Weekend* Treasure Hunt 32: The Number of Power (open to all)

[Ashin Varanin]

(source)​

​

​

The Trandoshan mercenary group Lythronax has raided a starliner and enslaved its passengers and crew.​

​

Maybe your friends or family are in there, or maybe you've just been hired to get them back at any cost.​

​

Either way, an awful lot of interested parties are converging on a small base on a desert moon. They've got their work cut out for them. The base is an old research facility that's been converted into a mercenary staging point and a slaveholding site. Most of the captives are believed to be in the north and south research complexes at the centre of the base. However, a shield generator prevents you from getting straight in. You need to sneak in under the shield and get over the Trandoshan-defended wall. Then it's a simple matter of going up against teeth, claws, concussion rifles, and all the other wonderful things about Trandoshans -- plus the potentially competing interests of other rescuers.​

​

Alternately, perhaps you were a passenger or crew member aboard the unlucky starliner -- in which case you're probably wearing stun cuffs and bruises by now.​

​

Other points of note include the Admin building (east end of the complex), which is believed to hold the bulk of the valuables taken from the starliner; the shield generator (west end of the complex); and the vehicle/ship maintenance bay (northeast corner).​

​

​

OOC NOTES​

• I will not be playing the Trandoshan opposition, though I may throw in the occasional twist.
• Your best bet here is to bring in a single character or a small PC/NPC squad. This map is built for squad-level tactics, either PVT (player versus Trandoshan) or PVP.
• TAG YOUR LOCATION with each post, please.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

SOUTH RESEARCH COMPLEX
Objective: Observe, Analyse and, eventually, Escape

Nature and nurture was a funny thing. Calina had always naturally had a sharp tongue, yet her time embedded in her life as a hapan noble living on Coruscant had honed that edge. It was that unbluntable blade that had earned her the crack across her temple, and the boot to her stomach when she continued her verbal assault on the trandoshan the had killed most of her aides.

She’d stopped carrying her lightsaber, choosing to leave it in one of their hands to retrieve when necessary. A trandoshan attack on a starliner should have been that moment, would have been that moment for any other sith. But why expose herself now? She would not have been able to escape the onslaught even with her lightsaber.

Laying on her side, where she’d been dumped against the wall, she nursed numerable bruises and twisted her wrists bound tight in the stun cuffs at the small of her back. Calina Djo, was a hapan noble, a business woman with a ruthless reputation. She’d catch a tidy sum if she were ransomed and it was this knowledge that ensured she lived.

One of this vile creatures had her lightsaber, picked it as a trophy from the body of the man it had been entrusted to, she’d need to retrieve it and escape, but timing was everything. She shuffled carefully, groaning at the pain that spasmed through her ribs as she sat herself upright to better observe her surroundings.

 

[Mishka Larraq]

Location: Outside perimeter walls / On top of perimeter walls



Strong winds whipped past Mishka as she descended the ramp of her aged Aka'jor shuttle and set foot upon the desert moon. The course sand it carried stinging at Mishka's face as the sandstorm raged over the complex a few hundred yards away. Keeping her head low, and an arm raised to shield her eyes, Mishka began her approach of the complex at a brisk walk. She could barely hear the sound of her shuttle's ramp closing behind her over the sound of the howling winds. So thick was the sandstorm that she could barely see the perimeter walls from her current distance. It was the perfect cover to hide her approach, both from orbit and from her shuttle, but by the Taung! the sand was getting everywhere. Eager to get out of the sandstorm and within the relative safety the tall walls of the complex provided, but not so foolish as to rush her footing in the loose rubble and shifting debris, Mishka endured the storm. Her hair whipped wildly in the wind, as did the hem of her dress as she placed one foot in front of the other and relied more upon intuition and the Manda to guide her step than her own eyes (which were squeezed tight against the fury of the sandstorm).

Mishka was not one to take up a Bounty and run halfway across the galaxy is search of fame and fortune. But there was something about slavers that always managed to get under Mishka's skin in a way that the course sand of this planet never could. And she had been in the area when the distress call was broadcast... On her way home after hunting down some ancient ruins on some lost and forgotten world, fighting her way through contorted abominations to retrieve some relic of ancient knowledge lost to the pages of history. She was going to ignore it and be on her way... But then they mentioned the kids. Aruetii or not, Mishka was not about to sit on her sheb while some scale-faced karklords made slaves of children. If any one of those children had so much as a bruised cheek, Mishka would skin those ugly Trandoshan thugs and sell their hides to the Rekali clan.

The arm she held above her face bumped into something solid and Mishka ran her palm against the cool, worn surface. She had already made it to the perimeter wall. Apparently, thinking about enslaved children and the things she'd do to the ones that attempted it were enough to make her lose track of time.

No matter.

Mishka leaped to the top of the 30ft tall bulwark wall in a single powerful bound, a feat no normal Mando'ad could achieve without the aid of a repulsor pack. There, with her back against the wind, Mishka stood and surveyed the complex before her.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Location: Outside the Shield
Motive: Retrieve Crol H'hurut, and Kick Ass
Objective: Breach the shield, storm the wall.

Triam Akovin may be retired from mercenary business, and moved on to full time private engineer, but that didn't mean she would lay down like a sad dog when chit hit the fan and a member of her family was in danger. When Triam first met Crol, suffice to say they did not see eye to eye. Triam had been lead to believe that every dark sided force user deserved to die, but it wasn't until she discovered the source of his darkness, the anguish caused by their common enemy in the sith, she allowed herself to make an exception. For years now, the pair have watched each others back as Triam expanded her exploits or sequestered herself in isolation for mental health... or the health of her now six year old son.

Figures, the one time she decided to give the old geezer Zeltron a proper vacation, he gets his ass captured by karkin Trandoshans. Crol undoubtedly already knew he would never live this down once Triam got to him and saved his sorry ass, again. He also knew these Trandoshans were about to be in for a world of hurt... Triam had been tinkering again, and she had a few new tricks, along with a few good old ones. For instance, one interesting facet of being a cyborg from iBorg, was the ability to plug in some rather handy devices into one's various sockets, one of which was candidly called, the Aurek Gatebreaker Field Disruption Node.

So without further adieu or consideration, Triam decided to enter in on the scene with a rather spectacular lightshow.

Like fireworks, Triam would almost immediately gather the attention of any guards or operators on the wall as The Relentless charged forth like their defenses were nothing. The more impressionable Trandoshans might pause for a moment as they try to wrap their head around the strategic and logical irrational-ness of someone so blatantly ignoring not only their shield, but taking that absolute most direct path of most resistance. Stunned they would watch the lights dance, while their more level-headed superiors would wave through the shock and awe and start firing on the individual as she passed cleanly through the shield without harm. Since the Concussion rifles the Trandoshans would no doubt be using had a typical range of 35 meters, it only made sense for their own tactical ability that the shield would be well within that range, perhaps 20 meters from the wall? Triam would not have to close much distance at all if such were the case, as it appeared to her.

As she deactivated her gatebreaker node after entering in from the west, Triam began a dead sprint to northeast, and activated her Doubler inside her suit and set it up ahead of her, hoping it will distract the less intelligent Trandoshans and allow some of those concussive blasts to be aimed farther ahead of her, so she would have an early warning of when to dodge. Triam made heavy use of her Sky-strike to dodge and increase her mobility as she got closer to the wall, her Double mimicking her every move.

Using the target acquisition software built into the HUD of her Arbiter Helmet, Triam laid down suppressive fire with explosive C.H.I.T. Darts, holding out further hope the frequent detonation of blinding light and loud sounds would deter combatants from firing on her vulnerable position. She attempted to make the firing vectors more or less aligned with where her Double would be aiming, but an eagle eye would easily spot and/or triangulate her approximate position. Keeping their Trandoshan eyes on her though risked going blind from the incessant and annoying explosive flashes.

Assuming Triam got to the wall without excessive difficulty, she would scale the wall with relative ease, with a combination of her Sky-strike, Phantom Fingers, and her brand new DIG Boots burning through two power cells as they dampened inertial impacts and made gravity effect her only half as much. If she got to the top of the wall where the Trandoshan defenders would be in waiting, Triam would have a new surprise she didn't quite have the time to work out before she got out here... a durasteel gauntlet where her M.E.A.D. Glove would normally be, with five Manipulation Projectors for each finger tip, with a Magnetic Anchor she was going to throw onto the nearest Trandoshan.

Nothing quite says "I'm going to thrash you" like a meat shield does...

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]
600m west of walls

"Yuh gonna be alright fighting wid yuh own people?" Xin murmured.

"They are not my people. How many times?" Brak replied. There was finally a note of annoyance there. The thing Xin had been trying to draw out for hours.

They were underneath camouflage webbing some distance from the compound. Between the cover and the storm they were well hidden. Unfortunately the webbing only provided minimal protection against the sand being carried by the wind and Xin had covered his large eyes with goggles.

Inso stayed quiet. The aqualish enforcer generally was when a fight was approaching. Dells was busy watching the walls.

"Just lizards right?" Xin added.

"They don't even have tails, Xin!" Braktek replied. The indignation was just what Xin had been searching for.

"Oh, so dat is different, but yuh can't tell de difference between mi and a common squid?" Xin retorted.

Brak fell silent for a few seconds before he rumbled quietly: "I hope the sandstorm gets worse."

It seemed like a very long time since Dells had met them both. Xin had been complaining to Brak about weather very much like this.

"Someone on de walls," Xin whispered. They had been observing the compound for some time. It wasn't on a war footing, but they saw the odd guard walk the walls and the admin building had a view.

 

[Mishka Larraq]

Location: On top of perimeter walls > Outside North Research Complex


Directly ahead of Mishka, several low, square buildings dotted the brown, swirling landscape. A short ways to her left, the thick outer walls of the complex made a 90-degree turn and stretched out before her. Not far beyond that, a large building twice as tall as the wall itself dominated the eastern section of the complex and extended well beyond the protection of the external wall. Far to Mishka's right, she saw that a similar building dominated the western edge of the complex. From there, Mishka heard the sound of blasters and saw flashes of light among the swirling sands that filled the air. Backdropping this, Mishka saw the shimmer of a large, domed shield that rose above and beyond the distant wall on the far side of the complex. Mishka's eyes traced the shape of the shield dome and she turned to follow its arc as it extended over her and behind her current position on the bulwark. Mishka was surprised to see that the shield extended in that direction, as she hadn't noticed it on the way in. Staring at the shields for a few moments, Mishka soon realized that the sandstorm was weakening the shields on the windward side, with large holes in the shielding flickering in and out of existence along the North-eastern edge of the barrier. From these holes, sporadic winds and a steady churning mass of sand filtered into the air above the complex. Far more calm than the raging sandstorm outside, but still enough to obscure vision within the complex itself.

Mishka's attention returned to the sound of blasters and flashing lights on the western edge of the compound. Vague figures cloaked by the swirling sands moved along the bulwark, shifting closer to the sounds of blaster fire and farther from Mishka's position. Mishka was almost impressed that the lizards had thought to place gunmen upon the walls of the complex, but was entirely unsurprised that the brutes lacked the discipline to hold their positions when another section of wall came under attack. With all the energy of a skip, Mishka hopped from the ramparts and down onto the dirt and sand that made up the base of the complex. Staying low, Mishka darted for the outer wall of the nearest building and pressed her back against it. Her eyes darted from rampart to rampart looking for a sign that she had been seen as she moved steadily along the side of the building and towards the center of the complex.

The sound of blaster fire continued and Mishka could hear the thudding of feet upon dirt and sand as more forces poured towards whatever distraction had laid siege to the western side of the complex. Comfortable with the security of her position for the moment, Mishka extended her senses deep into the nearest building and began her search for the captured children.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"] & Crew | 600 Meters West of the Walls |



Delila gave a small half-smile at the bickering between both Xin and Brak. Xin had succeeded in getting under the Barabel's skin after what seemed liked hours of endless poking and references about lizards and 'fighting his own people'. Nothing had changed in the past year it seemed, they were even back on some desert hellhole with a storm kicking up. Only thing different was adding Inso and Skreech the Lizard-Monkey to the mix.


Soon as Xin mentioned someone on the walls there was activity on the west end closest to them. Explosions and 'fireworks' as one would put it. Guards rushed in the general location and she could have sworn she briefly saw a heavily armored figure. Couldn't be entirely sure though.


Binoculars were lowered and she craned her head to look at the rest of the crew.


"Looks like we could use someone else's distraction to our advantage. Lets pack up and start moving out."


The job had to go well. Delila was eager to get Inso and Brak on as full-time crew, eager to get the Rusty Kraken up and moving. In order to do that they needed more credits and a reputation as a semi-competent team. Busting up some Trandoshan stronghold should prove well in bumping them up a few notches on the competency scale.

 

[Eline Djo]

NORTH RESEARCH COMPLEX
Objective: Well, chit.

It'd been nerve-wracking enough, getting off of Hapes without attracting the notice of her father - a man who commanded more presence, albeit in the shadows, than any man within the Consortium should - and amidst the turmoil that gripped the capital, but Sanna had made it possible. Without the Jedi's help, without the measure of training she had received, Eline could very well still be caught up in events very much beyond her control, and wouldn't be on her way to the Jedi. What were the chances that she was ever going to be so helpless again?

Well, chit. Too soon.

She groaned, surfacing from a slumber forced upon her by way of being clocked over the head, a point of impact which stung, and was the cause of the worst throbbing headache she had ever had in her life. Her neck? Sore, from the way her head whipped forward from the hit, but all of the pain, of which there was more, became background as the realisation of her situation came into focus - it was too dim to see, as her eyes creaked open, and the groans in the vicinity weren't hers alone. Someone was crying. Chuffing, inhuman breaths punctuated the terrified silence, of which part of the fear was hers. She couldn't see. She. Couldn't. See... no. She tried to remember what Sanna had tried to teach her about the dark. Squeezed her eyes shut to scour her memory as tears leaked out, as panic gripped her stomach, welled up in her throat, and drove her heart to tick faster. For all her strength in remembering, as terror took hold, as her mind raced with the worst of possibilities, any useful information fled from her thoughts.

She couldn't see, couldn't see, but could feel her weight on her right arm, and her arms trapped between her back and a hard place. She jerked, and her wrists stung, being tightly bound. Her breaths came and went at a unrelaxed pace, shaking as she sniffled, her brow creasing with abundant worry. She jerked again, struggling, and found her ankles were bound too. There were monsters here, and she had to get out. She had to leave, and she had to leave now. But as steps approached her, as the chuffing breaths came closer, she stilled her body, but she could not still her emotions.

She cried, and she screamed, and it was unbecoming of a lady.

 

[Zef Halo]

FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY
FROM THE COMPOUND

"That's a fethin' Lythronax symbol on that fethin' wall, Saul!" Javin, the husky voiced Weequay, barked as he went to grab the young outlaw by the collar. "You said nothing about Lythronax!! You said there was easy loot to boot."

Saul's macrobinoculars fell down on the hot ground as the strength of the mercenary lifted him up in the air.

"I told yew there'd be mercs so I didn't karkin' lie, did I?, innit." He retorted sharply and before Javin could do something else, Kiviri interjected.

"There's something going on - the compound looks like it's under attack." The Devaronian stated as she continued staring through her binoculars and Javin dropped the Tetan down on the ground reluctantly before frantically searching for his own binoculars to see what was going on.

"Looks like or is it?" The only armored figure among the four - an Aqualish ex-pirate by the name of Yrgo - grumbled the question as he adjusted his blaster rifle. As far as Saul knew, Yrgo would be getting a bigger cut partially due to his skill and gear which shot his price upwards. The Tetan could be wrong, though, who knows what deals does the Baroness of Nowhere strike with...the more specialized employees.

"It is." Javin stated. "You're lucky, Terrik." He coldly told Saul before adding at the rest. "This might be our only chance or Saul better hope it is."

They prepared to move on towards the complex as it was under attack by other, unknown forces.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY
FROM THE COMPOUND
[member="Saul Terrik"]

Demeaux liked Terrik.

At the moment it seemed like he was the only one who did and that probably said more about him than the rest of them. "We will be fine, absolutely fine." Vinon said with a disarming smile, hands raised before dusting one of Saul's shoulders off. "Look, this ain't any different than any other snatch 'n' grab, right? We circle 'round, wait for them to get hardly pressed by these other fellas attacking them."

A lazy hand gesturing towards the full-frontal assault that seemed to be happening right now.

"While they committed there, we move in, snatch what we can and run like a fether, before they know what happened." From a young age Vinon had realized that the longer and more he talked the more truth seemed malleable and people became dispositioned to go along with his stance.

Just a question of being confident and not blinking first.

Javin, the grumpy weequay, grumbled but returned to studying the enemy walls with only a limited amount of dirty looks towards Saul. That was honestly as best as it would get the Corellian was pretty sure. He leaned in, his hand pulling Saul by the shoulder so he'd listen. "Hope for both our sakes ya right about the loot, Sauly babe, 'cus Javin right now?"

One glance towards the grump and then back.

"He about ready to rip both our heads off." At this point Saul knew better than to question how Vinon knew. "The others better not be lost though, we will need more than five to get through and actually haul something of value out."

 

[Rook Lokar]

FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY
FROM THE COMPOUND

Let's say he owed them. For what, Rook wasn't going to tell you. He had too much pride and not enough sense to be entirely appreciative in the verbal manner. Maybe, just maybe, something else may come of this, though. Then? Well, I guess we'll see what happens next.

It was from behind a pair of macrobinoculars that he began to smirk, if not grin. There was always something amusing about a man who ran his mouth too much and too often, but never let it leap too far in front of him. He knew that type, or at least he thought he did. An upbringing like Rook's always let you see a wide variety of characters with some not-so-desirable traits. Whether Vinon's mouth was good or bad was yet to be seen, or judged by Rook just yet.

The younger man rushed himself onto his feet as the voices became softer, turning out that Saul had begun to advance on the target. A slight jog later and he was back in line, questioning aloud, "What's the actual​ plan here?" A hint of genuine concern expressed through his tone of voice. The only half-baked plan he was willing to follow was his own.

[member="Saul Terrik"] - [member="Vinon Demeaux"]

 

[Hatchet]

FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY
FROM THE COMPOUND

Hatchet was methodical, but never slow.

He looked down at the portable scanner in his hand, checking over the readings he'd taken near a high point, just to be sure they were right. Well, they looked right, and although he wasn't the type to act on a hunch, he had a feeling this was something he could trust. He'd go with it for now; if things didn't work out, then the other guys with the heavier gear migh tank for it. More stuff for him, in that case. His rifle stayed slung around his body, the armour hidden beneath the jacket and more regular looking pants and boots he wore. Hopefully he wouldn't get too much use out of it; getting shot wasn't in his interests today.

Yeah, he was definitely right. The clone moved down to join the rest of the group, with Lokar inbetween himself and Vinon, the man he started talking to. "Definitely the west side where the power's coming from. I'd rather not leap over into a killbox, so let's try and loop around East. Tall building there must have all sorts of goodies, and a vantage point if we need it." It was sometimes difficult for him to talk to somebody that wasn't used to sitting in a line waiting for their marching orders, but he figured he made it an obvious enough idea, or at least some semblance of a plan. Though, [member="Vinon Demeaux"] was the man with the gear, not him.

He put away the scanner as he turned, catching field disruptors that the more flamboyant one of the group lobbed right over [member="Rook Lokar"]'s head. With that, he started putting things into action. He looped around east as he got into some of the foliage there was near the compound, approaching much closer now. He waited, spying what schedule there was between the Trandoshans as a few patrolled the walls, waiting to make his move. Once he figured out a blind spot, he waited and then turned on the disruptor, rushing in and keeping low as he did it. He made it through the shield, crouching down and getting just about against the wall of the compound, at the foot of the Admin building. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a silencer as he slowly screwed it onto the threaded barrel of his weapon.

Just like the simulations, huh?

[member="Saul Terrik"]

 

[Zef Halo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raUCnM9Tifc​

​

FEW HUNDRED FEET AWAY
FROM THE COMPOUND

Saul gave a glance back at the hateful Weequay. Yep, Vinon was right. There better be valuables there or he'd either end up being ripped to parts by Javin or shot in the back by Yrgo with no questions asked. Dis be'er not be anuvva foothin' Geonosis, darlin'. He consoled himself with optimism and the thought of shooting both Javin and Yrgo if things went south.

But things were going East according to the...what was his name again? Axe? Cleaver? Machete? Blimey, 'ouse to let i' was machete, innit.

"Yew can wager yahr crooked arses da stash is full ov looks and booties or yew all are gon'a tell me yew are doubtin' luvely Missus Tyth, innit." Saul grinned with confidence before blinking at Machete already heading away, Yrgo quickly following behind. Soldiers, innit. "There's yahr plan, Rook. Get on it, nuff said yeah."

The Tetan outlaw patted Vinon on the back urging him to follow as the two would make their way last after the whole group moved forward towards the Lythronax base with haste and thirst for cash.

[member="Hatchet"] [member="Vinon Demeaux"] [member="Rook Lokar"]

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Delila Castillon"]
200m from western wall

The main issue, as Xin saw matters, had transferred from the trandoshans for the time being. Two heroes on the walls. The one nearest to them was launching explosives in all directions.

Whilst that made an excellent distraction to sneak through the shield they were just as likely to be taken out by the weapons system on the neutral party as they were the trandoshans. Xin had been taken on jobs from a young age to watch for trouble. All he could see right now was trouble.

"Hold up!"

Fortunately for them the trouble was moving. The two humans had turned north to move for another portion of the wall. Trandoshans were scrabbling across the walls and firing back, but blinding flashes were erupting up and down the barricades. Xin looked down at his battered old E-22 and wondered if he needed an upgrade. He didn't know [member="Triam Akovin"] was one of the most well armed mercenaries in the Galaxy.

"Got you covered!" Xin called out. With the two man army pulling focus they had enough cover from the storm to make the wall. Xin and Inso kept weapons trained on the walls but soon followed after Dells and Brak.

Brak had a clunky tactical datapad in his claws. "Generator is close."

That was the job for the barabel and aqualish. Disable the shields whilst Dells and Xin got eyes on the hostages. Once the shield was down reinforcements could arrive. But the arrival of several other parties changed everything.

"We are gonna have to secure de hostages quick..." Xin murmured, keeping his back pressed to the wall.

 

[Thal Mantis]

SOUTHERN RESEARCH CENTER

Adjacent fellow captured people: [member="Calina Djo"]


He rolled onto his back, feeling the familiar buzz of the stun cuffs. To Thal, the deathless- it was nothing. The Red Tower had a similar, if not harsher security system for it's slaves. He pulled his powerful body to a stand. They had to make sure their stock was well kept. There was a man inside the room with him. A woman who....he could sense. Feel. Reach out and touch.

She felt like burning flower in a field. Beautiful yet...destructive. Something was off. But that was a matter for another time.

A Trandoshan guard was approaching.

He could smell him. Hear him.

So he needed to move. The man in the cell with him was a small human. Probably rich. Probably had kids. Probably had a family. And he would see them. He would however, not do it without some bruises. Thal muttered an apology in Huttese, something the affluent man obviously did not understand.

And then, Thal began to beat him, savagely attacking the man within the cell. He rained blows, even with his hands cuffed. The Trandoshans screeched, not wishing to see their stock kill each other. Each slave was worth hundreds of credits. Losing one was bad. Losing two was worse. Thal knew the ins and outs of slavery. He knew where to hurt them.

The Trandoshan did not comprehend Thal's size when he entered the cell, shockstick and baton in either hand. He barked at them both, in his hissing voice. Thal however, rose to his full height, standing at least half a foot taller than the small lizard-creature. He also had at least thirty or forty pounds on him. Trandoshans might have been strong, but they were not killers. Not savages. Not like Thal.

Thal grabbed the Trandoshan by his jaw, while he attempted to bite down, squealing in the process. He lashed out, trying to claw Thal's body. Thal tensed up, bracing his body, and then slamming the Trandoshan against the cell wall. He unhinged his jaw in a single swipe, causing the Trandoshan to muster what he could with a scream. Thal grabbed the lizard by the throat and pinned him against the wall.

He turned to the man who he had just beaten, who was lying broken, confused and maybe even concussed. Thal crushed the Trandoshan's windpipe with another firm squeeze. He dropped the lizard to the ground, who writhed on the ground. He drug the lizard's body inbetween the cell and the door, wedging the door open- if they tried to shut it on him in the mean time.

He fumbled over the dying lizard's body, finding a release mechanism for his cuffs. He disengaged his cuffs just as the alarms came on. Thal picked up the shockstick, thumbing the intensity as high as the battery would allow it. He could hear the pitter-patter of lizard feet coming for him. He turned and jammed the stunstick into the control mechanism of the cell to the eerie woman who gave him the same feeling as being near a fire- and tossed the cuff release at her feet.

Time to see if he was really right.

He dropped the stick and charged at the guards, laughing.

Laughing because they were going to die.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Saul Terrik"] | [member="Hatchet"] | [member="Rook Lokar"]

He was about to start into an explanation, but Hatchet handled it from there on out by already marching out.

Probably for the best because once Vinon started chatting it was difficult to get him to shut up.

Instead just a lazy gesture towards the field disruptor that Rook was holding right now. "Got a few of 'em from.... trusted sources." Grin there as they made their way towards where Hatchet and Yrgo had ran off to. "Pass through da shields and catch 'em by surprise while they focusing elsewhere." Saul received a wink as they crouched down and joined Hatchet in the bushes.

The walls weren't all that formidable, unless you were a gang of footmen with some rifles anyway.

Which was sadly exactly who they were.

"Can spot three, maybe four." Vin murmured to the others, before tapping the comm link attached to his ear. "Gap every twenty seconds, the one that is bored and stooping just a bit there."

How the feth Vinon could see the difference between one Trandoshan and the other from that far away was anyone's question, but here they were.

"Now."

Rather than wait for the rest- mostly because they probably would be waiting on him to test his own theory- Vinon slammed the disruptor on and started speeding towards the border of the shield that was already shimmering in front of him. His breath hitched up, adrenaline pumping, as he couldn't help but sneak looks towards the walls and the guards there.

The smirk that played when he turned out to be right about the timing? Well... that melted away when his foot caught a loose pebble because he hadn't been looking at the ground and started crashing to the ground.

Vin ended up past the shield and out of sight from the walls, yes, but also in a rather painful heap. "Ow. Still alive tho."

 

[Rook Lokar]

RIGHT AT
THE COMPOUND

Rook briefly glanced at the field disruptor he cradled with his left hand once Vinon referenced their existence, and later where he retrieved them from. One for everyone. He silently mused within his own mind. He didn't trust Vinon, but he didn't have much in the way of a choice. At the very least he could witness a field test first. It worked, but perhaps Demeaux didn't possess the same amount of finesse he carried himself with. The Smuggler was shocked, even, his eyes briefly went wide and his eyebrows raised. The last thing Rook expected was for Vinon to trip up, assuming he'd been shot initially. Wasn't the case, though. The score was still being split in the numbers they were in. For now.

The sun shun it's bright and burning light upon them, and Rook felt his forehead dampening. Getting captured by a Trandoshan and turning into a slave wasn't something he ever wished for himself, and be sure that he never wanted to go back to that life. Although, there was something worse regarding Lizard Hospitality. The boy threw one more glance at the field disruptor in his hand, waiting for his time to move. It activated, and he was able pass through the shield and reach the other side. Throughout his movement, the Smuggler shifted his gaze between the Trandoshan, the infamous pebble, and his destination.

​In the end, he found himself near Vinon. "What now?" A hint of sarcasm in his voice, almost as if he was accusing Vinon of coming up with this plan of his on the spot. It was likely true to an extent, though. That suspicion didn't ease his mind. Ultimately, Rook knew he was going to see the other side of this operation.

[member="Saul Terrik"] - [member="Vinon Demeaux"] - [member="Hatchet"]

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Xin Boa"] | Western Wall


Delila really didn't appreciate the sand kicking up everywhere. One it was annoying. Two it could potentially damage equipment and weapons. She couldn't even imagine what it was like for Xin and Inso. Back was pressed against the wall,wishing she could toss in an explosive towards the generator and be done with it. Shield wouldn't quite allow it.


Yet if they were inside.... but that was a job for Brak and Inso. She would be sticking with Xin to get to the hostages. The barabel and aqualish were up and over the wall to disable the shields. Another explosion rattled the general area and she wasn't sure if it was Brak or the flashy mercenary that was floating around.


"Boost me up Xin?"


Dells was a little impatient to get over the wall and be on the hunt for hostages and anyone else who needed to be evac'd out.

 

[Felicity Skye]

Several klicks South of the Walls / Under the Shield / Inside Perimeter Wall

When word of the starliner’s raid had gotten to the Praxeum, Felicity was the first to volunteer her service. There was no greater suffering than a life of slavery, or so she’d heard, and there was no way she’d condemn anyone, let alone one of her own to a life of bondage and abuse. So before anyone could utter the word rescue Felicity gathered some supplies and set off for the desert moon to free Eline Djo, and anyone else she could.

Before long she had touched down on the desert moon. Stinger-Baby was hidden a couple klicks away among aged limestone bluffs and Felicity sat atop her with borrowed electrobinoculars. From what she could gather security was tight and well armed. With violence as her last resort, stealth was always the first, and while plans were always well and good, she’d never experienced one that went off without a hitch. So instead of delaying any further Felicity decided she’d put her trust in the force and act.

As Felicity neared the base, blaster fire could be heard from the opposite side. Someone had inadvertently provided an excellent distraction and Felicity was determined to capitalize on it. Reaching out to the force Felicity pushed and pulled the sand against the bases outer shield to either side creating enough leeway to crawl underneath it’s edge. It was a nearly soundless process despite the shifting of sands like an hourglass. Still hearing blasterfire, and stampede-like steps going in the direction the fire had originated she figured her infiltration of the shield had gone unnoticed.

Once inside the shield Felicity drew herself to the inner wall she could sense the attention of the slavers above was elsewhere, but just to be safe she used the force to shroud her presence enough so to climb up and over without attracting attention. The force truly worked in mysterious ways, a fact that many force sensitives would do well to use to their advantage.

Traversing the walls proved to be the easiest part of the ordeal. The hardest was narrowing down the search. Building by building would take more time than she had and left too much room to be exposed. Her gut told her the slavers were likely to put them somewhere they could be watched, somewhere that would prove hard to escape from. Through process of elimination the buildings in the center seemed like as good a place to start as any. The perimeter was too dangerous, and the biggest building was likely to hold the organization’s top brass. So Felicity kept to the shadows to plot her move.

[member="Eline Djo"]

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Location: Western Wall
Motive: Retrieve Crol H'hurut, and Kick Ass
Objective: Recon the Compound, Identify Hostage Storage Points
Adjacent Parties: [member="Xin Boa"], [member="Delila Castillon"]

A storm had been picking up behind her, but Triam paid it no mind, her technological vision cut through all obstacles, as she leapt directly upward and onto the wall with weightless ease. With accuracy and surprising speed, a young Trandoshan that had been ducking under the wall was suddenly pummeled into the ground with the solid *thump* of a magnetic anchor connecting solidly with the side of its head.

Outstretching her hand, the Manipulation Projectors in her finger tips, a barely visible field of magnetism surrounded the lizard, particularly at its head. The dazed target would now stay that way, the entropy field suppressing his perception of time considerably as his body reacts to Triam's every whim. She could see other Trandoshan's along the wall, that were not immediately aware of her presence just yet after her latest explosive dart volley. Smiling under her helm, Triam charged forth with her Trandoshan captive a few meters in front of her as she pressed onward with her living meat shield. Triam wasn't certain how the savage hostage-taking hunters would react to one of their own hunters being taken hostage, but regardless of the outcome, the Trandoshan would provide her suitable cover from the brunt of any concussive blasts.

"Ssssshoot them down!" A senior trandoshan mercenary roared as merc after merc was being knocked off the side of the wall out into the sandstorm by a floating Trandoshan, with an armored figure charging forward with impunity. Just as the Trandoshan was firing once again, a second Trandoshan seemed to suddenly affix itself to the first, creating a mass of wildly floating Trandoshan meat shields.

Over the din of rifle fire and the screams of lizards, a couple hundred meters away Triam noticed movement coming the western wall. She continued to knock over or collect more Trandoshans into her manipulation fields, and considered briefly the nature of those figures so far off in the sand storm. Refusing to slow down, the Relentless continued her "two man" onslaught, although the Double Suit no longer providing a useful function, she deactivated it, revealing what may have appeared as two figures taking on the entire mercenary wall, was in fact a single hyper-armored woman.

"Shhhhi-" The senior trandoshan officer was about to curse before he too joined the mass as all of the lizards were shoved into an opening into a guard tower. Pulling the anchor out the mass and into her waiting hands, Triam kicked the door close. To keep them locked out from her, she pulled out her Relentless Blade and swiped through the door itself and anywhere she suspected electronics to reside in two strikes to render the door dysfunctional.

Triam then took a moment to look over the wall into the compound, while Trandoshans groaned, yelled, and banged against the door. She recognized the signs of movement from other sections of the compound. It seems her little distraction was rather well... not little very much at all. Taking the whole compliment of guards stationed atop of the western wall as a single individual was probably a demoralizing prospect. Technically though, she hadn't even started killing anyone... except for the few of them that may have impacted the ground, suffered from explosive darts, or possibly were crushed to death from the sheer number of kinetic impacts thrown against one another as she tossed them like rag dolls.

Over looking the compound, with her advanced HUD display, she made note of several structures she could see: a generator (likely for the shield), a landing field, a barracks, and a north and south complex of various buildings. Peaking over the distance, she saw taller building that likely served as an administrative area. She could care less however, about most of the buildings. The only things she cared about, was the shield generator, and which building held hostages she cared about. The Shield Generator was of course, very well guarded, not a single Trandoshan moving to support the besieged wall, they knew their priorities. If the shield went down, their entire operation was immediately compromised without close air-support or anti-air weaponry. The figures behind her were approaching the wall quickly, and she wondered what their purpose for being here was. She decided she could solve two problems simultaneously, or eliminate an obstacle early depending on the outcome of response. Using her helmets annunciator, she called down over the western wall, loudly and clearly over the din of the sand storm.

"Western Wall clear, Shield Generator well defended, heavy numbers, got ordinance or do I need to do everything myself?" Triam waved for extra visibility.