Spider Barbeque - Extra Crispy (Firemane)

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"], @[member="Delila Castillon"], @[member="Anemone Nivalis"], @[member="HK-36"], @[member="Hevana Martin"], @[member="Tempest"]

Space, the final frontier. Actually it was not so final anymore, for in ages past humans and xenos had braved the stars due to the ingenious tool that was the hyperdrive. They had spread across space like insatiable swarms of locusts.

Hyperspace, the holonet and the very rare case of instinctive astrogation had made the void an inconvenience, the vastness of space had been so neatly mapped that traversing it was little different from flying through the sky with a speeder. It would be a brave new world of shiny happiness, but the far future where in the shining light there was only peace and apple pie had not materialised. Conflict and bloodshed were eternal, so was sentient nature; only the clothes, the weapons and means of transportation changed over the aeons.

Which brings us to the delightful location of this quest. The authorities on Kaeshana received a strange message that, after being decoded, seemed to be a distress signal, though most of the transmission was garbled, from a colony planet called Eden Prime.

The message seemed to have taken some time to appear, but nonetheless a call went out to investigate. It was a largely agricultural colony, though mines had been discovered, causing an influx of colonists hungry for gain. More to the point, over time some Eldorai settlers had found their way to the planet, escaping what they saw as the stultrifying culture of their homeworld. The new regime was eager to bring them under the loving heel...that is spread enlightenment.

Having economic interests and not wanting an unknown variable so close to its zone of operations, Firemane assembled a strike force to investigate the situation. Thus the quest began with Firemane transport vessels touching down at an abandoned landing pad close to Liberty. It was the only city upon the planet, though interspersed with farms and some small villages.

In Siobhan's humble opinion, the settlers had been a tad overoptimistic by calling the town that. It was like they were tempting fate and just asking to be struck down and punished by it! However, silly naming conventions were the least of her worries as she stepped down the landing ramp of her vessel, other ships following in her wake, Firemane troopers rushing out to quickly secure the landing zone. She was dressed in her battle armour and carried one of her trusted boltguns.

"Right, let's go, people, I want a perimeter around this area! Get probe droids deployed and a speeder scout patrol saddled up for recon. Tegs, we're on the ground, no one's come to say hello. Moving to the city." She looked upon the distant dome that rose into the air.

It was a rather rocky planet with high mountains and farming domes, further in the distance forests of oak trees could be made out, doubtless the woods harboured beasts of some sort. There was the light breeze of the wind, but otherwise it was silent, eeriely perhaps, doubtless the calm before the drama. No further message had been received from the planet, preliminary scans performed by the Firemane corvette up in orbit had picked up no signs of activity, communications appeared down.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Space, the final frontier. Actually it was not so final anymore, for in ages past humans and xenos had braved the stars due to the ingenious tool that- Oh, oh right, Siobhan has that part covered.

Well, anyhoo,
For HK it was just another job with Firemane, more or less, they received a distress signal of sorts they decided to investigate, so he tagged along with few squads of his Iron Company, and he very much expected that by the end of the day something will be screeching at him or trying to chew on his head.
"Or how about we will probe you instead and then send you out to be probably destroyed?"
He quipped to Kerrigan's orders about Probe Droids, he gave her a nod as he made his presence known, he was wearing his usual armor and weaponry, standard mission, standard load-out. Well, at least he thought it was standard so far.

"My squads are ready, do we know anything else about this Eden Prime here?"
The droid would look about and scan for anything out of usual,
"Maybe it has been victim of just another pirate raid."

 

[Tempest]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="HK-36"]

Joining the operation for the first time was Tempest. Still a little unsure of herself, she followed Siobhan closely. She was out of her depth in an actual military situation, but that worry only made her angry.
Checking her boltgun again she hurried after the Colonel.
The strange droid was talking, so Tempest kept quiet until it was finished.
She had her own opinions, but said nothing, waiting for the order to advance....

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tempest"], @[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan ignored his comment about her getting probed. Without wanting to sound arrogant, there were very few people who had a shot at destroying her. "Known corsair players have been lying low in this corner of space since the Nawab's station got blown to kingdom come, but it's possible. Or even Dark Eldorai. But the landing pad's a bit too clean," she said thoughtfully.


Probes had been deployed ahead and should soon deliver reports, though the area between the landing zone and their current location had shown nothing. Dark Eldorai had a tendency to leave their victims behind horribly mutilated, ironically enough quite similar in manner to the Bando Gora.


"Truth's out there. HK, take your squads and some speeders come in from the north, I'll come in from the south. Secure the sector, search for survivors - some might still be hiding in the domes - , bodies, but be prepared for ambushes. If you get fired upon, terminate the resistance, but I'd like people to question. We'll keep in touch by comm link," she ordered, her HUD flashing as she transmitted the frequency the probe droids would be using in his sector.


Pirates were usually pretty indiscriminate in the use of their firepower, so there would be tell-tale signs if it had been an attack by corsairs or slavers. Dark Eldorai had a habit of hanging 'traitors' from lamp posts or just leaving them mutilated. Reavers would leave a trail of aristically tortured and badly mauled corpses behind, looking as if they had been ripped apart by wild animals. The landing pad seemed too clean for her tastes; indeed it looked like it had been stripped of anything, leaving just the pad and a few buildings, not even any dead bodies to be found. The attackers might have landed closer to the city, but that did not account for it appearing as if people had never used it.


Eye flickered over to Tempest and she gestured to the younger woman as she signalled her squads to form up to advance. The force deployed for this mission was small, though they could call on aerial support if needed, bringing down gunships. "Tempest, you're with me. We're going in. Be ready, silence doesn't mean all the mynocks have fown away. Let's get moving, lads." Siobhan had known the woman since the then Omega Pyre's liberation of Dahomey, a campaign that had been led by her and Tegaea, hence why they still had ties to the planet. She had gotten to know her, ahem, well during the honeymoon. She felt rather protective of her, sensing Tempest's unease and anger, though there was another, more professional reason she wanted her close.

 

[Tempest]

Tempest obediently fell into step beside @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. Out here, in the field, she was but a learner. Siobhan was the one who knew how things worked, so she stayed by her, clutching the boltgun closely.
She had not missed the lack of wanton destruction. It was simply unlike slavers and pirates to not leave their mark. This was clean, precise, dangerous.

As they came towards the south entrance they found again that things were not as they should be. It was like a ghost town, where everyone had just got up and left, leaving no sign.
Kneeling down beside the road she found something disturbing, called Siobhan over.
"Drag marks. Someone made it to here, then dragged back to the settlement. And look at these odd tracks...the one dragging them perhaps?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tempest"]


Firemane soldiers up ahead provided cover, keeping their weapons trained on the streets, those with repeaters and grenade launchers in the centre, soldiers leaning up against the hard stone walls, as Siobhan turned away from surveying the ghost town to approach Tempest, looking at the marks she had indicated. Probe droids had penetrated the outer layer of the town, but were picking up on no activity. A fast speeder patrol was strafing the ground around it, but nothing either.

There were gaps in Siobhan's knowledge about the woman's background, though she knew that her parents had been traders and hunters, before they had been cruelly murdered, before Tempest had been made a slave. Clearly this background was coming in handy as far as tracking was concerned. If Siobhan possessed psychosemetry perhaps she could have found things out the arcane way, but lacking such an ability she had to trust her eyes.


"Agreed on both counts. Raises another question. Why would a raider want to drag his victim back into the settlement and not out? If it was a Dark Eldorai trying to string up her victim as an example to others...we're lacking bodies. The tracks lead further into town, we'll follow," she spoke, pointing at the lines in the ground, pressing a button on her wrist-worn comm to send a transmission to @[member="HK-36"], enquiring about things on his end. The Firemane Gunship had entered the atmosphere and was on standby if needed.

 

[Nyos Val]

Nyos walked in line behind @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. His mistress was on planet, that meant he was too. His gear stored in his pack, medical and cybernetic supplies abundant. His vibrosaber and heavy bolter sheathed on his belt and bounds of ammo in the pouches. He was here for Sio's benefit, whether she wanted it or not. Lady @[member="Tegaea Alcori"] would have his head if she got hurt. He knew nothing fo the mission because Sio was his mission.

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Tempest"] @[member="Nyos Val"]
And on their path to come in from the North,

HK took a smaller squad at the front of their scouting mission, just few soldiers and him on the speeder bikes ahead of the main force, in case they would meet a surprise attack, mines or some such on the road, or a blockade, with a smaller force they would be able to evade them and clear the way for the rest of the scouting squads behind them.

So there they were, speeding along the landscape of the planet, there wasn't anything out of ordinary on their path, perhaps the main scouting party will have a better luck finding any traces they could report in, but other than that, HK only found lovely landscape and flora, taking few pictures for any possible future paintings.

Just when @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] messaged him for a report they were moving along a bottom of a crevice, a canyon perfect for any ambushes, nudge-nudge, wink-wink.
"Nothing to report yet, Colonel, so far only peace and quiet, has your group found anything?"

Here's to hope that HK won't be going back on his words any time soon.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="HK-36"] | @[member="Nyos Val"] | @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | @[member="Tempest"]

Delila trudged along the colony planet, boots crunching across the ground. She was away from the main group, her trusty blaster rifle in hand. A bolter swung at her hip, thudding against her thigh as she walked. A flamethrower was strapped between her back and the rucksack.Weighed down with a pack of explosives and supplies on her back, the redhead was also further back than most of the group. Delila could have easily had her own soldiers to command. Hell, she could have a promotion if she wanted to. In fact, Delila wasn't sure if she had a rank or anything similar at Firemane.

It was the first time in professional her life she wasn't designated as some military ranking. It was odd.

Tucking a strand of dark red hair behind her ear, her gaze searched the horizon. It was a little too quiet in her opinion. Yet she was used to explosions and the cries of the dead, roaring vessels and yelled commands. Must be her experience with the situation, rather than the situation itself.

 

[Nyos Val]

Hey, glad to see you up and about. Last time I saw you, you were in bad shape. I'm glad you're doing well. @[member="Delila Castillon"] Nyos even cracked a smile at her as he spoke. He was truly pleased to see his old comrades again. It has been a busy few months and aside from the distress call, he was in good spirits for once.

My lady, what reports have we received about the situation? @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] Concern coming back over his scared face. A new one now shown on his head, it ran from his left temple back over his ear and to the back of his head. His hair was buzzed short after repairing the gash, save for the scar that parted his hair on that line.

@[member="HK-36"] @[member="Tempest"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Delila Castillon"], @[member="HK-36"]

Siobhan had taken her squads further into the centre of the ghost town, following the tracks. They became less clear to make out as they proceeded further inside, but a path seemed to be leading them towards the central dome. Throughout the march things were silent, eeriely. At one point a Firemane grunt spun around and almost fired with his blaster rifle, on edge due to nerves after having heard something, but as it turned out it was just a dog, or whatever this universe's equivalent was since it cannot just be kath hounds, scamping around near the trash.

No dead bodies so far. Likewise as they briefly stopped to investigate one of the shops, they found that while the door had been knocked down nothing had been stolen. Indeed while damaged, in some cases even severely so with walls blasted apart, it appeared that none of the buildings had been raided at all.

Throughout the march Siobhan could not shake off the feeling that something - or someone - was watching them. She stretched out with her Force sense, trying to get a reading on things, but whatever was watching there remained elusive. Well, the veil would be lifted soon. As her good friend Delila would surely agree the best way to do that was through explosions! After all, it was a bit difficult to stay hidden when there was a firestorm.

HK's message shook her out of whatever musings she might have had. "Yeah, been following some tracks into the town. Suspect they're of one of the townspeople and one of the raiders." HK would surely notice how odd it would be for a raider to drag a victim back inside the town they were attacking. "I don't think whoever's responsible has left the planet yet," she spoke further into the comm.

As she reached out she sensed presences, life forms, her sense homing in on the central dome, a rather large structure. From outside the building appeared dark, but then it appeared that power had long died in the town and the sun was already setting. Speaking on the general frequency she transmitted to HK and Delila...who was playing lone redheaded wolf. "At the central dome. Sense multiple presences. Link up with me and we'll go in."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Nyos Val"] [member="Delila Castillon"] [member="Tempest"]
"Roger that,"
HK responded to Kerrigan on the public channel they all shared,
"My forces and I are on our way."

It would take a bit before the scouting party would get there, but they would get there! It seemed that all the critters were not hidden in the wilderness, which means they would not be ambushing the droid and his scouts any time soon, instead they were all focused about the large dome inside the city itself.

Finally the squad the droid took as forward scout party would arrive at Siobhan's position with the whirr of their speederbikes, settling down and securing the machines, parking them as HK nodded to Colonel Kerrigan.
"Nothing to report, it seems all the tracks are leading towards the city, no traps, no enemy scouts or guards set up along the roads, nothing that looked like much of a landing zone. I do not exactly like it, it is illogical."
He looked up towards the dome, it will be their target for the day.

The forward party of his scouting group may have arrived with him, but it would be a while longer before the rest of the forces would catch up with them as reinforcements.