Task Force 9: Ghosts of Concordia

[Eeth Kolar]

Concordia, one of the two moons that Orbited the planet of Mandalore and like the planet that it orbited, it too had beskar, the nearly indistructible metal that in the past fueled the Mandalorian war machine. Because of this, Concordia's once lush surface had been desimated by mines and battles over the precious metal. Centuries past and mines were forgotten, colonies abandoned and only a small percentage of the Mandalorian population lived on Concordia's settlements. This allowed for the moon to stop, take a breath, and begin healing, its landscape becoming lush with forests once again. It was under this cover that a secret outpost was created deep in the mountainous region of Concordia in order to fight back against an enemy of untold proportions. Force sensitive children were drafted to train and fight this menace in secret. However, this enemy could not be escaped, there was no hiding from the presence of Omni and the location of these brave soldiers remained a secret.

Now, hundreds of years later, a settlement has taken root nearby this outpost and have sent scouts to see about a strange mechanical noise that has been reported for nearly a week now. They never returned.

With every Mandalorian well aware of the threat Omni now represents a message was sent to the Mandalore to request aid in removing what they believed was an Omni presence. What they would find however, would change Mandalore. For better, or for worse has yet to be decided.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Marching off to battle, and I'm easily the worst Mandalorian around."

Rach finished adjusting his armor as the Predator touched down. The refitted Consular-class settled onto the ground of Concordia lightly; a moon, after all, would never have the same gravity as the planet it orbited.

"I can't get the straps quite right. I am by far the worst Initiate ever."

The Dark Master stood from the copilot's seat and finished cinching various buckles. The completed set of beskar'gam settled over his body, distributing its weight evenly. He pulled on the helmet.

"All right, let's get out there."

 

[Ori'Alor Tal'Verda]

"You just need to get used to it." ALliera said, picking up her Song Steel Kiai'ta and shiething it in it's scabbard on her back "It takes practice for someone new to the armor to get everything right, though you are progressing well." Alliera led Rach through the halls of the Predator to the cargo bay. The Predator had been an anchient Charger C70, but Alliera reclaimed it and refitted it with modern 'fixin's' so it could compete with modern ships. A MandalMotors exec had even seen the ship in action, and asked if it'd be possible to get a schematic of the Predator that included the Modernizations. Once Alliera had made it to the cargo area, she pulled out a Snake Eyes Tumbler, and guided it to the door of the cargo bay, and walked outside. "So, you mind riding?" Alliera asked, straddling the bike "It's faster this way."

 

[Ashara Zavros]

She had been scoping out the base for a few hours now, part of an advance search party sent to maybe find the scouts who were thought to be dead. This moon was where she spent most of off time, wandering the woods and the forests barefoot. It was a quick getaway from the ways of the world, immersing herself in this natural world. It felt strange to be on this moon with a full kit. Awkward almost. But she knew the difference between work and play, well she thought she did. Some others on the other hand...well. Regardless, she was here and her team was spread out around the base. Her montrals were picking up small amounts of movement in the trees but it was too fluid to be any kind of droid she knew of. 'But then again, I haven't seen any of its droids before...' she thought bitterly. In fact, Mandalore's population was so small and spread out that the extent of Omni's outbreak in Balsin where she lived were protocol, astromech, and mouse droids rebelling.

"We've got contact!" her helmet's com cracked to life as the message was sent to all in the search party. Blaster fire followed. An explosion to the west of her position. A hiss escaped her lips, something of a middle between anger and fear. Where was the attack party?

 

[Verz Horak]

Verz was near @[member="Ashara Zavros"] , sitting on a Basalisk War droid. The droid was nothing more than a mechanical mount with laser cannons, but it served him well enough. And it was traditional. His ancestors had ridden them into battle, some on the ground, others from high atmosphere. Now he was riding one.

As he scanned the landscape,using the Basalisk's sensors, he heard Ashara's warning. He pulled out his Verpine rifle, looking for the target with the uplink scope, feeling the weight of the weapon, which was light for its size. He activated the squad comm, contacting the nearby Mandos without an outside sound.

"Stay sharp. We have no idea what is waiting, Omni or otherwise."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@Alliera Nakamura

"C'mon, I'm not that slow." He pulled out his own Snake Eyes, one dented and scarred from the learning process, and the pair took off across the surface of Concordia.

Soon enough, they reached @[member="Ashara Zavros"] and @[member="Verz Horak"] . Rach brought his bike to a standstill beside Horak's Basilisk. "We got contact? Works for me. Say the word, Horak."

 

[Ori'Alor Tal'Verda]

Alliera followed him on her own Tumbler, inwardly proud of all the scars and marks on her husband's tumbler, a sign of his willingness to adapt and learn. Now if only she could teach Rach how to stay faithfull, they'd be peachy keen, and she would be ALOT happier. When they reached the other mandos, alliera revved her engine.
@[member="Verz Horak"]
"We got these Tumblers, you want us to go in and shake stuff up?" Alliera asked, looking at Verz "I know Rach and I can cause a lot of chaos with our special skill set so you guys get some breathing room."

 

[Verz Horak]

Verz simply nodded at @[member="Alliera Nakamura "], not wasting valuble time on words. In battle,time wasa luxury and a nessecity at the same time. He raised his rifle, switching to thermal vision, preparing to fire at any hostiles that showed. The Basalisk lurched forward as Verz tapped its sides with his boot.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Rach's Snake Eyes surged ahead, ripping through the overgrown hedges and bushes. Broken sticks scored the paint on Rach's armor, jostling him, but he held the tumbler steady.

An entrance gaped open in the sloped wall. He ran the tumbler up the wall, parked it in an old divot, and leaped down into the entrance. Blasterfire lit up the darkness, and his night vision clicked on, revealing the cooling bodies of a handful of Mandalorians.

"Team, this is Snake Doctor. The vode got hit bad, and something dragged them deeper into the base."

 

[Ashara Zavros]

Rach's message went through her helmet com. An ominous message. Something had dragged the other scouting party into the base. With a shudder she looked to @[member="Verz Horak"]. "Then I guess that is where we are going..." She said, less than enthused. Without her own speeder or droid mount she was left to move forward on her own two feet. But she preferred it this way. Running off towards Rach's position she encountered not even the smallest animal on her way. Her montrals picking up nothing within range. Within minutes she had reached the entrance of the base where Rach had been. Of course, she was the last one to arrive. But that was fine. Two other Mandalorians also arrived after her, part of another scouting unit no doubt. "Well...here we are. Do we move forward?"

 

[Verz Horak]

Pulling the chain in his hand, Verz brought the Basalisk droid to a halt outside of the base. He looked at @[member="Ashara Zavros"] and nodded. However, the Basalisk wouldn't fit through the entrance, so he left it to the two scouts to guard. Pulling out his Mandalorian Ripper, he spoke quickly.


"Let's move. The enemy hasn't shown itself yet. Let's change that."

 

[Kad Kando]

Kad Checked his rifle for the thousandth time. He wasn't worried about the coming battles. He had his powerful brothers at his sides and his own skills to rely on. And if it was time to make his final march then so be it. It was waiting to fling himself into mortal peril that urked him. When Verz finally gave the order to move up he breathed a sigh of relief, checked his rifle(again), and said, "All ready hear ner'vod. lets hit'em hard" 'Bout time, he thought to himself.

 

[Eeth Kolar]

A high pitched wine echoed throughout the base. This sound overpowered the sounds of the drills and the mining lasers and was followed by a wave of blue light. This light pulsed three more times along with the sound, scrambling the HUD of the group of Mandalorians that dared enter. Before the Mandalorians materialized four specter-like entities, their armor reminicent of Jensaarai or Mandalorian. However these mysterious people also wore modified Jedi robes. The group seemed to be laughing and talking together, their jolly hoops and shouts heard as strange, distorted static from within the helmets. However, as these ghostly spirits continued on down the hall and got further and further away, the static soon became laughter and chats about sabacc. A lightsaber ignited from the spirits' direction and the sound of blasterfire and screams echoed. The blue aura that lit up the area vanished along with the strange sounds and image.

Droids came from the end of the hall, blasters ready. A fight was approaching.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"I absolutely, totally hate fighting droids."

Lightning slashed out from Rach's hands, two blue-white bolts that sent droids flying.

"I would far rather-"

Bzzap.

"-pay more attention-"

ZAP.

"-to those ghosts."

Grimacing, the Dark Master pulled his knives. They wouldn't be much use against the droids' armor, but with the right finesse, he could still sever important things. Like, say, necks.

 

[Ashara Zavros]

She agreed. What was that phenomenon just now? But she had to keep focused. The droids were on the move. And they were fast. After the initial wave of infected mining droids were dispatched by Rach's lightning three black, slender droids landed right outside the entrance. She had never seen droids like them before, but she assumed that-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a charging beam weapon. Her instincts said to move to the right, the warrior inside her relished the challenge. Drawing her beskade she swung the heavy blade in an upward arc, the blade deflecting the shot. A small smoldering hole now adorned itself on her blade. That wasn't exactly the brightest idea she ever had. Jumping out of the way in time to dodge the next round of shots she drew her heavy blaster pistols and opened fire on the black droids.

 

[backera95]

(ignore)

 

[Kad Kando]

Kad shook his head in a vain attempt to clear his head "What in haran was that?", he asked. It was surprising to say the least, but what came next topped a fuzzy visor. Those apparitions were wearing peculiar sets of armor. From what he could tell their armor looked almost...Mandalorian? Kad couldn't focus on this for to long however do to the droid forcing firing on squad. He returned fire and pushed forward where he could become even more effective.

 

[Verz Horak]

Verz fired at the droids with deadly accuracy. It seldom took more that one shot to take a droid down. The apparitions were...interesting to say the least. His HUD highlighted the enemy droids in red, and he fired at any of them that dared so much as look at him. Soon his and his squad's efforts cleared the droids, reducing them to scrap metal. After they were defeated, he looked around, his HUD showing his team's vitals and locations, just to be safe. All of them were fine. "What the hell were those...apparitions? And why are they here?" he muttured to himself.

He approached the area the droids came from. Those apparitions left no trace. Strange.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"They were killed here," said Rach with some certainty. "There's a trace, a sense -- other than just the apparitions, I mean." His gauntlet trailed over the long-eroded marks of blasterfire on the walls. "Maybe the droids took the bodies; maybe family or friends reclaimed them after the fact...check that."

His hand closed into a fist, and nearby, something trembled and rattled.

"The droids took them, or friends in a hurry." His hand snapped open as a lightsabre hilt flickered out of the darkness. He snagged it from the air and held it before his faceplate. Depressing the stud, he examined the hissing yellow blade. "Still has power, but these things last forever. Whoever built this knew what...she..was doing."

With a shrug, he clicked the sabre to his belt. "Haven't carried one of these in a while."

 

[Ori'Alor Tal'Verda]

@[member="Rach Kol-Rekali"]

Alliera whistled when she saw the lightsaber, Impressed by the craftmenship. "So we got a dead Jedi?" Alliera asked, worred "What would a Jedi be doing here?" Alliera put away her sword, and looked at Rach, "You got anything else?" Alliera asked, looked down the corridor "Do you sense the owner of that Lightsaber, because I can't."