Operation Guilty Spark (Silver Jedi Order)

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren secured a pair of headphones over his ears as he stepped down the lowered ramp of his team’s Luna transport. His gloved fingers fiddled with the headset to lower the microphone toward his mouth, on the other end of the transmission was the hangar officer in the observation area. Usually he’d be able to hear the communications from his earpiece, but it was a busy day in the hangars at Silvers rest. With several distress calls being received, and several units mobilizing for operations beginning today, the hanger area was deafening, the roar of some of their louder transports was constant as pilots brought big-bodied ships back and forth from pad to objective.

“Flight deck, this is Calderon. Our bird is ready to go, give the team the go ahead to load their gear.”

He could make out through the observation window an officer giving the ‘thumbs up’ signal to the colonel. Seemed like they were extremely busy today, so busy in fact that they couldn’t take the time to switch frequencies and give confirmation to the special forces officer.

Protocol and formalities didn’t really matter all that much to Valkren in cases like this, as long as the right people got the message to his current strike team, then it was all good in his book.

He turned back around just to trudge back up the loading ramp into the troop bay. His hands ran along the armored gauntlets of his katarn combat armor, fiddling with the edges to be sure the plates were locked in place.

Today would be a strange one, that was for sure. The team he’d be mobilizing with would consist of several rangers and jedi. Men from his usual special forces element were pulled for different missions, leaving availability for some changes in team structures. The brass above his own position saw this as another great opportunity to test the combat strength of their ranger-jedi strike forces, opposed to the single jedi to a large unit of ranger which happened to be the usually composition of their forces while deployed.

As long as each member of the team had the combat training suitable for their mission, there would be no trouble. Ofcourse, the team would receive their full briefing once they arrived to the transport, but Valkren still had to know what he was walking them into..So he had a conversation with the brass before this morning. Turns out a silver research station’s security had gone rogue somehow, their security droids and ranger biots showing no mercy to the staff and workers onboard the station. With no explanation and no way of escaping the space-born station, the survivors had barricaded themselves in any safe space in their work environment and sent for the cavalry.

They were the cavalry.

Valkren pulled himself into the troop bay, looking up to spot the only other ranger his own unit to already be ready. Specialist Lowder, or ‘johnny-boy’ in their books, was sitting against one of their seats, already sporting his own full shell of combat armor aside from the helmet. His patrol cap was pulled down over his eyes, and if it wasn’t for the noise in the hangars, Valk would be sure he could hear the specialist’s snoring.

He’d slap his hand against the specialists’ boots, stirring the operator awake.

“I don’t know how you can sleep with all that karkin’ noise, boy.” Valkren exclaimed, pushing the microphone of his headset up away from his mouth so he could speak freely to Johnny.

“Basic training taught me that with enough discipline, you can sleep anywhere!” Lowder said this and spread his arms out beside him like he was debuting some brand new, amazing idea to his superior officer.

Valkren just laughed, groaning slightly as he sat himself down across from the specialist. There was an awkward pause between the two before the colonel spoke up, raising his voice slightly so Lowder could hear over the multiple sounds in the hangar.

“Did Konrad talk to you?”

He could tell that Lowder immediately tensed up after the question about their teams XO came out. The specialist nodded, confirming valkren’s assumption before providing an explanation.

“Yeah..Old man told me to be careful on the station when we got there, make sure to check my weapons insertion, check the seals in my suit..You know, the whole nine yards.”

Johnny paused and reached up to rub at his stubble that was beginning to form on his chin.

“He also told me why he was thinking about leaving, something I should probably talk to you about at some point?” The look on his face held some confusion, but Valkren could tell why he had really asked.

The colonel offered a nod, pushing himself from the chair before delivering a pat to the shoulder plate of his comrade.

“We’ll talk post-mission.”

After this, Valkren moved to the ramp once again, patiently waiting for their strike-team to arrive.

(Open to all Silver-Jedi combat-types. Kindly asking everyone to message me once we get the thread rolling before joining. Other then that, approach the transport and we'll get started!!)

 

[Gi Gregain]

The chance to go on a mission and test out her full combat capabilities was important. The Herald moved as she stood in the full suit of armor, towering over most of them with the sheer size and weight of her guard armor. It was compacted but still power armor built to fit a super soldier and the baptiste metal shell of it writhed almost flesh like before becoming solid and shifting colors for her. She opened the helmet of her armor as it retracted and framed her face. Pale skin, enhanced eyes and her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her assault rifle, launcher and weapons were secured on her armor with the magnetic clasps. Twin field combat knives and a field pistol with an smg, sonic shotgun, rifle, launcher as well as several grenades on her belt. Two equipment packs one at her thigh and one on her shoulder with more supplies int he armored compartments. "Reporting." She said it and rolled her shoulders as the helmet closed with her connection to the La Rasa combat AI activating.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Suit up.

That meant time spent with one of her subordinates, getting the Katarn class armor settled onto her properly, as the armor was foreign to her and still something she required assistance with. Time spent here, and not at the ship already. That meant time was being wasted, and no one would want that, in such a rapid deployment. Credit to her assistant, however, as he managed to get her suited up in record time... though had she been able to use her former armor the process would have been far swifter, even ignoring that she would then rarely leave the suit. Still, she was armored up now, with the disgustingly underused (by her) armor standard to the Rangers, and onto collecting her arms.

A space station, corridors, long ranges were unlikely to occur if at all. So just a close quarters setup, that would work. She first picked up her Ranger's SMG, loading in a fresh power cell to the weapon before loading her utility belt's first section with the extra power cells needed. The belt further had an additional comlink, a medpack, combat deionizer, and an energy sinks on either of her hips. On her left was her sword, Officer's Will, in its Oricalcum sheath, which after a momentary test of the biometric scanners was magnetically sealed within, and she clipped her lightsaber right beside the metal blade. She instinctively checked her breastplate for knives, before cussing under her breath. She didn't carry those, not with this armor, not today. Her hands drifted back to her sides slowly, down to her holstered SMG and sheathed weapons as she walked with purpose out of the armory, her helmet tucked under her left arm, and 'eyes' wrapped in bandages.

Black armor, not what you expected the forces of good to wear in your storybooks if she remembered right...

A blind sniper probably didn't show up all too frequently either though. Perhaps her life of irony was fitting then. Ironic that she would pick such a visually demanding job, wear a suit she knew was rarely associated with the good guys, and yet feel at home, at peace, with it all. Even as she entered the cacophony that was the hangars she could scarcely imagine a more peaceful home fitting for her. She couldn't even hide the small smile at the corner of her lips as she listened to pilots rushing around her, the greys and whites of the people rushing too and fro as everyone went about their duties. This, she never realized how at peace a Jedi sanctum could be until this had become her life.

Three bright spots, however, were her particular destination. Two she did not know, one an off white and one very much a grey, while the third brighter grey had familiarity to it, at least enough. That was certainly the Colonel, not discounting hearing the off-white woman's 'reporting' as she joined them. Upon arrival, the shorter woman, shortest present at least, stood at attention and gave her CO Valkren a salute.

"Major Vass, reporting." The bandaged/blindfolded woman spoke purposefully, gaze leveled straight ahead.

[member="Gi Gregain"] :|: [member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Roona Osmari]

The hangar at Silver Rest was a hive of activity. For a moment, Roona stood at the entrance to the bay just to watch the various personnel scurrying about. However, she wasn’t allowed to linger for very long, to avoid standing in the way of others. It seemed that troubling times were here, several different deployments were happening at once. There were Rangers present, visible by their signature Katarn armor, and their Jedi counterparts were here as well. It was easy to see that this was going to be an interesting sort of day.

Striding along at a brisk pace, the sniper-woman clad in sleek Shadow Armor fit right into the crowd. With her helmet tucked into the crook of her arm, she set her steady gaze on the Luna transport designated for their mission today. As she neared the ship, she paused but a moment to secure her long hair into a low ponytail. No doubt, other members of the Radama Raiders were already waiting.

The armored form of Colonel [member="Valkren Calderon"] was easy to find, even in such a crowd – at least, for Roona. The insignia of the Raiders was on his armor, as were several other etchings. She offered him a slight nod, level stare, and the very slightest of smirks.
It didn’t take long for her to pick out their team’s new members.

Turning slightly, she glanced at [member="Gi Gregain"]. A fellow soldier woman, if ever she saw one. After giving her a brief nod, she turned her attention to [member="Caelag Vass"], the woman’s blindfolded visage an oddity to Roona. However, her posture was attentive and her salute prompt.

“Sergeant Osmari,” She said, an introduction in its simplest form.

 

[Audren Sykes]

It was shaping up to be a busy day. The hangar was buzzing with activity...actually, buzzing was the wrong word to describe the sound. Ear-piercing would be better, so much so that Audren had automatically used the Force to dampen the audio. His hearing wasn't much better than the average human's, but it was still more capable...and that meant more easily overwhelmed.

In all actuality, the Sephi wasn't sure how much help he'd be on this mission. He was good at the hack and slash, but so were the Rangers that would be going. Either way, he'd been available so he'd been tapped for it. As he approached the designated transport, the team began to come into focus. So far there were just soldiers available, though a closer look at one showed a lightsaber clipped to the belt and a quick mental scan confirmed Force sensitivity. All of them wore armor. So did he, but his was drastically different. Not so bulky, not so many electronics, and no helmet.

Like the others, he carried weapons. His lightsaber was a given of course. The daggers he commonly carried were also present; even against droids they would be useful. Something he hadn't recently carried however was his short-barreled carbine. It would no doubt be more effective than a pistol in this case given the additional power, and the shorter barrel would do well in the confines of their target. For the sake of convenience, he was also bringing along a mask that would allow him to tie into the comm network, breath if the station lost atmosphere, and enhance visuals.

The Jedi came to a near-silent stop at the group...which with all the clamor meant it was completely silent. Not unnoticed though, no doubt the others either had visuals due to the armor, could sense him, or could just plain see his approach. Maybe all three, but he wasn't hiding.

 

[Lev Orlova]

Lev watched the dropship from afar, still not sure of how this new occupation was going to suit him. Sitting atop a crate, the gasmasked fellow wondered how well he would really fit in here. He wouldn't have taken this job it if there wasn't an implication of blackmail from the Silver Jedi recruiters of them tipping off the Galactic Alliance on his faked death in one of their highest security prisons. Lev didn't respond well to threats, but it was clear he needed a new job, and running back home to do the same old song and dance would only draw attention to those who had wanted him to face justice in the first place. Regardless, placing him here seemed to be like smashing a square peg into a round hole with a sledgehammer.

He watched as the team members approached the transport, his sunken eyes cross examining each one as they made their way up the ramp. There was the commander, some gruff looking type that seemed up Lev's alley, a woman clad in massive power armor and carrying an armory of weapons, a person in those standard issue Katarn suits he had been seeing (but he could tell by the stride it was a woman), another woman in some sort of stealth suit armed with a sniper rifle, and a Jedi-type male.

He snorted incredulously and turned his head to side, shaking it. Yeah. He was going to fit in well here alright. The sight of a woman in combat was alien and even offensive to a Czelosmertian. In a turbulent poverty stricken world full of civil strife where the life expectancy was 30 without certain life sustaining implants, the role of women were to raise the next generation. Lev forced himself to set this aside, he had to be a team player. After all, he was going to stick out a sore thumb. These people were the exact type that Lev had been fighting, and then evading, for the past two decades in his private military work. The 'good guys.' He now had to play by the same rules of war that his culture mocked and ridiculed for centuries.

He knew they'd see him for what he was: a coldhearted killer, a man who's entire military career was defined by a "means to an end" type of philosophy. They didn't need Jedi mindreading or whatever force mumbo jumbo they used to tell that. At once the Czelosmertian picked up his rifle and made his way towards the transport, wading through the ground crews and heavy machinery moving about in the crowded hangar. At least they didn't seem like the talkative type.

He slowed down as he made his way up the ramp. The man was wearing simple fatigues and boots, under a large armored carrying vest, as well as a tactical breathing mask built into his helmet, connected to two large tanks on his back. His rolled up sleeves exposed the greyish, pale skin of his thick forearms, which gripped a foreign blaster rifle. On his hip was a simple blaster pistol, and a knife, as well as a couple of thermal detonators attached to his vest. His gear was noticeably less expensive and high tech as everyone else's. His fingers laced together as he brought up the rifle into a casual cradle across his chest, stepping his feet into a confident shoulder-width stance. The voice amplifier built into the microphone made his voice sound grainy and artificial as he spoke curtly in a strong accent,"Orlova."

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

Well, this was turning into a regular whos-who of the Rangers and their combat hierarchy. The pink-haired padawan could see many of the rangers and even the Jedi she'd fought beside, or seen fighting during her time in the Silver Jedi. From the legendary Colonel Calderon to Sergeant Osmari and Audren Sykes. When you got this large a collection of dignitaries together you knew that it wasn't for a picnic, the situation on the research must have been much worse than she'd been lead to believe. Especially if they were moving out with such a large and well...powerful force.

The girl reached down, pulling the pistols at her side loose, racking the energy caps watching the lights on the back of the pistols lighting up sowing the full charge of the weapons as she paced nervously back and forth. It wasn't that she was nervous but it was just that she was super nervous. Twisting the pair of pistols around in her hand she sighted down the barrel of the weapon, staring at the wall of the hangar, the sights of the weapon focused on the metal before she secured them back at her side.

If there were people up there trapped by the very security apparatus that was meant to protect them, then she was going to be in there to help them. It was the least she could do, it was why the Silver Jedi had the rangers in the first place, to protect those who needed them. Sucking in a deep breath she turned away from the wall, letting it out as she let the whirl of thoughts, of worries, fall away, pushing them into the back of her head. There was one thing that was important and that was getting to the trapped survivors, her pre-comba jitters didn't really amount to much in the grand scheme of things.

[member="Lev Orlova"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Gi Gregain"] | [member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

The special forces officer reached the bottom of the ramp and was immediately met with one of the members assigned to the strike team. Gregain, a herald. The name had only become familiar recently to him with information about the heralds coming from Master Nooran. After a talk with his Jedi-master friend, he had done more research into the 'super-soldier' project. He offered the woman a nod, before speaking up and raising his voice so he could be heard.

"Welcome aboard, get yourself a seat and we'll start the mission-briefing before takeoff!"

The next face was one he had expected to see on Kashyyyk at one point or another, but just had never been on the right rotations to get the introductions down. Caelag Vass, a Miraluka combatant hailing from the Iron Empire. After hearing about her recruitment into the Antarian Rangers, he had to admit that he was eager to read over her files. The Iron Empire had some of the most impressive history when it came to tactical leaders, and she did happen to be their High Colonel at the time. Plus, it wasn't every day you met a Miraluka soldier, and a sniper at that. It was going to be interesting to see how she preformed in combat.

"Major Vass, good to finally meet you! Wish it was under better circumstances but you know the deal."

The deal was that free time in their lives was a commodity.

It was hard to hide his own smirk from appearing when making eye contact with Roona, the marksman hailing from his own unit. But he had to remain somewhat professional or people would begin to catch on to their ruse. His lips wanted to curl into a smile, but he remained steady with a curt nod.

"Echo, Lowder is already loaded up. Go ahead and join him and the rest of the strike team."

Valkren almost missed the fourth arrival, Sykes. The Jedi had approached relatively unannounced, making for an almost covert arrival due to the deafening roar of the transports and gunships. He had gone on patrols with the man before, and been in the same theaters of combat, but had yet to fight directly beside him. The colonel looked forward to it. He offered another signature quick nod, before moving to greet the rest of the team.

Orlova was expected, but surprising still to say the least. It had been awhile since he had worked with a contractor hired out by the Silver Jedi. When contractors tended to go along with them on missions, they'd either do two things: leave afterwards, or end up joining the rangers. It wasn't often that these hired guns stuck around unless they had a good reason too. So, why exactly was Orlova in a place like this? It definitely didn't seem to fit his style, and the thick accent told Valkren that he was otherwise foreign to the area. Still, could he judge a hired killer? No, not with his past and the things he had done. Who knows, maybe the mercenary would surprise the special forces officer in some way. When he stepped forward, Valkren instantly recognized the confidence in his stance and posture. A notable feature in many hired guns and rangers alike.

"Orlova, I'm Colonel Calderon! Nice of you to join the rangers for a quick trip. Briefing will begin soon." He'd nod toward the bay of the ship, speaking up over the constant sound.

His eyes were taken over in the direction of another familiar face, Commander Vaashe. It had been awhile since he had seen her at the helm of her marine assault team, so her attendance at the ranger base wasn't quite as often as it had been. Still even without her ranger unit, it was good to see her. However, she seemed to be stuck pacing. Nervous, perhaps? After another moment though, she began her way over toward the group.

"Asaraa! Come on now, we don't have all day!" He'd speak out to his approaching comrade, waving his arm once or twice above his head before turning to walk back up the ramp once more.

Once he entered the troop bay where the rest of their strike team was now setting up, he'd catch their attention and point to his headset, suggesting that they tune into the team's communications channel. Once they were all properly tuned in, and when Asa had reached the troop bay, he'd begin their briefing.

"Alright people, another busy day makes for another quick briefing. You'll have plenty of time to brush up on the details once we're objective-bound. So I'm going to give you the short version."

Valkren began to pace up the length of the troop bay as he spoke.

"A silver research station, dubbed 'Tachi,' has sent out a distress call. In this call they described their automated defenses and their droids violently turning on them. Now, usually our research stations are manned with Ranger units to provide security, however this station is in civilian space. The security team wasn't well prepared, and when push came to shove, they were wiped out."

The colonel sighed, wasted lives. He'd hate to think how scared those who were still on the station were, many of the researchers probably never had to go through something so traumatizing.

"The surviving staff members have barricaded themselves in the station's storage room. Now our main objective is the safe return of our people, secondary objective includes the destruction of all threats within the station. If that means we have to destroy every droid and security system there, we will. Hopefully by the end of this mission, we'll find out exactly what happened on Tachi station."

"Just to let everyone know." Specialist Lowder joined in once the colonel was finished, providing his own slice of information from his seat in the troop bay. "Tachi station is a defense research post, meaning that they could have any number of new defense droids there. Keep your heads on a swivel."

Valkren nodded in agreement with his teammate before looking back to the rest of them.

"Any questions?"

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Lev Orlova"] | [member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Gi Gregain"]

 

[Gi Gregain]

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Lev Orlova"] | [member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Valkren Calderon"]


She moved up the ramp and could see the others, the AI unit talking as it pulled up information and files for them. There was a look on her face as it spoke. 'A combat sniper from the Iron Empire, before that there are records from the Republic thanks to former senator Ayumi... looks solid enough but miraluka are odd to say the least.' She waited stopping in the ship and remaining in a standing position as she realized she towered over the others. 'Looks like one of the colonels unit as well as another in the ship. Solid action report.' Gi started testing the guard armors functions as the toolkit on her wrist weapons spun with the smal tubes, weapon selection on the screen of her hud.

'Hmm a jedi master, been in plenty fo combat and a padawan flagged for transferring bodies with a sith. The last one seems to be an unknown. Recommend watch and observe. Based on lack of cybernetics I estimate a ninety nine percent chance you could crush his skull with your bare hand if he turns on them and that rifle should be easy enough.' She didn't make or say much as the briefing started, hearing the situation on a station Gi finally spoke as her voice came out partially a growl from the cybernetics and the tightness of her throat. "Corridor Dimensions?" She said it and turned her head while she was looking down to give eye contact.

'Oh planning to use the boosters and speed.' She flicked her eyes to move the screen and tested the small movement for her power armors boosters and thrusters. She knew how to move in them and her perceptions could be sped up to make her fast enough to boost around hallways and with a combat AI she could shoot. The shoulder cannons of the armor springing up and tracking as the sighting systems went up. More things coming online and preparing as she calibrated her armor to scan and have biometric tags with each of them in the ship. 'Hmmm we could send the small one into a vent and have them disable the artificial gravity then use gravity grenades to smash defensive droids into the walls.... Or use the emp cannons.'

 

[Caelag Vass]

Dark. Light. Light. Grey. Light.

Even the darker shades of grey present had a comforting familiarity to them, in the Iron empire light and dark held no distinction, little mattered save for loyalty and duty. This darker man she suspected to be a hired gun, since he certainly was no jedi nor a soldier for them based on Valkren's commentary. Whatever his story, if he did his job she wouldn't feel the need to sear the flesh from his bones slowly as punishment for dereliction of duty.

She never wanted to do that after all, it was messy,

Regardless of who he was, the jedi and soldiers seemed to be gathered up, finishing preparations as she took her seat past them all. She considered her current impressions, as she fitted her helmet atop her head. The Colonel seemed welcoming enough, she felt, and the others had yet to really make much of an impression on her. All the same, she felt there was enough leeway with them, enough give and take, she could at least trust most of them to have her back. The tall one, almost certainly the jedi and Colonel. They would do just fine by her book.

As the last few footfalls echoed in her head as she was striking her arms against one another, testing if they could create a spark. She didn't seem to be having much luck, the rounder parts didn't make it easy, nor were the materials exactly optimal. So she gave off a sense of distaste as she made sure her headset was tuned to the right frequency. She did manage to catch him pointing after all, she could see everyone around her regardless of where her head turned. She listened to the briefing with silent contemplation, interrupting her thoughts only every few sentences to give one more attempt at using her arms to create a spark. The super soldier was the first to speak, with a rather unusual sounding voice but fitting for her gargantuan form. Well, Valkren did ask for questions...

"Anyone have a lighter I can borrow for the mission? I'll give it back after." No explanation, but who knew which of them could pick up on her particular skill set without asking? Either way she could simply use her sword, but she'd rather have a hand free.

[member="Gi Gregain"] :|: [member="Valkren Calderon"] :|: [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] :|: [member="Lev Orlova"] :|: [member="Audren Sykes"] :|: [member="Roona Osmari"]

 

[Roona Osmari]

In the presence of so many others, Roona’s posture was straight, almost rigid. Her expression was set, bordering on grim. She’d caught the slight smirk that hid on Valkren’s face, and the urge to return it was strong. But ever the good soldier, she remained stoic and stony.

“Understood,” She answered the Colonel and then ducked away to join Lowder inside.

As the marksman turned her back to the group and walked up the ramp, she heard the newcomers arriving. With so many new faces, it was bound to be an interesting day. However, she wondered how they would mesh together as a team. It was always odd for Roona to work with those she didn’t know; she was more comfortable within the ranks of the Special Forces team, the Radama Raiders.

Still, she was able to silently admit that new skills and abilities were a boon at times.

There was no knowing exactly what waited for them. Roona settled in next to Lowder, bumping the man’s fist in greeting. The two sat silently, waiting for the others to join them in the troop bay. And it wasn’t long before the Colonel’s sturdy form was visible before them. Roona tapped her own headset, tuning into his channel to listen to the briefing details.

Her brow arched upon learning of the rogue droids that had turned on the personnel of the research station. It wasn’t the sort of thing she was expecting, to be honest. She was used to taking on troopers, Sith soldiers, and the like. She supposed that this would make for an easy job, morally speaking. There was little to grieve when it came to droids.

But that didn’t mean it was going to be an easy fight.

And when the briefing came to a close, she drew a breath to steady her nerves. Roona’s eyes shifted in the direction of Major Vass, she’d asked for a lighter. It was a peculiar request. But, Roona did happen to have one on her person, she did smoke on occasion. Producing a silver lighter from her pocket, she tossed it over to the Miralukan.

[member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Lev Orlova"] |[member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Gi Gregain"]

 

[Lev Orlova]

The masked merc nodded curtly to the Colonel, passing him by to the bay. Lev took his time finding a seat in the troop bay and settling in, setting his blaster between his legs and crossing his arms together. He looked down to a small control panel hooked onto his vest and adjusted his internal helmet headset frequency. The soldier didn't seem to react in any noticeable fashion to the brief, being that he remained still and his entire face was covered by his breathing apparatus.

Lev looked amongst the others speaking their pieces, before leaning in and speaking calmly in his thick accent,"We have schematics of the facility, yes?" He then looked around to the others,"More important: we must establish 'game plan'." He waved his finger around, pointing at everyone atleast once,"Don't know anyone, don't feel like nobody know each other." He then pointed to himself,"Where I come from, we say: 'Volk dura, volchyastaya molodets.' - Wolf is dumb, the pack is smart." Leaning back into his seat and crossing his arms he again, the Czelosmertian reluctantly realized he should probably start off.

The man seemed to be forcing himself to speak up in such a manner, clearly doing it only for professional reasons and not because he wanted to get to know anyone. His tone of voice and curt attitude gave that away. But Lev knew that being the tough silent type when no one knew you just got you killed. "Orlova. Weapons specialist where I last work. I know blasters. I also know the 'rulebook' the 'boy scouts' play by." He rubbed his coarse hands together briefly,"So, you put me somewhere I can kill, suppress, flank with blaster, I know what I doing. I am simple like this--but... Don't ask me to be a hero. Not here for your -ideals.-" He spat that last word out with probably the most emotion he had shown in the past minute: disgust. With that he nodded to the colonel and sat back into his chair, remaining silent again.

[member="Roona Osmari"]a [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Gi Gregain"] [member="Valkren Calderon"] @Asaraa Vashe [member="Audren Sykes"]

 

[Audren Sykes]

The Sephi wasn't the last to join, another soldier walked up to the group after. Calderon greeted some of the team by name and some - including Audren - by a nod. As the team walked up the transport's ramp, the colonel shouted at someone else to pick it up. Asaraa...that was probably Asaraa Vaashe then, one of the Padawans. He'd heard that she had an interesting history, but hadn't really put the time into finding out what it was. It was an interesting team.

Valkren followed the team up the ramp and made his way to a position they could all see him. Once everyone had tuned into the team frequency, the introductory briefing began. It was more or less a summary: droids and automated defenses at a defense research station had turned on the beings there. Some had survived and barricaded themselves in a storage room. Goal was to recover the survivors and end the threats. There was a lot left unsaid, a number of details that the Jedi assumed would come later, during the flight.

Since it was only the droids and automated defenses, it was a safe assumption that there was a single cause. A hack, or planted malware of some kind. There could be any number of reasons for someone to do that, but at this point it really mattered if it was a one-time programming change or ongoing directions...a live feed. Each would require different tactics. It would also be helpful if the team had ways to identify the staff if there was an active infiltration or HRD-style droids. Of course, it could also be a glitch in the system; as a defense research station they would have the ability to update the programming of the defenses. He had to assume that a remote shutdown had already been attempted to no avail.

Even while paying attention to the briefing, the Sephi also tried to get the sense of those around him. The abnormally tall soldier felt like she was listening to multiple conversations at once while another - Major Vass - seemed preoccupied with something. The one he'd called Echo seemed to have some sort of private joke running with the colonel that segued into professional focus during the briefing. The questions more or less matched with what he sensed. The tall one had asked for dimensions of the corridors; he'd let Valkren answer that but he expected them to be more on the cramped side since space was in a premium on stations, especially ones that weren't luxury resorts. The Major asked for a lighter, which was itself an odd request since smoking or lighting off fires in enclosed, pressurized areas like the transport wasn't recommended. Echo provided one. The other soldier, who'd stayed more or less focused and surly throughout the briefing, seemed intent on getting a meet and greet going in an attempt to mesh the group together.

The Jedi had a question of his own, one he didn't want to wait until later for.

"What's the status of the droid attackers, are they actively trying to get to the survivors, passively guarding the closet, or even just ignoring them as long as they stay put? And what about the stations external defenses?"

Based on the details they'd get during flight, he might end up with more questions. This was a good start though. On one hand it was good that some beings had survived, but on the other it made their job more difficult. Had there been no survivors they could have EMPed the place, swept through in relative safety, then brought the place back online. The details defined their tactics for this mission.

[member="Valkren Calderon"] | [member="Gi Gregain"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Lev Orlova"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"]​

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Once everyone had loaded into the drop ship, along with the remaining crew of their transport, the lowered ramp would soon rise to its closed position. The pilots began to go through with their last final pre-flight checks as Valkren was wrapping up their briefing.

The herald was the first to speak up, offering ideas about insertion using their smaller framed teammates and the use of their EMP weapons.

"Unfortunately the research within the station could be affected if we were to use any kind of EMP weaponry. More than likely the vent system on this station won't allow anyone here to fit inside, but we'd have to see exactly what we're dealing with once we arrive.. So the option can still be on the table."

Valkren shifted his gaze to the mercenary after he said his piece. He was atleast glad that Orlova lived with the pack mentality when it came to missions with a full team or strike force, considering he still struck Valk' as the type to work alone in most situations.

"We do have schematics of the station, and initial recon via' probes and a fighter patrol told us that one of the hangars is still open. That's our LZ, from there we can easily make our way to the storage area but we still have the droid variable to worry about."

Lev's statement about 'boyscouts' made Valkren assume he was referencing the rangers, or the strike team's Jedi members as a whole.

He didn't know, no point in telling.

"As for the 'ideals' you're talkin' about? Don't worry about them, you do your job to the extent your contract requires you too and you'll get paid the same." Valkren said this plainly, remaining professional about the matter.

Valk' didn't know how much Orlova was being paid, or if he was being paid anything at all. He'd need to look closer into his file post mission, if he had one that is.

He had worked with a number of mercenaries in his time, most during his 'grey' period in-between service to the Galactic Republic and Silver Jedi. Back then, there were mercenaries on both sides of the barrel. More than often, they were on the receiving end due to the shifty alliances they had made with the same people the colonel had hunted. Nowadays it was much more different.

Sykes remained intuitive, searching for more information from the colonel. For good reason, as well.

"Thank whatever gods you all believe in cause this station, to our knowledge, lacks most external defenses. Since it's so far into our systems, the frequency of Silver Spacey patrols is high. So unless they decided to put whatever defense systems they were working on in there on the actual station, we should be alright."

Valkren took a breath then continued once more, moving to take a seat next to Lowder and Echo as he did so.

"As for the droids and security measures themselves, we have no idea. We received the distress call from the only security room on the station, giving us details about the droids and the survivors trapped. Ever since command received the transmission, they haven't been able to make contact again. So we're hoping to establish contact as soon as we board."

He took another glance at the strike team, making sure to drill something into their minds before they asked any more questions, as he well and knew that they were sure to have more about a mission of this nature.

"With lack of intel comes a whole lot of risk..I know the lot of you might believe you're professionals and big chit' and I don't mean to put anybody in their place..But we don't know what to expect once we get in there. I need everyone focused, copy?"

(( Feel free to continue asking questions in briefing, splitting arrival post now just to get things moving along))​

​

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On approach to Tachi station​

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Colonel Calderon took as much time as he could before slipping the finishing touch of his Katarn combat armor on, the helmet, but the trip was a quick one. He didn't have that much time for fresh air. His heads-up-display kicked in, picking up each team member's information in the corner of his 'screen,' his visor illuminating a bright-blue for a moment, then faded. He'd reach his arms out whilst still in his seat, rotating his limbs back and forth to test the movements with the armor plating. After assuring that everything was in it's proper place the colonel would lift himself from the seat, moving in-between and past his team members to reach the cockpit of the luna. On his way there, he'd remove the LPD-14 blaster rifle from its respected weapons' rack, attaching it onto his back for the moment with its magnetic locks.

The special forces officer clambered into the cockpit, gripping onto one of the pilots' chairs to keep him upright with the weight of his armor. They were both already busy with the careful approach to the station. The looming mass of cold steel looking ominous in the emptiness of space, absolute silence around them aside from the interactions between those within their transport. They were attempting to regain contact with the survivors now that they were in a much closer vicinity.

"Tachi station, Tachi station; come in, over." One pilot looked to the other as they waited for a response, then repeated the same callout.

They did this three times, with the colonel listening in. He'd pat the back of their chairs, before pointing two gloved fingers out the front viewport at the hangar ahead, the only opening available.

"Go ahead and put us down, we'll try again once land."

The pilots heard their orders and went with them, moving the luna closer towards their destination. The colonel took this time to return to the troop bay and ready himself and the others. In the process of moving back through their small crowd, he'd detach his blaster from his back, attaching a sling from his chest rig atop of his armor platings to the stock his weapon. He let the weapon hang from its sling as he moved toward the still-closed ramp. He'd run his hand over the pistol in his drop-holster, just to re-assure himself that it was in fact there if it was needed.

Lowder approached, moving to the other side of the ramp across from Valkren. He wore the same armor and practically the same kit, but carried a larger equipment 'ruck' on his back, acting as the team's medic and in-preperation for any injured staff members. He also brandished an assault ripper in his hands, the rangers standard issue rifle.

His voice rang out through their communications channel as the Luna grew moments away from their destination.

"This is it, let's get a secure perimeter and get that hangar closed." Quick and to the point, they needed no moral-boosting speech for this one.

They had a job to do.

The transport entered the hangar carefully, both pilot and co-pilot doing their best to direct one another to turn the ship about so it was facing directly at their entry point, preparing for a getaway if it was needed. Once the transport was turned all the way about, it'd lower, the troop bay ramp actually moving to open before they'd even touch the ground.

Valkren made sure his boots were the first to move down the ramp, rifle shouldered with Lowder directly behind and aside from him in a staggered position.

At first glance, it was a regular hangar. Container crates littered the area, marked with all sorts of resources. A civilian grade shuttle rested on the pad across from them behind the hangar door that was closed. The area initially seemed untouched to their eyes, almost as if the chaos that was reported never reached the area.

[member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Gi Gregain"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Roona Osmari"] | [member="Lev Orlova"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"]

​

 

[Lev Orlova]

Lev sat silently in his seat, staring straight ahead as the ship made its way to the space station. He turned his head to watch as [member="Valkren Calderon"] stepped up to the cockpit. He took a charge pack off his chest and slapped it into his rifle, charging it immediately with a loud squeal. The soldier rolled his head from side to side with a sickening crack coming from his thick neck. He was in the zone. Ready. The merc stood from his chair as the ship entered the hangar and slowed down, making its about-face maneuver. He faced towards the ramp, keeping his weapon to a low ready. He followed Valkren out close behind, clearing around the left side of the dropship, the butt of his blaster welded to his cheek. He took a knee and scanned the area, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, or even like there was a hint of an attack here.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Caelag caught the lighter before it reached her, guiding it into her hand with the Force so it wouldn't hit the ground or wall by mistake. When it was safely in her hands, she gave a small sigh of relief and clutched the source of flame to her chest gently as she could, giving a grateful nod of her head towards Roona in thanks. "I will be sure to return it when all's said and done, Sergeant. You have my word." And with that sentiment, the Major would become silent the remainder of the flight to the station. The Colonel demanded excellence, and in lieu of her usual circumstances, this required her to now prepare her mind for the strain it would be under. She had much to work through in preparation of this particular mission.

Droids were, to no small extent, Caelag's second worst enemy. Translucent save for the energy an active droid would produce, and the sense of danger they might exude, if for whatever reason these droids remained inactive for a time she would be utterly helpless. She could keep an open mind she might notice irregularities before they became problems, and she certainly would be able to sense those they were en route to extract, but there was no guarantee that her senses wouldn't be overwhelmed when they had the civilians in their custody. Preparation had to be made to be actively seeking the droids, and further to prepare for the ripples the potentially large group would send through the Force, fear and pain being chief among them. Nerves had to be calm, pr


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Caelag was well aware of when the ship arrived, docked, and the Colonel and Lev made preparations to leave relative safety and begin the day's work. For her part, Cael was swift in ensuring she was prepared, a simple double check that her SMG was placed where it should, and her lightsaber, and the lighter safely where it could be retrieved from her belt within moments when needed. Three weapons within a moment's reach, exactly as she needed them to be. She took a slow breath, and stood up behind the others. Valkren and Lowder were first, leaving in a relatively standard pattern for such a scenario.

Lev to his credit was methodical as the soldiers were. Cautious. Her opinions remained unchanged but her appreciation of his calm attitude was steadily growing. Soon her feet would join the methodical rhythm, her hands lowering to her most dangerous weapon present, the sheathed sword at her hip. The left hand registered with the biometrics on the scabbard, and her right hand registered with the biometrics on her hilt, the magnetic seal deactivating as her footfalls finally left the ship proper. It would take probably another few moments but, if needed for an initial ambush, she had a powerful initiation to pull at whim.

Yet...

The silence was deafening as she finally joined the team, staggered, wary, still, looking for that initial threat. Even Caelag's innate Sight could not pick up any sort of abnormal energies, no battle droids, no defensive turrets, not even a mouse or astromech tending to daily maintenance. At least nothing within her sphere of Sight, wide as it was, that drew her attention. So, she remained silent, leaving the channel clear for now.

Though sensing nothing bothered her to no end.

[member="Gi Gregain"] :|: [member="Valkren Calderon"] :|: [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] :|: [member="Lev Orlova"] :|: [member="Audren Sykes"] :|: [member="Roona Osmari"]

 

[Gi Gregain]

She looked at him for a moment but nodded her head slowly no more need for questions. THe information provided was giving the AI ont he RAC and within her suit. The design being brought up when he was speaking more of it and the location. Her eyes flicked over the itnernal screen while the others were asking questions and getting their answers with the ship travel. THen they were there and she waited to let them disembark... a massive suit of armor would draw more attention while she gripped her rifle and moved out behind them. Standing at the ready before the AI pinged with the sensors and trackers of her suit. 'INfiltrating, I am really going to have to remind Quiet to make sure the database is secured better... maybe Rose will speak with her.... ehhh here we go.' Gi remained watching the others but she was tracking with her scanners the crates with her rifle at the ready at her shoulder. Wrist weapon selected for ionic beamer to tear down droids and heavy vehicles.

 

[Tyrell Caphey]

The former tarisian soldier had snuck in quietly aboard the Luna transport with the rest of the strike team. This was going to be his third mission with the Antarian Rangers and as usual, he had thought of both worst and best case scenarios to be prepared for whatever they would face. It was a big part of preparing yourself mentally, so that you could more easily adapt to the sudden changes on the battlefield. No need to have state of the art equippment if you were not prepared mentally.

Already in his full Katarn armor, helmet too, he had given the colonel a short but respectfully greeting nod when boarding the transport. Taking a seat at the far side of the troop bay he had listened to the colonels briefing, the mercenarys not too surprising rant about his reason to be here, and the privates usual small talk Small talk. Even if they were well disciplined soldiers, it was important to keep a connection to one another. Human care had proven to be efficient in dealing with post-battle psycological stress and illness and also, you could go that extra mile for the teammate you cared about. A perk the old Galactic Empire and it's stormtroopers had lacked and suffered for. By nature he was a calm and stable character, known to not say overexaggeratingly much if he didn't have to, except in his squad. He didn't feel like joining in on the small talk now, though.

As soon as the Luna transports landing gear touched the ground of the hangar bay, he stood up and got in line to disembark. His loadout was the same as he had on his former two missions; the ''Famos'' particle beam rifle in his hands and the Ranger field pistol being strapped to his right thigh.

 

[Roona Osmari]

A nod was the only response Roona gave to Major Vass, watching as the other woman clutched the lighter close, like a prize of some kind. It was peculiar, to be sure. However, Roona figured that there was some kind of ritual surrounding the seemingly ordinary object. She herself was Ysanna, she understood superstition. But, she would just wait to see what the meaning was behind the Miralukan woman’s need for a flame.

As she listened to the each voice speak up with questions or suggestions, a brow rose ever slightly. Roona might not have looked it, but she was interested in what her peers had to say. Indeed there were some good ideas, a benefit of working in a large group. Still, how well they worked together would remain to be seen. Roona could vouch for her fellow members of the Radama Raiders, and they would do their best to mesh well with the new additions to their team today.

Closing her eyes, she waited…

Roona’s green gaze opened once more to see the troop bay, their transport rocked slightly as it touched down. Standing, she made her weapons ready and ensured that her armor was securely in place. The armored forms of Colonel Calderon and Lowder were present at the front, the first ones down the ramp. The marksman fell into place with the rest of the group exiting, and she held her rifle at the ready.

There was nothing remarkable about the hangar, their immediate surroundings appeared just like one might imagine. A small shuttle and some crates of supplies were the only objects of note. The quiet here was oddly unsettling and sent a small shiver up Roona’s spine.

However, before this feeling was given any chance to expand, she spotted Corporal Caphey – a familiar face from Nickel One. It’d been quite a while, but it was good to see him. Roona lifted her chin in a small nod to the man, and then resumed her careful watch of their surroundings.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]| [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Gi Gregain"] | [member="Caelag Vass"] | [member="Lev Orlova"] | [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] | [member="Tyrell Caphey"]

 

[Pandora]

The transports had no trouble getting onto Tachi station, but that's because he had willed it. If not, then the whole station would be locked up with no easy way in or out. He needed them to board.

Oculus was patient, making no moves against the Jedi and Rangers as they disembarked from their transports and spread across the hangar. The hangar was quiet, as was most of the station. Perhaps they would be able to make out the sounds of distant blaster fire at the far end of the station echoing through the ventilation shafts. however, remnants of the security team and research crews making their last stand against the station defenses - primarily Marinus battle droids and security drones.

If the band of heroes didn't hurry, they would soon perish. It wouldn't be an easy task, major hallways guarded by stun turrets, ray shields and Rekali spheres that could swarm even the best warriors.

[member="Roona Osmari"] [member="Tyrell Caphey"] [member="Gi Gregain"] [member="Caelag Vass"] [member="Lev Orlova"] [member="Valkren Calderon"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Asaraa Vaashe"]