Get Some Freedom [ Galactic Alliance ]

[Kermon]

"I'm an idiot..." Midnight moaned. "Why did I take that stupid job? For starters I'm a smuggler not a bounty hunter. Lets just get this over with..." Midnight said as he headed towards the palace. "If she's as rich as the book said she was I might be better off stealing her credits and running." He thought. "That's actually a much better idea. Now to steal a security card..." Midnight muttered. He went inside the palace and looked for the nearest guard and asked "Hello sir could I have just one moment of your time?" Without waiting for an answer Midnight grabbed the guard's hand and started dragging him outside babbling on about a dangerous, giant Banta. He then dragged the guard into the nearest alleyway and shot him. He had set his gun to stun earlier.

Midnight took the guard's uniform, security card and his wallet. He pretty much left the guard in his underwear and in an alleyway. As Midnight went in he angrily stated "Stupid kid wasting my precious time with hallucinations of a giant Banta!" He then resumed standing where the guard was.

 

[Rath Daagh]

"They're OK with meetin' us," Tegan said, his voice nearly bland and emotionless, contrasting greatly with the overly excited project leader. Tegan always remained rational, although he did have a few biases. That is, he didn't like cultural 'valueless' things, such as parks and gardens and forests and swimming pools -- he was a fan of architectural feats and museums and universities.

And that is where the two's opinions always clashed.

Rath saw beauty in simple things. He really loved to add little touches of culture to planets and not waste funds on something too overly ambitious. Most planets didn't have the money or the need for amazing things. Empress Teta definitely could develop on their own and wouldn't have needed much help from the project. However, Rath wanted to make an exception.

Empress Teta had for too long been under the Sith rule. Not only the One Sith, but all kinds of Sith. Their leadership had always leaned towards the more authoritarian end of the spectrum, and their people often were avid supporters of the Sith causes and leaders.

Now, it was time to bring them to a new era. An era of freedom from the Darkness. An era of the Alliance.

One thing was for sure, Teta would have never joined the Republic. Everybody knew that. That's why Rath assumed they saw the Alliance as a better option -- after all, they were all about freedom and security, but did not interfere with local governments. That's what set them aside from the Republic.

"So, let's go," Rath finally said. They would first have to find a place to land and then make it to the palace. But that was the easier part of the whole mission. The more difficult part came after the representatives sat down with the Empress.

The project leader and his assistant had done an endless amount of meetings during the short time the project had existed, and therefore that was not very difficult or new to them. But the fact that they had to properly represent a huge organisation's leadership was something completely new and different, and needed good diplomatic knowledge.

Which, considering Rath's education, they had plenty of.

After reaching the palace, they would be guided to the room where they would meet the one and only Empress of Teta. And in the inside, Rath was overflowing with a combination of anxiety and enthusiasm.

[ [member="Lily Kuhn"] ]

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Dagon Zambrano"]

Daxton had someone in the crosshairs of his scope when he pulled the trigger, but his foe narrowly avoided a fatal ventilation by dropping to the ground. The barrage tore up the nearby ferrocrete wall, raining pellets and dust on his would be victim.

Ducking behind the cover of a nearby metal trash container, he avoided most of the counter attack as carbine rounds sprayed his general direction. Ejecting the spent clip and slamming a fresh one in, he pondered his options as chambered a fresh round and searched for his prey.

The telltale glow of a lightsaber told him two things, whoever it was likely to be a Sith and that meant this could be a potential rival for knowledge. Although he did not have direct line of sight, Daxton would have to take him out now least he post complications later on.

Switching his weapon to semi automatic mode, he fired right handed a scattering of shots meant to keep his opponent ducked under cover than any other serious threat. With his left hand outstretched, fingers curled in concentration, he reached out to the Force and sought out high tension caobles in the nearby area which supplied the area with electricity. Once he locates then he would launch them like whips to wrap his enemy's limbs and torso before delivering a very nasty electric shock.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

The others were getting restless.

This did not surprise her at the least- nerves were frayed to the very edge, flight or fight kicking in and making them doubt their very instincts. In between those two reactions they did the only thing they could do while their boss was still alive and guiding them; goofing off and playing jokes.

Boasting about how they were the next big thing rolling into Teta and that nobody would stop 'em.

Tegan stayed quiet. Her high was leveling out and the soft churning burn at the back of stomach was eating away at the pitch-black pit within.

"Naw." She did have slicing skills, some, but it was more handy for jury-rigging droids and bypassing safety protocols on ships that didn't belong to her. Besides, from experience it would be better if she didn't seem too competent, that would only arise suspicion around these circles.

The competent ones were threats.

With a sizzle the door's security fried under the pressure of the EMP, followed by Kael's generous usage of his... exotic weaponry- she made sure to make the same awed expressions as the rest of the gang.

It wasn't every day you saw a San-Ni staff in action, after all.

Her rifle was at ready as the rest of the crew filled into the warehouse-turned-compound, at least until she saw a flickering at the corner of her eyes. Tegan knew the drill - she didn't tip off her knowledge by making any sudden movements, but that didn't prevent her from tapping the Sullustan's shoulder.

"Got two following us over the roofs- not engaged yet." Katarn made sure to come in closer, almost as if she was sharing something with the Sullustan but in the meanwhile she mumbled it over to Kael.

 

[Kael Rose]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Kael heard from what seemed to be the edge of his hearing that they were being followed. Two on the roof. If they let them get into the warehouse it meant they were scouts, not killers. Probably comming times, numbers, who looked most dangerous, and so on and so forth. Meant an ambush later.

"Everybody quiet, they'll be waiting for us." Kael said in a hushed town, and the crew to their credit listened. Veronica managed to get people's attention like that most days. He didn't want to use her like that, but anything else would have caused a lot more noise. He only wanted his crew's attention after all. "Fizz, can I get a detonator?" He asked, and the sullustan rummaged through his bag once more, before giving him a grenade. He stashed it in his inside jacket pocket, oppositve Veronica.

The warehouse entrance they had came through was the storage room, lots and lots of barrels. One of the guys pulled out a knife and tried to cut into it, but stopped when he heard the click of Kael's revolver. He didn't have time to play. Continuing down the 'hallway' of sorts they came up to a large four-way intersection. This was probably the place. Kael held up his hand to signal a stop and then motioned Sandy up. There had to be someone waiting somewhere, he just needed to spot them . . . .

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

The barrel of her rifle was lowered now. Tight corridors as they walked in and she wasn't familiar enough with the gun, yet, to know for sure how it handled - last thing she wanted was to accidentally shoot one of theirs. Something told her that friendly fire would probably get her payment cut, at best.

Boxes, barrels all around, one of 'em moved to take a cut and see what was in it, but Rose kept the discipline on.

Good show. It surprised her, though. Most crews these days were a mess- it was either strictly organized and controlled like the Exchange or a nasty bunch of idiots rolling around, killing everything, like the Ties.

Almost no middle-ground between the two.

They approached the intersection - four shadowy paths, difficult to disconcern what was happening furth--- a plasma bolt suddenly lit up the darkness.

"DOWN." Instinctively she yanked at the Sullustan's shoulder and got down herself, while also trying to haphazardly get her rifle up to return fire.

Perfect ambush with no places to hide behind. It was either go back or go forward into the blaster fire.

 

[Kael Rose]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

The Lorrdian's command was quick, loud, and welcome. The crew headed down as hot plasma flew over their heads, Kael taking a moment to stand before chucking towards the direction of the fire, and a bit lower. Predictably the barrels weren't full of alcohol, more scenery reminiscent of a prohibition-era Cinnagar crime scene. Feyra didn't seem to want explosive and expensive product at his doorstep. It was however, attached the walkway above where the ambusher shot from. Splinterous shrapnel veered in all directions while the walkway crumbled down, leading to a pretty good sized fall for the local mobster.

Of course that wasn't the only place they had people waiting. More plasma bolts came from all directions as Kael backpedaled and raised Sandy and fired a couple shots at the sources of the fire, and where he felt lead to go. His crew did the same, laying out some fire. They were at a disadvantage though, they were reacting to where the locals shot from. Kael hadn't seen anybody yet, though he heard a scream or two. A couple hits had been made.

"Fizz, you got any more flashbangs?" He asked, hoping to blind them. It might work, might not, but either way it would give enough light to line up a couple shots.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

"What, you think I'm a walk-in armory?" Fizz hissed out - voice just slightly pitched higher than normally, as he tried to stay as low as possible while returning fire.

"That was my last one."

The Sullustan grinned as a cry sounded in the shadows when one of his bolts hit home. This wasn't gonna work for long though, they were on enemy ground right now - they could push forward, but they more than likely they would be annihilated, going back... possible, but the roof-huggers could still be out there.

"Boss, I got this." The Lorrdian managed out in between shots. She offered a 'nade, green exterior with some warning symbols grafted into the metal. Gas grenade- she silently picked it up from the Bith and had been aiming at selling it at a later point.

But this seemed more urgent.

"Could draw 'em out or push 'em further into the tunnels, so we can move in?" Tegan pressed herself closer to the ground as one of the bolts almost burned through her hair. It only hit the wall behind them, it was being hammered with stone shrapnel cutting at them from all corners.

 

[Kael Rose]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Feth. He knew his grenade guy only had so many grenades, but he hoped he could've lasted a little longer. At least his aim was improving. A scream came from behind him. He'd lost another. Feth feth feth.

"Boss, I got this." The Lorrdian handed Kael a grenade, gas by the looks of it. A couple moments thought and he realized he had no idea what kind of gas it was. Feth.

"I like our chances better inside." Kael replied. Better to fight the devil he knew. Pulling the pin he hurled the grenade to the group at their right, he'd seen five diffeent bolts come out of it. A thick yellow gas erupted, leading to a series of screens Kael would prefer not remember. They were dying, and painfully. His face soured but his arm went to the left side, letting Sandy fire out another two shots. Two shots left, three mobsters by his estimate. A bolt responded in kind, putting a burn right below his shoulder. He wanted to curse, but he wasn't dead.

At least not yet anyways.

 

[Zef Halo]

The temptation of the dark side of the Force.

It called.

It beckoned.
It caressed your whole existence with the promise of power. The promise to satisfy your hunger, the hunger for anything.

It promised you everything.

His situation worsened by the minute as scatter shots sprayed above his head, along with that the temptation to tap into the Force grew substantially. It was eating him from the inside. Something near him began moving but he had already decided on taking the initiative from the opponent.

Dagon yielded to the dark side of the Force.

The Zambrano's hands tightened and he frowned as he focused upon the metal container that guarded him with all his strength. His mind shifted along any debris around him and with a gasp he let it all flying quickly at where the source of the fire was supposed to be. Behind the metal container that was now a dangerous projectile and the debris that flew with high speed at the source came Dagon with a burst of speed. Should he be able to reach the target, he would attempt an upward diagonal slash at the hooded figure.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

Screams filled her ears, but the blaster fire droned it out for now.

Her focus was completely at the here and now - later... when this was all over, there would be enough time to reflect on choices made, sob in her pillow and dislike herself for picking up that 'nade in the first place. But now there was a battle to win, her own ass to save and preferably also pull Rose's ass through it all.

She wouldn't get paid otherwise.

They kept firing, a few of theirs dropped, but more of theirs did. It was basic morale, the screams of their friends had already frayed it to a thin edge and then more and more of theirs dropped.

Tegan found herself pressing the advantage.

"Now or never, guys." She hissed out, before pushing herself off the wall and towards the danger.... or so Katarn thought. But instead she was met with the mellow pained voices of the dying and wounded, and no blaster bolts to look forward to.

"We gotta press the advantage, boss, but be careful for any more traps set out."

Can't get overconfident.

 

[Kermon]

"I'm going to patrol the grounds" Midnight said to the guard next to him. "But, we're not supposed to leave our post Pauk." The guard responded. "Look, man I have a really bad feeling. I'll be back in an hour tops." Midnight lied. He "patrolled" the halls looking for a room that looked like it had treasure in it. He entered the room which was one of the nobles' bedrooms. He started by rummaging through the nightstand and found some trinkets and the noble's wallet. Midnight had just grabbed the wallet when he heard the sounds of footsteps outside the door. Panicked he dashed into the closet and hid in a pile of clothes. A few moments later he could tell that at least two people had entered the room.

 

[Kael Rose]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

The screams and cries of one's friends was a powerful things. For some it was a motivator, but that usually came later. In the immediate most knew only a couple responses. Horror and fear. The focus and aim of the enemy deteriorated as they realized the unconventional death and suffering of their fellows. The Lorrdian pressed at their hesitation, challenged their lack of confidence, and she wasn't the only one. Kael found himself walking forward, lining up better shots. Fizz and the others advanced slowly, giving each other cover as they crept into position. Within a couple minutes they had surrounded what remained of the locals. Hands went up and guns dropped to the ground. Kael waved one his men over to pick up the weapons as he kept Sandy trained on 'em.

"Feyra. Where?" Kael asked, and one of the Tetans began to speak before his fellow elbowed him in the gut.

"Don't tell this little chit nothin. He'll just kill us when once he has what he needs." The Gran spoke.

"Calm down triclops, we're not the Black Ties." Kael replied. "Just tell me where the boss is." The Gran looked at him, then shrugged.

"Left hallway. Three doors down on the right." The Gran stomached.

"What's he got protecting him?" Kael asked.

"He always keeps two TA-1's and a Houk with him. I don't know what else, day to day stuff right?" He said with a gulp. "Right?" Kael frowned.

"You believe him Tegan?" Kael turned to the Lorrdian and asked her opinion. Might earn her some disdain from the 'regulars' but he had a few suspicions he wanted to confirm.

 

[Daxton Bane]

[member="Dagon Zambrano"]

The primal plume of dark side energy was like watching a rare blossom unfold before his eyes, he could almost taste the sweet nectar of rage his opponent was tapping into. When the flying projectile came his way, he wasn't worried one bit since had already tapped into the Force.

With a mighty kick of his boot he sent the garbage bin into a direct collision with the incoming missile, showering the area with debris, stinking garbage, maggots and metal shards everywhere. As his enemy closed the gap, he released the carbine and drew his alchemical blade in his right hand and double bladed force pike in his left. Igniting the weapon, crimson and azure blades cried out for flesh to strike as he prepared to take the charge.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

Her eyebrow rose a fraction.

It wasn't usual that the newcomer was asked for her opinion, regardless of competence displayed or feats accomplished on the first job, especially when it was a contractor. But here they were and Tegan wasn't sure what to think of it- around her she could see the sudden attention garnered by the unusual request.

Negative attention, mostly.

"Let me see." Katarn made a few steps forward and crouched before the Gran. Her hazel eyes studied the features of the alien for a moment or two, before shaking her head. "Not this one."

She rose up and took up a relaxed position to the guy two heads left from the Gran. A humanoid this time, Kiffar, it seemed and that would have to do.

"This one." She amended, before focusing on him.

Most sentients did not fully understand what kinetic communication really was. They assumed it was some kind of magic trick, the ones who were familiar with the Jedi figured it had something to do with the Force, but it was neither. There wasn't anything truly mystical about it.

She just crouched there, staring at the Kiffar -- who was getting a bit anxious, a bit shifty and nervous around the attention -- the Gran scowled hard.

"The kark she doing? I already told you all I know!"

Tegan ignored him, if Kael wanted to shut him up, he would on his own time.

Ah, there it was. That creeping twitch at the edge of one's eye that suggested the coming of a breaking point of sorts. That's where you latched onto in a situation such as this one.

"Is he speaking the truth, dreadlocks?" The Lorrdian suddenly demanded and then looked at the signs.

"W-what? Yes, definitely, of course!"

Tegan snorted.

"He's lying, so the other one is too probably."

 

[Kael Rose]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

A grin surfaced on Kael's face. She was good.

"Tsk tsk tsk. I like you Triclops. You're smart, smart enough to surrender. Smart enough to to talk. Whether it's fear or leadership these people around you shut up when you talk." Kael let out a deep sigh. "But I'm a businessman. And I need to be able to trust my clients. Scrag!" At the mention of his name the Aqualish fired his blaster, hot plasma coming to the Gran's kneecap. The higher-ups had wanted to keep the gang as intact as possible, better integration with more hands, but Kael couldn't let this slide. He was either worth enough to Feyra for some cybernetics or he wasn't, in which case he wasn't worth anything to the Hutt.

"Frak you!" The Gran yelled as he went to the ground, his leg only barely still together.

"Yeah, shut up." Kael said, and pointed his revolver at the Kiffar. "You are lucky." Kael pulled back the hammer on his revolver. "You have been promoted to ambass-" Kael didn't finish before the kid started spilling.

"There two TA's on either side of his desk. No Houk. But he has two Defel hide in the corners closest to the door." His voice was quick, almost tripping on himself. New probably.

"Anything else I should know about, password or traps or chit?" Kael asked.

"No, nothin." He said, and Kael gave him a skeptical look. "There's nothin, we're supposed to guard the door. He doesn't keep a passcode because he likes lettin the broads come to 'im." That was a little better.

"Knock 'em out." Kael said, and a couple blows to the head later the four were on the floor and out cold. Kael did a double check to make sure he didn't have any faking unconsciousness then started to head over to Feyra's room, but not before giving the Lorrdian a glance.

"Nice work."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

It wasn't an infallible and she knew people who were much better at this than she was.

But this wasn't another Lorrdian -- who had made an art out of tipping off as little as possible of their emotions and true feelings -- or some ancient Sith Lord, completely in control over their involuntary facial twitches. No, this was just a scared young idiot, who thought that buying an over-sized gun and having a big ego would be enough to make it far in this business.

She looked on impassively as they were knocked out, before turning to Kael.

"He ain't lying this time 'round." Then she nodded in acceptance of the compliment. They weren't out of the limelight yet, though. The next challenge had two sides to it.

They had to neutralize his defenses without actually killing him.

Would be a tricky one.

"He will be waiting for us." The message behind that was clear: the first one on point was gonna get shot, unless they were careful about it.

 

[Zef Halo]

[member="Daxton Bane"]

The Zambrano's ferocious charge was met with the colorful edge of a pike and steel blade that resisted the red lightsaber. The force engulfed him and his desire to overcome this obstacle strengthened his connected to the ethereal. As the weapons clashed in a fearsome show of colorful sparks flying, Dagon retracted back and crouched down in an attempt to slice at the man's legs. His athleticism was something that the black-haired man always utilized in combat.

 

[Kael Rose]

[member="Tegan Katarn"]

Two droids. Two Defel. One door. And One Bothan that had to be kept alive in the firefight. Kael thought on it as he went down the hallway, tapping the walls as he did so. Duraplast, too thick to blast through conventionally. His crew didn't have any armor-piercing rounds or disruptors, and even if they did any hope of civil discussion went out the viewport once a disruptor was fired.

"Everybody remember the Bothan stays alive." Kael reminded itchy trigger fingers, and they knew the drill. First to shoot the bothan got paid in plasma. They were out of nades, none of his crew had the know-how for exotic breaching procedures, and Kael wasn't quite as strong as he used to be, Forcefully speaking. If he was a bit more practiced perhaps he could feel where the droids were in the room and line up some shots before the door opened, but he only felt a shimmer of where the Defel were beyond the wall. Feth, this was gonna suck.

"I need a volunteer to kick in the door, before someone gets voluntold to kick in the door." Kael said, and there was almost an audible groan.

"Chit, I'll do it." Vertam chipped. Gotal, but a large one. Should be able to kick it open in one go.

"Alright you kick it down and then you drop back, let us shoot some things. The droids probably have eyes on the door but the Defel are probably going to wait for an opening to charge and shiv us.." Kael instructed as they got closer to Feyra's hiding spot. He didn't know for sure, but he'd been around the block a few times. Knew that there was little point in a stealth soldier that shot a blaster, as well lit as they were. He supposed they could have had a silenced slugthrower, but he preferred not to think about that possibility.

Getting to the door he silently pointed to members of his crew, then the spots he wanted them to wait at. Kael and Tegan had the best firing angles into the door, but also least natural cover. The crew might have thought it was hazing, but he figured the Lorrdian had the best shot at spotting one of the Defel besides him. Not that Lorrdian body language recognition really translated to seeing light-bending beings, it was just a hunch. And if his time as Teepo had taught him anything it was to go with his hunches. Shooting Vertam the Gotal a look he waved his hands and signaled him to kick down the door. It flew open with a swoosh, and then the plasma flew.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kael Rose"]

She took point left from the Gotal.

Her breaths became more steady as she centered her focus and ignored the chemical thrill for just this one moment. Lorrdian Kinetic Communication would do little to nothing in this particular situation, but she was trained, initiated and knew how to handle what was to come.

A Defel was invisible under normal light for all intents and purposes. It took an infrared visor to properly have them flash up in every color of the rainbow, but nobody among them had one.

Otherwise they probably would have brought that up.

That's the thing about invisibility, though, it didn't mean kark if you were trying to off a forcer who was actively looking out for it. The moment the door was kicked open, the moment the plasma blasts started whirring through the open space and exchanged between parties, Tegan started firing.

Her open lane gave her a good shot at one of the T1s, right of the desk from her perspective. In the meantime the others kept the pressure up.

She could see Kael focusing and scanning for his target-- there. It was just a shimmer, then a squeeze from her trigger. A loud, canine whine screeched up in reply to the scorching smoke rising from burned pelt.

Then.

A sudden heavy weight crashed into her and send her flying at the wall behind her. This was gonna hurt, was her thought before impact.