We got to him first!

[Valkren Calderon]

Location: Alaris Prime, breaching atmosphere.​

Assets: First Ranger Special Assault Unit; AKA 'Radama Raiders'​

Objective: Find and neutralize pirate captain, 'Kavarr.'​

The drop ship rocked violently as it soared close to the massive trees on Alaris Prime, a moon in the Kashyyyk system. The ship cut through the night sky as it attempted to stay low enough to avoid detection, but high enough to avoid being clipped by one of the gargantuan tree limbs. Within the troop bay of the drop ship, ten Antarian Rangers assigned to the special forces unit: the 'Radama Raiders,' stood in wait, stabilizing themselves by gripping onto the rings on the ceiling of the bay. Opposed to their usual Katarn combat armor, the ten soldiers were simply sporting green and black jumpsuits with protective vests and tactical webbing to help them blend in with the flora of the planet.

With his green patrol cap pulled tightly over his head, Colonel Valkren Calderon stood at the rear of the troop bay, where the ramp would soon open to let out this so called 'can of whoop-ass' into the dense jungle. The young officer would tap into his communication system, sending a transmission to the nine other rangers within the dropship.

"Alright ladies, you all know the briefing! But let me give you a run-down for those of you who can't pay attention and need to be sent back to younglings' school! Our target is 'Kavarr,' a trandoshan pirate directly linked to slave-trafficking on Trandosha and throughout this system. He's a main player in one of the criminal rings on the planet, so if we knock him out we'll get the attention of some of the bigger players on Trandosha!"

"What are we walking into here, boss?" Specialist Jim Lowder spoke up, finishing his face-camoflauge as he did so.

"Well the trees here are similar to the ones on Kashyyyk."

"You mean Karkin' huge?" Sergeant Plexico joined in on this one, raising his voice over the sound of the dropship's engines.

"Karkin' huge is right. They provide pretty thick cover for anyone planet-side. We've got intel on Kavarr and about thirty of his lackies' that are held up in a makeshift compound within the jungle. We'll place down out of earshot of the area, and make about a two mile hump' to a good position to stage a raid on the compound."

"Outnumbered? I like it.." Lieutenant Konrad Harris spoke up, Valkren's XO of the team and usual heavy-hitter. He spun his Z-6 rotary cannon once for good measure, assuring the weapon was prepared.

"Pretty unfair, right fellas? Almost seems like they should have more men! Now our objective is to detain Kavarr to acquire any information he has on the Trandoshan slave trade, but believe me I will not file any reports if we leave with this planet with that oversized lizard in a body bag! Hooah?"

"HOOAH!" His men responded with this chant all at once, and soon after a light flicked green within the troop bay. The dropship's nose tipped up, stopping suddenly as they found their landing destination. The bay opened and two ropes deployed directly out the back, letting the men deploy two at a time and begin to form a perimeter within the forest.

As Valkren's boots hit the dirt first, he'd take a crouch jog out of the way of the rope so the rest of his men could deploy, raising his assault ripper toward his respected direction to hold the perimeter until everyone had disembarked the vehicle.

Little did Valkren and his team know that they weren't the only ones on the hunt today.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: MC-10 Light Freighter ‘Sardonic Growl’,​

Kashyyyk System, enroute to Alaris Prime​

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The noise seemed far off. Like a memory. Like a dream. It was more like a thunderclap in the distance than an explosion, except that all
Beltran Rarr could see above him was an endless abyss of fog and grey. There was no sign of lightening, but Beltran knew that it was coming. The lightening always came after the thunder.

Beltran found himself, as he often did, standing alone in a desolate place. He looked all around him, searching for some sign of where he was or where he was supposed to go. But he’d been here before, and he knew that it didn’t matter where he went or what he did.

Because in the end, you know you’re doomed.

Beltran didn’t have to look to know that a shadowy figure stood behind him. It was about his size, essentially humanoid but otherwise completely obscured by darkness. Even in direct light, it somehow always managed to cling to the shadows.

Beltran suspected that the darkness wasn’t so much a lack of light, as it was a manifestation of his uncertainty. After all, The Jester only came to him when he was uncertain about something.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

You’re going to fail. The Jester continued. Everything you love will wither and die and you will be forever alone.

“Joke’s on you,” Beltran replied, his voice even. “I’m already alone and I don’t know the first thing about loving anything.”

Boom boom bo-*knock knock knock!*

Beltran’s eyes opened and he found himself immediately back in the land of the real.

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

“Hey! Baldy!” A slightly raspy voice called from the other side of door. “We’ve just exited hyperspace and Waurr says we should be landing on Alaris Prime inside of fifteen minutes.”

Beltran blinked a few times, forcing the fogginess of sleep away from his senses. He then sat up, allowing the sheet to fall from his bare chest. His exposed torso was riddled with the pock-like marks of healed blaster wounds and he also had several slash like marks, each carrying with it the brutal memory of a time when he had been stabbed or cut.

“Baldy! You hearin’ me?” The voice called again.

“Yes,” Beltran replied, his voice never losing its even tone. “Please convey my thanks to Captain Lupewaurreg and tell him that I will be ready to depart as soon as he lands at the coordinates I gave him.”

“Uh..yeah, alright. I’ll tell him.”

***

Location: Surface of Alaris Prime, approximately twelve kilometers to target​

​

Beltran stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp, looking up at the mismatched profiles of its two crewe members. Lupewaurreg, the Wookiee Captain of the ‘Sardonic Growl’ looked down at Beltran with what the mercenary could only interpret as concern. Clad in a massive leather jacket, the creature opened his mouth and let out something that could only be described as a mix between a yowl and a grunt.

“Waurr says to be careful.” The voice, the same that had woken him up just over a quarter hour before, belonged to a short, stumpy and rather overweight human by the name of Jost Caldayne. He served as the freighter’s second mate, co-pilot and translator. He was as unlikely a specimen as Beltran had ever seen, content to spend most of his days sitting in the mess eating, or just sleeping off another one of his benders in his quarters. When he moved, it was less a walk and more of a waddle. And yet, Caldayne had the single quickest gun hand Beltran had ever seen.

It was truly an amazing sight to behold, and what had led Beltran to approach those two back in Niima Outpost on Jakku in the first place.

“Waurr also says that he’ll pick you up for free if you can bring him back that fethin’ Trando’s skin.”

Beltran inclined his head slightly and nodded. While he’d kept the majority of the details of his latest contract confidential, as he always did, he’d strategically let slip the fact that the target was a Trandoshan pirate named Kavarr. It had been his hope to play on the Wookiee captain’s hatred for the species and he’d succeeded. Captain Lupewaurreg had altered his course to bring Beltran here with only a minor surcharge.

“I will see what can be done,” He replied. In truth, he doubted that he would have the time for skinning, and keeping trophies had never appealed to him. This was nothing more than a job for him, the first one he’d managed to find that was worth anything since he left his homeworld months before.

The client, Beltran surmised, was a member of one of the Hutt clans and ostensibly one of Kavarr’s backers. Recently, the clan had come into some intelligence that Kavarr had popped up on the radar of the Silver Jedi Order, who were apparently in the midst of an operation to retrieve him. Beltran’s client feared that if Kavarr was captured, then he would be made to reveal who had funded his various criminal enterprises. So it was the wish of his client that Trandoshan be eliminated before he could be captured.

In truth, it wasn’t Beltran’s favorite type of operation. There were entirely too many unknowns. The client had told him to expect upwards of thirty men to be protecting Kavarr at his compound here on Alaris but he had no idea on about their level of training or how well they were equipped. He’d been told that the Silver Jedi were likely to be moving on Kavarr soon, but no mention as to which units were involved or any kind of timetable on when to expect them.

Still, the contract promised to pay well and the Hutt had been willing to pay a third up front.

Turning from the ship, Beltran unslung his LD-1 Target Blaster Rifle from across his shoulder and slowly began to make his way into the forest moving in the general direction of the compound…

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren couldn't even count how many times he had been deep within a jungle on one of the many planets in the galaxy, toting a rifle and a thirty pound ruck several miles, only to remove their kits from said rucksacks and move on to engage their targets or take their objectives with twenty pounds of kit on their bodies..

That was a light day, when they didn't have to bring their full sets of Katarn combat armor. This, this was a light day.

The colonel took up the lead at the head of the pack of nine soldiers, each ranger behind him keeping a ten-meter distance between the man in front of them. Ever vigilant eyes watched out from underneath the brims of their patrol caps, boonie' hats, and dark colored beanies. Most of the sleeves of their jumpsuits remained down to their full lengths, but some had rolled them up, revealing a multitude of cultural and artistic inking designs, both personal and unit-based. Between every ten to fifteen minutes, the colonel would remove his stabilizing hand from his rifle, putting it in the form of a fist in the air to stop the formation. This forced the rangers to crouch down, weapons ready as they scanned the treelines and surrounding area. Not only was this protocol for the Antarian Rangers, but Valkren had found out the hard way that if this wasn't done constantly and the proper way, it was very possible to lead your men into an ambush.

He especially didn't want to put his 'Raiders' in that position, even though he knew the group of specialized rangers could handle it.

After another brief stop, and giving himself an extra minute or two, he'd simply nod and stand back up, heaving the kit on his back in the process as he began moving toward their destination once more. These 'safety' stops would cause the ranger platoon to reach the staging area of the raid on Kavarr's compound later than they had initially expected, but there would still be much darkness left in the night to conceal their positions.

A combined hour or so later, they had reached the staging area. Kavarr's compound had been built into the side of a hill, so rugged that it was almost impossible to attack from the rear or top of the facility. With a mix of 'drop-in' huts and bunkers, surrounded by a electro-fence with automated defenses and two manual weapon emplacements, it was quite the mini fortress hidden well between the gargantuan trees of Alaris Prime. However, the Radama Raiders had planned for the situation. Once they had dropped all their kits at the staging point out of view of the watch, Specialist Lowder and Private Clark had crawled their way up through tall brush, close enough to see the facial expression of those pirates who chose not to wear helmets and masks. Lowder smacked Clark on the shoulder gently, ushering for a set of NVG headsets, implemented with a zoom capability.

The specialist pulled his beanie up slightly on to the top of his head, bringing the headset to his eyes to take a glance into the base. What he saw seemed to fit every detail on the report. The mass amount of guards alone suggested that there was well indeed thirty or so combatants within the compound, and the automated turrets and electro fence made it so there was no entry besides the front gate, which happened to be guarded by two heavy repeater emplacements..Which were of course, manned by pirates.

However, the pair of rangers were not this close to look for confirmation on their intel..Jim zoomed in, right through the wiring in the gate to spot the source of the power, an active generator within a box of electro fences. He'd mark the spot with a simple click on the headset, before passing the NVGs back to clark as smoothly as he could. The specialist then turned on his back, leaning down to whisper into his communicator on his chest rig.

"Target location: Lima, Foxtrot, Rancor. I say again: Lima, Foxtrot, Rancor. Beware of tree branches when engaging..How copy, over?"

Thirty yards back, over six more rangers laying prone in the brush, hidden behind the trees, Sergeant Plexico and Corporal Baker had set up a mobile-motor emplacement from one of their kits at the staging area.

"Copy, Lowder. Pull back to the colonel's position." The sergeant turned to Baker as he began to fish out a High-explosive round from his own kit.

"Decrease power, corporal..We're going to have to lob this one right under the trees to get our mark. Colonel, you hear Lowder? We're on standby."

Just as this transmission would go out, Lowder and Clark had scooted their way back to the other six rangers, who began to spread out themselves in preparation for an engagement. Valkren waited to respond to this until his men were in suitable positions for the firefight that was surely to ensue. Calderon took one more glance through the blades of grass of thick brush to the right, and then two the left, receiving thumbs up from the men on either side of him which would have translated throughout the line of combatants.

"Send it, Plex."

Back where all their rucks and equipment lay, the sergeant dropped the round down the motor tube, crouching down beside it and covering his ears in preparation for the round to be delivered.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran had made good time going through the forest. On his own, we was able to move faster and quieter than he would have been able had he decided to bring in help. Lupewaurreg had offered to come with him the moment he’d learned that Beltran’s target was a
Trandoshan and though Beltran knew that the large Wookiee would have been able to make one hell of a distraction, there wasn’t anything more Lupewaurreg could do that would aid Beltran. Plus, once Kavarr was dead, Beltran would need passage off this moon and out of the system.

Approaching from the west, Beltran arrived at the compound just as the sun was beginning to set. With the sun setting behind him, Beltran knew that he would be difficult to spot as he slowly, silently and methodically made his way around the parameter of the compound looking for vulnerabilities. To his dismay, it seemed that there was only one gate leading into or out of the compound and it was heavily guarded.

The fence that surrounded the parameter emitted a barely perceivable hum, but one that Beltran was able to detect. Electric. He thought to himself as he squatted down behind one of the massive trees to collect himself. That means climbing the fence is out as well.

To some, such a setback might have been frustrating, but to Beltran it was simply a puzzle to be solved. There was a rule that dated back to the very beginning of warfare itself that stated: No fortress is ever truly impregnable. No matter how many guards, or how thick the walls, or how powerful the shields. An invader with the enough time, the right motivation and level of skill could get inside anything.

So again, Beltran made a slow sweep of the parameter. Only this time, he wasn’t just looking at the compound, he was looking at the treeline around it. The trees, a cousin of the wroshyr species that covered most of Kashyyyk, stood several dozen feet tall and many had mighty branches that reached clean over the compound. That was how he was going to get in.

Finding the right tree proved to be time consuming. He needed one with a branch that overhung the compound itself. It couldn’t be too high, because Beltran only had about fifty feet of carbon fibre cord on him and the branch had to be thick enough that a guard looking up at it wouldn’t be able to make out his profile as he climbed over it and ideally, it had to have a place for him to drop down in that wasn’t out in the open.

As the sun finally disappeared in the sky, Beltran knew that he would have to settle for two out of three. He’d found a tree with a branch approximately fifty five off the ground. That meant that he could slide down the rope approximately forty feet and then jump the remaining fifteen. It was risky. At that height, one miscalculation and he’d break his legs on impact or worse.

However, that wasn’t even Beltran’s biggest problem. The main issue was that the branch would deposit him right in the main courtyard, just beyond the front gate. There would be next to no cover where he would touch down and he would be right in the middle of crossfire from both of the heavy repeaters.

He would need to create a distraction. Had he more time, the obvious choice would be to bury a couple of thermal detonators just inside the treeline outside the gate and set them off remotely, drawing everyone’s attention to the spot of the explosion. Then he could hopefully jump down and sprint to cover while everyone was reeling from the shock.

Unfortunately, that would require sneaking all the way over there, taking the time to bury the explosives. Sneak back and then climb the tree. Night had just begun, so it was true he had plenty of darkness to work with but he also knew that there were others coming for Kavarr as well. If they got him before Beltran, he would be out some serious money. So his only other option was to climb the tree, and then lob those detonators from atop the branch. While he wouldn’t be able to make as big of an explosion, he could create confusion by tossing three or four in random directions, perhaps making it seem like the compound was under attack from multiple sides. Who knew? Maybe it would work even better.

Having made up his mind, Beltran set to work making it a reality. First, he slung his rifle once more across his back and pulled out his two tactical vibro-blades. Switching them on, he stuck one of them, point first, into the tree. Wroshyr wood was notoriously tough, but its bark was less so. On a normal sized tree, that wouldn’t make a difference. But the bark layer on a tree the size of the one he was climbing was nearly six inches. Enough, Beltran hoped, to provide a stable handhold.

Testing his makeshift handhold for stability, he decided it was good enough. Reaching up with the second knife, he repeated the motion only this time further up the three. Then using only his upper body strength, he heaved himself upward while dislodging his first knife and stabbing it in the three even further up. Climbing like this was extremely taxing, and if Beltran hadn’t kept himself in the best of shape he never would have been able to do it.

Even as it was, it took him the better part of an hour before he made it to the branch he wanted. From there, he put his knives away and pulled out his cord. The carbon-fibre filament was extremely thin and lightweight, but strong enough to hold up a Gundark. Then, Beltran crawled slowly and silently across the top of the branch until he was finally over the courtyard.

The next trick for him to pull out of his figurative hat, was to tie off the rope and let it down without anyone noticing. To this, he had a little luck since it was well into the night and darkness reigned. He completed the delicate task without incident and now it was time to start the show. Lying his back facing the sky, Beltran pulled two thermal detonators from his vest. He would have to arm them, throw them each in opposite directions and then be ready to slide down the rope as soon as they detonated. It seemed an impossible task, which was why Beltran felt so comfortable with it.

With no margin for error, he was as completely focused as he had ever been. It was only in this state that the mercenary could feel reasonably sure that he wouldn’t be visited by The Jester or any of the other manifestations of his psyche. It was the only time that Beltran could truly be himself.

Taking two deep breaths, he readied his thumb on one of the triggers when, all of a sudden, he heard the faint sound of whistling. Is that what I think it is…..? He thought to himself at the same exact time that the compound’s power generator exploded in a fiery inferno.

Immediately, the camp below erupted into a flurry of activity. Spotlights were turned on the site of the explosion as several guards sprinted to the site and orders were being thrown around in T’doshok. Beltran risked a glance down below him and found that while several guards remained on the inside of the gate, their attention was equally divided between watching the tree line and gawking at the destruction around them.

Better now than never.

Fixing the detonator back onto his vest, Beltran rolled over to his left and allowed himself to fall. Upon passing the end of the branch, he reached out with his gloved hands and grabbed onto the cord with all his might. He needed to slow his descent enough that when he entered the free fall portion of his jump he would have a chance at surviving it. What occurred over the next second and a half, felt like an eternity to Beltran.

When he reached the end of the cord, he let go and made sure to bend his knees as he fell. Below him, he saw a Trandoshan guard moving quickly toward the front gate his path taking him directly under Beltran’s feet. Perhaps it was serendipity, or perhaps it was something else, but the T’doshok being directly under Beltran when the mercenary landed provided enough of a break to his fall that he arrived on the ground unscathed.

Underneath him, the mercenary felt the shocked guard start to move. Reaching for one of his knives, the Lorrdian flipped on the vibro’s switch and twisted his body around. Then with one swift move, he embedded the blade deep into the Trandoshan’s throat, severing his carotid artery and his vocal chords in the same motion. Just as the guard had begun to struggle, he went limp and died with his faint sounds of gurgling utterly lost against the chaotic backdrop of the compound under attack.

Beltran didn’t even bother to look around to see if anyone had witnessed what had just happened, he didn’t have time for that. Instead, he simply rolled to his feet, picked a direction and sprinted to the first piece of cover he could find. It happened to be a random crate that someone had obviously been in the middle of moving. Diving behind it, he came to his knee and look around. Blood dripped from the edge of his blade as Beltran decided what his next course of action would be.

It was not the first blood the weapon had shed, and it would certainly not be the last.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

As the generator went up in flames, eight rangers suddenly appeared as they changed their stances to crouched positions all along the thick brush. Weapons raised, Valkren let loose a single blaster bolt that gave the signal for his strike team to engage. His round traveled over the distance between himself and the front gates of the compound, catching the pirate behind one of the emplacements right in the chest as he was turning away from the blaze within their compound. The Ranger next to him took the other emplacement's gunner, firing off two rounds in the direction as he looked down his iron sights.

"Guns are down, automated turrets are out of the game! Move up!." Valkren yelled these two statements, one to the men to his left, and then turning to say the other to those on his right. The young special operations officer knew that they had a small window before the opposition realized what exactly was happened, and where the enemy fire was coming from.

That window was closing slowly.

The eight grunts continued their advance, covering one another as the sprinted to their next position, got down, and resumed fire on the enemy positions. The chaos of the motors still hadn't stopped, and Calderon knew that Plexico always carried three H.E. rounds in his mortar kit with the corporal, so that would be sure to throw them off, at least until they could get close enough to the gate. On the far left, Lieutenant Konrad Harris had been the only one not to fire his weapon yet as the other seven had been letting loose, picking off their targets as they ran back and forth.

Once the LT had reached a suitable position, he'd lean himself back into a hunched-standing position and level his rotary cannon directly at the fences. The barrels of the Z-6 began to spin as a grin slowly grew across his face, until eventually a hellfire of blue blaster bolts spilled out of the weapon. Easily cutting through the 'dead' fences, the bolts traveled and found their marks in several location, cutting down a number of unsuspecting pirates.

It was a slaughter.

"Adjust distance, ten meters north. Let's avoid hitting our own people." Back with their equipment, Sergeant Plexico held out another high-explosive round at the mouth of the mortar tube, preparing to send out another round to keep their enemies confused.

"Copy Sir, adjusting..Weapon ready!"

"Fire!" The sergeant's voice came calmly as he said this, having done this a countless number of times. He dropped the round in and leaned down once more to avoid any blast from the tube.

----​

​

Within the compound, Kavarr had been occupying the largest of the 'drop-in' structures at the end, closest to the hill. The trandoshan was much larger than his counterparts, an obvious sign of leadership in many of the criminal groups. The biggest were the baddest, after all. Aside from his size, the lizard could. be distinguished by a deep scar that ran the length of his snout. His body was covered in heavy plating, being the main target in several firefights often attracted the most amount of slugs. As soon as the first mortar round slammed into their compound, the behemoth of a trando had made his way into the courtyard. A single vibrosword in his right claw, with a scatter gun in the left. The beast gnarled it's teeth as it scanned the immediate area of the compound, searching for a breach and where exactly the enemy fire was coming from.

Before long, another mortar round had found it's way underneath the treeline, soaring directly into the compound only meters from Kavarr. The explosive round threw a mix of gore and dirt into the area, having struck between two pirates. After shielding himself only momentarily, the trandoshan only blinked, then straightened it's posture and let out a roar. As the smoke cleared, his eyes focused through the gates ahead, spotting the shapes of men and muzzle flashes pointing in their direction.

With a growl, he'd raise his scatter gun toward the gate one-handed, firing off a single mix of slugs and pellets from the shell in the weapon.

"They're at the gate, you fools! Kill them before I kill you all!"

Kavarr was now completely focused on the Ranger strike team attacking the compound, completely oblivious to the mercenary who had already infiltrated his compound. A stray slug from Kavarr's own weapon traveled the length of the battlefield from himself, to the rangers, slamming into and through the arm of Specialist Lowder. The force of the weapon knocking him off of his feet and onto his back.

"Argh~ Those Karkwits shot me!" He mustered out a response, placing his gloved hand on the blood covered hole in his arm now to cease said bleeding.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Inside pirate compound, hiding behind crate
Allies: None
Enemies: Kavarr the Trandoshan, assorted guards, possibly Antarian Ranger special ops team
Engaging: Kavarr the Trandoshan

The entire operation had already gone to hell, and Beltran was reasonably sure that was the only reason he was still alive. The destruction of the compound’s power generator, and the subsequent attack against the front gate could not have come at a better time for Beltran.
As he came up to his knees behind the crate with his knife in hand, he was fully prepared for a fight. Instead, between the noise of the explosion and the assault on the gate, not a single other guard had noticed his presence.

That didn’t mean that Beltran’s position was what he would call a good one however. Though partially covered from the center of the courtyard by the crate, there were at least three avenues between the buildings where an enemy could come up behind him.

As well, though the barrage of explosives coming from the unknown source beyond the compound provided quite the distraction, Beltran could see it was beginning to creep forward closer to his position. Even had the attack come from allies, a friendly explosion could still kill you just as dead as a hostile one.

And Beltran was under no illusion that the barrage came from friendlies.

These were, he suspected as he saw several of the guards closest to the main gate go down in a hail of blasterfire, the soldiers of the Silver Jedi here to extract their prisoner and that was something Beltran could not allow.

Not if he wanted to be paid, that was.

As the Lorrdian struggled to decide how to proceed next, knowing that he had barely seconds in which to make a decision, a powerful voice sounded from directly behind him.

“They’re at the gate, you fools! Kill them before I kill you all!”

Turning his head, Beltran saw the single largest Trandoshan he had ever seen standing less than ten meters away from him with a direct line of sight on the mercenary. The only thing that saved Beltran was the fact that the Trandoshan was so karking tall, and so absorbed with the battle going on in front of him that he hadn’t bothered to look down enough to see Beltran crouching there.

Beltran held his breath, afraid that even the tiniest motion of his chest moving would be enough to draw the pirate captain’s attention to him. In that very same instant, another explosion went off barely ten meters to his left, causing him to duck instinctively even further behind the crate.

When the smoke started to clear, Beltran looked back to the Pirate Captain only to meet Kavarr’s eyes directly.

Sithspit.

In that moment, the battle that raged all around them seemed to melt into the background. Rising to meet his opponent, a Trandoshan at least a meter taller than he and weighing more than a hundred pounds heavier who carried a vibrosword that looked like it might be nearly as tall as he was and a scatter gun that Beltran was pretty sure could tear him in two, Beltran faced Kavarr down armed with only his vibro-blade. True, his rifle was slung on his back and he carried a side arm on his hip. But even the split second it took to draw either of those would be more than enough opportunity for Kavarr to end him.

So Beltran did the only thing that made sense: He charged the Trandoshan.

Running a full speed, he endeavored to close the distance between him and his enemy before the other being could readjust the aim on his scattergun. Then, using the full momentum of his speed, Beltran slashed at the wrist of the hand that held the scattergun with his vibroblade, hoping to land a blow bad enough that it would cause Kavarr to drop that weapon. Then, as a continuation of the same movement, he tucked himself into a somersault and rolled directly through Kavarr’s open legs.

Coming up behind the Trandoshan, Beltran wrenched himself around and used what remained of his momentum to kick at the back of Kavarr’s knee. If he was beyond lucky, the blow would land and the Trandoshan would fall to his knees, bringing him low enough for Beltran to cut his throat.

If.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Beltran's blade slammed deep into the claw of Kavarr, eliciting a strange growl as it opened up the plating and into the skin rather easily, the scattergun falling clean into the dirt. It could have felt like a win to the mercenary, disarming the oversized lizard. However, Beltran's luck was short lived, as the kick that was followed up with soon after the initial attack didn't seem to stunt his posture at all. Instead, with surprising quickness the brute reached around with the wounded hand, attempting to grab the leg of the mercenary and throw him around to the crates were he originated from with a roar.

If he was successful, he'd simply let out another fear-rattling roar, spinning the blade once in his uninjured claw before charging at Beltran.

Lowder was 'resting' on his back in the tall brush, holding his arm right above the location of the puncture from Kavarr's weapon. Blood had soaked most of his forearm and was now dripping down onto his chest as he attempted to keep the injury elevated.

"Harris, take a man and get the specialist out of here. Get him some bacta and make sure you stop the bleeding. The rest of you, on me!" The colonel spoke up into their communicators, before turning back to the gate ahead of him. Moving at a brisk walk, his rifle remained shouldered while he fired into the opening between the two emplacements, keeping any pirates that wished to get off a more accurate shot from within the compound suppressed for now.

"Copy sir. Might need this, it'll only slow me down." Harris crouch-ran across the field of fire from his position on the left, dropping his rotary cannon directly behind the colonel on his way to grab Lowder and pull him out of the battle. Which he'd continue to do by heaving the specialist up by his chest rig and throwing him over his shoulders like a rag doll into a firemans' carry.

Valkren let his rifle hang from his sling from his own chest rig, reaching down to heave up the heavy weapon and hook it to a separate loop on his kit for ease of carry. Looking up, he'd witness the five other soldiers that weren't occupied on his team moving up with surprising ease. Strange, he would have thought the pirates would have their main forces focused on his strike team by now. So far, he's only seen a handful of Kavarr's loyalists rush outside in a fruitless attempt to hold off the attack.


Up ahead, Clark had made his way to the opening between the two emplacements, using the sandbags of said heavy weapons to sit in cover while he fished out a thermal detonator from his utility belt. The private let his rifle fall against his chest rig, stepping out of cover to under-hand toss the grenade ahead of the bend of the hill of sandbags. Just as he treated, the detonator went off, pushing with enough force on the sandbags and the hut wall on the other side to shift both 'buildings,' almost moving the entire weapon emplacement ontop of said hill.

"Holy hell.." He proceeded to mumble under his breath, before lifting up his rifle once more and shaking off the blast just as Valkren and the others rolled by making their way through the gates and into cover on the other side behind a whole helping of 'crates.' Once inside, the enemy's fire on them had become much more intense, Valk hardly had the time to peak out of cover to see what they were dealing with.

Another blaster bolt skipped across the crate that was shielding the colonel's body, missing the brim of his tipped-up patrol cap just barely. In a quick motion, he'd duck further down and remove the hat from his head, giving it a quick once-over to see if it had ignited from heat alone. After he was assured that it did not catch fire, Valkren fit it back over his head, spinning up the recently-acquired rotary cannon before stepping out of cover. What followed was another stream of blue blaster bolts, showering each position he could in quick successions. The sight of the weapon alone had caused many of the pirates to retreat into cover much before it had started firing, giving the other five soldiers with him the ability to advance to both sides of the camp, splitting up to cover more ground.

The well prepared and the well trained always win.

The thought echoed through Valkren's mind as he let the heavy weapon rest on the ground behind the crates after his recent barrage, lifting up his assault ripper once more before making his way to the right side of the camp. They may had been severely down on men, but with the strange occurrence of the pirates' constant confusion, the small strike team was practically cleaning house under the cover of night. So in his mind, they were winning.

Colonel Calderon turned the corner in-between two of the drop-in huts, lifting his rifle to dish out bolts to the back of a human pirate firing across the courtyard. After two rounds, the body slumped over onto its knees, and then into the dirt. After stepping over the body to assure it was in fact lifeless, his eyes would be brought to the attention of the massive Lizard occupying said courtyard.

"I've got eyes on Kavarr!"

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Inside pirate compound, main courtyard
Allies: None, possibly the Radama Raiders
Enemies: Kavarr the Trandoshan, Kavarr’s pirates, possibly the Radama Raiders
Engaging: Kavarr the Trandoshan

Beltran knew he’d made a mistake the moment his kick landed. A powerful shock ran up his leg as his foot made contact with the Trandoshan; he’d kicked duracrete walls that had more give. Before he could even begin to find his balance, the mercenary felt a steel grip wrap around his ankle.

Then suddenly he was flying through the air.

I told you this was a bad idea. The Jester’s voice sounded in his mind, it was both mocking and concerned. Beltran figured that this facet of his personality didn’t want to die any more than the rest of him.

You may have been right, Beltran allowed in the fraction of a second before he impacted the very crate he had been using as cover only seconds before. White hot pain exploded throughout his whole body. A flash of a memory came to his mind of one time when he’d been beaten down by a T’surr gangster named Ryango, back on Lorrd. That had hurt.

This hurt more.

Finding himself on the ground, seeing both stars and more than a few black specs on the edges of his vision, Beltran heard Kavarr roar. It seemed far away, which the mercenary knew was a bad sign. If he lost consciousness now, he was dead and he knew it. If he was lucky, Kavarr would kill him right away. If he wasn’t, he’d wake up tied to a chair or hanging from a beam.

In truth, Beltran wasn’t particularly fond of either scenario.

Forcing himself through the pain, Beltran made his eyes focus through was felt like sheer willpower alone. It was indeed as he’d suspected, Kavarr was in the midst of charging him. Where was his knife? Sithspit! It wasn’t in his hand, he must have lost it. Beltran knew he had another hidden in his boot, but he neither had the speed nor the dexterity to reach it in time. He could go for the blaster at his side, but with his eyes still blurry, he doubted that he’d be able to hit the broad side of a mutant Trandoshan.

That left only one option.

Forcing himself to stand with a speed that could only be induced by large amounts of adrenaline coursing through his veins, Beltran staggered to his feet. Kavarr, which his vibro-sword raised for a strike, was a split second away from being close enough to cleave the Lorrdian in half.

In one quick movement, Beltran made his ultimate Hail Mary play. Reaching back to his vest, he unclipped one of his thermal detonators, armed it and dropped it on the ground at his feet. He then turned and leapt up onto the crate, took a running step and jumped as far away from the impending explosion as he could.

His hope was twofold: First, he hoped that the Trandoshan wouldn’t realize what he had done until he was already on top of the detonator and second, he hoped that the crate would block enough of the explosion that Beltran’s insides wouldn’t be turned to mush by the kinetic energy released, or that his outsides wouldn’t be ground into pulp and cooked by the shrapnel and fire. As he hit the ground he covered his head and face with his hands and curled his legs up to his chest, trying to make himself as small as possible.

He didn’t even have a chance to breathe before the detonator exploded.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren’s eyes went wide as they witnessed the detonator go off from across the courtyard. Kavarr’s oversized body was tossed like a rag doll due to the distance from the charge he was when it activated. The trandoshan’s body lay limp and seemingly lifeless, smoke smoldering from the destroyed armor plates and skin singed from the blast. Beltran didn’t get off so easy though, the crate was practically demolished by the blast, and rained hot shrapnel and chunks of the terrain all about the mercenary.

The sight of their massive leader going down with such ease sent a ripple effect out through the ranks of his loyalists, several even dropping their weapons on the spot before taking off and running into the jungle, and an unlucky many that ran straight into the rangers field of vision.

Easy targets for the lethal strike team. His men made their precision shots as more and more of the pirates began to flee, seeing as the lack of profit from the endeavor they had followed with was getting to be the worst at this point.

“Looks like Kavarr’s people are starting to ditch. Nice job on taking him down, sir.”

“That wasn’t me..” Valkren spoke up, checking around both corners of the huts he was between before moving across the open courtyard. His radio continued to buzz with teammates calling out different locations, as the firefight wasn’t exactly over.

The slug shots and blaster fire that lit up the other side of the compound made it clear that there was a small percentage of enemies that were still active in this fight, which meant the colonel had to move fast. He moved over the body of Kavarr, taking back abit at first at the size alone of the pirate leader. Their briefings instructed them tha the trandoshan was much larger than his counterparts, but this was insane. He’d step over the body momentarily to look for the man who had left behind the detonator for the unfortunate pirate.

The strange occurrence of a third party being in the mix had taken Valkren’s attention away from his usual motions.. He forgot to put two more rounds into the ‘corpse’ of Kavarr to be sure he’d remain down.

A few meters behind Valkren, as he moved to check on Beltran with his weapon raised, Kavarr’s claw clenched against the dirt.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Inside pirate compound, main courtyard
Allies: None, possibly the Radama Raiders
Enemies: Kavarr the Trandoshan, Kavarr’s pirates, possibly the Radama Raiders
Engaging: Nobody at the moment

Are we dead? The Jester asked plaintively. We’re dead, I know it! I always knew you would get us killed! And now you’ve done it, you stupid idiot!

Calm yourself, Beltran replied silently. If we were dead, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Or any conversation for that matter. Beltran couldn’t lie, there was a certain sense of yearning in him for a time when he would finally be rid of the voices in his mind. When he would at last be truly alone.

As the mercenary forced himself back toward consciousness, the prospect of death only grew more and more enticing to him. If he had thought that it had hurt when he’d been thrown into the crates, he realized that he’d discovered a whole new level of pain.

As he steeled himself against the throbbing, powerful ache that pervaded his entire body, Beltran’s eyes began to flutter and then after a few seconds opened.

The mercenary was no longer lying in the fetal position, but instead he was spread out on his back looking up at the black sky of Alaris’ night. He wasn’t sure, but he was pretty sure that the force of the explosion had actually caused him to move a few meters to the left of where he had been.

Next, the mercenary began to test his body. His fingers and arms worked, he learned that first off. Unfortunately, he was alerted to a piece of shrapnel embedded in his bicep by a sudden sharp burning pain as soon as he lifted his left shoulder above a certain level.

Next, Beltran checked his legs. Here, he’d had a little more luck. Despite the pain that filled him whenever he moved, he couldn’t find any evidence of shrapnel having embedded itself in his skin.

His next step, and the one that he was truly dreading, was to sit up. That took a herculean effort and once he’d accomplished the feat, his head began to swim and his vision blurred to a point that he could see about three of everything.

“Well,” He said out loud, for the moment unaware that he was being approached by one of the SJO soldiers. “That was a bad idea.”
It took another second or two before his vision would come back into focus enough for him to see the amount of destruction that he had left in his wake. His eyes first tracked to where what remained of Kavarr the Trandoshan lay.

Good, He thought to himself. At least he won’t be yapping to the Jedi.
It was then he noticed the figure of [member="Valkren Calderon"] approaching, rifle raised to the ready.

With a slow exhaling of breath, Beltran forced his vision to focus even more. With his uninjured right hand, he slowly leaned forward moving closer to his right boot where he kept his spare vibro-blade. It wasn’t his intention to fight the approaching man unless he attacked first. But if the soldier thought that Beltran was going to let himself be an easy kill, then he would find himself quickly mistaken.

“What seems to be problem, officer?” Beltran called out as soon as the soldier seemed to be within earshot.

For the time being, Beltran was more or less oblivious to whatever else was going on around him.

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren was too busy doing a check over of Beltran's physical state to answer his question, having stopped atleast a yard from the downed mercenary. Before long, the young colonel would assure himself that the man on the ground wasn't the most immediate threat to him, not knowing his full capabilities. So, he began to lower the barrel of his weapon to the dirt at his boots, opening his mouth to speak up before being abruptly cut off by a scream from his communicator and gunshot soon after.

"Heads up, sir!"

The colonel didn't even have time to turn, as the mutant-like body of Kavarr was already towering behind him, claws raised in preparation to take the life of the unsuspecting commando. Yet, the gunshot that followed had found it's mark. The slug left Clark's weapon only another few meters back from the trio, making contact with the rear of a rather hostile Kavarrr's skull, following through and exiting through the front of his head. Gore and oddly-colored blood followed, making their presence known on the mercenary and soldier as the trandoshan's body slowly dropped its' arms, and then collapsed to the side.

Valkren could only watch Kavarr's body fall, his eyes wide in surprise once more as his gaze was directed to the private that took the shot. Clark seemed to be just as shocked as he was, only blinking while he resumed to lower his weapon.

There was a tension-breaking 'all clear' that began to echo around the compound and through their communicators from the strike force.

Colonel Calderon only pointed at Clark momentarily with his eyes still wide open, still somewhat shocked by the situation at hand.

"Nice karkin' shot, private."

After Clark offered a nod in response, Valkren turned his attention back to mercenary on the ground, if he was still there.

"There's no problem, pal. Long as you tell me why you were here, and why you were after that ugly SOB lying pretty and dead behind me." Valkren crouched down in front of the sitting mercenary, slinging his rifle along his back before fishing out a bacta-kit to rest infront of the injured Beltran. Valk' had an idea why the well skilled operative was at the same compound they were, but he just wanted to be sure he would get some straight answers from him.

"Got some bacta and a full medkit for the right answer."

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Sitting in main courtyard, pirate compound, Alaris Prime
Allies: None, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Enemies: Pirate Captain Kavarr (deceased), fleeing pirates, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Engaging: Nobody, discussing with Col. Calderon

Beltran blinked a little as the scene played out behind him. One moment, Kavarr was on the ground, presumably dead from the little treat Beltran had left him. Then the next, he was back on his feet ready to take terrible vengeance upon the Silver Jedi soldier who stood in front of him. Then, as quickly as the whole scene had started, there was the sound of a gunshot and the spray of brain matter and Kavarr was returned back to the dirt where he belonged.

“That was a good shot,” He muttered to himself as the soldier was congratulating his subordinate. What was even better was that the soldier killed Kavarr cleanly and in doing so, inadvertently completed Beltran’s objective for him.

He listened quietly as the soldier then set out his demands. He was feeling somewhat lightheaded, probably from the blood loss. Despite this, Beltran briefly considered telling the SJO officer to go kark himself.

Just tell him what he wants to know! The Jester whined inside Beltran’s head. I don’t wanna die!

Beltran then considered letting himself die just to spite the voice inside his head, but after a fraction of a second decided against it. For his story to end here, in the dirt on some sithspawn moon he’d never heard of until he’d taken this contract. That didn’t sit so well with the mercenary, so instead he decided to give the soldier the information he wanted.

At least, as much as Beltran was willing to give him.

“I would think it obvious,” He replied, his words starting to slur a little. “You have a leak in your intelligence network. My client, who will remain anonymous, got word that you people were moving on Kavarr. Before you ask, I have no idea how. I surmise that Kavarr did some work for my client, and that made him nervous because he didn’t want a bunch of scary soldiers like you and your people showing up at his place if you somehow managed to force Kavarr into naming names. ”

Beltran paused for a moment to look past the soldier and at the downed Trandoshan before adding. “Not much chance of that now. Anyway, he hired me to sneak in here and kill Kavarr before you could capture him. I’d thought I’d gotten him with the detonator, but I suppose not. Luckily your man was there to finish my job for me.”

Looking at the second soldier, Beltran nodded. “Thanks for that, by the way. And no, I won’t be sharing any of the contract money with you.”

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren nodded as Beltran spoke. It was quite obvious. In truth, there was nothing really the colonel could do with the mercenary. He wasn't hostile towards his men and was just a technical third party in the combat so there was no reason to detain him, Valk' just wanted to make sure that the injured person before him wasn't hiding anything.

He offered him the bacta pack, speaking up again as his eyes shifted to the shrapnel in Beltran's arm.

"We could get that out here if you wanted. There's also a medic inbound on our transport. Your call."

Mercenaries had always been a grey area for Calderon. He had worked along side them hundreds of times, and had even thought about taking up the role of a soldier-of-fortune during his wandering time between the fall of the Galactic Republic and his joining with the Silver Jedi. However, the thought of some that worked with even the darkest and shadiest of characters haunted him. They had done quite a lot for their cause, but how far had some of these mercenaries gone for just a payday?

"Clark, Reynolds! Check those structures! No way those pirates had it in their right mind to destroy any information they might have here. Find Kavarr's bunk if you can." Lieutenant Harris barked these orders as he arrived back from escorting the injured specialist to safety. He turned over to Valkren soon after, the rangers behind the group taking off to look through the contents of the buildings.

"Lowder's good. Plexico and Baker are taking care of him for now and will meet us at extraction."

The colonel nodded. It was a great day whenever his men all made it out of a raid or op' alive, but he'd still take one injured over one casualty any day.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Sitting in main courtyard, pirate compound, Alaris Prime
Allies: None, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Enemies: Pirate Captain Kavarr (deceased), fleeing pirates, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Engaging: Nobody, discussing with Col. Calderon

As the soldiers’ leader barked out orders to his men to search the buildings, Beltran sat in the dirt weighing his options. The light-headedness that had begun to manifest a few moments earlier was increasing at a troubling rate.

Looking down at his arm, he confirmed his suspicion, he was losing a lot of blood fairly quickly. Accepting the bacta pack from the soldier, he tore it open and poured the viscous liquid over the wound. Almost immediately, he felt much of the pain subside. He knew that the substance would do much to slow the bleeding, but as long as the piece of shrapnel was in his arm it wouldn’t stop completely.

As well, from the amount of blood he’d been losing, the mercenary was reasonably sure that the fragment had nicked an artery, which meant removing it would be a tricky proposition. If he decided to let the soldiers remove it here, there was an above average chance that he’d end up bleeding out on the ground.

Another option was to dress the wound the best he could and head out into the forest and make the several kilometer trek to the clearing where Lupewauregg and Jost Caldayne were waiting for him. That was equally as risky, for if he became too incapacitated to continue there was no way for him to summon aid before he succumbed. Plus, even a slight jostle could turn a nicked artery into a severed one.

So that left the last option, going with them to their transport. Though it was the best one, given the circumstances, it involved trusting these soldiers more than he’d like to. He could tell from the leader’s body language that he was somewhat torn as how to handle Beltran. Since the mercenary hadn’t engaged his men, Beltran felt it likely that the soldier would be true to his word and see him patched up.

That didn’t mean, however, that the Lorrdian wouldn’t end up in a cell afterward. It was a roll of the dice, but still the best option for survival so he replied. “If you’re offering medical aid on your transport, then I would be happy to take it.” He said simply. “You would have my thanks.”

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren nodded, before rising to his standing posture once more. His rifle hung from his chest rig as he turned away from the mercenary to wave over one of the rangers to his position.

The ranger that answered his signal was Corporal Baker, a support specialist and communications expert. One the solider's back where most of every ranger's kit rested, was instead a large long-range communicator specially designed for the missions his team runs.

"Comms, Baker."

"Yes sir!" With this, the corporal dropped to a knee, pushing his slung weapon to the side before lifting said communicator from his back and placing it in front of him. After a few commands on the controls and some adjustments to his instruments, he'd pass along a wireless comms pad to Valkren.

Lifting the pad up and away from him, a sudden graphic came to life over it, a perfect hologram of the pilot's visored helmet as he flew their drop ship.

"Raider one to Big bird, area is clear. Change extraction to my position. Prepare the medical table for one ranger and a plus one, how copy?"

"Plus one?" The pilot asked inquisitively, before shaking his head. "Didn't think you'd be bringing Kavarr back unless he was in a body bag. We're inbound, two mikes."

"It's not Kavarr, Raider one out." With that, Valkren cut the holographic communicator off, handing the pad back to the corporal. Then, the colonel would turn back to Beltran, looking to the Lieutenant to help him in assisting the mercenary up if it was accepted. Calderon offered his hand out to the assassins good arm, Harris ready to lift from behind if it was necessary.

"Name's Calderon, Antarian Rangers." The young officer doubted he'd get the name of the combatant before him now, but he figured he'd find out somehow whilst the person was in 'Silver Jedi' care.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Sitting in main courtyard, pirate compound, Alaris Prime
Allies: None, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Enemies: Pirate Captain Kavarr (deceased), fleeing pirates, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Engaging: Nobody, discussing with Col. Calderon

Beltran was beginning to feel a little more like himself. The bacta solution that he had poured over his wound had helped in slowing the bleeding down to a more manageable level, and with that some of the light-headedness had dissipated. His stomach lurched a little as the mercenary made his way to his feet, allowing the officers to assist him so he didn’t fall.

Surely, there were many in his line of work that would have rather died than allow themselves to be seen in such a weakened state, but Beltran didn’t really care.

As far as he was concerned, he had won the day. Kavarr was dead, and enough of his pirates had gotten away that his client would likely be hearing about it soon, regardless of when Beltran was able to check in. If he could score a free ride off-planet and some decent medical care as well, then it was all gravy to the Lorrdian.

As he waited with the men, he nodded his head in acknowledgement of Calderon’s introduction. He considered giving the man his real name. After all, Lorrd was far from here and it was unlikely that Beltran’s name, real or otherwise, would mean much to him. Though after a moment, he decided to err on the side of caution.

“I operate under the pseudonym Mr. Night,” He replied. “That should suffice for now.” His voice was reasonably steady, if a little weaker than he was used to sounding.

Settling back into silence, he briefly considered trying to get in contact with Lupewaurreg and Caldayne. They were likely still waiting at the extraction point for him, about seven kilometers to the west. In the end, he decided against it. He’d left them with instructions to leave the planet if he hadn’t returned by morning.

They would likely consider him dead, but that didn’t bother him. If they thought him dead, he wouldn’t have to pay them. And, if by some necessity he required their services later, then he could get in contact with them and go from there.

 

[Valkren Calderon]

That kind of answer was the one Valkren was expecting to get, but so be it. Himself and Harris assisted 'Mr. Night' to the open area of the courtyard, where they waited for and watched the dropship touch down.

"You've got some sorta' set of skills there, Mister Night." Valkren stated this while he watched the transport touch down, shielding his vision momentarily from the dust kick-up from the ship's thrusters.

The rear ramp of the vehicle dropped, a crew chief in a similar jump-suit getup on stepped out, taking Valkren's side of Beltran to replace him in assisting. They'd quickly move him up said ramp and deep into the troop bay of the ship, moving to lay the mercenary down on an extended medical table.

Valkren walked behind the group now, still speaking up over the sound of thrusters and his men all piling into the transport.

"If you call that scene back there skills, more like quick-thinking! Ever thought about using those skills for something a little more meaningful but with the same amount of pay..Maybe?"

The medic approached Beltran now, checking over his wounds inflicted by the shrapnel quickly. "Nasty one here, mate."

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Sitting in main courtyard, pirate compound, Alaris Prime
Allies: None, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Enemies: Pirate Captain Kavarr (deceased), fleeing pirates, possibly Radama’s Raiders
Engaging: Nobody, discussing with Col. Calderon

Beltran nodded in acknowledgement of the officer’s critique of his skillset. “I had hoped for a smoother operation,” He conceded. “But as I’m sure you know, even the best laid plans rarely make it passed first contact with the enemy.”
In truth, the issue for this operation didn’t stem from a lack of skill on the mercenary’s part. It was a lack of resources that had forced

Beltran into the situation he currently found himself in. Since leaving Lorrd, Beltran had found it somewhat difficult to keep himself employed. He’d taken a few odd contracts here and there, but he was an unknown. Off of Lorrd, Mr. Night had no reputation to speak of and that hampered how much he could charge for his services.

That, in turn, meant that he had to make due with very little in terms of equipment, transportation and back up. In time, the Lorrdian knew, the galaxy at large would begin to see his worth. But that hadn’t quite happened yet.

When Calderon spoke again, Beltran found himself feeling a sense of surprise. Had the soldier just offered him a job?

On the surface of it, the entire concept seemed laughable. Beltran wasn’t a soldier and had never been. He was a businessman who’s stock and trade just happened to be death. Still, as he looked around at the inside of the ship, he took careful note of the type of equipment each of the soldiers was utilizing. The Lorrdian didn’t know much about the ‘Silver Jedi,’ or really of any other group out here in the galaxy, but they did seem to have a fair bit of backing.

Their equipment, if not brand new, was very much up-to-date and serviceable and that, if nothing else, interested the Lorrdian. That being said, he felt the need to voice his reservations verbally.

“If I’m understanding you correctly,” He responded. “I have to admit to being intrigued. I do, however, feel the need to point out that I am not much of a soldier and never have been. I generally do my best work on my own and as such, I am not particularly used to taking orders. I would be open to maintaining a semi-permanent retainer agreement with your people, the monthly sum of which we can discuss. That would guarantee that I give first priority to your government and it's interests. That being said, I would still likely take contracts from other entities as well. Does that sound like an arrangement that could be made to work?”

As he waited for an answer, Beltran turned his attention to the medic, nodding. “Yes, I believe that it may have nicked the artery.” He informed the professional, allowing the man full access to his injured arm. “And given some of the sensations I am feeling, likely caused a fair bit of nerve damage as well.”

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren heard 'Night' speak, having expected his response to the colonel's offer to be a deal.

"Rangers always have a way to make us into warriors." The medic spoke up again as they two conversed, probing the sides of the wounds to be sure where exactly the shrapnel was lodged into. Valkren glanced down to the man that tended to the assassins wounds, he wasn't lying. Even though Valkren had done his time in the Republic military as a teenager before joining with the rangers, the young officer knew that the rangers basic training program was a brutal both full program to turn anyone into a true Antarian Ranger.

He had seen it time and time again.

After this, Calderon shifted his glance back to the mercenary resting on the medical bench. The dropship's ramp closed as the last members of the Radama Raiders filed aboard, it's thrusters firing up to give the transport some lift.

Valkren slid his weapon into a locked position beside one of the seats, patting his hands together several times before going to remove both gloves.

"I'm not the one that discusses payment, you'll get that from payroll back on Kashyyyk. Depending on wether you opt to just do the contractor path and sign on as a merc, you'll be selected for certain missions and operations based on your skills. However, if you choose to sign a ranger contract, you'll be sent to basic training and come out the other side a soldier. Those contracts are only four years in length, and the career path is all up to you."

Corporal Baker shuffled his way past several rangers in the tight troop bay of the transport, doing his best to make his way to Colonel Calderon.

"Boss! We found something in Kavaar's bunk." The specialized ranger came forward, camouflage still caked onto his face. He'd offer a data pad over to Valkren. The young officer had just taken off the second tight glove, tossing it to the side before taking the data pad up and turning away from the mercenary as he was tended to.

His eyes analyzed everything, line by line and detail by detail. Valk' did his best to get everything from the manifest he held in his hand, even though he knew all well and good that the intel unit at base would tear it apart for every detail they could, he still preferred to get the information himself.

What he saw disturbed him. They were price listings on several unknown 'products,' each code named with a different planet. Some of the 'products' seemed to be listed under the same planet name, yet every one of them had the same ending destination on this manifest.

Trandosha.

"Bag it, we'll get it to the egg-heads back at base. I'm sure it'll come up in our debriefing."

"Copy, sir."

[member="Beltran Rarr"]

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Location: Antarian Ranger Transport
Allies: Col. Calderon, Radama’s Raiders
Enemies: None
Engaging: Nobody, discussing with Col. Calderon and receiving medical treatment for wound

Beltran glanced up at the medic as he spoke, fixing the man with his dark eyes. Warrior. That was a word that meant almost nothing to the mercenary. Just like duty, or honor. Those were all concepts that Beltran had been raised to believe were weaknesses.
They just got in the way of what mattered above all else: survival.

As the medic continued to work on his arm, Beltran turned his attention back to Calderon as he spoke, outlining the mercenary’s choices. At the surface, the first option seemed like a perfect deal for Mr. Night. It was an opportunity to make a decent living without any real commitment. He could more or less come and go as he pleased, operating as he deemed fit.

Yet there was a certain amount of challenge in the officer’s tone as he described the second choice. To become a real soldier. There was a large part of Beltran who wanted to dismiss the idea out of hand. After all, none of the reasons that he imagined most individuals embarked on that path applied to him. He would have no more loyalty to the ‘Silver Jedi’ than he had to any client.

However, the prospect of additional training held a certain enticement to him. It was a chance to hone the skills he already had, and perhaps learn new ones. It was also a chance to draw pay while staying in one place for a bit, and perhaps use that time to bring his other interests in line.

The four year contract? As Beltran thought about it, it seemed less and less a deterrent. After all, once he had learned all he wanted to know and had situated his assets and interests in the most advantageous way possible, he could always leave.

Commitment be damned.

Sure, Calderon and the Rangers might have something to say about that, but Beltran was a dangerous man in his own right and would be even more so soon. He didn’t fear them.

“Very well,” He replied once Calderon was finished speaking to him. “I will take up the challenge you offer. I will commit myself to joining the Antarian Rangers fully, rather than simply maintaining a retainer agreement as I suggested before. I can see in your men skillsets that I feel would be useful for me to learn, or hone, as the case may be. In return, I will make myself useful to your government for the duration of the contract and once it is complete, I will determine whether I wish to stay.”

With that said, Beltran allowed himself to relax somewhat on the medical table. While the medic continued to work on his wound, the Lorrdian listened as Calderon was approached by the man who had killed Kavarr.

In truth, he cared little for what remained of the Trandoshan’s operation. He had completed his objective, and as soon as he was able to beam a secure com signal off of Kashyyyk, he would receive his payment from his client.

And should his client renege on the agreement, then they would be receiving a visit sometime in the future from a better trained, better equipped and exceptionally unhappy Mr. Night.

Looking up, Beltran watched the exchange unfold. As Calderon took the datapad, something in the officer’s body language changed. It was subtle, but distinct. Though nothing in his orders betrayed what was held within the device, Beltran could tell that he was troubled by it.

Despite this knowledge, Beltran kept his peace. Time, he was sure, would give him more information. And with that information, the mercenary soon-to-be soldier would no doubt find a way to profit.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]