[Balmorra] Giving Life

[Don Wheast]

Don straightened again, walking to the relative middle of the camp and restocking on energy cells. They had plenty of ammunition, good. A quick status check from one of the engineers reassured his thoughts: they were relatively low on any early warning systems or area denial weapons, which included mines, flares, and the like. It wasn't going to be good in the long run. The only thing the Sergeant could hope for was that they could last through the night, and maybe be able to get a resupply from another shuttle, whenever that thing was going to come.

Bruce was talking about how he though the Republic couldn't possibly abandon a base of operations like this. Don knew better, he'd seen and done it firsthand. Unlike what the propaganda suggested, they had a tendency to lose. A lot. Especially with all the politics getting caught up in the matter, and a lack of hard-ass generals who weren't willing to send people into meat grinders.
"Trust me, buddy, they do it all the time. And I could guess so, seeing as they have more important matters to attend to. Like operating a formal ball in an attempt to actually get funds for the Judiciaries. The Republic should just give up at this point, cause we're earning more credits on our own than with their tiny donations. I'll make sure to set up some more mines, if we have any left. Otherwise, we just gotta hope the bad guys forget about our traps."

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Don could have been right, at least in regards to the Republic - but the Jedi Order? That's a different story. Yes the history books indicated that they shut themselves away after they'd wrought so much destruction with the hundred year darkness. But they've been making efforts to resolve that stain. To abandon already injured - troopers, civilians, and support staff; that wouldn't make the stain any more tidier. In the end, Don had his beliefs and Bruce had his.


The man's comment about making credits held Bruce for a moment. Was that his game? Was the sergeant simply here to make sure few credits to bolster his accounts? The comment certainly seemed that way - but Bruce once again brushed it aside, he wanted people to be good. He also wanted to take things with evidence and not go on blind reasoning alone. He shook his head, “We'll see.” Were the only words he could find. He wasn't exactly too fond of the man suggesting to surrender, and to give up. He dwelled on the thought, the man didn't mean to actually surrender did he?


There was a good chance they wouldn't be left alone tonight. He looked out over the horizon, smoke plumes from the incendiary devices. He would relish the moment and hopefully they'd get some kind of contact from base. He didn't want more contact from the fighting perspective, but it was inevitable.

 

[Don Wheast]

Don had plenty to do, such as refortifying, accounting for gear, dead, and the like. He didn't have the luxury of waiting, especially when the Republic was notorious for making the Judiciaries wait just a bit too long here and there, resulting in unnecessary casualties. Soon enough, he was standing in a watchtower himself, binoculars trained on the horizon. Getting surprised was the last on his list of priorities. Getting killed was not the first.

OOC - Sorry for short reply!

 

[The Storyteller]

Time would not sit still for them, not tonight. As Don watched the horizons and Bruce walking the perimeter to see if they could spot anything amiss. It remained quiet, a light wind picking up causing the Bardottan's robes to flap lightly for a moment.


---

A group began to deploy, they weren't waiting for this base. They managed to shake them up a little and they were going to capitalize on it. The pirates we're probably more dumb than effective or strategic. They were going to strike.

A few yards away they'd set up a couple of mortars at a staging point. They had a couple more squads ready to roll out at a moment's notice, and there was two small units who slipped past the defensive line and were encroaching behind the friendly line.


Only a few moments past, it was completely dark now, only a faint glow illuminated the base. Quietly, two guards were stabbed hands over their mouths - not a sound. The team was moving toward Don's position, he'd be safe up top though. But the same couldn't be said for those below.


One group was coming up on Bruce as well...

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Bruce watched the surrounding area trying to figure out where they were going to come from and what they wanted. They must have just wanted to kill the base for fun? Was there a price? There was something that would drive the opposition.


Bruce took a moment to breath and remember the fallen as he always did when involved with casualties. He hated doing this, he hated fighting wars, although it was kill or be killed, it didn't mean he had to enjoy it. It was during this moment of reflection that his senses ignited and screamed out that danger was near. Bruce stopped, flexed his hands and then immediately donkey kicked the pirate behind him he immediately spin around and a blast of kinetic energy erupted from his hands blowing the enemy back. He saber ignited and Bruce quickly used the Force to pull the downed pirate to him allowing the saber to pierce the abdomen of the man. Bruce tossed the man aside with the Force.


“Sound the alarm!” He shouted without directing the command to anyone in particular.

 

[Don Wheast]

When the alarm activated, Don looked down towards the guys that were with him. Dead. Kriff. He turned to inside the base and saw everything kicking off. Raising his blaster, he aimed for the outer walls. Seeing as they were dead, he was alone. They just wouldn't get a break. This was farking terrible. Once the small unit began to move in, he fired two shots and took out two, ducking as the remaining ones crawled behind cover. Don pulled out his comlink and spoke into it.

"Hey, a little help at my wall could be nice, the bastards didn't sneak in yet. Two guards are dead, though."

He peeked up and narrowly avoided a bolt to the face. Damn.

 

[Bruce Guleya]

The alarms screeched, Bruce hated alarms; they got annoying real fast. But unlike his previous alarm encounter, he can't just shut this one off by destroying a console like last time. This was a popup base, and kind of the property of his allies; he was sure the council might have a few choice words for him if he did that. He wasn't carrying a comm at the moment, but he did hear comm chatter from a nearby trooper. He nodded in acknowledgement before shifting position. He looked to his comrade up top, he pushed the opposition below away with a blast of Force energy, sending them back into the minefield - they'd have to watch their step if they didn't want to loose a limb or two.

When the Sergeant saw him, the Knight pointed in the direction of those he had pushed away. Soon though he could hear some whistling overhead followed by an explosion, and ill placed round - unable to meet it's target he landed outside of the base. They were getting desperate now.

"Made contact. It'll be 45 - 90 minuets before they can mobilize anything to either get us out, or get them out."

A bit of good news on the radio. Now they just hand to figure it out and survive.

Bruce was unable to tell if anyone was out there, if there was any large groups waiting to pounce or if they were just going to make things explode? One thing was certain though, they needed to plan and act fast; if for the last time.

 

[Don Wheast]

Don saw the hostiles being pushed off, in the direction of the minefield and put on a smile as the explosives detonated. Good. A few less to deal with. He heard Bruce yelling, something about 90 minutes till help arrived. Made sense. He'd be sure to overestimate to around two hours. They often made a lot of steep promises, so that seemed much more reasonable. Peeking over the barrier, he fired two shots and downed a guy trying to push in, then reached for a thermal det and activated it, rolling it just barely around the corner and watching it explode before ducking down once more.

"Really want some more help on this side, guys!"

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Bruce didn't hesitate to provide his comrade with some much needed relief; unfortunately Bruce was ineffective the way he was now and he needed to remedy that, and fast. He looked around the area for a new method to approach everything, he considered his options and ultimately chose something so completely out of his comfort zone - but he had to adapt. He pushed out with the Force and grabbed the nearest blaster carbine and took up a position down below Don, he placed the carbine on the barricade and inhaled deeply.

This was so odd, so archaic to him. It didn't feel right or even natural to the bardottan Knight. Under normal circumstances he probably couldn't do this, but he had the Force on his side. That's what he kept telling himself, that was the only thing that would give him comfort in this situation. He pulled the trigger, the blaster screeched hurtling toward the nearest target. The slight recoil caught the Jedi off guard but he did his best to guide the bolt with the Force, if anything he might be able to stop a couple of them - provided his bolts could find their targets and he could keep control of the bolt. The first few shots of the carbine were wild, the next were more controlled and just narrowly managed to miss their targets, it was the next shots that proved to be effective. Life a rifle scope, he just needed to adjust and line up the shots, and now his shots were meeting their intended destinations. Bruce wasn't exactly incompetent when it came to using ranged weapons, he just was so unsure of them but then he got into a rhythm. He did his best to maintain that rhythm until the blaster required venting and reloading - equipment he didn't have.

Tossing the blaster aside, he had to think of a new option. A new tech... and then it came to him. Bruce broke from the cover and scurried back into the base, but only enough so that he could cover his whole body when he sat down. That was one of the drawbacks of being a bardottan, he had a bit of a long neck. With his new spot found he settled in, he closed his eyes and opened his mind to the Force; the Force flowed through him and he could see the opposition, his comrades, himself, the wounded, and the explosives buried under the fields. He brought himself into the meditation and began using the very thing that made him special.

Using the Force he triggered a timer on various mines, giving them enough of a delay in order to achieve maximum efficiency. He pulled a few up from out of the ground and tossed them in various directions, to confuse the opposition. He even dulled the explosion on some to protect the innocents, the defenders. But all of this was coming at a cost, it was starting to bring the Jedi down, wearing on him. Wheast and his friends had put out ample supply of explosives, it was hard to try and keep track of all of them and when each went off it did result in a bit of a shock to himself. The sweat was starting to bead down his forehead, down his tendrils, it might become too much if he kept this up.

Regrettably, he had broke his meditation. Swaying from side to side, he slumped up against his cover and he tried to catch his breath and control his breathing and perhaps stimulate some recovery. They still had time until anything could be done.

 

[Don Wheast]

As a bit more Judiciary forces ran to the side of most resistance, Don stopped to watch for half a second after ducking from a blaster bolt to see the Jedi going at it with a blaster rifle. Soon enough, he was back to his old games and had flung some mines at hostiles pushing inside the walls. Nice idea. Raising his rifle, the engineer fired at people attempting to rush the choke point that was the entrance, watching as they fell. Bruce had stopped firing, for whatever reason. Maybe the Force was tiring, or something.

But that wasn't his issue right now. Pulling out a detonator, he looked out of cover and clicked the button, watching as more lines erupted into flame, cutting off the jungle once more. The less people flooding in, the better. But this time, some of the guys were trapped in the flame and were simply turned to ash from the heat. Nothing left at all. He'd seen it before, and it was no different. But then again, it was them or the Judiciaries, and Don would choose his life over another's any day.

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Hordes. That's what was happening here, the pirates and the thugs continued to push onward and each wave was stronger than the next; relentless. Bruce couldn't stay down any longer, he got back and and was ready to push onward and end this. Beaten and warn from his constant utilization of the Force he needed to really center himself and control himself less he push himself to the point of no return.

Standing tall Bruce summoned his lightsaber, his shimmering golden blade a blaze he started to move his style toward an aggressor now. His lightsaber was lowered to his side and he glared at the enemies. He heard the whistling of another mortar round, he grabbed the round in midair and sent it back. He was done playing around, this fight had to go to them and he'd be prepared to lead the charge. He started to advance toward the final barrier around the base, readying himself for a large fight - until three shuttles came roaring in behind him and landing. The ramps dropped and a few more soldiers joined the fray to support this base - Bruce eased off almost immediately. He no longer needed to push the line.

The order came across to comm link now, evacuate. That was the only hope for survival! Bruce looked up at the Sergeant above him, "Did you receive that? I'm going to help with the evacuation."

Bruce took off full stride to the lines and began coordinating the tear-down and transportation. The wounded and the support staff needed to go first, he rushed to the aid of the more feeble residence of this base and helped haul them aboard the ramps and on to the shuttles. Fortunately for them, this wasn't a massive base and it wasn't like they were evacuating a whole city. The wounded were loaded on and the shuttle's engines flared to life and took off into the horizon. A few more would need to be on the next shuttle, and the base needed to come apart.

Weapons, technology, information first. That needed to get on before they went any further - these buildings were only temporary shelters and if they got destroyed - so be it. Bruce oversaw the packing of the supplies and the information, and he heard another whistle in the air, once again he sent it back to it's sender.

Hold on just a little longer... he thought to himself.

 

[Don Wheast]

Don looked over the watchtower as Bruce yelled. That was quick. The evac was here pretty damn early, all things considered. Maybe the Republic was finally sorting out its internal problems and looking to actually be good at waging war and saving lives. Sliding down the rungs of the ladder, he pulled out his blaster rifle again and spoke into his comlink as he ran, notifying the engineers and telling them to leave the remaining explosives within the camp behind. There was a bit of a fireworks show he had in store.

"Leave the blasting powder and the defoliants, I have some stuff in store. If there's any HE left, pack that up, but do it quick! Whatever we leave is getting blown up."

He vented his blaster rifle and looked out to the edges of the camp, squinting slightly before reloading the power pack. This was finally coming to a close, and he intended that the enemy got absolutely nothing left from the camp. As well as the explosion looking like the greatest fireworks show imaginable. A slight smile came on his face. Helluva day.

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Bruce shepherded in the final occupants of the camp into the second shuttle. He encourage the necessary speed to clear the area, they wouldn't have much longer now and he told them to forget the camp and only get the essentials. With the second shuttle loaded up with staff and equipment Bruce told the pilot to get clear and fast. Bruce hurried down the ramp and back to the field, the lines were breaking now and they didn't have much longer to go. He proceeded to the nearest squad, relieved the pressure and told them to get clear and board the final craft.

The squad backed off still firing as they back tracked providing covering fire. Soon the other squads began to follow the example and soon the fields were clear. One final task remained, Bruce took off in a rapid stride coming up behind Don and leaping over him landing on a couple of the thugs and dispatching them quickly with his saber, with the Force he pushed them back and he fell back to Don's side, Bruce deflected the blaster rounds coming at them. "We're all that's left, lets go."

Bruce would remain by Don's side the entire trip back to the shuttle as they boarded, once clear of the ramp Bruce found a seat and buckled in, he'd suggest that everyone should buckle in. The shuttle would only take off on Don's orders. They were almost clear of the battle, but the Jedi Knight refused to take a breath until they were clear of the base and the shuttle was sealed up.

 

[Don Wheast]

Don cursed as the Jedi jumped over him, taking out what remained of the opposition as they ran up the ramp to the shuttle. Sitting down at the edge as the aircraft took off from his yelling to the pilot, he pulled out a detonator and spun it around in his hands. One of his buddies was in the shuttle too, and he held up the control, watching as they rose higher. Pressing the button, his fingers counted down. Three, two, one. What used to be the base lit up in a spectacle of fire and oddly-colored gas, the defoliants that had been left behind.

It was a damn nice sight as the bay doors closed, and the sergeant would add it to the list of stuff he'd blown up.
"And now we get dropped off at another frickin' base till there's none left," he muttered to himself.

 

[Bruce Guleya]

Bruce finally exhaled and was satisfied. The deaths down below sent a ripple through the Force that he could feel, but it didn't bother him too much as they were not entirely innocent lives. They cleared it, and unfortunately there was so damage in the process; Bruce did remind himself that he'd need to come back here when this was all done and ensure that no one else would be injured by the equipment that remained buried in the earth.

"Sorry about the jump. I may have been reckless." Bruce apologized to the Sergeant as Bruce gripped his side, it only now became apparent he had taken a blaster bolt. At the time that it happened he was just so involved in the conflict and so focused on ensuring everyone escape with their lives he had become oblivious to his own body's pain receptors. It was minor, or so he thought to himself as he channeled his Force focus into his hand. A soft glow shimmered in between his hand and his body as he lifted it from his wound. The energies of the Force quickly began to tie the flesh back together and sealing it before removing the final markings of the wound. It was over, the fight was - for now.

He looked over at Don after the sergeant made his remarks, "I'm afraid there is truth to that. But we are currently heading back to the city to accept some rest. There has been rumors though... this conflict on Balmorra is nearing an end. You did good. We did good. I hope we can meet again on more acceptable terms and much better circumstances. Frankly I don't want to run into you when I'm getting shot at or even if you're getting shot out." Bruce let out a weak smile. He was tired, he had worked hard to maintain his stamina and to continue the fight. He was looking forward to the rest, even if there was another fight to be had - he just needed some time to himself to catch up. "Perhaps a drink or two, yeah? Our dinner did get interrupted after all."