Heads on a Swivel

[Sumas Solus]

Ryloth/En Route to Czerka Outpost​

14:11 local time​

Theme​

A convoy of 3 Speeder Trucks escorted by 2 Technicals and 4 88-V Rangers sat stationary at the mouth of a canyon. Several Czerka Corp units as well as mercenaries, enough to fill all the vehicles, were sitting around. Two were playing cards while another sat in the door of one of the trucks, nodding his head to a catchy song playing on the radio. Sitting on one of the Ranger speeders was a young Zabrak Mandalorian. But instead of the usual red markings and horns on his helmet he was clad in blue armour. His helmet hung from the handle of his speeder while an E-33 carbine sat in his hands, busy being fiddled with as the Zabrak inspected his weapon. All his other gear was accounted for as well. Pistols, grenades...he seemed ready for a battle to break out any moment.

And he needed to be...

The route they needed to take led right through a canyon that used to be a town. It's been long since abandoned, but there have been several skirmishes with local terrorists that despise the presence of Czerka Corp on their planet. And with no other route the company was forced to step up their convoy's protection against these locals. Including hiring mercenaries...a job right up Sumas' alley. Their destination was Outpost #0666, or "Devil's Den" according to the locals. Job was simple. Escort the convoy without losing a truck...easier said than done.

"A'right! Break time's over, let's moun' up!" a Czerka officer barked as he stood on the step of one of the trucks. He pointed to Sumas and another merc. "Mandalorian! You and tha' girl got point. Take your speeders an' ge' out front!" he barked, receiving a blank stare from Sumas. He holstered the carbine on his back and took his helmet. "Well you heard ol' salty. Let's get out front." he said with a smirk to the girl and slid his helmet on before starting up his speeder.

@Herrith

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia sat in her 88-V, swiping through a datapad connected to headphones that spoke music to her ears. Her Gladius blaster rifle sat in a sling next to where her leg would be if she was riding and she was decked out in Sith armor, sans the fatigues and obvious Imperial markings, and with her riding helmet instead of her combat helmet. Not only was she seeking to avoid getting called an Imperial, she also was looking to not get shot by the very obvious Mandalorian here.

Her helmet sat on the console of the bike, but was soon placed atop of her head while someone gave the order to get going, she started her engine in time to see the Mando beckoning her to get moving, and nodded promptly, datapad getting put in her pack as she floated up into the air and blasted off in pursuit of trouble. Here goes nothing. Her first mission that wasn't strictly for the Empire. Ideally she didn't get shot during or after the engagement that was coming, by a very specific Mando.

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas started up his speeder and revved it up a few times before moving to the front of the column. "Alright, heads on a swivel, let's go." he said on the open comm channel between all the vehicles. He sped up to 120kph then held steady. The route through the canyon had several turns and blasting through them at 200 really wan't a good choice. He primed the nose-mounted blaster and brought his E-33 over his shoulder to hang from his chest within easy reach. The scanner on his speeder was pinging and his head was moving all over as he eyed the abandoned buildings and outcroppings looking down on them.

He shot the girl to his left a quick glance before looking forward again. She had imperial armour, but no markings. She could have killed an imperial and took his armour...or she could be one herself. While the latter would put him more on edge, killing an imperial foot soldier really wasn't his mission right now. Besides, he had no quarrel with the troopers. His hate rested with the space wizards. They were the ones who attacked Iridonia, the troopers were following orders...

"Hey. The name's Sumas. You got a name or should I simply call you imp?" he spoke over a private channel to her with a chuckle in his voice. He figured the joke could help him figure her out a bit. "Figured if we're taking point, we might as well have a name for each other." he explained.

They got deeper and deeper into the canyon. With every step deeper a few pairs of eyes started to take note of them. A Jedi or Sith would have been able to sense something was off, but they sadly didn't have one of those today. They were left to their own devices. "Alright we're reaching the kill zone. Stay frosty." Sumas radioed to the rest of the column. "Watch your blind spot, imp." Sumas spoke to her again, already deciding on a cheeky nickname for her.

@Herrith

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia'a helmet turned and flipped up briefly to reveal her face while she kept formation. She glanced forward while the Mandalorian spoke and rolled her eyes slightly. She looked straight forward and lowered her face protection, speaking through the same private comms channel with a slightly relaxed Imperial accent and a hint of humor in her voice. Ideally they'd avoid problems during this entire thing. She wasn't interested in having to fight someone she was supposedly working with.

"Astrid. Should I just call you Tin Can?"

She accelerated a little ahead and weaved between some ruins and rocks. Apparently they were getting close to where bad things could happpen. Astrid leaned down and clicked on the blaster rifle by her leg and took off the safety. The woman looked back at the Mandalorian.

"And you watch yours."

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas chuckled at her remark. "Tin Can? I like it." he commented with a shrug. His cheerful demeanour quickly shifted as he looked around again. She told him to watch his blind spots as well to which he tapped the channel button of his commlink to give a beep in response. He did notice the imperial accent as she spoke. While it was likely she was just an imperial that got a hold of the armour, he was starting to think that she actually was an imperial trooper. In all honesty he wasn't too bothered by it. If anything, it would be interesting to work alongside her and see how they get along. It wasn't like he was hiding his identity.

Sumas could feel he was being watched. They were being watched. He didn't have to wait long when a missile flew from one of the houses above them. It smashed into the ground right in front of the lead Technical, barely missing it as it shuddered against the blast. "Launcher, launcher! Two o' clock high!" Sumas barked out and tried to angle the speeder's blaster up to get a few shots in. The canyon erupted in blaster fire, with repeaters and small arms lobbing bolts back and forth.

A bunch of terrorists stepped out along the ground. Sumas wasted no time to open fire and shot two down before they could get a round in. Stray fire hit his speeder, making him swerve a bit. Unfortunately the right rear speeder wasn't so lucky and was sprayed with blaster fire. The pilot got hit and crashed into a house. Sumas kept firing at whoever stepped into the line of fire as a few more bolts hit his speeder. "Stop shooting at me!" he shouted as he blasted his speeder into the air and fired at a repeater crew before coming down again and getting into position.

They were making a point to avoid hitting the trucks. They most likely wanted to take it for themselves...as if that will happen. His speeder started smoking and his seat was getting hot. "Imp, hold steady. I'm coming over." he radioed in and inched his speeder a bit closer. Before he abandoned it he slammed on the throttle and sent it flying into a house with a missile launcher, then used his jump boots to fly over and land on top of Astrid's speeder. He knelt on the railing on top and picked up his E-33, managing to hit targets a lot easier with that than the speeder. "Try not to throw me off, please." he said to her as he fired on a passing group of shooters.

@Herrith

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia swerved away from the convoy as rockets careened in. She'd thought she'd seen movement up on those rocks. Her speeder rose over a pile of rocks and she pulled her blasted from by her leg, propping it on a forearm and starting to suppress some combatants up in the cliffs as she tried to maneuver her speeder in the difficult terrain. She briefly skidded to a halt and opened up on the forces at ground level, immediately going to full throttle again after downing one and clipping another. Her comms clicked on and she nearly cursed out loud upon the request, keeping her speeder on a straight line long enough for the crazy Mandalorian to land on top.

She hit the throttle again, shaking her head. "You fall off, I'm not coming back." Keying her comms as she said this.

Astridia set her blaster back beside her leg, concentrating on keeping the bike steady with the increased load. Absolutely insane, this one...

She continued to keep up with the convoy, swaying expertly between buildings, rubble, and bad guys.

 

[Sumas Solus]

"Less talking, more shooting!" he fired right back as he flicked the empty cell out of his carbine and loaded in a fresh one. The weapon hissed and clicked as it primed up and he went right back to slinging bolts at a few enemies up top.

Another launcher reared his head and Sumas managed to shoot him just as he fired, causing the missile to miss their speeder and land a few feet beside them and rocking the speeder. Sumas held on for dear life as the speeder shuddered under the force of the explosion. Sumas got up again and got ready to fire but a stream of bolts from a repeater hit him across the chest and knocked him off the roof. He held onto the rail with one hand as he hung right next to Astrid. "I hate these people." he grumbled through gnashing teeth as he felt the heat from the shots through his armour. Thank the gods for Beskar...

Another stream of bolts hit their speeder and it started to smoke. Sumas looked at the speeder then at her. "Climb on, we need to get off this thing." he said sternly and slung his carbine around his back. Once she was holding onto him he would use his jump boots to send them flying backward and land on the hood of the Technical behind them, and leave the speeder to crash into a nearby house.

Things were getting hectic. The gunner of the technical got shot off as well as the gunner on the lead truck. Sumas looked around quickly before looking to Astrid. "Get on the gun and lay down suppressing fire. Don't need to hi 'em just keep their heads down!" he shouted over the sound of gunfire and howling engines. He in turn got back to his feet and picked up his carbine, firing again and covering her to get to the gun. He was just about to hit the button to use his jump boots again when a shot tore through his calf and hit one of the thrusters, causing him to topple over and barely grab hold onto the speeder.

"Astrid!" he called out, letting his carbine fall to the ground and bounce off behind them. He grabbed hold of the Technical with both hands, but the speed wasn't making it easy. "Astrid, a little help please!?" he called out again. His injured leg bounced along the uneven terrain, making him growl with pain as he clenched his jaw.

@Herrith

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia was about to retort back to the chatty Mandalorian, instead opening up with her lasers on the speeder at a line of people hiding behind cover. She steadied the craft expertly and looked over at the Mando in confusion. Get off? Why? About to echo her thoughts before she grabbed hold of his armor and landed on the technical with a hard dent, groaning as she stopped her roll. Her blaster was back there. Dammit. She crawled over top of the techie and landed in the bed next to the gun right as the Mando lost his balance.

The woman looked between the tw and then jumped for the Mandalorian, grabbing him by the arm and helping him back up as best as she could.

"I'm not your bloody babysitter!"

 

[Sumas Solus]

Sumas' grip began to slip when Astrid caught him and hoisted him up. He heaved as he tried to calm his breathing, He didn't respond to her comment at first. After a second he sat up and drew his pistols. They hissed and clicked and in a second yellow bolts were flying all over as he let loose. "Cover the front, I'll take the rear! We're almost through!" he called out.

He hit his jump boots again and soared off over the first and second truck, then landed neatly on top of the last truck. The Technical and a speeder were holding their own under the heavy fire, but they needed some extra guns. Sumas took out a grenade and lobbed it right into a repeater nest as they drove past. He drew his pistols once more and opened fire all over, ducking and diving to avoid getting shot. Several shooters were targeting the front technical but Sumas was confident in Imp's abilities with the blaster cannon.

The exit of the canyon could be seen, but it was blocked off by a few speeders parked along its width. Sumas saw the barricade and immediately started to think of something. "Astrid you see that barricade?" he called out over the commlink. "We're going to have to ram through it. Wither fall back and let the truck take point or rig something up with that technical, but either way get out of there!" he shouted sternly. He might not have known her, but she saved his life and proved her worth. It would be a damn shame if she died.

@Herrith

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

"On it!"

That was all Astridia said as she climbed onto the mounted cannon and checked the power and temperature, venting the cells before opening up with it once more, taking out priority targets like launchers and idiots who poked their heads out too long with professional precision. She peeked over the roof at the approaching barricade and cursed. Problems. Astrid got off the gun and smacked the roof of the technical loudly, yelling at the driver and pointing to the barricade upon it being called out by the Mandalorian.

"Let the truck pass! We need to get through that!"

She went back to the gun, taking a graze from a blaster bolt and not fully understanding what the Mando meant by 'getting out of there'. This was much preferred to walking.

 

[Sumas Solus]

Astrid ordered the technical to move up and Sumas ordered it to speed up. He got down low and hel on. The truckpassed the technical at a very unsafe speed and aimed right for the blockade. "Clench up!" he shouted to the occupants of the truck and a second later they ploughed through the blockade. The truck took a beating and caught air for a second but it kept driving. The other vehicles soon followed and they were free of the onslaught.

They kept driving until they were at the base. The convoy slowed down and stopped while Czerka troopers rushed out to help. Sumas finally let go and with a groan he stumbled off the truck and sat on the ground with his head against the truck. He pulled his helmet off and let it dfop next to him.

"Hey, imp." he said with a breath as he looked over to the girl. "Not bad. Not bad at all." he said with a smirk.

They had done it. They lost a few people and every person and vehicle looked like hell but the shipment was intact.

@Herrith

OOC: Feel free to wrap it up.

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia smiled under her helmet to the Mandalorian. She nodded to him and approached now that they were through, holding out a hand to shake. She pulled off her own with her free hand, revealing the bright smile. They were through, and it was a hell of a journey. The Imperial wouldn't be forgetting this, nor did she intend to. Plus, cheers for new friends.

"It's Astrid. Try not to get shot again."

END THREAD