"Acknowledged Captain, give'em hell. Omega Squad and I are about to make a lot of noise on the east end. Maybe we can shift their focus our way and make your jobs a bit easier. Savvy?"
"Confirmed," Beltran replied calmly to Master
Caltin Vanagor
. The Lorrdian officer had to admit he felt much better having the large Jedi and the operators of Omega Squad at his back. Both entities were exceptionally capable. If Master Vanagor thought he could turn the Nikto back, then Beltran was more than sure he could.
"Roger, Cap'n! Under constant attack but we're holding, we'll keep at it until our forces convene at the objective! Drones are doing a good job guiding us through!"
"We're experiencing the same," Beltran comm-ed back to
Thirdas Heavenshield
.
"Still advancing though, on target for meeting at objective point Balosar."
From beyond their position, blaster fire continued to rain down on them. Jedi Leehak (
Kuxirra Tano-Bonteri
) was anchoring the defense, deflecting bolts back at the enemy. Those unfortunate Klatoonians who broke away from their lines to charge at their party quickly learned their mistake as they were taken down by expert shots and lightsaber strikes.
Cutting his comlink, Beltran returned to the battle, once more taking up the lead position. He fired his pulse rifle, sending superheated mag-pellets into targets with devastating efficiency. Eventually it seemed as if the enemy resistance was lessening.
"Maybe they're pulling back to regroup?" Sergeant Doss asked.
"Perhaps," Beltran responded, not entirely convinced. The final wave of Klatoonians had been a ferocious lot. Led by a large being wielding a Mace, Beltran had been forced to use a powerful bolt of Force Lightning to take the being down. He didn't like using his darker powers in the presence of Jedi he didn't know, but the shots from his rifle hadn't done much to slow the Klatoonian leader down. While he had seen other Jedi use lightning before, he knew that it was generally frowned upon by most and Beltran didn't want anyone looking any closer at his
other activities.
As Beltran's party moved into the lower levels, the enemy resistance all but completely trickled off. The amount of chemical waste that they were encountering was also less, to the point that they were beginning to make better time toward their objective. Things were starting to go well....
too well...
Click
"Everyone stop moving!" Beltran's Togorian second in command shouted.
"Someone just stepped on a pressure mine!"
Beltran and the rest of Team Paladin froze in place, each waiting for several long seconds. At Beltran's command, one of the sensor drones returned to their position and began a deep scan of each of them, looking for the explosive.
"It's Argos," Beltran said aloud after a moment.
"Oh feth me!" He heard the youngest operator, Deklin Argos mutter.
"Just what I need. A pressure mine to feth me up like the Sargeant."
"Hey..." Beltran heard Sergeant Doss' reply.
"Low blow, kid."
Doss had lost the lower part of both his legs fighting the Bryn'adul on Yurb. It had taken him a long time in recovery before the prosthetics had taken and some kind of nerve damage that had accompanied the Bryn'adul weapon, left the Sergeant in near constant pain.
"Sorry Sarge," Argos replied.
"Just a little shook is all."
"Reece," Beltran called out to the team's newly returned Demolitions expert.
"Have a look."
"On it." Pulling out a specialized datapad, Sergeant Paxton Reece carefully made his way over to the Specialist and began scanning. After a moment, the Nar Shaddan reported.
"Crude, but effective. I don't think I'm going to be able to disarm it with all the sewage in the way. Certainly not in time to continue the mission."
Beltran could feel both Sergeant Doss and Lieutenant Mrwar bristle at the implied meaning behind Reece's words. Were they really considering
leaving Specialist Argos to his death? At an earlier point in Beltran's career, that might have been an option. But the massacre of Icarus Platoon at Yurb had shaken the Lorrdian down to his very core. A much more seasoned soldier, officer and leader all these years later, Beltran had no intention of sacrificing his man if he could avoid it.
"Jedi Leehak," Beltran spoke calmly to the Togruta.
"Are you familiar with Force Stasis?" It was a power that he'd learned from
Laertia Io
. It could halt objects and blaster bolts temporarily.
"Perhaps you and I could be use that to hold the detonating mechanism in place while Specialist Argos moves away."
Even if the Togruta Jedi was unable to help, Beltran would extend himself in the Force, imaging the mechanism of the mine in his eye and taking a hold of it with his mind. After a moment of meditation, Beltran would indicate that his team should move to a safe distance. Then, he would give Argos the all-clear and the Specialist would step off the mine. There was a tense moment when he did, where everyone expected an explosion. Luckily, there was none and Argos quickly moved to join the rest of the team.
Beltran then follow slowly, not wanting to break his concentration. When he was with the rest of the time, he imagined re-locking the pressure plate in place before he let go of his hold on the mind. With luck, it wouldn't detonate at all. The resulting explosion a second later told him that hadn't worked and the collapse that came soon after blocked off their most expedient route of retreat.
With a slight sigh, the Lorrdian returned his attention to the fore-front of the group. Calling out on the com's, Beltran spoke.
"All teams, be advised. The enemy has laid mines throughout the lower levels of the sewers. You'll need to redirect the scanning drones back to your positions to scan for them." That would effectively cut off their forward telemetry, which would slow their advance and allow the enemy to plan more effective ambushes for them in the future.
Darlyn Excron
Jyoti Nooran
Allyson Locke
Mathieu Brion
