Unleash the....... Kids!

[Kaden Farr]

War was a bloody thing, and Kaden Farr had learned that first hand very recently. His introduction to battle involved something no ten year old should have to see, a bloody stump and cauterizing the wound. [member="Yasha Mantis"] was a resilient 8 year old girl that Kaden had met that day. Her uncle being the one who had lost the arm, and the girl being the one to treat the wound. Kaden had helped to save his life, and soon after it was clear the two children wanted the same thing. They wanted Mia Monroe to die.

To that end the two were off to do something under the cover of nightfall. It never crossed their minds to tell the adults that they wanted to kill Liberator sympathizer and steal their supplies and ammunition. Kaden rarely consulted the adults as it was. He was an orphan, and while traditionally he should have been adopted, he rather liked his freedom.

Keldabe had been the scene of battle, and it was to the outskirts they returned. Rumor had it that a transport would be passing through carrying enough ammunition and weapons to outfit an entire squad. With the losses sustained during the fight for MandalMotors, the Death Watch could use the weapons, and the Tal’rekr especially. This was Kaden’s way of trying to impress, and an excuse to hang out with Yasha.

The two were hiding among some of the wreckage and debris of the last battle. Kaden had managed to secure a small armorweave jumpsuit and light chest and back armor. It was nothing special, but better than the sweater and a beanie. The boy needed a buy’ce with a full HUD. Yasha’s goggles gave her an advantage Kaden didn't have.

“So the transport has two guys with it, and that's it. These sympathizers seem… well they don't expect us.”

Kaden smiled as he hugged the blaster rifle he picked up at the last fight close to his chest. It was going to get good use. Once they fired on the guards, provided the transport showed up on time, they had limited time to get the transport and drive off with it. Timing was everything, and so was correct intel. They really didn't know if they had either.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The only advantage to losing a parent during a war was the lack of eyes to watch a child. After the battle for MandalMotors, Yasha Mantis stayed as close to Ba’vodu [member="Silas Mantis"] and her Buir [member="Preliat Mantis"] that an ad'ika could. She chased through the medic compound for supplies, got Buir elba water and even some whiskey she’d scared up (stolen, really) from someone who’d stopped breathing. By all accounts, the chaotic turn of Manda’yaim was but another day in the life of Preliat Mantis’ daughter. The boy from the mission hung around, alone on the exterior. Why wasn't he finding somebody to bunk down with, to take care of him?





While Yasha slipped [member="Kaden Farr"] some bread and bantha soup, he did look hungry, she kept her ears open and her grip on the handle of her beskad. Never too careful. Never too vigilant. Without her Mama to centre her, Yasha returned to the predator surviving the Netherworld. Her goggles had the crack sealed with liquid transparent alloy. Although there remained a slight bump, the girl didn't have to worry about being rendered blind. So it was that Yasha snuck away from Ba'vodu Silas' medic bed, and waited until Preliat was busy to sneak off.





The Tal'Rekr needed power packs, ammo, jet pack fuel, grenades and explosives. All of the Death Watch needed ammunition to fight this war. The seriousness of their mission put durasteel into Yasha's spine. She sunk down behind slagged metal and cocked her head to the side.





"Only two? Too easy." A shaking thrill passed down Yasha's spine and she hugged into her armourweave jumpsuit and canvas trousers. "Stay here, I'll be back in two secs."





Yasha disappeared behind the slag, the sheen of her multiprismic goggles glinting when she moved through more open spaces. The girl moved like a being from the Netherworld, barely a sound as she skittered between cover points in a wide circle. Light broke through the valley, and Yasha sunk down to the ground, crawling on her elbows and toes across the path from Kaden.





"Open fire once you can see their buy'ce. I'll board the freight speeder." Taking position, Yasha waited, each muscle in her tiny body screaming. Ah, just like home.

 

[Kaden Farr]

”You what... wait...”

Ugh there she was going off on her own again. He watched as she moved around losing her then funding her again when her goggles caught the sunlight. Yasha was gong to have to be careful of the open spaces, especially if the intel was wrong about the guards.

”When I see the glint of sun in the vizors? You’re goggles do the same thing, so try and keep to cover a bit better. You wouldn’t want to give up the ambush.”

Kaden looked out at the path. He could feel the ground rumble a bit before his ears caught the sound of the transport engines. Why a transport made that kind of ruckus was behind him. That’s when Kaden decided he needed to look. Peeking over the edge, Kaden quickly ducked back under cover. His face was white. There were more than two guards. There were two guards, but they were also escorted by a massive tank. That meant at least two more to kill.

Once the color came back into his cheeks, Kaden grinned. He didn’t know how they would do it, but they needed to steal the tank too. His blue eyes turned to look at Yasha once more.

”Ammo, explosives, supplies... and add a tank to the list. You sure the lady you got lined up to get us back is good to go?”

[member="Yasha Mantis"]

 

[Narir Tracyn]

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Kaden Farr"]

Spoiler

sorry i was late, work was h*** today

Narir was next to Kaden, his chocolate brown eyes deep and thoughtful. He had said very little since the beginning of the mission, being a quiet person by nature, content to simply follow in the footsteps of Kaden and Yasha. He wondered if Atiniir, the Mandalorian warrior who had become his surrogate guardian following the battle in Sundari, would approve of what he was doing. Narir was here because Yasha had asked for his help, and because a mission to kill Monroe sympathizers gave him a great chance to make some things burn. Narir was only ten years old, he had little use for politics and the other details of the civil war; all he knew was that Mia Monroe had killed his parents, and he was going to make sure she paid for it.

Narir watched as Kaden peeked over their cover, and came down white as a sheet, only to soon begin smiling. Apparently, they were now going to steal a tank. From all logical viewpoints this was suicide. The others had armor, but all Narir had was his blue Mandalorian soldier's tunic and pants with black boots, and a set of Mandalorian vambraces Atiniir had secured for him in Sundari. The vambraces were good weapons, but against a tank they were next to nothing. Unless, of course, they played their hand right.

"I need a distraction," Narir said, thinking out loud, "If I can get to the tank, I can pop the hatch and flame the inside. Kill the crew, save the parts."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“Sorry. I keep forgetting how bright it is outside Hell.” Yasha mumbled, ducking her head. An odd child for an unworthy world, the girl continued to sneak into position, keeping lower. "[member="Lyanie Quez"] is good for it. She promised to teach me how to fly someday."

The three tykes’ plan went to poodoo the second the tank showed up. [member="Narir Tracyn"] had an idea. Yasha put her head down, looking through the crack in a tangle of dead wire and rubble.

“Distraction. Copy that. Kaden, shoot across the freighter's bow… Now!” Yasha slid under the bric-a-brak and ran through rubble, trusting [member="Kaden Farr"] to fire from the other side. She jumped in time to hit the back of the freight, the clang of her tomahawk and beskad lost in the growl of the engine. Yasha climbed up to the cockpit, stabbing her way along the roof as the speeder continued pulling forward.

Waiting for the signal fire, Yasha swung through the cockpit and kicked both legs into the co-pilot’s buy’ce.

“It's a kid!” He shouted, smashing into the pilot, who was flung out the other side. The pilot’s crush gaunt clamped onto the side. His buy’ce tipped and saw Yasha’s shoe as she scampered back up to the roof. The speeder canted to the side, Yasha stabbed her tomahawk into the durasteel, legs swinging to the side, boot sole gripping on a spiked piece of metal from her original infiltration. The pilot tried to pull back into the seat. The co-pilot pointed his blaster rifle at the roof, firing upward. He moved out the side, climbing to the roof.

At the commotion, the tank turret began to turn.

 

[Kaden Farr]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand Yasha was off and gone again. This time she went for the transport head on while Kaden was left shooting his blaster. None of them ever thought that a plan was needed. All that was going through their minds was how proud the adults would be once they all came home with a frighter full of supplies, ammo, guns, explosives, and now this tank. That’s why Kaden was smirking as Yasha ran off. What made him laugh was the thought this supply train was about to get ambushed by a bunch of kids and they didn’t see it coming.

Yasha needed help.

Kaden fired two shots into the back of the guy hanging out of the vehicle so that Yasha could keep climbing her way to the inside. In the mean time she had the guards attention and the turret on the tank as well.

”Hey get that tank now. They’re gonna blow the frieghter full of supplies trying to stop Yasha,” Kaden said to Narir.

His blaster kept firing, killing the guards so Narir could make a break for it, then providing cover fire to keep the pilots distracted. Kaden didn’t want anything to happen to the 8 year old. The battle at MandalMotors had connected them, forged a battle bond, whatever you wanted to call it. All he knew was the girl was his best friend right now, and that meant he couldn’t lose her.

[member="Yasha Mantis"] | [member="Narir Tracyn"]

 

[Narir Tracyn]

[member="Kaden Farr"] [member="Yasha Mantis"]

When the distraction came, Narir was ready. He waited as Narir and Yasha engaged the enemy, and when Kaden gave him the signal he vaulted the cover and charged the tank. He activated his vambraces' shield projector to ensure his own safety as he hurtled towards the vehicle, hoping he would reach it in time to ensure Yasha's safety as well. No doubt the crew of the tank were completely befuddled as to who was attacking them; two ten year olds and an eight year old are far from what you would expect on a battlefield. But Mandalorian training started young, and war was nothing short of a catalyst.

Narir reached the tank and leaped aboard as the tank's gun continued to maneuver towards the transport. Scrambling to the top he found the hatch. Pressing the paired blaster barrels of his gauntlet on the hatch he blasted the locks and flipped it open.

"What the h***?" Exclaimed the commander as light streamed into his compartment. Narir wasted no time.

"Hettir dayn," he said simply, activating his flamethrower and filling the tank with fire. The screams of the dying crew members were nothing to the young Mandalorian's ears. He was a Mando'ade, trained to fight, to kill, to show no mercy to an enemy. He had lost his parents to the woman these dar'manda supported; he couldn't kill her, but he could kill the ones who followed her. The men died in seconds, cooked inside their own vehicle. The tank's components were slightly charred and melted, but it was nothing that couldn't be easily repaired. Narir flipped the hatch back and waved an all-clear to his companions.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The pilot [member="Kaden Farr"] shot buckled, falling off the speeder, his body tumbling with blaster burns charring past his armour. He settled limbs akimbo on the ground. One down.





Kaden's shots veered past the co-pilot, who crouched down on the speeder roof and lunged for the girl. Although Yasha kept her balance, the loss of the pilot caused the speeder to veer out of control, engines sustained without directional input. Yasha's leather boots slid on the roof, for her to fight back, she'd have to release one of her weapons from their place holding her to the roof. Keeping her tomahawk in the metal, Yasha pulled her beskad free and slashed forward, catching the armourweave and staining the co-pilot's leg with red.





"Kade-!" Yasha yelped, the co-pilot's boot kicked the air out of her. Yasha tumbled toward the edge of the speeder as it roared out of control. Her body smacked into the metal, tomahawk pierced into the side. If her wrist hadn't remained in the strap, the girl would have fallen off the transport completely. The co-pilot stomped with his magnetized boots to the edge and readied his pistol.





"A chakaaryc kid... Osik!" She whipped like a rag doll. [member="Narir Tracyn"]'s flamethrower torched the interior of the tank, and the co-pilot yanked his head away from Yasha. She shook the stunning fog away. The pistol pointed at her face. Yasha howled and stabbed her beskad into the back of the man's ankle, a two inch space between the back of his boot and his shin plate. She gripped and pulled, kicking her legs up in an attempt to scramble toward the cockpit.





The co-pilot shouted and shot at her again, she flung herself out of the way, hanging on by her tomahawk. The speeder veered into a cascade of debris, slamming to a stop. Yasha yanked her tomahawk out of the speeder and jumped, rolling on the ground with a loud,

"Ooof!"





She scrambled into the debris, as the co-pilot hit the ground and limped around toward her, his twin pistols raised and shooting at Kaden. Coughing and sputtering, Yasha tried to shut her mouth and stop making the noise she needed to catch her breath. The tank, however, was won. Narir had done it, and the tank laid at the ready for the kids to clean out and call for extraction.

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden watched [member="Narir Tracyn"] as he ran for the tank. It was a brief deviation from paying attention [member="Yasha Mantis"], but necessary. He was the cover fire for both them, deciding it wasn’t as fun, but his job in the ordeal. Kaden turned back to Yasha as the co-pilot kicked her in gut. A rage starts growing inside the young boy, and he stood from his cover and began shouting every obscene word he had overheard in his life.

That was a mistake.

While it bough Yasha the time to hide, Kaden was now the target. He started to shoot back, but missed as he had to duck without looking. Another curse left his mouth. They had the tank, the guards were dead, except for this pilot, and there was only so long before the commotion brought about unwanted attention.

Another engine whirring above them confirmed Kaden’s fear. Without comms they would have to work together without being able to directly communicate. Kaden refused to admit they didn’t think this through, but he was thinking it. Popping his head up he fired two more shots at the man, missing again.

”Yasha kill him,” Kaden yelled as he started moving from cover to cover toward the tank. Hopefully Narir had seen the ship above them. They needed to shoot it out of the sky if they were going to stay alive.

 

[Narir Tracyn]

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Kaden Farr"]

Narir heard the approaching ship about the same time Kaden did, and if he knew any good swear words, he would have said them there. But, he'd been rather sheltered, for a Mandalorian, and so contented himself with making a face that was a mix of thoughtful and really p***** off. Quickly, he considered his options. The ship was small, a patrol shuttle made for a single pilot. But, it mounted a rotary blaster that would chew through the three tykes before you could say "oh snap." And, it was moving into attack position. Narir had to move fast. Leaping off the tank, he rushed the transport shuttle. At that moment, the shuttle moved into position and started ripping laser bolts into the dust at Narir's feet. What a day this was turning into.

Narir reached the freighter speeder and ducked behind it. He moved around until he was at the front, then climbed into the cab, oblivious of the antics of Yasha and the pilot. Thankfully, there was a toolbox inside the cockpit, and inside this was a small laser cutter. Narir took the cutter and applied it generously to the back of the speeder cab, cutting his way into the storage compartment. Inside was exactly what he was looking for: high-yield explosives. Narir grabbed a charge and leaped out of the speeder, blaster bolts from the shuttle still bouncing off the speeder as he moved. Holding the explosive in one hand, he took a deep breath and peeked out from behind the speeder. The shuttle's cannon nearly took his head off, but he had what he needed. Taking another breath he took a few steps back and hurled the explosive charge over the speeder. Then he ran around the end of the speeder, tracking the charge as it flew, right towards the ship.

He aimed his wrist blaster, ignoring the blaster bolts that still ripped the ground at his feet, and fired a single shot. For what followed, there were no words.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

[member="Kad Tor"] had enough respect for his pint sized Tal'Rekr comrade to start to create her weapons and armour. The gauntlets Yasha wore were far better fitting than the borrowed crushgaunts. They slid up her arms to the elbows, secured now with room to grow.





She put her tomahawk back on its' scabbard, shaking out her head and arms as the co-pilot turned to fire at [member="Kaden Farr"]. A growl stole across her teeth, this armoured guy was going to shoot her buddy!? Buir [member="Preliat Mantis"] would never let one of his battle brothers get shot if he could stop it. Yasha crouched and clenched her fists, activating the mechanisms which made her gauntlets so specific and deadly.





Blades shunted past either side of her wrists. She ran at the co-pilot, slashing at the backs of his legs then darting away. He yelped and swerved, but Yasha came around from a different angle, slicing through his armourweave up to his armpits. Stabbing firm, Yasha didn't let up until the body was twitching on the ground. She sheathed her wrist blades, yanked her beskad from his ankle, and pillaged his corpse. Pistols, ammo, a field bacta kit, Yasha took everything she could.





"Don't use too many! We need to bring as much back as we can. Search the bodies for bacta and anything we can use!" Yasha yelled to [member="Narir Tracyn"] as he rushed the speeder. The ship overhead made her position, and Yasha ran through the debris to Kaden. She grabbed his hand, making for the tank, "Come on! We g-aw noodle puppies! Ruun!"





The air ripped apart with the raucous explosion. The shockwave flung Yasha off her feet, causing her to tumble into wreckage. She let her body go loose, sliding into a gap between sheets of slagged metal and debris.





"Kade? Nar?" Her ears rung, all Yasha could hear was a ringing tone and her own breath in her lungs. "Kade!? Nar!?"





Yasha crawled back out, pushing to her feet then running straight for her little squad. "[member="Lyanie Quez"]! We need evac! Lyanie, do you know how to drive a tank!?"

 

[Kaden Farr]

Kaden couldn't figure out why Narir was abandoning the tank. As Kaden moved closer to it, Narir was moving further away from it. He grinned when he figured it out. Narir was going after something to blow up the ship. Maybe he could keep it busy.

A battle yell pulled his attention back to Yasha. His grin was a full on smile has he watched her rip the co-pilot to pieces with the gauntlets one of the older smiths had made for her. Kaden was going to have to ask for a set himself. The delay was long enough that Yasha ran to where he was and grabbed his hand. She yanked on him as they made their way for the tank. It seemed the two of them had the same idea. One could drive while the other shot.

The ship fired at them. The explosion shook them. Yasha was thrown off into some debris, and it took Kaden with her. Instead of sliding inside the rubble, Kaden was left exposed. He blacked out for a few seconds, no more than five, and woke up to Yasha pulling herself out of the rubble. The boy pushed back onto his feet and followed her, taking her hand.

"We gotta stay out of the open," he said as he yanked her back toward the tank. "The guns on that tank are our only chance to shoot this thing out of the sky."

Kaden lost track of Narir, but he hoped the boy would know he needed to form up with them and regroup. There would be no surviving without staying together. Yasha called the evac in, but they still had a ship to deal with. "Up you go... you're getting in first."

[member="Yasha Mantis"] | [member="Narir Tracyn"]

 

[Narir Tracyn]

[member="Yasha Mantis"] [member="Kaden Farr"]

The explosion was even more glorious than Narir could have imagined. As soon as he fired his shot he dived to the ground, covering his ears. The charge exploded, consuming the shuttle in a white hot fireball that sent a shockwave tearing across the ground. Narir was unaffected, being ready for the detonation, and once the dust had settled he stood and admired his handiwork. The shuttle was now nothing but a heap of wreckage on the ground. Narir went back to the tank and climbed aboard, sitting on top as Kaden and Yasha dashed towards him.

"Ship's down," he said, no urgency at all in his voice.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

The incoming ship was a pile of slag thundering down at the trio. Yasha climbed up the tank and held out her hand for [member="Kaden Farr"] to grab and climb up. She looked over at Narir, he had this detached cool kid look, and Yasha smirked. Her squad was the best in the known universe. Take that Ori'ramikad!





"[member="Narir Tracyn"]! You did it! That was epic, did you see that!? It was all yank, and whizz and throw and kaboom!!" Yasha reenacted the explosion by throwing her body around on top of the tank, then hopping to her feet.





"What did we get, Nar? Lots of good stuff? Ammo and explosives and bacta and credits and candy?" Yasha called out, looking down at the tank. "We should get this working, there might be another ship incoming."





Yasha hopped down into the charred remains of the tank's interior. Her nose wrinkled at the waft of burnt propellant, eyes casually tracing along the head of a man who wasn't wearing his buy'ce. Heaving him off his seat, Yasha tried to push the body to the side, only managing to get enough room to put her feet.





"Mama? How do you drive a tank?" Yasha poked at her visor, "Kade, do you know how? Wait... what's back here?"





Behind the dash, Yaha hefted at a large strong box bigger than her. She heaved and pulled at it, but it wouldn't budge. "I don't think the fire got to it! What do you think's inside?"

 

[Kaden Farr]

The kids scampered up into the tank just in time to miss the incoming debris. The close calls these kids were avoiding would make the adults question whether or not they were fit to be parents, and if it didn't, it should. Granted the kids did sneak off and deserved to be grounded, and maybe get a whoopin, but the idea was the gear and supplies would make up for that.

Kaden and Yasha both cheered when the ship exploded, at least when they were settled enough. He was as curious as Yasha had been about what they had gotten, and waited eagerly for Narir to tell them. In the meantime he was looking around at a lot of confusing controls. He was glad Yasha had help from her mom on how to do certain things, but from what Kaden could tell, they needed two of them to operate the tank.

There was a box. It was big.

"Please let it be a BAZOOKA!!!"

The last part came out a little over excited, but Kaden rushed to it, and didn't wait for anyone before prying the top off. It was a bazooka. Kaden didn't see the ammo with it, so maybe that was with the convoy, but it was pretty thing. "Climb up there and see if this thing came with ammo! The box was too large to only be for the bazooka, but it was the first thing Kaden saw. Being the tank there had to be medical supplies and other things inside that would help the warriors inside if they needed it.

Kaden was bouncing.

"Hurry... hurry... I wanna know what else is in there!"

[member="Yasha Mantis"] | [member="Narir Tracyn"]

 

[Narir Tracyn]

[member="Kaden Farr"] [member="Yasha Mantis"]

As Yasha and Kaden started digging around in the tank, Narir hopped off and walked over to the transport speeder. He took his laser cutter and sliced open the locks on the speeder's back doors. He swung them open, and even the calm Mando'ade adi'ka's eyes widened. They'd hit the jackpot. Besides the box of high-yield explosives Narir had taken out of, there were also several crates of blaster rifles, some boxes of assorted grenades, and enough ammo to make even a Mandalorian choke. But the crowning jewel, at least to Narir, was at the very back of the transport. The lithe ten year old climbed inside the transport and grabbed ahold of a box with the words "Danger" written on it. It begged to be opened.

Narir took his laser cutter to the box and cut it open, and if there had been such thing as glowing light and angels singing in real life, it would have happened then. Inside the box was a weapon with a rifle-like body, attached to a canister with a flexible tube. A flame carbine. Narir lifted it out and held it.

"We hit the mother lode," he said, a rare smile spreading across his face.

 

[Narir Tracyn]

Double post