| abstract
| - -It was in some ways the trial of a century, and with it concluded-- and with no less than two assassination attempts already committed and failed-- the New Republic was taking transport of Danik Kreldin to his sentence extremely seriously. Gone are the armored speedertruck and outriding speederbikes from the previous prisoner convoy, and in their place, three tracked armored trucks lumber their way down the road, with a Chariot LAV in front and behind, and a half-dozen Marine Scouts on speederbikes cut a wide screening pattern around the convoy, sharp eyes on the lookout for trouble. Atop the first and third convoy truck stand a pair of identical figures wearing the robes of Jedi Knights, senses both conventional and not-so-conventional alert and scanning the area vigilantly for signs of trouble. Here, in the seat of the New Republic's influence, the light side is strong, strengthening their resolve to see the man under their care to his destination. -Tanis is dressed in a fairly nice suit, carrying a metal breifcase that, while slightly bulkier then a normal case, is hardly out of place given the massive traffic of lawyers and paralegals in the area. He sees the caravan coming and makes a show of giving them a wide berth. He ducks into an alley off the street. -Danik is tired. At nearly sixty years of age, he can't quite keep up with the world like he use to. Two assassination attempts in the past week has left him quite stirred. The verdict of "guilty" has definitely put a drag down on him; he had been optimistic of escaping death or life imprisonment, and being freed to continue his war against the Sith Order. But Senator Al'dira has had his way, and Danik's chances of fulfilling his quest are now a lightyears chance of happening. Sitting in the back of the main transport, bound with magnacuffs, Danik just stares off into the distance. He does not have a defeated look on his face - he has learned to control his body language and fear over these past decades - but one can tell a heavy blow has been dealt to his once proud, strong fighting spirit. He'll be forced to a life of imprisonment, and he does not believe the assassination attempts will stop, either; the Emperor and his pawn, Malign, are determined to see his life ended. And eventually they will succeed. Like a rat in a cage, Kreldin will have no where to go once trapped behind the walls of the Republic prison. He leans back in his seat and closes his eyes, letting out a sigh. His war, his struggle, is over, and he doesn't even get to go out in a blaze of glory. -Sometimes distance is the enemy, sometimes it's the best ally a soldier can get. Almost half a klick off, Carnylla is lying prone in a field of darker grass with her outfit a matching coloration to the grounds she is on. At the moment, she's using the scope on her LD-1 Sniper Rifle to observe, while the slicer-secured comlink she wears is helping keep her teammates appraised on what's happening. "Two jedi, three tracked vehicles. This looks a lot more secure than we're prepared for Captain." she remarks. Emotionless, not really worried, just.. pointing out tactical details to the one person who needs to know them. -Her mind blank, like the beginnings of a meditation Ash leans against an alley wall, waiting for something. As individuals go about their day, she appears to be a street vagrant her armour wrapped up under tatter cloth and soiled with grime. How fitting it is that her armour is in the right colours. Her head is slightly down and from the corner of her darkly tinted goggles, she watches and waits. Hearing Carnylla's voice in her earpiece, she smiles, emotionlessly and nods to herself. Hunching down, she waits for the moment. "All steady," she mutters to herself, waiting for the transport to come into sight for her. Jedi, her mind refocuses on keeping vacant. She is ready, and has the launcher hidden behind the turned over pile of rubbish. -Jek was waiting in the alley where he'd been assigned. He'd went in earler dressed as a vagrant. Now he was wearing a black mask and loose fitting black clothing. His hand wrapped around the hilt of his vibro blade. He waits for his order to move as he listens to Carn chatting on the comlink in his ear. A slight smirk spreads across his hidden mouth. Then it is gone. His eyes close for a moment and when they flicker open. the echani got his game face on. He was centered and ready for the coming combat. The vibroblade is slipped from the sheathed and he moves to the shadows. His own thought and emotions calm, relaxed, and empty. -Following a few meters behind his Captain is one of the newest crewmembers of Bloody Harlot. The create is a Rodian, wearing an overcoat and hood to conceal himself from those around who may be on the lookout for trouble. Normally a fight would not scare Zurak, however, the circumstances have changed from what they once were. There are now the lives of others at stake, others who in the past few weeks have begun to replace a family lost long ago. The details of the mission have been run through so many times that they are no longer thought of, but rather discarded until the moment as instructed. It is absolutely crucial tot he success as he was told. His own launcher, waiting within the rubbish has been checked and readied as well. All that was left was to wait for the cue. -As the convoy turns down one of the final dog-legs of the route, the transports come into a narrow section of street. Rian Andris, the Jedi atop the lead vehicle, frowns thinly. She wasn't the foremost expert on tactics and the like, but it didn't take a lot of expertise to recognize that if anyone was going to attack, especially a rogue Marine assassin, it would be somewhere along this stretch. The young knight breathes deep, settling into as much calm and focus as she can muster, relying on the guidance of the Force to see her through her mission. The narrow confines are unfortunate -- the convoy has to slow to better negotiate the road, and the scout bikes have to temporarily abandon their pattern as the buildings interfere with a proper sweep pattern. In short... noone's likely to get a better chance than this. In the chariots and the decoy trucks, squads of veteran NR Marines settle into their armor a bit more, and make extra checks on their rifles. They know their business, and this is going to be the key point in the route. -The tight, winding street is practically a canyon - so Carnylla's ability to keep her eye on things from her chosen distance may now be slightly more problematic, occasionally having to keep track of the vehicles through the small gaps between the buildings. From her perch aboard the rearmost transport, /Rune/ Andris - twin sister of the Jedi Knight further ahead - is having similar worries, amplified by her difficulty in ignoring the obvious upset emanating from the convicted prisoner she is helping transport. The young Knight frowns and adjusts her stance slightly on her ride, her eyes drifting over the streets and alleys as they pass them, trying to sense or see anything unusual. She glances down towards the nearest speederbike-riding marine. "I have a bad feeling about this..." -Tanis watches the convoy pass, and when they've moved past him he sinks further into the alley. He holds the briefcase he'd been carrying out in front of him, and hovers his thumb over a small button on the handle. He listens to the comm traffic from the rather-attractive sounding woman who seems to be the commander for this little dustup. He breaths a long breath... and waits for the signal. -Fortunately, the designated point for attack was predetermined. Carn just needs to be aware of the lead element, and judging by the speed of the convoy, she can guestimate that approach. "Approaching point able... in seven.. six... five..." mutters Carn into her comlink. She doesn't have to be -that- quiet all the way out here. What she's worried about is those biker scouts once she starts shooting. "Jedi's looking a touch anxious... four... three... two... one... Point Able reached." she offers, weapon still on safe out there. -Danik's survival instincts are not quite dulled yet, however. He's still observant, looking for any chance of escape, to get one over his captors and flee to safety. The moment an opportunity presents itself, he will take it; he is a patient man, and will wait for that moment. It took three years of enduring torture and hellish nightmares aboard the Sith's "Hades" to finally escape; if it takes three years of imprisonment in a Republic cell, so be it. The Emperor must be defeated, and the Sith cast back into the depths of the galaxy where they came from. Clenching his fist, Danik continues to stare off at the opposite wall inside the convoy, waiting... -Waiting for the chariot she gets her award. Ash smiles, grabs the launcher, four rounds, how many does it take to disable or destroy the front transport? She will learn, now. Stepping up and a little out, she aims to fire at the lower portion of the vehicle, waiting for the moment when the central transport is lined up perfectly with her and Jek's alleys. Her mind is still focused on the mission. Can a jedi deflect rockets? It's a new lesson in her learning of them. For now, she blocks out the fact that there are non-combatants on the street. If Fate and Fortune are with them, they will survive. -Jek's hands tighten around his vibroblade. His eyes flicker over to Ash and waits for the sign. He sees his captain make a move. He steps out of the shadows. The rocket was going to be his sign. The stealthy Echani begins to move toward the transport. His vibro blade raised for an attack and waits for the rockets to do their work. -As the convoy passes by, Zurak continues to keep his mind clear. He thinks about his disgraced clan on Rodia and his ultimate desire to bring honor back. It was going to be a long and difficult path, but one that would he would not back away from. "Seven....Six....Five..." The Rodians hand strokes the red and green leather straps hanging from the hilt of his vibroblade. This is what he was breed for. War.. conflict, it was the way of his people. It was the only way to achieve ultimate glory. "Point Able reached." Zurak rushes to where his launcher is stored, removing it and finding his place next to Ash. His target, the aft escort looms into view. The launcher is steadied on target, and the trigger pulled. A loud -WOOOSH- erupts from the alleyway as the second rocket screams towards its target, civilians be damned as far as the Rodian is concerned. -Ariana is with Carn as she looks through the scope of her own rifle. The woman is oddly quiet from her usual demeanor as she watches the convoy approach the point. The scar along her cheek still bright and out there as she watches. The woman keeping a close check on her more homocidal urges, as she repeats a mantra in her mind. Don't shoot... Don't shoot... Don't shoot. God help whoever is in her sights when she does start to fire. -"Is it time?" An underling asks the Underlord, Scaven, as he peers through a scope on a rooftop nearly half a block away. "It's almost time" he replies, watching the convoy move into the pre-determined position. He wasn't asked to be directly involved, but giving the stakes at hand, he wouldn't miss this for the world. Especially if his expertise ends up being needed by those below him. For now, he was simply watching things unfold, taking note of how Ash will handle her people in this rescue attempt. -Despite so many sensors and eyes sweeping the convoy's route, not to mention the considerable detection added by a pair of alert Jedi, destiny will not be denied. It isn't until the decision to pull triggers are made that the twin Knights are alerted, the bright spots of danger erupting across their Force-enhanced senses. The two knights are good-- they wouldn't have been selected for this duty were they not-- but there are limits, and they're no Masters. The rockets are small and fast, coming in from two locations, and at slight angles. The pair are able to narrowly deflect the first shots in the salvo, casting the explosives wide to impact against the street... but then the unexpected happens. A second salvo of rocket come, this from a third direction, and these are tightly-fired military rounds, streaking in arcs toward the convoy. The pair of Jedi try valiantly to work against all of the incoming ordinance... but they are only two, and every Jedi has a saturation point. Several of the military rockets are thrown off-course, but in the sudden intensity of the total fire incoming, Ash and Zurak's follow-up rockets slam into the Chariots to the front and rear, wreathing them in fire. The Chariots are tough vehicles, but the rockets have done the essential job. The scarred, but intact military skimmers suffer repulsor failures from the impact, and crash into the pavement with a mighty shriek, blocking the convoy from escape in either direction Rian is forced to abandon the transport she's standing on as too many of the military-grade rockets bear down on it, cutting her leap so close that her robe catches fire. The Jedi hits the ground, throwing off her outermost robe, and her lightsaber snap-hisses to life as heavy repeater fire opens up following the third set of rockets, the blue blade flickering to intercept the bolts. "Must be Draelis!" she shouts to the Marines crawling out of the Chariots. "He seems to have friends this time!" She worries, briefly, about the missiles that hit the lead transport-- but sparing attention for a quick check tells her senses that the man is still alive inside the damaged transport. Likely it would be the safest place for him, especially with a squad of ten Marines forming up into defensive positions around it. -As the first salvo is launched in the form of a rocket, Tanis' thumb presses the button, and the breifcase swings open, revealing a Blaster Rifle, a spare power pack, and 4 smoke grenades inside. He grabs one of the grenades, primes it, and after moving to the edge of the alley, he tosses the grenade into the middle of the convoy, then ducks back into the alley to transfer grenades and power pack into his pocket, then readying the rifle. -The robe worn by the other Jedi hits the ground in flames as she, too, is forced to abandon her transport, unable to deflect all of the fire directed upon it. Rune hits the ground behind her ride with her lightsaber ignited in a vibrant blue blade, her face intense in its focus as she quickly carves a new door on the damaged transport as the rockets damaged its existing door too heavily to allow use. "Three directions," she tells them quickly, watching as the marines guarding the convoy leap into action - they are the New Republic's finest and it shows with the efficiency with which they take up defensive positions and prepare to return fire. The Jedi, meanwhile, closes her eyes for a moment before she gives her sister a meaningful look and breaks into a run - /away/ from first two sources of rocket fire, but directly towards the third. "Call Solo Base!" she shouts over her shoulder. "We'll inform the Temple!" -Danik is brought out of his trance by the explosion and vibration, nearly falling from his seat had it not been for his restraints. "They're here... they're here to get me. They're relentless." Danik looks around, feeling completely helpless. He's a soldier, he should be defending himself... but alas, he's chained. Looking to the nearest marine, Danik pleas. "I'm a sitting duck here. Release me from my restraints!" Danik says, looking down at his magnacuff restraints. "Let me defend myself from these Sith vermin. I will not die sitting on my ass, chained!" Of course, Danik seeks to defend himself -and- open an avenue of escape for himself, should that opportunity arise. But it's certainly a better option than sitting here waiting to be shot at by Sith assassins. Hopefully the marine will see things his way. -Over the comms, Carn mutters, "Okay, that was more than just -our- rockets. There's a new player in town. Ariana, cover, don't fire early. I'm gonna jump into the sewer here and dash ahead to get under the street. If I can get to the target, I will. I don't trust this new situation." And she slings her rifle, dropping over the edge of a sewer outlet drainpipe that's about four meters tall, and starts sprinting the half a klick it'l require to get there. Good thing she's in shape. In her hand now? Her heavy Deathhammer pistol, set to stun. -Not ours. That is the only thought through her head. "Star, stick to the plan," she coms over. "Air, cover us, snipe problems." She looks to Zurak and smirks. Now is the time to get to the target. She slings her rocket launcher, hopefully the contractor will let her keep the pretty thing, and unslings her suppressor riot rifle. "Take advantage of the scene," she informs her compatriots to the break out. While the marines do not have exposed flesh, they are still susceptable to stun bolts. And so she starts to fire, clearing a path for herself and Zurak, ready to start covering the Rodian when he starts to engage in melee. -As the second rocket strikes its mark, Zurak takes a brief moment to savor the explosion. He had never seen one in person before, and to have caused it was exhilarating. Although using weapons such as these to bring down an enemy was not exactly in order with his teachings, they were passed down from generation to generation in a time when all combat was hand to hand. There was no sense in shooting an arrow at an armored hull. This is a predicament which the Rodian has been wrestling with ever since the initial planning of the operation. Balancing his dated beliefs with life in a more modern time. As the Captain charges forth, Zurak drops his his launcher in quick pursuit. His offhand unsheathes the vibroblade from his back, a blade which has been decorated symbols which few outside of his own clan would recognize. The other, removes a throwing knife keeping it at the ready. Once a target is sighted, the throwing knife is released, leaving only the blade as the Rodians offensive weapon. For better or worse, combat was going to be honorable from here on out. -Ariana nods her head as she says to Carn, "Alright." She grins as she hears the Captain's orders, "No problem at all, Cap. Let me know anyone that you want to suddenly bite the dust." She holds her fire for now, not wanting to risk anything until she is sure that there is a threat to take care. A remarkable feat for the woman, the Captain would be proud. -The long barrel of the EKX wasn't set to stun, as Scaven peers through the scope and continues to watch the action below. "Mr Kreldin, it's been far too long" he mutters as he levels the crosshairs on an NR marine surrounding the transport vehicle that holds the prisoner. He squeezes the trigger, zap'n a red bolt toward it's target. Before he can tell if it hit, his attention was drawn to the new players. "This wasn't in the program" he says, his underling seeming to get a little nervous as he ducks down behind the solid steel railing that Marx was using to steady his weapon. -Rian, following her sister's lead with a small nod, gathers the force and -leaps-, saber spinning as she propels through the air, and a broad swipe takes the barrel off of one of the firing E-Webs, her boot sending the gun's operator tumbling backwards from his position. That should help the defenders somewhat, but she doesn't have time to stick around-- Draelis is the biggest threat here, and her senses reach out, searching for the horrific perversion of the man's soul that the Sith had left on him, and finding her target, catches her sister's attention before she dashes down the street to confront the would-be assassin. Back at the transports, the bulk of the Marine's defense has entrenched itself against Draelis' forces, and one could understand if the rescuers are happy to have their attention diverted, as blaster fire rips back and forth across the city street, tearing chunks out of covering architecture, body armor, and exposed flesh indiscriminately. As the smoke envelops the Marines, one of them tracks back along the smoke plume, and soon the grenade is located and given a vicious kick down the street. The marine pays for his initiative, however, as he catches Zurak's knife in the left shoulder, between the armor plates, and staggers back, wounded. "SNIPER!" goes up a yell, as another marine, sighting on Ash through the clearling smoke with one of the Marines' large A295 rifles, proves an opportune target for Scaven's shot, and goes down with a nasty hole in his armor. The marines around him do their best to find cover from the best-guess direction of the shot as they start returning fire. Unlike Ash, however, they're taking few chances, and live red blaster bolts whip back in her direction. Inside Danik's transport, Master Sergeant Merreck Pelx regards Danik's pleas dispassionately. He doesn't immediately respond, locking eyes with the ex-warlord while he raises a hand to his com. It's any guess whether he'd just as soon see Danik gunned down or not. "Command. This is Justice Team. We are under heavy assault, sector 34-Besh. Immediate backup requested." He then clicks the channel. "Ma'am. Confirmed hit-- he's here. You'd better haul it." Finally, he gives Danik his full attention and a soul-piercing gaze with his strangely silver-colored eyes, usually hidden under dark goggles. "Have I your word?" -Whereas her sister leaps into the fray, Rune just wades in, crashing into the third group of attackers in a flurry of motion, her blue blade aiming only for weapons barrels... though one unfortunate attacker lets out a loud Wilhelm scream as his hand is taken off at the wrist. Hey - it's Star Wars. "Do you see him?" she calls towards Rian, her voice oddly calm despite having raised it to be heard over the pitched battle she's now neck-deep in. Inside the transport, it takes no time at all for Pelx's com to crackle to life, the voice of Captain Jared Starwind on the other end, his voice crisp. While Starwind had been deeply disappointed by the verdict rendered in Kreldin's trial, all he could do now was make sure that the man was able to get off of Ord Mantell alive. -"What kind of question is that, Trooper?" Danik asks, growing angry as the situation continued to devolve into further violence. "They want me dead. And I owe my life to you Marines and the Jedi. This is the -third- attempt on my life, two of which you have already foiled. I'm not about to try any funny business on you guys and hurt my protectors," Danik says, looking back down to his restraints. "I need to defend myself. I'm not going down without a fight... and by the sounds of things, you guys need all the help you can get," he says as another explosion rings off, vibrating the interior of the convoy. -Listening over her comm, Carn nods to herself. "On it Captain. Air, keep the Captain alive, hear me?" she calls as she turns a corner and takes a sewer that'll lead her right for the spaceport. She's done her homework, plotted out the routes, and she's at top speed going to warm up the ship for a fast breakout. -Red blaster fire in exchange for her blue, how lovely. Really. Almost sighing, Ash releases her supressor. The harness thingy still around her keeps the riot rifle with her. She gives up on the walking. "Air, prep for explosion," she whispers to her com. Left hand moves and pulls out a grenade, without looking at it she sets the timer, judging the distance between herself and Zurak and the marines in her way to Danik's transport at the lead. Her right hand goes for an ir-5. She starts trotting, then pauses and throws the frag 'nade. "Down!" she commands, as she ducks down by something that got shredded all to hell, hey look, isn't that part of someone there? "Get serious," she mutters to herself. The contract was just as serious as any priors that she had been on. She cannot get aloof now, just because they are Republicans and she happens to like some of them. There's a burning feeling where the shoulder meets the arm, and that causes a smile to form under the breather mask. Now her game face is fully one, the pain is ridden and then ignored. -As the red bolts streak out of the smoke passing the assaulting Rodian, others shoot in from above. It took a little longer than it should have perhaps, but it finally dawns on Zurak that the friendly blaster fire from above may only be so as long as there are marines to take down. Fortunately a Jedi is taking care of that but that in itself poses another question, what are we going to do about the jedi? Questions best left for the Captain, thats -is- her job after all. Acknowledging the Captains order Zurak quickly closes the remaining distance and slides in next to her shielding himself from fragmentation as well. Zurak speaks quickly "Captain, jedi not distracted much longer." -Ariana's grumbling as she can't find anybody to try and pick at as she says, "Aye, Cap." Her eyes still looking through her scope as she desperately tries to find some kind of somebody to shoot. "Can you try to flush some out of their cover, Cap," she requests over the comm. -As a slew of return fire comes crashing into the building, Scaven temporarily ducts behind the steel railing. "Should we retreat?" asks his underling. Marx looks over to the man and narrows his eyes, "How did you ever get here?" he questions rather rudely, looking back to his rifle as he reloads the charger coil, "They're firing blindly, or we wouldn't be able to have this conversation" The blasterfire did seem to be more of a suppressing aim then actually knowing where Scav was. He gathers himself back on the perch, finding his next victim and pulling the trigger. -"A necessary one," Pelx replies to Danik levelly, holding his gaze, even while the prisoner's binders release under the Marine's key. Then he holds up his sidearm, grip first, still staring Danik in the eye. "And the only one that matters." Another pause, and his eyes flick towards the transport's back hatch, then to Danik. "You stay in here, and you shoot if they get through me. We're clear?" Experienced military Danik may be, but this is Pelx's mission and responsibility. Rian, meanwhile, joins her sister in carving their way towards their quarry, an evil made necessary by the tenacity of Draelis' chosen mercenaries. She nods, frowning in thought. "I believe so. I sense *something*, anyway. Over there. Like... a sandpanther coiling to strike," she nods bit further down towards a cover location. "It has to be him. Just waiting for the right time." Scaven's second shot is even better than the first, picking a marine out from the cover she's firing at Ash from, and neatly scoring her helmet dead-center. Unfortunately, while this gives the remaining marines a better idea of where he's firing from, they have more important matters to attend to... "GRENADE!!!" comes the grating shout, and one of the rough-and tumble marines closest to the frag doesn't so much as blink, throwing his armored body across the explosive to save his squadmates, shrapnel slicing through his armor and cutting into his chest-- but those still stunned and alive, as well as the two marines still left fully combat effective, remain so, and those two come up from cover firing. -"Patience is a virtue," Rune grunts as she delivers a swift kick to one of the mercenaries she and Rian face. She has not gone untouched during this battle, with several cuts scoring her face and hands and one blaster burn on her shoulder, but she can't worry about herself right now. Setting her jaw, she turns to begin working her way towards where their quarry is suspected to be, vanishing from easy view of the main event back on the street due to the number of mercenaries they remain engaged with... -"Thank you." Danik stands up as his binds are released and he takes hold of the pistol. He would much prefer a rifle, something he could actually hit with at long range... but it would have to do. "What's your name, trooper?" he asks as Pelx begins to walk towards the front to join the fight. But Danik won't let the man head into the fray alone. In his entire career, Danik has always been a front-line commander... it's what ultimately lead to his undoing over Coruscant, when a lucky X-wing pilot shot him down at the grand finale to his Blitzkrieg. But you can't take the fight out of the war horse. He follows after the Sergeant, his pistol in hand. "I'm not staying behind to let you guys fight and die on my behalf. IT's not how I operate." Danik could tell from Pelx's body language and bearing, and his age, even, that the Sergeant is a man who has seen a lot. So hopefully the veteran can relate with another old war horse and give him the chance to fight. Looking out the hatch, Danik readies his pistol and prepares to kill the Sith assassins. -The tunnels are dark, and yet they are well mapped. A glow rod in hand, and a datapad consulted every few minutes, Carnylla is navigating and dropping little glowsticks here and there to help the extraction team follow the route at the lowest possible time. Good thing about constantly coming and going with her ship, she just had to keep taking off enough so that she was able to land as close as possible to the sewer entrance/exit there. Once she got that spot, she stayed put so as not to lose it. She's just hoping that the transponder change will happen when the switch is thrown on board. But she keeps heading along the path and making her way closer to her ship. Good thing the ship's fast, faster than most transports, as fast as an old X-Wing fighter even. She's getting closer and closer, blaster at the ready. Just because she thinks it's clear and safe, she's not going to -assume- it is. She's not the blonde ditz right now... she is a Mando with a mission. -"Damnit," comes Ash's voice as the one sacrifices himself, that didn't work out the way she intended. So different from picking off Imperials. However she doesn't linger on the thought as Ja'casha's mask slips over her. With a growl, she moves, autofire on. The target has to be secured before she can concern herself about getting her crew out, much less herself. Autofire enabled, if she had a pair of blaster this would be so much better. It's with a quick scan before she ducks between the first and second transports. Two stand in her way, well, damn, she fires at the two of them. Her left hand moves for a blade just incase it devolves to that. -As Zurak hides behind the scrap metal that shielded him from the shrapnel, he flips the switch on the vibroblade. Its hum is soft, inaudible presently due to the remaining blaster fire coming from the marines. He grips the blade tightly, preparing himself for the final push towards the convey. Following the Captain, Zurak moves up behind keeping an eye on the rear. He wants to rush in, his adrenaline is pumping and he thirsts for more bloodshed of his own doing. He chooses to wait though, sword in hand, waiting for the Captains orders. -As Ash's team nears the transport, Scaven shifts his attention toward those directly in her path and fires off 2 more shots at the marines that stand in their way. His demeanor was eriely calm as his companion studies his actions with a slight chill. Marx had been in many battles, and this wasn't exactly his preference. But that doesn't mean he wasn't good at it. -Ariana finally finds a mark and a predatory grin spreads across her lips. "I got you, I got you right where I want you," she murmers as she lays there. "Goodbye, Mister. Don't come back and haunt us," she says as her fingers squeeze the trigger a bolt coming from her gun. The marine is taking a bead on Ash as he stands there, recovering from the knife that he had taken from the Rodian earlier. His eyes taking in the form before him as he sneaks through a few piles of rubble. As he comes around to fire at Ash in her view, that blaster bolt comes out from nowhere to nail him right in the head. A few seconds later Ari's cheerful voice can be heard over the comm, "That is one, Cap." -The Marine does indeed sympathize with Danik's feelings on the matter, and he just nods, pulling a pair of dark goggles from his belt, and settling them over his smooth-shaved head. "Master Sergeant Merrick Pelx, sir," he introduces himself, tilting his neck back and forth, and working his shoulders to take the cricks out. "Never thought I'd be fighting back to back with Danik Kredlin," he growls thoughtfully, and then grins a predatory smile. "But it's an honor nonetheless, sir," he adds, and settles the midnight-black SpecOps helmet over his head, securing it to the rest of his armor. "Whatever happens, I wish things had been different." Somewhere, in the distance, beyond the flashes of traded fire between the other Marines and Draelis' men, the bright blue-white of lightsabers flash. Whoever or whatever is keeping the jedi busy... they're obviously quite busy-- so much so that they haven't a moment to spare on the rest of the battle. Ash successfully guns down one of the Marines as he trades fire back at her, but the other closes with her too quickly, and foregoes shooting, instead spinning the rifle in a fast close-combat pattern, aiming a vicious buttstroke at her blaster-hand in an attempt to smash the weapon from her hand. All for naught, as it turns out, since Scaven's shot spears him through the chest with a lance of red and he crumbles into a heap. All seems well for Carnylla as she heads for the starport access... at first. Gradually, as she nears the access grate, a soft, swishing sound drifts in on the air... gradually growing louder. Down the sewer tunnel, a dim, circular metallic form can just be made out, and as it grows larger and closer, faint glimmering can be seen along the front. These glimmers rapidly resolve themselves into spinning blades, mounted on concentric rotating disks growing ever-nearer, as the gentle noise rapidly grows into a noisy cacophony. It's one of the city's Cleaner droids.... and Carnylla is between it and the still-closed Starport grate. -For a time, the battle with the third group rages on until suddenly, a loud /KRAK!/ pierces the air, a sound distinct even over blaster fire, and a trio of objects come sailing through the air back towards the battle. Two of them hit the ground in between Ash, Zurak, Danik and Pelx - two halves of a lightsaber hilt cut cleanly in half, the metal red hot along the break, utterly broken and unsalvagable. The third, Rune herself, sails considerably farther, bypassing the conflict completely. Whether it's due to fortune or her own skill at altering her trajectory, the Jedi Knight's body lands in an alley a safe distance away... but she doesn't come out. She may have survived whoever - or whatever - was powerful enough to hit her that hard, but coming out the other end of it in any position to rejoin the conflict is another matter entirely. -Danik nods his head to the Sergeant. "Well, then Sergeant Pelx... the honor is all mine. If we're to die, let's give them one hell of a fight." Danik double-checks the blaster power pack and then peers out the rear hatch once more, trying to see any potential targets; but instead of an enemy to shoot, he spots the falling form of the Jedi and her lightsaber, who lands with a nasty thud in the nearby alley. Seeing a Jedi fall in combat... it can only mean one thing to Danik. There is a true Sith warrior about. Cursing, Danik points his gun towards where the Jedi fell. "A Jedi is wounded... we have to help." The words sound strange to him, coming from his own mouth. The thought of helping a Jedi is unusual, but Danik owes them his life, and he has decades of Jedi hatred to make up for. If he is to die today, he would like to go out with paying back a small bit to the Jedi. With that, Danik doesn't wait for Pelx; he's out the rear hatch, staying low as he rushes into the alley to where the Jedi fell, his blaster at his side and ready to shoot. -Cleaner? Really? Carn is about to just scamper up the ladder to the exit hatch before... she realized. The other folks will be -coming- this way. She needs to make sure the way's clear. The problem is, firing blasters down here are going to make a -lot- of noise in an echo chamber like the sewer tunnel, and she doesn't -want- to get attention from the guards up above. "Captain, got a cleaner droid here, bristling with blades. If I start shooting, guards up above are gonna hear it. I don't have any Ion Grenades." She's starting to fall back before the thing, her heavy blaster pointed at it, but she's not shooting yet. Her eyes flicker about the tunnel to see if there's anything... anything at all, she can use to stop it.. a pipe she can pull off the wall and ram through its chest... some way of disabling it without shooting a blaster. -"Good girl," comes the black velvety response to Air. Ash finally fully slipped into her battlemode, her steps more predatory now. As the Marine moves in to knock her pea-shooter away, she snarls and steps back, putting weight on her right foot, then starts to bring her knife in as he... crumples. She doesn't bother trying to figure out if she was the target or the marine was. Just taking advantage of the situation and the fact that she managed to shoot down one of the marines herself, she continues for the back of the first transport. As the door of the transport opens, she's dropped to a knee and brought the ir-5 up to bear. Of course, she's expecting a soldier, another target to take down, but it's by chance that the falling broken lightsaber and soaring jedi make her move to the side. She was expecting a bound Danik that needs to be pulled out, not an old man with enough hellfyre to fight back and be armed and loose. What are these marines thinking nowadays? It is in quiet outrage that she watches as he scurries, for an old man, after the jedi. "Star, deal," she informs her Sergeant of Arms/Morale Officer. "Zu, follow and keep safe," she motions to Danik. -Ariana sweeps her scope around to the transport as she lays there, almost beaming at the praise from the Captain, and that she just killed someone. Alright, more that she just killed someone. Her eye catching the movement as Danik steps out and she asks, "Target, Cap?" Her reticules staying tight on the exiting Admiral as she awaits further orders. -As a slew of blasterfire comes towards Scaven's position upon the rooftop, he moves back into cover behind the steel railing. This time, the blasterfire, from wherever it originated, seems to be a little more accurate. As the bolts land against the steel and the concrete wall of the rooftop turbolift access shaft, the underling asks Scaven as he reaches for the EKX, "Is it time to go yet?" Marx's eyes fall on the man, quickly turning from grey to black as his facial expressions shift into something erie and dark, "......Yes" he replies as he reaches up to grab the man and hold him exposed to the blasterfire. What may have seemed like an eternity to the underling, it was only a split second before a bolt sears into his skull, through his head, and out the other side. A slew of grey matter and blood fall on Scaven's shirt, including the man's eye. The putrid smell of burnt flesh was quick to follow. "Time for.....me, to leave" his lips coldly sound before putting the EKX in the corpse's hands and letting him fall over the edge. The placid blue eye is a courtesy to the man proper, but Marx tosses it over the edge as well. "The rest is yours.....Ash" he says before vanishing into the building through the rooftop access. -Shortly after Rune comes sailing overhead, the rest of the Jedi's fight ends, as the building where their lightsabers were distantly flashing gives a tremendous quiver, and cascades down into the street, throwing up a massive plume of dust as the structure collapses. There's a short pause during which its impossible to know who won the altercation, before a clear voice rings down the street over the din. "Kreldin! I'm coming for you!" Pelx nods to Danik, a curt motion, and gives him the traditional Marine thumbs-up. "Hoo-rah," he intones like a blessing, as if the popular Marine catchphrase will protect them from anything.Oddly, perhaps, Pelx allows Danik to go first-- despite having a mission to protect the man, Pelx is a Marine, and the NRMC has a reputation for two things above all: fighting smart and fighting effectively. "Fair" is a sentiment that doesn't belong in a life-and-death struggle. When Ash and Zurak cross the back of the transport in pursuit of Danik, Pelx erupts from the back like a runaway maglev, gripping the edge of the overhead to swing himself feet first. Two threats, one with a blaster, his mind notes with a cold precision behind the dark armor helmet, and the big Marine aims his boots for Ash's gun hand in an attempt to disarm her. It's far too close for a rifle, and time to do it the old fashioned way. They might get through him, but they'd pay for every inch. Down below, time is starting to run short for Carnylla to come up with a solution to her predicament. Cleaners are usually programmed to identify and avoid people... but something appears to be wrong with this droid, as it trundles along mindlessly about its task. -As the building comes crashing down, the plume of dust washes over Danik, affecting his vision and causing him to cover his mouth as he coughs. He hasn't had time to notice his two pursuers, Ash and Zurak, his mind so focused on rescuing the Jedi. But as the building comes crashing down, his job has just gotten a lot harder. Perhaps it was foolish to charge out alone, in a battlefield, after a Jedi who is likely dead. But Danik wades his way through the dust cloud, still heading towards where the alley was, and hopefully where the Jedi still remained alive. "Master Jedi!" he shouts over the sound of blaster fire and collapsing building, "Answer! I'm here to help you!" Danik continues shouting, still unaware that the two mercs were coming up behind him, unable to see their attack due to the heavy dust. -Down in the sewer, Carn flashes her eyes about. Deal Star.. Deal?! Fine. She levels her blaster, ready to say the hell with it.. when her eyes catch a flicker. She glances up and sees the emergency lighting. She's no techie, but she gets an -evil- grin. Holstering her weapon, she leaps up and grabs hold of the wiring leading into the lights, and yanks a bunch of it from its housing. "Dealing Captain." she mutters as she waits.. waits.. and then makes her lunge, the high output wiring connecting to the metal of the droid's body and sending a whole lot of excess energy through the droid's core. The spinning blades move bit a bit longer, one slicing into her thigh with a couple shallow cuts, but nothing that'll slow her down. A bit of a grunt comes over the comm and then the droid stops. She topples it over and says, "Zu, mind the mess around the fourth bend. It's down, just avoid tripping on it." she mutters as she starts climbing the ladder to the surface and peeks about before dashing over to the ship and slipping aboard to perform all the startup stuff.... -"Air, all targets viable but Danik. Safe guard the old man. I repeat, safe guard the old man," she says to her com. Hoping that Carnylla had come up with a solution to her problem. It was tough being in charge sometimes, but heck the second in command of this operation should be able to think on her feet. As the marine moves, Ash also moves. She doesn't need to tell Zurak what to do. She just has to buy him some space to get it done. Pelx's attempt of taking her gun is successful, but she pulls out the powercell. Never arm your opponent with a working blaster. "Care to dance?" she inquires in a whisper that nullifies hints to her gender, though her words may reveal female or feminine male. Finally something more up her alley! Unfortunately the removing of the powercell also means she loses her knife, but it's so much better when it's just pure skill. With cool-headedness and no sound, she plants her right foot, slightly bends the knee and then kicks up with her left. Now is not the time for fancy footwork or gracefulness. She has to fight like a Mando, not an Echani, and so the Nagai aims for the lower belly region, where the plates potentially allow bending at the waist. All she has to do is wait for Zurak's confirmation of having Danik in safety, then she can go. -The sergeants' sudden attack comes as a surprise. He had not expected their target to run freely if there were any more soldiers left in the transport. The passing of the jedi was of little concern to Zurak as the order did not mean anything to him. Allowing Ash to step in between the marine and himself, the Rodian he rushes over to Danik. having no stun weapons he moves in close, intending to knock out Danik with his hilt unless the man decide hes an assassin -"Aye, Cap," is heard over the radios as Ariana keeps her scope on Danik. Making sure that the Admiral doesn't find himself in too much trouble and that if he takes to being difficult she can attempt to keep him from causing too much damage. "If you need help, try to get some distance between you and your attacker, Cap. I will try to persuade him that attacking you is not the best course of action, Cap," she adds as she briefly brings her scope up to look at Ash and her attacker fighting. The scope then goes right back down as she lays there, before another thought runs through her mind, "Hmm... I could stun the Admiral, Cap, if you think that would be a better way to go." -Merreck Pelx is clearly an exceptional example of the NR Marine Corp, as he uses his armored form and knowledge of the gear to full effect, twisting to both rob the kick of power and intercept it with a sturdier portion of the suit. He doesn't stop there, either, promptly bringing his armored elbow down like a jackhammer at Ash's shin that she so thoughtfully provided. "Less talk more action, little one," the low, calm voice says through the helmet's external speaker. Draelis, the rogue marine turned assassin is on his way at this point, held up only somewhat by the firefight at the other transport, which is distinctly thinning with the casualties mounting on both sides. In fact, the man and his prosthetic arm, uncannily modified by some form of Sith Alchemy, is likely to be come a worry.... Or WOULD have been, had the cavalry not arrived at this point, a salvo of bolts tearing up Draelis' position along with several of his men. The marine lets off a frustrated, animalistic noise, and retreats-- and it's soon obvious why, as the source of the blaster bolts arrives. A very small twi'lek in the same armor Pelx wears positively blasts by on a 74-Z speederbike, the vehicle's weapon barrel briefly glowing red from the rapid firing. She is followed by a whole pack of armed combat speeders, which pay little mind to the ongoing fight in favor of pursuing their quarry, a testament to just how very serious the situation is and why the rescue team have managed to go so unnoticed. -Danik reaches the Jedi, lowering down to see if he still had a pulse; but he doesn't have time to do any sort of inspection, as Zurak comes up behind him with his weapon drawn, ready to deliver a blow. Danik, having dropped to a knee to check the Jedi, simply rolls forward and out of the way of the hilt's blow to his head. "Sith scum!" he growls, turning around to face Zurak with his weapon drawn. He aims the blaster at the Rodian and opens fire - but his eyesight is still somewhat obscured by the dust, and his aim is off. The blaster bolts miss, hitting into the wall behind Zurak. If Danik is to die, he's going down with a fight. -Warming up everything, shields, weapons... Carn has her weapons stowed, all but her heavy pistol, Carnylla has her visor off, the hood down. Sure, she's bleeding a bit on her seat, but she checks in, "Delivery Vehicle prepped. Is the package en route?" she asks over the comm as she activates the transponder switcheroo thingamagoober. "Back door is open and waiting for Zu to deliver." -Elbow to shin, not this day. She doesn't show any signs of listening to his words. Instead Ash drops off her right foot, this time aiming for her opponent's knee cap, effectively stealing her opponent of any devastating connections, though potentially straining a tendon that she'll feel later. Her right hand slaps down on the duracrete road, and coiling up like a spring, the Nagai is ready to put all force into that kick to his knee as she is momentarily horizontally. "Busy," comes her reply to Ariana, somewhat not paying attention. Hopefully Zurak will sound that he has Danik and all can exit, but that's not here or there. With both feet in the air, and only her hand keeping in her up, if successful in getting free, the lithe woman under the male persona of armour will do a single handed flip to get back onto her feet and into guarded position. -The Rodian doesn't have time to scoff at the message that came across his transponder. Zurak too, was waiting for himself to deliver. He drops the sword, letting it fall freely to the ground as he leaps onto Danik, trying to knock the blaster free. He tries to reason, but is ready to finish with force if need be. "We not with the sith, we are trying to rescue you!" Hopefully reason will prevail and not paranoia. -Ariana continues to go back and forth between Ash and Danik as she sits atop the building, briefly quelling the urge to knock the Twi'Lek off her speeder bike. Her eyes just watching the battle, and waiting for when she will be needed. -The hit scores, and Pelx grunts in pain, but not from the likely-expected break. The armor is extremely well-designed from years of refinement by the Alliance and the Republic over countless worlds, and encourages the big man's leg to rotate with the force of the kick, wrenching the knee badly, but saving it from a full fracture. Still, it's better than a break, if only just. The Marine goes down onto the knee, though, but makes a grab for Ash's ankle, trying to catch her and drag her back where he can put an armored fist to her visored face. Apparently he takes a fair amount of stopping. Meanwhile, in the alleyway, Danik's blaster fire rouses the stricken jedi, but Rune is clearly hit too hard to manage more than a vague groan as she tries to bring herself around without much success. But at least she's definitely alive, despite the trip she took through the air. -Danik doesn't expect the leap; he is thrown onto the ground, as he was already in a kneeling position, hitting his head into the wall. The blow to his head is damaging - he's still conscious, but he's overwhelmed with a pain in his head. He doesn't even make out the "rescue part" - to him, he's being attacked by a Sith agent, and he's going to fight until he can no more... he throws a few punches, trying to fight back, but eventually Zurak gets the best of him in their brawl... a solid punch to Danik's head knocks him out then and there, ending their short squabble. He has no idea of knowing that Rune is recovering... his world closes in on him. Danik is now at the mercy of his... rescuers. -"Okay, they're busy. Yeah.. okay." Shaking her head, Carn mutters darkly in Mando'a. She has everything warmed up, and she does a simple security lockout, in mando'a, the password to control the ship systems becomes: A mandalorian never forgets (but in that odd language version) She figures, just in case the 'package' manages to overpower her, he won't be going anywhere. Then she kicks on passive sensors just to keep an eye on things. Other than that, it's time for the worst part of any operation... waiting. -Success! Sorta. "Damnit," she says as she doesn't fully execute her hand spring, thrice damned male, gotta be a male with that girth, goes for her ankle. Bringing a shin down to land on, she moves to lunge forward, somehow like a cat she managed to land on her hands and feet, rather than her back. But the ankle is caught. His head helmeted means she cannot give him a buy'ce kiss, "Air, when Zu confirms exit," she orders. Instead of giving up or scrapping like a woman, Ash growls ferally, and brings her left hand forward then brings it back, the elbow of her armour reinforced, and probably after this, she will see about a nasty spike being added to it. Her intent, the breast plate the protects his heart. -It is done for now. Zurak doesn't notice the jedi too much, too focused on the fight. At this time the two other crew men rush of to help secure the target. He presses his transmit button, "Target secured." Next, he heads to help Ash if still needed. -Even with armor, it's a serious threat of a blow, and Pelx is quick to do what he can to keep the hit from landing fully, but it still hits very hard, and the whole affair sends the marine over backward, off-balance and gasping for air through the pain of what did manage to get through the armor. Dimly, he already realizes that he let the captain distract him from his primary task, and that he was unaware for Kredlin's exact status. Still... marine's don't stop if they have anything to say about it, and he starts to struggle himself back upright. -Ariana watches the fight from where she sits, and groans faintly, however, when she sees the two prone, and somewhat far about she throws her chances to the winds. "On my way out, Cap," she says softly as she begins to target the other armored figure. "Please... don't let me miss," she says softly before she fires and watches to see where it goes, before she packs up to leave. -Freedom! The heavy weight off of her, Ash lunges again. She has her Ir-5 in sight and rolls to grab it. However, she stows that as she also picks up her riot repressor. The darn strap had broken on her new toy, but alas the powercell is still within. And she looks to the Marine, "Well played," she husky voice whispers to him as she lines up a shot. All that gun ever does is stun bolts. She keeps it aimed at him, "Packages secured, exit, now." She looks at the marine just to be sure he's out cold before she moves swiftly to the manhole. "Come on Zu, get down," she says, waiting for him. Once he, Danik and the other two are down, she goes down. Her last trick: a glop grenade to keep the cover down. "Zu, lead the way," she request as she starts to walk off the beginnings of stiff limbs. Now is the time to make sure everyone meets up with their rides. -Zurak did exactly as he was told and leads the charge back tot he shuttle, following the glowsticks. -The Marine goes down at least, arm outstretched in a last attempt to get his hands on Ash before he succumbs to the stun beam. From there, the escaping members of the crew finds the plan to work out without a hitch-- they gain access to the starport with Kreldin in tow, and successfully blast out of the lockdown, cutting north into a polar orbit to evade the orbiting fleets on their way to a pre-calculated hyperjump out of the system, home free, though not unscathed.
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