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Jazen
Beelzaboot
1,617 posts
86 likes
Rocking from the Great White North
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last online Apr 20, 2022 19:46:47 GMT -5
Master
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Jan 25, 2011 0:38:12 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Jan 25, 2011 0:38:12 GMT -5
Despite knowing better, Shine couldn't help but frown his brow at Sev when he spoke to him. Okay, so he hadn't given them any idea of what he could and could not do, aside from drive and apparently not shut his yapper, but he didn't even bother to ask. He could have let that slide, he really could have.....had the man not spoken to him as if Shine was his subordinate and Sev his commander. He may have tried to hide it, but Shine knew the tone; his prior job of being in the military probably only known to Sam. He understood that he was saying it that way to close the point....but he disliked it anyway. You could have asked or just said it was a bad idea....not point out every little thing you think I'd do wrong.The scope he knew had been a dumb move, but again, something he didn't need him glaring daggers at him for. People made mistakes and learned from them; Shine had been learning plenty during this little strategy meeting. He had to resist chuckling at the latter part of that statement though; it was true you couldn't find the scope at your local armory......but what about the not so local armory? Or legal for that matter. He kept that to himself though; he could feel the Nauto's eyes on him too for it and he figured he might as well tread a lightly as he could for the rest of this. Lord knows he didn't need the people he was assisting wanting to kill him too. Shine eyed the location Sev indicated for the exit, marking it on his datapad when it came up. That's where he would need to be when they came out, so marking it was the obvious thing to do. The real trick would be locating that spot from the outside......luckily the blueprint gave him a pretty good idea of the general area. Course, he'd have to stay away from that spot until closer to the time that they were coming; less attention would be drawn to the area that way. Sam's words were at least more on the gentle side when telling him that giving him explosives would be a bad idea. She did point out that his part of the plan wouldn't require him to do any personal touches, which did have him mentally smacking himself. He should just tell them what he was planning.....but at this point in time, it was just better to let it go and handle the matter himself. Her putty explosives would have worked better for what he intended, but if he had to go old school tech for it, so be it. It just meant he'd have to think a little harder to figure out how to get it done without being noticed. Her concern surprised him a little, which brought his smile back and a slight nod of his head before he spoke. "Yea, I get that your trying to keep me from being targeted. I appreciate it, I do. I promise you though, what I'm planning will neither put me in the danger zone as you call it or draw any more attention to me. As Sev said, we might have eavesdroppers, so all I'll say for now is that it'll make getting away much simpler. I'll send you the details later if it'll make you feel better.He'd turn to Sev after that, meeting the man's eyes for a moment. It took Sev a moment to even look at him, as his eyes were busy watching Sam at the time but when he did, he gave the man a light...although stiff nod. "I'll place a few charges outside the building at the spot where we plan to make the exit. Should reduce the number of charges you need inside and hopefully avoid getting caught in the backlash of the blast. Oh course, if that's not a problem. With that, he'd turn back to the room as a whole, clicking his datapad off and nodding to them all in turn. "Other than that....sorry about tossing your tech around "Sir". I'll be more careful next time." It might have sounded like he was mocking him, but he was honestly smiling at Sev when he did it; he wondered if the man would catch the underlying "I don't appreciate being talked to like a rookie" in his tone. Probably.....and he hoped he'd take at least some of it to heart. He had no qualms with the man but couldn't he "attempt" to show him a little more respect? Shine was certainly trying at times. Shrugging after that, he nodded to Sev's suggestion about sleep and waited for the two others to leave before following suit. When he passed Sam, he gave her a light two fingered salute and a smile before heading off. It was time to do some serious work. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The one thing that Shine was good at was working efficiently for long periods of time without rest. He'd always been the one who'd stay up late working on his fighter and be up before the others, sleeping in only two or three times a week to give himself a proper recharge. In this case, he was in the mind set that would allow him to work long and hard before needing any sleep at all. It took him less than half an hour to make it back to the settlement, pushing the speeder he owned to its very limits without going overboard. As soon as he got back to the Cat, the first thing he did was shower. Clean off that stench as best he could was the main intention, but it also helped to serve to relax his body and mind. He'd need it to get his work done. As soon as that was done, he helped himself to a small meal before treading to where he kept all his spare gear. The lockers were right outside his room and near to the airlock, which made it easy to stop by them after his meal and prepare himself for the day ahead. He knew Sam would probably be passed out by now, so he decided he'd send his plan to her when he got back to the palace. He still intended to prepare for it. Shuffling open one of the lockers, Shine gazed inside. It held a few blaster rifles and pistols, one's he had collected during his travels for various reasons, often depending on what he needed at the time. After a while, he'd started collecting tech and weapons so that he would be prepared for just about any situation he came across. The blaster rifle before him, an older Republic model by perhaps a year, had been his best friend when his pistol simply wasn't enough. Even better, he could break the thing down into pieces that he could hide on his person and reassemble just as quickly. He wanted to take it with him....but a situation that required its use would mean he was right in the bantha dung. He opted for taking another pistol, this one with a minor scope. That would work; quick and easy to use and would let him tag a few uglies if Sam and company had unwanted followers. The next locker over held what he really want though. Like he said, Sam's putty bombs would have been easier to place and do so casually. But normal charge bombs, like the half dozen sitting in the locker, would suffice. Not bigger than his hand, they were packed with enough explosives to tear a chunk out of a steel door.That's pretty much what they were; explosives meshed with a detonator that would receive a signal to blow the payload. They had been breaching charges at first, but the man who sold them to Shine had added his personal touch. A little much...but they'd come in handy before. His suggestion to take out the door would deal with the folks inside if they managed to pull it off; this was going to make sure those outside and that managed to get outside wouldn't be able to give chase. At the peak of the day, he'd counted about fifteen speeders floating outside the palace entrance. Half a dozen bombs to fifteen speeders..the count was against him right? Luckily for him, it wasn't really. He could always acquire a few more explosives easily enough, backwater planets like this were good for finding those kind of things. Even better, most of the speeders had been clustered together; one charge could easily take two speeders if placed right. The domino effect; start one explosion close enough to something else that could explode and let the fireworks set off the next one for you. He would set the charges early in the day and when the plan went into effect, he'd take out their enemies means of transportation. What was better was the bombs wouldn't receive the the signal to blow if they went outside of a certain range. Yes, that meant any of the speeders that left would escape the fate of the others but if they left, then they weren't going to be a problem. Finally, he'd made note of which speeders tended to be there more often than the others; those were his targets. He left the gear out where he would remember it and shuffled off to his personal quarters. He already knew where some of the guards were and since time would be of the essence, the sooner he got to it the better. He'd mark those guards on his copy of the map as he rested on his bunk. using two different indicators to mark which one's were stationary guards and which were one's that seemed to patrol the halls. About an hour later, he finally collapsed to take what would probably be one of this shortest naps of all time. It was an hour before daylight would drop across the planet's surface when Shine's speeder came hovering back towards the palace. He'd gotten a few hours of sleep, more than enough to accomplish the next part of his task with a clear enough head. Any other sleep he needed he could take inside the room he'd ordered inside the palace; he still wasn't sure whether he'd do just that though. For the moment, he focused on the task at hand. Shortly before his arrival though, a message had pinged into his pad. A quick glance at it revealed the sender to be Sam and with a light sigh, he glanced over the material she'd sent. The first was an updated map, with points marked at several places around the palace. Must be where she placed charges. Gotta love a girl who pays attention to detail. He uploaded the new map to his current one, overlapping and saving the new points to it, creating a brand new map that held all the current information. The second message was a reply to an earlier message he had sent, which brought a small grin to his face. At least she hadn't completely ignored the stuff he sent. =Alright, I just wanted to be sure. Thank you for taking the time to tell me. Here, I'm sending you what I was planning earlier. It'll probably be done before you even read this but I trust you to understand why I'm doing it. I know its hard to ask, but trust me on this; I know what I'm doing. See you in a while.= He sent the message, along with a short but direct overview of what he was doing, back promptly, then stored his gear in the pockets of his jacket and stepped outside the speeder. He could have done this the next night but.....well, Sam wasn't waiting to place charges and frell if he did. They would go unnoticed enough; so long as none of them decided to look really closely. He shuffled quickly out of the cab, looking over see if the guards had noticed him. One of them had, his speeder wasn't exactly hard to miss coming in, but the pig scoffed and snorted before going back to simply watching the sand aorund him. Luckily, the two pig headed guards there were busy trying to catch some quick sleep of their own, alternating from the looks of it; one awake while the other went about recharging himself. Carefully slipping around his speeder, he spied his first target. He'd parked his speeder right in the middle of all the others, so getting out and shuffling around them would not look out of place. As he passed the key speeders, he would shuffle one of those bombs from his jacket's many pockets. A quick click would arm the things and it took only a moment to attach the devices to the speeders. He chose to stick them in different places on each speeder; one under the engine, another inside a hole in the old thing, one under the seat of the driver's seat(this one was more hidden from sight from the guard, so it was easier to slip there). All the locations made the devices near impossible to spot and even if someone noticed them, Shine had taken care to make them look like pieces of the speeder. He doubted any of the idiots who used them took care to inspect their vehicles and from the look of some of them....he was right. He'd gotten Athar to at least tell him which speeder he'd be driving for them before the Nauto had shuffled off to do his job, his eyes spying the vehicle on the fringes of the others. Good placement. One final charge was placed and with a grin, Shine carefully made sure the detonator was stored away where he wouldn't hit it by mistake. Satisfied he'd done what he hoped would be useful instead of a hindrance, Shine shuffled to the gate, gave the non-snoring guard a wave and a smile, then headed inside. As he suspected, the palace was almost dead quiet at this hour, something that made him chuckle inside. Without a doubt, at least one of the others would be taking advantage of this time, just like he had. Well, he hoped one of them was. Frell, if he figured out that this time would be good for setting some of the groundwork up, they surely had to have thought of it. He wandered down the halls back to that hallway with the guest rooms, glancing briefly at Sam's room before finding his own and collapsing on the hard bunk. He set his chrono to wake him in a few hours...and went lights out. Around nine or ten, Shine was awake again. And this time, he was nicely seated inside the cantina, a warm drink in his hand. Normally you took a drink chilled but in this case, Shine took it warm so that it went down smooth and quickly. And he could take his time at sipping at it as he set about one of his main jobs for the day. He'd arrived to the cantina earlier than he had wanted, so it was no surprise that Sev wasn't there yet. He'd opted to listening to folks chatter at the bar, watching out of the corner of his eye the beings around him. When a familiar man shuffled in, had a drink or two, then promptly left his table, Shine quickly took his spot and settled there with his drink. A quick click of his pad later and Shine was committed to the task before him. Athar had chosen a good droid to connect the scope too. In the long hours that Shine spent watching that screen, sipping at his drink occasionally as well as watching the various entertainment so as to not make it seem like he was extremely focused on something, the droid went through a fair distance in those tunnels. As Sev had said, the scope's pheromone detector worked like a charm, tagging any new individual it came across with their own unique scent and marker. He had to sort through which were just down there and which were actually patrolling, but some of them made it more obvious than others. The stationary guards were easy; it made it even easier because the droid passed all of them in its journey, or at least all that Shine could see. He counted three in total; one between two large rooms on the far right, one in front of a massive set of rooms in the upper left and one more in the lower left. The latter two seemed to overwatch the three rows of what looked to be cells over the video. That he knew would be their target, so he tagged them promptly, as well as dotted each cell that was occupied. No way to tell which one held the Wookie, but only about half of them were full at the time; at least it made it easier to search them. The giant rooms Shine could only guess at, based off rumors he had heard about Hutt's and keeping "pets". He labeled them as rooms to be avoided at all costs, noting that they were directly below the Hutt's audience chamber. Maybe a good charge would send the Hutt and all his buddies dropping into the pit with his "pet". The thought made Shine chuckle before he went back to work. Wonder how loyal the beasts Hutt's keep really are... The two far rooms, the one's on either side of the guard station, had Shine confused at first. They could be for anything.....until he noticed the pipes....and the water. Small puddles littered the floor near the bottom right room, which had Shine grinning. He tagged the room as a water storage or processing area; figured that's what it was. The final room was easier to figure out, as the droid entered himself to check on the system's within, which revealed the room to be the generator room, supplying power to the whole palace. If we could take that out, we'd not only cripple the door, we'd blind half the building. And with Sev and Sam's gear, they'd be able to see and escape while others fumbled in the dark.He labeled the room and calmly went back to wandering the halls for a bit, adding in new info whenever it chimed into his pad. After wandering for a bit, carefully of course, and logging where guards were patrolling, Shine returned to the cantina for a few more drinks before retiring to his room to put the final touches on their map. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Night fell again and like the night before, Shine found himself sitting in Sam's room with the others, ready to talk about how their day's went. He cast Sam a grin when she patted his shoulder; he hoped it was a good pat instead of a "we need to talk about something" pat. He glanced to them in turn as she spoke, hoping that the fruits of today's labor would at least earn him a little more respect in their eyes....lord knew he needed it. He waited for Sam to finish, for both giving her short summary and messing with her hair a bit, before Shine took first crack at the day's events. "Well, my day went swimmingly. I had a few drinks, watched some ladies dance and more importantly." Pulling out his datapad from his pocket, he did a few quick clicks on it, uploaded a the new map to all of them and then transferred the completed map, at least of what he had gotten over the course of the day, to a small holo device he had brought with him. Clicking it on, he placed it on the bed before Sam, the map hovering in the air high enough for them all to see. "I got it done. It might be missing some points here and there, stuff that could be filled in if you guys got anything to add there, but its the best I could make it. With any luck, it should be enough to make sure you guys get in...and out, without running into too much trouble.
I gotta say Sev, your tech works. And Athar, you picked the right droid for the job, even if he stopped to get oiled up more times then I bothered to count. Aside from the map, I've got my end covered; glanced at your speeder on the way in and I like the look of it. Unless there's anything I missed, I think I'm covered." He drifted his eyes to Sam for a moment, a silent word tossed between his look and hers, before he turned his golden eyes back to the others to hear how they made out.
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
850 posts
0 likes
Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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last online Jun 27, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
Guardian
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Feb 6, 2011 1:41:22 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Feb 6, 2011 1:41:22 GMT -5
Sev was roused very early that next morning as intended, the alarm ringing through his headset causing his eyes to flutter open in a momentary drowse. After a few breaths the soldier had pulled his mind from the depths of sleep to a state of fully awake; he had his training was to thank for that. After a brief freshening, a splash of water for his resistant eyelids, he returned to his chair. A moment of rustling in the confines of his bag and he withdrew the two small bricks of plastic explosive accompanied by a small string of detonators. Taking the pair he sat them on the ground and, withdrawing his combat knife, gently sliced each into halves. Even though they were small Sev knew that in the right hands, in his hands, those small lumps of material could devastate a target. In a single motion his knife was back in its sheath.
This particular target was special in that it was standing in his way. They stood in Sams way so they were in the way of the entire Seventh squadron. Withdrawing the detonators he gently deformed the blocks, inserting the device in order so he knew which detonator corresponded with which location. After each he placed the flattened bit of plastic into the bottom of his bag, stacking each on top of the previous. He knew three of his targets; two would be placed tonight. One had to be placed tomorrow as it was in sight of a camera; that required a bit more preparation. The final one was his choice. He wanted to see about the other rooms they did not know about and, maybe, collapse the hallway to the guard bunks. If each of them played their part the controlled chaos would bring this palace to ruin. Standing Sev propped his M-82 against the chair, flipped on his helmet's HUD and quietly slipped through the door into the black hallways.
The HUD was limited without any other equipment such as the scope or computational unit but amplified the light casting the hall in an eerie hue. The first target was the easiest, the back pylon in the visitors hall. The plaster had cracked and chipped, revealing the masonic stonework beneath in places. Silently stepping into the shadows of the pylons Sev pulled out the first blob. Glancing out into the hall he hesitated a moment before carefully working the piece onto the stonework below the primary layer of plaster. Once it was secure and the antenna of the detonator was sufficiently camouflaged with a dusting of crushed plaster Sev slipped away toward the guest rooms. One down.
The second went the same, Sev slipping through the shadows until he stepped around the other side of the cantina. The sergeant admired some of the attempts that the staff had made to patch up the walls but the quality simply was not there. A little work with his hands and he had cleared enough of the fresh plaster off to get deep enough into the wall to practically replace what he had removed with the small glob. A similar smear of powdered plaster and it was finished. Turning on a heel Sev returned to the room, eager to get a few more hours of sleep. He slipped into the room to find everything where he left it, even Athar looked like he had not shifted since Sev left. Glancing at his watch he nodded at the efficiency; only 30 minutes to accomplish both. Sliding into the chair again he tilted his head back and shut off the HUD, hoping the rest of the day would go well. As his mind clouded with sleep a smile stretched across his lips; at least he could get drunk tomorrow.
Sev was up at dawn. The sun peeked through the slat at the top of the room bringing him out of his sleep in a soft and gentle manner. He knew the palace got moving early so he had to be moving early as well. A brief glance at his chrono and he stood, gathering everything he needed for the day. The sergeant left his pack in the room but stuffed the two globs of plastique explosives in his pockets. He also left his rifle propped against the chair, deferring to the standard sidearm blaster pistol tucked neatly under one arm in a small holster. As he stepped around the bed where Athar lay he placed two fingers on the nautolan's leg to wake the man, recalling his partner in crime wanted to be up early as well. If he got up or not Sev did not pay any mind but slipped from the door before Athar could full rouse himself.
Sev, not needing stealth or subtlety in the least this time around, was soon strolling into the cantina with all the bravado of what he concieved as a hired gun. He took a table near to the bar so he could see every bottle, every label for what the bar had; it was quite well stocked. The bartender gave the soldier a nod, not surprised to have a customer so early in the morning; as if on command (likely on command) a droid hovered to Sev's table displaying a menu on its primary view-screen. The sergeant's order included a breakfast heavy on fats and protein and a stiff mixed drink; he had a long day to go and did not get tipsy easy. The bartender did not have to know that and considering the situation, discretion was his friend.
The goal, in his mind, was not to get drunk but to give the appearance. A stumbling, bumbling drunkard could get through many things a normal person would be turned away from... at least for a few moments.
That was all Sev needed. Solidifying his plan in his mind he wolfed down the breakfast and sat back in the booth, waiting for the day to begin in earnest.
And so it went on. He saw the others here and there but payed no attention more than a nod at Athar or a glance at Shine or Sam's ubese suit. He drank well, sampling some of the finer substances in the Hutt's collection of liquors. They would all be gone in a day or so anyway which meant someone had to have one last binge and it was several hours and a score of different drinks before Sev had worked up a sufficient buzz. After his last drink the bartender was starting to give him looks; Sev could finally get to work.
Standing he faked swerving and stumbling as he made his way to the far side of the cantina. From the exit he turned right and staggered down the long hallway that he chose not to access earlier that morning. There were thankfully no guards which Sev implied may have been an effect of the Hutt's busy schedule. Reaching the back archway he stumbled through it, hitting the opposite wall with his arms. Breathing heavily he glanced right than left through the void in his arms. He saw nothing, no-one. Scoffing he staggered down the left hall, slipping one hand into his pocket before hitting the wall beside the locked passage to the hutts bed chamber, hand up to catch his fall. As the Sergeant stood there, visibly (chuckle) panting and disoriented. In his left hand his fingers were working gently to form the charge into a rough-spot in the wall. It only took a moment but Sev soon had the charge in place.
A scuffing of boots on the plaster from behind him made his heart rate jump considerably. Footsteps. Sound of gear... If he could not pull this off he would have a spare charge to find a place for.
Hey, you!
Clenching his stomach Sev took a deep breath.
You're not supposed to be back h- EUGH!
Perfect execution.
Sev stared down at the pool of vomit at his feet and breathed in. The action was not difficult for him but a little sickenning... he didn't recall eating anything with carrots or tomatoes that morning. In moments the whole hall was rank with the smell of mixed alcohol.
Aye... ah-ah know. Ah jus- wanted tae get oot o'... ugh. Sorry, ah'll go back...
Yes... well, see that you do. Gotta... gotta get a damn cleaning droid.
The guard had pulled an arm across his nose, the smell utterly permeating. Coughing once Sev glanced back to see the man disappearing down another hallway, Sam's designated hallway. Nodding he walked quickly, smoothly in the opposite direction, ducking into the hallway near what they thought was the guard bunks and another unknown room. That unknown room had a small hall leading to it and Sev slipped down it, thankful for a little dark but uneasy in the cramped space.
The door to the unknown room was closed but a small slat of plastisteel gave a small view in. Quickly looking in he proceeded to gasp in excitement and anticipation. The entire room was stocked with weapons! Explosives, rifles, grenades... everything to run a private army. Withdrawing his final piece of plasti-boom he gauged the location of the concentrated explosives carefully and began working it into the plaster. The process took very little time and, after a dusting of plaster he was finished. He stepped back against the wall to send the coordinates of the charges to the group when who should round the corner to make him jump but Sam.
With a smile he explained the situation, the explosives cache and that he had an idea. After a moment they went back to their own devices, Sam waiting for a moment to make sure there was no-one else coming before slipping out of view. Sev followed soon after and made his way back to the cantina. Once there he found his way to a booth again. The guard he met did not sound an alarm and his eyes followed the forms of Shine and Sam around when he saw them. Sev spent the rest of his day with a mug of ale and a smile.
His chrono went off once more that night, set for the same time as the previous. Weapon in hand and after awakening Athar they made their way back to Sam's room. She was waiting for them on the wall this time around and had left the door open so they slipped in. Once everyone was in attendance the meeting began again.
Sam went first, reiterating the point that none of them were dead or had triggered the alarm. Sev could not agree more that this was undoubtedly a step in the right direction. Her charges were planted and they were lit up on the hologram along with Sev's four placements.
Shine spoke second, letting them all know that his own goals had been met with some success as well as that Sev's scope worked as well as it was supposed to. Their speeder was ready to go, they had a nearly complete view of the bottom level of the damned palace, and there seemed to only a be a small handful of guards on duty. The sergeant was pleased that everything seemed to be going quite smoothly. While Shine spoke of the scope Athar leaned foreword and handed the piece back to the soldier; it was scuffed in a few places and had the paint worn off the rail system here and there but it was still in one piece. He hoped Shine would return the computational unit as well.
Sev had to admit; the kid had gotten the job done. He was far from impressed but certainly relieved that everything was going smoothly.
Ah hae four charges planted. Ye' can see them oan th' holo. Ah also think tha' we may 'ave a major distraction if'n we need et; 'ere. Sev paused and pointed to the room on the far side of the palace, near the guard bunks.
Et's a weapon an ammo storage room. Ah 'ave a charge set an' ready tae go. When ah set thus off... ah dinnae know what will 'appen. Et could knock doon a few walls or cave tha' section o' th' palace in aroond us. Ah say we onleh use et if'n we need to or when we are clear.
Nodding he sat back and waited for anything else. He was becoming more anxious about this whole thing. Truth be told, Sev just wanted this to be done and over so he could get off of this sordid dust bowl and go back to Kuat; see the squad again. Sev huffed at that, wondering what they would say if they could see where he was now.
And who with.
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last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
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Feb 16, 2011 16:12:54 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Feb 16, 2011 16:12:54 GMT -5
((short post is going to be short. Also...please, for future...if I have a recurring NPC -like athar- be sure to ask me before using them. I purposefully left Athar giving Sev his scope out of this post. This means don't give the idea to others that they can use them as such. NPC or no, I do like to keep Athar/Havanli/ect mainly under my control, or at least my OK))
Listening to Shine and Sev, it seemed that everything was in place. The guard rounds were times as accurately as possible, the charges set…speaking of charges…
”Charges…that reminds me…this big room here. I have a good portion of it rigged in case we need an alternate route out of here, or up from below. Glad I did, now, since it looks like guards are going to be a problem down there with where they have them set.” She sighed a bit and shook her head. ”I have to give the slimy git one thing…he knows where to place his people to make things difficult.” For a moment she’d look at the map that Shine had just put up, thinking the new information over; unfortunately, everything she could think of was just as uncomfortable as the last.
”Alright, here’s the plan. We all need to make an appearance in the Hutt’s main room in the morning, from there we can excuse ourselves more easily than if we just don’t show up. We can’t risk him sending people after us wondering where we’ve gotten off to for two days when he knows we’re still around. Now, this is going to make things uncomfortable for us, but it would likely be best to make our move in the heat of the day when people are more likely to be paying attention to the heat and less to everything else. This means, Sev, you an’ I need to be out and to the wall behind the cantina by noon.”
Glancing over to him, she’d smile just slightly. Between the odd wave of nostalgia (backwards as it may have been since she was the one giving the ‘orders’ this time), and the list of everything that could go wrong running through the back of her mind, Sam’s gut was twisted in uncomfortable knots. Now’s no time for nerves, Sammy…she reminded herself and did her best to shake the feeling off. Grey eyes turned to Athar and Shine then, these two going to be her biggest worry. She knew Athar would take care of himself, but how to get Shine out without people noticing, or getting him trapped inside when the doors ‘stopped’ working? Those were questions she didn’t have answers to yet.
”Athar, I’ll give you the EMP tonight, be sure to place it tomorrow after we’ve started. You’ll need to set it off when it looks like they’re going to follow, so you’ll likely have to stay inside and find a way out, or go with us. Shine, you need to be out the doors either before, or just after, he places it. Relax in your speeder, relax in the shade, I don’t really care what you do out there so long as you keep your head down and are ready to go whenever we show up because I'm sure we’ll have plenty of company.”
She’d hand the EMP device to Athar as she stifled a yawn. Seemed like the day was really getting to her. Getting some decent sleep would be welcome. ”So, unless anyone has anything else to say, any questions to ask, or suggestions to make, I think that’s about it. Pack your gear, clean your weapons, and get some sleep, boys...we’re all gonna need it for tomorrow.”
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
1,617 posts
86 likes
Rocking from the Great White North
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last online Apr 20, 2022 19:46:47 GMT -5
Master
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Feb 16, 2011 22:35:14 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Feb 16, 2011 22:35:14 GMT -5
It was Shine's turn to keep quiet and listen as Sev talked about how his chores for the day went. As expected, his task was much more dangerous then sitting in a cantina all day plugging away at a map, although only in the sense that it would be easier for him to be caught doing it. Had many of the folks in the bar not preferred to mind their own business and tried to see what had kept Shine sitting in that same booth for most the day, he might have had a harder time getting his work done. Still, he had to hand it to the man; he'd managed to stick some shiny bombs in some very nasty places without getting busted. He couldn't admit that wasn't impressive. Shine had to admit, he was curious to how Sev and Sam had pulled it off. But for now, it was better to focus on the task at hand.
Golden eyes looked over the holo closely when Sev mentioned the charges he'd placed, spying the four blinking dots that indicated them as such. The weapons room was a nice touch; set off a bomb in a place like that, frell, a chunk of the palace was likely to go missing as a result. Shine made a note to mark that section of the map in red on his datapad, a warning to be sure he wasn't anywhere near that area when the distraction came into effect. It was a good idea, especially considering Sev suggested using it only if need be. It was in bad taste to cause a distraction that could effectively screw you up as well.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Athar leaning forward. The Nauto produced the scope that Sev had given him the night before to relay the video of the sub level to Shine, handing the device back to the man. Something in his mind clicked at that sight and he just barely kept himself from slapping his hand to his forehead. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small piece of equipment Sev had given him the day before, the computational unit for the scope. With a slight shrug, he tapped the man on the knee before offering the item to him. After he took it, Shine settled back in his chair to listen to their fearless commander.
Most of her words regarded what their battle plan was. Showing up would not be a problem; he was expected to check in before he headed off world anyway. As for the heat well.....he was probably better off then the others in terms of what he could wear that didn't turn him into a human sauna. Sam and Sev had to wear the heavier stuff they had been using; it masked who they were, which is what they wanted. And Athar...well, the Nautolan was not built for warm climates, so he was likely going to be grumpy no matter what time of day it was.
His golden eyes met Sam's grey ones when she turned on him, reminding him when he needed to be out into the desert sun and what to do to kill the time until his role was needed. He doubted he would get the chance to simply laze about in the speeder while this all went down, but he smiled and nodded anyway. That would be his problem for when the time came; they had enough on their plate and he wasn't going to make it worse by having them worry about him on the side.
"Now that sounds like a good plan, minus the fact that the only shade I'll get is from hunkering on the sand under a speeder. Just be sure to give me a fair head's up before you reach the exit. The less time between me getting there and you guys getting there, the better the chance I avoid catching some lovely man's eye by loitering about. And don't worry. You probably weren't going to anyway, but I'll take care of my end, no problems.
We could always jury rig a trip wire of sorts for the EMP. Athar could set the device, leave the tripwire in a place that only the flurry of rushing guards would cause it to be tripped and trigger the EMP once that it is tripped. Which Athar could do from the safety of outside the palace instead of being trapped inside against a group of annoyed Hutt's cronies. I know, its out there. Feel free to disregard; just speaking my mind again.
I'm done though; if there's nothing else, I agree with Sam. Time to pack it up, get it together and pray to whatever god you believe in that fortune favors us tomorrow." He had to hide a yawn too, though he hiccuped once as a result of it. Best thing they could all do now was sleep, get their nerves in top form and get ready for what was about to be a very very eventful day.
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
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Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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Mar 10, 2011 23:59:24 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Mar 10, 2011 23:59:24 GMT -5
[sorry about the scope thing; thought it was implicit that he would return it. Wont happen again.]
So it all came down to this; the quick smash and grab. He wished their targeted time was a bit broader to accommodate a longer planning phase. The fewer variables, the Sergeant sighed, the fewer hiccups along the way. It was reassuring to have Sam, a true and tried soldier, heading it, however. In her shoes and given the same time to work with he would have likely thought of a very similar plan. Granted, more walls would likely be standing at the end of it and they would have gone in through the floor of one of the rooms... a smirk raced fleetingly across his features; ground ops were the most interesting. With the guards, droids, and so on, they would have to move quickly after the main act started. If they were lucky they would be out while the slug's forces were still disoriented from the explosions.
Quick, clean... like back in the day.
As Sam moved to outlining their locations for the first act Sev leaned back in his seat, eyes narrow and focussed on every word she spoke. Every detail was important and every gesture no matter how subtle passed immense meaning and intent; this was Sam after all. Brathos taught her well, a thought Sev mentally cringed at.
Her emphasis on the time of day and the glance that he caught was actually one that he had hoped for. The move was smart if not initially obvious. To move in the heat of the day was to catch the hutt and his guards at their most vulnerable as activity was limited to stay cool. Sure their little group would be a little more uncomfortable but the benefits outweighed the discomfort. He gave her a subtle smile in return for her glance, a confident reassurance that everything would (hopefully) turn out all right. But now he had his orders; the Cantina by noon. It was more than enough time to do what needed to be done, reattach his equipment, gear up for what was sure to be a time he would not soon forget. A word with Athar on the EMP concept and she gave the "dismissed" sentence, barring more questions. Sev had few so he shifted foreword, ready to get to bed and get this unpleasantness over.
Shine didn't seem happy about his duty but accepted it with minimal complaints to which Sev only scoffed. He was tempted to say something along the lines of "war isnae glorious, lad" or "ev'n th' small tasks 'r importan'." He didn't need to. The kid seemed to understand their situation more than he had supposed at first; that was good enough for the Sergeant in him.
Shine's comment about the trip-wire activation was something, though Sev thought it seemed unlikely. Too many things could go wrong and even such a simplistic task like a trip needed extensive planning.
Likeleh no' lad. If'n ye were tae rig somethin' in th' middle o' th' day it'd be much more easily seen. Ah think Athar can set somethin' up that'd serve th' same job withoot ae actual wire. Aside, ye should be ootside before e' ev'n sets et. Et may've been possible las' night but et's tae late now.
Sev had to hand it to Shine, he had an idea that could work quite well despite the fact it was a day late and a credit short. Stretching he waited a moment in silence as the lad stretched and yawned. The Sergeant stood and stretched, touching his middle fingers to the ceiling as his back popped. Better. He had every bit of the tech he handed out, he knew what had to be done; Sev was ready. Smiling to the others he nodded.
Ah'm anticipatin' tomorrow. Et should show th' validity o' Seven tactics an' that we can do th' impossible yet again. Ooh rah, lads an' lass; get good rest an... The sergeant's eyes, which had glazed over for a moment, blinked twice as he realized he was giving the "prep the troops" moral booster. He glanced to Sam and smiled, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.Ol' habits die hard. Sleep well.
Shouldering his rifle Sev slid his chair out of the way before pulling the door open and slipping out. The dark was oppressive, like the night before but Sev moved with purpose that was tarnished by the heavy eyes and slower than normal gait. Reaching his door he opened it and was almost at once drawn to his chair. Removal of his boots, helm, and other jagged objects took all of a few moments and he slumped to his seat, setting his datapad alarm for the Tattooine equivalent to 0800. Setting it aside he leaned his head back against the wall, eyes sliding shut. This evening he didn't even hear Athar come in, he was asleep that fast.
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Mar 30, 2011 21:12:44 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Mar 30, 2011 21:12:44 GMT -5
“We could always jury rig a trip wire of sorts for the EMP…”
Sam actually considered it for a moment, her face thoughtful as she mulled the idea over. EMPs…they weren’t her forte. They were relatively new and she’d not done any real research on them, but like any mine or grenade (or really any sort of weapon) a tripwire was possible, and not necessarily a bad idea. The only thing was…
“Likeleh no’ lad. If’n ye were tae rig somethin’ in th’ middle o’ th’ day it’d be much more easily seen…”
That was one concern covered without her needing to say anything, though she nodded slightly in agreement.
“…Aside, ye should be outside before e’ ev’n set et…”
There was point two. Leave it to Fearless Leader to point out the problems before I can, she mused, nodding again. ”Those were my concerns too. It’s a good idea, but none of us thought about it until it was too late, which it is…too late I mean.” The popping of Sev’s back had her turning from Shine to look at him with an impish grin. ”Gettin’ old there, Sev?” Grinning (and obviously teasing), she stuck her tongue out at him and snickered, the sound only intensifying as he gave them the old Seven’s pre-operation nighttime pep-talk. It had her nearly doubled over.
Athar didn’t seem so amused by the situation. In fact, he seemed downright grouchy, those head tresses twitching slightly as he eyed Sam, who was valiantly attempting to regain her composure. The bad part was, Athar’s sour stance had her even more tickled, and that only made him more irritable. It was a horrible cycle that she could never stop being amused by. Finally, though, she managed to grin back at Sev and pat him on the shoulder. ”I can see that. Now everyone out. Sleep time for Sam. Shoo…shoo!” And with that she made sure to usher them all out the door.
Day dawned early enough and Sam was up, armored, and out the door not long after she was up. It couldn’t have been any later than 8am that she was in the Hutt’s main room, propped in a corner near where Sev and Athar had been posted when they first arrived. She’d always been a bit of an early riser, and today was no different. She spoke a bit to the Hutt’s primary servant, who came with a list of potential jobs for her to choose from (well, a list may be exaggerating slightly since it was only three choices long), and would be looking it over quietly for a few minutes before making her ‘choice’. An hour later she had all the details of the job and set about figuring out just how to screw this particular Hutt over even further with the knowledge.
…Not that he would know that…
Sev hadn’t arrived much after her, Athar coming in a few minutes after with a drink she was sure had to be caffeinated. The day progressed fairly uneventfully, Athar coming and going several times, Shine arriving, her own comings and goings every so often…but as the morning crawled more into noon, there was a subtle (but obvious) change in the atmosphere as it grew more lazy, if not downright sleepy. That was her cue. Getting up from her table, she’d stretch just slightly (enough to tense her muscles and relax them again but little more than that), and head out of the main room, heading toward the cantina.
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
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Rocking from the Great White North
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Mar 31, 2011 0:21:20 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Mar 31, 2011 0:21:20 GMT -5
Shine could only nod when Sev found the flaws in his trip wire plan. Truth be told, he'd considered those problems when he first put forth the idea. He'd actually hoped that one of the others in the room might have something to add that would make the idea workable in the situation....but alas, the room was stale. Though surprisingly enough, he swore he saw a twinkle in Sev's eyes when he gave the idea....was that a possible hint of respect?
Either way, it faded fast in the wake of Sev's concerns about it. Unlike the other ideas Shine had put forth though, it wasn't because it was simply a bad idea per say...it was just that Shine hadn't put it forth fast enough. Had they had a day to set up a proper device or plot out a plan around it, it might have worked. Now, on the eve of their plan...okay, their plan that he was now a part of, they simply didn't have the time to carefully set it up. It was understandable...a shame but understandable. Shine shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his seat, a small sigh escaping him as Sam mirrored the same thoughts about it.
"Yea well, it was a thought. Though I wouldn't need to be inside to have it go off.....but that's in the past. I think everything that can be done is done; all that's left is to saddle up and make sure Sam's brilliant planning doesn't go to waste. Though if everything goes exactly to specs it should be....." Shine trailed off as Sev sat up and stretched out his form. But it wasn't because of that that he stopped talking...it was the semi loud pop that came from his back when he reached to his peak.
Shine couldn't help it, especially after Sam's following comment. He chuckled. He managed to still his laughter long enough to listen to Sev's speech, something that sounded like it had been said before....many a times before. It was almost like the speeches his flight commander had given before any of them went out on a run or before those missions he had partaken in....something from his and Sam's past from the way she barely managed to keep from doubling over.
"I know a great acupuncturist if the old man has some kinks he needs to work out. I think I'm doing the right job then; let the wise old man outwit the foolish youngsters while the crazy kid drives." This time he made it clear in his light and upbeat tone that he was kidding, trying to help lighten the mood before the harsh day ahead. He found himself watching Sam almost give in to laughter from another source for the final moments...which appeared to be the Nautolan who was twitching in the corner. Oh dear, better get out before dad blows his top.
Standing, Shine said good night to them before heading to the door. He was next out after Sev, though Sam had to actually push him out as he playfully asked if she wanted an extra pillow for the night. Chuckling to himself, he vanished into the darkened halls to collapse onto a bed that he swore was made had to be made of Hutt hide with how thick it felt. Sleep took him quick and it took him easily as the world went black.
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Morning came quickly for Shine, who slept only as long as he needed to regain his senses. He thanked once again the military life that he had been a part of, allowing him to gain a measure of sleep in less hours then a normal person needed to function. Granted, he slept a little longer this time, the time being around 7 in the morning when he rose from the room he had ordered for the night, stretching out his sore limbs as he ushered himself down the halls to the cantina for a morning drink. He already had his datapad in hand, going over final details for his ship's upgrades and for the run he was "going" to take for the Hutt. He fully intended to complete the job, the Hutt was paying him well and the thought of failing the slimy bucket of gas had him shuddering lightly in the crisp air of the halls. However, there was no telling what would happen in the day...and with any real luck, the puss ball would suffer an "untimely" end by mistake.
It would be a rather amusing way to top off the day at least.
No one save for some hangover patrons and other early risers were lurking the cantina when he got in. A quick glance around provided him with the knowledge that none of the others were in here, a fact that meant they were either still sleeping or elsewhere in the palace. Grabbing a drink and some food, Shine made his way to the Hutt's main chambers and settled into a seat near to the door, sipping at his drink lightly. Just before 8 he vanished from the chamber in order to "take care of some business" before returning at about quarter past to his seat to work. A familiar Ubese sat in the darkened corners of the room by that point, though Shine acted as if he didnt even see the figure as he settled back into his seat. Sev came in almost right after him, Athar quick to follow after that. All the players were here...now time was the only one they waited upon.
The time ticked by slowly as the day progressed, Shine spending most of it conversing with one of the Hutt's men who was providing final details for his job. It was mostly clear cut information that Shine already knew, but he was simply stalling for time before he had to make the impression that he was leaving to fulfill the job. The others wandered in and out then, Shine as well to grab some more light snacks and beverages, amusing himself with a small group after his talk was done with a "friendly" game of Paazak that scored Shine a few extra credits for his trouble.
And finally the midday came. The heat could be felt clearly now, the buildings design doing a poor job of keeping that from cooking its inhabitants. People were slower, some of them even dozing in the heat. And when he saw the Ubese stand and leave, Shine made his final call, lost a good deal of chips to make himself look like he'd had enough and excused himself before sauntering out the door. No one questioned him, they'd all seen his deal with the Hutt. They knew he was getting out to get work done before he was done. And as he passed by Sam on the way out, her hidden from heading into the cantina, a smirk caressed his face.
And let the games begin.
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
850 posts
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Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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last online Jun 27, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
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Apr 10, 2011 19:43:10 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Apr 10, 2011 19:43:10 GMT -5
The sergeant's eyes fluttered open only a few moments before his alarm sounded. Spitefully he silenced the damn thing with a good mashing and sat straighter, stretching against the damned crick that the chair had recreated in the small of his back over the last few hours. Another gentle pop and he was back in order. Everything was right where he left it, Athar breathing softly on the bed opposite him; he would be roused soon. Glancing at the local time he sighed at the early hour but the amount of sleep he got was moot; he could have done this particular op on none at all. Standing he began the routine for the day, ready to be on with this.
At 7 Sev exited the small bath, refreshed and ready to get to work. A brief touch on Athar's shoulder was all that he gave before moving back to his own seat. Sitting he reached into his pack and drew a square black object before drawing his knife with his off hand. He hadn't sharpened his combat blade in some time and, as Athar did his own preparations Sev tasked himself to sharpening his blade. Very soon he saw the clock tick half after seven and he stopped, stowing the whetstone and slipping the dagger back into its holster. Paying no more attention to the other man in the room he quickly donned every bit of necessary gear and vanished out of the main door, rifle securely attached to his back.
Ready... I'm ready.
Sev didn't start with the alcohol this time. A quick trip to the cantina saw him eating a modest breakfast, trying his best to look and act the part of a surly guard that had a chip on his shoulder. Whenever someone bumped into him he would huff or growl or shoot them a look of fire; thankfully no one really took much notice. Upon finishing with the breakfast he made his way into the audience chamber, sun visor down, and took a seat in a decent position where Ather hopefully would join him soon.
Indeed the small group came and went throughout the few hours that they had to kill. With the sun-visor down Sev kept an eye on everything that he could; sipping on a glass of jawa juice as he kept on alert. If one of the guards noticed his handiwork on the far wall the situation would get ugly quickly and he had to be ready. Several times he saw Shine and Sam, each playing their part in their own way. Shine seemed to hold attention quite well as he sat and spoke with one of the hutt's lackeys whilst played a few hands of pazaak. Sam remained silent and segregated, keeping herself limited to the back corner in the shadows.
When Athar arrived and began his own version of dicussion the soldier simply kept himself quiet, acting like the dumb muscle that he was supposed to be. But with every moment that ticked by, every laugh or shout or word spoken it got hotter. The sun was merciless on the palace and, as Sev slowly began to feel hot under the helm he wondered... how the frell did they make a palace that could stand this kind of temperature variant day and night. Despite the heat he continued to drink the jawa juice, keeping his temperature down and his alcohol levels high. He would need all the focus he could get for this little op.
Finally the hour drew late and the room took on a distinct feeling of laziness. Glancing at his datapad he huffed, looked over at Athar and stood. Back in a moment. Of course that meant nothing. He had left his drink half full and stepped out of the seating area. A moment later he was standing in the hall outside the cantina. Beyond that he turned right into the small hall behind it. There she waited, still suited in the garb of the ubese and looking as lethal as ever. Reaching back he pulled his rifle off his back and turned to look at the entrance to the small hallway. Placing his free hand to his ear he spoke over the com-link between the two of them.
Ready?
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Apr 13, 2011 8:47:23 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Apr 13, 2011 8:47:23 GMT -5
((Museic: Bulletproof Heart AND Save Yourself, I'll hold them back …likely for a few posts >_> …btw, did anyone else go “pigs = gammoreans?” for one of those lines in Bulletproof Heart or was it just me? <_< )) Goddess it’s hot…this is worse than some of those desert missions.Leaning back against one of the walls, Sam wished she could absorb some sort of cool…something. Heck, even taking the mask for this thing off would have been preferable. As she waited the short amount of time it took for Sev to get to her, she attempted not to focus on the heat, but rather on the mission. It helped, a little, but it was like fighting a losing battle…luckily Sev arrived to save the day, his appearance bringing a smile to her face below that emotionless mask. “Ready?” She nodded, clicking on her internal com unit, keeping her voice quiet so it only sounded across the comms. ”But of course. Did you expect otherwise?” She’d chuckle a softly, moving past him and giving his shoulder a light squeeze with one hand before pulling her rifle from the sling across her back. Cradling it with one arm, she kept a casual eye on the happenings around the cantina, slipping around the wall and into the back hallway that would take them to the stairs leading to the lower level. It wasn’t exactly difficult to do considering the fact that most of people around the cantina area gave a care less about anything (especially in the heat), and that Shine had done a remarkably good job at noting the timing of the guard rounds. It made for an almost casual walk back toward the northernmost stairway. A glance was given down the opposite direction as she moved toward it, only slowing as they came up toward the first side hall. Glancing at Sev, she was sure to catch his attention before motioning him to check the hall on the left and closer to the stairs. She had the one for the guard rooms covered. Once she was sure he’d gotten the instructions, that rifle came up and pressed tight to her shoulder, her form coming away from the wall and turning to aim down the corridor. Nothing. No one. She nodded once, letting Sev pass behind her to check the next hall, the sound of his boots lightly grinding against the sand covered floor as he moved striking a nostalgic chord in her heart. Sam couldn’t help but smile behind that mask, heat or no. She was glad he was with her on this…she’d have to tell him so later. Glancing back down the hall toward the cantina, she was pleased to see no one was coming…but that wouldn’t last forever. Her head swiveled back toward Sev. With the all clear, she nodded once and strafed quietly toward the stairwell. Her sights met nothing but emptiness. Another nod to Sev and a swift motion to approach, she gave the signal to head down through the gloom to the cooler basement. As they moved her voice would crackle softly across the comm. ”Sev, I’ve got the creeps with this place. Might be a good idea to keep an eye on places we can leave some presents on the way out if we need.”Slowing at the bottom of the stairwell she pressed her back against the wall, waiting for him to come into position across from her. Peering around the corner as he stopped, she swiftly pulled her head back and looked hard at Sev through the tinted eyes of that mask. A swift and silent shift of her rifle had it cradled in her left arm, leaving her right hand free. That hand came up, back of her gloved hand toward him, two fingers up. A swift jerk of her thumb over her shoulder gave the obvious direction before those same two fingers held together swept down in front of her to point a westerly direction. Two men…down the hall…heading down the east/west corridor toward the cell block. The whine and whirr of the generator in the room behind them prickled at her ears, coming suddenly to the forefront of her senses as the situation seemed to heighten all of them. She blamed it on the sharp spike in adrenaline since that was the most likely cause. Samantha highly doubted the generator had suddenly gotten louder or more annoying. She bit back a chuckle at the thought, her mind focusing back in on the fact that she wasn’t entirely certain if the two guards had seen her poke around the corner or not. It was doubtful since they had been nearly into the cross hall, but it was still a risk. Another peek around the corner found no one in sight. Giving the thumbs up to Sev, she got a grip on her rifle with both hands once again and came around the corner into the main north/south hall. The darkened, underground, basement of the palace was indeed cooler than the above ground main palace, and her body thanked her (and to some degree the Hutt) for being someplace even slightly less of an absolute oven. The thick and heavy Ubese gear that covered her from head to toe had her feeling like she was losing a pound a minute as she moved into the hall. Nothin’ doing except pushing through it, Sammy, she mused silently, gun held tightly to her shoulder as her eyes swept the area and her HUD readouts in one fluid motion. Coming to the cross section, she backed toward the wall nearest her again, lifting her rifle to keep it from being seen as she crept closer toward the corner. This was a potentially sticky situation. With the cross hall being so wide it not only made it more easy to see them from the opposite direction the closer they got to the corner (either of them), but if they each took a corner it put space between them…space she’d have preferred not to be there at this particular juncture. Those problems certainly weren’t made any simpler by the fact that each direction had a guard post relatively near by. Her mind clicked swiftly as they crept closer to the intersection, but she finally reached a decision. She would simply have to accept the space in favor of covering both angles at once. Motioning for Sev to take the opposite corner, she trusted him to do his part as she lowered herself to a knee and poked her head around the corner and came back. Nothing on first sight…now time to double check. Another peek around her corner at the end of the relatively short hall found a couple of Gammorean guards waddling out of their station against the wall at the end of the hall. Immediately she was back around her corner and motioning to get Sev’s attention and give him the heads up on the guards. She sure hoped it was clear on his end because they’d have to make a pretty good dash for it to keep out of sight of these guards so they didn’t raise an alarm. Creeping back a pace or two she stood and peeled herself away from the wall, covering the width of the hall and coming up beside Sev in no more than four steps. She was ready to move…and cover their arses if she needed to. I really hope I don’t need to.
The Ubese wasn’t the only woman merc/bounty hunter hanging around the Hutt’s palace. Certainly she wasn’t covered head to toe in thick cloth, but she looked just as dangerous with her Epicanthix blood showing easily in the shape and build of her body. Tall, dark, muscular…she wasn’t bad looking, but the triple scars running over one eye certainly made her intimidating. This particular mercenary had been playing Pazaak with a certain smuggler…his trend in winning not going unnoticed by the ever astute warrior. Now, she didn’t particularly like the smuggler, this “Shine” person, but then again…she had a sort of vendetta against the scuz-buckets. Especially the male ones. That’s why it should come as no surprise that she had been paying particularly close attention to him and his antics at the table, a mental score of wins/losses running through her mind. Keeping that in mind, it should also come as no surprise that she found it very curious that he had such a sudden, and devastating, loss. As he got up, excusing himself from the game, and headed for the door without another word, she took her own winnings and stowed them away appropriately. She had a mind to follow that man and see what he was up to. …Maybe pick a fight…
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
1,617 posts
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Rocking from the Great White North
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last online Apr 20, 2022 19:46:47 GMT -5
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Apr 13, 2011 21:13:47 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Apr 13, 2011 21:13:47 GMT -5
It didn't take Shine long to navigate his way back to the main entrance of the Hutt's palace, the route was already burned into his mind after all. There was a gnawing feeling in his gut, the same one that had saved him countless times when he was flying. Pilot's sense they called it...the uncanny ability that allowed pilots to know when to evade or fire or when something wasn't right. And it was nipping at him now.....but even though he glanced back several times, he saw nothing wrong around him. Perhaps he was just getting goosebumps about what was about to go down.
As he got closer and closer to those massive doors, the temperature of the air around him steadily grew. He'd thought the center of the Hutt's palace had been warm? Obviously the trips to and from the palace in the night had made him forget just how hot this planet could get. Next time....if there was a next time...he came here, he'd bring much lighter clothing. Maybe the local stores had something he could grab on the way out.
When he arrived at the main doors, he gave a small nod to the lone guard standing there, a Nikto if Shine's knowledge of other species was any good. Which was odd, because usually there were two guards standing here at all times. It was almost enough to give cause for worry....until he saw the other guard, a Gran, lurking in the shadows. Or should he say sleeping in the shadows. The three eyed alien may have been hidden in darkness, but he outline could be seen heaving in rythm and the alien snored like his Hutt master. Loud and clear.
Sam was right.....everyone's lazy in the middle of the day when the heat is on. Let's just hope it stays that way.
The Nikto groaned as the doors slowly creaked open, a wave of pure heat spraying into the dully lit entrance through the gaping hole. Shine had to turn his eyes away for a moment, ever so briefly, as the bright light of the sun blinded his eyes. When you spent several days in a place with lighting as dim and gloomy as the palace was, the light of two suns was a little overwhelming. Slowly, reluctantly, Shine turned back towards the entrance and started making his way towards it, giving the Nikto one more nod before he stepped out into the sand.
The searing heat wasted no time in attacking his body, the sweat already forming on his brow. He took a moment to let his eyes fully adjust to the light, casting a final glance back at the palace entrance, before making his way towards the speeders. The two Gamorrean guards were still there, each of them pushed back into the shade of the palace as much as they could, both awake from what he could see. But they didn't seem to happy about having to stand out in the heat of the day; fear of what their boss would do to them if they left their post must have outweighed their hate of the heat though. Devotion through fear.....well, what works works right?
As soon as he was clear of the palace and almost upon the speeders, Shine slipped his hand into his pocket and produced a small device. It was a comm link, one modified to fit to the user's ear and drape slightly down towards the mouth, allowing the user to remain hands free while using it. Sam had given it to him the night before, after Shine had talked with her about getting to them when they needed him, not going to the point right away. It bettered his chances of not arousing suspicion from anyone watching. The comm was two way; once both ends linked on, Shine could hear them and they could hear him. Until then, no connection would be made, so even though he keyed his end into the ready, nothing he said would pass over until Sam activated the opposite end.
The waiting would be the hardest part, knowing that any number of things could go wrong and that he, being outside and the driver, would be helpless to do anything about it. He'd just have to trust in the trio to handle themselves and make sure when they needed him, he would be there.
He reached Athar's speeder without much trouble, walking up to the vehicle and giving it a quick check over with his eyes to make sure the sands hadn't done a number on it. That was the thing about speeders on Tatooine....if one wasn't careful, sand got everywhere. Only a few days here and he had learned that already...the Cat was going to be leaking sand for a month. Patting the side, Shine was about to turn the thing on and make sure it still ran...when the gnawing feeling from before returned. And this time, it was stronger. And this time, for reason; when Shine looked back, he saw a woman approaching...one of the players from the card game earlier. She wasn't a bad looker and was a tough player at the game, what with her poker face towards any hand. But she'd won the biggest of the pot when he'd lost, so why she would be coming out fell into two categories.
She was leaving. Or she was coming to him about something. He prayed it was the former...until she started coming straight for him. Damn....better solve this quick before I'm needed. Last thing I need is to get caught up. Turning from the speeder, he cast a light smile towards her as he turned to face her. "Why, hello there. Sorry, but I don't have any more credits for you to win from me at the moment. Still need some to pay for my bread and butter. But it was a pleasure to lose to you Ms...I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name earlier.
Anyway, I have to be hitting the stars soon enough so....is there something I can help you with?" He only prayed it was just to ask for a rematch....but how often was the lady in the heavens that nice?
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
850 posts
0 likes
Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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last online Jun 27, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
Guardian
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Apr 26, 2011 20:08:35 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Apr 26, 2011 20:08:35 GMT -5
((Sorry its taken so long. Doesn't help that my last year of undergrad is wrapping up.))
”But of course. Did you expect otherwise?”
The sergeant, eyes hidden behind a mixture of the clear sun-visor and the SNARL view-screen, smiled back at her. Her voice over the com, the two of them standing together ready to complete this op had Sev simmering in nostalgia. With a quick glance from both of them they slowly moved off the wall behind the cantina and stepped, almost casually, down the hall toward their chosen entrance. Purposefully Sev slid the rifle into the notch in his shoulder, barrel down, finger seated near the safety beside the pistol-grip. The soldier hoped deeply that they wouldn't run into trouble right away, the fate of an innocent being the cost should they screw this up.
They reached the stairs, checking halls, leering around the door to the hutt's chambers, without incident. So far so good. The sergeant, having spent so many years on Corellia, expected that the opening to the basement would be cooler than the above ground and, as a tickle of cool air hit his face, he realized how thankful he was to be right. He could feel the sweat building and pooling around the contact points in his helmet and through his combat gear, the heat finally becoming a nuisance on a recognizable level. Shifting in his gear he paused at the top of the stair and waited for Sam to get in position, holding his hand up in the gesture of "Wait." It was purely reflexive, of course, but a moment after they were both in position he brought the hand foreword and stepped quickly down the stairs into the cooler subsurface.
Cooler was mostly a technical term as it was only a few degrees lower than what was in the floors above; barely below sweltering.
”Sev, I’ve got the creeps with this place. Might be a good idea to keep an eye on places we can leave some presents on the way out if we need.”
His voice was soft over his com, barely a whisper to be heard as they both moved quickly and quietly down limited set of stairs.
If'n ye 'ave any more plasti' look fer cracks. Anythin' larger than tha' we'll 'ave ae difficult time placin' et unnoticed.
At the base of the stair he paused and allowed Sam to pass him, the soldier looking with both his eyes and his rifle back up the stair. The SNARL didn't detect anything. With a nod he quickly turned and pressed against the wall beside Sam just in time for her to snap back, having peered around the corner. Nodding at the hand signals he took a deep breath knowing that this was going to be difficult; any disruptive noise and those guards would be all over them. That said, the sergeant practically jumped when the generator ignited, drowning the passage in an unpleasant droning. Well, that was one way to mask our footsteps.
Movement from Sam had his attention back to the hallway, a thumbs-up indicating the all clear. With little more than a nod from the sergeant she brought her rifle up and spun around the corner, Sev's own rifle up right next to her shoulder as moved with her. The SNARL on his head chippered and whirred, the little computational center making the calculations that were required. With it he could practically follow the "stench" of the Gamorrean guards, the receiver on his rifle reaffirming that they had both gone down the western passage.
His head was clear as they came to the four-directional intersection that acted as the main shunt to the entire basement. Taking a deep breath he quickly caught Sam's motion for him to take the other corner with which he complied; the extra visibility down this hall possibly being the different of life and death. Quickly he poked his head out from where he knelt, eyes darting this way and that before withdrawing. Thankfully, at least down the the slanted hallway that ran toward the holding cells where he hoped they would find their target the Gamorreans moved away from them through the gloom. After a moment they vanished from view, back to the north by Sev's best estimate, and returned the hall to inactivity.
Turning back to Sam he quickly flashed a thumbs up only to find her scraping up beside him, gesturing that there were several guards down the opposite (eastern) hall. Nodding he stood and used his rifle to peek around the corner and down that same western hallway. He did see the Gamorreans through the scope, waddling toward them through the same deep gloom as with the others. As he watched, crouching uncomfortably in the shadows, the generator sputtered and failed briefly before coughing to life and evening out once more. The sound must have been unexpected by the guards as they stopped, looked at some unseen image and moved out of view. An instant later there was the sound of steel on stone as a latch was freed and a scraping that soon heard the latch falling back into place.
For a moment nothing happened, no new guards moving into view, no sounds over the pulsating generator, no movement from the guard house behind them. A drop of sweat ran down Sev's cheek, reminding him that there was a reason that they picked this time of day. A moment later movement again filled his scope as the Gamorean moved back across the hallway and out of view. However, once again there was stillness. Sighing Sev clicked his com.
Ah dinnae see any go down th' first cell row, first left. Move quick, stay low, be ready tae fire.
Taking a deep breath Sev spun out into the main hall. Moving in a half-crouch he moved as quickly as he could, boots scraping on the dry plastered surface as they moved rapidly down the slightly slanted hall. The moment he came into view of the sizable guardhouse some distance down the cell blocks his heart rose dramatically. There were no guards standing outside and none visible. The moment he reached the corner he spun around the corner and out of line of sight from any potential onlookers. Sam appeared a moment later. In that instance he froze, waiting for a commotion, any extra noise from the guard house that they had seen him. Nothing came. All remained quiet, the echoing of the generator continuing to reverberate through the subsurface. Sighing he turned and nodded at Sam, they were almost there.
Stepping away from the hall he brought his hand up, two fingers together, pointed toward Sam and then toward the farthest cell on the block.
Check these cells for him.
Stars, let him be in this block. Before he could move, however, he noticed the second hallway and stopped her with a raised fist. Stepping to the corner he quickly glanced, his gaze met only by doors. Nodding he gestured her foreword again with a brief horizontal circle of the same hand. Whatever that was it may be interesting, but the wookie was the intent now.
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last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
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Apr 28, 2011 0:00:57 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Apr 28, 2011 0:00:57 GMT -5
‘Barely below sweltering’ for Sev was a blessing and a half for Sam, the thick ubese gear covering every inch of her body acting like a sort of self-contained sauna. She was quite honestly surprised she wasn’t steaming as some of the heat rolled off of her. His voice across her comm had the woman smiling and biting back a chuckle. She had a bit more ‘plasti-boom’ around her, sure…even a few detonators, but not much. Considering she’d had to plan on doing this thing relatively alone in the beginning she had made quite sure to get enough of the stuff to do a good deal of damage. Thank the Goddess for forward thinking. Despite the fact that what he said wasn’t news to her, she nodded silently before going about ‘business as usual.’
Some business as usual. I should take a break from trying to be a citizen soldier. Wait, did he almost jump? Nah, seeing things. The day Sev gets twitchy is the day I…know what, never mind, I’m not tempting fate.
As she moved from the stairwell into the main hall, she could feel Sev come around behind her, the muzzle of his rifle just barely in view of her HUD. He hadn’t touched her, nor had his weapon, but she could feel an intensity behind her that was distinctly Sev…maybe it was the heat, but the whole thing felt remarkably familiar. Nostalgia, Sammy…that’s what it is, now get your head back in the game. She didn’t need to remind herself twice as she had pressed against the eastern corner and peered around it, catching sight of those two guards headed their direction on the second look. It had been a good thing she’d looked twice since she knew for a fact they hadn’t been there on the first one. As she moved across to Sev’s position on the western corner she caught a glimpse of the other guards, heading into what looked to be another guard station. It was difficult to tell with any certainty, though, especially as she moved and with the way the hall was built.
He looked over to her as she sidled up to him, giving the thumbs up for his portion of the hall…what surprised her was the fact that they both ended up signaling the guards down the eastern hall to each other in short order. Her whole posture, from the positioning of her weight to one side to the tilt of her masked and hooded head (just short of a hand on her hip), screamed an amused annoyance as she smirked at him behind that mask for the briefest of moments. Taking my job too, huh? Of course, it wasn’t as if she minded…that’s what having a second set of eyes was for…but she couldn’t resist razzing him silently about it. A slight shake of her head and she was grinning behind that white and emotionless face cover before tensing at the sputtering of the generator.
That rifle was ready less than half a heartbeat later as both Sevens waited in a sort of tense silence, listening for the guards. From his position Sev was able to see what they might be doing better than she could, but she was better poised to take action at the moment. Luckily it wasn’t needed, the sound of a thick latch moving and a heavy door opening more of a relief than she cared to admit. Still, she didn’t twitch a muscle as they both listened. Only the long, unpleasant, rolling of a bead of sweat down her spine, followed by the (far less pleasant) feeling of another bead of the stuff slithering down the center of her chest, made her move…a light cringing before one hand moved from her rifle just enough to press against her chest, hopefully absorbing some of the blasted stuff. As if it wasn’t bad enough the mask had her face feeling like it was covered in slime.
“Ah dinnae see any go down th’ first cell row, first left. Move quick, stay low, be ready tae fire.”
A short nod of her head was given.
As he stood and twisted around the corner to head down the main hall, she took a single step out, rifle facing back along the eastern hall as grey eyes swept the area one last time. Clear. In a single motion she was back around and hot on Sev’s heels, covering the angles he wasn’t. Together the two swept down the light decline of the oddly slanted hallway, the thing she’d seen earlier swiftly coming into view. Yup, guard station. Great. On principle she checked that the safety for her rifle was off. Of course it was, but getting closer to a guard station had her double checking on impulse. Always better safe than sorry, even if there were no visible guards. To her left Sev vanished around the predestined corner and with no immediate sounds of gunfire or scuffling, she angled in behind him, her rifle skimming past his shoulder before she turned to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, watching his six and the small portion of hall they’d just come from for any moving shadows, guards, or otherwise unpleasant signals that they might have company. She trusted him to have her back (and the south) covered.
Silence…
It extended into something almost anxiety inducing as they waited for some sign that they’d been discovered. That mask turned this way and that, following her eyes, as she watched and listened for any other sound beside that of the generator and her own pulse…which was seeming awfully loud right about now. Shifting her weight just slightly, her shoulder brushed against Sev’s, nearly making her start until she realize what (or rather who) it was she’d come into contact with. She shook her head at herself and took a calming breath.
Still no sound.
She glanced at her partner.
He glanced back and nodded.
Almost there.
As he stepped away, she turned back to face the same direction as him, catching his signal with a nod. Half a step and she froze, immediately tense once again as he signaled her to stop. Her foot came down softly and she looked hard at him. As he moved away he came to a corner she hadn’t seen and peered around it, her rifle raising again with the slightest sound of shifting gear. His nod told her all she needed to know, the extra ‘all clear’ unneeded but welcome anyway as she made her way down the hall, checking the empty cells. In fact…she was almost surprised at how empty these cells were. Well, I suppose it’s a good thing. Less people to cause a commotion at seeing us. Unfortunately, it also meant that the chances of finding the wookiee on this block were dwindling rapidly…so rapidly, in fact, that when she reached the end and saw the last cell empty she sighed.
”All empty, Sev…”
As if she felt the need to emphasize the murmured comment over her comm., she shook her head and shrugged slightly as she turned back to face him. It didn’t take long for her to cover the distance back to him, moving as softly over the gritty floor as possible. A light touch to his shoulder as she came up beside him let him know she was there as well as gave her a bit more piece of mind. Getting the wookiee now was going to be quite the chore. Pausing near the end of the first block, she looked as far down the eastern part of the hall as possible without poking her head out. No one within that (admittedly) short view. Nodding her head back toward the guard post behind her, she waited to see if Sev gave the all clear. With his scope he’d be able to tell more easily than she would…and with far less risk of being seen. It took a few moments, but eventually the coast seemed clear on both ends.
It was now or never…
Leading rifle first, Sam twisted to come out ready, slim form almost blending into the surroundings with the color of her gear. It was a good thing too. As she came out, so did one of the guards, turning to go further west along the hall and check the last row of cells. Between the direction he was heading and the color of her gear he hadn’t seen her immediately and she swiftly stepped backward into the hall she’d just left, rifle swinging to the side to catch Sev across the gut with the barrel and stop him short. The footsteps in the hall stopped and she tensed, not twitching another muscle, the pace of her breathing increasing as her adrenaline spiked again. A soft grunt from down the hall and the footsteps started again, growing more distant. She visibly relaxed as she let out a long-held breath.
Peeking around the corner once more, the coast looked clear and she hurried to the next row of cells and stepped around the corner. Immediately she was hit with the odor of a dozen different species. Oh Goddess…they’ve been marinating. Thankfully, however, the corridor was empty of guards. As Sev appeared behind her, she nodded once to him and got a hustle on…there was no time to waste in being extra cautious now, not with so many beings (one every other cell or so) thrown into the mix. Any moment any one of them might raise an alarm. Luckily the cell she was looking for wasn’t far.
Coming up to the cell Worrak was in, she wasted no time in pulling the small lock picking kit from her belt and setting to work. ”Got our target, Sev, but he doesn’t look too healthy…just give me a little time and I should have this open.” Her quiet voice over the comm. bordered on urgent as she fussed with the old-style lock and prayed that the other sentients around would keep silent.
Pausing before him, the almost Amazonian woman folded her arms across her chest. Already he was trying to smooth talk his way out of whatever it was he was up to. Now she didn’t pretend to know which speeder was his, but this classy thing just didn’t seem to fit his personality. It bothered her, he bothered her, being out in the heat to see what he was up to bothered her…she was just generally bothered by him and his antics and his attempts to swift talk didn’t help anything.
“I’m no’ here for your coin, smuggler, an’ you can call me Panther. As for what you c’n help me with…the truth. I know you’re up to somethin’…no one jus’ up an leaves like that. Not with a streak like yours.”
Of course, the intimidating size of her was noticeable as she came into his personal space, one hand coming to rest on the long and wicked looking dagger on one hip. After a moment of staring at him through black eyes, she seemed to reach some conclusion, a slow smirk spreading across her face.
“…Though…” she sneered, “I doubt I’ll get a straight answer from you without either ‘beating’ you…or beating you first.” That was about all the warning he would get before she pulled her left fist back and launched it at his face. Her other hand ripped her dagger out of its sheath on her belt, slicing in a horizontal arch at his chest.
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
1,617 posts
86 likes
Rocking from the Great White North
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last online Apr 20, 2022 19:46:47 GMT -5
Master
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Apr 28, 2011 1:14:04 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Apr 28, 2011 1:14:04 GMT -5
Shine had to keep his mouth from dropping in surprise when the woman came near to him, even more so when she folded her arms across her form. She was.....huge. Not in terms of fat or height, nothing that took away from what most would describe as a natural beauty. No, this kind of huge was to some, the best and the worst. She had muscle...a lot of muscle. Not enough to be unattractive or tag her as someone who spent too much time working on their power...but upon first glance, Shine figured she could stand tall against just about any man who wasn't intensely ripped himself.
On any other day, Shine would find that amusing. Finding a woman who could give you a run for your money in a fight was always something to admire. Again, on any other day.
Just not today. Today it was just going to be a hassle. And a problem if he didn't find a way to shrug her off before the call came through. Maybe all she wanted was another go at him in cards....an unlikely event, especially when her voice found its way to his ears and a smart part of him realized that it was never that easy. One day Shine, the one day you don't want to attract attention to yourself and you do it anyway. Must be my natural charm being ironically in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He kept the smile on his face though, appearances that everything was okay had to be kept. If she caught even a whiff of what he was here to do, or rather, what he was here to help someone else do....well, his head would look nicely mounted on the Hutt's wall, wouldn't it? Feigning surprise to her comments, he rested back against the speeder, letting his hands rest on either side of him as he thought up the best way to address the matter. And keep a hand within reach of his blaster without making it too obvious.
"Well Ms Panther, you caught me. I thought I could get away with a bluff on that last hand, but sadly, the lady of luck decided my time was up. And once a streak like that gets ended, its all downhill from there. So I decided to call it a day; I do have a job to finish after all.
And your right, I was up to something. I was wondering how to get your number without seeming to forward. Though I suppose that didn't...." Golden eyes noticed the slight movement of her hand to her hip, to that rather mean looking piece of steel nestled there. And then that slowly growing smirk and the words that followed. "Now that's not true, if you bought me dinner I might consider....." was all he got out before that fist suddenly came up.
To his credit, Shine had expected something coming the second she mentioned beating...in fact, he'd been on his toes the minute she came pounding through the sand at him. So when that hard fist swung his way, Shine slacked to the right, the fist grazing by his head by inches. A fight...great. As if the planet wasn't hot enough.....best end this quick. Not because of the heat....but time isn't my friend at the moment. That speed in which she drew the knife surprised him though, his body pushing back against the speeder as he flipped into its interior as the knife swished by him, kicking his legs up to try and connect with her as he did. He felt the sting as he did though and when he came upright, his shirt had a new air hole along the center of his chest...complete with a red lining.
"Well, that's gonna stain. Look, maybe we can talk this over....or not." HIs hand reached for his blaster.....and realized it was resting in the sand before him. Frell. She likely noticed it as well, a fact that had him jumping(well, sort of side rolling) over the speeder to land in the sand again. As soon as he hit with his feet, he watched for her response...if she was charging, a roll would follow with a kick aimed for her lower back or behind.....but should she take the cautious approach, his hand would grab that blaster and aim it at her, ready to fire if she didn't stand down. It was all a matter of what happened next...and he had several other ideas in case she didn't act according to his first two plans.
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
850 posts
0 likes
Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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last online Jun 27, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
Guardian
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Apr 30, 2011 0:45:13 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Apr 30, 2011 0:45:13 GMT -5
(( SNARL link. I suggest listening to Bulletproof Heart for this post.)) Empty. The sergeant swore under his breath as he stepped away from the cell closest to the hall. Sev had expected empty cells, he suspected that a Hutt would plan for overflow, but he was surprised that so many of them were completely devoid of occupants. Sighing he knew that that meant. Placing himself against the exterior cell wall he brough his rifle up to cover the hallway. A quick glance to Sam, who was checking the furthest cells, he could only hope that she found him here. A short breath later her voice carried over the coms and he groaned inwardly. ”All empty, Sev…” Aye. Stack up, ready tae move tae th' next bloc. This could get dangerous.As she slid in behind them he gingerly slipped the detection plate of the SNARL out into the hallway. There he froze, waiting for the tiny device to take accurate readings as a light touch fell on his shoulder and Sam stepped to his right, glancing down the halls as far as she could see before giving him a small nod. A lack of readings steeled Sev's confidence as well, hoping that they were all "comfortable" in that guard house. Taking several shallow breaths he brought his right hand up, two fingers toward the ceiling. For an instant he hesitated. He was just about to drop the signal and move up when his SNARL pipped at him, Sam's barrel moving across his path to stop him. There it was, a single form flowing into his HUD, footsteps and pheromones spiking as his hand shot back to the barrel-grip. Sev didn't look out, Sam did that for him. When he saw that her breathing had regulated itself and she had calmed down, the SNARL falling silent, he brought his hand up again. This time he barely hesitated, dropping them twice foreword. The second drop was his first step, slipping out and around to the left, his shoulder pads scraping gently against the concrete. The generator covered the sound nicely and, rifle pointed firmly at the shack that stood in the darkness ahead of them, they slipped into the second bloc of cells. Not stopping at the east side he quickly converged and pressed his back against the far side, crouching in the shallow door. In a moment he almost wished he had not. The stench was terrible, permeating. Pulling his sand-scarf across his nose and over his face the sergeant waited, then, to see if there was a commotion. However, nothing came and the sand scarf did little to fight the smell. The audio detectors on his SNARL found nothing but the pheromone sensor shrieked in his ear as it tried to identify everything. Breathing through his mouth he reached up to switch off the sensor for it would do him no good here. Taking another shallow breath he stood and looked into the cell in whose door he was standing. Empty... all except for what looked to be a rotting carcass. Swallowing he turned to move on to the next on in his row but a voice over his com stopped him. "Got our target, Sev, but he doesn’t look too healthy…just give me a little time and I should have this open.” Copy, ah'll cover you.He saw the kit appear from her uniform and nodded, they were half way there. Sam was always one of the better Sevens when it came to a lockpick and he could only hope she cracked it soon as he took a knee and raised his rifle to his chest, waiting for anything or anyone to come around the corner. He could hear the clicking of the tools over Sam's com and he breathed slowly, fighting back the stench and heat. He knew that this was going to get hairy, it was only a matter of time. Slipping his secondary hand away from the barrel-grip he snagged a spare clip from his vest just as the SNARL picked up audio. Hardening his gaze he flipped the visor to night-vision just in time to see a very sweaty, very large Gamorrean step around the corner. It carried a large vibro-axe in its three digit hand, propped on a shoulder. Eyes widening, Sev's thumb flicked up, bringing the SM-82 out of safety. Tango!As his voice hissed into the com the pig slowly realized the two people were standing in front of the cells, one doing something to one of the doors. Sev didn't give the thing the chance to scream. His finger squeezed, the rifle roared. Tracers flew as Sev let fly two long bursts of automatic fire, dust and blood filling the air. Despite the powerful nature of the rifle the pig-man took the whole second burst before he fell, blood draining from more than a dozen well placed, center-of-mass holes; Sev's heart sank at the sight. He hoped he'd brought enough ammunition. Secrecy was no longer an option. Sam. He shouted. Nexu's oot o' th' bag. Hurry!Cringing he stepped quickly across the hallway so he cound get a better shot at the guard house. The door remained shut for all of another five or six seconds before it was flung open, another pudgy pig stepping through. Gritting his teeth he fired again, this first pig having the presence of mind to quickly hurtle himself back through the door to avoid the tracer fire. Another pull of the trigger brought a click, out. Breathing in he pressed the clip release, bringing the rifle up by the barrel grip as he thrust the fresh clip into the slot. As he breathed out the rifle had returned to his chest. By the time he had reloaded two of the dastardly beings had made it through the door, one quickly taking cover beyond Sev's line of sight, the other taking a well placed burst to the chest, only staggering back a step before ducking back into the shack. Grunting he thrust his arms out, firing blindly out of his line of sight, hoping to keep them pinned down. Suddenly his breath caught, realizing the under-slung attachment to his rifle. He had not loaded it. Quickly pulling the weapon back he slid the hatch open and fumbled with his vest for a 40mm. Glancing up the Gamorrean was taking advantage of the situation by bringing his axe down and moving toward Sev. Barely managing to get the grenade out he brought his primary hand back to the trigger and fired another short burst, the pig taking the hint, ducking back. Sam, hurry up! Ah cannae stall them ferever!He was honestly happy that they didn't hav- Suddenly a red bolt sailed to his right, striking the wall less than a foot away from him. He could see the chubby hand reaching around the corner of the shack door, firing blindly at the soldier. Cringing he thrust the grenade home and slid the hatch shut. Heads up, lass. 40 minute wake-up-call!Slipping his secondary hand down he pulled the trigger for the launcher, the recoil accompanied by a dull "phoont." It struck high and right of his target, the door with a brilliant explosion of orange and yellow flames, one side of the flimsy stone-wood structure shattering and collapsing from the blast. The gamorrean who was still in the door managed to pull himself from the debris only to be greeted by a short burst of rifle fire. This is why you arm your guards with more than axes...Party's started!
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last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
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May 1, 2011 2:55:33 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on May 1, 2011 2:55:33 GMT -5
She was already working by the time he responded to her heads-up, her hands working to find the correct tools she would need. One after another, she went through the well used, and well loved, tools as she tested the fit before replacing and trying another. The gloves weren’t helping, her dexterity cut almost in half…she could feel it. That was alright though…she just had to…narrow down…her concentration…and….There, got a match. I hope. It had been a while since she’d had to pick any kind of lock, but she’d been doing it for so many years now that she was fairly confident in her choice.
As her hands fiddled with the lock she pointedly ignored the uncomfortable position and the heat, her gear sticking to her as she shifted around. One eye stung for a moment as a bit of sweat seeped into it, forcing her to pause and blink a few times, muttering to herself in Corellian about the idiocy of this suit and her utter distaste for this ‘dustball’ of a planet and the ‘worms’ that dominated it. Inside the cell, she could ear the wookiee stirring, shuffling around a bit and huffing as it no doubt tried to figure out just what the “ubese” woman was doing picking it’s cell door. No sooner had she started nudging the pins into their proper positions, the tools splayed over both knees as she crouched there, than his voice hissed over her comm the one word that she really didn’t want to hear so soon.
“Tango!”
Frell.
She kept herself from glancing up with an iron will, forcing herself to focus on her task. Narrow down, Sam, narrow down. You’ve got all the time you need. It was an old habit…an old way of getting herself to focus on her task. Certainly it wasn’t always true, but it always seemed to help, if only a little bit…and sometimes that little bit made a world of difference.
The swift and loud rounds of fire from Sev’s rifle had her tensing as she worked to keep herself steady and work a pin into position. It was being incredibly stubborn. No doubt the thing was full of rust and sand, neither of which did she like dealing with in locks. Via help me, Sev…”Wake up the whole neighborhood…” Somewhere in the back of her consciousness she noted the fact that it had taken two rounds of fire before he stopped pumping lead into the grunt. Were these pigs that thick skinned? Cripes, I hope he has enough ammo…she had a sinking feeling she was going to have to play moving crutch for their wookiee friend, which meant less ability to assist.
“Sam. Nexu’s oot o’ th’ bag. Hurry!”
His shout across the comm. had her nearly jumping out of her skin, the last set of pins escaping her and causing her to knock a few others out of place.
”Bhesj…what a setback…stall ‘em Sev, I’m doin’ what I can, but I need a bit more time!”
Her mind formulated a silent litany of silent curses as she let the tool go in the lock and pulled off the gloves, shoving them in her belt roughly before starting to work again. The fact that she could actually feel what she was doing more accurately and had more freedom of movement without the gloves on helped considerably in regaining the ground she’d lost when he’d startled her. Almost there…almost there…come on… Back to that stubborn last set of pins. Over the comm. and through the thick hood and mask, she could hear the rounds Sev was firing off at the guards as he worked to keep them pinned down so they wouldn’t be a problem for her task. Hang on, Sev, almost….
Click-snap.
”Hah! Got it!”
“Sam, hurry up! Ah cannae stall them ferever!”
”On it! Door’s open, getting our buddy now. Hold out a tick more, Sev.”
The door was, in fact, open…wide open, by now, and she was shoving her kit back into her belt with one hand as the other grabbed her rifle from where it had been propped against the cell. Worrak, the poor emaciated thing, looked like a dirty and matted shag rug…and smelled almost as bad. She stifled a groan as she hoped that it was just the cell. Either way, he had struggled to his feet, obviously getting the hint and giving a weak…growl…thing…whatever it was supposed to mean…to her as she entered.
”Do what my partner and I tell you and we’ll all live through this, got it?”
He nodded and made a sound that she could only assume was wookiee for yes.
Sam sure as hell hoped it meant ‘yes.’
”Good, get out of the cell and into the hall, but don’t go far.”
Her hand was already pulling a chunk of her reserve explosives from her belt and rolling a detonator into it carefully as she followed the wookiee out into the hall, half watching what she was doing and half watching to see how well the wookiee could move on its own. The sound of blaster fire, however, had her looking swiftly down the hall.
“Heads up, lass. 40 minute wake-up-call!”
Despite herself she grinned. Maybe she shouldn’t have, considering the implications…but she did. She half grunted some affirmative to his heads up as she swiftly programmed and stowed the three wads of explosives in her belt onto her gauntlet, slung the rifle over her shoulder, shifted the wookiee around to get some of his weight onto her and unclipped the heavy blaster pistol in her thigh holster. It would just be easier to handle in the long run if she only had one hand to use while helping the wookiee. The sound of the grenade firing hit her over the comm. just moments before the sound of the explosion (and subsequent collapse of the guard house) hit her ears, slightly muffled through the material of the hood and pull-over mask.
“Party’s started!”
The staggering and stumbling walk of the wookiee propped against one shoulder had her grimacing every once in a while as they moved down the hall. By the time Sev spoke she was practically right behind him, a wicked grin on her face behind that mask as the sight of the partially demolished guardhouse met her eyes around his body and the corner of the cell block wall. Now there was a nice sight.
”Sev…I love you, you wonderful demolitionist…marry me. But first, let’s get the hells outta here!”
The teasing was obvious in her voice (though he’d only be able to catch it over the comm. since the vocabulator she used to speak outwardly negated just about any emotion). There was nothing like humor to push through a stressful situation...there was also a saying about truth in humor. Switching her comm. over to the ‘team’ frequency, she’d wait for Sev to lay down some remaining cover fire before moving to get Worrak to the bottom of the sloping and angled hall. Glancing to the right to see where Sev was, a few more of the porky guards come around the last corner of the cell blocks and into sight. Whatever was in those unknown rooms Sev had seen earlier was about to become rubble as she shoved one of the wads of explosives into a crack in the wall…wait, where did those other guards come from?! Crap! The other guard house! As she eyed the primarily translucent map on her HUD, she cursed silently. How had she forgotten about that?!
”Sev, no time to play with your friends now, take Worrak. Shine, Athar, we’re coming out hot. Shake a leg, boys, and brace yourselves.”
The grenade detonation and collapse of the guard house not only had the guards in the very back moving, but it had also brought out the guards at the top of the long east/west hall and had the prisoners down there making all kinds of racket as they begged to be let out. Goddess, I wish I could get them out too…but there just wasn’t time. Instead, she handed off the wookiee to Sev as she pulled her blaster from its holster, the heavy pistol coming to bear on the stout gammoreans waddling swiftly down the hall toward them. Light on the trigger, she was rapid fire for long enough to drop one and stagger the other, forcing it to take refuge in the generator room. Her free hand pulled a compact grenade from a clip on her belt, the pin pulled automatically, and her form moving around the two men in three swift steps.
”Brace, Sev, packing a punch at six.”
The warning was all the time she needed to cook it before lobbing the concussion grenade down the hall toward the four guards. Obviously this bunch was a bit smarter than their counter parts…or they’d learned something from the bodies they’d passed…and the group dove every which way for cover as they saw her motion. It barely had a chance to hit the floor before it detonated, the explosion pulsing hard against anything within range, and only heightened in intensity due to the enclosed space. Luckily they were just at the edge of the damage radius so it didn’t affect them much, and whatever did hit them…well, she was using herself as a shield for the wookiee and her gear absorbed the majority of the shockwave. No doubt Sev’s had done the same. She didn’t have time to think about it, though, as she came back around them and shouldered up under the empty side of the wookiee, helping bear some of the weight with Sev to (hopefully) move them all faster.
Dear Goddess, he’s HEAVY! The wookiee, weak from sitting so long in Greegar’s dungeons, needed a lot of help to move him along while being chased in the heat of the day, and it was not making getting out again any easier. The HUD of the Ubese mask she wore marked the nearest exit as they came up on the cross section and her head swiveled south to see more of those idiot little gamorreans (with the added bonus of some twi’lek and human thugs) moving swiftly in their direction out of that stairway. She had the sinking feeling that these guys had guns.
”Crap…left on this hall! Sev, buy me a little time!”
The bulk of the wookiee’s weight shifted onto her as Sev moved to lay out cover fire. Putting her weight into shifting the lumbering sentient in the correct direction, Sam managed to get him to the stairwell and propped against the wall. Pulling up the appropriate frequency on the suit’s gauntlet, she hurriedly keyed in the code as she called out to her companion. ”Sev! Cover! Cover! Charges one, two, ‘n’ four off!” Her voice was distorted and mechanical through the vocabulator, but it would get the point across, her voice also echoing over the comm. Darting up a few steps, she’d press herself against the side of the wookiee to keep him as stable as possible for the upcoming detonations.
Glancing up once more to make sure Sev had heard, she nodded to him once as he slipped back into the cover of the stairway. Keying the detonations caused the palace around them to rumble and crack, bringing the supporting walls of the lower dungeons down on their pursuers and blocking off part of the upper floor to give them more time to get to an exit…that was the idea anyway. It seemed to be working rather well as she heard the shouts of all manner of beings both above them, and down the hall to the south, obviously a bit upset at the…redecorating…she was doing of the hutt’s palace.
Bits of rubble, dust, and sand fell onto the helmet she wore and coated the protective Ubese gear in white powder as she looked down the stairway to Sev through the settling cloud of sand and dust. ”Sev! You still alive after that?” There was little doubt in her mind that he was, but the question just begged to be asked, the uncomfortable heat and pain building up in her shoulder pushed from her mind as more important things came up.
”Still with us, wookiee?” Her response was a shake of the body behind her and a clawed hand on her shoulder. ”Good. Sev, help me out with Worrak…there’s no way I can get him up the…frell.” The door above them opened, flooding the dark stairwell with light. Without a thought, the blaster at her thigh was in her hands and sweeping up to aim…
”Hurry up gerl. Dis place is getten insane aftar dat demolitions show!”
Athar.
She was happy as hell it was him at the top of the stairs.
“Now that’s not true, if you bought me dinner I might consider…”
Oh he deserved the fist that she flung at him. Men like him were all alike, the stinking bits of osik, and she wasn’t about to let his type screw over the person who kept her clothed, fixed her ship, and fed the only family she’d ever known. No way…last time she’d had a hunch about one of these fellows, the guy had screwed Greegar over pretty badly, and she was still kicking herself for it because her crew was still kicking her over it. Not this time, she thought, her mind partially clouded with alcohol. She’d catch this sucker and get him to talk before anything happened!
Wait what? Her fist missed, striking the metal of the speeder behind him painfully. On pain and instinct it swiftly retracted again, snapping back like it was attached to a spring. Little bugger was fast! He wasn’t fast enough, though, as she saw the red glint of blood on her dagger when he vanished back into the speeder. As prepared as she thought she was, however, the woman was…a touch slower than normal. The heat already made her feel tired and sluggish, and while she hadn’t had anywhere near her limit of drink, it certainly wasn’t helping.
His attempt to catch her in the gut with his kick?
Dead on.
That dark haired sand panther of an amazon stumbled and staggered backward, barely able to keep her footing and trying to recover lost air…not to mention keep her lunch. The shells and metal pieces attached to her belt-sash jingled and clacked as she moved, finally coming to a stop a couple of feet away from him, feet apart and braced, one arm around her middle, and black eyes glaring at him dangerously from under a waterfall of thickly waved hair from her high ponytail. After a moment to recompose herself, she watched him sit up again and look down at the cut she’d given him before he looked back at her.
“Well, that’s gonna stain."
Bringing the dagger up, and without ever removing her eyes from him, she slowly licked his blood away from the blade, a slow and wicked grin forming on her face.
...Tasted good....
"Look, maybe we can talk this over…or not.”
Still grinning, she stood straight again, rolling out her shoulders and popping her neck as she watched him reach for a blaster he didn’t have.
It had hit her leg as she’d stumbled back and now it lay between them and a bit off to the side. The pirate/bounty hunter gave him a smug look that asked one thing: So, what’re you gonna do now? As he moved, she wasn’t exactly surprised. Of course he went for the gun…who wouldn’t? This holo-vid scene was even complete with the ‘good-guy’ rolling along the speeder to land in the sand and look at her. It was all too juicy, and it would only be a juicier story once she had him trussed up and presented to the hutt. As he’d moved, she’d taken the easy rout, running toward the weapon as well, her dagger turning over in her hand to be held by the blade before she stooped and grabbed a handful of sand with the other.
The two stopped at the same time, her skidding slightly on the rocks and sand, and look at each other.
He calculated, she grinned.
Don't worry, baby, I'll only hurt you a little bit...
He moved to reach for the gun, she flung her dagger toward his foot, then flung sand in his eyes as he aimed that weapon at her. Whether they hit their marks or not wasn’t her problem…even if he dodged both, they acted as wonderful distractions and gave her time to rush in and try to grab for the hand and arm that held the blaster as she tried to pin him bodily to the speeder and worked to wrest the weapon from him in whatever way possible…not excluding the popular “slamming it back against the speeder” ploy if the more intelligent disarming tactics didn’t work.
The only thing she had to be really careful of were stray blaster bolts.
…But she’d been shot before, so…
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
1,617 posts
86 likes
Rocking from the Great White North
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last online Apr 20, 2022 19:46:47 GMT -5
Master
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May 1, 2011 14:32:58 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on May 1, 2011 14:32:58 GMT -5
By some stroke of luck, his attempt to knock her back with his legs had hit. Square on with the full force to her gut, which had given him the time to recompose himself. However, the lack of his blaster had made the point mostly mute. Still, it had given him something to think about. And that was that he could at least move fast enough to avoid getting skinned. Whether this was because of the heat or because he was just faster...or maybe those drinks he'd seen her downing while they were playing cards...could not be determined for sure. But he'd take, whichever it was. If it helped him end this quick, it would be worth it.
As he watched her, Shine felt a shudder slide down his spine as he watched her actions. Now, for the most part, she was a rather striking woman, even with the three pronged scar over her one eye. And she had skills, something he always respected, even from people trying to stick the business end of a knife into his gut or trying to shoot him out of the sky. But when she'd licked the blood from the end of her knife.....his blood, from the wound on his mid chest that burned rather nicely in the heat...he couldn't help but feel a bit of worry in the back of his mind. And a slight tingle of how...well, appealing that made her look for a moment. Brain damage from the heat....had to be. Ah, why was it that some of the more amazing people you always met under the most negative of circumstances?
A cruel joke the galaxy enjoys playing most likely.
His roll from the speeder was met with a similar charge from Panther, his eyes meeting hers as they watched each other for what the other would do, like two predators meeting in the wild, challenging each other over something they both wanted. And one could almost say it looked that way from outside; her predator like demeanor, his glowing, golden, almost cat like eyes giving them both that kind of predatory image. There was a moment of silence there, an exchange of thoughts of what would work best.
His attempt was first as he went for his blaster, well aware of the small items the woman had picked up when she'd rushed forward. A glint caught his eye, that knife in her hand now coming for his foot, an action he barely managed to get his appendage clear of before the knife whizzed past into the sand, dripping with a new layer of his blood as it skimmed his leg instead. But he'd gotten to his blaster. And as he rose it up to take aim at her, he saw her bring her other hand around...and he knew what was coming. As the sharp little grains of sand flew through the air at him, Shine used his free arm to shield his face from the attack.
And he realized what she was trying to do, just before she grabbed his hand and pushed him against the speeder, slamming his hand into the speeder as she tried to yank the gun from his hand for herself. Well, he wasn't about to let that happen....he had better places to be then wrestling with this woman. Because it was only so long before.....
”Sev, no time to play with your friends now, take Worrak. Shine, Athar, we’re coming out hot. Shake a leg, boys, and brace yourselves.”
Sam's voice came clear through the transmitter in his ear, something only he would hear due to the device. And Shine winced inside...the time was coming. Fast. Now that Sam had opened the other end of the transmitter, he could hear bits and pieces of the chaos taking place on the other end...and he heard more then enough to know that he had to end this fast. Panther had him pinned to the speeder, the two of them fighting for control of the weapon, several strays shots piercing the sand when his hand was pulled in a way that made his finger twitch. But she was focused, at least from his point of view, on getting the blaster free. Good thing his father had showed him disarming tactics before....he knew mostly the things she would try and ways to counter them. And with her attention there....
Shine's knee came up hard towards her gut when she tried for another slam, a move that would hopefully wind her for a moment. Either way, he brought his head suddenly forward into her's, a move that could be a double edged sword....but all he needed was a moment of surprise. With any luck, one of them would connect..both if lucky...before he tried his next move, which was to slam her sideways into the speeder on the blaster side and fire off a shot into her gut...of course, the blaster was set now to low in their struggles. Low enough that it wouldn't kill her...but it wouldn't fully stun her either. But enough to give him the time he hopefully needed to knock her out cold with a head slam into the speeder's side.
Time was running out...and he needed to get a move on fast.
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
850 posts
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Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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last online Jun 27, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
Guardian
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Jun 20, 2011 23:55:52 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Jun 20, 2011 23:55:52 GMT -5
[finished]
The duo had held their own for the time being but soon the simple part would be over. Despite the time dilation within Sev's mind he recognized that the several long minutes of battling had been a span of less than a minute. Long hours in the field with adrenaline ringing within his veins had taught him to perceive this time as often as he could with intent to notice every possible detail of the combat area. With the one guardhouse destroyed and its contents dead he had a small moment of reprieve as he fumbled with another 40mm grenade on his vest. Pulling his rifle back in he slid the hatch down, the spent cartridge ejecting with significant force and impacting on the duracrete with a dull ring before he completed insertion of the second grenade. The contact of duraplast on duracrete signaled the arrival of Sam and her... pungent charge. A quick glance over to the wookie made Sev wonder if they were saving a fierce yet compassionate sentient or a pile of molding fur. At least the latter would have smelled better than this wookie, even with his sand-cloth up.
”Sev…I love you, you wonderful demolitionist…marry me. But first, let’s get the hells outta here!”
The volume over the com mixed with the background audio made the comment's inflection and emotional weight shift and warp but Sev heard enough of Sam's particular brand of teasing to know when she was and when she was not. A smile sprang to his face as he hit the release on the bullpup configured rifle to check his ammo.
Sure lass, I'll get yeh th' ring first chance ah get. The sergeant didn't miss a beat as he slid the same half-full clip back in with a sharp clack, eyes meeting her helmet as he nodded. Ah couldnae agree more. Some fresh air would do wonders fer oor friend.
With Worrak under her arm he waited only long enough for her to motion that she was ready to move before he sprung to action. Standing he was at the edge of the block in a moment, forcibly drowning out the screams of the other prisoners by running over the plan repeatedly in his head. It would be immensely enjoyable to free all of these prisoners, piss the hutt off something fierce, and create more chaos but the chances that they were going to escape were already relatively slim. Back to the matter at hand! Checking left, nothing, Sev spun right while bringing his rifle up to cover Sam and Worrak's movements as they finally emerged from the block but moving painfully slow. Waiting until they passed him he trained his rifle left and right, making sure both halls were clear, for the moment.
As the trio finally reached the first empty block several guards came around the gentle corner at the top of the bent east-west hallway. Shite Thankfully, Sam heaved Worrak into the opening just in time. Squeezing the trigger he sent a burst of tracer fire downrange as the rifle barked and kicked in his hands. Not waiting to see if he had hit he spun into the recess of the first cell block after Sam. Pressing his back to the wall he was preparing to stick his rifle around the corner to try to supress the guards when Sam caught his attention over the coms.
”Sev, no time to play with your friends now, take Worrak. Shine, Athar, we’re coming out hot. Shake a leg, boys, and brace yourselves.”
Ain't tha' th' understatement o' th' year. Cmere hairy The wookie made a low remark that Sev didn't catch as he took the shoulder of the large being and slung his rifle over his other. With his free hand he deftly undid the strap for his sidearm and drew it, the small blaster pistol freeing up his other hand and shoulder to support the wookie. As suddenly as Sev's actions before, Sam shot out into the hall, firing her blaster at the encroaching guards. By leaning both himself and Worrak against the wall he managed to swing his arm around and fire blindly up the hallway several times before Sam spun back in, heaving something around the corner. Movement caught his eye and he started as several portly gamorrean guards emerged from the third row of cells. Shifting his weight he pushed Worrak back, step by step, until he was finally out of line of sight as the sergeant fired wild, blaster bolts missing their targets almost to a one.
”Brace, Sev, packing a punch at six.”
Concussion grenade! Cringing and bracing himself for the blast he withdrew his pistol and thrust his charge against the wall, placing it between them and the grenade. Moments later the device detonated with a flash and a great gout of dust came charging up the hallway momentarily engulfing the trio. Thankful for his sand cloth he hefted the coughing, stumbling wookie back toward the hall but was pleasantly surprised as Sam came up to the atrophied being's spare arm to help him along a little faster. As they turned the corner Sev paused, a single being rising from the dust on uneven legs. He paused for only a moment bringing his pistol up to put the pig down with several well aimed blaster shots. The sergeant finally realized what Sam had just accomplished and he picked up his pace, smiling brightly at her.
Tha's th' airman ah trained! Le's move.
As the trio staggered down the hallway Sev attempted to take as much of Worrak's weight as he could but soon found that the heat and the dust had started to do a number on him. With the blast he was now dusted with a fine layer of silt which made him sweat even harder, rivulets running into and stinging his eyes as they moved. Finally making it to the intersection they turned south only to be met by, what else, guards coming up the hallway to meet them. Straining against both Sam and Worrak's weight he managed to pull help pull all three of them back into the east-west hall.
”Crap…left on this hall! Sev, buy me a little time!”
Aye, knew ah loaded thus fer ae reason.
Hefting the wookie against the wall he quickly unslung his rifle and activated SNARL, pointing the barrel of the rifle out into the hall and relying on the system to see for him. Indeed his visor quickly lit up by rapidly approaching guards and he pulled the primary trigger. In the awkward position the kick was immense, Sev's arms aching from the recoil as the hall filled with burst after burst of tracer fire. Just as quickly as they were moving toward them the guards were now moving in the opposite direction as there was no cover. Seeing this Sev withdrew his hand from the primary to the underslung and spun out from the wall.
Fourty m- His hand closed on the trigger as he was interrupted mid-sentence by the coms.
”Sev! Cover! Cover! Charges one, two, ‘n’ four off!”
Wha'?!
The rifle recoiled as the grenade ejected from the muzzle with the characteristic report as Sev quickly ducked back behind the wall where his eye caught Sam's hand the moment she pressed the button. From all directions it seemed as though the palace were suddenly immersed in a turbulence simulator that lasted just under ten seconds as the charges blew one by one. Holding himself against the wall he gritted his teeth as the dust practically rose out of the duracrete flooring until the cloud was practically smothering them. Taking the opportunity he reached up to tighten his sand-cloth as the rumbling began to weaken. Bringing his rifle close again he reached up for his final 40mm as his com crackled to life.
”Sev! You still alive after that?”
Aye. -coughs- Wha' was tha' aboot marryin' ae demolitionist? We'd make ae great couple o' home wreckers.
Fumbling with the release to his rifle Sam checked on Worrak as Sev spun around the corner with his rifle at the ready, expecting trouble. He saw very little through the dust with bits of rubble and great slabs of the palace's basement walls filling his vision. Even through the SNARL he could detect very little which indicated that the route south was now completely blocked by something. Damn... overkill wit' tha' forty. Oh well. There were bodies among the smoke and some were moving; the sergeant knew he would not be able to take them down before he had to move for cover. Cringing and turning back he returned to the others, finally reaching them as Sam and Worrak had made it half way up the northern hallway. They had made it to the stairs just as Sev motioned to take the wookie's arm again.
”Good. Sev, help me out with Worrak…there’s no way I can get him up the…frell.”
Sev glanced at her before the light shone down on them from the doorway above. Cursing his timing the sergeant brought his rifle to bear from his hip, wrapping his finger around the trigger as he squinted at the doorway and the figure standing in it. He didn't know if he could drop an armored guard from the hip, not like this!
”Hurry up gerl. Dis place is getten insane aftar dat demolitions show!”
Athar! Well aren't ye' ae sight fer sore eyes. Take Sam's side, help meh get this pile o' fur up th' stairs! The sergeant hadn't thought about it until then but the fact that Sam was supporting Worrak suddenly forced his stomach to tighten... Her back... He couldn't worry about that now because as Athar took her position he realized that they had stairs to conquer; the next phase of them getting out of this blasted palace. Their footfalls thundered up the staircase, the two more muscular men having no trouble carrying half the weight of a wookie on one shoulder. As they moved Sev slung his rifle back over his shoulder and drew his pistol once again, hoping that he would not have to use it. As they finally reached the top the noise and a new wave of dust assaulted his senses. The din was something incredible to listen to despite the fact that there was no one in the hallway before them. He hoped that meant everyone was just trying to get out. Nodding he paused to look over his shoulder at Sam before speaking into the comlink in his helmet.
Stay close, lass. We get tae th' next right an' I'll make our exit. Shine, be ready to roll!
Hesitating no longer he glanced to Athar and with a subtle nod started off once again. They passed down the hallway quickly, the duracrete walls fractured and crumbling. He was pleased, Sam had done her job better than he had even anticipated. As they reached the corner to the wall behind the cantina Sev slipped his pistol back into its holster and withdrew the small trigger mechanism. He had just palmed the device when the world went white around him.
Sound and light filled his vision and for a moment he couldn't feel or taste, or smell anything. Slowly he became aware of the hard floor holding him up, his body partially covering the wookie and a thick coating of gravel and dust covering not only the two of them but Athar as well who lay only a few inches away. Blinking several times he gingerly pulled himself to his feel, slowly realized by the ringing in his ears and the soreness that was ebbing through his entire body that the armory had just gone up... way up. Looking down he saw that the trigger in his palm was inactive, that would soon be changed...
Es everyone still alive? Athar, Sam? He got a reaction from Athar and Worrak, both of whom were just starting to peel themselves off the floor. Looking back behind them he was greeted by a massive wall of rubble that utterly filled the doorway. Sam... oh stars. His breath caught as he realized that not only was Sam not with them but that rubble may yet be on top of her.
Sam.
He waited for a moment...
Sam, gorram it, answer the comlink! His heart sank. As Athar stood and started to help Worrak up, the sergeant continued to talk sternly but quietly into the com so as not to reveal themselves. Samantha Zaftig, answer the bloody com, tha's an order.
Subtly he switched the com to her headset alone as Athar slid Worrak back over his shoulder.
Please Sam, answer! I'm not going to lose you here, not now. Answer this comlink or so help me I will come in there to get you... I won't leave you behind.
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last online Jun 4, 2023 4:58:38 GMT -5
Master
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Jun 22, 2011 21:33:06 GMT -5
Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Jun 22, 2011 21:33:06 GMT -5
Complete...finally...
“Sure lass, I’ll get yeh th’ ring first chance ah get.”
Oh he was good.
Even with the heat and stench, the sweat and dust, the danger and distraction…he still managed to match her wit with perfect timing. She didn’t need to hear every nuance of his tone to know he was bantering right back…Good ol’ Sev. But, unfortunately, with things heating up, she wasn’t able to respond like she’d wanted to. Still, it got her huffing chuckles for a bit. It was no surprise to the blond that Sev still knew how to tease her back, even under pressure. It had taken some ‘training’ for him to get to this point with her in the Sevens, but it seemed like it had stuck and she was glad for it. It certainly made the rising tension in her shoulder more bearable as the uncomfortable numbness slowly turned into a tight pinch, then a dull and irritating ache. The heat and weight of the suit in the middle of the day, the subtle (yet constant) tension of movement in a high stress situation, the weight of Worrak as she hefted him along…it was doing a number on her as her body worked to compensate for all the variables in the equation that was this swiftly growing mess.
The concussion blast (even though the majority of it didn’t touch them) certainly didn’t help.
Thank Via for this mask…that dust is killer.
As they moved into the east/west hall once again and Sev finished off the gammorean she hadn’t been able to, she smirked at his praise. Told you I wouldn’t let you down, didn’t I? As expected, Sev was as reliable as always. Straining to get Worrak to the northern stairwell, she could hear Sev’s bullpup ticking off rounds, but she didn’t have time to think about it. It was just another itch of nostalgia as she mildly wished she had hers still. The moment Sev glanced back at her in the relative shelter of the stairwell opening, she unleashed fury on the palace around them. The cracking and tumbling of rubble in the halls above them and down the east/west corridor back toward the cell blocks had the whole palace rumbling and rocking for several long moments as she instinctively shielded their ward with her body…as best she could, anyway. A short ‘Aye’ and a cough in return to her question had her glancing through the settling dust at the outline of Sev.
“Wha’ was tha’ aboot marryin’ ae demolitionist? We’d make ae great couple o’ home wreckers.”
Through all the heat and building pain, she managed to bark a short laugh at that quip, shrugging her left shoulder just a bit as she checked Worrak over briefly. Athar’s arrival, however, was perfect timing. She’d gritted her teeth a bit as she’d gotten under one of Worrak’s arms and readied herself for helping drag the walking mopsicle up the stairs when Sev spoke up. Only barely did she bite back a sigh of relief.
”It ain’t bad ta see you eider. C’mon gerl, shove ovar. Clear for da moment up ‘ere…let’s go.”
Only too gladly did she acquiesce, pulling herself from under the wookiee and holstering her pistol, dragging the rifle from her shoulder and flicking off the safety as she inched past Sev to check their rear and provide any necessary cover. She could still hear shouts and movement from behind and that was a problem. Pulling the rifle tight to her shoulder she winced, hissing a breath. Lucky blasters don’t recoil or we’d be in trouble. She didn’t waste a moment in popping around the corner and swiftly training on the first thing she saw moving. With little care of what the human-sized thing was, it took all of three blazing-red rounds to sear into its flesh and drop it with an agonized cry. If it hadn’t been for the stinging sweat dripping into her eyes she’d have stayed there to take another mark, but as it was (and with a glance over her shoulder) she pulled back as Sev and Athar hefted the wookiee out into the light of the upper palace.
“Stay close, lass. We get tae th’ next right an’ I’ll make our exit. Shine, be ready tae roll.”
”I’ll stick as close as I can, but we’ve got movement down there still…” she replied, bounding up the last few steps behind them and training her rifle back down the stairwell. For a long moment there was nothing, the moments ticking by like hours. Finally she felt that the thugs down there might be a minute in gaining on them and started after Sev, Athar and the wookiee.
”EMP at da front es taken care of, so no’ne should be goin’ out dat way and da rubble’s pretty tick in places. Shouldn’ be to much trouble for a bit.“
Athar’s voice sounded over her comm. well enough but…she had an itch at the back of her mind. It was one of those sneaking suspicions…a sort of sixth sense that soldiers got. Some people called it paranoia, others intuition…she didn’t care what it was called, it tended to save lives. Turning around she saw several men of various species and sizes come hurrying up and out of the stairway they’d just left. With a grimace that rifle came up again, her vision narrowing to small points on her first target. Aim small, shoot small. It was easier to do with slug throwers, the blaster rifles being a bit more inaccurate, but it certainly didn’t hurt as four bolts hit square in the chest of the first, two in the chest and two in the stomach of the next, and one in the head of a third. Wait…where’s number f—oh frell. Just barely she caught sight of the back of goon-4 retreating down the hall toward the armory.
Her stomach tightened.
Too close…
She spun to move away.
Too close...
”Se—!“
Her vision, supplemented by the HUD in her mask, went a brilliant white as the rest of her body went into sudden sensory overload, the only thing she felt being the weight of a mag-lift train slamming into her back and side before she felt nothing. Saw…nothing….
For a long few moments she was out…sprawled half way across the floor, her upper back and head resting against the dangerously cracked wall she’d been slammed into and slid down in the blast. To anyone who could have seen her at that point, she sure as hells looked dead with her arms held limply at her sides and her rifle only still within reach because she’d been smart enough to keep the strap wrapped on her arm. A sudden, wheezing, gasp from her swiftly shattered that illusion. Coughing painfully, she blinked at the blackness that met her eyes and a ripple of panic swept through her before she fought back against it (and the dizziness) as her ears registered nothing but a horrible ringing.
…frell…
Slowly things started to come to life, starting with static in her earpiece. Her left hand clenched and unclenched as she began testing basic motor functions first. One leg bent at the knee…then the other…and she pushed herself up the wall to sit as her right hand tested itself in the same fashion. It felt weak, which didn’t bode well, and she still couldn’t see a dratted thing. On instinct and the driving desire to survive, she dragged her lead-weighted body into motion, right hand slowly pulling the rifle closer to her again, a sharp pain stabbing at her shoulder and back which had a groan working its way through her vocal chords. The other hand wasted no time in unsealing and pulling off that headgear, making her wince at the sudden light that assaulted her already battered senses. At least I can s—
“--antha…tig…the bloody…an order.”
That static from her earpiece was slowly revealing words as the connection reset and began transmitting normally once more.
…Sev?…
Blinking again, she glanced around for any immediate attackers….anyone who was still alive were just as battered as she was, or worse, no doubt…but still, she didn’t want to take chances in this state. Luckily, she didn’t see or hear any movement just yet.
”Sev…ugh….Sev can you hear me?”
“Please Sam, answer! Ah’m not goin’ tae lose ye here, not now. Answer thus comlink or so help me Ah will come in there tae get ye…Ah won’t leave ye behind.”
Frell…he can’t hear me! Another moment of something between anxiety and outright fear struggled to catch hold of her heart at his words and the knowledge that he couldn’t hear her. Somehow she had to get him to understand she was alive. Glancing up at the wall behind her, and to the crumbled remains of some of the other walls, she could see just how dangerous it was around here right now. If he tried to get back through any rubble blocking his way he might bring something down on top of them! Starting to push herself away from the wall carefully, she tried again. ”Sev…Sev respond. I hear…ack *huff*…I hear you.” Still no answer, except for another, more concerned (if that was even possible) sounding, call for her to answer. Sonuva… Shutting off her throat mic, she clicked it back on in hopes that the signal had just been connecting poorly because of the blast and that it hadn’t completely cut on her.
”Sev….if you can hear this…that ring doesn’t have ta be too fancy…” Finally she started pulling herself up as she began hearing sounds of movement in the rubble, the humor a cover for her worry and rising anxiety levels. The act of standing, however, sent a ripple of searing pain swiftly through her shoulder and back that kept her from saying anything further as a cross between a groan and a whimper escaped her. Still…she was on her feet, pieces of rubble and bits of gravel falling from her as her bruised body protested the new position with each painful breath. The armor was good….it had kept her alive…but she could feel that bruising (at least) coming on swiftly.
”White gold maybe… Inset stone so it doesn’t get…*huffhuff*…caught on things like clothes…flight suits… Dropping the cracked, and now useless, mask, she turned in a full circle to take better stock of her surroundings. Focusing on her breathing to keep the pain down as she held the rifle with her (now weak) right arm, she searched for a break in the rubble…somewhere…with the other as she started hearing people inside the Hutt’s room working to get through the broken door and the crumbled wall to get at her. With this new auditory information, her tone intensified, her words coming more swiftly, as her need to leave the area became more urgent. Still, she fought to keep that running comedy going, if only to keep herself pushing forward instead of giving into the desire to panic. ”…Wookiee hair. Just no diamonds please. That’s just plain creepy from a Corellian standpoint. ‘Ah thought Ah’d do somethin’ special for ye, Sam. Here’s gran’ma oan a ring.” For all she knew, she was talking to herself and the (very late) comeback would be missed.
That would be a shame…
Finally his voice broke over her comm. again and she sighed in relief, managing a coughing chuckle that made her lungs burn and her body throb. It was a hell of a relief to know that they could hear her again and Sev certainly seemed happy enough to know she was still kicking around on this plane of existence. Just as she managed to push some of the rubble blocking one of the passages out of her way, she felt the ground rumble again and heard stone crack. On instinct she moved away from the damaged wall she had been standing near as blocks of it started to come away in the violent trembling caused by the explosion for what was the planned escape route. The question was…could she get out? Especially with the rubble she’d been working at having settled and compacted further with Sev’s detonation. In fact, he asked her that very same question.
Pulling out her last charge, she looked at the cracked wall and tossed the small lump once, catching it in her hand before moving toward what was going to be her new escape route.
With the sounds of people working at the disaster area that was the door to the Hutt’s room, she knew she didn’t have much time left.
Oh this is gonna hurt.
”Yeah…well…I can…but I’ll be a bit. Making a hole in that lounge room…thing…back here.” Shoving the little lump of plastic explosives into the crack, she forced herself into a trot toward what was left of the northern stairwell, biting back the pain of each movement. Hunkering down a bit behind some broken wall and rubble she detonated the charge, another concussive wave and shaking battering her around painfully as the intended wall shattered like glass, sending rubble flying everywhere. The bits that reached her had her growling in pain as they struck both armor and cloth.
The cries of consternation and alarm from inside the Hutt’s room assaulted her ears for a moment after the blast, through ringing ears. She was dismayed, however, when those shouts turned to excited ones…ones that were much louder than they should have been with a wall of rubble blocking them. Glancing over through the settling dust and sand, she saw hands and weapons and tools swiftly pulling at a widening hole in the blockage that had been meant to keep them at bay. ”Oh frell…” With a glance back down at her gauntlet she keyed in the final code to detonate any remaining charges and hunkered down, her arms moving to cover what she could of her head and neck as she pressed her back against the solid wall of tumbled duracrete behind her.
The booming explosion filled the air with the sounds of destruction and twisting metal, followed by the distinct sound of sizzling and electrical shorts only moments before the halls went dark, save for whatever natural light seeped in from outside. In broken streaks it filtered in as dust and dirt particles lingered heavily in the air, making her cough heavily. The murky appearance of her surroundings made for an eerie and even more dangerous looking atmosphere following the eruption of the outer wall. This time, however, the people working at the rubble didn’t seem as phased, swiftly regaining their composure and breaking through that crumbled wall, blocks of duracrete tumbling to the floor loudly.
Sam wasn’t so swift to move…and it wasn’t for lack of desire to do so.
Coughing and panting as she dragged herself up again, she pulled her rifle up, having to compensate for her weak right arm with strength from her left as she moved forward…knowing those thugs weapons were going to be training on her as soon as she came into easy view.
With the two of them locked together it was difficult to tell who had the upper hand. Every movement she made to try and get the weapon from him was thwarted with relative ease, but he wasn’t having any more luck in getting her off of him either. It was, in fact, a frustrating stalemate. Still, she wasn’t completely unawares of other possibilities. His shift in bodyweight had her guessing that something was coming…what that might be, she wasn’t sure…but she knew it was there. Then the ground shook slightly as the sound of explosions in the palace close by caught her full attention.
“What the h—“
The air left her lungs in a swift grunt as his knee impacted with her stomach. From there everything was a sickening blur…one she would have difficulty remembering clearly for the rest of her life. With the impact, she doubled over, curling around the knee and barely missing the headbutt by sheer luck. Before she knew it the world spun as she was dragged sideways. A sudden, searing, pain against her ribs had her crying out in pain. The gammorean guards at the palace entrance seemed to take notice of that, turning from trying to figure out why the door wasn’t opening so they could get inside and find out what the sudden rumbling explosion was caused by to look back at what was going on. Panther, however, only felt her head connect with hard metal speeder, dazing her enough that her muscles went lax.
She caught a glimpse of the man’s face and tried to focus on it, attempting to distinguish what that expression on his face was.
Of course…she was just starting to be able to put some word to it when something hard connected with her face once again and she was swallowed by darkness.
Those two guards, however…they were wary now…starting to shuffle swiftly in the direction of Shine and the unconscious epicanthix.
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Jazen
Beelzaboot
1,617 posts
86 likes
Rocking from the Great White North
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last online Apr 20, 2022 19:46:47 GMT -5
Master
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Jun 23, 2011 7:30:27 GMT -5
Post by Jazen on Jun 23, 2011 7:30:27 GMT -5
It was turning into a struggle without end, a battle of wills that neither side was willing to lose. Shine didn't know what the woman's reason was, why Panther fought so hard. Maybe it was duty or personal pride. Or maybe she just wanted to kick his behind; which actually sounded logical at this point in time. But he knew his reasons. Four lives were counting on him; Sev's, their wookie friend, Athar's....and Sam's. The longer he took here, the better the chance of them getting caught while waiting for the evac. The call had come, they'd be there soon.
So he had to hurry. Get this fight over with before it was too late.
And he had to admit, he had his own pride and honor to defend. Sure, hitting a lady was a bit against what he would normally do, but in this case circumstances were against his code of honor. But they were in a stalemate for the moment, a tie that he'd hoped to break with his knee to the gut. She was skilled though, so the chances of her countering it were high. In fact, he was already planning a backup if that didn't work....when the ground shook. Holy Hutt fodder, how much explosives did they use for me to feel it way over here? The thought passed quickly though, as Shine noticed something far more important. Panther had turned her attention to the palace, trying to figure out what that sudden surge was. He had his opening. And he bloody well took advantage of it.
His knee found skin and muscle with ease, pushing whatever air she had in her lungs up and out, almost forcing her to gag in a desperate plea to gather the air she'd lost back. Her grip on him weakened, enough so that he ws able to break her hold on his arm and move to the next phase of his endgame. His headbutt missed, both sadly and thankfully, when she doubled over from his first hit. No damage from it, but at least he wouldn't have a headache after as well. Bad for driving to have a concussion after all. Either way though, she'd gone limp enough for him to put her against the speeder....hard. Followed up by an always lovely stun bolt to the midsection to keep her mind on the pain and less on how to get free to counter, if that was possible at this point.
Hey, he'd seen it happen before.
Holding her there for a moment at another sound, he tilted his head to see the two Gammorean guards, who'd been sleeping, then studying the door a moment ago, pointing in their direction and starting to beat their giant feet against the sand as they rushed towards him. Not a lot of time but enough. Looking at the stunned woman in his arms, Shine muttered an apology before his next move...which was to slam her head against the speeder's side. Not as hard as he could nor on the edge of the speeder, where he could easily have cracked open her head and killed her. But strong enough to send whatever sense she had left out the window, leaving a limp being struggling to keep balance before him.
He watched her for a moment, fumbling before he clenched his hand into a fist and whispered to her over the squealing pigs. "I'm sorry Ms Panther; maybe next time we can meet under much nicer conditions. Hopefully you can thank me for this later." Without wasting a second more, he brought his fist hard into her temple, a blow that sent the woman leaning for the ground. With his free arm, he reached down and caught her, pulling her up to rest against his chest. Hopefully next time you don't kill me on sight."
Sighing, he pressed a light kiss to her temple, then turned his eyes towards the approaching guards. Not a lot of distance separeted them now and Shine slowly lowered Panther to the ground, keeping his eyes on them as they came closer. Hidden by Panther's form was his blaster, Shine turning the dial up to full power now. Panther had been honored with the stun bolt...these green skinned porkers wouldn't get the same luxury. "Oh thank the heavens you guys are here. My wife was having a panic attack and jumped me...I had to put her out you see. For her own safety...and mine too. Could you give me a hand here, help get her into the speeder? She's heavier then she looks."
The two guards looked at each other, wary of what to do....until one of them squealed and looked back at the palace, jumping a little as if impaitient. Obviously he wanted to get this done with and get back to figuring out what was going on back there. His partner squealed low, as if not sure, but finally moved towards Shine and Panther, putting his axe down to help lift Panther with both his arms. Stepping to the side, Shine smiled and nodded to his friend. "Thank you....and have a nice trip to wherever pigs go when they die." Lifting his blaster from its hiding place at his side, he caught the still at attention Gammorean in the face, the bolt burning through flesh and bone in a single shot. Shine made it two just to make sure he was dead and not suffering. And before his partner could register what was happening, caught off guard and then trying for his axe a moment too late, Shine fired three shots into him.
His body was still moving sideways as it slumped into the sand when Shine reholstered his blaster and lowered himself down to pick up the out cold Panther. Lifting her bridal style, he walked over to the next speeder in line and put her inside it, making sure she was covered from the sun. Wasting little time, he dropped down and checked the speeder once over...it was one of the ones he hadn't put a bomb on, one that would have just got caught in the explosion. Hoping in, he turned the speeder towards the palace and put it on low power, at the door. That way, the speeder would slowly hover in that direction and by the time things went off, she'd be safely out of range. Then he disabled the steering to make sure she wouldn't be able to follow if she got up sooner then expected.
Checking one last time that she was safe from the heat, he turned from that speeder and bolted for theirs. His body still hurt from the fight, especially that wound on his chest, but he put it aside for the moment. He'd heard Sev call for him fast, then caught a bit of the chaos following that explosion earlier. From the sound of it, everything had gone right...except that Sam wasn't with them. Not dead, Shine caught that much. But not going to be getting out so easily. "Hang on guys, on my way to the exit point. Be there before you can blink." Jumping the speeder's side and planting himself firmly in the drivers seat, he keyed the power to full and brought the speeder around in a sharp loop. His double checked where he was going on his pad, then hit the gas, the sand kicking up in billows as he shot towards the palace's left hand side.
When he was at the location he needed to be at, he pulled back a bit, fully aware of what was going to happen. Hoping out of the vehicle, he ran to the wall, and found the spot where they'd come out, then put a small charge..his last one, against the wall. Running back to the speeder, he prayed for this to work..and blew the charge. It didn't do much...but it did crack and weaken the outer wall. With any luck, the following charge from the inside that he knew was coming would be able to do the rest. Nerves on edge, he could only wait now. "I'm ready and waiting guys. Hurry it...... And thats when the wall exploded.
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Latus
May the Quartz be with you.
850 posts
0 likes
Ain't got time for this. (?°?°??? ???
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last online Jun 27, 2014 19:37:36 GMT -5
Guardian
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Jun 23, 2011 19:50:32 GMT -5
Post by Latus on Jun 23, 2011 19:50:32 GMT -5
It could not have been more than a moment since Sev spoke but, with the adrenaline from the explosion still flowing it felt like a lifetime. As his stomach continued its long slow plunge to his feet he realized that he would be forced to make a decision soon; if he couldn't contact Sam he'd have to presume her dead and finish the mission. Turning back to Athar and Worrak he knew that he had to move soon even though he could see the same pain and concern in the nautolan's voice. Even after his final plea with her there was nothing from his mic but a painful silence. Sighing he turned and readjusted the detonator for his “exit” again finger hovering over the button. Pausing he heard a hard strike of something on something else on the other side of the wall... along with mumbling. Lunging quickly he pressed himself against the wall, ear to the crumbling plaster.
”…ust no diamonds please. That’s just *mumble* creepy from a Corellian standpoint. ‘Ah thought Ah’d do somethin’ special for ye, Sam. Here’s gran’ma oan a ring.”
That was Sam all right! It was hard to hear sans the direct connection from the comms but he was unsurprised to hear her continuing the conversation regarding marriage. He gave an audible sigh of relief and turned to Athar with a thumbs up, the Nautolan smiling and nodding to the development.
Aye, lass. When we get outta 'ere ah'll buy yeh two o' whatev'r ye want along wit' a new bloody com! He had no doubt that she would not say but his thoughts lingered on her condition, her shoulder, as well as a hope that the explosion did not harm her. The fact that she was still cracking wise indicated that if something was indeed paining her it couldn't be that serious; at least not serious enough to keep her from moving foreword.
And they had to keep moving foreword, each of their lives hung in the balance. Roight lass, we're stickin' tae th' plan. D'yeh think ye can get oot from there? ”Yeah…well…I can…but I’ll be a bit. Making a hole in that lounge room…thing…back here.” Sounds good. We'll see yeh ootside.
Turning he slipped his rifle off his shoulder before stepping to Worrak who lifted his arm which Sev quickly slid under to provide support. With his semi-free hand he reactivated his team tactical com, specifically needing contact with Shine. As they stumbled foreword he hefted his rifle in the support arm in case he had to suppress someone in a hurry.
Shine, Sam will be taking another way oot. Ye'll need tae be ready tae swing aroond th' back lounge area. Out.
The exit that they had chosen, painfully close to the caved in section of wall, was just through the back section of the cantina which they had scouted to be the area where the meals were prepped. Though he hoped for the best, that the chefs were just chefs, he was prepared for the worst. If more goons got in their way it would be difficult to find cover in and around the preparation areas especially with a hobbled fuzzball on their shoulders.
"I'm ready and waiting guys. Hurry it......“
As the three stepped up to the door Sev slowed to a stop before firmly pressing the button on the detonator, a suppressed explosion shaking the ground for an instant before the hall returned to the relative silence.
Take 'im, ah'll sweep 'n clear.
Got it. Hurry up soldiah boy.
Sev smirked as he lowered the heavy burden off his shoulder and put his rifle in Worrak's place. Now for another challenge. Swapping for a new clip in a single clean motion he cocked the rifle and stepped up to the door. Placing his secondary on the handle he nodded to Athar before pushing it inward, the old door squeaking on its hinges. A breeze and gout of dust assaulted his face as he stepped in, the very obvious kitchen space filled with fresh debris and pans scattered across the floor. There was a delicious smell rising from the ovens but that barely masked the smell of dust and perspiration. He could see no one through the thick dust and, though he was barely able to make out the opposite wall, he was endlessly pleased to see sunlight filtering through the opening. Taking another step foreword he swept back and forth, checking his corners and both of the two aisles through the preparation area. He saw a single motionless body, a chef, close to the hole but there was a distinct lack of obvious life from the hazy form and the SNARL indicated nothing immediately. Nodding he glanced over his shoulder.
C'mon i- ach! The SNARL picked up the threat too late.
Searing pain lanced through his shoulder as the sound of the blaster reached his ear a moment too late. His mouth shot open under the sand cloth and the shot transferred its momentum into a step backward as his secondary arm dropped from the rifle. Grunting in pain and determination his eyes returned front to a vaguely humanoid shaped being who stood in the shadow of the door to the main area. Anticipating the second shot he quickly strafed right, the second shot sailing very close to where the first struck him, impacting on the wall with a fresh burst of debris. Compressing the slugthrower in a death grip against his shoulder he sighted down the SNARL and compressed the trigger. The kick from the rifle was incredible without his second hand for support and the burst spread was greater and farther left than he wished but a vanishing tracer and similar grunt of pain from his assailant indicated at least one round hit. As the third bolt flew from the blaster Sev hit the edge of the counter and squeezed again, longer, bullets flying wildly as pans ricocheted and flew here and there. It took mere seconds but the rifle roared and roared until the magazine finally clicked empty.
As the noise vanished and the gunsmoke began to clear Athar pulled Worrak gingerly into the preparation area, stepping smoothly so as not to trip over the pans.
Soldiah boy, you still livin'? The lack of a response was something that Athar didn't expect. Sevchenko?
The nautolan stepped in farther, blinking against the dust and looking left and right. He could see the hole created by the detonation but not Sergeant Sevchanko. His breath came slightly faster as thoughts began to percolate through his skull and he stepped foreword again. A cough caught his attention and he looked right, the shape finally making itself obvious against the smoke. The Sergeant had taken a knee, rifle barrel pressed against the floor, hand to his stomach, back against the counter.
Sergeant! As the Nautolan stepped over to the sergeant he thought he saw a scorch mark between the fingers of the man's gloves.
E's down... an'... ah'm *cough* ah'm fine. Rifle's oot o' ammo... The sergeant groaned loudly as he struggled to push himself upright. Ah'll take Worrak, lad... ye cover meh.
Finally reaching his feet Sev staggered once before taking a deep breath and gritting his teeth against the pain. Breathing out his stride stabilized and he slid his rifle over his shoulder before taking Worrak's shoulder again.
Though Athar was unsure that the Sergeant could handle the heavy wookie he knew that the injured man would likely not be much use, especially with a dry weapon. Slipping out from the shoulder he drew his blade and stepped aside as Sev and their charge staggered toward the exit. Each man took a different path down the preparation island but as they stepped into the clear area before the hole Sev paused to catch his breath. A sound made the soldier tense and turn his head in time to see the hazy figure of the chef rise to his full height and raise both hands over his head. With a roar of fury the chef struck out at Sev who, unable to get out of the way, could only cringe and wait for the blow. It never came. The sergeants eyes shot open at the sound of something heavy hitting the floor with a damp thump, a familiar form standing in the fresh void, blade slick and wet with something black.
Two blokes an a shite load o' cutlery. You owe me.
That ah do. Cmon.
With that and a nod from Worrak Sev turned and plunged headlong out through the hole into the blinding light. Blinking rapidly the form of a speeder slowly came into view. It was the first time since they started that mission that Sev was actually happy to see the kid, waiting for them no less. Cringing against the pain that welled up against his resistances he placed his hand on his stomach again and stepped hurriedly up to the speeder. With a quick pull the door was open and he shoved the limp form of Worrak inside, hustling Athar behind him before climbing in. The moment Sev pulled the door closed he withdrew his pistol and leaned out the side, ready for more action.
All saddled up, lad. Go!
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