Session export: Bounty 003 [Envoy Corps]

Despite his professional exterior Hector Von Ricmore couldn’t help but feel a bit excited. He had cooperated with numerous clans during his time in the Brotherhood but traveling to their designated areas of space was far from typical. As far as he could recall, this was the first time he had ever traveled via the Dajorra Hyperlane.

Information was essential to the Successful acquisition of a bounty target. As such Hector patiently waited to hear more of the target the group was assigned. If it was an individual with prior history he may be able to inquire with his various contacts. Any information they knew could be of use including habits, preferred equipment, personality etc. There were a number of thing that the group could learn that would aid them in planning how to deal with their target.

He was in no hurry to socialize but would have no trouble responding should the others wish to engage him. The human lounged in one of the rear chairs, his helmet held in his left hand while his right held a glass of white wine produced on Naboo. He sipped from his wine as he waited for the group to be given more direction.

From the outside, the masked figure sat rigidly at the heart of the shuttle, harness fastened and feet planted to the floor. Behind the red-striped mask, though, Eiko’s eyes shot between scraps of reports, maps of Port Ol'val’s carved corridors, dossiers on the crew, fresh holofeeds pulled from broadcasts and old ones dredged from the Arx Minor training facility archives. His mind was anything but static.

Arconan space would be tolerable as long as Eiko remained appropriately distant from it. The same could be said for the current crew. Maybe it was that he’d spent too much time squeezed into less comfortable ships with far more military presence, but the Lambda felt almost empty with its current complement. Enough space for the taller, long haired man to enjoy a glass of wine across at the shuttle. Von Ricmore, from Vizsla, Eiko repeated to himself. He didn’t recognize any of them personally, especially not the Zabraki.

As the information dancing within his helmet slowly became stale, Eiko flipped between the dossiers of the others on the ship. A pair of Arconans, two Palatinae, a Vizlan, and a Plagueian were the makings of a bad joke. Eiko started to grin and stomped it back to a neutral expression just as quickly when the tight, searing sensation ripped through the scar tissue along his jawline.

Inside the mask, he merely whispered his words, letting his mask amplify and distort until the voice others heard sounded more like a droid than a human.

“I assume with two doctors, we expect to bring the quarry in alive but not unwounded, yes?”

“That seems to be a fair enough assumption to make. I’m unable to speak for the other doctor but I am proficient in rendering medical assistance.” Hector Von Ricmore replied.

“However, I would wait on making any plans regarding that assumption. We have not yet received the details on our bounty target. It is entirely possible that they are carrying some sort of secrets and we are required to silence them permanently. Or perhaps the Envoy office will demand a live capture. Regardless, I am certain that the group will complete the mission if we work with one another.”

From the time he had stepped foot on the shuttle, the Pantoran had begun to build a fortress around his mind in preparation for the upcoming assignment. It was also nice, Kadrol reasoned, to reflect on one’s own thoughts from time to time. However, having overheard the exchange, Kadrol ended his introspection and looked up at the two humans from his seat halfway across the shuttle.

“Unfortunately, sir, my expertise is in the fields of archaeology and anthropology, not medicine.” The Research Director interjected into their conversation.

Sensing the opportunity to strike up a conversation and learn more about the other members of the team, Kadrol stood up and made his way over to the pair. He extended out his arm to formally introduce himself. “I am Dr. Kadrol Hauen of Scholae Palatinae. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Sivall was quiet as per usual. She was strapped into her own little corner of the ship, flicking through different screens on her datapad; dossiers, information on where they were going. Her face was neutral, but inside she was karking terrified. This would be her first mission without the companionship of Ruka or Alex, and she felt their absence. Sanguine eyes flitted up from her datapad as the others of her group began to talk amongst themselves.

She was still a lowly member of Arcona, not yet anyone of any sort of significance. She didn’t bolster any sort of amazing skill in combat, or any particularly valuable contacts or connections. No, she was simply here to keep people alive and hopefully be more of an asset than a hinderance. The Chiss forced herself to take a deep breath, trying her best to stay calm despite the rising anxiety in her chest. Everything would be fine.

She would not embarrass her clan on her first mission.

*I would preferably like to keep the person we’re going after alive and well if at all possible… * The sky-blue female mumbled mentally. She did not like the idea of having to kill someone. There were other ways of making sure things stayed secret that didn’t involve shedding blood, although they weren’t the easiest.

The human sat slumped in his seat, eyes closed, hands cradling a datapad which lit his face in lines as information scrolled past. Being the last to arrive on the shuttle, he had been forced to the corner seat, a fact that did not seem to outwardly bother him. “You will need that medical expertise, Doctor, should the target require my ministrations” came the comment, a bare whisper in the background of the conversation.

“Lt. I will require further clarification regarding the level of life required to be considered alive” Eyes open now, the blonde human cocked their head casually to look at the hologram. “I’m not here to do a security officers work for them.”

The human raised an eyebrow and said shortly, “Noted.”

If it weren’t for her human teammate asking what constituted “alive” in the constraints of the mission, Siv would have likely been very visibly uncomfortable by the appearance of another Chiss. Instead, the Medic sat in her corner, one eye twitching just faintly as she forced a look of neutrality to stay on her face. One who knew the Arconian Proconsul might have seen an uncanny resemblance.

This was gonna be a long mission.

Pulling up the data Cordelia sent, the sky-blue Chiss just muttered an affirmative in Cheunh loud enough for the Lieutenant to hear, trying her best to push away the sting of guilt as soon as the phrase left her lips. She kept reminding herself all she could do was her best.

“Understood,” Eiko hissed, causing his mask to sputter. “Do we have Arconan cooperation beyond those on this shuttle? A cordon or security access, perhaps?”

Red was looking at his datapad analyzing all information, and on the other hand checking his medical backpack if he has all necessary equipment ready to use in case of medical emergency - which he expected as they were traveling to his Clan homeplanet Port Ol’val. He put medical equipment next to an oversized sleeping Porg next to him.

“Healthy, healthy, healthy” He nodded while checking out each of the Human crew mates from his sit at the last right chair on the back of the spaceship. He turned around and glanced at the Pantoran. Healthy as well He thought. Shistavanen could easily smell that Zabrak was in good condition without looking, but he swiftly moved his eyes at the Chiss woman. “Also healthy,” he nodded to himself. Archian needed to keep an eye on fellow Arconian, as he didn’t want to lose quite a new recruit of the clan, before she would feel a real sense of the adventures.

As an Aedile of the House Qel-Droma, he very rarely went for any missions - especially after the last fight at the exact planet where they were going now - he could feel all spots under his reddish fur reminding him of his former wounds, and now partly covered scars underneath. He decided to support this mission for two main reasons: firstly he wanted to make sure that he is in good physical and mental condition in case of emergency. Secondly he wanted to make sure that nobody would get heart, or engage in not necessary fights with fellow Arconans at their streets. He knew that we as Clan were very easy provoked and attract to joint troubling situations, and to made them even more complicated than they should be.

Communicator beeped and displayed a new message. “Nerf is ready for your arrival” He smiled - it was really good news, as Red requested from Tajga to order an immediate transport of the creature to Port Ol’val for this mission from his camp on another planet.

“If necessary please let me speak with officers in the case of necessary clearances”. He spoke to Chiss. Archian also tried - but unsuccessfully - blink with one eye at her. He regretted it as it looked more like a tick or something in his eye than a sign of support he meant by doing it. He was still learning how to interact with others - especially new people.

Kadrol stood silently and let all of the information settle in his mind, committing it to memory. Any information he could gather now may help him later on. Whether it be knowledge of the target or knowing which members of the team he could rely on most, it was all valuable. Right now, he was wary of Titius. His comments about what constituted “alive” rubbed Kadrol the wrong way. If he’s willing to torture our target to the limit of what is allowed, then he has no respect for life and might also choose to let us all die to save himself if things turn sour. The Pantoran reasoned with himself.

Kadrol’s thoughts then turned to the rest of his team. From what he could gather, Archian and Hector seemed to place a certain level of emphasis on medicine, which he found promising. Sivall seemed too quiet for his liking, and Eiko’s comments thus far made Kadrol respect his ability to lead, if nothing else.

With that in mind, Kadrol decided on a course of action and made his way over to Sivall to gather more information. “So, what are your thoughts on all this?” He asked.

“I have one more question.” Hector began. “About the stolen data pad. Do we have access to identifying features like its serial number so we can make sure we nab the right one? Secondly, do we know what frequencies it uses? We could potentially us that to track it down if our target has it connected to the holonet.”

Archian listened carefully to the question and suggestion of the Human fella. “ It could work, but remember that Port Ol’val’s source of metal underneath can display distribution in the frequencies - so if we decide to do it, we need to include this as well”. He stopped for a moment, looked at the Porg which just yawned after a long nap at the ship.

Then he continued. “ There is possibility to connect with security system inside, and located target visually by camer-”

Porg opened eyes widely and squealed loudly… “ You will have a chance to hunt, but you need to wait.” Archian said to Porg.

“ Where I was… yes… when we located him… if we locate him… we can follow and decide how to enter the building. So, any other suggestions?” Red looked at each person one after another. Than he added. “ And please do not tell me to just blast off the front door. I would not have enough bacta bombs, and funds to pay for doors replacement…” He sighted.

Siv relaxed a little with Cordelia’s added words in Cheunh, glad to see some sort of reciprocation. The translation was a little rough to her, but she got the overall gist of the leutenants words– believe in yourself. It was the same idea that her other Arconians were trying so hard to get through her skull. It was hard to believe in yourself when no one had ever believed in you before, but she would try.

The woman jumped slightly when Kadrol made his way over to her, the look of veiled annoyance slipping off of her face. Sanguine eyes blinked a few times before she looked up at her Pantoran cohort. “What do I think? Well…” She trailed off, looking at the others of the group. Her lips pressed against each other, creating a thin line. “I think this mission will either go very well or very wrong, very fast.”

She hoped she was wrong.

Sivall turned her attention to the holo-projection of Cordelia as she gave out a bit more information, making sure to take a few notes as the other Chiss spoke. She scribbled in the margin of her notes to be cautious of any bodily injury taken during his capture. She knew there was another person here more adept at medicine than her, but it always helped not to underestimate the situation or get to comfortable because you had back up.

“I’m as ready as I can be,” She answered Cordelia, stuffing her datapad away.

“Clear communication first, among ourselves. If the port and system authorities are leaving it in our hands, then coordinating with them is secondary. An Envoy-encrypted channel – no,” Eiko cut himself off. “Bronto could still have or derive that information. Lieutenant, is there a private and secure relay we can use? Just the shuttle and ourselves, not a broadcast. And a floor plan and access logs for any possible occupants, if you have them.”

Going in blind could be addressed – reactivating existing security could be done, if there wasn’t damage. Even if there were damage, maybe the security system had a log of where the circuit faults occurred.

“Lieutenant, can you confirm that this will be a controlled area? I don’t fancy having to fill paperwork or justifying why a civilian is… injured.” The human was running his hands deftly over a DC-17m sniper platform. Judging by his speed, he was clearly practiced at it, not breaking his gaze at the lieutenant.

“I will put myself last…”, he addressed the group as a whole,“… as the Final Solution should there be a variation of Mu'rPhi’s Assumption that occurs”

“I am happy to share my personal encryption code that I use…would that suffice?” He gestured to his implant plate. “The drawback is it only enables short range communication. Excess duracrete or other material will degrade the signal logarithmically.”

The Human stood before the door, eyes flitting across its surface as he assessed it for vulnerabilities. Pausing his gaze, he called, “Doctor, are you able to open this without much issue or do I need to make some noise?” I know which avenue I would like.

Eiko’s sigh crackled. “I’ll sweep from the main to the side door. Osseus, Von Ricmore with me, the rest and the porg on the side. Someone slice the door, please – before I do it myself or Titius undermines whatever subtlety we have left.”

Archian stepped aside and started whistle quietly, and Porg accompanied him with slow squeaks.

While everyone was preparing, and looking forward to slice the door, Archian patiently waited for his second friend. And that was exactly what happened. Not far away could be heard deep breathing and a small cloud of the warm air was coming out from the corner of the building. Shadow slowly was covering more of the ground next to the wall. Archian stopped whistling and smiled.

“Here it is” he said, and did last quiet long whistle. The creature came out to show itself and an overwhelming odor could be smelled.

Nerf showed her whole body, and spontaneously looked at everyone, and decided to come closer to a straight short dark brown hair human and tried to lick him. “This is my friend Boja.” Red explained - in the meantime Porg jumped at the back of another creature, and squeaked ferociously. “And this is Migi, but you know him already,” he added with his paw’s palm covering his face after what the small creature did seconds ago.

Hector Von Ricmore stepped towards the door. His eyes surveyed the area as he searched for a specific thing. After several moments he found what he was looking for, a universal port utilized by astromechs and sentients with data spikes. The doctor pulled his regent cyber amulet from his neck and opened it, reveling the dataspike hidden within it. “Let’s see how tough the security is.” He muttered to himself as he inserted the spike into the port. He immediately encountered resistance; this was a warehouse in Arcona owned territory and the Clan was no slouch in defending what they claimed as their own (even if an enemy of theirs happened to miss-appropriate the territory). This wasn’t Von’s first nerf rodeo. He had contended with the digital security of the Collective and the Children of Mortis in the past; he refused to be stopped by the digital countermeasures of this warehouse. Redoubling his efforts he succeed in the slicing attempt causing the door to slide open. “After you.” He stated to his companions with a bow and a flourish.

Archian observed the three postures standing at the front of the open main doors. He kneeled and looked deeply into the eyes of the Porg which came back by his side.

This couldn’t lie. Black, mortifying with bravery. Migi was ready for the action. Shistavanen took the rope provided by Envoy Corpses out of his medical backpack, and handed it into the Porg’s mouth, silencing its excitement squeaking. Red nodded at the creature, and with his citrus eyes pointed at the pipe coming out from the wall.

Small avian knew exactly what to do. Migi jumped into the air making 180 degrees turn, started running away from the group, while with each second flapping his wings more and more energetically. Porg started to fly into the air, and took high while making a U-turn into pipes direction. Migi flew past the pipe, and after that made the spiral fly around the pipe.

Do not split. Do not split Archian thought, remembering that he promised to bring back all equipment still in useful state.

Avian finished all of it with landing at the pipe and sliding between the loosen part of the rope, to tighten it up while hanging at the rope from its mouth, and flapping at everyone below it with its wings and pride.

Archian looked at others and said, while nodding at the female Chiss asked “Ladies first?”

Thankfully they had made their way pretty quickly through the port and arrived quickly at their location. Just as quickly, the more experienced of the group decided to split, a few of them taking the door and a few of them taking a side entrance which seemed to be a decent bit up in the air.

Siv bit her lip, trying to think of the possible ways she could get that high up. She could use the force to boost her, but even with that added strength it was likely she wouldn’t reach. The Chiss woman was still ticking off possible ways of entry when a little porg went flying up– she had been so stuck in her head that she had missed Archian introduce his furry companions.

Cussing a bit mentally for not paying attention, she bowed her head to the Shistavanen and smiled softly. “Thank you, Archian. Your porg companion is very brave.” Taking Archian’s offered means of entry, Sivall began to haul her way up the rope.

Titius stepped through the door, raising his DC-17 into high ready. “Team 1, successful breach, weapons hot. Be sure to identify yourself or STAY BEHIND ME. ”, he hissed harshly into his comm. Initial passes of the warehouse revealed noone but the target would not be alone.

Eiko dropped a hand to his side and reached out through the Force. It came to him falteringly, but he felt his mind open up to feel any life around him.

“Left is clear,” Eiko pulled his blaster pistol and stepped ahead of the team. “Big blasters in the back, small blasters up front. Lift’s on the opposite side of the room.”

“Ill cover you from behind but listen…” He grabbed Eiko’s arm “…when I say Down, hit the floor. I will not wait for you to clear the way”

Being the first up the rope meant she was the first inside through the side entrance. The Chiss crouched low and crept up to the edge of the walkway to peer over the banister. From her location, she easily picked out the guards and her other team members, as well as the layout of the facility— or at least what was visible on this floor.

“Siv here,” she whispered into the comm unit connecting her to the other Envoy members, “group two has successfully made it inside. There are three guards in the back by the lift, two to the right side, and two to the left.“ Siv’s eyes caught movement as Eiko moved forward.

“The two groups to the left and right both have units close to the ground team.” She felt like she could crawl out of her skin with the anxiety she was feeling. “Please proceed forward carefully and check your corners.”

Kadrol waited for Sivall to reach the top of the rope before climbing. Despite not entirely trusting a rope tied by a Porg, Kadrol decided it was his turn to climb next. It’s holding, right, so it must be tied well. Right? Kadrol argued, trying to convince himself the rope was completely safe to climb.

Looking back up the rope, Kadrol saw Sivall had made her way up. After the radio message had come through and Sivall was safely inside, he put one hand on the rope, nodded to Archian, and began his climb. The Pantoran grunted as he continued to haul his way up, one hand over the next. It wasn’t insanely difficult, but it definitely wasn’t one of his preferred methods of movement. Upon reaching the window, Kadrol dropped down inside next to his Chiss teammate and let out a sigh of relief.

Hector Von Ricmore was a man to whom information mattered. To achieve victory he had to know his enemies, his allies, and most of all, himself. He wasn’t afraid to admit that he was outclassed in most areas of conventional combat. It wasn’t something which bothered him and he had come to terms with it long ago. His wit and his words had saved him as often as his blaster. “I’ll follow behind you whilst cloaked.” He transmitted to Eiko and Titius over an encrypted channel. He activated his cloak and faded from view, leaving only the slightest shimmer of light as he moved. He drew his Night Sniper blaster and activated the silent mode on the weapon. With reduced blaster flash and a much quieter sound, hopefully it would help take their foes by surprise.

Archian took rope in his both paws, and started to pull his body weight up. He was half way there when he heard sobbing from under him. He looked under the rocky surface of the dock’s street. Nerf was looking at him lonely, and was growling, sobbing and gazing at him with enlarged blue eyes. Archian smiled at Boja and nodded in the direction of the main entrance, and made a short whistle. Creature made a last growl, turned around and started to follow the wall of the building.

Archian continued the climb, and when reached the right height whistled again, and Porg landed on his shoulder. “Let’s go in” he murmured to himself, and Shistavanen climbed inside. He already heard through the communicator how was the situation inside, but know he realized the true position of the foreign troops.

“ Eiko, if you need any distraction, do not hesitate to let me know. Maybe we shouldn’t be detected too early? We don’t want to spook our prey.” Red suggested to the Human below him.

Titius was ready. Dialed in. He was ready to…

Snufflesnufflesnort

Titius slowly looked beside him to see a NERF pad up besides him. “Archian, care to explain why I have your pet is down here, instead of with you?” The nerf grunted at the hostility. “Great, now I might get bit.”

There was no time to figure out why he’d thought the path was clear. Sivall didn’t seem the conniving sort yet. Eiko exhaled and crouched with renewed focus and started pushing into the room.

The guard was obvious and oblivious as soon as Eiko could see down the aisle. Eiko slipped to the side, aiming his blaster pistol into the corner as he used the low-light scope to compensate for the darkness. When he could confirm the edge was clear, he turned back and found a narrow slit between crates and storage racks that afforded a clean shot at the guard’s shoulder.

“Engaging.” Eiko whispered into his comms as he let his breath catch for a second, stilling his body and squeezing the trigger.

The guard spun away as their shoulderblade singed with the impact.

Eiko hissed between his teeth, hoping that he’d instead heard the slump of the guard’s body. “Osseus, one injured, zero degrees low.”

As the words left Eiko’s mouth he heard the air split as a bolt flew by. The guard hit the ground as a red halo dusted the crates behind.

Titius immediately called out loudly “DAMN RATS! SORRY GUYS!”

Hearing that the others were engaging the enemy, Kadrol decided now would be a good time to start clearing their side of the room as well. The Pantoran unclipped both of his lightsaber hilts from the utility belt on his waist and leapt from the balcony. As he dropped, he activated his lightsabers. The surrounding area was illuminated by the purple and yellow glow. Kadrol entered a combat roll across the warehouse floor as his boots hit the ground, taking care to keep the plasma blades away from his body. Sparks flew as the blades made contact with the ground.

Exiting the roll, he raised up the violet blade slashed at the guard cutting across his torso from left to right. The blade tore through the goon’s armor with ease, leaving an opening where the blade had struck him, and a surface wound across his chest. The guard cried out in pain as the intense heat from the lightsaber seared his skin, but he prepared to fight on.

As Kadrol decided to enter the combat field, and having the guard harshly hurt with his swift movements, he decided to support companion. He took his bow out, and without any rush movements moved aim from the guard next time Kardol to the not far away positioned another guard at the stairs. His stretch arms were moving carefully: top - head, next bottom - leg, no - middle section to the left. Yes! Breath out… The arrow went through the air. Slowly changing the ankle from the straight line to 45 degrees. Shoulder has cracked, and from the rear view the shoulder blade looked like the ground split in two after the earthquake. The guard’s arm went limp, and his reaction couldn’t be read easily - between pain eruption, and blank confusion from lost feeling in his arm.

In the meantime Nerf with affection was laying silently down next to Titius, but also with keeping close attention for any signals that could tell it what to do next.

Her comrades went into action, and she followed suit. With a careful and practiced movement, Sivall hopped onto the railing and waited for the perfect moment. Sanguine eyes flicked from one target to the next, assessing the situation.

Kadrol had landed a good blow on one of the guards, which had alerted the other one nearby. Luckily, Archian’s shot hit the second guard and caused him to pause just under her. The journeyman member inhaled, using the movement to steel her nerves, then dropped.

She gracefully fell. One foot landed on the guard’s shoulder and then next on his head in quick succession. Though relatively light, she had caught him unaware. With the momentum of her fall she leaned forward, causing the guard to crumple backwards. His head hit the metal flooring with a solid and somewhat worrying THUMP.

The movement of her fall carried her forward over the guard’s head and she rolled, bringing herself back onto one foot and one knee. The medic quickly looked back, her breath halting for a second as she observed the guard. Breathing, but unconscious. Good.

The guard Kadrol was fighting drew his vibrodagger into his right hand, still clutching at the newly formed wound with his left. In a fit of anger, or perhaps out of a sense of duty, the hired hand took a wild swipe at Kadrol. Unfortunately, Kadrol’s precognition alerted him to the attack just as the vibrodagger sliced across the front of Kadrol’s thigh, cutting him.

“You’re going to pay for that!” Kadrol hissed. The Pantoran raised his sabers to renew his attack, bringing them down in a parallel motion and slicing through the mercenary. The Mercenary’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground, separated into three distinct parts.

When Kadrol looked up again to regain his check on the surrounding area, he saw Archian and Sivall looking back at him from nearby a disposed of body of their own.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s keep moving!” He called out.

Hector Von Ricmore began to pick up his pace, moving fast enough to scout ahead but no faster than a light jog as he had no desire to reveal his position. He passed the position of his squad mates and soon found himself within visual distance of a guard. This was a perfect opportunity to take out or weaken the foe. Hector deactivated his cloak and raised his Night Sniper pistol, ensuring it was on its stealth firing mode. He lined up the scope with the guard’s head. It would be a perfect shot. He pulled the trigger sending a dimmed purple blast forward. The blast hit nothing living instead slamming into a nearby object. Hector froze. In his haste and desire to pull off the perfect shot he had fired a second early or perhaps a second later. The guard, who had been fiddling around with their weapon, had dropped it to the ground and bent over to pick it up, avoiding the headshot by mere chance and happenstance. The guard who had now turned to face Hector. “Well Hello There.” The human awkwardly declared.

Kadrol was seeing red. The fresh wound on his leg was a reminder of his failure to prevent his injury. Looking ahead, Kadrol saw two more guards; one near Sivall, and one further away. Deciding Sivall would properly take care of the one nearest to her, the Pantoran focused on the other one. When he had first entered in through the window and taken in the scenery around him, a stack of large crates in the far corner had stood out to him.

He reached back through the Force and grabbed a hold of a sizable crate. The boxes above came down with a crash as he began to move the largest one from the bottom. With only a moment’s concentration, he sent the object hurling through the air with considerable speed, sending it across the entirety of the building towards the goon. As the object sped over his head, Kadrol looked directly into the eyes of the guard from afar and saw fear. Pure, uninhibited fear. As the box made its way towards its target, less and less of the guard’s body was visible to Kadrol, until he heard a soft but sharp gasp. Pinched between the crate and the ground, the guard had breathed his last.

Eiko’s head spun to focus on the nearly simultaneous clatter of a dropped weapon and the sizzle of a bolt singeing a crate beyond the guard’s head. Hector smiled uncomfortably behind the sights of his pistol.

Eiko shoved his own pistol back into its holster roughly and pulled his saber. This is absurd, he thought bitterly as the blade howled to life in his grip.

He was too far back to make a cleaner strike, but the blade tip still connected with the guard’s side as the Duros stumbled back, grasping for their dropped weapon. Eiko’s arc could have cleaved the Duros from hip to shoulder if not for the scrabbling.

Siv turned and stood, facing one of the guards who had run over from the lift. Both her and him flinched as the guard to her left was absolutely flattened by a flying crate. So much death already… she would not add to it. These people were just doing their job, and could have families at home. Families who depended on them. Trying her best to not let her guilt show, the medic rushed forward, taking advantage of the distracted guard.

She used the momentum to slide herself to his side, grabbing him by the face as she went. The forward momentum turned into downwards momentum as she dropped to her knee, slamming the guard backwards into the floor. Another THUNK and another guard was incapacitated. With a soft frown the medic placed a hand on the guard’s chest, sending a mental apology before she stood and started moving towards the lift.

Quickly taking over the lift would be the most advantageous thing to do at this point. They had lost the element of surprise and stealth.

Archian decided not to engage in the battle, but to follow up on possible injuries which could affect their mission in the near future. Archian jumped off from the stairs to make it look much more effective, but also to get faster to Kadrol. His stomach didn’t like it, but Archian kept his snout shut to not let anything come back out. He came closer to Pantoran, and pointed with bright yellow eyes at the warrior’s leg and visible wound at its surface.

Half human just nodded with agreement, without losing focus on the enemies. Archian took off his medication backpack and pulled out the Syntflesh Dispenser. He applied enough to stop the bleeding, but his paws must suddenly stop as his stomach answered again after the previous jump. The dry Borcatu ration consumed earlier at the ship was coming closer, but it didn’t only matter. The guards were more suspicious of what was happening around, so Shistavanen backed off from Kardol, straightened up, and took a bow to his paw alongside a big, deep breath to calm his early digestive system.

Kadrol nodded in appreciation before standing up, using his right hand to temporarily support himself as he made his way onto his feet. Mobile once more, Kadrol made his way over to the box he had just thrown. The Pantoran stopped momentarily to inspect the damage before continuing around the side to the back. As much as he viewed that action as necessary for the completion of the mission, he also silently grieved, for he had a deep appreciation for the life that had been ended.

As he rounded the corner, he found himself looking directly at a guard, separated by mere meters. With his lightsabers deactivated, Kadrol began to reason with the guard. “Look man, I just killed two of your friends. I don’t want to do the same to you, but I will if I have to.” He said.

As Kadrol tried reasoning with the guard, Archian was looking very closely at the behavior of the enemy. He had a bow with an arrow ready and aimed at the figure standing opposite to the Pantoran.

And then it happened. Mercenary grabbed his blaster, and unsecured it. All of it looked like it was in slow motion while Shistavanen let go of the arrow, and within seconds the sharp end of it had cutten through the armor, and slided over the skin of the guard, making a superficial but painful enough wound.

To add insult to injury of just being shot in your weapon wielding arm, Siv– who was at this point running on anxiety and adrenaline and the pure hope of preventing any other deaths –positioned herself behind the guard who had tried to shoot Kadrol and placed her hands on either side of his head. It took a heartbeat of effort and concentration to do as this ability was not her best, but soon force lightning crackled through the guard like a lightning rod. Wincing slightly as the guard hit the ground, she then looked at the Pantoran with a soft, worried smile.

“You okay? Want me to see if I can do a better job patching you up?” She offered a hand to her fellow Arconian, a gesture to come closer if he wanted healed.

Titius heard the commotion from across the warehouse and ran to aid his team. Rounding a stack of crates, he scanned the scene efficiently picking out one last adversary hiding behind a low barricade. They haven’t seen me yet…perfect Lining up his shot, Titius stepped forward…

Several unfortunate events seemed to converge as Titius raised his blaster to take his shot. The adversary looked over, locking eyes with Titius just as his front foot met a grease pool. The shock of sudden contact combined with lost footing caused the blaster shot to swing wide, neatly scorching the duracrete of the barrier. The adversary ducked behind quickly.

Titius became numb for a fleeting moment then rage filled his head. The warehouse began to fill with the most abusive tirade, curses reverberating off every surface to create a cacophony of anger. No, you dont get away that easily, cricking slimy little…that was Krayt spit!

Kadrol still hadn’t processed the entirety of what had just happened. One moment he was trying to save a guard’s life, and the next he had been shot and the guard became charcoal. Looking up from the body, which lay flexed on the ground, he looked into Sivall’s eyes. She had said words, but it took him a while to piece together what she had said.

“No, that’s alright. I think I’ve got this.” Kadrol replied. Even if he didn’t need the assistance, he couldn’t help but smile at the thoughtfulness and kindness of the gesture. The Pantoran limped his way over to the nearest wall. Placing his hand on the wall, he used it to sit down on the cold, hard floor. He briefly thought about removing the bandage but decided to heal through it so as to not hurt Archian’s feelings by undoing what he had done almost immediately.

He hovered his hand over the cut area on his leg and focused. Within moments the wound sealed back up as the flesh regenerated. The gap quickly covered over, forming a thin line before fully sealing. The only way anyone could tell he had been wounded was by the tears in the fabric. He then moved on to the burn on his arm. Not only did the wound heal completely, but it was also extremely soothing, like ice on a sunburn. Having healed all of his wounds, Kadrol got back up onto his feet. “Alrighty then. What’s next?” he asked the other two members of his group.

As Titius’s rage climbed up the warehouse walls, Eiko and the guard closed. The Duros swung down hard for the Plagueian’s head with more momentum than planning. Eiko thrust his lightsaber up to catch the vibrosword and used the Duros’s force to push his own saber in a howling arc.

Where it landed, armor and clothing split open effortlessly, pressing through the mercenary’s shoulder into their chest. The fissure was seared black and the guard fell in a heap.

Eiko exhaled the stale breath he’d been holding tightly, forcefully evening his breathing back down as his heart still pounded.

“The pay couldn’t have been good enough to die like that.” Eiko used his foot to shove the corpse out of the walkway and let his saber blade extinguish.

As the last guard fell Hector Von Ricmore was drawn to a turbolift. The device appeared to be the only way to proceed. This was a cause for concern. A turbolift could easily be turned into a deathtrap by a savvy foe. It could be used to set up an ambush or could crush the party by accelerating without stopping. Hector walked over to the control panel of the lift and began to examine it. The security was impressive, especially for an out of the way warehouse. Either Clan Arcona, the party’s target, or perhaps both, were quite capable of developing security measures. Inserting his cyber amulet into the machine Hector was able to gain acess to the basic controls and functions. But anything beyond that was denied by a series of firewalls and security measures. The human had no doubt that he could break them with enough time but dedicating himself to that would almost certainly allow his target to escape. For now it was best to trust in the skill of the group and keep moving forward.

Archian walked closer to others and joined them assessing how much damage they received. Most of them looked alright, they didn’t even lose breath. Small cut which was a very non lethal injury wasn’t serious, but it was better for a future to reduce even that.

Archian put a bow behind his back. He stayed silent staring at the elevator which probably was their next step. But could they do more?

In the meantime Porg was behaving like a kind of secret agent - hiding behind crates, and sneaking from wall to wall looking around for any movement.

Nerf was slowly closing up to the group - especially Titius, who looked like got a new best friend in the creature’s heart.

This time, Eiko’s grip on the Force came more confidently and clearly as he stretched his perception up the lift shaft. Maybe it was the adrenaline that made it more pressing. No one saw his eyes close in focus.

“Doesn’t seem like there are more guards up there.” Eiko reported. He caught Siv’s glance. “It’s much clearer. And there’s only one way in.”

As the group paused again, Eiko sighed and stepped onto the lift platform. These weren’t Plagueian soldiers, blank slates of violence where orders could be written to be executed with practice and precision. It wasn’t a war. The casualties of the day might not cross into double-digits, mercifully.

“Bronto won’t wait. Stay ready.” It wasn’t an order, but it was an imperative. Eiko rested his hand on the lift controls and waited until the group had fully collected themselves.

Seeing the room was dimly lit, Kadrol decided it would be a good idea to get on top of the crates in front of him. Maybe I’ll be able to see more from up top. the Pantoran reasoned. He took a step back before running up a few steps to launch himself into the air. Drawing upon the Force, he boosted himself even higher. Even still, the crates were stacked just high enough to make it difficult. As he reached the peak of his jump he reached out for the ledge, grasping it with both hands. He pushed himself up, kicking his feet to aid in his ascent. After struggling for a few seconds, he finally got up on top of the boxes and stood. He turned back and looked down at his team members to report back. “Guys, it’s kriffing dark up here.”

Then, as soon as Kadrol turned back around, a slug came from the abyss, lodging itself in Kadrol’s shoulder. The momentum of the bullet twisted his body around, pushing him back off the crates. The Pantoran hit the ground face-first with a large thud. The pain of the fall echoed throughout his entire body. Rolling onto his back, the Pantoran let out a soft cry. “I’m gonna stay here for a bit if it’s ok with you.” He spoke as the others gathered around to check up on him.

Titius’ eyes darted around as he put his back to the nearest crate. That was a slugthrower. But where did it come from… He could not pinpoint the exact direction owing to the depth of darkness in the warehouse.

“Pipe down, you karking blue youngling. Youll draw them in.”

Titius took a calming breath and muttered aloud. “And I need to keep this sleemo alive for capture…”

Turning, he poked his eye out past the crate to peer down the rough passage. Well they were right about one thing, kriffing dark as a burnt Wookiee

Shooting a look at Titius, Sivall quickly moved to Kadrol’s side. One of their teammates had just gotten hurt, and all he could do was tell them to shut up? Siv let out a soft sigh and sunk to her knees next to the Pantoran, beginning to access the wound in his shoulder. It wasn’t too terrible, would probably hurt for a while, but wasn’t life threatening.

“They hit you good, huh?” She muttered quietly, “Deep breath.” The medic pulled out some minor supplies and began patching Kadrol’s wound, pressing some gauze against it for a moment first to stop the bleeding. “Leave the slug in for now. Don’t want you to sport a leak.” Her heart ached for him a little. It had seemed like he had hit the ground pretty hard.

The ringing echo of the gunshot left the space quiet enough to hear Siv hold Kadrol’s attention. For a moment, it felt like Eiko was watching from planets away, remembering violence cascading into violence.

It’s not a war. It’s not a battle. It’s just a fight. It’s just a fight. Eiko repeated the mantra silently to help keep his mind clear, but the reality was slowly tearing at the edges of deniability. There was a little bit of war in every conflict, and a little bit of conflict in every interaction. His deep breathing registered and transferred outside his mask as a distorted rhythm.

He gestured toward the far wall, eyes closed again. “Back and to the left,” he muttered, imagining the layout of crates forming layers of labyrinthine barricade between him and the humming sense of Bronto’s presence, snapping back to his present self as he felt more confident about the spaces ahead.

“Bronto’s in the far corner, in what should be offices and storage. Osseus, bring down the stack that the sniper is on. I don’t care how you do it, but don’t get cute. I can find plenty of paperwork to drown you in.

"I’ll take the left wall. Keep the lights off. Bronto’s the only one wanted alive, and even that was… conditional.”

Archian tried to focus to find any signs where above them their target could hide out, but suddenly shot at his companion, afraid of destroying his House property by accidental shooting at it, totally distracted him.

Also Porg didn’t help with the whole situation. The violent and brave creature was trying to escape to find Marlo by itself - Red literally needed to hold it with one paw to not be shot to death by still not detected sniper.

Titius had a bad idea… “Hey, Red, how far can you shoot that bow of yours?”, he said as he began fiddling with a small canister. The canister bore a very prominent Toxic label.

“If I don’t try I won’t know” Archian said, and then looked at the canister label. “Hopefully it will work, and won’t kill us…” He shaked his head.

He took the canister from Titius, opened the backpack, took the rope out, and tied up the possible toxic container to the arrow.

“Please do not disappoint me” He kissed the arrow, took it end between fingers, and pull the line of the weapon. The weight of the Canister was heavier than Red expected. Shistavanen barely pulled the length or his arm enough to shot arrow at the right distance.

Red let it lose. Arrow went into the air - into the right direction, but straight when it reached a possible sniper’s hiding area, it exploded together with the toxic package which it was carrying.

As the arrow left its nook, Titius pulled his respirator on. “Listen for the coughing, that canister has enough Dioxis to take down a Rancor.”

“Oh, little DUROOOOS. Why dont you just give up?” Titius cackled, “I brought plenty more gas to share with you if you prefer.”

Pulling out his second canister, he began to read…“Side effects: Pulmonary asphyxiation, Burning sensation, Death…shall I continue?”

“Oh but you see, theres the small issue of your friends shot at us…and that the datapad left its rightful place at all.”

Kadrol sat up as the others took off. There goes my team leaving me again. He sighed as the others ran off to hunt down the target. it had been something he had come to expect as of late, always having to fend for himself. And yet Sivall stayed.

“Thank you.” he croaked, nodding to the Chiss. After waiting a few moments to regain his composure, Kadrol stood back up on his feet. A chill passed through his spine. The silhouette of his would be assassin appeared in his vision clear as day. “The sniper’s back the other side to the right. You with me?” He asked Sivall. Ready to go once more, Kadrol activated his lightsabers.

“Dont you know loyalty is important? And the Clans reward loyalty very well.” more very virulent taunting

Siv met Kadrol’s eyes and smiled softly, nodding. “I will be here, even though you might not be able to see me.” Stilling herself, the chiss female let the force shimmer across her skin, causing her to fade from view like a ghost. Trying her best to avoid the gas loosed into the warehouse, but also trying to keep Kadrol in her line of sight, she began slowly moving towards the direction the Pantoran had mentioned.

Her anxiety had returned in the wake of the adrenaline in her system wearing off. Her mind screamed at her in all the ways things could go wrong, all the way her teammates could die. All she could do was her best, and she would do absolutely that. Would she have to go into the gas, she could hold her breath longer than most people and had no injuries.– but the other members of the Envoy group would likely not be so lucky.

“…and altogether, I hope you feel a little bit of remorse, even if it wont make a lick of difference when I kick the kark outta you back on…” Titius continued

Hmm, they have a point actually. And a sniper, theyre a concerning spanner in the plan Titius’ tirade lost its steam.

Archian trying to motivate everyone around and demotivate alongside slowing down the sniper lifted up his left arm with Flamethrower Projector. He aimed into the possible sniper’s location, and made a shot with cryo-ban liquid. The cooling down mist left the weapon, but it didn’t fly far. Instead it fell in front of everyone making a small ice rink.

What nobody didn’t expect was that Nerf would accidentally step on it - and slide forward, spreading all of its legs in every direction of the world, and making a confused look at everyone.

Siv quickly followed close to Kadrol, eyes alert for the sniper to come into view. However, as they came to an intersection in the crates, Siv halted. To her right, Marlo came into view. Their target was hiding in the corner behind some crates.

She stalled for a second. They might not get another chance like this. She quickly made her way to the target, her jaw set in concentration. If she could just get to him and knock him out, the hard part of this mission would be done.

Once she reached Marlo she quickly jumped up and slammed a knee into the Duros’ face, sending him backwards into the wall. Enough to stun him, but not knock him out. She cussed mentally and hissed into her comm.

“Target located.”

As Kadrol made his way through the building, he felt alone. Sivall had completely abandoned him, even though she had said she wouldn’t. As he approached an intersection of boxes, he aimed toward the perch where he had sensed the sniper. However, as he stepped into the intersection and wound up to throw his lightsaber at the sniper, he heard a clattering to his right. “Target located.” the muffled voice of his comm spoke from its place on his hip.

Kadrol spun around to face the commotion, and upon seeing the mission target he instinctively threw his lightsaber without a moment’s hesitation. The violet blade tumbled end over end as it hurtled toward the target. The projectile missed high and to the left, deactivating as it bounced off the wall and lodged itself in the side of a crate.

Pain, then anger. Siv gasped softly as she was shot, her hand instinctively flying to her stomach to cover the wound. It was bad. She knew without looking it would be bad, but all she could see was red. The cockiness in the smirk, underestimating her— but she wasn’t out of the game yet.

As Marlo shoved her towards Kadrol she grabbed his hand with her non-bloodied one, her sanguine, fury filled gaze set on his face. Her stomach screamed, but she pushed the pain deep down.

This ktah would pay.

With a swift movement Marlo would find his legs missing from out under him and his face slamming against the floor with all of his weight. The small chiss woman let out a hiss, her teeth bared in a sort of snarl.

“Filth.” She spat out in cheunh.

Kadrol saw red after Sivall had been shot. “You will regret every moment of your pathetic existence,” Kadrol said, walking up to the man who had shot his friend. With the flick of his wrist, the gold blade of Kadrol’s remaining lightsaber sliced clean through Marlo Bronto’s right arm, separating his hand from his arm just above the wrist.

He straddled the duros’ body, putting his entire body weight on him and placing his foot on Bronto’s uninhibited arm in order to prevent the target’s escape as much as possible. Tears began to fall down Kadrol’s cerulean face as his anger started to build. He leaned into the duros’ head, pushing it as hard as he could into the duracrete floor. “YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! DO YOU HEAR ME!?!” He screamed directly into Bronto’s face.

Kadrol then made the decision to ease up the pressure on the duros’ skull ever so slightly, feigning a bit of remorse. The Pantoran then lowered his voice to just barely above a whisper, playing further into the game. “So help me, I will break every bone in your body. I will revel in your pain as you are broken. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. You will wish I had killed you right here and now.” He spoke with all the contempt in the world.

Seeing the warehouse through the narrow window of his blaster’s low-light sights was disorienting. Walking quietly through the swirling cloud of dioxis gas was doubly so, but it kept Eiko out of sight for just a little longer as he crossed the room. The sniper was stretched out on top of the tower of storage racks and crates.

His whole side was exposed. Eiko took a shallow breath, mindful of the gas trailing off of his cloak, and raised the blaster to a perfect line with the sniper’s ribs. He squeezed evenly, pressing forward to keep the shot from drifting.

It found its place in the sniper’s side just as the far edge of the warehouse erupted with the fierce roar of a Pantoran driven to the edge. The smack of Bronto’s head into the floor and the sizzle of Eiko’s shot merged.

The anger faded and Siv was left with the searing pain in her abdomen. The chiss woman looked down to actually assess the injury now that the immediate threat had passed and turned a fair shades paler than her normal complexion. It was bad.

With the hand that was still covering the entry wound, she focused what energy she had left to lessen the bleeding before shuffling to her Pantoran friend.

“Kad.” She gasped, “Kad help.”

The Chiss finally reached Marlo, her pain having prevented her from hearing Kadrol’s rant, and flopped on top of the Duros. Two bodies were better than one at keeping their target plastered against the floor. All the while her hand stayed at the entry wound, trying to mend herself.

“Target captured.” She whispered into the comm, hoping the rest of the team could hear her.

Kadrol placed his hand on Sivall’s wound and focused. He could tell she had already started to heal herself, but adding in his abilities would speed up the process. As he looked back at the wound, he saw it start to heal slightly faster. It wasn’t much, but it was noticeable.

“You’re going to be fine. All will be well, I promise you.” Kadrol comforted the Chiss. The truth was he wasn’t sure. If he had to guess, he’d say they addressed her wounds in time, but he wasn’t well-versed enough in biology to tell for sure.

Eiko felt the side of his mask catch the bulk of the shot, twisting around his face as the slug ripped the metal and shoved it against his face. One half of his vision went black, and even if it hadn’t, the blood that would drip over his brow would have done the same.

It didn’t matter because it couldn’t matter. Eiko kept his blaster up and pulled the trigger again as the sniper scrabbled to his feet.

The sniper rolled, either from the impact or to try to avoid the shot, and disappeared off the far side of the row. Eiko didn’t hear the sickening crunch of an unbalanced fall into duracrete. He struggled with his mask’s collar locks to get the sharpened metal away from his face as quickly as possible, tucking the mask under his arm as he rounded the corner to see the sniper’s crumpled body.

Port Ol'val Kas Tunnel

Wyndell Tyris felt a disturbance in the Force. He had been minding his own business, trying to ‘be’ a ‘have’ even though no one had told him what a have was. No super hero stunts. He was a father now, and had a toddler to care for and come home to.

However, something more threatening stirred in the pits of his stomach. He had a sudden flash, an image of Socorra and Atyiru staring him down.

How could you let that happen to her!?

Wyn grumbled. “Fine, I guess it’s on the way back to the flat,” he murmured. He stuffed the shopping items into his man purse satchel and skirted his way towards the Docks.

“`

”`

By the time Wyn had gotten there, he realized that perhaps he should have just…trusted that things would work out. There was a very competent team there, including Ms. Zoria.

As he was about to turn to leave the warehouse he had tracked them down to, his emerald eyes narrowed as he felt a premonition of something bad about to happen.

He looked down from his hiding spot, having decided to blend in by utilizing a storage crate, and becoming, himself, like a storage crate, clearly upset about being left alone in a warehouse by itself…

Focus, Wyn

The Defender watched as the Envoy’s target seemed to realize the jig was up, and decided to take the cowards way out.

He also saw Sivall realize the situation, and was about to do something he’d seen many other Arconans do before. What did they put in the water that triggered the inherent desire for heroic self sacrifice when it came to explosives?!

His body was moving before he could really question it. He sprung into action, just as the Duros pulled the thermal grenade off his belt and Siv managed to snatch the explosive device away, and started to try and run as far as her legs would take her. She had to save the others…

3…2…1…BOOM

Timing it just right, Wyndell Tyris swooped in and batted aside the grenade from Siv’s hand with a little nudge from the Force. The spherical device flew up into the air and started to detonate in slow motion.

Wyn closed the rest of the distance, positioned himself between the blast and the Chiss, and held a hand up and said to the incoming detonation:

“Stop, in the name of…kark I had something for this–”

Wyn bent the Force to his will in the form of a protective bubble. Thermal energy washed over the barrier, but it held against the wave of energy. Still, phsyics was still at play, and the blow back from the two forces colliding sent Wyn backwards and into Siv, crashing the two to the cold hard floor in an awkward tumble.

“Hehe, Wynning,” Wyn groaned as he rolled onto his back and caught his breath. He was getting to old for this kind of kist.

Siv was expecting to die. She was thankful for the time she had had in Arcona, the amazing people she had met. The freedom she had tasted. Thanks to Kad she had been healed enough to run, to focus all her strength to her legs, to get away. She had to save Kadrol and keep Marlo alive— she wouldn’t disappoint Arcona. Not on their home turf; she refused. New, unimportant, barely a person; it made the most sense for her to die. She wasn’t even scared.

She counted the beeps, her heart quickening in her chest in anticipation of the explosion. Any second now—

But then the thermal grenade was ripped from her hand and a figure appeared in front of her. For a second she had thought, with her blurred vision, that it was Alex. But no, it was an Arconian that she had seen on the Voidbreaker. The Human shielded them both from the blast, knocking them both over— stunned but alive. He had saved them both.

The chiss woman just stared up at the ceiling, her chest heaving as it took her a second to realize she was not dead. She hadn’t died. Siv let out a choked kind of chuckle, covering her face with a bloodied arm. Her whole body screamed in exhaustion and the blaster wound in her abdomen felt like molten metal, but she was breathing.

“I’m alive. Ktah, I’m alive…”

Wyn pushed himself up to a sitting position with his elbows propping himself up. “Ktah, he mimicked the Chiss swear word. "Barrier Time. That was the line. Bah,” he grumbled then turned to Siv and flashed a quick thumbs up.

Eiko stood at the edge of the gas cloud slowly drifting to waist height. He waded forward hesitantly toward the office, blaster still at the ready. Behind him, the explosion faded into chuckling and awkward conversation – he didn’t recognize all the voices, but at least Marlo’s caustic yelling was done with.

Marlo had tried to hide the datapad, but poorly. Perhaps they’d been too close on his heels to let him finish. It stuck out from the stack of miscellaneous junk at an awkward angle. Eiko pulled it roughly and flipped it over to check its serial number, putting it underneath his arm and walking back through the dioxis.

As he came to the noises and scents of a fresh detonation, he saw the loose hand laying in the center of the walkway.

“Datapad secured,” Eiko lifted his mask up to use its communicator. “And I assume this is Bronto’s hand, based on skin tone.”

The explosion played out like a slideshow for Kadrol. It all happened so fast, but played out so slow and he was helpless to stop it. When Kadrol had seen Sivall take off with the detonator, only one thought crossed Kadrol’s brain. He started wailing on the Duros wildly. “Death would be too kind. You deserve no such mercy.” he said as he pummeled Bronto within an inch of his life. He continued through the explosion, punching away until Sivall spoke those fateful words. “I’m alive.” She had said. Kadrol looked up, seemingly stunned by the phrase. He ceased his assault as his rage blindness subsided, relief taking over and filling his body.

Eiko gently picked up the severed hand and laid it over the datapad’s authenticator. As soon as the screen lit up, he unceremoniously let the hand slide off and flop back to the floor. Marlo Bronto had thought this was worth risking his own life and paying out for seven mercenaries.

“Huh,” Eiko smirked at the file names and let the datapad lock back down. The smirk faded as he looked up to the bloodied company. Siv and Kadrol had the worst of it.

Archian felt like he missed something. Like lightning, it all happened so quickly. Taking the target unconscious, shooting the running sniper, and the aftermath explosion.

That could mean only one thing. Wounds, injuries and scars.

Archian took bandages out and came closer to fellow Arconian.

“Let me look at it.” He said and started to wrap using a not exactly convincing method. When the wound was covered in a very unconventional way.

He gazed quickly at Kadrol. He should be next, when I finish with her.

“Here you go. This should be enough until we get to the Medical Center.” He was trying to make a conversation, but usually it sounded more like complaining. He moved his paw inside of his robes, and took a small metal flask with a green substance in it. “And bonus for you, take a sip.” He again tried to wink, but instead he closed both eyes and showed sharp teeth which could be perceived more as sniffing and long snor than social interaction.

In the meantime Nerf came closer to Titius and nodded his arm, while wiggling his tail. It looked like it wanted some hard love.

From the other side Porg came close to Eiko and jumped at his shoulder looking at the screen of the datapad and squeaking happily.

Siv wasn’t sure what was in the flask that Archian gave her, but she was willing to try anything to make her body hurt less. After being patched up, she sat up and sniffed the contents of the mysterious flask. She relaxed when the scent hit her nose. At least it didn’t smell terrible. Taking a deep breath and putting faith in her fellow clan members, the Chiss downed a good couple of gulps of mystery liquid.

Once she was done she pushed herself into a standing position and moved to Kadrol and the group collecting around Marlo, who looked like he had seen better days. The medic frowned slightly, but said nothing. She was equal lengths upset he was still breathing, but also glad that he was– both for the mission and the information they would get from him later.

More than anything she wanted to get home and see a doctor, and then take a really hot shower.

And probably add nightmares of exploding to her list of reoccurring nightmares.

Kadrol got up, confident that Marlo Bronto was too weak to try anything. He walked over to the wall and searched for the lightsaber he had thrown. When he found the hole in the crate that the weapon had created, he punched his hand through and felt around for the hilt. His hand danced around the inside, feeling for any sort of abnormality that could be his lightsaber. After a few seconds, his fingertips brushed the edge of his lightsaber, the familiar grip once again meeting his hands. He took hold of the weapon and pulled it out from its temporary wooden prison. Having pulled it from the box, the Pantoran gave it a twirl on his fingers before reattaching it to his utility belt, and then having been reunited with all of his gear, the Pantoran made his way back towards the rest of the group.