Faction More Toys for the Toy Box

[Alask Terrano]

The commandos watched from above, analyzing their opponent's every move as the two hovering droids easily kept pace with their quarry from above and prepared to deploy. They'd changed tactics after detecting and realizing their opponent had lightsabers and now knew to keep their distance thanks to their highly-adaptive and comprehensive combat programming. And they'd ceased firing, orders from above clamping down on lethal weapons weapons fire.

Doors shut tight as the locals saw the being rushing around and decided that he was in fact an enemy and knew better than to offer any sort of aid to him. Soon two other "Sentry" Combat Droids arrived from another pair of squads which had gotten word of the possible identity of their opponent. The four droids pulled into a formation, staying ahead, to the sides, and behind Eskk, making sure that no moves he made would duck him out of sight. The other twenty troops and their four additional "Sentinel" Droids were given orders to take to the high ground, and their exoskeletons were perfectly-suited for this and they all leaped/jetted up onto the tiled roofs and soon a line of them was to Eskk's left aiming down at him and but held their fire, turning on their red laser pointers built within their blaster rifles. To his right the two squads he'd just escaped from also leaped into view on top of the orange and red tiled roofs, aiming down at him. As he ran they pursued, peeling along the line of buildings with one fireteam always watching him while the others relied on pushing their powered exoskeletons to the limit to try and keep up with built-in jets launching them across gaps in the line of buildings as they moved North. At this point the troops were all-too-happy for their training on obstacle courses and for their exoskeletons.

Behind Eskk on the road the eight "Sentinel" droids were stomping along at full sprints, blasting through a whole market place of covered stands and stacks of produce and other objects. They stayed on the ground, covering his potential of doubling back as the troops continued to 'guide' him towards the point which Alask now saw on his HUD, a large roundabout with a blue, white, and red flower garden made to mirror the eight-pointed star of the Crossroads Republic with a statue of a Crossroads soldier in the middle of the circular median, a monument to the Crossroads troops who'd died in the Crossroads-Eriadu War of 35 BBY.

Eskk Jannik

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk was aware of all the people and droids tailing him. They were no longer firing. Eskk now assumed they wanted him alive. With their formation all they had to do was turn and fire on him from all sides. Eskk was good, but he wasnt good enough to deflect a complete circle of blaster fire.

There was nowhere to run now, Eskk was surrounded and his pursuers could keep pace. So Eskk stopped running. All he was accomplishing at this point was needlessly expending energy. He simply stood still and stared at the men that surrounded him.

Eskk's sensory organs could still detect the force sensitive being nearby. He wondered how long he'd have to wait before he came down. He hoped it wouldnt be long. At least Eskk could learn about the people he was going to allow to capture him, and more importantly, what they wanted with him.

Alask Terrano

 

[Alask Terrano]

The dropship now hovered and Alask knew that it was now or never.

"Dagger Team, line up!" he ordered and took his place at the front of hatch, and his team lined up into two columns behind and to the left of him. It didn't take long for him to give the green light with a glance to the signal which was sent to the other team members' HUD's, "Go!"

The twelve men in turn dropped from the large dropship from fifty feet. The inertial dampeners and thrusters in their more advanced exoskeletons activated as they close to hitting the ground and the all landed in an L-shaped formation in front of Eskk. Alask knew that this was the Force-sensitive, and that this was going to be very, very dicey.

"Warlord, this Dagger-Actual, we are engaging the HVT, over," Alask called out to his superiors as he and his team maintained their distance and kept their suppressed blaster carbines aimed at their target.

"Roger Dagger, proceed with caution, over," the comm replied in his ear.

"Wilco, Dagger out," Alask responded and now aimed his weapon at the man and activated his helmet's loudspeakers, "Drop your weapons and get on your knees! Hands where we can see 'em!"

Eskk Jannik

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Why did all hell have to break lose? Why did they have to be followed? And why did it have to be Eskk Jannik ?? Lori smirked at Darlyn Excron 's remark and then feigned a sigh. "I admit, it must've been me. I took his pride and now he wants it back. I'll trade him my lightsaber for it."

Her hand was on her blaster though, quite certain that Curtis Learchin , Kahlil Noble and Kalic Daws had her back. Even Arla and LE-03 (Leigh) were sure to do so as well, in their own unique ways.

As Zela Urrin arrived with her own blaster drawn, it was clear that she was their contact. "We're good! Sorry for the disruption. We weren't expecting to be tailed this far. Yet now at least we see a demonstration of what you've got to offer." And then some.

Lori still felt bad for the locals. She didn't mean to bring them trouble.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

"On my knees," Eskk asked mocking the trooper that had now joined him, "but that's so undignified. Id rather remain standing if you dont mind. How about a compromise?"

Eskk deactivated his sabers and threw the unactive hilt to a spot on the ground about half way between the two men. He then held up one hand in a gesture to show that he meant no harm and very slowly reached into his belt. He pulled out his DL44 blaster pistol by the grip. He kept his hand as far away from the trigger as possible and kept the blaster pointed down.

With a short toss Eskk added the blaster to the two deactivated lightsabers on the ground. It was now officially a pile of weapons. Eskk used to have a sniper rifle that he wore across his back, but it was in his quarters aboard the ship that had been vaporized. "Thats all my weapons," Eskk told the man. "Well, all of them that you can take from me anyways. Now, how about we discuss why I'm not dead."

Alask Terrano

 

[Alask Terrano]

The special forces team didn't even flinch, instead Alask lowered his voice, and unconsciously broadcasted his dangerous lethal intentions towards this individual through the Force. The moment he saw the lightsabers he realized he wasn't dealing with a nonstate actor here, this was the work of some larger entity, and that pissed him and his team off. No one messed with Crossroads and got away with it, now that they knew it was someone messing with their people they wanted answers.

"On...your...knees," Alask ordered, "Last warning."

The roofs all around them were now swarming with civilian camera droids from assorted news agencies. It was incredibly rare for the citizens of Crossroads to witness their special forces in actual combat. And it seemed the news agencies wanted that footage, bad.

"See them buddy?" one of the spec ops advised him, "They're waiting for us to take you down."

"Make our day," Alask urged him.

 

[Zela Urrin]

"We need to get out of here," Zela urged the group, and waved them to follow her as she tucked her blaster into her purse, "I have a speeder ready for you in the parking lot. Take it and to head over to the hotel. I've got a couple of linked rooms for you. The address and a couple of door cards are in the glove compartment, along with a thousand non-sequential credits and some burner comms."

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Curtis Learchin Darlyn Excron LE-03 (Leigh) Kahlil Noble Kalic Daws

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk was unimpressed. The ability to broadcast one's intentions was a very basic use of the force. Eskk could do it without even thinking about it. "Thats cute the way you use the force," Eskk said to his would be captor.

"I could teach you, you know," he told the man. "You could be so much more than a rank and file soldier. With time you could even be strong enough to rule this outfit." As he spoke Eskk reached out in the force trying to hypnotize the man.

"You could have it all. All you have to do is help me get out of this mess and I'll train you. You'll be stronger than you ever imagined. You can be the one to give the orders from now on. All you have to do is help me. Tell your men to let me go."

Eskk paused for a moment, "yes, by the way. I see all those Cameras. If you were allowed to kill me, you would have just done it. No, no, no, somebody upstairs wants me still kicking. You probably dont even know why."

"Even so," Eskk continued. "I'm not getting on my knees." As he spoke, he held his wrists out in front of him. "So cone slap the cuffs on or start shooting," Eskk told the man. "Either way, quit wasting my time."

Alask Terrano

 

[Kalic Daws]

Kalic grabbed hold of a pipe in the ship, seeming extremely ticked off right now.

"Karking.... Sure. Give me vague far-flung visions instead of useful one! Who the heck is this guy?" Kalic really didn't like situations like this. Last time he had... something happen to him. The Miraluka looked at the other, confused as all get. The man grabbed his Ravager before follow Lori to the ramp, worried about what was to come. It was then that someone came to the ship, and Kalic pulled up the blaster for a second before they spoke.

"Wait.... What are yo.... GAH!" Kalic gripped his head. Not again! Wait.... Was this now!? No.... He saw bombs impacting all over the city, but it was already ruined? Why this? As he finally came out of it, he looked at the others, rubbing his head again.

"This isn't going to be quiet ride."

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Darlyn Excron Zela Urrin Curtis Learchin LE-03 (Leigh) Kahlil Noble Eskk Jannik

 

[Alask Terrano]

Alask’s mind, while strong in force was also disciplined. But the waves being sent towards him held his attention. But he had enough resistance to Eskk’s attempts to sway him to decide that he’d had enough. It was time to take a more aggressive and to-the-point tact.

“Cap him!” he ordered.

Two of his men instantly lowered their blasters and two lethal-setting blaster bolts pummeled into Eskk’s kneecaps.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk hadn't actually expected them to fire. The smug look was wiped from his face as the two blaster bolts hit his knees. Eskk collapsed to the ground. The pain was intense.

Eskk knew his species regenerative capabilities would heal him over time, but he was still angry. "You will pay for that," he promised his enemies.

After that Eskk got quiet. His only goal was to observe now. As trained as these men were there would be a chink in their defense, there always was. Eskk would find it and manipulate it to escape.

Alask Terrano

 

[Alask Terrano]

Alask pulled out and leveled his blaster pistol and aimed at Eskk, setting the weapon to the training setting, a very painful stun setting, designed to be purposefully painful. But it would do the trick.

“I doubt that very highly,” Alask informed him and fired.

 

[Eskk Jannik]

Eskk didnt see the shot coming, but he felt it when it hit. It impacted in the upper center of his back, just below his skull. He couldve swore he felt every pain receptor his body possessed fire off as a result of that jolt. Eskk wanted to scream, but he held it in.

This was torture now, which ment Eskk couldn't break. His life probably depended on his silence. Besides that, there was the Anzati code. The code that said you never spoke about a job.

It was a code that was instilled in them like a religious belief from the time they were young. The code was the one universal truth for all Anzati. Legend has it, the code was passed down by the Silent Voices themselves.

Alask Terrano

 

[Alask Terrano]

Alask waved his team forward the moment Eskk dropped to the ground, writhing as he'd seen so many times before when a Crossroads Republic training bolt someone who wasn't prepared for it. It would've been humorous if it weren't for the fact this individual was responsible for civilian deaths. His team clamped some anti-force-sensitive cuffs onto the individual and as quickly as that was done a dropship with a Tier-2 Spec-Ops team aboard took him and took off with escorts from a pair of starfighters. They were taking him to one of their high security prisons, where the facilities were present to handle a force-sensitive.

The Crossroads Republic was thorough, and Alask knew he had little chance of ever encountering this individual again. But he didn't care, they were in the hands of someone who specialized in dealing with Jedi, Sith, and everyone in between who wielded the Force against the Crossroads Republic and its interest, the Silver Guardians. Alask was certainly not done for the day though, he had another assignment, one he had to get back to. So as he and his team gathered the weapons of the individual a picture came back to him of the unconscious individual now in custody, along with new orders.

"Mount up," Alask called out to his team, "We're back on mission once the Army clears out the town," he called out as another dropship landed and they began to board. Another picture now arrived, this time a Delfino, dead, with a hole in his skull, and a cavity being all that remained, "Kriffing...shoulda killed that thing," he whispered to himself.

"Don't worry, something tells me we'll be on our way to go kill the people who sent him here," Alask's team senior NCO suggested.

"If word leaks out of who sent him...the Senate will scream for blood," Alask reminded them all, "It'll mean war."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Kalic Daws was having one of his visions again. Lori looked at him with concern as the vision didn't appear to be a good one. Yet things weren't exactly good for them at the moment.

Her attention turned to Zela Urrin as the woman approached with plenty of urgency. Lori hated the fact that she was tailed by Eskk Jannik . The man was relentless in his pursuit since she had escaped him with Kahlil Noble and Darlyn Excron . Some people just couldn't admit defeat.

"One of these days we'll get to travel without worry. But intil then...come on." She gestured for Curtis Learchin and the others to follow her as she hurried over to the speeder and climbed in. The sight of the armed forces working away to contain the situation was a sight to see.

 

[Zela Urrin]

Zela simply turned to leave herself, and found herself at her speeder in short order. Flustered at the attack she picked up a comm hidden into her purse and activated it.

"This is Alpha-1, package is en route, interrogative, do we know what that was about yet?" she demanded of her superiors, probably snapping a little gruffly.

"Affirmative, we have a preliminary estimate, looks like an Eternal Empire agent looking to kill our insurgent negotiating party, they managed to get past the customs ships and launched fighters from hidden hangar bays. The fleet's already sending salvaging parties to try and find the ship's black box," her command comm operator responded quickly.

"Good luck with that, the fleet hit that thing with a full broadside, they practically vaporized it," Zela sighed, "I'm en route behind the package en route to the nest, do we need to relocate?"

"Negative, the fleet's got the local airspace locked down and we're augmenting the QRF with a shock battalion, and we'll be bringing in the main response team to the hotel as a contingency," the man on the other end informed her.

"Who are they by the way?" Zela asked curiously, "I saw them take off earlier, didn't get a good look at 'em."

"Team..." the man said, but hesitated, knowing Zela's history with this particular team, "Team Dagger."

"Dagger?! You mean Terrano's team?!"

"Watch names on the comm agent," a new voice, a female voice snapped at her, it was her boss, "You will put your worries about your ex aside and get the job done. Prime has been apprised of the operation and has said we're free to provide Class-1 Access. You'll negotiate their requirements and pass it on to us. Are we clear?"

"Affirm," Zela sighed, and snapped her comm back into its hidey-hole, and smacked the steering wheel unhappily.

Dagger Team was a special forces team that she knew well, she'd been part of it not too long ago. According to the military's records she'd had sustained an injury to one of her ovaries, and therefore been returned to rear-echelon duties in accordance with military regulations and then she'd left the military at the end of her contract. To prevent a woman from losing the ability to bear children if one of her ovaries were irreparably-damaged she would be allowed to return to a safe rear-duty assignment to protect her ability to have babies. This was a lie, she'd transferred to the External Security Department after a startling pregnancy scare which would have not only ruined her career but that of her then-boyfriend, her team leader, whom she was sleeping with. Needless to say this was big-time against fraternization regulations. When Zela had left she hadn't told anyone, it was like she'd dropped off the face the of the galaxy as far as her former teammates, and her ex, were concerned. Now, she'd have to atone for that on top of doing her job..