Hold Up Hollastin!

[Daz Solus]

"Remind me again why you wanted to come along for this colossal waste of time?" Gravel under Daz's boots crunched under his feet as they made their way along a manicured path. He and his sister had come to Hollastin to relieve some idiots of a hypserspace beacon they had captured at a research and development facility on the world. Daz was still alarmed that Raz had come along with him. Didn't she have better things to do? He gave a sort of mental shrug...maybe she had just wanted to play with her basilisk.

"I would have thought our Mand'alor would have found more interesting things to occupy her time with. Killing people to get to something is so...pedestrian."

He pulled up his rifle and shot up into the trees up ahead without warning. There was a cry and a green and black clad figure fell from the canopy and landed with a terrible snapping of bones onto the path in front of them. Apparently, they were getting close enough to the remote development area to be running into sentries.

Neither of them was particularly concerned. Raz alone carried enough on her person to outfit an entire army. Whatever these Imperial Loyalists were expecting it wasn't...this. Daz swept his rifle back and forth as they continued to walk, looking for more sentries trying to hide in the trees. There didn't seem to be any, or maybe he was just starting to lose it. Either way, they'd find out. "Let's get this over with, Berry. I'm kriffing hungry."

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz clapped a hand on Daz’s back as she walked alongside him, “Why else? For some quality family bonding time with my asshole of a brother,” She said as she grinned beneath the helmet. The clap was with her cybernetic arm, and she made sure it would make him at least wince in pain. She was pointedly looking in the other direction to keep from facing him. After they had claimed Nal Hutta territory and they had won over Onderon, few things could dampen her spirits. Even Daz with his constant jabs at her couldn’t spoil her mood today.

Raz barely looked up as he aimed and shot someone in the tree, the body landing with a thunk. She kept walking, looking around to see if she spotted anyone else. She had a bag of chips with her, the visor of her helmet slightly lifted so she could crunch on them while Daz got to work. Raz popped another chip in her mouth, “Thirty degrees to the left, third branch up,” She said calmly as she crunched into another chip. Raz offered him the bag of chips after he was done aiming.

“Hungry eh? I could always cook something for us,” She grinned, thinking about all the times she offered to cook for the family. Her parents had been so supportive and kind about it and even Daz had to behave and eat her horrible creations back then. She remembered one particular incident where he loudly made his opinions known, only to have their father smack him upside the head.

“I think that’s the building,” She jutted her chin towards the direction of a downward slope that led to a square building below. From the looks of it, she could see several people patrolling and guarding around it.


@Lucid

 

[Daz Solus]

She still wasn't used to the arm. She probably just meant to knock the wind out of him but instead she sent him stumbling forward. He saved himself from falling with one hand and stood back up as though nothing had happened. "Damn, Raz, watch it! Adjustments every nine days for a few months! How is your Jedi boyfriend going to feel if you do something accidental like that when..." he trailed off. He didn't need to see her to know that he was getting the sort of look that kills from under the helmet.

Instead of pressing the issue he aimed in the direction that Raz had indicated and shot twice. The scout fell with a scream, dead before he hit the ground. He took a crisp and, flipping his visor fully open, sniffed it carefully and shot Raz a suspicious look. She was eating one...but that might just be a ruse. "You didn't make these, did you?" He took an experimental, cautious bite and discovered that she hadn't made them...as in, they were edible. They were pretty tasty too. He snatched the rest of the bag from her and started stuffing chips into his mouth with gluttonous abandon.

"Because you need to stop it with the cooking. I was talking to Dan. Your casserole made him pass out and almost die in some bushes," he handed her back the remainder of the bag. There were three chips left. He swallowed, flipped his visor back down and looked down the slope. The building looked like the one in the intel file and he did a quick headcount."Yup, looks like it. Looks like four on this side by the door, four rotating patrols of two and probably more around the far side. Let's just do this, you're basically a walking tank anyway. I'll get the ones by the door. You want the first couple patrols?"

Daz moved off the path and took a position near a large tree. He brought up his rifle and brought an enemy into the crosshairs. Confirming Raz was ready with a hand signal, he pulled the trigger. The guard dropped and he moved on to the guard next to him by the door. He squeezed the trigger again and the second guard went down, even as he was scanning the treeline looking confused. He dropped the third but by then his buddy had managed to figure Daz's game.

Daz saw a blaster come up and ducked back behind his tree just in time. Four shots thudded into the thick bark as he stepped out across the other side of the tree and dropped the remaining guard by the door. Hoping that Raz was being flashy and distracting, he bolted down the slope, heading to get to work slicing the security door.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz rolled her eyes as he asked if she made the chips, “For kriff’s sake, do you think I’m talented enough to make chips? Get a grip,” She shook her head as he snatched the bag from her. She watched the scout fall to the ground, a grin spreading across her face. He was the better shot of the two of them, something she’d never admit out loud. Raz’s specialty was closer combat, but he had always been excellent with a gun. It had started as slingshots, and even then he had been the one to teach her how to use them when she was very little. It was some of her earliest memories.

She looked at the bag as he handed it back, sighing, “Really? Some things never change,” She grumbled under her breath, finishing off the last few chips and mostly crumbs that were left behind. Raz popped her visor back on, “Dan passes out at any given situation. He was randomly passed out when we made friends with the Wookiees and I’m pretty sure he was passed out at Narir’s surprise birthday we threw for him,” She couldn’t remember a social situation that didn’t involve him laying on the ground somewhere. The man had a talent for absurdities. And that was even without other peculiarities like trying to adopt baby possums.

As he laid out the plan, Raz nodded and activated her jetpack to launch into the air to catch the attention of others that Daz wasn’t engaging. She didn’t hesitate, aiming and firing her wrist rocket. She watched it shoot at a group of men on the far side of the warehouse, causing a small explosion. There were many people rushing over to where she had fired, and she landed behind a large boulder. Raz had her POW with her, but she relied on her rifle for now.

“You got a clear entry yet?” She commed Daz, priming a grenade from where she was. She peeked over the edge and hopped back, blaster bolts raining towards where she was. Raz lobbed the grenade over, hearing shuffling and screaming as they scrambled to avoid it. She used the opening to fire a few shots, dropping three more men.

@Lucid

 

[Daz Solus]

Daz worked quickly, chuckling at the thought of Daniel being laid out by any and everything, as the sounds of explosions and jets filled his ears. Raz was being dramatic as always but damn was she doing a good job. His hands flew over the keypad as he tried to bypass the locks. Nothing worked, it was pretty good stuff...but...he dug his knife into a panel hatch above the pad and wrenched it open. A rats' nest of wires filled his vision. He heard someone scream grenade followed by the sounds of more shots from a shriekhawk.

He pulled four wires from their connctions, used his knife to strip off the casing and twist two of them together. He stripped the other two but left them bare. With one hand he pulled a flashbang from his belt and armed it. With his other, he twisted the remaining two wires together and the heavy door hissed open. "We're in. Watchout for the flash," he said deftly as he rolled the armed flashbang into the compound as the door opened.

He turned his back and covered his ears as best he could. There were barely shouts of 'grenade' from within before it detonated. A split second later, Daz turned into the door and dropped three dazed men with as many shots. Knowing Raz would be hot on his heels, he pushed deeper, rifle up and ready. "How big is this thing again?" He commed to Raz, eyeing a layout map on the wall. There was a large space labeled 'R&D Test'...looked promising.

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz heard Daz on her comms, preparing to prime another grenade as needed. She was still crouched out of sight, but the bolts stopped coming. She waited for a moment before peering over the edge, not seeing any movement. Raz stood up fully, realizing that she was cleared to cross. She knew Daz was inside by then, and she quickly cut around towards him to burst into the facility.

“Not too big, but there are two assassin droids in there we need to look out for,” Raz peppered another man in the chest with her rifle, “Not sure where though,” She continued moving, crouching down to pick up some grenades off the man. Daz had a headstart on her, and she would make sure to look around the perimeters to ensure that no one else could creep up on him.

She walked into a corridor, clearing it before she kicked down another door. Raz jumped to the side as bolts began to spray her way. She cursed to herself, keeping in cover for a moment before whipping around and firing into the room. From what she could make out, there were two people holed up in there. Why was this base defended so well? There had to be something else here.

“Something seems fishy,” Raz muttered, intending to think out loud but it was through comms to Daz. She kept walking down the corridor, having killed the two men. She wanted to find a main control room that might give her access to visuals around the entire facility, “What’s it looking like on your end?”

@Lucid

 

[Daz Solus]

Daz was wandering farther up corridor, popping his head into likely looking rooms a he went along. Most had been empty a couple containing off duty security types, but just as Raz commed to ask what was going on, he found a room that contained a number of terrified scientists and a couple equally scared business types. He shot all but one of the scientists and one of the business people. The two that remained fell to their knees and began to stammer unintelligibly.

"Knock it off," he said to the idiots on the ground and, realizing his comm was open, to Raz. "Sorry. Uh...things are going good, I think. Might be able to get us some answers. Gimme a sec." He turned to address the terrified scientists. "First Question:" he said ominously. "Where's the beacon?"

Nobody said anything and he waved his blaster rifle in their faces to encourage them to speak. It worked, the scientist began to speak. "I-i-in the development lab at the end of the hall. Big double doors, you can't miss it." Daz relayed this information to Raz as the other man fumbled awkwardly with the security bypass card that hung from a clip on the breast pocket of his labcoat. Daz snatched it from his hands and slipped it into a pouch on his belt.

"Good! Second Question:" They were getting somewhere. "What's with the guards? I mean it's all pointless in the end, but why go to the effort? What else are you guys doing here?" The scientist didn't say anything and glanced briefly to his surviving partner. Daz didn't miss the gesture and stuff the barrel of his rifle clean up one of the businessman's nostrils. "Oh? You have something to say? Your buddy certainly thinks so." The man nodded stiffly, hatred burning in his eyes as he did so. Daz removed the rifle and waited.

"We're not doing anything else. You think you can just do some things on Hutta and Nar Shaddaa and that's the end of the Imperial Republical?!" He spat on Daz's boots. "Well you're wrong! You can't! There are those of us who remain loyal to the Empire all over! You may have taken this base, killed my colleagues and our people but you will never kill---" Daz had heard enough. He shot the man in the face with a good deal of disinterest and pulled the scientist up to his feet, prodding him in the back with the barrel of his gun towards the door.

"It's a loyalist base, Raz. Something about trying to keep Imperial Hutta alive? I don't know, but it seems that they're not really doing anything other than existing. The beacon is in the big room at the end of the corridor. Double doors, clear the security around it if you can. I'm coming with something that help get us in." It dawned on him that he had just bossed the Mand'alor around but it didn't bother him as much as it maybe should have.

Raz was still his sister, after all.

@Sreeya