Ruby, Ruby, Ruby

[Tal Onn]

The cavernous city of Salyrini was an interesting city to see, but he wasn't here for sight seeing. He was simply instructed to make his way to Sarka, and wait for instruction.

Before too long, he received the team that stood before him, another humanoid Corporal of the Shock Troop, and Commander Kalladrrl of the IFL. Tal had heard a bit about him, but never met face to face.

Tal leaned forward against the duracrete siding of the landspeeder parking garage across the street from the spaceport, scanning the guards' movements. They seemed to be half decent at their job, keeping a man out at the road, and another at the gate. Both looked lightly armed and no visible armor to speak of. The reptilian Sarkan guard paced, lazily for a moment before he made a switch with his partner, to sit in the air-cooled guard office. The other Sarkan took a position to the left, beyond the corner of a small shop that obsured a portion of the street. The Imperials were far enough back, and only about three floor up on a five story parking garage.

"Got a few stiffs at the gate. Wouldn't take much to take them out, but they could have an alarm system in that gate. How quiet do we wanna be, Commander," he asked the Wookiee, as he was ranking officer. The Nagai had been given a translator, since Shrywook was not a language he had learned yet.

@Ecclessey @Rexx

 

[Kalladrrl]

Kalladrrl held a pair of oversized binoculars to his face, scanning the area and collecting data from their elevated vantage point. These Sarkese or Sarkans or whoever the hell they were seemed dutiful enough, but even the dutiful could be killed by subterfuge. He wore his lighter set of armor, eschewing protection for disavowability. People tended to remember and be alarmed by a being two and a half meters tall, a hulking giant that looked like a child’s nightmare of a Sith in their battle armor. His pistol, his lightsaber and a computer spike were arrayed on his belt.

"Ynhaafrarraaahooynrrllarrawooonrrroo," came the Commander’s terse reply. What kind of accent did Onn have? Hadn't heard its like before. He continued to observe for a moment, before he turned to the small cell assembled.

"Ynnkarraffohrranrnarrffarooohrrrrryn. Rroo, rraoohoooarraaankarranyckarrffaohllarralluurfhoooynnaarrf. Ynnrrooraanroorranrrana. YnnarraffrraRaffrynnrkannrohuhnarra, karrfastrrrrkarrfarranna." The Wookiee paused to sneer, but not at them, at his own malice. "Ynnrnahookarrakarrfallurstaymbrarranr."

@Ecclessey @Gian Greydragon

 

[Fester Olonn]

Corporal Olonn peered through his binoculars and focused on the two Sarkan guards that were mentioned by two of his partners. "They're not expecting any trouble," he observed from their position inside a parking garage. Sarka was a strange place, Fester found, since these parking garages were a stark contrast to the beauty of its nature. Personally, as he was from a civilized world, the jungles of this planet were foreign and thus extremely interesting and he'd rather spend a few days doing Shock Trooper Survival Training in those jungles than filling his pockets with nova rubies and hiding in urban parking garages.

Unfortunately it wasn't his call, something Foreign Legion Lieutenant reminded him of when he addressed the commander, who was a member of the Foreign Legion as well. Now, Fester didn't bring a translator and hadn't been given one because of his low rank and thus when the wookiee spoke he understood none of it. Realizing how difficult this mission would be if he understood none of the orders, Fester turned to the lieutenant. "I know Basic and Sith," he said, shruggingly, "-nothing else." in which he meant that the lieutenant would have to translate his orders for him, but Fester knew very well that it would also mean he'd be the one giving cover from an overview position. That made the most sense, right?

@Gian Greydragon @Rexx

 

[Tal Onn]

Tal looked to his compatriot from the Shock Troop, who was not at high enough rank to be given a translator. He would be sure to relay a brief synopsis, once his translator

“I like a nice crescendo in my music, new blood,” the translator echoed into his left ear.

Tal was confused, but nodded all the same, as the translation from Shryiwook to Basic, "He wants a Crescendo in his music, apparently," Tal quipped.


“I will incapacitate the one on patrol in spectacular fashion while one of you covers me. At the same time, the other will move on the guard post and take out the poor lizard in his glass cage while he watches my show. We will proceed from there in stealth to the control tower and disable it. I’ll be having a squad of Blackguards move in to assist with our second objective, the destruction of the starfighter squadron on the ground...We’ll be opening this city up like an oyster for the Empire to take it,” the translator echoed again.

"He wawnts one of us to cover hi'im while 'e takes out wunnathe guards while one of us takes out the guard in the tower. After tha'at, he's gonna call the Blackguard to help us sabotage the starfighters," he spoke, hoping to have done a sufficient job relaying the message, "I'll move up with 'im, and take out that guard. We can regroup after that," Tal said, readying his Vibroblades. On the Commander's mark, he would move with him to the bottom of the garage, and he would move into position silently behind a cluster of crates near the base of the tower.

@Rexx

 

[Kalladrrl]

Kalladrrl rolled his eyes dramatically. What sort of maroons had he been seconded this time? One of them sounded like his tongue had been dipped in molasses and then left outside in the cold. And that mush-mouthed marine thought he was going to give the other Legionnaire on-the-go translation? Nope, sounded like a great way for unit cohesion to fall way off. He shook his head at the pair of them and produced two earpieces, which he handed to each of them, pointing at the one in his own ear. He waited for them to get situated before he spoke into the comm, Silvertongue the protocol droid doing his job from their communications relay.

“You boys get your damn acts together. This ain’t some Nar Shaddaa crap shoot run by some spice-fried thug, you’re serving in the finest fighting force in the galaxy made up of the most deadly sons of schuttas in space, so start acting like it or I’ll reprimand both of you.” His voice was vocabulated in bass tones, but the Commander’s annoyance was writ plain in his tone even as he smiled nastily. “In my battalion, I settle all reprimands personally. With my fists.” He raised them both. “So let’s put our ears on and come correct. The lieutenant gave you the rundown, Corporal, so you stay frosty while we pop this place open like a wine bottle.”

He made his way down to the ground floor, walking at a brisk pace which means he quickly left the Corporal behind; Kalladrrl waited for the Lieutenant to catch up and for the guard rotation to get to a suitable point in the progression before he began to approach the guard on patrol, switching from sneaking to a gentle, lively gait.

“‘Scuse me, sir,” he said. Or he would have had he not had a blaster leveled at him.

“What are you doing here?”

The Wookiee snarled and closed the distance in an instant, gripping the Sarkans neck and twisting it sharply up and around, the lizard making a dull noise of panic before slumping to the ground.

Damn, that wasn’t as clean as he had hoped. Time for them to improvise a little.

@Ecclessey

 

[Fester Olonn]

That wookiee commander could eat the shit of his Serenno pet bantha for all Fester cared. Talking about a professional fighting force while he got a mouth like that and threatens soldiers under his temporary command? Kriff, he should be the one being slung on rapport. Fester was glad he was assigned overwatch and didn't have to go trying to sneak around with a wookiee(!). That said, while the two Imperial Foreign Legion operators ran downstairs he took up position and kept his eyes on all possibles entries and exits of their location and it wasn't long before a Sarkan patrol of five showed up just around the corner of where the wookiee commander was snapping another reptilian's neck.

Fester grabbed his comm unit immediately, "Commander-" only then he remembered the option of letting the bully of a wookiee get jumped with almost assured lethal consequence. Alas for him, however, the mission took precedence. "-Sarkan patrol at your 10 'o clock. Expected time of arrival at your position-" he paused shortly to make the best possible estimate, "-fifty seconds."

@Gian Greydragon

 

[Tal Onn]

The lack of interest in what the Wookiees had to say was less than zero. Almost immediately after he began berating him, he cut the commlink short, and moved on, approching the Sarkan Guard. As he made his way up the first of two flights of stairs, the tip of the blade of his machete kept at his side had tapped the metal pole alerting the guard, causing him to investigate, only to receive a throwing knife squarely in the forehead.

Tal took up the guard tower, and hid behind cover, to later get the drop on the guards that Overwatch had alerted them.

 

[Kalladrrl]

"Sharp eyes, topside,” he hummed appreciatively as he hauled the dead weight up in one fist, making for the guard post and up with the lieutenant. His other hand loosened the computer spike from his belt and he tossed the second corpse next to the first, crouching down behind the desk and the bank of computers away from sight as he jacked the spike into the post’s computer systems. Hand-coded encryption protocols began to execute; computers trusted hard inputs and keyboards, and he'd be tied up here for a minute until the alarms would be neutralized. He might even be able to set an alarm off elsewhere and pull away their opposition to slip in as many troops as he could.

He signaled again, providing a radio chirp before he spoke.

“Lieutenant, take overwatch and man this computer. We’ll move up the Blackguards to our previous position after the enemy patrol rolls through. Corporal, wait for the patrol to pass before repositioning on the ground with me. You and me are about to party hard with these lizards, then we'll call the boys in and have us a bonfire.” Dark laughter followed in the channel, the Wookie’s bass tones carried more naturally over the coms.

Kalladrrl reached forward and propped the Sarkan corpse with the snapped neck up in the vacated chair. He pursed his lips and pulled the others cap over its eyes and folded his arms on his chest.

Now he could just be getting a little shut-eye during a long shift in the guard post. How peaceful. The Wookiee let the spike and the team do their dirty work, stepping down into the enclosed stairway.

@Ecclessey

 

[Fester Olonn]

Corporal Olonn did what he was told, albeit reluctantly, and waited for the patrol to pass before going down the three sets of stairs to join the commander on ground level just as he was playing doll with a dead Sarkan. "bonfire sounds good, commander." He wasn't yet sure what to think of this particular wookiee, who was so unlike the stories he had heard of the powerful, yet primitive, race. "I'll take your lead."

Following commander Kalladrrl into the stairway, leaving the lieutenant behind with greater responsibility, Fester was oblivious to the fact there was a camera pointed right at them, until, ofcourse, the camera started bleeping like crazy but then went silent as smoke rose from its encasing. Fester looked at the commander with a look of surprise and elation. "Looks so hot and guns so big, my smile makes even camera's fry up in desire." He couldn't resist laughing over his own joke and then continued on the stairway.

@Gian Greydragon

 

[Tal Onn]

As the two made off to finish the mission, Tal had only just missed an alarm that had been triggered. Luckily half of the Sarkans guarding the place, were nowhere to be found. With a quick tapping on the keyboard, Tal hit the kill switch on the alarm, with the help of his Commanders Computer Spike.

With that, Tal simply sat on the floor of the guard gate, and peered up at the camera feeds to see if anything of interest.

 

[Kalladrrl]

The Wookiee’s head reared back with a quick peal of genuine, raucous laughter. This new blood had sand and hadn’t ballsed up anything while in the heat of the deployment and that pleased him.

“Keep smilin’ at the cameras and open the way up for us then!” The Commander’s eyes narrowed as he commlinked to the Blackguards’ First Platoon. “Move to the insertion point. A few minutes away from bonfire time, so check your gear and be ready to move on my order.”

“We're hoofin’, Commander,” came a raspy reply and Kalladrrl nodded in satisfaction as an interesting idea crossed his mind.

“Saaa-ay, Corporal,” he hummed as he looked over Olonn, “Do you like glory, money and mayhem?” He said it into the open channel for the mission; all the Blackguards, Fester and Tal would hear him. A couple of the Blackguards piped up over the commlink.

“Boss, are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” The other Blackguards joined in with a chant. “Slaughter. Slaughter. Slaughter!” The Wookiee laughed, delighted with the viciousness of his troops and proud at how far they had come.

“You know you are, Adjutant. Lieutenant, you should have control enough to route all functions of that terminal to a datapad. Join the Corporal and I on the ground. I’m about to make both of y'all's day, one way or another.” He brushed past Fester back to the streets of Salyrini, manipulating the gate controls, which slid open as a figure rappelled down the side of the parking garage on a rope that another Blackguard quickly retracted. The trooper quickly made his way across the avenue to join Fester and Kalladrrl.

“That building’s packed with more of these lizard cretins.” He nodded up at the control tower. “But we’ll clear it out no problem.” The Wookiee nodded at their tactical prowess. Nothing pleased him on deployment better than a bold, brutal operation carried out cold and calculated.

@Ecclessey @Gian Greydragon

 

[Fester Olonn]

Corporal Olonn wasn't sure about the operational efficiency of the wookiee's blackguards, since repelling down a parking lot in a city that's patrolled isn't the exactly less conspicuous than just using the chairs. Which proved to be a mistake as seconds after the adjudant had joined both his commander as Fester, shouts were heard from the west. "Oi! The kriff is Imperial Military doing here!?" a Sarkan shouted as five blaster rifles were aimed at the trio. "Karking hell," Fester muttered and quickly dashed for cover. Depending on what the wookiee would do they'd probably start shooting and whatever plans the commander may have had to do this in a somewhat sneaky manner were history.

Over their shared comms the corporal kept it short, "Compromised. We gotta take the tower by force." He may not be the commanding officer in this trip, but damnit they'd better start blasting their way through because this was already taking too long. Theirs was a mission of destruction and they had yet to fire their first karking shot.

@Gian Greydragon @Rexx

 

[Tal Onn]

Tal was very quick on his feet, andagot outside to get a visual on the other two just in time to see the Blackguard repelling down the side of the building... in broad daylight. Stifling laughter, he was going to continue moving forward, however voices could be heard from Tal's Northwest.

Luckily for Tal, there was plenty of cover to maneuver behind, and his racial agility and lithe frame lent well to this purpose. After a few moments of careful movement through crates and small vehicles, he was able to get behind the five guards without being detected, and was able to set up behind a crate, directly behind the Sarkans keeping about 10 meters between them.

"I managed to get a flank on them.Listen fer tha Pulsewave, it's prob'ly me, over," Tal said into the comm, in a low talking tone, well out of earshot, before taking aim with his Pulsewave Blaster at the Sarkan who'd identified the Blackguard.

@Rexx @Ecclessey

 

[Kalladrrl]

The Commander turned to face the Sarkan guards but did not blink or duck for cover. Instead, he grinned and raised an eyebrow in challenge as blaster fire rained down like the vengeance of an angry god from behind them. One shot from just shy of forty blasters tore them apart and sent a great reeking column of smoke skyward as the Sarkan corpses were cut apart by Imperial blasters. Kalladrrl turned his back ruthlessly and entered the gate, speaking again as he readied his lightsaber in a massive hand, leaving it deactivated for now; the surprise of his attack tended to do serious morale damage to any opposing force.

“Alright newbloods, it’s time for somebody to earn himself a bonus.” The Commander’s voice was gravelly and boisterous. “It’s a game my pack of marauders likes to call Slaughter. The rules are simple: I’m gonna charge headlong into this tower and engage. While they’re occupied, the two of you are gonna show off your prowess. First one to five kills gets himself a credit transfer of fifty large from my own bank account. That’s ten thousand a head if you can hit five first. Only caveat is that the winner has to buy the loser an enormous round of drinks.” He barked in laughter once as he manipulated the controls on the gate.

“Of course, I’ll be fighting too so you’ll have to kill fast and kill well to win that sweet, sweet cash. I’m interested to see who’s gonna get paid and who’s gonna get drunk.” The door slid open and the Wookiee breached the entryway, rolling quickly over his shoulder and past cover as he swung his arm and ignited his lightsaber, a Sarkan entrenched behind cover jumping out of the way narrowly as he fumbled with his blaster rifle. It was all the time Kalladrrl needed as he took a step into his space and brought the humming red weapon in an overhead, diagonal arc that left the Sarkan headless in the space of a moment.

Seventeen Sarkans were present to greet them, although Kalladrrl did not take much of a count as he subtracted one from their number, moving to defend himself in the right end of a t-junction immediately after the door, where his prey had lain in wait before he’d ended its existence. He emulated the motions of the Sith he had fought with on Concord Dawn, Ryder, as bolts careened at him, his lightsaber deflecting them. The Wookiee was not so skilled as to redirect them back towards his attacker yet, but it gave him a thrill to integrate the techniques of the Sith into his tools of war. After a moment to analyze the room and how it opened up after the junction, he advanced, keeping the lightsaber in a defensive position to deflect bolts and open the way for Tal and Fester.

@Ecclessey @Gian Greydragon

 

[Fester Olonn]

Corporal Olonn couldn't believe the stupidity of the wookiee commander (@Rexx) as he just stood there and allowed forty of his men fire at the five Sarkan men, obliterating them and alerting more nearby patrols and by the time the wookiee breached his way into the tower seventeen Sarkan soldiers came running from various positions. "We're surrounded!" Fester yelled, "Form a perimeter!"

While the foreign legion commander went inside to deal with the Sarkans there, the defenses he breached were again put up by the Imperial soldiers to provide cover against the growing Sarkan threat. The young corporal had noticed the lightsaber in the furball's hands and grimaced towards Tal (@Gian Greydragon) as they repositioned against the enemy reinforcements. "Let him and his lightsaber deal with the tower and the hangar," he said as he lined up a shot and fired three times at a group of Sarkans that were trying to create improvised fortifications of their own with a parked speeder. He hit the speeder twice, but the third pulse wave shot found a Sarkan soldier right at the temple and he fell dead to the ground. "We have to protect our way home!"

Kriff, if they survived this he was going to check out some freelance security work. He was eager for action, but not suicidal.

 

[Tal Onn]

Tal had nearly gotten taken out by the barrage of blasters that had missed the five targets they were we're aiming for. The three of them could have taken them out quickly and been in cover by the time anyone knew what was happening. Tal picked up his IPR-5 and moved forward, connecting with Corporal before firing two pairs of bolts, three of them hitting the cover in front of them. The fourth shot, however landed, and blew a hole where one Sarkan's face used to be.
@Rexx

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

Vex needed to see Kalladrrl now. Not later. Now.

She had used her contacts to find out where he was; luckily she was nearby. Having sped there she found herself on a street behind what she assumed was back up for the other side. Wearing her Away Armor, clenching both sabers in her hands, one crimson blade ignited. The need to see Kal and the annoyance of not being able to contact him fueled her power. Writhing inside and around her.

Reaching up, blue lightning crackled down her arms, out from her hands. It spread down the street in a large cone, obliterating men in it's wake. Giving them no time to scream. Very few men could stand against her power. If any imperials got caught in her lightning it wouldn't particularly bother her, but from a first glance there weren't any in it's path.

Keeping her senses heightened for any further irritants, she kept walking as the short burst of lightning finished spilling from her hands. It wouldn't take her to long to make it into the entrance where she would begin to search for Kal.

@Rexx @Ecclessey @Gian Greydragon

 

[Kalladrrl]

“What in the hell was that?” said a gravelly voice on the commlink channel, in stunned disbelief as one squad of the platoon took up firing positions, sending blaster bolts down into the troops that had rallied to the gate. Their volley found purchase within the troops that crowded the gate, felling six of the Sarkans and evening the odds further, especially with the addition of a mighty force multiplier of the deadliest kind. One of the Blackguards sighted down the figure and grinned from the top of the garage.

“Sith asset identified: Vex. Repeat, Vex sighted on the battlefield.”

Kalladrrl’s heart leapt in his chest even as he pirouetted agilely, stepping into the space of two Sarkans and cleaving the energy blade through them. The first rolled backward in an attempt to escape but the tip of the blade carved through its chest and it died screaming as the other was cloven in twain, smoking rising from the evaporation of blood. The Wookiee's growl of exertion, ferocious and booming, prefaced his orders.

“Blackguards! Thirty on the ground, ten sets of eyes up top!” His orders were a barking as he dove into cover, fuming but also excited to know that Vex (@Dread) was so close. But why?

The Wookiee did not have much time to think about why his favorite person who walked the galaxy had graced this operation with her deadly presence, as twenty-nine Blackguard commandos rappelled down the garage in less than three seconds. Their black figures moved swiftly, abandoning the ropes and charging forward into the gate, roaring as they rolled and took up defensive positions, forming a bulwark of bodies and blaster fire that turned the balance of the fight back to the ground team's favor. Fifteen of the Blackguards had unarmed explosives clipped to their belts, the starfighter team. They were eager to use them as they offered covering fire for the Sith and the other Imperials.

Inside the tower, Kalladrrl rolled from cover and attempted to spear a Sarkan with his blade, but they jumped back and leveled their blaster at him, letting loose a two shots that the Wookiee deflected deftly, sending them back to their owner and burning a large hole in his chest, sending him toppling backward. Kalladrrl needed to work on his form and speed if he was going to wield this lightsaber. Perhaps he would ask Vex for some pointers if he got out of this tower with his hide intact. He'd made a sizable dent in their forces but damn if this wasn't going to be difficult.

@Ecclessey

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

She wasn't even at the door when she sensed Kal, turning her head somewhat and stopping in her tracks in response to it. Their bond had grown enough that she could tell his signature apart from others. It seemed that every day that past, every mission, every moment they spent together strengthened it.

Instead of looking for him, she decided to contact him through the Force, Kalladrrl, I need to speak with you. Please, finish whatever you're up to as quickly as possible. Vex made sure to keep her senses sharp as she communicated with him. For all she knew, there was more backup on the way. Though, at the moment, she had wiped out what was in the area. In the meantime, I'll keep your path out clear and safe.

@Rexx

 

[Kalladrrl]

Kalladrrl stopped as her voice was clear as a bell in his head, and he turned to look but it was him alone amidst the smoking corpses of Sarkan defenders. Of course – she spoke through the Force. For a moment, he concentrated on her and began to think in the grumbling, guttural growls of Shyriiwook, but then he remembered he didn’t have to; he could speak back in Basic all he wanted.

“You have my thanks, Vex” he replied through their connection, still not used to the powers that Vex wielded, but delighted at his inner voice being able to speak Basic. “Keep the way clear so my Blackguards can retreat once they’ve blown the starfighter hangar.” He charged again, cutting through Sarkans like they were plants and he the gardener, although one or two of them managed to hit him with glancing blows that only enraged him further, provoking his body into a violent whirlwind of limbs and lightsaber, like an angry tornado, only the tornado was armed with a blade made of the heart of a star. The lightsaber sang with whirs and hums, delighted at the levels of violence to which its owner raised any battlefield he fought upon.

As the Commander unleashed his wrath upon the occupants of the tower, the Blackguards armed with explosives moved forward, quickly and precisely making their way to the Sarkan hangar. Their work was short and simple, and in teams they moved through the hangar, mining each starfighter and the fuel repository in the hangar. When it was crunch time, the Blackguards could move like no other unit. Magnetic pads gripped the starfighters like some sort of parasite, ready to do lethal damage to its host. A chirp on the commlink preceded a message from the platoon.

“Commander, the payloads are in place. You want to do the honors?”

“No, soldier,” came Kalladrrl’s reply, “One of y’all light it up. I’m still finishing in the tower.” His reply came as he slashed through the chest of the last one, tracing a burning line as the Sarkan fell back into death. He breathed heavily; these were better armed and trained that the entire village of Felucians he had killed, but they were smaller and more easily cowed by the presence of an angry Wookiee with a vicious lightsaber. Some still groaned, shock not having killed them, but the scent of smoke and blood filled the air like the fruit of his labors. This part never got old -- mopping up and finishing it off. Kalladrrl’s accented, rapid-fire tapping at the terminal was punctuated by a very loud bang that shook every surface of the tower as fire engulfed the hangar utterly, the numerous mines doing their job and doing it well. As he tapped, he became more eager to be done with this place, but he did not seem to need to finish this leg of his job -- apparently, the generators of the facility had been housed near enough to the hangar that the explosion had taken them out as well. A solitary bark of laughter left him. All’s well that ended better than expected -- his heart raced as he descended the gantry to the entryway and exited the tower, where he spotted a diminutive figure that radiated power that was almost visible to him in its own way. And the bloodthirst vanished from his smile, replaced with subtle contentedness at Vex’s presence. Blackguards hustled out of the smouldering wreck of a base in formation, paying the Commander nor the Sith no mind, and Kalladrrl paid no attention to the other legionnaires as well. There was only one person on his mind now.

//end thread