Hammer and Anvil - SJO Dominion of Kintan Hex

[Masaru Varga]

The mercenary did as he was instructed, moving between the vehicles so that he wasn't stuck in one area. While moving up, he saw an injured Ranger who wasn't moving too much for Masaru's liking. The mercenary quickly ran to his side and checked to see what kind of state he was in.

"Can you move?"

They were in a bad spot, so Masaru wasn't going to stay here and give the cultists free shots. The Ranger nodded in response, leading him to put one of the Rangers arms around him and helping the soldier up. They would move quickly towards the group, doing his best to avoid shots and prevent any from hitting the Ranger he was helping.

When they made it behind cover with another group, Masaru carefully put the Ranger down and motioned for someone to tend to his injuries as quickly as they could. As this was going on, Masaru heard a loud discharge and saw a cultist thrown from his cover. He smiled as he saw the cultist fling across the area, glad to see that they had someone on their side had some heavy duty weaponry to take care of these cultists. The Mercenary then moved towards the commander and his forces, arriving in time to hear the plan that he had came up with. He decided to chime in when the transmission went out.

"I can be one of the shooters that go up to the ridge and take the attention away from everyone else. From my experience, suicide missions are what i'm best at."

There was a small amount of humor in his words, masking the feeling of danger that the mercenary was in. If he wasn't wearing a helmet, his comrades would have seen a slight smile on his face. In reality, Masaru saw the danger of trying to make it to the ridge, but doing things like this wasn't new to him. The only question was would he survive this time around?

[member="Valkren Calderon"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Dusaro Dresari"] [member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Celeste Rigel]

Objective: One/Byoo
Location: Outskirts of Khel’rath Forest
OOC Note: NPCing Lila Arrel, a member of the Silver Circle

Lila glanced over her shoulder, eyes focused on the white medical tent in the distance. It was but a small point on the horizon, but it was growing closer. The Mirialan healer was returning from the field with injured, an unfortunate new batch of soldiers. She was fortunate to have the company of medics, able to use their swift thinking to keep some of their patients stable while they traveled. And the others, Lila held onto with the force – even now, her presence wrapped two of them.

Her black cloak was tattered, there was dirt upon the hem... and blood.

The healer's normally composed features were tense. They had passed the most dangerous points earlier during their escape, but she feared they were not out of the woods yet. The members of the Silver Circle, save for Vash, were not known for their battle prowess. However, Lila was one of them that could hold her own, and she had been forced to defend her patients.

Saber hilt clutched in her hand, she continued to walk, leading the group towards their destination. In the background, there were sounds of battle – an ever present reminder of their duty here on Kintan.

“Not far,” She said, glancing to her companions.

They were all showing signs of fatigue. Lila drew a breath, and with her exhale, she gave them a small burst of revitalizing energy. It was not much, but she hoped it would help speed them to tents.

 

[Dusaro Dresari]

Objective - One, break the enemies surround on Enemy Forces

Location - Kintan, Khel'rath Forest, Command Vehicle

There was a saying that he had heard often when he was a merc. 'It can always get worse', that kind of thought or feeling usually followed with exactly that, the situation deteriorating. Historically it was a good indicator and in this case it as well. Comms Officer Jennings had managed to gain contact with Hammer One, or at least one of their units. The line was still riddled with static and random cuts, but Dusaro heard enough to get the important bits. They were surrounded and the enemy had Anti-Tank capabilities and from the tone of the radio operators voice they had scored a few hits already. "Hammer One hold your ground, get your co-ordinates and call for fire, you have priority for mortars. Hold out, we are coming." Duasro did not hear the vehicle behind the one Corporal Bowers was in, but he did see that the message had only partially gone through thanks to interference of some kind. What parts and how much got through, Dusaro did not know. Turning away from the primary comms station he looked across. "Do we have that triangulation yet!" He shouted to be heard over the very loud buzz of activity in the room.

"Negative Sir, just a direction, north bearing... Three, Two, One, distance unknown." Dusaro could only grit his teeth in annoyance at their lack of information. A vague direction of 'somewhere that way' was the best they had. What made it worse was that with this, the Cultist would know exactly where they were going to attack to try and link up as soon as possible with Hammer One. It wasn't like they could just change direction in the middle of their assault, that would leave them far too vulnerable and loose them the initiative. It wasn't a blow they could take. Ironically enough, their one saving grace was Hammer One. The enemy had to dedicate forces to containing, encircling and wiping them out. If they didn't they left themselves vulnerable to being flanked. If Hammer One could hold out long enough for them to link up, they could win this reliably. The enemy had not dedicated any small amount of forces to this strategy of theirs, it was going to be taxing them to their limit as well for sure and that was not a wild guess or hopeful speculation. Their Recon teams that went in weeks prior had investigated such, the cultists were spreading themselves in to do such a defense in depth. 'Its still far from a decided battle...' Dusaro thought as he looked at the holomap of the forest, which now included an arrow pointing in the general direction of Hammer One.

"Right, Jennings keep doing your best to co-ordinate any call for fire missions for Hammer One as well as locating them. Double check all grid references and try to get good landmarks, the last thing we need is to drop mortars on our own people." Shifting over to another set of Comms Officer Dusaro smoothly continued while Jennings attempted to contact Hammer one. "Hammer Two and Three continue pushing forward, shift the line of advance to match up with Hammer One's suspected location, bearing three two one. For now Hammer Two and Three will have to go without indirect fire support from the Mortars and the rest of our artillery units, we can't risk nailing our own people when we can't confirm their location." The other two Officers in charge of communications to Hammer Two and Three would begin giving out the new orders and situation, what little they had at least. Not much changed in the overall battle plan or tactics but they now had much less time to make the push and break the enemies defense.

Jenkins meanwhile continued to attempt contact with Hammer One, but could not seem to get through. The Officer was not even sure their earlier radio message about the mortars and request for their co-ordinates had gotten through clearly and he was certainly not picking up anything on their end back in return.

[member="Masaru Varga"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Valkren Calderon"] [member="Willa Isard"]

 

[WelshPsych]

The smell of burnt flesh filled Yuroic's nose. It once repulsed him but he had seen enough death and severe injuries on patients that being grossed out by things had passed. He needed to become desensitived to the stuff if he wanted to avoid worrying or offending his patients. Once he had finished wrapping a bandage over the stump, he watched the patient sleep for a moment. He was peaceful for now, it was almost nice to see, Yuroic had knocked him out before removing the arm, he didn't want the patient traumatised by having to watch his limb removed.

Stepping away, Yuroic examined the room and searched for the patient in most need. He stepped over and saw a patient clutching her head in pain. "Hello, I'm Yuroic and a healer." His voice gentle and reassuring. "What is the matter?" He couldn't see any major injuries but anything that hit her head could have severe repercussions to her brain, so he needed to know where to help.

"They're still out there. The bad men. They kill us all. Need to go, can't stay can't stay. Can't stay!" Her voice was panicked and there was muttering under her breath. Yuroic paused and took a deep breath. It seemed that she was experiencing a breakdown, normal for situations they were in but he needed to calm her. Putting her to sleep was easy, he needed to reassure her. His aura became calmer and directed mkre at her.

"Listen to me. We're safe in here. They can't get you here. I need you to stay calm." His voice soothing in tone as he didn't touch her, but remained close.

"No! Not safe not safe." She paused then looked at Yuroic in the eye. "Youu... You're one of them. You come to kill me! Please, please, I'm sorry!"

This was going to be harder than Yuroic had predicted.

 

[Gir Quee]

Location: Kintan - somewhere in Khel'rath forest​

Objective: Link up with other Silver Jedi Forces​

Assets: elements of the 1st Directorate Rangers Regiment - "The Survivors of Eryn III​

​

Spoiler

His helmet crackled with the low baritone of their advance scout.

"Hold, possible hostiles at ten o'clock."

The rangers around him slowly took up prone positions, and in the process seemed to melt into the forest floor as their Neti Field Cloaks blended them into the environment. He tongue-toggled the settings on his HUD, switching to thermal imaging. The immediate area around them seemed relatively cold, but nearly a kilometer away was filled with vibrant and frequently changing color patterns. Gir guessed that's where the Radama Raiders were entangled in fierce fighting. That caused the man's stomach to contort somewhat. He always felt better in space with a solid metal deck underneath his feet and powerful energy shields surrounding him, but that personal preference was offset by the knowledge that some things could only be learned on the ground. He felt the urge to wipe a bead of sweat running down his face. Gir fought to ignore the sensation as he looked for the possible hostiles.

A pair of hazy visages slowly coalesced on his HUD, but just as soon as he he spotted them they disappeared. The admiral frowned. Some kind of personal cloaking devices? A sudden wave of relief swept through him as he realized that his vision was only being briefly obscured by the local vegetation. They were moving on a predictable path. He glanced at the side of his HUD read-out. Nearly 300 meters out, too far for me to shoot, but not them.

"Crestwave, what do you want us to do with them?" asked Sergeant Matec.

"I'm just an observer today," murmured Admiral Quee, "I'll defer to your judgement. You've been through more of these situations than I."

That was probably an understatement. The men were known as "the survivors" for a reason. Matec had been of the few who had managed to survive the fetid jungles of Eryn III. Rank meant little to Gir when it came down that sort professional ability, and he was loathe to act in any way that might suggest that he wasn't supporting that meritocracy within his forces. Matec's voice slowly dripped through the comm.

"Mag-rifle single shots only. One and two, take the right target. Three and Four, the left target on my count of three. Three...Two...One."

The first fire team fired their Stormfire Repeaters simultaneously. Four mag-pellets zipped across through the branches before plunging through the cultist's torsos. The two men briefly convulsed before crumpling onto the ground. Gir blinked. I guess if one of them missed, there still wouldn't be chance for a survivor to raise an alarm. Maybe a waste of a shot, but better than safe than sorry. Matec silently signaled the squad to press forward towards the battlefield. Maybe I'll have a chance to briefly comb through their bodies to gather some better intel. As Gir mulled over that thought, the squad diffusely spread out and crept through the foliage, ever steadily approaching the thick of the fighting. The Directorate rangers neared the bodies, and Gir became aware that the both of the cultists still had their rifles casually slung over their backs. They weren't expecting to fight, we're either in their rear lines or these guys are unbelievably sloppy. Matec already was crouching down and searching the men. Gir kneeled next to him to help sort out of the men's belongings. So far, the packs of death sticks, half-filled canteens, and a single data-pad filled with some popular video-games hadn't told him much about the enemy cause, except that these men were likely lower-ranking footsoldiers. Matec suddenly stopped as he carefully inspected a metallic cylinder he had found in one of he man's pockets. Gir hadn't seen anything quite like it before realization dawned on him. It's a comlink of some sort...The sergeant turned towards Gir.

"We're going to have some fun with this, if I can figure out its controls..."

[member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Tom Taff"] | [member="Willa Isard"] | [member="Dusaro Dresari"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Masaru Varga"] | [member="Caelag Vass"]

 

[Willa Isard]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WZ7fVuB4V4​

Objective: Punch a hole

THe drop from the RAC was more easy going then she thought as the guardian unit hovered. they gleamed in the light with energy from the feet and wrist repulsors as the drop pod deployed. A siege carrier moving forward slowly, super heavy vehicle was an understatement as it had a platform open for the group to get on and Willa stood at the head seeing in front of it the tripod of the siege breaker. Two kilometers of massive power and weapons able to repel and get through as she removed the sniper rifle from her shoulder setting it up. The hell fire cannon was massive, easily her size and a little taller with the barrel.

THe thick and heavy explosive slug within it accelerated when fired quicker then most knew. FIring off through heavy magnetic accelerators like a shatter gun. The high explosive shell going off from the angle five hundred meters above the ground as she was prone on the ground. THe shot thundered as an explosion ripped through several of them. She was looking and focusing on the second shell as it was loaded ina nd felt the force around herself.... her muscles and her eyes gleamed with that inner fire itself. Se felt the slug as it fired and was guiding it towards a second target while expanding her senses outward as the impact and explosion came with the vahla focusing on the flames themselves and manipulating them into a massive plume that snaked and weave curling around different enemies and trapping them before making them fall screaming and receding but not before ensuring they couoldn't get back up.

 

[Sera Inkari]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COZKdJ4nH3s
Waking Walk.​

Long After this
Post: #1
Kintan
Deserts of Zan
Cult of Serenity Main Temple

Sera approached her old temple. Was she alone? What was her intent? Did she even know herself. Kintan’s priestess in her time alone with Syn had regained a measure of humanity. A small sense that she wasn’t the force, but a real person with a real life. Not a Jedi yet, but not a leaf in the wind either. He’d given her that spark, set against embers of her past, and part of her loved him for it.

So as she approached that past head on, in this the hottest of those embers. That gnawing inside her gut of the horrors she’d gladly wrought with the one Sith was there at its strongest. The desert temple was still active, still had plenty of her order there, the cult of serenity was not the one Sith but they were still a cult for all their intentions to cultivate oneness. They cultivated a separation of everything you were to become the force, death before your time and the death of her childhood to its embrace. Her farsight threatened to consume her as she walked, just to escape her past.

Her thick amber robes, which outshone the deserts own fire were almost scolding her. Like they burned at her insides, reminding her of how much she'd changed, that even her robes were now too thick for the harshness of this place. She’d constructed a new Saber under Syn’s guidance, and that was fastened to her hip unmovable, a reminder she hadn’t been alone to get this far. But worryingly since her absence whatever void she’d happened upon, whatever of Keth still lingered inside of her bones held some influence, she saw it as pollution but she knew Syn saw it as what gave her character, depth. She had again extended the weapon to be a reckless saberstaff, and revisiting her history, would all his teaching unravel when she saw their faces? When she saw the faces that had denied her a childhood, and granted her nothing but empty promises.

If only she'd been with him for longer, if only the attack hadn't separated them, maybe she would have learned enough. There was anger. Fear. There was also his words and wisdom. As she made that first step upward, it might lead her crashing down, but she would remember his lessons. Her hand drifted outwards across the desert air that surrounded this place, getting a feel for the temperature, her throat dry just as she always remembered.

Then there was voice ahead calling her name. Bitter, cold, like always, her palm tensed and she breathed out into the force, like she might lose herself to it again. Beginning to say ritual prayer before taking breaths, giving her sanctity from the air itself.

"Will you resist them?" Both Sera and the speaker asked the exact same question, only for Sera her voice was tense, almost fragile because she knew what they would ask, she'd seen this a thousand times as she walked back up these steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ouh4Dhk8g8
or Sleeping Fall​

 

[Cassius Droma]

​

​

Objective: One – Provide Air Support
Location: Kintan – Over Khel’rath Forest

Word had eventually gotten to friendly forces that a number of their units were pinned down, although the exact details were unclear. Nearby fighters were scrambled, but a major problem presented itself in equipment that one wouldn’t think cultists to have: anti-air. Hidden encampments had a number of point-defense laser cannons and concussion missile launchers that soon proved to be too much for the small squad of unsuspecting fighters.

Only two A-wings managed to get through.

Screaming overhead, the two interceptors with green markings wove their way to where they believed their friendly forces were held up. They skimmed just above the tree line, hoping that they wouldn’t be locked on. The lead, flown by Cassius Droma, banked right before pulling up and gaining altitude. Come on… where are you… the pilot thought to himself, his eyes scanning the thick green foliage. As if on cue, his sensor readings started to go off, and his eyes snapped to where a missile was coming from.

“Gotcha,” he hissed through gritted teeth. Locking on target, Cassius gunned the accelerator to its limit. After spinning out of the way of the anti-air missile, he fired a concussion and a barrage of red laser fire. The ground around the anti-air encampment erupted in flame, and Cassius streaked overhead with the fireball just barely licking the underside of his hull. Cassius let out a small yelp as he passed, not letting up on the accelerator. Traveling this fast was one of the only ways to not get locked on to, and it was certainly a rush.

His communicator was consistently sending out an encoded message to any friendly forces in the hope that someone would eventually pick up, and his sensors were constantly scanning for friendly transponders. Eventually he’d be able to lock down on the positions he needed to target, but for now, he kept trying to draw out enemy fire so he could locate the encampments and destroy them. The hope was that eventually they could get a clear path to their guys on the ground so they could get fast transports in.

“How’re you doing over there, Nugget?” Cassius called out to his wingman – or wing-woman, rather – Althea Becket. This was her first combat mission, and if Cassius had known it would be this treacherous, he wouldn’t have volunteered her for what was supposed to be a simple patrol run for the Silver Jedi.

Things change, though.

[member="Althea Becket"] | [member="Dusaro Dresari"] | [member="Gir Quee"] | [member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Willa Isard"] | [member="Tom Taff"] | [member="Celeste Rigel"] | [member="Masaru Varga"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

​

Objective: One - Survive, wait for Silver contact.​

Location: Kintan - Khel'rath Forest - Furthest region.​

Assets: 3rd Infantry, 1st Special Tactics Group​

7-18th Cav group​

Colonel Calderon turned to [member=[/FONT]"Masaru Varga"] after his request to be in the diversion team. There was slight hesitation with Valkren's next decision, but he pushed them aside after giving a curt nod. It was difficult to willingly put someone he didn't know much about in a situation like this, but it seemed like an emergency.

"You're in. Clark, Lowder, Harris. On us. We move to that ridge and draw fire the entire time. We get enough attention and hopefully, the rest of the vehicles can make it out of this mess."


Valkren leaned out of cover, glancing in the direction of the ridge, only to retreat back behind the vehicle due to an encouraging stray blaster bolt. He checked the current power cell in his LPD blaster rifle, before looking back to the rangers around him. The climb/trek toward the ridge would be a disaster if any of the cultists managed to get a shot off on them while they moved. Valkren was banking on the current firefight all around the tanks and APCs to take most of the attention away from them from the start of their short sprint.

"Hammer One-One, you have control of the group. Once you find a proper exit, you get these rangers out of here! Don't worry about us, we'll find a way down." The colonel sent out this transmission to one of the remaining tank officers, before looking over the equipment on his chest rig one last time. Valkren wasn't planning to be caught up there missing some important pieces of equipment.

"Alright, ya'll ready?" He gave the others time to check over their own weapons before they all nodded in agreement.

"Let's get it over with."

"Move!"

"Get in gear, Clark!" Harris spouted out as he jumped out from behind the APC, the barrels of his rotary cannon spinning up as he peppered the treeline and ridge quickly, before following after the others. Valkren was the first in the group, starting with a dead-on sprint in the beginning before sliding to a crouched position behind a fallen tree.

The wood splintered violently as slugs impacted the other side just as he arrived into cover, telling Calderon that the Cultists definitely had their eyes on his squad. He made himself as small as possible as the rounds continued to rip through the bark, his own armor absorbing one of the blaster bolts that made its way through.

"On your right!" Specialist Lowder appeared, shouldering his own Assault ripper overtop the destroyed log. He let out a burst of slugs, before continuing on to the next piece of cover.

Valkren followed after, passing by Lowder and Harris as they found new pieces of cover after another transition. He'd dive into cover, before readjusting his weapon to make the best use of his cover. They had made some distance from the vehicles, but not enough yet. They'd need to find a position higher up to have any chance to actually pull the enemies away from the infantry and vehicles they just left.

"Move, mercenary! I've got you covered!" He'd yell to Varga, before sitting up out of cover to pump a quick burst of bolts into the chest of enemy shooter.

Back in the convoy, the tank crews were doing their jobs to point out targets and relay them to their gunners, attempting to pinpoint any enemy gun positions before they could take another one of their own. Down one Bengal tank and one APC, they had already suffered a nasty loss. Corporal Bowers stumbled out the back of their Tango APC, the shockwave from the previously destroyed apc had the operator in a daze due to his lack of helmet. A ranger from the third Infantry was quick to push him back into the vehicle, narrowly avoiding a lucky-shot from their attackers.

"Get back on the comms, corporal!" The ranger shouted, picking up a spare weapon from within the vehicle and moving back towards the exit.

Bowers pulled himself to his feet, groaning as he moved to the comms system again, before moving quicker after hearing a noise coming from it. Hearing something other than gunfire and explosions, another voice, it was like a saving grace.

"This is Hammer One. We'll continue broadcasting for our location. We've lost two vehicles, down a Bengal! I don't know how long we'll be able to keep them from getting to us!"

//Summary: Valkren takes a squad of rangers to a position just north of Hammer One's vehicles, hoping to pull most of the enemy fire from their trapped team.//


[member="Dusaro Dresari"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Masaru Varga"] | [member="Willa Isard"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Gir Quee"]

 

[Ravenfire]

Objective 1 : Slip through the lines with support and firepower.
Location: With [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] on the ground
Peeps: The Owls and Cats, The Cat - on the ground, The Owl - in orbit
Armament: The Greeter, Noverskaan Wolves, The Taff Vengeance, Mykes' Defender, Luxurious Cloak, G-11 Shield Gauntlet, T-7 Vibro Brace, Taff Necklaces.

Tom sighed looking down the sight again firing another shot as the sniper hit back on his armour again. He pulled back the slot allowing the used ammunition cartage out as he switched to a new one. The rest of his men and women around him still firing. "Maybe he will, Maybe he won't. But for now lets focus on not getting over run by these cultists. Also who in the netherworld gave you the name cotton candy? You should be named pink lightning." He placed the cartridge back in clicking it back into place as he fired again.

"Genesis can you please place the new nickname for asaraa here on file for us and then possibly accidentally make sure it goes everywhere." The AI appeared in his helmet giggling. "Come on you know me I already have as it's so much better than Cotton Candy." Tom rolled his eye as he went to fire again. "But she is right you know. Mykes will find out eventually." Genesis said stepping into his view on his HUD. He fired anyway not hitting his exact target but close enough that several cultists went flying making the rest scatter. "Not the time or place. Take it up with Owl, you can both badger me once I am safe promise."

Tom looked around a bit for any cultist that were out of cover but they had begun learning not to be out of it. Or they were smarter than he was going to give them credit for. Just to be sure he turned to Cat "I am moving to location 2 Alpha just to make sure they aren't circling around us. They might not seem smart to begin with but we are a sitting target this deep in especially since everyone seems to be assisting Hammer One. Just don't wanna risk a chance at all till we are off world again." He then picked up his gear and make the short hike to the next location.

 

[Sera Inkari]

Post: #2
Kintan
Deserts of Zan
Inside the Cult of Serenity Main Temple

The Desert Embrace

Little did Sera know, only feel. Somewhere at this very moment, another she had known was going through his own mirror, only this one didn’t look exactly the same as her.​

​

This was her old mentor, a desert priestess alone and atop the steps. A bit like Keth used to stand above them all, something to climb to and ascend to. An eternal journey because apparently RIGHT NOW wasn’t ever good enough for anyone. She felt that gnawing again, she could swear she could see his spectre right here over the shoulder of the priestess. Maybe it was a presence, maybe it was… Her inner thoughts were interrupted. Her outwardly calm but emotional introspection broken. The priestess ahead called again. “Will you resist them?”​

​

“You know that’s not our way.” Sera said again, “Your way.” She quickly added, her outward composure broken only momentarily.​

​

“So you didn’t forget everything.” The priestess smiled and offered her arms out to embrace her. Sera half expected daggers from her time with the Sith, but they were not there, just the arms of an older lady offering her comfort. Safety however, there was no such thing, the manipulations ahead were much more subtle.​

​

Soft steps draping her robes upward. She returned the gesture and they hugged at the mouth of her old temple. Something was here, something else, but she was lost to the voice of her mentor, “let us return my child, to simpler times.” She whispered in Sera’s ear, taking her arm in hers and walking through the mouth of it.​

​

The winds behind them and the harsher heat faded. Servants ahead fanned them, servants, perhaps or children of the order who did not have the same gifts of farsight, or other abilities that they could use in its service. As soon as they were through the door, it closed, the sandstone tight against the mouth of the temple. Inside there were cushions, comforts ever precious water in the desert, traded like jewels to its enclosed communities and isolated inhabitants. “Sit with us, relax, join our comforts.” The offer Sera knew was not as simple as it sounded, the words join, our, even sitting. The danger was here in the words, not by weapon but by complicity, by surrender to old patterns, and future paths to come intertwined with them.​

​

She took refuge instead by the small fountain, small but opulent here in this place. Drawn to the running water, as it existed here but could yet escape, and flow to where it needed to go next.

"What do you fear Sera?"​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEcvK1KFQow​

 

[Althea Becket]

Objective: One – Provide Air Support
Location: Kintan – Over Khel’rath Forest
Allies: SJO, [member="Cassius Droma"]

“Oh my,” Althea Becket drew in a swift breath. There was A LOT going on, that was for sure. Her focus threatened to split – red lasers cutting through the air, lots and lots of greenery, missiles, and flying fast. “Stay with him, now...” She whispered, a way to keep on track.

On her readout, there was just one blip, Cassius' A-wing. Though she was getting the hang of this fighter pilot stuff, she wasn't as confident as her teacher was. But, Thea did manage to weave through with a certain amount of natural grace (and probably luck, too). What had started as a practice patrol mission had spiraled into something else entirely.

The country girl's heart thumped loudly, so hard that she swore she could hear it in her headset. She watched as Jade Leader's craft banked to the right, and Thea spun right as well. Her eyes went wide, scanners detected something. “Erm, ahhh...” Thea's hands fumbled for a moment. But, the beeping soon went away... the threat taken care of by Cassius. And, just on cue... his voice came over the comm, checking in.

“I'm still alive,” She replied, “So that's good, right?” A nervous chuckle.

For her first mission, she had one objective: don't die! Don't get hit and don't crash, it was easier said than done.

“The others should be pretty close, shouldn't they?” She asked, her own eyes looking out over the forest landscape of Kintan.

 

[Masaru Varga]

Masaru was the last to move up, covering the rangers as they moved to the next bit of cover. The mercenary couldn't take off all the attention off them but did what he could to put as many of those cultists as he could in the ground. He fired off his rifle rounds, focusing on the cultists that were shooting at Valkren and his force. This was no easy task however, having to quickly duck his head back into cover whenever there were shots coming his way. He had come close to dropping dead on the battlefield, taking risks to take down one or two enemies.

Masaru moved up as he was called by the commander, sprinting to the cover hat wasn't too far from the small forces moving to the ridge. The mercenary was grazed by two shots as he ran but was mostly able to make it without much problem. Without missing a beat, he brought his rifle up to fire again.

"Alright, I have your back whenever you start moving again!"

[member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Gir Quee"] [member="Valkren Calderon"] [member="Dusaro Dresari"] [member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Kei Amadis]

Location: Somewhere… Out there…
Only with less out and not much there.
Objective: Fun time with Slugs.
Gear: Me, Myself and I.
Post: #3

The ambiguous statement didn’t come down with a bump, because embarrassingly she’d never taken off after the initial recon. There were some colorful insults being hurled around the ship, with a variety of colorful characters giving them. Old men in hats, mute half-giants, a fiery redhead, the head of a fyor droid in pieces and an Echani who well, never said much, but when he did you just knew it would be something not worth listening to.

That last bit was unfair. Kei was just in a bad mood, and trying to exercise some of that Jedi calm he’d read about somewhere, exhaling and letting the moment of frustration pass well into memory. He stood up and brushed the dirt from the floor off his jumper. Civilian clothes today for our grizzled aging Master, if he was to meet a small but influential crime boss, then he better do it without advertising exactly who he was.

“You’re not taking the saber?”

“No I’m not taking the saber.”

“Are you young un's mad???”

A solid grin from the Epicanthix was the only answer, the most recent scars didn’t take away from its assuring nature. “No armor either.”
He hadn’t waited to hear what they all thought of that, descending the Ambiguous’s ramp to kill two birds with one stone. He needed ship parts and he knew exactly who to ask, limping as he was into a spaceport in the middle of nowhere. That middle of nowhere was precisely where he needed to be, you could find a lot in 'nowhere'.

This was Kintan after all, and the site of a rebellion he’d once led, a few lifetimes ago. Time to find an old friend.

 

[WelshPsych]

Yuroic sat with the woman. He remained quiet as she slept, she had become so agitated that he had no option but to put her to sleep so that everyone else could get some much needed rest. However, it didn't mean he had given up. Instead Yuroic was trying to figure out who the woman was. To understand her life and see why she accused him of being someone wanting to attack her. Was it just because he was a Force User and she had become scared of Force Users, a similar thing had happened like this in the past. Just on a larger scale. Sith and Jedi can appear so similar to outsiders. It can be confusing which is which. Yuroic hoped this wasn't the case but with so many different sides of the Force, it was likely more confusing than not.

Searching through the datapad, he couldn't find any information matching the poor woman. He didn't have a name or age, it was hard to find anything bar the fact she was here. He could take the information from her mind but that would be wrong, she clearly didn't trust him and he wanted to gain that trust, not lose it. Yuroic studied his pad more and more, his mind thinking in the background on what to do. How should he move forward, gain her trust? It was difficult to say. For now, he let her sleep, allow her to wake naturally.

 

[Varindar Asyt]

Objective 2: Sneaking in
Allies: @Drystan Makaros [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] [member="Tanaski Yumi"]

Josh and Drystan both kept quiet, so they had no apparent objection as to how they will proceed. But, if she wanted to just buy, say, tensor rifles or maser weapons, in exchange of which there would be electrothermal rifles involved, she will come to expect to pay a security deposit, which will be returned to her, hopefully, on delivery. In fact, common moneylaundering schemes she knew were used on the black market used security deposits. The coordinates indicated by Drystan led to some... import-export business, with a warehouse ostensibly used to hold inventory before the shipments go out (and clearly seemed to be the sort of business that didn't use JIT unless they were servicing a very large number of clients or specialized in voluminous cargo), and she'd better cook up a reason for even having those crates chock-full of electrothermal long guns on hand. In fact, Varindar and the others were asked by the security guard at the entrance about the reasons of their visit. For this operation, she was assuming the identity of Alison Barnard, a black market vendor dealing in both exotic weapons and counterfeit fashion items. The security guard then asked her and her companions about their visit, without directly mentioning the cargo on hand.

"State the reasons of your visit"

"I'm Alison Barnard, I would like to introduce some recently-acquired electrothermal weapons to the Cartel's clients. But I would also like to see what's for sale around here"

 

[Celeste Rigel]

Objective: One/Byoo
Location: Outskirts of Khel’rath Forest
OOC Note: NPCing Lila Arrel and Ilana Marsh, a members of the Silver Circle

The party of wounded reached the medical tents, the burst of energy was waning now. Lila pushed out a sigh, thankful that they had reached their destination with their patients still alive and breathing. Quickly, the medics went to work getting those with minor wounds into the tents for treatment. Lila was left to look after the two most critical, one of which was steadily growing weaker with each passing moment.

“Master Arrel,” Illana Marsh called, approaching the Mirialan healer.

“I shall need your assistance, Knight Marsh, you've come just in time.” Together, the two healers brought the critical cases inside. “This man is fading fast, I will look after him.” Lila said, and then nodded.

While Ilana moved to treat the second soldier, Lila focused on the wounded man on the stretcher. Unfortunately, there wasn't time to move him to a more comfortable bed for treatment. The Mirialan healer had been trying to keep him stable during transit, using the force to keep him as comfortable as she could. But now, she could see that his complexion was gray, his presence slipping.

Working with fast precision, she moved to see to his wounds. His dressings were already soaked through, she could now see that the wounds had been quite too deep to be contained by the bandages that had been placed in the field. Reaching out, Lila drew the force around her, and used it to attempt mending the wounds. If she could close them, perhaps her patient would still have a chance...

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

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Objective: 2
Equipment: Duel Vibro Wakizashi, Sasori Masquer Armor, Sabre, GGT-33
Allies: [member="Drystan Marakos"] [member="Varindar Asyt"] [member="Josh DragonsFlame"]
Post: 3

Time ebbed away and soon it was the moment to get this operation underway, Tana placing his eye mask on and once again donning his old persona, trailing behind Varindar as she took on the role of a weapons merchant. His face expressionless, standing like a statue behind the older women as they made their way towards the entrance to the first warehouse. The garuds question to short and straight to the point, with Varindar replying in her usual monotone voice, not hinting towards and deception or anything really.

While the two conversed Tana's eyes shifted under the glowing purple visor, observing anything of interest around. Nothing seemed to indicate the group had been caught out, or that this place was a cartel hot spot, to most it would probably just come off as a guarded complex by some business owner. Crime lords were certainly getting more sneaky these days, the line between legal and non legal business dealing betting blurred even further by the day.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

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[member="Tanaski Yumi"] didn't seem impressed by his antics, but it was the reaction of [member="Drystan Marakos"] that made it all worth it. The Jedi was grinning from ear to ear at her reaction, seeming satisfied with it. "You gave me far too much of an opportunity, Master Marakos. But I think the practice will be well worth it should it be needed" He remarked calmly, shooting her a sly smile. The fact was, if she wanted someone who could stealth well... Well, he'd just given her one big example as to why she'd chosen well.

Once the group was on the shuttle, the Jedi Master would casually pull out a helmet that he had been concealing. Placing it on his head, the helmet would suddenly turn invisible. His hair would change, as a result. It was short, colored brown. His eyes also seemed to have changed to a vibrant blue instead of it's usual brown. "I call this my Aryn Teth disguise" Josh would joke in turn, referencing his resemblance to the CIS operative. "Easier than cutting my hair everytime."

Seeming find with the "henchman" plan, Josh didn't speak as he allowed for [member="Varindar Asyt"] to take charge. He followed her lead wordlessly, putting on his best "stoic tough guy" expression as he walked behind her. At 6'5, and roughly 245 pounds, Josh had the enforcer look down pat. Brushing the blue shirt covered by a black leather jacket, the Jedi watched as she would be questioned. He was sure she had it handled though, so he didn't speak. It was certainly tempting to resort to a Mind Trick though... Would get things done faster, albeit with a bit of risk.

 

[Kei Amadis]

Location: A bar called Nowhere
In a small town called Sidhe.
Post: #4
Gear: Me, Myself and I
Objective: Whiskey, best served without the chill.

There was an old adage that he’d always stuck to since his soldiering days, never leave a man behind. Even when it puts you at risk and even when that man’s a no good Hutt. So as Amadis pulled up to that bar in civilian clothing, sat on the stool, grinned to the bartender and laid a cred chit down. He knew what was coming, and that was okay. Kei picked up the shot glass of Corellian-whiskey and a gun was in his ribs a second later. “Not here to fight,” the Jedi Master said calmly, taking a steady drink and relaxing.

“Funny.” The gun holder said, searching him over, he found nothing but a piece of paper.

Opening out the note, Kei shook his head, “you might want the boss to see that first.” Amadis finished his drink and asked for another. Still calm, aware of the gun, and the man’s intent. The weapon was steady, there was danger but not recklessness or rash action. The shooter didn’t care for his suggestion and read it anyway, eventually pulling up the gun.

“Follow I suppose.” The rodian waved the gun over, and they both went over for a walk to a booth, in a smoky corner of the bar, which carved into the wall accommodated a smallish hutt, fat but comfortable fitting in the corner of it. All the time a lone musician played a relaxing song to cover their words, and hide them from other patrons ears.

“Plenty of Guns firing, and you come to me unarmed. What do I make of that.” There was someone speaking for the Hutt, who wasn’t saying a word. Kei didn’t seem surprised, and spoke to the Hutt directly, a friendly grin on his face. “Not here for you. If you leave, take your business elsewhere, I’ll vouch for you, get you clear.”

The elderly Hutt wheezed a breath out, like he was having trouble breathing, and speaking for that matter. Oddly this Hutt hadn’t grown large with age but withered away, and for a moment it was sad for Kei to see. So many friends had aged, died or becoming ill like this one, and he visibly leaned in as a result. Three guns were drawn and pointed at his back immediately.

“Doesn’t have to go his way Skorg. You deal in guns, vehicles, they don’t care.” Amadis spoke to the hutt like he’d met him before, in this very way, in a place not too dissimilar to this one, organizing a rebellion which helped the galaxy change very slightly. Those guns didn’t pull up this time, and some large cuffs were being brought over. Kei ignored them. "How are you feeling?" Click. Click. Kei's hands were secured behind his back.

Bar Music:

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oslrrM3_JA

Even a Hutt can do the right thing once in a while​