A Rock & A Hard Place

[Ditch]

Mandalore Sector
Asteroid Field Mining Outpost
13:20 Planetary Time

The Gunboat trundled towards the entrance of the currently occupied mining outpost, the aggressors who had decided it was a good idea to attack a civilian outpost in the middle of a work day. In the middle of Mandalorian space, must have a pretty good reason for doing so.

"The initial rumor report came through an hour ago.. Some anti-war protesters that took a radical turn" Ditch said standing in his armor, helmet on the seat behind him. His normal accouterments and fixings were present on him as he looked down at the data-pad with the hastily prepared intelligence report "The miners who got away said they saw roughly 20 combatants. Should be a pretty standard engagement if they aren't packing heavy ordinance."

"I'm Lieutenant Ditch Ordo, Imperial Foreign Legion in the haste of the planning I wasn't briefed on who you are ma'am." He said remaining formal in the event she was a Sith, and in the event she was he knew better than to misinterpret their status because that was the only thing worse than not recognizing them as a Sith. As he listened for her answer and maintained an aversion of his eyes he continued prepping his gear and stowed the datapad as they entered the mining stations ringlike passage.

The plan was simple, head in kill all the bad guys and rescue and hostages if present and come back. A pair of IFL Mandalorians joined Ditch and Vex but would remain at the ship in case of a surprise attack.

@Dread

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

Vex listened quietly to Ditch speak as she finished braiding her hair in the fashion she always did, placing her helmet over her head afterward. Today she choose to wear her Away Armor; it fit less snug than her Black Hand armor but it was still comfortable enough. The fact he didn't recognize her annoyed her somewhat but she let it slide for the missions sake.

"Master Vex of the Sith Order," she answered simply, adding after, "I will be your weapon for this rescue." Her mind was focused on the mission now and she stood up when the ship set down. The door made it's signature hiss as it opened, revealing two men to the left and right with c4 blaster in hand. They raised them up, aiming and firing. Vex snapped both her sabers into her hands, igniting their red blades right away to deflect the two blaster bolts. Immediately after she reached out with the Force, wrapping it around their necks and snapping them. The two men fell to the ground limply. They had no chance against a Force user of her caliber, especially just two of them.

Without a single word she stepped down the ramp into the entrance of the mine. While the two here were easy, they were likely the rookies of the group. Even if the rest were equally untrained or unarmed, they were probably in larger groups unless they were stupid. They'd have to be more careful from now on.

 

[Ditch]

"Ah Master Vex" Ditch said, thankfully his helmet was on as a shit eating grin was caked across his face "Please accept my apologies, I'd never made your acquaintance prior to attending Master Draco's party." He continued in an unwavering tone, offering just enough of a quip and hoping she would not retaliate with that fiery Sith rage so many were known for.

With that the doors of the gunboat hissed open and before Ditch could even take sight of any enemies Master Vex was in front of him making a descent from the single person wide ramp and batting blaster fire and killing the two men. Casually continuing down the ramp "I suppose you will be my weapon for this rescue mission.." Lieutenant Ordo said with some surprise in his voice although that quickly susbsided after remembering she was indeed a Sith Master and admittedly he was not used to working with the force using blade wielders but he was getting used to being shown up by them and it wasn't something he was overly fond of.

"I've looked over the schematic to this mining facility a number of times on the way up here. I would assume if there are any hostages or a single point of contention it will be in one of three places, either the miners barracks, the small landing area in the rear of the asteroid or in the mine shafts there is a central hub where a turbo lift brings the mining equipment and men to and from the working areas." Ditch unslung his rifle checking the power pack as he seated it in his hands "The miners barracks is the closest, follow me."

~~~

The corridors within the asteroid were cramped only allowing two peoples width of walking space and shorter than normal ceilings, it made sense as this was a mining facility but it wasn't something Ditch was fond of. The duo was coming upon a 'T' intersection in which they would simply have to go straight to stay on course but voices could be heard coming from their left as the junction would lead to a galley area and clearly some enemies raiding the food stores for a snack.

Shooting a glance over his shoulder at the Sith Master hoping it would be a silent way of communicating there was trouble ahead, Ditch crept towards the corner of the 'T' junction and poked his head around the corner. The entry to the galley was a wide bulkhead that was about three peoples width wide and he could see in, counting four enemies who were in better equipment than the two men who simply carried rifles and nothing else that had met them at the entrance. "Master Vex, if we push in quickly I will take one side and you the other." Ditch said awaiting her response before he would make any movements (@Dread)

 

[Hakon Tenau]

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Theme​

Primed like a grenade, cocked like a scattergun, his eyes stared ahead as he felt the aggression circulate along with the oxygen that flowed through veins. But he did not let it seep out, not like some sith often did. They let it blanket the area. That had its place when hyping up others in a berserk adrenaline rush. But he was the long knife that cleaved deep, not some hammer that smashed repeatedly in a wild fit of wrath. This savage feeling was for him and him alone. Behind his mask his sclera turned black and his irises glowed gold, extending his senses outward like a beast testing the area around them for sounds of prey.

The Lieutenant and the Sith Master had spoken to one another, exchanging words as he sat silently with the other Imperial Mandalorians. His armor setting him somewhat apart from them. The ship had descended and the master sprang into action immediately. He had assumed she would do as much and did not so much as get out of his seat until the opposition were nothing but warm cadavers. He took a deep breath through his nose and stepped off the vessel as the Lieutenant, Master and others got off.

Hakon was mandalorian as well and it had been a long time since he had stepped foot on mandalorian soil, if an asteroid could be considered soil. While he wanted to join in the fight and have his share of blood letting he knew that there would be limited targets for this job. The man did not have as much of a thirst for blood as some but he would be at a loss if he did not get to exert some of his destructive tendencies and he did not think it to be the type of lust that would be quenched by simple interrogation of a single captive. Perhaps he did want to be the hammer on this mission. Monotony, even in violence could be bothersome. But Hakon did not want to get in between Vex and her prey. She had her own fangs that seemed to have the need to be bathed.

As they moved through the asteroid they did not seem to raise any alarms. There were no further sentries either, sloppy. He came to a stop behind the Lieutenant and the Master. Both hands removed the lightsaber handles on his belt. He could feel the living presence around the corner as he focused. He did not want to clog up the hall with his own head and so stayed put. Tilting his head to either side respectively he cracked his neck. Hakon was ready to get his fangs wet.

@Dread @Rimrald

 

[Ditch]

Turning his head to acknowledge the Sith Knight who had been trailing the duo, Ditch ushered him forward assuming he had heard what was said and that his voodoo would let him elude to the number of enemies inside the room as well. When he was at Ditch's side Ditch quickly pointed a finger at him and then at the room's right side then jerked his finger back to himself and to the rooms left side before holding up three fingers indicating he would begin a count down. The Sith Master seemed to be temporarily occupied with another task at present which paid Ditch no bother as he readied his rifle in his left hand and produced a gloved hand in the air with three fingers up.

3...2...1...

Suddenly like it had been rehearsed Ditch peeled around the corner of the T intersection and toward the wider bulkhead raising his rifle as he moved quickly inside the opening with meticulous footwork. Planting himself with evenly spaced footing and letting two bolts fly catching the man furthest to the left in the chest and sending him over the durasteel cafe table before he could even fully ready his weapon. Dropping to his knee to acquire the closer target Ditch fired in his direction as he returned fire; a bolt flying past Ditch as he was ducking slammed into the wall behind him leaving a black singe in the metal as Ditch let three bolts fly. The first went high and the second caught the man in his shoulder which sent him on to his back, making the third ineffective.

Ditch pressed forward hoping not to take any fire from the right side as the Knight should be handling the two on his side in short order. Producing one of his blaster pistols with his free hand Ditch stepped over the makeshift cover the assailant was behind and delivered the final shot putting the man to rest.

"I would guess they know we're here now.." (@Darasuum) Ditch said rather dryly without taking his attention off the two men he had just killed.

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

Only a moment after the Lieutenant moved did Hakon follow. The corridor was still narrow but he could squeeze past if necessary but he instead leaped up and over him, somersaulting as the man went down into a crouch. The bolt that missed the both of them passed between them, almost singeing him. Hakon came down onto the deck beyond Ditch, avoiding getting shot in the back by rolling to keep his momentum. As he came up and out of the roll with lightsaber in hand.

He would be within range of the ones to the right with his lightsaber and swiftly eviscerate the man through the stomach. The one beyond would bring his weapon around to Hakon but his comrade was in the way. While he had been gutted by Hakon the man refrained from firing into the back of his fellow degenerate so Hakon took advantage of the man's hesitation and flung the dying body into him. The living and dying would end up in a tangle of body parts only for Hakon to follow up with a pounce to stab through the corpse of the first one, penetrating into the torso of the second, finishing both of them off together.

As he rose from the attack he looked around and saw the Lieutenant looking over to him having dispatched his targets. "I wonder what alerted them." He said with a heavily sardonic tone. His helmet was not enough to lose the emphasis he put into it. Even with the helmet on he had a blank expression to match. But he was calm about the situation, having no fear of the obstruction ahead. He had his gripes about how they attacked, much preferring the quick and silent method of elimination considering there were hostage lives on the line. But he was not the one leading the mission. All he could do was bet with the hand dealt to him and make some quips here and there or stay silent and judge everything. At least the breach on the room had been well done. He expected no less from a fellow mandalorian.

@Dread @Rimrald

 

[Graham Siccaro]

Kneeling in the corridor outside the Galley, back to the wall and blaster scanning left and right, Graham was making sure no one was coming up the hall to investigate the commotion just yet. He had been last off the shuttle carrying his standard gear, preferring not to get in the way of the Sith and attempting to not step on the Madalorians' pride by by having a Serenno born ISC officer beat them out onto what was ostensibly their home ground. So he had silently put himself as tail end charlie. Not the most dramatic of roles, but as tough as it was necessary. Two Sith and a number of trained soldiers or no, if any of them slipped up they could all end up dead, and Graham was determined not to let that happen. So far his zone had been quiet, so he risked a glance backward into the galley.

The others were still collecting themselves after clearing out the four targets in the room. That would make six dead out of a supposed twenty or so. They had been on the astraddle for only a handful of minutes and they had already dealt with roughly a quarter of the enemy. Graham bared his teeth behind his helmet's visor in what some right call a grin, but he had to remind himself that while they had started well they had to keep that momentum going to the finish.

Jumping in on the conversation between Lieutenant Ditch and Kight Tenau he said "We still have a way to go before we reach the barracks, and we wont be lucky forever. Lets move, hard and fast."

With that she stood and moved on toward the miner's barracks.


​

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

Seeing as the other sith and the lieutenant were fine holding this beachhead that left Hakon and the new voice of the group to move forward. He did not respond to the soldier's words but still understood the truth to them. It was not far for them to go at this point considering it was an asteroid but there could be numerous blockages, obstacles and hindrances like armed opposition the whole way there.

Hakon focused on the path ahead as they moved. It was a few minutes as they made their way close to the barracks. Keeping his weapon out and ready he tried sensing the locations of any potential fighters that they might run into. Luckily his senses were sharp and attuned to the limited life on the asteroid. "There are seven insurgents ahead, ten hostages. Insurgents are spread around the room, hostages are huddled together. No explosives when we breach. We don't want to kill those we are here to rescue." He said and reignited his light saber beginning to cut around the bulkhead they would be moving through. After finishing it he looked at those around before sending a push into the made hole. He did not blast it through, instead holding it up, letting it be a shield for those that first walked in, allowing them to come around on either side and fire on any hostiles.

@Luster

 

[Graham Siccaro]

Graham heard no reply reply to his comment but the very noticeable presence of Knight Tenau moving down the corridor with him was testament enough to the fact that they were still pushing deeper into the asteroid. The corridors were mostly straight but the fact that they had first been bored out of rock meant that the walls were rough and the hall size tended to be irregular. They were careful to check for ambushes at intersections or coming from side passages, but they were greeted by nothing but silence on the way to the barracks.

As they neared their first objective the Knight had motioned for them to stop near a bulkhead, telling him of the situation on the other side. It was still strange to Graham that someone could get that sort of information without a camera feed or direct line of sight. This Force of theirs was a strange but incredibly useful tool, if of course he was correct in her senses, but the Knight had given Graham no reason to doubt his ability. He nodded along with the Knight's orders and added to them. "Once through I'll sweep right and you will take the left."

He watched with rifle raised as the Knight used his lightsaber to cut out a sizable portion or the bulkhead and move it into the room with the Force. Graham took this opportunity to step over the lip of the still smoking cut, sticking close to the floating piece of metal as the sound of blaster fire filled the room. Spotting an overturned bunk he steeled himself and launched into a combat roll, hoping to come up behind the bunk, using it for cover. Unfortunately one of the shooters was on his mark and a bolt slammed into Graham's chest piece as he rolled, sending searing pain rolling out from the point of impact. If it hadn't of been for the armor he would probably be dead, but as it was the Corps at least thought he was good for something and gave him a chance. Gritting his teeth he propped the rifle on the side of the bunk and spotted three hostiles on his side, standing behind a row of kneeling hostages. He squeezed off three hasty shots, each missing their targets but hopefully making them duck.
​

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

With the portion of the bulkhead making a makeshift shield Hakon used his free hand to stow the lightsaber he had and draw his personal thunderslug pulse wave pistol. Two troopers came in after Hakon and Graham did and came out from behind the moving cover the mandalorian sith provided. Each landed a shot or two on the extremists. This made the oposition duck trying to escape the return fire and provided Hakon with enough time to draw a bead on an enemy.

Hakon's aim was true half of the time it seemed. Two out of the four shots he fired hit their marks. One on the enemy that another trooper had fired on, killing him. The other made one reel as the heavy damage seeped past his chest protection.

On the other hand he side stepped to provide more cover to Graham who had seemed to fall down. There were still six insurgents, pattering away at the mobile bulkhead. If they got their heads together the insurgents would be able to push back soon. They could not afford to be put on the backfoot in a situation like this.

@Luster

 

[Graham Siccaro]

​

The wound in Graham's side was starting to report in, meaning his torso was alive with pain. He ground his teeth and did his best to build a wall around the pain and focus on the events rapidly unfolding in the barracks. I was supposed to be on the bridge of a ship, not getting shot at by glorified pirates. If only that damned recruiter had listened to me... He hit his helmet on the edge of the bunk he was using for cover to snap himself back into focus. There was a time for internalized complaining, it just was not in the middle of a firefight.

By now Tenau and the Mandalorians were in the room as well, pouring fire onto the insurgents quite effectively. One was put down for sure and it looked like their combined efforts had wounded two more. That left four unwounded insurgents able to return fire in the immediate future, before their two comrades could recover. And right now the four of them had four targets of their own to deal with, meaning that they were not necessarily looking in his direction when he popped back into view. Bracing his blaster on the bunk, he pulled it tight to his shoulder took aim at one of the hostiles and pulled the trigger four times. The first shot took the man in the chest, staggering him backwards. The next was a miss and Graham readjusted and the third shot hit the man in the throat, sealing his fate and sending him to the floor. That left three fully functional enemies and two wounded one, not bad, but they had to keep pushing.
[/CENTER]​

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

It seemed that they were working their way through the remaining insurgents. As Graham recovered from his injury he took out another enemy. The mandalorians on either side of the Sith were able to take out another two in the process. That left three to which Hakon would empty his thunderslug pulse wave pistol into. The loud discharge booming over the sounds of all other weapns at the moment. His other hand would hurl the makeshift cover he had been holding with the force. It was aimed at a lone insurgent who seemed to be too hyped up on adrenaline to notice he was totally exposed.

The other hand that Hakon used to repeatedly depress the trigger a half a dozen times. The barrel of the weapon swept across the room striking the remaining insurgents dead. After a few moments there was only the sound of the whimpering hostages to hear. Hakon out of habit reloaded his weapon. Calling in over the commlink he patched back towards the other members of the operations. "Hostages are secure."

@Luster

 

[Graham Siccaro]

In a deafening crescendo of blaster fire, heavily accented with the sound of Knight Tenau's thunderslug pistol. And then mere seconds later it was over, the room contained four members of the strike team, ten whimpering and cowering forms of the hostages, and seven very dead insurgents. Sweeping his blaster slowly around the room to make sure where were not any more hostiles hiding in ambush Graham stands up from behind his cover. The movement caused another wave of searing pain to emanate from his blaster wound, strong enough even to get past his mental blocks. It took everything he had to not vocalize the amount of pain he was feeling, instead opening his mouth in a silent scream and ever thankful that no one could it behind his helmet's visor. He ran a simple weapons check to refocus his mind, swapping the lightly used cell in his rifle for a full one while regulating his breathing.

He looked once more at the situation in the miner's barracks and thought back to their briefing. The information the team had been given made mention that a miner had escaped and claimed that 'roughly' twenty insurgents had taken the facility. To help give form to his thoughts he did the math out loud. "Two at the dock, four in the galley, and seven here. That's thirteen in total." He looked over at Tenau and cocked an eyebrow, fully aware the man could not see his expression. "Can you sense any more close by?"
​

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

There were possibly more insurgents nearby. That much Hakon kept in mind as he drew his lights saber from his belt once again. Graham voiced his concern about there being more within the vicinity and Hakon would close his eyes, focusing on the surrounding area to see if he could find any more opposition. His mind became centered and paused for a moment. Reaching out in an ever increasing area he tried his best to find the location of the insurgents. He had to think in three hundred and sixty degrees though since there was no way to tell if they were a specific direction like he had before. Alas, he ended up being able to feel them somewhat further into the asteroid.

With a gesture and a few words he directed the mandalorians to escort the hostages back to the safe area. Graham and Hakon would continue into the asteroid to finish off the remaining enemies.

@Luster

 

[Graham Siccaro]

When the Knight let it be known that he was unsure Graham simply nodded and remained silent while Tenau set about giving orders, preferring to keep certain thoughts to himself. Good to know that the force is not a fix all. I mean I wish I knew where the rest were, but we can always find out the old fashioned way. Now its a big facility, and they doubtless know that they are under attack by now. That leaves three options: they move to try and catch us, fort up somewhere, or flee.

Clearing his throat he spoke up. "It would be best to check the landing bay at the back of the facility, if any are trying to flee that is where they will be headed. If they are not there then we search the rest of the place. and I am sure Lieutenant Ordo and Master Vex can take care of anything that comes their way."

He stepped back over the lip of the bulkhead and into the hall, orienting toward the nominal 'rear' of the facility. And he was pleased to find out that they did not run into any ambushes along the way.​

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

While Hakon both hoped and believed the insurgents would not leave he agreed with the man that the landing pad was the the safest bet. It was probably small and hard to enter on which was why the rescue group had not come through that way initially. But from the inside it was far easier to approach. But it did not seem like the Imperial duo were approaching with the element of surprise. A shot missed the mandalorian as he rounded the corner, making him dash for cover and fire off two shots in its general direction. amazingly one of the two shots clips one of the insurgents in the helmet, forcing him to tear off his helmet to save his scalp from getting second degree burns. The other remaining insurgents turned towards the direction they had approached from. It looked like they would have to storm them without the help of a cut out bulkhead like last time.

@Luster

 

[Graham Siccaro]

They had been padding through the halls in a rush to get to the rear hangar so that if someone was trying to escape the two of them could prevent it. It seems that their good luck in avoiding and surprising their enemies had finally run out when blaster bolts flew past the Knight as he rounded a corner, impacting the far wall. As Tenau fired back Graham pressed himself against the wall and peeked around the corner. There seemed to be six more insurgents in the cramped landing bay attempting to board a beat up looking shuttle. While one was furiously attempting to ditch his smoking helmet while the rest were spinning around to engage the two Imperials. Reacting quickly to the sight of five more blasters turning to spit fire at them Graham let his rifle fall on its strap and pulled his fragmentation from his belt. Flicking the activation switch he tossed it around the corner, pulling back to avoid any return fire. Seconds later there was a loud boom, and a cry was cut short as two of the insurgents shredded by the blast.
​

​

 

[Hakon Tenau]

__________

Recovering from his own dash into cover he figured he may as well toss his own fragmentation grenade. He primed it while in cover and then lobbed it with only his hand momentarily passing out into view of the enemies. Countining from cover he waited until it went off before turning the corner and firing off a few more shots. His grenade ended up only taking out one insurgent. It appeared his gunslinging marksmanship was far better than his throwing arm. two insurgents earned sizzling holes in their chest before Hakon returned to cover. That left the helmetless insurgent and one other. They slowly started backing up, trying to make their way to their starship to escape.

@Luster

 

[Graham Siccaro]

Still fully behind cover and out of sight of the insurgents Graham was unaware of the effects of his grenade had on the group. He saw the Knight throw a grenade of his own and follow it up with a flurry of shots, dropping back behind cover as the enemy fire seemed to diminish. Hoping to them off balance by continually switching the angle of attack he decided to pop his head around the corner and fire off his own barrage. In the split second his head and shoulder were exposed he saw that their combined assault had left only two standing, and that they were falling back to the shuttle slowly.

But that was about all he saw before they began to focus their fire on him. Two bolts slammed into the wall so close to his face that he could feel the heat from the impact and flying bits of hot debris hitt and carbonized his left eye piece to the point he could not see out of it. Ducking back from such a close call he holds his blaster around the corner, firing six blind shots, praying to whoever would listen that at least one would connect. Most of them would be clear misses, hitting the shuttle or even the deck, but two bolts landed solidly on the chest of the fully armored man. With two smoking holes in his chest the man drops to the deck, leaving only the one without a helmet to stolidly continue his slow retreat.
​

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[Hakon Tenau]

__________

Hakon did not reload his thunderslug right away. They had temporarily turned their attention towards him after his previous attack and allowed Graham to take out one of the last remaining two. The man Hakon had first shot in the helmet was slowly backpedalling. They had been continually firing since the Sith had arrived and he was now out of ammunition. Hakon holstered his thunderslug and dashed out around the corner. Hakon made it almost to the man as he started to back pedal faster at the sight of the Sith bearing down on him. The crimson saber in his hand extending from its hilt in its iconic sound. The lone surviving insurgent was able to bring his blaster to bear on Hakon in time to fire two shots but both were batted away by the sith energy weapon.

Hakon slashed the weapon in two, turning it into little more than scrap. He used his other hand to raise the man up with the force a full two meters off the ground before slamming him back down, flat on his back. The mandalorian could swear he heard some ribs crack. Hakon stood over the man, behind his mask his white sclera had turned black and his normal hazel irises had become a predatory gold. The man's personal armor hid this for the time being but his black armor was intimidating enough. "You have a few moments to something worth while and I might consider not showing you your own intestines."

The man coughed up some blood in response. If he had still been wearing his helmet it probably would have just ended up back on his face. "Go... *cough* ... float yourself" Hakon promptly pulled the man towards hgrabbed and pulled the man up to his feet. Using his lightsaber he sliced across the man's stomach. Just as he had said, his intestines started to spill out. Hakon's left hand gripped the back of the man's neck, forcing it to look down at his own spilled organs. Hakon was a gentleman after all and a man of his word.

@Luster