Eluna's Guerrilla Assault; Zhe'chot's Defensive Sortie - 9.010

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot crept through the streets of Ludreb on a planet whose name he couldn't pronounce. He'd come to call it "Thesplahnut" to his fellows and "Yorplahanut" to the natives. It was an immaterial factoid to him, anyway. The main things he needed to know followed this way:

1: The Rebels here weren't even really part of the Rebel Alliance; they were only being aided by them.
2: These native Rebels were using guerrilla tactics, striking hard, fast, and decisively.
3: He had experience with this sort of thing and nobody was listening, goddammit.
4: The current attack was a ruse, an elaborate sort of sleight-of-hand play meant to draw the unit away from the true target. If he could say "diversion", maybe they'd have listened to him earlier.
5: The real target was a plant that manufactured fuel for Imperial craft. It would make a pretty fireball when the Rebels took it out.
6: He really wanted to be on the other team right then.

Guerilla tactics were rough to handle as defense. You just couldn't defend everywhere with the best strength you had, and their intelligence was always better, 'cause they had all the time to pick their targets and plan while you had to react. His commanders had decided that the fuel station was too risky a target in the minds of the guerillas. That they'd never blow it up and risk damage to the buildings around it or the civilian workers who toiled endlessly around the clock. Zhe'chot knew that in war casualties and sacrifices were necessary, and also fuck rules. So he was creeping along the catwalks in the fueling plant/station, in an out-of-the-way area not often frequented by workers. It was all storage, engineering, and support structure. Target 1, if Zhe'chot knew right. He'd stop them here and prevent them from moving to the other five support beams of the main facility, saving the fuel station single-handedly and winning his rightful accolades for damn sure. Only...

"Okay, that's the last charge," said one of the Rebels. Last? They'd picked the high-risk targets first, instead of doing up the safe ones and scouting the rest? He cursed their poor intelligence and the lapse in his yomi, sneaking down to the ground level and hiding in shadow as the rebels began to jog out. He drew his sidearm, leveled it at the exit door, and in four quick bursts downed the whole squad...except for the one covering the rear, a savvy woman who dove for cover. He unhooked the clasp on his knife sheath and and tracked across the floor to his own cover, a catwalk support beam just thick enough to hide his body completely and let him cover the exit.

"You verra high-reesk, high re-word planer, sabohtoor," he grumbled mentally as he checked for his target. "Too bad it not woorkeng out so good for you."

[Eluna Thals]

It was a risk to embark on this mission personally, Eluna knew. But a success here meant turning the trickle of an insurgency into an outright rebellion on this planet. The Rebels needed allies, and they needed to take the fight to the Empire in their backyard, on worlds they considered pacified and safe. At best, it meant new allies to join the larger fight outright. At least, it meant the Empire had to spend valuable military assets locking down planets they otherwise wouldn't pay attention to.

Captain Eluna Thals didn't fret her situation. The girl inside was easily cowed, and the machine took over. Clad in unassuming civilian clothing, she carried a pistol and a small rucksack, which no-doubt carried a few party favors that saboteurs seemed to employ.

Sure to form, the tricks started early, as a concussion grenade rolled along the floor with just enough momentum to reach the Rattataki Imperial.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot scooped the toe of his boot under the grenade and kicked it high into the air, then crouched down behind cover and shut his eyes and covered his ears against the flashbang. Once he'd safely heard it, the sound dimmed by his hands and helmet, he looked out through the fading light to see Eluna's shadow on the floor. He traversed to his left, bringing his pistol up and firing the second he saw her body. No time to waste here; the place could go up any minute. Really, his concern should be escape, but...no, not when there might be a good fight here. Not when he really oughtta haul this one back and interrogate her.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna moved, but a moment too late to avoid a deep graze at her shoulder. The injury didn't give her pause, however. The moment she broke cover, her pistol was out, raining a fusilade of shots upon the Imperial's position. Despite the frantic rate of fire, her aim was stone cold and machine-like, keeping Zhe'chot firmly rooted in his cover as she stitched the support he was hiding behind.

Using her pistol's barrage to keep his head down, she began to head for the exit.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot chanced a peek from cover. Eluna was moving normally and shooting on a level he didn't think he could match, even on his best day. A quiet beep sounded above him; he'd taken cover behind the damn pillar the bomb was affixed to! He added his situational awareness to the list of concepts to give a reprimand to as he checked the timer's readout. Three minutes. Not nearly enough time to call bomb disposal. He hit his radio.

"Sir, issa Preevot Zhe'chot. I maeka radio seegnal from Eemperial Fool Depot Krayt-Sarlacc-Sebun-Fai. Issa smol unet Raybol here, maeka bomb onna suppart strohctoor. Three menoot until blow oppa depot. Try to catcha Raybol for eentarohgate. Preevot Out, Sir,"

The "fool" part had been deliberate; a stealth insult against his idiot human superiors. He let Eluna make the door and ran to it as she slipped through, sliding on his ass like smashball player in the hope of being in the right spot to avoid counter-offensive.

[Eluna Thals]

The moment she cleared the door, Eluna banked hard to the right, drawing a bead on the opening behind her, ready to gun down the pursuing Imperial the moment he came into the open. Then he went and did a smart thing, and in the scant amount of time she had to adjust, she realized he had her dead to rights.

Her right foot snapped forward, kicking the pistol away from its line of fire as it cooked off. Now, it was her turn.

She pulled the trigger.

Click.

Empty.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot let the gun go as Eluna kicked it. His glove wasn't much protection; his fingers twisted a bit as the gun sailed twirling through the air and he gritted his teeth against that pain as he stood up. The Rattataki was closer than he'd expected; a quick step brought him up close enough to throw a punch as he refilled his now-empty right hand with a combat knife.

[Eluna Thals]

Within arm's reach, and that's exactly what the arm did. Eluna had a hand at the Rattataki's throat in an instant, and he was hoisted above her like she was picking up a stuffed animal. There was enough pressure to block blood flow and air, but as of yet she didn't crush his throat. The Rebel operative looked up at the alien with a calm expression.

"You should have run."

Examining.

Thoracic cavity. Heart. Pounds per square inch to destroy sternum.

Her free hand's fingers straightened as she angled it towards Zhe'chot, ready to thrust her bare hand through his heart.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot strangled in her grip, his left hand locked on her wrist as he stabbed her forearm with the knife. Strength like this was unnatural in near-Human beings, he knew it! He had to get away, had to get his rifle unslung from his back and kill her, to hell with capturing her alive. He didn't think they could contain her anyway. He drove the knife in a second time, burying it as deep as he could.

[Eluna Thals]

The third time the knife went in, she released her hold on his neck and let him collapse. Red blood poured freely from her arm, dripping down to her fingertips as she pulled the knife free. Some carbon fiber damage, and limited dexterity and strength until it could be repaired. She flexed her bloodied hand a few times, and threw the knife aside. She didn't need a knife to finish this Imperial.

Casually, she walked toward him.

"Give me your rifle. It's not worth your life, Rattataki."

[Zhe'chot]

"Rattataki, we has the saying," Zhe'chot panted, struggling to his feet and bringing his rifle to his hands. "When you gev op you life, you must maeka full use offa weeponry. Is false to not do so, and to die weetha weepon undrawn." He stood and stepped purposefully back. Moving deliberately helped him recover his control and the rifle came to his shoulder. "Don't plan onna dying today, but you might bringa close." He fired a three-round burst, clustered on her torso.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna moved quickly to dodge. The first two shots missed close, but the third punched clean through her side. She grit her teeth as the shot spun her about, and knew she didn't have time to dwell on the attack, because the Imperial had the ability to follow that up with plenty more.

She ran at a high rate of speed, serpentining until she reached effective cover.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot tracked her, shooting just a fraction of a second too late. Too fast! Too durable! No creature in the universe could just take a blaster bolt that way!

"Droid, hyu diskize is op! Standown and come een kawayet!" His Basic slurred and his accent thickened as anger kicked his adrenaline into a higher gear. "Hi gon deesmahntel you inna peezes!" He pulled a grenade, armed it, did a quick two-count that would hopefully aid the timing of its explosion, and threw it hard to Eluna's position. "Seeyoo leef to det," he challenged through gritted teeth, waiting for Eluna to break cover.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna broke cover predictably at the approach of the grenade, and sprinted at nearly 70 kph. While less than her top speed due to damage sustained, it was still going to make the Rattataki work for his kill. She put distance on him as she made her way to the next area of cover.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot's bolt missed its mark only due to his target's incredible speed. The Rattataki ran after her at the barest fraction of her speed. He kept her in sight and once she'd picked out her next cover, he slowed and approached cautiously. What the hell could he do!? At melee range, he was dead. At optimal range for his rifle and sidearm, she could run fast enough to prevent his aim and escape the blast radius of his grenades, unless he timed them perfectly. However, perfect timing required perfect weapons, and Imperial grenades were far from perfect. Something clattered at his boot; it was the pistol she'd kicked from his hand earlier. He gathered and holstered it, preferring the rifle for now. What more could he do? He posted up behind some cover of his own and waited.

[Eluna Thals]

When Zhe'chot looked up from picking up the pistol, he could see a 75 pound durasteel plate hurtling through the air towards his head like a massive frisbee.

[Zhe'chot]

The soldier dropped from kneeling to prone, feeling the passage of the disc over his head and heard it clang to the duracrete behind him. It waffled on its edge like a coin until it finally came to a halt against the edge of his boot. He resumed his kneeling position cautiously, looking and listening hard for Eluna. He'd lost her in the commotion of the flying plate. He damned his luck and hoped he hadn't lost her for good.

[Eluna Thals]

With enough of a lead on Zhe'chot to just about put him out of the fight, Eluna crouched behind a shipping container, taking time to examine her damage. Right forearm sustained multiple incisions and lacerations, reducing grip and dexterity by 40%. The shot she took to her side was more troubling. A direct hit to one of her batteries. While the battery was, like the rest of her, a pseudo-biological construct - in this case in the form of a "kidney" - its function was far from its form, as it drew on multiple inputs to store and mete out energy to the rest of her systems. With its destruction, she was operating at 30% remaining energy store. The battery could be repaired with enough time by the nanites in her bloodstream, but that was a function of energy as well.

She either needed to end the fight soon or find a new energy source.

"Freeze!"

The sound of a stormtrooper's command barked behind her, as the vanguard of the backup Zhe'chot requested finally caught up.

[Zhe'chot]

The troopers fanned out to a formation not quite a semi-circle, the better not to put each other in their own lines of fire. "Hands in the air!" declared one, armor painted with leadership colors. Zhe'chot ran up a few moments later, out of breath from sprinting to catch her.

"Hah...hyoo guys slowa danna Laf Day!" he grumbled, panting. "Bout time I getta backop for dis! Deez woomahn notta hyoomon, issa droid! It blow oppa fool stetchen wiffa plahsteek bohmb!"

"We sent a bomb squad, private," answered the trooper with disdain. "Relax, we can handle this."

"Issa too late, bohmb haffa shawt fyoos," said the Rattataki with a grim look. "Theesa Raybol not too worry 'bout a saveeleeyan, onlay horta Eempar."

[Eluna Thals]

Breathing heavily and erratically, Eluna collapsed, clutching at her side as blood continued to well out. Zhe'chot could claim she was something all he wanted, but the stormtroopers had eyes and they could judge for themselves at this petite little woman bleeding out on the pavement before them.

[Zhe'chot]

"You're a goddamn liar, you non-human scum," retorted the leader with venom in his voice. "You just don't want to be court-martialed for shooting civilians in the back."

Zhe'chot's tattoos began to fade out around his cheeks as anger heated his face and hands. "Deeza droid thrawtel me and leeft me offa ground inna wohn hahnd! See stab wound inna rat orm! I haffa stab and slash so it letta me go. She haffa grenahd, frog anna fleshbahn! It trow a beeg soowar plet at me, too! Issa Raybol, must ahrest it!"

"Shut up, Private. We'll discuss your charges at camp. Someone help her up."

"Dahm eedjeeoht," Zhe'chot growled as a pair moved to flank him and a third reached for Eluna.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna weakly struggled to her feet with assistance from the Imperial. Her ruse was successful, or at least in part. And in 2.5 seconds...

KA-TOOOOOM!!!

The ground shook from the force of the blast, as hot wind was displaced, gushing past everyone who watched the facility rise up in an immolating fireball.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot heaved an aggravated sigh as the fireball illuminated the troopers and his opponent. "See, as I tell you," he said matter-of-factly. "Issa nohther ween forra Raybol. Hope you bohmb skod wasn't in der." Zhe'chot, in fact, hoped very dearly that they'd lost men to the explosion so the damned Empire would wake up and pay attention and get out of their stupid rut with their by-the-book tactics that weren't working. But he doubted it. Nobody mourns for cinder blocks when a building crumbles. They just get more.

[Eluna Thals]

The explosion was just enough of a lapse in the group's collective attention she needed, and Eluna pounced. The trooper who was kind enough to help her to her feet was repaid by being slung at Zhe'chot like a ragdoll. Springboarding with her momentum, she slapped the blaster out of another trooper's grasp, tore another blaster free from the hands of a third trooper, and used that weapon to kill three more troopers as she took off into a sprint, but not before pulling a second blaster free from a dying soldier's grip.

"You should've listened to the alien, bigot!"

With a playful look on her face as she ran, Eluna pivoted and casually cut loose a parting shot that incinerated the officer's brainpan.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot's guard had never dropped. He spun, catching the trooper's arm and shoving him on the back. The man stumbled and rolled away, and Zhe'chot completed his spin to see the last of Eluna's escape. The loss of the commander didn't long stall the remaining few soldiers, especially not the Rattataki in fatigues. He took off at a sprint, leaping up the unevenly stacked crates on the right-hand side of the alley to make the low roof of that building. From his high vantage he could track Eluna a little better, at least until she topped out at seven times the human peak for sprinting and he lost his chance. He leapt from the roof of the long building, legs windmilling, and landed on the building just across the alley. Eluna slowed to turn, and Zhe'chot put the butt of the rifle to his shoulder and fired at her center of mass.

[Eluna Thals]

With a fluid roll, Eluna reduced her profile and fell out of the path of the shots that were trained on her with professional accuracy. She recovered sharply, firing accurate akimbo shots from her blasters as she hunkered in a crouch. The suppressive fire was dead-on, but this Rattataki was no fool and she knew he'd find the safety of cover. The trick here was to make sure he liked it there.

Standing, she continued to pour shots on his position, even as she walked backwards, heading toward a small motorpool of utility speeders.

[Zhe'chot]

The gray-skinned soldier dove behind the building's ledge and lay flat, head pressed to the gritty roof tiles to keep himself behind the only cover available. He could hear the Stormtroopers hustling to catch up, but he was certain Eluna would make it to the motorpool in time to escape, or at least hide until she got her chance to ambush everyone. He pressed his radio.

"Da droid ees trying to gate away eensides a motohrpull," he reported. "I am peened down on roof across da ah-lay way from there."

"We can see the suppressive fire," reported one of the few remaining troopers. We'll be there soon. If you're looking at her, shut your eyes; going to use a flashbang to cover our arrival."

Zhe'chot pointed his face at the corner where the ledge met the roof and clapped his hands over his ears. A few second later he heard the distant thunder of the promised grenade, but kept to his cover a bit longer to ensure he could stand up safely.

[Eluna Thals]

Quickly disappearing amid the motorpool, Eluna came to a stop between speeders. She ejected the cartridge of one of the blasters she carried, and pressed it against her midsection. A power probe in her navel interfaced with the cartridge, using the device to feed her badly-depleted power banks. Ever vigilant, she kept her other blaster at the ready, and her android nature gave the stormtroopers no advantage when their flashbang cooked off. For now, she was hidden, and she would wait.

[Zhe'chot]

Zhe'chot lowered himself slowly to the ground and edged forward with the troopers. In the dimmer light of the motorpool he was disadvantaged compared to the troopers. At least, that's what he thought. All manner of rumor flew about regarding the elite soldiers and their helmets full of comm gear and frequency scanners and wavelength detecting crap. Zhe'chot wasn't certain it was worth the cost of his periphery vision, but then, he'd never seen troopers fight alone, either. Always they looked about, each one covering the blind spots of his comrades. Zhe'chot was beginning to feel sure they'd find Eluna.

He wanted to call out to her, to taunt her, but that was a tactic that only worked on the living. No droid, however humanoid it may look, had emotions to rile in such a way. He clenched his jaw, regulated his breathing, and moved as quickly and silently as he could, trying to fan out and cover areas the elites weren't hitting. For all he knew, they were bickering over their helmet radios. If he'd bothered taking one off the dead, he'd be in on it, but he'd also have lost Eluna. Probably. He checked the durracrete floor of the motor pool, seeking some sign of leaked fluid from the droid's damaged arm.

[Eluna Thals]

Her infrared detection, while not particularly sensitive, was functional enough to find the body heat of nearby humanoids. In the absence of light or sound to guide her, Eluna was perfectly capable of using that as a reference. Moving in tandem with a patrolling trooper, she kept herself carefully out of direct line of sight. Of course this kind of situational clairvoyance would only be helpful for her at shorter distances. Further away, and she would have to resort to visual cues.

Slowly the Rebel began to maneuver herself to the best path to exit the motorpool. She could leave the scene in a flashier method, but discretion was probably the preferred tool here.

[Zhe'chot]

He did believe Eluna had gotten away clean. The troopers were still on their patrol, but he was worse than useless in the dark without any advanced visual or audio gear. He hadn't found the trail he'd been looking for, and though he tried to integrate with and make himself a useful part of the Stormtrooper search party, there was only so much that could be done without being privy to their talk. He passed the droid in the dark by a handful of meters, looking directly at her, but not seeing. He continued along, sneaking quietly.

[Eluna Thals]

Reaching the fence that marked the boundary of the motorpool, Eluna turned to give one last visual inspection of the group beyond. The positioning of the nearest speeder and the one that sat adjacent gave a decent amount of cover, which would only be betrayed if a trooper moved directly between both. None did.

Turning once more, the droid silently leapt over the fence, coming to rest with equal silence beyond it. Another look to make sure she wasn't discovered, and Eluna accelerated at full sprint.