Rabbit Hunt

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

The VXN dropship flew low and slow into the southern equatorial region of Ruusan. Tracking a the source of an imperial republic signal that suddenly popped up on a planetary sweet from the Mandalorian landing party. A team of Death Water marauders was sent to investigate. The hope was that it was the Warlord, General Hardhak. Who managed to escape the custody to rebel alliance forces with some assistance. Presumably with republic assistance.

Dax Rau was leading the team, and piloting the dropship and some assistance from his astromech A-7. Dax landed the ship on a large patch of beach. 80 meters from the base that was emerging from the tropical forest. "Keep it running and the shields up A-7, we shouldn't be long." he told the droid.

The Rau marauder then rose from the pilot's chair and into the back where the rest of the team was waiting. Dax slid the t visor helmet and locked into the suit of his heavy armor, then checked his gear. A light repeater, both pistols, and the rest of his standard kit.

"Comms check? Good. Our target is a scumsuck general who sleeps with our true enemy and makes slaves of his own people. Give No Quarter!" The last order, a tenet of the Watch. The others knew what do to. With that Dax lowered the ramp and took point heading toward the base.

@vamp @Nommie

 

[Drace Solus]

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Drace glanced out through the window across from the spot where he was sitting, a short bench that had been fixed into the wall for troops to rest on. They were going to land on one of the tropical parts of Ruusan, though it wouldn't have been difficult to figure that out when looking at the palm trees and sandy beaches covering hundreds of miles of its surface. The newly-minted Supercommando checked his rifle once more, and looked at the 2 extra clips he'd brought with him, stuck to his belt just in case they'd be needed. It would suck to run out of ammo, especially on a mission like this. At his side was his Quickdraw, and his armor had seen several new modifications, the jetpack standing out the most. The ship jerked him as it hit some turbulence, just in time for Dax's comm check.

"We're all here, and the comms are in order, though your piloting could be a little better," he joked, earning a chuckle from the handful of troops that were sitting in the back with him. They all had the mark of the Death Watch on their armor, Drace being the only one not part of the group. He stood out because of that, but the freshly emblazoned Supercommando mark on his right shoulder also helped, as did his vambraces. He outranked everyone here, though Dax was the leader this mission, the Marauder having set everything up himself. It would be a pretty big asshole move for Drace to swoop in and take credit just cause he was higher up on the ladder. Besides, he wouldn't do that to a brother.

After Dax's motivational speech, Drace thumped the grip of his rifle on his chest, causing a clang, followed by a hooting "Oya!" The rest of the warriors mimicked, and the ramp lowered. Things were getting started.

@Taz @Nommie

 

[Radth Kelborn]

As the dropship flew low and slow, the Kelborn was easily able to figure out that they are going to be landing in the tropical part of Ruusan. Now they are not here to get a tan during a vacation. Well he guessed that they can call it a vacation since they are carrying out a mission the three men will enjoy in an environment thousands flock to in order to get away from the stresses of everyday life. So yes they could in a ways say that they are on vacation if they wanted to.

Now out of the three men, Radth may be the lowest ranking out of the men here. As well as not as experienced as Drace and Dax. This will be a chance to learn some more as he carries out his part of the mission. While the two other men expressed their excitement the Kelborn will keep his buried deep down as showing emotion has been pounded out of him. However it will not stop the warrior from joining in on Drace teasing Dax about his flying skills, "Drace is right. You could use some more flying lessons." He will say jokingly as the Mandalorian stood up. His armor is rather plain black with nothing decorative on the armor, minus the mark of the Death Watch on his shoulder. His gear consisted of his Westar Rifle, his pistol and a vibroblade. On his belt was two extra clips of ammo that he doubted he will need, but brought along just incase he or the other two men needed an extra round of ammo.


He does not know the two other Mandalorians that well but that will not stop Radth from trusting his two brothers that they know what they are doing as well as that like himself they will see the mission through. Now while he and the others on board had the mark of the Death Watch on them, Drace stood out like a sore thumb so to speak since he does not have the mark. But that was all, as the other Mandalorian is the superior on the mission even though Dax is the one leading it. So on that note, Radth dared to not say a word to Drace.

After Dax's speech, with the others Radth beamed a, "Oya!" In sync with the other warriors as the ramp lowered. The Kelborn watched the ramp lower, wishing that it will move quicker. But it was not moving quick enough, and they have work to do. So Radth jumped the ramp, landing on the sand. Looking around he noted how a welcoming party was lacking. Well this is turning out to be boring so far, "And here I thought there would be a welcoming party to greet us." Radth will say flatly as he looked around with his rifle raised in case there was a group hiding nearby.


@Taz @vamp

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

"You hearing this Dee, man shoots a wizard in the back and thinks he can flick me shit." He said with a smile into the comms. Each of them had killed more the a couple of Sith and each knew he could count on the other when the bolts started to fly. But what would a brother in battle be if they didn't flick shit at one another when ever the opportunity arose.

Dax never broke eye contact with the area though. The republic was a mess right now but they were not to be taken lightly. Continuing to take point the pair would clear nearly 40 meters of well covered, thick forest. Sand, dirt and low brush slowing them some but still allowed the marauders and commando to make decent time.

Then Radth had to say something.

As the three armored men approached the base of the installation they would be ambushed. Dax laid down cover fire from the repeater and made and running jump for the base of a thick tree near his position. The other two mandalorians would see 4 H4 battle droids evading his fire and moving to their own cover. Two up front behind trees of their own and two others flanking on either side.

"Drace smack him and the get your ass up here." Dax barked.

 

[Drace Solus]

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His boots met sand, and Drace thought that the terrain couldn't possibly get any slipperier. Then they entered through the foliage, and he cursed silently. Every time he stepped forward, he slid back, being forced to slam his soles into the mud over and over again to actually move toward the target. Branches of trees he didn't know the names of kept smacking into his T-visor, not making any noise but pissing him off more and more. Eventually, he drew his beskad and started hacking the branches away a meter before they moved toward him. It was a grueling 40 meters, but he slowly began to see the building they were going to be striking, and that's when everything went south, shortly after a lovely intermission from Radth. He'd just sheathed his beskad and drawn his rifle when all hell broke loose.

"Tangos on your 9!" Drace heeded the warnings of a nearby Death Watch Marauder and turned to his left, pivoting so hard in the mud that he slipped and fell over. Three blaster bolts soared over his head and hit the soldier that had just warned him, taking the man out instantly. The corpse fell onto Drace, and he hooked his arm around its neck, using the body as a shield in case he'd get shot at again. They hadn't even reached the objective and they were already down to 4 men—Drace, Dax, Radth, and another Marauder, a burly rookie named Bix. The Supercommando lifted his head out of the ground for a moment to see an H4 battle droid poking its head out from behind the cover of a tree. He lifted his rifle up, bracing it on the hip bone of what used to be a Marauder, and fired 3 bolts of his own toward it, none hitting their mark—two hit the tree it was hiding behind and one went wide.

"Overwatch, this is Brawler Badger, requesting immediate backup. Hightail it!" he shouted into the comms as the droid laid down more fire. No shots hit him or the body on top of him, but he was in a hurry to call backup, aware that the freighter waiting in orbit with 5 more soldiers would take some time to arrive. Better late than never. They had hoped it wouldn't be needed, but apparently the mission had been compromised already.

Drace lifted his head up higher, craning to look around him. He could see another droid to his left, focused on Radth, and two more behind him, having taken cover to hide from Dax and Bix. Dirt sprayed up in front of Drace's visor as plasma made contact with mud a few centimeters away from his head, and he fired a shot blindly in the droid's general direction. Sparks fizzed from somewhere he assumed was the bastard's leg. The fire momentarily stopped, so he clearly had done some damage.

"Kriffin hell, X, looks like I'm pinned down!" he called back to Dax. It was both literal and figurative, though the body on him helped more than it hurt. Drace would have taken a shot or two if not for it, judging by the smoke rising off its charred chestplate.

@Taz @Nommie

 

[Radth Kelborn]

It appeared that Radth had foolishly spoken too soon. To add to that, him speaking up may have been what revealed their location to the opposition. The Kelborn really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut for sure. They were no more than forty meters from their target when four H4 Battle Droids came into view, blasting away at the Mandalorians. Cursing under his breath, Radth ducked behind cover. A bolt grazing along his armor before slamming into the tree behind the foolish warrior.

He tried to peek out from behind the bundle of trees he is using as cover to see if he can hit any of them. But was forced to hide behind his cover. This is not good at all! To make it worse, because he is the reason that the enemy located the three men, Drace was literally pinned down. Boy has he screwed up big time.

Looking out from behind his cover, Radth spotted the droid that was pinning Drace down with blaster fire. Ducking back down as another droid started shooting at him, noticing that Drace had damaged the droid. If he can finish it off and draw the attention from the second droid, the Supercommando should be able to get to better cover. Besides that, the tree that Radth is hiding behind is starting to become too damaged to use as efficient cover, "I will turn that droid into a pile of scrap metal." He told Drace as Radth stepped out from his cover, pouring as many bolts as he could, a total of four at the damaged droid. Two of the bolts hit home and the droid crumbled to the ground. Him stepping out of cover as he headed to a new spot to hide behind drew the attention of another droid, "Drace you should be clear now." He told the other Mandalorian as the second droid started firing in Radth's direction now.

@Taz @vamp

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

"I'm starting to think that you are a shit magnet Dee, the kark does that girl you like see in you." Not the best time to prod his friend but it it would help take his mind away from being stuck under a dead man. Far as Dax could remember, these only slightly advanced droids but nothing special as far as optics. They did have some kind of sona, but the combat along with random placed trees would hinder that ability.

Dax would pull a smoke grenade from a pouch and pull the pit to activate it, then toss it in front of Drace. That combined with Radth drawing fire would give the Solus more then enough opportunity to to get out from under their dead comrade. When the smoke got thick enough Dax got to his feet and started to pour on the bolts to the two he knew were in front of his position. The marauder didn't bother to count bolts, rather just held the trigger and as walked.

Confused by the bold tactic the two droids first tried to fire from cover but took baster fire to the exposed shoulder area and rifle. By the time the decided to retreat to another position, Dax was closer then ten meters and continued to fire. Turned one droid to slag and the other wounded in the leg and shoulder, crawling to cover. Or at least trying.

Dax was empty then and instead of reloading he stood over the machine and slammed the butt of the gun into it's head. Once, twice, a third time. Finally the machine stopped moving. Dax took cover again and looked around. The smoke making it difficult to see where the last droids were.

"Dee you better be alive or I'm going to kick your dead ass."

 

[Drace Solus]

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Radth fired onto the droid, giving time for Drace to shift himself into a better position. Mud squelched underneath him, the back of his armor clearly covered in it. The Supercommando struggled to get up, though he kept sliding back. A smoke grenade blew up near him, giving him an even better opening. Rather than shift himself up, he flipped over on top of the body, using it for leverage. Drace stood up, blind through the smoke, using his thermal scope to move around without smacking into things. He kept walking until he was by Bix's side, the Marauder having spent the fight trying to shoot down the droids.

One was left, and it must have realized that, because it got even more frantic now. Drace took cover behind a thick tree, pulling Bix out of the way of a potentially fatal shot. The Mandalorian returned fire from behind the tree, managing to hit the side of the droid's head, though the bastard kept shooting. Two bolts later, he stopped, slumping over and falling into the mud, photoreceptors smoking. "All clear," he said, though movement could be heard from the base. The guards had been tipped off, and their target would soon be moved. "You couldn't kick my ass even if I was dead," he replied. Drace heard engines overhead, though he wasn't sure if they were from the Mandalorian reinforcements or the Imperial ships.

Apparently, it was both. An Imperial starfighter hovered above, and the tiny freighter that was carrying a fresh batch of Mandalorian troops was shot out of the sky, its engines knocked out by a missile and then its hull razed by cannon fire just to be sure. Flaming shrapnel fell from the sky, and Drace got moving, not wanting to get caught by it. "Eyes on the sky!" he shouted as an engine fell a few meters away from him. The flames spread to the trees, and slowly climbed up toward the leaves. Once there, they spread even further, and would quickly envelop the entire forest.

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, directly toward the base, not looking back. Bix tried to follow, but a piece of the ship's hull fell on him, pinning his legs and slowly heating up his armor. The man screamed as he was cooked alive inside his armor, but his screams were barely heard over the crackling of burning wood, stamping feet, and other sounds of war. Drace was the first to break from the treeline and saw a handful of guards escorting the Warlord to a nearby shuttle. He lifted his rifle and shot one of the guards dead, the man falling suddenly on top of another Imperial. The group scattered, each soldier trying to take cover while Drace shot at them from behind a rock. The Warlord ran for the ship, but the Supercommando's attention was on him, and he shot through the hull until he saw the metal melt, holes having been poked in it, making the craft unsafe for space travel. Nevertheless, the Warlord hid inside.

@Taz @Nommie

 

[Radth Kelborn]

With the final droid becoming frantic, Radth was not able to take any shots at it. Instead he was forced to remain behind cover. But as soon as the all clear was given he started moving. But hearing the sound of engines from above the man looked up for a moment or two before looking back ahead. That was until Drace gave a warning that Radth knew all too well what it meant. Parts of the freighter came raining down, the engine starting a fire that quickly started to spread. Dodging around falling debris, this pushed him a little bit away from the other two men. Not that he needed them for directions since he can clearly see where he is meant to be heading and can make necessary adjustments.

Running as fast as he could, Radth headed directly towards the base. He believed that he is past the danger of falling debris at least. But the danger from the fire is still a real threat. Luckily for them though the direction of the wind changed pushing the flames away from the Mandalorians. The warrior did not see the warlord being escorted into the shuttle that Drace shot the hell out of, leaving the vehicle useless the the warlord. But he was able to see the guards scatter about in response to Drace's actions.

Ducking behind cover as a pair of guards came to a stop; firing at Radth. The man waited for their shots to slow down then stop. Coming out of his cover Radth shot them both dead on the spot. Watching their bodies crumble he silently headed over to a spot that will give him a better vantage point of the shuttle and remaining guards.

Now it seemed that the warrior is withdrawing to how a Kelborn is supposed to behave. If Burkhart were here or heard how Radth behaved he would never hear the end of it.

@Taz @vamp

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

"KARK!" Dax exclaimed. Hitting the button for his jetpack. The marauder went skyward, voiding the falling wreckage and a corkscrew turn. Then looking back to find it landing on Bix. But there was nothing that Dax could do for the fallen brother. Or the others who were not gone from the ship's explosion.

Instead Dax continued to fly toward the base, in the same direction as the others. He would of thought he made the better target but Drace was doing a fine job of getting everyone's attention. Dax could see from his overhead position and Drace at shot the ship, rendering it useless for space travel. But that would not stop their target from possibly using it to get out of this firefight. The ramp was still down. So Dax flew a loop to position himself 20 meters up and back from the opening.

"Get cover" he said over the comms.

The marauder then fired his wrist rocket into the open ramp. The small explosive flew down and just a meter inside of the ship and then impacted and exploded, causing a chain reaction of small arms power supplies and a container of grenades to explode and thus the ship itself.

The concussive blast of which would send Dax sailing skyward, and out over the water. The fireball caught the starfighter, damaging the ship and it's sensors. Forcing the craft to retreat of make a crash landing. The rest of the debris would fly in all directions and kill or injure the remaining guards.

Dax recovered and corrected his jetpack, and checked the remaining fuel. "You guys ok ?" he waited for an answer from both Mandalorions. "Good, I'm low on fuel in my pack. Meet back at the ship and meet up with the rest of the landing force at the space port."

 

[Drace Solus]

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Drace had just ducked his head out of cover and lifted his barrel to take another shot when the shuttle exploded, taking out the Warlord and two guards near him. Looking up, he saw Dax hovering above, his hand still primed after he had used the wrist rockets. Drace flashed him a thumbs up, looking back down just in time to see Radth take out the two remaining guards. "Roger that," he replied, jumping up and activating his jetpack. The Mandalorian slowly gained altitude until he was above the treeline, his eyes scanning the jungle. He shifted, and the jetpack took off, the Supercommando barreling through the air at 14 meters a second. The ship was parked a ways off, near the beach where they had first been deployed, but he reached it in less than 3 seconds. Lowering himself, he holstered his rifle and hopped into the ship, waiting for the others.

@Taz @Nommie

END THREAD​