From Ashes Part I: Touchdown

[Hosk Vendov]

From Ashes
Touchdown
Socorro, Doaba Badlands
The Arthas sped over the grey, ashy desert that blanketed Socorro. The pilot was flying low and relatively slowly in order to attract the least attention, which was wise on this fledgling criminal paradise. Whilst he was an experienced associate of the Galactic Alliance, Hosk Ven'Dov had never had an opportunity as large as this to contribute to their cause. In helping to establish a rebel cell on this planet they'd secure themselves a strong position from which to gain a hefty amount of assets, using the political climate of Socorro to blend in seamlessly as just another gang wanting to stake their claim.

First things first was to evict the current inhabitants of what would be their base of operations. The Zefedi Gang were known by the locals to have come here years ago, chased away from Imperial Hutta space after their ties to the imperial government were made obvious to the criminal underworld there. There were whisperings that they were still reporting back to the imperials to this day and a rumor like that could not be taken lightly. The Zefedis would have to be wiped out if there was any hope of the Galactic Alliance maintaining a presence here. His destination nearby, Hosk landed The Arthas in the cover of a rocky outcrop, disguising it from his targets. The destination in question was an abandoned refinery that the Zefedi Gang had taken as their own, roughly a kilometer from where Hosk had landed. His allies from the alliance were Sharlon Kruger and Evelyn Fest, who'd agreed to meet Hosk closer to the Zefedi base...
​

@Andrewza and @Farnis13 dice rolls and other OOC stuff here

 

[Evelyn Fest]

In the distance, far out of sensor range, a Mynock-Class Freighter touched down on the grey desert out of sight. The boarding ramp lowered and a dainty, black haired, human woman disembarked. Contrasting her lithe frame, she wore her armor, hefted her R5-R Blaster Rifle, had her R5 pistol holstered at her hip, her vibro blade in a sheathe on her other hip, and wore a bandolier of two smoke grenades and two frag grenades.

Her astromech tried following her, but she waved it off and said, "No, stay here and make sure the ships ready for a hasty launch."

The droid gave off a series of beeps and whirls and went back onto the ship. Soon as Evelyn disembarked, the boarding ramp lifted back up and sealed the ship off from anyone wanting to look around. Evelyn then began the long walk towards where she was supposed to meet with Hosk.

Usually she'd take a speeder, but she didn't want that showing up on any enemy sensors either. As such, she was tuck doing things the old fashioned way. Just her two feet as god intended. She hated having to walk. But she kept on trudging, thinking things over.

Evelyn appreciated the fact that it wasn't just going to be her and one other soldier attacking a whole Pirate Base. Instead it was going to be her and two other guys attacking a criminal base. She always did like to keep things fresh. Right, try and look on the bright side. They were just criminals right?

Although Evelyn recently noticed something strange. She didn't feel the same trepidation or nervousness she felt before an op like before. Shed been shot and stabbed too many times for that to happen she supposed. She was still a little afraid, in the back of her mind, that this was the one that would put her down. That was something she wasn't ever sure she was going to avoid.

After an hour of walking, Evelyn could see the meeting sight marked by the ship that had parked itself there. Readjusting her supplies, Evelyn trudged on wards to see who she would be working with, feeling a little excitement at the upcoming mission.

 

[Sharlon Kruger]

Flying low Kruger readied his gear in the shuttles troop compartment. cleaning the repeater one last time before loading it. The droid beeped and booped from the cockpit. "Yes yes I know, just find anywhere to land her I can walk closer" The droid flew the ship to a flat piece of land tucked away into mountains. It would good enough Kruger thought as he looked at the map on the screen before him. Slinging the repeater he made one final check. Repeater 5 spare power packs, R5 pistol with 2 spare power packs. a kife, sword and his grenades, 2 frag and 2 tear gas.


Stepping outside Kruger placed his helmet on and heard the seal. Even though it was hot outside the ranger armour was built for extreme conditions. checking his communicator he sealed the ship. If all else failed he call the droid boi to come in pick him up.

The walk was not bad for Kruger and though the sand was everywhere it was nowhere as bad as Tatooine loose shifting sand. Checking the data pad every now and then Kruger really wanted to use a speeder even a swoop bike but that ould ruin their stealth.


After an hour Kruger could see the meeting point. He was ready and his mind was calm as he walked closer. He could see one person waiting for him and second approaching the camp with him. So far all was good with all three of the rebels haven arrived. Next up the attack.

 

[Hosk Vendov]

The sun was beginning to set over the Socorran desert as Hosk stood, watching as his fellow rebels approached. The meeting point was inconspicuous, a vaguely circular rock formation that jutted out of the ash. As Sharlon approached the Bothan smiled, pleased to be having a familiar face along for this operation. "Kruger, I'm glad you're here! You'll be pleased to know I've recovered from that bolt I took last time." Hosk said with a grin before turning to the other member of their group. "You must be Evelyn, correct?" He greeted her. Good to see someone new." Hosk had got a vague look at her whilst she approached but now in the orange light of the setting sun he could see her more clearly. "Good choice of weapon. Reliable." He said as he gestured towards her rifle, shifting the gun of the same design slung across his back. "Now, how do we want to play this?" Hosk asked, nodding towards the refinery that was now closer, at about 800 meters away.
​

(The image is just to give a vague idea, IC its much smaller.)

 

[Evelyn Fest]

Evelyn cracked a smile as Hosk complimented her rifle and slung it across her back as they discussed the plan. Evelyn looked towards the refinery, thinking on things. "Well odds are we're outnumbered, and personally I don't like fights with those odds. My recommendation? We each insert at three different points, taking out whoever we come across before raising any alarms, and then meet in the middle. Once we're together, we go loud and sweep the area for anyone tagging behind."

Her plan was filled with gaps, she did know but it was the best Evelyn could come up with at the moment. If it came down to it, she could go for an open assault on the Zefedi base and hold her own, but as mentioned she didn't like having the odds against her. So if there was anything she could do to even the playing field, she'd do it.

 

[Sharlon Kruger]

Kruger approached and nodded at the bothan, they had worked on Tatooine where a scavenger had shot him the chest. Thankfully it did not get through his armour "I am pleased your wound as healed. Hopefully, all goes while today" Kruger looked over the third member of the party a female soldier of that looked while armed and experienced enough.

Kruger looked the facility over and really saw only one rea means to get it right. "to the left there where the entrance to the upper levels are, looks like we could move in closer without being seen. We need to push in close as we can before we start shooting otherwise we gonna have a bad time"

 

[Hosk Vendov]

"Well, we can all agree we've got no hope if we don't get in nice and close before the fighting starts." Hosk said. These two both had relatively sound strategies and they needed something that incorporated both if they wanted to pull this off. "The both of you can climb up to the upper levels like Kruger said, whilst I'll go around the back end of the refinery to the right. There's a back entrance that should be fairly easy to access that way. Once we're in position at either end of the compound, we can go loud and pincer the Zefedis from both ends." Hosk concluded, tactics being one of his stronger suits. There was supposed to be a fairly large amount of gang members inside, but it shouldn't be too troublesome to take them out as a team. "Let's ready up." He said, as he checked through his equipment. Hosk had his rifle, his vibroblade, his grapple gun and a communicator. It was everything he needed. "Let's get moving then. I'll contact you when I'm in position." Hosk said as he gestured to his comlink. Turning towards the refinery with a nod at the other two, he began the tense approach to the future Aliiance base.
​

 

[Evelyn Fest]

Evelyn moved up with the trio at first just to keep each other company until they split off. She didn't say much, still deciding on how specifically to go about infiltration. Finally they reached the refinery proper, where Hosk split off from them. Evelyn glanced over to Kreuger and said, "Well, I suppose we start climbing then."

She never did much climbing before but seemed to be doing good until her foot slipped on something. Probably a bit of oil, or lubricant, but her foot couldn't catch hold. Evelyn lost her grip and began to drop like a stone. Before she fell too far however, her hand shot out and grabbed a ledge. Her grip held and she jerked to a stop, her shoulder feeling sore from the impact, but she clung tight to the edge, somewhere around the 3rd floor still on the lower levels.

However, her failure didn't go unnoticed and soon a sentry came rushing up to the edge. At first he didn't notice anything, and Evelyn kept still although her fingers were straining. She made a grunt as she attempted to hold on, but it was loud enough to draw the attention of the sentry.

The outlaw looked down, not really expecting to see much. As such, he was surprised to see a young woman hanging from her finger tips glaring up at him. He recoiled a little bit, giving Evelyn a precious second to act. She wasn't quite sure how to act, but she reacted almost completely on instinct.

She drew the the vibro blade from its sheathe and almost threw herself up, farther than most humans could accomplish especially not one as weak as her. Regardless she pushed herself to chest height of the man and plunged her vibroblade deep into his heart. The sentry choked out a gasp and began to fall back, giving Evelyn the momentum she needed to haul herself onto the deck of the refinery.

The sentry was dead by the time he hit the ground and Evelyn laid on her back, breathing hard after the strenuous activity she partook in. She got on the comms and panted out, "Suffered a bit of a fall, almost compromised, but I managed to get him. Sure we can't just take the stairs?"

 

[Sharlon Kruger]

Kruger moved along with the three, the plan seemed good enough. Once the shooting starts the enemy would be in utter confusion and able to respond properly. "ok let's do it"


the route soon reached a point where the Hosk would move off and allowing Evelyn and Kruger to move to there entrance. With his repeater hanging from his back with a sling Kruger started to climb. Unlike the smaller female Kruger was able to pull himself up easily even with the weight of the equipment and armour.


Kruger to heard Evelyn drop and was about to draw a knife to throw at the sentry that cam by but it seemed it was not needed. Once Kruger was sure Evelyn was safe they carried on climbing. "Stairs are guarded and watched. This way when we start shooting the enemy will be in far more confused since the enemy will be among them already."

 

[Hosk Vendov]

As Kruger and Evelyn split off from him, Hosk quickened his pace and shrunk his posture down on the approach to the rear door. The exterior on this side of the refinery was fairly unguarded, only a single Togruta stood outside the cylindrical building on guard duty. The door she stood in front of should lead to a staircase that would take Hosk to the elevated levels of the rest of the refinery, but he'd have to get past the guard first. Unsheathing his vibroknife Hosk sneaked towards the woman, pressing himself up against the stairwell's exterior and hiding himself in a small recess in its side. The sun had set at this point and darkness had enveloped Socorro's desert, which would work to his advantage. After a short pause, Hosk let out a short, sharp whistle. A few moments later, he heard the guard call out with a stern voice. "Hello?! Who the frak is there? Come out!" She shouted, Hosk remaining in his hiding place. He heard the shuffle of footsteps as the gangster approached, although he doubted that she knew exactly where he was hidden.

As soon as her raised slugthrower came into view less than a meter from his head Hosk span around and stabbed at the guard with his knife, creating a nasty wound in her stomach. She let out a cough and slumped to the ground, the life drained from her eyes. Hosk preferred a quicker death like that, not keen on making his enemies suffer unnecessarily. The door to the refinery hung slightly open, a primitive design that wasn't locked currently. Hosk cautiously slid the door open and revealed a luckily empty stairwell. Ascending rapidly he activated his comlink. "I'm inside, but wait for me to get into a better position before you start shooting anyone."

 

[Evelyn Fest]

Evelyn continued the climb, hand over hand she followed Kreuger up the refinery. Finally however they reached their position. She had just managed to haul herself onto the platform when she heard someone walking around the corner. Evelyn pulled her knife, holding it by the handle, and chucked it reflexively. Her target wasn't even in sight when she had thrown the knife, yet it had managed to strike through, hitting the sentry in the neck before he could notice them. By the time he hit the ground he was already dead.

Evelyn moved up and pulled her vibroknife from the corpse, unslinging her rifle as she did so and getting ready. "Kruger and I have reached our insertion point. I'm down to wait for when you're ready."

 

[Sharlon Kruger]

Getting to the top Kruger unsung the repeater from his back and gave it a look over to make sure it was ready and did not get damged in the climb.


Evelyn seemed to be taking care of guards quietly enough but Kruger was ready for the real show. Pulling a frag grenade of his belt Kruger checked it.


"just say when you want the noise and we will make these Nerf herders think the entire Empire is attacking them."


Many people did not realize the great force multiplier a bit of psychological war fare could be. And these slim balls where about to be in for a real shock.

 

[Hosk Vendov]

Hosk reached the top of the stairwell, emerging into a dilapidated grey corridor. It seemed fairly empty but at the opposite end he could see plainly a larger area that was teeming with gangsters. Creeping down the corridor Hosk got a better look at what seemed to be the main area of the refinery, the large expanse that was being used as a hideout for the Zefedi gang. Whatever ore they used to process here was long gone, the plasteel production equipment rusting away in favor of gun racks, sleeping bunks and what looked like some kind of drug lab. The opposite wall of the room, at least 50 meters away, closed up to another passageway which seemed to go right through to the left side of the compound. Hosk assumed his two comrades were waiting the other side from their updates on the communicators.

At an opportune moment Hosk dashed out behind a pair of Zefedis and hid himself with some of the larger storage crates. He lifted his comlink to his mouth and slowly clicked it on. "I'm in position, behind a pair of crates. You make the first move and I'll open up on them from this end." He said, hoping that their plan would go off as well as it sounded it would. Unslinging his blaster from his back he flicked the safety off. This was shaping up to be one hell of a fight.