Wookiees for Sale!

[Artarion Sekt]

• Imperial Republica and Old Empire only: Slavers from both Imperial Republica and the Old Empire are present in the woods around Rowrakruk! This is a chance for the rival Empires to get a leg up on their competition! Attack the opposing Empire's camps to increase the likelihood your side will profit most! (Reward: In-character credits from your government, enough to buy an advanced tech armor function)*

Slavers have been going to Kashyyyk for years to take Wookiee slaves. They have been prized for their strength and intelligence throughout the galaxy. Many slavers see Life Day as almost a “harvest season” for the Wookiees as many get drunk or sloppy in their celebration and make themselves an easy catch. So, with that in mind, there are multiple slaver camps all over the surface of the planet, trying to make a living by bringing home some new Wookiee stock.

Artarion had no particular emotion or even feeling towards slavers. Growing up on Rattatak had hardened him to the reality of slavery. There were even those that considered it to be a humane practice, giving an alternative to killing prisoners. They could instead have a life of servitude where they might be useful. Artarion had owned slaves, well more to the point, his father had, and so he had been raised around them.

What Artarion did have an opinion about was the Imperial Republica and its weaklings. They called themselves believers and yet denied the Rule of the Strong. Artarion would make them pay for their heresy. He would complete this mission given to him, to destroy this slavers camp belonging to the IR and then he would find a master and enforce the Rule of the Strong.

Looking at the mission briefing, he had noted the estimated number of slavers and potential captives at the camp. It was more than he felt he could safely engage so he had reached out to a contact of his. The assassin droid H5PAD @Mithias was an asset he had been put in touch with to assist in this assignment. The pay for the independent would be arranged by the government following their successful mission. Artarion felt he could grow to enjoy the company of a droid, especially if it could keep its trap shut.

Upon landing on the planet, he had safely hidden his Cruz class starfighter among the trees and foliage near a small lake. He was close to the target but not too close. H5PAD had met him at the rendezvous point and they were currently making their way through the forest to the target site. Artarion was crouched low, making his way through the foliage, a shadow among shadows on the forest planet. His eyes scanned as well as the force, seeking out threats and targets, cataloging and dismissing almost with a glance.


@Mithias

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

PERSONALITY STATUS: AGGRESSIVE

DIRECTIVES
PRIMARY – Eliminate slavers
SECONDARY – Avoid friendly fire at all costs


H5PAD had already processed the mission briefing. The Old Empire was quite active in Kashyyyk this week with their contracts, wishing to make a statement in eliminating rival slavers. This particular contract put Hale in the employ of Artarion Sekt, referred from the Old Empire government. H5PAD had completed one contract in their employ two days ago, so the probability of not getting paid was quite minimal. As it stood, H5PAD was officially a gun for hire. The droid did not discriminate between Old Empire, Imperial Hutta, Imperial Republica, rebel groups, Mandalorians or any other group--if the credits were reliable, then he would provide the services needed. This arrangement suited the needs of H5PAD...for now.

Following the rendezvous and the silent trek to where they found themselves now, H5PAD followed behind the Sith quietly, following his lead on the path towards the slaver camp. According to the Navicomputer, they were not far from the suspected target site. H5PAD had his weaponry easily accessible for when hostilities commenced. With his vocabulator volume set low, the deep, mechanical voice stated, ”Artarion Sekt, Hale will follow your lead on rules of engagement. Standing by for orders…”

 

[Ophelia Artemei]

Ophelia was never late, is never late and will never be late. She arrived on Kashyyyk three hours before the others in fact , unfortunately her confidence and necessity to impress and one up literally every other imperial she ever meets got so into her head that she did land on time… about twenty kilometres away. Thus, for the past few hours, being too stubborn to just move her ship she’s thrashed through the jungles of Kashyyyk to the rendezvous perhaps hoping somebody would notice or not notice how cool she looked as her and Ago jumped through the thick arboreal overworld. At the rendezvous, she climbed up a tree and waited for the others. Ago, her pet Varlwolf lurked patiently out of view. When the others arrived she let them do their greetings only to make herself known once they were done, she always believed that first impressions are important.

“So you've aaaall finally made it.”

She chuckled as she jumped down from the canopy. Upon jumping down she was surprised by her to compatriots. Not by who they were, heavens no, she stayed up all night researching them. It was the silence as if she wasn’t supposed to be here, she groaned, having a hunch as to what happened.

“Was I not including in the mission briefing again? I swear I accepted it, it never seems to register me...”

 

[Artarion Sekt]

Artarion smiled as H5PAD stated his willingness to follow his orders. That showed his strength in this encounter and Artarion silently saluted the Rule of the Strong and its gift to him. Turning at the sound of Ophelia’s announcement as the two reached the rendezvous point the smile turned to a sneer.

“So you've aaaall finally made it.” said Ophelia.

He was not one for levity on a mission however he would make an exception in the spirit of first meetings and necessity. They were about to enter battle with an unknown number of combatants and he would need as many hands as he could get. A simple nod of acknowledgement was her reward for revealing herself to the Sith.

“That would seem to be the case…” he allowed the sentence to hang for a moment. “As you are here now, allow me to finish my briefing to H5PAD here.” Without waiting for an answer from Ophelia he turned so that she was included into the conversation with the droid.

“We are about to engage approximately 10 hostile Slavers belonging to the Imperial Republic.” He pulled out a data pad and a 3-dimensional representation appeared of their camp. “They are not very well armed and apparently expected as soft target as you can see, they have little to no surveillance and are severely under equipped. We need to be fast and efficient in dealing with this threat. May the Rule of the Strong guide our hands.”

With that he closed the data pad and led the small group to the edge of the encampment. Standing just out of sight and sound of the camp he turned to H5PAD. “You are authorized to engage the Imperial Republic slavers; deadly force is approved.”

Turning to Ophelia he pointed to the far edge of the camp. “Make your way there, once you are there, I will begin the attack. You are responsible for ensuring that none escape to tell the tale of this attack.”

Order’s given he turned and continued to observe the camp as it just started to wake up in the mornings light. He would wait for Ophelia but during that time he would observe his prey and allow his hate to grow, needing that fuel in the battle to come.

@Bigfatpenn
@Mithias

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

H5PAD listened to the Sith giving orders on this operation and began processing the information while mapping the engagement area. Quickly, his optics surveilled the campsite and locked on to the ten slaver hostiles that Artarion described. While the droid was not looking at the Sith, it was processing all of his spoken words and gave a sentient gesture of understanding by nodding.

“You are authorized to engage the Imperial Republic slavers; deadly force is approved.”

Those were words H5PAD needed in order to successfully complete his contract. This was the sort of information that was always important—yet often employers left it out. It was a minor annoyance to the droid for such past transgressions. The assassin droid with its vocabulator quieted, ”Confirmation of deadly force authorized. Sufficiently described, Artarion. Hale standing by for you to commence the attack before proceeding.

During this exchange, the droid acknowledged the other Sith, but remained silent.

PERSONALITY STATUS: AGGRESSIVE

DIRECTIVES
PRIMARY – Commence attack following attack initiation by the Sith, Artarion
SECONDARY – Eliminate all hostile slavers
TERTIARY – Provide overwatch for Sith melee combatants

 

[Ophelia Artemei]

Ophelia noticed the Rattatakan Sith’s compliance to stay on task and was impressed, she expected she’d be surrounded by inferior sith but there was hope yet for this boy, she listened intently.

“Fast and efficient you say? I’d have it no other way.”

Ophelia replied then she suddenly whistled, out of the bushes came a huge looming black hound known to Ophelia as Ago, as he came forward he skulked slowly, suspicious of the other two assailants with Ophelia, she rolled her eyes, waled up and rubbed his snout reassuringly as he bowed his head, Ophelia whispered in his ears.

“Head my call if I need you otherwise, stay out of sight.”

Ago drifted back into the heavy foliage. Ago had been a bit clingy recently and she didn’t want him getting in her way. Ophelia was eager about this mission, she’d been wanting to get some action, all her recent missions have just been boring bodyguard escort missions or something. When the boy said: “deadly force is approved” Ophelia’s face lit up, she reached around and pulled out her energy bow eager to pierce somebody with one of its bolts,

“Then let’s get this over with, I’m dying to kill something.” Ophelia squawk.

 

[Artarion Sekt]

The trail through the forest was not hard to follow, a blind child could have found it. The slavers were not by any means good at hiding their activities. The camp was rudimentary at best and had no security other than a single very bored looking guard. The rest of the camp appeared to have gone to sleep after a party of some type, judging from the number of bottles on the ground.

As they arrived, Artarion pointed to a sniper’s position, elevated overlooking the camp, and then to H5PAD, nodding once to show he intended for the droid to deploy there. With a wave of one hand, he drew Ophelia to his side, motioning for her to swing wide around the opposite side of the camp.

Not waiting for her response, Artarion turned and slid into the shadows to sneak up on their lone sentry. Getting within the range he wanted, he dropped his consciousness into the river of the force. He used his anger, his hatred, to pull deeply from that well and reaching out a gloved hand he grasped the guard by the throat with the force. Sneering at his own ineptitude as he was able to grasp the slaver but not hold him, he ignited both of his lightsabers and waded into the camp. He could hear shouts from within the large tent, the choking man’s nine compatriots alerted to trouble by the choking sounds from their comrade.

Quietly and in a voice like the grave, Artarion simply said, “H5PAD initiate destruction protocol CHAOS One Alpha.”

@Mithias
@Bigfatpenn

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

“H5PAD initiate destruction protocol CHAOS One Alpha.”

The assassin droid did not hesitate and swiftly followed Artarion towards the slaver camp. Each metallic hand, reached down to either side of his hip and cooked up a fragmentation grenade in his right hand and a concussion grenade in his left hand. With mechanical precision, the droid timed the toss of each grenade so that the thrown explosive would trigger in the air before it hit the ground, taking into consideration proximity to the Sith who had waded into the middle of the camp. H5PAD knew the probability of a successful grenade toss with force-users was risky, but their attention was on the twin lightsabers that had gone in amongst them. The concussion grenade was deemed ready and the one second it took to throw the grenade was considered into the complex equation that the assassin droid ran in its processor for the maximum casualty percentage. Sailing in the air, the concussion grenade was on its way down until it reached approximately 7 feet…and then detonated.

BOOM!*

Bodies, tents, crates and anything not nailed down were violently moved from the blast area. One Sith with her lightsaber ignited caught the brunt of the shock wave when she was in midair, but she never made it to her intended target, slamming her into one of the great trees in the center of the camp. Another was running to engage Antarion with his blaster rifle leveled, but was also forced through the air into a waiting branch, which impaled the poor human who could only look down in surprise at his fate. The others only suffered superficial injuries from the blast.

The fragmentation grenade sailed over to the right side of the camp, also timed to explode seven feet from the ground, in the middle of the bulk of the tents. A Sith slaver must have sensed the impending danger as he looked up at the last second and began to redirect the fragmentation grenade back towards its thrower—but it had already cooked. As soon as it stopped in midair and began to retreat back to H5PAD, the grenade detonated…

BOOM!*

Exploding into bits, the poor Sith did not have a chance. The shrapnel ripped into his unarmored flesh and sliced into a few others. Others were bleeding from the sharp metal fragments, but they were still on their feet and trying to figure out what was happening. The slaver camp was in disarray from the explosions, trying desperately to equip themselves, find the attackers, and defend themselves from the attack.

H5PAD sidled up next to a tree, drawing his blaster pistol pleased with the completion percentage of CHAOS One Alpha…

@Bigfatpenn @Critas

 

[Ophelia Artemei]

Ophelia followed Artarion to the dingy looking camp, considering they had a wide path there she wondered why even bother putting it in a dense jungle, they might as well just have a giant neon sign that reads: Slave Camp Here! We Have Jackets! When they grew close Artarion gave her a signal, nodded only to realize he had already left, she rolled her eyes and went around the opposite side of the base, her energy bow drawn she sneaked around the side, the panic of the explosions from the grenades gave her a perfect opportunity to strike.

she shot two bolts, one into two of the guards panicing in the base the first one narrowly missed his head and the other didn't really miss he more walked into it tearing off his arm. The shots were too sloppy for her taste, in her frustration she threw her bow to the ground causing it to short circuit, she whiped out her crimson blade and stared down the two guards with her blood red eyes, "wanna dance?" She sneered.

 

[XT96]

.

"GOLIATH ONLINE"

Unknown to the other Sith Operatives, Imperial leadership had sent in a contingency plan to ensure mission completion as well as to protect the well-being of their agents. XT96, the premier autonomous terminator based off the faction's newest Goliath platform. The heavy assault droid was programmed with principal directives: Eliminate all hostiles and protect Imperial Assets.

As the others were engaging with slavers, the Goliath's thundering steps echoed through the terrain, its hulking frame finally coming into full view. The ebony stature was intimidating and towered over all other combatants, arrays of red lighting glowing in the midnight sky. Hostiles immediately took notice, targeting their fire upon XT96; unfortunately for them, their light and medium rated weaponry had little effect as it smashed harmlessly into the Droid's heavily plated and reinforced chassis. Lifting the Arm cannon upwards, a volley of blaster bolts rang forth, pummeling opponents with a thunderstorm of unanswered fire. One bolt struck down a slaver in the torso, melting through flesh and bone in the process. The other caught a second slaver across the upper chest, pinning him to the ground and effectively out of combat.

XT96 continued to advance, coming to a stand behind several large rock formations for coverage. "XT96, programmed for reinforcement and assistance. Do we have any casualties?"

@Critas @Bigfatpenn @Mithias

 

[Artarion Sekt]

Artarion tossed the slaver that he had grasped by the throat with the force across the encampment and hard into a tree. The slaver dropped like a marionette whose strings had been cut to the ground his back broken and effectively out of the fight.

Not even breaking stride, with H5PAD sewing destruction with grenades at his side, Artarion surveyed how the battle was shaping up. Ophelia had engaged but the shots from her bow were only effective when they hit the target. The temper tantrum following her failure was fairly spectacular, full marks there. Artarion quipped to her across the battlefield, his voice carrying through the smoke and shouts, “I feel certain your bow will never challenge you again Ophelia.”

A turn of his head at the introduction of the new combat droid caused him to frown. The idea that he would need a babysitter was offensive in the highest order to him. As the droid took out two targets in short order, Artarion shrugged and nodded, “Well if you have come to babysit you may as well fight.”

"XT96, programmed for reinforcement and assistance. Do we have any casualties?" asked the Goliath.

Artarion was getting annoyed with this mouthy droid and briefly wondered why they even gave combat droids the ability to speak. Kill and be silent was his motto regarding fighting droids. He would have to make a note of it and send it up the chain of command. He was drawn from his reverie by a shot towards where he stood with H5PAD, the shot was ill aimed and no threat but it gained his attention and if these slavers wanted his attention, who was he to deny them?

Artarion charged the small group of slavers that had the affrontery to present themselves as capable of battle. He side stepped the first slavers hastily aimed shot, watching it pass his head by inches. The Sith’s eyes narrowed at the gall of this piece of dirt. Rose high, one saber above his head and brought it down hard, cutting the slaver from shoulder to hip. Not even pausing to observe his handywork, Artarion spun and swung at another slaver, missing as the slaver fell to the ground and started whimpering for his life.

@Faded Truth
@Bigfatpenn
@Mithias
(2 slavers remain)

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

"XT96, programmed for reinforcement and assistance. Do we have any casualties?"

H5PAD ignored the new arrival until the threats were eliminated. Wheeling around the tree, the assassin droid leveld his blaster pistol and caught the Sith full in the neck. The poor human went down hard, clutching his neck and finally went limp. With one more remaining, the human Sith ignited his lightsaber and came down with an overhead slash. H5PAD, deftly moved mostly out of the way, sheering a corner off his shoulder.

SCHINK!

The hidden blade sprung from H5PAD’s forearm and plunged deep into the Sith’s spine. A rip upwards, finished the motion and the Sith fell writhing on the ground from the gut shot. A shot from the blaster to the head finished the Sith. With no more visible threats, the assassin droid holstered his blaster pistol and the hidden blade slid back into the droid’s forearm.

Looking over at the hulking XT96, H5PAD cocked his head quizzically. His mechanical voice inquired, ”Analysis. Old Empire assets were not adequately tasked? H5PAD needed reinforcing for this contract? H5PAD was unaware of his inadequacy. Added high risk of discovery with this particular model of droid on an enemy planet. This risk was not in H5PAD’s contract. Unfortunate for future contracts.”

The assassin droid’s head cocked to the other side, eyeing the droid up and down, ”Unique design. 83% similarity index for an H4 battle droid from Nal Hutta Droidworks. High probability H5PAD may have been observed for improvements on XT96.

Looking over to Antarion, H5PAD stated, ”Hale’s contract terms have been confirmed. Unannounced variable to contract introduced. H5PAD must now egress for self-preservation. Risk of detection increased 167% with new variables introduced.”

After spouting off his facts, figures, and inconsistencies, H5PAD began gathering any evidence of his presence at the camp and prepared to leave for his ship.

 

[XT96]

.

"All enemy hostiles eliminated, prime directive completed".
"Imperial Assets protected, secondary directive completed."

XT96 slowly turned its head and frame to look over the smaller combat droid, running an analysis on H5PAD's schematics. "H4 Battle Droid platform, Nal Hutta Droidworks, 84% similarity index, Goliath Platform built for superior firepower and combat durability." The hulking machine continued its turn, attention moving away from H5PAD and towards the other Sith. "Programmed initiatives completed, XT96 assistance no longer necessary. Imperial transport for agent safe travel en route, approximately 149 seconds." As its facts were stated, the Goliath advanced further towards the encampment, sensors scanning the region for any remaining hostile threats and running a check on all programmed prime objectives. Once completed, the droid moved away from the region, thundering steps taking it towards the rendezvous point where Imperial transport vessels were beginning to land, to usher its agents back into Sith space.

// exit thread