The Medriaas Redemption

[Cuyan Ordo]

At times, Coruscant was a dirty and wild planet. Cuyan had landed his freighter in the government sector earlier and unloaded some mining equipment for delivery. A few Mandalorians were going to meet him at the entrance to the palace catacombs, basically the sewers for the palace itself. The wide entrance and walkways along the sides of the river of waste made it simple to get the gravsleds inside. A few labor droids did the pushing and the Mandalorians would walk alongside them. Cuyan himself stuck close to the drill and tarp-covered sleds.

"Once we reach the walls, we need to get this stuff inside. The drill can help." He noted to his partners quietly in Mando'a, trying to keep his voice from echoing too loudly. "If things get bad, we take them with us. No failure."

That last bit was truer than he wanted to admit. Cuyan peeked under the tarp to make sure all was in order. He had all his gear on hand as well. His helmet had been under the tarp to hide his identity until they got inside the catacombs. Now he wore is proudly as they trudged ahead. While retrieving the helmet, he was certain to begin a timer as well. Ten minutes should be plenty of time. A violator disruptor pistol was proudly displayed at his hip now as well. No one but homeless bums, dead bodies, and possibly patrols would be down here. This was the culmination of a lot of work. Attacking the heart of the Sith on Coruscant was bold, but maybe just what the Mandalorians needed.

@vamp @Taz

 

[Drace Solus]

.

No pain, no gain. That's what Drace told himself as they paused outside the catacombs, his eyes setting on the covered tarps. The Marauder couldn't deny that he was jittery, but that was natural. As a warrior, he put his life on the line with every fight, but this felt different. The stakes were so much higher, and the risk of death higher as well. He would either return a hero or in bits. His next visit to Mandalore was going to be iconic.

There was a strange smell in the air, though it barely reached his nose inside his helmet. It was the stench of death and of sewage, with the telltale smokey smell of dark magic. He'd sensed it before on Darthomir, and it was somehow as strong here. Kad knew what the wizards got up to in these catacombs. He sure didn't want to know.

Filthy, green water sloshed under foot as they walked. It was up to ankle-length, and he would have been disgusted if his boots weren't completely water-proof. The ceiling above them stretched up several dozens of meters, so tall that shadows made the very top impossible to see. Cobwebs hadn't formed, and Drace suspected the spiders had fled long ago in fear of being sacrificed.

"No failure," he echoed, nodding. His facial expression behind his helmet conveyed the fear he tried to hide with his sure, determined movements. He gripped his rifle to prevent his jittery hands from shaking. He wasn't scared. He was just nervous. He wanted to get this right, to return home to the smiles and congratulations of his brothers. It would prove to them something he'd been trying to prove for years.

@Cazar @Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax hated Coruscant, truthfully most of the core. But the city planet especially. It stank of filth and power. Of corruption. OF SITH. The Rau clan marauder would of liked nothing better then to see this placed glassed like the man-child Elix did to Medriaas. So, when Cuyan asked him to come along. Dax could hardly get his armor on fast enough.

Like his partners, Dax hid his armor under the cover. In his case a dirt colored poncho that covered all but the armored boots and kneepads of his iron skin. His helmet hidden under the tarp of the sled. Also like his fellow Mandalorians, he repaired himself for combat as they entered the catacombs beneath. The stench was repulsive sure, but the sight was far more vomit inducing. Death and decay filled the air and lined each step he took.

Dax let the others go ahead, taking the rear guard position by choice. As usual he was wearing his heavy armor. New quickdraw on his left hip, Westar on his right. He also had a couple of grenades for good measure. However instead of his normal Westar rifle Dax brought something with a little more bang, a Beviin light repeater.

"No failure" He spoke in unison with Drace. His heart pounding, adrenaline pumping fire into in veins. Each of them knew the risk, each took the same oath, and even if it did come down to this. Dax intended to take as many with them as possible.

@Cazar @vamp

 

[Cuyan Ordo]

Echoing footsteps through the vast catacombs mad Cuyan nervous. He wondered how much of it were theirs and the droids and how many might be enemies stalking them. The Mandalorian stayed strong as he escorted the sleds. It was not a long walk to reach the walls to the palace. Hardly guarded at all, it seemed, at this level of the catacombs at this time of night. A single pair of guards seemed to be sleeping at the gate. Hardly a battle worthy of glory. This was good though. It made the hardest part of their walk much easier.

"Excuse me." Cuyan said in basic, nudging the first one awake with the tip of his beskad. "I need through."

As he finished the last bit of his line, he thrust the blade through the man's neck. A silent, cruel kill to say the least. He trusted one of the other two could take care of the other guard. Cuyan instead focused on pushing open the gate to allow his labor droids to push the materials inside the palace. The drill would go first and the rest to follow. Now that they had passed by these walls they'd be right underneath the large Imperial Palace itself. The throne room had to be just a few floors above them at this spot.

@vamp @Taz

 

[Drace Solus]

.

Drace walked at Cuyan's side as they approached the guards, being the one to stab the second man while he slept. The Mandalorian kept strolling through after they'd opened the gate, which opened into a long, tall, and dark corridor. There would likely be another door to get through—or so he'd heard. Maybe the entrance was better guarded there, where the dim and soggy corridor gave way to the halls of the Imperial Palace. Maybe the Sith are dumb enough to station two sleeping recruits at the other gate as well, in which case they only deserved their approaching fate even more.

The Mandalorian opened his mouth to speak, but found nothing coming to his lips. It was hard to think of something to make small talk about when they were potentially marching to their deaths. He looked at Dax, eyes glancing through the edge of his T-visor. The two hadn't spoken much, but Drace felt a light bond had definitely formed. They'd drank together and they'd fought together which were acts of close friendships, as far as Mandalorian culture was concerned. Hopefully they'd come home together.

He could see the gate up ahead, but it was hard to tell whether any guards were stationed there. Light streamed in through the minuscule bars, the holes just big enough to poke a finger through. It would be hard for someone inside the castle to see them approaching, but it would be easy for them to see if anyone was on the other side. Shadows danced in the light, so there definitely was someone guarding. No problem. Drace had a card up his sleeve as well. Cuyan wasn't the only one who had come prepared.

As they approached, he brought a finger up to where his lips would be, hovering his index finger over his helmet. Drace held up his palm to motion to stop the small caravan. He walked to the gate and reached into the bag slung across his shoulder, pulling out three breach charges. That should be more than enough to blast the door open. After placing them at various points on the gate, he ignited them. Voices from within spoke up, one of them noticing that something had been put on the gate. Before they could sound the alarm, the charges exploded, blasting a massive hole in the gate. The guards that had been stationed there—5, judging by the number of corpses—had been standing rather close to the gate, inspecting through the holes, so they had been blown up along with the entrance. Even better.

Drace lifted his rifle up to his hands. "This is where the fun begins."

@Cazar @Taz

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

The other two marauders made short work of the guards. Killing the two lazy ones before turning the others into a combination of hamburger and fine mist. Dax shouldered his way next to stand behind he new friend Drace. The two were becoming something of battle and drinking buddies, nearly brothers in their culture.

"Oh what fun, you killed them all without firing a karking shot." he said to Drace with a sigh.

Dax then pulled the tarp off the hoversled, revealing the drill machine lines with heavy explosive charges. "Leave it to an Ordo to strap a torpedo to a piece of mining equipment. Timer says 7 minutes left, we might want to get going." he said playfully to the other two. He then pushed the drill into the entrance, programming the machine to drill upward and set the machine to auto pilot. After a few more buttons the machine roared to life and burrowed into the wall and slowly upward.

"By that I mean run, and lets get the kark off this damn planet."

 

[Cuyan Ordo]

Seven minutes would be enough. Cuyan had the freighter parked right outside. No one was around anymore and they were pretty well in the clear. Somehow things had worked out okay. It would take a few minutes to get to the ship and take off but they could get clear in time. He hoped. The drill was making the bomb ten times harder to disarm, not that anyone could disarm it within that timeframe now. Destruction was coming soon and it would be hot.

“Freighter should be ready for us. Let’s go.” Cuyan said as he began sprinting back through the catacombs from whenst they came.

By the time the trio of Mandalorian reached the Mynock Freighter, the timer would be at 2 minutes. The guard shift was not set to change for an hour so no one was due down there at all. It would be a nice surprise thermal detonator. A thermal detonator of the gods more like with the size and material of that thing. Cuyan maintained his calm even with the slight feeling of panic among the crew. The ship lurched wildly as it took off.

“Man the turret, someone get on nav and get us out of this sector.” He yelled to his friends as the ship gained altitude.

@vamp @Taz

 

[Drace Solus]

.

Drace gave the holosled a kick before he turned to leave, sending it deeper into the castle. He followed the other two Mandalorians as they left, almost sprinting until they'd reached the ship. He didn't want to get blown up on the way back.

He couldn't believe this had worked. Not a single Sith had come to defend their palace. Was it the soldiers' fault, or the leaders' fault for not setting up a proper defense around the perimeter? Both, really. The alarm had likely been sounded by now, but the guards had died before they got to specify which area requied back-up. It would take them some time to comb the entire castle and get down to the catacombs. Time in which they would find themselves blown to bits.

He sat down in the ship, being the first to reach the nav. Drace typed away, focused on it, until he heard a timer beep. The Mandalorian turned to look at the window to his side. He would never forget what he saw.

Nothing at first. Then, the the building went up in flames, the explosion extending to the city around it. Like a nuke, it obliterated anything in its path, the blast radius staggering. A mushroom cloud began rising, and the shockwave shook their ship until the Mandalorian thought they would fall out of the sky. The scene below them was chaos. Flames, as far as the eye could see. Smaller chain explosions plagued the city below, and they would likely keep going for a few more hours. The Imperial Palace, and the sector around it, had fallen.

"Kad Ha'rangir smiles upon us today," he said, his voice solemn. "Nothing will ever repay what the Sith have done to us, but we are one step closer to avenging them."

He glanced back to the nav and continued typing, setting up their route, pride swelling within him.

EXIT​

@Cazar @Taz

 

[Cuyan Ordo]

It turned out there was no point in asking one of them to man the turret. No one stopped the Mandalorians from leaving. Cuyan saw the explosion and braced for turbulence as the ship shook violently. They escaped by the skin of their teeth, but it was over. Navigation dinged as the computer was ready to send them away. He was certain the Sith were too busy watching the destruction to stop a lone freighter. The job was clean and now they could enjoy the fruits of their labor.

"Oya! Today, the Drasts and their Empire take a hard hit." He said to his partners as the stars streaked signaling their entrance into hyperspace. "We don't stop until they're all gone!"

Cuyan was grinning wide under his helmet. This was a huge success. It almost made him forget about all his internal woes for the time being. For the first time in ages, he felt like life was worth living. His next plans would be bold, but perhaps not nearly as suicidal. Though only time would tell.

//end thread
@vamp @Taz