Raiding Improcco

[Ashiruni]

With his new-found crew agreeing to his plan and seeming to accept the leadership he provided, Lee Ru decided to waste the smallest amount of time possible and get moving right away. To expedite this, he jumped into the lift and headed into the cockpit. He spent a few moments clearing the ship for take-off, during which time he was joined by Kojii.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked Lee Ru as she sat in the copilot's seat next to him. "Risking all our lives on this fool-hardy adventure toward fame and riches, just to kill an old enemy?" She wanted to say more, wanted to give voice to the depth of her conviction, but she knew she would not easily convice Lee Ru to listen to her entire arguement. Instead, she just asked. Her lekku twisted and swayed in a manner that better expressed her agitation than the spoken word. She also knew that Lee Ru was fluent enough in Ryl to be able to read the movement of her lekku, so she hoped the message would be read.

Lee Ru, however, did not even turn to look. He knew his mind on the matter. He knew Kojii's mind on the matter, and she was just going to have to accept the fact that he refused to leave a dangerous enemy that had already proven it's malice alone. "Yousa just bein havin to bein acceptin it. My not bein changin mesa mind on dis. Hesa bein too dreatenin to bein left alone. Yousa bein smart, and yousa bein strong; yousa will bein strong enough to bein handlin yousa self durin dis. My bein knowin dis. But mesa also bein knowin dat an angry hutt not bein somedin to bein leavin behind wesa. Dey bein known to bein troublesome. So wesa bein smart. Wesa bein removin hesa. Dat way wesa not bein needin to bein worryin 'bout dat." His tone brokered no argument. His mind was made up. Worse, by not bothering to even look at her, she knew her opinion on the matter was intentionally being made invalid by him. She sighed. Lee Ru started the engines and took off. Newly concerned, Kojii left the bridge. A few minutes later, Lee Ru engaged the hyperdrive and their course was set in stone.

. . . . . . . . . .

The next six days passed in short order. Lee Ru and Kojii rarely spoke, and Kojii actively avoided Lee Ru. She found solace in the new crew members, using their personalities and tales to distract herself from the feeling of dread she had. Lee Ru, ironically, tried to do the same. He was going to have to trust these people with his life, after all, so he wanted there to be a little bit more than a simple paycheck ensuring their loyalty.

Lee Ru took over the armory, where as Kojii staked out the lounge, and barring sleeping and eating, they kept to their chosen areas. This generally meant that Kojii got the better end of the deal, since she was better able to socialize, but Lee Ru was not to be entirely put out, he spent as much time as he was able talking to the more soldier like crew members and letting Kojii come to terms with his version of reality.

All too soon, in some ways, their short journey came to an end after just over a week, Coruscant standard. They were in orbit of Improcco, barely under a hundred thousand kilometers from the icy moon that was their destination. Instinctively, Lee Ru checked the scanners, trying to assess the potential threats that were in the solar system. "Wesa bein havin company boyos!" He called over the intercom. "Bein two of yous mindin mannin da guns?" It was not strictly necessary for them to man them right at that moment, but there was no sense being caught unprepared if the Imps did something stupid, like try to make an in-system hyperspace jump.

 

[Ral]

Over the past week Ral had gotten to know his fellow partners a bit better. One of the things he tried to pick up was Shyriiwook and he spent at least an hour everyday trying to converse with Ajjax. While he was far from being considered fluent he was beginning to have a limited vocabulary of the Wookiee's native language and could pick out some basic words whenever Ajjax spoke. Bardan didn't seem very sociable, at least not to Ral. Ral thought that having another Mandalorian on the ship would be a nice change of pace, but that's not the way it seemed like it was going to be. Perhaps after a little more time he would open up. Derek seemed like a hardened man with years of experience, they talked a little about some old jobs that each had done. Voth was the most talkative and friendly of the lot, and it seemed like whenever Ral walked into the lounge she was in there. Then there was Lee Ru, he wasn't sure but Ral thought that perhaps Lee Ru and Kojii had a row as neither seemed to talk, much less be seen in the same room together. Thinking to act like nothing was going on Ral talked to both whenever there seemed to be a need to. The crew seemed like a capable lot, and Ral was hesitant to become too friendly with any of them should something go awry, but he thought it would be better to establish a rapport with them just in case.

Finally, the day had come and they had finally arrived in the Coruscant System. It seemed like Lee Ru had deliberately taken the back way to get there, not like Ral could blame him, Coruscant was now deep in Imperial space. As they entered orbit over Improcco Lee Ru called to them over the ship's intercom. "That doesn't sound promising, alright let's go!" Ral called out to whoever could hear him. Heading to the nearest gun Ral jumped into the gunner's seat and activated its systems. "Let's see what we've got..."

 

[Andrewza]

Cpt Short sat in the bridge of the IN Valour a Arrestor-class Patrol Frigate . She was brad new having just finished her trail and this would be her first Patrol. Cpt Short was keeping his eye on the bridge crew. Though the crew was new many of then knew each other. A alarm sound from a consul to be quickly silenced. A young cadet could be heard speaking.

"officer of the watch we have a ship that just jumped in." The OOW a young attractive female Lieutenant looked at a consul before speaking to Cpt Short. "Sir there are nothing in the records of any ships being here today" To Short whether this ship was allowed to be here or not he would use the chance to train the crew. "under stood, I have the con." Moving to stand in the centre of the bridge who took a second to compose him self "Bring us to combat state 1 have the gun crews close up, OOW hail that that ship"


Speaking on all civilian channels the young Lieutenant would be heard with easy "This is the imperial warship Valour to civilian ship bearing 320 low from me. Identify your self" In the back ground the main broadcast could be heard "Action Stations Action Stations Action Stations, prepare for ship to ship combat, Guns Crews close up Gunnery officer to report once guns crews are closed up"

 

[Ashiruni]

[OOC: The others have decided not to post, so I'll continue.]

Lee Ru snickered at the broadcast. The ship facing them was bigger than he was expecting, an imperial frigate, but it was far enough away that it would be difficult for them to interfere with his plans. He thought about sending some snide comment comparing the lieutenant's mother to a hutt's wrinkled backside, but considered it wiser to hold his tongue. No sense urinating on the hornet's nest after you've beaten it with a stick a few times.

Instead, he made for the moon of Improcco as fast as the Xijulba was able. He guessed it would take him about eleven minutes to make it to the location he had pinpointed, and it would only take that long to get there because he had exited hyperspace on the wrong side of the planet. He thought about it for a moment and decided to power up the shields and ion cannons. If they weren't needed immediately, it would be better for him in the long run, but it was wiser to have both primed and ready in case that frigate miraculously appeared withing firing distance in the immediate future. He almost wished they'd try a in-system hyperspace jump. It would make his life easier, at least.

So, rather than taking any serious offensive posturing or arranging any surprises for the approaching frigate, he put his feet up on the console in front of him and fingered his favorite blaster pistol absent-mindedly. After about a minute and a half of this, he changed his mind and responded on the same, broad-spectrum frequencies the frigate used to contact them. "Mighten yousa bein da take away company? My bein wantin da stewed mynock, and mesa girlfriend bein wantin da nerf steak." He punched up the intercom again, conveniently forgetting to close the channel before he started talking to his crew "Da Imperials bein here, my being orderin take-away from dem. Dey not bein berry good at tryin to bein killin usen, so my bein dinkin dey must be berry good cooks. Yous folks bein wantin anydin? My bein hearin dat da nerf steak bein berry well made."

 

[Derath Quinton]

Power cells... check. Heter valve primed... check. XCiter is good, actuating module green, and barrel nice and clean. Ajjax mentally checked the blaster that Aran was kind enough to loan again and again, losing himself in the intense music pounding in his ears. Satisfied, he slung the weapon on his back and turned to his blades, flicking them in and out of their wrist casings before applying a liberal amount of lubricating oil. He remained completely oblivious that they'd run into an imperial frigate, and ignored the others around him as he readied his body in turn with some last minute stretching and warming of the muscles.

 

[Vitriol Blue]

Inside her cabin, Voth lays on her bed, belly down, knees bent. Her toes tap gently against the cabin air keeping time with some music playing softly from a small travel communicator. The tune is upbeat and engaging with a maudlin undercurrent. As she listens, she scrawls a few vague doodles pausing between composing lines of what she calls "bad poetry," one of her favorite pastimes. She does not typically share her writings with anyone. They aren't hidden or secret but not intended to be shared. Once her current journal is full she will get rid of it; burn it, throw it away, leave it in a public place, never keep it.

She too, is oblivious to the communications in the cabin and she has made a point to stay out of the captains way.

 

[Ral]

Ral sat in the gunner's position as the moon of Improcco approached rapidly. Swiveling the turret around a full three hundred-sixty degrees, Ral got a feel for the gun controls. Listening to Lee Ru's humorous reply over the com channel, Ral snickered to himself. Taunting the Empire was certainly something new for him. He wondered how they would respond, probably with a tractor beam and barrage of ion bolts. If they wanted to get into the vault in one piece they had better haul shebs and land on the moon before the frigate got a target lock on them. "Cen we not taunt the frigate until afte' we've cleared out the vault?" Ral asked over the intercom. He wasn't sure what this ship could take, but he'd rather not find out this deep in Imperial space.

 

[Andrewza]

Cpt Short watched the contacted heading for the surface. Seems they where not running. "Oficer of the watch, set a inttecept course and alert any ground forces on the planet bellow they getting company.


As the Valour gave chase and tried to get in range to block the intrudors Hyper Space access a small Imperal out post watched the ship's from the ground bellow. There group was small only 38 of that most where not combat troops. Still they had a few speed bikes and a shutel. "Sgt Dainels get your squade ready I think some one may rob the musseum. Corpale Davie's team is all ready there with some imperal resheachers. They have sent the shutel to come pic you up.

 

[Ashiruni]

Lee Ru, still happily chatting away mindlessly in an abusive faction in the general direction of the Imperial frigate, paid no heed to their attempts at intercepting him. He did take a couple of wild pot shots at the shuttle that had recently taken off from the area he was intending to land in, but the heavy laser cannons, at these ranges, would undoubtedly miss. They might rile up the pilot, however, which was the fun part. Within fairly short order, the Xijulba made it to the planet. Once they hit a hundred clicks from the moon, however, Lee Ru's stream of fairly random insults ceased and the open comm channel was terminated. Instead, he focused on bringing the ship close to the vault he had selected.

His approach was textbook, but the area had obviously seen recent activity. Frozen though it might be, there was an obvious landing site near the vault that had seen a recent take-off, if he was any judge at reading the thermal signatures. It looked about the right size for a shuttle, so there might be a research team or collectors or some odd group inside. He circled once, on the lookout for any obvious movement or personnel on the surface, but, when nothing jumped out at him, he landed with a rather audible thud that shook the Xijulba's superstructure.

He gave it a moment as he double checked the position of the Imperial frigate he had noticed in orbit and got to his feet. Once the moment passed, he called over the intercomm, "Plannin bein changin, boyos, wesa bein havin two hours before dat frigate bein gettin hersa, so wesa bein wantin to bein leavin before den. Wesa also bein havin some people round 'bout heresa somewhere, so yous better bein payin attention and not bein getting yourselves killed. My bein stayin heresa to bein makin sure da frigate not bein hyperspacin to usen or da shuttle bein makin a returnin run. Kojii, yousa bein da boss on da ground. Bein gettin movin!"

With his speech made, he ran to the upper turret and sat down. The turret was already powered up, but he wanted to have a more personal touch than telling the droids to shoot at something. He tied into the sensors, made damned sure the safeties were off, and set about waiting. Though he would never show it, he was worried. He had not anticipated the Imperials being here this rapidly. Which meant there was something important here, potentially something very, very valuable. If only he had a clue what it might be.

- - - - -

Kojii, having listened to both the long rant comparing the crew of the Imperial frigate to various demeaning and impolite professions and the follow up speech regarding current intel, decided her time in the mess hall was done. She quickly checked her pistol, ensuring the weapon was in it's holster should she need it, and headed to the quarters that Bardan had claimed. She rapped her knuckles on the door frame as she entered and called out, "Bardan, you're with me."

She waited for an affirmation before heading to the cargo bay and dressing for her part. The environmental suit was not the equivalent to battle armor, by any means, but it would at least keep her warm and breathing in the vacuum between the ship's airlock and the vault doors. Rather than leaving herself unarmed, she moved her blaster into the holster of the environmental suit. No sense wearing the weapon if she couldn't use it, after all. Once again she waited, this time for the six ground crew members to be ready. The mission had barely even begun, and already she was sweating. Something didn't feel right, her guts were screaming it at her. This was going to be one hell of a day.

 

[Ral]

As the Xijulba blasted her way into the atmosphere, Ral sat in the gunner's seat slightly on edge. This wasn't exactly what he was expecting, but he would get used to the circumstances. When the ship touched down onto the ground with a thud Ral jumped out of his seat and slid his way down the access ladder to the to main deck. Finding his wife Carii as quickly as he could, he said "Shekemi ni!" With a curt nod she replied "Tayli'bac!" There was no time to waste; the Imperials most certainly alerted anyone on the ground that they were about to have visitors. Meeting up with the rest of crew next to the boarding ramp Ral sealed his helmet. He'd have twenty minutes of oxygen before he ran out, hopefully getting into the vault wouldn't take near that long.

"Everyone ready?" Ral asked. Once everyone replied in the affirmative Ral led everyone out of the ship and the short distance to the massive vault doors. It really wasn't a surprise to Ral how massive the doors were. He was sure there were some things in this vault that had to be rather large. Once he reached the vault doors he looked around the area and found the door controls. Pressing the unlock button Ral waited, but nothing happened. Locked, blast it! Turning to the rest of the crew he shouted, "Oi! Doo's locked, someone slice this sucke' open!"

 

[Bardan Kex]

From the time of their initial arrival in system Bardan had prepped what little gear he had with him. Carefully making sure each piece of his battered and lightly customized Aliit'gam was properly set and functional; its eight hour life support was good to go, the wrist hold-out blaster loaded, the vibro-blade good and the data-pad functional. He'd hear the Gungan's call for someone to get on the guns, and later his back and for with the Imperial Captain and his mocking of them. He would ignore it all, focusing entirely on drilling his draw off his Ripper Mk-II pistol, the only none integrated weapon he owned after the destruction of his Father-in-Law's ship, and on practicing with the E-75 Blaster rifle he had found in one of Lee Ruu's arms crates. The Rifle was battered, one of the earlier productions of the weapon and had clearly seen lots of miss use, on the trip he had taken to restoring the weapon, matching its sights up with his helmet's HUD and setting the iron sights to battle field zero.

"Bardan, you're with me." he heard shortly after a rapping came on his quarter's bunk. Koji, he thought as he listened to the voice. Lee Ru's little fling. He had interacted with her only slightly thus far, but she seemed easier to get along with than the Gungan Slaver. Giving the pistol a quick flourishing spin before placing it in the holster on his left side, Bardan turn to follow the Twi'lek. He'd pause momentarily considering leaving the E-75, doubting his work on the weapon, but something told him he'd need it.

In the cargo bay he'd check the seal on his helmet and swap over to the life support systems, as he did a small counter opened on the upper left of his HUD begain counting down backwards from 8:00.

He'd wave Koji over to him, "Let me check the seals." he'd say, his old Imperial Training taking over. While doing that he'd notice the Mando'ade couple enter into the bay and motion for them to double check each other's armor. A leak in the Vacuum would cut this venture short for someone. Once everyone had gathered and was ready to go Ral stepped forward to confirm then lead the way out of the ship. Bardan folded the old E-75's stock out and brought it up to his shoulder, taking the tail position for the group as they made their way to the large Airlock.

As he had expected the door was locked, he took up a position covering the team as they set about prepping to hack the console. Keeping a close eye out for any Imperial Guests.

 

[Vitriol Blue]

It's show time and until now, Voth was happy taking a back seat in the action. She followed the lead of the others in prepping gear and preparing for action but she didn't enjoy it, not like they did. While still maintaining an air of confidence, she remained quiet, letting her temporary group mates do what they were hired to do. So far, the mission was going smoothly.

As Ral attempted to open the door she grinned, knowing that it would certainly be locked. Smoothly she moved over to the doors console, rolled up her external right sleeve, and gently pressed the sides of her wrist. Her fingers, ensconced in light specialized gloves, ran over the console. She let her palm float just over the surface of the board and a few lights, began flashing through the sleeve of her bodysuit. With her left hand she began typing into the crude outdated pad on the vaults console and her wrist responded with another series of flashes. The subtle displays of light were accompanied by a bone taping that only Voth could hear. She found the resonant sound moving along her forearm and spine to be wildly satisfying and she was a bit disappointed that the vault was so easy to crack.

After a minute or two, there is a cacophonous vibration that resonated from the doors inner-workings. Playfully Voth looked at Ral.

"Try now!"

 

[Andrewza]

On the other side of the Air lock wo imperial troopers lay in wait. One useing the recepstion desk as cover the other used the corner of a coridor going of to the side has cover. Bothe aimed the blaster carbins at the door.

 

[Ral]

"Try now!" Voth looked at Ral with a playful smile that caused him to chuckle.

"Alright, show off. Now get beck, we don't know what will be on the othe' side of these doo's." He remarked in response. Looking at Bardan and the rest of the team he signaled them to stand back a little. Pressing the button to open the massive vault doors. The doors began to slide apart slowly, almost ponderously slow, like the motors or whatever drove them were going bad. There was also the great rumbling from such large doors that shook the walls and the ground, and Ral was fairly certain if there was enough air to transmit sound, that it would be one of those annoyingly loud screeching sounds that drove people insane. Luckily, even if there was enough atmosphere, his helmet's speakers would block out the screeching part, with the ability to completely mute them if he wanted. Taking a step forward around the corner of the vault a blaster bolt went flying by his head, missing it by only a few centimeters. Osik! Ral's mind raced as he backpedaled into cover. "Looks like we got a wa'm welcome!" If these were regular Stormtroopers then their helmets would have protection against stun grenades. That would make this a slight bit harder. Not too hard, though, and besides, Ral enjoyed the challenge. Signalling to Bardan for a fast breach and clear of what Ral guessed was the reception area from the moment of vision he got, Ral made sure his rifle was set to the standard blaster bolt setting before leaping forward. Tucking his head down, Ral rolled and came up in a low crouch dodging a few blaster bolts that went way over him. Snapping his weapon up he began firing trying to kill, but at the very least suppress, their enemies while at least Bardan and Carii moved into the vault to help clear out the Imperials.

 

[Ashiruni]

Kojii sighed, then wished she hadn't done so a moment later as her faceplate fogged up. She barely caught herself before she sighed and opened a comm channel between herself, the Xijulba, and the crew. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then rushed forward with the rest of the crew as the door was opened to the pathetically thin atmosphere of the moon. Damn., she thought as the doors opened, If only I could place this feeling. Then she saw the blaster bolt. Within that instant, she stopped thinking as instinct and adrenalyn took over. Time itself seemed to slow down as she started to roll, and she literally saw the phospherescent trail of the bolt as it passed by a couple centimeters away.

With a suddeness that surprised her, time suddenly returned to its normal flow. She hit the ground and rolled out of the way, trying her best to present the smallest target possible. It was harder than she expected it to be, as the bulky suit moved awkwardly. She drew her blaster pistol from the holster and put her feet back under herself. "Sithspit! I knew this was a bad idea!" She cursed aloud, heedless of the open comms channel. "I am going to kill that gungan!" To punctuate her comment, she leaned around the corner of the vault's giant blast doors and fired a couple of bolts in the general direction of where the blaster bolt that barely missed her came from.

In Kojii's mind things couldn't get much worse, which was quickly prooven false by the comment that followed over the open channel: "What yousa bein sayin!?! Why yousa bein wantin to bein killin mesa?" Frustrated beyond her ability to cope, Kojii let out a wordless cry of anguish and threw her attention into killing the poor fools that stood in her way while the gungan continued to blather on.

 

[Bardan Kex]

Before the doors had even finished opening Bardan's hand was on Voth's shoulder pulling her further into cover, a result of a gut feeling, a quick look towards the others told him he hadn't been the only one to get one. His suspicions were quickly answered as blaster bolts passed through the open door ways, one narrowly missing Ral and the other nearly grazing Koji. He moved passed Voth to the edge of the door way, the battered E-75 firmly against his shoulder. Ignoring the sarcastic comments of his team members Bardan would note Ral's motioning for a quick breach, he'd nod in agreement as he prepped himself to pass the threshold. About that time an un-ignorable steam of nearly unintelligible banter streamed over the comms, clearly someone had said something the Gungan took offense to and he was too dense to think they may need the comm channel for actually important matters.

He'd shut off the open channel to the squad and open a short range private comms channel with the other two Mando'ade on one of the older Mando War channels. "Now that the damned Gungan isn't flooding the comms, prepare to breach on my mark." re-assessing himself after the quick distraction, he'd once more ready to step through the door. "Mark."

Passing though the door, weapon up he'd take notice of the upturned desk and the slight view offered of the Stormtrooper taking cover behind it. The Trooper, was apparently panicked, taken aback that this presumably quiet assignment had now gotten suddenly very loud and fired his weapon with out aiming, the bolts going wild. Kex's weapon snap in return, four times rapidly. One of the rounds going low and punching through the desk and into the Trooper's lower torso armor, as the former Imperial fired the unfamiliar weapon. The other three found their mark, punching through the man's armor and dropping him. A bolt strikes Kex's torso plat from the side, the angle causing the bolt to ricochet off to the side, the force even of the glance causing him to stagger. He'd turn towards the man, ready to fire as two bolts passed off to his left, striking the Warrior.

 

[Vitriol Blue]

The door was open and amidst a flurry of movement Voth was directed by her teammates into cover. Pushed backwards by Bardan, Voth took a few quick steps and hid behind an outcropping, Ral, Carii, Kojii, and Bardan took an offensive stance and Voth drew her blaster knowing that if the troopers got past those four her blaster wouldn't do much good. As bolts bounced around, time moved more quickly than she'd have liked, and Voth waited to move in behind the others. She scanned the area covering the others and she hoped that the gun fire would soon be over.

 

[Ral]

Almost immediately after Lee Ru had started shouting Ral had switched his helmet off of the shared channel. Much to his surprise Bardan had done the same when his voice came through on one of the older channels. Signalling Bardan he understood, Ral and Carii executed their second attempt at a breach. The breach had been muddled by the stormtroopers, but that wasn't going to deter Ral from getting what they came for. With the kind of fearless, fluid, and coordinated movement that one only got through years of practice and application Ral had initiated the breach. After rolling in Ral witness Bardan blast the stormtrooper behind a table or desk of some kind. The second trooper witnessed his comrade blasted away with such ruthless ease and decided that his current position was untenable. Signalling Carii to sweep right, Ral fired a few quick shots at the stormtrooper which missed, but it distracted him enough to keep him lining up a clean shot on Bardan. It also gave Carii the perfect chance to end him. Aiming her rifle at the stormtrooper she fired a quick burst. Two shots flew out of her rifle, the first hit his helmet, the second landed dead center in his torso. Small columns of smoke rose out of the new black holes.

Glancing around the room Ral turned to his companions, "Entryway looks clea'. Where to now?"

 

[Ashiruni]

Kojii followed the group in, failing horribly to keep up with the professionalism of the Mandalorians. "Perhaps we shouldn't split up after all." she commented over the now-dead comms channel. There were two obvious doors leading from the reception area. One, perhaps, lead into the administration area or housing, while the other lead into the vaults. Taking a wild guess, she went left and trusted the rest of the crew to follow her. "Lets try this side. Careful, they might try to ambush us again." Saying this, she pushed on into the corridor. It was surprisingly well lit, which hinted that the station's power supply had been activated. Three meters in there was a 'T' junction, which she cautiously approached and looked down. It appeared to be a mess hall.

"Looks clear, let's make sure they didn't leave any surprises for us." She gestured her companions forward.

 

[Andrewza]

Hidding behind the serving area were 2 more imperal scouts armerd with carbins and 2 civlians who had pistols. Has the group moved in the two scouts lobbed flash bangs over the counter. The counter was made of steel and overd some protecstion. Even so the scouts would fire and move. The 2 civlians had no real training in war. But where still farly good shots. Though they lacked the resolve and heart of a solder. None the less the joined the troopers in there last line of defence.