Start of the Bloody Trail (PM for Invite)

[BX-1138]

"Do either of you identify as a gender?"

Now that was a funny question. It was probably one of the hardest questions ever asked to a free-thinking droid. His programming was supposed to be male, but did that really make him a male? What did one's gender programming even mean? A droid could be 'female' and yet be almost the same as a 'male', or 'neutral' one.

Concentrate on the task. You'll think about your gender later. He decided to stick with 'male' for the moment. The droid stepped back from the door, replying, "I possess male programming." He paused for a moment, before adding, "Prepare any explosives you might have."

Ultimatum was asking the commander if they could cut power to the lower levels. That was a good idea, and 1138 hoped the commander would have the opportunity to do so. But he wouldn't rely on it. The door finally blew, sending several shattered pieces of durasteel—or whatever metal they used—into the room. BX-1138 raised his rifle in the blink of an eye and sent five crimson blaster bolts to the enemy, three of them hitting an armored one in the chest, sending him staggering back. He was out of the fight for at least a dozen seconds. One down, two to go.

Once they were done with the hostiles and were descending to the lower levels, the group would have all the time to learn more about each other, something BX-1138 looked forward to. The other droid was the one who concerned the commando the most, with his strong plating, advanced 'droid brain'—as organics called the processors—and powerful sensors, Ultimatum was one of the most competent droids he'd ever worked with. The rebellious Nautolan, too, was an interesting figure. The amphibian had a strong personality, a rare trait among organics.

This would be an interesting trip.

[member="Xavka Duquo"] | [member="Xenia Nastassia"] | [member="Conglomerate Comando"] | [member="Ultimatum"] | [member="Kalous Anson"]​

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

Iskeria System;​

UTC Insertion;​

Inner Sahara.​

​

​

​

Rabid Squad.​

[member="Ultimatum"] | [member="BX-1138"] | [member="Kalous Anson"] | [member="Xavka Duquo"]​

​

Above.​

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] | [member="Rogue"] | [member="Conglomerate Comando"]
​

Xenia breath shook and her eyes shattered into double take. Before any other form of noise, before the crackling of oppressive blaster fire, the 'yes sir' of a soldier, or the whooping taunt of an enemy-- came Kalous' calloused voice. His words stung her ears, caused her face to nearly disintegrate into wrinkles like she had smelled something rancid, such an expression hidden safely under the veil of her slender helmet. Her fingers clenched in a quick anger which gripped at her, wanting at once to raise her own rifle and reduce the nautolan to little more than rancor snacks. Detox, Xenia was sure, wouldn't have shown the same mercy as she, and would have taken such a life without hesitation. Instead she swallowed, swallowed again, and turned to face the borderline insubordinate thug rabble before her. Each breath was measured, each tone in her voice synthesized to the point of shaming most active holo-drama stars, but the grip on her weapon making its less subtle debut. "You were hired by this trade conglomerate to take place in a military insertion, lead and enforced by the faction's own men and machinations." Even as she spoke Xenia wove through blaster fire, the enemies lining the fringes making their sudden reemergence when she had taken to words. She didn't have time to repeat the briefing, assign another layer of obvious facts and shout outs, a droid wouldn't ever demand such ludicrous attention. Not here, not ever, but especially not here. That was sloppy, even for grunt work. The inability to compose oneself to fit the mold of a team was a weakness far greater than the removal of an arm, or poor aim through a gun's sights. Fatal not only to the fool, but those surrounding the fool.

"You are in no way entitled to your own unique design here, Kalous, there are others here involved. You will accomplish the objectives our Trade Conglomerate assigns or you will rapidly find your involvement here less than plentiful."

Xenia couldn't say more, couldn't spare the dizzying lack of focus, forced instead to prioritize the threat which lay ahead of her before the threat to her left flank- the green mercenary. Each hand now held one of the four Naboo blaster pistols originally strapped to her legs, letting loose a volley of thick emerald munitions into enemy lines which sprinkled those set against her and sent them sprawling backwards. The distance between Xenia and them had been greatly decreased since last they engaged Rabid Squad from their precious, perhaps the quick deciding factor in their survival versus Xenia's own. Behind the fallen was a far more petit lining of bulkheads and narrow passages, winding until they spit out into larger, decorated, entrance room at the tower's top. Here things were more wide open and spacious, even if only a little, and already Xenia could see the heat signatures of more than one hanging in the skulking stasis of that which came just before warfare. Those sweet moments when everyone silently wondered whether or not this might be their last experience in flesh.

That same chaos disrupted the dispute between Xenia and her... help. Finding that they all fell in much better with one another while concentrated on collectively killing things. And so it was, anyone not pointing the gun at you currently was someone you'd fight alongside in the more heated moments. "1138, Ultimatum, splinter off. Kalous, you have your orders. Follow them or forfeit the payload attached," her right shoulder jerked backwards and she let a short yelp out as a rogue projectile of blaster energy smashed into her own armor, thankfully glancing off without dealing any unrecoverable damage. "Xavka," and she motioned with her hands for him to follow. Each team did eventually break off from the other, filtering into the narrow, short passage ways. Here the enemies changed, taking advantage of such close quarters and brandishing vibro-blades or powerful metallic constructs meant. Quickly, Xenia's rifle became a sort of melee attachment in and of itself, used in spite of its drained energy cells and for the metallic grips and edges.

One marauder who's size boasted of something greater than human had all but fallen atop Xenia only to meet the thin wispy wire which wrapped him round and tangled him with razor sharp edges. Binding his arms against torso, locking legs, and slipping through the creases of his heavy armor to sever him in dozens of lacerations. Leaping into a tumbled roll and pulling back to tighten the coil, Xenia could feel the blades of thread positively sink into their victim, removing generous chunks of the brute before sending him into collision coarse with the hard flooring. The rest met a similar end, though each time with some new devious counter method, some new tool or creative, exotic weapon choice. Instead of the force or strength of muscle, Xenia bolstered herself in pure agility and wit, smarter and faster than these Sahara defilers and therein drawing victory.

<<This is Commander Stol, we have finally found the jamming devise and arrested several individuals on levels 12-35, we are stretched too thin down here and have found a few police droids to assist us, there are 12 KIA pirates down here, they don't match any discription of pirates on our database, they must be stragglers from the Fringe, we have bio-scanners all over the facility and it seems that most of the 200 pirates are located between your guys posistion and level 85, that's only 75, the rest are rushing our posistion and I've already set up kill zones and such, it will be one hell of a firefight down here, I've also shut off all turbo lifts from going up, that souls assist with your posistion, the pirates will be going via the stairwell, so cover your six. Use the turbo lifts, only way to pass all the guards, don't worry about us, we will be out of radio contact for a while.>>
- Commander Stol

The path taken to reach Sahara's system terminals and communications array were vastly different from those to the turbo lifts, each cluttered with enemy activity. Even before any useful terminal in sight she could hear other feeds bubbling in. Ultimatum, ringing clear with tactical inquiry. "Once I," then blaster fire "can get to" an ungraceful fade to the kkkffftt of static. Then, all at once and over heavy breathing "A gimmick like that is easy once I get to the systems terminal, I just--" Another less than graceful departure,

"I'll contact when in position. Get to level 89kkfftt, in order for any of thisszz to work we need to gain control of central security and trip the manual override, do you understand?"












"Ultimatum, this is Xenia, I'm in position. Looks like the quarantine set lock outs on all of Sahara's tech so it's gunna take me a second to-- to work anything... got it!"

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

A feral growl of contentment echoed from the depths of Xavka's throat as he tore into the throat of an enemy, his sharpened and well maintained claws digging through the thin armour of the neck and tearing into flesh, muscle and veins as blood began to bubble up into the suit. With a sharp kick, Xavka pushed himself off of the corpse so as to land in a crouch, sparks lighting the walls as they flew off of the metal flooring as claws scrapped along at high speeds.

　
At the back of his mind Xavka acknowledged the bloodshed his ally was causing, sowing chaos. Xenia's hands were quick as numerous weapons were used in a variety of ways, each one causing death to claim the unlucky recipient of the woman's sharp mind. He felt a strong resonance flow through him at the skills the woman was displaying, matching one of the requirements all Zabrak males looked for in a mate. To him, Xenia was almost poetry in motion as she tore through the enemies that flocked towards the pair in a desperate attempt to tear them down. He also acknowledge the faint buzz of the Force rippling off her in time with her movements, hinting towards the fact that Xenia was Force Sensitive, however the uncontrolled flow of the Force meant that she was untrained and probably unaware of her potential. However, all of this was pushed to the back of Xavka's mind as his buried feral state slowly began to surface.

　
As he threw himself into combat, reopening partially healed wounds, Xavka paid no attention to the protests his battered body made. In the state he was in their was only the battle and proving himself to the woman he was reacting towards in the J'ku of Tai'shan. The world slowly blurred as the rush consumed the Zabrak, driving all of his sentience to the back of his mind, suppressed by the pure bloodlust that was slowly consumed him.
　
With a short howl, Xavka launched himself off of a newly dead body. In the last attack he had overstretched his left shoulder, causing the remaining injury left over from his attempt to heal to be pulled, sending sharp daggers of white hot pain flaring through his body, causing him to become temporally paralyzed from the sudden surge of feeling.

　
Grunting, Xavka impacted the ground a few seconds later as the heavy body of a marauder impacted on him, driving him to the ground. His hands lashed forwards just in time to catch a hand carry a knife that was on course to be driven into his neck. A smirk grew of Xavka's face as he struggled with the hand holding the knife as his mind, sentient mindset reapplied from the shock of pain, came up with a plan.
　
Reaching out into the Force, Xavka directed it to wrap around the man above him before pulling him backwards and off of Xavka's body. Raising slowly, Xavka ripped plates of metal off the walls and called them towards him as he slowly unwrapped his whip from where it rested on his waist. Using the metal plates hovering around him as sheilds, Xavka advanced alongside Xenia towards the terminals at the end of the hallway, whip flashing as it tore limbs from bodies and crushed skulls even as they resided in their helmets.

　
As Xenia set to work on the terminals once they had cleared the hallway, Xavka let the metal plates he had hovering around him fall to the floor before he fell limp, almost impacting the ground, only catching himself of his cane which he had called towards himself through use of the Force. "Damn," his voice was hoarse as he heard Xenia contacting Ultimatum, "I've got to learn how to control myself in that state."
　
Groaning, Xavka pushed himself back onto his feet, ignoring the numerous new wounds that littered him from his blind charge. Sinking into himself he once again began to heal his body while the cold air flowed around his heated, bare torso, cooling him down. He stayed in that meditative state while he waited for Xenia to address him.


[member="Xenia Nastassia"]
　
　
OOC Note:

Spoiler

If you want anything changed of this, please do tell me.

 

[Kalous Anson]

By the time that [member="Xenia Nastassia"] had begun trying to berate him with various instructions and orders; Kalous was already long passed listening range. In large part, Kalous was glad he could hear the woman nag and plead as she tried to gain control of him. It was just something that would never happen as long as Kalous was a free mercenary out in the galaxy. He had been hired by the corporation that Xenia worked for, that much was true, but he was hired for a purpose that didn't involve being micromanaged on a battlefield. Kalous had gone into this life and death situation with the knowledge that he, and only he, would see himself through this adventure.

Completing the overarching objectives that [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] had plotted out in the briefing was the extent of Kalous' job, and if Xenia thought she could withhold any sort of payment that he was due upon completion of these objectives--she would be sorely mistaken. There had to be some respect for that trade of professional soldiering--those with a cause and those without--and that respect should've been shown to him from the moment that they had met. There simply was no wiggle room for Kalous in Xenia's attempted hierarchy and Kalous wanted nothing more than to do his job and leave before she would try anything he knew that she wouldn't live to regret.

It hadn't taken long for the trio to establish their positions before [member="BX-1138"] began to breach the door. Kalous took a position behind the two, metal, killing machines. He was smart enough to realize that he wasn't at his best without his helmet and that he would need those extra few seconds to identify targets to add to his growing kill count. In truth, Kalous trusted, and liked, the droids more than the other organics that had come along on this mission. The minds of these droids were complex, and yet direct, with their purpose to complete their objectives. They reminded him of his own focus without having to deal with emotions that could get in the way of a mission that was already going so well.

The truth of the matter was that Kalous had allowed his own emotions to get the best of him when he snapped at Xenia but he felt no remorse for his actions. He had warned that woman that he was not a simple soldier that was born to be told what to do by someone who looked more suited for a fashion show than an actual firefight. It wasn't even her appearance that had rubbed Kalous the wrong way--it was her natural air of superiority. Kalous knew a thing or two about feeling entitled to lead but he also knew that one had to lead by example and not by threats. These threats that she continued to use to attempt to bend Kalous to her will did nothing but further decrease his opinion of her as the mission continued.

KA-A-A-BOOOOOOM! The door in front of the three exploded into the room that they were attempting to breach. BX-1138 reacted first, and Kalous was sure that [member="Ultimatum"] had the reaction time to maneuver before he could get off a shot, but he raised his blaster rifle anyway. Firing into the smoke and dust, using bursts instead of an unwieldy splash of fire, Kalous attempted to hit anything that was shown as a shadow in the darkness of the dust. His own lack of a visual interface was now a weakness that he could not hope to match the droids with. Their vision, and reactions, could be perfect for any situation that they would encounter on this journey to their objective but Kalous still had to show himself that he was a weapon that was far superior to any tool that he may lose during a battle.

Kalous was unsure if he had hit any of the enemies, relying on Ultimatum or BX-1138 to notify him of his success or failure, but he charged forward to prepare for anything that might be coming their way after the sounds of this ambush had found their way through the halls and corridors. Taking cover at the nearest terminal, Kalous aimed down the connecting hallway where he assumed an enemy counter-attack may come from.

"I'd hurry up if I were you," Kalous remarked to the droids to get to work. "You two have more value than I do from here on out. Thankfully I can't hear a single word that schutta has to say though. That's certainly a benefit of being out a few thousand credits and a helmet!"

[member="Conglomerate Comando"] [member="Rogue"] [member="Xavka Duquo"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum watched as the thermal tape detonated, phasing his visual scanners far enough down so as to avoid damage. The next moment, his sensors came up with thermal visual and he could see three targets in the area. One fell quickly to [member="BX-1138"]'s scattering of shots, while a second dropped quickly from one of [member="Kalous Anson"]'s bursts. Ultimatum had lifted his new blaster and fired a single shot at the remaining enemy's faceplate. The red energy scythed through the man's face and left nothing but charred remains. The person probably didn't even have time to realize he was dead. "Good kill." Was all he had time to say. Ultimatum walked into the room, right after Kalous. He was about to take cover as well when a trio of blaster shots struck him. They must have been from separate weaponry as the shots hit different portions of his body, though it could be a very inaccurate person shooting. He was concerned with the amount of damage he was taking, replacing the Agrinium coating wouldn't be too expensive, but if it burned though the base durasteel he would be a in world of trouble.

He trusted however that BX and Kalous would be able to back him up. They were a team, makeshift and probably very flawed, but a team always worked better than single units. As a droid he felt a comradery with 1138, though that aside he still believed that the droid was more than capable of handling itself. After all, what it lacked in raw power and tactical simulation capacity it more than made up for in its ability to move quickly and deal with threats very efficiently. Kalous was interesting for an organic. He had an understanding in the ability of droids to support troops and in some cases take the lead. At least, that was the feeling that he got with him. On top of that he had a fairly common disrespect for leadership, though his degree of it was more uncommon that Ultimatum was used to. The two together countered some of each others weaknesses and Ultimatum personally hoped that he was able to keep up with them, especially with his body taking the beating that it was.

He took cover behind a crate that was lying open along the wall. He could probably lift and use it as a makeshift shield for charges, that would at least lessen the probability of losing his head or an arm in that situation. He what he could behind the box as he fired a few rounds. He switched to his active sensors, which would be much more effective in the environment, but at the same time very detrimental to his processing capacity. He didn't pick up anything over the next few seconds, instead trying to look for the enemy, but his thermal visions was still a little messed with from all the laser fire, big downside.

[member="Xavka Duquo"] [member="Xenia Nastassia"] [member="Rogue"] [member="Conglomerate Comando"]

 

[BX-1138]

BX-1138 was about to finish off the armored guard he'd injured when three blaster bolts hit three different portions of Ultimatum's body. Despite all this damage, the droid was still standing and could even fight. 1138 wondered how many millions his armor plating must've cost.

The commando droid was first to react. He raised his blaster rifle and spun around to face the attackers in a fraction of a second and shot four rounds at their direction. It took him a couple of seconds to pin down their exact positions. These ones weren't as reckless as those he'd faced on the surface; they seemed to know about the concept of cover. There was two of them, and soon more would be there to stop the trio from descending to the lower levels. BX-1138 looked around for anything he could use for cover, but there was next to nothing aside from the crate Ultimatum was taking refuge behind. The commando droid sent three more bolts to the enemy, keeping them from leaving the safety of the crates they were hiding behind, and glanced at Ultimatum.

"Ultimatum, are you able to stand?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, "Activate the turbolift. Kalous and I will provide cover."

A shot hit one of the hostiles in the shoulder as two more appeared behind him. The commando did not relent, and easily shot a female hostile down with a single shot to the neck when she made the mistake of leaving cover.

They needed to move. Kalous was probably getting tired, Ultimatum's armor was slightly damaged and BX-1138, whose ammo was starting to get lower and lower, alone was no match for the numerous enemies in the facility.

Things didn't seem good. But then again, when did stuff ever go as planned?

[member="Ultimatum"] [member="Kalous Anson"] @Xavqa Duquo [member="Xenia Nastassia"] @Conglomerate Commando [member="Rogue"]

 

[Xenia Nastassia]

Iskeria System;​

UTC Insertion;​

Inner Sahara.​

​

​

​

Rabid Squad.​

[member="Ultimatum"] | [member="BX-1138"] | [member="Kalous Anson"] | [member="Xavka Duquo"]​

​

Above.​

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] | [member="Rogue"] | [member="Conglomerate Comando"]
​

"He's going to get us killed!"

As she spoke, Xenia unloaded an extra three bright blaster rounds into the burnt through armor of an enemy. The dark bolts bracketed a sizzling, popping noise in their contact with organic skin. Her eyes a mess with fire, Xenia kicked the wavering corpse and sent it to thudding heavily to the ground before slamming a slender fist onto the terminal's screen. It was one of many, as they were in a smaller systems bay wherein Sahara housed many computer based technologies. Thick rods, as much built for support as anything else, lined room's flooring like trees in a neatly planted orchard, glistening with holographic projections. Most blinked with the same automated alarm, flashing in aurebesh basic, the odd font set aglow on the display screens. Near tearing the helmet form her head and letting it drop to the floor, Xenia set to ridding them of the obnoxious noises. As if pressing buttons which didn't exist on the screen, and pulling her fingers from one side to the other, the screens digital animations creased and caved in on themselves. Shooting a blaster, delivering a good kick, those were talents of her, sure. Tearing a system apart, slicing through encoded firewalls and defense anti virus programs, actively outsmarting a digital opponent-- that was her original gift.

"Aaahh, stop it!"

Another prod sent a new, three dimensional and fully interactive screen sprawling out before her and seconds after the noise halted. The alarms faded like dominos down each visible screen around them and the lockdown lifted. A few bars displayed a load buffering, then everything reset to basic functions. Xenia let a loose breath out, her shoulders raising and falling as if she might have been exerting a physical effort just then. Even after the removal of her helmet and the combat which had lead her here, Xenia's face was not yet damaged by combat. Even her complexion seemed still set in neutrality, the paint untouched. She hadn't even started sweating yet. And yet it didn't save her from the scowl which cast her form to something closer to beast than human, the red and black lines somehow only exaggerating the more terrifying features. The sharp inward slant of her eyebrows and the intense emerald eyes which matched her weapon's lethal bolts in dangerous appeal.

"You a Jedi?"

She asked without affording the zabrak a glance and not visibly listening for his response. She had seen abilities like Xavka's before, but only in the hands of a Jedi. And this man was no Sith. Before Xavka could have answered in full Xenia had torn apart the next firewall and gained access to Sahara's systems under the false account of one Kifu Onson, first officer of Sahara's aerial defense brigade. By now the man was probably long dead and plagued by the effects of both stench and rigor mortis. But on this day, nine days after the outpost had fallen, logs would distinctly show evidence that he had reactivated and authorized a full house bio-scan. In constantly improving clarity, updates pieced together a rough map of the facility as a whole, depicting any and all life forms and identifying their species if able. Humans primarily, a few near relatives. The lower levels were littered with activity, but there were long lulls along the middle without any life and only minimal positive results in the higher levels. Commander Stol had already advised her of the hostiles lining the lower levels, and had already prepared to engage them by means of diversion- at least that's how Xenia would use it.

"Ultimatum, 1138, activate night vision and heat signature detection systems. I'm cutting the lights, notify Kalous."

The lights flared, then fell into darkness, the gentle stirring of any and all non essential machinery died with them. Shield generation engines, ion drives, power generators, self defense systems, everything. Everything other than communications and inter system diagnostics, thumbing through all of the outpost's specs. "Seven," one of the blips flickered out as its respective life was snuffed out, one of the pirates falling against the combined might of two droids and a crazy alien. "Six in total," she corrected "four dead ahead and it looks like... another two eleven floors down." Xenia zoomed in and ran another scan. "1138, be careful, I think those are wookies, two of them, on floor eighty nine." She referred to crimson blinks further down on the screen. "They're stationed just outside of the turbolift, so they'll be expecting you when you get down there, don't let them get the jump on you." Xenia half expected the green alien to bark back some blatantly ignorant remark about her giving orders, refuting her for offering her aid in any form. Simply because he had the ability to open his mouth and talk, an entertainment with his own noise and chatter. So naturally it came as a surprising relief when Xenia remembered the state of Kalous armor and the fact that he hadn't the ability to babble and whine back at her. She now had only to negotiate with the droids, and they were far more literate to the methods of team work and cooperation-- the duties split between commanding officer and soldier.

"Ultimatum, the core terminal is located on that floor, it seems these wookies represent the last of any resistance we'll be meeting from our pirate friends. No organic activity until floor fifteen, and I think that must consist primarily of Silver Squad and Commander Stol's forces. I'm uploading the temporary override code for Sahara's central systems computer to both of you droids-- Blast! The firewalls are trying to kick me out, you have to use that code fast-- if I'm booted that code means nothing and we'll be locked in here without communication signals. Get down there, secure that terminal, job's done. Take your time and we're having one uncomfortable slumber party."

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum complied, activating his night vision and overlaid thermal vision. It certainly did help, he just hoped that the darkness would debilitate the enemy to some degree, otherwise the whole purpose of the endeavor was wasted. He listened to the tactical information and began tagging the enemies that he could see with appropriate names. He used his internal systems to put their positions on his HUD, he didn't take the time to sen the data out to the others, [member="BX-1138"] was supposed to be able to see as well, while [member="Kalous Anson"] was without a helmet and therefore without a HUD. It was an assumption that the other two wouldn't require the information, however it allowed Ultimatum to put that extra processing power into preplanning and calculating enemy movements.

This was of course a somewhat impossible calculation, as he was dealing with paramilitary organics, it was unlikely that he would be able to preempt their movements. However, it would help nonetheless as it would give him an advantage over simply guessing. The other option was simply to react to their attacks, what he was intending was to be proactive and to beat them before they could get their attack in. He fired a trio of shots at the closest enemy, who fortunately ducked behind cover right as Ultimatum pulled the trigger. The man didn't return fire for a moment, instead Ultimatum took a shot from a different enemy. This was, either by fate or happenstance, struck through one of the openings in Ultimatum's metallic chassis. It severed nothing too vital, only breaking a lubricant line.

Ultimatum stopped and bent back behind his box cover. He looked for a moment at the liquid leaking from the his armor. He had a number of warning going through his mind as he tried to sort out the issue and prepare a command to stop the flow. A moment later, as priorities were changed and systems were rerouted, the liquid stopped flowing. Then Ultimatum stood up again, a little more slowly. His movement was limited due to the slower flow of lubricant to his left leg. He groaned in anger, a curse almost escaping his lips as he thought about his creators putting all these ventilation gaps. He avoided saying anything, hoping that the others would not notice his momentary lapse in capabilities. He pulled his hand up and fired another burst of shots. His target fell with a scream, evidently he wasn't fully dead but would die soon from the wounds.

[member="Xenia Nastassia"] [member="Xavka Duquo"] [member="Conglomerate Comando"]

 

[Xevek Nekonis]

Xavka was knocked out of his healing, meditative state as loud and high pitched alarms began to ring out, echoing off of the walls. The suddenness and unexpectedness was enough to overwhelm Xavka as his sensitive hearing was overwhelmed. Dropping to one knee, Xavka screwed his eyes up and brought his hands up to his head, trying to stop the sound from reaching his ears as it began to bounce off the insides of his head and ripple through his mind. He sighed in relief as the alarms soon began to slowly die down, allowing him to regain control of his mind.

Pushing himself to his feet, he began to meander his way over to Xenia, intending to look over her shoulder to see what she was doing. While he was not an expert at slicing or anything similar, he was skilled enough in computers to understand some of the higher level stuff. As he walked, the woman's sharp voice rang out. He stayed silent for a few moments before replying, considering how to reply. "Not exactly. I'm more Sith than Jedi, but still neither." He would of continued with more information, but it was clear to him that Xenia was no longer listening, focussing instead on the task that she was trying to achieve.

Drawing level with, and trying to ignore the sweet smell emanating from, Xenia, Xavka stared at the terminal screen. He watched as a scan seemed to be ran before little red dots began to emerge, dotted across the schematics of the building he and the rest of the team where in.

He looked down to address a question to Xenia, but was pulled up short by what image he was presented with. Her dark hair was colourless in the lights being cast from the terminal and framed her thin face. Her complexion was immaculate, avoiding damaged from the strains of combat, assessorising makeup still in place, working with and not against her natural looks. Her brows were furrowed and cast her face into a fierce look, simulating an apex predator being ready to pounce on the first prey that was foolish enough to cross their path. Her green eyes were flashing, illuminated by and inner fire as they glared at the screen while she barked orders to the rest of the team, coordinating their efforts in trying to regain control of the complex.

That beautiful image, which he continued to see even as the lights died down and his natural night vision and the terminal's screen were the only thing allowing him access to the sight, coupled with the naturally attracting smell Xavka was receiving from Xenia was enough to render him speechless as he momentarily lost control of his grip on the instincts being caused by the J'ku Tai'Shan.


[member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

"If only I had a grenade right about now," Kalous thought to himself as he reached his left hand down to his thigh to press against the nothingness that used to be three thermal detonators. This close quarters combat would've been so much easier, or so he thought, if he could just toss a few bombs at the enemy where they had no room to maneuver to safety. The same could also be said for Kalous' side of the engagement. One good grenade, or shot at something explosive, could mean the end of the mission for an organic like him. This was a result that Kalous wasn't exactly voting for to end his relatively short career on.

It was true that he was at the largest disadvantage when the rest of his team were concerned. The droids, @Ultimatum and [member="BX-1138"], were banged up by their standards but they were also still nearly fully operational. Kalous had a few burns and scrapes but he was also relatively untouched throughout this battle. That was the thing about engagements such as these--usually you came out unscathed if you come out at all--but it was expected for some imperfections would see themselves hinder the mission. These imperfections could manifest themselves in computer glitches, missed shots, sudden explosions, and anything else that nobody had prepared for. And so, Kalous was left popping up and down, like a child's arcade game, to fire blaster blots at his enemies before returning to cover so that their own bolts didn't remove the rest of his face from his body.

Calming nerves, however, was something that came easily to Kalous. The ability to reach within himself to concentrate on fulfilling his goal without surrendering any hesitation to the enemy was something that allowed him to stay exposed for the extra second. This extra time to acquire his target, and aim down his iron sights, was the difference between a killing shot and a wasteful shot at a wall or floor. These calm bursts of green that flew from his blaster rifle echoed throughout the hallway that was in front of him as the enemies tried to make themselves as small as possible against walls and assorted debris. Hiding their girth was a task easier said than done when it compared to the aim of Kalous and his droid compatriots. This fatal funnel of enemies made things that much easier for the three against many.

It was at that moment--when Kalous was at his most confident against the enemies that were charging toward them--that the lights decided to completely shut down. If Kalous was one to panic; this would be the moment that he would surrender to his fear. The darkness wasn't what he feared, in fact he preferred his enemies to be unable to see him, instead his fear was linked to his own inability to be effective in this fight. Without his helmet, or notification that the lights were about to go out, Kalous was caught completely useless until the glare of the blaster fire allowed him to see scenes engraved in the brief shadows that came from the beams of death.

"It was that schutta, wasn't it," Kalous exclaimed in a loud tone before he returned fire to the enemies that he couldn't see. All Kalous knew was which direction that death was coming from and he hoped he would get lucky enough to stave off this death for as long as he could. "When is that lift opening? I can't help anything now!"

[member="Xavka Duquo"] [member="Xenia Nastassia"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum looked over his piece of cover right as a carbine began firing openly in his direction. The top of his head was burned by a shot before he pulled back into safety. He pulled the blaster up and around and let loose three quick shots. Or he would have fired three shots, only two came out. One hit the enemy in the chest with the following one striking the man in the shoulder. The guy didn't stand a chance, he was twisted around dropped to the floor in a rapidly expanding puddle of blood. The third shot never came. Ultimatum exhaled in exasperation, the gun was out. Since he hadn't picked up any other packs he was now out of ammo.

It was at that moment that he heard an exclamation from [member="Kalous Anson"] and Ultimatum smiled despite the situation. It was amusing as he replied, "She had the best of intentions, after all I asked for it." The advantage of the darkness was apparent immediately, his thermal vision was over-layed with night vision, giving him the ability to easily see his enemies. Unfortunately this did not help his leg, which was a problem as he prepared to stand while judging the weight of the blaster in his hand. It was about five kilograms, not the best but better than what it might have been. He stood, taking another three shots to the chest before he threw the empty blaster at full strength right at his target. The man's armor was strong enough to save his face from being crushed in, but the knock was enough to send his head back in such a way as to cause a lot of pressure on the spinal column. This led to a pain that knocked the man out instantly, which was a good thing as the man didn't feel his own death when another enemy accidentally shot him.

Ultimatum jumped over the cover and began what appeared to be a wild charge, but instead was a tactical run for a weapon. Not two meters from the cover was a carbine dropped by all the dying enemies. He dropped to the floor, allowing himself to slide, taking another two shots from the enemy men before grabbing hold of the carbine. Instead of bringing the weapon to bear and opening fire, Ultimatum rolled to the side of the hall into a slight indention in the wall, which covered him. He looked over at Kalous hoping that the organic would take out he last two.

[member="Xavka Duquo"] [member="Xenia Nastassia"]