Private Hand in Hand... in Fist in Face

[Jasper Kai'el]

Hand in Hand... in Fist in Face
Rhigar
Tags: Marissa Shoda

​

Jasper hadn't thought about the Maw in some time now. He was far to focused on relief efforts, delivering aid to those being afflicted by the ensuing crusades. This all changed, however, when activity came up on his radar. It wasn't much, only a small raiding force that had attacked Selvaris from deeper in the unknown regions. A warlord state, clinging onto territory in old Maw territory near Exegol. He reasoned that this was something that he would attend to personally...

But not alone.

"Bastards always had a taste for miserable planets," Jasper noted with a scoff, looking through a pair of binocs.

Marissa was here with him, which was at the very least a comforting presence. They had good synergy, and it had been a while since they had gotten their hands dirty together. In this instance there was less fire and cyborgs, but Mawite raiders and whatever gross Sithspawn lie within had it's own charm. He didn't mind the chilly weather, but the snow was irritating. He perched himself on the hilltop they had set down on in a manner to not get his flight suit wet, assessing a structure below. It was blasted to hell, covered in scarring left behind by turbolaser fire. Still it stood, suggesting that it was only an outer shell for a much deeper structure. That made infiltration far more interesting.

"Their gear is junk," he relayed as he analyzed the guards. "They're running E-5s... they gotta be down on their luck."

Prone to misfire, terrible accuracy... There was a reason there were so many of the model manufactured. They wanted quantity, not quality.

"Ten guards up top," the knight continued. "Shifts are unorganized from what I've gathered. These guys are holding on by a thread. I figure killing the top dog will send them runnin' for the hills."

Jasper would turn to his partner, giving a playful smile. He had always been curious about how she operated in the field covertly, what with all of her modifications and fancy CorpSec training. The knight couldn't help but express a little excitement about going into battle with her, if not to just see her kick some poor soul's teeth in. He wasn't often eager to do work like this otherwise, but he had exceptions.

"Whaddya think, M?" Jasper asked with a grin. "Group tally or are we keeping a personal score?"

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Despite her new profession, the police life always seemed to come back to her. In this situation, it wasn't the bit of helping pedestrians and investigating calls in the middle of the night, it was the hard and brutal part of kicking down doors and clearing out a whole building in record time with surgical precision. Doing it alongside Jasper, though, was going to make it interesting.

If she didn't freeze to death in the snow. A heavy shiver rolled through her as she tucked her thick winter jacket tighter around her. The body armour underneath wasn't the only layer she put on for this mission. "Th-they couldn't have... picked a planet that's... h-hot as hell?" She managed to stammer out as her eyes zoomed in on the activity below. The blown out building was eerie to her. Molten debris, blast marks, total and absolute destruction. This was only a fraction of the power that starships held. Jasper went on to comment on the raiders' gear, yanking Marissa out of her thoughts.

"Don't be so quick to judge their gear." She spoke with a cold voice as she glanced at him. "I've... lost f-friends to... less." She looked back at the raiders below and zoomed her eyes in again. She wasn't on Denon anymore, but there were some things that would never be forgotten.

Her eyes glimmered as she tagged the targets she could see with a blip, helping her keep track of their movements. Jasper wasn't kidding, they weren't exactly an organised cartel. Their movements were sloppy, but unpredictable. Studying the terrain, Marissa pointed out part of the height they were perched on. "W-we can move i-in... along that formation there." She explained. "G-get in closer... to the base."

"Whaddya think, M?"

"Group tally or are we keeping a personal score?"

A grin formed at the challenge he proposed. "Oh please, Jas, li-like you could k-k-keep up with me." She quipped. For this mission, she brought along something more proper than her shotgun. Shouldering her rifle, she connected an ascension cable to the bottom and checked the rest of her gear. It was showtime. She looked at Jasper and gave him a light nudge. "Feels like you're way... too excited... about this." She teased him. "Y-you taking point... or me?" She asked him as she readied her rifle.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Rhigar
Tags: Marissa Shoda

​

"Th-they couldn't have... picked a planet that's... h-hot as hell?"

"Aw, don't worry," Jasper assured in a playful manner. "We'll have plenty of time to warm up afterwards."

The mention of gear would bring him a wave of seriousness. He'd give a more understanding smile, placing a hand on Marissa's shoulder.

"Not underestimation," he said. "Believe me, I've worked with junk all my life. Just noting the technical faults."

He had seen trash do terrible things in his life as well. It was not something to be scoffed at, even if Jasper let his moth move faster than his brain. Perhaps it was just because he was here with her and not someone else. He wasn't usually very talkative during missions. Marissa's cybernetic eyes would fix in on a formation in the terrain, which Jasper made note of. It flowed well into the lower elevation ahead, a good discrete way to get in behind their lines.

"I see it," the knight nodded. "That sounds like a plan to me."

It seemed that they wouldn't be sharing points, a notion which rose a muted snicker out of the Jedi. She was far more competitive than he was, so that really came as no surprise.

"Feels like you're way... too excited... about this." She teased him. "Y-you taking point... or me?"

"I'm just glad you have my back, that's all." Jasper insisted. "I'll take point. We move in quietly and pick them off, make sure they can't raise any alarms. That'll be... interesting with how unorganized they are."

But they were up for the challenge. With no further words of plan needed, Jasper set off first, slowly making his way along the ridge towards the entrance of the Mawite holdout.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Jasper gave a reassurance that he wasn't underestimating their foes, which put Marissa at ease to a degree. He wasn't an idiot and he certainly wasn't some green trooper that just got dumped into the deep end. He knew what he was doing, and that thought alone helped her feel at ease with a mission like this. Having someone to cover the front while she covered the six. A valuable resource to have in close quarters.

Taking point, Jasper moved to the outcropping while Marissa fell in behind him with her rifle at the ready. Where Jasper had his powers to make the descent easier, Marissa grappled down with her ascension cable and crafty use of her cybernetic vision. Secure tips of rock, gaps and ledges to hold onto, anything that could give her an edge to keep up with him. But even that couldn't stop her from slipping and losing grip on the slippery ice and snow.

A clump of ice had her hand slip off and sent her tumbling down an unnervingly high point in their descent. "Jas!" She shouted out as she fell to the rocks below. Her hands stuck out instinctually in some vain hope that it would help, but miraculously she slowed to where her crash into the rocks below was little more than a hefty fall off a ladder. A grunt escaped her as she looked around and at herself to make sure she was fine. To her relief the only issues were a racing heart and a bruised shoulder from how she landed. She quickly gathered her rifle and huddled down to make sure they weren't spotted while she waited for Jasper to catch up.

"You bloody... nova... legend, you." She muttered as she threw her arms around him in gratitude, thankful for what she suspected was most likely his reach with the Force. "Thank the karking omnissiah..." She murmured to herself as she turned her attention back to the facility ahead. At least the fall pretty much cut the travel time in half to get to it. Only a few more ledges and rocks to scale.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Rhigar
Tags: Marissa Shoda

​

Jasper had heard Marrissa start to fall, quietly rushing over to assist. Meraculously though, the former CorpSec officer seemed to take care of herself. It was... almost Jedi like.

"You bloody... nova... legend, you."

"Holy chit," Jasper exhaled, returning her hug. "That... that wasn't me."

He pulled back, holding her shoulders and giving a very conflicted look. It showed an air of excitement, concern, confusion, and a lot of affection. Jasper didn't even know where to begin with trying to break all of that down, but he had to start somewhere. It seemed so obvious the more he thought about it. Force users had a tendancy of attracting eachother.

"You... I think you used the Force," he quietly exclaimed. "Like... y'know, the space wizard Force. Y'know?"

Was he crazy? He had felt it so clearly.

"We... we can figure that out later," Jasper decided. "Let's clear these guys out first."

With that he'd gesture for her to follow, edging closer to the boundaries of the base. There were five individuals present, one in a cluster of two and the other in a cluster of three. Disorganized, not paying attention, and armored in scrap that was on the verge of falling apart, if they had any armor at all that was. There was a clear lack of military training. These were just pirates, here because they through their lot in with the Maw and got stuck afterwards.

"Alright, I'm thinking we hit them hard and fast," the knight explained. "We can sneak over and tag team the two, drag them behind the building, then come back around to get the three."

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Marissa stared at him with confusion when he admitted that it wasn't him that saved her. That it apparently was her. She gave a light shake of her head, unable to believe that was her. "Not a chance... I ain't like you..." She muttered. Neither of them lingered on it, though, as there was still a mission to complete.

Five guards, patrolling the perimeter with seemingly no interest of being on the planet. At Jasper's suggestion of going for the first two, Marissa gave a nod. "Copy that." She muttered, drawing a stunner from one of her pouches. Hunched low, Marissa slipped her rifle onto her shoulder and raised her hands to move in on the two unsuspecting guards. Waiting for Jasper to make his move, Marissa grappled one of the guards and shoved her stunner against his neck to knock him out. With the first elimination done, she gestured to Jasper that she was moving before sneaking around a blown out building to the other guards. Through the building she could see their movements thanks to her vision, however another guard emerged from the building and crashed right into her.

"What the... hey! We got-"

The guard's voice was cut off as she tackled him and pressed her stunner against him, silencing the guard for the moment. She hoped that she was quick enough, but calls echoed from another part of the base to signal the rest of the occupants. "Kriff... guess we're doing it the other way..." She grumbled to herself as she shouldered her rifle and took cover.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Rhigar
Tags: Marissa Shoda

​

"Not a chance... I ain't like you..."

"I... I wouldn't lie to you," Jasper muttered with a sigh as they moved on.

He was so certain. It was as clear as the sun in the sky. There was something more there, something that felt so obvious in hindsight.

Jasper's group was down in an instant. Marissa used a more tactical method, but the knight used a different approach. After all, a blunt force, perhaps a mechanical arm, to the back of the head usually took care of most normal individuals in one good hit. Sure enough, it wasn't long before his Mawites were on the ground.

"What the... hey! We got-"

They were spotted, and now the rest of the base knew they were there. As Marissa moved to cover, Jasper drew his lightsaber and moved back to her position. It wasn't long before blasterfire was flying out from the doorway, three individuals taking aim from within. The knight began to deflect back the bolts with gritted teeth, keeping his concentration as he analyzed the present situation for a way to break through. All they needed was something to get them in, and protect them from plaster fire.

He glanced to their right, taking note of a large metal door that had, at some point, seemingly been on the entrance of the structure before... whatever orbital bombardment had turned the outside structure into slag.

"Hey, what if we ran at them with that door?" he suggested.

 

[Marissa Shoda]

Between the blasterfire erupting inside the building and a few other stragglers outside, the duo was pinned down with blaster bolts flying around them. Marissa fired back as Jasper drew his saber to deflect any shots that came too close. Normally she would have drawn a grenade or something similar to give them a window to move, though she had no such equipment on her in this situation.

Luckily Jasper was quick to think of something to get them out. His words drew her attention to the door laying close to them, drawing a nod from Marissa. "You breach, I'll shoot." She spoke up, moving against the doorway as she covered him. Once he had the door ready, she fell in behind him and gave him a tap on the shoulder to signal that she was ready. The moment he moved in, her rifle peaked around the door and opened fire to suppress their enemies. She quickly ducked behind a nearby crate in the hallway to fire back more accurately, claiming the life of a raider in doing so. "Move up, move up." She called out to Jasper.

Letting him take the lead for a moment, Marissa turned her aim to the door behind them as she waited for any potential attackers coming after them. "This is feeling way too simple." She muttered. Something simply didn't sit right in her gut.

Jasper Kai'el

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Rhigar
Tags: Marissa Shoda

​

"You breach, I'll shoot."

"I'm on it!"

Jasper pulled the metal door towards him, picking it up with his mechanical hand before charging down the entrance. It proved a good shield at the very least, blocking the incoming blaster bolts as he moved forward to clear the doorway. Whenever he had made it, Jasper released the door, using the force to push it down the stairwell entrance where it proceeded to tumble down, taking loose Mawites with it.

Marissa had his back, so there was little else out there for them to fear. The idea of things being too easy? That was a concern. Jasper couldn't help but agree.

"Yeah," he muttered. "These bands are usually disorganized, but something isn't right. Maybe they're having a schism? Dudes like these start fighting each other all the time. We could have caught them on a bad day."

That was what he hoped for, because he didn't know what the alternative was.