Trial By Fire [See Note]

[T.J]

The quiet that had followed Delmon into the base ushered in a cacophony of violence and destruction before he even knew it. Before the Mandalorian's eye's the corridor the group had just been in was blaze, smoldering with the fire of war. His trip to Tatooine had turned into quite the training exercise, much more exciting than searching around the desert for a mere beast. Somehow in all the sand and heat, the young man had found real combat, something to truly test his mettle.

Only nodding for confirmation, Delmon hopped from his temporary perch up behind the mounted weapon. Taking a couple seconds to familiarize himself with its controls, the Mandalorian carefully aimed the gun towards the now fleeing enemy and opened fire. He had never used such a weapon before, but then and there he decided he quite liked it. The enemies hasty retreat revealed their true colors, even with the means to put up a fight the cowards still fled. Such an action gave Delmon all the more reason to gun them down. A coward in Mandalorian culture was just about as low as one could go and though the enemy before him wasn't even Mandalorian, it still filled the young man with a burning hate.

 

[Jiang Winters]

In the confined quarters of the tunnel, there was no escape for the hostile infantry. Delmon, though not trained on the M15 autocannon, was able to score hit after hit on the armored troops. The effects of the projectiles were nothing short of devastating and horrifyingly messy - it was very safe to say that any fellow whose armor didn't stop or deflect the shell died outright. Those who weren't gunned down by the M15 were dealt with by the tank itself; it cared little for the Kushari running along in front of it. The ninety-five tonne monster simply crashed into them and ground them into the concrete beneath its armored treads. There were no screams - they weren't audible over the crunch and snap of armor and bone and the deafening roar of the engines.

Iron Giant and its crew - and Mandalorian passenger - were through the squad just as quickly as they'd found them. Keller gripped the commander's override and brought the gun forward as soon as the tunnel widened enough to do so. "Gunner, load high-ex and stand ready," he ordered, as he pulled a box of 20MM ammunition out of the ready rack inside the turret. He poked his head up through his hatch and set the ammo tin down to the side of the cupola gun ring. The feline weaseled out a moment later; despite being armored from head to toe, the Kushari's innate flexibility allowed him to very easily escape the turret even with Delmon manning the autocannon.

"Sounded like you gave 'em hell. Wouldn't be surprised if half the belt is gone or more," he remarked as he knelt on the turret and pried the lid off the fresh ammo tin. He intended to reload it even if there was still a bit of ammo left. It just wouldn't do to get caught in the tunnel with no ammunition in the roof gun. The co-ax autocannon was just as potent, true, but if there were targets behind them and they couldn't bring the turret around they'd find themselves in a world of hurt.

He stood and lifted the feed cover on the gun. The belt was mostly gone and the turret roof littered with smoking brass and belt links. It was hardly surprising; the M15's belt was supplied in 80-round sections and it chewed through them fairly rapidly. Fortunately, the gun had been built so that it could be reloaded even with a live round in the chamber; Keller simply pulled the near-expended belt and its box off, discarding both by throwing them off the tank. The fresh belt and its tin were dropped into their cradle on the gun's side and the belt loaded into the weapon. He closed the cover, leaving the gun live and ready for action.

"You've got another eighty rounds. Try not to spend it all in one place."

A grin dominated the Sergeant Major's features - a shame it couldn't be seen through his visor. He slipped back inside the tank but didn't close the hatch. By leaving it open, the hatch would provide some measure of cover for Delmon while he manned the autocannon. While it wasn't much, it might just come in handy. There were no shortage of hostiles inside the facility, after all, and there was just no telling when one might decide to show up.

 

[Twisted Reality]

Jayden speed through the Dunes, keying in his Helmets radio to the old frequency used by his old crew and hoped that one of the old bounty hunters that had made this planet their home still monitored it. It was a long Shot, but hopefully it would pay off.

"This is Jayden, hey boys you still listening on here?"

Jayden called through the radio inside his helmet, and it was quiet for a few minutes before finally someone broke through the silence. "Well, cut my lets off and call me a Jawa! Last i heard of you boy, you were a Mandalorian. What cha doin' back on this sand pit?" The rough voice chimed in and Jayden gave a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, but i need your help. You still remember how to fly that hunk of junk the Old boss left me? I need you to go the space port and pick it up. We have a bit of a situation, i'm sending a location to the transport now. I need you to meet me there."

He got a confirmation on the other end and swung his speeder bike around to head to the spot before switching his Suits radio back over to the shared frequency to Speak to Delmon and the Sergeant.

"Good new boys, if you can find away up on top of the ridge that facility is built on, i have an extraction on the way...for you and that hunk of armored firepower."

He cleared the radio and continued on to the meetup spot. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long, and before the real heavy hitters made their way into the facility.

​

 

[T.J]

Delmon tensed up at the return of Keller from within the tank's belly. His eyes had remained forward and his grip still tight on the autocannon's controls, keen on spotting another attack should one arise. At the Sergeant's return however, Delmon relaxed his grip, although his eyes remained glued to the tunnels beyond the tank. Fidgeting with the mounted weapon before him, Delmon wondered how anyone could use such a loud weapon in any other application. He was not used to such large and obnoxious types of weaponry, such things were less than useless on Dxun. One was required to move quickly and silently if they hoped to avoid predators, most kinds of slug throwers did not fit that criteria.

" Would've killed more if not for the recoil Sergeant. Haven't used weaponry this big before to be honest. "

Delmon trailed off as he watched Keller work. The precision and ease in which the soldier reloaded the autocannon spoke volumes to the Mandalorian. Other than which trigger made the weapon fire, he couldn't make heads or tails pertaining to its upkeep. He wasn't even aware of how many rounds he had left to fire prior to actually seeing the nearly spent belt as it clattered to the ground below the tank. It made him realize he wasn't on Dxun, and probably wouldn't be for some time. Holding to the codes his people needed to survive no longer applied in a galaxy where not everything fit into the same parameters. His combat styles would have to evolve and adapt, just like the survival techniques that drew to Tatooine's harsh climate.

As Keller finished, Delmon finally drew his gaze from the path ahead of the tank to face the soldier before speaking.

" Thank you Sergeant. I'll make sure they don't go to waste. "

Just then, Delmon's communicator sprung to life. It was Jayden, and he had procured a ride out. The only thing Sergeant Keller's squad and Delmon had to do was make it out of the facility in one piece and they would be home free.

" Looks like Jayden found us a ride. Hope he can get it within range for us to board without it getting shot out of the sky... "

 

[Jiang Winters]

"The company we're on maneuvers with - the guys who started trying to kill us - don't have any Archers with them. They shouldn't have any anti-air capability, unless some genius uses the commander's override in the Omar's. You can get a few extra degrees of vertical elevation, could make it an effective anti-air piece. Those twin thirties'll shred anything without a lot of shielding or armor."

Keller hitched his shoulders as he hauled himself partway up out of his hatch. "Guess we'll just get topside and kill those Omars before Jayden gets to us. I'd like to see one of those crates survive fifteen centimeters of Stahlgruppe steel."

The tank continued its climb through the tunnels. Seconds ticked by, then minutes; the place seemed like a labryninth, though Keller knew well that it was their slow speed and the confined space of the tunnels that made the Mandalorian base seem so massive. It likely wasn't all that large - as if the base itself was attempting to prove that, a large blast door loomed in their way. There was a good measure of sand and dust just inside it, suggesting that the door was an exit to the surface of the canyon.

Iron Giant slowed to a crawl, then halted just in front of the door. Keller briefly ducked inside the turret, and returned a moment later with one of the massive 15-centimeter shells cradled in his arms. He hauled it up out of the turret, then hopped off the turret and set it on the ground. Nadzir stepped up out of the gunner's hatch and dragged a shell with her; Delmon might've been surprised to find that she was very short for a Kushari, standing barely five foot eleven inches without her helmet. If it weren't for her boots, she'd be five foot nine! Despite that, she effortlessly maneuvered the heavy high explosive shell out of the turret and dropped it into Keller's hands.

"Delmon, come give me a hand with these. We're gonna set 'em up on the door and use a grenade on a long timer to detonate 'em; the blast should open it up."

The feline's plan was pretty simple - if they used a pair of HE shells to open up the door, they could roll out with a sabot round already loaded into the main gun. That way, if a hostile tank was waiting for them, they could 'send it a message' immediately.

 

[Twisted Reality]

Jayden came to a stop at the location were he was to meet the ship, Checking the time, he detached the MBR-3 Rifle from the rack on the speeder bike and slung it over his shoulder. Switching the radio back to the frequency he called his old friend on. Just to check on the ships ETA, it was a little bit before he heard the roar of ship engines in the distance. A helmeted head looked up as he watched the ship hover above him. And a line drop down in front of the ramp that was lowering. He grabbed the line, stuck his foot into the ring.

This was one part that he hated, the ride up to the ramp. Once he was up, he moved through the ship to the cargo bay. Making sure they had the room, he moved a few containers that held food and ammo for his rifle to the side and made a spot for the tank in the center. If his measurements were right, taking into account that he had seen the same tank at a distance. He changed out the internals of his rifle so it acted as a battle rifle. The only modification he made to it himself, instead of it being a three round burst his was Semi Auto with a less powerful scope. Finally Jayden made his way into the cock pit and slid his helmet off to set it beside him.

"Alright, let's input the location and get ready for a hot extraction."

The old bounty hunter nodded and turned the ship head in the direction, Jayden key'd in the ships Communications into the shared Frequency for the rescue.

"Delmon, We are on our way. We'll hang back at a safe distance and when you get in position say the word. We'll come in hot, with the Cargo bay door down."

​

 

[T.J]

Hoisting himself up and out from behind the auto cannon he had been manning, Delmon quickly leaped off the side of the tank to the metal floor below. His boots made an audible metallic clank as he touched down, which in turn made the Mandalorian crouch slightly. To the others it might have made him look skittish. It was a reflex in actuality, a throwback to his youth. Quickly shrugging it off, Delmon turned on his heel so that he was facing the tank once more, before extending his arms to catch the shell that would be handed to him. The Mandalorian payed special attention as to how to carried the ordinance. Though he knew it probably wouldn't detonate if he were to drop it, one could never be too careful when it came to high explosives.

" That sounds like a fine plan Sergeant. "

Delmon said as he quickly fell in line behind the soldier. Setting his shell down next to Keller's, the Mandalorian took a couple steps back. Delmon was by no means an expert when it came to explosives, and so he would observe the Sergeant work. Once the charge was set Delmon would return to the auto cannon atop the tank to wait out the detonation, and to be ready should an enemy be waiting on the other side.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Keller wasted no time setting a grenade on the improvised bomb. He tapped Delmon's shoulder to indicate to him that he needed to follow, then bolted for the tank. The Kushari hauled himself back up into the Natal's turret and settled down in the commander's seat. He pulled his helmet off and set it on the turret wall. "Twenty seconds! Delmon, crouch behind the turret!" he barked, as he pulled on his headsets and turned to his screen. "Driver, when that door goes, ease us forward. Gunner, stand ready for targets." The timer ticked down. The Kushari inside shuffled in their seats. Nadzir's fingertips drummed against her gun controls. The loader crouched in the turret basket and held on for dear life, while the assistant driver climbed back and hunkered down just outside the turret ring. If they rolled out into a fight, he'd help pass shells up to the gun.

It detonated. Both shells erupted into balls of black smoke and white-hot fire. The concussive blast rocked the tank and shook the whole of the tunnel. Smoke and dust billowed down the passageway and erupted outside in a cloud of debris. Iron Giant began to creep forward. Keller's eyes were glued to his displays. Though the smoke was thick, it wasn't hot enough to interfere with the battle tank's thermal imaging systems. He could see outside plain as day, as could his driver and gunner. With no threats immediately visible, the vehicle slowly rolled just past the door and came to a halt as the smoke was washed away by a hot desert breeze.

"I'm gonna try the radio again. Driver, turn to bearing two-seven-zero. Combat speed, ready on the smoke. Gunner, scan for targets." His crew chorused 'yes sir' and he tapped into the tank's subspace radio. "Romeo 1-1 to Actual. Actual, do you read? Over." He paused. A crackle of static answered him, then silence. The Kushari could feel his jaw clenching - it hadn't done that in a while. He keyed his radio again, repeating his call for command. This time, though, he got a response.

"Romeo 1-1, this is Colonel Lenaari. This frequency is being monitored, so I'll keep this brief - you have a shattered blade on your hands, Lord-Commander. You are authorized to engage and destroy Valiant with extreme prejudice, but it would be wise to exfil as soon as possible. Once you are off-world, find refuge in Mandalorian space. We'll find you. Lenaari out."

Keller was taken aback. He couldn't protest Lenaari's words. He couldn't even ask for clarification on what a 'shattered blade' was. The cat could only stare dumbfounded at his screen, shocked into silence until Nadzir reached across and shoved him into the turret wall.

"Sergeant! Sarge, wake the **** up!" she cried, pointing at his screen. "Hostiles bearing three three zero, closing fast!"

He pulled up the bearing on his screen. A pair of hostile Natals were running virtually alongside them, with a wheeled Omar IFV trailing just behind them. Keller thumped the turret roof to grab Delmon's attention. "Light up that IFV! Aim for the wheels!" he ordered, as he turned his attention back to the tanks. "Gunner, turn to bearing three three zero! Gunner, target lead tank, five hundred meters, AP!" The turret whined as it cranked around to face the hostile tanks. Their muzzles flashed and barked. A pair of armor-piercing sabots snapped past the tank and embedded into the desert hardpan, kicking up meters-tall plumes of dust and filth. Nadzir lined her sights up on the leading Natal and rested her finger on the trigger. "Lead tank, five hundred, AP. Sighted."

"Fire!"

Nadzir grinned. "On the way!"

Iron Giant thundered and roared defiance. A 15-centimeter discarding sabot streaked out and burrowed into the flank of the leading Natal, just behind the turret ring. The impact ejected a shower of sparks and broken metal and a puff of smoke. After a moment, the engine compartment caught fire and the enemy machine ground to a halt; the hatches flung open and the crew bailed out. Not a moment too soon, either. The fuel reserves went up, and the ready ammunition with it. Plumes of fire erupted from the open hatches with terrible heat and force. The tank detonated as the crew scrambled away, and the burning turret was ejected from the entire vehicle and landed upside-down ten meters away.

The loader stepped up and slammed another AP round home, as the driver made a distressing announcement. "Sir, we got hostiles front! More Omars, and Natals bringing up the rear!"

Keller swore quietly, then stuck his head out of the turret hatch to get their Mandalorian friend's attention - and to pass up another box of ammunition for the cupola gun, just in case. "Delmon, we're getting swarmed. We've gotta risk a hot exfil - tell your friend he needs to be here yesterday!"

 

[Twisted Reality]

"Kid, you know this is insane right?"

The scruffy old bounty hunter looked over at him and Jayden gave his a sly smile. Arming the weapons on the Star Fury class Freighter.

"You know what he always said old man, No guts no glory."

Jayden took his helmet back into hand and slid from the co-pilot seat and gave the pilot control over the weapon systems. Standing, he slid the helmet back on and loaned a fresh magazine into his rifle and put the first round into the chamber.

"We're Hot, they should be at the top of that ridge i set into the computer. Once i get the cargo ramp down, over with it just touching...just like the old days."

Jayden left the cockpit and jogged through the ship back down to the cargo bay. The ship screamed in, Delmon didn't even have to say anything, Jayden was already coming in for the pick up. Hopefully the ship could handle the damage those vehicles could could dish out while it was stationary for the pick up. Hitting the controls for the cargo ramp to lower it and take cover behind a container ready to return fire on infantry units.

"Sergeant, Delmon. We're coming in, get ready to get that tank on board as fast as possible!"

He called over the radio, and that was the pilots cue to take them in for an attack run. Firing it's weapons in hope to of knocking out as many Vehicles as possible to limit potential damage during it's hover which it wheeled around to do just that but to put as much of the ridge between them and the heavy hitters as possible.

"Get that thing on!"

​

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Incoming!"

A thunderclap shook Iron Giant. The screeching thump of metal striking metal resonated in the hull as the vehicle shuddered. Sparks danced about the interior and a thin plume of smoke sputtered into the tank's interior. Sul put his foot in the gas and yanked the engine's limiter; Giant's turbine engine screamed and the vehicle surged forward. Fire enveloped the tank. Tracers whipped around her hull and churned the desert sands as Omar IFV's opened up with their twin autocannons and heavy machine guns. Thudding explosions tore open dunes and split the earth as the 15-centimeter shells from hostile Natals hurtled at them.

Keller and Nadzir tried to return fire. Their gun roared, and the coaxial autocannon barked and chattered away. An Omar was struck by a long burst from the coax, whose 20MM shells shredded the fighting vehicle's bow and detonated the magazine for its autocannons. Its armored hull bulged, then erupted into a ball of crimson flame and smoke and rolled onto its side. Other Omars darted around the flaming husk and continued forward. They were charging; the entire force was charging. Natals and Omars combined, and a few four-wheeled, open-topped transports joined the charge and lent their mounted machine guns to the fight.

It was a losing battle. Keller's only hope was to get to the ridge, and the opposing force knew it.

Their tank climbed its way up to the ridge, under ferocious assault the entire way. Shells bounced, ricocheted, and embedded themselves in the Natal's thick armor plate. Plumes of dust - 'rooster tails' as armored crews called them - were spat up by the tracks as the vehicle raced to safety. Blaster and laser fire rippled overhead; their transport had arrived. An Omar, caught directly by a laser cannon bolt, cracked open as its fuel and ammunition detonated. Several of the four-wheeled transports tried to turn away from the attack but were ripped apart by the strafing run, but the heavy hitters, the Natals, shrugged off the assault entirely. Nothing short of an anti-tank cannon or a missile was going to so much as dent the heavily armored beasts.

"Sul, get us on that transport!"

Iron Giant's engine began to scream; the vehicle darted down the ridge towards the dropship. Ninety-five tonnes of Kushari ceramic, steel, and titanium closed on the transport. Hitting a relatively narrow ramp at combat speed and stopping on a dime inside a cramped cargo bay wasn't something the M82A1E8 tanks were meant for, but Sul wasn't an ordinary driver. Top of his class in every respect, and an experienced combat veteran, he knew how to get the most out of his machine. He stood on the brakes as they neared the ramp, then released so that the vehicle would roll right into the transport's belly.

Or it would have, if a hostile sabot hadn't found its mark. A geyser of sparks and smoke tore out of the vehicle's flank. The turbines groaned, sputtered, then caught fire as they died out. The armored fighting vehicle ground to a sudden halt a hundred meters shy of the dropship. The smoke that had been gently wafting into the compartment earlier now rolled in. Nadzir reached for and seized her helmet, hurriedly pulling it on. Keller made sure his helme was sealed; the rest of the crew mimicked them. Sul grappled with his controls and cursed. "The ****ing controls are dead, boss! They must've put a hole right through our engine compartment. I'm tryin' to get the aux online."

"No time," Keller replied, "Grab your carbines and bail out. Take Delmon and get to the transport. I'll cover you."

Nadzir turned as if intent on arguing, but a simple nod of his head silenced her arguements. "We'll drop a fast rope for you," she muttered. The gunner snatched up her LAWS carbine and clambered up out of the turret. After making sure their Mandalorian friend was alright, she grabbed him by the shoulder and guided him off the tank as the rest of the crew turned out. "C'mon, we're going! Haul ass, guys, Keller's covering us!" she barked, as she began to run from the smoking wreck of Iron Giant.

Keller fought the turret controls as the crew bailed out. The electric drives and optics were all offline. He swore under his breath and crawled over the gun to settle into Nadzir's seat. He gripped the turret's hand crank and began to turn it about. His free hand grasped and pulled down the emergency optics; primitive, non-electric sights that used physical periscopes and viewslits to aim. They'd taken fire from their right flank, so that's where he pointed the turret. A hostile Natal, some five hundred meters away, came into view. There were several Omars in front of it, all closing fast.

He laid his sights on the lead Omar and depressed the gun's thumb trigger. Iron Giant rocked back as the 15-centimeter gun flung a shell downrange, a fiery muzzle blast following the shell a little ways out and kicking up no small amount of dust and smoke. The projectile ripped a flaming hole straight through the armored vehicle, which turned slightly, then flipped and caught fire. Keller half-turned and grabbed a shell from the ready rack, ramming it home and beginning the process over again.

"Goddamn it, Keller," Nadzir swore as she ran. The gun thumped again, and the staccato bark of the autocannon rang in her helmet. She could see fireballs erupting in the corner of her eye, and knots of tracers splashing against her tank's hull. Another cannon shell struck it on the bow and punched its way through in a plume of fire and sparks; Giant's gun turned to face the hostile who'd unleashed the penetrating shell and returned fire.

Her armored boots met the loading ramp and she hauled herself up inside. Clad in dusty, soot-blackened Templar armor, she was a far cry from the lightly-armored clean-faced tankers common throughout Alliance and Imperial armies. She slung her carbine onto her back and grabbed a sturdy-looking cable from the deck. "Sul! Lash this onto something!"

She tossed one end to him, while hurriedly buckling the other end of the long cable to the front buckle of her waist harness - for rappelling and fast-rope use, all Templar armor had a waist and chest harness similar to those used by rock climbers. Once it was tied off securely, she moved to stand on the edge of the ramp and touched her helmet comms. She keyed into the same frequency Keller had used, and crossed her fingers.

"Pilot, I need you to get us over that tank - Keller stayed..."

Her voice trailed off as she saw the Sergeant Major climbing up out of the turret. Flames were lapping up around his armor. Something inside Iron Giant had caught fire. The soldier's hands gripped his carbine tightly as he rolled onto the turret roof and tried to get to his feet; a missile lanced out from the lead Omar and wedged itself in between the hull and turret. The blast knocked Keller flat onto the turret roof, and a few seconds later, touched off the ammunition stored inside Iron Giant. Ordinarily, 'wet' ammo stowage was used aboard Natal tanks, but Iron Giant's ammunition bins hadn't been topped off with liquid because they were supposedly in training. The resulting blast was as spectacular as it was terrifying.

The turret ring bulged, then gave. Fire rippled up out of the turret hatches and propelled the entire turret and its cradle up out of the tank like a twenty-ton rocket. Keller was thrown like a doll. Nadzir's eyes widened in horror as she watched smoke and fire trail off his armor. His carbine was flung from his hands. The glassteel faceplate of his helmet cracked. A cloud of shrapnel and burning particles wrapped around him. Shards of glowing metal dinged and bounced off his armored body, as the concussive wave of the blast carried him and the turret away from Iron Giant's ruined hulk.

Keller landed in a rough heap some twenty meters from the tank. The turret crashed upside-down a little further from him, leaving the soldier obscured in the wreckage.

Nadzir's hearts stuck in her throat. His life-signs indicator and IFF tag went dark - his armor was so badly damaged that she couldn't rely on her HUD to tell her if he was still among the living. The shellfire stopped for a moment. It seemed the enemy was just as surprised by the tank's destruction as she was.

The gunner released her helmet comms, and finished quietly, "...Keller stayed behind to cover us."

 

[T.J]

As the iron beast of a tank tore down the slope towards the waiting dropship, Delmon could only help but think of one thing; it was exhilarating. The bark of the main gun accompanied by the auto cannon in his own hands coupled with the enemies own fire created a din that would have been near impenetrable if not for the internal comm systems he and the companions he had found himself with shared. The pure adrenaline brought on from the speed of the craft he rode atop of alone was enough to get the blood pumping. He had never ridden in a ground vehicle quite like the iron giant before, all the gun play was just icing on the cake for the young Mandalorian.

The whole thing came to a quite literal crashing halt when one of the enemy vehicles got a lucky hit, causing the Iron Giant to grind slowly to a halt. Even with having little to no knowledge of how to the large vehicle functioned, he knew it had finally gave out. Before it had even come to a complete stop he was already securing his rifle to his armored back, only leaping off the side of the tank once the soldiers inside began to emerge. The female that had been referred to as Nadzir by the others gestured towards the waiting dropship as the others quickly made their way towards the hovering vehicle.

Looking back towards the crippled tank one last time, Delmon followed the others into the waiting dropship. It wasn't until the immobile tank they had all just left began returning fire did he realize they were one man short. Keller had stayed behind to ensure their escape, a noble feat in the eyes of the Mandalorian. Just as it looked as if the Sergeant was gaining the upper hand, an enemy round ripped through the Iron Giant, throwing the armored soldiers high and away from the now smoldering wreckage.

Dashing to the edge of the deck, Delmon tried to see if he could make out the Sergeant among the wreckage. The blast had been quite spectacular, only one with either excellent protection or an iron will would have any hope of survival. Keller had shown his true colors in his seemingly last selfless act, it did not fall on deaf ears to the Mandalorian and he would not let the Sergeant die in the dust and fire. If Keller had already succumbed to his injuries the least Delmon could do was to give him a proper burial.

Glancing back towards Nadzir and the others, Delmon lept off the ramp back towards the sand below. Tucking and rolling as he touched down the Mandalorian sprinted towards the downed Sergeant, kneeling over the still smoking body it would have been hard for anyone to determine whether or not he was alive. Regardless, Delmon would ensure Keller and the others made it out in one piece. Turing back towards the still hovering dropship, he gestured for it to do a fly over so that he and the Sergeant could be hoisted up.

 

[Twisted Reality]

Jayden watched through the visor of his helmet, his rifle raised as he fired off pot shots at any infantry that exposed themselves for him to fire at. The sounds of battle, something he was not completely use to. He was use to things like small shootouts while on a bounties trail, and this...the roar of auto cannons, the bark of large cannons and the whistle of rounds that whizzed over his head and hit the hall only to bounce off the armor plating.

Semi Auto shots rang out from his slug thrower, as he sent rounds downrange from behind cover inside the cargo hold. Then things went south, the tank came to a stop before it got to the ship. He let a slow curse escape as he reloaded his rifle, taking a moment to size up the scene outside of the ship from what he could see. He could see the armored crew bugging out of the tank. Only one beskar'gam stood out among them. It must have been Delmon, since he was the only other Mando to answer the call for this impromptu rescue mission.

He held his fire as the crew came running up the ramp, he was about to turn but he heard the crippled tank firing. Seconds later, the tank exploded and caused the ship to rock. Over the intercom the man working as the pilot cursed.

"Jayden, what was that?!?"

Jayden turned back to see the carnage, he saw Delmon run down the ramp towards the wreckage. He sighed and shook his head a little bit.

"That was the tank, take us over the wreckage and get ready to drop a line."

Jayden used the com in his helmet and turned the crew that where present in the ship's cargo hold.

"Close to Cargo doors and Get into the Med bay, and get it ready. If your Serg is still alive he'll need to be stabilized. Leave your Serg to me and Delmon."

He secured his rifle to his back and took off through the ship to the landing ramp and lowered it as the pilot maneuvered the ship around fireing another Salvo of her Light Multi-Launchers. Granted, he didn't have any anti armor projectiles. But maybe it would give them some cover. The wire lowering, from the ship above the bottom of the ramp was beginning it's decent.

"Delmon, hook both of you up to the wire. I'll need your help getting him aboard."

He called over the radio and waited as the Pilot started firing all of the Freighter's weapons fired on the heavy hitters. Trying to suppress any kind of fire that they could.

( OOC: Armaments: Heavy Laser Cannons (2; twin barrel, one mounted dorsally, one ventrally), Light Multi-Launchers (4; hold four to six projectiles each depending on the size and type of munition), Heavy Laser Cannon (2; mounted on leftmost and rightmost extremes) )
​

 

[Jiang Winters]

Suppressing Kushari soldiers was difficult in and of itself.

Suppressing Kushari tanks, well-drilled and in good order, was an entirely different challenge.

One of the lead vehicles was struck directly by a laser cannon blast to no effect whatsoever; its reactive armor did its job and diffused the energy projectile. Another vehicle's hull was struck, but the ceramic ablative material layered atop the steel hull was adequate to protect against the laser bolt. The tanks did, however, take some minor evasive maneuvers as they tried to get into a good position to return fire - the transport had the advantage of hovering in the thick black smoke choking the skies above Keller's tank, and the opposing force had to go down into a small depression to close the gap between themselves and the wreckage. That gave a short reprieve.

Coupled with the sheer weight of fire pouring off the transport, which churned sand and kicked up geysers of dust and blasted rock, the smoke and terrain were enough to buy them a few precious seconds. Seconds that the Kushari might've used to riddle them with autocannon fire and to pepper them with blasts from their tank cannons. As it was, a few Omar IFV's hung back and unleashed their autocannons and heavy machine guns - streams of 30MM shells ripped across the skies to strike at the transport. The armor-piercing high-explosive projectiles would doubtless cause considerable damage if the transport hung around for too long.

The barking cannons was incentive enough for Nadzir. As the ship loitered over the wreckage, she hooked in and bailed out. The gunner swayed on the cable as it sank towards the desert floor, where she detached it just long enough to hand the end to Delmon. "Feed this through Keller's harness and then hook it back to mine. We'll all go up at once - we don't wanna stay here, one good hit from any of those cannons and that ship is toast!"

 

[T.J]

Delmon jumped at the sound of Nadzir's voice, he had been so caught up looking for any visible sign of life in Keller that he hadn't noticed she had also dropped down. His search was unsuccessful; the bulky armor the Sergeant wore made searching for a pulse difficult, especially since Delmon had no knowledge as to how to remove it to even check. Nodding in conformation, he took the rope from Nadzir's hand and quickly looped it through the Sergeant's armor and then his own before turning to snap it back onto her harness.

" Then lets not give them the chance. "

Reaching up to the portion of the cable that lead back up to the ship, Delmon gave it a hard tug to signify they were ready to be pulled back up. Baring that the smoke and dust the ship had churned up stayed only a bit longer, they would still have their opening for escape.