt familiar to him somehow, but he dismissed the notion. The boy Bounty Hunter had been on dozens of Darkwire missions, it was only a matter of time before they started to bleed together into one long mess. Eventually, it seemed like everyone present were motivated to take the job, even looking to one another about what sort of plan they should have going in to hit this place.

Splitting up seemed to be the prevailing judgement, though Gray Venasir suggested a two part operation, a diversionary team and an infiltration team. He smiled underneath his mask, remembering the ill-fated mission he had been a part of to capture Valencia Hadley on Geonosis, a time before even hearing about Darkwire or the CAD government. It seemed so long ago, but in truth, it was still within recent memory.

It just so happened, that events have transpired quickly since that time, and in the interim, Cassus' own memories had been sufficiently meddled with that at times telling reality from fiction became a fools errand. Whether what he experienced was real or not, the boy was going to be motivated by one thing and only one thing: fixing the wrong in his world by whatever means necessary, especially violent ones.

"Speaking from experience, Gray, plans with diversions get messy quickly. We should all focus our efforts into getting inside, and then unleashing hell on whatever is waiting for us in there. I recommend we get eyes inside if anyone knows their way around the Net, get an idea of what we're dealing with." He stood up once again from his booth, "Multiple groups with small numbers seems wise. Any of you are welcome to join me, otherwise I'm going in alone."

​

Cassus arrived at his rendezvous point.

Both of them did. Separately of course.

\>>Were you successful in separating the Darkwire response<< \>My success was never in doubt< \>Are you in position< \>>My success was never in doubt<< \>Shut up Mark II< \>It is because of your obsolescence that this operation has started in the first place< \>You have lost the right to speak to me or any other Mark III< \>Prepare for decommission<

The Mark III Cassus came shrouded in a holographic disguise matrix, serving as a makeshift active camouflage, hovering through the darkness with a repulsorpack. Spotting the replicant was going to be tricky at any range, though this was especially true of long range. There were certain obvious work arounds an intelligent operative would be able to pick out, such as thermal imaging, and ordinarily the Corporate Mooks the Bounty Hunter was typically engaged with were not known for their technical or tactical brilliance. Who they were dealing with were not typical, however, and the Mandalorians were in for an interesting time, as two sets of the same Darkwire were converging to sabotage this facility.

With this in mind, and with his objective to expose Darkwire, the replicant Cassus reviewed his memory banks all the embarrassing ways in which he could leave himself exposed. Apparently, the boy had a real knack for inexplicably breaking technology without touching it, whether that be his own or someone else threatening him. So now was the time to simulate the 'bad luck' Cassus had been subjected to in the past.

As he was hovering into the facility, his repulsorpack suddenly failed...

"Kark!" He exclaimed as he suddenly plummeted to the ground with a hard rolling impact, easily heard by any nearby. Suddenly a round of some kind impacted the ground nearest to him. Spotted. Good, their reaction times are exemplary. The droid thought as it fell behind cover...

Zephyr Krayt

 

[Zephyr Krayt]

For a moment, he wondered whether those who were supposed to be converging at the building had been given the wrong information or if they failed to show up. If they knew about the strong presence of Mandalorians in the facility then the latter would be wise but until the Union were informed otherwise then those stationed outside would stay in place.

It was quiet below but that was not a sure sign that all was well. He scanned below using the infrared function in his helmet, his finger hovering over the trigger of the sniper as there was sometimes only an opportunity window of a few seconds, though the added benefit was that he remained largely hidden at such a range and position. However, he was not invisible and the act of firing the weapon would alert any keen observer to his position.

The Mandalorian was watching another area when a sudden noise alerted him to the presence of someone below. His attention immediately snapped to it and he could see the outline of a person on the floor. He immediately activated the commlink in his helmet to inform those inside while he aimed for the figure. ::They're here. Get ready.:: He told his allies a moment before shooting towards the figure on the ground but missed him by a few feet. "Haar'chak." He muttered, remaining in place in case the figure revealed themselves again. Although the danger was now his location had been revealed if the trajectory of the shot was anything to go by.

Cassus Akovin

 

[Zamas Nall]

"The attack is expected to start soon, Bursar," said the Sephi into his commlink, to Qanatain Xopsaloff.

Zamas Nall had placed himself in one of the offices overlooking a big part of the factory belonging to Marlene Starlight, which was now filled with Mandalorians. Qanatain Xopsaloff, one of the DireX members who had staged the upcoming attack, and who was behind the whole 'replicant' project, had wanted to have a pair of eyes inside the factory. Xopsaloff didn't have many people that were loyal to him, outside the paychacks he could provide, or the repayment of debts he would collect. And of the few who were loyal to him, Nall was the only one capable of staying hidden, and properly defend himself or play a doubl-agent should he be discovered.

Zamas had worked for Qanatain for a short while now, and quickly rose in the ranks. He was now among Xopsaloff's most trusted. It was about a month after he was introduced to the terrorist group Darkwire that he had met Xopsaloff. On a botched heist on one of the smaller banks on Denon, Zamas had been captured. But before he was, 14 of the guards had been killed by him singelhandedly. After, he was brought to Qanatain. He had expected to be tortured to death, or at the very least sent to a slave-mine on a far-away planet. But no, Xopsaloff had offered him a job. Security-overseer of one of his banks. Zamas had accepted the job, and improved on the security system tremendously. And always shown his loyalty towards the Bursar. It had only been natural, it was him who had given Zamas a new chance. And now, he was the personal guard, agent, and sometimes advisor, to the Muun.

"The Mandalorians have taken up positions all around, I have the cameras set and ready to transmit any footage to you."

It was still early for a coordinated attack to begin, but if anyone came alone, or in a small group, it would be possible. After a moment, a gunshot could be heard from one of the audio-recievers. But it was faint, so it wasn't close to the reciever. Still, it proved that things had begin. "And so it begins."

 

[Zo'i Prihm]

The outside of the factory was as still as a graveyard. It looked empty, the workers still hours away from returning for the morning shift, even the giant smokestacks for exhaust were cold. Only the ring of security lights still gave any appearance of life, but lights and the automated system monitoring them were not enough to stop her from breaking in.

Daiya wasn't alone tonight, but her thoughts were still centered on her own abilities. Pacing once around the building had discovered a small flaw, a flickering security light, that offered the chance to get inside without waiting on any of the tech interference Xan had promised back at the Blue Flame. There was only one problem, the girl noted as she spied the approach of someone coming around the side of the factory.

Make that two.

The young shadowrunner shifted uncomfortably as the Zeltron girl slurped on her iced caf drink. Daiya was watching someone approach the flickering light through the zoomed sights of her facemask, and a someone that looked too well armored to just be a random passerby. She cringed at the loud noise of Zo'i behind her, certain that the armored guard had looked their way for a moment. When it was clear he was continuing on, the girl turned back to her companion to hiss, "Are you trying to get us killed? Ditch the straw!"

Ptoo.

The straw plopped to the ground and Zo'i set down the still covered beverage by a very particular corner. She looked around to memorize it's position with every intention to come back for the iced caf. "It was your idea to stop for drinks," Zo'i said, matching Daiya's volume. "Thanks for treating, by the way."

Of course, Daiya hadn't intended to treat both of them. The human teen had asked how much she owed and Zo'i told her an amount. It was Daiya's fault for being too distracted to notice. If her friend wouldn't listen to reason and recognize that she was not in a good place and needed to figure stuff out, then Zo'i would make it perfectly clear through every example in her arsenal.

Zo'i was a little distracted herself, because Rhé had seemed distracted. Zo'i had to knock on the window of the speeder to get her guardian's attention. Then the Zeltron teen received a line that Rhé had to check something out and zoomed off, just leaving Zo'i a blaster and telling her to be careful. Zo'i had no idea what to do with a blaster. But at least she could try and keep Daiya from doing anything stupid.

"What's the plan again?" Zo'i remembered the plan... Mostly. She only asked to make sure Daiya remembered. And maybe actually stuck to it.

Daiya rolled her eyes at Zo'i's question, but quickly focused them again on the guard. He —they, the armor obscured the being's identity completely— approached the flickering light, and set down something that looked like a toolbox. Well, chit. The girl pulled out her 434 blaster, propping it up on the supply crate they were hiding behind. "We have to get into the factory. That light is our best shot, but that guard is about to kill it."

She gestured woefully at the guard fiddling with the light's box, and then turned to her blaster. The blonde-haired teen leaned into the weapon's sight, it wasn't a sniper rifle, but she could still count on a straight shot from it at their close range. The targeting systems of her suit and facemask were trying to help, but Daiya closed one eye off from them, relying on her own skill and intuition instead to—

The shot rang out in the dead of night, and Daiya winced at the sound of it. It pinged off the helmet of the guard, who dropped to a crouch in response. Chit, chit, chit! The girl opened her other eye, letting the suit's systems help her line up the next shot. It hit dead on between the gaps in the guard's armor, dropping them for good. She held her breath for a moment, waiting for an alarm to start or someone else to come running.

Nothing happened.

Daiya let out her breath, relief flooding through her. That did little to dim the measure of anxiety in her body. Her constant state of awareness, and the habit of wearing the combat suit under her clothes for the past few days, had the girl unwittingly prepped for tonight's excursion. But that came with a lack of sleep and a tension she could feel all over, pushing the teen to the edge. The iced caf could only do so much for her, Daiya hoped she would last the night.

"Alright, that gives us our opening. If we time it right," Daiya wasn't about to risk another blaster shot now, they would have to just beat the flicker as is. "we can get to that vent cover behind the light. It should be big enough for us to fit, and take us inside the building."

Zo'i stared at the unmoving body for a moment before she put it out of her mind and nodded. Get in and check things out. Not get caught up in a firefight. Don't die. Not necessarily in that order. The flicker was just slow enough where the two girls should be able to dart across the space getting cover behind various alcoves and strewn equipment and material.

Breathing out through her mouth silently and breathing in through her nose, Zo'i prepped herself for the exercise in nimbleness. This, at least, was something in which she had lots of practice: being sneaky. She peaked around and, seeing no one in sight, made for the next hidey-hole, a powered down lifter droid. Taking another look, and still seeing nothing, she motioned Daiya to follow and the two teens made their way across the machineyard.

Daiya ran full-tilt from the last hidey-hole before the lights, not even pausing to slow down until a step before the wall. She let her arms slam into the vent cover to bring her momentum to a stop, feeling the force of it ricochet up her limbs and rattle her teeth. The teen shook her head, trying to clear away the haze of one bad decision after another. The light flickered on just after she and Zo'i cleared it, giving them a moment to pause and catch their breath.

"Don't move yet," Daiya cautioned, as if that wasn't already obvious. She wasn't ready to move yet anyway, but the girl made herself ready. Slowly, she crouched to the ground, waiting in the tiniest bit of shade afforded to them before the light's betraying rays. Then it flickered again, giving her the chance to crawl out and grab the guard's toolbox, jerking it out from under the shoulder of the corpse back towards them.

The young shadowrunner didn't look at the lifeless body she had stolen from, twice now. She just opened the box, finding a couple spanners inside, and handed one up to Zo'i, "Here, you start at the top."

Zo'i took the spanner. As quiet as could be, Zo'i unconsciously muttered "Righty-tighty, lefty loosey." The bolts on the vent grate popped off and Daiya's did too. She lifted and pulled the grate to the side and crawled into the new entry, very much hoping this air duct path wasn't going to lead them directly to a complete drop.

A laundry chute, though? Yes. Bring on the slide! "Come on. Hurry up. And close the grate behind you," Zo'i told the other girl.

Daiya climbed into the duct behind the pink-skinned girl. Nodding to her partner in crime, she lifted up the grate with a grunt, foisting it into place against the vent opening. She didn't have anything to secure it with, except its own weight against the opening. That would have to be enough.

"Yeah, yeah. Whose brilliant plan was this, anyway?" Daiya pointed out, not really joking. She was straining her limits tonight, her typical cheeriness was a world away. "Let's go scope out this factory."

OOC: Written jointly with Daiya .

Opponent Tags: Mig Gred | Tamar Gred

Spoiler: Zo'i's Equipment

Some random holdout blaster that Zo'i is carrying in her pocket like that's how it's supposed to be carried.

Spoiler: Daiya's Equipment

Equipment: Phase I Powderpunk Armor, Phase I Powderpunk Facemask, Raven Knife, 434 Blaster Pistol, Deactivator Hold-Out Blaster, View Masker, Interference Box, Holojournal

 

[Xan Deesa]

Xan listened to what each person had to say, giving a light nod before glancing at Gray and Cartri. "Yeah splitting up works best. Gray, you can take whoever you want, I'll handle the distractions and stuff. Cartri can come with me for the time being." she agreed before glancing at the door as another person entered. Her eyes lit up and her mask curled into a wicked grin as she watched Spark approach. A soft giggle escaped her as she leaned in dangerously close to his face with narrowed eyes, her smile unwavering. "Well I had to get my fix of bad jokes from somewhere." she quipped before glancing at Cartri. "Spark, this is Cartri. My roommate. Cartri, this is Spark. He's a friend of mine." she introduced them quickly before giving each of them a light slap on the chest. "Alright, let's move out. Gray, I'll hit you up when you can move in." she commented as she headed for the exit, only stopping to get his comm details. "Let's keep it a secure channel, we don't need people listening in on us."

On the way there she bought a bacon burger for her, Spark and Cartri then led the way to the factory. When they neared the area, she made her way to a nearby signal tower that likely supplied the entire suburb with access to the holonet and every other necessity. She quickly got to work on linking her datapad with the terminal. "Okay, let's get a lay of the land. The more info we can give Gray's team, the smoother this operation will go." she explained to the two. After fiddling with the datapad, she managed to break into the camera systems of the facility. What she saw was not at all what she expected...

"Mandos?" she asked with surprise in her wide eyes. "What the kriff are Mandos doing... wait, what's that?" she commented, tapping to zoom one specific camera's view. It was... Cassus. But it didn't make sense, he was with Gray's group just a bit ago. Suspicions arose and, coupled with the sight of Mandalorians, she could feel herself growing a bit worked up. "Kark's sake... Spark, let Gray know that we've got a hell of a challenge ahead of us. I'm gonna try to mess around with stuff." she instructed. "Cartri, sit tight. Once their stuff's jammed, I want you to go in through the back and see if you can kark up the facility's power and stuff."

With everything set, she got to work. First thing was communication... and on a place like Denon, not every off-worlder took into account the resourcefulness of closed and secured links. If the Mandalorians' comms systems weren't fully secured, she'd use the tower's range to tap into it. On their end, their comms would suddenly chime in at full volume playing a song on a non-stop loop with no way to bypass it other than to shut off their comms. She took it one step further and linked to every device in that building that had a send/receive signal. And given how many wireless systems the warriors had on their armour, that might be a problem. She kept working, singling out what appeared to be their most iconic devices. With the tap of a button, she would activate each person's jetpack -including Cassus'- in that building to send them flying around until they discarded their devices or the fuel ran out.

However as she worked on causing as much havoc for them as possible to try and give Gray's team a chance, a thought came to mind. Was Venku in there? With a deep frown on her brow she flipped back to the security footage in order to try and look for him but to no avail. She decided to open her messenger again and sent him a simple message.

::Are you in that facility, Venku?::

Daiya Gray Venasir Spark Cartri Keswoll Zamas Nall Cassus Akovin Zo'i Prihm Ruby Jaxx
Zephyr Krayt Aerith Krayt Venku Bralor Kovhorn Sera Sen Mig Gred Tamar Gred

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Cartri nodded in agreement to Xan's proposition to stick with her for the time being, even if he was bound to separate from her eventually. Xan was almost guaranteed to send him out on his own to prove that he could handle independently, after all he had been training for this moment for months. Suddenly, Xan seemed to laugh at something as her attention diverted to the door where a strange looking looking cybernetic man stood before them. They both seemed to joke around with each other before Xan introduced them both, forcing Cartri to offer a smirk and a small nod "Good to meet you Sparky" said the boy as he offered his hand out for him to shake. At least the guy had some sense of humour in him.

Soon enough, the small group were out of the bar and into the streets once more, on their way towards the factory he had heard all about. Although, on the way there Xan generously bought them all a bacon burger that tasted like heaven in his mouth. He could see why they kept on coming back to the same stall, it was almost addicting in a way. Once they had all finished eating their delicious food they wondered over to the facility and awaited close to the area, where Xan made the most of her hacking skills by tapping into their comms. Although, when she checked the cameras a shocking discovery was made. Mandalorians armed to the teeth were guarding the facility, something which worried Cartri greatly. It was surely not normal for them to be here, so why out of all days were they guarding the one place they wanted to dismantle. Something clearly wasn't right....

Even with the Mandolorians, he was certain Darkwire and himself were going to get the job done and end the nightmare of cloning once and for all. Yet, it was pretty obvious the whole thing was going to be a uphill battle "You got it" nodded the boy from Xan's order to go around the back and cause chaos from inside. His theory was correct, today was the day he does it alone. Xan took a few minutes to get into their systems before playing a barrage of inspirational music through their comms, preventing them from communicating all together as well as unexpected jetpack problems. He looked up to his mentor and smirked "Good luck you two, I'll make sure to make things easier for you old timers" he said with a small chuckle before sneaking off on his own, dead set on completing his mission.

He walked normally through the streets as he tried to remember the route to the back door ventilation shaft. On the blue print that was shown, there was a few scattered around the facility but the one at the back seemed to be like his best bet, since it was unlikely for it to be guarded that much. He kept his head low as he suddenly turned left down an alley towards the outer wall of the facility, where a decent sized building stood to his right. A tall ladder attached to the side made it easier for him to get up as he put one hand on the cold steel, not bothering to check his surroundings while he made his way to the top. A cold breeze immediately hit when he reached the summit, almost sending a shiver down his spine while he gazed around the roof for the vent. The roof seemed to be scattered with rubbish and a range of random tools that were abandoned on the floor, whatever they were doing up here was clearly left unfinished. Luckily for him the blueprints were accurate as he spotted the small vent not so far away and the size seemed to just be enough for him to fit through. But, he still wasn't very confident with the whole idea. When he got closer he noticed the vent went straight down like a slide, and almost seemed to disappear in a thick wall of darkness. Who knew what it led to in the end.

Cartri stood above the open vent and rolled up his jumper sleeves, almost in preparation of jumping into the unknown "Well, here goes nothing..." he muttered to himself before putting a hand on the top of the vent and beginning to kneel himself down.

Xan Deesa Spark Mig Gred​

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Ruby gave Gray Venasir a small nod. Keep your head down. Easy, right? The young woman slouched atop the bar stool, watching as a straight-backed Chiss woman came out to give them the information previously promised. A brow arched when the woman made it known that the copies were droids. So, now there was some... weird droid version of her running around?

She knew what she had to do: find it and kill it.

Her eyes shifted as Gray proposed splitting up into groups. She'd trusted the man before, and she'd do the same right now. “Alright,” she agreed. “Distracting guards... I think I can do that.”

She wasn't very stealthy, after all.

***

With a map on her datapad, she gave the approached the factory. As she saw it, she'd try to keep at least some of the guards busy to allow the others a chance to get inside. And if she was lucky, she'd be able to follow along and watch their backs. If she was lucky...

But luck was rarely on Ruby's side.

Reaching down, she lifted a blaster pistol from her belt and crouched as she approached the side of the factory. From where she was, she couldn't see anyone out and about on this side...

Opponent tag: Kovhorn [feel free to attack]

 

[Mig Gred]

Equipment: Lightsaber Trayc'kad, Echani Vibrosword, Mandalorian amor, Slick Anti-Acid Coat, Sith vibroknife, Nightbrother Fighting Knife, a pair of Taak'tabi

Mig looked at Tamar, slowly grabbing the pistol and turning it around. He could feel that she was nervous, a lot better than he could others actually. The Mando chuckled a little, patting her shoulder.

"Calm down, Ner Kar'ta. I can even feel it. Nine times out of ten nothing comes from these jobs." The of course... music? What the...? Mig looked at Tamar, then heard jet packs go off, followed by bangs and crashes. They weren't the ones in control. He looked around, trying to see if anything else was going on. That was just great. He looked at Tamar, then darted his head around.

"Me and my big mouth." He then looked around, closing his eyes as he cut off his comms unit and quickly took a chance to both listen and feel. He could feel... something in the vents. He looked up, pulling Tamar to one of the walls before gripping some venting with the Force and quickly pulling it down from the ceiling, making sure they didn't slam the floor at the same time.

"I really hope I'm wrong about this."

Tamar Gred Cartri Keswoll Daiya Venku Bralor

 

[Cassus Akovin]

For a moment, he wondered whether those who were supposed to be converging at the building had been given the wrong information or if they failed to show up. If they knew about the strong presence of Mandalorians in the facility then the latter would be wise but until the Union were informed otherwise then those stationed outside would stay in place.

It was quiet below but that was not a sure sign that all was well. He scanned below using the infrared function in his helmet, his finger hovering over the trigger of the sniper as there was sometimes only an opportunity window of a few seconds, though the added benefit was that he remained largely hidden at such a range and position. However, he was not invisible and the act of firing the weapon would alert any keen observer to his position.

The Mandalorian was watching another area when a sudden noise alerted him to the presence of someone below. His attention immediately snapped to it and he could see the outline of a person on the floor. He immediately activated the commlink in his helmet to inform those inside while he aimed for the figure. ::They're here. Get ready.:: He told his allies a moment before shooting towards the figure on the ground but missed him by a few feet. "Haar'chak." He muttered, remaining in place in case the figure revealed themselves again. Although the danger was now his location had been revealed if the trajectory of the shot was anything to go by.

Cassus Akovin

After fiddling with the datapad, she managed to break into the camera systems of the facility. What she saw was not at all what she expected...

"Mandos?" she asked with surprise in her wide eyes. "What the kriff are Mandos doing... wait, what's that?" she commented, tapping to zoom one specific camera's view. It was... Cassus. But it didn't make sense, he was with Gray's group just a bit ago. Suspicions arose and, coupled with the sight of Mandalorians, she could feel herself growing a bit worked up. "Kark's sake... Spark, let Gray know that we've got a hell of a challenge ahead of us. I'm gonna try to mess around with stuff." she instructed. "Cartri, sit tight. Once their stuff's jammed, I want you to go in through the back and see if you can kark up the facility's power and stuff."

With everything set, she got to work. First thing was communication... and on a place like Denon, not every off-worlder took into account the resourcefulness of closed and secured links. If the Mandalorians' comms systems weren't fully secured, she'd use the tower's range to tap into it. On their end, their comms would suddenly chime in at full volume playing a song on a non-stop loop with no way to bypass it other than to shut off their comms. She took it one step further and linked to every device in that building that had a send/receive signal. And given how many wireless systems the warriors had on their armour, that might be a problem. She kept working, singling out what appeared to be their most iconic devices. With the tap of a button, she would activate each person's jetpack -including Cassus'- in that building to send them flying around until they discarded their devices or the fuel ran out.

DARKWIRE:
Daiya Gray Venasir Spark Cartri Keswoll Zamas Nall
Xan Deesa
Zo'i Prihm Ruby Jaxx
MANDALORIANS:
Aerith Krayt Venku Bralor Kovhorn Sera Sen Mig Gred Tamar Gred
ENGAGING:
Zephyr Krayt

Cassus, or rather, his Mark II copy took cover behind an exterior building wall. The simulated Bounty Hunter pulled out a blaster rifle of his own, but did not break cover yet. After all, he didn't come alone.

The spitting images of Gray Venasir , and Rika came descending into their own positions some distance away on either side of him, each behind their own cover.

"What was that, Cassus?!" The Venasir copy dropped the camouflage, pointing in the direction of the sniper, and speaking through a secure comlink. The replicants face said frustration, even as the eyes said all was going according to plan. Jorj's ears on the other hand perked up.

"Do you guys hear music?" Jorj said before the androids did, in fact, hear music. Then, their Repulsor Packs engaged unexpectedly, silently moving upwards and quickly out of cover. Jorj and Cassus were still Camouflaged as they began to crest over their cover.

"Time to adapt!" The Cassus clone shouted as cybersecity protocols began to quarantine and purge its system of foreign signals, the temporary reboot cutting off communication. The Mark II outstretched a hand and a classic grappling line hooked itself around an antenna line, allowing the mechanical marksman to alter his trajectory in a wide arc as he unleashed automatic blaster fire with the other hand towards the last know position of the sniper his audio recepticals triangulation.

It was hoping the suppressive fire would allow the other replicants time to recover while they were exposed in the air, particularly the uncamoflaged highly visible Venasir.

Other copies of the Shadowrunners, such as Xan Deesa and Cartri Keswoll began an infiltration of their own, together coordinating a cyber-assualt on the facility sub-systems to start processes like activating forges without proper shielding, or diverting too much power to lighting, causing some of the fixtures to blow. All around the facility, it felt as if it was being attacked at once... nothing a Mandalorian wasn't already used to.

Meanwhile, the Mark III replicant of Cassus Akovin got into a comfortable position that Gray Venasir suggested he be in for the infiltration team. Holding a carefully calibrated slugthrower rifle, with an Argus Sight connected to about nine different surveillance drones feeding him footage from different fields of fire, each one helping him to calculate the best shot when be needed it or giving him general battlefield awareness, Cassus waited for further instructions from the Shadowrunner. Then the night got more interesting for them, as jetpacks and blasters went off in the night, as engines roared to life and lights went out.

The assault was underway to glorious music.

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Cartri carefully lowered himself into the vent and pushed himself down into the dark abyss, sliding down the slippery slope of the shaft back first. Every turning was a nightmare as he crashed side first into each corner, forcing a grunt to come out of his lips as he tried his best to see where he was going "What the hell was I drinking when I thought of doing this?" he said to himself before bumping loudly into the vent once again, creating an echoing crash that went on for ever. It had almost been a minute of sliding until he heard the vent shake beneath him, almost as if it was about to give way. Then suddenly, a bright light burst through the vent.

The vent beneath seemingly collapsed under him as he fell through the now gaping whole, sending the boy crashing down to the hard floor with a few rolls. Cartri could only groan from the pain and misfortune that ached through his body as he slowly began to lean upwards from the floor, almost in a sitting position before the woman and Mandalorian. His face and clothing was riddled with dust from the state of the vent, as well as his hair which was a different story from it's normally well kept state. Cartri quickly rubbed his blurry eyes from any hitch hiking dust and looked straight ahead of him to see a pair of armoured legs, forcing him to pause for a moment and slowly look up to the individuals that stood above him.

One was a fully kitted Mandalorian, who appeared to be armed to the teeth with various weapons he could not recognise. While the other was a woman, who appeared to be harmless from the lack of weapons she appeared to have. His eyes darted between them as he instinctively crawled backwards a few paces to get some distance between them "Hey... It doesn't look what it seems" he said to them with a small pained grin, one hand pinned to his ribs as he tried to get into a standing position "Did-did anyone tell you I was up there fixing the vents?" lied the kid, in a feeble attempt of making some kind of cover story on the spot "Don't tell me Kade forgot to tell you lot?!" the boy remarked as he stood before them now, hoping they'd be stupid enough to take the less than accurate story. Xan always told him to use his speech as a way of getting out of things, and now was a great time to practice such a thing, in front of a killing machine that could potentially snap at any moment. If that didn't work, then he'd have to somehow get past them the old fashioned way, which didn't seem like a wise choice right now.

Mig Gred Tamar Gred​

 

[Sera Sen]

Spoiler: Equipment

• 2x Custom Revolver
• Rocket boots
• Beskar’gam
• 4x Flashbang
• Thermal Detonator
• Grapple Line
• NT-242
• Vibroblade

Location: Inside the factory

Sera barely had time to process the warning when utter chaos broke out in the factory. Music started blasting from beskar ’gam. Which was...fine. It was a good song. However, what was really not fine was the jetpacks. Mando’s who were wearing them suddenly started taking off in all directions. Involuntarily, if the shouts of alarm were anything to go by. She had a front row seat to a pair on patrol who suddenly accelerated themselves straight into the nearby wall. The resounding clang of metal on beskar meant those two just had their brains thoroughly rattled. Great. They wouldn’t be getting up any time soon. She was never more thankful that she wasn’t wearing a jetpack then right now. This was ridiculous.

As another mando went screeching by she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“For fucks sake! Take them off!” She shouted in annoyance. She caught a younger mando by the arm and ripped off the jetpack he was wearing before he could go careening out the doors and over the railing. She angrily tossed it aside as she stormed towards the next jetpack-wearing idiot who couldn't control themselves.

And finally it seemed like everyone was figuring out what was going on. They could recover quickly. The biggest problem was that their comms were thoroughly jammed at the moment so she kept an eye and ear out for any non mando movement in the factory as she paced impatiently between the large factory doors.

Opponent tag: open!​

 

[Zephyr Krayt]

The Mandalorian remained in position, ready to fire again with a less hurried aim but became preoccupied when music started playing through the comms in his helmet. "What the-" He began, flicking one of the switches that controlled it through his vambrace to see if it had any effect before ultimately turning it off to focus on the person below.

However, it seemed there would be no respite for the Mandalorians who were soon barraged with another attack. Zephyr could feel the low whirring of the jetpack as it started up and judging by the previous attack he knew he would have no control over it so with quick reflexes he pulled it off of his back and ducked to allow it over his head where it collided with the opposite building and exploded into a small ball of flames.

Zephyr switched his comms back on but was greeted with the same music as before so turned them off again. He and his allies were in the dark about the situation around the factory but it was no matter, they knew they were being attacked so they would do what they did best: fight.

As he peered over the edge of the building, he was met with blaster fire, one of which pinged off of his helmet. It was unsurprising given the amount of time he had been distracted for. If their enemies had access to their equipment then they were in for a very dangerous and interesting night.

Now too close to make good use of the sniper, he ditched it in favour of one of the blasters which he pulled from the holster on his leg but remained on the ground for now as it allowed him the most protection from below. If there was a gap in the blaster fire, Zephyr would lean over and return fire, his vision enhanced by the infrared visor function.

Cassus Akovin

 

[Sentiri]

~~Interlude~~​

The Chiss woman walked with false confidence out of the tavern. Her job was done and, as far as Larz was concerned, Sentiri wasn't required to pay any mind to how the pieces fell. That was just as well for Sentiri. Despite feeling as though she was playing for the wrong side, she had no allegiance to the world, its people, or the plight of everyone involved. The compassion that had started growing louder and louder in her conscience was no less annoying. But what could she do? There were things that needed to be finished. And she would do everything she could to get there.

Still, the longer the Chiss remained on Denon, the more unhealthy she seemed to get. She should get some sleep. But even though she was a little tired, she knew that she wasn't going to get any rest. Since coming to Denon, sleep had evaded her. Thus far, she had managed. But the feeling that she was on the precipice of finally achieving her goal wouldn't leave her alone. Neither would her conscience. Day in, day out, Sentiri continued her search independently of the information that Larz was holding over her head. But she still seemed just as far away as she had been when she first began her search. And once again, it seemed like details were being deliberately obscured to make it impossible for her to operate. Sentiri wouldn't put such behavior past Larz.

No matter. She knew she was close... Soon... Soon... soon... the thought pounded away in her mind.

~~~~​

Rhé couldn't believe what she had just heard. A Chiss woman on Denon? The thought wasn't so outlandish. The Chiss were isolated but not as much as they were centuries before. But they were still quite rare outside of the Ascendancy. What were the odds... ?

Almost unconsciously, uncontrollably, Rhé pulled the speeder forward out of the shadowy side street. The Chiss woman was walking rather briskly. But Rhé didn't need to get anything more than the slightest glance. She knew who that was. She would never forget that figure.

Zo'i had opened the door of the speeder and asked Rhé some questions. But the woman couldn't think about anything but the retreating figure of Sabosen'tir'inrokini. She nodded along to Zo'i a few times until she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hey. Are you ok?"

Rhé snapped out of her trance and looked at the teenage Zeltron. She gave the girl a warm smile, warmer than she'd been before. She felt bad about that. She didn't want to be so distant with her charge. Luminous had managed to manipulate her and Zo'i into different directions and she wasn't ready to move against the DireX. She hadn't been ready for Sentiri either. But the woman was here... so close. She couldn't ignore what was right in front of her. She couldn't.

"Yes. I have to look into something. You're going to try and infiltrate this facility whether I tell you no or not aren't you?"

Zo'i looked surprised that Rhé would call her out so simply. "Welllll," Zo'i started.

But Rhéala cut her off. "Just promise me you'll be safe, ok?" She pulled a small handout blaster from a holster attached beneath the dash of the speeder. Before Zo'i had a chance to grab the blaster, Rhé reached out and grabbed the girl's hands and pulled them to her, placing the blaster firmly into them. "Promise me?"

Once again, Zo'i was taken aback. Rhé's sudden maneuver put the two closer than they had been in months. "Ok," was all the teen could come up with to quietly say.

Rhé pulled again and brought Zo'i into a warm embrace and held the girl with everything she had. "I love you, kiddo."

For a few moments, Rhé could only hear her own beating heart. There was nothing else. But, at last, Zo'i responded. "I love you, too. I miss you."

Rhé let the girl go and held her away from her. She was no longer concerned with whatever listening devices Luminous might have placed in the speeder. She was speaking from her heart. And no one, no one, could ever stop her from that. "I promise, when this is all over, we'll be together, like a real family. And I'll bring you to Zeltron, if that's where you want to go. But we can't quite yet. I still have some things to do. But soon. I promise."

Zo'i's brow furrowed. This was uncharted territory for the two of them. Never had Rhéala been so open and honest. But she was saying all the things that Zo'i wanted to hear. And all Zo'i could say, again, was: "Ok."

"Ok. Now go. Do what you need to do. And I'll catch with you later, alright?"

A nod was all she received in response. Their arms parted at last and a moment, an hour, a lifetime later, Zo'i was out of the speeder and on her way back to her Darkwire friends.

~~~~​

As Sentiri walked along, she had the distinct impression she was being followed. She had prepared for that inevitability. After all, Darkwire could view all the evidence that she provided and still not believe a word she said. Or perhaps someone had followed her to the meeting in the first place. She'd had Dara set up some jamming fields in her wake to discourage anyone from following by cutting off their comms, but Sentiri glanced over her shoulder a few times and caught the same speeder hanging back over her left shoulder.

She thought about running. She thought about switching levels or entering a building to make it a footrace instead. But she never had the chance. All of a sudden, the speeder pulled right up next to the Chiss woman. The hood popped open before Sentiri even had a chance to react.

And then there she was.

"Rhé? Is that you? Is that really you?" Sentiri stood dumbfounded looking into the cab of the speeder at her estranged fiancé.

"Snap out of it, girl and get in the damn speeder. Quick!"

 

[Venku Bralor]

Music blared through his speakers, sending a snarl ripping through his throat as he tore the helmet off. “Fix this, however you can.” He turned to Aerith Krayt, a snarl on his lips as someone went flying through the air. Not even waiting for a response, Venku yanked the young man down with the force, pulling his jet pack off him as soon as his feet hit the ground. “Looks like we got company!" He called once the chaos died down. “Anyone tech savvy, I want you trying to fix the comms. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled!”

Pulling out his Carbine blaster, Venku paused as his pad beeped. He was lucky to be borrowing a helm. Had he been wearing his own he wouldn't have needed to bring his pad. Opening it up, Venku searched for any messages from his fellow mandos but found only a message from Xan.

::Are you in that facility, Venku?:: His ears flicked back, a frown tugging at his face. Of course she’d have something to do with this. ::Yes. Your song is trash, by the way:: Maybe now wasn’t the best time to be taunting her, but he couldn’t help it. The song really was trash. Slipping the pad back in his bag, Venku turned to those around him. “Fan out. Try and keep at least one other person in line of sight. We don’t know where they’ll come from but it definitely won't be the front door. Keep your eyes peeled and don’t forget to look up.” As a hunter with a natural inclination to heights, Venku knew that few sentients ever looked up. It was a great way to ambush someone, and he wouldn’t let it happen to his men. It wouldn’t keep them from being ambushed, and only those in the control center itself would be able to hear him, but at least they’d know when one of their own was taken down. If they happened to do it stealthily then that surprise attack wouldn’t last for long.

Clipping his helmet to his belt, Venku followed his own advice, spreading out and making sure he could see at least one other person while also allowing another mando to see him. His grey tail, hidden under an armor weave sleeve, flicked to the right as he scanned the area around him.

Kovhorn Sera Sen Mig Gred Tamar Gred Zephyr Krayt

 

[Xan Deesa]

Watching as Cartri broke off, she turned her attention back to the security feed. Her concentration was interrupted, though, when she got a message back from Venku. Her brows contorted into a harsh frown and she could feel heat rising in har as she read it a few more time. "Karking hairy son of a..." she grumbled as she focused on the security feed again. He was in there. She just had to find him. She had a few special ideas for what she could throw at him. The security feed, however, made things a lot more complicated. In one feed she could see Cartri by the feet of a Mandalorian which didn't help her tilted mood at all. Though the final straw was when she saw two figures that looked very familiar.

It was herself and Cartri in a control room messing with the systems. Her breathing quickened as she stared in shock at the camera feed. She decided that she couldn't stay where she was. She needed to get in there and deal with this herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she focused hard. Then just like that, her anger was gone and her breathing was back to normal. Opening her eyes, she worked on her datapad with emotionless precision and overloaded the control terminal to short out while her and Cartri's copy worked on it. Best case scenario, she could knock them out. Though simply disrupting them would help as well. The next step was to attempt another assault on the Mandalorians. She isolated their helmets this time and uploaded a video to their visors. Anything that used a HUD or system with an overlay on their visor would most likely get a gif that played on loop and covered their entire line of sight. It wasn't the strongest attack, however, and someone who knew slicing would likely be able to interrupt this attack of hers. But it was fine for now.

She slipped her datapad into her pocket and started to run along the rooftops towards the facility. With one last jump she cleared a massive alley and landed on the roof. She glanced around a bit and found skylights overlooking the carnage inside. She seemed to have done a good job at messing things up for the Mandalorians for the moment. But one room held the target she was after now. The furball was standing high and mighty in another room that seemed to be used as the base of operations. A cold sigh escaped her as she backed away and made for the edge of the rooftop. She hopped off, landed on an AC-unit and launched herself through a window onto a catwalk. Immediately she spotted a few familiar faces but she wasn't sure if those agents were Darkwire or Corpo copies. The Mando's were easy to identify though. One rounded a corner and attempted to take aim at her, but she had her arms wrapped around his neck before he could even make a noise. With a muffled snap of the neck his life was extinguished and she dropped his armoured figure on the catwalk. The blasterfire was doing a marvellous job of concealing any sounds she made. Now for her real target.

She moved in the shadows along the catwalk and avoided the fight until she was close to Venku's position. She tossed her pairs of smoke grenades and flashbangs into the compartment before launching herself into it. Covering her eyes and ears, the grenades had little effect on her and her mask did a wonderful job of keeping the smoke at bay for the moment.

If all went well, she was standing right beside the person she considered a friend with an empty and emotionless expression in her eyes. In one hand was her vibroblade and in the other was her blaster, aimed directly into his ribcage under his arm. "I think it's time we have a little chat." she stated calmly, looking around them as she awaited his reaction. She hoped he would try to put up a fight. She could do with a reason to beat him up...

Engaging: Venku Bralor
Tag: Daiya Gray Venasir Spark Cartri Keswoll Zamas Nall Cassus Akovin Zo'i Prihm Ruby Jaxx
Zephyr Krayt Aerith Krayt Kovhorn Sera Sen Mig Gred Tamar Gred

 

[Tamar Gred]

OOC: Sorry for the things I’ve missed. Getting back into posting after a terribly long work week.

“Nine times out of ten, the children’s grubby fingers aren’t in the cookie jar, either. But it’s the tenth I tend to catch.” Tamar shrugged and deflated at the sudden nature of the music, the shouts and hubbub.

”Oohhhh you.” She slapped Mig Gred ‘s shoulder pauldron with a clang she winced at. Silence should have been the better call, but no. Mig was wearing Beskar. Of course, Tamar wore Phrik but hey, the armour was a precaution, right? A chance to get used to Beskar’gam before Noah finished making her a set against the threat of Darth Carnifex. “You said it, I didn’t.”

Once the scramble turned potentially pugilistic, and people scrambled to and fro, Tamar yelped, dove into the nearest safest space to take stock. Better out of the way than a danger by omission to her riduur. Amidst the chaos, Tamar wondered what the point was in her coming at all. Neither a warrior nor a tracker, Tamar was nothing but the mother who could spray analgesic and slap a bacta patch on a bruised knee.
It wasn’t as if they would come across a slew of toddlers with colic the pediatrician-wife could open an impromptu clinic and treat.

No, Tamar was perhaps the most useless person to bring on such a mission... until a nearby sound caught her motherly instincts in the heart. Tamar was no warrior... she was a mother.

And, by gum, the nanny of crazed, battle-longing Mandalorian Epicanthix children, whose mother fought for a living. If there was one thing Tamar could do in life, it was an instinctual ability to root out naughty children. Children like Daiya , who rested in the ducting. Tamar’s eyebrow quirked under her Raxi’gam helmet, lips smashed together. A sound, a familiar scuffling sound plagued the duct up further. Too slim to be a full-grown person, especially not one of her gigantic Epicanthix kin.
Pwings of firepower strafed round her, the shouts of battle rose. Tamar was also fairly certain someone was attacking Mig, but a mother’s intuition could not be denied! It knew... no... bounds! Sneaking toward it, Tamar pulled over a box, stood upon the box, and knocked at the metal near enough where the slight sound could be heard.

“Hullo? Hullo, are you a child or an astoundingly short being I’ve not thought of? If you are some sort of intelligent Ewok, or a Dug I apologize but... would it be... oh, I’m talking to a duct...”

Maybe the child (if it was a child and not a supercilious Dug) would be hungry for a sandwich.

 

[Gray Venasir]

"Everyone in position?"

Dawn would soon fall on the city planet they were on. But as of now, the night gave the Shadowrunners the cover they needed. Gray was sitting crouched behind the corner of a building right next to the factory they would soon inflitrate. With the help of the map of the factory they had recieved from the Chiss, the infiltration group Gray was leading had found out what spots would be best to use for getting inside undercover. He had already got clear signals from Cassus and Ruby, and he himself was also where he needed to be.

As Gray stood there, watching the factory, a message from Xan's team came through. "Mandos? They have hired karking Mandos to guard the place?" This was certainly an unexpected obstacle. But nevertheless one they needed to deal with. "Everyone, we have Mandos here. I repeat: Mandos are in the factory." Hopefully, Xan's distraction would be good enough.

"A nice surprise, the Mandos," came the far too familiar sound of his own voice through the comm in Gray's ear. "Don't talk, you'll alert the others. Just listen. I have reason to believe that this whole operation is just a big ruse. A distraction, to get Darkwire of the scent. Anyway, you have to go through with it. If you pull out now, they'll know you are on to them. Get to the components, take a sample, and destry the rest. The whole factory, if you will. I just need one." And with that, the transmission ended, leaving Gray with more questions than he had before.

Without a warning, things started happening inside the factory. Lights began flickering through the windows, the sounds of jetpacks activating could be heard, sounds that indicated the factory machinery was being used wrong. This must have been the distraction. "Let's move in, through the entries we planned. Shut down the production, eliminate any resistance, do as much damage as you can. Gray, over and out."

Leading the Shadowrunners who was with Gray for the main assault group, he made his way towards the main entrance. If the distraction was good enough, which it really sounded as it was, it would be fairly safe to take that route. But he was still trying to be as sneaky as possible, as there was still a chance they would be discovered. "Now to find the components," he said to himself.

Darkwire: Daiya | Xan Deesa | Spark | Cartri Keswoll | Cassus Akovin | Zo'i Prihm | Ruby Jaxx | Zamas Nall
Mandalorians: Venku Bralor | Zephyr Krayt | Tamar Gred | Mig Gred | Aerith Krayt | Kovhorn | Sera Sen