Raid on the Aeten II miners guild.

[Druchi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bzjHFxLPdE

The Vindicator hung low in Orbit, while other First Order representatives were here for a more stable route of Stygium this one had been deployed separately. The First Order needed a supply of Stygium for it's new fleet development and it needed it fast. If all went according to plan it would put the fear into the guild owners.

Kierel felt the weight of the drop ship change, the change in gravity. the dull blue lights began flickering as the entrance to the atmosphere began pummelling the ship. Inside the platoon of stormtroopers began holding their breath. The attack would begin soon. An internal clock appeared on Kierels HUD the count down till they reached their target landing site. They could hear nothing outside the landing craft. The voice of the platoon commander informed them they had ten seconds left till drop. This was a company sized raid on one of the smaller mining guild bases.

Something racked the hull and the drop ship lurched. They hadn't mentioned anything about air defences, there was another rocking as the ship suddenly pulled hard and the troopers mag boots activated to hold them in place. There was a sudden heavy lurch, the sound of blaster fire and the smell of ion filled the small space. The ship ramp opened and the first few troopers went down in a hail of blaster fire. Already her own rifle was up as Kierel dived to the side of the transport and fired into the darkness. The search light of the dropship quickly illuminating small bands of security who were firing from walls and crevices. Her platoon spread out and she dived for cover behind the wreckage of another lander. Quickly checking the sky above she could see the second wave incoming and heard the roar of TIE engines above. Kierel fought hard to overcome her fear, she'd just been awarded for bravery and she raised her rifle up from the wreck of the dropship and fired into the general direction of her enemy, more troopers were moving up. She sounds of battle screaming and the smell of burned flesh mixed with the ionising smell of blaster fire filled the air. The burnt out wreck of the lander filled with corpses of her fellow troopers lay broken in the ground.

The raid on Aeten II had just begun.

 

[Druchi]

The heat of the planet, the flowing molten core of lava that seemed to stretch out for miles and in the centre of this chaos the stormtroopers began their advance on the mining complex built into the side of one of these volcanos. The facility began blasting the troopers positions with turbolaser fire. Kierel heard the order to advance and move to start cover fire for the heavy weaponry. Overhead one of the TIE fighters was blasted. It's wing shot off and careened into the lava it's cockpit and other wing spun helplessly into the facility. The second wave was just beginning to land.They couldn't just orbital blast the facility as it had the precious stygium needed for the fleet renewal.

Kierel raised her blaster, she breathed deeply and fired. The first few shots went wide. the facility guards were well armoured, full body suits and armour like the stormtroopers. They were using modern rifles and were laying down a withering storm of fire on their own. She ducked down as blaster fire seemed to rain on her position. The hull of the exploded transport the only thing for cover. The other stormtroopers began circling around laying down more fire. More and more troopers were advancing. A fulls quad slammed next to her crouching low. They were the second wave and were going to provide cover while the stormtroopers advanced.

The malestorm of fire began to spread out to focus on other units of stomrtroopers. Already the gleaming white bodies of troopers littered the advance like tossed aside dolls. One of the TIE fighters screeched its howl overhead and at that moment Kierel and her platoon advanced. One of the turbolaser platforms turned and fired down on the troopers. Kierel was thrown forward as she ran and careened into the mining fence perimeter. She felt for her rebreather - still secured and picked up the blaster rifle. scanning around she could see the AT-BT's advancing two of them laying down a destructive barrage of fire on the defence cordon the mining guild had set up. The rest of her platoon was now under said wall and laying breaching charges to start entering the small mining town complex.

 

[Visser Chernykh]

Tucked away with [member="Kierel"]'s company was a stranger. It wasn't that the stormtroopers didn't know of the Order of Ren. They'd heard of them and even seen brief glimpses. But they simply weren't privy to the inner workings of the First Order.

So a void of information naturally bred rumours and gossip. All sorts of wild tales had sprung up about the shadowy Ren. Tales attributing all sorts of unnatural feats to the rarely witnessed ones. Some of those stories really were true.

The Ren were something like the boogeymen of the First Order. Hardened troopers laughed at the crazy stories but there was a nervous edge in it. They would sometimes even surreptitiously glance around when they thought no one was watching. The stranger's habitual silence didn't help.

Mael Ren could feel their fear tightly reined in. He could say that he truly relished that sensation. They all had the discipline of the infantryman but beneath was primal human emotion nothing could truly erase. The masked one smiled as they ship shook with atmospheric turbulence.

He could hear the orbital defenses whizzing all around the landing craft. It was possible that they'd never even make planet fall. That too made Mael feel that primal fear. But he drew on it as he had been taught in his own training.

A too-close detonation rocked the ship hard. He grabbed the hand rail above and steadied himself as if on a train in Avalonia. Then the ship thumped a moment later as it made the surface. The landing ramp began to open and the advance party began to boil out.

They moved in neat lines into the darkness with rifles firing. Already resistance was there waiting with ragged bursts of fire. He waited for the last trooper to clear the craft before he moved. He drew a heavy blaster pistol with his gloved right hand and started forward.

Boots thumped on the deck as he walked with a casual ease. Mael Ren stepped over the corpses of those who'd not made it past the landing. He was peripherally aware of another craft's wreckage to his left. His pace was deliberate as if he wasn't being shot at.

The Knight of Ren was guided by the hand of the Force. He leveled his pistol ahead and just right of centre. The discharge of plasma flew into the darkness. A split-second later Mael heard the satisfying scream of a rebel being hit.

Darkness was broken by flashes of light as he went on. It was a storm with blaster fire in place of lightning and explosives standing in for thunder. His head turned left as he felt a surge of danger. A gloved palm was thrust out and he sent a telekinetic blast.

The wave knocked a pair of would-be snipers back some ten meters. Their makeshift cover of crates was turned into matchsticks from the concussive impact. Onward, onward to victory.

 

[Druchi]

Kiereal watched the masked figure step from one of the shuttles. She'd heard a Ren was on the mission but between the blaster fire and calling shots and trying to keep alive she caught him only for a brief moment. The sheer aura of threat and danger around the masked figure had been enough to ward off any questions when they had boarded the shuttle craft. She watched as the creature raised its gloved hand and watched as a burst of nothingness seemed to blast obstacles and corpses out the way. Following the trail of destruction she watched as some crates flew and two would be snipers slammed against a wall. Lifeless. The area still lit up with fire as she joined in the shooting fest.

All soldiers felt fear in battle. The rush it gave was what kept you alive and what kept you smart but if you let it run too far you'd do something stupid/ Kierel was trying to remove all the stupid impulses like raising her head to get a look at the battlefield and finding the enemy as opposed to just keeping down. And when your friends or people you liked started to fall take hits and scream you felt rage. Pure rage for the people putting you here. She raised her rifle and fired unknowing if anything had hit.

The charge set and the deteonite sheared the door frame straight off. already the troopers began piling in Kiereal after them, her suit was reporting that it's integrity was holding but only just. She stayed low and down as best as she could after charging into the area she could see her unit had caught their enemy by surprise who were still scrambling to get into cover. She raised her blaster and cut one down. She saw the creature as it was hit in the neck throw it's hands up to try and grasp at it's neck. She seemed to have hit the rebreather tankard watched for about a second as the humanoid grasped and gargled in pain choking. Already the return fire was finding its way and her platoon was beginning to advance into the dwelling around the complex.

The report came through that the AT-BT's had neutralised the turbolaser turrets and now second wave was entering the complex. It seemed the attack had caught them by surprise but they had still been able to ready their defence network in time. Kierel wondered to herself if any of this was really wroth it. If the First Order really needed these supplies so badly that good men and woman had to die in droves. She'd heard rumours of the collapse of the One Sith and assumed it might be to do with that. All that the Supreme Leader would be under threat but for such a meagre amount of crystals that... what made a ship invisible to sensors for a time? It didn't make sense to her. Still it didn't have to. The Galaxy always needed people who would follow the orders of people who knew better.

This brief moment of self awareness was cut short when a rocket blast came from the entrance of the mine itself. Tearing into the lead squad as they picked themselves up and were cut down by fire. Kierel and her unit moved cautiously around. She called the coordinates to the AT-BT's and TIE fighters who saw rocket tanks and large turbolaser setups at the entrance. She kept her head down again doing her best to keep her survival instinct from getting her killed. Her training asserting itself as she hunkered down with her squad.

[member="Mael Ren"]

 

[Visser Chernykh]

Mael could feel the eyes of a stormtrooper linger on him. He turned and their masked gazes locked for an instant. For an instant he could see his own frightful image through her eyes. The Ren knew her thoughts and feelings for that briefest of contact.

Contact was broken when she scrambled forward and he too continued towards what he assumed was the administrator's office. He left several rebels with smoking holes through heads and torsos along the way. Stupid, he though disparagingly as he walked past the corpses.

Trying the front door to the largest of the buildings had shown it to be locked. A pointless gesture easily dealt with and it filled him with contempt. As if a simple electronic lock could stop me. He holstered the blaster and stepped back three paces.

Mael raised both hands and focused his mind. Away from the clamour of the fight and the screams of the injured and dying. He fed the bonfire of the Dark side the fear he felt through the contested landing. He fed it the fear and the suffering of those all around.

Bonfire became raging inferno in those brief seconds. The durasteel crumpled under the impact of the black and was sent pinwheeling inside. He heard it smash against the far wall. Any being in it's path would've been cut down like so much wheat.

He stepped through.

@Kierel

 

[Druchi]

Kieral breathed, the fumes and toxic air filtered out to give a stale but hot feeling running through her lungs. She raised the blaster again and fired. The TIE bombers fell upon the defences around the mining complex like angry wolves tearing apart their prey run by run. As she advanced she saw a sheet of metal fly into a group of the defenders. They were slammed against a wall. Mushed their fluids leaking from their suits in a spray of boiling blood. The atmosphere of Aeten II being at best described as inhospitable to living life forms. Another turbo laser barrage added more and more craters where once men and machine had stood. It was beginning to look like the side of some asteroid ridden moonscape. Craters and fire burning wherever the eye could see. In those little moons where nothing should have been brief darts of movement and laser fire.

Whoever was paying these security forces was paying them well. That or they didn't expect mercy if they were captured. She heard the whooshing of overhead fighters. Clearly some sort of airfield was now providing protection. The TIE fighters and bombers began to break off and what looked like from Kierels position a beautiful dance of laser fire and blurs began to streak their colours like strokes of a brush across the sky. Someone bellowed orders for the platoon to advance. Kieral scrambled from the sidecover and into one of the craters, she kept her head down and didn't fire. The trooper next to her, she thought his name was Grengol did and was answered in kind by a bolt that smashed through his neckpiece. Her training kicked in she didn't have time to check him for life. The important thing was the objective. Even if he wasn't dead he soon would be from the fumes or the unfiltered air entering through his neck hole. No, no time to stop. If you stopped you were dead.

As if to answer that thought some form of heavy laser fire began layering on Kierels position. The trooper was right by the mine entrance, one this was taken it would be a simple case of rounding and moping up the remaining defenders and gathering as much stygium as the cargo vessels could hold and high tailing it out of system as fast as possible. She signalled for some form of cover fire and waited for the platoon to come to her aid, or worse.

[member="Mael Ren"]

 

[Visser Chernykh]

He stepped through to an empty reception area. It was a functional space with a simple desk taking precedence. Behind it a data terminal where some minor functionary would sit. But there was no such being here.

Mael turned his head slowly. It appeared like millions of other such buildings. The Ren wasn't interested in the decor. He searched instead for the inhabitants of this building.

They weren't in their sleeping quarters. The infiltrator knew this because they'd been contacted not a standard hour before. The First Order had informed the administrator of their arrival. It wouldn't be said they were thieves in the night.

Mael went around the semi-circle of the desk and began down the main hallways. His pace was purposefully slow as he continued his search. The building wasn't very large so there weren't many places to hide. He reached the end of the hall and a doorway with a nameplate.

A magnetic lock was activated and seemed to require a keycard. He sneered at the cheap little lock meant mainly to keep nosy employees out. A Force-enhanced kick allowed him to buckle the door. It was sufficient that he could simply pry it open.

The administrator's office was little more impressive than the reception area. It was evident that the company was niggardly with it's expenditures. He frowned when he saw that it too was empty. Mael Ren was about to turn and leave but then he heard a sound.

It was the smallest and most innocuous noise. Within the silence of this room it almost echoed. Perhaps it was the scuff of a foot on the ground or a cough. Either meant someone was present.

He stepped further into the office letting his boots thump ominously. Mael wanted whoever it was to panic and give away their location. Were they in a panic room within the walls? He'd dug out rebels on Anoat from such a place.

Mael Ren made a slow circuit of the room. He rapped a gloved hand on the walls as he went. No echo was heard which ruled out a hidden door in the walls. The ceiling too appeared to have no seams in it's prefabricated construction.

That left the floor itself though exactly where he couldn't tell. The man started with under the desk. He squatted down to examine the carpet. Nothing there any more than the walls or ceiling.

Then he looked up to see something unexpected. A button under the edge of the desk. He stood and pressed the button to hear a click. Floor underneath began to shift and he took a quick step back.

He drew his pistol as he realized what was happening. A hidden door hissed as the floor panel with the desk on it had begun to slide back. It revealed stairs and a middle-aged human with a pair of buxom Twi'leks at the bottom. Blue-skinned twins it appeared.

"Out," he said as he leveled his gun as the man's head.

[member="Kierel"]

 

[Thresh Sken]

[member="Mael Ren"] [member="Kierel"]

I rushed down the landing ramp, a black shadow against the pure white of stormtrooper armour. Our transport ship had been delayed in low orbit by enemy fighters. They had inflicted minor damage before they were blown away by TIE Fighters come to ensure our safety to the ground. It had been a rough trip, but we had made it. Now on to the mission at hand.

My objective was to secure the shipments of Stygium to make sure they were not smuggled off the planet in a getaway ship before the First Order was done with the invasion. And I was late to the party.

I ran as fast as I could, not caring for my safety and potential enemies in the area. I ran until I came upon a pothole-ridden landscape, laser fire arcing from both sides across the middle of it. I noticed an E-Web set up by the entrance, a guard manning it and forcing our troopers down behind cover, rendering them unable to fire back for long. I felt a sense of obligation to the Stormtroopers to remove this impediment, as I should have been here fighting alongside them earlier to minimize losses. It was one of the least things I could do to help them out.

I looked around, searching for the best way to remove the E-Web from the equation. My eyes lighted on a piece of scrap metal, probably torn off from something due to a large explosion. I reached my hand out towards it, hand shaking. It skittered across the ground in the general direction of the E-Web, but wasn't as close as I would have liked. My strength was failing from such a massive feat, and my fur started to mat while I sweated because of the exertion. I couldn't do it. I needed more strength. I opened myself up, trying to find a source of Dark Side power I could draw from to help me accomplish my task.

I felt fear all around me, anger and rage too. This was a battlefield. This was war. I had every emotion I could want piled up in front of me, bombarding me with their intensities. I grabbed ahold of them, condensing them into one last Force Push that sent the piece of scarp metal flying into the E-Web, destroying it in a fiery explosion.

I noticed that there was a reduced amount of condensed fire assailing our troops now, due to the elimination of one heavy repeating blaster. I hoped this would free our troops up.

I walked in a crouch across the battlefield, coming around the right side. My hope was to help with the attack indoors, providing some melee support in the close quarters.

 

[Visser Chernykh]

"This is ridiculous, it's...it's against the law!," the fat, warty little administrator spluttered. He and his 'secretaries' were sat in the corner with the man in the chair. Push the meekest being enough and they'd eventually push back. Mael couldn't help but feel a certain thrill for what would come.

"Hardly, you were given notice of our arrival," the masked man replied coldly.

"You...you're thieves!," came yet more accusations.

"Thieves don't announce themselves," he replied "We have always paid for what resources we take."

"You pay next to nothing!," the man snapped

"You're compensated adequately," Mael replied in his artificial voice "Now, where have you hidden your cache of stygium crystals."

The man tried to resist. Mael couldn't help but admire his defiance. Lesser being would've crumbled long before this point. Perhaps fate had gifted this one inside instead of out.

Perhaps the Force itself had given this man some unseen strength. The fear radiated off them all and he took pleasure in it. The game couldn't continue indefinitely. His master desired a something and it was his task to acquire it.

A clawed hand was raised to silence the man's protests. Mael thrust it in the man's face and he clawed too with the Dark side. He burrowed into the man's psyche, an insidious worm. Past the fear and desire and all the primal things.

Mael Ren delved deep into the unguarded mind. He knew all things of this little man. The warty little pig writhed in silent agony under his auspices. The Twi'leks watched with mute fascination.

The answer he sought was dug out like the crystals themselves. The Ren learned his answer but he continued to twist the mind. Not enough to break but he wore an ecstatic grin. The little administrator, the little nothing, had a rictus of agony to mirror his tormentor's glee.

This being's life was in his grasp. Mael felt like he'd surpassed the mortal coil just then. It was intoxicating and he knew he could twist the little nothing a bit more. But he slowly pulled back and the administrator slumped in the chair.

He realized that he was panting. Not from the effort but the thrill. The mining complex's administrator lived but he'd never be the same. Mael Ren felt the glow of pleasure no drug could equal.

Mael Ren became aware of the Twi'leks again as he steadied himself. They regarded him with a mixture of fear, awe and even admiration. It was clear they held no love for their 'employer'. The Ren smiled at them beneath his mask.

"He will live," he told them "But he will never be the same."

And Mael Ren knew that they silently approved this fate.

[member="Thresh Sken"] [member="Kierel"]

 

[Thresh Sken]

I cloaked myself in light, using my Defel ability, refracting it around myself so I was invisible to anyone who would happen to look at where I was at the moment. Now, for the challenge. I started at a slow jog to the door of the compound. It was difficult to try to keep my footing and keep the invisibility up at the same time, and was not helped by the stray blaster bolt that came near my head. I flickered into the visible light spectrum for a half second, then quickly regained my concentration. This was going to be harder than I thought.

I picked my way across the battlefield, wary of friendly fire. I didn't want to get into my own troops' firing lanes. Now just metres from the door, I saw a few guards putting up some resistance behind a wall, keeping the Stormtroopers from advancing forward. This would not do. I settled into a pit in the ground made by some explosive device shielded partially by scrap metal. I sat down to allow myself a short break from the intense concentration. My invisibility dropped and I gave a huge sigh of relief. Now, to deal with those guards. There wasn't quite anything practical to pull another stunt like with the E-Web earlier... But maybe I didn't need scraps.

I snapped my head across the battlefield to where a Stormtrooper was throwing a thermal detonator. Taking hold of it with the Force, I directed it behind the shelter the enemy guards were behind, embedding it firmly into the ground. I glanced away as fire and smoke belched from behind the cover, signifying the coast was clear. I gave a deep breath and put on my invisibility again, just in case. I sprinted the last metres into the door, and looked around. Deserted hallways in every direction that I could see. I hope this meant they didn't leave with the shipment yet. I needed to find it and secure it. It wouldn't do to have the crystals taken out from under my nose. That would be very, very bad, and I did not want to disappoint on this important mission.

I hardened my resolve. But I will not fail. It is simply not an option. I will do whatever it takes to bring this shipment in. Choosing the hallway to my right, I sprinted down it, hoping to find some indicator of stygium crystals lying around the compound in one of the rooms.

[member="Kierel"] [member="Mael Ren"]

 

[Druchi]

[member="Thresh Sken"]

Kierel watched as the detonator from one of hte troopers hunkered down near her exploded into the midst of the enemy ranks. She was about to wonder how good his aim was when she saw the cloaked figure strafing the battlefield for a brief moment he appeared looked in her direction and was gone. She knew what he was. And the fact that two of them had arrived meant this was an important operation. This was an important raid to the first order a great deal of resources had been spent getting this force covertly to Aeten II.

She raised her blaster rifle again and fired into the enemies as they began crawling and sprinting from cover. She cut down one who did a sort of tumble and roll before stopping dead. She could see from his skin tone he was a Zeltron or possibly a Zabrak with tattoos. She was still learning all the different alien species. Another string of shots and botls cascaded past her. The heavy defences set up by the militia now taking their toll as the troopers began their advance. The AT-BT's fire made short work of the small defence tanks and rocket positions. The TIE's howled overhead like a pack of hungry wolves.

It was ending, some of the defence forces started to throw their weapons down and come out with their hands up. The Walkers obliterated all in thier path. The entrance to the mine was open. And with the second and third waves arriving they began securing the raid site in case of a counter attack. The Walkers slowly turned to get into defensive positions.

Kierel didn't see what happened to the defenders but she imagined it would involve a quick blaster bolt to the head. Entering the Stygium mines there were trucks filled with the crystals and other goods. The mining operation had been a deep one no doubt but they wouldn't have long to get the goods out from the mine and back to the Vindicator.

 

[Thresh Sken]

Sensing a slight ripple in the Force I stopped dead in my tracks. This small alcove off to my right... There was something there. I walked into it, my gaze settling on boxes arranged haphazardly on the floor. Walking over to the nearest container I slid the top open with the Force. Stygium crystals. I moved to the next one over. More Stygium crystals. I walked to a box in the corner of the room, away from where I stood and looked in another container. Stygium crystals.

This place was full of them. I looked around at all of the boxes, thankful to see that they were still here. This might not be all of them consolidated in one place, but at least I knew where a large quantity was still available for the taking. I relaxed a little, relieved that my late coming to the battlefield was not for naught.

As I looked around the room assessing the First Order's earnings, my gaze settled on a box on the opposite side of the room. I walked over and stood in front of it, contemplating what I could have felt inside. I pulled the cover off the box. It was, as expected, full to the brim with stygium crystals. I plunged my hand inside the sea of crystals, some tumbling over the side. My hand was groping around for what I sensed through the Force.

There. Got it. I withdrew my hand from the innards of the container, further displacing some of the precious stones. I turned my hand over so it was palm up and uncurled my fingers. A stygium crystal rested there, seemingly calling to me through the Force. I was confused. Why this crystal? Why was I drawn to it specifically? Then I noticed the weight of my double bladed vibrosword still dangling in my left hand.

Oh, I thought. a smile just beginning to creep across my face. This would be for a lightsaber. My first lightsaber. My eyes gleamed with a new inner fire. A lightsaber! I thought to myself, ecstatic. This would be one of the challenges to prove that I was ready to become a full Knight of Ren. And I eagerly awaited the challenge.

For the time being, though, I had to help move these containers of stygium crystals out. I levitated the two near me out to the path, creating a stack of them outside. My mind was elsewhere, however, whilst doing this task. I took one last look at the crystal I held in my hand before slipping it into a pocket in my robe. I couldn't wait to build a lightsaber.

[member="Kierel"]