Faction Part 3: Shattering the Mirror

[Darkwire Prophet]

Previously on Darkwire...

“Your legacy has become a rowdy bunch, hasn’t it? Does it please you that they have come so far?” Lance of Dreams extended a hand towards Frankie, referring to her status as the Founder of Darkwire.

"Rowdy? Dunno about that, I like 'em. They've got spunk. And heart, real heart." Frankie's words were earnest, maybe a little hopeful.

and now the conclusion:

None of the projections were lining up anymore. In truth, they had been on a consistent decline for a while, but at every turn there were promises. Promises from Accounts that the numbers could be re-run and variables double-checked. Promises from Blackheart that the next version would fix the very failings the last two versions were developed to address. Promises, not profits. Those had failed to materialize by any substantial means.

Infuriating!

Each new turn of events had just shifted more responsibility to the Muun's lean shoulders. Blackheart's premature release of the replicants had caused initial confrontations with their Darkwire originals to disastrous results. Starlight's botched attempt at an ambush for Darkwire caused her to levy suspicion and accusations at the partnership until finally pulling her support. As it was, unless Qanatain Xopsaloff took control of Project Brightband itself, it was projected to be a loss. And that was worse than failure.

"Schedule contact with Hentz," Qanatain told the miniature projection of his secretary that rose from the holo-comm embedded in the desk. "Tell her I want a report on the MynterCo acquisition. And tell her I want it now."

As Gemma Hentz entered the meeting room, she offered a polite cant of her head. “Mr. Xopsaloff,” she began with a pretty – but insincere – smile. “I have the information you requested. Well, partially—”

Gemma pulled out her datapad with the most recent report she had received, and handed it over to Qanatain. “We have sent numerous requests for a status update from President Khoan, but he has been... unresponsive.”

Qanatain handled the datapad gingerly, as if his long, delicate fingers were unused to the task. He had expected a presentation ready, if not an oral report on the status, not having it simply handed to him. This would be considered in the woman's next performance review, the Muun mentally noted, as his eyes scanned through the report, picking out key phrases as it went. "These were not the promised figures projected last quarter. Production is still too low, why have Khoan's other factories not been retooled for the project yet?"

The Muun glanced back up at Hentz, setting the datapad down on his desk. A practiced gesture in the air called up the information from his holo-terminal, projecting an overview of President Ramesh Khoan's portfolio and the amount he owed in debts to Qanatain. A considerable amount. "You impressed upon him the importance of this venture, did you not? It would be a shame if his accounts fell into arrears, of course, but such a fate would be inevitable for him if these quotas are not met."

Gemma smiled, “Of course.” Whenever the First Bank of Denon was involved, her people put the full weight of every loan on their customer’s back. There was money tied up here, too. “The president has the means to retool his other factories and increase production. Why hasn’t he done so yet?”

Her shoulders rose into a small shrug. But as she moved to take a seat across from Qanatain, she let the spark of remembering something light up her face. Information she’d had in her pocket all along. “There is probably a sob story waiting for us,” she added. “I recall there being some personal...financial trouble. The president’s cousin, identity theft...” Gemma glanced down at her manicured nails. “Something along those lines.”

Qanatain had made his name being cold and ruthless, he was not one for explosive theatrics. While a quiet storm raged beneath his surface, the Muun merely clasped his hands together in front of him. "Call in President Khoan's debts. All of them, Hentz. Find anything he has outstanding, vaults forbid, even elsewhere. On him and his family. Acquire what we don't own," he told her, and then looked directly into the woman's eyes as he levied his ruthless demand, "and then make it come due."

The Muun leaned back in his seat, folding his hands into his lap as he announced, "Meanwhile, MynterCo now has a new company president. Congratulations, President Hentz. See to the transfer and any bureaucratic mess, though I'm sure your new company board will see the wisdom of having an executive who isn't buried up to his eyeballs in debts."

“As you wish, sir,” she said. “I will see to it.”

"Yes, you will," Qanatain said. He had decided on the course of action during their conversation, as much as he detested it. Yet, when there was no one else left to trust, there was nothing else left to do. He rose to his full height, towering over Hentz, and he made use of every bit of the advantage. The Muun held a predacious gleam in his icy blue eyes, and a grin bloomed on his thin lips. "I'm coming with you, and together we will see this project through to the end."

Administrator Finor Corrik had just been finishing up his shift when the shuttle arrived at Loronar Transmitter Station No. 4. He didn't think much of it at the time, it was either a displaced spacer who aimed at the closest landmark his sensors could detect or some young pilots playing at holo-comm-ditch. Either way, Corrik's mind was focused on the plans he would make when his rotation ended in a week, this was something his staff in the control center could handle. Only when his lift was rudely restarted back to the control center did Corrik realize his work was not truly over. His staff were on the comm with someone claiming to be the pilot of Qanatain Xopsaloff, and demanding to speak to the station commander. With a glance at the chronometer, Finor sighed and stepped up to the comm to deal with it.

Twelve hours later, as his next shift was scheduled to begin, Corrik felt dead on his feet. Qanatain Xopsaloff, Burser of the Banking Clan, DireX of the Corporate Authorities, and a longer list of titles that had made Finor's eyes glaze over when he pulled up the databank info to cross-check, was here on his station. Their little HoloNet transmitter station out at Lagrange Point 5 trailing Loronar was suddenly bustling with activity, and between his skeleton staff and Xopsaloff's small entourage they needed every being working overtime setting up some kind of secure relay from his private network to several factories on the planet's surface.

So when the proximity alarm sounded on the sensors again, it took several minutes until a member of Corrik's staff could check it. By that point, the station had already come to a heightened state of alert and sent a distress signal automatically to Loronar for reinforcements. Finor's arrival back at the control center came in the middle of an intense debate between one of Qanatain's lieutenants and a member of his staff over standing down the few defenses that the station carried.

"Here's Administrator Corrik, he'll tell you," the comms tech was saying, gesturing to the screens. Finor could already see that one of the two newly-arrived ships was Qanatain's flagship itself. "The computer has already authenticated its codes as valid, and the captain of the Death Monger says that he's only come to ensure Xopsaloff's security. Standard procedure is—"

"—and I'm telling you that there's nothing standard about this. That ship is stolen, and whatever that monstrosity is beside it, those ships do not represent Qanatain Xopsaloff's interests!"

It was clear that this debate had gone in circles for a while, and both were looking at Corrik for an answer. His long night was turning into a long day already, making Finor long for this week to be over. Then he would be planetside again, reunited with his wife, and his children, who even at the worst of times were less of a handful than Xopsaloff's visit was becoming. He sighed, and put his hands up in a placating gesture, "Look, we're all doing the best we can here with limited resources. Why don't I talk to the captain of—"

"—no, that's not going to—"
"—Administrator, you'll want to see—"

The blaring sound of the proximity alert sounded over all of them, drowning out their demands for its own. Whatever hope of discussion or rational solution there had been, it died a dozen times when as many new dots appeared on the sensor display. The new signals were nearly on top of them, and before Finor could ask why no one had detected them first, or why their security escort hadn't defended them, the station shuddered as the first of the objects impacted with the hull.

Then another, and another, and another, until all of the pods were affixed and their crews were beginning to cut their way through. Leaving the skeleton crew and visitors on Loronar Transmitter Station No. 4 just enough time to gather weapons and offer any prayers before they were boarded, by enemies who had come to put a stop to Qanatain Xopsaloff and anyone who defended him.

We got 'em where we want 'em, Darkwire. QX is alone and only got a handful of his "elite" guards for protection, all we gotta do is get there and bring the karking pain.​

The same message to you also played for anyone who accepted the job. Shadowrunner and contractor alike, Darkwire was offering the creds directly and it wasn't being picky. The instructions gave the time and place to meet, and once there you would quickly find yourself heading to Loronar space and climbing into a boarding pod. The only thing left to do, in the words of the message that played, was:

Stop Qanatain Xopsaloff, that's all there's to it.
-Use that pretty little antenna of his to hijack his secure network, and spread that fancy virus Lance of Dreams cooked up to destroy all the data for his pet doppelgängers, Project Brightband.
-Then ruin his day even harder by putting an end to him, permanently.​

Spoiler: Tag List

Airal Thamne
Anakin Stormrunner
Annasari
Aren D'Shade
"Bloody" Bill Renfroe
Brie Jaxx
Cartri Keswoll
Cassus Akovin
Chelara "Chel" DuCote
Chloe Santhe
Daiya
Deryn Kaaldos
Elkin "Big Cheese" Magor
Gray Venasir
Haden Del
@Helena
Jerec Asyr
Kole Eckttor
Kimiko Taiyou
QEMD-15 Echo
Saija Kwann
Spark
5-WCH (Switchblade)
Subject 648 Slipknot
Xan Deesa
Yula Perl

(Jointly written with the fabulous Gemma Hentz )

 

[Daiya]

Objective: Survive the boarding phase
Equipment: Phase I Powderpunk Armor, Phase I Powderpunk Facemask, Raven Knife, Kusak Heavy Blaster Pistol, Deactivator Hold-Out Blaster, JH-70 Glitter Grenades, Sneakthief, Holojournal
Allies Nearby: Cassus Akovin
Enemies Nearby: Corpos

[Post Soundtrack: "Cold (But I'm Still Here)" by Evans Blue]​

[Fair winds and following seas, Darkwire.]

The captain of their ship broadcast to the boarding pods just before they released into the void of space. Daiya had to ask what it meant, and after a few chuckles or a remark of 'They're just the old-fashioned sort,' from various others in the pod before someone finally chimed in with, "It means good luck. For a smooth ride and success, ke?"

Inside the pod was far from a smooth ride, she decided. The little pod rattled and shook as it sped toward its target, somewhere on the outside of the lonesome space station. It hadn't looked far away on the info holos Daiya viewed before they boarded, yet their journey seemed to stretch on forever. Her teeth bounced even against her clenched jaw, and her fingers dug so tightly into the handholds beside the seat that she feared she would break them.

Hadn't she sworn not to ride in one of these death traps again?

It was for a good cause, the girl told herself. The best of causes, or one of the best anyway. That Darkwire had gotten a hold of intel about the whereabouts of a DireX was not entirely unusual, what was unusual about this was that this DireX was alone. Or as alone as he would ever get. No proxies, no representatives. Not even holos of himself, directing the action from afar like some ethereal music conductor. This was Qanatain Xopsaloff, in all of his grey, mottled flesh, ripe for the plucking.

Daiya thought that was a gross turn of phrase, but her fellow shadowrunners had seemed awfully gleeful about the idea. Bloodthirsty, even. The endless brags or gruesome descriptions that she heard boasted about on their whole trip here from Denon had nearly turned her stomach, though not nearly as much as the ride getting there. And if not for the anti-nausea meds they had all been offered, the girl thought she would be throwing up both meals she had eaten today. She was supposed to be in charge of this little boarding squad, it wouldn't look good if she was on the floor instead of leading the pack.

Regardless of the girl's expectations, she was absolutely sure that her face turned green when the pod jolted to a crashing halt, its grasping claws embedded firmly in the hull of the station. It was just beyond their reach now, growing closer as the transfer tube extended and the plasma torches went to work cutting out their point of entry. With their craft no longer moving, Daiya's sore hands held her stomach instead, as if applying pressure would soothe its raw unease. Someone was probably speaking, maybe giving a motivational message, but the girl was trying to breathe instead, and swallow back the sudden flood of saliva in her mouth.

The pod was bustling now, her fellow shadowrunners were unstrapping themselves and equipment, doing last-minute checks, and getting ready for the assault. Luckily, most of them were familiar enough with what to do or taking their cues from those who did, and they didn't need a teenager telling them what to do. Daiya was able to follow suit at a more sluggish pace, shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of the impossible nausea. Her hair was tied in place, her armor was snug and its processor was synced up with her facemask, whose HUD was already searching for targets. The only part of her not ready was her reeling stomach, and the girl shushed it with a quick word. No, that was a bad idea, she realized, opening her mouth at all just made it worse.

Timed with all the other pods, the signal sounded and Darkwire streamed forth. Daiya followed the flow of shadowrunners out of the pod and into the station, jumping down from the odd angle their boarding pod had adhered to the level of the decking.

That did it.

The severe change in gravity plating threw Daiya's stomach into overdrive. She tried to compensate, pouring her focus into the small firefight that had erupted with the trio of armed station personnel who had come to meet them. They retreated when someone managed to down one of the three defenders, and a small ripple of cheer rolled through her boarding party. Yet the teen was not in the mood for celebrating yet, now that the threat was clear she dashed to a small alcove in the corridor and dropped to her knees. Ripping off her facemask, she bent over and opened her mouth to let loose all the trauma her stomach had endured on the trip over.

Nothing came out.

"That Globex was nice ride, you pensa?" one of her boarding mates suggested, and Daiya shot him a dirty look through a side-eyed glance. She was left dry heaving, the anti-nausea meds worked fine to suppress her actual vomit, just not the urge to. The young shadowrunner was pretty sure the torture of not throwing up was worse, actually.

"Smooth as butter," came another one. He met her eyes, and chuckled a bit. "Whatcha think, Daiya? Better than a Bothan speeder taxi, am I right?"

"Are you kidding?" Daiya wiped her mouth as she glared, and then stood up to face him. She couldn't cut an imposing figure, the teen stood a full head shorter than the Devaronian shadowrunner, and his horns stood up higher than that. He passed her a toothy grin, and she returned it by sticking out her tongue at him. "You're all laserbrained."

The pair of them chuckled as she rejoined the rest of the boarding squad, and the girl still couldn't tell if they were serious or not. Daiya didn't think she was that much of a space wimp, but her body found a far greater sense of relief being on the space station's firm deckplating than even on the capital ship earlier. To say nothing of their rocketing boarding pod. She shook her head at the thought, securing her weapon again as she called to the rest of the squad, "There's supposed to be three or four dozen of them, so watch out. Just because they're not soldiers doesn't mean we can't get our asses kicked."

"By the enemy, you mean?"

Daiya rolled her eyes, fixed her hair, and secured her facemask back on her head. Then she pulled out her blaster again, and twirled it on her finger with a practiced motion of her wrist "It's simple enough, eat the Corpos before they eat you." She caught the blaster in her palm. "Now come on!"

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

Objectives: Kill Xospaloff
Equipment: Armorweave clothes, Terminus Shiv, Sneakitheaf, Last Whisper Blaster, 3 Razzmatazz Holospheres, several small bags of sand, deactivated slave bomb
Nearby Allies: Daiya Cassus Akovin

Water blue wings pressed awkwardly into his spine. The padded harness of the seat dug into his neck and with each jolt of the boarding pod he feared the weight would snap his wings. In, air rushed to his lungs and from there to the rest of his body. He could do this. It was just like flying in a sandstorm. Out, carbon dioxide slipped past his lips. The ship jolted and sent him lurching in his seat. Only without his wings. In. To calm his mind, Anakin began to pray. The rhythmic words of Amatakkan filled his mind in way that it couldn't in the shaking and jittering ship. Out. Lines of long memorized hymns and sacred, secret prayers floated through his head.

The ship gave one final jolt and the sound of grinding metal filed the air. The occupants burst intl motion. Voices called through the space a nd people began unstrapping themselves from their seats. Anakin stood, shook out his wings, and smiled. It was not a pretty smile. It was one of teeth. Of fangs and claws and deadly intent. "I guess dis ees de part where someone makes a 'uge dramatic speech. I 'ave no t'ing to say but dis. Kark Xopsaloff. Mo'der willing, 'e will die de way 'e leeved. A coward. Reebu ton sa ki Amavikkans!" His smile widened and his wings fluffed up behind him. His words, which came out first as understandable - if heavily accented - basic, were short, sweet, and two the point. It was a fit of whimsey that had his adding on the final statement. Spoken in Amatakkan, the secret language of the slaves, was one of the worst insults to give a depur, and a high praise for any slave. To kill your own master as Anakin had carried connotations that basic could not describe in less than a paragraph. It likened them to Leia, the sister of all slaves and the Great krayt dragon. The one creature that no depur was able to enslave. it was an an act of power, of nim, in Amatakkan, that few slaves took. Ar-amu help him that this fit of whimsy didn't end badly. There was a reason the language was never shared with freeborn.

With his piece said, Anakin checked his gear and realigned his armor. Unlike many of his companions. he wore only armor weave cloth with a chest piece studded in plasteel to protect the important bits. Nimble hands pulled his wings into their sleeves and buttoned it closed. A process that could take minutes from scratch. It was why he left only the ends unbuttoned, to allow for some movement when strapped in. Spice blue eyes swept over his armaments as he loaded his gun and checked his number of talismans on his person. Only one hung on his belt now, next to his bantha hide bag and the holospheres. The symbol of Ar-amu stood dark against the sun bleached wood. Across the rest of his armor, he had hidden glyphs for protection, strength, and a number of other things. All Amavikkans knew not to walk into a sandstorm without japor, and a battle was as dangerous as any sandstorm.

Then they were moving, rushing out the ship and into a hail of blaster fire. Water blue wings, protected in sleeves stylized blue and orange in their likeness, curved around his person and protected the rest of him from fire even as he aimed and fired. It took four seconds for a guard to reach him. Within moments his style changed. His wings went from defending to attacking. Gun holstered, he drew his garotte and tore at his opponents. he was used to unfair fights. Slavers never fought fare and three on one was a common tactic. But here he had allies. here the enemy on his left was downed before the one before him fell to a lucky claw on the next. More fighting, one opponent after the other and as soon as it began it was gone.

A cheer erupted from the crowd and Anakin was left there, standing on the front lines with blood between his talons as he howled with the rest of them. Bloody feet carried him back towards the main group. With the main area secure, all they had to do was find where Depur was and hunt him down.

 

[Subject 648 Slipknot]

Objective: Kill some dudes, board the ship. Not in that order.
Allies: Daiya , Anakin Stormrunner , Cassus Akovin
Enemies: Unfortunate Corporate People


Slip held on as his pod rocked and shuddered. Oh this was definitely fun. Why had he done this again? Oh, right, he remembered. He was now suddenly regretting his poor life decisions.

Not even the mask on his face could hide his nervousness. His all-black jumpsuit and balaclava made him look even stranger. Of course, it was all for the sake for psychological warfare, but still, he regretted choosing such long clothing, since he was sweating profusely. This wasn't his first time in combat, but he still hated boarding pods. They were just so... exposed. Though, Slip couldn't really talk, since he was one of the people on his team not wearing armor, choosing for his standard psychological warfare get-up.

As his pod approached the station, his team leader piped up. "Alright, listen up, we'll be pushing in, and taking the security center and the hangar. This will practically render any method of escape for Xopsaloff obsolete. Understood?" The other members of the pod nodded.

"So, we're not even going for the head boss?" Slip asked.

"Yep, we're tasked with making sure he can't go anywhere. No escape means that our job is much easier." The team leader replied.

"Great..." Slip said, unenthusiastically, strapping himself in.

Then, he felt the pod collide with the station, latch on, and heard it start cutting through the hull of the ship. Slip unstrapped himself and prepared for boarding. The other 8 members of the pod did the same thing, checking their equipment and such. Slip shifted the mask on his face, ready for whatever lay within the station.

Then, the signal blared, and Slip followed out after the others, climbing through into the hallways of the station. When Slip climbed out, he saw an E-WEB turret, set up down the hall, aiming right for them.

"Take cover!" One of the Shadowrunners yelled.

In a flash, the E-WEB opened fire on them. Slip dove to the ground, and the other members of the boarding party tried to avoid the incoming fire. One of the boarders fell in front of Slip, having taken multiple hits, his body laying in front of Slip. Slip used his body as cover, using it to block against the incoming fire. Other members hit the ground, some alive, others dead or wounded. Slip pulled out a knife, held it between his fingers, and aimed it down the hallway towards the E-WEB. He lined up the throw, and threw it at the gunner, the knife flipping and arching through the air at high speeds.

Suddenly, the E-WEB stopped firing, and Slip heard a thump as the body of the gunner hit the floor. Direct hit. Slip saw another defender, look at the body on the floor, wonder what the hell just happened. Slip grabbed the blaster carbine off the dead body in front of him, and opened fire on the other defender. The second defender took one a blaster bolt straight to the chest, and fell to the ground.

Slip continued aiming down the hallway for a second, making sure there was no one else, before standing up. He stood up, and looked at the other members of his team. Of the 9 boarders on his team, only Slip and two others had escaped alive, and one of the boarders had taken a bolt to the left shoulder shoulder. That wasn't good. Slip looked at the bodies, and saw the team leader on the ground, dead. Well... that complicated things.

Slip turned on his commlink, contacting the other boarders. "This is Gamma Team, reporting in. Report: we've encountered enemy resistance, and have taken heavy casualties. Casualties include 6 boarders dead, and 1 injured. There are only two combat-effective boarders at the moment. Our team leader is gone, too. We need to link up with another team. Does anyone copy? Are there any teams close by our location that we can rendezvous with?" He reported over the commlink.

This was definitely getting deducted from his pay...

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Objective: Bug A Buddy
Equipment: More stuff than I care to link right now
Allies Nearby: Daiya , Anakin Stormrunner , Subject 648 Slipknot
Enemies Nearby: Corpos

Cassus walked down a sterile hallway still fresh from a revelation he wasn't ready for...

Like waking up from a sleep the gentle jolt of the boarding pod stirred the young Bounty Hunter into motion. There was a sense of familiarity in this little exercise, moving from ship to ship, then ship to station. The ever present weightlessness in his heart followed by the gentle hug of a new environment securing him safely to a surface.

He'd been on the surface for too long, weighed down constantly by that unyielding grip imprisoning its captives to duracrete.

Squadmates stood at the ready, prepared to follow along Cassus into the breach. Adrenaline pumped steadily as the hull sizzled on the other side. There was a sudden hiss and smoke filled the space beyond the pod, though it was no obstruction for him, seeing the heat outline of a single humanoid shape. Cassus activated a silver-yellow thread of energy from a familiar hilt he had recently reclaimed. The rest of the Shadowrunners and hunters filed in behind them, carrying an assortment of different weapons.

"Feth..." The figure muttered as the raised their hands and climbed to their knees, apparently not feeling the need for glory today.

"Good choice." Cassus said before slashing the ionic blade across their torso, passing through whatever armor or shields they may have had to deliver paralysis and possibly unconsciousness to the person upon contact with their spine. They fell over ungracefully with a thud before Cassus deactivated the blade and put it on his belt.

Cassus heard blasterfire further down the bend, and started marching that way. That would be one of the other boarding squads, meeting resistance who had foolishly decided not to surrender gracefully. On the way, his commlink lit up as various teams reported in their progress, one in particular wasn't doing well. He headed towards the blasterfire, hastening when it fell quiet, intent on rendering aid to the beset-upon squad. Instead, he found the squad relatively unharmed, the slumped body of one of the station's crew nearby, and a diminutive shadowrunner looking a little green against the neon lights of her armor mask.

As he approached closer, he eventually came to recognize it as Daiya looking a little worse for wear.

"You good City Girl?"

 

[Xan Deesa]

Objective: Plant the virus and send a message
Equipment: In bio | plate carrier with durasteel plates | subdermal armour not yet listed im bio | cybernetic eyes not yet listed in bio
Tags: Daiya Cassus Akovin Subject 648 Slipknot Anakin Stormrunner
Theme: Totally original and creative, don't judge

Xan wasn't a soldier. She was trained to infiltrate, sabotage and gain information. Quick, quiet and without a trace was her usual method of operation. That went out the window the moment she boarded the pod. Her usual flamboyant attire was left behind. Instead she wore a tank top, cargo pants and combat boots. Her torso and back was protected by a plate carrier, her sidearm and grenades were strapped to her thighs in easy-to-reach places. The only holdovers from her usual attire was her bright magenta hair tied into a ball and holographic mask. Her golden eyes studied the other Shadowrunners and contractors in the pod. Everyone seemed nervous, nauseous or anxious. She sat in her seat with an eerie calmness that resembled a droid more than a human.

She had a mission. And this mission couldn't be sidetracked by emotions or loss of focus. It didn't require the need for emotion, so she made sure it wouldn't be a problem for the time being.

She shouldered her A-180 rifle the moment the pod struck the hull of the station. Like the others, she got ready to breach while the hull was cut open for them. Unfortunately their grand charge was for naught when they exited the pod just as Daiya, Anakin, and their group took care of the resistance. That was fine. Xan glanced around for any hidden dangers then pressed on, gently pushing aside one of Anakin's wings as she walked past him. "We have a job to do, let's get to it! We can celebrate once this mission is complete!" she called out as she glanced around her.

Shouldering her rifle, she pressed on into a hallway. The others would be more than enough to take care of the top dog. Her target was the comms room and the very snazzy relay system.

This might be a rather fun little endeavor...

 

[Jerec Asyr]

When running with Darkwire, Jerec could never be sure he was carrying the strangest weapons around. Today he felt confident: he'd brought a jewel-studded Force-enchanted Wookiee skullthumper staff he'd snagged from a Jawa. And a radcannon too, a gun that spat multispectral hard radiation. And a couple other unique doodads. Yes, Boarding Trooper Jerec Asyr was feeling good about having the most bizarre loadout.

Right up until he saw Cassus Akovin switch from a...lightwhip?...to some kind of knife that passed through armor?

A degree of grumpiness sent Jerec down the nearest hallway aggressively. The Jawa swore the staff made plants grow like crazy, and it certainly seemed to work on little rooftop gardens in Lum Rouge. As a CorpSec squad turned the corner with guns raised, Jerec raised his skullthumper and invoked the power of intestinal flora.

It was hard to say which began first: the screaming or the farting. It sort of varied at an individual level.

 

[Zole]

Zole didn't believe in fancy equipment for boarding. She believed in a chest plate made of layered armor weave and durasteel that could take a few direct blaster bolts and a scattergun that could put a hole in a blast door at point blank range.

She also believed in not being the first person through the breach. As evidenced by the first person on her pod through the breach being cut down within five steps.

She tossed a grenade over the unfortunate soul's body. Except that it wasn't grenade. It hovered in the air and used visual, thermal and LIDAR to pick out targets and relay them to her optical implants.

"Wall hacks," she grunted as she stepped through the breach and fired once, cutting the guard almost in half.

She heard a sound that chilled her blood. A repeater cannon. One of those hooked up to the ship's power systems could hold a choke point as effectively - and with more lethality - than any ray shield.

 

[Gemma Hentz]

Gemma had been tapping away at her datapad when the station shook. Her manicured finger withdrew from the touch screen, and her eyes darted about. She was only just beginning to wrap her mind around the task at hand, taking the helm of MynterCo as the new president and... now what?
Their group – including Qanatain himself – was currently in motion, navigating the corridors of the station. They had just wrapped up in the comm relay main unit and were now en route to the Control Center. However, Gemma wondered if they'd make it that far as the station continued to shudder.

“Find out what's going on,” she said to one of Qanatain's staff members.

The man scurried off to speak with the Administrator. Meanwhile, they continued on towards their destination. Gemma's gaze shifted to Qanatain. The Muun's expression may have been inscrutable – but he was nervous. This move of his had certainly painted a rather large target on his back.

“T-the station is being boarded!” A shout from the staffer, the man skidded back to the group.

She drew in a breath to steel herself. And her eyes narrowed upon Qanatain, whose steps hastened immediately.

Tag: Anakin Stormrunner , Daiya , Cassus Akovin , Subject 648 Slipknot (anyone trying to get at Qanatain, sorry if I missed you).

 

[Daiya]

Objective: Suffer a few obstacles to the mission
Equipment: Phase I Powderpunk Armor, Phase I Powderpunk Facemask, Raven Knife, Kusak Heavy Blaster Pistol, Deactivator Hold-Out Blaster, JH-70 Glitter Grenades, Sneakthief, Holojournal
Allies Nearby: Cassus Akovin
Enemies Nearby: Corpos

[Post Soundtrack: "Partners in Crime" by Set it Off]​

"You good City Girl?"

Daiya hadn't expected to see him when she turned around, she thought his boarding pod would land somewhere else on the station. It had looked so big from onboard the 'Derelict, but now the station had just become considerably smaller. The young shadowrunner was grateful for her facemask now, fearing that he would easily spot the warmth quickly rushing to her face. She scoffed, more to cover her own feelings than to spite his, though she wouldn't mind if it worked out to about the same thing.

"I'm fine," the teen insisted, returning his moniker with her own for him, "Pool Boy." Something prompted a giggle in her, and she clamped down on it after a split second, her eyes dancing now with a wry grin that was hidden beneath the lower half of her mask. She couldn't see his reaction, either, the enclosed mask he wore was more of Cassus' face than his own flesh, and its expression remained as stony as the day it was made. "Did you come over just to check on me?"

"No, but would it settle your stomach if I said yes?" Cassus seemed to shift in place a little, the gaze of his mask seeming to wonder slightly to the rest of the enclosure but otherwise remaining fixated on Daiya. The other Shadowrunners and Hunters following Cassus didn't seem to pay them any heed as they grouped up with the rest of Daiya's team as they took stock of the situation.

One of her squadmates chuckled behind her, prompting Daiya's eyes to dart to the side in an annoyed glare. She was just never going to live that down today. Her eyes rolled and she turned back to Cassus, a small sound escaping her lips before she replied, "What will 'settle my stomach' is if we can get this Corpo buckethead and get out of here." She ignored any more noises from behind her, the girl had heard enough of their sentiment on the way over. Instead, she lifted her blaster up to illustrate her words, "Don't worry, he doesn't have any kids. I checked."

Cassus nodded and replied, "Then we can work together this time." Outstretching his hand to be shaken, his mask fully focused on the girl.

For a moment, the girl considered shooting the hand Cassus held out to her. He had certainly earned it in the past, and it would have been kind of funny. For a moment, anyway. The boy wasn't always a bad egg, though there were enough times when his antics peeved her that she couldn't help but feel a split second of dread as she took his gloved hand in hers. "That'd be a miracle, you know that right? I'll bet you won't last 10 minutes without trying to upstage me like you always do."

"How much, you ready to lose?"

"You wish!" Daiya told him in a chuckling voice. The boy seemed to exist just to annoy her, and upstaging was his favorite method. She doubted Cassus could resist for any amount of credits, but if he was willing to put actual money on the wager, "Half." The teen grinned behind her facemask, her glee at its concealing property now doubled. "If you can last that long, Pool Boy, then half of what we're making today. But you can't, so you won't, and I'm going to enjoy my bonus from an easy win."

She sauntered past him, unable to keep from giggling at the thought. Daiya wasn't sure if she would have to call forth her squadmates again, but they followed willingly now that she was moving. They had no data on the station, no map of anything yet, and her eyes were moving to watch the corridor. Her HUD was similarly cued into the situation, sensors roving to identify and alert her of any targets approaching them. She stopped at the sound of something, moving to an edge of the corridor to get some form of cover, but there was nothing to defend against.

A few moments later, there was a flatulent...disturbance down the hall.

That was not what the young shadowrunner had expected to hear today. The screams that punctuated the sounds felt far more reassuring to her. With a nod to herself, and a jerk of her head to the rest of her squad, Daiya led them forward towards the source of the screams. They seemed to trail off into the forward compartment until they stopped suddenly and with an ominous thud. She slowed her pace, moving more cautiously now, peeking around bulkheads until she saw the source of the final noise.

A large bulkhead door was blocking their path.

Thick and heavy, it was almost certainly meant to seal off sections against decompression dangers. They were the danger part of that, anyway. Daiya frowned underneath her facemask as her squad spread out along the wall and door, examining it in ways that were mostly foreign to her. The girl could spot a few places where explosives would have done the job to clear the door away, but she hadn't been expecting this kind of obstruction to stand between them and their prize today.

"I can cut through it," one of her squadmates told her, far more serious now than their earlier banter. "It'll just take a hot minute."

She nodded absentmindedly as her eyes sought other alternatives to the plan. This was going to slow them down too much. Daiya was itching to hit some actual combat today, her fingers flexing around the grip of her blaster pistol with an unsatisfying result. "Did anyone spot a power conduit on our way here? If we disable the power, and then pry open the doors..."

Looking around the squad, Daiya realized none of them possessed the awesome power of a Wookiee. Chit.

(Written with the incorrigible Cassus Akovin )

 

[Xan Deesa]

Objective: Plant the virus and send a message
Equipment: In bio | plate carrier with durasteel plates | subdermal armour not yet listed in bio | cybernetic eyes not yet listed in bio
Tags: Daiya Cassus Akovin Subject 648 Slipknot Anakin Stormrunner
Theme: Super original

Xan watched as the others amassed to go after Xopsaloff. For a few moments she simply stood and watched as everyone broke off to go do their own thing. Finally she wordlessly turned and made her way down a separate hallway. The rest of the path was blocked with a blast door and unfortunately she didn't pack anything nearly strong enough to cut through that. It was at times like this she wished that Cas still tagged with her...

The thought was pushed aside as she looked around. A gentle breeze caught her attention, causing her to look up. Her cold, golden eyes fell upon a vent looking bi enough for her to fit through. With the subtlety of a Rancor she bent her knees a little and launched herself up towards the vent. One hand slammed it out of its socket while the other grabbed hold of the ledge. With a grunt she crawled into it and started crawling through the ventilation shaft. On the other side of the sealed door she glanced through the vent. Four troopers stood at the ready, looking rather uncertain about the situation. Her fingers grasped the vent separating them and quietly lifted it out of the way. They were still oblivious. They frantically glanced around, listened to the radio chatter, spoke amongst themselves about whether they should go help out the others. Their leader ordered them to stay put., that the comms needed to be locked down tight. She was close.

With a sigh she dropped out of the vent behind the group and landed in a kneeling position. Her golden eyes gazed up as the terrified troopers spun around with their weapons trained. "Drop your weapons." she spoke coldly as she rose from her position. "Light her up!" the leader shouted and not even a second later she was blasted back with several bolts littering her body. On the ground she laid motionless. The hopeful snickers and sighs of relief was amusing to hear, but she made no move as she laid there like a corpse. One of them came closer to her, kicking her lifeless leg as his barrel was trained on her face. "Uhh, boss... she doesn't have any-" he was cut off as his legs were swept out from under him. A boot to his throat ended him effortlessly. In the blink of an eye Xan was up and almost by the group as their frantic firing started once more.

Like a shadow she side-stepped their bolts and wrapped a hand around one's throat. With a grunt she clamped her hand down and hurled the soldier at another, launching them into the hallway wall. A bolt bouncing off the side of her head brought her attention to the commander of the group. "I gave you a choice." she muttered before dashing at him and slamming his head into a light panel behind him.

With the interference dispatched, she turned and wandered down the hallway...

 

[Doc Painless]

Objective: Plant the virus and send a message
Allies Nearby: Xan Deesa

This wasn't his scene. First, do no harm were words he tried to live by, his little outburst at the Blue Flame (and his lack of an actual medical degree) notwithstanding. No, Doc Painless was not the kind of person to have anything to do with an assassination. But he couldn't shake his own words, back at the Cryptnet meeting, out of his mind: they had to hit the Corpos somewhere that would actually hurt them if they wanted to make a difference. Otherwise the whole of CAD space would go the way of Belazura, and chit like the Doppelgangers would never stop.

He wasn't a hypocrite, or at least didn't intend to be. So he was there, supporting this desperate retribution as best he could.

The Doc had never been much of a fighter, as his thorough beating at the hands of those Corpo thugs had easily proven. Far from the wide range of weaponry carried by the other runners, he traveled unarmed, trusting in his implants and his cache of medical supplies to see him through - and to make him useful to the others. But his medicines and quik-seal bandages weren't the only tools he brought with him. As the little group stepped out into the hallways of Xopsaloff's flagship, the belly of the beast, he quietly palmed the security spike he'd wrangled up for this mission.

The Doc's job was simple: to keep things as quiet as possible for as long as possible. As Xan split off from the rest of the group, leaving the assassins to their bloody work, he followed at a distance, letting the experienced infiltrator work her way past the guards. As she shimmied up into a ceiling vent, the better to crawl past the patrols, the Doc found his way to a security terminal and slid the security spike into the access port. He could only control so much from out here in the hallway, or they wouldn't have needed to get into the control room at all, but it was enough for now.

As blasterfire echoed around the corner, the result of Xan's deception (and swift disposal) of the guard patrol, the Doc let his augmented vision and implanted circuitry do the talking. He rewound and mirrored the camera feed for the hallway, making it appear that the sentries Xan was currently dismantling had stopped, chatted, and turned back the way they'd come. It would buy them a little time before Xopsaloff knew they were there, with any luck. That task complete, he jogged around the corner to catch up with his fellow infiltrator before he got left in the dust.

The Doc didn't really know Xan Deesa well. He'd seen her at the Cryptnet meeting, and he knew enough to be impressed (and more than a little intimidated) by what she was capable of, but they'd never yet had a conversation - even though they ran in the same circles. But plenty of the Doc's friendships and alliances had been forged on the job, so to speak; it was how he'd gotten to know Daiya , after all, working together in the wake of that earthquake on Denon. "Security feed won't tip them off for now," he said, jogging up beside Xan.

He would, of course, continue to defer to her superior expertise. "I'll follow your lead for what's next."

 

[Pogu Tucs]

Objective: Boarding Xospaloff's space station.
Equipment: Heavy armour, pair of blaster pistols, light repeating tri-blaster, flamethrower, thermal detonators, quicksilver dual glaive, blades, data spike.
Allies nearby: "Jade"
Enemies nearby: Corps soldiers.



As Pugo's pod is launched, he goes to the window to take a look at where exactly he is going. The first thing he sees is a giant space station with a barrage of blaster fire headed towards him and the other pods.

"I hope we make it through." the Selkath states worryingly.

After one of the longest 3 min of his life, they finally board, the hatch opens to see ten soldiers with their guns up and ready. Pugo decided to start things of with a friendly barbeque, AKA, roasting 5 soldiers instantly with a flick of his flamethrower, then extending his blades and slicing open 3 more, then pistoled the remaining 2. Tucs companion came out of the pod, and Tucs just said "lead the way."

 

[Lilash "Jade" Covegra]

Objective: Survive the Boarding, Gather the Information before Virus Upload.
Allies Nearby: Pugo Tucs
Enemies Nearby: Corpo's

---

Seemingly out of their boarding pod, Jade was the only one who was not clothed in a way fitting for the situation at hand. Not even the Jenet beside her, who introduced Lilash simply as "Jade" was wearing such formal attire, as they wore rather light armour and a blaster pistol on his hip. Her red eyes scanned over the seated invaders, all of whom were armoured and armed in preparation for the fight to come. She knew they had a job to do, and she herself had her own that was driven by an individual motive which coaligned with that of Darkwire. Over the past decade, she had established contacts using the shadow organisations assistance, though despite that she still dealt as a form of a contractor for them. Unwilling to be on any other team than her own, she had heard of this event unfolding and believed that her own ends could be furthered by the information of the Corpo's. So, she decided it was better she place her bets upon Darkwire, and bet the whole house on them in the form of her life.

She did not care for the man they were intending to kill today. Qanatain Xopsaloff, board member of the great DireX corporation, known as the Bursar of Denon, with links to the InterGalactic Banking Clan. A big wig figure in the economic markets of Denon, his influence over the planet was quite substantial, and his fingers were in many pies. While the shadowrunner organisation was interested in eliminating his influence, Jade could only imagine the data Qanatain held within his personal repositories and as such was quite driven to partake within this mission. Even if the station held just a modicum of this information, it was going to be a goldmine for the Jenet.

A jolt of the boarding pod returned her back to reality, as the steel box that surrounded her shook violently as it neared. Already suffering a mild headache from the journey, it was made much worse as the boarding pod impacted harshly onto the space station, causing her to be thrown to the side of her harness. The impact left her head spinning as the harness' rose and the breach opened, blaster fire quickly erupting into the hallway as she began to get her bearings once more.

As she finally was able to realise the situation she was in, she leapt out of her seat and to cover in the hopes that the soldiers she had accompanied could eliminate the resistance. As the blaster fire began to subside, she peeked her head out from the side-wall she was standing behind to find their side had been victorious.

"And here I was fearing we wouldn't even make it this far." She carelessly stated, trying to smooth out the creases on her fine jacket caused by the boarding operation. While she was able to soften them, they weren't eliminated completely which clearly displeased her. "Kriffing thing. At least it wasn't torn on the impact." She sighed.

Raising her eyes, she looked to the environment they were in, noting the insignia's on the corridors. "We need to head up the hall before we veer left. From there we should find a crossroads, to which we go right." She muttered, beginning to slowly wander in that direction. "It will be further on there we shall link up with the other groups. Feel free to get rid of anything that gets in the way." She smiled softly, speaking almost in an ironically sweet tone for the last sentence.

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

Objectives: Help the hackers
Equipment: Armorweave clothes, Terminus Shiv, Sneakitheaf, Last Whisper Blaster, 3 Razzmatazz Holospheres, several small bags of sand, deactivated slave bomb
Nearby Allies: Xan Deesa Doc Painless

"We have a job to do, let's get to it! We can celebrate once this mission is complete!" Xan brushed past with nary a glance. The fighting had moved now, past the narrow strip that qualified as the part of dock he had boarded. People were gathering now, separating into groups to go after Xospaloff and all he stood for. Now though, Xan was leaving alone. Surely she wasn't the only one planning to hack this place?

"Xan! Wait up!" Either way, he wasn't about to let her wander off alone. Without further ado, he jogged after her, wings partially tucked and the ends held aloft behind him to stay away from his legs. It was an awkward looking position, but a necessary one. He wasn't made for speed on the ground, and in the low ceilings made flying an impossibility.

They stopped before a sealed off door, and Anakin had a moment to breath before the brightly colored woman jumped easily into the vent above. He follows with good natured grumbling. The jump itself was easy, but his wings had little room in the cramped space. It isn't long before they come upon enemies bellow. His own words had long since died off, and they were able to slip down unnoticed.

The tell tale sounds of fighting filled the halls. He barely had time to shimmy towards the exit before Xan was locket in combat. By the time he hit the ground all the foes were dispatched. The timely arrival of Doc kept the cameras from noticing and it seemed that the situation was tightly resolved.

"Hey! Gerry? Duran? You guys all right?" The voice of another filled the hall. Uncertain, nervous, it belonged to another worker. The man turns the corner, holding an machine gun in shaking, sweaty hands. He has no idea how to use it, not really. But all he needs to do is point and shoot. Anakin can see the moment he spots the strangers in the hall, confusion tailed by horror and over come by anger at the sight of the corpses on the ground. Shaking hands grip tight and raise the gun. A finger on the trigger.

Bang! A gunshot fills the air, noticeably quieter than one the machine gun would make. Anakin stands there, blaster in hand, as the young man falls to the floor. He's never been the best shot, but the range is short and experience keeps adrenaline from overtaking his thoughts. The scent of burnt flesh fills the air. Like all humans, the man smells of over cooked pork and charcoal. "T'ought you might want my 'elp more dan da oders. Dey got many people, you only 'ave two." Anakin holsters his blaster with ease, a smile on his face as he speaks to his companions. "We need 'ide da bodies? 'ow long will your 'acking last?" His next words were directed to Doc, even as he scanned the hallway for convenient doors or hidey holes.

 

[Xan Deesa]

Objective: Plant the virus and send a message
Equipment: In bio | plate carrier with durasteel plates
Tags: Doc Painless Anakin Stormrunner
Theme: Super original

Xan was rather surprised by the sudden company with her. Between Anakin and the new arrival, she felt a sense of relief. More hands onboard allowed for more freedom to get the job done. Anakin was quick to dispatch of a new arrival, earning a nod from the Shadowrunner. "Nice work." she stated calmly before looking to the stranger. "If you will not be a liability to the mission, feel free to tag along. What's your name?" she asked simply.

Her empty gaze was turned on Anakin when he suggested hiding the bodies. "No need to hide the bodies. They know we are here, this isn't a silent operation. Focus on clearing the way and slicing their systems. Anakin and I will make sure the way is unobstructed." she spoke to both of them with a voice devoid of emotion. Without another word she turned and led the way down the hallway. From the sound of things, the biggest focus was on the primary group making their way towards Xopsaloff. Luckily the way to their destination wasn't too hard to figure out. Between the signs and a terrified trooper she threw around a bit, they had their route laid out. Only issue now was getting past the remaining resistance.

Approaching a corner, Xan peered around it and was pleasantly surprised to see six or so troopers with a repeater mounted by the sealed doorway. "Four regulars, two elites and a repeater." she muttered as she leaned back and glanced at her two companions. She started to strip her A-180's attachments until she was left with the base pistol. "The regulars are easy enough to dispatch. Those elites will be a different story. How about I take care of the elite guards, you take out the greenhorns..." she pointed to Anakin as she spoke. "And you get to work on opening that blast door." she finished as she looked at the Doc.

"Once they're out of the way, we should be able to get into that system without issue. But make sure to backup any and all information on their system before you destroy it. We might get something useful out of it." she explained to them. Though the trio was likely oblivious of the duo ( Pogu Tucs | Lilash "Jade" Covegra ) coming from behind them through the corridors.

 

[Doc Painless]

Objective: Plant the virus and send a message
Allies Nearby: Xan Deesa | Anakin Stormrunner

Although the statement was directed at Anakin, Doc Painless couldn't help but turn it over in his own mind.

Would he be a liability? The Doc hoped not. When it came to his own particular set of skills, he'd gladly wager that no one else in Darkwire could come close to matching them... but those skills were better suited to missions of mercy than infiltrations, data thefts, and assassinations. He knew he was out of his depth, and had only come along because he felt he had to, both ideologically and because he wanted to see everyone survive this. If he was called on to do something outside his ordinary wheelhouse, though, that might make him a liability.

Would he shoot someone if he had to today? Could he? He wasn't sure.

The Doc was about to respond to Anakin, and poised to help him move the bodies, when Xan cut in. He shrugged and then nodded, feeling foolish; maybe he needn't have bothered with the camera hack, either. If their goal was just to move fast, rather than to try to remain undetected, he needed to switch his thinking about the whole mission. His promise to follow Xan's lead was now even more important, because he'd almost certainly keep making the wrong calls if he didn't. He needed to defer to the experience of actual, in-the-field runners.

Thankfully, Xan seemed to know the Doc's limits, assigning him to the door rather than any of the guards. The street medic nodded, preparing his security spike again. The door looked formidable, but with his implants and tools, he was confident that he could crack it. Of course, he couldn't even begin until these Corpo goons were out of the way. He wondered about them, wondered if they believed in what they were doing or if it was just a job to them... a job that was about to get them killed. The possibility saddened him. But then, that was war.

There was no way they could take down Xopsaloff without taking down these guys. The Doc just hoped it'd be worth it.

 

[Pogu Tucs]

Objective: Get Xospaloff's head.
Equipment: Heavy armour, pair of blaster pistols, light repeating tri-blaster, flamethrower, thermal dentonators, quicksilver dual glaive, blades, data spike.
Nearby allies: "Jade"
Nearby enemies: Corpos soldiers



Jade gave the directions, and they started of up the hall, but before they went, Pugo grabbed 2 comlinks from the dead soldiers, then quickly caught up. After only 30 seconds of running, blast doors started closing around them. "We need to get to the crossroads NOW!" The Selkath exclaimed, and they started running.

Door after door started closing, and the final door closed right in front of them, they were trapped, "NO!" The Selkath screamed. Pugo attempted to pry the door open with his claws and glaive, but the space in between was to small. "Can't use a dentonator, our room is to small, if I attempt to use one, we'll be desintigrated with the door. Jade, see if you can find a control panel or a vent."

 

[Lilash "Jade" Covegra]

Objective: Gather the Information before Virus Upload.
Allies Nearby: Pugo Tucs
Enemies Nearby: Corpo's

---

Jade almost bounced from foot to foot as they jogged down the hall, her legs almost like springs as they made their way towards the other attack groups on the station. Her crimson eyes continued to analyse their surroundings as her memory continued to feed her the directions in which the others most likely would have landed. The plasteel corridors reverberated their heavy footfalls, echoing out through the halls leaving anyone with half a sense of hearing to know of their arrival.

Even then, it came as a surprise to the Jenet as the blast doors began to close gradually up the hallway. As the group began to hasten she too did so, her allure of confidence beginning to fade slightly when the doors caught up. When the blast door finally overtook and closed in front of them did they finally slow to a halt, and she regained her composure slightly. Watching as the Selkath tried with all his might to pry open the door, she began to wonder whether she could make it to the server rooms in time.

"Can't use a dentonator, our room is to small, if I attempt to use one, we'll be desintigrated with the door. Jade, see if you can find a control panel or a vent."

Her head turned around to Pugo, almost insulted she was asked to do such a thing. The situation would demand the request to be accepted, and as such, she swallowed her pride as she silently nodded in the direction of the Selkath. "As you wish."

Slowly tracing the box they were now trapped within, her fingers ran along the edge of the wall until she came to a sudden stop. Looking up she could spy a small rectangular grill, most likely used to feed recycled oxygen into the space station. "Chi'rkk. Shoot this open for me, would you?" She muttered, looking to the fellow Jenet. A few blaster shots rang out and the vent covering clattered along the floor.

The vent couldn't have been more than twenty centimetres in width, a size that no person could ever possibly hope to fit. Sadly for their captors, such a tunnel was little to no issue for their people. "Should I go?" Chi'rkk stated, though just as he did Jade shook her head.

"You know what they say. If you want a job done right. Do it yourself."

With that Chi'rkk leaned up against the wall, putting himself into a stance ready to give her a boost. Throwing the jacket over his shoulder before taking a step into his hands, Jade was boosted up to grab a hold of the vent. As she reached for the vent she began to contort her body in what looked to be a horrifically painful fashion. Her shoulders began to dislocate and cave in on themselves, her spine twisted almost a full 180 degrees as her ribcage compressed into a third of its size. After a few seconds of popping of joints, she disappeared into the vent.

"Blaster." Echoed out of the vent, just as a arm revealed itself to the group. Chi'rkk lobbed his pistol to the hand that then caught it, before disappearing once more.

The vent itself was cold, the metal walls and oxygenated breeze providing a cool relief to the heat bring brought on by the compression of her body. Shuffling from side to side in order to get her further down the vent, her slow crawl towards the next vent opening took her a few minutes as she moved to then slide the blaster ahead of her, and move again. The light from the next vent opening was a relief for her, the cramped conditions beginning to take its effects, though more so her concern for the possible wear and tear on her clothes was more of an issue for her.

Reaching the panel, Jade peered out into the hall to realise a few men were setting up across the doorway to await its opening. They had set up cover, and seemingly hoped to eliminate the group by opening the door and simply lighting up the whole room with blaster fire Peering above she spied a set of pipes running overhead, and wondered whether they could be some of the coolant pipes for the stations reactor. Quietly dislodging the vent covering, she reached for the blaster to slightly poke it out the vent and point it towards the pipes.

As she did so, she could hear their leader begin their countdown.

"Opening door in three....two....one..."

As he pressed remote to open the doors though, Jade fired a single shot towards the pipes and pure white coolant air poured over them, obscuring their visions. The rest of the group would watch as one of the doors opened revealing a trio of Corpo's somewhat covered flailing in the smoke in shock, most likely only a few seconds away from getting focused on the boarders again, cornered in the room without cover.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

"I can cut through it," one of her squadmates told her, far more serious now than their earlier banter. "It'll just take a hot minute."

She nodded absentmindedly as her eyes sought other alternatives to the plan. This was going to slow them down too much. Daiya was itching to hit some actual combat today, her fingers flexing around the grip of her blaster pistol with an unsatisfying result. "Did anyone spot a power conduit on our way here? If we disable the power, and then pry open the doors..."

Looking around the squad, Daiya realized none of them possessed the awesome power of a Wookiee. Chit.

OBJECTIVE: Off a Xops
OTHERS CURRENTLY INVESTED IN XOPSALOFF'S WELLBEING: Subject 648 Slipknot Daiya Cassus Akovin Zola Gemma Hentz Pogu Tucs

The last two point five minutes had been the longest of Jerec's life, apart from the time he and the lady who wound up as a Sith Lord told each other they wanted a divorce. Jerec stumbled out of a side passage to join Daiya, Cassus, and their squad. His Wookiee skullthumper was all dinged up and had lost a couple of its big green crystals, one of which was in his pocket and the other of which was in some guy's skull. Smoke rose from various places on Jerec's body but he was mostly fine. The skullthumper made a great walking stick.

"Need the door? Say no more. Mechanic on site." He leaned the skullthumper in a corner and rummaged in his toolbelt. First came a datapad, where he checked a manufacturer's name against a thingy. Then it was tool time.

The implement he chose was right at home in a toolbeltish environment, scuffed all to feth and simply designed. He twiddled a few buttons and knobs, and it spat a burnt-orange plasma torch blade, much shorter and thinner than your average lightsaber. He slid the blade between the halves of the blast door and wiggled it. Something thunked - several somethings. Locking bars getting cut. Another couple of precise fishing expeditions in the nearby walls eventually killed the power to the door.

He put that particular tool away and got out a gravitic/hydraulic gizmo he used for popping off hullplates back in the garage. Jamming it into the half-melted metal where he'd inserted the plasma blade, he bid the gizmo farewell and turned it on. Metal groaned as the gizmo, now basically welded to both halves of the blast door, forced them apart by exactly 20 centimeters. Very snug, but the door wasn't getting any open-er than that.