Standing Ground

[Shalken]

Barab I​

Gellart swore as he tripped over a bit of loose rock. Even with his helmet's basic night vision, he couldn't see terribly well. He double-checked his gear, just to make sure nothing had fallen off: five ammo packs, toolkit, trauma pack, his trusty Thunderbuster, and his thermal detonators. What was left of them, rather. Normally he was only allowed two, but the gracious Empire had given him five more more to meet "mission requirements" - four of which he'd just placed in various side tunnels. How generous of them.

He ran through the mission parameters once again in his head. Close off all the smaller side tunnels, leaving only the main one to funnel in the Barabel rebels. Shaking his head, Gellart headed towards the last side cavern he was tasked with caving in. While there were several more side tunnels, two others had come along to assist with the job. They'd have to find their own way of bringing down the other caves. Not that he doubted they'd be able to. One was some kind of monstrous scaled four-armed...thing, and the other was a freakish living skeleton from his worst nightmares — and both were those crazy Sith forcies to boot. Beggars can't be choosers, Gell.

Nearing the last smaller cavern, he relayed over their closed comm channel, "Private Creed planting fifth detonator, over."

@Richie B. @Vinn Esper​

 

[Vinn Esper]

Scream was glad he hadn't over estimated the usability of the F11 flight suit he was wearing as he traveled through a separate tunnel. Each Sith had taken a different group of tunnels to expedite the mission. The Sith mission was to destroy a total of eighteen tunnels. Each individual Sith was responsible for six tunnels.

The imperial troopers voice came over the communicator in his suit. Scream didn't hate imperial troopers any more or less then he hated regular Sith. Each being had it's value and use. Even fodder had an assigned value. The trick was to assign value accurately, and use those values against opposing values in such a way that left a positive balance on your side. That was how one achieved victory.

"We should probably set these detonators to explode in different time periods," Scream said into the communicator, "we don't want and cave in and explosions are dangerous underground."

Scream's sealed suit which provided it's own atmosphere protected him from being overheard. Even so, Scream was holding his XPC at waist level and advancing down his tunnel carefully. Scream was also carrying a few bombs to set off down here. He needed to set six in total. One bomb would be set in each tunnel. His HUD had the coordinates of each bomb placement location programmed in and was displaying his distance from those locations.

The first bombs would be timed for sixty minutes. Ideally he would reach the next two tunnels in twenty minutes or less. The second and third bombs would be timed to explode five to ten minutes after the first bomb. By the time the third bomb went, scream was hoping to have the fourth bomb planted to go off forty five minutes after the third. That would give him to requisite time to plant his last two bombs and escape.

Scream knew things didn't always work out ideally. So in addition to his bombs and lightsaber, he also had a couple extra xpc ammo packs. If needed, they could be used to create additional bombs. He had also had a flashlight attached to the XPC, to make up for his suits lack visibility down here.

 

[Richie B.]

The Sith Asher was given a mission to help bring down a group of raiders in caves which meant after the fight they would need to bury the route which the enemy used. Which should be fun, the Sith had only a vest on, and two lightsabers, with two pistols. In addition he had four thermal grenades and two charges to use. The Sith had been alone for most of the time and he didn't feel the need to talk that much on the communicator. That was of course when the soldier and other Sith decided to talk.

"Well think only idiots would assume a explosion underground is a non dangerous assignment." The Annoo-Dat replied with a level of sass he isn't usually associated with.

He continued to make though the tunnel going hopefully the same place where the targets were. If something were to happen, Asher wouldn't think twice just bringing down the entire cave even if his partners didn't get out. The Sith continued to climb making sure he would make good time, the task wasn't so difficult though that Asher thinks he would be have a hard time. The lightsabers here already in his two upper hands and the pistols were holster on his hips prepared to get pulled.

@Shalken @Vinn Esper

 

[Shalken]

Gellart groaned inwardly and rolled his eyes at his companion's banter. ⁝⁝ Great, and smart-asses to boot. ⁝⁝ As much as he wanted to ignore them, he grudgingly accepted that he would need their help to complete this mission, unfortunately. Creed couldn't give a damn about how dangerous the mission was; hell, practically every outing the Empire sent him on was dangerous — all of which he'd managed to survive, somehow.

Having planted all of his explosives, Gellart exited into the main shaft they planned to funnel the rebels into. ⁝⁝ Should probably start setting up some cover. Gonna be one hell of a shootout. ⁝⁝ Making his way through the tunnel, the private began dislodging any stalactites that could collapse on their heads and stacked them alongside boulders and whatever else he could find to create makeshift barricades. While they would hold up for at least a few minutes under fire, they wouldn't stand a chance if these rebels were packing some serious explosives. Even still, these weren't just normal rebels, they were angry freakin' lizard-people. What the hell was he doing? Fighting giant lizards on some planet engulfed in eternal twilight. ⁝⁝ It's just a job, it's just a job. ⁝⁝ Gellart hated his job.

@Vinn Esper​

 

[Vinn Esper]

Scream's muscles were not optimized to partake in activities such as climbing. Fortunately, the tunnel he had selected seemed to have a gentle incline. Scream continued to make his way through the first tunnel. He was taking his time because he knew he wasn't going have that option later. The underground tunnel seemed to be eerily silent.

Perhaps the tunnel was the same level of silent it always was. Perhaps Scream just really disliked being underground. He finally made it to the first bombing position. Scream had worked out the best places to set his bombs on a map and programmed the his of his suit to navigate to each location in order. "Navigate next location," he told the suit. His hud showed a yellow diamond in the distance.

Scream began looking around for a place to plant the first bomb. The tunnel walls at this location seemed to be remarkably void of angles or large rocks, upon which to set the bomb. Fortunately, this far underground, the tunnels were comprised mostly of dirt which had been packed together by time and pressure. Scream set his xpc over his back. Then, he dug at the side of the tunnel until he had created a suitable sized box to place the first bomb in. With the first bomb set, Scream began to jog further down the tunnel towards the exit.

The underground terrain was made up of a bunch of tunnels and chambers which connected them. To get to his next bomb position he was going to have to travel through two small chambers and a small tunnel which connected them. Scream had estimated a forty percent chance of enemy contact in the first chamber. He had planned his route based on collected data regarding how the enemies frequented the tunnels. The tunnels which Scream would likely have to fight for, he would reach last.

The idea was to have the less used tunnels detonate as he began to engage the enemy using the other tunnels. That way, once they ran in fear of him, they would not be able to use the other tunnels. Once the first tunnels detonated, though, the enemy would surely realize what was happening and attempt to interfere. Scream reached the first chamber he had to pass to get to his next position. He still had nineteen thirty to plant his next two bombs.

The small tunnel he had to pass to the other chamber, was relative close, and no enemies had been sighted. There was a fourty eight percent chance of encountering an enemy in the connecting tunnel. Fifty five percent in the next chamber. The percentages generally continued to increase as he continued his mission. Still, Scream pressed on toward his second location without fear.

 

[Richie B.]

Asher internally laughed as the other Sith seemed to completely shut up about the speaking loudly. Maybe it was because right now they had a job to do, maybe it had to do with Asher being a boss, well either way the Sith made sure to applaud himself on the back thinking he did something right. So as he made the trek down the cave, the Sith was prepared to do what he needed to finish off these other lizard folk. Not that he was racist but Annoo-Dat for life!

Still he was prepared to fight as he continued to go down his own tunnel, that was when he heard fighting further down the tunnel. With the sound bouncing off the walls it was hard for the Sith truly know how far the fighting was. Still he wasn't going to sit around and wait, he rushed forward pushing himself with the aid of the force, that was when he made a turn and ran into a few Barabel's himself. Sure they were both lizard folk but seeing as he was orange rather then whatever their color was.

With that Asher began charging with a yell, activating his two blades and starting to go into melee with the Barabels. It was a easy fight considering the limited space for blasters, but he was sure to enjoy this.

"Same here, but I am sure to go to which ever needs someone to hold their hand." The Templar spoke into the commlink but he made sure to listen in case there was any call from said commlink.

@Vinn Esper @Shalken

 

[Shalken]

"Bombs in the central cavern?! Are you—" Gellart was unable to finish his thought, however, as a blaster bolt screamed past his shoulder and another landed at his feet. Diving for cover, Creed flicked off the safety on his rifle and into semi-auto. Charging the mag, he shouldered the blaster and peeked out from behind the stalagmite, releasing two shots at each the two Barabel that had entered the cavern on his side. "Contact at Bravo!" Dropping them, he set off towards the central chamber at a quick jog.

"The objective is to close off the entrances, not collapse the entire tunnel network!" Gellart griped, breathing heavily. "We'd destroy the base and kill everyone inside, including ourselv—kessin' HELL!" Once again he was interrupted as another rain of blasterfire streaked past him, one of which found its mark on his the back of his leg. While his armour dissipated most of the hit, it still left a smouldering black spot on his calf, which began to throb from the impact. Regretting signing up for the military all over again, Gellart slid down a steep portion of the cavern, flipping onto his stomach and pulling his gun to his shoulder once more. Seeing several scaled figures through his sights, he flicked onto pulse-fire mode, squeezing several bursts back at the rebels. All of them hit the ground, all but one — which pounced right on top of him. The Barabel latched onto his rifle, ripping it from his hands and throwing it aside before assaulting his torso with its vicious claws. Batting his attacker's arms away as best he could, Creed pivoted his body and struck out with his palms, pushing the thing to the side. Clambering over and pinning it down, he had just enough time to draw his trusty Thunderbuster and put a pole in its eye socket.

Hearing distant roars from up the cavern, Gellart holstered his pistol, grabbing his rifle before making his way down towards the central chamber. "I think I could use some of that 'hand-holding' right about now." He was seriously starting to regret putting all three thermal detonators at the cave's mouth.

@Vinn Esper​

 

[Vinn Esper]

Scream had only been set upon by eight Barbels in total. With his flashlight obstructing their vision, and the superior fire power of his xpc, Scream dispatched them easily. He was moving up, now. Scream checked the Barab bodies and found a few thermal detonators. "Check the bodies," Scream said into his comms.

Scream went about placing the three thermal detonators at points that ensured the entrance's destruction, "I think these lizard men were on the same mission as us, either that, or they're foolishly carrying bombs underground."

Scream continued to watch down the tunnel. He hadn't yet bothered to reload his xpc, so he held his activated lightsaber in his hand. "I believe it is now more logical to plant my timed bombs in the central chamber. We must prevent these lizard men from ever posing a challenge to us again. Let only cowardice prevent you from assisting me."

Scream would continue to wait at the second entrance until the other Sith arrived. He didn't want to leave it unguarded. Scream could hear heavy foot falls off in the distance. There was a seventy percent chance they were traveling in his direction. Scream prepared himself to do battle a second time.