Mando Demolition, Inc.

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax had been staring out of the scope of his Westar rifle for over two hours now. The scene had not changed for at least one of those long ass hours. But his partner insisted they wait for the other teams to start their part of the raid, and pull any and all law enforcement and security in the area to the far side of the sector. Not a bad plan, but he wasn't about to admit that to Drace.

Finally a signal came over their encrypted comlink to start the mission. "Well it about karking time" Dax said to himself.

Slowly standing from his nest of rocks and dirt he threw off the brown cloak he used to conceal his white and red armor. Then picked up the shoulder bag full of explosive charges he carried along with his usual amount of gear.

"Next time I'm bringing a droid to carry these. Unlike Cuyan (@Cazar) I don't get a chubby from nearly dying with every step." He said into the comms as he briskly walked toward the side of the factory. Rifle up and read.

@vamp

 

[Drace Solus]

.

The factory wasn't the most boring place to watch. It was busy as hell, and its grounds were massive, so Drace occupied himself with looking around at the different workers and their activities. It was a good distraction, and also helped him get a good grasp of their shifts, should he need that information for whatever reason. He had, of course, struck up conversation with Dax at several points in the stake-out, but they could only talk for so much.

"Oh, stop bitchin," he replied, the two of them rising. "Consider yourself lucky they even chose to shut down the factory. You know how some of these planets are. Andraste herself could revive and start terrorizing the city and they wouldn't close the factories." He had had way more than enough time to find a way into the place, though he hadn't actually figured anything out besides jumping the fence. Good thing he had jet boots, because lugging himself over the 8 meter tall stone wall topped with barbed wire would be difficult, considering how heavy his beskar'gam was.

"Absurd as his plans are, he seems to have the luck to always get the job done," he replied once more. "Then again, I'd hate to be around on the day things don't work out." Drace was surprised he was still alive to tell the tale after Cuyan dragged them through the catacombs of the Imperial Palace and then nuked it from within. Crazy, but impressive.

Despite the pollution, the landscape around them was covered in grass. A yellowish green and sparse, but at least it was still there. The rest was rock, with some large mountains off in the background. It was a pretty shitty planet, though that was to be expected when their pride and joy were factories. He'd watched plumes of smoke being pumped out of the towers non-stop for the past two hours, and he felt bad for even breathing the air. Thank Kad for the filter in his helmet.

They were atop one of the hills near the factory, and they would have to take the long way around to get to the fence, but it was a chance to stretch—after laying there for an hour, they needed it. Drace extended his arms out, rotating them in their sockets and bounced up and down a few seconds to get the blood flowing. They were already almost on the main path.

@Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

"Sadly I think I might be there when ever that day comes." he replied. Dax then took his partner's queue and stretched his legs a little. Then started down the path toward the wall that was nearly twice as tall as he was. Dax thanked the gods every day that Mand'alor herself didn't realize the was a full two inches taller, even without armor.

Dax took point then as he started down the hill path walked carefully. Surprisingly light footed, even with armor and a new jet pack. But the path was well cut. Either by wild animals or by workers going two and from the facility. Although after the past two hours of watching the place, it would seem animals. Even with the pollution. It was even possible that the air was thick enough to literally eat. The path itself was a bit steep, however it seemed to zigzag it's way down. Allowing a better decent and a hint of cover from anyone who might be below.

Within ten or so minutes, they would be at the bottom of the hill. The yellow brown grass now as tall as their hips, or at least his. "Do you have a plan, or should we make this a game ?" He asked. Dave was not expecting heavy resistance, and so when the killing was a bit easy for him he seemed to love to turn it into a drinking game. By now Drace of course was not only used to this, but expecting it.

 

[Drace Solus]

.

Both Mandalorians were holding duffel bags, one on each shoulder. Inside each bag were cheap explosives, as many as they could carry. They were some offbrand version of quality breach charges, though when in the market for an explosion, anything worked. Drace hadn't wanted to put in the effort and money for quality ones for a poor neutral planet. He lifted the strap of his right bag up higher on his shoulder, feeling it slip as they walked down the slope.

"Game. And the bonus round: set up as many charges as you can on as much important shit as you can." The factory was just perfect—pillars, machinery, flammable materials, and other things, all packed in tight enclosures, just waiting to get blown up. It was a safety hazard, just like every other factory. Though many succumbed to accidents, this one would be one of the rare ones to fall due to an active effort to take it out.

Most of the factory had been evacuated due to the efforts of their compatriots, the workers having been sent home early so security could be bumped up and the factory watched in case the crazy arsonists from downtown somehow made their way over. It was uncommon for something like this to happen; most factories kept pumping production even when there were trenches less than 500 meters away, so the other Mandalorians must have caused a hell of a ruckus to draw so much attention. Good.

They walked along the beaten path, grass giving way to gravel. Drace unholstered his rifle and held it up with one hand, the other holding on to the bags on his left side. It would be hard as hell to shoot like this, and extremely risky—one stray bolt hitting the charges and he'd get blown sky-high. He'd need to leave the bags somewhere to prevent that, then come back after opposition had been wiped.

The two reached the wall, and Drace looked up at it. The barbed wire had been there for so long it had rusted, and only added one more meter to the fence, so his jump boots would do the job. Dax was fancier—he'd gotten his hands on a jetpack. The Marauder activated his jump boots and jumped, hanging tight to the bags. He landed directly on top of a guard that had been checking the perimeter, the heavy armor and speed breaking several of his bones and putting him in a coma, at best. Drace wasn't going to check his pulse. If he lived, congratulations to him. He wouldn't be when the factory blew up.

The Mandalorian dumped the bags on the guard, noting that he had two broken arms, which was even better. If he woke up he would be able to keep his hands to himself.

"Leave the bags here unless you wanna find out what it feels like to be a walking grenade," he suggested. Turning around and dusting himself off, Drace waited for Dax before they ventured in.

@Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

"Deal."

Dax tucked his carbine rifle be his back and his newly acquired jet pack. It was not a comfortable fit but the marauder managed. The layout was just like any other factory. Or ship, or anything else one wants to make go boom. Jump past all the other junk and head for the generators. So that is exactly what he intended to do .

Dax shifted the bag over to his right shoulder, holding his against his hip with his as he activated the jet pack and hit open sky. Drace may a short jump with his boots and landed onto a guard. Dax continued onto the roof of the factory, landing just few steps past the edge. Also on the roof happen to be a security droid. Dax drew his quickdraw pistol from his left holster. Aiming from the hip he put one bolt in what would of been a man's gut. The second caught the robot in the in the chest.

The droid dropped like a stone. The marauder stepped over and put two more in it's head and then continued toward a hatch leading inside. He quickly holstered his pistol, pulled an explosive charge from the bag and set it for remote then placed it on the roof as he climbed down the ladder. Once on the ground, Dax pulled his pistol again and worked his way down the steps. The stairwell led down and opened up to a catwalk that ran in conjunction with a ventilation system over the main floor of the factory.

The Rau marauder casually started to whistle as he took charges from the bag and placed them randomly down the vent. "Three...four... You could at least make this a little more interesting for me." he said over the comlink in his helmet. His smile shifted however as two more security droids started to run down the other side of the catwalk.

"Well...Kark."

 

[Drace Solus]

.

He turned to say something to Dax, only to find that there was no one behind him. A shadow passed over him, and Drace looked up to see the Marauder flying over him with his jetpack, landing on the roof of the factory. "You fancy bastard!" he called out. "Just wait till my jetpack is out of the shop." He noticed Dax turn and lift his rifle, so Drace assumed the man was dealing with something now. He snatched his bag off the body and kept walking through the grounds, now that Dax had made sure to draw the attention of every guard left.

The Marauder continued on, placing charges on the outside walls, spaced about 20 meters apart. Then, reaching a back door, he opened it, and found himself inside the building next to a conveyor belt. The belt had stopped in its tracks, products aligned on it, the packaging warning that they were highly explosive. Upon closer inspection, he found that they were Quickdraws, like the one on his belt. These should pack a punch. He knew that blasters made for nasty explosives on the rare occasions that someone managed to overload their powerpacks, and the charges should hurry things along.

Moving on, he set a charge on a nearby support pillar, then checked his bag. Still a decent amount left. They were cheap and abundant, so the Mandalorians would not find themselves out of charges before they covered the building up nicely. He picked one up, got into a pitching stance, and then threw it at a pillar 20 meters away with all the force he had. It hit the pillar, then exploded from the impact. In turn, that blew out a chunk of the reinforced duracrete, causing the big structure to collapse in on itself. It was supporting a section of the roof, so that came down, too, in a massive storm of dust and wrecked stone. "My bad," he commented into the comms. Dax would have definitely noticed that, assuming he wasn't standing on the stretch of roof that fell, which would be even more unfortunate. The man had a kriffin jetpack though. He had nothing to worry about.

What was left of security would start to pour in to check out the explosion, though Drace doubted there were many guards left. The manpower seemed to be a combination of humans/xenos and droids, not that it really mattered. They all went down when hit with plasma, so it was no problem. As if on cue, three of them entered through the far side of the factory, which gave Drace enough time to lift his blaster, level it, and shoot one of them fatally, wounding another. The third stopped to inspect his comrade, which was a grave mistake—Drace shot him once in the head and that was that. He'd loop back around to investigate the knocked out body of the second guard soon enough.

"Three and a damn good portion of the factory's roof." He thought for a moment. "That counts, right? That's gotta count."

@Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax lifted his rifle and took a knee, preparing to himself to trade fire with the droids. The explosion then, rocked Dax and took him to both knees a hand to catch himself as the catwalk shook and broke a couple of supports. Part of the wall and roof came down crashing down on the droids, the catwalk, and crashing to the factory floor below. The catwalk gave completely then, sending Dax for a short ride before his jetpack kicked on.

"Thanks for the warning asshole. Scratch three more by the way." he replied back over the comms. Dax wasn't about to let the other mando know he did more good then harm. It would go to his head, besides they were still on a bet and what he didn't know only allowed Dax a better payoff. Free booze IS free booze.

Dax landed on the floor then, dashing on foot now to find the power generators. The marauder needed to save the last few minutes of fuel in case Drace karked up and and dropped the rest of the roof on him. He tossed a couple of charges out randomly as he went. He would soon find himself in a reinforced room with vents all around the ceiling, massive generators filling the interior. A small path surrounding them and between them. Dax armed a couple of the charges and then dropped them into the bag with the rest and carefully placed the bag at the center.

"Sure, yeah that we'll count that.....now get your ass clear. This place is going up." Dax said to Drace's it counts comment. Running as fast as he could now. Dax cleared the room and ran back to where Drace dropped the roof. Igniting his jet pack for the last time he flew himself through the hole left by the other mandalorian's explosive. He continued to fly toward the hill and waited for his partner to just clear the wall of the facility. Then blew the charges with the remote signal on his bracer. "Boom!"

 

[Drace Solus]

.

Three more guards came, although somewhat hesitantly, through the door, this time from the other side of the building, to Drace's right. He didn't notice them at first, which lead to one of the droids getting a hit on him, burning his chestplate, but the Mandalorian quickly turned and shot back. He dropped two and then the third when it stopped to shoot at him. "These bastards only come in threes." Dax spoke into the comms, and the Marauder assumed that meant he must've put the charges on something rather important, so he threw the rest of the bag down and dashed.

He ran until his lungs were burning, finally reaching the fence from where he had come after about 30 seconds of solid running at top speed, in his heavy armor, weighed down by equipment. "Thanks for the cardio," he leered into the comms, switching on his jet boots and hopping over the wall. That's when the building blew, at first just the pillars giving way, though quickly followed by an explosion from within, the power generator setting off a chain. Dust and shrapnel flew from the factory as it collapsed, and Drace ducked to the floor, hands covering the back of his head. He would have eaten a mouthful of dirt if not for his helmet, and it was a damn wonder none of the debris hit him. The Marauder stood and dusted himself off, grabbing his rifle off the ground.

"Way to steal all the fun." He thought for a moment as he walked over to the hill Dax was atop of. "Now that I think about it, I don't remember hearing blaster fire when that pillar fell. Looks like 3 more go to me."

@Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

The explosion was of the factory would send a shock wave of energy into the surrounding area. Dax expected such but not with the amount of force that actually stuck him as he was fly. The marauder's landing was noting as graceful as he would of preferred. As he was trying to land the wave hit push the pack, causing Dax to sort of belly flop on the hill. Lucky of him Drace was also kissing dirt and didn't notice.

"You are looking a little tight in your armor, thought that Percy chick might like you a little more trim" he told his friend with and oof as Dax got to his feet. "You took a couple of droids and roof. I count three droids and an entire building since it was my charges on the power plant. And just cause you didn't hear it, doesn't mean it didn't happen..."

This was a usual thing with them now. Fighting over who buys when at the end of the night they would both be to hammered to walk no matter who paid the bill. Dax was so used to having the Solus with him that he felt truly like a brother to him now. "I tell you what Dee, we'll call it even and spill the bill ?" He finally said was Drace met him on the hill. "Now call in the ship and lets get the Kark out of here."

 

[Drace Solus]

.

Leave it to Dax to always weasel his way out of paying the bill. Still, Drace couldn't deny that he had a point. If the roof counted, then so should the building, so the Marauder nodded. "Ah, fekk it, might as well." He stretched and then switched the comms to their ship on. "Overwatch, this is Badger One, calling in for the day." A short pause, then the pilot's voice, distorted by his shitty mic. "Roger that, Badger One, hang tight."

They stood around for a few seconds, Drace staring around at the mountains. A rare silence had taken over, the planet quieter than a cemetery. When they had arrived, the factory had been bustling, about an hour before everything began. Now, it was like no one had ever been there in the first place. It felt calming at first, though the Mandalorian quickly grew bored of it. It was in his blood. What Mandalorian liked peace and quiet? Vacations, sure, but no true Mando actually liked sitting around like a kriffin idiot, staring at the trees and remarking how quiet the birds were.

A small freighter flew up from behind one of the mountains, snapping him out of his thoughts. It hovered above them for a moment, trying to find good momentum for the landing, then lowered itself to the dirt, hitting the ground ungracefully with a clang. It was a flying safety hazard for those inside and outside of it, but it had been the best two Marauders could have scrounged up on such short notice. Drace was first inside. He had to stand in the cramped hall of the ship, holding onto the wall to prevent himself from being sent flying as they took off.

Wordlessly, the pilot shut the doors and just like that, they were in the air again, the ruins of the factory behind them, still puffing out dust and settling. The people of Ubbirikia would find a nasty surprise waiting for them when they went to work the next morning, but it was a necessary evil. No one, besides a bunch of droids, had died, which was fine in Drace's book.

FIN.​

@Taz