Ask The Outpost Must Die

[Laren Vano]

It was night on Pzob. A backwater planet in the outer rim. It was untouched for centuries due to inhabitation. Once the empire of old had taken shelter there with a secret base, that changed. These days the smugglers that Preef Callo had put a bounty on have been occupying said base. The job was simple. Go out and attack this base, killing all the smugglers that are within it, and then get paid. It's safe to assume that the syndicate would want to take claim on whatever is left behind. Though, Laren would want to have claim on the property he finds value in. It was only fair seeing how he has to do the dirty work.

A long voyage was taken by the young Mando. He had landed the Unforced outside of the outpost compound. He had trekked through the forest areas of the planet, searching for the out post and then he had come to a ledge. It was a sudden drop off into a bay of water. As he looked up he could see the lights, It was the old Imperial outpost that Laren was looking for. This bounty would be enough to help him earn a hefty pay. That was until he heard a rustle of the leaves to his right.

"Show yourself, if I have to find you it won't be pretty."

Laren had waited to see who it was. After a few moments another Mandalorian had appeared in his gaze. It wasn't just any Mando, it was Taldorak. Laren would remember that armor pattern anywhere. The last he had ran into him was during a casino heist. What was he doing here? Well, it was obvious really, he was after the bounty as well. Couldn't be out here just to see the scenery and leave.

"Why are you here.. actually don't answer that. Let's just work together for this one. I'd rather not kill a fellow Mando'ade today."

Laren turned back to count the guards that were out there. It was a good amount seeing as how this was a rather large outpost. After a little bit of scouting the place he figured it was best to play it stealthy and take out as many as possible quietly, before they figure out they're dying. Only thing left to do is tell Tal the plan.

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

"Easy kid, I'd hate for you to hurt yourself." Taldorak would chide the younger Mandalorian. "Mando'ad. Singular. Need to stay up on your Mando'a, Lar'ika." he'd tease. His visor would pan to the base, as he thought about what he was going to do to the poor bastards that called it home. "I work for the guy that wants these guys dead so... here I am."

He'd crouch low along the cliff, now overlooking the small base. "Tell ya what, kid.. Ya find anything sparkly in there, have at it. I get first dibs on five things, but you can have the rest. The base itself, I am going to keep, so try to not destroy it, yeah? I'll even give you half of my cut to sweeten the deal." As he spoke he would unsling Rayna, switching her into her sniper modulation to take a better look of the base.

Lifting Rayna, he'd peer through her scope to begin counting the visible guards. "Going in quiet is our only real play so far.. you got any other ideas?"

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

Laren may have misspoke when using his Mando'a, but it wasn't often he used it. Mostly just to speak to his own kind. It wasn't the problem at hand. This Mando spoke of keeping the fivers equipment. Makes sense he would want to claim everything, including the base itself. Why he needed an entire outpost, wasn't Laren's problem but Laren would counter offer just slightly just to be sure that everything is clear.

"Alright vod, you want the outpost then you can have it. Though the equipment, if I make it there first and earned my keep, then i take my fair share. I'm not taking the risk of nothing in there, not related to the five-guys, being worth while. I will take that share of your cut for being less destructive on the base."

Age wasn't anything but a number to Laren. If he was younger then oh well, the 'kid' has had his fair share of experience. As well the skills to back him up. Hopefully it wouldn't need to become a scuffle.

"As for my ideas, well.. you see that entry port by the waters? If we're going in quiet then we could take shelter in one of the coming boats and ride in undetected. After that the schematics I am sending you will help us learn where to move to for the lights. Once we got the lights out, our thermals will be enought to see where to go. How copy?"

Laren watched for the numbers of guards outside. He counted roughly 20 and that was just what he could see from the vantage point he had. It wouldn't be enough to just start firing there were plenty of killers there, and many more inside.

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

Taldorak counted Laren's twenty plus another twelve. "You approach by water. I'll skirt the coastline and we meet at the central hangar. If you have them, switch to thermals and avoid explosives mainly to not draw more of them." he'd begin to sling Rayna and drew his dagger. "Just like the casino. Comm channel 3-2-5."

He'd begin to descend down the side of the cliff, disappearing into the underbrush. He had a base to claim, people to kill, and a bounty to split. Soon, he would have everything he needed, they just needed to get to the end of this mission without a single hitch. Laren was a Mandalorian, which meant Tal could trust him to uphold his part of the plan. A two-front infil with the element of surprise and the cover of darkness would normally not help out many in their position but for two highly trained killers it was what they needed to flip the table.

His muted colors, earthy and neutral, would allow him to slip along the coastline and blend in with the natural stone that formed the barrier between sand and water. Up ahead, he heard voices, a patrol. Taldorak made himself small in a inlet, waiting for the pair of voices to step past.

"Yeah, so you see that Huttball match? Kriffin Bom Trady."

"Don't Ted.. Just don't.. My kid just lost their tuition because I thought Meli Anning had them that last game. Bet it -all-. I hope that man contracts some sort of rectal cancer." the latter guard hmphed. "You hear about their new scheme? They're gonna let a bunch of rookies play for a chance to play the champions.. Can you believe that?"

Ted would pause "Are you kid-" he'd be cut off as a dagger flicked into his jugular and he dropped to his knees clutching at the weapon. While the other scout turned to the source he would meet with another dagger gliding along his throat before he was lowered, still bleeding out into a nearby bush.

"Two down, Laren." Tal mused into the comms. "Oh, and Huttball signups if you like. Tell your friends."


@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

Laren assumed his terms were accepted. So with Tal heading down the cliff towards the coastline, Laren went towards the water. There were docks and an incoming vessel. With the night being his guide, he stuck to the shallow portions of the water. This allowed for his matte black and purple paint to blend into the shadows. The guards were sitting and talking while they were getting ready to do their checks.

"So Shurma finally let me go all the way last night."

"NO WAY! Man that's my boy! How'd ya manage that?"

The Mandalorian had enough of their sexual conquest. He snuck onto the ports and slowly crept up behind the two speaking by the railing. Once he was close enough he quickly grabbed the head of the first man and spun it in a full 180 degree turn. Immediately he sent a knife into the portion of the throat that holds the vocal chords. Silence was luckily still at bay. Laren sent both bodies over the rails and into the water.

Once that was clear he looked and seen that the vessel was close. A guard stood alone on the small boat. Laren hopped onto the boat and at the same time threw a knife into the eye of the guard. Their body fell to it's knees and Laren extracted the blade as he kicked the lifeless body overboard to sink into the water.

"Only two? I took out three." Laren sent a sarcastic tease. "I know about the Huttball tourney, I am entering. Could be a lot of fun."

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

"Oh yeah.. bunch of sweaty men tackling each other, some of them with weapons. Sounds like your kind of foreplay." he would laugh into the comm. He'd begin his slow climb up into one of the towers, moving quiet as a mouse. Once he reached the top, he would stay low, removing a leather strap from from one of his pouches.

Sliding to the rail the guard was leaning on, Tal would drape the leather strap over the mans neck and tug downward, bashing his face on the railing. As the man struggled to remain conscious, Tal would choke the life from him, then use the strap to keep the corpse propped on the railing, as if he were watching the east intently.

Tal would then unsling Rayna, adjusting her settings. Flicking on the thermal scope, he'd level his rifle, the vents set to nearly silence the weapon when fired. All that meant was he had to hit something soft and only shoot once. Leveling his rifle, he would lower into a prone position, and swiveling slowly in his tower, target the remaining snipers in the towers. Luckily, these men weren't soldiers which meant only a few had armor worthy of mentioning. Five shots later and five dead guards later, the skies were theirs to control. "Ten down, at least twenty two to go. You getting tired yet? Oh and keep the boat, it matches your beskar."

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

A smart ass comment form Tal was as expected. Laren was on his way inside the building with the boat. Receiving word on how many baddies were left, Laren readied himself to take out the guards on the inside. He would have to be quick on getting to cover. He couldn't be seen by anyone. So he hung himself off the back of the boat as he spoke into the comms channel to respond to what Tal had updated him with.

"Not quite, and thanks. I'll be sure to have your boys transfer it to Mandalore for me. I assume that they have the proper means of transport for it."

The doors to the entrance began to open as the boat was passing through. With Laren holding onto the back of the vessel he was unnoticed by the guards in front of the boat. Thus allowing the Mando to sneak off to the side where the platform lead to a console. What the console was used for was entering and exiting the facility through which Laren came. Hiding behind it, he would toss a smoke grenade towards the crew. As the nade flew through the air Laren switched to his thermals and began blasting at each crew member. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Each one dropped to the ground.

"Got 5 inside, keep up the good work. I'm heading to the control room. I'll meet you there. Don't be late."

Laren began towards the hallway that lead to the control room. It had many rooms connected. Prisoner cells, the hangars, and even the boiler room. It was only a matter of time until the Mando had made it to his destination. He only needed to follow the path on his map.

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

"Yeah.. I don't trust my guys on Mandalore. I can hold it until you get it, but I don't deliver." As Laren moved to enter the complex, Tal worked his way down. Killing the guards highest, then those beneath them. One of the guards would make their way towards Laren, and Tal cursed as he shifted his stance and squeezed the trigger, dropping him.

"Coming down." he mused into the comms. With most of the guards outside dead, he would sling his rifle then leap from the tower, activating his jet pack to carry him down to the surface. he would land on a startled guard and slit his throat with his knife, before using the guards keycard to enter the building from the other side.

Switching Rayna to blaster rifle, he would re-sling her before drawing his peacemaker. He was about to have even more fun. "Be at the control room in two mikes."

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

"Tell ya what. I'll pick it up when needed. Until then you can hold it."

Laren snuck through the halls. Passing some barracks rooms. He mad a couple pitstops inside the empty barracks to lay claim to their loose credits. Eventually the Mando heard Tal speak of coming down. Laren figured he'd be closer so his pace picked up. As he made it down the hall, dropping a couple guards in the process, he found holding cells. There were goons in them though he was unsure if they were Tal's.

"These your goons?"

The question came after hearing Tal speak of getting to the control room in a couple. So leaving the men behind he turned the corner at the sign that said control room. The door was sealed. It was too easy, Laren had explosives he just needed the go ahead from the soon to be Outpost Commander. Surely there could be some fun, though understandable if he'd want the door to remain in tact.

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

"I'll have to charge ya rent then." Tal said with an amused tone. As he marched down the corridors, he'd drop another two guards. The bonus of attacking at night? Even if they had body armor, most weren't expecting an attack. He would also take a pit stop, the server room. Stepping inside, he'd plug in one of Scratch's datachits, and the 5S slicers chit would hack the mainframe within seconds, copying any and all intel on the servers, decrypted or not. By the time it was complete, thirty seconds had passed. He pulled the chit free, tucked it away, then stepped back into the hall.

"Oh yeah, definitely my guys. I'll get em once we're done." they weren't. But, they could become his guys, and that was the most important part. He'd arrive around the same time Laren did. Just in time for the door to be discovered locked and sealed. He cursed, but he knew that Laren had likely behaved and not caused too much, if any damage yet. "Alright, kid. You got charges, I can almost guarantee that you do. Use enough to blow the lock. Once inside, I'm not worried about carbon scoring, just don't fry too many of the electronics in there, yeah?"

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

Laren took into account who he had now believed to be crewmen of Tal, and that he should be weary of keeping them alive. Then when Tal arrived he was allowing Laren to blow something up just this once. So of course Laren would take this opportunity with a smile on his face. He began setting a breaching charge on each side of the door. One left, right, and top. Once they were set, he took cover on one side of the wall Tal the other. Then, boom.

Once the door blew open Laren was the first to enter, blaster drawn. His thermals were on to allow for sight through the smoke. In the room were 4 guards. Two left and two right. Laren made his way right, leaving the two on the left to Tal. Blasting his blaster he dropped one guard and closed in on the location of the other. He pistol whipped the guard and choked him out on the ground.

Once the room was clear Laren would call out to his fellow Mando,

“Cover me while I knock out these lights and release those prisoners for ya.”

Once he made it to the console he began to study what all did what. Then through his private comms channel he spoke to his droid BD-3. Asking him what is from what he could see. Laren was showing the droid a live feed of what is in front of him. The droid would remark in beeps and boops. Once Laren had his answer he flipped the two switches at the far right and hit the big square green button.

After his actions the lights went completely out. It was pitch black to the naked eye. And Laren had freed the men who supposedly belonged to Tal’s crew.

“There we go.”

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

Tal holstered his Peacemaker as he checked their surroundings for anything of value. Once Laren withdrew from the door, he knew it was game time. Stepping through behind Laren, he would slip his peacemaker from its holster and fire off four consecutive bursts, two dropping the first before the next two eradicated the second. "Alright, I'll tend to my men." Tal would say before heading off.

Reaching the cells while Laren took the time to study the controls, he'd stop in front of the prisoners. "Alrighty.. I can offer you two things: Freedom, working for me.. or well... Freedom. One is much more fun than the other."

One of the prisoners began to say something along the lines of 'No'. The 'o' didn't even reach his lips before Tal put a bolt into his dome. The lights would cut off just as the body dropped and the only visible light would be from Tal's visor. "Alright ladies, a sneak peek at the less fun freedom.. So.. your answers please." Two more would start to say no while the other five beat them to death, proving their willingness to serve Tal. "Alrighty.. you five... Welcome to the family."

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

The lights were out and Tal was tending to his men. Seemed like everything was successful so far. All there was left to do was kill the ring leader and the place would be secured. Blaster shot from down the hall made Laren wonder what was going on down that way. So he checked to make sure anything of value wasn't left in the room. Mostly just stray credits from the dead guys. Once the room was swept Laren left to find Tal.

Upon arrival on Tal's location, he noticed that there was a dead guy and then two more. All Laren could do was chuckle while shaking his head.

"Didn't believe in the cause I guess."

The Mando tapped Tal to gesture a 'follow me' as he ran down the hall. There was an arms room further down. The Mando passed the hangar, hung a right then a left. Once he made he began slicing the door. He figured these men needed some sort of weapons to help hold down the place. Also, he knew there were NVG's in the room. This would allow the men to see fairly well.

"Alright boys, let's get these weapons dished out, then find the scumbag running the place."

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

Tal would laugh to Laren "Oh yeah. Some people had doubts about the current state of affairs. So.. Osik happens." When Laren moved down the hall, Tal and his new goons would follow. They would make their way deeper into the base until they reached the armory.

Guns were always good. Especially when they were free. Once the doors open, Tal would enter first, peacemaker in hand. "Clear." some of the goons would immediately start to open crates while one gathered body armor for them. It was nothing impressive but it would at least keep them alive a bit longer. Tal would pause near a crate and crouched down to read the writing. "Kid. This crate is mine."

His gaze would shift over to one of the racks where there was a fancy launcher. "I do believe that one is calling your name though."

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

The group entered the armory. Laren took notice of what everyone was grabbing and looked at the crate Tal was keen on keeping. What was so special about that crate? It didn't matter as Tal pointed out a launcher. Laren did like things that went 'boom' so of course he walked over and took possession of the fancy shmancy launcher.

"Well well well, guess you could say business is boomin."

He slung the launcher on his back and Looked to find anything of value. He took notice of a set of grenades and grabbed the slash as he looked to Tal and shared a moment of silence staring before he would say,

"What?.. They're just a back up plan.. maybe.."

The other guys were all set with their 'eh' armor and decent weapons. Laren gave the coordinates of where the leader's quarters should be to Tal. Then he spoke to the others

"Alright, time to go blast some Hutt lovers."

The cheer of the men filled the room before Laren would gesture for Tal to lead the way.

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

"Please kid, we both know 'boom boom' is your go-to and you get my stamp of approval for that. Well, when it's not gonna destroy the base."

His peacemaker still in hand, he'd lead the group forward, excited for the killing that lay ahead. He turned down the hall, the lights still powered off and the lack of power trapping the leaders in their little den of desire.

Reaching the door, he'd inspect it. "Alright Laren, pop this one too." He'd step back. "Gossip Girls, you hang back once we go in. You're like fifth line of defense and we're the first four."

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

As the group arrived to the designated room, Laren walked to the door and chuckled at the comment to the goons behind him. The lock was fairly simple. Seemed weird that the lock to this door is equal to one of a kitchen. After a simple slice, the door flew open. The Mandos would be the ones to enter the room. Laren sprung in first this time as he drew his blaster clearing the right side of the room.

"I love the smell of dead goons in the evening."

After dropping the two guards on the right. Laren made sure that there wasn't any goons left before approaching the Weequay in charge. Laren had his blaster aimed at the head, but withheld shooting to let Tal do his business. It is his rival after all. The men outside remained outside the door as told. A good sign they were listening. Could be useful later.

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

With Laren focused on clearing out the goons on the right, Tal would drop the singular goon on the left before walking at the leader aggressively. A sudden silence would mark the end of Laren's fight and the arrival of the Mando. Seeing as he deferred to Tal in the moment, the older Mando would lift his blaster towards the Leader. "Look at me, I'm the Captain now."

As the Weequay's eyes went wide in shock, Tal would just squeeze the trigger, leaving a gaping canyon where the Weequays skull had once been. "There we go. Problem solved. Base has been cleared out, all these slime-os have been slain. You got a new boat. Today wasn't so bad, eh?"

Could he have questioned the leader for anything useful? Sure. But this was about making a point, sending a message. He'd turn to the doorway and yell out to his new squad. "Gather all the heads and send them to the next outpost! Then burn the bodies!" He had a new home.. Now he was starting to have options in life.

@Scoobert

 

[Laren Vano]

Laren watched as there was no questioning just a blaster shot to the Weequay's head. It was definitely as anti climactic as he could've thought possible from the pair of Mando attackers.

"Well kriff, I coulda did that!"

Laren then began heading out of the room as the goons did what they were told. Wasn't anything left to do but see how the place was holding up. Laren had the chance to get a remote download on the base's operative system and with the press of a button the lights and power were back on. Unfortunately for the goons wearing NVG's they would be temporariy blinded thanks to the sudden flash of bright light.

"Looks like we're finished here vod. I guess this is til next time we meet."

Laren stuck out his arm to Tal as gesture of respect and for a farewell, whether accepted or not Laren would take his leave and go.

/EXIT

@Rhogar

 

[Taldorak Trenessar]

Tal took notice of Laren's ability to control the base, he'd have to change that and he knew just the techie to call for that. "Yeah, it was fun, kid. Let me know when you want to use your boat. I'll have part of my cut transferred to you instead."

He'd grip the younger Mandalorians forearm firmly. "I'll see you around and if I see anything you may like, I'll let you know." He'd let the kid leave in peace, he had other things to focus on now.

/End thread.