Lucazec: Revisited

[Kell Sangros]

Blaster fire rained down them. Luckily they had all found cover. The Mercs seemed to very well trained. Widow and Quickfoot were about 25 feet from where Wiretap was , they had by all appearances appeared to be pinned down. They were very efficient and coordinated. Foxtrot was not too far from where he was and listened over the fire they were taking. He shook his head

“We’re pinned down, unless they make a mistake or get too cocky we’re screwed” he peered out from his cover to get a visual only to be met with more blaster fire. Even Krieger was pinned even after taking one of them out or was it two? Wiretap could not remember.

He did not know how much time had passed but something changed. Wiretap, Quickfoot, Widow and Krieger could all feel it, they could not explain it but something had just changed. One thing was clear, the tide in this skirmish changed. Quickfoot and Widow started taking the fight to the mercs. Wiretap peeked out from his cover and dropped two of the Mercs. It now seemed that they were more efficient and co-ordinated. He did not know how or what happened but Wiretap knew it was Lord Warvanus’ doing.

Widow and Quickfoot were aiming for the commandos with the blaster cannons. One thing was certain they had to end this and proceed with the mission.

Krieger made his way to where Sureshot laid. He put two fingers to his neck, to feel for a pulse, but the evidence he felt in his fingers agreed with his limited force senses. Sureshot was dead.

Wiretap looked at Foxtrot “Let’s go kick some ass” he said as he got up and moved to another cover point. He was greeted with blaster fire as he moved but it was poorly aimed, and sloppy.

[Alexander Varellion]

Alexander would merely give a nod at what Wiretap said. Then feeling a little bold he would throw a frag grenade at the location where he suspected much of the fire was coming from, especially the fire that was being aimed at wiretap. Together with wiretap he would then move forward to a different cover in which he could be act more offensively against the enemy.

Thus when he was sure that Wiretap was behind cover Alexander sprinted towards the next piece of cover, having his main firearm around his neck through the help of a strap on whilst in his right hand he held a smal blaster pistol he could use if any of the enemies tried to overxtend themselves whilst firing at him. Alexander did not know what was going on with the enemy but whilst this confusion lasted he would make the best use of it.

Once Alexander had gained his flanking position he would use his position to harras the enemy, attempting to pick off any enemies that would expose themselves from behind the rock formation that he was using as cover. He also made use of the slopiness of the enemy and made sure that any mistake the enemies made was their last.

[Slade Xandir]

They moved forth, grabbing him by both arms, while others held blasters pointed in various places at his body. "Yea, that's one of em. Look, wearing the emblem, and everything," one sneered, reaching up to point the blaster at the patch on his arm.

"I mean, if you wanna be technical," the Rogue started. "I didn't really feel included with em-"

"Shut it. The main one tried to silence him with words, and if he hadn't turned his head when he did, that rifle butt would've done a lot more than bruise his jaw. Probably would've been chewing on his own teeth.

"Take him to main. See if there's anything we can get out of him. If not, kill him."

With that, they snatched him up, and dragged his tired ass aboard a hidden Supafighter, camouflaged to match the undergrowth of foliage in the planet. And away, they went.

[Kell Sangros]

It had happened so fast, that Wiretap could not get a clean shot, neither did Quickfoot or Widow. First Sureshot gets killed and then mercs make off with Tver just like that the battle was over.

Wiretap was clearly pissed off. He looked around him “Fall in” he ordered they needed to regroup and figure out their situation.
Krieger came up to Wiretap, “they’re long gone, I can’t feel Tver in the Force”

Wiretap was not happy, Warvanus would not be happy, and he began to wonder if he would live past this mission. He looked at Foxtrot and then to the rest of the team.

“Let’s get our gear and move out if they decide to come back I don’t want to make it easy for them” With that he grabbed his pack and went over to grab Sureshot’s they could not afford the time to bury their fallen comrade. He decided to put both packs down and he dragged Sureshot’s body to an area of bushes, he then went through the pack and took out a cover a small blanket.He took it and drapped it across the face of his fallen comrade. “Rest well old friend” he said solemnly
He grabbed both packs and began to move out into the forest.

[Alexander Varellion]

Alexander took a few moments to breathe in and out and analyze the situation. He had not had much time for this considering he was stepping of the dropship one second and the other he was under fire. Now he realized things did not look good, two members of the Dawn Patrol had already been taken out and the element of surprise might very well have been lost in the confusion.

He then made sure that he had all of his equipment but also noticed the comms of the enemy and he semi-shouted at Wiretap. "Should I grab the comms of these guys, it could give us some more info on them but if they have a good slicer they could also use it to locate us."

Whilst he was saying that Alexander was also starting to follow Wiretap as he walked into the forest.

[Kell Sangros]

Widow and Quickfoot quickly field stripped the corpses, they had found little to nothing of use, then brought up the rear as Wiretap and Foxtrot headed out. Quickfoot had heard Foxtrot ask bout the corpses he chimed in “Already been done, didnt have much of anything to use, one radio, and a few power packs that’s
About it” he said almost regretfully.

Wiretap had progressed deeper into the forests which was heading down the mountain but it was slow going, the brush was thick, and night was beginning to set in, They had infrared goggles and could continue through the night but they had a long day and needed to make camp. He pointed at a small clearing up ahead.

“Here is a good spot to make camp for the night”

When he reached the clearing it was not hard nor did it take long to gather wood to make a fire, Stones seemed to be in good supply too, he had the campfire constructed And then took a tube out of his pack it was about two inches in length and metallic, he snapped it in half and placed each half on each side of the would be camp fire. The fire Lit shortly after

“I’ll take first watch tonight, Widow you will be my relief and then Quickfoot you will be hers, Foxtrot you’ll go next” he looked at Krieger, the apprentice of their Lord.

He said Nothing but sat down and opened his pack. Technically Wiretap had no authority on Krieger as he answered to Warvanus and Warvanus alone. Finally after moment Krieger Looked up “I’ll relieve Foxtrot” he said at last .

This seemed to appease Wiretap as he too now sat down and fished some rations out of his pack and fetching his canteen.

“We should be near the base of the mountain sometime tomorrow, we will make camp at the clearing there” he took out a small holoprojector and activated it, then pointed To the area he was referring to.

Krieger knew that was where his Master had made camp on that first mission, he wondered if there would be any evidence of his being there. He knew that Warvanus had a Swoop but had stashed it, he wondered if they could find it might come in handy. But he did not say anything to Wiretap or Foxtrot. He had his own mission, one that he and His Master alone knew the objective.

[Alexander Varellion]

Whilst Alexander walked through the forest he was relatively nervous. Though it was not as if any of it showed on his face or body language. Nervous and maybe a tiny bit fearful and paranoid. They had suddenly been attacked just seconds after landing, it could still happen that they were to be attacked again, possibly by the same mercenaries. So Alexander was quite vigilant, checking for unusual sounds or the light reflecting from the metal of a gun.

When they arrrived at the camp Alexander would stand a few feet away from Wiretap he frowned as he saw that a fire was lit. After Wiretap had finished speaking he also spoke up. "Is it wise to have a fire ? It's light and smoke may aler those mercenaries or others to our position whilst it could also provide proof that we were here at a later date. "

He then took a bite from some of his rations, they did not taste that good (though they did not really taste bad either)
but they sure were nutritious. He then sat down cross-legged on the ground, taking the oppertunity to rest and recover a tiny bit. Though he also kept an eye out on Wiretap and the forest.

[Kell Sangros]

Wiretap looked at Foxtrot and grinned. “Look at the campfire” he told him, when he looked he would see no smoke, it essentially was a heating element designed to provide heat and light. “Synthafire” he told him, “experimental tech.” He too took a bite of his rations. “All it does is provide heat and light, of course if I had put two bars of durasteel instead of actual wood it would melt and then we’d have smoke. I don’t know the details something about the wood amplifying the heat as they slowly distingrate, other than that all I know is these babies have not failed me yet” He took another bite of his ration and then lightheartedly said “Now if they could improve the rations”

Quickfoot and Widow sat , they were not brooding but Krieger could feel it in the Force, it irritated him. After a bit Krieger sat down and began checking his gear. Anyone could tell he was restless. “Barely arrived and we’re two men down” he said bitterly. He did not know Tver or Sureshot very well.

Wiretap looked at everybody “We will mourn Sureshot when this mission is done” he said then continuing “As for T’ver maybe “ he turned his head to Krieger “You can use that Sith powers of yours and see if he is still planetside.” Wiretap said with a bit of condescension in his tone. Krieger narrowed his eyes but in the end said nothing more on the matter.

“Everybody get some rest” Wiretap said “We break camp at dawn” With that Widow and Quickfoot positioned themselves and shortly were asleep.

[Alexander Varellion]

Alexander would take note of what was being said by all of these guys but he could not help but glance off into the forest around him. He was also still uncomfortable about the fire, it might not smoke but it could still attract attention if people know what they are looking for. It was not something that he himself would approve of but he was not the sergeant so he wouldn't say anything about it. Though he had to admit that it could be quite comfortable to have a fire, to give him heat. But that was not that important for him, he had suffered cold nights on Corellia with but a thin blanket and barely any warm clothes.

He then looked for a good spot to sleep and then cleared a small piece of earth before placing down a piece of plastic to make sure he did not get a wet back and get undercooled. Then he grabbed a decent blanket to keep him warm and would put his backpack to the side since it was not nice to sleep with a backpack on. Though he kept a blaster under the blanket and close to his arm so that he could quickly grab it if neccesary. Then when he had everything in place ALexander closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep. THe last thought Alexander had before falling to sleep 'I suppose being chased day and night is good at least for something'.

[Kell Sangros]

The next morning came quickly, Wiretap awoke to find nobody standing watch, the last one who was to take watch was Krieger, but he was nowhere to be seen. He knew the apprentice had his own mission but he figured he would at least work with the team. This mission was falling apart more by the minute. First Sureshot killed, Tver taken, now Krieger abandoning them, he would make sure Warvanus was made fully aware for the little good it would do. Times like this he hated Sith politics and hierarchy.

He roused the rest of the squad “Krieger deserted” he said as he gathered his pack and began to remove evidence of their encampment.

“We need to get a move on if we are lucky we can make it to the clearing near the base of this mountain by sundown” at least that was what he hoped.

=Hours Later=

They had reached the base, the clearing point that gave them an overview of the compound while remaining concealed from view. The outskirts of the compound were littered with make shift huts and weary miners dressed in rags, the deeper one went into the compound the nicer it looked until you reached Pycellan’s compound itself, they had reached it with no incident and with no sign of Krieger. Wiretap took out the macrobinoculars in his field pack and gave a cursory glance, before handing them to Foxtrot.

“Lord Warvanus had disguised himself as a miner when he was last here, it actually got him pretty deep before he ran into resistance. I don’t think we will have the same luck given our number” he said as Foxtrot peered into the macrobnioculars

As Wiretap and Foxtrot spoke Widow and Quickfoot patrolled the peremeter, looking for the swoop that Warvanus had hidden when he was last here but to come up empty. Their search was not completely wasted as they had found where it was once hidden, but evidence recent evidence showed it was recently taken which told the Sniper one thing, Krieger had been here. They returned to the small concealed clearing and had let Wiretap know of their findings. Wiretap had been angry before, but now he was furious he looked at the others his teeth gritted.

“If Krieger compromises us in any way , shape or form you have my blessing to shoot the bastard on sight and the person who does the deed I will make sure gets a promotion” the venom in his voice was thick.

Widow and Quickfoot took up sentry positions as the CO and XO discussed strategy on their next move.

-Elsewhere-

Krieger had left in the middle of the night right after his watch began, he grabbed his pack and made good time to the clearing and had retrieved the swoop. He had used it to not enter the compound but to get off the mountain and to get into a better position. He could feel the Force leading him, it had been dawn when his search bore fruit. He had gone down the mountain and from there had gone a few miles away from the compound and down another massive hill when he found a cave. He had parked the swoop there and had followed its path in. He could sense this would get him directly into the compound itself. He would let the Dawn Patrol or what was left of it to fend for themselves and accomplish their mission while Krieger would do his. His Master had told him about an artifact that his sources told him was in the overseer’s possession. Krieger’s job was to find it, if it existed and if so to take it and bring it to Warvanus. The cave was dark, quiet and damp, his glowrod lit the way for him, of this non descript cave.

=Somewhere Else=

Pycellan sat at his desk going over the reports about the mercenaries that had been spotted near his domain, he had also examined photos of a drop ship of sorts. If it had not been for the mercs his security would have probably missed the drop ship all together. One thing he knew was true. He had invaders coming for him. He had foreseen this for some time, ever since Darth Tormentous vanished and Lord Blood arose as the Dark Lord, he had been placed here by Warvanus because of his service and his loyalty to Tormentous. Now he was on the outs, he knew that Lord Warvanus would come to replace him. He tapped a button on the console on his desk, a few moments later a female voice answered

“Yes Overseer is there something I can do for you” the soft yet professional voice asked.

“Summon Chief Xylen and have him come to my office at once, tell him Priority One”

The voice on the other end replied with compliance

Pycellan would need to double the security and tighten it , he would requisition for more troops but they were under Warvanus’ command. He wondered how many would turn on him ones loyal to the Sith. This was a reason he had built his security force with mercenaries. They were loyal to him and not the Sith Empire.

He rose from his desk and went over to the balcony and looked at the compound off in the distance was the mountain, and he knew that his enemy was somewhere in the mountain. He would send his elite unit to snuff them out, no quarter no prisoners. The very thought brought a tight smile to the overseer’s lips.