Log:Black Squadron: Armor Support

Black Squad leads an advance party against armor.

OOC Date: June 29, 2021
Location: Corellia
Participants: Black Squadron, Jessika Pava, Ektor, Bors Thul, Shemar, Ulani Kalgaav, Lofty, Poe Dameron

The VILLAGE the soldiers had told Black Leader about was more than just a village, but rather a small town. It has a wall perimeter, a city square, even a cluster of taller buildings at its center that could, one day, grow up to be real skyscrapers. What Black Squadron finds is that the city is locked in chaos, and battle. One section of the city is controlled by the New Republic, while the other is held defensively by the First Order which have entrenched themselves into the urban setting and make use of the multi-avenues for ambush.

Poe and Jessika's tank arrive at the outer checkpoint controlled by the New Republic to check in with the region commander, Captain Tulsa. The Captain can be seen under the shelter of a diner awning smoking, surrounded by a few officers giving a brief.

Rain has begun to fall, morning is creeping to its mid-point, and Poe has popped the top to his tank to climb out and see what the situation is before they roll into the town. Poe waits for his team to group up on him before closing in on the Captain and his officers for a breakdown of the situation.

Shemar and what remains of his fire team hop off the back of their tanks, if they are still ambulatory enough to do so. The Ensign remains long enough to give quiet orders to help their wounded and see if there's a real medic here to help them. Then Shemar turns to go and join his officers.

As for himself? His face is covered in grit and grime from the hard fight in the tunnels. His Trooper armor looks undamaged aside from chips and scrapes from bits of small shrapnel. Shemar looks a bit exhausted, lugging that huge ass rifle but for the moment he shoulders it and comes to stand slightly off to the side to listen up for their briefing.

Ulani remains inside the tank though keeping her ear open to Poe and any orders that may be coming down. Turning to the droid next to her, she pulls out her datapad and a tether that she connects up to him. "Comm-It. I want you to scan this for the First Order communication frequencies. There's quite a few of them, so there's a chance they're using one of them here, as well. If there is, we might have a chance to scramble them. Sough some confusion at least until they switch to a new one. We'll stay on it, okay?"

Comm-It beep/boops an affirmative and starts to sort through the files Ulani has brought with her. She nods back to him. "I know. It's a lot. They have so many, most of the unsecure. If we're lucky, they're being lazy today."

Ground operations require complete trooper's armor. It's in the rules. Ektor doesn't care, "It's rekking HOT in here," the reformed (?) pirate gripes, having ditched the armor above the waist, torso dressed only in the standard issue undershirt. "No lie, only part of uniforms that's any good is tabk-tope-" he pauses and eyes widen, "OHHH. I get why they called that, now!"

Clambering from a side hatch comes Bors, smoothing down the front of his kit "Ah yes, rain. Glorious. Corellian as well. Such wonders ere be found from the industrial pollution. Absolutely delightful." chuckling to himself and wall to wall grins despite the gloomy situation.

"Lord Tion, thou shouldst simply flex for the troopers inclined for your manly delights we should be home in time for my stories for all the swooning and fainting that would transpire." snickering as he makes to get closer to the one handling the briefing.

The tank lurches to a halt as Jessika eases up on the accelerator and begins to apply gentle pressure to the breaks. It's repulorlifts force loose sediment from the duracrete either deeper into cracks or scattering away towards the sidewalks, but soon the tank itself begins to lower as she eases power off of them. There's no avoiding the thunk or shudder through the machine when it sets down, but when she kills the power altogether, the silence is deafening. She no longer feels like every part of her, down to the last molecule, is vibrating. Pings and clanks of cooling down metal and the engine systems play throughout the inside of the tank like hollow pops, but it's quieted once Jessika pops the hatch above her and begins to scramble out.

"Rekk that's cramped." It takes longer than usual to climb out of the seat because the narrow access point requires her to twist in creative ways so that none of the gear gets trapped beneath the lip of the hatch. Her gloves plant to either side and haul her the rest of the way out with a hop and a grunt, allowing her to get a knee up to help her the rest of the way. Jessika slips down the lip of the tank and puts her booted feet on the ground. It's blessedly still. As rain begins to patter against the poncho covering her and the rest of her gear, Jessika takes the opportunity to stretch her legs with every step and shake out her muscles. Each booted step thumps against the ground, but the noise is lost in the cacophony of distant battle.

"That's not why it's called that," Jessika remarks to Ektor in a tone that is exasperated, but lacks true annoyance.

"Black Squadron I assume," Asks the Captain with the posh Imperial accent. "Right, I am Captain Tulsa, these are my platoon commanders. Team, meet Commander Dameron.. Major Pava and Black Squad.." The Captain eyes Ektor, out of regs and stares a moment too long. "..delightful.. right, well.. thank you for your support, sir," said to Poe before beginning the brief that's been drawn on the window of the diner.

"Our battalion has been locked with the first armor and 2nd infantry for three days now. Part of the advance," He turns slightly to regard the squad and gesture, "the uh.. tunnels you took, secured a direct supply for us and reinforcements for our companies. Presently, the city is divided almost right down the center, with bloody First Order armor securing the bridges across the river to the other side. We had considered bombardment, as we have received all manner of indirect fire from their artillery, but intelligence suggests there are still citizens holed up in the buildings and homes throughout the whole city."

Poe nods, hand coming up to support his rain soaked, stubble covered chin, his matted down hair soaked. Unlike Jess, Poe came out in just his armor with no rain gear.

"I propose a two pronged attack, sir..One of the tanks will be taken by our team with Red Platoon in that southern region to engage with the armor across the bridge there. Your team takes the northern. I'll reinforce your element with some soldiers from Blue platoon. They ought take this opportunity to learn how special forces does business. We suspect the tanks will require escort and ground guiding through the city to reach the bridges. Scouts report a lot of infantry in the area. A good solid hit on armor should be enough to take the bridge IF they do not get wise and scuttle it. Questions?"

Underneath the poncho draped over her shoulders and down to her hips, the distinct shape of her arms orient themselves in a staggered position where her right is higher than the left. That's because beneath the poncho, Jessika's hands are on her blaster rifle's pistol grip and the underside of the barrel. This may be a briefing behind friendly lines, but she's not relaxed. Every few seconds during the briefing, her gaze flicks away from the window representating the intelligence and towards the area surrounding them. This urban environment holds hundreds of exploitable positions for ambush and without the armor of the tank to protect them against a first-strike attack, it pays to be cognizant. She blinks often to clear the rain off her lashes.

"If we're splitting up the tanks, do you have armor troops that can substitute in? I think it's better if we don't split up the squad and we may even consider putting all Black's boots on the ground. These narrow corridors are going to be a nightmare for ambushes and the tanks are going to be the biggest target out there. We may even consider an advance element to try to take the bridge and hold out against the armor while ours arrives." She glances to Poe rather than the Captain. In the end, it's going to be his call.

Shemar doesn't say anything. He's just an Ensign anyway and the least experienced of the team save Ulani. He stands quietly in the rain, getting soaked and not caring about it. The rain is making streaks in the soot and dust on his face, turning it into riviolets of mud, lucky him. There's a tiny gash on his left cheek he probably isn't aware of yet.

No questions from him yet but he's quietly digesting the proposal and waits to see what Jess and Poe, or the others have to add to it. Meanwhile, after what he just went through? His stomach really wants to make him barf. Please, let's /not/ do that, tyvm. Adrenline dropping like a rock.

Shemar too blinks often to keep the rain out of his eyes and quietly studies what he can see of the cityscape.

There is a musical series of beeps from BB somewhere in the tank. Comm-It responds with similar glee followed immediately by Ulani. Her feet do a little happy dance in the small amount of space she has under the console deck. "BB, Comm-It. You're both /amazing!/ Okay, okay..." Steadying herself against the adrenaline rush, Ulani unplugs the tether from Comm-It and inserts it to her control deck.

The screens in front of her blink out then flick back on, revealing a plethora of information she hadn't had seconds ago. Her heart leaps a little and she clamours from her seat towards the hatch in the top of the tank. Popping her head out into the downpour like a red-headed tookie, Ulani glances around. Ah, drat. Both her commanding officers are in a meeting. It'll have to wait.

Ducking back into the tank, she returns to her seat, making special effort not to drip on the switchboard. "He's going to be pleased, I think, Comm-It." The droid cannot help but agree.

Ektor clambers down the tank exterior after Jess to hop down into the mud. Not bothering with a poncho, he audibly enjoys getting rained on, looking up with eyes closed and groaning with a crooked grin. Major Pava's claim that the name tank tops didn't originate in tanks earns a snicker. "Ten credits says yeah-huh." A dumb chuckle and he looks from the XO to Poe and the ground pounders. He winks at the captain when Tulsa's stare lingers on him. He at least keeps his mouth shut and listens as the plan is laid out. All he contributes aloud is a lazy drawl, "Either way, we gonna want demo boys ready to check the bridge for booms before we send numbers over, yeah?" He mouths to Poe, 'I can do that', with a thumb at himself, for subtlety.

Staring at Jessika in her rain kit, Bors blinks. When did they issue that? He must go through his kit again before she does an inspection.

It will all be in there, neatly folded, forgotten... Possibly wrapped around some extra whittling kit he's been looking for for AGES now. But the forces shall be divided, a single tank per side and it a good way to show some of his turret skills anew. Another thought, he should get one of the seats like this gunner seat for his own craft. He stands with one arm across his middle, cupping an elbow so the other hand can set so he may perch his chin between thumb and curled forefinger.

"Lady Testor makes a good point, Lord Prettyboy - a singular armor piece with no support besides infantry is akin to the wild ronto ere to be carved into by angry hand and hungry knife. Also Legs isn't much of a fighter as she is a tech." Legs? Well can't call her Ulani. One eyebrow flickers up and down while his posture shifts, legs more strongly planted for the inevitable flaming death to descend upon him.

Unless his trust in Ektor's love of such uncouth titles might be his bastion, to intervene before the cool embrace of endless slumber take him after the single burst of shrieking pain precedes it.

Or multiple bursts of shrieking pain.

Maybe some prods of discomfort.

At least one slap of misery.

"Team's right, dividing the tanks is an ambitious call. The Major suggested an advanced party, I agree. My team will follow the northern path to that bridge. When we've secured it, IF we secure it, we'll call for the second tank and reinforcements to cross the bridge, after we've checked it, and move to flank the armor to the south. None of you are numbers guys, I imagine, but she is." He hikes a thumb to his XO. "We'll take Blue platoon with us though to help with those ambushes. It's going to be nasty."

The Captain's shoulders sagged a bit, but after looking at the drawn depiction of the city, he agreed with it. A subtle motion to the platoon commander for Blue is made, and the young Lieutenant nodded and called out to her troops. "BLUE PLATOON, ON YOUR FEET!" The troopers began to slowly file out of an adjacent building, looking fresh faced, bright eyed, and bushy tailed.

"Thanks, Captain. We'll take it from here." -- "Yes sir, pleasure."

Poe motioned for Black Squad to move to him a moment in a small huddle. "I want Testor, Tion, and.." he glances at Bors a moment, cracking a smile, "..our tech.. in one tank. Nugget, Buhbors and I will lead the ground element and mark your path. Xer.. when we make it to the bridge and you guys begin to engage the armor.. don't come out until it's dead. We can check the bridge together then get across to hold it."

Poe takes in a deep breath and activates his personal shield deflector. It felt like he'd get shot today. "We good?"

They break from the meeting with the Captain and his platoon leaders and Jessika gathers on Poe's right into a circle for them to disseminate information and the battle plan. "Whatever you want, boss." She doesn't sound entirely happy about it, but there's no questioning Poe in the field in her opinion. They've left the drawing board and they've already modified the plan based on her input. If Poe wants her in the tank, she'll be in the tank. "I'm good." He asks the question and Jessika is the first to answer. She casts her gaze around the gathered, looking for any physical sign that might suggest any of them aren't ready. They're going to be in the drek soon enough and she wants to make sure they've got their heads on right.

Yeah, even Shemar likes this plan a lot better. Didn't much care for the dividing them up, not at all. He still keeps his mouth shut, listening and watching the others at the moment. Then his gaze settles upon Blue Platoon to size them up.

He walks on over to lend an ear when Poe beckons them. Got their assignments. Shemar gives a faint nod, "Copied." A grubby hand pulls his canteen and Shemar gets himself a long drink. Gonna need the hydration.

Ulani is still alone in the tank getting a lock on the net spanning the city. It doesn't always come in clear, but it's there and that alone could help provide some advantages. If only she knew how to use this information as such. Thankfully, she knows someone who might.

Putting on her headset, Ulani takes in a deep, calming breath and switches on the Black Squadron frequency. "Can... anyone hear me?" The deep breath didn't do too well calming her, but she rallies herself and continues. "Pretty Man--" Close enough. "I've gotten into the First Order's battlenet. Tell me what you need done and I... think I can do it. Scramble their comms or override them. Listen in. Or... um... something else I'm not thinking of."

Turning her mic off but still listening, Ulani slaps her hands a little to try to get them to stop shaking. Comm-It boop/whistles to which Ulani nods slightly. "Yeah. A little. But I'll be okay."

"Kill the tanks til they're dead, sniff out the booms after, I hear you Pretty Boy," Ektor nods lazily. "Nah, we ain't good. We're rekking *great*, yeah?"

Joy! Foot slogging! This is perfect, he needed to "Get my cardio in! Fantastic!" no sarcasm or grousing. Calisthenics are most important as you near your fourth decade and Bors shan't slouch, oh no! Unlimbering his EE-3 and adjusting his hat now - the man seems to be incapable of not looking just... unaccountably excited.

"Nary a path foul be found for us to give to armor, lest Testor's rage be thus that she absolutely crams all of that tank within confines physical and of exceptional discomfort. The mightiest and most unfortunate suppository, sent further and higher by means of one exceedingly motivated swing of boot to our already battered regions of recline. Rendered already in poor fortune with iron and ion engine now keeping company our guts."

Fancy. Cursing.

"Alright, let's do this." Poe said, bouncing an endearing fist off the top of Jess' shoulder. "El-tee, you're with me. We're up front ahead of the tank. If we can draw fire, we can direct our tank fire.--Hey boys and girls, helmets on.. heads on a swivel! Let's lock and load.. and move out. War ain't gonna win itself, hahaha."

<"Yeah, we hear you,"> Poe said, the noise from being outside heard over the private black squad net. <"Testor is driving your tank now, with Tion. Let her take a look and we can make use of that data to begin our attack.">

The data Ulani uncovered was the encrypted battlenet, a tracker of moving forces broadcasted over a constantly updating signal to provide commanders insight on troop movements. Valuable intelligence for this operation. Having this allowed Black Squad to reach the river district without a single fire fight, but the fun was about to begin. Before they could cross into the open plain, where a large bridge lay ahead leading to the other side of the city, they had to deal with some troopers and turret emplacements.

Some twenty stormtroopers are out in the open manning pre-fabricated defense placements with walls and a line of turrets oriented in the Republic direction. The rain was picking up, and Poe made it to the edge of a building at the end of the street and held up a fist.

<"Lot of infantry.. and I count.. two (2) heavy turret emplacements that could hurt the tank. They're aimed this way. Maybe lead out with the tank to have mobile cover?">

<"So far.. seeing about twenty (20) infantry...">

"Tion, get ready to take out this heavy turret emplacements. They'll slag this tank if they hit us. Tech, get on those scopes. I'm not going to be able to keep this thing evasive and acquire those targets." Without waiting for much of an answer, Jessika propels the New Republic war machine forward so that the emplacements they're after are visible. She does the work for Ulani at first, hud-imposed view from the outside of the tank printed on the visor of her battle helmet so that she can see what she's doing. "FIRE!" They're going to have to do this quick. The longer those emplacements rae up, the longer the infantry have cover, and the longer those have cover, the more dangerous this situation is. She doesn't need them picking up rocket launchers.

Here they go. Shemar's got that big ass A280 back in his hands, the sling helping with the weight as he moves forward with the others with boots on the ground. He keeps a little behind the lead tank to use it for forward mobile cover, eyes sharp as they proceed. All's a walk in the park until they see the troopers and turrets up ahead.

He's not in command of the ground unit this time but Shemar nonetheless glances back and motions for people further back to use the tanks for cover. Those that weren't smart enough to be doing it already.

The distance drops as they advance, Tester's tank rolling forward to scare the Stormtroopers. Shemar aims the big rifle and lets her rip, sending a large red bolt leaping forth, blowing a trooper clear off his feet! Cooked meat.

Everything starts breaking loose as bolts of coherient light leap back and forth and the tanks and turrets make ready to open up.

Ulani can read the field like a chidlren's book. From her screen, she helps guide their group through the city towards their destination with updates on enemy placement and movement. Before they even get there, she's talking to Comm-It quickly. "Locking in on /this/ frequency. We're going to send them a little static, Comm-It. I want you to keep monitoring: they will change their frequencies quickly and I want to keep up on them." She grins. "Maybe next we can send them a little music or something. I wonder what Poe has loaded on this thing." Because you know he has a playlist loaded on this thing.

"Love it when you talk dirty, Major," Ektor answers in lieu of a 'yes sir' or 'understood'. And despite the fact that Jessika said nothing even remotely dirty. He angles the hovertank's main gun toward the locked turret and enemy counterfire brackets them. He fires and it isn't one of his best shots, but it strikes near enough to tear a chunk out of the tower base, sending earth and debris flying and knocking out the turret. Ulani's question about what to play earns a sharp laugh. "Oh, I got JUST the thing, yeah? They'll love it.."

"Zounds..." that's quite the assortment being faced and he has but a blaster. A blaster with which to bring forth justice to Corellia! So that is precisely the intention of the Alderaanian now in the thick of it. Ducking when the tank fires, despite using the vehicle for partial defilade against the likelihood of returns from the First Order placements.

Rain in his eyes! OH! OH! It's greasy pollution rain, "GADZOOKS!" Monocle release with a loft of his brows so he can shake his head in the wake of his first shoot skimming off a wall and then wet ground before sizzling into duracrete. "Confound it all." Language Bors.

He spots an opportunity though, pulling his expression into a hard frown while he centers himself. "Mother guide my spirit to find forgiveness for the lives that I must take to preserve others. Father guide my hand that it be the righteous and the aegis for those who cannot take up arms." dropping to one knee and exhaling before the next bolt flies true to crack the poor sot's helmet and scoop off the top of their head, sending them to the ground in a boneless heap.

"Let me be wicked so they remain pure. Let me seek redemption so that they need not." breathing back in through his nostrils and he sets to find the next.

The tank moves up and the turrets from the enemy open fire immediately, surprise evident by their aim. Jessika, thankfully, takes off, the initial shots from the turrets wide and missing, splashing against the pavement in a display of smoke, rubble, and evaporated rain transformed to steam. Blaster fire erupts from the entrance of the bridge as Republic troopers follow the tank out for cover. Two troopers get shot to death in the trade off, but the Stormtroopers face losses of their own simultaneously.

It's clear this is a matter of tempo and attrition, and while there had been a plan, it went out the window in a struggle for dominant ground. One turret emplacement goes up when Jessika's tank fires, the concussive kinetic energy from the turret discharge triggered by Xer is enough to instantly and simultaneously displace all the rain from the armor and around the armor, on the ground, and the buildings behind it, creating an anomaly in physics that was mesmerizing to witness. The incoming fire from the turret was not as cool, and it struck the ass-end of Jessika's tank, spinning it around over the pavement.

BB-8 warbled that it would repair the subsystems and malfunctioning repulsorlifts, and he did, allowing a chance for target acquisition to acquire a target now that the tank stopped spinning in the rain.

"FIND COVER!" Screamed Lieutenant Talbot, who BeeLASTED a trooper with her rifle whilst moving for something other than the tank, which had spun away at a pace the platoon could not keep. The result left Blue down two members with another injured.

Poe stepped away from the corner of the building and moved at a hobbled jog. He fired at a trooper, hitting then missing, then moved for a patch of nearby trees for cover. <"Wow! This is thick.. everyone still alive?"> Poe calls out. Talbot answers, <"Got two down, sir. We're moving for cover.">

Meanwhile, the First Order is in disarray. Comms aren't working.. they aren't getting reinforcements.. what the HELL is going on?!

The hit from the heavy emplacement turret throws Jessika so hard into her harness that it's the only thing that stops her from cracking her head against one of the control boards next to her. She grips tight to the controls of the vehicle, first as a way to brace herself, and then as a way to try to get the machine under control. She yanks the control sticks in counter direction of the tanks spin, but it isn't until BB-8 is able to repair some of the malfunctioning repulsorlifts that the vehicle comes under any semblance of control. She feels dizzy from the spin, but she can tell when it's only her equilibrium out of control and no longer the thing she's strapped into, because the harness she's in is no longer so tight that it's almost suffocating.

She gets the tank oriented ahead and slams on the accelerator so that it lurches forward with a roar of engine. "GET THAT NEXT TURRET SIGHTED NOW!" She yells it so loudly that it hurts her own throat and ears, but the urgency can't be overstated. If they don't deal with that turret, it may very well kill them.

It's a fire fight all right! Shemar tries to stay behind the tank for cover, looking for good targets and wanting to take another shot when Tester's tank is HIT! It blasts him with chunks of debris, water and cuncussion from the shockwave and staggers him, almost falling.

No sooner than he's pulling himself up than his cover has spun away and the Black Squadron Ensign is hit with a Stormtrooper's bolt to his chest! Shemar's trooper armor disperses some of the blast that might otherwise have fried his heart. Between the concussion from the tank being hit and then the blaster bolt, he's knocked hard to the ground.

It only pisses him off. Soaking wet, Shemar slews himself and his huge rifle around to line up a shot. <"I'm hit. Sons of Huttkriffers ... "> He doesn't even try to get up and stays prone, firing a shot that obliterates the Stormtrooper, blasting some of his parts into his startled fellows. His chest feels /really/ tight and the stench of burnt metal, plastic and human flesh is gagging. A second or two is spent figuring out where he's going to get his ass to some cover when he gets it back up off the ground.

"Yes, ma'am!" Jessika's orders take a moment to register. Ulani was just too damn giddy that jamming the communications worked! "Comm-It, keep your eyes on this. If they try switching over, we need to be on it right away." And hopefully they can since BB is busy with repairs.

Ulani spins her chair towards the targetting system at the same time as the tank takes a hit. Not seeing it coming, she is thrown to the side, her shoulder banging against the edge of her deck. She manages to tuck in her chin to spare hitting her head as she's pressed momentarily in her seat by the centripetal force of a spinning tank.

She doesn't even shake the dizziness then Jessika's voice rips through the tank. It's enough to snap her out of it. A clearing shake of her head and a readjustment of her headset set Ulani right. In seconds, the lock on is sent to Ektor up at the turret. "Got it!"

Ektor rocks in his seat at the hovertank is jolted and spun in place by a glancing hit. "JESS. They shot us in the ASS. Where's our rekking shields?" Ektor actually seems to think they've had shields this entire time. "Eh, the hell with it," he mutters, focusing on the second acquired target, and firing the instant the reload mechanism has delivered a fresh shell to the main gun.

This is one of his better shots.

<<"That's what you ass-shooting Hutt-suckers GET.">> They can't hear you, Ektor, their comms are jammed. How did you forget this, already? Probably the same way his aim improves when dizzy and disoriented.

When did he end up in the muck? Laying on his side, coughing and shaking more mud from his eyes, Bors rolls towards cover before coming up on his knee again. The tank had begun some questionably intended movement. That's what it was. He'd lept clear, adrenaline having taken over.

Now it was a matter of reorienting himself.

Up and moving, low and clinging to whatever might mask his profile or keep him from casting a shadow until he finds a place with a perfect crack for him to sight through. Two quick shots, the first slagging a hunk of duraplast and pressboard flung into the street by explosions and the next taking the trooper in the chest, burning through armor and torso.

"Mother I hear you, for thou art far from me and Father's hand is on my shoulder." expression calm while he watches that next target fall, confirming and then moving again. Towards Shemar when he makes his call out, <<"Copy, Nugget. Buhbors inbound. Hold position in cover, I'll fire support.">>

Leaning into the run now as he seeks to lend aid, take some of the pressure of the new blood.

The battle is suddenly punctuated by the loss of the second turret tower which lights up a rainy sky in a column of black smoke, shrapnel, evaporated rain, steam, death, and discontent. Bits of debris rain all around as the explosion spread, then expanded further when the powercells combusted. A wave of concussive energy spread out from the blast that displaced the rain in every direction as it swept outward like a hot firm breeze.

Poe took cover, and peeked over a moment after the blast. With a headset on, his ears were shielded enough to survive with some functionality, and it didn't disorient him. He fired into the troopers, catching one, then a second as they took off running. Talboy moved for her men, dragging a wounded soldier to cover and crying out, "MEDIC!" She covered, firing from over the top of the tank's ass end, which was still steaming and carbon scored. She killed another trooper and turned to see that the Corporal moving with the medic in response to her call was shot down and killed. This was crazy!

<"Sir, we're getting picked off out here.. we won't survive another infantry assault."> Talbot says.

<"Hold your ground, Lieutenant. We have reinforcements coming, we just need to hold out. We won't get another shot at this bridge otherwise.">

<"..yes sir.">

By some stroke of luck, Jessika spots the enemy armor moving into position. Her orientation of the tank is prime for an assault before their foe's tank can get into range. It's only a matter of calling it out now, and locking on.

A platoon of stormtroopers begin to run across the bridge from the other side to reinforce the checkpoint being attacked by Black Squad. What was once six (6) Stormtroopers was beginning to grow into twenty-six (26). <"Here comes the parade, guys. Find cover and hold your ground. This is going to get ugly."> Poe calls out, turning about to check on his operators and how they were holding up. He held up a thumbs up to Bors, then Shemar, though his expression was like he was asking 'Are you good?'

"ENEMY ARMOR AT OUR TWO." Jessika spots its movement out of her peripheral vision, because while Ulani is busy using the targeting scope to fix on the enemy turret, Jessika is trying to make sure they're not being snuck up on by infantry. She doesn't hesitate to begin orienting the tank in that direction with a simple pivot of the machine on its repulsorlifts, meaning she doesn't have to travel anywhere and the troopers behind her can maintain their cover. "GET A LOCK ON IT AND FIRE RIGHT NOW." They're not out there in the rain and the fray like the rest of the infantry, but Jessika knows that if they don't stay on their toes, the protective walls around them are going to turn into nothing more than an armor coffin and a pyre.

He's hurting but he has GOT TO GET UP an move his arse, pronto! Getting out of the middle of the road is way more important, and ideally before Bors leaves cover to try and get to him. Shemar's more worried about Bors getting shot than he is about himself already being wounded.

With an effort, the Ensign gets himself up and lugs the huge rifle. Maybe he could try to get a shot off as he goes .. but nope. It's just too heavy and unwieldy with his chest hurting so much from the bolt that burned him. And he slips in the muck, coming in behind cover where Bors is located like a some kind of ball player leaping for base to be safe. It's NOT graceful. More like a trainwreck.

Poe didn't get a thumbs up back. The Rekking Nuggut was a little too busy trying not to get himself killed out there for pleasantries.

Belatedly, breathing hard and in pain, Shemar manages, <<"I'm good. Covered.">> He doesn't realize as nearly 30 Stormtroopers are pounding across the bridge at them that Bors has been wounded as well.

A slew of enemies start lighting up her screen. Far too many of them, in fact. Ulani's stomach sinks and she has to make a decision. "Comm-It! Take over the targetting system!" Before the droid can even affirm the command, Ulani is unclasping her straps and leaving her seat. Hands up on various walls and ceilings, she makes her way towards the hatch once more, grabbing the missile launcher that she had set near-by.

Another deep breath.... and she straps it over her shoulder and climbs up the ladder. Throwing the hatch open, she pops out just enough to get the launcher onto her shoulder and rests her head at the scope with sight on the group of troopers ahead. Breathe... breathe.

"Directions is so much simpler when drek is all flat," Ektor mutters, as Jess calls incoming armor at the 2. It's a shorter swivel of the main gun to fix on the highlighted target, unloading as soon as the line is lit. "Drek, a hit but the rekker is still up. Reloading.." Then he notices Ulani on her way up with a rocket launcher. As one does. His only response is to advise, "Don't let em shoot you in the ass, yeah?"

Bors might have had the chance to answer Poe when the bolt takes him in the chest and the run to get to Shemar is arrested in absolutely fantastic fashion. Like being clotheslined by a Barabel, Bors flips backwards and barely has the cognizance to take the weight of his fall on his shoulders, helmet crunching when his head hits and a wheeze of an exhale escapes him.

"Shaszbot..." cough. Cough. Blinking hard and slipping to his side, dragging himself back behind the bit of rubble he'd been caught outside of. Blinking the watering of his eyes away Bors does exactly what he need to do when Poe checks to see if he's ok.

Extending his arm out, one trooper is sighted and a bolt flies to melt armor over the cuisse and core through to flash boil blood in the femoral, opening it up as another plasma bolt is loosed, twisting the victim around to the side, but leaving them alive to fight back.

"OH! Nugget. I was just coming over to thee. Sorry I tarried, blasted in the chest, so I was!" giving Poe a return thumbs up as he continues to drag himself back into defilade. Pained expression. Trying to joke.

<"Hold the line, people!"> Poe calls out, rising and moving to the tank with the others. Incoming fire smacks the duracrete, trees, buildings, and plinks off their tank finding no purchase. Poe returns fire, killing two before kneeling down behind the tank to be with the soldiers. If he told them to hold the line, he was going to be right there with them doing as he preached.

Ulani's rocket released from atop, the payload shooting out whilst her weapon created a back blast that sent rain flying from sudden kinetic energy almost 100 ft back. The rocket plopped into the air in a small arc before exploding and rocketing skyward HIGH up into the clouds.

When it came back down, it was like a distant whistling noise heralded the descent, and it impacted like a mortar with high-explosive capability, mushrooming a tower like explosion of grey and black smoke and dust. Two stormtroopers from the platoon get pelted by the debris and shrapnel, falling over suddenly and dying from the concussive energy. Unfortunately, the missile did not hit the tank, likely a result of the rain messing with the targeting system. The enemy tank drove through the tower of smoke, jumping over the crater and attempting to reach its maximum effective range to engage. It seems they experienced difficulty from the jump though and end up 'spinning out'.

The stormtroopers crossing the bridge are in the open, not quite to cover and exposed to the Republic guns, making them easy targets (80 diff).

"TION, BLOW THAT SCUMSUCKER BACK TO ORBIT." Why her targeting operator is up out of the tank with a launcher on her shoulder and attempting to fire it at the heavy tank, she'll never know. "TECH, GET BACK IN HERE." If they take a round while the woman is up and out of the hatch, who knows what could transpire. Assuming a narrow miss doesn't erase her from existence. Jessika keeps the hovertank steady in place. She knows that any deviation of movement are going to expose the troopers that are behind her seeking desperate cover from the frantic firefight taking place outside. She's itching to move, though. This sense of vulnerability makes it difficult to keep her hands in place and not try to be evasive with enemy armor staring them down.

Now behind cover, Shemar gets himself and his huge rifle detangled. He eyes Bors, <"Now we match. Good job. I was trying to /keep/ you from getting shot on my account."> That plan didn't quite work. Alas, he's no medic. Bors is talking instead of screaming or lying there inert so maybe he can hang on for a medic. Firefight, first.

He licks his lips, takes a deep breath and hefts the rifle into position. Shemar checks the computer targeting reticule and lines up a shot. Yep, going to fry him some Stormtrooper steaks. They are coming right at them! He fires and another tibanna bolt flashes out across the open space towards the bridge.

The rain is coming down harder. It's not enough to keep Shemar from seeing his shot take out another trooper! The bolt about cuts the fellow in half. Plenty more coming!

Turns out, the Rekking New Guy isn't much of a talker while he's killing. Focused.

"I'll try!" she calls to Ektor as she passes. Anywhere but the ass.

Ulani swallows hard but her throat is still dry. Working on these weapons is far different than firing them. Especially at living targets. But those targets are hurting her allies. Hurting the people of this city. 'This is why you fled. This is why you came here. Why you joined.'

Shifting the weight of the massive weapon, Ulani opts instead to try to aim for the tank. Easier to convince oneself to attack a machine rather than the people marching outside of it. Ah, but firing the weapon /is/ very different when one knows the trigger is likely to spell death.

"I'm sorry."

But blood is already on her hands so what's a bit more for the right reasons? The result is carnage, but not as much as she had hoped/feared. It's hard for her to pinpoint /what/ it was she wanted to happen, but saving those on the ground would've been nice. As for why she's up there...? She has /no/ idea but Pava's voice is a promise that she probably shouldn't have. "Understood!" And thus Ulani will duck back into the tank as quickly as she can.

"One orbital scumsucker coming up, yeah?" Ektor hollers back to Major Pava's invocation. The First Order heavy tank is being well driven, it's operator did just about all they could to reduce their window of vulnerability, but the Tionese pilot turned gunner is accustomed to combats moving at speeds undreamt of between tanks, and anticipates the target's movement with almost bored ease, striking the vehicle almost perfectly at the seam of turret and frame. <<"BOOM, baby!">> he crows, triumphant.

So much cannon fire going off, explosives from Ulani, detonations. It's all so very out of sorts, to put it mildly and Bors is still firing as he scrabbles back to kneeling posture.

<"What? Yes tis seems to be a goodly amount, sirrah!"> at least he didn't say 'mawp'. Another downed, another injured, a continuous stream of fire from the carbine in the lord's hands before he hunkers down and leans against a bit of metal still cooling in the rain. <"You would think they were at war with us or some such twaddle, eh?"> leaning out to fire off another snapshot.

<"Fine day for it though, I suppose?">

Lofty is rolling (or hovering) toward the bridge with a supporting infantry squad behind. Stebbs the Sullustan is on the turret. Lofty pops his white head out of the driving compartment and says "Shoot!" Stebbs gibbers in Sullustese "mwaki!" which loosely translates to 'fire!' The heavy laser turret blasts away at the stormtrooper squad but misses by a mile, lighting up the ground. "You hit nothing. Let Lofty shoot!" The hatch closes and there is some general reordering. The infantry advances.

The enemy heavy tank goes up in a grand explosion, the fire and debris toppling stormtroopers. The blast, much like the others, creates a concussive wave of energy and a sound that echoes for miles and miles around. Poe laughs, surveying the hit from his position and making a "Yesssssssssss!" with a fist pump motion. <"That's how it's done. Time to focus on infantry. Clear out the incoming troopers.">

Poe turns to see their reinforcements rolling in just in time. <"'eyyyyy, reinforcements!.. Snowball, is that you in there? Bring the tank up.. switch to anti-personnel turrets.. let's clean it up.">

Blue platoon is reinforced with green, and Lt Lexi joins Talbot, smirking. "Miss us?!"

"I could kiss you!" Talbot says, with a laugh. Poe ordering them to open fire has both platoons rising up to finish off the stormtroopers JUST NOW making it to the Republic side of the bridge, still out in the open (90 Diff).

<"Tion, once the bridge is clear, we're going bomb sniffing, pal."> Poe calls out, not bothering to join in on the shooting, but instead, moving into place to motion the Republic soldiers into place and ground guide Stebbs tank into the right spot.

"Good kill, Tion." The relief in Jessika's voice is audible. They were staring down the barrel of death in a literal way for those few moments when the First Order armor had its turret oriented at them and Jessika didn't feel like punching her ticket today. Coming down from the adrenaline rush of an existential crisis, she's hyper aware enough that the pattering of the heavy rain on the top of the tank blends through the constant vibration and the sound of the idling systems. She takes a deep breath in through her nose and exhales it through her mouth. "Mop up those infantry, Tion, then you heard the boss." She leans back into the seat and glances back over her shoulder. "Hey, Tech. When there's a tank about to blow us up? It's really dangerous to stick your head out."

Being wounded doesn't seem to slow Shemar's shooting down any. Now he's braced and behind cover, he fires at will as fast as the big rifle will recharge and spit out tibanna bolts through the rain. It's not fast, but it burns magnificent, large holds right through the Stormtroopers s if they were no more than paper cuttouts. Splash another! That trooper's helmet comes right off as the remains of the body hits the pavement.

It's a hell of a fight and the reinforcements are well timed. It lifts their moral considerably to cut down the enemy. If they weren't First Order you'd almost feel sorry for the poor bastards.

Na! Mow'm down! For the next short span, Shemar forgets the burn in his own chest, firing away. Payback.

Back in the tank, Ulani closes the hatch behind her and scurries back to her seat: patting Comm-It on the head. "I missed," she tells the droid a bit sadly. A bit... gladly? Still, she doesn't know. Putting her headset back on, she studies her screen and sees new blips on mixing with the old. Reinforcements! Huzzah!

<"I can help with that, as well,"> she offers to the others in regards to bomb sniffing. <"At least with disabling the ones we find."> Click. Her mic is off again. Jamming the comms? Great! Firing missile launcher? Probably not great.

Her eyes glance to Jessika with shoulders heavy. Yeah, she screwed up. Even a greenhorn can realize that. "I'm... sorry, ma'am. I paniced. I'll just stick to orders." And then seek some major training when they get back home.

<"I hear you, Pretty Boy."> Ektor answers the General with an audible smile. "I'm on it, Jess. But you gotta admit, after running in a tank like this? Wishbones don't feel so slow no more, yeah? HA." While blithely bantering with his superior officer, he has switched fire control to anti personnel blaster turrets, and mown down a quintet of stormtroopers.

Watching the troopers flee, Bors takes to resting back in cover now. Not wishing to fire on any more. Enough blood today to contend with - looking to Hahtavi as he keeps firing with a pained, but not admonishing, expression while he looks down at his blast-vest and the black mark there.

"Hrmmm. I suspect a stern talking to this day." still looking at the injury and then leaning back where he cannot watch the troopers flight or the blaster bolts chasing after them. Time spent, eyes half closed but still watching his area, carbine ready to be swept up when or if needed. Looking to lean more towards the if for the moment.

Lofty switches tank positions with Stebbs, manning the anti-personnel blaster cannon mounted ahead of the main gun. He opens fire on the enemy stormtroopers with a high-pitched YEEP-YEEP-YEEP-YEEP-YEEP of autoblaster fire. Pew pew! From the driving compartment Stebbs says, "Murathei, mutigatigie mugui o na umwe!" which loosely translates as 'shoot at them, spare no arrows' in Sullustese.

Poe stands out in the open confidently as the platoons blast apart the remaining stormtroopers. His easy smile is evident, despite the loss they experienced, but this was the nature of war. Grief was for after the fight, and for now, their path took them forward. Turning to observe the onslaught, Poe's voice cuts over the comms. <"Alright, good work. Wounded, get tended. Green platoon, you're on anti-sniper duty. Tion and Techie with me for bomb sniffing.-- When we clear the bridge, Testor is switching with me for ground teams. Sounds like she could stretch her legs.-- Let's do this.">

Poe slung his E-11 to hang at his side and rounded the tank, waiting to join up with Xer and Ulani before going to inspect the bridge.