Private The Long Road

[Laira Darkhold]

“Present.” Saeza remarked as she stepped away from the dancer and patron she had rescued, despite their lack of gratitude. Her eyes were still the same, the masquer didn’t disguise them, but now her nose was slightly more scrunched and brow more ridged than it had been. The soft bluish-grey skin she had was exposed, red tattoos on her face around her eyes and forehead.

She made her way back to her comrades, rejoining them and moving to assist with cleaning up the wounded. She was already bearing some minor scrapes and pangs on her body for the first two, but she could bear much more.

Gold eyes turned towards Celaena as she stepped over some rubble, “Yes. But only because people don’t usually like seeing what I am. Don’t worry about them, I don’t need their appreciation or understanding. I’m not ashamed of what I am.” She smiled weakly at the Eldorai as she spoke, and she meant more than just a vong. She was also a Jedi beneath it all, one who put others before herself. Gold eyes glanced towards Nyssa, but she remained silent. <Their words don’t hurt me. I know what I am.> the girl thought to herself.

Nyssa was much more violent, striking a Stormtrooper that had gotten mouthy. Saeza understood why immediately. The patrons and troopers were angry and scared. One shouting accusation would elicit a response from the others, and riling up a frightened mob against the mercenaries would quickly escalate unless it was warded off quickly. Still, when Saeza stepped over to Nyssa to rejoin the group, she dropped to a crouch and drew the Stormtrooper’s pain onto herself with a touch against the shattered jaw, but left the woman unconscious. Ache seared into Saeza’s body, but it didn’t stop her. Though her body was designed to be more sensitive to pain, her threshold was high.

She could take it.

~

Leo was moving at a jog down the corridor, drawing his side arm and checking its power cell and canister as he moved. Fully loaded, self-recharging and auto-replenishing cells intact he gripped it with both hands. “Captain,” He acknowledged as Elpsis caught up to him swiftly.

Battle wasn’t any place to start having platitudes about who was the friend and who was the foe. Laira, Saeza, and the Firemane group were the only ones he cared about, anyone else got in his way or became a threat to them, he’d drop them without a moment’s hesitation. But, maybe that was still part of his programming.

“You wanna take point with that saber, and I’ll cover you?” Though often the girls covered him much like the Jedi during the Clone wars, he spent plenty of time providing fire support as well.

~

Laira heard the rumble of explosions not long after Zhaleh did, Qadiri having more sensitive hearing than humans. She could feel death in the Force, distant but present within the city. Braxton turned about, “Chit, um.” He stammered for a moment, fumbling with his belt and side arm.

“Oh, no honey. You’ve had too much to drink for all that.” Laira said softly, forcing the pistol back into his holster. “Go sober up somewhere safe, we’ll cover for you if anyone asks.” Admittedly, he was the enemy, but it seemed wrong to let someone impaired go off to their death. It was not like they knew if he had done anything despicable.

Besides, he was an asset now. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as he relented, nodding to Zhaleh, “Alright, good boy. We’ll check in on you later!” Laira said as she made to leave the young man and beasts behind to go out into the city once more.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

As Saeza went about taking the unconscious Stormtrooper's pain onto herself, Celaena approached her and bent down. However, she had not come to heal. The Eldorai did not have healing hands and, in any case, felt naught but revulsion for anyone who wore the colours of the First Order. Instead, she took ahold of the Yuuzhan Vong's arm. "Save your aid for those who deserve it. They are not our friends." In a lower, quieter voice, she added: "Once this charade is over, they will be our enemies and want to kill us."
"The spirits are fading in you," Shikoba suddenly spoke in her melodic voice. Celaena had not heard her come and silently cursed herself for that.
"Speak plainly, Ghosttalker," Celaena snapped irritably.
"Why, 'tis plain upon her features. She is eating that one's pain."
"Saeza, stop." Celaena's tone was sharp.
Wordlessly, Shikoba planted a palm upon Saeza's cheek. The Vashyada had unusually long fingers. Energy passed between them. Shikoba had no interest in healing any of the Stormtroopers. If any of them died from their wounds, it meant she would not have to kill them later. But she had an interest in keeping Saeza from feeling like she'd gotten her jaw broken.

Meanwhile, Nyssa had finished a rather stormy chat with a First Order officer and now sauntered over to the group. Looking at the scene with the Vong she scoffed. This is why Jedi are fools. What fairy tales have they filled the little dove's head with? That she must be a saint with a martyr complex to 'atone' for her people's insanity? she thought. "Get in formation, we are heading out," Nyssa barked. "The rebels are doing us the great service of attacking the plaza, so we are going to earn our coin. We shall link up with the Captain and clear the premise. Oya!" Her Mando'a was bad, but it was doubtful that there were any native speakers around.
"On it, ma'am," Reverence declared with faked but hopefully plausible looking enthusiasm. "Uh, ma'am, what are our ROE? We are dealing with rebels hiding among civilians, after all." The deeper meaning of her question was 'are we really going to kill the Order's enemies for it?'
"We don't reward the use of such craven tactics, as you know. But check your targets." She cut off further questions with a wave of her hand. "Further instructions will follow when the Captain is here." She hoped that this would deter further questions.

xxx

Rhea stood above the corpse and the head of the rebel, lying a metre or two away from the rest of his body, stared back at her. His face was bloodied and scorched, but still recognisable enough. The lad was a young Twi'lek. He could be no older than eighteen or at most nineteen. The same age as her. To her, the look in his eyes was condemning. Damning. Her grip on her sword slackened and her hands trembled. The First Order were not her Vaderites...but they might as well be. Had his family been massacred before his eyes and had he been forced to dig himself out of a mass grave and hide from the butchers, too? Was this the right path? She heard Sienn call out to her, but the Twi'lek might as well have been miles away.

Then bursts of heavy blaster fire came shooting towards them. Rhea suddenly found herself knocked to the ground by Sienn as blaster bolts erupted through the air. A blaster bolt whizzed past her close enough to graze her. But the searing burn brought clarity to her mind. Furiously, she grabbed her sword. It glowed with a fierce light, a product of the Force imbuement. It could not reflect with accuracy, but block incoming fire. In this moment, the fact that it could not reflect well felt like a blessing to her. Some rounds were cut out of the air, others were deflected back. At her side, Sienn returned fire with her shatterpistol.

Down on the ground Diona was feeling the heat, too. Rebels were advancing by fire and manoeuvre, firing their guns and hurling grenades. Smoke rose up into the air, as did guts and body parts. Drawing upon the Force, she manifested a blast of blinding light Then she fired. Amidst the gunfire, she heard cries of pain. Then the shooting grew fainter. Through the Force, she sensed the rebels, growing more and more distant.

As the smoke started to clear, she could see they were moving away. Some rebels bolted through the streets close by her, but came under fire from an E-Web. A rebel, blinded by her attack, came under fire and was cut down. One rebel ran back to help a wounded comrade, amidst the shouts of his allies, who were pinned down behind improvised cover. The e-web spat a hailstorm of scarlet bolts at the rebels. She could hear the distant roar of engines. The First Order was bringing in armoured vehicles.

Diona watched, and made her decision. The Force rippled through her, and sweat dripped down her face as she focused. For the briefest of moments, a translucent barrier was manifested in front of the E-Web gunners. Invisible to naked sight, it shimmered for just a second, when the bolts fired by their heavy blaster suddenly impacted on it and bounced back to them, tearing through their armour. The bolts would have gone right through their helmets. The barrier dissipated. To an outsider it would look like they had been sniped. The rebels looked puzzled, then ran. Diona fired some poorly aimed shots at them. As far as she looked, one could see rubble, blood and dead bodies.

Then she heard a pained groan. There was a wounded Stormtrooper near a broken vehicle. His face was bloody, a leg had been blown off and he was trying to keep his guts inside. He must have been hit by a rocket. "You...tra...," he groaned, and then Diona knew that he had seen. The soldier was young. He was still a lad. Then he suddenly coughed up blood and choked. Diona turned and saw Rhea standing at the door, and felt the energy emanating from her. As she passed the body, she saw a holopic lying next to the dead trooper. It showed the image of a young woman and a child.

She walked up to her comrades. "You are alright? It seems like the rebels are pulling out. The Order must be mobilising." She made no mention of her own status. She had been hurt, but she could fight. That was all that mattered.
"Yes...I see it," Rhea spoke haltingly. "We're fine." There was a pause, then she added: "You okay?"
"Adequate," was Diona's laconic response.
"Good. I'll call the Li...Captain." Rhea sighed, then looked at Sienn. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Also remind me not to piss you off. You cooked that guy." She regretted the words the moment they had leapt from her tongue. "Sorry. Look, you did what you...."
Rhea cut her off. "The fight is not over."

xxx

"I'll go in and throw some fire at them," Elpsis responded. Her lightsabre skills were decent, but nothing exceptional and she was no great duellist. Outside the First Order was mobilising its minion. Her comm flashed and she took the message. "Rhea? You were in the fight? Ok, got it. Follow them. We're gonna intercept," she said, tone crisp and professional. Then she added: "I haven't forgotten Serene Springs." Then she cut the connection. She glanced at Leo. "Rebels are pulling out. We're gonna cut them off. Show the Firsties how their money's been spent." That was what her lips said. Leo would hear something else in his mind. Elpsis did not know what experience he had with telepathy or how he would respond, but it was the safest way. "It has to look real."

xxx

It seemed like Braxton had drunk too much liquor. Zhaleh almost liked him...but their whole chumminess with him was a ruse. She wondered how long it would last. But when they were found out or the Lieutenant gave the word, he and everyone else who wore the colours of the First Order would be the enemy. As she had said, you needed to study your quarry before you could hunt it. The talking machine beeped. Quickly she took the call. The young Qadiri was still a bit uncertain about technology, so she spoke louder than was needed: "Hello? Are any of ours hurt? Oh, yes. On our way." She looked at Laira. "There were explosives in the cantina. Ours are unhurt. We must make haste. We are moving against the rebels."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Saeza winced slightly as the vashyada touched her agonizing nerves, but the pain slowly receded from her jaw into a dull ache. “Thank you.” She muttered through gritted teeth. It still hurt some to move her mouth too much though much of her suffering had been alleviated. Saeza looked to Celaena, “Do not worry, I can take much more. You will not be left wanting for their needs.” She felt the desire to place a hand to her sternum, but resisted it, remembering the creature she had torn from her own chest aboard the Dona Carlotta not long ago. The wound was still sore sometimes, and the muscle and bone weren’t fully healed from the ordeal.

The Yuuzhan Vong girl fell into formation alongside Shikoba and Celaena, drawing her pistol, clutching it in her hands. It did not feel as natural as her saber, and she had not practiced with it nearly as much as Laira and Leo encouraged her to. They insisted the weapon was practical, though Saeza had her doubts. She had rarely been in situations where the Force and her Saber had not been adequate.

~

Leo felt the alien thoughts enter his mind, a simple message skimming the surface of his thoughts. Such were the easiest to manifest and usually the easiest to notice the images and words implanted. <Good.> His mind twisted and turned over itself as he switched his pistol over to disruptor mode and cycled the charge pulse in the chamber.

He took a step out of the building and scanned the plaza where the First Order troops were mobilizing. Small hovercraft such as LAVr QH-7 Chariots, an old Pteropter, and even an TX-225 was moving around the area with a few squads of stormtroopers in dusty, stained armor moving to respond. Leo noticed the troopers in pristine white, clean gear, and modern equipment remained behind at the administration building. Either they were the home guard to protect the Warlord’s interests, or something else. It didn’t matter right now, but it was information to be tucked away for later.

<Look real?> He thought to himself as they hustled off to link up with the others. Elpsis wanted to flank the rebels and trap them between the ‘mercenaries’ and the First Order, or at least make that appear to be the plan while the rebels fled.

Standard Imperial combat measures flashed through his mind. Old notations and lessons about their inability to adapt. The mercenaries need to appear different, more successful than the First Order, but still fail in their goal. He grunted as the thoughts coalesced in his mind, but this wouldn’t be the first time he’d gone undercover.

~

Laira nodded to the Qadiri, racing back towards the cantina beside the woman. “Good,” The redhead knew everyone of Elpsis’s people could take care of themselves but it was always good to have the relief of knowing everyone was fine. “That went well. I think we’ll be able to pump him for inside information if we need to.” She grinned to the Qadiri. “He really wanted to touch your butt, the forbidden booty as it were. I don’t blame him though, I want to touch it too.”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

"What about those two we left on the roof?" Sienn asked. "The two we took out. Still breathing. The Imperials will be here soon."
Rhea looked hesitant. Uncertainty was written across her features. "They'll torture them." The roar of vehicles was getting closer.
"Yes. A bunch of mercs won't be able to shield them," the Twi'lek insisted. "There's still time."

Blaster volleys could be heard in the distance. Stormtroopers were fanning out, searching every block for rebels. "Give them mercy. I can take care of it," Diona suddenly spoke up.
You mean kill them," Sienn looked disgusted. If it had been Firsties, she would not have minded...but these were people fighting against oppression and they were no threat.
"It's that or the Imperials' dungeon."
"Hide them. They must be coming to by now. We're here to get intel on the Firsties and put an end to them. We can get that done by making contact with the rebels, not doing slaver scum's dirty work."
"We don't have time," Rhea cut both off. She looked at Diona. "We'll give them mercy together. Sienn, you take watch. Tell the boss we'll be on our way."
"Yes, Corporal," the Twi'lek said frostily. Up on the roof, the two stunned rebels were slowly coming to as the paralysis wore off. Rhea's breathed in, trying to control the shaking of her hands. Then she and Diona fired, and the rebels breathed no more.

xxx

Rhea, Diona and Sienn were not there yet, but Elpsis sensed the presence of the rest of her squad as First Order troops poured into the plaza. Small hovercraft and even an old tank along with stormtroopers moved across the battle-scarred town. Already, the sound of gunfire and explosions could be heard. It grew more intense the closer they got. The main body of rebels was trying to escape the cauldron the First Order was trying to trap them in. The rebels had no tanks, but had appropriated some simple speeders and hovercraft.

Elpsis' comm flashed as she found some cover. The channel was encrypted. "Firsties mean buiness, ma'am," Vagt said in his usual gruff voice. "Their boys are green, but they're throwing a lot of bodies at the problem. What's our approach gonna be?"
"Firsties are our enemies, but they can't know. It has to look real."
"The solution is simple. Kill all the rebels," Nyssa chimed in. A bit further away, Elpsis could sense the rest of the squad taking up position.
"They're not our enemies."
"They do not seem to share that appraisal. We leave a trail of bodies, no one can suspect. Let the Order accumulate casualties first."
"The rebels will remember, and we need backup. Sergeant, suggestions? We could pull off some fireworks here, but if we get drawn into a big fight they'll be slaughtered." She was not so arrogant to refuse to ask for advice out of a foolish sense of pride, though she was not bound to follow it either. Once she had made her decision, her unit had to stick to it though. No fight could be run by committee.

There was some static before she got a response. "Make it flashy enough to cut their big group into segments, then cut off the rearguard. We kill a small group, the Firsties get their pound of flesh."
While we let the rest slip away, Elpsis finished, understanding his train of thought. She took a breath, and reached out to the squad. It took focus for her to reach so many people via telepathy, but she was already used to doing so.

More importantly, her own squad was used to hearing her in their heads. Make it look real. Be flashy with the Force. Nyssa, Leo - follow me, when the shooting starts. We'lll give the Firsties some bodies. Rest, hold the area. Vagt, you're in charge here. Debate time was over. The decision had been made. As blaster rounds tore through the air, she summoned fire and blazing light.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The fact the First Order wasn’t short on bodies, at least at the moment, was not lost on Leo. They were throwing green stormtroopers in the way of more experienced deserters in the hopes that numbers could outperform and overcompensate for their lack of control. It was everything the deserters wanted really, lightning strikes into populated areas, drawing large numbers of troopers into an eroding retreat.

Leo knew the tactic well enough, likely why the more veteran stormtroopers weren’t in attendance with the light armor mechanized infantry rolling out. Inability to adapt their tactics had killed the Galactic Empire of old, and young, untested officers were going to suffer the same fate against grouchy, old veterans tired of fighting for others.

“Captain, when they start falling back, they are going to fall back leaving mines and IED’s behind for pursuers.” Leo said, falling into line with Nyssa and Elpsis leading them with her burning hands. Possibly the deserters would have some secondary ambushes set with heavy repeating blaster cannons to tear through infantry. Only took one man to operate, could kill dozens in the right set up.

He took aim and snapped off his first few rounds at a crouching rebel, impacts spraying dust from the duracrete and metal he was using as cover. When the rebel rose to return fire, Leo pumped another round at the target, catching him in the helmet and turning them to ash with the disruptor setting on his pistol. Sucked, but they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. All that mattered right now was making sure the girls were safe and their cover remained intact. These wouldn’t be the first deserters he’d slugged it out with regrettably, and likely not the last rebels he skirmished with.

~

Saeza pulled the trigger on her blaster, missing over the heads of the rebels she was firing upon. She wished she could have said it was on purpose, but it was accidental for her to miss by such a wide margin. Lack of practice no doubt. The yuuzhan vong girl was mostly there to offer support for her comrades and ensure she remained close enough to assist them if they were wounded.

She twisted and waved Laira over as the redhead ran up with her Qadiri friend in tow. “Hiya, how is it going?”

“You heard our orders?”

“Yes!” Laira responded with a little excitement in her tone, her blood pumping and adrenaline up with combat to deal with. She fired a trio of blaster bolts, striking a duracrete wall near where a rebel had been firing earlier. The redhead drew a knife and activated the monomolecular energy chord on its edges, neither her and Saeza deigning to draw their blue lightsabers. The blade was still deadly enough for use on a rebel. “I’m quick, maybe another quick person or two come with and we flank through an ally, provide some suppressing fire to help break em up.” Laira offered, though she had no intention of killing anyone today. Still dump enough ammunition and the First Order wouldn’t complain too loudly, she hoped.

Saeza reached out with the Force, checking on their comrades conditions, waiting to begin offering aid. At least now she had her friend to support her. "I'll go with you." The Vong girl knew this was where Laira shined, looking flashy and deceit. Using her strengths to their fullest was something Laira had always been good at, and so Saeza allowed the redhead to take the lead.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

Rounds roared across the streets, and explosions echoed. People were being shot, ripped apart by explosions or crushed beneath the treads of vehicles. An Imperial hovercraft went up in flames as rebels tossed explosive bombs at it. Driven by the desperation of those who knew they could not expect anything good if they fell into the hands of the enemy, the rebels were fighting tooth and nail to break through. Heavy blasters and machine guns spat volleys from improvised barricades and a few windows. In response, the First Order did what Imperials did best: throw bodies and heavy armour at the problem. They had plenty of both, but the fact that they were so cavalier about the lives of their men was probably one of the reasons people defected in the first place.

The mercenaries came under fire as well, and had to find cover behind rubble or whatever else they could find. Their advance was, however, slower than that of the First Order conscripts. Fierce counterfire came from their ranks.

Vagt, meanwhile, fired ion rounds with his Mark One Boltgun. The rebels had no droids, but the ion detonations would muck with blasters. Hard to fire a gun that required electronics, after all. Of course, this did not apply to old school slugthrowers. Zhaleh fired a burst from her repeating rifle. She ducked her head quickly as an armoured hovervehicle shot across the streets. Its twin machine guns roared. Rounds richochetted off the wall behind them. With some effort, the recruits summoned a barrier. However, the Qadiri was grazed. This charade is not going to be easy to keep up, she thought, her pointed ears ringing. "Can we shoot these these men?" she wondered.

Sano tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Zhaleh, you can ice the speeder, right?"
"What?" the Qadiri asked, having trouble hearing her.
"Disrupt the speeder! With ice."
"Oh. I could bring the cold to the engines, but it would take too long," the Qadiri thought. "The windows. Then they cannot see."
"Great, and you Celaena, throw fire at them. They'll have to run," the Togruta continued. "What?" she demanded when the Eldorai stared at her intently.
"You're actually not sounding completely braindead. You are still an idiot though."
"Frak you."
"And you...," before Sano could give Nuroch some instructions, the Nautolan had waved her off.
"I know my skills better than you..."
"Soldiers, focus," Vagt interrupted them gruffly. He glanced at Nuroch. "I take it you can confuse the rebels." The Bothan was as Force-Sensitive as a plank, but he understood that the Nautolan could mess with minds to an extent. "Private, covering fire."
"Yes, Sarge," Reverence spoke. The Dahomian was armed with a light repeating blaster and spraying rebel positions.

Zhaleh ignored the bickering, focusing on harnessing her kindred element as she drew upon her Zari. It was more difficult to manifest her fit here, far from the icy tundras she was used to, but possible. Though it was quite warm, frost pearls appeared on her face and in her dark hair. At first the speeder's windows grew moist, then frost and ice started to cover them.

Rebels tried to get away as two cool looking jets of flame burst from Celaena's hands, roaring towards the vehicle. Of course, not all would emerge unscathed - or emerge at all - but still. The rebels fired as they went. More gunfire came from the rooftops. Sano drew her sword, rising to deflect rounds. A Force Imbued blade was inferior to a lightsabre in that regard, but could block with some accuracy.

Celaena threw in another burst of flame. It was then that Nuroch exerted himself, pulling at the mental strings of some of the rebels. "What did you do?" Sano asked when they started to run.
"They think there's a horde coming in to cut them off," he explained, sweat dripping down his forehead and his head tentacles. He took a breath, being unused to trying to manipulate a whole group of people.

xxx

Elpsis nodded grimly. "Stay alert for any disruptions. Anything looking weird." The fire and fury rippling from her hands looked dramatic, and also did its part to obstruct movement - for Firsties and rebels. Stormtrooper armour was not terrible, but you did not want to wade through a wall of flame with it.

Nyssa had drawn her lightsabre and was scything shots out of the air. Elpsis had said she did not want to get many rebels killed...but a few were fine. And a maiming did not kill. Nor did drawing upon the Force to make them feel just a bit...sick. Impeded by the fire and with First Order armour drawing closer, a band of rebels tried to retreat down the road. Sensing them, Elpsis started to give pursuit. "Move." Blinding light shot from her hands as heavy fire came their way from a window.

However, then she felt a sudden pressure in her skull, as well as a voice that was not her own, for it had a Vashyada accent - Shikoba. "Danger. The banshees swirl around the ground." She froze, and motioned her group into cover. "Warning from Shikoba. See anything off?" she asked.
Nyssa checked with her binoculars. "Ground looks disrupted. And look at that barrel," he pointed at the roadside. "IED."
"We'll take the long way," Elpsis let out a breath, then a wolfish grin spread across her face. "And someone comm the Firsties and tell them about the repeater. We'll flank them."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Leo snapped off another spray of disruptor bolts in the direction of the rebels, spraying duracrete dust from its impacts. Once the pistol was depleted, he holstered it, giving the weapon time for its powercell to cycle back, swinging his Eradicator into both hands and pumping the action to charge the first burst into the heavy weapon with a loud distinct whine.

“I’ll make you a door.” He grunted as he took aim at a nearby building between the group and the alleyway they needed to access, “Clear.” The words barely left his mouth before he launched the destructive wave of disruptor energy into the duracrete wall with a loud roar as the air was ignited and molecular bonds sundered. The smoke and dust hadn’t settled yet as he pushed through to secure the room and prepare to open them a door out into the alleyway.

“On your call, captain.”

~

Laira rolled over behind the cover she was hunkered beneath, letting her awareness seep out against the cloak she had hidden behind, trying to adapt her senses to being so hidden from the Force. It was difficult, and limited her abilities, but it made her presence hazy and unidentifiable.

“Where you going Raven?”

The dark haired girl nodded her head in the direction of the Firemane troops exchanging fire with the rebel rearguard, “Some of our allies are injured. I’ll see to them.”

“I’ll cover you then make a break for it.” Laira twisted over to aim at the building where the Firemane soldiers had forced a retreat, snapping off about a dozen high powered blasts. They weren’t very accurate, but they were powerful enough to kick up dust and punch holes in the rudimentary cover the rebels were using as they fled.

Saeza moved quickly, dropping into a slide to come alongside Zhaleh. Her hand touched the qadiri gently, sapping the pain from her injury and drawing it into the Yuuzhan Vong. Saeza’s ears began to ring as she drew additional pain away from her ally and into herself. The raven-haired girl poured more of her presence into the Qadiri to focus her body’s natural healing properties at the site of the wound so that it would heal faster and would be less likely to become infected. “Anyone else require assistance?” She asked, looking around. Her arm didn’t feel too bad, and the other injuries she had already shouldered had been reduced to dull aches thanks to Shikoba.

Laira waited to ensure Saeza was safe with the other Firemane soldiers before she acted, drawing the Force into herself and channeling it through her legs. She pumped forward, pushing towards an open doorway a rebel was using as cover as fast as her legs could move, darting across the open area with preternatural speed.

As she skidded past her quarry she slashed his weapon with her knife, and slid to her knees inside the building, using her momentum to twist and turn back to face the young man. He couldn’t have been more than a year older than she. Her pistol gripped in her off hand sprayed a shot behind him and drove him from the building. She didn’t kill him, but his chances of survival weren’t going to be very high running on the open road, so what was the difference really? As he moved to dart away from her, Laira surged again, kicking the back of his knee and dropping him to the ground. <Sorry.> It was the only solace she could give the young man as she fired a low power stun round into his back. Maybe if she left him there he’d come to and slip away, maybe the Firsties would catch him and interrogate him, or maybe something else, but she couldn’t worry about that right now.

Silver eyes started taking in the street and watching where the rebels avoided moving. They needed to convince that Occupier to press down the street to disable it, then the Firsties wouldn’t have any heavy armor left when the time came.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

The rebel hovercraft was in flames. Most rebels had managed to get away from it before it exploded. Not all obviously. Far in the distance, the Occupier tank was rumbling down the street. Its main gun belched a powerful laser beam and an already dilapidated building caved in, producing columns of smoke and dust. Somehow the tank would have to be removed from the equation. However, repeater fire and traps left behind by the rebels were also taking their toll on the Firsties.

Zhaleh's ears were still ringing, and the loud explosion did not make it better, when she suddenly felt the pressure recede after Saeza touched her. "Thank you." However, it was then that she noticed the dimunitive woman's appearance had changed. "You look...," however she did not finish this train of thought when her danger senses flared. Rebels were setting up a heavy repeater, and she quickly brought up her rifle, took aim and snapped off rounds. A rebel cried out and dropped after a shot in the leg.
"We're too exposed. Move," Vagt ordered. He had switched from ion rounds to firing explosive bolts. These microgrenades would make mincemeat out of any cover and thus keep attackers at bay.
"I'll give y'all fire support," Reverence declared, unleashing a salvoe with her repeating blaster. As flashes emanated from the muzzle of the Dahomian's light repeater and Sano blocked incoming with her sword as far as that was feasible, Zhaleh and others in the squad got up, aiming to make a break to some ruined building.

Rounds hammered the ground as they ran. A cone of ice rippled from Zhaleh's free hand as she bolted, broadly aimed towards shooting rebels. Foes frozen by it would thaw soon, especially in this climate, but would not be much good fighting. Celaena, meanwhile, projected a jet of flame. Intense enough to get rebels to scatter and keep them at distance. Reverence's repeater produced such a hailstorm that the weapon threatened to overheat. As she ceased firing to allow the weapon to cool down, she suddenly heard a voice. "Rocket. Run."
"You tell me this now?!" she barked at the Vashyada.
"If you prefer, I could not tell you at all." The Dahomian and Sano were already up on their feet and running before Shikoba had passed on these truly inspiring words to them. This was fortuitous, as a moment later a rocket-propelled grenade did sail through the air towards them. Elpsis could have probably deflected it with some effort, but they were not that far.

As they bolted, the rocket exploded. The detonation shook the ground, throwing up debris and sending acrid smoke into the air. They were far enough from not get limbs blown off, but the blast wave knocked Reverence down and felt the hot stab of shrapnel. Vagt hauled her up, while his free hand depressed the trigger on his revolver. A rebel fell when a round pierced his kneecap. Sano's blade moved in fluid motions to deflect shots away. Then a blaster bolt struck her. Her energy shield took off a bit of the edge, but smoke coiled from her armour.

Then some of the rebels momentarily ceased fire, for Nuroch exerted himself to reach into their minds, planting an image of the two mercenaries having been ripped apart in their minds. He was feeling a dull ache in the back of his head, but persevered. "Quickly," Shikoba spoke into her comrades' minds, as if they needed anymore encouragement. Reverence was shaky on her legs, but moved as quickly as they could carry her. Summoned by the Vashyada's sorcery, a barrier of earth was rising from the ground. As the shooting began anew, the mercenaries sought shelter behind it.

xxx

The wave of disruptor energy slammed into the duracrete wall, blowing a hole into it as it dissolved like paper. Immediately, the quartet charged through the smoke to secure the room.
"Anything from our 'friends'?" Elpsis asked Nyssa, who was on the comm while the trio covered possible angles of intrusion.
"Yes, Lieutenant, of course, sure. We'll be on the other side," the Pureblood was saying, then hung up. "They're moving." She eyed Leo's Eradicator and commented appreciatively: "I like that gun." She held her scarlet lightsabre in hand. By now, lightsabres were common enough among Mandalorians that she could strut around as one without raising suspicion.
Elpsis gave a curt nod. "Sense rebels outside. Shoot to kill." Her voice was quiet. Torture at the hands of the Jedi Inquisition had ravaged her throat, so it was genuinely difficut for her to raise her voice without being in pain. Her tone was cold. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism to detach herself from what she was about to do. "Make us a door," she ordered Leo.

xxx

Rhea, Diona and Sienn had been steadily advancing towards the shooting. With the rebels scattering, they had met little resistance, though they had had to navigate around IEDs. Needless to say they did not tell the Firsties about them. However, as they passed a dilapidated housing block, they saw First Order Stormtroopers herd various people in the street. Some looked like rebels, but most were civilians who were being dragged from their homes. They were disproportionately aliens. They looked frightened. "The First Order gave you peace, security and stability. In return, you spat in its face and aided and abetted terrorists. For treason, there is only one punishment," a First Order Security Bureau Officer declared.

Rhea's jaw clenched. Naked hatred showed in her eyes. Their village was burning. Stormtroopers and militia led them to a forest. A ditch had been dug. 'Maternal, I'm scared,' a young Rattataki girl, still a child, whispered quietly.
'Be strong, dear, be brave,' her mother tried to comfort her, taking her hand. Not far from them, a Twi'lek villager was savagely beaten by a militiamen...who had been a member of the community until the evil men came, only to denounce its alien inhabitants and shout 'Praise Vader'. Some of the villagers carried babies, trying desperately to comfort them during their last moments as they were led to the edge of the ravine. Graves had already been dug by those who had been shot before them. Their belongings had already been taken from them. The girl had even been forced to give up her shoes and socks.
"They're going to kill us," the girl said. Tears dripped down her face. Perhaps she would see her paternal - the Tephriki word for father - again in the void.
"Yes."
"Why? Why do they hate us? We never did anything to them?"
"Because they are evil men." Her maternal's voice was shaking, but she lowered it to a whisper as they reached the execution site. "When they...they start shooting, jump into the gorge. Whatever happens, do not move. Wait until they leave."
"Maternal...I..."
"Do not move."
"No. I can't lose you, too."
"Be brave. You must live. For us."
"Take aim," the commander ordered. He was a Sith, clad in black and wearing a mask. The shooters, on the other hand, were ordinary men. They levelled their rifles at the group. Their slugthrowers barked, and young Rhea threw herself into the gorge. Bullets tore through the the villagers. Her mother landed on her. Blood dripped out of her stomach. "Don't move. Live," were her maternal's last words. Stormtroopers went about, discharging pistol shots to finish off those who were still dying. Rhea was almost crushed beneath the weight of falling bodies. But she lived.

This was what she saw as she beheld the scene. "No!" she drew her gun. Immediately Diona grabbed her, but Rhea punched her in the face. Then Sienn wrestled the gun out of her hand. "Get off me!" Lightning flared across Rhea's palms.
"And then we'll lose our cover," Diona countered.
"I don't care. We should kill them. We should kill them all," Rhea hissed hatefully. "What do you even know? You slaughtered civilians just like they did."
"Yes," Diona said stoically, though for just a moment there was an expression of deep pain written across her face. "And now we have to sacrifice a few to save the rest."
Sienn hesitantly reached out to Rhea, as if afraid she would blast her. "Rhea...I hate this as much as you do. These bastards are monsters - all of them. It's wrong...we're undercover. If any talks, it's over, and more people will die."
Rhea took a deep breath. "We have to complete the mission," she said mechanically, hating herself with every intake of breath. Blaster salvoes tore through the prisoners. They were mercilessly mowed down. Then there was silence, save for the wailing of those who were still in the process of dying. Stormtroopers went about, shooting those who still breathed air.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Saeza followed the Firemane girls as they advanced, wincing in pain as she followed, her ribs sore from the exertion. Her hand held her chest tightly, the memories of the Dona Carlotta flooding back while she continued to move. <I can take it.> Her thoughts were on how much pain she had shouldered before, knowing she could take more and be the relief from suffering for others for as long as they needed her, but she was starting to lose ground to it. Actual injuries were different from the Embrace of Pain she had known as a child, or the creature clawing at her insides as she excised it from her breast. They weighed on her more, the exertion of the Force compounding with the pain she drew from the others.

“Rocket. Run.” someone called urging the girl to hustle along, blaster pistol in hand as she ran alongside Zhaleh. The force of the blast knocked Saeza down to her knees, stumbling as she rushed to get back to her feet and keep moving towards cover. Her heart thrummed with adrenaline and the anxiety of combat. Leo had told her combat was mostly about survival, not about destroying the enemy, but outlasting them and she planned on ensuring her allies managed that feat.

One of the Firemane troops was injured by the explosion, and Shikoba erected them an earthen barrier to cower behind as more laser blasts began ringing out, lancing through the air. Saeza could smell ozone from burnt oxygen and earth, impacts against the barrier throwing dust, dirt, and rock up.

“Let me,” she muttered, putting her hand against the Dahomian’s body, reaching through her with the Force to determine the extent of the injury. “Let me help you.” She explained through gritted teeth.

~

Laira blitzed to the next door way, a laser bolt barely missing her head as she ran. “Sharpshooter on overwatch.” She grunted, pulling her comm to her mouth. “They’ve got someone on overwatch down the road. He’s probably more than five hundred meters out.” Dealing with a sniper was difficult, especially for a pretty redhead who focused most of her time on melee combat and flying.

The girl hoped her previous victim would be coming to in a moment and fleeing as the Imperials rolled their Occupier down the main road, chewing up buildings with its laser cannons. Meanwhile the Firemane forces were regulated to a small cluster of smaller roads. Imps weren’t all that smart, but they had the bodies for fighting off the rebels.

“Alright Laira, think. How would Leo deal with a sniper?” Well he’d likely be on overwatch or spray a feth ton of rounds at the sniper’s location. But she couldn’t do that, she only had a carbine over her back and her Renegade five-five-seven. “Oh,” She drew a flare from her pouch and clutched it, “Here we go.”

~

"Clear," Leo pulled the trigger, the roar of the deteriorating atmosphere rumbling in his ears and putting pressure against his chest, the backwash of dust and duracrete filling his nostrils as the exit was gorged in the wall by his eradicator. He pumped the action again, ready to turn out behind the Captain and her woman and turn a few rebels to ashes.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

The devastating wave of disruptor energy ripped through the wall, turning it into ash. Dust and duracrete filled Elpsis' nostrils. The air was awash with particle discharges and the slugthrower rounds as rebels turned and opened fire. Lifeweb, I send you the souls of brave fighters. Nyssa's lightsabre hummed a song of death and destruction as she rushed forward into the fray to scythe down rebels. The Pureblood was not one to dodge or evade, even when rounds soared towards her. She threw herself into the fray with the fury of someone who revelled in the fight. Her sabre moved like it was an extension of herself, chopping off limbs and cleaving through armour. She did not prolong their suffering. Her kills were clean and efficient. But she did not regret it either.

And Elpsis became fire. A blaster bolt struck her and her shield flared. She pressed on. Unlike her Sith compatriot, she did not draw her sabre. Her bare hand caught a blaster bolt, then another. Her flesh was stung by the searing burns. She absorbed the energy into a ball, drawing it into herself.

Red Lady, ferry them to the Summerlands. Her body temperature soared. Heat surged through her, and was pushed outward. One by one, several blasters began to boil when she flooded the tibanna gas with blazing heat. Some shooters had the presence of mind to drop them before they blew up in their hands. May their rebirth be a kinder one. Flame burst from one of her hands, while her other pulled the trigger on her revolver. Hypervelocity rounds cut through the air, moving faster than sound. I'm sorry. Where the Young Phoenix went, death followed.

xxx

Laser blasts lanced through the air, hammering the earthen barrier even as Shikoba poured in energy to strengthen it. Clouds of dust, dirt and rock rose into the sky. The air was rank with ozone. From behind their earthen barricade, the Firemane mercenaries returned fire. They might not want to kill anyone, but that did not mean they wanted to be shot themselves.

Reverence would not admit it, but she was in pain. "Who helps you?" she exclaimed when the Vong Jedi's gentle hands suddenly touched her. Sano had grabbed the Dahomian's repeating blaster and let loose a barrage of fire. Meanwhile, the Occupier tank rolled down the main road. Where its big cannon spat a laser beam, a building caved in. The tank was an old model - ancient even. But it was a game changer in an uneven fight in a low-intensity conflict, as the rebels had no heavy armour assets at all.

Suddenly Sano picked up on movement and spun, lighr repeater in hand and ready to fire as she perceived shapes moving through some ruins. Then she heard a call. "Maalraas!"
She let out a breath, but kept her weapon ready, just in case. "Akul."
And with that Rhea, Diona and Sienn moved into view. Their armour was stained, covered in dirt, dust and more than a little blood. The latter applied to the first two in particular. "Where the hell were you?"
"Occupied," was Diona's laconic response when Rhea said nothing. "Where's the Captain?"
Before Vagt could speak, Celaena preempted him. "Impressing the Firsties."
"I see." Behind her helmet, Rhea's expression was that of a glacier.
Sienn meanwhile saw to Reverence. "You're hurt," she said accusingly.
"My apologies. Next time I'll tell the friendly neighbourhood rebel not aim a rocket at me," the Dahomian said sarcastically, groaning.
Zhaleh's comm flashed. "Jaine spotted a sharpshooter. Requesting permission to aid her." For the benefit of the new arrivals, she added, "the other scarlet-mane."
Vagt gave her a curt nod. "Go. Set up overwatch." He looked at the main road through his binoculars. "What was the situation on the way?"
"Rebels are being butchered. So are civilians," Rhea said pointedly and more than a little bitterly.
It did not escape Vagt. "We neeed to deal with the tank."
So we do intend to fight the true enemy. Good, Rhea thought but swallowed the words on her tongue. She wanted to trust the boss, but what she had seen had taken its toll on her.
"The spirits swirl around the ground yonder where metal and explosives lie buried," Shikoba chimed in.
"She means IEDs," Celaena explained irritably.
"They're further away than I'm used to, but I could make them run on one. Maybe," Nuroch opined.
Vagt's fur rippled slightly. "Got an idea."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Saeza smiled, though her expression remained one wracked with agony, “The Force helps me.” She responded as her hand felt the shrapnel wound. The Force was helping her sense the injury and the internal damage it caused. In any firefight minor contusions and small cuts were common for any soldier, but puncture wounds had the potential to be life threatening, even in the leg.

Saeza felt around and was left with two choices, “I can pull the shrapnel and cauterize the deep wound, or I can wrap it with shrapnel inside and later I can remove it and stitch it up for you. Which do you prefer?” the vong girl asked quietly, in between laser impacts.

Rebels seemed intent on causing some destruction, but the fighting was pulling away from them as the Occupier rolled forward. With only a handful of rockets, there was no certainty of disabling the old armored vehicle, and it seemed the rebels knew this.

~

Laira clutched her ion flare to her chest, trying to use the Force to enhance her vision while she gazed through a mirror to locate the sharpshooter. He wasn’t obsessed with killing a lone redhead not in First Order armor, which she had to be grateful for, and so he took shots at Stormtroopers moving up the alley from time to time. Laira believed she had a good guess on the shooter’s location.

“Sup miss new booty,” Laira smiled as she responded to Zhaleh’s approach. “I think he’s near the middle of that tall building waaaaay down that way. He’s been dropping stormies left and right.” The redhead kinda pointed to a building around half a kilometer away down the straight path. It was a sniper’s dream to have such a long corridor to funnel enemies down, and have a ground barrier to slow advancing enemies in the form of a row of town-houses separating the two alleyways.

“I got one Ion flare, after that, we’ll probably need some fog.” It was all about timing, otherwise one of them would end up shot. "Oh, and someone with this much skill, I want alive if we can swing it."

~

Leo let the girls take the lead, he’d fought with enough Jedi to know despite his skill and physical enhancements, he couldn’t keep up with Force Users in melee. Instead he primed the microgrenade launcher underslung on the eradicator with shaped thermite charges. For the most part, there wasn’t much for him to do when surrounded by an amazon of a Pureblood blazing a trail with a Lightsaber and a proverbial pillar of fire. Elpsis was much more powerful in the Force than Laira or Saeza, also much more destructive in nature.

Leo saw the rebels pulling away, though they formed a tight fighting retreat showing that at least some of them were Stormtrooper Veterans, possibly also some Special Forces mixed in that helped train other less professional freedom fighters. <Sorry brothers, I am one of you, but my family’s on this side today.> He grunted and rattled off a thermite charge into a window where he saw a pair of rebels duck behind cover.

The charge ignited in a wave of white hot heat and then dissipated in an instant, leaving the interior aflame.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

Reverence groaned. "Whatever's easier. Just wrap it."
"Rev, don't start with this 'it's just a flesh wound' crap," Sienn interrupted with an exasperated tone.
"She hurts herself to put people back together, ok? And we're in the middle of a fight."

The plan, as it turned out, was a simple one. The benefit of this was it limited the variables. Salvoes were still being exchanged across the streets when Nuroch, Shikoba and Celaena arose from the earthen barrier that shielded the Firemane gang and Saeza. The fighting was slowly pulling away, but rebels still sprayed the streets with blaster fire and the occasional thermal detonator. The Occupier rolled forward, like a mechanical behemoth on treads. Its cannon spat death.

Celaena grit her teeth as blaster fire peppered the bubble Diona had summoned around them. Ostensibly, they were moving in support of the Order's advance. To drive the point home, those among their comrades who had remained behind fired bursts towards the rebel lines. She heard the percussive thoomp of a boltgun. Their real intent was very different. Remember me, monkeighs? I bet you don't. I remember the napalm and the crosses you nailed my people to, she thought. The Eldorai remember. Ashira remembers.

"Are you close enough?" she hissed to the Nautolan.
"Bit more."
"If I move the metal, I will meet too much resistance here," Shikoba opined.
A nearby explosion threw up earth, dust and body parts. Her ears rang. The bubble flickered fiercely as the fire intensified, and they blitzed forward, spreading out to make it more difficult to him. Quickly, they hit the dirt, crouching behind some debris. "That enough?"
"Yes. Now let me focus."

The tank was rumbling down the street. With the rebels scattering, the gunner started firing the armoured vehicle's E-webs. Intense salvoes of crimson barked out of its anti-personnel weapon. Its main cannon rotated, levelling itself at a target. Then suddenly, the driver experienced a strange pull he could not describe. It was a siren call that could not be blotted out. He fought against the alien voice in his mind. His face was contorted in pain, but he could not deny it. Slowly, the tank turned and, deaf to all protestations, he drove down towards an alley. Strain was evident on Nuroch's features as he struggled to maintain his hold.

Shikoba breathed in deeply as she exerted herself, drawing upon her kindred element - earth. Her hands moved in intricate patterns, as she focused on the ground the spirits were swirling around. She chanted in her native tongue, humming words eldritch and powerful. The spirits heeded her call and gave the explosive device a nudge, shifting it towards the steel behemoth. Just a few more metres, then it would be on target. Boom. The small bomb exploded. In the moment of detonation, Celaena poured all her fury into the fuel tank. Heat rushed through her body like wildfire as she willed it to combust. Between these destructive forces, the tank went up in flames. Celaena smiled grimly. Then Nuroch suddenly blacked out and hit the ground.

xxx

And so the rebel band died, be they civilians turned freedom fighters or deserted Stormtroopers. Those not hit in the initial storm pulled off a fighting retreat, raining down rounds upon the trio as they pulled out. Elpsis made a show of throwing fireballs at them and Nyssa deflected bolts. Then there was silence. It was interrupted only by the pained groans of some rebels who were too injured to get away. Many had suffered horrible burns, be it from Elpsis' pyromancy or Leo's thermite charge.

Nyssa suddenly appeared at Elpsis' side. "I can take care of them. Doesn't bother me," she said honestly. She had a clear hierarchy of priorities. She cared about herself, Elpsis, Ghanima - though she would not admit it and her half-sister probably hated her - and the motley collection of misfits Elpsis was in charge of. Rebels, Jedi, Imperials, faux Sith - it made no difference to her. But it made one to Elpsis.
"No, I'll do it."
"Frak," the Pureblood snorted, "you have a martyr complex just as bad your pet Jedi's. Just so you know, chances are a lot of them were on board with the Imperial way of life and just didn't like the management."
Elpsis gave no response to that. Instead she walked up to the shattered window and the bodies. Raising her revolver, she looked each of them in the eye, studying their auras, and inhaled the stench of blood and charred flesh. Fear, anger and desperation swirled around them. Then she shot them. "See if you can find anything useful on their bodies. Datapads, comms, orders, whatever. Then let's get back."

xxx

Zhaleh weaved a through the ruins and past the bodies as she approached the doorway Laira had hidden inside. A shot barely missed her, whizzing past her closely enough to make her wince. Several dead Stormtroopers lay in the alley. The sharpshooter had skill. A high-powered blaster shot had gone right through the kneecap of a Stormtrooper. It did not kill him, but cripple him...and aroused the attention of other soldiers. When a whitehead abandoned position to help his comrade, he got a shot through the neck. Like a hunter, he baited his prey and lured it into a kill zone with little cover, while he commanded the high ground from far away.

Zhaleh dropped into a crouch and looked at the building Laira had indicated, shaking her head at the nickname. Unlike Laira, the Qadiri carried a rifle, though a Magnetic Repeater was not a weapon for a sniper duel. She considered their options, as another shot rung out. Nuroch would have tried to trick the sniper with an illusion, while Rhea and Sienn would have called upon the spirits to shield themselves from his sight.

Neither were feats the young Qadiri was capable of. "I can create a mist. It will shroud us a bit." Less so if he had infrared or thermal vision and it survived the ion flare. Zhaleh could lower her body temperature though. She considered Laira's subsequent words for a moment. "You wish to capture him then? I don't think his survival will ours to decide if this First Order has him in their custody." But they needed information.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Saeza nodded her head at the Dahomian and fished out her gauze and bloodclot kit from her belt, placing the expanding foam around the wound and then wrapping it tightly with gauze and fleshglue to secure the bandages in place. Reverence was doing her best to be a tough patient, but Saeza knew how much pain she was in. The vong girl pressed her will into the wound, searching out the frayed and damaged nerve endings in an effort to calm them before drawing what remained out of the Dahomian like a doctor would draw venom from a snake bite. Her leg blazed in torturous waves, her vision fading around the edges pushing her closer to darkness, but she prevailed, possibly for this one last time during the fight.

Her chest seemed to flare and inflame, and she could feel the sudden surge of shock and surprise, as though the serpent was clawing at her insides once more, pressing against her sternum seeking sweet freedom. She could once more feel the pressure of her own hand deep within her chest cavity, ribs breaking, cartilage torn asunder, teeth gnawing on her fingers as she grasped the evil creature as it panicked and tore at organs in an effort to escape her forcible extraction. Saeza struggled to breathe, fought to remain conscious, her hand pulling at her shirt and pressing hard against the long, unhealed scab just beneath her ribcage still obscured by her masquer. She bit hard on her lip, drawing blood.

~

“Yes, but only if we tell them we captured him.” Laira smiled at the Qadiri girl as another shot dropped another trooper, his eye-visor shattered by the high-powered rifle and grey matter sprayed out the back. “We can work out the details once we get him, assuming we are able to.” The rebels were already retreating in other sections, and while they would probably leave a handful as a rearguard that didn’t mean they would be around forever. Time was short.

“Can you make us a mist from here to the next block? Then we can sprint like hell and I’ll fire my Ion flare at him as a last resort. We got maybe three hundred meters to cover before we can hide and advance on him, so I hope you can keep up.” Laira flipped her energy-chorded blade into a reverse grip in her main hand, hoping she could fend off a blast or two with it if needed. The redhead had no intention of blazing past the Qadiri or leaving her behind, and it wouldn’t be just a simple sprint down the firing lane.

~

Leo half smirked, priming his Eradicator once more just in case any rebel or creature popped out at the trio, covering Elpsis as she performed the execution. Maybe it was a mercy killing, maybe it was cruel, maybe it was unnecessary. Leo didn’t have all the answers, but he knew that right now, they might as well maintain their cover story and so a choice had to be made.

“I’ll be sure to tell them that when you need patching up.” He snorted towards the pureblood, “Hate for their martyr complex to flare up when it benefitted you.” Though Nyssa did have a point about the Jedi and their willingness to expose themselves to unnecessary danger in order to protect others, something he had worried about with Laira and Saeza numerous times. But, they had also saved his life more than enough times for him to be grateful for their way of life.

He stooped down to rifle through a few pockets while keeping his ears and eyes up.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

Nyssa shrugged. "Wasn't talking about the girl scouts, though my point still applies. We got our own. One day she decided torture is wrong, and said she felt bad about it. I wager the fact that we'd shown up tanks had something to do with it."
"She saved your life. And those girl scouts are fighting on our side," Elpsis interjected coldly.
The Pureblood snorted and walked over to search some corpses. One had a comm that had not been damaged beyond repair by Elpsis' pyrokinetic assaults. "It's war. Bad things happen. If you take every case personally and treat it as a reason to go on a martyr's charge, you'll wind up a corpse and it will serve no one," she addressed Elpsis. "No map here, but this," she presented the comm.
Elpsis said nothing in response to the Purebloo's pointed remarks. "Let's get back."

xxx

"Correct," the Qadiri said simply in response to Laira. Brain matter and viscera had splattered across the street and an already blaster-scorched wall when the sniper's rifle shattered a Stormtrooper's helmet. Moving surreptitiously, Zhaleh peeked out of the doorway. The sniper seemed more focused on putting rounds through the men in white, but she still valued keeping her head between her shoulders quite a bit.

"Kashara, lay down your cloak upon us," she spoke, speaking in a Qadiri language rather than Basic. The air seemed to move in strange patterns. It was already moist, but now it began to cool rapidly. A blanket of mist descended upon them. At first it only shrouded the ground ahead of their hideout. Frost pearls formed on her face as she exerted herself, drawing deeper upon her Zari.

Zhaleh was evidently not used to the exertion, and so her body swayed a bit when the mist expanded and she sought to push it towards the next block. And she needed to manipulate the environment to such a degree that it did not abruptly dissipate. Her own body heat was dropping in tandem with the cooling air. The young Qadiri was panting from the exertion. "Run."

xxx

The fighting was dying down. No doubt the rebels were surprised when the metal colossus suddenly turned around and got hit by an explosion even though they had not placed an IED in this spot, but it was giving them a reprieve to slip away. At Vagt's signal, the Firemane soldiers fired another salvoe in their general direction.

Celaena caught Nuroch when he suddenly blacked out and stumbled. "Stop being so dramatic. I'm not carrying you, squid," she grumbled. But then she checked his pulse and laid him down. Further ahead, the tank was in flames. Take that, bastards, she thought. Then she saw to her Vashyada comrade. "Hey, ghosttalker. You alright?"
Shikoba was looking a bit wobbly on her legs. She looked at Celaena intently. "A broken world, of skulls and crushed hopes. Pillars of fire rain down. From crosses of flesh, screams rise to the heavens. And in their midst, a girl. The ghosts chase her still."
"Stop with the mystical crap and start making sense," Celaena snapped angrily.
Suddenly Shikoba looked normal again. "I am fine, Child of Kaeshana." Without a further word, she helped Nuroch up.

Reverence was in pain, no matter how tough she acted. Sienn watched their back while Saeza worked her magic. The Dahomian could feel the Yuuzhan Vong pressing her will upon the wound, willing it to close through sheer willpower. She breathed in, feeling relief wash over her as the pain receded.

However, relief was soon replaced with concern when she beheld the tell-tale signs of Saeza having not just reached her limit, but overshot it by far. The ragged breaths, the fight to maintain concentration and then Saeza suddenly pressing her hand against her own chest while biting her lip so hard she drew blood. "Saeza! Stop." Though pain flared through her again, Reverence scrambled upward to catch her.
"What's wrong with her?" Sienn asked in alarm.
"Private, keep your eyes on the frontline," Vagt commanded in his gruff, serious voice, as he crouched towards them. "Well?"
"She was closing the wound...then this," Reverence explained hastily, looking nervous.
"Private Diona, lay her down somewhere safe. Those ruins behind us. Keep watch. Rest of you, focus. There's still snipers out there and we've got people in the field." Not to mention our 'allies', he thought grimly. Without further ado, Diona lifted Saeza up, holding her in her arms.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Saeza struggled to breathe, rasping with each labored breath as though she had swallowed blood. “I am fine.” She said, though she allowed Diona to lift her and help her to more reliable cover, blood trickling from her lip as she spat out the words. “Just an old wound.” The vong was not willing to admit that she had taken on too much of others’ pain had aggravated her own internal injuries that had not yet fully healed. They needed her to be strong, and so she would have to suffer through it and be strong for them.

Her hand still clutched at her chest painfully, but she did manage to steady her breathing, at least somewhat. “I will be okay, see to our friends.” The girl wanted to say something inspiring, but her mind was swimming in a cacophony of agony still.

~

Leo shrugged at Nyssa, though part of him wanted to shoot her, another part of him wanted to agree with the pureblood on some level. At least if she was more respectful that was. Rather than voice his plethora of expletives, Leo gritted his teeth and stood up, falling into step with Elpsis and Nyssa to return to their group of friends. He knew there were more important things than him getting overprotective about Laira’s honor and Saeza’s fighting spirit.

~

Laira waited, timing her explosive movement with the Qadiri cryomancer’s order. As soon as the word escaped the elven woman’s lips Laira snatched her wrist and bolted as fast as the Qadiri could keep up with, pumping the Force into her legs and into her reactions, driving them both forward like a train.

Speed was kind of Laira’s thing, (Redhead go fast, vroom! vroom!) so she didn’t expect to hit her top speed, but hoped they would run fast enough to close the distance faster than the sniper could react.

The pair exploded out of the mist that had been generated, leaving a pair of swirling trails behind them. The sniper compensated for the sudden advancement as best he could, firing a bolt that sailed over their heads by a fair distance. Laira readied to fire her Ion bolt as they advanced, or deflect one that was too close with her blade.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

Diona had not gotten a good look at the apparent woman until now. Indeed, when she first laid eyes upon her, the girl had resembled one of the elves that were so common in Firemane's ranks, except she wore the robes of a Jedi. She had also...lacked the haughtiness Diona had come to associate with Eldorai. Instead she seemed idealistic and a bit mousy.

But appearances could be deceiving. She was a lot stronger than her demeanour suggested. Moreover, she was a Yuuzhan Vong, and yet she wielded the Force. They are demons, aberrations of nature. That was what Diona had been taught on Tephrike. Most of what she had grown up to believe in had turned out to be a lie, but not everything was easy to shake off. The Dominion was evil, but the Yuuzhan Vong and its pet Republican Guard had committed horrible atrocities. Force-Sensitives who had committed nay a crime were mowed down or imprisoned by them.

And you have the blood of innocents on your hands, too. Their evil does not justify yours, the inner voice said. And yet, this girl was a Vong Jedi who had been gifted with the Force and went far beyond the call of duty to help others. A Jedi's life of sacrifice. So she had been told. Naturally her teachers had left out the caveat. Often of others. But the girl had taken it literally.

"You are not 'okay', However old this wound may be, it is not minor." Her tone made it clear she did not believe it was old. "I will not speak of it if you rest," Diona remarked softly, but decisively. Her tone brokered no contradiction. The ruins were filled with dust and stank of death. The building must have been razed by the Order during the fighting. Nonetheless, Diona located a couch that was in reasonably good condition. She made the effort to wipe the dust away, then laid Saeza down. "Stay here."

xxx

The pair burst out of the thick blanket of mist. It went without saying that Laira was very fast, though she fell far short of the epic speed of Sonic the Sith. There was no shame in that. Regardless, she grabbed Zhaleh's wrist and took off like a speed train. The abrupt, sudden movements made the Qadiri feel more than a little dizzy.

She experienced a strong feeling of vertigo, but pushed herself to keep up. To her, it seemed like they were moving so fast that her feet barely even touched the ground beneath them. She was less of a physical enhancement specialist than Laira, but pushed her Zari into her muscles to make it easier to keep up. Then the sniper fired. The shot was aimed better and near-silent. Zhaleh's sensitive, pointed ears, which could pick up noise at a distance greater than that of the average human, just about heard it over the wind. "Bolt!" Maybe Laira could swing her blade.

xxx

The trio left the charred corpses behind, backtracking in companionable silence. Well, there was probably nothing particularly companioable about it. Elpsis was broody, while Nyssa alternated between being annoyed and concerned by that. Behind them lay corpses, rubble and broken windows. A similar image waid loud out ahead of them.

The stink of death was in the air, and corpses littered the ground. Many belonged to rebels, but there were also Stormtroopers and a good number of civilians, who had been caught in the crossfire or perhaps stepped on an IED. They would eventually happen spy the broken tank. Stormtroopers were fanning out across the blocks, establishing checkpoints to cordon off the area or scouring buildings for rebels.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

There was something to say of Imperial protocol. It was easy to learn, made soldiers fast to react to situations when they occurred. The downside was that it made them terribly predictable, especially when they were largely inexperienced Stormtroopers proceeding as their drill instructors had taught them when they were in boot. Leo noted where the majority of stormtrooper corpses were strewn, usually right where a perimeter would have been set up to contain the rebels. Ambushes or IED’s had been left for them in approximate locations of where the First Order would be rushing their reserves to. Made the attack effective, even if the ‘mercenaries’ had thrown a wrench into the rebels' plan.

Overall, it seemed clear the Stormtroopers still numbered plenty, more than the Firemane platoon and Jedi girls could handle. But, maybe with some assistance they could help uproot the First Order and cast them off the planet.

Leo stopped only once, to check on a civilian that was missing an arm and leave them with his medical kit. Bacta, pain killers, and bandages were simple and easy to apply. Sometimes he tried to inject some of Laira and Saeza’s ideology into his own, because in the end they were good people dedicated to helping and protecting others, and he was a killer, dedicated only to them and their well-being. Sometimes it felt nice, in his heart, to emulate them.

<My dream is to see every star, walk on every world, and leave them knowing there will be people on them that look up at the sky and feel safer knowing I’m out here. To bring that comfort to as many people as possible, and to have fun doing it. And in some of those dreams, you’re there with me till the end.> That had been something she had said to him that he had tried to take to heart, not only for her sake but for his own soul.

~

Saeza squinted at Diona, but nodded her head in acceptance of the agreement, letting the former Jedi set her down somewhere safe. It hurt to breathe, much less speak and so Saeza did not respond verbally. The pain blocked her mind, pounded in her brain making it harder to use the Force even as she attempted to fall into a short hibernation trance to recover. The pain seared in her chest and her meld with Laira and Leo began to break. With her last conscious seconds seeping away, Saeza sent what little strength she had left through the meld the second before it broke, the last vestiges of it retreating and bleeding away.

Leo wouldn’t notice, he was busy, and Saeza had been too focused on her healing to eavesdrop on him, but Laira would notice immediately. She would feel bolstered by the Vong just a bit more than usual.

~

Laira blitzed through the road alongside Zhaleh, pumping her legs with silver eyes scanning the tower the two were sprinting towards.

“Bolt!”

The redhead heard the order with only a second to spare, flicking her wrist and letting the Force guide her blade to deflect the bolt off the flat of the weapon into the dirt beside the pair as they ran instead of in the redhead’s chest. The weapon was damaged, scoured with a deep burning impact, sparking as its internal parts ruptured.

She squeezed off the Ion flare, sure to look down towards the ground as it went off and they closed in. “I’m gonna throw you at him. Fifth floor window!” Laira wasn’t sure if Zhaleh had any skill in telekinesis, but she did know that she herself had no abilities with it at all so the Qadiri warrior was their best chance of cutting the distance.

Laira twisted her body, using her grip on Zhaleh’s wrist as a fulcrum in order to turn and shove her momentum into the elven woman to send her upward and toward their quarry.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

Seeing that Saeza was in no state to sneak out, Diona left the dimunitive Jedi to it. On the way out, she briefly turned around and gave her another glance, then stepped out. Meanwhile, the squad had spread out a bit. Some still covered the improvised earthen barrier, others had taken up positions in the ruins. She figured Vagt was not taking any chances. Besides, they could never rule out their 'allies' turning on them.

On the way, she happened across Reverence. The Dahomian woman's injuries would still need treatment, but she was looking better and fit for guard duty at any rate. Without preamble, the soldier addressed her: "How is she?"
"She needs rest," was Diona's simple response.
"Knew her healing messes with her. Heard from Cel. Should've stopped her."
"You have her duty, she has hers," Diona cut her off. "Don't treat her as someone who needs protecting because her battlefield is one of healing hands rather than rifles and grenades."
A rebuke was a rebuke. "It matters when she wrecks herself fixing me up," the Dahomian argued. "Must be weird for you."
"Pardon?"
"Working with Jedi - and one's a Vong at that. How does that even work anyway?"
Back on Tephrike, the Dominion had conducted experiments with the aim of curing Yuuzhan Vong of their demonic affliction. Had Saeza then the fruit of a similar attempt? Diona shuddered at the thought. Or perhaps her parents? "Many things are strange in the stars. I have had to unlearn much. But it is better than to walk through the blind in self-imposed ignorance." In the distance, she saw Celaena and Shikoba approach. The latter was carrying the unconscious Nuroch while the Eldorai held her rifle.

A scenery of devastation that was typical for the aftermath of urban warfare greeted the trio when Elpsis, Nyssa and Leo made their return. There was a brief expression of surprise on Elpsis' features when Leo took the time to stop and gift a wounded civilian with a medkit. She left some rations. "Tank's gone," Nyssa pointed out to her.
"Good. Still lotta white heads than us," Elpsis remarked under her breath.
"They're wasteful with them," the Pureblood muttered disdainfully. "Everyone must die, so it is best done in glorious fight, but if you throw away lives out of stupidity, you are a fool, especially if it is to crush an ant." I am not concerned by the sight of death and the dying, she thought. But it is wastefulness and stupidity that angers me, she thought.

Elpsis gave Nyss a mental nudge to table the talk as they came across some troopers. "You're the mercenary crew?" one of them, their apparent leader, said. Her uniform was splattered with blood and dust. Evidently she had seen combat.
"That we are."
"Feels strange to fight alongside Forcies who aren't Ren." There was a hint of suspicion in her tone. "Most of them are undisciplined. Unstable. But we gave the rebels a good beating today."
"That we did. Long as you guys are straight with us, we'll be straight with you."
"I take you'll be sticking around then?"
Elpsis shrugged. "Up to your boss, but if it's a deal, yeah. I figure you guys wanna make those rebels pay?"
"Damn right. Goddamned terrorists and traitors. I can at least respect a foreign soldier who fights us openly, but not scum that turn on their brothers and then hide behind civilians and plant bombs."

xxx

"No, you..." However, Zhaleh had no time to finish that sentence, for Laira suddenly used her grip on her wrist to spin and shove her upward. It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's a Super Qadiri! Zhaleh did not feel super at all. Gravity threatened to seize her in its embrace and pull her back to earth. However, the Qadiri had some skill with telekinesis. It was not earth-shattering, but there. Moreover, she had air abilities. A rushing wind, manipulated by her, pulled her upward. A blaster bolt missed her.

Another went through her combat helmet, passing just high enough that it grazed her scalp, without going through her noggin. A moan of pain and anger emanated from her at the burn. Her Zari brought her into the room as she crashed through the window, landing on top of the sniper. Feeling very dizzy from her involuntary flight, she was thrown into a daze. Her rifle fell out of her grasp.

The sniper managed to throw her off and she cried out in pain when he clubbed her with the butt of his rifle, for his magazine was empty. Quickly, he drew his service pistol. But then the Qadiri got a second wind. With a war cry, she rallied and grabbed the gun just before he could shoot her. As both wrestled against one another, struggling for control of the gun, she managed to yank it upward. The shot went wide, hitting the ceiling. Ice spread across the gun, freezing it, before it shattered into pieces.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira hurled the Qadiri with all her momentum and strength, surging the Force through her muscles and arms giving the woman as much of a platform and boost as she was able to manage. The redhead fell and rolled to a crouch on the street, she didn’t have time to react to the blaster bolt, not enough to dodge or move out of its way, her momentum was carrying her into it and there wasn’t time to take another step to change direction.

Laira shut her eyes, imagining the blaster bolt being absorbed by her body, passing through her and the energy coursing through her veins, but she’d never been taught tutaminis. Her mind focused in on the aspect of the bolt passing through her as she snapped her eyes back open. To her surprise, the bolt did zip through her chest. For an instant, she held her hand to her bosom, checking for damage but her hand slipped through the immaterial form of her torso.

“Holy chit?” She thought aloud, her mind confused for an instant. “Am I a ghost?”

It took her thoughts buzzed around, “Oh, wait. I can phase.” Laira frowned as she stood up, and started to move forward again. “I can phase?”

Her puzzled frown turned to an elated grin, “I CAN PHASE!” The redhead practically jumped with excitement when she heard another shot come from the tower she and the Qadiri were assaulting, “Oh, crap. I’m coming!” Her steps began to haul her to the base of the tower forcing the door open as she pulled into the bottom floor with some effort.

~

Leo nodded to the other Firemane troopers, keeping an eye on the First Order forces arrayed in the area. Most of the Stormtroopers had moved to clean up duty, dragging their brethren into rows and piling the bodies of civilians and rebels alike, though Leo didn’t much care for what they would end up doing with the bodies. Likely burn them, the First Order had been a fan of crucifixion in the past, and it was always possible they would grind them up in the food supply, though Leo hoped those rumors were just Alliance propaganda.

He found the Bothan sergeant, Vagt was his name, “Where is Saeza? The sephi I came with?” He asked, his blue eyes not finding her among the FM forces. “What about Jaina, the redhead?” Concern was laced in his tone, but there was another missing from the group as well so it wasn’t likely they had been betrayed by either party, but losses did happen in combat from time to time.

Elpsis Kerrigan

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

L Laira Darkhold

They moved further into the ruins the Firemane crew had taken up position in, so that they have more privacy. "Over there. Sleeping, hopefully. She was fixing up one of my people, and drained herself. Said it was an old injury giving her grief. Didn't seem old to me." Vagt had his own thoughts about Jedi and martyr complexes. However, unlike Nyssa he was too disciplined and serious to voice them in this setting or tell someone else how to run their team. "Jaine took off when the shooting started. Said she'd spotted a sniper. Sent Zhaleh after her."

It was at this point that Elpsis joined them. Vagt threw in a crisp salute. "The rebels have withdrawn, Captain. No fatalities on our side. Some injured. The Sephi medic needs some bedrest."
"We wiped out their rearguard. I'd say that sent a message. Jaina, Zhaleh?" she asked, whereupon Vagt filled her, in too.
"Send someone to check if they don't report in soon."
"Captain," Rhea suddenly interjected, walking over to her.
"Corporal," Elpsis began. There was something off about the Rattataki. Reaching out to her to feel her aura felt like touching ice shards sharp enough to draw blood. "Heard you got caught up in the fighting, but fought your way out well." That wasn't really what she wanted to say, but the place was still too public for her liking.
"Yes," Rhea said tersely. "The operation was a success. We have something for you." Surreptitiously, she reached into her backpack and passed over the dirty folder. Then she stalked away without a further word. Nyssa's yellow eyes followed her, with something close to concern written across her expression, though she quickly buried it.
Sienn looked apologetic. "We took out some rebels. Then, um, ran into a massacre. The Firsties gunned down POWs and civilians. It triggered...bad memories," she said by way of explanation.
Frak, Elpsis cursed inwardly, feeling a stab of guilt. She had known about Rhea's past, and how the First Order did things, yet she had not given it any consideration. You're too soft, she chided herself. What did you expect? If you had more steel in you, you wouldn't have become the Dominion's meatpuppet. Her features hardened. "I'll talk to her. But it doesn't change anything. We continue as planned."

xxx

While Laira had her 'I know Kung Fu' moment, Zhaleh was busy in the sniper's hideout. Frozen by her cryomancy, his pistol had shattered into pieces. Quickly, Zhaleh pulled her serrated vibro-knife out of its sheath, and jabbed it deep into his shoulder. The sniper cried out and slapped at his shoulder. Blood flowed when she pulled it out, stabbing deep into his thigh. Her thrust hit an artery.

In a fury, he rammed his elbow into her face, taking advantage of the fact that his earlier shot had damaged her helmet. It was enough to break teeth. Grabbing her head, he slammed it into the edge of a nearby table. The Qadiri fell back, blood filling her mouth. The sniper got up, wincing in pain from his leg wound. He hit her with a lamp. His sniper rifle's magazine was empty and there was no time to reload.

So he stalked over to the rifle she had lost, with blood still dripping from his wounds. Zhaleh was dazed, but heard his boots thump against the ground. The sniper tripped, stumbling upon a layer of floor that had suddenly turned slippery. He hit the floor hard. Her rifle was close and he reached over to grab it, taking aim. But Zhaleh's fingers had reached for her concealed hold-out bolter. The crack of two gunshots was heard.