"Teamwork"

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Death disabled.
Coruscant
Imperial Training Facility
0930 Hours, Galactic Standard
@EmilyHuene

"So what's the word, Kazzy?"

"Do you have to say that every time, Miles?"

"Yeah, I do. Kind of tradition."

"For you, maybe."

Astrid cut them both off with a glance. Their helmets filtered their speech and the speakers cut off as they stopped talking. The other three of the detachment were busy getting their gear and checking their weapons. Today was a training exercise involving relatively simple tasks--this run was specifically to eliminate all targets within the range. Pretty simple. The environment was a small group of prefab buildings which, though drab and simple, accurately reflected an urban environment in, say, Corellia. Apartment districts, more or less. Targets would be consisted of simple protocol droids and astromechs given blasters, nothing too controversial or inhumane. It would have been fairly simple, but there was a curveball thrown in. Apparently her squad wasn't prepared to work with Sith counterparts.

Hence the random training. She spoke up as she looked at her helmet and checked her blaster, making sure it wasn't just set to stun.

"We..will be working with a Sith in a simulated combat environment. Apparently to improve how well we work together and to test whether it's plausible to put normal humans and Force sensitive people together in combat situations without drastic issues."

"Lot'sa big words there for grunts like us."

"Quoted it from the report. You like it? Might learn a thing or two that you missed from not attending school."

A few scoffs came from the group. It was good they were in high spirits. Meant this training sim wasn't going to be nearly as boring with the simple targets of inept droids. Now they just had to wait for their Sith friend to show up. She pulled her helmet on and adjusted her vest, nodding to the two talkers. Her blaster powered on and Astrid looked toward the door on their right (simulating a dropship door) and the one on their left (where they had entered). The quicker this was over, the quicker she could do something more useful than shooting recycled droids. Just waiting on their Sith friend.

 

[The Confessor]

Training missions? They wanted her to do training missions?! Eriana was furious! She was livid! She was...she was....she was pissed! So much so she broke her composure and ripped a new hole in her wall courtesy of her red ligthsaber. It only lasted a few good strikes before she lowered the weapon and grabbed at her long black hair to try and calm herself down.

"Breathe Eriana," she told herself. "Just breathe." She took a few more calming breathes and put the blade back in her hip, opposite its identical one on the other hip. She then changed her tone and began to speak a sort of mantra to herself. "You are not a slave to your emotions. Anger and hatred are tools meant to break. You are better than a tool. You are a believer, a worshiper, a follower. You are a daughter of the Force and not a weapon to be thrown away."

To say she was a strange Sith would be an understatement. She'd always been a strange girl. She had very little friends. The only ones of note were when she was young and first entered the academy. That was before she started to question everything. Her questions were never wrong...or tabboo...they were just different. Eriana had a way of thinking vastly different than any of her peers. Those around her channeled their anger into power and allowed them to strike down their (pretend) foes without mercy. Eriana saw...a different approach. She kept calm. She kept steady. But her belief in the power of the Dark side gave her the edge she needed not to simply fail every physical test the school threw at the students.

Sitting down in her chair she listened to the recording speak to her and finish the message it was meant to deliver. She then let out another sigh and reached for her datapad to open up the details of the actual assignment. Her hand gently glided over the custom-made ridges installed into the screen as a method of reading. Eriana was blind, you see. For almost everything else in life she didn't need her eyes to function; the Force gave her that Sight. But for reading...there was only so much the mysterious ghost entity could do.

This was a week ago. Today she walked proudly into the training center ready to go. She'd accepted the fact she'd been called upon. It was really a measure of simplicity. As Eriana took a job in the Imperial Grand Prison on Coruscant, she was not but a half hour from the training facility. No other Sith (at least at her level) was that close so they called on Eriana to get the job done. She brought with her only two things: her Sith Maraurder Armor -customized to fit her small frame and give it a more intimidating look; and her two curved-lightsabers each fitted with a red crystal.

After meeting with one of the higher ups, Eriana was directed to the training room and walked into the simulation. Her eyes were fixed upon a single point ahead of her giving the impression she didn't want to talk or look at any of the group she was meant to work with. It totally added to the intimidating and fearful presence the Sith tend to give out. She stopped at the doorway on the other end and would speak loudly for the others to hear.

"What's the situation?"

She was already in character, so to speak. For all intents and purposes, past that door was the real deal. The exercise had now officially begun and she wouldn't stand around making small chat with these.....troopers.

​

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

The private comms channel lit up with activity as their Sith friend entered the room.

"Damn..since when were we lucky enough to get supermodel Sith? Is that a thing now?"

"She's not interested in you, Miles. Your ugly mug is hardly something to look at. In fact, I believe that wall's rather attracive to her right now."

"Heh--bell end."

Astrid cut off the private channel and made a cutting gesture across her neck as she stood up. The rest of the squad shut up and straightened, finishing up touched to their gear before gathering by the door to the sim area in a rough formation, staying nervously away from the Sith. It wasn't like she bit people or anything. Unless that was her thing in combat, though the woman wouldn't turn against Imperials of her own faction..right? Astrid glanced to her squadmates as she approached the Sith, who asked immediately about what this was about.

Best get to the point, then. She looked toward the door and held her rifle in a hand as she spoke.

"Local criminal group's taken over an apartment block. We've been sent to clean them out. I take it that wasn't in your briefing?"

One of the talkers was probably acting impressed about her very subtle jab. That was the beauty of Imperial Basic. You could be an arse without actually being one. Brilliant how that worked sometimes. Astrid smirked slightly under her helmet as the situation slowly started up and the doors began to unlock.

 

[The Confessor]

Eriana ignored the quips about her eyesight, making a mental note to somehow punish that one later. The one who flattered her though...he'd get some good fortune if she could arrange it. She supposed though, that they weren't too bright as they didn't realize she'd been given a comm too.

"Local criminal group's taken over an apartment block. We've been sent to clean them out. I take it that wasn't in your briefing?"

Again, without looking back, "I just want to make sure all the pawns know where to aim their guns."

Probably not a good way to boost morale. Or work with your teammates. Or insult someone who has a gun behind your back. But it was too late now. What was said was said. The group though would notice she grabbed both of her sabers as she crossed her arms and then held them out to her sides as she uncrossed them (she'd grabbed the left hip with her right hand and vise-versa). She didn't ignite the blades though. Best not give away her position with the ever-so-recognized whoosh of the blade.

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

There was a reason Astridia had told the bunch to shut up.

Of course their Sith friend had equipment to talk as well. There was a reason they were supposed to work as a team. Even now she glanced at the bunch from under her visor as they shifted uncomfortably. And that was why they paid her to lead a squad, not Miles, as much charisma that man contained. She had the intelligence to know they wouldn't be the sole users of any equipment they had on them. Hence why she had them silence themselves so often. The door to the training grounds opened as the Sith let loose with her own subtle quips. Good to know they shared a sense of humor. One small bonus in the sea of bantha kark that this experiment was. Her smile grew into a chuckle as she accepted defeat and spoke through her helmet's filtered speakers.

"Maybe Miles was right about you, love. Nasty sense of humor. I like it."

Astrid nodded and pointed to half the squad, telling them to fan out left while the other half, the more experienced group, flooded out to the right of the door, along with her in tow. The Sith wasn't in her vision anymore, but last she saw the sabers were drawn. Maybe things would get serious sooner than she thought. Her hand keyed her comlink as she scanned for any dysfunctional droids trying to murder them.

"Start the sweep, just like we'v done a thousand times. And if possble, let's let our guest show off a bit. That's the point of this exercise, right? Otherwise it's just the pawns doing all the dirty work for Pretty Face here."

 

[The Confessor]

"Maybe Miles was right about you, love. Nasty sense of humor. I like it."

A smirk came across the girl's face, clearly visible from where Astrid was standing. It wasn't often she got complimented, so to be honest she wasn't really sure how to respond. So she just let it slide and began walking out the room into the simulation. Half of the group then moved to her left from behind, the other to the right. Eriana didn't bother hiding yet. She was going to head straight forward and see what came to greet her. The troups didn't know it yet, but she was the decoy. Whatever enemies there were, the soldiers could pick them off from the sides or flanks while she dealt with their attention, mainly their blasters.

"Start the sweep, just like we'v done a thousand times. And if possble, let's let our guest show off a bit. That's the point of this exercise, right? Otherwise it's just the pawns doing all the dirty work for Pretty Face here."

It seemed the leader read her mind. Eriana fully intended on showing off. It would please her to do so. But she didn't want to take all the focus off of them for they were supposed to be working together. But to start, she'd make things a little interesting.

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astrid stacked up on the first door with her other two buddies as the four people of team two started on the opposite side of the aparment block. She glanced toward the Sith and then nodded to the trooper across from her before knocking open the door and taking point, immediately seeing a poor rusted astromech sitting dead silent with a blaster in its claw. She shot twice and disabled its central processor as the rest filed in, beginning a sweep of the building with random staccatos of blaster fire here and there. They all hung back after moving through one room at maximum, waiting for their Sith to catch up.

Astrid felt like this was a little too easy. Perhaps there was something else planned. A veteran Mid Rim peacekeeping unit and a random Sith sent against rust buckets? It didn't make much sense.

"Clear. Waiting on you, Kazzy."

"Waiting on Sith. Let her lead."

 

[The Confessor]

"Clear. Waiting on you, Kazzy."

"Waiting on Sith. Let her lead."

Eriana stayed to the ground floor. She wasn't sure what she was searching for, but she had a feeling this was the way to go. She was...half right. Up on top of the building a droid would appear and fire a sniper at her. Eriana turned and ignited her red beam just in time to deflect the bolt into the ground. She backed up, swinging just the one saber for now as it fired again two more times.

She would call over the comm, "Sniper, on the roof."

Backing up into the outcropping of the upper floors Eriana turned and ran along the wall to get inside the building. She found herself in a lobby of sorts with several blocks that purposed as tables or barricades. Hidden among them were four utility droids with blasters. Eriana raised her saber to parry any bolts that came as she backed up to retreat into the street once more, but found it was the door behind her that closed and locked. Looks like she had to fight her way out.

The droids quickly began to fire at her and she deflected the first several bolts with ease; still choosing not to raised her other saber she left it unlit and at the ready. Eriana moved behind one of the "tables" and crouched down. She could hear the blasters still firing at her and burning into the wall behind her. She then pushed a small button on her wrist to signal her commlink once more.

"I've moved into the central room of the complex. There are four droids. The way out is blocked. You'll have to come in through the back."

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astrid watched as the Sith approached and went into combat before returning her eyes downrange. She spun and scaled a flight of stairs as blaster fire erupted, leaning out a window long enough to down the sniper. Her team filed out of the first building and ahe hopped out of the window, landing and falling onto her side before standing again. Team 2 was still clearing out the outskirts, clearly doing fine as there had been no casualty reports yet. Her leading man arrived at the main complex door just before it shut in his face. She pointed around the side as Eriana radioed for them to move around back. One step ahead of you, Sithy.

She spoke to team 2 over comlink as she jogged.
"We're moving into the main building now--keep in touch. We entered from round the back."

"Rog'. Be there soon."

Kaz cut off the link and kicked in the back door, filing inside while her teammates followed, immediately taking out a rusted protocol droid with nothing but a hydrospanner in hand. Sick sense of humor, these trainers had. She shut down a smile and kept moving, arriving to the main lobby at the droids' backs and opening fire with her team, stopping them from pinning down their Sith friend.

"Real good those sabers did you, eh?"

One of her squadmates chuckled and she reloaded her blaster as the building continued to be swept.

 

[The Confessor]

From a distance Eriana could feel that her partners were coming in to "rescue" her. Or at least, what they assumed to be a rescue. What they didn't know was that Eriana was betraying them. At least as far as this training exercise was concerned. Her job, as it were, was to lead the team into the main building where they would get trapped and have to survive a rather large assault closing in on them. But Eriana was not permitted to reveal this to them.

"Real good those sabers did you, eh?"

"For what they have planned you'd better hope so."

The doors would all suddenly lock up and the lights went out. Not even red safety lights would come on; for they too had been disabled. Eriana stood and ignited both blades now, casting some light for the party. They likely had their own light sources, but this was her method. Totally a coincidence either way as she was always in the dark.

The vents up above them would start to hiss as a gas was let out into the room. Eriana hissed and covered her mouth with the crook of her elbow. That had been unexpected. The others all had suits to breathe from; Eriana did not. The gas was a simple nerve gas meant to disorient the Sith. Trapping the Imperial soldiers in hadn't been their only difficulty, if Eriana breathed in the gas their team would be down a Sith to fight with, and another body to protect.

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astrid flicked on her head lamp as the lights dimmed to nothing and their Sith friend's sabers glowed in the dark. The instinct to run or do something far more drastic came into her head, but she held back. This was a training exercise. They were friends. For now. Her squadmates followed suit, also activating weapon lights, and she patted one of their shoulders as they moved into the room, looking up at the vents in the roof. Their helmets weren't exactly airtight, but there were filters that could be provided as functions to help with hostile environments.

They hadn't really been issued those--however, a few missions ago the squad had to clear out a major fire zone, so filters were distributed among the ranks to help avoid smoke inhalation. There was a massive wildfire in the planes on an arcane farm world, and also reports of looting going on in a few dotted small towns. Hence why they were sent in. Imperial command never really collected the filters from the entirety of the platoon that had been deployed--most troops had returned them to their armory and found little use for them, but with how long Astrid's squad had been together, they had learned that perhaps it was better to keep things until they were long overdue.

Miles shook his head as the gas hissed from the vents and pulled his pack from his back, retrieving the screw-in filters from it and tossing them to his people. She took hers last, holding her breath while the rest of them activated their filters and took up security, then following suit. Astrid screwed hers into her helmet and took a long breath as it scrubbed the air, just now thinking about the Sith.

"I reckon we don't have any more of these."

"Negative. But I'm sure she can hold her breath long enough."

That complicated things. Astrid looked at the woman who was currently trying to not inhale the gas, then looked up at the vents.
"Are those external?"

"Not from the schematics or what we saw from the outside."

"Then that means that there's something in here dispersing the gas-?"

"Go, spread out and look for a vent override. Something to stop the gas."

Filters only lasted for so long. Especially used ones.

 

[The Confessor]

The gas would prove a rather annoying distraction. Eriana was not going to hold her breath for long. It hadn't exactly been a thing she had trained for. Why would she? If there was ever a time she'd have been sent into a place that would require it she would have brought along a suit, or at least some equipment. Well...clearly this was one reason why she was very wrong. Perhaps it was time to start thinking about getting some actual armor.

The group around her all passed out their filters but Eriana was starting to get fatigued. The living Force could only do so much for her lungs. If there was a way out she could push the gas out. She wasn't sure if any of them had explosions to break a wall down. Was that allowed? No one said it wasn't. But she couldn't risk trying to communicate and wasting whatever air she had left.

They talked then among themselves about how best to deal with the gas. Yes. If they could deactivate them then there would be a chance. She could push the gas back out the vents so long as the fan wasn't constantly pushing it back in. Still, she could feel her lungs starting to burn. They wouldn't have long. Eriana decided to bite the bullet and move against one of the outer walls. She put away one of her sabers and knelt down to sit back against it. Once she breathed it, she'd end up falling anyways. Best to already be near the ground.

Covering her mouth with her hand she would say loud enough behind it, "The wall. Take it out. I can push the gas."

And then she would inhale slightly. The gas didn't really taste like anything. But it made her mouth and throat feel funny. She shook her head trying to fight the feeling. Her other hand then somehow couldn't hold the trigger of her saber anymore so that source of light went away too. She'd only taken a small breath of the toxin, yet it was this powerful? She just had to clear her head and try not to breathe again.

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astrid turned suddenly. It seemed their Sith friend had some asymmetrical thinking going. Good on her. The problem was, she may not have had enough explosive ordnance to knock a good sized hole in the wall. Sure, it was a cheap and relatively shoddily built structure, but physics still applied to it. Durasteel was 'dura' for a reason. No sense not trying, though. She nodded to her buddy helping her search and he pulled off his backpack, chucking it to her as she jogged to the wall. By what she knew about this kind of stuff, putting the explosives down the middle was their best bet.

The Imp attached a sheet charge sitting in the pack to the wall, as well as some plastic explosive and some thermite for good measure. If this worked, maybe it was deserving of its own development down the line, especially if it could punch through durasteel. Her buddy relayed the intent to blow some kriffing metal apart through the comms. She realized it was getting a bit tougher to breathe as the filter cycled stale air. Not much more time before they were all passed out...or worse.

"Clear! Someone grab the Sith!"

A soldier attempted to drag Eriana back from where she was, farther from the blast, and Astrid held the detonator in her hand, quickly walking back to a piece of cover while sliding the backpack over to her squadmate.
"Fire in the hole!"

She clicked the detonator and hoped it went to plan.

 

[The Confessor]

Moving out of the way seemed.....well she wanted to move. She just couldn't seem to make her body do it. One of the soldiers would then come and grab her from behind which infuriated her beyond all measure. If she could move her body he'd better believe the man would have been cut down here and there! Luckily he moved clear out of her range after getting her to a safe distance. Smart man. Eriana would grunt to herself all the same.

Closing her eyes to make sure she didn't get any debris in them she also turned her head and readied herself for the sound of the boom. It was louder than she expected, and due to their enclosed space would echo horribly. Eriana found she had enough control over her limbs to cover her ears after the fact. She thought to herself, "Why was there now a loud ringing...? Oh yeah. That was just great. Let's dull out one of my good senses. Way to go, dummy."

The explosion had worked rather well. In fact....probably too well. While the wall itself was made of durasteal plates, they were not attached to anything fairly well. The bomb blasted a section of the metal clear across the street with a major dent broken into it. Eriana could feel the chill of the air from here, even though she couldn't hear it like she normally might have been able to. Lifting her hand away from her ear she focused on the gas around them. Just because her body was having difficulty meant nothing to her connection to the Force.

Like it was being sucked by some vacuum the gas blew out the opening which was large enough for any of them to crawl through. One might even be able to jump through if they did so with the correct angle. Doing so would not be smart as the group would see several droids already stationed outside the building. Eriana was focused on the air and gas so she couldn't warn them about this either. She also didn't hear the blaster fire coming through the hole and trying to shoot down the soldiers inside.

The gas, although was mostly pushed out by now, was still coming in slowly as the soldiers still had not disabled the vents.

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

The trooper that had dragged Eriana was wise to step back a few meters. He was even wiser to go do something else--specifically cut off the vents. His battle buddy followed soon after realizing the soldier had ran upstairs. A climate control panel sat in a hallway, set to open the vents. The guy groaned and tapped into comms to let Astridia know the news. By this time the rest of the squad had regrouped and managed to take security of the new breach, sans much of the gas that had been in the room and was still being dispensed. So this was as easy as shutting off the AC? That was just embarrassing. The vents shut and the gas slowly faltered away. Astrid pulled off her filter along with the rest and pointed to Miles, then to the Sith. Take care of her till she could avoid passing out.

The second team (still outside) reported contact and began opening up on the droids, surprised by the attack from the other angle and somehow disoriented from the explosion. That or their faulty programming was really hitting them hard. Precision blaster bolts took off the head of a protoco droid with a broken speech modulator. Astrid leaned outside of the wall breach and waved to her squadmates, ducking behind cover again as hostile fire came from across the street. In the meantime, Miles went to check their Sith friend for any disorientation or lethal effects from the gas, pulling a flashlight out to check her pupils while looking for anything generally unhealthy. A gloved hand reached for the side of her head to open an eye. Playing with fire, most likely.

"Watch your fingers, Miles, she might bite 'em off. Everyone else, look for a way out. I'll stick here and keep talking to team 2."

They did as ordered. Things seemed to be looking up again.

 

[The Confessor]

Their team worked very well together. Managing the vents would indeed cut off the flow of the gas. Which in turn Eriana focused on removing the remaining toxins so she or anyone else wouldn't breathe it in. She'd take several long breathes in and out once she knew it was safe to do so. Her lungs felt dry. They still hurt like they were on fire. It wasn't something she could get used to.

Outside, their backup would flake the incoming wave of droids that was currently blocking the first teams escape. Astrid would see the droids then turn toward the new hostiles and forget all about the trapped ones as they now focused on the outside team. Programming fault indeed.

While Eriana tried to gain focus on her senses, one of the men tried his luck on surviving an angered Sith. Sure he was only doing his job, but Eriana wanted nothing to do with that. As he tried to inspect her she'd shove him back and start trying to stand. "I'm fine," she would attempt to lie to him.

In doing so she stumbled as her leg felt heavy and practically fell into his arms. For a moment neither of them moved. Eriana had to face the fact that she was not walking out of here alone. And she would never hear the end of this if any other Sith found out she was about to ask for help.

"You would do well, soldier...to keep your hands to yourself." Her warning was slow and measured. If she needed, or if she simply felt the need, Eriana would end him right there and then. Team or otherwise.

Snapping her sabers to her hand, which she'd apparently dropped without realizing it, she clipped them both back to their rightful place on her belt and would lean into Miles more securely and say to him, "Now get me to out of here and to some cover."

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia ducked as a final flurry of bolts poured into the opening before the hailstorm was stopped or refocused on her second team. She waved at them and made a series of hand gestures amounting to 'keep doing that', then reached to her comms to check in with the rest of her squad. A static wave followed by blaster fire and then a voice. They found a way out better than this crappy hole in the wall. And it wasn't near hostiles. She nodded and peeked back outside as Miles was busy tending to their drowsy, medicinally impaired Sith.

That was an entirely different story.

Miles had followed Astrid's advice and retreated his efforts at first hand for a moment, helping her stand and letting go long enough for her to nearly fall on her ass again. He groaned in exasperation and froze at the same time Eriana did, wondering if his own death warrant had been signed. However, the woman readjusted her stance and gave him a little slack to work with as he wrapped an arm over her shoulder to help with half-carrying her down the hall. Astridia turned away from the hole in the wall once more and did a double take in surprise before pointing at the two to go down the hall. Miles had heard the comms. He knew where to go. He went back into the main building as Astrid backpedaled and jogged after, a tone of surprise in her voice.

"You aren't missing your hand? Or your head?"

"Perks of being a combat medic! Shut up and keep up!"

Astrid reloaded her blaster as they made another left and ended up outside, her team in cover behind fabricated buildings and other structure. Miles brought the Sith over to a corner and sat her down, drawing his own blaster while Astrid patted him on the shoulder and slid behind a piece of cover next to team 2's leader.

"What's the news?"

"Lotsa droids, that's what! Easy pickings, though. How was the building?"

"Horrid. Wanna swap jobs next time?"

"No thanks. I see Miles is making some friends."

"First time for everyone , huh?"

"Yeah--no kark. Easy job though--shoot all the droids. No complications."

"Yeah."

That reminded her of something. Astrid crouch sprinted back to Eriana and spoke.

"What did you mean, 'for what they have planned for you'? No lies, please. We can just get you morphine and make you sit this one out."

 

[The Confessor]

Walking while being impaired was so annoying. She could still use the Force without issue, so she saw the room around her -and subsequently the hallway when they got to it- just fine. But trying to walk when your legs just didn't seem to want to respond the way you liked made the Sith very irritated. And not only that she had even asked for help to get her along. So frustrating.

They made it back to fresh air where Miles helped Eriana down once again. She sighed and nodded that she was fine and then tried to will her body to heal faster. The two would then talk back and forth about getting a hand on the situation. Eriana was only half paying attention. She tested her body's strength by flexing her fingers and then her toes. Already she could feel her nerves responding easier. Was it her will to heal? Or simply time working in her favor. Whatever the cause, she was pulled out of thought as Astrid interrogated her about what she'd meant earlier.

"I'll be fine," she snapped back, not at all liking the sound of sitting out. "And don't worry about the plan. You've already sprung the trap. I was supposed to draw your team into the building where we'd get ambushed. You were smart to keep half your team outside by the way. Nice job. I was supposed to play the part of a downed-Sith. They didn't tell me about the gas though. I'll be having words with someone later."

She'd then groan and wipe her forehead. She'd been sweating apparently. Probably her body fighting off the minor toxin. "Seriously. I'm fine. Finish off the droids. We should be about done."

 

[Astridia Kazaczecho]

Astridia chuckled to herself and nodded to Miles before standing up and grabbing her blaster from its sling once more. So the whole point of this was to put her team into a bit of a stress test with a Sith? That was kind of a dead end plan, but as long as it got the data it needed, she supposed it was worth it. Her squad was mopping up the rest of the droids with relative ease, and the training ground was littered with circuits and severed droid limbs with burns all over. She looked around as the rest of her team slowly came out of cover and stood.

Team 2's leader announced "All clear!" over the comms and Astrid pulled off her helmet, taking a breath of fresh air not tinged slightly with filtered garbage. She slung her blaster once more and shut it down while the rest of the team pushed out of their cover to check out anything else lying around. One person snagged the head of a protocol droid still cursing them out in refined Basic. Miles put his pack over his shoulder again and held out a hand to help the Sith up after standing.

"You inhaled some gas, but otherwise you're good to go. Might be nauseous for a while, so drink lots of fluids. Doc's orders."

He turned his helmeted head toward Astrid.

"Kaz, can we get out of this armor and this fake-ass training room? The lighting's giving me a headache."

"Sounds like a plan...I'd say mission accomplished. Good work, everyone."

 

[The Confessor]

The battle was over. Eriana was furious with herself for being so foolish. She'd barely done anything this mission except for get herself put out of commission. The word embarrassed did not even come close to doing justice of the shame she felt. Clearly someone was playing a trick on her from high up in the corporate ladder. She knew she was supposed to be the decoy of sorts, but did they really...actually have to use gas? The nerve of those people. If only she could find out who was responsible.

Slowly getting to her feet -dismissing Miles from trying to help her- she would start heading back to the entrance. She didn't say anything to the squad leader. Her pride was hurt too much for that. And for a moment she felt like she might break down and cry if she actually started to open her mouth. Best just do as she always did and pretend to hate the world. They wouldn't come after her anyways. Who would try to be friendly to a Sith?

Yeah....no one.

~END THREAD~
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