A Confusing Development

[Cylli Ria]

Cylli Ria woke to pure blackness. She was lying on a cold, hard surface in who knows where, with a massive headache and no memory of basically anything. Cylli was a human girl with pale skin, a slender build, and ice-blue eyes. She sat up with a groan and brushed her black shoulder-length hair out of her face, feeling a long scar from her jaw to the corner of her left eye.

"What the actual heck is going on?" A sudden flash of pain made her black out again.

The next time she woke up, she was in a different place, but she couldn't see because of the bright light. She felt a hand on her forehead and heard a voice saying, "You're safe now. . ."

OOC: sorry this is short, I've never done this before.

[Professor Mors]

(OOC: No worries, you're off to a great start!)

Mining Asteroid CA9-77E, from the exterior, appeared no different from so many other satellities that straddled the boundaries of Imperial Space. However, unlike its nearby siblings, this particular platform had recently come under the violent control of a rather extremist pirate group. And, if there was one thing the Navy abhorred the most, apart from sedition, it was certainly piracy. Unfortunately for the good, native denizens of the asteroid, Naval Intelligence had been slow to discover the hostile takeover; that said, there ignorance had quickly come to head. In the sliver of pseudo-gravity, the glimmering hull of a Victory I Class Star Destroyer pelted away at armored exterior of the mining colony, taking great care to hammer only the preexisting battlements and surface artillery. Deception had been the rogues' shield, and at this point, that very protection had all but melted away.

Whilst the bulk of the enemy forces had preoccupied themselves with their space-borne foe, the Imperials had clandestinely sent a ground team down to safely extract the unlucky civilian populace. Thankfully, the chaos had afforded them an ample head start, one that their commanding officer would not waste. It did not take Doren particularly long to locate the holding cells, though the advanced lock encryptions were proving harder to decode than most. Flanked on either side by white plastoid, the Captain and those not fixated on the door consoles kept their gaze fixed on either end of the long corridor. Sweat dripped from Vassyl's brow as he anxiously awaited any potential aggressors. In a strange fit of fortune, none came to pass, and soon enough the military techs sent the doors sliding open with a begrudging hiss. Beleaguered individuals came traipsing tired and beaten from their internment. Needless to say, their stay had not been kind.

Many of the imprisoned bore marks of torture and duress, and a handful required some degree of assistance to be moved. One more lithe woman was found to be in a serious state of unconsciousness; Vassyl assigned one of his burlier comrades to be her aide, gingerly lifting her from the dark cell and out into the well-lit hallway. As they began to withdraw, the stockier trooper noticed a stirring across the young lady's face, and suspected she was beginning to come around. Ticking his head towards hers, he alerted the Captain to the developed, who nodded in response. Both were grateful to find they hadn't a fatality on their hands. As the youth's face continued contort in mild stints, the trooper spoke softly down to her, "You're safe now-". The man stopped midsentence, not wanting to promise too much, nor speak so loudly as to give away the group's position. All the same, he was committed to this operation, and, by extension, to the civilian's wellbeing.

[Rhoden Carbine]

Rhoden stood slightly away from the group, watching Doren and a trooper out of the corner of his eye. Rhoden had joined in on the operation due to his own issues with criminals of this sort--not that he was fond of criminals of any sort--and because he owed the good Captain a favor or two, or more.

"Just hurry it up back there so we can kill these fools already." Rhoden said quietly. Their luck was bound to run out eventually, and he hoped it would not be soon.

The rest of Inferno Squad was scattered about, watching carefully over the proceedings, Jorvan was helping one older civilian get to a wall to lean on. Rhoden's eyes went back to surveying the area.

[Cylli Ria]

Cylli, now fully awake, looked at her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of underground passage? Cylli noticed she was being supported by someone. "Get off me! I can freaking walk!" She scrambled out of his grip and promptly fell over. "Maybe not," she said, embarrassed, as the man looked down at her with mild amusement. "A little help? Also, who are you guys, and what is this place?"

[Professor Mors]

Vassyl could not help but smirk as the small woman sprang to life with livid animism. It was relief to see she had not been totally broken by her captors, and retained a willful fire about her. Still, as she questioned her surrounding, the Captain began to wonder if she had suffered head trauma commensurate to memory loss, or if she had been captured en route to another location. In either case, he would oblige her of the information he was privy to. "To answer your first question Miss, you stand among some the Empire's finest, hailing from the lauded Second Fleet of the Imperial Navy", Doren began in a soft and serious tone, "As to our present location, we happen to be in the process of liberating a mining asteroid that has come under new and unwanted ownership".

The Captain paused as the light tapping of footsteps filled the air at the far end of the corridor. Apparently someone finally had the bright idea to check on the status of the prisoners. Without a moment's hesitation, Doren signaled the Commander with a swift sweep of the hand: they were about to have company, and a lot of it from the frequency of steps. Hefting up his sidearm, Vassyl walked up to his newfound ward, and aided in supporting her stride with his free arm. As the troopers on either side of the hall began to take defensive position in the narrow walkway, Doren looked down at the stranger once more, and added, "Assuming we survive the next few moments, could I trouble you for your name Miss?". A cheeky grin spread across the Captain's face once more; this would surely make the mounting list of awkward, unavoidable introductions.

[Rhoden Carbine]

Rhoden had picked up the footsteps before the Captain had, Jorvan leaned the civilian he was helping against a wall and moved silently to an optimal attack position. Haly lifted her blaster carbine with its under-slung flamethrower. Rhoden crouched low, his blaster fixated on his entrance, the rest of the squad and Doren's Stormtroopers doing likewise.

"We want this quiet or we want them deep fried." Rhoden asked Doren in a low voice, indicating Haly who held her weapon ready, and Barsh who had a flamethrower of his own.

[Cylli Ria]

"I'm. . .Cylli?" she said, cursing herself for sounding so unsure. She hadn't known if she wanted to give away her name (you never know who you can trust, especially in this galaxy), but she figured it couldn't hurt since she had nothing to lose. Except her life. His grin was a little disconcerting, but maybe this was how everyone acted? Cylli wasn't sure. Not wanting to sound dumb, she tried to think of a question that wasn't obvious.

"Do you --- I mean, does this happen often? Like, is this a normal thing, or. . .what?" It was hard to sound both smart and confident when you've got no idea what's going on around you. "And do you all have names," Cylli questioned, geturing at the lot of them, "or is this the sort of thing where you just have numbers? I've heard of that. Not sure when, though. Sorry, I'll be quiet, you're busy."

[Professor Mors]

Vassyl had hardly a moment to respond before blasterfire poured into the Imperials' formation. Those that could afford cover took it, going out of their way to shield the various innocence they had only just freed. A few of Doren's own were less fortunate, receiving painful, but negligible wounds and glancing blows. One particularly large caliber laser round came careening towards the Captain and his confused collaborator, almost imperceptible based on raw speed alone. The first round missed the top of Vassyl's cap by a hair, and he wasn't about to encourage a second attempt. Somewhat unintentionally, Doren nearly tugged Cylli's arm from its socket as the pair flew behind a protruding support column.

That said, Doren hadn't the time to apologize then and there; with a furious flick of his forearm, Vassyl leveled his sights and sent a stream of plasma into the opposing mob from the nozzle of his trusted sidearm. Amid the exchange of suppressing fire, the Captain took a brief moment to scan the host of criminals that had now sought their own various patches of cover. The bulk of the dissidents seemed to be human, or humanoid in origin. At the same time, one or two unique characters stood out immediately. Among the less-normalized individuals were a Vulpterian, a Dug, and, much to Doren's surprise, an aged Wookiee. As was often the case with violent unknowns, it seemed Naval Intelligence had undershot the vitality of the raiders in question.

Despite such variables, Vassyl took solace in the presence of the Inferno Squad, and their all-too-capable commander. Just then, a calm grew over the interior, as both sides took a moment to reload and reassess their positions. With a precious few moments to breath, the young officer finally turned his focus back on the now-identified victim, and quickly offered back, "Sadly, these encounters are dependent on a case-by-case basis. When trouble arises, the Navy answers the call, no matter how dire or unlikely- but I seem to have forgotten my manners. I'm Captain Doren Vassyl of the Third Fleet's Second Battle Group, and that-". Vassyl paused as he stared over at the bulkier trooper from before, now sitting against the opposite wall and cradling a burn mark on his sternum, before finishing "is Sergeant Keel, more or less in one piece". Facing the inquisitive girl once more, Doren concluded, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Cylli; tis unfortunate we must meet under such stressful circumstances". With a nod, the Captain then whipped back around to the growling rabble from before, and let loose another searing salvo

[Cylli Ria]

Cylli was watching the disorder with interest; she turned back to her rescuer just in time to hear him say, "- but I seem to have forgotten my manners. I'm Captain Doren Vassyl of the Third Fleet's Second Battle Group, and that-" there was a pause as he pointed to the bigger guy in the group, "is Sergeant Keel, more or less in one piece." He then said something along the lines of "nice to meet you, sorry I dragged you into this", but Cylli was watching the group from before, the one that was shooting at them.

"Excuse me, Captain Vassyl, shouldn't I have a weapon? You don't have to cover for me then. And-" She looked over at their attackers, "it looks like they're getting ready to fire again." Sure enough, one was readying their blaster, and in a second, Cylli ducked, the projectile shot through the spot where her head was not a moment before. "I'm not sure I can pull that off again- but then, maybe I can," she laughed, getting cocky. "I do need to defend myself somehow, Doren. Is it okay if I call you that?"

[Rhoden Carbine]

Rhoden didn't respond to the sudden blasterfire aside from sending his own volley into the first attacker he saw. The rest of Inferno Squad began pouring blaster bolts into any of the fools to slow to find cover. There was a brief lull as attackers and defenders alike rapidly burned through their power packs.

"Sopol, Barsh, take 'em" Rhoden said. Haly and Barsh stood and moved forward quickly, flamethrowers spitting death at the enemies behind cover. Rhoden heard one scream and scramble backwards as his flesh began to burn, and shot him directly in the head before he could run away.

"We need to leave! Now!" Rhoden yelled over the dying screams over the first wave of hostiles. He checked his comm. Jammed.