Tarisian Ale

[Juulius Kryze]

The governor of Taris is a notoriously-stubborn individual who hopes to keep Taris neutral after it threw off its Imperial shackles. We disagree with that notion, however, and would like for our warriors to show him the light. Infiltrate his estate and force him to capitulate and join the Mandalorians.

Juulius sat quietly in the underbrush roughly 100 meters from the governor's estate home, a relatively remote vacation residence that Mandalorian intel had shown he would be residing in for the weekend. Rear end seated on a log, slightly uphill from the ground floor of the land the home sat upon Juulius looked through a pair of microbinoculars, his typically black and grey armor was covered in shades of green and brown and topped with a jungle green poncho as a light rain fell upon his helmet.

"I count two pairs of roving sentries and a single guard at the back entrance just beyond the pool. Likely a one or two man team at the front door and maybe a team inside, intel didn't say if he has a family or if they're present... What do you want to do if civilians are present beyond our target?" Juulius concluded as he adjusted his legs before they got numb with his deck sweeper resting along them. He was carrying his typical loadout and kept shooting a glance to his beskad theorizing the best way to scare this man into a favorable situation with the Mandalorians rather than just killing him.

The jungle felt more like a home even though he was used to the terrains of a forest it was still more welcoming than any sprawling city to this backwater Mandalorian. "You're senior on this so if you have a plan for entry let me know and I'll be ready on your go-ahead. Probably best if we don't hang around for long as reinforcements will likely be raised when it gets loud." Juulius finished and returned to watching the guards patrol back and forth looking even more bored than his partner.
@Rud Solus

 

[Rud Solus]

Rud checked his loadout for the last time, including the extra powerpacks for his rifle and pistol. "This is a lot of security for a governor's retreat-" he began, wondering what had made the man so paranoid..and then realizing that that was probably them. "-Let's try stealth. Take out the sentries and the lone guard at the pool." Rud was confident that Juulius was skilled enough to make this mission go easy for him and thus, with plenty confidence he began to move forward to one of the patrolling sentries as the first signs of the setting sun supported his cover along the edges of the jungle.

Soon the lights inside would turn on and reveal to the two mandalorians who were inside and what the total tally of their opposition would be. Since the sentries walked around in pairs it was probably best for Juulius and Rud to take them out together, too. Just to limit the chance of one being able to raise the alarm while you're still giving his partner a breath-taking love-hug.

It didn't take them long to come close to the first sentries when Rud stopped and whispered into his comm line with Juulius, "You take point." It was time to see what this kid was made of.

@Rimrald

 

[Juulius Kryze]

Juulius stood slowly with a nod, this did seem like a lot of guards for the governors retreat but the fact Mandalorians are interested in your corner of space would make you nervous just the same. Slinging his repeater as he moved down the short hill Juulius watched as the near and far sentries moved, waiting for the opening to move over the fence and into the courtyard. As the two teams split Juulius scrambles for the fence, catching it and hoisting himself over throwing one leg at a time and looking about to see if he's been made yet.

Thankfully in his less than perfect climb he hadn't been spotted as he dropped down and into a large fern, but he had gotten the attention of the rear entrance guard the one who stands opposite the pool from him who looks with suspicion before raising the commlink and chattering into it "Hey 1-1 make a round outside the fence, sounds like the local wildlife might be coming close again..." With that he drops his comms and returns to his post, producing a small lighter and having a smoke leaning against the building.

"Rud, one of the teams is coming around back. I can take this guy if you take them." Juulius whispered into the comm, waiting for the response for only a moment before he would move out of the fern drawing his beskad as he moved low. Coming around from the man's right side almost behind his peripheral Juulius gives a rapid pommel strike to his temple knocking him to the ground before being turned over and having his throat cut with the beskad. Leaving Juulius alone with a virtually silent kill at his feet awaiting a call for help if one was to come from his partner.
@Rud Solus

 

[Rud Solus]

"Roger," Rud had replied to Juulius over their shared comm before sneaking towards the patrol. His plan was simple; sneak up behind them and rifle-butt both of them before they could react. In theory it was a plan that merited some degree of success, but in practice it seemed Rud wasn't quite used to his cybernetics after all..

A heavy step just before he moved to bring down his rifle upon the first guard betrayed his presence, prompting both guards to step away and foil his attack. The unmistaken grin one of their faces, having caught a Mandalorian this off guard, was unmistakable. The guard next to the one Rud had targeted and had thus moved directly into his blind spot swung his right fist immediately and hit Rud straight on the helmet and knocked him to the ground. The second guard, relieved that he hadn't gotten the butt of the Mandalorian's rifle to his head, kicked Rud while he was down.

It was undeniable. Rud was in a bad spot.

@Rimrald

 

[Juulius Kryze]

Juulius could hear the scuffle on the far side of the fence, it wasn't anything as violent as blasters yet, but it seemed overly involved for a quick take down of a two man patrol. Sensing something was off with his partner Juulius took a look to his left and right before stepping over the body of the slain combatant and taking a running start he performed a side flip over the pools surface. Knowing if his Vod had seen such an action the repercussions would be potentially life ending if not months of scrutiny and everlasting distrust from other Mandalorians when the word spread he was 'different'.

Sticking his landing Juulius was still on the move and with some assistance from the strange energy that coursed through him, only assumed to be Hod Harangir's amalgamation of the force within him; Juulius leapt for the fence's top. Planting one hand and going over as if vaulting a waist high fence on the playground, and landing with beskad in his other hand to see Rud on the ground amongst the patrol. It seemed to be his softened landing had not alerted the duo to his presence and with swiftness he moved forward driving his beskad through the back and into the heart of the man kicking Rud; dispatching him with only a death gargle.

But this gave time to his accomplice to ready his comms "Mandalorians outside the fence! Mandalorians outside the fence!" he screeched into the device as Juulius was unlodging the beskad from his partner.
@Rud Solus

 

[Rud Solus]

Already Rud was turning into a punching back with his ribs bruised due to the guard's kick when Juulius came to his swift rescue. There wasn't time for Rud to wonder how in Hod he managed to get over there so fast. His mind in adrenaline-fueled action mode, Rud dropped the rifle and extended the concealed blade from his left wrist as he rose to drive it into the other guard as the latter alarmed his fellows in and around the estate.

Unfortunately, the governor of Taris didn't employ just any security guard as this one skillfully side-stepped Rud's attack and with a swift strike with a knife he seemed to produce out of nowhere managed to dislodge the blade from Rud's wrist, causing it to drop to the ground. Rud's eyes widened, what the Kark.

Not a second later the guard's elbow collided with Rud's helmet and smacked the supercommando down hard just before six guards ran up to their position with flaslights and blaster pistols out.

Rud was thoroughly outclassed.

@Rimrald

 

[Juulius Kryze]

Juulius turned to deal with the other guard swinging the beskad at his but the man would duck, coming up and cracking Juulius in the ribs but leaving him open to a second attack. Spinning his beskad in his hand from backhand to a traditional grip and driving his weapon through the man's ribs and into his heart, grinning under his helmet but his small victory was short lived as the flashlights and voices entered the scene. The crack of a blaster was the only thing Juulius registered as the heat and small force of a hit dissipated against his backplate knowing his armor couldn't take another hit like that, using the currently skewered body Juulius would spin him holding the corpse like a hostage.

Beskad in his left hand and deep in his dead assailant he would cross draw his blaster pistol firing towards the two closest flashlights sinking a shot into each attacker and watching the torches hit the ground as the others retaliated with sporadic fire some rounds bouncing off the ground and others impacting the human shield he was using. "Get up! Use my repeater if you want!" Juulius shouted without turning his head, firing a few more bolts to scatter the attackers. Hopefully he had a plan because Juulius was currently planted in front of him in an effort to shield him from blaster fire that had not gotten terribly accurate yet but that was only for the time being.
@Ecclessey

 

[Rud Solus]

Both the guards now dead, Rud stood and pulled his blaster pistol from its holster. "Who the kriff were these guys!?" he asked Juulius as he fired at the incoming guards, killing two with clean shots to the face, but missing the other two. His body ached and if he hadn't been a battle-hardened Mandalorian, for the enemy had literally done worse to his body before, Rud wasn't sure if he'd still be standing with the alertness he was still able to muster right now.

Before he could fire again to down the remaining two, one of them got an aimed shot off at Rud who barely managed to evade it only to lose his footing in the process when he stepped on one of the bodies laying at Rud and Juulius' feet. He wasn't able to aim his pistol as a result and had to count on his partner-in-crime to take the last two down.

@Rimrald

 

[Juulius Kryze]

Juulius would take aim at another of the flashlights in the growing darkness and fire two bolts into the center mass of its direction, watching it tumble to the ground with a small sound behind it. He would then dislodge his beskad from his human shield that was now very badly burned and covered in bolt scorches, wiping the blade on his uniform and replying to Rud "I have no idea, but they were tougher than I-" Still bent over wiping his blade, the last flashlight emerged and Juulius knew even he was too late as the crack of the blaster was in his ear so was the bolt against his helmeted head sending him on his side and momentarily out of consciousness. Thankfully it was not a blaster doing any serious damage, although the men were trained well it seemed as if they were not equipped to hit anyone more armored than a protestor.

Juulius came back to consciousness moments later the shock and realization he was shot in the head was more likely what caused him to faint but with a few rapid blinks he would move his hand feeling it grasp his beskad. Unaware if he was dead or alive he was momentarily too afraid to sit up.
@Ecclessey

 

[Rud Solus]

Barely after Rud's back had touched the ground his heart sank as he watched Juulius dropped with a scorchmark on his helmet. Enraged, the supercommando quickly sat upright, aimed at the remaining guard and fired. The guard dropped dead and a quiet trance returned to the governor's country estate. Slowly, fearing the worst, Rud turned towards Juulius, "Verde?" he muttered, unable to remember the man's name in the moments after his panic-induced adrenaline spike. He'd been a goner for sure if this guy hadn't been there to save his ass and now he had been...

Rud was overjoyed, but silently without anyone realizing, when Juulius started moving again. It took him a moment before deciding to take a tough love approach, "Shake it off-" he said as he crawled back onto his feet and holstered the pistol before taking his rifle back from the cold ground. "-this is no time for a nap." Once they were done with their mission Rud would probably be more inclined to praise the young blood, but you never knew what could happen if you allowed a lapse in your alertness.

Deciding to split up again without informing his savior, Rud made way for the west side of the estate. There, he kicked in a fragile-looking door that lead to the governor's study, but aside from a still emitting datapad, the Governor wasn't there. What was there was a self-destruct mode on the datapad, which upon reading Rud's presence had initiated and blown itself up with Rud caught up at the edge of the radius. Mere moments after he'd kicked in the door, the supercommando flown through the same ruined door, the entire front of his armor blackened and its plates ruined.

He'd be fine.. after he'd dusted off all the embarrassment over this mission that is.

Meanwhile, the Governor had run towards the east side of the estate and then jumped outside through a window where he knew the highest concentration of guards would be. But alas, he jumped right in front of Juulius. The human was still oblivious to it, his eyes still having to adjust to the dark, which was sure to give Juulius all the time he needed to be subtle about the capitulation.

@Rimrald

 

[Juulius Kryze]

Juulius would come about fully as the words of his partner in this endeavour began to fill his ears. Calling for him to get on his feet and keep fighting, then a hand was in his face which he instinctively grabbed and come to his feet, reaching over unsteadily for his beskad and pistol he would sheath and holster them respectively before looking up. Finding his partner gone as he looked up he assumed he had moved inside the wall to sweep for their target, the governor was still at large within the operation even though the external security had been dealt with.

Taking a moment to focus himself Juulius would close his eyes and reach out for Hod Ha'rangir and feel the forces of the world gathering inside him again as he focused. Only to be alarmed by the sound of an explosion inside the manor home "Rud? Rud?!" Juulius called out into his helmet integrated commlink, fearing the worst he began for the fence to check on his vod but he was greeted by something unusual as the Governor was coming down and tore into a sprint. Making it a few steps before running clean into the unarmed and still disguise ridden mandalorian, yoking him up by the throat as he caught the runner mid step Juulius would force him off of the ground and backwards through the fence he'd just traversed.

With a loud crash and splintering wood the Governor would roll once and let out a groan as he rolled over on the ground, walking through the new hole in the fence Juulius would make visual confirmation that Rud was alive and let out a sigh of relief in his head. Unsheathing his beskad as he straddled the Governor, Juulius would grab him by the collar and drag his body towards the pool before holding his head under the water as he thrashed until Juulius figured he'd start having trouble breathing as air bubbles began to come up.

Pulling his head from the water Juulius spoke evenly as he placed his beskad against the man's throat "You will pledge your allegiance to the Mandalorians, yes?" Juulius waited for an answer or an indication of understanding as the man coughed water out of his lungs, ready to dunk him a second time the man cried out as his head began to move. "Yes, yes, YES! The Mandalorians yes." Releasing his grip on the man's collar Juulius stepped back sheathing his beskad without another word, moving to join his partner and make the trek back to their transport.

@Ecclessey
/end thread