Ask [Firrerre] Life From Ashes

[Ryan Fields]

Corporal Ryan Fields has just informed his squad of the horrid actions done to Firrerre. How the Sith just bombarding the planet with a heavy assault. It was horrifying to watch. Corporal Fields wasn't going to just stand by and watch it happen. He readied his squad and now they are on the way to save many lives. Riding in one of the Navy's ships they would await the arrival on the Planet that was up in smoke in his newly given ISC Specialist Armor. Awaiting the mission to save the helpless on a burning planet.

"Alright, remember. If there are hostiles, we do not engage unless we are being fired on. We can not apprehend any Sith troops either. We are only here to evacuate the people of Firrerre. There shouldn't be much of any, if any, Sith troops on the ground."

Corporal Fields placed his helmet back onto his head and walked to the exit door. He would look out the window to see the grounds below. Their place of duty would be the Firrerre Capital. It was the most populated city, so of course the most civilians and probability of FWA Troops or higher status individuals would be here. Along with Honey Badger Squad would be a group of ISC S4F3-Series Combat Medical Droids. They civilians of Firrerre will need as much medical care given as possible.

"Pheonix 1 to Badger 2."

"Badger 2, send it."

"We can't bring the bird down, you'll have to make a jump."

"Good copy Pheonix 1. Badger 2 out. Alright Honey Badgers, let's get going."

Corporal Fields opened the exit door and looked back at his soldiers, then jumped out in a diving motion to the ground. As he was falling through the sky, he could see the city on fire. This was going to be a dangerous mission, and he knew this. But he trusted his soldiers to be able to handle the problem. When the ground got closer he knew it was time to land. He flipped to his feet and landed on a downward slope allowing for him to slide onto his feet and not damage his body in the process.

After his landing and making it to his feet he would look back at his Squad behind him.

"Alright let's get ready to save some lives."

@Tulos @Altaris @Aurius @Versok @Feng Mian @Nor'baal

 

[Tandon Fell]

War often gave it’s heroes little time to prepare, that much Tandon knew, so when the Corporal arrived with the details of their first mission, the green recruit didn’t give it a second thought before jumping out his bunk and gathering his gear. He would hurry about, dropping trow and pulling on the underlayers of his new suit of armor but once Fields had reached the climax of what had transpired, he came to a halt with his jumpsuit only halfway up his thighs. Firrerre was under orbital bombardment? This was nothing like what had happened on his own homeworld, much of Taris remained standing. No, this was a method the galaxy hasn’t seen in over a hundred years. This was a method that had been used on his homeworld thousands of years ago. This was total and utter annihilation.

The trip through hyperspace was silent, or at least Tandon thought it was. Everyone clearly had questions as to what had happened and why, but if they vocalized them, he did not hear. His mind returned to the day Taris was attacked, fleeing for his life only to get shot down as they attempted to leave the system. Yet he still survived. How many civilians on Taris actually died that day? In the grand scheme of things, likely not many. Not as many as he was about to bear witness. For all his eagerness to join something bigger than himself, he suddenly felt a tug of doubt in his belly. Was he prepared for what he was about to see?

As it would turn out, he was.

As the ship flew above the scarred and decimated surface, Tandon could feel a growing sense of anger and resentment for the Sith deep within himself. What they had done here was far beyond anything anyone would have expected of them. He had heard rumours that there were factions within the Sith that wished for peace but in his mind, in that moment, he knew there could be none. There had to be justice. Had to be.

Now standing behind the Corporal, both men fully suited in their armour, Tandon gave his gear another once over. His air filter and environment suit all remained undamaged from the jump, so he began to flip through his HUD options. First the standard issue scanner option, then the survival and vision variants, each with the click of a button on the side of his helmet. Satisfied, he fell in line behind the Fields as they began their search.

”How… How could anyone do this? There isn’t a building left standing for miles…” Tandon stated as he looked from left to right with his thermal scanner active, searching for any survivors.

@Scoobert @Aurius @Altaris @Feng Mian @Nor'baal @Versok​

 

[Karina Safin]

Karina dropped like a stone out of the transport, and descended through the clouds. Only at the last minute did she activate the parachute attached to her back, slowing her landing before she stopped close behind Tandon and Corporal Fields. She detached it, and almost immediately, a harsh wind sent the chute billowing away, vanishing into the smoke. Even underneath her armor, she could feel the warmth of a thousand fires on her skin, and smell the ruin and decay of a planet glassed by the Sith.

A shiver climbed her neck. She turned on her thermal scope next, but it was a struggle finding anything in so much rubble. Tandon was right. There wasn’t a standing building, nor a visible soul, as far as the eye could see.

“Are we too late?” Karina said grimly as she noted the burning landscape ahead. It was a silly question. Of course they were too late. The Sith had already finished their work, bombing the planet into a nightmarish hellscape, and by some unknown science, they had slipped away unscathed into the dark recesses of space. Cowards. They were more than happy to devastate an innocent world, but when the rest of the galaxy came to retaliate, they knew only how to run and hide.

She did her best not to think more of it. There was a more important task at hand, and that was rescuing as many lives as possible. Even if she would have rather stayed back on Naboo, where the rivers ran full and every spring meadow was bursting with color, she had a role to play. Right now, it was the soldier, Karina Safin, reconnaissance specialist and Consortium patriot. Not the spy, not the assassin, and especially not the orphan.

@Altaris @Aurius @Versok @Nor'baal

 

[Jav Navis]

Sergeant Jav Navis stared into the faceplate of his helmet, holding it in his hands as had become something of a habit before each and every mission these days.

Yet this one was different. There weren't being deployed to put down an AMS outbreak or bring an end to a local warlords reign of terror, they were he because someone had decided to lay waste to an entire planet, for little to no discernable reason. Get a grip Navis. he smiled, hearing the voice of his own Sergeant Major, the brash Houk, Bareel, and with a firm 'click' slid his helmet into place.

"Let's get to work." he told himself, turning away, and heading into the main area, where his men would be waiting.

As he walked into the room, he saw the gathered squad already preparing for the jump, under the capable instruction of Corporal Fields, and he said nothing. Instead, he executed his jump shortly after them, and once completed, straightened up, readied his rifle, and walked over to the squad.

“Are we too late?”

"We're not late Private, we are here." the gruff voice omitted from his mask "Now look lively, you've work to do!" he brought an end to the fatalistic musings and encouraged the squad to focus on the task at hand. Clipping on his HUD, he readied his firearm and took point. Raising his left hand, clenched into a fist, he dropped to one knee "HBs, we move to the rescue shelter. Weapons on stun, eyes peeled for civvies." he unclenched his fist, and jabbed his hand forward as he rose to stand "HBs, move out!"

 

[Brea Lynn Espaa]

-Music-​

Brea’s HUD activated with a satisfying hum, illuminating the interior of her domed helmet. Her rifle’s scope was now soft-linked to her visor, allowing the helmet to do a good deal of the measurements for her. The Vahla was thankful, especially considering the E-11S was prone to overheating on occasion - she’d need to make every shot count. From what the Corporal was saying, it seemed it wasn’t entirely necessary. That’s why she had switched from her primary to her sidearm, leveling it in the usual axis-relock stance. The longblaster was slung via belt over her shoulder, clasped tight to the edges of her dark armor. Brea had to admit - they looked imposing.

“Armed and ready. Let’s get this done.”

She’d known that in this line of work, grizzly sights were common. The burning cityscape of Firrere was less mosaic of flames and more cacophony of anguish, pain and destruction. It registered on a level that Brea hadn’t expected - she felt numb and cold. She felt insignificant. The feeling stayed with her through the entire transport ride, and even now, as she looked downwards towards the licking fumes and vapor, her NCO prompting the Vahla to let loose and take a dive. That’s exactly what she did - dropping out of the transport onto a jutted out hill ledge, using her left arm to guide her fall downwards before rolling back to her feet.

“They’re Sith. You’ve got to throw away your preconception. No atrocity is beyond them.”

At the Sergeant’s command, her squad was tasked with moving up towards the nearest rescue shelter to begin the evacuation procedures. By default, Brea’s eyes were scanning her surroundings, noting vantage points and outcroppings from which she could provide covering fire as necessary. Moving towards a jutted duvet to her immediate North, the Espaa would set up her E-11S’ stand, gently wiping the scope as her body settled down. There was something oddly comfortable about being in a sniper’s nest - like the feeling of coming home after a long day at work. From here, she’d be able to keep an eye on her entire squad, enabling call outs from a distance; and generally keeping them safe from harm. Tapping the side of her helm to activate comms, Brea checked in.

“Badger 4 to Phoenix Actual, requesting SECNAV uplink, over.”

“Badger 4 this is Phoenix Actual. SECNAV is green, over.”

“Green confirmed, Actual. Over and out.”

Once the navigational security network connected to her visor, enabling a three dimensional and up to date view on happening in the immediate area via recon droid footage. She would post up here, keep an eye on the squad as they moved forward, then cover their six as Brea herself moved.

“Badger 4 to Badger 1, overwatch standing by.”

@Scoobert @Altaris @Versok @Nor'baal @Feng Mian

 

[Darius Belari]

Alongside the rest of his newly formed squadron, Darius made his jump from the transport once they had arrived on the planet, cutting through the clouds before activating his parachute and landing close to where the rest of his crew had started to congregated. Once he was on his feet, for several long seconds, Darius could do nothing but stare upon the scene before him.

Firrerree was burning. He had heard of the tragedies that befell to worlds that stood in the way of the Sith. Denon, Taris, Eriadu – all of them had suffered invasions and been subject occupation. But this? This was something different. There was no intention to conquer and occupy. There was no strategic value that came from glassing a planet from orbit.

This was utter annihilation.

The Lokkian donned his newly acquired ISC Sniper armor, still crisp and pristine from having yet to seeing combat. Darius expected that was about to change. He tapped the side of his helmet visor, activating the magnification to his scout HUD to take in the scene before him. He took a few moments to scan the debris and rubble before switching it off, his attention turning back to his companions.

“I hope not.” He replied grimly to Karina, briefly glancing towards the woman a sad look from beneath his helmet. The scene before them now was horrific to say the least, but Darius prayed that they had not arrived too late to make a difference for some. The planet would burn and cities would crumble, but perhaps some of its people would live to see another day.

Reaching for the rifle slung across his back, Darius switched the weapon into stun and began to move out when ordered by the Sergeant, moving in close formation with the rest of his team.

 

[Bobby Stargazer]

Falling on his butt after dropping out of the ship, Bobby quickly stood up alongside the rest of the squad, his big repeater on his hands...but the safety was on, the sargeant and the corporal had both made sure Bobby understood that he shouldn't shoot anyone unless they told him to, specially since neither of his weapons had stun mode. Right now, his mission was to help and look big and scary in his sharkman ISC armor in case they encountered people being mean, he understood that after the sixth time it was explained to him, more or less, that and no biting.

"So much fire, it's reaching so high up in the sky..." Bobby looked at the craters made by the bombardment, the fire, the collapsed buildings, he was no stranger to violence, the Karkarodon had spent most of his life shooting and biting limbs off people, but this...this made him sad for some reason, he didn't understand why, he didn't even have the self awareness to look into it, but this saddened him.

"Bobby will save people!" The karkarodon said, following closely behind as he looked around, turning on the funny colors vision of his helmet...And then being slightly blinded by one of the fires before turning it back off, not one of his best ideas, maybe he should use his eyes and sense of smell to find the people that needed help.

@Tulos @Altaris @Aurius @Nor'baal @Feng Mian @Scoobert

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

When the attack came, Laeonas' mind had, for all intents and purposes, been put out of commission. There were a number of factors concerning why this was. As a force user, he was aware of all life's connections to each other-- and to have life end on such a massive scale was jarring for one such as him. Beyond this, the man had just stopped meditating when the carnage began, which was far worse than simply being connected in the background. It made a massive difference-- the same difference between superficially hearing something in the background, and actively listening with audio devices.

It had been the perfect storm, and his mind hadn't been able to weather it. It had broken, and for the time being, he was reduced to a mess. His ship had missed the village when it went into evasive protocols, crashing into a field miles away. The Chromium hull had protected it from anything beyond external damage, but it hadn't protected him. Laeonas had been thrown around like a ragdoll in his cabin. He was lucky that only a few bones were broken.

Curled up in the fetal position, he whispered to himself, scratching at his face, neck... anywhere really. His nails had been worn down to nubs by this consistent effort, and much of his skin had been torn, now replaced with caked on blood. His ship was stranded in the middle of nowhere, and his mind had been temporarily shattered. It would probably take weeks to even begin recovering... assuming someone even found him.

And how likely was that? His ship had crash landed a few miles away from a remote village, which was now a pile of rubble. If any of the natives had survived, they were probably trying to recuperate from what had happened. They wouldn't go poking around his ship for days... and since he couldn't meditate in such a terrible state, he couldn't use the force to sustain himself. Even if someone came to save him, they'd find a pale madman, raving in the fetal position, covered in his own blood.

They'd be more likely to shoot him than rescue him... and that was only going to remain a possibility as long as the emergency beacon from his ship was still firing.
​

@Scoobert @Tulos @Versok @Altaris

 

[Ryan Fields]

It had been up to at least an hour and a half of searching in the aftermath. Unfortunately Corporal Fields was unable to locate any lifeforms during the search. It was just rubble on rubble. Fire here and there. Then of course craters, giant holes in the ground. Fields had seen the planet Firrerre before the bombardment on his holo. It used to be quite beautiful honestly. The planet thrived in life, and he was angered that he can't save even a little bit of it.

"Badger 2 to Badger 4, you got eyes on any life in the distance? It's looking scarce out here, over."

As Fields waited for his return, he would look to the right behind a torn down building. Approximately 45 feet away was a small building still standing though, it had definitely taken a beating. He wanted to inspect the area but he couldn't risk bringing the entire team away from course. He would look back at his soldiers and choose his team to investigate with. One would need to be strong and the other smart. He had made his decision quickly and immediately gave the orders.

"Stargazer, Safin, you two are on me. The rest of you with Sarge, stay on course for now."

Fields would then turn back to the building and start making his way over. Aiming his scatterblaster to the front door he would observe it. It seemed to be a home of sorts. When he got closer to home, he could hear a faint cry for help. It sounds like a child calling for help, a young girl.

"Stargazer, kick that door in! Now!"

@Nor'baal @Tulos @Feng Mian @Aurius @Altaris @Versok @Tom

 

[Karina Safin]

“Partnering me with the man-eating shark,” Karina grumbled, hopefully out of earshot of her commanding officers, but not quite everyone else. “Wonderful idea.”

She looked up at Bobby, still finding it hard how tall he really was up close. He would make a fine Crymorah bodyguard—especially with his repeater—and she wondered just why he’d chosen to work for the Consortium instead. She’d heard rumors from her Syndicate contacts, something about him being imprisoned for piracy and several dozen counts of murder. That particular revelation didn’t exactly sit well with Karina, but who was she to judge? They shared a common quality now.

Both their ledgers were literally gushing with blood.

Ignoring that thought, Karina followed Corporal Fields toward the half-collapsed home, bleaker than ever. She’d noticed a skeletal hand sticking out from under a rock and nearly did a double take. Even if the building was still somehow standing, she doubted anyone was left alive. If orbital bombardment hadn’t killed them, the ensuing fires and threat of suffocation surely would have. There was more smoke in the air than inside a boxed hookah bar on Nar Shaddaa.

And yet, to her surprise, someone was alive. A child, a girl. Her cries for help sounded eerily like Dima’s, weak and frail, back when he couldn’t fight on his own in the back alleys of the city’s lower levels. Karina shuddered. Just hearing it made her stomach churn, and without waiting for Bobby to move, she reeled several steps back. Like hell I’m going to let that Karkarodon anywhere near a bleeding little girl, she thought, and with a resounding slam of her heel, Karina broke down the door herself.

Quickly she moved inside of what was once a grand foyer. By the look of it, the building had been a comfortable townhouse, fitted with patterned carpets now burned black, and a chandelier suspended only by a few remaining wires. She didn’t bother trying to scope around for Sith. Instead Karina turned to the source of the noise, only for her heart to take a four-story drop.

The girl was alive, thankfully, but her legs were crushed under a fallen marble column.

@Versok @Scoobert

 

[Brea Lynn Espaa]

“Solid copy, Badger 2, no movement yet. You’re clear to move up. Over.”

Her team was pushing farther ahead into the wreckage, but Brea stayed still. As still and silent and the corpses littering the surrounding area. If it wasn’t for her weapon, any observer would assume that’s exactly what she was. Since the Vahla was still patched into their comms and could actively monitor their signals thanks to SECNAV, even if they went out of sight they wouldn’t be out of contact.

Mind you, it part of Brea’s job to ensure that she had a solid visual on them at all times, and if she couldn’t achieve that, a flanking position to support them from afar. The Corporal and a small detail broke off from the main group, causing some small deal of confusion as to where Brea should head next. Still, her optics were picking up no movement beyond the flickering of flames and shifting of debris. As Fields and the others began to form up and push towards a structure, she rapidly adjusted her stance from prone to kneeling, shuffling along the high line.

Noticing a bent, but propped up, cylinder of rebar, Brea slung her rifle. Still being mindful of her allies, the Vahla jumped and swung herself across the gap, using the rebar as a swing. Landing with a roll atop an overturned building, she set about sprinting. Lifting her left hand, she sailed over a piece of debris before rapidly dropping to slide under another. Another small hop and a roll, unslinging her rifle and canting it over a broken windowsill. Perched over yet another outcropping, this time only a few meter away but several above her Corporal’s team, aiming downwards.

“Badger 4 to all units, once you’re inside I won’t be able to cover you. Stay frosty, over.”

She instead kept her focus on the larger group, keeping Fields and his detail in her peripherals. They’d likely be able to handle themselves. If not, she was a short rappel length away from their position.

@Nor'baal @Tulos @Feng Mian @Altaris @Scoobert @Versok @Tom

 

[Jav Navis]

"Keep it tight HBs." Jav gave the command, and the squad moved forward toward to downed tower in front of them, unaware that beneath its rubble a crippled force user would be waiting for them.

He acknowledged the report from their sniper, and moved up toward the archway of the tower, one of the few parts of it to have not completely crumbled. A well-designed building, the top floors of the tower had been knocked out by a blast, but the ground and first three floors had remained in place, with smashed windows, and a large amount of debris to boot.

"On me." he spoke through the comms to the group with him, moving off to the right-hand side of the tower as Corporal Fields and his team took the front door. Bobby, the strongest in their team, would come into his own taking that steel-sucker out.

Away from Fields and his group now, Jav did not see what they did next, instead, he headed with his fire team toward a large concrete slab that had fallen atop a speeder on the right-hand side of the building.

There was someone inside.

"Get that block moved, now." he ran over, grabbing one side and spying the prone whimpering form of Leonis inside.