Subtle Subterfuge Pt3: Return to Sender

[Vex]

"Is this a bad time to say I don't really like heights, Boss?" Wash was tucked into a little slot along Rizzen's back, just big enough for him. It had been a rig that Rizzen had set up several months back for when they needed to move more quickly than his little legs could allow.

Granted, the rig was sitting up a little higher than usual to accomodate the wingsuit system strapped to his back and the bandolier of explosives across his chest. The system was similar to a jetpack, though smaller and sleeker, with a monofilament-woven spread of fabric between each limb to increase his surface area and provide lift. Where the fabric connected to his armor at his boots and hands, small repulsorlift generators, powered by the pack, would allow him to slow his descent at the critical moment of landing.

Rizzen looked over his shoulder through that T-visor, his voice modulated by the helmet as he chuckled. "You don't seem to mind climbing."

"Yeah...but I'm holding onto something then."

"Just hold onto me and you'll be fine."

"Right, Cap'n."

Rizzen shook his head a bit as he stood there on the edge of that high rise that was located half a kilometer from the Sith compound where Rahja was being held. The building was just over 200 meters taller than the compound itself, providing them with just enough height to distance ratio to make it to the Sith rooftop. Below them, the city spread out below in the shadow of night. Looking to Sender, he'd nod once before crouching down and launching himself out into the open air while Wash crouched down as much as possible. Of course, he couldn't help but let out a squeaking "ooooooooooh..." as he saw the city lights below whisking by when Rizzen spread his limbs and arched his back, the wind filling up within the cloth and lifting him up as his descent began to become lateral movement instead of vertical.

The distance was ate up quickly as the city flew by below. The airspeeder warning lights on the top of the building could be seen as they got closer. Wash's photoreceptors got wide as it appeared that they were going to come up to low and hit the safety wall around the roof edge. Rizzen skimmed over it with a few feet to spare, flaring up the repulsors as the invisible force kept him from skidding across the rooftop as he slowed down. As the charge died, the Falleen tucked into a forward roll to eat up the rest of the inertia and coming up on his feet.

Tapping the control at his belt, the connection points for the glide system released from his armor and retracted into the pack at his back. Wash jumped down, flattening himself down upon the plasticrete as though hugging it. "Thank the Maker!"

"Wash, you'll be fine...unless you don't get down to that control room fast enough. Then we might have problems. Focus." Rizzen knelt down and, despite the harsh tone, his hand came to rest on the Familiar's back for a moment in reassurance. Wash looked up and nodded.

"Yeah...I gotcha, Cap'n." He scampered away quickly, finding the exhaust vent that led to the tube Sender had found as an access route. Those nimble little claws made short work of it and then he was in, travelling downward toward his destination.

Watching him, Rizzen shook his head and stood up. Reaching into his belt, he looked to the southward facing wall, the only side that had windows on the level of her detention block. He pulled out a maglock connection, slapping it onto the cargolift outer wall. Reaching behind him to the small of his back, he found the lead for the monofilament drop winch. Flicking the release so it played freely, he pulled out the lead and attached it to the connection point on the maglock, testing it before nodding.

"Hope you are ready, Sender. It's all on you now. No pressure, of course." With that pep talk, Rizzen took off for that southern wall at an all out sprint. As he ran, he unclipped the bandolier, gripping it as it slipped loose and thumbing the arming mechanism. It was now ready to blow, waiting only for a sufficient jarring impact to set it off. Once he neared the edge, he flung it over ahead of him and watched it disappear.

Two heartbeats later he leapt, foot planting on the wall as he launched up, that lead continuing to play out the monofilament behind him as he found himself once again flying out into space, pulling his arms in close as he torpedoed down head first toward the ground below. The computer in the winch calculated the length playing out of it and began a gradual slowing so that, at the prescribed length, it would stop and allow him to swing into the building.

Assuming, of course, that Sender played his part correctly....

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

((Previous thread: Subtle Subterfuge Pt2: Betrayal!))

--Here we stand,
On the edge of nothingness,
The oddest of groups,
Willing fate and fortune to be on our side.

A swift laid plan,
A well versed man,
Familiars on hand,
I believe we can.--

Sender clung to the railing of the building, the view tempting him to just bolt off into the air and fly until he couldn’t fly any longer. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the oddly slapped together…poem (if it could be called that)…worked its way through his processors. He’d have to share it with Rahja when they got her back…no doubt she’d enjoy the fact that now, of all times, he’d managed to think up a poem. Well…it was her fault for giving him the idea of coming up with the things anyway. The little avian droid couldn’t help but shake his head at Wash’s obvious distaste of their current position, letting out a little chuckle. Sender had to keep reminding himself that Wash wasn’t built for flight like he was…ah well.

Pulling out the detonator from his chassis, the fourth familiar looked up to Rizzen and nodded in return as those wings flared out and he launched himself off the railing in time with the falleen and his counterpart. With a burst of those repulsors, he passed Rizzen as he brought all of his systems out of standby. The window he was aiming for hurtled closer, the distance meter narrowing at the side of his vision. At the last moment those thrusters turned with his wings to slow him as he positioned himself to land with talons first. Metal scraped along metal as he fought for a grip and to stabilize himself on the narrow sill. A moment only and he was silent again, working to stick the detonator to the window and arm it for remote detonation. Looking up from his work, he caught sight of Rizzen’s boots as he slipped over the edge of the building above. Good…good timing…now just to get this thing planted properly.

“Hope you are ready, Sender. It’s all on you now. No pressure, of course.” Ah, thank the Wizard…just in time! Launching himself away from the window, he chuckled into the open com.

“Wonderful speech, Rizzen…rousing,” he replied as his dark grey form banked around to watch the roof. ”Mind the glass on your way through.” That black armored form appeared at the edge and soared over, the timer in his systems starting the countdown. It was a good thing he’d synced the remote detonator to his the internal timer. He, for one, wasn’t taking chances. Five seconds in and there was a cacophony of sound from the explosions below and at the window. When Rizzen vanished into the building, Sender would be there, right behind him, in a mater of moments.

-----------------------



Finally they had stopped…

Not that the Colonel had wanted to stop, but they had needed to. They weren’t getting anything from the woman, even with the interrogation droid…not to mention the fact that, even with the drugs to lower her pain tolerance, her nerves were becoming overloaded. She just wasn’t reacting to the droid’s actions as she had been at first. At one point she’d even been near unconsciousness. That had been when they’d finally, thankfully, stopped for the night…to let her body rest and recover a bit. No doubt she’d be feeling it worse tomorrow, she was already sore…feeling battered and bruised. No sooner had they left than she’d curled up on the bed and let the world go black around her.

Rahja was woken, however, by the sounds of…if she didn’t know better she would have said explosions. It had to have been some sort of dream…but it had sounded, even felt, like an explosion…or a few. Opening her eyes, the blurry vision she was gifted with at the moment (thanks to that damn droid) attempted to filter in room. Outside she could hear a commotion of voices and movement outside as she slowly pushed herself up. Just what the hells was going on out there?

[Vex]

Thankfully, the helmet had sonic dampeners built into it to protect if there were sounds higher than certain decibels. It was the little things you had to watch out for...things that could impair you at inopportune times while in the heat of combat. Something like those dampeners helped keep someone from being made deaf and having their equilibrium sent off-kilter by sonic concussion. It worked very well now as he was just at the top of the window when the resonator went off. The glass shattered and exploded inward while he was treated to a momentary view of the fireworks rocking the front entrance below. He reached up, hand pressing against that monofilament as he kicked his legs around, inverting his position and helping to swing him in feet first as that winch reached its designated limit. Clearing the shattered window sill, he hit the release on that winch, disconnecting it from his belt. Without his weight, it began to wind itself back up toward the roof. He landed on the balls of his feet in a crouch, rolling forward to disperse the rest of the force and getting back up to his feet. There had been a guard passing through the area. Lacking the protection of those dampeners and getting peppered by pieces of glass had him bloody and disoriented.

Just the way Rizzen liked him. He moved forward four steps to close the distance with the man. He wasn't playing gently today, not like he had with Rahja in the club. Spiked gauntlets struck rapidly, twice in face with jab/cross combo before he reached out. Forearms slammed into the man's shoulders as Rizzen's clawed fingertips closed around the man's nape. He pulled him down violently as he thrust an armored, edged knee up to catch him in the sternum. Something snapped and it wasn't the armor. His hands shifted, one palm slipping beneath the man's neck while he gurgled. The other moved and lifted before he brought his elbow down on the back of the guard's neck. Another snap had the man become boneless as Rizzen let him drop to the ground.

Checking the head's up display, catching no sign of other life forms or movement for the moment. Alarms were going off everywhere though, with recessed alert lighting blinking crimson overhead. Keying the comms system in the helmet, he spoke into the subdermal mic. "Wash, are you on target?"

Wash, meanwhile, had climbed down following the path that Sender had mapped out. Underneath it, he'd tapped into that circuitry with his probes and begun breaking through the firewalls. It was simple enough to start out with, given the back door he'd managed to build in last time. Once Rizzen was speaking to him, he took one second to answer as he built up his own firewalls to prevent the Sith from managing to remote in and take control of the system again. "Am now, Cap'n. Looks like the explosions have them going crazy."

"Good. Seal down all entry to this level and scramble the locks, except for the path we need to take to get her and then get to the lift. Ground the lift on the bottom floor so they can't use it to travel up."

"Gotcha. Um...they've got critical response teams mobilizing. Some are moving to respond to the explosions, others are securing critical areas. That includes that staff quarters and high value prisoner blocks."

"Which means we're working on a limited time scale. Nothing unexpected. Do what you can for the security inbetween our location and her cell. Keep us apprised of their movement relative to ours."

Looking to Sender, he nodded and began travelling down the hall toward the secured detention area she was in.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Sitting up on the bed, she closed her eyes and listened to the commotion outside. The guards for the cell block were shouting to each other as they called in back up, then armed themselves more appropriately. Forcing herself up, she moved toward the door in an attempt to get some kind of more accurate information about what was going on. Up and down the corridor the sounds of the other ‘guests’ of the Empire were shouting for the guards to explain what was going on, but they needn’t have bothered. It wasn’t as if the guards were about to tell a cell block full of volatile and dangerous ‘criminals’ just what was causing such an uproar in the base’s typical occupants. After all, why give hope to those they wanted to leave hopeless? Why give ideas of revolt or potential freedom to those they didn’t wish to have freed to revolt against them? They had enough on their plate already.

Even through the muffling effects of the door, she could catch snippets of conversation between the guards as they passed up and down the block, checking the doors and prisoners inside. If a response team was being called in, there was little doubt that what she’d felt…what had woken her up…had been a series of explosions somewhere. For a moment her hopes rose. It was far too soon for any Republic operative or team to have gotten here, but…what if…what if it was the Falleen? It was a minor hope, not something she was willing to stake all of her hopes on, but it was something…getting out of this cell without some outside help was looking to be near impossible. Sighing out her frustration, she paced back to the bed and sat down again to ease her sore body until the commotion either settled down or something further happened.

-------------------------------

Watching Rizzen dispatch their first enemy, Sender had brought up a miniature map of the compound with the security measures marked on it, layering it across one side of his visor, its opacity nearly at zero. Now able to see past the diagram to the world beyond, but still able to see the markings, he nodded in return to Rizzen. ”I'm going on a little ahead, there’s a turret there that needs disabling. You have a small guard station coming up on the left just before the turret point approximately…10 meters after you round this corner.” In a bid to keep their actions as quiet as possible, Sender had switched his vocabulator off, transmitting the tones directly to Rizzen’s com-system. With that warning, he’d soared up to skim along the ceiling of the corridor.

Given the shape of the recessed lights, it wasn’t difficult for the AER to bank around them and avoid casting a direct, and extremely visible, shadow. Just as he’d reach the guard post, Sender pulled his wings in and angled them to allow him to fly along in the angle created between the ceiling and wall. It was amazing just how well his chassis fit into the little space, allowing him to blend in with the metal surroundings, slip through the turret’s sensory area, and loop around behind it. Clinging to the bars that held the turret in place, it didn’t take much to disable the thing…a few wires cut to shut down the flow of power and the job was done. After that he would move to go help Rizzen with whatever guards remained…if there were any.

[Vex]

"Works for me. You take care of the technical aspects of the security. I'll handle the organic." With that subdermal mic against his throat, he barely had to make a sound to be heard over the comms set. While the avian shot away like a dangerous shadow, slipping through defenses and weaknesses in the lights. It never failed to surprise him just how resourceful those droids could be. Their usefulness was limited only by their imagination and that of their partners. Having met two of them now, he had a newfound respect for the Wizard and his genius.

He stalked his way down the hall in Sender's wake. He pulled up the same map that Sender was using, noting the guard station Sender spoke of. Rounding the corner, he came up on it, seeing the two guards there. They were busy with the security console, trying to pull up cameras to see what exactly was going on downstairs. They'd gotten the general alert that someone had attempted to attach the front entrance and that they were to report anything suspicious immediately. The security glass there was too thick for him to break through physically or shoot through. Of course...there were other ways. He pulled out a small half-orb, arming it and slapping it onto the glass as he walked toward their door. The sound had them looking up, seeing him as he moved to the side of the window. One went to radio in and the other started to reach for his carbine when the smaller sonic resonator erupted, blowing in that glass and peppering them. The one went down, screaming in pain instead of reporting the situation.

Saved from the spray by the wall next to the window, he planted a gloved hand on the sill and vaulted over. His armored boot swung across as he did so, catching the second man across the temple as he struggled to bring up that carbine to bear in his disoriented state. It sent him stumbling head-first into the wall, knocking him out cold. With a twist on his heel, he dropped down suddenly to a knee, fingers slamming down rigidly into the first man's throat, shattering his wind-pipe and puncturing it with those claws to make sure he wasn't going to be a threat. Standing, he'd move toward the second, bringing his boot down on the back of the man's neck just to ensure that he was out...permanently.

Rizzen exited the station as Sender came back around. From a pouch, he pulled out a discreet vid camera, posting it up high on the wall in the shadows to allow them to have their own eye down it in case someone got through Wash's attempt to block movement except for their own. "Wash, camera one is in position. Keep an eye on it for anyone that manages to get through that we aren't expecting."

"Got it, Cap'n. Um...the reaction teams trying to get onto this floor are moving up the stairs. They found out that the lifts aren't working. I'm catching some radio chatter. It sounds like they'll be sending in more teams to your floor. They believe it has something to do with their newest acquisition."

"Give them a point for intelligence then." Rizzen looked to Sender, gesturing. "Lead the way."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

”Understood. Next stairwell in 5 meters, next turret in 30.48 meters,” came the swift reply to the conversation between Wash and Rizzen, then the man’s words to him. A blast from his propulsion systems had him shooting off toward the doorway in question and slamming his talons into the seal around the access panel that would open the doorway as he flicked his short range sensors to the x-ray settings, keeping half an eye on the other side of the door for movement. Clinging to the open panel with one claw as his repulsors worked to keep him stable, the other swiftly pulled at the wiring to make opening the door that much more difficult for them. ”That won’t hold them forever, but it’ll slow them down.” The thought had been mainly to himself, but that was the problem with patching the comms system directly into his vocal processor…sometimes thoughts slipped out as words.

Detaching himself from the access panel, he whisked off toward the turret, skimming along the ceiling once more and flipping his visual back to its standard setting. Coming up on the junction to the next hall they would be taking, he latched himself onto the turret positioned there just as a shout sounded down the hall, followed by a peppering of blaster rounds in his general direction. ”Rizzen, we have company…four or five…came from the next stairwell.” One of the reaction teams had just come out of a stairwell further down and spotted the blue flare from his propulsion as he’d come around the back of the turret and disconnect it. Scrambling to move out of their line of sight, he jutted out one wing and pulled back the coverings on his feathers, allowing the sharp solar collection panels to slice through the wires swiftly so he could be done with the job before Rizzen got there and risked being injured by it.

[Vex]

"Wash...find a way to lock down those stairwells. We have to be able to anticipate where they are going to be coming from." He had heard Sender's words as he set off down the hall to the second turret, as well as the blaster fire that followed. His tone had an edge to it. "Sender, get some cover."

He hadn't wanted to pull out an explosive this early into the game, but Sender was pinned down and they didn't have time to waste. If he was behind them, he could have done things differently. As it were, however, he needed to pick expedience over stealth. Arming the concussion grenade, he glanced around the corner, seeing the group there, thankfully close together. Letting the grenade cook for a second or two, he tossed it forward into their midst.

The timing couldn't have been better, the grenade going off and letting the concussive blast throw the men back...their armor doing nothing against the concussive force that hit them, caused damage, and took them down before they could react. Rizzen sprinted down the hall, looking for Sender.

"We have to hurry. They'll have felt and heard that and figured out that something is not right on this floor."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

“Sender, get some cover.”

”Cover? This is about as much cover as I can get without being cooked like a solstice dinner pheasant,” he quipped, clinging to the side of the turret farthest from the cluster of enemies and using the metallic weapon as some sort of makeshift barrier. Oh what he would have given to be 08 right now, with his nice, protective, shield array. Ah well…can’t win ‘em all. He was forced to cling to the metal bars holding the thing in place just a bit more tightly, his thrusters flaring, as the concussion grenade went off, making the turret waver slightly in the blast. For a moment his systems scrambled and flickered before being set to rights, and catching up to Rizzen as he moved full tilt down the corridor.

”Indeed, I'm reading movements up ahead at the next guard station…at least five pings on the radar…but they’re clustered so it’s difficult to tell. Best guess, it’s a reaction team that got there early. We’re coming up on the cell block also…another 45.72 meters at….mark.” No doubt they’d have at least one reaction team in cell block by now, if not two, and the blast would have those teams on guard, and others mobilized to try and stop the new threat. Coming up on the guard station, the reaction team and two guards were waiting for the duo that they didn’t…quite know was duo. The door to the guard post opened and the members of the armored reaction team issued forth. Sender had darted upward, skimming along the ceiling once more and slipped in through the door as one of the two guards followed the team, leaving his companion inside to notify command and direct the turret fire.

What happened inside that room wasn’t pretty.

Having no other means of self defense other than the gifts ‘nature’ gave the bird and the shock system the Wizard had implanted in the droid, there were relatively few options open to him. Not that it really mattered. Power had been fronted to those arc-systems, the feathers uncovered and shimmering with miniscule arcs of electricity, just before he landed on the back of the man. Sharp talons dug in through the cloth uniform and pierced the skin as that electricity sparked out from him and into the guard, dazing him as he fumbled to reach around and remove the droid. Willingly the AER detached himself from the back of the man, only to sweep around and attach himself to the shoulder of the human. One wing flicked out and was swept backward, the sharp feathers piercing his throat and slicing through the windpipe just above the collar bone, severing not only the air passage but also the arteries there, making him gurgle and gasp as he tried to breathe. He’d never gotten the chance to notify command.

Detaching from the man and further ripping through his throat, the guard all but fell out of his chair as Sender hooked into the terminal and rerouted control of the turret to his systems. From that point it wasn’t difficult to target and thin out the crowd of spaced out enemies as they tried to subdue Rizzen outside. Once the numbers were thinned down by two or three, he turned his attention to what else he might be able to do from this particular terminal. To his vast delight, he found that he could power down and block use of the laser system at the entrance of the cell block…and that’s exactly what he was working on…

---------------

Sure enough, two reaction teams had arrived in the cell block only a few minutes before Rizzen tossed his concussion grenade. Things had seemed to settle into a tense quiet as the moments ticked by…something that she didn’t need the force to sense. Every one of her dulled senses was on edge as she sat there and listened, waiting. What she was waiting for…even she didn’t know, but she was waiting, a strange sense of anticipation hanging in the air of the locked down cell block. Her head was resting on her knees when the concussion grenade went off, and suddenly there was a flurry of motion outside as the guards and reaction teams set themselves up to defend their position. Whoever it was…they were close…and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew who it was. It was just a shame that he’d decided to put himself in the middle of this mess.

[Vex]

Rizzen didn't really understand the whole idea behind having chromed armor. It's energy protection properties really weren't much better and all it really did was provide a nice, easily identifiable target to aim for. In some instances...like this, however, it came in handy. As Sender swooped up high to skirt above vision of those guards, he waited at the edge of the hallway turn. He pulled out a pair of punching daggers, vibroshivs that fitted in his fists and gave them an even more lethal capability.

Hearing the footsteps getting closer, he'd lash out with a punch. The blade caught the closest reaction team soldier in the throat, just below the helmet. He sidestepped with a twist as he pulled the blade out, avoiding the arterial spray that followed the motion as he grabbed a shocked arm and twisted around, sending the dying man flailing down, taking out one of the other men and causing a moment of confusion as he stepped into their midst...giving them more problems as they now had to worry about catching each other in the crossfire. It gave them a need to hesitate just a heartbeat, and that was enough as his boots and fists lashed out. He kept moving to stop them from getting an easy fix, staying out of the way of the barrels as they swung about, trying to track him and firing. It was barely controlled mayhem...with him in the middle. A blast caught him a glancing shot across the thigh. The armor caught most of it, but the lighter plates were a bit smaller to ease manueverability and thus, it left more open. The bolt seared that body suit beneath. He hissed, gritting his teeth and responding with a couple rapid punches to the man's chest...blades cutting through armor like butter before his hands opened up, grabbing the man's armor as he stepped back, shoulders to the wall while the human shield absorbed the fire coming his way.

Bless Sender for getting ahold of that turret. There was more blaster fire...but this time, it was in his best interest as three of those men were cut down. The last had moved to get some cover from the fire. Rizzen brought his foot up, front-kicking the body at him. Thought the man tried to get away, it kept him from getting a bead on Rizzen as he closed the distance. His hands latched onto the carbine and wrenching it...feeling the index finger snap as it was bent back. Stamping his foot down, he pushed hard, catching the man in the jaw and shattering it. The pain caused the man to lose his grip on the weapon. Rizzen slammed it hard against the man's helmet, ringin his head before he flipped it around and shot it into the man and ensured he was dead. "Good job, Sender."

He moved down the hall again, towards the entrance where that laser setup was.

Wash, meanwhile, had been going through systems and found something useful. Knowing how things were, he figured it would be place to sift through. That was about the time he found the fire alarm backup systems for the floor. Tapping his front claws together, he'd grin if he could. Amazingly, he'd found the controls for the detention block's fire suppression system. Not only would it cloud sight and make it harder...but it ate up oxygen...making things very easy for situations such as this since it could, potentially, knock out everyone patrolling as a guard in the hallways of the room.. With relish, he keyed the detention block system to engage, filling the room with that strange smoke and chaos.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Inside that cell, like all the other cells in the detention center, the lights flickered a moment and dimmed as the fire systems went off outside, the sound of high pressured fire suppression smoke hissing outside. Alarm klaxons went off down the corridors, swiftly followed by the sound of confusion before the alarms were shut down again. They were scrambling to override the fire systems, calling in to the control room in an attempt to have the officers there shut it down…and Rah doubted they were getting a response any time soon. Calls for back up were sent once again as slowly the movement started to calm again as they opened the doors to allow more air in to counteract the effects of the smoke. No doubt it would be one of the biggest mistakes they could make…

…Sender had already shut down the laser systems and was the first one through the smoke.

It was simple for him to see through the gathered smoke, his targeting systems forming red rings around the points of movements that his radar picked up. Swiftly he tallied up the close to fifteen enemies that his systems had picked up and gave the number and approximate positions of the individuals to Rizzen before he dove under the control console and cloistered himself away within the wiring of the consol so as to be more difficult to see. All he could do now was work to take over the consol and find anything that might help Rizzen or Rah.

[Vex]

Wash perked up, stilling. He'd secured the control room doors once he'd gotten into the system. Now there was pounding on it. This wasn't good. The two controllers that were already in the room were trying to get the doors open and noticing now that they weren't just having malfunctions, but someone actively in their system circumventing their control. It had him working double-time to shut down their access.

"Son of a Sith. Someone's got full access to the system and we can't get them out. It's like they have direct access to the main control hub."

"We'll have to shut it down. We can go access the backup system and resume control there."

Backup system? Wash didn't have any information on that. He was furiously going through his data banks and verified this. He couldn't allow that! If they lost control, then the Sith could lock down the base and trap them. He heard footsteps nearing the console and soon saw boots there. Acting quickly, he crawled out, powering up those directional nodes as his claws came out further. He latched onto the man's ankle, claws digging in as he discharged that pulse. The man managed a cry, body twitching erratically as he jerked and then fell bonelessly to the ground.

This, of course, alerted his partner, who rushed over, pulling out his sidearm. Wash's photoreceptors looked up, seeing the man as he brought his blaster to bear. The mustalid just managed to drag himself back beneath the console as the blaster bolts peppered the ground where he had been. Trying to track him, the man accidentally shot up the console itself, causing sparks and small explosions.

Wash, huddled there for a moment, tried to compute this. "Uh...Boss...we've got a problem." He began to crawl back down the conduits and start making his way toward the detention block where the others were. He couldn't do much good now...the main console was gone. All he could do is hope that this backup system was somewhere that they couldn't get to easily. At least the controller was locked in, for now, and he had no simple means of communication out as of yet. The reaction team would fix that eventually though. They didn't have a lot of time. He keyed up his comm system again, relaying what had just happened to Rizzen and Sender, along with his ETA.

Rizzen shook his head. Things never went simply. That was why it paid to plan. Sender dove in down that hall that had been covered by those lasers before. The Falleen stopped before it, where those doors for the cargo lift were located. Sheathing the daggers, he pulled out a non-powered variety, slipping it in between the two sides and leaning on it to force the doors open a bit. He listened to Sender's report about the forces there, but focused on his task. Pulling out a thin rectangle, he flipped it out so it extended on itself. He slid it up high between the doors, parallel with them before releasing his tension on the blade holding the doors apart. They pressed solidly on the strip inserted there.

It was insurance...to make sure their exit plan remained viable.

Finished, he pulled out out a punching dagger with his left hand and a blaster with his right. Reaching the smoke-filled hall, he flipped his HUD over so that the helmet vision showed thermals. It cut through the fog quickly while his system purified his breathing. It wasn't the same for those that had been in the fog. They were coughing and impaired both in their breathing and their vision. It made it simple for him in dealing with those closest to the hall.

Three shots. Two to the chest, one to the head. He repeated the cadence twice to the two he saw farther away. The one closest to him turned in reaction, peering through the smoke. Rizzen's punch caught him up under the armpit, slamming in deep, puncturing lung. Pulling it out, he kicked the man away while he choked on his own blood. Turning he saw another coming forward, weapon lifting up. The blast caught him in the side, but the beskar took the blast, leaving him with just the shock, twisting him to the side and stumbling a bit. He responded by firing his blaster, catching the man in the knee and causing him to cry out as he crumpled in pain. Rizzen's breathing was shallowed...the force of the shot bruising his side even if it hadn't penetrated the armor. He moved forward, slamming his boot down on the man's wrist, causing another cry of pain before he lined up his shot and caught the guard with a blast into the throat.

"Open up all the containment cells, Sender. There's too many here for me to take on by myself. We need the distraction." He moved towards where they'd pinpointed her cell at, but had to stop and duck back around the corner as blaster bolts sung by. Reaching down, he pulled out two flash bang grenades, arming them and tossing them around the corner and down the hall, missing another salvo of fire. The flash of blinding light and the eruption of sound seemed magnified in the close, dimmed confines of the hallway.

He heard the sounds of crying out, coming back around with his blaster leading the way.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

”Why can‘t things ever go right for once?” he mused, as Wash’s voice came over the comm. Shaking his head he didn’t bother to reply…he had other things planned…like releasing the prisoners. No doubt they would be happy to be free…and take some revenge. Of course…his thinking had conflicted with his programming and he’d had to shut down his moral coding, but that was a triviality at the moment. The sounds of pained cries seemed to rebound off his audio receptors as he diligently went about his work. In fact, no sooner had Rizzen suggested releasing the others in the cell block than the sound of locks releasing was heard up and down the corridors. ”You mean like that? …I think I just found that other control room. It‘s two floors down from where you were, Wash…I‘m getting a lot of com chatter about it, none of it good…”

-------------------------

There was most certainly commotion in the cell block now.

The new uproar was the familiar sound of combat, accompanied by cries of pain and a few detonations to boot. Sore or not, she stood and paced about the small containment cell until the sound of her door unlocking had her moving toward it and pressing against the wall beside it. Who knew who or what might come through that door, or why, and she didn’t feel like being an immediate target. It was likely a good thing she had moved, as well. With the release of the other inmates, the guards and reaction team had needed to either confront, or avoid, the new enemies that entered the confusion of smoke and blaster fire. One of those unfortunate souls made the mistake of coming through her door. Not seeing the prisoner he desired to use against their assumed attacker, the man had been about to check the nearest corners of the room when she came into his view as a blur of black hair, blue skin, and red eyes.

It was fortunate for her that she could still see most things, if only as blurred forms. They’d dilated her eyes to use light as a weapon against her more light sensitive vision, and the effects were still working on her, but as Rizzen had learned, she was still capable of being lethal even when she couldn’t see properly. Without the force to help her, it made things more difficult, but she’d managed to get a solid grip on his blaster and one of his wrists. She’d pulled him closer, shoving a knee up into his gut and knocking the wind out of him before pulling the blaster from his hands. Two shots to the head and she watched him drop to the ground before returning to press herself against the wall of her cell. One foot slid out to force the door to open once again to hopefully give her some idea of what lay beyond that barrier without sticking her head out into the open…she really didn’t feel like dieing today. After all, today was a good day for someone else to die.

[Vex]

"Great minds think alike, Sender. If you have any access in that panel, try and slow down any attempts to get to that control room. If you can't, don't worry about it. We need to get her out and get her out now while the confusing works on our side. Also...try to unlock the weapons lockers for the detention cell. We aren't in a position to help these people escape, but we may be in a position to help them help themselves...or at least have the chance to die proudly. Wash, hurry up and get down here. We need to leave."

He was very glad that he'd spent the money to have his visor's alternate view resolutions of the highest quality. It easily allowed him to make out the differences between the soldiers and the inmates that were now free and scrambling about. He swapped out his dagger for another blaster, targeting those soldiers (their armor was reflective even in the thermal spectrum) and cutting them down, helping out those inmates when he could. What they lacked in firepower, they were making up for in numbers and desperation. Though there was still sporadic blaster fire, he guessed that at least half of the original soldiers were down. Those that were up were trying to defend themselves, which made it hard for them to be a threat. He was rather pleased with that...especially since they needed to move before the Sith got a chance to lock down the cell blocks.

Moving to Rahja's cell, he backed up against the wall next to it, keeping his blasters pointed down each side while he scanned, looking for threats while he amped up his helmets vocal output. "Miss Kel, I am here to escort you. If you do not mind, please exit your cell so that we may depart. Our schedule is rather condensed and I do not wish that we infringe upon your host's hospitality any more if it can be helped."

Despite the chaos, his tone was rather bemused as he spoke, firing down the hall at a Sith that had poked his head around one of the corners.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

”Ah, yes…of course I’ll get the lockers open…I'm having difficulty patching into the central system. I'm just not built for those kinds of defensive measures, but I’ll see what I can do…” Honestly, Sender hadn’t even thought about the weapons lockers for the inmates, but he had been thinking of the secondary control room, his systems scrambling to get through the myriad of defenses the central system had up. It didn’t take him long to switch points of interest and unlock the weapons lockers, allowing them to slide open with hisses of air before he decided ‘screw the main system, I'm hijacking the security measures and turrets.’ There seemed to be less defenses put up around those systems than the doors and the control room systems.

Meanwhile…

Rahja couldn’t mistake the sounds outside, as the other inmates heightened the confusion as they attempted to take down their captors. That was yet another reason she was being cautious, she wasn’t looking to get caught in the fray. No sooner had that door slid open than she spotted movement to the side of her cell through the smoke. That pistol came up, aiming at the last point she’d seen movement…only to hear the digitized voice of someone speaking to her by name. The tone may have been lost in the vocabulator of the helmet more or less, but she could tell there was an undertone of amusement, and the words rang true with who she had believed to be causing all the commotion. A slight smile touched her face as she watched the blaster fire skim past the door toward a currently unseen enemy. Moving forward she slipped around and behind him.

”I was wondering if it was you causing such a disturbance, Mandalorian. Glad to find that I was right. Let’s hurry up then…I'm not much fond of vacationing here. Place does things to one’s eyes. Speaking of eyes, I'm a bit impaired so don’t wander too far in this smoke.”

To say that she was relieved to see him would have been an understatement…to say that she was even more relieved to feel him there would be an even larger understatement. Instinct was something she could work off of, with or without the force, but to not be able to have sensed the people you saw…it had been horrible. Now, even with the confusion and fear and anger lapping against her, she didn’t mind in the slightest…especially not now that she could pick Rizzen out of the ‘crowd’ of faceless and nameless entities that allowed their emotions to lap against her senses. ”Any time you’re ready,” she said, keeping close to the armored man.

It was amusing really, in a way…she hadn’t figured him to be the Knight in (not quite shining) Armor type.

Chuckling at the thought, she shook her head and moved to follow Rizzen when he decided it was the best time to go.

[Vex]

Once she came out and he didn't have to worry about her doing damage to him, he relaxed a bit, grinning beneath the helmet at her words. Poor girl had probably gone through hell, but she was still plucky and full of wit. It was just another show of that infallible character that he'd seen in her. "Do not worry, Ms. Kel. I have no intention of letting you get out of arm's length. My intentions are to see you spirited from this facility and that is best served by you remaining as close to me as possible."

At her affirmation that she was ready, he turned to look at her, chuckling a bit. He was about to say something teasing and playful when he saw the Sith come around the corner, bringing that blaster up to bear. No doubt she'd be reacting in a moment, the Force working to help her defend herself...but for this moment, he was moving fast. His arm looped about her waist, pulling her close to his body as he pivoted and spun her around. That put his back between her and the soldier as he let out with a string of blasts.

Rizzen grunt from the impacts of three against that armored back, the force still beating him even if the energy couldn't do more damage to him. He responded by finishing that turn and bringing his own weapon to bear, firing down the hall and catching the man in the chset. He wasn't going to be getting up and being a bother any time soon. His breath hissed as the bruised ribs made him breathe more shallowly.

He'd gesture for her to follow him as he made his way down back the way he'd come. Finding the now unlocked entrance to the weapon lockers, he drew out a handful and began to toss them down the hall toward the cells where the other inmates were breaking from. "Attention all inmates. The weapon lockers are now open. I repeat, the weapon lockers are all open. We cannot assist you in your escape, but we can help leveling the odds a bit."

His words had blasted out loudly befor he gestured for her to follow him out into the main hall now, where they could find Wash as he broke out into the open, main hallway.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Oh, so now he was laughing at her, hmm? Well, she’d have to set him straight on that later…jokingly, of course. Though she DID owe him for getting her into this mess in the first place, and she would start hinting at that as he turned to face her, that emotionless helmet and hardened armor barely visible to her as anything more than distorted and blurred forms. ”Yes well, I'm glad you have better intentions this time than…” she’d stopped then, turning at the burning warning in the force, her arms coming up to fire on that new threat. Unfortunately, she wasn’t moving as swiftly or easily as she would have liked. Her body was still sore, those muscles strained from the stress they’d been put under and slowing her reactions to a fraction of their normal speed.

She found one armored arm wrapping around her waist, however, pulling her backward against more armor as Rizzen spun them both around, shielding her from the blaster bolts that hurtled in their direction. His actions were met with a soft, pained, half-growl, hiss and wince as his arm pressed up under her sore lower ribs and diaphragm, but she didn’t resist the motion. Instinctively she ducked her head, tensing and curling inward slightly as he moved before settling her down again. It wasn’t difficult for her to feel when those blasts struck him, his body jolting slightly as he grunted from the impact. That had her growling again and lashing out at the enemy with her mind with a purpose, making the man halt and stagger even as her rescuer turned to end him.

Nodding to his motion, she kept close on his heels, grinning as she saw him nearly melt into one of the weapons lockers and pull out a good starting amount, before tossing them down the hall. With an evil little chuckle, she followed his action with another locker containing repeaters and carbines. ”I thought I recognized that maniacal laugh…though I'm surprised you’re not taking one of those yourself. Didn’t believe you could turn down a good carbine?” 04 had reappeared from his makeshift hidey-hole to appear on top of the console as she’d sent the last one in her hands down the hall. The sound of his voice had her turning her head in the direction of the sound.

”Well can you blame me? They’re just so damned pretty,” Rah quipped, her face quite serious as she spoke, though there was obviously more than a hint of humor in her voice. Besides, Rahja calling anything 'pretty' (especially a gun) was just absurd and completely hilarious. ”Now get over here…daft evveh miph’hanik’la bird…” she added as she exchanged the pistol she had for a fresh one. With her sight the way it was, she would likely do more damage than good with a carbine or rifle, and hopefully the plan of escape would involve as little ‘blasting’ as possible. Right now, the raven haired woman sincerely hoped that running was on the agenda, rather than shooting…and that was saying something, considering she hated having to run from a situation.

”Good to see you too, Rah. They’re as slowed down as I can make them…the base security measures and turrets should keep them busy at least.”

“Attention all inmates. The weapon lockers are now open. I repeat, the weapon lockers are all open. We cannot assist you in your escape, but we can help leveling the odds a bit.”

Was it bad that she was beginning to like this man, despite everything so far?

Rahja found herself smirking at his words as she followed him out into the hall, where the little mink-like FIDES appeared in a flurry of motion. Sender had come up behind them, heading for the cargo lift doors and scrabbling at the control terminal’s droid port with his talons to open it and jack in. After a moment, he managed it, hooking his cable in and sifting through the data to find the command to open the doors. He’d almost had the correct code when the sith made another intelligent choice…since they were having difficulties getting to the secondary control room, where they could simply lock or unlock the doors and blast doors at will, they shut the power down to the areas surrounding the cell block in an effort to contain the situation…after all, no power meant the doors would be that much more difficult to get through, the lack of light would be that much more of a hindrance to their uninvited guests. The reaction teams were already equipped to handle a lack of power, provided with the means to open the sealed doors and with night vision HUDs, but it would (they hoped) slow down the intruders.

As the lights went out completely, Rah blinked, hesitating in her movements for a moment and slowing. Force or not, she wasn’t able to see in the dark. Luckily Sender suddenly shown through the dark, surrounded in a dull nimbus of light as he activated his back-up light and clung awkwardly to the control panel, retracting his cord back into his chassis and peering over at Rizzen and Rahja through two red points of light. It had her moving a bit more assuredly once again toward his position. ”I couldn’t get the doors open swiftly enough…you’ll have to force them open, unfortunately.”

A twinge of regret and disappointment filtered through him at the comment. Just a second too slow...one second! Frustration and more disappointment coursed through him at that thought, even as he tried to reason it away with the fact that he wasn't built specifically with slicing in mind...that he was built as a targeting system, companion and moral guide. It still rankled him...he was a droid, one of the best built in the galaxy, no doubt, and he couldn't even get a code for a stupid cargo lift door in time to open it for his partner, his cousin, and Rizzen. By the Wizard's whiskers, he could even FEEL...sort of...and he couldn't do that one simple process in the time allotted? It was just...pathetic really...to him, anyway. A short discharge of electricity was given, crackling across his feathers, before a swift burst from his thrusters issued forth as he mulled the situation over for a fraction of a second. Sure, it was partially from frustration and agitation, but it did actually have a purpose as well. The blood from the guard he'd killed baked and cracked on his feathers before his propulsion system blasted most of it off. Of course, he'd still need a proper cleaning, but this would have to do for now...

[Vex]

Still breathing rather roughly, he never the less managed to grin a bit after they'd laid out the presents for the inmates. "I'll have you know, Ms. Kel, that my intentions are never anything but honorable. My intention then was to complete the terms of my contract, to the letter, and with as little harm to you as possible. Whether or not I wanted to finish that was irrelevant so long as trust and faith in the agreement was kept by both parties. Fortunately for both of our desires, that trust and faith was not kept by my employers. Allowing me now to be here."

Looking to Sender as he spoke he nodded his head. "The most you can do is all I expect. We aren't here to take over or linger here more than necessary. That necessity is now up." He kept moving towards those cargo lift doors while they heard the sounds of inmates finding the weapons left behind. Blaster fire started to pick up exponentially in the detention block. He was pleased to see Wash there, just before a straggler guard managed to get through the same doors that the other group had come through and almost ambushed Sender with. Rizzen was there as the man saw Wash and tracked his blaster down. A booted foot kicked the man's elbow, fouling the shot and sending it high and wide. The boot came down and he stepped forward, twisting on the heel as his second boot lashed out lower, caving in the man's knee.

He dropped low, shifting his hips forward as his body twisted and he brought his fist up, catching the man in an uppercut that he followed up all the way to a standing position. It had enough force that it knocked the helmet clean off,clattering off the wall and onto the ground in front of Wash who hopped around it, photoreceptors widening. The guard crumpled to the ground. Rizzen went to keep walking when he noticed Wash fixated on the helmet.

"Wash. Come on. We are on a time schedule."

Wash kept staring at the helmet. After a moment he finally looked up to Rizzen. "Can we have it?"

Sighing in exasperation, Rizzen turned to face him fully. "Wash, Focus, we don't have time for that right now."

"But we don't have one of these..." The pout in Wash's voice was unmistakeable.

Rizzen let out a long sigh. He could just scoop up the Familiar and keep going...but he really didn't feel like dealing with a morose mustalid droid right now. He scooped up the helmet. Wash came up on his hind legs, front paws clapping together. "Yay! Thanks Cap'n!"

The mercenary lowered to a knee so Wash could crawl up and get back into that little rig on his back. As he stood, he heard another set of footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned just as another guard came bursting through. Reflexively, he swung his arm up, the helmet slamming into the man's head with a resulting "GONG!" The Sith came up off his feet, flipping over to land on his head. He didn't get back up. Wash peeked over Rizzen's shoulder, then looked to Rizzen. "See! It's useful!"

Shaking his head once more, the Falleen conceded this fight and moved back toward the lift as the lights went out. Predictable. Switching over to night vision, he looked around the world in shades of green. He heard Sender's regret, lifting up a hand, patting the droid lightly. "Don't worry about it, Sender. Always remember to plan for contingencies." Handing Rahja the helmet, he flipped open a small latch on his right bracer, revealing a keypad. Keying in a sequence of digits, they heard an explosion in the lift shaft and the sound of debris raining down.

The maglock he'd attached to the outside of the shaft to allow him down was also planted with enough explosive to make a sizeable hole. Once he was certain that they weren't going to get hit with anything, he reached up, sliding his palm over the door, between the two halves. The strip lit up and he stepped back as it activated, the energy making the sides burst out, forcing the doors open and adding a bit of light while they held them open.

Crouching beneath the edge of that field, he looked up into the shaft, reaching up left arm, he aimed at the top, firing the grappling spike there. It played out on the tether before sinking in at the top. The line grew taut and he tested it with a few tugs. Looking back to Rahja, he'd hold out his arm. "I know this is only our second time out together, Ms. Kel, but would you mind holding me close?" The laughter in his voice was unmistakeable, vocabulator or no.

Once she agreed and he held her securely, he keyed it to retract, pulling them into the shaft and up just as the first squad of a new wave of reaction teams broke in through the stairwell.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Seeing the straggler, she moved out of the way, allowing Rizzen (who was better equipped and currently in better condition than herself) to deal with the guard. Best not to be a hero right now. She paused, hearing the sound of the sound of the helmet hitting the ground, and looked over as that banter between Wash and his companion happened. ”You aren’t serious?...You are serious…” she shook her head and moved on, deciding it was just better if she didn’t even ask right now. They just didn’t have the time for such things.

The sound of the helmet hitting another had her shaking her head yet again as Wash’s “See! It’s useful!” reached her ears. That had been when the power went out and she huffed a sigh. ”Really…I'm getting tired of people turning the lights off on me,” she muttered as she paused at the door were Sender was before he moved and perched carefully on her shoulder, eliciting a slight hiss from his companion. Rizzen’s actions were hardly a balm to the AER, but he accepted the friendly gesture before hunkering down a bit as the detonation went off. Rahja ducked slightly at the unexpected explosion up the shaft before standing again and watching as his ‘insurance’ went to work on the doors, sent up the grappling hook and tested it.

“I know this is only our second time out together, Ms. Kel, but would you mind holding me close?”

She was forced to suppress a snicker at his words and Sender’s indignant huff, smirking a bit before letting out a short, and very fake, gasp of surprise.

”But I don’t even know your name! How could I possibly expect you to respect me in the morning?” She shooed Sender off her shoulder, letting him zip past Rizzen and up the lift shaft before stepping over to the black armored man and wrapping her arms around him, careful to avoid the sharper edges of his armor. ”Ah well, I might as well enjoy the ride while I can, eh?” Once they were at the top of the lift where the explosion had blasted a hole to the outside, it didn’t take them long to be up and out. She knew it wasn’t quite time to celebrate yet, but just being out of the compound had her sprits lifted immensely.

[Vex]

"I'm told that the mystery is part of the appeal. Besides, given how my previous experience has been with you, I could do nothing but respect you." He held her tight as they were drawn up over the empty expanse of that shaft. It wasn't long before they saw the moonlight from that hole. He swung them over to the edge of the hole and then they were out, back on the roof. Releasing the connection to the spike, he then let go of Rahja, fingers sliding away from around her waist with some slight reluctance.

They moved quickly to the waiting airspeeder. Rizzen moved and crouched a bit so that Wash could have access to the panel. It only took him moments to hack through it and then they were in. As he warmed up the controls, they could see lights returning in the shaft. He was flaring the engines and streaking away just before the lift managed to reach the top level.

After that, the exfiltration went smoothly and they were on the ship, exiting the atmosphere and entering hyperspace three steps ahead of their Sith pursuers. Sighing and relaxing in the chair, he'd pull off the helmet and set it aside, turning toward her. "Where would you like to go, Ms. Kel? And please, call me Rizzen."

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Appeal her blue arse…after all of this she had better get a name, a real name, or she was going to have to try and hurt someone. Following him to the speeder, she all but caught Sender out of the air as she got inside. It didn’t take long to get back to the ship, and thankfully the Sith were slow in tracking them down, soon enough they were back to his ship, inside and breaking atmosphere. As they slipped into hyperspace, she finally allowed the tension to flow out of her, making her feel heavier than normal with the added bonus of aching all over. Her eyes had closed, her head settled back against the seat as he set his helmet aside and turned to look at her. His question had her opening those crimson orbs once again, turning her head to look at him, or at least attempt to. At least he’d finally given her something to call him, and she didn’t believe it to be a false name…it seemed to suit him too well.

”Rahja, please. Kel is only a part of my name, and not even the best part. As for where…my transport is on Foerost, along with the rest of my gear. I need to go and retrieve it.” For a long moment after that she was quiet, turning her face to look at the display of lights that streaked past the ship’s viewport. She could still hardly believe that she was out of that place. Aside from the obvious change in settings, and the added presence of Rizzen, the force was once again silent and devoid of life energies. Of course…she could actually feel the difference now, between not feeling the force at all, and just not feeling any other life. That still didn’t make it comfortable, however.

In this light it would be more obvious to him, the purple bruising along her skin from where she’d been struck, the burn marks from where the droid had used electrical shocks on her, small cuts that ran along her skin here and there. It certainly hadn’t been a pleasant stay for her with the ever-so-kind Empire. Turning back to face him, she offered him a small smile. ”Thank you. I know you didn’t have to come back for me, but you did…I…appreciate that. A lot.” It might be obvious to him now, that her sight was indeed impaired. The darker red that were her pupils was typically close to undetectable, but with them dilated, the dark rings were much more obvious to those who didn’t know what to look for. Sender had gone with Wash, temporarily, into his bunk to allow both droids to recharge from their exertions, leaving the two alone for the moment.

It was an almost awkward situation for Rah. Because Rizzen was the only one aboard that she could feel the life in, she felt the need to almost hover around him like a moth to light, only barely keeping herself from stretching out those senses and coiling them around his presence as if afraid it might escape her if she didn’t bind herself to it somehow. This brought back into her memory how he’d shielded her, protected her, then almost hesitantly let go of her after they’d reached the roof. She was stuck, now, with a difficult and conflicting set of desires…to be close to him and receive the comfort she needed by being within arms reach of someone at least friendly to her and something comforting she could feel in the force, or keep her distance and attempt to work through this herself because that was typical for her, comfortable for her. Looking down for a moment, she would stand and move around the seat she’d just occupied before turning and looking over at him. ”Is there a place I could lay down for a while, Rizzen?” The request was almost timid, her voice softer than normal as she attempted to deal with the uncertainty she felt.