Pvt. Dacken Chume stood at his post watching the procession of faces moving past to get into the safety of the shelter. The sky above was illuminated with thousands of flashes as the Mandalorian fleet engaged the Republic in the opening moves that would decide the fate of the planet. Pvt. Chume wasn't even a soldier in the republic, he was part of the local militia never really intending to actually do any actually work. He looked like and was a businessman trying to play soldier: armor was disheveled made of pieces that they just had happened laying around in the barracks, face worried and anticipating the worst. The people that walked by him looked no better it was late in the evening when the evacuation order went out and they rushed from their homes to the nearest shelter as protocol ordered. They wore simple linens and robes, hair disheveled, tired faces masked with the ambiguity of a fear that at any moment it could all end.

They had all heard of the stories from Althir III, Vanquo, among countless others that all fell to the fury of the Mandalorian war machines. They heard the horror stories from Serroco of a planet consumed by nuclear fire, an entire planet rendered to nothing more than a wasteland of ash and bone. But those places had been so far away, they were outer rim problems nothing that concerned the well to do civilians of the core worlds. The politicians and officials of the Republic assured them that the problem was contained. They all believed that a group of nothing more than pirates and raiders could match the Republic military in battle and yet everyday they were losing ground. The faces of the children that passed Chume maybe no older than six or seven reflected cold and scared looking about with uncertainty clutching toys to their chests. The face of a galaxy consumed in war and threatening to teeter off the brink.

Dacken looked to his right where the real republic officers were talking to their new allies the Jedi. Jedi they were a welcome sight to the man's eyes at least, after more than a decade of leaving it to the Republic, the protectors of the galaxy where stepping in to lend a hand. Dacken heard rumors among some of the others that they were actually a splinter group that broke off, after the old Jedi refused to let them go and help the republic. Well Jedi or ex-Jedi or whatever Dacken really didn't care what mattered was that they were here helping, no matter the concerns that had been arising about the order in the years preceding they still helped calm the populace. They say that the one leading them, the one called Revan was a tactical genius and that with Revan's plans and loyal army following that the Republic could fight back agianst the scourge. At the moment though dreams of great victories were far and few between right now they had to just surive the night against the onslaught that would come.

The crowd flinched naturally as a loud and thunderous boom was heard off in the distance. The private watched as a large object went racing into the sky a trail of smoke behind it, a grey patch in the black of night. One of the planetary defense cannons no doubt, the Republic had pushed the concentration of these large defense installations on worlds most susceptible to the next wave of Mandalorian invasions to prevent another atrocity like Serroco by weakening Mando air superiority. They acted as large coil guns firing 3,000 ton hunks of metal into the sky at 4% the speed of light having enough force to punch a hole through any warship be it Republic or Mandalorian. Dacken counted under his breath up to thirty seconds and then another large and fiery light filled the night sky as the the slug found purchase in a target somewhere far above. He thought about how it would feel to be on the receiving end of one of those shots.



The Hettyc rumbled as the adjacent destroyer was consumed in a fiery explosion as it was struck with a heavy shell from Eres III. The explosion buffeted the ship as scorching hot metal smashed against its hull. The Captain of the Hettyc an aging Rodian by the name of Tortt Renn gripped his console to prevent himself from being flung across the bridge. The bridge was coated in a red haze as warning sirens flashed and robotic voices announced a thousand and one problems to the Captain. He had to give the republic dogs at least some credit they were starting to learn and this was the hardest fight that they had put up yet against them. The Republic fleet was well organized and waiting for them preventing a mass drop of troops to quell the planet in a quick manner as became the standard of the Mandalorian advance. No they had them deadlocked in a gruesome tug of war where the Republics superior numbers would mean they would just win by sheer attrition. It was almost as if they were battling a completely different foe than the one they had grown accustomed to.

"Status Report!" He called to his battered bridge crew as they hoisted themselves off of the floor and away from sparking consoles to get back into battle stations. The reports that came back was not exactly the ones that they he wanted to her. Being at the front of the fleet they had experienced the brunt of the fighting and it was beginning to show, shields were down, two of four turbolaser batteries were down, fires were raging through the lower levels. To make manners worse the damn captain of the of Republic Warship Resurgence was hounding down upon them having set his lagging and dying prey in his sights and moving in for the kill. No matter how Renn had tried to maneuver the Hettyc between the debris and chaos of the battle the Resurgence always found its mark and almost upon clockwork volley after volley slammed into their hull. In short they were a floating coffin waiting for the final nail to be struck and done. If it was any other circumstance the Rodian would of laughed at the irony of it all as know he knew how all those Republic captains felt in the early years of the war, stuck, cornered with nowhere to go and death looming ahead of him.

Yet he was not a coward he was a warrior and warriors died fighting. He yelled for all energy to be diverted into the engines and directed the Hettyc on a collision course with the Resurgence. The Resurgence most have figured out what was happening as the volleys against them began to intensify as it slowly began to attempt to move out of the path of the flaming dreadnought hurtling with a death wish towards them. The Hettyc whined and rumbled as metal buckled and consoles sparked fire breaking out on the bridge and Renn being thrown to the ground in one of the volleys and yet it pushed forward. The warning sirens intensified as systems began to go critical and yet it pushed on. Another volley this one a direct hit upon the bridge, Renn died within an instant along with the rest of the bridge crew consumed in a fireball vaporised with a grin upon his face and yet the crippled ghost ship still moved, engines still blaring and the Resurgence could not get out of the way in time as the nose of the dreadnought smashed into the side of its hull before the entire ship exploded taking the republic warship with it in a tremendous explosion.


The transport shuttle swerved hard to avoid the resulting explosion of a direct collision between a Mandalorian and Republic Warship as it made course corrections to continue its descent. Rika stood near the back closest to the cockpit her eyes closed as she could feel the metal rumble beneath her feet as they grazed the explosion, hand gripping the handrail above her. The transport was sparse and spartan in its design much like the rest of Mandalorian designs a few benches and some handrails, no emblems or designs just sparse metal. The team was all geard up and ready to move. The ride had been quiet not that it was to be unexpected when you were about to jump into the jaws of death the time for pleasantries and jokes could come later. Underneath the helmet sweat was forming where skin first met with the hair on her head as even though the shock trooper was state of the art and she wouldn't knock it's granted protection they still hadn't fixed the problem of making the occupants become cooked meat inside of them, heat, sweat all of it stayed within and stuck to the skin with a thick stench that after a week of combat became almost unbearable.

She looked over her team, a mixed group ranging from a Zabrak with a thing for giant guns to an HK unit obsessed with the perfect way to kill people at 2,000 yards or more. They were a bit of a black sheep among the Shock Troopers and the butt of more than a few jokes but none could argue that they didn't get results. Rika prided herself on the fact that every mission she had been given had ended in a completed objective no matter losses or the problems presented to them. In that time Rika had received the reputation of being an ice cold bitch in the process but results were results even if the Squad continually had to cycle in new members at a rate that would put most armies to shame due to the types of missions they were sent on. This time it seemed it would be no different, Mynock was one of many Shock Trooper Squads being dropped in before the main force to tell with set objectives before the main invasion force could land. They were one of the lucky teams to have to take out of of the Planetary Defense Cannons of the dark side of Eres III to give their warships some breathing room.

Rika was thrown to the right only her arm keeping her rooted in place as the transport titled almost entirely to its right. Their pilot was a Trandoshan nicknamed Crash who flew as if he was intending to live up to his namesake as Trandoshan tribal music blared in the cockpit filling the silent space was a heavy percussive based beat. The transport jerked flying through debris and swerving out of the way of turbolasers as they left the battle far behind them and began to enter the atmosphere. The ship rumbled upon reentry as it pushed past air the fraction heating the metal and making the already scorching hot hold about twenty degrees hotter as the rumbling increased to a fever pitched before it leveled out. To those manning the anti-air defenses on the ground it was simultaneously the moment they were dreading and anticipating as several dropships broke through the clouds and came racing planetside. The volley of turbolasers followed soon after firing up and filling the sky with a bright and fiery red hitting some of the transports, a few exploding before they could drop of their living cargo. At about 11,000 meters up, a green light went off and the Trandoshan yelled back that it was time to jump. The back of the shuttle upon letting in a whoosh of cold air as the night sky of Eres III was opened up in front of them. Rika moved to the front of the craft and tapped two fingers against her helmet twice it was a signal two fingers to designate landing zone radius and double tap to signaled the amount of time they had to regroup before they moved out. She then jumped off the edge heading head first towards the planet below.

She felt the air rush past her pulling her arms close against her body going rigid as she came flying towards the ground. The training of former instructors blared through her head on repeat if only as a small comfort even as chaos erupted beyond her. The falling debris of shuttles that were hit falling from above as return fire came up to meet them shredding through some poor soul ahead of her being shred to pieces. The built in HUD display in her helmet started reading information at a breakneck pace taking in vitals and the scene below marking the radius of the designated landing zone marked in a yellow circle. More importantly a gauge on the left hand side calculated her descent and the distance to the ground the number decreasing rapidly. She watched that number intently as she swerved to the right and the left in a zig zag to put off any pursuers with a tilt of her body, high altitude free falls where something of a very precise technique in training a quarter of all recruits die on their first jump because they deployed their packs just a meter too late or too early. Cleaning up somebody that hits the ground too hard was not a pleasant experience, it involved a lot scraping up splattered bits.

The leader of Mynock Squad saw the gauge fall into the "sweet spot" and with a flick of the wrist activated her jetpack thrusters blaring behind her as she began to tilt upwards slowing her descent. This was the hardest point which required more luck than anything else as during the last period of descent you were the most vulnerable to enemy fire as not many course corrections could be made out of fear of not being able to slow down in time. As she came down she looked out upon the planet they were to invade varied geography a mixture of forest, plains, plateaus and hills with large fields of Xoxin growing as far as they eye could see. She saw their target in the distance to the Northeast upon a large plateau there was a huge cannon pointed towards the sky surrounded by a large complex of lights and buildings. Her attention was drawn back towards the ground as she broke through the top layer of trees that dropped her into the forest below into a small clearing. She landed cutting the pack and quickly pulling out her Assault rifle sweeping the surroundings for moment but being met with only silence.

She looked skyward as more dots got closer and landed in the surrounding area other shocktroopers some probably members of her squad as the transports faded away into the night. They were stuck there now at least until they were able to swing air superiority back into Mandalorian hands. Turing her comm device on and switching it to squad based communications she spoke calmly. "Mynock one has landed, repeat Mynock one has landed. I'm two clicks west from the center point. Form up on my location ASAP."

Sensor scan initiated. Optics at 20% efficiency due to internal gyroscopic stabilization. Disabling not recommended. Acoustics overloaded, compensation and recalibration estimated at five minutes. Gyroscope at 80% efficiency due to inner gyroscopic stabilization - error approximated from irregularity of air resistance. Gyroscopic sensors selected. Beginning analysis...

Already impressed with the ability of the flying metal box not to disintegrate despite its horrible automatic interference compensation, 2020 amused himself with trying to evaluate the frequency domain components of the shaking their dropship was experiencing. This wasn't just to pass the time though - he figured the next time he was required to fire from a landing craft, this data would allow him to find the perfect compensation more quickly. But the results were swimming, so he decided to perfect the parameter search algorithm instead, to reach short-term results faster.

He activated a silent self status check while scanning the crew with his optics. They, unlike the craft, were probably near-disintegrated already. But even if they are all destroyed on the way down, he could probably salvage enough of their equipment to complete a great part of the mission on his own. He made sure to scan the equipment of each crew member to increase the efficiency of handling such a contingency.

The commander to whom he was assigned deployed in mid-air, making him curse inwardly again at the jury-rigged booster pack some smart-ass field engineer strapped onto his body. His weight was four times the maximum allowance for standard landing jump-packs, and strapping four together would not do the trick. Instead, he was fitted with rocket engines from a disassembled long distance deployment glider, as well as two equipment landing packs, all strapped into his central computing unit. He made that last jury-rig himself while the engineer wasn't looking, since there was no way the small CPU of a normal jump-jet could handle this improvised set of engines, and none of the crew seemed to care enough to actually run any proper diagnostic. He didn't blame them - In a few weeks after the return from this mission most of them would be made obsolete by him.

This train of thought was completed, along with all diagnostic checks, approximately 0.2 seconds after the commander stepped off the landing craft's floor, give or take a few picoseconds of natural clock error and temperature dependent semiconductor propagation delay. He made a slow, but silent step towards the door, but then turned towards Mar. "DO NOT LOSE YOUR WEAPON ON THE WAY DOWN, SIR." His deep synthetic voice filled the craft. "IT IS VITAL FOR THIS MISSION'S SUCCESS." With this, he took a step back and into the void.

A few minutes later, a loud and sudden sound of a rocket being fired off disturbed the peaceful scenery around Rika. She turned just in time to see a broken rocket engine whoosh past her head, and the figure of the huge HK droid, gliding almost in slow-motion face-first into a small tree some hundred meters off her landing position. He snapped the tree in half while getting his face out, then looked around, recognised her and saluted.

"HK-2020, REPORTING."

Russ swears as his helmeted head smacks against the hard metal wall of the transport, he rubs at the spot on his helmet absently as their craft is buffeted by harsh air currents and the nearby strikes of anti-air fire. He looks around at his assembled comrades for a moment a grin unseen beneath the impassive mask that is his helmet. He raps his fist on his chest once to acknowledge the Boss's orders shaking his head as she leaps. She always has to lead the way.

He moves quickly after she leaps feeling the pressure of the whistling air even through his thick plated armour. He turns to face those still in the dropship, his comm crackling as it comes to life.

"Don't melt in all this heat Snowflake, once i win all the glory the bar tab is on you after this. I'll see the rest of you on the ground, don't be surprised if the battle is over."

He chuckles lowly and leaps backwards out of the dropship, his jetpack blazing momentarily throwing him away from the plummeting death ship. If it goes up at least he will be clear of the shrapnel field now. He rolls over as he plummets uncontrolled through the air, a turbolaser near scoring his armour as a dropship far above him bursts into flames. His eyes track his chronometer with intense concentration waiting for the perfect moment to deploy.

There! His jetpack flares the hard thrust of the jets slowing his descent as the canopy of the trees rushes up to meet him. The branches screeches along his armour, whipping at the polished plates buffeting the meat inside. He hits the ground hard and comes up in a roll his pistol almost seeming to leap from it's holster into his waiting hand. His eyes scan the dark waiting forest carefully, his ears straining to hear the sound of boots rushing through the undergrowth over the more distant sounds of battle.

He stands to his full height carefully, he brushes at some of the dirt and twigs attached to his armour before his hand comes to a rest on the hilt of his vibroblade. He begins to move quickly through the dense shrub, his lithe body sliding easily through the trees. Surprisingly quiet for a large armored body.

"This is Mynock four, on the move. About one and a half klicks from your position. ETA six minutes."

Dredd sat stiffly with his eyes shut as the transport veered suddenly in a different direction. The rumble of the ship and the increase of heat told him that they had just avoid an explosion. His hands tightly grasped what they could to keep him still, his fingers beginning to ache under the stress. No matter how many he did, he always hated these drops. He had no control over what was happening - he didn’t even know what was happening most of the time. “Not long now.” he silently reassured himself as the shuttle seemed to jolt. Inside his suit he was sweating profusely and it make him incredibly uncomfortable; he was made for colder climates after all. The fact that he hated his large cumbersome armour made the experience all the worse.

"Don't melt in all this heat Snowflake, once i win all the glory the bar tab is on you after this. I'll see the rest of you on the ground, don't be surprised if the battle is over." Dredd opened his eyes to see Russ standing by the door facing him, and a quick glance revealed that Rika and the droid had already jumped. He simply smirked in response to the jibe, knowing that his comrade was going to jump before he got a chance to fire off a witty comeback.

“I’ll cover the bar tap of whoever manages to shoot Russ.” Dredd jested to those left on the transport as he climbed to his feet. He took a moment to brace himself before jumping out into the dark veil himself. A long deep inhale should have cleared his mind, but instead made his nose twitch as it was filled with the various lingering body odours that stained the vessel and its crew. Pushing off his back foot, Dredd burst out of the door and fell into the open sky. He let himself fall flat for a short time, relaxed and able to scour the area, and took some enjoyment in feeling the wind gush wildly past him. As he neared the deployment altitude he tucked himself in and did a couple of rolls in order to get himself upright and prepare to use his jet-pack. The decent was executed without a hitch, with him finding himself in some thick woodland about 3 clicks west of Rika.

“This is Mynock Five. I have landed 2 clicks West of Mynock One. ETA t-” Dredd’s message was suddenly cut short as he heard the rumble of footsteps nearby. “ETA fifteen minutes as I might have company. Don’t wait up.” As he continued his message he flicked the button on his belt, powering up his stealth field generator. Within seconds the Mandalorian seemed to fade from sight, just in time to avoid being seen by a trio of soldiers that emerged from the treeline.

“It was over here. I swear I just heard someone talking too!” said the smallest of the natives. These men were clearly militia, and judging by the look of apprehension on their faces they were probably inexperienced too. The trio slowly walked out into the small opening and towards a small patch of scorched earth. “See! Burn marks! One of those bastards must have landed here.” said the smallest man again.

The oldest of the trio, a man clearly close to retirement age who bore only the remnants of grey hair, begun to look around. His voice was grizzly as he spoke, “Couldn’t have gotten far, but there’s bound to be more of them. Probably landing all over the place now. We should get back and help with-” The man’s voice was cut off and his eyes grew large with terror as he felt the cool metal whip across his throat. His comrades couldn’t process the threat quick enough as the near-invisible being launched himself at the next man, knocking away the soldier’s rifle before sticking the vibroblade beneath his jaw. The man did not die straight away and struggled futily as Dredd held his grip on him.

“No!” screamed the youngest man in fear as he watched his friends butchered before him. He raised his blaster rifle and tried to fire at Dredd, but the mandalorian used his friend as a shield and blocked the shots. Dredd, still holding on to his now dead shield, closed the gap between himself and the last man before barging him over.

“Don’t struggle. This was never a fight you could win.” Dredd whispered as he wrestled with the last man on the floor. He manoeuvred himself onto the man’s chest, pinning down his arms with his knees. Then, without hesitation, he plunged his two blades into the man’s chest. He did not wait for the man to die and instead climbed back to his feet before disappearing from sight once more.

Mar just stood in the craft as they made their descent. He had his altitude guage up on his hud to tell the perfect time to jump. Though it was just good manners to let Rika jump first. Once she was away he fastened his strap from the rifle onto his gun to make sure that even if he were to let go of it with both hands it wouldn't be lost. He had managed to keep this one for a record amount of itme after all, he wasn't going to lose it on some un-important mud puddle. As he began moving forward he sighed as the droid turned to him, and as the droid jumped he raised his rifle in jest aiming in the droids direction.

"Nobody would ever need to know, when they asked what happened I could say he got caught in the crossfire." He then just shrugged and jumped out, head first to gain speed and arms at his sides with his gun locked in position. Using his arms as fins to adjust his descent gradually as he went down aiming for the yellow area marked on his hud indicating the landing site, he could already hear some of the others calling in as they landed. As he neared the ground he pulled himself up slowing and changing his direction slightly into a curve. AS he neared the ground he pulled right back firing his pack to slow him down, though not all the way. Unlike the others he kept enough momentum and fired late enough that as he hit the ground, behind his knee at the right time he came out in a roll.

Rifle raised and eye through the scope he scanned the area. Nothing in sight at all. He tapped his helmet comm. "Mynock-Nine reporting in. I've got nothing on scans, no movement." He stood up, holding his rifle at the ready.

"Mynock-One. On my way, ETA-2 minutes."

“I’ll cover the bar tap of whoever manages to shoot Russ.”

Enu’falu stifled a chuckle as Dredd made the comment at their comrades expense before jumping into the atmosphere of Eres III. The Twi’lek had been with the Mynock Squadron for a year now and whilst it still felt rigid for what she was used to she also felt comfortable in a way as they plunged into combat scenarios with insane odds that held equally as insane challenges. It almost felt like she was going into a scenario with none of the cards at the Pazaak table in her favor… and the adreniline she got from all of that was amazing. It almost made being separated from Mekket worth it and for the Mandalorian Twi’lek that was a rare drink served to anybody or anything, of course that was due to the fact that Mekket had basically raised her. She hoped her mentor was out there doing well— she wouldn’t know what she’d do if she found out something had happened despite the reality of the war was very clear for her.

Enu’falu jumped up as another one of her comrades took the plunge after the Echani as a smile formed on her lips underneath her helmet. She could feel the adrenaline pumping exponentially— making her feel a rush of energy that not even a Hutt Cartel could offer her.

“If only Mekket was here.” She thought as she prepared to take the plunge into the atmosphere herself.

“Time to have some fun.” She took a glance back to the Zabrak of their group and took a wave. “Try to keep up, Syg.” She teased before falling into the atmosphere.

The Twi’lek female thrust herself through the atmosphere like a Mynock lunging for it’s meal, looking for a target and swooping down upon it. As she broke into deployment altitude she flipped herself in mid-air readying to hit the thrusters on her jetpack. Though Enu was cockier than some she did not exactly want to become a big blue durasteel flatcake, so as she hit close to her ‘preferred’ deployment she hit the thrusters that she had prepared only moments prior.

Enu would look around, checking her radar before she frowned. No detected hostiles? No big fanfare? How boring. Oh well, time to get to it; she would find somebody to shoot eventually.

“This is Mynock Six— landed and on route.”

"Shabla droid." The rally master commented mostly to herself as she watched 2020 come in for a landing with the subtly of a Firaxan shark. She still wondered watch bastard she had offended to have gotten to have the bucket of bolts assigned to her squad but she couldn't do much about it now, she would make do as was their way. She listened as the rest of Mynock began to check in everybody seemed to at least made it through the descent, more than could have been said for some others the smoke still rising in the sky from the remnants of crashed transport shuttles. A few minutes passed as they all began to began to gather in the clearing, they came out of the literal woodwork some with a little more blood on them and a few added scorch marks but nothing that Rika had to address as they were still alive and that was what mattered at the moment. They were going to need all hands on deck to even have a chance at taking down the installation so any unnecessary deaths early on would just put a wrench in the machine that Rika really did not feel like dealing with.

Once they were all gathered together with a hand she gestured them to center of the clearing signaling them all to take a knee as a she produced a small circular disk - a portable holoprojector which upon contact with the ground shuddered to life casting a blue glow as it produced an image. It was a topographical map of the surrounding area showing a variety of information small triangular shapes with labels above them each for the different shock trooper squads sent in on the first landing some were already on the move, others stationary like them going over orders, and some strangely absent from the map having been killed before they could even touch down. Lines traced the map in a patchwork pattern marking predicted Republic patrol routes and garrison locations. For all that the Neo-Crusaders image was of violent raiders coming down almost upon savage whims each and every raid had careful planning and weeks of intelligence gathering backing it before the main event, to know your enemy was to win the fight as the saying went. She slowly pressed some commands and the holoprojector zoomed in showing the immediate area, their objective in the far northeastern corner of the map and a slow wandering line to the installation.

"Alright I feel I shouldn't have to reiterate this but I'll explain our current state just as well, in case some of our members are too busy with their dreams of glory or plans to assassinate comrades. Remember, I can hear everything you shabiirs decide to say whether you like it or not my privilege or rather punishment of being the boss. Or at least have the common sense to take off your helmets before you start talking so that I don't have to listen to your crap." She explained with a dry tone that sounded much more along the lines of distinrest than chastising in nature. "We have been assigned the task of taking out a Republic Planetary Defense Cannon located on the Ersu Plateau to the northwest of here. Problem is the cannon is in the center of a very heavily guarded Republic outpost. We got dropped off about as close as we could get without being instantly vaporized by anti-air installations. Meaning we are going to be outgunned, and outmanned every step of the way just as we like it. We have to exit this forest and make our way across a wide expanse of open fields with little to no cover after that we sweep through the Village of Loust at the Ersu Plateau's northern face crippling the communications array set up there. From there we start climbing up the northern face and right up to the target, hope none of you have any problems with heights."

"Understood? Great, because you don't get a say in the manner as you all know." She explained rising to her feet the smirk on her face almost visible beyond the helmet. "Alright everybody form up on me. Dredd your on point with me, Russ and Enu you two hold the center, 2020 go with Mar and watch our flanks stay about six meters out from us on either side but keep radio contact, and Ryleer hold the rear make sure no bastards get the drop on us. Let's move." And without further commands or orders they all began to fall into their respective positions. They left the clearing behind them and entered the forest proper. The grass hung high and the trees clustered close together provided a decent level of cover with them. As they got closer to one of the more well established and travel worn paths that snaked through the forest, a snapping of a branch was heard and a flicker on her HUDS motion sensor. She made a hand signal quick ordering them all to drop to the ground hoping 2020 and Mar on the edges had enough sense to drop down without witnessing the gesture.

Out from further down the path a group came at a moderate walking speed. These soldiers were different from the militia that some had encountered up to this point, with battle hardened faces and scorched and dented armor it marked them as Republic soldiers veterans at that skilled or lucky enough to have lived as long as they had. They hung in tight uniform positions footfalls all falling in line with one another as they moved through the forest. Leading the pack was two robed figures both male one a Cathar and the other appeared to be a Zelosian. They were talking amongst themselves seemingly without care to the amount of noise they were making as they drew closer to where Mynock was lying upon the ground. As they drew closer Rika was able to pick on what the Zelosian was saying "Did you see how he screamed when I stuck him? What a baby, I thought these Mandalorians were supposed to be feared warriors. Or maybe that was just another lie from the council they said this was supposed to dangerous and that is why they forbid or action but this is just a joke.

"Dangerous in battle maybe not Nar, but for the mind the temptations of the darkside come greatest in the height of battle. You do best to remember that." The Cathar responded his voice sounding tired and old as he ushered his small group forward passing right by where Mynock was laying right off the path among the shrubbery and fallen leaves. As they passed the Zelosian known as Nar stopped moving as if a grand stroke of inspiration had just hit him. He held his hand up ordering the troops to stop and getting an inquisitive look from his Cathar companion. The zelosian ignited his lightsaber a pure blue the color signifying that of a Jedi Guardian as he stepped near to where Rika and the rest lay hidden. He used the lightsaber to ignite the darkness around him as he stepped forward getting closer and closer. The whole time Rika remained still and umoving laying closer to the ground as the Jedi stopped almost within lunging distance of them. Rika whispered into her comms one message to her squad.

"Do not engage... Repeat do not engage. "

Mar, and presumably 2020, saw the patrol first. Diving into his own cover before he went to radio it in with Rika. After all he had to get into cover in order to set up a shot. Hiding behind a nearby tree he held his rifle against the tree peeking around to merely look down the sights giving himself the smallest profile possible. He was more than six metres out at this point but that was to be expected. He tapped his comm, still whispering despite the distance. "You go right 2020, I'll go-" There was a snap-hiss as a lightsaber was ignited and he swore under his breath. Jedi? Mandalorians had faced them before but with irregularity. Were they not staying out of the war? Was it not against their beliefs them being pacifists and all?

Damn it to hell. They had some weird kind of powers, this wasn't going to be as easy as if it had just been a squad of troopers. This made things more complicated. "Double-Twenty take right shoulder, I'll take left-" In a cross obviously considering he himself was technically on the right side. It was about crossing over. Trying to make it as hard as possible to block the shot. Jedi had freaky powers sure, but Mandalorians were the best at what they did and a Den was a born hunter.

"-I hope you've got a good reaction time, finger on the trigger. If this goes to pot I want you to fire within mili-seconds of me. Try and give him as little time as possible to block these shots." The Jedi were getting involved? The Republic must be getting really desperate to throw peace keepers at them. Well, there was honour in battle and as far as he saw it if he got taken down by someone he'd rather it was someone tough with some weird powers than some general trooper. Also he always wanted one of those laser sword things, they'd make a nice addition to his collection of knives. Sure it wasn't technically a knive but who didn't want one?

When the patrol registered on 2020s radar, he froze, a number of contingency algorithm's fighting a little war for priority in his CPU. His thermal peripheral vision was good enough to see the squad dive for cover, and he did the same, moving behind a small mound a bit deeper into the forest. This cover should be enough, as his armor and weapons had non-reflective coating and didn't appear much more than a bunch of rocks and mud.

His movements were slow, gradual, but completely silent. A couple of birds landed on his shoulder to get a better view while he was improving his position. As a last step, he shut down all active sensors, retaining only sight, sound and passive EM.

Mar's plan simulated within the droid's head while he was setting his sights on the figure closest to the hiding squad. The energy blade was saturating his heat vision a little, forcing him to use averaging to pick his target on the humanoid's body. If the enemy had the ability to parry shots, his blaster fire should be the distraction for Mar's shot to be unobstructed. However, at this range, the meatbag did not have enough time to react once the shot was fired - he had to anticipate the direction and block before the trigger was pulled.

This was why Jedi had so much trouble with droids - there was no killing intent, there were only ballistics. Thus, there was a chance the blaster shot would be the one to hit. This wasn't bad - the gun had enough power to rip limbs off and shoot clean through these trees. There were plenty of options for interesting takedowns in this situation, and it was twice the shame 2020's database did not include specific information about interaction of blaster fire and energy blades. Thus, he decided to get that sword, for testing.

"SIR, I HUMBLY REQUEST TO REQUISITION THAT SWORD, FOR BALLISTIC TESTING, AFTER WE SHRED THIS MOUTH-BREATHER." Mar's comm vibrated with the deep synth bass of the droid's voice.

Dredd crept through the forest’s thick flora beside his squad leader, a blaster pistol he retrieved off one of the militia men raised in caution. He always scavenged guns, never holding on to one long enough to change ammunition or cores, because he hated them. Not only was he a piss poor shot in comparison to many of his Mandalorian brothers, but there was no expression in simply pulling a trigger; it was a cold, unemotional and mechanical act. But when travelling as a group as they did now he needed to have one in hand, especially when taking point.

The forest was eerily quiet with the only sounds being the tiny footsteps of the squad and the occasional echoes of battle from far in the distance. Dredd was careful where he planted his feet, feeling the dry earth beneath his boots. It was surprising to him how such a seemingly dry environment could bear fruit to so much flora; particularly on the plains. He wondered how easily such places could be burnt to the ground, and as such thoughts played on his mind he thought he could even smell smoke on the air.

SNAP

A branch was broken ahead of the group and, before Rika even gave the signal, Dredd found himself dropping to the ground and enabling his stealth field generator. He laid utterly motionless with his head titled upward whilst the hostile party came closer. When the Jedi leading the group came into sight Dredd let out a large eternal sigh. He loved fighting up close, but against a magic space wizard with a laser sword? If he had to take one down he would need to do it from the shadows or when the Jedi was unarmed. And with the Jedi known as Nar less than a couple of metres ahead of him that seemed unlikely; that’s why he began to sweat as Mar and the HK began to plan their attack.

“If these idiots start blasting I’m going to have to try dodge their fire and stick my knife in this Jedi’s back.” he thought to himself. He would have said it out loud if he believed the Jedi were not close enough to hear. Slowly, without sudden movements, Dredd placed down the gun and unsheathed his vibroknives.

Russ slides silently through the jungle, his left hand resting on the hilt of his still sheathed vibroblade his right gripping his heavy blaster pistol. His eyes scan carefully the forest carefully as The Boss and Dredd take the lead moving swiftly towards their objective. His armour is already beginning to feel stifling in the oppressive heat trapped under the trees canopy, beads of sweat running down his pale flesh.

At the Boss's hand signal he moves smoothly and slowly to the ground, not letting sudden movements and noise give his position away. He presses himself down into the sodden soil, letting the dank earth smear across his silver armour. His eyes track the enemy party carefully as they come into view, his ears straining to overhear their conversation.

He growls lowly as he overhears them talking in such a manner of slaughtering his comrades, the sound of his low animalistic growl echoing over Mynocks comms as the sub-vocal mic around his throat picks up the subtle vibrations. He slowly begins to slide his vibroblade from it's sheath as the enemy party draws closer, his pistol sliding into it's holster as he grips one of his plasma grenades.

He almost swears as one of the party ignites a gleaming saber, the mark of a jedi. Worthy opponents in a sea of sub-par warriors, one he has not been able to test his skills against in battle. He has only seen them from a distance as they tear into his comrades, and only a couple of times in his years of fighting this bloody war.

His sub-vocal mic picks up his barely whispered speech, the sound not even reaching two feet from his position. Using his greater distance from the enemy to broadcast a quick plan. "Roger that Boss. If we are discovered, I will disrupt the gunners with a grenade and then launch myself into close combat with the Jedi. Snowflake will most likely do the same. Focus fire on the gunners, wipe them out so we can all focus on the Jedi. Make it fast, i don't know how long i will last against them. Even with my Beskar blade. I have never had to deal with their magic in the flesh before."

His barely breathes as the enemy comes even closer, the glow from the lightsaber almost washing over their prone bodies. Not even daring to push himself further into the earth as the smallest hint of movement could give his position away. His hands sweating heavily inside his armoured gauntlets, gripping his weapons so tight his knuckles begin to whiten.

“Russ and Enu you two hold the center.”

The twi’lek nodded as she followed Russ’s lead, her carbine already drawn and ready as she silently waded through the jungle. Was this going to be the battle?— the battle that every Mandalorian would be talking about? Enu bit her lip underneath her helmet as she started to think about the possibilities of the victory that was sure to come. After all, they were Mynock Squadron. Mynock Squadron never failed. As Russ came to a silent halt before moving prone to which the twi’lek turns and pressed her back against a large tree to hide her presence. Her eyes kept Russ in her line of sight as her left hand lowered to her grenade belt.

“Just in case.” She thought. “Be ready.”

That was when the gleam of a lightsaber caught the attention of her comrade.

"Do not engage... Repeat do not engage. "

“Mekket fought a jedi once… for a contract. He’d have no problem with this. So why am I nervous?” Enu’falu took a light breath as she attempted to calm her nerves. Perhaps this was a good reminder of everyone’s mortality and the true dangers of war with the Republic? or maybe she just needed a blasting stimulant. Why did she think it was a good idea to not snatch a stimulant pack in the first place? At least she took a vitapill before they got on the dropship. Should’ve brought some gylocal, though.

"Roger that Boss. If we are discovered, I will disrupt the gunners with a grenade and then launch myself into close combat with the Jedi. Snowflake will most likely do the same. Focus fire on the gunners, wipe them out so we can all focus on the Jedi. Make it fast, I don't know how long I will last against them. Even with my Beskar blade. I have never had to deal with their magic in the flesh before."

Well… either Russ was cold as carbonite, was eager to die, or had confidence in himself and the squad. Hopefully out of those options he was the second option. The second option would be very bad. Regardless of how she felt or how her nerves were on fire— she had to keep it together. There was no way she was going to let even one of the jedi sneeze on her, let alone take her life. Besides, if things went harry she’d simply do the old ‘fake surrender’ like that one bounty she helped Mekket with back on Taris. No problem. No pressure.

“Well, you aren’t alone.” Enu stated quietly over comm. “I’ve got your back if this goes the way of shaving a wookie.”

The silence hung over the squad so close that they could almost taste it upon their lips. A taste so filled with the acidity of their state. Each and every breath felt like an insular lifetime each separated from one another by entire spans of existence as the Jedi hung over them only a few feet away. In her head Rika was already coming up with fifty individual plans to deal with the situation that lay in front of the team. None of them were coming up with the odds that she liked though, if they were spotted things were going to go straight into a pile of bantha poodoo. Her heart was somewhere up in her mouth with each thunderous beat she was sure that the Jedi would feel the vibrations. Her rifle out in front of her, right hand already on the trigger and waiting for the moment for it all to go up in flames.

Nar peered into the darkness ahead of him lightsaber in hand as he searched the forest in front of him for movement. He had sensed something in the forest, an echo in the Force calling out to him. Though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, a disturbance a troubling sense of death that was definitely not natural.There was something in the darkness and he would find it. The war had fine tuned his senses, having lost too many good men and women because he wasn't on top of his game. Some said it made him too twitchy, that he ended up seeing things that weren't there, that his mind was just making up more demons for him to fight. He knew the Force though, the Force did not lie. Yet he could sense the agitation in his companions forcing them to stop every, ten minutes so that he could poke in the bushes at foes that more often than not were not even there as others were busy fighting and dying.

“Come on Nar, we have to get back.” The Cathar voiced with an obvious sense of fatigue in his voice. The Jedi in front of them turned to face his companion and then looked back towards where the squad lay in wait. He seemed conflicted for a moment before with a great sagging of his shoulders disengaged his lightsaber and turned away from them walking back to join his companion. Not before giving one more sideways look in Mynock’s direction still peering out looking for any source of movement.

“Yeah alright.... just had a feeling. Must be all these battles getting me twitchy or something. Better get back before she skewers us alive.” He explained almost shivering at the words as the pair begins to move further down the road. The republic squad followed suite behind them moving out to destinations unknown. Rika stayed to the ground waiting as her own heartbeat calmed and the opposing force moved past them. Finally as the footfalls faded into the distance, Rika slowly got to her feet. Part of her was relieved that conflict had not occurred, getting spotted this early would've only made their job later much more of a problem. Yet the side of her that made up the warrior as opposed to the tactician was disappointed. The adrenaline still pumping through the body, the chance to fight a real threat. Yet she put those thoughts behind herself as she motioned for the squad to move on.

---

They continued their march through the forest paying mind to their surroundings maybe a little bit closer after their chance encounter. They made good progress and eventually found their way to the forest edge where the trees started to become more sparse and began to open up to large expanses of plains. It was still night and the darkness that was provided still give them ample coverage. Ahead of them in the distance though was a small fire. The squad approached with a gentle grace keeping some distance. They found themselves approaching a small camp; made up of four large tents and a large watchtower it seemed to be a sort of militia watchpost using the raised terrain of the forest edge to looked over the plains and be able to report movement back to command.

There was about fifteen or so soldiers in total, most of them seemed at least a little bit on edge. Four guards were posted in a square watching the perimeters of the camp. A singular body was seen in the watchtower directly north of them facing away from the forest and towards the plains with what seemed to be a long ranged laser rifle of some sort. The remaining ten were placed around the camp sprodatictly some in pairs talking to one another, the largest congregation being around the fire itself they spotted from a distance maybe four in total. Though the one that drew Rika’s immediate attention was sitting by himself to east, back against one of the tents. He had a large pack of his back as he looked down checking his rifle. The communications officer.

They could've just went around the camp sweeping far to the left or the right but as a matter of time they had to get to that installation and destroy it before the Republic Navy could route their fleets in the sky, and going around would only slow down the process and waste valuable time. So they had to go through it. As Rika finished surveying the scene she spoke into the comms throwing down orders. “Dredd take out the Comms officer and make sure you do it quietly and quickly before he can get a distress signal out. Mar take out the one in the watchtower. 2020 you got the man on the northern edge farthest from us, Rus the guy closest to us watching the southern edge, Enu western edge, and I’ve got the Eastern Edge. Ryleer light up the group by the fire. We move quick and only fire if you can get a clean shot. Once your targets are down converge on the camp and take out the stragglers. We do it quick and we do it now.”

And with that the team began to move into their positions. Moments later a green indicator would flash across their HUDs. It was go time.

Any and all types of coordinated assaults required dialog between the operator and their team, from complicated stuff like target allocation and munition suggestion to simple stuff like confirming a given order or reporting an advancement in individual mission objectives. 2020 found speech to be very inefficient for this, given that he found speech to be very inefficient in general. Thus, he chose a small collection of sounds to represent short answers - a 'ding' for "Orders received and confirmed", a buzzer for "Unable to comply" and a chord for "Objective complete". There was, of course, the small problem of him being unwilling to hear orders to the end before confirming them - and thus Rika's comm filled with dings when she said "2020".

His mission received, the droid moved further away from the squad, using what little elevation provided by the forest edge around the encampment to improve his position. He performed a sensor sweep of the tents, marking all potential targets, while the northern sentry was marked as first priority. By the time he reached his chosen spot, the rail rifle was already unfolded to its full ridiculous length, and charged for the first shot. A chord sounded on the comm, signaling his readiness for the coordinated strike, once three targets were lined up - the sentry, a man in a tent behind him sitting on his folding bed, and one of the men around the campfire. The targets were moving, making the droid's finger twitch with impatience at the huge gun's trigger.

A barely visible burst of purple light drew the northern sentry's attention, but he couldn't make out what it was. He squinted, but that only made the forest dimmer, in the darkness. His arms were too tired to switch the sensitivity of his nightvision goggles - it was a hard shift, and he hoped he would be replaced soon. The trees seemed to be coming closer now, as well as the ground... Somewhere midway to falling face down into the dirt, the rebel decided that his part in this war was done, that it was time to rest. The others could take over, couldn't they?

Behind him, beyond a tent with a blood-splattered wall, a lifeless rebel fell sideways into the fire. A few seconds later, the thermal detonators on his belt erupted, throwing chunks of hot wood and shrapnel at the nearest soldiers, blinding those who took off their helmets to relax and didn't shield their faces on time. Some of it fell on the tent's wall, lighting small fires on the tarp covering its entrance, but the rebel inside didn't mind, lying on the ground in an uncomfortable position, his face missing as if removed by a giant dull blade.

"THREE TARGETS DOWN, PLUS UNEXPECTED CHAOS, REPORTED." 2020 chimed, following by another "objective complete" chord. He holstered his rifle to let it recharge, drew the blaster, and began advancing into the camp.

Russ looks over the camp carefully his eyes memorising sentry locations and the layout of the camp. He evaluates the best approach, his hands automatically checking over his equipment relying on muscle memory as his attention is still on the roving soldiers.

“Dredd take out the Comms officer and make sure you do it quietly and quickly before he can get a distress signal out. Mar take out the one in the watchtower. 2020 you got the man on the northern edge farthest from us, Rus the guy closest to us watching the southern edge, Enu western edge, and I’ve got the Eastern Edge. Ryleer light up the group by the fire. We move quick and only fire if you can get a clean shot. Once your targets are down converge on the camp and take out the stragglers. We do it quick and we do it now.”

"Roger that boss, I'm on it." Russ moves quickly now, a few quick running steps before his jetpack kicks up with barely a whisper throwing him forward towards his target as the green light comes over his HUD. "FOR MANDALORE!" He drops down on his prey just as the man recognizes that his death is incoming dread filling his eyes as the sound of rapid fire blasters fill the camp. Russ's blade darts forward, humming lowly easily sliding through the sentries throat and severing his spinal cord dropping him almost soundlessly.

His jetpack ignites again as he hurls himself forward, blood sloughing off his blade in a thick sheet at the sudden movement. His hand whips foward, one of his precious plasma grenades landing at the feet of another two of the patrolling soldiers feet. Lighting them up with white hot flame. Their screams bellow across the camp before they are suddenly cut off as their throats are seared shut. [b]"This is Mynock four, objective complete. Looking for quick resupply and checking to make sure none of these 'soldiers' are playing dead."[/b

He moves easily through the camp now, his blaster occasionally flashing or his sword sweeping down. Making sure that what is thought to be dead is truly dead. He moves through the tents carefully and slowly, his helmeted head sweeping from side to side as he scans for hidden threats or valuable equipment and intel that could aid them in their mission.

Mar lay flat on his stomach. Eyeing the camp. The guard on top of the tower was the least he could do, there were at least several other hostiles in the camp that he knew he could take out now question. Hell if he had it his way he would have just taken out the whole camp by sniping them. Though it wasn't his call, and he did acknowledge they were on a bit of a time table. So he stayed crouched, lined up his shot and waited for other people to make their move. As the others began to move in, and the watchtower guard was about to react he pulled his trigger finger. There was a red flash as a streak of light shot out burning into the chest of the guard atop his spire.

"May you die well." Mar muttered under his breath. It would go over his comms sure, the helmets weren't as sophisticated as some other models where you could turn them on and off so it was open mic night. He rolled over slightly, force of habit before lining up another shot. The team was working well, they were used to working together. They each had their objective and would act on it, after that they would complement eachothers abilities and tasks. As such when someone was approaching Russ from behind in an attempt to surprise him Mar placed a laser bolt just to the left of the mans back, killing him instantly as the bolt reached his heart. He tapped his helmet to ensure he was broadcasting.

"Looks like we're clearing up boss." He had to admit, war was tough. It was messy, and grueling. There was honor in it, though he still missed being on the hunt. There was something more true about hunting your prey as it tried to outwit you or kill you first. No, hunting was a true mans sport. Hopefully he could return to it soon.

Dredd couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as the situation with the Jedi deescalated. Not only because it meant he wouldn’t have to go straight up against a lightsabre with a standard vibroknife, but because they had a mission to do after all. Still, part of him wanted to follow the robed figures as they marched away into the thicker woodland. If he had some decent Echani Vibroblades, ones that had the cortosis weave and were supercooled, he’d at least be able to block a lightsabre. And if he could have blocked their lightsabres, he wouldn’t have hesitated to fight them head on.

“Wonder who ‘she’ is?” Dredd mumbled out-loud over the comms as the Republic group eventually disappeared from sight. Anyone capable of putting the fear in the minds of a Jedi was likely to be a respectable opponent.



Dredd crouched alongside Rika on the plains as they paused to evaluate the camp before them. He felt slightly exposed in the large open area without his cloak, but whilst he marched along with his brothers and sisters he didn’t want to risk them accidently shooting him.

“Dredd take out the Comms Officer and make sure you do it quietly and quickly before he can get a distress signal out.”

“I’ll get it done.” Dredd replied with a tinge of cockiness. He gave a quick nod to his comrades before activating his stealth field and disappearing off towards the camp. He knew a couple of them hated when he disappeared from sight, and so he couldn’t help but let out an unseen smirk as he did so. As he kept a manageable jog through the fields he made sure that he kept low in the tall grass to further reduce his chances of being seen. As he neared closer he slowed down and began creeping around the tents, taking care not to be seen or heard. He needed to hurry though, because he knew how impatient the others could be when it came to battle; it’d only be a matter of minutes before the place was torn apart and if he didn’t take care of the Comms Officer, things would get a lot more complicated.

“This is Golf-Five. Message received. Things are all clear here; no signs of bogies. Out.” the Comms Officer spoke the message with clarity and accuracy, and on closer inspection Dredd could see that this was a man on point. His eyes seemed to dart about cautiously as he seemingly tripled checked his rifle. Not convinced that he could get up close to the man without being detected, Dredd looped round behind the tent that the man was sat against. A quick glance through the thermal vision was enough to see that the tent was vacant, and with that Dredd quietly snuck in. Through the canvas, the moonlight cast the silhouette of the Officer and made it easy for Dredd to position himself.

“Goodnight.” Dredd whispered, causing the Officer to gasp. But before the Officer could do anything more, Dredd shoved a knife straight through the tent and into the back of the mans head, killing him instantly. Reaching through and grabbing the collar, Dredd made sure the corpse didn’t tip over and then reached round to close the eye lids. If anyone was to look at the Officer before the attack, they would just think he was sleeping.

“This is Dredd. Comms Officer is down. I’ll stay low while the havoc commences; I know how much of a crap aim Russ has.”