Junction [GA/SO] Convergence — Junction of Naalol and Eiattu 6

[Pal Veda]

Tags: Evy’armi’naken
Location: Naalol
Objective 2: CLIMB!


”Of course not,” Veda scoffed, not daring to admit being afraid of anything. Truth be told, his fear of heights wasn‘t as high on the list as his fear of a summa-verminoth or losing the Rubicon in a card game, but it was on the list. He shook it off and got in position, firing his grappling gun in sync with the Alliance soldiers. “One foot in front of the other,” he whispered to himself, walking vertically up the side of the tower, knowing better than to look down. How far up was he now? 40 meters? 60 meters?

PEW! PEW!

Veda instinctively pulled himself into the wall even before Yarmin could give the command. Too close. But the shots caught another commando in the chest, sending him spiraling to his death.

Now this was a pickle. The group was pinned to the side of the tower, a Sith trooper raining down fire from above, and nothing but a long drop to hell below. Think! The soldier yelling for someone to take the shot didn’t help. But he wasn’t wrong. There was only one way out of this jam, and it was to take out the gunner on the ledge.

Veda was a crackshot with his pistol, that he was sure of. He turned to the commando next to him and instructed, “On my count, I want you to shoot. Two shots. But shoot wide. If you don’t, you’re gonna hit the tower, and the last thing we want is a bunch of bricks hitting us in the head or our hooks comin‘ loose.”

”Can do,” the soldier replied, a little curious but nevertheless willing to give it a try. He secured his repel line to his belt and brought his rifle around on its sling, taking control and aiming it straight up.

Here we go. “Now,“ he ordered, and the commando fired. After the second shot, Veda kicked off the wall, keeping his grappling line in his left hand and drawing his trusty IB-94 with his right. As expected, the Sith trooper above stepped back to dodge the two blasts, then immediately leaned over to return fire.

PEW! PEW! PEW!

At least one of the shots was on target, and the enemy hunched over then fell from the ledge above. He nearly hit Veda on his way down, but the smuggler angled away and came crashing hard into the side of the tower, absorbing the impact on his side and nearly dropping his favorite blaster in the process. “Oww!” But that didn‘t hurt nearly as bad as the muffled thud! he heard a few seconds later, looking to see the Sith lackey’s body hit the ground below.

Veda got his bearings and slipped his pistol back in the holster, then looked over to Yarmin. “I really wish I hadn’t looked down.”

 

[Evy’armi’naken]

Tags: Pal Veda
Location: NAALOL
Objective 2: The High Tower

Spoiler: “Equipment”

• REC/STA-01 Advanced Commando Armor; Series One​
• REC-DC/03 Modular Particle Blaster Rifle; Viperwasp Pattern​

Yarmin grinned. His red eyes made him look sinister, like a mad man, and perhaps he was. “It is a long fall to hell,” the Chiss mused, “but us commandos will all fall into it someday.” A disheartening sentiment, but not an untrue one. There were a great many deeds of questionable ethics that Alliance commandos were tasked with - but if not them, who else?

With the Sith trooper down and the suppressing fire ceased, the time for philosophical questions was over. “Push up!” Yarmin commanded. It was only a short distance for him and the trooper ahead, but he didn’t want to get pinned down again dallying. They closed the distance forthright, climbing over the jagged ledge and fanning out into the chamber.

A solitary Imperial stood with his hands up, already surrendering before the rest of Yarmin’s team was inside. The lieutenant ignored him, taking point instead by the door leading deeper into the tower complex. He held it while the others joined him. Meanwhile, Taj was cuffing the Imp’s hands to a service pipe with a pair of stun cuffs. “Tagged, sir,” the commando reported.

“Command will deal with him,” Yarmin said coldly. Assuming the tower didn’t come down in the meantime. “Veda,” he called. “Want to have some fun?” The lieutenant nodded to his fléchette launcher, referring to the carnage it would unleash upon a room full of unsuspecting Sith troopers. Yarmin switched his particle rifle to automatic, ready to fire when the door was breached.

A nearby commando placed a charge in the center of the door and gave the men a solemn nod. Yarmin returned it, smirking.

 

[Pal Veda]

Tags: Evy’armi’naken
Location: Naalol
Objective II: Take the Tower

”Ever the poet,” Veda chuckled in response to Yarmin’s dark musings. Eloquent but nihilistic. Seemed to be the credo of the Chiss.

Upward he climbed, pulling himself over the ledge into the chamber, watching the commandos clear the room and secure the prisoner. It would have been easier to kill the trooper, but cold blooded murder of a surrendered adversary wasn’t in Veda’s repertoire—at least normally. He was glad to see his companions on this mission felt the same.

Veda pulled the flechette launcher around on its sling, bringing the grip to his hand and the butt to his shoulder. “Let’s do it,” he agreed, taking the foregrip with his offhand and aiming toward the sealed door.

The commando gave a hand signal, counting down from five. . . Four . . . Three . . . Two . . . One . . . BOOM! The sound of the explosion filled the room, and the door fell forward, a hard kick speeding up the process. They moved in a tight formation through the doorway, Veda and Yarmin leading the charge.

Veda could see several targets through the smoke, confused and slow on the draw. Obviously they had anticipated an attack from the opposite direction, at the top of the staircase, and had been focused on the wrong entry point. The captain pulled the trigger, not sure what to expect.

PLOOM!

The weapon kicked like a mule, but the firepower was devastating at this range. Veda fought to bring the gun back on target, then fired two more shots, managing the recoil better the second time around, now knowing what to expect. Four Sith troopers were cut into pieces, body parts scattering the floor in front of him.

Yep. No way the Alliance was getting this flechette launcher back from him after today.

Of course he couldn’t help but notice the green particle beam off to his right, the rifle’s owner expertly doing as much or more damage with it.

 

[Evy’armi’naken]

Tags: Pal Veda
Location: NAALOL
Objective 2: The High Tower

Spoiler: “Equipment”

• REC/STA-01 Advanced Commando Armor; Series One​
• REC-DC/03 Modular Particle Blaster Rifle; Viperwasp Pattern​

The shrieking and sound of fresh fluids bathing the floor was all Yarmin needed to hear to know that Pal was enjoying his new toy. He would have loved to spectate, but he was having his own fun with is DC/03.

Imperial armor melted like butter under the concentrated particle beam, slicing through a pair of troopers with ease. Yarmin fired upon a third, emptying his clip into the man's chest. When he heard the telltale click of a dry magazine, he slung the rifle over his shoulder, trading it for a standard issue Alliance service pistol. He brought the barrel down to fire at the next Sith soldier, but the draw was faster than the enemy could brandish a vibroknife.

The superheated blade sent a shower of sparks over them both as its wielder caught Yarmin's blaster just below the barrel and forced it upward to expose the lieutenant's chest. An armored fist followed, slamming into Yarmin's sternum and knocking the wind from his lungs. The Chiss gasped, struggling both to draw in breaths as well as wrestle the blade from his opponent's hand.

"Veda!" he wheezed. "A- hand- here!"

 

[Pal Veda]

Tags: Evy’armi’naken
Location: Naalol
Objective II: Contested Tower


As the other team members stormed the room, Veda peeled to the side, temporarily standing down to avoid cutting his own crew in half. Several enemies had been dropped instantly upon the breach, but just as many remained. The space was getting crowded, soldiers from both sides engaged in close-quarters-combat, dancing around bodies littering the floor.

Where was Yarmin? Then he heard his name yelled in the now familiar crisp voice of his Chiss companion. Kriff!

Veda darted across the back of the room and launched himself at the grappling men. He knew if he landed on top of the Imperial, it would only drive the vibroknife through Yarmin’s chest. Killing his colleague in the process of rescuing him kind of defeated the purpose. So he barreled in from the side, leading with his shoulder. Veda caught the soldier just below his armpit and rolled through him, the two men tumbling off of Yarmin and along the stone floor.

Of course the Imperial ended up on top. And of course he still had the vibroknife in his hand. And of course he had it angled directly at Veda’s chest this time. All of that effort just to switch places with Yarmin and take the blade himself?

No. Veda wasn’t going out like this. Not dying on some fool errand for the Galactic Alliance! He mustered all of the strength he could manage in his left arm, using his forearm as a brace as the blade inched closer, the tip now dangerously close to his sternum. All the while, his right hand made its way to the trigger guard of the flechette launcher still attached to his slide by the single-point sling. He tilted the barrel as much as he could in the tight space between their bodies.

BOOM!

The ammo cut through the Imperial’s armor and midsection, sending him flying a foot into the air and nearly separating him in half. The unabsorbed recoil hurt like hell, and the butt of the gun hit the stone floor so hard that it broke the weapon on impact. So much for hanging onto it after this mission.

Nothing on his body felt broken, but it sure as hell didn’t feel good, either. “Yarmin?” he asked, still laying on the ground, a little shaken from the concussive force of the flechette launcher going off, and now realizing his ears were ringing, as well.

 

[Evy’armi’naken]

Tags: Pal Veda
Location: NAALOL
Objective 2: The High Tower

Spoiler: “Equipment”

• REC/STA-01 Advanced Commando Armor; Series One​
• REC-DC/03 Modular Particle Blaster Rifle; Viperwasp Pattern​

Yarmin didn't have time to thank Pal Veda for the rescue, nor return the favor when the Imperial fought his way on top of the captain; a second attacker had rushed in place of the first, throwing the lieutenant into another defensive bout. Luckily, this trooper was much less prepared for a melee confrontation. Swift as death itself, Yarmin delivered a devastating backhanded pistol-whip that cracked the visor of the Sith soldier's helmet.

"Sith scum," Yarmin hissed. The trooper was still holding his hands over the face of his helmet, doubled over in pain when Yarmin shot him in the knee. He dropped to the floor with only a split second to look up at the cruel Chiss' face before the commando executed him with no hesitation.

The room was clear, the floor littered with more Imperials than Alliance commandos. From a quick scan, they'd only lost two. Taj stepped over to say something to Yarmin, likely a word of disapproval, but the Chiss shirked if off and walked over to where Pal Veda lay, drenched in Imperial blood and sinew. He reached down to offer the captain a hand.

"On your feet, Captain Veda," Yarmin said. "The tower must fall."

 

[Pal Veda]

Tags: Evy’armi’naken
Location: Naalol
Objective II: The Highest Tower

Veda gladly accepted the Chiss’s hand, letting Yarmin yank him to his feet. “Yeah, the tower,” he mumbled, still a bit discombobulated, wiping the dust off his face, caked with sweat, blood, and whatever else. The room was a mess. The Alliance commandos had prevailed. A dirty job, but they got it done.

“Do we have a read on the other teams?” he asked, gaining some of his awareness back.

”Negative,” responded one of the men. “Signals are jammed inside the tower.”

”Wonderful.” Veda turned to Yarmin, then motioned toward the closed door on the other side of the room. “At least we can take the stairs the rest of the way.” The ascent up the outer wall had not been his favorite part of this mission, and that was saying a lot considering he’d just exploded an enemy trying to stab him to death. Navigating the interior was much preferred.

Veda drew his blaster pistol and stepped over the bodies littering the stone floor between himself and the exit across the way. As he opened the door, he was reminded of his compadre’s statement, the tower must fall. What exactly did Yarmin have in mind?