Apex Predator

[Gunner Stahl]

.

TALAOS CITY
​

Crathus Ras, was a vile and disgusting fiend. Known intergalactic criminal and presumed child trafficker, he had so far evaded numerous planets' law enforcement agencies. However, tied up in the Manaan initiative and Kolto mining operation, his future schemes for terror would be abruptly ended. As a doctrine once said, "If God cannot help, then perhaps the Devil can..". He made the mistake of kidnapping children from a prominent Serenno socialite and thus in retaliation, the Empire has dispatched two of its deadliest operatives to hunt down and bring the criminal to heel.

The bustling capital city of Makeb was lively on this evening, numerous patrons collected through the city quarters for leisure. One office building in particular was relatively desolate however, except for a pair of flickering lights on the top floors. A gathering of consorts, all lieutenants to Crathus Ras as they had come to realize a mark was placed on the head of their infamous leader. To hunt down such a fiend, one must first eradicate those in association in efforts to lure out their prey. The cybernetic eye glanced towards the group gathered in the room through a pair of binoculars. Perched high on the rooftop and concealed within the void of nightfall, the IFL mercenary, Gunner Stahl was carefully stalking the high value targets. He was clad in a durasteel ebony battle armor with no insignia of any kind to denote allegiance. Armaments carried included his signature Devastator carbine, twin carbine blasters slung from his hips, a collapsible vibro-blade, two fragmentation grenades, and two smoke grenades.

The shadowguard tracked them from the hidden visage of the rooftops as he utilized his grapple line and zipped towards the adjacent building. Utilizing the grapple hooks, he scaled the building until he came upon the floor directly above them. Left wrist went towards his mask, speaking through the comm link. "In position to intercept.." A wicked grin cast across his face as he suddenly swept downwards as a pendulum, utilizing his feet to guide the impact upon the window overlooking their position. All five men startled with the sudden intrusion through the window, glass shards flying in various angles as their armored assassin leaped inwards and crouched defensively. Devastator drawn out, as a ghastly green glow radiated from the barrel of the weapon, its gruesome reputation slowing time in its wake as an aura of fear swept through the epicenter of his arrival. The galaxy's only shadowguard was a terrifying opponent, as he simply spoke to all five directly. "Don't give me that look, you knew this was inevitable..." A warning that was as threatening as it was stern, holding true irrespective of whatever faith they held dear.

Anything these scoundrels had prepared would be futile, as their fates dictated they would meet the swift end of the Empress' Justice.

@Versok

 

[Kano Taes]

As a high ranking member of the Judgement, the group dedicated to the protection of the Sith Empire and the elimination of those that harmed their citiziens, it was the duty of the Sith master and Warden Kano Taes to take care as scum like Crathus Ras. But this was not only duty for him, there was nothing the Kaleesh abomination enjoyed more than hunting down the lowest scum in the galaxy, while killing jedi was a close second, having to deal with lowlife criminals was something less common, while these type of criminals weren't exactly uncommon around the galaxy, a large amount of them were Hutt Cartel members, who Kano unfortunately couldn't slay. But now, he had the chance to help put down someone that dared to offend the mighty Sith Empire, and he was going to enjoy every single second of it.

The Kaleesh abomination would be taking a different approach than his partner for this mission. The Kaleesh abomination would be moving on the ground, his armor and weapons, five lightsabers that were tightly secured around his waist, all hidden under his cloak, which covered him entirely from neck below except for two of his four arms, the hood and cloak hiding his head from prying eyes, trying to not draw much attention while walking towards the building's door, which was being guarded by two normal thugs.

Kano waited on the dark, gathering the force to attack when ready. The moment Gunner warned Kano he was about to intercept the lieutenants, the Kaleesh abomination sprinted towards the guards and in a swift motion slashed them, his visible arms now whiteknuckling two of the lightsabers. Kano didn't waste a single second and entered the building before the guards even had time to hit the ground, dragging the corpses inside to avoid drawing too much attention. Kano closed the door and started clearing the area, Their plan was simple, Gunner had the task of dealing with the lieutenants while the Kano cleared the rest of the building, drawing all the attention away from the shadowguard while the Kaleesh abomination enjoyed the slaughter.

@Faded Truth

 

[Gunner Stahl]

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Gunner relished as the comm link on his wrist pinged with the presence of the Sith Master; the deliverer of justice would gladly pass his own wicked judgment on these filth. For the lieutenants however, they would meet their swift end at the end of his seeping hunger for death. The shadowguard anticipated a reckless and wild reaction from the lieutenants who were better at beating children than they were at fighting men. As soon as he watched their bodies begin to rise, he immediately hurled a smoke grenade into the epicenter of the conference room. The device catching their attentions momentarily before a ghastly billow of grey smoke shot forth from various angles. Gunner snarled as he leaped to the side, coming to a rolling crouch before free hand went upwards to bash the nearest lieutenant in the face and grapple him around the throat. The man's body was used a meat shield for the Sith Operative, blaster pistols finding their way into his torso as he shrieked out in pain from his own comrades' murderous actions.

Gunner retaliated in full, with precision fire from his devastator rifle. 3-round bursts ringing forth as they collapsed on the unarmored foes, searing flesh and dropping their corpses to the ground in a bloody heap. Tossing the meat shield to the side, Gunner advanced on one foe who dared to challenge him physically. Ducking under the knife slash, the soldier snapped upwards with the butt of his rifle, catching the man squarely in the nose before taking a free hand to slam the dazed skull into a glass countertop. The quickness of his movements would overwhelm these scoundrels; after all, they were filth, and he was the galaxy's only shadowguard...this was nothing.

Last remaining lieutenant darted from the exit door, sprinting down the corridor and came directly into Kano's destructive path. A look of "Oh kriff" on his face, he rapidly changed directions until a 3-round burst fire stung on his left ankle and eviscerated the joint completely. Screaming out in agony, his body collapsed to the ground and began to crawl away from its predators. Eventually, leading into a large double-doored room, the man continued to the crawl upon the lobby floor until he finally collapsed from exhaustion. Gunner and Kano would likely follow, coming into a large warehouse with several rows of cannisters and beams arranged into carts. Coaxium and Isotope-5 collection, along with a vacant airtransport vessel that the lieutenant was likely attempting to flee into but couldn't make it in time.

Ambulating in an arrogant manner, Gunner stalked the crawling figure of the lieutenant. Kano likely near him now though he didn't look over just yet as he anticipated the Sith to make his way over to the room whenever he was finished clearing the other thugs from the compound. "Well...relying on a Hutt bounty to secure finances that fund your criminal empire? I got to say...that's clever." He chuckled, reloading the ammunition pack in his carbine rifle as laser sighting balanced itself on the back of the man's thoracic spine and then later to the front of his torso as he turned to face his pursuer. "You know the problem with believing in a vile cause...at some point the cause will betray you...There is only one way you survive, tell us where Crathus Ras is.."

@Versok

 

[Kano Taes]

To say that Kano was slaughtering the thugs was an understatement, the Kaleesh abomination was putting his lightsabers to good use, cutting the thugs to pieces one by one, limbs flying, bodies getting split in half, heads decapitated, the Warden was enjoying the feeling of death around him, doing his work as the judge, jury and executioner of the filth that dared to challenge him, his lightsabers, however, weren't his only weapons, lightning came out of his hands, frying a group that didn't know how vital it was spacing. The Kaleesh abomination had already killed most of the thugs, taking his time with the last one, who was getting force choked when the lieutenant faced him, Kano let out a wicked, sinister grin, one that basically said "you are next" followed by a bite aimed towards the last thug's neck, which tore it apart and left the poor man to bleed out.

Kano followed Gunner into the room, looking at the lieutenant while he was crawling away like a coward, the Sith warden also took notice of the Coaxium and Isotope-5 in the room, letting a smile out while hearing Gunner talk about that matter "We could take this and give it to the Hutts ourselves, would improve our relations with the Cartel" Kano explained, looking at Gunner, he didn't like the Hutts , they were as honorless and selfish as the man that they were going to interrogate, but their alliance was important for the Empire and he would help making sure it stayed that way. When Gunner finished talking to the lieutenant the Kaleesh abomination approached him and kneeled to get himself into the same height than the filth he was about to break "It will be easier to collect the information if instead of asking him..." Kano said, putting his hand on the man's head "We simply take it" And with that said, the man would begin to scream and cry for mercy, his mind getting broken while Kano was searching what they wanted from him, he could've been more subtle, he could have used the force to influence him and probably get what they wanted without making him suffer, but he didn't deserve such mercy, this would be his punishment...

@Faded Truth

 

[Gunner Stahl]

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Gunner chuckled, sadistic grin coming to his face as he slowly lowered the carbine rifle and allowed Kano to mentally interrogate the man. He watched as eyelids fluttered, blood began to run from his nostrils and edges of his mouth as the Sith Master bombarded the brain and tore it asunder searching for their answer. "Sounds like an excellent idea.." He allowed the Kaleesh to finish his search while he contacted their vessel dispatch through comm-link. "Operative Stahl here, we require a transport, two large shipments will be loaded into cargo bay, sending coordinates now.."

Uploading their current location to dispatch, he moved over to the edge as he slid open the warehouse doors and approached Kano with the subdued Lieutenant. Raising the carbine rifle as Kano finished his interrogation, Gunner executed the male at point blank, blaster bolt disintegrating skull and flesh as his corpse decorated the tile floor. Lofting a curious eye, he glanced at his comrade. Kano nodding at Gunner's suspicion, "Tatooine it is then.." He stated, shifting his eyes upwards as the transport vessel descended and soldiers harnessed the two shipments of Isotope-5 and Coaxium into the cargo holds. "I'll need a change of gear, let's rendezvous there in 48 hours.."

// End Thread

@Versok