Adrenalin Junkie

[Diocletian Solus]

Location: Quesh

Dice: HERE

Participants: @Critas @Sreeya

Prompt: Quesh produces valuable adrenals for the Imperial military using a special toxin that is found only on that world. But the Imperials will no longer be needing these. Go to Quesh and steal shipments of these rare adrenals for the Mandalorian cause! We will use the Empire's own weapons against them; but beware, these facilities are still heavily guarded by Hutt families still loyal to Coruscant!

Diocletian had just landed on Quesh a few hours beforehand and he already didn’t like the place. It as way too brown for his tastes, it was literally everywhere you looked. Even the adrenal production facility that was their target had brown walls and to Dio’s eye, even a brown tint to the windows of the place. Maybe it was the light or maybe just dirt, but this place really put Dio’s teeth on edge.

Dio was the advance scout for this operation. It had taken a quick data search to bring up the most profitable adrenals supplier on planet and a few more taps revealed its address and location. Dio knew the place would he heavily guarded and he was not disappointed. This was of no consequence to Dio as he had an ace up his sleeve. Much like a special operations unit lasing a target for an airstrike, Dio had his own airstrike ready to be called in.

According to the two customs officials at the spaceport that he had bribed, the ACME Adrenals Company did a regular delivery to the spaceport every other week. Their shipment was due today to the port and Dio could see them loading the trucks from his concealed position. Like something out of an old west movie picture, Dio sat astride his Ranger on a cliff overlooking the route of the convoy. The convoy would travel through the canyon below towards the spaceport several miles away. Dio was already formulating a plan in his mind as he watched the gates to the facility open and several cargo haulers departed.

Opening comms to his airstrike he called it in, “Attack Badger to Badger One, the chicken has left the coop. In strike zone in approximately three minutes. Cry havoc and let loose the basilisks of war…”

 

[Raz Solus]

This planet was a dump. Not only did it look terrible, but the atmosphere was noxious in most places. She had come here solely for the opportunity to nab some toxins that could potentially be used against the Sith. Raz had no intention of ever utilizing anything like this against civilians, but the same wouldn’t be true for their military.

She had been waiting further along the route usually taken to deliver the materials, prepared to descend down where they would be helpless. Raz always had her droid with her nowadays, the beast always heeding her commands and cutting an imposing figure. The damn thing was gaining almost as much notoriety as she was, and she was happier for it. She waited patiently for a while until Dio’s voice came in through the comms.

“Excellent,” She muttered, finally ready for some action. Within moments she had visuals on the trucks and she waited till they were at just the right distance. Raz pushed off with the droid, gliding down from the cliff and training the laser cannons. She began firing on the trucks, the front of them exploding to kill the drivers.

The droid landed with a thud, kicking up dust and debris as it skidded along the ground. Raz didn’t hesitate, jumping off the beast and drawing up her guns, “Well that was pretty ea-” A bolt whizzed directly by her head, and she whipped around to look up at the cliffs, “What the kriff?!” She hissed into her comms, jumping to the side to duck behind one of the trucks, “Our ambush is being ambushed!”

@Critas

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Dio had dropped down the ridge-line from the cliff overlooking the road after the convoy had passed. He roared up the road, closing the back door on the ambush they had lain for the transports full of adrenals. He heard Raz engage the front of the convoy from the back of her basilisk war droid, prompting him to hit throttle like he meant it. He was just about the engage the rear elements of the convoy when he got Raz’s warning about the ambush hitting them.

Scanning the area, Dio slowed his rate of speed to allow him to search more effectively. Raz had announced the ambush but not its locations or numbers. Dio didn’t want to drive into the ambush from behind if he could help it. As he scanned, he noticed several shots from the ridge-line above the road. It seemed that they were not the only ones who had their eyes on this shipment. Dio couldn’t make out the identity of the attackers, they appeared to be shooting at Raz but also at the convoy itself.

The volume of fire from the ridge-line gave no hint at the identity of their mysterious attackers. They could have been pirates attempting to use the Mandalorians to take the brunt of the resistance from the convoy. They could be additional security assets from ACME that simply were not that good and had issues picking targets. Either way, they were not friendly to the Mandalorians and that focused Dio. Laying back on the throttle, he set his Ranger’s heading up the ridge line and started firing back at their attackers with its on-board medium blaster. He knew he was a bit too far to do any real damage yet, but he hoped to take some of the heat off Raz. “Cavalry incoming, sweep to the opposite side of the convoy from the ambush, Ill push from the rear and try to roll their flank.”

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz was entirely busy getting shot at to explain where they were coming from. For whatever reason, they appeared to come from all around, and it made everything that much more difficult. She may have been a walking tank, but that didn’t mean her armor was impenetrable. Raz spoke into her comms after she heard Dio, “Copy that, just cover me till I get the kriff back on my droid,” She was breathless, diving as bolts grazed her armor. Raz gave up and activated her jetpack, whizzing into the air towards the basilisk.

She twisted in the air and plopped directly onto it, pushing it to start moving. Raz aimed the blaster cannons towards where the shots were coming from, but she didn’t aim towards where the people would be. Instead, she focused where the edge of the cliff extended out without any real support underneath. She fired a volley of bolts there, making the edge crumble. It had a ripple effect as the destruction extended into the entire ledge. Right away, she could see a group of what looked like mercenaries beginning to scream and topple over, falling to their deaths.

Raz hoped this would give Dio enough time to catch up to where she was. Their entire operation would be pointless if the adrenals were destroyed in the crossfire, “I”m going to pursue, watch the cargo,” She commed to him as she deployed the wing-plates of the basilisk and took off. She rose above where she saw the lip of the cliffs, zooming towards the plateau above to give chase to whatever group had set up the ambush.

@Critas

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian heard Raz call for cover fire and he was more than happy to oblige. He rose in the seat of his Ranger and threw a smoke grenade in the direction of her basilisk. They landed between the attacking raiders and the convoy, the smoke starting to billow out to cover the other Mandalorian as she went for her Basilisk. This allowed Dio to turn the Ranger hard towards the new threat, he was sure his partner in this venture was covered.

To add to that precaution, Dio started firing towards the group on the cliff with the blaster on the Ranger. He was able to hit two targets and watched them fall down the cliff. His accurate blaster fire was also assisting in keeping the heads of the new raiders down enough for Raz to reach her Basilisk. As Raz reached her mount, she opened up on the ridgeline and Dio knew that part of the battle was coming to a close. He saw the ridge erupt and then crumble under the ambushers, their cover now their own undoing as they crashed down among the rocks.

Dio heard Raz call out the pursuit and he replied with the affirmation, “Roger, will do.” He throttled down his Ranger and pulled up beside the cargo hauler. The driver and passenger were both dead, most likely casualties of the first barrage by Raz or the answering barrage by the mysterious raiders. Either way it didn’t matter to Dio. He went around to the back of the cargo hauler and confirmed that the cargo was intact.

@Sreeya

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax was bored out of his T visor concealed skull. As the 'new guy' he was stuck in the back of a drop ship with the rest of the QRF team. They were held back in case the Bagers needed a a little more fire power, or more likely as more hands to load the goods. He wanted to be forward, to scout the area ahead of their ambush and set up a nest for over watch. He wanted out of the back of this karking ship. First at the door also meant closest the the engines and it was karking hot.

Then came Raz over the com. "Our ambush is being ambushed."

The ship was up and in the air before Dax even clicked the safety off. The com chatter continued, it sounded as though everything was going sideways. But he did not have the pilot's point of view to really know. The drop ship continued to climb, and climb, and climb.

"Badger One, QRF on site." said the pilot over the comlink.

A single squad of the unknown mercenaries were surprised by the drop ship. Scattering for what ever cover they could find, large rocks and low thick brush was all there was. The forward guns of the VXN rained blaster fire as Dax and several others ran down the ramp.

Dax cleared the ramp and ran another ten feet before his armored chest kissed dirt, and he was aiming down the scope for any targets. Finding one peering out from behind a rock, when his head and rifle popped around. Dax put a bolt through his eye.

"Badger one, Fast two. One down five remaining. Sending the bird to Attack Badger for load and go."

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian hopped off his Ranger and ran to the side of the cargo hauler. He pulled the loading gate down and secured it before running back to his Ranger. The rate of fire coming from the raiders had diminished to almost nil with the arrival of Dax and his ship. The raiders had not bargained on having multiple elements involved from the Badger contingent. Dio briefly wondered if they had known about the Badger involvement at all. He decided that they probably had not, even Raiders were not that stupid. But then again, he had certainly seen people do more desperate things when credits were on the line. There were certainly a lot of credits on the line in this case.

Revving the engine on the Ranger, Dio drove it up into the bed of the cargo hauler, right beside their prize. He knew the raiders would not risk harming their payload so his Ranger would he safe there. Dio hopped down and ran to the cab of the hauler. He opened the door and pulled out the dead driver, replacing him in the driver’s seat. He kicked open the door on the opposite side and pushed out the gunner riding shotgun after relieving the corpse of its light repeater. You never knew when a piece of hardware like that might be useful.

Dio hit the ignition on the truck and it started, it was not happy about it certainly, but it started. He started to hauler moving towards the extraction, turning the hauler in a tight turn and heading back the way the convoy had come into the canyon. “Fast Two, this is Attack, payload moving to primary extraction. ETA three minutes. You and Badger One finish playing with your food up there and let’s get a move on.” Another series of swift kicks sent the windscreen in front of the hauler twirling away into the dust. Dio drove with one hand while pulling up the light repeater and leveraging it onto the dash. He knew he would most likely not be very accurate with the weapon while driving but that it might deter any raiders that tried to cut him off at the end of the canyon.

@Sreeya
@Taz

 

[Raz Solus]

The sight of the dropship support was a welcomed surprise. Was it Dio’s doing? He was always the more calculating and better prepared of the two while Raz had a habit of charging into situations. She had to make a mental note to thank him later. She heard the men speak over the comms, but her focus was on the flat surface where she began to descend. From her vantage point she couldn’t see anyone just yet, and she knew people were taking cover. As she began to lower down, multiple shots came her way and it would be prime opportunity for Fast Two to engage.

Raz flipped backwards off the droid, activating her jetpack as she cut through the air. The droid went off on its own, landing with a heavy thud and skidding through the ground. She landed a short distance away, already with her rifle drawn. She landed on the opposite side of where Fast Two was, taking cover behind a large boulder. Raz could see two men ahead that were trying to shift covers from where her droid landed. She didn’t waste the opportunity, taking aim and firing off a few bolts. She downed the first man and clipped the second enough to make him pause. Her next shot was leveled at his head as she fired.

“Three remaining,” She commed back, hoping their enemies would wise up and realize this wasn’t a fight worth fighting. The basilisk droid moved on its own, aiming and firing at a boulder that exploded, sending one of the men flying. He was still alive and rapidly attempting to crawl away. She could see he was trying to use his comlink - possibly call for reinforcements. They had to kill every last person to ensure they could escape with the cargo before anyone could block their way.

@Critas @Taz

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian kicked the throttle on the hauler, putting it up into the redline area for speed. He wanted to clear the canyon as quickly as possible. The tightness of the terrain made his shoulders itch as if they were waiting for, he shots that would come from behind him. He knew Raz and Dax had his back, but it was just second nature when you had a battle at your back. He stomped his armored boot on the accelerator to the floor and felt the hauler groan in response. To its credit, the vehicle moaned and groaned but it was giving Dio everything it had left. Dio just needed a few more minutes and told it so, “Lets go old girl, just a bit further and you can rest.”

It was at that moment that Dio realized his mic was open and that Raz probably thought those soft words were for her. For a moment Dio considered shouting over the mic that it was a mistake but realized that it was funnier the other way and left it be. He was sure there would be punching at the rendezvous site and that he deserved it, but it would be worth it for the laughs. Speaking of, he was having issues keeping the hauler on the road while laughing out loud at himself. Thank goodness the canyon’s tight confines kept him mostly straight or he may have tipped the hauler over.

Looking out the window, Dio saw the VXN roar over his head as it beat him to the extraction site. Dio reached out the window and gave it a one fingered salute, keeping the amusement at his own antics going. As he roared out of the canyon, rocks and dust almost seeming to eject the hauler from within the canyon, he turned ninety degrees and headed for the extraction. He could see the VXN on the ground, cargo bay ramp slowly lowering. Dio kept up the gas until the last minute before dropping off to a safer speed to drive the hauler into the cargo bay.

As the hauler came to a stop, Dio quickly got out and secured it for transport, setting the docking collars on the vehicle so it would not move while they were in flight. He could feel the VXN take off and head back to the other Mandalorians as their payday payload was secured, now they just needed their Mandalorian payload. Dio ran to the cargo bay door and hit the open button. It slid open and the wind almost tore Dio out of the side of the ship. Grabbing a bit of cargo harness, Dio wrapped it around himself and anchored it inside the ship to ensure he would not fall out. He then pulled up the light repeater he had stolen from the passenger in the hauler and started firing as fast as he could, trying to cover the other Mandalorians on the ground.

@Sreeya
@Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax did indeed use the distraction of Raz's rather imposing entrance. Jumping up to one knee as the remaining men turned to fire on her. His position was still not the best, he could see figures move but no clear clean shots. "Kark", he exclaimed.

As if to punctuate his expression the droid would fired on the location of one of the mercenaries, sending the poor sob heels to Ha'ran before landing his a mere fifteen meters from Dax's position. Like Raz, Dax followed his man as he flew and then as he landed with a thud and surprisingly start to crawl away. If he had a little more time Dax would of walked over and slit his throat, but there was no time. Instead leveling his rifle and putting two shots in his back, right between the shoulders.

"Make it two"

"Lets go old girl-" came over the comm.

"You can use my rifle as a walking stick if you need it boss." He added. Smiling under his helmet. Then he heard Raz's ride move closer and figured he was searching for the last two thugs. He was not about to let some droid, all be it a bad ass one, steal his glory. Dax pulled a frag grenade from it's pouch and activated his jump boots. Spotting to men trying to flank Badger One's position he pulled the pin and toss the explosive at their feet. The grenade exploded within a second of hitting the ground, the mercenaries didn't even have time to scream.

"All Clear."

Just then the VXN came screaming overhead before lowering to a hover just a meter off the ground. Dio waving them in with a wave of his light repeater. Dax was keen to hold and cover Raz and allow her to get on first, but the droid shoulder'ed him out of the way and onto the ramp while it waited for it's master. When they were all on bored Dax called the called in it.

"Fast One, Fast two. We're on, close it up and lets head home."

//End Thread.


@Sreeya @Critas