For the Prize!

[The Storyteller]

Former Imperial Shipyard 2A7, Planet Mon Cala, Calamari Sector​

“Make sure to work those kriffing Fishes until they drop dead. If any of them get out of line execute on the spot. I don’t care how you do it.”

Overseer Ionia Ro sat in her office with utter shock before the hologram of her superior. Admiral Sozen was proving to be a stubborn man when it came to priorities.

“Lord Protector I understand the need to make some examples and staying true to the Empire. However, we need to have at least some of the workers alive to help us keep building and repairing ships.”

Shaking her head she added

“Killing them all off would set back production for months if not years.”

The warlord’s tone grew colder as he retorted. “Spare me the useless commentary. They will be replaced with droids soon enough. Do as I command or you will share their fate.”

A shiver went down Ro’s spine before she readily nodded. “Understood. It shall be done milord.”

Once the hologram turned off the overseer slumped in her chair. For the hundredth wondered she ended up in this mess. For the first time Ionia muttered a curse toward the Sith.

I had a good job here until the disbandment. Now I’m taking orders from a mad man. At least we made sure the workers are isolated and not aware of what’s happening down below. They need to be eliminated the truth is found out.

As she was thinking of that, several transports under limited fighter escort flew toward the shipyard’s hanger bay. Supposedly the transports carried new equipment and droids for production. In reality the ships had been recently hijacked and carried rebel troops instead.

Their objective, secure the shipyard for the Mon Cala and rescue the local workers held captive there.

@Ecclessey @Darius @S K I P S

 

[Davis Jan]

The transports made a controlled landing in the hangar bay and everything seemed like it had been going for the past decades, but as the Imperial inspector and hangar crew lined up to take the transport's cargo they were greeted by a closed ramp. The inspector was visibly ignored, "What's this? Another cheap hire that can't find the kriffing ramp button?" he cried in a mild anger that nevertheless turned his face pink.

Davis stood on the other side of the ramp, holding his pistol and breathing irregularly. They were about to finally strike against the Empire in a way he'd been waiting for for years. Only, wait- he turned his head slowly and noticed the button that controlled the ramp. Oh! They were all waiting on him! He was the cheap hire. Hitting the button with his right elbow, Davis opened the comms to the raiding party that was scattered over the transports. "Showtime"

The ramp seemed to lower at an embarrassingly slow speed and yet the rebels in his transport managed to shoot before the gathered Imperials quite realized what was happening. Davis had been too late to down the inspector, but fired twice at an approaching officer of inventory and killed him.

Their surprise attack was an astonishing success -so far- and in the moment of calm before the rebels scattered through the shipyards in search of Imperials to kill, Davis hailed two from his own transport (@Darius @S K I P S). "Let's get to the control room and shut off the defensive cannons." That way the Rebel fleet could get in close enough to load parts, fuel and foodstuffs to their desire.

 

[Jarrefre Tresti]

Jarrefre in his seat thumbing a necklace his mother made for him before he left to become a Jedi, it seemed like only yesterday he was just taking his first flight lesson, now he was a party to a station-wide culling of empire personnel. Jarrefre knew the empire needed to be stopped, but from what his research he felt the main enemy was not the people but the doctrine that was used since they were born. These thoughts left Jarrefre conflicted, few had suffered more or as much than the people of Mon Cala, their fleet yards were priceless to anyone who wanted to bite a chunk out of the galaxy, for the success they had been subject to many horrors. Jarrefre would do everything he could to make sure the shipyard came under GA control, while they were not perfect themselves they would at least not turn the guns on the people as they retreated.

Landing on the shipyards was surprisingly easy, and form the looks on the faces of his fellow attackers, many must have expected to be blown into stardust. Jarrefre made his way to the front of the group and ignited his green lightsaber in front of him, ready to defend his comrades if the hatch was charged. The ramp dropped slow, once Jarrefre could move he stormed down and cut a blaster out of a solders hand as he began shouting orders to cordon off the area; if anything was to go wrong this sip would be the best place to deal with the wounded until they could get access to the infirmary. Jarrefre turned around as an older man offered a very good idea to deal with the defensive systems of the station, "Agreed, we can deal with the internals defensive systems as well." Jarrefre nodded as he followed behind the man lightsaber in hand. This plan would give them more breathing room all over the station, and hopefully, make the entire attack go a lot smoother.

@Ecclessey @S K I P S

 

[Davis Jan]

Davis rushed out of the hangar with the Jedi and other rebels in tow. It seemed like they had completely surprised the Imperials and most they encountered weren't even armed and surrendered with the first sight of a blaster pointed at their hearts. It wasn't until they got closer to the ship's citadel, a more secure inner command structure, that they encountered battle droids and Imperial marines. Three fellow rebels fell before Davis managed to hide from the sudden barrage of blaster fire behind a vertical support beam. "Anyone bring grenades!?" he asked to none in particular before his eyes fell on the Jedi, "Guess the Force will do! Take them out!"

Further down the hallway were two battle droids in full view and behind them a T-junction with a pair of well trained Imperial marines firing from cover. The rebels were truly pinned down and if the Jedi didn't quickly come up with a solution they'd surely be overun in a minute or two.

Davis fired his blaster blindly twice, but missed by several inches.

@Darius @S K I P S

 

[Kaj Merrick]

Oh Kriff...Oh Kriff...This isn't like the simulations! The young teen's mind raced as he sprinted down a hallway, a hail of blaster fire screeching back and forth. His heart was pounding as he saw a rodian he had been talking to on the ride in get mowed down by a battle droid. Without much thought the boy would dive towards cover, ending up beside who he assumed to be the rebel leader.

His burned face would give the man a quick nod, before he pointed towards the grenade clipped to the side of his vest. His hand would reach out to grab the other soldier on the opposite side of Davis. Pulling him by the shoulder, until their eyes contacted. Wait..a par...Alex, kriff...am I glad to see him. "These womp rats are chewing us up out here, we gotta take em' out." He would yell over the bolts of fire. "Cover my bantha hide, I'm going to send these kriffs to meet their maker." He'd click the button on his grenade as he held it in his palm for a moment. Here goes nothing. He'd pop up from the fire as Alex laid down a series of cover fire for him, the young Mandalorian extending out as far as he could as he attempted to fling the grenade towards the battle droids and marines.

tag: @Tunnel Rat @Ecclessey

 

[Alex Vicarus]

Alex had been quiet and almost docile on the transport waiting for the ramp to drop. This was his second time on a space borne vessel. The first time went about as well as it could go, though the rebel next to him had taken a bolt to the face. Alex's eyes glazed over, unblinking, seeing a scorched, bloody, and exploded face that wasn't really there manifest itself from his past. The ramp started to open, the scorched face of the fallen disappeared, and Alex was already firing his R5R blaster rifle with accurate yet steady shots by the time the ramp gave him enough view to do so.

It was autopilot for Alex up until a foreign hand reached out and pull on his shoulder. Alex turned, to the scarred rebel, one he recognized as Kaj. Eyeing the grenade, Alex nodded and began firing at the rapid rate, his finger working over time on the trigger to keep as many of his blaster bolts filling the void of space between the rebels and the droids as possible. He didnt' stop firing like this until the grenade hit the deck. Alex forced himself back into cover, pulling Kaj with him as they awaited the explosion. KERCHUOOOOOM!

The explosion drew all the pressure out of the air, leaving Alex slgihtly light headed but he regained his composure very quickly. He peered back out, rifle first, to assess the damage. The hallways was filled with scars from the amount of metal that had been blasted into the air by the grenade. Lots of damage, noted. Alex thought, keeping his finger on the trigger.

 

[Davis Jan]

The Force had let them down, but the heart of his fellow rebels never would. Davis was filled with pride seeing the two young men take decisive action and if it hadn't been for that blast sucking all the breathable air away for a second he would've most likely started to sing. Instead, the former pirate frowned, "Advance!"

Five seconds later he stood in the intersection and saw the Imperials on the ground covered in droid parts. No doubt that getting a durasteel chassis to the head hurts, but it was still a war and not all of them were unconscious. Davis aimed his blaster pistol at a still conscious Imperial and before the latter could aim his own rifle he got a blaster bolt to the head. "We have to split up, you and you-" he nodded towards the two young rebels (@TWD26 @Tunnel Rat), "-with me. The rest goes down the other hallway."

May the Force -nay, kriff that- let your aim be true, he thought. If anything he knew they couldn't count on the Jedi any longer and with a frustrated sense of urgency he quickly made his way into the hallway until he reached a locked durasteel door to his left. "Ready?" he said, leveling his blaster at the control panel, "Breach!"

The blast incinerated the control panel and the doors slid open. Behind it was a storage unit with several Mon Calamari laying flat on the cold durasteel floor. Davis immediately noticed that at least one of them was dead via a blaster bolt to the back. "You!" he shouted at the fish species, "Get the Kriff out!" But they didn't move and Davis knew that whatever trap the Imperials had sat in this room, he'd be too late to warn his companions about it.

 

[Kaj Merrick]

The young rebel's eyes would squeeze shut as the sound of the grenade detonated through the hallway. His ears rung as he opened his eyes to see that Alex and Davis had moved up from their position. The once white halls had turned to a blackened smoldering mess on one end. The smell of thermal and electrical components clung to the air, as smoke from the blaster file chocked the insides of the young mando's lungs.

The boy did his best to focus his eyes on the carnal mess that he had created, the odd limbs and droid parts scattered about. He ended those people, just like they had ended the various rebels that laid about behind him. Kaj took a deep breath and nodded as Davis broke the silence. The boy would followed the much more experienced Rebel towards the opposite end of the hall, pulling himself up beside Alex as Davis took the opposite end of the doorway.

"I'll lead, you fall in after," Kaj would respond as he nodded towards Davis to carry out the deed.

"Breach!"

Taking another deep breath, the boy would raise his blaster and swivel into the darkness of the storage unit. It took a moment for his eyes to focus in and adjust and that was when he saw the corpses in the room. Oh kriff...His mind yelled out at the sight, something wasn't right.

"Get the Kriff out!" Davis would yell out, but it was too late.

A hail of blaster fire would illuminate the dark room, revealing the forces that had taken to hiding within the shadows. Kaj would push Alex to the ground before taking a blaster bolt to the shoulder, "Aggh!" He'd yell out in pain as he fell back, dropping his blaster. Smoke ploomed from his vest, and a burning sensation could be felt against the skin. "Graaaaah," he'd wince as he kicked against the ground. Come on, get yourself together..take the pain.

"Get out of there, it's a trap!" He'd call out to Alex.

tag: @Ecclessey @Tunnel Rat

 

[Alex Vicarus]

Alex nodded to Davis and began to follow. He took a moment to look at Kaj, visually inspecting him to make sure he was okay. Despite being a bit shaken up, he seemed to be okay. Alex continued down the hall after Davis with Kaj until they came to the darkened doorway. He took deep, steady breaths, trying to control his nerves and breathing. The back of his mind seemed to be mired in panic and despair, his training and his strong will being the only things keeping it at bay.

"BREACH!" the command echoed, the door opened, Kaj entered the room. Like water, Alex flowed into the room after Kaj, taking a quick note of the dead body in the center of the room but clearing his corner. Before he could spin his blaster rifle back around to the center of the room, blaster bolts screamed by him, exploding in puffs of sparks and dust on the wall behind him. Before Alex had a chance to gather what was happening, Kaj had pushed him to the ground and taken a bolt to the shoulder. Everything clicked.

Alex pulled the trigger of his R5R blaster rifle repeatedly without stopping as he kicked himself upwards and burst into a sprint. Something pinched his left thigh, like a small insect bite. Alex ignored it, sliding behind the doorway. His thigh throbbed but instead of looking he whirled his rifle around the corner and began taking more accurate shots from cover. One down, two, three. Shadow by shadow fell silent. Every time a bolt smacked into the door frame, Alex would quickly slink back into the cover of the frame and pop back out a second later. A wet sensation rolled down his left leg and his thigh began to burn.

The last remaining enemy behind boxes kept pinning Alex before he could get accurate shots on them. He grabbed his own fregmentation grenade from his blast vest, pulled the pin and let the spool fly. He counted in his head, one... two... On three he whipped around the door frame and threw the grenade over the boxes. His comrades would be shielded by the boxes the enemy was using as cover, but the enemy wouldn't be. Instead of taking cover behind the frame again, Alex raised his rifle again. An Imperial climbed up on one of the boxes to get away from the impending blast but Alex shot him square in the chest and he went down. KERCHUUUUUM! The grenade exploded and covered the boxes with dust and debris. Wires, slabs of metal, shrapnel, and Imperial body parts flew around the room. The room fell silent save for a couple moans of pain coming from behind the boxes.

@TWD26 @Ecclessey

 

[Davis Jan]

There was no coherent thought process involved that directed Davis' actions when the trap was sprung. He registered one of the young rebel getting his in the shoulder, he saw those Mon Calamari that were still alive suddenly crawl towards him in desperate flight and he watched with shock how the other rebel threw an grenade after getting hit in the thigh.

If anything it made it clear he was more fit as a pilot than as a soldier. "You, fish-" he said to one of the Mon Cal that seemed to have survived with merely some bruises to his abnormally large head, "-get their medpacs and fix them up as good as you can."

Finally stepping into room proper, Davis made his way to the moans of the Imperials soldiers and for a moment considered executing the lot of them. "Bastards," he spat on the scorched durasteel floor, "You're lucky General Ion doesn't allow the executions of prisoners of war." he turned his head to look at the two Mon Cal workers that had been executed by blaster bolts to the back of their heads and was reaffirmed of the allied plight.

It wasnt long after that more rebels arrived and took the Imperials in custody. Alex and Kaj would no doubt be patched up as good as possible by the time Davis returned to them, "That's one good deed, boys-" he played it tough but he sure was lucky their wounds seemed only superficial, "Just heard the defense of their control room is holding. Seems they need us there."

Davis grabbed Alex by the armpit and hoisted him back on his feet, "We move at your tempo, but you gotta pick it up and endure for ten more minutes."

@TWD26 @Tunnel Rat

 

[Kaj Merrick]

Everything seemed to move so fast, one second he was on the ground, the next he saw flashes from Alex's blaster. That kriffin' son of a gun. He clenched his teeth as he attempted to crawl on his back towards the entrance of the doorway. Though when the young boy saw the thermal grenade primed, he quickly rolled onto his stomach and scrunched up as his hands went towards the back of his neck.

The moments of silence between the detonation seemed to last a lifetime, before finally the boom shook through the tight space, sending the Mandalorian's ears to space with a ring. He could feel the hot debree streak across his body and onto his back, burning him slightly. How he was still alive after all of this? The boy didn't quite understand the randomness to it all, maybe now he understood why the older men and women in the unit just seemed so drained--war was senseless.

The boy would pull himself up, his off hand was useless due to the bolt to the shoulder, but he'd make it. His eyes shot back towards Alex who seemed to have taken a bolt to the the leg. The soldier would move towards Davis and his comrade, "You alright man? Those eschutta almost took us out, good thinking man." The boy paused, "But leave me next time, I'm not worth dying over."

Though there wasn't much time to contemplate the morality or heroics of war, the boy's attention was drawn to the control room. "Right away sir." Kal would respond to Davis, wincing as he took point, leading the group towards the opposite hallway. As the group turned the corner, it seemed pure chaos between the Imperials and the Rebel forces. "Looks like we're taking heavy losses out there," Kal squinted before ducking back behind the corner where Davis and Alex were bringing up the rear--a trail of heavy repeater fire following. "Mounted Turret!"

tag: @Tunnel Rat @Ecclessey

 

[Alex Vicarus]

The pain became a throbbing in Alex's leg. So much so that he began to hop on his good leg. The entire front of his left leg was covered in his blood, staining his grey trousers red. When the Mon Calamari came up to bandage him, Alex took the bandages from them and wrapped his wound himself, including jamming the stimpack into his thigh. His hazel eyes shifted to Kaj as he finished his bandaging and straightened up. "I'm good," he said somewhat quietly compared to the firefight that had just raged.

Alex nodded to the two of them before they began heading to the control room. He hobbled after them, throbbing pain shooting through his left leg every time he took a step on it. Despite this, his R5R blaster rifle was raised and ready. Alex heard the deep barks of a heavy repeater. The stream of heavy repeater fire coming around the corner Kaj was at confirmed it before Kaj even yelled it.

Hobbling faster up to Kaj, Alex grabbed him by the shoulder, his rifle pointing passed Kaj. "Is it armored or can we get clean shots on it?" Alex motioned over his own chest with his left hand that had been on Kaj's shoulder to Davis to stay in the corridor until they could deal with the situation.

@TWD26 @Ecclessey

 

[Davis Jan]

His little team was looking highly motivated despite their injuries and Davis realized, perhaps too late, that that was the true strength of the Galactic Alliance. These rebels were willing to risk their lives for each other and did so voluntarily. They weren't pressed into service and most of them weren't even paid to do so.. he knew he wasn't.

When he peeked around the corner could clearly see the few rebels hiding behind support pillars while a mounted turret fired bolt after bolt. "By the F-" he shook his head, "-whatever. Doesn't that thing ever overheat!?" Suddenly it seemed he had a bright idea stemming from his pirating days, "But it will! It happened on the Hydian when we boarded this Imperial cargo-" perhaps it was best if he didn't go too much into detail, "-thing. Anyway, cover me!"

He waited for a moment when the turret seemed focused on another rebel and sprinted the three meters to the next pillar. Then he did the same again until he was within ten meters of the turret, which meant it was impossible to dodge further bolts if he got into the open. But it also meant he could aim at a small black box underneath the turret's barrel, about 20 squared centimeters.. Davis said his prayer to the great black of space and took his shot.

<miss>

It went.. not as well as he'd hoped. Davis wanted to shout in anger over his own stupidity, but then suddenly the mounted turret stopped firing and a cold mechanical voice cut through the silence, <<Statement: Turret Overheated. Initiating cooldown.>>

"Now!"

Coming from cover outright, Davis fired his blaster rapidly until the powerpack ran out.

@TWD26 @Tunnel Rat

 

[Kaj Merrick]

Kaj squinted his eyes as Davis took a road down memory lane--the sound of blaster fire screaming filled the background. This isn't the time for nostalgia Davis...His teeth clenched as Davis broke mid sentence, with the words "cover me!" Kaj barely had time to react before the rebel peeled around the corner. "Force be damned, is he trying to get himself killed?"

Kaj tilted his body around the corner with his blaster pointed down field towards the Blaster Cannon. He fired four shots in rapid succession within the general area, doing his best to avoid striking Davis. They weren't accurate shots, but the snaps and hisses would be enough to buy the trooper some time and hopefully not turn into a pile of flesh. "We could really use a Jedi right now!"

That was when the silence stopped from the cannon, and the boy could barely make out the stream of smoke pouring out the end of the barrel. The crazy bantha's ploy seemed to work, now they could storm in. As Davis fired a stream of shots into the room, Kaj pivoted out into the hallway and ran down the hall, with Alex in tow. Kaj raised his blaster as a flash of Imperial Armor began to appear out of the door and on Davis' side. "Watch out!" Kaj would raise his blaster and fire two shots, one missing high, while the other struck the Imperial trooper in the ribs, and sending the man down in pain. He could see the other troops preparing to storm out and meet the rebels head on--their last grand defensive maneuver was a suicidal ambush. "Hold yourselves, here they come!"

tag: @Tunnel Rat @Ecclessey

 

[Alex Vicarus]

Alex watched with a concern marred expression as Davis charged ahead with his own plan. Lucky for him, it worked out in his favor. The moment Kaj started in motion, Alex hobbled as fast as he could after him, R5R blaster rifle raised and ready. When Kaj yelled out that the Imperials were coming he stepped out from behind Kaj, training his rifle on the entrance. Every Imperial that stepped through the door way was met with a blaster bolt from Alex, even if it wasn't the first one to hit.

Kaj and Alex handling the Imperial charge left Davis available to hit the heavy repeater. Even so, Alex stayed mindful of his position so that the gunner wouldn't be able to hit both Kaj and Alex without having to swivel the heavy weapon. When the doorway they had locked down with blaster fire seemed to stabilize, Alex turned his rifle back to the heavy repeater. The blaster fire was starting to die out but Alex kept his hazel eyes moving, searching for any new target that might arise.

@TWD26 @Ecclessey

 

[Davis Jan]

Despite the barrage of fire from from his companions to at least suppress the Imperials, Davis nevertheless caught a bolt in his left shoulder barely a second after his powerpack had run out. Falling back into cover he didn't notice the smoke coming from the turret to confirm it's destruction. The former pirate cursed himself, trying desperately to keep his wounded shoulder against the durasteel wall for support while he ejected the spend pack and inserted a new one into his pistol.

Meanwhile, what was left of the rebel forces in the corridor followed the attack initiated by Kaj and Alex and was finally able to advance on the control room. Three more fell in quick succession once inside, but it was the rebel strike force that won the battle in the end. Davis wrestled the durasteel column to get up and supported his left arm as he made his way into the control room. "Quickly-" he said in a hoarse voice filled with pain and exhaustion, "-turn off all automated defenses and unlock all doors."

The Shipyard had a station-wide intercom that had been silent after the initial alarms, but now, only a few moments after the rebels took control of the control room, it suddenly cracked up again to relay a message to everyone onboard. "Attention: Overseer Iona Ro has surrendered the station. Every Imperial that has laid down his weapons will be escorted to hangar bay three."



@TWD26 @Tunnel Rat

 

[Kaj Merrick]

Kaj lowered his weapon, as the charge on his pack drained. Smoke filled the halls and the room of the controls. Burns from blaster bolts riddled the walls and the corpses of rebels and Imperials alike. The young Rebel was just surprised he had survived to see the end, though as his breathing began to steady he could feel the pain in his own shoulder. Kriff that hurts, his teeth clenched as he scanned around the hall.

"How you hanging Alex?" He'd slap the soldier on the shoulder, glad that the man had survived this far. He'd step over a few dead Imperials, making his way towards the former Pirate who had entered the control room. The man was wounded, but pushed it off. Kaj had barely known Davis, but he respected the Rebel, he had balls of durasteel, and to a Mandalorian--that was all a man needed.

"So what now?" He'd ask the room.

tag: @Ecclessey @Tunnel Rat

 

[Alex Vicarus]

Alex nodded at Kaj as he clapped his shoulder. His own leg was soaked with his own blood from the wound to it. "I'm okay," he said, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He leaned back against the wall and slumped down into a sitting position. Alex dropped the expended charge pack from his rifle and slammed a new one in before laying his rifle across his lap. With a soft clunk he tilted his head back, resting his blast helmet against the durasteel wall. He watched the others move around, catching is breath and holding the blaster wound to his leg firmly.

@Ecclessey @TWD26

 

[Davis Jan]

Sweat seemed to have become a permanent feature of Davis' forehead and the smell of burning leather and flesh, most notably his own, was so sickening that his pallor turned white. Davis felt like hell, but he was standing in a room with dead bodies scattered across it, so he wasn't the one justified to complain. There had been a lot of death over this shipyard. In the aftermath, one could say it were unnecessary deaths as well.

Davis tried to grin as he took a small cigar from the inside pocket of his vest, "Now we lean back," he said in a hoarse, clearly exhausted, voice. His would was draining energy, but it wasn't life-threatening, so he didn't want the medics to look at it yet. "I'm gonna smoke this cigarra."

Looking at the two younger rebels that had accompanied him and with whom he fought through an Imperial ambush and a nasty last stand, Davis grimaced as his legs started looking weak. "You two did good. Probably good enough for the Republic, too." Although he didn't actually say it, Davis hoped that the two youngsters would reconsider their lifestyle as rebels. There was a lot more security with the Republic.

@TWD26 @Tunnel Rat

/end thread