Private To Hell and Back

[Teshi Ocano]

Northern Alliance Space
Unspecified Planet
Time: 0100
Noah Corek ​

​

​

"This is gonna have to be far enough, Major. He's gonna bleed out if I don't get some pressure on this wound."

The helmet hid the nastiest of expressions, but the silence said everything. Panting, she gently eased the armored shoulder to the rocky ground. Vor mirrored her on the opposite side. He wasted little time, not nearly so winded as she was- he was far closer in size to the man they had dragged. Bandages and a stick appeared from seemingly nowhere as he began to stabilize the fallen soldier.

How had it come to this? Her team scattered across the mountain side, hunted like mice. The briefing had been simple enough. Cultists in the mountain-- they had made homes in the tunnels and caves, attempting to carve their own foothold. If the explosives could bring down the entrances, it would be easy enough to pick the scum off with armored units. Stealth and the element of surprise meant their objective could be completed with the Maw unaware.

Yeah, easy- but no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. Whether it had been a lucky scout rotation or some darkside witchery which had forewarned the Maw, Teshi couldn't say, but reason mattered not. They had to make it out.

"This is Major Ocano." She told the secure line. "Objective complete. Unit compromised. We need an extraction."

"Standby."

The moments dragged in tense anticipation. A gloved hand covered Karter's mouth the muffle the groans whilst the medic worked.

"Allied forces en route to your coordinates, Major. T-minus seven minutes."

Fast, Teshi thought, but not fast enough. In the distance a howl broke through the silence of night. Visors locked as the major and her medic stared at one another. The war beasts were unnatural, alchemized and ferocious, able to sniff out any lead given time. Eternities lived in every moment. When the thumping chorus of propellers finally gathered, it battled with distant war cries for domination. The harness came down, and up the largely unconscious Karter went- then Vor, and only then Teshi. As she was lifted over the sentinel trees, the pack revealed itself. It had to have been less than a mile off. Adrenaline brought crazed laughter bubbling out of her chest.

"Not today, bastards! Burn salt!"

Steady hands grabbed at her armor, hoisting her into the aircraft. The floor offered her momentary reprieve. Insidious giggles still escaped her as she laid face down, panting. An unsteady hand grabbed the underside of her helmet when she finally rose. A tumble of sweaty brunette locks fell as her expression withered from hysterical joy to mild embarrassment. The uniforms were none she recognized- and as such she kept a watchful eye as she took her seat across.

"Major Teshi Ocano. Thanks for saving our lives... but who are you?"

 

[Noah Corek]

Teshi Ocano

Noah and the Galactic Foreign Legion had been deployed to the planet to help train the local militia to help the Alliance to fight against the Mawites that had set up shop in one of the worlds many mountain ranges within the last few months. It was a thankless and rather mundane job for the likes of the Galactic Foreign Legion but big government contracts like this were what kept the Legion growing at a steady pace.

Him and a platoon of Legionnaires had been forward deployed to a combat operations post in support of a Alliance Marine special forces unit when the call came out, the Marines were in contact and needed rescuing. Due to a quirk of the planets magnetic field repulsor vehicles didn't work to well on it and so the troops on the ground had resorted to using rather archaic rotor-craft, not that Noah himself minded as they felt rather comfortable to him with their open air bay.

They had been lazing around for the most part when the call had gone out, the Alliance Marines were in trouble and needed an extraction from the mountainside. So Noah had taken a squad that was already loaded up and ready to go, loaded them into a local rotor-craft, something that began with a C, and set off to the transponder coordinates of the Marines, while another four squads geared up and would be about thirty minutes behind them.

The pilots and crew of this particular rotor-craft were called the 'Nightstalkers' by the locals due to their skill of nightime flying. He had quickly ascertained that these pilots were a rather wild bunch but overall had been excellent pilots. It took about seven minutes to make it to the coordinates but they found the Marines, throwing down a rescue harness to help lift them into the rotor-craft.

He chuckled when he heard the laughing and shook his head at the giggles of a solider who had just narrowly escaped death. When she removed her helmet and sat on the bench opposite of him Noah raised an eyebrow at her rank, being rather young for a Major. "Noah Corek, Galactic Foreign Legion, we're onworld for a foreign internal defense op when we got your mayday, seems like you had a hell of a fight down there Major."

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Noah Corek

​

Mercenaries.

Once a dirty word to Teshi, the bias had faded with her idealism. The only thanks she got in service were cold barracks food and a strained relationship with those she was once close too. If someone had figured out a way to roll in credits for the chit she got suckered into doing for free, more power to them.

"Lucky you were." She noted with a goofy grin that stretched the width of her face. "Thanks for the ride."

Before further cocky comment could be made, the powers that be displayed how infuriated it was in their assumption that all was well. A parade of blasts resonated through the sky. A glimpse through the door revealed artillery painting the sky. A brow shot up in inquiry.

"Seems like they weren't done giving me a run for my money."

Shifting to a half squat on the edge of her seat, Ocano moved like a well-oiled machine. The cyan visor shieled her face once more. The rifle slid from between her knees to rest on her back.

"Foreign Legion, eh? You guys ready to put taxpayer dollars to shame?"

The craft rocked ever so slightly, caressed by the continuing barrage.

"Gimme a better weapon for this and let's make sure you don't die on this mountain with me, Corek."

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah chuckled under his helmet and breath when he saw the grin splitting her face, it took a special breed of soldier to be smiling and laughing not long after they were nearly slaughtered by a group and blood thirsty wild animals. 'I need to watch this one's career with great interest.' It was after this thought floated through his mind that the rotor-craft began to violently rock back and forth, the Legionnaires in the troop bay swearing as the Mawites opened fire triple A emplacements.

The shells exploded to and fro around the rotor-craft, orange blossom illuminating the sky but none coming close to hitting them as of yet. "Say what you will about tax payer dollars but most of the Legion are actually ex-military, so there is a plus side to that training." When Teshi Ocano asked for a weapon Noah shook his head. "Negative there Major, only thing keeping us in the air right now is the cover of darkness, opening fire will just blow our cover, that's why the door gunners aren't firing."

To accentuate his point he hooked a thumb over to just behind the cockpit where on either side of the craft were two pilot jumpsuit clad figures each manning a rotary blaster. Unlike what was seen in the holo-vids these crewmen were letting loose but instead holding onto the grips of their weapons with white knuckle anxiety.

Noah's explanation was rendered rather moot however when a large jolt was sent throughout the craft, jostling the passengers inside. Raising an eyebrow under his helmet Noah stood and made his way past all the Legionnaires, making sure not to bump the two combat medics from the squad who were tending to the Major's wounded man in the middle of the aisle in the troop bay.

He finally reached the doorway that divided the troop bay from the cockpit, sticking his head in to see the pilot manhandling the controls, an ironic phrase considering her gender, while the co-pilot quickly turned dials and flicked switches on the control panels, not frantically but with a sense of urgency that somewhat concerned Noah. "What the hell was that?"

The pilot didn't acknowledge him, instead focused on keeping the craft aloft, it was instead the co-pilot who spoke but still didn't deviate from his task. "Mawites got lucky, airburst shell took out our starboard engine and now we're at about half power." Noah shook his head and groaned. "Half power is more than enough to get us back to base, I read the specs on this thing!" This time it was the pilot who spoke to Noah. "Yeah! That's at normal cruising altitude, we're at about double that right now so due to the thinner air our remain engine is working twice as hard so we're basically running on a quarter power."

Noah swore in his native language, Mando'a, under his breath before looking out the window and spotting a small clearing on a nearby plateau. "Alright then, can you put us down there?" He asked as he pointed out the clearing. They pilot squinted before shrugging and nodding. "Yeah, sure, it ain't gonna be soft but we'll survive." He nodded to her assessment before stepping back into the troop bay to address everyone.

"Alright, contrary to popular belief it appears that the Mawites can indeed shoot straight. They took out one of our engines and we won't make it back to base. We're gonna be setting down in a clearing, once we're down we'll need to set up a defensive perimeter and deal with any wounded. Now who has been in a transport crash before?" As soon as the question was finished every Legionnaire raised their hand causing Noah to chuckle. "As long as we're on the same page."

Walking back to the end of the troop bay Noah sat opposite of the Major before leaning back, strapping in and taking on a rather relaxed posture considering the situation. "You ever been in a transport crash Major?"

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Noah Corek

​

Protest fell short of her lips when action was denied. It didn't sit well - she was not the kind for idle hands, nor stealth - but this was not her craft. These were not her people. They had done great kindness by simply making the journey to rescue them though bound by nothing but a soldiers honor. She shut up, as much as she may have detested it.

Knuckles hung to the seat for dear life when the craft continued it's rocky path. Teshi's gaze flitted instinctively to the opening of the medbay. She only caught Vor's back, hard at work. Comm chatter confirmed her hopes of the rest of the squadron finding their own ways out.

As soon as the question was finished every Legionnaire raised their hand causing Noah to chuckle. "As long as we're on the same page."

Undignified sputtering flowed from the helmet. Sounding half a cadet again, Teshi slid back into her seat fully, wrestling with the harness. Shaky hands didn't make the task any easier. In the early days of her service, the unit had joked she would have made a better pathfinder with how uncomfortable flights made her. The prospect of a crash sent terror rolling through her stomach.

"Can't say I have." The attempt at casual was ruined by the squeak in her tone. "First time for everything, but shouldn't you buy a girl dinner first?"

Fear was drowned in humor and duty. Right. Perimeter.

"We'll have only a little while at best. They've got dark side... Beasts? I dunno, but supernatural, whatever they are. Won't be long before they find us. We need a forward scout to find us a way off this mountain, in case another transport doesn't make it in time."

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah was somewhat satisfied when Teshi Ocano didn't argue with his assessment of not opening fire. Usually a soldier of her rank, and more so her age, would've argued against him but she showed maturity and intelligence in Noah's mind, just another good mark on the file he was gathering on her inside his head. Lolling his head back as he felt the rotor-craft descending beneath his feet Noah double checked the harness, tightening it were it needed before he looked straight forward towards the Major, a grin sounding in his voice as he spoke.

Reaching over he undignifiedly helped the Major adjust her harness before chuckling. "Trust me Major, by the time you get to my age and if you're still in the service you'll be through more crashes than this." Satisfied that the harness was secure Noah leaned back into his own seat before laughing wholeheartedly at her joke. "Sorry to burst your bubble there Major but I'm already taken." To accentuate his point he reached to the belt of his armor and pulled out a pair of rings on a necklace out of a pouch, an odd thing to have two rings. When the Major brought out her plans Noah nodded. "We'll sort all that out on the ground."

After tucking the rings back into the pouch the pilot came over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen thank you for flying Nightstalker Airlines, we are currently making an unscheduled descent due to technical difficulties. Please return you seat trays to the upright position. Again thank you for flying Nightstalker Airlines and we hope you return to flying with us again."

The humor of the pilot caused all the Legionnaires to laugh and chuckle and joke with each other even as the craft descended. The pilot once again came over the intercom, a lot more serious this time. "Alright. We're at fifty meters from the deck...forty...thirty...twenty...ten...five, four, three, two, one! Touchdown." As soon as the last word left the pilots the front end of the aircraft tipped upwards and the back end shuddered as the rear landing gear touched the ground before the front end slammed forward.

Momentarily jostled by the rough landing it took Noah only a couple of seconds to recover before he deftly unstrapped himself, pulled his rifle off out of the space to his side, shouldered it and quickly exited the craft. Any other commander would have ordered his troops to follow but Noah didn't have to as they did it without command, unstrapping themselves, grabbing their weapons and quickly exiting behind their leader as if they'd practiced it hundreds of times before, because they had.

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Noah Corek

​

Carved of stone, Teshi could have been mistaken as dead on the landing. Primal fear vied for control. Rigid determination held fast through the touchdown, and though she didn't scream, she didn't do much else but hold on for dear life. A silent prayer of graditude was said when Corek popped up from his seat. The Foreign Legion was clearly experienced in this regard- and she felt a bit silly for the fuss about her phobia.

An ebony barrel crossed her chest as she followed, keeping half an eye on her own troops tied to the medical equipment. They, at the very least, had a semi-defensible position. Barren and rocky, the mountain face allowed for full view from where the tree line broke miles up. Their north was a cliff, the south the only way down - if the pack was coming, it would be from there.

"There?"

Teshi pointed, suggesting an area. The cliff on one side, small boulders and dead wood on the other, the natural terrain would offer at least something if it came to blows. An armor kit came sliding off her side. Unfolding revealed a mess of wires, metals, and chips - though looking closely, one might be able to gather the form of a primative sattelite.

"This should be able to pick up any comms, if the savages are using them. If not, maybe it'll pick up heat signatures even far off? Dunno, guess now's as good a time as to test it."

It was a frayed lifeline at best, but all she had.

 

[Noah Corek]

As the Legion tromped out of the back of the rotor-craft they all took up a different position in a semi-circle around the rear door of the craft, weapons raised and watching each and every possible place that an enemy could emerge from. When Teshi Ocano pointed towards a area that could provide some cover Noah nodded. "It's good enough of a place as possible." Finished speaking to the Major he turned towards the leaders of the squad he had brought with him.

"Sergeant Gelshin, take Aurek team and secure that outcropping and set up a defensive perimeter, take the wounded with you as well and make sure to grab a stretcher. Besh team you're with me and the Major, we're gonna gather all the munitions and medical equipment we can and then demo the vehicle so the Mawites can't get their hands on it."

When the Major showed him her hanidwork of salvaged equipment he nodded with a little appreciation, taking it gently and turning it over a few times to take a look at it. "Impressive...not many people have the intelligence or know how to whip up something like this in the field...see if you can't find any scrap in the wreckage before we blow it...there should be some pretty good electronics up in the cockpit."

With his advice out of the way Noah and the half of the squad he had ordered to stay with him began setting demolition and incendiary charges around the aircraft, placing them in key points that would make the wreck unsalvageable to anyone but the most intuitive person. The pilots stayed with them for a minute, showing them the proper places to place their charges before they grabbed their personal weapons, threw on blast vests and helmet and made their way over to the rest of the team.

It took a couple more minutes for their work to be done but once it was Noah ordered the team to hunker down with the rest of them before making his way to the cockpit to check on the Major. "Alright, we're done planting the charges, you done up here?"

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Noah Corek

​

A yip answered his question as static came flying out of the panel she had just revealed. Armor protected her from any real damage; it was only surprise. She had thought the auxiliary systems protected based on her current haul, but was clearly mistaken.

"Mawites..." The swear prefaced her rise. She jingled the overflowing satchel at her side in Corek's direction, and the grin behind the helmet resonated in her voice. "You weren't kidding. Fine ship you had here- damn shame. This will have to be enough."

Pushing past him into the corridor, she made for the exit.

"Coulda had more, but at least they won't get their hands on it. With what I have..."

Her voice trailed in consideration.

"Another team's on the other side of the mountain, their land cruiser made it. Have to meet them at the bottom, but if we can fight our way down, I might be able to rig it enough to hold the weight of the wounded, equipment, and still make decent speed. Only problem is getting there, I s'pose."

A whistle broke through her lips as the pair made their way out. The tiny packages of death demanded attention of the eye.

"No hiding this, huh? Gonna light up like Unity Day."

Teshi's stride increased in pace after the reminder.

"You got a plan for when we send up this flare, Corek, or are we just winging it?"

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah chuckled at the small sound of surprise that came from Teshi Ocano , being a tinkerer himself he had experience more than a few accidental shocks himself. When she mentioned how fine of a ship it was he shrugged. "It served its purpose well, now its just a hunk of wrecked durasteel. Best thing for it now is to make sure it doesn't get used against us." He followed behind her into the troop bay and made sure that each and every charge was set properly.

Once he was done double checking his work he nodded to her idea. "When we crashed we lost our long range comms, if you can get some sort of comm relay jury rigged I can contact our outpost and get some reinforcements and maybe even some air support."

When the Major brought up the action of blowing up the craft Noah chuckled and reached into his own storage pack to produce something of his own tinkering, something Teshi would recognize as a pressure plate. "Oh we're not going to be setting it off, the Mawites are. I left them a few parting gifts besides the explosives." His head tilted upwards and nodded towards the anti-personnel mines he had taped to the ceiling.

Making his way to the cockpit door he closed it and the knelt to place the pressure plate on the ground, gently covering it enough to hide it without setting it off. With this done he connected the plate to the rest of the charges and mines before making his way back to the exit.

He made his way over to the area where the squad was, the twenty soldiers of his squad having made a loose circular perimeter, using the cover of boulders and fallen trees where they could. In the center of this circle was the crew of the rotor-craft, the squads two combat medics and their wounded. "Major's got a plan to get us off this mountain. We're gonna fight our way downhill and then get an extract. We're going to split into three groups, first group will be half the squad which will move downhill twenty-five meters ahead to deal with anything in front of us. The second group will be the medics, the crew and the wounded and behind them will be the third group, the other half of the squad that will take on any hunters...any questions?"

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Noah Corek

​

"Oh we're not going to be setting it off, the Mawites are. I left them a few parting gifts besides the explosives."

"Damn." What started as weary nods became vigorous, confident. "Yeah, okay. I respect it. Let's do this."

Expectant eyes met them on their approach, but as usual, there were no questions. Teshi didn't ask for expectations for herself. It wouldn't take her long to make the modifications, if she proved able. The earlier tension crept back into her form with the weight of those expectations. With the orders, soldiers went about their preparations for movement. Karter was awake when she found him. Vhi stood behind him, readying his rifle.

"How you lookin'?"

"These guys got the good stuff." He said with a doped grin. "I'll live. It'll be a fun hike, though."

"Good enough, then. You heard Corek - you're with group B. I'll be right behind you."

The cyan visors turned to the Major with a snap of a neck. With the reaction, she might of told them she was killing their best friend. Perhaps too hazed to take the challenge, Karter simply rose and made to join his temporary team. The other stepped closer.

"You're not going with the forward group?"

"Hell, no. These guys saved our asses. I'm not getting out while any of them are here. It's all of us, or none of us."

The two locked gazes stood in silence. The lesser's posture dripped defiance, but Teshi didn't make to move away, back down, or explain further. It was her call. It didn't take Vhi long to realize, though he didn't like it anymore. He moved too, without further word, though the Major was not immune to the weight of the action.

Soon came and went and the first two groups had made their departure. There were only the few and the brave left when Teshi's attention to the comms unit Noah had asked for was interrupted. Small beeps sounded from the device she had produced earlier. Her head cocked, listening to the static, though nothing useful came through.

"That's our cue." She rose and looked to Corek. "A dozen or so, 500 meters out."

Parts and wires were jammed unceremoniously back into her bag. Weapon in hand, she stepped forward to rejoin him.

"Short range comms with my team are still active. We'll know if anything comes from the forward group. Ready to move?"

 

[Noah Corek]

His eyes scanned his men and women after he had asked if they had any questions but none were asked. Instead the Legionnaires quickly began busying themselves with the task at hand, weapons were checked and double checked, ammunition levels were assessed and spare ammo was distributed to those who would need it, anything that could jingle or jangle was tied or taped down, some of them even went about sharpening the various bladed weapons that the Legionnaires were issued.

Noah sat near the back of edge of the formation, most of his attention on the rotor-craft that sat still and quiet, knowing his troops knew what the needed to do and didn't need any mothering. His ears were also distinctly aware of the conversation between Teshi Ocano and her men. It didn't surprise him that the Major wanted to be at the thick of the fighting and help those who had saved her and her men, from the little conversation and interaction he had with the woman he understood she was a rather honorable type.

He snorted at that when his mind unraveled that particular thought, he had been a lot like her when he was younger thought it had been quickly snuffed out of him when he began to understand the reality of combat and that some shortcuts had to be taken, shortcuts not considered too honorable.

As the other two teams left their comrades in the rear team bid them farewell, quite a bit of friendly jeering and teasing between the seasoned and familiar soldiers. It wasn't too long before it was their turn and Noah stood from his position, dusted himself off and brought his rifle to the low ready. When he heard the Major's words he nodded. "Ready as ever. Hopefully those dozen don't find the ship...I'd hate for all those explosives to be wasted on such a small group."

With a simple hand gesture the team began to trudge downhill, each member scanning and observing their surroundings. Noah of course at the back, a unusual position for him since he usually liked to lead from the front, in this case however most of the fighting would be in the rear. He turned to the Major as they walked and opened his mouth. "So, tell me about yourself Major Ocano."

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Gravel crunched under boot as they went. The bird song had transformed into urgent chitters. Eyebrows wrinkled out of view at Noah's question. Some part was always uncomfortable with digging, no matter how well intentioned.

"Not a lot to tell. Work just has me so busy." The words were exaggerated and teasing. "I lived on Coruscant before this. Now, I'm not even sure if my storage units been paid. My stuff could be redecorating a hutt's palace by now."

The earlier grimace grew, a solemn note in her voice. The front was her home now- the 222nd her family.

"I like computers and ships. They make sense without a translation to emotionally inept. And podracing, when I get the chance. The thrill gets rid of everything else. Just living in the moment."

The major's form tensed as if she was startled. It has been a minute since she has made a friend. With the closeness of the team, they already knew her, expected reaction and thought. A well oiled machine. It was unexpectedly nice to talk to someone separate from all of it.

"What about you, hm? Married- where's the wife waiting?"

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah let out a low chuckle at the Major's teasing and joking tone, Teshi Ocano was a soldier through and through if she was able to joke in such a serious situation. He understood her reluctance to talk about herself with his digging, being a rather private man himself he understood the need, well more like the desire, to keep to one's self. He heard her words and digested them before he spoke.

"You said you lived on Coruscant, not that you're from there...where are you originally from?" The question wasn't accusing or suspicious but just curious. "Ah the woes of losing your storage locker...had that happen to me a few times when I was in the army, spent a couple of weeks trying to track down all my stuff. Thankfully I had more than a few favors I could pull on."

When she spoke about preferring technology to people he nodded in understanding. "I can understand that, I'm a bit of a tinkerer myself. My wives joke that I spend more time in my workshop than with them. My tinkering has mostly to do with weapons and the likes. Blades, blasters, slugthrowers, et cetera. Most are just passion projects but some of them get off the ground and I can make a little money off of 'em." He didn't mention the fact that he owned the Legion and a arms manufacturing company, she didn't need to know that.

When she brought up his marital status he chuckled. "Wives. Plural, two of them to be specific. We are...what is it that Yasha calls it...oh yeah a throuple. It's uh...hard to describe to somebody outside the family but the bare bones of it is that we are all married to each other, like a love triangle without the drama. It's odd I know but we make it work."

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Unable to stop the double take, a nod accompanied it. An unconventional lifestyle. Then again, he hadn't seemed like a conventional man. No one chose to do what they did because they were normal. Normal people stayed at home and lived quiet lives on backwater planets.

"Odd, but nothing wrong with it." Teshi said with a shrug. "People find what works for them. So long as your wives are happy, that's what matters... and I guess when they're not, they have each other and kick you to the dog house. Any kids?"

Her tone was that of good fun.

"You'll have to send me your holopage for your wares though. I could use a few new toys." Her rifle waved slightly. "Something sophisticated, not like this standard issue junk they expect us to make work."

Home was not a word which Teshi could use to describe Telos. Though she hadn't been that young when her family migrated, the memories were blurred. The shrinks of the defense force had written off as some kind of shell shock, though not as severe as a soldier might see.

"Telos born and semi-raised." She specified. "Under those dirty sith bastards. My family came as refugees, before the war ended. Lived on Coruscant, did some time around too, before my enlistment. Shallow roots, I guess. After all, who'd want to claim that?"

 

[Noah Corek]

Noah didn't blame Teshi Ocano for the double take at the explanation of his rather unorthodox life style, he more than most people realized that it was rather strange. Though unlike most people Noah didn't give a damn about what they thought and instead busied his life with doing things like he was currently doing and splitting the rest of his time with his family.

He nodded at her words of understanding to his rather unorthodox marital arrangement. "Yeah it works no matter how odd it may seem. I might Alex first when I was working for the New Republic, she was also dating someone at the time. Her name was Yasha, Alex liked both of us and as me and her got more serious she introduced me to Yasha and needless to say things developed from there. As for being in the dog house I can comfortably say that doesn't happen too much."

When Teshi asked about kids his face broke into a wide smile under his helmets faceplate. "Oh yeah. We definitely have kids. Eight to be exact. Melissa, Adara, Magnus, Girak, Morgan, Junior, Cahira and Alexander. Melissa is the oldest from my first marriage, Adara is outta the house and just turned twenty a few months, Girak and Magnus are twins as well as Junior and Morgan and Cahira and Alexander, and all six of them are still at home."

He was actually about to give her the detail of his holopage when the relative quiet around them was broken by a rather large explosion, no doubt that it came from the trap they had rigged to the rotor-craft. "Well it seems our friends have found our present...we might want to get moving a little faster..."

 

[Teshi Ocano]

Only a few seconds after the blast, the howls rose, echoing off the mountain side. The chorus sent a primal shiver rolling down Teshi's spine. It was flight or flight now. Dammit, why did she ask about the kids? Of course, soldiers always set aside any expectation of what may come - but the idea of having folks relying on your return made the marine far too uncomfortable.

"At least some of those beasts can take a hit, it seems. Lets hope not all of the handlers made it."

Silence fell over their small group with the continuing advance. The tension was thick as the smog in the lower levels, making itself noticed. It was the kind of anticipation only combat and lovers could provoke. Teshi's visor feed flickered momentarily to her comrades, checking in. Group B was fast approaching the rendezvous point... but with their wounded, they were moving slower than she would of liked.

As the woods around her came back, a beeping arose from her satchel. Slow and low, then faster, faster. Eyebrows raised, and she momentarily wondered if the damn thing had malfunctioned, when suddenly a spark flew and the beeps fell to a droning halt.

"Shit! Damn thing overloaded. Well, they're on us, anyways! Get ready! We just have to give B a little more time!"

Armored form moved with grace, dropping into a half-roll leading to a ragged tree. The weapon drew to her chest, ready, whilst she gazed back the direction they just came.

"Come on, bastards."

Trigger hand dropped to her utility belt, a ball of fire ready to be thrown making it's way into her palm.

 

[Noah Corek]

They walked for a couple more minutes after the explosion before Noah raised a closed fist and the squad stopped. With a few more hand gestures they quickly spread out, taking cover wherever they could be that behind boulders, upright and fallen trees and even shallow depressions in the ground. Noah followed suit, taking cover behind a good sized fallen tree about a couple meters from where Teshi Ocano had taken position.

As they waited for the enemy to arrive Noah got an idea before he quickly keyed his comm. "Stovepipe Actual this is Mad Dog 1-Alpha Actual, how copy over?" It took a split second before the rather delicate voice of a female come over the line. "Mad Dog 1-Alpha Actual, this is Stovepipe Actual, send traffic." He grinned under his helmet before keying his comm once again. "I'm squawking my coordinates, do we have any indirect that can provide fire support?"

The response took a few seconds before the voice on the other end came through. "That's affirm we have a platoon of four, 155mm howitzers within range, all we need is a fire mission and coordinates." Upon that statement Noah swung his rucksack down off of his back and withdrew what looked like a pair of macrobinoculars. Pressing a few keys on the top of the bino's he then brought them up to his helmet's visor before keying his radio again.

"Are you receiving the designators signal?" After another couple of seconds the response came. "Roger that, fire mission?" Clipping the bino's to his utility belt he replied back. "Fire a single flare then thirty after that fire a single spread of HE on the same coordinates." "Good copy, setting up now, we'll hold till your word."

With the fire mission set up Noah turned his comm channel to address the squad and Teshi instead. "Squad, turn you NV off. We'll wait for them to get close and we'll fire on my word."

 

[Teshi Ocano]

On his orders, Teshi visor went dim. Visibility was a minimum. Only a stone's throw in front of her, the world went dark. A finger tapped at her armor uneasily. Gaze shifting between Noah and the growing howls, her finger went to the pin, ready for orders.

She never even saw the creature as it came barreling into her.

It moved with grace, silent and deadly, until its jaws locked on Teshi's shoulder and sent them into a mad tumble. The reflex sent the pin flying lose from the grenade, which tumbled across the cliff side.

"Chit!" Teshi exclaimed through the grunts. "LIVE ONE!"

The beast which had moved her was a massive hulk of fur and fury. Her armor had protected her thus far - but she could feel metal caving to the extreme strength of his jaws. The enfeebled hand came up to pull at it's jowls, but she couldn't manage enough grip to do anything more than anger it. Other hand fumbling with the rifle, two quick pops clued her in she wouldn't be able to get an angle. Her protests had costs her precious time. It pinned her, stomach down, against the mountain side.

"Chit!" Another dire curse escaped, as the gravity of the situation came crashing in.

 

[Noah Corek]

Much like Teshi Ocano Noah's eyes took a little while to adjust to the dark and he didn't see the creature until it was too late. Raising his rifle towards the creature he was too late to take it out before it grabbed onto Teshi's shoulder. As the woman and creature tumbled Noah followed them with his rifle trying to get a clean shot to take the creature out. It was only a few seconds before Noah realized that he wasn't going to get a clean shot and instead took a different tact entirely.

Taking his left hand off of his rifle he reached to the small of his back, drew a rather deadly looking blade and stomped over to the wrestling pair. Reaching down he grabbed the creature by the scruff and with some effort hauled it up and off the woman before placing his knee on the neck of the creature and bringing the blade down onto said neck, twisting it to increase the lethality. Once the creature stopped its thrashing he looked towards Teshi and chuckled. "And that's the second time I've saved your ass Major..."

Pulling the knife free he flicked the blood off of it before wiping it against the side of his armored thigh and placing it back in its sheath. Sparing one last glance to make sure that the Major was okay Noah stepped back up to the line and began waiting. It wasn't too much longer when his eyes finally adjusted fully to the dark and he could see the outline of hostiles making their way toward them. Keying up his comm Noah once again called the artillery. "Mad Dog Actual to Stovepipe Actual, fire the salvo." "Roger that, time on target ten seconds."

Noah didn't have to say anything to his squad, as they knew what to do. A few seconds later the early morning darkness was dispelled by the bright light of a illumination shell parachute flare, bathing the nearby area in bright white light. Noah expected the Mawites to look upwards toward the light source but he was instead surprised when they began grasping at their eyes, shrugging it off however Noah simply lined the sights of his rifle up with the nearest Mawite and let off a pair of rounds, the rest of the squad following up behind him with a fusillade of accurate rifle and machine gun fire.