Combined Arms

[Minuteman75]

It started out as a regular yet busy day for one of the stellar spaceports on Ione. Merchants, smugglers, and many different kinds of spacers filled the shops, and the bars that occuiped the port. Spread out among these masses were a number of members from the Rebel frigate, Corusca.
They spread watching over the market, posing as regular citizens, while subtly observing their captain, Forim Viridux. He sat a cafe table near the space docks, talking with an government official.

Being uncover, Forim wore a green fine suit that screamed businessman to any curious onlookers while the fat hevily bearded man opposite of him had on golden colored diplomatic robes and a beret hat.

"I'm sorry Commander but my superiors are firm on the matter, Ione can't aid your cause at this time."

"Can't or won't Consular?"

The large human frowned in respond then said. "With all due respect, our world is doing quite fine without getting involved with your war."

Forim kept an neutral expression as he sipped a cup of coffee with one hand and retorted. "Sure as long as you keep buying off pirates away from the system. But how long can that arrangement last I wonder."

The consular was rendered stunned, for it was true. Forim calmly continued.

"One can understand why you do so with the limited security forces Iona has. In all honesty though, it won't appease those thieves forever, they're like mynocks. We can provide protection and better trade for the Ione system in exchange for your government's support."

"Sure you promise that, but we don't buy it. You rebels are too focused on fighting the Empire and protecting more vital worlds like Naboo or Bespin to care about us. Why should we risk our home and fortunes for that?"

Forim shook his head in disappointment. Even with the Rebellion's winning streak there still some factions and systems that prefered neutrality in this war for various reasons. In someways he can understand, the Rebel fleet can't spare assets to protect every world that joins the cause. Yet frustration builded up in him anyway. Yet little did he and anyone on Ione realized they were going to face soon...

 

[Algarus]

"Are you sure you can't go lower than twenty two thousand credits?"
"No, no deal. You want ship, you bring me say......thirty thousand credits."
"But you said twenty two just a second ago!"
"No, I said thirty, and if you want to argue then....lets make it thirty five."
"I....you....fine. Forget it."
Adun sighed and walked away from the Toydarian ship dealer ignoring the small aliens insults as he did so. He was never going to get a ship, not with this crowd at least. He pulled out his personal data pad and check his mission details. 'Establish contact with rebel agent. Assist where ever possible.' He took a second to check over the agents description before switching the device off. He sighed and put the pad away as he approached his partner. "Well, that went horribly. Lets get back to the mission alright?"
@Boertjie

 

[Tristyn]

"Well, that went horribly. Let's get back to the mission alright?"
"Yeah..."

Rayla wasn't very talkative, sarcastic or plain mean as she usually was. The day before had been one of the most memorable in her entire life. Not because she enjoyed it, but because of how depressing her encounter with Adun was. Her dream was even more bazaar. It means nothing it's just a dream. He still doesn't like you.

Ray had been so miserable and careless this morning she had forgotten one of her lightsabers back on the Evolution. And still being around Adun only made it worse. She refused to make eye contact and resorted to small talk to try and brighten the mood. She hadn't even remembered why she was here.

 

[Minuteman75]

"Association with us can bring protection Consular, plenty of enemies, had learned what happens if they mess with our allies. Your world, being the chief link in this region does makes it important in our point of view. Not only that, Ione would receive more trade benefits in the long run."

Forim explained calmly, and the Consular pitched his fat chin in thought. For a second, the Duros rebel thought he had a breakthrough but the offical shook his head no. "Your offer is generous but we're fine as things are now."

Just as that statement been, an Acclamator assualt ship, accompanied two squadrons of A-Wing fighters came out of hyperspace near the planet. On the bridge of that ship, was a short yet fearsome looking Zygerrian wearing brown combat fatigues. Clasping his hands behind his back while looking out toward the planet. The pirate warlord smirked like a predator and looked back toward the crew.

"Commence the raid." The warlord declared for all aboard the bridge to hear. Upon that command, a few dozen VAAT gunships flew out of the lower hanger bay. The transports escorted one squadron dived down for Iona, aiming for the spaceport that the rebel teams and the two Jedi happen to be at. The planetary sensors quickly picked their signals and alerted the authorities, but it wouldn't be enough to stop the assault.

As for defenses go, Iona only had a planetary shield that protected against orbital bombardment noting else, and a few laser turrets(over half of them offline) at the settlements. Then were scattered ground militia and local police forces that were understaffed and moslty under-equipped. The raiders knew this quite well, having scouted out the world for weeks. Within minutes, the attack swarm broke through the atmosphere and descended upon the spaceport. Soon the pirate A-Wings unleashed hell, causing several explosions to erupt across the port, by destroying the security stations marked for them.

Shock and panic ruled the spaceport, with people scattering or hiding anywhere in fright by the sudden onslaught. The invading gunships began landing in the wide streets, plazas, even on some of the rooftops. Heavily armed men and women from different spieces poured out from the ships.

 

[Algarus]

Adun sighed as he looked away from Rayla. He scratched his head, as he felt extremely uncomfortable, especially given the dreams he had. He had no clue why the two of them had been paired together for this mission. He looked back at her and frowned. She never liked you. Can't you see how much she dreads being around you? He owed her an apology, that was the least he could do. "Hey, Rayla-" He stopped as the sound of sirens began to go off inside the spaceport, as the sounds of blaster fire and screaming was heard. His hand went to his lightsaber as he looked for towards an exit. Out of all of the times for them to be attacked, why did it have to be now?

 

[Tristyn]

"Hey, Rayla-"

She quickly looked at him and then at the sky. The shape of the cruisers above them made her think they were Imperium ships, but no, after seeing the A-Wings she realised it was pirates. She was glad they weren't Imperials, she was constantly encountering them. The sight of the pirates actually brought a smile to her face, despite the loud screaming and crying behind her.

She had never faced pirates before and was glad to give it a go. She reached for her sabers and was worried to find out one of them was missing. She panicked a bit and remembered she left it back home. Oh well. She drew her other lightsaber and waited to see what was going to happen.

 

[Minuteman75]

When chaos struck, Forim drugged the consular to ground to keep them both safe. He looked up to the sky, watching the A-Wings soaring across the spaceport while the gunships landed. The few port security left were now battered and disorganized in the face of this attack. Raiders already on the ground began to pillage and kill anyone getting in their way. Forim pulled out a hidden blaster pistol then made a call in his comm-link with the other hand.

"All units engage the raiders, secure your positions and assist law enforcement to protect any citizens within reach. Rogue squadron get up in the air now! Forim switched the channel and called in to the Corusca and a small of rebels collection ships who were a system away from Ione. The report it would take them less than hour to reach them. He hoped they can last for that long down here. After acknowledging the call back, Forim focused the offical who and whimpered in sheer fear.

A part of him wanted do the "I told you so" routine but decided against it. He spotted a pair of pirates, both of them Weeqauy shooting down bystanders in their way with rifles. The nearest rebels, four of them took cover behind a water foundation with weapons at the opened fire. The duo taken by surprise were cut down instantly. Forim rushed over to the small group, joining them at the foundation. Suddnely a whole squad of pirates were coming south of their postion unaware of what happen to their buddies until spotting the bodies.

"Let them have it!" Forim commanded his group as he aimed and fired away. Another raider, a heavy human woman fell sideways upon being struck in face. Two more of her comrades followed a moment later while the rest scattered to find shelter vendor stands and an overturned table. Soon the opposing sides exchange blaster blots were one another.

 

[Algarus]

Seeing a small group of personal being fired upon by the pirates, Adun force jumped towards them. Igniting his violet blade, he came down on one man and sliced his rifle arm off. He turned to another raider and sliced off the mans legs. He turned to the rebel group behind him. "Who's in charge?" Just a he did so, another pair of pirates turned their weapons on him and began to open fire on him, causing him to turn his attention to the new attackers. Adun went on the defensive, using his Soresu training to deflect and avoid the shots as he let the force guide his blade.

 

[Tristyn]

Rayla saw the oncoming pirates and lept towards them and ignited her duel sabers in midair before slicing up the pirates. Her typical form comprised of cutting the targets chest with both her sabers and then doing an acrobatic flip to kick another foe in the face, giving her more time to strike each time she performed her maneuver. But not long after her strikes, another group of pirates began to open fire on them. She was able to deflect a bolt coming from them and purposefully made it bounce near Adun's foot.

Seeing as how far they were shooting from, she reached out with both her hands and pulled two pirates towards her and dashing straight into them and cut their heads off. She then proceeded to block and dodge the bolts that were flying towards, now that their attention was focused towards her.

 

[Minuteman75]

Needless to say, having two lightsaber wielders were a welcomed surprise for the rebel team. It would be a good guess that this duo were Jedi...hopefully. The rebels at the foundation and some of the remaining civilians that cower on the nearby street witness how many of the new wave of pirates were cut down within seconds and the rest held b. Forim knew from personal experience how capable trained force users can be, though it didn't they were invincible. Reloading his carbine, Forim answered back to the young human male's question.

"That would be me. Let's finish off this batch first then play twenty questions."

Jader, a tall Hapan male, next to Forim picked off two pirates too busy with the force users with short bursts from his blaster rifle. The last one, seeing he was no match for these newcomers started to run but Jader shot him into the back of the left leg, forcing the brigand to collapse into the pavement. The pirate screamed in pain, grasping the wounded leg with both hands. Nodding his thanks to the space marine, Forim, approached the downed man walking past the lightsaber duo while the other rebels covered him. They needed some answers and that sleemo just been "volunteered" to provide them.

 

[Algarus]

Adun scowled as Rayla knocked a blaster shot dangerously close to his foot. He was going to say something to her, but stopped when he saw her decapitate two raiders.
"That would be me. Let's finish off this batch first then play twenty questions." He heard the Duros man say, Adun nodded and took up his stance. "Understood." Seeing the pair of rebels eliminate the pair of pirates and wound another, Adun moved up to cover the medic as the man rushed to the down pirate. As Adun neared the man he made a brief assessment of the wounded one before speaking to the medic. "Do you need assistance? I'm a trained healer." He knocked a few blaster shots away from their position as some far off pirates took pot shots at them. Hearing another pair of gunships soar overhead Adun let out a sigh. "How many of these guys are there?"

 

[Tristyn]

Rayla shot off her blades and looked around the sky above them. She watched as the ship was ferrying troopers down the ground. She wasn't a brash fool like her sister, she knew quite a bit about the Clone Wars while going over some history on the Holonet. Those were old Republic ships, and they were severely outdated. A single well place shot from a ground cannon will send it crashing onto the surface. They were unshielded too. This looked easier than it had seemed before.

She walked up to add and grabbed his comlink,"You think you can get a round up at that ship's engines? Or some fighters? Those ships are built for ground assault, it's lightly armored"

 

[Minuteman75]

Clearly the Jedi thought he was some kind of doctor Forim thought. Well he wasn't, sure he knew some first aid, patching up this dirtbag wasn't his main priority at the moment though.

"I'm no medic, but you're welcome to fix this sleemo up after I am done interviewing him."

Forim proceeded to drag the wounded pirate the Jedi block away blaster some distance away. As did he grew more confused when the Togruta grabbed her partner's commlink and was giving out suggestions about taking out those gunships flying around the port. Did these two had back-up or was she talking to him? The rebels were already been aware with the weaknesses of that class of ships, still good to have a reminder if noting else. For him the main problem wasn't the gunships, its the kriffing A-Wings screening them.

Then Forim smiled when he heard the familiar sound of X-Wings flying. Rogue Squadron has arrived! The rebel flyers went after the enemy fighters with a vengeance, drawing both groups into a dogfight. Meanwhile Forim as he brought his prisoner over to the cover of the water foundation, he called in to the rebel operatives scattered over in the port, ordering them to use their grenade and rocket launchers on the gunships' weak spots if they get a clear shot. Once done, he turned over to the prisoner, who was swearing at his pain and generally everyone.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him, Jedi can use mind tricks to make the weak minded talk and looked over to the force users called out

"Alright Jedi or whoever are if ya wanna help, our patient here needs little some persuasion."

 

[Algarus]

Feeling someone talk his comlink off his belt he turned and was face to face with Rayla. He was going to tell her off, to use her own equipment, but he stopped himself. She didn't care, she never respected him, that much as obvious when she tried to mind trick him. "Alright Jedi or whoever are if ya wanna help, our patient here needs little some persuasion." Hearing that, Adun looked away from Rayla. He was still hurt about her trying to worm her way into his mind. He had let it go when it first happened, but the breach of trust still stung for Adun. He turned away from the Togruta. "You know what to do."

He wanted to say something to hurt her, let her know how upset he was that she tried to violate his mind over something so minuscule. But he didn't, he could never bring himself to do that, not to her. He closed his eyes for a moment and began to rush towards the sound of blaster far a little further away. Part of him was hoping one of these thugs would kill him. He glanced up at the X-wings soaring above, and wished he could join the battle in the sky. He shook those thoughts off and proceeded to the closest group of pirates.

 

[Tristyn]

Ray was still feeling ashamed at her previous use of mind tricks and what had happened because of it, and as such she refused to ever do it again. The first time she opened her mouth to answer she couldn't form any words, but her second time was a bit better, "No. Get someone else. Not me" At this moment she would continue to fight the pirates elsewhere but her master had strictly told the two to stay together and protect each other's backs.

So unforturnaly for her, she followed Adun into the battle. But lagging behind him rather.

 

[Minuteman75]

Okay, what the KARK is going on! Forim thought incredulously. He watched with disbelief as the two Jedi refused to help with the prisoner and sulk at one another like disputing children and went on to the attack in an disorganized matter. It can be so easy to forget Jedi and force users were people with flaws and it dawned on him that these were likely padwans. By their age and attitude made that fact pretty clear to him.

Just their luck, Forim concluded cynically. Turning to Jader, the rebel officer spoke, pointing to the prisoner.

"Jader get this man talking then treat him. The rest of you, with me. We're going to advance ahead."

The team replied by nodding. Once cleared, Forim and the other rebels minus Jader sprang up and rushed forward. Those idiots are going to get themselves killed at this rate, force or not.

Meanwhile the raiders that Adun and Ray were facing were more prepared than the last ones. They numbered by a dozen and had set up behind and around an overturned wagon. Half of them fired a repeating volley of blaster blots in the Jedi's direction to keep pressure on the force users, while their comrades threw and rolled several frag grenades in an attempt to finish them

 

[Algarus]

Adun jumped back as a hail of blaster fire blew away the ground he was just standing on, as squads of raiders unloaded on them. He deflected as best he could while he attempted to dive for cover. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Rayla behind him, why had she followed him? She was suppose to stay with the squad. He was snapped out of his thoughts when a grenades rolled to his feet. His eyes widened as he grabbed her and force jumped into cover as they went off. Bits of shrapnel dig into his back and legs, but fortunately it wasn't too severe. He hit the ground and winced as he found someone had tagged him in the shoulder. He took a deep breathe and closed his mind off from the sensation. He sat up and looked at Rayla as the raiders fired on their new position. He could feel blood trickling out of his wounds on his back, as he spoke to her. "Are you alright?"

 

[Tristyn]

Ray was running up from behind him and ignited her blades after she sensed danger. She looked around to see where these hidden enemies were and was grabbed and pulled into cover just as hell broke loose. She peaked out from her cover to see the pirates shooting, she then glanced back down and saw all of Adun's wounds,"Are you alright?" She felt a little embarrassed when they said it in unison. She just shrugged it off and continued,"I-I fine. You look a little beat up"

She had strangely only received one wound, and that was a bruise on her side from landing behind cover. He had saved her...but she tried to forget about. Feth it was hard to stay mad this guy.

 

[Minuteman75]

Good, the two laser-brains got out of the way in time, before they could be slaughtered. Yet it seem one of the Jedi was wounded nonetheless, while saving his partner or whoever she is to him. Forim decided to deal with them once immediate threat is cleared. The team with him numbered nine in total and spilt into two smaller groups, five moved on the sidewalk to the right while four lead by Forim personally took the left side, all of them in a steady advance. This was to avoid being mowed in the street like the Jedi almost were.

Still it didn't take long for the defending pirates to notice them and let loose short bursts of blaster bolts toward each rebel groups, while their comrades reloaded from the volley, earlier. The rebels took cover however they could from an alleyway on the left, to a parked speeder truck on the right. Forim hand signal to Miri, next to him, a yellow tattooed Zabark woman to use the grenade launcher on her rifle at the pirate-held wagon upon his signal. Using three of his lanky fingers, Forim sliently counted down, as some of the other rebels fired back. On three, Miri sprang from the corner of the alley and shot the small bomb straight at the enemy.

Upon impact, it exploded, the sheer force of it, along shrapnel shredded into most of the group killing them instantly. Even a few pirates were tossed like dolls several feet away by the blast and those who somehow survived were gun down before they could respond. Putting in another energy clip into his gun, Forim called out to team loud enough for the Jedi to hear some few feet from them

"Alright rebels secure the street and grab whatever ammo you can salvage from the bodies. Dirk come with me."

With Dirk, the Sullustan medic in tow Forim approached the Jedi couple with a disappointing gaze. He wasn't mad at them for not helping the prisoner eariler. What actually pissed him off was how they seem more willing to struggle with one another while people all around the port were suffering and dying! Granted, Forim wasn't aware about most things concering the Order but he knew they were suppose to be protectors. He gritted his teeth in anger as he heard a child screaming somewhere at the loss of her father.

Once they reached the two Jedi, Dirk pulled out a medical kit and began treating Adun's back, while his commander looked on, seething with ever more outrage. "What was that all about? Are you two trying get yourselves KRIFFING KILLED?!" Forim questioned harshly in tone.

 

[Algarus]

Adun was a little taken aback hearing Rayla ask about his well being, and surprised they had said it at the same time. He waited to for her response and was relived to see she was unharmed. He realized he had been holding her shoulders the entire time and quickly let go, as a small amount of red crept over his face. "I'll live." He was thankful that a group of rebels showed up and eliminated the pirates as he felt someone treating the blaster shot he had just earned himself. He winced slightly as it stung like hell, but it was better than being dead. "What was that all about? Are you two trying get yourselves KRIFFING KILLED?!"

Adun sighed as he saw the rebel commander moving towards him and Rayla. Adun raised his hand to stop the medic. "I'm fine, go help someone else." The pain he was in was bearable, it would serve as a reminder to not screw up like that again. Adun looked up at the Duros rebel and sighed "I'm sorry, I just thought I could get past that squad. Obviously I was wrong." Adun got up, throwing his ruined trench coat off, as the back of his tunic has a blaster mark through the shoulder and multiple holes where shrapnel had gone through. His legs shook as his body was still responding to the action earlier, and his entire back was burning, but he had a job to do. "Where do you need us? You seem to be leading the defenses."