[REBEL MISSION] Finder’s Keepers

[Galavant]

Geonosis was just another desert rock to most people, but Enfali having visited other desert rocks such as Socorro and Tatooine, thought it was actually rather beautiful in its own way. The planetary ring, the spires, all of it was so much more striking than endless sand and the occasional canyon.

But unfortunately they weren't there to see the sights. Enfali stood at the edge of a cliff, with several other Rebel soldiers, all geared up. They were there to secure a factory on the world, and oust whoever it was that had set up shop in the place. If everything went well they'd have a shiny new production facility to start rolling out new gear for the Rebellion.

And if everything didn't...well it certainly paid to prepare. If the stories about everything that had happened on the planet during the Clone Wars were even half true, things on Geonosis had a nasty tendency get really bad, really fast. And it was for that reason that Enfali was heavily armed, carrying just about everything she reasonably could. Dressed from head to toe in the Firefly variant of the MCU, she had the standard Pz-95 in her hands, her scattergun slung over her back, and her pistol and her vibrosword hanging from her utility belt along with all the usual things she kept on it.

The other dozen or so Rebels were also dressed in the Firefly variant of the armor. Word was that something really bad was happening in the factory involving the brainwashing of workers. Looking through the holonet for information on what could possibly cause it, the only logical result that came back was a brain worm. And from what she'd read, it was about as pleasant as it sounded.

The factory itself wasn't too far away, all they had to do was proceed down the cliffside, and they'd be near enough to the main entrance to get there in no time at all. And fortunately there were sections of the cliff less cliff like, and more ramp like that made for an easy path down. The factory didn't seem to have many guards posted on the exterior, but even at this distance mechanical noises could be heard coming from inside. Enfali wondered what they were doing in there. It was a standard Geonosian design with a large set of spires above ground, a few entrances here and there, but most of the facility being underground. The Geonosians had provided the Rebels with a map of the facility, but the Force only knew how accurate the thing was. Whoever it was that had been holed up in the place could have changed the layout quite a bit with the right tools.

"Alright," She said, speaking to the rest of the team over comms. "Here's the plan. We break through the front door, see if there's any opposition, and then make our way to the power generators, and switch them off. That oughta draw out whoever the kriff is repurposing the place. Any suggestions?"

 

[Phoenix]

Corto looked down at the spire in front of him. It was certainly a sight to behold. This was his first time to Geonosis and probably his last if he could help it. The planet was nice by desert standards but it was a desert after all. He had two words to sum it all up. Very hot. Yes I know that one dimensional of me but come on it is really quite hot. Of course that was only exacerbated by the fact that the armor he was wearing was not exactly the lightest and coolest thing he had ever worn. He wasn’t one to complain about armor though because first of all he just wasn’t one to complain in general and secondly armor had saved his life in the past. He had just been out of the Imperial army long enough to forget what it was like to wear it around everywhere. Seeing as this was one of his first official runs with the rebels, he had opted to wear the same armor as the others on this mission because he thought it might send the wrong message if he declined. After all he was still getting reacquainted with the whole teamwork idea. Nevertheless for all the teamwork in the world he hadn’t been willing to give up his Verpine pistol and rifle. Sorry team unity you’re just gonna have to deal with this one.

Team unity. That would be important for this mission. They had been sent here to claim a factory for the rebellion. The rebels didn’t have the endless supplies that the Imperium did so they had to scavenge what they could. This will certainly make quite a supply facility when we take it over. There was no doubt in his mind that it was not a matter of if but when. He didn’t handle failure well. He never had and he hoped his teammates would feel the same way.

The thing that worried him most about this particular mission were these “brain worms.” Supposedly the workers were under mind control, which meant there was a possibility that these mind-controlled innocents might be used as combatants. He was hoping that it wouldn’t come down to a gunfight with random mind controlled people that hadn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t feel particularly comfortable fighting them but he’d cross that bridge if it came to up.

As they gathered together he heard one of the rebels – Enfali he thought her name was – laying down a plan and asking for suggestions. “Maybe we should split the team in two. Half go down to the front door and half either go and look for another way in or hang back to cover team one. That way if there is an ambush or something not all of our eggs are in one basket so to speak?”

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

Jahairal brought a hand up towards his new firefly helmet, as a gust of wind kicked some dust up towards his visor. This planet was dry, dryer then any of the deserts back on his homeworld, which he himself had rarely traversed when staying there. It wasn't the worst planet he'd been to, at least not as far as deserts went, and certainly it was better then tatooine. But the hot, rocky ground beneath his feet served to remind him that he was once again on a strange alien world, with even stranger creatures.

The kaleesh did not like geonosians, their tales from the grand war of old, where Qymaen Jai Sheelal waged war upon the galaxy and republic of old, the gladiatorial fights they held struck a close cord in Jahairal's heart of his time enslaved. The stories of their tactics and methods of fighting did little to win they any respect from Jahairal, and aside from all of that, Jahairal really did not like insects. Gazing out towards the orange sand and burning sun though, and the vast rock structures and spires of the planet, he couldn't help but find a certain beauty here, until he reminded himself of what planet he was on.

Despite the warmth a chill ran up his spine, the same tense feeling he'd gotten when he first set foot on this place. He felt on edge, in danger, like the presence of death might be roaming about the sands even now, looking for himself to drag off to the sea of souls. He'd learned of this place through the tales of the clone wars, and he knew how many jedi, fine warriors, and how many clone warriors, lesser stock fighters, had died here. This place was yet another battlefield graveyard, and he feared that some of the souls might still be restless. Worse yet, of those tales, the knowledge of the existence of a parasitic worm that could take control of you made the usually lightly dressed Kaleesh opt for a heavier, more cumbersome, but more sealed, firefly armor.

'Perhaps I should give a short prayer? It couldn't hurt to ask for protection during this fight...' he pondered before shaking his head of such thoughts. He was a member of the imperial knights and a warrior of the rebellion. He could not afford to let fear get the better of him. He closed his eyes to calm himself, focusing on the task at hand. Someone had seized a potential asset and had seized the minds of those working there. They would need to be freed, and this controller brought to justice. His eyes opened and he glanced towards the person in charge of this operation, Enfali Tragati, someone he'd not worked with since the disbanding of the knights.

Jahairal did not know how to feel about working with her now, but he was certain to keep his mind focused on the mission, then on the past. He raised his outland rifle, checking the slugthrower to make sure it was clear of sand or dust, and the scope to see if it worked. On his waist was his vibrosword, and a DL-18 blaster pistol.

"That plan could be working to our advantage..." He said as he heard Corto's plan for splitting their forces, "If we are to be luring out the adversary, then to have a force that can be attacking from behind, could be deterring ambushes for our assaulting team..." Jahairal said as he thought a moment, "However, we could be having to fight two fronts, and not possessing enough men to be successfully completing the mission."

 

[Galavant]

"I'm not sure we have time. Another team scouting around for another entrance might give away out position and might not even find anything," Enfali answered. She wasn't exactly an expert on battlefield tactics, but her more cautious and conservative nature told her that that just having people go off to search for another entrance that might not exist was a bad idea. But that didn't mean the basic idea behind what Corto was proposing, and what Jahairal agreed with wasn't a good one.

It was just lacking...a more definitive entrance.

"What if a second team were to a spot on the other side of the factory and blow open an entrance with some explosives? It'd be a good distraction for the first team to get to the power generators," She counter proposed. Usually explosives weren't really her style. But recent experiences on places like Endor had shown her the value of such things. And really who didn't like an earth-shattering kaboom? She wondered what Jahairal thought about that. She hadn't seen the other Knight in a long time. Actually she hadn't seen many of the other Knights in a long time, the Rebellion had gotten bigger and it seemed like she was working with the people she knew firsthand less and less as a result.

 

[Phoenix]

He thought about what the others had said. Fighting on two fronts certainly wasn’t a good idea when you were outnumbered and Enfali was right they might not find another door so Corto turned his thoughts to the possibility of blasting their way in. He was more than adept when it came to explosives and always happy to make something go boom but he wasn’t sure if they had brought enough explosives to blast their way through a mountain.

“Hmm, you may be right. Two fronts is a bad idea. I know we could blast our way through a door but, like you said, if we can’t find a second door I don’t think we’ve got enough explosives to blast our way through the rock face. Then we’re back to square one it seems.” He thought back to his military covert action training. Speed, stealth, and violence of action. They didn’t have numbers so they needed to figure out the fastest way to get the job done. “Maybe the best thing is just to try the original plan: go through the front door, maybe leave back two of the guys with the battle rifles” – he nodded his head toward two of the troopers with A-560s – “on overwatch while the rest of us advance. That at least leaves us a fallback point if this hits the fan.” He looked toward Enfali who seemed to be looking toward Jahairal awaiting his response and so Corto looked toward him as well.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"A distraction would be capable to make infiltration easier." Jahairal said with a nod, the idea sounding quite sound in his opinion, "But we are not needing to split the team equally. A small group, would be capable for the planting of explosives. Hold out until power is being cut..." He commented as he glanced towards Enfali, wondering why she was looking at him so as he quickly darted his sight away from her.

"I-It is being incredibly dangerous though. And if we are lacking in the explosives..." He said, speaking a bit faster then intended as he calmed himself down a bit, "Going through the front, perhaps is being the more efficient option." He spoke, remembering more of his roots with a former knight aboard this mission. It was about efficiency, and a greater good. Sacrifice, if it'd need to be made, was something jahairal wouldn't mind risking for the sake of the mission. "Either way, we should be striking soon. The longer we are waiting, the harder the decision is becoming."

 

[Götz]

Eva was sitting on a stone just a few meters from a cliff. "Wondrous..." thought looking at the huge spirals that made up the sight. This wouldn't be her first major mission for the Rebellion, she was accustomed with operations of this type, but for some reason Eva was a little nervous with this one. Geonosis its a planet, that despite seem simple on the outside, in its underground hide thousands and thousands of structures that serve as home to the most bizarre creatures, the brain worm was one them. Small cylindrical creatures that enter inside of you, become lodged in your brain and control you, it is not the kind of creature that Eva is used or like to fight. Another thing that would make this a more complicated mission is the fact that these creatures would be controlling the factory workers. Although Eva will not hesitate to shoot in these people, she couldn't say the same of her colleagues and this could be something disastrous for the mission.

Wearing the Firefly variant of the MCU, Eva was with her helmet in hand. The dry wind of the desert planet caressed her uncovered face and tossed her hair back. She was well armed with her A-560 Blaster Rifle in the back and her DH-18/A Blaster Pistol attached to the holster on her thigh. Also, she carried a backpack with some explosives, mainly the detonation packs, thorium charges and thermal detonator tape. In her armor's utility belt, Eva carries some thermal detonators, fragmentation grenades, stun grenades, flash-bang grenades, concussion grenades and EMP grenades.

While focusing her vision for the endless desert, Eva was quietly paying attention at the discussion that followed with three other members of the group. Enfali Tragati was leading the team, a woman that, despite being force-sensitive, Eva respected. The other force-sensitive was a religious Kaleesh called Jahairal, Eva did not have anything against, only the fact that him is a force-sensitive, and nothing in favor of him, only the fact that him is helping the Rebellion. The last one is Corto Terek, just another man who had a hard life and for some reason entered the Rebellion. The three were discussing plans to enter the factory. When Fali proposed that a second team was formed to explode a alternative entrance, Eva opened a subtle smile. "This is the kind of plan that I like." she thought. But for Eva unhappiness, Corto and Jahairal were not very comfortable with the plan. After everyone had talked, Eva stood up and said looking at the three while pointing with the left hand to one of the factory's spires and holding her helmet with the right hand: "If the Commander give me two soldiers, I can plant some explosives within that spire.". She gave a brief pause and looked at the spire. "Placing a few explosives in the correct locations, the construction can easily demolished.". Then she looked back at the three, this time focusing on the commander and continued. "This will serve as a distraction so you can enter the factory without being detected. The possible hostile forces will focus their attention on the explosion and this will ensure a safe operation. What do you say, commander?". Eva was determined in her plan. She was aware of the consequences if everything went wrong, but if all went well this would be a great achievement for Rebellion. She had to try.

 

[Galavant]

"I don't think we need to go quite that far," Enfali replied, cautiously. An explosion big enough to bring the spire down on top of the factory might do bad things to the below ground structures that could compromise how they moved about. Not to mention an explosion of that size might spook the Geonosians, and they didn't want their allies to get nervous about their actions on the planet after all. And the preferable option was to take the factory with as little damage to it as possible, so they could use it to their own ends after all.

Between the four of them, it didn't seem like they were lacking in explosives, and combat expertise however.

"Alright then how about we go with that then," She said, nodding towards Tal. "We'll use the explosives we have to blast the door right open, and then hit them fast. Try to take as many down as quickly as we can, before they can figure out what's happening as we move for the power generators. It'll be the four of us, plus eight. Leave four behind to cover the entrance, and call for help if they don't hear back from us in two hours."

Enfali doubted a comm signal would be able to get through the structure when they got deeper in, so setting things up on how long they were in was the only real way to get it done.


OOC: I'm doing super pew pew pew shooty stuff next post whatever's decided :D. If anyone wants to move things down that way, and start the carnage feel free.

 

[Phoenix]

Corto nodded, “sounds good to me.” He turned and counted off four more of the squad members to stay behind while the others made their way down the hill and to the entrance as quickly as possible so as to minimize the time spent in the open. Taking a moment he dug through his pack and pulled out a strip of thermal tape. It took a bit longer than normal to get it to adhere to the door due to the rough exterior but he after a moment it finally stuck. He pressed a detonator into the explosives and spoke into the comms, “it’s live! Two stacks of four, one on each side.” He took position at the head of the stack to the right of the explosives. “On my mark: three, two, one, take! Take! Take!” he said as he depressed the detonator.

It shook him in his gut as the fire exploded straight outward and the fragments of the door flew inward. He tossed a flash grenade through the new opening, with 180 db of sound and 8 million Candela it was truly terrifying if you weren’t expecting it. Corto turned the corner with his rifle raised and made his way down the right wall, scanning his quadrant of the room for hostiles. The flash-bang had certainly done its job, a Geonosian just to his left was still recovering and raising his sonic rifle to fire at the next person from his stack but he never got the chance. Corto swung his rifle and aimed his sights at the Geonosian. With a smooth pull the resistance in the trigger released and there was a slight crack as the round from his Verpine broke the sound barrier and slammed into the creature’s sternum, causing him to crumple to the floor. One down, he thought and hoped the others had each covered their respective quadrants of the room.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

Jahairal had prepared his silenced slugthrower, closing his eyes as he heard the bang of the explosion, trusting his instincts of the force as he waited, hearing a second pop of the flashbang going off. He'd have previously shrugged the sense to wait off as just his nervousness, but he was learning to trust his gut feelings and instincts as he ran into the building, rifle raised.

Jahairal scanned the room, not spotting anyone outside the Geonosian that Corto had taken down. The entrance was wide, hallway like as it led into the faucility proper, and a few crates were stacked up leading further into the hallway, with a couple just a few meters down from the entrance. He'd noticed it only a second before he felt someone watching him, eyes from somewhere as jahairal closed his own, breathing in and out.

He felt it, knowing where to aim as he raised his rifle and fired, a silent hiss of suppressed gas and a breif flash followed by a crate getting a hole punched into it and the clicking cry of a genosian echoing out. He moved as quickly as he could in the armor, turning the corner and aiming his rifle down to the wounded drone, its sonic rifle still in its grasp as Jahairal delivered two more shots to finish the job. He looked down the hall as he back away a bit, not wanting to get too far away from the others as he held his gun at the ready, silent as ever on mission.

 

[Götz]

"As you wish, Commander." answered Eva reluctant. She wore the helmet and pulled her rifle from her back, holding it with both hands. Eva followed the squad led by Corto downhill and along with them, positioned herself strategically so that the explosion of the thermal tape does not affect her negatively. After Corto have given the order to blast the door, thus succeeding the opening of the entry and the throwing of a flash-bang grenade by the same, Eva advanced quickly and cautiously into the factory. In her sight she could identify two geonosians stunned by the effect of the grenade, one was a regular drone, armed with a sonic blaster, and the other was clearly a elite drone, armed with a elite beam weapon. Eva quickly aimed to the Elite first and shot six times. Four shots consecutively hit the Elite's chest armor and barely made damage, the last two shots hit the unprotected area of the Elite's head, killing him. She then turned to the regular drone, that was practically without the flash-bang effect, and shot three times. The shots consecutively hit the left leg, the right shoulder and the abdomen of the drone. The geonosian fell against the wall, badly wounded but alive.

Eva approached the insect, that was moaning in pain, and kicked the sonic blaster away from him. "We have a wounded here, bring first aid." she said to her colleagues with the intention of keeping the geonosian alive. She gave a brief look around and seeing what her squad mates had done, said in a cynical tone "Well, it was not the best entry of all.". She then looked at Corto and continued "I would have done better.". Eva walked to Jahairal and when stood beside him, while looking at the geonosian killed by the Kaleesh, commented "Not bad. But I hit two, so I'm winning.". She then gives a short laugh and turned her focus to the hall in front of they. There are machinery noises and sounds similar to thousands of insects crawling inside the walls, floor and ceiling. "Today will be one of those days." said Eva to the Kaleesh. She was attentive, focused, humored and ready for the fight that was coming.

 

[Galavant]

Enfali went into the hallway first, her scattergun at the ready. She'd moved quickly after their entrance had been created, they didn't have time to slow down if they didn't want to end up dealing with every Geonosian in the place before they reached the power generators. Especially given the manner in which the passage had been created, the Geonosian There wasn't much in the broad passageway itself, just the elegant Geonosian architecture that made it look more natural than bugmade, and a few containers. Moving further in, it opened up into the main floor of the factory itself. Well actually it didn't, the floor of the passageway only extended out so far, overlooking the main floor of the factory itself.

The factory was massive, and the usual mechanical sounding noises could be heard, and work seen done below. Numerous production lines crisscrossed each other, and seemed to overlap in an endless cascade downwards. The 'balcony' section was of the same elegant style that the rest of the factory shared. Unlike the Droid Foundries of days past, this factory didn't appear to have battle droids of any make rolling off its lines. Instead, from Enfali could see, it looked more like guns. Lots of guns. Whoever it was that had taken the place over clearly had desires in the arms manufacturing business, and given the rarity and quality of Geonosian weapons they were only too likely to make a big profit.

At least, if the Rebels couldn't stop whoever it was, that is.

It didn't take long for the group to get noticed by the inhabitants. A swarm of dozens of Geonosians started to gather before balcony. At least a few, if not all, had the sonic weapons that Geonosians were famed for, and started to open fire on their position.

Ducking beneath the rocky lip of the balcony, Enfali could hear the blasts impact, and see them hit areas further back. Popping up from behind it, she let her scatter gun boom, and send out a shot of sharnaff shot. The pellets ripped into at least of the flying insectoids, and she saw them fall, down into the bowels of the factory. Several of the other Rebels in the group also opened fire with their blasters, and traded shots with the factory guards.

"Any suggestions on how to get down there?" She asked, still shooting at the swarm. The Geonosians hadn't built any stairways or platforms for them to conveniently proceed downwards. The flying insets certainly didn't need them, and she doubted they wanted offworlders just proceeding inwards. But the hollowed out, open concept, design of the factory meant that it would be rather easy to get down to the power generators. The hard part was just getting down there in a manner that didn't end with the Rebels splatted against the ground.

 

[Phoenix]

As soon as the room was clear Corto could hear one of the team members talking about how she would have done the entrance better and how she had more kills. Corto wasn’t much of a man for non-sense. “Cut the chatter. We're not here for an ego trip. We have a job to do. Keep your head in the game,” he reprimanded.

After a moment he heard the sound of gunfire from down the hallway that Enfali and some of the others had just gone down and he quickly followed. As he came out of the hallway he was truly amazed at what he saw. He had seen schematics of how these old factories had worked but seeing them in person was another thing entirely. Much of the factory was automated and it was pumping out thousands of weapons. That was a huge paycheck for whoever was running this thing or a huge supplies boost for the Rebels.

His momentary information intake was quickly cut short but sonic rounds that struck the ground next to him and he dove to cover, narrowly avoiding being hit. Enfali asked if anyone had ideas of how to get down and Corto’s mind began to race. Rappelling down was an option but only if they had enough liquid cable cord and if they were able to clear out this swarm. He didn’t fancy rappelling in the middle of a gunfight. Another option was to jump from one conveyor belt to another all the way down but he immediately dismissed that plan as the risk of death or injury was almost guaranteed. There was always turbolifts but he had yet to see one. But there had to be one somewhere didn’t there? At least a freight lift.

“Is there a freight lift around here? These bugs can’t fly all of this stuff out by hand. If not that just leaves us rappelling as our only option. But first we gotta clear out these bugs.”

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

Jahairal kept his back pressed against the balcony, the shots ringing out as he popped out of cover, aiming his gun and training it on his target as he opened fire, 2 shots. The first missed, the second hit, and a geonosian fell into the factory floor below. He trained his gun on another group, opening fire. 3 shots, 2 dead, and he was now out of ammo in his clip. Even with the force helping his aim, these flying targets were too numerous, and too quick moving, for him to properly hit. They needed a new plan, and quickly.

Ducking behind the cover once more, Jahairal reloaded a fresh magazine into his slug-thrower, and heard the suggestion from Corto. A freight-lift? That could work, assuming they could find one. The kaleesh ares member slung his rifle over his shoulder, drawing his vibroblade and blaster pistol, "I will be searching for one..." He said, and with little other warning took off. He kept as low to the ground as possible, running along the balcony's edge as the sonic weaponry began to fire. As he ran, Jahairal focused on what he'd learned in training, remembering to open his senses and trust the force to guide him through his instincts. He looked down below as he ran as quickly as possible, the armor which had felt so heavy and cumbersome before starting to feel lighter and lighter as he focused on the task at hand.

He caught a glimpse of something below, a vague shape and flash of grey color emits the earthy tones, and trusting his instincts and jumped. He fell through the air for a solid 6 seconds before he landed hard upon a floating object, right atop a geonosian worker and knocking the man unconscious. Jahairal looked forward, seeing he wasn't on a freight lift at all, but rather a large forklift like vehicle, a flat surface in front of him apparently designed for lifting cargo from the upper to lower levels. Jaharial grabbed the controls as sonic blasts began to be fired near him, hitting the flatbed surface and sending the vehicle pitching forward from the impact. Jahairal jerked the controls to try and gain control, and fired up quickly towards the geonosians, plowing into a few midflight as he worked to get control of the vehicle.

It pitched towards the right, jaharial not being the best when it came to driving, and plowed through a section of balcony to rest upon the upper level, to the left of the doors and the rebels. Jahairal looked towards the others, eyes wide as he ducked to avoid a sonic blast to the face. "I think-" He leaped up and out of the metal frame basket that surrounded the control area, little other choice as another sonic blast came right for him. He landed with a crouch, aiming his pistol to lay some suppressive fire with his pistol before ducking against the wall for cover.

"I think...I have found transport. Yes?" He asked the others, really hoping it was good enough to get them down to the lower level and out of this confined shooting gallery.

 

[Götz]

Eva rolled to the left stopping behind a stone column which leaned and started using to defend herself from the sonic blasts coming against her direction. She inclined herself a little to the right allowing her aim the geonosian swarm. With her A-560, Eva gave ten shots. six hits, four deads. But the enemies were numerous. The geonosians while flying were unpredictable rivals, underestimate them would be suicide. For a few minutes, Eva continued with the same strategy while planning something. She had to find a way, a secure way, of mobility for the rebel troops in this insectoid factory. She gave a brief look around, looking for anything that would serve as a way. "Perhaps staircases?" thought quickly. "No, these insects have wings, they do not need stairs..." She answered herself. Eva then saw one of her allies, Jahairal, stirring in what appeared to be a vehicle designed for lifting cargo. Noting that he was being targeted by many geonosians, Eva picks up a flash-bang grenades from her utility belt. She activated the grenade and threw it in the middle of the swarm while saying in a loud and exclamatory tone "Flash-bang!". Eva hid behind the stone pillar to avoid being hit by the effect of the grenade. After the explosion, most geonosians of the swarm found themselves disoriented, blinded by the flash. Eva exited from the coverage and started shooting at the insectoids while walking in Jahairal's direction. She spent, at least, 43 shots during this walk. She can not count the number of hits or deaths, but she was hopeful that was enough for allow the team make a move. Upon arriving at the Kaleesh position, she take cover in the forklift like vehicle and said loudly in a humorous tone: "Let's get this junkyard to work!".

 

[Galavant]

"Let's get to it then," Enfali replied, taking aim and firing again. She was running out of ammo for her boomstick, and would probably have to switch to a backup weapon before too long. Walking, and firing, she made her way over to where to the other two were on the cargo lift. After waiting for Corto and as many of the Rebels as was practical to get on, the lift started to move. The Geonosians didn't stop harassing them as they went down. The Rebels remaining on the top platforum distracted them some, but there was only so much that could be done, when so many were swarming. Running out of ammo for her shotgun, Enfali swtiched to her pistol. She'd save the carbine for later.

The left went down, down, down, down. As it went it went passed most of the major factory areas, helping to block off some of the Geonosian swarm. Fortunately not as many were armed as were before. The factory might have been up and running, but it only had so many guards, and it could only have so many guards that were a serious threat. Which didn't mean they weren't still amazingly outnumbered, but even an insect swarm could only take so many losses. The Rebels on the other hand had taken far fewer, having come prepared in heavy armor, and the like.

As the lift went down it eventually passed the factory floors altogether, and started descend into the tunnels. After that, the Geonosians stopped, except for a few stragglers that had followed them down. As the lift came to a sudden stop, there was only one path leading away from it, deep into the dark tunnels.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Enfali muttered. Some lines were too good to not use over and over and over again.

 

[Phoenix]

They had done good work finding a way down. The descent was fairly quick and it made Corto’s stomach rise into his throat, but at least it got them out of the line of fire. They hit the bottom of their descent and a pitch-dark tunnel lay in front of him. “That makes two of us,” he said in response to Enfali’s comment. Nevertheless, as he looked at the tunnel, they had no choice but to move forward. After all, the dark tunnel still beat being shot at like a fish in a barrel upstairs.

He pulled his goggles from the pouch on his left leg and fixed them in place. The fit was kind of awkward as he had to put them over his helmet, but it would get the job done. With a flip of a switch the inky blackness turned to a greenish haze and he could see down the passageway in front of him.

The floor was metal and his boots made a slight clink-clank sound as he progressed down the hallway, his rifle up and at the ready. The walls were dirt and the passage was circular with small outcroppings in all of the walls. He didn’t see any signs of life but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything down here, or anything that could follow them down here. He took a deep breath and realized that the air was considerably cooler down here. In fact, it was rather refreshing when compared to the stuffy, warm air above that seemed to want to suffocate you.

After about 100 yards the tunnel took a slight turn and, after another 25 yards a door appeared. “I’ve got a doorway at the end of the hall,” he said to the rest of the team behind him. Warily, he approached the door and pressed a button to the side. He took a step backward, rifle raised as the door jutted out from the wall and rose with the hiss of hydraulics revealing a bright white room considerably different than the rest of the architecture in the building.

He slid his goggles off and entered what appeared to be some sort of laboratory or medical center. The room was filled with a half-dozen medical droids and maybe two-dozen sedated Geonosians lying on very uncomfortable looking stretchers. To the right side of the room were tanks filled with dozens upon dozens of what he could only assume were brain worms.

Through a glass wall he could see a small group of medical droids operating on a sedate Geonosian in an attached operating room. The worm slithered across the aliens face before making a not so graceful entrance up the nose slithering and burrowing as it went. Corto was thankful he didn’t have a weak stomach and could only manage to gasp “Holy crap,” as he saw what happened in the other room. His travels had taken him to world upon world and he had seen some truly disturbing things, but just when you thought you’d seen it all, something else showed up.

“Excuse me, this is a restricted area. You shouldn’t be here,” one of the medical droids said as it approached the group.

“We’re authorized,” he lied to the droid, “Maybe you could tell us where your owner is. Who gives you instructions?”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand your query. It is beyond my programming. Please, if you insist on remaining here, don’t touch anything,” the droid said and scurried off to return to its disturbing work.

“Well we found the brain worms. Whoever facilitated this can’t be far away I wouldn’t imagine,” he said to the rest of the group as he continued to examine the worms. “We should probably do something about these things first though.”

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"I am wishing I did not have this helmet on..." Jahairal said as he walked through the darkness with the others, unsettled by the experience as he followed the group, "I do not like seeing nothing in this darkness..." Kaleesh had heat pits which normally let them see in the dark just fine. But the helmet which did a good job protecting his face, served to also keep him from seeing normally.

The white room they reached nearly blinded him as his eyes adjusted to the shift in lighting, and as he looked around the medical facility, staring at the jars of worms as he couldn't help but shudder.

"I no longer regret this helmet..." He stated simply as he backed away from the jars, looking wearily at them, before he looked towards the medical droids moving around, "Be killing them. Nothing good can come of these creatures..." Jahairal stated simply as he stopped, one of the medical droids coming towards him as he backed away, getting his vibrosword ready when it retrieved a simple datapad from the table near him, walking back towards the observation glass as jahairal let out a sigh of relief. "Also them. I am not trusting them..."

 

[Galavant]

OOC: I'm seriously holding this up, and I know Gotz is busy, so I'm going to politely sorta piss off and write myself out here >.>

"I'll stay back and keep an eye on...whatever this is," Enfali volunteered. It was all very...well squicky. Brain worms, bugs, deep underground. Enfali certainly wouldn't want to get trapped down here with it all, and she doubted her fellow Rebels did either. Best way to keep that from happening was to stay back, and make sure the exit stayed clear. They only knew for certain that there was one way down here, and that one way led right back to the main entrance if they ever needed to make a speedy getaway.

 

[Phoenix]

"Alright. Let's finish this," he said and made his way through the doorway at the far end of the room. "Be careful, Enfali," and with that he was gone through the door. The door revealed another hallway, still the bright white color of the lobby. There was no evidence of droids, and no more Genonosians either, but at the end there was another doorway. It seemed to be of the heavy variety, and relatively new.

Corto pressed the controls to the side of the door, but to no avail. It didn’t seem to want to open, so he started setting thermal tape on the door ready to blast it in. “All clear,” he said, and depressed the detonator. The explosion blasted the frame of the door off, and it fell forward, revealing a room now cluttered with papers that had been blown everywhere by the explosion.

On the ground in the center of the room was a Kaminoan, bleeding from the chest and barely conscious. “Are you the one that’s doing all of this?” he asked. The white walls and halls all began to make sense if the Kaminoans were behind this. The long necked alien tried to say something, but it was indecipherable and, after a moment, the creature passed.

Corto began to make his way around the room, rummaging through the research and trying to determine if this was the person responsible for the taking over of the factory. He seemed to be.