Call for Justice (Sovereign Guard)

[Santoro]

It was a quiet day on the relatively new farming planet of Taanab- people went about their daily lives, harvesting, planting, trading, and selling their product village to village, town to town. The media was quiet, reporting the continually mild weather and relaying the galactic broadcast's report of the war- a constant threat to the borderland planet that loomed heavy over the people's minds. To relieve them of some stress, the local authority had decided not to announce the hostage situation going on in the capital Pandath, and it had cost them dearly- over a dozen of the planet's best and brightest politicians, military minds, and scientists had been kidnapped and gathered in a high office building to demand the extreme ransom of twenty million credits and safe passage to Hutt Space. News of this transgression had not settled well with the Jedi Knight Aevis Santoro, and he left his homeworld to personally oversee the handling of this situation.

He had called on resources from all over the galaxy for this mission. Aevis used his Jedi status to gain local police records, placing this terrorist group's membership at approximately forty men and women of different species and backgrounds although predominantly human of Norulacian decent. A majority of them were known to have participated in military incursions for their local militias and the Republic Fleet during the Alsakan Crisis- far beyond the capacity of bumbling and untrained sheriffs and patrolmen called from around the region, usually armed with little more than sidearms and hunting rifles. It required a special talent for this occasion- he had called in his most promising Chapter Leader and a group of handpicked elites, in which he was awaiting audio contact. Pacing the rooftop of the tower next to the target, Aevis scoped the area- armed guards swarming the upper floors where the hostages were held. He'd waited until nightfall before passing the order to engage- the only fighting his men would do would be on their own terms- casualties were never acceptable.

-----Meanwhile...-----

"Sir- we've detected a TPD squad cutting a hole in the south wall. Orders?" The terrorist commander merely had to give the man a stare and his will would be carried out.

The final bit of rubble was kicked away, and four of the Taanab Police Department's finest officers entered, flashlights and blaster pistols sweeping the dark hallway. The Lieutenant waved his squadron forward, moving down the hallway with drilled precision. It still wasn't enough, and the terrorists' first barrage of automatic blasterfire had cleared the hallway- the grenade that followed collapsed TPD's entrance and prolonging the cat and mouse game. The time was counting down before the hostages would be killed- twenty minutes before it began. The terrorist commander grinned, clasping his hands as reports of the Officer's demise came to him. In little under an hour, he had murdered over twenty of Taanab's guardians- how many more could these countryfolk have?

 

[Mike]

Stros stood at the base of the tall office building and looked up to where he knew that perhaps the twenty most important beings on Taanab were held. Losing them would be disastrous for the planet and it's people, and Stros took a moment to compose himself, channeling the anger he felt for the terrorists into cold, lazer precise determination to thrawt them. He was standing under an overhang with his squad, so he couldn't actually see the office where they were being held, but he knew it was there from Santoro's intel. He might be the Officer commanding the attack on the field, but Santoro was their Leader, and he'd brought in a wild card that brought a slight grin to Stros' face.

When he felt like he had his 'game face' on, Stros took the custom, open-face helmet from under his arm and sealed it on, clasping shut around the neck. His feline eyes and ears were completely free and unhampered by the helmet, and his sharp predator's teeth showed when he grinned. He stood a bit taller and swung his mandalorian-inspired blaster rifle from it's holster on his back into his arms. He was an impressive figure, not only because of his white-black-striped, masterfully crafted and meticulously maintained Republic Soldier's armor, but also his height of six foot eight inches. Stros was far from hampered by his armor; it complimented his light and lean muscled frame.

"Ready up people." he said, his voice calm, but intense, "The TPB are staging another of thoe useless breach attempts to draw terrorist attention away from us. We have to use the opening they provide to enter the ground floors of the building. Hopefully the enemy will be too busy looking at the scary police officers to shoot at a few mismatched soldiers like us. There's about fourty hostiles in there and half as many hostiges. When we're through here only one of those numbers is supposed to change, and it's not the number of hostages. Clear?"

 

[Valshot]

Garr stood listening, for the man before him was his captain Stros. Garr's large size made him stand out from the rest of the men that were there. His armor was unscathed, yearning for combat. He fiddled with the various explosives on his belt, checked his rocket launcher, and equipped himself with his rifle. He was more ready than ever for whatever was going to happen. The view of the occupied building was desolate aside from some TPD rushing around frantically. This obviously wasn't a place for them, that's why the Sovereign Guard was called in. Atleast that was what Garr had assumed.

Garr raised his voice when the cat-man had stopped. "How are we gonna go about getting in?" He droned without his eyes leaving the building. He wanted to evaluate the situation before jumping head first into the place.

 

[T.J]

Derin Skyblade stood stoic and unmoving as he watched the failed breach attempt unfold, hands folded behind his armord back as was frequent of his species. He wore his full mandalorian armor, including the helmet sealed tightly to his hairless head and the weapons that hung from his frame like ornamates. The Taung seemed out of place, almost alien among the rag-tag group of soldiers that overlooked the captured building, Derin himself felt as such, and frankly he cared little for the lives of the hostages held inside. He would try to keep as many as he could alive however, the Soverign Guard had given the honorless Taung a home where his own people would not.

" I suggest we move quickly. We do not want to loose our advantage of stealth.... "

The Taung's voice was gravely, low, and full of accent as he spoke, remaining unmoving as if he were trying to bore through the buildings walls with his vision alone. In actuality he was thinking over different plans of attack in his head. Alot could go wrong in such a mission, SG forces were outnumbered severely and the amount of hostages made it impossible to simply blow the building up. Ontop of that, the deadline the terrorists had given before the hostages were executed was fast approaching, meaning the Soverign Guard soldiers would have to move quickly and flawlessly if they wanted to succeed.

 

[Santoro]

Aevis reached into the right breast pocket of his black combat rig, withdrawing a complicated and precise chrono, ticking down to the time of the next assassination. Fifty seven minutes and twenty-two seconds and counting- timed precisely with the TPD's own records and an identical one handed to Stros by one of the TPD privates. Aevis pocketed the chrono, unclipping his commlink and going prone, next to the TPD's only sniper rifle rig. He hooked it under his arm, adjusting it on the tripod as he raised the comm to his lips.

"Stros, this is Santoro. You have the order to move, TPD is executing it's entry maneuvers now on the opposite end of the building- one of their robotically controlled agriculture helicopters is attempting a faux breach on level fifteen. It will be brought down by enemy fire- I'll relay what they use to you." He cut the comm, looking through the scope as the converted flier swung towards the mid level of the building, it's pesticide emplacements removed and with heavy slugthrower repeaters in their stead- pounding away at the sheer glass and steel of the building and sending it raining down hundreds of feet. In return, from several floors above and below came stream after stream of automatic blasterfire, and with one especially loud boom a propelled grenade. In a matter of seconds, the flaming helicopter slammed into a nearby building, shattering it's infrastructure and creating a rather large bill for Tanaab.

Sithspit. So much for that idea. He got on his comm again.

"Military grade weapons. Repeaters, energy weapons, explosives... Caution is key. TPD officers are moving." He moved his scope to view the two dozen Sovereign Guard commandos, covering their entry.

 

[Mike]

"Duly noted Skyblade." Stros said respectfully. The Taung Chapter Leader of Naboo might have ceded purely tactical command to him in this mission, but he was still Stros' superior in the Guard. In any case, it wasn't wise to ignore the tactical advice of a Mandalorian warrior like Skyblade. He momentarily ignored a question from Garr, the hulking tank-like trooper, and held one hand to his ear reflexively to receive Santoro's intel. His eyes tracked upwards to see a clumsy looking gunship with the distinct look of a civilian craft pretending to be a military one. He took comfort from the fact that it was being controlled by remote as it took hit after hit from repeating blasters and a flaming explosion brought it down.

Over the scream of dying engines and a symphony of shattered transparisteel, Santoro was confirming what Stros had observed from the ground. The terrorists were packing some serious firepower. "There's your answer Corlis." he half-yelled as he fired off a non-verbal acknowledgment to Santoro with his helmcomm. "We're going in on the ground floor, Santoro's covering from above, but when we're inside we're on our own. I don't think the lower floors are heavily guarded, if at all, but we're sure as hell going to have to burn through some hostiles today. Stay sharp, stay cautious, stay alive!"

With that Stros lowered the transparent visor of his helmet, anticipating the dust and rubble that would be kicked up when the blaster bolts started flying. From among the two dozen soldiers under his command, Stros chose one with a brisk hand signal to take point. Stros was a natural scout, and it pained him to send another soldier out ahead, but he simply couldn't justify making the operation's commander the biggest, and the first, target. "Sir!" the Zabrak point man confirmed with a half-salute. Militairy etiquette in the Guard wasn't as tight as the republic, or other armies that he'd served in, but the Guard had the strength and soul of proud beings who wouldn't trade their work for anything in the Galaxy.

With a second hand signal Stros sent the Zabrak sprinting towards a three meter wide section of blown out window on the ground floor opposite the TPD's attempted breach site. Stros waved a dozen more troops past two at a time before breaking cover himself and sprinting for the entrance. His great height and natural Farghul speed allowing him to greatly outpace the other soldiers and be the second man at the window after his point man. He brought his rifle to his shoulder and his laser-sharp eyesight scanned the room with military precision. Not seeing any hostile movement, he waved the Zabrak through the window and kept his rifle at the ready from cover as the rest of his soldiers began to arrive behind him.

 

[Valshot]

When Garr received the signal he began to ran. He began at a slow pace but slowly gained enough speed to keep up with the other soldier sent with him. His speed was odd for his size, but the strain put on his muscles day after day trained his body for higher than average speeds for his weight and size. He eyed the barren city streets which were void of human life besides of the futile attempts of the TPD.

Upon arriving at the designated area Garr had noticed that they were standing behind a shattered window. Stros was covering the Zabrak who had already entered the building. This task would not be so easy for Garr, he tried to maneuver his large body through the entryway. After positioning his body sideways he was able to slip through without breaking anything.

Garr took cover behind a overturned desk. His body barely fitting behind it. He looked over and observed the floor in it's entirety. It looked ransacked and disheveled. Many of the desks were flipped, paper had been strewn across the workplace, and most of the lights had been destroyed. Garr looked back to his Captain waiting for orders.

 

[T.J]

Nodding in response to the Farghul's command for the group, Derin also made his way towards the burnt building across the desolate wasteland that had once been a busy intersection. Instead of hurrying and making alot of noise however, the Taung simply walked. It wasnt a leisurely pace by any means, but it was much slower than the more eager soldiers in their battle group, and he was the last to actually reach the blasted out window.

Once he had rejoined the small force of men he drew his mandalorian style vibro sword but did not activate its vibration cell, letting its wickedly curved blade glint in the low light cast by far off light sources. The Taung warrior had never been one for long range combat, going as far as to have his armor made specifically to absorb as much punishment as possible to allow him the time to close distance between him and his foes. Though he did not show it with the way he had approached the building, Derin focused much of his training heavily on speed and agility, further enhancing his abilities in close quarters combat.

Seemingly unaware he was in a combat situation, Derin walked through the make-shift opening to the building without looking for any cover what-so-ever. Infact once inside he merely stood to the side of the hulking figure who had entered before him and took in the room. Low light and much debris meant an environment perfect for the mandalorian, switching his helmets visor to low light and queing the heat vision sensors to kick on when prompted almost instantly. Outwardly it would appear as if he were merely surveying the room as is head drifted lazily from left to right, but in realitly he was thinking of different stratigems, emergency exits, and weak spots in the building already damaged infustructure.

Just as he was about to say something, he cut himself short. It wasnt his mission to command, and he wasnt much for talking to mongrels anyway, even if they were on the same side as him. All that would be heard from the Taung would be his exterior speakers on his helmet clicking on, then off quickly after.

 

[Santoro]

The floor was quiet, apprehension and fear filling the air. Although every one of these Sovereign Guard soldiers had previous experience, it was a rare thing to engage in counter-terrorism, especially with the clock ticking and an untested enemy. Rattling of automatic blasterfire paired with the sharp pangs of TPD pistols emanated from the other end of the building, the occasional flash of light penetrating the tinted and reinforced windows, casting odd shadows across the overturned desks and shattered decorations- so many places to hide.

The faint smell of dispensed tibanna and scorched flesh greeted the SG soldiers the further they strode into the lobby- the source being a pile of three bodies, tangled and carelessly shoved behind a fallen data terminal. One of the SG troops knelt down- a suited man was still alive, paralyzed, in shock, or dying- the only thing he could move were his eyes, and they said it all, but too late.

Between Stros'es improved eyesight and Derin's heat seeking vision, they had a split second's notice as the edge of a body poked around a support pillar- his rather expensive assault rifle in front of him. With an incredibly loud chain of booms, lightning-fast streaks of blasterfire zoomed past the crouched Zabrak, who wasted no time in shining his rifle's light on their assailant- a heavily armored scout. The concentrated light had adverse effects on their attacker's night vision goggles, sending him back behind cover... But the group wasn't safe yet.

From their left another noise- a single flash and pang, a tiny metal cylinder falling in the middle of the Sovereign Guard formation, just as the first attacker rounded the column again- a fresh clip and a deathwish.

 

[Mike]

Stros caught a slight movement of shadow and reacted quickly. He had his blaster rifle trained on the support pillar behind which a hostile was covering and fired off a few shots on semi automatic when he poked his ugly nose out. He ignored the return blasterfire, which mostly went high above his head as he remained crouched outside the window, his head and rifle at floor level. Stros thought he might have hit the target, but he hadn't punched through the scout's heavy armor; his blaster rifle didn't have the needed stopping power at this setting.

"Corlis! Rocket!" he commanded over the team's comlink. Stros didn't want to give the enemy time to pussyfoot around and keep his squad pinned down on the lower levels. They were running on a tight deadline, and Stros figured that the quickest problem solver in this case was a rocket from Garr's R4-Svn Missile Tube launcher. The blast would probably be enough to take out the pillar and the rearguard.

Before Garr was able to react however, two or three voices shouted out in consternation. Stros saw an apparently innocuous bit of metal that frightened him more than the terrorist that had thrown it land by a group of soldiers inside the room. There was nothing he could do, he was too far away to even try to throw it back, even if their opponent were stupid enough to set a timer that long. As he was about to duck back behind cover and let the grenade blow his troops to bits though, one young human soldier lunged forward. His arms were stretched out in front of him, and his face was twisted into a cruel combination of determination and fear.

The heroic trooper landed on the hellish device an instant before it detonated, and for a split second Stros thought that he could see triumph on the young man's face, but then it was gone in a wash of fire and concussive force. The man's armor made a valiant effort at absorbing the blast, and the shockwave Stros experienced wouldn't have thrown him off balance even if he had been standing upright. Those standing closer, and having smaller frames, weren't quite as lucky, as some staggered and one was blown clean off his feet.

Stros vaulted into the room and advanced in a speedy crouch, one practiced hand adjusting his rifle's controls to compensate for the armor he'd seen used on their first assailant. This meant that he'd get fewer shots before having to reload, but you couldn't have everything. He was focused on tracing the grenade's trajectory back to it's owner, and kept his rifle at his shoulder. He trusted Garr to take care of the first attacker, but still took care to keep out of line-of-sight with the pillar.

 

[Valshot]

Garr watched as blaster fire danced above his head and through the office. He peaked above the desk that gave him cover to see the assailant. The air stood still as the firing stopped but neither side had claimed a victim. Garr's Comm buzzed with Stros' voice. Before he was able to act a ringing of rolling metal could be heard in the middle of the office. Garr watched as a young soldier sacrificed himself for the team. The man had disappeared in a burst of flames and various shrapnel. The air whistled with immense pressure.

Garr used this opportunity to react. A clanking of gears was heard from his wrist launcher as it positioned a rocket to the aperture of the tube. He revealed his massive body from his cover and aimed his forearm towards a large pillar across the way. The air yet again was still. Garr fired the rocket from the tube. It illuminated the room as it traveled, detailing every crevice and nook for only a split second, until it ran into the pillar.

The explosion ran throughout the building completely demolishing the pillar and the body of the man who had used it as his hiding place. The valiant stone was not match for the force of the rocket. It had crumbled sending an assortment of debris over the immediate area. The dust settled revealing no signs of enemy life. "That Soldier's sacrifice will not be in vain," Garr spoke over his comm his voice dull and slightly irate. "We should hurry for more men will come," His eyes piercing into Stros'.

 

[T.J]

Derin watched as the young human leapt upon the destructive device, paying the ultimate price to save his fellow soldiers from a gruesome and almost certainly painful death. It was a noble sacrifice to the Taung, and though the young human would never know, he had gained the mandalorians respect.

Surging forward with a speed unseen by the armored warrior thus far in the engagement, Derin stopped only to crouch over what was left of the soldier. Staring for only seconds, the mandalorian pulled a hunk of still smoking armor from the remains and strapped it to his shoulder pad. It was a way of honoring the dead, a kind of tribute to a fallen warrior. Looking down one last time the Taung was once again a blur of movement, rushing towards where the grenade throwers position with little care for any incoming enemy fire from his right.

With only a low light filter, Derin would have been unable to find the enemy right away, but since his heat vision setting had been qued previously its activation immediately illuminated the Taung's path. Before him only a couple colums and destroyed pieces of furniture away, crouched a humaniod of unknown species and gender. The target was fiddling with something cooler than itself, something that reflected some of the wielders heat, something metallic. Not wanting to let the foe retaliate again, Derin first jumped upon the desk the sentient was hiding behind, then down ontop of it. The Mandalorian beskar in his hand cutting sharply through the air with practiced percision, intent on cleaving the arm of the unknown enemy in two, removing said metallic object from its possesion.

The only thing that kept Derin from simply killing the humaniod outright was the presence of hostages. The strike team didint know the group of hostages exact location, and the group of terrorists they were up against seemed like the type to use said hostages as meat shields or even decoys.

 

[Santoro]

As the Sovereign Guard soldiers slammed into full action, the room erupted in explosions and blasterfire of all sorts. The well-ordered and placed rocket obliterated the support structure, turning it into a large fragmentation grenade and shredding the initial terrorist's form into a near-unidentifiable mass of blood, bone, and armor. The crack soldiers of SG scattered as the muffled concussion of the grenade pushed outward, sending bits of their once-ally along with a terrible burning odor... The first floor had given the freedom-fighters a nightmare for the next few years- with the dozen or so more to go, it gave some of the fresher soldiers thoughts of retreat... But none of them said a word. Instead, they laid down a perfect pattern of suppression fire, their duo of elites bursting into action.

Stros' shots were true, forcing their grenadier to stand and move for an escape, a gaping blasterwound in his shoulder disabling his left arm- halting the second grenade. The brutal swing from the Taung had sliced the enemy's arm clear off, resulting in a scream of agony, the man collapsing to the ground as a pair of Sovereign troops pushed forward, sweeping their rifles and clearing the floor. The remaining soldiers spread out to guard all possible entrances, leaving one soldier to escort the captive outside- he would be interrogated by the professionals in the TPD. The comm crackled to life- Santoro's pained voice filling all of the soldier's commlinks.

"Jaka Tunsyn will not be forgotten, and his sacrifice will be honored with our success." It took a minute for it to sink in that the casualty had not been reported... Occasionally, Santoro's connection with the Force was unnerving- a reminder that he was strange. However, he was efficient- "And to do that, we have to keep moving. The access stairs to the northern end of the building are unguarded- move slowly and quietly and you should be able to get to the third floor without fighting on the second." It was a tough maneuver- according to the intercepted radio chatter, the infiltration of the building was known- they'd have to use stealth or fight a grueling, uphill battle to the thirteenth floor.

----- Elsewhere -----

The Man in Black stalked past the row of hostages, brooding. He reached the end, stopped, snapped around, and continued pacing, watched by twenty sets of eyes and two sets of goggles. Fear was thick in this darkened room, and it gave him power, clarity... He thrived on fear. Stopping in front of a rather attractive thirty-something hostage, he grinned, crouching down to eye level. Her eyes widened, her body shook, and he put his pistol to her head. She began to weep through her gag, shutting her eyes.

"Two pounds of pressure. Such little force, such an impact- this is the power I have. No doubt you think they're coming for you... That I'm worried about the pests. I'll kill them all, then, I'll kill you." He pushed the barrel hard against her temple, knocking the bound and terrified woman over, grinning at his uneasy guards. The clock was ticking, and with his new surge of adrenaline, he was anxious for battle.


-----
Time Left: 57 Minutes
Remaining Sovereign Guard: 23 soldiers, Stros, Garr, Derin
Remaining Hostiles: 38 troops, Unidentified Leader

 

[Mike]

Madrar Ro was spinning her bothan stun stick in one hand like a baton twirler. It focused her body and mind before a job, and in the moments before she got the green light she made sure that she could make the weapon do anything she wanted. In one smooth motion, without slowing down the spins, she holstered the stun stick. She checked the charge on her stealth field generator and was pleased to see that it was full. It would last maybe a dozen seconds at a time before needing a cooldown period, but Madrar planned to make those few seconds all that she'd ever need.

Finally ready, Madrar polarized her visor and moved out. She stayed in the shadows by instinct, and slipped up against the terrorist's building. She quickly examined the building from below, seeking the least obtrusive way up. Her practiced eyes fell on a strip of windowless permacrete that ran all the way up, and she fired off a spider-silk thin cable attached to a molecular-adhesive tip. Madrar clipped the cable to her suit and began a slow controlled ascent. Pressed as she was against the permacrete, the only way a terrorist would notice her was if they stuck their head out the window.

--------

Stros relaxed momentarily as the second hostile was neutralized. He dropped the rifle to his side to take stock of the situation and listen to Santoro's advice. It didn't occur to him to wonder where Santoro got his information. He was a Jedi, and Stros had seen Jedi do funny things in his time. Not to mention the fact that Santoro was their leader and certainly had better information and recon than the soldiers on the field. "Understood." Stros said for all of them. "Skyblade, I want you to take point on the stairs." he said. Normally he wouldn't order a chapter leader into the head of the battle, but there was nobody on his team more suited to a tough fight up a close-quarters staircase.

 

[T.J]

Cleaning blood from the flad of his saber, the Taung nodded in aknowledgment to the command even though he probably wasnt within the eye sight of the furry humaniod at that moment. Clicking on his helmets internal comm. unit, Derin broadcasted his response as well to comfirm.

" As you wish... "

Opting to keep his blade out in the open air instead of sheathing it again, the mandalorian regrouped with the other Sovereign Guard soldiers as quickly and quietly as possible. Taking his place at the front of the group, the blade master Taung revealed his off hand gauntlets hidden blade with a press of a button and a metallic clunk. Eyeing its craftsman ship for a brief moment, Derin gingerly opened the door to the stair well and took the first step towards the top of the building and the hostages there in.

 

[Santoro]

The stairwell was especially hot today- the tension mixed with the relatively nearby explosion of the civilian helicopter had raised the temperature, and the still-fresh reminder of a soldier getting sprayed across the room added a new level of anxiety. It was also eerily quiet- the typical lounge music shut off to allow the security sensors additional input- they would only hear the slight clatter of twenty some sets of combat gear, drowned out by the hum of the power cells a few floors below, charging the air with a tingle of static.

Slowly and cautiously, the party walked past the second-floor doorway, crouching past the darkened window to avoid detection. A single SG soldier pressed against the doorway- a highly specialized, multi-barreled pistol poised to shoot through the window should the worst happen. It didn't- the party successfully crossed the second floor doorway, and proceeded up the two flights to the third. They weren't so lucky that time around.

"Hey, down here!" a voice above called, setting the SG soldiers to clatter against the walls, blaster rifles pointed upwards into the darkness. The threat came from many directions, and SG wasn't prepared.

"Ho, from below!" the point soldier called, turning his pistol downwards and pulling the trigger, the five barreled antipersonnel weapon spraying light blaster bolts down the stairwell and shredding the door, the wall, and the terrorist emerging. His assault was ended with a precise shot to the skull, and Aevis would now have two letters to write. From above and below, no less than ten soldiers emerged, brandishing assault rifles and carbines. In a matter of seconds the Guard would be caught in a deadly crossfire- it would be up to the unrivaled skill of SG to withstand it.


-----
Time Left: 52 Minutes
Remaining Sovereign Guard: 22 soldiers, Stros, Garr, Derin, Madrar
Remaining Hostiles: 37 troops, Unidentified Leader

 

[Mike]

Stros winced at the sounds of military boots clattering into position above and below their position. He'd lead his squad into an ambush, and now it was up to him to get them out. He squared his shoulders and freed a stun grenade from his belt. Stros caught Skyblade's eye and nodded as the sloppy terrorist announced himself and gave them a split second to plan and prepare. As the last word left their foe's mouth Stros primed the grenade and lobbed it at the group of hostiles gathered at the top of the stairs. "Eyes below soldiers!" he roared, and hunkered down for the blast that would hopefully incapacitate the squad at the top of the stairs for long enough for him and Skyblade to close to melee distance.

His troops were caught off guard, but as long as they didn't have to worry about watching two directions at once Stros knew that they would make very short work of a few terrorists. He and Skyblade however, might be in a little trouble if they weren't able to clear the top of the stairs before the insurgents up there recovered. As soon as he felt the detonation of his stun grenade, Stros exploded forwards, moving far faster than his great size would suggest, and closed the distance to the top of the stairs like greased lightning, knowing that Skyblade would be right with him. Reaching the first hostile, and standing head and chest above him, Stros swung his rifle viciously at the man's head and neck more than hard enough to snap his spine.

 

[Valshot]

Garr watched as the grenade detonated followed by the pursuit of the forward attackers by Stros and Derin. Garr swung his rifle from his back into firing position, aimed it above his running companions, and fired a few rounds. The blaster bolts buzzed through the air and into the settling dust above. He thought that he could give them some cover while he dealt with the attackers from below. It would be the perfect chance to utilize his flamethrower.

Garr turned to face the terrorist that were below. He squeezed past a few of his comrades to get closer to the terrorists. Garr lifted his left arm and aimed it towards the attackers. His bracer whistled as it started to produce a small flame that would eventually ignite the mixture of fuel stored within Garr's suit. A spray of fuel funneled from his bracer, it caught fire as it passed the small flame, and created a large plume down the stairs. He hoped it would at least catch the terrorist off guard even possibly harming a couple of them. The wall of fire would cloud both sides view of the enemy but would also give cover to the Sovereign Guard who were in need of help against the ambush. Garr used his right hand to fire a spray of blaster bolts into the fiery cloud.

 

[Santoro]

Various sparks of light filled the stairwell as blaster bolts and projectiles zinged up and down, followed by a downward plume of flame and an upward, blinding light. Shouts of agony from either side added to the echoing weapons pings, the clatter of armored boots rushing for cover and trying to drag the wounded back to no avail- those who decided to be heroes were the next ones to fall.

The flashbang to the upper terrorists was astoundingly effective- the Sovereign Guard elites swarmed the hostiles with practiced precision- two bolts to the chest, a bolt to the head on each. In a matter of seconds, the upper four terrorists had been shredded, dead before their bodies had fallen. Downwards the SG assault was slightly less effective. Although the flamethrower served its purpose by scattering the terrorists and even igniting one, the heat from the flame was quick to snap upwards and catch a SG trooper too close to the path, heat rising and cooking the soldiers above- SG would have to move quickly up to escape the scalding heat.

Unfortunately, that was not all- the remaining five hostiles from below continued their barrage, downing three Sovereign soldiers. They were dug in, and although they were fighting uphill they had exceptional cover- it would take a lot of firepower to root out this threat.

-----Elsewhere-----

The Man in Black was watching the battle from his command station in the fifteenth floor, his palm starting to bleed from such a tight grip on his pistol, still in his holster. He was losing some of his best men like flies, and although the invaders were bleeding soldiers, at this rate he would not have the manpower to hold against another TPD assault, which was forming on the Northwest quadrant... But for now, that wasn't an issue- two grenadiers were ready, with the rest of his forces preparing to use his 'secret weapon'- one of the newest and best assassin droids on the market... CD-22. He turned and smiled at the chrome and steel plated droid, gazing into the two red sensors as replacements for the 'eyes'. He'd wait until absolutely necessary to use his toy... Why deprive his men of the training?

-----
Time Left: 50 Minutes
Remaining Sovereign Guard: 18 soldiers, Stros, Garr, Derin, Madrar
Remaining Hostiles: 32 troops, CD-22, Unidentified Leader

 

[T.J]

Reaching the top of the stairs side by side with Stros, Derin cut down one of the enemy soldiers that had not yet been hit by fire from his comrades. Seeing that the foes before him were no longer a threat, the Taung looked back over the edge of the stairway and down towards the first floor below. Enemy forces still owned that turf, and by the looks of it they didnt intend on leaving any time soon.

Wiping blood from his blade, Derin sheathed it whilst pulling a metallic sphere from a pouch on his belt. Flicking the priming switch on and holding it in place to delay the internal timing mechanism, Derin stretched his arm over the edge of the stairway and dropped the thermal detonator below. If fate favored the Taung the thermal detonator would fall right past his comrades and down to the enemy on the first floor of the building. Once there the explosion would be enough to kill or main any hidding behind cover below, and possibly block any more hostiles from chasing after the SG forces from below.