Talik Gida & Vorkro Olkzar
CIS Outpost - Teth, Baxel Sector
”We got off at the wrong exit.” Came Talik’s response as the dropships rapidly descended towards the planet’s surface. Talik could hear a light whine from the engines as the dropship reoriented to come in on the heading Captain Olkzar had indicated for them.
”We’re moving in from the South, sky’s are currently clear. Should be groundside in fi-” Talik said, being cut off as the ship’s own klaxxons blared a warning and Admiral Yularen’s voice screamed a warning into her helmet.
"Landing Party, get evasive! Enemy has rolled out artillery and anti-air units!”Even as the warning came over the comms, Talik could feel the forces from the LAAT rolling aggressively to get out of the line of fire from the deadly hail of lasers that suddenly lept towards the inbound ships. Talik’s LAAT shuddered violently and the crew within stumbled as the ship was thrown violently to the side, accompanied by a loud boom and smaller rattling impacts against the hull.
”Down one, AA took out the lead!” Came the report of the LAAT’s pilot, and a flash of rage tore through Talik’s mind as she heard the news.
””Admiral! Danger close fire support, I want those guns wiped out!” She shouted, and within moments she heard thunderous roars racing down towards the planet.
”Captain, be advised the Liberator is firing upon the CIS base, we’ve found Artillery and Anti-Air being deployed, and lost a flyer. Securing the landing zone, the facility and immediate south is about to get very hot.” Talik relayed to Olkzar, even as massive red turbolasers tore through the atmosphere with tremendous roars of rage, tearing past the remaining dropships as they tore through the atmosphere before the lasers slammed into the ground with thunderous impacts. Hurling dirt and superheated rock up into the sky with each impact. The destruction slowly tracing a deadly path towards the very guns returning laserfire back up into the sky. A violent, yet beautiful, display of raw power pounding its way down through the atmosphere.
Vorkro had very little time for a witty retort towards his new ally, he had even less time to shout back a warning as lasers lanced out towards the sky toward his incoming reinforcements. He only hoped that whatever ship she had in orbit was in a good enough position to have seen the AA weapons before they were ready to fire.
His heart sank somewhat when he saw burning wreckage and debris tear through the clouds. It spiraled downwards before colliding with the ground beyond his view.
Vorkro was about to give the order for his closest team to move in and secure the site, and any survivors when Taliks voice came through the Comms. Not even responding to her he shouted at the top of his lungs over the din and into his communicator as the sky turned red.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!!"He turned and saw Mohira starting to lift off when he shouted, likely not hearing him over the din. He lunged towards her, grabbing onto a nearby tree with his feet he grabbed her leg with his right arm as his left clung onto another nearby tree.
Vorkro for a moment until she managed to power down the jetpack. Pulling her down towards the ground the pair cowered as explosions rocked all around and the ground shook. He peeked from behind his cover but could see nothing but flashes of light, ducking back behind his cover he knew that there would be no knowing the outcome until the bombardment had come to an end.
The doors on Talik’s LAAT slowly, silently slid open. Their sounds overridden by the sudden roar of wind whipping through the cabin as the gunship tore a blinding pace through the sky. All around, Talik could see devastating glows from the turbolaser fire raining hell down upon the CIS base that had dared to target her landing party.
”Bring us in as the dust settles, Hotshot.” Talik ordered into her comms, receiving a click of acknowledgement from the gunship’s pilot as he shot between twin turbolaser shots that slammed into the CIS base with a thundering response.
“Liberator reports Artillery silenced, and base shield is failing. We’re picking up some readings on the scans of the base, will update as more details come in.” Admiral Yularen reported over the comms established between both Talik’s party and that of Captain Olkzar.
Moments later, a soft bump was heard as the gunship came in for a hot landing, both turrets opening up to keep the separatist forces from getting any smart ideas as the rebels poured out of the trio of ships that had made it to the ground.
”Gunships are RTB, call us when you want that pickup.” Came the ever-cocky response from the pilot of Talik’s gunship, Hotshot. The twi’lek gave a simple thumbs up towards the cockpit before turning back towards the base at the top of the hill.
”Tivva.” Talik said, as a twi’lek in blue beskar knelt down and the rocket in her pack fired off on a deadly arc towards a small bunker built atop the hill.
“Already on it.” Came the reply, and moments later the thundering explosion from the small bunker as it went up in a violent explosion.
Immediately, Talik’s troops started pushing up the hill as their blasters created a deadly wave of bolts meant to suppress anything dumb enough to try to stop their advance. Talik’s own blaster belching out a furious stream that she waved back and forth across a small barrier she knew two droids to be sheltering behind.
”Captain, we’re moving in from the south. Any target of priority in the base, or is it a simple destroy op?” As the bombardment stopped Vorkro nodded at Mohira. Signalling for them to advance towards the outpost. Some of the outer buildings were scarred, battered and bruised from shots that landed after the shields had already failed. Shouldering his rifle he pushed up, shots ringing out the moment anything was brave enough to lift its head. Moving towards the compound all they came across was debris, broken droids and molten slag. Some of it still steamed and smoked, occasionally a droid moved slightly but before it was able to stand up it was loaded with blaster bolts.
Vorkro looked at Mohira when the call from Talik came through, he couldn’t exactly discuss details without checking with his employer. She nodded as she charged ahead to the tower in the centre of the compound.
He tapped his comm.
“Recovery. Intel indicates there is an underground facility here where a Separatist Scientist is working on something to help them in their war against the Empire. My Employer, Mohira, wants the scientist. After that, we turn the rest to slag.”Talik clicked back an affirmative as she heard the scope of the mission.
”Liberator, we're taking an underground facility here. Could that be related to the anomalies on scans?" Talik asked her mothership, hearing an immediate acknowledgement and order to switch to scanners meant to penetrate the surface of a world and find said underground bunkers. In the meantime, the rebel leader did not waste even a second as she started to push forward. Her hellish spray of blaster bolts kept the droids pinned in their cover while her two squadmates surged past her and over the barrier. Moments later, the reports of each twi'lek's blasters could be heard with accompanying flashes. Then Talik's side of the compound started to quiet down as her forces pushed in to clear out remaining defenders.
The Twi'lek herself took two squadmates and pushed in deeper to the compound, aiming towards the side her HUD identified Vorkro's IFF tags approaching from. Several times, Talik's rifle barked and spewed streams of crimson death, and each time more battle droids were reduced to scrap.
”Friendlies approaching, Captain." Talik announced as she started to get within visual range of her newfound allies.
”I've got Liberator performing ground penetration scans, we should be getting results soon. Hopefully it includes whatever anomaly they've been seeing." She said, even as her squad carefully swept their weapons across the now-quieter compound.
Their sweep proved fruitful, as the ground ahead of them suddenly retracted back, and the sounds of an elevating platform could be heard. Before Talik could even question the development, a hail of blaster fire started to emerge from the elevator, as a trio of battle droids emerged, flanked by two Supers.
”SBDs, MOVE!" Talik shouted into her comm, responding with her own deadly hail of covering fire as the Twi'lek moved quickly towards the nearest cover….
Only to find the ground beneath her boots starting to violently shake as if the planet itself were trying to shed her.
"All Ground Forces, the underground base has been identified as a buried Providence Class Dreadnought, and it's engines just flared offline. Recommend getting away NOW!" Admiral Yularen's voice calmly explained over the comms, even as the earthquake became more violent. Talik, meanwhile, turned a look towards Vorkro.
”I think those clankers are blocking our only survival path." The Lethan said, even as she started to reach for an EMP Grenade.
”Think they'll mind a few stowaways?" She asked, before hurling the primed grenade without waiting for a response.