RPlog:The Mission, the Fracas

The day has been fitful with snow showers, some heavy at times, though most flakes trickle down from the uniformly gray sky lazily. The ground is white with dark paths of cleared walkway and slush, and the people move carefully or stay indoors. Along the street, warmer environments shine through frosted windows.

A figure furled in a black cloak walks down the center of the street toward the square, shivering. Ezkhil's hood is up to keep in body heat, but the cloth is pushed back enough to give him some peripheral vision; a compromise between anonymity and the need for observation. Either may be pointless by now, but the Izin still makes the effort.

"Roger ShadowWarrior we are inbound to your postion. ETA 30 seconds. StrikeForce out." is emited from the intercom system of an Imperial Troop hovercraft currently inbound to the Fountain. The pilot turns over his shoulder shouting over the engines into the open air compartment, "30 Seconds get your gear ready!" The Imperial Ground Force Soldiers begin to double check the ropes on the hovercraft prepairing to fast rope into the area.

Danik Kreldin was in full combat gear today, and this time he wasn't going to allow that Jedi to sneak attack him. He wouldn't let his guard up. It was nice scenery, too. The snow was going to be a nice backdrop for the fight. He had been working here as an informant, and had told the IGF where the man was. Things were going according to plan.

His feet made a crunching noise as he made his way through the snow, so he had no chance of sneaking up behind Ezkhil. But that was okay. It didn't matter...he approached the Izin with a grin on his face, and he stopped. "Ah...good to see you again, Jedi," he said. He had arrived before the main attack force did, but that was okay.

Looking over the edge of the skiff, Lieutenant Ashby Williams works at putting on his combat armor. Adrenaline rushing through his body, it had been some time since he had been on a raid style skirmish. With a final click the armor is fully in place, with the intent of saving the mans life, incase his own agility failed to do so. Rope in one hand and his trusty Kylan-3 in the other, Ashby prepares to fast rope into the area, ready to confront the Jedi.

The hum of the skiff's repulsorlifts drowns out anything the Sergeant is saying to Commander Jast about the tactical situation down here. From what he does know, however, it seems Ezkhil has been sighted, and now the strike team is just waiting for the order to move in. Until then, a low profile is to be maintained, through the use of civilian guises. Turning to face Lanil, the Sergeant speaks so he can be heard. Extending a blaster and an armor vest, "Sir! I think this would be wise, sir!" Taking the gear, Lanil nods, "Yes, thank you Sergeant." Later, as the skiff settles down, Lanil checks his gear over, and hops off, his armor concealed under his clothing.

Ezkhil slows as he spies the man he encountered and mildly assaulted the day before approaching, his faintly frowning expression deepening further. He glances beyond the man a moment, then focuses on him. "You're clearly lying," the Izin tells Danik coolly. "What do you want?" Something has him on edge, though the cocky appearance of this Imperial before him might be enough for that. Snow falls gently on them both.

Danik creates a typical Western-styled duel position; a quick-draw fight. Danik grinned, tipping his cover off to Ezkhil. "Why would you say such a thing?" Danik's hand reached to his holster and pulled out the Kylan-3, pointing it at the man. But he didn't shoot; instead, he began to spin the pistol around, using his index finger. "You know what I want, Jedi."

Then, the welcoming party arrived; the Imperial attack force, from skiffs. "Haha...they're here. Let's go!" he said, and stopped spinning the pistol. He pointed it straight at the Jedi and let off a shot just as the first of the Imperial attack squad made their way in.

The Skif decends to 10 meters and comes to a halt over the fountain square. Three ropes are slung off the craft, two to the fore and aft, and the last off the rear. A trooper looks over the edge to ensure the thick ropes make contact with the ground before dropping two concussion grenades into the Square.


 * 1*


 * 2*


 * 3*


 * BOOM*

Two brilliant flashes of light erupt from underneath the skif with a thunderous boom. Civillians not quick enough to get out of the way become stunned and go to the ground in fear of what might happen next.

GO! GO! GO shouts an NCO from the Skif as he points to the ropes waiting for his troops to deploy.

Lanil runs over at a good clip, stopping just outside the main action zone. Drawing his blaster, Lanil remains ready to goto action, but until then he's just providing support. Chuckling to himself, "Ahh Danik, only you would think of that."

As the Imperial before him draws and the square reverberates with the deep boom of concussion, Ezkhil unfurls from his cloak, left arm pushing out to the side and the right coming forth with an ornate lightsaber that is ignited so quickly that it takes off a neat triangle of cloth from the leading edge of the Izin's garment.

The power the man wields is not directed at Danik this time, but in a desperate move to avoid the shot; the push of the strange power is out to the side, the wielder seemingly shoved to his right by the force. As Ezkhil moves, a swipe with the golden blade is aimed at Danik's weapon even as the blaster bolt delivers a seering touch to the top of Ezkhil's shoulder, and the Dark Jedi buries a boot in snow as he halts himself a few meters off.

Fury and pain is clear on the Izin's face as he takes in the rushing troopers and their transport. "Not again," he growls, sounding very unhumored.

As the first 3 troops hit the deck they take 2 steps away from the rope and drop to a knee pulling security as they have rehersed so many times before for this exact mission. Rifles come up and are grounded deep into their shoulders ensureing no one comes close to their landingzone. Moments later three more troops hit the ground and begin to unsling their weapons bringing them to the ready postion and trying to get a handle on the situation and their target. "BlasterFire One'O'Clock" shouts one of the troopers pulling security as he fires rounds off in the Jedi's direction. The shots are not well placed but many, it becomes obviouse he trying to force Ezkhil to take cover.

Unfortunately for Danik the man he was shooting had supernatural powers; powers that allowed him to dodge his shots. Cursing, Danik barely was able to see the man as he moved with his incredible reflexes. Reflexes that brought the man's lightsaber to bear upon his weapon. Danik quickly reacted, pulling his right arm back to move the blaster out of the way before it was destroyed. He was still alive, and that was a good sign. And now the cavarly was arriving. Danik took a few steps back, taking a crouching position near one of the assault troopers.

Concussion grenades and armed troops making an assault landing in the midst of commerce square isn't something that escapes attention for long. It only takes moments for panicked bystanders to clear the square once grenades and blaster-bolts start flying, and though the local police frequencies on the comlink surge to life. Basic encryption prevents most of the messages from being eavesdropped upon by those listening, but the sheer volume of traffic leaves little possibility that these actions in the square have gone unnoticed by the authorities.

Grunting to himself as he realizes regular weapons seem futile, Lanil rushes back to the skiff. Jumping back on, he powers up the light rifle mounted on the rear. Slapping an energy cell into the recepticle, he draws a bead on the Dark Jedi. Squeezing off the round, the hiss of the electrical woosh is accompanied by a rather heavy recoil. Ah the price of mounted weapons is inaccuracy indeed. Sighing, Lanil fires off three more rounds as fast as possible, which is about one second in between as the next round is loaded in. The accuracy doesn't increase either, but at least it's still covering fire. As the fourth round fires off, the empty cell ejects from the holder. "Four rounds?? Oh well..." Slapping another cell in, Lanil resumes firing, and calls to the men, "Move around and flank him! Cut him off, now!!"

The blaze of blaster bolts cut through the lazily falling snow, pocking the wall some distance behind Ezkhil and sending puffs of steam up from contact with the winter white everywhere. As Danik retreats without following up with his own personal attack, Ezkhil focuses on defense. The unique weapon in his hands blurrs like a bright flake sheered off the sun, as the Dark Jedi meets the bolts coming close enough to his person. Heavier shots are left, some of the four coming rather close to the concentrating Jedi. The smaller deflected shots go wild for a few seconds, before a faint twisting of the lightsaber adds more useful intent to the activity. Blaster bolts from the Imperials zip forward, meet light blade, and seem to immediately rebound up at the skiff positioned high above. This smaller rain of energy bolts begins pounding the craft all along it's length with a vengeance, just as fast as their previous occupants care to fire at their target.

Blaster shots quickly begin cutting through the skif and smokes begins to errupt from its engine. "Mayday mayday. This is Assult craft 1 going down." The pilot keeps his cool the entire time trained for situations just as this. However neither his proffesional deminor nor his skill is gonna save this ship from anything but crashing. The NCO on top realises the situation and shouts "Brace you...." His words are cut short by a deflected blaster bolt and the lifeless body slumps over the rail. The remaining 4 troops onboard brace for impact.

The 6 troops lucky or unlucky enough depending on whos side your on, begin to take cover behind the fountain and continue to engage Ezkhil. Of course as they move to take cover they're rate of fire deminishs to a shot or two.

Riding the falling craft down until it comes down to a safe distance, Lanil jumps out of the skiff. After about a 10 foot drop, Lanil attempts a roll to absorb the impact, "Sithspit! That hurts!!" Getting back to his feet, Lanil limps over to cover behind a bit of upturned ground and rocks about 5 feet high. Examining his ankle, he can tell it's definantly broken. No good for a combat situation like this, at least as far as movement goes. Clutching his blaster, he leans out and fires off a few rounds into the fray. At least he can still try to keep his contributions in the fight.

Danik's head turns around to watch as the skiff begins to smoke and crash into the ground below. Danik spews several curses as he gets up from his crouching position and walks behind the remaining assault team. To his left were establishments. He looked up, seeing windows looking over the battle down below. He decided to head upstairs. He chose the pub, opening the door and stepping inside to see the denziens just doing what they always do. The music was quite loud, so maybe that played a bit of part in it...regardless, Danik ignored them and they ignored Danik, so he just quickly ran up the stairs.

Danik made his way over to the window overlooking the street and opened it up. He aimed his pistol down at the Jedi, using his left arm as a rest for his pistol so he could aim better. He waited for the perfect shot and opened fire.

As the incoming fire slows to a trickle and the airborne transport begins sinking rapidly to earth under the onslaught, Ezkhil draws himself up and takes a step -toward- the troopers taking cover, his blade still before him against the energy rounds. Rage has a chance now to blaze in his eyes, and the Izin's voice cracks through the chill air. "Your Lord continues to hide behind his technological terrors and expendable soldiers," he calls in a roar. "You do weak work for a weak man! Retreat, now, and let him reconsider his folly!"

The speech and whatever the Jedi planned to do while apparently taking steps -toward- the troopers is cut off, as Ezkhil tenses. The blade sweeps up to a new threat, mere fractions of a second before Danik's sly sniping fire reaches him. Snarling, the Jedi raises his empty other hand toward the troopers, and with a sharp motion, one of the troopers lifts a bit in the air and is flipped, unceremoniously, into the fountain.

The Skiff pilot desperitly tries to keep the ship undercontrol. Suddenly the engines die along with the ships power source. "We're going down hard!" The pilot shouts as he loosens his grip on the stick and places his arms around his head bracing himself for the impact. The Skiff spirals out control in a plumit to the ground crashing hard. The front collapses over itself killing the pilot instently along with most of the crew.

"MEDIC!" Shouts one the survivers for the crash.

Two of the troopers on the fountain perhaps being medics or perhaps from the weekening of their moral flee back to the wreckage to begin performing first aid.

The operation had quickly turned into a disaster. Korolov would surely have his head for this. He picked up his comlink from his belt and radioed the second assault team for an evac. The CDU was going to be arriving very shortly, and they definitely couldn't withstand the CDU AND the Jedi. He had to get out of there. "This is Commander Kreldin, I'm stuck in the second floor of a pub over the street. I need an evac, I'll wave you in. Won't miss me. Over." While he waited for the response, he looked outside again to see the situation; complete screw up. The Jedi now had his back to him, as he was moving towards the battered assault team, or what was left of it. Trying his luck with one more shot, Danik aimed his pistol down at the Jedi, once again using his left arm as a rest. Closing his left to get a better aim, looking down the barrel with his right, he opened fire.

Pausing to survey his handiwork, Ezkhil keeps his awareness on the man hidden up in the pub window. The first set of shots blew Danik's element of surprise, and betrayed his presence. Surely, from the little the Jedi knew of this man, he wouldn't merely stop there? Sure enough, the sense prods again, and Ezkhil whirls to batter away the shot, reaching his free arm up again to make a strong yanking gesture in Danik's direction. The Izin's face is a mask of cold anger now, though dark... enjoyment? has settled in his eyes at the turn of the battle.

The four remaining troopers behind the fountain continue to fire spratic shots at Ezkhil when the team leader takes a kneel behind the fountain taking cover. Broadcasted over the comlinks "This is Strike Team 1 with SitRep. 5 KIA, 2 Wounded. Ammunition 50%. The LZ is hot. Request Skiff 2 head to LZ Blue for pickup of wounded and dead. Request Skiff 3 head to LZ Red and stand by for further instruction."

Back at the ship wreck the two troopers manage to pull out only one wounded man. They quickly begin to stablize the mans wounds placine bandages over his injured leg. "We need to get him out of here ASAP." One troop shouts to the other.

Danik's face landed in the snow, his blaster pistol several feet away from him. He didn't even realize what happened. He just knew he was out of the building now. Coughing, he sat up and took a look around, trying to regain his bearings. "Jedi scum..." he said, and patted his head. His cover was missing. He waded through the snow around him, trying to find his cover, and his blaster. After he found them both, he patted the snow off his uniform and looked at the Jedi. "Time to get out of here..." His destination was LZ Red. Spinning his blaster around, he tried to remember where LZ Red was in releation to his current position.

Threat neutralized, though not as completely as a little voice in the back of Ezkhil's mind advises. But no matter. Looking back to the hiding troopers, the lightsaber raises almost halfheartedly in deflecting, bolts sent into the snow just before the men under cover. Another thing becomes evident to the Jedi; the shot Danik got in, which had been forced back for a while. Moving that arm, the Izin winces lightly, taking a few steps back and glancing about for a point of egress, himself.

Overhead, there is the sound of airspeeder thrusters among the low-hanging clouds, though with differing pitch from the expected rescue skiff. The craft is heard to circle overhead, making no less than three orbits of the square before it dips below the clouds, revealing the spindly silhouette of a patrol speeder. Moments later there is the abrupt blast of sirens as two landspeeders careen up the road from the south, pivoting and grounding to block the road before blue uniformed constables clamber from the vehicles and draw weapons, leveling them towards the commotion of the crashed speeder. More sirens can be heard from the south.

At the fountain one of the troopers was unfortinate enough to take a reflected blaster bolt to his left shoulder and falls to the ground in pain. The Team leader seeing the current situation turn upside down and knowing authorties will be in the area soon makes his command descion, "Abort Abort Abort. Rally at LZ Red." He then motions using hand signals to his troops to ceasefire knowing that no shots will be returned back at them if they dont fire. They quickly rise from there concealment blaster raised and ready to fire at a moments notice as they back peddle away.

At the crash site the medic finishs apply the proper medications to his wounded comrad. "Take this!" he shouts handing his rifle to the other trooper. With a grunt he lifts the wounded man up into a firemans carry and begins to flee to LZ Red as fast as he can with the wounded man over his shoulder. The other trooper begins to set explosive around the crash site, "Explosives set. 60 Seconds! GO! GO! GO!"

Danik pats his cover down, getting the snow off of it. He then turned to look at Ezkhil. "Hahaha. You're good. Maybe too good," he said, spinning his pistol some bit before holstering it. He then fixed his cover on his head, tipping it towards the Dark Jedi. "I'll see you around, Jedi." The sirens were getting closer. CDU had got on and were coming. Time to make his grand escape. He walked towards the crash site, taking a look over the placement of the explosives. "Alright, alright, let's go!" he said, turning one more time around to look at the Jedi. He raised his hands and did the same gesture he did last time they met, and then turned around and followed the rest of the team towards the LZ.

As the sirens sound and the Imperial troops execute a reverse maneuver, Ezkhil moves quickly closer to the buildings to the north, shutting down his lightsaber and slipping the hand holding behind his cloak. Danik's words reach him, and he regards the man coolly, before baring his teeth slightly at the Imperial. Glancing back to watching the arrivals keenly, the Jedi slips up the street to the north, passing frightened faces behind frosted glass as he makes his own unhurried departure from the scene.

The troopers leave nothing behind but burned score marks from blaster and frightened civillians as they make their retreat. Three and a half minutes after the first exposion comes the second. This time not just the bright flash deafening boom, but an exposion that send shrapenal fly through out the square as pieces of the skiff find themselves imbeded into the near by buildings.

The swirl of softly falling snow mingling with the smoke of the speeder-wreck might obscure the scene from the constables on the ground, but the thermal sensor on the airspeeder is not so easily fooled. That unblinking eye in the ball-turret under the craft's belly unerringly tracks the motion of the Imperial troops across the square (conveniently missing Ezkhil's departure as he splits from the fray). With the arrival of more police imminent, the loudhailer on one of the landspeeders crackles to life, starting to issue demand for surrender before the bomb-blast cuts them off, leaving the constables sprawled flat behind cover as the concussion wave swats at them.

In the News...

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====================== IGNews =================================== Message: 10/16 Posted Author Caspian News Service - Terrorist A Fri Dec 31 Mahon -- Military and security forces in the Home System remain on alert in the face of multiple terrorist incidents committed in the capitol region that have left 27 dead, including 14 of the terrorists and six law enforcement personnel. The first incident took place on North Mergansar Avenue near Commerce Square. Authorities describe it as a firefight between a well-organized force of as many as 40 gunmen, and a single black-cloaked individual wielding what sources in the defense establishment characterise as 'a jedi weapon'.

During the firefight, an air-skiff used by the gunmen was shot down. It was subsequently destroyed as law enforcement personnel arrived on-scene, in the detonation of a high-explosive charge that the gunmen had placed to cover their retreat.

A portion of the force responsible for the incident was shadowed by police airspeeders back to their lair in a residence in Bridgewater Park. When confronted by an Emergency Response Team from the Civil Defense Corps, an intense firefight ensued, during which a police airspeeder was heavily damaged. Despite suffering heavy casualties in the attempted raid, the ERT was able to contain several break-out attempts by the gunmen, until Marines dispatched from Trinumvira base arrived. The Marines were able to neutralize the gunmen as they made their final break for freedom, in a running battle that spilled into the surrounding neighborhood.

Both the CDC and the military have soundly dismissed claims of responsibility from the Sar Bares Flir. As the actions were perpetrated by a well-equipped, well-trained, well-organized force of non-Sarians, these acts are most assuredly the meddling of an as of yet unidentified foreign power.