The Assault on the Compound

[Harlan Banks]

Harlan seemed to be getting roped into more and more dangerous feats of derring-do on behalf of the Hutts, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. Certainly, the pay was good. While his debts to the Cartel still numbered far higher than anything he could possibly hope to get after even a dozen of these things, he was certainly getting a nice little station set up for him, and a pretty kitty set up for when it was finally time to retire from all this Cartel business and get back on the galactic highway.

For now though, he did as he was kriff well told, and today he'd been told to go to war. Inter-Hutt war, to be exact. A rather aggressive Vigo, The Wook, meant to secure himself a place on the Council and Balla wasn't exactly going down without a fight. He'd already taken out air support with a plucky little Jawa. But it seemed as soon as he touched down there, it was go time again here.

His head was spinning from it all, not least from the shaking it took inside the tank their employer had set them up with. A good bit of kit, all things considered, though he couldn't help but wonder, after all these years as a pettier class of criminal, how he'd managed to find himself where he was today, in the back of a tank across from a rather intimidating looking woman who could no doubt do some damage to him if he annoyed her. And his track record on that front wasn't exactly strong,

"Alrighty so, that gun, we hitting the generator, or the just... ya know, whacking some guys about so they can't use it? Thoughts? Preferences?" Harlan asked her, though it felt like this was something that should have been decided earlier, really. As he let his partner reply the tank sped toward the anti-air tower, and Balla's imposing stronghold. This battle was just heating up.

@Xorism @Cazar @Clayton

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria didn't care for either the Wook nor Bella nor Harlan for that matter yet here they were together about to cause mayhem for the first against the former. Credits were a girls dream and the Wook was not shy about ensuring she was well paid for her efforts on this mission.

There were two questions that remained, one being whether they would focus on taking out the shield generator and allowing the hulking tank to bulldoze down the defenses itself or charging in guns blazing and taking down the suckers guarding it. The second question would be if this Harlan fellow would survive, he didn't exactly look the fighter type but looks were always deceiving in the cartel.

Victoria came well equipped for the fight and carried her usual gear while they rode in the tank toward their destination. Her thunderbolts was a recent addition to the collection and she eagerly awaited the opportunity to test it out on these idiots.

"Destroy the shield generator, the tower will be a death trap and this way, they'll be the ones trapped."

@Nightfall096 @Cazar

 

[The Storyteller]

Life had been heating up recently for the Balla thugs. They were on high alert. When a real assault came they were quite ready to help repel it. Men in the tower waited eagerly as a tank approached, trusting the shield generator to protect them from the big guns. An invading force would be met with powerful opposition. Meanwhile, the shield generator was protected by barricades and troops as well. A tank would never reach the generator by itself but a couple of ground troops might be able to get in and sabotage it.

A mix of Human, Trandoshan, Twi'lek, Iktotchi, and Gamorrean guards were spread out over the anti-air compound. Everyone took cover to watch as the tank came in hot. They didn't have firepower to remove it but they could stop it with the shield and the barricades. It would be a stalemate that they would eventually break when reinforcements arrived to defeat the tank. Those in the tank would need to exit and risk assaulting one way or another to win this fight.

"Lord Balla, we have come under attack!" One of the slimy Iktotchi guards growled into his communications device.

Three human guards placed rifles over their cover momentarily and begin suppressing fire on the tank. Their goal was not to break it so much as to discourage anyone from exiting the vehicle while Balla sent reinforcements. They wore simple medium armor with a half-helmet and had some cheap blaster rifles. Not the best of the best but they could certainly catch someone off guard or overwhelm by numbers.

@Xorism @Nightfall096

 

[Harlan Banks]

"Sounds like a plan Vic. Vic, can I call you Vic? I just thought it was a little snappier than-" any further ridiculous banter on Harlan's behalf was cut off by the sudden ratatat-tat of blaster bolts upon the tanks walls, pulling him away from the chat. Not that he wanted to exactly stop chatting, but cest la vie in times like these it seemed.

"What in the world..." he muttered to himself as he moved up in the tanks interior, taking a look at the exterior display. Balla was no slouch, with barricades and blasters arrayed before them to slow their advance. The discouraging effect of the bolts worked on Harlan at least, who wasn't acitvely excited for exiting into a rather lethal storm like that, and not so far away from their goal. The tank wouldn't be able to drive through the barricades with any ease, but it could get them closer,

"Let's do a little something about that, fire on that first barricade!" he called out, and within moments a truly explosive round from the tanks front gun would erupt out, streaking across the battlefield toward that first trio of soldiers in seconds as they closed in on the AA gun, and their necessary exit from the safety inside the tank. The round, he thought, would be enough to blast that layer of cover down, and get them in closer.

What they did after that exactly, he had no idea.

But as the tank pulled up to the first line of cover, ready to let them out, he looked over at Victoria,

"You know, I'll uh, I'll follow your lead, you know?" he took a quick look at the weapons and armour she had ready, and compared his little tri-blaster in hand,

"You just, you seem like you know what you're doing" because he certainly didn't.


@Xorism @Cazar

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria sighed and rolled her eyes at Harlan calling her Vic. "Sure thing Specs." She layered her reply in sarcasm as their tank came under assault from Bella's thugs. It seemed as if the enemy lacked heavy weaponry as she looked toward Harlan and noticed that they both were still alive and unharmed.

On the tanks console from their vantage point, they could see a partial view of the enemies positions and barricades although they would need to utilize the tank's capabilities to get engaged successfully. "I'll lay down some fire if the tank hasn't taken them out and head for cover, while you jump out and do the same. Just keep moving until we find the shield generator okay?"

Victoria would pop out of the tank with her rifle drawn and ready to fire if any of the guards were still active otherwise she would climb out fully and run for cover, returning fire briefly if shot at by the enemy. She would seek cover that she could use to observe the barricades before assaulting them directly ensuring that she was to remain within the field of view of their tank support but as covered as she could hope from enemy fire. If at any point she was able to locate an enemy, she would fire twice with her heavy damaging rifle and blast those suckers into their next life.

Should an enemy be located behind a barrier, Victoria would simply cook a frag grenade and time it so that it would explode shortly after arriving near them without giving the guard a chance to retrieve it.

@Nightfall096 @Cazar

 

[The Storyteller]

The first of many barricades exploded partially as the tank opened up on it, but it wouldn't really be made passable. The tank would essentially be stuck providing support from where it was while the pair worked their way inwards. It did do the job of distracting and even harming those trying to suppress them. One of the thugs was killed instantly while another was struck by shrapnel and went down. The third dove for cover and was able to resume firing once Victoria made it to cover. He was still a bit dazed so when he saw her she had more than enough time to fire first and finish him off. The rest likely would not be so easy though.

Needless to say, everyone was now on high alert after a tank fired at the barricades. Twin Trandoshan Trackers from a bit further back were able to see their fellow guards struck down. Vic and Specs came in their sights. Both focused on the woman first. At 80 meters back their basic 2-L Blaster Rifles would have an advantage over what she had been packing. Two shots, one from each, leaped out of the barrels towards her, hopefully before she could take new cover. The Twin Trandoshan Trackers were too far for a grenade or for heavy damage from a pulse rifle. Vic would have to approach or see if her new friend had something to help.

@Xorism @Nightfall096

 

[Harlan Banks]

Specs.

Specs. He liked that, even if the gal did roll her eyes as she said it. But it was better than nothin', and for that he was glad. In which case, Harlan 'Specs' Banks would follow Vic out the tank, taking cover against the left hand side of the barricade, even as blaster bolts began to come in their way.

Though, it seemed, primarily her way, which for someone as... unsuited to battle, one might say, as he was, this gave him the moment he needed to take in the whole kriffing scene. And boy, was it a doozy. There were layers of barricades and blasters between them and the generator, more than he was exactly excited to run for. That said, he wouldn't get paid if he didn't. He also might get shot if he didn't.

And fear was a great motivator after all.

With the focus on Vic he used a moment to round the cover and collect the rifle of the attacker downed by shrapnel, bringing him closer in to the trandoshans hitting them, and a rifle that could actually fire back from the kriffing range he found himself at. Harlan opted for the spray and pray method, hoping to suppress them enough that they wouldn't be jumping out for any more shots at him or Vic.

"Up yours, kriffers!" He called out, trying to draw their attention as he fired half a dozen rounds in their direction, and keep them suppressed if it went they way he hoped. Or dead, ideally.

"You're up Vic!" if they could leapfrog their way closer like this they might have a chance.

They had to make it now anyway, they had nicknames and everything.


@Xorism @Cazar

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria stopped in her tracks for a moment as the first two blaster bolts raced on by where she would have run into them a moment later before diving for cover immediately after while clutching her rifle. She had drawn the ire of both guards and she was out of range to seriously hurt them although the thunderbuss was capable of hitting out to 150 meters.

"Get your ass movin' Specs!" Victoria yelled out as she spun around to fire off two shots at long range, which if they hit would do light damage to their targets. She would duck to avoid incoming fire while Specs moved round to fire himself which would give Vic a chance to get up and charge forward toward the next set of the cover 30 meters closer which happened to be a thick concrete wall corner.

From here Vic would pause until she could hear the guards firing back on Specs before she ducked out and moved to within 50 meters to fire her thunderbuss weapon twice at the chest of both guards while taking steps to avoid incoming blaster fire.

@Nightfall096 @Cazar

 

[The Storyteller]

"You missssed!" Came the judgemental cry of one of the Trandoshans before the other responded. "Ssso did you!"

The brief argument was ended when they noticed the other target grab a weapon to fire back. Having been watching from down range it wasn't hard to see all of the shots coming. They took cover from the incoming bursts but realized these were not deadly accurate blasts. In fact, they seemed horribly aimed besides the few light pulses that hit their cover. Both of the Trandoshans sighed as they realized it was just a suppressing technique for the real warrior. It was probably too late when they popped from cover to see if they could take down the girl before it was too late. One of them managed it while the other popped up only to find a heavy pulse wave slamming into his chest. His armor mostly saved him, but he was injured and down for the moment. Another wave hit the wall behind him which would have been his death had he not fallen.

"No!" Shouted the other as he fired frantically at Vic about the same time she would be firing at him.

The Trandoshan would either stop her from firing altogether or they'd trade damage. It would mean death for the tracker who thought he was avenging his brother. It would likely only mean armor damage to the woman. Her reactions would determine his life for the moment. The injured brother on the floor could only watch helplessly as he had lost all his wind.

Meanwhile, guards were preparing to defend the tower. The shield generator was not high priority yet but it had guards. A couple of Gamorrean Thugs sat next to the shield generator itself while a few humans took cover in the barricades waiting for their time to defend as well. This fight wouldn't end with a couple Trandoshans.

@Xorism @Nightfall096

 

[Harlan Banks]

As Harlan watched his blaster fire scatter across the barricades he reflected on the fact that perhaps he shouldn't have turned down those shooting lessons all those years ago. He might have even hit something if he'd done so. Though right now that wasn't the point.

With one knocked down from Vic's shots and the other throwing themself back against the wall, Harlan, despite his own worries of accuracy, felt terribly confident. For the moment the fire was away from him, the little that returned toward them that was. Which meant it was time to keep it moving.

Dashing up to catch Vic he passed her to the next set of cover, closing the gap to 30 meters, pausing at each piece of cover in between. As he ran he popped another shot from the rifle into the downed trandoshan to finish him, who would have little chance to move in his current position, before firing one more round to suppress the other gunner. He'd end up taking cover behind a barricade at diagonal to the trandoshans, ready to get the better angle to fire on them. And any closer and he'd be able to use his pistol too, and add some more firepower,

"Vic, I gotta say, this whole thing feels like it'd be a quality Holo, ya feel?" he called into his earpiece, smirking as he did.

Harlan Banks.

'Specs'.

Action Hero.

He liked the sound of that.


@Xorism @Cazar

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria ducked back into cover after downing the first one while trying to avoid the incoming fire of the second. Her actions bought time for Specs to bring up the rear who would then be taking up a position from another angle causing their lone friend to contend with the pair in an awkward way.

While Specs covered her, Vic ran the opposite angle while his covering fire would hopefully keep the trando's head down until she was within range to lob a frag grenade over the barricade near the pair. She would time the cook-off so that the grenade wouldn't even register in their mind as a weapon before exploding and hopefully taking them both down in one go.

Vic would find some hardcover to look down toward where she thought the shield generator was and start ranging the guards in.

"Nothin' but net Specs." Vic said with a small smile cracking her usual hard face.

@Nightfall096 @Cazar

 

[The Storyteller]

The Trandoshan remaining after the initial firing cursed to himself as he had to duck to avoid more incoming fire. These intruders were not just basic thugs hired to die. He was beginning to feel like one though. Just as he popped his head back up to avenge his brother he heard a clinking sound of the grenade smacking the ground next to him. His mind registered what it was just in time for him to come to terms with his death. The explosion was just another attention grabber for those nearby to get good cover.

"Stop the intruders!" One of the human thugs yelled out as he fired pointlessly from long range, hitting nothing.

About five lightly armored and armed human thugs popped up from their cover and ran away as the sixth human was yelling at them. It seemed they didn't want to die for this gang war. Now only one extra loyal human thug and a pair of Gamorreans guarded the shield generator. The human fired from cover towards Harlan's chest twice with his rifle, being at roughly 50 meters away. The Gamorreans stood next to the generator and did nothing but chat to each other, but they were behind the human at about 120 meters.

"Groog, should take cover?" One asked the other.

"Nope." Groog, apparently, said as he raised his axe into the air. "Charge!"

"Okay. Bujja charge too." The other agreed, readying his spear as the pair got ready to charge the enemies. "Two, three, four, one... go!"

@Xorism @Nightfall096
((Feel free to autohit me if I go over 48 hours in the future))

 

[Harlan Banks]

Throwing himself to the ground to avoid the blaster fire which would sail over his head, he breathed hard, nearly winding himself to get out of the way,

"Ahh, yeah, nothin' but net Vic" he said ever so out of breath compared to his younger, fitter companion. He wasn't exactly built for this sort of thing. Not anymore. Possibly not ever. If he made it out of this, he'd hit the gym.

Atleast once.

Probably

"Kriiiiiif I ain't made for this kinda work" he muttered under his breath. For now though he pulled himself back up and rolled to his left, trying to throw himself behind cover to return fire. And he had more than a few targets to pick from, seeing a pair of gamorreans raising their weapons, moving into a charge. Now that, that wasn't something he exactly wanted to face up close.

Squeezing off the last few rounds from his acquired blaster rifle, he fired into the dusty ground in front of the guards as they approached, sending up a wave of dust into the air that would obscure their vision, and that of the human firing at him too. Flicking his pistol up, he moved up another ten meters, 40 meters from the human, and would pull the trigger on the pair as soon as they broke through the obscuring dust. Hopefully with their vision slightly distracted they wouldn't have much time to avoid the blasts from his tr-blaster as they did so.

Hopefully Vic had something up her sleeve like she did for the last guys, he didn't exactly trust himself to finish all three.


@Xorism @Cazar

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria jumped into cover where her grenade had made a slurry of the previous occupants as she hid from any incoming blaster fire. While in cover she took the opportunity to reload her thunderbluss before peaking back and taking a shot at the human who was distracted by Specs. From the difference in angle, she hoped to put him down hard before turning her attention toward the piglets charging forward. With a steady firing base she waited patiently for the pair to get within 50 meters before opening fire, two center mass shots each should do the trick she figured.

If the threats were down, she would signal to Specs that it was clear to move forward toward their objective although as she moved up with him, she would be scanning for any arriving threats as they approached the shield generator.

@Nightfall096 @Cazar

 

[The Storyteller]

A scream went out as the human thug found himself out numbered. He had wanted to defend the shield generator valiantly to make favor with the Hutt. Maybe make some credits too. A dust wave kept his attention on the man firing the blaster before his vision was clouded. He didn't really see the other incoming shot until it was a bit too late. His armor saved him from instant death but it wouldn't save him from the pain. Using the cover of dust and barricades he managed to flee deeper into the campus of facilities. His wounded chest wouldn't be life threatening but he'd not be returning for a little while.

"Send... reinforcements..." He sputtered out as he reached another guard station a minute later, likely too late to save the day, before collapsing out of exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the two Gamorrean grunts were charging ahead. Blaster fire and dust clouds quickly ruined the charge. The pair got confused and were a bit afraid of getting shot so took evasive action. A blind Gamorrean is not a graceful creature. Two thuds echoed around them as they ran into each other and fell over. One fell to the left behind a barricade while the other fell to the right onto the dirt. This managed to help them avoid being shot but their charge came to an end. They would never leave the cloud of dust for the enemies to shoot them. Instead they would take a moment to recover and get behind barricades to hide. Hopefully this would mean the others had to get closer before engaging again.

@Xorism @Nightfall096

 

[Harlan Banks]

Harlan had to say that things, for now at least, were going smoother than he ever expected an assault on a rather fortified position to go. But their quick insertion and unexpected effectiveness had proved to be more than the defenders were ready for. Or, well, Vic was more than they were ready for, Harlan was really there as a distraction and that was working out rather nicely for him so far all things considered. And as the cloud of dust went up and none passed through it, he thought he had to be doing something right,

"One more push Vic and this place is ours!" he called out to his partner in crime. War. Crime war. Whatever this was anymore.

Breaking from his own cover during the dust, he pushed forward a pair of barrier sets, closing the distance to 15 meters to the Gamorreans. Though as he drew closer and began to see through the dust, he caught the Gamorreans pulling into cover behind these barriers.

With his rifle out of ammo, he snatched up his pistol, firing it twice toward the right creature that had had to scramble up from the ground, before diving into cover of his own. The Anti-air array was close now, their mission nearly complete. Hopefully Vic could nail the other one and they'd be in the clear to take this joint and get the kriff outta dodge.

@Xorism

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria by now was convinced that victory was near, the dust clouds would not hinder her quest today. Getting up from the first barricade she moved forward crouching to roughly 40 meters from their targets while maintaining a firing posture in case they stuck their heads up for a moment.

From a safe enough distance, she would cover Specs while he moved closer and only moving closer than 40 meters if the little piggies refused to fight back and ran away. The moment she saw them sticking their necks out, she would blast them once each in the head.

@Nightfall096 @Cazar

 

[The Storyteller]

A series of squeals escaped the Gamorrean as he managed to get to cover before the shots could hit him. It was a close call, but the invading thug was too slow between switching weapons and moving closer. His buddy seemed to go unopposed into cover and for a moment that was good, but it would be a stalemate if they didn't charge. A stalemate that would eventually be undone when reinforcements arrived. A genius idea that these two Gamorrean thugs would unfortunately never consider. Instead, the one that had not been scrambling for cover tossed his axe as hard as he could at Harlan in hopes of cleaving him open. The brief moment above cover would be hard to measure, as he quickly ducked again afterwards.

"Smash!" The other one yelled as his friend threw an axe, seeing it as his opening to charge into the open wielding his own axe.

The second guard would be trying to keep Harlan between himself and Vic so she couldn't easily shoot him. With a distraction coming from next door this charge might be worth it. A tinge of hope came to his mind as he realized the brilliance of their unplanned strategy. Killing these ones would bolster his own reputation and make them guard better stuff.

@Xorism @Nightfall096

 

[Harlan Banks]

He was going to need a shower after this.

And a drink.

A drink in the shower, that'd be perfect. Because this was taking out of him, far more than he'd hoped it to. Assuming he survived, and that was a rather large assumption at this point given the two rather large, rathered heavily armed gamorreans that sought him out now. And the axe.

The axe was a concern.

Throwing himself to the ground for the second time today, and not exactly looking forward to getting up again, Harlan would let the axe sail over him while simaltaneously firing off another shot at the charging gamorreans chest, with the intent to take him out once and for all. His drop would hopefully leave it open for Vic to shoot at them as well, and finish this mission here and now.

@Cazar @Xorism

 

[Victoria Winterblaze]

Victoria trained her weapon on the squealin' pigman charging down Specs and she held her fire, not waiting to risk hitting him. Her patience paid off when Specs threw himself at the ground and exposed the fat-bellied blob for her BFG. With a smirk across her face and finger on the trigger, two quick squeezes would be all that she needed to drop him as the pulses were sent toward it's chest.

"Get your ass up Specs, we ain't got time to sleep yet, we got a job to finish." She yelled out in a teasing tone.

@Nightfall096 @Cazar