Frontier

[Edith Harrow]

Emergency code zero —

This is a distress call from Doctor Edith Harrow — — Imperial research facility Frontier — — Sarafur, Kuna's Tail system.

Requesting support from any Imperial forces in — Moddell sector.

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Repeat. R—questing immeadiate sup-p-ort from any Imperial forces — — — Moddell sector.

Be advised — — — ion — — — communic — damaged.

Latest readings — — — anomalous — — —

Unable to establish contact — — — — since field team — — — — smugglers? — — — — — hope.

[Bette Davis]

Bette shouted at the Hellfire nuggets, getting them running toward their fighters, and gave a wave toward the other side of the hangar where the rest of Shadow Squadron was performing last minute checks. Weird distress call from Sarafur; Shadows were to escort the drop shuttles in while Hellfire scrambled and hung around the ISD Interminable in case of... anything.

She climbed up into her TIE Defender and checked the seals on her jumpsuit. They'd be reverting to realspace in a few minutes, and then it would be a rush of fighters pouring out of the ISD while their betters did their best to investigate what was going on.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

Investigation a distress call sounded like punishment. Shadow Squadron was usually called upon for things that were more, to quote some of the other pilots; Hardcore. This sounded like easy work. Something that more local, more psychologically balanced forces could deal with. But they were in the area. So that meant they were stuck with whatever was happening on Sarafur. Probably just tripped and bent the communication dish. Zachariah was never one to question orders, and he was not about to begin either.

Being one of the more, if not the most, responsible member of the mental ward of wings they called Shadow Squadron meant that Zach was the one scuttling around the hangar inspecting the TIE's for any exterior issues and making sure the other Shadows were wearing they're flight suits correctly and are sober. Anyone who had made it to a TIE was checked upon to make sure they had not fallen asleep.

Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted Bette Davis on the other side in the opposite side of the Hangar, where her and her Hellfire Squadron where prepping also. He gave a weak wave and smiled. He missed Bette. While he believed her to be a crazy sociopath like the rest of the Shadows, she was at least a big enough animal to keep the others in check. Zach tried, but they just threw stuff at him until he went away.

Turning back, He pulled on his own flight suit, checking it for the fourth time to make sure everything was in place. Satisfied, he made his way to his own TIE Defender, which had once had his flight call sign, "Jackal", stenciled on it but was hard to read under the numerous insults that his flightmates had scribbled on the hull of the ship. He could only scrape Dumbass and Queer off there so many times before he just gave up. One day he would get the respect of the Shadows, but who knew when that would be. It was not worth crying over, so instead he just climbed up into the cockpit and settled into the flight chair. A quick strap in and he was ready to go.

[Kerryna Khapst]

Dark eyes were cast to her TIE, running over every inch of its exterior in her usual pre-flight check. Though rushed, given the nature of the distress call, it was still thorough. She paused before climbing into the cockpit, fingers smoothing out her fitted flightsuit absently.

Kerr looked around the hanger at the other squadrons that were scrambling into their ships and wondered silently if this was going to involve anything more than simple escort duty. Even if it didn't, an order was an order, and meant to be obeyed, not questioned.

She caught sight of Jackal and offered a smile by way of greeting. He bore the brunt of the crap the Shadows slung, which wasn't entirely fair to her estimation. By all accounts a fine pilot who deserved his spot, Jackal should have been one of the ones doing the slinging. Kerr had no idea how to help that didn't involve leaping into the middle of the firestorm. Which, she mused, I think I'll do anyway.

Ahh well...none of that mattered right now. What did matter was getting her ass into her ship before she was tagged for being late. Clambering into the cockpit, she settled down and tugged on the straps to ensure a snug fit. Fingers smoothed back her hair and pulled her helmet on, before her fingers ghosted over her controls. She was ready...she just need the order to go.

[Edith Harrow]

It had been days. Days of radio silence. The static crackle on the facilities comm channels echoed the lash of the sand storm against its windows and walls. The wind lifted another sheet into the air and hurled it against Frontier, startling Edith Harrow out of her drowsing half-sleep. Instinctual panic made her grab at the edge of her desk, the gesture sending a caff cup clattering to the floor, its contents splattering across polished metal.

Edith's bleary eyes didn't pay it a second glance. There was something far more important playing across the monitor in front of her. The grainy imagery displayed a feed of Frontier's living quarters and store room. She tracked unfamiliar figures moving between the two rooms, blaster rifles and pistols sweeping across the empty bunks, flash lights probing the extent of the facility's equipment.

There were people here. People who had heard her distress signal. With their help, perhaps she could re-establish contact with the field team and salvage the Frontier project.

One of the people turned and, whether knowingly or otherwise, looking directly up into the lens of a security camera with cold, black eyes.

Aliens.

Nikto.

Nikto with weapons.

It lifted the barrel of its rifle and seconds later, the video feed died. Edith recoiled against her chair as if the bolt had passed through the screen and punched into her chest. A strangled gasp and she fumbled again at the computer terminals keypad.

Emergency code zero —

[Bette Davis]

"So, what does Frontier research?"

"Who cares?" retorted Bette as her ship cleared the ISD. "Watch your vectors, Shadow Four. Our job is to make sure the shuttles reach the surface intact. And then that everyone gets off that rock in one piece."

She fell into a standard escort formation, and studied her sensor readouts. Something was definitely going on on the surface of Sarafur. A giant sandstorm. It was wreaking havoc with the sensor packages. "Watch yourselves, Shadows. Sand in the joints is a bad idea, even for Defenders."

The planet loomed closer and closer.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

"Copy that Shadow Three." Zach replied, using one hand to guide his ship safely out of the hangar and out alongside the transport vessels. He caught a glimpse of Hellfire deploying out the other side of the hangar as they took up circling formations around the Interminable. The run of the mill TIE Fighters they piloted seemed so stone age compared to the engineering miracle he was flying. With those flying deathtraps they were likely to accidentally kill themselves before the Shadows made it back.

As they approached the surface of Sarafur Zach was starting to worry. The TIE Defenders had no particle shields and they were flying straight into a sandstorm that could be kicking up all kinds of debris. The hulls of the Defender were strong. Very strong, but that hardly mattered if the sandstorm managed to pick up a boulder and hurl it at you. Even if it failed to annihilate you, a cracked "eye" would ruin your chances of returning to space.

Zach's Defender was outfitted with a tractor beam. He enjoyed the utility it brought to him and the squadron. In this situation he decided to warm it up and have it ready just in case he needed to pull any teammates out of the way of any flying debris from the sandstorm.

Still feeling like glorified bodyguards, Zach really doubted that they were needed. With a sandstorm on the surface most people would be sensible enough to not fly around and start dogfights, and strafe runs on ground targets would be difficult with the lower visibility. If anything did go down, Zach was worried about just how well they would be able to react in these conditions.

Zach avoided joining into the chitchat going between the Shadows, because he was usually made fun of no matter how valid his statements were. Even in the heat of combat they found time and energy to patronize him. So instead he just stuck to his position in the escort and kept his eyes peeled for anything.

[Kerryna Khapst]

Kerryna frowned after echoing 'copy that' to Bette's comment, eying the surface of Sarafur with evident distaste. Unless sand was on a beach, she was of a mind that it simply shouldn't exist.

But there they were with the surface closing in, aiming for the smallest of the three spaceports that were dotted along Sarafur's equatorial band. It was the closest to Frontier's actual location, and would hopefully afford the shuttles and the Shadows a sheltered place to land. This sand would wreak havoc on them and their craft if they had to spend much time out in the storm itself.

It is what it is, she mused, settling in behind and slightly above her appointed charge. The shuttles lumbered along and soon broke through Sarafur's upper atmosphere. Kerr nudged her TIE back into its proper position as they began their approach to the spaceport.

[Jarvan Trask]

"Get your shit stored, Trooper! This ain't no lollipop run. We have an Imperial facility. AN IMPERIAL FACILITY, that is under duress and has requested aid! If you cannot handle that I will personally push you out the door at twenty thousand feet myself! If that is not enough incentive for you to get your shit together soldier than you do not belong in this unit!"

The besieged trooper could only look up in horror as the Sergeant Major screamed in his face. The rest of the Lambda was watching silently, but their eyes said more than enough. The furious glares and dismissive sighs were enough to turn the trooper in question's face red with embarrassment. Sergeant Major Jarvan Trask kept his nose inches from the man's face, mean mugging him in the eye while the trooper did his best to get his weapon under control after dropping it when the transport hit some air turbulence. Sergeant Major Trask turned to face the rest of the Lambda.

"Alright. Now that Jenkins has made the life choice to hold on to his goddamn weapon, and since I have all of your attention, let me continue our briefing. The Imperial science facility Frontier has been compromised. We have no idea what the situation is. Hell, they could have just dropped a dish and can't find the goddamn broom, but we are going in anyways because the people upstairs with the big clubs said so. We cannot land directly at the facility because of a sandstorm so we are landing at the nearest spaceport. The locals have been ordered to give us vehicles to get us to the facility and we will get overwatch from Shadow Squadron. However, due to the sandstorm conditions none of you are allowed to count on Shadow for any kind of cover. We'll be lucky if they do not fire upon us on accident. You are Cerberus and Longsword. I expect nothing but the best out of you. Helmets on nancy boys."

Everyone saluted and Trask returned to his own seat in the troop bay, strapping himself in for the rest of the flight to the surface. His own helmet was pulled from the overhead compartment and pulled over his shaved head. The world went dark for a moment and then became a landscape of Heads Up Displays all feeding him more information that was possible to digest. He could see better in the dark bay now, to each of the other troopers strapped into the walls. Each wore the faceless white Stormtrooper armor, but with full gear loadouts instead of just blasters. They were not just Stormtroopers. They are Imperial Navy Commandos. The Best of the Worst. And damn proud of it.

:ETA THIRTY SECONDS:

The letters scrolled across the bottom of his visor and each other trooper nodding his head in acknowledgement. Even Jenkins managed to pay attention for two goddamn seconds. There was the whoosh and bang as the ship set down, and before the hatch could even start to open every member of Cerberus and Longsword were on their feet and pulling weapons free from racks and clips. When the door finally hit the ground the storm of boots was deafening as they marched out. The second Lambda had set down a dozen meters away with squads Berzerker and Rancor also running down the gangplank. A whole Storntrooper platoon might be overkill, but Trask was not about to let anything go to chance. If he was going to do a job then he was going to goddamn do it.

"Cerberus, Longsword, and Berzerker. Get loaded up in the vehicles and let's head to the Frontier facility. Rancor, you stay behind with the civies and come in behind us. Keep your distance and eyes open. Go!" Trask ordered, his voice passing through the comm system installed in each helmet so that everyone in the platoon got the message. The spaceport had provided several off-road vehicles. They were more civilian than he would have liked but it would get them through the sandstorm and to the facility. Each squad of eight troopers and a sergeant, the latter distinguished by the single gold shoulder pad, loaded into a vehicle and they set off. The modest transports groaned under the weight of the troopers, armor, and weapons.

They had little heavy weaponry, choosing mobility over firepower. Each Navy Commando was much better equipped than your usual stormtrooper with the options of a SE-14r Light Repeating Blaster sidearm as well as primary weapon options that included the usual E-11 garbage blaster and the DLT-19 Heavy Blaster Rifle, DLT-20A Blaster Sniper Rifle, and each squad had one T-21 Light Repeating Blaster. Most of the soldiers carried the E-11, with many modified to perform better than their vanilla counterpart. Trask's own armament included the repeating blaster and E-11, but his rifle was upgraded for better fire rate and the required heat dissipation.

"This is Sergeant Major Trask to Shadow Leader. We are heading toward the Frontier facility. Can we get a flyby of the facility for confirmation of hostiles? Over."

[Edith Harrow]

One by one, Edith watched the vid-feeds go dark. Of the twenty cameras that monitored Frontier, only two remained active. Of those two, one covered the inside of the main security office where Doctor Harrow herself sat. The other was on the exterior of the facility and displayed only intermittent glimpses of the approach to Frontier's main entrance.

Edith did not need to see the Nikto to know that they were still in the facility, however. She could hear them through the walls, discussing how they were going to get into the security office and what they would do to whoever they found inside. Even if they had not come prepared to overcome several levels of security, the labs contained equipment that was designed for excavation: plasma cutters, hydraulic spreader-cutters and even some securely-stored explosives. Primitive though the Nikto surely were, they could not fail to see how the research teams tools could be turned against them.

This and many other scenarios running through her mind, Doctor Harrow got to her feet and cast her eyes about the security office. She couldn't sit and wait any longer. She needed to do something. Anything.

[Bette Davis]

"Shooter, take Jackal and Bombshell and get eyes on Frontier. We need to know what the troops are driving into."

"Copy that, Professor." Bette split off from her wing group, forming up with the other two. "Got that Eight and Nine?" They confirmed, and the trio left the relative safety of the spaceport, leaving the rest of the Shadows flying formations over the disembarking troops.

"We're headed straight into the storm, so keep an eye on your instruments." The three Defenders soared over the back edge of the sandstorm, staying well above it until Bette's computer indicated they were near the station.

"Going in," she said, dipping her fighter down into the whirling sand. The winds buffetted the ship - totally different from the vacuum of space. The lack of particle shields was a problem, but as long as they limited their exposure and nothing big hit them, they'd be fine.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

"Confirmed"

Pulling back on the control stick, Zach manueved his ship up and around in the direction of the Frontier facility. He had enjoyed watching the soldiers scurry out of the landing craft like ants defending a nest. No time to watch now. Rather, they were flying into the eye of the storm. It was okay at first. A little sand got stuck in the crossbars that reinforced his viewport but otherwise the Defender was handling fine.

The closer they got to the facility the harder the flight became. Now his Defender felt like it was bounding around as the sandstorm buffeted it all around. Visibility went from poor to shit; forcing him to rely on his sensors almost exclusively to fly. Being mindful of where his wingmates were, the triad of fighters flew closer to the facility.

A warning light flashed on his control panel. Bunching his system check button he did a full scan of his fighter. "I'm getting some engine overheat from the sand. Not damaging levels yet, but it could get worse." Sand was tricky business. It can accumulate in the thrust array, where it is melted down into a molten state from which any cooling can cause it to glass, blocking up array and even breaking off and falling inside to cause system failure. While in flight they were okay. The damage was when they stopped.

If things were not bad enough his ship was experiencing even more turbulence as the storm got worse. Zach was already regretting taking the ships into the sand. It was bad enough that they were going to have to clean out every nook and cranny when they got back to the ISD or risk complications further down the road. It could put the Defenders out of commission for days while every chance sand pocket was located and cleaned out.

"Frontier should be coming into view... now."

[Kerryna Khapst]

"Copy that, Three." Kerr tilted her head as she said it, casting a glance at her diagnostics before peeling away from the spaceport with Shooter and Jackal.

Sand and wind buffeted her TIE from seemingly every angle, scouring the outside of the ship. The paint and sealant coats would likely have to be replaced after this excursion - but if that was the worst thing that happened, she'd count herself lucky.

The possibilities of damage from the turbulent winds, sand possibly melting, and the salt inherent in the sand itself...it didn't bear thinking about right at that moment. They had work to do.

Ker narrowed her eyes and held tightly to the steering yoke as the winds threatened to send her wildly off-course. Something caught her gaze through the whirling sand, up against one of the side entrances of the research station.

"Shooter, Jackal - I'm seeing a pile of speeders down by the side entrance, at least 8, but no sign of hostiles. Can someone confirm?"

[Bette Davis]

"Copy that Bombshell," said Bette, sensors pinging wildly in the storm. She slammed her hand down on a flashing button, silencing a warning alarm. "Detecting no damage to station itself." She commanded the ship's droid brain to send their findings back to the landing party. "Transmitting information back to -"

Her eyes widened and she juked her ship hard starboard, something that looked like a small shed flying by as her proximity alerts all lit up red. "Frack, who's idea was this. Pull up and out of this muck immediately, Shadows."

"Negative Shadow Three, ground command wants the Frontier marked with a beacon. The storm is not going to clear the area for hours, they need something to head toward if navigation gets scrambled." The calm voice of Tannis V'larr cut through her blaring alarms, and Bette toggled her comm off for a moment so she could swear.

She switched the comm back on. "Okay, you heard the man. I'll drop a beacon and you two wait for me above the storm. Get clear." She fought with the yoke and headed down lower. Dropping the sensor beacon was simple enough, but the wind picked it up and slammed it into the parked speeders. Oops.

Bette manipulated the controls, trying to bring her ship around and get the hell out.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

"Affirmative."

Pulling back on the stick, Jackal made every intention to fly straight up and out of the storm. His intentions meant nothing when the storm kicked him about as he rose. Another klaxon sounded, alerting the pilot that the engine was beginning to fail and was losing thrust. He did not have enough power to punch through the storm, at least not without getting a running start, and with no visibility he was not about to go full speed this close to the ground.

"Negative. The headwind is too strong. Engine failing. I'm setting down or falling down."

He let out a silent prayer to the gods as he let his ship descend slowly, fighting to stay in place and not plummet to either side. Frontier was close, and the ground around it was more level. He aimed for it, and eventually set his starfighter down, using the bottom edges of the side wings to prop his ship up. He waited a moment, ready to take off again if he started sliding, but the wings sank into the sand and held.

Great, now he would have to dig himself out.

"I'm on the ground, and not going anywhere. You guys should try to get free if you can. I can plant my beacon."

He was not the most excited young man on Sarafur, but he was willing to do what needed to be done. For the Empire. Checking the seals on his flight suit he prepared to exit the vehicle, a proposition he liked even less than landing this way. Opening the hatch would let sand in, which could damage the controls, and then he would have to climb across the wing strut and down the wing in order to get to the ground. TIE's were not made for getting off on the surface by yourself.

And one last thing. He pulled free the emergency blaster pistol from it's housing in a special compartment reserved just for it. He had never had to use it before, but it warmed his heart to see that his comrades had defaced even his blaster with "Asshole 9" smudged on the outside of the barrel.

Lovely.

[Bette Davis]

The wind was a nightmare. Bette heard Jackal and Bombshell over the comm, both in their own private hells as the storm strengthened around them. Already near the station and struggling, Flight Commander Davis decided to use her talent toward landing her Defender in one piece rather than trying to fly out of the storm and risk tearing it to pieces. From the sound of it, Bombshell had reached a similar decision.

She flicked on her comm, hoping the signal would transmit back to V'larr. "Storm got worse, we are setting down by Frontier. Send in the grunts, we'll need the company. Bombshell, Jackal, secure your fighters as best you can and rendezvous with me in the station."

'Landing' Maneater would have been a hilarious undertaking on a bright sunny day with a light breeze. In the middle of a sandstorm it was like trying to ride a wild bantha for the required eight seconds, and then holding on for another thirty. Bette felt the ship sink into the sand and killed the engines, grabbing her blaster and checking the seals on her EV suit. She fastened her helmet into place and crawled out of the TIE, closing the ship up as fast as she could to avoid contamination.

The storm was worse once you were actually out in it. Bette staggered toward the dim outline of Frontier, thankful for her suit keeping the sand out of her orifices.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

Getting to the ground involved more falling than climbing. Picking himself up from the sand, he made a vain attempt to dust himself off. In the middle of a sandstorm. Giving up, and discovering he had no broken bones, he made for the facility. Before popping the seal on his cockpit, he had made out the location of Bette's starfighter on his radar and was tempted to try and make it to it to make sure she was alright but even this farmboy knew better than to wander off in a sandstorm and hope for the best. Instead he headed for Frontier, which he could make out through the swirling sand.

The journey was rough and he fell down more than a few times as the winds buffeted at him and the sand offered nothing to push against. It was a mad, stumbling affair all the way until his feet finally hit durocrete. The mobile beacon he brought with him was normally used for search and rescue to locate downed fighter pilots. Standard TIE's did not even come equipped with such a thing because there was no life expectancy for those guys. A TIE/D pilot was valuable, as was his craft, and worth finding. The beacon was short ranged but should suffice for the troops heading this way. Zach found a nice, safe spot on the side of the Frontier Facility, away from sight, and set the beacon down in a nook so that it would not blow away.

Kneeling down, he took a break from the exhausting trek, turning his head side to side looking for Shooter or Bombshell, or anything threatening. The TIE flight suit was not exactly made for observation so it was a chore to keep all his angles covered.

[Jarvan Trask]

"Alright boys. Listen up. We have confirmed that Shadow Squadron has three downed pilots. Any other day I would say screw those throttle monkeys but they went down providing intel at our command so you all better damn well keep your eyes open for them. Rescuing the Shadows is a secondary objective. Our mission is to secure the Frontier facility, remove any threats, and get the communications back on. We have mechanics coming down from the ISD to clear up the facility comms and to get the Shadows back in the air.... We have confirmed beacons. Nav marker placed."

On his own heads up display Jarvan could see the little transparent triangle icon indicating where the beacon location was. The convoy of vehicles adjusted to match the new location, deviating only slightly from the direction they were already going in. Ahead the eye of the storm loomed. Every window and door was battered down and made ready as they plowed straight into the whirling maelstrom.

It would not take them too long to get there. If none of the transports got blown over they would make it just fine. The sandstorm could scream and holler all it wanted, but they would hold. Weapons were made ready. Ammunition energy cells slapped into place and safeties disabled. Command sent the individual charge codes for the thermal detonators each trooper carried.

There was nothing more to say. Each member of Cerberus, Longsword, and Berzerker was armed and ready. He had no more commands to give, no more bellowing and screaming. Everyone doubted there was a real threat inside the facility, but if there was it was about to get blasted into oblivion.

"Goddamn."

[Kerryna Khapst]

Something was off.

A frown marred her features as she fought her ship's desire to do what the raging sandstorm was telling it to do. It bucked and whirled like a bantha who'd injested spice and donned a tutu for an impromptu rendition of 'Lantern Bird Lake'.

Dark eyes narrowed as Kerr forced her TIE to land - though by land she mean half-sunk into the gods-forsaken sand at a decent velocity. "Huh choo-shung tza-jiao duh tzang-huo!" she all but shouted as she slapped her palm against the access panel beneath her seat. It took a second hit for the panel to open enough for her to remove the Deece stored inside. Extra clips were tucked into an exterior pocket of her EV suit, then her fingers secured her helmet and checked the seal.

Right.

A practiced flip of her gloved fingers saw the canopy open and her slender form slide out as it had already begun to close. While her initial maneuver was executed with some amount of grace, her landing was full of fail. Kerr landed flat on her ass in the sand and was immediately thankful for the shitty visibility. At least, she noted with pride, her Deece had been cradled securely in her arm the entire time.

A glance told her the facility was just ahead, and another back up at her TIE confirmed that her own locator beacon was active. That would give their support team a solid location along with the other beacons both Shooter and Jackal had likely activated by now. Kerryna got to her feet and forged ahead, getting to the side of the facility after what seemed like an eternity. Further along the structure, tucked into a niche, was Jackal, whom she headed straight for. They needed to get inside, and the door she'd scoped out earlier was just ahead.

Jackal spotted her as she approached and she offered a grim smile as she crouched down beside him. "We've gotta get inside. Let's head for the door...Shooter should be on her way." Kerr said, knowing their comms would work in such close proximity.

[Bette Davis]

Bette staggered into the side of the building, helmet bouncing against the outer wall. For a moment a wind gust pressed her in place as securely as though she were a bug pinned to a card, but it relented enough to allow her to creep along the perimeter. An alcove presented itself, and when she ducked into it she found herself at the front doors to the station.

She pressed the control pad on the outside, trying to use the intercom or open the door, the wind blowing sand relentlessly against her.

[Edith Harrow]

As Bette mashed gloved fingertips against the control pad, the device made a series of bleeps and boops – a sign that by some miraculous occurrence the panel was still functioning in spite of the storm – but the entrance to the Frontier facility remained firmly shut.

Inside the security office, Doctor Harrow sat watching the holo feed of the facility's exterior. She saw a dark figure struggling to stand, the sandstorm buffeting him or her from every direction. She glared at the image, jaw and fists clenched in anticipation. There was no telling who or what the new arrival was, not with such poor visibility. Edith stood a step forward and before she could talk herself out of it, opened the communication line between herself and the new arrival.

“Identify yourself,” she demanded, her wavering voice made all the more shaky as it sounded from within the exterior control panel. The wind warped her words, snapping syllables in two and sucking the meaning out of them.

[Bette Davis]

Bette leaned close to the panel, her helmet sealing her in against wind and noise of the storm. The flight suits were designed to protect against the vacuum of space, the gravities of flight, and communication was muffled, at best, when not using the comms system. She could hear, just barely, that something was coming out of the panel, so she fumbled with the controls on her suit, opening up the two-way intercomm.

"This is Flight Commander Davis, requesting entry to Frontier," she shouted, her voice reverberating inside the helmet but also transmitted through the small speaker. "Open the damn door!"

She turned slightly toward the storm and could make out two figures making their way toward her amidst the sand.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

"I think the entrance is that way."

Jackal had to ignore the urge to yell over the sandstorm when they had helmet to helmet communication available. Motioning with his hand, a simple gesture turned difficult by the sandstorm, he pointed toward the entrance of the Frontier facility. They had come up to it on the side and moved along the side of the building so they could turn the corner. Doing so resulted in a new direction of wind that threw Jackal on his ass and threatened to toss him out into the storm but he managed to grab at the ground with his boots and hands, pulling himself back upright.

With helmets down and hands groping, they moved toward the entrance at a granite slug's pace until Jackal finally bumped into something. His balance took a hit for the worse and threatened to throw him back down on the ground again so he reached out and grabbed whatever he had bumped into for support. The thing turned out to be Shooter, and he was not quite sure where his hands went in the process but he quickly pulled them back to himself just in case.

Shooter was operating the control panel so Zach too the opportunity to wedge him in the opposite corner of the door alcove so that he could be alone with his embarrassment.

[Kerryna Khapst]

A hand on the wall for support, Ker stumbled her way along behind Jackal. It took some doing as the wretched sand obscured everything and seemed to intensify as if to simply mess with them. If she didn't know any better, she'd have sworn it was being controlled by someone with malicious intent and a little too much to drink.

She would have helped Jackal up if it didn't mean subjecting herself to the same raging gusts - instead, she stayed glued to the side of the building as he picked himself up and they kept going.

Mercifully, she had time to cut her comm off as Jackal tripped again, only this time he landed with his hands splayed out on Shooter. Gods, now THAT was comedy. What she wouldn't have given to be able to see Bette's facial expression.

Kerr crouched down as Shooter made contact through the security panel, while Jackal pressed himself as far into the alcove and away from her as he could. When she was sure she wouldn't disgrace herself with anymore laughter, she straightened up and discreetly turned her comm back on. With any luck, the people inside would let them in so they could get out of these hellish conditions.

[Edith Harrow]

Something filtered back to Edith from the maelstrom outside. Words clearly, but garbled words. It They mas well have been spoken in Huttese for all the sense they made to her. She inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. These figures did not look like the Nikto. They were wearing helmets, something which the aliens either did not need or had not cared to equip themselves with. Where the alien intruders were as varied in shape, size and colour as the equipment they carried, the newcomers were almost identical in their uniforms.

The sudden sound of something punching against metal made Doctor Harrow jump, her hands tightening white knuckles over the chair she'd been sitting in – as if it could ever defend her against the threat that was inevitably making its way towards her. That was how the situation would play out, she realised: through attrition. Bit by bit, the Nikto would carve their way through the defences surrounding the office she'd sequestered herself in. Bit by bit, the figures outside would find their own way into the facility and whoever was left standing at the end of it all would have the fortune of stripping Frontier of all it was worth.

Making a sudden, and perhaps terribly irrevocably decision, Edith Harrow struck a key on the computer terminal in front of her – remotely releasing the locks that held the exterior blast door in place. In a moment, the door began to grind open in front of Bette Davis and her squad – and just a moment later than that, the sound reached some of the Nikto marauding about the inside of the facility.

[Bette Davis]

Bette turned her head toward the thick blast doors as they started cycling open, and stumbled inside as soon as the opening was large enough. The other two followed, a hot gust of sand spraying down the interior of the room. It was large enough for about ten people to stand in, and a thick set of transparisteel doors blocked them from entering the rest of the station.

As soon as all three were inside, the blast doors began to grind shut, mercifully cutting off the wind as they finally closed. The three pilots looked at each other for a moment, and then they were blasted with a spray of air from the ceiling, and a faint roaring sound confused Bette until she looked down and saw that the sand was being sucked away into little vents placed around the edge of the floor. She swallowed, trying to look through the doors that separated them from truly entering Frontier.

The transparisteel doors slid open silently, and she walked in, boots fairly loud on the metallic flooring. Her blaster was in her hand, but she used her left hand to pop the seal on her helmet and pulled the fucking thing off. "Hello?"

The lobby they found themselves inside was fairly standard when it came to modular buildings such as this one. The walls were not dressed up to be pleasing to the eye; rather, the pipes and wiring that kept the station running were exposed, and the walkways were industrial grade grates laid over other essential systems. Everything was clean and well lit, and Bette could see the hallways that led to the other parts of the station. No doubt living quarters, laboratories, and whatever else the scientists of Frontier had need of.

"I am Commander Bette Davis," she tried again, speaking to the empty room. "We heard your distress call."

[Zachariah Jak'el]

Zach could not thank the gods enough that Bette completely ignored the accidentally stumble grope and it made his embarrassment that much easier to deal with. It was tough enough dealing with the voice of his grandmother condemning him all the way from Naboo. Molestation of a superior officer, intentional or accidental, was not exactly smiled upon by the goddess Shiraya.

When those doors opened it was a breath of fresh air to get out of the awkward moment and push on with the mission. His embarrassment disappeared as he focused on the task at hand. Stepping through the door he and the rest of his flight team were quickly sealed inside and dusted off before being ushered into the actual facility. It felt great to be out of that sandstorm. Even with the flightsuit his body felt beaten and battered. He made a quick check for any breaks or damage but his suit seemed intact.

On Bette's cue, Zach peeled his own helmet off, starting with the pressure latch that sealed it to his suit neck and then pulling the rest of it off. Balancing the helmet and blaster in one hand he ran a glove through his hair to get the sweaty locks out of his eyes. After that the blaster was in one hand and the helmet in the other. They were going in here completely blind and he did not like that. It was bad enough that he was on the ground, but even worse that it was a potential combat zone and they were not exactly the best trained to handle such a situation.

With Bette taking lead, Zach fell in behind her alongside Bombshell. The troops couldn't get here fast enough.

[Kerryna Khapst]

The next time I have leave, I am going to find a beach, lounge on it, and enjoy sand that isn't actively trying to kill me...

Kerr growled faintly under her breath as the whoosh of compressed air cleaned the sand off of them - and, conveniently, cleaned off the Deece in her hands as well. She freed one hand and took off her helmet the moment they were safely inside, setting it down on the first available surface that wasn't the floor. The troopers were likely close behind them, and she didn't want to leave it in their way.

With her weapon primed and ready, she fell into step with Jackal, as Bette took point. She wasn't entirely sure if the woman had any experience in ground missions, but it wasn't her place to question. It was, however, her place to follow. So Kerr did.

Until Bette paused, and called out again...that's when she heard the scuffling sound. Then again, slightly louder, as if something were scurrying across the floor grates. Kerr remained alert, her Deece trained on the hallway that spread out in front of them.

"Shooter, unless they've got big-ass rats on this planet, I think we're about to have company. Did you hear that?" she whispered as the sound became more prominent and actually echoed down the hall.

[Bette Davis]

Bette heard it, all right. "Could be the scientists," she offered, but she stopped her slow walk toward the center of the lobby, the other two pilots following her lead like baby nunas. The pilot swallowed, shifting to a two handed grip on her blaster.

"Identify yourselves!" she shouted, aware that there was very little cover and way too many hallways to keep their eyes on and she felt like a fish out of water, or perhaps a fish in a barrel, but regardless, it was a distinctly unpleasant feeling. "Bombshell, look to star-the right, Jackal, keep an eye on those left passageways, and I've got these two in front.

It was just like being in a TIE, she told herself silently as the noises grew louder. Just fewer axes and not as many sensors to keep your eyes on. So, easier, really. Easy as falling off a log. Pilots were smarter than infantry. Piece of cake, then.

A distant part of her hoped to gods that her fellow pilots had kept up on their range training, and that their reserve blasters weren't just for show.

[Edith Harrow]

tink

tink

tink

t-tink-tink-tink

Something rolled out of the hallway right ahead of Bette.

Small and circular, it was about the size of a fist.

It made a noise like blip... and then it exploded, filling the lobby with blinding light and ear-splitting sound.

At the far end of the corridor, a pair of mismatching, armored Red Nikto sprung to their feet and into the space that Bette might have seen, if she'd had the foresight to close her eyes against the flash detonator.

Without a beat, the Nikto let loose with a wild volley of blaster fire.

[Jarvan Trask]

"Can't this thing go any goddamn faster?" The impatient Sergeant-Major asked over the scream of the engines and the roar of the sandstorm. An armored fist hitting the ceiling punctuated each word. The trek was taking far too long. Had he known that it would take them this long to traverse the sandstorm he would have climbed into a drop pod himself and had the ISD shoot him straight at the Frontier facility. Unfortunately he was a Navy Commando and not a Shock Trooper.

Maybe it was time for an occupation change?

"Sir, I cannot push her any faster. This is the safest speed we can manage without threatening to flip these bastards over the moment we hit anything. I mean no disrespect sir, but there is a real as shit sandstorm going on out there. Sir."

The responding punch put a dent in the ceiling this time. Turning over in his seat; a simple task made difficult by the pitted and scarred carapace of armor, he faced the rest of Cerberus Squad. They looked incredibly awkward all crammed into this vehicle shoulder to shoulder with no breathing room what so ever. If there had not be a goddamn sandstorm raging outside there would be a random assortment of arms, legs, and blasters sticking out of the windows.

It was going to be a goddamn carnival when they finally arrived.

"Well, try to get us going a little faster." Jarven called over his shoulder to his increasingly frustrated driver. "I didn't waste half my life in a birthing pod to waste the rest of it here with you dickstains."

[Zachariah Jak'el]

Taking his instructed position, Jackal kept his eyes on the passages they passed on the left. The place was just too quiet and empty. It reminded him of being back in space again. Only the clunk of their boots and the hum of the machinery all around him reminded him he was on the ground. The longer the awkward loneliness stretched, the more uneasy he got. He was anything but sure of his combat capabilities in a real scenario. He had read the manuals, practiced on the range, but he knew in his heart of hearts that it meant nothing once the crud started flying.

Tink...

The sound reminded him of home, of his Grandma smacking pots with a metal spatula when it was dinner time, and he would coming running in for vegetable stew or whatever she was making.

Tink...

Head swiveling, his eyes went wide as he caught sight of the object bounding off the grated floor toward them. Small, round, no fragmentation shell design, emitters at either end, and not enough size to pact a decent explosive. He had read a lot of things in his military career, and everything lead him to a very strong hunch as to what was about to happen. Before he could even react Bette was already throwing herself backwards and yelling. Jackal had a little more insight and turned his head, pinching his eyes closed and gritting his teeth as his helmet slipped from his hands.

There was a noise, and then nothing, accompanied by a bright light that threatened to burn through his eyelids before it finally passed. Forcing his eyes open he looked around in a silent world, and than quickly ducked as red blaster bolts started flying through the air around him. An alcove in the machinery allowed him to pull his body into the wall. His movements were clumsy as he stumbled into the recess.

His ears started to ring.

Remembering his blaster, he poked his head out of the alcove and returned fire at the two figures shooting at them, his little blaster spitting out shots as quickly as he could pull the trigger. All his time on the shooting range seemed incredibly lacking now that his opponents were not stationary dummies that didn't shoot back. However, he knew the stance and how to aim, and he was doing his best to aim back at his opponents, but he was having trouble tracking their movement. His shots always seemed to be near misses until one finally hit one of them in the shoulder, sending them spinning for a moment but they had armor and did not seem too worse for wear from a single hit.

His finger continued to pump the trigger in his best attempt to provide covering fire for Shooter and Bombshell so they could recover from the debilitating explosion and get to safety. The entire time he prayed to Shiraya to protect him and his fellow pilots, screaming in the ringing silence as he called for divine protection and retribution.

[Kerryna Khapst]

Her assent had been lost in their shuffling feet, as Kerr angled herself towards the right-hand side. Dark eyes cast down the long, pristine hallway, her Deece raised...until she heard an all too familiar series of tink-sounds.

Since it came from the hallway directly in front of Bette, Kerr threw herself down the hallway she was watching. The modular wall offered some manner of cover, but the young pilot still curled up the way her dad had taught her. Her Deece cradled in her lap, hands clapped over her ears, and her eyes closed tight. What she wouldn't have given for the earplugs that were back in her TIE...but that was neither here nor there.

While it felt like her eardrums had splintered apart, at least the wall had shielded her from most of the intense flash of light. The edges of her vision were still a bit blurred and as she unfolded herself and glance towards where the others had been, she cursed loudly. There was a vague shape that may or may not have been Shooter behind cover, and what had to be Jackal returning fire.

She took a quick glance around the corner and grinned as one of Jackal's shots hit a Nikto in the shoulder. Flickers of his voice reached her ears and she wondered what the hell he was saying, but she paid it no mind. She took several steps and dove behind a low cabinet, peeking up briefly to be sure she had line of sight or if she'd need to move again. Mercifully, she could see.

Unfortunately for the Nikto, she'd had a Deece in her hands since she was strong enough to hold one up. One of the perks of growing up as a Stormtrooper Sergeant's daughter, she mused. With a break in the volley of fire coming their way, Kerr popped up and steadied herself, aiming at the Nikto beside the one Jackal had hit. One of her first shots hit the creature square in the chest, but the next one tagged him in the exposed part of his neck.

[Bette Davis]

The large lobby and it's hallways were like the hub and spokes of a lopsided wheel. Bette's vision was one large spot as her eyes had been unprepared for the explosion of light that had erupted from the grenade. She'd known it was a grenade, at least, but hadn't closed her eyes against the blast, trying to see all the angles at once while she had thrown herself backwards from it.

Pilots never closed their eyes. It was a death sentence. How ironic that she was now blind.

The concussive blast had caused a great pain and then deafness in her ears, too, and she scrabbled on the ground, blaster still gripped in her hand. Everything was a white blur, and then a hand grabbed her and pulled her against a wall. Jackal, she thought, eyes watering and slowly clearing. She held her blaster up, but didn't dare do anything until she was sure what was going on.

The sounds of the firefight filtered into her ears as if from a great distance, and she scrubbed at her face fiercely, trying to wipe away the spots from her vision.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

The aliens intensified in their assault, forcing Jackal to retreat back behind his cover while hoping to goodness that Bette wasn't going to get tagged in the back of the head while she was rolling around on the floor. From where he was pinned down he could see Bombshell pull herself into a equally covered and pinned down position. Unlike him, though, Bombshell was not completely useless. She returned fire and as Zach peeked out to take a few shots of his own, she tagged one of the aliens in the neck and send him scrambling out of view.

He took that break in the firefight to step out from behind his cover and grabbed one of Bette's flailing wrists and pull her back into his hidey hole. "It's me." He said, just in case she tried to take a blind shot, because judging by her unfocused, rapidly moving eyes she had taken the concussion grenade in full and would not be seeing anything for at least a few more moments. Hmm. Come to think about it, talking was probably worthless too. Damn. He was going to get shot for this.

Standing back up, Zach slipped his gun around his cover again and returned to firing at the remaining enemy, whom was now outgunned and stuck in a hallway that offered little cover for him. The other one had gone missing, but Zach was more occupied with trying to hit this one. Between him and Bombshell, they managed to ping him in the chest a few times before finally hitting his unarmored face and putting him down for good.

"Bogey down." He reported, still hiding behind his cover. "Orders Shooter?"

[Bette Davis]

She scrubbed the last bits of bright out of her eyes and blinked, yawning to try to pop her ears. It didn't help clear the fuzziness of sound from them.

"Orders?" Bette looked behind her at the doors that led back out into the storm. I have no fucking idea. "Let's find a working comm and get a message back to the Troopers heading this way. Hopefully somewhere with a lot of cover and no -" she waved her hand toward the downed attackers, "whatever those were."

[Edith Harrow]

She could hear gunfire.

Rapid and random. Not the sounds of someone trying to break into the office that she had locked herself inside, but the sounds of a fire fight.

If she could hear it, the aliens most certainly could too. If they weren't the ones fighting. Perhaps they had turned on each other, had given in to their base instincts and begun to fight over what they could scavenge from the facility? There was enough in the way of equipment in Frontier to make a sizeable profit, if you knew the right buyer.

That was the most optimistic outcome, short of Imperial soldiers storming the facility. Equally likely was the possibility that her distress call had been answered by more scavengers who'd come to pick at the bones of Frontier for themselves. Edith paced the small confines of the office, the heels of her palms buried against her eyes.

“Hold it together Edith. Come on.”

She slapped both hands against the side of her head, tears sticking at the corners of her eyes.

“They're coming back. They're-”

Abruptly halting, she whirled around. There was an almighty thunk and the door that separated Edith Harrow from the ravening hordes buckled inwards on its hinges.

[Kerryna Khapst]

With no sounds except those the pilots were making, Kerr peeked over the cabinet she'd been hiding behind. The hallways were clear as far as she could see down them, save for the two fallen Nikto cluttering the far end of the central one.

She nodded as Bette looked over at her, and rose to her feet, Deece up and a her finger on the trigger. A glance down each hallway told her the center passage would be the best candidate, as there was a door partway down. Given the normally generic layouts of research stations like this one, Kerr would bet that it was an office of some sort, which would have a comm within.

"Shooter, Jackal, I think this is our best bet. Door halfway down, nothing on either side. Looks like it ought to be an office...I don't think the Nikto have gotten to it yet, given how far past it they are." Kerr said, taking several careful steps forward with her senses on alert.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

"On it." Jackal stood up and took point, leading the other three. He took it slow, weapon raised, checking every nook and cranny as he went. Zach had received basic training once, but never really imprinted on him knowing that he would be flying anyways, so he did his best he could to move from cover to cover but ultimately just looked like something out of a bad action holo.

The door Bombshell indicated turned out to be a closet for cleaning supplies, but the door next to it had the desired result. An office. One of those open ones without the cubicles. Suppose to increase comradely or something. He read an article on the holonet that said it increased workplace stress. How about that?

"Check for a comm. I'll watch the door."

[Bette Davis]

The common modular construction of Frontier meant that it was something that seemed familiar to all three pilots, but was ultimately put together in a way that made it completely different. Bette stalked into the office and found a comm immediately, one hard wired into a land based communications grid. You had to dial 9 to transmit outside of the station itself.

She fumbled with the controls for a moment, and tried to get a connection to the man in charge of the land based party heading their way.

[Jarvan Trask]

"Sergeant Major. We are receiving a transmission from the Frontier Facility."

The call came from the communications trooper, who was busy holding the side of his helmet where his ears would be and twisting dials on the radio unit slung in his larger pack. Jarvan turned and looked at the man, and when no further information came he ordered the call be patched through. The trooper nodded his head and flipped a switch on his remote and the transmission started playing through the helmets of all of Cerberus squad. Likely, the rest of the platoon was getting this message also.

Straining to hear any words, Jarvan could barely hear anything through the garble and much the sandstorm was throwing up. He very much doubt that Frontier was even designed with capable communications to begin with. Research facilities rarely bothered to tell anymore what they were up to until they accidentally released an airborne toxin or prematurely armed a nuclear warhead. Hopefully they would have a better chance hearing him. All he was getting was scraps of words.

"Frontier Facility. This is Sergeant-Major Trask. We are on our way. ETA twenty minutes. Hold position until we arrive."

[Bette Davis]

"This is Commander Davis of Shadow Squadron, we had to put down outside of the Frontier -" the static of the transmission deepened, and she imagined she could hear words. Bette stopped and strained to hear, sharing a look with Bombshell. "Did you understand any of that?" Kerryna shook her head in reply, and Bette cursed. "Godsdammit!" The connection fizzled into nothing.

"Guess we're on our own. What do you know about the Nikto? Are they likely to have killed the scientists or do you think they're here for some other reason?"

[Zachariah Jak'el]

"Niktos are aggressive reptilian humanoids from the planet Kintan. The entire race is almost completely enslaved by the Hutt Cartels who do whatever they want with them. They are considered cunning, adaptive, and dangerous..." Zach said from his position at the door, his eyes never leaving the hallway as he looked through the office window at an angle to see further down the hallway.

The stoney silence from the other two caused him to turn and look at them. They were giving him that look again. "What? I read it in a book. Niktos are ruthless warriors. I would assume they would butcher everyone here. Especially if they are working for the Hutts."

[Kerryna Khapst]

She arched a brow at her fellow pilot and neatly repressed her smile. It wouldn't do, in that moment, and he was serious.

The other thing Jackal was in that moment was right. However, something bothered her about the Nikto, enough so that Kerr moved to the doorway and took a quick glance back down at the fallen Nikto a few feet away before Zach closed the door again.

"Normally yes, but I think this group is pirates or raiders. Their armor is too ill-fitting and mismatched to be a group working for a Hutt. But I do fear for the staff...we have to find Doctor Harrow as soon as possible." Kerr said with a shake of her head, staring down at the comm device.

"Protocol says we're supposed to wait for the troopers. But who knows how long it'll take them to get here...do we want to chance waiting?" she added after a moment, glancing up at Zach then to Bette.

[Bette Davis]

"It's been hours* since the distress call first went out," said Bette. She was still fiddling with the comm, but it was an exercise in futility. "If the Nikto here have been here for hours it's likely they've already murdered everyone here."

Except for whoever opened the door for us.

Could have been the ones who shot at us. Wanted to get us inside to... murder us.

Storm could have done that just fine if they'd left us out in it.

Fucking dammit all to the seven hells.

Bette rubbed a hand over her face, her black hair beginning to escape the braid it was tied up in and wisp into her eyes. "However, someone did let us into the station and it probably wasn't those guys we killed. But we're not trained for this sort of operation." She inwardly cringed at how wishy washy she was beginning to sound. Seemed like Bombshell didn't have a problem charging off into an unknown situation blasters blazing, but without a flight stick in her hand Bette was scrambling to figure out what to do.

You're the commanding officer, they'll do whatever you tell them. Or else they'll be drummed out of Shadow Squadron, and they know it. Right then.

She turned back to the desk and activated the computer, looking through what files she could find for a map of the station. There was an emergency procedures readme file easily found, and she opened it. A small holo of the station popped into being, with a red line delineating a clear escape route. "So, if you were holed up in this station with those aliens trying to kill you, where would you be?"



*i assume, can edit this of course

[Zachariah Jak'el]

It was his professional opinion that the best they could do now was to bunker down in this room, reinforce the doors and block up the windows and wait for reinforcements to arrive. They were way over their heads. Bombshell seemed capable of handling herself, but she was just one person. Zach and Shooter were not so well equipped for this situation. With an unknown number of enemies and no idea where to find any survivors they were pretty much at as big a loss as they could be.

"You could hide anywhere in a facility like this." Zach said as he looked at the building schematic from his place at the door. "However, the place was on lockdown which means whomever let us in had access to the security system or a remote access point. Does the facility even have a security office?"

[Jarvan Trask]

"Frontier Facility coming into view."

The sandstorm ahead opened up for a moment, revealing the unattractive square structure just ahead. The facility was larger than Jarvan had expected, but goddamn they were going to lock that place down and secure the shit out of it. The amount of ground to cover meant so little when you had so many well trained, heavily armed Navy Commandos at your back. The commandeered civilian vehicles rolled to a stop in front of the facility. Orders were given, and the teams split up with one securing the door, the other checking the perimeter of the building for the TIE pilots, and finally Cerberus Squad took the structure head on.

The door was locked. Goddamn. Jarvan banged an armored gauntlet against the door several times before he spotted the comm panel. He thumbed the call button, trying to get connected to someone inside. If they couldn't gain access the usual way they had the necessary explosives to remove the door from this material plane of existence.

[Kerryna Khapst]

"A security office is pretty standard for outposts like this. It ought to be in the rough center of the structure." Kerr added, having moved over to look at the floating schematic with Bette. They both stared at it as if it were going to magically peel itself apart and have the appropriate information helpfully spring up in bright colors.

In true Imperial fashion, she noted, the schematic was decidedly useless in its unlabeled state. Save for the clearly delineated escape route, there were no other markings noting what all the rooms were. Her father would have had some choice words for the idiot engineers that had designed it, and she wouldn't have argued with him for a change.

On the wall by the door, opposite to the side Jackal was leaning against, was a simple comm panel. A comm panel that lit up like a Life Day tree and emitted a strangled bleep of alarm. Kerr spun and stared at it, walking to it with haste as it continued.

"Does nothing around here work?" Kerr cursed as she tried to figure out which button would get her the information on the alarm. It was similar to the one at the desk that Bette had used, but with a larger screen built in. Several buttons later, she accidentally found the right one - a picture crackled onto her screen and Bette's alike, riddled with static, showing a number of armor clad people standing at the entrance.

"Cavalry's here..." she said, and then ducked as her panel decided it didn't want to cooperate any longer and emitted instead a shower of sparks and tendrils of smoke. Kerr glanced out the window pane in the door into the hall and then back at Bette as the schematic flickered violently. "...think we're going to have to go let them in. There's no telling if the comm system went dead just in here or not."

Dark eyes ran over the weapon held in her hands before she looked back up, silently asking permission. Bette eventually, grudgingly, nodded and Kerr almost sighed with relief. Patience was not Bombshell's strong point, and being raised on military installations by a Marine father made inaction a cardinal sin.

"Jackal, I'm going for the door. Cover me." Kerr almost smiled, but managed to keep her expression even. Opening the door slowly, she listened first, before peering out and checking both directions. Still empty, with the bodies of the fallen Nikto at the far end. Raising her Deece, she maneuvered herself out into the hallway, scanning in both directions as she moved down towards the door.

She paused at the junction the had entered from, scanning the open area before proceeding through it and slapping a hand on the manual release to unlock the door. Kerr then turned and stepped to the side, eyes and weapon alternating between the hallways as she waited.

______
Took a number of liberties with this post to get things moving - I can certainly edit if anyone wishes me to - just let me know!

[Bette Davis]

Security office. Bette stared at the escape route schematic blankly as Bombshell and Jackal went to go let in the troopers. She blinked, closed down the hologram, and checked her weapon as her subordinates' footsteps faded into the distance.

Great, now she was here all alone. Who's idea was that? Bette walked to the door and slid it open, checking the hallway in both directions before closing up the door and wondering what to do next.

[Zachariah Jak'el]

Nodding his head, Zachariah stepped in line behind Bombshell and covered her as she ran back down the hallway they had just came through. He followed after her, holding his blaster at the ready. Backtracking to the intersection they had fought the enemy combatants at, he kept watch. The walls were still smoldering from the firefight. There wasn't much cover that offered him a wide range of view, so he just leaned against a corner and waited. Everything looked so much more hopeful now. The stormtroopers would take care of everything.

[Jarvan Trask]

"Hello? Hello? Is someone there?" Jarvan barked, smacking the comm device with his hand. There had been an image for a moment and then it disappeared. Someone had received the call, but somehow he doubted that anything would come of it. This whole operation had been a complete fiasco. "Get the charges. We'll blow this door open. Regulation be damned." His men scampered off, going back to get the explosive ordinance they had brought with them. It wasn't much but hopefully it would be enough. If he had to he'd chain all their thermal detonators together and blow the whole front of the facility open. Jarvan wanted off this planet and he wanted off it now.

No sooner had the troopers returned with some explosives then a loud clank turned their attention to the door, which was now opening. "Move!" The troopers all made for the door, leaving the other squads to guard the outside. Taking up positions alongside the doors. When it opened all the way, on his count, they took the corners and stepped inside, blasters raised. They were greeted by a human female, wearing traditional TIE-pilot gear. At least one of their objectives was complete.

"Sergeant Trask. What's the situation?" He asked as he stepped up to the TIE-pilot. All the while the rest of his squad took up positions inside the door, which was closed behind them. At the wave of his hand, a few pressed into the facility, moving slow and carefully as they looked for potential threats.

[Kerryna Khapst]

With the troopers fanning out around them and the Sargeant asking her a direct question, she felt free enough to lower her Deece and offer a salute. Most TIE pilots wouldn't have bothered, but Kerr had years of her father's influence and training. So it was more the daughter of Sargeant Soren Khapst that saluted than anything else.

"Lieutenant Khapst, Shadow Eight. Three of us landed and made our way to the door. There's at least one person we presume is still alive somewhere, since they let us in. Best guess is the security office. Enemies are Nikto. We've seen three so far and killed two, but saw eight speeder bikes piled up outside during our fly-over. Best guess is pirates or raiders...their armor and weapons look pretty haphazard and thrown together." Kerr replied with a nod, stepping slightly to the side as Jackal approached and Shooter entered the hallway beyond them.

[Jarvan Trask]

The pilot rattled off like a mother loving grocery list. Jarvan only listened with half an ear. It wasn't that her intel was unimportant, it was just that he had a firm distrust for anyone who spent all their time zipping around in the air instead of dropping their boots in the dirt like a real soldier. Out of the storm of useless prattle he did pull a gem out of the noise. Nikto. That's all he needed to know.

"TIE Pilots please assemble near the door. We will evac you as soon as we secure the facility." Turning to his waiting troopers he switched his comm back to the secure unit channel and killed the external speakers all together. The pilots wouldn't even know what to do in a situation like this anyways. Get the squishies to safety so the hardasses can do the work. "We have Nikto enemies of unknown number and armament. I want this done by the books. Watch your corners and spread through the facility.

Cerberus take the main corridor, Longsword cover the door, Berzerker you patrol. I want everything Nikto dead." And with that said he pulled his blaster rifle off his shoulder and moved to the front of his troopers; his orange shoulder piece the only thing identifying him among his fellow soldiers. They took it slow, checking corners; every nook and cranny as they pushed into the facility. Niktos weren't the kind of enemy you wanted to get up close to, so they did their very best to take wide corners and leave nothing to risk.

It wasn't long before they found the dead Nikto, shot to pieces at the end of a hallway. The corridor looked like a warzone with the scorch marks still smoldering on the walls and the electric fire smell could be tasted even through the helmet filters. No chances, that was his motto. Each of the Nikto's was dragged aside and an extra blaster bolt was put between their eyes. He didn't trust those airheads to kill anything. There were more to be had. Moving on, Cerberus had only one destination; the security office.

Someone had let the pilots in. Someone had maintained some kind of control of the facility quite recently. If there was anyone left alive, they were more than likely there. The facility schematic had been found, uploaded, and was not displayed in the corner of his helmet's heads up display. Navigation was simple now, but that meant he was taking his eyes off the corridors to look at it. And it was precisely when he did stop to check his bearings that hell broke out. From up ahead enemy fire came rolling in, striking the soldier next to him in the chest, but a credit to his superior training the trooper merely fell to one knee and returned fire.

Taking the sides of the corridor and kneeling in the center, they formed a firing line and quickly cut down the enemy combatants with superior firepower and precision. A medical evaluation revealed two injured troopers; neither of which were willing to return to safer ground. Their armor had taken most of the damage. It wasn't time to get help. It was time to get even. They pushed ahead, and as more Nikto combatants emerged they were each dealt the same hand. Death. Each one was pulled aside and shot in the face. Aliens deserved nothing better.