Ask Health Benefits? Paid Sick Days? Do You Know Where You Are?

[Aska Ryun]

Under the cover of night, the IFST-21 freighter sliced through darkness above the dusty plains of Socorro. Invisible to the naked eye thanks to the cloaking device that had been acquired from Blackwell so long ago, it would remain entirely undetected by local law enforcement and any sort of watchful eyes looking up to the stars. Aboard this ship, a small crew alongside a team of combat droids with a single goal. Their target, a small village of Twi’lek migrants.

Aska had plans with the fortune she had acquired, both financial and her recent streak of luck, but first she needed more assets under her thumb. Greed had stoked a fire in her that had long remained dead but as the embers were stirred, so were her ambitions. Certainly she could simply go out and purchase anything she needed but she also recognized that while her credits were abundant, they weren’t infinite. No, sometimes it was better to simply go out and take what was needed and this was one of those times.

”Set us down on the eastern side of the village, Kayto. Trap them between the ship and the river,”

”Yes, mistress,”

Donning her helmet but partnering it with a standard blast vest rather than her custom armour, Aska soon began to make her way to the cargo ramp with her SE-45 in hand. She had learned from the mistakes of others; if you’re going to stir up the shit, better wear a mask.

The cloaking field dropped and soon everyone on board would file off, knowing what they were here to do as the droids fanned out along the perimeter. The village was quiet whilst it’s citizens slept in their homes. They were unaware of what was about to transpire. Of how vastly their lives would soon change. These poor souls were about to have their world turned upside down.

@Taz @Zay​

 

[Covax]

Covax was quiet for most of the trip. His mind raced with thoughts of his past. How much had changed in just a couple of years. How much HE had changed. He was no longer a soldier, no longer a savior. Now, he was a taker. Of credits, of power, and perhaps now, of freedom.

"This is the way." He said to himself, as he felt the ship touchdown. The towering human stood then, placing the helmet of some generic looking uniform over his head. The completed attire resembled that of a FWA trooper, at least well enough to fool the average civilian.

Covax then followed his partner down the ramp of the ship, ten of their dozen combat droids departing with him. As they fanned out to their designated positions he made their order clear. "Set weapons for stun. We can't use them if they're dead."

@Tulos @Zay

 

[Baan Ordo]

Spade was dressed in his armor the moment he'd stepped on the freighter. He'd been hired just before the mission was set into motion and acutely aware of his precarious position in the crew. The battle droids alone would have been able to take him. He may have been good, but he wasn't superhuman. The details of the mission weren't exactly ideal. He didn't normally lower himself to enslaver, but going without food for a handful of days would make anyone question their morality.

The galaxy itself seemed set ablaze. Mand'alor had been chosen and the armor of his grandfather called to him like the spirit of duty come to life, but it wasn't his skin to wear. His eyes flicked to the two beings sharing the ship with him. The woman, Domino, seemed to be the leader. The guy next to him murmured something about "The Way" and Spade wondered if the gods were playing a joke on him.

As the ship began to descend Spade made his final adjustments and stepped toward the ramp. Last in first out, right?

The boarding ramp lowered revealing the unsuspecting victims of their midnight assault. The tactics of this attack were both deplorable and admirable to the Mandalorian. There was a sickening appeal to a well-timed surprise attack. The other possible Mandalorian called for weapons to be set to stun. Spade complied.

The combat droids fell in. Their formation fanned out, and Spade began to move.

He crept along the edge of the settlement along the left side, his objective was the chieftain's residence near the river. He was flanked by two battle droids. For obvious reason's he wasn't trusted, but even with their enhanced agility, it would make slipping through the shadows more challenging.

As he split from the main group he comm'd "This is Spade, I'm moving into position."

@Tulos @Taz

 

[Aska Ryun]

It was a funny thing, how quiet it became when someone was about to perform something so morally wrong. Aska couldn’t even hear her own heart beat but she knew that it raced faster than ever before. It ached for what was going to become of these people, of what she intended on doing with them. Even so, she had received a taste of the life she had always craved and there was no turning back. Her greed, always a dominating force, had finally taken control.

”Move in,” she whispered through the comms, her voice mixed with a mechanical tone.

She thought of Quinri, all those years ago. Of all the resentment and hate she harbored for slavers and what they had done to her people.

She thought of Ali, innocent and pure. The atrocities she had suffered at the hands of her former masters.

She thought of her sisters. Born and bred to be nothing more than the cold blooded killers of a crime lord.

She doubted they would forgive her, but she’d worry about that when she was dead.

Walking up to the nearest building and peeking her head over the windowsill, Aska saw a young couple sleeping in their bed. At their feet, a young mutriok curled into a tight ball. She needed to eliminate the hound first, or else it would undoubtedly wake it’s people and they’d already be off to a poor start. Raising her pistol and following Covax’ instruction, the weapon was switched the stun as it was aimed in the direction of the family pet. A quick pull of the trigger and a blue orb slammed into the ribs of the animal before the weapon was turned downward on the now waking couple.

<”What the-?”> the man queried before another two shots were fired, one into the chest of he and his wife.

@Taz @Zay​

 

[Covax]

Covax's visor concealed eyes gazed over the span of the tiny village. At least what he could see of it from his position. Unlike his friend and partner, he could hear the blood pumping in his ears as his chest thumped with a racing pulse. Like a startfighter jumping the light speed, or perhaps the jedi opening to the force, it was fuel to him. It guided him to action.

"Move In." Aska gave the order. So he did. He did not dwell on things that did not matter in this moment. Such thoughts could kill. Instead he moved with purpose. Kicking in the door of the first small shack he came to, rifle at the read. A mother holding a child was resting in a chair near a fire place. The human aimed, and fired two blue rings. One for the child, the other to the mother.

He didn't bother to catch the little girl as she slipped from her mother's arms, rather he continued to move to clear the rest of the shack. In a corner another child slept, or did until the commotion. The boy shot up from his bedroll, but was quickly put down by another shot from the rifle.

"Three down. Moving to the next." He said to the others as he backed out of the hut and headed for the next. As he left the door, a droid headed in to collect the cargo. Around him other shots could be heard, droid teams moving as he was.

@Tulos @Zay

 

[Baan Ordo]

As soon as the order was given, Spade moved. He approached the back door in near silence, before bashing it in he checked the lock. The door opened. Spade slipped in. The first room he came to belonged to a couple of brothers. Without hesitation, he fired. Their bodies convulsed before laying still. He continued his sweep. The moral implication of his actions slowly chipping at his veneer of professionalism.

It's just a job, he thought as he moved to the next room. The boy's parents lay intertwined in a loving embrace. Spade didn't wake them as he pulled the trigger. The father's eyes snapped open and for the briefest of moments horror registered in his eyes before he succumbed to the stun bolt. The anguish in his eyes stung, but Spade had to keep moving. He had to complete the objective. That was it.

Was this really what conquest would be? Would this be what he was expected to do for the honor of Mand'alor? he shut off his mind. It was too rife with emotion to trust, instead, he gave way to training. The methodical approach to taking an objective took over and his body moved without thought.

Into his comm he said, "Four down here, moving to next target."

@Tulos @Taz

 

[Aska Ryun]

As the mercenaries cleared house after house, so too did the droids they had brought along. Some moved to acquire the already subdued victims of the night raid, others infiltrated homes on their own and quickly increased the tally of potential slaves. Gritting her teeth so tightly behind her mask that her molars were in danger of cracking from pressure, she forced herself on. She reminded herself that they’d earn her a great deal of credits when they reached their destination. That here in the outer rim, in neutral space with no protection, there was a strong chance they could be subjugated to worse. Even so, if it were her in their position she knew she’d likely prefer death.

”Spade, keep your eyes open for the Chieftain. Any form of leadership needs to be eradicated if we want this to succeed,” Aska spoke into her comms, the voice scrambler disguising the disgust she harbored for herself in her words. Switching channels to a private connection between her and Covax, she contacted her partner. ”Castle, keep a close eye on him. Mandalorians are true to their word but I don’t want him getting any sudden changes in conviction. Any sign of him faltering, drop him,”

By now, much of the village was growing increasingly aware of what was transpiring. Screams of panic echoed across the vast deserts that surrounded the community. Some of the braver men were running for whatever weapons they could find, be it blaster or crude farm utensil, but most were not fast enough. The droids they had been given were top of the line, the clone thankful she was working with them rather than against. Just as soon as opposition was created, they were quickly beaten back into submission.

Across the central clearing of the small collection of buildings, coming from the large structure she could only assume was a barn of sorts, a large muscular Twi’leki emerged with two snarling matriok hounds pulling on chains in each of his hands.

<”Eeh schutta,”> he spat, releasing the chains and letting the hounds go free as they charged towards her and while Aska had a heavy heart for what she was doing, she still had a lifetime of survival skills that were like second nature. Her thumb flicked the switch of her SE-45 back to lethal rounds, the barrel raising in time for two blue streaks of energy to emerge at the pull of her trigger finger. Burning holes in each of the hounds' skulls brought them to the ground, but the handler was not far behind.

@Taz @Zay​

 

[Baan Ordo]

"Understood," he replied to Domino as her order came over the comm.

Spade could hear the growing panic across the settlement. Blaster fire began to adorn the chaos in short spurts. Either the droids were attacking or the Twi'lek had more of a spine than he'd initially assumed. The battledroids were in the process of securing the family of four, and with the rising clamor of battle Spade chose to move on.

As he exited the home he was in a red blaster bolt slammed into the wall directly next to the door. A small boy held the weapon in trembling limbs. Tears fill his eyes, and it was that fear that had probably saved Spade from serious injury. The Mandalorian began raising his hands in surrender, then dove to the right tucked into a roll, and shot the boy where he stood.

The pale blue stun bolt dropped the boy instantly. He crumpled to the ground dropping the blaster he was holding. Behind him he heard a Battledroid approach, Spade signaled for the boy to be taken and the droid complied. A larger house near the riverside caught his attention and he decided to make it his next target.

Spade saw no reason to engage in outright combat. The Twi'lek were still scrambling and hadn't put up an actual defense as of yet, and based on the progress they'd made in the short time since the start of the attack he seriously doubted they'd have time to form up and mount a real defense.

He tired the door to the larger house, but it was locked. He tried the window next to it and it slid up without an issue. It amazed him how lax people where within their own community. His own presence entering their home unwelcomed was a streak reminder that the galaxy was not kind to those who showed weakness.

As he entered began to sweep the house. It was clear this home belonged to someone important in the community, but he didn't have time to figure out who. The first room he came to was ajar. He activated his personal cloaking device. He took a deep breath and then let it out. He peered into the room but saw nothing. Slipping back into cover he eased the door open, it creaked and blaster fire erupted.

Spade pulled his Flash Gun, he primed the weapon, and once the blaster fire stopped he aimed it inside the room and pulled. The soft sound of a bulb being crushed underfoot belied the blinding flash that burst forth from the weapon. Surprised wails filled the space followed by the clatter of a weapon hitting the ground.

Spade moved.

Holstering the Flashgun and aiming his Westar, he identified and stunned two young women in a matter of seconds. As they fell to the ground, he could hear the footsteps directly above. He turned and watched as the sound traveled across the ceiling of the room he was in. Spade stepped behind the door and let it obscure him. It would only be a matter of time before the being revealed themselves.

@Tulos @Taz

 

[Covax]

Covax was already sweeping a second house, this time only finding an old man. Not worth the effort of taking. However the human couldn't leave him to resist when the opportunity showed itself. With a sigh he shot the man, leaving him slumped in his bed.

"Leave that one." he ordered the droids. "Rodger." they would confirm and move along. Aska would suddenly inform the towering human of her worry over their new employee. "It was your idea to bring him, how is he suddenly my problem ?" He spat back. Covax would leave the house then and look across the small void between the grouping of shacks to see something moving on the largest of the buildings.

Switching back to the open channel to mock the mando, "Soooo, you got that. Orrr?" The sound of rushing house would then get Covax's attention. His head moving to the sound in time to see Aska doing just fine, however the hulking handler was still up and seemed to be holding something in his hand, an old Cycler rifle perhaps.

"Target at the barn." Covax shouted. Suddenly a shower of blue rained from every direction. The Twi'lek would be hit several times but the bolts kept coming. The merc let the storm last a couple more seconds until, "Target down." And just as quickly as it started, the bolts stopped, as the culling of the village began a new.

The shadow on the larger house jumped to the next, and dropped from site them. "If they gets away it's coming out of your pay new guy." Covax would inform Spade. Then move toward the building were he noticed the figure disappear.

@Tulos @Zay

 

[Aska Ryun]

Aska prepared to move her pistol towards the barreling form of a man, the window in which she would be able to get a clean shot off closing so quickly that it practically seemed impossible. And maybe it was. Maybe she would have been forced to wrestle against a hostile foe more than twice her size once again, and maybe this would have been the time the odds were stacked against her. Unlikely, but it never came to fruition as Covax gave the order to the nearby team of droids that unleashed on the massive farmer.

As his body fell to the ground in a motionless lump, Aska’s mask quickly spun to face Covax as he brought the droids to a ceasefire.

”I could have handled that, you know,” the woman hissed through the scrambler. Of course, this was just how Shane and her were. Any opportunity they had to one up the other not taken was merely an opening for the other to get any jab at them. She wouldn’t thank him for the sake of principal, but he would know she appreciated it.

She had chosen to ignore Covax’ earlier statement, of course. They were partners and while it was indeed her choice to bring Spade along, she knew they needed to start expanding a social network with more of their own kind. She didn’t want to be the one doing this sort of task forever and needed to find someone suitable as she was sure Covax didn’t want this role either. Or perhaps he did? It had never occurred to her to ask in all honesty.

As she prepared to continue on with the rest of the raid, Aska turned to see what it was that Covax had relayed over the comms. If who got away? Where was the runner? She hadn’t seen the shadows that Covax had and until he and the droids began to converge on what could only be the chieftain’s home. That was when the pieces began to click into place.

”I’ll swing around the barn and head for the river!” Aska called out through the comms. ”Try to cut him off if he starts running along the bank!” As she started to run, eyes peeled for the chieftain they needed to capture. If Covax was right and the Chieftain got away on Spades’ watch, there definitely would be hell to pay.

@Taz @Zay​

 

[Baan Ordo]

Spade swore. He disengaged his cloaking device and tore through the house. He shot out the back door just in time to see a figure zip line down to a tree on the opposite side. The being in question was about a hundred yards out and heading for the river. Spade tore after him.

The hunter activated his jet boots and bounded into the air. He shot forward covering the distance rapidly. The twi'lek looked back just in time to catch a fist as Spade flew past. The man's face recoiled from the blow and the impact sent him spinning. Spade landed shaking his fist. The man managed to push himself up. He staggered but remained standing.

"Wha— what do you want from us?"

Spade didn't respond. He was being paid to inform the ignorant. The Twi'lek in question wasn't wearing anything that would identify him as the chieftain. His cowardice disgusted The Hunter. Out of all the lives being claimed tonight, this one was worth being enslaved. Spade fired a stun bolt and took him down.

"Got him, but he's not the chieftain."

From his position he looked off toward the river, using his HUD he zoomed in on a group of shadows in the distance. In the darkness, it was hard to make out, but it looked as though people were starting to gather at the river.

"Head's up, somethings going on at the river. I'm moving to investigate."

@Taz @Tulos

 

[Aska Ryun]

“Heads up, somethings going on at the river. I’m going to investigate,”

Aska cursed under her breath as it became clear that the chieftain had managed to elude them so far. It had seemed as though this was only going too easily, naturally there needed to be some sort of trip up. While all of their faces had remained covered and their identities protected, ensuring that even if some villagers managed to escape they would be hard pressed to identify their attackers, capturing the Chieftain would make both controlling his people and accessing any sort of valuables locked away easier than it would be without. She wasn’t about to let him get away.

”Spade and I have this, Castle! You get the others on board and secured and prep for take off!” Aska growled into her comms as she quickly switched direction and began to bound towards the riverbed. She could see the group the Mandalorian had picked out grouping together about to board what appeared to be a pontoon boat of sorts. Low tech with two massive air tanks to each side of a large platform. Nothing more than a primitive fishing vessel at the very most. Even so, if they managed to get the craft out into the river and allow the currents to carry them away, there was a good chance they could escape before they could return to The Night Terror and give chase.

Still some distance away but with time running out, Aska climbed to the top of a large rock and took aim on the air capsules with her SE-45 now on lethal rounds. She’d made similar shots in the past. All it would take was focus and relying on every instinct she had spent a life time honing. And yet as her finger was about to pull the trigger…

A sudden jolt of electricity surged through her spine, sending a tingling feeling down both of her arms to the tips of her fingers. Panic enveloped her as she realized what had occurred; she had grown complacent with finding an alternative for the exospine that had granted her the capability to walk once again. The mechanism was suited for little more than your day to day life but had worked well enough up until now. After the years of abuse she had put it through, it had finally given way and failed at a critical juncture. Dropping to the ground, the clone tried to claw her way for a clear shot.

”Spade! Don’t let them get away!” Aska spat as she fired blindly into the dark, infuriated at her situation. Tears welled in her eyes as she peeled the helmet off, though keeping it near should anyone approach. As often as she tried to pretend it didn’t matter, she needed to find a new approach to her condition.

@Zay @Taz​