Private Lok And Loaded

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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​

The sun had barely moved in the sky, but to Sable, it felt like an eternity.

She leaned back slightly, balancing easily on the sun-bleached rooftop of a squat prefab building that probably hadn't seen maintenance since the NIO Wars. The city—or rather, the sprawling junkheap pretending to be one—stretched out below in a haze of heat and dust. The structures were low, blocky, and built more for survival than comfort. Cracked duracrete walls, rusted scaffolding, antennae tangled like dying vines, and the ever-present thrum of half-working repulsorlift engines filled the air with the song of decay.

Sable watched it all with disinterest, one hand toying with the hilt of a vibroknife as her eyes scanned the streets. The Outpost wasn't exactly thriving, but it was alive in that grimy, desperate way only Outer Rim settlements could be. Merchants barked over spare ship coils and busted droid parts. A group of mercenaries—fresh off some minor escort job, judging by their dust-caked armor—lounged near the central cantina, cracking jokes and swigging watered-down liquor. An old swoop gang rattled past, their engines sputtering like dying beasts, leaving streaks of black smoke in their wake.

She could've been down there, elbow-deep in some bar scuffle, carving up cards at a sabacc table, or pretending to care about some smuggler's hard-luck story—but none of it called to her.

Everything here felt... small.

Her fingers drummed against the roof's edge, slow and methodical. The boredom wasn't just a passing mood—it was pressing in on her like a weight, a kind of listless hunger she couldn't shake. No mission. No threat. No tension. Just dust, noise, and heat.

Even her armor felt heavier without purpose—still strapped across her torso, the plates clinking faintly when she shifted, but it was more habit than readiness. Her helmet lay beside her, faceplate catching the sun, reflecting the sky in ghostly green streaks. She stared at it for a moment, then looked away again.

Lok. Blasted, barren Lok. She hadn't expected much, but even disappointment had its limits.

"I've faced rancors with better personality," she muttered to herself, lips twitching in the barest hint of a smirk.

And yet, underneath the dry sarcasm, something gnawed at her. That restlessness again—coiled tight beneath her ribs, like a predator pacing in its cage. She wasn't built to sit still. Not for long. Something always broke the stillness eventually—whether it was a contract, a threat, or something darker she hadn't yet put a name to.

A distant sound—a low-pitched rumble of engines—caught her attention. She glanced up, eyes narrowing slightly behind dark lashes.

A new ship cutting across the clouds, descending toward the landing pad. Sleek. Sharp. Not a freighter, and not one of Vendra's.

Sable stood slowly, boots thudding against the rooftop as she crossed to the other edge for a better view. Maybe, just maybe, the world was finally about to get interesting again.

Because if trouble wasn't coming fast enough, she'd be damned if she didn't meet it halfway.

 

[Vendra Vane]

"I frelling love this planet," said Vendra with complete sincerity and the smile to prove it. This was another moment where the Dark Jedi had a hand on each hip, inhaled the dusty air, baked gladly under the sun like a reptile, and felt the flourish of life crawl beneath her skin.

It had been a while since she hit dust-side on Lok, a planet with a rich history of piracy, rebellion, and the occasional tragic sulfur-related death. It meant that only a certain crowd willingly came here, and only a certain crowd had the means to survive the desolate sulfur ball. All of which were her crowd. If any place in the galaxy could be called her second home, it was Lok.

She and Sable had landed planet-side earlier in the day, and since gone their separate ways. Vendra had her business and Sable had, presumably, business of her own to tend to. For the up-and-coming mercenary warlord, Vendra had every intention to find work--preferably the paying kind--after her last job with Drex went sour. She did manage to 'smooth' things over with the bosses above him, but they were not happy with the results and refused to pay her in full. It meant a bit of rationing, which wouldn't settle for long with her crew. Loyalty was one thing, starvation another.

Vendra marched through the street with a pair of hardened soldiers at her flanks. She was a known figure in these parts but far from a folk hero, with regulars for acquaintances rather than friends, a few perhaps on the verge of being her enemy. The trio approached a dusty old shelter, a former cantina, and safehouse, now retrofitted into the lair of a local fixer with some pull in the surrounding sectors.

Immediately upon entrance, one would spot the unmistakable but crude scrap-made statue of a Feeorin, with the name 'Nym' carved into the base. It looked as if it had once been prettier, but has since been damaged and repaired many times over into its current state. The main hall served a role between a drinking hole and a meeting spot, with a makeshift throne at the far end and a very large and armored Gloovan seated upon it.

"Well," the imposing figure spoke as he stood tall. Others stopped to watch but this was a usual enough affair that most didn't. "If it isn't Vendra Vane, once again... You look older, but not dead." He teased with a rotten grin. A true pirate in look and attitude, or at least Vendra thought so. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

As things shifted into business, Vendra took on a different mood. It was serious, demanding, and preemptive for any negotiations. "Business, not pleasure. I need a contract, something that pays and it better not involve a dig site." She grabbed a stranger's half-finished drink and took a swig before handing it back. Her escorts made themselves comfortable but kept their weapons close to finger.

"Yeah, I heard about that." The Gloovan scraped dried crud from his eye.

Vendra quirked a brow at his comment and pressed him to elaborate. "Keeping tabs on me, Sal?"

He let out a low, vibrating laugh. "Always, Ven, Always... I keep tabs on everyone I do business with even if it's been a while... Even if it's someone who swore me off after the last job she didn't finish." Sal referenced some kind of drama between them, but there was a hint of that buried hatchet in his voice.

Ven shrugged with all the casual innocence she could afford. "The details were vague, unexpected problems arose, and I wasn't willing to turn my hard-earned men into cannon fodder."

Sal crossed his arms, "That's a load of Gurk crap and you know it... Butttt, as a matter of fact, I do have something." He sat back on the throne and scratched his hairy chin. "I sent two crews after this one but both failed to get the job done."

"I'll bite," she replied.

He grinned widely. "There's a space station, an old imperial naval yard from way back when. Empires ago." He said that last part with a storyteller's flair before continuing. "Some salvager took up residence and began to retrofit and repair old vessels. Seems pirates took a liking because now he's giving them the means to harass local shipping, and it's starting to put a real drain on resources around here... I mean look around, Lok isn't exactly what it used to be." He gestured vaguely, the expression directed at the patrons in this room rather than the planet itself.

"Last I checked the lakes were still sulfuric and giant murder lizards roamed the dunes," she retorted in the obtuse. "You also failed to explain what happened to the previous crews."

"I was getting to that," he said while waving a dismissive hand. "Impatient this one," he spoke to the rest of the room who half-listened. "They're dead, of course. I won't pretend it isn't dangerous but unlike you, none of them had a frigate or the wits to assault a station." He snorted. "Sooo?"

Ven rolled her eyes and pretended to consider it. "I'll do it, but whatever credits they were promised is mine. And I mean both rewards." She insisted on double pay. "Oh, and you'll resupply my crew with as much foodstuff as you have to spare." She couldn't forget the rationing crisis.

After some faux consideration from Sal's end he finally gave a curt nod. "Deal. I'll send the details to your captain... Enjoy the hospitality, you'll need it." He chuckled darkly. If anything was to be learned from their exchange it was that half of negotiating was just pretending to consider what the other said and then going with the flow. More convenient that way, because negotiators are famously lazy. At least on Lok.

Vendra now had a job, but now she had to find Sable and hope no trouble would find her first. Either of them, for that matter.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

---

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The wind shifted.

Sable's fingers had just curled around the rim of her helmet when something made her pause. A prickling at the back of her neck. An unusual sensation creeping over her like being submerged in ice water.

She shuddered, and slowly slide the helmet on over her head.

Something was wrong, and Sable moved to investigate.

Down below, at the far edge of the outpost, a dust plume rolled lazily into the sky—too faint to notice at first glance, but unmistakable now. Swoop bikes. At least half a dozen, maybe more. She could just make out their silhouettes as they weaved between the scattered buildings, engines whining low and controlled—not the usual erratic revving of some gutter gang showing off, but a calculated approach.

She narrowed her eyes, visor-less for the moment, relying on instinct more than tech. They weren't local riders. Not the sloppily painted machines she'd seen earlier, coughing smoke and patched with salvage scrap. These swoops were sleek—matte hulls, low profiles, military modifications under their dust-caked frames. Fast. Tactical. Silent.

Not swaggering up the main road like most gangs—no, they were peeling around side alleys, splitting into flanking routes, disappearing behind warehouses and rusted loading bays.

Sable slipped her helmet on with a practiced motion, the HUD flickering to life in an instant. Thermal scans, motion sensors, terrain overlays—everything snapping into clarity.

Movement-thirty meters. Then another. And another.

They were heading towards her.

Toward the cantina.

Her blood turned to ice.

"Venny—" She muttered to herself, moving to find the woman now. "Can you read me?”

No response.

She was already moving. One smooth leap took her from the rooftop to the adjacent building, bounding over a rusted ventilation unit. Her armor whispered with each motion, light and silent, optimized for speed and evasion. The targeting visor locked on one of the riders cutting between side buildings—helmeted, armored, blaster carbine slung across his back.

Not locals.

Not scavvers.

Not gang muscle.

This was a mercenary team.

She felt her gut twist as she slid down a slanted rooftop, hitting the ground and moving into a jog. She just felt something bad brewing, as that cold chill worked up and across her mind.

Her teeth ached from the tension that built in her jaw.

Find them, crush them, join them-

She shook her head, and the intrusive thought vanquished.

 

[Vendra Vane]

A deal closed was all that was on Ven's mind when exited the building, her two lackeys in tow. For a second she thought she heard static from her comlink, but after a moment of no response, she ignored it and carried on, entirely unaware of Sable's panic or the impending confrontation.

Then another bit of static. "Ma'am--[static]... do you.... landed near your.. [more static.]" Then the signal cut out completely.

Vendra grabbed the comlink and attempted to respond. "What's going on up there? I can barely hear you." After a few seconds of no reply. "Late Apologies? This is Vane. Respond." Still nothing. Either it was a bit of bad luck, equipment failure, or they were being interfered with. The latter simply didn't make sense given where they were, but something in her gut said to keep the thought close to mind.

She looked over to her companions. "Stay alert and don't slack those blasters," her tone was blunt to drive the orders home.

Then she noticed something else, a familiar shade of black in the corner of her eye. It was the blur of Sable moving across the rooftops. Now she certainly felt something was going on unless Sable was just having a bit of parkour fun all to herself. Then what Vendra's eyes could not notice her ears did pick up, the unmistakable sound of swoop engines gravitating around the settlement's main cantina.

"We're either in for festivities or trouble. So expect shooting regardless," she said to her guards and gave them visual commands to split up and find a secure vantage point with their weapons.

"This better not be trouble you're causing, Sable..." The Dark Jedi mumbled to herself.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable landed hard atop the cantina's weathered roof, the impact jarring through her knees, but she didn't stop. She was already moving again. Her boots pounded against duracrete, cloak snapping in the wind as she weaved between rusted exhaust vents and sagging cables.

Why couldn’t they just have things go normal for once?

Her pulse thundered in her ears, adrenaline surging from the confirmation she felt she had made.

Her hand shot to her comm. "Venny—get your karking head out of the clouds. We've got a concern."

More static.

Her jaw clenched. Interference wasn't random out here. Not with swoops circling and signals failing.

She spotted movement below—armed men, with weapons already drawn. Good. Maybe? She hoped they were Venny’s men, but expected to be wrong.

At least someone was prepared, she just hoped it was her team.

Sable hit the alley floor in a crouch, rolling through the landing to absorb the impact before pushing up into a sprint. She ducked beneath a hanging pipe, boots splashing through puddles as she moved—cutting through the backstreets like a shadow with purpose.

Her fingers were already working the straps across her back, unclasping the long-case slung beneath her cloak. The rifle slid free with a practiced motion, the magnetic snap of the scope locking into place barely audible over the growing hum of engines.

She didn't stop.

She scaled a side stairwell in three bounding strides, vaulted a half-collapsed wall, then slid into position behind a rusted ventilation unit on an adjacent rooftop overlooking the cantina. From here, she had a perfect line of sight—elevated, shadowed, clean coverage of the street below.

Sable dropped to her stomach, cloak fanned around her like wings of smoke. She could feel the heat of the tiles through her armor. Not unbearable, just noticeable.

Her rifle's bipod locked into the rooftop's ledge with a sharp click. She pressed her cheek to the stock, adjusting the scope, breath already steadying. Crosshairs settled across the cantina entrance, then shifted, sweeping toward the narrowing alley where the swoops were closing in.

Through the scope, she could see movement. Shadows. Shapes. The telltale glint of weaponry.

Now she just had to wait-

Right as the swoops began to circle, their bikes giving out a whine, before powering down. The riders slow to dismount-an unspoken tension was read in their body movements.

That boded ill.

Sable remained in place, her finger itching to pull the trigger, but she needed to wait….maybe there was no danger here, maybe all would be-

Kill them-

Against her better judgement, Sable fired off a shot. It hit one of the riders in the back, across his right shoulder, as all hell now broke loose.

But what bothered Sable the most, was that wasn’t supposed to have happened.

 

[Vendra Vane]

The sound of a rifle shot, the drop of a rider, and the arrival of the swoopers all timed perfectly for Vendra to step out into the open. She processed the sound only, with no time to consider the rest when blaster bolts began to fly like celebratory fireworks. The Dark Jedi's eyes widened of course with a spike of adrenaline, her heart picked up its pulse to carry the drug throughout her body.

She held her hand up as if commanding them to stop, the force manifesting around her palm. It managed to draw in and deflect or at least absorb--with much difficulty--as many of the shots directed her way as it could. She was their target. Her stance, her appearance, the visible blaster at her side, all of it made her the first thing they shot at in the panic as soon as one of their own went down.

Patrons began to pile into the cantina if they could, the rest ducked into alleys or hid behind whatever obstacles they could find from moisture vaporators to radiators and other externalized equipment. Her two escorts had barely taken up their positions and now had to adjust. They began to return fire at much risk to their safety if just to relieve Vendra from some of it. One of them took a grazing shot to the shoulder but they both managed to hold up all the while Vendra continued to be fired upon.

The palm of her hand was blistered from what energy she couldn't deflect or dissipate in time, and there were visible scorch marks on her armor, steam even radiating from where she had been shot. She exhausted her ability to deflect with the force and now stumbled further into the street. Her instincts were different, honed by experience, yes, but at her core she knew the right move. Don't panic. Don't rush back. Maintain the momentum, and get to the other side because it was the fastest thing she could do. There was no safety, no defense, just survival.

More shots hit her, including one that struck a vulnerable spot on her leg and caused her to stumble, though she managed to stay upright and pushed herself to keep moving. Then another wounding shot managed to graze the back of her neck--a near miss but no date with death. Finally, she collapsed behind a lone XP-38 which gave just enough cover for her to avoid the onslaught.

Much of the attention now refocused on her men, all until they were ordered to stop by someone behind them. Their leader? At least someone they recognized with authority. Some of them stayed put but held their fire when Vendra's men took their time to reposition and simply have a breath. For the assailants, they would also use this time to find better cover or get their swoops out of the way. A small number of them fanned out as they searched for the source of that first shot.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable's pulse thundered in her ears as she rose and moved positions, still struggling with what she had done.

Blaster fire was still ringing out, and her mind was already calculating the trajectory, the cover, the key positions. The world seemed to slow in that moment, every flicker of movement coming into sharp focus. The swoopers were closing in on Vendra, but they weren't prepared for what was waiting for them.

As she slid behind a rusted crate, she raised her rifle, her gaze already locked onto a swoop rider ducking for cover. Without hesitation, she fired, blasting a hole in his back, and knocking him forward. Sable moved without sound, using the confusion as her cover. Holstering her smoldering rifle, as she switched to her side arm.

She needed to wait for it to cool down.

"Vendra!" She barked into her comm, voice sharp, like a blade. "Stay down—don't move until I give you the signal."

Her eyes never left the riders as they shifted, their instincts telling them to find better angles, regroup. A few of them were still searching for the source of the first shot, but the moment their eyes caught her, Sable knew the game was up. She didn't need to wait for their commander to give the order; she was already anticipating it. Her fingers flexed, one last breath of air filling her chest before she sprang from behind cover.

The first swoop rider's head jerked up in a moment of shock, his surprise the last thing he ever knew before her vibroblade sank deep into his side. The others barely registered her movement before they were forced to scatter, but Sable was faster, every step a calculated risk, every action done with deadly precision. The force pumped into her, her speed, reaction, senses, all operating at another level. The remaining riders were disoriented, unsure of how to handle this new player—this unpredictable element that had emerged from seemingly nowhere.

"You don't want to be here," She muttered, voice low, as she raised her blaster pistol, and shot a second rider across the chest. A clean hit, incapacitating him almost instantly. He dropped like a ragdoll, his swoop engine sputtering as he lost control. Sable didn't even spare him a glance as she moved on.

Vendra's men weren't entirely useless, though. They were taking advantage of the lull to adjust, refocus. Sable caught one of them ducking behind an old droid parts pile, drawing the fire away from her target, and it was enough. She had the time she needed.

Sable's eyes locked onto the leader now, who had emerged from the rear, attempting to maintain some semblance of order among the chaos. She'd find him. She'd end him.

But not yet.

She need to get to Venny for now.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra wasn't good at following instructions. If it wasn't for the communications jamming, she might have heard Sable's voice, or at least that was the case before she looked down and saw the comlink had been completely fried by blaster fire. She tossed the useless hunk of metal and electronics aside and drew her blaster pistol then leaned out to fire off two shots.

The first shot missed, but the other struck a poor merc square between the eyes and dropped them. Anything to stop their slow encirclement of the area. If a single one of them got the drop on Ven then she would surely be in trouble, as if she wasn't already. Her left hand was blistered, her neck hurt like hell, and her leg was beginning to stiffen from the injury and forced movement. She could push herself if she had to, and she certainly had every plan to do so when the moment was right, but there would be a cost to all that action when the time came.

She had to trust in both Sable and her own soldiers for much-needed backup. Thankfully, the Dark Jedi spotted relief above when the second of her ship's two shuttles soared overhead and landed somewhere on the outskirts of town. Reinforcements.

The enemy leader barked more orders. Getting a couple of swoopers to go check it out. Vendra popped up again and fired a few more rounds at one of the bikes. Its engine erupted in flame and smoke before crashing audibly somewhere behind the other buildings. The other was of course long gone, and she took a few more near misses of return fire by sticking her head out again. At the same time, she was entirely unaware that some of the mercs were already approaching an alley by Vendra's flank.

What Vendra wondered most of all though is why the hell Sal hadn't sent out any of his men to help. Was the coward just content to let them fight in the street and sort things out later? Times have certainly changed from the days when practically ruled Lok.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

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Sable's voice cut through the tension, sharp and low over the shared comms—well she didn’t know it was still down.

"Hold the line, Venny. I see the alley—flank's compromised. Two hostiles moving in. I'm moving."

She was already slipping through the smoke between buildings, cloak catching wind as her boots hit gravel and duracrete. The smell of ozone and burning metal, the acrid bite of blaster fire began to sting her lungs. The sound of the second shuttle was a comfort—brief, distant—but she didn't count on comfort.

Vendra probably wasn't the type to ask for help, but Sable figured being shot hadn’t improved her disposition. The mercs weren't fools—they smelled weakness like starved kath hounds. If they boxed her in, she was dead. Well, in theory. But Sable didn’t do theory well.

She was quickly running out of patience for the skirmishes that were taking place here.

A flicker of movement at the alley's edge. Sable didn't hesitate. Two bolts from her blaster pistol—clean, controlled. One merc crumpled with a ruined chestplate, the other barely had time to register what happened before Sable closed the distance. A single, brutal stroke of her vibroblade—straight between the ribs. He gasped, choked, and Sable shoved him off her blade before he could stain her cloak with his last, pathetic twitches.

The alley was clear. For now.

Hopefully Venny could take advantage of that.

She could hear the mercs regrouping, their leader barking new orders. Good. Maybe they’d get the hell out of here.

And then, almost as an afterthought—gritted between the edges of smoke and gunfire:

"Don't die yet, you’re my ride out of here…"

Her rifle snapped up again. The fight wasn't over. But eventually, someone was going to run out of bodies.

 

[Vendra Vane]

More sounds of fighting and violence came from an Alley just behind Vendra. She held her blaster, expectantly, but when the fighting stopped no one stepped out to present themselves. In no position to investigate it herself, the Mirilan rushed for the cantina instead. Fewer stray shots followed her retreat, and thankfully not a single one landed. The structure of the cantina entranced allowed minimal but safe enough cover, with the option to dip inside should she get flanked again.

There were additional sounds of fighting throughout the area, not all of it concentrated here on this street anymore. Some of it certainly came from the direction her reinforcements landed, but the rest? That was near Sal's. So the man did decide to join them, or maybe they got pulled in unnecessarily same as Vendra. Unless he was the target? The thought certainly crossed her mind, but the cantina here seemed their first stop.

Vendra reached down to grab her comlink, only to remember she had to toss it early. "Great," she muttered and drew in as much breath as she could. "Sable if you can hear me get over here!" She yelled.

Between taking potshots at the mercs and glancing over her shoulder, Vendra was feeling frustrated right about now. All she came here for was a job, and yet the galaxy seemed to find a reason to make her day miserable once again. She had half a mind to order a proton strike right here and right now if only she had the means to contact Late Apologies.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

---

---

Sable heard the distant shout—muffled by smoke, steel, and chaos—but she didn't need a comm to know it was Vendra. The woman had a voice that cut through the noise like a vibroblade through synthsilk. She stowed her pistol and blade, switching back to her rifle.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Sable muttered under her breath as she vaulted a low wall and moved parallel to the cantina's east side, weaving through debris and the twitching bodies of mercs who thought they'd earn an easy payday today.

She keyed her comm out of instinct, forgetting for a moment it was mostly fried static between them now. Still, she spoke anyway. Maybe Vendra would hear it echo through the smoke.

"Next time," She said dryly, "Maybe don't scream your position like a drunk street performer begging for credits."

She caught a glimpse of the Mirialan crouched behind the cantina's outer wall, gun half-raised, scanning like a cornered predator. Good. Still alive. She rushed to Venny’s position, the Force still throbbing within her, as she narrowly avoided several shots to her back, the sand turning to glass under her footfalls.

Sable slid into cover nearby, her rifle resting on the edge of a broken table flipped sideways in the alley. She looked over her rifle, ensuring it was ready to keep firing.

"I was going to ask if they’re friends of yours," She said, breathing steady despite the chaos all around. "But that seems unlikely now."

Her eyes flicked skyward for a moment—searching the smoke-cloaked skyline.

"What is the plan? Aside from killing these guys." She added with a faint smirk. "Thinking we just try and swipe the swoops, and get out."

Then her tone sharpened, colder, more commanding.

"I can try and circle around them. Draw their attention, if I use my arsenal it could make them think you have friends."

She stood, aimed, and fired two clean shots at an approaching pair. Then ducked back into cover again.

"And hey, if you gotta take off without me," A pause. "I won’t blame you, it was fun." She gave a soft chuckle, sliding out the spent energy cell, and reloading. “Sounds like a plan, yea?”

 

[Vendra Vane]

If these were Vendra's friends then they were upset about something. She did wonder if they were related to anyone she's screwed over in the past, but the lack of vindictive shouting and no mention of Vendra seemed to suggest otherwise.

"Sal won't pay us if he's dead," Vendra said with some tone of resignation. "One of our dropships just landed. I heard blaster fire that way," she points in a direction somewhere behind the cantina.

It took a few moments for her to think up a plan while distracted by both pain and the occasional need to provide suppressive fire. Then it came together, simple, but easy to execute in these conditions. Vendra looked to Sable with a cocky grin. Not a great start, but the words that rolled off her tongue would have to be convincing enough. "Find where they landed, help them out, and bring them back here. If we can push through the fighting we might have a shot at ruining their day before Sal ropes me into his funeral." She really wanted to get paid.

"I'll stay here and keep their attention. See if I can't rejoin with them," she subtly nodded in the direction of her two escorts from earlier. Both managed to stay alive despite the intense fighting and with the enemies thinned out by Sable's ferocity, there was a decent chance the three of them could hold things off from here.

It would have to be enough unless Sable planned to one-up her with a better plan.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

---

---

Sable listened without interrupting, eyes scanning the street beyond the cantina's cover as Vendra laid out her plan. It wasn't without issue, but Sable found the choices a bit thing now. The important part was that it was fast, executable, and didn't rely on luck. Mostly. Well kinda, but such things could be finessed.

"Not a bad plan," She said flatly, reloading her rifle with a smooth, practiced motion. "Little reckless. Little desperate. Sounds like fun."

She glanced toward the smoke-trailing sky where the dropship had come down. It was a bit of a sprint, but doable.

"Fine. I'll find the squad, drag them back here kicking if I have to. Just try not to get yourself perforated while I'm gone."

Her gaze lingered on Vendra for a second longer than necessary, catching that cocky grin. Sable didn't return it—if she did the mask concealed it—but there was something in her voice that almost passed for humor.

"I'll be back before they figure out which end of my blaster they’re on."

She rose from cover again, smooth and low, and started moving along the building's edge, staying close to the debris-littered alleyways as she worked her way toward the landing zone. She looked to Venny, and gently pat her shoulder.

"Try not to die, Venny. I find you amusing."

And just like that, she vanished back into the smoke.

 

[Vendra Vane]

"Fun is a word for it," Vendra retorted with a grin to mask her pain.

Her eyes followed Sable's up towards the smoke and then down to her mask. She wondered what expressions lingered beneath it. She looked at her injured leg and the scorch marks on her armor at the mention of perforation. Certainly not what Vendra had in mind. Dying here, on Lok, and leaving her men with an upcoming crisis of bad eats? What a terrible legacy to leave behind.

"I don't plan on dying here of all places, Sable." That was all she had to say on the matter. "Good luck!" She said and offered a few more shots from her blaster for good measure. Before she knew it Sable had vanished quickly.

The Dark Jedi wondered how much trouble the two of them might just get up to. Certainly, it changed the mercenary game to have not one, but two better than your average killers, and quite frankly Vendra believed Sable to be one of the most impressive she'd ever seen. Their fight against the beast on Rannon first example on her mind, and after today their story on Lok might just live up to the tale.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

---

---

Blaster fire cracked around her as she moved—sharp, focused bursts meant to pin her down. Instead, she used them. Every bolt that came her way was one less aimed at Vendra. She slipped between broken fences, vaulting over debris, her feet brushed briefly on jagged durasteel before she hit her strides, really starting to move now.

The alley ahead narrowed, shadowed by half-collapsed walls and the flickering strobe of distant fires. Sable ducked low, let her rifle snap up, and squeezed off two quick rounds—one hit the wall beside a swooper's shoulder, the second dropped another merc trying to circle wide.

"Come on," She muttered to herself. "Keep looking at me."

She moved like smoke, staying in the margins, always one step ahead of the chaos. A quick dash brought her behind a rusted storage bin where she caught a glimpse of the swoop racers revving up to flank. She didn't stop. One grenade went sailing toward the far end of the street—loud, bright, meant to draw attention and force them to peel toward her.

If they took the bait, good. If not—she'd flank them anyway.

Sable exhaled slowly through her mask and surged forward into the smoke again. She fired off her whipcord, grabbing a rifle, and using her jump boots to fly into the man. Her right arm raised, firing off a rocket into another pair of mercs.

The man she had snagged fell forward, letting go of his rifle as Sable released the cord, driving her knee into his face, her darts firing into his neck. He dropped, dead from the new sound injuries she had inflicted.

The remaining group turned to fire on her. Out of cover now, she had little to take cover behind. She raised up her arm, shield gauntlet deploying as the blasters began to impact, driving her back as it began to buckle.

"Least they’re trying now…."

You’re going to die at this rate.

That voice spoke again, and as the blaster fire slammed into her shield, a small part of her considered that it could be right.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Sable drew much-needed attention away from their reinforcements and allowed them to reposition tactically and create better zones of decimation with their weapons. These mercs weren't well trained but they had numbers on their side. Vendra's mercs on the other hand were far from the best of the best, but they were veterans who survived all this time on hard-earned lessons.

Together, with Sable taking on the bulk of that pressure, they were able to kill and wound many, with the rest scattered in a panicked frenzy back to their swoops to flee.

Meanwhile, at Vendra's location things went about as expected. It was three versus nine plus their leader, who grabbed hold of grenades and began to lob them at one of her men's positions. The poor sod barely had time to react when he and the rubble were destroyed in the blast. The other foolishly risked more than he should have to return fire, taking a stray shot to the shoulder that nearly knocked him out of the fight for good.

"Fool!" She hissed through a tight jaw. It would have been safer to retreat within the Cantina and meet up with Sable, but she wasn't about to leave her other man for dead. Vendra holstered the blaster and drew her lightsaber.

The Dark Jedi rushed from cover and became immediately overwhelmed by directed fire. The Force and her adrenaline pumped through her body like a deadly cocktail, but it was enough to give her every necessary edge. She deflected shots and closed the distance. The first was cut down, the second kicked so hard their splintered ribs shredded internal organs, a third was merely wounded, and by the time she reached the fourth the other five froze just to process the carnage.

It was the leader at the back whose reaction Vendra noticed and his alone, for her eyes barely left him. It was fear mixed with anger that she saw. She dropped the fifth and the rest scattered, the two now stood toe-to-toe like duelists ready to settle one final score.

Though Vendra stood tall and looked strong, her body was broken and she herself nearly beaten. It took almost everything out of her just to get this far.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

---

---

She turned her head just in time to hear the echo of a lightsaber igniting—had to be Venny’s.

Her eyes narrowed behind the visor. Vendra.

Sable didn't need to see it all to know what was happening. That ripple in the Force, that sharp, sudden shift in pressure and sound—it was Vendra cutting loose. And judging by the screaming that followed, it wasn't a clean fight. Not even close.

She moved quickly again, cutting across the edge of the courtyard to get a line of sight, rifle still in hand. By the time she got a glimpse of the aftermath, the bodies already told the story: a flash of saber through armor, a broken form curled in a crumpled heap, scattered limbs and blaster burns.

But Sable's gaze didn't linger on the carnage—it fixed on Vendra.

She looked strong, standing tall amidst the wreckage, but even from here Sable could see the tremble in her shoulders, the exhaustion pulling at the edges of her stance. She was running on willpower and fury alone now. Nothing else was keeping her upright.

Sable's right hand flexed, being pushed back, as she braced her legs. She leapt up, using her whipcord to snatch onto a metal strut on a passing building and pulled herself into cover, her body twirled in the air, as she let loose one final rock into the sea of fire aimed towards her.

She didn’t watch it explode, but she felt the vibrations as she hit the roof, her rifle flew across the roof. She kept moving, grabbing for her pistol as she recovered, moved, and leapt off the other side, firing down at the scattered mercs, using the sudden tug of her line to slow her fall. She twisted her body around, catching the side of the building awkwardly as she felt her knee pop. Pain shot along her leg, then the rest of her side as she hit the wall.

Doing too much too quickly. She swore quietly to herself, and tried to keep going.

She disconnected her line, and fell.

Her hurt leg throbbed, but she kept moving on, trying to reach Venny.

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra didn't have it in her to draw this fight out any longer. If her opponent was smart, if they could read between the lines, they would be able to adjust and they'd likely win.

However, they did the opposite of being smart. They took another grenade in hand. Defiant, she suspected, at the thought of deflect this ringing in their mind. As soon as he gripped the device and primed in, Vendra reached out to take it and his hand both with the force.

He panicked as his arm just stood there, the grenade still in his hand. If he had any thoughts to process it just wasn't enough time to get those final regrets out of the way. There was an explosion and a cloud of dust.

when Vendra's hand dropped, her whole body went limp and so she too fell. The Dark Jedi was as still as a corpse in the street, face down in the dust with the heat of the sun teasing the wound on the back of her neck. Exhausted but alive, she just wanted to be back on her ship, back in her bed, away from all this trouble and the bitter taste of sulfur.

One of the mercs survived, though, and they slowly began to approach Vendra, to see if she was alive and finish her off if necessary.

Sable Varro

 

[Sable Varro]

​

Lok And Loaded

Tag: Vendra Vane

Deployment Location:

• Primary Target Zone: Lok

Equipment Loadout:

• Primary Weapon(s): SD-L1 Long Blaster
• Secondary Weapon(s): HG-88 Big Iron, VB-113 "Tidefall" Class Vibroblade,
• Specialized Gear: Wrist Mounted Weapons (Hekler'Kok WMMW-01), DS-102 "Aegis" Personal Energy Shield,
• Armor & Attire: Personal Armor

---

---

Sable saw the explosion before she heard it—felt the pressure of it roll through the alley like a slap of dry wind. Dust and smoke billowed outward, but she knew. She knew that wasn't just some lucky final shot.

Her boots were already moving before the debris settled. Her leg throbbed, something she would need to look at later.

She didn't bother with a full sprint—too much noise, too easy to draw fire again—but her stride was purposeful, quiet, methodical as she dipped through the alley's cover. A silhouette was moving toward Vendra's fallen form. Not fast. Careful. Too careful.

"Wrong move," Sable muttered under her breath, raised her blaster, and exhaled—recoil would only gift her one shot.

She broke cover with the silence of a shadow and fired once, a precision shot that cracked clean through the approaching merc's skull before they even realized someone was behind them. The body crumpled at Vendra's feet.

Then it was just dust again, and her boots crunching over stone as she approached the still figure in the dirt.

Sable knelt beside her, eyes scanning her armor, the wound at her neck, the subtle rise and fall of her breath. Alive. Lucky.

"Told you not to die here," She muttered, voice low, almost annoyed—almost.

She didn't waste time. One arm hooked beneath Vendra's shoulders, the other bracing under her legs. Sable hoisted her up with practiced ease. It occurred to her, that she wasn't be paid for this.

"C'mon, Venny," she said as she carried her toward cover. "You can sleep when we're off this godsdamned rock."

 

[Vendra Vane]

Vendra was rather heavy between her body weight and the additional weight of her armor. She dragged somewhat as she leaned on Sable.

"I had no plans on dying," she replied in a breathy tone.

When they finally found cover, Vendra allowed herself to drop like a rock and took a deep breath in, and looked up at Sable with an overconfident grin. There was a twinge of pain in the expression, of course, but she hid it well.

One of her soldiers dropped to a knee, the others took up positions to hold the road. "What orders, boss?" Asked the rugged woman.

"Head to Sal's and kark up those half-rate wannabe gunslingers," Vendra replied. "Sable and I can handle ourselves from here. You'll need every gun available."

The woman nodded and began to bark orders at the others, the small group now moved towards the other side of town where gunfire still roared. It was a welcome sound because it told Vendra one thing. Sal was alive. For now.

She looked over to Sable, the grin a little less zealous, and pat her on the lower back. "Extra slop for you when we're back on the Apologies." Her jest turned sour in her mouth when she looked up at the rubble where one of her men died. She muttered something so inaudibly under her breath that it could've been mistaken for wheezing, but her lips mouthed something close to regrets. She knew him and now he was dead.

Sable Varro