The Paragon Crisis

[Jsc]

[member="Noah Corek"]

Jerry nodded and returned to the hallway. She began to find it strange that the other Jedi strikeforce had yet to contact her. Perhaps they were simply using Force Masking in an effort to recon the base more effectively. Secret missions were not her specialty and she decided it was best not to linger on the subject too long. Then the Force shifted and she knew what it meant,

"Squad C. Enemy units approaching from the south corridor. I think somebody noticed that their buddies did not return from downstairs. ETA on the south door in, ...seven seconds."

She lifted her rifle and began to hustle to cover. The south door remained close and locked securely with no sign of any enemy approach. However, the Force was ever mindful. It only took a long quiet moment before a giant metal thud began to sound against it's bulkhead with reverberating fervor. It appears the enemy had arrived.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jerry Mars"]
As soon as Noah heard the fact that their were enemies inbound, he checked his rifle, making sure he had a extended mag with tungsten rounds loaded, once he was satisfied about that, he loaded a high explosive grenade into the G-203 grenade launcher. Once they were near the door, Noah grabbed a nearby vending machine and tipped it over and braced his rifle against, using it as cover, it seemed three others had the same idea as they forward and braced their weapons, two of them toting Corek Custom Spec Ops LMG's and once toting Corek Custom Spec Ops Shotgun.

 

[Jsc]

[member="Noah Corek"]

The doorway was slashed open and pulled apart with amazing speed. Squad C engaged immediately and the entryway to the south was immediately vaporized in glistening offensive fire. Three cyborgs where summarily killed in the ensuing chaos and surprise. As their bodies fell to the floor and absorbed the last amount of trama they could, two of the enemies pulled the broken doors from their hinges. Ripping the durasteel doors into makeshift shields and beginning to move forward.

Jerry felt the Force shift and she quickly announced,

"Three down. Eight enemies inbound. They are fanning out, four and four behind those shields!"

The enemy units began a quick lumbering advance forward. The giant metal doors seemed only to slow them marginly.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jerry Mars"]
As soon as the door opened, Noah opened fire, unloading a entire 45 round magazine. When they began using the doors for cover, Noah reached down and pulled a thermal detonator off of his belt, rolling it under the slight crack between the bottom of the doors and the floor, it exploded, taking three of the massive cyborgs with them in a fiery explosion. "Three down, five left!" Noah informed them as he pulled his empty magazine and popped in a new one.

 

[Jsc]

[member="Noah Corek"]

The rest of Squad C followed their Commander's example and improvised around the cyborg's defensive. One soldier even managed a rebound shot off of a holosign that managed to strike an enemy berserker square in the chest. Jerry took notes. The Pyre was good.

Time returned to normal as the smoking corpses of their enemies laid bare against the silvered floors. A mix of blood and engine oil seemed to waft into the air with a terrible stench. Whatever these creatures were? They sure were ugly.

Mars took a knee and had to refocus herself. Really push herself to keep the Force moving. This was no time for idle thoughts or lusting fantasies. She needed to be sharper than ever. The helmed woman took a quiet moment to herself to meditate and think.

She remained meditating as the other soldiers reloaded and called the all clear.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jerry Mars"]
Noah stood up, making sure to go over the the bodies and put a round into each of their skulls, just to make sure they were all dead. Looking over, he saw Mars on a knee, obviously trying to refocus herself. Noah motioned for his men to move forward and clear the area. Walking over to her, Noah got down on a knee as well and put a hand on her shoulder. "This your first time in a combat situation like this?" Noah asked her as they sat there.

 

[Jsc]

[member="Noah Corek"]

Mars lifted her head and opened her eyes. Returning from a place very very far away. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on Noah again.

"No. But my connection to the Force is weaker than most. War only provides more interference to my connection. Peace, calm, and prosperity help it grow. But this place... Battlefields. Well? Let's just say it can take a little while before I'm feeling all cheerful inside again."

She shrugged and sighed. Mars was no Revan. She tapped her helm twice and nodded,

"I'm fine Commander. Just catching my breath. Lead on."

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jerry Mars"]
Noah patted her on the shoulder lightly, he understood, he had meet some force users who had the same problem. "Take your time, but we need you back in the fight, your basically a mobile radar for detecting the bastards." Noah informed her as he stood and began to jog back to the squad at a steady pace, hoping Jerry was following.

 

[Jsc]

[member="Noah Corek"]

Mars frowned when he sad she was just a radar. The lack of reverence was understandable but still chided her faith. No doubt the Commander had his own perspective on the Force. She'd probably say the same thing in his shoes. Whatever the reason, it could wait. They had a mission to accomplish. Jerry caught up with the squad just in time to hear the next step. She was glad to leave that bloodied hallway behind.

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jerry Mars"]
As they walked down the hall, Noah turned back and looked at Jerry. "I'm sorry for what I said about you just being a radar back there. Your more than just that. What I meant was that your very important to the mission." Noah informed her as he checked his rifle and they finally got there and found another locked doorway and again the slicer trying to get into it. "Time estimation?" Noah asked as they arrived and the slicer looked up for a few seconds. "Should only take another minute or so." He reported and got back to work.

 

[Jsc]

Time spiraled forward as the team dashed through the facility. Wakes of dead cyborgs, silently fallen or stabbed, was all they left behind them. Jerry was constantly on alert for surprises as the Omega did what the Omega did best. Make bad guys disappear. Now the team stood just outside the Command Center of the Paragon Base. Inside, the few hostages that remained. The other infiltration teams had attracted most of the attention by now and their radio was an almost constant firefire. Jerry didn't worry. She kind of thought the soldier's were enjoying it. After fighting Reaver's and Sith Lords? Cyborgs must have seemed like a nice change of scenery.

Their hacker opened the door's console and got to work. Jerry knelled down nearby,

"Commander. I find it very odd that we've not heard a word from the Paragon's War AI. Nor that the Cyborgs seem confident in stopping our advance. I think they are simply buying themselves time for something? Though... For the Force, I can't seem to detect what."

Jerry knew it was wrong to disturb the soldiers so. This had been a flawless mission so far. Their ammo count was even holding up well. It was bad luck to start voicing secret doubts now. Even if the Force was beckoning her to rethink their strategy.

"Twenty seconds."

The slicer announced. The hostages were right though this door. The men stacked up. It was not the time for second guesses now.

[member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jerry Mars"]

Noah rubbed the back of his head a bit, he had to admit, Jerry was correct, this could be anything, the War A.I. was supposed to have contacted them already, why hadn't he? In fact, the lack of guards leading up to the main room, you'd think they'd put a abundance of guards instead of the fifteen Noah, Jerry and the team had fought through.

"Ten seconds."

The splicer piped up as everyone got into position. Noah pulled a flashbang from his belt and primed it, making sure to hold the spoon so it wouldn't go off just yet and so he could get maximum shock and awe when they entered the room. All of the sudden, the door opened, most likely due to the slicer, and Noah tossed in the flashbang and after hearing a loud bang and seeing a flash, Noah charged in, rifle raised and found... Nothing. No one was in the room, hell it had looked like no one had been in there for hours.

"Mars, I though you said all the main hostages were in here? Is there anyway to get out besides the door?"

 

[Jsc]

[member="Noah Corek"]

The Commander wasn't the only one who was lost. Jerry seemed completely confused as well. She was no Jedi Master but surely the Force would have warned her about this? Right?

Before she could say anything however, the power began to drop and the lights began to flicker. Something was going terribly wrong.

"Commander! It's the A.I. They've broken through his cyber barrier's and are starting a reboot of all main process systems! If they get control of all of his systems and programming? They could depressurize us at any moment and shoot some of these compartments out into space. This is a disaster!"

She turned frantically towards the door,

"The A.I. Core. That's the only place they could reboot the base manually. We've got to get there before this whole facility turns into a dungeon. Warn the other teams! We might need that exit sooner, rather than later."