Star Wars OPEN Star Wars: Black Sheep (Always Accepting New Players)

Kardon Durham
Loading Docks

There was little Kardon believed that he could do during the struggle with the black-armored Death troopers. The sudden rush of people, the troopers taken down by the sheer mass of them as they killed them how ever they could, including a rock to the face as displayed by one of their number. It was a mess. That detached part of his brain - free from the influence of fear, adrenaline, and the natural responses to this situation - had it in it to judge the situation. By the same token, there were probably very few options to begin with what with how the situation was, but much like how since this mission started and to now, the ex-Imp found it in him to be irritated in this life-or-death situation. Just how chaotic this whole thing was.

And much like before, his own personal thoughts had to be shut down in the face of the mission when blaster bolts suddenly flew by him, striking two of their number. Even as he instinctively ducked down in a vain attempt to offer a smaller profile, his mind was thinking. Not from any of us. Across the lake. Snipers.

Yet as he glanced in what he thought was the right direction, there was already an answering salvo of blaster fire coming from somewhere else. Not at them, but rather aiming for where the supposed snipers were. Rebel support, pinning or taking them out. Not a problem, then. At least not now.

What was a problem, however, were the two that were dead. None of them that Kardon knew - not even enough to know their names, nonetheless feel anything personal about their sudden demise -, but the human's gaze lingered on them even after visually confirming that they were dead.

"No time for another party," Flagg spoke next to him, their commander already picking himself up and jogging to the rest with Kardon following suit. "We've got to get out of here."

When Flagg looked around, so too did Kardon. Their people were gathered, but immediately he thought there were too many people. With all of them in their assorted disguises, he couldn't tell for sure but he had the suspicion that somehow, someway, there had been a number of people added to their group that shouldn't be here. That...-

The whine of repulsor lifts drew him away from that complication and what it was meaning to his overall opinion of their group. Instead, he focused on the police gunship and the eight white, armored bodies that were disembarking. Stormtrooopers. And they were going to know who to shoot now.

"Find cover and take them out!"

Weapon. Now he needed- Kardon glanced over, caught movement near him, and lifted a hand just in time to catch a rifle that was passed to him by Max, already wielding a smaller blaster of her own. An E-11D. He knew of it, never shot one, but the basic functions were the same to a standard E-11, his thumb catching and checking to make sure the safety was off and assuming the blaster pack was at full or near-full charge. He preferred the light and easy wielding of a blaster pistol, but as he gave the rifle a quick toss so that his one hand could seize onto the grip while the handguard fell into the palm of his other, he thought the weight and feel to be good enough as he brought the barrel up, stock against his shoulder.

There was hardly any easily-accessible cover so for the first shot Kardon stood and carefully aimed, his breath pausing when he sighted a stormtrooper. No specific one, just the first that happened to wander into his sights, lured into it from the suppressive fire that the squad was already dishing out. Kardon squeezed the trigger, a bolt leaping out, soon followed by a second. They were both good hits, one striking the stormtrooper slightly off-center of his chest, with the second hitting a degree higher when he lurched back and fell over.

Kardon resumed breathing and had a mind to drop to a knee - the only protection he was going to be able to give himself right now. He sighted a second trooper, his breath instinctively pausing when the sights lined up, and he fired again.

TAG: Everyone

 

Ic MacKenzie Hollymander
Behind the Statue, on his back.


'This is so disorgansed' his mind screamed as blaster fire erupted from all directions. Rolling slightly to his left he dumped the stunned young woman to the deck and muttered. "stay put, that's an order!" he hoped on some level she'd comprehend and do as she was asked. He needed to see what was going on, so rolling to his right and onto his stomach, he commando crawled to the edge of the statue and peered around the side. So far, all of what these Rebels had done had frustrated, annoyed and confused him only, but right now he gasped, his eyes wide. His own former sister in law now stood holding the weapon he'd found on her earlier and he watched as she used it against a Stormtrooper. Instantly he roll to his back and gazed up at the windows of the villa. 'SHE' was up there, he knew that, and 'SHE' was bound to know about this any second now.

Scrambling to his feet he knew he had to stop her. Breaking into a run he closed the gap between them and reached out a hand to assist the Rebel beside her attempting to stand with a weapon he'd retrieved.

"SHUT IT DOWN!!!" he yelled at her over the din of fire, "SHUT IT DOWN NOW!!!" his voice more commanding in hopes she'd listen. If 'SHE' saw it, things were only going to get worse from here on out.




Tag @Adalia-Durron @Anedon

 

IC: Ianna Mcear
Landing pad, Villa, Naboo

The imp was stronger than she gave him credit for, he hefted her dense dead weight and dragged it over behind the statue. His body blocked her sight of Lou, covered in blood, face smeared in crimson. Though she could no longer see her friend, the image was burned into her mind. She dared not blink lest it imprint itself on the insides of her eyelids. While some part of her was aware of the Imp's presence and his body pressed against her as they fell to the ground behind the statue, it didn't seem to register with the rest of her. Her mind was still swirling with what she just witnessed. The brutal murder of another being in the most violent way possible.

She had killed before, she had watched others die, but, it was all abstracted, from great distance. A face came to her a young woman with blonde hair in a crisp Imperial uniform. She saw this face just before she pulled the trigger, deploying two torpedoes that no doubt turned that woman into atoms.

'They made their choice.'

That was the mantra she told herself, That every person that she killed made a choice to oppose her, to fight her and she had to destroy them. That was the thing, she never had to watch the other woman die. Didn't have to see the flesh burned from her bones, and the rest of her turned to ash. The pilot just launched the torpedoes and watched an explosion. It was easy to make it us versus them when they were far away, when you didn't have to see them die, see their blood painted against a stone.

'They made their choice.'

Lou made her choice, she chose that method of execution, the trooper had to die, the young woman was planning to do it herself. She's seen beasts be slaughtered, witnessed their death but, it was never so violent so visceral.

'I made my choice.'

She chose to join the rebellion, she chose to take up the fight, she chose to take lives for the betterment of the galaxy.

These were all true but, they did little to lessen the shock to bring her back to the reality. Shots were ringing out, more troopers were dying and she didn't notice. Her mind was shutting it out, protecting her, saving her from more trauma.

"stay put, that's an order!" The older voice hissed in her ear.

For a moment she heard another voice. The voice of a dead man.

"Don't lose that smile."

How?

How could she smile in the face of all this death and destruction?

Maybe because it was all she could do.

Her head was down, her mouth hidden, it slowly began to curl, to curve into a strange almost unnatural smile, the kind she put on when everything was going wrong.

It was all she could do. In her ruined dress, blood running down her leg, unarmed and shocked, what else could she do but, smile.

TAG: @The Real Kyp Durron @Corellian_Outrider

 

OOC: Many thanks to @zark for the opportunity.

IC: Louise "Lou" Gray
Landing Pad
Naboo

Lou tensed as the battle resumed. Her head was beginning to clear from the murderous fog that clouded it only moments before. She realized she was exposed and was presenting an easy target for the Imperial storm troopers nearby. There weren't many left. The others in the squad had done their duty but still a few of them remained and they would have to be killed as well.

Lou eyed up the bloody rock near the fallen Death Trooper that she'd killed earlier. It was tempting to reuse the same weapon. Not because she personally enjoyed braining an individual but because the nearest storm trooper was almost too close to discharge her rifle into him. It would be a waste of a blaster bolt but it was what had to be done. The rock was messy, this was cleaner, and besides she didn't want to lug the heavy rock around again. She was done with that.

She sidled the E-11D against her hip and pointed it at the nearest stormtrooper ready to make the kill when one of his white armored buddies leapt in front of her and yanked the weapon out of her hands. Lou cursed and threw a punch that landed on the stormtrooper's helmet hardly phasing him. Her knuckles roared in pain.

Dumb move, Lou. Dumb move.

The stormtrooper cast aside her E-11D and raised his shorter E-11 at her chest about to fire. Lou's eyes went wide when she suddenly heard the warbling, almost insane, chirp of an astromech droid racing toward the stormtrooper with his shock prod extended. The stormtrooper heard the new noise as well and took his attention off of Lou to bring his rifle to bear on the charging astromech.

Bad move, buddy, Lou thought as she dove toward her E-11D. She rolled onto her knee, tucked the weapon into her shoulder, sighted the stormtrooper, and pulled the trigger. The stormtrooper in question had his helmet turned into a heap of melted slag and immediately hit the ground lifeless.

Not bad for a wishbone pilot Lou thought.

Lou gave a sharp nod of respect to the astromech and with weapon still smoking retreated back behind the statue that had fallen on the last Death Trooper guarding the landing pad. She needed to regroup, collect her thoughts, and take a second to get a lay of the land. When she arrived at the statue she realized she wasn't the only one using it as cover. Mackenzie Hollymander was there as well as Ianna Mcear.

It was then that Lou noticed that Ianna was smiling. Not the kind of happy smile one would have for a joyous occasion but the kind of smile one had when the world was falling apart all around. Lou realized she probably looked horrible. Drenched in blood and brains from the enemy she'd beaten to death.

Not a good look for ya, Lou. Definitely not a good look.

"Ianna, look at me," Lou whispered, "look at me. We're going to make it out of here. We're going to get off this miserable planet and go home. I promise."

Tag: @zark; @galactic-vagabond422; @The Real Kyp Durron

 

IC: Kayn "Mean Streak" Balzroth
This Infantry Bantha Poodoo Is A Waste of My Talents

The icepick jarred in his hand as it impacted the Deathtrooper's armored chin, but he had expected that and kept his grip tight, jamming the tool through the flexible neck armor and up into the soft squishy stuff behind it. The Imp spasmed momentarily, then dropped, as good as dead. Guess I haven't lost my touch at knife-fighting. It's like riding a hoverbike; you never forget. The icepick stuck where it was. After one good tug failed to retrieve it, Kayn opted to drop the knives and grab the rifle.

It looked like a variant of the standard issue E-11 Stormtrooper rifle, a weapon he had never actually fired, but at least his training as a Rebel had covered the basics of its operation. He fumbled with it for a moment, checking for the safety/selector switch. What did the gunny tell us about that? I think he said there are three settings, SAFE, PEW, and PEW-PEW-PEW. The weapon was set for single shot; he flipped the selector over to full auto and glanced up.

Max was whistling for his attention, gesturing a warning. He nodded back as he mentally reset his receivers and transmitters, prepping to relay whatever electronic devilry she had whipped up, and double checking that his own mental receptors were muted.

A glaring flash in the corner of his eye, accompanied by a hissing hum, raised the hackles on the back of his neck. It was Vixen. Vixen, with an Imp impaled on a lightsaber blade. Holy fracking frack-frack. Gods almighty, Witch Woman is a kriffing Jedi. No wonder she messes up my head whenever I talk to her. No time to talk to her now anyway, which is a good thing. Blaster bolts were starting to fly in all directions as white-armored Stormtroopers egressed another gunboat on the pad.

Using an unfamiliar weapon, without a neural link to its targeting scope, Kayn was under no illusions about his potential accuracy. Instead of trying to hit a selected target, he just opened up at maximum rate of fire, spraying the area where the Stormies were trying to get organized, forcing them to drop and scramble for non-existent cover on the flat, open, surface of the landing pad. 'Suppressive fire' was the term the gunny had used during his lecture on infantry tactics. If he could keep the bad guys from firing aimed shots at the Sheep, somebody who knew how to shoot could start taking them out. I hope Zero's not too sloshed to shoot straight.

TAG: @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @Rebecca_Daniels and all the other Sheep expecting to get sheared

 

IC: Anais Corrin, Jocelyn “Joy” Sunwalker
Landing Pad
Naboo

After Jocelyn left following a serious looking man in Imperial uniform Anais decided to go after them. The whole idea of being selected for undercover work was so implausible and made her want to investigate further. She decided to play along for the time being. Anais touched butt of her pistol which was still in the holster… for now.

From what she could surmise Jocelyn was not happy with what the man had said to her. Her ex turned and saw her then simply nodded. In the past they could communicate with very few words, so the past was slowly catching up with her. There was another man in Imperial uniform who was leading them. She had to keep up with them, but also stay out of sight. As they entered the kitchen one of the squadron members decided that he needed to talk to her.

“Not now...” she growled and brushed past him.

They walked all the way to the landing pad in the back. She could hear a confrontation going on. Anais took her pistol out of the holster. Once outside, behind Jocelyn and the two men she could see the Death Troopers getting massacred. One was being bludgeoned with a stone by the woman with whom she had seen her ex back earlier. Another was killed with a pickaxe by a Devaronian. A third was squashed by a falling statue, she looked up and saw a Zeltron woman.

These people were worse than the Imperial propaganda pictured them. They were savages… insane savages. It was kind of amusing knowing Jocelyn and how hard it must have been to blend in. Another reason it all seemed suspicious. It was improbable for her ex to have been chosen for undercover work.

She ducked for cover as two Rebels were gunned down by the snipers. The flashes in the distance showed that there were more enemies nearby. Shame for the snipers as they were merely protecting the civilians…

They were joined by another group lead by what seemed like a girl. She seemed to be transfixed by the bloodied woman and called a name… Lou. So the woman had a name. It sounded familiar, Dietryk had mentioned a woman by that name. Could it be? It seems the Galaxy was a smaller place than people thought. Commander Hollymander was there as well, along with the woman who had pointed a gun at Zola, along with a stately looking man, who was announced as some dignitary earlier. How many infiltrators were there?

A gunship landed spilling eight more stormtroopers. A firefight ensued. That was the moment to choose… She could easily take out several of the Rebels from her position behind them. But she could actually spy on them when she joins them. The ISB will understand the necessity to kill a stormie or two… besides they could not prove that she had done it…

Her eyes widened as a trooper pointed his blaster at Jocelyn. Anais brought up her pistol and shot him square in the visor. She had always been an excellent marksman. The choice was made so she ducked for cover and started spraying blasterfire at the stormies. Her ex turned to her and smiled and mouthed a thank you.

Jocelyn scrambled for the Death Trooper with the smashed head. Anais could see her looking for his holster to take a pistol for herself. She could see her nodding to that woman… Lou as she picked a pistol and joined the fight.

Something caught her attention… A beam of light… was that a lightsaber!? They had a kriffing Jedi with them! It can’t be… the wielder was far too young so a wannabe of sorts.

TAG: @Vehn , @Bardan_Jusik , Anyone

 

Okay, with a go ahead and a blessing from @Adalia-Durron...

Maxime “Max” Pallas
Loading dock, Naboo Wedding Villa
Ready for a transfer to any other unit

Ow, ow, ow, ow. That was the only thought Max had which could be repeated in polite company. Her wound was not serious—a bacta pack would have it healed up in a few days—but it hurt. She took the utility belt of the Deathtrooper she’d killed, slinging it over her chest like a bandolier, and began to search it for a medpac.

Her signal was doing well on the Stormies, jamming them. A few had doubled over in pain. Others, made of stronger stuff, were still trying to resist, although their aim was completely wild. The other Sheep were making short work of them, and with any luck, they could bug out soon. Max glanced up to the sky. No sign of the Valkyria, and she wondered if Skipper had called them. Lou and Kayn were taking on the rest, Ethan attacked one, but he was hit and went down, and Amber finished him off with her lightsaber. Ianna was still—wait, lightsaber?

Max looked at the red-headed girl, horrified. It was obvious that Amber didn’t know what she was doing, or how to wield that weapon, which breached the first rule Max had learned: never carry a weapon you don’t know how to use. And she’d breached the rule of undercover ops: don’t attract attention to yourself. Lightsabers had been banned since the Purge, even museums had had to turn in any they had in their collections. If the Sheep were to be effective, they needed to fly under the scanners, and waving a lightsaber around was a sure way NOT to do that!

Max looked behind her anxiously. The doors to the loading dock were closed –well done, Digger!—and reinforcements couldn’t come that way. Joy stood there with another young woman in an Imperial uniform. Who in the hells was she? Where were all these Imps coming from? Max looked up at the villa windows, overlooking the platform. Was anyone watching? Was that movement? She looked up to the skies. Spy drones, observation satellites, there had to be someone or something recording this. “Three! Turn it off! Turn it off!” she shouted. The girl couldn’t hear her. And the other Imp, the security chief, had gotten away from whoever was guarding him –Ianna?—and was running across the loading dock towards Amber, shouting.

Gritting her teeth through the pain, she got to her feet, checking the settings on her blaster. She ran a few steps, trying to get a clear line of fire. The Imp was close and Amber was shouting back, her eyes flashing in defiance. The girl raised the glowing blade above her head, teeth bared in anger as the Imp paused. Max dropped to one knee, aimed, and took her shot.

The bolt hit Amber in the ribcage, and Max rushed towards her as the girl’s eyes widened, then rolled back, her knees buckling. The Imp was rushing towards her, too, but Max aimed the blaster at him. “Don’t move!” she ordered. “On your knees, hands on your head! Keep them where I can see them! DIGGER!” She pressed her fingers against her colleague’s throat. Pulse rapid but steady. Max nodded. Stun bolts weren’t fun. Amber would wake with a nasty bruise and a splitting headache, but frankly, it served her right, putting them all in danger like this. She picked up the saber hilt, which had reverted to a simple metal cylinder, and passed it along to the droid. “Hide this,” she ordered. Digger took it, while Max returned her attention to the Imp. “I said, on your knees! What, you don’t know Basic?”

One last task before she could deal with him. She ran her hands over Amber. “Aha!” There, tucked in the fold of her skirts…a soft ball of fluff. “It’s okay, little guy,” said Max. “You can ride in one of my pockets until…OW! DAMMIT!” The little Voorpak had had enough of all of this, and sank its sharp teeth into Max’s thumb. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt…OW!” Carefully, she closed her remaining fingers around the tiny creature, and tried to deposit him in her pocket. Chak was having none of it. He growled as he sank his teeth in deeper. Max groaned.

“Fourteen!” she called. “Can you come get your pet before he bites my thumb off?”

TAG: @The Real Kyp Durron, @Mitth_Fisto, @Anedon, @Bardan_Jusik, Anyone

 

Ic MacKenzie Hollymander
Landing platform (not being listened too)


This was it, he was a sitting duck out in the open with no weapon and about to be cleaved in two by an ancient weapon from a bygone era by a woman who looked insane. He took a slight step backwards when from off to the side heard a woman’s voice. “Three! Turn it off! Turn it off!” Ok that clarified she was one of them, as if he needed that information, and someone else knew how bad this was. Amber wasn’t listening, or she didn’t hear he wasn’t sure as he step back again to avoid her advance.

“Amber!!! LISTEN TO ME!!!” he was almost begging now. Without warning something unexpected happened, a stun bolt hit Amber in the chest! He glanced at where it came from and it was the same direction as the voice earlier. Rushing forward as she began to collapse, and her weapon disengaged, he had every intention of catching her.

“Don’t move! On your knees, hands on your head! Keep them where I can see them! DIGGER!” The muzzle of a blaster was in his face and guiding him backward as he lifted his hands to show her. This was getting old. “I’m on your side.” He said, but she wasn’t listening as she checked her younger woman’s pulse. Lowering his hands, he watched as she claimed the cylindrical weapon and quickly speaking to a nearby droid to it store in its innards. He started to speak when he was cut off again. “I said, on your knees! What, you don’t know Basic?”

Was she serious? He was in an Imperial Uniform, there was no other language, wait, that was sarcasm. Lowering himself he put his hands behind his head he watched in silence as the creature he’d seen earlier in Amber’s hair was now attacking the Rebel woman having sunken its tiny teeth into her thumb. He couldn’t help but smirk, it was funny as she cried out to someone else to ‘get their pet’.

“Serves you right, trying to tell you here I’m on your side, and unless you plan to leave her here, you need me to carry her out!!” he said indicating toward the unconscious woman.



Tag @Mistress_Renata

 

Bolo Lappie
The beach, Naboo, running

The woman didn't seem to be able to hear him, which he should have expected. Kriff. Bolo squeezed the trigger to loose a powerful blast of cover fire while running, Tarpals' head bouncing along beside him, knocking into his leg. He watched the rebels struggling against the Empire, knew the full force of what the Empire could bring to bear, and he knew: these guys were nuts. And yet? There was no way he was getting offworld without them. He could always dive into the lakes, take his chances with the Gungans, hope they take pity on him after exiling him...but his home was the Gunga, and he didn't expect the Empire would be very kind to his home, now.

Making his way to the landing pad, Bolo did an acrobatic dive to land behind an aircraft, his squishy bones cushioning his landing.

Tarpals spoke up. "This isn't going to end well."

A blaster bolt skimmed off their cover, causing Bolo to flinch. "Thanks, buddy. Real reassuring."

He listened to the battle and the sound of engines overhead. "WOULD BE REALLY NICE TO HAVE A STARFIGHTER RIGHT ABOUT NOW!"

He clutched the gun, and the droid's head, and waited.

TAG: All

 

Ethan Malek
Landing platform

For a moment Ethan was stunned. When the energy bolt had hit Amber, only seconds after she had saved his life, everything had felt unreal, as if he was observing the events, powerless, with no eyes no care for the world around him, his mind filled with a single though. Please don´t let her be dead. The bolt had hit his wing mate so fast he hadn´t been able to see were it had impacted her, only how she had broken down and how Max had taken her lightsaber.

Max, judging by her actions she had been the one who shoot Amber. Anger grew in Ethan, not only had Max blamed him for the incident with the Grappler and called him a coward in front of the whole squad but now she was also attacking his squad-mates. What by the Hells of Corellia is going on with her?

Then he realized it: the lightsaber, of course. In his younger days Ethan had fought several times alongside Jedi and so the sight of such a weapon wasn´t completely new to him, but in this day and age? Now it was a a shining beacon leading imperial in the vicinity towards them. Amber decision had saved his life but it might have doomed them all. Yet Max reaction had been extreme and created a great risk for all of them.

She called me out on not foreseeing the imperials blowing up their own ships but her own plans include attacking her own squad-mates.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder Ethan stepped closer to his downed wing-mate to see after her wounds. When he recognized her breath and realized she had only been stunned he was relieved.

Trying his best to suppress his anger and stay focused Ethan pointed his blaster at Max who busy keeping the imperial down.

"Max," he addressed her directly, imminently cursing himself for giving away her name in presence of enemies. "Was this really the only way to prevent anyone from seeing the lightsaber?"

Max seemed to ignore him as she was busy keeping a little Voorpak under control while simultaneously trying to keep the Imperial in check. It seemed the Imperial was the easier tamable of the two as the Voorpal bit Max in her finger causing her to yell for someone tp take it of her.

“Serves you right, trying to tell you here I’m on your side, and unless you plan to leave her here, you need me to carry her out!!” The Imperial suddenly raised his voice pointing at Amber.

"What of this is your business?" he said to the young man, his voice showing his barely restrained anger. But then taking a deep breath he realized the imperial had a point. They were in the middle of a dangerous situation and Amber has lost her consciousness, they needed to get her out of here.

Has it come so far that between me and Max its the Imperial who is the most levelheaded?

Taking another deep breath he turned towards Max, trying to stay calm while he addressed her. "Whatever this guy is I have to admit he is right. We need to get our friend," he pointed at the uncsocious Amber. "Out of here. If we both have an eye on him he won´t try anything funny." He looked directly at her, she was responsible for this whole mess so she could damn well help him fix it.

Tag: @Mistress_Renata, @Adalia-Durron, @The Real Kyp Durron

 

IC: Ianna Mcear
Landing pad, Villa, Naboo

The smile has not faded through all the chaos swirling around her. The sharp chirp of blasters, the snap of stun bolts the hiss of an ancient weapon, it was all as if underwater. So far away from her, she was just struggling to keep her head up, out of the dark water threatening to drown her, to consume her good heart. She was cracked not broken, though she was teetering on that very careful edge. She shouldn't have come along, she should have requested to be cut from the mission. Deep down she blamed herself, this was all her fault, if she'd just warned the imperials, if she had just stood up to Wallings if she had just done something more than just talked. Maybe her friends wouldn't be in this predicament, wouldn't have blood on their hands or have their lives on the line.

The battle raged outside while inside she was fighting her own self.

"You broke your promise." The voice hissed, "you planted the bomb, you will kill those people, Werner, the couple in the corner, the bride, the groom, they did nothing to you, and you killed them. You promised your father that you would be a good girl. What good girl bombs a wedding, what hero stains their hands with innocent blood, what noble protector of the weak associates with such barbaric people." She wanted to curl in deeper to make herself so small she just disappeared. But, she couldn't that was impossible. So she kept her smile, not wanting to break that other promise she made.

"Ianna, look at me," A harsh whisper came to her ear, it was so close she turned with a start. The shock only grew as she saw her friend covered in another's blood. "look at me. We're going to make it out of here. We're going to get off this miserable planet and go home. I promise." The smile remained though there was a spark of fear in her eyes, who wouldn't be afraid seeing that visage. Peering closer under seeing through the gore she could see her eyes. The eyes of the friend she made in the skies of Hoth, woman she risked her life to save in the convoy raid. This no matter what had happened in between was her friend...and she was alive.

Without much more thought she leaned forward wrapping her arms around Lou and pulled her into a hug. Cold wet blood smeared across her cheek and she didn't care. Her voice was too scared to come back but, she held onto that thought.

They were alive.

TAG: @Vehn @Corellian_Outrider Others on the landing pad

IC: Meili Han
Intrepid, Hangar

Meili had returned to her work checking 'Serica' over again making sure everything was in place. The little white and green droid seemed to follow her around double checking everything the tech checked. Meili just shook her head. The little droid had done a lot to keep this bird flying so it had the right to at least check. Though she was sure it would find nothing. There had been a lot of time after the sheep left, lot of time to get some more work done, or goof off. The pantoran had done a bit of both, drinking with Pretty Boy and Lover Boy, Vehn and Talgana respectfully, and getting back to swapping out whatever part or coupling that needed to be replaced, if it could. The rebellion wasn't like her shop back in O'Pahz. There if they needed a part they could order it, and have it in within a day at least, not like the two weeks if that for the rebellion.

"Well isn't this an astrological oddity, two weeks from everywhere.*" She muttered to herself, something one of her colleagues used to say when she first started working for the Rebellion. Two weeks was good, she would take two weeks over the 'When Available' she would often get from requisions.

As the tech came around the noise of the fighter/bomber she saw something tucked into the corner of the cockpit, it wasn't there before was it? She climbed up the ladder and got a closer look. It was a sabacc card, the universe Meili didn't remove it she just left it where it was. It was clearly a gift or some sort of momento. Quirking her brow she just dropped down still wondering why someone would leave that there. Kid didn't seem the type to play Sabacc, Meili wasn't one either she'd play if someone was offering but, she wasn't a diehard. She might have to do some searching, if she gets the chance, you don't usually leave one card without it being some kind of message.

She finished her last check and found herself wondering about the hangar deck staying out of other's way. There wasn't much left to do other than find a place to sit or help someone else out.

"There!" a familiar voice called out, she looked over to an X-Wing. Yep she knew who that was. Her gaze cast about looking for someone anyone that needed help or that was just hanging out.

"Got time to lean you got time to clean." Her old boss from back home growled in her head. The old sullustan couldn't stand workers just standing around.

Taking a breath she came up the ladder leaning over the lip of the cockpit. She knew the way she was leaning, and had her overalls tied around her waist, Jeen was sure to make some stupid statement. She just hoped that he realized her fist was in striking distance of some very important parts of him.

Seeing the wires hanging down covering his face she could put together what he was working on, she'd spent some time herself patching the wiring harness on her bird. She was half a second away from just walking back down the ladder and leaving him to his devices. But, she'd come this far.

"Hey," she called out leaning down a little more. "Need some help, Lover Boy, or do you think you got that. I can come at it from the other side if you need." She gestured to the underside of the craft she would have to pour herself half into the guts of the ship but, she could get at some of the wires.Though it depends on what needs replacing. If it is the interior wiring that would be a no go. No matter how much he might like them trying to squeeze into such a small space she could barely fit into the gunner seat of the Y-wing an X-Wing would be even more of an ask.

TAG: @Adalia-Durron

OOC: *Adapted from O Brother Where Art Thou

 

IC: Commander Flagg (NPC-restricted GM use for a bit here)
Surrounded by chaos, villa loading dock, Naboo

Red and green blaster and even blue stun bolts crisscrossed the small area of the loading dock as the Stormtroopers that jumped off the police gunship engaged the Rebels storming across the dock.

"Find cover and take them out!" cried out one of the wait staff that Flagg didn't recognize. The woman seemed to know her way around a blaster though, and had a penchant for violence against the Empire. That made her OK in his book.

Meanwhile, Lou, Wolf, Zara, Kayn and the other Black Sheep all took the woman's words to heart as they fought back against the Imperial Stormtroopers, all in their own unique way. Even Belgium got involved. The Black Sheep might not have been an infantry unit, but they made short work of many of the Stormtroopers, perhaps demonstrating the myriad of ways the squadron could be used in the future.

Flagg low crawled forward, snatching the blaster carbine of a fallen stormtrooper, as he watched Max and Durham get into the fight. They were going to do this he thought to himself, a moment eerily reminiscent of the optimism he had felt just a few moments ago, when he suddenly heard the distinctive *snap-hiss* of a lightsaber being ignited. Kriff... No Black Sheep had that sort of weaponry, at least not that he knew about.

Looking back he saw Vixen standing there, a glowing purple bar of plasma in her hand, and a dead stormtrooper at her feet. Was she...? How had they all missed this, and why hadn't she mentioned it before? Flagg was too stunned to react, even as a pair of red blaster bolts hit the ground near him. Moments later, the Imperial security chief rushed to her, imploring her to "SHUT IT DOWN!!!" he yelled at her over the din of fire, "SHUT IT DOWN NOW!!!" Flagg shook his head and briefly took aim at the man, clearly he was trying to dissuade possibly their best weapon here, a Jedi in their midst. In that moment though Flagg noticed that the fire upon him, and everyone, else had died down as the few remaining stormtroopers attempted to engage Vixen. Flagg expected her to swat aside their blows, like he had seen in the old holos of Jedi of the past, but she seemed unconcerned. Instead she stood there, looking insane with a feral grin on her face as the blaster bolts rained down near her and the Imperial continued to scream at her. Suddenly a stun bolt hit her square in the chest and she collapsed to the deck. Max rushed forward to see that she was all right.

Meanwhile, a nearby Gungan that had somehow become entangled in their escape was yelling to Lou. "WOULD BE REALLY NICE TO HAVE A STARFIGHTER RIGHT ABOUT NOW!" Flagg nodded his head in agreement, the Gungan wasn't wrong, some air support would have come in real handy here. At the end of the loading dock perhaps though was the next best thing. The police gunship still hand't taken off yet. Indeed, the pilot seemed to have been mesmerized by the sight of a Jedi waving her lightsaber about and had forgotten to immediately lift off.

Max and Vet were watching over Vixen, and the Imperial who had accosted her, other were mopping up the mess in the form of the few remaining stromtroopers. That left things to him. Pushing himself upright Flagg grasped his newly acquired blaster carbine and rushed forward, past the few remaining troopers and throwing himself into the troop bay of the gunship. With practiced ease he fired into the back of the pilot killing him instantly. Moving into the cockpit he reached over and hit the quick release on the pilot's harness and pushed the man (or woman, all covered up like that Flagg couldn't tell). out onto the dock. "We've got our ride Sheep, let's go!"

TAG: @Adalia-Durron @Sarge @Rebecca_Daniels @Mitth_Fisto @Mistress_Renata @zark @Anedon @Sarge221 @The Real Kyp Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @Corellian_Outrider @TheAdmiral @Vehn @BobaMatt


OOC: Was going to leave taking the gunship for whichever one of y'all got to it first, but in the interest of moving us along I've gone ahead and just had Flagg handle it before we got too bogged down. Feel free to take care of any few remaining stromtroopers as you all see fit and board the gunship. Some of you I know have some special conditions for that (looking at you Outrider ). Flagg will be lifting us off in my next update.

 

IC MacKenzie Hollymander
Landing Platform - getting over mistrust.


The other Rebel, she shot one was now arguing with the woman! Well at least he was on his side and could see the advantage in using him.

"Whatever this guy is I have to admit he is right. We need to get our friend," he pointed at the unconscious Amber. "Out of here. If we both have an eye on him he won´t try anything funny."

MacKenzie raised an eyebrow. "Funny? You mean like what happened over there!?" with that he pointed at the statue nearby. "Trust me I am not that clever!!" He gave his head a shake as he ducked down avoiding more incoming fire from who knows where and what side. "I don't have time for this Kriffin Poodoo!" he snapped as he ignored the woman's orders and began to pick the unconscious Amber up. Somewhere near the landed transport he heard a male voice.

"We've got our ride Sheep, let's go!"

He followed the voice with his eyes as he attempted to stand and saw the ship had been taken, it was time to go.





Tag @Mistress_Renata @Anedon

 

Kardon Durham
Loading Dock, Naboo

Kardon scanned for targets, and the barrel of his confiscated rifle lowered when he didn't see any. Not in the clear anyway, what with any potential other targets being lost in a melee with the other Sheep. He wouldn't be getting any clear shots. Best to secure their ride and get out of there, Kardon not forgetting for a moment that they had bombs still planted and ready to blow at their backs. Who knew when they might go what with this mess that is going on in the villa's backyard.

Fortunately, Flagg had the same idea, their Commander having already boarded the gunship and, with a brief red flare within the cockpit, took care of the pilot before taking control.

"We've got our ride Sheep, let's go!"

Kardon took off from his kneeling position, heading straight for the transport and taking a look around. Even with this break, he could still see the traces of this entire mess. Amber being carried by someone he didn't know, Max was dealing with a ball of fluff latched onto her hand while someone was pointing a blaster at her. Kardon nearly stopped right there with the idea of turning his rifle on the man and taking him out, but the familiarity of him being a Sheep and lowering his weapon ended up putting him at rest.

Well, not really at rest. They still had a ship to get on and a party of frantic Imps that they need to get away from.

With that in mind, the pilot continued running, happening upon two women in the process. One he recognized - Lou - but not the other, younger woman as she was hidden in an embrace. He didn't want to waste time, but Kardon did find it in himself to slow down, briefly crouch down, and give Lou a push against her shoulder while nodding his chin to the gunship.

"Time to go," he said, low enough for the two to hear before he bounced back on his feet and made the rest of the way to the gunship. The side hatches were still open with Kardon taking a position near the one facing them. He didn't get in just yet, eyes and blaster scanning not only the surrounding area but of the people currently here. Not only to watch out for more Imps, but to keep an eye on everyone. They were still way too many unknown faces for his liking, and he was keeping watch in case any of them went from unknown to downright hostile.

TAG: @Adalia-Durron @The Real Kyp Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @Anedon @Mistress_Renata Anyone Else

Adalia Edit: Changed name User knew was wrong.

 

IC: Louise "Lou" Gray
Loading Dock
Naboo

Lou embraced Ianna fiercely and held her tight. She didn't want to let go. Lou didn't want to give up this moment to tell Ianna, to show Ianna, that she cared about her very much. They'd shared a bonding moment above the tense skies of Hoth helping the Rebel convoy break through to freedom. Then there was the convoy attack above Naboo where Ianna and Joy had saved Lou after she crash landed onto that freighter. Now, they were in this horrible wedding, this miserable place, fighting demons both internal and external on their journey to freedom.

Lou pulled away and she noticed Flagg running past her and boarding the police gunship. Then his cry to rally to him, "We've got our ride Sheep, let's go!"

Lou felt a nudge and turned to see Durham looking at her. His eyes were patiently intent as he spoke the words she'd been waiting to hear for an eternity tonight: "Time to go."

Durham moved on as Lou returned her attention to Ianna. She gently cradled Ianna's hands in her own and whispered, "Here's looking at you, Kid. Let's go."

Lou stood, let go of Ianna's hands, and with weapon in hand blasted away one of the few remaining Stormtroopers. Enough was enough. It was time to leave. She saw Joy and her ex make their way to the gunship and that surprised Lou. Something was up. She was positive Joy would fill her in later.

Lou made her way to the cargo hold of the gunship and strapped herself in tight. She closed her eyes as a heavy fatigue began to wash over her. She'd infiltrated an Imperial wedding, reunited with her ex husband Dietryk Gray, planted explosives, and killed more Imperials than she could count. One with a rock and several with a blaster bolt. All in service to the Rebel Alliance.

What a day.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422; @TheAdmiral; @Bardan_Jusik; @Sarge221

 

IC: Eliana Saeli
Surrounded by chaos, villa loading dock, Naboo

Eliana watched the chaos unfold, moving closer to her droid as their ride was secured. Not that she knew who he was, but it would be their best chanced of getting off this political rock. Better then sticking around to see if father shows up. Eliana whistled sharply at Buddy who started to roll towards their ride, and using his jump jets to get aboard. He whistled sharply at Eliana and she glanced back to see a woman with a lightsaber in her hands.

I thought Jedi were myths.

Eliana shot a confused look at Buddy who made a sad noise, before hopping up on the gunship, turning around, blaster still in hand, but willing to give her other hand to help up anyone that needed it to get on the gunship and maybe get a few more Imperials on her way out. I hope one day we won't have to live under their rule.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik @Adalia-Durron @Sarge @Rebecca_Daniels @Mitth_Fisto @Mistress_Renata @zark @Anedon @Sarge221 @The Real Kyp Durron @galactic-vagabond422 @Corellian_Outrider @TheAdmiral @Vehn @BobaMatt

 

IC: Kayn "Splitting" Balzroth
The Black Zone is for Departures Only

What in the Nine Hells is Max doing?! She shot Vixen! I sympathize, but, holy kriffing poodoo!

Flagg was in the gunboat, yelling. Kayn couldn't make out the words, but he hoped it was something about leaving before the detonators detonated. He fired another long burst and noticed the barrel of the rifle was getting awfully warm, and not just in his cybernetic eye's infrared spectrum, his natural eye could see a faint red glow spreading down the barrel too.

Ethan was standing over Amber, along with a uniformed Imp who looked like the chief of security at this event. Turncoat? Prisoner? No telling, and no time to sort it out. Kayn ran for the escape ship.

His path took him past the cluster around Amber. Life would be a lot more pleasant if we left her here... But legends say dead Jedi have ways of coming back and haunting the living. And being haunted by Vixen's ghost might be even worse than sharing a ship with live Vixen.

"Frack." He grabbed her arm with one hand, the Imp had her on the other side, and he dragged her toward the gunboat, still blasting away one-handed with the rifle. I don't expect I'll get a medal for this, but they'd better put me in for a promotion, at least. I don't get paid enough for all that I do for this stupid rebellion. Whose idea was this, anyway?

TAG: @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @Anedon @The Real Kyp Durron and all the Sheep stampeding for the exit

 

IC MacKenzie Hollymander
In Kayns Black Zone apparently.


Pulling her up by her arm, he was about to wrap his arm around her and hoist the 'dead weight' up when the Devorian who'd been entertainment earlier came through, his weapon mowing down anything in it reach. Looking down at them ever so briefly he cursed. "Frack." Before reaching and hooking him free arm under Amber's and without consultation began dragging her toward the transport.

Glancing at the woman who'd attempted to keep him uninvolved and then to the older man clutching his shoulder injury, he hoped he'd given them the message with his expression that whatever they now said meant nothing, he was moving out with them, like it or not.

He allowed himself to be guided by the Devorian whose weapon now had a soft glow to the muzzle indicating it was close to over heating. Part of him wanted to warn the man, but right now he suspected nothing he said would be listened too. He could not wait to get back to their base ship and the Senior members of the staff identified him to them, he'd have the last satisfied smirk when that happened.


Tag @Anedon @Mistress_Renata @Sarge anyone else running for their lives

 

IC: Zara Yaren
Following along

Distraction is death. With a blaster in hand, awareness was focused along the trajectory of the end of the barrel. Aware enough to stay out of danger but not enough to be a distraction and lose focus. The chaos here? Really testing that.

Her first shot went wide, up too high and too far to her right. As the green laser faded into the distance, Zara shook her head out, trying to blink away whatever that was. It was the blaster, probably, a bit more of a kickback than she was used to, built for the armoured bodies of the deathtroopers. It was a lack of practice, worn out from so much time in a starfighter lately and not a single range set up for her preferred distance. It wasn't the still-foggy head, the feeling of moving through water that hadn't quite been cleared away by the rush of adrenaline.

Lightsaber? That was a lightsaber. No, don't watch. This time the bolt hit its target, charring white armour in a familiar way, though not as cleanly as she'd have liked. Didn't matter, still dead. Blue light now, and the lightsaber was gone. Did Max just shoot Amber? No time, talk to her later. Deal with all this shavit later. Zara tracked her blaster across whatever Imperials crossed her path, not as wildly as the bolts coming from Kayn's direction-- careful, timed, not moving from her half-cover when she still had clear shots. Not as many hits as she'd have liked but it helped keep heads down as the Sheep made their way to the gunship.

Two Sheep dead, one down, some injured. Some new faces. Find out later why the kriff the security chief she'd talked up earlier was here, dragging Amber's unconscious form, seemingly helping them escape. Max would know.

With a moment to spare and some ground to cover, Zara took a moment to tie up as much of her golden dress as she could. Last thing she needed was to trip on her way out. Then, with her left hand, she scooped up the bottle she'd dropped at her feet-- still good, still expensive as hell-- and set for the gunship, lagging behind the two dragging Amber along to keep them covered with her blaster held one-handed. What a sight they must be.

TAG: @Sarge @The Real Kyp Durron, any others

 

IC: Ethan Malek
Landing platform

The pain in his shoulder wound became more intense as Ethan stumbled up the ramp of the gunboat, while he covering Kayn and the imperial as they carried the unconscious Amber into the ship. He still mistrusted the imp but with Kayn there Ethan was confident he wouldn´t try anything. But when we get back to the Intrepid I will have to have a serious talk with him.


His glance returned to the mansion as they were leaving as he felt dread as he knew that the place would soon be blown up. He hadn´t activated his bombs but he knew most others had. He asked himself if he could have prevented any of this, if he and his coconspirators could have been able to go thought with one of their plans. But he knew it was futile to think about it know, the bombs were planted and if not for a technical mistake hundreds of people would die soon and their blood would be on the squads hands, on his hands. During his training on Eriadu Ethan had been taught to fight pirates and other enemies with fierce determination, but at the same time he had been taught to show restraint against captives or unarmed civilians. "We are soldiers not murderers," his old training sergeant had told him and the other recruits time and time again and it had been these lesson that had driven Ethan to leave the empire and eventually the rebellion. But now just that rebellion had turned him into a murderer. And the most bitter thing: it won´t even have an impact, unlike the Grand Moffs and Grand Admirals Max had claimed would be at the meeting Ethan hadn´t seen anyone important. Only a few lower level leaders and businessmen like Callion, whose death wouldn´t change the galaxy.


Shaking his head Ethan pushed his feelings down and concentrated on the present. "Don´t think too much, be a good soldier do what you are told," he muttered bitterly. He just wanted this mission to be over, so he could visit the med center to have a look at his arm, so he could eventually return to the cockpit and do the job he actually had signed up for.

Tag: @Adalia-Durron, @The Real Kyp Durron, @Sarge

 

IC: Ianna Mcear
Landing pad, Villa, Naboo

Ianna almost didn't let go, didn't release Lou from her desperate vice like grip. It felt normal, comforting to have someone wrapped in her arms. She felt the warmth of Lou and it kept her from falling completely apart, reminded her that no matter what else happened they were alive. They could make it through this and they would make it through whatever else this war had to throw at them.

Lou went to pull away as Flagg called out, the young woman didn't notice though she clung just a little tighter. She still didn't want to let go but, didn't want to let go of this comforting feeling. After a moment maybe too long she finally released her friend gripping her hands back as the older woman cradled them.

"Time to go." One of the new arrivals, the ones that joined the squad just before they were deployed on this stupid mission, spoke.

"Here's looking at you, Kid. Let's go." As Lou rose so did Ianna, they needed to get out of here, they needed to escape. If for nothing else than to be far away when the bombs detonated. The farmgirl held back her speed just a little not wanting to out run her comrade with the blaster covering her approach. Not that it was that difficult her shoes weren't meant to make the 100 meters, and the cut on her leg was beginning to sting but, they made it.

Her breathing was short more from the adrenaline that was flowing in her veins than any actual exertion. She cast her eye around spotting Ethan, Meanie, Lou, Joy, they were alive, and making their way to the gunship. The smile returned, though this one was more genuine, true, not hiding anything though it was still covering the cracks she had on her psyche.

Her friends were alive, they were going to get out of here.

TAG: @Vehn @Sarge221 @Sarge @Mistress_Renata @Anedon @TheAdmiral @Bardan_Jusik

IC: Meili Han
Intrepid, Hangar

"Or you could come down here?" the upside down man quipped with a wink. Meili tightened her fist seriously contemplating giving him a swift strike to remind him that she wasn't interested. She managed to restrain herself letting out a sarcastic laugh. "Wouldn't take much for me to scoot on over here." He added.

"I can't tell if you're joking or would like to be crushed when I try to squeeze in there with you." Part of her wondered if he was in fact that kind of guy. She had noticed the way he looked at her muscular arms as she hefted up the still busted R2 unit. "Alright I guess there isn't anything else you need me to look at on this bird?" she left the question hanging she'd made the effort to come over here she might as well see if there was anything she could help with.

TAG: @Adalia-Durron