May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)

[Dr. Snark]

Slave I, En Route To Kamino

"Well? Got nothing to say?" Skirata forcefully questioned Thrawn. "Then-"

"My apologies, Master Skirata, I was considering whether I should reveal certain information to you at this juncture."

Kal looked at Jango who matched his look of confusion before turning back to the comm unit. "And exactly what would you know that would change my mind?"

"Would a certain alteration to the clone army that the Kaminoans have likely kept secret from you be relevant?"

Kal felt a chill run down his spine. "What are you talking about?"

"Have either of you heard the phrase 'inhibitor chips' or 'biochips' or something similar before?"

Kal looked at Jango who was shaking his head though he was starting to look interested. For his part, Kal was beginning to get a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. "...I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear, am I?"

"Unlikely." Thrawn paused for a second before continuing. "My organization has visited Kamino in the past and during those visits we discovered that the Kaminoans installed a failsafe within the clone army."

Kal's blood began to boil.

"As a clone is born, they are implanted with a chip that when activated overrides the clone's mental processes and forces them to follow the commands installed in the chip depending on the order given. You might consider it similar to a restraining bolt on a droid. If you do not believe my words, I can certainly provide you with the data to prove them," Thrawn coldly explained.

Kal was visibly furious; he was gritting his teeth and tensing his muscles as he realized what Thrawn's explanation meant.

Any time those hut'uunla Kaminii want they can just say a few words and take my boys' free will away!? No...they will pay for this. Even if I have to kill every damned one of them myself...

On the other hand, Jango was simply staring off into space, as though he was looking at some distant star.

Boba...did they...?

For his part, Thrawn remained mercifully silent for a few moments before calmly saying, "My organization is currently analyzing the chips in question in hopes of understanding their programming and potentially-"

"Not 'potentially!'" Skirata suddenly roared out, taking both Jango and Thawn alike aback at his sudden outburst. He remained silent for a moment, breathing in heavily before continuing. "...Will your 'asset' on Kamino be used against my boys?" Kal asked in an eerily calm tone of voice.

"If you are referring to the clones, then no," Thrawn warily responded.

"Fine. Then here's what's going to happen," Kal gritted out as he looked at Thrawn's projection square in the eyes. "I will help you on Kamino. I can even get you some help in recovering your 'asset.' But," Skirata said in a low growl. "You not only are going to have supervision while you're there, the moment you find out how to deactivate these chips I will be the first to know about it. Are we clear!?" he shouted in the same commanding tone he had used upon the battlefield.

"So long as said 'supervision' will not report about our activities or be too much of a hindrance to our team, then yes."

"They won't," Kal simply said in a tone that indicated there was no argument to be had on either point.

"Very well. And Master Fett?"

Jango looked at Thrawn's projection with an unreadable expression on his face, but said nothing.

"As a way to ensure that you keep this information strictly confidential, the Abyss Watchers will perform any favors you ask for within the near future. No matter what they may be, we will find a way to accommodate your requests."

The bounty hunter stayed silent for a few moments before quietly saying, "Alright."

"Excellent. Master Skirata, would you be able to set aside a covert landing space for our vessel?"

Kal coolly nodded. "Yeah, I think I can get a hangar to have some 'camera malfunctions' or something. What kind of ship will your people be coming in?"

"You will know it when you see it."

Oracle Meeting Room

"Revealing that information is quite a risk, Thrawn," Ciaran neutrally commented.

For his part the Chiss shrugged and responded, "I believe that given Skirata and Jango's responses the risk is entirely justified and may in fact be beneficial to us in the future."

Gulan and Silas looked skeptical, but Grievous seemed to be supportive of the idea. "Do not underestimate the loyalty an officer has for his troops," he commented. "I am not as certain about the bounty hunter, but I agree that this was a sound decision."

"I dunno, boss," Gulan said worriedly. "I'm not sure I like the idea of the team being 'supervised' on an operation like this."

"If Skirata's estimations on their abilities are accurate, they may be more of an asset instead," Thrawn noted.

"There's still too many damn unknowns here," Silas cut in. "Ciara, are you still sure about this?"

"Yes," she said. "Now then, let's at least plan for what we know for certain."

Gulan sighed before pushing a few buttons on the holoprojector at the center of the room, causing the device to generate an image of Kamino. "Okay then. What we know is that the Seps are coming in with a fleet to try and invade the planet," and as he spoke, images of Separatist ships appeared pointed towards Kamino. "And that the Republic will be mustering as much as they can to hold them off," and with that similar images of Republic ships appeared, closer to the planet. "We're not quite sure how yet, but odds are the Seps are using this to somehow sneak ground troops onto Kamino." With that comment, the display switched from a planetary view to a view of Tipoca City, the main target of the invasion.

"Fortunately thanks to the boss' visit way back when, we actually have an idea of where everything is. Now again, the Republic's going to be heavily invested in defending the city and the Seps equally as interested in taking it." Holographic images of the two armies fighting appeared as Gulan continued. "The real key is going to be what Ventress does," he said as a much brighter image lit up on the display. "Until she actually shows up we don't really have a good idea as to where she's going; while we can certainly extrapolate her plans from communications during the battle for the moment we're flying blind on that matter." Then images of Separatist troops surrounding the bright figure appeared. "Not to mention that Tann is going to try and get her killed at some point."

Gulan leaned back, no longer considering the display. "That's all we've got. The good news is that hopefully we'll have better on-site intel and assets with Skirata and Fett's help so we can react more quickly to whatever happens. Dunno about the guys that we're going to have to work with, hopefully they won't slow us down at least."

"Right then," Ciaran said as she nodded to herself. "So for now the general plan. Primary objectives are to extract Ventress and minimize information gathered about us in the meantime. Secondary objectives are to fake her death so that no one will look for her afterwards, as well as potentially aiding the clone army if they seem to be losing the battle. We do not want a decisive victory for the Separatists here. Any objections?"

The room remained silent. "Right. Now then. This is unquestionably the most dangerous operation the Abyss Watchers have ever undertaken. I only want the very best, understood?"

Everyone nodded. "So the team members will consist of myself, Silencer, Thrawn, Grievous, and Gulan."

"I'm going too," Silas declared, causing everyone at the room to look at him with various expressions. "I'm not going to stand by while you risk your life like this, Ciara."

Ciaran was shocked for a moment before recovering and saying, "You can't be serious. The risks-"

"Whatever they are, they're worth it," he said pointedly echoing Ciaran's earlier declaration. "I don't plan on actually fighting or anything like that, but the least I can do is act as an advisor for something like this. The Scimitar's perfectly safe with its internal defenses and has the capability to be useful even when grounded."

The room remained silent, though no one seemed to object to the idea.

"...Alright then," Ciaran quietly said. "Now then, we need to move out as soon as possible."

"Commence Operation:"

[] Maelstrom
[] Storm Fall
[] Storm Rider
[] Typhoon
[] Write-in

AN: Yeah, Kal's...uh...a bunch of Kaminoans are about to fall victim to unfortunate accidents in the future, lets just say that.

Anyway, the man's not going to back down that easily but don't worry; like Kal said his "supervisors" can be trusted to keep their mouths shut and are very good at their jobs. Plus, y'know. More cameos from awesome clones. Anyway, your team going in there to fuck shit up is:

Ciaran: The Leader
Silencer: The Commando
Thrawn: The Intellectual
Gulan: The Hacker (Given how often he keeps popping up I'm honestly considering promoting him to a hero unit like PR-1 is)
Silas: The Advisor
Grievous: The Warrior

Hopefully the Scimitar will be returning with a full compliment of people (1 pilot, 6 passengers for the record).

Anyway, something like this deserves a proper operation name, so enjoy voting for that while I make sure I have my plans for the meat of this straight because next update is when we really kick things off. Don't expect an update too soon, but it should be here by next week at the latest.

 

[Dr. Snark]

"Commence Operation Skyfall."

Oracle, Main Hangar

As soon as word of the operation reached the main hangar, the area surrounding the Scimitar became abuzz with activity. Engineers quickly ran pre-flight checks, porters began to ferry supplies and weaponry onto the ship, all while Ciaran and her team went through their own final tasks.

Ciaran was already on board the Scimitar, running through internal checks and programming in the coordinates for the jumps needed to reach Kamino. In contrast to the teasing, mocking smiles she normally wore her face was set in grim determination.

Thrawn and Grievous were on board the ship as well in its ready room, observing a projection of Kamino and brainstorming various plans and contingencies based on the potential movements of the Separatist and Republic forces.

The Silencer was busy checking weapons as they were loaded onto the ship, ensuring that each one was functional before adding them to the ship's cargo.

Gulan and Silas were standing together looking at last-minute reports coming in and issuing various failsafe and alert orders for their assets in Wild Space. While Gulan was looking as though he was in his element, Silas looked visibly uncomfortable.

And then the time had come, and with its crew on board the Scimitar lifted off and began its fateful journey towards Kamino...

Slave I, En Route to Kamino

Jango's expression had not changed much since his conversation with Thrawn but if one looked closely they could tell that his muscles were tensing up and his breathing was ever so slightly more rapid.

This was nothing compared to Kal, who was pacing around in the Slave I's compact crew quarters, attempting to control the anger he had at the Kaminoans for what they had done.

With these two men on board the Slave I continued its journey, its crew of two preparing themselves for the war ahead...

RNS Resolute, En Route to Kamino

On board the Venator, Obi-Wan stood at the bridge, contemplating the battle he would be participating in. While he remained the picture of serene contemplation, he couldn't help but wonder how Satine was doing right now.

In comparison, Anakin was going through exercises on a lower deck, trying to prepare himself for the upcoming rigors of battle. A part of him was happy at this; at least now he was finally going somewhere where he could make a difference.

The Resolute cruised towards Kamino, the Jedi on board preparing themselves for the most difficult fight of their lives...

CSS Invisible Hand

As the battle was about to begin, Asajj was concentrating in her room, readying herself for yet another battle against her rivals, Anakin and Obi-Wan.

On the bridge, Sev'rance Tann was overseeing the ship and finalizing the plans for the invasion on Kamino. In her mind, she began to create a plan that would ensure Ventress' demise.

Along with the CIS invasion fleet, the Invisible Hand roared towards Kamino as though eager for the bloodshed soon to come...


Operation Skyfall: Commenced
Priority: Maximum
Risk: Maximum
Potential Benefits: Extremely High
All Wild Space Assets On High Alert



Kamino System, Scimitar

"Coming into the system now," Ciaran announced as the Scimitar left hyperspace. Immediately the sensors lit up with dozens of Republic capital ship signatures as well as a number of defense installations surrounding the vital water planet. "No sign of the Separatists, it looks like we beat them here."

"Some good news at least," Gulan muttered from behind her as he typed on a pad. "From what I can tell the fleet's in a high alert stance, but there hasn't been any sign of anything coming in yet."

"Alright then. Attempting to contact Slave I, stand by for communications." With that command, Ciaran typed in the comm frequency to contact the ship and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Dammit all-" Gulan began to curse before a "signal established" indicator went on and holographic figures of Kal Skirata and Jango Fett appeared on the ship's projector. "Looks like you're early," Kal commented. "Transmitting meeting location to you now, we'll talk more on the surface." And with those words the projector went dead though the computer received the coordinates to their discreet hangar.

"Right then, inputting coordinates...done. All hands, prepare to go dark in 3, 2, 1, mark." With that Ciaran triggered the Scimitar's cloak and started the autopilot towards the planet. The viewports had all gone dark and the ship seemed eerily silent as the vessel stealthily made its way towards Kamino.

"You're sure this cloaking will work Ciara?" Silas quietly muttered.
"Well, we're about to find out aren't we? ETA to the planet's atmosphere, 3 minutes."

As the ship continued its journey Ciaran breathed in and began to focus on burying her presence.

"Remember boss, it's not about blocking their vision, it's about making sure they can't find you in the first place. What you need to do is focus the Force inwards and keep it contained..."

It had been difficult at first when she was first developing it with Tyro, but Ciaran managed to settle into the extended state of the technique within the first minute of the trip.

Save for the sounds of the crew breathing and the rumble of the ship's systems, the Scimitar quietly continued its flight for another minute, then another...

"Entering atmosphere in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mark."

The rumbling of the ship indicated it as it entered into the stormy skies that perpetually hung above Kamino's surface.

"Disengaging cloak in 3, 2, 1, mark."

And as though it were a phantom emerging from the storm, the Scimitar faded into view as it dropped beneath the clouds and approached Tipoca City.

"No indication of detection by Republic forces. Hangar in sight, doors are open. Beginning landing sequence."

The Scimitar smoothly turned around and quietly set itself down within the hangar. As it came in its crew noticed the Slave I landed next to its spot, as well as a number of crates, boxes and containers strewn around the hangar. Once the ship's landing had completed, Ciaran and her crew barring Silas moved to the exit hatch.

"Good luck, Ciara," he muttered as he passed her by, moving into the pilot's chair and settling in for his job.

"Now remember that Master Skirata can be a rather abrasive man. Be polite," Thrawn commented once the others had gathered themselves.

"He seems like a fine warrior. I look forward to meeting him," said Grievous as the door opened to reveal what appeared to be a clone trooper in ARC armor albeit with an unusual bright red trim.

"So you're the ones he was waiting for?" the soldier asked.

"If you are referring to Kal Skirata, then yes," Thrawn said as he stepped forward. "Are you his emissary?"

"Close enough," the clone said in a tone indicating that he was the one in charge right now. "Now before we go meet him I have some ground rules. You try and move out of me or the others' sights, you die. You try and shoot any of us in the back, you die. You try and backstab my buir, you die painfully. You follow me and shut up until we get to where we're going, and everything will go smoothly. Clear?"

"Of course, though the 'others?'" Ciaran asked.

The trooper snorted. "They're the rest of the people here to keep eyes on you. Now if we're clear, we can all get moving."

"Then we're clear," Ciaran said, and the rest of her team nodded in acceptance as well.

"Right then. Time to move out, vode!" the soldier shouted as he turned around to face the empty hangar. On cue a quartet of clones in unusually advanced-looking armor came out of hiding and moved up to the group, each of whom had their weapons at rest but their fingers still on their triggers.

"You know, out of all the things I've ever been told 'not to see,' this group is definitely one of the weirdest," the trooper in darkened armor with yellow trim quipped over his team's private comms. "I mean, you guys agree with me, right?"

"Six-Two, don't insult the VIPs," the one with green coloring commented. "We don't want an incident before the mission even starts."

"Knowing him, he'll get them pissed off without even trying," said the clone with a painted-on red handprint on his helmet. "Wouldn't surprise me at all."

"Hey, come on Sev," Six-Two commented. "I am amazing at diplomacy, and you know it."

"If you mean 'scarring people for life with explosions,' then sure," Sev fired back.

"Would you two please cut the chatter?" the green one said in a tone of voice indicating that this kind of argument had been done several times now.

Ciaran glanced at the soldier in clean white armor with orange trim. "And you would be...?"

"Boss," he said, gesturing to himself. He pointed to the trooper in green who saluted respectfully. "Fixer." Then to the one Sev had called 'Six-Two,' who gave a cheery wave. "Scorch." Then to the last clone. "Sev," he said as the clone in question curtly nodded. "We're Delta Squad. The other one is-"

"Ordo," he growled out. "If you're all done wasting time, we should get going," he said as he started to walk away.

"Ordo? Were you named after Mandalore the Preserver?" Ciaran asked as she started to walk with him. For his part Ordo glanced over his shoulder when he heard that question, but didn't say anything and kept walking. As everyone else fell in behind him Sev and Scorch moved closer to each other.

"So is this going to be as bad as that time on the Prosecutor?" Scorch quietly asked Sev.

"Don't kid yourself, it's going to be much worse," Sev responded.

"Dammit..."

Secure Meeting Room, Tipoca City, Kamino

"So, now that you've all gotten yourselves acquainted with each other, we can actually get started," Kal sarcastically said as he faced the eclectic mix of Delta Squad, Ordo, Jango, and Ciaran's team. "Now then, everyone here has heard about those," and with that the clones present displayed various signs of discomfort and anger, "Which is why the Deltas are willing to help me 'supervise' you lot."

"Our official job is to help sabotage invasion forces," Boss explained, "and from the sounds of it we can probably help each other out here."

"But that depends on what your 'asset' is," Ordo pointed out. "So out with it. Why did you need to get here so badly?"

Ciaran stepped forward and plugged a datapad into a terminal, causing the projector at the middle of the room to light up with the message between Dooku and Tann. "This. Our asset is their target, Asajj Ventress."

The room went silent for a moment before Scorch flatly commented, "You're serious. You-you want to kidnap a Sith!?"

"Hopefully she will be willing to come with us," Thrawn noted, "especially given that message. At any rate she is expected to lead troops in this battle which will allow Tann the chance to eliminate her."

"You seem so certain that they're going to make it to the ground," Kal said, "but I don't see how-"

At that point he was interrupted by a tone from Ciaran's communicator, which she quickly activated. "They're here?"

"That they are, Ciara. Transferring data over to you now."

The central projector lit up with images of the Republic and Separatist forces preparing for battle.

"There are too few assault ships," Thrawn noted. "Where are her ground forces at?"

Everyone present continued to watch the battle with rapt attention as the two fleets battled, though oddly enough it seemed as though the Republic was winning; the Separatist fleet had been taking considerable damage according to Silas' reports.

"Tann would never commit this kind of force to a losing battle...so why would she let all of those ships be-Oh. So that's your plan..." he realized out loud, beginning to smile. "Truly inspired my dear." He leaned back and addressed the people in the room. "The army is being camouflaged as debris from the ships being attacked. The Republic would have no reason to pay attention to it and since most of the army is made of droids who don't need to breathe..."

Kal's eyes widened. "We need to get on the horn then-"

"No," Thrawn calmly declared, holding a hand out towards Kal as he continued to observe the battle. "Or rather, tell them to let the Separatist forces come down instead of opening fire on the debris." Looking at an incredulous Kal Thrawn clarified, "If they believe their strategy has succeeded it will give the ground forces more time to prepare defenses. If they were alerted it could cause the Separatists to become desperate and launch an attack before the Republic forces are prepared."

"And it would give you a chance to get at Ventress," Jango noted.

Ordo let out a grunt of annoyance but seemed to understand the situation.

"Besides, it would be more difficult to attack the Separatist forces when they are in the water. Now you are aware of their plan and able to prepare for it."

"Indeed," Grievous commented with no small amount of excitement in his voice. "Fool the predators into thinking they have set their trap and then strike them unawares to crush them utterly. I approve of this plan wholeheartedly."

"I like him," Sev commented.

"Oh great, now there's two of them," Scorch snarkily commented.

"Can it, you two," Fixer said.

While the Deltas were bantering again, Kal brought his hand to his chin for a moment, then thought out loud, "And if they get to land it'd keep the Seppies from trying something really crazy like dropping a ship on the city..." He nodded to Thrawn. "Right then."

"Hey Ciara," came Silas' voice over communications, "the Seps are 'retreating.' But look here," and the projection zoomed in on a group of fighters trying to inflict more damage on the fleeing ships. "According to the transmissions I've heard it's that Anakin kid leading those crazy idiots chasing down those ships."

Kal chuckled to himself. "Skywaker, right? From what I've heard the boy should have been a Mando instead of a Jedi."

"Anyway, looks like the fleet's leaving, but I did some quick scans and it looks like Thrawn's right on the money; I've noticed energy signatures coming from the debris falling to the planet. I'd expect the Seps to attack in the next few hours."

Kal nodded, then turned to everyone. "Right then, time to employ the buddy system boys and girls; Ciaran, you and your team will each partner up with one of my boys. You help us fight the Seppies, and we help you get your Sith."

"Still a crazy idea..." Scorch muttered.

Kal glared at him causing him to sputter out, "B-But we're still willing to help out, sir. Or ma'am?"

The sergeant shook his head. "Anyway. From the sounds of it the more Seps get blasted away the easier it'll be for you to get Ventress out alive. A win-win situation for everyone."

"Except the Seps," Gulan snarked.

"Well, fuck 'em," Kal commented. "Now then, let's figure out how we're going to buddy up."

Available Members

N-11 Ordo: Null Arc, All-around best soldier
Kal's Comments: I love him like my own son and he's without question the best solider here (no offense to the Deltas), but Ordo's a stubborn verd and he only really listens to me. If you want to get his respect you need to show him that you have the spirit of a Mando like him.

RC-1138 "Boss": Delta Squad Leader, proficient at all fields though not as specialized as the rest of his team.
Kal's Comments: I tend to think of Boss here as Jango's brother from another cloner. He's got that same quiet temperament, and he's just as deadly in a firefight, though he's much more willing to cooperate with others of course. You can't go wrong with having him around.

RC-1140 "Fixer": Delta Squad Member, highly proficient slicer
Kal's Comments: Fixer's about as straight-laced as they come; that being said the lad can slice through any security like it was nonexistent. I don't really have much else to say about him aside from 'don't let him near any data you want kept secret'.

RC-1207 "Sev": Delta Squad Member, highly proficient sniper
Kal's Comments: Sev is more bloodthirsty than some of the Mandos I've fought with and a damn good sniper to boot. If you want someone dead at extreme range he's your man, though don't expect him to show any kind of mercy. From what I've heard from the others he tends to double-tap everyone. No matter how dead they look.

RC-1262 "Scorch": Delta Squad Member, demolitions expert
Kal's Comments: Scorch here may seem really childish-and to be honest he sort of is-but there is no one in the galaxy more dedicated to the fine art of blowing shit up than him. Not to mention that once you get past all of the sarcastic commentary he's certainly just as good as his vode.

Assignments (Pick 1 Per Person)


Ciaran:
[] Ordo
[] Boss
[] Fixer
[] Sev
[] Scorch

Gulan:
[] Ordo
[] Boss
[] Fixer
[] Sev
[] Scorch

Silencer:
[] Ordo
[] Boss
[] Fixer
[] Sev
[] Scorch

Thrawn:
[] Ordo
[] Boss
[] Fixer
[] Sev
[] Scorch

Grievous:
[] Ordo
[] Boss
[] Fixer
[] Sev
[] Scorch

AN: I told you I was insane. For those of you who doubted that, I bring you 5 of the most dangerous clones ever to walk the galaxy. Kal Skirata does not fuck around when it comes to this kind of thing. Jango will be busy doing his own thing during the battle; I have plans for him. Hehehe...

Also yes, Kal is going to be quietly spreading the "good word" about the chips to people he trusts. So that's a thing. Given that all of said people are one-man armies that are stupidly loyal to each other and distrusting of outsiders...I'm sure it'll be fine.

Anyway when voting be sure to not only consider skills that each group would have, but the hilarity of their combination. Enjoy~

another 3k words holy fucking shit

though I did end up taking more breaks this time I guess

 

[Teron]

Abyss Watchers troop compostion:

Guardians:
Armor: Custom combat armor based on Phase I Clone Trooper armor. Majority of mobility restrictions removed compared to original. Camopatterns added.
Weaponry: Varies depending on person.
Variant 1: Blaster rifles, grenades, vibro-dagger/stun baton.
Variant 2: Deck Sweeper, grenades, vibro dagger/stun baton.
Variant 3: Blaster pistol, portable durasteel shield, stun baton/force pike.
Variant 4: Heavy weapons (missiles, blaster cannons, etc.), grenades, vibrodagger/stun baton.
Equipment: Medpac, encrypted comlink (integrated into helmet), synthrope, rations, blast charges, etc.

Usage: Guardian teams are sent into the field when heavy firepower is required and a lack of subtlety is acceptable. Usualy recruited from rivaling mercenary organisations, gangs, former soldiers and in increasing frequency from normal citizens.

Seeker:
Armor: Shadowsuit overlaid with limited armor.
Weaponry:
Variant 1: Blaster pistol, stun baton/vibro-dagger, shock gauntlets, grenades.
Variant 2: Long-range blaster or disruptor rifle, stun baton/vibro-dagger, shock gauntlets, grenades.
Equipment: Medpac, encrypted comlink (integrated into helmet), synthrope, rations, blast charges, com-scrambler, slicer equipment, datapad, etc.

Usage: Seeker teams are responsible for infiltration, espionage, sabotage and assassination missions for which they are equiped to not be encountered in the first place. Usually recruited from mercenaries or bounty hunters.

Watchers:
Armor: Very limited to none.
Weaponry: Very limited to none.
Equipment: Very limited to none.

Usage: Normal citizens hired with a regular paycheck to keep eyes and ears open for anything of interest and if required be available to help out any other member of the Abyss Watchers. You won't believe how much having even the lowliest janitor, bureaucrat or secretary on ones payroll can help in the right circumstances.

Abyss Agent:
Armor: Reinforced coat, light combat armor
Weaponry: Blaster pistol, vibroblade or vibrodagger, grenades, (rarely) lightsaber
Equipment: Medpac, synthrope, encrypted comlink (portable or headset), com-scrambler, slicer equipment, datapad, etc.

Usage: Force Users of the Abyss Watchers. Personaly trained by Tyro Torvin with occasional assitance of Ciaran. Tend to have more of a mindset along the lines of special agents/commandos/mercenaries than regular Force Users due to Tyro Torvins past as pirate and Lady Ciarans attempts to curb any darkside tendencies. Also very well paid. Usually recruited from amongst the rest of the organisation if force sensitivity is discovered.

Kaleesh Warriors:
Armor: Custom combat armor or none at all
Weaponry: Pistols and Rifles (Blaster or Slugthrower), Daggers, Swords, Staffs (Bladed or Vibro)
Equipment: Medpac, encrypted comlink, synthrope, rations, blast charges, etc.

Usage: Kaleeshi warriors who have volunteered to serve under Grievous personaly and by extension the Abyss Watchers. Tend to be able to handle both the duties of the Seekers and Guardians both, which makes them quite versatile.

Wookiee Warriors
Armor: Usually none. Occasional custom combat armor.
Weaponry: Bowcasters or Ryyk Blades
Equipment: Medpac, encrypted comlink, synthrope, rations, blast charges, etc.

Usage: Wookiee Warriors. They are going to shoot, cut or bludgeon the enemy to death. Or rip their arms out of their sockets. Thats it.

Benefits of the employees:
Generous pay
Free healthcare
Free transportation
Free vacation
Generous pension
Compensation for accidents during work/missions
Compensation for lingering health issues developed during work/missions
Compensation for relatives in case of death
Generous holiday allowance
Quick retrieval from imprisonment in case of arrest
Retrieval of corpse in case of death
High quality legal assistance

(I had this partly floating around in the back of my mind since the old thread and especially after in one of the omakes reading one of the Abyss Watchers members mentioning that they earn more money than most bounty hunters.)

 

[Dr. Snark]

Secure Meeting Room, Tipoca City, Kamino

"Alright then," Ciaran announced. "Master Skirata, if you don't mind...?"

Kal shrugged. "As long as everyone has a buddy, I'm fine, and my boys here will be certainly accommodating. You know your team better than I do."

"Right then. Gulan, you will be going with Fixer."

The Bothan quirked an eyebrow at his companion who politely saluted, but didn't say anything.

"Silencer, you will be going with Boss."

For his part Boss nodded affirmatively at the Silencer, who as usual did not react to the news in any noticeable way.

"Thrawn, you will be with Sev."

Thrawn bowed politely to the sniper, who cocked his head in what was either curiosity or derision-it was hard to tell.

"Grievous, you and Ordo will go together."

The two of them promptly entered into a brief but intense staring match, which ended with Grievous nodded with respect and Ordo shrugging.

Before Ciaran could speak to Scorch, the commando facepalmed. "So, I get to be the one guarding the VVIP, great," he muttered, then glanced at Ciaran again. "One question; how do you feel about explosions?"

The rest of the Deltas went through various motions of exasperation as Ciaran arched an eyebrow and coolly responded with "I've found that there are very few problems precisely placed charges can't solve."

"Exactly," Scorch happily said.

"If you two are done," Kal said derisively, "we've got work to do. I'll get on the horn and let the rest of the boys know what's coming, but for now you all need to get ready. Now then..." Kal muttered as he typed in something and the projector's image changed to display a squid-like vessel. "This right here is a Trident-class assault ship, which given the way they came in are what the Seps are going to be attacking us with." He gestured to the "beak" of the ship and continued, "These things have durasteel drills that allow them to pierce through regular metal, and given their maneuverability I can't tell you exactly where these things are going to land." After finishing, Kal pressed another button and the display changed to an image of Tipoca City. "What I do know is that they're going to be going after the primary cloning facilities and the clone cadet barracks," and as he spoke the locations he mentioned lit up, "so we know where they're going. Odds are though that they'll try to break through the main hangar, but the boys should be able to handle that themselves."

"We're going to be running counter-ops," Ordo cut in. "While we're going to aid the others if needed, our main job is to make sure the Seps don't have any commando droids running around. And odds are that our missions will lead you right to your Sith."

"Right. That's all for now, everyone prepare yourselves and try not to get each other killed," Kal dryly noted, though he shot an unreadable expression in Jango's direction. "Jango and I will be staying here for a bit while we report to the brass."

Everyone in the room began to filter out barring the two Mandalorians. Kal quietly began to prepare a message for the Republic forces as Jango looked on with indifference.

"Do you really need me here right now-"

"How long do you plan on running from who you are?" asked Kal, interrupting Jango's comment, not even bothering to look at him. The bounty hunter was nonplussed and coldly noted, "I have to survive, Kal, and you know damn well why."

Kal finished his message and looked up back at Jango. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Kal dropped his head. "I know," he said quietly. "The thought of my boys losing their freedom like that..." He looked back up at Jango with an unreadable expression in his eyes. "Jango, whether you like it or not those boys out there are your vode in blood and in spirit. You have to help them."

"All I have to do," Jango coldly responded, "is to do what the Republic tells me, survive, and get paid."

Kal glared at him. "Would you say that if Boba was a soldier?"

The room went silent as the two men stared each other down anger visible on both their faces. "That is what it's like for me knowing about this now," Kal said. "You can deny it all you want, but you are still a Mando, Jango. And a Mando would never turn his back on his vode at a time like this."

The two continued to glare at each other before Jango stormed out of the room. Shaking his head and sighing, Kal went back to the terminal and placed a call to the Republic field command. "Put me on general communications. I want to tell the troops something."

"Understood, Sergeant Skirata."

"Attention all troops. This is Sergeant Kal Skirata. I'm not one for big speeches, so I'm just going to say this: when you are out there fighting today remember what it is you're fighting for. You're fighting for your home. You're fighting for your brothers who have yet to join you. Remember that, and draw strength from that will you share with your brothers! Vode An!"

Tipoca City, Kamino

Across the city, the troops preparing for battle went silent after hearing Kal speak. Then, someone-it wasn't certain who-began to chant. And then more and more began to join in, adding their own voices to the growing chorus that began to echo throughout the entire city.

"Captain Rex, what are those soldiers chanting?" asked Anakin, who was preparing for the battle with him, Obi-Wan, and Cody.

"First time you've heard this sir? That's 'Vode An,' one of the chants we got taught as young clones. It's there to remind us that we're all brothers no matter what."

"This sounds familiar..." Obi-Wan thought out loud. "Is it in Mandalorian?"

"Yes sir," replied Cody. "Jango himself was the one who taught the first of us the chant."

As for the man in question, Jango was elsewhere in the city, going over final checks of his equipment. Though he wasn't around the rest of the troops, he was still able to faintly hear the chanting of the army through the walls. And as he did, he stopped for a brief moment before continuing his checks.

...Though if one listened very closely they might be able to hear a few quiet words spoken.

"Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an."

The chanting continued unabated even as the Separatist's Trident vessels leaped up from the sea and began their attack on Tipoca City.

Perspective Shift:

[] Ciaran/Scorch "Do you have a plan besides 'blow them all up?'" "Hey, that's only part of the plan."
[] Gulan/Fixer "How much longer will it take for that slice to finish!?" "Well it would help if I wasn't getting shot at as much!"
[] Silencer/Boss "Multiple hostiles on all sides." "Good. It'll make our jobs easier if they come to us."
[] Thrawn/Sev "Anything else I need to know before I begin locating targets?" "Just point out whatever needs to die."
[] Grievous/Ordo "Never seen that kind of droid before..." "Heh...perhaps this one will actually be a challenge."

AN: Man for being a shorter one this update was a bitch to write, but this is the last 'talky' update before the 'shooty' updates.

Anyway don't worry about "missing out" on a perspective, just vote for which duo you want to see first; you'll get the chance to see the other groups in action too.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Tipoca City, Kamino

You are Grievous, warrior of Kalee and instrument of death. And right now, as you sprint through the halls of Tipoca City alongside your comrade-in-arms Ordo, feeling the adrenaline pump through your veins...it all makes you feel alive in a way that only being on the battlefield can provide.

Of course having prey to hunt is also a core part of this feeling. Such as group of droids that the two of you are coming up on, unaware of what is coming. As you get closer you skid to a halt, quickly shoulder your rifle and pull the trigger all in one fluid motion, shooting one of the droids cleanly through the chest which causes it to topple over. As you fire Ordo also halts himself and throws a grenade into the ranks of the droids, which lands close to their center. Thanks to your quick shot the droids are disoriented and are unable to react as quickly before the grenade goes off, destroying the majority of them and scattering the few survivors who are quickly picked off by your rifle fire.

You glance over at Ordo, who simply gives a curt nod as the two of you resume sprinting towards your destination. According to some reports from the troopers that Skirata had forwarded to you a unit nearby had been suffering casualties from an unknown adversary; while the reports did not indicate that Tann or Ventress were present Skirata had sent the two of you there to eliminate this unknown threat.

At any rate you were about to arrive on the scene of the last distress call the unit had given out...and upon reaching it you and Ordo see a dozen clone trooper corpses strewn throughout the featureless hallway.

"Damn," Ordo curses.

"This is troubling," you note as you quickly move to examine the bodies. In particular while some of them had blaster scars on their armor, a number of them seemed to have holes punched through their armor that indicated a bladed weapon of some kind had caused the damage. It seemed to indicate an assassin of some persuasion, but before you could examine the bodies further a loud scream came from further ahead in the hallway. Without a word the two of you rushed to the source and stood before the entrance of what appeared to be a large atrium of some kind; it was a wide open room with the featureless white walls of the city and dotted with various sculptures that ranged from small and person-sized to a number of large...things that took up large parts of the room. But what was most relevant about it was the trooper several feet in front of you, with a hole in the middle of his chest, though judging by the groaning noises he was making he was still barely alive. As he saw the nearly dead trooper, Ordo began to rush forwards before you hold out a hand to stop him.

"What do you think you're-" he starts.

"This is clearly a trap," you quietly interrupt. "Our enemy is likely still here, and is using him to lure in others."

With that, Ordo noticeably backs off and you lower your arm. "Dammit," he comments. "I can't believe I almost fell for that."

"Do not worry. While simplistic, this type of lure is meant to take advantage of the mindset of soldiers and the camaraderie between them." You grimace as you remember how you had learned to prepare yourself for this in the most painful way possible as the Huk were very fond of using the wounded soldier lure against you and your men...Subtly shaking your head, you nod to Ordo, who nods back as the two of you slowly enter the atrium, sweeping the area for enemies as you both move towards the dying trooper. However neither of you see anything as the two of you reach him.

"G-get out of here...that thing's still here somewhere..." the trooper weakly said.

"We know," Ordo replied. "What was it?"

"S-some kind of droid...killed everyone before...before we could even shoot back..."

"How?"

"Killed some of us with blasters...stabbed some of the others...but it was the noise..."

As he utters those words you hear an unearthly sound that seemed to resemble deranged laughter echo through the atrium, and in response you and Ordo moved to cover each others backs, though neither of you still saw anything as you scanned the room.

"N-No...run...run!"

And then the lights suddenly went out and the room was plunged into darkness. You and Ordo quickly press up against each other as you both try and look around for movement of any kind. You can hear the distinct sound of a vibroblade piercing through armor as you turn and look in the direction that the ill-fated soldier was in on reflex.

"It has night vision of some kind," Ordo noted. "Turn on some lights-"

"No," you say, as you can feel Ordo shift around behind you in clear agitation. "Have faith in me, boy. I am nothing if not a hunter."

And as the two of you move so that you slowly turn in place, you still your breathing and raise your rifle. This was certainly a fierce predator, but you understood what it meant to hunt even in utter darkness. No matter how stealthy something is, there was always some way to tell where they were if you were perceptive enough...

A few seconds later, you hear the disorienting laughter again, though once again you couldn't quite pin down the source. It was obviously meant to intimidate and frighten foes, but it was also disorienting, meant to distract more fearless targets as they try and locate their hunter. But you continued to focus, carefully waiting...

And then you can feel a shift in the air. You quickly whip your gun in the direction of the shift and fire a burst of rounds in that direction, and you hear the satisfying sound of a round hitting home. As if on cue the lights suddenly come back on giving you a complete view of your opponent.

It was unlike anything you had ever seen; a sleek, black droid with a thin red visor as the only sign of optics on the droid. It was very thinly designed with skeletal limbs and a minimally-armored body; evidently your shot had damaged whatever allowed it to shut off the lights earlier.

Before you could examine it any further, it let out an ear-rending shriek and leaped away from you, opening fire with blaster rounds that appeared to come from its arms.

"Never seen a droid like that before," Ordo casually commented as he took cover and began to return fire.

"Heh...perhaps this one will actually prove to be a challenge," you mutter excitedly.

As you continue to exchange fire the droid runs towards the atrium's wall and begins to climb up it in a manner resembling a spider, continuing to dodge and take potshots at the two of you as it quickly moves over you. Once it gets above you it launches off of the ceiling and extends a blade from beneath its arm aimed directly at your head. But before it can strike home a blaster round from Ordo hits it causing it to get knocked away and smash into the floor. As you wheel on it and prepare to fire it darts out of the way of your reflexive shot before reaching down to its sides and grabbing a pair of batons, which begin to emit electricity from their ends as it charged at you with them drawn. In response you quickly dropped your rifle and drew out a pair of Lig swords modeled after her blades and engaged the droid in close combat.

It was a fierce opponent mainly due to its speed and ferocity. The droid was almost constantly attacking, attempting to simply beat you down with its electro-batons with relentless and rapid attacks. However, while you were never as skilled of a swordfighter as she was, you were able to hold your own against it, deflecting the many strikes of the droid though its relentless assault meant that you couldn't exploit any openings.

But then again, you were hardly alone at this moment. As the two of you continued to fight, you began to maneuver so that the droid would be positioned between you and Ordo, who was waiting for the opportunity to take a shot. The droid itself didn't seem to notice, seemingly dedicating everything it had to killing you.

A fatal mistake.

As you completed your maneuver Ordo fired a shot into the droid's back, causing it to begin to spasm as it malfunctioned. You quickly rolled out of the way as Ordo continued to open fire on it, reducing its torso into scrap. What was left of the assassin droid fell to the ground as the visor on its head went dark indicating that it had been shut down once and for all.

You catch your breath and grin widely. "That was a worthy foe."

"Yeah, well I hope there aren't many more of these things around, I don't know if I could fight one of those things in close combat," Ordo noted, then turned to look at you more directly. "Speaking of which, who taught you to fight like that?"

You stayed silent for a moment then quietly said, "Someone very dear to me."

Ordo didn't say anything, but simply nodded as he moved to check on the head while you recovered your rifle. "Anyway, let's see if we can get any good data out of what's left of this thing..."

Unit Designation: HS-1
Purpose: Stealth/Assassination Unit
Internal Components: x2 Blasters, x2 Electro-Batons, x2 Vibroblades, Jamming Device
Description: Named after the Hssiss of Korriban, these droids are custom-built to assassinate targets ranging from troops on the ground up to Jedi through psychological warfare, intelligent planning, and brutal combat skills. These units are agile and highly aggressive, though they are lightly-armored to help them keep up their speed and tend to be single-minded once they engage a target in earnest.

AN: Well that was fun, wasn't it? Not going to lie, it was fun to write Grievous up for a bit, as well as the fight against HS-1.

Much as I desperately wanted to whip out a Magnaguard for the sake of dramatic irony, I figure that Sev'rance wouldn't want a droid like those. A pragmatist and strategist like her would want something more along the lines of the HS-1 here. And, y'know. It looks cooler. At least in my head.

Anyway as I said previously we're going to be moving straight to Ciaran and Scorch's perspective next time. Don't worry, most of Tipoca City will be intact after it.

Most of it.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Tipoca City, Kamino

*BOOM*

A large explosion echoed through the halls of Tipoca City as a group of aqua droids were annihilated in a fiery blast thanks to a hidden charge they didn't notice until it was too late. From behind cover, Scorch admired his good work while Ciaran looked on incredulously.

"I believe I seriously underestimated your passion for demolitions," she dryly commented to Scorch.

"Ma'am, in my experience the answer to 'explosions' is always yes."

-------

You are Ciaran, and right now this has proven to at least be more exciting than your last visit to this planet, although to be fair planetary invasions do tend to make a visit much more interesting.

At any rate, you and your companion Scorch were moving through Tipoca City towards a Separatist staging point with the simple objective of "disrupt enemy forces."

In hindsight Scorch's open glee at the idea should have clued you in to what you were going to be dealing with.

Still, as you managed to reach a viewpoint overlooking the platform that the staging point was located at you saw a large group of aqua droids on standby while a makeshift command post was nearby, staffed only by a commander droid. Nodding to yourself, you move back with Scorch.

"Do you have a plan besides 'blow all of them up'?" you ask the commando.

"Hey, that's only part of my plan," he replied.

You quirk an eyebrow as he explains the rest of his idea to you.

-------

To be honest, it had been some time since you had personally done any infiltration missions on your own and it was surprisingly refreshing to be doing field work again.

That being said crawling along the outer edges of the platform to sneak by the droids was hardly the most glamorous of missions, but if Scorch's plan worked...

"Gotta say, I'm kind of amazed that you actually know how to be stealthy. I mean, I know you said you could be but still," you heard Scorch comment over your earpiece.

"Well I'm sure I could say the same about you, you pyromaniac," you quietly mutter so only your comm unit would pick it up.

"Hey, I am not a pyromaniac. Those guys like to watch things burn, I like to watch things explode. There's a difference. About 5 meters to the edge of the command center."

You roll your eyes and continue to crawl until you reach the edge. From there, you quietly move up and over the side, keeping low as you move close to one of the crates that served as a "wall" for the command post there.

"Okay, now be careful because that charge is going to make a very big boom," Scorch says as you begin to plant it. "Just place it right there and carefully punch in the activation sequence."

You do so quickly and move away as fast as you can without raising attention, dropping back over the edge onto the slope. "Am I at minimum safe distance?"

"Uh...probably?"

"I need better than 'probably' Scorch."

"Well you've got the platform between you and it but-oh hell."

"What?"

"Looks like the droids are starting to move, I'm going to have to blow the charge ASAP. If you run you'll definitely be out of the blast zone. You've got ten seconds until I detonate."

As Scorch counts down you abandon all pretenses of stealth and start running along the slanted edges of the platform. You see a few aqua droids start to turn in your direction but it's far too late.

"3, 2, 1, mark!"

You drop and cover your ears just before a loud blast echoes through the air and you can feel the heat and shockwaves from the explosion for a brief moment before you lift yourself of the ground and peer over the edge to see that the field command center had been completely vaporized along with a few of the aqua droids though there are still a significant amount remaining.

Before you can continue observing the situation at hand you see more projectiles rain down on the droid forces which explode and deal even more damage, reducing the enemy numbers to a more manageable number.

"I'm out of ordinance for now, moving up."

Looking around you only see a small amount of aqua droids remaining, then nod to yourself. "I'll keep them busy, then."

"Wait-"

Quickly grabbing a blaster rifle you use the ridge of the platform as cover and begin to open fire on the remaining droids. While you are able to secure a few kills they quickly wheel on you and fire on your position in an attempt to suppress you, though you quickly move around the edge of the platform and continue firing.

You had changed positions twice when you see blaster rounds from Scorch begin to hit the droids, forcing them to split their attention between the two of you. This proved to be disastrous for them as between Scorch's bomb, his bombardment earlier and you managing to whittle down some of the droids there weren't enough of them left to keep the both of you down for too long. Between the two of you, the last of the droids quickly fell to your combined efforts. Confirming that everything in the area was dead, you quickly moved over to Scorch.

"You know, if you had told me how big that charge would be I don't think I would have carried it to begin with," you dryly comment though there's no real malice in your words.

"Oh come on, our job was to cause havoc! Why wouldn't I make the biggest boom possible?" he responds, pretending to be offended.

You open your mouth to continue bantering when you notice through your Force vision that one of the aqua droids had been hiding that it was barely functional and was about to try to shoot you in the back. You hear but don't register Scorch saying something as you reflexively draw your lightfoil and ignite it just as the droid opens fire, allowing you to parry the bolt just in time. The semi-active droid then drops to the ground as Scorch fires a few rounds into it just to be sure before looking back at you.

"So are you some kind of...rogue Jedi or something?"

You smirk. "I suppose that's true from a certain point of view."

Scorch goes quiet for a moment before he asks, "I am in way over my head right now, aren't I?"

"You have no idea."

Perspective Shift:

[] Gulan/Fixer "How much longer will it take for that slice to finish!?" "Well it would help if I wasn't getting shot at as much!"
[] Silencer/Boss "Multiple hostiles on all sides." "Good. It'll make our jobs easier if they come to us."
[] Thrawn/Sev "Anything else I need to know before I begin locating targets?" "Just point out whatever needs to die."
[] ??? "Think you can keep up with me?" "Heh. I was about to ask you the same thing." (Skips other perspectives and moves towards arc finale)

AN: Apologies for this taking so long, I've had a bit of a long week and my muse doesn't really cooperate with me when I get stressed unfortunately. But I did promise explosions, and indeed I delivered.

Anyway, back to the voting, it's still going to be the same options as last time barring the people already seen, though if you want to skip the rest and move on with the plot there's now an option for that should you so choose.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Tipoca City, Kamino

You are Thrawn and once again you are taking up a spotter position though this time you are alongside an actual sniper. For his part, Sev is quickly setting himself up to begin sniping targets.

"Anything else I need to know before I begin locating targets?" you ask. Sev simply glances at you for a second before settling into position. "Just point me at what needs to die."

...How charming. At any rate, you begin scanning the area through the rangefinders you had on hand; while the position you had taken up was relatively well-protected it also meant that it would be more difficult to get shots in. Hopefully with Sev's experience that would not be a problem.

You glance around for a few moments before you see what appears to be a commando droid quickly moving across a bridge. "45 degrees left, 20 up, but hold fire for one moment."

Sev shifts position before calmly saying, "I have him in my sights. Think he's trying to bait us?"

"Quite possibly," you respond as you continue to observe the droid in question which had slowed down considerably as it began to sweep the area. Suddenly, you hear a distant rumble and by the look of things so did the commando droid, which whipped its head in the direction of the sound. "What was that?"

"That would be why we never let Scorch go on his own for too long," Sev dryly commented.

You briefly shake your head in annoyance and look back through the rangefinder at the droid, who moves back in the opposite direction as fast as it came in. The two of you wait as the tension rises before you see a group of aqua droids marching along the bridge.

"I do not see any commanders in that unit so far, so it appears that this is just a regular troop movement," you say as you begin to sweep the rest of the area to ensure there are no other snipers present on the field before the two of you make your move. While you don't see any droid snipers, you do notice a pair of clone troopers in armor with light blue trim on a platform near the bridge the droids are marching across. "Friendlies. Down, right."

Sev shifts again and you are fairly certain you could have heard him curse under his breath though you could not make out the specific one. "They only have regular rifles, so they'll have to get up close even if they snipe..."

"They will have our support though." You look back at the droids and note that they are moving in a close-knit formation at the moment. "Try and get an angle where you can eliminate multiple enemies in one shot. I will let you know when the others are about to fire," you explain to Sev, who doesn't directly acknowledge you but tightens his finger on his trigger. You watch the other two clone troopers settle into position, ready their rifles, and-

"Now."

As the troopers begin to open fire Sev fires a shot that manages to take out a trio of aqua droids. For their part, the troopers begin to score kills of their own, but most importantly the aqua droids are slightly confused. While some opened fire on the troopers near them others began to scan the area for the source of the actual sniper fire, slightly decreasing the pressure on the fellow snipers.

You quickly shift your vision back and forth between the clones and the droids, determining where they are focusing their fire and having Sev target whatever they aren't. While the strategy is somewhat effective, it is rapidly becoming clear that the aqua droids are going to overwhelm the troopers' position unless some reinforcements arrive-

And of all of the beings on the planet that could support them, the one that arrived with supplies in his arms was...

"What is an old man doing on the battlefield?" you ask, the tension evaporating in place of confusion for a brief moment.

"Probably someone who aged too rapidly," Sev says as he glances over in the direction of the clone in question who was dropping of a significant amount of ammunition before he continued to fire. "Can't believe he's even able to carry all of that..."

At any rate, with the droids coming in faster more of them begin to sweep the area...and you see one fix its view on you and raise its arm.

"Down!" you order as blaster rounds begin to impact your area. While they are relatively scattered due to the range that you two are at there is still enough fire to force you and Sev to take cover.

From the brief glances you can steal during the barrage of fire you see that the aqua droids are beginning to storm the clones' position when one of them throws something before you are forced to duck back behind cover, though you can still hear the sound of the explosion even at this distance. Tellingly, the amount of fire headed in your direction dramatically decreases after it, allowing the two of you to regain your positions and begin returning fire as the troopers are forced to disengage.

Once they move away and the droids fully focus their fire on you, you and Sev turn to each other, nod, and quickly move away from your perch as the aqua droids continue to fire on it.

-------

"You alright, 99?"

"I appreciate your concern, Fives, but I am fine. Still, I do appreciate our friend's support."

"Not every day you have support from a commando of all people."

Perspective Shift:

[] Gulan/Fixer "How much longer will it take for that slice to finish!?" "Well it would help if I wasn't getting shot at as much!"
[] Silencer/Boss "Multiple hostiles on all sides." "Good. It'll make our jobs easier if they come to us."
[] ??? "Think you can keep up with me?" "Heh. I was about to ask you the same thing." (Skips other perspectives and moves towards arc finale)

AN: Well I needed to spice up this chapter and have it be more than sniping (yaaaaay...) so have some cameos and whatnot. Also I have a perfect excuse for the length this took...again...

...

Anyway, please vote and all that~

 

[Dr. Snark]

Tipoca City

You are Gulan Terrek, and right now you are in way over your fucking head right now. Seriously, as loyal as you are to the boss going into an active warzone was not what you had signed up for all those years ago. Though to be fair you also didn't sign up to help run a shadow organization with significant influence over galactic events so it's an even split.

...That's what you're trying to tell yourself as you and your associate Fixer are overlooking a makeshift comm relay set up by the droid army. Getting access to the Separtist comm network would not only help the Republic forces get crucial intel but would also help find Ventress when the time came.

The only problem was that the relay was currently surrounded by a large group of droids actively patrolling the area making it incredibly difficult to advance. You look around and try to find some entry point but not only are the droids covering every area thoroughly a few of them are right next to the relay itself making it impossible to get close enough.

"So, do you have a distraction in mind?" you ask the commando.

"I could set off a charge-"

As soon as he uttered those words the sound of a distant explosion could be heard, causing both you and the droids to look around in brief confusion before returning to their patrol patterns.

"Like that?" you comment.

"No. That is how Scorch would make a-" Fixer trails off for a second as you hear a beep on your comlink indicating that the Silencer is in close proximity. You look at Fixer and smile deviously. "Well, I think we might have our distraction," you say as Fixer nods and calls in.

-------

"Boss, come in."

"Go ahead, Fixer," said the Delta Squad leader as he and the Silencer came to a stop.

"The relay we need to hack has a lot of security around it; we're going to need a distraction to draw off some of the guards so we can get close."

"There was a position further back that was defensible enough," Silencer noted. Boss nodded in his direction, and spoke over the comms again. "We'll have a distraction ready in five."

"Understood, Boss."

-------

The tension only seems to rise as the minutes slowly pass. From what Fixer had told you even with the distraction that "Boss" and the Silencer would provide you'd likely be under fire and have to work very fast. You manage to at least suppress the urge to fidget in place as you wait for the distraction-

And then a greande flies out and lands in the middle of a trio of droids, going off before they can even react. The rest quickly turn and begin to open fire as "Boss" and the Silencer return fire as well, though from what you can see they are slowly beginning to fall back as the droids advance, dropping a few as they retreat. Fortunately for you, the guards have moved in a way that lets you see an opening for you and Fixer to move through. "Go, go!" you hiss under your breath as the two of you move as fast as you can towards the relay.

-------

Meanwhile, Boss and the Silencer are moving towards their holdout point, making sure to "retreat" slowly enough that the droids behind them are still interested in keeping up the pursuit. After a minute of the running battle the two of them reach their makeshift defensive location; a medium-sized training room with built-in barricades and abandoned ammunition for live-fire tests.

As the two of them settle in and prepare themselves, Silencer notices something on his built in radar. "They've called for more reinforcements. Multiple hostiles on all sides."

"Good," Boss comments neutrally. "It'll make our jobs easier if they come to us."

-------

You do your best to stay calm as you and Fixer move around the edges of the platform to get past the remaining droids, being careful as a few more are split off to hunt down the distraction team. As you approach the relay, you note to your horror that there is still a trio of droids surrounding it.

"I'll deal with the droids. You good to go?"

You nod, and Fixer leaps up and shoots the three of them in quick succession. As the rest of the droids on the platform turn and open fire on Fixer who is retreating into cover, you quickly move forward, place yourself behind the relay so you have cover and begin your slice.

Now under normal circumstances this kind of slice would be done from a light-year away in a ship no one could find, but today was not like that in the slightest as the some of droids nearby take potshots at you once they notice what you're doing.

"How much longer will it take for that slice to finish!?" Fixer asks as he continues to fend off the droids on the platform.

"Well it would help if I wasn't being shot at as much!" you yell back as a bolt lands dangerously close to you as you desperately try to finish your work as fast as you can. Right, focus on the essentials Gulan, you think to yourself as you try to slice. You just need to break the encryption like always. Just with more people shooting at you while you do it.

-------

At the same time, the distraction team was in a fight that ordinary soldiers would call the fight of their lives, with droids pouring in from every entrance constantly firing on them.

For the two of them, though...it was simply an average day.

The Boss and the Silencer were constantly firing on the advancing horde, mowing down wave after wave of droids. While they had to fall back once or twice, they were still holding out against the tide of enemies. Once the droids had begun to cluster together as they entered the room, Boss and the Silencer switched to using explosives, raining down grenades on the advancing droids.

"Fixer, we can only hold out for so long," Boss calmly said over the comms. "Are you almost done?"

-------

"Are you almost done!?" Fixer yelled at you as the droids began to get reinforcements. You weren't able to answer him as you were just about to-

"There!" you yell out triumphantly as you complete the slice. "Let's go!"

Fixer nods and throws a grenade at a smaller group of droids blocking one of the exits. Once it goes off the two of you make a break for it, ducking and weaving as the droids behind you try to chase you down.

"We're good to go, Boss!"

-------

Once the two of them had heard the word "good" over the comms Boss and the Silencer immediately began to fall back even further.

"According to local schematics this wall is thin enough that we can blast an exit through it," Boss explained as he began to prime a charge. "The blast is going to be large, get ready to take cover!" With that, Boss finished setting the charge as the two soldiers ducked behind the cover they could as the advancing droids began to move in.

Then Boss pressed down on the detonator, and the explosion shook both him and the Silencer. Quickly glancing up to see the newly-formed hole, the two of them quickly moved through their exit, taking potshots at the advancing droids before they moved through and escaped the area.

AN: I had the idea to merge the last two interludes when I saw how close the votes were, and I think it turned out really well.

Alright, now that we've had our fun, weren't we here to find Ventress or something?

(Hopefully the next update will be coming very soon.)

 

[Teron]

Unknown 'Abyss Watchers' owned Location, Recruitment Office, Unknown Time

"I hope this wasn't a mistake. Remember what happend to our last employer a few years back?" For this rag-tag bunch of a dozen misfits it has indeed been several years since the base of their employer was invaded and destroyed, forcing them to flee and get by through taking on odd-jobs for a long time. 'Fortunately' for them they caught the attention of the Abyss Watcher's criminal arm which was heavily rumored to be surprisingly benevolent and generous. A perfect group to work for if you were a less than honest person.

"Don't worry Herrin. I have only heard the best about them and I know a few of them... I mean, what is the worst that could happen? That we run into that red freak again while working for them?" Of course, as luck would have it the moment Herrins Twi-Lek girlfriend uttered that sentence, Xruk ended up being the one entering the office and just proceeded to silently glare at them.

A few silent moments later:

"Uh, sir?" Before Herrin could even say anything else than that Xruk held up his hand and silently nodded. "Hired. All of you. My colleague has personaly vouched for your competence with all that it entails. You will get to skip the recruit phase, receive training from me personaly and start off with higher paygrade. I will see you on the training course in half a hour. Your guide waits outside. Now, leave!" That said the sadistic Gand shooed the bunch of mercenaries out with surprising ethusiasm... only for Herrins personal horror to be waiting outside as their guide. The 'psycho-bastard' who just a few years ago nearly blew him and everyone else in the group up with a rocket launcher.

The Silencer.

"Oh no..."

Dantooine, Abyss Watchers owned Resort, during Operation Skyfall

For two surveilance experts the last few days couldn't have been better after they relayed some VERY important information to Ciaran herself. They have abruptly been recalled from their post in Wild Space, been given a generous bonus and paid vacation with a free stay at the Dantooine Resort... where they are currently resting at one of the areas many only slightly crowded pools.

"So... did this really happen? Just because of dumb luck?", "Hey, luck is important. It was allready luck for us that we did sign up with such generous bosses.", "True. Man, luxury like this would've been unimaginable about a year back.", "You tell me. Nice rooms, great food and drinks, entertainment, pools and... some nice view. I'll be back in a bit..."

What at least one of them certainly did NOT expect was that trying to hit on one of the female visitors would backfire badly. Backfire as in being slapped by Sabé. Who just so happened to be on vacation right now. A free one of course, because Ciaran loves to send her friends gifts, discounts and favors just because she can.

Coruscant, Karada-Corporation Research Facility, Unknown Time

The sound of an explosion is todays summary of Var Zheens newest experiment. A summary that of course needs to be taken care off by the more 'compentent' people around... or at least the ones less likely to blow things up.

"So... how often has this happened this month? Been on the Oracle to help Tyro so I couldn't keep up with counting." Cheriss Sair as usually sounds way too cheerfull considering that she is right about now helping a certain B1 droid drag an unconcious Giving out of his smoke filled lab. "Third time. I had to start refusing to make him coffee and ensure he wouldn't smuggle anything into the lab with which he could keep himself awake. Too ethusiastic, too much voluntary overtime."
Of course at the mention of 'overtime' Cheriss raises a brow, which is actually weird considering what she is... but at least it means she did learn organic behaviour very well. "Overtime? Voluntary overtime? We don't have overtime. Unless you are deployed to somewhere, but that is something else."

"He locks himself into his lab and works... without sleep. I usually need at least half a day to slice my way in. Once even literaly when he destroyed the door lock. So, yes. Overtime."

"Ohhhhh..."

 

[Dr. Snark]

Tipoca City, Kamino

While the Delta's and Ciaran's team were busy with their efforts, the majority of the Republic forces were in a brutal struggle against the Separatists, fending of what seemed to be wave after wave of droid troops and trying to prevent them from gaining ground.

Amidst the chaos, Anakin Skywalker was fighting off an advance that was headed towards one of the major cloning chambers of the city. He was almost a blur, weaving through the droids, constantly deflecting their fire and slicing through them relentlessly, but even with his talent he was starting to feel pressured from their sheer numbers. While he had some members of the 501st supporting him, there was only so much they could do-

And all of a sudden the sound of blasters that were distinctly not from his fellow soldiers' rifles rang out and bolts slammed into a quartet of the droids facing them. As Anakin continued to move he could now hear the sound of a jetpack getting louder as more droids were shot dead when a man in Mandalorian armor slammed down on the ground next to him.

"You're...?"

"Jango Fett. And you're Skywalker?"

"...Yeah. What are you doing here?"

"Protecting the planet and getting paid, in that order."

While the droids continued to fire on the two men, their conversation continued unabated even as they fought off the continuing advance as the clones supporting them looked on in awe.

As a reprieve in the advance game, Anakin turned to the bounty hunter. "So..." he smirked. "Think you can keep up with me?"

"Heh. I was about to ask you the same thing."

--------

Elsewhere, Obi-Wan was also holding the line against a similar advance, though he did not have the luxury of significant clone trooper support as many of the soldiers behind him had either been killed or weren't able to fight back. This meant that he had to fight tooth and nail just to stay alive, let alone hold off the approaching advance. Then-

"General Kenobi, we have some reinforcements coming!" Cody chimed in over the comms.

"How did they get here so quickly?"

"Apparently they were being deployed to another system nearby but were rerouted when we became aware of the Separatist attack. They should be there-"

As if on cue, a wave of rifle rounds came from behind Obi-Wan and began to blast away the droids in front of him. But what surprised him was the sound of a lightsaber activating as he saw-

"Siri!"

For her part, Siri didn't respond immediately, but instead helped him fall back to where the clone reinforcements were so he could breathe for a moment.

"Figured you'd prefer a breather to banter," Siri commented. "There's an Acclamator landing soon that will have the rest of the reinforcements."

Obi-Wan nodded affirmatively as more droids began to close in. "Good to hear. And...I'm glad you're here right now."

Siri smiled warmly. "It's nice to see you too, Obi-Wan. Shall we?"

And with that the two rushed out to join the battle once again.

-------

"Alright boys and girl, listen up," said Skirata over his private comm channel to the Deltas and Ciaran's team as they grouped back up from their various assignments. "Once we got a breakthrough on the Sep comm network I was able to track down Ventress; looks like she's headed towards a server room deeper in the city. If you want to catch up to her, you need to move now."

"Does she even know how to slice a computer?" Gulan asked Ciaran as the group began running in the direction of the server room in question.

"I don't know, but I'm not exactly confident she has the patience for it," she breathlessly replied.

"Maybe Tann gave her a device that will 'help her break in' of some kind," Fixer suggested.

"Whatever the case is, I doubt Tann would send her in there without a plan to get her killed. Be ready, Deltas," Boss commented.

As the group continued to move, Ordo contacted Skirata. "Buir, can you see video feeds in the city?"

"I can get access to some. What are you looking for, son?"

"Distortions, evidence of jamming, something along those lines."

"Right."

A moment passed as the group continued to run before Kal responded. "There are some jammed feeds in areas near the server room. You think-"

"Yes."

"Careful then, son."

"Listen up!" Ordo shouted as the team briefly ground to a halt. "It looks like we're going to be fighting off the same model of droid Grievous and I saw earlier. Be ready."

"Oh good," Scorch commented. "As if this couldn't get any more complicated."

"At least there's going to be more droids to kill," Sev replied.

-------

Asajj Ventress was not a happy woman in general, but she was even angrier than usual with having to put up with Sev'rance's leadership as per Dooku's orders. While she did admit that the Chiss was a gifted strategist she was incredibly arrogant in that regard, constantly lording her position as the main leader of the Separatist army over Asajj's head.

Still, her plan to have Ventress plant a device in a server room that would allow the Separatists to extract valuable data about the clone army was admittedly a smart idea; she just hated being here instead of out in the field fighting against Obi-Wan and Anakin.

"You should be closing in on the room momentarily. Are there any guards around?" Sev'rance's voice came in over the comms. Growling, Ventress hid behind a doorway and looked around to see...no one there. "It would appear that the Republic is more concerned with the enemies they can see."

"That will be their downfall then."

Ventress quickly moved into the computer room and looked around. "Where does the device go?"

"It doesn't matter, its placement on any device will be sufficient."

Ventress quickly set the small electronic device on the first server she could find space on. "Done."

"Excellent. Please wait a moment to confirm that the device is operational."

-------

"Haar'chak! It looks like the server room's security systems are being overridden from within and there's a data feed going out from it!" Skirata shouted over the comms.

"We're about three minutes out, buir," Ordo responded intensely. "We have to move, now!"

-------

After a few moments had passed, Sev'rance spoke to Ventress again. "The plant was successful."

Ventress grunted, then turned to leave. "I'll be going out onto the field th-"

She was cut off when she felt an attack coming and reflectively blocked a blaster round that came from an HS-1 on the wall outside the room.

"Oh that will hardly be necessary my dear Ventress. You will die here, after all."

With those words alarms began to blare and the doors around Ventress began to slam shut as she began to fend off more rounds coming from a quartet of HS-1s surrounding her. "You traitor-"

"On the contrary. Master Dooku has decided that you are too much of a threat to allow you to live."

Asajj's blood went cold. "You lie," she spat out.

"Believe that if you wish, perhaps it may make your death less painful. Farewell."

Asajj screamed in rage as she began to fight off the intensifying attacks of the HS-1s, as two of them began to close in for melee combat...

-------

"The room's been locked down and regular troopers are going to be on their way soon. You need to move fast," Kal chimed in as the group reached the door, though Gulan and Thrawn hung back, fully aware that they would be more liabilities if they tried to join in with the main group's assault.

"Slice or breach, Boss?" Scorch asked as the assault group piled up against the reinforced door.

"Slice, a breach could tip off others-" he began to respond as Ciaran ignited her lightfoil and began to cut through it.

"This is faster and can be blamed on Ventress," she explained, strain evident in her voice as she continued her cut.

"Right then. Everyone, ready."

Once Ciaran finished her slice she stood back and prepared to try and push it down with the Force only for Ordo to barrel into it and knock down the weakened door through sheer force. The group burst into the room and saw Ventress barely holding her own against the HS-1s. Two of them were constantly moving around the walls firing on Ventress when they could while the other two were relentlessly attacking her with their shocksticks.

"FIRE!" Boss shouted as everyone barring Ciaran opened fire on the droids. Ciaran for her part quickly moved in and sliced one of the HS-1s attacking Ventress in melee as the Nightsister looked at her stunned.

"What are you doing here!?" she yelled as the remaining HS-1 moved to try and fight the both of them off.

"Saving you, what does it look like!?" Ciaran yelled back. Meanwhile, the HS-1s on the walls had been brought down through sheer weight of fire from the rest of the group, and between Ciaran and Ventress' (reluctant) cooperation, the final HS-1 was quickly dispatched...and with that everyone leveled their blasters at Ventress while Ciaran looked on impassively.

Ventress chuckled bitterly. "So am I not supposed to resist during my own rescue?" she sarcastically commented, glaring at Ciaran all the while. For her part, Ciaran did not react to her jab. "I don't want to take chances," she calmly replied. "Now, are you going to try to kill your savior or are you going to listen to me when I say that Dooku has betrayed you?" she said as she produced a holoprojector that began to play the message between Dooku and Tann.

While Ventress and Ciaran were 'conversing,' Thrawn and Gulan had moved into the server room to find the source of the data stream. "Hang on," Gulan commented as he saw Tann's device. "A remote access jack," he said as he ripped it off and slammed it to the ground. "Simple, but clever."

"Indeed," Thrawn commented as he looked around. "Hmm..."

Gulan glanced at the Chiss and sighed. "I know what you're thinking and it's way too damn risky."

"The benefits would be extraordinary, however."

As the two began to debate, Ciaran began to speak to Ventress again. "We are short on time, so I will be blunt-I need to know what you know about the Sith. You can come with me and live, or die here as Sev'rance and Dooku planned."

Ventress glanced around, taking in everyone pointing their rifles at her before turning back to Ciaran. "Do you really think you can just leave this planet without bringing down their wrath?" she asked mockingly.

"Yes." Ciaran flatly responded. "Now, are you coming with me or not?"

Ventress stared at her for a moment, then closed her eyes and balled her fists before opening her eyes again. "...Very well."

Everyone holstered their weapons as Ciaran nodded. "Right. Now we need to figure out how to convince everyone you're dead."

"Lady Ciaran, if I may?" Thrawn asked as he moved back towards the group. "Gulan and I have identified a potential opportunity-"

Ordo turned to him and his glare was evident despite the helmet. "No."

"It is not what you are thinking," Thrawn calmly responded. "There was a clone regiment that did not have inhibitor chips installed correct? Knowing who and where they are might be useful."

Ordo's glare lessened as the Silencer turned towards Thrawn, who glanced at the mercenary before looking back at Ciaran again. "We may also be able to find more information on him as well."

Ciaran frowned as she went into thought. "How long would it take?"

Fixer stepped forward. "That would not be happening without me. But with that and the direct access...getting the Silencer's data would be easy enough if you have enough information on his samples-"

"We do," responded Ciaran.

"But finding that regiment will be a lot more difficult. Was the sabotage reported?"

"Of course not."

"Then I'd have to get the entire list of clones bred during your visit which will take some time to download. Probably a few minutes. The Silencer's data should only take a minute at most."

"Shouldn't we be leaving? Like right now?" Scorch said, clearly on edge. "We need to get her out of here and convince everyone she's dead," he said gesturing to the silent but still obviously sullen Ventress, who glared at the commando.

"He's got a point," Sev commented.

"Wow, really?"

"Don't get too full of yourself."

Ciaran frowned and thought to herself. The data on the clones and the Silencer could be quite valuable but it would take at least some time, not to mention that she needed a plan to fake Ventress' death. So much to do...

As for the data:

[] Get the data on the Silencer only. It will only take a minute or two and the results could be quite enlightening.
[] Get the data that will lead you to the chip-less clones only. That will take some time, but learning about where they are could be potentially useful in the future.
[] Get both, that will take the most time but both pieces of information are far too useful to ignore.
[] Ignore the data and leave, spending any more time here is too risky.

And how will everyone be convinced that Ventress is dead?

[] Explosives. Obliterating the room would justify a lack of evidence and leaving behind a scrap of clothing or something similar on the edge of the blast would be convincing enough.
[] Pretend to hijack a trident ship. Most of them have been emptied out at this point, and it would hardly be implausible for Ventress to try and escape on one of them before it would be destroyed. Of course, Ventress herself would bail out beforehand and be safe and sound elsewhere, but who would know?
[] Just extract Ventress without a cover-up. Attempting to fake her death is too risky and could get you caught. Besides, even if people know she's alive no one aside from the Abyss Watchers will know where exactly she is anyway.
[] Write-in.

AN: Decided to throw in some other bits detailing the actions of the only Jedi we really care about the best Jedi before going into the climax of things.

And before you as, yes, Sev'rance is the type of villain to gloat. She did it when she offed what's-his-face's Padawan in Galactic Battlegrounds and evidence suggests she is certainly that arrogant.

Anyway, you've got a lot of risks/rewards going on here. Choose wisely~