All or Nothing

[Castor Chumeda Volante]

The damned pirates had attempted a sally but this was it - this was the end game.

It was clear that the pirates knew that they were coming and their base had defences. On the hill overlooking the base, stood beside his shuttle, Castor looked down at the base that he was expected to attack and take for the right reward he wanted.

At this point?

It was a matter of principle, a matter of honour, to see this done and by the Gods and the Force he would see it done. With him now was the Deucalian who had fought with him before today, against another faction of these very pirates. The man was stallwart he would give him that and he had a quiet kind of strength to him that Castor respected.

Nikka was unknown to Castor but fire forged friends, right?

"Uhtred. Nikka."

He glared down at the gates of the pirate base.

"I think it's time we showed these cowards what it feels like to be a cornered rat. Make them feel the helplessness that their victims feel..." he reached up to his com link and spoke to his droids inside his shuttle, "Open fire."

The weapons on his shuttle weren't massively powerful but they were designed for ship-to-ship combat. They blasted clean through the gates of the gatehouse and continued to pummel the base from range. Castor nodded to his ally, holding his lightsaber in one hand.

"Time we were off."

Before setting off down the hill towards the base as the bombardment continued.

@Korvo @Killa Ree

 

[Uhtred Wardruna]

Uhtred stood alongside Castor, sneering at the fortified pirate base. Only the cowardly waited to be taken by their enemies, like lambs from a herd. Of course, Uhtred would never have expected the men of their ilk to have a sense of honor, but it was still a foul sight. Their actions revealed a sense of fear, and showing one's enemy fear was always stupid.

"My people have a saying. Óttast eigi dauða, því að tíminn sem þú hefur gjört, er settur og enginn getur flýtt það.", Uhtred said, tightening his grip. He had earlier placed the bladed end of his elduröxi-against the ground and was resting his hands atop the hilt's pommel. "Fear not death, for the hour of your doom is set and none may escape it."

Standing more upright, Uhtred took the elduröxi-into his hand and pulled his beskad-from its sheath. "Shall we show them whose hour it is? Our hour... or theirs?"

The scene of the pirate base continuing to be pummeled by by laser fire was almost enchanting to the eyes. The ground erupted, rippling durasteel and boaring through duracrete. The frantic shouts and rallying battle cries became so loud they could even be heard through the bombardment. Or perhaps, simply because now they were drawing closer and closer. As Castor led the way, his eyes caught the glimmer to the cylinder in his hand. Uhtred had suspected as much, given recent events and revelations, but now it didn't matter. Now, all that mattered was the enemy before them all, and Castor was leading the way.

@Nefieslab @Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

Nikka stood on the other side of Castor, tall and proud. But part of her questioned the wisdom of fighting three to... however many there were. She knew neither of them. But... it was time for those that had crushed so many lives to learn what it was to feel fear. To know pain. To understand that balance was always kept, and she was there to keep the peace.

She turned her head towards Castor, and gave a grin. "Yes. Yes!" Before giving a glance to Uhtred. A fierce warrior, one she hoped she would never have to face on the battlefield as an enemy.

But she could see nothing. Nothing but lights exstinguishing before her, and screams. This was what the mission was about... she would try to be peaceable about it, but there was no going back. This wasn't like Luy's old order that he oft talked about... this one was bathed in blood and carved in bone. You had to fight to survive; no different than when she lived as a mechanic, dodging discovery.

"First one with the most enemies defeated buys the first round of drinks," she chuckled, her stun baton humming to life. "Let's go."

She took a deep breath. Her mind was empty, calm. And as the gates crashed open, she lowered her stance, and the grin widened.

Trouble was due ahead.

@Korvo
@Nefieslab

 

[Castor Chumeda Volante]

Castor drew his shoto saber but rather than using it himself, he tossed the weapon to Nikka for the young woman to use. She had a stun baton - he was not going to let her walk into the heat of battle with nothing but a non-lethal weapon. Even if she wasn't a Force sensitive, the shoto saber was a shorter weapon so it was easier to keep track of it's movements even without the Force and she would be able to ensure that anyone she knocked down?

Wasn't getting back up.

"I'll want it back." he told her firmly, before ruining the mood by smirking, "And I'll take a whiskey. When I win the bet that is."

Charging forwards across the distance, Castor gathered the Force to himself and applied it to himself - using Force Speed, he easily outstripped both Nikka and Uhtred in their dash across the distance towards the base of the pirates. As he approached he keyed his comlink and the ship stopped it's bombardment, just in time for Castor to make contact with the enemy.

With an almighty leap, * Castor leaped clean over the shuttered remains of the wall and fell to the ground with the Force swirling around him. He landed in a crouch, the Force blasting off around him in a shockwave, sending three of the seven pirates flying backwards. One of them skidded to a halt some ways off - dazed but alive. The other two slammed hard against walls and stopped moving. Castor stood to his full height, his white lightsaber held in front of himself defensively.

"En garde."

@Korvo @Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She caught the short blade easily; even giving it a spin before bringing the blade to light. She could not see the color; such details were useless to her anyhow. The short blade was ideal for her height, though it begged the question of where he got such a weapon. She could feel the crystal from within; it was not like Ilum.

In fact... she turned her face to Castor's, and was about to say something, when he suddenly dashed off, and a smirk grew on her lips. The Force swirled and built in her right hand as she wielded the shorter blade in her left, at ease with the similar heft and weight to it.

"Show-off."

She turned her head to Uhtred's, shrugging, "Make that a Narcolethe for me," and, huffing a breath, leaped forwards, wielding the blade before her as a guard to any slashes made. All was light within the Force, but it was brightest around Castor.

He didn't know what she was. But now she knew what he was. The grin widened. This would be... interesting. She used the power of the Force to propel herself in an extended leap into the melee.

Her entrance was not as dramatic as Castor's, but certainly noteworthy.

When gravity worked its' favors on her leap, she swung the shorter blade from defensive to offensive... and released the power that had been swirling in her fist since they crashed the entrance to the pirate party.

It was not as strong as his, but two of the unfortunate brutes flew hard into the ground, one of which was the dazed one. She felt nothing, peace wrapped around her mind like a cool wash of water and her feet were firmly planted the moment she landed. Both pirates did not rise again. She would have winked at Castor if she had the eyes, but instead a subtle smirk would pull it. Power would begin to build in her right hand again, waiting for another opportunity to strike.

@Korvo @Nefieslab

 

[Uhtred Wardruna]

Beware the wolf that stalks the dark, with fangs unseen until they strike. It was an old proverb, among Deucalians. Originally, the expression was meant to imbue an appreciation for cunning, cleverness and outsmarting an enemy. But in this case, it happened to have a more... direct application for Uhtred.

As Castor jumped into the fray, literally blowing the enemy away on first contact, Nikka followed suit almost instantly, another display of telekinetics. It was impressive to be sure, but there was just something about the elemental powers Uhtred had seen among the Sith counterparts that was more... dazzling, even if he would never admit it to them.

However, the two Jedi and their attacks had served a purpose Uhtred himself hadn't expected; virtually all attention was focused on the two of them. In a way, the lack of attention almost hurt, but the blood-price was always an acceptable compromise. And in that, Uhtred wasted no time. Inhaling deeply, Uhtred let out a forceful exhale as he reared back his arm and threw his elduröxi-afar, having it ripping through the air like a burning buzzsaw until successfully found its mark. The burning blade of the axe violently planted itself firmly and deeply into the face plate of a single pirate, who almost in a delay, dropped to his knees before falling backwards. All the while, Uhtred had taken his beskad-and entered into a melee with another pirate, clashing blades in a feverish flurry of strikes until Uhtred managed to successfully slash the pirate at his thigh. Forcing the pirate to let out a cry of pain and drop to a knee due to the pain of the strike, Uhtred maintained his rotating momentum and delivered a swift, decapitating strike, beheading the second pirate.

Charging forward, Uhtred reached out as he passed the first pirate he'd killed, pulling the elduröxi-from being lodged in his face as he pressed on into the battle, following the path his companions had made.

@Nefieslab @Killa Ree

 

[Castor Chumeda Volante]

It seemed as though Nikka had taken his attack as an example to follow and he was rather amused it had to be said - though Uhtred made his own entrance in suitably bloody fashion rather than in the flashy manner than he and Nikka had. Made sense considering they had the Force and Uhtred merely had his skills.

The two pirates the man had just killed would likely have argued about his use of the term 'merely' in that context but they couldn't - because they were already dead.

Castor himself drew his blaster pistol but almost immediately had to drop the weapon as it was hit by a blaster bolt by the surviving member of the pirates. Cursing internally, Castor was able to use his lightsaber to bat one of the bolts back into the man's unarmored thigh, blasting a chunk out of him and leading to him bleeding out in only a few moments.

But they were no longer alone.

Two more pirates appeared from the main building... but only the two. Castor would have pitied them had they been anyone but murdering, thieving, pirates. As it was, he had absolutely no doubt that they would soon die.

@Korvo @Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

She felt nothing as Uhtred's elduröxi whistled sharply through the air, her Vision scouring the two pirates almost as soon as they had left the translucent walls in her Vision. Both Castor and Uhtred were warriors by trade; she did not need to ask how. She had heard of Deucalians before, and their prowess in the heat of battle, Force or no. And of Castor... well. Her vision did spark and blaze with his own abilities in the Force. Abilities she herself had begun finessing as soon as she was declared a padawan of Luy's. The shoto-saber hummed in her hand as she prepared her strike, and when one of the first pirates would have sprinted into her companions' view...

She yanked forwards with the Force, dragging him towards her with a grunt. It was so aggressive, so strong, that the pirate body-slammed into her, the shoto-saber thankfully slicing him clean through before she kicked him off. Landing on her back so harshly had caused her to bite her tongue, and nearly cut some of the rubble into her spine. Grunting, she shoved him off of her, and began to stalk forward, unaware that blood had trickled down her chin from the wound.

She began to charge as soon as the other pirate realized his partner was no longer by his side, and began to take aim at the Miraluka...

@Korvo @Nefieslab

 

[Uhtred Wardruna]

As the battlefield emptied, Uhtred figured it would have only been a matter of time until any survivors in the proximity, supposing there were any to begin with, would have fled. The sight of a lightsaber alone was one thing; it and the one that wielded it had a fearsome reputation, and rightly so. This erroneous misconception was quickly reigned in as the sound of blasterfire echoed out again. Castor had been forced to deal with one such individual moments ago, but this was different. More were emerging.

Two pirates came onto the scene, although what part of them it was that believed it was the smarter idea to do so, as opposed to just running away, Uhtred had no idea whatsoever. Racing toward them, one of the pirates entering the fray was lifted off his feet and seemingly sucked toward the Miraluka. In all honesty, it made Uhtred think he was looking at a man being dragged by a vacuum force, or perhaps something being magnetically drawn. The subsequent collision was a bit strange to Uhtred, as it seemed that Nikka was hurt by her own actions... or perhaps it was Castor that had flung the body... or maybe the body weight had something to do with it? All these things regarding the spirits or the Force, whatever they wanted to call it, was beyond him. Luckily, battle-born instinct wasn't.

As the second pirate took aim at Nikka, who had been grounded by what was now a pirate's corpse, Uhtred reared back his arm and, with all his strength, threw his elduröxi-with all the force and power he could physically muster. Hurling through the air across the full distance, Uhtred's axe beautifully hit the mark, as his weapon's thermal blade crashed square into the pirate's forehead, cleaving through helm, flesh and bone as the pirate's body was knocked back, slightly lifting him clean off his feet in the process.

Uhtred exhaled slowly, granting himself a momentary respite from the effort, and all the while it had occurred to him; interestingly, his enemies tended to have longer periods of contact with his elduröxi-than Uhtred did himself. More and more, he tended to rely on his axe as a throwing weapon.

"I don't know if that was brave, desperate or just plain stupid, but whoever it was that ordered them out here?", Uhtred said, once again retrieving his elduröxi-from the corpse. "They either command great respect or great fear from their subordinates. Either way, perhaps it might serve us well to have cautious eyes, as much as it does to have the sword arm. Even scum can be dangerous if they fear their own leader more than they do their enemy."

@Nefieslab @Killa Ree

 

[Castor Chumeda Volante]

The answer to Uhtred's questions came.

And Castor was not happy.

"You had to tempt fate, didn't you?!"

Indeed, it seemed that there was actually only one real threat left for them to face - unfortunately for them, said threat burst through the walls of the main building of the pirate base on treads with giant guns pointing in their direction. Smoke began to billow from the tank from it's onboard smoke screen generator.

Which it had.

For some reason.

Looking up at the tank for a long second, Castor looked down at his crossguard lightsaber. It was the only weapon he actually had on him right now. He wasn't sure but he knew Nikka had his shoto... and a stun rod. Uhtred? He wasn't sure what the man had but he knew it was probably not good enough to blow this tank to pieces.

They had only one asset that was big enough to punch holes into the tank; his parked ship, back outside the base.

"Pull back!" he ordered the others as he immediately began to pull back, "Pull back beyond the wall - make for my ship! The crew we brought along can fire on the tank and destroy it but we need to get out of the danger-close area!"

Strictly speaking they didn't... but they did if they didn't want to chance being hit by ship fire.

@Korvo @Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

Son of a Bantha. Why? Why her? Why this mission in particular? As the Thing on Wheels came barrelling down her direction, her first thought was one of bravado: bold of you to assume I can bleed. The next part was knowing when to flee, and when to make a grand stand. Today was not that day. And when it came time for the running... you could bet she was the first to flat-out run it out.

She didn't have the equipment yet to take on something like... this. Even so, her vision admired its' brutish design; perhaps later, she could design her own version of a thing like it. With the corroboration of others, and some elbow grease, it could really work. But as she was distracted, she missed the translucent shape of a rock beneath her foot. She slid sideways, letting out a grunt as more pain bloomed on her hips, peppered as it was already by bruises and abrasions that would take a while to heal.

She limped her way up and continued hurrying to the outer wall. The ship was within reach, but it took her some time to get there. It seemed one of them was bound to be ahead of her. She gave a nod if either of them passed her by, and hesitated by the wall as she extinguished the blade; she would not leave her companions behind, if there were any, and especially if it sounded if any of them were wounded. Instead, she allowed herself a few moments to sense any difficulties. If there were any, she would allow a beat, before the power of the Force began to build in her palms once more. Protect her companions was first. As for herself...? She was a Jedi. She was one, and did not fear death.

Now it was only a matter of time to wait and see.

If they both beat her to it, she would simply sprint in to Castor's ship. There was little else she could do; she felt so useless, it was maddening. To be helpless... and it looked like she might owe drinks. Kriff.

@Nefieslab @Korvo

 

[Uhtred Wardruna]

There was always a time in a warrior's life where they would come face to face with someone or something of such magnitude, it would effectively make them question every single decision they've made during their lifetime which had led to that moment. For Uhtred, seeing the visage of what was little more in appearance than a gigantic gun barrel with wheels on the bottom, this was that time. How the kark did he get into this situation?

"I didn't come all this way to die from some faceless machine!", Uhtred yelled out as the smoke was blown out from the tank like a brewing storm cloud. A courageous death was commendable, but there was no honor in blatant suicide.

There was no way Uhtred's lockbow would even scorch the durasteel plating of the tank, and assaulting the war machine with his melee weapons was laughably irrational. As Castor yelled out, he made the audible call that Uhtred had already, and rather quickly, come to acknowledge; the fight was unwinnable... at least with their current circumstances. As Uhtred successfully broke out of the tank's line of sight, his hearing numbing as another shell from the tank exploded, he glanced toward Castor, who now was the only one holding the key to their own salvation.

"Jedi! How much farther?!"

@Nefieslab @Killa Ree

 

[Castor Chumeda Volante]

Castor ran with his allies.

They weren't all bunched together and that was probably the only reason why they hadn't been blown to pieces already. The tank was blasting away at them but they were all spread out and, so far, the tank hadn't actually managed to get a good shot in anywhere near any of them. As they were running, Castor deactivated his saber and stashed it away - it was going to be exactly no use to them while they were running.

"The ship!" he called out to Uhtred, "When we get past the wall, the ship can open fire - we need to get closer to the-"

Whatever he was going to say was lost as one of the tank's shot landed rather close to him. Castor found himself launched through the fair from the explosion alone, which sent him flying closer to the ship, where he landed heavily on the ground, ears ringing so badly he was unable to hear anything but the ringing.

Disorientated, Castor struggled to his hands and knees before collapsing to the ground with a roar of pain he couldn't even hear as his right wrist gave out from under him, the wrist broken.

@Korvo @Killa Ree

 

[Nikka Toren]

"Only a few paces to your left!"

She roared this back to Uhtred, already sprinting out from cover the moment she sensed Castor slump to the ground with a roar of pain. "Get to the ship, have them get closer and open fire!" She had no time to focus on his reaction; time was of the essence. She dodged one shell, and then another, the smoke only providing irritation to lungs which inhaled. Her senses found his slumped form only a few meters from where she had sprinted from.

One more shell whistled perilously close; she could even feel the heat as it whistled past. She could not focus on both the shells and him; this was a level of focus that she wasn't completely prepared for. The moment she slid down to his side, her hands lightly brushed over clothing, feeling the broken bones of his wrist with a feather-light touch, wincing in sympathetic pain. It seemed even his ribs could have been horribly bruised. Hang on, Castor, the thought was nudged his way. I cannot carry you far; I will need your help to stand. We will make it. Together.

So she looped his arm over her shoulder, allowing the power of the Force to flow over them, cocooning them, focusing only on maintaining this shield long enough to get to the wall. She struggled to lift him with his non-broken arm, teeth gritting at the weight. She had to put most of her strength into lifting alone. Pain was a dull throb along from crown to heels; just another few meters to the wall, and to the ship. They had to make it, but.. he had to get his feet under him. She took one step, then another.

"Uhtred, we're almost there," her voice came, crisp and hard as she patched through the ship's com. The shield was wavering; just a few steps more... "When I say now, fire due west at..." she glanced back, which made her stagger forward a bit more. It was so exhausting to focus this much...

"Twelve degrees. Aim two meters up." She stumbled again, and bit back a growl of pain as her bruised hips and back twinged. "C'mon, you handsome bastard. Get those feet under you, I can't drag you much further."

Perhaps he couldn't hear her, but she gave a bit of a mental nudge as emphasis.

@Nefieslab @Korvo

 

[Uhtred Wardruna]

In victory and in defeat, there was always that time, a brief glimpse of a moment, where everything seems to just... stand still. Like time suspended, where clarity took hold, making one aware of everything around them, every detail, every flaw and failing, every strength and advantage. To some, it was what happened just before death's embrace, but it wasn't always the case. Sometimes, it happened just as the stars shined down and fortune unseen graces the bold.

Because in that moment, Uhtred heard it all. Saw it all. The deafening sounds of tank ordnance exploding against the duracrete. The battle cries echoing out, or perhaps they were laughs, presumably from speaker built onto the tank. The sight of crumbling walls and structures, raining down with bits of molten durasteel. And then, there flew Castor's body, whether living or smote, flung by one of the tank's detonations. Nikka took hold of him, but at that point, Uhtred's eyes were somewhere else. Like a winged savior, Castor's ship came to life as the engines roared and the vessel hovered high into the air.

"Focus of Castor, he'll need your attention", Uhtred said, seeing Castor's obviously battered body. He honestly couldn't tell if Nikka was a Jedi like him or not, but she seemed to clearly have some... abilities. Maybe healing was one of them, but if nothing else, he needed immediate attention all the same. For his part, Uhtred glanced back at the tank, which was now out of range, and appeared to be readying itself for an approach. "We'll handle that rassgat."

Patching himself to the droids on the ship, Uhtred narrowed his gaze on the tank.

"Lock on coordinates and initiate attack run on the tank. Bring it down."

And just like that, Castor's ship took off, blazing a trail through the air as it rained down destruction incarnate over the tank, destroying it in a fiery display Uhtred had only ever seen in battle among the stars.

Huh... must have struck the fuel tanks directly, Uhtred mused, rationalizing the extent of the attack.

There would be no need for secondary runs, no chance of any survivors in this. The tank was engulfed in chemically-born fire, with the flames spiraling upwards towards the sky, and in the wake of everything, Uhtred could not help but laugh.

"Ahhh!! Ekki svo slæmt og ósigrandi núna, ert þú, yialeti'r?!", Uhtred said bombastically. It had occurred to him that he'd allowed some Mando'a to slip out, something he'd been actively trying to avoid due to the particularly mixed company he keeps, but with Castor unconscious, he doubted his other comrade would have even noticed.

"You may be droids, but that was a hell of a shot! Swing back around, pick us up. And have some kolto ready, you're master will need it."

In fact, they all would need it.

/Exit Thread
@Nefieslab @Killa Ree